BACKSLIDING
Your life as
a Christian is seemingly full of Christ and there is no room for self, but an
aggressive sin comes in and wiggles his way in, crowding out Christ just a
little bit. You give place to this sin
and soon another does the same thing.
Sin by sin, error by error, selfishness by selfishness, the backsliding
continues until you are virtually empty of Christ and full of self.
Backsliding, International Awakening
Ministries, 1982, p. 16.
Are You
Backsliding?
1.
Prayer
ceases to be a vital part of your life.
2.
The
quest for biblical truth ceases.
3.
Biblical
knowledge is not applied inwardly.
4.
Thoughts
are predominately earthly and not heavenward.
5.
The
church service loses its delight.
6.
Spiritual
discussions are a source of embarrassment.
7.
More
time is devoted to recreation and entertainment than the Word and prayer.
8.
Sins
can be committed without any violation of the conscience.
9.
Aspirations
for Christlike holiness cease to dominate your life and thinking.
10. Your mind is focused on the
acquisition of money and goods.
11. Religious songs can be mouthed without
engaging the heart.
12. When hearing the Lord's Name taken in
vain, you are not moved to indignation.
13. Watching degrading movies becomes
entertaining and acceptable.
14. Breaches of peace in the church are of
no concern.
15. The slightest excuse keeps you from
your spiritual duties.
16. The lack of spiritual power is met
with contentment.
17. Personal sins are pardoned by a belief
that the Lord understands.
18. An adjustment to the world is made
with ease.
19. Nothing is done to relieve the misery
and suffering which exists around you.
20. There is no concern for the lost or
sharing the gospel
Adapted from: Backsliding, 1982.
An avoidable
absence from church is an infallible evidence of spiritual decay.
There is only
one way to be revived and healed from our backslidings so that we may become
fruitful even in old age. We must take a steady look at the glory of Christ in
His special character, in His grace and work, as shown to us in the Scripture.
John Owen
Meditation on the Glory of Christ, 1684, ch. 16.
If
you find yourself loving any pleasure more than your prayers, any book better
than the Bible, any house better than the house of the Lord, any table better
than the Lord's table, any persons better than Christ, or any indulgence better
than the hope of heaven – be alarmed.
Thomas Guthrie
If
you begin to slip on the side of a mountain of ice, the first slip may not hurt
if you can stop and slide no further. But alas, you cannot so regulate sin!
When your feet begin to slide, the rate of the descent increases, and the
difficulty of arresting this motion is incessantly becoming greater. It is
dangerous to backslide in any degree, for we know not to what it may lead. The
Christian life is very much like climbing a hill of ice. You cannot slide up.
You have to cut every step with an ice ax. Only with incessant labor in cutting
and chipping can you make any progress. If you want to know how to backslide,
leave off going forward. Cease going upward and you will go downward of
necessity. You can never stand still.
C.H. Spurgeon
Remember that
if you are a child of God, you will never be happy in sin. You are spoiled for
the world, the flesh, and the devil. When you were regenerated there was put
into you a vital principle, which can never be content to dwell in the dead
world. You will have to come back, if indeed you belong to the family.
The cure for
backsliding is found in the abiding love and mercy of God who remains faithful
to His promises of grace in Christ Jesus, whose righteousness and salvation is
apprehended through true faith and repentance.
If I rest, I
rust.
The Early Years, Christian History, n.
34.
When we speak
of a backslider two errors must be avoided: First, saying unequivocally that he
is not a Christian; second, saying unequivocally that he is a Christian. The
fact is that we do not know, we cannot know!
Ernest C. Reisinger
What
Should We Think of the Carnal Christian? 1978, p. 17. By permission Banner of Truth, Carlisle, PA.
Men
fall in private long before they fall in public.
J.C. Ryle
Backsliding,
generally first begins with neglect of private prayer.
1. Examine your heart.
2. Deal with unresolved
conflict.
3. Take a spiritual
retreat.
4. Try spiritual
reading.
5. Praise God.
6. Seek good teaching.
7. Try spiritual
journaling.
8. Try new approaches to
prayer.
9. Take care of your
“temple” – your body.
10. Seek intimate
fellowship.
11. Be innovative in your
devotions.
Jerry White
Copied
from Dangers Men Face by Jerry White © 1997, p. 173-175. Used by Permission of
NavPress – www.navpress.com. All rights
reserved.
A wrong sum
can be put right, but only by going back till you find the error and working it
afresh from that point, never by simply going on.
C.S. Lewis
If
you are not as close to God as you used to be, you do not have to guess who
moved.
Author Unknown
Backsliding
begins when knee-bending stops!
Author Unknown
However
advanced a man may be in piety or age, he is still in
danger of falling.
Charles Simeon
Restoration
for the backslider must always be kept in mind no matter how complex the
problem of his failure.
Derick Bingham
Encouragement
– Oxygen for the Soul, Christian Focus, 1997, p. 54-55. Used by Permission.
Though
Christians be not kept altogether from falling, yet they are kept from falling
altogether.
A Puritan Golden Treasury, compiled by I.D.E. Thomas, by permission of Banner of Truth, Carlisle, PA. 2000, p. 91.
As the case of backsliders is very sad, so our diligence
must be very great for their recovery. It is sad to them to lose so much of their
life, and peace, and serviceableness to God; and to become so serviceable to
Satan and his cause. It is sad to us to see that all our labor is come to this;
and that, when we have taken so much pains with them, and have had so much
hopes of them, all should be so far frustrated. It is saddest of all, to think
that God should be so dishonored by those whom He has so loved, and for whom he
has done so much; and that Christ should be so wounded in the house of His
friends. Besides, partial backsliding has a natural tendency to total apostasy,
and would effect it, if special grace did not prevent
it.
Richard Baxter
The Reformed Pastor, Chapter 2, Section 1.
Taking
it easy is often the prelude to backsliding. Comfort precedes collapse.
Vance Havner
The
causes of backsliding are many. We have pretended to be living a more devoted
life than was actually the case; we neglected to watch unto prayer; we allowed
secret sin to eat out the heart of our piety…or we yielded to temptation…or we
yielded to the fear of man, and drifted with the multitude to do evil; or we
became prosperous, and trusted only in our wealth; or poor, and succumbed to
covetousness and the bitterness of despair.
F.B. Meyer
Our Daily Walk. October 6.