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Christian Chronicles, July 2004 - Volume 7, Issue 103
| The
Editor's Pen | Perspectives | Mid-East Update | Fruit of the Vine |
Apostasy in Proverbs |
| The Mystery of Iniquity at
Work | Paul to Timothy on
Apostasy | The Hidden Treasure |
At Christian Chronicles we often select the theme of a monthly issue based upon the theme of our heaviest area of counsel in the preceding month. We have been heavily engaged in discussions of apostasy for several weeks, and have decided that, although we have discussed this issue before, it has been awhile, and it is appropriate that we do so again in July.
We want it to be clearly understood that we do not believe that every Christian assembly is apostate. We know of many congregations whose devotion to sound doctrine and to our Lord is at least as deep as our own. God still has many ably-equipped ministers of the Gospel in service in the world, for which we give thanks regularly. While our conservative readers often express the opinion that we appear to be losing the battle as this great apostasy becomes ever more widespread, to the point that it now seems to wholly characterize the professing church, we know that the true Church is working ever harder to guard that which has been committed to our trust, to spread the good news of the grace of God, to teach and equip younger Christians in the tenets of our faith, and to serve God faithfully. While the professing church is becoming a place of deep and spreading darkness, a place of self-righteousness and the glorification of man, there are still lights in the world that are not hidden, but that shine more brightly into the sin-darkened souls of the lost. There is even now a great harvest of souls all around the world, in fields already white. The Apostle Paul prophesied that the end of the age would be characterized by apostasy, and we are not surprised to find that it is so. This is not a time for faithful Christians to become faint-hearted. Our faith is known by the strength we display in the day of adversity. Let us redouble our efforts to keep the message pure, reflecting the glory of God.
The World Court, a judicial body of the United Nations has ruled that Israel’s security fence violates international law, restricting the movement of the Palestinians. Isn’t that the idea of a fence? Palestinians have been entering Israel loaded with explosives, going into highly populated areas and blowing themselves up, killing Jews along with themselves. The security fence has already prevented many suicide bombings.
The Palestinians claim that the real motivation behind the fence-building project is to annex lands occupied since the 1967 war. Perhaps it is. However, the fact remains that many killings have been avoided in Israel since the project began. Another salient fact is that the Word of God has not changed, nor has He ever rescinded His gift to Abraham, through Isaac, of all the land from the Brook of Egypt to the Euphrates River. It is not Israel that is the occupying power, but those Arab nations that have usurped Israel’s right to the land.
One of only a few reasons given in the Scriptures for the occurrence of the tribulation period is the partitioning of the land that God gave to Israel. Joel wrote: “I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land” (Joel 3:2 KJV). He goes on to say, “Proclaim this among the nations: “Prepare for war! Wake up the mighty men, Let all the men of war draw near, Let them come up. Beat your plowshares into swords and your pruning hooks into spears; let the weak say, ‘I am strong.’” Assemble and come, all you nations, and gather together all around. Cause Your mighty ones to go down there, O Lord. “Let the nations be wakened, and come up to the Valley of Jehoshaphat; for there I will sit to judge all the surrounding nations. Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Come, go down; For the winepress is full, the vats overflow— For their wickedness is great.” Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision” (Joel 3:9-14 NKJV).
From a worldly perspective, the Jews have no right to the land, and it will be that issue that turns world opinion fully against them during the tribulation period. The time of Jacob’s trouble has not yet arrived, but it looms large on the near horizon. Joel says that the nations will have “parted” the land God gave to Israel. In November of 1947, the United Nations agreed upon a plan to “partition” that land. In November of 1967, following the Six Day War, the UN adopted Resolution 242, demanding that Israel withdraw from the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, East Jerusalem, the Sinai Peninsula, and the Golan Heights, leaving the Jews with only a tiny sliver of land on the Mediterranean coast.
Since then, Israel has been engaged in self defense on an almost continuous basis. For the past four years, the second intifada has rocked the Holy Land, and continues to do so. What we are witnessing there today are the early tremors presaging the cataclysmic temblor that is going to shake the whole earth very soon.
