Let's turn to God's Word in 1 Corinthians
and chapter 3.
When we read the Word of God carefully,
which I have discovered is not a practice
followed by most believers, we will discover some
amazing things.
For example, here is a passage like that.
In 1 Corinthians 3 it says, about that
day when Jesus Christ will come back and
we will all stand before him, we may
be born again, our sins are forgiven, but
it says here in that day, even though
we have built our life on the foundation
of Christ, verse 11, it says on that
foundation, here it's not a question of the
foundation, here it's a question of the superstructure,
verse 12, if any man builds upon that
foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, that's one
alternative, or with wood, hay and straw, each
man's work will become evident, for the day
will show it, and that's referring to the
day when Jesus comes again, because his work
will be revealed with fire, and the fire
itself will test the quality of each man's
work.
Notice the word quality.
It's not the quantity.
Unfortunately, we assess people in Christendom today by
quantity.
Statistics of a man's work, or of the
results of an evangelist's labours, or of the
ministry of a church, are always in terms
of numbers, quantity.
But here it doesn't say anything about quantity.
It says the fire will test the quality
of each man's work.
And if any man's work which he has
built upon it remains, he shall receive a
reward.
But if any man's work is burnt up
by that fire, he shall suffer loss, but
he himself shall be saved.
So here it's not a question of whether
you go to heaven or hell.
It says the man himself is going to
be saved.
He's going to get into God's presence.
And all those believers whose only ambition in
life is to get a last seat in
heaven need not worry about this passage at
all.
They need not hear anything for the next
three days.
I'm speaking for those who are not satisfied
with getting a last seat in heaven.
I want to speak to those who don't
want to do just the bare minimum for
the Lord Jesus Christ.
To scrape in by the skin of their
teeth into God's presence.
I want to speak primarily to those who
are so gripped with gratitude for what Jesus
Christ did for them on Calvary's cross that
they say, Lord, what's the maximum I can
do for you on earth before I leave
this world?
Thank you.
Not what is the bare minimum I need
to do to somehow or the other get
into your presence and live eternal ages with
you having lived a selfish, self-centered life
on earth.
So the people I'm speaking to, I hope,
becomes clear now.
And I believe it's to such people the
Bible speaks.
Jesus did not call people who wanted to
somehow get into heaven by the skin of
their teeth and get a last seat there.
He called people who were willing to forsake
everything, deny themselves every day, because they were
so tremendously gripped by gratitude to Jesus for
what he has done.
Once Jesus was in the house of a
Pharisee and there a sinful woman came to
wash his feet with her tears and Jesus
told a parable to the Pharisee there when
he was inwardly judging the Lord for allowing
this woman, this sinful woman, to even touch
his feet.
And he said there were two people who
were forgiven.
One let's say 500 pounds and the other
50 pounds and who will love more?
And Simon the Pharisee said, obviously the one
who is forgiven more.
And Jesus said the one who is forgiven.
Do you see this woman?
She is forgiven much.
She loves much.
How much we love the Lord depends on
how much we recognize we have been forgiven.
Not how much we have been actually forgiven.
Because actually nobody has been forgiven little.
You may think you have committed very few
sins.
One day when the Lord comes you will
discover nobody has been forgiven little.
Everybody has been forgiven a tremendous lot.
Much.
But the awareness of how much we have
been forgiven varies.
There are many people who have been forgiven
much who think that they were not so
bad as others.
And who therefore think they have been forgiven
little.
But there are others who have a greater
understanding of purity and holiness.
And recognize that in the light of that
purity and holiness they have been forgiven a
tremendous lot.
And the proof of that is they love
much.
They don't find any comfort in this verse
which says even though their work is burnt
up they shall still be saved.
They don't find any comfort in that and
they are not basing their life on that
verse either.
They say Lord that's not for me.
That's for all those people who haven't who
feel they haven't been forgiven much and who
are ungrateful.
But I am not one in that category
and I hope none of us here are
in that category.
I hope our singing thank you to the
Lord in our songs will manifest itself in
seeking to do the maximum for Him before
we leave this earth.
