back to index2019-03-10 Do Not Drift
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For this reason, we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, 00:00:23.000 |
For if the word spoken through angels proved unalterable, 00:00:26.000 |
and every transgression and/or disobedience received a just penalty, 00:00:29.000 |
how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? 00:00:33.000 |
After it was first spoken through the Lord, it was confirmed to us by those who heard, 00:00:38.000 |
God also testifying with them, both by signs and wonders, and by various miracles, 00:00:42.000 |
and by gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to His own will. 00:00:49.000 |
Heavenly Father, we thank You for the blessing that we have to be able to call You our Abba Father. 00:00:55.000 |
We pray that nothing but Your Word would go forth from this pulpit, 00:01:01.000 |
that You would ordain Your words, Lord God, that You've put Your very breath in, 00:01:06.000 |
to have its power over us, as You promised, Lord God, 00:01:11.000 |
that the Word goes forth and does not return until it has accomplished its purpose. 00:01:15.000 |
So I pray that You would open our eyes, our ears, soften our hearts, Lord God, 00:01:20.000 |
that Your Word would penetrate as we are the potter, You are the potter, we are the clay. 00:01:26.000 |
Mold us as You desire. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. 00:01:32.000 |
If you've been a Christian for any period of time, for a year, two years, ten years, thirty years, 00:01:38.000 |
you can probably name a few people, if not many people, who at one point in your life, 00:01:43.000 |
you thought you were going to be running this race together for the rest of your life, 00:01:49.000 |
Maybe some of them are not just not here, but they're hostile toward the faith. 00:01:54.000 |
But at the time, whether you were in college or whether you were in your twenties or thirties, 00:01:59.000 |
they were so passionately for God, and you probably couldn't believe that they drifted away. 00:02:04.000 |
But again, if you've been a Christian for any period of time, 00:02:07.000 |
whether it's a year or ten years or your whole life, 00:02:10.000 |
you probably know at least one person who drifted away and shipwrecked their faith 00:02:17.000 |
I remember when I first became a Christian, I was so excited about my encounter with God. 00:02:23.000 |
Because I grew up in the church all my life, and if you asked me if I was a Christian, 00:02:27.000 |
I would have immediately told you, "Of course I'm a Christian." 00:02:30.000 |
But I didn't know Him. I didn't have a personal relationship with Him. 00:02:35.000 |
It was just some figurehead that my dad preached. 00:02:39.000 |
But when I became a Christian, it was such a radical conversion. 00:02:44.000 |
It's like, "Oh my gosh, this God that I sang to, memorized Scripture, He's actually real. 00:02:52.000 |
So I was so excited. So me and my friend went back home, 00:02:56.000 |
and I remember we had an opportunity to talk to his older brother, 00:03:01.000 |
and we shared with him what happened, how we got converted. 00:03:04.000 |
So we were looking for an opportunity to share our faith, and we were just so excited. 00:03:08.000 |
We weren't trying to evangelize. We were just trying to tell him. 00:03:14.000 |
And I remember his response to us was, "That's great. 00:03:19.000 |
I experienced something just like you when I was younger." 00:03:23.000 |
And obviously, he caught us off guard because he was as pagan as you can get. 00:03:30.000 |
If you asked me at that time, "Who is living a sinful life?" 00:03:34.000 |
That's the guy that I would have first chose. 00:03:37.000 |
We knew he was doing drugs. We knew he was engaged in all kinds of stuff. 00:03:40.000 |
But he said, "What you're saying to me, like, 'Yeah, I met the Lord too.'" 00:03:47.000 |
And he said, "You know, I did, but I know I'm not living like that now, but, you know, that's what happened." 00:03:53.000 |
And again, at that time, I just couldn't believe it. 00:03:56.000 |
How can somebody who experienced the same God that I experienced be living the way he's living? 00:04:01.000 |
Well, that was 30-some years ago, and I can tell you now, from my own personal experience, 00:04:09.000 |
not only has he proven to be true of many Christians that I have known, 00:04:15.000 |
I've come to realize just how difficult it is to remain on this path. 00:04:20.000 |
It's very, very easy to drift, and that's exactly what Jesus said. 00:04:25.000 |
He said that the road that leads to eternal life is narrow and it is difficult, 00:04:33.000 |
Not only am I not shocked or surprised anymore of people that used to be, 00:04:39.000 |
used to be a missionary, used to be a pastor even, 00:04:46.000 |
