FALLING AWAY
BIBLE PASSAGE: 1 TIMOTHY 4:1
Picture taken from
Google
Lesson Prepared by:
Krisha of Solomon’s Wisdom FB page
Lesson ideas taken from: https://www.blueletterbible.org/
JUNE 19, 2022
MEMORY
VERSE
Now the
Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the
faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;.
1
TIMOTHY 4:1
INTRODUCTION:
How sad to remember that one of our members before, professed
her faith to Jesus Christ and now she is a Muslim. She was closed to me, and I
know to some of you here. I used to stay to their place, bonding with her
family and got a free lunch almost every Sunday. She and her family took care
of me when I was a full-time worker in this church. Before, she posted
different Christian thoughts and now is different (show one of her posts-
slides). Look at her post now. How sad, right? When I saw her the first time
after converting to a new religion, I had no knowledge about her new belief, but
I felt something different, and she didn’t talk about it. Also, she avoided to
have fellowship and short talks; she declined the invitation.
How come what happened? Is she still saved or not? This is
the lesson we’re going to discuss today. Baptist believes that ONCE SAVED IS
ALWAYS SAVED because it’s biblical; there are lot of verses support to this
doctrine and this is important.
Now the
Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the
faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;.
The
expression “depart from the faith”
is where we want to center our attention. The word “depart” is the Greek aphistemi,
formed by the little preposition apo, which means “away
from,” and histemi, meaning “to stand.” The apostasy (for we bring
it over into English by transliteration) means “to stand away from.” It means
to one time profess something and another time deny that which you once
professed. Webster, who always does a good job of defining words, says that the
apostasy is the “abandonment of what one has voluntarily professed; total
desertion of the principles of faith.” Abandonment of that which was
voluntarily professed. Our Lord used that expression when He
was giving the parable of the sower. Referring to the seed that fell on the
rock, He said:
They on
the rock are they, which, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these
have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away.
(Luke 8:13)
“Fall
away” is the Greek aphistemi —
they apostatize. They professed to believe, then they moved away from it. They no longer believe; they
have departed from the faith. Apostasy would be impossible among those who are
not evangelized tribes who have never heard the gospel. An apostate is one who has not only heard the gospel, but who has
professed to believe it, and then departs from it. That’s apostasy. This word occurs also in Hebrews:
Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil
heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God. (Hebrews 3:12)
Here are
those who have professed to believe, and then they no longer believe. They have
departed from it. To be honest, we need to examine ourselves to make sure we
are in the faith. These are the days when God’s people need to examine their
relationship with Christ.
(insert
short testimony of acceptance of the gospel shared)
4 For it is impossible for
those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were
made partakers of the Holy Ghost, 5 And have tasted the good word
of God, and the powers of the world to come, 6 If they
shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to
themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame. (Hebrews 6:4-6)
With the lesson about apostasy, what are
things we need to consider becoming aware of this great sin.
LESSON OUTLINE:
1. MAKE SURE YOU HAVE
ACCEPTED CHRIST IN YOUR HEART BY FAITH AND NOT BY HEAD KNOWLEDGE.
Let’s
recite John 3:16 and Romans 6:23 by heart. “For God so loved the world, that he
gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” Romans 6: 23 says, “For the wages of sin is death;
but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
Remember
we are not saved by following the Ten Commandments which is impossible to
follow. James 2:10 says, “For whosoever
shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.”
Of course, we are not saved by our good works which is mentioned in Ephesians
2:8-9. We need to memorize these verses; it’s important. “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it
is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. Also, you are
not saved by your religion because Bible says in Acts 4:12, “Neither is there salvation in any other:
for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be
saved.”
With
this, we need to answer the two diagnostic questions:
· Have you come to the place in
your life where you know that if you died, you would go to heaven?
· If God were to ask you why He
should let you into His Heaven, what would you say?
Remember
your basis should be base from the Bible:
1 John 5:13 – These
things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that
ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of
the Son of God.
John 10:28 - And I
give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man
pluck them out of my hand.
John
3:36 - He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that
believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.
Ephesians
1:13 - In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the
gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed
with that holy Spirit of promise,
2. BUILD UP YOURSELVES
ON YOUR MOST HOLY FAITH (JUDE 20)
But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying
in the Holy Ghost
Jude has given us
instructions. He warns us that we are flying over dangerous territory. If we want to survive, these are some things we must do, and
it is mentioned in verse 20.
