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Filling with your Holy Spirit and please just give us ears to hear your word as its priests in Jesus name we pray. Amen Amen, all right We're in 2nd Peter chapter number 3 and the title my sermon this morning is reasons why Christians don't grow reasons why Christians don't grow look at verse number 17 It says here in 2nd Peter chapter 3 ye therefore beloved seeing you know these things before Beware lest he also being led away with the error of the wicked fall from your own steadfastness But grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ to him be glory both now and forever Amen, this is pretty popular verse that we all are pretty familiar with the commandment to grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and this is a common theme obviously in the Bible more specifically in the New Testament Where God is instructing he's admonishing he is Basically telling us that we need to make sure that we're constantly growing in our Christian faith The Bible tells us you don't have to turn there in Ephesians chapter 4 verse verse 14 It says that we henceforth be no more children Tossed to and fro carried about with every wind of doctrine by the sleight of men and cunning craftiness Whereby they lie in wait to deceive it says but speaking the truth and love May grow up into him in all things which is the head even Christ 2nd Thessalonians chapter 1 verse number 3 Says we are bound to thank God always for you brethren as it is me because that your faith groweth exceedingly and the charity of every one of you all toward each other abounded 1st Peter chapter 2 verse 2 tells us as newborn babes Desire the sincere milk of the word that ye may grow thereby over and over We see this commandment that we're supposed to grow and the thought there is that we shouldn't be stagnant as Christians You know, we shouldn't just be in one location and just be satisfied with where we're at, you know We need to make sure that we're constantly going forward learning new things growing in our faith, right? Go with me if you went to Acts chapter 19 Acts chapter 19 if you would and I'm gonna give you just a couple introductory statements here first and foremost I'm gonna give you the three points as to why Christians don't grow in this sermon number one Why do Christians not grow because of the institutions that they're in? Number two because of the influences that they have and number three because it's the individual themselves Okay, and so I'm gonna go over those points later on in the sermon, but just keep that in mind But let me just basically just point out the obvious here. One of the reasons Christians don't grow is because they're not even saved Let me just be very poignant here and you know A lot of people who say that they're Christians just because they claim they have the title or they say that they're Christians Doesn't necessarily mean that they're safe and the Bible tells us that the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God Neither can he know them for they are spiritually discerned Just because someone has Christian on the church or they claim to be a Christian doesn't necessarily mean that they're safe You know You have to actually believe on Jesus Christ trust Jesus as your Savior in order to be saved And if you have a different gospel, then you can call yourself a Christian all you want It doesn't mean that you're actually saved doesn't mean that you're a Christian and that is that is basically that the first Entry point there is that you have to be saved in order to even grow in grace look at Acts 19 verse number 1 It says and it came to pass that while Apollos was at Corinth Paul having passed through the upper coast came to Ephesus and finding certain disciples He said unto them have you received the Holy Ghost since he believed now, let me give you some background here this is a church plant that was started a while back so to speak and the church at Ephesus here and Paul is basically going through these church plans and Confirming the souls of the disciples in other words He's just kind of going there helping them to kind of grow teaching them doctrine and he's telling them Have you received the Holy Ghost since he believed now? He's not referring to the indwelling of the Holy Spirit as we know it today, right? The indwelling means once you get saved you're in dwelt by the Holy Spirit unto the day of redemption. Okay? He's the earnest of our inheritance Etc. What this is referring to is just the power of the Holy Spirit the fact that they have God's power in their life They're bold to preach the gospel. This is what he's referring to. Okay, so he's saying there Have you received the Holy Ghost since he believed so he's assuming that these disciples are saved Cuz he said since he believed, right? Look at their responses and they said unto him we have not so much as heard whether there be a Holy Ghost So if someone says I don't even know what the Holy Ghost is The implication there or what they're implying is that they're not even saved, right? Verse 3 says and he said unto them unto what then were you baptized? Because he's saying well, I thought you believed and you got baptized And why did you even get baptized if you're not even saved and they said unto him unto John's baptism Paul? Basically corrects them and explains to them what Paul's baptism was He says in verse 4 then said Paul John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance Saying unto the people that they should believe on him which should come after him that is on Christ Jesus So he clarifies what the message of John the Baptist was. Okay, is that they should believe on him believe on Jesus Christ It's not that John the Baptist had some different gospel than Jesus and the Apostles They're all they all have the same message folks same gospel Okay, and then it says in verse 5 when they heard this they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus now notice that The Apostle Paul didn't say well, we'll deal with the salvation thing afterwards. Let me explain to you who the Holy Ghost is Why because if they're not saved they're not gonna understand it and the same goes today, you know A lot of people in different churches have a hard time understanding the content of the Bible They have a hard time understanding doctrine They have a hard time understanding just basic truths and yeah, yeah It could be that maybe they're just a babe in Christ, but another reason can simply be that they're simply not saved Okay, you know, maybe they believe you have to repent of your sins to be saved. They believe in Baptismal regeneration you have to do good works that you could lose your salvation These are all factors that can play into them not being able to understand the Bible because they're simply not safe and you know The way they can fix that is by getting saved Amen, by simply believing on Jesus Christ getting that taken care of and then beginning to grow thereafter now Let me say a couple things here spiritual growth can really be defined in a couple of ways Okay the Bible will often refer to newly saved Christians or Christians that are new to