backslider

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THE BACKSLIDER IN HEART

By Charles G. Finney

The backslider in heart shall be filled with his own ways.

Proverbs 14:14.

I cannot conclude this course of lectures, without warning converts

against backsliding. In discussing this subject, I will show:

I. What backsliding in heart is not.

II. What backsliding in heart is.

III. What are evidences of backsliding in heart.

IV. What are consequences of backsliding in heart.

V. How to recover from this state.

I. WHAT A BACKSLIDING HEART IS NOT.

  1. It does not consist in the subsidence of highly excited religious

emotions. The subsidence of religious feeling may be an evidence

of a backslidden heart, but it does not consist in the cooling off of

religious feeling.

II. WHAT BACKSLIDING IN HEART IS.

  1. It consists in taking back that consecration to God and His

service, that constitutes true conversion.

2. It is the leaving, by a Christian, of his first love.

3. It consists in the Christian withdrawing himself from that state of

entire and universal devotion to God, which constitutes true religion,

and coming again under the control of a self-pleasing spirit.

4. The text implies that there may be a backslidden heart, when the

forms of religion and obedience to God are maintained. As we know

from consciousness that men perform the same, or similar, acts

from widely different, and often from opposite, motives, we are

certain that men may keep up all the outward forms and

appearances of religion, when in fact, they are backslidden in heart.

No doubt the most intense selfishness often takes on a religious

type, and there are many considerations that might lead a

backslider in heart to keep up the forms, while he had lost the

power of godliness in his soul.

III. WHAT ARE EVIDENCES OF A BACKSLIDDEN HEART.

  1. Manifest formality in religious exercises. A stereotyped, formal

way of saying and doing things, that is clearly the result of habit,

rather than the outgushing of the religious life. This formality will be

emotionless and cold as an iceberg, and will evince a total want of

earnestness in the performance of religious duty. In prayer and in

religious exercises the backslider in heart will pray or praise, or

confess, or give thanks with his lips, so that all can hear him,

perhaps, but in such a way that no one can feel him. Such a

formality would be impossible where there existed a present, living

faith and love, and religious zeal.

2. A lack of religious enjoyment is evidence of a backslidden heart.

We always enjoy the saying and doing of those things that please

those whom we most love; furthermore, when the heart is not

backslidden, communion with God is kept up, and therefore all

religious duties are not only performed with pleasure, but the

communion with God involved in them is a source of rich and

continual enjoyment. If we do not enjoy the service of God, it is

because we do not truly serve Him. If we love Him supremely, it is

impossible that we should not enjoy His service at every step.

Always remember then, whenever you lose your religious

enjoyment, or the enjoyment of serving God, you may know that

you are not serving Him aright.

3. Religious bondage is another evidence of a backslidden heart.

God has no slaves. He does not accept the service of bondsmen,

who serve Him because they must. He accepts none but a love

service. A backslider in heart finds his religious duties a burden to

him. He has promised to serve the Lord. He dare not wholly break

off from the form of service, and he tries to be dutiful, while he has

no heart in prayer, in praise, in worship, or in any of those exercises

which are so spontaneous and delightful, where there is true love

to God. The backslider in heart is often like a dutiful, but unloving

wife. She tries to do her duty to her husband, but fails utterly

because she does not love him. Her painstaking to please her

husband is constrained, not the spontaneous outburst of a loving

heart; and her relationship and her duties become the burden of her

life. She goes about complaining of the weight of care that is upon

her, and will not be likely to advise young ladies to marry. She is

committed for life, and must therefore perform the duties of married

life, but it is such a bondage! Just so with religious bondage. The

professor must perform his duty. He drags painfully about it, and

you will hear him naturally sing backslider’s hymns:

Reason I hear, her counsels weigh, And all her words approve And

yet I find it hard to obey, And harder still, to love.

