God’s road signs Part 3 Jeremiah 31:21-22
This week we have been talking about signs. The 70s singing group, The Five Man Electrical Band were prophetic when they sang,
Signs, Signs, everywhere there’s signs
Because signs are everywhere. I walked around my church last Saturday afternoon…and you know what I found? Our church contains 93 signs. 93!! We have signs telling you how to get to restrooms on each floor of our church…and which rest rooms are the men’s and which are the ladies’. We have signs indicating visitor parking spots….handicapped parking spots…two lighted church signs… and a sign advertising our year round VBS type Bible school for kids. We have a sign for our nursery…a sign for our clothes closet…and signs for each room we use for cancer, infertility and finance support groups. We have exit signs…fire door signs…emergency exit signs…and even signs showing where each classroom should go in the event of a fire or tornado. We have a sign for the church office…a sign for my personal office…and a sign for the janitor’s and the trustee room where we keep all the church tools. Every room in our church has a sign with a room number. We have “please be quiet” and “knock before entering” signs at our nursery door…signs showing the location of fire extinguishers and telephones. In our small church in Pekin, signs seem to be hanging everywhere.
And that is true of most public places we go to. Think of all the signs that hang in Walmart…or in your school. Think about the hundreds and hundreds of signs on this campus…providing you with information or direction with just a glance. I’m convinced, we life would not only be more complicated but also more frustrating, if there were no signs.
This week we have been talking about the road signs God gives us in life to keep us on “the straight and narrow path” of following Him. Throughout the Old Testament, the nation of Israel had wandered away from God. And God told them through the prophet Jeremiah
"Set up road signs; put up guideposts. Take note of the highway, the road that you take. Return, O Virgin Israel, return to your towns. 22 How long will you wander, O unfaithful daughter?…(Jeremiah 31:21-22a)
One of the best ways in life not to get lost driving is to pay attention to and follow the road signs. And in the same way, one of the best ways to keep from wandering away from God is to heed the road signs He places in His word.
Now we have talked this week about heeding God’s STOP signs (post Stop sign) by controlling our tongue and repenting of sinful actions. We have talked about obeying God’s YIELD signs (post Yield sign) and yielding to His will and the working of the Holy Spirit in our life…as well as God’s MERGE sign (post MERGE RIGHT sign) and surrendering our wants so we can merge with God’s will.
And we have talked about being alert to and beware of those things that cause us to (post a Beware of falling objects sign) turn from God and slide into sinfulness. And we have mentioned the importance of slowing down in life (post Slow sign), so we can not only wait on God but also minister to those who God puts in our path. God wants us to realize that the needs of people are important to Him…and must be more important to us. And yesterday we also talked about The One Way sign (post a one way directional sign)…that there is only one way to salvation and abundant life…and that is through Jesus Christ.
And tonight (post Jeremiah 31:21-22a) I want you to take note of three more road signs you need to follow to prevent spiritual wandering in your own life. And the first is this
I. THE KEEP RIGHT SIGN.
(post a keep right directional sign)
It is one thing to “get right” with God through Jesus Christ. It is quite another thing to “keep right”. In fact, it is harder to keep right. That’s the frontline, where the battle of the flesh and the spirit wages. But we need to understand that “keep right” in your walk with God and before the eyes of the world is more important than you will ever realize. It is what keeps us “salty” and our light shining. And it only takes one or two slips for our witness to be neutralized before others.
As a pastor I hear people talk about the “hypocrites” down at the church. In the eyes of many people, all they see are our faults, which can be frustrating. We all know none of us are ever going to be perfect this side of heaven. We all sin and still fall short of God’s glory. But we can’t use that to develop a Brittany Spears approach to our failures and sin. You know what a Brittany Spears approach to our failures and sin is?
Opps…I did it again!!
Keeping right in our relationship with God has to do with honesty and integrity. And once we lost that with people, we lose our testimony. If you want to know if you are in danger of losing that, consider these questions:
Does my public life and my private life match?
Am I worried that someone will ever see what I am doing?
Would I be comfortable with Jesus hearing what I just said?
