Sunday Sermon Title: 3 Stages of Spiritual Growth

Speaker: Senior Pastor Rony Tan
Date: 13 March 2016
Venue: Lighthouse Evangelism

1.     Introduction
What constitutes a human being? What comprises a man?  In 1 Thessalonians 5:23, Apostle Paul tells us that God Himself sanctifies us wholly, that is, our  body, soul and spirit.  Every human has a spiritual dimension, not just a physical one. The soul of a man is a bridge between his spirit and the body.  The soul consists of mind, emotion and will of a person. The soul can decide what he wants to focus on.  He can focus on the body and grow strong physically, and to have a strong mind mentally. By doing this alone, his spirit would be underdeveloped. Such a person will impact nothing in this life for there is no eternal value, because the spirit remains untouched and underdeveloped. 

2.     “I am a spirit. I have a soul and I live in the body”. 

a.     This understanding will give us a right perspective of our personhood.  Body contacts the physical world. Mind contacts the mental world. Spirit contacts the spiritual world.

b.    When a person is born again. He is sensitive to the spiritual world, both to God and the devil.

3.     Satan comes as an angel of light because he wants to deceive. Our society of all levels is influenced by the spirit of deception because Satan appears as an angel of light.

a.     Christians who are not anchored in God's Word, they will be deceived. This is because many simply just hear the Word.  Soon, they will develop an itchy ear to hear more and more.

b.    These people build their houses on a sandy foundation. They think they are saved just by hearing, without doing.  So called biblical teaching without having self-discipline and taking responsibility is a clear indication that the angel of light has infiltrated into the church.

4.     There are many churchgoers who talk about Christ but never behave like Him.

a.     There are two ways to show that we are hearer and doer of the Word.  One is character building, which is about becoming more like Christ each day.  The second is the Great Commission, which is about evangelising the lost through our life and lifestyle.

b.    False teaching is like “closing down sales teaching” for there is no need to exercise discipline and responsibility, just keep hearing the Word.

5.     How to have the assurance of salvation? The answer is:

Right Bible interpretation leads to right doctrine
Right doctrine leads to right believing
Right believing leads to right living
Right living leads to assurance of salvation

a.     Knowing God's part and man's part is a good balance teaching. Assurance of salvation comes from discipline. It is about walking the narrow way. One needs to work out his salvation with fear and trembling.

b.    A disciplined Christian life has no issue or question about the assurance of salvation because he is assured daily as a hearer and doer of God’s Word.

c.     Like the Israelites, assurance of salvation is about discipline. They stayed within the boundary God set for them, and was saved when the angel of death passed over them.

d.    There is a similarity between the garden of Eden and the modern day teaching in that wrong beliefs bring “enlightenment”.  It is this kind of enlightenment that leads many to spiritual death.

6.     Reverend Moon and the Unification Church

a.     His background.  He was a pastor's son. He read the Bible and prayed regularly. However he started to twist the Bible slowly and subtlely.  Initially, the deviation was minor but later he got more blatant in his teaching.

b.    He wrote a theology book called the divine principles. He started to claim that God revealed to him in a special way. He began to teach that Jesus is one body with God and not God. He taught his members that they can be one body with God.

c.     He declared that even Moses and Jesus have to submit to him. To him, Jesus did not complete his mission. Thus Jesus came back again through him to complete God’s mission.

d.    He got married in 1960. Later he went to Japan and it was recorded that his converts were more than all the churches combined in Japan.

e.     When he went to the United States, he took the nation by storm.  Many professionals like lawyers left their jobs and homes to follow him. Parents of teenagers were upset with him because they left them to follow him. It was recorded that 300 hundred thousands flocked to hear him speak at the Washington Memorial Service. At its peak, the movement has one millions followers.

7.     There is always demonic power behind false teaching, like in the case of Rev Moon.  Therefore, Christians need to know what they believe.

a.     Do you study the Bible carefully? Or, do you just read the Bible casually once a week?

b.    It is sad that Christians, like other faiths, do not really know what they believe. Apostle Paul warns us in 1Timothy 4:1 that in the last day some shall depart from the faith. In other words, these people have believed the right teachings before, but began to believe the wrong teachings which led them astray.

8.     Is it true that once saved always saved? Yes and no. Yes if I keep walking in the narrow way.  No, if I walk the broad way.  By simply believed that once saved always saved regardless of what I do with my life, is a false doctrine.

a.     In the last days some shall depart from the faith for they are entering into the devil’s same old trap, which is being “enlightened” without discipline and responsibility.

b.    Rev Moon always quoted the Bible, but he was a wolf in sheep clothing. Similarly, many modern day preachers can quote the Bible, but do it out of context.

c.     Like Rev Moon, many will teach many good stuff which are baits to lure them to swallow the poison later. No wonder we are seeing many Christians today being deceived and led astray after taking the poison of false teaching.

d.    Every cultic leader can say ten good things and he needs only one of these things diluted with poison to blind the gullible and ignorant from seeing the true light.

9.     In Act 16:6, it is recorded that this possessed slave girl kept saying that Apostle Paul and his men were the servants of the most High God. It might sound like a good introduction, but the Bible says that Paul was grieved in the spirit.  Though it is true that they are servants of God and the devil knows it, but the devil’s hidden agenda is always to deceive and destroy the soul of man ultimately.  

a.     A dog does not take in pioson straightaway.  It is always a little bit at a time before it breathes its last.

b.    The deceived would say, “Rev Moon has the majority, so it must be true”.  Majority is not necessary always right.  Moses sent out 12 spies and 10 of them, which are the majority, gave wrong advice. The ten were wrong.

Conclusion

Jesus said to us that we need to beware of false prophets with sheep clothing for they are ravenous wolves.  We must work hard for the world is set on the path towards hell.

Reflection: Would we be able to say to Jesus that we have done our best?  Can we tell Him that we read the Bible daily and carefully?

Mother Teresa once said, “I know I cannot help all, but I can help some”.  Who are the “some” that you can help?

We need to be busy for the Lord.  In the Book of Acts, what are the disciples busy about? Their consuming passion is two-fold. One is to build right character in them so that they can be more like Christ. Two is to obey the Great Commission to share Christ with others particularly their loved ones.

Two questions to ask ourselves when the world ceases: Are you saved? Are your loved ones saved?

Application:

Let us examine our heart and ask God to help us to have this yearning to be more and more like Christ each day.  Ask Him to increase our desire to pray for our loved ones and share Christ with them.  Intercede for them so that their heart shall be open to God’s love through Jesus Christ’s forgiveness of sins.  May we be the light and salt for Christ at home, in the place of work, and in the community we live in.

Note: This is a personal sermon note-taking. To get a complete sermon, you may want to purchase the DVD from the church counter.