Understanding Apostay and the Apostate

Well, if you would take your Bible, turn back to Hebrews chapter 12. I did say that I will only ask you to look at one verse in the message that would be verse 15. That'll be at the very end of the message. Now we have spent quite a bit of time here in Hebrews 12 and verses 12 to 17. We have seen how the author called this congregation to obey a few general but very, very serious exhortations that he knew they needed if they were going to run the race of faith, the Christian life well. And the ramifications were great for these individuals and the congregation as a whole.

But a part of these exhortations was this call to be on guard for apostasy and the sins associated with apostasy. The King James Version says he called them to be looking diligently. That's my favorite English translation of that part of the verse. And this speaks of being very careful and watchful, carrying with it the idea of exercising responsibility and oversight. And the idea here is of keeping one's eye and attention on something consistently and continuously for the purpose of protecting and even preventing harm. I used the example of the watchman on the wall out of the Old Testament to help illustrate what this looks like.

We can go study the watchman in 2 Samuel 18 and 2 Kings 9. And the watchman was charged with the responsibility to keep watch for any threat that would come against the city such as an invading army. And remember what the author was calling them to diligently be looking for apostasy and the different sins and consequences connected to and that stem from apostasy. Now in its most basic definition, apostasy simply means to fall away. In their day, this was used to speak of someone in the military deserting their post and responsibility. They fell away. Not a longer definition goes something like this.

Apostasy is when a professing Christian who identifies with Christ, the blessings of Christ and even the church get to a place in a time where they renounce the Jesus as seen in the Scriptures and turn away from Him. In so doing, they prove that they have never been truly converted to Christ in the first place. In 1 John 2.19, John says that they go out from Christ and from the church because they never were born again to begin with. Then the author went on to name four sins that are related to apostasy. First, failing to obtain the grace of God or saving grace, verse 15, and failing to obtain saving grace is really at the heart of apostasy.

Second, allowing bitterness to take root in the heart in life. The apostate is one who grows bitter. One commentator I ran across said they grow sour against the Lord and they turn away. Third, sexual immorality and sexual immorality is closely tied to the apostate, verse 16. Others like Peter and Jude unpack this further. And then fourth, ungodliness like is seen in Esau, which is the ultimate result of apostasy, verses 16 to 17. And we need to see that this was a very important exhortation for this original congregation and church. The danger and destruction of apostasy was not a hypothetical for them. This was a clear and present danger.

Some who were receiving this letter were in danger of apostasy. Some did self-destruct by apostatizing. Some if not many even true believers in the congregation were being affected by all of these things. To use a political illustration, but this church and congregation, communism was not in another time, country, and nation. Communism was in their nation, in their people, right then and there. Of course I'm using the clear and present danger of communism in our country as an illustration. I think you get it.

Now this leads me to where we are as a church, for the past two weeks through prayer study and some good discussion with some of the men of our church and our elders, I am burdened to make sure we understand apostasy and the apostate. And I come to this place for four reasons. First, we will be studying apostasy in our small group study through first and second Peter, mainly second Peter. So this message this morning is meant to prepare us for what we'll study in second Peter and to help us better understand what we have here in Hebrews 12 verses 15 to 17. This all goes together and all goes together folks.

And then second, as our culture and country grows more and more hostile towards biblical Christianity and the church, we will see more and more leave the church and go into apostasy. Rejection and persecution always has that effect on the church, it always has. Rejection and persecution from the culture always causes some in the church to apostatize and that is one of the reasons I believe it is good for us to study first and second Peter. And the third reason is more personal, very personal. And I will share that at the end of the message and the fourth reason is more prophetic and I will explain this near the conclusion of the message.

Now let me explain how I will approach the message. This will be more of a topical message although it comes from the scripture. I will give us four points of teaching about the apostate from various scriptures in second Peter, Jude, and Hebrews. First we will look at the character of the apostate. Second we will look at the behavior of the apostate. Third we will look at the specific sins, plural of the apostate. Fourth the final spiritual condition of the apostate which will be a little shorter.

Now as I move through the message I will read many, many different passages of scripture from second Peter, Jude, and Hebrews so it may be better not to try to turn to those scriptures. It may be better just to sit back and listen. Maybe you take notes but if you need my notes I can make a form of them available to you if you need them. And I strongly encourage you to get them because they need to be a resource for you in the future and I will come back to that at the conclusion. So first the character traits of the apostate. First the character traits of the apostate.

