APOSTASY

APOSTASY AND JUDGMENT

Most of us know anger quite well. Talk to someone who is involved with the repentance scene and you will likely hear it in their voice as they talk about the state of the church, you will see it in their eyes as they explain the wrongs associated with the hyper- prosperity, once saved-always saved or the seeker sensitive doctrines. Anger at the way that things are has been at the heart of the repentance community and is something that most of us are well aquainted with. Anger by itself is not bad, it is a tremendous motivator for the person seeking to change things. But when anger is left alone and is not coupled with action, it must end in the destruction of the ones who embrace it. Because anger must be answered, that is its nature. It demands that a wrong be addressed and if no solution presents itself, anger will inevitably lead to frustration, withdrawal and ultimately a martyr complex that can only destroy a Christian life and that is absolute poison for any move of God.

We have seen that this frustration will many times introduce a little known companion to anger named apathy. When the source of frustration seems to be such that there is no ready answer for it, apathy comes along as a form of learned helplessness. "I used to be angry about such-and-such but then I just gave up, it is never going to change anyway." And apathy crouches right now at the door of the repentance community, stealing our resolve to see change and sapping our strength for the battle ahead. I hear from people from all over the world because of my ministry email list.  And the impression that I am getting more and more often of late is that they are tired of hearing about everything that is wrong.

People in the community have grown tired of hearing about what is wrong with them, with the church and with the world. Not that they do not see the truth in what is being said, it is just that there must be an answer presented as a solution to the problems that are being exposed. WORD to THE REMNANT" Anger and Courage - A call for action -by James Smith.

I am pleased to know that the wise ones are coming to realize that there is something wrong with the hyper- prosperity, once saved-always saved, the seeker sensitive or the third wave soaking doctrines. It reminds me of my old friend Thomas Jefferson who stated:

Enlighten the people generally, and tyranny and oppressions of body and mind will vanish like evil spirits at the dawn of day. – Thomas Jefferson Letter to P. S. Dupont de Nemours, Poplar Forest, April 24, 1816

I never submitted the whole system of my opinions to the creed of any party of men whatever, in religion, in philosophy, in politics or in anything else, where I was capable of thinking for myself. Such an addiction is the last degradation of a free and moral agent.. – Thomas Jefferson Letter To Francis Hopkinson, Paris Mar. 13, 1789

Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia states the following about Thomas Jefferson:

Jefferson, Thomas (1743-1826), third president of the United States (1801-1809) and author of the Declaration of Independence. He was one of the most brilliant men in history. His interests were boundless, and his accomplishments were great and varied. He was a philosopher, educator, naturalist, politician, scientist, architect, inventor, pioneer in scientific farming, musician, and writer, and he was the foremost spokesman for democracy of his day.

Now some religious ones object to Jefferson personal life style or morality, but they do not deny the Declaration of American Independence because of it. Which is nothing but hypocrisy? They cannot deny the truth of Jefferson's words:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles, and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness . The Declaration of American Independence

Which of the religious ones can deny Jefferson stated view that all men are born free and have rights as individuals:

"Under the law of nature, all men are born free, every one comes into the world with a right to his own person, which includes the liberty of moving and using it at his own will. This is what is called personal liberty, and is given him by the Author of nature, because necessary for his own sustenance." --Thomas Jefferson: Legal Argument, 1770.

"What is true of every member of the society, individually, is true of them all collectively; since the rights of the whole can be no more than the sum of the rights of the individuals." --Thomas Jefferson to James Madison, 1789.

"I have never been able to conceive how any rational being could propose happiness to himself from the exercise of power over others." --Thomas Jefferson to A. L. C. Destutt de Tracy, 1811.

In every government on earth is some trace of human weakness, some germ of corruption and degeneracy, which cunning will discover, and wickedness insensibly open, cultivate and improve." --Thomas Jefferson: Notes on Virginia, 1782.

In every country and every age, the priest has been hostile to liberty. He is always in alliance with the despot ... they have perverted the purest religion ever preached to man into mystery and jargon, unintelligible to all mankind, and therefore the safer engine for their purpose. – Thomas Jefferson to Horatio Spafford, March 17, 1814

For unfortunately down through the ages men do not change and power and greed corrupts them. As Jefferson stated:

"When we come to the moral principles on which the government is to be administered, we come to what is proper for all conditions of society. Liberty, truth, probity, honor, are declared to be the four cardinal principles of society. I believe that morality, compassion, generosity, are innate elements of the human constitution; that there exists a right independent of force." --Thomas Jefferson to Pierre Samuel Dupont de Nemours, 1816

"The sheep are happier of themselves than under the care of the wolves." -- Thomas Jefferson: Notes on Virginia, 1782.

Jesse Rich in his article “A True Hunger for God and His Word” http://jesserichministries.com/ writes:

After being born again, there are two areas that we need to develop quickly in order to grow and develop spiritually.

# 1: we need to develop our personal prayer life;

# 2: we need to gain a knowledge of God's Word. Once a person receives Jesus as their Lord and Savior, they need to grow and develop spiritually to where they can resist the attacks of the devil with boldness and the utmost confidence. They need to be able to take the Word of God and turn it into the sword of the spirit (Ephesians 6: 17). And if they don't grow and develop spiritually, they can either die prematurely for lack of knowledge of the believer’s authority, or be preyed upon and  controlled and manipulated by religious deception. They can also be discouraged by tests and trials, or they can be deceived in their walk with the Lord by thinking that what they believe is right, just because they go to church, or because they're saved, or just because they feel that God would never let them be deceived.

An indication that we've been born-again and really saved is in our hunger for God, but it is a hunger not just for religion, but for God Himself. For example, I know people personally that couldn't wait to get to church just to fellowship with their friends, and to sing some hymns, but they never really had a hunger or desire to be fed on God's Word or to develop a prayer life to get to know God personally. I’ve also had the same thing take place in my own meetings with people who came for some other reason than to hear the message. Thank God for churches and meetings and for Christian fellowship and ministers and songs and hymns, but we get in trouble when we allow them to become the biggest reason we’re attending the meeting.

When people don't grow and develop spiritually by developing a personal prayer life and having a hunger for God's Word, they often feel that what they have is all they need. Some signs that a person is being caught up in religion and not being caught up with God are:

- they don't really care that they never hear from God for themselves;

- they talk about their minister and their church and rarely, if at all, ever talk about what God has been doing recently in their lives;

- they usually let someone else do the thinking for them when it comes to spiritual matters;

- they would like for someone else to do all their believing, decision making and praying for them;

- you hear them say, "I love my church and my minister; he's such a nice person."

--But, you can go a long time before you ever hear them say "I sure love God," or "Jesus is first and foremost in my life."

… Religion always comes across as though it cares for you, but it really doesn’t. Religion gets angry when it doesn’t get its way. And, it always goes on a counter-attack in order to get you to submit to it. For, all throughout the gospels, it was religion as well as Satan, himself, that tried to stop Jesus.

Sooner or later, religion gets exposed when the gospel is preached with Holy Ghost conviction.