Milk & Meat - Kingdom Growth with Pastor Marci Glisson

Thanks for checking out the Anchor Faith Message podcast

from St. Augustine, FL.

Now enjoy this message. So tonight we're going to talk

about milk and meat. Milk and meat.

We're going to talk about growing in the Kingdom of God.

Amen. Growing in the Kingdom of God.

Last Wednesday night, Pastor ministered in this arena about

the fact that we are all too mature and to grow in the

Kingdom of God. Amen.

When we got transferred from the domain of darkness and and

brought into His Kingdom and now we walk as children of God.

He calls us babes in Christ. Every new born again individual

the Bible calls a babe in Christ.

When we come into the Kingdom of God, every single one of us are

babies. Look at Jasmine's little little

one here growing up so fast. Everything within the Kingdom of

God right when we get born again is placed on the inside of us in

our spirit man. Everything as a child of God is

placed on the inside of me, us when we get born again just like

this baby. All the DNA from Alex and

Jasmine is in this baby from her parents, right?

Her mother and her father. Everything is within her.

Her little personality is already within her.

Everything her, everything that she is going to become as a

child and as a a teenager and as an adult, everything is already

within her. But when now that she's born

again, there's things that she has to discover about herself.

A baby is going to realize that they can actually make sounds

and start what cooing is what they're called, right?

Little Coos. They're going to realize, oh,

there was sound within me. They are going to realize then

how to start speaking. They then are going to start

realizing actually that they are a literal human being.

She does not have any clue what she is right now.

She doesn't know that she's a little girl or a little boy, but

we do. So we as parents have to teach

them what they are, just like the Heavenly Father when we come

into the Kingdom of God, everything within us as His

child is in there. And now it is time for us to

discover what we are in connection to Him and that He is

our Father. She's going to realize that

eventually. Oh, this is my mother and what

the mother is supposed to do for her.

She has no idea that her mother is feeding her right now,

changing her diaper right now. She has no idea.

She is just warm and cozy when she cries.

Someone is taking care of her, her mother.

So eventually she's going to identify who her mother is and

who her father is. Not only who her mother and her

father is, but who her family is, who her family is in the

natural, right in the natural. She will then discover who her

family is in a spiritual aspect if they continue to raise her up

in a godly home, bringing her to church, teaching her that she's

not just part of her natural family, but she's part of a

Kingdom family. So all of these things she still

has to discover in life as a baby.

And that is the same aspect of how we are to look at our

relationship with the Father. We when we get born again,

there's so much that we don't know and understand about our

Father, our Heavenly Father. We don't know about him when we

get born again. The only thing we know is that

we needed Him to save us. And we have learned here that so

many people stop right there and stay at the fact that, you know

what, we are just born again. But they never begin to discover

what else God has on the inside of them.

They never begin to discover their purposes.

They never begin to discover who the Heavenly Father is, that he

is a king. He has a Kingdom come on, and we

are his royal offspring. And there's things in this

Kingdom now, or the family of God now, that we still need to

grow and understand there. This little child is going to

begin to understand the qualities and the behaviors and

the morals and the values that her family upholds.

She's going to discover that what her family believes in,

she's you. She's going to learn to believe

in right If her, you know, and we could go into so many

different directions, but she's going to believe to begin to

believe in those things. She's going to begin to look at

how her parents take care of her and provide for her.

She's going to begin to discover if there's something I need, I

can go to my parents, my mother, my father, and I can ask of him

of them, right? She's going to discover that my

parents are there to protect me and to guide me.

And not only that, she's going to begin to then understand the

character of her parents. She's going to start seeing

certain behaviors. Do you know, and we've said this

before, by the time children are two to four years old, they have

already had, what is it that it's called?

Their brains have already developed and absorbed

everything within them. There's a term it's called, it's

the most formidable years. Do you know that's the same in a

new believer's life? The most formidable years within

a new believer's life as a babe in Christ is the first four

years. And actually we can see and one

of our instructors told us at Rhema over 20 years ago that

within three to five years, if someone is born again, within

three to five years, they would have expected you to have

matured within three to five years of you being born again,

that you could have already matured as a a solid believer.

So why are we not seeing that in believers lives today?

Because one, maybe they've not been in a place in their

formidable years that has actually taught them who they

are and what they are to discover in the Kingdom.

Or two, they have not actually submitted themselves to the word

of God and to the church or the House of God, the family of God,

to be able to help grow them and equip them properly.

Or number three, they have chosen to neglect their growth

and not feed on the proper things.

Because don't we see that happen in children's lives If they

don't have the proper what nutrition?

If they don't have the proper care, if they cannot form,

right? You have children that start

kindergarten and still have language issues.

They can't speak properly and different things.

Why? Because in their first

formidable years, they weren't taught properly how to speak.

You talk to them like they were a baby until they were 10,

right? You let them say Wawa instead of

saying no, it is water. And now it's time for you to say

water and not Wawa, right? Or whatever the case may be.

