Learn to Drive Series Week 5
Road Signs
Tonight in our “Learn to Drive” series,
I want to talk to you about road signs.
Before you can start to drive on state roads,
you must take a computerized test
that includes road signs, and their meanings.
Let’s see how good of drivers we have here tonight.
I’m going to give you an oral exam.
If you know the answer, just shout it out.
What do Brown signs mean? (Government)
What do Blue signs with a big H on them mean? (Hospital)
What does a white sign with a black X on it mean?
(Railroad)
What does a white sign with a big 65 on it mean? (Slow Down)
what does a “Park closes at Dusk” sign mean? (Leave)
Just like VDOT has given us road signs
to help protect us on our journey,
so God has also given road signs to protect us.
I’ve been studying the manual for you this week, and tonight, I am going to give you
a condensed list of road signs
listed in God’s Driving Manual (the Bible).
God’s Word gives us a lot of warning signs,
so this message is loaded up with information
that you need to pay close attention to
so you can be safe as you drive on your spiritual journey.
Your job is to listen closely,
and do your best to memorize,
and OBEY these signs.
We’ve studied obedience in our Youth Group.
Can any of you teens tell us
the definition of obedience?
Remember it has 3 parts.
What is obedience?
1. Doing exactly what you are told.
When do you obey?
2. Immediately.
How do you obey?
3. With a Happy Heart.
What’s the most common red sign
that we see on our roads?
STOP
That’s right, we see the stop signs on our roads
AND in the Bible.
We all move so fast through life,
that sometimes, when we approach danger,
we don’t even realize it.
So God warns us throughout the Bible
to STOP doing many harmful things.
Let’s first look at the STOP sign.
What does God say stop doing?
Mark 7:21-23
“For from the inside, from your heart,
come the evil ideas which lead you
to do immoral things,
to rob, kill, commit adultery, be greedy,
and do all sorts of evil things;
deceit, indecency, jealousy, slander,
pride, and folly---
all these evil things come from inside you
and make you unclean.” (GNT)
In Exodus 20:3-17 God says,
“Worship no god but Me.
Do not make for yourselves images
of anything in heaven or on earth
or in the water under the earth.
Do not bow down to any idol or worship it,
because I am the LORD your God
and I tolerate no rivals.
I bring punishment on those who hate Me
and on their descendants
down to the third and fourth generation.
But I show my love to thousands of generations
of those who love Me and obey My laws.
Do not use my name for evil purposes,
for I, the LORD your God,
will punish anyone who misuses My name.
Observe the Sabbath and keep it holy.
You have six days in which to do your work,
but the seventh day is a day of rest
dedicated to me.
On that day no one is to work---
neither you, your children, your slaves,
your animals, nor the foreigners
who live in your country.
In six days I, the LORD, made the earth,
the sky, the seas, and everything in them,
but on the seventh day I rested.
That is why I, the LORD,
blessed the Sabbath and made it holy.
Respect your father and your mother,
so that you may live a long time
in the land that I am giving you.
Do not commit murder. Do not commit adultery. Do not steal. Do not accuse anyone falsely.
Do not desire another man’s house;
do not desire his wife, his slaves, his cattle,
his donkeys, or anything else that he owns.”
(GNT)
Galatians 5:19-21 “What human nature does is quite plain.
It shows itself in immoral, filthy,
and indecent actions;
in worship of idols and witchcraft.
People become enemies and they fight;
they become jealous, angry, and ambitious.
They separate into parties and groups;
they are envious, get drunk, have orgies,
and do other things like these.
I warn you now as I have before:
those who do these things
will not possess the Kingdom of God.” (GNT)
God doesn’t mind saying STOP, does He?
One thing He said is, to STOP Cursing
stop Using God’s name in Vain –
God and His name are so Holy
that when the people who translated
and copied the original manuscripts
would come across the name of God,
they would get up, wash their hands
and change writing utensils
before AND after they wrote His name.
But people today are so careless with God’s name
that they use it in their everyday language
even if they’re not talking to Him or about Him.
God is offended when He hears someone say
“Jesus, Carl, why did you do that?”
or “Christ, Josie, what happened?”
or the classic “Oh my God!”
God says STOP using His name in vain.
And what about those curse words,
or words so close to curse words
that it transfers the idea of the same profanity.
Like "Jes...", or "Dang", or "Shi..."
or harsh words that are said to offend—
This is so common in our society
that I can give you the first letter of the word
and you’ll instantly know what the word is.
