Participants: Shelley Quinn
Series Code: TWH
Program Code: TWH000003A
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00:32 You don't have to turn right now.
00:34 I'll just read you very quickly the scripture readings, 00:37 quite short, 00:38 but we'll come back to here in just a moment. 00:40 And that is Luke 8:11, 00:44 "The seed is the word of God." 00:48 Let's pray. 00:50 Heavenly Father, we do bless your name. 00:55 Father, we come this morning, 00:58 to come before You in worship 01:03 and I pray for each and every heart that's here, 01:05 please help us to just shed out the pain, 01:12 shed out the worries, 01:14 shed out those things 01:16 that might interfere with your word. 01:19 Help us to come before You 01:22 with open hearts to receive the message 01:26 that You have for us today. 01:28 We thank You for the answer to the prayer of faith. 01:33 We thank you, Lord, 01:35 that You will speak to each person, 01:39 not by my mouth, but by Your Holy Spirit. 01:43 Send Him now to be our teacher, 01:47 pour out Your Spirit on this congregation. 01:50 Thank you, Father. 01:52 In Jesus' name, Amen. 01:55 I wanna share a story with you before... 01:57 Well, it's part of our beginning. 01:59 This is something that I heard an evangelist 02:03 share many, many years ago. 02:04 So I'm gonna give you my version. 02:07 I call it "Sindbad and The Junk Yard Dogs." 02:12 There's a man named Sindbad, who lived in Alaska. 02:16 And he was a rough old cob. 02:18 Well, Sindbad had two dogs. 02:20 He had a pitbull, 02:21 and he had a white German shepherd. 02:24 And he would take these dogs to the dogfights, 02:29 and he would place the yards, 02:30 people would put their bets on the dogs. 02:33 In one week, the white shepherd would win. 02:38 The next week, the pitbull would win. 02:41 And there was this greedy gambler 02:44 whose name was Grady. 02:49 Greedy Grady, and Grady was so frustrated, 02:54 'cause he's always placing his bet, 02:56 and he was always losing, 02:58 and he would think, 02:59 "Well, surely the way that pitbull 03:02 beat that German shepherd last week, 03:05 surely he's gonna win again this week, 03:08 but he wouldn't." 03:09 So finally one day, in frustration, 03:12 Grady came to Sindbad and he said, 03:16 "I wanna buy your dogs on the condition 03:21 that you tell me what your system for winning is, 03:24 and I'll pay you whatever price you want." 03:27 Well, Sindbad thought about it for a little bit and he said, 03:30 "Okay." 03:31 He named his price. 03:33 Grady paid up, and he said, 03:36 "So how is it, that you always win?" 03:41 And Sindbad said, "It's easy." 03:44 He said, "During the week, there is one dog that I feed, 03:49 and one dog that I don't." 03:52 And he said, "The dog that gets fed wins." 03:57 We each have two natures inside of us. 04:03 We've got the flesh nature, the fallen nature. 04:07 And we have, if we're part of Christ, 04:12 a new born-again nature. 04:15 But if we feed on the trash of the world system 04:21 and by that I mean, let's say, the devil system. 04:25 If we gossip, get caught up and gossip, 04:30 if we are backbiting, 04:31 if we are watching television that shouldn't be on, 04:37 programs that shouldn't be on, 04:40 and I'm gonna get really harsh, 04:44 if we look at pornography, 04:48 if we're drinking, 04:50 if we're doing things we know we shouldn't be doing, 04:54 we feed that old flesh nature 04:58 and it comes forward 05:01 with the tenacity of that pitbull. 05:05 But if, on the other hand, we feed the Spirit nature, 05:11 the born-again nature, 05:13 then the good shepherd will always come forth 05:18 and the good shepherd will win. 05:20 Please open your Bibles to Galatians 6. 05:24 Galatians 6, 05:27 the nature we feed wins. 05:31 Galatians 6, we're going to begin in verse 7, 05:38 Galatians 6:7, 05:42 "Do not be deceived," 05:45 Paul writes to the Galatians. 05:49 "God is not mocked, for whatever a man sows, 05:54 that he will also reap. 05:55 For he who sows to his flesh 05:59 will of the flesh reap corruption, 06:03 but he who sows to the Spirit 06:07 will of the Spirit reap everlasting life. 06:11 And let us not grow weary while doing good, 06:15 for in due season 06:18 we shall reap if we do not lose heart." 06:22 I have used this illustration for many, many years. 06:26 And the reason 06:28 that I'm sharing this message with you today 06:32 is because when we were taping Sabbath school, 06:34 I made a comment, and Mollie went, 06:36 "Oh, wow, yeah." 06:39 And she commented on it 06:40 in the Sabbath school recording. 06:43 And I thought, 06:44 "I've been teaching that for 14 years 06:47 but haven't been teaching it lately." 06:49 So I wanna share this with you, this message today. 06:52 And the illustration the Lord gave me is 06:55 if I had a handful of corn, 06:57 you probably have heard me say this before, 06:59 if I have a handful of corn, and on this side, 07:04 I plant that seed, 07:07 and I have a handful of wheat, and on this side, 07:10 I plant the wheat. 07:12 What is going to grow here? 07:15 Wheat. 07:16 What's gonna grow over here? 07:18 Why? 07:22 Because the potential of the harvest is wrapped 07:27 inside the seed. 07:30 The potential of the harvest is inside the seed. 07:36 Jesus said in the parable that we're going to look at 07:39 in a moment, 07:41 the seed is the word of God, 07:45 and I'm here to tell you, all of your potential, 07:49 all of your potential is wrapped inside the seed, 07:56 inside the word of God. 08:00 This is who you are in Christ Jesus, 08:04 and if you don't know this word, 08:06 you're going to suffer from an identity crisis. 