Growth Plan Exam

The title of the sermon today is Growth Plan Exam. It's time of the year when we oftentimes, at least people in the world, reflect on the past and what we're going to do for the new year.

We're admonished, of course, in the Scriptures to examine ourselves.

We oftentimes really emphasize this just before Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread, but I think it's also right that we might examine ourselves several times during the year.

So I ask you, are you the same person today as you were one year ago? And are you the same person today as you were before Passover and the Days of Unleavened Bread in 07? Now, I can answer that for you. The answer is no. No, you are not. You have either grown or you have regressed or more harsh word, I suppose, would be degenerated. Today, we want to explore strategies for growth.

Now, I'm not going to turn to the Scripture here for several minutes, but this would be during this first part if you're taking notes one of the most important times to see if you can get some insight as to how you can plan to grow in the year ahead and in the rest of your life. So let's examine reasons for lack of growth and exhort all of us to resist and reject the things that hold us back from reaching our God-ordained potential. The dimensions of life we want to examine today include spiritual, mental, psychological, physical, and social. Spiritual, mental, psychological, physical, and social growth.

So let's briefly look at each one of those and ask ourselves physically, what about your health? Is your health better today than it was a year ago? Are you in better condition today than you were a year ago or even six months ago? Psychologically, what about your state of mind and emotional control? This is related to your spiritual state as well. Mental illness is one of the deadliest plagues in our society. Suicide is the leading cause of death. Sometimes it's one in sometimes automobile accidents. Our one or is one with regard to people under 30 years of age. Two of the most difficult funeral sermons that I ever gave had to do with two young people who had grown up in the church who committed suicide. One was a 16-year-old who was a member of YOU, as we called it then. One of the most outstanding members that we had, I think he was president of the chapter, very active in school activities. He just seemed to be a model person. One day I got a call and I went there and I think I was the second one in the the bedroom, his bedroom, where he was still lying on the bed. He had taken a 22 rifle, I assume. He pulled the trigger with his toes and he shot himself in the temple. And I did that funeral. It was one of the saddest funerals I ever did. And the funeral was on a Friday. And the next day, of course, the Sabbath, and I had the sermon. This is in Big Sandy in the early 80s, somewhere around 80-81, long and there. And it was amazing the response of the youth that day. It was probably the most disorderly that they had ever been, because it's like with some of our youth, they make up their minds before they ever come to services, that they are not going to listen. So, no appeal to emotion, even the loss of a dear friend. You're not going to get to them based on that. And naturally, you would be teaching and talking somewhat about that. The other funeral was a young man who grew up in the church, who shot his girlfriend and then killed himself. That happened only two or three years ago. You know, there are people in the church who are not psychologically healthy. They're not able to cope with themselves, others, and the situations of life. And sadly, we often do not know how lonely and how helpless some people really feel. This is one of the reasons why we need as much communication and social interaction as possible. So, what about our psychological state of health? Now, what about our mental and educational growth? Are you reading? Are you studying? Are you learning? Or have you stagnated?

Is your mind becoming duller and less active with each passing week? This statistic is a little bit out of date. I think it goes back seven or eight years. At that time, they said that only one-third of the people of the population read a newspaper. Today, I would say newspapers are, a lot of them, are going bankrupt because the internet is becoming the preferred source of information and news. So, is your mind becoming duller? So, is your mind more active? Are you really striving to keep your mental faculties alert and growing? Some of the old sayings that they used to have with regard to what they would call robotic memory or just memorizing things, all that's of no use. They're now discovering because they have the technology and research to know that you can actually stimulate brain cells in the same way to some degree. It's not identical to the way that you stimulate a muscle, that you make it active and it will respond. And the same thing is true with the brain. So, is there excitement and enthusiasm for learning in your life? And do you communicate it to your children? Then, have you grown socially? Are you having more social interaction with others? Does your life represent and reflect hope for the future? Are you a source of encouragement or discouragement? So, what about social life? Now, all of these we will come back to and we will talk more about each one. That's just a little brief overview and survey. Remember the title is Growth, Plan, and Exam. The exam, of course, is of ourselves in all of these dimensions of life. And most importantly, have you grown spiritually? Are you closer to God and your neighbor than you were yesterday? Is your focus on God and the resurrected Jesus Christ sitting at the right hand of the Father, whoever lives making intercession for you? And as you heard in the sermonette, seeking first the kingdom of God? Or is your focus on self and your problems?

