Reject the Backslide – Reclaim your Purpose
There is a war between the saint and satan, and that so bloody one, that the cruelest which ever was fought by men will be found but sport and child’s play to this… The stage wheron this war is fought, is every man’s soul.
William Gurnall (1616-1679), British Puritan preacher..
Everyone in this place tonight, that is willing to give your life to the Lord, please raise your hand. Repeat this prayer after me.
This article is not to discuss if the above mentioned altar call is Biblical or not, but rather to show how easy Christians have tried to make it to become a Christian, how unprepared we are sent into this war. Luke 14:28-33 perfectly show us that there is a cost to be counted to be a disciple of Jesus. It’s not just such a simple ritual, it’s a life changing, transformative decision that vehemently overrides your entire equilibrium in life. The one question that should be asked is “Have you counted up the cost to become Christ’s disciple?”
It is usually much easier to start your Christian walk than it is to persevere in it. Acts 2:4 is an amazing passage where the Holy Spirit is received by the disciples and the church technically starts with Peter’s Holy Spirit inspired preaching. Just imagine those disciples did not persevere. Yet, they did with the same fervent passion as they started, sometimes it seems to me that Acts 2:42 carries more power in the sense that Acts 2:4 would not have meant anything if Acts 2:42 also took place.
The only way that we can persevere as they did is by using the one and only key – looking unto Jesus!
Hebrews 12:1
Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
If looking unto Jesus helps us to keep focus and not lose sight of the glorious prize to be with Him, what actually causes us to lose focus? It is quite simple, anything that takes our focus away from Jesus: sin, lies from satan, unbelief, false teachings, getting tired etc.
Backslide
Let us now take a deeper look into the horrible act of backsliding. I call it a horrible act as most people tend to sympathize with a backslider or even empathize as they have experienced it themselves. It is important to note that we must always abide by the motto “Hard on the rule and soft on the person”, meaning you can never attack or look down on a person that has backslidden, or if it is you, beat yourself up. What I am trying to say is it is such a serious act that there is no time for soft soaping, you need to get rid of it as quick as possible, either in your own life or someone else’s.
To backslide is technically to turn away from God, your faith or your commitment to follow Christ – see the seriousness. It literally means to fall in unbelief, sin and spiritual numbness or decay. Backsliding in it’s essence is none other than disloyalty and rebellion towards God. The worst part is to stagnate is the same as to backslide.
This whole process can lead to a weakened spiritual state, making you susceptible to attacks from the enemy and putting your walk with God a few years back – the influence you could have had, the difference you could have made etc.
We must realize that as soon as we become a son and daughter of God, we give Him full authority in our lives. We pray the Lord’s prayer asking God to not lead us into temptation and to deliver us from the evil one. Do you not see that backsliding is falling into those two categories where we specifically ask God for help. He will help! It will not necessarily be in the ways you imagined, but we must never forget that God cares more about our salvation than our comfort.
Do think the Lord is just going to allow the devil to take you away from Him?
He bought us with His blood and we are His, therefore if you go read Jonah again you will see the bigger picture. God will keep trying to bring you back to Him, even if He needs to send a storm in your life. Just remember what family did not suffer if the father becomes an alcoholic, what parents don’t suffer if the child becomes a drug addict. Your actions influence others just as the storm in Jonah’s life came upon everyone in the vicinity as well. You become a dangerous person when backsliding.
1 John 2:3
And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.
Hosea 11:7
And my people are bent to backsliding from me: though they called them to the most High, none at all would exalt him.
Think back in your life – the time when you were the closest to God. There was a time when sin was sin, grace was grace, God was God and love was love – what happened?
Signs of Backsliding
Loss of Passion in Prayer
Before the onslaught of backsliding it was a prerequisite for you to come before the Lord, you had a burning desire to be in conversation with God and it could last for hours, but now you start dosing off. You pray the same prayer and same direction every time, there is no depth. Technically, you are just going through the motions, because it is what is expected of you.
Isaiah 29:13
Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men:
Indifference towards the Word
You can know you are starting to backslide if you lose your hunger for the Word of God. If you lose that excitement of finding new revelations and learning new things about God and Creation you never knew. You know it’s meaningless if you still just read the Bible once or twice a week to sear your conscience that you are still a Christian. The enthusiasm, love and hunger for the Word is lost and there is the point of decay.
it is important to note that when indifference towards the Word sets in your life, you are usually very offended and furious if the truth is preached out of the Word, because it goes against the new character busy forming in your soul. You start seeing the preacher as an enemy if he preaches truth.
1 Peter 2:2
As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:
Psalms 119:103
How sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth!
Internal Contamination
At this point sin starts to slowly increase in your life as you start allowing more of the world to penetrate your soul. You start doing things to satisfy people and not God. Systemically you are being tamed for sin and it’s presence becomes less offensive in your site. You start approving and enjoying worldly behaviour.
It boils down to living a “Double Life” and having “Hidden Sin“.
Christians saturated in hidden sin, practice religion for men’s eyes and set their destination at the gazing point of society, ever increasingly losing sight of God.
Truth Focus
Matthew 23:26-27
Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness.
Love of the World (not for)
This is where your worldiness starts increasing, not just your approval of it. Your speech, actions, clothes etc. start becoming like the world’s. You start struggling to discern between Godly and worldly lifestyles and start justifying your worldly actions.
James 4:4
Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.
1 John 2:15-16
Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
Decreasing Love for Believers
Your disconnection to the body of Christ has already begun and you therefore look upon your fellow believers with a critical unloving eye. You start finding fault in everything they do without first removing the beam in your own eye. This is usually where you start damaging the body of Christ through gossip and rumours. You also do not care about the difficulties others are facing and you will be prone to reject pleas of assistance.
1 John 3:14
We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death.
2 Peter 1:9
But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.
Trust in Yourself and Others
At the end of this downward spiral you start trusting in your own abilities and power to do things. You start to completely detach yourself from God. You even start relying on other people more than God. This is typically when you start using worldly jargon and qualifications to measure spiritual success. Do you see? The use of worldly principles to explain spiritual things – they are not compatible.
Renewal Awaits the Willing
Hosea 14:1
O Israel, return unto the LORD thy God; for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity.
Hosea 14:4
I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely: for mine anger is turned away from him.
If you have realized that you fall in one (Or others not mentioned) of the categories, come back to the Lord. Jeremiah 24:7 shows us that a half-hearted repentance is useless, we need to be fully in it. The only way we can come back from backsliding is through diligent and constant prayer as stated in Matthew 24:41 and Colossians 4:2.
1 John 1:7-2:2
But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.
Do what you can to fly up; If you cannot fly, endeavor to run without wearying; If you cannot run, endeavor to walk without fainting; If you cannot walk because of your broken leg, then will you creep to the Physician with it and hold out the broken leg, the withered arm to him; If you cannot creep, will you cry to him; “He hath not said to the seed of Jacob, seek ye me in vain”: If you cannot cry, will ye look to Him; “Look to me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth”: If you cannot look to him, will you long for him, for “He satisfies the longing soul”: sigh, and sob, and groan after him. And if, after all, you think you can do nothing, because of your absolute weakness; then, O will you wait on the Lord, and you shall renew your strength; wait on him in the use of means; lie at the pool, and you cannot tell how soon you shall get strength to mount: “Wait, I say, on the Lord.”
Ralph Erskine (1685-1752) – Scottish Minister
Psalms 17:5
Hold up my goings in thy paths, that my footsteps slip not.
There is always a chance to turn back to the Lord – Do it now! Do it wholeheartedly!
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