Hundredfold Ministries, Int'l

In this chapter we are going to examine the three stages of spiritual growth as stated in 1 John 2:12,13. They are children, young man, and spiritual fathers. God calls every Christian leader to become a spiritual father or mother in His Kingdom.

Christian Maturity

As we examine various passages of Scripture we see clearly that God wants us, His children, to grow into full maturity. Why? Because such maturity is necessary to enjoy the full fellowship God desires to have with His children. Also, full maturity, especially in His Christian leaders, is necessary for God to accomplish His work on earth. The spiritually immature cannot lead others or do the tasks necessary to complete His plan.

If a Christian's goal is to make it to heaven, I have enough confidence in the Lord to say, "Relax. If you've invited Jesus into your heart, you've got heaven made. There is no place else to go."

But heaven should not be our objective; heaven is our destiny. The objective of our Christian walk must be much more than to simply make it to heaven. God's objective is to mature us in this life so that the glory of Jesus Christ will radiate from our hearts. He wants us to display to the church and to the world the nature of Christ by our lifestyle, by the words we speak, by the things we teach and say, and by our very existence. This objective is quite clearly stated in Romans 3:10: "His intent was that now [not off in the future] through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, according to his eternal purpose which he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord..." God's plan is to show forth His grace, glory and power through the church! . . . that's us! If the glory of God is going to show forth through all of us, and especially through His Christian leaders, then we must grow up in Him, "unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ." (Eph 4:13)

Stages of Growth

Thus we ask, "What must I do to grow up in Christ?" The Apostle John provided some essential insight into the process of growth when he wrote,

"I write to you, dear children, because, your sins have been forgiven on account of his name. I write to you, fathers, because you have known him who is from the beginning. I write unto you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I write to you, dear children, because you have known the Father. I write to you, fathers, because you have known him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God lives in you, and you have overcome the evil one." (1 Jn 2:12-13 NIV)

In this passage John categorized three distinct stages of spiritual growth. These stages help us properly identify our own spiritual stature. Where do I fit? Which one do I most resemble?

Some think, "I've been saved for twelve years. I consider myself a spiritual father. I'm fairly mature." This thinking erroneously assumes that Christian longevity is equal to spiritual maturity. Hopefully we are among the gentle, humble ones who say, "No, I'm only a child in Christ."

Regardless of how we see ourselves, we must properly identify our stage of growth in order to understand the events occurring in our spiritual environment. Events are usually designed (or allowed) by our Heavenly Father to force us into spiritual growth "unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ."

In order to help identify the three stages of growth I will list some of the doctrinal experiences that describe (a) the child, (b) the young man (or woman) and (c) the spiritual fathers and mothers. As we look at the stages we may see some things with which we can identify, things that relate to our lives.

Stage 1 The Little Child

We are speaking of spiritual children now, it has nothing to do with age. If you are 50 years old and you were born again last week, you are a babe in Christ. If you are 50 years old and you have been born again since you can remember, you should not be a babe in Christ, you should be mature.

Looking at the spiritual child, quite frankly, there are not a great number of attributes that would draw someone to Christ, though there are a few. For example, in the natural, little children are often cuddly, cute and enthusiastic. So in the spiritual dimension, babes often warm our hearts with their enthusiasm and new life.

A child is easily identified by his or her limited understanding or comprehension. To help identify the child, let us look at some of the doctrines he understands. The two doctrines that a child learns first are the doctrines of sin and repentance.

1. Sin, Repentance and Salvation

A child knows when he or she has done wrong. A spiritual child is willing to recognize personal sin and experience repentance following the awareness of his sin. The child then receives salvation as a result of experiencing genuine repentance and an understanding that he needs a personal savior, Jesus Christ.

