Faith Made Shipwreck

In the presence of each one, may God be with you. Some of you may know there is a place in North Carolina called the Outer Banks. It's a peninsula out there at the coastline of the Atlantic Ocean.

It is a place of very turbulent waters, where the waters are much more turbulent even than it looks like they are. Many ships have gone down in that place. There is one place at the Outer Banks where there are so many ships that have gone down that it is called the Graveyard of the Atlantic.

There is something that I would like to say that I believe is true about every ship that has gone down in the Graveyard of the Atlantic. Every one of those ships at one time was a seaworthy vessel, a safe vessel, able to withstand the storms. They each one of them had withstood storms.

They were able to negotiate the waves. They were able to go against the current. They were able to navigate a course through the sea.

Every one of them. Every one of them. And I would like to consider this morning what made those ships go down.

One of the ships in the Graveyard of the Atlantic is the Monitor. You may remember from the history of the Civil War that the North had a ship called the Monitor and the South had a ship called the Merrimack. And these two ships came up in battle against each other and they fought.

They fought fierce. And the Monitor sunk the Merrimack. The Merrimack went down.

The Monitor was a powerful battleship, victorious in battle. But one day, the Monitor was sailing home back north around the Outer Banks and there was a storm that hit. And it hit hard.

And it shocked the captain. And it shocked the crew. And it shocked the ship.

And that ship, that powerful battleship went down into the Graveyard of the Atlantic in that storm, flying the flag of victory, victorious in battle. I want to consider this morning what made that ship go down. With that also comes the memory of the Titanic.

You remember the history of the Titanic, that great ship with the reputation that God Himself could not sink this ship. But that ship went down one day into its grave in probably one of the deepest places in the Atlantic Ocean. I would like to consider this morning what made that great ship go down.

I want to challenge us this morning. What did make those ships go down? They were good ships. Let's open our Bibles to 1 Timothy chapter 1. 1 Timothy chapter 1. I'm going to read here.

This is one of the pastoral epistles. Paul was writing to Timothy, the young pastor of the church at Ephesus. And he gives a warning here.

And if we begin reading in verse 18, Paul mentions shipwreck. But I want us to know this morning he is not talking about ships. He is talking about faith.

Verse 18. This charge I commit unto thee, son Timothy, according to the prophecies which went on before thee, that thou by them mightest war a good warfare, holding faith, and a good conscience, which some, having put away, considered to be a shipwreck. Faith can be made shipwreck.

1 Timothy 1.19. This is a sobering warning from the Scriptures. There are other Scriptures that indicate that we need to guard our faith. We need to protect our faith.

The Scriptures talk about overthrowing the faith of some. That's faith that is overthrown. Paul mentions in Galatians that ye are fallen from grace.

That just sounds like shipwreck to me. Matthew talks about not offending one of these little ones. Offending one of these little ones.

Causing them to lose faith in God. That just sounds like shipwreck. Hebrews exhorts us that we should exhort one another daily.

Lest ye be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. That just sounds like shipwreck. Hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.

And that's what happened to Hymenaeus. If you read on in verse 20. In other words, Hymenaeus and Alexander had faith.

But their faith had become shipwreck. That's what Paul says. That's the way I read this.

And so there is a warning here. And it's also in 2 Timothy chapter 2. It talks about Philetus. The same thing happened to him.

And it's still happening today. Brothers and sisters, it's happening all around us. I don't know how you are, but I think we're all the same.

We all have friends. Friends that I grew up with. Friends who strengthened my faith in God at one time.

And I look where some of those people are today. And I can't comprehend it. It breaks my heart.

I look at the situation of their life. And I like to be merciful. I like to be understanding.

But I can just tell you by the situations that they're in. That they have fallen from grace. That their faith has become shipwreck.

And it's a burden upon our hearts. And I marvel that the grace of God has been upon my life. I weep before a holy God.

Because this is a warning to the people of God. It can happen to you. It can happen to your children.

And so there's a warning in the scriptures. That our faith does not become shipwreck. I want us to know this morning.