The European Union is particularly hostile to Israel in the “peacemaking” process. That body represents one fourth of the group known as the “Quartet,” who together have called upon Israel and the Palestinians to follow a “Roadmap” designed to end the conflict and create an independent and sovereign Palestinian state. On July 7, 2004, Israel refused to meet with representatives of the Quartet because they have declared that they will not work with the Europeans in the security negotiations, suggesting that they are biased in favor of the Palestinians. The Quartet is composed of the EU, the UN, Russia and the U.S.
One of the last things that Paul said to Timothy in his first letter was, “O Timothy! Guard what has been committed to your trust...” (1 Tim 6:20). There is only one Gospel, the Gospel of grace. So very many churches teach that a person can lose his salvation, or that he must earn it by reforming his old nature and making it sinless. These are those “other” gospels to which Paul referred in his letter to the churches in Galatia (1:6), those “different” gospels, which he plainly declared are not another, for Good News is proclaimed in only the Gospel of grace. All the others— those which demand improvement or perfection of man— are not good news at all. Rather, they are the devil’s method of alienating the lost from God more than they already are. They are designed to instill fear, and not hope; a sense of failure and certain condemnation. They make God a stern Judge who sits in the heavens, waiting eagerly to strike into hell every sinner, rather than a loving and merciful God who has provided a Way in Himself for every man to be saved through grace, by faith.
Every Christian who would be fruitful must himself understand the greatness of God’s mercy, and must demonstrate His essential goodness and providence. It is the goodness of God that leads man to repentance (Rom 2:4), and if we are to bear fruit, it will be with the good news of the marvelous Gospel of God’s grace, not warnings of condemnation.
“Now the Spirit
expressly says that in latter times
some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines
of demons,
speaking lies in hypocrisy,
having their own conscience seared with a hot iron…”
(1 Tim 4:1-2)
There are so many ways by which we know that the end times are upon us. In centuries past, in order to understand how the rapture could be imminent, theologians had to take the position that, even though the geo-political stage was not ordered, nor nations aligned, in the arrangements described in the Scriptures, it could still be said that the rapture was imminent insofar as a sovereign God could easily “stick His finger in and stir the pot,” so to speak, bringing the world stage into conformity with what the Scriptures describe. And certainly, He could have. God could align all the earthly nations at will if He chose to do so.
However, God has not done this historically in order to bring about the fulfillment of prophecy. Rather, the prophets declared that the stage would become set in a specific way, and when it was, prophecy would then be fulfilled. But it is the natural evolution of world political events and relationships that brings about the objective circumstances in which the prophecies are to be fulfilled. God raises up leaders and kings, and He removes them, but it is the sinful will of man that has brought us to a time in which virtually every sign of the latter days of this age is clearly evident.
Today, we do not have to take the position that God could rearrange things instantly. The rapture can occur at any moment without any changes needing to be made. For the very first time since the dawn of the Church Age, we see that the stage is fully set, and the things that are described to be and to occur in the latter days are happening in full flower now. The geo-political alignments are striking. Israel is in the land, in a desperate search for a peaceful resolution to her conflict with the Islamic nations. We live in a bloodthirsty world, trusting in the gods of war.
The clearest sign today, however, is the great apostasy that has swept the professing church. Around the world, churches are preaching and teaching — and unsuspecting people are believing, to the destruction of their souls — that one must do or say or promise something, or must reach some arbitrary standard, one that changes from nation to nation according to cultural differences, if they are to be saved. Many times will a saved person depart from an apostate church, declaring that their teachings drove him away from God rather than drawing him closer to Him.
The gospel is “Good News,” but apostate churches tend to make people more afraid of God when they leave than they were when they entered. The professing church has become the enemy of God, departing from the faith; themselves deceived, they preach doctrines of demons. Apostate churches lie to themselves about themselves, judging themselves among themselves, according to their own righteousness and not according to faith. The social gospel and the gospel of works are the gospels of the new millennium. It is all about boasting in our flesh rather than in the cross upon which our Lord died.
