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Introduction:
Introduction:
I want to welcome you again this morning.
First, to those joining us online, we are so thankful for our online technology that allows you to be a part of our church family today.I also want to welcome those who may be joining us for the first time today. I hope your time with us today is encouraging and helpful, and I look forward to meeting you.
I would also say if you are new to our church today, it would be helpful for you to know that we practice a form of preaching called “Expository Preaching”.
What that means, is we believe the Bible is best taught by taking books of the Bible and then breaking them down from beginning to end, chapter by chapter, verse by verse. Our goal, to better understand not only what God’s Word says, but what it means in our lives today.
Over the past couple of years we’ve been doing that through the NT book of Acts. A book written by a First Century disciple named Luke who wrote it for a couple of reasons:
First, to give us a history of how the church started, who was there, and the circumstances that surrounded it.
Second, in a way, to give us a template on how to accomplish the mission that Jesus gave us to take the gospel to the entire world.
With that said, if you haven’t been with us I would encourage you to go online to mcf.life or to our Facebook page where you can watch previous messages.
Today however we are picking back up in Acts 20 as Paul is leaving the NT city of Ephesus and beginning his journey towards Jerusalem and eventually to Rome.
You may recall this is a path and journey that the Holy Spirit specifically led Paul too. A journey that marks a shift in Paul’s ministry.
Because up until this point Paul has spent most of his time planting churches and spreading the gospel. However, that’s all about to change as this new journey will consist of an entirely different focus.
What focus?
Three to be exact:
Focus #1 - It will consist of Paul visiting and encouraging churches he’s planted as he makes his way towards Jerusalem.
Focus #2 - It will consist of his final journey towards Rome. A journey that will end in his captivity in Rome, and according to Church history, his eventual execution.
Focus #3 - It will also consist of the many challenges and dangers that Paul will face along the way. Challenges and dangers which will include assassination attempts on his life, riots that will lead to his arrest, sea voyages where he will be lost at see and shipwrecked, and then eventually imprisonment in Rome.
So, as you can see this final section of Acts is going to be exciting as we journey with Paul to his final destination point.
That being the case, In order to prepare us for this final section of Acts, I want to introduce this next portion of scripture by asking you a question that I think most of us will be able to relate with.
The question is this:
Opening Question - How many of you have ever taken a long road trip?
And when I say long road trip, I’m not talking about like traveling to Manhattan, Lincoln, KC, or Wichita. What I’m talking about is a trip that may encompass more than 1 day, maybe even 2-3 days, or maybe even several days.
For example, maybe you’re driving from Marysville to New York City. That’d be quite a journey, right?
How many would say you’ve done something like that?
Now, let me ask you this, “When taking a long road trip like that, what are some helpful safeguards you might want to have in place in order to safely reach your destination?”
What are some helpful safeguards? Well, I can think of a few:
For one, you would want to have reliable transportation, right? In other words, you’d want to have a vehicle that you knew was capable of making the journey. Otherwise you might find yourself broken down on the side of the road. That’s true, right?
In addition to that, it would probably be wise to have somebody make the journey with you. Maybe a trusted friend, spouse, or companion that makes the trip with you.
Why would that be important? I can think of a couple of reasons:
#1 - Having a traveling companion will help keep you safe.
In other words, there is safety in numbers. Which means, having someone travel with you provides an added level of safety, right? Somebody to watch your back.
#2 - Having a traveling companion will help keep you alert and awake.
I don’t know about you, but when I drive for an extended period of time, I get tired, and find myself drifting off at times. And that’s not good, right? So, having a travel companion will ensure you don’t fall asleep at the wheel.
So, a great safeguard would be too have somebody travel with you.
But along with a reliable vehicle and a travel companion, it would also be helpful to have a GPS to guide you. And by GPS I’m talking about the mapping feature on your smartphone or even a GPS unit in you dash that gives you directions to your destination.
So, why would that be helpful?
#1 - Well for one, a GPS will give you the fastest and shortest route to your destination. Which means, it helps you make the best use of your travel time.
#2 - A GPS will keep you on track. In other words, not only will it give you turn by turn directions, but if you get off course, it will redirect you and get you back on the path to your destination.