4. An ungoverned temper. While the heart is full of love, the temper

will naturally be chastened and sweet, or at any rate, the will keep

it under, and not suffer it to break out in outrageous abuse, or if at

any time it should so far escape from the control of the will as to

break loose in hateful words, it will soon be brought under, and by

no means suffered to take control and manifest itself to the

annoyance of others. Especially will a loving heart confess and

break down, if at any time bad temper gets the control. Whenever,

therefore, there is an irritable, uncontrolled temper allowed to

manifest itself to those around, you may know there is a

backslidden heart.

5. A spirit of uncharitableness is evidence of a backslidden heart.

By this, I mean a lack of that disposition that puts the best

construction upon every one’s conduct that can be reasonable

a lack of confidence in the good intentions and professions of

others. We naturally credit the good professions of those whom we

love. We naturally attribute to them right motives, and put the best

allowable construction upon their words and deeds. Where there is

a lack of this there is evidence conclusive of a backslidden or

unloving heart.

6. A censorious spirit is conclusive evidence of a backslidden heart.

This is a spirit of fault-finding, of impugning the motives of others,

when their conduct admits of a charitable construction. It is a

disposition to fasten blame upon others, and judge them harshly. It

is a spirit of distrust of Christian character and profession. It is a

state of mind that reveals itself in harsh judgments, harsh sayings,

and the manifestation of uncomfortable feelings toward individuals.

This state of mind is entirely incompatible with a loving heart, and

whenever a censorious spirit is manifested by a professor of

religion, you may know there is a backslidden heart.

7. A lack of interest in God’s Word, is also an evidence of a

backslidden heart. Perhaps nothing more conclusively proves that

a professor has a backslidden heart, than his losing his interest in

the Bible. While the heart is full of love, no book in the world is so

precious as the Bible. But when the love is gone, the Bible

becomes not only uninteresting but often repulsive. There is no faith

to accept its promises, but conviction enough left to dread its

threatening. But in general the backslider in heart is apathetic as to

the Bible. He does not read it much, and when he does read it, he

has not interest enough to understand it. Its pages become dark

and uninteresting, and therefore it is neglected.

8. A lack of interest in secret prayer is also an evidence of a

backslidden heart. Young Christian, if you find yourself losing your

interest in the Bible and in secret prayer, stop short, return to God,

and give yourself no rest, till you enjoy the light of His countenance.

If you feel disinclined to pray, or to read your Bible; if when you pray

and read your Bible, you have no heart; if you are inclined to make

your secret devotions short, or are easily induced to neglect them;

or if your thoughts, affections, and emotions wander, you may know

that you are a backslider in heart, and your first business is to be

broken down before God, and to see that your love and zeal are

renewed.

9. A lack of interest in the conversion of souls and in efforts to

promote revivals of religion. This of course reveals a backslidden

heart. There is nothing in which a loving heart takes more interest

than in the conversion of souls in revivals of religion, and in

efforts to promote them.

10. A lack of interest in published accounts or narratives of revivals

of religion, is also an evidence of a backslidden heart. While one

retains his interest in the conversion of souls, and in revivals of

religion he will, of course, be interested in all accounts of revivals of

religion anywhere. If you find yourself, therefore, disinclined to read

such accounts, or find yourself not interested in them, take it for

granted that you are backslidden in heart.

11. The same is true of missions, and missionary work and

operations. If you lose your interest in the work, and in the

conversion of the heathen, and do not delight to read and hear of

the success of missions, you may know that you are backslidden in

heart.

12. The loss of interest in benevolent enterprises generally is an

evidence of a backslidden heart. I say, “the loss of interest,” for

surely, if you were ever converted to Christ, you have had an

interest in all benevolent enterprises that came within your

knowledge. Religion consists in disinterested benevolence. Of

course, a converted soul takes the deepest interest in all

benevolent efforts to reform and save mankind; in good

government, in Christian education, in the cause of temperance, in

the abolition of slavery, in provision for the needs of the poor, and

in short, in every good word and work. Just in proportion as you

have lost your interest in these, you have evidence that you are

backslidden in heart.

