Kevin Stilley

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Kevin Stilley on For Christ and Culture Radio

I am a frequent contributor to the For Christ and Culture radio program hosted by Barry Creamer daily on KCBI radio FM 90.9.

Here are links to some of the shows on which I have appeared.

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Grading Papers

I was sitting down to grade papers when I thought of the following dialogue from John Kennedy Toole’s Pullitzer Prize-Winning novel “A Confederacy of Dunces.”  The main character, Ignatius explains why he was not cut out to be a college instructor.

“[My students formed] a committee to demand that I grade and return their accumulated essays and examinations.  There was even a small demonstration outside the window of my office.  It was rather dramatic. For being such simple, ignorant children, they managed it quite well.  At the height of the demonstration I dumped all of the old papers — ungraded of course — out of the window and right onto the student’s heads.  The college was too small to accept this act of defiance against the abyss of contemporary academia.”

“Ignatius, you never told me that.”

“I did not want to excite you at the time.  I also told the students that, for the sake of humanity’s future, I hoped that they were all sterile.”  Ignatius arranged the pillows around his head.  “I could never have possibly read over the illiteracies and misconceptions burbling from the dark minds of those students.”

Oh well, back to grading papers… I’m making every effort to be more gracious than Ignatius, and the anonymous author of the following.

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The Backslider in Heart : Discussion Questions

LECTURES ON REVIVALS OF RELIGION
by The Rev. CHARLES G. FINNEY
LECTURE XXI
THE BACKSLIDER IN HEART

[These discussion questions relate to Charles Finney’s Lectures on Revivals of Religion: Lecture 21 – “Backsliders In Heart”. The full text for Charles Finney’s “Backsliders in Heart” is included below the following discussion questions. When page numbers are mentioned in the discussion questions they refer to the edition of the text published by Alethea in Heart, isbn. 1932370471]

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

1. When I was a child it was common for me to hear of “backsliding” or of “carnal Christianity. I do not hear that language much today. Do you think that this represents a shift in theology and/or praxis?

2. Finney says that “It [backsliding] does not consist in the subsidence of highly excited religious emotions. The subsidence of religious feeling may be an evidence of a backslidden heart, but it does not consist in the cooling off of religious feeling.” What role do you think that emotions play in vital Christianity?

3. Finney lists four things that he describes as backsliding. (p. 406) How do you feel about this predication? How common are the things he mentions?

4. How do you recognize in your own life when you are observing the forms of religion but have lost the power of godliness?

5. In section III, Finney lists all of the following as indicators of a backslidden condition: formality in religious exercises, lack of religious enjoyment, finding religious duties a burden, an ungoverned temper, a spirit of uncharitablenes, a spirit of fault-finding that impugns the motives of others, a want of interest in God’s Word, a want of interest in secret prayer, a want of interest in the conversion of souls and in efforts to promote revivals of religion, lack of interest in missions, the loss of interest in benevolent enterprises, the loss of interest in truly spiritual conversation, the loss of interest in socializing with other Christians, the loss of interest in the question of sanctification, the loss of interest in those newly converted, an uncharitable state of mind in regard to professed converts, the want of the spirit of prayer, ungodly prayers, and selfish prayers, absence from prayer meetings, neglecting family prayer, secret prayer is regarded more as a duty than as a privilege, being given to worldly amusements, spiritual blindness, religious apathy, a disposition to gratify the appetites, passions and propensities, a seared conscience, loose moral principles, prevalence of the fear of man, a rigid attitude in forms, ceremonies and nonessentials, objections measures that are evidently blessed of God. Do you think this is a good list for self-reflection? Do you agree with all that is on his list? Do you think there are other items that could be added to this list?

6. What items on this list did you find particularly interesting? Did you agree? Stongly agree? Disagree? Strongly disagree? Were you moved, motivated, stimulated, aggravated?

7. Finney claims that those whose heart is devoted to God will enjoy serving him. Is he correct? He says that “whenever you lose your religious enjoyment, or the enjoyment of serving God, you may know that you are not serving Him aright.” What is the right course of action if you find service to God burdensome? Is enjoyment and pain mutually exclusive?

8. Finney claims that God “does not accept the service of bondsmen, who serve Him because they must. He accepts none but a love service.” Are there any biblical texts that deal with his issue?

9. Have you ever heard anyone use their “bad temper” as an excuse for bad action? What does Finney say about an ungoverned temper? Do you agree with him? Where does personality and temperament fit into a discussion of spirituality? Do introverts run the risk of being labeled as backslidden or unspiritual by Finney or in the modern church?

10. What additional considerations or qualifications might you add to other items on his list?

11. In section IV Finney describes the consequences of a backslidden heart. What is the distinction he is making between the items on this list and the evidences of a backslidden heart in Section III?

12. What do you think of Finney’s recipe for recovery from backsliding? [Section V]

13. Finney says that you are not in a “justified state” if you are backslidden. What does he mean by that? Is this an indicator of his theology? What do you think of this claim?

14. What is the connection between Finney’s discussion of “backsliding” and the churches responsibility to disciple believers?

15. Finney does not cite many scriptural texts to support his claims. Why? What do you think of this absence?

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LECTURE XXI – BACKSLIDERS IN HEART – TEXT:

The backslider in heart shall be filled with his own ways. – Proverbs 14:14.

I cannot conclude this course of lectures, without warning converts against backsliding. In discussing this subject, I will show:

I. What backsliding in heart is not.

II. What backsliding in heart is.

III. What are evidences of backsliding in heart.

IV. What are consequences of backsliding in heart.

V. How to recover from this state.

I. WHAT A BACKSLIDING HEART IS NOT.

1. It does not consist in the subsidence of highly excited religious emotions. The subsidence of religious feeling may be an evidence of a backslidden heart, but it does not consist in the cooling off of religious feeling.

II. WHAT BACKSLIDING IN HEART IS.

1. It consists in taking back that consecration to God and His service, that constitutes true conversion.

2. It is the leaving, by a Christian, of his first love.

3. It consists in the Christian withdrawing himself from that state of entire and universal devotion to God, which constitutes true religion, and coming again under the control of a self-pleasing spirit.

4. The text implies that there may be a backslidden heart, when the forms of religion and obedience to God are maintained. As we know from consciousness that men perform the same, or similar, acts from widely different, and often from opposite, motives, we are certain that men may keep up all the outward forms and appearances of religion, when in fact, they are backslidden in heart. No doubt the most intense selfishness often takes on a religious type, and there are many considerations that might lead a backslider in heart to keep up the forms, while he had lost the power of godliness in his soul.

III. WHAT ARE EVIDENCES OF A BACKSLIDDEN HEART.

1. Manifest formality in religious exercises. A stereotyped, formal way of saying and doing things, that is clearly the result of habit, rather than the outgushing of the religious life. This formality will be emotionless and cold as an iceberg, and will evince a total want of earnestness in the performance of religious duty. In prayer and in religious exercises the backslider in heart will pray or praise, or confess, or give thanks with his lips, so that all can hear him, perhaps, but in such a way that no one can feel him. Such a formality would be impossible where there existed a present, living faith and love, and religious zeal.

2. A want of religious enjoyment is evidence of a backslidden heart. We always enjoy the saying and doing of those things that please those whom we most love; furthermore, when the heart is not backslidden, communion with God is kept up, and therefore all religious duties are not only performed with pleasure, but the communion with God involved in them is a source of rich and continual enjoyment. If we do not enjoy the service of God, it is because we do not truly serve Him. If we love Him supremely, it is impossible that we should not enjoy His service at every step. Always remember then, whenever you lose your religious enjoyment, or the enjoyment of serving God, you may know that you are not serving Him aright.

3. Religious bondage is another evidence of a backslidden heart. God has no slaves. He does not accept the service of bondsmen, who serve Him because they must. He accepts none but a love service. A backslider in heart finds his religious duties a burden to him. He has promised to serve the Lord. He dare not wholly break off from the form of service, and he tries to be dutiful, while he has no heart in prayer, in praise, in worship, or in any of those exercises which are so spontaneous and delightful, where there is true love to God. The backslider in heart is often like a dutiful, but unloving wife. She tries to do her duty to her husband, but fails utterly because she does not love him. Her painstaking to please her husband is constrained, not the spontaneous outburst of a loving heart; and her relationship and her duties become the burden of her life. She goes about complaining of the weight of care that is upon her, and will not be likely to advise young ladies to marry. She is committed for life, and must therefore perform the duties of married life, but it is such a bondage! Just so with religious bondage. The professor must perform his duty. He drags painfully about it, and you will hear him naturally sing backslider’s hymns:

Reason I hear, her counsels weigh, And all her words approve And yet I find it hard to obey, And harder still, to love.

