When the fire goes out (Part I)

Thank you for listening to this message from the ministry of Morse Corner Church in Leverett, Massachusetts.

Morse Corner is a non -denominational church that is committed to the preaching and teaching of the gospel of

Jesus Christ.

Our church was founded in 1896 by two students of the famous evangelist D .L.

Moody.

We seek to encourage and edify the body of Christ through the proclamation of God's word through the ministries of

the local church.

If you'd like more information, visit our website, morsecornerchurch .com.

We hope you enjoy the message.

If you would, please turn to the book of Jeremiah.

The book of Jeremiah chapter 3, and the title of this morning's

message is Backsliding.

Backsliding.

Now at this point, somebody is probably thinking to themselves, oh

no.

And you'll notice I did not put it in the bulletin because I figured someone might see that

and say, oh, I have to go to the bathroom and go downstairs and sneak out the back door.

Because I don't want to hear this.

You're the one that needs to hear this.

So it's a kind of a thing that pastors sometimes don't want to

preach on this subject and congregants don't want to hear about this subject.

But it's an important subject.

And when it comes to backsliding, hey, let's face it.

This can happen to anybody.

And most of us probably have experienced it at least to a degree at some point in

our lives.

So just understand that in preaching the sermon, I love you.

Okay.

And that's why I'm preaching it.

So what is backsliding?

Well, the term means exactly what it sounds like.

A sliding back.

Going back to old habits.

Going back to old behavior.

Your old ways.

The increase of sin in your life.

The lack of faith in your life.

The term or a variation of it is found 17 times in the scripture.

Where usually it was the prophet speaking to the people of Israel and Judah.

Who at times were doing whatever they thought was right in their own eyes.

Then there would be a revival and they would turn back to God.

And then after a time they would revert back to their old ways.

They would backslide.

Now the picture in scripture is there's one passage that talks about a calf or a cow.

And the picture is one of moving forward up a hill.

But maybe the ground is wet or it's muddy and he's sliding back.

Right?

And in the Christian life it takes work.

Right?

To keep moving forward.

It takes an intentional effort to keep moving forward in the Christian life.

And when you start to relax and doing the wrong thing, what are you doing?

You're sliding back.

You're backsliding.

And some people have sunk so deep.

They're all the way down the hill in the valley in the muck and the mire.

And do they still love God?

Well, many of them do.

But you wouldn't really know it.

Are they still obeying God?

Maybe to a degree, but you can't really see it.

Backsliding is a very common thing.

It's a very common thing.

Jeremiah chapter 3, verse 21.

A voice was heard on the desolate heights, weeping in supplication

of the children of Israel.

For they have perverted their way.

They have forgotten the Lord their God.

Return, you backsliding children, and I will heal your backslidings.

Indeed, we do come to you, for you are the Lord our God.

Let's open in prayer.

Father, as we approach your word this morning, I'm reminded of what the author to the Hebrews says,

how the word of God is living and powerful, sharper than any two -edged sword, piercing even to the

division of soul and spirit and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner

of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

So, Lord, through your word and spirit, search our hearts, restore the

backslider, and protect others from going down that road.

I ask this in Jesus' name.

Amen.

So this is the kind of message that will apply to some people, not so much to others.

Say, well, I'm not backslidden.

I don't need this message.

Well, it's a warning to not go down that road.

All right, now in this message I started by reading the book of Jeremiah to show you that this

is a biblical term.

Again, it's found about 17 times in the scripture.

And I think we all at this point have a pretty good idea of what it means to backslide.

Any person who has placed their faith in the Lord, you know that there is a battle going on

between your spirit and your flesh.

We know the right thing to do, but we don't always do it.

And when we fall into patterns of wrong behavior, we grieve the Holy

Spirit.

And in doing so, we bring grief upon ourselves.

Sometimes we can cover it up so that nobody knows.

Nobody can tell.

Other times it's more obvious.

It becomes obvious when there's open sin in a person's life or they just stop going to church

altogether and they don't really seem to want to be around other believers.

We also call this being out of fellowship.

There are several examples in the Bible that we are going to look at where someone

who is a very godly man maybe fell into this pattern of backsliding.

I think the first example, thinking of someone who kind of went back to their old ways, the

first example in my mind that came up was Simon Peter.

You remember the Lord called Simon Peter to be a fisher of men.

Well, he was a fisherman.

Jesus said, follow me.

I will make you a fisher of men.

But then when Jesus was arrested, Peter ran and hid.

He denied the Lord three times, and then he decided he was going to go back to

fishing.

You remember that?

Also, David.

We're going to talk about David as well.

But let's turn to Genesis chapter 9.

We're going to look at one of the first examples of backsliding

in the Scripture.

And also understand that just because it's called backsliding, that's not always the case.

Sometimes people fall into completely new sins.

So, it doesn't have to be a going back to old behavior.

But you're going backwards in your spiritual walk with God.

That's the point.

So, many, and again, we've all had times where we're not really

moving forward.