The word “faith” is actually the faith, the body of truth
that has been given us in the Word of God. When the first church came into
existence, it is said that they “continued steadfastly in the apostles’
doctrine” (Acts 2:42), which was the body of truth that has come down to us in
the Word of God. We must build up ourselves in that if we are to stand. In
other words, we are to study the Word of God. Let’s ask ourselves, “Why don’t
we study the Word of God?” If we are going to build ourselves up in our most
holy faith, we must have the Word of God. We can’t build a house without a
foundation. https://www.blueletterbible.org
Study to
shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed,
rightly dividing the word of truth. (2 Timothy 2:15)
All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and
is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in
righteousness: (2 Timothy 3:16)
19 Ipinapangako nila ang kalayaan, subalit sila mismo ay alipin ng
kasamaan, sapagkat ang tao ay alipin ng anumang dumadaig sa kanya. 20 Sapagkat kung nakatakas na sa kasamaan ng sanlibutan ang mga taong
kumilala kay Jesu-Cristo na Panginoon at Tagapagligtas, ngunit muli silang
maakit sa dating masamang gawain at tuluyang mahulog dito, ang magiging
kalagayan nila ay masahol pa sa dati. 21 Mabuti pang hindi na nila nalaman ang daang matuwid, kaysa
pagkatapos malaman ang banal na utos na itinuro sa kanila ay talikuran nila
ito. 22 Ang nangyari sa kanila ay nagpapatunay na totoo ang mga
kasabihang: “Ang aso pagkatapos sumuka ay muling
kinakain ang nailuwa na,”at, “Ang baboy na pinaliguan ay
bumabalik sa putikan.” (2 Peter 2:19-22)
3. PRAYING IN THE HOLY SPIRIT (EPHESIANS 1:13/
ROM. 8:26)
Ephesians
1: 13 makes it clear that once we have heard the gospel and trusted the Savior,
we are sealed by the Holy Spirit. If God
the Holy Spirit is in us, He helps us.
Likewise, the Spirit also
helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought:
but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be
uttered. (Romans 8:26)
This is a little
different from saying your prayers at night. Paul, in writing to the Ephesians,
told them to take the armor of God (you’ll notice that, with the exception of
two, every piece of that armor is for
defense). Finally, he says to them, “…the sword of the Spirit, which is the word
of God” (Ephesians 6:17) — that is that offensive
weapon. We have no other offense than
that plus “praying always with all prayer and
supplication in the Spirit…” (Ephesians 6:18). This is the type of prayer
that touches the throne of God. It is the type of prayer that gets things from
God.
This is one of the
reasons why we should prioritize praying and also attending prayer meeting.
CONCLUSION:
Let’s read John 13:18-30. This passage is
a clear picture of betrayal and apostasy. Have you imagined that the betrayer
eats with Christ, yet his heel is against Christ? Judas actually ate bread with
Jesus. He was a friend of Jesus, not an enemy. He didn’t hate Jesus; he cared
for Him. He often walked into the house of God with Jesus and had close
fellowship with Him. Judas was a follower, a choice disciple, yet Judas lifted
up his heel against Jesus. This is a picture of a horse lifting up his hoof to
kick. Judas kicked Jesus in a sense. He struck Him with the fatal blow of
disloyalty, of contempt, and of betrayal.
And
we know that God knows every person’s heart. Even a person’s inner thoughts are
known to God, as well as what a person does. No one can hide what He does from
God, not even a thought. God knows if a man is betraying His Son. He even knows
if a man is thinking about sinning and turning his back on Jesus. The more man
thinks about sinning, the more likely he is to turn back. So, his betrayal can
be predicted.
Jesus
wanted His disciples to be assured of the dignity of their call as servants of
God. Judas had betrayed the call, and his betrayal had left a bad image in
people’s minds and reflected a poor image of the ministry. It could affect some
people, causing them to question the power of Christ, even causing others to
actually withdraw and turn away from the ministry. The betrayal could cause
some disciples to become discouraged, feeling that God’s call and ministry
didn’t have the dignity that Christ claimed.
Jesus
wanted His disciples to be assured of God’s indwelling presence. Christ put
Himself on par with God. To receive Christ is to receive God. What a promise to
the believer!
Judas
was a counterfeit disciple. In public he was ideal; moral, decent, upright. No
one ever suspected him. It was what Judas did in secret that doomed him, not
what he did in public. He was a deserter, a man of the world behind the scenes.
It is possible to follow Jesus outwardly, so that everybody
thinks we are a Christian. But if we do not accept Jesus truly in our hearts,
we will not inherit eternal life.
Judas’ life is a sobering example. It should drive us to examine
ourselves whether we are really in the faith. Yet is should not make us doubt
the possibility to faithfully serve Jesus in our own lives. When we have put
our trust in Him, nobody can snatch us from his hand. Jesus himself prayed
in John 17:12: “I have guarded them, and not one of them has been
lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.” When
we have become disciples of Jesus through a saving faith, He will guard us and
lead us to eternal life.