2. Baptism and Identity with Christ

The spiritual child should come to understand the need for baptism as an outward sign to the world of his spiritual rebirth and new life in Christ. He also soon comes to a place of beginning to learn his identity in Christ. Recently I observed our neighbor's little toddler. He is about two years old and has a long, multi-syllable last name which is very difficult to pronounce. "What's your name?" his mother would ask, and wow! He would proudly start spouting out the family name loud and clear! We should all be able to spout out our family name by saying, "I am a child of the living God! I have been born again! I belong to Jesus!" We believers do have an identity in Christ.

3. Prayer

The child should also become familiar with the doctrine of prayer. Every spiritual child should learn how to pray. That is one thing children can do as well as adults though they certainly will not pray with the wisdom and maturity an adult often does.

Stage 2 The Young Man

After a period of growth and teaching, the young man or woman has left the little child stage and has grown into spiritual young manhood or womanhood. Let's look at some of the doctrines he should know.

Thus, the child's doctrinal experiences are summarized as follows

"CHILDREN'S" DOCTRINES Repentance

Salvation Baptism

Identity in Christ

Prayer

Figure 28-1

1. Justification

One of the first doctrines he is going to learn is justification. In this stage he has learned that he makes mistakes and that he trips and stumbles in his Christian walk from ti me to time. But he goes back to his Bible and he finds out that Jesus sti0ll loves him . . . unconditionally. He learns that "I stand before God the Father totally justified because of what Jesus did, not because of what I do or do not do. I am fully justified before God the Father. Yes, Jesus, I'm sorry that I failed. Jesus, please forgive me. I know my sin has nothing to do with my standing before God the Father because my standing depends on what you did. Hallelujah!"

On the other hand, the little child feels that every time he sins, he is no longer a child of God. He fears that he is now lost, undone before God. Imagine the yo-yo experience, the trauma and the fear that accompanies this ordeal. Question: If a Christian is continually going through the mental and emotional experience of being saved-lost, saved-lost, how effective is his portrayal of Christ before others? Not very I'm afraid. Why? Because the central focus of his total experience is keeping himself saved!

As "young men" then let us put that childhood fear aside. We are in God's hands . . . period. Let us get on with telling others about Jesus. Let us get on with letting the light of Jesus shine from our faces. Let us remove the veil of fear and trepidation and let the love of Jesus shine into the sphere in which we live and work. The young man learns that if he stumbles and falls, he gets up, repents and asks the Lord's forgiveness, and gets on with life.

2. Sanctification

The young man learns another doctrine, he begins to know what it's like to experience sanctification. When we first come to Jesus for salvation we bring all of our garbage along. Though our sins are fully forgiven, we still have sinful attitudes and habits. Or perhaps sinful acts are still clinging to us. Before God we stand clean, spotless and white as snow immediately at our salvation experience. This is the result of the cleansing blood of Jesus. But the old nature that causes us to sin is still lurking in the dark recesses of our heart. The object of sanctification is to drive the old unregenerate nature out.

I have heard people say, "I want to clean up my life before I come to Jesus." My answer is, "Forget it, you never will. You don't have the proper cleaning materials. It's only through the cleansing agency of the blood of Jesus Christ and the sanctifying power of the Holy Spirit that one's life can be cleansed." I like what David DuPlessis said, "God catches His fish, then He cleans them." That's good doctrine! If we are to continue our walk with Jesus, we have to learn we are justified by the blood of Jesus, by what He did at Calvary . . . then the Holy Spirit can get on with the sanctification process.

The cleansing or sanctification process as described in the Bible is a life-long process. The image in my mind is that soon after the salvation experience the Holy Spirit comes with a bucket of water and soap in one hand and a big scrub brush in the other and says, "Come here, boy, we're going to do a little cleansing. There are some areas in your life that I want to clean." I run the other way shouting, "No! I don't want to get wet . . . and I don't like the looks of that rough brush you've got in your hand . . . ."

In general we may expect the first thing the Holy Spirit is going to deal with is the overt sin, that is, those things others can see. Then, after He has cleansed the overt down to a minimum, He is going to start with the covert sin, things like jealousy, envy, selfishness and all the foul things inside the heart. Sanctification is an ongoing cleansing, purging process. The young man is soon thoroughly acquainted with God's scrub brush!

