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The Beginning of Apostasy

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But Micaiah replied, "If you return safely, it will mean that the Lord has not spoken through me!" Then he added to those standing around, "Everyone mark my words!" -- 1Kings 22: 28 (NLT)

Mark my words everyone. The slippery slope to apostasy starts and progresses just like this. We must realize that the small lumps of leaven spread throughout the entire batch. They set a precedent that is difficult to break away from because it becomes accepted. Realize that from the moment Jeroboam decided to lead Israel into apostasy they never recovered. Israel would see 20 different kings covering 200 years and they would all be wicked. They would all not follow God. They all maintained the pagan shrines and the idol worship. Simply put, they never recovered. Imagine you are just an average person born towards the end of that 200 year period. You were raised at the pagan shrines worshipping the golden calves. They are not referred to that way of course. They are treated with reverence. They are treated as the way we worship God. That person is just as responsible for their own apostasy as we are today following a church blindly because that was the way we always did it. The only issue should be if it is supported in Scripture, not by the elders. God would eventually use the Assyrian Empire to capture Israel, destroy its land and scatter its people. Never to be heard from again to this very day. From that point on, the rest of the Old Testament deals with the remnant of Judah. Judah would have some good kings but also had their share of evil ones. Eventually the Babylonian Empire would sack Jerusalem and take the remnant into captivity in Babylon for seventy years. Judah can't say they were not warned:

"The Lord will exile you and your king to a nation unknown to you and your ancestors. There in exile you will worship gods of wood and stone! You will become an object of horror, ridicule, and mockery among all the nations to which the Lord sends you. -- Deuteronomy 28: 36-37 (NLT)

In all of our obsession with the blessings of God today we often do not visit or talk about the curses of God. Here in Deuteronomy He specifically warns what will happen if His people refuse to keep the law He had given them. Likewise the church has been warned as well. The New Testament is filled with warnings from God about avoiding the same type of apostasy that felled the ten northern tribes and eventually Judah. What greater warning can there be than the fact that many people will say to Jesus at the end that they served Him only to be denied access to the Father and the Kingdom! We cannot feel comfortable just because we stand in a church. Read the letters in Revelation to the churches. Read when Paul instructs Timothy to guard only two things closely -- his life and his doctrine. What we believe is infinitely important to God -- not what we intend. Jesus instructed us to spread the Gospel. Not to implement theories of church growth, promote secular leadership principles in the church, create a purpose for people that is anything other than God, draw circles in the sand to teach heretical prayer principles, or turn worship into an abomination -- all for the name of Jesus!

The reality is that we are not doing it for the name of Jesus but rather in the spirit of Jeroboam. We have analyzed a situation within our own set of circumstances and think that we must fix it. We do so by compromising the very Gospel we are supposed to be spreading. We set up the pagan shrines within the walls of our own churches and then demand that the people go and worship there. We bring in 400 self-appointed prophets to make us feel as if the whole thing is really spiritual and from God but at the end of the day we will all stand before Christ. Because while the beginning of apostasy might seem small and insignificant -- the end is very real and very final.

Reverend Anthony Wade -- February 25, 2013

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Credentialed Minister of the Gospel for the Assemblies of God. Owner and founder of 828 ministries. Vice President for Goodwill Industries. Always remember that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him and are called according to (more...)
 
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