A New Beginning

Guest (Male): Success or failure in the Christian life depends on how you hear the Word of God. Today, Pastor Greg Laurie points out the importance of soaking up good Bible teaching. But he points out the next step may be the most important one.

Greg Laurie: I know many of you are Bible students and you listen to great biblical teaching on the radio and you're in a small group and you read devotions and God bless you, that's amazing. But it's important now that you apply it and that you obey it.

Guest (Male): Surprisingly, 20 to 30% of prescriptions for chronic health conditions are never filled, and about half are not taken as prescribed. Think about that. We go to the doctor, he or she examines us and gives us the medication to make us better. All we've got to do is take the pills, and an alarming number don't.

Today on A New Beginning, Pastor Greg Laurie points out the Bible's prescription for growing spiritually. But same thing, we've got to follow the great physician's instructions.

Greg Laurie: We're going to look at one of my favorite stories in the Bible. It's a parable. Now you know what a parable is: a parable is an earthly story with a heavenly meaning. And we're going to look at the Parable of the Sower, which is a parable that reveals to us the golden key to spiritual growth.

Mark chapter 4 verse 1. Once again, Jesus began teaching by the lakeshore. A very large crowd soon gathered around him and he got into a boat. And he sat in the boat while the people remained on the shore, and he taught them by telling many stories in the form of parables, such as this one. Listen, says Jesus. A farmer went out to plant some seed and he scattered it across the field.

Some fell on a footpath and the birds came and ate it. Other seed fell on shallow soil with underlying rock and it sprouted up quickly, but it withered under the hot sun. Other seed fell among thorns or weeds that grew up and choked out the tender plants and it produced no fruit. Still other seeds fell on fertile soil and they sprouted, grew, and produced a crop that was 30, 60, even 100 times more than had been planted. Then he said: He who has ears to hear, let him listen.

That's the Parable of the Sower. What does it mean? That's exactly what the disciples said. Now Jesus explains or interprets this story here in Mark chapter 4 verse 13. If you can't understand the meaning of this parable, how will you understand all the other parables? Here it is. The farmer plants seed by taking God's word to others.

The seed that fell on the footpath represents those who hear the message, but Satan comes at once and takes it away. The seed that fell on the rocky soil represents those who hear the message and receive it with joy, but they don't have deep roots and they don't last long, and they fall away as soon as they have problems or are persecuted for believing God's word.

Verse 18 of Mark chapter 4: But the seed that fell among the thorns or the weeds represents those who hear the word of God, but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the worries of this life and the lure of wealth and the desire for other things and no fruit is produced. Now the final category. And the seed that fell in the good soil represents those who hear and accept God's word and produce a harvest of 30, 60, or even 100 times as much as has been planted.

Category number one, I'm going to call them highway hearers. Highway hearers, and it's in verse 15 of Mark 4. The seed that fell on the footpath represent those who hear the message only to have Satan come at once and take it away. These are the people that hear the word of God but it doesn't really penetrate their hard hearts. Jesus says the birds come and eat it.

You've been at McDonald's or some other place and the birds are hanging out because that's free food. That food hits the ground and they swoop down and get it. These are people that hear the word of God, but it doesn't really penetrate their hardened heart. Category number two, I'm going to call them rocky road hearers. Rocky road hearers, verse 16. The seed that went on the rocky soil represents those who hear the message and immediately they receive it with joy.

But since they don't have deep roots, they don't last very long. They fall away as soon as they have problems or are persecuted for believing God's word. They start, they take hold of it, but then it doesn't take root in their life. The problem with this person is their heart is shallow soil. There are some people that just get excited about a lot of things. They have the fad that they're into, the new this, the new that.

Maybe it's new technology and all they want to talk about is the new technology, or maybe it's a band they follow and they're just really enamored with that. They get into fitness, fitness, fitness, running and doing all these things and they abandon it. These are people that are fickle by nature. When you're at the market and there's all that stuff for sale as you're checking out and you think, maybe I'll buy that. Things you wouldn't normally buy. Those are impulse purchases.

They know exactly what they're doing. They've done research to know what kind of items to put in front of you because there is always the impulsive person. If you want to have an illustration of this, just walk down your block on some Saturday when people's garage doors are open and you see all these treadmills and workout machines.

Do you see people usually in their home gym working out? No, they're usually a hanger for stuff out of the washing machine. People got excited, spent a bunch of money on it, but didn't follow through. This can happen, and it can happen in people's relationship with God. Maybe one of the reasons a person like this would fall away is because they built their faith on the wrong foundation.

