Trinity Baptist Church

 

A lot of interesting stories are found around the birthing of babies. I read this one this week: 

 

Nine months pregnant and married to a fervent Bears fan with tickets to Sunday's NFC Championship game, Colleen Pavelka didn't want to risk going into labor during the game against the New Orleans Saints.

 

Due to give birth on Monday, Pavelka's doctor told her Friday she could induce labor early. She opted for the Friday delivery.

 

"I thought, how could (Mark) miss this one opportunity that he might never have again in his life?" said Pavelka, 28, from the southwestern Chicago suburb of Homer Glen.

 

At 10:45 p.m. Friday, Mark Patrick Pavelka was born at Palos Community Hospital after close to six hours of labor.

 

While her husband watched the Bears play the New Orleans Saints at Soldier Field Sunday, Colleen planned to watch in the hospital with the baby wrapped in a Bears blanket — a Christmas gift from his grandmother.

 

The couple named Mark after his father, who wore a "Monsters of the Midway" shirt during the delivery.

"If he wasn't born by Sunday and the Bears won, I would have named him Rex," after Bears quarterback Rex Grossman, joked Mark Pavelka, 28.

Mark is the couple's second son.

 

I know you women are thinking, “What a jerk!”, but us guys are thinking, “What a woman!”

 

The birth of a baby is the easy part. The hard part is taking a little baby and turning that baby into an adult. The Lord Jesus talked about this matter of being saved and He put it in the terms of a birth. Jesus said to Nicodemas, "Ye must be born again." 

Just as a person is born physically by means of a physical birth; we are also born spiritually by means of a spiritual birth. 

 

John, in this little letter, also uses the same terminology. In the 5th chapter, 1st verse he says, "Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God." He is talking about being born again. He is talking about the new birth. He is talking about being born spiritually.

 

In verse 12 of this chapter we have read when he talks about "my little children" literally he is saying, "My little born ones." He is talking to all of you in this building who have been born again who are members of the family of God by means of a spiritual birth. Birth is the easy part. The hard part is taking a spiritual baby and changing that baby into a full-grown mature, born again adult child of God.

 

There is one thing that every born again child of God has in common with every other. We find it in verse 12.  He says, "I write unto you little children because your sins are forgiven you for His name sake." 

If you are in the family of God there is one thing in common with you and all other believers -- that is that your sins have been forgiven. What a wonderful thing it is to know that your sins have been forgiven. 

 

The Bible says all of us are sinners. All of us have sinned and we need to be forgiven of that sin.   Jesus, 2,000 years ago, went to the cross of Calvary. 

On that cross He paid the price for our sins with His own blood and through Him it is possible now to have forgiveness of sin. Jesus Christ died for our sins and because of what He did we can be forgiven. We are forgiven, this verse says, "for His names' sake." Not because of anything we have done, but because of what He has done.

 

When I was a little boy I used to sing a little chorus in Sunday School that had a line like this:

 

 

Can you testify that you are a child of God? The

Bible teaches then that your sins have been forgiven. 

Birth is the easy part. The hard part now is for a baby believer to be developed into a spiritual mature

Christian. That's what these verses are about. 

 

Notice in a somewhat repetition way he mentions the stages of spiritual development.

 

 

 

I want you to circle some things in your Bible as we move through and I want to share with you these stages of spiritual development.

 

I. Spiritual INFANCY.

 

 "Little children."

 

In verse 13, last part of the verse he says, "I write unto you little children, because you have known the father." It's a different word now for little children.

 

It is a word that means a baby that has been born. A baby now that has life and is capable of growing and maturing in that Christian life. He says to those who are in spiritual infancy, "You have known the father."

 

When a little baby is born about all that baby knows is that there is a new experience here and some new faces in its life. There's the face of a mom, a dad. They are making faces at the little baby. They are cooing and taking pictures. They are acting silly. This little baby just knows that there are new faces in its experience.

 

Many of you came to know Christ as a little child. And if you would be honest, you didn’t know a whole lot about it when I came to the Lord. If you had been asked me to discuss justification, you couldn't have done it. If you had been asked me to explain

repentance and faith, you couldn't have done it.

 

All you knew was that there was a new reality in my life. Someone had come into your experience you didn't know previously. Jesus Christ came into your life, and you now had a new spiritual father. 

You didn't even have spiritual teeth. 