13. The loss of interest in truly spiritual conversation is another

evidence of a backslidden heart. “Out of the abundance of the heart

the mouth speaketh” (Matthew 12:34). This our Lord Jesus Christ

announced as a law of our nature. No conversation is so sweet to

a truly loving heart, as that which relates to Christ, and to our living

Christian experience. If you find yourself losing interest in

conversing on heart religion, and of the various and wonderful

experiences of Christians, if you have known what the true love of

God is, you have fallen from it, and are a backslider in heart.

14. A loss of interest in the conversation and society of highly

spiritual people, is an evidence of a backslidden heart. We take the

greatest delight in the society of those who are most interested in

the things that are most dear to us.

Hence, a loving Christian heart will always seek the society of those

who are most spiritually minded, and whose conversation is most

evangelical and spiritual. If you find yourself wanting in this respect,

then know for certain that you are backslidden in heart.

15. The loss of interest in the question of sanctification is an

evidence of a backslidden heart. I say again, the loss of interest,

for, if you ever truly knew the love of God, you must have had a

great interest in the question of entire consecration to God, or of

entire sanctification. If you are a Christian, you have felt that sin

was an abomination to your soul. You have had inexpressible

longings to be rid of it forever, and everything that could throw light

upon that question of agonizing importance was most intensely

interesting to you. If this question has been dismissed, and you no

longer take an interest in it, it is because you are backslidden in

heart.

16. The loss of interest in those newly converted, is also an

evidence of a backslidden heart. The Psalmist says: “They that fear

Thee will be glad when they see me; because I have hoped in Thy

word” (Psalm 119:74). This he puts into the mouth of a convert, and

who does not know that this is true? There is joy in the presence of

the angels of God, over one sinner that repenteth, and is there not

joy among the saints on earth, over those that come to Christ, and

are as babes newly born into the Kingdom? Show me a professor

of religion who does not manifest an absorbing interest in converts

to Christ, and I will show you a backslider in heart, and a hypocrite;

he professes religion, but has none.

17. An uncharitable state of mind in regard to professed converts,

is also an evidence of a backslidden heart. Charity, or love,

“believeth all things, hopeth all things” (1 Corinthians 13:7), is very

ready to judge kindly and favorably of those who profess to be

converted to Christ, and will naturally watch over them with interest,

pray for them, instruct them, and have as much confidence in them

as it is reasonable to have. A disposition, therefore, to pick at,

criticize, and censure them, is an evidence of a backslidden heart.

18. The lack of the spirit of prayer is evidence of a backslidden

heart. While the love of Christ remains fresh in the soul, the

indwelling Spirit of God will reveal Himself as the Spirit of grace and

supplication. He will beget strong desires in the soul for the

salvation of sinners and the sanctification of saints. He will often

make intercessions in them, with great longings, strong crying and

tears, and with groanings that cannot he uttered in words, for those

things that are according to the will of God. Or, to express it in

Scripture language, according to Paul: “Likewise the Spirit also

helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as

we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with

groanings which cannot be uttered. And He that searcheth the

hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because He maketh

intercession for the saints according to the will of God” (Romans

8:26, 27). If the spirit of prayer departs, it is a sure indication of a

backslidden heart, for while the first love of a Christian continues he

is sure to be drawn by the Holy Spirit to wrestle much in prayer.

19. A backslidden heart often reveals itself by the manner in which

people pray. For example, praying as if in a state of self-condemnation,

or very much like a convicted sinner, is an evidence

of a backslidden heart. Such a person will reveal the fact, that he is

not at peace with God. His confessions and self-accusations will

show to others what perhaps he does not well understand himself.

His manner of praying will reveal the fact that he has not

communion with God; that instead of being filled with faith and love,

he is more or less convicted of sin, and conscious that he is not in

a state of acceptance with God. He will naturally pray more like a

convicted sinner than like a Christian. It will be seen by his prayer

that he is not in a state of Christian liberty that he is having a

Seventh of Romans experience, instead of that which is described

in the Eighth.