Webster defines character as a distinguishing attribute or feature and that is what we have here. These are the distinguishing attributes or features of the apostate. Now we see some of their character traits here in Hebrews that we've studied but Peter and Jude give us a more detailed picture. The apostate is deceptive. He is sneaky. He is hidden. Let me repeat that. The apostate is deceptive, sneaky, and hidden. Jude tells us they slip into churches undetected for the purpose of manipulating people and maybe even manipulating the entire church.

Jude verse 4 says, "For certain people have crept in unnoticed." The amplified says, "For certain people have crept in unnoticed just as if they were sneaking in by a side door." And the description of this character trait is clear. These are ones who sneak into the church openly but stealthily and they have sinful and subversive, subversive motives. The English standard says, "They crept in unnoticed." And this means they secretly slip into the church fellowship without anyone knowing that they are not genuine. The amplified speaks of sneaking in by a side door. That's some good imagery but we know that's not a literal side door.

They come into the church like everyone else. They go through the membership process that all of the members of the church go through no matter what that process looks like but they come in with sinful, subversive motives that no one knows about. Also the apostate is defiled morally and even possibly sexually immoral. The apostate is defiled morally and even possibly sexually immoral. Jude tells us they are motivated by and driven by fleshly desires which are sinful desires that pollute the mind, the heart, and the body.

Jude verse 8 says, "Yet in like manner these people also, relying on their dreams, defile the flesh." The amplified says they defile the body. This means they give into corrupt and sinful appetites and in giving in they act out, therefore polluting and defiling the mind, the heart, and the body. In 2 Peter 2.10 Peter says the very same thing saying, "Indulge in the lust of defiling passion." And the apostate rejects God-given, God-established authority, even the authority of Christ. The apostate, they reject God-given, God-established authority, even the authority of Christ.

2 Peter 2.10 says, "And especially those who indulge in the lust of defiling passion and despise authority," Jude verse 8 says the same thing that they despise authority. This means they reject God-given, God-established authority, especially in the church and maybe even outside of the church. And by rejecting God-established authority, they are automatically rejecting God's authority. And on top of that, when confronted by the authority of Christ, they reject Him. And that is seen when they reject the clear teaching from Scripture. To reject the clear teaching and the authority of Scripture is to reject the authority of Christ.

William McDonald gives a more holistic understanding of their rebellion, and I'm quoting him here. He says they reject authority. They are rebels against God and against governmental institutions, depend on them to be proponents of lawlessness and anarchy. Their names are on the membership rolls of organizations that are dedicated to overthrow the government. It's an interesting insight. There's more. The apostate is also a mocker who lacks any kind of reverence. The apostate is a mocker, and they lack any kind of reverence.

This means that they sneer and they demonstrate a mocking attitude and behavior towards the Scriptures and the things of God. We see this in Jude verses 8 to 10. It's a longer portion of Scripture, I'll read it for you. Jude says, "Yet in like manner these people also, relying on their dreams, defile the flesh, reject authority, and blaspheme the glorious ones." Verse 10, "But these people blaspheme all that they do not understand." This means they act and speak with contempt about spiritual authority and spiritual matters that they do not understand and they will not accept.

They act and speak this way about biblical truth, biblical doctrines, these things that do not suit their motives, their desires, and their plans. Peter says they literally blaspheme, which means to revile against matters of which they are ignorant. McDonald captures their irreverent mocking very well, saying, and I'm quoting him, "Their ignorance is never more glaring than when they criticize the Bible. Because they are devoid of divine life, they are utterly unable to understand the words, ways, and works of God, yet they pose as experts in the spiritual realm." One more. The apostate is spiritually empty. The apostate is spiritually empty.

This means that they look and they sound as if they possess and dispense spiritual life, but they actually offer no spiritual nourishment for themselves and others. Listen to Jude 12, and I'm reading it in the Amplified. Jude says, "These men are hidden reefs, elements of great danger to others, in your love feasts, when they feast together with you without fear, looking after only themselves, they are like clouds without water, swept along by the winds, autumn trees without fruit doubly dead." Jude uses two illustrations to say that these apostates are spiritually empty.

He says they are like rain clouds that give no water, like fruit trees that bear no fruit. I think everyone knows that right now, in our part of the state, it's pretty hot and pretty dry. Just imagine being a farmer in a prolonged drought, but always having a sky full of rain clouds and never getting one drop of rain for your failing crops. That's what they are. And also, they are doubly dead and lifeless, all while giving the appearance of being alive and being fruitful, they are like the fruitless fruit tree. So look at this startling description of the character traits of the apostate.

