LAST THINGS
APOSTASY
DR. JIM DIXON
2 THESSALONIANS 2:1-3, 1 TIMOTHY 4:1-2, 2 TIMOTHY 4-1-4
JULY 16, 2006
Julian ascended the throne of the Roman Empire in the year AD 361 and Julian was the nephew of Constantine the Great. He was the nephew of Constantine I. Of course, it was Constantine who legalized Christianity in AD 313. It was Constantine who moved the capital of the Roman Empire from the city of Rome to the city of Byzantium and he rebuilt the city and then renamed it after himself calling it Constantinople. Today of course it is known as Istanbul. Constantine built churches and promoted the Christian faith, and his nephew Julian was reared in the Christian faith. He was reared with Christian teachers, Christian instructors. He was reared in Christian doctrine, Christian theology but in AD 361 when Julian ascended the throne, he turned his back on all of that. When he became the Emperor of the Roman Empire he re-established the Roman Pantheon and the worship of the Roman gods and he began to persecute once again followers of Jesus Christ. For Christians it seemed like the nightmare was going to begin all over again but Julian only lived a few years and he died in Mesopotamia in a battle against the Persians. His surrounding generals said that his final words, when translated from the Latin, were, ” You have conquered Galilean,” an apparent reference to Jesus Christ.
Historians debate whether Julian actually said those words. We don’t know but we do know this. Today historians look back on Julian and he is called “Julian the Apostate,” because he turned his back on the Christian faith and on Jesus Christ.
This morning our subject is apostasy and the Hebrew word for apostasy is the word “mesuba,” and this word referred to rebellion. It referred to forsaking. It referred to turning the back. It referred to treason. It referred to a person who was a traitor. The word “mesuba,” the Hebrew word, could be used in a political contest so that it was rebellion against one’s country or it could be used in a theological context where it referred to rebellion against God. What is true of the Hebrew word “mesuba” is also true of the two Greek words in the New Testament for apostasy. There is the word “peripipto.” The word peripipto is found in the Book of Hebrews, the 6th chapter, the 6th verse where the Bible says, “It’s impossible to restore again to repentance those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have partaken of the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the Word of God and the powers of the age to come if then they commit apostasy and crucify the Son of God anew and hold Him up to contempt. The word is “peripipto,” “apostasy against Jesus Christ.”
Of course, the other Greek word in the New Testament for apostasy is the word, “apostasia” from which we get the English word “apostasy.” The word apostasia is found in two places, Acts 21:21 where He refers to apostasy against Moses and of course our passage of scripture for today, 2 Thessalonians, chapter 2, where it refers to apostasy against Jesus Christ. It’s in that passage where we’re told that apostasy is perhaps the singular greatest sign that the Last Things are drawing near. “Concerning the corning of our Lord Jesus Christ and our assembling to meet Him, let no one deceive you in any way. That day will not come unless the rebellion comes first.” The Greek word is “apostasia,” “the rebellion against God.”
Now this morning I want us to take a look at two forms of apostasy. The first form is doctrinal apostasy. The last times before we enter the tribulation and the return of Christ, the last times will begin to manifest doctrinal apostasy. Of course, in 2 Timothy, chapter 4, we’re told that in the last days people will no longer endure sound doctrine. We told in 1 Timothy, chapter 4, that in the last days people will give way to doctrines of demons. They will begin to follow doctrines of demons. The word for doctrine in both of these passages is “didache.” This word didache can be found in the active and the passive tenses but normally it’s in the passive tense and refers to the content of the Christian faith, the content of what is taught, the content of the Bible, the content of the Word of God, the content of Christian truth. Didache. It’s to be distinguished from “didaskalia” which is the Greek word that refers normally in the active tense to the act of teaching. And so, we understand that in the last days and in the latter times people will no longer endure Christian content, the content of the Bible, the teachings of scripture, the teachings of God’s Word. They will no longer endure it and they will turn away and they will find teachers to suit their own liking. So, we have this description of the last times.
Of course, from the very beginning the Christian Church has been concerned with doctrinal apostasy. In the early church they crafted creeds such as The Apostle’s Creed and the Nicean Creed. These creeds were crafted to protect sound doctrine and to ward off apostasy. Parts of The Apostle’s Creed were actually crafted, we believe, in the 1stCentury because from the very beginning, the Church of Jesus Christ tried to protect the people of God from apostasy. The church convened ecclesiastical councils, the great ecumenical councils, the Council of Nicea in 325, the Council of Constantinople in 381, the Council of Calsadon in 451. These great councils were convened. Scriptures and the Bible were pored over. The Holy Scriptures were read under prayer and beseeching the Holy Spirit in order that they might protect sound doctrine and ward off apostasy. Today we have Christian schools and Christian schools almost inevitably have creedal statements, doctrinal statements, designed to protect sound doctrine and ward off apostasy.