Anybody ever have that happen to you? That’s a great feature, right?
All that to say, when you take a long road trip, having safeguards like that in place can help ensure that you’ll reach your destination safely and in a timely manner.
Now, you might be thinking, “Ok Pastor, that’s all great. Thanks for the lesson in how to safely take a long road trip. But I didn’t need to come to church to figure that out. So, where are you going with this?”
Here’s where I’m going.
The fact of the matter is, when it comes to your journey of faith, often it is much like a long road trip.
How so? Well, like a long road trip, its:
A journey that doesn’t take place over night or even a couple days, but throughout the course of your lifetime.
It’s also a journey that is leading you to a specific destination point, which in your case is God’s plan and purposes for your life.
Not only that, but it’s a journey that comes with unforeseen challenges, unknown dangers, uncertainties, and unexpected twists and turns.
And finally, it’s a journey that eventually has a final destination point as one day you stand before the Lord and hear Him say, “Well done good and faithful servant.”
That being the case, it’s a journey that requires certain safeguards to be in place in order to accomplish the plans and purposes God has for us as we journey towards that final destination point.
What safeguards? That’s what I want to talk with you about today as we continue in our study of Acts.
Because as we pick back up with Paul in Acts 20, and as Paul leaves Ephesus, Paul has certain safeguards in place that will ensure he reaches the destination point God has given him, which in his case is Jerusalem and then eventually Rome.
So, what were those safeguards? There are three.
So, in order to discover them, I have three goals as we approach this passage today:
First, we’re going to read through the passage so we can get an understanding of what’s going on as Paul leaves Ephesus.
Second, as we journey with Paul, we are going to make some observations and in doing so uncover what safeguards were necessary for Paul to keep moving forward towards his destination point.
Finally, once we identify those safeguards, we’re going to determine how these safeguards apply to us as we navigate our journey of faith, not only as a church, but individually as well.
So, with that as our basis, let’s pick up in verse 1 as Paul departs from Ephesus:
1 After the uproar ceased, Paul sent for the disciples, and after encouraging them, he said farewell and departed for Macedonia. 2 When he had gone through those regions and had given them much encouragement, he came to Greece. 3 There he spent three months, and when a plot was made against him by the Jews as he was about to set sail for Syria, he decided to return through Macedonia. 4 Sopater the Berean, son of Pyrrhus, accompanied him; and of the Thessalonians, Aristarchus and Secundus; and Gaius of Derbe, and Timothy; and the Asians, Tychicus and Trophimus. 5 These went on ahead and were waiting for us at Troas, 6 but we sailed away from Philippi after the days of Unleavened Bread, and in five days we came to them at Troas, where we stayed for seven days.
Luke picks up following the riot at Ephesus, and at first glance it would appear that outside of a lot of travel, there really isn’t much happening in the opening stages of Paul’s journey towards Jerusalem. But the truth is, this passage is loaded with information along with our first travel safeguard.
So, let’s walk back through this opening paragraph and see what we can discover.
First, notice what Luke first tells us as Paul begins his journey. In verse 2 he writes:
2 When he had gone through those regions and had given them much encouragement, he came to Greece.
Luke says as Paul heads for Jerusalem, he travels through the region of Macedonia, and in doing so brought encouragement to them.
Now, while it only took Luke one verse to summarize this beginning part of Paul’s Journey, the truth is this verse probably encompasses at least a three month period.
So, a great question would be, “What was Paul doing for 3 months and who was he encouraging?
To understand what is going on here, we have to identify who the “them” are.
So who are they? The “them” are the churches in the region of Macedonia that Paul had previously planted, specifically the churches at Philippi, Thessalonica and Berea.
And what’s going on, is before Paul goes to Jerusalem, he wants to stop and check on these churches so that he can bring encouragement to them. Why encouragement? Probably because like most of the churches of the 1st century, they were facing severe persecution for their faith in Jesus. And so like he did in Ephesus, Paul wants to remind them of the hope that they have. That regardless of how dark the day is, Jesus is still on the throne.
And this is a great reminder for us, that while the journey God has each of us on is important, so are the people we will encounter along the way. People who need encouragement. People who need hope. People who need to be reminded that Jesus is still on the throne.
