The Danger of Drifting

We're going to go into the book of Hebrews, if you want to start turning there in chapter 2.

! We're going to be looking at some things here.

And the book of Hebrews, interesting book, written to Hebrew Christians, first century Christians.

What a change that must have been for them.

Coming out of Judaism and all of a sudden trusting Christ as Savior, being born again,

that's a whole different, it's a whole different economy, basically a whole different thing.

And they had problems with it.

So before we get into Hebrews chapter 2, let's pray.

Hebrews 2 · chapter mention

Father, we just thank you so much for your word.

Thank you for this time that we can come together and pray.

We thank you so much, Father, for your word tonight that we can study.

Father, I ask that your word would open hearts and minds and help me present it as you would have it done.

Father, we again praise you for the great God that you are.

Father, we love you and thank you for your love.

In Jesus' name, amen.

Chapter 2 of Hebrews.

Now, Hebrews is a book itself written in the first century.

What a changeover for some of those who knew Christ as Savior.

But what the book of Hebrews did for the Hebrew converts, the Hebrew born-again believers,

is it was reinforcing to them that Jesus fulfilled the law.

He did all the points and fulfilled the law.

But there was a danger also that the Jewish Christians would start reverting back to the rituals and the rites

and all those extra little things that the Pharisees were putting on it.

Imagine going through a field on a Sunday, on a Sabbath day, and picking ears of corn,

picking the ears of the grain to eat as you're going through,

and somebody criticizing, oh, you can't do that.

That's work.

Is it?

So all those little things, those rituals, they could have fallen back into those rules and rituals of Judaism.

So there was a danger of lapsing back.

When you look at Hebrews itself, it tells us that God's law is good, but Jesus is better.

And as you go through the book of Hebrews, you'll see that again.

He's better.

Better covenant, better promises, better hope, better sacrifice.

The law is good, but Jesus is better.

Over and over and over, the Bible tells us that.

Throughout the book, it says that Jesus Christ is better than the prophets,

prophets, than angels, than Aaron, than the priests, than Moses.

Jesus is better.

Better, better, better.

Some, if I recall, some commentators, when you look, they say Jesus is superior in the book.

Well, superior, yes, indeed.

But I like the word better because the Bible uses the word better.

The word superior is not there.

Anyway, let's look here in Hebrews chapter 2, and we'll take those first four verses once I get there.

Hebrews 2 · chapter mention

I printed them out because a lot of times my Bible, I mean, golly, I'm 72.

I'm getting to a point where my type in my Bible is a little small.

So I'm going to try it through my Bible here.

If I'm not, if I get messed up, I'm going to have to go back over there.

Hebrews chapter 2, we're going to do the first four verses.

Hebrews 2 · chapter mention

Therefore, we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard,

lest at any time we should let them slip.

For if the word given by angels was steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received the just recompense of reward,

how shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation?

Which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him.

God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders and with diverse miracles and gifts of the Holy Ghost,

according to his own will.

Salvation message?

Is it?

How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation?

I mean, we've heard salvation messages.

Salvation message?

Yeah.

Applicable for us today.

Can we apply it to our lives today?

Yes.

And that's where we're going today.

That's where we're going today.

Right here in the very first word, in chapter 2, it says, therefore.

How many times, maybe you haven't thought of this.

This is how my mind works.

When I see a therefore there, I always think, what's a therefore?

Why is a therefore therefore?

You ever thought about that?

Yeah, I see some smiles.

Yeah.

You ever think about that?

There's a reason why it's there.

Because something before had context to relate to what's being said here.

In order to understand a little bit more of this, let's go back to chapter 1.

In chapter 1, we read right in the very beginning, God.

Now, these are the Hebrew people.

You're not going to have to prove God to them at all, are you?

God, who in sundry times and in diverse manner, spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,

hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things,

by whom also he made the worlds, who being in the brightness of his glory and the express image of his person,

and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins,

sat down on the right hand of the majesty on high,

being made so much better than the angels,

as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.

