Good morning. Today we are going to begin a new series that takes a look at something that we all see every day. In the words of the singing group, The Five Man Electrical Band, “Signs, Signs, everywhere there’s signs. Blocking out the scenery breaking up my mind. Do this don’t do that, can’t you read the signs.”
Well, today we live in a world full of signs. Billboard signs and neon signs. Yard sale signs nailed to a telephone pole and house for sale signs stuck in front yards all over town. School signs, street signs, business signs, garage sale signs, and especially road signs. And it doesn’t matter where you go, road signs are everywhere. Sometimes the signs are confusing, like this sign. This is the nowhere to go sign, because you cannot go in any direction. How would you like to have just gotten your license, and drive down the street only to encounter that sign? I mean look at that, which way do you go?
But it could be worse. You could be driving along, and while driving by doing about 40 miles an hour try to make sense out of these signs in Tuscany. How could you ever read all of those signs at the same time?
Or how about this one. The good luck sign. How in the world could a person ever understand that sing? For me, it would be very confusing.
Some signs draw attention to potential dangers, like this sign for deer crossing, or elk crossing. Do you know there are signs for bear crossings, turtle crossings, kangaroo crossings, frog crossings, giraffe crossings, zebra crossings, school crossing, and the list goes on and on.
Some signs make no sense, at least initially. Like this sing that only dyslectics could understand. While the sign is telling you to keep right, it is pointing you to the left. And I don’t know where this sign is located, but if I ever see it, I’m locking the car doors and speeding up. I don’t want to pick of a hitchhiker that is actually a guy that has escaped from the prison.
Now, you are probably thinking to yourself, what do road signs have to do with the Christian faith? Well, in Jeremiah 31, God said these words to His people through the prophet Jeremiah. Jeremiah 31:21-22 says, “1”
Now, the nation of Israel had been drifting, they had been wandering away from God. They had lost their way spiritually. And so God says, “Take note of the highway, the road that you take. Be aware of where you are heading. Set up road signs; put up guideposts and follow them. Quit wandering and return.”
You see, just like roads signs exist to guide and warn drivers today, the road signs and guideposts that God told Israel to erect were to assist them in staying “on course” as well. The problem with Israel was that they were roaming. They were wandering away from what God wanted them to go to. Their heart as a nation wasn’t on their God. And to correct them, God allowed them to be conquered. They had ignored God’s prophets and preachers and failed to pay attention to God’s warnings and directions. They had stopped noticing the “road signs” that God had placed before them.
And that’s an easy thing to do. When you see the road signs all the time, you tend to overlook them. By show of hands, who in here will admit that they have at some time in their life run a stop sign? Come on, hold your hand up! Well, I have to admit that I have too. But how can you miss a big, red, octagon sign that simply says “STOP”! Well, it’s because you are so accustomed to seeing it that you fail to really notice it.
Sometimes you are so accustomed to traffic signs, that you stop noticing them. And that’s what happened to the nation of Israel. God had given Israel a practical life map to guide them in living their lives for Him, He gave them the Old Testament. And then He posted road signs along the way to keep them on the right course. He gave them the prophets, His judgment, godly kings, yet Israel still didn’t pay attention to them. And that’s what caused them to spiritually wander.
And today, God has given us a road map for life, and it is called the Bible. And God’s word tells us which roads we should travel, and which roads we should avoid. It explains everything we need to know for this trip through life on our way to Heaven. It contains the road signs that help keep us on the right path. When you find yourself driving someplace that you have never been before, you are forced to pay attention if you don’t want to lose your way. Well, in the same way, Proverbs 2:9-13 says that when we, “2”
Did you catch that? When we stay in the word of God, we discover “how to find the right course of action every time.”
And the wisdom we receive from the Bible will save you from the ways of wicked men and will keep you from wandering and leaving the straight paths to walk in dark ways. If you want to make sure you are always going in the right direction, if you want to make sure your decisions are always the best, then follow these road signs that God gives in His word.
