Comprehending the Length

DISCERNING SPIRITUAL GROWTH

Hebrews 5:14

- But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.

have borrowed this term, “comprehending the length,” to teach you how to discern your spiritual growth as well as the spiritual growth of those you lead.

It is most important for you to understand the knowledge of your own spiritual development is what will give you the wisdom to minister and develop others. Knowing the operation of the Word in your own life is the key to understanding its effect or non-effect on others. If you are to move from one spiritual location to another, you must comprehend the experience of God’s love for you. It is the love of God that takes us from babe to maturity. He does not abandon us when we decide to take paths or courses contrary to His will. However, He does choose the method of chastening needed to get us back on the path of righteousness.

God intends to and will have Himself a people who will stand up in the full statue of His Son, Jesus Christ. Will you be counted among those who will fulfill God’s purpose on this earth? Once again it is going to take a sure Word to bring you to maturity or perfection. In fact, you must first open your heart and mind to the fact you can be perfect. If you do not believe this for yourself, then you will truly fail in your ministry to the Body of Christ. You may not be a pastor or evangelist; but regardless of your position in the Body, ‘perfection’ must be at the core of your belief system.

Colossians 1:27-28

27 To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:

28 Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus:

For so long the preachers of the Faith have denied the fact we were created to glorify the Father by living a sinless life of perfection in Jesus Christ. Some, who insist no one is perfect; declaring, “as long as we are in these fleshy bodies we will sin,” consider this truth, heresy. This is blasphemy against the finished work of God in salvation. If we cannot live as Christ did, then we could have remained under the law; continually offering up animal sacrifices to cover our sins.

One of the riches of God’s glory is to be able to comprehend the length of God’s love. The word ‘length’ refers to the measurement or extent of something from one end to the other. We will use it to identify the spiritual distance from one spiritual location to another. This length can only be comprehended in one’s revelation of salvation.

CORE BELIEFS

Leaders must comprehend the ‘grace of God’ in His redemption plan. They must note the reality of God living in human flesh today. They must be willing to minister the fact that we who are in the faith, walk by faith, not by sight. Feelings and emotions no longer govern our lives; And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit (Galatians 5:24-25). By grace we are now able to feel what God feels, to love what He loves, and to hate what He hates. We are able to bear in our flesh everything the Master is willing to bear. The leader must be able to teach: the saved soul as the new creature; and the body as the new man.

He must believe…

• walking in the spirit is a revelation of our oneness with the Father and the Son.

• It provides us with the mind of Christ and the emotions of the Spirit.

I cannot express how crucial these core beliefs are. The salvation message in the church today is missing these essential elements. That is why most ministers are unable to produce manifested sons of God today. If you do not understand or have not fully comprehended these principles, then you need to look into the Mary Banks Faith Library and gather the material dedicated to the new man. My book, “The Image of God,” is a good starting point. You need to study it thoroughly. Go back through all the discipleship and conference material on the subject. It is crucial you know the message. It is needed in all areas of ministry and counsel.

FROM BABE TO MATURITY

It is the Lord who is going to raise you through the Word He gives to those who work within His government (the 5-fold ministry). The Word tells us He chastens every son. This chastening is son-training. It is the responsibility of the Word of God and the Spirit of God to spiritually develop the church into manifested sons of God. Remember, if you are not walking in perfection or maturity, then you are indeed as a babe. It doesn’t matter if you are a preacher, teacher, etc.; if you are not walking in the Spirit, then you are either rebellious, or you are simply a babe who walks in ignorance. This is a good time to judge your own spiritual location.

1 Corinthians 3:1

And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ.

To comprehend the length of God’s love is to discern how He moves you from one spiritual location to another. It is to understand your growth path. As I said earlier in this lesson, unless you are able to do so, you will never truly discern the location of others. Let us look at the path of the Word in spiritual development.

HEARING

The Lord will make sure He speaks to your spirit; for it is the spirit of a man that knows the man. At this point the believer must provide an open heart and mind to hear what “thus says the Lord.” The fact is when the conscience hears the truth, it automatically agrees with God’s Word. The first step to moving off course is to override this agreement. In order to disobey, the truth must be willfully overridden. Consider the passage below.

Hebrews 10:26-30

26 For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins,

27 But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries.

28 He that despised Moses’ law died without mercy under two or three witnesses:

29 Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?

30 For we know him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge his people.

The scriptures above should strike a godly fear in the heart of every believer. But it will not, if you do not judge all sin the same. You must not give yourself a pass when you do anything unrighteous. There is no such thing as a small or lesser sin. You must see backbiting to be as evil as adultery or homosexuality. If you do not hear the Word with your heart, there will be no conviction to obey it. If you fail to discern how you moved from one spiritual location to another, then you remain a babe.

1. WISDOM IS THE ABILITY TO APPLY THE KNOWLEDGE YOU HAVE.

You must take all that happens, positive and negative, inside your circumstances, situations and relationships, and extract the wisdom of God out of them.

A. You must pinpoint God’s position, His will and His purpose for allowing the situation to occur.

B. Discern satan; his stance, his objectives and the vessels he is using. In discerning the vessels used by satan, you must not forget these are either brothers and sisters in the Kingdom, or they are souls who need to be brought into the Kingdom.

C. Therefore, you must take time to discern their spiritual locations; and allow that knowledge to

guide you in your dealings with them. Never forget you have a responsibility to reveal the

righteousness of God to them, even though they have made themselves your enemy.

D. The virtue you obtained from past obedience, gives you power to love them with the love of

Christ in spite of what their intentions are toward you.

E. Resolve in your heart to obey the Word. This resolution keeps the heart pure. When the heart

is pure, you will always be able to see God in the trial. You will be able to see all elements of the

trial and know what to do at every interval.

2. IDENTIFY THE THINGS THAT CAUSED YOU TO BE STRENGTHENED,..in the situations you encounter.

For instance, were you more involved in fellowshipping with God. Did you pray more in the Spirit? Did you receive righteous counsel? Did you fast? Don’t allow yourself to go through adversities or blessings without discerning what caused you to be strengthened enough to pass the test. This information is vital. You will certainly need to reflect on it as you enter into future trials. The principles you exercise today, will be just as powerful ten years from now. Example: I had to go into a church where leadership had failed, and the people were mostly “the walking dead.” I asked the Lord what would He have me to do. He instructed me to take a witness and preach the Word. When I heard this, I reflected on a word He had spoken to me several years prior, “Truth is Sufficient.” I then recalled all the spiritual victories I had witnessed the word perform. This reflection on the past power of the Word, gave me the confidence I needed to obey with the assurance that the ministry would survive. We obeyed, and that ministry is thriving today. I simply obeyed the wisdom that was extracted from past trials.

3. BE VERY CAREFUL TO IDENTIFY THE THING THAT CAUSED YOU TO FAIL OR FALL?

Were you too emotional, or fearful, or maybe you were distracted by unlawful influences, such as unwholesome television, movies, unsavory relationships or unholy ambitions. Go for the jugular, tell the truth. Don’t give yourself a pass. Do a righteous assessment of your spiritual location. It is your understanding of the work of God in your life that makes you valuable to the Kingdom. It enables you to minister the grace of God to others. Embrace the grace.