God’s Evaluation of Apostates

Transcript

GR 806
12/11/1989
God's Evaluation of Apostates
Jude 1:12-16
Gil Rugh

We're in the Book of Jude in our study together today. The Book of Jude, a little book dealing with the subject of apostates and apostasy. It's a call to the church of Jesus Christ to battle. To become more discerning. To take a stand and oppose apostates. Now that sounds easy at the outset, but you must understand that our, that apostates are those who profess to have a relationship with Jesus Christ. They claim to belong to the living God. They teach some things that sound like they do belong to the living God. But in reality they have no relationship to Him. They have infiltrated the church and are there to disrupt the church of Jesus Christ, to turn it away from Jesus Christ and to mar its testimony for Him. Jude has given us some examples, both groups and individuals from Old Testament history regarding apostates. In verse 11 he talked about Cain, Balaam and Korah. Cain is an example of a man who thought he could worship God in his own way rather than God's way. Balaam is a man who would make whatever adjustments he needed for money and material benefit. Korah was a man, an apostate, who would not accept the authority that God appointed in the persons of Moses and Aaron.

Now Jude wants to talk about the character of apostates. And before we look at the section beginning with verse 12, let me tell you again that when you're dealing with apostates and apostasy, it is crucial that you evaluate them looking for what is wrong in their ministry and message, not what is right. That is a marked difference. For example, we talk about the Mormon church today. My understanding is that this cult is in conflict with the Word of God. But there are areas in the Mormon teaching that I could say I would agree with that. And I might come up with a list of things that I agree with. But that's not really what is significant. What is significant is what is wrong in their teaching and doctrine.

Perhaps an example that more of you are familiar with, the Roman Catholic Church. I have much in common as an evangelical believer, with Roman Catholicism and their doctrine. I believe in the virgin birth, I believe in the deity of Christ, I believe in His literal crucifixion, in His bodily resurrection, and son on. But what is really significant is where the Roman Catholic Church is in conflict with the Word of God and what it teaches about the way of salvation. Now I must be very careful that when I'm dealing with these kinds of people and these kinds of issues that I am examining them looking for what is wrong, not what is right. And it's even more important as we come to the issue of apostates, because apostates are men, or women, who claim to be believers in Jesus Christ, claim to teach the truth of Christ. They are Satan's counterfeits. That means he is going to make them look like the real thing. Balaam was an example. If you looked at the blessings that Balaam pronounced upon Israel, you would have to say he is God's prophet. But you had to look at the areas that are wrong in Balaam's life and teaching to appreciate that he is an apostate. When you make a counterfeit you have to make it look like the real thing. For example, if I would go into the store and say uh this is a 20 dollar bill. I want to pay for my merchandise. No one would accept it. Why? It doesn't look at all, in any way, like a 20 dollar bill. When you're going to make a counterfeit 20 dollar bill you have to make it look as much like the original as you can. And we as Christians get trapped by this. Because apostates, we'll use television apostates since we're familiar with uh ministry of the television uh ministers. Not all of them are apostates by any means. But we're familiar with some who are, obviously. We look at them and say, oh yes, he uses the Scripture.

What he said that time was very good. Used to have a family that attended here. They no longer live in the city. And when I would mention one of the modern-day apostates that are on television. He would invariably write me a note and tell me about the good things this man had said or done. And I could not disagree that when he said that, that was correct. When he did that, that was very good. But the significant thing about that man and his ministry is the areas of conflict with the Word of God. I say that because we as believers have to be careful as we come to apostates. They're going to be individuals that it's going to look like we have a lot in agreement with in certain areas. Otherwise, they wouldn't be counterfeits. They are going to look a lot like the real McCoy, so to speak, in many areas. Otherwise, they wouldn't be a good counterfeit. We're going to have to scrutinize carefully to see where they conflict with the Scripture. What Jude is going to do now is unfold the character of these apostates. The believers in Jude's day have the same problems you and I have. It's hard for me to see an apostate like God sees him. As wretched, as hopeless, as vile as God says he is. And we're going to look at verses 12 to 16, and I have to say that you almost get the idea that maybe Jude has overdone it here. Maybe he has overstated his case. But keep in mind he's writing under the inspiration of the Scripture. This is God's evaluation of apostates, not Jude's.

