While we recognize that GOOD INTENTIONS are better than BAD INTENTIONS, we must also recognize that GOOD INTENTIONS ARE NOT ENOUGH!
Illus: Alexander de Seversky, U.S. aviator and engineer, was once visiting a fellow flyer in the hospital. The young man had just lost his leg. De Seversky, who had had an artificial leg for some time, tried to cheer him up. "The loss of a leg is not so great a calamity," he said. "If you get hit on a wooden leg, it doesn't hurt a bit! Try it!" The patient raised his walking stick and brought it down hard on de Seversky's leg. "You see," he said cheerfully. "If you hit an ordinary man like that, he'd be in bed for five days!" With that he left his friend and limped into the corridor, where he collapsed in excruciating pain. It seems the young man had struck de Seversky on his good leg! He had good intentions but many times that is not enough.
Illus: Someone said, “The attitude of the world is that, if our intentions are good…then our actions - no matter how awful are justified.”
That is not true! The end never justifies the means.
• Right is always right, even if everyone is against it
• Wrong is always wrong, even if everyone is for it
Why is it that GOOD INTENTIONS can be BAD? Because GOOD INTENTIONS MAY BECOME:
I. A SUBSTITUTE FOR ACTION
In James 4:13-17, we read, “Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that. But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil. THEREFORE TO HIM THAT KNOWETH TO DO GOOD, AND DOETH IT NOT, TO HIM IT IS SIN.”
Just because a person has good intentions to do something does not mean they are going to act on those good intentions!
Illus: In the 18th Century, James Boswell said it this way, "The road to Hell is paved with good intentions."
Illus: If we could talk to people in Hell today, the majority would tell you THEY HAD THE BEST INTENTIONS OF GIVING THEIR HEART TO THE LORD, BUT THEY NEVER GOT AROUND TO DOING IT!
They sat in church like many here today, as the Holy Spirit spoke to their heart about salvation and they had the best of intentions to one day walk down the aisle and give their heart to the Lord. They just never got around to doing it.
GOOD INTENTIONS CAN BE A SUBSTITUTE FOR ACTION!
Illus: I heard the story about the preacher who preached about overcoming sin every week, and a fellow in his congregation would always say to him, “I aim to start doing that.”
• Week after week he would tell the preacher that he aimed to start doing what the Bible said he should be doing!
• Finally, he came to the preacher after he heard another sermon and said, “Preacher, I aim to start doing that also!”
• The preacher who had gotten tired of his GOOD INTENTIONS said, “Listen, you come to me every Sunday at the end of my sermon and tell me you AIM TO START DOING WHAT GOD’S WORD TEACHES! FOR GOODNESS SAKES MAN---COCK THE GUN AND SHOOT!”
Our churches are filled with people who have good intentions, but good intentions are worthless until we act on them.
Listen, some people:
• Could have been WEALTHY today. They always had good intentions of managing their money properly but they never got around to doing it
• Could have been HEALTHY today. They had the best intentions of eating right and exercising to have good health, but they never got around to doing it
• Could have been GREAT CHRISTIANS today. They intended to dedicate their lives to the Lord, but they never got around to doing it
They substituted their GOOD INTENTIONS FOR ACTIONS!
The pundits tell us that there are three kinds of people:
• Those who make things happen
• Those who watch things happen
• Those who wonder what happened
Those who MAKE THINGS HAPPEN are people who refuse to allow GOOD INTENTIONS TO BECOME A SUBSTITUTE FOR ACTIONS!
Illus: That reminds me of cowboy Joe who was telling his friend Charlie about his first visit to a big city church. Charlie said, “How did you like it?” Cowboy Joe said, “It is my intention to never go to that church again.”
• Charlie said, “Cowboy Joe, why don’t you intend to attend that church again?”
• He said, "When I got there, they had me park my old truck in the corral.”
• Charlie said, "You mean the parking lot,"
• "I walked up the trail to the door,"
• Charlie said, “You mean the sidewalk to the door,"
• "Inside the door, I was met by this dude,"
• Charlie said, "That would be the usher,"
• "Well, the usher led me down the chute,"
• Charlie said, "You mean the aisle,"
• "Then, he led me to a stall and told me to sit there,"
• Charlie said, “That would be a "Pew,"
• Cowboy Joe said, "YEAH, THAT'S WHAT THAT PRETTY LADY SAID WHEN I SAT DOWN BESIDE HER. I DO NOT EVER INTEND TO ATTEND THAT CHURCH AGAIN!”