3. Faith

The young man also begins to learn faith. He begins to walk in faith. He begins to take God's Word at face value and he begins to walk believing the Word. He begins to find that if Jesus said it, he can believe it and act on it. In other words, if it's God's Word, that settles it.

4. Spiritual Warfare

The young man also begins to learn a new, often unwanted, unpleasant lesson, spiritual warfare. In fact, he may say, "Had I known that God's army was going to be like this, I'm not so sure I would have joined! I always thought that the devil was a figment of some medieval theologian's imagination!"

A very stark, very real part of a Christian's growth is spiritual warfare. There are times in spiritual warfare that you may call other believers crying out, "Pray for me. I'm really in the middle of battle." That's part of waging spiritual warfare. But there are also times when you don't know a soul on whom you can call. God says, "You've got this one yourself - you and Me." It's then time for you to call out to God in prayer, entering His very throne room, for your situation. Sometimes we fight in concert with others, sometimes we fight alone . . . but fight we must and will if we are going to grow spiritually.

You may ask, "Why does the young man need to learn spiritual warfare?" The Apostle John said you have "overcome the wicked one." (1 Jn 2:13) If we cannot learn to overcome him, he will overcome us, defeating us in our Christian walk.

Some will murmur "It's not fair for God to stick us out here all by ourselves with our little Ephesians 6 sword, shield, breastplate, belt, sandals, and helmet of salvation and say, 'You're own your own.'" No, from our human viewpoint, it may not be fair. But the only way we are really ever going to learn spiritual warfare is by His thrusting us out into battle. It is only by doing battle that we learn who we are in Christ. When we take the sword of the Spirit and the shield of faith and go as conquerors into the enemy's territory we grow spiritually. We learn to say, "Hallelujah! There's power in the Name of Jesus! No longer can the enemy intimidate me in that area of my life. I have overcome the wicked one!". . . a fact we never learn until we actually fight and win the battle! Had God fought the enemy for us we would always remain fearful and easily intimidated by the devil.

Remember, the enemy has only two weapons: intimidation and the lie. Shame on us if we allow him to successfully use either of these weapons on us. If we allow him to succeed, we then live a substandard defeated Christian life.

Furthermore, only in the midst of warfare do we truly learn God's faithfulness. It is good and refreshing to read the Psalms and hear David praise God for His faithfulness. But those Psalms have a new reality and meaning after we have been doing battle and found Jesus standing at our side time after time, faithfully leading us to victory! Then we say, "Oh, Jesus is faithful! Hallelujah! My God never fails! He never lets me down!" Now there is a real difference. The spiritual child cannot truly experience that. He hasn't the spiritual environment yet which allows him to experience the real faithfulness of God. Yes, he can enjoy God's faithful provision and the like, but the spiritual babe does not experience the kind of faithfulness that grows along with the muscle toning of spiritual warfare.

5. Overcoming

Then one day our spiritual young man realizes he has become an overcomer. It is one thing to do warfare and occasionally win. But it is quite another to be an overcomer. Doing warfare simply means you are in a battle. The title "Overcomer" tells who won! The overcomer enters into a new revelation. He knows first hand what the Scripture means when it says, "I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions, and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you." (Lk 10:19 NIV)

6. Praise

Possibly as a result of the previous lessons our young man or woman also learns to truly praise God. King David penned Psalms after his victories. His joy, praises and exaltation of God are full because of his overcoming. David knew that his overcoming was through the power of God, not through his own power. Therefore he naturally turns to the praise and exaltation of God.

I find it very difficult to imagine people who have experienced spiritual warfare and victory in their lives without it resulting in joyous praise. Praise is necessarily robust. Maybe our personal conservatism says, "Well, let's not get too excited now." Have we conservatives never read about the "tabernacle of David"? Have we never read where King David sang, shouted and jumped before the Lord? That must have been exciting! Old Testament praise was noisy. The rattling of tambourines, the clanging of cymbals, loud vocalization and shouts of praise to God were heard by all for a great distance! That kind of praise is very noisy!

