Apostasy: The Negative Response to the New Covenant, Part 1

Hebrews 10:26-27

     Father, we thank you for the sweet expression of that song.  Oh, what a joy it is to know that we can rejoice because of who you are and what you've done for us.  And, Father, we cannot but speak words that don't even begin to tell of the joy in our hearts.  Father, overwhelm us just with the rejoicing that is ours because of what you've done.

     And now, as we look at your Word, oh, Father, we pray that you'll bore within your hearts a deep, deep hunger for your truth that can only be filled by it.  And, Father, press upon our minds the urgency of the hour in which we live, and give to us a great compassion for those without Christ.  And, Father, make us teachable tonight, that we might be instructed out of thy law. 

     Bless those who are among us who've never met Jesus Christ.  May they tremble under the Word of God, and, not only that, but may they be drawn to the love of Jesus Christ as well, that this might even be the night of their salvation.  We thank you, in Jesus' name.  Amen.

     Our lesson tonight comes from the tenth chapter of Hebrews.  Hebrews, chapter 10, we will be considering verse 26 through 39 in this message.  The subject, "Apostasy:  A Negative Response to the New Covenant."  And I have to say that, as I told you at the very beginning, there were going to be five warnings in the Book of Hebrews, warnings to the intellectually convinced, who know that Christianity is true but have never committed themselves to it honestly and truly. 

     And of those five warnings, this is by far the most terrifying and the most serious.  In fact, it may be the most serious warning in all of the Scriptures.  It deals with the subject of apostasy. 

     Now, I told you last time that once the new covenant is presented, or the gospel of Jesus Christ is presented, there are only two possible responses.  When a man knows all there is to know of the gospel, when he hears all the truth there is to hear, he either believes unto salvation or he disbelieves and becomes an apostate.  Apostasy is the sin for which there is no forgiveness.

     Now, apostasy is not a new problem.  Let's talk about it so we understand what it is.  In Deuteronomy 13:13, the Bible says this.  "Certain men, worthless fellows, are gone out from among you and have withdrawn the inhabitants of their city, saying, 'Let us go and serve other gods, which ye have not known.'"  Now, that, in a sense, is apostasy.  It is drawing away from the true God to false gods.  That's what it means to be an apostate.

     And we are saying, then, that someone who comes to Christ all the way up to the edge, knows the truth, believes it to be the truth, and then, in unbelief, finally turns and walks away, never having committed himself to Christ, has done essentially just that.  He has turned away to other gods, going away from the truth to falsehood.

     Now, in Deuteronomy, this is again indicated to us in chapter 13, following the text we just read, beginning in verse 14.  He says in 13:13 that thing that I just read to you.  Then in 14, "Then shalt thou inquire and make search and ask diligently.  And, behold, if it be truth and the thing certain, that which abomination has wrought among you, thou shalt surely smite the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword, destroying it utterly, and all that is therein, and the cattle thereof, with the edge of the sword."

     "And thou shalt gather all the spoil of it into the midst of the street thereof and shalt burn with fire the city and all the spoil thereof every whit for the Lord thy God.  And it shall be an heap forever.  It shall not be built again.  And there shall cling nothing of the cursed thing to thine hand, that the Lord may turn from the fierceness of His anger and show thee mercy and have compassion upon thee and multiply thee as He has sworn unto thy fathers when thou shalt hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God to keep all His commandments which I command thee this day to do that which is right in the sight of the Lord thy God."

     Now, God's attitude toward apostasy is indicated there.  This situation, given a particular city which became apostate, became then at the same time the object of God's wrath.  And He said if such a city does that and turns from God to false gods and to idols, I'll destroy it and wipe it off the face of the earth and it'll never be rebuilt again.  That's God's attitude toward apostasy.

     In chapter 17, beginning at verse 2, we find in Deuteronomy also another indication of apostasy and God's attitude.  "If there be found among you," beginning in 2, "within any of thy gates which the Lord thy God giveth thee, man or woman who hath wrought wickedness in the sight of the Lord thy God in transgressing His covenant, and hath gone and served other gods and worshipped them, either the sun or moon or any of the host of heaven which I have not commanded, and it be told thee, and thou hast heard of it and inquired diligently, and behold it is true, and the thing certain, that such abomination is wrought in Israel, then thou shalt bring forth that man or that woman who hath committed that wicked thing under the gates, even that man or that woman thou shalt stone them with stones until they die."