For unto which of the angels said he at any time,

Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee.

And again, I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son.

And the writer, under God's authority and inspiration,

the writer continues to use Old Testament Scripture to compare angels to Jesus Christ our Lord.

And Jesus, as it's said in the one verse, is better.

He's better than any of the angels.

Those first verses say that God spoke, spoke by the prophets,

now by his Son Jesus Christ, is so much better than the angels.

He purged our sins.

He's now with the Father.

He even said that he's the Creator.

So all those things there, but the entire first chapter,

the Old Testament Scriptures are brought forth

and comparing the angels with Jesus Christ.

I'm not going to get into the angel part of it.

That's a whole other story.

God spoke, now by his Son Jesus Christ, is so much better than the angels.

Purged our sins.

He's the Creator.

Now with the Father.

Let's go back to chapter 2.

Chapter 2, therefore.

Oh, I thought it was going to be up.

Be easier for some folks, right?

Therefore, we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard,

lest at any time...

I'm sorry, let me start all over again.

Let me go back to here.

My print's too small, folks.

Therefore, we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard,

lest at any time we should let them slip.

For if the word spoken by angels was steadfast,

and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense of reward,

how shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation?

Right in the very beginning there,

therefore, we ought to give more earnest heed.

Now, that in itself says something.

We ought to give more earnest heed.

You don't hear that word heed said too often, do you?

Not anymore.

I remember as a kid, you would hear it.

Heed my words, stuff like that.

You might, older folks might have heard that expression.

Yeah.

Heed my words.

Yeah, I remember that.

But it's not a word that we use today,

but heed, meaning to give attendance to.

Listen up.

Take it seriously.

Apply it to your mind.

So, when it says we ought to give more earnest heed,

it's an eagerness to grab hold of the truth of Jesus.

Do we have that eagerness today?

Now, they were talking about a salvation message.

There's a salvation message here.

But applying it today,

are we giving the heed that needs to be done to our salvation?

We ought to give more earnest heed to the things that we have heard.

What things?

To the Hebrew first century Christians,

it was the words of Jesus.

It was the testimony of the disciples and the apostles.

Can we apply that today to us?

We ought to give more earnest heed to the things that we have heard.

That gospel message, but also to our salvation.

To the things we have heard.

Heard meaning we perceive it.

Just like we perceive something with our eyes,

we understand it.

We recognize it.

We note it.

It's more than just listening.

Listening is hearing the sound.

But hearing stuff.

We perceive it.

We note it.

We understood it.

We ought to give more earnest heed to the things we have heard.

Lest at any time we should let them slip.

Hear.

Any time that we should let them slip.

Literally to flow past.

To glide by.

That's what the meaning means here.

When you break it down.

We ought to give more earnest heed to the things which we have heard.

Lest at any time we should let them slip.

Now as a salvation message,

it's someone hearing the gospel message in the first century,

the Hebrews,

and just saying,

okay, I heard that.

I reject it.

What about us today?

Today we ought to give more earnest heed to the things which we have heard.

Lest at any time we should let them slip.

Slip.

That word slip.

To flow past it means.

To glide by.

Here it is to drift away from what was heard or what is heard.

Salvation message, yes.

Application, yes.

For us today.

Lest at any time we should let them slip.

Or to drift away.

What comes to your mind when you think about drifting?

Boating, yeah.

Of course.

Boating.

You might think of,

you know,

getting out on a peaceful lake

and taking in God's creation.

God, why does the sky blue?

Why are the trees green?

You ever think that stuff?

Why did you decide to have this color?

Nice and peaceful spot.

You guys that are fishermen,

you're out there,

you like being on the lake.

Man, I want to catch a good one.

Yep.

And you spend all that time peaceful, quiet.

Right?

Peaceful, quiet things.

I think also when I think about drifting is,

you know,

a lot of times we have friendships

and they kind of drift away.

