Apostasy in the Church

Many people do not see the world getting worse because they are not reading their Bibles nor are their eyes being opened by the Holy Spirit. They are so entrenched in the cares of this life that they think life is good even if they disagree with some things going on here on earth. They have accepted all the sins their families are doing just to remain friendly with them.

Most people I know who say they are Christians have entirely accepted divorce and remarriage in violation of the Word of God. Even if they do not do it themselves they are defensive about the practice when it comes to their friends and family.

The people in the churches easily rage and reject anyone who brings the Bible to clarify an error or challenge a wrong doctrine. Correction is the new hate speech even among church attendees.

2 Timothy 4:3-4

"For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths."

Galatians 4:16 "Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth?"

Those who wish to use the Bible as the standard and see Christ as the head of the church are demeaned, mocked and excluded from the group who wants to make up their own humanistic standard rather than obey God.

Luke 11:42-44 "…42 Woe to you Pharisees! You pay tithes of mint, rue, and every herb, but you disregard justice and the love of God. You should have practiced the latter without neglecting the former. 43 Woe to you Pharisees! You love the chief seats in the synagogues and the greetings in the marketplaces. 44 Woe to you! For you are like unmarked graves, which men walk over without even noticing.”…"

John 15:18-25

Disciples’ Relation to the World

18 “If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you.

19 If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you.

20 Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A slave is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will persecute you as well; if they followed My word, they will follow yours also.

21 But all these things they will do to you on account of My name, because they do not know the One who sent Me.

22 If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin.

23 The one who hates Me hates My Father also.

24 If I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they would not have sin; but now they have both seen and hated Me and My Father as well.

25 But this has happened so that the word that is written in their Law will be fulfilled: ‘They hated Me for no reason.’"

Most of the church attendees in our world today are apostates, they are the world and they are pretenders, therefore they will hate authentic believers who have been born-again. Pretenders sometimes are very subtle, hard to spot and confusing at times. They seem humble and kind until we disagree with them, then they turn into raging wolves because what we saw on the outside was a deception.

Matthew 23:27-28

27 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. 28 So you too, outwardly appear righteous to people, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness."

Anytime we experience someone who is embarrassed or hostile to the word of God even though they say they are "Christians", we are watching a Pharisee, a religious person who does not have the Holy Spirit and has never been born-again.

Here is a description of the last days church:

2 Timothy 3:1-5

Difficult Times Will Come

3 But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come.

2 For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, slanderers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy,

3 unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good,

4 treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,

5 holding to a form of godliness although they have denied its power; avoid such people as these."

Notice these people are those who have "A FORM OF GODLINESS", but deny Christ in their actions.

Matthew 15:7-9 "…7 You hypocrites! Isaiah prophesied correctly about you: 8 These people honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. 9 They worship Me in vain; they teach as doctrine the precepts of men.’ ”…"

God tells us to get away from these people. In our region of the country, it is difficult to find anyone interested in prayer and Bible study. Those who are deeply led by the Holy Spirit are few and very much alone. Some have even been asked to leave gatherings because they are to fanatically Biblical Christians. Those who have not been asked to leave have been driven out by rejection and cliquiness.

When we find a group that refuses to use the Bible but thinks they are loyal to the Bible, when they quote passages our of context to fit their desired belief we have met an apostate church.

I have met many people who say they are a Bible believing church when they violate more of God's Word than they obey. They use the Bible like the Catholic church uses an amulet or idol. Instead of searching the Bible and asking the Holy Spirit to show them truth they seek out writers who agree with what they like, and I almost never hear anyone saying they asked the Holy Spirit about anything.

John 16:13 "

However when He, the Spirit of Truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth; for He shall not speak from Himself, but whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak; and He will show you things to come."

Nowhere in the Bible does God say any man will lead you into all truth. He may use someone else who is led by the Holy Spirit but even that person must be tested by the Word of God.

1 Thessalonians 5:21 "21but test all things. Hold fast to what is good."

Isaiah 8:20

"To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them."

