The Parable of Spiritual Growth: Foundation Built on God

The following message from Pastor Greg Laurie is made possible by Harvest Partners, helping people everywhere know God. If you would like to know how you can become a Harvest Partner, just go to harvest.org.

That's harvest.org. Pastor Greg Laurie has important insights on building a solid foundation for spiritual growth. He says make sure your focus is in the right place. Sometimes we build our foundation on a person. And when that person falls away, we fall away. Or we build our foundation on a church.

And when we see a little hypocrisy or inconsistency, we turn away. Don't build your foundation on a person. Don't build it on a pastor.

Don't build it on a church. Build it on Christ and you'll stand the test of time. The strength of our future walk with Christ depends in large part to the way we build a strong foundation today.

What can we do to reinforce that foundation and stay properly focused? Pastor Greg Laurie answers that question today on A New Beginning as we examine a familiar parable. In these words of Jesus, we see a key to growing a faith that's strong and robust. We'll see how some succeed in spiritual growth while others fail. We'll isolate the prescription for success.

All right. Let's grab our Bibles and we're going to turn to Luke chapter 8. We're launching a new series, What Every Growing Christian Needs to Know. I want to talk about the essentials that every believer needs in play on a regular basis, dare I say it, a daily basis if they want to continue to grow and flourish spiritually. The reverse of that is if you neglect these disciplines, and yes they are at times disciplines, you will see your spiritual life begin to unravel. You won't outgrow these principles any more than you outgrow your need to eat food or breathe air.

Just as essential as eating and breathing and drinking are necessary for our survival as human beings. So these things I will share with you are necessary for your spiritual life. I am going to talk about the importance of the Word of God and the life of a Christian. It has been said seven days without reading the Bible makes one weak.

W-E-A-K. So you can't neglect God's Word. I am going to talk about the place of prayer. How to pray. I am going to talk about the vital place of church and the life of the believer. Also I want to talk a little bit about resisting temptation and knowing the will of God. So we will really get into that. But I want to talk to you in this message about spiritual growth.

It is kind of a flyover. The title of my message is The Parable of Spiritual Growth. Let's pray. Father now as we look at these words given to us by Jesus help us to be people who take the seed of God's Word readily into our hearts. And may it take root and may there be fruit that lasts a lifetime. So speak to us as we look at Your Word now. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

Alright. So that brings us to our text portion of Scripture we often call the parable of the sower. And the Bible doesn't call it that. But it has been called that. So we will refer to it as such. I think you could just as easily call it the parable of the soils.

Because it is really about the different kinds of soil that the seed lands in. This is a story Jesus tells to explain to us why some press on in the Christian faith and others do not. So let's read it together. Luke chapter 8 starting in verse 4. And when a great multitude had gathered, they had come to Him from every city, He spoke by a parable. Now a parable is an illustration.

An earthly story with a heavenly meaning. He spoke by a parable. A sower went out to sow a seed. Maybe as Jesus was speaking to the people there was a sower off in the distance casting his seed out.

He may have gestured. Look at that sower over there. A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed some fell on the wayside and it was trampled down and the birds of the air devoured it. Some fell on rock and as soon as it sprung up it withered away because of like moisture. Some fell among thorns or weeds. And the weeds sprang up and choked it.

Others fell on good ground and yielded a crop a hundredfold. And when He said these things, He that has ears to hear let them hear. So someone asked him the question, well what does this parable mean? And Jesus says, To you it has been given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to the rest it is given in parables, that seeing they may not see and hearing they may not understand. Now Christ goes on to explain the parable of the sower. It is very clear.

Here it is. The parable is this. The seed is the Word of God. Those by the wayside are the ones who hear but then the devil comes and takes away the Word out of their hearts lest they should believe and be saved. The ones on the rock or the rocky soil are those who when they hear receive the Word with joy but they have no root.

They believe for awhile but in time of temptation they fall away. The one that fell among thorns are those who when they have heard go out and they are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life and they bring no fruit to maturity. But the ones that fell on the good ground are those who having heard the Word with a noble and good heart keep it and bring forth fruit with patience.