I thought it would be good if in
these three sessions we consider the difference between
spirituality and religiosity.
A lot of people are religious but think
that they are spiritual.
There is a world of difference between being
religious and being spiritual.
You know the Bible speaks in 2 Timothy
3.5 of those who have a form
of godliness without the power.
That's what I mean by religiosity.
Having a form of godliness.
That form can consist of going to meetings
reading the Bible praying everyday giving permissions a
lot of emotion in our singing but without
the inner power that makes a man truly
spiritual.
Here is an example of a man who
is religious.
He doesn't go to hell he has got
his foundation right he has trusted the Lord
for his salvation but he has spent his
life his time his money his energy his
talents his gifts his opportunities building wood hay
and straw maybe quite a lot of work
statistics wise very impressive but when wood, hay
and straw is put into the fire there
is nothing left because the fire is not
impressed by the size of the wood or
the amount of the hay or the straw
it tests the quality and it says this
is good for nothing it's burnt up imagine
the sorrow and the regret that a lot
of believers for remember this is not speaking
about unbelievers it's speaking about people who are
saved but whose entire life's work is burnt
up who are going to stand in eternity
recognizing they have lived for themselves their thank
you songs in the meetings were empty because
they were just plain religious but because multitudes
of Christians around them did not have discernment
they got along pretty well maybe they were
even elders in churches I believe lots of
people in spiritual leadership are not spiritual they
are religious so it's good for us to
focus on this what does it mean to
build with gold silver and precious stones you
put gold, silver and precious stones into the
fire and it remains even if it's very
little I'd rather have a little gold in
the final day than tons of wood, hay
and straw so I want to turn in
that connection to a verse in Romans so
that we can try and understand what is
the difference between gold, silver and precious stones
on one side and wood, hay and straw
on the other Romans chapter 11 and verse
36 in Romans 11.36 is a little
verse which says from God and through God
and to God are all things now we
know that all things on earth are not
from God and through God and to God
a lot of things on the earth in
fact most things on the earth are from
man through man and to man but here
it's referring to things which are going to
abide for eternity things that have eternal value
we could read it like this all the
things that are going to last forever are
the things that have originated in God that
have been done through God's power and that
have been done unto Him for His glory
and everything else which originated in man's brilliant
mind and done through human power and all
the abilities man has and which was done
for the glory of man will not last
for eternity so there we see this is
gold, silver and precious stones what was done
in the will of God by the power
of God for the glory of God that's
gold, silver and precious stones that will remain
for eternal ages and all the rest for
example even Christian work which was done without
seeking the will of God which was done
through the power of money or emotions or
hypnosis or anything like that and which was
done for the honor of the preacher or
the honor of the organization or for the
promotion of a particular church or denomination will
all be burnt up in the final day
it's good for us to know it now
so that we don't waste our time building
with wood, hay and straw there is an
example of this in the Old Testament in
the book of Genesis chapter 11 in Genesis
chapter 11 we read about the building of
the tower of Babel the tower of Babel
is the origin is the beginning of what
finally ends up in the book of Revelation
as religious Babylon which is called in Revelation
17 the mother of harlots spiritual harlotry what
is spiritual harlotry?
James says, know ye not brethren he who
loves the world is an enemy of God
he who is a friend of the world
is an enemy of God and he says
you can be an adulteress in fact he
calls them adulteresses in James 4.4 know
ye not that friendship with the world is
to be the enemy of God that's how
a person becomes a spiritual harlot when he
claims to be the bride of Christ and
during her engagement period fools around with another
man called the world while waiting for her
bridegroom to come but the origin of that
whole religious system of spiritual harlotry begins here
in Genesis chapter 11 with Babylon and how
does it begin?
how did Babylon begin?