4. An ungoverned temper. While the heart is full of love, the temper will naturally be chastened and sweet, or at any rate, the will keep it under, and not suffer it to break out in outrageous abuse, or if at any time it should so far escape from the control of the will as to break loose in hateful words, it will soon be brought under, and by no means suffered to take control and manifest itself to the annoyance of others. Especially will a loving heart confess and break down, if at any time bad temper gets the control.

Whenever, therefore, there is an irritable, uncontrolled temper allowed to manifest itself to those around, you may know there is a backslidden heart.

5. A spirit of uncharitableness is evidence of a backslidden heart. By this, I mean a want of that disposition that puts the best construction upon every one’s conduct that can be reasonable – a want of confidence in the good intentions and professions of others. We naturally credit the good professions of those whom we love. We naturally attribute to them right motives, and put the best allowable construction upon their words and deeds. Where there is a want of this there is evidence conclusive of a backslidden or unloving heart.

6. A censorious spirit is conclusive evidence of a backslidden heart. This is a spirit of fault-finding, of impugning the motives of others, when their conduct admits of a charitable construction. It is a disposition to fasten blame upon others, and judge them harshly. It is a spirit of distrust of Christian character and profession. It is a state of mind that reveals itself in harsh judgments, harsh sayings, and the manifestation of uncomfortable feelings toward individuals. This state of mind is entirely incompatible with a loving heart, and whenever a censorious spirit is manifested by a professor of religion, you may know there is a backslidden heart.

7. A want of interest in God’s Word, is also an evidence of a backslidden heart. Perhaps nothing more conclusively proves that a professor has a backslidden heart, than his losing his interest in the Bible. While the heart is full of love, no book in the world is so precious as the Bible. But when the love. is gone, the Bible becomes not only uninteresting but often repulsive. There is no faith to accept its promises, but conviction enough left to dread its threatening. But in general the backslider in heart is apathetic as to the Bible. He does not read it much, and when he does read it, he has not interest enough to understand it. Its pages become dark and uninteresting, and therefore it is neglected.

8. A want of interest in secret prayer is also an evidence of a backslidden heart. Young Christian, if you find yourself losing your interest in the Bible and in secret prayer, stop short, return to God, and give yourself no rest, till you enjoy the light of His countenance. If you feel disinclined to pray, or to read your Bible; if when you pray and read your Bible, you have no heart; if you are inclined to make your secret devotions short, or are easily induced to neglect them; or if your thoughts, affections, and emotions wander, you may know that you are a backslider in heart, and your first business is to be broken down before God, and to see that your love and zeal are renewed.

9. A want of interest in the conversion of souls and in efforts to promote revivals of religion. This of course reveals a backslidden heart. There is nothing in which a loving heart takes more interest than in the conversion of souls – in revivals of religion, and in efforts to promote them. 83 10. A want of interest in published accounts or narratives of revivals of religion, is also an evidence of a backslidden heart. While one retains his interest in the conversion of souls, and in revivals of religion he will, of course, be interested in all accounts of revivals of religion anywhere. If you find yourself, therefore, disinclined to read such accounts, or find yourself not interested in them, take it for granted that you are backslidden in heart.

11. The same is true of missions, and missionary work and operations. If you lose your interest in the work, and in the conversion of the heathen, and do not delight to read and hear of the success of missions, you may know that you are backslidden in heart.

12. The loss of interest in benevolent enterprises generally is an evidence of a backslidden heart. I say, “the loss of interest,” for surely, if you were ever converted to Christ, you have had an interest in all benevolent enterprises that came within your knowledge. Religion consists in disinterested benevolence. Of course, a converted soul takes the deepest interest in all benevolent efforts to reform and save mankind; in good government, in Christian education, in the cause of temperance, in the abolition of slavery, in provision for the needs of the poor, and in short, in every good word and work. Just in proportion as you have lost your interest in these, you have evidence that you are backslidden in heart.

13. The loss of interest in truly spiritual conversation is another evidence of a backslidden heart. “Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh” (Matthew 12:34). This our Lord Jesus Christ announced as a law of our nature. No conversation is so sweet to a truly loving heart, as that which relates to Christ, and to our living Christian experience. If you find yourself losing interest in conversing on heart religion, and of the various and wonderful experiences of Christians, if you have known what the true love of God is, you have fallen from it, and are a backslider in heart.

14. A loss of interest in the conversation and society of highly spiritual people, is an evidence of a backslidden heart. We take the greatest delight in the society of those who are most interested in the things that are most dear to us. Hence, a loving Christian heart will always seek the society of those who are most spiritually minded, and whose conversation is most evangelical and spiritual. If you find yourself wanting in this respect, then know for certain that you are backslidden in heart.

15. The loss of interest in the question of sanctification is an evidence of a backslidden heart. I say again, the loss of interest, for, if you ever truly knew the love of God, you must have had a great interest in the question of entire consecration to God, or of entire sanctification. If you are a Christian, you have felt that sin was an abomination to your soul. You have had inexpressible longings to be rid of it forever, and everything that could throw light upon that question of agonizing importance was most intensely interesting to you. If this question has been dismissed, and you no longer take an interest in it, it is because you are backslidden in heart.

16. The loss of interest in those newly converted, is also an evidence of a backslidden heart. The Psalmist says: “They that fear Thee will be glad when they see me; because I have hoped in Thy word” (Psalm 119:74).

This he puts into the mouth of a convert, and who does not know that this is true? There is joy in the presence of the angels of God, over one sinner that repenteth, and is there not joy among the saints on earth, over those that come to Christ, and are as babes newly born into the Kingdom? Show me a professor of religion who does not manifest an absorbing interest in converts to Christ, and I will show you a backslider in heart, and a hypocrite; he professes religion, but has none.

17. An uncharitable state of mind in regard to professed converts, is also an evidence of a backslidden heart. Charity, or love, “believeth all things, hopeth all things” (1 Corinthians 13:7), is very ready to judge kindly and favorably of those who profess to be converted to Christ, and will naturally watch over them with interest, pray for them, instruct them, and have as much confidence in them as it is reasonable to have. A disposition, therefore, to pick at, criticize, and censure them, is an evidence of a backslidden heart.

18. The want of the spirit of prayer is evidence of a backslidden heart.

While the love of Christ remains fresh in the soul, the indwelling Spirit of God will reveal Himself as the Spirit of grace and supplication. He will beget strong desires in the soul for the salvation of sinners and the sanctification of saints. He will often make intercessions in them, with great longings, strong crying and tears, and with groanings that cannot he uttered in words, for those things that are according to the will of God. Or, to express it in Scripture language, according to Paul: “Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And He that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because He maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God” (Romans 8:26, 27). If the spirit of prayer departs, it is a sure indication of a backslidden heart, for while the first love of a Christian continues he is sure to be drawn by the Holy Spirit to wrestle much in prayer.

19. A backslidden heart often reveals itself by the manner in which people pray. For example, praying as if in a state of self-condemnation, or very much like a convicted sinner, is an evidence of a backslidden heart. Such a person will reveal the fact, that he is not at peace with God. His confessions and self-accusations will show to others what perhaps he does not well understand himself. His manner of praying will reveal the fact that he has not communion with God; that instead of being filled with faith and love, he is more or less convicted of sin, and conscious that he is not in a state of acceptance with God. He will naturally pray more like a convicted sinner than like a Christian. It will be seen by his prayer that he is not in a state of Christian liberty – that he is having a Seventh of Romans experience, instead of that which is described in the Eighth.

20. A backslidden heart will further reveal itself in praying almost exclusively for self, and for those friends that are regarded almost as parts of self. It is often very striking and even shocking to attend a backsliders’ prayer meeting, and I am very sorry to say that many prayer meetings of the Church are little else. Their prayers are timid and hesitating, and reveal the fact that they have little or no faith. Instead of surrounding the Throne of Grace and pouring their hearts out for a blessing on those around them, they have to be urged up to duty, to “take up their cross.” Their hearts do not, will not, spontaneously gush out to God in prayer. They have very little concern for others, and when they do, as they say, “take up their cross and do their duty,” and pretend to lead in prayer, it will be observed that they pray just like a company of convicted sinners, almost altogether for themselves. They will pray for that which, should they obtain it, would be religion, just as a convicted sinner would pray for a new heart; and the fact that they pray for religion as they do, manifests that they have none, in their present state of mind. Ask them to pray for the conversion of sinners, and they will either wholly forget to do so, or just mention sinners in such a way as will show that they have no heart to pray for them.

