Abstract
The Bible presents a clear pattern for how faithful believers should relate to an apostate church and its members. Through the examples of Paul, Moses, Jeremiah, Amos, and ultimately Christ Himself, Scripture reveals a consistent spirit of deep sorrow, continued love, and earnest intercession rather than judgment or revenge. These biblical cases, particularly relevant to today’s Seventh-day Adventist Church, demonstrate that God’s faithful people are characterized not by criticism or rejection of erring brethren, but by heartfelt grief over apostasy while maintaining tireless efforts for their salvation. The sealing of God’s people is directly connected to this spirit of Christ-like compassion toward the erring church.
How should we act when we are being treated wrongly, when we see God’s truth being trampled, and when persecution begins against true brethren and sisters? Let us examine Biblical examples to understand the proper spirit we should manifest.
Paul’s Actions in the Apostate Jewish Church
- For ye, brethren, became followers of the churches of God which in Judaea are in Christ Jesus: for ye also have suffered like things of your own countrymen, even as they have of the Jews:
- Who both killed the Lord Jesus, and their own prophets, and have persecuted us; and they please not God, and are contrary to all men:
- Forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they might be saved, to fill up their sins alway: for the wrath is come upon them to the uttermost.
The context of Paul’s writings is the Jewish church before the destruction of Jerusalem. He mentions several factors of the church’s apostasy:
- Forbidding them to speak
- Persecuting them
- Killing their own prophets
Yet despite recognizing this apostate state, what was Paul’s sentiment toward them?
- I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost,
- That I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart.
- For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh:
- Who are Israelites; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises;
- Whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen.
This demonstrates an extraordinarily high standard of sacrificial love. Do we have such a spirit?
Moses’ Response to Apostate Israel
When Israel made a golden calf and turned from God, Moses’ response revealed Christ-like love. Read Exodus 32:30-35:
- … Oh, this people have sinned a great sin, and have made them gods of gold.
- Yet now, if thou wilt forgive their sin—; and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast written.
Despite their worship of false gods, Moses manifested Christ-like sacrificial love toward his apostate brethren. This is the measure of love we should manifest toward the apostate brethren and sisters who worship false gods.
Jeremiah’s Sentiment Toward Apostate Israel
Jeremiah demonstrated deep grief rather than judgment:
- For the hurt of the daughter of my people am I hurt; I am black; astonishment hath taken hold on me.
His response to false prophets was heartbreak:
- Mine heart within me is broken because of the prophets; all my bones shake; I am like a drunken man, and like a man whom wine hath overcome, because of the LORD, and because of the words of his holiness.
The context of this verse is about the false prophets in Israel, who were giving false hopes and quenching their conscience in sin. But Jeremiah’s soul was broken because of it.
When warning the apostate church, his spirit remained one of grief:
- But if ye will not hear it, my soul shall weep in secret places for your pride; and mine eye shall weep sore, and run down with tears, because the LORD’S flock is carried away captive.
When the judgment of God falls upon His church, God’s command to His faithful people is as follows:
- Therefore thou shalt say this word unto them; Let mine eyes run down with tears night and day, and let them not cease: for the virgin daughter of my people is broken with a great breach, with a very grievous blow.
And in another place, Jeremiah follows that Spirit:
- Mine eyes do fail with tears, my bowels are troubled, my liver is poured upon the earth, for the destruction of the daughter of my people; because the children and the sucklings swoon in the streets of the city.
When the shaking comes upon the church of God, then we will have an opportunity to show what spirit we possess toward God’s church. This will be a test for us. We have to reach that level of Christ’s character.
The Warning Against Indifference
Speaking about the people who are indifferent toward the church’s apostate state:
- That drink wine in bowls, and anoint themselves with the chief ointments: but they are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph.
When God’s people are in apostasy, and we are not grieved because of it, we do not manifest the spirit of Christ. We have a spiritual problem.
God’s Response to Those Who Mock His People
The Lord condemned Moab and Ammon for their attitude toward His apostate people:
- I have heard the reproach of Moab, and the revilings of the children of Ammon, whereby they have reproached my people, and magnified themselves against their border.
- Therefore as I live, saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, Surely Moab shall be as Sodom, and the children of Ammon as Gomorrah, even the breeding of nettles, and saltpits, and a perpetual desolation: the residue of my people shall spoil them, and the remnant of my people shall possess them.
- This shall they have for their pride, because they have reproached and magnified themselves against the people of the LORD of hosts.