Do you really want to grow? Do I really want to grow? I mean, really want to grow and to change and become more mature in all of these areas. You can rest assured that if you do not have a plan for growth in each of these areas, there will basically be no growth. It's not to say that there won't be any growth because there could be, but you are leaving it to chance and circumstance in the situation and responding to it. And you become one who responds to the situation, not one who has helped to map out and plan the future. Physically, you must have a plan for improving your quality of life. And if you don't have that plan for improving your quality of life, and basically the big three reside in diet, rest, exercise, and all three of those in balance, physically, a plan to improve. Psychologically, a plan for greater peace, greater insight on how to cope with life, emotional control, and willingness to face the realities of life. So have you ever thought about a plan to be more in control in those facets of life? Socially, a plan with more interaction, a plan to develop more and deeper friendships, leading to a greater and more positive influence on other people. And spiritually, a plan for reading, studying, serving, beginning at home, beginning at home, and then extending to others. And one way to approach this is to assess where you are now. So how do you do that? You write a description of where you think you are. You examine yourself. This is where I am physically. This is where I am psychologically. This is where I am mentally. This is where I am socially. This is where I am spiritually. Then write a description of where you want to be. Set your goals as to where you want to be. I'll give you a little bit of an example in my own personal life. I remember this day very clearly. I was on the front porch, and we had a swing on the front porch where I grew up, and you could see across the fields. It was a rainy day, and I was swinging a baseball bat. I was talking out loud to myself. I said, by the age of 15, I think I said I'm going to be playing American Legion ball. At the age of 18, I'll be playing semi-pro, and I had it planned out. Well, by the age of 18, I signed a professional contract with the Chicago Cubs. I didn't make the major leagues. In fact, I played very little in the minor leagues.

But I did have a plan, and I did work very, very hard to get there. Then I became a coach, and I laid out a plan. By the age of 25, I was going to be coaching here, and by the age of 30, there. By the age of 35, I would be a college coach, and so on. By the age of 26, I was the head coach of one of the largest schools in the state. By the age of 28 or 29, I was a college coach. If you don't lay out the plans, there's very little chance that you're going to get there. As president of Ambassador College, later university, we laid out plans and goals as to where the college would go. If you read the latest notes, minutes from the Council of Elders meetings that have just concluded, and we have those notes out there. It's in your announcement bulletin. We have three sets out there on the information table, and you can access that on the web. There are plans and goals laid out, especially in the media area, for preaching the gospel.

Most of us think way too small for our britches. Now, most of the time in the church, we go the other way and say, oh, he's too big for his britches. He thinks this way. I say, we think too small when it comes to what we can do as a church, what we can do personally. We can do far more than we ever dreamed. You know, I have coached a team that played for the national championship, and I know what it takes. You have to plan, and you have to develop strategies. You have to be willing to pay the price. You have to be able to do the things that are necessary to reach your goals. But if you don't assess where you are, if you don't make plans, and if you don't pay the price, you're not going to get there. You know, we as a people seem to be comfortable now just to tread water and not rock the boat. Well, you don't have to rock the boat. Well, you don't have to rock the boat. You just have to be willing to do and to pay the price of whatever it might be, whatever is required.

It's as if we're saying, let someone else do all the work. We'll just sail smoothly and comfortably in the kingdom of God on the sails of others. It won't happen because every person is standing before the judgment of the seat of Christ on a daily basis, and we all will give an account individually. I can assure you that things will remain the way they are, for the most part, in your personal life and in the church and in the world without directional leadership. Now, the president-elect Obama, he's trying to lay out some plans for directional leadership for the nation. And of course, the United States is still the leading nation in the world.

The leadership is one of the most essential elements there is with regard to where people are going to go and where they'll eventually wind up. And you must learn to lead yourself and know how and when to support and follow others. But it begins, first of all, with leading yourself. And you, as a leader of you, you, as the leader of you, need to develop a plan and strategies for reaching your goals. Now, but if you haven't written a description of where you are and where you want to go, what your goals are is difficult to develop strategies.

So after you examine where you are, and I think it was the row who said the unexamined life is not worth living, but more importantly, let's turn to 2 Corinthians 13 verse 5.

We want to examine where we are. We want to face where we are in the real sense, as objectively as possible. In some cases, husband and wife may want to sit down and discuss it themselves. What do we want to do? Where do we want to go? What do we want to be? What do we want our lives to wind up being? What kind of influence do we want to have?

What kind of leadership are we going to demonstrate?

2 Corinthians 13, 5, examine yourselves. Whether you be in the faith, prove your own selves.

Know not your own selves that Jesus Christ is in you, except you be reprobates. So the Bible admonishes us to examine ourselves, and that's what I'm admonishing right now.