There's only one foundation to build your faith on. It's Christ. It's Christ and Christ alone. Don't build your spiritual life on a church in and of itself. Don't build your spiritual life on another person or even on a pastor or a spiritual leader because people will let you down. Build your life on Christ. He will sustain you and be there for you.

It could be persecution. Go back to Mark 4 verse 17. And since they don't have deep roots, they don't last for very long, they fall away as soon as they have problems or are persecuted. We all know about this. When we decide to follow Jesus and you announce it to your family, that doesn't always go over all that well. I came from a family of a lot of people that drank and smoked and lived that kind of lifestyle.

I used to do it myself and suddenly I'm the Christian. And we're at Thanksgiving and I think we ought to have a prayer before we eat. It's like, what happened to Greg? Where's the old Greg? I was changed and so I was mocked and made fun of and harassed. We're all persecuted in some way, shape, or form. In fact, the mark of a true Christian is they will be persecuted. It's a barometer of where you're at spiritually.

2 Timothy 3:12 says: If you desire to live a godly life, you will be persecuted. So maybe this new believer, or at least we thought they were a new believer, is going strong and someone makes fun of them. Someone gives them a hard time. They say, that's it, I'm out. They were never converted. Or it could be something else that pulls them away, but they never built their life on Christ.

Guest (Male): Pastor Greg Laurie will have the second half of his message in just a moment. It's such a blessing to hear from listeners who take time to express their appreciation.

Pastor Greg, I was in a dark place years ago. I was raised in the church but had fallen away from God. That's when I found your teachings on TV and then online. Since then, I've turned my life back over to my Lord and Savior, Jesus. I think you're one of the best pastors and your sermons are so easy to understand. I thank God for you, Pastor Greg.

When we hear from you, it's not only a blessing, it also confirms that the program is touching lives. Would you consider sharing your story? If so, send an email to Pastor Greg. Send it to greg@harvest.org. Well, you've joined us for Pastor Greg's message, 'The Golden Key to Spiritual Growth.' Today's study on A New Beginning is based in the fourth chapter of Mark. Let's continue.

Greg Laurie: We're almost to the golden key of spiritual growth. We have one more category before. I'll call them thorny hearers. Thorny hearers. Let's look at verse 18 of Mark 4 together. The seed that fell among the thorns, the weeds, represent those who hear the word of God but all too quickly the message is crowded out. You might want to underline these things.

By what? The worries of this life, the lure of wealth, and the desire for other things and no fruit is produced. Isn't that interesting? This category, the thorny hearer, is not like the person that shoots up with lots of excitement and enthusiasm. This is a person who seems to be growing spiritually, but gradually they just walk away because other things become more important to them.

Not bad things necessarily. Notice it says the worries of this life, the concerns of this life. I mean, there's nothing wrong with being concerned about how you're going to put food on the table. There's nothing wrong with having a concern about a roof over your head. There's nothing wrong with thinking about the needs and necessities of life.

This is a person that allows those things to become more important than God. They believe it's good to read the Bible. They believe it's a great thing to pray. They're all for going to church. It's just they don't do it. Why? Well, there's just other things. There's other things we're doing instead, other things that are more important to us than reading the Bible.

We'd rather spend more time on social media and we like spending more time watching movies. Or we just don't have time for God. Well, that's a choice that you're making. It's been said, quote, "More have been killed by food than poison," end quote. And another quote: "The second best is often the worst enemy of the best." It's just the worries of this life.

Basically a thorn or a weed is anything that crowds Jesus out of our lives. Again, verse 19: It's crowded out by the worries of this life and the lure of wealth. The lure of wealth. It's not even saying wealth itself, it's the lure of wealth. There's an interesting passage in 1 Timothy 6:10 that says: The love of money is the root of all kinds of evil, and some people craving money have wandered from the true faith and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

We've heard that verse misquoted, haven't we? People will say, money is the root of all evil. Actually, the Bible doesn't say that. Money is neutral. It's amoral, not immoral in and of itself. You decide what money will be in your life. It's the love of money. The love of money is the root of all kinds of evil, which while some have coveted after, they've erred, they've left the faith and pierced their hearts through with many sorrows.

This is the person that's just obsessed with material things, obsessed with getting ahead financially, obsessed with money, money, money. It's all they think about. It's all they talk about. And that can be something that distracts you spiritually because it becomes more important to you than God, and you miss out on the true riches.