Which means, like Paul we need to be aware not only of our own journey, but of the journey of others.
And this is what Paul is doing as he takes time to stop and minister to people who need encouragement.
It should cause us all to pause and ask the question, “Who do I need to encourage today?”
This then leads to a second detail that Luke gives us, because Luke says after visiting and encouraging the churches of Macedonia, Paul came to Greece. Luke writes:
3 There he spent three months, and when a plot was made against him by the Jews as he was about to set sail for Syria, he decided to return through Macedonia.
Luke says after arriving in Greece, he spent three months in Greece as well. And apparently it was an exciting 3 months because Luke says it ended with an assassination attempt as some Jews plotted against Paul.
So, to help us understand what is going on here, let’s break this down into two questions:
Question #1 - Why did Paul stay in Greece three months?
More than likely it wasn’t by choice, but necessary due to it being the winter season, which would have prevented him from sea travel.
As a result he hunkers down and waits for favorable conditions.
Which then leads to a second question:
Question #2 - Why were Jews trying to kill Paul during this time?
Well, they were trying to kill him because they were in opposition to the influence Paul had and the fact that he was leading Gentiles to faith in the God of the Bible through a Messiah they didn’t believe in. And they’re not happy about it.
And so they see this as an opportunity to take Paul out. And apparently part of their plan entailed killing Paul on the ship once he set sail from Greece.
How do we know that? We know because of what Luke tells us. Because in verse 3 he says:
3 There he spent three months, and when a plot was made against him by the Jews as he was about to set sail for Syria, he decided to return through Macedonia.
Luke says Paul’s plan was to set sail for Syria, but then he learns of a plot to take him out, so instead he decides to go by land, which will take him back through Macedonia.
And this leads us to the first safeguard. Because what Luke is about to tell us next reveals how Paul probably discovered the plan and what allowed him to change his travel plans and avoid death. Because after discovering the assassination attempt, Luke writes:
4 Sopater the Berean, son of Pyrrhus, accompanied him; and of the Thessalonians, Aristarchus and Secundus; and Gaius of Derbe, and Timothy; and the Asians, Tychicus and Trophimus. 5 These went on ahead and were waiting for us at Troas,
In this passage Luke goes out of his way to name by name specific individuals who were traveling with Paul. Individuals who were accompanying Paul on his journey. Individuals who Paul trusted and had asked to join him.
And apparently, when the plot is discovered, these friends assist Paul in his escape as some board the ship as if Paul were going with them, while another group of friends go with Paul by land with the plan for everybody to meet up together in the city of Troas.
So, why is this important? It’s important because it highlights our first safeguard, and I would state it like this:
Safeguard #1 - In my journey of faith, I should never travel alone.
You see what Paul understood, is if he was going to make it to Jerusalem and then to Rome, he couldn’t do it alone. He would need trusted individuals to travel with him.
In his case, men who were as committed to Jesus as he was. Men Paul knew had his back no matter what. Men who could warn Paul of danger. Men who Paul knew he could trust and rely on.
And what was true for Paul is true for everyone of us. The fact is, while your journey of faith is your journey, it’s not a journey you are meant to take alone.
The fact is, you need other Christians in your life who are journeying with you. Christians who care about you. Christians who have your best interest in mind. Christians who have your back no matter what. Christian you know you can trust and rely on.
Why do you need Christian friends like that? You need them because at some point the enemy is going to try and take you out. And if you’re alone, it’s going to be much easier for him to do it.
You might ask, “Pastor, how is the enemy going to try and take me out?”
He has more ways than we can count. But here a few you can count on:
For some, he’s going to try and take you out by taking out your marriage. Which means, you need other Christian couples in your life to hold you accountable and encourage you when your marriage hits rough waters, because there will be moments it will.
For some men, he’s going to try and take you out with a woman you have no business talking too or a pornographic website that has ensnared you. Which means you need Christian men in your life who can hold you accountable, challenge you, and encourage you when you get stupid.
Teenagers, he’s going to try and take you through peer pressure, which means you need other Christian students in your life who can hold you accountable and encourage you to stand strong in your faith.
Ladies, he’s going to try to take you out emotionally. He’s going to try and convince you that you’re not good enough. That you’re not thin enough. That you’re not pretty enough. That you’re not worthy enough.