There are still many churches that teach sound doctrine, and blessed are those who find them. But the Gospel is now found more prominently in private homes and small groups. We have been driven underground by the religionists of our time, and marginalized. Still, the Word spreads and the Church grows. We grow ever closer to that day when all our genuine hopes shall be fulfilled. But the devil would deny us that hope, and has planned his campaign from the beginning to keep us faithless and hopeless. By the fact that apostasy is so rampant in the professing church, we have the assurance that the day of the redemption of our bodies is very near. The conscience of the apostate church is seared, knowing that it does not do the things it must do, and does things that it must not do. Every hypocrite must know in his heart that he is a hypocrite. The true Church knows that the just shall live by faith. While we deplore the apostasy that is so widespread, it is also a great and moving sign of the imminence of our hope. We must not be discouraged by this leavening of the Gospel with that which destroys hope, but we should be encouraged to continue serving, and all the more diligently in the knowledge that our reward is near. We shall soon meet our Groom face to face. Look up!
If one accepts the principle of types and shadows, then there is much that bears on this discussion of the apostate church. Woman is a type of the Church, and marriage is a type of the relationship between Christ and the Church. Those two types are readily understood and accepted by conservatives, and substantiated by Scripture. Thus, wherever either woman or marriage are mentioned in the Scriptures, there is a spiritual application either to the Church or to the relationship between Christ and His bride. In some instances, the application is not as clear as in other references, but then, there is much in the Bible of which we have only a vague understanding and differences of opinion. But it cannot be denied that the doctrine of types and shadows is true, and the types of both woman and marriage are well-established (cp. Eph 5:15-32).
The reason that wives are instructed to be submissive to their husbands is that they represent the Church in relationship to Christ. If wives are not to be submissive, then neither is the Church to be submissive. It is a very important principle, but one that the devil has persuaded many women to resist in recent decades. Many women feel like second-class citizens of heaven, but the honor truly is theirs if they have the wisdom to see it. Wherever wisdom is anthropomorphized in the Scriptures, it is declared to be a woman, which we shall see repeatedly in this article. Submission is voluntary; subjugation is forced. Husbands are not to subjugate their wives, but wives are to submit. It is merely a matter of order, and is arranged as it is so that the type can be found to be true. When a wife submits to her husband, she subordinates herself. She places herself lower in the order, and that, willingly; and that, by faith. It takes far greater wisdom to be a wife than a husband.
Our most essential Scriptures today are found in the book of Proverbs. The first nine chapters of Proverbs have much to say, when the type is applied, about the apostate church. It is the difference between the virtuous wife and the harlot.
There are four kinds of women described in the Scriptures: the wise woman and the foolish woman, the virtuous wife and the harlot. Obviously, the true Church is both the virtuous wife and the wise woman, and the apostate church is both the foolish woman and the harlot. That harlotry is used throughout the Scriptures as describing the state of the unfaithful or the worldly is evident, for many Scriptures speak of Israel in that way when God's people are unfaithful to Him, preferring the things of the world to the things of God. This is a foundational truth. Throughout the OT, whenever Israel is unfaithful, she is called adulterous (Ezek 6:9; 16:1-34; Mt 12:39; Mk 8:34-38).
Now, with this type in mind, let us go through some of the passages in the book of Proverbs.
The first chapter identifies wisdom as a woman. Verse 20 says, "Wisdom calls aloud outside; she raises her voice in the open squares. She cries out in the chief concourses, at the openings of the gates in the city she speaks her words: 'How long, you simple ones, will you love simplicity? For scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge. Turn at my rebuke; surely I will pour out my spirit on you; I will make my words known to you.'" James says, "If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind" (1:5-6).