08:10 So let's turn and we're going to look, 08:15 before we get to the parable, 08:17 let's turn to James 1:21, 08:22 James 1:21. 08:26 James writes, "Therefore lay aside 08:28 all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, 08:34 receive with meekness, 08:36 receive with humility, the implanted word, 08:42 which is able to save your souls." 08:46 Receive with humility. 08:48 You know, something the Lord's been showing me lately, 08:51 I've always thought that, 08:55 I was not a really proud person. 08:58 I know there's areas that I need to improve on, 09:01 but I've never thought of myself 09:02 as being a particularly pride, 09:05 haughty, lifted-up person. 09:07 But what God has been showing me 09:09 about humility is this, 09:12 Christ was our example of humility. 09:15 Christ did only, first of all, 09:18 He humiliated Himself to become a man. 09:20 He condescended so far to become a man. 09:25 But He then said, "I only do what the Father tells Me to do. 09:29 I only speak 09:31 what the Father tells Me to speak." 09:33 So Christ came here, 09:35 and instead of relying on His own power, 09:37 He did what you and I have to do. 09:41 He relied totally on the Father 09:44 and on the power of the Holy Spirit. 09:48 That is what humility is all about. 09:52 Humility is not, "Oh, shucks. 09:55 Oh, well. 09:56 You know, I don't know if I'm all that good at this." 09:59 That's not humility. 10:02 Some people say things like that 10:03 just to get somebody to brag on them. 10:07 What humility is, is when we quit relying on self, 10:13 when we quit being satisfied with self, self-satisfaction, 10:19 self-reliance is prideful. 10:22 So what God wants us to do is come in the Spirit of meekness 10:27 and humility and say, 10:28 "Lord, I do recognize that apart from Jesus Christ, 10:32 I can do nothing. 10:33 I need you so much, Lord." 10:36 That's what I was praying before I got up here today is, 10:39 "Don't let me get up here by myself, Father. 10:44 Yeah, I know the word. 10:45 I can give you a message, 10:47 but there won't be any life in it. 10:50 Oh, Lord, fill me with Your Holy Spirit, 10:53 empty me of me. 10:55 I need you so much." 10:58 And he goes on and then he says, 10:59 but after you receive this implanted word, 11:03 "Be doers of the word, not hearers only, 11:05 deceiving yourselves. 11:07 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, 11:12 he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror. 11:16 For he observes himself, goes away, 11:20 and immediately forgets what kind of man he was." 11:24 You know, James goes on to talk about the perfect law, 11:26 and I do believe 11:28 that when we see the law of God, it's like, 11:33 and remember God's law, 11:36 those ten commandments are promises 11:38 of what He will do in us. 11:40 But we see that and it's kind of like 11:42 we're looking in a mirror and then we see our own filth, 11:47 if you will, how much we fall short. 11:50 But I want to take it a step further 11:53 and that is when you open this word, 11:57 and you see where John writes, 12:00 you have an anointing, that's who you are, 12:04 that's what God has done for you. 12:07 When you see God's promises in the word where He says, 12:13 "You're a new creature." 12:15 That's who you are in Christ Jesus. 12:17 And you read this word and you get excited, 12:20 but if you then put your Bible down 12:23 and walk away, 12:25 and forget what the word said 12:28 about who you are in Christ crucified, 12:33 if you're not putting the word into practice, 12:37 then you have forgotten what you look like. 12:41 Turn to II Peter 1. 12:45 II Peter 1. 12:48 Anytime I'm talking about the word, 12:50 I have to bring up the scripture. 12:53 This is a scripture that if you're somebody 12:55 who underlines in your Bible, 12:58 circle this, underline it, do something, 13:02 that you will come back and look at this with... 13:09 Praying for understanding. 13:10 Let's look at it. 13:12 II Peter 1, we'll begin with verse 3. 13:17 It says, "His divine power 13:21 has given to us all things 13:24 that pertain to life," 13:27 in the Greek, that's the zoi life. 13:30 "All things that pertain 13:32 to eternal life and godliness, 13:38 through the knowledge of Him 13:39 who called us by His glory and virtue, 13:44 by which have been given to us exceedingly great 13:47 and precious promises, 13:48 that through these you may be partakers 13:51 of the divine nature having escaped..." 13:54 In other words, after you've escaped, 13:56 "The corruption that is in the world through lust." 13:59 First, His promises will help us escape, 14:02 and then He changes us. 14:04 Now let's turn to Luke 8. 14:07 The seed of the miracle that changes us 14:12 into the image of Christ is wrapped inside His word. 14:19 Luke 8. 14:22 Luke 8:4, 14:24 "And when a great multitude had gathered, 14:26 and they had come to Him from every city, 14:30 He spoke by a parable." 14:31 And here's what Jesus said. 14:33 "'A sower went out to sow his seed. 14:36 And as he sowed, some fell by the wayside, 14:38 and it was trampled down, 14:40 and the birds of the air devoured it. 14:42 Some fell on rock, and as soon as it sprang up, 14:45 it withered away because it lacked moisture. 14:48 And some fell among the thorns, 14:51 and the thorns sprang up with it 14:53 and they choked it. 14:55 But others, other seed fell on good ground, sprang up, 15:00 and yielded a crop a hundredfold.' 