Personal Responsibility for Spiritual Maturity
3/16/08
(The following was used with
a PowerPoint presentation, the asterisks indicate slide changes.)
*Personal Responsibility for
Spiritual Maturity
Pray
*1 Sam. 30:1 David and
his men reached Ziklag on the third day. Now the Amalekites had raided the
Negev and Ziklag. They had attacked Ziklag and burned it, 2and had
taken captive the women and all who were in it, both young and old. They killed
none of them, but carried them off as they went on their way.
3When David and his men came to
*Ziklag, they found it
destroyed by fire and their wives and sons and daughters taken captive. 4So
David and his men wept aloud until they had no strength left to weep. 5David’s
two wives had been captured—Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail, the widow of Nabal
of Carmel. 6 David was
greatly distressed because the men were talking of stoning him; each
one
*was bitter in spirit
because of his sons and daughters. But
David found strength in the LORD his God.
Give some background.
David had been with the
Philistines for 16 months.
He went to Gath because of
Saul. He joined with King Achish of
Gath, and pretended to be loyal.
Achish thought that David and
his men were raiding Israelite territories, but he was raiding other enemies of
Israel among which was the Amalekites.
Out of David’s 600 men, there
was not one who encouraged him. They
wanted to stone him.
But David found strength in the LORD his God.
This was devastating. If there was ever a time when David needed
encouragement, he needed it now!
How many times have
Christians made the remark, “When I
had this great need, no body was there.”
Is it possible that God
planned it that way?
Yes, we need each other, but
even before that we need to know how
to find strength in the Lord our God!
*Mat. 6:6 But when you pray,
go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then
your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
*(The Message Bible)
“Here’s what I want you to do: Find a quiet, secluded place so you won’t be
tempted to role-play before God. Just be there as simply and honestly as you
can manage. The focus will shift from you to God, and you will begin to sense
his grace.
Let’s look at one more…
*Mat. 6:6 (NLT) But
when you pray, go away by yourself,
shut the door behind you, and pray to
your Father secretly. Then your Father, who knows all secrets, will
reward you.
7“When you pray, don’t
babble on and on as people of other religions do. They think their
prayers are answered only by repeating their words again and again.
*8Don’t be like
them, because your Father knows
exactly what you need even before you ask him!
*The inability for Christians
to
take personal responsibility for their spiritual growth is
staggering!
Many Christians are weak in
the two most fundamental aspects of the Christian life.
1. *Personal prayer life.
2. *Personal Bible study.
These two verses are rock
solid to your personal growth!
*Ja. 5:16 …The prayer of a righteous man is powerful
and effective.
17Elijah
was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did
not rain on the land for three and a half years. 18Again he prayed,
and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops.
*Ps. 119:24 Your
statutes are my delight; they are my counselors.
Bible illiteracy is a major problem in churches in the
United States.
The problem, Bible illiteracy, is not that people can not read the Bible, it's they don't read the
Bible.
*(picture)
Research shows that every American (on average) owns three copies of the
Bible, but they don't read any of the three.
There is a direct correlation between how much time a
person spends in the Word and how they believe it's easy to understand. So,
obviously, the more you read the easier it is to understand (the Bible). People
say, “I can't understand it.” What they're saying is, “I'm not reading it.”
Failure to read the Bible robs a Christian. We rob
ourselves of a moral position if we don't know the Word of God. We also rob ourselves of the ability to move
on to spiritual maturity.
We get stuck into spiritual infancy. There is the inability to defend our faith
or even share our faith.
While reading books about the Bible is good, it can't
replace reading the Bible.
Someone has well said…
*"Read the Bible for
instruction. Read it for inspiration. Read it for insight. Read it out of duty.
Read it out of curiosity. Read it out of wonder. Whatever you do, read it. Not
to read the Bible is to misunderstand God's mind and miss His heart."
I believe one of the biggest
reasons, if not the biggest reason, why this problem is so enormous, is this…
*It’s because we are a
society that thrives on convenience!
I like technology, I like
computers, I like the internet—but there is no substitute for reading God’s
Word and praying!
*(Blank)
When I first became a
Christian I was in the United States Coast Guard stationed on the USCGC Southwind. I spent 27 months of my enlistment on an Ice Breaker. My last five months on ship I was a
Christian. During those five months I
immersed myself in the Word.
