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                  Why Are So Many Christians Failing God?

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By David Wilkerson
September 16, 1991
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          "Help, Lord: for the godly man ceaseth; for the
          faithful fail from among the children of men" (Psalm
          12:1).

          A seventy-five-year-old retired official of a large
          Pentecostal denomination was arrested recently in
          Houston, Texas. He was charged with soliciting a
          prostitute. He confessed he had been doing this for
          nearly forty years; yet in all that time he had never
          shed a tear of grief. At one time he had been a
          faithful servant of God - but for the past forty years,
          he had lived a lie. He failed God, ceasing to be godly.

          I received a heartrending letter not long ago from a
          woman whose pastor had left his wife and run off with
          the woman's daughter. The pastor left behind two
          teenage children, a bewildered congregation and a youth
          group that was angry and confused. He had seemed so
          holy, so dedicated - but he threw it all away for lust.
          Here was another once-faithful man who took a fall.

          In the past few years the sins of well-known ministers
          have made headline news. Yet these failures are taking
          place not just in the ministry, but everywhere - in
          both pulpit and pew. As a result, many once-faithful
          followers of God have quit on Him. They have given up
          and now live in absolute misery and despair.

          Scripture prophesies all this: "For that day shall not
          come, except there come a falling away first, and that
          man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition" (2
          Thessalonians 2:3). The Day of the Lord shall not come
          until first there is a great falling away of those who
          knew God.

          Here at Times Square Church, the pastors grieve over
          those who once sat in our congregation but no longer
          come. These believers were making spiritual progress
          and were an important part of Gods family. We loved
          them; they seemed so faithful to God.

          But now they are gone! Some have returned to their old
          sinful habits. Others do not go to church at all. At
          one time they could not wait for our meetings to start.
          They were excited about the singing, worship and
          preaching. Now they are cold, as if they had never
          known the truth. They are no longer holy nor faithful
          to God.

          Somewhere along the way they were overwhelmed by
          satanic attack. Sin entered in, and they failed God.
          Yet they did not have to give up there - they could
          have pressed on in the Lord. But instead, they threw up
          their hands and quit, saying, "I cant make it! I'm not
          spiritual enough to continue. I'm not a normal
          Christian - something is terribly wrong with me. I'm
          too weak and worldly, too enslaved to my old ways to
          change."

          In the Psalms, David looked at all the failures around
          him. Lovers of God, who once were recognized as holy
          and faithful, were falling left and right. David was
          smitten by the sight of so many people leaving God, and
          he cried out, "Help, Lord! The godly are quitting, the
          faithful are disappearing. They're failing you and
          falling away!"

          God has always had - and always will have - a holy
          remnant who are faithful to Him. But so many in Israel
          were falling away that it broke Davids heart. He
          wondered aloud to God, "What is going on? Why are so
          many once-godly children of God quitting and falling
          back into sin?"

          Here are three major reasons why Christians today are
          turning their backs On God

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                    1. Christians Are Giving Up Because
                      They Are Ignorant of The Great
                        and Tender Mercies of God!

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          Recently, while I was asking the Lord for a
          heart-searching, the Holy Spirit gave me an unusual
          word - and I didn't want to hear it! He said, "David,
          you are in bondage - a very subtle bondage that only
          the Spirit of God can reveal to you. Many Christians
          are under this bondage, and most of your staff and
          congregation as well...

          "You are bound to a very limited vision of the Lords
          ocean of tender, loving mercies! You have endured much
          guilt, condemnation and fear, because you have not
          allowed the Holy Spirit to reveal the greatness and
          vastness of My forgiving, healing, reconciling mercies.
          You do not know Me for My tenderness!"

          God showed me that this is a root cause of why so many
          give up and fall away. When sin strikes... when Satan
          comes in like a flood, and suddenly you're caught in a
          demonic snare... when you fall into some old habit or
          sin... the devil creates a bondage!

          First, the guilt comes flooding in. Then fear fills
          your heart. A sense of total failure and helplessness
          overwhelms your soul. And at this point, most believers
          run out of grace - because their view of Gods mercy is
          so limited!

          Satan comes to you and says, "Youve reached your
          limit. Youve confessed your sin time after time. There
          is no way God will forgive you now, because youve
          sinned against the light. If you return and confess
          once more, youll turn around and sin all over again.
          So quit now - stop trying to mock God!"

          The devil will create in your mind the bondage of a
          narrow, restrictive vision of the Lords mercy and
          grace. He does not want you to see Gods ocean of
          mercy; he wants you to see only a trickle! Oh, you can
          believe God will forgive you two, three, perhaps even
          seven or ten times - but no more.

          Because of our ignorance of the forgiving, restoring
          power of Christs love, we are destroyed. We run out of
          mercy for ourselves because we are horribly bound by a
          limited vision. Our eyes have not yet been opened to
          the greater vision - the endless mercies of our tender
          Father!

