The Danger of Not Following

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The Danger of Not Following! Hebrews 1026-31
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Apostasy

• a defection

• revolt

• abandonment

• renounce

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Why is apostasy so serious?
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Would it surprise you to learn that within the
church there are non-believers or nominal
believers?
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Hebrews 1026-31
26If we deliberately keep on sinning after we
have received the knowledge of the truth, no
sacrifice for sins is left, 27but only a fearful
expectation of judgment and of raging fire that
will consume the enemies of God. 28Anyone who
rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on
the testimony of two or three witnesses.
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29How much more severely do you think a man
deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son
of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy
thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified
him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace?
30For we know him who said, "It is mine to
avenge I will repay," and again, "The Lord will
judge his people. 31It is a dreadful thing to
fall into the hands of the living God.
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Who does this refer to?

• True Christians who turn away from Christ and
  are lost.

• Christians who backslide but who are still
  saved. (prodigals)

• Those who profess to be Christians, but then
  deliberately turn away from Christ. Never born
  again and now never will.

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What does apostasy look like?
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 1. Two Characteristics of Apostasy!
26If we deliberately keep on sinning after we
have received the knowledge of the truth, no
sacrifice for sins is left,...
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Characteristic 1

• It is choosing to walk away after having saving
  knowledge.

1 John 219 They went out from us, but they did
not really belong to us. For if they had belonged
to us, they would have remained with us but
their going showed that none of them belonged to
us.
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The way you can identify a true followeris that
hes truly following!
Its notJesus Ill follow you as long as it
stays easy, comfortable, exciting or until
something better comes along.
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Characteristic 2

• There is a willful walking in denial of the
  truth.

deliberately voluntarily, willingly, of
ones own accord
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2. The Causes of Apostasy!
What contributes to apostasy?

• Crisis

• Persecution

• Selfishness

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2 Timothy 43
For the time will come when men will not put up
with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own
desires, they will gather around them a great
number of teachers to say what their itching ears
want to hear.
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What are the results of rejecting the King and
His kingdom?
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3. The Results of Apostasy!
26If we deliberately keep on sinning after we
have received the knowledge of the truth, no
sacrifice for sins is left, no goats
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a. There is no more forgiveness
b. Greater accountability
V31 It is a dreadful thing to fall into the
hands of the living God.
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Acts 1730-31
30In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but
now he commands all people everywhere to repent.
31For he has set a day when he will judge the
world with justice by the man he has appointed.
He has given proof of this to all men by raising
him from the dead."
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• Am I taking the things of God for granted?

• Am I giving God my bestor my leftovers?

• Am I a follower primarily in action or in words

• Am I coasting, or do I have the
  pedal-to-the-metal?

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Choose to be faithful to walk the road before you!