The Danger of Drifting Away

Thank you, Mr. Dance. That was very, very enjoyable. Appreciate that. I don't want to be remiss in welcoming our visitors. We are happy to have... I'm checking my memory right now. It used to be better than this. Brendan Church... I didn't get the father's name, but Brendan's dad. Mr. Church. So glad to have you here. And good to see... where did they go? There they are. The whites back on behind. Brian and Diana and Jacob. And someone's mother. Okay, so we're happy to have you visiting with us as well. It helps when we've got several due to sickness and different issues out of town. It makes us look like we've got almost a normal sized group here that we would normally expect. We are very familiar with the story of ancient Israel and how they were led out of Egypt and began to move all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed somewhere. It doesn't seem like they knew where they were going except to go out into the wilderness and follow Moses to have a feast under this god that they didn't know either. But we follow their story, and it leads us to Mount Sinai, and it leads them to making covenant with God, becoming what God envisioned to be His example people, which they never fulfilled. But at any rate, we follow their story. They finally come to the wilderness of Peran across from the Promised Land, the land of Canaan, and they hit all kind of ruts on the road as they traveled. We find that they complained a lot. Sounds like probably some people we know. Sounds like some people we may see when we look in the mirror. We tend to carp and complain, and things aren't right, and for them the water either wasn't there or it was bitter. Or they got tired of what was called the bread of affliction, the manna, because twelve spies were sent into the Promised Land, and they came back and reported what a glorious land it was. It truly was a land flowing with milk and honey. But ten of the twelve added the claws of the people who lived there too big to fight. And so the people believed the evil report, and they discounted what Calum and Joshua had to say, and they did not enter the land of promise at that time. The spies were in for forty days, so that led to forty years of wandering in the wilderness until those age twenty and up died. Now, of all places, let's turn to Hebrews 3, because in Hebrews the author looks back at that example.

The book of Hebrews is generally thought to be a book written by the Apostle Paul, however, to be fair, it is not signed. There is a lot about it that has a taste of Paul to me, but it doesn't really matter who wrote it. But in Hebrews 3, let's begin in verse 16. For who, having heard, rebelled? Indeed, was it not all who came out of Egypt led by Moses? Now, with whom was he angry forty years? Was it not with those who sinned whose corpses fell in the wilderness? And to whom did he swear that they would not enter his rest but those who did not obey? So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief. Now, I bring this up because, as it stresses here, they did not enter the Promised Land. They did not receive the inheritance at that time. The next chapter goes on and explains how they didn't even receive their rest under Joshua when Joshua led them into the Promised Land. The Promised Land is one of the great biblical types for the kingdom of God. These individuals failed to enter that type of the kingdom because of unbelief and because of disobedience. And they lost their lives. For us, the land of promise is a type of the kingdom of God. We look to the kingdom. And for us, it's more important. It's more serious because for them, they died in the wilderness, and the day will come when all who are in the grave will hear his voice and come forth. And they'll have their chance because they didn't have the heart in them. They didn't have the sacrifice of Christ at that time. They didn't have the heart that they could understand, but God expects a lot more out of us. In verse 12, back up a little, verse 12, And so the author writes to the church of the first century, and he writes to us of the church today, In many places it says, Beware, Beware lest you too do not believe, and that you would depart, Or that you would just drift away, or that you would neglect. In chapter 4, verse 1, Therefore, since the promise remains of entering his rest, Let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it. It goes on talking about how Joshua, even under him, they didn't yet receive that rest. Verse 11, Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest any one fall according to the same example of disobedience.