And we can see that these character traits spill out into behavior. Look, church, listen to your pastor here. Character always dictates behavior. Character always dictates behavior. Jude and Peter clearly, redundantly, and descriptively warn us that apostates are deceptive and hidden. They secretly slip into the church so as to manipulate people and the church for their own sinful purposes. They are morally defiled and can even become sexually immoral, operating according to the flesh, and in time, they may even reveal themselves to be immoral. They hate and reject God-given, God-established authority.

Authority in the church, in the world, and even the authority of Christ Jesus Himself. They are mockers who sneer and act contemptuously toward authority, truth, the church, and even Christ. And because they are spiritually empty, they produce no genuine spiritual fruit that nourishes a true believer. A couple of comments here before we continue. In my experience and through what I have seen in 30-plus years of ministry now, the apostate, they come into the church and they can look very, very good.

This may happen immediately or it may take some time, but they can become very respected and they may even get into some place of leadership, influence, and authority, but in time, their character comes out and it comes out in behavior. And it may take 20 or 30 years for this to take place. And look, church, this can be really, really hard to sort out. This can be really hard to sort out and understand and get to the bottom of, especially for the less mature and the less experienced in these things. And second, the behavior of the apostate. The behavior of the apostate.

Now I don't think we need Webster to help us understand the word behavior. This is just the true character of the apostate coming out in apostate behavior and just like their character, we see some of their behavior in Hebrews, our verses from Hebrews, but Peter and Jude give us a more detailed description of how they act. The apostate, they abuse God's grace. I restate that. The apostate, they abuse God's grace. The apostate comes to the place where they take grace and the biblical teaching pertaining to Christian liberty to excuse sinful, even worldly behavior, even sexual sin in behavior. Jude shows us this in verse 4.

He says, "Who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality." Now right here, many speak to the fact that some apostates do get into sexual immorality, and that's true, but here Jude is pointing out that the apostate can get into a wide range of behavior that is an abuse of God's grace and abuse of liberty. Albert Barnes describes them as abusing the doctrines of grace so as to give indulgence to corrupt and carnal propensities. This simply means that the apostate rejects certain teachings from the scripture so as to create a license for their behavior, which is nothing more than corrupt and sinful behavior.

Barnes goes on to say, and I'm really quoting him loosely, "The apostate says and believes and teaches that they are released from certain obligations and certain clear teachings, even basic laws of scripture, so as to indulge in their sinful desires, and it is their behavior that proves their belief." Also the apostate purposefully infiltrates the church. The apostate purposefully infiltrates the church. We have seen this already in their character, but there is more that we need to see here.

In verse 12, Jude says, "They are hidden reefs at your love feasts, as they feast with you without fear." The hidden reef here speaks of a hidden rock or coral reef just below the surface of the sea that is destructive for the ship that runs upon it. This means the apostate comes into the church most always by legitimate means. Jude says they participate in church life along with the saints of God. They participate in the Lord's Supper. They share fellowship and fellowship meals. They even participate in the ministries of the church.

They look and act as if they are just like all of the other believers, but all the while they are like a hidden reef, a hidden rock just below the surface, and at the right time in their time some in the church, even believers, run upon them like a ship on a rock and they are crashed and some are ruined. And they twist and distort the scriptures. They twist and distort the scriptures.

Peter explains this in 2 Peter 2, verses 1-2, I'll read all of those verses, "But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction, and many will follow their sensuality, and because of them, the way of truth will be blasphemed." This behavior is plain. They secretly bring in destructive false teaching. And these are not just different doctrines, but these are destructive heresies. And as always, their teachings destroy others.

And these are not just their interpretation, but these are false doctrines that deny Christ. Listen, any teaching that does not come from the scripture, any teaching that is clearly contradictory to scripture is a denial of Christ. And their purpose is made plain. They do what they do and they teach what they teach so as to gain a following and they work to draw followers away and out of the church after them. And Peter says that many will follow them. Also they exploit others, even believers. The apostate exploits others, even believers.

We've seen this some already, but the apostate uses lies and schemes to take others, even true believers, out of the church with them and they are motivated by their own greed. And Peter, too, at the beginning of verse 3 says, "And their greed, and in their greed they will exploit you with false words." The Amplified says, "And in their greed they will exploit you with false arguments and twisted doctrine." And look at what greed can relate to, money, can relate to money. Many times apostates exploit others, not just for position and power, but also for money. In the John MacArthur Study Bible he says this is uncontrolled greed.

