Sermon Notes - March 20, 2005
"Thinking Clearly About Your
Spiritual Growth"
Thinking Clearly, part 5
Luke 8:4-15
I.
Introduction
A.
Today we continue our series on Clear Thinking with the topic
“thinking clearly about spiritual growth.”
B.
Spiritual growth is something we long for, but rarely commit
ourselves to.
1)
The spiritual giants we see around us are looked upon with
awe, like they’re the church’s superheroes.
2)
But while we admire their dedication, we make excuses for our
own lack of growth.
3)
“I’m not getting fed.”
= Or is it that you’re not eating.
C.
God made you for a purpose and huge designs for your life.
1)
But in order to achieve them you have to grow.
2)
And in order to grow you have to feed, mature and reproduce.
D.
Jesus told a parable in Luke chapter 8 that illustrates some
of the troubles we have growing and he even takes the time to explain this
parable so that we can’t possibly miss the main point of the story.
1)
As you heard it read, it’s about a farmer that goes out to
sow seed.
2)
The seed falls on four different kinds of soil with four very
different kinds of results.
3)
As he explains the parable Jesus makes a couple of things
clear:
a)
The farmer in the story = God.
b)
The seed = the word of God to you.
c)
The soil = you. Your
response to the word of God.
4)
From this story we learn the keys to spiritual growth.
II.
First, I must be receptive to God.
A.
You have to want to grow.
You should be eager to grow. You
should be spiritually receptive.
1)
The primary reason people don’t grow is this obvious one:
they don’t really want to. They
aren’t spiritually receptive.
2)
Just by coming to church today you demonstrated a degree of
spiritual receptivity that God notices and will honor.
3)
A lot of folks in our community don’t even show that degree
of spiritual receptivity.
B.
This is the first kind of soil – the seed that falls on the
path.
1)
Verse 8 --
“A farmer went
out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the
path; it was trampled on, and the birds of the air ate it up.
2)
Its
meaning is in verse 12 – “Those along the path are the ones who hear,
and then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that
they may not believe and be saved.”
3)
On every
farm there are footpaths the farmers walks through his crops.
a)
After
walking on them over and over, the soil starts to get compacted.
b)
Footpaths
are hard (from all the traffic) and they are narrow.
c)
A lot of
peoples minds are like that: “Don’t confuse me with the facts.”
4)
When the
seed falls on this hard-packed soil it never gets a chance to penetrate.
a)
The birds
snatch it away before it roots because it just lays on the surface.
b)
It never
even has a chance to sprout.
C.
Jesus is saying that this is a lot like us.
We never give Him the opportunity to go to work on us.
1)
God doesn’t get a chance to do miracles, because we don’t
believe.
2)
God doesn’t get a chance to answer prayer, because we
don’t pray.
3)
God doesn’t get a chance to grow us, because we not sure we
even believe in Him.
4)
There’s no room for spiritual growth because our minds are
closed and our hearts are hardened.
5)
The first kind of soil – the hardened path – represents a
closed mind.
D.
How does this happen? I
don’t know of anyone who will admit to not wanting to grow, but I see a
lot of people whose minds are closed to the possibilities.
1)
First, fear. If
we’re afraid of God we aren’t going to get too close to him.
a)
“What if I get close to God and he asks me to do something I
don’t want to do? (that’s a
legitimate fear).
b)
“What if God turns me into some religious nut like some of
those guys on TV?”
c)
What if I lose my freedom and I can’t have fun anymore?” Another
legitimate fear.
d)
If you are afraid of God, you’ll harden your heart and shut
down and never discover who God really is.
2)
Second, bitterness (resentment over some hurt in the past).
a)
You think about that and you say, “no thanks God.
Not if you allowed that to happen.”
b)
Some of you have lost loved ones, children.
You were abused physically or sexually.
It hut and it still hurts.
c)
Somewhere in your mind you’re saying, “God why did you
allow that?”
i.
Some of you have even been hurt by other “Christians.” And
your bitterness is pulling you from God.
ii.
When that happens, you cannot grow.
You can not grow and have bitterness at the same time.
d)
I don’t know why all that happened to you, but I do know
that heaven is the perfect place, not earth.
i.
And I know that if you’re hurting, I’m sorry.
I’m sorry you hurt. And
God hurts with you.
ii.
But don’t turn away. Receive
his comfort. Don’t let anyone
come between you and God.
iii.
Get the hurt and bitterness out of the way so that your heart
doesn’t harden and become a place where nothing will grow.
3)
The third block is pride.
a)
Sometimes we are so unreceptive that we don’t think we even
need God.
b)
We believe we can solve all of these problems ourselves.
E.
