Being Saved from Apostasy, from Doing things for the Self under the Cloak of Worshipping God

One of the most striking things in 1 and 2 Kings is the sins of Jeroboam, or the apostasy of Jeroboam, which can be considered a type of today’s Christianity; we need to be saved from any kind of apostasy, anything that causes us to leave the way of God and do things for the self under the name of Jesus Christ and under the cloak of worshipping God. Oh, Lord Jesus!

This week we come to week 11 in the Crystallization-study of 1 and 2 Kings, Apostasy, the High Places, and the Recovery of the Genuine Ground of Oneness.

May we lift up our hands to the word of God so that the word may purify us, sanctify us, and make us the right kind of persons in God’s economy.

May we have an Amen toward the word of God in our being even when the word speaks of such things as apostasy.

We say Amen not only to the positive and sweet word of God but also to the warnings in the Word of God.

In the books of 1 and 2 Kings, we see the apostasy of Jeroboam and the high places, and we see the need to recover the genuine ground of oneness.

If you read these books you will see this being mentioned again, the sins of Jeroboam, and the way of Jeroboam.

Also, the high places are mentioned again and again, and even though some kinds were quite good and positive, they still didn’t tear down the high places.

In the eyes of God apostasy is something very serious and also the high places are hated.

Furthermore, God has a particular preference when it comes to the place where His people should enjoy Him together; He specifically instructs them not to gather in the place of their choice but in the place of His choice.

May we be under the healthy speaking of the word of God and allow the word to speak to us, shine on us, expose any apostasy and high places in us, and bring us back to the original intention of God in His heart.

May we allow the healthy word of God to safeguard us and keep us on God’s way to follow Him for the fulfilment of His purpose in a pure way.

And may we not think that Christianity in general is in apostasy, but not us as saints in the church life.

There is a possibility that even we would have certain practices that become to us more important than the Lord Jesus.

Apostasy mainly refers to a certain system in Christianity, a system among Christians, that has developed and is developing, and this system keeps God’s people away from God and His way.

In Matthew, we see that the kingdom of the heavens is likened to a mustard seed that grows into a monstrous tree where all kinds of birds lodge; instead of being a small herb to give food to those who need it, Christianity has become a great tree with many evil things dwelling in it.

We see this in type in the Old Testament and in reality in the New Testament, and we see this system developed before our eyes today.

Even in the church life, we need to receive the Lord’s mercy first of all not to judge anyone, for we’re not better than anyone, and also not to reject anyone who wants to meet with us to enjoy the Lord but does not participate in “our way of worship” or our way of meeting.

If someone desires to fellowship with us but does not want to call on the name of the Lord audibly or pray-read the word of God, that should not be a problem; such practices, as helpful and healthy as they can be, should not be a system that divides us as the Body of Christ.

May we have the Lord’s enlarged heart to receive all those whom He has received, and may we love them as He loves them and fellowship with them simply based on the word of God and by the divine life and nature of God, not based on any practice, doctrine, or system.

Being Saved from Apostasy, from Leaving God’s Way to do things for the Self under the Name of God and under the Cloak of Worshipping God

May the Lord have mercy on us and enlighten us to see what is apostasy and how can we be saved from apostasy. The apostasy of Jeroboam (1 Kings 12:25-33; 13:33-34) can be considered a type of today’s Christianity.

By saying this we specifically mean that it is the system in Christianity today that is apostasy, not the people; the dear genuine believers in Christ are members of the Body of Christ, but the system is something else.

What is apostasy? Apostasy means to leave the way of God and to take another way to follow things other than God, yet thinking or saying we do it for God.

Apostasy is to do things for the self under the name of Jesus Christ and under the cloak of worshipping God (Acts 9:2; 18:26; 2 Pet. 2:2, 15, 21; Jude 11; Judg. 18:30-31).

Apostasy is a deviation from the proper way. This is spoken of in Deuteronomy 13:5, when someone says, let us go after gods.

Among God’s people, some said that they should go after other gods.

The things that happened to Israel are examples to us (Rom. 15:4), even as warnings and admonition to us, unto whom the ends of the ages have come (1 Cor. 10:6, 11).