the things of God as Being a babe in Christ. We would say a baby right a child Bible will often use the term little children and the implication there is that there's room for growth There's room for them to mature in their spiritual life now if we're to narrow it down and Pinpoint what it means to grow we can basically place them in two categories Very simple because we could if I were to just say hey give me a way you can grow in the faith Some would say so many. Amen Others will say read your Bible. Yeah, correct. Someone say well you have to pray. Yeah churches in this Yeah, you know we can all come up with all these different things you can do to help you grow in your faith But if we're to consolidate it into two categories we can say this we're we grow by growing in our knowledge of God's Word and Then category number two is we grow when we grow in our application of God's Word So the way we can determine if we're growing in our faith is number one Are you growing in your knowledge of God's Word? Do you know the Bible more today than maybe you did last year or two? Are you applying that what you're learning? Category number one growing knowledge. What does that mean? Well, are you growing in your love for the Bible? Because our love for the Bible should increase right, you know We should love the Bible desire the word to read the Word of God have an appetite to read the Word of God But how about this our understanding of the Bible should increase as well? The more you read the Bible the more you should understand the Word of God and our consumption of the Bible should increase as well We get more preaching in we're listening to preaching online on Different YouTube channels and different men of God who are preaching God's Word you're in church You know three times out of the week, you're consuming more Bible. You're reading the Bible at home You're reading the Bible to your children your consumption of God's Word is increasing This shows that you're growing in your knowledge of God's Word, but hold on a second. You can't stop there though The second category is very much important You know, you got to grow in your application of God's Word to be a doer of the Word, okay Where well in your personal life, you know, are you cleaning up your life? Are you getting sin out of your life? Are you growing in your character as a Christian? Are you growing in your homes? Are you learning your biblical roles as a wife as a husband as an employee as a church member right at your jobs in your church? So this is the application of God's Word these are the two categories that we need to take inventory of when we're trying to figure out am I growing In my faith. Well, let me ask you. Do you know the Bible? Are you learning the Bible? Yes, are you applying the Bible when you read it or hear it preached? Yes, I to the best of my ability That's what I do. Okay, then you're growing you're going forward. Okay Now what are some of the reasons why Christians don't grow in these areas go with me if you would To 1st Corinthians chapter number 8 1st Corinthians chapter number 8 Well, I already mentioned the three reasons why reason number one is because of the institutions that they are in Okay, the institutions play a major role in the growth of a Christian or the hindrance of that growth as well Okay, you know our environment is very much important, you know It's not everything but it is important and it helps mold us into what God wants us to be So the institutions what what institutions am I referring to? Well, how about this public schools and secular universities is an institution that can hinder your growth in the Christian life You know, if you're a teenager and you're at some high school and you know Maybe you don't have a choice to to be there or not, you know that can hinder your spiritual growth Why because secular universities and and public schools often have not often always have? Ideologies that are anti biblical and so if you have this institution that is constantly pumping all this garbage and Evolution and all of this nonsense that's contrary to the Word of God You're always going to be conflicted because you're learning one thing here at church You're learning one thing when you're reading your Bible you're learning one thing when you are hearing God's preaching But then you go to school and they tell you that God's not real. It's all about atheism You're you're just you you come from a monkey and it's okay to fornicate Then it's okay to commit abortion and it's okay to do these things and you're constantly having this pump Constantly having this thrown at you, you know that can hinder your spiritual growth Now it shouldn't but you know what the reality is this if you're a young person in a high school You're susceptible to that type of influence. Okay, and in fact the Bible tells us you're in 1st Corinthians I'm gonna read to you from Psalm chapter 1 verse number 1 Blessed is the man that walketh not in the council of the ungodly Now that's the public school Public school is pumping out ungodly council eight hours a day. Oh You're judging. How do you know that because I went to a public school. I Went to public school elementary middle school and high school and I got no godly counsel in any one of those I never even learned about God in those in those institutions Okay, I didn't even hear anything about God in those institutions other than when it was used with the curse word or something Blessed is the man that walketh not in the council of the ungodly listen to this nor standeth in the way of sinners nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful and You know what these public schools and secular universities? They're filled with seats of the scornful where teachers are just constantly bashing on Christianity constantly promoting feminism Constantly promoting, you know all this nonsense and evolution and things that are contrary to the Word of God They're scorning at the Bible And you know that can cause you to do it can cause your faith to kind of wane a little bit if you are not Grounded in God's Word. Okay that can cause you to be hindered in your Christian growth Why because of the fact that you're having conflicting? Ideologies being pumped to you eight hours a day and you're not able to receive that look at first Corinthians 3 verse 18 Let no man deceive himself Verse 18 if any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool that he may be wise For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God For it is written. He taketh the wise in their own craftiness And again the Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise that they are vain don't think that these secular Universities and these public schools are an institution of higher learning Okay, because at the end of the day there's so much stupid things that are being taught through those schools Things that are not even knowledge These institutions are literally religions Pumping feminism evolution science falsely so-called It's not knowledge now I'm not saying that all of these institutions are filled with that stuff because obviously There might be some classes you can take where you actually learn