The Scripture that we're looking at this morning is warning us about drifting. 00:04:51.000 |
You don't have to denounce who Jesus is to drift, because that would be apostate. 00:04:59.000 |
People who drift away from God don't wake up one day and say, 00:05:02.000 |
"You know what? I just don't believe in God." 00:05:08.000 |
Most people that I know who have defected from the Christian faith 00:05:16.000 |
If you ask them, they might tell you that I left the faith because I had an encounter 00:05:21.000 |
and I didn't like our church or my pastor embezzled money 00:05:24.000 |
or I didn't like certain people and I was disappointed and people let me down, 00:05:28.000 |
they're a bunch of hypocrites, they might tell you an event that may have happened. 00:05:32.000 |
But most people that I know do not defect from their faith because of an event. 00:05:36.000 |
I know plenty of people who face all kinds of tragedies, 00:05:40.000 |
all kinds of disappointment in the church and are thriving in their faith. 00:05:47.000 |
the majority of people who defected from the faith, 00:05:50.000 |
again, it didn't happen because of an event and they were so traumatized 00:05:55.000 |
They were drifting for a long period of time before that happened. 00:06:00.000 |
And when that happened, that was just the excuse that they used to get out. 00:06:06.000 |
When we drift, and if you happen to be on a boat, 00:06:10.000 |
you know, that you're just kind of relaxing, enjoying the sun, 00:06:12.000 |
and you drifted out for an hour and you're miles and miles away from the shore, 00:06:17.000 |
you get up and you realize, "Oh man, I shouldn't be here." 00:06:21.000 |
And you know you need to get back, but there is no sense of fear or danger 00:06:32.000 |
There's no sudden danger, unless you have drifted and a storm comes in. 00:06:39.000 |
And when the storm comes in, you are in danger because now if your boat flips, 00:06:50.000 |
Because there's no persecution, there is no fire underneath our feet. 00:06:54.000 |
When we begin to drift, there is no sense of urgency. 00:07:00.000 |
Our hearts have become hardened toward God for many, many years. 00:07:03.000 |
It's been a long, long time since I've ever sang a song 00:07:06.000 |
and really felt it in my heart and confessed my love for Jesus, 00:07:10.000 |
and I really meant it from the bottom of my heart. 00:07:15.000 |
Scripture warns us, but there is no sense of urgency to get back 00:07:23.000 |
And when you're in that state, and one of these days, storm comes, 00:07:29.000 |
it will flip your boat, and eventually you will use that to leave. 00:07:36.000 |
People that I've found who have defected from their faith, 00:07:38.000 |
they've been in that state of floating and drifting 00:07:43.000 |
That's why there's a sense of urgency in the author of this letter 00:07:51.000 |
There's five separate warnings in the book of Hebrews, 00:07:57.000 |
But with every Christology, with every presentation of Jesus as who he is, 00:08:04.000 |
he's greater than the prophets, he's greater than the angels, 00:08:07.000 |
he's greater than Moses, he's greater than Aaron, 00:08:09.000 |
he's greater than the priesthood, he's greater than the sacrifice, 00:08:11.000 |
and every time he exalts Christ, he ends it and sums it up with a warning. 00:08:18.000 |
That after knowing who Jesus is and confessing Jesus, 00:08:21.000 |
that you slip away, you fall out, you neglect, 00:08:31.000 |
He says, "For this reason, we must pay much closer attention." 00:08:38.000 |
he's talking about the Jesus that he's presented in chapter one. 00:08:42.000 |
The Jesus that he presented in chapter one begins by saying, 00:08:46.000 |
"God spoke to us in the new covenant directly through Jesus." 00:08:52.000 |
So every believer, every genuine Jew, prior to the coming of Christ, 00:08:57.000 |
they heard through the prophets in many ways in various avenues, 00:09:01.000 |
but now he speaks primarily directly through his son. 00:09:05.000 |
In other words, we're not looking at pictures, 00:09:10.000 |
we're not looking at shadows, we're not looking at impressions. 00:09:17.000 |
He made it crystal clear what his intention is, 00:09:21.000 |
what he was doing in history, and where we are headed. 00:09:26.000 |
"Therefore, you must pay very close attention." 00:09:33.000 |
He says, "Since Jesus is the radiance of God's glory 00:09:39.000 |
He didn't just tell us from a distance, "Jesus came." 00:09:43.000 |
God himself in his glory came and walked among us. 00:09:47.000 |
He said he is the exact representation of his nature. 00:09:50.000 |
In other words, it is not some of God, it is not a reflection of God, 00:09:58.000 |
Not from a distance, he didn't yell at us through the clouds, 00:10:04.000 |
He took on flesh and there's an actual land where his feet touched. 00:10:13.000 |