20. A backslidden heart will further reveal itself in praying almost

exclusively for self, and for those friends that are regarded almost

as parts of self. It is often very striking and even shocking to attend

a backsliders’ prayer meeting, and I am very sorry to say that many

prayer meetings of the Church are little else. Their prayers are timid

and hesitating, and reveal the fact that they have little or no faith.

Instead of surrounding the Throne of Grace and pouring their

hearts out for a blessing on those around them, they have to be

urged up to duty, to “take up their cross.” Their hearts do not, will

not, spontaneously gush out to God in prayer. They have very little

concern for others, and when they do, as they say, “take up their

cross and do their duty,” and pretend to lead in prayer, it will be

observed that they pray just like a company of convicted sinners,

almost altogether for themselves. They will pray for that which,

should they obtain it, would be religion, just as a convicted sinner

would pray for a new heart; and the fact that they pray for religion

as they do, manifests that they have none, in their present state of

mind. Ask them to pray for the conversion of sinners, and they will

either wholly forget to do so, or just mention sinners in such a way

as will show that they have no heart to pray for them.

I have known professed Christian parents to get into such a state

that they had no heart to pray for the conversion of their own

children, even when those children were under conviction. They

would keep up family prayer, and attend a weekly prayer meeting,

but would never get out of the rut of praying round and round for

themselves. A few years since I was laboring in a revival in a

Presbyterian Church. At the close of the evening sermon I found

that the daughter of one of the elders of the Church was in great

distress of mind. I observed that her convictions were very deep.

We had been holding a meeting with inquirers in the vestry, and I

had just dismissed the inquirers, when this young lady came to me

in great agitation and begged me to pray for her. The people had

mostly gone, except a few who were waiting in the body of the

church for those friends who had attended the meeting of inquiry.

I called the father of this young lady into the vestry that he might

see the very anxious state of his daughter’s mind. After a short

personal conversation with her in the presence of her father, I

called on him to pray for her, and said that I would follow him, and

I urged her to give her heart to Christ. We all knelt, and he went

through with his prayer, kneeling by the side of his sobbing

daughter, without ever mentioning her case. His prayer revealed

that he had no more religion than she had, and that he was very

much in her state of mind under an awful sense of

condemnation. He had kept up the appearance of religion. As an

elder of the Church, he was obliged to keep up appearances. He

had gone round and round upon the treadmill of his duties, while his

heart was utterly backslidden. It is often almost nauseating to

attend a prayer meeting of the backslidden in heart. They will go

round, round, one after the other, in reality praying for their own

conversion. They do not so express it, but that is the real import of

their prayer. They could not render it more evident that they are

backsliders in heart.

21. Absence from stated prayer meetings for slight reasons, is a

sure indication of a backslidden heart. No meeting is more

interesting to Christians than the prayer meeting, and while they

have any heart to pray, they will not be absent from prayer meeting

unless prevented from attending by the providence of God. If a call

from a friend at the hour of meeting can prevent their attendance,

unless the call is made under very peculiar circumstances, it is

strong evidence that they do not wish to attend, and hence, that

they are backsliders in heart. A call at such a time would not

prevent their attending a wedding, a party, a picnic, or an amusing

lecture. The fact is, it is hypocrisy for them to pretend that they

really want to go, while they can be kept away for slight reasons.

22. The same is true of the neglect of family prayer, for slight

reasons. While the heart is engaged in religion, Christians will not

readily omit family devotions, and whenever they are ready to find

an excuse for the omission, it is a sure evidence that they are

backslidden in heart.

23. When secret prayer is regarded more as a duty than as a

privilege, it is because the heart is backslidden. It has always

appeared to me almost ridiculous, to hear Christians speak of

prayer as a “duty.” It is one of the greatest of earthly privileges.