Two weeks ago, a former U.S. Senator, Bill Armstrong, spoke here and spoke to this congregation. Bill is a member of this church and a great man and he is the new President of Colorado Christian University. Colorado Christian University has a doctrinal statement and it’s designed to ward off apostasy. Last week Kurt Unruh spoke to this church and Kurtie is a friend and a member of this church. Kurtie is the Executive Director of the new high school across the street, Valor. Valor has a doctrinal statement because this is a Christian High School so Valor has a doctrinal statement. It’s designed to ward off apostasy and to make sure that the teachers and the faculty will all affirm Jesus Christ. I believe that Valor and Colorado Christian University both have bright futures and I serve on both boards and I’m proud and pleased and privileged to serve on those boards because I believe in Christian education. I believe Christian education has never been more critical than it is today because of what is happening in our culture and indeed in our nation.
We have here at Cherry Hills Community Church a variety of schools, Cherry Hills Christian Schools, and they all have doctrinal statements that are designed to ward off apostasy. Our schools, by the way, by the grace of God, awesome and we love your kids. At the kindergarten age, we are filled to the maximum but there are a few openings in first grade and up and we do invite you to consider placing your children in our wonderful schools because we have academic excellence and we love Jesus Christ and we love your kids and we are faithful to the teachings of Scripture.
The Church of Jesus Christ at all times has been concerned with sound doctrine. Not all schools have stayed free to apostasy. You can look at Harvard University. It’s motto today is, “Veritas,” the Latin for “truth,” but of course it’s a shortened form, a safe form of their original motto which was “Veritas Christo Epiclesia” which is “Truth for Christ and the Church.” Their other motto was “Christo Englorium,” which has to do with the Glory of Jesus Christ but Harvard University has drifted into apostasy. They no longer honor Jesus Christ. They no longer train people in the Christian faith. They’ve become wholly secular. Many of their professors actually attack the credibility of Holy Scripture.
Princeton University – you can look at their shield, you can look at their flag today and on that shield and on that flag you see the words, “Vet No Testamentum.” That’s on all of their stuff today, “Vet No Testamenturn” printed on an open book and the book is the Bible. “Vet No Testamentum” means, “Old and New Testament.” It might be a shocker for some of you but you see that’s what Princeton University was all about. The slogan at the bottom means, “Under the providence of God we shall prevail,” but they’ve committed apostasy. They’ve committed apostasy and they no longer believe in the Old and the New Testament and no longer affirm the message of Christ. They, too, have become wholly secular. These are the kinds of things that we have seen over our nation’s history and more and more so as we approach which I believe to be the Last Times. We’re seeing doctrinal apostasy.
Of course, we see also in the churches. Our church, Cherry Hills Community Church, is affiliated with the Evangelical Presbyterian Church. I was one of those who helped found this denomination in 1980 in St. Louis. Our headquarters today are in Michigan. We’re a fairly small denomination and we welcome everyone who loves Jesus Christ, but we have a creedal statement called “The Essentials of the Faith.” We have a confessional statement called “The Westminster Confession,” crafted by the Westminster Divines. These documents are designed to preserve sound doctrine and to ward off apostasy but we all know that creedal statements and confessional statements do not necessarily ward off apostasy. Some denominations drift into apostasy anyway.
For 8-1/2 years I was ordained in the PCUSA, the United Presbyterian Church. Of course, over the last 20 to 30 years the PCUSA, which has 11,000 churches nationally, has drifted into apostasy, dabbled in apostasy. Of course, historically they funneled missions dollars to Marxist regimes and radical revolutionary governments and they have questioned the deity of Jesus Christ and the soteriological finality of Jesus Christ. They question that Jesus Christ is the sole means of salvation. They have dabbled in Pluralism and Syncretism, maybe there are many paths to God. Of course, most recently at their June General Assembly just last month, the PCUSA gave Presbyteries across the nation power to ordain self-avowed practicing homosexuals as clergy. So, I think you will see some kind of exodus by clergy and members from the PCUSA because they are dabbling in apostasy. Of course, they’ve decided they need to redefine the Trinity because they consider it patriarchal and so the Father, Son and Holy Spirit — some of their leaders have suggested Rainbow, Arch and Dove. In the name of the Rainbow and the Arch and the Dove… When they asked Mark Brewer of Bellaire Presbyterian Church in California what he thought of that, he said, “They might as well say, ‘Huey, Duey, and Louie!’” Mark’s a good friend of mine. He called me last week and told me that the Presbytery out there had summoned him in there to kind of chastise him for making fun of what’s happening in his denomination but it’s apostasy. It’s apostasy and these are the times in which we live.
