|
Holy Trinity Anglican Orthodox Church
|
||
|
Religion With Heart |
||
|
Romans
6:17 Seventh
Sunday after Trinity July
26, 2009 I think it is self evident that for every good thing there is a counterfeit, and for every truth there is a lie masquerading as truth. Especially is this true in the realm of religion. I do not refer here to other religions; I take for granted that we who claim to believe the Bible above all else understand their errors. I refer to those in the visible Church of Jesus Christ who profess to know Him, and, even to speak in His name. Among them, among us there are those who embrace ideas and practices that mimic and appear to be true Christianity, but are in reality, counterfeits and falsehoods. There are numerous counterfeit gospels. The true Gospel is that found in the New Testament, preached by the Church for more than 2,000 years, and expounded in our Book of Common Prayer. It is the Gospel of the Incarnation, Crucifixion, Resurrection, Ascension, and Return of Jesus Christ for our sins and our salvation. Yet the leader of a well-known denomination recently called this Gospel a Western heresy that is responsible for much of what is wrong in the Church and the culture today. Others obviously agree, for the pure Gospel of salvation in Christ has been largely replaced with the gospel of health and wealth, the gospel of self-fulfillment and personal peace, the gospel of getting everything you want from God here and now, and the social gospel of peace and justice according to the self-proclaimed social engineers of our time. By contrast, the Bible warns us that anyone who preaches any gospel other than that which has been received through Christ and recorded in Scripture is accursed (Gal. 1:8-9). There are numerous false preachers and teachers. The Bible says we will know them by their fruits. In other words, if ministers preach and teach the real Gospel of Christ, and lead people into true and biblical faith resulting in real godliness and the fruit of the Spirit, they are true ministers of God. If not, they are wolves in sheep’s clothing, who tickle the ears and kill the soul. Of course they must also practice what they preach. They must live the truth as well as preach the truth. In this day of pop star preachers, I regret to say, true ministers of God are rare and false teachers abound. There is an imitation repentance that outwardly appears to sorrow over sin, but never really embraces Christ as the only sacrifice for sin and the Lord of life. It is a sorrow, not unto life, but unto death. I give you Judas Iscariot as an example. Judas was so sorry for handing Jesus over to be crucified that he hung himself. He did not repent of his sin. He did not turn to Christ as Lord and Saviour in biblical faith. So he died in his sin, and he remains “dead in his sins” to this very day. There is a false faith, which accepts certain facts about Christ, like the devils who believe and tremble, but will never repent unto life in true faith. I give Simon Magus (Acts 8:13) as an example. It is written of Simon that he believed and was baptized and continued with Philip beholding the miracles and signs which were done. Yet Peter said to Simon, “thy heart is not right in the sight of God. Repent therefore of this thy wickedness” (Acts 8:21-22). Simon’s sin was that he desired the power to impart the gift of the Holy Spirit, for which he wanted to charge money and get rich. His faith was not in Christ as Lord and Saviour, but as a money making gimmick. His “belief” was not real. There is a false compassion and love that makes a great show of emotional feelings and being nice but whose heart never really cares for the persons and needs of others. We see this often in the superficial friendships of the world, but we also see it in the emotion driven churches who make much of hugging and weeping but whose love is all feelings and no actions. We see it also in the social gospel and peace and justice churches who make great shows about compassion and inclusiveness, but whose policies and preaching are destructive to the real needs and welfare of people. When the woman anointed the head of Christ with costly ointment, the disciples murmured that it could have been sold and the money given to the poor (Mt. 26:9). They were not really concerned about the poor, else they would have given their own money to help them. You may mark well the truth that many people care deeply about the poor when it comes to giving away someone else’s money, but not when it comes to giving away their own. This is false compassion. There is a counterfeit holiness which makes a great show of religion and outwardly appears to follow Christ, yet whose inward disposition is ruled by self-will and hypocrisy, even rejecting the clear teaching of the Bible. I call Judas Iscariot again as an example, who, though counted as one of the twelve, was inwardly a thief and ultimately delivered Christ to His murderers. There is a false humility which makes a great show of humbleness which only masks a heart ruled by pride and arrogance. I have known many people who are unbearably proud of their humility. There is a counterfeit prayer which makes much of outward show and may even pray for good and godly things, but does not mean what it says. The prayer is a mere form and ritual. It is not real. This is a special danger in public prayer, whether written and liturgical or extemporaneous, for it is possible to read or hear or say the words with the physical senses but not with the heart. We all know people who have mouthed the Prayer Book, or extemporaneous prayers for decades but neither mean nor understand what they say. Their prayers are a pretense. There is a counterfeit worship. I cannot stress too much that most of what passes for worship in American churches is not worship of God at all. It is self worship and self will dressed in a few words from the Bible but centered around getting good feelings, entertainment, prosperity, and self-fulfillment from God. These “worshipers” claim to praise God in services patterned after rock concerts, sports events, and pagan festivals, but everyone knows it’s not about God, it’s about them. Likewise many a solemn liturgical service in beautiful buildings with great choirs singing the great hymns of the faith is only about the feelings and tastes of the people, not about God. Too often the words of Isaiah quoted by our Lord in Matthew 15:8 apply to the church of contemporary America, “This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.” J. C.Ryle, writing of this very problem in his own time said; “How
much religion among some members of the church of England
consists of nothing but churchmanship! They
belong to the Established church. They
are baptized at her fonts, married at her communion rails, buried in her
churchyards, preached to on Sundays by her ministers. But the great doctrines laid down in her Articles and Liturgy
have no place in their hearts, and no influence in their lives.