something, okay I don't know how much evolution is being pumped through your math class. Maybe not a lot. Hopefully not a lot Okay But you know what? I the vast majority of what's being taught at these universities is nonsensical and even then let's say outside of the classroom what about just the environment of a second University period and The people that surround you the friends that you get the environment that you're in the atmosphere that you have. It's often an ungodly Atmosphere an ambiance that's not conducive to Christian growth Okay And look I don't care how long you've been in the faith or how long you've been a Christian for if you place yourself In an environment that's not conducive to spiritual growth. You will eventually give in to that You will eventually be like unto them not me. I'm strong in the Lord You know I'm strong in the Lord and the power of his might the Bible says that if you that if you walk with fools You shall be a fool yourself. You shall be destroyed Okay, he that walketh with wise men shall be wise but a companion of fools shall be destroyed There's no way around it The Bible tells us that when you surround yourself with people that are against the Word of God, they're scorting at the Bible They're mocking the things of God. It will eventually influence you and destroy your faith. Okay Go with me if you would to Romans chapter number one Romans chapter number one and I think of a time in my personal life when I was in high school And I was in a biology class you know boys like biology, you know, you get to dissect stuff and dissect worms and frogs and we even got to do like a Baby fetus of a pig and and dissect that and just studying that I like that stuff Even though I wasn't really interested in science, you know, I'm cool with that, you know scalpel and all that and But I remember my teacher was a Flaming liberal. Okay, and You Know I wasn't saved. Let me just give that disclaimer there. Okay, I wasn't safe. So I talked away unsafe people talk Especially when you're like 16 years old, okay You know, I just talked with my friends the way teenagers would talk. All right, I'll save you the details Okay But let's just say this when we're like excited about the project, you know, we have some choice words to express that excitement Okay, and you know what? Our teacher was actually for that She liked the the kind of language that we use. She would encourage us to use that type of language You know, she would use that language Okay, and we thought that was pretty cool. Like all right, you know, that's cool. We can just kind of talk however we want But then we use a different word You know, we use the F word and not the F word that people think is the F word today We talk about the F word the Q word We're talking about homos here right so we're you know, because teenagers would say fag all the time, you know You mock each other like are you a little faggot? You guys know what I'm talking about. I'm not the only generation am I you guys know what I'm saying? You know, we just kind of that's what we would say and look we thought to ourselves Well, if she's not really flinching at the other stuff Because the other stuff was a lot worse in our opinion She's definitely not gonna flinch at this and she did She was so upset that we used that word Okay, she came down on us and said you can't believe you're using that word and that's so insensitive and blah blah blah We're just like What? So what she did in this biology class is the following class period she brought in a tranny And said we're not learning biology today. Yeah for sure. We're not learning biology today She's like We're not learning biology today, I'm having you know this thing come up here and Explain to you why it's okay to be like a tranny or something You know and me and my friends were just like disgusted. We're like what? Are we gonna dissect it? She literally spent like an hour and a half and all this person did This thing came in and just defiled the ears of all of the students talked about all its perversion and And used language that was very filled and it angered a lot of us You know it were at least that the guys in my in my class. You know we're we're pretty mad about that You know because he was like insulting us and because it was a class geared against us because we use the word or whatever you know And but you know what that's where the tax dollars are going towards So she can a lot an hour and a half time to explain why it's okay to be a tranny Okay, that's anti-biblical folks And you know it. You know I wasn't righteous at that time, but it still vexed my soul I Was still vexed by it how much more a person who is saved who is under that nonsense? you know vexing their righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds and So you know the Bible says that the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God, okay? And look if you go to a university you're part of some secular college I'm not getting on you. You know I'm just stating facts here that we obviously understand that a lot of these institutions are not God's Institutions, so we can't expect a Christian. We can't expect the Christian atmosphere there obviously right, but also understand that with that comes Sort of a renewing of your mind as well Okay, so you have to on purpose Compensate for that if you are going to a secular college or a public school You need to compensate for that and make sure that you're taking in more Bible content to combat those ideologies when they're coming through Don't just take it lying down understand The Bible tells us which some professing excuse me first Timothy 6 20 you have to turn your Romans 1 Oh Timothy keep that which is committed to thy trust avoiding profane and vain babblings and Oppositions of science falsely so-called so that tells me that we have to avoid Fauci amen He's the opposition of science falsely so-called by the way arrest Fauci Which some professing have erred concern in the faith grace be with thee Amen that means there are certain Christians that are carried about with these winds of doctrines I mean aren't there Christians that are carried about with the false doctrine of vaccines Right because they don't they don't have the knowledge of Vaccines and and the repercussions of vaccines and all these things. What is that? That's opposition of science falsely so-called So that wasn't just the thing back then it's the thing today, too Look at Romans 1 verse 21 It says because that when they knew God they glorified him not as God neither were thankful but became vain in their Imaginations and their foolish heart was darkened Professing themselves to be wise They became fools and changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man And to birds and four-footed beasts and creeping things now, you know This is a great passage to describe professors in the universities, right? They profess themselves to be wise, but they're actually fools Now I'm not saying that if you go to a secular university or your child goes to a secular university and they're saved That they're just all of a sudden gonna become an atheist. It's not possible, right? It's not possible