15:03 When He had said these things, He cried, 15:06 'He who has ears to hear, let him hear.' 15:11 Then His disciples asked Him, saying, 15:13 'What does this parable mean?' 15:19 " Well, let me just paraphrase, 15:22 the rest of what Jesus told them. 15:26 You know, in Israel, we've been to Israel five years in a row. 15:31 It's a rocky, 15:33 most of the country's very rocky 15:36 and often there's just a thin layer of topsoil 15:40 across the rocks. 15:42 So in these fields, they'll have a path between it. 15:46 And Jesus said that 15:48 when some people hear the message, 15:52 it's like you're walking on this hardened path, 15:56 their heart is burdened, it is hardened. 15:59 And the seed that falls on that type of soil, 16:03 the birds of prey can see it, like right there on top 16:07 because it hasn't penetrated the heart. 16:10 And the birds come and just... 16:13 It's gone. 16:14 That's what the devil does to you. 16:17 When your heart is hardened toward God, 16:22 you can hear a message and walk out of here and go, 16:25 "Oh, that was a good message, Pastor John, thank you." 16:29 But if it didn't penetrate your heart, 16:32 the devil's gonna snatch that message away 16:35 and it didn't take very long to where you're saying, 16:38 "Hello, what's that sermon about?" 16:42 Then He said, "others hear this..." 16:47 He said, "Some falls on this ground 16:49 and it kind of springs up quickly." 16:52 He said, "Others are hearing these promises, 16:55 ah, they receive it with joy, 16:57 then walk out of church and they're quite like, 'yes.' 17:01 " But they don't cling to them long enough for them 17:03 to take root. 17:05 Pretty soon, circumstances, and conditions, 17:08 kind of set themselves up in opposition 17:10 to what the word says, 17:12 and they begin to not trust God, 17:14 they lose their faith. 17:16 So what they do is reject the eternal, 17:19 powerful truth of the word of God's testimony, 17:25 and they accept whatever their circumstances, 17:29 the conflicting evidence of their circumstances. 17:32 Now some sow His promises, 17:37 we hear it, and we receive it, 17:39 and we sow His promises, 17:41 and while we stay focused on Jesus, 17:45 the roots of faith are nurtured for a while, 17:48 but pretty soon the demanding pace at 3ABN, 17:53 the demanding pace of our life, 17:58 the hustle and bustle 18:01 begins to choke out the word. 18:06 There, it's like the worldly matters. 18:09 And let me tell you something, 18:11 even work can be a worldly matter, 18:15 especially work can be... 18:17 Even, ministry, I should say, 18:19 can become where we're doing it not for the glory of God, 18:22 not by God's guidance, but we're doing it 18:25 because we've decided it needs to get done. 18:29 So these things creep in like weeds, 18:33 and they began to choke the life of God's word 18:38 right out of our heart. 18:41 And, you know, when we're not focusing on the word, 18:43 when we're not keeping our focus on His promises, 18:46 when we're not putting them into practice, 18:49 then our growth is crushed, 18:51 we quit trusting in His knowledge, 18:53 we start leaning on our own human understanding, 18:55 and I'm so guilty of this. 18:58 Last week, I was talking to somebody 19:00 and it was just, I was breathless, just like, 19:03 I've got 41 presentations to put together in 6 weeks. 19:08 Oh, my goodness. 19:09 Oh, it's me, poor Shelley. 19:11 And you know what? 19:13 No sooner did I return to my office, 19:15 boy, the Lord called me down. 19:18 I was looking at what I could do, not saying, 19:22 "Lord, here's the challenge. 19:25 I can only do it through You." 19:28 So what we've got to do, 19:33 if we ever quit tending the fertile ground 19:38 of the kingdom of God within us, 19:41 we've got to recognize, 19:42 we're gonna sacrifice the good seed that was there. 19:46 All of our potential is wrapped inside here, see, 19:50 now look at verse 18, Luke 8:15, 19:54 excuse me, Luke 8:15. 19:57 Because here Christ summarizes for us 20:02 four necessary steps to plant His promises 20:09 and increase the potential of our personal harvest. 20:15 So the conclusion of the parable, Luke 8:15, 20:19 "But the ones," He's talking about the seed, 20:21 "The ones that fell on the good ground 20:26 are those who, 20:28 having heard the word with a noble and good heart, 20:31 keep it..." 20:33 They receive and retain it and they, 20:35 "Bear fruit with patience." 20:37 They persevere to produce a crop. 20:40 Do you see the four points here that are necessary? 20:46 First, we've got to be good ground, 20:49 good soil that's prepared for the planting. 20:52 Then we've got to hear the word, 20:55 that's the broadcasting system. 20:57 You know, in the olden days, they take a handful of seed 21:00 and they had hand-broadcasted. 21:03 Well, this is the broadcasting system. 21:05 We need to hear His words, 21:08 so that that seed can be spread into our hearts. 21:11 And then He says, we've got to keep it, 21:13 we've got to receive and retain the word, 21:17 and then bear the fruit with patience, means, 21:20 that we've got to persevere in His promises 21:24 to produce the fruit of the Spirit, 21:28 His divine nature. 21:30 So let's get practical. How do we do this? 21:33 Today, I wanna give you four steps 21:36 to increase the potential of the harvest. 21:40 The first step is to prepare good soil for planting. 21:46 We're gonna look at what Jesus just summarized 21:48 and we're gonna look how we do this, 21:51 to prepare good soil. 21:54 You know, some of us think we're good soil 21:56 just because we're Christians. 