An Invitation to Greater Depths
Pastor Rollan Fisher
Focus: We must learn Jesus’ lesson from the parable of the sower if we are to move to greater depths and fruitfulness in God.
Shallow Christianity
Distractions
God’s Invitation to Greater Depths
Mark 4:1-9 ESV
“Again he began to teach beside the sea. And a very large crowd gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat in it on the sea, and the whole crowd was beside the sea on the land. And he was teaching them many things in parables, and in his teaching he said to them: "Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it. Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and immediately it sprang up, since it had no depth of soil. And when the sun rose, it was scorched, and since it had no root, it withered away. Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain. And other seeds fell into good soil and produced grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold." And he said, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear."
Shallow Christianity
Jesus is sowing the word into our lives, but we can still remain shallow Christians.
“Some Christians want enough of Christ to be identified with him but not enough to be seriously inconvenienced; they genuinely cling to basic Christian orthodoxy but do not want to engage in serious Bible study; they value moral probity, especially of the public sort, but do not engage in war against inner corruptions; they fret over the quality of the preacher's sermon but do not worry much over the quality of their own prayer life. Such Christians are content with mediocrity."
-D.A. Carson
*The goal of your faith is to become a worshiper of God who relates and serves the world in the ways of God - in Spirit and in truth (John 4:19-26).
To become these people, we must spend the time and energy developing our ongoing, deepening relationship with God.
We must resist the “arrival” mentality or succumb to spiritual boredom because of all of the other distractions in the world.
As the first question of the Westminster Catechism states:
Q: What is the chief end of man?
A: Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.
This can seem foreign to us if we have a shallow Christianity.
“I can safely say, on the authority of all that is revealed in the Word of God, that any man or woman on this earth who is bored and turned off by worship is not ready for heaven.
- A.W. Tozer
Jesus’ parable of the sower helps us leave the place of shallow Christianity and walk with God as he intends.
Mark 4:13-20 ESV
“And he said to them, "Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables? The sower sows the word. And these are the ones along the path, where the word is sown: when they hear, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word that is sown in them. And these are the ones sown on rocky ground: the ones who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy. And they have no root in themselves, but endure for a while; then, when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately they fall away. And others are the ones sown among thorns. They are those who hear the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. But those that were sown on the good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold."
The four types of soil represent the condition of our hearts.
Seed along the path (on the surface)
Seed on rocky ground
Seed on thorny soil
Seed on good soil
Seed along the path (on the surface)
Luke 8:11-12 ESV
“Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. The ones along the path are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved.”
Satan is able to steal the word sown into us when we don’t understand it.
Matthew 13:19 ESV
“When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown along the path.”
Those who want to understand set aside time and effort to get to the Lord.
Mark 4:10-12 ESV
“And when he was alone, those around him with the twelve asked him about the parables. And he said to them, "To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside everything is in parables, so that "'they may indeed see but not perceive, and may indeed hear but not understand, lest they should turn and be forgiven."
Seed on rocky ground
Those on the rocky soil received the message with joy, but did not develop a secret life in God, a root system that no one else could see but him.
Our walk with God needs to have a deep root system if we are to be effective in the life and mission of God to be a disciple and go into all the nations to make disciples.
If we never take the time to develop a root system, when trouble, trial or persecution come because of the word, we can fall away.
“There's a difference between knowing God and knowing about God. When you truly know God, you have energy to serve Him, boldness to share Him, and contentment in Him.”
- J.I Packer
Seed on thorny soil
We want to be those who walk with Jesus and bear multi-fold fruit for his Kingdom.
To do so, we need to identify and weed out the unholy things, the things that are not set apart to God and that try to choke out his Kingdom purposes in our lives.
As we endeavored to understand holiness in last week’s message, I want to make each of the things that follow reflect holiness (being set apart to God) in my life.
Rules for Self Discovery:
1. What we want most;
2. What we think about most;
3. How we use our money;
4. What we do with our leisure time;
5. The company we enjoy;
6. Who and what we admire;
7. What we laugh at.
-A. W. Tozer
Distractions
Distractions keep us shallow. Waiting allows us to go deep.
