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INTRODUCTION
What holds us back from having a deeper relationship with God?
What holds our church back from maturity and growth?
ILLUS: Have you ever tried to drive a vehicle with the emergency brake on? You might be able to go backwards, but not
forward very well at all. Stops progress and does damage.
What brakes have we put on to slow down or stop our spirituality? What do we need to repent? What do we need God to overcome? This
message series I preach with good measure of fear and trembling. For I know I often live life with the brakes on.
We are foolish to believe that we are fine and not in need to improvement. There is always room for improvement.
The Truth Project prompted these messages, and a study of the Scriptures show us there are some serious spiritual illnesses that
can be in our personal life that will put up walls between us and God, would damage our witness, harm the ministry of the church.
What holds us back?
Give you a total of 8 sins. Like a preliminary medical history report - check all that apply to you. From last week:
- Pride. You are the most important person in your life, arrogant.
Conquer this by following the humble example of Christ.
- Idolatry. Anything, anyone who is in first place other than God.
Conquer this by having a fresh view of the holiness of God.
- Robbing God. Withholding tithes and offerings - easy to figure out.
Conquer by giving bountifully as God prospered you from a cheerful heart
4. Uninterested in Maturity
- Hebrews 5:11-14
- There is arrested spiritual development, seems deliberate as they should be teachers by now. Content to be a spiritual
infant.
ILLUS: While parents love babies, don’t want them to remain. Something wrong if they do.
- Christians content with fire insurance, but aren’t doing anything about spiritually healthy lifestyle. Satisfied with the minimum requirements.
ILLUS: No sports team can win satisfied with the minimum practice and commitment.
- Intentional spiritual laziness. How bad can I be and still be good enough?
- How does this hold us back from God? We can’t discern righteousness can’t distinguish good
from evil, can’t be teachers.
- They are more concerned about the temporary things of earth than the eternal things of heaven.
- Do you and I need to check this one?
- How to conquer this sin: 6:1 purposefully seek maturity. “press on”= time to move on. Do
the things that bring maturity - fellowship of church, Bible, prayer, witnessing, Christian influence.
- There is a parallel passage, one of proofs I think Paul wrote Hebrews. Look at 1 Cor. 3:1-3. Interesting there
lies the next barrier...
5. Jealousy and Strife
- One huge cause of immaturity is conflicts within the Body.
QUOTE: NCCBA Dan Clausen: “One of the biggest problems in church is unresolved conflicts.”
- Living with interpersonal conflict among Christians as a normal part of life is not normal -
ILLUS: We are not legislative body where we argue, but One Body of Christ.
- The First Self-Righteous Church of Corinth was a dysfunctional church The first problem Paul addressed is their church
divisions, conflicts 1 Cor. 1:10.
- How does this hold us back from God? Not any different than the world “walking like mere men.”
Poor testimony “church that fights.”
- Do you and I need to check this one?
- How to conquer this sin: Remember Whose church: 1 Cor. 3:16-17; And how we should treat each
other Rom. 12:16-21. Matt. 5:9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, they shall be called the sons of God.”
6. Unwise use of time
- Ephesians 5:15-16 “Be careful how you walk, not as unwise men, but as wise, making the most of your time,
because the days are evil.”
- This is a big one, bigger than we want to admit. We have made busyness a virtue: “I am sooo busy.” Used it
as an excuse. Epidemic of busyness.
- Mixed-up priorities. First things are last, if we get to them. Too busy with non-eternals which don’t count, than
the eternal values which do count - faith, family. Thus become fools.
- How does this hold us back from God? We fall into evil of the time.
ILLUS: Any doubt that the days are evil? Economic, moral crises, political. Nation is in 2 wars, a terrorist struck
again on our soil at Fort Hood? Being lied to by the media, government, educational systems, even religions.
QUOTE: Truth project in two weeks will have this quote: “no generations have been more manipulated that the
generation that lives today.”
- Do you and I need to check this one?
- How to conquer this sin: Eph. 5:17 “So then don’t be foolish, but understand what
the will of the Lord is.” How do you discern the will of the Lord? Bible. Prayer. Godly Counsel. Do what
God calls you to do - you have plenty of time. Jesus did His mission in just three years.
7. Marriage Problems
- This last one - target husbands. 1 Peter 3:7 - If we don’t gently care for our wife and show her honor -
there is a specific bad consequence...
- How does this problem hold us back from God - our prayers will be hindered (line to God is cut,
dropped calls, no signal). Men - are your prayers not getting higher than ceiling? God not answering? Look at your wife
- how are you treating her?
- Husbands - do you and/or I need to check this one?
- The wives are to 1 Peter 3:1 - but the burden of the godly marriage falls on the husband.
- How do we conquer this sin - men: Seek to understand her as you live with her (listening attentively),
and honor her (love sacrificially). Treat her like the most precious possession you have - like delicate fine jewelry,
or whatever things you value - tools, toys, tractors, trucks, etc.
8. Forsaking the Assembly
- Hebrews 10:23-25. Skipping church, using every excuse you can find.
ILLUS: I wrote a list of the reasons/excuses 67 - RCR pages 75-76
QUOTE: Colson The Body “there is no such thing as Christianity apart from the church..”
32. “one cannot claim to be a Christian and at the same time claim to be outside the church. To do so is at
the least hypocrisy - at the worst blasphemy” 70.
- How does this hold us back from God? Hard to hold to our confession of our hope without faithfulness
to the Body of Christ, and we will fail to encourage each other when they need us and when we need them.
- The church provides accountability, fellowship, teaching, worship.
- Text shows us the closer we get to the second coming of Christ the more we need each other. The devil will work hard to
keep us from each other.
- Do you and I need to check this one?
- How do we conquer this sin: Do the “one another’s” together (List)
How many of the list of 8 did you check? Always room for improvement!
Let me summarize the prescriptions of the sins that hold us back from God.
APPLICATION: How to live freely, brakes off, pedal to the metal?
Follow the humble example of Christ to overcome pride
Have a fresh view of the grand holiness of God to overcome idolatry
Bountifully give tithes/offering from cheerful heart to overcome robbing God
Purposefully seek maturity to overcome the lack of godly discernment
Remember we belong to Christ must live in peace to overcome jealousy/strife
Wisely use your time doing God’s will to overcome temptations of evil
Men - lovingly honor your wives to overcome an ineffective prayer life
Faithfully assemble together as a body to overcome lack of encouragement
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