21:58 What do you think? 21:59 Because we're God's people, are we good soil? 22:03 I'm gonna read you from Jeremiah 4:3-4, 22:07 this is what God said 22:08 to the people of Judah and Jerusalem. 22:11 God's people in the Old Testament. 22:13 Jeremiah 4:3-4. 22:15 And He says, "Break up your fallow ground, 22:18 and do not sow among thorns. 22:22 Circumcise yourselves to the Lord. 22:25 And take away the foreskins of your hearts." 22:30 Even Sabbath-keeping, 22:33 church-going Christians 22:38 can let the attitudes of their heart become hardened 22:41 from time to time. 22:43 He said, we've got to circumcise our hearts. 22:46 You know, Christianity is different today 22:49 than it was in the early church. 22:51 We've become complacent, we've become comfortable, 22:56 and compromising. 22:58 Actually, we're very much 23:00 like the Laodicean church of Revelation 3. 23:03 We think we have it all and we need nothing. 23:07 But that hardened attitude, 23:10 the attitude that we're just gonna come to church 23:14 and let this be 23:17 our social club, our fellowship. 23:23 The attitude that it's not up to us 23:27 to evangelize, 23:29 to share the good news, 23:30 to bring somebody to church with us. 23:33 The attitude of just coming to church to be blessed, 23:36 instead of coming to church to be a blessing, 23:40 man, that's a Laodicean attitude 23:43 and it leaves us with a hardened soil. 23:50 Our hearts become hardened. 23:52 We don't recognize it, 23:54 because we're so good at the verbal camouflage. 23:59 Aren't we? 24:01 We're so good at sounding good. 24:04 But we've got untilled ground sometimes 24:08 that needs to be broken up, 24:11 things happen in our lives and we think, 24:13 "Why would God let allow that to happen to me? 24:18 Why would God let me go through this pain 24:20 and have a broken heart?" 24:23 It's because He's trying to get our attention. 24:27 And sometimes the heart has to be broken up, 24:30 because we don't recognize 24:32 how hard our hearts have become. 24:35 So when our hearts are uncircumcised, 24:39 when it's lukewarm with apathy or indifference, 24:43 you know what happens? 24:44 It keeps us from knowing our true identity in Christ. 24:49 And it ruins God's true purpose 24:52 for establishing His church on the earth. 24:57 You know, just look at the ground. 25:00 If the ground is hardened, you can't plant. 25:03 It has to be softened, 25:05 and it has to be softened with water. 25:08 We need to realize our focus has to be, 25:11 "Oh, Holy Spirit, rain on me. 25:14 Come and rain on me. 25:17 Quench this spiritual dryness that I have. 25:21 And, Lord, help me to open my heart 25:25 that you can quench my thirst by living water." 25:30 You know, anytime that I have done something 25:33 to quench the Spirit of God, 25:35 and that's so simple, 25:37 just become reliant on self 25:40 and you'll quench the Spirit of God. 25:43 Anytime that that's happened, 25:44 what I notice is that the word that's in my heart 25:48 begins to wither and dry up, 25:50 and it's suffocating, 25:52 suffocating to my spiritual growth. 25:56 Jesus wants us to be good soils, 25:59 gardens that are committed to Him, 26:00 ready for planting. 26:02 He wants us to cut away the thorns of worldly habits, 26:06 hidden sins, and attitudes. 26:10 He wants our hearts to be ploughed up and pliable. 26:13 And how do we do that? 26:16 By acknowledging our sin 26:18 and just receiving His forgiveness. 26:21 That's how we start making good soil. 26:24 And Hosea 10:12, again. 26:27 Hosea kind of echoes what Jeremiah said, 26:30 because it's coming from the same Spirit. 26:33 Hosea 10:12, he says, "Break up your fallow ground, 26:36 for it is time to seek the Lord, 26:39 until He comes 26:41 and rains righteousness on you." 26:45 Oh, it's time to repent, 26:49 and understand the joy of repentance, 26:52 to come before the Lord confessing your sin, 26:56 checking your priorities. 26:59 Let me ask you something, don't raise your hand. 27:04 Do you remember the first love experience 27:06 you had with the Lord? 27:08 Where you really first found out 27:10 how much God loved you 27:11 and what Jesus had done for you? 27:13 Do you remember, just to think about the Lord, 27:17 to talk about the Lord, 27:19 how your heart would swell with joy? 27:24 Have you lost your first love experience? 27:29 I know that I have to check myself 27:33 'cause I can get so busy working for the Lord 27:37 that I lose that first love experience. 27:39 We've got to confess our sins, and be thankful, praise God. 27:45 As Lamentations 3:22-23 says that, 27:49 "Through the Lord's mercies we are not consumed, 27:53 because His compassions fail not. 27:55 They are new every morning. 27:58 Great is His faithfulness." 28:01 We need to pray to be filled with the Holy Spirit. 28:06 If we're gonna be good soil, that's the only way. 28:09 And you know something? 28:11 I wanna encourage you, I've done this for many years, 28:15 probably 20 years that the Lord showed me. 28:18 When I am... 28:20 Before I can pray to be filled with the Holy Spirit, 28:22 I have to ask forgiveness for grieving the Spirit, 28:26 for resisting the Spirit, and even quenching the Spirit. 28:31 But praying to be filled with the Holy Spirit 28:33 is something you should do the first thing 28:35 you get up in the morning. 28:37 I appreciated so much what Gary Will said 28:40 on last night's worship. 28:42 When he said, if there's something wrong, 28:49 if his relationship is a little off 28:53 with the Lord, 28:56 it affects the whole family. 