 

That's why in Romans 8:15 it talks about a baby Christian saying, "Abba, father." Not able to pronounce all of the niceties and all of the intricacies of Christian doctrine, but we know that we have met Christ. We know that God is our Father. We know that heaven is our home. That's the beginning stage of spiritual growth. That's what you call spiritual infancy. You are a babe in Jesus. 

 

The Bible says there are two kinds of spiritual babies. There are babies that are just now born. Then, there are babies that for some reason remain babies. 

 

The Bible talks about being babes in Christ. Paul wrote one time and said I can't write unto you as unto spiritual, but unto carnal, unto babes in Christ. 

It's a sad thing when a baby doesn't grow.

 

It's a sad thing when a baby doesn't

grow normally.

 

In a case fraught with ethical questions, the parents of a severely mentally and physically disabled child have stunted her growth to keep their little "pillow angel" a manageable and more portable size.

The bedridden 9-year-old girl had her uterus and breast tissue removed at a Seattle hospital and received large doses of hormones to halt her growth. She is now 4-foot-5; her parents say she would otherwise probably reach a normal 5-foot-6.

Some ethicists question the parents' claim that the drastic treatment will benefit their daughter and allow them to continue caring for her at home.

Right or wrong, the couple's decision highlights a dilemma thousands of parents face in struggling to care for severely disabled children as they grow up.

"This particular treatment, even if it's OK in this situation, and I think it probably is, is not a widespread solution and ignores the large social issues about caring for people with disabilities," Dr. Joel Frader, a medical ethicist at Chicago's Children's Memorial Hospital, said Thursday. "As a society, we do a pretty rotten job of helping caregivers provide what's necessary for these patients."

The case involves a girl identified only as Ashley on a blog It is possible for a person to be her parents created after her doctors wrote about her treatment in October's Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine. The journal did not disclose the parents' names or where they live; the couple do not identify themselves on their blog, either.

Shortly after birth, Ashley had feeding problems and showed severe developmental delays. Her doctors diagnosed static encephalopathy, which means severe brain damage. They do not know what caused it.

Her condition has left her in an infant state, unable to sit up, roll over, hold a toy or walk or talk. Her parents say she will never get better. She is alert, startles easily, and smiles, but does not maintain eye contact, according to her parents, who call the brown-haired little girl their "pillow angel."

She goes to a school for disabled children, but her parents care for her at home and say they have been unable to find suitable outside help.

An editorial in the medical journal called "the Ashley treatment" ill-advised and questioned whether it will even work. But her parents says it has succeeded so far.

She had surgery in July 2004 and recently completed the hormone treatment. She weighs about 65 pounds and is about 13 inches shorter and 50 pounds lighter than she would be as an adult, according to her parents' blog.

"Ashley's smaller and lighter size makes it more possible to include her in the typical family life and activities that provide her with needed comfort, closeness, security and love: meal time, car trips, touch, snuggles, etc.," her parents wrote.

University of Pennsylvania ethicist Art Caplan said the case is troubling and questioned how preventing normal growth could benefit the patient. Treatment that is not for a patient's direct benefit "only seems wrong to me," Caplan said.

He called it another example of the "slippery slope issue, with other parents thinking the way to deal with my kid with permanent behavioral problems is to put them into permanent childhood. It's not the right strategy."

But Ashley's parents say keeping her small will help reduce risks for bedsores and other conditions that can afflict bedridden patients. Also, they say preventing her from going through puberty means she will not experience the discomfort of having periods or growing breasts that might develop breast cancer, which runs in the family.

"Even though caring for Ashley involves hard and continual work, she is a blessing and not a burden," her parents' blog says. Still, they wrote, "Unless you are living the experience ... you have no clue what it is like to be the bedridden child or their caregivers."

saved and be a babe in Christ and for whatever reason

not really get on the grow to develop and mature and

become what they ought to be spiritually. A church is

intended to be a maternity room, but it is not

intended to be a rest home. God wants Christians to

grow. God wants babes in Christ to grow.

 

things that cause babies to grow? I think the things

that cause babies to grow physically are basically the

same things that cause babies to grow spiritually. 

You have to have food if a little baby is going to

grow. You have to feed it. The same thing is true in

the life of a spiritual baby. Turn back to I Peter

2:2, "As new born babes desire the sincere milk of the

word that you may grow thereby."   The word - the

Bible. The first thing a new baby needs when they are

saved is the Word of God. A baby needs the Bible. A

baby needs to be fed the Scriptures, to be fed the

milk of the word. Babies aren't ready for the meat of

the Word.  If you are a young Christian I would

recommend you begin in your New Testament. Probably

it wouldn't be best to start in the book of Ezekiel.