Like the f word, the b word, the a word, the d word.
God says it’s sin, and He says STOP it.
In our passages we saw many stop signs
let me quickly run through them.
STOP Killing – taking another’s life,
for real or in your mind.
STOP Adultery- being unfaithful to your spouse
in actions or thoughts.
STOP Stealing –taking or using anything
that does not belong to you, without the owner’s permission.
STOP Lying – saying anything you have not proven to be true. How about forwarding emails that you don’t know who wrote or even if it’s true?
STOP Coveting – greedily wanting something
someone else has.
STOP Anger - uncontrolled negative feelings
or actions.
STOP Hate - a very strong dislike
for someone or something
STOP Idolatry –worshipping anything
or anyone else other than Jesus the Christ,
God the Creator and the Holy Spirit.
This includes Satan worship and witchcraft
(Which is putting Satan and His power above God),
Some people idolize New age, Allah, the Pope, Buddha, Mary, Muhammad,
and all the other cults and false religions.
STOP Creating Discord – speaking words,
or planting thoughts to promote disunity
God hates this
STOP Gossip –
saying something about someone else
that you would not say directly to them.
STOP Jealousy – feelings of undue ownership
of another person.
God is the only One Who has the right to be jealous.
STOP Fits of Rage – short periods of violence
and uncontrolled anger
STOP Selfish Ambition –
too much focus on yourself with little for others.
These are just some of the things
we need to STOP doing
when God brings it to our attention,
.
I mean “Slam on the Brakes and don’t let up –
STOP”
ILL. When I drove our tour bus
up and down the mountains
of West Virginia and Pennsylvania,
I encountered many steep grades.
But thanks to the Department of Transportation,
I was always warned that they were coming.
When I saw a sign that said,
“CAUTION: Steep Grade Ahead” I knew to slow down, and shift into a lower gear.
If I didn’t, and used my brakes to get down the mountain, then they would overheat, and fail to work.
It’s not good when you lose your brakes
on the side of a mountain.
I will never forget losing brakes in Kentucky
in my Dad’s bus when an air brake line broke
and the bus plunged down the mountain,
God chose to spare my family’s lives that day.
God also warns us of "STEEP GRADE AHEAD"
and the warning of Dead Ends.
These are the things that God warns us about
because they are a steep grade,
and when you play around with them,
it’s very easy to lose control.
Sexual Temptation –
Unfortunately any of us can be tempted by sex.
Young or old, married or unmarried.
We need to stay away from anyone
that causes us to have feelings
that would not please God,
And we need to stay away from any THING
that puts unclean thoughts into our mind.
This includes movies, television, music videos,radio, cds, internet, game systems… anything that has sexual suggestions needs to be avoided at all costs.
Sex is not a toy or something to laugh about
or something to play around with.
The worst part of sexual temptation, is that it’s a steep grade, and once you start rolling, it’s very easy to lose control.
Teens, are you listening to me?
I’ve noticed a whole lot of touching going on.
All the touching, and being so comfortable with someone else’s body, is a steep grade, and if you don’t stop now, you will soon find yourself out of control.
Sex is God’s special gift for the MARRIED husband and wife and it’s the wonderful, clean, and fulfilling part of being one.
But our society has publicized, advertised,
and contaminated sex to the point that it seems almost everyone thinks this marital boundary that God set up
does not apply to them and they fornicate or commit adultery.
God knew this would happen so I believe He allows them to catch diseases that can not be cured.
Unfortunately, these sinners also infect the innocent
and these perverts will pay for this as well.
You may thumb your nose at God and sin sexually
but God sees all and He will punish you.
You say, But pastor, I can’t help myself.
The Bible says in I Corinthians 6:18,
“Run away from sexual sin! No other sin so clearly affects the body as this one does. For sexual immorality is a sin against your own body.”
Another steep grade sign and "DEAD END" sign is:
Drinking – God says don’t get drunk.
“Drunk” is anytime your senses are dulled
or you are not in complete control of your speech,
or your actions. Ephesians 5:18
I’ve surrendered my life to the Lord
and He can call on me at any time
because I never drink alcoholic beverages.
Never have, and with God’s power, I never will.
The problem with drinking is some people can’t stop
and end up sinning by getting drunk.
And God lets them know the next morning
that they sinned.
You never know if you will be able to control it,
so it’s best not to even casual drink.
Another "DEAD END" sign is
Drug Abuse - God says our bodies are His temple and we are not to hurt them in any way.
