so, you are saying that having a Christmas tree is equal to denying Christ.
well, that certainly sound reasonable...
or not.
Thanks for asking.
A specific heresy -- Be Careful what you pray for
5 Though you already know all this, I want to remind you that the Lord at one time delivered his people out of Egypt, but later destroyed those who did not believe.
Do you remember the amazing delivery of Israel from all kinds of enemies in Exodus, Numbers and Deuteronomy? Pillar of fire, Pillar of cloud, the Red Sea parts, the Earth splits and swallows up the rebellious. 1 million leave Egypt, 2 made it into the good land. It was an 11 day journey that took 38 years. Were those 1 million who didn't make it, were they saved? What is the issue? Apostasy, falling away, the destruction that comes upon them because of that.
Read the history and it is very clear, God reserves the right to destroy that people if they become guilty of certain forms of unbelief, or other sins to which unbelief leads. Now we can certainly remember the Lord's promise that we shall never perish and no man shall pluck us out of the Lord's hand. It is the same Bible and the same God. You can have eternal security and still suffer destruction.
Those Israelites who were destroyed had eaten the Passover, they had put the blood on the doorpost and they passed through the Red Sea typifying the waters of baptism. Repeatedly God calls them "my people". Now there were some who snuck in there, the "mixed multitude" so it is reasonable to think that not all, not 100% were saved, but the vast majority were. Remember of all those who crossed the Red Sea none ended up back in Egypt.
So then to understand the unbelief that caused them to be destroyed we have to turn to Numbers 14. The spies come back with an evil report and they lift up their voice and cry "would to God that we had died in the land of Egypt or in this wilderness"! God responds "as you have spoken in my ears so will I do to you"! Their destruction in the wilderness was an answer to their prayer! In their prayer they say their little ones were going to be a prey so God says all those you said would be a prey, them I will bring in.
Paul, the same guy who said we are saved by grace, and we are justified by faith, this same guy said "Now all these things happened unto them for ensample: and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages are come". Nothing in scripture is extraneous. Everything is for our learning. So I ask you if we were to look at the Israelites in the wilderness would it be the 999,998 that were celebrating Christmas according to the world or was it the 2 (Caleb and Joshua) who were and the 999,998 were saying no way? Who was crying about we can't follow God because our children will become a prey? Some will argue that there was nothing in the OT about Christmas. Well Paul says "with many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness. Now these things were for our examples, to the intent that we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted". OK, no "Christmas" in the wilderness. Do we have "evil things" in the celebration of Christmas? Any chance God was not well pleased with some of this?
There are a lot of types in this story: Egypt a type of the world, Pharaoh a type of the Devil and his armies, Moses a type of Christ, Red Sea a type of the Baptism, Manna a type of the bread of life. So what do you think the destruction of all these Israelites who were destroyed due to unbelief is? Jude tells us clearly it is a type of the apostasy. The people who were overthrown were out of Egypt but not in Canaan. Look at the seven churches and especially at Sardis, a name that you are alive and yet you are dead.
Returning to Paul's word -- "we should not lust after evil things, as they lusted, neither should we become idolaters as it is written they sat down to eat and drink they rose up to play. The New Testament tells us to flee from idolatry. John tells us to keep ourselves from idols. An idol is anything that you put between you and the Lord, anything that displaces the Lord. Once again, let's ask, how many of the Israelites were involved in Idolatry? Moses and Joshua weren't, but apart from them who wasn't? Who wasn't involved in the golden calf idolatry? Neither commit fornication -- Novels, movies, cable TV, modern music is all involved in fornication. Consider those who died by being bitten by the snakes. They said they loathed the manna, that was the word of God that we need for our daily sustenance. If they had been in the word daily they would not have been bitten by the fiery serpents. Think about Christians today who got the jab and now regret it. I wonder what their time in the word was like prior to that?
What is the lesson? We are under constant attack from the great serpent and the word protects us. Once the church leaves the word of God they open themselves up to attack. The only cure is to look on the crucified Jesus.
Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall
In Revelation they stand on the glassy sea. The laver where we wash in the word is called a glassy sea. The word that we wash up in is also the word that we stand on.
1