     Now, that's God's attitude toward apostasy.  That's God's attitude toward one who knows the truth, is identified with the truth, belongs to the organization that holds the truth, turns around and walks away.  God is very serious in dealing with them.  God hates apostasy. 

     In the case of Saul, we have an example of an apostate, King Saul.  I Samuel 15:11, "It repented me that I have set up Saul to be king, for he has turned back from following me," said God.  Amaziah, another example, II Chronicles 15, verse 14 and 27 say this.  "Now it came to pass, that after Amaziah was come from the slaughter of the Edomites, that he brought the gods of the children of Seir, and set them up to be his gods, and bowed down before them.  Wherefore the anger of the Lord was kindled against Amaziah.  They sent to Lachish after him, and slew him there."

     Apostasy, you see, is nothing new.  Nor is God's attitude anything new.  God has always hated that most abominable of sins, the sin of a man who knows the truth, knows it completely, and identifies himself with the people of the truth, then, after a given time, turns his back and walks away.  That is the most serious sin in all of Scripture.

     Now, here in our text, we find a presentation, in Hebrews 10, of apostasy, New Testament vintage, the negative response to the new covenant.  Now, you remember that in the Book of Hebrews, the Lord is presented to us as the mediator of a new covenant.  And in every way Christ is superior to everything in the old covenant.  We've been through this so many times.

     He is a perfect priest with a perfect sacrifice, therefore securing a perfect covenant.  He provides everything the old covenant couldn't provide:  forgiveness of sins, full and forever; access to God, full and forever; salvation to the uttermost, full and forever.  All of these things the old covenant was only temporarily and partially providing. 

     Now, it's taken ten chapters for the writer of Hebrews to present the superiority of Christ, and finally, beginning in verse 19, He asks for a response.  And the first response He asks for is positive.  He asks for three things.  Verse 22, "Let us draw near."  Verse 23, "Let us hold fast."  Verse 24, "Let us consider one another."

     And what He's saying there is "Come on.  You've come this far.  You know it's true.  Don't linger on the edge.  Come all the way to Christ."  And there are three parts that are demanded of a man who would come to God.  Faith, "Let us draw near with a true heart, in full assurance of faith.  Hope, "Let us hold fast the profession of our hope.  And love, "Let us consider one another to provoke unto love.

     And so He is asking for those things, the triad of Christian virtues, the three things that must make up true salvation:  faith, hope and love.  And He is saying, "Be for real.  Come on to Christ.  Exercise your faith.  Hold on.  And stay in the fellowship.  Don't forsake the fellowship.  Don't go back.  Stay."  That's the positive response.

     Now, there were Jews in the congregation to which He wrote who were in danger of going back to Judaism.  They had come all the way up, and it all looked so good, and everything looked so rosy.  And initially their hearts were warm, and it was kind of exciting.  And then they began to get persecuted, and, as the persecution arose, they began to kind of fade a little bit, and they were in danger of turning around and going back to Judaism.  And if they had done that, with full knowledge and full revelation, they would've been apostates.

     And in Hebrews, chapter 6, the Bible says if a man has had all the revelation there is and turns around and walks away, it is impossible for him to be renewed again unto what?  Unto repentance.  So for a man to know the truth and turn his back and walk away from it is a tragic sin, which steps...puts him, I should say, as stepping outside the grace of God.

     And so He urges them in verses 19 to 25 to be for real, and to secure their salvation by not going back.  You see, Jesus said in John 8:30, it says in verse 30, "Many believed on His name."  In 31 He said, "If you continue in my words, you are my disciples."  Not just superficial believing, but continuing.

     In John 15:6, He said, "The true branch abides."  The true branch abides.  The branch that's attaching itself for a little while and never bears any fruit, He chops it off and burns it.  The true branch abides and bears fruit.  So He's really asking for conversion.  He's really asking them to come all the way to Christ and to remain there.

     Then from 26 to 39 He takes the negative side.  And He says to them, in effect, there, "Don't do the opposite.  Don't be an apostate."  And He emphasizes three things.  He gives them three things:  the nature of apostasy, the results of apostasy and the deterrents to apostasy. 

     Now, please understand as we go that we will clearly define apostasy in case you're still a little bit foggy about some of the issues that are involved in it.  Let's, to begin with, look for a definition of apostasy.  Verse 26, the nature of apostasy.  "For if we sin willfully, after we have received the knowledge of the truth," stop there.  That is a definition of apostasy.  It is one who has received the truth and who has then rejected the truth.  He has received the truth totally.  He has rejected it totally.  That is an apostate.