And you know, if you're not moving forward, what are you doing?

You're going backwards.

So, in this account, Genesis chapter 9, we see one of the most godly men,

probably the most godly man the world had ever known, Noah.

And we'll start reading about him in Genesis 9, 17.

And God said to Noah, this is after the flood and after he had got out of the ark.

God said to Noah, this is the sign of the covenant which I have established between me

and all flesh that is on the earth.

And of course, the sign of the covenant was the rainbow in the sky.

God will never again flood the earth.

Verse 18, now the sons of Noah who went out of the ark were Shem,

Ham, and Japheth.

And Ham was the father of Canaan.

These three were sons of Noah.

And from these, the whole earth was populated.

And Noah began to be a what?

A farmer.

And he planted a what?

Vineyard.

Okay, that's fine.

Nothing wrong with that.

Until we get to verse 21.

Then he drank of the wine and was drunk.

And became uncovered in his tent.

And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father and told

his two brothers outside.

And the story just gets worse from there.

So Moses is going on to describe this account where Noah completely ruined, at

least at this moment, he ruined his testimony.

And clearly this story was passed on from generation to generation.

And now it gets immortalized with Moses.

It gets immortalized in the scripture.

And this is the first point to consider about backsliding.

When you ruin your testimony, it's sad.

But this is often how people come to remember you.

People will do something in a backslidden state.

And from then on, that's how people remember that.

Is that fair?

Actually, I don't think that's fair.

You know, someone can live a godly life for decades.

And then one thing.

And that's how they remember.

I don't think that's fair.

But often that's how it happens.

You know, building up a good reputation takes years.

Ruining your reputation can happen in an instant.

I could completely ruin my testimony in the next five seconds with my mouth.

You know I could do that.

I could do something outrageous and that would be the end of my ministry.

That's all it takes.

So this is a pretty sad story about Noah, such a godly man.

And yet look how his story ends in verse 28.

And Noah lived after the flood 350 years.

So all the days of Noah were 950 years.

And he died.

That's it.

Noah was once a great man of God, yet we see a sad ending to his life because

after this event, nothing else is said about him.

And it leaves you the impression that he was no longer useful for God.

Now turn to 1 Corinthians 9.

1 Corinthians 9.

You know, in just about seven years of pastoring this church, I've only had one person

admit to me, yeah, I'm backslidden.

And that person's situation was not unlike that of Noah.

Because the appetites of the flesh, let's face it, they can get the best of us.

This is a really easy thing to have happen.

That's why we need to deny ourselves.

You know, deny the flesh.

Crucify the flesh.

We're going to read about what the Apostle Paul said.

Paul, one of the greatest Christians the church had ever seen.

You know what Paul was, I'm not going to say he was worried about it, but he was concerned.

It was always in his mind because Paul knew that he could do something, he could fall into something

where he would no longer be used by God.

And that was the last thing he wanted.

Look at 1 Corinthians 9 .24.

He says, do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one

receives the prize.

Run in such a way that you may obtain it.

And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things.

Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown.

Therefore, I run thus, not with uncertainty, thus I fight, not as one

who beats the air or shadow boxing.

You think of that verse 27, but I discipline my body and bring it into subjection.

Lest when I have preached to others, I myself should become

disqualified.

So Paul preached to other people, believe on Christ, live for God, obey God.

Then what if Paul fell into sin or yet worse, fell completely

away from the faith.

You see, here's the point.

Paul's attitude wasn't, well, I'm such a godly man.

This could never happen to me.

Or I'm such a veteran in the faith.

I don't need to worry about this.

That wasn't Paul's attitude.

He knew this could happen to him, to where God would at the very least set him on the

shelf.

So to make sure that this didn't happen, what did Paul do?

He disciplined his body.

He denied self.

He brought his body into subjection because the flesh

is never satisfied.

The flesh never gets enough.

So we need to control our flesh.

Otherwise the flesh can destroy us.

And we're going to look at another example of this now.

So turn to 2 Samuel 11.

And we're going to see that this is happening to some very godly people.

So don't ever think it can't happen to you.

Let's face it, getting a little backslidden is easy.

Getting a little backslidden is easy.

You let one or two things slip, all of a sudden, now it gets even easier.

It always gets easier.

Again, reading your Bible, staying in church every week, doing the right thing, not sinning, moment by moment,

day by day, that takes work.

That's hard.

That's difficult.

But getting a little backslidden is not a hard thing to do.

I don't feel like reading my Bible today.

Next thing you know, you haven't picked it up in a month.

Or, you know, I'm tired.

I just think I'll sleep in this morning.

Well, if you do that, the devil will make sure you're tired next week.

Thanks for listening.

I'm Pastor Michael Grant from Morris Cornick Church.

If you'd like to listen to the complete message, or if you'd like more information about the ministry, visit our website,

morriscornickchurch .com.

And we'd love to have you join us some Sunday morning here in Leverett.

Until next time, with the grace of God, be with you.