I have known professed Christian parents to get into such a state that they had no heart to pray for the conversion of their own children, even when those children were under conviction. They would keep up family prayer, and attend a weekly prayer meeting, but would never get out of the rut of praying round and round for themselves. A few years since I was laboring in a revival in a Presbyterian Church. At the close of the evening sermon I found that the daughter of one of the elders of the Church was in great distress of mind. I observed that her convictions were very deep. We had been holding a meeting with inquirers in the vestry, and I had just dismissed the inquirers, when this young lady came to me in great agitation and begged me to pray for her. The people had mostly gone, except a few who were waiting in the body of the church for those friends who had attended the meeting of inquiry. I called the father of this young lady into the vestry that he might see the very anxious state of his daughter’s mind.

After a short personal conversation with her in the presence of her father, I called on him to pray for her, and said that I would follow him, and I urged her to give her heart to Christ. We all knelt, and he went through with his prayer, kneeling by the side of his sobbing daughter, without ever mentioning her case. His prayer revealed that he had no more religion than she had, and that he was very much in her state of mind – under an awful sense of condemnation. He had kept up the appearance of religion. As an elder of the Church, he was obliged to keep up appearances. He had gone round and round upon the treadmill of his duties, while his heart was utterly backslidden. It is often almost nauseating to attend a prayer meeting of the backslidden in heart. They will go round, round, one after the other, in reality praying for their own conversion. They do not so express it, but that is the real import of their prayer. They could not render it more evident that they are backsliders in heart.

21. Absence from stated prayer meetings for slight reasons, is a sure indication of a backslidden heart. No meeting is more interesting to Christians than the prayer meeting, and while they have any heart to pray, they will not be absent from prayer meeting unless prevented from attending by the providence of God. If a call from a friend at the hour of meeting can prevent their attendance, unless the call is made under very peculiar circumstances, it is strong evidence that they do not wish to attend, and hence, that they are backsliders in heart. A call at such a time would not prevent their attending a wedding, a party, a picnic, or an amusing lecture. The fact is, it is hypocrisy for them to pretend that they really want to go, while they can be kept away for slight reasons.

22. The same is true of the neglect of family prayer, for slight reasons.

While the heart is engaged in religion, Christians will not readily omit family devotions, and whenever they are ready to find an excuse for the omission, it is a sure evidence that they are backslidden in heart.

23. When secret prayer is regarded more as a duty than as a privilege, it is because the heart is backslidden. It has always appeared to me almost ridiculous, to hear Christians speak of prayer as a “duty.” It is one of the greatest of earthly privileges. What should we think of a child coming to its parent for its dinner, not because it is hungry, but as a duty. How would it strike us to hear a beggar speak of the “duty” of asking alms of us. It is an infinite privilege to be allowed to come to God, and ask for the supply of all our wants. But to pray because we must, rather than because we may, seems unnatural. To ask for what we want, and because we want it, and because God has encouraged us to ask, and has promised to answer our request, is natural and reasonable. But to pray as a duty and as if we were obliging God by our prayer, is quite ridiculous, and is a certain indication of a backslidden heart.

24. Pleading for worldly amusements is also an indication of a backslidden heart. The most grateful amusements possible, to a truly spiritual mind, are those engagements that bring the soul into the most direct communion with God. While the heart is full of love and faith, an hour, or an evening, spent alone in communion with God, is more delightful than all the amusements which the world can offer. A loving heart is jealous of everything that will break up or interfere with its communion with God.

For mere worldly amusements it has no relish. When the soul does not find more delight in God than in all worldly things, the heart is sadly backslidden.

25. Spiritual blindness is another evidence of a backslidden heart. While the eye is single the whole body will be full of spiritual light, but if the eye be evil (which means a backslidden heart) the whole body will be full of darkness.

Spiritual blindness reveals itself in a want of interest in God’s Word, and in religious truth generally. It will also manifest a want of spiritual discrimination, and will be easily imposed upon by the insinuations of Satan. A backslidden heart will lead to the adoption of lax principles of morality. It does not discern the spirituality of God’s law, and of His requirements generally. When this spiritual blindness is manifest it is a sure indication that the heart is backslidden.

26. Religious apathy, with worldly wakefulness and sensibility, is a sure indication of a backslidden heart. We sometimes see persons who feel deeply and quickly on worldly subjects, but who cannot be made to feel deeply on religious subjects. This clearly indicates a backslidden state of mind.

27. A self-indulgent spirit is a sure indication of a backslidden heart. By self-indulgence, I mean a disposition to gratify the appetites, passions, and propensities, to “fulfill the desires of the flesh and of the mind”

(Ephesians 2:3).

This, in the Bible, is represented as a state of spiritual death. I am satisfied that the most common occasion of backsliding in heart is to be found in the clamor for indulgence of the various appetites and propensities. The appetite for food is frequently, and perhaps more frequently than any other, the occasion of backsliding. Few Christians, I fear, apprehend any danger in this direction. God’s injunction is: “Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31). Christians forget this, and eat and drink to please themselves, consulting their appetites instead of the laws of life and health. More persons are ensnared by their tables than the Church is aware of. The table is a snare of death to multitudes that no man can number. A great many people who avoid alcoholic drinks altogether, will indulge in tea and coffee, and even tobacco, and in food that, both in quantity and quality, violates every law of health. They seem to have no other law than that of appetite, and this they so deprave by abuse that, to indulge it, is to ruin body and soul together. Show me a gluttonous professor, and I will show you a backslider.

28. A seared conscience is also an evidence of a backslidden heart. While the soul is wakeful and loving, the conscience is as tender as the apple of the eye. But when the heart is backslidden, the conscience is silent and seared, on many subjects. Such a person will tell you that he is not violating his conscience, in eating or drinking, or in self-indulgence of any kind. You will find a backslider has but little conscience. The same will very generally be true in regard to sins of omission. Multitudes of duties may be neglected and a seared conscience will remain silent. Where conscience is not awake, the heart is surely backslidden.

29. Loose moral principles are a sure indication of a backslidden heart. A backslider in heart will write letters on the Sabbath, engage in secular reading, and in much worldly conversation. In business, such a person will take little advantages, play off business tricks, and conform to the habits of worldly business men in the transaction of business; he will be guilty of deception and misrepresentation in making bargains, will demand exorbitant interest, and take advantage of the necessities of his fellow-men.

30. Prevalence of the fear of man is an evidence of a backslidden heart.

While the heart is full of the love of God, God is feared, and not man. A desire for the applause of men is kept down, and it is enough to please God, whether men are pleased or displeased. But when the love of God is abated, “the fear of man,” that “bringeth a snare” (Proverbs 29:25), gets possession of the backslider. To please man rather than God, is then his aim. In such a state he will sooner offend God than man.

31. A sticklish ness about forms, ceremonies, and nonessentials, gives evidence of a backslidden heart. A loving heart is particular only about the substance and power of religion, and will not stickle about its forms.

32. A captiousness about measures in promoting revivals of religion, is a sure evidence of a backslidden heart. Where the heart is fully set upon the conversion of sinners and the sanctification of believers, it will naturally approach the subject in the most direct manner, and by means in the highest degree calculated to accomplish the end. It will not object to, nor stumble at, measures that are evidently blessed of God, but will exert the utmost sagacity in devising the most suitable means to accomplish the great end on which the heart is set.

IV. THE CONSEQUENCES OF BACKSLIDING IN HEART.

The text says, that “the backslider in heart shall be filled with his own ways.”

1. He shall be filled with his own works. But these are dead works, they are not works of faith and love, which are acceptable to God, but are the filthy rags of his own righteousness. If they are performed as religious services, they are but loathsome hypocrisy, and an abomination to God; there is no heart in them. To such a person God says: “Who hath required this at your hand?” (Isaiah 1:12). “Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God” (Luke 16:15). “I know you, that ye have not the love of God in you” (John 5:42).

