Diminishing Faith and Fellowship
But there are some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray him. And he said, therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father. From that time many of his disciples went back and walked no more with him. Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away? (John 6:64-67)
THROUGHOUT THE BIBLE, THE NUMBERS OF PEOPLE OF FAITH have increased and decreased. In Genesis, people lived so long and had so many children that populations exploded and separated into groups that became little nations. Fast growth and large populations almost always result in a godless society. God is not taught to the children and they grow up to mimic their friends and the communities in which they live. Morals, like water, tend to run downhill.
IN GENESIS 6, NOAH'S FLOOD DESTROYED ALL HUMAN LIFEe except the eight people inside the Ark. In Genesis 11 the world witnessed God’s judgment upon wicked Babel by imposing new languages upon them, so they couldn’t understand one another.
IN GENESIS 19, GOD DESTROYED SODOM AND GOMORRAH and other cites of the plain for their prideful practice of fornication and homosexuality. Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire. (Jude 1:7)
"SODOM ....GOMORRAH. See 2Peter 2:6-10. The destruction of these cities at the southeast corner of the Dead Sea is used over twenty times in Scripture as an illustration of God's judgment during the days of Abraham and Lot (cf. Genesis. 18:22-19:29). This destruction was in view of their apostasy, since it occurred about 450 years after the flood, when at least one of Noah's sons, Shem (Genesis 11:10-11) was still living.
SINCE THIS WAS ONLY 100 YEARS AFTER NOAH'S DEATH (Genesis 9:28), people would have known about the message of righteousness and judgment from God which Noah preached, and which they rejected.” (John MacArthur)
PLEASE NOTE THAT SODOM AND GOMORRAH OCCURRED ONLY 100 YEARS AFTER NOAH'S DEATH.
AFTER ISRAEL BECAME A NATION AND HAD THEIR LAND, they did well, spiritually, during one generation. Then, when Moses and Joshua and the older people died off, the new generation knew not God and they behaved like it.
TOM BROKAW (BORN 1940), WROTE THE GREATEST GENERATION that chronicled the Americans who went through the Great Depression and went on to fight in the greatest war in the history of the world…and won.
BUT, THE GENERATION IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING THAT GENERATION was…a different generation. Exploding technology and a youthful attitude that rebelled against their upbringing resulted in the hippie generation. It was called the sexual revolution, showcased by Woodstock and other rock concert conventions that sang out their rebellion. (It’s to their credit that among the Woodstock wild ones, when their children came along, the parents reigned in their own non-rule way of living and imposed rules and restraint on their own offspring.)
THE PROPHET JEREMIAH WEIGHED IN ON THOSE WHO LIVE TO PARTY: Thine own wickedness shall correct thee, and thy backslidings shall reprove thee: know therefore and see that it is an evil thing and bitter, that thou hast forsaken the LORD thy God, and that my fear is not in thee, saith the Lord GOD of hosts. (Jeremiah 2:19)
IN AMERICA, WE CONTINUE TO SPIRAL DOWNWARD with our slaughter of 60 million babies in he womb and our legal enthronement of the homosexual culture upon our nation. Each generation is worse than the preceding generation. We are rotting within. Religious institutions race against each other to embrace the new “freedom” and “social justice” that will weaken and destroy a nation.
THE DAILY SIGNAL SAID RECENTLY: “Faith and fellowship is receding from the daily lives of a growing number of Americans. Weekly church attendance has dropped by almost a third among Americans with a high school diploma or less.” Read further. (The Daily Signal)
JESUS' DEATH ON THE CROSS AND HIS RESURRECTION FROM THE DEAD are the foundation and proof of the Christian faith. Dropping out of church is one thing; but dropping out of fellowship with the one who died on the cross to pay for your sins is another matter, altogether. Surely you are not turning away from the miracles at Calvary, the resurrection of Christ from the dead and walking away. Because He lives, you shall live also
ISN'T IT DUMB TO WALK AWAY BECAUSE YOU THINK YOU ARE SELF-SUFFICIENT? Somebody hurt your feelings? It happens all the time. And if you walk away from faith and fellowship with other believers, you’re going to get your feelings hurt out there in the far country. It’s no picnic out there.
THE BIBLE SAYS: "TAKE HEED," 128 TIMES. This is a good sample: Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God. (Hebrews 3:12). Ω
Read Through the Bible in a Year
JULY 10, 2018 – TUESDAY
A.M. Job 40-42 P.M. Acts 15:22-41
(Bible Gateway will read this to you if you like. Look for the speaker icon.) If you are behind in reading, read the passage for today and then go back.
●Good Memory Verse:
But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. (Acts 1:8) (Write verse on a scrap of paper and put in your pocket to memorize.)
●Song for Today:
Pass Me Not O Gentle Savior (5:13) (Gaither Group)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePPOaX6HTPI
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