One of these days when you die, and yes, you will die, we all will, we'll leave everything behind. As I've said before, you've never seen a hearse pulling a U-Haul trailer. So don't make your life about all those things. There's nothing wrong with being successful. The Bible even says, Jesus speaking, if you'll seek first the kingdom of God, he'll provide all the things that you need. But just don't make that your primary focus. Make Christ your primary focus.

And now we come as promised to the golden key of spiritual growth. Ready for it? Go to verse 20 of Mark 4. And the seed that fell in good soil represents those who hear and accept God's word and produce a harvest of 30, 60, and 100 times as much as has been planted. Here it is. The golden key to spiritual growth is how you hear the word of God.

Let me say that again. The golden key to spiritual growth is how you hear the word of God. Look at verse 20: They hear and accept God's word. Now we all know that we can hear something and yet not hear it at all, right? Maybe your mama's lecturing you and she's saying you need to remember to make your bed and take out the trash and do your homework, and in your mind you just hear blah blah blah blah blah.

So you're not really paying attention. You're hearing audibly, but you're really not listening. You've been listening to a message from God's word. Have you been paying attention? Have you been checking your phone constantly or having a side conversation? I mean, you need to listen to what God's word has to say. Every category in the Parable of the Sower 'heard' it, but they didn't receive it. They didn't hear it in the right way.

A story is told of President Franklin Roosevelt, who often endured long receiving lines at the White House. And he complained that no one ever listened to what he said. So he tried a little experiment on one occasion. There was a long line of people to meet him and he decided he was going to say to every single person, "I murdered my grandmother this morning."

A person comes and the president says, "I murdered my grandmother this morning." And they're responding, "Oh, good to meet you, Mr. President. That's fantastic. You're doing a great job." Another person comes, "I murdered my grandmother this morning." People kept coming by, he kept saying that, "I murdered my grandmother this morning."

Obviously nobody was listening because nobody responded to it until the ambassador from Bolivia came along. And he actually heard what the president said, "I murdered my grandmother this morning." And the ambassador from Bolivia said, "Well, sir, I'm sure she had it coming." The idea is we don't listen. That's why Jesus says, "He that has ears to hear, let him hear."

Success or failure in the Christian life depends on how you hear the word of God. It's not a light thing to hear Bible studies. I know many of you are Bible students and you listen to podcasts and great biblical teaching on the radio and you're in a small group and you read devotions and God bless you, that's amazing. You're fantastic.

But it's important now that you hear it, that you apply it, and that you obey it. It's actually a dangerous thing to hear the word of God and not apply it in your own life. So what is the golden key of spiritual growth? It's hearing, it's receiving, and it's obeying the word of God. In Luke's version of the Parable of the Sower, which we've been looking at, he has a little detail that's very important.

He says: Having heard the word, they keep it and they bring forth fruit with patience. Patience. Now that's a word, patience, from a root word in the Greek that means endurance. Endurance. The way you get this endurance from the Greek is through trials. The trying of your faith produces endurance. And so if you've been tried in your faith, if you've been tested as a Christian, that's making you stronger.

And the way you bring forth fruit is through endurance. Getting through hard times, getting through challenging circumstances. This is very important for us and how do we bring forth spiritual fruit? Jesus gives the answer in John 15. He says: If you abide in me, you will bring forth much fruit. Then he goes on to say: And this is how you glorify the Father, by bringing forth fruit.

What is fruit? It's results, it's actions, it's evidence that you're a true follower of Jesus. And how does that happen? Jesus says by abiding in me. What does it mean to abide in him? It means to sink your roots deeply into him and walk with him and cultivate your relationship with him each and every day. Let me close by asking: are you abiding in Christ? Have you built your foundation on him?

Which of these categories do you fall in? Are you like the highway hearer that hears it and blows it off and isn't really interested in it? You're not interested in spiritual things. Are you like the rocky road hearer who hears it and you build it on the wrong foundation and wither in the sun? You don't stay with it.

Or are you like the person who has their heart choked up by the cares of this life and the lure of wealth and other things? I hope not. You can be the person on good soil. You can bring forth spiritual fruit. The golden key to spiritual growth is simply that. And I hope you have the relationship with God.

There are some people listening to me right now that are hearing this message of the gospel for the first time. I'm kind of like the farmer throwing out the seed. And maybe for the first time you've heard this simple message. There is a God in heaven who loves you, a God in heaven who wants a relationship with you. But the problem is you're separated from him by your sin.

