Three Traits Of Apostates

(We once again welcome preacher and teacher Bruce Wells with this most timely message and warning from the Word of God about APOSTASY and APOSTATES. Italicized inserts and comments are mine.)

A little known but powerful text about APOSTASY and APOSTATES is found in a sadly little known book of the Bible:

“For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago

   were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men,

who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and

deny the only Lord God and our

Lord Jesus Christ.” Jude 1:4

The Characteristics of Apostasy and Apostates! In this one verse, Jude provides Christians with three main traits of apostasy and apostate teachers.

(Apostates are those who were once in the CHRISTIAN FAITH but have fallen away from the CHRISTIAN FAITH. And yet in their apostate state, they all too often slip and slide in positions of pedagogy and leadership in the Christian Church. That is what makes it all so subtle and deceptive in the LAST DAYS’ APOSTASY – FALLING AWAY. They are INNER OUTSIDERS. If you will, they are INNEE OUTEES. In their INNEE OUTNESS they creep in UNNOTICED. Amazing indeed – UNNOTICED! This no doubt is why there are many in the church in this last days apostasy-II Thessalonians 2:3-who are clueless as to what is taking place. They think that all of their theological and moral HONKIES ARE DORI. In fact they have become part of the apostasy and thereby have become apostates themselves.)

(This explains why so many seem to be fast asleep in the church in the midst of rampant apostasy, even as Jonah was in the midst of that great storm which his own disobedience had raised. Or perhaps we are awake with our eyes, yet our hearts, as Nabal’s was, are dead within us. Then added to all our apostate minds is the greatest end-time plague of all:

“that seeing we should not see; and hearing , we should not hear; and

understanding we should not perceive.”

And:

“Feeling we should not feel, or at least not feel what deeply hurts us,

and will be the  true cause of our destruction.)

(While apostasy and apostates are at an all time high, vigilance is at an all time low. These are the same church people who attend with joy and approval the wedding of the bride’s fourth marriage. These are the same church people who welcome a woman to continue to be the church organist who divorces her husband for no Biblical reason whatsoever,  but no one cares. No church discipline whatsoever! Church discipline today is at most a mild correction followed by being embraced, patted, kissed, and then paroled. These are the same church people who voted for Barack Obama to defeat racism, but call homosexuality and abortion, which Obama crusades for, minor issues. All the while in the name of Jesus they are turning the church of Jesus Christ into an apostate heathen temple. Hear it strong,

“APOSTATE CHURCHES TODAY ARE MUCH MORE CONCERNED ABOUT

BOLSTERING PEOPLE’S SELF-IMAGE THAN THEY ARE ABOUT

SANCTIFYING  AND PURIFYING THE BODY OF CHRIST

INTO THE IMAGE OF CHRIST.)

***

(The state of APOSTASY is a most dangerous state to be in. In fact, the Bible says that it can be deadly-terminal-fatal if you will. We are not dealing here with trivial pursuits or minor digressions. No, not in the least! Remember the words of Hebrews 6:4-6,

“For in the case of those who have been enlightened and have

tasted of the Heavenly gift and have been made partakers

of the Holy Spirit,”

“and have tasted the good Word of God and the powers of the

age to come,”

“and then have FALLEN AWAY, it is IMPOSSIBLE to renew

again to repentance, since they again crucify to

themselves the Son of God, and put Him

to an open shame.”

Hear it:

“THE FULL-FLEDGED APOSTATE, HE WHO FALLS AWAY FROM THE GOD OF

THE WORD AND THE WORD OF GOD, NEVER RETURNS,

NEVER RECOVERS AGAIN BY REPENTANCE, AND AT

LAST STANDS REGISTERED IN THE BLACK

ROLL OF FINAL APOSTATES.”

The awfulness of APOSTASY is captured by the terrible statement about the apostates:

“Since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God,

and put Him to open shame.”

