Participants: Pr. John Lomacang
Series Code: AOT
Program Code: AOT000138
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00:13 Welcome to Anchors Of Truth
00:15 live from the 3ABN Worship Center. 00:23 Hello and welcome. 00:24 This is another segment of this series, Anchors Of Truth. 00:29 And in this week you are hearing about, The Danger Zone. 00:34 And the first message was, The Danger of Neglect. 00:38 The second, The Danger of Unbelief. 00:40 Tonight, The Danger of Not Maturing. 00:44 The Danger of Not Maturing. 00:46 The speaker is one that is well known to our 3ABN viewers. 00:49 But perhaps those of you at home, maybe it's the first time 00:53 you hear Pastor John Lomacang. 00:55 And I will tell you, this is a person that, had not the Lord 01:00 said, "John Lomacang, this is the way. 01:05 Walk ye in it," tonight he would be in another place 01:08 perhaps not in the ways of the Lord. 01:10 But the Lord rescued him. 01:12 And as it was in the days of the disciples, 01:15 said to him something similar, "Come and I will make you 01:18 a fisher of men." 01:19 And he gave his heart to the Lord, 01:21 and he's been preaching the gospel. 01:23 Not only by preaching, but also singing. 01:28 So he preaches in different ways; living his life, 01:32 singing, and also preaching. 01:34 And so the Lord has selected him. 01:36 He has prayed much, studied much. 01:39 And he's about to come out soon so that the Lord will use him 01:43 to bring His message to the world, 01:45 to Three Angels Broadcasting Network. 01:47 And people watch us in different way. 01:49 And local TV channel. 01:52 If you're watching and you're blessed, 01:54 please tell us how you are watching the program, 01:58 and what channel it is; if it's a local channel, 02:01 if it's a cable channel. 02:02 We want to know that you are blessed by these programs. 02:04 And we want to encourage the speakers that come on 3ABN. 02:08 And we want to know if the message helped you in some way 02:12 so that we may continue to do this for the honor 02:15 and glory of God's name, and to continue to bless God's children 02:18 all over the world. 02:20 Again the message is, The Danger of Not Maturing. 02:24 Before we continue, we'd like to invite you to pray. 02:27 Those of you at home, those of you that may be in prison 02:31 or in a hospital, we invite you to pray with us. 02:34 After the prayer, we are going to have our musical offering 02:39 by sister Celestine Berry. 02:41 A song that communicates a message, 02:44 People Need The Lord. 02:46 Before that we're going to pray, so we ask everyone here 02:48 to please stand. 02:52 So together let us approach God's throne of grace. 02:57 Our loving heavenly Father, we thank You so much 03:00 for all You do for us. 03:02 And now, Lord, You have called us. 03:04 Called us to listen to this message. 03:08 We pray, Lord, that You will speak to us from Your 03:11 throne of grace through Your servant, Pastor John Lomacang. 03:15 We pray that once again You will bless him 03:18 and fill him with the Holy Spirit. 03:20 Speak to our hearts, help us to understand 03:23 this message that could be a warning for us. 03:27 We ask You, Father, to bless everyone that is here 03:30 and everyone that watches all over the world. 03:33 We ask You for these things in Jesus' holy and blessed name. 03:37 Amen, amen. 03:39 You may be seated. 03:40 We leave you with sister Celestine Berry. 03:44 And right after that we will hear the preaching of 03:46 God's Word in the voice of Pastor John Lomacang. 03:49 May God bless you. 04:07 Every day they pass me by, 04:13 I can see it in their eyes; 04:19 empty people filled with care, 04:26 headed who knows where. 04:32 On they go through private pain, 04:38 living fear to fear; 04:45 Laughter hides their silent cries, 04:51 only Jesus hears. 04:57 People need the Lord, 05:04 people need the Lord. 05:10 At the end of broken dreams, 05:17 He's the open door. 05:24 People need the Lord, 05:30 people need the Lord. 05:36 When will we realize 05:43 people need the Lord? 06:00 We are called to take His light 06:05 to a world where wrong seems right. 06:12 What could be too great a cost 06:16 for sharing life with one who's lost? 06:25 Through His love our hearts can feel 06:31 all the grief they bear. 06:38 We must hear the words of life 06:44 only we can share. 06:51 People need the Lord, 06:57 people need the Lord. 07:04 At the end of broken dreams, 07:10 He's the open door. 07:17 People need the Lord, 07:23 people need the Lord. 07:30 When will we realize 07:36 that we must gives our lives. 07:41 For people need the Lord. 07:55 People need the Lord. 08:26 Thank you, Celestine. 08:28 Amen? 08:31 As someone said earlier, she's not just my secretary 08:35 but she's also a singer. 08:37 And I said, I get two things for the price of one. 08:41 But thank the Lord for that message tonight. 08:44 Normally Mike would be playing, Mike her husband. 08:47 He's a wonderful musician. 08:49 But he's a little under the weather tonight, 08:50 so do keep him in prayer. 08:52 Working out in this warm hot sticky southern Illinois weather 08:56 can really take its toll on you. 08:58 But thank you for that message. 09:00 Because the sermon fits along the lines of how much 09:04 we all need the Lord. 09:06 We started with The Danger of Neglect, 09:08 then The Danger of Unbelief. 09:09 Tonight, The Danger of Not Maturing. 09:12 Let's go before the Lord as we open the Word together. 09:15 Father in heaven, tonight is an opportunity once again 09:18 for divinity to fill humanity. 09:24 And I pray tonight, Lord, that You will subdue my thoughts 09:27 that they will be in harmony with Your thoughts. 09:30 That Your people will hear the message that You intend. 09:34 In Jesus' name, amen. 09:38 The Danger of Not Maturing. 09:41 There are two more topics; The Danger of Drawing Back, 09:44 and then finally tomorrow afternoon, 09:46 The Danger of Refusing God. 09:48 As I pointed out briefly last night, in the Christian life, 09:52 if you begin at the end of these topics and go in the 09:56 opposite direction, you begin to see what you need to do 09:59 to get closer to the Lord. 10:02 You reverse those things. 10:03 You don't reject God, you accept Him. 10:05 You don't draw back, you draw to Him. 10:08 You strengthen your maturity. 10:11 You strengthen your belief. 10:13 And then you choose not to neglect. 10:15 And then you're a strong Christian. 10:17 But as we began with neglect and unbelief, 10:19 the very next stage after unbelief is you fail to mature. 