Pay Attention! Series

Pay Attention!

March 30, 2005

Center Point Baptist Church

Introduction

Present the following illustration on neglect:

In Saint Louis in 1984, an unemployed cleaning woman noticed a few bees buzzing around the attic of her home. Since there were only a few, she made no effort to deal with them. Over the summer the bees continued to fly in and out the attic vent while the woman remained unconcerned, unaware of the growing city of bees. The whole attic became a hive, and the ceiling of the second- floor bedroom finally caved in under the weight of hundreds of pounds of honey and thousands of angry bees. While the woman escaped serious injury, she was unable to repair the damage of her accumulated neglect.

*We often fail to consider the gradual, cumulative effect of sin in our lives.

How does unconfessed sin affect the life of a Christian?

• It comes on as something small – seemingly unnoticeable.

• Without repentance, the cumulative effect of sin never goes away – but festers into something bigger that oozes poison and stinks like gangrene.

Read Hebrews 2:1-4.

*In this passage, we are warned to pay strict attention to our walk with Christ.

Why is it so important to pay attention to our walk with God? - (So that we don’t miss His corrections upon our lives – so we don’t get used to ignoring Him)

1 Peter 5:8-9 – Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith…

1.) Drifting Away from the Lord

What does our text mean “to drift away?”

• a slow and steady departure from the truth

• caused by not being fastened to a mooring

*It has been well-documented in the Bible how the people of God continually drift away –

Hosea 6:4 – What can I do with you, Ephraim? What can I do with you, Judah? Your love is like the morning mist, like the early dew that disappears.

1 Timothy 5:15 – Some have in fact already turned away to follow Satan.

What is it that causes born-again believers to rebel this way and turn their backs on God?

How can we best avoid drifting away from God?

*Our text reminds us to pay attention to our walk.

• The message we have heard has been given to us by God – through His messengers.

Proverbs 2:1-9 – My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding, and if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God. For the LORD gives wisdom, and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding. He holds victory in store for the upright, he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless, for he guards the course of the just and protects the way of his faithful ones. Then you will understand what is right and just and fair – every good path.

2.) Drifting Toward Ruin

What happens to a person that refuses to be reconciled? - (They will not escape the judgment of God.)

*This type of drift never results in good – always ruin.

• It is characterized by erosion – a loss of morals and standards

• It is characterized by decay – as in rotting flesh, the decay of society brings about violence, inhumanity, and all of the filth that such sinfulness brings

• It is characterized by sorrow – no matter the situation, there will always be loss because of a person’s inability to be reconciled with their creator.

*The judgment pronounced includes those in God’s family – but much more terrible for those that reject the Christ.

1 Peter 4:17 – For it is time for judgment to begin with the family of God; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God?

How can we avoid this judgment?

Hebrews 12:25 – See to it that you do not refuse him who speaks. If they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, how much less will we, if we turn away from him who warns us from heaven?

3.) Paying Attention to Our Life in Christ

*To drift away from Christ is to forsake the only refuge for sinful men.

• The blessings we so sorely need are can only be found in Him.

*To drift away from Christ is to resist the grace that has brought us close to Him.