SUNDAY SERMONS

 

A True Confession from a Backslidden Servant

Psalms 51:1-13  For the director of music. A psalm of David. When the prophet Nathan came to him after David had committed adultery with Bathsheba. Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions.  2  Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.  3  For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me.  4  Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight; so you are right in your verdict and justified when you judge.  5  Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.  6  Yet you desired faithfulness even in the womb; you taught me wisdom in that secret place.  7  Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.  8  Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice.  9  Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity.  10  Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.  11  Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me.  12  Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.  13  Then I will teach transgressors your ways, so that sinners will turn back to you.

 

Romans 12:2 Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Proverbs 14:14 “The backslider in heart shall be filled with his own ways.

Backslid. That term refers to those once faithful individuals who had lost interest (focus) in their Christian pilgrimage.

Are we open enough to consider that we ourselves may be backslidden.

How transparent can we be before the Lord?  How correctable are you? 

Does God have permission to speak to your heart?  

It is important that we realize that a backslider is one who has lost fellowship, and not salvation. The joy may depart from us, but not the Spirit.

·      When King David sinned so grievously and finally came to himself, he prayed,

Psalm 51:12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation …

I.           DENTIFYING SIGNS OF BACKSLIDING

Dr. H. A. Ironside said, "If you were ever closer to the Lord than you are right now, you're backslidden."

a.   There are several identifying signs that reveal a backslidden condition.

b. Loss of heavenly values. 

                                      1.    Just knowing right and wrong is not enough … it is doing right and rejecting the wrong that comes from God’s Word.

c. Loss of conviction of sin. 

                                      1.    The darkness in a restaurant is not so bad as our eyes adjust to it.

                                      2.    The closer to sin we get, the less we see wrong with it.

d. Lazy in service. 

                                      1.    Initiative and aggressive action is the theme of the Bible Christian.

A tombstone in an old graveyard stated "Here rests John Brown. That is all he ever did."  Another read:  Here lies a man who did no good, Had many chances, but never he would. Where he's gone and how he fares, Nobody knows--and nobody cares.

e. Putting people's word ahead of God's Word. 

                                      1.    Covid 19 confusion

f.   Loss of testimony. 

                                      1.    We are to let our light shine. 

                                      2.    Man's Christian character is like a tree, and his testimony is its shadow. 

                                      3.    It all depends upon his relationship to the Son. 

II.        INSIGHT INTO THE CAUSES OF BACKSLIDING.

a.   Sin for the Christian falls into two categories: 

b. Sins of omission

c.  Sins of commission.

d.  One leads to the other.

e.  When we think of sin we usually think about sins we can commit...doing something we should not do. 

f.    But sins of omission...not doing what we should do, are very real and just as dangerous. 

g. Most of the causes of backsliding are sins of omission: 

                                     1.    Not making a faithful commitment to church attendance,

                                     2.    Not reading our Bibles,

                                     3.    Not Praying,

                                     4.    Not Giving,

                                      5.    Not Serving, etc. 

h. Prayerlessness. 

Dr. Leonard Ravenhill said, "If we are not praying, we're just playing."

                                      1.    A spiritual, victorious person will delight to talk to God in prayer and will do it at every possible opportunity. 

As one preacher said, "I love to preach, and I'll preach at the drop of a hat.  If necessary, I'll bring the hat." It should be that way with us when it comes to praying. 

                                      2.    As a church there is a direct connection between the amount of prayers we offer to God and the success of the church’s ministry!

                                      3.    The more we pray the more we are blessed!

We need some prayer warrior’s who will put a premium on praying away the fiery darts of the devil and making supplication together for the windows of heaven to open and pour us out blessings and manna and fruit from above!

i.    Sins of omission lead us to commit sins of commission..

                                      1.    Evil thinking.  – David’s Lust

                                      2.    Worldly attitude.  – David’s Plan - I can send him to the front lines and let the war deal with him!

                                     3.    Root of bitterness. 

1. Sin multiplies

                                     4.    Self-centeredness.

1.  David was living for himself. 

2.  Number One is all that matters!

3.  Jesus said, "Love thy neighbor as thyself."

                                     5.    Gossip. 

1.  Surely no one will argue that the gossiper is backslidden. 

2.  The problem is that most gossips don’t think they are one. 

Ephesians 4:30-32  And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.  31  Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.  32  Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

 

Like leaven through bread or a drop of ink in a glass of water, gossip will spread out over the whole area and have its dreaded effect.

                                     6.    Unbelief. 

Where seeds of doubt are planted, backsliding begins to grow. 

III.     INSTRUCTION TO THE BACKSLIDER.

a.   How to fix what is broken.  There are some things you can do.

1.Confess your sin to God. 

                                      1.    We must come to ourselves like the prodigal and say to the Father, "I have sinned."

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".

1.  Solomon said,

 Prov. 28:13 "He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy''.

                                      2.    Forsake your sin.                   

Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind. There must be a humbling and seeking after God.

II Chron. 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".

My friend, if you find yourself backslidden and out of the pathway of God's blessing, heed the call of

Hosea 6:1, "Come, and let us return unto the Lord."

When King David sinned so grievously and finally came to himself, he prayed,

Psalm 51:12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation …

 Years ago a preacher travelled to Africa to at the invitation of a missionary friend. He was invited to preach and the interpreter would translate to the local language.  On Sunday, He and the missionary got up before daylight and left to go to the service. They drove on a very rough road for about two hours. The missionary stopped his car and they got out. The missionary said, “From here we walk!” They set out on a narrow trail that led back into the jungle of Africa. During one break, the preacher asked, “What time does church start?” The missionary said, “Oh somewhere around two o’clock!” The preacher didn’t ask any more questions… They finally arrived at the village and after some introductions, they walked into the church. It was a mud structure over a bamboo frame. About 30 foot by 30 foot. It had a thatch roof and one window on each wall, dirt floors and one door. The preacher thought it must have been 110 degrees inside the church. About that time, people began showing up for church. The missionary pointed to one woman who appeared to be well over 100. He said, “You see that woman she left about the same time we did this morning from her village. She walked the whole way here!” Must have been a 6-hour walk. There were different groups of people showing up over span of 45 minutes. The missionary finally said that it was time to start church. People started coming inside the church. It was then the preacher noticed something he didn’t see before. There were no chairs or pews inside the church. As they came in, they began singing praise songs in their language. They came in and they kept coming in… Over 100 people came into that small space. At one point in the service the missionary leaned over to the preacher and said, “This is when they receive their offering.” A wicker basket was produced and was passed person to person among those gathered to worship. It seemed that everyone brought something to put in the basket. Some placed a couple of eggs from their chickens, another a piece of cloth they had woven, everyone put something precious to them into the basket. As the basket made it’s way through the crowd, it came to a young women who you could tell was embarrassed. She had forgotten her offering. She placed the basket on the floor and carefully stepped into the basket. She was giving herself to God.