for someone who's actually saved to just completely deny God and deny the Bible and deny Jesus Christ The only way it's possible for them to do that is if they weren't saved to begin with You know if they believed in vain as first Corinthians 15 tells us, correct? But what will happen is that they could they can become watered down and desensitized Towards the things the sinful things of this world They can be rendered just completely useless and inactive in the work of God because they are in these institutions So don't take it lightly don't think well, I'm just gonna send my junior to a public school That's why at our church we encourage homeschooling. Amen What better person to teach your kids than you? You're like wait, but I'm not equipped for that. Hey, you got decades upon that child You can just just be one step ahead of that child. You're good to go It's Better than what they're getting out there And look I when I went to high school I was friends with people that did not know how to read How about that Could not read a book couldn't read. Dr. Seuss if their life depended on it Now I come from a generation where my mom didn't teach me how to read But I come from a generation that would shame people for not reading so I learned how to read because of that Because I was embarrassed I remember going into the second grade not knowing how to read and I went up to my teacher and I said now are you gonna teach us how to read and She said yeah, I'm like, okay good because I don't know how to read So I need you to teach me how to read Because I was embarrassed because because back in those I don't know how they do it now But in those days the teacher would do like popcorn reading. You guys know what I'm talking about That's the most just nerve-wracking Hour of your life What does it say? What does it say? Tell me what it says And you're just like, please don't pick on me. Please don't pick on me I remember those days and so I was like I need to learn because if she does popcorn reading That's gonna be traumatic for me. Like I'm not what am I gonna the a That's all I got and So, I don't know what she did But apparently she did a great job because by the third grade I was consuming a lot of books and I learned how to read Thereafter, but you know what? We live in a different generation now because now now literally students can graduate from high school and not know how to read at all And so Institutions can cause people not to grow in their faith It can cause teenagers not to grow in their faith and look obviously if you don't have a choice Let's say you don't have a choice like well, I'm in a high school. I don't have a choice Okay, but you do have a choice that how you can supplement that or compensate for that outside of that school You can listen to preaching You can come to church You can come to church three times a week. Well, my dad won't let me my mom won't let me well why don't you become a good son an obedient son and Maybe your parents will say well, you know what there you learning some pretty good stuff at that church I'm gonna let you go more often You know, maybe you start throwing away the trash and washing the dishes and doing your chores and not back talking Not talking back to your parents and being a little brat, you know, maybe that'll help you to be in church more often You know to allow your parents to allow you to be in church more often And so, you know, you need to compensate for that if that's the case, okay But what's another institution that can cause people not to grow in their faith? How about this bad churches? Bad churches are often the culprit of reasons why people don't grow in their faith now Let me make a disclaimer real quick. Now go to Ephesians chapter 4 Ephesians chapter number 4 Let me make a couple disclaimers first and foremost the Bible tells us in 1st Timothy 3 It says but if I tarry long that thou mayest know how the oddest to behave thyself in the house of God Which is the church of the Living God the pillar and ground of truth There should be no reason why people don't grow in church. Amen. It's an institution. It's the pillar and ground of truth And let me just say this is that I'm not referring to Bible believing churches that have the right gospel. They're preaching from the Word of God Maybe it's not as content-filled as our church or maybe they don't preach as hard you can still grow in those churches for sure You can still make gains at those churches for sure Right. I mean, I'm sure people I mean, I'm not gonna speak for this because I don't know for sure But you know, would someone say that can you make gains at Planet Fitness? Is it possible to make a little bit of gains at Planet Fitness be honest? Yes or no? Yes, okay, probably not as much as like other gyms, but you can make some gains there, right? Maybe a little bit Maybe not Fake oh, they're fake weights. You can't make gains at Planet Fitness Okay, but you know, there's other commercial gyms where you can actually make gains there Even though it's not some of those rugged gyms that are out there, right? Well, that's kind of like other churches Like these commercial type gyms, but you know what you can make gains there And in fact, I remember I was part of a church like that And I was there for the majority of my Christian life and I learned a lot of Bible I learned how to be a Christian and how to put it into practice and I made gains spiritual gains there Okay, and so look don't don't look down at another independent fundamental Baptist Church It's not as fiery as our church or it's not doing as much soul winning or the preaching is not as hard You know Those churches can still cause people to grow because at the end of the day it is based on the individual you understand What I'm referring to is these liberal fund centers That is more of a you know, NIV, Toton, ESV You know, just like a social club where the Bible is not preeminent. The Word of God is not preeminent They're not teaching any doctrine They don't really care about your spiritual condition because they don't even check on your salvation when you get there to begin with And the reason why is because they haven't checked on theirs There's bad churches out there and Bad churches give Christianity a bad name people say you give Christianity a bad name You give Christianity a bad name because of how you preach and all the hate that you spew and all the controversial things that you say But hold on a second I'm not saying that those churches give a bad name because I'm saying that I'm saying God says those churches give Christianity a bad name because churches need to be at God's standard and Sorry, his standard is not this watered-down Limp-wristed preaching with no Bible content whatsoever shame on you if you think that's the God of that church The true God of the Bible has a specific design for a church and how it should preach and what kind of doctrine it should Be espousing not this watered-down Liberal Fund Center Joel Osteen Rick Warren type thing where no Bible content is being given out Okay, where they're using a fake Bible. They don't care about salvation They just want to check off a number and say that they got