There is a reason why ships go down. The scripture clearly tells us that the curse causeless shall not come. In other words, the curse will not come.

No curse will come without a cause. There's a reason for it. Trials will come.

Trouble will come. Challenges will come. And storms will come.

Jesus said the rains will descend and they're going to beat upon your house. Jesus said so. The enemy may even come in like a flood.

But the curse. The falling of that house. The going down of the ship.

The curse will not come without a reason. Faith made shipwreck will never happen without a reason. I want to consider this morning how faith can be made shipwreck.

I'd like for that to be the title of our message. Faith made shipwreck. 1 Timothy 119.

I want the scriptural reference right there with the title. Because I believe this is such a scriptural warning to the people of God from the heart of God. And I was just thinking about this message.

And I asked myself, is this a message for youth? Scriptures say, lest we offend one of these little ones. This message is for youth. Is it for the young married? We have seen many marriages become shipwrecked.

Is this message for parents with older children? We have seen many homes where relationships have become shipwrecked. And it has damaged the faith of many. Is this message for grandparents? This message is for me.

Is this message for the church? This warning was written to a pastor. This message is for all of us this morning. I would like to write up here.

I'm not sure which pen to write. I don't care what color it is. I would like to write up here this morning and consider six reasons why ships go down.

I believe there are many more reasons, but I want to just bring out the Word of God in this respect that there is a reason why ships go down. This is a warning here. This is a warning to the people of God from the Scriptures.

And I want you to know something about a warning from the Scripture. There is never, that I know of, a warning from the Scripture without also a formula of safety to prevent it. This life we're in, this journey that we're on, is not so dangerous that just anything can happen and there's nothing that we can do about it.

There is something that we can do about it. There is a formula to safeguard us against the dangers that the Scriptures warn us about. And so I want to just mention six things.

Why ships can become shipwrecked. And I want this to be a time of self-examination. It can be.

To look in our heart and say, are any of these reasons in my life? If they are, there is a danger of what can happen to you down the road. The first reason that I want to give on how faith can become shipwrecked, I'm just going to write them up here. The first thing I'm going to write is... This pen is good, you can see this.

Leave your first love. Now you might think that that is somewhat of a general reason, but leaving your first love, brothers and sisters and youth, is a very devastating thing if you think about it. Your first love is the Lord Jesus Christ.

It just is, for a child of God. Above all else, we love His Kingdom. I love Thy Kingdom, Lord.

It's the highest priority. We love His Word. His Word is the final authority on everything.

His commandments are above all else. We love these things. It's our first love.

Well, to leave that. When you leave that, it means something else is now first. And this has become second.

And I want us to know this morning, God will not dwell where He is second in authority. Let that one sink deep into your heart. Let this be a time of self-examination.

God will not dwell where He is second in authority. Two opposing forces cannot dwell in the same place. There is a battle, and there is a victory.

And there is a throne, and it is one or the other. It is a very devastating thing to leave your first love. Now, why am I giving this as the first reason why ships go down? I am because of the context in which it is given.

The context in which it is given is Paul writing to Timothy. As we said earlier, this is one of the pastoral epistles. In other words, Paul's writing to pastors.

And he's writing to Timothy, the young pastor of the church at Ephesus. And that's where Paul gives his warning. And when Paul gave this warning, Ephesus was a thriving church.

It was a growing church. It was part of the early church. You know, we talk about the early church and the power of God that was manifest in the early church.

Well, here it was in Ephesus. They sent out missionaries. They were a model church.

They had a burden for God and for the lost. And I challenge us this morning. Why send a warning like this in a letter to a church like that? Why would Paul send a letter of warning to the early church about their faith becoming shipwrecked? I'm going to tell you why.

Because just 50 years later, the church at Ephesus got another letter from the Holy Ghost. And you can read about it in Revelation chapter 2. To the church at Ephesus. The early church.

He wrote, I have somewhat against thee because thou hast left thy first love. And so what that says to us, it can happen to anyone. It can happen to us.