Or a better translation would be perseverance or endurance. Now back in these days they didn't sow crops like we sow them today. Today we would have a carefully prepared field and we would put our seeds in neat little rows and we might have an irrigation system already installed and the seeds would be watered and so forth. In biblical times you would just have a sower with a sack of seed. He would rip a little hole in it and just pick that seed up and throw it. He would just walk along and throw it. Some would go on the road.

Some would go on rocky soil. Etc. You get the idea. Almost in an indiscriminate manner he would take the seed and fling it to the wind. And that is really how we do evangelism. There is a place for one on one evangelism but there is also a place of just taking the seed and throwing it. Did you know that the word broadcast literally means to sow seed? So when you broadcast if you take the Word of God or you take a crusade and we put it on television or it is on the Internet or it is on the radio that is sort of flinging the seed. You say, but is that really a good idea?

Oh yeah. It is a really good idea. I want to get the seed to as many people as possible because there are certain people that will never darken the doorway of a church. But they will turn on the TV or they will watch it on their laptop or they will hear it on the radio. And I have heard so many amazing stories of people who have come to Christ listening to our radio show, watching a TV show.

Someone wrote me last year about a person who watched the webcast on their computer. And this individual was a man that had been prayed for by his wife for years. And he was watching the crusade on his laptop. And at the end when the invitation was given the wife said, I walked in.

He was kneeling in front of his laptop praying to receive Jesus Christ. You see. So that is the power of the Word of God. So we just fling the seed.

We broadcast the seed and reach as many as we can. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 3, My job was to plant the seed in your hearts. Apollos, that is another preacher, he watered it.

But it was God who made it grow. The ones who plant and the ones who water aren't important. But God is important because He is the one who makes the seed grow.

The one who plants and the one who waters work as a team of the same purpose. So we all have our role in this. Some are called to preach. Some are called to establish friendships with people. Others are called to pray for this. Others are called to financially invest in this. But every person plays a role. And when that individual comes to Christ you share in the fruit of it. Ok.

So look at category number one. I am going to call them the highway hearers. The highway hearers. Look at verse 11 of Luke 8. The parable. It says, The seed is the Word of God. Those by the wayside are the ones who hear it.

And then the devil comes and takes away the Word out of their hearts lest they should believe and be saved. So it is a picture of birds eating seed. You know if you have ever gone to McDonald's or In-N-Out Burger and you are seated outside.

You know the moment that fry hits the ground, well it probably won't even hit the ground. These birds are trained. And now they are getting even more aggressive. I was in a restaurant the other day. Bird hops right up on my table.

He is just waiting you know. And don't get me started on seagulls. Stinking scavenger birds. You know they are out there on the beach just waiting for you. Someone actually has heard me talk about seagulls and my hatred for them. And I don't love seagulls at all. But she said, you know you have talked about seagull steel stuff. She said, I was on the beach the other day with our family.

My little boy was eating a hamburger. The seagull grabbed it out of his hands and flew off with it. See that is the picture here. The birds come and grab the seed immediately. So when a person makes a profession of faith Satan is like ready to strike. He is ticked off. He is angry. He has lost one of his own. He wants that person back.

And he wants him back now. That is all we need to really be praying for new believers. But this is really a description of people that you may share the gospel with and they just don't respond.

2 Corinthians 4 is that Satan the god of this evil world has blinded the minds of those that don't believe so they are unable to see the glorious light of the gospel that is shining upon them. No matter what you say. No matter what clever arguments you use. They are just unaffected. Sometimes they are hostile. Sometimes they will scream at you and tell you to get out of their face.

Other times they are very nice about it. You will say, would you like to come to the Harvest Crusade with me? They will say, no. But thank you for asking. No seriously though would you like to come?

No. And no matter how much you persist they keep saying no. No matter what you say nothing seems to penetrate. It is sort of like water off of a duck's back. Now we need to be careful because sometimes people will act as though they don't want it.

But deep down inside they really do. The woman at the well is a great illustration of this. This is a woman that was engaged by Jesus. And initially she was sarcastic. She was flippant.