it's a whole lot of people who were
united let's remember one thing here all unity
is not necessarily from God these people were
united but they were united against God and
they thought up an idea this did not
originate from God it originated in man's brilliant
brain they said come let us Genesis 11
.4 build a city they had a plan
they didn't need to see God it was
from man and it was through man with
their energy and their strength they did not
need God's power for any of these things
and it was to man it says here
in verse 4 let us make for ourselves
a name brothers and sisters that is the
fundamental principle of Babylon of religiosity it is
Christian work Christian service which originates in man's
fertile mind without studying the scriptures without seeking
to understand God's way without seeking the will
of God which does not need to wait
before God in prayer in fact the cleverer
we are the less we pray the less
we need to pray because we are capable
ourselves if we are wanting to build Babylon
that which originates in man's mind and is
done through man's power we can look at
it another way when God sent Adam into
the garden of Eden there were many trees
there but the two trees particularly mentioned you
know them one is the tree of knowledge
of good and evil and the other is
the tree of life have you ever wondered
why God said to Adam that if you
eat of the tree of knowledge of good
and evil you will die why is the
knowledge of good and evil bad isn't it
a good thing to know good from evil
to do evil I mean if God had
said if you do evil you will die
that we can understand but to know good
and evil what's wrong in that and yet
the Lord said if you go and eat
from that tree you will die why was
the knowledge of good and evil something that
led to spiritual death you see these two
trees symbolize two principles of living one is
a way of life where I have the
knowledge of good and evil resident within myself
I have eaten of the tree of that
fruit it has come inside me I don't
need God now if I hadn't eaten of
that and I go to the tree of
life instead that speaks of another way of
life where every time I want to know
good and evil I go to God that
knowledge is not resident within me I have
to go to God and say but once
I eat of this tree I don't need
to go to God anymore it speaks of
two ways of life one is a way
a life independent of God not doing evil
necessarily but not referring to God in wanting
to know his will do you know that
there are a lot of things which look
good to the eyes of man but which
are not the will of God twice in
the book of Proverbs once in chapter 14
and in second time in chapter 16 it
says there is a way that seems right
unto man but the end thereof is death
and it's interesting that the Holy Spirit has
recorded it a second time in chapter 16
just in case you missed it in chapter
14 that is there is a way that
seems right to a man there are a
lot of things that seem right to us
but the end thereof is death you see
just because a man is religious doesn't mean
he is hungering after God man is basically
religious we see that in all the religions
in the world they are not seeking after
God but man is basically religious just like
he feels hungry and wants food just like
he feels sleepy and wants to sleep he
also is religious and when a person in
a false religion is religious we identify that
as that's not spirituality but when a person
is religious in the name of Jesus Christ
we automatically think he is spiritual not necessarily
it may be the same motivating power and
force that motivates that person in the false
religion that motivates this man to do things
in the name of Jesus Christ it may
have nothing to do with spirituality and yet
he may be very upright in many ways
haven't we heard many people say boy that
man may be a Hindu but he is
such a good man he is such an
upright man and there are people who are
upright they have the knowledge of good and
evil resident within them their forefather and our
forefather Adam has eaten of that tree and
we've got that knowledge resident within us whatever
religion we may be we know good from
evil and we can be upright but we
are not necessarily spiritual so there again we
see those who live by the tree of
knowledge of good and evil can be extremely
religious it's a life under the law of
rules and regulations let me use another illustration
the Bible says in John 1 17 that
the law came with Moses but grace came
through Jesus Christ the law is pictured in
that tree of knowledge of good and evil
what could the law give people it couldn't
give life to anyone it couldn't give eternal
life it was never meant to give eternal
life but it did teach people what was
good and what was evil but the Bible
says in the book of Hebrews chapter 7
and chapter 8 that the old covenant has
been abolished God has brought in a new
covenant through Jesus Christ because the old covenant
could not lead a man to become spiritual
the law could never make a man spiritual
it could only make a man religious and
that's why the apostle Paul says in Philippians
chapter 3 I don't want the righteousness of
the law he says I want the righteousness
of God or if I were to paraphrase
his words using the words I'm using right
now what Paul is saying there in Philippians
3 verse 9 and 10 is I don't
