prosperity

idolatry

oppression

the people cry to God

God raises up a judge

the oppressor is destroyed

peace ensues for a substantial

period

THE JUDGES CYCLE

prosperity

idolatry

oppression

the people cry to God

God raises up a judge

the oppressor is destroyed

peace ensues for a substantial

period

THE CYCLE OF UNBELIEF

Num_33:52 then ye shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, and destroy all their figured stones, and destroy all their molten images, and demolish all their high places: Num_33:55 But if ye will not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then shall those that ye let remain of them be as pricks in your eyes, and as thorns in your sides, and they shall vex you in the land wherein ye dwell.

Deu_4:38 to drive out nations from before thee greater and mightier than thou, to bring thee in, to give thee their land for an inheritance, as at this day.

OBEDIENCE = BLESSINGSDISOBEDIENCE = CURSINGS

The history of mankind mirrors this situation, and New Testament warnings suggest that we

need to consider our position, individually and as a body, carefully.

HIST

ORY

OF

MAN

KIN

D

Deu 7:22 And Jehovah thy God will cast out those nations before thee by little and little: thou mayest not consume them at once, lest the beasts of the field increase upon thee. Deu 7:23 But Jehovah thy God will deliver them up before thee, and will discomfit them with a great discomfiture, until they be destroyed.

Jdg 3:1 Now these are the nations which Jehovah left, to prove Israel by them, even as many of Israel as had not known all the wars of Canaan; Jdg 3:2 only that the generations of the children of Israel might know, to teach them war, at the least such as beforetime knew nothing thereof: Jdg 3:3 namely, the five lords of the Philistines, and all the Canaanites, and the Sidonians, and the Hivites that dwelt in mount Lebanon, from mount Baal-hermon unto the entrance of Hamath. Jdg 3:4 And they were left, to prove Israel by them, to know whether they would hearken unto the commandments of Jehovah, which he commanded their fathers by Moses.

Taking the love belonging to Godand giving it to another

“SPIRITUAL ADULTERY”

Jdg 3:5 And the children of Israel dwelt among the Canaanites, the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites: Jdg 3:6 and they took their daughters to be their wives, and gave their own daughters to their sons and served their gods. Jdg 3:7 And the children of Israel did that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah, and forgat Jehovah their God, and served the Baalim and the Asheroth.

Jos 10:25 And Joshua said unto them, Fear not, nor be dismayed, be strong and of good courage: for thus shall the LORD do to all your enemies against whom ye fight.

They became sapped by the prosperity they now had, and the appealing (to the flesh)

habits of their neighbours.

LAODICEAN PERSEPECTIVEBecause thou sayest, I am rich,

and have gotten riches,and have need of nothing;

Rev 3:17

LAODICEAN REALITYand knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and

naked: Rev 3:17

Rom 15:4 For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that through patience and through comfort of the scriptures we might have hope. Rom 15:5 Now the God of patience and of comfort grant you to be of the same mind one with another according to Christ Jesus:

MIND OF

CHRISTMIND OF CHRIST

Eph 5:15 Look therefore carefully how ye walk, not as unwise, but as wise; Eph 5:16 redeeming the time, because the days are evil.

Psa 89:47 Remember how short my time is: wherefore hast thou made all men in vain?

THE PROBLEM OF UNBELIEF

TRAGEDY AND LOSS

“how can there be a God when…….?”

“how could this happen….?”

Brother Robert Roberts

2Co_1:4 Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.

“how can there be a God when…….?”

2Co 1:3 Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; 2Co 1:4 Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.

JOBS LOSS

HIS LIVESTOCKHIS FAMILYHIS HEALTH

Job 1:20 Then Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshipped, Job 1:21 And said, Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD. Job 1:22 In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly.

Job 2:7 So went Satan forth from the presence of the LORD, and smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot unto his crown. Job 2:8 And he took him a potsherd to scrape himself withal; and he sat down among the ashes.

Job 2:9 Then said his wife unto him, Dost thou still retain thine integrity? curse God, and die.

