1 Thessalonians 4:1 KJV
Furthermore then we beseech you, brethren, and exhort you by the Lord Jesus, that as ye have received of us how ye ought to walk and to please God, so ye would abound more and more.
1 Thessalonians 4:9-10 KJV
But as touching brotherly love ye need not that I write unto you: for ye yourselves are taught of God to love one another.
And indeed ye do it toward all the brethren which are in all Macedonia: but we beseech you, brethren, that ye increase more and more;
I am focusing this morning on those words, "more and more." They are found twice in the passage and therefore ought to be taken note of. God's Word does not afford the Christian a place to plateau in spiritual growth.
Have we gained a degree of spiritual maturity in the local church? Praise God for that. But we cannot be satisfied. We cannot sit down now and say, "I have come this far! It is much farther than I would have imagined I would go. It is much farther than many others have gone. It is as far as I need then to go."
He we learned to love one another in the church? That is wonderful news! But this in no place to rest either. We are not allowed to say, "I love those I love more deeply than I did before. I love those I would never have loved before. I have learned to even love those who have not loved me. I have now arrived. I need not grow any further." God's Word says we must still increase more and more.
There is no such thing as perfect mastery, no such thing as having attained in this life. In heaven we will rest from our labors. Here we are called upon to abound more and more.
Furthermore then we beseech you, brethren, and exhort you by the Lord Jesus, that as ye have received of us how ye ought to walk and to please God, so ye would abound more and more.
1 Thessalonians 4:9-10 KJV
But as touching brotherly love ye need not that I write unto you: for ye yourselves are taught of God to love one another.
And indeed ye do it toward all the brethren which are in all Macedonia: but we beseech you, brethren, that ye increase more and more;
I am focusing this morning on those words, "more and more." They are found twice in the passage and therefore ought to be taken note of. God's Word does not afford the Christian a place to plateau in spiritual growth.
Have we gained a degree of spiritual maturity in the local church? Praise God for that. But we cannot be satisfied. We cannot sit down now and say, "I have come this far! It is much farther than I would have imagined I would go. It is much farther than many others have gone. It is as far as I need then to go."
He we learned to love one another in the church? That is wonderful news! But this in no place to rest either. We are not allowed to say, "I love those I love more deeply than I did before. I love those I would never have loved before. I have learned to even love those who have not loved me. I have now arrived. I need not grow any further." God's Word says we must still increase more and more.
There is no such thing as perfect mastery, no such thing as having attained in this life. In heaven we will rest from our labors. Here we are called upon to abound more and more.
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