The Bulletin
of the
Church of Christ at
New Georgia
Tim Johnson, editor
April 13, 2003
In
This Issue:
Backsliding
By
Malcolm
Andrews
Praying
with the Confidence of Christ
By
Steve Klein
"Backsliding"
The Lord's church is burdened today with backsliders. This was the condition of Israel on several occasions as recorded by Jeremiah. By backsliding, we mean to lapse morally or to slide back into old ways of sin. We are warned against backsliding in the new law. Hebrews 3:12 states, "Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God."
In Matt. 26:41, the Lord said, "Watch and pray that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak." In I Cor. 10:12, the apostle Paul warned, "Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall." I II Peter 1:10, Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall." We can see from these passages that we can fall after we have once been enlightened by the Word of God. After a person obeys the will of God, it is a continuing process as long as he lives. So many times after a person begins the new life, he will go for a while in that condition, and, then, wander from the truth.
We have some further examples of backsliding. In Acts 8:19-22, Simon, the sorcerer, after having believed, saw the apostles power to perform miracles through the laying on of hands. Simon tried to buy this gift with money. Peter said to him, "Thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money." Also, II Timothy 4:10 says, "For Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world&ldots;"
We know from the scriptures that the condition of man is worse after turning back into the world once he has believed. In II Peter 2:21,22, "For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn form the holy commandments delivered unto them. But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire." We see the results of ones' backslidden condition makes him fit only to be trodden under the feet of man as we see in Matthew 5:13.
Luke 9:62 renders one unfit for the kingdom of God. When a Christian backslides, everybody loses. The local congregation loses a member and God loses a worker (II Cor. 6:1). The brethren lose a brother or sister (II Tim. 4:10). The community loses a Christian's influence which is so desperately needed.
The backslider (unless he repents) loses his soul (Lk. 13:3). The Christian's attitude toward a backslider might mean the difference between his losing or saving his soul. James 5:19 says, "Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him; Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins." Galatians 6:1 states, "Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted."
If a Christian would study to show himself approved unto God, then the backsliding problem in the Lord's church would be won. He would add the Christian graces to his life (II Pet. 1:5-10) He would also meet the requirements for growth (I Pet. 2:2).
If a Christian lives up to his responsibility in living a Christian life, he is going to grow and thus the Lord's church will be strengthened by him.
The church has one body, but many members, and it needs each member doing their part to edify or build up one another in the most holy faith.
By Malcolm Andrews
via The Admonisher, April 8, 1984
In so many ways I stand in awe of my Lord Jesus Christ. What a challenge it is to attempt to pattern one's life after Him. As a person who overcame every temptation He faced (Hebrews 4:15), who always did the will of His Father (John 8:29) and who loved unworthy humans to the point of making the ultimate sacrifice for them (Romans 5:6-8), Jesus stands without peer. Equally remarkable and unparalleled is the way Jesus communicated with His Father in prayer.
Jesus' prayer life is notable on several counts. First, it was a persistent prayer life. Luke 5:16 says that He "often withdrew into the wilderness and prayed." The gospels record a number of examples of this (Matthew 14:23; 26:36-46; Mark 1:35; Luke 9:18); they also reveal that, at times, Jesus would "continue all night in prayer to God" (Luke 6:12). It is impressive that the only begotten Son of God felt the need to devote so much of His time and energy to prayer. From our perspective we might wonder, "Why would the all powerful Son of God need to pray at all?" From His perspective there must have been little question that, as God's Son come to earth, reliance upon the Father was imperative.
Second, Jesus prayed passionately. In Hebrews 5:7 the inspired writer indicates that "in the days of His flesh," Jesus "offered up prayers and supplications, with vehement cries and tears&ldots;" His prayers were not memorized speeches, rattled off unthinkingly when it was "time to pray." They were impassioned pleadings from a heart aflame with righteous needs and desires.
Third, Jesus prayed confidently. There is a tremendous example of this found in Luke 22:31-32. There, on the night of His betrayal, the Lord told Simon Peter, "Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren." Do you see the confidence the Lord had in the effectiveness of His prayer? He had prayed that Simon Peter's faith would not fail and He was certain that Peter would return and be in a position to strengthen his brethren.
Later on that same evening, after Peter had tried to defend Jesus by attacking the servant of the high priest with a sword, Jesus told him, "Put your sword in its place, for all who take the sword will perish by the sword. Or do you think that I cannot now pray to My Father, and He will provide Me with more than twelve legions of angels?" (Matthew 26:52-53; cf. John 18:10). Again, Jesus was certain of what would happen in response to His prayer -- if He prayed for twelve legions of angels the Father would provide them. You see, when Jesus prayed, He knew that His prayers were being heard and answered. His followers knew it too. After her brother Lazarus died Martha said to Jesus, "I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You" (John 11:22).
Jesus' disciples were so impressed with His ability to pray effectively that they begged Him, "Lord teach us to pray" (Luke 11:1). Don't we also want to be able to pray with the power and confidence of the Christ? By example and doctrine Jesus instructs us how to pray with the assurance that our prayers will be effective.
(1) We are to pray in Faith. God is all-powerful and He will help His children. We must believe this. On one occasion recorded in Matthew 21:19, Jesus cursed a barren fig tree and it withered away. The disciples were amazed, but Jesus told them, "If you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but also if you say to this mountain, 'Be removed and be cast into the sea,' it will be done. And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive" (Matthew 21:21-22).
(2) We are to pray with concern for God's will. Even facing death, Jesus prayed, "not My will, but Yours, be done" (Luke 22:42). The apostle John wrote, "Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will He hears us" (1 John 5:14).
(3) We are to pray persistently. The parable Jesus told of the insistent widow in Luke 18:1-8 was told to make the point that "men always ought to pray and not lose heart."
(4) We are to pray with godly fear. The Bible says that Jesus "was heard because of His godly fear" (Hebrews 5:7).
(5) We are to keep God's commandments and do the things which please Him. Jesus knew the Father was with Him because He always did what was pleasing to the Father (John 8:29). Even so, we are assured that, "Whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight." (1 John 3:22)
This is the formula Jesus followed which resulted in such confidence and power in His prayers. As our High Priest, Jesus will help us come confidently before God's throne with our requests. And so, "Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need" (Hebrews 4:16).
-- By Steve Klein