Which means you need other Christian women in your life who can hold you accountable, encourage you, and help you see yourself the way that God sees you.
Bottom line, if we’re going to make the journey, we need other Christians alongside us who believe in us, have our backs, and we know that we can trust.
So, a great question would be then, “Where do you find such people?”
Well, ideally, you find them at church. You find them in the place that Christians gather. Which is why it’s so important to make church a priority in your life. Because where else are you going to go in the week where there is such a high concentration of people who love Jesus? The writer of Hebrews puts it like this:
24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
The writer says, “You want to be encouraged? You want to be strengthened? Then make sure you are at church. Make sure you are gathering with other believers on a consistent basis.
However, I will say this, just attending church isn’t going to provide you these kind of friendships. Because friendships like this have to be sought out. Friendships like this take time to develop. Friendships like this just don’t happen.
Here’s what that means for you. If you want a friendship like that, this is something you have to make a priority in your life. This is something that you have to intentionally seek out as you join a Life Group. Or as you purposely walk across the sanctuary to engage with someone. Or as you invite a couple over to your home for dinner.
Friendships like this take effort. But it’s effort well spent. Because in the end, you’ll have people in your life that can journey with you, protect you, and encourage you.
This is what Paul had, and it’s what safeguarded him as he journeyed towards his destination point. It’s what kept him from literally being assassinated.
This now leads us to the next section of scripture as Luke continues. Because having avoided this attempt on his life, and having to take a detour, Paul arrives where he initially planned to go in the city of Troas. Luke writes:
6 but we sailed away from Philippi after the days of Unleavened Bread, and in five days we came to them at Troas, where we stayed for seven days.
Luke says Paul arrived in Troas where he stayed for the next seven days. And it’s in this next seven days that we will discover another traveling safeguard. Because having arrived in Troas, look at what Luke says happens next:
7 On the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul talked with them, intending to depart on the next day, and he prolonged his speech until midnight. 8 There were many lamps in the upper room where we were gathered. 9 And a young man named Eutychus, sitting at the window, sank into a deep sleep as Paul talked still longer. And being overcome by sleep, he fell down from the third story and was taken up dead.
As you can see, this is an interesting passage that ends in an unexpected tragedy. Which begs to question, why would Luke give us such a story?
Well, let’s break it down and see if we can figure out what is going on.
First Luke says on the first day of the week they gathered together to break bread.
This tells us two things. Number one, that this happened on a Sunday, which was the first day of the week, and number 2, that it happened at church. And we know it happened at church because Luke says they were breaking bread together and Paul was speaking.
Second, Luke says as Paul spoke, he prolonged his speech until midnight. Which means, Paul spoke for several hours.
So, what’s up with that? Was Paul windy that day? Could he not see the clock on the wall to see what time it was? Why in the world would he speak so long. No wonder this poor guy fell asleep.
It might surprise you to know for an orator to speak several hours was not uncommon in the first century. Why? Probably because people back then didn’t have television sitcoms, Hulu, Netflix, Facebook, and all the other information outlets that we have.
So, in the same way some of us sit down and binge watch a television series or go to a 2-3 hour movie, people in the first century binge listened to great speakers.
All that to say, Paul isn’t windy, he’s just trying to give these Christians a lot of information in a short amount of time, because come morning, he has to get back on his journey towards Jerusalem.
Which then leads to what happens next, because as Paul downloads his teaching to his audience, one of the listeners, a young man named Eutychus sitting on a window seal, falls into a deep sleep and falls out of the window three stories to the street below. A fall that took his life.
And what we have to understand about Eutychus’s fall, is this isn’t Paul’s fault. This isn’t because Paul was windy was we’ve noted. He falls because he’s obviously not as engaged as he should be, and he lets the flesh get the best of him.
It’s exactly what happened to the disciples in the garden of Gethsemane. Remember, in the moments leading up to his arrest and execution, Jesus went to the Garden to pray, and he asked his disciples to pray with Him. But look at what happened:
40 And he came to the disciples and found them sleeping. And he said to Peter, “So, could you not watch with me one hour? 41 Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” 42 Again, for the second time, he went away and prayed, “My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.” 43 And again he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy. 44 So, leaving them again, he went away and prayed for the third time, saying the same words again. 45 Then he came to the disciples and said to them, “Sleep and take your rest later on. See, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. 46 Rise, let us be going; see, my betrayer is at hand.”