For us, it carries far greater importance. They fell in the wilderness. And for us, we've been called today. Many places in the Gospels, it says, For many are called, but few are chosen. And there are those who are given an invitation, and that's what it is. It's like an invitation to a banquet. The God offered to each one of us once upon a time. Now, we couldn't just leave it there in the junk mail pile. We had to take it and open it. And then with a calling, with an invitation, we began to respond to that. And we began taking those initial steps toward the kingdom of God. And we began a process that continues till our last breath goes out, looking to ultimately a resurrection of spirit in the very family of God and everything that the kingdom of God envisions. For us, it's more serious, because we have been given our calling today. The Bible does not teach having a second chance. This is our chance. But like we heard in the sermon, those of ancient Nineveh, they didn't know about the true God. They died in their ignorance. They'll have a chance when all come from the grave. Let's look at Hebrews 6. Hebrews 6 in the early verses, it discusses some of those foundational teachings. Verse 1 speaks of repentance from dead works, and that's where it began with us. There's a progression that is discussed in these doctrines that are considered. God gives repentance. We began to change. We began to make steps in that direction. And that led to, as it says, faith toward God, because there has to be this deep abiding belief in God, in His existence, in His Son, the sacrifice that was given to pay the price for the sins of all mankind, including our own. And then, as it says, the doctrine of baptisms. There was a time when we went under those waters of watery grave, and we symbolically died. But we didn't stay there. We came back up as a new creation before God. The laying on of hands is mentioned. There was a prayer, as we find the examples in the book of Acts. There are those prayers with the laying on of hands of the ministry, and God gives His Spirit. Not always in that way. Sometimes, like with Acts 2, and later with the life of Cornelius, the Spirit of God would fall on a person first, and then they were baptized. But as a general rule, there's a baptism, a prayer, laying on of hands. And, of course, the person begins walking even more so toward the kingdom of God. It says, of resurrection of the dead and of eternal judgment. And this we will do if God permits. But notice verse 4, very sobering verses here, these next three. For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened and have tasted the heavenly gift and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, if they fall away, to renew them to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God and put him to an open shame.

Once the Spirit of God is given, and once we taste of that heavenly gift, once our eyes are opened and we truly see, we are being judged. As Peter wrote to the church in his day as well, right at the end of 1 Peter chapter 4, the time is now. The judgment is upon the house of God.

We're being judged today, and if we fall away, there is no second going through the application of the body and blood of Jesus Christ. Chapter 10, Hebrews 10. Notice the beginning of verse 26. Hebrews 10 verse 26, for if we sin willfully... Now, let's pause right there.

There's the word, willfully, and there's the word, willingly, and they're not the same. We have so much of the example of David that's written down, including many of his mistakes. Many of his high points as well. But we have the story of David with Bathsheba and the progression of sin, and of the adultery that led to deceit, and of plotting, and eventually to ordering the murder of the woman's husband.

And when Nathan the prophet went to him and told him the parable of the poor man with the one lamb and the rich man and how he took the poor man's lamb, you remember the story. He told David, you are the man. And he also said that you have despised the commandment of God. David knew what he was doing. He was not willfully rejecting God. We know the rest of the story.

And the prophets speak of David being king over Israel and the millennium. But we read of David and how he knew what he was doing, but he willingly went along with the temptation. Because sin a lot of times offers rewards and benefits and pleasures that it can't deliver. It sounds so good to human nature.

And the human mind can justify nearly anything, it seems like. And David played those games and David despised the commandment of God, but then he woke up later. Continuing here, verse 26, if we sin willfully, you know, willfully with someone who would knowingly, with a clear mind, reject God, turn from God, and walk away from God. And we have the example of Satan and the demons who have willfully rejected God. After we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries.

Verse 31, it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. We can look back now at 2,000 years, nearly, of church history. It's a fascinating study. The church is always seen. Back in the book of Acts, they saw those who came, and then they went. Many of us in this room have a few decades under our belts of exposure with the church of God. We've seen people who have come. We've seen people who have gone. It just seems to be the human experience.

I think back, I was reflecting yesterday on my earlier years as my family began attending in Oklahoma and the church back in 1967. There were so many who were instrumental in my life as a teenager. I was 14 at that time. 15, 16, 17, and went to Ambassador College. But there were so many in those formative years who had a tremendous impact, and then they drifted away. And Denise and I both cherish, and I know several here, the holidays, the Cowens, Mr. Lichtenstein, the senior dances. I've had that privilege and honor of having gone to four years of Ambassador College.

