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SERVANTS' MINISTRY
www.judgmentcoming.org
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To Our Web Site
APOSTASY
For other
web sites speaking on apostasy:
https://www.apostasywatch.com/
http://www.Jesus-is-savior.com
http://www.watchman.org
http://www.carm.org
Apostasy
is when people turn away from God’s Truth and accept and
embrace false teachings. Backsliding is to draw back or apostatize
in matters of religion. This may be either in part or complete;
and may be both in doctrine and in moral matters.
Jude’s little Book reminded
his readers of God’s judgment on those who had left the
faith in the past. It is a warning against false teachers; especially
on two of the basic beliefs of Christianity . . . the incarnation
of Christ and Christian conduct. Jude wrote to combat these false
teachings and to encourage true doctrine and right conduct. Hebrews
3:12 Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of
you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God. (KJV)
Jesus' Words are in bold, yellow italics.
Apostasy shall abound
in the last days. Matthew 24:12 And because
iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. (KJV). The
Last Days are from the resurrection of Christ to the Second Coming
of Christ. We are living in the “last days.”
2 Thes. 2:3 Let
no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come,
except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be
revealed, the son of perdition; (KJV) All
through history there have been people who were evil and against
everything Christ stands for (1 John 2:18; John 4:3; 2 John 1:7).
These antichrists have lived in every generation and will continue
to work their evil. But, before Christ’s Second Coming,
“the man of lawlessness. . . the man doomed to destruction,”
a completely evil man, will arise. He will be Satan’s tool,
equipped with Satan’s power (2 Thes. 2:9). This lawless
man will be the Antichrist.
1 Tim. 4:1-3 Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times
some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits,
and doctrines of devils; [2] Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having
their conscience seared with a hot iron; [3] Forbidding to marry,
and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to
be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the
truth. (KJV) False teachers were and
still are a threat to the church. Jesus and the apostles repeatedly
warned against them (Mark 13:21-23; Acts 20:28-31; 2 Thes. 2:1-12;
2 Peter 3:3-7). If a teacher’s words contradict the Bible,
his/her teaching is false. The Holy Spirit clearly tells us that
in the last days some will turn away from the Truth; they will
follow lying spirits and teachings that come from demons. These
teachers are hypocrites and liars. They pretend to be religious,
but their father is the devil, NOT God! We must guard against
any teaching that causes us to dilute or reject any part of the
Truth. Always check out what they believe about Christ.
Cautions
against apostasy. Hebrews 3:12 Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart
of unbelief, in departing from the living God. (KJV) The Bible warns us often not to “harden” our hearts,
meaning to stubbornly set ourselves against God so that we are
no longer able to turn to Him for forgiveness. Our hearts depart
from the living God when we refuse to believe Him. If we persist in unbelief, God will eventually leave us alone
in our sin. But God can give us new hearts, new desires, and new
spirits (Eze.36:22-27). Be aware of the deceitfulness of sin,
it attracts but also destroys. Satan is very powerful and cunning. Beware!
2 Tim. 4:3-4 For the time will come when
they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts
shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; [4]
And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall
be turned unto fables. (KJV) People
are turning away from the Truth more and more with each passing
day. They want NO part of the plain Gospel of Christ. They seem
to eat up false doctrines (fables) of false teachers. The world
seems to take pride and pleasure in denouncing our precious Lord.
Many people will go to a church only if they hear a message they
want to hear! If a pastor preaches the plain Gospel of Christ,
people will not come! They do NOT want to hear that they are sinners
and that they need a Saviour. They do NOT want to hear that God
has created a Hell as well as a Heaven and that the majority of
the people in the world will end up in Hell! Those of us who love
Jesus and souls (the “few” Mat.7:13-14), must be ever
faithful and watchful, and must take all opportunities of making
known the Truth! Isaiah 30:10 Which
say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto
us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits: (KJV) People have not changed since Isaiah’s
time. They did NOT want the Truth then . . . or now! They delight
in rebelling against God.
2 Peter 3:17 Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before,
beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked,
fall from your own stedfastness. (KJV) Those
who are led away by false teachers, fall away from the stability
they had in Christ. To avoid being seduced by evil ones, let us
strive to grow in grace, faith, virtue and knowledge of our Lord.