She was disrespectful. But He was getting through to her and eventually she believed and was the first female evangelist of the New Testament. So sometimes people will put up the façade acting like they don't want to hear it but really they do. So we need to pray for wisdom from the Lord to know the difference between a person who really is just putting on an act but wants to hear it and someone who just doesn't want to hear it at all.

So that is category number one. Pastor Greg Laurie will have the second half of his message in just a moment. Hey everybody Greg Laurie here personally inviting you to join us for what we call Harvest at Home. It's a Bible study. It's a worship service. It's church in your home.

Maybe you're not able to get out to your church right now. If so join us for Harvest at Home. People are listening in from around the world.

Listen to this. We have seen thousands of people make a commitment to follow Christ. So join us this weekend for Harvest at Home at Harvest.org. Well today we are considering the four categories of hearers described in the parable of the sower. Pastor Greg continues his message now called the parable of spiritual growth.

Category number two. This one is really interesting and surprising. Look at verse 13. Those which when they have heard the Word, look at this, receive the Word with joy. But because they have no root, for a while they believe and in time of temptation they fall away. These folks are very different from the calloused, hard-hearted, indifferent highway hearers.

These are people that seem to get it. Now the idea that Jesus is communicating the rocky soil. When you go to Israel one thing you will see there is a lot of in Israel are rocks. Rocks everywhere. And there is soil that is embedded with rocks. So sometimes you could plant a seed there and it would shoot up.

But because the rocky soil would stop the roots from going down it would wither in the sun. That is the illustration Jesus is using. So who are these people? These are the people in contrast to the ones who said no to you do come with you to a crusade. Or they do come with you to church. And when the invitation is given they respond.

They walk forward. They pray the prayer. And they are so fired up. They don't go out and just buy a Bible. They buy the biggest Bible you have ever seen.

They need a wagon to pull it around. You know they start quoting Scripture. When you have a time of worship they sing louder than anybody else. They lift their hands higher than anybody else. They talk to everybody about their newfound faith.

And you say, that is the most amazing conversion I have ever seen. And this goes on for maybe a week or two weeks or maybe a month maybe even two months. And then you don't see them in church. Hey. I haven't seen you in church lately.

Where are you? I am not into that anymore. What? No I am not into that. I don't believe it anymore. Wow. What happened to them? I will tell you what happened to them.

They are the seed sown on the rocky soil. And here is the problem with people like this. Because they will say to others, yeah I went through the whole Jesus freak phase. And you know it didn't work for me.

I was into it for a while but it just didn't work for me. Or they will say something like, oh I tried Christianity but it didn't really take with me. You know what. They never tried Christianity. Because Christianity isn't a product like toothpaste we use. It is Christ. And if it didn't take it is because you didn't do your part.

That is what it is. See the real issue here is our heart was shallow soil. It shot up quickly but it didn't take. Why? Because some people are impulsive by nature.

Do we have any impulsive people out there? It is ok. Raise your hand. I won't shame you. You know. You are the first adopter of all new technologies. Right. I want it.

Apple is enough. I want it. I didn't even finish the sentence. It is a new product. I want it. You know you are the person in the line at the store where they have all that extra stuff for sale. You buy that stuff. You are the person who bought that exercise machine because the promise was you would lose all this weight.

Right. And if you walk down a street in a neighborhood on a Saturday and a lot of people have their garage doors open you will see those exercise machines. Will you see people working out on them? Never. But you will see clothes hanging off them.

A really expensive clothes hanger. But those are those people that fell for the infomercial. They bought the product they didn't need.

They are just impulsive by nature. So maybe in the crusade or in the church service a friend went forward and they said, I am going to go forward too. And they prayed the prayer. But see it wasn't real. It didn't take.

And here is a little more detail. They fall when time of temptation comes verse 13 says. Hey temptation is going to come to every Christian. And trials are going to come too. In fact 1 Peter 4 says, Don't be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you as though something strange were happening to you. It is not a matter of if. It is just a matter of when. It has been said that Christians are a lot like tea bags.