That cannot be understood just doctrinally, but rather only felt from the Lord’s heart. There are words that are better FELT THAN TELT, and these are some  of them. After all that Jesus has done for us, and then to turn away from Him feels to the Lord like being crucified and shamed by the apostate all over again. It is like the spouse who laid down his or her life for his or her mate, only to have their husband or wife leave and divorce them for another. I have talked to several and they tell me it is worse than physical death. It is the death of rejection and shame! Jesus is saying to the apostate, “You’re killing me all over again!”)

*******

I. CREEPERS

First, Jude says that apostasy can be very subtle. Jude uses the word “CREPT” (found in no other book of the Bible) to describe the apostate’s entry into the church. In extra-biblical Greek, the term describes the cunning craftiness of a lawyer who, through clever argumentation, infiltrates the minds of courtroom officials and corrupts their thinking.

(Nothing exemplifies this more than how stealth-fully HOLY SPIRIT INSPIRED DREAMS and ETERNAL LIFE have been replaced in much of the church by the AMERICAN DREAM and THE GOOD LIFE. When in fact, God’s dream for his people has little in common with the American Dream. Like a CREEPING PARALYSES the SPIRITUAL has been replaced by the MATERIAL, and the ETERNAL has been replaced by the TEMPORAL, all in the name of JESUS OF COURSE. In the apostate churches today, riches have replaced righteousness, and creature comforts have replaced Christ’s character. Giving out of gratitude has been replaced  by GIVING TO GET. We are seeing HEAVEN NOT ONLY BEING RETAILED BUT WHOLESALED. Love for God is being replaced by LOVE OF MONEY, all in the name of God. The first thing you see now in many churches when you walk through the door are coffee/snack shops and souvenir/casual clothing shops. The outer court into the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies has been transformed/deformed into a mini-mall. Never in my life has so much flotsam been deposited by the creeping and polluting waves of APOSTASY both theologically and morally. We now have to keep on jumping just to stay above the swells.)

The word “CREPT” literally means:

“Slip in sideways; come in stealthily; sneak in; hard to detect.”

(What Jude is talking about here ought to give us the CREEPS. He is talking about CREEPY CRAWLERS like SNAKES who slither in undetected and unnoticed. This is where the expression came from about certain sneaky types: “SLIPPERY AS A SNAKE.” We must now mention just a few of the more notable modern apostates to illustrate the dangerous CREEPING  principle.)

***

(That is how it often works! I recall only too well the case of the by now infamous modern apostate Rob Bell! He was faithfully discipled for several years in Calvary Undenominational Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan under the tutelage of the devoted senior pastor Ed Dobson. All the while, unknown to his mentor and the church, Rob Bell was already apostatizing into the popular modern heresies of UNIVERSALISM-EVERYONE IS SAVED, and no ETERNAL HELL PUNISHMENT FOR ANYONE. Many apostate shepherds are falling into this deception around the world. He then crept in UNNOTICED and started what became a mega-church in neighboring Grandville, Michigan, and built it up to ten thousand members all of whom thought he was the greatest thing going. He CREPT into the mega-church world and there began to spread his lies thereby shaming the Christ and the Cross. His congregation did not suspect that they had an apostate pastor, and they fed from his poison pastures for many years including his blockbuster book “LOVE WINS.” Finally the CREEPER was exposed and expelled. He now feels much more atat home with the likes of Oprah Winfrey instead. That is often how it creepily happens. Yet many of the church people at Mars Hill still to this day believe that Rob Bell was unfairly treated. That is how far the CREEPY CRAWLERS WILL LEAD YOU ASTRAY and mess with your mind. Hear it:

“MODERN APOSTASIES ARE MAINLY FANCIFUL NOTIONS WHICH PLEASE

THE HUMAN MIND WITH UNBIBLICAL, UNGROUNDED BUT 

WHIMSICAL NOTIONS THAT FEED TODAY’S

FEEL-GOOD RELIGIONISTS.”)

