When you refuse to grow By Dr D.K. Olukoya

Text:
Galatian 4:1 – 3

“Now I say, That the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all; 2 But is under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father. 3 Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world”

It is important for you to grow. It is important for your life to take a new shape. It is dangerous for your life to remain stagnant. Being stagnant will result you to another school. The school of decay. That the heir, as long as he is a child is not different from a servant. The enemy can do anything they want to do with the child because he is not strong enough, not wise enough and not grown up enough to fight.  Many years ago we preached about fighting the enemy that fought your parent. Whether you like it or not, the devil that fought your parent is coming to fight you. If its not doing that yet, the person is not fat enough to be eaten up. They are still fattening the person up like a christmas goat. The devil that fought your parents will fight you. If you are still young, its because you have not grown to that level yet. It will fight you but you need to know how to fight back but the best way to fight is for you to grow up. Last week, I gave several marks by which we can measure whether you are growing in Christ or not. You could be coming to church for year but remain a spiritual baby. You could take part in activities in church but as far as heaven is concern, they see you as a baby. 

Signs to know if you are growing or not.

1.       Ability to teach others. You can teach others the way of the Lord. You can mentor others. You can take a young believer from the scratch and begin to disciple the person. This is part of why we have discipleship classes here.  So ability to teach others is a sign that you are growing. Are you unable to convert a soul, mentor a soul, then you are not growing. Have you been born again for five years and you cannot point your hand to someone you lead to Christ and you are helping the person to grow? It means you are not growing. The problem of Christianity is that there are too many babies in the house of God.

2.       Ability to eat solid spiritual food instead of milk. It is babies who drink milk. Solid food is for adult, solid food is for the mature. Failure to eat solid food indicates a lack of spirituality. It means you are not growing. If all the messages you want are prosperity! Prosperity!! Money! Breakthrough! You are not interested to learn about the state of your soul, you are not interested in heaven or hell. It means that it is milk you want to be drinking. If you are going to a church and the teach you how to make money but they did not teach you how to fight, the day the enemy will come against you to get the money away, you will have no weapon to fight because you were not taught to fight. So if you cannot eat solid spiritual food, it indicate that you are not growing. This is the truth.

3.       Ability to discern between good and evil. You know what is good. It is good but not God’s idea. Through diligent study and prayers, you are able to arrive at a  decision. You are able to know which one is God’s word or man’s word. You must have knowledge and discernment. Discernment is a mark of maturity. Rehoboam was the son of Solomon. The elders came to him and told him ‘your father chastise us terribly please reduce it and make it easier for us.’ He call the elders and they advised him. They told him to speak gently with the people. He abandon that advise and called the young ones and they told him don’t agree with them. Deal with them. Tell them; if your father used wipe, you will use scorpion. It was a mistake and that was the end of that kingdom. Ability to discern between good and evil is a mark of maturity. Ability to look and see someone standing before you, not after the manner of a man but after the manner of the spirit. That is maturity. There is no point in fighting or arguing with someone God open your eye and you see a snake inside his/her stomach because you are able to discern.

4.       Humility – colossian1:28 “Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus.” The humbly people receive spiritual instruction but the immature one, they know it all. Everything, they know it all. Everything – I have heard it before. The immature ones are too old to learn. That is why you see some elderly people roaming around during Sunday school because they think there is nothing to learn. The immature one do not receive correction, the mature ones are very humble. They are humble enough to recognize their short comings.  David sin, by the time prophet Nathan confronted David and told him a proverb about a man who had one sheep the other person had many sheep. One day a visitor came to the house of the rich man, he went to the man who had one sheep and took the only ship the man had and kill it and entertain his visitor. David was anger and said the person that do this should die. The prophet looked at him and said; “Thou art the man.” You took the wife of somebody and immediately, he said ‘I have sinned.’
Confession of sin is a true mark of humility. When you are not humble, you always want to be right. Everything he/she says is correct, others are not correct. When you are not humble, anytime you are criticized, you start fighting. It means you are not growing.