I wouldn't trade that for anything. That experience of immersion education in God's way of life. But I look at the the album, The Envoy, once in a while from my class, and I wonder where did they all go? So many of them just drifted off into the sunset, never to be seen or heard from again. And some, we've had church splits where we no longer see each other again. And it's sad. I go to the general conference, I look around the room, and I see, whether it's Jim Tuck. We were in the same class. He's out in Phoenix.

And once in a while, I'll see Lee Anderson from our class. I look and see Rick Beam from a couple of years ahead of us, my older brother, who was three years ahead of us. And that's about it. That's just about it.

And there used to be dozens of us at those gatherings. Well, we've seen members come and go, and we've seen ministers come and go. The early pastors that I had as a as a lad in Oklahoma, they came and they went.

And the students of Ambassador College have come and they've gone. They've fizzled out. Let's go to... You may want to keep your place in Hebrews. We'll be back to chapter 2 in a minute. But notice 1 Corinthians 9. 1 Corinthians 9. Here's the Apostle Paul. And of course, the time came when God...

He had his moment of enlightenment there, even though he lost his vision. He was enlightened in the way that really counted as he was on his way to Damascus that day. And here the Apostle Paul is writing to Corinth. He's the Apostle to the Gentiles. He has raised up churches. God has used him to do that. He has preached the truth. He has ordained elders and deacons.

And yet here he mentioned that he could become disqualified. In verse 24, do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it, and everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things, for they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown. Therefore I run thus not with uncertainty.

Thus I fight not as one who beats the air, but I discipline my body, and bring it into subjection, lest when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified. The King James says, lest I become a castaway. He recognized that after years of the calling of God, and raising up churches, and preaching the truth, writing all kinds of letters, that he could just drift away as well. And it was something that sobered him, and it's something that should sober us as well. Let's go back to Hebrews, this time chapter 2, because the author makes it very clear that it is very possible to neglect salvation to the point of walking away, or drifting away, as he uses the phrase.

Hebrews 2, verse 1, there are a couple of Greek words here we'll come back to in just a moment. They're seagoing, or nautical terms. Verse 1, therefore we must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard. Alright, let's pause. Chapter 1, he had discussed how God used to speak to us. He spoke to our fathers through the prophets. And then he spoke of the angels, and the role of the angels, and that God oftentimes had given messages through angels.

But now God speaks to us through his Son. Jesus is the very embodiment of the Word of God. He is the Logos. He is the Lamb of God. The things that we have heard lest we drift away. Again, he's writing in the church in that first century, and it is possible to drift away. For if the word spoken through angels proved steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just reward, how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed to us by those who heard him?

So early on you had men like Peter, and James, and John, and Bartholomew, and the early apostles. And then there were those who came a little later, Paul and Barnabas. Paul said he was one born out of due season. And they trained others like Timothy and Titus, and you had Priscilla and Aquila and Apollos, and so many whom God had used to continue confirming those things that we had heard. God also bearing witness both with signs and wonders, with various miracles and gifts of the Holy Spirit according to his own will.

Let's go back to verse 1. Verse 1, Earnest heed.

Give the more earnest heed. The marginal note in my Bible says, All the more careful attention.

Now, I looked in William Barclay's commentary on Hebrews, and he brought out the fact that this Greek word, that's translated, earnest heed, is the Greek, proseko. If you want to look it up later in Strong's, or there are many Bible helps that are keyed to the Strong's numbers, but it's G-4337. So, 4337, proseko. And as is pointed out, this word's primary meaning is to pay close attention to. To take great care. To give careful attention.

And as William Barclay points out, there's a nautical sea-going, seafaring side to this word. It has to do with the mooring of a large ship. And maybe you've been in position of seeing cruise ships or cargo ships, or maybe Navy vessels coming into port, and then probably being pushed by tugboats against the dock, the giant ropes or cables that then securely fasten the ships. And that's a process of mooring. And as he points out, a large ship is carefully guided to a dock and secured with ropes and cables. Careful attention is paid to securing that ship. Let's continue in verse 1, the latter phrase, lest we drift away.