- The LORD will be terrible unto them: for he will famish all the gods of the earth; and men shall worship him, every one from his place, even all the isles of the heathen.
In Zephaniah’s time, God’s people were in apostasy. But Moab and Ammon were reproaching God’s people. God’s response toward their reproach is a lesson for us against reproaching and magnifying ourselves against brethren and sisters who are in apostasy. This is not according to the Spirit of God.
The king of Tyrus had a similar sentiment to Moab and Ammon:
- Son of man, because that Tyrus hath said against Jerusalem, Aha, she is broken that was the gates of the people: she is turned unto me: I shall be replenished, now she is laid waste:
- Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Tyrus, and will cause many nations to come up against thee, as the sea causeth his waves to come up.
The king of Tyrus was happy for the brokenness of Jerusalem. Although the church was in a state of apostasy, God did not leave His church unprotected to be taken advantage of beyond His appointed measure. When our brethren and sisters are in apostasy, we should not be happy about it, nor take advantage of them, for God’s judgment will fall upon us.
Interesting
Tyrus sinned against God in many ways, and from all his sins, this one in particular God was pointing out to Tyrus.
Before the Sealing
Those who receive God’s seal are characterized by their grief over apostasy:
- And the LORD said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof.
The sealed people of God are the ones who cry for all the abominations in the church. This is one of the characteristics of saved people:
- I will gather them that are sorrowful for the solemn assembly, who are of thee, to whom the reproach of it was a burden.
The Sentiment Against the Persecutor
When David was persecuted by Saul, and when Saul died, David wrote the following:
- The beauty of Israel is slain upon thy high places: how are the mighty fallen!
- Tell it not in Gath, publish it not in the streets of Askelon; lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice, lest the daughters of the uncircumcised triumph.
- Saul and Jonathan were lovely and pleasant in their lives, and in their death they were not divided: they were swifter than eagles, they were stronger than lions.
- Ye daughters of Israel, weep over Saul, who clothed you in scarlet, with other delights, who put on ornaments of gold upon your apparel.
- How are the mighty fallen in the midst of the battle!
David’s grief at the death of Saul was sincere and deep, evincing the generosity of a noble nature. He did not exult in the fall of his enemy. The obstacle that had barred his access to the throne of Israel was removed, but at this he did not rejoice. Death had obliterated the remembrance of Saul’s distrust and cruelty, and now nothing in his history was thought of but that which was noble and kingly. The name of Saul was linked with that of Jonathan, whose friendship had been so true and so unselfish. {EGW; PP 695.3; 1890}
Jesus’ Love for the Apostate Church
Consider Jesus’ case with the apostate church:
- O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!
He tirelessly worked for the salvation of the church, and eventually the church crucified Him on the cross. But what did Jesus do after His resurrection? Was He revengeful? No! He still gave a chance to Israel. See Luke 24:46; Acts 1:8; Acts 2:36; Romans 1:16; 11:1; 11:25.
The disciples followed the commandment of Christ to still reach Israel. This commission was to end only at the end of probation for the Jews. God was still interested in the salvation of Israel even after they crucified His Son. Those who had rejected Christ, Christ had not rejected. The same spirit we must possess at this end of time.
White’s Family Sentiment
The condition of God’s cause and people nearly crushed us. Our happiness ever depends upon the state of the cause of God. When His people are in a prosperous condition, we feel free; but when they are backslidden and there is discord among them, nothing can make us joyful. Our whole interest and life have been interwoven with the rise and progress of the third angel’s message. We are bound up in it, and when it does not prosper, we experience great suffering of mind. {EGW; 1T 246.3; 1885}
Conclusion
When Israel asked Samuel to give them a king (1 Samuel 8:4-7), God allowed that apostasy to enter into His church (1 Samuel 8:22). Afterward they repented of it (1 Samuel 12:19), and asked Samuel to intercede for them. Samuel responded:
- Moreover as for me, God forbid that I should sin against the LORD in ceasing to pray for you: but I will teach you the good and the right way:
The side effect of the apostasy of God’s church is to reveal the true Spirit within His church. The shaking must come, and the sealing will follow it, showing us what spirit we cherish toward our erring brethren and sisters. The Spirit of Christ will manifest compassion toward the erring church. When God’s church was in apostasy, prophets like Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Moses, Samuel, and all prophets of God, including apostles, and Christ Himself, never mocked the church, but interceded to God with deep sorrow and tears, trying to benefit His people with all their might. This is the spirit we must possess, otherwise we will never have our place in the Kingdom of God.