10:24 Let me begin by sharing a story. 10:26 Because the fact of the matter is, everything created is either 10:29 growing or dying. 10:31 Whether animate or inanimate, growth is essential 10:36 to the existence of everything alive. 10:39 When I lived in California, I remember that very well, 10:42 we were living in Antioch, California at the time and 10:45 we had a wonderful kitchen. 10:46 The kitchen sink was where most wives would want it, 10:50 right by a window and she could look outside while 10:52 washing the dishes. 10:54 For some reason my wife wanted that and the Lord blessed us 10:57 with a home that had that. 10:59 One day I was looking by the sink where she kept her plants 11:02 and I saw this small little very thin green branch. 11:09 It was just so small I thought to myself, 11:11 it really wouldn't make any sense, 11:13 she's got the whole large plant; keep that, let's throw this out. 11:17 And as I was walking toward the garbage can 11:20 and I leaned forward, my wife said, 11:22 "Don't you throw my plant out." 11:25 And I said, "Honey, this is not a plant. 11:27 There's the plant right there. 11:28 This is, I don't know what this is, but this is not a plant." 11:31 She said, "Yes, it is." 11:33 Which says to me, we may not at times look like 11:37 there is any life in us, but anything that God creates 11:42 He inserts in that, life. 11:44 What do you say? 11:45 It doesn't look like it all the time, but if you 11:48 give it a chance to grow, it will grow. 11:49 So what happened, I have to tell you the rest of the story, 11:52 my wife took a little paper cup and she put it on the sink. 11:56 A little foam cup and she put some water in there. 11:59 Not enough to drown it, put it on the sink. 12:01 And every day I went to the sink I looked at that cup 12:04 with frustration and disgust. 12:06 I thought, "This is ridiculous. 12:08 She's got a big ole plant and here she is with this little 12:11 whatever it is." 12:13 And a couple of days go by, she'd pour the water out 12:16 and put new water in. 12:18 And would you know it, after a few months that thing 12:21 began sprouting. 12:22 And a few months down the road she was able to give someone 12:26 a brand new plant from that little tiny twig 12:30 that I was about to throw away. 12:32 I want to begin by saying, we've got to be careful 12:34 when we talk about maturing. 12:35 Because some people grow differently than we do, 12:38 and we don't know where they are in their stages of maturity. 12:41 We may be a full grown plant and they could be a fledgling 12:44 looking like there is no life in them. 12:46 But if we connect them to the source of life, 12:49 they will grow. 12:52 In the growth of the Christian, there is no rest area 12:54 in the stages of growth. 12:56 We are either growing or we're dying. 12:58 There is no dismissal from the process of growth. 13:01 When you become a Christian, either you're connected 13:04 to Christ to continue growing or you cease to grow. 13:08 There's no such thing as a stagnant stage. 13:11 There is no neutral lane where we wait to grow. 13:14 We are either growing or we are dying. 13:19 Furthermore, it is not possible to be a Christian and not grow. 13:23 Your claim to Christianity can only be verified 13:26 by examining what grows. 13:29 Now you think about that. 13:30 If you look at the church, people are growing. 13:33 But where they are growing is really the question. 13:35 What they're growing in is really the question. 13:38 I've seen parents sometimes in the store, and you know, 13:41 I get frustrated when I see children 13:43 yelling at their parents. 13:44 Because I know what would happen if it were me. 13:47 At least I knew what happened when I was growing up. 13:48 I couldn't point my finger and yell at my parent 13:51 without some kind of immediate public result. 13:53 Amen? 13:55 But there are children nowadays, and I've heard parents say, 13:57 "Oh, they'll grow out of it." 13:59 There's no such thing as growing out of evil. 14:02 You've got to train up a child in the way they should go. 14:06 And when they are old, after that whole lengthy process 14:09 of training, then they won't depart from it. 14:11 But you don't naturally... 14:13 There's no such thing as a natural heart growing away 14:16 from evil, which is a natural tendency. 14:19 That's why how we grow can only be verified by looking at the 14:23 source of someone's nourishment. 14:25 I mean, consider the analogy further. 14:27 Look at Matthew chapter 7 verses 16 to 18. 14:30 And for those of you tuning in, it's going to be on the screen. 14:32 The Bible says... 14:43 Well the answer is naturally no. 14:57 And this is the law of growth. 15:07 This is an amazing concept. 15:08 Years ago when I was reading a book called, 15:10 The Life Of Victory, the author by the name of Meade MacGuire, 15:14 a post nineteenth century writer just at the turn of the century, 15:17 he said, "We are either growing or we're dying." 15:20 There is no such thing as being connected to a good source 15:24 producing bad fruit or being connected to a bad source 15:28 producing good fruit. 15:30 You've heard the phrase, "One bad apple... 15:33 ...spoils the whole bunch." 15:37 If you don't get rid of that bad apple, 15:38 it's just a matter of time and it's going to spoil 15:40 all the fruit that are around it. 15:42 Including oranges if they're in proximity. 15:45 There's no such thing as a bad tree producing good fruit. 15:49 There's no such thing, think about this, as a stagnant 15:53 Christian connection. 15:55 If we are stagnant, the reason is we are disconnected. 16:00 Because any connection to Christ produces growth. 16:03 And I suggest any connection to Christ produces good growth. 16:08 Look at John chapter 15. 16:10 John chapter 15 verses 4 and 5. 16:13 In order to produce fruit, we must be connected 16:16 to the source of life. 16:18 John 14 verses 4 and 5. 16:20 John 15 verses 4 and 5. 16:22 The Lord says... 16:59 I've had some times to speak to relatives that have 17:03 members of their families that are not Christians. 17:05 And they say to me, "I don't know why 17:07 they don't straighten up." 17:10 And then they say, "I don't know how long it's going to be 17:12 before they do right." 17:13 And then I ask the question, "Are they Christians?" 17:16 They say, "No." 17:18 And then they say, "But they should know better." 17:20 And I say, "Even if they intellectually know better, 17:23 they cannot produce anything until they are 17:26 connected to Christ." 