Lest we drift away. And what we have as drift away comes from the Greek word. The number would be G3901. So 3901. Parareo. Parareo. It refers to carelessly or thoughtlessly letting something slip away. And it too has a nautical meaning in reference to a ship whose captain is not paying careful attention. He isn't paying attention to maybe the wind, the wind speed, the currents, the tide, and misses the entrance to the safe harbor. He's just simply asleep on the job. Asleep on the job.

Perhaps, as he says, the captain doesn't pay close attention and misses the harbor. William Barclay suggests that this verse 1 could easily be translated this way. Therefore, we must the more eagerly anchor our lives to the things that we have been taught in case the ship of life should drift past the harbor and be wrecked. And it's a vivid picture of a ship drifting toward destruction and breakup because those responsible are asleep on the job. The U.S. Navy has had a few occasions of that, just this last year, year and a half, sadly, over in South Asia.

I don't know. They don't tell us what happens. But when a naval vessel crashes into a cargo ship that's much larger, it seemed like the Navy naval ships came out on the short end of that. How it happened, I don't know if they're playing a game of chicken. You move. No, you move. And I don't know what happened. We aren't told. Most of us will remember a great ecological disaster from back in 1989. 1989, there was up in Prince William Sound of Alaska, the Exxon Valdez.

And they had loaded up with the oil that came down the pipeline and taken off. And as it turns out, a lot of the blame was given to Captain Hazelwood. Captain Hazelwood was in his bunk, sleeping off a drunk that he had been involved with on shore. But you have other officers. You have the first mate. You actually have a third mate whose job is to watch the radar. And the ship had the Raytheon collision avoidance system. And the third mate's job was to watch that radar. And it wasn't even turned on. There were small icebergs, so they left the normal channel.

And they ended up hitting a reef. And we know what happened. We had people who were asleep on the job. We had people who weren't doing their job. We're not using the tools available. All of this leads to the fact that there are landmines out there for you and me. There are dangerous currents. There are dangers for us. I've titled the sermon, The Danger of Drifting Away. The Danger of Drifting Away. And it is a real danger. I look back over the years, I really can't say that I have met anyone that I know.

Of course, determining that is in God's realm. I don't think I've ever met anybody that I would say they have willfully, completely, totally, with a clear open mind turned away from God and rejected God. I think the bulk of them just haven't been called. Now, they don't understand. They aren't concerned about God and His Word and what He would have us do with our life. But I've known quite a few, like you have probably, who have come along and it seems like they've been on fire and they've been great guns and they've been going somewhere and they're Christian calling.

And then they begin to change. They begin to drift away. There are dangers out there for us as well. I'll enumerate a few of them. Number one is time. Time, because as time goes on longer than we expect, there's something within human nature that tends to wind down, to run down. We came through here. It was on a Thanksgiving weekend.

I bet it's been a decade ago. Mr. Holiday asked me to give the sermon. You probably don't remember it. I faintly remember it and I gave it, but it was on the test of time. We looked at some of the early apostles and how we have the story of so many of them and what happened and where they went and how they died martyr's deaths. Except for one. Now that was John.

And John had a Christian life of some, had to be close to 70 years. Think of all that he would have seen. We get a little glimpse of it in his second letter. He wrote to Gaius. He wrote to this one unnamed church. He spoke of a local, appears to be a pastor or elder, named Diocrophies. And when John would send representatives, they were not even welcomed into the church.

So again, John, he had to go on and go on and go on and even in that letter. He said, if I have to come there, but we have no record that he ever did actually go there. Again, we'll be back to Hebrews, but it'll be later. Let's go to Galatians 6.

Galatians 6. And let's read verses 9 and 10. Here's a warning from Paul. And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith. So any human being where we can help, then that's what God would have us do.

And especially take care of those of your church home, as he's pointing out here. But in due time, we'll reap, we'll receive a reward if we don't lose heart, if we don't faint first, if we don't just wear out and grow weary. God has a perfect sense of timing. He knew what he was doing when he called us. Opened our minds to understand the wonderful truths that he has in his Word.

His plan is right on time. Once upon a time, we probably all thought, well, it's just about it. This is just about it. I remember whenever the common market in Revelation 17 speaks of these ten kings giving their power over to this leader of this beast system for a short season. And when the European market hit ten members, we thought, this is it! It's all wrapping up!

