RemediesAgainst Spiritual Declension

In our last bulletin, we identified some of the symptoms ofspiritual declension. I trust that you have had occasion to read it and toexamine yourself honestly before the Lord. I trust that you are at least awareif you bear some of the marks of personal declension. If you are at allconcerned that you are walking aright with Christ (cf. Col 2:6), and if you are at all concernedthat you are making your calling and election sure (2 Pet 1:10), you must notonly be aware but admit that you are experiencing declension.

My fear is that many are simply unconcerned and apathetic, thatthere is a possibility that they are backsliding: only to discover toolate,—like the five foolish virgins,—that they are not prepared to meet theLord. Someone may ask: why should I be concerned? If I am elect of God, I willsurely be saved in the end, but if I am not, it does not matter what I do now.This reasoning soundslogical at first sight, but what a dangerous proposition which amounts totempting God (Mt 4:7).

In the first place, it is not only dangerous but forbidden for usto order our lives according to the secret will of God: "The secret thingsbelong unto the Lord our God: but those things which are revealed belong untous and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law"(Deut 29:29).

In the second place, the Word of God speaks about ourresponsibility towards the revealed will of God. We are not saying, as somesay, that fifty percent of our salvation belongs to the sovereignty of God, theother fifty percent belongs to our responsibility. This is pure Arminianism. Weare saying that though our salvation is entirely by God’s sovereign grace, yetGod holds us totally responsible for our actions. Notice how the Apostle Paulalludes to this fact: "Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed,not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your ownsalvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both towill and to do of his good pleasure" (Phil 2:12–13). We must acknowledgeall good gifts, including faith, repentance, and doing God’s good pleasure, ascoming from God (Jas 1:17; Eph 2:8; Acts 11:18; 2 Tim 2:25). Yet, we areresponsible to obey God’s commands to believe and repent, and walk in newnessof life (Mk 1:15; Acts 17:30; Rom 6:4).

In the third place, the Scripture does teach us about degree ofblessedness in heaven and degree of torment in hell. The saints in heaven willshine as stars in the firmament, but one star differs from another star inglory (Dan 12:3; 1 Cor 15:41). Matthew Henry puts it very well: "In heavenevery vessel will be full, brimful though every vessel is not alike large andcapacious" (Comm. on Matthew 20:9–10). In the same way, it will be moretolerable for some sinners in hell than for others. The Lord implies this whenHe says, "It shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day ofjudgment" than for Chorazin and Bethsaida, and "it shall be moretolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment" than for Capernaum(Mt 11:21–24). Gerstner explains: "All impenitent pagans are going tohell, but the deepest places in the Pit will be reserved for impenitent‘Christians.’ It will be more ‘tolerable’ for pagans in hell than for all merelyprofessing Christians" (Repent or Perish, 194).

No child of God will ordinarily be apathetic to working out hissalvation with fear and trembling. But if you are experiencing spiritualdeclension, you may not think and reason like an ordinary child of God.Instead, sin and love of the world will cloud your thoughts and you may in factreason like the world. How else could a child of God ever think that sincethere is the doctrine of election it does not matter what you do? Well,whatever the case may be, I hope you see my point. Whatever state you may bein: whether you are a backslidden believer or you were never converted in thefirst place, it is important for you to apply the remedies for your soul. Ifyou are indeed a child of God, it is my prayer that you will return to theFather as He is awaiting your return and will receive you with open arms. Ifyou were deceived as to your conversion, I would charge you to repent andbelieve truly. I cannot make you believe what I am telling you, but I must warnyou with what the Word of God teaches us: If you apostatise after professingChrist, you will be worst than before you made your profession. This is whatthe Apostle Peter warns when he says: "For if after they have escaped thepollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour JesusChrist, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worsewith them than the beginning" (2 Pet 2:20; cf. Lk 11:26).

I hope you do not think I am trying to frighten you by threateningyou. I am simply relating what the Scripture teaches, and I do it with thesincere hope that you will repent and return to the Lord,—whether you wereconverted or not in the first place. Whatever it may be, if you remainnonchalant, there will be little or no hope for you, and woe areyou if youfinally perish in your sin. But if you, at least, try to apply the remedies,there is hope.

May I, as such, suggest six steps, the diligent application ofwhich, I believe will lend itself to the recovery of the soul, as well as beingantidotes against further declension.