28:59 He said, if he doesn't really celebrate the Sabbath 29:04 God's way, spending that time with God, 29:06 place Him a little topsy during the week, 29:10 but I wanna tell you something, 29:11 sin is so selfish 29:13 because it affects everybody around you, 29:16 anybody that cares for you, 29:18 anybody that loves you. 29:21 And you know what? 29:23 A man, I was talking with a lady the other day. 29:28 She knew her husband was watching pornography. 29:33 And I said, "Have you confronted him?" 29:35 She said, "No. 29:38 He doesn't know that I know." 29:40 But it was killing her, 29:42 and it was affecting the way she related to him. 29:46 I talked to another woman 29:47 whose husband was being very critical, 29:50 whose husband was being just judgmental and critical 29:55 and not very loving, 29:56 and supportive, not cherishing her. 29:59 And she said, 30:02 "I can't, I don't feel that connection with him. 30:06 It's like crawling in the bed with the enemy. 30:09 I don't want him to touch me 30:11 because of all the cruel things he said during the day," 30:15 which makes her husband even more angry. 30:18 Or husbands who have a wife 30:21 that's constantly harping after them, 30:24 trying to be the man of the house, trying to do, 30:27 you know, be the one that, that any sin that we have, 30:33 any break, any fracture in our relationship with Christ 30:39 affects the whole family. 30:41 It's easy to see when somebody is drinking alcohol, 30:45 how it affects the family? 30:46 Or if they're doing drugs, 30:48 how it affects the ones they love? 30:52 But what we don't realize is our little foxes 30:55 that spoil the vine, 30:58 as this Solomon says, 31:00 these are things that affect the entire family. 31:04 So when you pray, before you pray each morning 31:07 to be filled with the Spirit, 31:09 say, "Oh, Lord, have I grieved Your Spirit?" 31:11 Pretty easy to say you probably have in someway. 31:15 "Am I resisting Your Spirit? 31:18 Have I quenched Your Spirit? 31:20 Forgive me, Lord. 31:22 Forgive me, Holy Spirit. 31:24 Oh, Holy Spirit, 31:26 come into my heart, I welcome you. 31:28 I need you. 31:30 Because without you, 31:31 the life of Christ is not inside of me." 31:35 And ask to die to self. 31:38 The only way you can die to self 31:39 is by the power of the Holy Spirit. 31:41 Romans 8:13, it says, 31:44 that we put to death the misdeeds of our flesh 31:47 by the power of the Spirit. 31:50 But as to know God's character and His plan, 31:53 ask and keep on asking. 31:55 Jesus said, "Seek and keep on seeking. 31:57 Knock and keep on knocking. 31:58 How much more 31:59 will the heavenly Father give you the Holy Spirit." 32:03 And I just have to say that, 32:05 I believe I am addressing 32:08 some beautiful Christian people. 32:12 But I believe we are missing the boat. 32:16 I think that in our church, in churches around the world, 32:22 I believe that we're understanding 32:25 the operation of the Holy Spirit. 32:27 He convicts us, He convinces us of sin. 32:30 We understand He's giving us spiritual understanding 32:33 in the doctrine. 32:34 But I can look at our lives and say, 32:37 there is so much inconsistency, 32:41 there's sins that need to be done away with, 32:46 and God's eager, 32:47 eager to cut us free from the cord of the wicked 32:50 that binds us. 32:52 And what it tells me is, 32:54 yes, the Spirit's operating in our life, 32:57 but we haven't opened our heart to be filled with the Spirit. 33:01 When you are filled with the Holy Spirit of God, 33:04 if this church, 33:06 if the church would be filled with the Spirit, 33:09 if each individual would be filled with the Spirit, 33:13 we will have divine love in our hearts, 33:17 we will be filled with the humility of Christ. 33:21 And walking in righteousness, 33:22 and I guarantee you there would be 33:25 standing room only in this church, 33:27 if we were to go out in the community 33:29 in such a condition. 33:32 But I'm not saying that to point fingers. 33:36 I'm saying there's so much more God wants to give me, 33:40 there's so much more God wants to give you. 33:43 We've got to start seeking it, 33:46 we've got to quit being satisfied 33:51 with meager Christianity, 33:54 we've got to seek God for something more. 34:00 So we pray then, "Lord, fill me with Your Spirit. 34:05 I don't wanna just know about Him. 34:07 I don't want Him just operating in my life. 34:09 I wanna be full of You. 34:12 I want to totally yield control to You." 34:18 And then pray to be sanctified by His word. 34:22 Pray to... 34:23 For God to give you a desire to read the Bible. 34:26 This is all part 34:29 of just breaking up the fallow ground, 34:33 so that your good soil... 34:35 So now broadcasting the seed of His Word 34:37 is the second step that Jesus mentioned. 34:40 So where the soil's ready, 34:43 it's time for seed, right, Jeff? 34:45 You get the soil ready first. 34:48 And God will never disappoint us. 34:51 When we approach Him with a ploughed up heart, 34:56 He will increase our trust in Him, 34:59 He will increase His testimony, 35:01 the Holy Spirit will give us understanding and revelation, 35:05 and faith comes 35:06 by hearing and hearing by the word of God. 35:11 That's God's broadcasting system. 35:16 We hear the word, you know, 35:17 something I wanna encourage you to do, 35:20 some people say, 35:21 "I don't get much out of the Bible when I read it." 35:23 Read out loud. 35:26 Let your own voice hear the word of God. 35:32 I mean, that's powerful when you do. 35:35 It will increase your focus, 35:37 and when you read something you don't understand, 35:40 just say, "Lord, I don't understand. 