111 Sermon Illustrations on Apostasy

Richard Denton, an English blacksmith who apostatized to avoid martyrdom, perished, shortly after, in the flames of his own dwelling.

Julian the Apostate figures in sacred romances not merely as a tyrant and persecutor, but as a terrible and potent necromancer, who had sold himself to the Devil, had put his officer Mercurius to death, because of his adhesion to the Christian faith. The story then relates, that, when Julian led his army against the Persians, and on the eve of the battle in which he perished, St. Basil the Great was favored by a miraculous vision. He beheld a woman of resplendent beauty seated on a throne, and around her a great multitude of angels; and she commanded one of them, saying, "Go, forthwith, and awaken Mercurius, who sleepeth in the sepulchre, that he may slay Julian the Apostate, that proud blasphemer against me and against my Son!" And when Basil awoke, he went to the tomb in which Mercurius had been laid not long before, with his armor and weapons by his side; and, to his great astonishment, he found neither the body nor the weapons. But on returning to the place the next day, and again looking into the tomb, he found there the body of Mercurius lying as before; but the lance was stained with blood; "for, on the day of battle, when the wicked emperor was at the head of his army, an unknown warrior, bare-headed, and of a pale and ghastly countenance, was seen mounted on a white charger, which he spurred forward; and, brandishing his lance, he pierced Julian through the body, and then vanished as suddenly as he had appeared. And Julian being carried to his tent, he took a handful of the blood which flowed from his wound, and flung it into the air, exclaiming with his last breath, 'Thou hast conquered, Galilean! thou hast conquered!' Thou the demons received his parting spirit. But Mercurius, having performed the behest of the blessed Virgin, re-entered his tomb, and laid himself down to sleep till the day of judgment." Mrs. Jameson.

Mr. — was blessed with a worthy parentage. All that heart could desire was lavished upon him, and especial regard was had to the cultivation of his intellectual powers, which, by nature, were of a superior order. He received a college education, and in early life was supposed to be the subject of a gracious visitation of the Spirit of God. His early Christian experience and deportment gave the cheering promise, that ere long he would be a "burning and a shining light;" but an awful disappointment followed. Instead of devoting himself and all his powers to the work of the ministry, he chose the profession of the law. However unpropitious that profession may be to the growth and energy of true piety, the experience of his worthy father, as well as the lives of seve-

Delany, and told him he was come to dine with him. He thanked his excellency for the honor conferred on him. The dinner was soon in readiness. It was a simple meal, such as was suitable for Dr. D. and his mother. The old lady did the honors of the table. The host made no apology for the entertainment, but said to Lord C.,

"To stomachs cloyed with costly fare Simplicity alone is rare."

Lord C. was highly pleased; for though a courtier, he hated ceremony when he sought pleasure. At the close of the meal, his excellency told Dr. D. that he had always thought him a well-bred man, but had never had so good a proof before. "Others," said he, "on whom I have tried the same experiment, have met me with as much confusion, as if I had come to arrest them for high treason; nay, deprived me of their conversation, by undue attention to the dinner, and then spoiled my meal by fulsome apologies or needless profusion."

# APOSTACY.

ral eminent Christian lawyers, were a sufficient guarantee that he too might have served God in the profession of his choice, if his heart had been right. But, alas! the fire of devotion had gone out. Not only was the holy calling of the Christian abandoned, not merely the power of godliness lost, but even the form of religion was in a great measure relinquished, and he became a votary of pleasure, and attached to the bottle.

The subject of this melancholy picture had many engaging qualities; and, in intervals of correct moral deportment, was capable of affording much pleasure to the social circle. At times, too, when conscience raised her voice and lashed him with the stings of remorse, he could chide his wanderings, and cover himself with reproaches. But his, alas! was no the sorrow that worketh repentance unto life; it was the keen remorse, the gnawing anguish of a victim of despair. Mr.— entered the married state, and although the partner of his bosom did not long continue with him, she left behind her a child, whose tender age, it might have been supposed, would have induced the unhappy man to pause in his ruinous course. But, alas! the endearing relation of father had no charm to break the fatal spell which the god of this world had cast upon his soul. In a little while his own father was stretched upon his dying couch; and his last moments were rendered bitter, not by his own prospects, for he had hope in Christ, but by the character of his ungodly son.

These trying dispensations of Providence had no effect to rouse the unhappy man from the awful lethargy into which he was sunk, and yet his friends were unwilling to give him up for lost. His old companions, some of whom were eminent as preachers of righteousness, expostulated with him. Very many solemn letters were addressed to him. One, who never exchanged a word with him, drew a faithful likeness of his character; the deluded victim saw it in print, and though not a little enraged at the exposure, confessed that the picture was true. In spite of all this, however, he still continued addicted to spirituous liquors, and seemed to place his chief delight in them.

He became, at length, united to an amiable woman, in whose society he might have shared many happy hours, and days, and years, if strong drink had not been dearer to him than all other objects. For a short time he appeared to conduct himself with propriety; but old habits prevailed, and he became their victim with more devotedness than ever. Now and then he would express his deep regret for the wicked course he was pursuing, and appear to desire earnestly that he might be delivered from the horrid temptation; but all his seeming goodness was as the morning cloud, and as the early dew.

Not many weeks previous to the close of this unhappy man's career, he entered into conversation with an old friend, respecting his wicked course of life, and remarked that he desired, above all things, one circumstance to mark his dying hour: "It is," said he, "that I may not possess my reason." "What," rejoined the friend, "to die in a state of derangement, Mr.—! Is it possible that can be your desire?" "It is," replied the victim of despair. "I know what has been my past life; that I have professed religion and apostatized; that I have become an abandoned wretch, lost to all shame and propriety; and I am sure, that if I were to have my reason in my last moments, the retrospect of life would fill me with such insupportable remorse, that I should be a terror to my friends and to myself. I know that I am not, and never shall be, prepared for heaven, and I therefore shall be damned; and I wish that these things may not be in my thoughts in my last moments, but that I may be insensible."

