The Backslider In Heart

Transcription

1 REVIVAL MESSAGE 2017 The Backslider In Heart Proverbs 14:14 (NKJV) Please open your Bibles to the Book of Proverbs, chapter fourteen. And let's read verse 14. Proverbs 14:14 (NKJV) The backslider in heart will be filled with his own ways, but a good man will be satisfied from above. P R A Y E R ************** Introduction One of the greatest dangers we face in the Christian life is the danger of backsliding. One of the analogies the scriptures use to describe those of us who are God's children is that of sheep. And because there is a great deal of similarity between our sinful nature and the nature of a sheep, we have a tendency to wander away from the Shepherd. Isaiah 53:6 (NKJV) All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. The scriptures also warn us over and over that as the time for the Lord's return draws near we are going to see a great falling away or a mass defection from the faith by those who profess to be believers in the Lord Jesus Christ.

2 II Thessalonians 2:1-3 (NKJV) Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come. Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first And the scriptures warn us it could happen to any one of us! Paul writes in I Corinthians 10:12 (NKJV) Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. In every generation since Christ ascended back to His heavenly Father, preachers of the gospel have sounded the warnings about back-sliding to the Lord's Church. Even a generation ago, sermons on backsliding were in the arsenal of most preachers and Revival evangelists. Illustration: I remember when I was growing up in my home Church back in Indiana we used to have powerful Revival Evangelist each year such as Raldo Cook, and George Stansberry, and Ed Bousman. And each one of these Revival preachers sounded the alarm about the dangers of back-sliding! Sadly, we rarely if ever hear sermons on back-sliding in our generation. We hear lots of sermons on God's love, and God's grace, and God's mercy, and God's forgiveness, and these messages are vitally important in today's Church. But if we are going to preach the whole gospel we must also preach messages on SIN...and REPENTANCE...and GOD'S JUDGEMENT...and yes, BACK-SLIDING!

3 WHAT IS BACK-SLIDING? Before we go any further, let me just pause here to define the meaning of the word back-slide. Back-sliding means to take back one's consecration and devotion to God. Back-sliding means to lose one's first love for the Lord Jesus Christ. A back-slider Is a Christian who is out of fellowship with God. A back-slider is a Christian who has suffered a spiritual relapse. A backslider is a Christian who has lost his or her joy and peace, and spiritual passion, and spiritual effectiveness and fruitfulness. And I want to emphasize that back-sliding is a sin that is exclusive to the Christian. A lost person cannot back-slide because how can one turn away from the LORD unless he first turned to the LORD? You see, a lost soul is already in the lowest condition he can possibly be in? He couldn't possibly back-slide any lower. ********************************************************************* Word-Pictures For Word-Pictures For Backsliding In The Bible The New Testament provides us with a number of word pictures to describe one who is in a back-slidden condition. In Luke 9:62 Jesus compares backsliding to a man putting his hand to the plow and looking back. Jesus says, such a man is not fit for the kingdom of God. In Matthew 5:13 Jesus compares backsliding to salt that has lost its savor or salt that has lost its saltiness.

4 In I Timothy 1:20 the apostle Paul compares backsliding to the shipwrecking of one's faith. In II Peter 2:22 the apostle Peter gives us two very graphic pictures to describe back-sliding. *One is that of a dog returning to its own vomit. *And the other is that of a sow going back to wallow in the mud hole after it has been washed. *In Revelation 2:4 Jesus compares backsliding to losing our first love for Him or falling away from Him. *************************************************** Biblical Examples of Backsliders The Bible provides us with many examples of back-sliders to serve as a sobering warning to each and every one of us. Some of them backslid for a period of time and then repented and came back to the LORD, such as King David, and Samson, and Simon Peter and the ten remaining disciples who deserted Jesus the night he was arrested in Gethsemane, and of course let's not forget The Prodigal Son in Luke 15. But then there are many examples in the Bible of people who left this world in a back-slidden condition such as: King Saul...and Achan...and Hymaneus and Alexander...and Ananias and Sapphira...and Demas...and Diotrophes...and of course, Judas Iscariot the betrayer of Jesus.

