Apostasy: (Webster) - The abandoning of what one
believed in, as a faith, political party, principles, etc..
A. If I were to address a large group of Christians
and asked if any of those present were in the
grips of apostasy...none would answer.
1. I should then be able to draw the conclusion
that nobody has slipped backwards...that
everyone’s walk is as strong as it has ever
been.
a. As a matter of fact...by all rights, the
longer one has been a Christian, the
stronger he/she should be...RIGHT?
You know, as well as I do that this is not always the way
things work.
A. Just because nobody will admit to apostasy, does
not mean that Christians, of today do not fall into
this sin.
1. What this does mean is that the sin of
apostasy is very hard to see in ones-self.
Let us take a look at the problem of apostasy from three
different approaches.
A. First...we want to see if there are any identifying
signs of apostasy.
1. We want to see what those marks are and how
we can recognize them in ourselves.
B. Next...we need to understand the dangers...the
consequences of apostasy.
C. Finally...we need to know just how to correct
this situation, as it arises in our lives.
I. The warning signs.
II Peter 3:17 - 17You therefore, beloved, since you know
this beforehand, beware lest you also fall from your own
steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked.
A. Warning sign number one...a change of heart and
a bad attitude toward the things of God.
Jer. 17:5 - 5Thus says the Lord: “Cursed is the man who
trusts in man And makes flesh his strength, Whose heart
departs from the Lord.
1. This is a shift away from the spiritual and
catering to the pleasures of this life.
a. We remember that when we were
converted, there was an emphasis that
we learned...and that emphasis was just
the opposite of what I just stated.
1.) We learn that we need to
crucify...put to death the deeds of
the flesh and embrace the things of
the Spirit.
Gal. 5:24-25 - 24And those who are Christ’s have
crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25If we
live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
Rom. 8:1-9 - There is therefore now no condemnation to
those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according
to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. 2For the law of the
Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law
of sin and death. 3For what the law could not do in that it
was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own
Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He
condemned sin in the flesh, 4that the righteous requirement
of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk
according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 5For
those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the
things of the flesh, but those who live according to the
Spirit, the things of the Spirit. 6For to be carnally minded
is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
7Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is
not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. 8So then,
those who are in the flesh cannot please God. 9But you are
not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God
dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of
Christ, he is not His.
** In short...one major warning sign is when we place
more importance in the flesh...in the pleasures of this
world...in doing our thing............INSTEAD OF
SEEKING OUT THE SPIRITUAL...THE THINGS
OF GOD, AND HIS WILL.
B. Another warning sign is if more than one person
tries to point out the same spiritual flaw.
1. One concerned Christian should be enough
to get our attention, but certainly we should
sit up and take notice when several Christians
try to call our attention to the same problem.
II Tim. 4:3-4 - 3For the time will come when they will not
endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires,
because they have itching ears, they will heap up for
themselves teachers; 4and they will turn their ears away
from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.
Prov. 12:15 - 15 The way of a fool is right in his own
eyes, But he who heeds counsel is wise.
C. Warning sign, number three is our conscience.
1. When we feel as though something has gone
wrong with our spiritual life...it is probably]
our conscience warning us.
a. Especially is this true and an indicator of
real and imminent danger, when the
uneasy feelings start to get weaker and
weaker.
D. A fourth warning sign of apostasy is when we turn
against God.
1. Start to blame God for the problems that we
may be facing.
2. It may be that we have ceased to credit God
with being the solution to our problems.
a. We may be starting to take the credit
for the things in our life (the good...but
not the bad).
E. Finally...a warning sign of apostasy is our
unwillingness to suffer for God.
1. The slightest problems cause us to despair
and question our relationship with God.
a. So many think that God has abandoned
them if they run into any difficulties.
Matt. 13:20-21 - 20“But he who received the seed on
stony places, this is he who hears the word and
immediately receives it with joy; 21“yet he has no root in
himself, but endures only for a while. For when tribulation
or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he
stumbles.
** These are all real signs...signs that every one of us can
recognize if we will take the time and be truthful with
ourselves as we examine ourselves.
1. If we have put our hand to the plow and then gone
back...our end can only be destruction.
a. Apostasy is real and it still is possible that we
can be caught up in it.
II Peter 2:21-22 - 21For it would have been better for
them not to have known the way of righteousness, than
having known it, to turn from the holy commandment
delivered to them. 22But it has happened to them according
to the true proverb: “A dog returns to his own vomit,” and,
“a sow, having washed, to her wallowing in the mire.”