so that he can become a sympathetic high priest. 00:10:21.000 |
Considering all of this, "we must pay close attention." 00:10:26.000 |
"Since Jesus upholds all things by the word of his power." 00:10:31.000 |
This God who is speaking to us, he's a sovereign God. 00:10:35.000 |
He's the one who upholds all things by his hands. 00:10:43.000 |
We don't have our world and then his world and then we go back and forth. 00:10:48.000 |
Even Satan, the Bible says the God of this age is Satan. 00:10:58.000 |
This God who is absolutely sovereign over all things, 00:11:02.000 |
our very breath, the reason why we live and move and have our being, 00:11:13.000 |
I mentioned in the beginning, when E.F. Hutton speaks, everyone listens. 00:11:24.000 |
Again, you don't know who E.F. Hutton is now, 00:11:29.000 |
When Warren Buffett gives you stock advice, everybody leans over. 00:11:39.000 |
This guy is the best investor in our generation, 00:11:41.000 |
made billions of dollars just from picking the right stocks at the right time, 00:11:47.000 |
When he speaks, everybody who has interest in stocks, 00:11:56.000 |
The sovereign God who sustains all things, created all things, 00:12:08.000 |
in other words, he's saying, considering all this, 00:12:21.000 |
Think about all the people that we look up to and idolize in this world. 00:12:27.000 |
Movie stars, athletes, maybe great business people, billionaires, 00:12:33.000 |
people that we look at and maybe covet in the secular world. 00:12:44.000 |
People look up to them, idolize them, want to imitate them for what reason? 00:13:10.000 |
And yet the world is willing to spend tons of money 00:13:15.000 |
and yet when we talk about the God of the universe 00:13:27.000 |
And yet we still struggle with our priorities 00:13:35.000 |
In other words, for this reason, you must pay close attention. 00:13:40.000 |
If the Jesus that we worship, that we sing about, 00:13:42.000 |
if this is the Jesus that we sing and worship, 00:13:49.000 |
All of this is an introduction of what he is going to say. 00:14:02.000 |
he is the one who opposes the universe, not the angels. 00:14:07.000 |
He is righteous and he is ultimately immutable. 00:14:11.000 |
He does not change from generation to generation. 00:14:14.000 |
If this is the Jesus that you and I believe in, 00:14:30.000 |
The whole point of what he's been getting at in chapter 1 00:14:32.000 |
is to lead us to chapter 2 to say, "Pay attention!" 00:14:37.000 |
If you're a school teacher and your children are running around 00:14:46.000 |
or you say, "Click, click," and everybody has to say, "Click, click." 00:14:49.000 |
And you have all kinds of tricks to get their attention. 00:14:52.000 |
I've seen some veteran teachers who are really good at that. 00:14:55.000 |
They would say something and then, boom, everybody gets their attention. 00:15:15.000 |
The very breath that you breathe, he gave it to you. 00:15:38.000 |
It's almost like, "You must, must, must pay attention." 00:15:41.000 |
Now, whenever the Bible repeats it three times, 00:15:56.000 |
so the way they highlight it was they repeat it. 00:16:02.000 |
he said, "Peter," when he has something to say to Peter 00:16:14.000 |
Everything I say is important, but this is really important. 00:16:29.000 |
The word "pay attention," the word in and of itself 00:16:33.000 |
It means to get your ship to be deliberately on the right path. 00:16:41.000 |
but to actively make sure that it's going toward the right path. 00:16:46.000 |
Now, today, and I don't know if you guys are into sailing. 00:16:52.000 |
But I had a friend who was really like an avid fisherman. 00:16:58.000 |
And so a while back, he took me out on the boat, 00:17:00.000 |
and he was showing me how to fish and doing all this stuff. 00:17:07.000 |
And I didn't even realize that there's like a sonar system 00:17:12.000 |
and if you turn it on, it tells you where the fish are. 00:17:22.000 |
So he took me on the boat, and then he was fishing. 00:17:36.000 |
And then when you get there, you turn on the sonar, 00:17:40.000 |
And then you throw it down, and then you put it-- 00:17:46.000 |
But a long time ago, before all this technology came, 00:17:49.000 |
there's a reason why there was a lighthouse at the shore. 00:18:03.000 |
you could have rowed, sailed, worked hard all night, 00:18:10.000 |
He's saying, "Pay attention to stay on this path, 00:18:53.000 |
And so it's helpful to get advice from other people 00:18:55.000 |
when it's actually going toward the right direction. 00:19:14.000 |
Again, if you've been a Christian for any given number of years, 00:19:19.000 |
Some of the people who are the most bitter about church 00:19:21.000 |
are the ones who've given the most to the church 00:19:23.000 |
and just absolutely became bitter and angry at the end. 00:19:30.000 |