Verse 12. These men are those who are hidden reefs in your love feasts. When they feast with you without fear, caring for themselves. Clouds without water, carried along by winds. Autumn trees without fruit, doubly dead, uprooted. Wild waves of the sea casting up their own shame like foam. Wandering stars for whom the black darkness has been reserved forever. Five different comparisons or analogies are given in these verses to unfold for us the character of an apostate.
First he says they are hidden reefs. He says, identifies them, these men. He talked about them this way back in verse 8. In the same manner, these men. Verse 10, but these men. Constantly wants to draw the attention back. He's given Old Testament illustrations. Then he draws the attention, now these men. Men of the same kind and character that I've been talking about that are in existence today. These kind of apostates are fellowshipping with you as believers and are being tolerated. They are hidden reefs in your love feasts. Love feats was the meal that believers came and celebrated together in connection with what we call the communion service. First Corinthians 11 gives you an example of a love feast. It was common in New Testament times that when believers gathered together to remember the death and resurrection of Christ through the communion service, they would have a common love feast together. So they would eat a whole meal. Patterned after the fact when Christ had the Last Supper with the disciples and then He broke the bread and gave the cup. This was subject to abuses. Corinth talks about abuses, the letter to the Corinthians. The rich brought their food. The poor didn't have enough, so some overate, some didn't get enough. And it seems in early church history that's why the love feast uh was discontinued. It became too difficult to control it and we just continued with the communion service. What Jude is concerned about is that in this love meal, its purpose of which was to stress the unity and oneness of believers and their commitment to Jesus Christ and His death on their behalf, these believers were tolerating apostates in their fellowship with them. They are hidden reefs. Now a hidden reef, we're familiar with what a reef is, I believe King James calls them rocks. The picture is those reefs that are under the surface, that are a threat to the ships as they come in. Particularly New Testament time with the uh sailing ships, without the modern devices to sense the depth and so on. Very great danger presented for these ships as they would come in, and the water would look fine across the surface, but right under the surface there is something waiting to bring disaster and ruin. That's the way these apostates are pictured. They are a danger to believers, because the water looks smooth, but just under the surface there is something that can bring ruin and destruction to believers.

They're hidden reefs. Now that doesn't mean they shouldn't be recognized; they shouldn't be identified; because Jude goes on to say hidden reefs in your love feasts when they feast with you without fear. Problem here is, they didn't have to be concerned that someone would rebuke them or expose them for what they are. They could just come, partake of the feast, and everybody just treated them like another believer. That presented a danger, because that put them in a position to exert influence among those Christians and thus bring some to ruin. There should have been a fear on the part of that apostate that they would have been rebuked and exposed for what they were. But no, they were tolerated. Now keep in mind, these are professing believers who are teaching the Word, wanted to lead other believers, and they should be recognized for what they are. They come caring for themselves, the word caring, shepherding. They're only interested in themselves. They are selfish. And the reason they are there, and this is going to come out as we move through this section, is, for personal gain. In other words, they're looking for what they can get from these believers. Money becomes a key factor. We've seen that in Jude; that's emphasized in other passages as well. Immorality, this provides contacts for them to lure other unsuspecting people into immoral relationships. Provides an occasion for them to disseminate their dishonoring doctrines among the church, because remember, Paul wrote to Timothy and said there are doctrines of demons that people are paying attention to. So they are there for selfish, self-centered reasons, not because of a commitment to Jesus Christ and a love for the body of Christ. Unsuspecting believers will crash on those kind of reefs.

Second description given: clouds without water. Now you'll note he jumps from one kind of picture to another. The reefs are hidden; you don't see them as you look across the water. But the clouds are something that are very visible. And they promise something, especially in the Middle East, with the dryness of that region. A cloud's coining, was a promise of the much-desired, much- needed rains. And these apostates are like the clouds. So here they're deceptive. They are promising something that they will not deliver, because they are clouds without water. They are dry. Proverbs chapter 25 and verse 14 says that a man who boasts of his gifts falsely is like a cloud without water. Same kind of picture. These men promise something that they cannot and will not deliver. For example, we'll use the television men. You turn on the television, what do they promise you? If you'll send a check, some seed faith, you'll get a blessing. So multiplied millions of people send in money. Many Christians. Why? They've been promised that their material desires will be satisfied. They'll get a better job. They'll have better income. Their physical problems will be dealt with. But it's a lie. They're clouds without water. They promise all kinds of physical, spiritual blessings, but you don't get them from apostates. But they look good. They look like something that would really deliver. The cloud looks like it has rain in it, but it doesn't. There you see something of the deceptiveness of the apostate.