          We are so bound by a false, limited view of God's
          mercies, we find it almost impossible to believe or
          accept what James said about our Lord: "We... have seen
          the outcome of the Lord's dealings, that the Lord is
          full of compassion and is merciful" (James 5:11, NAS).

          Do you know what this verse means? I doubt any of us
          has the full revelation of its meaning. You have to
          have a wide, unlimited vision of the mercies of Jesus
          Christ to understand this: it means, "God is easily
          crushed by our troubles and hurts. He feels our pain
          and our failures, and He is kind and compassionate to
          us. He loved us even when we were His enemy! And now,
          even when we offend Him, He is quick to help, restore
          and forgive us."

          The word "mercy" means this: "kind and compassionate
          treatment of an offender under one's power." You see,
          God has the power to damn us to hell every time we sin.
          But that is the meaning of His mercy: that He has us
          under His control and can do with us as He pleases. And
          it pleases His tender heart to be compassionate,
          pitiful, loving and kind toward those who have failed
          Him the most.

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                     No One Had a Greater Vision of the
                      Holiness of God Than Jeremiah.

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          Who can read the prophet Jeremiah without knowing his
          grief over the treachery, rebellion and backsliding of
          Israel? No one spoke against Israel's failings more
          than this man. But Jeremiah also had a corresponding
          vision of Gods tender mercies.

          That's the trouble with much holiness preaching today
          There is a thundering against sin without an
          accompanying view of His mercy and grace. Beloved,
          that's dangerous! When I was a young pastor, I got so
          angry at sin in the church that the message Of God's
          wrath was the only tune I could play. But a violin with
          one string doesn't make very good music!

          Listen to this almost unbelievable passage from
          Jeremiah:

          "And the Lord said unto me, The backsliding Israel hath
          justified herself more than treacherous Judah. Go and
          proclaim these words toward the north, and say Return,
          thou backsliding Israel, saith the Lord; and I will not
          cause mine anger to fall upon you: for I am merciful,
          saith the Lord, and I will not keep anger for ever.

          "Only acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast
          transgressed against the Lord thy God, and... ye have
          not obeyed my voice....Turn, O backsliding children...
          for I am married unto you" (Jeremiah 3:11-14).

          God is saying here, "Oh, My children - you don't have
          to quit or give up! When you sin, remember how tender,
          merciful and forgiving I have been through the ages.
          All I ask is that you confess your sin and your
          failure. You are still Mine. I'll forgive you, restore
          you and bring you back.

          You probably find it hard to accept forgiveness when
          you have sinned so often and against all the light you
          have received. Instead, you walk right out the door and
          say, "How can I ever go back, when Ive heard so much
          and yet failed Him so grievously?" That is exactly when
          you need a vision of the unlimited mercy of God, lest
          the devil tear you apart!

          When Satan comes to you with his lies; remind him of
          Peter, who sat under the anointed ministry of the Lord
          Himself and failed Him miserably. Peter swore at God,
          betrayed Jesus, ran away and said, "I don't even know
          the man!" And the everlasting tenderness of our Lord
          Jesus found Peter in his broken condition, forgave him,
          restored him, and set him in the pulpit on the day of
          Pentecost.

          In his agony, David said, "My sin is ever before me"
          (Psalm 51:3). And thats exactly what this narrow,
          limited vision of the mercy of God does. It keeps you
          focused on your failure, instead of on the greatness of
          God's mercy and grace. Satan does not want us to have
          the peace of God, but a dread and horror of a God who
          is angry and vengeful, waiting to damn and destroy.
          That is not what our God is like!

          The Bible says this of Him; "Return, O faithless sons,
          I will heal your faithlessness (Jeremiah 3.22, NAS). If
          you have failed God or are on the brink of falling, He
          wants to prepare you for the attack that is going to
          come!

          During Nehemiah's restoration in Jerusalem, the Levites
          spoke to the crowds of how merciful God had been to
          them (see Nehemiah 9:16-21). These people repeatedly
          had sinned against God - after He had restored them
          countless times. Talk about sinning against the light!
          Yet here is a God who is caring, loving and
          tenderhearted to those who had been set against Him.
          They came back to Him, and He undertook for them all
          the way through.

          Is Satan whispering that you are too backslidden,
          rebellious and bound by sinful habits to be what God
          wants you to be? Remind him of God's great mercies to
          His children in the past, who sinned just as you did.
          Remind him that the Bible says the Lord is "a God ready
          to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of
          great kindness, and forsookest them not" (Nehemiah
          9:17).