5 **************************************************** Transition Into The Heart of The Message ****************************************** As we consider this very serious matter of back-sliding this evening, there are three important questions I would like to answer. The first question is this: I. What Are The SYMPTOMS of Backsliding? 1. Let's take another look at that verse of scripture I read at the outset of my message in Proverbs 14:14 (NKJV) Proverbs 14:14 (NKJV) The backslider in heart will be filled with his own ways, but a good man will be satisfied from above. 2. Pay very close attention to the first four words of that fourteenth verse. The backslider in heart... (repeat) 3. Backsliding is a HEART condition! And because it is a sin of the heart its symptoms may or may not be obvious. 4. Sometimes the symptoms of backsliding are very obvious. For example, if one accepted Christ and was baptized years ago and for a period of time they were faithful in their Church attendance and active in the work of the Church, and then their Church attendance became more sporadic and now that individual rarely if ever even darken the doors of the Church, that is a symptom of backsliding. Disassociation and disconnection from the Lord's Church is an obvious symptom of backsliding.

6 Or let's say someone accepted Christ years ago, and then returned to their old sinful habits and sinful lifestyle that is an obvious symptom of back-sliding isn't it? Living a life of sin that crucifies Jesus all over again is an obvious symptom of back-sliding. 5. But let me remind you that Solomon told us in Proverbs 14:14 that backsliding is a sin of the HEART! In other words, there may be something going on inside the backslider's heart long before there are any outward symptoms that are visible to others or even to the backslider himself. 6. I submit to you this evening that is very possible for one to be in Sunday School and Worship services every week and yet be in a back-slidden condition in their heart. You can sing the hymns, and pray the prettiest prayer, and observe the Lord's Supper, and shout AMEN during the sermon, and still be a back-slider in heart. It is even possible for one to teach a Sunday School Class...or to serve as an Elder or Deacon in the Church...or even stand behind a pulpit to preach every Sunday, and yet be a back-slider in heart. 7. A few moments ago I mentioned the names of a number of people in the Bible who either back-slid for a period of time then repented, or permanently back-slid and never came back to the Lord. I went back through that list of names and compiled a list of symptoms that were present in the hearts of these individuals when they were in their back-slidden condition. Listen closely...

7 KING SAUL stopped praying and stopped seeking God's guidance and counsel. SAMSON and KING DAVID yielded to their sinful lust of the flesh. ACHAN and ANNANIAS AND SAPPHIRA hid secret sins in their lives. DEMAS and THE PRODIGAL SON were overcome with a love for the world. MANY OF THE HEBREW CHRISTIANS developed a regular habit of forsaking the Sunday assembly of the Church. THE CORINTHIAN CHRISTIANS regularly partook of the Lord's Supper without examining their relationship with Christ. DIOTROPHES was puffed up with pride and wanted to be the most important member of his Church. 8. I ask you to search your heart right now. Did you identify with any of these symptoms? Has your heart grown indifferent and apathetic towards Jesus? Has your heart grown calloused and resistant toward the word of God? 9. The late Vance Havner used to say, If ever there was a time when you were closer to Jesus Christ than you are now...if ever there was a time when your prayers were sweeter, and your worship more meaningful than it is right now, you have back-slidden in your heart.

8 Now that we have considered some of THE SYMPTOMS OF BACKSLIDING, let's answer our second question, and that is... II. What Are The SORROWS of Backsliding? 1. Listen once again to Proverbs 14:14 (NKJV)... The backslider in heart will be filled with his own ways, but a good man will be satisfied from above. 2. What this proverb is telling us is when one travels the downward path of back-sliding, he or she invites all kinds of sorrows and troubles and heartache into his or her life. The backslider in heart will be filled with his own ways One of the clearest pictures of the many sorrows that come to a back-slider can be seen in the life of King David after he committed adultery with Bathsheba and had her husband Uriah killed on the front-line of battle. David writes about the chastening or the disciplining of God that came upon him while he was in this backslidden condition. 4. Please turn with me in your Bibles to Psalm 38, and follow along with me as we go down through the first eleven verses of this Psalm and see the various sorrows that came upon David while in his back-slidden condition.