He says their underlying motive is not the love of truth but the love of money and they exploit others. Last, the apostate returns to their previous worldly corruption and sin. The apostate returns to their previous worldly corruption and sin. As we will see, Peter compares them to dogs and pigs. But Peter shows us it is much, much worse. Second Peter 2, verses 20 to 22, Peter says, "For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome. And the last state has become worse for them than the first.

For it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them. What the true proverb says has happened to them. The dog returns to its vomit and the sow, that would be a female pig, after her washing returns to wallow in the mire." Actually for a time the apostate leaves the defilements of the world through a knowledge of Christ, but they are never truly born again. But in their apostasy, they are again entangled in those defilements and even overcome by them to the point that they are worse than they were before.

Peter even says it would have been better for them if they had never known of Christ and the way of righteousness than knowing Christ and returning to their life of sin. And take note of what he did here in verse 22. He quoted Proverbs 26, 11 saying that a dog always returns to its vomit and you can wash a pig, but it always goes back to the mud. So look at this startling, even brutal description of the behavior of the apostate. And we can see that their behavior is reflective of their character. Look at how all of this is connected. Character always dictates behavior, and behavior always reveals character.

Both Jude and Peter clearly and repeatedly reveal the behavior and actions of the apostate. They abuse the grace of God in Christian liberty as an excuse for their worldly and sinful behavior even immorality. They deliberately infiltrate the church, becoming like hidden rocks just beneath the surface using false teaching and sinful motives that cause others, even believers, to stumble and crash. They distort the scriptures to serve their own sinful plans, seeking to draw others away from them to follow them, and in time they return to their former sinful ways, but becoming much worse than they were before.

Like a pig returning to the mud after being washed, they return to the very sins they appeared to have left and been delivered from. Peter even says it would have been better if they had never known of Christ, salvation, and the way of righteousness. Again, just a few more comments here, pastoral comments. In my experience, and through what I've seen in 30 plus years of ministry, the apostate comes into the church and, "Oh, they can look so good, so good." It may happen immediately, or it may take some time, but they come to a respected position. They may even get to a place of leadership.

They get some influence, and they may have some kind of authority, but in time, at the right time, their behavior starts to come out, and most of the time it has been going on longer than many know because they always do it secretively and destructively, and again, this takes time. Sometimes it may be 20 or 30 years later, but it takes time, and look, this can be very hard to understand. It can be very, very hard to sort out, especially for the less mature and the less experienced. When the church gets this, those that cause destructive divisions in the church can act like what we see here, but it does not mean they are apostates.

Let me restate that. Those that cause destructive divisions in the church can act like what we see here, but it does not mean they are apostate, and we should not just say they are apostates when they look like they could be apostates, but look, the divisive persons can act a lot like what we see here, and those that spread bad doctrine, they are not apostates. What I'm getting at is this. There are those who can teach and spread doctrine, bad doctrine, but they may not be apostates, and they can act just like this. What I'm trying to show you is this. There is a difference between division and a divisive person and the apostate.

There's a difference between one who propagates even bad doctrine and the apostate. And third, the specific sins of the apostate, the specific sins of the apostate. Now I gave us a definition of apostasy in the introduction. Apostasy is when a professing Christian who identifies with Jesus the blessings of Christ and the church get to a place in time where they renounce the Jesus that is seen in the Scriptures and they turn away.

Wayne Grudem in his systematic theology defines apostasy well, saying, and I'm quoting him, "Apostasy is the falling away from a profession of Christian faith by someone who has experienced the blessings and privileges of the Christian community but was never genuinely regenerated." Those definitions and explanations are true, but there is more to the sin of the apostate. Sadly, the apostate commits many grievous sins plural in their singular sin of apostasy. The apostate willfully chooses to reject Christ and stay in unbelief. I restate that. The apostate willfully chooses to reject Christ and stay in their unbelief.

Hebrews 10.26 says, "For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth." This simply means that the apostate willfully chooses to remain in their unbelief after having received the knowledge of truth. This would be a full knowledge of Christ, a full knowledge of the gospel, and the full knowledge of the way of eternal life. McDonald says, and I'm quoting, "He knows the way of salvation. He has even pretended to receive it, but then he deliberately repudiates it." The apostate also tramples the Son of God underfoot. The apostate tramples the Son of God underfoot.

