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The Golden Key To Spiritual Growth

GregLaurie.TV

November 22, 2020

27:29

Pastor and Evangelist Greg Laurie teaches the simple yet life changing message of the Gospel.

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The Golden Key To Spiritual Growth

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- We're gonna look at oneof my favorite stories
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in the Bible.
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It's a parable.
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Now, you know what a parable is.
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A parable is an earthly storywith a heavenly meaning.
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Just think of it as a story.
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We all love stories.
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We all love to watch movies.
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We love to read novels.
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We all love to read fiction.
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We love a good story and evenbetter if it's a true story.
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Jesus told lots of stories.
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In fact, he told so many stories
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the Bible says the commonpeople or the regular folk
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heard him gladly.
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He didn't speakover people's heads.
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He didn't try to impressthem with theological words.
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He broke everything downin an understandable way
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so they could get it.
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And we're gonna look atthe parable of the sower,
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which is a parable thatreveals to us the golden key
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to spiritual growth.
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Not long ago I wasinvited to the White House
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and a group of pastors wereinvited into the Oval Office
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at the request of the president
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to pray for him andgive him some advice.
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Now, some people arecritical of that.
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Why would you go and do that?
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Well, excuse me, anytimea president or a governor
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or an electedofficial would say,
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would you come into myoffice and pray for me
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and give me some advice,
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I don't think Iwould say no to that.
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We have biblicalprecedent of course.
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We look at Daniel advisingthe kings of Babylon.
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We see Joseph advisingthe Pharaoh and so forth.
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So of course we said yes,
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and the president was veryreceptive to what we had to say.
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And then when itcame time to pray,
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he was very happy to prayand ask for God's help
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in his life.
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And then he gave to allof us, an unexpected gift.
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There was a stack ofthese boxes on his desk.
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And we were each given oneand this box has a key in it.
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And as you can see thisas a commemorative key.
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On the box it says thepresident of the United States
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and then here's thepicture of the White House.
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And then inside is thisgolden key, as you can see,
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and it's a specialthing to have.
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And I'm appreciative toPresident Trump for giving that
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to me and the other pastors.
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But I have a goldenkey for you today.
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And this one is notgonna open up any locks
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at the White House but it canopen up some locks if you will
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in your own life.
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It's the golden keyto spiritual growth.
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Now, before we readfrom Mark chapter four,
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let's get the backdrop.
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Jesus had had a longand emotional day.
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His mother and brothers showedup to where he was speaking
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and they wanted to take himhome because in their words,
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they thought hehad lost his mind.
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And then after that,
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he was accused by the scribesof being inspired by Satan.
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Not a good day, a lot of drama.
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So it's interesting as wecome to Mark chapter four,
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we read that Jesus has goneto the beach effectively.
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Now it's the sea of Galilee,
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which is actually amassive freshwater lake.
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So he went to the waterand I don't know about you
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but I love to be near water.
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I love to walk on the beach.
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It's a place whereyou contemplate things
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and you're surroundedby God's creation.
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And it's just a great placeto sort of unwind and reflect.
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And I think Jesus loved tospend time in the water.
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We see a lot of his greatteachings and activities
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right there nearthe Sea of Galilee.
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So with that in mind wecome to Mark chapter four
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and we read these words.
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Once again, by theway, I'm reading
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from the new living translation.
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Mark chapter four,verse one, "Once again,
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"Jesus began teachingby the lake shore.
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"A very large crowdsoon gathered around him
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"and he got into a boatand he sat on the boat
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"while the peopleremained on the shore
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"and they taught themby telling many stories
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"in the form of parables,such as this one.
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"Listen, says Jesus.
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"A farmer went outto plant some seed
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"and he scatteredacross the field.
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"Some fell in a footpath andthe birds came and ate it.
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"Other seeds fell on shallowsoil with underlying rock."
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I'm sure the Lord was probablygesturing as he was teaching.
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In the sermon on the mountainhe says, look at the birds,
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they don't worry.Why are you worrying?
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Look at the flowers,how beautiful they are.
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Maybe he gestured and therewas a farmer in the distance
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throwing seed outleft and right.
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So he talks about this seedthat goes in a footpath
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and the birds come and eat it.
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And other seed falls on shallowsoil with underlying rock
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and it sprouted up quickly,
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but it witheredunder the hot sun.
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He continues on, "Other seedfell among thorns or weeds
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"that grew up and chokedout the tender plants
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"and it produced no fruit.
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"Still other seeds fell onfertile soil and they sprouted,
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"grew and produced acrop that was 30, 60,
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even 100 times more thanit had been planted."
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Now listen to this.
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Then he said, he who hasears to hear, let him listen.
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That's the parable of the sower.
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Say well, that's nice.
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What does it mean?
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That's exactly whatthe disciples said.
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Well, what does this mean?