          When the devil tries to tell you God has run out of
          patience with you, remind him of God's great patience
          with sinful Israel: "Many times didst thou deliver them
          according to thy mercies" (9:28). "Yet many years didst
          thou forbear them... for thy great mercies' sake thou
          didst not utterly consume them, nor forsake them; for
          thou art a gracious and merciful God" (9:30-31).

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                 2. Another Reason Christians Are Quitting
                   On God Is Because They Have Condemned
                   Themselves Out of the Joy of the Lord

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          The Bible says the joy of the Lord is our strength.
          Without it, we have no power to stand. Beloved, we must
          be on guard - because guilt and condemnation over sin
          absolutely destroy the joy of the Lord!

          Many Christians are in this bondage right now. They
          can't accept full and free pardon; they believe they
          have no right to be joyful. When the Prodigal Son
          wasted his inheritance and came home in sorrow and
          shame, he wanted to stay outside his father's house,
          grieving. But his father freely forgave him, killed a
          calf and called for a joyful feast.

          You see, God has only one way to deal with a repentant
          child who returns. It is this: "Accept My love and
          forgiveness - and let everybody rejoice! My child is
          back!"

          Now, if you still cling to your sin - if you refuse to
          lay it down and return to the Lord's fullness - you
          have no right to have the joy of the Lord. In fact, the
          Bible says you will have a troubled countenance.

          When Judah sinned, God said, "I will take from them the
          voice of mirth [laughter], and the voice of gladness"
          (Jeremiah 25:10). Punishment for sin is the loss of all
          joy: "The joy of our heart is ceased; our dance is
          turned into mourning" (Lamentations 5:15).

          The Christian who has something to hide actually can't
          hide anything! The change is written all over his face.
          It is evident in his walk, talk and appearance. If you
          ask him, "How are you doing?", beware of the answer,
          "Well, so-so - Im just barely making it." He has no
          shout, no sign of victory - only a look of despair and
          sadness and dejection. You see, there can be no joy or
          vibrancy where sin is lurking!

          But if you hate your sin and have repented of it, you
          must not allow the devil to rob you of your right to
          rejoice and be glad! Accept God's forgiveness, and
          don't be condemned out of your right to worship and
          praise Him. Gods great desire for you, if you have
          failed, is to make you strong at your weakest point.
          Then He wants to anoint you with the oil of gladness!

          The Bible says Jesus was "anointed with the oil of
          gladness" (Hebrews 1:9). Some picture Jesus only as
          weeping in the Garden, shedding tears of blood.

          Yes, He did spend nights in agony, praying all alone.
          But I believe when He came down from those quiet times
          with God, He had a laughter in His soul.

          He could clap His hands and dance and praise His
          heavenly Father!

          Throughout Scripture, God pours out His oil of gladness
          on those who have learned to hate their sin and love
          His righteousness. That's what the Word says of Jesus:
          "Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity;
          therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with
          the oil of gladness above thy fellows" (Hebrews 1:9)

          Throughout the Bible, joy is associated with hatred for
          sin and a love for righteousness: "But let the
          righteous be glad; let them rejoice before God: yea,
          let them exceedingly rejoice" (Psalm 68:3). "Be glad in
          the Lord, and rejoice, ye righteous: and shout for joy,
          all ye that are upright in heart" (Psalm 32:11). "Let
          all those that seek thee rejoice and be glad in thee"
          (Psalm 70:4).

          People who have laid down their sins and are walking
          with the Lord may still have a struggle that is yet
          unsettled. But there is such a drawing toward the Lord
          in them, such a hunger, that the outcome is inevitable:
          an outbreak of joy! True heart confession and a
          reaching open up rivers of praise and a fountain of
          thanksgiving.

          Suppose Jesus appears in the flesh, dressed as an
          ordinary man, and sits next to you. You're sitting
          there wounded, a defeated Christian, wearing a look of
          gloom, guilt, condemnation and fear. You do not
          recognize Him, and He begins to talk to you:

          "Do you really love the Lord?" He asks.

          You probably would answer, "Very much so!"

          "You've sinned, haven't you?"

          "Y-yes," you say (hoping He's not a prophet who can
          read your mind!).

          "Do you believe He forgives any and all who confess and
          turn from their sin?"

          "Yes, but... I'm sorry, sir. I believe I've hurt my
          Savior - I've truly wounded Him."

          "Why haven't you appropriated His forgiveness? If
          you've confessed, why haven't you received it?"

          "I've done it so many times!"

          "Do you believe He will forgive 499 times - if each
          time you confess and repent?"

          "Yes."

          "Even murder? adultery? homosexuality? drugs? jealousy?
          hatred?"

          "Yes."

          "Do you hate your sin? Do you still want Him?"

          "Oh, yes!"

          "Then why are you letting the devil rob you of the
          victory of the Cross, the power of the blood of the
          Lamb? Why aren't you appropriating His joy and looking
          up?"