I know most of you have studied the Old Testament and you know that with the death of Solomon, the United Kingdom was divided into the Northern Kingdom and the Southern Kingdom. The Northern Kingdom was called Israel and the Southern Kingdom was called Judah. All of the Kings of the Northern Kingdom and all of the Kings of the Southern Kingdom are mentioned in the Bible. Historians tell us that the greatest King of the Northern Kingdom was a man named Omri. He was the greatest King of the Northern Kingdom.
You might recall a few years ago we took a look at Omri as we were looking at Old Testament characters and exploring their lives. Omri was the 6th King of the Northern Kingdom. According to the Moabite Stone which archeologists have discovered, he was the greatest. He conquered Moab and the surrounding territories, expanded Israel into the Trans-Jordan. Archeologists have found ancient Assyrian records in modern-day Iraq and they found ancient Egyptian records in modern-day Egypt and they all talk about the glory of Omri. A hundred years after Omri died, Israel was still called The House of Omri. It was Omri who moved the capital of the Northern Kingdom to Samaria and built the great city of Samaria 400 feet above the plains. He was great and yet how strange that he is barely mentioned in the Bible, I Kings, chapter 16, just a few verses there. The answer is simple. He committed apostasy and in the sight of God, he was nothing.
Omri became a pluralist and a syncretist. The word “pluralism” comes from a Latin word which means, “many, three or more.” Of course, Pluralists believe that there are many paths to God, that all the religions of the world are pretty much paths to salvation and they’re all kind of equal truth. That’s Pluralism and it’s an affront to God. It’s an affront to God and the reason gave the I and II Commandments is because He hates pluralism. “You shall have no other Gods besides Me.”
Of course, if you really believe there are many paths to God and you think God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ is just stupid because He didn’t need to send His Son into the world. There are many means of salvation, many paths to God, many ways to heaven. He didn’t need to send His Son into this world and Jesus didn’t need to die. It was all a big mistake. People could have been saved without that.
If you really are a pluralist, you believe that the Great Commission given by our Lord Jesus Christ is bogus, “Go into all the world and make disciples.” You don’t believe that because they’re already got their own paths to God.
Syncretism comes from a Greek word which means, “to combine.” Syncretists take a little bit of every religion and try to combine it into a new deal. Omri did all this stuff. We know that Omri did all this stuff because what we found at the Ostraca House. The Ostraca House is in Samaria. Archeologists have found it there and it has ostraca from millennia. Do you know what ostraca are? They are small pieces of pottery. People in the ancient world used to used ostraca to send messages. They would write little notes on these small pieces of pottery and send them to someone through a carrier. People in the ancient world used to use ostraca for voting. They would cast their vote on a small piece of pottery, a small shard of pottery. Of course, as they were voting to banish someone from their nation or their kingdom and after they cast their vote, if the vote was to banish this person, they would all take their ostraca and they would just throw it at the person. That’s where we get the word “ostracize.” But, you see, ostraca was also used in worship. People used ostraca, these small pieces of pottery for worship, and they were right in the temples. In the temples where they would worship, they would write the name of God. At the Ostraca House in Samaria in ancient Israel, we can find throughout the kings of Israel, we can find that people write the name of Yahweh on these pieces of pottery – all the names of God – Jehovah Jireh, Jehovah Tsidkenu, Jehovah M’Kaddesh, the great names of God but when they come to the time of Omri, they find this ostraca is Syncretistic and Pluralistic. They find that in addition to the name of Yahweh, they got the name of Baal, they got the name of Sarte, they got the name of Egyptian and Assyrian fertility goddesses and Egyptian goddesses from the Egyptian Pantheon. It’s all there. He was a pluralist and he was a syncretist and he was condemned of God.
In America today, this is the great apostasy. You talk to people and most of them are pluralists. You talk to people and most of them are syncretists. I talk to college students, university students and most of them are pluralists and syncretists now. There is no absolute truth. Everyone’s got their own truth. There are all different paths to God. This is the new apostasy and it’s the fulfillment of biblical prophecy and it’s a sign that we are indeed approaching the Last Times.
