Growing By The Word Hebrews 5:12-14 CLICK TITLE FOR AUDIO
The companion passage for this sermon is Heb 5:12. The theme is how to know that you are growing spiritually.
When you are growing physically, it is easy to tell. You can see the growth: increasing height, bulking up, growing belly, etc. It is harder to tell when you are growing spiritually as a result of digesting the word. But here are some benchmarks that might be able to help you.
Keep in mind that you are not going to grow spiritually apart from this word. You need to read it, study it, hear it taught and preached, and live it.
When you are growing by the word, you will see:
An increase in knowledge – You will know more Bible, more of what it says. People misapply 1 Cor 8:1-4 when it comes to increasing your knowledge of the word of God. Look at Prov 1:4-5, Prov10:14 and 2 Tim 2:15. Jesus rebuked Nicodemus in Jn 3:10 for not knowing more than he did, “Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things?”
An increase in understanding – Job 28:28, Prov 9:10 – the word of God will cause you to depart from evil and it will give you knowledge of the holy. It will transform you from the pig pen of sin and evil to the holiness of the righteousness of God. This is where your knowledge of the word really becomes useful.
An increase in wisdom – Prov 9:10 – the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. As a preacher said, “Wisdom is knowing what to be afraid of.” Truly, men are afraid of the wrong things. They are afraid of men [peer pressure], the future state of the economy, the outcome of political elections, their children, etc. As a result they spend their days in foolishness and make unwise decision. With wisdom, you make wise decisions, wise choices, wise friends, and you seek wise counsel.
An increase in love – Jn 14:21-24 – as you are filled with the truth of the word of God, you love the word of God, love the Lord, love the Lord’s people. In my own life, I found that getting a good dose of early morning Bible and time alone with the Lord has actually increased my love for my wife.
An increase in inspiration – 2 Tim 3:16-17 – the word of God is given to you by inspiration, so that while you read it, God is giving you understanding [Job 32:8] – the more the word is given to you by inspiration, the more profitable it is to you for doctrine, reproof, correction and instruction in righteousness, that you may be perfect and thoroughly furnished.
Conclusion: Now, these are some of the indicators of spiritual growth. Don’t be like many who have been saved for years and are still as spiritually immature as the first week they got saved. Get in the word and grow!