17:28 You cannot produce good fruit if you are a bad tree. 17:31 You've got to cut down the bad tree, get rid of the bad tree, 17:34 and get connected, grafted in to the vine. 17:37 Get grafted in to Christ. 17:40 Only as you're grafted in and connected to Christ 17:42 can anything good begin to be produced in our lives. 17:46 So if you have relatives that are not Christians, 17:47 don't think because they're intellectual or because they're 17:50 educated or because they're adults that they 17:52 naturally should do good. 17:54 There is no good outside of Christ. 17:57 None at all. 17:59 When we come to Christ, when you think about the stages... 18:03 And what I'm going to begin with as I get toward not maturing, 18:06 or talking about the danger of not maturing, 18:08 I want to begin with the process of growth. 18:10 What does it really mean to be a Christian? 18:12 You see, when we come to Christ, when we accept Christ 18:15 in our lives, when we come to Him, before that change 18:19 we are not qualified to produce anything spiritual 18:23 until we sever our connection from the natural. 18:28 In Romans chapter 7... 18:30 I remember a number of years ago I did a series on 3ABN. 18:33 Oh, this was way back maybe 2005 or 2004. 18:37 And when I showed my program outline to production, 18:41 actually, bless her heart, Mollie Steenson, 18:44 I showed it to her, and one of my sermon titles was, 18:46 "Kill Your Husband." 18:47 She said, "John, that's too strong for our audience." 18:50 She said, "You've got to change the title." 18:53 And I said, "Well if you read Romans chapter 7, 18:55 it says the woman is bound by the law to her 18:58 husband as long as he lives." 18:59 And God was talking about the spiritual connection. 19:02 She said, "But you've got to change the title. 19:04 That's just too strong." 19:05 And I preached that in church and I said, 19:07 "I want you to know this is not a suggestion." 19:11 So the title was, Till Death Do Us Part. 19:14 And the fact of the matter is, we are all born 19:17 married to this old nature. 19:20 Romans 6 calls it the old man of sin. 19:24 And so until that old man of sin is put to death 19:26 there's no way that we could be married to Christ. 19:29 You can't marry another man until the man that you were 19:33 married to, in the Bible spiritually, is dead. 19:36 When he's dead the Lord says, "Now you're free 19:38 to marry another man." 19:39 And then as you marry that other man and you connect intimately, 19:42 then the fruit begins to show up. 19:45 We've got to have an intimate connection with Christ 19:47 for the fruit to show up. 19:49 But when we come into that relationship 19:50 we have to understand what that means. 19:52 Look at Romans chapter 8 and verse 5. 19:54 Look what it means to sever the natural connection. 19:57 Romans 8 and verse 5. 20:15 Depending on how you live, it determines what you focus on. 20:17 I talked about that. 20:18 If you live a natural life, you focus on the natural things. 20:22 You focus on the things of the world. 20:24 But if you live a spiritual life, you have developed an 20:26 appetite for spiritual things. 20:28 That's why sometimes when you see people, 20:29 they don't have an appetite for the Bible, 20:31 I can guarantee you they're living in the natural. 20:35 If they don't have an appetite for spiritual things, 20:37 they are not connected to the spiritual source. 20:39 Because there's no way that you can be connected 20:41 to the vine and not produce what's flowing through the vine; 20:45 that is, through Jesus. 20:47 Remember He said, "Without Me you can't do anything. 20:49 If you are connected to Me, you produce much fruit. 20:52 But without Me, you can't do anything." 20:54 And even the desire, even the desire to be spiritual 20:59 cannot occur unless we're connected to the vine. 21:05 The severing of that natural connection is called death. 21:08 The act of death is symbolized by a burial service. 21:12 Look at Romans chapter 6 and verse 3, the burial service. 21:16 The Bible says about this burial service... 21:30 We were baptized into His death. 21:33 In other words, one of the distortions of baptism 21:36 is that it has been distilled down to nothing more 21:39 than church membership. 21:40 I've had people approach me and say, 21:42 "What do I need to do to become a member of your church?" 21:45 And we walk them through, you know, the fundamental classes, 21:47 and we say that. 21:48 But I thought about that today and I said, you know, 21:51 we need to change the title of our baptismal class 21:54 to something called, Making Funeral Arrangements. 21:59 Put your head around that; Making Funeral Arrangements. 22:02 Because then we'll begin to tell people really what 22:05 Christianity is really all about. 22:06 You can't enter that new life until you come to the 22:09 realization that you've got to die. 22:14 Until you say, "I... 22:15 You can't even, you can't be connected to a new source 22:20 until the old source is dead. 22:24 And until we acknowledge that we need to die, 22:26 we won't understand why we need Christ to live the new life. 22:32 I was reading a book, that very same book, 22:33 and I appreciate it so much. 22:35 Matter of fact, it's one of my... 22:36 I read that book so much that the binding fell apart. 22:39 I had to take it for them to give me a new binding 22:41 at one of those Kinko stores. 22:43 Now they put a spiral binding. 22:45 But I remember reading a statement. 22:46 And this is so interesting about the new life. 22:48 The author said, "Can we live naturally at sea?" 22:53 And I thought, what a ridiculous analogy. 22:55 I can't live naturally at sea. I'm not a fish. 22:58 I could stick my head under the water, but I will 23:00 be coming up pretty quickly. 23:01 Anybody, can you say amen to that? 23:03 We will be coming up pretty quickly. 23:04 But he said, he said, "We can live at sea, 23:09 as long as our source of life comes from somewhere else." 23:14 And then he used the deep sea diver as an analogy. 23:16 You know, deep sea divers, you remember years ago... 23:19 I don't know if you see them much nowadays. 23:21 As least I haven't. 23:22 But remember years ago deep sea divers, before we had 23:24 all this advance technology, they use to have this long hose. 23:28 Remember that? This long hose from the boat. 23:31 And you knew where they were because you just had to follow 23:34 the other end of the rope. 23:35 But you also knew that if anything happened to that hose, 23:39 they're in trouble. 