***

(And then there is Rick Warren! He crept into the American church scene supposedly as an orthodox evangelical. Then his book “The Purpose Driven Life” took the religious world by storm. Little by little his apostate heart began to manifest itself. You can’t have truth based on what works, that is not our Biblical guideline but is pragmatism. Making disciples through Rick Warren’s INTERFAITH PLATFORM only brings confusion. Who are the  people he is telling us to trust in and work with? Convincing the church that we are to work with the MUSLIM, the HINDU, and even the ATHEIST to accomplish God’s goals. Did Jesus say this to Israel: unite with Rome to make the world a better place? Pluralism and multi-culturalism does not present truth but only numerous choices, more confusion. Once we abandon the true God and His ways we have a choice of no god or another god and our own ways.)

***

(Joel Osteen was discipled by his preacher-father John Osteen who would turn over in his grave if he knew that his son is one of the most powerful apostate preachers on the modern mega-church scene. Joel strayed far from his father’s evangelical orthodoxy and teaches that the Hindus worship the same God that Christians do. His is a combination of the EMERGENT CHURCH MOVEMENT and the SEEKER FRIENDLY HERESIES, all with a million dollar smile of course.  Tens of thousands follow this apostate!)

***

(As Mike Oppenheimer of “Let Us Reason Ministries” points out, “Paul said in tongue and cheek ‘For you put up with fools gladly, since you yourselves are wise! For you put up with it if one brings you into bondage, if one devours you, if one takes from you, if one exalts himself, if one strikes you on the face.'”- 2 Cor. 11:19-20– There are those who are being brought into bondage by fools. Sheep can stray, even those in leadership and someone correcting them should be welcomed not rejected. Paul asked the Galatians if he became their enemy because he told them the truth? Those who tell the truth are treated now like whistle blowers. What has happened to us?)

***

In other words, Jude says it is rare that apostasy begins in an overt and easily detectable manner. Instead, it looks a lot like Biblical preaching when in reality it is not. The Apostate will enter in a seemingly dismissive and nonchalant manner. Only a single letter differentiates his doctrine from the real teaching of the Christian faith.

Describing this aspect of apostasy and its underlying danger, A. W. Tozer wrote:

“So skilled is error at imitating truth that the two are constantly

being mistaken for each another. It takes a sharp eye these

days to know which brother is Cain and which is Abel.”

***

(The point Bruce Wells makes here is powerful and critically important. Apostates are not full blown right away. The Devil is not that stupid! Rather, they will initiate their heresies from a single proposition that, though it may look suspicious, yet its suspiciousness is covered over with man-pleasing desirability. But the fact is that it is false! And then as always happens,

“IT GROWS FROM FALSE INTO DANGEROUS, AND FROM DANGEROUS

IT GROWS INTO DOWNRIGHT DESTRUCTIVE.”)

(ILLUSTRATION – Apostasy is like HELL! Hell is a deep place, but there are many steps downward to the bottomless pit. There are many obscure vaults to be passed before coming to utter darkness. But nonetheless, it was seemingly vague error that was from the beginning the way to outer darkness.)

(ILLUSTRATION – Or again, apostasy is like DUSK! It does not start out in darkness. Rather light simply begins to fade just a little, and then the shades of evening finally end in the thickest darkness of midnight. But first the apostate and his or her apostasy may sit upon the mind of the beholders as light when in fact the darkness is already beginning. That is exactly what Jude means by the words:

“CREPT IN UNNOTICED.”)

(All apostasy is the CREEPING CRUD! There is no spiritual or moral error in the soul of man which at any time infects it, but being allowed to continue and exert its deceptive quality, it will by degrees eat into the mind of man. Finally it will fester like a kind of spiritual and moral gangrene and become fatal and incurable.)

***

The Apostle Paul also speaks to the outwardly pleasing behavior of apostates and their teaching when he says,

“For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves

as apostles of Christ. No wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as

an angel of light.” (2 Corinthians 11:13-14).