At a time not very distant from the period when he uttered the strange remarks above quoted, he told his wife, in a very grave manner, that he should not long be with her. To others of his family he made the same or similar statements; in all of which he named the day on which he would cease to exist. For a few days after this he appeared to do pretty well, but soon relapsed, and engaging in mirth and festivity, his thoughts of death were all forgotten. Whenever he did speak of death, however, he expressed his horror of dying, associating with it, as he always did, the prospect of bitter remorse for his past wickedness. He was at length attacked by violent illness, which brought on convulsions of the whole frame, long continued, and often repeated for several days, during the whole of which he was deranged, and died as senseless as the brutes.

John Child, of Bedford, England, in early life professed religion, and was for some years zealous in its extension, both by preaching and writing. But yielding to temptation, and indulging a spirit of pride, he became the avowed enemy of the gospel, and wrote a book against the truths he had professed to love. After this, he was brought into a very awful state of mind, absolutely despairing of the mercy of God being extended to him. He was visited by several ministers and others, but without any good effect, and at last committed suicide, by hanging himself in his own house, in the year 1684.

Richard Denton, a blacksmith, residing in Cambridgeshire, was a professor of religion, and the means of converting the martyr William Woolsey. When told by that holy man that he wondered he had not followed him to prison, Denton replied, that he could not burn in the cause of Christ. Not long after, his house being on fire, he ran in to save some of his goods, and was burnt to death.

It is well known that Frederick the Great took pride in having his soldiers well disciplined; and was therefore particularly attentive to the conduct of the subalterns. It is perhaps not so well known, that he sometimes manifested a real respect for religious people; for few men could more clearly discern the excellence of the conduct produced by holy principles. While, therefore, he sneered at Christianity, he sometimes promoted to offices of trust those who consistently maintained it.

A sergeant, of the name of Thomas, who was very successful in training his men, and whose whole deportment pleased the king, was often noticed by him. He inquired respecting the place of the sergeant's birth, his parents, his religious creed, and the place of worship which he frequented. On being informed that he was united with the Moravians, and attended their chapel in William-street, he exclaimed, "Oh! Oh! you are a fanatic, are you? Well, well; only take care to do your duty, and improve your men."

The king's common salutation after this, was, "Well, how do you do? how are you going on in William-street?" His majesty at length, in conversation with Thomas's colonel, mentioned his intention of promoting the sergeant to an office in the commissariat department, upon the death of an aged man who then filled it.

The colonel, in order to encourage Thomas, told him of the king's design. Unhappily this had an injurious effect upon the mind of the sergeant; for, alas! such is the depravity of the human heart, that few can endure the temptation of prosperity without sustaining spiritual loss. Thomas began to forsake the assemblies of his Christian brethren; and when reproved by his minister, he said, "his heart was with him, but he was afraid of offending the king." The minister told him to take good heed that his heart did not deceive him. Soon after the sergeant's religious declension, he was again accosted by the king, with "Well, how do you do? how are your friends in William-street?" "I do not know, please your majesty," was the reply. "Not know! not know!" answered the king; "have you been ill?" "No, please your majesty," rejoined the sergeant; "but I do not see it necessary to attend there so often as I used to do." "Then you are not so great a fanatic as I thought you;" was the royal answer.

In a short time the aged officer died and the colonel waited upon his majesty to inform him of the vacancy, and to remind him of his intention to raise sergeant Thomas to the situation. "No no!" said the king, "he shall not have it; he does not go so often to William-street as he used to do." Surprised with this peremptory refusal, the colonel withdrew, and on his return found his sergeant waiting for the confirmation of his appointment. "I do not know what is the matter with the king today," said the colonel, "but he will not give you the situation. He says you do not go so often to William-street as you used to do. I do not know what he means; but I suppose you do." Struck in a moment with the awful impropriety of his conduct, he bowed to the colonel, and departed to humble himself before God. He ever after adored the Divine mercy, which did not leave him fully to realize the Scriptural threatening, "The prosperity of fools shall destroy them."

After poor Sabat, an Arabian, who had professed faith in Christ by means of the labors of the Rev. Henry Martyn, had apostatized from Christianity, and written a book in favor of Mohammedanism, he was met at Malacca, by the Rev. Dr. Milne, who proposed to him some very pointed questions; in reply to which he said, "I am unhappy! I have a mountain of burning sand on my head! When I go about, I know not what I am doing." It is indeed "an evil thing and bitter to forsake the Lord our God."

James Le Fevre, of Etables, did not outwardly depart from the church of Rome, yet at the bottom of his heart he was a Protestant. He was protected by the Queen of Navarre, sister to Francis I; and, dining with her in company with some other learned men, whose conversation pleased the queen, he began to weep: and when the queen asked him the reason of it, he answered, "the enormity of his sins threw him into that grief! It was not the remembrance of any lewdness he had been guilty of, and with regard to other vices, he felt his conscience easy enough; but he was pricked in his conscience, that having known the truth and taught it to several persons who had sealed it with their blood, he had the weakness to keep himself in an asylum far from the places where crowns of martyrdom were distributed." He went to bed, where he was found dead a few hours after.

When ministers pray before a business meeting, it's rare that anyone is asked not to show up. Yet that's exactly what happened recently at a gathering of — of all people — Anglican bishops.

