The Slow Learner
Sunday, April 06, 2008
By Pastor Jim May
If you are like me, and I think that most people are, then you are sometimes a little slow to learn the truths of the Bible and the ways of God. Sometimes I just don’t get it. It’s not that I don’t believe, but this little old “peanut” brain just can’t seem to always work the way it should.
How many times does God have to give us a lesson before we learn it? We keep facing the same tests again and again, and somehow we keep missing the point and failing God. But one day, by his mercy, we finally understand. We pass the test and we move on, growing a little stronger in the Lord and understanding a little bit more about Jesus.
Like the prophet Isaiah said in Isaiah 28:10, "For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little…" You learn about Jesus one little tidbit at a time. You grasp the truths of God’s Word one point at a time. But over time all of those little bits add up to a knowledge of Jesus that grows and expands, until one day you find yourself sold out to Jesus and ready to work for him.
That’s how a life of faith works. You never know it all, you only know a little bit as it is revealed to you. You never know what tomorrow holds, but you do know what the next step is. God only reveals himself to you a little bit at a time because he knows that we are all slow learners.
It has always been that way. No man ever stepped into the realm of the Spirit and suddenly understood all things. You’re walk by faith requires a process of learning and failing, learning and failing. With every failure a lesson is learned, at least we hope so.
Aren’t you glad that you don’t have to be a genius to serve the Lord? Aren’t you glad that God doesn’t just call the highly educated and the elite of society? God calls people from all walks of life, the slow learners, the fast learners and every one in between. God is an “Equal Opportunity Employer” and he is partial to one person above the other.
But I am convinced that most people who choose to serve the Lord are slow learners simply because most of the highly educated and social elite are too self sufficient to humble themselves before God. Therefore, those of the social elite among men often look down upon those who serve the Lord as the lower class in society.
My friend, I might just be of the lower class in the society of this world, but this world is not my home. My home is in Heaven. I’m just a pilgrim and a stranger in this world so why should I care what other people think of my social standing? All I care about is whether they see Jesus in me. I travel light through this world. I don’t need a lot of extra baggage hanging on me.
When you travel, do you take everything with you? Well, maybe some might try. No, you only take the necessities and leave everything else at home. You don’t take the furniture, the refrigerator or the lawn mowers with you when you travel. Can you imagine how much baggage you would have to carry if you took everything you owned with you on a trip? You only have a small part of what you own with you. All you’re valuable property is left at home.
My home is in Heaven. That’s where my treasure is. I’m traveling light through this world because I don’t want anything to hinder me on my journey home. Nothing of this world is worth the price of missing that final flight to Glory. Whatever I have with me here is going to be left behind because it is nothing to compare with what I have waiting on the other side.
Thank God I don’t have to be a millionaire to live for Jesus. 1 Corinthians 1:26-29, "For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: That no flesh should glory in his presence."
Out of the sea of humanity, God reached down and spoke to you and me. Out of the billions of souls that are on planet Earth, God chose us. We are hand-picked by God, called out from among the crowd, chosen to be his disciple and then anointed to do his work. We are all given the same calling and the same anointing. I didn’t say that we were all given the same work to do. But we all receive the same Spirit, the same salvation, the same Savior and the same baptism. What happens after that all depends on how quick we learn and how much we are willing to obey the Lord and commit our ways to him. By out own actions, our destiny is fixed. Each one of us must work out our own salvation by following the Lord in obedience to his Word and allowing the Holy Spirit to lead us into all truth.
It has been so since the beginning of the church; even from the first day that Jesus stepped into the pages of human history and began to perform his earthy ministry by choosing the original 12 disciples.
Matthew 10:1-8, "And when he had called unto him his twelve disciples, he gave them power against unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease. Among those called in the beginning was a man by the name of Philip. I want to talk about Philip a little this morning because I find in Philip a man that I can identify with in so many ways, and a man who I hope to be like before this life is done.
Philip was a soul-winner and a witness to others, leading many to Christ. From the day that Jesus called him out to follow him, Philip was found faithful. He was ever about doing the work that he was given to do.
Right from the start, he became a witness for Jesus. That’s what I want to be, a witness for the Lord. The instant we begin to follow Jesus, we are given a new purpose for living and that purpose is to lead people to Christ.
Notice that every one of the disciples were given the power to cast out devils and heal the sick. It wasn’t limited to a few faith healer ministries, or a few powerful evangelists. That power comes from God and is given to every one of his disciples and it is still for every one of us today.
John 1:43-46, "The day following (after Jesus had called Peter) Jesus would go forth into Galilee, and findeth Philip, and saith unto him, Follow me. Now Philip was of Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith unto him, We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. And Nathanael said unto him, Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip saith unto him, Come and see."