In other words, do not look for apostates to appear bad on the outside or speak dramatic words of heresy at the outset of their teaching. Rather than denying truth outright, apostates will twist it to fit their own agenda, but as pastor R. C. H. Lenski has noted,

“The worst forms of wickedness consist in perversions of the truth.“

*******

II. UNGODLY

Second, Jude describes the apostates as “UNGODLY” and as those who use God’s grace as a license to commit unrighteous acts. Beginning with “UNGODLY,” throughout his letter Jude describes eighteen unflattering traits of apostates so his readers can more easily identify them. Jude says the apostates are:

-ungodly (vs. 4)

-morally perverted (vs. 4)

-denying Christ (vs. 4)

-ones who defile the flesh (vs. 8)

-rebellious (vs. 8)

-people who revile angels (vs. 8)

-who are ignorant about God (vs. 8)

-those who proclaim false visions (vs. 10)

-self-destructive (vs. 10)

-grumblers (vs. 16)

-fault finders (vs. 16)

-self-satisfying (vs. 16)

-people who use arrogant words and false flattery (vs. 16)

-mockers of God (vs. 18)

-those who cause divisions (vs. 19)

-worldly minded (vs. 19)

-and finally (and not surprisingly), devoid of the Spirit/unsaved (vs. 19)

(All of which illustrate that:

“NOT ONLY ARE ALL APOSTATES BROTHERS AND SISTERS IN UNTRUTH,

BUT ARE  ALSO BROTHERS AND SISTERS IN INIQUITY.”

Listen:

“YOU CANNOT MESS UP YOUR THEOLOGY WITHOUT MESSING UP

YOUR MORALITY.”

I have seen it over and over that those who believe that the Genesis Creation Account is not literal but only allegorical, also believe in certain stages of abortion, as well as in the legitimacy of homosexuality.)

***

(It is not possible to deal with ALL OF THESE APOSTATE CHARACTERISTICS. But I want to illustrate one of them from the Word of God – WORLDLINESS. We read about a man mentioned by the Apostle Paul in II Timothy 4:10,

“Demas hath forsaken us, having loved this present world.”)

Have no doubt that Demas was in full communion with the church, and was a devout confessor of Jesus Christ. As always happens to APOSTATES, what follows are the common steps away into APOSTASY:

1. SATANIC SEDUCTION

Satan seductively suggested to Demas profits and advantages he would realize by forsaking the self-denying life of discipleship in Christ, and that he would realize much greater advantages in swimming with the common but polluted stream of the world. SATAN IS THE GREAT SEDUCER!

2. SATANIC BEGUILEMENT

Then the devil and his demons began to constantly entertain and delight the mind of Demas with ongoing thoughts of worldly gains and pleasures, so that he more and more reflects upon them with ever-stronger desire and longing.

3. SATANIC STRATEGIZING

From the pleasure of thinking Satan’s thoughts, Satan then puts into the mind of Demas how to bring his demonic pleasures into actualization. Of course this stage is full of evil and crafty schemes as to how to set up the and carry out Satan’s black print.

4. SATANIC ABANDONMENT

Then Satan, now that he has Demas on the way out of the Christian life, brings him to deny and abandon his profession of Christ. Then Demas walks away fully into the world and fully and eagerly executes AND fulfills Satan’s purposes and intentions. Now he is a FULL-FLEDGED APOSTATE captured by the words of II Timothy 4:10,

“Demas hath forsaken us, having loved the present world.”

And by the words of Jude verse 19,

“Worldly-minded.”

Finally, Demas is totally immersed in worldly pleasures and values and philosophies. He would now be a welcomed guest today on the David Letterman Show as a celebrated apostate for having left the Christian Faith. He would laugh at Letterman’s anti-Christian humor as well as Letterman’s crass jokes. He would deride his former Christian convictions, and make fun of them. Demas now is a FULL-FLEDGED APOSTATE. )

*******

III. DENIERS

Third, Jude says in verse 4 that apostates-

“Deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.”

(This is the ultimate distance of apostasy-falling away from the living Christ. Here we reach the bottom of HELL AS IT WERE. One would never think that ONE LITTLE DENIAL OF JUST ONE BIBLE TRUTH WOULD LEAD TO THIS AWFUL END. But the fact is that denying the facts of the ORIGINAL CREATION can lead you to apostasy from the NEW CREATION IN CHRIST. Why? Because TRUTH HANGS TOGETHER AND IS INTERWOVEN. Denial of one truth always leads to the denial of more truth, and ultimately to the denial of Jesus Christ who is THE TRUTH. IT IS THE APOSTASY SPIRITUAL DOMINO EFFECT.

