Apostasy and the Church

Introduction

Lets begin with a prayer

Thank you all for coming out tonight

Thank you for being a member of this church

It really is a great blessing to have a church that we belong to

And that is partly why we are going through the book of 1 Timothy

Tonight we are going to talk about “Apostasy and the church”

This is not a popular topic but its an important one

One of the tactics of Satan is to take over a church from the inside so it becomes ineffective

He does this by planting lost people in places where they should not be

When we say apostates we are talking about people who are not regenerate

Were talking those who profess the faith but do not possess the faith

And I believe they are in every church

Now you want lost people in the church (obviously), but you don’t want lost church members

It is our hope and excitement when unconverted people come to the church

We want that every Sunday and Wednesday.

We want to preach and witness of the great things Christ does

We are not talking about that tonight

Tonight we are talking about lost church members

When someone joins a church they get a voice, a vote, an influence

Those things are only for the saved

When a church adds lost people as members then the church develops a serious problem

And when lost members outweigh saved church members you’re in big trouble

Lost church members can cause major damage to the body of Christ

For the second time in this short letter to Timothy, Paul speaks of the danger in false converts or apostates

Everyone wants to think the best of somebody and we should

But Paul warned Timothy because of how serious a problem this can become

And so tonight I am warning you

1 Tim 4:1-5

Latter Times is referring to the church age

Paul is not speaking about the end of times

There are 3 ages of time that we need to be aware of

The time before Christ: This is the entire OT (BC)

The church age: AD (the Year of our Lord) the first coming of Jesus

The age to come: This will be ushered in by the second coming of Jesus

It will be divided into a 1,000 year reign on earth and eternity in the presence of God and Jesus

When Paul says “latter times” he is speaking of the the church age

The apostles expected Jesus to come at any time

Why? Because Jesus said always be ready and watching

The apostles lived like we should be living

They said Jesus could come back any minute and lived as though He would

We say its been 2,000 years and I got plenty of time

Matt 24: “Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming. “But be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what time of the night the thief was coming, he would have been on the alert and would not have allowed his house to be broken into. “For this reason you also must be ready; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will.

Christ could come back any day!

Nothing else has to happen for Jesus to return

The only thing holding Him back is the Father

And we as the church remember to be watching and serving like tomorrow is the day

Because when He does come it will be too late

Verse 1: “But the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith”

A Profession of Faith Does not mean eternal Life or regeneration

“The Spirit expressly says.....some will depart from the faith”

The use of expressly means what has been stated is precise!

In other words it is sure to happen

The Holy Spirit is the source of prophecy!

Does this mean that they will lose their salvation?

There are some people who believe we can lose our salvation

And for good reason!

People make some sort of commitment to the Lord and start living for Him

Sometimes for years!

And then one day turn from Him and go back into their former life of sin

It seems as though they were saved but lost their salvation

Some believe that it cannot be lost, but you can walk away from your faith

So can we walk away from our faith?

You can if you never had the real thing

The Bible teaches that we cannot lose our salvation

1 Pet 1:3-5

The New King James Version Chapter 1

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who iaccording to His abundant mercy jhas begotten us again to a living hope kthrough the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance 2incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, lreserved in heaven for you, 5 mwho are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

John 10:25-29

The New King James Version Chapter 10

My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. 28 And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. 29 yMy Father, zwho has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand.

Matt 24:13

The New King James Version Chapter 24

13 oBut he who endures to the end shall be saved

Perseverance is an inseparable mark of a Christian

The ones who continues on are the ones who have truly been born again

The Bible calls those who fall away or turn away Apostates or the act of Apostasy

A definition: “a total renunciation of the principles and doctrines of Christianity”

This may be done openly or in secret within the heart

Many times it is not an open declaration but a choice someone makes inside their own heart

Many apostates still claim the title of Christian yet no longer follow the essential doctrines of Christ

There is a difference between backsliding and apostasy

People can backslide and still be saved

People can sin and still be saved

The difference is longevity

God will not let a child of His stay in a sinful state

He will call them back

He will chastise them

He is a good good Father

Hebrews 12:6 NASB95

For those whom the Lord loves He disciplines, And He scourges every son whom He receives.”

The apostate has never experienced a radical transformation

He has always been in his sin

He may look like a Christian on the outside, but the heart has never been changed

And many times, these people do not even know that they are not saved

Paul is going to inform Timothy on what to look for in these apostates or non-regenerate believers

Do not think that God didn’t give you a spirit of discernment for nothing

He gave it to you to protect you

And the Spirit told Paul to write this to protect the church

USE YOUR DISCERNMENT!!