35:41 I need Your Spirit to explain this to me. 35:45 I want this faith. 35:48 I want the seed." 35:50 And broadcasting, hearing isn't, 35:54 hearing doesn't produce the faith. 35:57 When He says, faith comes by hearing. 36:01 Hearing is the broadcasting system. 36:04 It introduces the message of God's love 36:08 and it's God that works this faith in us. 36:13 You know, Jesus said in... 36:14 I think we've got time to turn there. 36:16 I didn't notice when I started. 36:18 Jesus said, Mark 4:24, I want you to turn there. 36:27 When our heart is good soil, the seed is broadcast, 36:32 it will take root, and it will develop faith. 36:37 Mark 4:24, 36:40 "Be careful what you are hearing. 36:42 The measure you give will be the measure 36:44 that comes back to you, 36:46 and more besides will be given to you who hear." 36:49 Well, what? 36:51 What's He saying? 36:53 Be careful what you are hearing. 36:56 The measure of thought and study 36:59 that you give to the truth you hear 37:02 will be the measure of virtue and knowledge 37:04 that comes back to you. 37:07 We can't just get up in the morning 37:09 and read a promise and go away and never think about it again. 37:13 Those who come to God with an open heart 37:18 and want to have His seed implanted, 37:21 He will grant understanding to us. 37:26 If we will hear His word and respond to it, 37:29 put it into practice. 37:32 One way of putting God's word into practice is this. 37:36 When you see a promise, 37:38 I challenge you this afternoon, go home and read Ephesians. 37:42 You know, every commandment of God 37:44 is even a promise of what He will do in us. 37:47 But go home and read Ephesians and circle every verse, 37:51 the number of each verse that you see is a promise. 37:56 Ephesians 11 says 37:58 that we have been blessed 37:59 with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms 38:02 through Christ Jesus. 38:04 As you go through Ephesians, circle that. 38:07 You don't have to underline it, 38:09 you'll be underlining the whole book. 38:10 But what we do 38:12 if you want to put that promise into practice, 38:17 pray it back to the Lord. 38:19 Thank you, Father, 38:21 that I have already been blessed 38:22 with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms. 38:24 I may not feel it. 38:26 I may not realize it, but I'm praying it back to Him, 38:30 I'm putting it into practice. 38:31 And something so interesting happens, 38:35 as you do that, you begin to usher in faith. 38:41 And I thought I had another scripture here, 38:43 but I guess I've got it later. 38:44 Let me go ahead and skip to that. 38:47 Mark. 38:49 We're there at Mark 4, aren't we? 38:50 This is Mark 4:26, 38:52 "The kingdom of God is 38:54 as if a man should scatter seed on the ground, 38:57 should sleep by night, 38:59 rise by day, 39:00 and the seed should sprout and grow, 39:03 he himself does not know how. 39:06 The earth yields the crop by itself. 39:09 First the blades, then the head, 39:14 and after that the full grain in the head." 39:17 So you start speaking God's word over your life. 39:22 Let that word get planted in your heart, 39:25 and you may have a hard time believing it at first, 39:29 you may think that sounds too good to be true, 39:32 but you speak it. 39:33 And here's what happens. 39:34 First the blade, it changes 39:37 the way you think about yourself. 39:39 The blade is our thoughts. 39:41 Then the head, that's our attitudes. 39:44 Suddenly, we begin to think differently 39:46 and feel differently ourselves. 39:48 And after that the full grain in the head, that's our action. 39:54 So let's continue on then 39:57 and this is still the second step 39:59 of how we are... 40:00 Excuse me. 40:02 That's the second step, how to broadcast it? 40:05 And now let's look at the third step. 40:08 Receiving and retaining the promises. 40:11 What was step one? 40:13 Plough up your fallow ground, your heart in hearts, 40:17 come before the Lord in humility and repentance. 40:20 Step two 40:21 is allow God to broadcast the seed of His word 40:25 in our hearts through hearing. 40:28 Now we're ready for this third critical step 40:30 where Jesus said that we must receive and retain it. 40:35 Receive every promise of God 40:38 as something that He will accomplish, 40:41 He's promised it. 40:43 It's an oath-bound covenant promise. 40:46 You've got to grab hold of it, retain it, don't let it go. 40:50 This is the action step 40:53 that releases the creative power 40:55 of God's word into your life. 40:58 The power can't be released, if the seed gives, I mean, 41:02 the soil gives up the seed, 41:04 the power can't be released in that seed. 41:07 You know, Hebrews 4:12 says that the word of God 41:10 is alive and active. 41:12 It's sharper than any two-edged sword. 41:15 In the Greek, the word, "two edge" there is distomen. 41:20 The literal translation is double-mouthed river. 41:26 Okay. 41:27 The word of the Lord is alive and active 41:29 and sharper than any double-mouthed river. 41:33 What does that mean? 41:36 I believe this. 41:39 The first edge of that two-edged sword struck 41:43 when God spoke the word. 41:46 The second edge of the two-edged sword strikes 41:51 when we speak and return that word. 41:55 It's a double-mouthed word. 41:57 And it's like a knife. 42:01 It says that it pierces even 42:03 to the division of soul and spirit. 