I miss my brother Felix back in the Denver area

because he was my partner going into nursing homes.

And we did the ministry together.

So after, you know,

a year and a half being here,

well, we talked to him about three times.

Well, we used to talk to each other three,

four times a week.

Go have coffee,

have a good time.

But we used to go out

and we used to do the nursing home ministries

every Sunday

and I miss them.

And he drifts away.

You know,

there's other people that I knew down in Florida,

in Georgia.

I haven't talked to those folks

in I don't know how long.

You just,

they drift away.

They drift away.

Drifting.

Drifting.

Drifting.

There's a story

that you might have heard.

There was two young men

that were out fishing

and they were above a dam

on a river near their home.

And as they were concentrating

on catching fish,

they were unaware

that they had drifted

until they were not far

from the water

going over the top of the dam.

When they realized their situation,

the current became too powerful

for them to overcome it.

And they were not far

and the boat went over the dam

and they crashed on the rocks below.

Drifting.

Drifting.

Like a boater drifting unawares,

believers can drift away

from their first love.

We've all been there.

Some of us multiple times.

Some of us have gone over.

Some believers,

they get stuck on the rocks.

I've been there.

How many times?

And the Lord's,

you know,

He's so gracious

and so loving.

How many times?

How many times I've gone over

the edge?

Drifting.

Drifting.

Drifting takes no effort,

does it?

When you're out on that boat,

it's an unconscious process sometimes.

Slow slip.

You never go upstream

when you're drifting.

There's currents.

Get moved into currents

and some go over the edge.

Things that cause drifting.

Oh,

it could be social media.

I'm guilty of that,

getting pulled away.

Games.

Phone.

Young people are more on the phone.

I don't use my phone much.

It's a phone.

I'm an old guy.

Give me a break.

I don't use it like

my laptop.

Politics.

Some of you may know,

I was involved with politics

in the past.

That was one of the things

that got me over

the dam.

We won't go there.

The Lord brought me back.

It affects others

when you're drifting.

You ever thought about

your family,

your kids,

your testimony,

your witness,

your job?

People are watching.

People are watching.

And your drift

affects others.

How many remember

a year and a half ago,

March of 2024?

The Port of Baltimore.

There's a cargo shift

coming into the Port of Baltimore

and it loses power.

And it's drifting.

And it drifts.

And it drifts.

And it hits the bridge.

The Francis Scott Key Bridge.

Collapsing the bridge.

Killing six workers

on the bridge.

And closing the port

for months.

When we drift,

it affects others.

Sometimes harsh.

Sometimes not.

But it affects others.

Believers have some

common signs

of drifting.

A decreasing desire

to study God's Word

and to pray.

It's the main two things.

We've all been there.

Those are signs.

Brother Scott here on Sunday

was giving some statistics

about people who

don't open their Bible.

He's using statistics

from 15 years ago.

And I checked on some statistics

more current.

They're not any better.

But he said that

professed Christians,

one-third of them,

basically 34%,

never opened their Bible.

I got saved

when I was 22 years old.

I gave my testimony here.

I was a professed Christian.

I professed

I was a Christian.

I was Catholic.

When the gentleman

that led me

to the Lord,

Savior,

Jesus Christ,

when he said to me,

you believe the Bible

is the Word of God?

I said,

yes, I do.

I was a Christian.

I was a professed Christian.

I said,

yeah,

I believe the Bible

is the Word of God.

He said,

do you know what it says?

No.

No.

I mean,

we never open up the Bible.

You catch a piece

of some translation

at a service

every once in a while,

but it was all church things

and church law

and church rituals

and this and that,

but we never did.

But the fact that it matters,

I believed it was

the Word of God,

although I didn't know

nothing about it.

That gave that gentleman,

Charlie Snyder,

the opportunity

to open the Bible

and he said,

look at this.

For God so loved the world

he gave his only begotten Son

that whosoever believeth in him

should not perish

but have everlasting life.

And I got saved.

