• Backsliding Is Miserable

  Contributed by Rodelio Mallari on Apr 13, 2011 (message contributor)

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  Tags:  Sin Bondage To

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BACKSLIDING IS MISERABLE

It is a miserable thing to be a backslider. Of all unhappy things that can befall a man, I suppose "backsliding" is the worst. A stranded ship, a broken-winged eagle, a garden overrun with weeds, a harp without strings, a church in ruins--all these are sad sights. But a backslider is a sadder sight still. That true grace shall never be extinguished, and true union with Christ never be broken off, I feel no doubt. But I do believe that a man may fall away so far that he shall lose sight of his own grace, and despair of his own salvation. And if this is not hell, it is certainly the next thing to it!

A wounded conscience, a mind sick of itself, a memory full of self-reproach, a heart pierced through with the Lord's arrows, a spirit broken with a load of inward accusation—all this is a taste of hell. It is a hell on earth.

--John Charles Ryle — (Encyclopedia of 15,000 Illustrations)