The Ohio Independent Baptist, October 1967

Gli p of Trutl, - f ron, th - G k i .s!ament By Or . l wlor II APOSTASY'' t l,t· , ... , rti " ,'l't,,t.\,, · ,, ,, k.c\ ,, 11ti • • lll i..'ll . lltllC i...'tllC l' 't'l'l\C \C't ll at tl . "' ll i...' 't' .. ... ,,,~ 111ti1g11a11t t)\ er 1t. ()tl1cr" 11,tl ,, l1c11 tt 1 111~1111 )rtcti attli ,hrt1e .. 1t ,.1, t. t i ll ,thc1, r~ ..1 ' l i111~),lltc11tl t , it . a 11ti 111..111, 111<.1rc dt, n t c, en k.11t1,, ,, 11,\t 1t n1ca11,. 111e. n1 re ,\,, ., r~ ol 1t, ..1,vft1l portent ,1nd in 1J- ... ,t1 nc . re ..1lizc that it t " , crip- ttiral t :"\ rn1 ,, ht h hc1r·1 ter1Le · the t i tllt,;~ 111 ,, hi h ,,c 11\e, and under- t .. 1nd the ,1gnif1can of it relatio n 11 urrcnt relig1 u · n1 \en1ent · and theolog1 al trend and the VY rld-wide - e un1en1cal n1 \ e f r church uni n 1n our da)' · P,1ul ,, rote t Tin1othy a recorded in I Timothy ..i: l and aid in a mo t 1gn1fi ant tatement \\i hich the Apo - tle declared to be the explicit utter– ance of the Hol}' pirit : ' 'in the latter time ome /1all depart fro,11 the faith .. :· The verbal expre ion hall depart from·' i the tran lation of the Greek verb ap/1istei111i, which mean : .. to tand away from, and from ,v h1ch the term ··apo ta y' ' i derived. The word \~the fait h' ' how clearly " hat it i from which men and \\ omen will depart. The Apo tie in- tructed the The alonian believer that the Day of the Lord wi ll not come upon the Church '·except there come (the) falling away fir t, and the man of in be revealed. . ." ( II The . 2: 3). The words "falling away' ' are the rendering of the noun form of ap/1istei111i, the Greek apostasia, in the Engli h - ··apostasy." The events ot the Day of the Lord will not take place until a great religious apo tasy ha v.-ept the world, and the per on– al antichri t emerge into world view. Found in 0 . T. Scrwptures The background and substance of the \\ ord Hapo tasy' ' ( apostasia) are found in the eptuagint Version of the Old Testament Scriptures. In Deut. 7 : 1-4. God is ues in truction to Ht s co, enant people concerning marriage of their on and daughter . and warn that they hall not inter– marry with the people then inhabit– ing the land. and state : ' For they ( the pagan inhabitant ) i,vi/1 turn a\VG) 1 th ) son from following me..." Here 1 the verb aphistei,ni. and the meaning is clear. Joshua 22: 22-23a OCTOBER, 19 67 PAGE 14 1 · , ' ll 111\,ll' l,lr cl1il . I n c ,,1111 · · t i{lll , , 1111 1\ li.1n 's sin . c 'l'l,ti11 t,f th, t 1..t Jlll snicl 1 1 tl1 l1eat.ls r>I lsr:,cl : " Ill· I ()t'tl •l'll ol gc,cls... li e ~ t l t 1,, r t l, • a 11 l Is r a · I J ~ e sha 11 k n,., ,v · • ti it 1, ... ~ i,, r cl>elli<>11 . . . against tl1 c l l rt.I . l l1 at \Vt.' 11,,,c llttilt l lS an altar t , , 111 r, , / r <, , 11 f() 11 l) \.\ 1 n g t h t! I., c, rc I• • •,. ll r ,1)1 tl11..· nt1t111 (v,. 22) ,l n<.I the vcrl1 ( \ , J ' , l ) ar ~ t 1, c ti i n l h 1, , l r I k 1 n g p,l\\~\gc lL) c.lc, cr il1~ n11c),ta, "~ l1c1 11g a re ()ll .. tgn1n,1 the 0 11c a nti onl y trt1c (i d a nti a <.lcltbcralc rcftt al to IL1llo,v 111111 . 