A faith in God that is beginning to fade away is a dangerous situation. There is more at stake than just a cooling of our faith. It will eventually lead to a hardened heart where the truth of God and His word is lessened and replaced by the shallowness of human opinion and intellect.
We have been warned about a fading faith: “Be careful then, dear brothers and sisters. Make sure that your own hearts are not evil and unbelieving, turning you away from the living God” (Hebrews 3:12).
These warnings are not just for us individually. We must warn those in the Church whose faith is beginning to fade into unbelief, “You must warn each other every day, while it is still today so that none of you will be deceived by sin and hardened against God” (vs. 13).
“For if we are faithful to the end, trusting God just as firmly as when we first believed, we will share in all that belongs to Christ” (vs. 14). This sharing is about our salvation and all it entails. It is a critical junction in our spiritual lives.
As someone’s thoughts and actions begin to represent a fading faith, only a tender heart will be able to see and respond properly to what is happening. That is why we love each other enough to either receive or issue a warning. Only a tender and moldable heart can make the turn and experience once again a new expression of intimacy with Jesus.
All that belongs to Christ and all that has now been given to us hangs in the balance of our choice. Only a tender heart can overcome the influence of a fading faith and the deceptive plans of the enemy.
You have provided an excellent admonition sermon outline on love of the brethren; we all could use on ourselves first! So many pastors are too sophisticated, or exhausted by doubt through convincing circumstances, or just plain derelict in their responsibilities to be concerned with the “basics”. Old tactic of devils is to pull us away from our first love.