Many people will claim things that are not true, the test is to challenge them with the Bible and see what comes out of them. If they are hostile that is the clue they have never been born again or they would love to discuss it in humility to glorify God. Hostility is always a sign of an angry self-righteous spirit who trusts in himself or other men but do not have the Holy Spirit.

Matthew 10:14, "as Jesus sends out his disciples (two-by-two), He declares, “If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, leave that home or town and shake the dust off your feet.”

Those who love Christ and desire above all else to follow Him will never become hostile at the mention of the Bible, they will lean in and love that a discussion is about to happen.

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Let God be True and Every Man a Liar

When we discover that someone has contempt for us and will not hear the Word of God, that is the time to walk away. If they must be in your life it is best to be full of joy in the Lord and ignore their attacks.

Christ did not respond when He was accused, however, other times He chastised. There is a time to remain silent and a time to speak. Whichever it is, there must be a calm that surpasses human effort. When the Holy Spirit speaks there is no need to look back and wonder if we did the right thing, because we know it was Him and not us.

The Holy Spirit will calm us even before it is needed because our calm comes from confidence in Him, without a need to prove ourselves or convince others.

1 Peter 2:16

"16 Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God."

1 Peter 2:20

"20 For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God."

As born-again believers, we are free from the manipulation of those who wish to harm us. No matter what they do to us we are not unhinged or frazzled.

It is the goal of the devil and those he controls to cause us to become worried and angry. Christ in us is more powerful than they and will keep us peaceful no matter what if we submit to Him.

If we do not seek the approval of men we will truly be free!!!!

Galatians 1:9-11 "…9 As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be under a curse! 10 Am I now seeking the approval of men, or of God? Or am I striving to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ. 11 For I certify to you, brothers, that the gospel I preached was not devised by man.…"

"Let God be true and every man a liar."

Idolatry Comes in Many Forms

Those who use the word "reverend" or "priest for a person in a church gathering are thinking of that person as the mediator between them and God. This is idolatry.

1 Timothy 2:5-6

"For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time."

If we hold anyone on a spiritual pedestal we are idolatrizing.

Don't be an idolatrizer, someone who idolizes people. We love people, and we care deeply about our brothers and sisters in Christ, this is love, not idolatry.

No one deserves our allegiance except God. The Holy Spirit is everything to us all the time. People can be helpful as they are led by the Holy Spirit but their opinion without the Holy Spirit is just their human thoughts. We are free to dismiss what doesn't come from the Holy Spirit.

Galatians 5:22-23

"22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law."

Isaiah 11:1-3

"There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit. And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord."

We Must Hear From the Holy Spirit First and Always

Often we see things look good to our eyes based on our desires but that are against God's Word and will. When we depend on the Holy Spirit instead of our senses, desires, or the pressure of the culture around us, we are free to do what God wants....we are free indeed. Just because something looks right and good or the culture demands it does not mean it is God's Will.

Eve thought the fruit of the tree looked good to her causing her to trust her own senses rather than God's commands. She did not consult with God she merely assumed He was lying to her.

This is a common response of those who want to be Lord of their own lives. They do not believe God's Word, they trust only in themselves, and they don't even believe wiser people who walk with God. If Eve would not believe God then why would she listen to anyone else. She listened to the devil instead of God. This is what we are seeing regularly now, church attendees listening to those who are influenced by the culture and the devil listening only to them while refusing God's Word from those who seek the Scriptures and the Holy Spirit for truth.

When we see someone doing a good deed it is best to not make a judgment about it because we don't know if God directed it or if a person just likes to feel good about themselves.

Those who are doing good things as directed by the Holy Spirit do not need praise for their actions. They are satisfied with obeying God. We must be encouraging to one another but this does not mean flattery or praise. Thankfulness to one another goes a long way and ultimately ends up glorifying God not ourselves.

When we are complete in Christ we can stand alone if we have to. We love the agreement of others who are complete in Christ, they are our family, but if we don't have them nearby we are content to be alone with Christ.

John 12:26

"Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me."

Psalm 37:5-6

"Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun."

I am thankful for the brothers and sisters here on Facebook, they bless me as we agree on important things. Our love for Christ is what binds us with one another. Hallelujah!