You might wait until you develop some spiritual teeth

for that. Start with the simpler portions - the milk

of the Word. Then, as you begin to grow and develop

you can move into the meat of the Word. Of course,

babies like adults, like sweets so all along you can

enjoy the manna of the Word. The sweet truths of the

Gospel. But food will help babies to grow.

 

You have to be sure they have plenty of air. For the

baby Christian prayer is air. Prayer is the breath of

the Christian life. When you read the Bible God talks

to you. When you pray you're talking to God. Babies

need food; babies need air. Babies also need

exercise. They need to begin to move the limbs of

their bodies. They need to learn to walk and move

around. The same thing is true of a baby Christian. 

Begin telling others about Jesus. Begin sharing with

others what Jesus means to you. Start being a witness

for the Lord and sharing what God has done for your

life. You'll begin to mature and grow spiritually. 

 

born you don't just put them out on the back porch and

say, "okay, kid, do the best you can. We're pulling

for you." No, you take that little baby home from the

hospital and put it in a bassinet.

 

About 18 months later our twins were born. For a

while I thought they were all going to be born in the

first year. Got to coming pretty quick there. When

our first little baby was born - my what a father I

was going to be. I got that little baby on a rather

warm day when we took her away from the hospital. I

wrapped her up about seven times in a blanket that

day. I got her in the car. I'm not sure how Janet got

home from the hospital but I was taking care of this

baby. Then we got home and we had a little bassinet

prepared right there by our bed. I was going to be a

father like you never saw. I was going to feed this

baby. I was going to clothe this baby. I was going to

powder this baby. I was going to do everything you

were supposed to do with the babies. There in that

little warm house of ours that baby was. About three

o'clock in the morning that baby cried. I said,

"Janet, your baby is crying, you better see what's

going on."

 

got the baby into a good atmosphere. That is exactly

what ought to happen to spiritual babies. When people

come to know Christ as their Savior then you need to

get them into the atmosphere of a church. You need to

get them in an atmosphere of love where there is

warmth and support. I think one of the reasons more

churches don't have more people saved and more people

born into the kingdom in their churches is that the

Lord knows that the church is so cold that if anybody

did get saved there they would freeze out and never

grow spiritually. God wants a warm atmosphere. If

you have received Christ as your Savior you ought to

join our fellowship and get in a Sunday School class

and be a part of the ministries here and enjoy the

fellowship and the warmth and the growth opportunities

that are here.

 

the Open Door. What an atmosphere of opportunities to

grow here. My, what a wonderful place to begin to

develop as a Christian. So, he says in verse 13, "I

write unto you little children because you have known

the Father."   Spiritual infancy - babes in the Lord. 

There's a second category he mentions twice -

 

II. Spiritual ADOLESCENCY: Young men."

 

wicked one." That's the stage of spiritual

adolescency. The stage of youth. The stage when you

were growing and developing and maturing. You are no

longer a baby in the Lord. You've made some progress

now. You're qualified for what the Bible calls a

young man (or a young lady). He says you have overcome

the wicked one. What does he mean? In verse 14 he

explains it. "I have written unto you young men

because you are strong and the Word of God abides in

you and you have overcome the wicked one." Those

three statements here describe the stage of spiritual

adolescency. He says, "Young men, you are strong. 

Young people, you are strong." Youth is the time of

strength. Youth is the time of boundless energy. 

Young people are lifting weights - pumping iron. 

Young people are running races. Young people are

expending tremendous amounts of energy - burning up a

lot of calories because they are so strong.

 

boundless their energy is. Sometimes people say,

"wouldn't you like to have the energy of a young

person?" I says, "Heavens, no. I wouldn't want that

energy. To put their energy in my body would be like

putting a Cadillac motor in a T-model automobile." My

body couldn't stand what they go through with. But

Christians need to get to the point that they are

strong also. The Bible says that we can be strong in

spirit. The Bible says that we are to be strong in

the Lord and in the power of His might. You do not

have to be a weakling Christian. You do not have to

be an anemic Christian. You can grow and become

strong in the Lord.