2. He shall be filled with his own feelings. Instead of that sweet peace and rest, and joy in the Holy Ghost, that he once experienced, he will find himself in a state of unrest, dissatisfied with himself and everybody else, his feelings often painful, humiliating, and as unpleasant and unlovely as can be well conceived. It is often very trying to live with backsliders. They are often peevish, censorious, and irritating, in all their ways. They have forsaken God, and in their feelings there is more of hell than of heaven.

3. They will be filled with their own prejudices. Their willingness to know and do the truth has gone. They will very naturally commit themselves against any truth that bears hardly upon a self-indulgent spirit. They will endeavor to justify themselves, will neither read nor hear that which will rebuke their backslidden state, and they will become deeply prejudiced against every one that shall cross their path, who shall reprove them, accounting him as an enemy. They hedge themselves in, and shut their eyes against the light; stand on the defensive, and criticize everything that would search them out.

4. A backslider in heart will be filled with his own enmities. He will chafe in almost every relation of life, will allow himself to be vexed, and to get into such relations with some persons, and perhaps with many, that he cannot pray for them honestly, and can hardly treat them with common civility. This is an almost certain result of a backslidden heart.

5. The backslider in heart will be full of his own mistakes. He is not walking with God. He has fallen out of the Divine order. He is not led by the Spirit, but is walking in spiritual darkness. In this state he is sure to fall into many and grievous mistakes, and may get entangled in such a way as to mar his happiness, and, perhaps, destroy his usefulness for life.

Mistakes in business, mistakes in forming new relations in life, mistakes in using his time, his tongue, his money, his influence; indeed, all will go wrong with him as long as he remains in a backslidden state.

6. The backslider in heart will be filled with his own lustings. His appetites and passions, which had been kept under, have now resumed their control, and having been so long suppressed, they will seem to avenge themselves by becoming more clamorous and despotic than ever.

The animal appetites and passions will burst forth, to the astonishment of the backslider, and he will probably find himself more under their influence and more enslaved by them than ever before.

7. The backslider in heart will be filled with his own words. While in that state, he will not, and cannot, control his tongue. It will prove itself to be an unruly member, full of deadly poison. By his words he will involve himself in many difficulties and perplexities, from which he can never extricate himself until he comes back to God.

8. He will be full of his own trials. Instead of keeping out of temptation, he will run right into it. He will bring upon himself multitudes of trials that he never would have had, had he not departed from God. He will complain of his trials, but yet will constantly multiply them. A backslider feels his trials keenly, but, while he complains of being so tried by everything around him, he is constantly aggravating them, and, being the author of them, he seems industrious to bring them upon himself like an avalanche.

9. The backslider in heart shall be full of his own folly. Having rejected the Divine guidance, he will evidently fall into the depths of his own foolishness. He will inevitably say and do multitudes of foolish and ridiculous things. Being a professor of religion, these things will be all the more noticed, and of course bring him all the more into ridicule and contempt. A backslider is, indeed, the most foolish person in the world.

Having experimental knowledge of the true way of life, he has the infinite folly to abandon it. Knowing the fountain of living waters, he has forsaken it, and “hewed out to himself cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water” (Jeremiah 2:13). Having been guilty of this infinite folly, the whole course of his backslidden life must be that of a fool, in the Bible sense of the term.

10. The backslider in heart will be full of his own troubles. God is against him, and he is against himself. He is not at peace with God, with himself, with the Church, nor with the world. He has no inward rest. Conscience condemns him. God condemns him. All that know his state condemn him.

“There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked” (Isaiah 57:21). There is no position in time or space in which he can be at rest.

11. The backslider in heart will be full of his own cares. He has turned back to selfishness. He counts himself and his possessions as his own. He has everything to care for. He will not hold himself and his possessions as belonging to God, and lay aside the responsibility of taking care of himself and all that he possesses. He does not, will not, cast his cares upon the Lord, but undertakes to manage everything for himself, and in his own wisdom, and for his own ends. Consequently, his cares will be multiplied, and come upon him like a deluge.

12. The backslider in heart will be full of his own perplexities. Having forsaken God, having fallen into the darkness of his own folly, he will be filled with perplexities and doubts in regard to what course he shall pursue to accomplish his selfish ends. He is not walking with, but contrary to God. Hence, the providence of God will constantly cross his path, and baffle all his schemes. God will frown darkness upon his path, and take pains to confound his projects, and blow his schemes to the winds.

13. The backslider in heart will be filled with his own anxieties. He will be anxious about himself, about his business, about his reputation, about everything. He has taken all these things out of the hands of God, and claims them and treats them as his own. Hence, having faith in God no longer, and being unable to control events, he must of necessity be filled with anxieties with regard to the future. These anxieties are the inevitable result of his madness and folly in forsaking God.

14. The backslider in heart will be filled with his own disappointments.

Having forsaken God, and taken the attitude of self-will, God will inevitably disappoint him as he pursues his selfish ends. He will frame his ways to please himself, without consulting God. Of course God will frame his ways so as to disappoint him. Determined to have his own way, he will be greatly disappointed if his plans are frustrated; yet the certain course of events under the government of God must of necessity bring him a series of disappointments.

15. The backslider in heart must be full of his own losses. He regards his possessions as his own, his time as his own, his influence as his own, his reputation as his own. The loss of any of these, he accounts as his own loss. Having forsaken God, and being unable to control the events upon which the continuance of those things is conditioned, he will find himself suffering losses on every side. He loses his peace. He loses his property.

He loses much of his time. He loses his Christian reputation. He loses his Christian influence, and if he persists he loses his soul.

16. The backslider in heart will be full of his own crosses. All religious duty will be irksome, and, therefore, a cross to him. His state of mind will make multitudes of things crosses that in a Christian state of mind would have been pleasant in a high degree. Having lost all heart in religion, the performance of all religious duty is a cross to his feelings. There is no help for him, unless he returns to God. The whole course of Divine providence will run across his path, and his whole life will be a series of crosses and trials. He cannot have his own way. He cannot gratify himself by accomplishing his own wishes and desires. He may beat and dash himself against the everlasting rocks of God’s will and God’s way, but break through and carry all before him he cannot. He must be crossed and recrossed, and crossed again, until he will fall into the Divine order, and sink into the will of God.

17. The backslider in heart will be filled with his own tempers. Having forsaken God, he will be sure to have much to irritate him. In a backslidden state, he cannot possess his soul in patience. The vexations of his backslidden life will make him nervous and irritable; his temper will become explosive and uncontrollable.

18. The backslider in heart will be full of his own disgraces. He is a professor of religion. The eyes of the world are upon him, and all his inconsistencies, worldly-mindedness, follies, bad tempers, and hateful words and deeds, disgrace him in the estimation of all men who know him.

19. The backslider in heart will be full of his own delusions. Having an evil eye, his whole body will be full of darkness. He will almost certainly fall into delusions in regard to doctrines and in regard to practices. Wandering on in darkness, as he does, he will, very likely, swallow the grossest delusions. Spiritism, Mormonism, Universalism, and every other ism that is wide from the truth, will be very likely to gain possession of him. Who has not observed this of backsliders in heart?

20. The backslider in heart will be filled with his own bondage. His profession of religion brings him into bondage to the Church. He has no heart to consult the interests of the Church, or to labor for its up-building, and yet he is under covenant obligation to do so, and his reputation is at stake. He must do something to sustain religious institutions, but to do so is a bondage. If he does it, it is because he must, and not because he may.

Again, he is in bondage to God. If he performs any duty that he calls religious, it is rather as a slave than as a freeman. He serves from fear or hope, just like a slave, and not from love. A gain, he is in bondage to his own conscience. To avoid conviction and remorse, he will do or omit many things, but it is all with reluctance, and not at all of his own cordial goodwill.

21. The backslider in heart is full of his own self condemnation. Having enjoyed the love of God, and forsaken Him, he feels condemned for everything. If he attempts religious duty, he knows there is no heart in it, and hence condemns himself. If he neglects religious duty, he of course condemns himself. If he reads his Bible, it condemns him. If he does not read it, he feels condemned. If he goes to religious meetings, they condemn him; and if he stays away, he is condemned also. If he prays in secret, in his family, or in public, he knows he is not sincere, and feels condemned.

If he neglects or refuses to pray, he feels condemned. Everything condemns him. His conscience is up in arms against him, and the thunders and lightnings of condemnation follow him, whithersoever he goes.