Today we are beginning a three week series that takes a look at some of the road signs that we see everyday, and it applies them to some of the road signs that we find in the Bible as well. Now, before we take a look at today’s signs, allow me to begin with a word of prayer.
Let’s Pray!
The First Road Sign Is The “STOP” Sign:
You know, for Christians to stay on the right path in life, and for us to be effective in sharing Christ and serving others, there are things we have to be very carefully about. And one of those things is controlling our speech. In the 3rd chapter of the book of James, it teaches us the importance of controlling our tongue reminding us that the tongue is like an uncontrollable fire. James 3:8 tells us that it is “full of evil.” II Peter 1:5-9 teaches us that self control, which certainly includes knowing how to control your tongue, is one of the cardinal virtues to seek to incorporate into your life. By the way, that text goes so far as to say that without it, your life and ministry will be less effective and unproductive.
Jesus warned us about that one day. In Matthew 12:36-37 Jesus says, “…men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.”
In Philippians 4:2, when 2 women are in some serious disagreement, the apostle Paul puts up the STOP sign and says, “I plead with Euodia and I plead with Syntyche to agree with each other in the Lord.” In so many words Paul says “Stop fighting and Fix it.” You see, Paul knew that disagreements between believers can cripple a church and its ministry. Every church who has been through a split knows how true that is.
Having been involved in ministry for only a short time, I can already tell you first hand that few things in life will get you into trouble deeper and neutralize your witness more quickly than having a loose cannon for a tongue. I have seen it destroy marriages, friendships, and even churches. We all need to “put on the brakes” and stop, when it comes to careless speech.
But it is not just our words we have to be careful of. We also need to stop sinful actions. In John chapter 8, we read about a woman caught in adultery, who becomes a pawn in the Pharisees game to trap Jesus. The law called for such people to be stoned. But Jesus, knowing that they were using her for their evil purposes says to those who wish to stone her something very interesting. In John 8:7 Jesus says, “Whoever is without sin, you can cast the first stone.”
And one by one they dropped their stones and walked away. And remember what Jesus said to her in John 8:10-11? Jesus goes on to say to the woman, ““Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” “No one, sir,” she said. “Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”
When Jesus forgave her, He didn’t let her “off the hook.” If anything, He placed on her shoulders an even greater responsibility. Now as a recipient of His grace, she was to leave her life of sin. She was to STOP sinning.
As Christians who are saved by grace, and possessors of God’s Holy Spirit, we can never forget that the eternal security we have as children of God does not mean that we can continue to live any way that we want. God expects us to live holy lives.
Jesus said, “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” That word “perfect” is the Greek word “telios” which might better be translated as “be complete in the development of your moral character.” In Romans 6:1-2 the apostle Paul has been speaking about God’s grace that covers our sin and offers us eternal life. And he says, “What shall we say then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin, how can we live in it any longer?”
Paul’s point is this, grace doesn’t relieve us of our responsibility to do right, to be holy people. It increases our responsibility. And if we start wandering into sin, God’s word is there to throw up a stop sign.
Now let’s remember real quick, what is the purpose of a stop sign in our world? To control the flow of traffic. It prevents us from accidents and injuries while going about our business in life.
And listen to me very carefully, those people who have no stop signs in their lives, end up wrecked and injured. If you think you can go through life living any way that you want, doing whatever you want, you are heading for an accident that will injure you deeply. The Bible says in Galatians 6:7-8, “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.”
So, in driving down the highway of life, to keep us from wandering off the straight and narrow, let’s make sure that we heed God’s stop signs. But let’s also pay attention to the second sign, which is:
The YIELD Sign:
The Old Testament nation of Israel got in trouble because there were sins they refused to STOP doing. Following after false gods, ignoring the words of God’s prophets, neglecting God’s commands, and they paid the price for their refusal to stop by being conquered and taken away into captivity by the Babylonians.
But please understand this, their refusal to STOP their sinful actions was simply an outward sign of an inward attitude. They did what they did because they refused to YIELD to God’s will for them.