9 In verses 1, 2 David talks about experiencing THE SORROW OF GOD'S STINGING DISCIPLINE. Psalm 38:1,2 (NKJV) O Lord, do not rebuke me in Your wrath, Nor chasten me in Your hot displeasure! For Your arrows pierce me deeply, And Your hand presses me down. You remember that passage in Hebrews 12:6 (NKJV) For whom the Lord loves He chastens, And scourges every son whom He receives. God loved David as a son. David was His anointed King. David was the man after His own heart. And God loved David too much to let him continue down his back-slidden path. So David felt the sting of God's discipline. Moving on to verses 3,5, and 7 David talks about experiencing THE SORROW OF PHYSICAL SUFFERING. v. 3 There is no soundness in my flesh because of Your anger, nor any health in my bones because of my sin. v. 5 My wounds are foul and festering because of my foolishness. v. 7 For my loins are full of inflammation, and there is no soundness in my flesh. Few things get our attention more than physical pain and suffering. Does this mean that all physical pain and suffering are the result of sin or back-sliding in our lives? Certainly not! But GOD may allow us to experience physical suffering to test and try our faith to see if it is real. Consider the example of JOB.

10 In vs. 4,6, and 8 David talks about experiencing THE SORROW OF MENTAL AND EMOTIONAL ANGUISH. v. 4 For my iniquities have gone over my head; like a heavy burden they are too heavy for me. v. 6 I am troubled, I am bowed down greatly; I go mourning all the day long. v. 8 I am feeble and severely broken; I groan because of the turmoil of my heart. When one is in a back-slidden condition they often find themselves over-whelmed with a sense of despair and discouragement and depression. That is because it is absolutely impossible to be filled with joy and happiness when you are out of sweet fellowship with GOD. And then in verse 11 David talks about experiencing THE SORROW OF FRACTURED RELATIONSHIPS. v. 11 My loved ones and my friends stand aloof from my plague, and my relatives stand afar off. While in his back-slidden condition, GOD allowed David to feel a sense of isolation and detachment from his relatives and friends. The same is true of us when we back-slide. Just as back-sliding hinders our fellowship with GOD, it also hinders our fellowship with GOD'S people.

11 5. Listen carefully! GOD doesn't take back-sliding lightly! Whenever we begin to drift away from God, He allows us to experience physical, and emotional, and spiritual sorrows in order to wake us up!: And that brings us to our third question and that is... III. What Is The SOLUTION To Backsliding? 1. Perhaps you are sitting here this evening and the Holy Spirit has convicted you through the preaching of the word that your relationship with GOD is not what it ought to be. And perhaps you are wondering, What can I do to get back into a sweet fellowship with GOD. 2. God's solution for backsliding is the same as it is for all sin and that is REPENTANCE! 3. I believe Jesus' Parable of The Prodigal Son in Luke 15 provides us with some valuable insight as to what we must do when we have back-slidden. You remember after receiving his portion of the inheritance from his father, the prodigal ran away to the far country and wasted all of his money on wild, sinful living. And Jesus tells us in that parable that after he had wasted everything and found himself pennyless, he found work slopping hogs for a pig farmer. It was then the Prodigal came to his senses and said, I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, Father I have sinned against heaven and before You. 'I am no longer worthy to be called Your son. Make me like one of your hired servants.

12 4. But the most beautiful part of Jesus' parable is what happens next. Luke 15:20 tells us, And he arose and came to his father. But when he was still A GREAT WAY OFF, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. 5. Oh brothers and sisters, DON'T MISS THIS! The Father didn't wait until his son got all the way home. He didn't demand an apology. He didn't demote him to the position of a lowly servant. He RAN out to meet him...and had COMPASSION on him...and HUGGED and KISSED HIM...and He gave him a BRAND NEW ROBE to wear...and NEW SANDALS for his feet...and a NEW RING for his finger...and he threw a GIANT FEAST to welcome home his son who was lost but was found! 6. Brothers and sisters, the road back to GOD is much much shorter than the road that took us away from Him. When we come to Him with GODLY SORROW IN REPENTANCE, God wraps His loving arms around us and welcomes us back home! *********************************************************************

13 C O N C L U S I O N Where do you go, when you've come to the end of your road, and you feel like the only one and you're all alone? When you've seen all you wanted to see, and become all you wanted to be, and you still don't really know where you belong. You go to the place where life begins, to the LOVE THAT NEVER ENDS, to the ONE WHO'S ARMS ARE OPEN WIDE, you run on inside, and He tells you... You should have come sooner! You should have come sooner! One reason we have REVIVAL MEETINGS is because we all have a tendency to stray and wander away from GOD. Perhaps this evening, you know your heart isn't right with GOD. Perhaps you have known for a long, long time that you are missing that sweet fellowship, and joy, and peace in your heart. You can do something about that tonight as we come to our time of invitation. The LORD is waiting with open arms! WILL YOU TAKE THAT FIRST STEP?

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