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Hendersonville Seventh-day Adventist Church, NC

Brian Hindman

The Secret to Spiritual Growth

Well, this morning our subject is the secret of spiritual growth.

The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 13 and verse 5, it says, examine yourselves, not somebody else.

It's easy to point fingers at other people, but examine yourself whether you be in the faith.

Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ and his life and character is in you, except ye be reprobates.

That is what we wanna do today, is to examine ourselves and see, do we really have the life of Christ living in us?

Because if we do, there will be a growing aspect to our lives.

Have you ever felt like your Christianity was stagnant?

And I'm here to appeal to you as a brother who has gone down and been in some of these situations before, ashamedly so, but I wanna encourage you and speak from a point of encouragement from the Word of God this morning that God designs for us to grow and continue developing in His great love for us.

Well, there's a story about a man named Simeon who was an Ascetic monk who lived way back in the area of Syria, what is today modern day Syria over in the Middle East, back in the 300s, 400s AD.

And he was known for being very withdrawn from people around him.

In fact, he became famous because he wanted to get away from people and he climbed up on a 9 foot tall pillar so that he could stay away and not have to talk and pray with people.

Literally, to not have to pray with them and answer spiritual questions.

You know, as a monk, you're a religious person, and he wanted to be so devoted to studying and learning himself that he didn't want to be interfered with by other people.

And as things went on, his reputation grew, and so more people came out to see him, which only perturbed him and caused him further annoyance, and so he decided to get on an even taller pillar.

50 feet tall, suspended up in the air on a small 1 meter square, about 3 feet by 3 feet, the top pillar, and he stayed up there and people would still come and try to see him and look at him and It was said that he would begrudgingly talk to people that climbed a ladder and were within shouting distance of him in the afternoon sometimes.

On 1 occasion, Simeon's mother came to see him and Simeon's mother was told you cannot see and talk to him.

And so he would not even allow his mother to come up and see him, and he continued to do this for 37 years.

37 years to the point of where he actually died on the pillar, on this column.

Don't ask me how he got food and took care of other things, but evidently people would send up food somehow with a pulley or I'm not even sure.

But he spent the last 37 years of his life separated and isolated from as many people as possible.

And this was a religious fervor that he had that he thought compelled him to do this.

But is that what Jesus asks for us to do?

Right, thank you young man up on the balcony.

Jesus tells us very plainly, he says, ye, you, my followers, all of my faithful believers are the light of the world.

A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid.

Neither do men light a candle and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick, and it giveth light unto all that are in the house." Didn't we learn that in Crater Roll?

This little light of mine, I'm going to let it shine, let it shine.

I mean light being a metaphor and a symbol for truth and the good news of the gospel.

Continuing, Jesus says, let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

Yes, Jesus designs for us not to shut ourselves away and sequester ourselves in monasteries or in convents, but to rather be a light of example to those around us, wherever we find ourselves.

In the Psalms, we read this counsel, the righteous shall flourish like the palm tree and he or she shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon.

Cedar in Lebanon is a mighty, majestic, powerful tree.

And that promise is that the righteous not will grow or could grow, but they shall grow.

We all know that Jesus has given us a commission, right?

He's given us a commission to go and, in Mark 15, 16, we're more familiar maybe with Matthew 28, go ye therefore and teach all nations, but I kinda like Mark's account of this story, it's kinda succinct and simply says this, Jesus is quoted and says, "'Go ye into all the world "'and preach the gospel to every creature.'" Preach the gospel, the gospel, the good news, that is the essence of Christianity, is to share the good news with every created living being, that is human beings, that God has created on earth.

That would include our neighbors across the street, not to mention our colleagues at work, and pretty much everyone else around our sphere of influence.

But what are the excuses that we make for not sharing our light, for not sharing and fulfilling the commission that God has given to us.

Well, there are many, beginning with, maybe I don't know enough.

I don't know enough information, and so I don't have the Bible memorized yet, so I can't share with anyone.

We're counseled to study to show ourselves approved unto God.

We're continually to be studying, but we're also continually to be giving and sharing what we study and learn, however small it might be with whoever is around us.

Well, some say, well, you know, it's not just my thing.

I don't, you know, relate well with people.

There's some people that are more extroverted than others.

But amazingly, the Bible says in 2 Corinthians 5, 17, that if anyone is connected to Jesus, they are a new creation.

Old things are passed away, maybe the old way of it's not my thing, it says behold, all things are become new.

And if everything is become new, I think included in that is a desire and a willingness, whether it's difficult or not, to share the good news of the gospel with someone around our sphere of influence.

I get nervous and scared sharing with people.

That's okay because God has promised I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

Always in a connection with him, we have the power to do things that might seem scary.

Yes, I have gone door knocking in California and we had to keep record when I was at Amazing Facts.

I knocked on over a thousand doors during my time there and it's a hard way to get a Bible study.

I had many doors slammed in my face but there were always, there were always some, however small a number, that were responsive and were receptive to an invitation to study and to find out more about God's word.

And I gotta tell you that that 1 or 2 persons made all the door slams, all the get off my property, what are you doing, I'm gonna call the police.

All of it just sank into insignificance because of 1 person who was interested in knowing the precious truths that we know and hold so dearly from the word of God.

What about this excuse, what if I make a mistake?

God, you know, he knows that we all have weaknesses, but he will make up the difference, right?

In fact, he says in 2 Corinthians 12, 9, that my grace is sufficient for you.

For my strength, God says, is made perfect in weakness.

So that's a good thing, as we recognize our weakness in being able to share the precious truths that we believe in, God can help us if we ask Him to do so.

And then here might be another 1 that's a little more sad in a way, that I don't have time.

I have other priorities and I have a different focus in life.

Now the Bible says in Philippians 2, 3, and 4 that we should consider others better than ourselves.

Philippians 2 verse 4 says, look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.

That is the counsel given to us in the Bible that I should be more interested in looking out for the things that are going on in the lives of the people around me than what's on my plate, what do I have to do, what are all of my issues and challenges, and those will always be there, but those also too will sink into insignificance as we are busy about the Master's business.

Well, ultimately, what is the motivation?

It has to be a love for Jesus and a love for those that He died for.

I spent all this week at Vacation Bible School sharing with kids about how Jesus loves all the children of the world.

Red and yellow, black and white, all are precious in his sight.

And in repeating that statement, it was strengthened in my own mind and my own heart that yes, Jesus loves the children of the world and we as adults are children as well.

We're just big kids that still need to sit on Jesus' lap and have his wonderful face shine upon us.

The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 5 verse 14, for the love of Christ constraineth us.

That is, it compels and motivates and drives us.

That is the driving factor and motivation in all that we do and all that we say.

And then it also says in 1 John 3, verse 14, these are powerful words, how do we know that we really have a connection with Jesus?

The Apostle John writes and tells us that we know that we really have a connection and a saving, growing relationship with Jesus because of this, 1 John 3, 14.

We know that we have passed from death unto life because we love the brethren.

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The Secret to Spiritual Growth

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