Would I want everyone else in church to know I made this decision?
Proverbs 10:9-10 tell us that,
“People with integrity have firm footing, but those who follow crooked paths will slip and fall. People who wink at wrong cause trouble…”(NLT)
Don’t buy into the Devil’s lie that we can make dishonest choices and get away with it. No one can plant seeds of sin today and not have a crop of heartache and trouble tomorrow. But just like driving on the wrong side of the road will eventually cause you to get hit… living lives where we have little concern about doing right will certainly bring our faith crashing down. Galatians 6:7 warns us
7Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.
Listen guys, I’m not saying we can’t ever sin. We will and God offers forgiveness through confession and repentance. What I’m saying is that we can’t wink at and excuse sin away…without understanding there are consequences to our decisions. If you have a heart to follow Jesus Christ all the days of your life, (post a keep right directional sign) you will find out it is hard work to “Keep Right”.
Ever watch salmon swim upstream to spawn? Fighting the current, they arrive at their spawning grounds beat up and cut up…and they die. You and I are to be swimming against the current of this world. And it will take it’s toll on us. But we still need to keep right to avoid areas that can get you into trouble. Another sign we need to heed is
III. DO NOT ENTER SIGN
(post Do Not Enter sign)
Listen to me, there are some places you and I don’t need to go…or even think about going. There are some "roads" that you and I need not travel down BECAUSE we are children of God. There are some places in life that we need to just close ourselves off to…because they lead to nothing but destruction. In Proverbs 4:11-14 God says
11 I guide you in the way of wisdom and lead you along straight paths. 12 When you walk, your steps will not be hampered; when you run, you will not stumble. 13 Hold on to instruction, do not let it go; guard it well, for it is your life. (that’s a pretty strong statement) 14 Do not set foot on the path of the wicked or walk in the way of evil men. 15 Avoid it, do not travel on it; turn from it and go on your way.
And in verse 19 of that same chapter God tells us why…because
19 …the way of the wicked is like deep darkness; they do not know what makes them stumble. (leave up until ***)
There are some places that if we visit them…and some activities which will cause us to stumble in our walk with God. The Bible tells us to
Abstain from (or avoid) every appearance of evil. (KJV 1 Thessalonians 5:22) Four years ago, a man I knew left and divorced his wife of 42 years. He started having innocent lunches with his secretary and working late with her…and eventually had an affair with her. By the way, this just wasn’t any guy. He was a pillar in a church…a Sunday School teacher and a deacon in our church for 35 years. When he mentioned having these lunches and working late, many of us told him to be very careful. But in his pride, he blew us off and ignored us. He not only lost his wife, his family and contact with his grandkids…he lost his close walk with God. He doesn’t even attend church today.
After being a Christian all of his life…a deacon for 35 years…you would think he would have known better. It is one thing to “get right” with God through Jesus Christ. It is quite another thing to “keep right”. It is one thing to “know right” and another thing to be committed to “do right”. The way of the wicked is like this deep, dark abyss…where we cannot see the dangers…making it so easy to stumble. Haven’t you ever walked through your house in the middle of the night…and hit you shin on a coffee table or stub your toe on something. Darkness hides danger…whether we are talking about physical or spiritual darkness. That’s why Proverbs 13:15 declares,
15 …the way of the unfaithful is hard.
The paths that sinful people follow are difficult…troublesome…painful. Like the Psalmist prayed in Psalm 86:11
11 Teach me your way, O LORD, and I will walk in your truth; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name.
We need to pray
"God, show me the way...lead me down the paths you want me to take. And stop me when I begin to wander into places I don’t need to be in."
For it is in avoiding the places God’s Spirit tells us to avoid and talking the paths God wants us to take (post Psalm 119:35) that we find happiness and delight as children of God. It is in avoiding the places God’s Spirit tells us to avoid and talking the paths God wants us to take (post Psalm 16:11) that we find joy and pleasure. We need to pay attention to the “Do Not Enter” (post Do Not Enter sign) signs God puts before us in life. And we need to remember that we are people still being molded by God.