If you don’t think you need God, or are afraid of God or are
angry at God you are not receptive.
1)
Here’s the trouble. The
unreceptive, hard heart is a place where nothing can grow.
a)
Even Jesus said that good seed goes to waste on hard packed
ground.
b)
It’s a waste of seed and a waste of a life.
2)
If you want to grow you must be truly receptive to God.
III.
I must be resolved to grow.
A.
In other words, you have to make a decision.
You need a resolution to grow. It’s
called a commitment.
1)
Spiritual growth and spiritual maturity is a choice.
And it is your choice.
2)
You are as close to God as you want to be.
Don’t blame anyone else.
3)
It’s not God’s fault.
God wants to be close, but you have to choose to grow closer to him.
B.
Jesus talked about it this way in the parable.
1)
Verse 6 – “Some
fell on rock, and when it came up, the plants withered because they had no
moisture.”
2)
Verse 13
– “Those on the rock are the ones who receive the word with joy when
they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while, but in the
time of testing they fall away.”
3)
The shallow soil is common to Palestine.
Without constant tending and water, crops wither from the sun due to
lack of moisture. Their roots
aren’t deep enough to sustain themselves.
4)
Jesus says, that’s us! Shallow
soil = superficial commitment. Commitment
without resolve. Faith with no
roots.
C.
In order to grow you have to resolve yourself to putting down
roots and committing yourself to growing.
Here are 5 suggestions for doing just that:
1)
Commit to involvement in a small group.
(Start with a Sunday school class!) ~ we grow in bunches better!
2)
Commit to spiritual habits.
Read God’s word, prayer. It
doesn’t come natural, you have to resolve to do it.
3)
Commit to using your gifts.
Use what God has given you to help someone else.
Give and you will grow.
4)
Commit to sharing. Tell
someone what God is doing in your life.
Share and you will grow.
5)
Commit to fulfilling your purpose.
Your purpose is to bring glory to Him and He put you on this earth to
make a difference.
D.
If you put down these roots I guarantee that you will begin to
grow spiritually!
IV.
Finally, I must be ruthless with distractions.
A.
Your most important objective in life is to grow spiritually.
Everything else pales in significance.
1)
It’s more important than your job, your marriage, than
anything else.
2)
It’s the reason that you’re here.
If you miss this you’ve wasted your life.
B.
Because it’s that important, there are bound to be all kinds
of distractions.
1)
There are all manner of things that can trip you up
spiritually.
2)
The Bible calls these distractions weeds.
a)
Weeds grow up in your life and choke out your spiritual
growth.
b)
Then you don’t have the vitality to become what he wants you
to be.
c)
Verse 7
– “Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up with it and choked the
plants.
d)
Verse 14
– “The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as
they go on their way they are choked by life’s worries, riches and
pleasures, and they do not mature.”
3)
This is
the third barrier that keeps you from growing spiritually = an overcrowded
life.
a)
Anything
that gets into your life and crowds out God is a weed.
b)
Why are
there so many people with unproductive lives?
Overcrowded lives!
4)
What is a
weed? It could be family,
career, hobbies, tv, investments, anything!
a)
How much
effort does it take to grow weeds?
i.
When I neglect my lawn – weeds grow.
When I neglect my marriage, my faith, my friendships, my kids –
weeds grow.
ii.
They are a sign that I’ve slacked off.
b)
What do
you do with weeds?
i.
Pull ‘em. Rip them
out! Eliminate them!
Get rid of them!
ii.
You don’t say, “May I please pull you out?”
You’re rude to weeds.
5)
How do
you treat the weeds in your life? Are
you rude to them?
a)
What do
you need to weed out of your life?
b)
What
needs to be uprooted? What needs
to be eradicated from your schedule?
c)
You need
to be ruthless. You can get so
many irons in the fire that you put out the fire!
d)
What
needs to be gone?
V.
Which of these three barriers have caused you to stop growing?
A.
A closed
mind? Has your heart grown cold
and barren?
B.
A
superficial commitment? Does you
excite for the Lord only flair up for an hour on Sunday and then you’re
off to lunch?
C.
An
overcrowded life?
VI.
The solution:
A.
Cultivate
an open attitude toward God. Be
receptive.
B.
Make a
commitment. Choose to grow.
C.
Eliminate
the weeds. Be ruthless with
distractions.
VII.
Jesus came to Jerusalem and died there on a cross, not just so that
you could inherit eternal life in heaven.
A.
Jesus
came so that you might have abundant life now.
B.
If you
don’ have abundant life now, maybe today is the time to remove some
barriers and begin to grow toward abundance.
1)
God is
not a God of scarcity. God is
not a God of subsistence.
2)
God is a
God of abundance.