Chapter two is profound concerning the apostate church. Beginning at verse 10 "When wisdom enters your heart, and knowledge is pleasant to your soul, discretion will preserve you; understanding will keep you, to deliver you from the way of evil, from the man who speaks perverse things (Allow me to interject a brief passage from Galatians 'I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ.'), from those who leave the paths of uprightness to walk in the ways of darkness; who rejoice in doing evil, and delight in the perversity of the wicked; whose ways are crooked, and who are devious in their paths; to deliver you from the immoral woman, from the seductress who flatters with her words, who forsakes the companion of her youth, and forgets the covenant of her God. For her house leads down to death, and her paths to the dead; none who go to her return, nor do they regain the paths of life- so you may walk in the way of goodness, and keep to the paths of righteousness" (2:10-20).
There are several comments that should be made in regard to those verses. First of all, there is grave danger in going to those who have become apostate. They have left the paths of righteousness, seeking their own righteousness. Their message is perverse. They are perverts. What they do publicly, they should do in a dark closet, where no one can see, but they are proud. Wisdom delivers us from the apostate church; it does not draw us into her realm, but keeps us from her altogether. She has forsaken the companion of her youth. There were few apostates in the early Church, because Christians were being persecuted and killed for their faith. After Constantine, it became socially acceptable to be a Christian and the gospel was perverted, but before 312 A.D., Christians mostly held true to their faith. Now, the house of a harlot does not necessarily lead to death. A man can go in there and have his senses pleased and depart. But one cannot go to the adulterous bride of Christ and expect to be blessed or to find salvation or to be fruitful. An apostate is one who has departed from that which he previously held. The apostate church has departed from sound doctrine, turning to her own reason and sensuality.
We are to be wise. Chapter three tells us how to go about the business of wisdom "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths. Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the Lord and depart from evil" (3:5-7). "Happy is the man who finds wisdom, and the man who gains understanding; for her proceeds are better than the profits of silver, and her gain than fine gold. She is more precious than rubies, and all the things you may desire cannot compare with her. Length of days is in her right hand, in her left hand riches and honor. Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace. She is a tree of life to those who take hold of her, and happy are all who retain her." (Prov 3:13-18).
Chapter four is pretty explicit as well "Get wisdom! Get understanding! Do not forget, nor turn away from the words of my mouth. Do not forsake her, and she will preserve you; love her, and she will keep you. Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom. And in all your getting, get understanding. Exalt her, and she will promote you; she will bring you honor, when you embrace her. She will place on your head an ornament of grace; a crown of glory she will deliver to you... Do not enter the path of the wicked, and do not walk in the way of evil. Avoid it, do not travel on it; turn away from it and pass on. For they do not sleep unless they have done evil; and their sleep is taken away unless they make someone fall. For they eat the bread of wickedness, and drink the wine of violence" (4:5-9, 14-17).
Obviously, the context shows that the way of evil has not so much to do with deeds as with wisdom and its lack. Note the reference to communion in this passage, the bread of wickedness and the wine of violence. There is no greater evil that a person can do than to deprive someone of the gospel and commit them to eternity in hell fire. There is no greater violence that man can do to man, but that is precisely what the apostate church does. Now let us turn to chapter five.
"My son, pay attention to my wisdom; lend your ear to my understanding, that you may preserve discretion, and your lips may keep knowledge. For the lips of an immoral woman drip honey, and her mouth is smoother than oil; but in the end, she is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword. Her feet go down to death, her steps lay hold of hell. Lest you ponder her path of life- her ways are unstable; you do not know them. Therefore hear me now my children, and do not depart from the words of my mouth. Remove your way far from her, and do not go near the door of her house, lest you give your honor to others, and your years to the cruel one; lest aliens be filled with your wealth, and your labors go to the house of a foreigner; and you mourn at last, when your flesh and your body are consumed, and say 'How I have hated instruction, and my heart despised correction! I have not obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor inclined my ear to those who instructed me! I was on the verge of total ruin, in the midst of the assembly and congregation.' ... For the ways of man are before the eyes of the Lord, and He ponders all his paths. His own iniquities entrap the wicked man, and he is caught in the cords of his sin. He shall die for lack of instruction, and in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray" (5:1-14; 21-23).