     Now, the word "apostasy," which doesn't appear in this text, but appears in a couple of other texts, twice in the New Testament, is a terrible word.  It means a falling away.  It means a withdrawal.  It means a defection. 

     The word is used in Acts 21:21 when Paul was falsely accused of teaching the Jews apostasy from Moses.  It is used again in II Thessalonians 2:2, when it says, "In the latter days, before the coming of the end, there will be a great apostasy, or falling away."  It means to fall away.

     Jesus predicted that it would happen, in Matthew 24 and verse 10, that people would do this.  It says, "And then shall many be offended and shall betray one another and shall hate one another.  And many false prophets shall arise and shall deceive many.  And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall grow cold.  But he that endures to the end shall be," what?  "Saved."

     You see, one of the facts of salvation is that the truly saved one continues.  He continues.  The apostate joins the outfit, signs up, lines up, tacitly believes it, then somewhere along the line turns his back and walks away. 

     I'll never forget when I was younger, I had a friend.  His name was Ralph.  And Ralph and I used to go and witness places.  We'd go down to Pershing Square once in a while and share Christ.  There was always something I felt in Ralph's life that was missing.

     We played some ball together, so we were pretty close friends.  He was raised in the church.  From occasion to occasion, we would have opportunity to witness and to talk to people about the Lord, and so forth and so on.  And then all of a sudden Ralph disappeared from my life.

     Then I met somebody about three years later who happened to know Ralph, and I said, "Hey, how's Ralph?"  To which this person replied, "Oh, Ralph's an atheist."  And I said, "He's what?"  She said, "Oh, he's an atheist.  He doesn't believe in God.  He's living in amorality.  He's accepted Fletcher's situation ethics and concluded there is no God." 

     Now, you'd question yourself, I mean, and say, "What happened?"  Now, my theology allows for the security of the believer.  What happens to Ralph?  And, as much as I hate to say it, and I shudder on the inside to say it, and I would not say it apart from the knowledge of the Word of God, it is very possible that Ralph is an apostate, that it is now impossible for him to be saved.

     I talked with him one time later.  We met at a certain thing.  And I said, "Ralph, is it true?"  And he said, "Yeah."  And I said, "How could you do it, Ralph?  You knew the truth.  I thought you even knew the Lord."  "Ah," and he passed it off.  And then I tried to share Christ with him, and it was like talking to a concrete wall. 

     He knew everything there was to know.  He knew as much about the truth as I did.  And one day he turned his back and walked away.  And I say he never knew Jesus Christ, because, if he had, I John 2:19, "he would have continued with us.  But he went out from us, that it might be made manifest that he never was of us."  That's sad for Ralph.  He's an apostate.  And I only say that from my information.  Our Lord knows.

     Now, this is what we're talking about.  And we ask ourselves the questions time and time again.  What about so-and-so?  They used to come to church.  Gone.  Well, maybe they're a carnal believer who's having a brief period of time away from the fellowship of the Lord.  That's very possible.  Not everybody who doesn't come to church for a few months has apostatized.  I want you to understand that.  And we'll see more about that as we go.

     But apostasy has always been a fearful thing.  You know, there were angels who were apostates.  Did you know that?  Did you know that all of the demons who lived in heaven with God knew the truth?  Did you know that?  And Satan came along, and he got all those angels to follow him in a rebellion.  They knew God, and they knew the truth of God.  They apostatized.  They turned their backs on God.  They joined with Satan.  They got booted out of heaven.  There are apostate angels.

     And you know what happens to apostate angels?  Jude 6.  "And the angels who kept not their first estate but left their own habitation, He hath reserved in everlasting chains unto darkness, unto the judgment of the Great Day."  They're damned forever, and they're chained forever.  They are apostate angels.

     Now, not all of them are bound.  Some of them are running around loose.  But even the loosed ones know that judgment is coming on them.  And we'll see that a little later.

     Now, the apostle Paul said apostasy is going to be a bigger problem in the last days.  I Timothy 4.  "Now the Spirit speaketh very expressly," or very pointedly, "that in the latter times," the last days of the church, "some shall depart from the faith." 

     Now, what does he mean?  Some shall turn their backs on the truth that they know to be truth, and shall give heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of demons.  They'll follow their flesh, and they'll follow the system that is being run by demons, pulling them away, speaking lies and hypocrisy, having their conscience seared with a hot iron, no longer sensitive to the gospel.  You heard of anybody like that?  That's an apostate.  That's Ralph.  The gospel doesn't reach them.  This is going to happen in the last days. 