They're called autumn trees. And the autumn trees are without fruit. By their fruits you shall know them, Jesus said in Matthew chapter 7. A good tree brings forth good fruit; a bad tree brings forth bad fruit. So the character is displayed in the life. We ought to look closely, both at the doctrine and at the life of this individual. They are autumn trees, trees literally at the end or after the autumn. So there's no fruit. In fact, they are doubly dead. In fact they are uprooted. You see how God drives home the point? Because someone might say well, we all have barren periods of time in our life. Or, whatever. But these are not only without fruit, they are doubly dead. Not only are they doubly dead, they are uprooted. There is no hope of any fruit, any life, ever coming out of them. They're like the shrub or the tree that you go out in your yard that you dug up last year. And it's just laying there dead as dead can be, and you just can pick it up and snap the branch, and it is dead and dry. I want out to clip a bush kind of tree that we have along our house. And I got these big clippers out, because I thought, boy this has got a big branch and I'm really going to do it. I went in and got ahold of that thing and it just snapped off before I could even squeeze. It was just dead as dead could be. I picked that up, it was like sawdust when you rubbed against it. That's these kinds of apostates. They're doubly, there is no life there. Now why would he have to write and warn believers about men who are so dead that they are in that condition, there is not a drop of life associated with them, but he has to write and warn believers about being deceived by them. Very serious situation. We as believers become gullible. We set aside our discernment, often in the name of love, often in the name of being broader, whatever. Now we have to be biblical in all those areas, but Jude is concerned that these men are being tolerated among believers. You know what happens, often, we want to look and see, and I look at that tree and I say, yes, this is what I see and it looks good there and there are certain characteristics of that that are associated with other bushes or trees and so I want to look at the good things, you might say. That has bark like that other tree has. It's coming out of the ground, it seems, like that other one is, and I begin to look in their area, so it's hard for me to deal with it the way I should. It's hard for me to deal with that man the way that I should.

Gives another example. Wild waves of the sea. Wild waves of the sea. There is a restless, uncontrolled character associated with these men. They are wild waves of the sea, casting up their own shame like foam. Now if you go along the ocean and watch it in a storm, the waves come crashing in and the foam is stirred up. Well it's their own shame that is stirred up. We've had ample example of this. Isn't it a shame, a disgrace, some of the things that come out about men that carried on supposedly Christian ministries? Isn't it an embarrassment that they were identified with the name of Christ? What a travesty that they carried on those ministries with the dollars that Christians sent to them. They turn up their own shame like foam.

Look back in Isaiah 57. Isaiah chapter 57. We're going to the last two verses of the chapter. Preceding verses tell us that God is the one who brings peace to the life, but in verse 20s but the wicked are like the tossing sea. For it cannot be quiet, and its waters toss up refuse and mud. There is a restlessness. You go down along the ocean in the morning, after there has been a storm, and the waves have churned up and all the debris on the bottom has been churned up and cast up on the shore and the beach is just a dirty mess because the waves have churned up all the filth that was under there. That's the picture of the wicked here. They're like the churning waves and they keep bringing out the filth, both in their own lives and in others, but you look over time, their doctrine, their moral character, their greed, and yet we still have Christians who would try to defend them. But they did this. But they started a home for unwed mothers. But they did.

I say wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute. They wouldn't be counterfeits if there were no points of connection with something that's genuine, at least in appearance. There is no peace says my God for the wicked. That accounts for that restless churning on the inside. They are driven to have something to satisfy them. To bring the peace that they will not come to God to experience. So they pursue sensualness and immorality, more greed, more money, more possessions. Disseminate doctrines that'll make them popular. That's the character of these kinds of individuals. And they prey upon believers.

Second Peter 2 says that they will exploit you in their greed. The men who are casting up their own shame and believers are sitting down writing them a check, saying my, aren't they wonderful. Those are the kind of issues that Jude is dealing with in this setting.