We can't be in a church that is so hot that you can't leave your first love. It happened to Ephesus. How serious is it to leave your first love? Let me tell you the words of the Holy Ghost.

Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen. You know what fallen sounds like? It sounds like sinking. It sounds like a ship going down.

Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen and repent and do the first works or I will come unto thee quickly and move the candlestick out of its place. Now I want you to know something about your first love. You know you've heard the difference between symptoms and a root problem.

I want you to know this morning, this is a root problem. This is not a symptom. There are a thousand symptoms that come out of this root problem.

This right here is a root problem. Many times we try to deal with symptoms and we need to some way but really the problem is the root problem and this is it. When you begin to move away from God and let something else replace your first love, that is a root problem.

We're having a self-examination this morning I trust. Is there something in your heart that is replacing the almighty God upon the throne of your life? Repent or I will remove your candlestick out of its place except thou repent. If you study the candlesticks, you'll understand that removing the candlestick out of its place simply means you have no place anymore in the kingdom of God.

That sounds like shipwreck. How did this happen? In 50 years, Paul said in his farewell to the church in Ephesus, to this hot, growing, model church, early church, he said, I have not shunned to declare unto you the whole counsel of God. And there was a cry in his heart.

There was a plea in his heart. Take heed therefore unto yourselves and to all the flock, the hot flock over which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God which he hath purchased with his own blood. For I know this, Paul said, I know this, Paul knew this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock.

Now Paul was merciful like the Lord Jesus Christ when there was someone who was coming, there was someone who was seeking, and the mercy of God is upon them. But Paul was not merciful to a grievous wolf. We need some discernment, brothers and sisters.

Paul said, I know that after my departing, grievous wolves will enter in. And that's interesting to me if you just think about what he's saying there. He was saying that's not going to happen while I'm here.

After my departure, God give us fathers. God give us pastors. God give us men.

We are the men who will rise up like Paul and not let this happen. Paul said this isn't going to happen after I'm gone. But he said, I know this, after my departure, grievous wolves will enter in among you.

And he says, not only that, but even of yourselves, right out of the midst of this group right here, men are going to rise up and have people follow after them. Paul was in earnest. He pled with them.

He said, to watch and to remember that by the space of three years, I ceased not to warn everyone night and day with tears. Have you ever tried to picture that? For three years, every one of you ceased not to warn with tears. I mean, Paul was in earnest.

This thing, there's a formula for this thing. This doesn't have to happen. God give us grace that our ships would not go down.

The next reason that I want to give on how faith can become shipwrecked. Should I look for another pen? I don't know what's up here. You ignore a warning.

Many ships have gone down for this reason. Spiritually speaking, to ignore a warning. Brothers and sisters, if you think about it, if you're honest, that right there is the reason why the Titanic went down.

I mean, that's the reason. That's it. There's no other reason.

It was a good ship. It was a powerful ship. It was a safe ship.

But they ignored a warning. They got warnings, and there's icebergs out there. They're dangerous.

They're bigger than you think they are. Slow down! You couldn't tell the Titanic anything. Our walk of faith is much the same.

It's dangerous. There are warnings in our walk of faith, are there not? Has the father not said to his son, whom he loves dearly, son, don't do that. Don't go there.

That's dangerous. That's more dangerous than you think it is. A child that ignores that warning is set to go down.

A child of God who ignores the warning of the scriptures, and as God brings them into their life, that ship is set to go down. You combine these two, someone who has left their first love and ignores a warning, that ship. There's faith there, and may God have mercy, but I just want to speak from what I believe is the heart of God to examine our hearts.

Are we setting ourselves up for shipwreck? The second reason here is talking about someone who can't take counsel, someone who cannot take rebuke. They can't receive instruction. It's usually someone who struggles with authority.

I would like to turn to Genesis chapter 4, and I would like to look here at the example of Cain. Cain struggled with authority. Cain had a hard time receiving instruction, even from the Lord.

We're going to read that here in chapter 4. We're going to read verses 3-7 right here. Now I want you to remember here, the promise of God, the choice of God was upon Cain. Cain was God's chosen firstborn, and the promise was upon Cain.