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And now Jesus explainsor interprets this story
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here in Mark chapterfour, verse 13.
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"Then Jesus said to them,
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"if you can't understandthe meaning of this parable,
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"how will you understandall the other parables?"
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Here it is.
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"The farmer plant seed bytaking God's word to others.
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"The seed that fell onthe footpath represents
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"those who hear the messagebut Satan comes at once."
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You might underline that phrase.
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"Satan comes at onceand takes it away.
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"Now the seed thatfell on the rocky soil
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"represents thosewho hear the message
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"and receive it with joy butthey don't have deep roots
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"and they don't lastlong and they fall away
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"as soon as they haveproblems or are persecuted
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"for believing God's work."
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Verse 18 of Mark chapter four,
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"But the seed that fellamong the thorns or the weeds
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"represents those whohear the word of God,
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"but all too quickly themessage is crowded out
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"by the worries of thislife and the lure of wealth
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"and the desire for other thingsand no fruit is produced."
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Now the final category.
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"And the seed thatfell in the good soil
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"represents those who hearand accept God's word,
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"have produced a harvest of30, 60, or even 100 times
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"as much as has been planted."
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All right, so what doesthis mean to us today?
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Answer, I have no idea.
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God bless you and thanksfor watching, goodbye.
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No, seriously.
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I have a fewthoughts about this.
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I'm a preacher of course I do.
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I actually have a wholemessage about these things.
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These are fourreactions to God's word
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and you fit into one ofthese four categories.
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And I want you to knowthat only one category
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was really legitimateor what we might call
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people who wereactually converted.
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Back in biblical timesthe objective of the sower
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was to just take theseed and throw it out,
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throw it out and letthe wind pick it up.
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It's not like they plantedlittle crops ahead of time
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and carefully put the seed in
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and had modern farmingequipment to work with.
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No, it was pretty primitive.
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He just walked out, hadhis seed in his big bag,
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reached in, threw it,
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the wind would pick it upand the seed would go here,
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there and everywhere.
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And so the objective wasyou did the plowing later
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to see where the seedwent and that's our job.
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Our job is to go into all theworld and preach the gospel
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or sow the seed.
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It's interesting thatthe word broadcast
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actually comes from theroot word of sowing seed.
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So right now you'rewatching a broadcast.
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It's a broad casting of seed.
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And we hear such amazingstories from people
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who've come to the Lord,are watching harvest at home
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or listening toour radio program
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or through one of our liveevents that we do that we call
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harvest crusades and so forth.
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But we just throw the seed outto as many people as we can.
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And time will tell whothe real converts are.
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Listen to this.
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The only way to tell ifsomeone is really a Christian
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is through the test of time.
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I'll say that again.
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The only way to tell ifsomeone is really a Christian
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is through the test of time.
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Because sometimes people comeon strong in the beginning
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and then they walkaway never to return.
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Other times people havesort of a weak start,
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but then they get strongerwith the passing of time.
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So we just have to wait to seewho the real believers are.
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Sometimes a person willmake a profession of faith.
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They'll fall away, butthen they'll return.
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That's a prodigal.
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Here's how you know thedifference between a prodigal
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and a person who'snot really converted.
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If a person isn't reallyconverted and walks away
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and never comes back,then we would just say,
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they're like the seedsown on the roadside
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that was picked up by the birds,
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but a prodigal willalways come home.
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As I said earlier, sometimesyou can have a weak beginning,
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but a strong finish.
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Take Nicodemus, remember him?
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John chapter three, we readthat he came to Jesus by night.
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In fact, that'smentioned multiple times.
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He came to Jesus at night.
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Why is that important?
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Because Nicodemuswas a celebrity.
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He was a well-known Pharisee,sort of the teacher's teacher,
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if you will.
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So for a man of his stature togo to this rabbi named Jesus
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and ask questions well,there was a risk to that
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because he was theguy who was supposed
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to have all the answers,but he didn't of course.
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So he went to Jesus at night.
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You remember the conversation,
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he opened with some compliments
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and Jesus just cut tothe chase and said,
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Nicodemus, youmust be born again.
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So that reallyimpacted Nicodemus
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but we don't readthere in John three
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and that conversationof Nicodemus believing,
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but it appears that hedid become a believer
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because later on in the storyafter Jesus was crucified
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and they were layinghis body in the tomb,
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we read that a man namedJoseph of Arimathea
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came to take the body andhe was joined by Nicodemus.
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And the little detail is added,who came to Jesus by night.
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So here's my point.
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Sometimes people looklike they're really strong
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and others look likethey're really weak.
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Example, Judas Iscariot wasan apostle in good standing
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while Nicodemus wasstill groping his wayin but in the end,
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Judas revealed himself tobe a full-blown hypocrite
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and not a believer at all.
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And Nicodemus, he cameover that finish line
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with flying colors.
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So you may have a weakbeginning, but a strong finish.
