From Glory to Glory God s will is for us to move from glory to glory. 2 Corinthians 3:18 NKJV But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord. Most people like change but they don t like being changed. The message stays the same but the method must change. Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. If you want a change, make a change. So we must change: By the Spirit of the Lord. Not by might nor by power but by My Spirit says the Lord (Zech 4:6). But we all - All of us need to change. But let the change start with you. To wait for somebody to change before you do, is giving that person way too much power over you. Unveiled face It starts when we take off the veil, the mask, and we learn to be honest with ourselves. Let s stop looking so much into the natural mirror that s in our rooms and start looking into the mirror of God s Word. The mirror of God s Word will transform us, change us from the inside out. The word transform is the word metamorphosis. A caterpillar goes through a process called metamorphosis. When you decide to spend more time in God s Word, and letting it change you, and you start doing what it says, then you will move from being a caterpillar to being a butterfly, from crawling to soaring. It s time for us to grow up. It s time for us to move from one level of glory to the next level of glory by the
Spirit of the Lord. Not by the flesh but by the Spirit. Not by the law, keeping all the rules but by God s grace. The Spirit of grace. Grow into different stages of your spiritual development. How many of you know that God has more for you? Wherever you are, whatever you have achieved, there is still more that God has in store for you. We all need to understand that growing up is a process, both physically and spiritually. We must allow God to develop that process in us. Do you know that you don t become a full grown Christian overnight? Just like you never become a full grown human overnight. Do you know that it s not God s will for you to remain a baby or a child spiritually but to grow up and become mature in Him? Ephesians 4v11-15 NKJV And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, v12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, v13 till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, [Amplified says; that we might arrive at really mature manhood ] to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; v14 that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, v15 but speaking the truth in love, may GROW UP in all things into Him who is the head Christ. So we see in the above verses that God wants us to grow up in all things into Jesus. He needs us to grow up so that we can do the work of the ministry. The fivefold ministry gifts were given to the body of Christ to help them grow spiritually. The Bible speaks of at least three stages in spiritual development which correspond to three stages in physical development. They are: Babyhood, Childhood and Manhood. So let s look at the characteristics of each stage and see if we can locate ourselves. BABYHOOD 2
1 Peter 2:2 NKJV As newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the Word, that you may grow thereby. Here the Bible talks about newborn babes. No one is born a full grown human naturally and physically. People are born babies, and then they grow up. Likewise, no one is born a full grown Christian. You are born a spiritual babe, and then you grow up. We all understand that babies in the natural cannot do much for themselves. We know that someone else has to be there to help them along. We don t expect too much out of babies. But when it comes to spiritual babies, they get saved on Sunday and by Wednesday we already expecting them to make no mistakes and live on a level that took us and others many years to get there. Our expectations of them become unrealistic. You don t deal with a baby Christian the same way you will deal with someone who knows God for over 20 years. You come alongside them, show love towards them and lead them in the right way they should go. It is very important that we follow up on new-born babies spiritually; we must pray with them, encourage them and guide them because they don t know any better. We are responsible for babies because babies don t know and babies can t do much for themselves. In the natural, they can t walk yet, they can t dress themselves. In fact, all they do is just eat and all they eat is milk. So spiritual newborn babes, if they receive the pure milk of the Word of God, they will grow thereby. One of the characteristics of a newborn baby is there Innocence The first thing that attracts us to babies is their innocence. People will say, You sweet little innocent thing. No one thinks of a baby as having a past. It doesn t have one. Likewise, if you are a new born baby in Christ then you don t have any past either. You may have been as mean as the devil. You may have been the most unreasonable person that ever walked. But no matter how you lived, when you received Jesus into your life and got born again, you instantly became a new person in Christ Jesus and you don t have any past. God sees you now as an innocent babe in Christ. You became a new person in your spirit from the inside, not outside. 3
2 Corinthians 5:17 NKJV Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation, old things have passed away, behold, all things have become new. The person on the inside is the real you that has become new. Not the outside. Carl Bard Though no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending. Now this is very important. Even though innocence belongs to the babyhood stage of Christianity, it is one characteristic we should never outgrow. You should always have the above scripture in the forefront of your mind and maintain this state of innocence, because if you don t, you will fall under the condemnation of the devil and be defeated in your spiritual life. Romans 8:1 NKJV There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. Thank God we are in Christ Jesus. We are not taken out of Christ Jesus when we sin and mess up. Our relationship stays intact. If we miss the mark, we act on 1 John 1:9; we acknowledge and confess our sin and our fellowship with Jesus is restored. 1 John 1:9 NKJV If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. When you confess your sin to God, that is not when He finds out about it, that s when you get rid of it. But we don t stay and live in that place of condemnation. You must learn to get up quickly. Your sin is none of the devil s business. It s between you and Jesus and as far as Jesus is concerned, He has already put sin away by Himself. (Hebrews 9:26) When you confess your sin to God, He no longer remembers it. Hebrews 10:17 NKJV...Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more. 4
It is not good taste to keep bringing your sin up before God. Just say, Thank you God for my forgiveness. You overcame the accuser and all his accusations against you by the blood of the Lamb. Revelation 12:10-11 NKJV...for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony,. Mark 11:25 NKJV And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses. Un-forgiveness is a blessing blocker So maintain your innocent spirit before God. A new convert is simple, full of faith, ready and willing to learn. We should always maintain that teachable spirit. Sometimes when we grow older we sort of come to the place where we have a know it all attitude; a You can t tell me anything attitude. Those people no one can help, including God Himself. If you are not teachable, you are not reachable. Keep an open and teachable spirit, as well as an innocent spirit toward God and man. Pastor Lester Holland Sunday Message 9 July 2017 5