Sermons from Ulster - Pastor Ian Wilson
Growing pains or grey hairs
Proverbs 14:14
A few weeks ago I went to Balmoral show, I had not been there for many years, in fact I was about nine or ten years old at the time. Taking part this year were the White Helmet Motor Cycle Display Team, they were able to ride their motor bikes while sitting backwards.
The Christian life is not like a motor bike, nor like a car, it is more like an aeroplane, it cannot stop or it will drop and it cannot go backwards. If an aeroplane looses its forward motion, it will soon come down with a crash.
- Are you travelling at a steady pace rising ever upwards as you get closer and closer to your Lord
- Are you heading downwards in an uncontrollable spin
- Have you grey hairs or growing pains spiritually
I have a responsibility not only to preach to the lost sinners, but also to the erring saints. I do so with this verse in mind:
Galatians 6:1 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.
An apostate is one who gives up on the truth and disowns God, a backslider is one who practically disobeys the truth.
Dr Ironside said, "A backslider is one who has given up ground once taken for God."
Let us notice firstly that the problem is:
1. Internal.
Proverbs 14:14 The backslider in heart shall be filled with his own ways: and a good man shall be satisfied from himself.
"The backslider in heart shall be filled with his own ways".
We can read about many in scripture who were backsliders:
Acts 13:13 Now when Paul and his company loosed from Paphos, they came to Perga in Pamphylia: and John departing from them returned to Jerusalem.
2 Tim. 4:10 For Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world, and is departed unto Thessalonica; Crescens to Galatia, Titus unto Dalmatia.
You can be sure the problem began in their hearts.
What is your heart like
What is a backslider
It is a Christian who for one reason or another gets out of touch with God, and goes on day by day out of fellowship with the Lord, a careless, disobedient, unhappy, ineffective man or woman.
Long before there is any open manifestation there will be the heart problem.
Proverbs 14:14 The backslider in heart shall be filled with his own ways: and a good man shall be satisfied from himself.
When trials or testing come the heart is often tested.
Elimelech must have been a man like that as he dwelled in Bethlehem, the house of bread. I am told there are no rivers near Bethlehem so they had to depend on the heavens for their water supply, the rains came as God said they would come, but God had laid down some stipulations.
- Refrain from idolatry.
Leviticus 26:1 Ye shall make you no idols nor graven image, neither rear you up a standing image, neither shall ye set up any image of stone in your land, to bow down unto it: for I am the Lord your God.
- Remember the Sabbath.
Leviticus 26:2 Ye shall keep my sabbaths, and reverence my sanctuary: I am the Lord.
- Reverence the sanctuary.
Leviticus 26:2 Ye shall keep my sabbaths, and reverence my sanctuary: I am the Lord.
- Respect God’s law.
Leviticus 26:3 If ye walk in my statutes, and keep my commandments, and do them;
We then have God’s promise to Israel.
Leviticus 26:4 Then I will give you rain in due season, and the land shall yield her increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit.
What happened
Ruth 1:1 Now it came to pass in the days when the judges ruled, that there was a famine in the land. And a certain man of Bethlehemjudah went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he, and his wife, and his two sons.
I wonder as you search your hearts are you in the midst of a famine
Will you examine the reasons or will you behave like Elimelech
As someone has said, he moved to Moab, there was marriage in Moab and then misery in Moab.
Oh if Elimelech had examined his heart and stayed on in Bethlehem and saw things through, that’s what Boaz did, what do we read of him
Ruth 2:1 And Naomi had a kinsman of her husband's, a mighty man of wealth, of the family of Elimelech; and his name was Boaz.
Tell me is there a dearth in your heart, a famine, does there seem to be no blessing in your life Are you heading for Moab Are you going to backslide and give up the ground
Will you carry out some self-examination and see why there is that famine, have you drifted away from the Lord
Boaz stood his ground and became a man of great wealth. How spiritually rich are you
- Rich in faith.
James 2:5 Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him
- Rich in fruit.
1 Tim. 6:18 That they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate;
- Rich in favour.
Luke 12:21 So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.
- Rich forever.
Proverbs 8:18 Riches and honour are with me; yea, durable riches and righteousness.
Oh do we not see that backsliding begins in the heart long before it is manifested in the open, is there some barren heart reading this
Remember what Paul said:
Romans 8:37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
If a child of God finds himself in the world he will be a most miserable person, "You cannot sin successfully", Spurgeon said.
Proverbs 14:14 The backslider in heart shall be filled with his own ways: and a good man shall be satisfied from himself.
Notice he is filled with his own ways, is this you
Self willed, self assertive, self centred, self opinionated, filled with self-pity and self enthroned!
Elimelech’s name means God is King, we say so easily, "Jesus Christ is Lord", and yet we occupy his throne.
Yes the problem is internal. Now let us look secondly at some indications -
2.Indications.
I am resigned to the fact that one day soon I will be bald, but I look upon it not so much as loosing hair but as gaining face!
Some of you may be finding grey hairs, I know the ladies will do all they can to cover up, to dye them out of existence.
Let me read you a verse from Hosea Seven.
Hosea 7:9 Strangers have devoured his strength, and he knoweth it not: yea, gray hairs are here and there upon him, yet he knoweth not.
As we grow older we decay, we decline and eventually we die, signs are there. Physically we expect this but spiritually we should be suffering growing pains and not grey hairs.
Spiritually Israel was dying on its feet but they didn’t seem to recognise that this was the case, grey hairs were appearing but they knew it not.