Sometimes we forget that, but we're going to read it right here. Verse 3, And in process of time it came to pass that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord. And Abel he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof.

And the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering, and there was a reason for that. But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very raw, and his countenance fell.

And the Lord said unto Cain, Why art thou raw, and why is thy countenance fallen? If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? And if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him. God was speaking to Cain.

Cain received some instruction. Everything's okay, Cain. If you can just understand the reason that your offering was not accepted, and repent, and don't be offended that Abel's offering was accepted.

He said that his desire is going to be to you, and you're going to rule over him. You're the chosen one, Cain. All you've got to do is accept counsel.

Now let's read verses 8 through 11. Cain refused counsel. Cain talked with Abel his brother, and it came to pass when they were in the field that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and slew him.

And the Lord said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not. Am I my brother's keeper? And he said, What hast thou done? The voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground, and thou art cursed from the earth. This sounds like shipwreck.

And thou art cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother's blood from thy hand. It's so sobering to me when I think about Cain. All he had to do was receive some instruction and accept the warning and the blessing of God.

The choice of God was upon his life. And we sit here today and we say, Come on, Cain! And God is on His throne saying to us today, Come on, my people! Can't you receive a warning? Can't you receive instruction? Proverbs is full. The way of instruction is the way of life.

I'd just like to read you a couple of Proverbs here. Proverbs 10.17 says this. He is in the way of life.

We want to minister life here this weekend. He is in the way of life, that keepeth instruction. But he that refuses reproof erreth.

Takes you the wrong way. Proverbs 6.23 says this. For the commandment is a lamp, and the law is light.

And reproofs of instruction are the way of life. That's what Cain had. He had a warning, but he had reproofs of instruction.

And he couldn't receive it. That's why his ship went down. There's no other reason.

There's a lot of Titanic. Titanic went down. That's it.

It was a good ship. And so I challenge us this morning. I trust your faith is in the Lord.

It's strong in the Lord. But are any of these symptoms in your heart? Down the road, life will manifest what is in your heart. I want to give you one more proverb.

I'm not going to turn to it, but it says this. He that refuses instruction despises his own soul. That just about puts it right where it is.

If you can't take a warning. If you can't receive rebuke and reproof and instruction, you are despising your own soul. So is this message for the youth? It is.

Is it for all of us, those of us who are older? You know, Ecclesiastes talks about a king who can no longer be admonished. An old king, he says, who can no longer be admonished. He needs admonition too.

I need admonition. I need to be under authority. I need to be able to receive from the word of God, from however God would send a warning.

My heart needs to be open to receive it. The next reason that I want to mention why ships go down, I'm just going to write up here. It's because of a casual spirit.

A casual spirit. This is just simply a spirit that is not alert to danger. This is someone in the ship who comes down from the watchtower so that he can relax and play games.

This is not the picture of a soldier prepared for battle. Now, this doesn't mean that we cannot rest in the Lord. This doesn't mean that we cannot rest in being born again with full assurance of salvation.

We do that. But it does mean we cannot lay our armor down. There are dangers all around us.

This is someone who loves to be entertained. Loves to be amused. I always get intrigued by the definition of amuse.

To amuse is to meditate. It's to think. It's to read and to picture it and to think about it and to receive it.

To amuse. Amuse means you don't do that. You don't want to think about it.

You don't want to study it. You just want to be entertained. You just want to be intrigued and happen what may.

You don't want to think about it. That's the world of amusement. That's the world of entertainment.

And you can say, well, Brother Dale, a casual spirit, that's not a scriptural term. And I'm going to tell you this morning, oh, yes, it is. Oh, yes, it is.

What is the scriptural term for a casual spirit? The scriptures tell us about those that are at ease in Zion. That's a casual spirit. That's what it is, at ease in Zion.

What does the Bible say about those that are at ease in Zion? It says, woe to them that are at ease in Zion. God, wake us up that we would be alert, that we would put on the whole armor of God and be able to take a stand. There's so many dangers.

