From John Owen’s Book, Apostasy from the Gospel
John Owen was a leading Puritan pastor and theologian who served as a chaplain to Oliver Cromwell and later as Dean of Christ Church in the University of Oxford 1616-1683
Consider some of Owen’s words that explain what the Gospel message is and what it is not. Consider his words on the church then verses the church now. His teachings speak right to the core of the modern message and its failures.
The early church was careful whom they admitted into fellowship. Every Christian who sinned was only readmitted into fellowship by open repentance. But where notorious and scandalous sins, such as murder, adultery or idolatry, were committed, no readmission into the fellowship was allowed. This was especially so when a Christian committed idolatry through fear of being martyred for his faith.
Right or wrong, contrast the following from Owen's book with the typical modern evangelical church. Currently, what we have is man-centered entertainment and idolatry.All of this is blatant hypocrisy. -w
“The Lord must be accepted and received as the Son of God, and His gospel must be obeyed, or He must be seen as justly crucified as a deceiver, a blasphemer and an evildoer.
Now no-one living can bring a higher dishonor against Jesus Christ, in His person or in any of His ways, than openly to declare that having tried Him and His gospel, they found nothing in them to be desired.
When any important principle of evangelical truth is forsaken and renounced; when gospel obedience is persistently neglected; when men begin to believe other things than what it teached and do not live as the gospel requires, THEN WE HAVE A PARTIAL APOSTASY.
The gospel is made up of three things:
-Doctrine. What we are to believe
-the holiness of its commands. How we are to live
\-purity of its worship. How are professed faith and obedience is tested.
-The foundation of true holiness and true Christian worship is the doctrine of the gospel, what we are to believe. So when Christian doctrine is neglected, forsaken or corrupted, true holiness and worship will also be neglected, forsaken and corrupted.
Men may profess truth and not obey it (Titus 1:16; 2 Tim 3:5)
HOW THE APOSTATE CHURCH PRESERVES
-The apostate church allows men to continue to sin, but at the same time to give the appearance of being truly Christian
-they love darkness rather than light (John 3:19, 20). They love the praise of men more than the praise of God (John 12:42, 43). They may appear to receive the truth, but they do not love the truth( 2 thess. 2:10)
The great secret purpose of sinful man is to go on living his sinful life with as little trouble as possible in the present life, and with every hope of avoiding future punishments in the next.
There are 2 ways of doing this:
1 Deny that there is a God
2 Give them a religion which will allow men to continue to indulge their sinful lusts and yet still appear to be Christian (2 Tim 3:5)
Sin and conscience must be brought to live peacefully with each other. Sin resists conscience and conscience resists sin so that there can be no peace while both exist. But corrupt nature will bring them to live peacefully together (2 Peter 2:18,19)
Pride, neglect, worldliness, causes of apostasy
The mind of man since the fall is naturally filled with high thoughts of itself. Man thinks he has sovereign free will over all his actions (psalm 12:4)
The PROUD spirit greatly hinders the learning of God’s Word. The Word of god is a troublesome inmate to an unhumbled mind and heart (Psa 25:9; Isa 28:9, Psa 131:2)
In the gospel, there are also things which corrupt reason rejects because it does not like them, for the whole of man, including his mind and reason, is impaired, depraved and corrupted.
SATAN DRAWS MANY INTO APOSTASY-
Satan’s aim is to corrupt men’s minds (2 Cor 11:3). The way he did this was by bringing in a false gospel, v.4. So he raised up false teachers to be his emissaries, vv14,15. As he deceived Eve by his false interpretation of God’s Word, so he deceived many today by his false interpretations of the gospel.
Why people may turn from the doctrines of grace.
-Ignorance of their need of Jesus Christ for salvation
-lack of a spiritual sight of the glory of Christ in His persons and offices
-lack of a personal experience of the power of the Spirit and of the grace of Christ for the mortification of sin
-ignorance of the righteousness of God
-lack of evidence in themselves of the divine authority of the Scriptures
God will not accept lazy, slothful performances of some duties and abstinence from some sins. Crucifying sin, mortifying unrestrained lusts, resisting the devil, fleeing fleshly lusts and not loving the world are all gospel duties to be constantly maintained while we live in this world.