So we see that in the natural, God uses the natural process of

growth in a human being in Scriptures to show us that we as

believers are to actually grow in the manner like we see in the

natural. We're to grow spiritually just

as we are to grow naturally as a child, as a human right.

And so again, the thing about it is, is that we have to ask

ourselves if we've been in a, in a place where God has actually

put you with pastors to teach you and equip you, where is what

does your growth pattern look like?

You know how when you take these infants to the doctor and they

do a growth chart for them, they'll do their measurements

and they'll let you know if they are in the average of what a

child should be in the age that they are.

There is a growth chart in the Kingdom of God and you may not

be measuring it, but guess who is our Father?

Our Father is always measuring us and looking at us as his

children because he is a good father.

He does not want us to be neglected.

He does not want us to not be fed properly.

He does not want us to be without.

He does not want any of those things for us.

Just like a natural father, that's normal, would not want

that for their own child. Amen.

Amen. And so Father God, the King of

glory, the King of the Kingdom, he is measuring his children

just like they do at the pediatrician's office to see if

your growth chart is where it should be.

And do you know what measures that?

The Word of God, the Word of God is our measure so that when we

look at the Word of God and we see what the Word of God says

that our life as a believer should look like in the Kingdom

of God, does it reflect that? If not, then we have to evaluate

ourselves. You know, people go to

specialist. What will that pediatrician do

if they see that for several, several months or even a year

there's been a lapse in progression, They will take you

to a specialist and they will say we need to do some more

testing to see if there's something going on and why you

are not growing normally right? This it happens all the time in

the natural and she and we see in the Scripture it is like a

parable when he says that when we get born again, we are babes.

One translation says infants in Christ.

Then we're going to see that. He also lets us know that when

we thought like a child and acted like a child.

But now it's time to what? Put aside childish things and

mature and grow up and become a what?

A man, right? And so I want to look at a

couple of scriptures because we're going to start looking at

the fact that first we need to know that God expects his

children to grow. Number one, he expects his

children to grow and to mature. And we have to ask ourselves,

have we grown? Are we maturing?

Ephesians chapter 411 through 16.

And he gave some apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some

pastors and teachers for the equipping of the Saints, for the

working of service to the building up of the body of

Christ. Do you know how I as a pastor

know that someone's growth has been stunted or that they are

not growing? Number one, they're not serving

because he says right here, right here, we are to equip the

Saints for the work of service. And if you are coming to church

and you can't put your hand to anything and serve the body of

Christ, it is a sure sign that you are not growing properly.

We will not grow properly outside of actually serving, but

we'll get to that later anyway. So then he goes on to say for

the quipping of the Saints, for the work of service to the

building up of the body of Christ, because we are supposed

to be so equipped that we serve, because we understand it's not

about us. It's about us building up the

body of Christ. It's about us building up the

body of Christ until we can all attain to the unity, faith and

to the knowledge of the Son of God.

To a what mature man, say a mature man, to the measure of

the stature. You see that measure of stature

to the measure of stature? This lets us know that God is

measuring up every man and every woman.

He's measuring you up. Yes, He is measuring you up.

He's looking at your stats. The way we know stats about

football players and basketball players.

We know how tall. Well, they're 6 foot 5, they're

225 lbs, blah, blah, blah, right?

They're measuring them up. And God says he measures us up

and looks at our stature because he's expecting us to mature,

which belongs to the fullness of Christ. 14 As a result, what

does he let us know? Because we are actually

maturing. We will no longer be children

tossed here and there by every wave, carried about by every

wind of doctrine, carried about about all the trickery of men,

all the woke agendas, all the things that are being said about

Christianity Today and deconstructing and blood, all

this stuff. You won't be tricked by it

because you've actually allowed the Lord to measure you up and

and to mature you and to grow up.

And we won't be tricked in this last day that he says many are

going to fall away. Oh my goodness, you see this?

And so we are not going to get caught up in the trickery of men

by the craftiness in deceitful scheming that is happening, but

speaking the truth in love so that we are to what?

Say grow up? Yeah, look at your neighbor and

say grow up. Do it again.

Look to the other neighbor and say grow up.

Hey, why don't we stand up? Let's stand up and walk around

to somebody and say grow up. Cuz haven't you all wanted to do

that? Haven't you all wanted to do it?

Come on now, say grow up. You know you've all wanted to do

it. See, you just had great

pleasure, didn't you? Wasn't that great pleasure?

Finally being able to just say to somebody, grow up, come on,

Hallelujah. So we are to grow up in what?

All aspects say all aspects unto him, not just parts of God, not

just what we like about God, but all aspects of God, all aspects

of God, everything about God. He wants us to grow up into

everything, not just the bits and pieces that feel good to us

and and make us excited and and run around and shout and feel

good and all these things, though he wants us to grow up.

And I'm going to tell you what the most of the time that you're

having to grow up is under pressure and under pain and

under suffering and under situations and circumstances.