you in no accountability whatsoever. Those are bad churches Yeah, but they look nice Yeah, they're like whited sepulchres right but in really they're full of dead men's bones Look at Ephesians 4 verse 11 says and he gave some apostles and some prophets and some evangelists and some pastors and teachers for the what perfecting of the Saints Now perfecting we think of it as you know, making someone sinless or making someone just perfect But what the Bible's stating here by perfection it's referring to a completion maturity Perfecting of the Saints for the work of the ministry for the edifying of the body of Christ till we all come in the unity Of the faith and under the knowledge of the Son of God unto a perfect man Unto the measure of the statue of the fullness of Christ. What is the Bible telling us here? You know church should be a place where you come to be perfected Where your toes are gonna get stepped on Where the sins are gonna be called out where you're learning doctrine that you wouldn't typically learn anywhere else or something, you know You know because not I guarantee you a Sunday morning church No one's gonna go over like the book of Leviticus or something like that or the book of Revelation or something, right? You know, they're gonna stick to the bare bare basics the political speech that doesn't get anyone mad You know that doesn't offend anybody No The Bible tells that we ought to preach the entire counsel of God why because we want to perfect the Saints Now, why do we want to perfect the Saints what says here for the work of the ministry? Why because we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works Which got us before a day that we should walk in them the Bible tells us So the purpose of being perfected the purpose of getting sin out of your life The purpose of adding virtue to your life is so that you can be a vessel and to honor me for the Masters use So you can learn how to preach the gospel get people saved So you can lead your family in your and your wife and your children, right? It's so that you can become successful your job to be a better testimony a better light to this world And she can work so you can maintain good works Okay bad churches Don't do that bad churches with the bad gospel bad doctrine Do more to harm the cause of Christ and the individuals within these churches than it does good. Okay? You know don't don't get caught up in the in the fog machine and the purple lights and how Excellent their equipment is and all these things. I'm looking for the Excellency in the preaching I'm looking for the Excellency in the doctrine, which is most important, you know now I wouldn't be against having a really nice building if someone said hey, here's a nice Here's a liberal building that this liberal church used to use. I would like let's get it take down the purple purple lights We don't need the fog machine put actual pulpit behind that thing get that glass pulpit out of the way Get that little barstool out of the way you Know put on a suit and a shirt and tie Take off the torn jeans You know and and actually make something out of that place But you know what if we if we go our entire ministry without those things it's okay because we're rich in doctrine Okay The church is the people folks He says in verse 14 that we henceforth be no more children Tossed to and fro carried about with every wind of doctrine by the slight of men and cunning craftiness whereby they lie in wait to deceive a lot of people in these churches even in these liberal churches those who are those who are Saved because you know, I would say this, you know, I would say by personal experience There's a lot of people in Calvary chapels that are safe I've run into a lot of people in Calvary chapels that are safe most of them have gotten saved from like Baptist churches of times of old, you know, someone gave them the gospel and they got saved and then they started going to these Calvary Chapel type churches and You know, one of the main things that you'll see with them though is that they just they don't know any doctrine they just don't know any solid doctrine and Even the people who are the people who are not saved in those churches I mean, they can't even give you a clear answer regarding salvation You know a church is a place where you come to learn the Bible folks Okay, not come to learn Gandhi quotes or Martin Luther King jr. Quotes or You know promote some social justice warrior type thing and promote your political party We're here to promote Jesus Christ the preeminent one. Amen Go to Galatians chapter 5 Galatians chapter 5 I must hasten here So we said that the reason Christians don't grow number one is because of the institutions that they're in But number two is because of the influences that they have the people that they're surrounded by Okay, the Bible tells us in Proverbs 18 verse 1 through desire a man having separated himself Seeketh and intermetalleth with all wisdom. We are by nature social creatures, right? We need friends. We need people we need leaders. We need followers We need people to be around us to kind of aid us in our spiritual growth That's why it's important that we surround ourselves with the right type of people. Okay, so what kind of influences am I referring to? Well, let's just bare basics friends Friends play a major role in our spiritual growth or the lack thereof Okay, look at verse 6 for in Jesus Christ night a circumcision a circumcision availeth anything nor uncircumcision But faith which worketh by love Ye did run well Who did hinder you that ye should not obey the truth now obviously in context we know this is referring to the Pharisees who came and These Judaizers that were coming into the church teaching a false gospel But you know a good secondary application to this would be friends as well because I don't see any Pharisees here today, you know There's no we don't we're not struggling with Pharisees over here But the principle still applies to other influences in people's lives where you're BFF right best friend for yeah BFF is Hindering you and your spiritual growth and it could be a cousin it could be a friend it could be an uncle It could be a sister whatever it may be but here it says in verse 7 ye did run well Why does it say that well because the Christian life is often depicted as a race Right, you're running a race. It's a marathon. It's not a sprint and you're you're you're just running along in the Christian life You're making strides you're going forward but then you're hindered and it doesn't say what did hinder you it says who? Did hinder you because more often it's a who it's not necessarily a what? it's a person not necessarily a thing and What this tells me is that we need to be careful with the people that influence us. Okay, it says in verse 8 this persuasion Cometh not of him that calleth you a little leaven leaven at the whole lump. How do your friends? How do my friends how can they hinder us from growing in our Christian faith? Well, how about this by aiding us in our laziness? We are all a little lazy from time to time Right. It's part of our sin nature We don't need anybody to help us with that We don't need assistance