want to be religious I want to be
spiritual I don't want a religion of external
correctness you see the righteousness of the law
is an external correctness which gives me a
good testimony before men but the righteousness of
God is love deep within the heart a
fervent love for God whether I read the
Bible or not a fervent love for God
remember people couldn't read the Bible for 13,
14 centuries when the Bible was not printed
today we have the printed Bible for 14
centuries there was no printed Bible I'm not
despising Bible reading but I'm saying it must
be based on a love for God a
fervent love for God and a love for
others whether they agree with me or not
that's true spirituality I have often wondered why
God did not make certain doctrines more clear
in the New Testament I find believers for
example who are baptized as children and others
who are baptized as adults both born again
I find some believers who don't speak in
tongues and who think it's of the devil
and other believers who do speak in tongues
and know it's from God and I thought
you know they both use the same Bible
and they come to two different conclusions on
baptism on speaking in tongues and many other
things on the tribulation whether the church will
go through it or not go through it
and we could name so many other doctrines
like that and I thought in a Bible
which contains more than a thousand pages God
could have added one more page just clarifying
these controversial doctrines which he knew would arise
in the future God knew the future and
he could have said this is the correct
form of baptism and this is the right
doctrine about speaking in tongues and this is
the right doctrine about the tribulation just three
verses I mean there are already thirty one
thousand verses in the Bible three more verses
wouldn't have made much of a difference why
didn't God put it in is it because
he didn't know I hope you don't think
so he knew everything he knew he knows
everything from the beginning to the end why
did he not put it in now I
understood when I was a younger Christian I
did and the Lord showed me my own
life the Lord said if all of you
my children agreed and saw I in every
doctrine you would never know whether your love
for one another was human or divine human
love can easily love people who see eye
to eye with them whether they are communists
or naxalites or Christians or anything provided you
see eye to eye with me rather I
lay down my life for you but the
moment you disagree with me on something boy
then you will see my true colors that's
human love but when it is divine love
it has got nothing to do with whether
you see eye to eye with me or
not it has got to do with the
fact that I have partaken of God's nature
and I believe that is the reason why
anyway one reason why God has allowed some
of these doctrines to be a little vague
and you find a whole lot of people
who are so dogmatic that they are absolutely
right and everybody else is wrong Paul himself
the great apostle who wrote scripture said in
1 Corinthians 13 we see through a glass
darkly but some believers say we see clearly
Paul may have seen darkly but we see
clearly that's the problem and the other group
in the other denomination says we also see
clearly and you are 100% wrong it's
good to be a little humble and say
we don't see so clearly concerning so many
things if we love we have got the
most important doctrine right if we know how
to humble ourselves like Jesus Christ and become
a servant of one another then we have
understood the main thing in the Christian life
you see how easy it is for us
to be religious to be fervent in our
religiosity and not be spiritual at all and
our labors will build Babylon from man through
man to man with all our doctrines and
all our bible knowledge so let's look at
one of these things today from God are
all things of eternal value that means God
wants us to live in His will the
important thing is not what I do for
Him I can do a whole lot of
things for Him which God may not want
me to do do you remember that prayer
which Jesus taught us to pray our Father
who art in heaven hallowed be thy name
thy kingdom come thy will be done that's
not all the latter part of it is
the most important part thy will be done
on earth as it is done in heaven
now when you read a verse like that
and it's the Lord's prayer which many people
repeat I want to ask you my dear
brothers and sisters how many of you have
spent even two minutes thinking about how is
God's will done in heaven I must confess
I prayed that prayer for many many years
before I even sat down and thought what
does that mean as it is done in
heaven let me think how is God's will
done in heaven then I got some light
on that verse which I never got before
I thought well how do the angels do
God's will in heaven do you find the
angels always thinking of bright ideas to do
something for God and running around here and
there doing something for God like people say
I want to do something for God well
the angels are not doing something for God
they are waiting in God's presence Gabriel for
example he doesn't suddenly think of a bright
idea to go down to earth and do
something for God no he waits in God's
presence and God says Gabriel I want you
to go down and do this he goes
and does it it's not his own will