V. HOW TO RECOVER FROM A STATE OF BACKSLIDING.

1. Remember whence you are fallen. Take up the question at once, and deliberately contrast your present state with that in which you walked with God.

2. Take home the conviction of your true position. No longer delay to understand the exact situation between God and your soul.

3. Repent at once, and do your first works over again.

4. Do not attempt to get back, by reforming your mere outside conduct.

Begin with your heart, and at once set yourself right with God.

5. Do not act like a more convicted sinner, and attempt to recommend yourself to God by any impenitent works or prayers. Do not think that you must “reform, and make yourself better” before you can come to Christ, but understand distinctly, that coming to Christ, alone, can make you better. However much distressed you may feel, know for a certainty that until you repent and accept His will, unconditionally, you are no better, but are constantly growing worse. Until you throw yourself upon His sovereign mercy, and thus return to God, He will accept nothing at your hands.

6. Do not imagine yourself to be in a justified state, for you know you are not. Your conscience condemns you, and you know that God ought to condemn you, and if He justified you in your present state, your conscience could not justify Him. Come, then, to Christ at once, like a guilty, condemned sinner, as you are; own up, and take all the shame and blame to yourself, and believe that notwithstanding all your wanderings from God, He loves you still – that He has loved you with an everlasting love, and, therefore, with loving-kindness is drawing you.

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The Self-Existence of Jesus Christ

by William Romaine (1714-1795)

I said therefore unto you that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I AM, ye shall die in your sins.- John 8:24

This is a very awakening scripture, and ought to rouse up your particular attention. The doctrine here maintained is the self-existence of Jesus Christ; which is not a mere speculative point, it is not an indifferent thing, whether you believe it or not; but your eternal salvation is so much concerned in it, that if you do not believe it, you will die in your sins, and will have every one of them to answer for at the tribunal of God. Is not this an interesting subject? Is not every one of us nearly concerned in what is to befall us after death? And has not our Lord here forewarned us of what is to befall them who deny His divinity? “They shall die in their sins.” And this He repeats twice in the text, the more strongly to impress it upon their memories. And what is it then to die in their sins? Is it a light trifling matter not worth your care and consideration?

To die in the midst of the pollution of a sinful life, to be taken away with all the guilt of it upon your heads, and to find after death no atonement, no Mediator, to protect you from the just indignation of the most holy God, who has declared that He is of purer eyes than to behold the least iniquity – Is all this of no consequence to you? Does not the danger come near enough to alarm even the most stupid and insensible sinner? But yet this is not the worst of dying in their sins. It is the most striking circumstance to consider to what a depth of misery your pollution and guilt must sink you. Sin and misery are inseparably connected, and none can deliver you from sin, but He who came to take away the sins of the world; and He cannot deliver you as man, He must be God who can have merit sufficient to take away sin, therefore if you deny Him to be God, your sins remain, and misery must be your portion – misery, the greatest you can suffer in soul and body, among the condemned spirits in hell for ever and ever.

This is the meaning of dying in your sins; and can there be any truth more affecting, or any subject more interesting? Does not the very proposing it awaken your hopes and fears? Every one of you is concerned at the peril of his eternal happiness to come to a point in this case, and to be determined; and therefore, men and brethren, let me intreat you to examine the matter strictly and solemnly. The divinity of Jesus Christ is the very foundation of the Christian religion. It is the first and principal article. The whole rests upon it; even what is called the morality of the gospel receives its obligation from His being the true God. If He was in any respect inferior to the Father, Christianity would be altogether the most stupid and absurd system of religion, and the most gross piece of idolatry that was ever invented in the world; for the Christian Church has always acknowledged Jesus Christ to be God co-equal and co-eternal with the Father, and has offered prayers and praises unto Him, and served Him with every act of religious worship; and the church of England has given Him divine honor in the same full and ample manner as He claimed it, “That all men should honour the Son even as they honor the Father” (John 5:23). May He send His Spirit into all your hearts and convince you that He is God indeed, while I am speaking upon the two propositions contained in the text.

First, Jesus Christ is the self-existent God.

Secondly, If ye believe it not, ye shall die in your sins: “therefore I said unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I AM, ye shall die in your sins.”

First, the self-existence of Jesus Christ is declared in these words, believe that I AM, that I have existence in Myself, and exist by a necessity of nature: For I made all things, and without Me was not any thing made that is made. I am the Creator, they are My creatures. And the Creator must exist in a different manner from the creatures. All things are dependent upon Me, and have only a derived existence – they are what I made them, and they continue as long as I support them. No creature ever came into life without My power, and when I take away their breath, they die, and turn again to their dust; so that they have only a dependent being, whereas My existence is necessary and underived. I AM is My incommunicable name, and what it means is My incommunicable attribute.

Thus our blessed Savior is the great and eternal I AM. He is Jehovah: for He exists in a different manner from all other beings and things, as the word Jehovah denotes. The Christian writers, as far as I know, are unanimous in their interpretation of this divine name; they all agree that it relates to the existence of the divine essence, and is descriptive of that independent property by which Jehovah has existence in Himself, whereas all other beings and things derive their existence from Him. And to this the very Jews assent, acknowledging that Jehovah signifies the essence which necessarily exists. This therefore is a settled point. Now our Savior is frequently called Jehovah in the Old Testament, and thereby the self-existence of the divine nature is ascribed to Him. Thus the prophet, Isa. 43:11, “I, even I, am Jehovah, and besides me there is no Savior.” There was no Jesus, no Savior but Jehovah: therefore Jehovah and Jesus are one. And again we read, chap 49:26, “All flesh shall know that I Jehovah am thy Savior and thy Redeemer, the mighty one of Jacob.” And the prophet Jeremiah says, “Their Redeemer is strong, Jehovah of hosts is his name” (Jer. 50:34); the name Jehovah belongs to the Redeemer; it is His incommunicable title. And since it is agreed on all hands, that Jehovah signifies the self-existent essence, consequently Jesus Christ is self-existent, for He is Jehovah. This argument is, I think, very clear and full, and the force of it may be thus summed up: Jehovah is self-existent, but Jesus Christ is Jehovah, therefore He is self-existent.

In this sense our Lord says in the text, If ye believe not that I AM, that Jehovah is in Me of a truth, ye shall die in your sins. I AM cannot relate to His created being: all the sophistry of Arianism and Socinianism cannot wrest the words to such a sense, because the Jews could not but believe that He existed, when they heard Him say, I AM; or if it was possible to disbelieve it, yet it would not have been a capital crime, unless He had been something more than a created being: therefore the very reason of the thing proves that He claimed some manner of existence different from human, and which it is absolutely necessary for every man to believe, unless he would die in his sins, and suffer the punishment due to them for ever. The translators have done great injury to this scripture by inserting the word he, I AM he, which is not in the original, and by putting it in, they have destroyed both the sense of the passage, and also the force of the argument: for, I am he, ought to refer to something said; but it has no reference, no sort of connection, either with what goes before or follows after. And therefore it is as absurd to insert the word here, as it would be in Exodus, where, upon Moses’ inquiring for some descriptive name, by which the Israelites might know that the God of their fathers had sent him to deliver them, “God said unto him, I AM THAT I AM, and thou shalt say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.” Would it not be abominable nonsense to read the words, I am he that I am he, and I am he hath sent me unto you? The learned world, Christians and Jews, would not allow of this glaring absurdity; for they have allowed that this passage in Exodus is expressive of the self-existence of the Deity. I AM denotes the necessary manner in which He exists, and since this is the meaning of it in one part of Scripture, certainly it must mean the same thing in every part of Scripture, especially when it is used by that Person who claimed to Himself all the attributes of divinity: and therefore the meaning of the expression if there was any obscurity in the usage of it in the New Testament may be clearly ascertained from its usage in the Old. When God sent Moses to the Israelites, with this divine name I AM, and when Christ, who never scrupled to call Himself God, assumed the same name I AM, certainly the same words spoken on the same subject must convey the same idea of self-existence, and whoever is self-existent is the true God, but Christ is self-existent, therefore He is the true God.

When the Arians and Socinians are pressed hard with Scripture arguments, they will allow Christ to be God in some limited and restrained sense of the word; but they cannot bear to hear of His self-existence, because this makes Him equal with the Father, which they deny: for it seems an insuperable difficulty to them, that He whom the Scripture calls a Son, should have the same self-existence with the Father. This is a standing objection with them, and with every other species of infidels, but this objection upon the true state of the case vanishes at once: for it is founded upon a very gross mistake, both of the nature of the doctrine, and also of the scripture explanation of it.