Discover the Cause

First, you should attempt to discover the causes of yourdeclension. We noted in our previous article that there are two principlecauses, namely, (1) sin; and (2) the neglect of the means of grace. However,very often, it is secondary causes that aggravate the situation.

For example, sin may be multiplied and your resolve against sinmay be dulled because of an employment which involves many occasions oftemptation, such as entertaining of clients; or because of a close relationshipwith someone with lower moral standards; or because having to care forrebellious children results in frequent angry outbursts. Whatever the case maybe, sin will always affect our relationship with God. "But your iniquitieshave separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face fromyou, that he will not hear" (Isa 59:2).

Similarly, the neglect of the means of grace could be because ofwork that takes you away from worship on the Lord’s Day frequently; or becauseof a habit which may not in itself be sinful, such as spending a lot of time onthe newspapers or on the internet, which results in the neglect of duties; orbecause the care of a baby or an aged parent may be tiring your body out sothat you find it hard to pray without falling asleep.

Whatever the case may be, it is not difficult to see that knowingthe aggravating causes of your declension is an important step to dealing withyour spiritual problem.

Lay Aside Every Weight

Having discovered the contributing causes to your declension, thenext obvious step would be to take specific and perhaps drastic actions toremove the cause of your declension, if you can help it; or to minimise itsimpact on your spiritual life, if you cannot remove the causes. This would bein accordance with the biblical instruction to lay aside every weight andentangling sin, in order that we may patiently run the race set before us (Heb12:1). Is your secular employment contributing to too many occasions oftemptation and sin? Perhaps it’s time to change job. Is your relationship withsomeone weakening your resolve to walk in the way of the Lord? Perhaps it’stime to break off the relationship before it is too late. Are you spending toomuch time on the newspaper or on the internet? Perhaps it’s time to limityourself to a fix amount of time for these activities. Or perhaps it’s time tocut off your subscriptions for these, that your time may be channelled to morefruitful use. Are you finding it hard to set aside time for your daily personaland family worship? Perhaps it’s time to cut down on television, or perhapsit’s time to set your personal devotion before breakfast and your familyworship before dinner so that you will not forget these important exercises. Orare you finding it difficult to spend half an hour in personal worship and sorather not have personal worship? Perhaps it’s time to be more flexible: betterto have 10 minutes of prayer than none at all. Are you finding it hard to prayten minutes kneeling without falling asleep? Perhaps it’s time to pray standingat the window. Have iniquity abound because you have a habit of shouting atyour children for nitty gritty misdemeanours? Perhaps it’s time to resolve notto shout. Or perhaps it’s time to implement a demerit point system for yourchild so that he gets discipline only for accumulated misdemeanours over aperiod of time.

What I am saying is, that we must never allow ourselves to remainstatusquo if our currentcircumstance in life contributes in any way to our spiritual declension. Youneed to be willing to change. If you can rid yourself of the cause orcontributing factor of your spiritual declension, you should do so, whateverthe personal cost may be. This is the principle taught by our Lord:"Wherefore if thy hand or thy foot offend thee, cut them off, and castthem from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life halt or maimed, ratherthan having two hands or two feet to be cast into everlasting fire" (Mt18:8). But if you have no control over the circumstance which contributes toyour declension, then you must seek to work around it by reordering the factorsthat are in your control to compensate for the negative effects of thecircumstance affecting you.

Appeal to the Lord in Prayer

Third, go to the Lord in prayer. Although prayerlessness is asymptom of declension, in order to revive your soul, we must insist on prayer.Set apart time to pray without distraction. Pray even if you do not feel likepraying. Pray until you find yourself no longer in monologue but conversingwith the Father through Christ. Pour out your heart to the Lord. Even if youdoubt your salvation, go pleading for restoration; for though your prayer maybe sinful, yet it is never a sin to pray. Pray that the Holy Spirit mayenlighten you as to the terrible danger that your soul may be in. Pray with thewords of the psalmist: "Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, andknow my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me" (Ps139:23–24a). As the Lord reveals through your conscience and memory, repent andgrieve over your tardiness and your sin. Then pray, "Be merciful unto me:heal my soul; for I have sinned against thee" (Ps 41:4); and "Giveear to my prayer, O God; and hide not thyself from my supplication" (Ps55:1). Pray also for remembrance of the communion you had with God before youfell out of the way (Rev 2:5a). Pray that the Lord open your eyes, that you may"behold wondrous things out of [His] law" once again (Ps 119:18). AskHim to show you the old paths again (Jer 6:16), and pray, "Lead me in theway everlasting" (Ps 139:24b). Pray for wisdom to readjust your life ifthat might help to restore your spiritual walk. Plead like the persistent widow(Lk 18:1–5); but ask in faith, and He shall surely hear your petition, for Hesays: "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, andit shall be opened unto you" (Mt 7:7).

