Sermon Tone Analysis

Spiritual Disciplines – 14

Learning & Perseverance

/Text: /

Place Preached - (Mississauga International Baptist Church)

Date Preached - (02~/05~/04)

 

Introduction:   

 

We've all heard teachers or preachers, who are as theologically deep as a mountain lake.

But whose Christianity seems as dry and stale as moldy bread.

And then there is a other extreme: "I never liked school and I don't want to learn anything when I come to church."

There's nothing like Jesus in either of those two attitudes.

Is there?

We shouldn't have to choose between the two.

A biblically balanced Christian as both a full head and a full heart.

If forced to have only one or the other we must choose the burning heart.

Christians must realize that a fire cannot blaze without fuel, we must not be content to have seal without knowledge.

We should discipline ourselves to be intentional learners like Jesus.

*John 7:1515*And the Jews marvelled, saying, How knoweth this man letters, having never learned?

An examination of the word /disciple/ reveals that it means to be not only "a follower" of Christ, but also "a learner."

! I. Learning characterizes the wise person

 

*Proverbs 9:99*Give /instruction/ to a wise /man/, and he will be yet wiser: teach a just /man/, and he will increase in learning.

Wise and righteous people can never get enough wisdom or knowledge.

Those unteachable or prideful about their learning only reveal how shallow they really are.

There is humility with a truly wise because they know there is so much they have yet to learn.

They can learn from anybody regardless of age.

Illustration: Missionary to Korea, Jack Baskin once said, "/the key to my success among the Korean people, was the attitude that every man was my teacher./"

*Proverbs 10:14* *14*Wise /men/ lay up knowledge: but the mouth of the foolish /is/ near destruction.

*Proverbs 18:15* *15*The heart of the prudent getteth knowledge; and the ear of the wise seeketh knowledge.

Wise people not only acquire knowledge, they seek it.

They discipline themselves in seeking opportunities to learn.

*Proverbs 23:1212*Apply thine heart unto instruction, and thine ears to the words of knowledge.

Learning is a lifelong discipline, that characterizes a wise person.

We must have an uncommon thirst for knowledge.

! II.

Fulfilling the greatest commandment

 

*Mark 12:30  “*/And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy ... mind,.../”

 

One of the ways he wants you to show love and obedience to him is by godly learning.

God is glorified when we use the mind he made to learn of him, his ways, his word, and his world.

Illustration: Kids who are smart, are the "nerds" - our culture, glorifies the physical and the material.

The heroes are the ballplayers , some of whom can do everything with the ball except read its label.

There is an intellectualism that is wrong, but it is also wrong to be anti-intellectual.

The more we love God, the more we seek to know him.

! III.

Learning - Essential for increased godliness

 

*Romans 12:22*And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what /is/ that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

The alternative to transform ancient via learning is conformity to the world.

Faith is a gift of God, that is expressed only after there is the hearing with understanding of a particular message, namely the gospel.

*Romans 10:1414*How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed?

and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard?

and how shall they hear without a preacher?

We can grow in our faith and love of him, if we do not learn more about him.

When will not become more like Christ, if we don't know more of what Christ is like.

No one is changed by an unread Bible.

No one grows into a godliness, he or she knows nothing about.

The word of God must go through our head, if it's going to change are heart and our life.

Those who are not disciplined learners have little spiritual discernment, and some become prime targets for the cults.

The Bible warns us not to be foolish, untaught, naive or ignorant.

! IV.  Learning is mostly by discipline, not by accident

 

We must not assume that we have learned true wisdom, just by growing older.

*Job 32:99*Great men are not /always wise: neither do the aged understand judgment./

Illustration: The longer a dust ball rolls around under the bed, the bigger it gets.

So every mind picks up a little knowledge at least the longer it rolls around on the earth.

Becoming like Jesus doesn't happen incidentally.

Godliness, as *1 Timothy 4:7* says, requires a deliberate discipline.

Without discipline, we only get spiritual and biblical knowledge by accident or convenience.

Occasionally, we may hear a biblical fact or principal from someone else and profit from it.

The discipline of learning, helps us to be intentional learners not accidental learners.

It's all a lot easier to be an accidental learner and a convenience learner, then an intentional learner.

We're born that way.

Illustration: We live in the TV age.

TV decides for you, what will be presented, speaks the words to you, shows you its own images, and tells you what impact it wants to have on your life, if any.

Books are much too demanding for the modern mind.

Illustration: the Center for Science in the Public Interest, conducted a survey of 180 boys and girls ranging in age from eight to 12, who lived in the Washington DC area.

On this written survey, the children were asked to name as many brands of beer as they could, and as many US presidents as they could.

The results showed that these children could mean more alcoholic beverages than presidents.

Young people are not readers, because their parents are not!

At one Christian College, a fifth of the students said their parents had never read to them.

*1 Corinthians 14:20* *20*Brethren, be not children in understanding: howbeit in malice be ye children, but in understanding be men.

! V.  Learning in a variety of ways

 

/Sends some people have legitimate difficulties with the reading, here's a list of other learning methods./

Consider listening to recorded books.

Cassette tape or CD ~/ MP3 or other digital format.

Listen to Bible teaching programs on Christian radio - this requires discernment to make sure your listening to a reputable ministry.

Plan for meaningful dialogue with, and ask prepared questions of, spiritually mature Christians.

In anticipation of such a meeting you may prepare a list of questions to discuss.

Having said all that, I still want to return to the emphasis on learning by reading.

I've always found it to be true that growing Christians are reading Christians.

It is possible for almost anyone with the necessary discipline to make spiritual progress through reading.

Yet 45% of Americans say they never read a book.

Worse than that, the National Commission on Excellence in Education reported in 1983 that the average college graduate does not read one serious book in the course of a year.

You'll be able to read a relatively few bucks in your lifetime, so read the best books.

Don't waste your time on books you'll regret reading when you look back upon them from the perspective of eternity.

There are books to be read just for relaxation and refreshment.

But even these should be edifying and help you in some sense to love God with your mind.

Perseverance.

Illustration: The beginning of a new workweek.

- no flex in the schedule - most of the day spent on the run - battling traffic - running numerous errands - changing close on the run - endless responsibilities - not to mention bill paying, checkbook balancing, homework helping, classes, hobbies, and community involvement.

Further complicating all this there may arise, illness, job stress, a second job, family conflict, the financial problems.

Sound familiar?

Now then, you read this book, encouraging you to practice all these spiritual disciplines.

You already feel like tired, staggering juggler on a high wire, trying to keep a dozen eggs in the air with someone else wanting to throw you a half-dozen more.