The nature of the doctrine is this. In the unity of the divine essence there are Three persons equal in all perfections and attributes, so that none is before or after another, none is greater or less than another, but the glory is equal, the majesty co-eternal. The trinity in unity is thus expressed in Scripture, “There are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost, and these three are one” (1 John 5:7). “One,” says the unbeliever, “how can that be? How can Three be One? That’s a contradiction.” If it be, it is a contradiction of his own making: for unless they be Three in the same respect as they are One, which opinion could never be maintained by any man in his senses, then he must take the contradiction upon himself; and there may be, for any thing he knows to the contrary, Three persons in one essence, unless he can prove that the unity of the essence absolutely excludes personality. But before we can allow him this, he must first give us a plain account of the manner of the existence of the divine essence, and must demonstrate that it cannot admit of any persons in it; which he cannot possibly demonstrate by the light of nature. The most acute and enlightened genius is not equal to the subject. It is as far above his capacity, as the heavens are above the earth. Let him soar aloft upon the strongest pinions of moral reasoning, and try to measure infinity with the longest chain of metaphysical argument; yet when he came down from his towering flight, he could give us no fresh intelligence concerning the divine existence. The mode and manner of it would be still unknown. We know that there is an immortal spirit united to the body; but does any philosopher pretend to determine the mode of the existence of this created spirit? What idea can he form of it? Whence does he borrow this idea? Or in what kind of language will he communicate it unto another? If he be not clear in this more easy point, how can he form an idea of the mode of the existence of Jehovah? Can he determine how an infinite spiritual essence exists? What idea has he of the manner of the existence of an essence which was from eternity, and which was the first cause of all other beings? When unbelievers will write upon this subject, and settle the mode of existence of an uncreated essence, then they may speak with some certainty upon it. But while they are forced to confess that they know not the mode of the divine existence, and yet maintain that Jehovah cannot exist but in one Person, is it not evident that their conduct is inconsistent? For the personality is founded on the manner in which the essence exists; this they do not pretend to determine, and yet they deny the personality of the essence, and venture their eternity upon it. Is not this conduct absurd and irrational? And will you then ever listen to what unbelievers may assert concerning the manner of the divine existence? For they are indeed absolutely ignorant of it, and you may be assured of their ignorance, if you only ask them to account for the manner of the existence of a created spirit. And when they give up this point, which they must, then urge this question to them, How can you pretend to account for the manner of the existence of an infinite uncreated Spirit, after you have owned that you cannot account for the manner of the existence of a finite created spirit? Even to pretend to it is a most glaring absurdity; and therefore we may conclude, upon the footing of sound reasoning, that there may be three Persons in the unity of the divine essence; and the Scripture positively maintains there are Three, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and these Three are One. And

If nothing remain for the infidel to object to the state of the doctrine, what can he offer against the Scripture explanation of it? There can be no difficulty but what arises from the names of the divine Persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and these have been a great handle of objection, and are still with unbelievers who are so blinded with their vices, that they know nothing of the true sense and meaning of Scripture, but only look into it for matter of cavil: they suppose, with ignorance common to infidelity, that these names were to give us ideas of the manner in which the Persons exist in the essence, but the Scripture had a quite different view in using them. The ever-blessed Trinity took the names of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, not to describe in what manner they exist as divine Persons, but in what manner the divine Persons have acted for us men and for our salvation. These names were to give us ideas of the distinct offices, which the Trinity had agreed to sustain in the economy of our redemption. The Scripture informs us, St. Paul frequently, (Eph. 1:4; 3:11; 2 Tim. 1:9; Titus 1:2, etc. and 1 Pet. 1:20), that the covenant of grace was made before the world, and the gracious plan of man’s salvation was settled before he had his being. According to the plan of this covenant, one of the divine Persons agreed to demand infinite satisfaction for sin, when mankind should offend, and to be the Father of the human nature of Jesus Christ, and our Father through Him; and therefore He is called God the Father, not to describe His nature, but His office. Another of the divine Persons covenanted to become a Son, to take our nature upon Him, and in it to pay the infinite satisfaction for sin, and therefore He is called Son, Son of God, and such like names, not to describe His divine nature, but His divine office. Another of the divine Persons covenanted to make the infinite satisfaction of the Son of God effectual, by inspiring the spirits of men, and disposing them to receive it, and therefore He is called the Holy Inspirer, or Holy Spirit, and the Spirit of God, not to describe His divine nature, but His divine office. The terms Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, are terms of economy, and are accordingly used in Scripture, to describe the distinct parts which the ever-blessed and adorable Trinity sustained in our redemption.

I wish it was in my power to explain the Scripture doctrine in such words, as you may all easily understand. The doctrine of the Trinity is the most necessary article of the Christian religion, and we cannot take one safe step in the way to heaven without being clear in it. And since it is the very foundation of your faith, I therefore intreat your more particular attention, while I am considering it. The Scripture makes no difference between the divine Persons, except what is made by the distinct offices, which they sustain in the covenant of grace. The Persons are each equal in every perfection and attribute; none is before or after another, none is greater or less than another; but the whole three Persons are co-eternal together and co-equal. And consequently Christ, who was from eternity co-equal with the Father, did not make Himself inferior, because He covenanted to become a Son, nor did the Holy Spirit, who was from eternity co-equal with the Father and the Son, make Himself inferior, because He covenanted to make the spirits of men holy by His grace and influence. Son and Holy Spirit are names of office, and the names of their offices certainly cannot lesson the dignity of their nature, but should rather exalt them in our eyes, for whose salvation they condescended to sustain these offices. Our blessed Lord was Jehovah, when He covenanted to be made flesh, and to become a Son: and the very nature and terms of the covenant prove, that at the making of it He must have been a Person of the self-existent essence, because He had thereby such offices committed to Him, as none but the true God was able to sustain. The whole economy and government of the world, from the time of its creation to the final dissolution, was put into His hands; and therefore the Scripture expressly assures us, that He created it, that He governs it by His providence, that He redeemed His people by His blood, and that He is to come again at the last day, in all His glory to judge it. And He, who was almighty to create all things, who was all-wise to govern all things, who had infinite merit to redeem His body the church, and who is to be God the Judge of all at the last great day, certainly this almighty, this all-wise, this all-meritorious, and divine Judge, must be self-existent. And being possessed of these offices, He might truly say, I AM; because he could not but have necessary existence in Himself, who was the first cause, and who gave existence to every other being and thing.

What has been said in defense of the first proposition in the text may be summed up with this argument. The divine essence is self-existent; therefore the persons in the essence are also self-existent; but Jesus Christ is one of the persons in the essence, for He is frequently called Jehovah in the Old Testament, and the New declares, that He and the Father are one, consequently He is self-existent; from whence I raise this syllogism. Whoever is self-existent is the true God, but Jesus Christ is self-existent, therefore He is the true God. This is a plain argument, and is so evident upon Scripture principles, that I defy all the Arians and Socinians in the world to answer it; for it seems as certain that Jesus Christ is a person of the self-existent essence, as that there is a self-existent essence. Christ is the great and eternal I AM, true and very God, equal in all things with the Father and the Holy Spirit, as touching His Godhead; and therefore to the holy, blessed, and glorious Trinity, we ascribe equal dominion, and honor, and worship, now and forever, according to the doctrine of the Scripture and the constant practice of the Christian church. And,

Let no person think, that this is a speculative point. It is not an indifferent thing whether you receive it or not; but your eternal state depends upon it, you must receive it, or perish forever; for whosoever disbelieves it shall be damned. This may sound very harsh in the ears of free and candid disquisitors, but I really cannot soften it. I am not fond of thundering out damnation any more than men in these moderate times may be of hearing it, and you know that I very seldom have the word in my mouth; but there is certainly such a thing as damnation, and the Almighty has threatened to inflict it upon the deniers of Christ’s divinity, and let men make ever so light of it, He will infallibly inflict it; and therefore I must again admonish you, that whoever does not believe Jesus Christ to be self-existent, and thereby equal to the Father, shall be damned. And does not the text declare the same thing? “They shall die in their sins,” and this is so far from being any thing short of damnation, that dying in sin is the very lowest state of infernal misery, as I am to prove under the

