Sunday Sermons
You Can Grow
God wants you to grow spiritually, “We are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ” (Ephesians 4:15). And there really is no good reason why any Christian should remain immature in their thinking and attitudes, “As a result, we are not longer to be children” (4:14). In fact, in another passage Paul would simply say to Christians, “Brethren, do not be children in your thinking…in your thinking be mature” (1 Corinthians 14:20). Yet there are Christians who are stuck in a state of perpetual spiritual infancy (Hebrews 5:12). “Spiritual growth is not automatic. It takes an intentional commitment. You mustwant to grow, decide to grow, make an effort to grow, and persist in growing” (The Purpose Driven Life, Warren, p. 179). We see this demonstrated in Jesus’ command, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me” (Luke 9:23). There must be that desire to be become like Christ, and follow Him continually.
Mediocrity
If you are only experiencing mediocre growth in your life as a Christian, then there is something that we already know. Your commitment is half-hearted. Half-hearted commitment results in mediocrity, not only in Christianity, but in many other realms as well. Mediocrity is written all over the individual in Matthew 13:22, “and the one on whom the seed was sown among the thorns, this is the man who hears the word, and the worry of the world and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful”. This is the half-hearted commitment to competing values, and this is also the person who is afraid to completely trust God and follow Him. Are you a distracted Christian? “So much of what we waste our energy on will not matter even a year from now, much less for eternity. Don’t trade your life for temporary things” (Warren p. 302). To actually make the most of our time on this earth, we must maintain an eternal perspective. If you are presently a Christian who is distracted by the things of this world, I think you already know that a mindset is not going to result in eternal life. The person in Matthew 13:22 is called “unfruitful” and what happens to unfruitful people? (John 15:2) “Snip”! Jesus also noted, “No one, after putting his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God” (Luke 9:62).
Growth starts with changing the way you think
“To change your life, you must change the way you think. Behind everything you do is a thought. Every behavior is motivated by a belief, and every action is prompted by an attitude” (Warren p. 181). Long ago, before any psychologists understood it, God said, “Watch over your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the springs of life” (Proverbs 4:23). Remember that the word “heart” includes such things as the mind and will. Carefully chose what you will value, because what you prize, and believe in will naturally control every other aspect of your life. What you treasure or cherish in your heart will set your priorities and will determine what you do with your time, talents, and money (Matthew 6:18-21). Today we are faced with many people who claim, “My personal beliefs in no way influence any of my decisions”, or my performance of certain business, secular, or professional duties. What a foolish statement! It is impossible to keep the convictions of the heart from remaining silent. “Here the word ‘heart’ means more than mental or emotional capacity; it also encompasses one’s values” (Bible Knowledge Comm. p. 914). Before we protect or guard anything else—let us make sure that we have guarded our hearts. “Keep thy heart more than any other keeping” (P.P. Comm. p. 91), because our habits, lifestyle, and eternal destiny will all be determined by what we allow ourselves to believe and value.
We can change!
Some people try to change by sheer will power and human effort, that is, “I will force myself to…” Will power is important, but mere human will power typically only results in short-term change. First of all, one must want to change. One needs to be tired and ashamed of their own old way of living and thinking (Luke 7:37; Mark 9:24 “I do believe; help my unbelief”), there also needs to be that conviction that God’s way of thinking and living is truly the right way, not just for others, but for me as well, “And it shall be that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Acts 2:21). God tells us that if a person renounces sin, and comes to Him having complete confidence in His Word, that one can truly change, “Be transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Romans 12:2); “that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind” (Ephesians 4:23). In fact, if we trust what God has said, we can even develop the same mind set that Jesus has, “Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 2:6).
Are you serious?
The Bible makes it clear that selfish thinking also leads to a life of sin, “because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God” (Romans 8:7); “Who set their minds on earthly things” (Philippians 3:19). Remember what Paul said, “Brethren, do not be children in your thinking”? (1 Corinthians 14:20). A child or babe typically only thinks of himself and his immediate needs; he is a receiver, but not a giver. This is one example of immature thinking, where you are thinking only of yourself and what you want right now. Have you grown beyond this level of thinking? If you are presently unhappy or miserable, this is probably where you are mentally (James 4:1-3). Remember, some of the obvious fruits of immature thinking, are envy, lust, and quarreling.