Especially as we live at the end of this age, we need to be warned of apostasy and saved from apostasy.

The matter of apostasy is an admonition to us, an advice with a warning, that we would not leave God’s way to do things for the self under the name of God and under the cloak of worshipping God.

Many in Christianity today do things under the cloak of worshipping God and doing things for God, but actually, they do things for the self.

This is why many people hate religion, for they see that there are so many so-called pastors, preachers, and teachers that are getting richer and richer, yet they use the name of God in the process.

Many follow them in their licentiousness, because of whom the way of truth is reviled.

False teachers come in among God’s people, they teach things from the Bible, yet they forsake the straight way, and go astray after the way of Balaam, who loved the wages of unrighteousness (2 Pet. 2:15).

Balaam was a prophet of God, but he loved money and riches; therefore, even though God opened the mouth of his donkey to speak to him, he still went and tried to prophesy in such a way that he would get paid a lot of money by the king.

There are many among God’s people who know the truth, but because of the wages of unrighteousness, they do not follow the truth.

We do not point fingers and we do not accuse anyone of this, but we need to learn from this and be saved from apostasy.

May we cut straight the word of the truth and allow the word of God to limit us, supply us, and keep us on the way of God.

And may we not be deceived by the wages of unrighteousness to do things for the self under the cloak of worshipping God or doing things for God.

Apostasy simply means to leave the way of God to take another way to follow things other than God; we may not do this, for we want to follow God and do His will, but we may choose to do things for the self under the disguise that we do it for God.

Many so-called ministries in the denominations, free groups, “churches”, and sects in Christianity, have at their base someone who is gifted and talented who does certain things, holds certain doctrines and takes a certain way not because of what the Bible says but because of their personal interest and desire. Oh, Lord Jesus!

May we come to the Lord and tell Him with all our heart,

Lord Jesus, we love You and we love Your pure, holy, sanctifying, and purifying word. Save us from leaving the way of God to take another way to follow things other than God. We want to be saved from apostasy. Save us from doing things for the self under the name of Jesus Christ. Oh Lord, may Your word shine on us and expose any desire to please the self and any intention to do things for the self under the cloak of worshipping God. Save us from being deceived by the wages of unrighteousness. May we know the truth and cut straight the word of the truth. May we love You, love Your word, and remain in Your word. May we heed the holy warnings in the word of God and may we love all the brothers and sisters, receiving them even as God has received them in Christ.

Seeing what is the Apostasy of Jeroboam and how it Led to the Destruction of His whole Family

May the Lord have mercy on us that we may be saved from apostasy. Jeroboam was a servant of Solomon who was set by him over the workers and over all the things he did.

Because Solomon had a thousand wives and concubines, the people had to labor hard to bring in the food and care for them and the household of the king.

After the death of Solomon, Rehoboam his son was to be king, but Jeroboam told him that, if he rules over the people like his father and makes them work hard, they will go from him.

Rehoboam took counsel with the elders and leaders of the people, who agreed with Jeroboam, and then took counsel with the young men he grew up with, who advised him to be even harder on the people; unfortunately, Rehoboam listened to his peers.

Jeroboam then took ten tribes of Israel and only Judah and Benjamin were left to Rehoboam.

This was also according to a prophecy that a prophet told Jeroboam, and according to the Lord’s warning to Solomon, because he indulged in lust and built the high places.

We need to learn not to take the counsel of our peers but listen to those who are ahead of us, learning to fellowship and listen to those who are older and more mature than us.

Jeroboam took ten tribes and left, but he realized that the people will go to Jerusalem to worship God in the temple, so he led the people in apostasy by first making two calves of gold (idols) and putting one in Bethel and the other in Dan to distract them from going to Jerusalem (1 Kings 12:26-30; Deut. 12:2-18).

He thus broke God’s ordination of having one unique worship centre in the Holy Land for keeping the oneness of the children of Israel.

Jeroboam realized that the heart of the people will return to their Lord if they go to Jerusalem, so he set up two different worship centres from the place where God chose to put His name.

This is one of the sins of Jeroboam. Furthermore, Jeroboam built a temple at the high places and appointed priests from among the common people who were not of the tribe of Levi (1 Kings 12:31; 13:33b; 2 Chron. 13:9).

