In the following sermon, P.G. Mathew addresses apostasy and warns
Christians
of it.
May God bless,
Carl
my website -- http://www.nettally.com/saints/
my blog -- http://www.anniemayhem.com/cgi-bin/wordpress/
---
Warning Against Apostasy
by P.G. Mathew
Heb 10:26-31
If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of
the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation
of
judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. Anyone
who
rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or
three witnesses. How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be
punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an
unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has
insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know him who said, "It is mine to
avenge; I will repay," and again, "The Lord will judge his people." It is
a
dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. (NIV)
Hebrews 10:26-31 speaks about apostasy. It is a warning, not to pagans,
but
to those in the church. In one sense, only those who claim to be God's
people can become apostate. Aposteinai in Greek means to "stand away
from."
Apostasy, therefore, means to stand away from Christ and his gospel and to
stand opposed to the living God.
Who Is An Apostate?
An apostate is one who may have heard and believed the gospel and even
experienced the power of the Holy Spirit in his life in a non-regenerative
way. Yet, in due time, he turns against the gospel and becomes an enemy of
Jesus Christ.
There is the potential for apostasy in every church of God. We can picture
church people as two concentric circles: those who are eternally chosen
and
truly regenerate, and those who may have made credible confessions of
faith,
but are not true believers. In due time, the feet of those in the latter
group shall slip and they shall prove themselves to be unregenerate
apostates.
We find examples of apostates in both the Old and New Testaments. Saul,
the
first king of Israel, became an apostate, as did Judas, one of the twelve
apostles. Hebrews 3 and 4 describes the apostasy of the Israelites in the
wilderness. Though God had promised them rest, the majority of them did
not
enter into it "because of their unbelief." The author warns, "See to it,
brothers, that none of you has a sinful and unbelieving heart that turns
away from the living God" (Heb. 3:12). In Hebrews 6:4-6 the author
declares
about such people, "It is impossible, if they fall away, to be brought
back
to repentance because, to their loss, they are crucifying the Son of God
all
over again and subjecting him to public disgrace." Apostates must
experience
the covenant curse of everlasting destruction. The bottom of hell is
reserved, not for pagans, but for those professing Christians who
abandoned
the gospel and became enemies of Christ and his cross.
God judges us according to the knowledge we have. The greater our
knowledge,
the greater our responsibility and the greater our punishment if we
apostasize. Jesus himself laid down this principle in Luke 12:47-48: "That
servant who knows his master's will and does not get ready or does not do
what his master wants will be beaten with many blows. But the one who does
not know and does things deserving punishment will be beaten with few
blows."
Reasons for Apostasy
The Bible gives us a number of reasons for this deliberate turning away
from
the living God. The first is persecution, as Jesus himself warned: "Then
you
will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be
hated
by all nations because of me. At that time, many will turn away from the
faith and will betray and hate each other" (Matt. 24:9-10). Jesus calls
such
people "rocky soil," because they turn away from the gospel when trouble
comes (Matt. 13:20-21).
The second reason for apostasy is worldliness. Paul writes, "Demas,
because
he loved this world, has deserted me" (2 Tim. 4:10). Jesus speaks about
"thorny soil" Christians, who become apostate because of the worries of
life, the pleasures of sin, and the deceitfulness of riches (Matt. 13:22).
Worldliness can creep into us, especially in a society such as ours, where
we are constantly faced with the idea that more is always better. The
apostle John warns, "Do not love the world or anything in the world. If
anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For
everything
in the world-the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes, and the
boasting of what he has and does-comes not from the Father but from the
world. The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will
of
God lives forever" (1 John 2:15-17).
Another reason for apostasy is false teachers in the church. Jesus said,
"Many false prophets will appear and deceive many people" (Matt. 24:11).
Paul wrote, "For the time will come when men will not put up with sound
doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them
a
great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear" (2
Tim. 4:3). How many church people today want only to hear pleasant things
and be entertained! But false teaching leads to apostasy.
A fourth reason is neglect of the means of grace. The Hebrews writer asks,
"How shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation?" (Heb. 2:3).
Neglect of the means of grace means neglect of God's word, prayer,
fellowship, and worship. In the same epistle, the author cautions, "Let us
not neglect meeting together as some are in the habit of doing" (Heb.
10:25). When we do not feel like going to church, we have a very serious
problem and may be on the verge of apostasy.
Clinging to mindless traditionalism can also lead to apostasy. No matter
what our religious background, when we hear the gospel, we must reject
traditions that do not lead to salvation, and we must commit ourselves to
following Christ. New wine cannot be contained in the old wineskins of
mindless traditionalism.