Apostasy
caused by worldliness. 2 Tim. 4:10 For Demas
hath forsaken me, having loved this present world, and is departed
unto Thessalonica; Crescens to Galatia, Titus unto Dalmatia. (KJV) Demas loved worldly benefits, comforts and
pleasures. We can love the world because God created it and its
beauty, or we like Demas and millions of others, can love the
world with its tempting offers of pleasure, comforts, riches,
fame, power, possessions and sin; even if gaining it means hurting
people and neglecting the work God wants you to do.
Matthew 13:20-22 But he that received the seed into stony places, the
same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth
it; [21] Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while:
for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word,
by and by he is offended. [22] He also that received seed among
the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world,
and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh
unfruitful. (KJV) . . . Jesus' words. The parable of the sower is
plain and simple. The seed is the Word of God. The sower
is our Lord Jesus Christ (or His disciples). Preaching
to a multitude is sowing; we don’t know where it will land.
People’s hearts is the ground (soil). Some ground, brings
forth no fruit, while good soil brings forth much. Some hearts
are careless hearers, and are easy prey for Satan; who, will be
sure to rob you of the Word, if you are not careful to keep it.
Hypocrites are like the stony
ground, are glad to hear a good sermon, but do not profit by it.
They are told of free salvation, of the believer’s privileges,
and the happiness of Heaven, but it doesn’t sink in. Then
when some heavy trial comes their way, or some sinful advantage
may be had, they return to their old way of life.
Worldly cares are correctly compared
to thorns, for they came in with sin, and are a fruit of the curse.
Worldly cares really do hinder our gaining any advantage from
the Word of God. The deceitfulness of riches is the culprit that
causes people to backslide from God. But, they cannot deceive
us unless we first put our trust in them, but when we do, then
they choke out the good seed.
What sets apart the good ground
is fruitfulness. True Christians are fruitful, hypocrites are
not! Christ does not say that the good ground has no stones or
no thorns; but it has nothing to hinder its fruitfulness. We are
not all alike; we should aim for the highest, to bring forth the
most fruit.
Guilt
and punishment of. Hebrews 10:26, 29-31 For
if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of
the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, [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? [30] 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. [31] It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the
living God. (KJV) The warning
against apostasy is advised for many good reasons. Those
who willingly and purposely sin after they know about the Truth
of Jesus, were never saved in the first place. If anyone despises
and rejects Christ, the only Saviour; they despise and resist
the Holy Spirit, the only Sanctifier; and they despise and forsake
the Gospel, the only way of salvation. When this happens,
there is no more hope for them. It will be a terrifying thing
indeed to one day stand before the Almighty Judge and try to explain
their decision. The punishment can’t be worse than
to die without mercy, because those who choose that route, chose
to die without God’s mercy and grace, which they chose to
despise. Not only the justice of God is despised, but His abused
grace and mercy call for vengeance. It is much wiser to choose
the benefit of Christ’s sacrifice, and to accept the blessings
of God’s mercy and grace. Him that comes to Christ, will
in no wise be cast out.
Hebrews 10:39 But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of
them that believe to the saving of the soul. (KJV) God
is never pleased with the hypocritical profession of a person
nor in any of their superficial, external duties and services.
In fact, He looks down on them with great displeasure. But those
who have been faithful to Him, have hope for His mercy and grace,
for they shall receive the end of their faith and patience, which
is none other than the salvation of their souls. If we live by
faith, and die in faith, our souls are safe for ever.
2 Peter 2:17 These are wells without water, clouds that are carried with
a tempest; to whom the mist of darkness is reserved for ever. (KJV) The Word of Truth (Gospel) is the
water of life. Only it can refresh our soul. But, false teachers,
false professors are like dried-up springs, like huge, black clouds
blown along by a storm; God has reserved a place for them in the
deepest darkness.
Apostasy
is worse than ignorance. 2 Peter 2:20-22 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. [21] For it had been better for
them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they
have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto
them. [22] But it is happened unto them according to the true
proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow
that was washed to her wallowing in the mire. (KJV)
Peter is
NOT speaking of “born again”
believers, but of a person who has learned about Christ and how
to be saved, and has been influenced by Christians, but then rejects
the Truth and returns to his/her sin. A person like this is worse
off than before, because he/she has rejected the only way out
of sin, and the only possible Way of salvation. They are like
a person who can’t swim and are drowning in the ocean, but
refuses to grab the life-saving rope thrown to him/her. Anyone
who turns away from Christ throws away his/her only means of salvation.