it did not originate in his brain it
originated in God and he just did what
God told him to do you know the
story of Mary and Martha another clear picture
of spirituality and religiosity what was Martha doing
unselfishly working in the kitchen facing all the
heat of the whatever type of fire they
had those days to cook a meal not
for herself for the Lord and his disciples
can you think of a more unselfish act
than that to slog away in the kitchen
cooking a meal for 14-15 people and
what was Mary doing just apparently lazily sitting
at the Lord's feet listening now I think
if you and I were there we would
have thought Martha is the one who is
really spiritual because Mary just sitting here doing
nothing because we think activity and a lot
of sacrifice is spirituality not necessarily Martha also
thought that and she came to the Lord
and said Lord please tell this lazy sister
of mine to get up and help me
and she thought the Lord would rebuke Mary
and on the contrary the Lord rebuked Martha
can you understand that what did Mary choose
just to wait at the Lord's feet like
the angels in heaven to do God's will
as it is done in heaven waiting for
the Lord to say Mary I want you
to do this then she would get up
and do it and Jesus said that is
the one thing needful he is not looking
for people who will be restlessly active like
Martha you may find in the final day
with all your restless activity when you stand
before the Lord the Lord may have to
say to you my brother, sister you are
careful and troubled about many things the one
thing I wanted you to do you never
did because some of these bright ideas we
have actually hinder God's work consider the example
of Jesus himself he came to earth to
do the Father's will now he knew the
entire scriptures better than anybody in Palestine at
the age of 12 and if knowledge of
the scripture and in addition he had a
totally pure life he had never sinned once
in thought, word, deed attitude, motive for 12
years if knowledge of the scriptures and a
pure life is enough for a man to
serve the Lord Jesus was ready at 12
why didn't he go out?
there was a world around him dying in
sin if he waited till the age of
30 there would be some people who would
die in the next 18 years who wouldn't
hear the gospel there are a lot of
logical reasons why Jesus should have left at
the age of 12 and like these boy
preachers have been one of those boy preachers
who have gone around preaching why didn't he
do it?
when he had the qualifications the ability and
there was a needy world around him from
every logical he should have gone and he
didn't go not just for 1 or 2
years he didn't go for the next 18
years and amazing thing he spends his time
making stools and benches and tables while the
world is dying in sin he doesn't seem
to have much missionary zeal when the world
is dying in sin to be making stools
and tables and benches yeah when we look
at Jesus we understand what spirituality is he
said in John chapter 6 John's gospel chapter
6 he said in verse 38 I have
come down from heaven not to do my
own will but the will of him who
sent me I believe that is one of
the most important verses in all the gospels
that describe what Jesus came on earth to
do many of us think of Jesus having
come to earth to die for our sins
that doesn't say at all that's part of
the truth if you want in one sentence
the entire truth why Jesus came from heaven
to earth here it is in this verse
he came from heaven to earth not to
do his own will but the will of
his father part of which was dying for
the sins of the world but there were
lot of other things also in the will
of the father which he did and so
we see here he came from heaven not
to do his own will but the will
of his father and he calls us to
follow him in the same way why has
God placed us here on earth Jesus said
to his disciples as the father sent me
John chapter 20 so send I you we
can apply those words to ourselves in our
day as the father sent Jesus to this
earth he sends us into the world to
do what we don't have to think of
bright ideas to do something for God we
need to wait on the Lord a little
more that which 20th century Christians find so
difficult to do it tests our patience when
we have to wait on the Lord we
say why do we need to wait on
the Lord there is a world in need
and I got so many bright ideas and
I got the money or if I don't
have the money I can get people to
give the money and I can do it
will end up like Martha it will end
up like the tower of Babel it will
end up as wood hay and straw Jesus
would not serve like that he waited on
the father and the father said go and
work in the carpentry shop till I tell
you to leave and he worked in the
carpentry shop what was he doing in the
carpentry shop the will of his father we
think it is more spiritual to preach the
gospel than to work in a secular job
lots of Christians have that idea in other
words if that were true then we have
to say for 30 years Jesus sort of
did some unspiritual work and then only for
10% of his life he did anything
spiritual is that true can we accuse Jesus
of that everything he did was spiritual when
he helped his mother at home as a
little boy he was spiritual that was the
most spiritual thing to do when he earned
his living with his own hands it was
spiritual he didn't do it for himself he