23:41 Illustrating if we don't stay connected to Christ, 23:44 in an environment that is not natural to us, we'll die. 23:49 And what we've got to come to the realization of is, 23:51 the spiritual environment is not natural 23:54 to the human environment. 23:56 Let me restate that. 23:57 The spiritual environment is not natural to the carnal man. 24:03 Think about that. 24:05 Even when we're born again, we still have to struggle 24:08 every day with this old fleshy body. 24:11 That's why we're looking forward to the day when 24:13 we will put on the new man. 24:14 Amen, somebody? 24:16 One day this body that has all that bad storage, 24:19 the hard drive needs to be defragged. 24:23 There needs to be a new insert, which is not going to happen 24:25 till Jesus comes. 24:26 We'll get that incorruptible drive. 24:29 Until then, we've got to maintain a day by day 24:32 connection, or else we will die. 24:37 The Christian life requires the death of the natural man 24:42 and the birth of the spiritual man. 24:43 To be a Christian we need a completely new life. 24:47 As we often say on January 1 or December 31st at midnight, 24:51 "Out with the old, in with the new." 24:54 Look at Romans 6 and verse 4. 24:56 It illustrates that very clearly, 24:57 "Out with the old, in with the new." 24:59 Notice what it says. 25:19 When you think about that, if we have entered into this 25:22 relationship with Christ, this thing called the new life, 25:25 we have to keep in mind that the new life for Jesus, 25:28 now listen carefully, His new life began post Calvary. 25:34 Think about that. 25:36 When He said, "All power is given unto Me," 25:38 even though He is... 25:40 And I never use Jesus in the past tense, 25:42 because He always is. 25:43 "I AM." 25:44 Even though when He came and condescended, 25:46 He is the Son of God, He came in human form. 25:49 And the flesh He had before the cross was 25:51 susceptible to temptation. 25:53 And that's why the devil stalked Him all His life. 25:56 But because He never gave in, because He said, 25:58 "The prince of this world has come, and he has nothing in Me," 26:00 He survived. 26:01 And on the other side of the cross then He declared, 26:04 "All power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth." 26:08 Which means, post the cross there's something waiting for us 26:14 that we don't get pre the cross. 26:17 Look at Galatians 2 verse 20. 26:19 There's something waiting for us on the other side of 26:21 this crucifixion that we don't get until the crucifixion. 26:25 Galatians 2 verse 20, the Bible says... 26:28 "I have been crucified..." With whom? 26:36 Notice, the source is somewhere else. 26:50 Can the church say amen? 26:52 "I have been crucified with Christ." 26:56 You see, that's what life is all about. 26:57 Until you begin at Calvary... 27:00 Let's look at this, you've got to begin at Calvary. 27:03 Then you've got to go into another condition, 27:06 we're going to talk about that in a moment, 27:08 before the resurrection morning, before the newness of life. 27:12 You've got to begin at Calvary, the place of death. 27:15 And one of the reasons why a lot of Christians don't mature 27:17 is because they really haven't died. 27:19 They became church members. 27:22 They just became church members. 27:23 They've accepted the 28 fundamentals, 27:24 which you can't argue with. 27:26 Amen. 27:27 And they become church members. 27:28 So they are dead... 27:33 ...dead church members. 27:36 Don't take that personally. 27:39 But in order to be alive, in order to have this 27:42 resurrected life, you have to first die. 27:46 You've got to be crucified with Christ. 27:48 You can't do it apart from Him. 27:51 And Jesus illustrated that, how hopeless and helpless 27:54 the old life is in accomplishing the requirements 27:58 of the new life. 28:00 Look at John chapter 3, 28:02 what He said to a man by the name Of Nicodemus. 28:04 John chapter 3, look at verses 6 to 7. 28:07 He said clearly in this night time conversation... 28:25 If you break that down today in common vernacular, 28:29 Jesus said, "Don't be surprised that you need to die." 28:32 Don't be surprised that you need to be born again. 28:35 And this wealthy man, this Nicodemus, this ruler, 28:38 this guy that had it all in society, 28:40 he came to Jesus by night. 28:42 I want to make a point about that. 28:43 It's better to come to Jesus by night 28:46 than not to come to Jesus at all. 28:49 He came by night and he found light. 28:53 I heard on a commercial recently, they said, 28:55 "Even a faint candle could be noticed at ten miles away 28:59 by the naked human eye." 29:01 No matter how faint your light is, the Lord will allow 29:04 that light to shine in the darkest night. 29:06 But what concerns me about this text when it compares to 29:09 spirit and the flesh, there's this philosophy nowadays 29:13 that's going around, this philosophy that I'm locked 29:15 to a particular lifestyle, "Because I was born this way." 29:19 Have you heard that? 29:20 "The reason I'm this way is because I was born this way." 29:25 But that's the reason why Jesus said you must be born again. 29:27 Amen, somebody. 29:28 No matter how you're born, no matter what neighborhood 29:31 you were raised in, you must be born again. 29:34 No matter what society approves of, we must be born again. 29:40 Regardless of your parental or your sibling influence, 29:45 we all must be born again. 29:48 So we can't even claim that, "Well, you know, 29:50 I've got this gene." 29:52 Well I agree with you. 29:54 I agree with that whole genetic disposition to sin. 29:57 Because the Bible says we're all born in sin, 30:00 shapen in iniquity. 30:01 It just depends on what you choose as your sin of choice. 30:05 Regardless of what it is, we all must be born again. 30:08 There is an out. 30:09 There is no need to die in what we're in. 30:13 We can find our out in Jesus. 30:15 Amen. 30:16 Now let's take this to the next level. 30:17 You're born again, you're baptized. 30:22 The baby has been safely delivered. 30:27 They're no longer in the amniotic fluid, 30:30 which I call the water in the baptismal pool. 30:33 The umbilical cord has been cut. 30:36 Meaning, from now on the baby's survival 30:39 is completely dependent on getting nourishment 30:42 from a different source. 30:44 Are you following me? 30:46 I know the parents, I know the moms are right with me. 30:48 After the new birth, the baby's first feeding comes. 