This is where true manhood or growth shows up.

Come on, this is the reality of how we grow.

How do you how many of you remember growing pains as a

child? Yeah, raise your hand if you

have had growing pains. Do you remember as a child your

legs hurting, your body just hurting and every and your

parents would just say, oh, you just grow this just growing

pains. That pain was real.

It was real pain. But guess what was happening?

You were growing and you know what?

There was nothing you could do to stop it because what was in

you was trying to develop and come out.

Do you know how much potential and purpose and plans and things

that God has within each and every one of us?

And we can stop the pain. We can stop the growth because

we don't want to have to go through what it's going to take

to actually overcome and grow past that emotion or grow past

that hurt. Church hurt.

All this garbage that's being talked about today.

Church hurt. Everybody talks about this

today. Do you think this is anything

new under the sun? No, just more people have

platforms to run off at the mouth.

And, and I've said this before, everybody talks about how the

pastor has hurt people, but nobody talks about all the hurt

that the pastor encounters, but they expect them to just get up

and go on. You want me to cry church hurt?

I could give you a laundry list. Would that, would that help

anyone doom, despair and agony on me?

Does anybody know who that is? Hee Haw?

Who at? Who remembers Hee Haw?

Or how about this one? Winnie the Pooh?

Who remembers Eeyore? OK, everybody knows Winnie the

Pooh, right? OK.

Anyway, again, where to grow up? This just lets me know where

these people's maturity level is at.

Because everyone is going to encounter hurt.

Everyone is going to encounter something that they have to

choose to grow up and overcome in this life period, right?

If there is an earth with humanity on it, there is an

opportunity for hurt, period. And we've got to mature and know

the word enough on how to actually deal with it and

overcome it and not allow it to affect our lives and then be a

stumbling block. Who listens to all this garbage?

Stumbling blocks? Putting a noose around their

neck is what needs to happen. The scripture says that because

how many people have hurt people by thinking they're going to

talk about church hurt to warn people, yet it's become a very

noose around their neck. See that so we have to mature,

so that we see all these wicked schemes of the enemy in this day

that we are living. We are to grow up into all

aspects unto Him who is the head, even Christ, from whom the

whole body is being fitted and held together by every joint

that supplies according to the proper working of each

individual part, Causes what? The growth of the body for the

building of of itself in love. So not only does He want you

individually to grow, He wants His body to grow, and His body

cannot grow properly. If we as individuals that are

placed within His body refuse to grow, we will become abnormal

parts of the body, right? What happens when we know, you

know, you get injured in a shoulder, you get something

happened to you and you don't properly work that part of the

body. What happens?

It can become what useless. Some people can't.

You know when you get older, their arm locks up and they

can't, right? Well, what's wrong now?

It's useless. And what is happening to that

useless part now? It's actually aggravating the

whole body. Do you know how many people are

aggravating the whole body of Christ because they refuse to

grow? That is just the bottom line.

They refuse to mature. They refuse to grow and mature.

So let's move on. Look at second Peter.

We're proving that he, our Lord, our King, our Father, wants us

to grow up. Second Peter 318 But grow in the

grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

To Him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity.

Look what He says, grow in the grace.

We were saved by faith. Through what grace we enter into

the Kingdom and He lets us know there is still some more grace

that we are to grow into. There is still some more

knowledge about our Lord and Savior that we are to grow up

into. Not just the fact that He saved

me. He died, He rose.

And when I die one day, I get to go to heaven.

And then we live helpless in this earth.

We live defeated, We live busted.

We live disgusted. We live without.

We complain like everybody else. He did not raise us as children

to behave that way, to act that way, you know, and raising your

own, I mean, now you parents are a lot different than me.

You new age people, you know, half of you don't believe in

spanking. You know, I'm going to tell you

they're not going to grow properly.

They're not going to grow up properly.

You need to just take that up with the Lord.

Physical discipline is required to grow as a healthy child and

the right physical discipline. OK, so he goes on to say, so we

are to grow in this grace that we've been saved by, but not

only in this grace, because when we get born again, He lets us

know we are to grow in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus

Christ. What does that tell us?

That we don't know who our Lord is.

Just because we get born again does not mean we know who our

Lord is. We are now beginning to discover

who our Father is and discover who the Lord is and all that He

has for me as a child in the Kingdom of God.

And that is the journey and the process of growth and, and

actually knowing the Father for who he is outside of us wanting

to grow. You know what that tells us that

we really don't want to know who our Heavenly Father really is.

We just want His blessing. So we want his security for

eternity, but we really don't want to know Him because a

father, there are many that can be right dads, but a father is

actually going to be the one there to actually train you,

develop you, right? All of these things that is

going to be there day in and day out, not leaving you, right, not

abandoning you, but a real father will do the job.

A real father will do the job. Hebrews 6/1 through three.

Therefore leaving the elementary teachings.

