Hebrews 2:1 Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip. 2 For if the word spoken by angels was stedfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompence of reward; 3 How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him.
This passage of scripture presents a serious caution to us against the snare of forgetfulness, by which the experiences of the past are lost upon us, thereby causing us to repeat mistakes that we were supposed to learn important lessons from. One of the great dangers to the Christian is the temptation to reason away the great lessons of life God has seen fit to give His people. When Paul speaks about neglecting so great salvation, he is referring to the tendency of being lax in our attitudes as it pertains to the great cost of our redemption.
After accepting Christ as Lord and Savior of our lives, there is a general tendency to be on fire for The Lord, in doing missionary work and following diligently all the instructions and lessons He imparts. But with the passage of time our zeal tends to wane, and for one reason or a next we gradually become lukewarm in our thinking and attitudes, to the point where our service becomes methodical, and the value we place on eternal interests slowly diminishes. This is what often took place with the ancient Hebrews, where God had to pass them through the same experiences over and over again, with increasing intensity of experience until it reached a point where He was left no other choice but to allow them to be taken captive by the king of Babylon. This negative experience could have been avoided if the previous lessons given were taken to heart, and acted upon. Let's read:
2nd Chronicles 36:14 Moreover all the chief of the priests, and the people, transgressed very much after all the abominations of the heathen; and polluted the house of the Lord which he had hallowed in Jerusalem. 15 And the Lord God of their fathers sent to them by his messengers, rising up betimes, and sending; because he had compassion on his people, and on his dwelling place: 16 But they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and misused his prophets, until the wrath of the Lord arose against his people, till there was no remedy. 17 Therefore he brought upon them the king of the Chaldees, who slew their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion upon young man or maiden, old man, or him that stooped for age: he gave them all into his hand.
In our day we seem not to have learned the precious lessons thus gleaned from the mistakes of those who have gone before, for there are now the same transgressions, and worst, that are being countenanced and encouraged within the Christian community, just as if the experiences of God's people in ages past are lost upon us. One of the very grave sins within the Christian church is that of consecrating bishops and spiritual leaders from amongst the lowest of the people, just as Jeroboam did in days of old. Let's read:
1st Kings 12:26 And Jeroboam said in his heart" .... 27 If this people go up to do sacrifice in the house of the Lord at Jerusalem, then shall the heart of this people turn again unto their lord, even unto Rehoboam king of Judah, and they shall kill me, and go again to Rehoboam king of Judah. 28 Whereupon the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold, and said unto them, It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem: behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. 30 And this thing became a sin: for the people went to worship before the one, even unto Dan. 31 And he made an house of high places, and made priests of the lowest of the people, which were not of the sons of Levi. 32 And Jeroboam ordained a feast in the eighth month, on the fifteenth day of the month, like unto the feast that is in Judah, and he offered upon the altar" .....
The very same errors have been duplicated again in our day where image worship, a substitute day of worship, and priests and bishops with unlawful sexual orientations are now the order of the day. And it seems as if more and more Christians are being conditioned to tolerate the grave and serious evils that were the catalysts in the captivity of God's people in days of old. A congregation usually rises no higher than its leaders, and if gay bishops and priests are now being put into sacred office, then we can expect a cascading effect, where entire churches will soon become intoxicated by sexual depravity and lusts of no ordinary character, and the result will be the same as in the days of Sodom and Gomorrah, where the entire city was given over to strange flesh, thus causing God to blot them from the face of the earth. Let's read:
Genesis 19:1 And there came two angels to Sodom at even; and Lot sat in the gate of Sodom" ... 4 But before they lay down, the men of the city, even the men of Sodom, compassed the house round, both old and young, all the people from every quarter: 5 And they called unto Lot, and said unto him, Where are the men which came in to thee this night? bring them out unto us, that we may know them.
Jude 1:3 Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints. 4 For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ. 5 I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not. 7 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.
The Bible warns us to to forget the lessons of the past, and it is imperative in our day and in our experiences, that we apply the lessons thus learned, so that we may avoid the many pitfalls and snares satan has laid for the feet of the unwary. It matters not whether politicians or the majority are sticklers for iniquity, sin is sin, and must be called by its right name, regardless of whether it is unpopular to do so, or not. Hence the reason why the Lord issues a very stern warning to the Christian community in our day about forgetting the lessons of the past, for we will be held accountable for what God has plainly taught and revealed to us. We therefore end with a passage of scripture which confirms this very point, and it is God's will that we urgently confess and forsake our national and personal sins, lest we also, like the Israelites of old, be taken into captivity by the modern king of Babylon. Let's read:
1st Corinthians 10:1 Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; 2 And were all baptized" ... 4 And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ. 5 But with many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness. 6 Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted. 7 Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play. 8 Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand. 11 Now all these things happened unto them for examples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come. 12 Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall. 14 Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry.
He that hath an ear to hear, let him hear what The Spirit is saying to the churches. God bless!