I said “of all people” because the Anglican Communion, which includes the Episcopal Church here in the United States, values unity above almost everything else. They express this unity in the celebration of Communion, a rite that sends the message that, no matter how deep the disagreements may be, the participants are still one in Christ.

Imagine, then, the surprise felt by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, when he read a letter from Nigerian Archbishop Peter Akinola and other conservative bishops. Akinola warned Williams that “Third World archbishops would not celebrate Communion with U.S. Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold” at an upcoming meeting in Ireland.

The proximate cause of the crisis was the American church's consecration of an openly gay bishop, Eugene Robinson of New Hampshire. But, for Akinola and the others, this action is but a symptom of a much deeper malady.

As the former bishop of South Carolina, C. Fitzsimmons Allison, told columnist Terry Mattingly: It's difficult to celebrate Communion together when the participants don't share a common understanding of words like salvation, resurrection, marriage, or even God.

He's not exaggerating. He was once told by several American bishops that they “worshipped a god who is 'older and greater' than the God of the Bible.” Allison's word for this is the right one: apostasy.

This departure from the “doctrines that have united Christians through the ages” made Robinson's consecration possible. And it's why the North American churches have been “urgently requested” to “voluntarily withdraw their members from the Anglican Consultative Council.” To put in it “reality-television” terms: “Just leave quietly. Don't make us vote you off the island.”

While this may sound like Anglican “inside baseball,” there are important lessons here for American evangelicals. The first is Akinola's insistence that “unity of doctrine [precedes] unity of worship.” Or, Allison put it, “stronger stuff” than “appeals to human emotions” are what holds a church together.

If we're honest with ourselves, a lot of evangelical churches also avoid the “stronger stuff.” In this day of seeker-driven churches, what would people answer if you asked them to define resurrection, salvation, marriage, or God? Do we really want to know?

Another important lesson is the growing power of “Third-World” Christians. Akinola and company represent forty to fifty million, mostly active, Anglicans, some of whom risk their lives to practice their faith. Griswold represents two million, mostly nominal, Anglicans, many of whom reject the Bible.

As historian Philip Jenkins has written, the center of “gravity” of the Christian world has already shifted “southward.” These “southern” Christians are much more conservative regarding faith and morals, and their overwhelming numerical superiority makes it impossible to ignore what they are saying.

That's good, because we in the West need to hear what they have to say, starting with a reminder of why it is we pray together in the first place.

FOR FURTHER READING AND INFORMATION:

• Terry Mattingly, “Communion in the Anglican Communion?“ On Religion, 9 March 2005.

• Marite N. Sison, “Primates call for breathing space,” Anglican Journal, April 2005.

• “Archbishop Akinola: A Pastoral Letter to the Church,” Anglican Communion News Service, 18 March 2005.

• BreakPoint Commentary No. 040205, “As Long As We All Get Along: Selling Truth for Unity.”

• BreakPoint Commentary No. 030603, “Like It Or Not: Cardinal Arinze at Georgetown.”

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Copyright © 2005 Prison Fellowship Ministries. Reprinted with permission. "BreakPoint with Chuck Colson" is a radio ministry of Prison Fellowship Ministries.

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[Original illustration at this number was deleted for being obsolete]

The Church is, at any season, an easy target for criticism. There always and inevitably is a wide gap between the performance of human beings who comprise congregations and the Christian ideal of selfless love which the church espouses.

But to acknowledge that the church has many shortcomings is not the same as saying that it is an evil or expendable institution, as some of its harsher critics seem to be suggesting these days.

The most savage attacks on the church seem to come from people who profess to stand within the Christian tradition and to judge the church by Christian standards.

To such persons, if not to outsiders, it should be germane to note that the church is not a human invention which men may feel free to dismantle at will. It is a fellowship called into being by Jesus Christ himself, and the New Testament clearly indicates it is an integral part of God’s continuing effort to achieve reconciliation with an alienated world.

Obviously the church is now going through a period in which it is being confronted with its failures and called back to its true mission. It is not the first such period of course correction, and it probably won’t be the last. It will be a traumatic experience for members of the body -- it always is.

But those who predict its demise are ignoring the testimony of 2,000 years of history as well as the Bible’s firm promise that the church will endure, because it belongs not to men but to God.

Sermon in 2 Peter series. Freedom vs. license. 2 Peter 2:17-22

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FREEDOM AND DEPRAVITY

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I. Who, or what, controls your life?

II. There are people who offer to control us.

A. Many people cannot handle freedom.

B. False teachers counter with convincing words. 2:18

C. They appeal to our lusts. 2:18

III. The promise of freedom. 2:19

A. Everyone wants to be free. But from what?

B. Unlimited freedom can lead to slavery.

C. Genuine freedom only comes through obedience to Jesus. John 8:36

IV. The stark alternative.

A. Can a Christian lose salvation? 2:20-22

B. "Almost" Christians are in greatest danger.

#2883

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Mary Ellen Snodgrass grew up Southern Baptist and describes what it meant to her life. She felt it was too narrow culturally and married a Catholic. Women in her church had little power. She now attends a middle-of-the-road church. However, the Baptist in her is still important.

A friend of mine (Glenn Gunderson) attended a Baptist ordination council in New York State where the candidate was asked, "Do you believe in heaven?"

She responded, "No, I don't believe in it right now. But the topic is at the cutting edge of my faith."

(They ordained her anyway.)