The lips of an immoral woman drip honey. Oh, they massage your ego and in their oily craftiness they massage away your wealth. Take a quick peek at Heb 4:12-13 "For the Word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account." The words of an immoral woman are as sharp as a two-edged sword. Again, a house of prostitution does not necessarily lead to death or to hell, even today, but the apostate church certainly does both. We are to remove our way from her. We are not to go near the door of her house. Lest we give our years to the cruel one. Who is more cruel than the deceiver who speaks lies? Solomon had no idea of the type he was presenting, for the Church was a mystery, but God knew, didn't He?
There are a couple of brief passages in chapter six "A worthless person, a wicked man, walks with a perverse mouth; he winks with his eyes, he shuffles his feet, he points with his fingers; perversity is in his heart, he devises evil continually, he sows discord. Therefore his calamity shall come suddenly; suddenly he shall be broken without remedy. These six things the Lord hates, yes, seven are an abomination to him: a proud look, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that are swift in running to evil, a false witness who speaks lies, and one who sows discord among brethren... For the commandment is a lamp, and the law a light; reproofs of instruction are the way of life, to keep you from the evil woman, from the flattering tongue of a seductress. Do not lust after her beauty in your heart, nor let her allure you with her eyelids. For by means of a harlot a man is reduced to a crust of bread; and an adulteress will prey upon his precious life. Can a man take fire to his bosom and his clothes not be burned? Can one walk on hot coals and his feet not be seared? So is he who goes in to his neighbor's wife; whoever touches her shall not be innocent" (6:12-19; 23-29).
Twelve through fifteen constitute a stern warning, do they not? A perverse mouth. The seven hateful things are all marks of apostate churches. The apostate church flatters and cajoles, and builds beautiful buildings with fancy trappings and entices with seducing words. One cannot engage with her without suffering the dangers inherent in her. We are the bride of Christ, and when we engage with the adulterous church, the devil's bride, if you will, we are not innocent. God is not partial. Neither is He a respecter of persons.
Chapter seven rises to heights of profundity to which few other Scriptures attain. Let us review the entire chapter. "My son, keep my words, and treasure my commands within you. Keep my commands and live, and my law as the apple of your eye. Bind them on your fingers; write them on the tablet of your heart. Say to wisdom, 'You are my sister,' and call understanding your next of kin, that they may keep you from the immoral woman, from the seductress who flatters with her words. For at the window of my house I looked through my lattice, and saw among the simple, I perceived among the youths, a young man devoid of understanding, passing along the street near her corner; and he took the path to her house in the twilight, in the evening, in the black and dark night. And there a woman met him, with the attire of a harlot and a crafty heart. She was loud and rebellious, her feet would not stay at home. At times she was outside, at times in the open square, lurking at every corner. So she caught him and kissed him; with an impudent face she said to him 'I have peace offerings with me; today I have paid my vows. So I came out to meet you, diligently to seek your face, and I have found you. I have spread my bed with tapestry, colored coverings of Egyptian linen. I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon. Come, let us take our fill of love until morning; let us delight ourselves with love. For my husband is not at home; He has gone on a long journey; he has taken a bag of money with him, and will come home on the appointed day.' With her enticing speech she caused him to yield, with her flattering lips she seduced him. Immediately he went after her, as an ox goes to the slaughter, or as a fool to the correction of the stocks, till an arrow struck his liver. As a bird hastens to the snare, he did not know it would cost his life. Now therefore, listen to me my children; pay attention to the words of my mouth: Do not let your heart turn aside to her ways, do not stray into her paths; for she has cast down many wounded, and all who were slain by her were strong men. Her house is the way to hell, descending to the chambers of death."
Where do you find most churches? On the corner. Do you know why a prostitute stands on the corner? If she stands in the middle of the block, she attracts men from only two directions, but if she is on the corner, she draws from four directions. Of course, four is the number of the things of the earth. In the apostate church there is no light. It is all darkness. She is loud and rebellious, and can often be found in public, declaring her own righteousness and scorning those to whom she ought to be bringing the good news of the cross. Churches love to protest against every form of sin (except self righteousness). And look what the apostate church says. Peace offerings. Vows. Visitation Tuesday (or whatever day they choose) to diligently seek those whom they would destroy. Tapestry and incense - all the trappings of wealth and "promise." Love. Let's all love one another and have an orgy of love. But her love is sensual, not spiritual. Her husband is not at home. The Church's Husband is not at home. He has gone on a long journey, and He has taken our redemption price with Him, to return to us on the appointed day. What magnificent parallels, eh? All who were slain by her were strong. Her house is the way to hell. Can it be any clearer? Yes, it can, and it will be shortly.