30:53 Now I'm going to the level of maturity. 30:57 The baby hasn't had its first bottle, 30:58 the baby hasn't had its first input of source; 31:01 after it was born, post the natal care, the cord is cut. 31:06 Mama ain't giving it anything intravenously any longer. 31:09 It now has to be fed a different way. 31:12 I suggest to you that stuffing solid food into the baby's mouth 31:19 as a first meal will be met by the inability to break it down. 31:27 Mothers, say amen. 31:29 If you keep giving a new baby solid food, 31:34 the baby's inability to handle that solid food 31:37 will result in malnutrition, and eventually a pre-mature death. 31:46 Meaning, when you're born again your diet can't be 31:49 the same as your mother. 31:53 It's got to start off on a different level. 31:57 I'd like to explain why I believe 31:58 baby Christians don't survive. 32:01 They associate... 32:02 Now I'm getting back to the analogy. 32:04 A baby Christian doesn't mean a baby physical. 32:07 But some reasons why baby Christians don't survive 32:10 is they often associate their physical maturity 32:14 with their spiritual maturity. 32:16 They think that because they're adults chronologically 32:18 that they are also adults spiritually. 32:21 And what happens? 32:22 I had some people say, you know, they join the church 32:25 when they're 35 or 40. 32:26 I had a couple walk in here, they were in their 70's, 32:29 and they said, "Well how old is too old to be baptized?" 32:32 And I said, "It's never too old to be 32:34 baptized as long as you're alive." 32:35 Amen, church? 32:37 But you cannot associate a person 32:39 maybe in their 60's or 70's, or God forbid if He gives them 32:42 more than that time, 80's or maybe 90's, 32:44 you cannot associate their physical maturity 32:47 with spiritual maturity. 32:48 It's not the same. 32:49 One is chronological, the other is spiritual. 32:52 That which is born of the flesh is flesh. 32:54 That which is born of the spirit is what? Spirit. 32:57 You've got to keep those two separate. 32:59 But one of the reasons why they don't mature 33:01 is they stop feeding. 33:05 When they stop feeding, things begin to go wrong. 33:08 They don't know what's wrong, but something is. 33:11 Whenever you stop feeding a baby, they start making noise. 33:15 Here's what they do. 33:16 The baby starts crying and gets restless and irritable. 33:20 And no matter what you do, you can't relieve that 33:23 baby's discomfort. 33:24 At that point, any sensible parent would 33:27 take that baby to a doctor. 33:28 Can I get an amen somewhere? 33:31 Now they're at the doctor's office. 33:32 There's a point to this story. 33:33 I don't have any children, but I've learned 33:35 this by reading books. 33:36 Help me out, somebody. 33:39 At the doctor's, the doctor listens to the baby's heartbeat 33:43 and checks the baby's breathing patterns, 33:47 and discovers that its heart is out of rhythm 33:50 and its oxygen levels are low. 33:54 I need to make the spiritual application right here 33:56 before you get lost. 33:57 You see, brothers and sisters, when your heart is out of rhythm 34:00 with God and your oxygen level, meaning you're lacking 34:03 the infilling of the Holy Spirit, 34:05 you've got to pray the prayer of David. 34:06 Here it is. And what is that prayer? 34:09 "Create in me a..." What? 34:10 "...clean heart, O God..." 34:17 I suggest that some of the reasons why Christians are 34:21 always crying and restless and irritable is because 34:24 they have stopped feeding somewhere. 34:28 And they're missing the assurance that comes 34:31 by that connection to Christ. 34:33 But let's go to the next level. 34:35 The doctor writes another prescription for the crying, 34:38 for the constant restlessness, for the irritability, 34:40 and the complaining. 34:42 If you're constantly restless, and you're irritable, 34:44 and you're complaining, and you don't know what's going on, 34:47 you need this prescription. 34:49 Psalm 51 and verse 12, the Bible says... 34:58 What do you say? 35:00 Some people need that. 35:02 Because they're not feeding themselves. 35:04 And when they get weak, all those symptoms show up. 35:07 You wonder why church members are sometimes so irritable? 35:10 I can guarantee you they're not feeding. 35:13 Or I can guarantee you, the other side of that, 35:15 they may have run into somebody that's trying to stuff 35:18 solid food down their throat, and they're not ready 35:21 to digest that. 35:23 Which happens sometimes. 35:24 I remember in one of my former churches 35:27 rebuking one of my elders. 35:29 You know, somebody just came to church, they just got baptized 35:32 a few weeks earlier. 35:33 And they brought what they could to fellowship lunch. 35:35 And you know, people try to do their best. 35:37 At least that's my analogy. 35:38 They brought what they could to fellowship lunch. 35:41 And they put their dish on the table and one of my elders 35:44 that had been eating solid food, it appeared that way, 35:47 for many years, I though he would have been more 35:49 mature than that, but in his solid food mode 35:52 he came to this baby Christian who just joined the church 35:54 a few weeks earlier and said, "Is there any pork in that?" 36:01 And they didn't even know the answer. 36:04 "Uh, it's beans. Not sure." 36:08 Sometimes we could make babies that are new 36:11 suffer from indigestion if we try to stuff 36:14 all of our solid food spiritually into their lives. 36:18 Can you say amen to that? 36:19 We've got to give them room to grow. 36:21 We've got to give them room to develop. 36:22 We've got to give them time. 36:24 Sometimes the doctor concludes that the baby's diet 36:26 and the symptoms will eventually vanish. 36:28 But I tell you, symptoms don't vanish naturally 36:32 unless there's some input to relieve those symptoms 36:35 that we suffer from. 36:38 Peter the apostle suggests what we need to do. 36:40 Look at 1 Peter chapter 2 verses 1 to 3. 36:44 The apostle Paul talks about the baby's formula 36:47 for spiritual maturity. 36:48 Here it is, 1 Peter chapter 2 verse 1 to verse 3. 36:52 Notice it on the screen. 36:54 He says, and this is amazing, he says... 36:56 And he's talking about the irritability here. 37:10 That's what happens with new born babes. 37:12 Sometimes you don't get rid of that stuff quickly enough. 37:14 And then he says... 37:29 Or as the King James Version says, "That the Lord is good." 37:32 We often translate that or transcribe that, 37:35 we often say, "Taste and see that the Lord is good." 37:37 Have you said that before? 