#1146

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Testimonies of young infidels: Dan Barker, public relations director for the Freedom From Religion Foundation and a contributing editor to "Freethought Today." From age 15 to 32 he says he was gung-ho into Christian work, preaching, doing missionary work, visiting house-to-house, and immersing himself in all the accepted norms of the Christian religion. He went to a Christian college [Azusa Pacific University] and majored in Religion/Philosophy before becoming a preacher and evangelist.[1]

Now, the faith he once heralded he calls "an erroneous way of thinking" an "ill-conceived" world view. However, he says he should not be blamed for believing and acting as he did, "based on my limited knowledge back then," explaining, "Should children be blamed for believing in Santa Claus?" Eventually, he says, he came to realize "there is no evidence for Christianity" and "no need for it".

If brilliance is on the side of atheism and Christians are dumb for believing God, why are there so many truly brilliant humble Christians? The greatest discoveries in the area of science, for example, were made by men who waited before God and walked with God. Among this group we would include Frances Bacon, "the father of modern science"; William Harvey, "the founder of modern physiology"; John Ray, "the founder of systematic biology"; Carolus Linnaeus, "the father of modern systematic botany"; Isaac Newton, "the father of physics"; Robert Boyle, "the father of chemistry"; Louis Agassiz, "the world's leading ichthyologist" and "America's leading biologist"; Micheal Farraday, "the discoverer of electromagnetic induction"; James Y. Simpson, "a leading founder of gynecology"; Rene Descartes; Gottfried Wilhelm Liebnitz; Edmund Halley; William Ramsey; John William Dawson; Johann Kepler; Louis Pasteur; and Galileo Galilei, just for starters.

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1. From Barker's website :

"Dan Barker, Co-president, Freedom From Religion Foundation: Minister Turned Atheist"

Dan became a teenage evangelist at age 15. At 16 he was choir librarian for faith-healer Kathryn Kuhlman’s Los Angeles appearances. He received a degree in Religion from Azusa Pacific University and was ordained to the ministry by the Standard Community Church, California, in 1975. He served as associate pastor at a Friends (Quaker) Church, an Assembly of God, and an independent Charismatic church. Dan was a Protestant missionary in Mexico for a total of two years.

Dan maintained a touring musical ministry for 17 years, including eight years of full-time, cross-country evangelism. An accomplished pianist, record producer, arranger and songwriter, he worked with Christian music companies such as Manna Music and Word Music. For many years, Dan wrote and produced the annual “Mini Musicale” for Gospel Light Publications’ Vacation Bible School curriculum.

For more than two decades, Dan was accompanist, arranger, and record producer for Manuel Bonilla, the leading Christian singer in the Spanish-speaking world. He accompanied on the piano such Christian personalities as Pat Boone, Jimmy Roberts (of the Lawrence Welk Show), and gospel songwriter Audrey Meier, and was a regular guest on Southern California’s “Praise The Lord” TV show (Spanish). One of Dan’s Christian songs, “There Is One,” was performed by Rev. Robert Schuller’s television choir on the “Hour of Power” broadcast. To this day, he receives royalties from his popular children’s Christian musicals, “Mary Had a Little Lamb” (1977), and “His Fleece Was White As Snow” (1978), both published by Manna Music and performed in many countries.

Following five years of reading, Dan gradually outgrew his religious beliefs. “If I had limited myself to Christian authors, I’d still be a Christian today,” Dan says. “I just lost faith in faith.” He announced his atheism publicly in January, 1984.

Sermon in Minor Prophets series. Amos and religion.

1. What God thinks of religion. (He hates it)

2. The marks of corrupt religion.

a. Simplistic, one-sided approach.

b. Co-existence with moral corruption.

c. No sense of sin.

d. No seeking of God.

3. The results of corrupt religion.

a. Cut off from God.

4. Truly seeking God. [1409]

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Buchanan shows how the Episcopal church is slipping and attributes it to heretical bishops like Spong of Newark. Spong ordained the first openly homosexual priest (who now admits to having AIDS) and lately has said Paul himself must have been a repressed homosexual. His error makes it even harder for Episcopalians to cooperate with orthodox Catholics.

"Once again, the long pilgrimage of a mainstream Christian cleric, to make his faith 'relevant' to a secular age, has ended in total irrelevance and secular ridicule."

Sermon on the need for revival.

1. Sad condition of Christian Church.

2. Reasons it has happened.

3. The tragedy of spiritual deadness.

4. What a genuine revival requires.

a. Jesus exalted.

b. Sin opposed.

c. Bible revered.

d. Concern about souls and eternity.

e. A new love for Christ.

5. Will Ledgewood Baptist be revived?

Steve Green, who sang six years with Bill and Gloria Gaither, tells about getting to know some of the work crews in the large auditoriums where their concerts were held.

The Gaithers prefer concerts-in-the-round, which means extra work for the “riggers”, who walk the four inch rafter beams – often a hundred feet above the concrete floor – to hang sound speakers and spot lights. For such work, understandably, they are very well paid.

“The fellows I talked to weren’t bothered by the sight of looking down a hundred feet,” say Green. “What they didn’t like, they said, were jobs in buildings that had false ceilings – acoustical tile slung just a couple of feet below the rafters. They were still high in the air, and if they slipped, their weight would smash right through the flimsy tile. But their minds seemed to play tricks on them, lulling them into carelessness.”

Satan’s business is not so much in scaring us to death as persuading us that the danger of a spiritual fall in minimal. No wonder Peter advised us to “resist him, standing firm in the faith” (1 Peter 5:9).

Walt K., a psychologist, agnostic/humanist/free-thinker, has this to say about Christians:

When Christians talk with me about their faith, I usually feel sorry for them. I feel that I have gone on to a more intelligent approach to spirituality. I used to be a very devout Christian, but have been completely turned off to traditional religion. I know some Christians are sincere and try to live their faith; I respect that. I do not respect the hypocrites, self-deceivers, liars, and self-serving proselytizers.