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What matters is how you finish.
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Let's look at the differentcategories together.
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Category number one, I'm gonnacall them highway hearers.
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Highway hearers and it'sin verse 15 of Mark four.
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"The seed that fellin the footpath
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"represent thosewho hear the message
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"only they have Satan comeat once and take it away."
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I want you to noticesomething here,
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Satan comes at once, Jesus says.
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He comes at once.
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Know this, when you sharethe gospel with someone,
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the devil is going toaggressively oppose it.
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And when someone makesa profession of faith
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to follow Christ you needto be there to help them
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get grounded spiritually.
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You know when I wasa brand new believer,
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the Christian said to meyou know Greg, be careful.
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You're gonna betempted by the devil.
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I'd never heard of such athing, tempted by the devil.
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I'm thinking there's some guywith pointed ears and red skin
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with a pitchfork.
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Yeah, no, you'll betempted by the devil.
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Now, I'd never really thoughtabout temptation before
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because I think as a young kid
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I just sort ofdid what I wanted.
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Maybe I saw it more asopportunity than temptation.
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I'll be tempted by the devil.
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Then I said, how will Iknow when I'm being tempted?
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They said, you'll know.
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So, I'm still in highschool, I'm in a class
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and there was a veryattractive girl in that class.
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So I'm a brand newbeliever in Jesus Christ.
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And I've never talkedto this girl before.
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I'd noticed her, but Ihadn't talked to her.
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So after class is over,
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this girl who nevergave me the time of day,
00:12:59.491 --> 00:13:02.394
she didn't even acknowledgemy existence up to that point,
00:13:02.394 --> 00:13:05.731
walks up to me and says,hi, what's your name?
00:13:05.731 --> 00:13:08.901
And I looked into herbeautiful blue eyes
00:13:08.901 --> 00:13:11.036
and I momentarilyforgot my name.
00:13:11.036 --> 00:13:13.806
I said, ah Greg.
00:13:13.806 --> 00:13:15.875
Oh, hey Greg,you're really cute.
00:13:15.875 --> 00:13:18.143
I'm like what?
00:13:18.143 --> 00:13:19.411
I mean, actually thatnever happened to me.
00:13:19.411 --> 00:13:21.113
I know I'm cute, but Ididn't really have girls
00:13:21.113 --> 00:13:23.382
come up to me andsay, you're cute.
00:13:23.382 --> 00:13:25.384
You're really cute.
00:13:25.384 --> 00:13:26.619
I'm thinking, whatis this girl saying?
00:13:26.619 --> 00:13:27.586
I have this little button
00:13:27.586 --> 00:13:29.121
with a little imageof Jesus on it.
00:13:29.121 --> 00:13:31.156
I'm a brand new Christian.
00:13:31.156 --> 00:13:32.157
You're really cute.
00:13:32.157 --> 00:13:33.425
I'm thinking whatis going on here?
00:13:33.425 --> 00:13:34.927
And she says, how would youlike to spend the weekend
00:13:34.927 --> 00:13:37.663
with me up at a cabinthat our family owns?
00:13:37.663 --> 00:13:40.366
And I'm thinking, thisis temptation for sure,
00:13:40.366 --> 00:13:43.736
because you know why?
00:13:43.736 --> 00:13:45.371
That kind of thing neverhappened to me before
00:13:45.371 --> 00:13:48.040
and out of nowhere thisattractive girl comes up
00:13:48.040 --> 00:13:50.943
and with this enticing offer
00:13:50.943 --> 00:13:53.178
and it was of course enticing.
00:13:53.178 --> 00:13:55.347
Well I said, no, thank God.
00:13:55.347 --> 00:13:57.283
But I knew I think that wasmy first official temptation.
00:13:58.717 --> 00:14:02.922
That's what happens whenyou're a follower of Jesus,
00:14:02.922 --> 00:14:05.658
the devil is gonnacome and attack.
00:14:05.658 --> 00:14:08.260
So that's category one.
00:14:08.260 --> 00:14:10.362
So these are the people thatthey hear the word of God,
00:14:10.362 --> 00:14:15.067
but it doesn't reallypenetrate their hard hearts.
00:14:15.067 --> 00:14:18.537
Jesus says the birdscome and eat it.
00:14:18.537 --> 00:14:20.806
You've been at McDonald'sor some other place
00:14:20.806 --> 00:14:23.409
and the birds are hanging out'cause that's free food man.
00:14:23.409 --> 00:14:26.979
That food hits the ground, voom,they swoop down and get it.
00:14:26.979 --> 00:14:29.982
So that's what happened.
00:14:29.982 --> 00:14:31.283
These are people thathear the word of God,
00:14:31.283 --> 00:14:33.218
but it doesn't reallypenetrate their hardened heart.
00:14:33.218 --> 00:14:36.655
Category number two, I'm gonnacall them rocky road hearers.