Chapter eight takes a different turn. It speaks of the wise woman, the true Church. Let us read briefly from it, and that without commentary, because none is needed. But in chapter nine, it all comes clear.
"Does not wisdom cry out, and understanding lift up her voice? She takes her stand on the top of the high hill, beside the way where the paths meet. She cries out by the gates of the city, at the entrance of the doors: 'To you, O men, I call, and my voice is to the sons of men. O you simple ones, understand prudence, and you fools, be of an understanding heart. Listen, for I will speak of excellent things, and from the opening of my lips will come right things; for my mouth will speak truth; wickedness is an abomination to my lips. All the words of my mouth are with righteousness; nothing crooked or perverse is in them. They are all plain to him who understands, and right to those who find knowledge. Receive my instruction, and not silver, and knowledge rather than choice gold; for wisdom is better than rubies, and all the things one may desire cannot be compared with her" (8:1-11).
The rest of the chapter is very profound, and you should read it. Now let us complete this little study in Proverbs with a look at chapter nine.
As with chapter seven, let us read the entire chapter. "Wisdom has built her house, she has hewn out her seven pillars; she has slaughtered her meat, she has mixed her wine, she has also furnished her table. She has sent out her maidens, she cries out from the highest places of the city, 'Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!' As for him who lacks understanding, she says to him, 'Come, eat of my bread and drink of the wine I have mixed. Forsake foolishness and live, and go in the way of understanding. He who corrects a scoffer gets shame for himself. Do not correct a scoffer, lest he hate you; rebuke a wise man, and he will love you. Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be still wiser; teach a just man, and he will increase in learning. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. For by me your days will be multiplied, and years of life will be added to you. If you are wise, you are wise for yourself, and if you scoff, you will bear it alone.'
"A foolish woman is clamorous; she is simple, and knows nothing. For she sits at the door of her house, on a seat by the highest places of the city, to call to those who pass by, who go straight on their way 'Whoever is simple, let him turn in here'; and as for him who lacks understanding, she says to him, 'Stolen water is sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant.' But he does not know that the dead are there, that her guests are in the depths of hell."
The apostate church says many of the same things that the true Church says. She just changes it enough so that there is no truth in it, and so that those who enter therein will not be saved. Bread, a symbol of the Word of God. Water, a symbol of the Holy Spirit. One Gospel is true; the other is false. The apostate church is a harlot. In fact, she is that great harlot of Rev 17. She is abominable to God and dangerous to His children. Many today no longer regard His teaching. There is no justification in departing from faith and turning to the more beggarly elements of the law and one’s own righteousness. It is simply wrong. The apostate church is certainly foolish, hypocritical, perverse, evil and dangerous. She professes to be His people, but her preference is her own reason. The true Church is both a very wise woman, and the bride who awaits her Groom faithfully.
The Mystery of Iniquity at Work
The Lord Jesus gave one extensive teaching during His earthly ministry regarding the present time. The Mystery Parables as they are sometimes known are found in Matthew’s Gospel, Chapter 13. Therein the Lord teaches a veiled series of parables. Most of the parables are warnings for His disciples (for those with ears to hear only) that the present manifestation of God’s Kingdom is heavily freighted with the trouble of apostasy!
The main problem is that the enemy (Satan) has inserted false teachings, false teachers, and false believers to spread apostasy throughout Christendom. This is the main weapon by which Satan seeks to divide and hinder the church and paralyze Christendom’s influence on the world. With an overview, a few highlights may be offered to the student of God’s true Word:
And He spoke many things to them in parables, saying, Behold, the sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seeds fell by the wayside, and the birds came and devoured them (Mt 13:3-4).