Common signs of drifting,

drifting,

decreasing desire

to study God's Word

and pray.

How about the decreasing desire

to be with God's people

in church?

My dear sister

who's gone on

to be with the Lord,

I had the opportunity

to lead her to the Lord

back in the early 80s,

probably about 1980,

81.

She started going

to the church

in her town.

I lived in a different town.

It's a Baptist church.

She was going there.

I said,

this is where you need

to go here.

She was going for a while

and then, you know,

you get talking to her

and how was church?

Well, I didn't go.

What's going on?

Well, I haven't been going

for a while.

Well, what's going on?

Well, so-and-so's there

and I don't like her.

So I'm not going to,

how many have heard it?

You've heard these stories, right?

So-and-so's there

and I don't get along with her.

So I don't,

well, listen, you know,

I mean,

if you can't get along with her

and, you know,

you get talking with them,

go across the river,

Riverside Bible Church,

you're going to get

the gospel message there.

You'll get teaching there.

It's good.

Okay, we'll try it out.

A few weeks later,

did you go over and check it?

No, but I'll get around to it.

Okay, so weeks go by,

check it out.

Did you get over there?

No.

Well, okay,

so-and-so's over there

and I don't like them.

All right,

go four or five miles

up the road to Bloomsburg

the Baptist Church up there

is a great church.

Nice size.

You'll go up there.

Well, we'll get around to it.

Well, my sister

never got there

and she drifted,

drifted,

drifted,

common signs of drifting.

How about a decreasing desire

to share the gospel?

Do you have that desire

to share the gospel tonight?

Do you?

Can you give out a gospel tract?

Can you drop one off

at the gas station

or in a grocery store?

Or Walmart?

Russ's?

Do you still have the desire

for the gospel?

A common sign

of drifting

and increasing thrill

over the things

of the world.

I had a dear friend,

a brother.

We were going to church

for some time

and he was a manager

at a store

but hadn't seen him

for a couple weeks.

Summertime.

Hadn't seen him

for a couple weeks.

Hey, brother Greg,

what's going on?

Well,

my son and I,

we like dirt bike riding.

You know that.

So,

we decided we're going

to go dirt bike riding.

Okay, well,

can't you do it on Saturday?

Well,

I got this to do,

that to do,

that to do,

that to do.

No, wait a minute, brother.

You're saying that

you want to go out

dirt bike riding

with your son

on Sunday

rather than going to church.

What message

are you showing

to your son

by doing it?

Yeah, yeah, yeah,

I know.

Well,

you didn't see him

for a while.

Didn't see him

for a while.

Then he shows up

one or two times.

Everything all right,

Greg?

Everything okay?

Yeah,

everything's okay.

Next thing you know,

he's missing again.

What's going on?

Oh,

my son and I,

we want to go

do this and that.

He was more interested

in doing things

with his son

than things

of the Lord

and eventually

stopped seeing him.

I used to go

to his work.

I used to bug him

all the time.

He'd go,

yeah, yeah, yeah,

I'll get back

into church.

It never came.

Never came.

Never came.

You get to a point

where you just

throw up your hands

and say,

Lord,

it's in your hands.

It's in your hands.

And you drift away

from him

because he's drifted

away from the Lord.

How about the fellow,

you might know

somebody like this

that says,

oh,

I'm not going

to make it to church,

brother,

because the Broncos

and the Chiefs

are going to be on.

Sports

becomes more important.

A game

because you're a fanatic.

And I don't know

about you,

but some of the things

going on in the NFL,

I'm starting to say,

I may not be watching

the NFL

too much longer.

Anyway,

I like watching football.

Don't you?

I mean,

I like watching football.

Don't like the Broncos.

Never did.

Anyway,

common signs of drifting.

How about some remedies

against drifting?

How about keep rowing?

You're in the boat.

You're drifting.

You got to work.

You got to row.

It requires some effort.

Are we making time

every day

to read God's Word?