Who needs elementary teaching? Children, Everybody that gets

born again. They need elementary teaching

and what is that? Elementary teaching is origin,

foundation, all of these things that are to be laid within your

heart and in your life as a babe in Christ.

While you're you can just say you are in elementary school.

Actually, when you get born again, you're a baby and you're

in preschool, then you can mature to elementary school,

right? And then you go on into middle

school, then you go on into high school, and eventually we expect

after 12 years that somebody's actually going to graduate.

Now you get 12 years in natural schooling, but in God's

schooling, he really only wants three to five years of maturing

and graduating past some things, right?

So it says, therefore, leaving the elementary teaching about

Christ. Do you know simple truths about

Christ, that he died, he rose his resurrection, he poured out

his blood. All of these things are what the

Word of God says is elementary. I did a message years ago.

How many of y'all were here? It's elementary.

My dear Watson, Do you remember that we went through the

elementary principles? These things are elementary.

And do you know what? He expects us to mature and move

on in to some teaching about actually righteousness.

When you're a baby, I expect you to whine, I expect you to cry.

I expect to have to hand feed you.

I expect to have to change your diapers When you mess up, guess

who's going to be right there, Mama to help pick you up, right?

And everybody really has a mentality of what kind of Mama

they want. Isn't this so?

Some people say. Well, I wish I had a mom like

yours 'cause she lets you get away with everything.

Or I. Wish I had a come on.

Why is it that we in the natural say that Because we don't want

the discipline, We don't want the correction in the natural.

All of these things are relatable to our spiritual

growth and development in the Kingdom of God.

So he tells us, listen, we are to move past some elementary

teachings about Christ. Let us press on to maturity, Say

maturity. Not.

Laying again a foundation here is elementary teachings,

repentance from dead works, faith towards God.

You have to believe that he is and that he is the only way and

that's your entrance into the Kingdom of God and dead works is

he did everything for me and when I repent, that's all right

under the blood. faith in God. Instruction about washings.

What is washings? The washing first of the

watering of the Word, the washing second of baptism, the

washing right of what's the next one?

I didn't actually put a list down.

Washing, baptism, washing of the watering of the Word.

Anyway, laying hands. Do you know that laying hands on

people is an elementary principal yet?

You can go to I don't know how many churches in our nation

where. Oh, what are they doing?

Why are they laying hands on people?

That is an elementary principle in the Kingdom of God.

And do you know what? When people say that, you know

why they're they're choosing to not grow in maturing in the

aspect that actually we can lay hands on the people.

We see it all through Scripture. It's an elementary principle

that should not be foreign to us.

But how many churches don't do it?

So you know what that means? They're still in elementary

teachings because they don't believe in laying on of hands.

Let's look out, it says. And the resurrection from the

dead, eternal judgment, you know, there's still people that

do do not believe that there is an eternal judgment and that

there's going to be a hell yet He lets us know this is baby

teaching. This is elementary principles of

the doctrine of the Word of God and they don't believe in it,

which lets you know where they are at spiritually.

There is a measure, there is a measuring tool, and the Word of

God isn't. This is his standard.

And these are the things that He says in the Word of God.

He calls elementary principles. You see that?

And it says this. And this we will do if God

prevents. So look at Hebrews chapter 5,

Hebrews 5:12–13

verse 12 through 13. I said we're going to talk about

milk and meat. Hebrews 512 says this.

For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have

need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of

the oracles of God, and you have come to what need milk and not

solid food. King James translation says

meat, milk and meat. You need it again.

Look at this, what he's saying for everyone who partakes only

of me of milk. So these are babies who never

want to get off the what? The bottle.

These are babies that never want to get off the bottle.

They never want to get off the milk because milk is warm, milk

is cozy. And when it's coming from Mama,

especially, not just a bottle, there's what safety just feels

so good. Just want to, you know, be on

Mama, do everything for you. The milk, they don't want to

grow up. They don't want to get past the

milk. Have you ever met some like

that? And it says for everyone who

partakes only on milk is not accustomed to the word of

righteousness. What does he call him for?

He is a infant, a baby, an infant.

One translation says he's a baby.

He wants to stay on the milk. He doesn't want to grow.

He doesn't want to properly do what it's going to take.

He doesn't want to have to go through the growing pains,

right? And so we realize that God

expects that. He expects me to grow.

Look at First Corinthians. Three first Corinthians, three,

one and two, it says, And I, brethren, could not speak to you

as a spiritual man, but as to men of flesh, as to infants in

Christ. So he let them know, Listen, I

could not even talk to you as a spiritual man.

Right. When you should have been, he

says, But to men of flesh, as to infants in Christ, I gave you

milk to drink, not solid food, not meat, for you were not able

yet to receive it. Indeed, even now you are not

able to receive it. And actually when you break this

Scripture out, it's talking about you should have been able

to receive it. You should have been a spiritual

man, but you're acting like a man of flesh again and you're at

and you aren't even able to handle the meat.

Do you know what this tells me? You can actually grow and mature

and have some meat and begin to walk into some things, but you

can revert back to a baby. That's right.