YOUNG MAN'S DOCTRINES

Justification

Sanctification Faith

Spiritual Warfare Overcomer

Praise

Figure 28-2

We see then that the spiritual young man has a completely different set of doctrinal experiences that separate him from the little child. Here is a summary of the young man's doctrines.

Stage 3 The Spiritual Father

Not let's examine the spiritual father or mother. It is to this state that God calls every Christian leader. It is in this state of fatherhood that we see the most mature Christians. What are the doctrines, or biblical teachings, the spiritual father should understand and experience?

1. The Royal Priesthood

The spiritual father learns early in his fatherhood about the royal priesthood. He learns that being a priest is a selfless ministry. A priest speaks to God for man. Thus, the spiritual father's focus has turned from "I, me, my and mine" to the Heavenly Father, and then to his earthly brothers, sisters, and the spiritual children.

"He hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father." (Rev 1:6 KJV, emphasis added.) In the earlier stages of our growth our focus is very much on "me, my children, my household, etc." and if we are really spiritual, our focus may elevate to "my church." But when we grow into full maturity and join the ranks of the royal priesthood, we have a concern for the lost, the captives, the maimed and the dying. We have a burden for the Body of Christ reaching maturity. We see Jesus breathing His life into His body, producing the Divine energy that is essential to reach His goals. As a spiritual father or mother begins to understand what it means to be a priest in the Body of Christ, he or she gladly enters into that dimension with its responsibilities and blessings. In so doing our spiritual father or mother enters into yet another realm of growth:

2. Righteousness

Occasionally young Christians use their youthfulness in Christ as an excuse for sinful habits. They say, "I will indulge in this sin now. I'll deal with it later . . . besides, God hasn't spoken to me about this." This should not be. We need to understand that righteousness is just as incumbent on the child and the young man as it is on the father. God doesn't need to speak to us when the commandments are clearly written in His Word.

Yet we do need to understand that the moment we receive Christ in our hearts we are declared righteous before God the Father. It is a legal declaration. Often we look at such young believers and see the sinful dirt and grime that clings to them. To us they may not look very righteous. Yet the Father looks at them and says, "What are you talking about? He is spotless! For he has been cleansed by the blood of Jesus." That's God's means of covering uncleanness until such time that the Holy Spirit deals with the source of unrighteousness.

But the fathers know the meaning of true righteousness. By the time the believer reaches spiritual fatherhood, righteousness has become a reality. Those around him can see it. Even the world with it's critical scrutiny looks him over and says, "I would certainly like to find something wrong with him . . . but I can't." True righteousness has become an inseparable part of his character and personality.

3. Mercy

Then there is mercy. When someone has done wrong our old carnal nature says, "Let's give him his just deserts! Hang him!" But the spiritual father maintains restraint and boldly declares, "But our God is so full of mercy! Let's give him another chance." Spiritual fathers abound with mercy, almost to a fault. They seem to see redeeming value in most everyone. God said, "I desire mercy not sacrifice." (Hos 6:6 NIV, emphasis added.) Isn't it strange that mercy is one of the last things most of us seem to embrace, yet it is so close to the very heart of God?

4. Suffering

The father has learned something else too. He has learned the true meaning of suffering . . . and it's invaluable benefit to the believer. By suffering I mean suffering for the cause of Christ, not suffering for one's own mistakes, blunders and pride. The Apostle John was exiled to the Isle of Patmos for the Gospel's sake, not because he was a belligerent old man. All true Christian suffering must ultimately be for the Gospel's sake. Some of us suffer because of our sin, then we erroneously call it "suffering for Christ!" When we truly suffer because we bear the message of Jesus in our hearts, then we are learning the true meaning of suffering for the cause of Christ.

