The Power of the Gospel IX

Bearing Fruit5Sunday 05/31/15

 

Series: The Power of the Gospel IX

 

Message – The Power to Bear Fruit unto Godliness V.mp3

Click here for the Video

 

Thorny Heart:

Mat 13:22/Luke 8:14  As for what was sown among the thorn bushes, this is the person who listens to the word, but as they go on their way they are choked by the worries of life and the deceitfulness of pleasures of life and wealth so that the fruit doesn’t come to maturity and can’t produce a crop.

This is a heart that CANNOT glorify God – Jn. 15:8, 16

The following are Key Words taken from these verses:

SOWN AMONG – The thorns where already there. They were not seed – they were plants & bushes with root systems already depleting the soil of nutrients.

Worries  –  Not in trust – not looking to Him but AT circumstances which try to tell us you cannot trust.

Focus on this life – Distracted, world has more pull or power than God in their eyes.

Deceived and pleasure focused – They believe that the pleasures of this life offer something more than trust and fidelity to God can give.  – James 1:16-18

Money focused – provisions, entertainment, prominence, self-worth, control.

Immature fruit – Generally, people do not want to eat fruit that is not ripe. Unripened fruit is hard, not attractive, often bitter or sour and puts your teeth on edge. Also unripe fruit often take more energy and time to digest, which means it is not offering energy so much as costing it. Also it can cause loose bowels because of an over-concentration of fiber that has not broken down into residual sugars.

Unripe fruit is undesirable!

We will look at some or all of these words at a later date, but first we need to look at the cause.

The thorny heart is a heart that is unstable. It is divided in its loyalties, appetites, desires & pursuits for one or more of several reasons.

It is either naïve, simple, lazy or divided in its interests. So it either

  • blindly maintains more than one allegiance
  • it is too lazy to weed and be studious over its soil or
  • it is deceived into thinking it can maintain a heart that is equally divided on more than one front.

Let me offer you an Example

Have you ever started a project and gained ground quickly enough that you thought you could easily finish this later and so you walk away to get engaged in something else only to never come back or to come back too late to finish the project in time?

THAT is this heart!

Jesus addresses this later one in Matt. 6:24,

“No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.”

 

I have a few FaceBook friends who are like this. They claim dedication to Christ, yet in other posts they talk about some of the TV shows and Movies they are entertained by – most of which are morally loose or turn biblical mandates on their ear – and most of them do not know their Bibles well enough to realize the contradiction. In many cases they post risqué pictures of the opposite sex with captions of amorous (which amazingly happens more from women than men). They use foul language without equivocation and they defend those who sin in the name of tolerance.

These are hearts that have become infiltrated with weeds, growing up along side of the Word as IF they both have an equal right to grow in that heart soil.

Now, all these hearts have one thing in common – they will let anyone plant anything in their garden!

Let’s leave the metaphor of soil and seed and go back to that of a marriage with Christ – a love affair

In this context the Naïve or simple heart, commonly fall into one-night stands. They are the floozies’ of the soul world. They are easily taken in by a nice smile and a kind word.

The lazy &/or divided heart are more committed to their choices and are therefore more like polygamists. They believe they can share their hearts with more than one lover and yet remain faithful.

Now, let’s be clear – EVERY heart has weeds sown into it. Weeds can simple blow into a garden and begin to grow almost immediately. Having weeds is NOT the real issue – failing to weed them out IS.

 

Key Verse:

Our Key verse for this heart (and all the hearts really) is Prov. 4:23,

“Keep your heart with all diligence, For out of it spring the issues of life.”

 

If there is any doubt to its applicableness to our teachings about the parable of the hearts and the Word, lets back up a few verses…

Prov. 4:20-23,

“My son, give attention to my words; Incline your ear to my sayings.

Do not let them depart from your eyes; Keep them in the midst of your heart;

For they are life to those who find them, And health to all their flesh.

Keep your heart with all diligence, For out of it spring the issues of life.”

 

The thorny heart if you remember produces no fruit to maturity.