There is nothing about Christianity that attracts me anymore. I’m turned off by the typical power game played by those who say, “I know God; therefore, I have truth and everyone who disagrees with me is wrong and will burn in hell forever!” Give me a break. This is all due to ego, power, and self-deceit.

About Christianity, I say, “I tried it and don’t like it!” It’s lacking in consistency, truth, and any real relation to the actual universe. Since rejecting Christianity, I have found peace, lack of guilt, and self- acceptance, as well as a degree of tolerance that most Christians will never achieve.

I did not come upon my decision easily or lightly, nor for emotional reasons. It was hard to break my “conditioning,” and I still miss some of it (the hymns especially). But for the most part, I am free of the baggage Christianity imposes upon its adherents. I am still interested in religion, and continually look for, and evaluate, different alternatives. But the most part, I find them wanting.

The following is from the Way of Life Advanced Bible Studies Series title on Hebrews. This important book of the Bible opens the veil and invites us to gaze upon the throne in the holy of holiness on high more plainly than any other book of the New Testament. Hebrews “presents the only full discussion in the New Testament of Christ as the believer’s High Priest.”

We show that the blood was not merely symbolic for death but was itself a crucial part of the atonement. The book of Hebrews teaches us anew that the Bible is a self-interpreting Book. In the book of Hebrews we have a divinely-given interpretation of the Old Testament tabernacle and priesthood. These were types of Christ and prophecies of the future and we are not left to imagine what they might mean. We are given a definite key to their interpretation.

Hebrews, of course, is not only for Jews. It is for all of God’s people throughout the church age, and it is a very practical book. Scattered throughout are exhortations to everyday Christian living based on the doctrine that is taught. Hebrews contains essential instruction about sanctification, backsliding and apostasy, Bible study, prayer, the exercise of faith, chastisement, the ministry of exhortation, church attendance, church leadership, hospitality, and worship.

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“For if we sin willfully after that we have received the

knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for

sins, but a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery

indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. He that

despised Moses’ law died without mercy under two or three

witnesses: Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be

thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and

hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was

sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the

Spirit of grace? For we know him that hath said, Vengeance

belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again,

The Lord shall judge his people. It is a fearful thing to fall

into the hands of the living God.” Hebrews 10:26-31

1. The key to understanding this passage is to understand what the willful sin of Hebrews 10:26 refers to.

It does not refer to willful sin in general. If it did, every believer would be in perpetual danger of losing his salvation, but it cannot refer to this for elsewhere in Scripture we find that that sin remains in the Christian life in this present world and Christ remains the propitiation for sin at all times.

“If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the

truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and

just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all

unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him

a liar, and his word is not in us. My little children, these

things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we

have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: And

he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but

also for the sins of the whole world” (1 John 1:8 - 2:2).

The Bible plainly teaches that Christians do sin after they are saved. There is no sinless perfection in the Christian life in this present world. Paul testified, “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing” (Rom. 7:18). The believer’s righteousness is in Jesus Christ positionally (1 Cor. 1:30; 2 Cor. 5:21).

The willful sin of Hebrews 10:26 is defined in the immediate context. The first rule of Bible interpretation is context, context, context, and if we examine the context of this passage carefully, we see that this particular sin is defined in verse 29: “Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?”

The willful sin in verse 26, therefore, refers not to sin in general but to one particular sin, that of “counting the blood of the covenant an unholy thing and doing despite unto the Spirit of grace.” This is to deny that salvation is by Christ’s blood and grace alone. In the immediate context to which the book of Hebrews was addressed, it refers to the Jews who professed confidence in Christ but because of persecution returned to their dead religion and thus gave up confidence in Christ.

False religion, both then and now, attempts to replace Christ’s grace with a manmade system. Catholicism is an example. It preaches Christ, but it intermingles its own sacraments and priesthood and sainthood with the grace of Christ. This is a false gospel that robs Christ of His glory as the sole Saviour and Mediator. If Christ is not the Saviour wholly and exclusively, He is not Saviour at all. If grace is intermingled in any sense with works, the Gospel is perverted, and there is no salvation in a perverted gospel (Rom. 11:6; Gal. 1:6-9).

To “trod under foot the Son of God and count His blood an unholy thing” is not an ordinary sin. It is akin to the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit that Christ warned about in Matthew 12:31 (where the Jewish leaders renounced Jesus in the most final manner by attributing His miracles to the devil). The willful sin of Hebrews 10 is to reject Christ as Lord and Saviour. It is to renounce Him and His atonement. There can be no salvation when one commits such a sin because in doing so one has rejected the only means that God has provided for salvation. No true believer can commit such a sin, for “the just shall live by faith” (Heb. 10:38). We see in Hebrews 10:26-29 that the writer is not speaking of true believers when he warns of apostasy, because in 10:39 he concludes the passage with these words: “But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition, but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.”

To do “despite unto the Spirit of grace” is the same as to “fall from grace” (Gal. 5:4). The word “despite” means to “insult” (Strong). To do despite unto the Spirit of grace means to turn from salvation by grace and to attempt to be saved by works or by a mixture of grace plus works. It means to reject the Holy Spirit’s testimony about the grace of Christ. “The Holy Spirit delights to magnify Christ and to exalt His work. To refuse His testimony is to do despite unto the Spirit of grace” (Ironside). This was the error of the Judaizers who were trying to corrupt the churches in Galatia. They were attempting to replace the grace alone gospel that Paul had preached with a false one of “grace” intermingled with works.

