March 19, 2024 -- Hebrews 5:11-14 -- Why are so many Christians wandering away?

11 About this we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. 12 For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, 13 for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. 14 But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.
Hebrews 5:11-14 ESV

What is apostasy? It is someone who seems to be a Christian, acts like a Christian, perhaps even for a long time, and then rejects Jesus and proves by the fruit of his life he is not a Christian at all. Such a man, such a woman are those against whom Paul is warning the Hebrews.

Look at the obvious signs of someone who is going astray. They are dull of hearing (verse 11). They are lazy listeners who merely want to be entertained. Amused. We live in an age of “meh”. Okay, next topic, next thing to grab me.

Someone on the downward slope to apostasy has heard many sermons, read many Bible passages, but is forgetful. They are big babies, at 40 years old still wanting to be bottle fed with formula.

Those slip sliding into ruin are those who are unskilled in the word of righteousness, that is, the Bible. They may have several copies, various translations, a leather-bound copy of the Bible handed down from one generation to the next, but they are less and less likely able to explain what is written in it to others.

Finally, damningly, they are unwilling to be trained. They are like patients who go to a doctor and say, give me this medication or that new treatment, I have spent some time on the internet, diagnosed myself and I know what I need. The doctor has had 4 years premedical training, four years of medical training, and 2 to 7 years of residency in practical application of all this training, but you believe your three minutes of on-line research trumps what your doctor knows. So many people who think they are Christians are as self-deceived as the one who is self-diagnosing.

The book of Hebrews has many warnings to keep Christians walking in the way of Jesus. It is a hard road, requiring intentional commitment to the ways of Jesus and a willingness to listen to the Spirit of God. Read your bible. Attend a Bible-believing and Bible-preaching church. Find strong Christians whose walk with God you admire, and learn.

Man's Great End

Lord of all being,
There is one thing that deserves my greatest care,
that calls forth my ardent desires,
That is, that I may answer the great end for which I am made –to glorify thee
who hast given me being,
and to do all the good I can for my fellow men;
Verily, life is not worth having if it be not improved for this noble purpose.
Yet, Lord, how little is this the thought of mankind!
Most men seem to live for themselves,
without much or any regard for thy glory, or for the good of others;
They earnestly desire and eagerly pursue the riches, honours,
pleasures of this life, as if they supposed that wealth, greatness,
merriment, could make their immortal souls happy;
But, alas, what false delusive dreams are these!
And how miserable ere long will those be that sleep in them,
for all our happiness consists in loving thee,
and being holy as thou art holy.
O may I never fall into the tempers and vanities,
the sensuality and folly of the present world!
It is a place of inexpressible sorrow, a vast empty nothingness;
Time is a moment, a vapour, and all its enjoyments are empty bubbles,
fleeting blasts of wind, from which nothing satisfactory can be derived;
Give me grace always to keep in covenant with thee,
and to reject as delusion a great name here or hereafter,
together with all sinful pleasures or profits.
Help me to know continually that there can be no true happiness, 
no fulfilling of thy purpose for me,
apart from a life lived in and for
the Son of thy love.

https://youtu.be/X5_PjnrSwLQ?si=KNGTOBQSyGjDnm94 “There is a Redeemer”

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