Some of you have heard of the Nestorian Stone. The Nestorian Stone was found in 1625. It’s still being studied today. It consists of black marble and it tells us about ancient China. On the Nestorian Stone we’re told about a religion that was in China in the 6th and 7th Centuries called “Tao Chin.” It was called The Religion of Light. Just recently historians and scientists have discovered that Tao Chin, The Religion of Light, was called Christianity. Of course, according to the Nestorian Stone, it was brought to China. Christianity was brought to China by a man named Alopen. He must have been a great missionary. An historian stone claims that in Central China, Tao Chin, The Religion of Light, Christianity, prevailed amongst the rulers of China. Incredible. We never had known that before. Of course, as evangelicals we thought when Hudson Taylor went to China in the 19th Century and established the China Inland Mission, that was kind of the beginning of evangelical Christianity there but no.
Of course, Rissi went to China in the 17th Century and established Catholicism and they thought that was kind of the beginning. No. Of course, many have thought when Niccolo and Maffeo Polo took the message of the gospel to the Khan in the 13th Century that that was the very beginning but no. Christianity had been in China in the 6th and 7th Century with power. But what happened? What happened was pluralism and syncretism—a little bit of Buddhism, a little bit of Taoism blended with Jesus. But, you see, it just doesn’t work. It just doesn’t work unless Jesus is the supreme focus of your life, Christianity just doesn’t work otherwise. Jesus said, “If I be lifted up, I’ll call all men unto Myself.” The Apostle Paul said, “We resolve to know nothing amongst you but Jesus Christ and Him crucified.” So, we preach Christ and we preach the cross and anything else is apostasy. We’re committed to the Christian faith and we’re committed to the Christian life.
Here in America, it’s kind of like the platypus. Have you guys ever taken a good look at a platypus? It’s hard to find one because they don’t do well. The fur is very much like a bear. In fact, zoologists tell us it’s almost exactly like a bear but of course a platypus is not a bear. The platypus has a flat tail like a beaver but the platypus is not a beaver. It has webbed feet and of course a bill like a duck and it’s sometimes called the “duck-billed platypus” but it’s not a duck. The platypus has venomous poison like a snake but it’s not a snake. The platypus can swim like a fish but it’s not a fish. It can kill like a rodent but it’s not a rodent. It lays eggs like a bird but it’s not a bird. It nurses its young like a mammal. Really, zoologists today are just not sure. Most zoologists think it’s a mammal. Most are saying, “It’s just a mess.” It’s very much like religion in America. It just a platypus religion. It’s just syncretism and pluralism, and it is apostasy.
Well, there’s a different kind of apostasy I want us to take a brief look at this morning. It’s called moral apostasy. Of course, moral apostasy is extremely serious and very common. In 2 Thessalonians, chapter 2, in our passage of scripture for today, we’re told that the Antichrist, who we will look at next week, but we’re told in that passage of scripture that the Antichrist is the “Man of Lawlessness.” The Greek word for “lawlessness” is “anomia,” “without law.” “Nomos” in the Greek in the Bible normally refers to the moral law. Anomia would mean, “without moral law.” The Bible says, “The spirit of lawlessness is already at work. The spirit of Antichrist is already at work on the earth.” So, you see in all cultures lawlessness, those without moral law. But as we approach The End, as we approach the Consummation, there will be more moral lawlessness, more apostasy.
Jesus Christ is very concerned with moral apostasy and particularly in the context of the churches. So, you look at the Book of Revelation in chapters 2 and 3 and you have the message of Jesus to the churches. To the Church of Pergamum, Jesus warns them about moral apostasy. He warns them about the Balammites and the Nicolaitans and who were they? They were moral libertines. “If it feels good, do it.” They had infiltrated the churches and Jesus warned them that judgement would fall, moral apostasy. Of course, Jesus wrote to the Church of Thyatira and he warned them against the Jezebelites or the Cult of Jezebel. He said, “You have some there who hold to the teachings of Jezebel who was teaching my children to practice sexual immorality. Repent. Moral apostasy. Jesus hates it.