00:14:36.655 --> 00:14:41.026
Rocky road hearers.
00:14:41.026 --> 00:14:42.661
Verse 16.
00:14:42.661 --> 00:14:43.896
"The seed that wenton the rocky soil
00:14:43.896 --> 00:14:46.098
"represents thosewho hear the message
00:14:46.098 --> 00:14:48.400
"and immediately, noticethe word immediately.
00:14:48.400 --> 00:14:51.403
"Immediately theyreceive it with joy,
00:14:51.403 --> 00:14:54.106
"but since they don't have deeproots, they don't last long.
00:14:54.106 --> 00:14:56.342
"They fall away and assoon as they have problems
00:14:56.342 --> 00:14:59.511
"or are persecuted forbelieving God's word."
00:14:59.511 --> 00:15:01.847
So they start, theytake hold of it,
00:15:01.847 --> 00:15:05.551
but then it doesn'ttake root in their life.
00:15:05.551 --> 00:15:10.255
Now the stony groundJesus is speaking of,
00:15:10.255 --> 00:15:14.226
is just speaking ofthe terrain of Israel.
00:15:14.226 --> 00:15:17.062
Remember years ago Iwas on a tour of Israel
00:15:17.062 --> 00:15:19.398
and I had mygranddaughter, Stella.
00:15:19.398 --> 00:15:21.467
She was very little at thatpoint and afterwards I said,
00:15:21.467 --> 00:15:24.670
Stella, what do you remembermost about your trip to Israel?
00:15:24.670 --> 00:15:28.540
I thought she would remembersome biblical site we went to.
00:15:28.540 --> 00:15:31.176
She said, rocks.
00:15:31.176 --> 00:15:32.878
What?
00:15:32.878 --> 00:15:34.146
Rocks. There wererocks everywhere.
00:15:34.146 --> 00:15:35.614
That's true. There's alot of rocks in the soil.
00:15:35.614 --> 00:15:38.417
So the idea here is that theseed goes into the ground
00:15:38.417 --> 00:15:41.387
and there's a shelfof rock underneath.
00:15:41.387 --> 00:15:44.256
So it shoots up butbecause it can't get root,
00:15:44.256 --> 00:15:47.826
it withers in the blazing sun.
00:15:47.826 --> 00:15:51.296
So this is adescription of a person
00:15:51.296 --> 00:15:55.034
who hears the word of Godand boom, they respond.
00:15:55.034 --> 00:15:58.203
I mean, they respond so quickly.
00:15:58.203 --> 00:16:00.539
You know you talk to some people
00:16:00.539 --> 00:16:02.074
and conversationsgo on for weeks.
00:16:02.074 --> 00:16:04.143
Sometimes months, even years,
00:16:04.143 --> 00:16:06.345
you feel like you'remaking a little progress.
00:16:06.345 --> 00:16:08.047
Other people, theirfirst time you tell them,
00:16:08.047 --> 00:16:10.282
they say, I wantJesus in my life.
00:16:10.282 --> 00:16:12.618
Really?
00:16:12.618 --> 00:16:13.552
Yeah. I want him in my life.
00:16:13.552 --> 00:16:15.054
So you say let'spray and they pray.
00:16:15.054 --> 00:16:17.156
And immediately they'relike mega convert, right?
00:16:17.156 --> 00:16:20.426
Like they go in and buy aBible, not just any Bible,
00:16:20.426 --> 00:16:23.395
they get a giant Bible.
00:16:23.395 --> 00:16:24.963
They start carrying aroundand they're at church
00:16:24.963 --> 00:16:28.667
every day of the week andthey're quoting verses
00:16:28.667 --> 00:16:32.404
and when worship is happening,
00:16:32.404 --> 00:16:33.906
they're lifting their handshigher than anybody else.
00:16:33.906 --> 00:16:36.542
They're singing louder.
00:16:36.542 --> 00:16:38.043
And they're even criticalof others who aren't growing
00:16:38.043 --> 00:16:40.412
as quickly as they're growing.
00:16:40.412 --> 00:16:42.314
And you say to people that isthe most dramatic conversion
00:16:42.314 --> 00:16:46.218
I have ever seen.
00:16:46.218 --> 00:16:47.352
It was like literallynight and day.
00:16:47.352 --> 00:16:49.321
So maybe a month passesby and they're gone.
00:16:49.321 --> 00:16:52.357
You don't see themat church anymore.
00:16:52.357 --> 00:16:54.293
They don't respond to yourphone calls or your texts.
00:16:54.293 --> 00:16:57.062
What's going on?
00:16:57.062 --> 00:16:57.896
They just walked away.
00:16:57.896 --> 00:16:59.465
They fell away.
00:16:59.465 --> 00:17:00.699
This is the categorywe're looking at here.
00:17:00.699 --> 00:17:04.036
So we wonder whathappened to these people.