But the good news is 2,000 years ago, God sent his son Jesus Christ to die on the cross for your sin. He paid the price for all the wrongs you've ever done and Christ rose again from the dead three days later. And now Jesus, who died and rose, stands at the door of your life and he knocks. And he says if you hear his voice and open the door, he'll come in.

You can have Christ come into your life right here, right now. I'm just throwing this seed out. What are you going to do with it? Are you going to say I want that and I want Jesus in my life and I want my sin forgiven? It can happen for you right here, right now. You pray. Pray a simple prayer and God will hear your prayer and even more God will answer this prayer.

Only you can say yes to Jesus Christ. That's a choice you have. Will you open the door of your life right now and ask Jesus to come in? If you want your sin forgiven, if you want to know that when you die you will go to heaven, if you want to be ready for the Lord's return, if you want to fill that big old gaping hole in your life and get rid of your guilt, if you want this relationship with God I've been talking about, then pray this prayer with me right now.

You might bow your head, you could even pray it out loud, but just pray this prayer with me and this is a prayer where you're asking Jesus to come into your life. Pray these words: Lord Jesus, I know that I'm a sinner, but I know that you're the savior who died on the cross for my sin and rose again from the dead. I'm sorry for my sin and I turn from it now and I choose to follow you from this moment forward as my savior and my Lord, as my God and my friend. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.

Guest (Male): Pastor Greg Laurie praying an important prayer with those making a change in their relationship with God today. And if you yourself have prayed with Pastor Greg and made a decision for the Lord, we'd like to help you get started in your new relationship with God.

Let us send you Pastor Greg's New Believer's Bible. It's the perfect resource for those just getting started in walking with the Lord. It's an easy-to-read translation and has scores of helps those who are new to the faith find valuable. It's the New Believer's Bible, and we'll send it without charge. Just call us at 1-800-821-3300. Or write A New Beginning, Box 4000, Riverside, California, 92514. Or just go online to harvest.org and click 'Know God'.

Well Pastor Greg, most of us have heard the phrase 'many hands make light work.' I was reading Nehemiah chapter 3 the other day and boy, that whole chapter is a case in point. Many, many hands contributed to the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem, and they got that job done quickly.

Greg Laurie: Yes, they did. And we want to thank the many hands that make it possible for us to bring these daily studies to our listeners, don't we? Everybody counts. I'm thinking about how when they were rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem under the direction of Nehemiah, each person was told to build the portion of the wall nearest to their house. Doesn't that make sense?

Because I would want that part of the wall to be secure so I would be safe. So I'm going to give special attention to the part of the wall that's near my house. I've always thought that when we talk about a spiritual awakening in America, it should start with each individual home. It should start with your home.

Or if you're single, just with your life and in the decisions you make as you look for that person God has chosen for you and plan your future. But when we all pitch in, we can get a lot done. And we're going to ask you to pitch in and help build your portion of the wall near your home because our radio broadcast A New Beginning touches people all around the country and even the world.

But I'm sure it impacts you as well. So often people come up to me or they write me or they talk about how a radio program that they heard, one of our shows, really impacted them. I was talking to a lady not long ago and she said that her daughter had gone astray from her faith and actually heard me on the radio.

And it was a familiar voice because she used to go to our church. And she made a recommitment to Christ listening to me on the radio. Now sadly, that daughter passed away a couple of years later, but thankfully she got right with God before that happened. And that's just one of thousands of stories that happen every day.

When you make a contribution to Harvest Ministries, when you become a harvest partner, you participate in that and help to build that portion of the wall near your home or help somebody else build the wall near their home. So why don't you tell the folks listening what it means to become a harvest partner?

Guest (Male): Harvest partners are close friends of the ministry who are passionate like we are about evangelism and discipleship. And they give to Harvest on a monthly basis. They're really the backbone of our support team. And we have some special ways to show our appreciation.

So get in touch today and become a harvest partner. You can take care of all the details over the phone at 1-800-821-3300. Call anytime, 1-800-821-3300. Or as you send your donation by mail, let us know you want to be a harvest partner. Our address is A New Beginning, Box 4000, Riverside, California, 92514. Or just go online to harvest.org.

Next time, we'll consider our problems and anxieties in light of the God who calls us his own. It's a message that lays it on the line: God is bigger than your problem. Join us here on A New Beginning with pastor and Bible teacher Greg Laurie.