So we need to write out our goals in each of these areas, and you as the leader of you need to develop a plan and strategy for reaching your goals. Now, here is one of the lessons of leadership that has been indelibly stamped upon my mind. People will support you and follow you as long as they perceive that you are helping them to achieve their goals.

You know, people flock to various political parties to a large degree based on the platform, the goals that are set out for them. Basically, in the historical past, the Republican Party has focused on the economy, big business. They also talk about small business, foreign policy, and that kind of thing, national and international issues that have to do with business and relationships with other nations. The Democratic Party is basically focused on domestic issues, that everybody has an equal share of the pie, and we're going to guarantee that they do a redistribution of wealth and that kind of thing. But it seems that regardless of which party is elected and has the control of the of the presidency, the executive, or which party is in control of the Senate or the House or both, it seems that basically things remain about the same, especially in recent times.

And when people perceive that you're not helping them achieve their goals, they won't support you as a general rule. The biggest conflicts that I've ever had with people in the Church reside in two areas. One, with regard to those who perceive that I prevented them from reaching their goals. Some wanted to be elders or deacons or whatever in the Church. And when they perceived, and it might have been a perception, not a reality, but it was reality for them, that I stood in the way, then they had no more use for me. Or another big area of conflict, of course, is when you have to correct someone or you have to confront them on a problem that they have. And of course some people do, as the Proverbs talked about, they love correction. Not many people do. Correction is pretty hard. And they take it and they go on and they grow.

If you want self-respect, then lead yourself into such a way that you achieve your goals. Otherwise, you will continue to be a want-to-be. I want to be, but I never get there. Or a should-a-be. The saddest words of Penn, as they say, are those of it could have been.

So today, if you would hear his voice, harden not yourself.

As I said, you want to write out your strategies for reaching your goals. Develop a program for getting there. Let's turn now to 1 Corinthians 28-9. I'm sorry, 1 Chronicles, a little bit of difference. 1 Chronicles 28 verse 9.

Historically, there have been periods in the history of God's people where they set out on a plan to seek God first, as you heard in the sermonette. In 1 Chronicles 28 verse 9. 1 And you, Solomon, my son, know you, the God of your Father, and serve him with a perfect heart, and with a willing mind. For the Lord searches all hearts and understands all the imaginations of the thoughts. If you seek him, he will be found of you. But if you forsake him, he will cast you off forever.

Now, following up on that in 2 Chronicles 15, 2 Chronicles 15 verse 1.

So Solomon, the second king here, the third king of Israel, the second king that ruled over all of Israel, I suppose you would say, and then, Saul was over all of Israel, I guess you could say, to some degree. And then, initially, David was just over Judah and Benjamin, and eventually, the other ten tribes came with him, it seems.

Then Solomon was over all of the tribes of Israel, all twelve tribes, until his death. And then, of course, the kingdoms were split. Reoboam to the south with Judah and Benjamin, and Jeroboam to the north with the other ten.

In 2 Chronicles 15 verse 1, we see a period of time in Israel's history in which things weren't going all that well. And I sometimes use Israel and Judah interchangeably. This is Judah, technically.

In 2 Chronicles 15 verse 1, And the Spirit of God came upon Azariah, the son of Oded. And he went out to meet Asa and said unto him, Aces the king, Hear you meet Asa and all Judah with Benjamin. The Eternal is with you while you be with him. And if you seek him, he will be found with you, but if you forsake him, he'll forsake you. Almost identical to what God told Solomon in 1 Chronicles 28 verse 9. Now, for a long season, Israel had been without the true God, without a teaching priest, and without law for a long time. But when they, in their trouble, did turn unto the Lord God of Israel and sought him, he was found of them.

And in those times there was no peace to him that went out, nor to him that came in, sort of like it is today. There is no peace in the whole land.

But great vexations were upon all the inhabitants of the countries, and nation was destroyed of nation, and city for God did vex them with all adversity.

Be you strong therefore, and let not your hands be weak, for your work shall be rewarded. And the same thing would be true with us today. If we make the kind of covenant they made here, we will be able to achieve the same things that they did at that time, and perhaps more, because we have an element that they did not have, the great missing dimension, the Spirit of God.

The Spirit of God was among them, but not in them, oh, that they had such an heart.

And when Asa heard these words in the prophecy of Oded, the prophet, he took courage, put away the abominable idols out of all the land of Judah and Benjamin, and out of the cities which he had taken from Mount Ephraim, and renewed the altar of the Eternal that was before the porch of the Lord, before the temple.