Good Intentions may become A SUBSTITUTE FOR ACTION and -
II. A DELAY IN ACTION
One of the greatest enemies the church faces today is procrastination. People JUSTIFY THEIR PROCRASTINATION because they have GOOD INTENTIONS!
People think, ONE OF THESE DAYS, but that day has never come in their life!
Illus: Three demons were graduating from their training in Hell’s University and they were taking their Final Exams. Satan asked each one of them one question, “What are you going to do to deceive people?”
• 1st Demon: “I’m going to tell people there isn’t a God.”
• 2nd Demon: “I’m going to tell people there is no heaven, there is no hell; this is all there is!”
• 3rd Demon: “Satan, I’m going to tell people there is no hurry…Yes, there is a God, but you can make things right some other time.”
Satan said, “Congratulations, you have the winning strategy that is going to deceive millions of people!”
Listen, if Satan can not get us to be outright disobedient, he goes to plan “B,” making sure our GOOD INTENTIONS never get turned to action.
Some people think GOOD INTENTIONS EQUALS OBEDIENCE, but DELAYED OBEDIENCE is DELIBERATE DISOBEDIENCE. The Lord tells us to REDEEM THE TIME.
Eph. 5:16 says, “Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.” That word “time” literally means opportunity.
Illus: Imagine if your banker called you with wonderful news. He told you that an anonymous donor had decided to deposit 86,400 pennies into your bank account every day for the rest of your life.
Now that’s $864 every single day, 7 days a week! But there is one stipulation. You’ve got to spend ALL that money the same day. No balance will be carried over to the next day. Each evening, the bank would cancel whatever sum you fail to use.
Did you know that every morning, a gracious God who loves you, deposits into your bank of time 86,400 seconds.
Now the same stipulation applies because God does not allow any of our time to be carried over on credit to the next day.
Illus: Someone very wisely said, “Life is like a coin. You can spend it anyway you want to, but you can only spend it once.”
Listen, we can not afford to have only good intentions. LIFE IS PASSING US BY!
• Psa. 39:4, “LORD, make me to know mine end, and the measure of my days, what it is; that I may know how frail I am.”
• Psa. 90:12, “So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.”
Good stewardship of our time begins with the realization that God has given each of us a certain number of days to live. We can not waste those days putting off what we know we should do. Procrastination is the devil’s most powerful weapon against Christians. Look at some of the things that procrastination can do to us:
A. PROCRASTINATION ROBS US OF SPIRITUAL GROWTH
If you are not growing SPIRITUALLY, it is because you are putting off some things you know you should be doing.
Some day, we are going to stand before God and give an account for how we used our time. IT WILL BE BASED ON WHAT WE HAVE ACTUALLY DONE, NOT WHAT WE INTENDED TO DO. NOBODY IS GOING TO BE REWARDED FOR GOOD INTENTIONS.
The quicker we confess sin; the sooner sin will be removed from our life!
God says do not let the sun go down on your wrath! Why? Because if you do not take care of sin in your life, it will become so engrained in your life that you will find it difficult to remove it.
Procrastination robs us of spiritual growth, but also-
B. PROCRASTINATION ROBS US OF OPPORTUNITIES FOR SERVICE
Look at James 4:13-14, ““Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that. But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil. THEREFORE TO HIM THAT KNOWETH TO DO GOOD, AND DOETH IT NOT, TO HIM IT IS SIN.”
These verses simply remind us that whatever we plan to do for Christ we need to DO NOW!
James is telling us that tomorrow is the most dangerous word in the whole Bible.
• It is lazy
• It is presumptuous
• It is reckless
Gal. 6:10, “As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.”
There are some things we do not need to pray about. When the opportunity to “do good” comes, we are to DO IT! Time is so valuable and when you waste time you waste life.
C. PROCRASTINATION ROBS US OF OPPORTUNITIES TO BE SUCCESSFUL
Illus: A scholar once surveyed the Scriptures to discover the most significant words in the whole Bible. He wanted to find the saddest word, the happiest word, the most emotional word, and the most dangerous!
