Proverbs 14:8-15 (KJV)
The wisdom of the
prudent is to understand his way: but the folly of fools is deceit.
Fools make a mock at
sin: but among the righteous there is favour.
The heart knoweth his
own bitterness; and a stranger doth not intermeddle with his joy.
The house of the wicked
shall be overthrown: but the tabernacle of the upright shall flourish.
There is a way which
seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.
Even in laughter the
heart is sorrowful; and the end of that mirth is heaviness.
The backslider in heart
shall be filled with his own ways: and a good man shall be satisfied from
himself.
The simple believeth
every word: but the prudent man looketh well to his going.
The term backslider is
increasingly questioned these days.
The nature of sin has
caused those who claim to be Christians even to challenge that there is such a
thing as the backslider.
· Anything goes for salvation. No wonder then that
· Anything goes for godly living
Glenn Campbell died this
week.
I used to love his music
– he had a great voice and was one of the best guitar players ever.
His early life was
filled with sin and debauchery and I am glad to hear that, later on in life, he
professed faith in Christ[1]
but he continued playing the same songs in the same venues as before only now
he also
sang Christian songs and hymns in church.
One of the responses I
saw was from Rock and Roll legend Alice Cooper.
Was there ever anything
more evil than Alice Cooper and:
· The sort of music they sang,
· The lifestyle they portrayed and
· Image they delivered?
Wikipedia describes him,
“With his distinctive raspy
voice and a stage show that features guillotines, electric chairs, fake blood,
deadly snakes, baby dolls, and dueling swords, Cooper is considered by music
journalists and peers alike to be "The Godfather of Shock Rock".[2]
Cooper’s first response
about Glenn Campbell’s death was, “We are both[3]
Christian.”
He then goes on to speak
about his “unlikely friendship” with Glenn Campbell – the country star and the
rock star…poles apart in the world of music but friends on the golf course and
as married couples.
The fact is the
Campbell’s conversion is dubious and Cooper’s is almost certainly religious and
not real.
Backsliding…
How dare we judge any
sort of lifestyle as insincere and an enmity with God?
But the Bible does judge
and any Christian, so long as he uses the Word of God as his standard, may
easily tell who is moving away from the path that is strait and narrow.
I want to speak tonight
on
The Steps of the
Backslider
I. THEY BEGIN
IN DECEPTION
Proverbs 14:8 (KJV)
The wisdom of the
prudent is to understand his way: but the folly of fools is deceit.
Proverbs 14:15 (KJV)
The simple believeth
every word: but the prudent man looketh well to his going.
The Bible tells us,
1 John 4:1 (KJV)
Beloved, believe not
every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false
prophets are gone out into the world.
Not everything that
claims to be Christian is of God.
In the day in which we
live, this can be a very confusing and difficult thing to get hold of.
· We want to get along
· We want to be kind and gracious and loving
· We want to believe that people are basically good
So we want to believe
that everything out there that claims to be Christian is approved of God.
The problem is, it’s
just not true.
This has been the
problem since just about the second century B.C.
Christianity was
essentially founded in about 30 AD
By 60 AD there were
already troublemakers in churches so that
Paul, John, Peter and
Jude all warned about the false doctrines.
Jude went so far as to
say we had to earnestly contend for the faith.
Think about how people
deal with people who “warn.”
Of course some people
hear a warning, get it and change course, but a lot of people do not.
Among those who do not
the progression is something like this:
· You gotta love Brother So n So he’s just a little over
zealous
· You know Brother So n So, we have to keep new people away
from him
· Brother So n So is getting out of hand, its best to avoid
him
· Somebody needs to tell Brother So n So to back off
· Brother So n So is hurting the cause of Christ
· Brother So n So is a heretic
· Brother So n So has got to go!
By the fourth century
those so called Christians who liked all the popularity they enjoyed took up
arms against any Christians who still warned that they were no longer true to
God’s Word.