Secondly, “If ye believe not that I AM,” says Christ, “ye shall die in your sins.” Dying in sin is a clear expression, whose meaning cannot easily be mistaken. It denotes the most dreadful state of departing sinners, who have no mediator or atonement in the world of spirits to which they are going, but they leave this world with all the pollution and guilt of their crimes upon the soul; and when they appear before the tribunal of infinite justice, the horrid deformity and wickedness of them will then be manifest; they will then have no robe to cover the offensive and nauseous leprosy of their impurities; their abominable filthiness will then break out, and how can the most holy and pure God look with delight upon those loathsome lepers? He declares He cannot. He is of purer eyes than to behold the least iniquity. He cannot behold them; and therefore they must be shut out of His presence, as the lepers were shut out of the camp; and since they never can be made clean, they must be shut out forever. Nothing can purge the conscience from sin, but that offering which perfecteth forever. This alone cleanseth us from all sin; but this unbelievers reject, therefore their sin remaineth. They must answer for it at the bar of justice, and whatever punishment it deserves they must suffer it in soul and body, and if there be truth in God, their punishment must be eternal. These are His own words, at which one might reasonably think the heart of the most obdurate infidel would tremble. “Hear, ye that are far off, what I have done; and, ye that are near, acknowledge my might. The sinners in Zion are afraid; fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites. Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?” (Isa. 33:13-14). Who shall? Certainly they who die in their sins. Sin first kindled these flames of hell, and sinners must endure them. And the chief of sinners, the Arians and Socinians, must dwell with the devouring fire, and with everlasting burnings.

I have seen the deniers of Christ’s divinity very warm and angry at this state of the case, and have heard them complain loudly of our want of charity. They do not love to be told of hell torments, and they think it very hard, that they should be sent to hell for a speculative point, (as they softly term rejecting Christ’s self-existence) quite an harmless opinion with them, a mere subject of debate and free enquiry. It may seem very light to them, but it is in fact of the same consequence as denying the being of God: and if they will make their free enquiries and debates about it, and after enquiring and debating, reject it, they should remember that they do this at the peril of their lives. Denying Christ to be self-existent is not a small crime, it is the greatest that a man can commit; for what is it to deny the king’s title to the crown? Is it not high treason? And what is it then to deny the Godhead of the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords? Is not this high treason against the supreme Majesty of heaven? And when unbelievers deny the Godhead of Jesus Christ, try to rob Him of His self-existence, erect societies on purpose to stab Him with their insolent blasphemies, and would pull Him out of His eternal throne, and then endeavor what in them lies to strip Him of His divine glory, degrading and sinking Him down into a mere creature, and trampling under foot, as if He were but dross and dung, the most adorable God of heaven and earth; what will you call these offenses? Are they not overt acts of open rebellion and of high treason? And if the least of these against an earthly king would render the offenders unnatural rebels and worthy of death, must not the crimes increase in proportion to the infinite dignity of the King against whom they are committed? High treason against the Godhead of Jesus Christ, how much soever unbelievers may try to palliate it, is certainly an infinite crime, and if God be true, it will meet with an infinite punishment; for if ye believe not that I AM, says the self-existent God Himself, ye shall die in your sins, and these unatoned for shall not only exclude you from the glories of heaven, but shall also justly sentence you to the endless torments of hell.

As this method of proceeding against the deniers of Christ’s self-existence is not, as they would insinuate, harsh and rigorous, but is founded in truth and equity; because every man is a sinner, and guilty in the sight of God, not only by actual, but also by original transgression, “by the offence of one, judgment came upon all men to condemnation,” and therefore all men being under sentence of condemnation, want an atonement for their sins. This atonement is required by, and is to be made to, infinite justice, and whoever makes it must be an infinite Person, capable of doing an infinitely meritorious act; so that He cannot be any thing less than a Person of the self-existent essence. If he were a creature of ever so great dignity, the very highest in the rank of beings, yet as he is but a creature, he could do no action which could merit for another, much less which could have infinite merit; consequently he could make no atonement to infinite justice, and therefore unless Christ be self-existent, we must all die in our sins, and answer for them before the tribunal of God: and the just wages of sin is death, death of the body to this world, and death both of body and soul from God and His glory in the next world, for ever and ever. And this is indeed the melancholy case of every infidel. He denies the virtue of Christ’s merits to atone as God, and, of course, he can have no atonement; for nothing less than an infinite Being can make an infinite atonement; and the infidel, without such an atonement, must be under the guilt both of original and actual transgression. He has no sacrifice, no atonement, to propitiate the justice of God the Father, by whom a firm and sure decree has been in this case made and provided, that, “without shedding of blood there is no remission.” But he rejects the merits of the blood of the Lamb of God, which has been shed for sin, and which alone can take away the sins of the world; for which reason there is no remission for him, but he dies in his sins, with all the pollution and the guilt of them upon his conscience, and when he appears at the bar of justice, he will find his Judge a jealous God, and a consuming fire. And how will he then be able to protect himself from the wrath of the Almighty? Offended Omnipotence he cannot escape, he cannot resist; and who can say what a degree of misery offended Omnipotence will inflict? Oh, it is a dreadful thing, beyond imagination dreadful, to fall into the hands of the living God! And whoever rejects the divine merits of Christ’s atonement, will feel His everlasting displeasure: for after rejecting them, “there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. And if he who despised Moses’s law died without mercy, under two or three witnesses; of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God?” Hath trodden under foot His divinity (as all infidels do), hath trampled, and even stamped upon the glory of the self-existent God, as if He was something baser than a worm, “and hath counted the blood of the covenant wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace.” Doing despite unto the Spirit of grace is the last stage of infidelity, and may the almighty God keep every one of you from it, lest you should die in your sins and perish forever.

I chose to finish the second proposition in the text with these striking words of St. Paul, (Heb. 10:26, 27, etc.) because they are clear and full to the point, and expressly declare the judgment and fiery indignation, which every one will meet with who treads under foot the Son of God. Let the infidel consider, whether he does not tread Him under his feet, when he ridicules the almighty Creator of the world, and with treason blacker than ever was hatched in hell, tries to rob the eternal God of His divinity. Does not he account the blood of the covenant an unholy thing, who sets no value upon the most precious blood of the Lamb of God? And must not he die in his sins, and rise from the dead in his sins, and appear in his sins at the last great day, and go with his sins to the place of eternal punishment, who contrary to God’s decree has resolved to put his trial upon this issue; that without shedding of blood there may be remission? Before any remission can be obtained, there must not only be blood shed, but also blood of an infinite value, and there cannot be infinite value in any sacrifice, except in the precious blood of Christ, as of a Lamb without blemish and without spot. The merits of this unblemished and spotless Lamb the infidels deny, whereby they reject the only method which God has appointed for the remission of sins. This crime approaches so very near to doing despite to the Spirit of grace, and to grieving and quenching Him, that my heart mourns for these deluded men, and I cannot but wish they were as much concerned for their own salvation as I am for them. I see their guilt, to which they are blind. I see their danger, against which they shut their eyes. I behold them ready to die in their sins, and the pit of destruction open to receive them, they are on the very precipice, and in a moment may fall into hell. My dear fellow-creatures, would to God I could call you fellow-Christians, if you have any love left for your immortal souls, stop and consider. Pray God to open your eyes, that you may see your danger. Oh! see how near you are to the pit! If you take one step more, you may perish forever. And why will you choose eternal misery? I call upon and intreat you, while there is yet a possibility of escaping it, to awaken your hopes and fears: if it be given you to throw down your arms and submit, still you may find mercy. For He is gracious and full of compassion. He has gifts for men, even for the rebellious. He can give the spirit of wisdom in the knowledge of Himself. Ask, seek, and you shall find faith and repentance from His sovereign grace. With Him is plenteous redemption. Oh that you may from your own experience acknowledge Him to be a God almighty to pardon. And if none of these motives prevail with you to open your eyes, may He, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, shine into your hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