Hebrews 10.29 says, "How much worse punishment do you think will be deserved by the One who is trampled underfoot the Son of God?" This means that the apostate treats the sacred person and work of Christ with disdain and utter contempt. They walk all over Christ and the work of Christ on the cross like someone would walk over garbage or something to be thrown out. The apostate, they profane the blood of the new covenant. They profane the blood of the new covenant. Hebrews 10.29 says, "And has profaned the blood of the covenant." That would be the new covenant.

This means they treat the blood of the new covenant which saves the sinner and sanctifies the sinner as something common. Instead of treating the blood of Christ as something to be revered, honored, as holy, they treat it as something common or unholy. One commentator says this is treating the blood of Christ as if it were the blood of a common man. The consequences of that sinner are great. By saying the blood of Christ is no better than the blood of a common man, the apostate is saying that Christ blasphemed God by claiming to be God, therefore he thus Christ deserved the die of blasphemer's death.

And the apostate insults the Holy Spirit of God. The apostate insults the Holy Spirit of God. Hebrews 10.29 again, the very end of the verse says, "He has outraged the spirit of grace." The apostate has heard the gospel. They have claimed to savingly believe, and they have experienced the drawing work of the spirit, the convicting work of the spirit, the convincing work of the spirit to bring them to the point of salvation, but they have chosen to stay in unbelief, and they deliberately, and by deliberately rejecting Christ and choosing unbelief, they are also mocking and truly outraging the spirit of grace.

The Amplified says the apostate has insulted the spirit of grace who imparts the unmerited favor and blessing of God. John Gill describes the apostate insulting the spirit very well saying, and I'm quoting, by denying his being, deity and personality, despising his powerful operations as enthusiasm, treating his extraordinary gifts as illusions, and ascribing his miracles to Satan, and representing the gospel dictated by him as a fable or a lie, and this is aggravated by his being the spirit of grace, the author, giver, and a plier of all grace to the saints, and last they deny their master, last they deny the master, not their master, 2 Peter 2, 1 again, even denying the master who bought them, Jude 4 says the same thing, and deny our only master in Lord Jesus Christ.

This clearly and soberly says the apostate actively rejects the sovereign authority, identity, and ownership of the Lord Jesus that at one time they said bought them on the cross. McDonald says they deny his absolute right to rule, his deity, his vicarious death, his resurrection in fact. They deny every essential doctrine of this person and work. Notice they do all this while claiming to possess great knowledge and insights into spiritual matters, maybe even the Bible and Christianity. So look at this horrible list of sins that the apostate commits.

In his sin or her sin of apostasy, again, we see more of their true character in their behavior and in this case their sins. The apostate willfully rejects Christ in salvation and chooses to remain in their sins even after possessing full intellectual knowledge of Christ, the gospel, and eternal life. They trample under foot as though it was worthless garbage, the blood of Christ, and the new covenant by which sinners are saved and sanctified. He profanes the blood of Christ, treating it as though it were nothing more than the blood of an ordinary man.

The apostate insults and outrages the spirit of grace, the very spirit who brought them to the point of hearing and understanding the gospel and because the spirit of God is God, he insults and angers God. The apostate also denies the master. They reject the sovereign authority, lordship and identity of Jesus and refuse to acknowledge his rightful ownership over all things, even his rightful ownership over their life, and it is remarkable, sadly remarkable. They do all this while professing to possess great spiritual knowledge and insight, even claiming a superior understanding of the scripture, Christianity, and truth.

And church, I have seen the sins of the apostate all through the years, but I do not believe I've ever seen it like this before. I've shared this with the elders this week. I've seen these sins of the apostate, but I don't think I've ever seen it like this before. Not only does the apostate commit the grievous singular sin of apostasy, but as we can see, they commit a long list of other horrid, unimaginable sins. And I have to believe there are some of you here this morning who have never seen it like this before either. Last fourth, the ultimate spiritual condition of the apostate. This will be a little shorter.

The ultimate spiritual condition of the apostate. Now here we have spiritual truth and truths that can be hard to accept. And there can be some confusion here, but I'll clarify it rather easily. The apostate's destruction is a guarantee. The apostate and their destruction is a guarantee. What this means is simple. The judgment of God upon them has been active for a long time. Their ultimate destruction is certain. They will not escape. Jude 4 says, "For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation." Second Peter 2.3 says the same thing. Their destruction is not asleep.

But we need to be careful here. This is where some can be confused. It is as if Jude is saying that God selected these people to be doomed for destruction. But that's not the case because the Scriptures never teach that God chooses some to be damned while choosing some to be saved. When a person is converted to Christ truly, it certainly is by a sovereign work of grace. Ephesians 2.8-9 clearly says we are saved by grace, not of our own doing. But at the same time, the Bible teaches that when a person is lost and they die in their sin and they've heard the gospel, it is certainly because they choose to reject God and the gospel.