Some will certainly say, "Brother, that's not a very popular teaching. I like the teaching better that says God wants me to prosper." Did the Apostle Paul say, 'Yea, all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall enjoy prosperity'?" Or did he rather say, "Yea, all that will live godly in Christ Jesus suffer persecution"? (2 Tim 3:12 KJV, emphasis added.) He also told the church at Antioch, "We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God . . ." (Acts 14:22 NIV) Indeed, the Scriptures makes it quite clear that we must share in Christ's sufferings if we are to share in His glory. (Rom 8:17)

5. Grace

Another doctrine with which the father is very familiar is that of grace. Not only is he a recipient of God's grace, he in turn becomes a dispenser of God's grace to others. Grace is a most precious commodity. In fact, it is so precious that the Apostle Paul was actually happy to suffer physical affliction in order to receive God's grace! (See 2 Cor 12:8-10.) Obviously there is much more to grace than is generally understood by most of us. But the spiritual father is experienced in the matter of grace and readily lavishes it upon those who are in need. He is truly the hand of Christ extended.

6. Rest

The spiritual fathers and mothers are also acquainted experientially with another doctrine I call rest. The writer of Hebrews introduced us to rest when he spoke of God's Sabbath rest. The spiritual father comes to a place where he fully understands who he is in Christ. He realizes that nothing that this life offers is worth even one ounce of the glory that is to be revealed to those who rest in Christ Jesus. He rests in spirit above life's problems. Regardless of circumstances, he asks, "What can man do to me?" He rests in Christ.

In appearance he seem as one who is a bit removed because he knows that this life and this world are indeed temporary. The real life is the life eternal. The real world is yet to come. He simply settles back and rests. His theme is, "If I live or if I die, praise the Lord! Sudden death means sudden glory!" He rests in the Father. He is not shaken by the threats of man, the happenings of this world, or by the violent political winds that blow. He is not shaken for he is firmly settled on the Rock.

I have seen spiritual fathers move quietly and bravely into volatile situations with great peace . . . even though the circumstances were life-threatening. I have seen them go into the very jaws of hell moving in the will of God, totally without fear, fully at rest every moment. Rest is not to be confused with passivity. Rest is not even being a co-laborer with God . . . it is letting God do the work through you. We then cease from our own labors. We are spiritually at rest even as we are about our Father's business.

7. Worship

Our elated spiritual father joyfully and purposefully enters into the realm of worship. In the book of Genesis the patriarch Jacob, in his old age, moments before his death, leaned on his staff and worshiped God. Yes, the spiritual father knows a fullness of worship. He needs no reason or special occasion for he knows God is worthy. No one has to tell him to worship his Father. He worships daily, continually. Even while doing mundane tasks he is worshiping. Quietly in his heart he sings and makes melody to God the Father. He is continually praising and worshiping the Father. He has entered into a new joy, that of being a worshiper.

Yet the spiritual father is not a fool, life's problems are as real to him as they are to others. But because of his rest, worship, and the closeness he has to the Heavenly Father, the problems no longer have the same power over him. Yes, the struggles and warfare do exist, but they don't have the same effect on the fathers.

FATHER'S DOCTRINES Royal Priesthood

Righteousness Mercy

Suffering Grace

Rest Worship

Figure 28-3

These doctrinal truths exist in seed form in the child or young man in varying degrees. But the full blossom of experiential understanding is going to be manifested only in the spiritual fathers and mothers. Figure 28-3 is a summary of the doctrinal experiences of the spiritual father.

Fruit of the Spirit

For the Christian there is another way to gauge spiritual growth. The King James Bible says that we are God's "husbandry." (1 Cor 3:9) In today's language we would say "God's farm." In the Book of Galatians there is a list of spiritual virtues known as the fruit of the spirit. (Gal 5:22-23) They are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control.

Which of these fruits grow in the life of the spiritual child... young man . . . and father? Figure 28-4 illustrates this span.