 

statement. "I've written young men because you are

strong and the Word of God abides in you." That's how

you get strong. The Word of God ABIDES in you. Look

at the word, abides. He's already used it one time in

this chapter. Back in verse 6 he said, "He that says

he abides in him." That is the Christian that says I

am in fellowship with Jesus - abiding in him. Now he

uses the same word and says the Word of God abides in

you. When you abide in Jesus you are in fellowship

with Him. When you let the Word of God - the Bible

abide in you that means that you are filling your life

with the source of spiritual strength. He's talking

about the role of the Bible in your growth as a

Christian. 

 

even dream of picking up a copy of the Bible and

reading it. It's amazing to me that we have a book

here which professes to be the very Word of the Living

God. That the God who created this universe, the God

who made the sun and the moon and the stars and

everything in this universe and the God who made you -

friend - claims that He has given us a book and in

that book He reveals Himself to us and yet people for

the most part just pass this book by and never read

it. They read books about finances and how to predict

the stock market. They read books about celebrities

and their lifestyles. But it never occurs to them that

here is a book that can put strength in your soul. 

Big Christians are Bible Christians. Growing

Christians are Christians who are abiding in the Word

and the Word abiding in them. You start living in the

Bible and the Bible will eventually start living in

you. You start possessing the Bible and the Bible

will eventually start possessing you. You start

taking hold of the Bible and the Bible will eventually

take hold of you.

 

and the Bible got hold of me. I was saved at the age

of 9, I didn't grow the way a Christian ought to grow,

but when I got to the age of 16, through a series of

events I'll not go into - I started taking a copy of a

New Testament with me to school. I was a little

ashamed and didn't want anybody to see it and make fun

of me so I stuck it down in my pants pocket. When I

would get a little break I'd reach in and begin to

read that Bible. I had no idea what I was doing. I

had no idea the kind of trouble that was going to get

me in. I had no idea what God was going to do. I was

saved but wasn't growing. Then I began to get the

Bible in me. I began to take in the word and read and

study the Word. It changed my life. I was saved but

now I started growing. The Bible laid hold of me. It

changed my life. 

 

you to begin right now on this second day of February

and for the remaining days of the month of February,

let me encourage you every day to begin your day by

reading a few verses from your Bible. Start over in

the Gospel of John. That would be a good place. 

Start in the gospel of Matthew. That would be a good

place. Every day read a few verses - a chapter if you

can do that conveniently or half a chapter. That

won't matter. The distance, the length of it is not

the point. But every day begin to read a portion from

God's Word. Don't expect lights to turn on. Don't

expect cannons to go off, but every day just begin to

read a portion of that Bible. As you read, begin to

pray and ask God to speak to you. Ask God to work on

your life and do something in your life. Make up your

mind you'll begin your day that way. If you have to

miss anything, miss your breakfast, but don't miss

your Bible - do it for a month. One month from now

you come back and you tell me what has happened in

your life. This is not a dead book; this is a living

book. This is a Bible that can speak to the heart. 

Martin Luther said, "The Bible is alive. It speaks to

me. It has legs; it runs after me. It has hands, it

lays hold on me." You can get involved in a spiritual

growth program. In a soul building program.

 

you may prosper and be in health even as your soul

prospers." I wonder if God would make us as healthy

physically as we are spiritually. I wonder if God

would make our physical bodies as strong as our souls

are. People can get pretty strong physically. I

watch these boys around church who start pumping iron. 

You can always tell them because when you walk up to

them they start flexing. You feel their arms and it's

just as hard as a rock. You say, "Hey, man, you must

be pumping iron." They flex a little more. Sometimes

you see them around town with tank tops on so they can

show off. But you can be strong like that physically

and be absolutely puny spiritually. There are some

folks physically who are mammoth people and yet

morally and spiritually they are weaklings. It

doesn't have to be that way. You can be a strong,

growing Christian. You can be strong because you let

the Word of God abide in you. Get the Bible in you

and you will be surprised what it will do.

 

in you and you have overcome the wicked one." He's

talking about the devil. There are two words for

wicked in the Greek Language. One of the words means

a person who is content to go down in his own

corruption and degradation. This word is the word from

which we get the word, pornography, which means an

aggressive kind of degradation which is not satisfied

to just go down in its own degradation but to drag

someone else in. You have an enemy. There is a

wicked one out there who is on the way to the pit

himself. He is not content to go alone. He's after

you. He wants to drag you down and wreck your life.

But Jesus Christ has said in the Bible that there is a

way where you can overcome the wicked one. John says

as a spiritual growing Christian in spiritual

adolescency you can overcome the wicked one.