Come back to the Book of Jude. They are also called wandering stars. Wandering stars, uh there is an aimlessness. They have no stability or fixed order uh like the rest of the stars or planets in the heavens. They come like a shooting star, flash off across the sky, not in its uh fixed pattern in connection with the others and into the darkness. It's there, it's gone. That's the picture. These men are on their way to eternal darkness. You'll note here it's called the black darkness which has been reserved forever. These are men on their way to the awful blackness of hell. It's one of the striking things about apostates that they are on their way to hell and they are being used of Satan for two reasons: to lead others to hell, but also to bring confusion and unbiblical disorder in the lives of believers. So that our testimony for Christ is marred. But these are men that are destined for eternity in hell. Remember that it is the purpose of Satan to blind the minds of the unbelieving lest the light of the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ should shine in and they would experience His salvation. Naturally, people flock after these kinds of leaders and get disillusioned after time. But when believers flock after them and then they are exposed, these apostates for what they are, what does that do to the credibility and testimony of the church of Jesus Christ? It makes it all suspect, and well it ought, that we should be such a non-discerning, gullible people that we would set aside the Word of God and the discernment of the Spirit of God to follow our emotions and our feelings and support these kinds of people and these kinds of ministries is a sad state, testimony to the state of affairs in biblical Christianity. Come back

This torment has been reserved forever. Black darkness. Couple things we can say about hell. It's described as fire, indicating the suffering. It's described as darkness, indicating the isolation and it's described forever as uh indicating the duration. Hell is a place of suffering and torment in awful isolation forever and ever.

Look back in Matthew chapter 8. Matthew and the eighth chapter. If I get the right book of the Bible here. Mark is a good book, but it's not the right one. Matthew chapter 8 verse 12. But the sons of the kingdom shall be cast into the outer darkness. In that place there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. That's the destiny of the unbeliever. That's the destiny of the apostate. The tragedy of the apostate is, he is taking other people with him. The tragedy of the apostate is he's trying to influence the church of Jesus Christ and corrupt it as he moves towards his ultimate destiny of the black darkness of hell where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth. Not a very popular doctrine today, the doctrine of judgment. If you took all the teaching of judgment out of the Bible, you would end up with a very small Bible. Jesus Christ spoke more about judgment than any other person in all of Scripture.

Look over in Matthew, chapter 25. Talking about when Jesus Christ comes, and that's where Jude is moving us, to the coming of Christ and the judgment that He will mete out when He comes. Verse 30. And cast out the worthless slave into the outer darkness. In that place there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Two constant emphases: the terrible suffering, the weeping and gnashing of teeth, sometimes talked about the fire and burning and the darkness. Why the stress on the darkness? Well what do people think when they go to hell? All my friends are going to hell. So it won't be so bad. Well, they're only half- right. Maybe all their friends are going to hell, but there won't be any personal associations going on in hell. It will be terrible, awful suffering in absolute loneliness. That's the emphasis of the darkness. Just like when you're in a room and all the lights are out, there's no windows, it's what we call pitch black. You have that sense of isolation and loneliness. That's what you have in hell. Terrible, black darkness.

Look over to the Book of Revelation, chapter 14. Revelation chapter 14. Talking about those who are going to be sentenced to hell. Verse 10. He will also drink of the wine of the wrath of God which is mixed in full strength in the cup of His anger. We have to remind ourselves about the character of God here as we have before in this passage. God is a God of infinite, unmeasurable love. And that infinite, unmeasurable love is demonstrated in the death of His Son on the cross to pay the penalty for our sin. It is a love that every person who comes to trust in Jesus Christ as personal Savior will experience for all eternity. But there is also an infinite, unmeasurable wrath and anger in our God that is poured out and displayed toward those who do not come to believe in His Son Jesus Christ. And you must understand both aspects of the character of God or you will have a distorted picture. You'll say warm, gooey things like oh, a God of love could never do that. A God of love has provided His only begotten Son to pay the penalty for sin. A God of wrath and anger has determined that those who do not believe in His Son will suffer to a degree that you and I cannot imagine for the endless ages of eternity. And both are true. If there is not a God of infinite anger, there is not a God of infinite love. When that wrath is displayed, it is unmeasurable. Just like when that love is displayed it is unmeasurable.

So that's the point in verse 10. It's the wrath of God mixed in full strength. And you and I can read about it, but we don't have any comprehension of how serious it is. There is not a drop of mercy added to this cup of anger. And we're talking about a God of infinite abilities. Thus who has the ability to display a wrath that is infinite? And he's not putting one drop of mercy in that cup. Mercy is found at the cross of Jesus Christ. Love is found in the death of Christ to pay the penalty for sinners. Wrath is faced by those who will not have God's salvation. He will be tormented. This is what it means to experience the full brunt of His wrath. Tormented with fire and brimstone. Emphasis on the suffering. How do you identify hell? Tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the Holy Angels and in the presence of the Lamb. Satan does not rule hell. Hell was created for the devil and his angels, and he will be there suffering in terrible, awful isolation as other sinful beings are. But God rules hell.