Let's look first at the children. The only fruit that the child can produce with any degree of consistency is that of love. He doesn't know much about goodness, faithfulness, joy, peace, etc. "I want it and I want it now!" seems to be the common attribute of the child, does it not?

The young man does somewhat better. In addition to love he also produces a measurable degree of goodness and faithfulness.

CHILDREN'S FRUIT YOUNG MEN'S FRUIT

FATHER'S FRUIT

Love Love

Love Goodness

Goodness

Faithfulness Faithfulness Joy Peace Patience Kindness Gentleness Self-Control

Figure 28-4

However, in all honesty, as we look at the list of fruit, we must attribute the remainder of them to the spiritual fathers and mothers as an ongoing part of their lives. In addition to love, goodness and faithfulness, we add joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness and self-control. Some may imagine that the spiritual father is worse off because of his suffering. Don't be deceived. He has entered into a realm of joy that the younger believers have not tasted. And peace? Peace is flowing like a river in his life. It flows in spite of the raging battles. Vicious attacks and the like may surround our spiritual father, but deep down inside he enjoys peace.

He bears the fruit of patience. He has learned that God always keeps His word. He sees that Abraham waited 25 years for his promise. He knows that if God says it, it is surely going to come to pass. He is the embodiment of kindness. He is the epitome of gentleness and he possesses the last, and most difficult of all fruit to produce, self-control.

The believer who is experienced and versed in all of these doctrines and who manifests all of these fruits of the Spirit is truly a father or mother in Israel!

Notice I have not listed spiritual gifts (See 1 Cor 12:8-12.) I have not listed gifts because gifts are given, fruit is grown. Growth takes time. Does the apple producer put an apple seed in the ground, pour water on it, then come with a basket to gather the apples? No, he can't do that. Perhaps he can in 6 or 7 years. So it is with every believer's growth in Christ. God wants us to produce fruit. And fruit is going to be produced in proportion to our knowledge of, our experience of, and our obedience to Christ. Traits of the Little Child, Young Man and Father

Finally, to help us more properly identify our own spiritual growth, Figure 28-5 lists some personality traits, or identifiers that are applicable

IDENTIFYING ATTRIBUTES OF: Children Young Men Fathers Needs Milk Needs Solid Food Are Steadfast Are Jealous Knows Good from Evil Seated in Heavenlies Quarrels In Constant

Training From Glory to Glory Subject to Factions Subject to Anger Are Forgiving Worldly Subject to Worry Has Authority Acts as "Mere Men" Unforgiving Has Peace Pride Self-Centered Has Power Anger Has Humility Worries Are Other-Centered Unforgiving Self-Centered

Figure 28-5

to the various stages of spiritual growth. Some of the traits are desirable and some are not. If we find ourselves overly encumbered with the undesirable characteristics on the list, that information provides a clue as to our stage of spiritual growth. Examine Figure 28-5 carefully . . . and prayerfully. Here are some questions to ponder:

l. Where am I on the list? If each of us properly identified our stage of Christian growth, we could more readily cooperate with the Lord in our maturing.

2. Is it possible to be in two stages simultaneously? I believe so. We may be 60 percent in one and 40 in the other, or 50/50, and so on. The transition between stages seems to be progressive. We don't wake up one morning and hear a voice from heaven saying, "Thou art now a father." Growth is progressive. It is indeed a joy to know there is a goal, a reason for the struggles of life. It is so that the love of God may be shed abroad in our hearts to the lost, the maimed and the dying of the world. Such love radiates from the spiritual fathers.

3. Do we ever move backwards? Yes, I believe there are those who decide that the price of growth is too high. Such believers have focused their vision on the problems, selfish ambitions, or on the world and not on the final goal of attaining spiritual fatherhood. But once one has, ". . . tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the Word of God and the powers of the coming age, . . ." (Heb 6:4-5 NIV) it is difficult to imagine wanting to go back or being satisfied with anything less!