Dearest Saints,
I find many people whom I personally knew once loved the Lord and lived for the Lord don't seem to have any zeal to continue to follow in the things of God and have actually departed totally from Him. When I realize this to be a fact, I have to ask "Why is this"?
Scriptures tell us that there are several reasons why people have a tendency to fall away. Falling away is talking about believers because if it talked about sinners who never accepted Christ, you can never say that they have fallen away when they were never raised with Christ in the first place. One of the most dangerous places I find anyone would be in is when they think they are in right standing, standing firm/strong and with a steadfast mind, he/she should take precaution lest they should fall in to sin (1 Cor 10:12). When a person comes to this place, he/she fails to see their need of Gods Grace and believes that they are immune to every form of temptation to sin. When we disregard our need of His Grace, we open the door to the enemy. I can tell you, that without the Grace and power of God intervening on our behalf, we are no match to the enemy because we allow him legal access when we deny our need of His Grace. This is closely related to one who has pride which comes in many forms. One is when we perceive ourselves to be better than others and we fail to take heed to scriptures to esteem others better than ourselves (Phil 2:3). This doesn't say we need to think lowly of ourselves, but we need to think soberly about ourselves and believe that we can always learn from others. For when pride enters in to a person, scriptures tell us that pride always comes before destruction (Prov 16:18). It's never a question of "if", but "when". To recognize pride, it may come when we often become critical of others. Peter is an example of telling Jesus that he would never fall away from Him. Soon after, because he allowed the enemy access because of his pride, he outright denied Jesus three times as it was prophesied. But thank God that He is quick to forgive and show mercy when we do repent.
Another time when scripture tells many people will fall away is because they become easily offended. When humility is lacking in their lives, many people do not want to accept the deeper teaching of the doctrine. I don't know about you, but I would rather be lovingly confronted and challenged by a mature Christian to receive the Truth and encouraged to do what is right than to be given a bunch of "false hope" and be in regret later all because I didn't want to come out of my "comfort zone". These people are the ones who only want to hear what pleases them rather than hearing what they need to hear in order to help them grow up. Matthew 24:10 and 26:31 are some of the scriptures that indicate about people falling away because they are easily offended. That is why 2 Cor 7:10 also tells us that worldly sorrow brings forth death which means we feel sorry for ourselves rather than when we need to feel compassion towards others instead.
Another time that may cause many to fall is when people want to grow up too fast. It almost sounds like an oxy-moron simply because I mention earlier about growing up. But to be realistic, you don't expect a two year old to act like an adult. But you do expect one who has followed the Lord for many years be able to teach others as we are encouraged to do so. When I think of the new television program called "Toddlers and Tiaras," their Moms and Dads are pushing them in their early childhood stages to perform with such perfection and high expectations rather than simply letting them be children; to play and enjoy life like a child should. I feel so sorry for those children who are being pushed by others who influence their lives to be someone they should not try to be. This is very much "unrealistic expectations" which often causes people to become rebellious. Trying to grow too fast happens when Jesus mentions about the parable of the seed that didn't take time to develop roots by growing slowly and progressively. Some grow too fast thinking that we can now take the world on and we haven't had any time to develop in Christ. This is where a person cannot bear the trials and tribulations because of it (Matt 13:6). It mentions about a novice should not ever consider taking a higher position lest he/she falls from pride (1 Tim 3:6). With God, it's never about attaining a high position, but rather, our heart towards Him.
An unbelieving heart will also cause many to fall (Heb 3:12). We may not directly say to the Lord that we don't believe, but we often act that when we choose our way other than what the Lord tells us to choose. Not choosing Gods ways will never bring the abundant life of joy, peace and gladness that He wants to give us. With His help, we also need to be "DETERMINED" and we cannot afford to be passive in our walk with God. Several times, the Apostle Paul tells us that he purposed in his heart and was determined with Gods help to be firm and to be able to stand strong. In 1 Pet 5:9,10 Paul mentions about being sober of mind, temperate because when we are not (by living out of balance and with unrealistic expectations), we give a foothold to the enemy who is out to seek and devour (1 Pet 5:8). By knowing this and being determined with Gods help, Paul needed to also realize that many others in this world suffer equally. If he is not mindful of this, I believe he would have been caught up with having "worldly sorrow" which causes one to feel sorry for themselves and be more vulnerable to fall away from any longer serving the Lord.
Realize that following God is not hard, but is liberating from living a life of sin that caused Christ to go to the cross in the first place. When you think it is hard following the Lord now, just consider how much harder it will be later on to those who choose to depart from Him. To me, living my life before I came to know the Lord was extremely hard and when I consider this, I certainly have no desire to go back to my old ways. When many disciples left Jesus (John 6:66), He turned to the 12 and asked them if they are going to leave as well (John 6:67)? I love what Peter says in the next verse "To whom shall we go? Only You have the Words to eternal life (vs 68). Peter realized that there is absolutely no other way. If we follow our feelings or philosophy of man that chooses a different path other than following God, it will only lead to destruction. We have to realize that He (Christ) is the only Way if we expect to receive that rich eternal inheritance at all.
Therefore, we need to understand the following:
a. Know that we are ALWAYS vulnerable to fall away if it weren't for the Grace of God in the first place;
b. Understand that He knows if you are young in the Lord, that He doesn't expect perfection, but growth to love Him and trust Him more and more. He doesn't expect a two year old to act like a 40 year old;
c. Refuse to allow yourselves to be offended when the other person is the one who will give an account before the Lord. In most cases the offender may not know he/she is offending in the first place;
d. See how ugly and destructive pride is, and in contrast, see the beauty of humility that brings honor, richness and life (Prov 22:4);
e. Be "determined" by HIS Grace and SAY SO, that you will not allow an unbelieving heart (Heb 3:12) or selfish ambitions (James 1:11) to have its way in your life. By expressing your voice to say BY HIS GRACE, you are humbling yourself of your desperate need of Him, but will have that boldness that He is pleased with (Heb 10:35; Prov 28:1);
f. Understand that only His Ways brings eternal life. No one will ever be justified before God for ever turning their back on Him or ever think we can critically question God and think we will ever get away with it. How foolish is that! Heb 10:38 tells us that God takes no pleasure when His people draw back or shrink back in fear all because they are drawn back to the attractions of this temporal world (being choked by weeds) more-so than His eternal Kingdom or fail to trust in His love for them by allowing the fear of man or angels to exceed our reverential fear of Him. Just like God was angry with the Isrealites who wanted to go back to Egypt (which is a comparison to the world) rather than to trust Him and pursue to go forth to the promised land (Num 11:1-10). May His Word Always and Richly bless you.
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In the Matchless Name of Jesus
Richard
Associate Director
Answers2Prayerhttp://sites.google.com/site/greatestbuilderforourlife
http://www.answers2prayer.org/
Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore will I deliver him; I will set him on high, because he knows and understands My name. (Ps 91:14 Amplified Version)
What a lovely, truthful post. Just as there is no other way to find our way out of darkness than to seek the light, there is no other way out of spiritual bondage than seeking the words of life that are in Jesus.
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