37:39 But you've got to taste. 37:40 You've got to know that. 37:42 And sometimes baby Christians die a spiritually premature 37:45 death because they ingest things that prevent their growth. 37:49 They focus on things that rob them 37:51 of their spiritual nourishment. 37:53 That's why, go back to the verse again and look at verse 1. 37:56 1 Peter chapter 2 verses 1 to 3. 37:58 I want you to see verse 1 just very quickly. 38:07 You can take that off the screen now. 38:08 You know, when we come to Christ sometimes those things 38:11 are two weeks behind us. 38:12 Anybody know what I'm talking about? 38:14 If you just came to the church and you just gave you life 38:16 to Christ, but you haven't forgotten how to envy. 38:18 You haven't forgotten what it's like to be a 38:20 person filled with malice. 38:21 You haven't forgotten hypocrisy and all those things that 38:24 went along with your former life. 38:26 Matter of fact, I was giving a Bible class at another one 38:29 of the churches I pastored in Northern California Conference. 38:32 And in my class that particular day 38:33 the conference president was there. 38:36 And when he came in I asked the group to turn to a 38:39 particular Scripture, and they couldn't find it. 38:42 And he said, "Oh, I am so excited. 38:45 They can't find the book of Matthew." 38:49 He said, "That means we've got some new born babes in here." 38:52 Amen? 38:54 And then he went outside and he walked past the exit 38:57 of my office door and he smelled smoke, he said, 39:00 "Oh, that smells so good. 39:03 That means there's somebody here looking for Jesus." 39:05 Amen, church? 39:07 See, you can't let those things irritate. 39:09 You can't let those symbols and signs of the old life 39:12 as the peel away, you can't let that interrupt your flow. 39:15 If you're an adult, let the babies grow. 39:17 Come on say amen. 39:18 Let the babies grow. 39:22 But also as you grow, to focus on the things that have 39:24 no spiritual nourishment leaves little energy 39:28 to spend on things that facilitate growth. 39:30 When the Bible says, "desire," 39:33 you've got to think about a baby. 39:35 When a baby desires, he stretches out his arms 39:39 to reach his bottle. 39:40 You know, we have to stretch out our arms 39:42 during the week to reach God's Word and study it. 39:46 The Bible can't walk to us. 39:48 We've got to stretch out our arms to study the Word of God. 39:51 What do you say? 39:52 We've got to put some effort in that. 39:55 When we realize that the Word of God is good, 39:58 it's like giving the baby candy for the very first time. 40:01 You know, from that point on when a baby tastes candy, 40:03 they're hooked. 40:05 Matter of fact, I've seen this happen in church 40:08 and I didn't know what it was all about until I realized 40:11 you can give a baby a piece of candy, and they get used to the 40:14 sound of the wrapper. 40:15 Have you noticed that? 40:16 When you open that first piece of candy and you give 40:18 it to them, they heard that... 40:21 Know what I'm talking about? 40:22 I can't do that very well. 40:23 I need a cellophane lip to do that. 40:26 But that week they enjoy that piece of candy, 40:28 but I guarantee you, the next Sabbath you can be 40:31 sitting across the aisle and that sound happens, 40:35 and that baby that can't even say a single word goes... 40:39 They know exactly where that candy is. 40:41 Amen? 40:42 They get use to the sound. 40:43 Because they know associated with that sound 40:46 is something sweet. 40:48 My point is this, David the psalmist wrote in 40:50 Psalm 119 and verse 103... 40:53 If you spend time in God's Word, you'll discover it's addicting. 40:56 Notice what he says, Psalm 119 verse 103. 41:06 You've got to study God's Word, you've got to study God's Word 41:09 to find out how sweet it really is. 41:11 It is sweet, but it's not something we do naturally. 41:14 We've got to put effort into that. 41:15 I've often said to people, study God's Word 41:18 and make it a homework assignment. 41:20 If you make it an assignment like schoolwork, 41:22 because we don't like schoolwork, 41:25 if you make it an assignment like schoolwork, 41:27 you'll eventually develop an appetite for it. 41:32 But now let me flip the script. 41:34 Don't expect baby Christians to behave like adult Christians. 41:38 Don't expect baby Christians to walk like adult Christians. 41:42 Paul makes this clear in 1 Corinthians chapter 13 41:44 and verse 11, notice this. 41:46 You've got to give them time to get there. 41:48 1 Corinthians 13 verse 11, Paul says... 41:54 Give them time to change their speeches. 42:07 I could count how many times, you know, some members 42:10 that have joined our church that went to other churches, 42:12 they'd say, "See you next Sunday." 42:15 Am I telling the truth? 42:16 "See you next Sun... Oh sorry, I forgot." 42:19 You've got to give them time for all that vernacular to change. 42:22 You've got to give them time for all those 42:25 things that we say and we've got all the acronyms, 42:28 you know, the ADRA, you know, all the things we say. 42:33 We know what 1844 is, we have all of our SDA's. 42:36 All those acronyms that to the new baby is just 42:39 nothing but gibberish. 42:41 We've got to give them room to grow. 42:43 We've got to give them room to grow. 42:44 Don't stress out babies by expecting in a few months 42:48 what has taken you years to develop. 42:51 Amen? Now let me flip the script. 42:53 I talked about the babies, now let's go to the adults. 42:54 Because this is about the danger of not maturing. 42:57 I would like to explain why some adult Christians 42:59 don't survive. 43:00 And this is strange, but I'm going to give 43:03 you the same reason. 43:04 They associate their physical maturity 43:06 with their spiritual maturity. 43:08 They think because they are adults chronologically 43:10 they are adults spiritually. 43:13 Look at Hebrews chapter 5 verse 12 to 14. 43:18 And I suggested earlier that the babies were trying to eat 43:22 too solid a food, but in this suggestion 43:26 the Bible will suggest they're eating the wrong food. 43:29 Hebrews 5 verses 12 to 14. 43:32 The writer says... 44:06 In other words the Bible is saying, if you had a child... 44:10 Let me use an analogy. 44:11 If you took your child to kindergarten 44:15 and they were behaving the same way in fourth grade 44:19 as they were in kindergarten, you'd say, "Something is wrong." 