They are responsible. It simply means that even though it may seem that the apostate gets away with their sin, that's not the case. Their destruction has been spoken of long ago. It is sure. William Macdonald really explains it a little better than I can. And I'm quoting him, "They are not foreordained to fall away, but once they do apostatize by their own choice, they face the punishment predetermined for all apostates." Also, the true apostate has reached an unforgivable state. The apostate has reached an unforgivable state. And this is just as sad.

The true apostate has gotten to a spiritual place where it is truly impossible for them to be brought back to the place of repentance like they had seen before. We see this in Hebrews 4-6. I'll read all of those verses, not just a portion like I've been doing. Verse 4, "For it is impossible in the case of those who have been once enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift and have shared in the Holy Spirit and have tasted the goodness of the Word of God and the powers of the age to come and then have fallen away to restore them again to repentance since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding Him up to contempt." So look at this brief but sobering and telling ultimate spiritual condition of the apostate.

And notice, these things are like election. They are out of our hands. These things are in the hands of a sovereign God, although these things do not absolve man from their responsibility, especially the apostate. The apostate may be living as if they will get away with their sin and sins, but that is not the case. Their ultimate destruction is not idle. It is not asleep. It is sure. And although we would want them to return to the opportunity of trusting in Christ for salvation, that door has been closed by God. They have reached the place where the door of salvation is closed for good.

God has closed that door and they are on their way to a deserving hell. The church, I don't think I have to tell us, but the state and the future of the true apostate is not good. This is very, very sobering. This is unbelievably sad. It is a matter of their own choosing. And I think it is safe for me to say this, but in this life I don't think it can get any worse. In this life I don't think it can get any worse. Now I want to begin to close by revisiting and explaining those four reasons I brought this message to us. First, we will be studying apostasy in our small groups. We did earlier in the book of Jude.

So this message is meant to prepare us for what we will study in 2 Peter and to help us better understand what we have studied in Hebrews 12 verses 15-17. I said it more than once. This all just goes together. Second, as our culture grows more and more hostile towards biblical Christianity and the true church, we will see people leave the church and go off into apostasy. Rejection and persecution from the culture always causes some in the church to apostatize. We've seen this already if we've paid attention to how our culture has changed. Third, this is more personal and it does pertain to you.

I have been too quick to label some an apostate in the past. I want to restate that because I want you to hear me well. I have been all too quick to label some an apostate in the past. Although I have seen some act like an apostate and that behavior revealed the character traits that we see in an apostate, a true apostate repudiates Christ. And not only do they repudiate Christ, they die in their apostasy. Someone could get off into apostasy for 10, 20, 30 years, almost an entire lifetime and come to saving faith at the end and repent of their apostasy. That's not an apostate, although they were in apostasy.

The apostate may apostatize by going into a false religion like Mormonism or Islam, or one may apostatize by altering Christ and Christianity as seen in the scriptures. That is what the gay affirming churches do. They create a Christ and a Christianity that is not from the scriptures, that is apostasy. But a true apostate repudiates Christ and we must not label someone an apostate quickly. Maybe if ever. It is better to say one appears to be in apostasy. Maybe say, "Yes, they are in apostasy. Otherwise, we should be very, very alarmed at what we see in the direction they're going." Fourth, and this is more prophetic.

Now, I know I'm not a prophet, so don't say I'm claiming to be a prophet. I know I can't predict the future, but what I'm about to say is rather prophetic. We will face apostasy in our church one day. We will. It may be two years from now. It may be 20 years from now. It may be when I'm dead and gone and there's another pastor here. But one day apostasy will be a problem in our church. Also, some of you here will have apostasy hit you head on one day. Someone you know, someone you love, someone you respect will head off into apostasy and it will be devastating for you. And what I'm saying is this.

One day you will face apostasy and the potential apostate and you will remember this message and when that day comes you will say, "Now I know why Pastor Chris was preaching that message. Now I know because I am ready." And look, church, because I love you and I love our church, his church, I'm doing what a faithful pastor should do for the church. Remember Hebrews 12.15? You may want to glance at that verse. Hebrews 12.15? You see, church, as your pastor I am diligently looking out far and I'm diligently helping you understand apostasy and the apostate. Now the title of the sermon. This is all about understanding apostasy and the apostate.