As soon as Philip began to serve the Lord he started leading people to Jesus and he never stopped doing so as long as he lived. He didn’t just sit back and say, “Well, I’m saved now. I can relax and just hang on to the end.” No, he walked in the Spirit and began to preach the gospel to everyone he met, telling them about Jesus. He was a faithful servant and a true disciple.
But like every true disciple Philip had to face his times of testing. His first recorded test came at a time when Jesus was about to perform one of the greatest miracles of his ministry. Through the work of Jesus and the disciples many of the Jews had began to follow them. And so we find them on a hillside in the countryside when the first test of Philip’s faith and understanding came.
Your tests often come before your greatest victories, and those victories and the lessons that you will learn from them always help you to learn something valuable about the Lord.
John 6:5-7, "When Jesus then lifted up his eyes, and saw a great company come unto him, he saith unto Philip, Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat? And this he said to prove him: for he himself knew what he would do. Philip answered him, Two hundred pennyworth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may take a little."
Okay Philip, here’s your first test of faith. Is God able to supply your need and the needs of all people? Is Jesus sufficient for all things, or do we need to lean upon our own understanding, or upon the ability of man to have our needs met? Is God’s power limited? Do you really believe that Jesus has the power to perform miracles, or is he just a man in your eyes?
Faith’s tests are always meant to help you make that determination for yourself. What do you believe Jesus can do? Can he heal your body? Can he set the captive free? Can he provide your needs? How much faith do you have? How big is your God? How much do you really understand about God’s Laws of provision? Is your faith big enough to believe God for the miracles, or are you a slow learner?
Philip failed the test of faith, but proved his faithfulness by learning his lesson and living in obedience in spite of his failure. How often have you failed the test of faith? I have failed that test so many times that I don’t want to even count the times. But, failing the test doesn’t mean that I must give up. It simply means that I need to learn more, study more and get to know Jesus better before the next test comes around.
I’ve been spending a lot of time with high school kids in the past few months and I’ve had to be their “teacher” in a lot of different classes. Some have been in Algebra, in fact, that’s where I’ll be all next week. Some have been in physical science, sports medicine and even in Spanish and French classes. Needless to say, I can’t teach them much about those subjects, but I can teach them a little. In the few hours I spend in those classes I learn a little and I am reminded of a few things that I learned 40 years ago.
But as I watch them, I know that many of them aren’t learning the lesson now while it’s easier to learn. Before your mind becomes cluttered with the things of life, and before you begin to convince yourself that you can’t learn something, it’s easier to learn it. Many of those kids have convinced themselves that they are too dumb to learn much.
I find that true in the church as well. We have allowed the devil to lie to us and we have swallowed those lies long enough until we are convinced that we can never really be all that God wants us to be. We don’t believe that we can be used in giving and interpreting messages in tongues. We don’t believe that we can be used to cast out devils. We are afraid to try to teach a class because we don’t know enough.
All of those kinds of thoughts and beliefs are direct results of failing tests in the past, and continuing to fail them every day. Only faithfulness to the call of God on your life, obedience to Word of God that you know and continued commitment to the work that God has called you to do will allow you to make the next step in your spiritual growth. You can either sit still and wallow in self pity and indulge yourself in your own selfish ways, or you can step out by faith and continue to grow. A true disciple must be ever growing, or he will be ever dying. If you aren’t moving upward, then you’re sinking downward.
Disobedient and unfaithful disciples will never reach their full potential in the Lord and I fear that most of God’s people are content to remain stagnant in spiritual mediocrity and have no real desire to grow in Christ. They grow satisfied with what they have and content with where they are and they remind me of the old hound dog that lays on the porch next to the farmer. The farmer rocks away in his chair on his day of rest while the old hound just lays there. Every once in a while the old hound moans and howls loudly, then settles right back to sleep. When asked why the old hound does that, the farmer says, “Well, he’s laying on a nail, and it’s just uncomfortable enough for him to howl about it, but not enough to make him get off his lazy bones and move off of it.” That’s the way most Christians are; too satisfied to move on and too uncomfortable to really enjoy where they are right now.
Philip was a slow learner, but he was a learner. He kept growing in grace and in the knowledge of Jesus, and we see his ministry begin to flourish more and more as he obeyed the Lord.
There’s a truth that we need to know here. Right now no one knows your faith, your heart or how much you are obeying the Lord. It’s easy to hide inside a shell of outward appearances. But in days, months and years to come, your true commitment will make itself clearly visible. Either you will still be where you are right now, or worse; or you will have grown in the Lord and become more fruitful in your ministry. All of you have a ministry and God expecting fruit from your tree. Is any there? Are you growing in the Lord, or is your fruit scarce? A tree is known by its fruit. Your life will bear fruit or it will be a dead tree, and dead things do not enter heaven’s gates, only things that have life, especially eternal life.