44:24 In the very same way, if Christians that have 44:26 been around a long time like this text is suggesting 44:29 is coming to church... 44:30 I'd have a hard time, but you got to get the picture. 44:32 If a church member comes to church, he's 6'2", nice suit, 44:36 and he takes out a baby bottle and starts drinking it, 44:41 I'm sure that one of the elders would say, "Pastor, I think 44:43 one of our members have just flipped out. 44:47 He's drinking a baby bottle in church." 44:50 Well that's a spiritual analogy to simply say 44:52 there are some members that are like that. 44:54 They don't drink the baby bottle, but they're not 44:56 past the milk yet. 44:58 Because during the week they don't have 44:59 any established study life. 45:01 They don't have a way to get their lives stronger 45:03 than where they were 15 years ago. 45:05 And they say, "Well, I've been an 45:06 Adventist for X amount of years." 45:07 But if you boast that, at least there should be some external 45:11 and spiritual evidence that you are stronger now 45:14 than you were when you first gave your life to the Lord. 45:16 Amen? 45:18 Let me give you some analogies to let you know 45:20 that they're not growing yet. 45:21 Adult Christians should not behave 45:23 irresponsibly like babies. 45:25 When they're behaving like that, they ain't growing. 45:28 Adult Christians should stop talking gibberish like babies. 45:31 Have you ever seen babies? 45:33 They could talk all day long and you have 45:34 no clue what they're saying. 45:36 There are some Christians that way. 45:38 All day long... 45:41 About other folk, about themselves. 45:43 They're griping about the economy, 45:44 they don't have enough money, the car just broke down. 45:47 All day long, gibberish. 45:48 Because they have no connection to Christ 45:50 to strengthen their faith. 45:51 Therefore, stuff comes out that doesn't make sense 45:53 to an adult Christian. 45:55 Adult Christians should not whine when things 45:58 don't go their way, like baby Christians. 46:00 Adult Christians should stop throwing tantrums 46:04 to manipulate folk. 46:07 Adult Christians... 46:09 You've got to wrap your head around this. 46:11 ...should stop leaving a mess for other people to clean up. 46:15 There's a spiritual connection there. 46:17 Amen, somebody. 46:18 And the same Scripture applies. 46:20 Here it is again. 46:21 It's not a duplicate, but it applies right here. 46:36 Adult Christians should learn how to feed themselves. 46:40 Can the church say amen? 46:42 You know, you cannot... 46:43 This thing called Christianity requires more of us 46:46 than just showing up, if we show up, 46:51 than just being in the building, if we are in the building, 46:54 than just spending a thoughtful hour a week 46:57 in corporate worship. 46:58 It requires this day by day diet for us to grow 47:01 and for us to survive. 47:02 You know, I think about that. 47:04 A thought came to my mind and I kind of had to laugh it away, 47:07 but it just came back so I've got to share it with you. 47:10 I laughed it away earlier, but it just came to my mind. 47:12 Christians that try to get their nourishment, 47:17 you know, spiritual nourishment, only through sermons that are 47:19 preached on television... 47:20 Now mind you, it's a great thing. 47:21 Don't change the channel. 47:23 Because you're not near 3ABN. 47:25 But Christians that settle for only watching Christian 47:29 programming on television when they are close enough 47:32 to go and be in the audience, I suggest to them 47:35 that during the week they need to watch the food channel 47:38 to get their nourishment. 47:42 I know you'd catch on somewhere. 47:46 You could look at a hamburger all day long on television, 47:49 but you ain't going to get no nourishment. 47:52 Amen, English teachers. 47:54 You're not going to get any nourishment. 47:55 One night my friend and I were sitting... 47:57 This was long years ago when I was still eating Big Macs 47:59 and all that other stuff. 48:01 About 11:30 we were watching his little 13 inch Sony Trinitron. 48:04 Remember that anybody? Help me out. 48:06 13 inch color Sony Trinitron. 48:08 There we are sitting in our small room, just came back 48:10 from riding our bikes, and this picture of a Whopper 48:14 showed up on the screen. 48:16 And they filled that whole 13 inch screen 48:18 with a picture of this Whopper. 48:19 It was 11:30 at night. 48:20 He said, "Let's go to Burger King." 48:22 And we got up and drove around Brooklyn 48:24 looking for Burger King. 48:25 We ended up going like seven miles because that thing 48:27 looked so good we had to satisfy our appetite. 48:31 And I suggest to you the very same way, if you spend your time 48:33 looking in God's Word, you will not be able to satisfy 48:37 your appetite until you find a place where you can have 48:39 a personal connection and taste how sweet God's Word really is. 48:45 Got to learn how to feed ourselves. 48:46 We should not be as Scripturally ignorant as babies are. 48:49 Ephesians 4, let me move a little quicker now, 48:51 Ephesians 4 verses 14 to 15. 48:54 Notice what the Bible says. 49:05 When you're immature, any new teaching will pull you out. 49:23 And the head is who, Church? 49:25 You show me a Christian that is weak and I'll show you 49:28 someone that does not study. 49:31 Honestly. 49:32 You can't study God's Word and walk away weak. 49:34 It's not possible. 49:36 Because His Word is living. 49:38 His Word is powerful. 49:39 It's filled with nourishment. 49:41 You can't study this book and walk away weak. 49:44 You show me a person, a Christian, with no faith 49:47 and I'll show you somebody who does not pray. 49:51 Studying God's Word will give you a prayer life. 49:54 Studying God's Word will strengthen your faith. 49:56 You don't have to worry about being weak. 49:58 That's why Paul says in 1 Corinthians 14 verse 20, 50:01 notice what he says... 50:02 And then we're going to wind up with the six guidelines 50:04 to facilitate maturity. 50:06 Here it is, he says... 50:15 In other words, in the old life be a babe. 50:19 But in the new life be mature. 50:20 Sometimes kids ask me, "Have you heard this song before?" 50:23 And I say, "Who's that by?" 50:24 And they mention an artist, and I say, 50:26 "I've never heard of their name." 50:27 And I say, "Is that a Christian artist?" They say, "No." 50:29 I say, "Well, I'm glad I don't know their name." 50:31 Help me out somebody. 50:33 I'm always concerned about people that know 50:34 all these worldly songs. 