Sermon Central
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The Perils Of Backsliding
Contributed by Douglas Phillips on Nov 28, 2017 (message contributor)
Summary: JEREMIAH WAS CALLED TO BE A PROPHET TO PEOPLE WHO WOULD NOT LISTEN. HE PROPHECIED FOR OVER 40 YEARS, AND WITNESSED NO CHANGE IN SOCIETY AS DID MANY OF HIS COUNTERPARTS. THE END RESULT WOULD BE PUNISHMENT BY GOD BY EXILE TO THE BABYLONIAN NATION.
1. THEY WILL DISPLAY SPIRITUAL INSENSITIVITY.
JEREMIAH 3:3: “Therefore the showers have been withheld, and no spring rains have fallen. Yet you have the brazen look of a prostitute; you refuse to blush with shame.”
PROSTITUTES OF THIS DAY OFTEN SIGNIFIED THEY WERE PROSTITUTES BY MARKS ON THEIR FOREHEAD. IT WOULD BE PLAIN TO SEE BY ALL AND MOST “GOOD” PEOPLE WOULD AVOID THEM BECAUSE OF THE MARK.
PROSTITUTES OF THAT DAY HAD NO SHAME WEARING THE MARK PUBLICLY WITHOUT REMORSE, UNAWARE THAT THEY SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF THEIR TRADE.
WHEN A CHRISTIAN BACKSLIDES, THEY BECOME INDIFFERENT TO ACTIONS THEY SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF. THE PERSON WHO IS BACKSLIDING HAS NO IDEA THAT THINGS THEY SAY AND DO, POINT BLATENTLY TO THEIR CEASING TO WALK WITH THE LORD.
AS CHRISTIANS WE SHOULD BE SEEKING SPIRIT GUIDANCE IN ALL THAT WE SAY AND DO. WHEN A PERSON WHO CLAIMS SALVATION BEGINS DOING THINGS THEY ONCE RENOUNCED, AND ARE TOTALLY INSENSITIVE TO ANY SHAME THAT SHOULD BE FELT IN DOING THEM, THEY ARE ON THEIR WAY TO A BACKSLIDDEN STATE.
2. THEY ARE FULL OF SPIRITUAL HYPOCRISY.
LUKE 6:46: “"Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?”
THE ISSUE AT HAND HERE IS AN ISSUE OF LORDSHIP. WHO IS IN CHARGE OF YOUR LIFE?
OUR SPIRITUAL WALK SHOULD MATCH OUR SPIRITUAL TALK. IF IT DOESN’T, THIS IS A GOOD INDICATION THAT WE ARE IN A BACKSLIDDEN STATE.
THERE WAS A WOMAN WHO WAS AN OUTGOING MEMBER OF A FAIRLY CONSERVATIVE CHURCH, WHO HAD IMPRESSED HER PASTOR WITH HER INTENSE COMMITMENT TO THHE FAITH. SHE DID NOT HAVE A PIETISTIC BONE IN HER BODY, BUT HER DEVOTION WAS CLEAR AND ARTICULATE.
ONE EVENING AT A DINNER PARTY SHE WAS HOSTING, SHE AND HER PASTOR WERE ENTHUIASTICALLY IN DISCUSSION CONCERNING SOME THEOLOGICAL IDEA. HER TEENAGE DAUGHTER SOON GREW FRUSTRATED WITH THE DISCUSSION AND ASKED “MOTHER, WHY DO YOU TALK ABOUT RELIGION ALL THE TIME? WHY ARE YOU SO RELIGIOUS?”
HER MOTHER PAUSED DRAMATICALLY FROM THE CONVERSATION, PUSHED HER CHAIR BACK FROM THE TABLE, STOOD AND RESPONDED. “EVERY MORNING BEFORE YOU ARE AWAKE, I RISE AND WALK TO THE LIVING ROOM. I LIFT MY ARMS AND ASK, “WHO’S IN CHARGE HERE?” THE ANSWER ALWAYS COMES BACK: “NOT YOU!” THAT’S WHY I’M RELIGIOUS. BECAUSE I AM NOT IN CHARGE.”
3. IF YOU ARE SPIRITUALLY OBSTINANTE THEN YOU MAY BE IN A BACKSLIDDEN CONDITION.
JEREMIAH 3:7: “I thought that after she had done all this she would return to me but she did not, and her unfaithful sister Judah saw it.”
OBSTINANTE MEANS TO BE STUBBORN OR NOT YIELDING TO REASON. THERE WOULD BE NO ONE HERE WHO WOULD MEET THAT BILL WOULD THERE, CERTAINLY NOT THE ONE STANDING BEHIND THE PULPIT.
I FIND IT AMAZING THAT WHEN PEOPLE DISCOVER SPIRITUAL CHANGES THAT HAVE TO BE MADE IN THEIR LIVES IN ORDER TO HAVE A SUCCESSFUL RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD, WHEN THEY KNOW THE CHANGES THAT HAVE TO BE MADE TO GROW, THAT THEY WILL NOT BECAUSE THEY ARE AFRAID OF WHAT THE NEXT PERSON IS GOING TO SAY.
LISTEN I HAVE NEWS FOR YOU. I HAVE DIABETES. I DON’T CARE IF YOU SEE ME WALKING INTO THE DOCTOR’S OFFICE. I AM NOT GOING TO LOSE SLEEP IF YOU SEE ME AT THE DRUG STORE GETTING MY MEDICATION. THESE ARE THINGS I HAVE TO DO IN ORDER TO REMAIN IN GOOD HEALTH, AND I WOULD BE FOOLISH TO STOP BECAUSE OF WHAT PEOPLE MAY THINK.