He built a house of high places; not just one high place, but a whole house.

And he built another temple, setting up priests according to his desire, not according to God’s ordination.

1 Kings 12:32-33 say that Jeroboam ordained a feast on the fifteenth day of the eighth month (the month that he had devised in his own heart) like the feast that was in Judah.

He simply devised a date in his heart and set it up as a feast. There are such dates that are devised in man’s heart, dates for a feast that God did not ordain.

For example, we love the Lord’s resurrection and we enjoy the power of His resurrection in the Spirit with our spirit, but in Christianity, there is such a thing as “Easter”, a particular date devised in man’s heart to “celebrate” the resurrection of Christ.

Of course, many other evil and superstitious things are involved with this so-called celebration of Christ’s resurrection.

Also, we love the reality of the Lord’s incarnation and we daily celebrate Him living in us in the principle of incarnation, but in Christianity, there’s such a thing as “Christmas”, a date devised in man’s heart to “celebrate” the birth of Jesus.

This “celebration” involves many evil and pagan things, and it is definitely not what God intends nor what the Bible teaches.

Such “celebrations” are polluting what Christianity is supposed to be, and many evil things and people are hiding in these “celebrations” to do their own work and things “in the name of God” and under the cloak of worshipping God.

Jeroboam offered sacrifices on the altar at Bethel to the calves that he had made, and he placed in Bethel the priests of the high places; he went up to the altar although he was not a priest.

All these are part of the apostasy of Jeroboam, and these should be a warning to us in the proper church life today.

Jeroboam’s apostasy became a serious sin that caused his entire family to be destroyed under God’s judgment and eventually led to Israel’s being carried away into captivity (1 Kings 13:34; 14:7-11, 15-16; 15:29-30; 2 Kings 17:20-23).

God hates the sins of Jeroboam and the way of Jeroboam, and the whole family of Jeroboam (with the exception of one) was destroyed by God “like a man sweeps dung until it is all gone” (1 Kings 14:5-18).

Jeroboam’s life was ended by the severe punishment of God (vv. 19-20).

This should serve as a warning to us. May we be saved from apostasy and return to the way of God, taking His preference and desire regarding the way we should live and meet.

May we be saved from doing things for the self while pretending to be worshipping God. May we be saved from worshipping idols, things that we devise or set in our heart and replace God in our being.

May we be saved from doing things according to our convenience and not obeying the way of God as set in His holy word.

Lord Jesus, we return to You and abide in Your word. Infuse us with Yourself, dear Lord, and grant us to remain on Your way, the narrow and straight way in God’s economy. Save us from worshipping God according to our convenience and preference. Save us from pretending to worship God while actually worshipping idols and doing things for the self. May our way of meeting with the saints be according to Your ordination and not our preference and convenience. Strengthen us into our inner man, Lord, that we would drop our preference and convenience and simply take Your way in Your economy. We want to keep the oneness and remain in this oneness of the Body of Christ, practising the church life on the genuine ground of oneness in the Body of Christ.

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Sources of inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, a sharing by brother Ricky Acosta in the message, and portions from, Life-study for 1&2 Kings, msg. 8, by Witness Lee, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-study of 1 and 2 Kings (2022 summer training), week 11, entitled, Apostasy, the High Places, and the Recovery of the Genuine Ground of Oneness.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – The unity of Church is but / The saints in oneness living; / The Spirit which indwelleth them / This oneness ever giving. / Thus it is realized and called / The unity of Spirit; / ’Tis based upon the common faith / Which all the saints inherit. (Hymns #831 stanza 1)
  – In truth we serve and worship too, / In shadows nevermore, / In Christ, the one reality, / The Father we adore. / To God we offer Christ the Lord / Whom we experience; / With God we too delight in Him. / His light and sweetness sense. (Hymns #865 stanzas 6-7)
  – The faith which once for all was giv’n / Unto the saints of old, / Has been committed unto us / To guard, defend, and hold. / And we know whom we have believed / And are persuaded that He is able / To guard, through the Holy Spirit, / Our deposit to that day. (Hymns #1285 stanza 1 and chorus)