did it because he had to be an
example for us not only our saviour but
our forerunner our example he knew that we
would have to earn our living by the
sweat of our brow and working with our
hands as our forerunner he went that way
himself and when the father called him to
leave he left I meet lots of young
people who say the lord I want to
serve the lord and I have seen a
lot of people who go out like that
and make a mess of their lives so
I spend most of my time restraining them
I say hang on I say I am
not against the lord calling the lord called
me and I have been serving him 30
years since he called me and I know
very clearly that the lord calls but I
said if you go on the basis of
your seeing a need and you are wanting
to do something for god I can give
it to you in writing today you are
going to end up frustrated accomplishing nothing maybe
accomplishing something that impresses men but nothing of
eternal value if you wait and let god
call you and tell you what to do
in a short time you will do much
more than with all your restless activity but
it is very difficult to get 20th century
believers to understand that very very difficult we
live in such a fast paced world that
we feel that if I am waiting on
the lord that is waste of time we
haven't understood how god's will is done in
heaven we repeat it thy will be done
on earth as is done in heaven but
it doesn't mean anything to us that is
gold silver and precious stones from him are
all things I thought of moses building the
tabernacle the bible says moses was educated in
all the wisdom of the egyptians and remember
the egyptians built pyramids in those days which
even today's engineers marvel at the way that
those were built amazing the construction of those
pyramids and moses lived at that time he
studied the building of pyramids these fantastic structures
and then he went out into the wilderness
and god told him to build a tabernacle
and if you were to look at that
pattern of that tabernacle this is the most
unimpressive structure that you can think of just
a little white sheet around a compound and
some animal skins put over some poles you
know if moses were the old moses at
the age of 40 he would have told
god leave it to me lord I've been
trained in the academies of egypt I'll make
a structure which all the philistines and the
canaanites will stand back and wonder but he
wasn't the same old moses when he was
80 years old god had thrashed out all
the chaff of egypt's wisdom out of his
brain and he humbled himself and said oh
lord I'll do it exactly as you say
he did the lord's will and the glory
of the lord came upon that tabernacle that
is the secret old testament or new testament
when we do things according to god's will
the glory of the lord comes upon us
and upon our labors jesus came to deny
himself to do the will of his father
we read in luke's gospel chapter 9 luke
9 verse 23 jesus said if anyone wants
to come after me let him deny himself
take up his cross daily and follow me
I believe that it is central to spirituality
to understand this verse it is impossible to
follow jesus if we don't deny our self
every day self has got its ideas we
got to deny that self has got its
power we got to deny that self seeks
its own honor we got to deny that
every day this is not once for all
I can't finish with it once for all
every day and take up my cross means
I have to die to what?
to my own will to my own choices
if I want to follow him now it
is possible for us to read the bible
every day to be very fervent in religious
activity to go to 5-6 meetings a
week to support missionary work very sacrificially and
yet not deny self a single day that's
what makes people religious and that's what made
the pharisees religious in that time when you
contrast Jesus with the pharisees you see the
clear contrast between spirituality and religiosity the clearest
example of religiosity is the pharisees they didn't
have any of their doctrines wrong their doctrines
were all right they were evangelical fundamental in
their doctrine people think if a person is
all right in his doctrine everything is ok
well then Jesus said very clearly to his
disciples in Matthew 23 verse 2 the pharisees
are sitting on Moses seat all that they
say to you do have you read that
verse Jesus told his disciples to do everything
that the pharisees taught why?
because their doctrines were correct he wouldn't say
the same about the sadducees the sadducees were
another group they did not have their doctrines
right they did not believe in the resurrection
they did not believe there were angels they
did not believe there were spirits Jesus would
never have told the disciples all that the
sadducees say unto you do no the sadducees
were the liberals of that day the pharisees
were the evangelicals of that day but it
was to the evangelicals of that day that
Jesus turned around and said you generation of
vipers how will you escape the damnation of
hell why?
because their life did not match up to
their doctrine their active religious activity had no
cross in it it had no self-denial
it had no sacrifice it had no death
to sell it was activity perhaps a lot
of sacrifice you know one of the things
that the pharisees did Jesus said in Matthew
23 you cross land and sea to make
a proselyte how did they cross land and
sea?