This thing about being a child of God is not just a one-time thing. Yes, I'll do it. I don't question the sincerity.

When someone raises their hand, I bless the raising of hands. Yes, I come. But I don't bless that that's all there is to it.

There's the birth of a child, but there's more in the life of a person than the birth of the day they were born. There's growth. There's protection from dangers.

There's alertness. And so we're having a self-examination this morning. The next thing that I want to write up here for reasons why shifts go down, I'm going to write two words, and neither one of them are in the Bible.

Compromise. But they're in the Bible the same way a casual spirit's in the Bible. And drift.

I want to talk just a little bit about these. Compromise. God is not a compromise.

God takes a clear stand. Truth stands. Compromise likes to mix in other things.

And so what is one of the scriptural terms for compromise? I believe one of them is a polluted offering or a mingled sacrifice. But the scriptures very clearly talk about a polluted offering, and I want to tell you something about a polluted offering. A polluted offering is an offering.

The offering is there. There is some faith there. But there are other things that are mixed in.

And what does God say about a polluted offering? Will God accept a polluted offering? Ask Malachi. Will God accept a polluted offering? And God makes it very clear through Malachi that I won't accept the offering anymore. There's going to be, cover the altar with tears, with weeping and crying out, but I will not regard the offering anymore.

Because there's other things mixed in. And so we're just examining our heart. Are there other things that take away your devotion to your first love? Good meditation.

This doesn't mean we can't think about other things. We can't do anything else besides read the Bible and pray. It just means are there other things that take away from our reverence of God? We need to work.

The Bible makes it clear if you don't work, neither should you eat. I mean, God intends that our life be many-faceted. But in every area we bring into captivity every thought to the obedience of the Lord Jesus Christ.

We can do that. 2 Corinthians 6 asks some questions there. What fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? That's compromise.

What fellowship hath light with darkness? That's impossible. What fellowship hath Christ with Belial? That's just as impossible. What fellowship hath the temple of God with idols? There is none.

Those questions are asked as a rhetorical question, meaning you already know the answer. What fellowship does 95% righteousness have with 5% evil? You say 95%? That's pretty good. They have no fellowship with 5% evil.

I don't think this means that we can never have any sinners in our midst. We invite them in. Let's not misunderstand or misapply these principles.

But in our mind and in our heart, God wants the throne, all of it. I've mentioned this before, but one of the clearest examples to me that I just love of compromise is when Moses was trying to get Pharaoh to let my people go. And he told Pharaoh, he said, let my people go, or this will happen, or this will happen.

And finally Pharaoh came to the place, he said, okay. He said, okay Moses, you can go. You can go, your men can go.

And you can take your wives with you. And you can even take your children with you. But just leave the cattle here.

What did God say? Not one hoof will be left behind. That's about the kind of compromiser that God is. And so as we examine our hearts, are we trying to strike up a compromise with God so that we can keep our faith, keep this ship floating, but also enjoy some of the things that this world has to offer? God doesn't dwell where he's second in authority.

I believe when there's fellowship of righteousness with unrighteousness, it's just the picture of a child of God who has a clear testimony for God, dressed immodestly. How can it be? Or it's a child of God, you know, with his earphones on, just walking down the street and just really thumping to the music of this world. It doesn't fit.

It's a child of God who can't forgive. It's someone who justifies their anger. And usually when someone can't forgive, you know what that usually means? It means they won't forgive.

I just can't do that usually means I won't do that. Why can't you do that? Why can't you forgive? I challenge you to picture yourself standing before God at the great throne, in the glory of God, in the presence of the holy angels, and explain to God who gave his all why you couldn't forgive your brother. You're not even going to remember that tiny little thing that was the issue.

We need to get that wisdom now. Or the ship may go down. Compromise.

This is a child of God running after money. I don't know if I should say this, but it's of the Lord I want to. I want to be very, very careful.

I look at a lot of churches. I look at the leaders. And many, many times the leader is the richest man in the church.