What should we think of a child coming to its parent for its dinner,

not because it is hungry, but as a duty. How would it strike us to

hear a beggar speak of the “duty” of asking alms of us. It is an

infinite privilege to be allowed to come to God, and ask for the

supply of all our wants. But to pray because we must, rather than

because we may, seems unnatural. To ask for what we want, and

because we want it, and because God has encouraged us to ask,

and has promised to answer our request, is natural and reasonable.

But to pray as a duty and as if we were obliging God by our prayer,

is quite ridiculous, and is a certain indication of a backslidden heart.

24. Pleading for worldly amusements is also an indication of a

backslidden heart. The most grateful amusements possible, to a

truly spiritual mind, are those engagements that bring the soul into

the most direct communion with God. While the heart is full of love

and faith, an hour, or an evening, spent alone in communion with

God, is more delightful than all the amusements which the world

can offer. A loving heart is jealous of everything that will break up

or interfere with its communion with God. For mere worldly

amusements it has no relish. When the soul does not find more

delight in God than in all worldly things, the heart is sadly

backslidden.

25. Spiritual blindness is another evidence of a backslidden heart.

While the eye is single the whole body will be full of spiritual light,

but if the eye be evil (which means a backslidden heart) the whole

body will be full of darkness.

Spiritual blindness reveals itself in a lack of interest in God’s Word,

and in religious truth generally. It will also manifest a lack of spiritual

discrimination, and will be easily imposed upon by the insinuations

of Satan. A backslidden heart will lead to the adoption of lax

principles of morality. It does not discern the spirituality of God’s

law, and of His requirements generally. When this spiritual

blindness is manifest it is a sure indication that the heart is

backslidden.

26. Religious apathy, with worldly wakefulness and sensibility, is a

sure indication of a backslidden heart. We sometimes see persons

who feel deeply and quickly on worldly subjects, but who cannot be

made to feel deeply on religious subjects. This clearly indicates a

backslidden state of mind.

27. A self-indulgent spirit is a sure indication of a backslidden heart.

By self-indulgence, I mean a disposition to gratify the appetites,

passions, and propensities, to “fulfill the desires of the flesh and of

the mind” (Ephesians 2:3).

This, in the Bible, is represented as a state of spiritual death. I am

satisfied that the most common occasion of backsliding in heart is

to be found in the clamor for indulgence of the various appetites

and propensities. The appetite for food is frequently, and perhaps

more frequently than any other, the occasion of backsliding. Few

Christians, I fear, apprehend any danger in this direction. God’s

injunction is: “Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye

do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31). Christians

forget this, and eat and drink to please themselves, consulting their

appetites instead of the laws of life and health. More persons are

ensnared by their tables than the Church is aware of. The table is

a snare of death to multitudes that no man can number. A great

many people who avoid alcoholic drinks altogether, will indulge in

tea and coffee, and even tobacco, and in food that, both in quantity

and quality, violates every law of health. They seem to have no

other law than that of appetite, and this they so deprave by abuse

that, to indulge it, is to ruin body and soul together. Show me a

gluttonous professor, and I will show you a backslider.

28. A seared conscience is also an evidence of a backslidden heart.

While the soul is wakeful and loving, the conscience is as tender as

the apple of the eye. But when the heart is backslidden, the

conscience is silent and seared, on many subjects. Such a person

will tell you that he is not violating his conscience, in eating or

drinking, or in self-indulgence of any kind. You will find a backslider

has but little conscience. The same will very generally be true in

regard to sins of omission. Multitudes of duties may be neglected

and a seared conscience will remain silent. Where conscience is

not awake, the heart is surely backslidden.

29. Loose moral principles are a sure indication of a backslidden

heart. A backslider in heart will write letters on the Sabbath, engage

in secular reading, and in much worldly conversation. In business,

such a person will take little advantages, play off business tricks,

and conform to the habits of worldly business men in the

transaction of business; he will be guilty of deception and

misrepresentation in making bargains, will demand exorbitant

interest, and take advantage of the necessities of his fellow-men.