And now having gone through the argument, I intreat you, my brethren, to give me your favorable attention, while I am endeavoring to make some improvement of what has been said, and to bring it home with power and conviction to your hearts. The Scripture which we have been considering is most awful and solemn, and holds out to us a doctrine of eternal importance, viz. that we must die in our sins, unless we believe the self-existence of Jesus Christ. This doctrine I divided into two propositions; under the first it was proposed to prove that Jesus Christ is a person of the self-existent essence, from whence it followed, secondly, that every one must die in his sins, unless he believes Christ’s self-existence. And if Scripture and fair argument could prevail against men’s prejudices and sins, these two propositions would appear as evident as the sun at noon day. Indeed they do appear with complete evidence to every true Christian; and I openly declare, that I am as fully convinced of the self-existence of Jesus Christ, as I am of any matter of fact, and therefore with this full conviction upon my mind, it was incumbent upon me to speak with great openness and freedom to those persons, if there be any of them among you, who deny the self-existence of Jesus Christ. And I hope He will second my intreaties with His grace, and accompany them with His divine blessing, while I am calling upon you once more to consider and to weigh impartially the arguments which have now been laid before you. They contain a very small part of the evidence of our Lord’s divinity. The Scripture has offered us several proofs, which have not been at present touched upon; but I hope enough has been said to convince you, if your minds lay open to conviction. The great infidel objection against Christ’s self-existence is taken from the unity of the divine essence; this unity we allow, for it is written, “The Lord our God is one Lord, Jehovah our Elohim is one Jehovah” (Deut. 6:4); but then we maintain that the unity of the essence cannot exclude personality, unless it could be demonstrated, that the manner in which the essence exists will not admit of any persons in it. But this you cannot demonstrate, It is impossible to demonstrate it; because you do not know the manner of the existence of any spiritual being, and consequently it is impossible for you to demonstrate, that the Scripture account of personality is false, and yet at the peril of your eternal salvation you will venture to deny what it is impossible you should disprove. Do you not see what an inconsistent and absurd part you herein act? Do you not openly fight against reason, as well as against Scripture and your own happiness? You have not the shadow of an argument against Christ’s divinity, and yet you are not afraid to commit high treason against His supreme Majesty who is almighty to punish. Why, my brethren, will you fight against the Almighty? Rebel no longer, throw down your arms, submit to Jesus, prostrate yourselves before Him, and acknowledge Him to be the self-existent God.

If I have not been able to offer any thing sufficient to awaken and convince you, I have therefore more reason, in the last place, to pray for you. And I am sure all believers will join heartily with me in prayer to God for your conversion. We cannot but mourn over your present guilt, and your approaching ruin, and pour out our requests before the throne of grace for you, because we are assured, that you have departed from the living God. And let us now, my Christian brethren, conclude, as we always begin, with looking up to God for His blessing, that our labors may not be in vain in the Lord.

Oh most adorable Jesus, our Almighty God and Savior, who hast declared, that unless ye believe that I AM, ye shall die in your sins, we bless and praise You for giving us grace to believe in Your self-existence. Keep us, we beseech You, steadfast in this faith, and grant that it may not dwell in our heads, and rest there as a speculative point of science, but enable it to operate upon our hearts, and rest there to produce in us all Your sweet and heavenly tempers, making us holy as You are holy. And, oh Lord, be pleased to awaken and convert all the deniers of Your divinity, and convince them that You are God indeed, by the happy work of Your good Spirit upon their hearts, turning them from the error of their ways, and bringing every one of them into Your flock, that we may become one fold under one Shepherd; and may with one heart and voice give thanks and praise to the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, the holy, blessed and glorious Trinity; to whom be equal honor, and worship, and dominion, now and forever. Amen.

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SWBTS Administrator or Duck Dynasty Family Member?

A Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary conspiracy? Separated at birth? Evidence of cloning? Brave New World? Are administrators at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary doing reality television on the weekends? Watch the video and determine for yourself.

SWBTS Dynasty from Kevin Stilley on Vimeo.

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The Dangerous Animals Club – a few thoughts and quotes

Book CoverThe Dangerous Animals Club is not exactly a Southern Baptist preachery kind of book. Drugs, alcohol, nakedness, and the kinds of things that accompany drugs, alcohol and nakedness. And yet, this is a funny and enjoyable book that I am glad I read.

Stephen Tobolowsky is a master storyteller – interesting, funny, polished, and insightful. I wish I could get him to come to Sunday afternoon lunch so we could drink sweet tea and trade stories back and forth across the kitchen table.

Before Tobolowsky was that Hollywood actor that everyone recognizes but no one knows his name, he was a good ol’ North Texas boy.  And, many of his stories include that North Texas dimension; water moccasin throwing, tarantula hunting, driving naked through Dallas, coping with strange SMU professors, — you know, routine North Texan life.  Then, he moves on to talk about racoons in the attic, bull-fighting, Jewish mysticism, quantum physics, — you know, routine Hollywood life.

__________

And now, a short note to Tobolowsky, himself.

Tobo, I know you will never read this, but just in case, I wanted to let you know that I am actively thinking about those important four people in my life.  Thanks for the stimulus.

KS

__________

And, here are a few quotes from the book:

DON’T ASK ME, “How are the kids?” I never have any idea. I know they eat and get dressed and go to school, but as to what is going on in their lives and in their heads, forget it. It is the secret world: the world that every child has and that no parent gets to see. Ann and I are active parents. We try to meet all of our kids’ friends and their parents and ask questions and look under the bed, and check in the closets, tap their phones— but we still don’t know the various deals with Satan they may make when they leave the house. We’re not unique. Every parent is in the dark. (p. 1)

* * *

Her face changed as most women’s do when they listen to their men: from amusement to horror to incomprehensibility. (p. 15)

* * *

It’s funny how much trust we put in science when its track record throughout history has been so bad. The problem is that science not only tries to describe the observable, like the tides and the height of mountains, but also the unobservable. (p. 59)

* * *

Hob was a true academic and consequently no one could understand what he was talking about. (p. 170)

* * *

“If I am not for myself, who is? If I am for myself alone, what am I? And if not now, when?” ~ Rabbi Hillel (p. 175)

* * *

Fairly or unfairly, many people are tried in life. The mistake people make is that they think the trial is a sign of failure. It’s not. It’s only a doorway that leads to who you really are. (p. 182)

* * *

It is difficult to define what men look for in women and what women look for in men. One thing is for certain: it’s not the same thing. (p. 213)

* * *

All of this time I had only known Hob as a sort of academe to the third power: a man who would never call a spade a spade when he could call it a partially conical metal digging implement used primarily in recreational agriculture. (p. 230)

* * *

“The reason you can’t get a handle on life is because it’s not a bucket.” (p. 239)

* * *

The “yeah, but” is the way we have developed to diminish our own lives into footnotes. To demoralize, trivialize, and squander the greatest gift we have been given— the joy of watching the sun rise for another day, even if it is only to have the opportunity to fail. (p. 240)

* * *

As a rule in life, if you want to feel thin, hang out with fat people. If you want to feel better about your prospects, talk to friends who are worse off than you. (p. 241)

* * *

There is almost nothing more powerful than the current of unhappiness. It can carry you far away. It can separate friends and family. It can even separate you from yourself. (p. 242)

* * *

Determination is often mistaken for purpose. Usually it is only a sign of a lack of imagination. (p. 289)

* * *

I have never been to a psychiatrist…. It’s hard to find a good one. There are so many bad ones, and to get the name of a good one you have to ask friends who go to psychiatrists and they’re usually crazy. (p. 291)

* * *

It’s amazing how comforting the simple things were— like trees, or a mountain, or snow. When I turned my attention from my own pain to look at the amazing world around me, I started feeling better. I was rediscovering the miracle of my own life. (pp. 297-298)

* * *

When I was addicted to cocaine several years later, a dealer told me something important. He said addiction is not just made up of the time you spend getting high. It is also made up of the time you spend thinking about drugs, earning money to buy drugs, and driving around trying to find drugs. (p. 332)

* * *

Our life isn’t necessarily measured by what we accumulate, but how we spend our time. There is a pressure to value achievement by focusing on the finish line. I often think more praise should be bestowed on those who make sure we’re starting at the right place. (p. 332)

____________

[update]

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Actual Stilley Household Conversations

Conversation #1

Me: “Are you going to wear that?”

Son: “Yes.”

Me: “Well, at least comb your hair.”

Son: “Why? We are just going to Wal-Mart.”

I fully expect to someday see his picture on the internet under the heading “The People of Wal-Mart.

* * *

Conversation #2

[Sound of crashing/spilling from upstairs . . . ]

Child 1: “Uh Oh!”

Wife: “What spilled up there?”

Child 2: “Toxic acid and we will all be dead in minutes.”

At least this way I won’t have to worry about seeing pictures of my kids on The People of Wal-Mart.

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