NXR Podcast - DAILY TRUTH - The Danger of Apostasy
Aired: 2022-10-26
Duration: 05:02


=== Hold Fast To Faith (04:03) ===

[00:00:00]  Hey guys, real quick before we get started, I have a small request.
[00:00:03]  If you've been blessed by our content and you like this show, would you take just a brief moment and leave us a five star review?
[00:00:09]  This is quite possibly the most effective thing that you can do to ensure that this content gets out to as many people as possible.
[00:00:17]  Thanks.
[00:00:19]  Jesus said, Man cannot live on bread alone, but from every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.
[00:00:25]  You're listening to Daily Truth.
[00:00:30]  Ministry has casualties.
[00:00:31]  Some will tragically shipwreck their faith.
[00:00:34]  To use Paul's earlier analogy, some will go down in battle.
[00:00:37]  We all have a tendency to put our eyes on certain church leaders instead of on Christ himself.
[00:00:42]  Satan cannot cause Christ to fall, but he can certainly ruin leaders in the church who have lots of influence.
[00:00:50]  If such a person falls, there are usually many others who will fall with them as well.
[00:00:55]  Hymenaeus and Alexander, I would be shocked to find that they were simply two.
[00:01:02]  Quiet, unknown members in the church.
[00:01:07]  The implication seems to be that they were leaders with influence in the church.
[00:01:12]  That Paul warns Timothy about these men because these men had not only fallen themselves, but in their fall, they were influencing others to follow them in their failure as well.
[00:01:25]  I don't know if you're aware of the recent events with Joshua Harris.
[00:01:31]  He wrote, I kissed dating goodbye.
[00:01:33]  Back in the day.
[00:01:35]  Not my favorite book.
[00:01:39]  But he grew in the Lord, or so we thought.
[00:01:46]  Eventually, he took over C.J. Mahaney's church, Sovereign Grace, as a lead pastor, the church of thousands, and not just a seeker friendly megachurch, but a church that was reformed, at least in its soteriology.
[00:01:58]  He seemed to possess good doctrine, and he was a pretty good preacher.
[00:02:04]  And then he left his wife.
[00:02:07]  Don't worry, they're still friends, they both say.
[00:02:11]  But he left his wife.
[00:02:14]  And then, shortly after, coincidentally, he also publicly announced that he left the faith.
[00:02:22]  Do we see that in our text today?
[00:02:25]  Hold fast to faith and a good conscience.
[00:02:29]  See, in his character, he left his wife.
[00:02:32]  He abandoned her.
[00:02:34]  He gave up on his marriage and his covenant and what the Bible commands in that regard.
[00:02:40]  He left her.
[00:02:42]  And then he left Christ.
[00:02:45]  And these aren't my observations.
[00:02:46]  This is his own admission.
[00:02:48]  Joshua Harris says, I am not a Christian.
[00:02:51]  And has said so publicly.
[00:02:53]  He has apostatized.
[00:02:57]  Now, we know from Scripture that ultimately he did not fall away, but ultimately he never truly possessed Christ to begin with.
[00:03:08]  Or more so, we should say that Christ never possessed him.
[00:03:11]  Christ will hold us fast.
[00:03:13]  Christ will keep us.
[00:03:14]  The same grace that saves us keeps us.
[00:03:17]  If you truly belong to Christ, Christ will see to it that you are never lost.
[00:03:21]  But there will be many that we thought surely they belong to Christ.
[00:03:26]  And we will find in the end, like Joshua Harris, or like Hymenaeus, or like Alexander, that perhaps they did not.
[00:03:35]  Because the Christian life, because Christian ministry, which we are all called to, is not a picnic, but a good fight.
[00:03:43]  That is a fight, it is good because it's worth it.
[00:03:46]  It's worth fighting.
[00:03:48]  And because it is a fight, it would be naive to think that it is a fight without casualties.
[00:03:53]  And because there will be casualties, we must set our eyes on Christ and not men.
[00:04:01]  Oh, hi, I didn't see you there.
[00:04:03]  Thanks for sticking around.

=== The Good Fight Ahead (00:58) ===

[00:04:04]  I've got an important announcement to make.
[00:04:06]  That's the Theonomy and Postmillennialism Conference 2023, May 5th, 6th, and 7th, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.
[00:04:15]  Theonomy and Postmillennialism.
[00:04:16]  We've got the speakers that we've already had lined up.
[00:04:19]  That's Dr. James White, Dr. Joseph Boot, Dr. Gary DeMar, non doctor Pastor Joel Webbin.
[00:04:24]  But we also have a bonus speaker, and that is Dale Partridge from Real Christianity.
[00:04:29]  Perhaps you've heard of him.
[00:04:30]  If not, you should start listening to his podcast.
[00:04:32]  It's fantastic.
[00:04:34]  Dale Partridge is going to be joining our team.
[00:04:37]  We're going to have live panels on Friday night and Saturday night where you'll be able to write in questions and get them answered.
[00:04:43]  We're also going to have a catered barbecue, Texas style barbecue meal on Friday that's a part of your registration fee.
[00:04:50]  All that is covered.
[00:04:51]  So you need to get that.
[00:04:52]  This is how you do it.
[00:04:53]  Go and register right now at writeresponse.com.
[00:04:56]  Conference.com.
[00:04:58]  Again, that's rightresponseconference.com.
[00:05:01]  God bless.