How do we know if we are falling away? Professor Gerald Hawthorne writes,
"There is no objective evidence that one who has made his Christian
confession and has been baptized is indeed a Christian, other than the
daily
perseverance in love and good works, that is, a persistence in the very
essence of what his confession implies" (Gerald Hawthorne, A New Testament
Commentary, G.C.D. Howley, general editor [Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1969],
560). The Bible urges us to make our calling and election sure, and
examine
ourselves to see whether we are in the faith (1 Pet. 2:10; 2 Cor. 13:5).
The
examination question is very simple: Are we being sanctified by doing the
will of God?
Professor John Frame's view on apostasy can be summarized as follows:
Those
who are eternally chosen shall be historically chosen, meaning they will
be
part of the church on earth. Such people shall persevere to the end. But
those who are only historically chosen, including children brought up in
the
church, shall not persevere. Many in Israel were not eternally chosen, and
so they perished. This is also true in the church age. Romans 8:29
declares:
"For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the
likeness
of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those
he
predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he
justified, he also glorified" (Rom. 8:29-30). In view of this, let us
examine two points from Hebrews 10:26-31: apostasy and judgment.
Anatomy of Apostasy
The first word of verse 26 in the English translation should be "for," not
"if," because the author is giving his logic for what he intimated in
verse
25. He was warning those who were habitually neglecting the means of grace
of public worship and fellowship: "For if we deliberately keep on sinning
after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins
is
left." In the Greek text, the first word is hekousiôs, "deliberately." The
apostle is emphasizing that these people were not sinning out of
ignorance,
but defiantly, deliberately, knowingly, willingly, and highhandedly.
Numbers 15 condemns deliberate sinning: "But anyone who sins defiantly,
whether native-born or alien, blasphemes the Lord, and that person must be
cut off from his people. Because he has despised the Lord's word and
broken
his commands, that person must surely be cut off; his guilt remains on him
(vv. 30-31).
Not only does such a person sin defiantly, but he also sins daily. The
Greek
expression is in the present tense: "If we deliberately keep on sinning."
Sin becomes one's habit. We must pause here to acknowledge that the Bible
does not teach sinless perfection in this life. True Christians sin, but
they do not do so defiantly and continually. John writes, "If we claim to
be
without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. But if we
confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and
purify us from all unrighteousness . . . My dear children, I write this to
you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who
speaks to the Father in our defense, Jesus Christ, the righteous One. He
is
the atoning sacrifice for our sins" (1 John 1:8-9; 2:1-2). Paul declares,
"Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should
restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted" (Gal.
6:1). We oppose the Novatianism of the third century that said God does
not
forgive post-baptismal sins.
Apostates sin deliberately, defiantly, and daily. They walk out of light
into pitch darkness, and love it. John's gospel gives us the anatomy of
such
apostasy in the example of Judas. An apostle who believed in Jesus and
experienced the Holy Spirit in some measure, Judas preached the gospel,
healed the sick, and cast out demons. But John 13:2 tells us that while
the
evening meal was being served, "the devil had already prompted Judas
Iscariot," meaning he had come under the devil's influence. Verse 27 says
the devil entered Judas, taking complete control. In verse 30 we are told
Judas went out, leaving the holy communion, and John writes, "And it was
night." Judas turned away from the brightness of walking with Christ and
chose to walk with the devil.
John writes of such apostates, "They went out from among us, but they did
not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have
remained with us. But their going showed that none of them belonged to us"
(1 John 2:19). Such people can be leaders, teachers, and fellow church
members. But in reality, they are false brothers, apostates, and
unregenerate. They are historically but not eternally chosen. They are
children of the devil.
Note the phrase in Hebrews 10:26: "after receiving the knowledge of the
truth," meaning after receiving the full revelation of the gospel, which
Jesus Christ disclosed to us: "In the past God spoke to our forefathers
through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last
days, he has spoken to us by his Son" (Heb. 1:1-2). Christian apostates
have
received God's final revelation in Jesus Christ and clearly know his
person
and work. They hear the full gospel, yet they reject God's power unto
salvation. Throughout this epistle, the author warns against ignoring such
knowledge: "We must pay more careful attention, therefore, to what we have
heard, so that we do not drift away. For if the message spoken by angels
was
binding, and every violation and disobedience received its just
punishment,
how shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation? This salvation,
which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who
heard him. God also testified to it by signs, wonders and various
miracles,
and gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will. . . . It
is
impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the
heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the
goodness of the word of God and the power of the coming age, if they fall
away, to be brought back to repentance" (Heb. 2:1-4; 6:4-6b).
What else characterizes apostates? "Such people trample underfoot the Son
of
God" (Heb. 10:29). Apostates treat Jesus Christ with extreme disgust and
contempt. They reject his deity and sinless humanity. They grind him
underfoot-this One who is greater than angels, greater than Moses, greater
than Aaron, greater than Melchizedek, greater than Solomon, greater than
the
temple. We are told not to throw pearls before swine, but here we see the
pearl of Christ and his gospel being despised and trampled. Anyone who
hears
the gospel and refuses to believe is trampling down the only Savior.