But then there were how many? More added. 27, 28. And we had to reassess and reevaluate. And we still wait. And we still watch. And we also need to remember to be ready in the process. 2 Peter 3. 2 Peter 3. Peter, in this letter, was dealing with some who time had gone on and they were beginning to scoff and wonder about Christ's return.

2 Peter 3 verse 3. Knowing this first, that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, and saying, Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation. Well, he goes on talking about times when God's Word did come to pass. And it will yet come to pass whenever it is God's time. But with time, we can, like a bottle of good wine, settle on our leaves, get comfortable, sit down on the bench, stop running the race. We can let the pulls of just living this life begin to slow us down and get us to looking in all the wrong places.

Time is a potential danger for us. 2. Familiarity Familiarity. With time, we can begin to lose some of the fervor of God's calling. The truth, the way that God has called us to live, to walk as Christ walked, it can become commonplace. Familiar. Old hat. We can take God's Word for granted. In Revelation 2, we have the beginning of a listing of seven letters written to seven churches of that day, literal congregations in these cities.

There was an attitude behind each one. Some got tired. Some were in danger of dying. But the church of Ephesus is writing to wake them up that they are doing less now than they had done earlier. Verse 1 to the angel of the church of Ephesus write, These things says, He who holds the seven stars in His right hand. The beginning of each letter ties it back to the description of Christ given in chapter 1, verses 13-17.

Who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands. I know your works, your labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil. And you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them wires. Because, you see, here we are in the 90s AD. We're well toward the end of that first century.

They had seen apostasy arise here and there, like the apostle Paul wrote to Galatians and was just astounded at. Who has bewitched you to turn from the gospel of Christ? Verse 3, And you have persevered and have patience, and have labored for my name's sake, and have not become weary.

Nevertheless, I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Remember, therefore, from where you have fallen, repent, and do the first works. Or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent.

There's something about human nature. We can become familiar. We can get to where we want to hear something new. We can have itching ears. We can get tired of just the basics of Christian living. It seems that we, from time to time, have, I would call them heresies, or, well, maybe that's too strong of a word, but certainly they are, different ideas that come through. And it seems that some want something new. They're drawn to sacred names, for instance. And they think that, well, if I just call Jesus by the Hebrew name Yahshua, and they don't even know how to pronounce the word. I mean, the vowel sounds were lost long ago. Or if I refer to the father as Yahweh, and there again, the vowel sounds were lost. Because back in, before the time of Christ, for several hundred years, it was viewed as being so holy that you cannot pronounce it. And so after the captivity, they didn't know how to pronounce it. So when they say Yahweh, which is normally the way it's pronounced, are they sure? Well, they seem to think they're sure. Familiarity. Human nature wants to hear something new and exciting. But you know, there's a problem. If living and walking in the steps of Christ ever gets to where it's not exciting, we're in danger. Maybe we're drifting away and we aren't aware of it. Another dangerous current out there is society. Society around us. 1 Corinthians 15. 1 Corinthians 15. Notice verse 33. You know, the currents of this world's politics can affect us. I am so happy, living in Alabama, that I don't turn on the local station and I have another advertisement for one or the other, or one followed by the other, who wants to be the U.S. Senator. It's over. I don't know if Judge Moore is aware that it's over, but it's over. But he was a man they didn't want in Washington because he has a profound belief in God, and he's also a man that can't be bought. I think he's proven that before. But God's the one that reigns and rules in the affairs of men. He gives us who he will give us. We are surrounded by a world that...well, let's read this verse. Verse 33. Do not be deceived. Evil, company, corrupts, good habits. We are surrounded by a lot of human...human...let me say that correctly...secular humanism. It can infect us. I've used the example, a couple of examples that mean a lot to me. Every time...there are a few things I dislike more than painting. Maybe I shouldn't say that. God will find opportunities for me to paint. There are a few things I dislike more than plumbing. On Thursday we had kind of an emergency run down to her dad's because the drains weren't draining, and there was a lot of grease from the drain in the kitchen that had built up for years, and I'm the handyman. Well, I had to do a little plumbing then. I was going somewhere with that thought, and I don't know where it was.