“The man who would truly know God must give time to Him.”
- A.W. Tozer
Responsibilities are real, but we must make time to prioritize God.
And let’s be honest, it’s not always responsibilities that prevent us from doing so.
We can give in to the addiction of the phone and being entertained too much to go deep in the Lord.
The problem is that the supply of the internet is endless.
The myth of multitasking has us believe that we can have divided attention and go deep in the Lord.
These resources would help you learn otherwise:
Luke 8:14 ESV
“And as for what fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature.”
Again, if we are to go deep in the Lord, we must give him undistracted time.
“God never hurries. There are no deadlines against which He must work. Only to know this is to quiet our spirits and relax our nerves.”
-A.W. Tozer, The Pursuit of God: The Human Thirst for the Divine
When we do give God this time, it affects every area of our lives positively - our relationships, our marriages, our parenting, our careers and our ministry in them all.
God’s Invitation to Greater Depths
God invites his people into intimate friendship with himself.
In John 15, Jesus is essentially describing a life of walking with God in ongoing relationship with him through the Word, unceasing prayer and loving fellowship (a shared life) with other believers.
Jesus said something profound when he spoke about abiding in the Lord:
John 15:15-17 ESV
“No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. These things I command you, so that you will love one another.”
We want to be those who walk with Jesus and bear multi-fold fruit for his Kingdom.
Seed on good soil
Mark 4:10-12 ESV
“But those that were sown on the good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold."
How do we bear this kind of fruit?
Time spent with Jesus (and his people).
Moses and Joshua give us an example of this.
Exodus 33:7-11 ESV
“Now Moses used to take the tent and pitch it outside the camp, far off from the camp, and he called it the tent of meeting. And everyone who sought the Lord would go out to the tent of meeting, which was outside the camp. Whenever Moses went out to the tent, all the people would rise up, and each would stand at his tent door, and watch Moses until he had gone into the tent. When Moses entered the tent, the pillar of cloud would descend and stand at the entrance of the tent, and the Lord would speak with Moses. And when all the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance of the tent, all the people would rise up and worship, each at his tent door. Thus the Lord used to speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. When Moses turned again into the camp, his assistant Joshua the son of Nun, a young man, would not depart from the tent.”
Smoke vs. Fire
The Israelites were satisfied with seeing the cloud from a distance.
Joshua wanted to experience all that God had and remained in the tent of meeting to get it.
“I want the presence of God Himself, or I don't want anything at all to do with religion... I want all that God has or I don't want any.”
- A.W. Tozer
Joshua, with this mentality, would later be appointed by God to lead the Israelites into the promised land.
We have access to this because Jesus would ultimately go outside of the camp (Mark 1:35-39), not just to pray, but to give his life in ransom on the cross to make atonement for our sins (Hebrews 13:13).
Mark 1:35-39 ESV
“And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed. And Simon and those who were with him searched for him, and they found him and said to him, "Everyone is looking for you." And he said to them, "Let us go on to the next towns, that I may preach there also, for that is why I came out." And he went throughout all Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and casting out demons.”
Now, as we turn away from our sins, we have not only reconciliation with God, but access to his throne of grace to help us in our time of need (Hebrews 4:14-16).
Of David
Psalm 25:12-20 ESV
“Who is the man who fears the Lord? Him will he instruct in the way that he should choose. His soul shall abide in well-being, and his offspring shall inherit the land. The friendship of the Lord is for those who fear him, and he makes known to them his covenant. My eyes are ever toward the Lord, for he will pluck my feet out of the net. Turn to me and be gracious to me, for I am lonely and afflicted. The troubles of my heart are enlarged; bring me out of my distresses. Consider my affliction and my trouble, and forgive all my sins. Consider how many are my foes, and with what violent hatred they hate me. Oh, guard my soul, and deliver me! Let me not be put to shame, for I take refuge in you.”
God is ready to meet with those and befriend those who would fear him and learn to wait for him.