The Lord explains this parable (which Mark 4:13 reveals to be the key to understanding all of the parables):
Therefore hear the parable of the sower. When anyone hears the Word of the kingdom and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and catches away that which was sown in his heart. This is the seed sown by the wayside (Mt 13:18-19).
The birds of the air (a repeated symbol) are the devil’s work against God’s true word of the Gospel. Snatching the truth from those who might believe.
He put forth another parable to them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way (Mt 13:24-25).
No wonder what this means: He answered and said to them, He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man; the field is the world; the good seed are the sons of the kingdom; but the tares are the sons of the evil one (Mt 13:37-38 ).
Thus, the Lord here shows the enemy to produce counterfeit “Christians” to sit in the very pews with God’s children.
Again the Lord shows this present administration to be permeated by corruption.
He put another parable to them, saying, The kingdom of Heaven is like a grain of mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field; which indeed is the least of all seeds, but when it is grown it is the greatest among herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in its branches. He spoke another parable to them: The kingdom of Heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal until the whole was leavened (Mt 13:31-33).
Both these parables speak of how the gospel itself will be perverted and results will follow as such. We have already seen the seed as the Gospel word sown in the world. But, when it has spread (grown), the plant has become a lodging for the birds; which we know to represent the evil one!
Immediately following this parable we see one of a woman hiding leaven. Leaven is always a symbol for false doctrine (in this case that which false teaching produces). Then they understood that He did not say to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and Sadducees. (Mt 16:12) (See Luke 12:1, 1 Cor 5:6-8).
The three measures of meal (ground seed) is the Gospel of God. A woman has inserted leaven in the lump! The Kingdom of God therefore is inflated with the spread of sinful doctrine.
Apostasy is at work in Christendom today to hinder the preaching of the word. Also false “believers” are degrading the testimony and fellowship in the church. Widespread also are the works of false teachers sowing the devil’s seed of a leavened gospel.
Yet the Lord will remain victorious. The Lord Jesus declares triumphantly the victory to take place in the soon coming end of the age:
The Son of Man shall send out His angels, and they shall gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who do iniquity, and shall cast them into a furnace of fire. There shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous shall shine out like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear (Mt 13:41-3).
We at present who have ears to hear enjoy the reward of knowing the true Word of God. Jesus said to them, Have you understood all these things? They said to Him, Yes, Lord. Then He said to them, Therefore every scribe who is instructed concerning the kingdom of Heaven is like a man who is a householder, who brings out things new and old out of his treasure (Mt 13:51-2 ).
The Pictorial Bible Dictionary (Zondervan Publishing House, 1967 — Merrill C. Tenney, Editor — Pg. 52) defines apostasy this way:
A falling away, a withdrawal, a defection. The Greek word is twice found in the NT, but in neither case is it rendered “apostasy” in the English version. In Acts 21:21 Paul is falsely accused of teaching the Jews “to forsake Moses” (lit. “apostasy from Moses”). In II Thess 2:3 Paul assures the Thessalonian Christians that the day of the Lord shall not come except the falling away (lit. “the apostasy”) come first, and the man of sin be revealed. Apostasy, not in name but in fact, is often referred to in both testaments. OT Jews are rebuked for it. It is condemned in the Epistle of Jude. Biblical examples of it are Saul (I Sam 15:11); Hymenaeus and Alexander (I Tim 1:19, 20); Demas (II Tim 4:10).
In his letters to Timothy, Paul sets out some of the characteristics of an apostate people, though in the pertinent passages, he does not use the word. In 1 Tim 4:1-6, he writes, “Now the Spirit expressly says that in the latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron, forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. For every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be refused if it is received with thanksgiving; for it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer. If you instruct the brethren in these things you will be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished in the words of faith and of the good doctrine which you have carefully followed.”