The smoke of their torment. Note this: the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever and they have no rest day and night. Some false cults have tried to come up with the idea that you either go to heaven or you are annihilated and cease to exist. I would like to believe that too. The problem is that the Bible talks about hell in the same language it talks about heaven. And if there is an eternal heaven that goes on into the ages of the ages, there is a hell that goes on into the ages of the ages. And they are not burned up and consumed and gone in hell because the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever and they are tormented day and night forever and ever. You and I don't even grasp the smallest idea of what that entails. It's hard to grasp the love of God. What it will be like in a hundred million, billion, trillion years to know that I will be enjoying and experiencing the glory of His presence, and it’s just begun. Hard to grasp that with a finite mind. For me, everything has a beginning and an end. That's the way our minds are, limited by this finite world. And for the same, by the same token, it is also true that there will be people who will suffer in hell every second of every day of all eternity. In a hundred billion trillion years they'll just be beginning. And they will not experience one second of relief for all eternity.

That's what we're talking about when we say apostates who have reserved for them the black darkness of hell, the place of torment. Place that they are involved in leading men, women and young people to. That they are involved in corrupting the church of Jesus Christ so that its testimony in bringing men and women and young people to salvation in Christ is marred and ruined. And we should tolerate apostates? You know, it's this recognition of the awfulness of hell that puts into perspective the coming to earth of Jesus Christ. What makes it so tremendously significant that His being born as a human being and dying on the cross paid in full the penalty for my sin that I'm talking about. That it is either believed that Christ died for me personally or suffered the awful torment of hell every moment of every day for all eternity. We don't grasp the significance of the payment that Christ made on the cross. We don't grasp the significance of sin. We say, oh, I can't see a loving God do that. You know the real problem? It's not that we have too great a picture of God's love. We don't have a great enough picture of man's sin.

What we're really saying when we say, oh, God loves too much to do that, we're really saying, I don't know of anyone who is sinful enough to deserve that. But we wouldn't say that. We'd turn it around and try to make it look like we're really talking about the greatness of God's love. What we really want to say is, I'm not that bad. Or my friend is not that great a sinner that he should have to suffer like that. And what we really are saying is, I'd like to play God. I'll decide what sin really is and what the penalty for sin really is. And it's just like heaven. I don't think anybody deserves to go to heaven and spend all eternity in the glory of God's presence either. But it's going to happen, because God said it is. And whether I like the idea that people are going to hell or not is irrelevant. They are. Now if I as a believer would wake up and realize how serious these issues are, I wouldn't be willing to play games with apostates. Wouldn't be willing to dabble with people's eternal destinies. We'd want to draw a line. We'd want to make it clear the last thing is to want the issue blurred when we're dealing with an eternal matter. We're dealing with a personal destiny here. It's not a game that will be over tomorrow. So how can the church tolerate apostates? How can it tolerate apostasy and allow itself to be corrupted? And ruined? Then it's of no use to Jesus Christ. What does He say to the churches in Revelation 2 and 3? You either get your act together or I'll come and put out your candlestick. Why? I have no use for you. If you're not a light that draws people to me, that focuses attention on me. And we've seen that happen, because it's hard to find those churches today. Their candlestick was put out. God had no use for that church. It no longer served the purpose of the church that He had raised up.

Back to the Book of Jude. Emphasizing that apostates are on their way to black darkness forever. He draws attention to Enoch: Enoch, the seventh generation from Adam. If you go back to Genesis 5 and count the genealogical table, Enoch is the seventh from Adam. He prophesied, saying, Behold, the Lord came with many thousands of His holy ones, to execute judgment upon all, to convict all the ungodly of all their ungodly deeds which they have done in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him. Enoch, first prophet in the Bible, spoke about the judgment of God. That's not recorded in Genesis 5, but the Spirit of God directed Jude to it and records it for us, so we find out something about Enoch's ministry. You'll note, the Lord came, past tense, consistent with the way prophecy is often spoken of in the Bible. It's spoken of in the past tense, because when God says it, it is as good as done. So he talks about Christ have, having come, He came in judgment, but He hasn't come yet. So from God's perspective it's done. People have any question about hell? Any question about Christ intervening and setting up judgment and sentencing unbelievers to hell? From God's perspective it's as good as done. We are just waiting in time for it to be carried out. So God writes it as past tense. For Him it's finished history. For us we are waiting for its realization.