Psalm 106:39 Thus were they defiled with
their own works, and went a whoring with their own inventions. (KJV) Israel constantly turned away
from God. After all the great miracles they saw, they still turned
from God and worshipped the idols of the land. We must
NOT condemn or judge Israel! We all are sinners! Every last one
of us! We must remove the beam from our own eye before
we can take the speck from another’s eye (Luke 6:41-42).
Many time we find ourselves attracted by the world’s many
gods: riches, power, convenience, fame, sex, pleasure, etc. Just
as Israel forgot God, we too are susceptible to forgetting Him
and giving in to the pressures of an evil world (idolatry). Please
remember all that God has done for you so you won’t be drawn
away from Him by the world’s temporary and fleeting pleasures.
Isaiah 1:4 Ah
sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers,
children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the Lord, they
have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone
away backward. (KJV) As long as the
people of Judah continued to sin, they cut themselves off from
God’s help. But what about us? When you feel lonely and
separated from God, remember that God will NOT abandon you. It
is our sins that cut us off from Him. It’s us! NOT God!
The only sure way to cure this loneliness, this abandoned feeling,
is to restore your relationship with God by confessing your sin,
obeying Him and regular communication with Him (Psalm 140:13;
Isaiah 1:16-19; 1 John 1:9).
Jeremiah 17:5-8 Thus saith the Lord; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man,
and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord.
[6] For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not
see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in
the wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited. [7] Blessed
is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord
is. [8] For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that
spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat
cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful
in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit. (KJV) There are two kinds of
people . . . those who trust in human beings and those who trust
in the Lord. The people
of Judah were trusting in false gods and military alliances instead
of God, and thus they were barren and unfruitful. In contrast,
those who trust in the Lord flourish like trees planted by water
(Psalm 1). In times of trouble, those who trust in human beings
will be spiritually weak, so they will have no strength to draw
on. But those who trust in the Lord will have abundant strength
(John 15:1-5).
Romans 1:24-32 Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the
lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between
themselves: [25] Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and
worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who
is blessed for ever. Amen. [26] For this cause God gave them up
unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural
use into that which is against nature: [27] And likewise also
the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their
lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly,
and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which
was meet. [28] And even as they did not like to retain God in
their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do
those things which are not convenient; [29] Being filled with
all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness;
full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, [30]
Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors
of evil things, disobedient to parents, [31] Without understanding,
covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful:
[32] Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such
things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure
in them that do them. (KJV) People
choose to reject God, and God allows them to do it. God does not usually stop us from making choices that are against
His will. He lets us go our own way, even though He knows we will
one day regret our decisions. Does life without God look like
freedom to you? Look again! There is no worse slavery than slavery
to sin.
The United States public school
system began with the Bible. Five years after establishing the
Massachusetts Bay Colony, the Puritans in Boston started the first
elementary school supported by tax money. In 1647, they passed
an ordinance which marked the beginning of the U.S. Public School
system. Among other things, the ordinance required at least 1
qualified teacher for every 50 householders, and a grammar school
in every town of more than 100 families. It also put the Bible
in the center of its curriculum, asserting that it is “one
chief project of that old deluder, Satan, to keep men from the
knowledge of the Scriptures.”
The following
is from Encyclopedias, etc.
Eighty-eight of the first 100
colleges founded in America were organized to promote the Gospel
of Jesus Christ. Every collegiate institution founded in the colonies
prior to the Revolutionary War, except University of Pennsylvania,
was establish by some branch of the Christian church. Even at
the University of Pennsylvania, the evangelist George Whitefield
played a prominent part. The first building of the present university
was built to accommodate the crowds which wanted to hear Whitefield
preach. A statue of Whitefield stands on that campus today.
Harvard’s Christ-Centered
“Rules and Precepts” (adopted in 1646), read: (1)
Every one shall consider the main end of his life and studies
to know God and Jesus Christ which is eternal life. (2) Seeing
the Lord giveth wisdom, every one shall seriously by prayer in
secret seek wisdom of him. (3) Every one shall so exercise himself
in reading the Scriptures twice a day that they be ready to give
an account of their proficiency therein, both in theoretical observations
of languages and logic, and in practical and spiritual truths...”
Because of this, 52% of the 17th century Harvard graduates became
ministers!
How did colleges apostasize? Harvard permitted freedom in matters of theology and made no religious
requirement of college officers; Yale drifted partly in concern
for academic excellence amidst an environment of agnosticism and
unitarianism; Dartmouth and Columbia only had a statement in its
charter about the great principles of Christianity and morality
in which true Christians of each denomination are generally agreed.