Philip’s ministry became very evident at the time of the crucifixion. Right after the Triumphal Entry of Jesus on that first day of the week when he rode the donkey into Jerusalem we see Philip at work, leading people to Christ. He is still faithfully doing the duty that he was called to do, be a fisher of men.
John 12:20-32, "And there were certain Greeks among them that came up to worship at the feast: The same came therefore to Philip, which was of Bethsaida of Galilee, and desired him, saying, Sir, we would see Jesus. Philip cometh and telleth Andrew: and again Andrew and Philip tell Jesus…”
Philip is a true disciple, but he still had so much to learn. For 3 ½ years he had walked with the Lord and lived in obedience, but he still didn’t understand the big picture. He still woke up every morning wondering just what he was missing. There seemed to always be something he was missing. He couldn’t reason it out, for it was something spiritual. What was he missing?
Then came another test? Philip, what do you really know about God? Do you really know who Jesus is? Is your faith strong enough to believe in the unseen things of God?
John 14:6-9, "Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him. Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us. Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?"
Philip failed the test again. He wanted to see God in the flesh so to speak. He had a hard time accepting the death and resurrection of Jesus. Philip had a lot of questions and few answers. If Jesus was God, how could he die? If he was the Messiah, how could his death fulfill that calling? If Jesus was the Son of God, why did he have to submit to the persecutions of men? How could all of the promises of the past 3 ½ years be fulfilled by a dead Lord? Philip was a slow learner and he just couldn’t understand what was happening.
Can you identify with Philip here? How many times have we questioned God’s methods? Lord, I you sure you know what you are doing? Well, of course you do, but Lord how can this work? I just can’t see it. Give me a sign. Show me the way out. Where do we go from here? If only I could see the next step, or understand how you are working it would be so much easier to believe. But that isn’t walking by faith. That’s walking by sight and we must walk by faith, never knowing fully, but trusting completely. That’s how disciples are built and faith grows, by trusting, obeying and then watching God bring it to pass. Faith can be built no other way.
In the first chapter of the Book of Acts we see Philip again. This time he is standing with all the remaining disciples as Jesus is ready to ascend into Heaven. He is there as Jesus speaks his last words before rising into the clouds.
Acts 1:7-9, "And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power. But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight."
Philip was there when the angels spoke audibly and appeared to the disciples. Through all his faults, his failures and his misunderstandings he remained faithful to the end and he was counted among the few who beheld the glory of God.
Philip was there on the Day of Pentecost when the Holy Ghost fell. He spoke with other tongues as the Spirit gave the utterance and that Holy Ghost power gave him a new lease on life. He became a great preacher of the gospel and spoke with boldness. The power of the Holy Ghost in his life made a difference and now he could walk in a new level of faith and belief. His understanding was opened even more to the knowledge of God and his life showed the difference as he walked with the Lord.
His faithfulness through the times of failure had brought him to a place of great victory and he say miracles, signs and wonders as a result of his ministry among the Samaritans.
In Samaria Philip confronted the devil head on, by preaching, witnessing and through his preaching Simon the Sorcerer was converted to Christ.
Then Philip is led by the spirit to witness and preach Jesus to the Ethiopian Eunuch.
Philip didn’t preach about the manner of dress, or against the Ethiopian gods, or about the cultural differences. He preached Jesus! The Ethiopian was born again, accepted Jesus and was baptized.
The last we read of Philip is after that baptism. The Word of God simply says that Philip was caught away and was next seen in a place called Azotus where he kept on preaching, passing through city after city, telling people about Jesus until he came to Caesarea.
Philip was a man obsessed with preaching about Christ. He was sold out to Jesus and lived every moment in the Spirit, to the point that the Holy Ghost was able to move him like a pawn on a chess board to do the will of God. What a man of God this man was! He may have been a little slow in learning, but once he learned there was no holding him back.
Philip came to Christ as a sinner, lost among the sea of people along the shores of Galilee. He was uneducated, uncouth and a slow learner, but look where God brought him.
It’s not your ability that matters, it’s your attitude and your willingness to commit yourself to Jesus. So what if you have doubts along the way. So did Philip. So what if you don’t understand everything at first; so did Philip. So what if you’re a slow learner; so was Philip.
God will enable you. He will teach you. He will lead and guide you. All you have to do is keep on walking forward in Christ, being faithful to the call of God on your life.
One day soon, you will be among the few who will rise to meet Jesus in the air. If you allow the Holy Spirit to lead you now and move you about on this earth to do the will of God, then you will be transported like Philip one day, but not to Azotus. You will be transported right into the very gates of the New Jerusalem, into the presence of Jesus Christ and there you will receive your final reward.
Have you failed the test? Just keep marching on. Are you slow to learn? You’re in good company. Just don’t give up. God will bring you onward to victory if you will just remain faithful to the end.
