BIBLICAL VIEW | BACKSLIDING (3)

1. Introduction

a) Proverbs 14:14 King James Version (KJV)

¹⁴ The backslider in heart shall be filled with his own ways: and a good man shall be satisfied (or saved) from himself.  

2. The backslider in the heart...

a) Samson


Judges 16:20 New Living Translation (NLT)

²⁰ Then she cried out, “Samson! The Philistines have come to capture you!”
When he woke up, he thought, “I will do as before and shake myself free.” But he didn’t realize the Lord had left him."

b) David

2 Samuel 11:1-2 New Living Translation (NLT)  

11 In the spring of the year, when kings normally go out to war, David sent Joab and the Israelite army to fight the Ammonites. They destroyed the Ammonite army and laid siege to the city of Rabbah. However, David stayed behind in Jerusalem.

 

² Late one afternoon, after his midday rest, David got out of bed and was walking on the roof of the palace. As he looked out over the city, he noticed a woman of unusual beauty taking a bath.
 
i) David wants Bathsheba
ii) She belongs to Uriah
iii) David plans for Uriah's death
 
3. The punishment

a) A man needs no other rod from GOD than to become a slave to his own ways and appetites...

Note - "shall be filled with his own ways..."

b) Man becomes a "fountain" of his own misery!

i) Unable to escape from himself, his thoughts, his anger, his misery...

Note that the "good man shall be satisfied from himself..." and that is what we all strive for -

Philippians 4:11-13 New Living Translation (NLT)

¹¹ Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned how to be content with whatever I have. ¹² I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. ¹³ For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength. 

 
4. The good man has a different "fountain"...

 

a) The backslider is the "fountain of his own misery" - but the good man has a fountain from a different source...

John 4:14 New Living Translation (NLT)

¹⁴ But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.”

i) This is the higher fountain.

b) The Holy Spirit of GOD dwelling in the "spiritual heart", filling it with His goodness and fullness.