"Is Your Anchor Holding?"

“Most of us spend our lives seeking our destiny. One man created His own. It began in a manger and led to a cross and it included you. You too have a destiny and someday, someday soon your destiny will cross His.”

Are you drifting? Is your anchor slipping? Are you using big enough rope to hold your ship steady as the wind blows? What keeps you on course as the storm winds gale about the open sea of life? Do you have an enter alarm that will let you know when your anchor is slipping, slipping slowly down stream away from God? God is an ever-safe refuge in the storms of life. He is peace in the hardships of life. He is ever-present in times of trouble. He and only He can make the seas calm. Only he can make a beautiful day out of a whirlwind of torment. Take a look! Are you drifting your way to hell? Or maybe your ship is set. Set in the love of the One who stills the waters. Maybe your heart is set in the peace of His love. The Bible tells us that Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life. In other words plain and simple! Unless you have set anchor on Christ you are drifting!! Only you and God know the real truth. What is your truth? I only know that He has made such a difference in my life, that I must tell my brothers about Him. Jesus can take a storm tossed life and turn it into something so beautiful that, that, well something’s have to be lived to be explained. Let Jesus explain it to you. He knows the Way to keep you from drifting.”

“ARE YOU DRIFTING? IS YOUR ANCHOR SLIPPING?”

I read 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. (I wonder what they were anchored on or what kind of anchor they had?)

ANCHOR GUIDE:
Hebrews 2:1. “We must pay more careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.”

The danger of drifting is not limited to the physical realm! In Hebrews 2:1, we find a warning against drifting. Sadly, it is not uncommon for Christians to drift toward destruction! Brothers and Sisters, “ARE YOU DRIFTING?” Would you know it if you were? With this lesson I hope to stimulate careful awareness regarding the danger of drifting away from the Lord. (CONSIDER)

(1) THINGS WE SHOULD KNOW ABOUT DRIFTING:

A. DRIFTING REQUIRES NO EFFORT:
1. Just stop rowing 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 pay more careful attention…Heb. 2:1

B. IT IS AN UNCONSCIOUS PROCESS: IT IS POSSIBLE TO DRIFT UNAWARE:
1. In a boat, undercurrents are often unnoticeable from the surface.
2. In a plane, the wind or gravitational forces move the plane without you realizing it.
3. The same is true in the spiritual realm.
a. Many individual Christians have slowly drifted away.
b. Only one day to find themselves far removed from the Word of God.

C. WE NEVER DRIFT UPSTREAM OR AGAINST THE TIDE:
1. Faithfulness to the Lord is like paddling up stream. It’s not easy and takes effort.
2. You must constantly be, “ Adding to your faith” (2nd Peter 1:5)
3. You must continue to “ grow” (2nd Peter 3:18) The moment you stop growing, you start going downwards.

D. THE SPEED DOWNSTREAM INCREASES:
1. The dangers increase with the speed of the drift.
a. When we hear the noise of the waterfall, it may be too late.
b. When we lose sight of land, it is more difficult to discern that we are drifting.
2. When we move farther and farther from the Lord, we care less and less about what we do.

E. IT’S DANGEROUS TO OTHERS:
1. A boat or life 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. (Hebrews 2: 1-4) The danger of drifting is real, or there would be no need to warn against it. So I ask, “ARE YOU DRIFTING?” To help answer the question, here are some…

(2) COMMON SIGNS OF DRIFTING:

A. DIMINSHING 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, and 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. (Psalm 1:1-3) ***
When one loses their desire to study God’s Word, they are drifting!
2. Prayer is a wonderful blessing; it’s an avenue to communicate with God!
a. Jesus, who loves His Father, often prayed. (Mark 1:35; 6:46)
b. He expressed concern that His disciples not grow weary to pray. (Luke 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 a attitude of the
Psalmist- (Psalm 122:1) I rejoice with those who said to me “Let us go to the house of the Lord.”
b. If we no longer rejoice in the worship of God in the presence of brethren, “We are drifting.”
c. Fellowship with God’s people extends beyond the services of the Church .We are to be concerned with edifying one another. (Romans 14:19)
d. Such edification should occur even daily. (Hebrews 3:13) But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’ deceitfulness.
e. For the right hand of friendship strengthens us, while the wrong kind leads us to sin. (1st Cor. 15:33) Do not be misled: “Bad company corrupts good character".

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. DIMISHING 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. (Acts 8:4; Thessalonians 1:8)
2. When a Christian no longer has the desire to take the message of salvation to others, He’s adrift.

D. INCREASING THRILL OVER THINGS OF THE WORLD:
1. Such as greater thrill over worldly honors; for example:

Parents of one young man were excited beyond measure over a worldly honor he had received. They had never demonstrated such emotion over spiritual matters.

Which is more important? Worldly or Spiritual destiny? The apostle John warns us against the love of the world and the things in the world. (1st John 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. (2nd Tim. 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!
(These have been some of the signs of drifting away from God. If we are to remain close to God, it will not be easy. Here are…)

(3) REMEDIES AGAINST DRIFTING:
A. KEEP ROWING…1. Spiritually speaking, this involves diligence. (2nd Peter 1:5,10) Define diligence: Earnest, persistent application to an undertaking. Attentive care; heedfulness.
2. It also means to keep abounding in our Christian graces. (Look at 2nd Peter 1: 5-8)
3. There is no place for “retirement” in living the life of a Christian! It’s a life long journey.

B. WATCH OUT FOR UNDERCURRENTS:
1. We must always be on guard for undercurrents of temptation.
2. For we have a fleshly nature which wages war against the soul.
(1st Peter 2:11-12, “Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day He visits us.”

C. EXPECT TO GO AGAINST THE TIDE:
1. There are many tides to sweep us away.
a. Popularity, peer pressure, the praise of others, Modernism, skepticism, humanism. The world is full of things that will try to pull you from the good anchoring ground, and where is that good holding bottom? It’s at the foot of the cross. It’s in Christ Jesus that we find the right place to be anchored.
b. Neglect-lack of interest and concern for God’s Word and His commands are real good signs
that someone’s anchor may be slipping.
2. If one drifts along with the majority of the world, he certainly will be lost: (Matt 7: 13-14) These are the words of Jesus, “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.”

D. WE MUST HAVE STRONG ANCHORAGE:
1. Rooted and grounded in Christ.
2. Minds must be anchored to the truth. Possessing an unshakable hope. Rooted and grounded in the love of Christ.

CONCLUSION:
Are you drifting? Only you and God know the answer to that question. 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 your life? Honestly ask yourself, is my desire to study God’s Word and prayer diminishing? Is my desire to be with God’s people not what it has been in the past? Have I lost my desire to help save those who are lost? Am I too much influenced 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:
(Hebrews 2: 1-3)"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.”

To God be the Glory forever. Amen. If God be for us, who can be against us?”