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As you go deeper with God, in a

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serious seeking of a deeper experience of Him,

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God will challenge your faith.

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I believe that's in my Bible, friends.

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In Genesis chapter 22, Abraham's faith was tried

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of God.

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God asked Abraham for his son Isaac as

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a sacrifice, and Abraham trusted God and offered

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him up.

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Several decades ago, back when God was still

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afoot in the land and seasons of revival,

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I knew a pastor who had a season

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of incredible revival come to his church.

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God literally transformed the life of that man's

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church with his manifest presence, which was so

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thick you could cut it with a knife.

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This pastor related that he was alone in

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the sanctuary with God during this time of

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revival, and God asked him for something concerning

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a member of the pastor's family.

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The pastor never publicly revealed how he responded

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to God, to God's testing his faith that

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day.

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But as the years went by, it was

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obvious to all who knew him that this

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man had evidently drawn back from God.

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He had pulled away from a deeper walk

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with God.

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Many years later, I visited this pastor's so

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-called new church, and I was shocked by

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what I saw.

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Stepping into his church was like stepping into

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the hallway of hell.

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It was purposely dark in the church sanctuary,

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which he had turned into a nightclub, strung

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with colored beads for curtains, black paint on

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the walls, and stacked with huge sound amplifiers

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for his metal rock band.

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This pastor no longer wore a tie, but

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dressed in sloppy casual attire, and his sermon

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was just utter nonsense and blasphemy against a

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holy and righteous God.

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This man had fallen into such spiritual apostasy

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that he resorted to cheap bathroom humor to

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shock his congregation into embarrassing laughs.

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This man's ministry had once been so powerful,

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but now it had become so sad.

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This pastor, who was once an inspiration to

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me, became a dire warning to me.

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My message this evening, friends, is entitled Drawing

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Back, and I think it's a warning to

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each of us not to play games with

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almighty God.

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If you intend to get serious with God,

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friend, then you better stay serious with Him.

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If God challenges you in your personal life,

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it's an opportunity to go further with Him,

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in a deeper experience of Him.

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If you draw back, you will miss that

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deeper experience of God, and depending on how

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far away you draw back, it may throw

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you into an apostasy as well.

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There is a passage in my Bible, in

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the book of Hebrews, which has a dire

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warning to us as it stands out in

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black print on white paper.

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It is Hebrews 10 and verses 38 through

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39.

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Here now is the word of God, and

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may the Spirit of the Lord attend the

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reading of His holy word.

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Now the just shall live by faith, but

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if any man draw back, my soul shall

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have no pleasure in him.

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But we are not of them who draw

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back unto perdition, but of them that believe

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to the saving of the soul.

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I believe God tries the faith of those

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who lay claim to His Son.

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I don't believe God will allow any hypocrites

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into His holy heaven.

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Sometimes God will allow a person to remain

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inside the doors of a church for years

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in their profession of Christianity.

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All who know them would say of them,

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this person is surely a believer.

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They look good on the outside, but a

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day will come, sooner or later, where God

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will test their faith.

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The testing may come through a deeper seeking

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of God, like my pastor friend who was

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privileged to have revival come to his church,

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and as he was going along with God,

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he was challenged by God concerning his faith.

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God asked him for something that was dear

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to him, and he drew back.

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And that one step back led to another

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step back, as this man slowly but surely

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backed away from God, until he became a

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fulfillment of our text today.

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Now the just shall live by faith, but

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if any man draw back, my soul shall

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have no pleasure in him.

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But we are not of them who draw

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back into perdition.

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God may allow you to live as a

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good church member, friend, for years, and a

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day will come when He will try your

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faith by trial and tribulations, to see if

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you will keep on going forward with Him

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in your profession of faith towards Him.

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Your testing may come in the form of

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a financial crisis.

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God may allow you to go bulk of

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your financial security pulled out from under you,

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like a rug is suddenly snatched out from

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beneath one where you're standing, and now you

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have nothing to stand on but God Himself.

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Your time of testing may come in the

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form of physical illness or grief that is

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unexpected and unwanted.

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The sky as you know it has become

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dark, foreboding, and it's the trial of your

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life, and your faith in God is being

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tested.

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Or your time of testing may come in

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a season of prosperity and great success.

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Your testing comes by way of sexual infidelity.

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I had a friend in church years ago

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who this very thing played out in his

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life.

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He was a leader at church, and he

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had a good reputation in our community as

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a Christian man.

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He was married with three children, and his

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business was prospering.

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He'd just built a fine new home out

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in the country with a lot of acreage,

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and he bought himself an expensive sports car.

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Everything was going his way until he hired

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a pretty new secretary that was half his

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age.

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Pretty soon this so-called Christian man was

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knee-deep in adultery, and his marital infidelity

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cost him his marriage of 20 years, cost

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him his children for two of them when

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they were teenagers became train wrecks themselves, and

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it cost him his good Christian testimony at

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church.

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The last time I saw him, he was

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flying to Russia to bring back another girlfriend

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as he had gone from one relationship to

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another.

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I can promise you two things, friends, when

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it comes to being a follower of Christ

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Jesus.

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Number one, the devil will be actively against

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you, and he will do all he can

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to trip you up and make you fall.

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Secondly, there will come a time in your

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life, it may be brief or it may

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be long, but the God of heaven in

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whom you profess will try your faith.

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He will test your love for him.

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If you draw back, it will reveal your

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spiritual condition, and it may be an opportunity

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to get to the Christ you never have

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truly known for the saving of your soul,

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or it may be a testing of your

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faith to where you turn away from God,

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you step back, and you keep stepping back

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until you draw back onto perdition in the

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devil's hell.

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But either way, God will be God, and

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he will receive glory.

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Let us pray.