Does that make sense? Scripturally? I don't think that means you can't. But that should be the exception, not the rule. A child of God running after money.

The word of God is too clear. They that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. And I was just thinking about that.

Drown? Destruction? That sounds like shipwreck to me. That's what shipwreck is. It's drowning and it's destruction.

And there's a reason why that ship went down. And the reason is covetousness. That's what the word of God teaches.

For the love of money is the root of all evil. Which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith. Look at that.

They had faith. Their faith was made shipwrecked. They have erred from the faith.

They were among the faithful people, but their faith became shipwrecked. And they pierced themselves through with many sorrows. But thou, O man of God, flee these things.

You know what that sounds like? Formula. Against these dangers. Flee these things.

Plural. Not just money. I think there's four things in the scriptures that are mentioned connected with the word flee.

And one of them is fornication. Flee! Fornication. Flee! Riches.

Flee! Youthful lusts. Flee! Idolatry. What does flee mean? Does it mean like lost wife? Have your love back there and just keep looking back at that beautiful thing? No! Flee, brothers and sisters, is a defeat word.

There is no army victorious in battle that ever had to flee. We need to realize that the temptations are bigger than we are. You've got to get out of there.

And flee means as hard as you can go. That's what flee means. It doesn't mean kind of jog nonchalantly.

And it doesn't mean take, you know, the main road and just all the smooth paths. Sometimes it means out the back door and over the fence. But you've got to get out because you can't handle the temptation that is there.

Don't compromise. Compromise is when God is in control of your ship. Except every once in a while you let the enemy take control.

Or you let the flesh take over. That's dangerous. I'm going to say something about drift.

I had a sister come up to me a while back and she said to me, she said, She said, I've heard it preached against and it sounds really, really awful. And I want to make sure I'm not drifting, but I'm not really completely sure what it is. Can you just tell me what drift is? What is drift? And I want to tell you this morning, drift is a little like leaving your first love.

Drift is not a symptom. Drift is not just something that shows up on the outside. Drift is a root problem.

Drift is a moving away from God. There are a thousand symptoms that come up out of drift. It can come up in money, it can come up in music, it can come up in appearance, it can come up in language, speech, it can come up in attitude.

Drift is a root problem. You're moving away from God. There are some scriptures, they don't ever use that word that I know of, but, you know, Colossians says to be not moved away from the hope of the gospel.

So don't move away from it, move towards it. Draw closer to God. Drift means you're going the wrong way.

And so this is a self-examination this morning. Is there something in your heart that is moving toward what this world has to offer? That's a root problem. And it's going to show up in many different ways and different areas of your life.

Colossians talks about if ye continue in the faith. Mark talks about the lust of other things. That's just a polluted sacrifice.

You have a sacrifice, you love the Lord, your faith is in the Lord, but there's a love for some other things here that you just can't let go. James talks about being drawn away of your own lust and enticed. That's drift, that's what drift is.

It's a moving away towards the flesh, drawn away of your own lust and enticed, and it shows up in who knows how many areas. Timothy talks about turned aside and ye have swerved. He uses that word.

That's a good word for drift. You swerved. You're off course, leaving your first love.

That's a moving. And that old question always shows up. If God doesn't seem as close as He did at one time, maybe He's not, but who moved? You did.

You swerved. Hebrews talks about, can't quote it there, take the morning's seed to the things which ye have heard, lest at any time ye should let them slip. There it is.

There it goes. We are counseled by scriptures to hang on tight to the Lord Jesus Christ. Like Ruth claims to Naomi, she wouldn't let go.

This heathen, Gentile, Moabite woman became the grandmother of Jesus Christ because she wouldn't let go. What's in your heart? It's to cling to the Lord Jesus Christ and to the sacrifice and to the cross and to the faith that was once delivered unto the saints. Drift is a moving away from God.

I want you to know that drift does not mean someone is way off course. That's the part that gets tricky. They've got a lot of reasons and excuses why what they're doing is okay because they're not way off course.

