The Greatest Sin for A believer - Backsliding
Proverbsw 1:7---Hosea4:16
Proberts 1:7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, But fools despise wisdom and instruction.
Hosea 4:16
Hosea 4:16 likens a backslider to a heifer. The backslider is like an ox that is in a double yoke. Both of the oxen are supposed to pull together to drag the cart, plow, etc… forward. The backsliding heifer decides to turn to the side or to stop in its tracks or even to go backward! Of course, this hinders not only the heifer’s progress, but also the progress of the other ox and the cart or plow itself! Can you see the application?
Jesus said for us to take His yoke upon us and learn of Him. We are supposed to be laboring together for the cause of Christ while getting to know Him more! When one of us backslides—stops doing our part in praying, devotions, giving, witnessing—the church suffers and ultimately the cause of Christ suffers!
Let us note a few things about backsliding:
I. The Causes of Backsliding
I. SPENDING TIME WITH THE WRONG PEOPLE.
1. "Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt(ruins) good manners" (I Corinthians 15:33).
2. "For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not loyal to the LORD his God, as was the heart of David his father" (I Kings 11:4).
3. "24Make no friends with those given to anger, and do not associate with hotheads, 2 5or
you may learn their Ways and entangle yourself in a snare. " (Proverbs 22:24-25).
4. "He that walketh with wise men shall be wise: but a companion of fools shall be destroyed"
(Proverbs 13:20).
5. Don’t tell me that the people you hang around do not affect you!
6. The Bible teaches that we become more like the people we spend time with.
7. A wise man once said, "A year from now you will be the same person you are today, except
for the books you read and the people you meet!
8. Solomon, the wisest man in history, who had direct revelations from God himself, let people
turn his heart away from God!
9. O! How many times have I'VEseen Christians who were truly devoted to the Lord let
someone close to them distract them and cause them to backslide!
10. I know—you value them as friends and do not want to offend them by turning down their
invitation to go to places that you would not normally go!
11. Maybe they invite you to do something on Sunday, which will keep you out of church!
12. Whatever it is—do not let someone else determine your spiritual altitude!
A.SPENDING TIME IN THE WRONG PLACES!A
1. Because it does matter what you see!
a. "Mine eye affecteth mine heart…" (1).
b. "I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes…" (Psalm 101:3).
c. d. I am here to tell you today that it is at the least, spiritually unhealthy!
e. At worst, it will cause you to lust.
2. Because it does matter what you hear!
a. "Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God" (Romans 10:17).
b. Well, the devil knows the Scriptures, too.
c. He knows that he can affect people, not only through the eye gate, but also through the
ears as well!
d. Why do you think he bombards us with his music everywhere we go?
e. Have you ever heard the song little children sing?--"O be careful, little feet…"
f. We adults would do well to remember those principles that even children understand.
g. The places we go, the people we meet, the things we see and hear, all affect our inward
man—which is directly linked to backsliding!
C. DEVELOPING THE WRONG PASSIONS.
1. "I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love" (Revelation 2:4).
2. Jesus spoke these words to a church that had all the outward signs of spirituality.
3. They were correct in their doctrine and practice!
4. But they had left their honeymoon for Christ!
That is really the main cause for backsliding —misplaced priorities concerning
people and places that lead to declining passion for the Savior that bought you
with His life and saved you from sin!
6. Would you rather watch television than spend a moment with God in Bible Reading and
Prayer?
7. Would you rather go play some sport than be in your place at Church?
8. Would you rather for people at work not to know you are a Christian?
9. All these things are signs of cooling love for God.
10. These are signs that you are already in the process of backsliding!
11. Get your passion back for God—return to that first love you felt as a young Christian—ready to charge hell with a wet rag!
II. THE COUSE OF BACKSLIDING!! (Proverbs 14:14)
A. It begins in the heart—"backslider in heart."
1. Long before you ever get completely out of church or do something we would call really
sinful, you get backslidden in your heart!
2. Psalm 78 is a condensed version of Exodus through Deuteronomy.
3. In Psalm 78 we see a nation who backslid time and time again.
4. Verse 37 gives us a clue as to why they backslid so many times: "For their heart was not
right with him."
5. Keep your heart right with God, for out of it are all the issues of life!
6. Everything that you do on the outward is influenced by what is inside!
7. You can do the right things without the right heart; the Bible is clear on this subject!
B. IT FILLS EVERY PART OF YOUR LIFE—"will be filled."
1. Either you are going forward for God, or you are going backward!
2. If you continue going backward, you will get into more and more things that you said you
would never do.
3. If you stay backslidden long enough, there may come a time when people would laugh at
you if you tried to tell them you were a Christian.
4. Lot did that and received the same reaction!
5. The Bible teaches that the path of backsliding is progressively worse.
6. Psalm 1:1 tells us a lot for such a short verse. Turn there with me and let us discuss it a
minute!
1 Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of
sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.