The Jews of that day who had professed Christ and to whom the book of Hebrews is addressed were in danger of returning to the Mosaic system and thus turning their backs to the gospel of the grace of Christ. To do this is to demonstrate that one is not saved, because salvation is to trust oneself wholly to the grace of Christ. Those who turn back to works religion demonstrate that they have never understood nor believed in grace in a saving sense.

Consider the following important statement on this passage by Harry Ironside: “It is not mere failure in the life that is here contemplated. The willful sin in this passage is the definite rejection of His atoning sacrifice. Nor is this simply the foolish and wicked determination of a moment, of which many have been guilty, but have afterwards been brought to sincere repentance. The verb [‘sin willfully’] is the present participle. It is what has become habitual. If, after fully examining what the Old Testament Scriptures teach concerning Christ and His work and comparing it with the New Testament presentation, thus having obtained the knowledge of the truth, one deliberately and persistently rejects it, God has nothing more to say to him. ... Satan has used this passage to trouble and perplex honest souls whose sensitive consciences accuse them of failure to walk with God as they should. Such have often been made to fear that they were guilty of the willful sin here contemplated. But it is not the question of what is commonly called ‘backsliding’ that is before us. Of this any real believer may often be guilty; but even when overwhelmed with failure, he clings more tenaciously than ever to the fact that Jesus is the only Saviour and His sacrifice the only means of deliverance from sin’s judgment. The apostate of this chapter has no such hope or consciousness. He has spurned utterly both the Christ and the cross. He holds the blood of Jesus in contempt, and hence for him, there is nothing but doom ahead” (Ironside).

Consider another important statement on this passage by Matthew Henry: “This text has been the occasion of great distress to some gracious souls; they have been ready to conclude that every willful sin, after conviction and against knowledge, is the unpardonable sin: but this has been their infirmity and error. The sin here mentioned is a total and final apostasy, when men with a full and fixed will and resolution despise and reject Christ, the only Saviour, -- despise and resist the Spirit, the only sanctifier, -- and despise and renounce the gospel, the only way of salvation, and the words of eternal life; and all this after they have known, owned, and professed, the Christian religion, and continue to do so obstinately and maliciously.”

2. To “receive the knowledge of the truth” is not the same as committing oneself to the truth in a saving fashion (Heb. 10:26). Many receive the knowledge of the truth in the sense of knowing in their hearts that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is true, but for whatever reason do not repent and trust Christ as their Lord and Saviour and eventually draw back to the world. We have seen this countless times in our missionary work. One Hindu lawyer faithfully attended our church services for a full year and professed an appreciation for the things we preached. He bought a Bible and even attended the mid-week prayer services, but he refused to repent and to commit himself to Christ and finally fell away entirely. There was something in his life that he was holding on to and that kept him from receiving Jesus as his Lord and Saviour. The rich young ruler is an example of this in the Bible. He came to Jesus and asked what he had to do to have eternal life, but because of his great riches he went away sorrowful.

3. What about the statement in Heb. 10:29 that says the individual “was sanctified”? Some claim that this describes someone who is saved and then loses his salvation when he turns from Christ, but Bible words must be defined by their context. The method of false teachers is to give one definition to a Bible word and then to force that definition into all passages, but the correct method is to allow the context itself to define the word. When we do this we see that Bible words have different meanings in different contexts. That is how we define words in daily life. The word “run” can mean to run literally or it can mean to walk or even to drive depending on the context in which it is used. If I say, “I have to run downtown for a few minutes,” that probably means that I will be driving my car or motorcycle and not actually running. Likewise, the Bible term “sanctify” does not always refer to salvation. The basic meaning of the word is “to set apart” and it usually refers to something that is set apart for divine service.

Consider some examples of how the word “sanctify” does not always refer to salvation in the Bible:

Mt. Sinai was sanctified (Exod. 19:23), meaning it was set apart because of God’s holy presence and the people were not allowed to approach it.

The priests were sanctified (Exod. 28:41), meaning they were set apart for the ministry God had assigned to them.

The offerings were sanctified (Exod. 29:27), meaning they were set apart to be eaten only by the priests.

The tabernacle and its altar were sanctified (Exod. 29:36), meaning they were set apart for the divine use that had been proscribed to Moses.

In 1 Pet. 3:15 the child of God is commanded to “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...” This means to set the Lord and the things of the Lord apart in one’s thoughts so that they are not crowded out by the things of the world.

1 Cor. 7:14 says “the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband...” This does not mean that the unbelieving husband or wife is saved. It means that they are set apart from other unbelievers in certain ways. If an unbeliever is married to a believer, that unbeliever hears the gospel more often and sees it lived out more clearly than other unbelievers. An unbelieving husband who is married to a believing wife also participates in the blessings that God pours out on that believer. In that sense, the unbelieving husband or wife is “sanctified.” Thus the word “sanctify” does not always refer to salvation.

Likewise, in Heb. 10:29 “sanctify” is not describing a person who is saved but a person who has come close to being saved, who has been sanctified in the sense of having come apart from the things of the world and having looked closely upon the things of Christ and having become a member of a church. A person can do all of this without being born again. We see a similar thing in 2 Pet. 2:20, “For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning.” The people described in this verse escape the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of Christ, but they aren’t saved and in 2 Pet. 2:21-22 we see that they never were saved. The reason that they turn back to the world is because they were not born again and their nature was not changed (2 Cor. 5:17). A pig goes back to the mire and a dog to its vomit because it is still a pig and still a dog. If the pig or dog could receive a new nature it would no longer have such desires.

When a person is born again through repentance and faith, his desires are changed and though he is still a sinner he no longer wants to live in sin as he did before he was saved and is not longer content in his sin.