God gives us Doctors to help make us well,
but way too many times, medicine is over prescribed, and overused.
Our bodies are actually designed to heal themselves.
Of course the other form of drug abuse is the most common form, and that’s using illegal drugs that do hurt our body.
The next sign God gives to warn us of danger is
“DO NOT ENTER”
Proverbs 1:10 says,
“My child, when sinners tempt you, don’t give in.”
Just don’t do it, Don’t give in to it, Don’t fall for it, Don’t be a sucker.
If you can follow that one rule,
you will honor God a whole lot more.
"DO NOT ENTER".
Then God gives us a "YIELD" sign.
There’s two areas where He wants us to give in,
and surrender our own wants and desires.
First God tells us to yield to the Spirit’s prompting.
God prompts our hearts about something in our life
that needs to change.This prompting is called “Conviction”.
Yielding is surrendering our wants and desires to Him.
But God doesn’t only prompt us when we’ve done wrong,
He will also prompt us to do something for Him.
He will tell us to Pray for someone. or to go Visit someone, or to go This Way or That Way.
If you’re having trouble yielding,ask God to help you get it under control.
When you yield to Him He will bless you.
Here’s more signs we need to consider:
"WRONG WAY"
There’s only one thing to do when God tells you you’re going the wrong way. Do a U turn and go the other way.
That’s what true repentance is.
It’s NOT just saying “I’m Sorry”,
It’s saying I’m sorry to God
and whoever else our sin affected,
THEN turning and going in the opposite direction.
In fact not just going, but running,
as fast as you can away from the sin.
Revelation 3:19 says, “Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; therefore be zealous and repent.”
(NASB)
When God has to discipline you, it’s not fun.
So when He shows you that you’re going the wrong way,
turn around immediately.
"NO PARKING"
God does not want us to be stagnant
in our Christian life.
If we’re not moving forward,
then we’re falling behind.
“No Parking” reminds us that God has commanded us to Grow in II Peter 3:18 “But grow in grace
and in the knowledge
of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”
That’s why this GPS board is so important.
Now I know some of you are not yet on this board!
If you aren’t on the board,I pray that tonight you will make the commitment to get on board.
And "Learn to Drive" with the rest of us!
Recognize your responsibility
for your own spiritual growth.
Then focus on one area at a time
where you need to grow.
This is not a magical board,
but it’s a very practical way to see where you are, and know what your next step is.
The next sign is my favorite.
It has saved many of us from eternal destruction
and it can save you too.
"ONE WAY"
There is only one--One Way sign
because there is only One Way to heaven.
And that is through our belief and acceptance
of Jesus Christ and His shed blood for our sins.
That’s it. One Way to get into heaven.
If you haven’t gone that way yet but would like to. Please see me after the service.
I would love to help you to get going
in the right direction!
John 14:6 – “Jesus saith unto him,
‘I am the way, the truth, and the life:
no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me.’” (KJV)
The last sign I want to talk about is what this
“Learn to Drive” series is based on.
That’s "GO"!
God gives us the green light to pursue spiritual growth.
You have the basics on the lower part of the GPS board
and some areas of obedience at the top of the board
which also happens to be the fruit of the Spirit that we receive when the Spirit indwelling our lives.
I’m waiting patiently to preach the OBEDIENCE FACTOR of these commands on the top of our board.
God will release it in His timing.
I know this was a lot of information for you tonight. So let’s do a quick review.
"STOP" - Cursing & Using God’s name in Vain, Killing, Adultery, Stealing, Lying, Coveting, Anger,
Hate, Idolatry, Satan Worshipping,
Creating Discord, Gossiping, Jealousy, Fits of Rage, Selfish Ambition, Not getting along with others
Watch out for the
"STEEP GRADE AHEAD" and "DEAD END"
in Sexual Temptation & Sexual Immorality, Drinking & Drunkenness, & Drug Abuse.
"DO NOT ENTER" - when sinners tempt you, don’t give in.
"YIELD" - To the Spirit’s Prompting, & to Moderation.
"WRONG WAY" – If you are going in the wrong direction,
turn around today & Repent
"ONE WAY" – There is only one way to get into heaven,
through Jesus Christ.
"NO PARKING" – Don’t be stagnant in your Spiritual life, do what it takes to Grow
"GO" - Have Truth, Honesty, Justice, Purity,
Obedience, Thankfulness, Love, Joy, Peace,
Patience, Kindness and Goodness, Faith,
Gentleness, & Self Control.
Let’s pray