Of course, here in America there is great moral apostasy. When Jesus spoke of moral apostasy, when He spoke of sexual immorality in his message to Thyatira, He uses the word “porneia.” Porneia originally referred to sex before marriage. It was called fornication. Then this Greek word porneia was also used to refer to adultery, to the violation of your marriage vows. Then it was used to refer to homosexuality. Of course, ultimately in our time, the word pornography comes from this word porneia. In our culture and nation, pornography is rampant, in diverse forms, easily available and highly addictive. It destroys the soul. It’s marketed by America. Ninety percent of global pornography is produced right here in the USA. Judgement surely cannot be far away. But it’s moral apostasy and even this whole issue of marriage and how it’s defined… the whole reason we’re here is because of moral apostasy and so the Bible warns us or moral apostasy.
The word in 1 Timothy, chapter 4, that’s where we’re told that, “Many will give heed to doctrines of demons.” We’re told that, “peoples’ consciences will be seared.” The Greek word is “kausteriazo” and it’s the word from which we get “cauterize.” It means that the consciences of people will be scarred and hardened. They will no longer care. They will no longer feel guilt or shame. Indeed, they will begin to call what is wrong, right. Consciences will be seared. This word “kausteriazo” was also used for branding and many Bible scholars and theologians believe that the message is that in the Last Times they will have been branded by the evil one and they will have given their lives over to immorality. These things are prophesied.
I hope you understand before we conclude this morning… I hope you understand that ultimately moral apostasy is the abandonment of love. The Bible makes that very clear. Ultimately if you participate in moral apostasy, it has to do with not loving God enough or not loving people enough. In Revelation, chapter 2, we are also told that Jesus sent a message to the Church at Ephesus and Jesus warned them saying, “You have left your first love or you have left the love which you had at first.” The Greek word for left is “aphiemi” and it’s used in the Septuagint to translate “masuba,” the Hebrew word for apostasy. “You have forsaken your love. You have committed moral apostasy.” Ultimately moral apostasy has to do with love.
Jesus told us that all of the Commandments of God are summed up in love. He quoted the Shema from Deuteronomy 6 and he quoted Leviticus, chapter 19, verse 18, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Of course, the Shema is, “You shall love the Lord your God… ” It’s all summed up in love Jesus tells us—whether you love God enough or whether we love people enough. And so, I think even those of us who are Christians, we’ve kind of dabbled in moral apostasy and the warning of God as given this morning is that you want to live your life in faithfulness. You want to live your life for Christ.
Have you ever read the Olivet Discourse, Matthew 24 and 25? The last sermon Jesus gave as He stood on the Mount of Olives overlooking the Holy City of Jerusalem. He gave the Olivet Discourse and it’s all a warning about moral apostasy, the abandonment of love. And so, Jesus says, in the Olivet Discourse, “When the Son of Man comes from heaven in power and great glory, He will sit on His great throne and before Him shall be gathered all the nations and He will separate them one from the other as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will place the sheep at His right hand, the goats at His left. He will say to those at His right hand, “Come oh blessed of My Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from before the foundation of the world for I was hungry and you gave Me to eat. I was thirsty and you gave Me to drink. I was naked and you clothed Me. I was a stranger and you welcomed Me. I was sick and in prison and you visited Me. Come, oh blessed.”
He will say to those on His left hand – He’ll say to the goats, “Depart from Me, you workers of inequity into the lake of fire prepared for the devil and his angels for I was hungry and you gave Me not to eat; thirsty and you gave Me not to drink; naked and you clothed Me not; a stranger and you welcomed Me not; sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.” The abandonment of love. Moral apostasy.
In that same sermon, He gave the Parable of the Talents. What was wrong with the man with the one talent? What was wrong with him? What did he do wrong? It wasn’t sins of commission. It wasn’t the things he did. It was sins of omission. It was what he didn’t do. He didn’t use his talent. He didn’t use his time, talent and treasure to further the cause of the master. He did not use his life and all that was given him to further the cost of the King. It was the abandonment of love. He did not love the master, did not love the King enough. It was moral apostasy and the moral abandonment of love.
You look at Luke 16 and indeed in so many of the parables which Jesus told. You’ve got the rich man and Lazarus. Lazarus is a poor guy living at the rich man’s gate. He would gladly have eaten the crumbs that fell from the rich man’s table. He was sick and poor. The rich man didn’t do anything to him. He didn’t kick him, didn’t curse him, didn’t do anything to him but the rich man went straight to hell when he died. And why? Moral apostasy, the abandonment of love, the sins of omission.
You see this in the Bible and it’s kind of scary. If you’ve been reared in fundamentalism, it’s all about sins of commission, all the bad stuff you shouldn’t do. But, you see, Jesus is also concerned with love and all the good you’re supposed to do. It’s love that should keep us from doing the bad things too. It’s all love. We’re meant to grow. We’re supposed to be growing in love until we see Jesus, until the end comes for us.
