SYMPTOMSOF SPIRITUAL DECLENSION

You will remember when you first become aChristian, how your heart burned with holy zeal and gratitude, and you felt thethrill in your soul just to read the Word of God or to sing hymns. You wereready to go unto the uttermost part of the world to preach the gospel, comewhat may. But soon your zeal and enthusiasm cooled down. You are no longer asfervent. You begin to realise your limitations and shortfalls. You begin tofeel your struggle against sin acutely. You no longer feel you are fit to besent as a missionary to Tibet.And you longed for the experience of initial conversion again, and to regainthe initial zeal because your conscience is pounded over the pulpit as you arereminded again and again that you have left your first love.

Well, beloved, I do not think that theLord is referring to this kind of initial love in Revelation 2:4. In the firstplace, He is referring to the church, not to the individual. In the secondplace, while we ought to lament our lack of zeal and coldness, and a lack ofassurance is sin, I would suggest that it is normal for every Christian to gothrough a cooling down phase after the initial excitement. You see, the firstlove of a new believer is often more emotional than mature. When a person first becomes a Christian, he isso overcome with joy that the reality of his own spiritual condition is cloudedout. But soon, reality begins to assert itself and the love founded uponfeelings fades away. In the Lord’s Parable of the Sower, the stony ground wouldhave the same initial experience but eventually fall away. On the other hand,for the true believer, the love founded upon feelings is replaced by a matured,firmer, deeper love that is rooted in the heart and founded upon a sanctifiedwill. The mature believer understands his limitations and the corruption of hisnature. He looks to the cross of Calvary andhe is thankful to the Lord for all that He has done for him, and hedemonstrates his love to Christ by seeking to obey His commandments constantly.But generally, he would no longer have that unstable initial zeal which isfounded on his emotions.

Thus, it would be quite normal if you nolonger have a burning zeal to want to evangelise the world. But before webecome too comfortable, let us realise that not all of us, who have settledinto a matured love for God in Christ, continue in that love with the sameconstancy. You see, there remains in everyone, who has been effectually called,some remaining corruption so that there is always a propensity and even atendency to depart from God’s ways. This remnant of corruption is more and moreput to death through the Holy Spirit’s work of sanctification. But as long aswe remain in the flesh, there will be this continual and irreconcilable war: Theflesh lusting against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh (Gal 5:17).This battle is to be expected and will result in the final and decisive victoryof the Spirit when we shall put off this body of sin and be translated toglory.

However, experience teaches us that veryoften, a child of God, after an initial period of fervour, can settle into acomplacent attitude in which his spiritual growth either stagnates or declines.Iniquity begins to abound as love for Christ waxes cold (cf. Mt 24:12).Eventually, the heart gets hardened by the deceitfulness of sin (Heb 3:13); theworld and the comforts of this present life begins to have more priority thanthe Kingdom of God and His righteousness (1 Jn 2:15; cf. 2 Tim 4:10); godlycontentment gives way to covetousness and jealousy; and fervent spiritualworship is replaced by empty formalism and hypocrisy (2 Tim 3:5). When thishappens, the soul has stepped out of the narrow way of life and has begun towalk on the broad road that leads to destruction. The soul has begun tobackslide. And if he continues in that state of spiritual slumber withoutrecovery, then it would be evident that he has never ever been a genuine childof God. In fact, it is likely that such a person will eventually renounce his faithand become indifferent to the gospel. But woe is such a person! Thomas Watsonis surely right that "He falls deepest into hell who falls backward"(cf. Heb 6:4–6; Mt 11:20–24).

How could a child of God ever degenerateto such a dangerous state? We have no doubt that it is always through sin andthe neglect or abuse of the means of grace. But it does not happen over night.Usually it is through a period of declension, during which the person may noteven be aware that he is experiencing backsliding or spiritual hardening. Thesymptoms of spiritual declension are, however, easily identifiable; and if weare ever going to treat the ailment, we must begin by being aware of them. Whatthen are the symptoms? Let me suggest 25 of them, some overlapping somewhat.Bear in mind that this list is not exhaustive, but I would suggest that themore items describe you, the more backslidden you are, and the more concernedyou should be about your spiritual state. May I suggest you read the listprayerfully with a pen in hand to circle what describes you.