In this passage Jesus only had a short amount of time to pray before his arrest would come. But the disciples let sleep get the best of them. And in an hour they should have been awake and attentive to what was happening with Jesus, they were asleep.
Same thing with Eutychus. The Apostle Paul has shown up. His time is short. He has important information and teaching to give to the church at Troas. But Eutychus isn’t engaged. Eutychus lets sleep get the best of him.
So, what is this saying to us? What it’s saying is if we want to accomplish God’s plan and purpose in our life and reach our destination, then we better have a second safeguard in place, and I would state it like this:
Safeguard #2- In my journey of faith, I need to stay awake and avoid apathy.
What I mean by that is we need to avoid the pitfall of Eutychus, who in the midst of a critical moment in his life, became disinterested and fell asleep. Which led to him not only missing out on Paul’s teaching, but losing his life.
And unfortunately, this happens to Christians all the time. Christians who on their journey of faith become apathetic and in the process lose interest and focus in their faith.
I see it happen all the time:
I see it happen with people who get excited about God, attend church regularly, but then over time, they become disinterested in church and church attendance.
So, instead of every week, they start coming every other week.
And then over time every other week becomes once a month.
And then once a month becomes every other month.
And then it’s only a matter of time before its Christmas and Easter.
It happens with Christians who at the first of the year get excited about reading their Bible.
But then over time, their zeal to read begins to lessen. So instead of reading it everyday, they read it every other day. But over time that turns into once a week. And then once a week becomes every once in a while. And then before they know it, they’re not reading it at all. Instead, they’re asleep.
I even see it happen with people who attend church regularly. People for whom church has just become a habit, a routine, something to check off their religous check list. They come and they go but they’re not engaged. People like this are just going through the motions, and they’re asleep.
And please hear me, I’m not saying that church attendance, engagement at church, and reading the Bible are the gauge for whether you’re a Christian or not. I’m just saying, whenever you start to get sleepy for the things of God, it can lead to consequences in your life.
So a couple great questions would be, “Why do we get sleepy?” and “What are the consequences if we do?”
Let’s start with why we get sleepy. And I would say we get sleepy because we start staying awake for other things.
And so instead of staying awake for the things of God:
We’re staying awake to go party.
We’re staying awake to browse through our Facebook feed for endless hours.
We’re staying awake to watch television series and movies that are full foul language, sexual content, and worldly thinking.
We’re staying awake to engage in relationships we have no business being in.
We’re staying awake as we give our time, talents, and treasures fully to the world.
You see what I’m saying.
We get sleepy because we’re awake to the world and its desires of the world but were numb and asleep to the things of God.
This is what Jesus was talking about when he instructed the disciples to always be spiritually diligent and awake. Look at what Jesus says:
34 “But watch yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly like a trap. 35 For it will come upon all who dwell on the face of the whole earth. 36 But stay awake at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.”
Jesus says the danger for you and I is that we would become weighted down by the cares of this life, which he says is a trap. He then says to stay awake all times. And He means that in a spiritual sense. In other words, always be spiritually awake and in tune with your faith. Because that’s what keeps you from being weighted down.
And this is our challenge. Because the fact is, the world and its desires have a strong draw. And unfortunately it draws many into spiritual slumber.
And with that come consequences. What consequences. Here are just a couple that are worth considering:
For one, If you’re spiritually asleep, you’re going to miss out on God’s plan and purpose for your life.
I think this is a major issue right now for the Church and lot of Christians when it comes to politics and the state of our country as we have become consumed with what’s happening in Washington. Consumed with constitutional rights. Consumed with election fraud. Consumed with what Fox News or CNN say. Consumed with what people are saying on Facebook and Twitter. And the list goes on.
And I’m not saying those aren’t important concerns. But that’s now what our number one focus should be. What should it be? Paul puts it like this:
2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.
Paul says let your focus and hope be in God, not on what Washington is doing. Not on whether Trump or Biden is President. Not on whether Republicans or Democrats are in control. But on the one who is truly in control.