Whatever is true: Philippians 4:8
“Spiritual growth is the process of replacing lies with truth” (Warren p. 186). Passages such as, “Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4), do not merely include such things as frequent Bible reading, and meditation upon Scripture, they are describing the attitude of the person who accepts the Word of God as his final authority. There are people who read the Bible often and yet have not truly accepted the Bible as “the truth” (John 17:17). If we are reading the Bible and saying things to ourselves like, “Well, I’m not sure about that”. “I’m not sure if that is a good idea”. “I don’t think that will work”. “That’s not very practical in the real world”. Or, “I think I will hold on to my own opinion in that area”, then we really do not believe that God’s word is the truth, especially for us! In order for real and lasting spiritual growth to happen, “The Bible must become the authoritative standard for my life: the compass I rely on for direction, the counsel I listen to for making wise decisions, and the benchmark I use for evaluating everything. The Bible must always have the first and last word in my life. Many of our troubles occur because we base our choices on unreliable authorities: culture (“everyone is doing it”), tradition (“we’ve always done it”), reason (“it seemed logical”), or emotion (“it just felt right”)” (Warren pp. 186-187). The most important decision that you can make in your life, and the decision that will have tremendous impact upon whether you grow or not is, deciding what will be the ultimate authority for your life? Solomon noted, “Every word of God is tested” (Proverbs 30:5). That is, God is saying that every command He has given is smelted, without dross, as silver tried in a furnace. “Therefore there is no proof left for our misgiving or for their improvement. Notice that the aim of revelation is to promote trust, not bare knowledge, and trust that goes behind the words to the Speaker” (Kidner p. 179). Every command that God has given is “good stuff”, tried and true. God is not experimenting, we are not guinea pigs, and Scripture is not theory; everything in the Word has been “tested”. The Psalmist came the conclusion that everything in God’s law is true, “Therefore I esteem right all Your precepts concerning everything” (119:128).
Finding the lies
Part of the process of Spiritual growth involves getting rid of all the false concepts we have allowed ourselves to believe and having a mind that only accepts what is true (2 Corinthians 10:3-5). This includes what is true about ourselves! (Romans 12:3) May I suggest to you, if you are unhappy, miserable, envious, and quarrelsome, then you are holding onto a number of lies. The truth will convict you of sin, but the truth will not lead to an unhappy or miserable life (Psalm 119:97-105). The truth will actually set you free! (John 8:32). The following mental thoughts are evidence that one is holding onto some lies:
· Life is supposed to be always fair
· I deserve better
· No one loves me
· You cannot trust anyone
· Look out for number one
· You have to push, shove, scrap and scrape to get what you want
· Everyone needs a little sin now and then
Dwell on these things: Philippians 4:8
The Bible often stresses the importance of mediating and mentally dwelling upon Scripture, “It is my mediation all the day” (Psalm 119:97); “It is my mediation all the day” (Psalm 119:97); “Your word I have treasured in my heart” (119:11); “I will mediate on Your precepts and regard Your ways” (119:15). Remember, “mediation” from the Biblical perspective, is focused thinking. Warren notes that everyone, even sinners know how to meditate. “If you know how to worry, you already know how to mediate. Worry is focused thinking on something negative. Mediation is doing the same thing, only focusing on God’s Word instead of your problem” (p. 190). Or, another way we could state this truth, is that worry, envy, jealousy, lust, hate, and so on, are the result of a mental focus on what is false. Patience, kindness, love and so on, are the result of a mental focus on what is true! Everyone dwells on something, why not spend all this mental energy on what is true and be happy as a result? Once again look at the parable of the sower in Matthew 13. Each heart or mind in this parable is focused on something: The wayside soil (13:19): Here is the closed mind, “don’t confuse me with the facts”, “don’t upset my world of self-imposed ignorance”, the person who only wants to believe what is comfortable and what suits their self-interest and preconceived ideas. The rocky soil (13:20): Here is the person who lets in a little bit of truth, but wants to live a superficial life as well. The thorny soil: This is the distracted mind, the person who is trying to trust God and hold on to a number of lies as well. The only individual who grows in this entire section is the last person mentioned who completely embraces God’s truth and acts upon it.
Crucial decisions
In order to grow spiritually, we must be willing to trust God completely which means thinking like a servant (Philippians 2:6), and involves:
· We cannot moonlight for ourselves. All our time belongs to God, He insists upon exclusive allegiance, not part-time faithfulness (Matthew 6:33; 24).
· Servants remember that God owns it all (Psalm 24:1), and we are but stewards of all our resources.
· Servants do not view various jobs as beneath them, and servants are secure people who do not worry about how they appear to others.
