## The Danger of Drifting

## Hebrews 2:1

Many years ago, our family took our first official family vacation. We traveled from Bluffton, Indiana all the way to the Cleveland, Ohio area. We had a wonderful time. We went to Cedar Point Amusement Park, but that wasn't the best part of our vacation.

If you would ask our boys about it they would tell you that the best part of the vacation was at a little place called 'Pioneer Water World'. This was a brand new water park and campground facility. While there Pat and I discovered the 'inner tube ride'. No paddles, no steps, no work, and no danger (because the water was only about 4ft. deep) it was great! You just got on an inner tube and drifted around and around this course of water.

But not all drifting is this way. While in the Navy, during a re-supply operation at sea, we lost our anchor and began drifting toward the supply vessel! Had we struck, both ships would have been damaged and possibly sunk.

Circumstances like the following account has been repeated far too often. "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 their bodies." The danger of drifting is not limited to the physical realm... In He 2:1, we find a warning against drifting. Sad to say, it is not uncommon for Christians to drift toward destruction!

(Heb 2:1) "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."

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..."

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. Peter tells us that we must constantly be "adding to your faith..." - 2 Pe 1:5

3. We must continue to grow - 2 Pe 3:18

4. The moment we stop growing, we 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 lose golden opportunities to teach their children

(Eph 6:4) "And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord."

3. Many are tossed to and fro and carried about by every wind of doctrine

(Eph 4:14) "That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;"

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 -

Heb 2:1-3, "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 stedfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a 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;"

II. Common Signs Of Spiritual 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, or destiny?

b. It tells us of sin's dreadful cones-uences, and how God saves us from sin

c. It provides direction for living happy, useful lives

(2 Pet 1:3) "According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:"

d. When we lose our desire to study God's word, we are drifting!

2. Prayer is a wonderful blessing - an avenue to communicate with God!

a. Jesus, who loved His Father, often prayed.

(Mark 1:35) "And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed."

(Mark 6:46) "And when he had sent them away, he departed into a mountain to pray."

b. He expressed concern that His disciples not grow too weary to pray

(Luke 18:1) "And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint;"

c. When we pray less and less, we are drifting more and more!

B. Diminishing desire to be with God's people

1. This includes attending services to worship God

a. We should always have the attitude of David…

(Psa 122:1) "… I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the LORD."

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

(Rom 14:19) "Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another."

b. Such edification should occur even daily

(Heb 3:13) "But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin."

c. For the right kind of friendship strengthens us, while the wrong kind leads us to sin

d. 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 someone 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

(Acts 8:4) "Therefore they that were scattered abroad went every where preaching the word."

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 John 2:15-17) "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. {16} For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. {17} And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever."

III. Protection Against Drifting

A. Keep rowing...

1. Spiritually speaking, this involves diligence or concentrated effort.

2. In other words, if we will stay busy serving the Lord and we will be less likely to begin to drift…keep moving!

3. There is no place for "retirement" in living the life of a Christian!

(Phil 3:13-14) "Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, {14} I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus."

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

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. False doctrines of all kinds

c. Neglect -- indifference, apathy, lack of interest and concern

3. If one drifts along with the majority, the danger is evident from Jesus' warning.

(Mat 7:13-14) "Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: {14} Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it."

D. We must have a strong anchor...

1. Our minds must be anchored in the Truth of God's Word

2. Rooted and grounded in the love of Christ

3. Established in Him.

Are we drifting?

- The danger is real, we would be foolish to say otherwise
- Many have drifted away from the Lord, we would be arrogant to say it could not happen to us!
- Are there signs of drifting in our life?
- Is our desire to study God's Word and pray diminishing?
- Is our desire to be with God's people not what it has been in the past?
- Have we lost our desire to share the gospel with those who are lost?