Right where you need milk again. You need milk again.

Let me give you the bottle again, right?

So it does not matter how long we've been in the church.

It doesn't matter. You know what we've done what

we've gone through. If we don't continue to grow and

mature and allow God to do what He needs to do to continue to

keep us in a place where we can keep eating the meat, we can

stop that process, Revert back. And he's saying, listen, you

have reverted back to a man of the flesh, a mere man.

You are acting fleshly again, even though you ought to have

been here and you ought to be able to handle this.

You have reverted back to the flesh.

You're acting like a baby, and you really need me milk again.

You need to go back what to the fundamentals, to your foundation

to the first things. Isn't that what they tell you in

football? You know we're going to go back

to the fundamentals when they just keep losing and they just

keep dropping the ball and they just keep doing whatever, you

know that they know they're not wrapping up, right?

And all these things, we going back to the fundamentals and

we're going to pound those fundamentals day in and day out

until somebody gets up there and plays right.

Coaches do this all the time. And we as pastors, we

recognizing and equipping the body, equipping the Saints,

recognize and have the ability to see, you know what we can.

We need to go back to some fundamentals because I hear a

lot of crying and a lot of whining, a lot of fussing.

Come on, a lot of carrying on. So we need to go what we going

back to the fundamentals we were.

We were there. We thought we were there with

some righteousness, teaching righteousness, right living.

But you know what? Everybody's acting a fool,

acting like babies. We going back, going back to the

fundamentals, and we're going to pound those fundamentals.

And you people, some say it's not you people Saints will get

like, oh, I need to go find me. I don't know why pastors going

back over the same old thing. We've already learned that

evidently you haven't, because the pastor is to feed the flock.

What they need? To properly grow, and if he sees

there's been some stunted growth in people, he may need to go

back to some fundamentals. And do you know what most people

say? Then I'm going to go find me

somewhere that's teaching some more revelation, some deeper

truths, not realizing that it's really you that needs the

fundamentals, right? So let's look at First

Corinthians 1420. Brethren, do not be children in

your thinking. Don't be children in your

thinking yet in evil be infants, but in your thinking what be

mature be. Mature.

So he expects and Pastor covered this last week that we are

maturing in our thinking. We're growing and changing our

thoughts and our will and our emotions and all of these things

we're changing. We're allowing God to change our

thought processes by what Romans 12/1 and two, renewing our mind

to the what word of God so that we'll be able to prove what is

the perfect right will of God for our lives.

So again, we are to grow up and he expects our minds to grow and

change, not just us physically, not just our spirit man.

Actually, you know, it was, it's in Galatians where he says that

we are to receive the engrafted word of God, which is able to

what? Save our soul, our mind, our

will, our emotions. Our spirit man is saved.

We get born again, we are there, we're in Christ Jesus, our

spirit man is saved. It's our mind that needs saving.

And if you haven't looked, there's a lot of insanity in the

world today. And I thank God.

Every day that I have a sound mind because I've allowed the

Word of God to change my thinking, renew my mind so that

I don't think like this stinking world, right?

And when we change our thinking, guess what's going to fall in

line? Our behaviors.

Our behaviors because as a man thinketh in his heart, what so

is he? If you have bad thinking, you're

going to become that. If you have right thinking

right, you're going to become right.

So as a man thinketh in his heart.

Now let's look at the Scriptures where he talks about #1 Babes

first, Peter 21 and three. Therefore, laying aside all

malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and evil speaking.

Do you know these are all signs that you are a baby?

You are a infant in Christ. If you are still participating

and operating in these types of behavior, malice, deceit,

hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking.

If it's so still easy for you to gossip, for you to slander, for

you to act envious, for you to have malice in your heart

towards someone, all of these are signs that you are still a

baby. You're still a baby.

I don't care how many doctorates you have behind your name, you

acting like this, you're acting like a baby.

So he. Goes on to.

Say, as newborn babes desire the pure milk of the word, that we

would what grow, say grow thereby.

And if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious, have

you all tasted that He is gracious?

Hallelujah. So He lets us know that we're to

desire the pure milk of the Word so that we can grow from a baby

stage, an infant stage to children.

Now look at First Corinthians 1420.

Brethren, do not be children in your thinking.

In your thinking. How can people know that you're

still acting like a child by the way you're thinking about a

situation the way you're thinking about a situation.

You're acting like a child. Selfish, spoiled, wanting your

own way, demanding of things. You're acting like a child right

and so he lets us know and it's and it's a result of how you're

thinking yet in evil be infants, but you're thinking be what

mature did I already read that? I did sorry.

OK #3 here we see that he talks about us growing up to not just

a babe, not just a infant, not just a child.

Here he lets us know in First Corinthians 1311.

When I was a child, I used to speak like a child.

So childish behavior comes out of your what?

