Guided Question

How would you evaluate your spiritual progress today — are you cultivating a deeper desire for God's presence, drawing strength from Him in difficult seasons, and growing in a life marked by trust and obedience?

Summary

This episode explores Psalm 84 and what Dr. Robert Lewis calls the "Signs of a Pilgrim's Progress." He reminds us that life's highest calling is to know God, yet the distractions and demands of everyday life often cause us to lose sight of that purpose.

Using Psalm 84, Dr. Lewis identifies three marks of genuine spiritual growth. First is a yearning heart—a deep desire for God's presence that produces contentment and praise. Second is increasing strength, which comes through continual communion with God and enables believers to pass through life's "Valleys of Baca" without becoming trapped in spiritual dryness. Third is a good life, marked by trust, obedience, and a growing preference for God's presence over the world's rewards.

The psalm concludes with a call to spiritual renewal: confess spiritual disorientation, recommit to pursuing God, bring your burdens and dry places to Him, and trust His promise that He withholds no good thing from those who walk uprightly.

The movement is clear:

A heart that longs for God.

A life strengthened by God.

A life satisfied in God.

Key Takeaways

The Yearning Heart (Psalm 84:1–4)

A growing believer desires God's presence above all else.

Religious activity cannot replace genuine devotion.

Contentment and praise flow naturally from enjoying God.

Increasing Strength (Psalm 84:5–7)

Strength comes through continual communion with God.

"Highways to Zion" are built through prayer, Scripture, repentance, and obedience.

God can transform life's dry valleys into places of blessing.

Believers go "from strength to strength" as they draw near to Him.

The Good Life (Psalm 84:10–12)

God's presence is better than worldly success or comfort.

Trust and obedience lead to lasting satisfaction.

No good thing is withheld from those who walk uprightly.

Applications

Confess spiritual disorientation.

Recommit to pursuing God's presence.

Bring your "Valley of Baca" to Him.

Rest in God's promises and faithfulness.

Verse Summary

2 – A heart that longs for God

5–7 – Strength through God's presence

10 – God's presence is better

12 – Blessed is the one who trusts Him

Scripture References

Psalm 84 — The signs of spiritual progress and delighting in God's presence

Revelation 2:1–5 — Returning to your first love

Psalm 51:16–17 — God desires a broken and contrite heart

Mark 7:6–7 — Worship that is merely external

Jeremiah 9:23–24 — Boasting in knowing God

Matthew 10:29–31 — God's care for those who belong to Him

Recorded 5.9.82

Where are you in your spiritual journey — still dead in sin, encountering God’s mercy, or living fully as His child — and what does that reveal about your life today?

This episode walks through Ephesians 2:1–10, showing the gospel in ten verses. Paul starts with humanity’s spiritual death — driven by appetite, pride, and worldly influence, living under the consequences of sin.

Then comes the turning point: “But God.” Rich in mercy, God intervenes, making us alive in Christ, raising us up with power, and seating us with Him — giving access, purpose, and eternal significance. Salvation is entirely by grace through faith.

Finally, we are God’s workmanship — His poem — created in Christ for good works prepared beforehand. The movement is clear:

You were dead. But God. Now we are His.

1. Spiritual Death (2:1–3)

   • Driven by lust and pride; “children of wrath”

   • Emptiness, hollow optimism, increasing corruption

2. God’s Intervention: “But God” (2:4–5)

   • God initiates salvation; rich in mercy and love

   • Grace given before we sought Him

3. Salvation Accomplishes (2:5–6)

   • Made alive: Spirit regenerated

   • Raised up: Power to overcome sin

   • Seated with Him: Access, worship, purpose

4. Saved by Grace (2:8–9)

   • Not earned or deserved

   • Fully by God’s initiative

5. We Are His Workmanship (2:10)

   • God’s “poem,” ongoing expression

   • Created for good works and eternal purpose

Verse Summary: 1 – You were dead | 4 – But God | 10 – We are His

• Ephesians 2:1–10 — Death to life, grace, and purpose

• Romans 6:4–6 — Raised with Christ to walk in newness of life

• 1 John 2:16 — Lust of the flesh, eyes, and pride of life

Recorded 3.28.82

Are you growing older in your faith—or truly growing up through intentional application of God’s Word?

In this sermon from Fellowship Bible Church, Dr. Robert Lewis challenges believers to examine whether they are spiritually maturing or merely aging in the faith. Drawing from Epistle to the Hebrews 5, he addresses Christians who had followed Christ for decades yet remained spiritually immature.

He describes three evidences of spiritual stagnation: dull hearing, an ailing appetite for truth, and failing discernment. Spiritual truth is never neutral—if not applied, it hardens the heart. Using the parable of the talents from Gospel of Matthew 25, he emphasizes that unused truth is eventually lost.

The heart of the message centers on intent and application. Maturity is not measured by biblical knowledge but by practiced obedience. Christianity becomes boring when it is merely acknowledged—but becomes an adventure when lived.

Through a powerful real-life story of a woman who chose obedience during a painful divorce, the sermon concludes with a compelling reminder: abundant life cannot be defined without application.

• Age does not equal maturity.

• Christians can expend energy yet remain spiritually stagnant.

• The “spiritual treadmill” problem.

• Written to believers mature in years but immature in growth.

• The writer pauses discussion of Melchizedek to address stagnation.

• Spiritual calluses form when truth is not applied.

• Two root causes:

  • Utility — Failing to see Scripture as useful.

  • Intent — Never intending to fully live it out.

• If truth is not used, it is lost (Matthew 25 principle).

• Stuck on elementary principles.

• Immaturity is lack of experience, not lack of knowledge.

• Maturity = practiced obedience, not accumulated information.

• Without practice, life becomes guesswork.

• Repeated conflict and instability often stem from lack of biblical discernment.

• Meditation integrates Scripture with daily living.

• The difference between reading about something and experiencing it.

• Christianity is not a job—it’s an adventure.

• Radical obedience breeds:

  • Joy

  • Freedom

  • Anticipation

  • Abundant life

• A woman applies 1 Corinthians 6 instead of retaliating.

• Intentional obedience brings freedom and restoration.

• Application leads to true spiritual adventure.

• Abundant life cannot be defined without application.

• Choose adventure over boredom.

• Apply one specific truth this week.

• Growing older in Christ does not guarantee spiritual maturity.

• Spiritual truth is never neutral—it either softens or hardens.

• If you don’t use what you’ve been given, you lose it.

• Maturity is measured by practiced obedience, not Bible knowledge.

• Discernment comes through application.

• Christianity without application is boring.

• Christianity with radical intent is an adventure.

• Abundant life begins where obedience begins.

• Hebrews 5:11–14 — Spiritual immaturity revealed through dull hearing, spiritual infancy, and lack of discernment.

• Matthew 25:14–29 — What is not used is lost; faithful application leads to growth and joy.

• Proverbs 14:12 — What seems right without wisdom leads to destruction.

• Psalms 1:1–3 — Meditating on God’s Word produces stability and fruitfulness.

• 1 Corinthians 6:7 — Better to suffer wrong than abandon obedience among believers.

• 3 John 1:4 — True joy comes from walking in the truth.

Recorded 3.14.82