5.       The mark of Love. Love is the greatest mark of maturity. Maturity is to love the lovely and the unlovable. When you love, you keep more than you give. You go extra mile to assist others. If you really love a person, you will not go into sin with that person. This love is not sexual desire but Jesus kind of love. Love is a sign of maturity. Though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh for the weapons of our war fare are not carnal so all the prayers we are praying is never against human being. It is the bad spirit within them that we are confronting. So you should not hate anybody or be suspicious even of your own shadows or even scared of people. You should not say; this one is a witch, that one is a witch etc.  We do not pray against human beings but against the spirit in them that is not of God. That is what we are contesting with.

6.       Always striving to please Jesus. We should not seek to please ourselves but we should please the Lord. We should not see to please other men but we should seek to please the Lord. It is an insult for me to organize my dressing according to the child of the devil. It is an insult to have to believe that it is a child of the devil that will have to comment on how I look. It is an insult to rely on that. Beauty is internal not basically external.

7.       Not easily carried away by false doctrine. Ephesians 4:11 says “That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive.” A lot of people roam all over the place and practices all kinds of false doctrine. We have seen situations they asked people to bring broom to church to use the broom to sweep away poverty in their house. It is a false doctrine. We have seen people who have been asked to bring leaves to church, stones cutlass etc. the Bible says we should not be children tossed by every false doctrine. There is nothing a man carries that has more power than the word of God because the Bibles say that God exalts His word even above His name. Those who are growing, you can’t just carry them away with false doctrine. They will tell you something is happening there and you rush there or there is one baba there and you run down there. They keep consulting all kinds of people all over the place. Why are you roaming around like mosquito instead of developing yourself? Strange things they are asking you to do. A man came to me and we gave him prayer points to pray but his friend said he must take him somewhere. So out of respect, he followed his friend there. When he got there, the man said; you need to undress naked and enter into that room and lie down and say o God naked my enemies. I asked him: Did you do it? He said no sir it’s not in the Bible, am not doing it. Others had done it. Then after doing it, you now go back to the prayer point and you will say the prayer is not walking. So those who are matured, they know and loves the truth and they are not easily carried away. When it comes to the things of God, they don’t take a neutral position. That is, either for God or not. One day I was so impressed by an old woman. She was our pastor’s wife. I was a small boy then. I was passing by the mission house, I wanted to greet them. As I greeted her; ‘mummy good morning’ a white garment prophet was passing. The ‘prophet ’ came and began to prophesied. He said ‘mama  hear the word of the lord, you have a daughter who is pregnant now and unless you buy seven candles and other items he mentioned. Then the girl and the pregnancy, you will lose them.’ He then said mummy, I am ready to do the work for you. I thought the woman was going to get scared but she smiled and said ‘prophet, can you do me a favour? These things you said I should bring money for you to buy, there is no money. You lend me the money, do it yourself, I will pay you back.’ To my amassment, the prophet got angry and said rubbish, you are not serious and he walked away. The bottom line is that the child delivered by that lady is still alive now and this was in the 70’s. That’s maturity. Are you growing like that?

8.       Someone who is growing is not easily moved by persecution. The mature Christian knows that you can’t have roses without thorns. Persecutions and hardships will come. Persecutions and hardships will approve or disapprove you before God. Hardship and difficulty will work patience and make you stronger in the end. Such a person who is growing will not hate correction, angry when criticized

9.       Those who are growing, they keep their heart right with God. The Bible says you should control your heart above all things. It argues us to keep our hearts with all diligence.

10.   You must strive for perfect faith and holiness. Holiness within and without. Without holiness, no one can please God.

11.   Those who are growing work towards unity. They will never support any effort to cause confusion. Every envy, strive, division quarrels are evidences of immaturity. You are in a Christian meeting; you got so angry that you walk out. It means you are not mature – you are a baby in adult clothes.

12.   James 3:2 “For in many things we offend all. If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body.”
One sign that you are growing is that you can control your tongue.  The mature Christians control the tongue. The mature Christian understands how much damage that tongue can do. Do not say things about others that you don’t want them to hear. If you don’t want them to hear, don’t say it. When you can control your tongue, then the Bible says you will be able to control other parts of the body. Do not get engaged in verbal war, control what you are saying. Allow the Holy Spirit in you get into gear before your mouth begin to talk.