The unconverted person does not know and cannot produce a true evangelical repentance. Repentance is the gift of God (Acts 5:31; 11:18; 2 Tim 2:25)
Meekness, gentleness, self-denial, poverty of the spirit, mourning for sin, hunger and thirst after righteousness, mercy, compassion, purity of heart, honesty and simplicity of spirit, readiness to undergo and to forgive injuries, zeal for God, contempt for the world and fear of sinning and of God’s judgments on sin are NOT praised by men.
The purity or apostasy of a church greatly depends on its ministers, leaders, teachers, preachers, just as the Old Testament depended for its purity on the faithfulness of its priests (Mal 2:1-9)
The great opposition made to every gospel doctrine today is because men dislike holiness.
When men find that they can easily come by this assurance and all the outward privileges of the church simply by submitting the ordinances without any true repentance or faith and while they are still continuing to live the most sinful lives, what hope is there of bringing them to true repentance and faith, resulting in holy obedience?
Ignorance of truth and hatred of holiness work hand in hand to promote apostasy (rephrased)
If religious leaders are not examples of holiness but lead irreligious immoral, wicked lives, neglect their duties, refuse to rebuke flagrant sins, and yet praise those who do such sins, then a whole generation of professed Christians will soon be influence, corrupted and depraved. What will the household be like when the stewards are evil? (matt 24:48-51).
Warning. Consider how widespread this apostasy is. Ignorance, profaneness, and worldly-mindedness show how people have forsaken the Lord; how sinful the nation is; how its people are laden with iniquity; how they have provoked the Lord to anger (Isa 1:4-6).
Unbelief, the deceitfulness of sin, corrupt lusts and desires, spiritual laziness, the love of money and its attendant worries, all lie ready to entice us away from the gospel into apostasy".
-from the work of John Owen
John Owen was a leading Puritan pastor and theologian who served as a chaplain to Oliver Cromwell and later as Dean of Christ Church in the University of Oxford 1616-1683
Consider some of Owen’s words that explain what the Gospel message is and what it is not. Consider his words on the church then verses the church now. His teachings speak right to the core of the modern message and its failures.
The early church was careful whom they admitted into fellowship. Every Christian who sinned was only readmitted into fellowship by open repentance. But where notorious and scandalous sins, such as murder, adultery or idolatry, were committed, no readmission into the fellowship was allowed. This was especially so when a Christian committed idolatry through fear of being martyred for his faith.
Right or wrong, contrast the following from Owen's book with the typical modern evangelical church. Currently, what we have is man-centered entertainment and idolatry.All of this is blatant hypocrisy. -w
“The Lord must be accepted and received as the Son of God, and His gospel must be obeyed, or He must be seen as justly crucified as a deceiver, a blasphemer and an evildoer.
Now no-one living can bring a higher dishonor against Jesus Christ, in His person or in any of His ways, than openly to declare that having tried Him and His gospel, they found nothing in them to be desired.
When any important principle of evangelical truth is forsaken and renounced; when gospel obedience is persistently neglected; when men begin to believe other things than what it teached and do not live as the gospel requires, THEN WE HAVE A PARTIAL APOSTASY.
The gospel is made up of three things:
-Doctrine. What we are to believe
-the holiness of its commands. How we are to live
\-purity of its worship. How are professed faith and obedience is tested.
-The foundation of true holiness and true Christian worship is the doctrine of the gospel, what we are to believe. So when Christian doctrine is neglected, forsaken or corrupted, true holiness and worship will also be neglected, forsaken and corrupted.