I don't know. It doesn't matter. Go ahead and laugh.

We are surrounded by, well, fake news, but we're also surrounded by fake Christianity. There are a lot of people who talk about Christ, but the way they live life doesn't tend to follow what they profess. Oh, I was going to talk about painting. That's right. As careful as you try to be, you will get some splattered on you. If you work in roofing cement, roofing tar, careful as you try to be, you're going to get it on your boots, your blue jeans, your hands, and sins like that, too. A lot of times, we tend to want to play like a lot. He was given the choice by Abraham. He chose the well-watered plains, and at the end of that chapter, I think it's Genesis 13, it just adds, The men of Sodom were exceedingly wicked. The next thing we know, he's not just sitting in the gate. He's living there. And he almost was an abortion from the calling of the life that God had given to him. His life was almost snuffed out, but when Jesus was here, he referred back to just a lot, so the latter end was positive. We're surrounded by a lot of fake everything. Various versions of worshipping the almighty human mind and all that it can dream up. And it makes it a challenge to maintain a course straight for the kingdom of God. I like the slide we saw. I would have done the same thing. Just draw that line right across that tip of northern Africa, straight from Joppa to Tarshish, where Jonah was going to go. Number four is the flesh. Just in general, the flesh. Let's go to 2 Corinthians 10. Because, you see, the chief battle that we have takes place between our own ears. There is this human nature. Like the Apostle Paul wrote in another book, he wrote to Rome, The good that I would, I do not. The evil I don't want to do, I do. There's this struggle. There's this battle, this warring taking place. And he writes of it here in chapter 10, verse 3. 2 Corinthians 10, verse 3. For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. But the weapons of our warfare are not carnal. They are not, the margin says, of the flesh. But mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments, and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled. The flesh. We have a battle. The battle is for control of the mind. Paul, we already read, said that he disciplined his body, lest he become disqualified in the end. 1 Peter 2, verse 11.

1 Peter 2, verse 11. And here we read, Beloved, I beg you, as sojourners and pilgrims. That's a common, those are common terms for the Christian calling. We're on a pilgrimage. A lot of times we'll have to correct our course. Abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul. Fleshly lusts. Galatians 5, verse 16. Galatians 5, verse 16. Galatians 6, verse 16.

Galatians 6, verse 16. I say then walk in the Spirit and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. Draw near to God, he'll draw near to you. That's the way James or Peter put it. Verse 17. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh, and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish.

So these verses speak of a struggle, a battle. And the reminder is, don't fringe as close to sin as possible. The proverb warns us, as a man thinks in his heart, so is he. Be careful what you let into your mind. Above all that you guard, guard your mind. Be careful what you let in. Number five is life concerns. Just the concerns that revolve around this life. We live with increasing stress. I think we all would agree with that. I certainly would agree with that. Two and a half years ago, we were trying to oversee five congregations, which meant I was a part-time guest speaker in five different areas.

And at any rate, it's down to three, but today is not over yet. We'll see. Concerns of life, things that don't work frustrate us. I have a phone over there that I dropped in my briefcase. We had a minister-al trainee and wife for 14 months with us down in Huntsville, Louis and Lena, Van Oostel. Earlier today, they just had their last Sabbath in Malawi, and they're headed back to the USA.

So I'm sure it's been a bittersweet day. But in traveling around, going to visit people, Louis or Lena would say, Well, you know, you can use your phone to do this. You know what I would say? I would say, I don't care. Well, you can use that to turn your television on and off. And I would say, I don't care. I want the phone. I want to use it when I want to use it, and I can get texts. I can actually read my email. And I don't care. Well, there are other things that I use. When we go to the Philippines, I want to...

I've got one app there for... See, I'm not as old as you thought I was. I use that term, app. Yeah. Application. I've got that one for... I can bring it up, and it'll tell me what the dollar is exchanging for Philippine pesos today.