When he came around to the Bible’s most dangerous word, he identified it as, “TOMORROW.”
He said, “That word is a thief that robs dreamers of their dreams and the talented of their greatest achievements.”
If you describe yourself as a chronic procrastinator, that’s another way of saying, “I’m planning to avoid a successful life.”
Illus: Someone said, “One of the great secrets of success is simply taking each moment as it comes and investing it the best way possible.”
When you read the stories of men and women of God that have found success, you will inevitably discover that they were people who took time seriously.
Illus: Every morning I need to pray, “General Jesus, this is Private ------- reporting for duty!”
It’s an insult to God to say that you don’t have enough time. If you don’t have enough time, perhaps you are doing things God did not intend for you to do. God has given us just enough time to accomplish what He wants us to get done…but we must get our schedule from Him.
Illus: Charles Schwab (millionaire) hired a man named Ivy Lee to come and help him become more productive.
Lee gave him a very simple plan, he said, “Each evening, write down the six most important things you should do on the following day. List them in order of their importance. The following morning, come into work and do whatever tops the list. When you’re finished move to the next.”
Charles Schwab said, “How much do I owe you for the advice?”
Lee told Charles Schwab, “Use it for several months and then decide on the value of my plan and send me a check.”
Several months later, Lee received a check from Charles Schwab in the amount of $25,000.
Illus: He was not like the young man that just got married. He asked the preacher, “How much do I owe you?” The preacher said, “Whatever you think she is worth!” He pulled out a five-dollar bill and said “Have you got change for a five?”
D. PROCRASTINATION ROBS US OF THE OPPORTUNITY FOR SALVATION
In Acts 24, we have an account of how Paul was trying to share Jesus with a couple of Roman Royalty named Felix and Drusilla. Paul had to appear before them and he launched into a defense of Jesus Christ and how a person can experience salvation. Notice their response.
Acts 24:24-25, “And after certain days, when Felix came with his wife Drusilla, which was a Jewess, he sent for Paul, and heard him concerning the faith in Christ. And as he reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come, Felix trembled, and answered, Go thy way for this time; when I have a convenient season, I will call for thee.”
Felix said, “OK Paul, I’ve heard your sermon, it is very persuasive…but let me just think about it and I’ll consider being saved at a later time.”
However, nowhere in the scriptures do we find that Felix made time and got saved.
Illus: Why do you think it is difficult to get people to attend church? It is because the devil knows that if they come, they will hear about our wonderful Savior, that loves them and died for them. And if they do come, the devil will go to plan “B” and tell them it sounds good, but they can do it later!
Let me show you two problems with Felix’s procrastination.
1. PROCRASTINATION DOES NOT TAKE INTO ACCOUNT THE UNCERTAINTY OF LIFE
Prov. 27:1, “Boast not thyself of to morrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.”
The Bible stresses this point over and over again. Only today has been placed in our hands; God has cut us off from the past and the future. We are not promised tomorrow! You may never have another chance to respond to Christ.
2. PROCRASTINATION DOES NOT TAKE INTO ACCOUNT THE UNIQUENESS OF CONVICTION
You may never hear Christ’s voice as clearly as you hear it today. You may never have the strong feeling that you need to obey him. When God speaks, the time to respond is NOW.
Illus: One of the many problems we experience, as we grow older, is that our hearing diminishes! What we used to be able to hear so easily, we can barely hear now!
The same thing is true in the spiritual world. You may hear the voice of God calling you today, but if you continue to procrastinate, that voice will get crowded out with the things of this world.
You may not be as sensitive tomorrow.
• Augustine said, “God has promised forgiveness to your repentance, but He has not promised tomorrow for your procrastination.”
• Isaiah 55:6 says, “Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near:”
Conclusion:
As we have seen in this sermon, good intentions can be bad intentions. Good intentions alone are not enough.
If we could walk through Hell and interview the people there, they would tell us they did not intend to go to that place. They would tell you the worst mistake of their life was that they kept putting off what they knew they should do.
I believe the cry of hell is, “WHY DID I KEEP PUTTING OFF SALVATION?”
Good intentions can be bad intentions when they are:
I. A SUBSTITUTE FOR ACTION
II. A DELAY IN ACTION