Ultimately, that’s what sin really is. God says not to do something and we are tempted to do it. And suddenly, we are faced with the choice: do we do what we want, what our sinful flesh longs for? Or do we YIELD to God’s will, and resist the sin. You see, just like sometimes when you are driving stopping is necessary, well so is yielding. And in the spiritual sense, yielding has to do with being submissive to God and His will.
Remember the model prayer that Jesus taught His apostles I Matthew chapter 6? Jesus said, “This, then, is how you should pray: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
Now remember, we are talking about the signs we need to follow in life so that we don’t get off course spiritually speaking and start wandering form God. And there is no faster way to start spiritually wandering than to make one small change in that prayer. Instead of living with the attitude that “…God’s kingdom come, your will be done on earth…,” we try and change that. We try to live with the attitude of “…God’s kingdom come, MY will be done on earth…”
In order to experience God’s peace, joy, and power in our life, yielding to God’s will must be the practice of our life. James 4:15 says that we, “…ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.”
Listen, if you want to crash in life, just live the way you want to live. Don’t yield to God and His will and plan for your life and do whatever you want. Does anyone know what this highway sign means?
It means that the lane we are traveling in is about to end. It is a Merge Right sing. You see these kind of sings all the time. Now when you see that sign, you have a choice. You can be bullheaded about it and say, “This is the lane I want to drive in and I’m staying in this lane no matter what.” Or you can move over into the lane that the people who built the road have left open. Now understand this, there are consequences to your choice. Refuse to merge right, and an accident is certain to happen. Merge right, and you can continue safely on your way.
There is a message in that for God’s people. With stubbornness, we can say, “I know what the Bible says. I know the signs God lays out in His word. But I want to do what I want to do.” And the result will lead to a spiritual crash in your life. One of the guideposts that indicates we are on the right course in life is when our will and God’s will suddenly merges together. The Psalmist said in Psalm 40:8, “I desire to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart.”
You see, the Psalmist’s will has merged with God’s will. And because of that, everything God desires the Psalmist does. Look at verse 9-10. It says, “I proclaim righteousness in the great assembly; I do not seal my lips, as you know, O LORD. I do not hide your righteousness in my heart; I speak of your faithfulness and salvation. I do not conceal your love and your truth from the great assembly.”
You see, the battle we have as believers to live godly lives is really a battle of wills. If you want to live your life doing what you want, you will find yourself stumbling and falling throughout your life as you walk with God. But when your will and God’s will merge, you not only remain on the path God wants you to take through life but you also become an incredible instrument for God. I think of Jesus, praying in the Garden of Gethsemane. In Matthew 26:29-42 the Bible says that Jesus, “3”
And the Bible says in Matthew 26:44 that Jesus, “…prayed the third time, saying the same thing.” Have you ever wondered why Jesus prayed 3 times? He taught us not to be wordy or repetitious in our prayers, and here Jesus prays 3 times for the same thing. But why? Well let me give you something to think about. After His first time praying, the Bible says that Jesus returned to the disciples and said, “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak.”
I have always thought that was simply directed at the apostles. But is it possible that those words of Jesus’ were directed as much at Himself as they were to His apostles? It had to be a tempting thing for Jesus, who had the power to avert all the pain and shame of the cross. And with the weight of that hanging over Him, Jesus prays not once, not twice, but 3 times as if to ensure that His will was completely merged with God’s will.
And through His death on the cross, which was the will of the Heavenly Father, God provided the means for the sins of mankind to be paid. You see, God can do incredible things when we yield to His will, and when our will merges with His will. God said to His people in Jeremiah 31:21 to stop their wandering. “Set up road signs; put up guideposts. Take note of the highway, the road that you take. Return, O Virgin Israel, return to your towns.”
And today, as we examine these road sings in our daily life, and as we see the road signs that God has placed in His word, may we choose to follow God’s STOP signs, His YIELD signs, and may we begin to MERGE with His will?
Let’s Pray!
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