Don't Let Anyone Muddy Your Well: 3 Things the Prodigal Wasted

Sermon outline

Don't waste the advice, the opportunities and the position God gives you through your spiritual father, and guard your heart against anyone who would muddy the well God has given you.

1. Take heed how you hear, and be a doer of the Word

   The measure with which you hear is the measure you receive, and the enemy comes straight away to steal the Word. Many sit under the Word week after week, clap and cheer, and leave with the same behaviour and the same thinking. Those who hear without doing deceive themselves.

   Illustration: A man in the church made a demand on God: when he phoned the pastor and the pastor prayed, he believed God would act. They agreed with him, and he got his miracle.

   “You still got the same old, same old behavior. The same stinking thinking.”

   • Luke 8:18
   • Mark 4:24
   • Mark 4:15
   • James 1:22

2. You need a man of God

   God rarely sends an angel or something spectacular; often He speaks in a still, small voice through the pastor He has already appointed over you. Trouble starts when people find 'another pastor' inside the congregation and follow that voice instead. That leads to gossip, discouragement and people drifting away, and it pulls the pastor's attention from building the kingdom.

   Illustration: He led a woman to the Lord, cleared the idols from her home and saw her delivered, yet a year later she told him God had told her to leave the church and asked whether he thought only he could hear God.

   “So you're no more listening now to the shepherd's voice. You're listening to a wolf's voice.”

   • 1 Kings 19:11-13
   • John 10:27

3. 1. He wasted the advice his father gave him

   A pastor's advice is not control or manipulation but counsel to build you up and set you on the way to victory, yet some people refuse all advice. Lucifer fell by deciding to be his own boss, and Judas walked with the Son of God but still chose the silver. A godly man or woman walks in submission, takes counsel, and listens to godly parents, and keeps company with positive people who help protect their joy.

   Illustration: He often asks Mark, a younger man who works for him, what he thinks, and weighs his words regardless of age or position. He also describes Hindu relatives he has known since growing up whose warmth, consistency and good character he admires.

   “He decided to be an employer all by himself and he employed himself right out of heaven.”

   • Luke 15:11-16
   • Matthew 7:6
   • Ephesians 5:22
   • Matthew 26:15
   • Matthew 27:5
   • Proverbs 4:23
   • John 8:32

4. 2. He wasted an opportunity to be great

   The son could have had God's best start in life in his father's house but let it slip, just as a believer can let a good pastor and good leaders slip away. It is fine to turn around when godly advice comes, without condemnation, but stop making the same mistake over and over. God cannot use a rebel who is as stubborn as a mule.

   Illustration: He reads a list of sayings, among them 'Dusty Bibles lead to dirty lives' and that people are like tea bags: you only find out how strong they are when they are put into hot water.

   “If you're headed in the wrong direction, God allows U-turns.”

5. 3. He wasted his position as a son and ended up a servant

   When a pastor brings someone close and gives him the position of a son, others respect him, but if he starts breaking the church instead of building it he steps down and down until no one sees him. To whom much is given, much is required, so be a good steward of the position God has placed you in. You are not in the church by mistake.

   Illustration: He read that Geneva, short of land, built a multi-storey car park under its lake: some people make much out of little, while others have much and squander it.

   “Whenever you waste your position as a son, you'll end up a servant.”

   • Luke 15:17-24
   • Luke 12:48

6. Guard your heart with all diligence

   A Jezebel spirit works through carnal Christians, drawing people close to the pastor into negative talk to eliminate them as competition. Refuse any conversation that speaks against your pastor, because your church is the well God uses to give you life, and one anointed word from God can change or even save your life. Ask what the motive is when someone invites you for coffee.

   Illustration: He and his wife loved their pastor until a woman invited them for coffee and, meeting by meeting, dropped little complaints until their hearts were twisted and they left the church. Two months later she became the pastor's secretary, and he went home and cried. From then on he carried his next pastor's bag and avoided anyone who spoke against him.

   “If I allow him to muddy my waters, when he's gone, I cannot drink.”

   • Proverbs 4:23

7. Never tell anyone your secret weaknesses

   When two believers share a secret sin they form an 'unholy alliance' and both end up condemned when it is time to praise God. Samson, a strong man with a great destiny, let Delilah close to his heart, told her his secret and lost his power with God. Share a weakness only with a more mature, godly person who will pray for you and not gossip or think badly of you.

   Illustration: Using Mark on the platform, he acts out two church members who secretly play the lotto together: it feels like friendship for a season, but in church each knows the other's secret and neither can lift his hands to praise.

   “Be careful who you allow in close proximity to your heart.”

   • Judges 16:17-19
   • Proverbs 29:11