You see, what the enemy wants is for you to get so caught up in what’s going on down here, that you lose focus on what God is doing up there. And when that happens, we lose sight of what God is doing, and in the process we miss out on His plan and purpose in our life.
And there’s danger when that happens, because not only does it affect us in this life, but if we’re not careful, it could end up affecting us eternally.
This is what Jesus was talking about as he instructed the disciples to not lose sight of the end game. Because the end game isn’t this life, it’s the life to come. Listen to how Jesus puts it:
32 “But concerning that day or that hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 33 Be on guard, keep awake. For you do not know when the time will come. 34 It is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his servants in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to stay awake. 35 Therefore stay awake—for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or in the morning— 36 lest he come suddenly and find you asleep. 37 And what I say to you I say to all: Stay awake.”
In this passage Jesus is talking about the end of days and his return to gather the church.
And Jesus says, “Listen, you don’t know when I’m coming back. So, stay alert. Stay awake. Be spiritually prepared and awake for my return.”
And what I want you to understand is that Jesus isn’t saying it’s going to happen in our life time. What He’s saying is we need to live like it could. Because it could happen in our lifetime, and if it does, Jesus wants you to be spiritually awake and ready for His return.
But if you’re consumed with this life and living according to the desires of the flesh, you won’t be ready.
And I hate to say it, but a lot of people who claim to be Christians aren’t ready for the Lord’s return. In fact, it’s not even on their mind. Which means, they’re not ready for death either, which could happen at anytime as well. And for them, it will be a sad day when Jesus returns or when they die and face judgment because they weren’t ready.
Now, you might be thinking, “Wow pastor, that’s pretty discouraging.” It is discouraging. But here’s the good news. If you’ve falling asleep spiritually or if you’re dead spiritually, you can wake up. Because look at what Luke says happens next:
10 But Paul went down and bent over him, and taking him in his arms, said, “Do not be alarmed, for his life is in him.” 11 And when Paul had gone up and had broken bread and eaten, he conversed with them a long while, until daybreak, and so departed. 12 And they took the youth away alive, and were not a little comforted.
In this moment of tragedy, Paul did something nobody was expecting. He went down, knelt over the boy, and raised him to life.
What that says to us, is if you’ve fallen asleep spiritually or your spiritually dead, we serve a God who can wake us up. A God who can wake us up from our spiritual slumber. A God who can breath life into spiritually dead people and bring them back to life.
This is what Jesus offers us, spiritual life.
And let’s just be honest, some of you need that this morning. Some of you are spiritually asleep and you need to wake up. Some of you are spiritually dead, and you need the breath of God to give you new life.
Can I tell you, He’s here to do that this morning. That more than anything God wants you to wake up to Him.
This leads us to one final safeguard, and it’s simple, short, and goes back to what we talked about a couple of weeks ago.
Safeguard #3 - In my faith journey, I need to stay focused on where God is leading me.
Luke writes:
13 But going ahead to the ship, we set sail for Assos, intending to take Paul aboard there, for so he had arranged, intending himself to go by land. 14 And when he met us at Assos, we took him on board and went to Mitylene. 15 And sailing from there we came the following day opposite Chios; the next day we touched at Samos; and the day after that we went to Miletus. 16 For Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus, so that he might not have to spend time in Asia, for he was hastening to be at Jerusalem, if possible, on the day of Pentecost.
Very quickly what I want you to see in this passage, is that as Paul continue his journey, he does so under he direction of the Holy Spirit. And we know he does because Luke says his desire was to stop and visit the church in Ephesus, but knowing the Spirit was leading him to get back to Jersualem at a certain time, specifically the day of Pentecost, Paul didn’t allow his personal desires to detour him as he kept on course and sailed pass Ephesus.
And what was true for Paul must be true for us as well. Because the fact is, in our journey of faith it’s easy to get distracted and get off course. It’s easy to allow our desires to lead us down paths that lead to dead ends. Or take roads that lead us in a different direction from where God is leading us.
And that’s why we must always be in tune with the direction of the Spirit, allowing Him to be our GPS as He leads, guides, directs, and at times redirects us when we get off course.