13.   You fully rely on your heavenly father. You realize that only God can help you. The happiest people on earth are those who are dedicated to God and are growing every day. It is true you have been going to church, have you defeated your anger? Have you defeated that pride? Have you defeated the lust in your heart? Have you defeated the inability to pray on your own? Have you defeated the inability to read the Bible by yourself? Have you ever said; oh Lord show me my mark in Heaven so that I can know my stand? That was the prayer my own my father prayed many years back. He heard how people were talking about heaven and he was determined not to miss it. He went on three day dry fasting with only one prayer point; ‘O Lord, I want to make heaven.’ On day 1, he did not hear anything. Day 2, he did not see anything. On day 3, he saw himself in a vision, with a white wrapper and he saw himself trapped in a very narrow road. That path was so narrow that he could only take one step at a time. Beside that road was a wide express way. And he heard a voice saying: ‘Son, many are in the broad way, this is the narrow way and few there be that fine it. You cannot bribe God with fasting and prayer, walk on that narrow way and you will make heaven.’ The people who are joyful as Christians are those who are growing everyday and are dedicated to the master.

What do you do?
What do you do so that you do not remain a spiritual baby? So that you grow the way God wants you to grow?

1.       Decide to choose a life of growth. It is a person decision or choice. You make it consciously or unconsciously every day. Have a rugged determination that I must leave this level of faith. You must be tired of being tried and sick of being sick. Take a decision today.

2.       Start growing today. Procrastination is a disease. If you are saying one of these days, I will start. Don’t procrastinate. Don’t be like that young lady that came to the crusade and they took altar call. She was the only one crying bitterly at that altar. Since she was the only one crying bitterly, the man of God has to go to her and was calming her down. The man of God asked; why are you crying? She responded ‘preach can I ask you a question?’ The pastor answered yes. She continued; ‘from what you have just told us now, that means that if I surrender my life to Jesus today, that is bye-bye to my boyfriend?’ the man answered; yes that’s the end. She held her head and refused to sign the form and ran out of the church. It was not up to 5 minutes when a trailer ran her down and she died. So the devil did not give her the opportunity to grow or to make that heaven. Procrastination is a disease, so start today. Put more fire with your Bible reading. Put more fire with your prayer life. Put more aggression into fighting sin.

3.       Be teachable. Those people who hate Sunday school, it is evident they are not growing.

4.       Make effort to develop yourself. Make effort to see that you develop spiritually. We have taken action to see that people grow.  There is foundational class, membership class, and discipleship class where you can be taught everything about how to grow and become a servant of God. So make effort to develop yourself.

5.       Do not be satisfied with your present level. One of the greatest enemy of progress is your past achievement. Don’t be comfortable with that. Tell yourself; ‘I must leave this level.’ You must not be happy with your present level now.

6.       Be a continual learner. Learn every day. No matter who is preaching, you must learn something.

7.       Develop a plan for growth. You don’t grow spiritually by accident, you make a plan. You must know where you are and where you want to be. You must develop plans to reach your goal. This means you should plan your prayer time. Plan your retreat time. Plan your Bible study. Plan your witnessing. Plan them out.

8.       Be willing to pay the price. Growth is sometimes very uncomfortable. I will be deceiving you to say growth is easy. It requires discipline and perseverance. Sometimes it requires loneliness. Sometimes people will mock you and laugh at you. Sometime they will call you all kinds of names in your quest to grow.
Spiritual growth however is not an option if you want to make heaven. It is a command and I pray that the Lord will help you in the name of Jesus.

9.       Finally you must become a Bible and prayer addict. If you have been born again for 5 years, I expect you to know a minimum of 365 verses in your head. If you learn one verse per week, at least in a year, you learn 52 verses. So that if you don’t know as much as 365 and you know 52, you now build on that. You should memorize your Bible verses and meditate on it. The power of meditation can never be put aside. Combine that with your prayer and you will become a champion all the time.

Let’s bow our heads now and talk to the Lord.  Tell him; Father help me, I must grow. I must leave this level and go to the level you want me to go.

Prayers

My Father, I am available, revive my heart in the name of Jesus.

My Father, touch my heart with your fire in the name of Jesus.

Father , I commit my life to a life of growth so that heaven can be happy with me.