30. Prevalence of the fear of man is an evidence of a backslidden

heart. While the heart is full of the love of God, God is feared, and

not man. A desire for the applause of men is kept down, and it is

enough to please God, whether men are pleased or displeased. But

when the love of God is abated, “the fear of man,” that “bringeth a

snare” (Proverbs 29:25), gets possession of the backslider. To

please man rather than God, is then his aim. In such a state he will

sooner offend God than man.

31. A sticklishness about forms, ceremonies, and nonessentials,

gives evidence of a backslidden heart. A loving heart is particular

only about the substance and power of religion, and will not stickle

about its forms.

32. A captiousness about measures in promoting revivals of

religion, is a sure evidence of a backslidden heart. Where the heart

is fully set upon the conversion of sinners and the sanctification of

believers, it will naturally approach the subject in the most direct

manner, and by means in the highest degree calculated to

accomplish the end. It will not object to, nor stumble at, measures

that are evidently blessed of God, but will exert the utmost sagacity

in devising the most suitable means to accomplish the great end on

which the heart is set.

IV. THE CONSEQUENCES OF BACKSLIDING IN HEART.

The text says, that “the backslider in heart shall be filled with his

own ways.”

  1. He shall be filled with his own works. But these are dead works,

they are not works of faith and love, which are acceptable to God,

but are the filthy rags of his own righteousness. If they are

performed as religious services, they are but loathsome hypocrisy,

and an abomination to God; there is no heart in them. To such a

person God says: “Who hath required this at your hand?” (Isaiah

1:12). “Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God

knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men

is abomination in the sight of God” (Luke 16:15). “I know you, that

ye have not the love of God in you” (John 5:42).

2. He shall be filled with his own feelings. Instead of that sweet

peace and rest, and joy in the Holy Ghost, that he once

experienced, he will find himself in a state of unrest, dissatisfied

with himself and everybody else, his feelings often painful,

humiliating, and as unpleasant and unlovely as can be well

conceived. It is often very trying to live with backsliders. They are

often peevish, censorious, and irritating, in all their ways. They have

forsaken God, and in their feelings there is more of hell than of

heaven.

3. They will be filled with their own prejudices. Their willingness to

know and do the truth has gone. They will very naturally commit

themselves against any truth that bears hardly upon a self-indulgent

spirit. They will endeavor to justify themselves, will neither read nor

hear that which will rebuke their backslidden state, and they will

become deeply prejudiced against every one that shall cross their

path, who shall reprove them, accounting him as an enemy. They

hedge themselves in, and shut their eyes against the light; stand on

the defensive, and criticize everything that would search them out.

4. A backslider in heart will be filled with his own enmities. He will

chafe in almost every relation of life, will allow himself to be vexed,

and to get into such relations with some persons, and perhaps with

many, that he cannot pray for them honestly, and can hardly treat

them with common civility. This is an almost certain result of a

backslidden heart.

5. The backslider in heart will be full of his own mistakes. He is not

walking with God. He has fallen out of the Divine order. He is not

led by the Spirit, but is walking in spiritual darkness. In this state he

is sure to fall into many and grievous mistakes, and may get

entangled in such a way as to mar his happiness, and, perhaps,

destroy his usefulness for life. Mistakes in business, mistakes in

forming new relations in life, mistakes in using his time, his tongue,

his money, his influence; indeed, all will go wrong with him as long

as he remains in a backslidden state.

6. The backslider in heart will be filled with his own lustings. His

appetites and passions, which had been kept under, have now

resumed their control, and having been so long suppressed, they

will seem to avenge themselves by becoming more clamorous and

despotic than ever. The animal appetites and passions will burst

forth, to the astonishment of the backslider, and he will probably

find himself more under their influence and more enslaved by them

than ever before.

7. The backslider in heart will be filled with his own words. While in

that state, he will not, and cannot, control his tongue. It will prove

itself to be an unruly member, full of deadly poison. By his words he

will involve himself in many difficulties and perplexities, from which

he can never extricate himself until he comes back to God.