To be honest, that’s why we are doing 21 days of prayer and fasting. Because more than anything for my own journey, for your journey, and for the journey of our church, I want to make sure we are on course. That we’re not distracted. That were on the path God has for us.
And the only way you can make sure we are on course is if on a daily basis we are spending time in his presence and in His Word as we allow the Holy Spirit to lead and guide us.
So, those are the three safeguards for our spiritual journey. The question then is, “Are those safeguards in place in your life?”
I think that’s a great question to consider as we close this morning. Because the fact is, if you want to go where God is leading you, and you want to arrive safely, these safeguards need to be in place.
So, are they? That’s what I’d like to challenge you with in these closing moments. So here’s the first challenge:
Challenge #1 - Do you have the safeguard of Christian friendships in your life?
In other words, do you have fellow believers in your life that are encouraging you, strengthening you, protecting you, loving on you, and helping to hold you accountable? Or, are you trying walk the journey alone.
Can I just tell you, if you’re walking it alone, you’re in danger. Because that’s exactly what the enemy wants. He wants you to be alone. Why? Because when you’re alone, you’re an easy target. Your easy prey. Better to have someone walking with you. The writer of Ecclesiastes puts it like this:
9 Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. 10 For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up!
Can I also say, if you’re walking with the wrong friends, that’s just as dangerous. Because the wrong friends, people who don’t love Jesus like you do, people who don’t care about spiritual matters, those people can easily lead you down the wrong path, a path of spiritual slumber.
Which leads me to the next challenge?
Challenge #2 - When it comes to your spiritual journey, are you spiritually awake or asleep?
In other words, are you focused on growing in your relationship with Jesus, or are you focused on the world. Focused on the flesh. Focused on what this life offers.
Can I just tell you that what this life offers is a lie. And if I’m being honest, my biggest concern for some of you is that you’ve bought into the lie. And as a result, you’re spiritually asleep, and it’s evident in your life.
It’s evident by your actions and behaviors, most of which are not godly or Biblical.
It’s evident in the relationships you’ve given yourselves too.
It’s evident in your lack of spiritual fervor and the things of God.
It’s evident in your church attendance.
It’s evident in how your raising your kids.
It’s evident in how your treating your spouse.
To be honest, if your spiritually asleep, eventually it will be evident in every aspect of your life.
So, if that’s you, are you ready to put your hope fully in Jesus? Are you ready to make Him the focus of your life? Are you ready to wake up?
Finally:
Challenge #3 - When it comes to your spiritual journey, are you allowing the Holy Spirit to guide you?
In other words, are you Spirit led? Are you spending time in prayer? Are you spending time in the Word? Are you allowing the Holy Spirit to guide, direct, and redirect you on your journey of faith?
Or, are you navigating without Him, or maybe you’ve even turned off his voice in your life because He keeps trying to take you in a direction your flesh doesn’t want to go.
For example, you know the Holy Spirit is leading you away from an inappropriate relationship, but you keep going in the wrong direction.
Or maybe the Holy Spirit is leading you to a new opportunity, but you’re so afraid of failure that you won’t make the turn.
Or maybe the Holy Spirit is trying to address a sinful behavior or unhealthy habit in your life, but your refusing to take a different course.
Can I just tell you, that while the Holy Spirit will continually try and redirect you, the more you refuse to listen, the less you will here His voice. How so? Because His voice will eventually become such a nuisance to you that you’ll spiritually speaking, you’ll shut Him off. Because isn’t that what we do when the GPS keeps redirecting us but we don’t want to be redirected. We reach over and we shut it off.
Can I encourage you not to shut the voice of the Spirit off in your life. To listen when He speaks and to be obedient to His leading.
Because I can promise you this, obedience to the Holy Spirit always leads to blessing.
26 “See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse: 27 the blessing, if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you today, 28 and the curse, if you do not obey the commandments of the Lord your God, but turn aside from the way that I am commanding you today, to go after other gods that you have not known.
God says if you’ll allow me to lead you there is blessing. But if you don’t, there is no blessing.
My prayer today is that you would allow the Holy Spirit to guide you. That you would be open to His leading and be willing to make the course adjustments He’s trying to give you.
Let’s Pray