It doesn't start that way, but let me tell you where it ends up. It ends up way off course. At the outer banks, the currents underneath the surface are very strong.

That's part of the dangers of drift. I had a friend, Jerome Baptist family, that went out to the outer banks a few years ago, and they had a daughter that just got caught, and she died. They couldn't do anything.

The current took her out. The undercurrent, they call it. Drift has an undercurrent.

It's a dangerous thing. You just can't go that far out and think you're okay. Drift requires no effort.

I wrote a poem one time. I was working in California, and Gordon Rumble, he said he was preparing a sermon, and he said, I'd like to preach a sermon on row, row, row your boats. And I was thinking, well, I hope it goes well for you.

He said, but I want you to write a poem. And so I put my heart to it, and I'm going to quote it to you this morning, because I think it applies to drift. Row, row, row your boats up the narrow stream.

Life on earth is labor. Life is not a dream. I can't get the verse here.

Drifting takes you downstream. Rowing gains the crown. Rowing takes you upstream.

Drifting takes you down. Row your boat with courage. Row and glide no more.

Satan's in the current, but God is in the oar. Row your boat with courage. I can't quote it all right now.

It seems to leave me. But life on earth is labor. Life is not a dream.

It's not merrily, merrily, merrily down the stream we go. Life on earth is labor. Satan's in the current, but God is in the oar.

That's the part that we want. And it's true for us. But is there something for us to do? Like maybe take hold of the oar and use it? Because the current will have its way if we don't.

The next reason that I want to write why ships go down, I'm just going to write it this way. It's because you don't fix it. What this means is you know there's a problem.

You know you have an anger problem. You know that you need to repent. But it's just not that serious to you.

Many of the ships that have gone down in the graveyard of the Atlantic had a small problem that hadn't been dealt with. And I want to tell you something that I don't want you to ever forget. And I pull this out of the testimony of my own life, but also out of the lives of others by observation.

When the storm hits, it always exaggerates a weakness. I'm going to say that again. When the storm hits, it always exaggerates a weakness.

You may have some problems in your marriage, but you're still together. But I tell you when the storm hits, that thing really gets big. You might be holding something against a brother and holding back forgiveness from him or from her or from a child or a son or a daughter in a relationship.

But you love the Lord and they love the Lord and I think it's going to be okay. But I tell you when the storm hits, that thing gets big. And that's the reason many ships go down, why many people with faith become shipwrecked.

That thing they refuse to deal with gets big. I want to encourage us this morning. Is there something in your life, is there someone you need to go to? And I challenge myself with this.

Lord God, reveal to me what I need to do so that I am safe when the storm hits. I look at my life, I look at the fruit of my life when the storm hits and it's not always beautiful. And so I repent.

I just say, I'm a needy man, but may God always give us the grace to repent. The last reason that I want to write why ships go down, this in a way goes along with everything else we've been saying, but life hits hard. I'm just going to say that.

Life hits hard. I'm going to add to that that life hits harder than you think it will. I've been there.

I've thought to myself, if this happens or this happens or this happens, it's not going to affect my faith in God. And it's good to meditate on those things ahead of time, but I tell you, you can't think your way through it all ahead of time. It hits harder than you think it will.

I remember when our family took a trip west. We stopped by the Grand Canyon a couple of years ago, and our family, we hiked all the way from the top to the bottom and back out to the top in one day. And it was hot.

And it was dangerous. And I couldn't believe when we was there all the warnings. I mean, they were everywhere.

Take lots of water. It's steeper than you think it is. It's hotter than you think it is.

You're not as strong as you think you are. It's dangerous. And we even watched a little video clip of one of the canyons there, and at the end of the video it came up, if you're hiking in the canyon, take lots of water.

Take more than you think you'll need. It's steeper than you think. It's hotter than it looks.

It's dangerous. And then the DVD said this. Let me show you some of the people who hiked into this canyon unprepared, who thought they could make it.

And I was sitting there thinking, I'd like to see these people who didn't take heed to a warning, probably a little overweight, probably a little, you know, not in shape for hiking, probably never should have been down there in the first place. And so up comes the first person. And he was a young man, and he was fit.