42:05 God with the precision of a surgeon, 42:09 takes His word and He gets in there, 42:12 that gets that cancer out of us, that cancer of sin 42:18 And He changes us. 42:20 Let me tell you something. 42:21 When I was in the third grade, 42:24 I had a teacher named Ms Sandaski. 42:27 She was tall, she's probably six feet tall. 42:30 She was a larger woman than I am, but she was tall, 42:33 red-headed, and I loved her. 42:37 She was my favorite teacher. 42:39 And one day, she told us, I mean, 42:41 I just trusted everything she told us, 42:43 she was extremely intelligent woman. 42:47 It's easy to impress a third grader 42:48 but, no, she was smart. 42:50 And one day, she said, "Okay, class, 42:54 what we're going to do..." 42:56 She gave us each three pinto beans. 42:59 Three pinto beans. 43:01 And a little cheesecloth, 43:03 I don't remember how wide it was. 43:05 And our responsibility was to go home 43:08 and take these little pinto beans 43:10 with the cheesecloth, 43:12 roll the pinto beans up, 43:14 and put it up on a windowsill where it gets some sunlight. 43:18 And then she said, "Don't look at it. 43:20 You keep that every day, you keep the cheesecloth wet." 43:23 And then she said, I don't remember, 43:26 four or five days later, she said, 43:28 "Now check out your beans, kids." 43:30 And you know what had happened? 43:33 These dry old dead beans 43:35 had a little bit of green sprout. 43:38 And I was like... 43:43 There was life inside that bean. 43:46 It was a seed. 43:49 And then, you know, we kept nurturing it 43:52 and it was hidden deep in the cheesecloth, 43:55 getting the sunshine, 43:57 that's like the word of God in our lives. 44:00 We put it in there, 44:01 we don't realize that it's alive and active, 44:04 but when it's in our heart and the sun keeps shining on us 44:08 and God rains His righteousness on us by the Holy Spirit, 44:12 all of a sudden, that word comes to life 44:15 and it's flourishing. 44:18 We've got to have faith 44:20 that God is a rewarder of those who earnestly seek Him. 44:27 We've got to come to Him in faith. 44:30 Okay, so the fourth step was, what? 44:33 Persevering to produce a harvest. 44:37 That's simple, isn't it? 44:38 We come in repentance, 44:42 to break up our hardened ground. 44:46 We position ourselves so that we can hear the word, 44:50 then we grab hold of it and say, yes, it's mine. 44:53 I don't care what anybody else says about me, 44:56 this is who I am. 44:57 Christ Jesus knows who I am in Him. 45:02 And then the fourth step is to persevere 45:05 to produce our harvest. 45:08 You know, there's different degrees of belief. 45:14 There is mental assent 45:16 where you have arrived 45:18 at a point of accepting something as true. 45:22 There are people in the church 45:24 who accept all of our doctrines as true. 45:28 They accept the prophecies as true, 45:32 but it's mental assent. 45:34 It hasn't yet gotten to the point of the deeper, 45:40 greater degree of belief 45:43 where we receive that truth and apply it personally. 45:49 I know I've used this 45:50 but for the benefit of people 45:52 who might be watching by TV or listening on the radio, 45:55 I want to repeat, 45:57 because to me 45:58 this is one of the greatest, greatest illustrations 46:03 of what true belief means 46:07 and that's the story of the tightrope walker 46:12 who perform before heads of state, 46:16 always performed without a net, 46:18 and he would just bowl the crowds over, 46:24 bowl the crowds over. 46:25 Anyway, he was just so incredible, 46:29 so he went across the tight rope 46:33 on a tandem bicycle with a girl on the back, 46:36 gets down, slithers down, 46:38 and he runs up to this really heavy man 46:40 in the front row, 46:42 he says, "For my next act, 46:43 I'm gonna walk a man across this tight rope 46:46 in a wheelbarrow, 46:48 do you believe I can do it? 46:49 And the man is saying, "Absolutely. 46:52 I believe, brother." 46:55 And he says, "Good. 46:57 Harp in to the wheelbarrow." 47:00 Because you see, believing mental assent, 47:04 you see something, you say, "Yeah, God can do all of this." 47:08 Yes, He can. 47:10 But if you don't hop into the wheelbarrow, 47:15 even John 3:16, 47:18 you can't just have mental assent 47:20 that "God so loved the world, 47:22 He gave His only begotten Son 47:24 that whosoever would believe in Him, 47:28 would not perish but have eternal life." 47:30 You've got to hop into the wheelbarrow, 47:34 believing in Jesus means 47:37 to be living in Jesus. 47:42 This is the critical point to persevering, it is vital. 47:49 James 2:19-20 says, 47:52 "You believe that there is one God. 47:55 You do well. 47:57 Even the demons believe and tremble. 48:01 But do you want to know, O foolish man, 48:05 that faith without works is dead?" 48:08 Yeah, the demons know. 48:12 They know the truth, 48:13 but they're not living in the truth. 48:16 So it's not enough just to acknowledge 48:18 that Christ died for you, for your sins, 48:22 you have to receive the gift of salvation. 48:25 You have to receive Christ as your personal savior 48:30 and make it a practice to be living in Him. 48:35 And the same applies to all of the word of the Bible. 48:38 Every promise, it's easy enough to see a promise and say, 48:42 "Oh, yes, I believe because this is God's word." 48:48 But if you're not living in that promise, 48:51 it's pure mental assent. 48:54 So we've got to get into the word 48:57 or we're deceiving ourselves 48:59 to think that we just, you know, 49:02 know about God and knowing about His word will save us. 49:07 We're made righteous by Christ Jesus and Him alone. 