Consider Christ

Fourth, look to Christ the author and finisher of your faith (Heb12:2). Meditate on the love of God in Christ: the love that was manifested inGod’s sending His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live throughHim (1 Jn 4:9); the love that is commended to us in that, while we were yetsinners, Christ died for us (Rom 5:8). Think about the sufferings that Christwent through for the sake of His Church. Consider how He gave Himself for usout of love (Eph 5:25). Meditate on how this love extends to the single lostsheep and the unworthy prodigal son. Consider how much you have received fromChrist and how little you have loved Him and served Him. Consider, then, whatingratitude and wickedness it is to grow cold in your love and zeal for Him.Consider the grief that must have been silently written on the Lord’s face,when He turned and look upon the backslidden Peter (Lk 22:61). Consider howPeter wept bitterly (Lk 22:62). Meditate on how the Lord restored Peter as Heasked him three times: "lovest thou me more than these" (Jn21:15–17). Do you not hear the Lord asking you the same question?

Beloved, if you forget everything you read in this article,remember and meditate on the love of Christ. It is the love of Christ that willrestore you eventually, just as it restored Peter.

Attend to the Preaching ofthe Word

Fifthly, you must take every opportunity to hear and diligentlyattend to the preaching of the Word. If you are experiencing spiritualdeclension, you are likely to think that you already know all that there is toknow, and that hearing of sermons seem so futile. Well, it is probably truethat if you have been consistently under a solid but conservative preachingministry, that after some years, the amount of knowledge that each new sermonmay add may be quite little. However, you must bear in mind that the purpose ofpreaching is not only to instruct, but to provoke the soul unto faith and goodworks. Reminders and repetitions are therefore important elements in preaching,and should not be despised. Neither should we complain about the simplicity ofa sermon, or that there is little instructional value. Let us, rather, attendto preaching, as unto the voice and exhortation of our Chief Shepherd.

Most who are undergoing spiritual declension will shy away fromany additional sermons. May I urge you, if you have any concern for your soul,to make use of every opportunity and to listen to additional sermon tapes bygodly preachers, such as Prof John Murray, Martyn Lloyd Jones, Herman Hanko,Maurice Roberts, R.C. Sproul, Albert Martin, Stuart Olyott, Peter Masters, etc.Just as the Lord had always used the preaching of the prophets to revive Hispeople, so preaching will be one of the primary means by which the Lord willrevive your spiritually declining soul.

Forsake Not the Fellowshipof the Saints

Finally, you must make every effort to assemble with fellowbelievers and to fellowship with them. I understand that if you areexperiencing spiritual declension, it is likely that you will have no desirefor fellowship with other believers; but if you are concerned for your soul,you must try to overcome this aversion. The writer of Hebrews exhorts us:"Let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: Notforsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; butexhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the dayapproaching" (Heb 10:24–25). In other words, we must assemble andfellowship with other believers so that we may exhort and provoke one anotherin our Christian walk, for, left to ourselves, we are likely to backslide. Thisis especially so because our personal assessment of our spiritual condition isoften less severe than it really is, on account of sin. Thus the writer ofHebrews also enjoins us: "Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of youan evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God. But exhort oneanother daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened throughthe deceitfulness of sin" (Heb 3:12–13). This is one of the most importantpurposes of Christian fellowship. To be hardened is to experience spiritualdeclension or backsliding. So, in order to overcome this malady, you must notforsake the fellowship of the saints. If you are experiencing declension andshying away from meeting other believers in informal settings, may I urge youonce again to overcome the inclination of the flesh and obey the Word of God.Only then can you expect Him to bless and restore.

Conclusion

Are you experiencing spiritual declension, my friend? If you are,may I urge you to attempt some of the remedies outlined above. May the Lordgrant you recovery and a renewed assurance that you belong to Christ. Amen.