Have you any grey hairs in your spiritual life
Grey hairs reminds us that time is not on our side, Jesus is coming again, we want to be spiritually growing, not declining we want to have growing pains not grey hairs.
Let us examine Hosea chapter seven and see some of the grey hairs, which remind us of spiritual decline, indications that all is not well. I am indebted to F.W. Dixon’s notes on this passage.
Hosea 7:1 When I would have healed Israel, then the iniquity of Ephraim was discovered, and the wickedness of Samaria: for they commit falsehood; and the thief cometh in, and the troop of robbers spoileth without.
1. The grey hair of cover-up.
They commit falsehood, Are you covering up Not being honest with yourself about your true spiritual condition
Is there that grey hair of falsehood Are you prepared to say, "I am not happy, I am not enjoying the Lord, I am in a famine".
2. The grey hair of cheating.
Hosea 7:4 They are all adulterers, as an oven heated by the baker, who ceaseth from raising after he hath kneaded the dough, until it be leavened.
Grey hair of adultery, spiritual adultery, they had forsaken the God who loved them, for other gods.
James 4:4 Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.
Have you fallen in love with some other god
3. The grey hair of calling.
Hosea 7:7 They are all hot as an oven, and have devoured their judges; all their kings are fallen: there is none among them that calleth unto me.
Have you a prayerless life Is this not a tell tale sign of spiritual decline
The word of God exhorts us:
Romans 12:12 Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer;
Acts 2:42 And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.
4. The grey hair of coming out.
Hosea 7:8 Ephraim, he hath mixed himself among the people; Ephraim is a cake not turned.
Ephraim was mixed with others, lost their separation they did not come out from among them.
Psalm 106:35-36 But were mingled among the heathen, and learned their works. [36] And they served their idols: which were a snare unto them.
Is there a grey hair of the wrong influence in your life, are you keeping company with the wrong sort of people Are they taking you to their places
We are looking at some indications here of spiritual decline.
Hosea 7:8 Ephraim, he hath mixed himself among the people; Ephraim is a cake not turned.
They are described, as a cake not turned. Put a cake in the oven forget about it, one side will be burned black, the other raw dough.
You cannot mix them and make it all right, it cannot be eaten, there is no good on either side.
Dear child of God, you are no good to the world in a half-baked condition. You cannot have one foot in the church and another in the world.
Some think the way to reach others is to be like them, the Bible says you will be like a half-baked cake unappetising and unattractive. May the world see Christ in us and taste and see that the Lord is good.
5. The grey hair of being curtailed.
Hosea 7:9 Strangers have devoured his strength, and he knoweth it not: yea, gray hairs are here and there upon him, yet he knoweth not.
No power for service.
No power when it comes to sin.
Have you noticed these grey hairs in your life
6. The grey hair of coldness.
Hosea 7:11 Ephraim also is like a silly dove without heart: they call to Egypt, they go to Assyria.
- Without heart, no love for the Lord.
- Without heart, no love for the lost.
- Without heart, no love for the Lord’s people.
Have you noticed any of these grey hairs
Growing pains or grey hairs
7. The grey hair of complaining.
Hosea 7:14 And they have not cried unto me with their heart, when they howled upon their beds: they assemble themselves for corn and wine, and they rebel against me.
Is there that rebellious attitude in your heart, rebel against everything good that God has given you
2 Cor. 13:5 Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates
Are there some grey hairs that you have noticed Will you ignore them
3. Invitation.
Jeremiah was a prophet who had an unenviable task, he was called to preach to a backsliden people.
Jeremiah 2:1-4 Moreover the word of the Lord came to me, saying, [2] Go and cry in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith the Lord; I remember thee, the kindness of thy youth, the love of thine espousals, when thou wentest after me in the wilderness, in a land that was not sown. [3] Israel was holiness unto the Lord, and the firstfruits of his increase: all that devour him shall offend; evil shall come upon them, saith the Lord. [4] Hear ye the word of the Lord, O house of Jacob, and all the families of the house of Israel:
The Lord reminds us of their devotion and love towards him but sadly he says, "I remember."
Is that sort of devotion, that sort of commitment, that sort of love for the Lord as far as you are concerned just a distant memory
"The honeymoon is over, God reminds rebellious Israel of the fervour and the warmth and the purity of the love streams in the early days, she was in desperate love with her lover and the tender love mad life full of music and joy and hope. She was pure clean and holy, no disloyalty or unclean though marred the beauty of her devotion, but now the picture is heartrending. God’s heart is crushed with grief and disappointment, Israel now is living in open sin, she is unfaithful to her convenant vows, other gods have stolen her affection. She has ceased to love God and her conduct is shameful in the extreme". Kyle Yates
In spite of Israel’s sin, what is the cry from the heart of God
Jeremiah 3:1 They say, If a man put away his wife, and she go from him, and become another man's, shall he return unto her again shall not that land be greatly polluted but thou hast played the harlot with many lovers; yet return again to me, saith the Lord.
Here is the gracious invitation. Have you looked internally Is there indication of spiritual decline Well here is a wonderful invitation.
"Yet return again unto me".
What is the remedy for grey hairs
[F W Dixon]
- Honest examination.
Lament. 3:40 Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to the Lord.
- Immediate confession.
1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
- Constant walking in the light.
1 John 1:7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.
Do you suffer from spiritual growing pains or have you noticed some grey hairs
If you have then the Lord has a simple word for you:
"Yet return again unto me".
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