00:17:04.036 --> 00:17:07.272
Well, obviously they'rehaving an emotional experience
00:17:07.272 --> 00:17:11.910
but it didn't take root.
00:17:11.910 --> 00:17:14.446
See this is actuallynot a true conversion
00:17:14.446 --> 00:17:16.915
though it looks like one.
00:17:16.915 --> 00:17:19.384
And sometimes peoplein this category,
00:17:19.384 --> 00:17:22.321
rocky road hearers will saysomething along the lines of,
00:17:22.321 --> 00:17:25.557
oh well I tried thewhole Christianity thing
00:17:25.557 --> 00:17:28.594
and it didn't work for me.
00:17:28.594 --> 00:17:30.028
Oh yeah I was a Christian,I went to church.
00:17:30.028 --> 00:17:32.831
I read the Bible. Idid all that stuff.
00:17:32.831 --> 00:17:34.500
But yeah, it didn't work for me.
00:17:34.500 --> 00:17:37.336
Actually you neverwere converted,
00:17:37.336 --> 00:17:40.506
I'm sorry to tell you that.
00:17:40.506 --> 00:17:41.840
You had an emotional experience.
00:17:41.840 --> 00:17:43.909
Maybe you had somesense of who Jesus was,
00:17:43.909 --> 00:17:46.845
but if it was a real conversion,
00:17:46.845 --> 00:17:48.380
you would still bewalking with the Lord.
00:17:48.380 --> 00:17:50.716
We're almost to the goldenkey of spiritual growth.
00:17:50.716 --> 00:17:53.185
We have one morecategory before,
00:17:53.185 --> 00:17:55.220
I'll call them thorny hearers.
00:17:55.220 --> 00:17:57.656
Thorny hearers.
00:17:57.656 --> 00:17:58.924
Let's look at verse 18of Mark four together.
00:17:58.924 --> 00:18:01.894
"The seed that fellamong the thorns,
00:18:01.894 --> 00:18:04.163
"the weeds represent thosewho hear the word of God,
00:18:04.163 --> 00:18:08.400
"but all too quickly, themessage is crowded out."
00:18:08.400 --> 00:18:12.237
Listen, you might wannaunderline these things, by what?
00:18:12.237 --> 00:18:15.274
"The worries of this life,
00:18:15.274 --> 00:18:17.709
"the lure of wealth and thedesire for other things.
00:18:17.709 --> 00:18:22.581
"And no fruit is produced."
00:18:22.581 --> 00:18:24.950
Isn't an interesting?
00:18:24.950 --> 00:18:26.518
These are not evilthings outright,
00:18:26.518 --> 00:18:29.855
but they're other things.
00:18:29.855 --> 00:18:31.857
So there's a lot of weeds inIsrael in addition to rocks,
00:18:31.857 --> 00:18:35.827
all kinds of weeds to chokeout the growth of the seed.
00:18:35.827 --> 00:18:38.964
So the seed goes into the ground
00:18:38.964 --> 00:18:40.332
and immediatelythe weeds are there
00:18:40.332 --> 00:18:42.467
to hinder thegrowth of the seed.
00:18:42.467 --> 00:18:46.004
So this category, the thornyhearer is not like the person
00:18:46.004 --> 00:18:50.642
that shoots up with lots ofexcitement and enthusiasm.
00:18:50.642 --> 00:18:54.112
This is a person who seemsto be growing spiritually,
00:18:54.112 --> 00:18:58.917
but gradually they just walkaway because other things
00:18:58.917 --> 00:19:03.755
become more important to them.
00:19:03.755 --> 00:19:05.457
Listen, not badthings necessarily.
00:19:05.457 --> 00:19:09.228
Notice it says theworries of this life,
00:19:09.228 --> 00:19:12.030
the concerns of this life.
00:19:12.030 --> 00:19:14.199
I mean there's nothing wrongwith being concerned about
00:19:14.199 --> 00:19:17.135
how you're gonna putfood on the table.
00:19:17.135 --> 00:19:19.271
There is nothingwrong with that.
00:19:19.271 --> 00:19:20.572
I mean the concern abouta roof over your head,
00:19:20.572 --> 00:19:23.976
there's nothing wrong withthinking about the needs
00:19:23.976 --> 00:19:26.745
and necessities of life,
00:19:26.745 --> 00:19:28.847
but don't make your lifeabout all those things.
00:19:28.847 --> 00:19:30.916
Now having said thatthere's nothing wrong
00:19:30.916 --> 00:19:33.185
with being successful.
00:19:33.185 --> 00:19:35.053
The Bible even says,Jesus speaking,
00:19:35.053 --> 00:19:36.922
if you'll seek firstthe kingdom of God,
00:19:36.922 --> 00:19:39.424
he'll provide all thethings that you need,
00:19:39.424 --> 00:19:41.526
but just don't makethat your primary focus,
00:19:41.526 --> 00:19:44.663
make Christ your primary focus.