Verse 29 also says such people consider Christ's blood to be filthy. The
heaven-sent blood that justifies and sanctifies us and brings about
forgiveness of all our sins; the blood that cleanses our consciences and
secures us admittance to the presence of God; the blood that is the only
divine provision to cleanse us is seen as unclean. This is utter contempt
for the work of Christ. Apostates consider the blood of Jesus to be the
same
as that of common men and reject its eternal efficacy to save sinners.
They
are sophisticated people who reject the cross and the doctrine of
substitutionary atonement, although it was the blood of Christ that
ushered
in the new covenant blessings of a new heart, knowledge of God, and total
forgiveness of sins..
In verse 29 we also read that they insult the Spirit of grace, whose
responsibility it is to apply Christ's redemption to sinners by granting
them grace. They insult the Holy Spirit who dwells in the church and
blesses
Christians (cf. Hebrews 2:4, 7; 6:4; 9:14; and 10:15). Such grieving of
the
Third Person of the Trinity is the sin that cannot be forgiven, as Jesus
himself says: "Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be
forgiven. But anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be
forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come" (Matt. 12:32). The
apostle John calls this the sin that leads to eternal death. The church is
told not to pray for such a person because he is doomed to destruction.
His
repentance is impossible (1 John 5:16).
Apostates show contempt for all three Persons of the Godhead. They trample
underfoot their work of salvation, despising the living God and his saving
work. (PGM) They are known for their insolent self-assertion against the
eternal, almighty God.
What will happen to such people? Let me illustrate with a story from my
own
childhood. When I was a boy growing up in South India, one of us would
always have to stay home on Sundays to watch our home and livestock. One
Sunday when it was my turn, a neighbor came and started singing in a
mocking
manner a song about the Holy Spirit: "O Divine God, set me on fire by the
divine Spirit of God." As he was singing, I looked up and noticed that his
house on fire. When he saw it, this man stopped mocking and ran, but it
was
too late. His house was totally consumed. Though we may not experience
such
immediate consequences, we must be careful not to insult the Spirit of
grace, for God will judge apostates.
God's Judgment of Apostates
The second point, then, is God's judgment of apostates. The greater our
knowledge, the greater our responsibility; therefore, the greater the
judgment God will mete out on those who fall away. The cross of Christ
declares both God's love and God's holiness. God must necessarily judge
sin,
and he does so, either in Jesus Christ or in those who defy him. The one
who
neglects the gospel will be judged by Christ.
We find several references to eternal judgment throughout this epistle:
"instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of
the
dead, and eternal judgment. . . Just as man is destined to die once and
after that to face judgment . . . But only a fearful expectation of
judgment
.. . . It is mine to avenge; I will repay . . . Marriage should be honored
by
all and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and
all
the sexually immoral" (Heb. 6:2; 9:27; 10:27, 30; 13:4, italics added).
Verse 26 says that for such apostates, no sacrifice for sins remains
because
they have rejected the only sacrifice God would accept on our behalf. The
wages of sin is death, but God's Son became incarnate so that he could die
in our place and make atonement for our sins (Rom. 6:23, Heb. 2:17). When
we
reject his atonement, no more sacrifice is left for us. The one who
rejects
Jesus, is doomed forever; it is impossible to redeem such an apostate. He
will eventually die a miserable death and enter hell to await an even more
horrible eternal punishment.
"Such a person has a fearful expectation of judgment" (Heb. 10:27). Deep
within every unbeliever is a fearful expectation of judgment coming,
because
there is a God-consciousness in everyone. Everyone knows he must
eventually
face God.
God himself is the Judge of all men (Heb. 12:23). Jonathan Edwards spoke
from Deuteronomy 32:35 about sinners in the hands of an angry God. He said
in due time their foot shall slip and they shall fall into God's hands.
The
living God is not a postulate of human minds. He is not made of clay, that
we can fashion him as a God of love and not of wrath. He is love and he is
holy. He is Savior, but he is also Judge.
When God came upon Mount Horeb, the mountain itself was quaking and set
ablaze. The people were frightened, and "the sight was so terrifying that
Moses said, 'I am trembling with fear'" (Heb. 12:21). We do not fear God
because our eyes are blinded by Satan so that we do not see the glory of
God
in the face of Jesus Christ.
Brothers and sisters, it is important that God's people know the terror of
the Lord. Paul says, "Knowing the terror of the Lord, we persuade men" (2
Cor. 5:11, KJV). God is a raging fire who consumes his enemies (Heb.
10:27).