The following statement on this passage by Harry Ironside is helpful. As a young Christian, Ironside was involved with the Salvation Army and was taught that he could experience “entire sanctification” so that he would no longer have indwelling sin. He sought this experience earnestly and even felt at one point that he had experienced it, but when he learned that the sin nature was still present he became so discouraged that he had to be hospitalized. He feared that he had committed the sin of Hebrews 10 and that he was lost. It was during his hospitalization that he learned the truth of biblical sanctification and came to understand and appreciate the difference between his unchanging and eternal position in Christ and his daily practice, between his permanent relationship with God as an adopted son and his temporal fellowship with God.

“There is an expression used in these verses that may still perplex and bewilder those who have not apprehended that profession is one thing, and possession another. ... He who is sanctified by the one offering of Christ upon the cross, that is, by His precious blood, is perfected forever (Heb. 10:10, 14-19). But in this passage it is equally plain that one who counts the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, shall be forever lost. In order not to miss the true force of this for our souls, it is necessary that we give some attention to what we have already designated ‘positional sanctification.’ Of old all the people of Israel, and all who were associated with them, were set apart to God both on the night of the Passover and afterwards in the wilderness. But this did not necessarily imply a work of the Spirit in their souls. Many were doubtless in the blood-sprinkled houses that solemn night, when the destroying angel passed through to smite the unsheltered first-born, who had no real faith in God. Yet they were by the blood of the Lamb put in a place of blessing, a position where they shared in many hallowed privileges. So afterward with those who were under the cloud and passed through the sea, being baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea. All were in the same position. All shared the same outward blessings. But the wilderness was the place of testing, and soon proved who were real and who were not. At the present time God has no special nation, to be allied to which is to come into a position of outward nearness to Him. But He has a people who have been redeemed to Himself out of all kindreds and tongues and peoples and nations, by the precious blood of the Lamb of God. All who ally themselves by profession with that company are outwardly among the blood-sheltered: in this sense they are sanctified by the blood of the covenant. That blood stands for Christianity, which in its very essence is the proclamation of salvation through Christ’s atoning death. To take the Christian place therefore is like entering the blood-sprinkled house. ALL WHO ARE REAL, WHO HAVE JUDGED THEMSELVES BEFORE GOD, AND TRULY CONFIDED IN HIS GRACE, WILL REMAIN IN THAT HOUSE. IF THEY GO OUT, IT PROVES THEIR UNREALITY, and such can find no other sacrifice for sins; for all the typical offerings are done away in Christ. These are they of whom the apostle John speaks so solemnly: ‘They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us: but they went out that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us’ (1 John 2:19). As they were ever bereft of faith in the soul, they ‘went out,’ and thus did despite to the Spirit of grace, and counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith they were sanctified, an unholy thing. These sin willfully, not in the sense of failing to walk uprightly merely, but as utterly abjuring, or apostatizing from, Christianity, after having become conversant with the glorious message it brings to lost men” (H.A. Ironside, Holiness: The False and the True, pp. 63-65).

4. The unsaved face a most frightful future (Heb. 10:27). The Bible frequently describes God’s judgment in terms of fire. Here it is “fiery indignation.” Hell is described as a place of eternal suffering in fire. See Mt. 13:42, 50; Mk. 9:44-48; Lk. 16:24; Rev. 14:10; 20:10, 15. Consider some of the Bible’s descriptions of Hell:

“wailing and gnashing of teeth” (Mt. 13:42, 50)

“cast into a furnace of fire” (Mt. 13:42, 50)

“depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire” (Mt. 25:41)

“hell fire” (Mk. 9:47)

“the fire is not quenched” (Mk. 9:44, 46, 48)

“tormented in this flame” (Lk. 16:24)

“flaming fire taking vengeance” (2 Th. 1:8)

“fiery indignation” (Heb. 10:27)

“tormented with fire and brimstone” (Rev. 14:10)

“tormented day and night for ever and ever” (Rev. 20:10)

5. What about the warning of Heb. 10:30-31? Believers are to serve God “with reverence and godly fear” (Heb. 12:28), but no true believer has to fear God’s vengeance and the judgment of hell. “For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father” (Rom. 8:15). The quotation, “Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense” is from Ps. 94:1, and “The Lord will judge his people,” is from Deut. 32:36; Ps. 50:4; and Ps. 135:14. This judgment refers to Israel, which was a mixture of saved and lost.

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[Original illustration at this number was deleted for being obsolete]

Sadly, many believers eventually fall away from the faith. There are things

we can do to avoid being one of them.

I. You can keep walking with God throughout your life, like Enoch.

A. Walking with God.

B. Pleasing God.

1) Resist bitterness.

2) Avoid disobedience.

3) Banish pride.

C. Serving God.

II. We can never repay our debt to Jesus.

Sidebar: "Finishing Well" - a comparison of O.T. kings.

#3785

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Our culture disregards death, and this has an impact on Christians. It causes us to clutch our possessions more tightly. We trust the security material things give us and avoid risking our lives for the service of God. Many Iranian believers, on the other hand, have learned Paul's perspective on death, and they, like him, provide an example for Western believers.

Mehdi Dibaj, for example, was imprisoned by the government of Iran in 1984 on charges of "apostasy," since he had converted from Islam to Christianity. The penalty for this crime according to Islamic law was death. Mehdi languished in prison for ten years before his case came to trial. When it did, his written statement of defense was a simple and straightforward affirmation of commitment to Jesus Christ. The last few lines of that defense contain this remarkable paragraph:

[Jesus Christ] is our Savior and he is the Son of God. To know

him means to know eternal life. I, a useless sinner, have

believed in him and all his words and miracles recorded in the

gospel. I have committed my life into his hands. Life for me is

an opportunity to serve him, and death is a better opportunity to

be with Christ. Therefore I am not only satisfied to be in

prison for the honor of his holy name, but am ready to give my

life for the sake of Jesus my Lord...