00:19:44.663 --> 00:19:47.866
And now we come aspromised to the golden key
00:19:47.866 --> 00:19:52.070
of spiritual growth,ready for it?
00:19:52.070 --> 00:19:54.640
Go to verse 20 of Mark four.
00:19:54.640 --> 00:19:56.475
"And the seed thatfell on good soil
00:19:56.475 --> 00:19:58.510
"represents those whohear and accept God's word
00:19:58.510 --> 00:20:02.080
"and produce a harvestof 30, 60, and 100 times
00:20:02.080 --> 00:20:06.285
"as much as been planted."
00:20:06.285 --> 00:20:09.688
Here it is.
00:20:09.688 --> 00:20:10.922
The golden key tospiritual growth
00:20:10.922 --> 00:20:13.125
is how you hear the word of God.
00:20:13.125 --> 00:20:16.428
Let me say that again.
00:20:16.428 --> 00:20:17.696
The golden key tospiritual growth
00:20:17.696 --> 00:20:19.798
is how you hear the word of God.
00:20:19.798 --> 00:20:22.267
Look at verse 20.
00:20:22.267 --> 00:20:23.735
They hear and accept God's word.
00:20:23.735 --> 00:20:26.104
Now we all know thatwe can hear something
00:20:26.104 --> 00:20:29.374
and yet not hear it at all.
00:20:29.374 --> 00:20:30.876
Maybe your mom is lecturingyou and she's saying,
00:20:32.244 --> 00:20:34.146
you need to remember to makeyour bed and take out the trash
00:20:34.146 --> 00:20:36.815
and do your homework andin your mind you just hear
00:20:36.815 --> 00:20:39.685
blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
00:20:39.685 --> 00:20:41.186
And so you're notreally paying attention.
00:20:42.287 --> 00:20:44.022
You're hearing audibly, butyou're really not listening.
00:20:44.022 --> 00:20:47.659
And so you've been listeningto a message from God's word.
00:20:47.659 --> 00:20:50.729
Have you been paying attention?
00:20:50.729 --> 00:20:52.464
Have you been checkingyour phone constantly
00:20:52.464 --> 00:20:54.566
or having thisside conversation?
00:20:54.566 --> 00:20:56.568
I mean, you need to listen towhat God's word has to say.
00:20:56.568 --> 00:21:01.573
See every category andthe parable of the sower
00:21:02.741 --> 00:21:05.344
heard it in quotes butthey didn't receive it.
00:21:05.344 --> 00:21:09.247
They didn't hear itin the right way.
00:21:09.247 --> 00:21:11.016
The story is told ofPresident Franklin Roosevelt,
00:21:11.016 --> 00:21:15.020
who often endured long receivinglines at the White House.
00:21:15.020 --> 00:21:18.190
And he complained that no oneever listened to what he said.
00:21:18.190 --> 00:21:22.361
So he tried a littleexperiment out on one occasion.
00:21:22.361 --> 00:21:25.197
There was a long lineof people to meet him.
00:21:25.197 --> 00:21:27.165
And he decided he was gonnasay to every single person
00:21:27.165 --> 00:21:31.036
that he met, I murdered mygrandmother this morning.
00:21:31.036 --> 00:21:35.741
So a person comes in,
00:21:35.741 --> 00:21:37.242
President says I murderedmy grandmother this morning
00:21:37.242 --> 00:21:40.412
and there were responding goodto meet you, Mr. President.
00:21:40.412 --> 00:21:43.548
That's fantastic.
00:21:43.548 --> 00:21:44.783
You're doing a great job.
00:21:44.783 --> 00:21:45.884
Another person comes,
00:21:45.884 --> 00:21:47.219
I murdered mygrandmother this morning.
00:21:47.219 --> 00:21:48.754
People kept coming by.
00:21:48.754 --> 00:21:50.222
He keeps saying that I murderedmy grandmother this morning.
00:21:50.222 --> 00:21:53.392
Obviously nobody was listening
00:21:53.392 --> 00:21:54.960
because nobody responded to it
00:21:54.960 --> 00:21:56.661
until the ambassadorfrom Bolivia came along.
00:21:56.661 --> 00:22:01.099
And he actually heardwhat the president said.
00:22:01.099 --> 00:22:03.168
I murdered mygrandmother this morning.
00:22:03.168 --> 00:22:05.203
And the ambassadorfrom Bolivia said,
00:22:05.203 --> 00:22:07.205
well, sir I'm sureshe had it coming.
00:22:07.205 --> 00:22:10.142
Well, listen the ideais we don't listen.
00:22:10.142 --> 00:22:12.778
That's why Jesus says hethat has ears to hear,
00:22:12.778 --> 00:22:15.981
let him hear.