1 n the pap ri. we read of cert ai n "1n ' ttrgcnt ·· (c1p<> ·tatci; ) being forti– lic<.i 1n a cit y aga in t whon1 a noted gen ral with trong force i ai ling tt p l he i le to reduce. There i al o the record of the burning of certain title-deed by ome Egyptian "rebel ., ( apo tato ,1 ). The hurch Father u ed both noun and verb and certain other related form of the word to de cr ibe a religiou rebellion, turning away fro1n truth to error. a defection from the Holy cripture departure from the hri ti an faith and from Chri t Him elf. They u ed the e term to de cribe a chi m, ecce ion, re– nunciation of vow , ab ence from a Chri tian service, divorce , and even a prie t' e cape from a mona ter y. Departure From the Truth The meaning in Hebrew 3: 12 i clear: Take heed, brethren lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing frorri (apos– teinai) the living God." According to Act 21 :21 Paul wa accused by hi enemie of teaching the Jews to for– sake ( apostasian) Mo, e . The Apo - tle, having warned Timothy of the apo ta y from the true faith ( I Tim. 4: 1-2) then characteriZJe the apo ·– tate rnasse ( 11 Tim. 3: 1-5), and im·· part a fi nal in truction to Timothy concerning them in II Tim. 4:3-4, '"For the time will come when they will not endure ound doctrine~ but after their own lu ts, having itching ear shall they heap to themselve teacher ; And they hall turn away their ears from the truth and hall be turned unto fables." An apo tate then, is one who in the face of divine revelation, deliber– ately and determinedly turns away from the truth of the Holy Scripture , and engages him elf with fable , fic– tion , and fal ehood . He refu es per- onal allegiance to the true Chri tian fait h, rejects the Lord Je us Chri t, and turn the grace of God into license. while till profe ing Chri - tianity and holding to a form of godline . An apo tate continue to l .. 11111 hr1s11a11 luitt1 Hll 'l 1c1cct1n 11 Hntl turning frtllll th, , n "' f> rs 111 ,v l1 llJ11 it is ccntcrec..l . p stat s r n1cn1l1 ·rs ,11 1)1 • c l rgy wit •1 uL1t l111s an(l tl1l!ir l'l l)St s <~f fo llowers l ikcwis it ho tit hr is t. A J'><l la tcs a r th cct1111c,1icists, tl1c hcatls of clcn 111in, • • t1ons 1ntcrcstccl i11 chtirch tinion an 111crgcr wit h c>t hcr rcligi(Jtts botlic ~l'hcy arc the neo-lil1crals. the ner ort ho<.lo c ·i tcntia list., the • ti- I l)ca<.i lac.lcl1<;l~, and the New Mora tty c pert~. fh cy , re the thousa n o f at1on,tl and Worlct Oline preacher~ who receive great numher of me11 ,tnd women into cht1rch n1en ber hip wit hout ,tny ge nuine confc ton of faith. They arc the ecumenic leader . ';Cho lars, and c1en ti t ~. wit whom the New Evangelicals are bt coming too friendly and for who, they how a pronounced aff1n1ty. Tl apo tate are relig1oni t whose earn mind are ab orbed by the gre dream of the one world-church. "The are the one who eperate them~elve en ual. not havi ng the Spirit (Jude 19 ). In ca e of an atomic attack o n 01 country, the ban on praye r i temp raril y u pended. - Paul Harvey. DECATUR FOUNDRY CO. INC • Div ision of J. l. Johnson & Sons Inc. 1700 N. Calhoun Street Decatur, Illinois Manufactures Annealing Pots for Malleable Foundrie ministering worldwide through missionaries and pastors • Orphans • Leprosy clln1cs • Medica l clinics • Widows' home~ • Hospitals • Rehab1l1tation wayward girls • Disaster re lief ,n Korea A ministry of compassio11. ___ ...... ...,...... ___ W rite INTERNATIONAL CHRISTIAN RELIEF 801 HADDON AVENUE COLLINGSWOOD, NEW JERSEY 08108 THE OHIO INDEPENDENT BAPTI.