Now, if you have wandered, remember that you left Him, and not He you. You have to get out of the backslider’s pit just in the same way you got in. And if you take the same road as when you left the Master you will find Him now, just where you are.
If we were to treat Christ as any earthly friend we should never leave Him; and there would never be a backslider. If I were in a town for a single week I should not think of going away without shaking hands with the friends I had made, and saying “Goodbye” to them. I should be justly blamed if I took the train and left without saying a word to anyone. The cry would be, “What’s the matter?” But did you ever hear of a backslider bidding the Lord Jesus Christ “Goodbye”; going into his closet and saying “Lord Jesus, I have known Thee ten, twenty, or thirty years: but I am tired of Thy service; Thy yoke is not easy, nor Thy burden light; so I am going back to the world, to the fleshpots of Egypt. Goodbye, Lord Jesus! Farewell”? Did you ever hear that? No; you never did, and you never will. I tell you, if you get into the closet and shut out the world and hold communion with the Master you cannot leave Him. The language of your heart will be, “To whom shall we go,” but unto Thee? “Thou hast the words of eternal life” (John 6:68). You could not go back to the world if you treated Him in that way. But you left Him and ran away. You have forgotten Him days without number. Come back today; just as you are! Make up your mind that you will not rest until God has restored unto you the joy of His salvation.
A gentleman in Cornwall once met a Christian in the street whom he knew to be a backslider. He went up to him, and said: “Tell me, is there not some estrangement between you and the Lord Jesus?” The man hung his head, and said, “Yes.” “Well,” said the gentleman, “what has He done to you?” The answer to which was a flood of tears.
In Revelation 2:4–5, we read: “Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left the first love. Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen; and repent, and do the first works: or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.” I want to guard you against a mistake which some people make with regard to “doing the first works.” Many think that they are to have the same experience over again, That has kept thousands for months without peace; because they have been waiting for a renewal of their first experience. You will never have the same experience as when you first came to the Lord. God never repeats himself. No two people of all earth’s millions look alike or think alike. You may say that you cannot tell two people apart; but when you get well acquainted with them you can very quickly distinguish differences. So, no one person will have the same experience a second time. If God will restore His joy to your soul let Him do it in His way. Do not mark out a way for God to bless you. Do not expect the same experience that you had two or twenty years ago. You will have a fresh experience, and God will deal with you in His own way. If you confess your sins and tell Him that you have wandered from the path of His commandments He will restore unto you the joy of His salvation.
I want to call your attention to the manner in which Peter fell; and I think that nearly all fall pretty much in the same way. I want to lift up a warning note to those who have not fallen. “Let him that thinketh he standeth, take heed lest he fall” (1 Corinthians 10:12). Twenty-five years ago—and for the first five years after I was converted—I used to think that if I were able to stand for twenty years I need fear no fall. But the nearer you get to the Cross the fiercer the battle. Satan aims high. He went amongst the twelve; and singled out the Treasurer—Judas Iscariot, and the Chief Apostle—Peter. Most men who have fallen have done so on the strongest side of their character. I am told that the only side upon which Edinburgh Castle was successfully assailed was where the rocks were steepest, and where the garrison thought themselves secure. If any man thinks that he is strong enough to resist the devil at any one point he needs special watch there, for the tempter comes that way.
Abraham stands, as it were, at the head of the family of faith; and the children of faith may be said to trace their descent to Abraham: and yet down in Egypt he denied his wife. (Genesis 12). Moses was noted for his meekness; and yet he was kept out of the promised land because of one hasty act and speech, when he was told by the Lord to speak to the rock so that the congregation and their beasts should have water to drink. “Hear now, ye rebels; must we fetch you water out of this rock?” (Numbers 20:10).
Elijah was remarkable for his boldness: and yet he went off a day’s journey into the wilderness like a coward and hid himself under a juniper tree, requesting for himself that he might die, because of a message he received from a woman. (1 Kings 19). Let us be careful. No matter who the man is—he may be in the pulpit—but if he gets self-conceited he will be sure to fall. We who are followers of Christ need constantly