So people can know when you're acting like a child by what's

coming out of your mouth, how you talking, what you're saying

about the situation. You're actually acting like a

child. And then then he what did he

say? Thinking like a child, which

goes back with the other one in First Corinthians 13 and or 14

and 20, thinking like a child, reasoning.

What is reasoning? Making your decisions, reasoning

out how you're going to respond, making your decisions and how

you're going to react in that circumstance and in that

situation. Are you acting like a child?

Are you acting like a child? When I became a man, say a man,

one translation says mature perfect man, and I actually like

that. A mature perfect man or woman,

right? We're not talking gender

sensitive here, OK. When I became a mature perfect

man, what did I do? I did away with childish things.

That means I did away with childish thinking.

I did away with childish talking.

I did away with it because I actually became a mature,

perfect man in Christ and allowed God to grow me up and

change my thinking concerning the Kingdom of God and how I am

to operate now as his child in the Kingdom.

Look at second Peter this these are the scriptures we're going

to close with. Pastor preached till one Sunday

so I thought I could just continue on tonight.

'Cause you have tomorrow. Off right, it's 4th of July.

Anyway, second Peter chapter one three through 11.

Yes, three through 11. And I want to read it out of the

NLT, the TPT, not the TPC, the TPT.

And I'll save you from the amplified and just read one

scripture from the amplified. OK, Why?

Because I want you to get a perfect picture of what Peter is

talking about here. It says this by his divine power

God has. Given.

Us everything we need for living a godly life.

Say he's given me everything I need.

He's given me. Everything I need to live a

godly life. You have to tell yourself that

every day. He has given me everything I

need to live a godly life in the earth today.

Everything I need. Hallelujah, Hallelujah,

everything I need to live a godly life.

We have received all of this by coming to know Him.

Coming to know. Him.

That means we had to what? Get to know him?

Discover who he is. We didn't just get born again

and know, as I said, everything there is to know about living a

godly life by everything. Knowing who the Father is, what

his attributes are, what his character is, what his nature

is, how he thinks, how he processes, how he acts, how he

behaves in situations that I see in His word.

I did not know all of that when I was a baby.

Come on. I had to come to know Him.

I had to come and spend time with the Heavenly Father,

getting to know who He is, who I am in the Kingdom of God as His

child. It's not just about coming to

know all the benefits. And do you know how many people

only want that aspect of God? No, I want to know him because I

don't want to be one of those that said that.

He said to them when they said Lord, Lord, didn't we cast out

demons in your name? Didn't we do all these things?

People want to do all these things and look grand in His

name, but not know Him as their heavenly Father, not know Him as

their Father. And you know what he said?

Depart from me. I never knew you.

I never knew you. What do you mean He never knew

me? I did all these things in his

name. No, I never knew you actually.

Means I was. Never intimately acquainted with

you. You knew all about me and my

what I do. But you didn't know me as the

father, as the king. You didn't spend time with me.

Isn't that the number one thing you want from your children,

especially as they get elder and out of the house?

You just want them to want to spend time with you because

hopefully they've known you by now.

Right and. Isn't it hurtful when they don't

want anything to do with you because really they really never

came to know you and look to you as a good father or a good

mother or whatever the case may be anyway?

So he said he's. Given us everything.

We need for living a godly life. We have received all of this

from coming to know Him, the One who called us unto Himself by

means of His marvelous glory and excellence.

And because of His glory and excellence, He has given us

great and precious promises. And do you know how many people

don't even know His promises? That it's His promise to heal

your body. It's His promise to provide for

you and never let you beg for bread.

They don't know their Father that way.

And trusting who He is and knowing that He'll never leave

me, He'll never forsake me because my Father loves me.

And he says these are the promises that enable you listen

to this, to share in his divine nature.

Oh my. We get to.

Participate and share in His divine nature.

His divine nature and escape the world's corruption.

Caused by human. Desires In view of all of this,

make every effort to respond to God's promises.

Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral

excellence and moral excellence with knowledge, and knowledge

with self-control. This is a biblical picture of

how we are to measure our growth and maturity in him are.

We. With all diligence, supplying

our faith with moral excellence, with the knowledge of who he is,

with self-control, with patience, endurance, with

godliness, with brotherly love and love.

What for everyone? The more you grow like this,

they grow like this. The more you grow.

Like this? The more.

Productive and useful you will be in your knowledge of the Lord

Jesus Christ. But those who fail to develop in

this way, say, develop in this way, you won't develop properly.

If these are not attributes of your life as a believer, you

will not develop properly, right?

He says this, let me find where I was at.

I get sidetracked here. Develop in this way.

You are short. Sighted or blind, forgetting

that you have been cleansed from their old sins.

So, dear brothers and sisters, work hard to prove that you

really are among those God has called and chosen do.

You know, there's this whole. Thing I hear all the time I

don't have to prove anything to God because he approves of me

and he loves me yeah there's some things we have to prove to

God that will be actions of if you really love me you will keep

my. And the way we.

Know this is our measuring stick.