in being lazy So we need to be around people that exhort us to go forward even if we don't feel like it they tell us well Let's go to church. Anyways, even though we don't feel like it You know, well, let's go so many even if we don't feel like it, you know It's easier to do that which is right when you have someone helping you and encouraging you to do right with them But you know what? It's also easier to not do right when you have someone telling you. Yeah, let's just go next week Well, let's just let's just wait for a while It's easier to make a decision For good or for bad when you have someone aiding you in that decision Okay, I'm gonna use a weightlifting illustration because I'm really into that right now, okay You know when you're when you're doing squats and you're you're in that fourth rep and then you're trying to go for that fifth rep It's even as hard as it may be to push that rep up that weight up. It's easier When I have mark in my ear yelling at me saying up up up up up up you got it You got it. You got it. You got it. It kind of like it just boosts your confidence a little bit You know when I have you Lisa's at all, you got it. You got it. You got it You got it lift it lift it lift it go go go, you know, you're gonna push it even if you slip a disc or something You know, it's like I'm gonna do it now because now he's saying I can do it Whereas if you're like by yourself You know, it's a little harder sometimes It takes a lot of character right to just push beyond that but it assists you if you have someone there Encouraging you yelling at you and and telling you hey you can do it. You got it You got it. Push it. Push it. Push it. Push and then you rack and you're like man. Thanks You know, you need people like that in your life You need someone to say I'll see you Sunday night Well, you know, I was uh, it's kind of hoping I'll go take a nap and stuff like that Well, that's cool, but I'll see you Sunday night You're coming tonight, right? Those are good. Those are good influences Rather than that. Yeah, I just take the whole month off You know, oh, yeah, you know, they don't even worry about it, right? We need people to encourage us and exhort us to go forward not hinder us from making spiritual strides Understand and you know, if you if you think to yourself, well, I have someone like that in my life Then one of two things you either have to separate from them or correct them Or be the one to tell them no, you know what we're doing this We're going we're reading. We're so winning. This is what we're gonna do Bible says a friend loveth at all times, but and a brother is born for adversity Iron sharpened at iron soul man sharpened at the countenance of his friend. What's another? Group of people that can hinder us from spiritual growth. How about family? Sometimes family can hinder us, right? Where you know, you're criticized for coming to church or your critic you everything in moderation Don't why are you going to church so much? Why you got to do why you got to read the Bible? So why you got to go so and you just take it easy You know everything in moderation. Okay. Well, you know, I missed that verse in the Bible that says serve God in moderation I missed that first in the Bible that says read the Bible in moderation. I Missed that verse to the back and the word says, you know go to church in moderation From what I remember it says not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is and so much the more As you see the day approaching I don't hear any moderation in that he says do it more And So, you know sometimes family can be that way right now. How do we fix that? How do we help that? Well young people, you know revisit that first point be a blessing to your family Create an environment in your home create a relationship With your parents where they want you to go to church because you're becoming better You're becoming a better son a better daughter because of it You know, I can see why some parents are like you're not going to that church anymore If you're being a little brat when you go home If you're not obeying your parents if you're still being lazy if you're disobeying if you're talking back Yeah, I can definitely see why they would say that not that we teach to do that because we teach the exact opposite You know, yeah, if you're going back home and you're prideful and arrogant, you're correcting your family. You're correcting your mom You're correcting your dad. You're like a thorn in the flesh. You made yourself the black sheep of the family. I Can see why? But you know what you can create an environment where your parents push you to go to church and may even Join you one day If you're not such a thorn in the flesh in their side and you're a blessing in that household, okay Yeah, but that requires a little more effort. Oh, yeah it does Yeah growth requires effort If you want to grow it requires the effort your sacrifice your effort You putting in the considerable amount of effort to be a blessing to your family to create a good testimony To allow them to allow you to come to church and maybe even bring them one day for Easter Sunday or something And who knows they might even get saved Who knows maybe they might get plugged in and then now you don't even have to fight your parents about coming to church because they come with you and So what is that which hinders a Christian from growing institutions you have influences Such as friends you have co-workers. You have family. Sometimes they can they can hinder you But at the end of the day, it's the individual themselves. Okay, you know People have been put in bad situations with the family and they still grow People have been placed in a bad situation with some sort of like a bad church and they still grow And let me just revisit that point when I say a bad church I'm not saying a church that teaches Zionism and pre-tribulation rapture That's a bad doctrine, but I don't consider a church bad if they teach those things, but they're right on the gospel They're right on everything else If that pastor has been there for like 25 years And he has like five kids and they're serving the Lord and he's living a holy life That's a good church Yeah, but he believes the Jews are God's chosen people. Yeah, but I guarantee he believes a bunch of other stuff That's right, and he got to the point where he's apt for a reason He's successful as a husband for a reason he's successful as a pastor and as an elder as a father for a reason Okay, so I'm not referring to that. I'm referring to that other nonsense that's out there. Okay, that this Steven Furtick's of this world type church But the individual themself is the reason why people have a tendency not to grow Turn with me if you go to Luke chapter 14 Luke chapter 14 The individual themself why well number one, how about this lacking commitment to the growth process I'll be honest with you Christianity and the growth of Christianity requires commitment Commitment to the process and here's one thing I've learned over the years Everybody wants the product Nobody wants the process Everybody wants the product, but they don't want the process they want the product But they