The following sermon is from the YouTube site, Christian Sermons and Audio Books [links from site are at the end of post].
I cut the initial 27 minutes off this 67-minute sermon. Sermon HIGHLIGHTS are provided on the excerpted part, so readers can determine if they want to invest the time in hearing / studying the sermon.
Highlight points for the excerpt follow it; the initial 8 minutes and 45 seconds are, opening song; prayer; and the reading of Hosea chapter 14:
HIGHLIGHTS OF 27-minute EXCERPT:
- Some review; definition of backsliding:
- Backsliding is the willful drifting from Christ. If left unchecked, then it will lead to apostasy
- It is the indulging in sin, worldliness; and when confronted by scripture, brethren, or one’s own conscience, one does not turn back towards Christ
- In such a state, the believer is not fighting sin; or fights in a half-hearted manner, quickly turning back to his/her illicit arms of sin [sin is compared to harlotry in Hosea; so it could be called an illicit lover]
- The pastor distinguished the above from the usual ups and downs and involvement in sin that characterizes the Christian life
- That is, every day, week, we find many things that need repented of
- In the parable of the Prodigal son, the younger son backslid by running off into the illicit arms of his lusts; after he came to his senses [by the cruel treatment his lusts gave him], he repented and walked towards his father
- All Christians are prone to backsliding because of our fallen flesh
- Be on guard for the first motions of backsliding and repent
- Backsliding begins in the heart [one’s affections turn to things other than Christ]
- That is, one could be perceived as a religious person; his/her outward life seen as appropriate for a Christian, but inwardly, going through the motions – headed towards backsliding
- In Hosea, the Lord had indicted His people for many sins
- Backslidden people need to experience conviction for their sinning; but they also need to see Christ holding His arms out to them for healing
- Hosea 14:4 I will heal their turning away from Me; I will love them freely, For My anger has turned away from them [LSB]
- Tonight we will look at two symptoms of backsliding and one, of cure
- Two symptoms: 1. Diminished fear of the Lord; and 2. Lack of spiritual exercise
- 2 Corinthians 7:1 Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God
- That is, the free mercy and love of God is in no way opposed to perfecting holiness in the fear of of God
- The fear of God is not just an Old Testament thing
- Christ gives believers the fear of God
- When did you last think, “I don’t want to offend my God”
- Malachi 1:6 “‘A son honors his father, and a slave his master. Then if I am a father, where is My honor? And if I am a master, where is the fear of Me?’ says Yahweh of hosts to you, O priests who despise My name. But you say, ‘How have we despised Your name?’
- Who do you fear more than God? [Other people, employer…]
- Psalm 25:14 The secret of Yahweh is for those who fear Him, And He will make them know His covenant
- A different way to state the above: intimacy with the Lord is with them that fear Him
- So, when your fear of God diminishes, so does your intimacy with Him
- Where is the backsliders intimacy?
- With his sin and worldliness, in his illicit embrace of those
- When a believer is looking to the world for his intimacy, he/she is grieving the Holy Spirit
- When one grieves the Holy Spirit, no intimacy with God is possible
- A spiritually healthy Christian still sins, as indicated in Romans 7; when they find themselves doing so, their evaluation of themselves is like Paul’s, “Oh wretched man…”
- At such times, they turn to the Lord for help to return
- The backslider has lost his ability to feel distaste for sin
- One cannot play with sin, pet it, nourish it… and still fear God
- Do you merely fear the consequences for sin but not God?
- Sin sent Christ to the cross
- Do I no longer fear that God sees my sinfulness?
- Or am I just concerned that my pastor, elders, neighbors… see it?
- When one’s fear of the Lord increases, his/her revulsion for sin does too
- To those who fear Him, He manifests Himself in a special way, because He is your desire
- [The following occurs after the excerpt: point 2: lack of spiritual exercise or discipline
- That would include, prayer, Bible reading, meditation, self-examination, repentance and worship.]
Part B, running from 27 minutes to 67 minutes: [I’ve been ill and am not thinking clearly, when I published this post I had the wrong half of the excerpt above. I decided to leave it in the post.]:
Below is the embedded entire sermon. You may listen at YouTube and subscribe to the sight….
Links to Christian Sermons and Audio Books:
Video-page link: https://www.youtube.com/@ChristisLord/videos
Playlist-page link: https://www.youtube.com/@ChristisLord/playlists
Narrative and links that accompanied video at YouTube:
▶️ Lord’s Day afternoon worship service of the Dallas RPC. Sermon likely to go live at 3:40pm. EST. The
Cure for Backsliding – Pastor Rom Prakashpalan Sermon
Hosea 14:4 – I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely: For mine anger is turned away from him. ▶️Reverend Romesh Prakashpalan (PLAYLIST): • Reverend Romesh Prakashpalan
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▶️CHURCH WEBSITE: http://www.dallasrpf.org/
Rom is married to Maegan and they have four children. Rom was raised as a Hindu and became an atheist early in life. The Lord called him to faith through hearing the gospel in 2009 (Romans 10:17). Soon after, he felt a call to gospel ministry. He graduated from the Reformed Presbyterian Theological Seminary (RPTS) in 2020 with an MDiv. He was first ordained and installed as a ruling elder at DRPC in March 2015 and then a teaching elder in July 2020 by the Midwest Presbytery of the RPCNA. In addition to homiletics, counseling, and theology; Rom enjoys cooking, especially smoking meat, computer science (his first vocation), and roadtrips with his family.
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