You don't know what they are made of until you put them in hot water. And some just can't handle it. And they fall away. And then there is sometimes persecution that causes them to do that. Matthew's version of the same parable gives us a little more light in Matthew 13 21. In the same parable Jesus says, when tribulation or persecution arises because of the Word immediately they stumble. So that new Christian goes home and proudly announces to their family they are following Jesus. And they are not met with a standing ovation. In some cases they are met with mockery and rejection and anger sometimes and outright hostility. And when they see that they say, well I didn't sign up for this. And they walk away.

Well then you were never really a believer to begin with. And when we think of our Christian brothers and sisters that are suffering around the world right now. We have this huge refugee crisis on our laps as people are fleeing from ISIS. And many of those people, not all necessarily, but many are Christians who are being targeted because of their faith in Jesus Christ. And they have had to suffer greatly. And even in America now there is a greater hostility against the Christian faith.

We see it all the time. Well if that is just too much for you and you are just not going to make it. Well I don't want to be persecuted then you are not going to make it as a follower of Jesus.

But here is the thing you need to think about. If anyone ever persecutes you. And by the way the word persecute means to hunt or to chase. It doesn't always have to be a physical assault or a threat against your life. It might be the termination of a friendship.

It might be the loss of position at work. It might be shown another way. A joke at your expense. But when you are persecuted here is what you should do. Rejoice. Jesus said, Blessed are you.

And a better translation would be happy are you. Happy are you when men persecute you and revile you and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice He says and be exceedingly glad for so persecuted they the prophets that were before you. Just make sure it is falsely. Make sure I am being persecuted because I am a follower of Jesus. Not because I am obnoxious or mean or unkind. Which is often the case.

Wear it as a badge of honor. But every believer will be persecuted. And if you are a true believer these difficulties will not weaken your faith.

They will strengthen it. Let me say that again. If you are a true believer temptations and persecution and trial will not weaken your faith it will strengthen it. Or maybe for these people when they realize that following Christ meant denying themselves that was too much for them and they just walked away. For others it might have been unbelief. You know they built their foundation on their emotions. And maybe you had an emotional experience when you were converted.

How many of you had sort of an emotional experience when you came to Christ? Raise your hand up. That is good. How many of you did not? Raise your hand up. Ok.

I did not. But some do. And maybe you wake up one morning and you don't feel that excitement.

Oh that is it. I am out of here. That is why I don't like it when people compare their faith to drugs. You know they came out of drugs and they will say, Man Jesus is the ultimate high.

Hey listen buckaroo. He is not always going to be the ultimate high ok. You are not always going to be in a euphoric state. And that is part of growing up spiritually.

And if you have to always be on an emotional high this isn't going to work for you. Sometimes we build our foundation on a person. And when that person falls away we fall away. Or we build our foundation on a church.

And when we see a little hypocrisy or inconsistency we turn away. Don't build your foundation on a person. Don't build it on a pastor.

Don't build it on a church. Build it on Christ and you will stand the test of time. Pastor Greg Laurie with important insight on how to find success in the area of spiritual growth.

And there is a lot more to come as this message continues here on A New Beginning. Now if you weren't able to hear every word of Pastor Greg's study today we can help. You can log on and listen online at harvest.org. It's a study titled The Parable of Spiritual Growth. Stream it while you're online or download an MP3 for later.

Or get a permanent copy on CD by dialing 1-800-821-3300. That's 1-800-821-3300. Hey everyone Pastor Greg here in studio with my friend Darrell Strawberry. And I have to tell you a story about Darrell. Not only is he an amazing baseball player. Not only is he a gifted communicator.

But he's an excellent bodyguard. And I speak from experience because we're at a White House event. And the night was going on and on and it was getting later. And I said to my wife Kathy we need to go. Well as it turns out there were some very agitated people on the streets.

Doing a lot of screaming and yelling. And I'm thinking how do we get out of here? And all of a sudden who walks by but my friend Darrell Strawberry. I said hey Darrell what are you doing? He says well I'm getting ready to leave. I said could I go with you? And he said sure come on. And then we met up with some other guys. And I had like the greatest security force around me.