don't want the pain the discomfort the suffering that comes in obtaining that product Okay, but it doesn't work that way folks Because if you get a product without the process you just got something from wish You Just got some cheap product that's gonna fall apart in the long run, okay You need to commit to the growth process Okay. Now the Bible often describes the Christian life as building Like you're building upon your faith, right you get saved Jesus Christ is the foundation and Then we begin to build there upon and the Bible tells us that we need to be careful what we're building if it's you know Gold silver precious stones wood hay and stubble, okay The Bible tells us in fact, let me read it first Corinthians 3 verse 9 says for we are laborers together with God Ye are God's husbandry ye are God's building according to the grace of God, which is given unto me as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation and another bill that they're on but let every man take heed how he buildeth there upon For other foundation can no man lay then that is laid which is Jesus Christ Now side note here what this is referring to is that you know, if you're building upon your Christian faith, but you're not even saved Then the building is worthless You know, you have these Mormons out there Who you know dedicate hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of hours right to building and building and building and building But then they die and split hell wide open So what is it worth right? You know or Jehovah's Witnesses Who are literally probably out there right now? You Know walking as slow as a snail Just posting on the corner like a mailbox and They're dedicating their lives to this but then they split a hill wide open once they die What is it worth? It's worth nothing They can do all kinds of mission strips and do all kinds of financial sacrificial giving and do all these things, but it's worth nothing If you don't have the right foundation Now if you have the right foundation you're on track, right he says Now if any man build upon this foundation gold silver precious stones wood hay and stubble every man's work shall be made manifest for the day shall declare because it shall be revealed by fire and the fire shall try every man's Work of what sort it is. Look at Luke chapter 14 and verse 16 or excuse me verse 27 and Whosoever doth not bear his cross and come after me cannot be my disciple for which of you? intending to build a tower Sitteth not down first and counted the cost whether he have sufficient to finish it In other words, it's like who starts a building program without really knowing if they're gonna be able to finish the building Not a wise thing to do, right? Less happily after he had laid the foundation and is not able to finish it all that behold it begin to mock him Saying this man began to build and was not able to finish now This is a picture or a parable of the Christian life Here's the difference between the parable and us as Christians. We are able to finish We can finish the building There's absolutely no reason why we as Christians cannot complete the spiritual building We have all the materials we have all the resources we have the environment Everything's been given to us necessary to build a successful spiritual building One thing that thou lackest though commitment to Finishing the building That's all you need To commit to say I'm gonna finish my race as a Christian In church in the Bible living serving for serving the Lord living for God I'm gonna commit myself to do this and you know what? That's one of the reasons why a lot of Christians don't grow in their spiritual life. Why because they lack Dedication they lack commitment because it gets a little hard And what happens they throw in the towel it gets a little difficult and they want to take a break It gets a little arduous and they're just like well, this is just too much for me no commit Dedicate yourself and recognize you can finish you can go forward and let me let me give a word of encouragement If you feel like it's too hard for you Just know this you're actually capable of handling it Because if it was too hard for you God wouldn't have allowed you to go through it Think about that when you're like, oh this is just too much. Oh, that means that it you can do it Because the mere fact that you're in that situation The mere fact that you're feeling that pain that you're in that circumstance is proof that you can handle it because God Enabled you to handle it So just remember that so don't think this is too hard. I'm a quick you should think this is really hard Oh, man, I guess I can handle this. I Guess I can handle this weight Don't just quit and throw in the towel Why because people will mock and they'll mock and you know what? This is one of the reasons why the unsaved mock Christianity This man began to build and was not able to finish Right Stay in Luke 14. So one of the reasons why People don't grow as Christians is because of lack of commitment, but here's a practical reason Number two is because of lack of direction They don't really know where they're going. They don't have a plan. Like what's your destination? What do you consider growth to be? Understand what I'm saying? So there needs to be some clear-cut goals So when you are growing in your Christian faith, you need to ask yourself. Where do I want to be six months from now? Where do I want my family to be six months from now? What do I want my Bible knowledge to be six months from now, and if you don't have direction Then what are you shooting for? The Bible says in 1st Samuel, you don't have to turn there and stay in Luke 14 1st Samuel 27 verse 9 It says in David smote the land and left neither man nor woman alive and took away the sheep and the oxen and the asses and the camels and the apparel and returned and came to Achish and Achish said Whither have you made a road today? David said against the south of Judah against the south of Jeremiah Jeremiah lights and against the south of the Canaanites so Achish asked David. So where is your direction today? What's your plan today and he starts naming these cities and you know what he takes over the cities He accomplishes a great work wife because he knew where he was going Don't wake up tomorrow and let life happen to you You know, this is cheesy, but you happen to life You Should have a goal in mind. What's your direction? I'm just not growing in my Christian life, but you don't even know what growing means though How do you know like obviously you're gonna fail because of the fact that you don't even have a destination What's your destination for your Bible reading I don't know I'm just trying to read it Well, I hope you're trying to read it like not just look at it, but how about this Why don't you have the destination of finishing the Bible at the end of this year? By the end of this year. Well, I've already done that. Okay, let's put another destination finish it in six months That's a little too much. Okay, let's have a destination read the New Testament twice in six months Put some clear-cut goals To your destination say this is what I'm gonna reach. This is my destination This