Pay attention very closely so that you do not drift. 00:19:37.000 |
You know, there's another church in Revelation, 00:19:46.000 |
they were testing to see if these apostles were true. 00:19:49.000 |
And so everything that a good church should have 00:20:03.000 |
Therefore, remember from where you have fallen 00:20:06.000 |
and repent and do the deeds you did at first, 00:20:10.000 |
and will remove the lampstand out of its place, 00:20:20.000 |
when we talk about dried heart or complacent heart, 00:20:28.000 |
Just like you're on a boat and you drifted out for an hour 00:20:32.000 |
but there's no sense of urgency to deal with that. 00:20:38.000 |
It's not like you're going and doing something, 00:20:40.000 |
you're not doing drugs, you're not hurting anybody. 00:20:46.000 |
And the Word of God is not penetrating into your heart 00:20:50.000 |
But there's no sense of urgency to do anything about it 00:21:07.000 |
His Spirit from a church that does not love Him first. 00:21:18.000 |
You can do all the things that a good biblical church does 00:21:22.000 |
but if there is no real worship going on in our hearts. 00:21:28.000 |
In other words, that church is no longer relevant 00:21:49.000 |
that you don't even remember what it was like 00:21:58.000 |
always pointing back to when you were in your teens 00:22:57.000 |
If the greatest thing that God desires from us 00:30:54.000 |
Remember the height from which you had fallen. 00:31:13.000 |
Don't accept that as an acceptable place to be. 00:31:25.000 |
The word "drift" basically means to slip away. 00:31:56.000 |
there are all kinds of ways to serve in the church, 00:32:10.000 |
if you understand the context of this drifting. 00:33:01.000 |
like, anything that I drive more than 30 minutes, 00:33:15.000 |
So I would always fall asleep in the same place. 00:33:25.000 |
So it was like right before I get to Burbank, 00:37:07.000 |
And you're not desperately clinging on to God. 00:37:47.000 |
when we work hard toward the wrong direction. 00:39:07.000 |
and we allow ourselves to drift away from Christ, 00:39:16.000 |
Everything that he said in the Old Testament, 00:39:24.000 |
It's that all that God spoke through the angels 00:40:06.000 |
"For in the case of those who have once been enlightened 00:40:10.000 |
and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit 00:40:17.000 |
it is impossible to renew them again to repentance 00:40:19.000 |
since they are again crucified to themselves, 00:40:44.000 |
Jesus said, "I am the way and the truth and the life. 00:40:47.000 |
Nobody comes to the Father except through me." 00:41:20.000 |
if there is one thing that I have been wrestling 00:41:23.000 |
and struggling with as a pastor for 30 years is this. 00:41:29.000 |
The challenge of ministry here in the United States, 00:41:52.000 |
Next time you turn, we're nibbling on something else. 00:41:57.000 |
And as soon as God hammers us and revival breaks out, 00:42:00.000 |
soon after, we're nibbling on something else. 00:42:17.000 |
If you allow yourself to be just taken by the current, 00:42:27.000 |
I've been doing ministry with a certain age bracket 00:42:45.000 |
that you procrastinated for three months and you're cramming. 00:42:53.000 |
That's where all the activity happens, this energy. 00:43:00.000 |
So any activity has the greatest attendance in September. 00:43:17.000 |
you don't have the same kind of energy in September. 00:43:27.000 |
But you still have energy that you started in September. 00:43:36.000 |
Because you've got to make up for what you did. 00:43:40.000 |
And so the hardest time to keep the college students focused 00:43:45.000 |
Between March and June, you kind of drift out. 00:43:48.000 |
So if you haven't put in your time and your energy, 00:43:55.000 |
If you're dating, that's when the fighting happens. 00:44:37.000 |
But that period, when you graduate from 22 to 24, 00:44:51.000 |
and that excitement of having money and freedom, 00:45:03.000 |
Once you get that job, you're in that job for life. 00:45:26.000 |
something over 80% of people drift away during this period. 00:46:06.000 |
We're going to serve the Lord Jesus with all our might. 00:46:33.000 |
For some people it's harder, and some people can't stop. 00:46:45.000 |
Terrible twos, terrible ones, terrible three, terrible 15. 00:46:52.000 |
And then you realize you didn't give birth to an angel. 00:46:59.000 |
And then you have four sinners coming into your home. 00:47:01.000 |
And then all of a sudden, you say, "Wow, this is hard. 00:47:10.000 |
If you are not anchored in Christ, that's where you're headed. 00:47:20.000 |
I've seen this cycle over and over and over and over and over. 00:47:27.000 |
And that's why he keeps saying, "Pay attention. Pay attention. 00:47:37.000 |
and you will find yourself one day waking up far, far, far away from Christ."