And I just stuck really close to them and we navigated our way through it. But Darrell has written a brand new book called Turn Your Season Around. Subtitled How God Transforms Your Life.

And Darrell there's one thing that really got my attention in your new book. You dedicate an entire chapter to forgiveness. But you don't just address your own need for forgiveness. You recounted time when you were the one who needed to extend forgiveness.

Talk to us about that. Yeah the forgiveness was an incredible moment in my life that I needed to understand what forgiveness was all about. Because we usually think it's about you know the other person when someone has done something to us and affected us. And in my case that's what it was. My father had was an alcoholic and he had rejected me and I had kept him out of my life. He beat me when I was a kid and said I really was never going to come out to be anything.

And there I was I go on to be a Major League Baseball player and play for 17 years in the Major Leagues and have no relationship with him in my life. And then you know I get saved and God changes me. And I just remember him being in the hospital down in San Diego and I was going to do a men's breakfast Saturday morning. And God spoke to me Friday night about going down to my father to see him and not only going down to see him. But he said I want you to go down to him and repent and asked him to forgive you.

And I was like whoa so forgive me. You know God spoke to me that night and my wife had to call me and pray for me because I told her what was going on. And she said you need to listen to God you need to obey him and go and do exactly what he said. So and I and I did that and I went down to the hospital and I saw my father and I walked in and I said how you doing?

And I said I had a few words conversation. I said well you know the Lord has changed me. I obeyed God and he said the Lord has changed me and I just need to ask you would you forgive me for keeping you out of my life?

And he's he shook his head yeah and a tear rolled down his eye and I just lost it. I just laid in his lap and I just cried so hard and I just laid there and just I could feel the presence of God all over me. And then he says raise up and then I raised up and he says now lead him in a sin of prayer and there was a led him in a sin of prayer. I said would you like to accept the Lord? He's changed my life and would you like to accept him and he shook his head said yeah and let him in a sin of prayer.

He repeated after me and then I go on from there. And I just remember what God has spoke to me when I was leaving at the hospital and stuff and he was like saying how it's never about you. And then he said once I got in the car, I need you to remember, you know, how dare you not forgive him and I forgave you and and then he reminded me that the forgiveness was not for my father the forgiveness was for me. I carried that for all my life. I carried it throughout my baseball career when I was hitting home runs and running around the bases and thinking you have my father think I'm nothing and hear all these people giving me current calls, but I still feel empty in the inside when I still had the uniform on and take the uniform off.

But at that moment in the hospital after I had done that and walked out of the hospital. I mean God released me and I have never been the same my life has moved forward from that point. Wow powerful story about forgiving a man who really didn't deserve to be forgiven a man who beat Darryl when he was a little boy, but a man that had to be forgiven because Scripture tells us to forgive forgiven people should be forgiving people. So there's a chapter in this brand new book by Darryl Strawberry that is titled turn your season around subtitled how God transforms your life. So Darryl deals with that topic in this book and much more and that's why we want to rush you a copy so you can start reading this amazing story of this amazing guy and what God has done and what God is doing in and through him right now. So order your copy of turn your season around by Darryl Strawberry.

Yeah, that's right. It's a powerful book especially for men. We're sending it to say thank you for your investment to help keep Pastor Greg's teaching coming your way here on a new beginning your partnership helps us reach lives. It's as simple as that people come to know the Lord through this ministry.

In fact last year alone more than a hundred fifty thousand decisions were made. So thank you for your investment and be sure to ask for this new book turn your season around you can write us at a new beginning Box 4000 Riverside, California 92514 or call 1-800-821-3300 1-800-821-3300 or go online to harvest.org. Well next time more insight drawing from the parable of the sower or parable of the soils. It's the launch of Pastor Greg's new series what every growing Christian needs to know hope you'll tune in. The preceding message from Greg Laurie was made possible by Harvest Partners helping people everywhere know God sign up for Pastor Greg's free daily email devotions at harvest.org.