Today almost any
Christian who does not accept the idea that all people claim to be Christians
are Christians is considered
· Extreme at best
· Heretical by most
The first step to
backsliding; to falling away from God is to stop “trying the spirits.”
When that happens, you
can be led to believe anything can be called Christian.
If anything can be
called Christian – then why can’t I do anything and still be a Christian.
The second step into
backsliding
II. THEY MOCK[4] SIN
Proverbs 14:9 (KJV)
Fools make a mock at
sin: but among the righteous there is favour.
In this case I mean they
make light of sin.
How you do that is by
grading sins
Some, you grade as worse
than others.
When you do that what
you learn is that the grading system changes with culture and preferences.
It might go something
like this:
· At one time it was not appropriate for a woman to do the
work of a man
· Therefore it would not be appropriate for a woman to dress
like a man
· Certainly a woman should not speak like a man
· Why can’t a woman do the same work as a man?
· Why should she not wear the same clothes as a man?
· There is nothing wrong with a woman being as vulgar as a
man!
· That woman should have the right to identify herself as a
man.
· Medically we can now change this woman into a man.
Sin is this one thing –
missing God’s mark, His perfection.
Some sins create more
havoc among humans, but all sins are equally offensive to God.
If we allow ourselves to
see sin as anything other than offensive to God then we can excuse ourselves
eventually from committing any sin.
The man says:
· I would never cheat on my wife, but it is ok for me to like
this other woman, then he might say
· This other woman listens to me better than my wife so I
enjoy being with her more than my wife
· Then it might progress, I have cheated on my wife and
dislike that I have done it and finally
· I man fine with having cheated on my wife, I will leave her
for the other woman
Do you see what
happened?
When he made light of a
little sin, he was able to make light of a little bigger sin until he made
light of what he would have thought was a big sin.
The backslider mocks
sin.
He does not take it as
seriously as he ought.
Step three of the
backslider
III. THEY
OFTEN HARBOR BITTERNESS
Proverbs 14:10 (KJV)
The heart knoweth his
own bitterness; and a stranger doth not intermeddle with his joy.
Hebrews 12:15 (KJV)
says,
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;
Very often those who
fall into backsliding from God do so because of unforgiveness.
· They hold a grudge against someone
· They harbor bitterness
Here’s the thing about
bitterness, even if you feel like you are justified in being bitter against
someone who hurt you, bitterness never hurts the person who originally hurt
you.
Bitterness is like some
of the weeds in my garden;
I chop them off and rake
them up but there are those roots, hidden under the ground.
In just a day or two
they spring back up.
· They make the garden look unkept
· They choke out the growth of the things I want to grow and
· They discourage me so I want to give up on the garden
I know a ton of people
who are out of church today, living as if they had never professed faith in
Christ and it all started because of some bitterness they never forgave.
It might have been:
· Something that happened to them when they were a kid or
· Something that happened to them in a church or
· Something that happened to them in the marriage
But they never let go of
it and like a bad weed, it:
· Sprung up in them,
· Took over in their life,
· Discouraged them in walking for Christ and
Now they are backslidden
and away from God.
The final step of the
backslider is,
IV. THEY GO
THEY WAY THEY CHOOSE[5]
Proverbs 14:11, 13 (KJV)
There is a way which
seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.
…
The backslider in heart
shall be filled with his own ways: and a good man shall be satisfied from
himself.
This really is the final
step of backsliding because this person doesn’t listen to anyone who has their
best interest any more.
· They have chosen their way
· They have made up their mind
· The Bible doesn’t matter any more
· The preacher’s counsel doesn’t matter now
They won’t listen to
godly parents, or their spouse or their kids or anyone else.
· It doesn’t matter who they hurt and
· It doesn’t matter who says it is wrong
They have set their
course and will not listen to anyone who wishes to help them change it.
Conclusion
Did you notice what
verse 11 says about this way?
The backslider’s way is
the way of death.
It might not be physical
death or even spiritual death (as in losing salvation).
But it could be the
death of anything that is holy and good and right in his life.
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