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"ARE YOU DRIFTING?"
 
INTRODUCTION
 
1. Billy Norris writes of a tragic event that resulted from "drifting":
 
 "Two young men were fishing above a low dam on a river near their
 hometown. As they were concentrating on catching fish
they were
 unaware that they had drifted until they were not far from the water
 flowing over the dam. When they realized their situation
the
 current near the dam had become too powerful for them to keep their
 boat from going over. Below the dam the water was dashing with
 strong force over great boulders and through crevices in the rocks.
 Caught by the swirling waters under the rocks
they never came to
 the surface. After days of relentless searching
the divers finally
 found one body
and then
two or three days later
the other."
 (Gospel Guide)
 
2. The danger of drifting is not limited to the physical realm...
 a. In He 2:1
we find a warning against drifting
 b. Sadly
it is not uncommon for Christians to drift toward
 destruction!
 
[Brethren
"Are You Drifting?" Would you know it if you were? With
this lesson I hope to stimulate careful introspection regarding the
danger of drifting away from the Lord. Consider...]
 
I. THINGS WE SHOULD KNOW ABOUT DRIFTING
 
 A. DRIFTING REQUIRES NO EFFORT...
 1. Just stop oaring or tacking against the wind
and a boater
 will begin to drift
 2. The same is true for the Christian
which is why we are told:
 "We must give the more earnest heed..." - He 2:1
 
 B. IT IS AN UNCONSCIOUS PROCESS...
 1. It is possible to drift unaware
 a. In a boat
or undercurrents are often unnoticeable from the
 surface
 b. In a plane
the wind or gravitational forces move the plane
 without you realizing it
 2. The same is true in the spiritual realm
 a. Many individual Christians have slowly drifted away
 b. Many churches have gradually drifted into error
 -- Only one day to find themselves far removed from the
 Scriptures
 
 C. WE NEVER DRIFT UPSTREAM OR AGAINST THE TIDE...
 1. Faithfulness to the Lord is like oaring upstream
 2. You must constantly be "adding to your faith..." - 2 Pe 1:5
 3. You must continue to grow - 2 Pe 3:18
 -- The moment you stop growing
you start going backwards or
 downwards
 
 D. THE SPEED DOWNSTREAM INCREASES...
 1. The dangers increase with the speed of the drift
 a. When we can hear the noise of the waterfall
it is already
 too late
 b. When we lose sight of land
it is more difficult to discern
 that we are drifting
 2. As we move farther and farther from the Lord
we care less and
 less about what we do
 
 E. IT IS DANGEROUS TO OTHERS...
 1. A ship
just drifting
is a hazard to all other vessels at sea
 2. Parents who are just drifting
will soon loose golden
 opportunities to teach their children - Ep 6:4
 3. Many are tossed to and fro and carried about by every wind of
 doctrine - Ep 4:14
 
 F. IT ENDS IN SHIPWRECK...
 1. A boat adrift will crash on the rocks or go over the falls
 2. For those who drift spiritually through their own neglect

  there shall be no escape from a just punishment - He 2:1-3
 
[The danger of drifting is real
or there would be no need to warn
against it. So again I ask
"Are You Drifting?" To help answer the
question
here are some...]
 
II. COMMON SIGNS OF DRIFTING
 
 A. DIMINISHING DESIRE TO STUDY GOD'S WORD AND PRAY...
 1. The Bible is a unique book - a source of information not found
 anywhere else
 a. Without God's revelation
how could we truly know our
 origin
purpose
destiny?
 b. It tells us of sin's dreadful consequences
and how God
 saves us from sin
 c. It provides direction for living happy
useful lives - cf.
 Psa 1:1-3
 -- When one loses their desire to study God's word
they are
 drifting!
 2. Prayer is a wonderful blessing - an avenue to communicate with
 God!
 a. Jesus
who loved His Father
often prayed - Mk 1:35; 6:46
 b. He expressed concern that His disciples not grow weary to
 pray - Lk 18:1
 -- When the Christian prays less and less
he is drifting more
 and more!
 