Do we see these things operating in your life?

It says. So, dear brothers and sisters,

work hard to prove that you really are among those who God

has called and chosen. Do these things and you will

never fall away. Didn't we say that in the last

days? Many are going to what and you

know why they're going to fall away because they have not grown

in all aspects and matured as a believer and measured themselves

according to Scripture. And This is why there will be a

great falling away in the last days.

And we're already seeing it all these what do you think people

are saying deconstructing their faith.

This is the big falling away. We're seeing it on.

A rapid level and then he goes on to say you'll never fall away

then God will give you a grand entrance into his eternal

Kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Now in the amplified it reads one of those scriptures I want

to read to you because he says you are to supply your faith

with all of these things that are going to help you grow.

He goes on to say it in the amplified second Peter 15 like

this for this very reason, adding your diligence to the

divine promises employ every effort.

He's letting us know, listen, this ought to be our number one

effort in life. This ought to be where we are

with all diligence, pursuing our relationship, relationship and

growth in the Lord Jesus Christ more than anything else he's

saying listen, employ every effort in exercising your faith.

If we do not do the word, if we do not exercise our faith in the

Word of God and how he tells us we are to act, respond, behave,

we will not grow. You can say you have faith all

day long. Isn't that what Corinthians

said? You can have faith to what move

mountains but have not love and you are a clanging gogging

symbol there. Has to.

Be a life of faith, and the only way we see faith activated is by

action of doing. Coming to church, hearing a

message, sitting on your rump is not exercising your faith.

It is actually applying the word when you get into a scenario and

get into a situation where you're being shown really well

in the mirror what it is and how it is that you need to respond

to a situation that just took place.

Then you have to determine am I going to believe what the word

says and how I am to respond to the word and I have a choice

right then. I don't care that you.

Know it. Do you do it?

Do you activate your faith? Because that is the only way you

are going to grow. It's the only way you're going

to grow. You cannot grow outside of

activation of faith in whatever it is, whatever it is, right and

so he lets us know exercising your faith.

This is the amplified to develop virtue.

There's some things we. Have to exercise just like with

me. I can act like I, you know, I

have a a thing on my Pinterest that I've titled it in all my

little things that I put over in it.

The title is Crucify the Flesh and over in my Pinterest is all

of these killer workouts it looks.

So. Good.

When I watch it and I'm like man, this is awesome.

I can do this and yet not have one time done it and I've

probably got 1000 workouts. Guess what I'm not doing.

I got to grow up. Guess what I'm not doing?

I am not exercising. I can look at it.

Come on, I can put it in my Pinterest of crucify the flesh.

Every time I pull it over there, I see crucify the flesh.

And have I done it? No.

Have I activated it? No.

I'm not delusional. I choose to not crucify the

flesh. But it looks.

Pretty all in my Pinterest and all these things.

I'm thinking, man, I'm going to look like that one day.

And never do not. 1. I'm going to just.

Just keep thinking, believing, then it's going to just

transpire. Does it work?

And that's what many believers are doing.

Doesn't work. I'm not delusional.

It's not going to work for me. Hallelujah.

So, but if I meditate on it long enough.

It's going to get in me. It's.

Going to motivate me. Right.

So exercising your faith will develop these things, virtue,

excellence, resolution, Christian energy, the amplified

says. And in exercising these things,

you're going to develop the knowledge.

Do you know what this means? Moral excellence.

These are the things, he tells us that we ought to be growing

in the knowledge of these things.

Moral excellence is a what? A virtuous course of thought.

How's your thinking? Are you thinking on those things

that are above? Those things that are excellent,

pure, lovely, holy? Or are you thinking on all of

these? Million.

Of things that you can think on from the world.

Are we thinking on what is virtuous in thought, feeling,

and action? This is moral excellence, moral

goodness. Amen.

These are things that he tells us that we ought to be pursuing

with all diligence and exercising, and it has to do

with what we are actually thinking on.

Are they of good report? Are they good?

Are they moral? Right.

And then what does he go on to say?

And then in the knowledge, How about knowledge?

What is this knowledge? The deeper, more perfect and

enlarged knowledge of your belief.

Right. More advanced.

That's what these words are talking about.

Are we getting past the milk and into the meat?

Are we actually trying to grow in a deeper, you know, knowledge

of his word? Or are we staying on the bottle

right. And then the other word for the

when it says the knowledge of who he is, deeper knowledge of

him. And your belief is especially

the things that are lawful and unlawful for Christians, which

goes back to how we should be living, what is right living and

what is wrong living according to Scripture, not what the world

is saying that you're going to shack up with somebody to try

them out or you're going to go Netflix and chill with somebody,

right? And all these things that

Christians are doing right. What does this tell me?

That they have no foundation or moral understanding of the word

of God. They've not been being a studier

of the word right? Then it also talks about

self-control. What is this word self-control

mean? The virtue of one who masters,

masters your desire, your passion and sensual appetites.

This is what this word self-control is talking about.