is the road where I want to head to and now you have a clear-cut goal so you can grow But a person who wants to grow but has no destination will never grow Because how do they know they're even making any progress? Okay Look at verse 31 of Luke 14. Here's the last thing is this Because obviously there's a lot of reasons why Christians themselves don't grow. They're not doers of the word. They're here is only they're bitter They're not humble. We could list off a bunch of stuff that the Bible talks about I'm just trying to give you some practical reasons as to why okay? Lack of commitment Lack of direction and lastly here's something really easy lack of strategy So now you know where you're going. So how are you gonna get there? All right, you know where you're going, you know what you want to do You know, you want to read a lot of Bible, you know You want to finish it by the end of this year? You know, you want to go soul winning want to preach the gospel. Okay, so how are you gonna get there? You need a strategy to figure out how to get there. I appreciate Excuse me. I appreciate the team leaders who create strategies for their teams and Say by the end of three months this person is gonna be able to preach the gospel or this week They're working on their introduction This time they're gonna work on, you know, the the first point of their gospel presentation. There's a strategy involved So then when you reach that point, you're like man, I'm making some progress I'm checking off some exits here I'm making progress look at the Bible says in verse 31 or what King going to make war against another King sitteth not down first and consulteth whether he be able with 10,000 to meet him that cometh against him with 20,000 strategy What's your strategy for growth? Do you even have a strategy if you don't go to your team leader come to me go to someone and say I need a Strategy for growth and this is what I'm gonna say growing what? Bible reading. Okay, go grab a Bible reading calendar right now We're starting today So winning, okay, let's get with your team leader and make you a bonafide soul winner in the next three months Three months that seems kind of soon. Well, you know if you're willing to put it in the work for it You can do a lot of three months Well, I have a strategy, you know have a goal to get out of debt. Okay, what's the strategy though to get out of debt? I Have a strategy that I want to get married. Okay, what's the strategy or go? I want to get married What's the strategy though? You know, do you have a strategy? No, I just gonna pickle girl and Just go from there. No, there needs to be a strategy involved And this is the reason why a lot of Christians don't grow they don't have a plan for their growth They just think it just happens by osmosis They think they come through these doors and as soon as they step in it's just like growth automatic They just put on growth They hear the sermon like I grew You know spiritual growth is not like eating food folks It doesn't take much to grow when you're eating food you just eat food and you start getting bit well I mean for some of us, you know for me if I if I eat I'll grow physically It doesn't require no effort on my part other than just eating and I wish spirit your spiritual growth was the same way But it's not It requires a lot more Okay Go to 2nd Corinthians chapter 8 and we're done here So reason Christians don't grow is because of their lack of commitment Lack of direction lack of strategy and here's the last one lack of initiative Lack of initiative they'll hear a sermon like this. They know they need to grow and be like I'm gonna do that next week For sure for sure for sure. I'll start next month. I Need to grow in this area. I'll start later. No take the initiative now Look what the Bible says in 2nd Corinthians 8 verse 10 and here and I give my advice For this is expedient for you who have begun before not only to do not only to do but also to be forward a year ago now therefore perform the doing of it That as there was a readiness to will so there may be a performance also out of that which he have So if you if this sermon inspires you If you feel like He's right Let's put a strategy together to homeschool our kids Let's put a strategy. I'm put a strategy together to lose weight Put a strategy together to read my Bible, but then you don't perform that what you were ready to do today it's not gonna happen and People have often said if you don't act on the decision to do whatever it is You want to do within the next 48 hours? It's never gonna happen It's never gonna happen You need to do if you're if you have a mind that's ready today You need to perform that what you have decided to do immediately and here's the here's the problem A lot of people like well, I'm not ready though. No one's ready Yeah, but I need all the info. I need all the factors involved. No, you don't Just start you don't need all your ducks in order. You don't need to have all the information and To grow in that area you just need to just do something now and you learn along the way Because the person who says I'm gonna wait till I gather all the information Know all the different diets know all the different foods know all the different Bible reading calendars know all these different curriculums I'm gonna wait till I do all these things first. They still never get it done But then you have the other person who doesn't know any of that and just like I'm just gonna try it And you know what happens they learn along the way and they make more strides than the person who's gaining all the information first That's how it works trial and error folks Are you saying I'm gonna fail? Yes But you fell forward though And you're like why I gained some experience because I felt now it's trying time to try something new and by the time you know It's six months down the road. You've completed your goals. You're reaching new goals with new achievements new Accomplishments and you're a new person You're growing You're growing. And so this is my encouragement to you this morning That don't deceive yourself into thinking you're growing just because you're in church And by the way, if you're in church, you've already taken the first step into growing because you made a decision to be in church That's that's part of this that should be part of the strategy. Amen But don't let it stop here you need to take this into consideration and be serious about this and teach yourself Okay, what is it that I need and and don't be? Prideful be humble enough to ask for help if you need help Because there's someone in this building who knows more about you in that area that you want to grow and then you Take advantage of their knowledge learn from them and grow. Amen. Let's pray father. We thank you so much for your word we're so thankful for Just these principles of growth Lord I pray that you'd help us to continue to grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in just the different areas of our life, please bless the Bridal shower Lord the soul winning and the Sunday night service. We pray these things in Jesus name. Amen Song number 160 crown him with many crowns in our last song song