Leviticus 10 describes how Nadab and Abihu were consumed by fire that came
out from God. The holiness of God came and ate up the priests of the Lord,
as it later ate up the 250 friends of Korah (Num. 16:35). It is time for
us
to adjust our view of God and worship him in the beauty of his holiness.
"Raging fire" means God is essentially holy. Surrender to him and be
saved,
or oppose him and be consumed by his holiness.
In Deuteronomy 4 Moses refers to the fire of God's holiness several times:
"You came near and stood at the foot of the mountain while it blazed with
fire . . . You saw no form of any kind the day the Lord spoke to you at
Horeb out of the fire . . . For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a
jealous God . . . Has any other people heard the voice of God speaking out
of fire as you have and lived? . . From heaven he made you hear his voice
to
discipline you; on earth, he showed you his great fire and you heard his
words from out of the fire" (vv. 11, 15, 24, 33, 36).
Do we see God as consuming fire? Exodus 20:20 says the fear of God will
keep
us from sinning. A sinning person has no fear of God. It is that simple.
Few churches today speak about sin and judgment. But consider this picture
of hell that we find in the last chapter of Isaiah: God's people "will go
out and look upon the dead bodies of those who rebelled against [God];
their
worm will not die, nor will their fire be quenched, and they will be
loathsome to all mankind" (Is. 66:24). Jesus himself spoke of unbelievers
being thrown "into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and
gnashing of teeth" (Matt. 13:42). Revelation 20 tells us that anyone whose
name is not found in the book of life will be cast into the lake of fire.
Referring to Deuteronomy 17, the author says, "Anyone who rejected the law
of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses"
(Heb. 10:28). The author then argues from the lesser to the greater: If
that
was so about the one who defied the Mosaic law, how much worse punishment
will those get who received fullness of the revelation of the gospel? In
other words, they received physical death, but apostates will get eternal
death. He used this argument already: "For if the message spoken by angels
was binding and every violation and disobedience received its just
punishment, how shall we escape if we neglect a such great salvation?"
(Heb.
2:2-3). Finally, he gives proof for the utter judgment of the apostate.
The
habit of this author is to cite Scripture, and when Scripture speaks, that
is the end of all argument, because the author of Scripture is God
himself.
In Hebrews 10:30 he writes, "For we know him who said, 'It is mine to
avenge; I will repay,' and again, 'The Lord will judge his people,'"
citing
Deuteronomy 32:35-36.
Then he concludes, "It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the
living God" (Heb. 10:31). It is terrifying, scary, dreadful to fall into
the
hands of the living God. The eternal God is not an idol of human creation.
As Creator of all, he is necessarily the Judge of all.
No one can run away from the living God. We all must face him; there is no
escape. Not even suicide will solve our sin problem. Pagans and apostates
go
to hell the moment they die to experience torment and agony there waiting
for greater judgment.
How to Avoid Apostasy
What must we do in light of this teaching, especially if we have been
falling away? I would say that we should be like David. Although he sinned
terribly, he chose to cast himself upon the Lord, saying, "I am in deep
distress. Let us fall into the hands of the Lord, for his mercy is great"
(2
Sam. 24:14). Let us repent truly and believe in Jesus the Son of God.
Trust
in his blood that cleanses us from all sins and justifies and sanctifies
us.
He will save us and help us to live a holy life to the end.
Brothers and sisters, beware of Korah and company, of Achan and Saul, of
Judas and Demas and others, who would entice you to join in their
apostasy.
Above all, take heed of God's word that speaks about the coming apostasy
(Matt. 24:10-13; 1 Tim. 4:1-8; 2 Tim. 3:1-5; 1 John 2:19). Receive Jesus
Christ as your Lord and Savior, and do so now, not tomorrow. Your life is
not under your control; God may demand your soul even this night. Enter
the
ark of God's salvation, run to the city of refuge, and be safe forever. If
not, you shall fall into his hands, and no mountain can hide you from the
fearsome wrath of the Sovereign Judge.
It is a frightening thing to be cast into the lake of fire on the day when
he judges all who treated him with contempt. Jesus himself said, "Do not
be
afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be
afraid of the One who can kill the soul and body in hell" (Matt. 10:28).
As
John Newton wrote, "It is grace that taught my heart to fear and grace my
fears relieved."
If you are a child of God, if you have trusted in Christ and are walking
carefully, fear not. He shall keep you from falling (cf. John 6:39-40;
10:27-29). Consider Jude 24: "To him who is able to keep you from falling
and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with
great
joy, to the only God our Savior, be glory, majesty, power and authority
through Jesus Christ our Lord before all ages now and forevermore. Amen."
Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright
©
1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of
International Bible Society.
"NIV" and "New International Version" are trademarks registered in the
United States Patent and Trademark office by International Bible Society.
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