I know God used this. There was only one other man I knew on the
ship that was a Christian and he was a CPO (Chief Petty Officer) and we
couldn’t hang out together. I was on my
own! Just the way God wanted it!
Sue and I pray together but
that does not replace my own time of prayer.
You can have family readings
if you want, but that cannot replace your personal Bible study!
Show the One year Bible.
In our discipleship program,
we are using the One Year Bible!
God expects us to grow—and
that is our own responsibility!
The writer of Hebrews had
some strong words to say to the Hebrew Christians…
*Heb. 5:11 We have much to
say about this, but it is hard to explain because you are slow to learn. 12In
fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach
you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not
solid food! 13Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is
not acquainted with the teaching about
*righteousness. 14But
solid food is for the mature,
who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.
*(Blank)
Contrary to public belief, the
church has over emphasized the need for all the substitutes rather than
emphasizing the personal responsibility for spiritual growth.
We have thousands of
Christian books that people will read rather than the Bible—why?
Some have been critical of
evangelistic work because once you pray with someone and lead them to the Lord,
you abandon them—they won’t make it.
Apparently God doesn’t think
so…
*Philip simply disappeared!
Acts 8:26
Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Go south to the road—the desert
road—that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” 27So he started out,
and on his way he met an Ethiopian eunuch, an important official in charge of
all the treasury of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians. This man had gone to
Jerusalem to worship, 28and on his way home was sitting in his
chariot reading the book of Isaiah the prophet. 29The Spirit told
Philip, “Go to that chariot and stay near it.”
30Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man
reading Isaiah the prophet. “Do you understand what you are reading?” Philip
asked.
31“How can I,” he said, “unless someone explains it to
me?” So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.
32The eunuch was reading this passage of Scripture:
“He was led like a sheep to the slaughter,
and as a lamb before the
shearer is silent,
so he did not open his
mouth.
33 In his
humiliation he was deprived of justice.
Who can speak of his
descendants?
For his life was taken from the earth.”
34The eunuch asked Philip, “Tell me, please, who is the prophet
talking about, himself or someone else?” 35Then Philip began with
that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus.
36As they traveled along the road, they came to some
water and the eunuch said, “Look, here is water. Why shouldn’t I be baptized?” 38And
he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down
into the water and Philip baptized him.
*39 When they came
up out of the water, the Spirit of
the Lord suddenly took Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him again, but went on his way rejoicing. 40Philip, however,
appeared at Azotus and traveled about, preaching the gospel in all the towns
until he reached Caesarea.
Paul understood how important
it was to just get alone with God!
*Gal. 1:13 For you
have heard of my previous way of life in Judaism, how intensely I persecuted
the church of God and tried to destroy it. 14I was advancing in
Judaism beyond many Jews of my own age and was extremely zealous for the
traditions of my fathers. 15But when God, who set me apart from
birth and called me by his grace, was pleased 16 to reveal his Son
in
*me so that I might
preach him among the Gentiles, I did
not consult any man, 17 nor
did I go up to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before I was,
but I went immediately into Arabia and later returned to Damascus.
18 Then after
three years, I went up to Jerusalem to get acquainted with Peter and
stayed with him fifteen days. 19I saw none of the other
apostles—only James, the Lord’s brother.
This next verse can be taken
to the wrong extreme, but the point is so relevant!
*1 Jo.
2:26 I am writing these things to you about those who are trying to lead you
astray. 27As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in
you, and you do not need anyone to
teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as
that anointing is real, not counterfeit—just as it has taught you, remain in
him.
God’s people need to be
confident in approaching Him in prayer and the study of His Word!
*Heb. 4:14 Therefore, since
we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of
God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is
unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been
tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin.
*16 Let us then approach the throne of grace
with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us
in our time of need.
*If God’s people would become
more responsible for their personal growth, then collectively we could be more
effective in advancing the Kingdom of God!
James understood personal
responsibility and he wrote about it…
*Ja. 5:13 Is any one of you
in trouble (undergoing hardship)? He should pray. Is anyone happy?
Let him sing songs of praise. 14 Is any one of you sick? He should
call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the
name of the Lord.
It’s time to make a serious
commitment. It’s not a flash in the
pan. It’s permanent! It’s everlasting! It’s enduring! It’s
unending!
*I will pray and read God’s
Word each day with few exceptions.
*I will not be defeated by my
flesh or by any other excuse.
*I will change my priorities.
*I will not blame others for
my lack of spiritual maturity.