00:22:15.981 --> 00:22:17.449
Listen to this, success orfailure in the Christian life
00:22:17.449 --> 00:22:20.318
depends on how youhear the word of God.
00:22:20.318 --> 00:22:23.488
It's not a light thingto hear Bible studies.
00:22:24.689 --> 00:22:27.225
I know many of youare Bible students
00:22:27.225 --> 00:22:29.327
and you listen to podcastsand great biblical teaching
00:22:29.327 --> 00:22:33.231
on the radio.
00:22:33.231 --> 00:22:34.699
And you're in a small groupand you read devotions
00:22:34.699 --> 00:22:37.803
and God bless you,that's amazing.
00:22:37.803 --> 00:22:40.338
You're fantastic.
00:22:40.338 --> 00:22:42.174
But it's importantnow that you hear it,
00:22:42.174 --> 00:22:43.942
that you apply itand that you obey it.
00:22:43.942 --> 00:22:47.546
It's actually a dangerousthing to hear the word of God
00:22:47.546 --> 00:22:50.682
and not apply itin your old life.
00:22:50.682 --> 00:22:53.452
So what is the goldenkey of spiritual growth?
00:22:53.452 --> 00:22:57.022
Listen, it's hearing,it's receiving
00:22:57.022 --> 00:23:00.792
and it's obeyingthe word of God.
00:23:00.792 --> 00:23:03.395
Now in Luke's version ofthe parable of the sower
00:23:03.395 --> 00:23:06.998
which we've been lookingat, he has a little detail
00:23:06.998 --> 00:23:09.634
that's very important.
00:23:09.634 --> 00:23:10.735
He says, having heard the word,
00:23:10.735 --> 00:23:13.238
they keep it and they bringforth fruit with patience.
00:23:13.238 --> 00:23:17.609
Patience.
00:23:18.543 --> 00:23:20.045
Now that's a word, patiencefrom a root word in the Greek
00:23:20.045 --> 00:23:24.049
that means endurance.
00:23:24.049 --> 00:23:25.951
So the way you get thisendurance from the Greek
00:23:27.419 --> 00:23:32.123
is through trials.
00:23:32.123 --> 00:23:33.592
The trying of your faithproduces endurance.
00:23:33.592 --> 00:23:37.662
And so if you've beentried in your faith,
00:23:37.662 --> 00:23:40.432
if you've been testedas a Christian,
00:23:40.432 --> 00:23:42.300
that's making you stronger.
00:23:42.300 --> 00:23:43.935
And the way you bring forthfruit is through endurance,
00:23:43.935 --> 00:23:46.738
getting through hard times,
00:23:46.738 --> 00:23:49.074
getting throughchallenging circumstances.
00:23:49.074 --> 00:23:52.077
And so this is veryimportant for us
00:23:52.077 --> 00:23:54.613
and how do we bringforth spiritual fruit?
00:23:54.613 --> 00:23:57.015
Jesus gives theanswer in John 15.
00:23:57.015 --> 00:23:59.384
He says, if you abide in me,
00:23:59.384 --> 00:24:02.454
you will bring forth much fruit.
00:24:02.454 --> 00:24:04.356
Then he goes on to say andthis is how you glorify
00:24:04.356 --> 00:24:07.025
the father bybringing forth fruit.
00:24:07.025 --> 00:24:09.828
What is fruit? It's results.
00:24:09.828 --> 00:24:11.429
It's actions.
00:24:11.429 --> 00:24:12.964
It's evidence that you'rea true follower of Jesus.
00:24:12.964 --> 00:24:16.334
And how does that happen?
00:24:16.334 --> 00:24:17.869
Jesus says by abiding in me.
00:24:17.869 --> 00:24:20.505
What does it meanto abide in him?
00:24:20.505 --> 00:24:22.407
It means to sink yourroots deeply into him
00:24:22.407 --> 00:24:26.077
and walk with him and cultivateyour relationship with him
00:24:26.077 --> 00:24:29.848
each and every day.
00:24:29.848 --> 00:24:31.349
Let me close by asking,are you abiding in Christ?
00:24:31.349 --> 00:24:34.519
Have you built yourfoundation on him?
00:24:34.519 --> 00:24:38.256
Which of these categoriesdo you fall in?
00:24:38.256 --> 00:24:40.692
Are you like the highwayhearer that hears it
00:24:42.127 --> 00:24:44.563
and blows it off and isn'treally interested in it?
00:24:44.563 --> 00:24:47.198
You're not interestedin spiritual things.
00:24:47.198 --> 00:24:50.235
Are you like the rockyroad hearer who hears it
00:24:50.235 --> 00:24:53.638
but other thingshappen in your life
00:24:53.638 --> 00:24:57.742
and you build it onthe wrong foundation
00:24:57.742 --> 00:24:59.945
and wither in the sun?
00:24:59.945 --> 00:25:01.546
You don't stay with it.