Men may profess truth and not obey it (Titus 1:16; 2 Tim 3:5)
HOW THE APOSTATE CHURCH PRESERVES
-The apostate church allows men to continue to sin, but at the same time to give the appearance of being truly Christian
-they love darkness rather than light (John 3:19, 20). They love the praise of men more than the praise of God (John 12:42, 43). They may appear to receive the truth, but they do not love the truth( 2 thess. 2:10)
The great secret purpose of sinful man is to go on living his sinful life with as little trouble as possible in the present life, and with every hope of avoiding future punishments in the next.
There are 2 ways of doing this:
1 Deny that there is a God
2 Give them a religion which will allow men to continue to indulge their sinful lusts and yet still appear to be Christian (2 Tim 3:5)
Sin and conscience must be brought to live peacefully with each other. Sin resists conscience and conscience resists sin so that there can be no peace while both exist. But corrupt nature will bring them to live peacefully together (2 Peter 2:18,19)
Pride, neglect, worldliness, causes of apostasy
The mind of man since the fall is naturally filled with high thoughts of itself. Man thinks he has sovereign free will over all his actions (psalm 12:4)
The PROUD spirit greatly hinders the learning of God’s Word. The Word of god is a troublesome inmate to an unhumbled mind and heart (Psa 25:9; Isa 28:9, Psa 131:2)
In the gospel, there are also things which corrupt reason rejects because it does not like them, for the whole of man, including his mind and reason, is impaired, depraved and corrupted.
SATAN DRAWS MANY INTO APOSTASY-
Satan’s aim is to corrupt men’s minds (2 Cor 11:3). The way he did this was by bringing in a false gospel, v.4. So he raised up false teachers to be his emissaries, vv14,15. As he deceived Eve by his false interpretation of God’s Word, so he deceived many today by his false interpretations of the gospel.
Why people may turn from the doctrines of grace.
-Ignorance of their need of Jesus Christ for salvation
-lack of a spiritual sight of the glory of Christ in His persons and offices
-lack of a personal experience of the power of the Spirit and of the grace of Christ for the mortification of sin
-ignorance of the righteousness of God
-lack of evidence in themselves of the divine authority of the Scriptures
God will not accept lazy, slothful performances of some duties and abstinence from some sins. Crucifying sin, mortifying unrestrained lusts, resisting the devil, fleeing fleshly lusts and not loving the world are all gospel duties to be constantly maintained while we live in this world.
The unconverted person does not know and cannot produce a true evangelical repentance. Repentance is the gift of God (Acts 5:31; 11:18; 2 Tim 2:25)
Meekness, gentleness, self-denial, poverty of the spirit, mourning for sin, hunger and thirst after righteousness, mercy, compassion, purity of heart, honesty and simplicity of spirit, readiness to undergo and to forgive injuries, zeal for God, contempt for the world and fear of sinning and of God’s judgments on sin are NOT praised by men.
The purity or apostasy of a church greatly depends on its ministers, leaders, teachers, preachers, just as the Old Testament depended for its purity on the faithfulness of its priests (Mal 2:1-9)
The great opposition made to every gospel doctrine today is because men dislike holiness.
When men find that they can easily come by this assurance and all the outward privileges of the church simply by submitting the ordinances without any true repentance or faith and while they are still continuing to live the most sinful lives, what hope is there of bringing them to true repentance and faith, resulting in holy obedience?
Ignorance of truth and hatred of holiness work hand in hand to promote apostasy (rephrased)
If religious leaders are not examples of holiness but lead irreligious immoral, wicked lives, neglect their duties, refuse to rebuke flagrant sins, and yet praise those who do such sins, then a whole generation of professed Christians will soon be influence, corrupted and depraved. What will the household be like when the stewards are evil? (matt 24:48-51).
Warning. Consider how widespread this apostasy is. Ignorance, profaneness, and worldly-mindedness show how people have forsaken the Lord; how sinful the nation is; how its people are laden with iniquity; how they have provoked the Lord to anger (Isa 1:4-6).
Unbelief, the deceitfulness of sin, corrupt lusts and desires, spiritual laziness, the love of money and its attendant worries, all lie ready to entice us away from the gospel into apostasy".
-from the work of John Owen
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