What happens to backsliders?
Hi, welcome to today's Little Lesson.
Thank you so much for joining me on this, another special farm field edition of Little
Lessons.
It's just getting more beautiful as the evening wears on here, and the shadows are getting
longer in the field over here to my right.
I'm just happy to be here with you talking about the word of God.
I want to address a question that one of our beloved viewers wrote to us, wrote to me I
guess you'd say.
I'm just going to read it to you verbatim and then we'll discuss it.
He said, and this was after this viewer watched a video that I did on is it possible for a
Christian to fall from grace, which I was trying to answer another question, but that
one that was written to it.
He said, "What about somebody who believed, and became devoted to Christ, but then became
an unbeliever, and then reconverted, believes and is devoted again.
Is that person lost forever?"
I don't know if you got that question.
Here's a person that became a believer, by all indications, they were sincere, but then
they backslid, and they became an unbeliever.
If you would've asked them, do you believe in Jesus, they would have said no, at that
point.
They've gone from faith to unbelief.
But then, after some time become a devoted follower of Jesus, again.
And the question is, is that person last forever?
I don't want to sound critical.
My heart goes out to the person who asked that question, and I just...
We run into so many people who are in that particular mindset where you only get one
chance, they think, with God.
I just feel so sorry for anyone who would think that, because you never met anybody
as gracious and merciful, and long suffering, in all of your life, and you never will meet
somebody as long suffering and merciful, and gracious, as God is.
Now, you remember that one time Peter asked Jesus, how many times should I forgive my
brother?
Up to seven times.
That was a funny question.
So glad Peter asked all those dumb questions so I don't have to ask them.
And Jesus said, no, not just seven times, but seven times 70, or 70 times seven, I forget.
Anyways.
It was a total of 490 times.
Again, if your brother sins against you, he said in another place, seven times in one
day and comes back and says, I repent.
Forgive him.
Now, of course our forgiveness is predicated upon somebody asking for forgiveness, repenting.
That's how it is with God.
God is not just forgiving people who don't repent, or don't ask for forgiveness.
No, that's pretty clear in the Bible.
God gives grace to the humble, but he resists the proud.
If you're not confessing your sin, you're proud.
Your pride is keeping you from doing that, and God resist you.
He's not forgiving you.
If you humble yourself and ask for forgiveness, he forgives you.
If he expects us to do that up to 490 times, and I don't think he meant for us to be keeping
a little clicker here, "Okay.
That's 473.
You only got a few more."
No, I think he's just saying, "Just keep on forgiving, as long as they keep on repenting."
Again, it's hard to believe that they're sincere when you get up around 480, but God expects
that out of us.
He can't set a standard for us that he doesn't keep himself.
Again, I'm sure I don't fully comprehend the fullness of the mercy of God.
I think I might understand it better than some folks, like the dear person that wrote
this question.
I don't think any of us really, really, really grasp it.
Anyways.
Backsliders can repent, and God will take you back.
How about that story of the prodigal son?
Now there's a story for you about the love of God, and the mercy of God.
The prodigal son wastes his inheritance.
He takes half of everything that his father has, and then blows it all on crazy wild living.
Comes to his senses and says I'm going to go back and ask my dad for a job because my
dad employs people.
The father sees his son from afar off.
Now, you know that another person who wasn't as gracious and kind and merciful as that
father could've said, "Here he comes.
I'm going to pretend like I didn't even see him.
I'll let him find me.
I'll just ignore them."
No, the father saw him from way off.
Why?
Because he was longing for his son to come home.
Waiting, praying, watching.
When he sees him, he's way off on the horizon.
He runs to him.
He embraces him.
He kisses him.
He gives the order, kill the fatted calf and put a ring on his finger, and put a nice robe
in this guy.
The guy hasn't even gotten his confession out of his mouth yet.
That's how willing and ready God is to forgive.
If he just sees a little humility, a little turning, and you're making the decision to
get back where you're supposed to be, God's all over that.
The oldest son complained about it and so forth, but that's a whole different story.
That's really what the parable is actually all about.
Anyways.
We focus now on the prodigal son himself, the mercy and the grace he got.
Can backsliders come back?
Oh my goodness, they can come back.
I'm not encouraging anyone to backslide, but you could backslide 490 times, at least, and
you could come back and God would forgive you every single time.
When we sin isn't that a small form of backsliding?
No matter how small the sin, it's a small backsliding.
Does God forgive you when you ask?
Sure he does.
This guy that we were asked about by this question, he became an unbeliever.
He denied Christ.
Peter denied Christ, denied him three times.
Did Jesus take him back?
Yes.
He took him back, and made him the greatest apostle of his era.
Maybe with the exception of the apostle Paul eventually.
At least, for the first few years, Peter had the preeminent place amongst all the apostles.
God was using him more than anybody else.
Peter, the guy that denied he knew Jesus three times.
Oh my goodness.
We have no clue, really, how merciful and gracious God is.
When he sees a contrite heart, the angels rejoice when one center repents.
Well, that doesn't just happen one time.
The backslider comes back, they're rejoicing up in heaven, the angels are rejoicing.
Out of time for this lesson, thank you so much for joining me.
If you've never checked out Heavensfamily.org, every Christian ought to be involved on some
level of caring for the least of these.
And that's why we really started Heaven's Family, by the direction of the Lord, of course.
But to help people like yourself get involved in caring for the least of these, that's how
we show how we love Jesus.
That's what Jesus taught.
Avail yourself to Heavensfamily.org.
Until next time, may the Lord bless you.
Amen.