He gathered all Judah and Benjamin and the strangers with him out of Ephraim and Manasseh, and out of Simeon. So you see that some of the tribes here, there were people left of all the tribes, and most of the ten tribes had gone into captivity at the hands of the Assyrians. But you'll find several times in Chronicles, especially, even when Hezekiah restored the feast, that people came from the other tribes. Out of Simeon, for they fell to him out of Israel in abundance when they saw that the Lord his God was with them. So they gathered themselves together at Jerusalem in the third month, in the fifteenth year, the reign of Asa. And they offered unto the Eternal the same time, at the same time, of the spoil which they had brought seven hundred oxen, seven thousand sheep. And they entered into a covenant. Now what I'm talking about here today is more a covenant with yourself, of what you are going to do. What are you going to do in all of these areas? Will you grow physically, psychologically, mentally? Will you grow in all of these areas, socially and spiritually? They entered into a covenant to seek the Lord, God of their fathers, with all their heart, with all their soul, that whosoever would not seek the Lord God of Israel would be put to death, whether small or great, whether man or woman. And they swear unto the Lord with a loud voice, and with shouting, with trumpets and coronets, and all Judah rejoiced at the oath, for they had sworn with all their heart, and sought Him with their whole desire, and He was found with them, and the Lord gave them rest round about. You know, it reminds you of that Scripture back in 1 Chronicles where God was talking to Solomon. He says, if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray, then the God of heaven will hear and answer their prayers.

And all Judah rejoiced at the oath, for they had sworn with all their heart, and sought Him with their whole heart, and He was found with them, and the Lord gave them rest round about. Also, let's go now to Isaiah 55 and verse 6. Isaiah 55 and verse 6.

Seek you the Lord while He may be found. Call upon Him while He is near. Isaiah 55 and verse 6.

Seek you the Lord while He may be found. Call upon Him while He is near.

Let the wicked forsake His way, and then righteous men His thoughts, and let Him return unto the Lord, and He will have mercy upon Him and to our God, and He will abundantly pardon. So we examine ourselves and those things that we don't like in all of these various dimensions. We repent of. We develop goals. We write out strategies for reaching these goals. We always base this, at least we should, on what God would have us do. Verse 7, The wicked forsake His ways, and righteous men His thoughts, and let Him return unto the unrighteous men His thoughts, and let Him return unto the Lord, and He will have mercy upon Him, and to our God He will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, says the Eternal. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. For as the rain comes down and the snow from heaven returns, not there but waters the earth and makes it bring forth and bud that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater. So shall my word that goes forth out of my mouth it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing where unto I sent it. For you shall go out with joy and be led forth with peace, the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. Instead of thorns and briars, you're going to be and be to the Lord a name for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off. So it's worth it. It's worth whatever it takes because we have here the very promise of God that if you will develop these strategies and if you will really seek for Him, His word shall not return unto Him void, that He promises that He will bless you. Once again, what are we to do? Write a description of where you are now. Write out your goals in all these areas. Write out strategies for reaching your goals. Otherwise, you'll be leaving the most vitally important aspects of your life to circumstance and to chance. Brethren, we cannot leave the future of our lives and the future of our children to circumstance and chance. Where we're just responding to circumstance and chance. Time and chance happens to everybody. Many of us get into a vicious cycle. For example, why don't I exercise? I don't exercise because I'm too tired. Why am I too tired? It's because I don't exercise. Why do I have so few friends? Because of a lack of social interaction. Why is there a lack of social interaction? Because I have so few friends. Let's go to Proverbs 18, verse 24.

In Proverbs 18, verse 24, A man that has friends must show himself friendly.

And there is a friend that sticks closer than a brother. So the initiative, once again, is leadership, directional leadership.

And many times we play the game of the standoff. Well, if they come speak to me, I may speak to them. But if they don't look me up, too bad. I'm not going to give an inch. This is my territory. This is where I stand. No, that's not what the Bible teaches.

Another example, why don't I read more? Well, it's because my education is limited.

Why is my education limited? Well, it's because I don't read.

Some or most of us apparently think that the way we live our lives is not influencing other people. And this really comes into parenting and child rearing. And nothing could be farther from the truth. Every step we take on the road, on the road of life, leaves a footprint in the minds of other people. And especially in the minds of those who are closest to us. Our wife, our husband, and our children, extended family. And it goes on from there. Children especially learn method more rapidly than they do content. In other words, they learn how to do things the way you do things. They learn to respond to trial and trouble the same way you respond to trial and trouble. They learn to treat family members the way you treat family members. They learn to treat their neighbor as you treat your neighbor. And most of us would readily declare that we don't want our children or our neighbors approaching life the way we do.