It had no strong statement of faith. Princeton yielded because
of pressure from alumni. Princeton’s charter insisted on
a saved faculty, but did not require this of its students. As
it turned out more and more non-Christian alumni who could give
or withhold donations, it finally succumbed to their demand for
a voice in the management and educational policies.
Martin Luther warned: “I
am much afraid that the universities will prove to be the great
gates to Hell, unless they diligently labor to explain the Holy
Scriptures and to engrave them upon the hearts of youth. I advise
no one to place his child where the Scriptures do not reign paramount.
Every institution where men are not unceasingly occupied with
the Word of God must become corrupt.”
History has shown that
once a school or church compromises its position and sells short
the fundamental doctrines of the Word that there is no chance
of their going back to retrieve that which they originally adhered
to. Not once has there been an apostate body that returned to
fundamentalism.
When King’s College, now
Columbia University, opened in 1754, the following was part of
an advertisement published for the school: “The chief thing
that is aimed at in this college is to teach and engage children
to know God in Jesus Christ.”
Columbia Princeton in its early
days insisted that the faculty be “convinced of the necessity
of religious experience for salvation.” John Witherspoon,
first president of Princeton, said: “Cursed be all learning
that is contrary to the cross of Christ. “Cursed be all
learning that is not coincident with the cross of Christ. “Cursed
be all learning that is not subservient to the cross of Christ.”
The first college, Harvard, was
established for “Christ and the Church.” In his bequest
of the first large gift to what is now Harvard University, John
Harvard said: “Let every student be plainly instructed and
earnestly pressed to consider well the main ends of his life and
studies; to know God and Jesus Christ, which is eternal life,
and therefore to lay Christ in the bottom as the only foundation
of all knowledge and learning and see that the Lord only giveth
wisdom. Let everyone seriously set himself by prayer in secret
to see Christ as Lord and Master.” Above Harvard’s
gates are etched today these words: “After God had carried
us safe to New England, and we had built our houses, provided
necessities for our livelihood, reared convenient places for God’s
worship, and settled the civil government; one of the next things
we longed for, and looked after was to advance learning, and perpetuate
it to posterity; dreading to leave an illiterate ministry to the
churches, when our present ministers shall lie in the dust.”
Yale, from its beginning in 1701,
was more conservative. In 1825, a Yale gospel group traveled around
the country in evangelistic ministry. Timothy Dwight, president
from 1795 to 1817, advised the class of 1814: “Christ is
the only, the true, the living way of access to God. Give up yourselves
therefore to him, with a cordial confidence, and the great work
of life is done.” For the president of any great university
to make such a statement today would probably be educational suicide.
William and Mary was established
“that the Christian faith might be propagated.” Dartmouth
was founded to train men as missionaries to the Indians.
Modernism now permeates
every major denomination. Though there are Bible-believing, God-fearing
people in every church, the control of every major denomination
is in the hand of the liberals. So-called Christian leaders boldly
and blatantly deny the Virgin Birth of Christ, the Inspiration
of the Scriptures, and Atoning Sacrifice of Christ, the Literal
Resurrection of Christ, and they ridicule the Second Coming of
Christ.
Resurrection
is Nonsense. An Arlington, Virginia, minister
said, “We have closed our minds to such trivial considerations
as the question of the resurrection of Christ. If you fundamentalists
wish to believe that nonsense, we have no objections, but we have
more important things to preach than the presence or absence of
an empty tomb 20 centuries old.”
Nothing
Is Sure. “There is nothing I can absolutely
affirm,” said the young seminarian as he reflected about
his religious convictions. In another month the 25-year-old, dark-haired
student will be awarded a bachelor of divinity degree by New York’s
Union Theological Seminary.
The Modernist-Fundamentalist controversy
is based on:
- 1. Virgin Birth of
Christ.
- 2. Deity of Christ.
- 3. Substitutionary
atonement.
- 4. Bodily resurrection.
- 5. Second coming of
Christ.
- 6.
Inerrant authority of Scripture.