50:36 I say, "What are you listening to?" 50:38 They're always mentioning this newest movie that came out 50:40 or this person that just... 50:41 What are you listening to? 50:43 But let's go fast now. 50:44 The guidelines to facilitate growth. 50:47 Are you ready? Well here we go. 50:48 Study God's Word. 50:50 2 Timothy 2:15. 51:00 Say that with me, "Study God's Word." 51:02 Say that, "Study God's Word." 51:04 The reason is clear. 51:06 2 Timothy 3 and verse 15. 51:08 What does study bring? 51:09 It brings wisdom. 51:10 Paul says... 51:23 Study God's Word and your wisdom will increase. 51:26 You will be wiser than you were before. 51:30 Dr. Ben Carson says the reason why he has grown so 51:33 intellectually is he studied Proverbs. 51:36 He read Proverbs every day when he was growing up. 51:39 You can't read a wise book and not become wise. 51:42 The other reason that you should study your Bible, 51:44 Romans 10 verse 17. 51:46 It increases your faith. Here it is. 51:54 You cannot study God's Word and not have a faith 51:57 that's going to increase. 51:58 That's the first thing, study God's Word. 52:00 Second thing, live out the truth. 52:02 1 Timothy 4 and verse 16, live out the truth. 52:05 Pray, "Lord, give me strength to live it out." 52:07 Here is what he says. 52:20 Not just hearing you, but they are going to look at your life 52:22 and say, "Emma Lou, look at the way Emma Lou is living. 52:24 I wonder what's different about Emma Lou." 52:26 "Been going to church a lot lately. 52:27 Been studying my Bible." 52:29 No wonder. Amen? 52:31 You can't have a life that you are living our your convictions 52:34 and not show some external evidences. 52:36 Third thing, walk in the truth. 52:39 3 John 1 verse 4, notice what the Bible says. 52:42 You want to make the Lord happy? 52:43 Here is what you do. 52:53 Don't just say, "I believe the truth." 52:55 Walk in it. 52:57 If you believe the Sabbath, walk in it. 52:59 If you believe the things that the Bible is teaching, 53:01 live them out. 53:03 Let them reflect in your life. 53:05 Because a person that's a pilot that's never flown 53:07 is not really a pilot. 53:10 The fourth thing, don't miss opportunities 53:14 for corporate worship. 53:16 Hebrews 10 verse 25, the Bible says... 53:35 You know, if you know the plane is going to be landing soon 53:38 and people are going to get onboard, 53:40 don't meander by the restaurant. 53:42 Because they'll come and leave you. 53:44 What is being said in this Scripture is, if you know 53:47 that the Lord is coming soon, we ought to be assembling 53:50 together every opportunity that is given 53:53 to worship corporately. 53:55 And the fifth reason, share your faith. 53:57 Hebrews 13 and verse 16. 53:59 I love this verse. 54:00 Not one that I've discovered too much before, 54:02 but it fits right here. 54:07 Whatever the Lord gives you, share. 54:14 When you share what God has given to you, 54:16 God is well pleased. 54:17 You know, I wish I could see the Lord from heaven saying, 54:20 "Come on, come on. Give him a tract. 54:22 Give him a tract. 54:23 Give him a tract. Oh great. 54:25 He just gave him a tract. 54:27 Now I've got a chance to get to his heart." 54:28 Amen? 54:29 We were at some Chinese restaurant, PF Changs 54:32 in St. Louis, and we were talking to the young man 54:34 that came to wait our table. 54:36 And he asked what we did and we said we just got back 54:39 from where we got back from, we told him. 54:41 He said, "What do you do?" 54:42 "I'm a pastor; I teach, I preach." 54:44 "Really? What church?" 54:45 And I told him all that. 54:46 My wife said, "Go get some tracts." 54:48 So I ran to the car and got two tracts and came back. 54:51 And when he brought the bill, I put it in there with a nice tip. 54:54 You know, you've got to pay them to read that tract. 54:56 With a nice tip, and gave him, "Here's my card. 54:59 3ABN, go to that website. 55:00 Here's another one; amazingfacts.org." 55:02 Amen, Amazing Facts. 55:04 But you've got to plant those seeds. 55:06 You've got to share your faith. 55:07 When you do that, I like this text, 55:08 "But do not forget to do good and to share, 55:10 for with such sacrifices God is well pleased." 55:14 "Oh, they shared their faith with somebody else." 55:17 You don't got to preach a whole sermon. 55:20 Just give them something to read. 55:22 And finally, the sixth thing we must do so that we will mature 55:27 is watch and pray. 55:30 Luke 21 verse 36, here's what the Bible says. 55:32 And I want us all to read this together. 55:34 Are you ready? Here we go. 55:53 Watch and pray. 55:54 Share your faith. 55:55 Don't miss opportunities for corporate worship. 55:59 Walk in truth. 56:00 Live out the truth. 56:01 Study God's Word. 56:03 These guidelines apply to your life. 56:06 I tell you, I love baseball. 56:09 But I haven't played baseball in years. 56:11 I like basketball. 56:12 Sometimes I play it too much. 56:15 But whatever a person is convicted by, 56:16 whatever a person has living in his or her heart 56:19 is going to be a part of their daily activity. 56:22 You want to find out a person that loves computers? 56:24 Listen to their conversation. 56:26 They talk about computers. 56:27 People that like digital phones, listen to their conversation. 56:30 They talk about the next new phone coming out. 56:32 "Have you heard about the iPhone 6 56:34 and the new Samsung?" 56:35 They talk that kind of language. 56:36 If you want to find a Christian, I would suggest to you that 56:39 if it's in here, it's going to come out. 56:40 Because out of the abundance of the heart, 56:42 come on now, the mouth speaks. 56:44 If you want to mature, get it in here 56:47 and it's going to come out here. 56:49 You don't have to force a tree to grow. 56:52 If it's connected, it's going to grow. 56:54 Amen, somebody. 56:55 If you get connected to Christ, that's the first step 56:58 in defeating your immaturity. 57:01 Get connected; study your Word. 57:03 live out the truth, walk in truth, 57:05 didn't miss opportunities for corporate worship, 57:07 share your faith, and watch and pray. 57:09 And when you do that, you'll come to church 57:12 and you'll see a change in people's lives. 57:14 But even more than seeing change in other people's lives, 57:17 it is God's desire that each one of us reflect to the world 57:21 a change in our lives. 57:23 Is Jesus coming soon, church? Amen? 57:26 If you want to get ready for the coming of the Lord, 57:28 get busy today. 57:29 God bless you. 57:30 Let us pray. |
Revised 2015-01-27