He says, Do you want to be a good minister? Here’s how: Tell them about their liberty in Christ, and steer well clear of legalism. For the beginnings of legalism are the beginnings of apostasy. That is not to say that we have license to sin. There are many prohibitions in the NT that apply to the Christian, but the social restrictions found in many churches are themselves sinful insofar as they deny the liberty we have as children of God. They mean well, but they put the emphasis on behavior and not on faith. Increasing in the knowledge of God is the only pathway to godliness, and it comes through diligent study of doctrine, not through self-improvement or self righteousness.
In 2 Tim 3:1-5, Paul describes the character of apostate Christians this way: “But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!”
It is interesting that the characteristics described in this passage do not have to do with morality, but with attitudes. Selfishness, greed, avarice, bitterness, hatred, lying hearts, meanness, stubbornness, pride, sensuality — all hallmarks of those whose righteousness is rooted in self and not in God. They deny the power of God to bring conformity into the lives of His children, seeking instead to transform sinners into saints by their own efforts. They deny the liberty that Christians have in Christ. Their form of godliness is an outward show that masks (poorly) the mean spirit that moves them. It is that certainty in the pits of their stomachs that they are not themselves who and what they demand others to be that drives their bitterness and meanness. Pride will not allow them to admit that they know nothing of sound doctrine. They cannot acknowledge that their religion is the same as every other false religion in the world; it is about the worthiness of man for blessing. It is about making man better so that he can become worthy. We will never be worthy of blessing this side of the rapture, and it is folly to demand that we try. It leads to the characteristics Paul wrote of to Timothy. Our blessings come from the grace of God, and they are given to us on account of our faith, not our superior behavior.
Christian ministry to other Christians is about teaching. It is about doctrine, not about sin and conduct. It is about edification, not about judgment and condemnation. Paul’s two letters to Timothy abound with exhortations to godly living, but godly living has much more to do with being sound doctrinally than with moral conduct. Moral conduct will not lead to sound doctrine, but the pathway to a moral life is marked by the milestones of sound doctrine. Paul begins the second chapter of 2 Timothy by saying, “You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also” (vv. 1-2). He had said previously, “Hold fast the pattern of sound words which you have heard from me, in faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. That good thing which was committed to you, keep by the Holy Spirit who dwells in us” (1:13-14). In the passage quoted above (1 Tim 4:1-6), Paul tells Timothy that if he wants to be a good minister, he must instruct the brethren in Christian liberty. The emphasis is on warning them and teaching them to recognize apostasy. For Paul was aware of the great subtlety of the devil.
We have been separated from the world unto God. We are holy. Those who are unholy are those whose affections lie with the world and its systems, standards, and its judgments. Apostasy is a departure from that which was previously held to be true. The professing church today misconstrues holiness, equating it with moral purity. However, moral purity does not produce holiness. Rather, holiness produces moral purity. The apostate church has turned its eyes and its thoughts away from God preferring to look at and contemplate itself and its own righteousness. In doing so, it has become like every man-made religion, having a form of godliness, but denying its power.
Striking examples of apostasy are found in the parables of Matthew thirteen. In reference to one of those parables, Scofield writes (Holy Bible– Scofield Study System, Oxford University Press, 2002, Pg. 1327):
The interpretation of the parable of the treasure which makes the buyer of the field to be a sinner who is seeking Christ has no warrant in the parable itself. The field is declared to the world (v. 38). The seeking sinner does not buy, but forsakes the world to gain Christ. Furthermore, the sinner has nothing to sell; neither is Christ for sale or hidden in a field; nor, having found Christ, does the sinner hide Him again (compare Mk 7:24; Acts 4:20). At every point the interpretation breaks down.
The field is the world (v. 38), which was purchased by our Lord at the priceless cost of His own blood in order that He might have the treasure (1 Pet 1:18). As Israel was God’s treasure in OT times (Ex 19:5; Ps 135:4), so there is at the present time “a remnant [of Israel] according to the election of grace” (Rom 11:5). Those who compose the remnant are no longer reckoned as Jews (Gal 3:28), but as members of the “one body” together with saved Gentiles (Eph 2:14-18; 4:4) and thus Christ’s inheritance (Eph 1:18) and His joy (Heb 12:2).
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