III. THE UNDERCONSTRUCTION SIGN.
(post Under Construction sign)
Philippians 1:6 says,
He who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it.
God is still in the process of shaping us and making us into the people and vessels He desires for us to be. In Jeremiah 18, God told the prophet Jeremiah to go down to the potters house and watch the potter work the clay. And after Jeremiah watched the potter, God said to Jeremiah, “my people are like the clay and I am the potter”. And we are still clay in the hands of God. What is it that the old, familiar Baptist hymn says (Post Spirit of the Living God hymn)
Spirit of the Living God; Fall fresh on me
Break me…Melt Me…Mold Me…Fill Me.
Spirit of the Living God; Fall fresh on me
We are a work in progress. God is in the process of breaking some of the stubbornness and pride in some of us. In others, He is melting the hardness of the heart and the stiff, rigid independent spirit we foster. And after his Holy Spirit has convicted us…worked us over and we have been softened up through repentance, God begins the process of molding us…and filling in what’s missing in us so He can use us in the way He desires to use us.
That’s what God is doing in every one of us. That’s what God is doing and has done in me. None of you know that out of a graduating class of 1375 in Parma., Ohio, I was voted the second shyest person in my class. I never opened a Bible and read from it until I was 25 years old. And a year after I became a Christian, God called me to preach. No background in the Bible…no theology developed from Sunday School…I couldn’t find my way through the Old and New Testament. But God wanted me…He called me…a kid raised in a Catholic home by a father who studied for the priesthood and who was so shy he wouldn’t even talk to myself…to be a preacher. And He began the process of Breaking me…Melting Me…Molding Me…and Filling Me with what I needed to accomplish His will. And those friends of mine who have known me all comment on what a different person I am today than I once was.
Listen folks, that is all of our testimony. Every single Christians should be able to look at their life and say, “I’m not what I once was. And I am not yet what I will be. Because God is not finished with me yet.” And I am so thankful that as His children (post Under Construction sign) we are still Under Construction. There is one final sign I want to share with you…and that is
IV. THE FOUR WAY CROSSROAD/INTERSECTION SIGN
(post FOUR WAY CROSSROAD sign…and leave up)
That sign reminds us that all roads are coming together into one intersection. And when all the roads intersect like that, you have a choice to make. Which road will you take? Which direction do I go from here?
You know what I like about that sign? If you look at it, it is in the shape of the cross. And it ought to remind us that all the roads in life eventually lead to the cross of Christ. It doesn’t matter if you are a multimillionaire, or living on the streets…whether you are a CEO for an oil company or you pump their gas in a filling station…whether you are a butcher, a baker or a candlestick maker…eventually every road in life leads to the cross. And when we get there, we have to decide what road we will take. Will we choose to follow Jesus? Or will we continue to take our own way? The Bible says this,
27…man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, (Hebrews 9:27)
And you know what that judgment will be based on? What you did with Jesus Christ, the one who died on the cross for you. If you have accepted him…God grants you heaven and eternity there. If you have rejected Him, you receive Hell. The Bible is that plain and straightforward.
You see, if I had a bill for $10,000 and _____ offered to pay it for me…and I accepted his offer and he paid it…how much do I owe? Nothing…because ______ paid the bill. But if ______ offered to pay it…and I refused to let him do it…how much do I owe? $10 grand still…even though _____ offered to pay for it.
On the cross, Jesus died for your sins and mine. And he says that if you accept me, my dead can be the payment for your sin. If you refuse Jesus’ offer, YOU still stand accountable to pay the full price for your sin to God. And just as Jesus received the full wrath of God for the sins of mankind, God’s wrath will be poured out on you in an awful place that is separate from God or any god thing called Hell. That’s why it is so important to accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior…and really mean it.
By the way, if you never have done that before…I have one more sign for you today and that is the U-Turn sign. (post U Turn sign) You see, you can make a U-Turn in life. In the church we call that repentance. Instead of going in this direction and going your way, you can turn from your way…turn to Jesus…and determine you are going to follow His way. And maybe someone would like to do that today. Maybe someone in here NEEDS to do that today. Shall we pray.