The sad reality, one of the most valid laws of learning, is that especially children learn method more rapidly than they learn content. And they're going to learn that method. And one of the reasons we have today, the kind of trouble we have in families. We have mass murder nearly every week in this nation. For example, on Christmas Eve in the Los Angeles area in Covina, a man he dresses as Santa Claus. He goes to where he knows family members are having a Christmas party on Christmas Eve. An eight-year-old girl, I'd never learned what the relationship of this eight-year-old girl was to him. But he opens fire, he shoots her, and he kills seven or eight people. And then he douses the whole house with some kind of a very flammable fuel, sets the house on fire, and winds up killing himself. The land is full of violence and murder and great difficulty. And about, I think it's about 75% of the murders in this nation are committed by on people who know one another. And over 50% in the family, among family members. And people have learned to do things the way that they've seen their parents and others do it. And then another great influence, of course, is the great violence that is portrayed in our media. And in, you know, even sad to say, the glorification of war. Now, I'm not necessarily a pacifist. The Church of God does teach restraint from military service. That's one of our tenets. But we glorify war in this nation. And these video games, the various other violent things that are portrayed before our children, are indelibly stamped upon them. And the free speech people can say all they want to say, but it's having an impact. You know, the more we so-called learn, the more violent, the more uncivilized we become. So your children are learning to manage their health, their psychological state, their mental, educational status, social life, and spiritual life in the same way you do. How do you manage it? Now, I can thank my mother with all my being of the way that she emphasized education to my brother and I.

I think I told you in that meeting we had over there in Holiday Inn that as far as the learning tools in our home, there were not many there. Bible and the Syrian Robuck catalog, one of which not in the house. But as I said, we also had a radio. And those things and the way she approached things created with my brother and I some kind of intellectual curiosity. Sometimes I think maybe it's to some degree in the genes, but I think it has a large degree to do with, to a large degree, has to do with directional leadership. The old saying is so very true. Example is the most powerful communicator and then the other, I can't hear what you say because of what you do. So don't let your footsteps on the road of life become an offense and stumbling block.

Let's go now to Matthew 18, where we are warned of this. So we're examining here where we should go and also the things that keep us from going there.

In Matthew 18, verse 1, at the same time came the disciples unto Jesus, saying, Who is greatest in the kingdom of heaven? And Jesus called little child unto him, and said him in the midst of them, and said, Barely I say unto you, except you be converted and become, as little children, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Who so therefore shall humble himself as this little child? The same is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And who so shall receive one such little child, and my name receives me? But who so shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, or better for him, that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea? Now you can ask yourself, are you hanging a millstone on the neck of your child? Are you a stumbling block to your child?

Apparently, we think that if we don't say it, we haven't communicated it. God inspired the prophet Malachi to write a whole book about this frame of mind. What did I say now? Apparently, thinking that if we don't say it, we don't communicate it.

Turn to Malachi 2, verse 17. I'm thinking about next Sabbath, or the next, doing an analysis of Malachi. And I don't want to do a complete analysis now, but let me just tell you, and we'll repeat this when we do analyze Malachi. Malachi is a monologue. What is a monologue? A monologue is where one person is doing the speaking, but it's written in the form of a dialogue. That's where two people are speaking. In Malachi, God is doing all the speaking for Himself and for the people.

And that's introduced in each case where it says, and you say. The great rhetorical question of Malachi is in Malachi 2, verse 17, because what had happened, Israel had come to the point where they were accusing God of being unjust.

In Malachi 2, 17, you have weared the Lord with your words, yet you say. So you once again, it's a monologue where God is saying His part and the part of the people. And what I'm saying here is you don't have to say something to communicate it. Once again, it has to go back to the it goes back to this thing of method is learned over content and before content, and you don't have to say something to communicate it. Now, so he says you've weared the eternal with your words, yet you say, where in have we weared Him?

I mean, we haven't said that when you say everyone that does evil is good in the sight of the Lord, and He delights in them. Or where is the God of judgment? Now, he were really the God of judgment, and he were really the God that he says that he is. Why is the world the way that it is? Why are we in the situation we're in? So where is the God of judgment? Then, in the rest of this book, he answers this question. Now, the broader answer to this question is Malachi 3.6. I am the eternal. You know, where's the God of judgment?

He's where He's always been. He's where He's always been. I am the eternal. I change not. Therefore, you sons of Jacob are not consumed. In other words, if you people were really getting judgment, you wouldn't be here. And none of us, if we were really getting judgment, we wouldn't be here.

But because of God is long-suffering and merciful, and He is willing to forgive us and remove our sins as far as the East as is from the West, we're here. Now, you look at verse 13. I'm just hitting the highlights. We'll look at it sometime in the future far more closely. But it's a part of this examination of communicating, especially to children. The nonverbal oftentimes in the method is far more influential and has a greater impact than things that you say.