00:25:01.546 --> 00:25:03.281
Or are you like the personwho has their heart choked up
00:25:03.281 --> 00:25:05.951
at the cares of this lifeand the lure of wealth
00:25:05.951 --> 00:25:09.421
and other things?
00:25:09.421 --> 00:25:10.789
I hope not.
00:25:10.789 --> 00:25:11.957
You can be theperson on good soil.
00:25:11.957 --> 00:25:14.526
You can bring forthspiritual fruit.
00:25:14.526 --> 00:25:17.395
The golden key to spiritualgrowth is simply that.
00:25:17.395 --> 00:25:21.633
And I hope you have thatrelationship with God.
00:25:21.633 --> 00:25:25.670
And thanks for watchingour TV program.
00:25:26.738 --> 00:25:29.474
And I wonder if you yourselfhave accepted Jesus Christ.
00:25:29.474 --> 00:25:33.979
You know a lot of times peopletune into programs like this
00:25:33.979 --> 00:25:36.114
who aren't believers thatkind of checking it out.
00:25:36.114 --> 00:25:38.783
Maybe you're laughingat it at first.
00:25:38.783 --> 00:25:41.119
Maybe you think it's not real,
00:25:41.119 --> 00:25:43.355
but something has happened.
00:25:43.355 --> 00:25:44.589
And maybe somethingthat's been said,
00:25:44.589 --> 00:25:47.225
you've suddenly discoveredyou need Jesus Christ.
00:25:47.225 --> 00:25:50.528
The day I acceptedJesus, let me tell you,
00:25:50.528 --> 00:25:52.931
it was the last thingI planned on doing.
00:25:52.931 --> 00:25:55.600
I didn't plan on becominga Christian that day,
00:25:55.600 --> 00:25:58.169
but that was the day thatwas appointed in eternity
00:25:58.169 --> 00:26:02.007
for me to believe in Jesus.
00:26:02.007 --> 00:26:03.675
I wonder if this isnot that day for you.
00:26:03.675 --> 00:26:07.112
You've been eavesdropping,you've been checking it out,
00:26:07.112 --> 00:26:09.447
but now God's speakingright to your heart
00:26:09.447 --> 00:26:11.282
and you realize youneed Jesus Christ.
00:26:11.282 --> 00:26:13.585
Would you like to haveyour sin forgiven?
00:26:13.585 --> 00:26:16.354
Would you like asecond chance in life?
00:26:16.354 --> 00:26:18.657
Would you like to goto heaven when you die?
00:26:18.657 --> 00:26:20.959
Would you likeyour guilt removed?
00:26:20.959 --> 00:26:23.061
Listen, it can all happenbecause Jesus Christ
00:26:23.061 --> 00:26:26.131
went to a cross and died foryour sin and then rose again,
00:26:26.131 --> 00:26:29.868
three days later and he'llcome into your life right now
00:26:29.868 --> 00:26:32.604
and be your savior and your Lord
00:26:32.604 --> 00:26:34.639
and the best friendyou've ever had.
00:26:34.639 --> 00:26:36.841
Let's pray together.
00:26:36.841 --> 00:26:38.143
Pray this after me,
00:26:38.143 --> 00:26:39.811
Lord Jesus, I knowthat I'm a sinner,
00:26:39.811 --> 00:26:43.815
but I believe you diedon the cross for my sin.
00:26:43.815 --> 00:26:46.651
And I'm sorry for that sin.
00:26:46.651 --> 00:26:48.720
And I turn from it now and Iask you to come into my life
00:26:48.720 --> 00:26:52.390
and be my savior and bemy Lord and be my God,
00:26:52.390 --> 00:26:57.395
and be my friend.
00:26:57.395 --> 00:26:58.863
I choose to follow youfrom this moment forward.
00:26:58.863 --> 00:27:02.300
In Jesus name I pray.
00:27:02.300 --> 00:27:04.069
Amen.
00:27:04.069 --> 00:27:05.570
If you just prayed thatprayer I want you to know
00:27:05.570 --> 00:27:07.138
on the authority of God's word,
00:27:07.138 --> 00:27:09.340
that Christ himself hascome to live inside of you.
00:27:09.340 --> 00:27:12.277
The Bible says thesethings we write to you
00:27:12.277 --> 00:27:14.179
that believe in thename of the son of God,
00:27:14.179 --> 00:27:16.548
that you may know thatyou have eternal life,
00:27:16.548 --> 00:27:19.718
but let me say, God bless youand welcome to God's family.
00:27:19.718 --> 00:27:23.955
(upbeat music)
00:27:23.955 --> 00:27:26.624
♪ That day when life begins
00:27:26.658 --> 00:27:29.999

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The Golden Key To Spiritual Growth

The Golden Key To Spiritual Growth

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The Golden Key To Spiritual Growth

The Golden Key To Spiritual Growth

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