8. He will be full of his own trials. Instead of keeping out of

temptation, he will run right into it. He will bring upon himself

multitudes of trials that he never would have had, had he not

departed from God. He will complain of his trials, but yet will

constantly multiply them. A backslider feels his trials keenly, but,

while he complains of being so tried by everything around him, he

is constantly aggravating them, and, being the author of them, he

seems industrious to bring them upon himself like an avalanche.

9. The backslider in heart shall be full of his own folly. Having

rejected the Divine guidance, he will evidently fall into the depths of

his own foolishness. He will inevitably say and do multitudes of

foolish and ridiculous things. Being a professor of religion, these

things will be all the more noticed, and of course bring him all the

more into ridicule and contempt. A backslider is, indeed, the most

foolish person in the world. Having experimental knowledge of the

true way of life, he has the infinite folly to abandon it. Knowing the

fountain of living waters, he has forsaken it, and “hewed out to

himself cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water” (Jeremiah

2:13). Having been guilty of this infinite folly, the whole course of his

backslidden life must be that of a fool, in the Bible sense of the

term.

10. The backslider in heart will be full of his own troubles. God is

against him, and he is against himself. He is not at peace with God,

with himself, with the Church, nor with the world. He has no inward

rest. Conscience condemns him.

God condemns him. All that know his state condemn him. “There

is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked” (Isaiah 57:21). There is

no position in time or space in which he can be at rest.

11. The backslider in heart will be full of his own cares. He has

turned back to selfishness. He counts himself and his possessions

as his own. He has everything to care for. He will not hold himself

and his possessions as belonging to God, and lay aside the

responsibility of taking care of himself and all that he possesses. He

does not, will not, cast his cares upon the Lord, but undertakes to

manage everything for himself, and in his own wisdom, and for his

own ends. Consequently, his cares will be multiplied, and come

upon him like a deluge.

12. The backslider in heart will be full of his own perplexities.

Having forsaken God, having fallen into the darkness of his own

folly, he will be filled with perplexities and doubts in regard to what

course he shall pursue to accomplish his selfish ends. He is not

walking with, but contrary to God. Hence, the providence of God will

constantly cross his path, and baffle all his schemes. God will frown

darkness upon his path, and take pains to confound his projects,

and blow his schemes to the winds.

13. The backslider in heart will be filled with his own anxieties. He

will be anxious about himself, about his business, about his

reputation, about everything. He has taken all these things out of

the hands of God, and claims them and treats them as his own.

Hence, having faith in God no longer, and being unable to control

events, he must of necessity be filled with anxieties with regard to

the future. These anxieties are the inevitable result of his madness

and folly in forsaking God.

14. The backslider in heart will be filled with his own

disappointments. Having forsaken God, and taken the attitude of

self-will, God will inevitably disappoint him as he pursues his selfish

ends. He will frame his ways to please himself, without consulting

God. Of course God will frame his ways so as to disappoint him.

Determined to have his own way, he will be greatly disappointed if

his plans are frustrated; yet the certain course of events under the

government of God must of necessity bring him a series of

disappointments.

15. The backslider in heart must be full of his own losses. He

regards his possessions as his own, his time as his own, his

influence as his own, his reputation as his own. The loss of any of

these, he accounts as his own loss. Having forsaken God, and

being unable to control the events upon which the continuance of

those things is conditioned, he will find himself suffering losses on

every side. He loses his peace. He loses his property.

He loses much of his time. He loses his Christian reputation. He

loses his Christian influence, and if he persists he loses his soul.

16. The backslider in heart will be full of his own crosses. All

religious duty will be irksome, and, therefore, a cross to him. His

state of mind will make multitudes of things crosses that in a

Christian state of mind would have been pleasant in a high degree.

Having lost all heart in religion, the performance of all religious duty

is a cross to his feelings. There is no help for him, unless he returns

to God. The whole course of Divine providence will run across his

path, and his whole life will be a series of crosses and trials. He

cannot have his own way. He cannot gratify himself by

accomplishing his own wishes and desires. He may beat and dash

himself against the everlasting rocks of God’s will and God’s way,

but break through and carry all before him he cannot. He must be

crossed and recrossed, and crossed again, until he will fall into the

Divine order, and sink into the will of God.