And the Philippine peso is worth about two cents. So we better get a lot of them. We can have sports choke out the more important things in life. And I say that as one who's been there. Now there are college football games, and I check the score later, and I think, oh, they won.

Oh, they lost. That I was there when it would ruin more than my week or my month. When one of my teams lost, it's not worth it. It's not worth it. Let's go to 2 Timothy 4. 2 Timothy 4, and beginning in verse 9, this is Paul's last letter. He has been condemned to die. He's at peace with it. He knows there's a crown of life laid up for him.

He's fought a good fight. He's wrapping up his letter, writing to Timothy, and in verse 9, Be diligent to come to me quickly. For Demas has forsaken me, having loved this present world, and has departed for Thessalonica. Now, it goes on and says, Cretans for Galatia and Titus for Dalmatia. But it doesn't really say enough to where we conclude they were deserting Paul also.

Maybe they were just sent to those areas. I'd like to think that. Only Luke is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you. He's useful to me for the ministry. But Demas, the world sucked him under. The concerns of life pull him down. You know, in the parable of the sword, some of that seed is sown among thorns that grow up and choke it out.

It may germinate. It may look good for a little while, but then the life is snuffed out of it. Luke 21. beginning in verse 34. A warning from Jesus himself. Luke 21 verse 34. But take heed yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that day come on you unexpectedly. For it will come as a snare on all those who dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch therefore and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass and to stand before the Son of Man.

Now, in a parallel account over in Matthew, he talks about, watch you therefore, but a little later he also adds, be you also ready. Being ready is what is most important, but we also have to watch. So if you think of any kind of a seagoing vessel from a canoe or kayak to a giant cargo ship, and if it is allowed to just float along, drift along, if the people at the helm, at the controls, are asleep, or not paying attention, there is grave danger.

Sometimes course corrections can be made, which again, with naval ships crashing into cargo ships, I'm wondering why didn't somebody do something in time? Unless it was a game of chicken. Well, expensive game to play. Looking at these dangers that are out there, I think we can... In fact, let's go to 2 Peter 1. We can summarize some of this by saying we have to be awake and alertly looking. Awake and alertly looking. 2 Peter 1, verse 5.

But also, for this very reason, giving all diligence. And it goes through this ladder of Christian growth. Giving all diligence. Verse 10. Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call an election sure. For if you do these things, you will never stumble, for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly in the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Giving all diligence. Be even more diligent. Philippians 3.

Philippians 3, verses 12 through 15.

Philippians 3, verse 12. Not that I have already attained or am already perfected. We would all agree with that, surely? We're not there yet. But I press on that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended, but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. We have to be awake, alertly watching. We need to be listening. Think of young David. He told Saul there before the battle with Goliath. He told Saul that he, in watching the flocks, had met a lion and he had met a bear, and by the power of God had saved the flock and killed the predator. Those are animals whose carnivores will hunt at night. He had to be alert and listening, and when the flock is distressed, he would go out to see what was going on. Hebrews 12.

Notice here, as it's wrapping up this chapter about the faith of men and women of God, how we're surrounded by this great cloud of witnesses. Verse 2. Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. So, looking to Christ, looking to his example, walking in his steps, because God wants us to be a forward-oriented people. We all make mistakes, and those are in the past with God's forgiveness, God's grace. We go forward. But we read earlier, pay attention to the things that we have heard. And in chapter of Hebrews 1 and 2, it made clear, today we have the words of the very Son of God, the very reflection of the Father who speaks to us. If in doubt, do what Jesus did. If in doubt, go to the Word of God, and repent, and do the first works. So, we have been given salvation by the Son, or through the Son of God himself, by his sacrifice, and the Father's willingness to allow that to happen. It has been confirmed by the saints who have gone before us. This salvation has been further verified, confirmed by great miracles, great signs and wonders, and by the guidance of the Spirit of God. And again, in my observation, I don't know of anyone who has woefully rejected God and turned and walked away, but there probably are many, many that we have all known who have simply drifted away, step by step, by not being awake and alert and watching. So, as we read at the beginning, let us give the more honest heed to the things we have heard lest we drift away.