Verse 13, Your words have been stout against me, says the Eternal. Yet you say, What have we spoken so much against you? You have said, It is vain to serve God. And what profit is it that we have kept His ordinance, and that we have walked mournfully before the Eternal of Hosts? And now you call the proud happy, yes, they that work deceitfulness or wickedness are set up. Yes, they that tempt God are even delivered.

So some of them are saying, you know, well, just look at so and so and such and such. They're the ones that get all the breaks. They get all the promotions. They do this. They do that. And look at me. I'm not getting anything. Verse 16, Then when when that's going on, they that feared the Eternal spoke often one to another in the Eternal heart and then heard it.

And a book of remembrance was written before Him for them that feared the Eternal and thought upon His name. And they shall be mine, says the Eternal of Hosts, in that day, in that day, when you see that, that's a prophetic utterance. The those two words in that day or three words generally has to do with merging into the millennium. In that day, when I make up my jewels, I will spare them as a man spares his own son that serves him. Then shall you return and discern between the righteous and the wicked between Him that serves God and Him that serves Him not.

Some of the most critical, complaining, griping, murmuring, judgmental people who associate with the Church are people who are not growing in any of these areas I've mentioned. The spiritual mind does not approach life this way. You do become what you practice. So we could ask other questions. What about our homes? Is it clean inside and out? Is God's way evil spoken of because of our example? Are you leading the way in your neighborhood and community? Does your dress, your speech, your body language, which are all powerful communicators of growth or regression, how do those influence others? How do they communicate whether or not you're seeking God first in His kingdom?

Remember the two great commandments. Let's turn there. Matthew 22, 37. Matthew 22, 37. Jesus said unto him, in answer to what is the great commandment of the law?

Matthew 22, 37. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, the second. This is the first and great commandment. The second is like unto it. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two hang all the law and the prophets.

So what about all of these dimensions of our lives? Are they communicating that we love God with all our heart, mind, and soul and our neighbor as ourselves? Another way to examine our lives. Another great reason for lack of growth is withdrawal. Withdrawal is oftentimes a reaction to stress or the perception that all is hopeless and that you don't really matter. So I'll just withdraw. They're going to do what they want to do anyhow, so I'm just going to withdraw. Husband wife, she may withdraw and give up after months or years of abuse. Parents may withdraw from children, denying responsibility for their actions. Children may withdraw and rebel against their parents.

And much of the music, the television programs, the movies, and the magazines are designed to cause youth to rebel and reject their parents. Count on it! Satan is the god of this world! Employees may withdraw. Supervisors or employers may withdraw. Students may withdraw. Teachers may withdraw. The whole society today is basically in a state of denial and withdrawal. Withdrawal is a form of narcissism. That's self-love.

Narcissism has become the American way. The result is a them versus me or they versus us mentality. After I wrote this last statement as I was preparing the sermon, I thought about an article that someone sent me. I had read only part of the article, but one of the statements I read lingered in my mind. Here it is. The cultural crisis that besets America today has many facets. One of these is not often discussed. It is the loss of confidence that Americans have in one another. In other words, we don't trust each other. You say, well, how can I trust him? Look what's going on in this world. And of course we have to be. Wise at serpents and harmless as doves. But immediately I thought this results in the they versus us attitude. No trust. I also thought this is in direct opposition to the scriptures that state, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. Let each man esteem others better than themselves. So do we believe that we can demonstrate the kind of directional leadership that leads to a more mature and happier family life, better married life, better parenting, child rearing, better relationships in the family with neighbors in the church? Do you really believe you make a difference in the church? Do you believe that you can make a difference in your family? You can make a difference on the job? Do you believe you can make a difference in your neighborhood, community, town, state, country? If you don't make a difference in all of these areas, who will? In other words, don't withdraw. You have to stay in the arena, and you have to fight the fight, and you never give up.

Positive growth or degeneration will occur. It will be one or the other. It's virtually impossible to remain the same. So will your future be left to time and chance, or will you help shape the future? Will you choose to grow and help others to grow? Or will you withdraw whither away with the dispossession of a wrinkled, dried-up whole prune? Let's go to John 14, verse 8. You can choose to make a difference just as Christ did here on the earth.

And some are quick to say, oh, that was Christ. He was the Son of God. He had the Spirit of God without measure. But look at me. I'm just poor little old pitiful me. I don't have much to offer. What can I do?

Now, John 14, verse 8.

Philip said unto him, Lord, show us the Father, and it suffices us. And Jesus said unto him, Have I been so long with you? And yet have you not known me, Philip? He that has seen me has seen the Father. And how say you then, show us the Father? . . . . . . Believe you not that I am in the Father, the Father in me. The words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself, but the Father that dwells in me, he doeth or does the works.

Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me, or else believe me for the very work's sake.

Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believes on me, the works that I do shall he do also.

I wonder if we really believe that.

Did that kind of belief die out with the apostles, who did do great works to read about in the book of Acts, and to some degree in Paul's epistles?

The works that I do he shall do also, and greater works than these shall he do.

Because I go unto my Father, you see, if he doesn't go unto his Father, the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, will not come.

And whatsoever you shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.

If you shall ask anything in my name, I will do it. If you love me, you will keep my commandments. Another mindset that prevents growth is everybody else is doing it. That's one of the great cries of the youth. Oh, Mama. Oh, Daddy. Let me go. They are going there, and everybody will be there. I'll be the only one that won't be there. Well, child, you'll just have to be different. You'll be the only one not there. We probably don't say that. We probably don't say that. Sometimes maybe we do.

Let's notice 2 Timothy 3, verse 5.

2 Timothy 3, verse 5. At the first part of 2 Timothy, as you know, Paul recounts several behaviors that will be extant in the last days. He says, In the last days perilous time shall come. Verse 1. Then he lists all these various behaviors that we see today in our world.

Verse 5 throws somewhat of a curve, you might say, having a form of godliness but denying the power thereof.

From such, turn away.

Now, if you have a form of godliness, you must be maybe going to church. Maybe you read your Bible. Maybe you take it to church. Maybe you don't.

Maybe you seem to be with the program, as they say, but are you really denying the power therein?

Now let's go to Matthew 25. Matthew 25, verse 1. So what we are saying here with regard to growth, it has to be real. It has to be genuine. It cannot be feigned. It cannot be faked. Now you can fake me. You can fool me. I've been fooled many times.

But you cannot fool God. He knows. And as we've heard so many times, God looks on the heart and not on the outward appearance. Now what we find in the parable of the ten virgins in Matthew 25 is that they all had the same form.

They were basically, in the outward sense, all doing the same thing.

Verse 1, verse 1, Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, went forth, and meet the bridegroom. Five of them were wise, five were foolish. See, they all went to meet the bridegroom. See, they had the same form.

They that were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them.

But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. Now if oil is symbolic of the Holy Spirit, and surely it must be, then you couldn't visibly see whether or not the five foolish ones had no oil in their lamps. Perhaps you would know by their fruits, if I will say by their fruits you shall know them. While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept. Same form.

And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom comes, go ye out to meet him.

Then all the virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. Same form.

And the foolish said unto the wise, so suddenly they come to the realization, Hey, I've been putting this off. I've been meaning to examine my life, set goals, and really develop strategies and plans to get there and really grow in grace and knowledge, also renewing the inward man daily. But boy, this has caught me unawares. How about you giving me some oil?

So they want the wise to give them the oil. Our lamps are going out. But the wise answered and said, Not so, lest there be not enough for us and you, but go ye rather to them that sell and buy for yourselves. You see, the only way you get it is in the arena of life where you are doing the things that you need to do to renew the inward man. And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage, and the door was shut. Afterward came also the other virgin saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. But he answered and said, Barely I say unto you, I know you not. Watch ye therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of Man comes.

There's another great detriment in our society today with regard to really going against spiritual growth, and that is the ability to discern between right and wrong.

It seems that we're no longer able, especially, is this true among our youth?

In recent years at Ambassador College and ABC, I've noticed a great tendency toward the absolute letter of the law, and not really able somehow to really discern between right and wrong. If you would go to Ezekiel 22, you see this prophecy here, and to me this is, it could be obviously reflective of the state of Judah at this time. Ezekiel was there in Judah when the Babylonians came against it. He was apparently one of the first ones taken captive, and he is prophesying back to the people in Judah, and we have said so many times that Ezekiel is for the whole house of Israel. Ezekiel 22-23, the word of the Lord came into me, saying, Son of Man, say unto her, You are the land that is not cleansed and rained upon in the day of indignation. There is a conspiracy of her prophets in the midst thereof, like a roaring lion ravening the prey. They've devoured souls, they've taken the treasure in precious things, they have made her many widows in the midst thereof. Her priests have violated my law, they have profaned my holy things, they have put no difference between the holy and profane. So that line between right and wrong today is so obscured that people who have not been reared properly, who have not had instruction, don't know the difference between right and wrong. I have an article here. I see I'm running out of time, but I just want to mention you could go on your search engine and you could put sin, guilt, and mininger and get this article and many others, but listen about mininger. He's written a book, Whatever Became of Sin. It's an intriguing title of a book worth noting. The author is not a right-wing evangelical. Rather, it is Carl Mininger, M-E-N-N-I-N-G-E-R, M.D., founder of the prestigious Mininger Clinic, it's a psychiatric clinic, and the Mininger Foundation.