17. The backslider in heart will be filled with his own tempers.

Having forsaken God, he will be sure to have much to irritate him.

In a backslidden state, he cannot possess his soul in patience. The

vexations of his backslidden life will make him nervous and irritable;

his temper will become explosive and uncontrollable.

18. The backslider in heart will be full of his own disgraces. He is a

professor of religion. The eyes of the world are upon him, and all

his inconsistencies, worldly-mindedness, follies, bad tempers, and

hateful words and deeds, disgrace him in the estimation of all men

who know him.

19. The backslider in heart will be full of his own delusions. Having

an evil eye, his whole body will be full of darkness. He will almost

certainly fall into delusions in regard to doctrines and in regard to

practices. Wandering on in darkness, as he does, he will, very

likely, swallow the grossest delusions. Spiritism, Mormonism,

Universalism, and every other ism that is wide from the truth, will be

very likely to gain possession of him. Who has not observed this of

backsliders in heart?

20. The backslider in heart will be filled with his own bondage. His

profession of religion brings him into bondage to the Church. He

has no heart to consult the interests of the Church, or to labor for its

up-building, and yet he is under covenant obligation to do so, and

his reputation is at stake. He must do something to sustain religious

institutions, but to do so is a bondage. If he does it, it is because he

must, and not because he may. Again, he is in bondage to God. If

he performs any duty that he calls religious, it is rather as a slave

than as a freeman. He serves from fear or hope, just like a slave,

and not from love. A gain, he is in bondage to his own conscience.

To avoid conviction and remorse, he will do or omit many things,

but it is all with reluctance, and not at all of his own cordial goodwill.

21. The backslider in heart is full of his own self condemnation.

Having enjoyed the love of God, and forsaken Him, he feels

condemned for everything. If he attempts religious duty, he knows

there is no heart in it, and hence condemns himself. If he neglects

religious duty, he of course condemns himself. If he reads his Bible,

it condemns him. If he does not read it, he feels condemned. If he

goes to religious meetings, they condemn him; and if he stays

away, he is condemned also. If he prays in secret, in his family, or

in public, he knows he is not sincere, and feels condemned. If he

neglects or refuses to pray, he feels condemned. Everything

condemns him. His conscience is up in arms against him, and the

thunders and lightnings of condemnation follow him, whithersoever

he goes.

V. HOW TO RECOVER FROM A STATE OF BACKSLIDING.

  1. Remember whence you are fallen. Take up the question at once,

and deliberately contrast your present state with that in which you

walked with God.

2. Take home the conviction of your true position. No longer delay

to understand the exact situation between God and your soul.

3. Repent at once, and do your first works over again.

4. Do not attempt to get back, by reforming your mere outside

conduct. Begin with your heart, and at once set yourself right with

God.

5. Do not act like a more convicted sinner, and attempt to

recommend yourself to God by any impenitent works or prayers.

Do not think that you must “reform, and make yourself better”

before you can come to Christ, but understand distinctly, that

coming to Christ, alone, can make you better. However much

distressed you may feel, know for a certainty that until you repent

and accept His will, unconditionally, you are no better, but are

constantly growing worse. Until you throw yourself upon His

sovereign mercy, and thus return to God, He will accept nothing at

your hands.

6. Do not imagine yourself to be in a justified state, for you know

you are not. Your conscience condemns you, and you know that

God ought to condemn you, and if He justified you in your present

state, your conscience could not justify Him. Come, then, to Christ

at once, like a guilty, condemned sinner, as you are; own up, and

take all the shame and blame to yourself, and believe that

notwithstanding all your wanderings from God, He loves you still

that He has loved you with an everlasting love, and, therefore, with

lovingkindness is drawing you.

FIRES OF REVIVAL

http:www.concentric.net~fires