I don't know about you,

but when I,

years ago,

when I changed

and said,

you know what,

Lord,

I'm going to get up early

and I'm going to read

the Word of God.

And I purposely

got up early.

And you know

what changed my day?

My days got

so much better

because I took

the time

to get into

God's Word.

Making the time

to read God's Word.

2 Peter tells us,

but grow in grace

and in the knowledge

of our Lord

and Savior Jesus Christ.

The Bible tells us,

study to show

thyself approved

unto God

a workman

that need not

be ashamed.

It takes work.

We got to plan it.

Same with our prayer time.

We got to talk to God.

You know,

there was a survey,

I can't remember

where I seen it

or read about it,

that 90% of our days

we're on autopilot.

We get up there

and we get up

in the morning

and we make our coffee.

We wash up.

We get dressed.

We get in the car

at a certain time of day.

We go drive to work.

We hit the same red lights

every time we go,

how far ever you go.

We have lunch

at the same time.

You know,

when we are at,

you get into a routine.

When I was a technician

at FedEx,

we did our pass down

when we came in

from the other shift.

First thing you do,

you go out there

and you run

the dimensioning tests

on the scan tunnels.

You run the packages through

and you make sure

the measurements were okay.

You went down

to where the scales were

and you did SWAC tests

where you're scanning

and the weighing,

matching up the weight

on the scale

to be accurate.

Those were routines we did.

Can't we do that

with our prayers?

Yes.

Think of the examples,

all the examples

that we have

in the Bible for prayer.

I believe it was just Sunday

Brother Scott was here

and he was talking

about Daniel.

Three times a day

and everybody knew it.

Three times a day

those windows came open

and he prayed.

You know we prayed

more than three times a day.

Are we praying

three times a day?

You're taking the time

lunch maybe

or we're told

to pray without ceasing.

I mean,

that's a lot,

isn't it?

It's not that much

when the Lord's

right there with you.

We think about other.

David said in Psalm 55,

evening and morning

and at noon,

I will pray

and cry out loud

and he will,

shall hear my voice.

and we look at Jesus.

Didn't he always

take the time

to get away

and talk to his father?

What an example we have

every time we look

and go through the Gospels.

He sought a place

of solitude.

I think about

the time he went,

and it's in Mark

and it's in Luke

and in Matthew

and in Mark 1,

went to Peter's house

and the mother-in-law

is sick with a fever

and Jesus heals

the mother-in-law

and she comes and serves

and as evening came,

Jesus is out there

in the front lawn

healing folks.

Next morning,

before the sun's even up,

before it's daylight,

Jesus is off

in a solitary place

praying to his father.

And Pete gets up

and is wondering

where Jesus is

and goes looking for him

and finally says,

hey, everybody's looking for you.

That's the halfy version.

But you get it.

Jesus, our example,

God alone to talk to God

set times to go and do it.

He took the break

from dealing with the people

and healing the people

and preaching the gospel

and preaching the kingdom of heaven

and he took the time

to pray.

Get alone with God.

Put it in your autopilot.

Set it up.

Make it routine.

If you're not doing it,

try it.

It'll change.

It'll change your day.

It'll change your life.

Remedies against drifting.

Watch out for the undercurrents

and the overcurrents.

Know your undercurrents.

The things that draw us away

from our prayer,

from our Bible time.

Things that get us

to drift away.

Normal, everyday things

can do it.

It's taking a little bit longer

to do X, Y, and Z.

And all of a sudden,

it's kicking into my prayer time.

Don't let it happen, folks.

Know your undercurrents.

Know those things

that draw you away.

The Bible tells us,

love not the world,

neither the things

that are in the world.

If any man love the world,

the love of the Father

is not in him.

All that is in the world,

the lust of the flesh,

the lust of the eyes,

and the pride of life

is not of the Father,

but it is of the world.

It's those things

of the world

that are going to cause you

to drift.

And we'll all do it.

We'll all do it.

Remedies against drifting.

How about a strong anchor

that holds fast

in every storm?

