March 25, 2019 -- Proverbs 14:14 -- Halting Backsliding
/The backslider in heart will be filled with the fruit of his ways,
and a good man will be filled with the fruit of his ways.
Proverbs 14:14 ESV
Yesterday I heard a powerful sermon delivered by Rev. S. Richardson, of Faith Presbyterian Church, Tillsonburg. In Rev. Richardson’s sermon he quoted from Richard Owen Roberts. This morning I was digging around and found a sermon by Richard Owen Roberts. The sermon was on Backsliding. I am going to quote from Roberts’ sermon. It is worth reading the whole sermon and you can find it here: http://articles.ochristian.com/article542.shtml
The first question some of you may have is this: what is a ‘backslider’? I’ll let Roberts answer. “There you have it - a backslider is a person who once emptied of his own ways and filled with the ways of God, but who gradually allows his own ways to creep back in until he is all but empty of God and full of himself again.”
What are some signs that you are backsliding? The following quotations, points 1 - 5, are just a few of the main points and are taken directly from Owen’s article. It is that powerful!
Prayer ceases to be a vital part of a professing Christian’s life. It is grievous to realize that many churches have no public prayer meeting of any kind. More upsetting is the fact that many individual Christians have no regular stated seasons of private prayer during which they commune alone with God. How can a person be both Christian and prayerless?
The quest for biblical truth ceases and one grows content with the knowledge of eternal things already acquired. Almost all backsliders demonstrate a sense of satisfaction with the truth already in their possession.
Earnest thoughts about eternal things cease to be regular and gripping. In the early days of a person's new walk with Christ, the mind continually turns toward spiritual matters. When backsliding commences, the mind turns less and less toward heaven, God, eternity and holiness. In the earliest stages of the decline, spiritual thoughts may come frequently, but they are less gripping. As a person becomes more and more filled with his own ways, there will simply be less room for thoughts of eternity.
The services of the church lose their delights.
Pointed spiritual discussions are a source of embarrassment. The person on fire for Jesus Christ delights in every opportunity to talk about Him. No place seems inappropriate for vital spiritual conversation. When backsliding begins, the church seems like the best place to discuss religious matters.
What will stem the tide of this backsliding? What will bring the soul delight?
Be encouraged, child of God, if these words are convicting you. It means the Spirit of God is awakening you to the true condition of your heart and soul!
Pray. Ask the Spirit of God to re-awaken in you joy that can only come from the wells of salvation (Isaiah 12:3). Confess you backsliding. Admit to God specifically what areas of your life are crowding God out. Pray that you will know Jesus Christ. He is Desired One of all Nations. He is the Friend that sticks closer than a brother.
Spend time in the Word of God. Ask the Spirit of God to make the Word of God alive to you once again. When Jesus explained the Scriptures to the two men on the Road to Emmaus they said to one another “did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us…while he opened to us the Scriptures?” (Luke 24:32)
Meet with Christians whose walk you admire! Hebrews 10:25 reminds us to meet together with other Christians so that we can encourage one another, and all the more as we see the Day of Jesus’ return quickly approaching. Oh how our hearts beat faster within our souls at the thought of this!
Sing! The Psalms continually call the people of God to sing the Truth. Music has a way of getting into the very core of who we are and either bringing curses or blessings.
Give thanks to God. Count your blessings. Look and see all that God has done, is doing and in His Word has promised to do. Your heart will swell with wonder and awe and you will bless the Lord.
Today’s prayer is a song “Revive Us Oh Lord”
We've turned from Your ways
Lord Your fruit we've ceased to bear
We lack the power we once knew in our prayers
That gentle voice from heaven
We cease to hear and know
The fact that He has risen no longer stirs our soul
Revive us oh Lord
Revive us oh Lord
And cleanse us from our impurities
And make us holy
Hear our cry
And revive us oh Lord
Though we've been unfaithful
We have never been disowned
The spirit that raised Christ from the dead
Compels us to His throne!
Revive us oh Lord
Revive us oh Lord
And cleanse us from our impurities
And make us holy
Hear our cry
And revive us,
Revive us oh Lord
Revive us oh Lord
And cleanse us from our impurities
And make us holy
Hear our cry
And revive us 'oh Lord!
Revive us oh Lord
Revive us oh Lord
And cleanse us from our impurities '
Songwriters: LICCIARDELLO CARMAN D / CAMP STEVEN JOHN
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_qgpeHJ9a8