There are many who say that while the apostates wander off in different matters, they still love Jesus and are saved. Sorry, you cannot DENY THE WORD OF GOD WITHOUT REJECTING HIM WHO IS THE WORD BECOME FLESH. APOSTATES SERVE A DIFFERENT AND FALSE CHRIST WHO THEY REDESIGN TO FIT THEIR APOSTATE FALSE THEOLOGY.)

***

Paul tells us in his letter to Titus,

“To the pure, all things are pure; but to those who are defiled

and unbelieving, nothing is pure, but both their mind and

their conscience are defiled. They profess to know God,

but by their deeds they Deny Him, being detestable

and disobedient and worthless for any good deed.”

Titus 1:15-16, emphasis added.

Through their unrighteous behavior, the apostates show their true selves. Unlike an apostate, one who is a true believer is someone who has been delivered from sin to righteousness in Christ. With Paul, they ask the apostates who promote licentious behavior,

“What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin

so that grace may increase? May it never be! How

shall we who died to sin still live in it?”

(Romans 6:1-2)

(In the life of the MORAL APOSTATE, it is the FREQUENCY AND CONTINUANCE IN SIN THAT LEADS HIM AWAY AND FINISHES HIM OFF. IT IS HIS CONSTANT IMMORAL APOSTATIZING THAT GIVES HIM THE FULL APOSTATE NATURE WHICH A SINGLE ACT OF SIN CANNOT DO. But it is the constant apostatizing that finally leads him away into the APOSTATE NATURE. Then:

“NOT ONLY DOES THE APOSTATE ACT OUT SIN, BUT HE THEN

IS ACTED UPON AND POSSESSED BY SIN.”)

***

But the apostates’ false teaching also shows their true nature. Peter says,

“But false prophets also arose among the people, just as

there will also be false teachers among you, who will

secretly introduce destructive heresies, even

denying the Master who bought them,

bringing swift destruction upon

themselves” (2 Peter 2:1).

***

Another aspect of true believers is that they have been delivered out of spiritual darkness into light (Ephesians 5:8) and therefore will not deny core truths of Scripture.

Ultimately, the sign of an apostate is that he eventually falls away and departs from the truth of God’s Word and His righteousness. The Apostle John signifies this is a mark of a false believer:

“They went out from us, but they were not really of us;

for if they had been of us, they would have remained

with us; but they went out, so that it would be shown

that they all are not of us” (1 John 2:19).

*******

CONCLUSION

(ILLUSTRATION: Wes, a Methodist, lost his confidence in the Bible while attending a liberal Christian college and seminary. “I went to college thinking Adam and Eve were real people,” he explained. Now, he no longer believes that God exists. In his rendering, God is a word that “can be used very expressively in some of my more meditative modes” and “a kind of poetry that is written by human beings.”

His church members do not know that he is an atheist, but he explains that they are somewhat liberal themselves. His ministerial colleagues are even more liberal: “They’ve been de-mythologized, I’ll say that. They don’t believe Jesus rose from the dead literally. They don’t believe Jesus was born of a virgin. They don’t believe all those things that would cause a big stir in their churches.”)

***

(ILLUSTRATION: Adam ministers in the Church of Christ, a conservative denomination. After years in the ministry, he began to lose all theological confidence. After reading a series of books, he became convinced that the atheists have better arguments than believers. He has moved fully into an atheist mode, yet he continues to lead his church in worship. How? “Here’s how I’m handling my job on Sunday mornings: I see it as play acting. I see myself as taking on the role of a believer in a worship service, and performing.”

This “atheistic agnostic” stays in the ministry because he likes the people and, “I need the job still.” If he had an alternative source of income, he would take it. He feels hypocritical, but no longer believes that hypocrisy is wrong.)

(He that has an ear let him hear what the Spirit is saying to his  heart. God help us to call the wandering back to Him before it is too late when the final state of apostate rigor mortise sets in . Amen)