Hebrews, later on,

chapter 6,

tells us,

we have an anchor

both sure

and steadfast.

And that's our hope

and our security

in Jesus Christ,

knowing Christ the Savior.

And the song goes,

we have an anchor

that keeps the soul

steadfast and sure

while the billows roll.

There it is.

Fastened on the rock

that cannot move,

grounded firm and deep

in the Savior's love.

There's a story

I read not long ago

about a couple other ships.

Cargo ships

are parked outside the port

because they're waiting

their turn to get in

to be unloaded.

So their anchor's down

and they're resting there.

And a storm comes up.

As the storm came up,

it got really powerful winds.

And that started causing

the boats to move around a bit.

They're both anchored.

But the one ship,

container ship,

the wind got a hold of it

and started moving it.

And it was dragging anchor.

Dragging anchor.

And finally,

it collided with another ship

that was alongside

that was secure.

Anchor down.

There's another song.

There it is.

In times like these.

Thank you.

In times like these,

you need a Savior.

I'm on the wrong one.

Be very sure.

Be very sure.

Be very sure.

Your anchor holds

and grips the solid rock.

We have these songs

because they have messages.

Those songs.

Making sure that anchor

is down there.

Strong anchor that holds

in every storm.

Therefore,

we ought to give

more earnest heed

to the things

which we have heard,

lest at any time

we should let them slip.

For if the word

spoken by angels

was steadfast,

and every transgression

and disobedience

received a just

recompense

of reward,

reward,

how shall we escape

if we neglect

so great salvation?

How shall we escape

if we neglect

so great salvation?

Salvation message?

Absolutely.

Applied to us today?

Think about it, folks.

Neglect means to admit

by carelessness

or design.

How shall we,

applying it to us

as believers,

how shall we escape

if we neglect

so great salvation?

Admit it by carelessness,

by design?

Neglect something.

If you neglect something,

you probably don't

consider it great.

Just let it go.

It don't matter.

We'll just drift along.

There's something.

I don't know.

The Lord just

wasn't going to

bring this out.

It's funny

the things

you pick up

on the internet.

Some crazy stuff.

We got an anchor.

This is some new age.

I still call it new age.

Things that you

see on

online

about

drifting.

You know,

according to

people,

drifting's a good thing.

It's a good thing.

This is what they said.

Drifting is not

just a lack

of direction,

but a profound

journey of

letting go

and trusting

the universe.

Really?

I trust my Savior,

Jesus Christ.

How about this one?

Uncovering

inner peace

and new

perspectives

that challenge

our understanding

of control.

Surrender

to the

natural flow

of life.

Embracing

uncertainty

for personal

growth.

You've got to be

kidding me,

folks.

You've got to be

kidding me.

If we're drifting

as born-again

believers,

we're in trouble.

We're in trouble.

How shall we

escape

if we neglect

so great salvation?

If we neglect it,

it's not considered

that great.

Bible study slips.

Prayer slips.

Next thing you know,

and here comes

the Word.

I didn't even mention.

Backslide.

We've all been there.

Got to make sure

that we're strong

in the Word,

strong in our prayer.

What's your

relationship

to the Lord

tonight?

Is it good?

Are you drifting?

Is there things

happening in your life

that you're drifting?

You may not even

realize it

until right now.

Are you drifting?

Therefore,

we ought to give

the more

earnest heed

to the things

which we

have heard,

lest at any

time we should

let them

slip.

It's nice

to know

that when

we do

drift

and slip

and even

when we

go over

the edge

if we do

and crash

on the rocks

that if we

confess our sins

He is faithful

and just

to forgive us

our sins

and to cleanse us

from all

unrighteousness.

We have a Savior

and a loving

God

and a merciful

God

and we can

always get

back.

We can get

back.

Not only

to get

back

but to

move forward

because when

you're drifting

you're not

going upstream

not just

get back

but moving

forward for

the Lord.

Let's pray.

Let's pray.