They neither think, nor feel, nor care, nor know anything about
them. And is the religion of
these people real Christianity? It
is nothing of the kind. It is
not the Christianity of Peter, and James, and John, and Paul,
It is Churchianity, and
no more.”* “No
influence in their lives.” I
remember a time when I went to church faithfully.
I remember being baptized, taking Communion, believing
intellectually the doctrines of the Christian faith and living a fairly
good life by human standards. Yet,
the things I professed to believe had no influence in my life.
I made my decisions and lived out my life largely independently of
the God in whom I professed to believe.
I had a form of godliness, but not the substance or essence of it.
Therefore, my faith was a false faith, and my profession of Christ
was a false profession. Brother and sister, I urge you to ensure that your faith is
true faith today. You devote
much effort to earning a living, and may I lovingly say that you devote
much time and money to your own pleasures and comforts.
Do you give yourself with equal devotion to the things of God and
to the pursuit of holiness? I
close with another quote from Bishop Ryle: “If
there is anything which a man ought to do thoroughly, really, truly,
honestly, and with all his heart, it is the
business of his soul. If
there is any work which he ought never to slur over, and do in a slovenly
fashion, it is the great work of ‘working out his own salvation.”
(Phil.ii.12) Believer
in Christ, remember this! Whatever
you do in religion, do it well. Be
real. Be thorough. Be honest. Be
true.” “The
years of our life are fast passing away. Who knows but this year may be
the last in his life? Who can tell but that he may be called this very year to meet
his God?” “The
time is fast coming when
nothing but reality will stand the fire.
Real repentance toward God, - real faith towards our lord Jesus
Christ, - real holiness of heart and life, - these, these alone are the
things that will pass current at the last day. It
is a solemn saying of our Lord Jesus Christ, “Many shall say in that
day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Thy name, and in Thy name have
cast out devils, and in thy name have done many wonderful works? And then will I profess to them, I never knew you.
Depart from Me, ye that work iniquity.”
(Matt. vii.22,23.) I beg you, be not among that people, for there is another option. That option is to obey from the heart; to believe from the heart. When Paul tells us to obey from the heart he is not talking about emotions. We need to divest ourselves of the idea that feelings define real religion and that heartfelt religion is emotional religion. “Heart” in the New Testament refers to the spiritual/intellectual soul of a person. It refers to the essence of your being which defines who and what you are. Religion of the heart, then, is faith that comes from your very essence, from the very core of your being. Religion of the heart defines you. This alone is true religion, true faith, true repentance, and true holiness. Without it one has none of these things, only the counterfeits and lies I have described today. Without it the words of Christ, “depart from Me, ye that work iniquity” await you on that terrible day when you stand before the Judgment Seat of God. With it, and through it alone, you will hear, “well done, thou good and faithful servant.” * Readers are encouraged to read Bishop J. C. Ryle’s
paper, “Reality” found in Practical
Religion, from which much of this sermon is borrowed. The Rev. Dr. R. Dennis Campbell, Vicar, Holy Trinity Anglican Church,
|
||
Copyright © 2006 Holy Trinity Anglican Orthodox Church. All rights reserved For website information contact: E-mail Webmaster |
||
http://www.holytrinityanglicanorthodoxchurch.org/HolyTrinityHello.htm