 

somewhere. The devil is going to tempt you and he is

going to try to make you fall. The devil's lies are

going to be hurled at you and they will be very, very

subtle. What are you going to do when the temptation

comes? If you have been putting God's Word in your

heart you have been storing up spiritual ammunition. 

So when the devil comes with his temptations tomorrow

if your heart is full of the Word, you can answer the

devil with the Word. That's what Jesus did. When the

devil came to Jesus three times in the wilderness and

three times when the devil tempted the Lord, Jesus

said all three times, "It is written." He responded

with the Word of God. The Bible says the devil left

him. Jesus won the victory over the devil in the

wilderness. When Jesus was on the cross He cried, "It

is finished." It means He won that final victory over

the devil that will be consummated when He returns

again and the devil is thrown into the pit. It's the

Word of God that causes you to be victorious over the

devil.

 

Cor. 2:14 says, "Now thanks be unto God who always

causes us to triumph in Christ." Our victory is the

victory of Jesus. We conquer because Jesus conquered.

 

our school, about two grades above me. This was a big

boy. He systematically picked on folks. He would

just pick out one a day and beat them up. One morning

he walked up to me and said, "Vines, I'm going to see

you after school today." Talk about unnerving a

little kid. I was in about third grade and he was a

fifth grader. I was so uneasy all day long. So

nervous. School got out and I headed home. I looked

down at the corner and there he stood, looking at me. 

I was scared. My heart was jumping.   As I got closer

and closer to that bully, the more and more afraid I

became. Then about that time there was a boy in our

class who was also big for his age. He turned out to

be quite a college football player. He was a big,

strong boy. Donald said, "Hey, Vines, how about me

walking down to the corner with you?" I said, "O,

yea, I'd like that." So, old Donald is walking right

by my side. He walked right up there and looked that

bully right in the eye and said, "What can I do for

you this afternoon?" The bully just kind of backed

off and said, "Nothing in particular." I said, "Yea,

what can we do for you this afternoon?" You know

what? Old Donald and I walked on home and I had the

victory. 

 

good news for you we have a Savior named Jesus who is

stronger than the devil is. He's already defeated him

and the Bible says we can grow in the Lord and have

His word in our hearts and overcome the wicked one.  

How you coming on your growing these days?

 

There is spiritual adolescency - young men. Then he

gets to spiritual maturity.

 

III. Spiritual MATURITY: 'fathers."

 

have known him that is from the beginning.," He is

talking about Christians who have come to spiritual

maturity. I Cor. 4 gives us two characteristics of

what it means to be spiritually mature. How you grow

into spiritual maturity. Paul called himself a

father. Paul led people to Christ so he says, "I'm

your father." Verse 15, "For though you have 10,000

instructors in Christ yet have you not many fathers

for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the

Gospel." One of the characteristics of a father is

that the Father has brought life into the world.

That's what a father is. He has children.   If you

are sitting in this building and someone can call you

father that means you have brought forth children into

the world. The same thing is true spiritually. You

are on the road to spiritual maturity when you are

leading others to Christ and others are your spiritual

children. Paul talked to Philemon about Onesimus - "I

have begotten him in bonds." He became my spiritual

child. He said to young Timothy, "You are my own son

in the faith." He was a spiritual father. Are you a

spiritual father?

 

I was in my thirties at the time. He was in his

twenties. He said, "Preacher, I just want to

introduce myself to you, you're my grandfather." He

told me the story. One of the preacher boys I had led

to Christ had led this boy to Christ and he said,

you're my spiritual grandfather. You can be a

spiritual father. You can be a spiritual grandfather. 

When you are leading people to Christ and you are

becoming a spiritual father you are on your road to

growing spiritual.

 

16. "Wherefore I beseech you, be followers of me." A

father is not only capable of reproduction, he's

capable of illustration. He leads the way for others.

Have you lead anybody to Christ? Are you leading the

way? Are you being an example? Are you illustrating

to them how the Christian life ought to be lived. 

Very important that fathers lead spiritual children in

the right direction.

 

rather unusual occasion of the birth of little

Cleburne III. Folks, birth is the easy part. The

hard part is turning a little baby into an adult.

Christian if you are here today, I want to encourage

you to start growing in the Lord. Get in the Bible,

get in church, be a witness and start growing for the

Lord. If you are here and you have never been saved

you can't grow until you've been born. If you have

never received Christ as your Savior you need to be

born again this morning.

 

 

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