III. THE CONSEQUENCES OF BACKSLIDING!! (Proverbs 14:12, 14—"his own ways)
A. A backslider hurts himself.
1. "Be not deceived…" (Galatians 6:7).
2. Everything we do will return to us!
3. Have you ever heard the saying, "What goes around comes around"?
4. Well, it is true.
5. If you backslide, you hurt yourself spiritually.
6. You hurt your testimony with others.
7. Backsliddenness results in spiritual deadness (Proverbs 14:12).
12 There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.
B. A backslider hurts others!
• Jonah’s story is a perfect example of this idea.
• He ran from God and got on a ship going the opposite way from where God told him.
• He figured it would affect no one but himself!
• Well, he was wrong!
• God sent a storm that affected everyone and everything on that ship.
• Even the unbelieving sailors suffered because of a backslidden preacher!
1. Children
a. Your children, both physically and spiritually, will be affected if you backslide!
b. I am working on a message on influence.
c. We do not realize sometimes the amazing influence we have over many lives!
d. But people are watching us.
e. The people who are looking to us to set the example will be hurt when they see us backslide.
f. Some will be disappointed in us.
g. Some will be discouraged by us!
h. Some, unfortunately, will follow our lead.
i. If they do not see us at church on Sunday night or Wednesday night, they may not see the
importance of faithfulness to church!
j. If they see us in the wrong places, they may think it is okay to go there for them, too.
2. The Church
a. Our church suffers when any member suffers, according to the Bible.
b. If anyone is sick spiritually, it is like a part of our body being sick.
c. I have an earache this morning—do you know that my brain has been telling the rest of my
body for hours that my ear hurts?
d. Well, a backslidden member hurts his or her church!
e. We are to be salt and light to a dying world.
f. Even one backslidden member hinders our mission as salt and light bearers!
g. It hurts our unity.
h. It hurts our effectiveness.
i. It hurts our meetings.
j. It hurts in every way.
k. I would like to say, it pains me, as your pastor, when I realize some of you are backslidden.
l. Not because I care about how many we have in church or what our offerings are like or how
effective we are—but because I hate what you are doing to yourself and to the little lambs in
our church!
Conclusion:
1. This morning I want every one of us to evaluate our life!
2. Are we indeed backslidden in our heart?
3. Has it progressed to the point that we do not care who it affects and what people think about
our actions?
4. If you are saved but backslidden this morning, please come to Jesus today, confessing your
sins, and restore fellowship with Him once again!
5. Make some commitments to be faithful to do as you should concerning your walk with Him
and faithfulness to His church!
6. If stick broke.
The Western Messenger"
A man with a missing index finger tells his story how the snake bit him when the He kept a 6 foot rattlesnake in a cage for a pet. One day, however, he took it into the living room and released it just to tease his wife. As she fled in terror, he quickly took a stick and placed it behind the reptile’s head, holding it firmly to the floor. As the irritated snake twisted the man pushed herder to maintain control.
Suddenly the stick gave way with a loud crack. As quick as lightning, the rattler arched its back and made its attack. Its deadly fangs filled with venom, struck the man on the hand. Medical treatment saved his life, but his finger had to be amputated.
Sin is like that rattlesnake. You can’t tease or play with it, for it will never be satisfied until its poison is injected into your soul.
One day a department store manager left all the windows open and a great windstorm blew all the price makers around the store causing them to land in total disarray. The next day, the shoppers delighted to see socks for $149.95, suits for $1.19, shoes for 5 cents, and a scarf for $1,299.99!
This is how worldly Christians live every day. The put low value on spiritual things and high value on things with none. Stop living your life as though the price tags got mixed up!
1) W.W. Clay tells that when he was a boy, his father had a farm that had no well. Their source of water was a spring in a valley. Only a cup or two of water could be obtained easily, so his Father got a 16" tile and planted it over the spring. This tile was always full, and it was easy to get water then by the pail, if needed. How these boys liked to drink from the surface of the spring as it overflowed from the tile!
But one day a crab or crawfish took up residence in the spring. The boys would get thirsty but as they bent over to drink, sometimes the crab would go burrowing and thus disturb the waters. It would take several minutes for the spring waters to clear for drinking. One day father got tired of it all. He took the boys to the spring and they dug down until they found the crab. Father killed the crab and from that time forward there was no stirring when they drank.
Carnality is like that old crab. It is untamable, unpredictable and always destructive to peace and happiness. To have victory we must let the Father destroy it
The story is told about a professional football player who didn’t like to obey curfew, & many nights he sneaked out. He would take blankets & pillows & put them under the covers of his bed, so that when the coach checked his room, it would look like he was sound asleep like all the others.
Well, in one city they stayed in a hotel where there weren’t enough extra blankets & pillows. So he improvised by taking the lamp from the nightstand by the bed & putting it underneath the covers.
It looked just fine. But when the coach came by for the bed check & turned on the light switch, the bed lit up. "Be sure your sins will find you out."