You note the emphasis on the ungodly in verse 15. Ungodly. Ungodly deeds. Ungodly way. Ungodly sinners. You know, I have to reorient my thinking to God's thinking. That these are the ungodly dressed up as believers. And they must be dealt with because they are destined for judgment and condemnation.

They are grumblers, finding fault, following after their own lusts. They speak arrogantly, flattering people for the sake of gaining advantage. Goes on to talk about what they do. He returns, in effect, to verses 14 and 15, a little parenthesis if you will, focusing attention on the reality of their judgment. You go back to the first prophecy of the Bible given by a prophet, it had to do with judgment. Interesting, the last prophecy of the Bible in the closing chapter of Revelation also has to do with judgment. It begins and ends with judgment.

Now he returns to their character and how they function. We got to watch here. Apostates infiltrate their thinking and their conduct, and what are they doing in the body? They are corrupting the body, and here you see what's going on? They are grumblers. Finding fault, following after their own lusts. Speaking arrogantly. Flattering people. What's happened to the church of Jesus Christ today? In our own country? I'll tell you what has happened. They have tolerated apostates. Paul wrote to the Romans and said, mark those who cause divisions and don't have anything to do with them. The church tolerates them, and you know what happens? They spread. They are grumblers. The word means someone who discontentedly complains. One characteristic of an apostate is, he is discontent. He complains about things. Not quite the way he wants it.

Next statement elaborates further. Finding fault. They're always criticizing something. Something is never right. I'm concerned. You know, apostates bring this kind of thinking and we as believers absorb it. All of a sudden we're discontent. We complain about this, we complain about that. We're not happy with this. We as a church experience it. People complain about this. We say, let's make a change, thinking now everybody will be happy. Next thing you know they're complaining about this. So let's say let's make that change. Next thing you know they're complaining about this. Say wait a minute. There's something wrong here. There's a pattern developing that makes me terribly concerned. Those who are discontentedly complaining, always finding fault about something, are manifesting character, the character of apostates, which means they are either unbelievers disguising themselves as believers or they are believers who have allowed themselves to be corrupted in their thinking by apostasy. But it destroys the church of Jesus Christ. From within. Finding fault. Discontent. Always something wrong. They follow after their own lusts. Can't satisfy them. They're going their direction. They're not following God's leaders; they're following their own lusts. This is what they want. This is what they desire. They speak arrogantly. When it comes down to it, it's pride, isn't it?

Now there always has to be, keep in mind the biblical coding for your complaint. If you're going to complain among believers you have to dress it up, don't you, in something spiritual? I mean, nobody's going to accept it if you walk in and say, I want to complain. All he does is preach about the deity of Christ. But look at him and say what kind of an apostate is that? Wouldn't be a good counterfeit here, would it? But they're arrogant. They reject God's leadership. They're always complaining about it. What are they saying in pride? I've got insights here that nobody else has. I'm more spiritual than anyone else is. So grumble, grumble, grumble about what is going on.
Concern. Are we as a church infiltrated by apostates and apostasy? Have we as believers begun to take on some of the characteristics of apostates and apostasy in our own attitudes. Flattering people for the sake of gaining an advantage. Luring people to follow after them for their own selfish ends. Serious matter. It's the church of Jesus Christ; it belongs to Him. He demands that it be molded and shaped after His character. He requires that certain things not be part of it. Apostates and their apostasy.

I have two questions. Where are you in your relationship to Jesus Christ? You might be all dressed up as a believer, but you might be a fake. You might have even disguised it enough to fool yourself. Remember Matthew 7? Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, didn't we do this in your name? Didn't we do that in your name? And He'll say, I never knew you. Comes a time when you better be honest with yourself. He will be honest with you when you stand before Him. He will reveal you as you are. Now you have a chance to be honest before Him. Have you really trusted Jesus Christ? Ever stopped and thought maybe that restlessness within is not a problem with someone else, but maybe you haven't experienced the peace of God. The discontentedness, the unhappiness, maybe there is a deeper problem. How are we doing as a church? Are we really manifesting the character of Christ? Are we really a lighthouse for Him that manifests in a clear way the beauty of His character? That our focus is upon Him and His Word and the magnifying of Him? Are we allowing ourselves to be distracted and drawn in by the kind of influence that undermines the testimony of Christ and makes us ineffective in making Him known?

Let us pray together.