A Survey Of Seminarians
One of the first
exposes of the beliefs of our future ministers was made by Redbook
magazine. The publishers hired one of the top pollsters in the
nation to survey a full representation of our seminaries which
are supposedly preparing men for Christian service in the Protestant
churches. Here are some of the results: Of the ministers in training,
56 percent rejected the Virgin Birth of Jesus Christ. 71 percent
rejected that there was life after death. 54 percent rejected
the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ. And 98 percent rejected
that there would be a personal return of Jesus Christ to this
earth. (Daniel 12:2; Mark 16:6; Acts 1:11; Rev. 1:17)
X-Rated Sermon In Richardson,
Texas, they’re still talking about the worldly ways of First
Unitarian Church. On Sunday, Pastor William Nichols invited Diana
King, a Unitarian from Fort Worth, to take part in the service.
She did, and when she was through, Miss King—an exotic dancer
at a Dallas nightspot—was wearing only a G-string. The congregation
of 200 adults and children watched in fascinated silence as she
shed her clothes in time with recorded music. Nichols said the
dance fit “very well into our service” and nobody
complained. He also said he didn’t think anyone was aroused,
“but I don’t consider the erotic aspect of the dance
wrong. After all, that’s the way we were conceived.”
Miss King said it was something she wanted to do for a long time,
and she would like to conduct classes for women church members.
“I would like to do a sermon using the exotic dance, and
members of the congregation could join me if they liked,”
she commented. —Christianity Today
What do Unitarians and Universalists
believe? Just about anything, in theory—since they have
no requirements of belief—but an exhaustive survey of every
fifteenth adult in the denomination shows an emerging doctrine
of disbelief. Less than 3 percent now believe that God is a supernatural
being who reveals himself in human history. Just under one-fourth
believe God is real but not adequately describable, while 44.2
percent think God is the natural processes in the universe. The
debate about Christ also seems to be dying out, with 59 percent
no longer considering themselves Christians and a majority believing
they know next to nothing about Christ. As might be expected,
Unitarians and Universalists turn out to be individualistic (but
with pretty unified liberal views on politics) and have education
and income well above the national average.
Statistics show that the Satanic
Bible outsells the Holy Bible one hundred to one on college campuses.
You can walk into any bookstore and pick up a copy of the Satanic
Bible in the religious books section. It contains disgustingly
blasphemous statements about our Lord, but people are buying it
by the scores. One such statement refers to Jesus on the cross
with these words: “The watery blood of your impotent, mad
redeemer.” And another, which scoffs at the resurrection,
says, “The worm-eaten skull of Jehovah”—the
ultimate marketing of blasphemy!
What
happened in the days of Noah?
- (1) Tendency
to reject God,
- (2) homosexuality
and promiscuous sex activity among a large percentage of the
population,
- (3) mixed marriages
and a multiplicity of divorces,
- (4) numerous
inventions,
- (5) apostasy,
- (6) rejection
of God’s Word,
- (7) violence
and bloodshed,
- (8) anarchy and
lawlessness,
- (9) surfeiting
and drunkenness,
- (10) buying and
selling, and
- (11) planting
and building.
Sound Familiar??
To encourage dialogue the World Council of Churches, WCC, has suggested
that Chairs of Buddhists, Hindu and Muslim scholars be appointed
in Christian universities and colleges, and that an appeal be made
to Muslim, Hindu and Buddhists universities to have a Chair of Christian
studies. Ecumenicists believe that divine truth is so rich and many-sided
that only fragments are found in any one faith.
Pope Paul, in the summer of 1955,
came to New York and made a speech for world peace before the
U.N. His message centered around two points—peace and prosperity.
It was a strong ecumenical appeal. The pope’s appeal was
acclaimed by no less than 107 nations and major religions that
gave promises of cooperation. Immediately after the Pope’s
speech, a prominent Roman Catholic proposed to bring the various
world religions into one fold—the UNICHURCH.
World Council Of Churches
The World Council of Churches (WCC) held its first meeting in
1948. It is a fellowship of over 120 Protestant, Anglican, Orthodox
and Old Catholic churches from some 90 countries throughout the
world. Total membership: 400 million.
The first goal of the ecumenical movement spearheaded by the WCC
is to bring all churches into one visible organization. The ultimate
goal of the movement is to bring all religions together. The WCC
now holds dialogues on “peace” with representatives
of 1.5 billion people on earth.
Click on desired
topic below:
BEWARE!!!
An Apostate World
Apostasy
Apostasy in the Last Days
Apostacy or Rebellion?
Apostate Carnal Nature
Apostate Christianity
Christians Leaving God's Word
Unbelief
Home Page
For other
web sites speaking on apostasy:
https://www.apostasywatch.com/
http://www.Jesus-is-savior.com
http://www.watchman.org
http://www.carm.org
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