Returning to Our First Love # 3

Returning to Our First Love # 3

The undue love of the world, whether of its riches, its honors, or its pleasures - will soon injuriously influence the love of the soul to its Saviour. The thoughts are too much drawn off from the contemplation of divine things, and the relish for spiritual duties and enjoyments is insensibly diminished. The duties of the closet are no longer anticipated with delight; and the hours consecrated to private devotion, which used to be the most pleasant in the whole day, do not now afford the same comfort as formerly. The lack of enjoyment in religious duties, the wandering thoughts in the midst of them, and the lack of lively feeling naturally tend to produce a backwardness to engage in them; so that were not the person forced, as it were, by conscience to enter his closet, he would often omit the duty altogether.

But when secret prayer is attended to, the person on whom the world has had an undue influence, hurries over the service; and often the omission would be better than the performance, where the service is merely formal, and the knee is bowed and words uttered without one devotional emotion. Worldly company and too much occupation in secular affairs, are almost sure to deaden our pious affections and to disqualify us for spiritual exercises.

But where there is any spiritual life, there will be seasons of uneasiness and an irrepressible feeling that all is not right. These, however, are but waking moments in the sleep of carnal security, into which the soul has fallen. For the most part, the conscience is lulled into a false security and is so little awake to give warning of danger that many things now appear to give lawful and innocent, which would have been avoided as highly criminal in the time of its first love!

Indeed, while in this state of slumbering, you can perceive very little difference between the declining professor and the mere moralist who makes no pretensions to religion.

Many leave their first love to Christ, who never fall into open transgression, but some are not so much favored. They are "overtaken in a fault," under some sudden temptation, as Peter. Others gradually sink into a state of carnal security, until like David, they become entangled by some insidious lust. When off their guard, the enemy comes in and presenting the bait of sensual pleasure, they are overcome and remain for a season under the dominion of sin. Often it becomes necessary to exclude such from the communion of the church, for conduct which is dishonorable to their sacred profession. This judicious exercise of discipline is sometimes made the effectual means of recovering true Christians from a state of shameful backsliding. Discipline is not intended for the destruction of those on whom it is exercised, but that they may be saved by destruction of their pride and sinful propensities.

The most common means of restoring backsliders, is God's rod of affliction. The reason why God scourges every son who He receives, is that all have faults and imperfections, which a kind Father aims to correct by the use of the rod.

The last thing which we propose to consider is the return of the soul to its first love. Backsliding Christians might, in justice, be cast off forever; but God, who has entered into covenant with His people, is faithful; and one of the promises of the new covenant is that He will "heal their backsliding" (Hosea 14:4).

The good Shepherd looks after His wandering sheep and restores them. But this He does by bringing them to a deep conviction of their sin. Their renewed conversion is, like the first, attended with many painful and anxious feelings; but after many discouragements, they are enabled to come to Christ and cast themselves upon His mercy. And to their astonishment, their reception is most gracious. They are welcomed as though they had never offended, and are restored to the joy of the divine favor.

But let us attend to the directions given in the text to the Ephesian Christians.

The first is to REMEMBER from where we have fallen. In a state of declension, there is a strange forgetfulness of former experience in the divine life. It is, therefore, very significantly represented by a state of sleep. The very first step toward a return to God is to be awakened from this spiritual slumber, to remember what we once possessed and enjoyed, and to compare out present condition with our former. This awakened recollection will lead the soul to understand the cause of its departure from God, and to trace all the steps of its retrograde course. Memory is a valuable faculty of our minds, and its exercise is of much avail in religion.

Readers, our exalted Saviour seems to address this word to us. Let us, then, remember what we once were: what lively feelings of penitence, love, and joy sweetly mingled their emotions in our early experience in religion. Let us remember what hopes we then cherished, what resolutions we formed - yes, what solemn vows we made and recorded in the house of God. Did we then suppose that we could ever become so cold and indifferent in our religious feelings, as at present?

~Archibald Alexander~

(continued with # 4)