49:13 John wrote in 1 John 3:7, 49:15 "Little children, let no one deceive you. 49:19 He who practices righteousness is righteous." 49:24 We are only made righteous by faith. 49:29 But we have to practice righteousness 49:32 to receive the promise. 49:34 In other words, we have to walk in obedience. 49:38 God's love is unconditional, 49:40 but His promises carry conditions to them. 49:43 Turn to Hebrews 10:36, Hebrews 10:36. 49:48 "For you have need of endurance, 49:50 so that after you have done the will of God, 49:56 you may receive the promises." 50:00 After you've done the will of God. 50:02 Does that scare you? 50:04 Doesn't scare me anymore because I realize, 50:08 that if I cooperate with Him, 50:10 the only way I can do God's will is to open my heart, 50:14 let His Holy Spirit come in, 50:16 and God will work in me to will and to do His good pleasures. 50:20 See, but if I want that promise, 50:24 I've got to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit. 50:28 I've got to sow not to my flesh nature 50:31 but to sow to my spiritual nature. 50:35 I have to understand 50:36 that day by day the nature I feed, wins. 50:43 That's why Christians are so inconsistent. 50:48 We're starving. 50:52 The spiritual nature, one day, feeding the flesh nature, 50:58 and the next day we try to reverse it, 51:01 and people look at us and say, 51:04 "Don't know what's going on." 51:07 So just remember that that seed when it's planted, 51:11 it's going to the earth, the heart, 51:14 God is gonna do this work, 51:16 and He's gonna spring up first the blade, 51:18 and change your thoughts, then the head, 51:21 change your attitudes, and after that, 51:24 the full grain in the head, your actions. 51:26 Just plant His promises, and one day, 51:30 speak them over your life. 51:32 And one day you'll wake up and go, 51:34 "Hoo, when did you do that, Lord? 51:37 When did you change me?" 51:40 Hope in God's promises is the anchor for our souls. 51:45 It keeps us from being double-minded. 51:48 Christ is the living word of God. 51:52 Christ in us is our only hope of glory, 51:57 but He is able to save us completely 52:01 and He will sustain us. 52:03 He will sustain our growth by the rich power of His Spirit 52:07 and His word. 52:08 So you only reap what you sow, 52:13 and the potential of the harvest is wrapped 52:17 inside the seed, 52:20 and all of your potential is wrapped 52:24 inside of God's word. 52:27 May I have the team come up? 52:30 So God will produce a harvest of righteousness in you, 52:36 if you will prepare the soil. 52:42 Come before Him, 52:44 asking for His forgiveness, 52:46 asking that He helps you circumcise 52:50 that hardened heart, 52:52 put your place, yourself, in a position 52:55 where you're broadcasting the word into your life, 53:00 and then receive that seed, retain that seed, 53:06 and finally persevere. 53:08 The seed is the word of God, 53:12 and all of your potential is in His seed. 53:15 Isn't it time 53:17 that we start planting His prophecies? 53:21 Amen. 53:23 Let's stand for our closing hymn 53:25 "Standing on the promises." 53:37 Standing on the promises of Christ my King 53:42 Through eternal ages let His praises ring 53:47 Glory in the highest, I will shout and sing 53:52 Standing on the promises of God 53:56 Standing, standing 54:01 Standing on the promises of God my Savior 54:05 Standing, standing 54:11 I'm standing on the promises of God 54:17 Standing on the promises that cannot fail 54:21 When the howling storms of doubt and fear assail 54:26 By the living Word of God I shall prevail 54:31 Standing on the promises of God 54:35 Standing, standing 54:40 Standing on the promises of God my Savior 54:44 Standing, standing 54:50 I'm standing on the promises of God 54:55 Standing on the promises of Christ the Lord 55:00 Bound to Him eternally by love's strong cord 55:05 Overcoming daily with the Spirit's sword 55:10 Standing on the promises of God 55:14 Standing, standing 55:19 Standing on the promises of God my Savior 55:23 Standing, standing 55:29 I'm standing on the promises of God 55:37 Heavenly Father, we come once again to thank you 55:40 for your plan of salvation. 55:43 We're so thankful, Lord, that salvation belongs to You, 55:47 and You do not expect us to save ourselves. 55:50 But we come, Father, thanking You for Your Spirit, 55:54 and praying that we will have a deeper experience. 55:58 Lord, not just know His operation, 56:02 not just let Him convict and convince us of sin, 56:05 but I pray, Father, for each one of us, 56:08 for the entire church, not just this congregation, 56:13 but the world church, for all of Your churches, 56:15 Lord, that, oh, Father, 56:18 cause us to hunger for Your Spirit. 56:22 Oh, Father, we need you so much. 56:26 Increase our humility and help us to understand 56:29 how dependant we are upon You, 56:31 and pour out Your Spirit in great measure, Lord. 56:34 And, Father, we ask in the name of Jesus, 56:37 that you will help us to remember always that this, 56:43 the potential of the harvest is wrapped inside Your seed, 56:49 that what You can do in us is only as we allow Your word 56:53 to take root in our hearts, believing, receiving it, 56:58 and persevering. 56:59 So, Father, thank you that it is You 57:02 who works in us to will and to do your good pleasure, 57:05 give us a hunger and a thirst, 57:09 an unquenchable thirst for Your word. 57:14 Oh, we pray, Lord, give us the desire for righteousness, 57:20 cause us to thirst after righteousness and fill us. 57:24 In Jesus' holy name, amen. 57:26 Amen. |
Revised 2017-04-06