He was physical. He had a backpack on. He had hiking shoes.

He was in shape. And they had to haul him out of the helicopter, because life hit harder than he thought it would. He thought he was okay.

Next picture came up, and it was a young girl, same thing, fit to the T. I mean, strong, in shape, good lungs, strong legs, strong physical stamina. I don't know if they packed her out with mules or with a helicopter, but she couldn't take it. It was too hot.

I had no idea it was that hot. Brothers and sisters, life is hard. But what about when life is over? It's like I had no idea heaven was this beautiful.

I had no idea hell was this bad. It's hard for us to comprehend. I'm telling you, life is harder than you think it will.

Not to mention the life to come. I think I'm going to close by telling you the story that I know you've all heard, but I like the story. The story of the battleship.

The battleship sailing the high seas. Powerful battleship. Proud battleship.

Headed toward evening. Foggy evening. Dusk, almost dark.

Fog getting thicker. Sailing. And all of a sudden up ahead they spy a light of another ship.

And so they radioed ahead to the ship. We are on collision course. You need to turn to the right.

And the light radioed back. We are on collision course. You turn to the right.

Do it now. The battleship was furious. They sent a reply back.

We are a battleship. You turn to the right or you will be annihilated. And the light radioed back.

We are on collision course. Turn now to the right. And that conversation went back and forth until it was almost too late And the battleship radioed one more time.

We are a battleship. You turn. The light radioed back.

I am not a ship. I am the lighthouse. Turn immediately before you hit the rocks.

When the battleship heard that, I mean, they cut their engines. They reversed their engines. They turned to the right as hard as they could turn.

They prayed like they had never prayed. And that story is told to illustrate what is called a paradigm shift. Do you know what a paradigm shift is? A paradigm shift is when you completely change your thinking with new evidence.

All pride is bought. New evidence. You change your mind with your whole heart and mind and soul and spirit and cut the engines and turn as hard as you can turn.

I want to tell you all here something, and I know this is true for everyone. Every one of you are headed for a paradigm shift. Did you know that? You can't even think ahead of time how great it's going to be.

When the Lord comes, when this life is over, when there's no more tomorrow, when the angel plants his foot, you know, the one on the sea and the one on land, and he cries with a loud voice, time shall be no more. And God comes. And the glory of God fills the earth.

We're all going to have a paradigm shift. We're going to say, I had no idea. That's what happened to John on the Isle of Patmos, isn't it? John, who was the disciple that Jesus loved, John who loved the Lord with all his heart, but when he saw him on the Isle of Patmos, when he saw him in all his glory, I'm just going to give it to you in John's own words.

John said this. He said, And when I saw him, and when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. But I want you to know this morning that that's going to happen to every one of us.

That's what Revelation says. It says, Every eye shall see him, and the whole earth shall wail because of him. And they're going to ask the rocks to fall upon them to hide them from him that sits upon the throne.

That's what's going to happen. It's a paradigm shift. But today is the day of salvation, and so I want to challenge us this morning.

Are there any battleships here? Are there any battleships here this morning that just won't turn? If there are, I want you to know that the lighthouse is here also, radioing ahead to you to turn before it's too late. We used to sing a song on the German Baptist. O turn, ye poor sinners, for why will you die when God in great mercy is coming so nigh? Now Jesus invites, and the Spirit says come, and angels are waiting to welcome you home.

When that paradigm shift comes, won't it be the sweetest thing for Jesus to put his right hand upon you and say, Mike, fear not. It's okay. I was so blessed when we sang this morning, Psalm 303.

It said this. I just looked at those words, and I just thought, why should we tarry when Jesus is pleading? I'm just sitting there, and I'm just getting a vision of the Lord pleading with us. Come unto me, all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I'll give you rest.

Take my yoke upon you and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. Why should we tarry when Jesus is pleading? Why should we linger and heed not his mercy? Mercy is for you and for me.

Let's pray. Oh, God, we know the body of Christ.