When Heather was in first grade, she came home from school and she had composed her first book. Pretty good for a first grader. She had five pages and she had stapled them together. The book was called, “You Are It.” I think she meant, “You Are Special” but she didn’t know how to spell special yet so she just said, “You Are It.” On the first page, it said, “You eat” and it had a picture of a little girl eating. The second page said, “You drink” and it had a picture of a little girl drinking. The third page said, “You sleep” and it had a picture of a little girl in bed. The fourth page said, “You have names” and it had a picture of a little girl with a name over her head and the fifth page just said, “People smell.” I’m not sure what that was about but we were kind of happy she was in first grade and that was pretty good. Of course, Heather is 31 now and if she was still cranking out the same type of stuff we would be concerned. But she’s not and of course Heather has grown. She’s grown. She’s gone on to college and university. She’s excelled and she loves Jesus Christ and we’re proud of her and she no longer thinks that people smell! But maybe you think people smell. Maybe you think people smell and that’s very close to moral apostasy. Very close. God loves people. We’re constantly growing. Heather and Chris, Barb and I, our son Drew, our family, we’re supposed to be growing in love, not dabbling in apostasy.
If you’re dabbling in apostasy in any way… maybe you’re into porneia. Maybe you’re sleeping with somebody and you’re not married to them. Maybe you’re even committing adultery. Maybe you’re addicted to pornography. The time to repent is now. No apostasy. Can you say The Apostle’s Creed, can you say The Nicaean Creed and mean it? Maybe you need to examine your heart and your commitment to the faith.
I want to tell you one story before we have Sarah come out and conclude our service with a song. This story concerns the song that Sarah is going to sing. This story concerns a man whose name is Robert Robinson. Robert Robinson lived in the 18th century. He lived in the 1700’s and he came from some wealth. He was 17 years old and he had gone into the city of London with his friends. They were partying and they had partied for days and they were drunk; drinking and drunk. One day while they were drunk, they went to an occultist, a fortune teller, there in the city of London. They had some disturbing stuff happen and they felt kind of icky. Even in their drunken state they kind of felt damaged in the soul.
That night, in the city of London, the famous revivalist George Whitfield was preaching. Robert Robinson and his friends decided to go over there and they went to this revival drunk. George Whitfield preached and shared the Gospel of Jesus Christ, called people to repentance, and gave an invitation. Robert came forward and accepted Christ while drunk. He accepted Christ. He asked Jesus into his heart.
He never felt quite right about making that commitment while intoxicated. On December 10, 1755, about three years later, he recommitted his life to Christ and then three years after that, Robert Robinson wrote that great hymn of the faith, “Come Thou Fount Of Every Blessing.” In that hymn Robert Robinson mentions the streams of mercy never ceasing. He also mentions “the mount of God’s unconditional love.” The word was changed to “the mount of God’s redeeming love.” I tell you this because soon after Robert wrote that great hymn of the faith, he committed apostasy and he left the path of Jesus Christ and ceased to live for Christ. For years he wandered with friends. He had the money. He went all over Europe womanizing and drinking and oftentimes drunk.
One day he was in the city of Paris. He had gone through a particularly debauched time. He was just kind of walking around. He had had too much to drink the night before. It was afternoon but he was still feeling it. He was walking around and he saw a beautiful girl. He thought she was just so beautiful and had to ask her out. He went up to her and he asked her out and she said, “I really don’t feel comfortable going out with you but I have a group that’s meeting tonight and you could come to that group with me if you would like.” He thought she was so hot he would do anything and so he said, “Okay, I’ll go to that group.” So, he went to the group. It turned out to be a Bible Study prayer group and he sat there like, “Oh, no!” He hadn’t been in any of this for years and years. He thought, “Well, I’ll get through this.”
They had a singing time and as they sang, they began to sing, “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing,” the song he’d written many years ago. He just began to cry. They said, “What’s wrong?” He said, “I wrote that song years ago and I’ve left the path.” They said to him, “The streams of mercy are still flowing and the mount of God’s redeeming love is still there.” He recommitted his life to Jesus Christ.
And so, I say to you this morning as we close, if you’ve left the path, either in terms of doctrinal apostasy or moral apostasy, you can come back today because the streams of mercy are still flowing and the mount of God’s redeeming love still stands. So, let’s look to the Lord with a word of prayer before Sarah sings for us.