They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us.” 1 John 2:19

There have been two high profile Christian personalities that have denied the faith recently. Pastor and author Josh Harris and Christian song writer Marty Sampson.

Josh Harris is the author of I Kissed Dating Goodbye. Harris served as senior pastor at Covenant Life Church in Gaithersburg from 2004 until his          resignation in 2015 in order to pursue graduate studies at Regent College  in British Columbia. This past July (2019), he posted the following on       Instagram: “I have undergone a massive shift in regard to my faith in Jesus. The popular phrase for this is “deconstruction,” the biblical phrase is “falling away.” By all the measurements that I have for defining a Christian, I am not a Christian.” In addition, he announced the separation from his wife of 22 years. This news shocked many in the Christian community.

Marty Sampson was the worship leader at Hillsong Church in Sydney        Australia. He announced the following: “I’m genuinely losing my faith, and    it doesn’t bother me. Like, what bothers me now is nothing. I am so happy now, so at peace with the world. It’s crazy.  Christianity just seems to me like another religion at this point. This is a soapbox moment so here I go … How many preachers fall? Many,” he continued. “No one talks about it. How many miracles happen? Not many. No one talks about it. Why is the Bible full of contradictions? No one talks about it. How can God be love yet send four billion people to a place, all ‘coz they don’t believe? No one talks about it. Christians can be the most judgmental people on the planet—they can also be some of the most beautiful and loving people. But it’s not for me”. In a recent article, The Christian Post wrote the following: Despite his long     history with Hillsong Church, Sampson emphasized his thoughts are his own and do not represent any church, adding, “If anything all I have ever received from Hillsong is support and the opportunity to follow my own mind, and they have always taught what I perceive to be sound Pentecostal doctrine.”

If you know scripture you know that this is nothing new.

–Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons, (1 Timothy 4:1).

-and their talk will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, who have —who have swerved from the truth, saying that the  resurrection has already happened. They are upsetting the faith of some.

For Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia (2 Timothy 4:10).

-And finally, this sober warning from  2 Peter 2:20-22, “For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first. For it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them. What the true proverb says has happened to them: “The dog returns to its own vomit, and the sow, after washing herself, returns to wallow in  the mire.”

Al Mohler addressed the news of Sampson with the following: “There      may be even some who sin by repudiating Christianity, but if they ever  were genuinely Christian, they will return by repentance at some point,    and that is a Gospel promise. If  persons do continue in their repudiation of Christianity, then we have to remember the text 1 John 2:19 where we are told that, ‘They went out from us, because they were not of us,’ which is to say they never were truly Christians. They were pretend believers.”

This is a warning to all to not put your faith and trust in a mere person. Our faith and love for Christ does not rise and fall with what others do. May our cry here at GHBC be the same as Paul’s, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith” (2Timothy 4:7).

-But God’s firm foundation stands, bearing this seal: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity.” (2 Timothy 5:17-19)