What? Another Warning?
From the Book of Hebrews…This is the Word of God:
Have you even given thought to what a wonderful miraculous gift is God’s word the Bible? Start now. By His word we learn of our Savior Jesus Christ. By His word we learn of the never-ending love of God from Genesis to Revelation. We learn of the coming of the Lord Jesus as a baby in Bethlehem. We can walk with Him through three years of earthly ministry in the Gospels. We receive never ending comfort and wisdom from the words of God found in the Bible.
It is right to say: “Oh praise your name Lord God! Your word is truth eternal!”
There is another blessing given in God’s word-we find in the passage we just read from the book of Hebrews. This blessing comes in the form of a warning. Honestly, a warning can be a blessing. If we heed the warning.
Therefore:
May we pay attention to this warning.
May we take this warning seriously.
May we realize the danger to our souls…is real.
What is the warning?
Let’s be blunt. This is the warning in road sign language:
“Danger: Spiritual Collapse Possible”
This is infinitely worse than “Bridge Out Ahead.” Spiritual collapse means our soul is at risk.
The next part is up to you. It calls for a spiritual heart exam. Only you can administer it. Only you know your heart…only you and God the Father. The exam has one question: Have you become “dull of hearing?” Questions which help clarify the single exam question are: Have you in any way abandoned your belief in Jesus? In any way do you reject the word of God? The last one goes deep: Is there any way you have given up your walk with Jesus?
The word for spiritual abandonment and rejection is “apostasy.” The road sign could read “Warning: Apostasy Likely.” Why likely and not possible? You may not like this…It is because you and I are sinners. Our default setting is to naturally be dull of hearing when the word of God is taught.
The second danger of becoming “dull of hearing” is a lack of spiritual discernment. This has been a danger for believers since the early church. The dull of hearing cannot tell the difference between spiritual truth and lies. The enemy of our soul can easily deceive us. We believe things that sound good but have no foundation in God’s word. The wonder of the love of God, the greatness of the supreme sacrifice of Jesus for our sins becomes trivial…sadly, the world and its temptations look better.
Yes, it’s another warning…neither of us want to be or become “dull of hearing.” We desire to be spiritually discerning…to know the truth of God’s word and to grow stronger in Christ each day.
We want truth!
Last question: did you catch the 2 words in verse 14 which tell us how to avoid our natural tendency to apostasy?
“CONSTANT PRACTICE”
What? Practice?
Every day?
Constant?
Practice What?