The fruitfulness of maturity in Christ IS the life these verses are talking about. As we are faithful to the intimate knowledge we have of Him (have and hold…hear and hold dear) more knowledge (intimacy) is gained besides.  James – “Blessed is the man who endures temptation, for when he has been tried it will receive the crown of life which God has promised to all who love Him.”

Again, there are several reasons why and how a heart remains full of thorns, but in the end it all stems in one way or another from a lagging in diligence and lack in dedication and these are the result of what I said earlier – simple/naïve, lazy or divided interests…

Today we are looking at the naïve/simple heart. This is a simpleton – a heart that is open to anything that happens by.

Turn to Prov. 8

 


This is where we ended this week. We will begin with hurtles to bearing fruit in our next message.

I realize that the graphic on the video says this is week 3 but that was my mistake and I did not feel like redoing the video so, I kept it like it is – my apologies. 

I hope this teaching will challenge you and encourage you to place your trust in the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.

You have a special place in God’s family & kingdom. If you do not know Him, please use our ‘Contact Us‘ page and reach out so we may have the privilege of introducing you to the Lord. Attendance at our church will NOT even be mentioned nor will money.

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Blessings!

 

Hi my name is Mark and though I am opposed to titles, I am currently the only Pastor (shepherd/elder) serving our assembly right now.

I have been Pastoring in one capacity or another for nearly 30 years now, though never quite like I am today.

Early in 2009 the Lord revealed to me that the way we had structured our assembly (church) was not scriptural in that it was out of sync with what Paul modeled for us in the New Testament. In truth, I (like many pastors I am sure) never even gave this fundamental issue of church structure the first thought. I had always assumed that church structure was largely the same everywhere and had been so from the beginning. While I knew Paul had some very stringent things to say about the local assembly of believers, the point of our gatherings together and who may or may not lead, I never even considered studying these issues but assumed we were all pretty much doing it right...safety in numbers right?! Boy, I couldn't have been more wrong!

So needless to say, my discovery that we had been doing it wrong for nearly two decades was a bit of a shock to me! Now, this "revelation" did not come about all at once but over the course of a few weeks. We were a traditional single pastor led congregation. It was a top-bottom model of ministry which is in part biblical, but not in the form of a monarchy.

The needed change did not come into focus until following 9 very intense months of study and discussions with those who were leaders in our church at the time.

We now understand and believe that the Bible teaches co-leadership with equal authority in each local assembly. Having multiple shepherds with God's heart and equal authority protects both Shepherds and sheep. Equal accountability keeps authority and doctrine in check. Multiple shepherds also provide teaching with various styles and giftings with leadership skills which are both different and complementary.

For a while we had two co-pastors (elders) (myself and one other man) who led the church with equal authority, but different giftings. We both taught in our own ways and styles, and our leadership skills were quite different, but complimentary. We were in complete submission to each other and worked side-by-side in the labor of shepherding the flock.

Our other Pastor has since moved on to other ministry which has left us with just myself. While we currently only have one Pastor/Elder, it is our desire that God, in His faithfulness and timing, may bring us more as we grow in maturity and even in numbers.

As to my home, I have been married since 1995 to my wonderful wife Terissa Woodson who is my closest friend and most trusted ally.

As far as my education goes, I grew up in a Christian home, but questioned everything I was ever taught.

I graduated from Bible college in 1990 and continued to question everything I was ever taught (I do not mention my college in order to avoid being labeled).

Perhaps my greatest preparation for ministry has been life and ministry itself. To quote an author I have come to enjoy namely Fredrick Buechner in his writing entitled, Now and Then, "If God speaks to us at all other than through such official channels as the Bible and the church, then I think that He speaks to us largely through what happens to us...if we keep our hearts open as well as our ears, if we listen with patience and hope, if we remember at all deeply and honestly, then I think we come to recognize beyond all doubt, that, however faintly we may hear Him, He is indeed speaking to us, and that, however little we may understand of it, His word to each of us is both recoverable and precious beyond telling." ~ Fredrick Buechner

Well that is about all there is of interest to tell you about me.

I hope our ministry here is a blessing to you and your family. I also hope that it is only a supplement to a local church where you are committed to other believers in a community of grace.

~God Bless!