“A Word To The Backslider”
Proverbs 14:14

“14 The backslider in heart shall be filled with his own ways: and a good man shall be satisfied from himself.”

Introduction

A) Backsliding Defined

• It’s like bad breath…no one tells you if you have it.
• A backslider is one who has lost fellowship, but has not lost salvation.

B) King David an example

• Remember when David was king and sinned against God he prayed, and wrote this psalm in Psalms 51:1
• Here we see when this Psalm was wrote…verse 1… “ To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet came unto him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.
• David’s plea…Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.
• David’s desire to change…2) Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.
• His acknowledgement of his sin…3) For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me.
• His sin was against God not mankind…4) Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest.
• Now jump to verse 10) Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. 11) Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me.” A right Spirit not a dead one!
• 12) Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.
• Restore … to bring back to its normal state, make it like new again.

I. Identifying Signs of Backsliding

• Dr. H.A. Ironside said… “ If you were ever closer to the Lord than you are right now, you are backslidden.”

A) Loss of heavenly values

• Excitement in reading God’s word is weak, but reading the world’s literature is strong.
• Prayer becomes less and less.
• Talking to God is non existant.
• Fellowship with God’s children are not that good.

B) Loss of conviction of sin

• We lose our convictions slowly. The closer to sin we get, the less we see wrong with it.

C) Lazy in service

• We fail to see the importance of being in God’s house all the time.
• We don’t see the need to go on visitation.
• We don’t desire soul winning.

D) Putting people’s word above God’s word

• · Many will accept the words of gossip for true facts, yet when they read God’s word they hesitate in thought and wonder of it’s actual truth.

E) Loss of testimony

• · When we become backslidden, we become a bad testimony of those who are saved and claim Christ as their savior.

II.Looking At The Causes of Backsliding

A) Evil Thinking

• When a person’s heart is not pure, they will begin to think evil. Proverbs 23:7 “For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he:”
• Paul tells us in Philippians 2:5 “ Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:”
• We are to have a mind like Christ Jesus.
• Turn to Matthew 15:10 and here we see Jesus turning from teaching the unteachable Pharisees and scribes to turn to the “multitudes”(the teachable ones) and give them the very words of God….“ And he called the multitude, and said unto them, Hear, and understand: 11) Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man.”
• Defileth; to corrupt, to bring dishonor upon.
• It is not that which goeth into the mouth… it is not the kind or quality of food, nor is it the condition of our hands that matters entering our bodies. What we eat does not ruin our testimony or affect how we serve God or pray to God.
• But that which cometh out of the mouth… the words we say that comes from an unsanctified heart. The words of a Pharisee or scribe that are derogatory, or judgmental towards other Christians or “the multitude”, it is these that defileth.

B) Worldly attitude

• Non-concern; The “I don’t care attitude”, Emotional; “If it feels good… do it.”,

C) Root of bitterness

• Hebrews 12:15… “ Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled;”
• Many Christians ruin their testimony for God by what they say about others out of bitterness.

D) Self-centeredness

• These are selfish people. Me, me, me and me. That’s all they think about. God told us to… “love thy neighbor as thyself.”

E) Prayerlessness

• Some people pray for everything… I Thessalonians 5:17 “Pray without ceasing.”
• Some say that we pray too many times in church…Luke 19:46… “ Saying unto them, It is written, My house is the house of prayer: but ye have made it a den of thieves.”
• Others never pray…these are backsliders.

F) Gossip

• Psalms 101:5 “Whoso privily slandereth his neighbour, him will I cut off:”
• You will be cut off from the true blessings of God, cut off from God’s fellowship, cut off from the fellowship of other children of God.
• Ephesians 4:31 “ Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: 32) And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.”
• Gossip ruins the testimony of the person spreading the gossip and the one who lies victim of the gossip.

G) Unbelief

• Another word is doubt; a doubter will never accomplish anything for God.
• Where seeds of doubt are planted, backsliding begins to grow.

III. Instructions to the Backslider

A) Confess your sins to God

• I John 1:9… “ If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
• Solomon says in Proverbs 28:13… “13 He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.”

B) Forsake your sin

• It is necessary to break away from sin.
• II Chronicles 7:14… “ If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”
• God will not hear us if we do not turn from our wicked ways.
• Hosea 6:1… “1 Come, and let us return unto the LORD: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up.”
• Let us return to where we once was and quit our backsliding!