Verse 1-5

The Marks of an Apostate

They are not Spirit led “giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons”

Those who are not regenerate will be led by the world rather than by the Spirit of God

All born again believers are led by the Spirit of God!

Romans 8:14 NASB95

For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.

No lost person will be led by the Spirit of God

They will oppose the Spirit of God

Or twist the commandments of God

Or misrepresent the teachings of God

This is why witchcraft and fortune telling are ungodly

Because they are relying upon evil spirits

Don’t think there is no real power in those who practice witchcraft

They are summoning demons to empower them

Everyone is led by something

We’re either led by the Spirit or by the world which belongs to Satan (at this time)

When we follow the way of the world we are not following the Spirit

We cannot follow them both!

You will know an apostate because they follow the world!

They speak lies in hypocrisy

hypocrisy: “The hiding of interior wickedness under the appearance of virtue”

The Pharisees only did things to be seen by men (Jesus called them hypocrites)

Their outside always looks clean, even though the outside is filthy

An apostate will lie to make them look good on the outside

But if you look past the outward appearance at the heart you will see inconsistency

Don’t just assume because someone is nice that they are saved

Don’t just assume because the cup is clean on the outside that it is clean on the inside

Virtue that is skin deep is no virtue at all

True Virtue goes all the way to the heart

They have Seared Consciences

A conscience just tells us right from wrong

Everyone has one, but for the believer it aligns with God’s will

When a conscience is seared the line between right and wrong is gone

Anyone can do something wrong

But the Spirit immediately convicts us and brings us back to what is right

A seared conscience has lost conviction about right or wrong

Conviction will always be a part of a born again believer

It is conviction that leads us through the Spirit

It is conviction that tears us up inside when we are doing what we should not be doing

Apostates do not have that conviction

They follow the mind rather than the heart

To do wrong is acceptable as long as it aligns with their thinking

Why is your pastor teaching you these things?

Verse 6 : “If you instruct the brethren in these things you will be a good minister of Jesus Christ”

It is detrimental to the church if the people do not understand and know how to spot an apostate

#1) Because apostasy is Satan’s foothold in the church

The New King James Version Chapter 13

24 Another parable He put forth to them, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; 25 but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way. 26 But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared. 27 So the servants of the owner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?’ 28 He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.

What is the best way to get control of a powerful movement?

You can confront it head on which is very difficult most time

Satan does not have enough power to conquer a church

New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update Chapter 16

I also say to you that you are 1aPeter, and upon this 2rock I will build My church; and the gates of bHades will not overpower it.

Or you can put your own man in the drivers seat

Paul said they follow the doctrines of demons

Do you know when a lost man prays that he cannot discern the answer he gets whether it is from Satan and God

Do you think Satan would like to give us some wrong answers to our prayers?

Do you think when an apostate prays for answers that Satan comes and speaks into his heart the doctrines of demons?

The reason Satan sows tares in the church is to gain control of the church!

By doing so he highjacks the ministry and thwarts the work of God

You find a church with tares in leadership, tares voting in business meetings as members, you will have a church that is ineffective for the Kingdom of God

It is my duty to inform you, so that you may use sound judgement when discerning these things

You have heard it said never judge someones salvation and I totally agree

We do not have the ability to know if someone is saved or lost

But when we see these things like this manifest in church, the members need to be ready to take action

#3) Because church membership is for the saved only

A church is not a country club

We should never seek to only gain members

We should seek to convert the lost

Only when someone becomes converted can they be a member of the church

It is a blessed thing to be a member of the church

It is a family membership

It has responsibilities

It requires faithfulness

If we do not place a high value on church membership then we risk being infused with Apostates

Those who do not obey the essential Christian doctrines should not be allowed to be members

One of the most obvious is church attendance

“A faith that does not bring you into church will likely not bring you into heaven”

What do we do with unsaved church members?

Biblical church discipline

The New King James Version Chapter 18

15 “Moreover oif your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, pyou have gained your brother. 16 But if he will not hear, take with you one or two more, that q‘by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.’ 17 And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church. But if he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a rheathen and a tax collector.

The goal of church discipline is not condemnation but restoration “you have gained a brother”

If a church does not deal with sin in the church it will become useless

If a church does not discipline those who live in open sin it is in danger

If a church lets anything go.....then it begins to look like the world instead of the church

It is an uncomfortable thing to think of performing church discipline but it is necessary

If there are no rules then anyone can do anything they want

This is one of the reasons why so many churches are in the mess that they are

There has to be structure in a church

There has to expectations

There has to be accountability to be a member

There has to be discipline when sin enters the church

If not the church will become like the world and the power of God will depart from it

~PRAYER~