1.    Whenyou prefer to read the newspaper rather than the Bible, spending much time onone without feeling tiredness but falling asleep on the other; and moreover,the reading of the Bible is done perfunctorily and grudgingly.

2.    Whenyou prefer to and spend much time to watch television rather than read ameaningful Christian book.

3.    Whenyou would rather opt for convenience rather than obedience, though you know therequirement of the Word of God; or when you know a particular duty but refuseto perform it for any reason.

4.    Whenyou want to do something in the church not out of love for Christ, but topacify guilty conscience or to be seen as a religious person.

5.    Whenyou pray only if you have time to spare on hand or when you want to appearreligious to others; and moreover your prayer is mechanical and general.

6.    Whenin your confession of sin, you not only minimise the seriousness of your sin byjustifying your actions, but fail to forsake the sin.

7.    Whenyou are critical about sermons, complaining that they are too technical or toosimple; and hate it when the sermon exposes your sin or is designed to prickyour conscience,—even though you are not stirred by it.

8.    Whenyou find sermons that speak about the glories of Christ or the greatness of Godto be boring because they do not directly address the need of man; and whensermons about the suffering of Christ do not move you at all.

9.    Whenyou fall asleep during worship service not on account of legitimate physicaltiredness such as due to old age, medication or from looking after a younginfant the night before.

10. When you seek to please man rather thanplease God because you crave the praises of man which can be heard by othersrather than the praises of God which no man hears; or when you justify yourhypocritical compromises under the name of diplomacy or maintenance of peace.

11. When you have no regards to the oaths andvows you have made and are ready to break them at the slightest excuse.

12. When you are more concerned with youroutward appearance rather than the hidden adornment of your inner man.

13. When you feel threatened by the legitimatestrictness of others and seek to justify your laxity by labelling them asextreme or legalistic.

14. When you hate to be corrected; and when itis evident that your accuser is correct, you would always have a ready excusefor your actions.

15. When you are secretly gratified by thefall of some professors of faith, rather than grieving with them.

16. When you are quick to blame others or tojudge them when conflicts or quarrels arise, but are not willing to take anypart of the blame.

17. When you feel uncomfortable in the companyof those whom you perceive to be holier than you, but delight in the company ofthose whom you perceive to be less strict in religion than you are.

18. When you are most comfortable in worldlyconversation or small talk, but become silent or uncomfortable in religiousconversation.

19. When you give more priority to the pursuitof the world than the pursuit of Christ and His righteousness, and so choosecareer advancement even though you are fully aware that it will greatly affectyour devotion to Christ and His cause.

20. When you are easily detained from Sabbathworship; and are secretly glad that you have a reason to stay at home, thoughthe reason may be trivial.

21. When you absent yourself from prayermeeting or evening worship not by necessity, inability or difficulty but bypreference.

22. When you are normally punctual for work orpersonal appointments, but perpetually late for worship services or churchmeetings.

23. When you can discuss the differencesbetween supralapsarianism and infra-lapsarianism or the differences betweencovenantalism and dispensationalism, but loath to hand out a tract to anunbeliever.

24. When under temporal chastisement of God,you are more concerned with your pain and loss than to examine what could bethe Lord’s purpose for your suffering.

25. When you have to be coerced by someone toread this list because you feel that the subject of spiritual declension iseither unimportant, or does not apply to you; or when you feel that such a listis unrealistic and asks too much from a child of God.

Dearly beloved, how do you fare? Most ofus, I believe, will fail at some points, at least. But do not despair. There isyet hope for remedy if you are not apathetic to what this list has revealedabout you. Next Lord’s day, God willing, we shall look at some remedies whichwe may apply for our sanctification. But for now, will you not, beloved, applyimmediately to the Lord for His help and restoration? The Lord has said:"My people are bent to backsliding from me" (Hos 11:7); but He alsopromised: "I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely: formine anger is turned away from him" (Hos 14:4). What the Lord says of theChurch, he would surely say to every true child of God. Therefore, "Standye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, andwalk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls" (Jer 6:16a). Do notbe like Israel of old, who is depicted in the remainder of this verse, saying,"We will not walk therein" (Jer 6:16b). Amen.