Eliphaz Job 4:3 Behold, thou hast instructed many, and thou hast strengthened the weak hands. Job 4:4 Thy words have upholden him that was falling, and thou hast strengthened the feeble knees. Job 4:5 But now it is come upon thee, and thou faintest; it toucheth thee, and thou art troubled.

Job 1:1 There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil.

Rom 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

Job 42:10 And the LORD turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends: also the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before. Job 42:11 Then came there unto him all his brethren, and all his sisters, and all they that had been of his acquaintance before, and did eat bread with him in his house: and they bemoaned him, and comforted him over all the evil that the LORD had brought upon him: every man also gave him a piece of money, and every one an earring of gold. Job 42:12 So the LORD blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning: for he had fourteen thousand sheep, and six thousand camels, and a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand she asses. Job 42:13 He had also seven sons and three daughters.

Does the knowledge and practice of religion in this life influence destiny

in another?

Heb 11:9 By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise: Heb 11:10 For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.

He finds it unthinkable that he should adjust his present interests for the sake of a future of which he has never been persuaded

Is this As good as it gets?

Taking the love belonging to God

and giving it to another

“SPIRITUAL ADULTERY”

Mat 6:19 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:

Mat 6:20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: Mat 6:21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

THREE SCORE AND TEN

”how good it can get”

1Co 2:9 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.

Faith calls upon us to believe in things which are not seen, and faith is a living thing, a matter of feeling, as well as of mental conviction. If it so happens that in spite of all our reasons for having faith, one does not feel that confidence which ought to come, there is a very great danger that in the absence of feeling there will not be real interest, and without the interest there will not be study, and without study there will not be development; and as faith is a living thing, it obeys the laws of all living things. It requires nourishment and if it does not get the nourishment it is apt to languish and die. So I can understand one drifting away into unbelief…………….

No feeling leads to no interestNo interest equates to no studyNo study leads to no development or growthNo development leads to no nourishmentAnd then no nourishment leads to death

“the truth does not mean as much as it used to”

ETERNAL INTERESTS TEMPORAL INTERESTS

Bring all the things that the world has to offer

into the comfort of your own home,

and do it faster than ever before!

TIME

Bring all the things that the world has to offer

into the comfort of your own home,

and do it faster than ever before!

(WEBSTERS) Disciple DISCIPLE, n. [L., to learn.] 2. A follower; an adherent to the doctrines of another. Hence the constant attendants of Christ were called his disciples; and hence all Christians are called his disciples, as they profess to learn and receive his doctrines and precepts. G3101 mathetes (STRONGS)math-ay-tes' From G3129; a learner, that is, pupil: - disciple.

1Co 15:19 If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.

2Co 4:18 While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.

2Co 4:8 We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; 2Co 4:9 Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed;

2Co 11:23 Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as a fool) I am more; in labours more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft. 2Co 11:24 Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one. 2Co 11:25 Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep; 2Co 11:26 In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; 2Co 11:27 In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness.

1Pe 3:13 And who is he that will harm you, if ye be followers of that which is good? 1Pe 3:14 But and if ye suffer for righteousness' sake, happy are ye: and be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled; 1Pe 3:15 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:

Mat 6:20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: Mat 6:21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

Pro 29:18 Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.

1Jn 2:15 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 1Jn 2:16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. 1Jn 2:17 And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.

Jas 1:12 Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him. Jas 1:13 Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: Jas 1:14 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Jas 1:15 Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. Jas 1:16 Do not err, my beloved brethren.

LUST BRINGS TEMPTATIONWHEN LUST HATH CONCIEVED IT BRINGS SINAND SIN WHEN IT IS FINISHED………..BRINGS DEATH

From elpis IsraelSin, then, takes away " the answer of a good conscience towards God", and converts it into an evil conscience; which may be certainly known to exist, when the subject of it is ashamed of the truth, and harassed by "doubts and fears". They are ashamed of the truth, who, being enlightened, feel themselves condemned; or, being ignorant, apprehend it. Such, on account of unbelief, or of" a dead faith" ,may well be ashamed and afraid for to be ashamed of God's truth is to be ashamed of His wisdom and power.