     And in the text that I mentioned earlier, II Thessalonians 2, "Don't be soon shaken in mind or be troubled, neither by spirit or by word nor by letter as from us, as that the day of the Lord is present.  Let no man deceive you by any means, for that day shall not come except there come the apostasy."

     And so in the end times, the times in which we live, apostasy will become a greater problem than it's ever been.  But there've always been apostates.  There has never been a time when there haven't been apostates.  And if you study your Bible carefully, you'll find them popping up in a lot of places.

     Let me introduce you to one.  His name was Demas.  Now, if ever there must have been an irresistible man in the world, it would've been Paul.  What a beloved man.  What a Christlike man.  And if anybody ever spent much time with the apostle Paul, there's no question in my mind but that that guy would know the truth.  Right? 

     Demas knew the truth.  But listen to II Timothy 4:10, one of the saddest verses you'll ever read.  And I imagine there were tears in Paul's eyes as he wrote this.  He says in verse 9, "Timothy, do thy diligence to come shortly unto me."  You say, "Why, Paul?"  "Because I'm lonely, and my heart is broken."  "Paul, what happened?"  Verse 10, "Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world."  Isn't that sad?

     You say, "Demas, you fool.  You must know.  I mean, those years with Paul and all that he is, how can you walk away like that?"  And Paul says, "It hurts, and I'm lonely, and Demas is gone.  Timothy, could you come and see me?"  You say, "Well, I thought real strong super Christian leaders didn't need to be comforted."  Guess again.  Sometimes they suffer the deepest hurts that are possible, just like anybody else.

     And then of course you have the classic apostate of all time, a man by the name of Judas Iscariot.  If it was one thing to company with Paul and walk away, imagine what it must've been to company with Jesus for three years, turn your back and walk away.  And then when you've done that, sell Him for what amounts to about $17 to $25, the Son of God.  That is apostasy.  Judas is a classic.

     And there is a place in the Judas part of hell for every apostate.  For what is apostasy but another Judas kiss?  It would've been bad enough if Jesus had been kissed by one Judas.  He's been kissed by a million Judases since, who have feigned love and feigned interest and feigned being a part, and walked away.

     Now, you say, "Well, what causes people to do that?"  I mean, if they know the truth, and the beauty of the gospel, and even as Neil was saying tonight, if they've seen the foolishness of the gospel and what real wisdom it is, and they've seen it unfold in their lives, as they've been a part of what's going on.  Not that they were ever saved.  They were just there, and they were involved.  Whatever causes them to go away?

     Well, the Bible lists several things.  Let me tell you what they are.  Number one is persecution.  Persecution is a problem, and some people are apostates because they can't handle persecution.  Now, we've been talking about that on Sunday morning, and that's just part of the Christian life.  Right?

     In Matthew 24, verse 9, "They shall deliver you up to be afflicted, shall kill you.  You shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake."  We just read this, but let me read it again.  "Then shall many be offended and betray one another."  You see, when the persecution comes, some of the people are going to run.  Some people can't take the persecution. 

     8:13, you remember the parable of the seed, of Luke.  "They on the rock are they who, when they hear, receive the Word with joy, and these have no root," watch, "who for a while believe and in time of testing," do what?  "Fall away."

     There's another thing.  That's false teachers, verse 11.  "And many false prophets shall arise and deceive many."  Apostasy comes as a result of false teaching.  Not just false teaching.  You've got to have the right attitude to receive false teaching, or the wrong attitude.

     In II Timothy 4:4, listen to this.  This is so sad.  "There will come in the end time," verse 3, "teachers having...and people who will heap to themselves teachers having itching ears, and they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned unto fables."  Another problem that turns people into apostates is false teaching.  But false teaching only affects those who are ready for it.

     There's a third thing, temptation.  Apostasy comes sometimes because people can't handle temptation.  And that turns them from Christ.  And it may be, friends, not just one of these things, but a combination of all of these things.  Remember the seed that was sown on the ground and the thorns grew up and persecution came and choked it out?  They were gone.  Temptation.

     Then another one is worldliness.  "Demas hath forsaken me, having loved," what?  The system.  "Demas wanted what the system offered, not what I had to offer."

     Then we come into the Book of Hebrews.  There's another thing that causes apostasy, and this is one of the saddest things imaginable.  Grab this