Most of the time when we hear self-control, we're just

thinking about, you know, outburst of anger or whatever.

But he's, this is talking about your passions, your desires and

sensual appetites, which is all right, having to do with your

carnal flesh and what it desires and what pleases it.

And so he's letting us know, listen, there's some things that

we must grow in to mature and realize.

We have to put down those passions.

We have to put down those carnal things.

We have to put down those sensual appetites so that we can

grow properly into all aspects, so that we can grow and mature

as a child of God realizing. And he lets us know we can

master these things. Nothing is to is supposed to be

able to dominate your life. You have dominion over your

life, over your body. You have dominion over it.

And nothing is supposed to master you.

Just like I should not be mastered by my flesh of not

wanting to go work out. Because what do I know?

That it's going to do for me only produce great things for my

body with long life, right? All of these things.

But do you know what? I am still letting that master

me. Now am I going to go to hell for

it? No.

But do I know what's? Right to do and I'm not doing

it. Guess what it is to me?

So guess what I need to do? Repent one more time so His

grace can cover me, right? No.

So again, we all have things, you know, I don't have ungodly

things mastering me because I've learned how to have dominion

over it. And we all can grow and mature

to be able to do that as well. And he lets us know when you

begin to start doing that, you can be assured that you're not

going to fail. Come on, when you learn to

master some things, all right. It also talks about patience.

We've got to learn to operate in a patient's endurance and be

able to endure and persevere some hard times.

All of us are going to go through hard times in our growth

and our walk in our development with the Lord when you don't

want to have to deal with whatever you're going through.

But guess what? He has given us everything that

we need that pertains to life and godliness.

So whatever I need to be able to walk through this situation and

this scenario where I am needing perseverance, where I am needing

patience, where I am needing to be able to endure through this

situation, knowing that joy is going to come in the morning.

He's going to be there to give me what I need in the midst of

that. And when I actually activate in

that process of letting Lord you have your perfect work in me,

help me where I'm weak, you're going to strengthen me.

I'm going to believe you in the midst of all of this.

I'm going to endure. I am not going to let this thing

wear me down, wear me out. I am going to persevere through

it. I don't care how long it takes.

I'm going to still be standing because.

When I've done all the. What?

I'm going to stand. I'm not standing in my own

strength. I'm standing in the knowledge of

the Word of God. I'm standing in trusting in

knowing the Lord will deliver me out of all of my troubles.

I'm going. To endure.

Till the end. So there's some things we're

going to have to endure and walk through and persevere.

And he's letting us know, listen, we ought to be pursuing

and allowing this thing to operate in us so that we can

overcome and grow through the process so that when we come

out, come on when we come out, because we always win.

If you will. Endure.

And if you will activate your faith through the process, we

will always triumph in Christ Jesus, always triumph in Christ

Jesus, Amen. And so then he lets us know,

listen, that we are going to have to write, walk in love,

agape love. We're going to have to walk in

love. How will the world know that

we're truly His disciples? Because of the love for the

brethren, brotherly love. He lets us know this is

something we must pursue. Yes, you're right, you're right.

Yes, this is something we must pursue.

Why? Because it's not just about us

and our relationship with the Lord.

We are all to grow into all aspects so that the what the

body of Christ can grow into the fullness.

And so if I. Choose to stop my growth and not

love somebody. It will be guaranteed a

stumbling block to your brother or your sister.

When I choose not to forgive. When I choose not to love.

Because it's not just about me. What I do effects what someone

else effects someone else. But how many?

Believers are still so selfish that they don't care to grow or

about their behavior because they think this is just a

relationship with them and God. No, it's not.

You are in the family and how you act in your family effects

everybody in the natural. You have family members that you

don't want to be around because every time you're around you,

they causing drama, they're causing problems.

They're always in need, they're always wanting something.

Come on, that is not fun to be around.

You stay away from family reunions 'cause you know you got

some crazy family members now. Tell the truth and.

Shame the devil. And it's a.

Result, especially in the family of God, of brothers and sisters

and all the rivalry that still even in the church among the

family of God. Jealous of this one, jealous of

that marriage, you know, seeing them grow, seeing them get

promoted and you saying, well, when's my time?

What about me? All of that is baby stuff.

It's baby. Wow, wow, wow.

It's baby stuff and people in your family don't want to be

around it. Why you think they turn the

other way when they see you coming?

I mean, this is, you know, we have families that are

dysfunctional. The family of God should have

been redeemed from dysfunction. We are redeemed.

From dysfunction and yet we still act in dysfunctional in

the church when. We ought to be the.

Most functional thing for the world to see so that it would

draw them into because they see all the hypocrisy they.

See. You know, people that say they

believe and they live like the world.

They see the the backbiting, they see all these things within

the Church that ought not be. And it's just a result.

Of people being babies and not growing up.

And not growing up. But we going to have some mature

people in this place because we going to grow up, say grow up,

stand up again and go tell somebody grow up.

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