          Beloved, you don't have to quit, and you dont have to
          give up your joy in the Lord. You have a right to
          praise Him - to sing, shout and be happy in the Lord -
          because you have a Father who forgives!

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                    3. A Third Reason Why Many Are
                   Falling Away Is Because They Are
                 Trapped in the Bonds of Bitterness,
                       Full of Unchecked Anger.

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          "Wrath is fierce and anger is a flood, but who can
          stand before jealousy?" Proverbs 27:4, NAS).

          A spirit of anger is destroying Christian lives and
          marriages everywhere. This is happening because anger
          is not considered a serious sin, like drugs, alcohol or
          adultery. It is taken lightly - but not so in God's
          Word.

          The Bible makes it very clear that anger is so
          dangerous we dare not go to sleep without dealing with
          it. "Let not the sun go down upon your wrath: neither
          give place to the devil" (Ephesians 4:26-27).

          In this verse, Paul ties anger with the direct work of
          the devil. He is saying, "Your anger is from Satan. If
          you dont rid your soul of it before you retire, you
          will open up your heart to a stronghold from hell!"

          "Anger is a flood", and with it comes and unrestrained
          flow of harsh, ungodly words. Anger swamps its victims.
          (The Hebrew word means to inundate or swallow up.) It
          is a spirit out of hell - and I believe floods of
          anger, wrath and jealousy are sweeping multitudes to
          destruction.

          We do not think seriously enough of the danger of
          anger. Paul said it should be put away immediately and
          dealt with unmercifully. If we do not rid ourselves of
          it - if we continue brooding and sulking - we will
          grieve the Holy Spirit:

          "And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God.... Let all
          bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander
          be put away from you with all malice. And be kind to
          one another, tenderhearted forgiving each other, just
          as God in Christ has also forgiven you" (Ephesians
          4:30-32 NAS).

          Paul commands: "But now you also, put them all aside:
          anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from
          your mouth" (Colossians 3:8, NAS). Anger jealousy,
          malice, bitterness - these are not root sins. They are
          all fruits of a deeper sin - signs of a heart abounding
          in transgression: "An angry man stirs up strife, and a
          hot-tempered man abounds in transgression" (Proverbs
          29:22, NAS).

          If I am overwhelmed with anger, something is wrong
          between the Lord and me - and I can give the devil an
          opportunity to speak through me. When you're angry,
          you're going to speak thoughts that are not yours.
          Youll pour out a flood of bitter words, yet in your
          mind your say to yourself, "Where is this coming from?
          This is not me!" You'll be like a bystander - because
          you've given place to Satan!

          Jesus said anger can send you directly to hell. He
          spoke clearly of how anger causes harsh, unkind,
          killing words that destroy and bring damnation:

          "But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his
          brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever
          shall say to his brother, Raca' [empty-head] shall be
          guilty before the supreme court; and whoever shall say,
          'You fool,' shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery
          hell" (Matthew 5:22, NAS)

          Many Christian married couples right now are headed for
          a fall. Eventually they will become hard and cold,
          because they keep stirring up the pot of anger. Just
          when they seem to have everything settled, up comes
          another "But" - and they throw up some past shortcoming
          or failure. Here comes Satan again, stirring up the
          past!

          Scripture tells us, "Keeping away from strife is an
          honor for a man but any fool will quarrel" (Proverbs
          20:3, NAS). And "a gentle answer turns away wrath, but
          a harsh word stirs up anger" (15:1). Let it go! Let it
          die! Don't keep digging things up. You are giving an
          opportunity to the devil himself to move in and take
          control of your marriage! These are not innocent
          lovers quarrels, but demonic attacks. And if you give
          in, they will harden you and put you on the path to
          hell!

          Yet if you will admit your sinful anger and see it for
          what it is - demonic - and repent and ask for
          deliverance, you will find all the mercy and healing
          you need. Your tender loving heavenly Father can bring
          you through - and He will restore all that the
          cankerworm has eaten.

          Dear saint, did you fail the Lord today, last week, a
          month ago? Yet you know that today you love Him more
          than you ever have? God sees your heart. Bring your sin
          and failure to His altar and say, "Jesus, take it. I
          appeal to Your tenderness and forgiveness."

          He wants to heal you, restore you and give you back the
          joy of the Lord. David said, "Restore unto me the joy
          of Thy salvation. Give it back to me - I claim it!" God
          wants you to be able to stand up today with His joy.

          Lord, forgive us our anger, malice and bitterness. Open
          our eyes and help us to see how loving You are. Give us
          an expanded vision, an unlimited perspective of our
          tender, loving, heavenly Father - and bring us into the
          fullness of Your joy!

          ---
          Used with permission granted by World Challenge, P. O.
          Box 260, Lindale, TX 75771 USA.

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