 B. DIMINISHING DESIRE TO BE WITH GOD'S PEOPLE
 1. This includes attending services to worship God
 a. One should always have the attitude of the Psalmist - Psa
 122:1
 b. If we no longer rejoice in the worship of God in the
 presence of brethren
we are drifting!
 2. Fellowship with God's people extends beyond the services of
 the church
 a. We are to be concerned with edifying one another - Ro 14:19
 b. Such edification should occur even daily - He 3:13
 c. For the right kind of friendship strengthens us
while the
 wrong kind leads us to sin - cf. Ecc 4:9-12; 1 Co 15:33
 -- When a Christian prefers the companionship of people of the
 world
rather than fellow Christians
he is drifting toward
 the rocks of spiritual destruction!
 
 C. DIMINISHING DESIRE TO SHARE THE GOSPEL...
 1. When one obeys the gospel
he knows God has blotted out his
 sins
made him a new creature in Christ
and he wants to tell
 the world about Jesus - cf. Ac 8:4; 1 Th 1:8
 2. When a Christian no longer has the desire to take the message
 of salvation to others
he is drifting!
 
 D. INCREASING THRILL OVER THINGS OF THE WORLD...
 1. Such as greater thrill over worldly honors; for example:
 a. Parents of one young man were excited beyond measure over a
  worldly honor he had received
 b. They had never demonstrated such emotion over spiritual
 matters
 c. Within the passing time
the entire family had drifted
 beyond the point of no return
 -- The apostle John warns us against the love of the world and
 the things in the world - 1 Jn 2:15-17
 2. Such as increasing enjoyment in worldly pleasures
 a. Paul described some who were "lovers of pleasure more than
 lovers of God" - 2 Ti 3:4
 b. If we reach the point when we find more pleasure in some
 worldly activity than meeting with others to worship God

 we definitely are spiritually adrift!
 
[Such are some of the signs of drifting away from God. If we are to
remain close to God
it will not be easy. Here are...]
 
III. REMEDIES AGAINST DRIFTING
 
 A. KEEP ROWING...
 1. Spiritually speaking
this involves diligence - 2 Pe 1:5
10
 2. It also means to keep abounding in our Christian graces - cf.
 2 Pe 1:5-8
 3. There is no place for "retirement" in living the life of a
 Christian! - cf. Ph 3:12-15; 2 Co 4:16
 
 B. WATCH OUT FOR UNDERCURRENTS...
 1. We must always be on guard for undercurrent of temptation
  2. For we have a fleshly nature which wages war against the soul
 - 1 Pe 2:11; Ga 5:16-18
 
 C. EXPECT TO GO AGAINST THE TIDE...
 1. There are many tides to sweep us away
 a. Popularity
peer pressure
the praise of others
 b. Modernism
skepticism
humanism
 c. Denominationalism - false doctrines of all kinds
 d. Liberalism and worldliness in the church - probably the
 greatest enemies of the church in our lifetime
 e. Neglect -- indifference
apathy
lack of interest and
 concern
 2. If one drifts along with the majority
he certainty will be
 lost - Mt 7:13-14
 
 D. WE MUST HAVE STRONG ANCHORAGE...
 1. Rooted and grounded in Christ - Co 2:6-7
 2. Minds must be anchored to the truth - Ep 4:14-15
 3. Possessing an unshakable hope - cf. He 6:18-19
 4. Rooted and grounded in the love of Christ - Ep 3:16-18
 
CONCLUSION
 
1. Brethren
are we drifting?
 a. The danger is real
we would be foolish to say otherwise
 b. Many have drifted away from the Lord
we would be arrogant to say
 it could not happen to us!
 
2. Are there signs of drifting in your life? Honestly ask yourself:
 a. Is my desire to study God's word and pray diminishing?
 b. Is my desire to be with God's people not what it has been in the
 past?
 c. Have I lost my desire to save those who are lost?
 d. Am I too much enamored by the things of the world?
 
If in any way we must confess that we are drifting
then may we
encourage one another to give earnest heed as warned by the writer to
the Hebrews:
 
 "Therefore we must give the more earnest heed to the things we
 have heard
lest we 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..." (He 2:1-3)
 
Brethren
our salvation in Christ is simply too great for us to
neglect!
 
Note: The main idea and many thoughts from this lesson were taken from
a lesson by David J. Riggs. The URL for his web site containing other
sermon outlines is: http://www.public.usit.net/driggs/outlines.htm

－－《Executable Outlines》