On December 12, 1993, the court before whom this defense was made sentenced Mehdi to death. Then, under intense pressure from people in the West who knew of the case, including the U.S. State Department, the Iranians released him in January 1994. Seven months later, he was found dead "under suspicious circumstances" in a Teheran park. He was the third Christian murdered in Iran after his release from prison.

Go Out, Old Ship, Go Out

An old gentleman states that when he was a small boy, he lived on

the coast. One morning after a great storm he saw an old ship

stranded. The storm had blown her in, and she was badly damaged and

deserted by her crew. He said that often, when the tide would come in

strongly and surround the old ship, she would almost be loosed from

her moorings and go out. He stated that often he would go and stand by

her and hope she would go out. He would say, "Go out, old ship; go out

with the tide." But she never did. Finally, one morning after a severe

storm he went down to look at the old ship, but the storm had blown

her to pieces. Only the floating pieces of the old wreck were to be

seen. She had many an opportunity, but she never went out. How like

many a backslider and sinner! The tide of the revival has risen and it

seemed they would go out; but they settled back and never went out.

Sinner, you had better go out while the tide is in.

William Moses Tidwell, "Pointed Illustrations."

[Holwick: AWAB stands for "Association of Welcoming and Affirming Baptists." W&A stands for "Welcoming and Affirming." They welcome homosexuals into their congregational life and accept them as they are; homosexuality is not considered a sin (unless, perhaps, it involves violence or promiscuity). About 30 American Baptist churches identify with the movement. This is how one of their churches describes itself.]

_______________________________________________________________________

W&A Congregations in Profile: Lake Street Church, Evanston, Illinois

By David Gregg (Minister of Education and Congregational Life)

Lake Street Church is probably well defined by its roots in traditional liberal Christianity and its struggle to transform them. Our desire to reintegrate prophetic witness, spiritual depth, high commitment, and a thriving community is a simple one but has led us on quite a journey.

"First Baptist Church of Evanston," as it was called, spent most of the 70's aging and shrinking. By 1980, this once significant ABC church was nearly decimated, and something needed to change. So the church called Robert V. Thompson, only thirty at the time, to be a "magic bullet" pastor. But there was a difference: unlike many churches looking for institutional salvation, Evanston was willing to change. And it worked: the church began to come back.

The main strategy was a program of liberal activism. Debates on becoming a sanctuary church-voted down-led to a homeless shelter in the church basement. The church expanded its ecumenical work and founded agencies serving people with AIDS, inner-city latch-key kids, and those lacking affordable housing. The church found new life as a place for liberal firebrands. But there was something missing. Like many activist churches, FBC-Evanston discovered their roots to be in shallow soil. Discovering the overly external nature of this latter-day social gospel, the church began asking how progressive, intellectual, post-modern Christians could become spiritual.

The church undertook a wide and serious exploration of some recent spiritual re-discoveries: Goddess spirituality, shamanistic paganism, and Gnosticism. These explorations struck some as profound and others as "New Agey," but they deepened everyone's commitment to spiritual openness in new, even radical ways. These explorations have evolved into committed inter-religious work. For four years, the church has celebrated World Wide Communion Sunday, not as an ecumenical holiday but as an inter-faith one. We invite members of Hindu, Native American, Jewish, Buddhist, Moslem, and Sikh communities to join us at the communion table, because we believe it is what Christ would do in our present Metro-Chicago setting.

As we were expanding the limits of our openness, tensions with our Baptist roots surfaced. We were ambitious about growth; and it became obvious that our name, First Baptist Church, was a major obstacle. The repressive Baptist caricature scared people away before we could say "not that kind of Baptist." So, we changed our name, and everything changed. Finally people would listen to us explain our commitments to openness, spiritual development, and progressive public witness. The congregation grew dramatically as people discovered what we tried to tell them all along: that our combination of a definite, non-dogmatic witness with a commitment to radical openness was just what they were looking for.

Of course, many were worried we would grow away from the Baptist tradition. In fact, just the opposite has occurred. We have spent more time talking "Baptist" since the name change than we ever did before. Then, we had to explain it away. Now, we can simply explain it. Once we do, people become enthusiastic about our allegiance to Baptist principles. There is still too much baggage for many to call themselves Baptist. But all celebrate the Baptist principles by name. It has been a painful irony that, just as we have grown in awareness of our heritage, that heritage itself is under such assault. But our congregation is now more committed, not less, to preserving our traditional values and asserting them anew in our denomination.

Not much of this touches on our W&A stance. It has been an important but ultimately minor emphasis. In large part, this is because, as near as I can tell, the inclusion of sexual minorities is not an issue but a given. When the church voted to join AWAB, the motion passed with no opposing speeches and only one vote against. We offer gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered people a church community in which variations in gender and sexual identity are not a big deal. This perhaps makes us a poor choice for people beginning to struggle with integrating religion and sexuality. But it represents our vision of the Kingdom as a place where everyone is included, enfranchised, and "main streamed" - because the main stream is so very wide.

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The billionaire John D. Rockefeller, Sr., was a devout Baptist but most of his children abandoned the faith. Concerning his daughter Edith:

Around [1910] she suffered a crisis of religious faith, producing a breach with her father. For a long time, she had suspected that preachers dressed up their personal beliefs as gospel truth. "I never heard a Baptist minister say anything from a pulpit that convinced me he was Divinely inspired," she once remarked. The upshot, she recalled, was that "as the minister finished his sermon one Sunday I walked from my pew and out into the air vowing never to return and I kept that vow."