And what several of these psychiatrists have come to recognize that the trouble in society today is that sin has been done away with. He writes here, Who is to blame? Mininger says the responsible person is identified by the central letter in the word sin. No one sins today. We appear to have officially stopped sinning about 25 years ago. Mininger makes a connection between sin, guilt, and not only social ills, but psychological sicknesses. Basically, the premise of there's a new field of psychology and especially psychiatric today, and that is what they call integrity counseling. Integration and integrity come from the same word, and there can be no integration within a human being unless he or she aims for a life of integrity. So they talk about confessing your sins, making restitution. In fact, in recent times, they've done studies in which they've divided the experimental group into three groups, and they were counseled by people who had no experience in counseling or psychiatry. Then they had another group who were counseled by staff members who had very little training and by psychiatrists themselves. Then they measured who among the patients, the experimental group, who made the progress. The ones who made the most progress were counseled by those who had no experience in psychiatric or counseling. Now, I'm not saying to ever go to a psychologist or psychiatrist, but here is a man who is the founder of the prestigious Menager Clinic and Menager Foundation, sort of one of the fathers of psychiatry in America. Making that distinction. Let me give you a little bit of an example here in talking with some of the youth in recent years. Well, you want to talk about... let me just state this again. I've noticed a great tendency toward the absolute letter of the law. For example, were you drinking? Yes, but I only had one half can of beer. Were you drunk? No, I had not vomited. Were you necking? No, I had not vomited. Were you necking? No, I only sat on his lap and we only kissed occasionally.

Yet, at the same time as we describe our behavior in letter of the law terms, we want, expect, and demand a very so-called merciful spirit of the law administration.

The Bible strongly indicates that a growing spiritually-minded person would reverse the order. How so? So before we act, we would view our behavior first and foremost from a spirit of the law perspective. What would Christ do? How would He respond? This is, or that is, we should live by the spirit of the law and expect a letter of the law judgment. Let me say it again. We should live by the spirit of the law and expect a letter of the law judgment. Contrary to popular belief, the spirit of the law far exceeds the letter of the law in strict adherence. The spirit of the law far exceeds the letter of the law in strict adherence. For example, Matthew 5. Let's go there. 1. One of the things that prophesied of Christ, He would magnify the law and make it honorable.

2. Matthew 5. Think not I am come to destroy the law, but fulfill. 3. Heaven and earth and all that may pass away, but one jot or tittle will not be passed from the law till all be fulfilled. 4. Verse 19. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments and teach men so, he shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven. But whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 5. For I say unto you that except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, were letter of the law people. 6. Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall in no wise or no case enter in the kingdom of heaven. 7. You have heard that it was said, them of old time, you shall not kill. Whoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment. 8. But I say unto you that whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. See, that's the spirit of the law. It's much more strict. And whosoever shall say his brother Rehka, that is, you fool, shall be in danger of the council, the Sanhedrin, who had a responsibility for judging spiritual matters. But whosoever shall say you fool shall be in danger of hellfire. So when we perceive that the Word of God is living and sure, then we can direct our lives in the way that we need to go. But if we misperceive that the Word of God is not living and sure, we're apt to make frivolous, ill-conceived excuses for our behavior and fall into the trap of those who talk about letter of the law behavior and yet want spirit of the law judgment. God wants a heart that is seeking him and in tune with his will. So these few comments here as we close. These are tough, transitional times. We're still somewhat insulated from them, but more and more we hear and see how people are suffering in this world. Satan doesn't want you to grow, he wants to see you destroyed. But God will give us the power to achieve the victory if we seek him. It is possible to keep the two great commandments. If you closely read Romans 8, 1 through 13, you'll see that Jesus Christ came and condemned sin in the flesh, showing that it could be done with the Spirit of God if we mortify the deeds of the flesh we shall live. It is possible to become as little children, to have a perfectly teachable attitude, to grow and become converted. We can all change. We can all grow. Will you be willing to write out where you are, where you hope to be, your goals, and how you plan to get there?

Would you be willing, if necessary, to seek the counsel, break the vicious cycle, cast off the strongholds, put on the whole armor of God, and grow? Brethren, I hope we will all choose to grow. To do otherwise is to die. So will you be the same person next week as you are now?

The answer is no. You will either grow or digress. Will it be life or death? I hope we all choose to grow. I hope we all choose life.