** Which leads me into my second point.
II. The consequences of apostasy.
Ezek. 3:20 - 20“Again, when a righteous man turns from
his righteousness and commits iniquity, and I lay a
stumbling block before him, he shall die; because you did
not give him warning, he shall die in his sin, and his
righteousness which he has done shall not be remembered;
but his blood I will require at your hand.
A. Apostasy destroys and negates all of the good and
righteous things that a person has done.
1. In a very short time, one can destroy all that
he has worked for, spiritually.
** Apostasy destroys...and therefor it is the work of
satan.
Rev. 9:11 - 11And they had as king over them the angel of
the bottomless pit, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon, but
in Greek he has the name Apollyon. (Which means, “a
destroyer”).
2. We cannot weigh the good that we have done
against the bad.
a. If one departs from righteousness, one
departs from the light...into darkness.....
One departs from God and returns to the
bondage of satan.
1.) This person looses the blessings of
God and the reward of heaven.
a.) Apostasy moves a person from
the position of being a son
of God...to being a child of
the devil.
John 15:6 - 6“If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast
out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and
throw them into the fire, and they are burned.
B. There is a good possibility that many things will
happen to a person who has gone back from
serving the Lord, as he should.
1. Spiritual calamity will take place, but also...
when God removes His blessings...it is quite
possible that one can suffer in physical ways,
as well.
a. Especially is this true if the Lord tries to
bring us to our spiritual senses.
Isaiah 65:12-14 - 12 Therefore I will number you
for the sword,
And you shall all bow down to the slaughter;
Because, when I called, you did not answer;
When I spoke, you did not hear,
But did evil before My eyes,
And chose that in which I do not delight.”
13Therefore thus says the Lord God:
“Behold, My servants shall eat,
But you shall be hungry;
Behold, My servants shall drink,
But you shall be thirsty;
Behold, My servants shall rejoice,
But you shall be ashamed;
14 Behold, My servants shall sing for joy of
heart,
But you shall cry for sorrow of heart,
And wail for grief of spirit.
** God can cause everything that we attempt to do...to
fail.
1. Hopefully, when this happens, we would be wise
enough to turn back to God and the way things
ought to be.
III. The cure for apostasy.
II Chron. 7:14 - 14“if My people who are called by My
name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face,
and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from
heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.
A. Step one may be humiliating...must be
humiliating...but we must humble ourselves.
1. We must admit that we have wandered from
where we should be...in the Lord.
a. We must admit that we have been wrong,
and wronged God...in the process.
2. We must stop making excuses for not doing
what is right.
a. Maybe we haven’t done any wicked sin...
but we must realize that by doing
nothing for God...we have committed a
wicked sin.
1.) Christianity is not merely a religion
of not doing...it involves the
practice of DOING.
a.) Perhaps some have departed
from doing the will of the
Living God, in their laziness
and self will and self
gratification.
B. Usually when people don’t do the things that they
need to do....or do the things that they should not
do......they have REASONS.
1. If a person is going to come back to the Lord
from his apostasy...he is going to have to
stop justifying himself.
a. Part of humbling oneself is admitting to
a sin...a sin of commission...or a sin of
omission.
** If we refuse to humble ourselves...sometimes God will
see that humility comes to us in some other way.
C. According to II Chron 7:14, the next thing that
we, who have slipped backwards...need to do is...
SEEK GOD’S FACE!
1. We need to go to God in genuine...heartfelt
prayer.
a. We need to pray from a humble and
repentant heart.
1.) If a person cannot do this...he/she
has hardened the heart to the point
of no return.....we must turn to
with a broken and humble heart.
Ezek. 33:11 - 11“Say to them: ‘As I live,’ says the Lord
God, ‘I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but
that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn, turn from
your evil ways! For why should you die, O house of
Israel?’
CONCLUSION:
Only the person who has gone back from where he/she
should be can make a difference in this matter of apostasy.
A. We must all examine ourselves to see if we are
going forward and becoming stronger, spiritually.
1. Others may be able and willing to point it out
in our lives.
a. We need to be humble enough to listen.
2. We may be able to see that our hearts and
our attitudes have changed towards God.
a. We need to be ready to repent.
3. It may be that our consciences have been
speaking to us for a long time.
a. We need to listen.
The consequences of apostasy are too horrible to
contemplate.
A. Let us make sure that it is not a reality in our
lives.
