Stages of the Christian Road

Here is an old sermon I preached from some revelation God gave me. Today we are going through such a drought of spiritual maturity, I think ahead to our children’s future and wonder who they will have to look up to. It is time to step up and be mature in Christ.

I’ll be adding each part over the next couple days. So stay with us to see the conclusion!

Part 1
The Stages of the Christian Road
1Jo 2:12 "I write to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for His name's sake."

1Jo 2:13 "I write to you, fathers, because you have known Him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I write to you, little children, because you have known the Father."

1Jo 2:14 "I write to you, fathers, because you have known Him who is from the beginning. I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, and the Word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one."

These verses are often read, and often overlooked. However I found something very important and impacting within these passages. You see what we find here are three stages of growth in Christianity, or perhaps the three ranks. It is very important that we understand that there are in fact different stages in our walk with Jesus, different seasons and changes.  The Bible says that we change from glory to glory; I believe that this lesson will help shed a little more light that.

Children: "I write to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for His name's sake."
                "I write to you, little children, because you have known the Father."

The word "Children" in Greek here literally means infants, one who is newly born. Children are those who have just received Jesus, the new converts who only know God as a loving and forgiving Father. They don't have much experience in Jesus, they don't know other aspects of his character than His love and forgiveness. However, unlike in the physical world, you can actually stay in this area of Christianity. It's nice to remain only in the forgiveness and love part of Him.  It's easy because it is the most comfortable rank. It is where you can be saved and still have a minimum amount of responsibility. This is the stage where the majority of Christians dwell. These are the ones who just absorb, like children. They don't, or won't walk by themselves, feed themselves, or advance in any way because they don't want to for whatever reason. They live their lives just feeding, absorbing, and depending on others. They are still immature in the faith and don't know how to fight. They are the babies, we all start there, but a lot of us stay there, and that is truly a horrible mistake. It is not only dangerous but very sad, because those who stay in this area never get to experience any more of the Father; not until they are in Heaven of course. It is not wrong to be in this stage, it's wonderful, it's just wrong to stay there.

Stay tuned for part two, where we will be talking about young men, and then fathers!