Vol. 37, No. 46
Sydney, Monday, November 13, 1933
Registered at the General Post
Office, Sydney, for transmission
by Post as a Newspaper-
Apostates and Apostasy
INCE sin entered the world, man hag ever needed
instruction as to what constitutes true Christian
doctrine and acceptable worship of God. Philosophy
and reason have proved insufficient to direct man in
reaching truth and in knowing how to worship God ac-
cepbably. Greek and Roman culture, art, and literature
left the individual in ignorance as to true worship. The
people could not find God, nor learn to know Him, with
all their philosophy and fine-spun reasoning. Their
governments left them helpless and hopeless. They
could restrain the criminal, punish crime, and tell how
to worship man-made deities ; but they could not teach
about the invisible Godhead, nor tell how to worship
Him acceptably.
Man must have a revelation from God in order to
know God. He is a being of such infinite qualities that
man, left to himself, has never known what constitutes
acceptable worship since the day that Cain brought an
unacceptable offering to the Lord, and by so doing
brought upon himself and his offspring an additional
curse. But God has revealed Himself again and again
to His people to teach them His law and truth.
When Pilate asked Christ, ** What is truth?” he
asked the very question raised by all intelligent creatures
who have not accepted the revelation of God given
through the Holy Scriptures. But even with an ac-
credited revelation of God and His will, the Holy Scrip-
tures, theories have been built up and the teachings of
men have been so injected into the interpretation of the
written Word that to find the truth is often difficult.
Christ commanded, Search the Scriptures ; for in them
ye think ye have eternal life : and they are they which
testify of Me.” Those who seek for truth with humility
will find it ; and the truth, when found, will make them
free.
Buf there have always been those who once pro-
fessed to know the truth, but later have lost their faith,
and become apostates to the teachings which they once
professed to believe. The Standard Dictionary defines
an apostate as * one who has forsaken the church, sect,
party, profession, or opinion to which he before adhered.”
Using this definition as our meaning of apostate in this
discussion, there have been apostates in every religious
denomination. If is not strange that there should be
such in these days of unrest and unbelief,
One characteristic 1s common to most apostates, and
thatisa desireto destroy the faith of those who believe what
they themselves once professed. Seldom do apostates
launch out into heathen lands to bring people to Christ.
They are content to let the heathen perish while they
spend all their energy sowing discord and confusion
among their former brethren. Generally it has been the
practice of apostates to attack and betray the brother-
hood with whom they once fellowshipped and worshipped.
The apostle Paul fasted the bitterness of heart that
comes to true men of God when one of their number
departs from the faith. In prison, and waiting for his
death warrant to be executed, in a letter to Timothy he
wrote :
“ Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present
world, and is departed unto Thessalonica.” °° Alexander
the coppersmith did me much evil: the Lord reward
him according to his works: of whom be thou ware
also ; for he hath greatly withstood our words. Aft my
first answer no man stood with me, but all men forsook
me : I pray God that it may not be laid to their charge.”
2 Tim. 4:10, 14, 15.
And John wrote of one who, loving the pre-
eminence,” did not receive the disciple.
The writers of the New Testament recognised that
some would leave the faith that they once professed; in
fact, apostasy was already developing, not because of
open enemies, like the priests and Pharisees, but among
their own professed believers.
Christ had the saddest of all experiences. Judas
Iscariot, one of the chosen twelve, had followed his
Master for three years or more, and occupied a re-
sponsible place among the twelve. He was strong, self-
reliant, and determined. But under temptation, Judas
decided to betray his Lord. During the prolonged meet-
ing of Christ with His disciples on the last Passover
evening, when Christ portrayed His betrayal and death,
Judas deliberately left the company of Christ and the
disciples, and bargained to betray his Master for a paltry
sum of money. No disloyalty of an apostate ever
exceeded this.