they must have given up their jobs they
must have become full time workers they must
have become missionaries supported by some missionary organization
back home they crossed land and sea to
make converts and Jesus said what type of
convert do you make at the end of
it someone who is two fold a child
of hell like yourself Jesus had pretty strong
language yeah he loved people so much that's
why he spoke with such strong language we
don't love so much that's why we don't
speak with strong language I've been challenged I
try to use strong language but I don't
love enough Jesus loved people far more than
me and he used strong language today we
live in the midst of multitudes of Christians
who use such mild language and will send
people to hell they don't love them enough
will allow people to build with wood, hay
and straw all their life and destroy their
life they don't love them enough to tell
them the truth Jesus was not like that
he loved people so much that he would
use language like that he would say if
you lust after a woman with your eyes
cut off your hand pull out your eyes
it's better to go to heaven with one
eye and with one hand than to go
to hell with two eyes and with two
hands who would preach like that today?
we'd think such a man is crazy we'd
say to such a person brother you don't
believe salvation is by faith whether you lust
with one eye or two eyes makes no
difference so long as you believe you're okay
perhaps the Pharisees said that to Jesus in
his time too Jesus said if you call
a man a fool an empty head you're
in danger of hell if you're angry with
your brother who preaches like that today we
don't love people enough we think that people
are spiritual just because they're religious the Pharisees
are the clearest example of religious people turn
to that parable in Luke chapter 15 Luke
chapter 15 this is well known in Christian
circles as the story of the prodigal son
but it's not actually the story of the
prodigal son it's the story of two sons
and I believe we have a lot more
to learn from the elder son than from
the younger one the younger one was really
worldly he lived in sin the elder son
was not worldly he lived in the father's
house he's a picture of a Pharisee religious
doing all the right things externally but inwardly
having a grouse in his heart against his
father which comes out in a moment of
provocation he says to his father in Luke
15 I have served you all these years
verse 29 and you've never given me anything
do you see what's in his heart what
was he serving the father for all these
years was it out of love no sir
he was serving to get something for himself
you never gave me anything and he remembers
that you never gave me a kid to
celebrate with my friends that's religious service it's
got a complaint against God for not having
done something for them which they felt they
deserved have you ever felt like that brother
sister sometimes maybe you have a sickness or
a sickness in your family or some financial
need or some problem in your business or
your job something like that and you pray
and pray and pray and pray and pray
and you don't get an answer and even
though you don't say it you feel in
your heart boy after all that I sacrificed
for the Lord and all that I did
for him he doesn't even do a small
thing like this for me that's the spirit
of the elder son you feel God owes
you something you feel you deserve something that's
the mark of a religious man tell me
my brothers and sisters if God gave us
all what we deserved what would we get
hell absolutely no doubt about that God says
you want what you deserve ok I'll give
it to you don't ask for it brother
it's dangerous I say Lord don't give me
what I deserve give me what I don't
deserve that's religiosity where I think I deserve
something from God Jesus exposed that constantly in
the story of the Pharisee and the publicans
the same old thing the spiritual the man
who thinks he is spiritual because he fasts
he prays he gives his tithe he reads
the Bible he does this he does that
no Jesus is all nonsense that's not spirituality
spirituality is to say no to my own
will to deny myself when somebody provokes me
to anger to say Lord let me do
your will as it is done in heaven
that's the time when I discover whether I
am spiritual or not in James 1.26
it says if a man cannot control his
tongue his Christianity is worth zero how many
people believe that is my Christianity really worth
zero just because I cannot control my tongue
when I have gone to so many thousand
meetings given so many thousands of rupees for
the Lord's work sacrificed in so many ways
been so zealous to organize this that and
the other for the Lord read my Bible
every day and the only thing I don't
do is I don't control my tongue well
it's your word against God's word God's word
says your entire Christianity your Christian religion is
worth zero that's exactly what it says in
that verse it is worthless zero because you
can do all that Christian activity without denying
yourself but when you have to control your
tongue you have to deny yourself true spirituality
comes through taking up the cross saying no
to my own will and saying father I
want your will I want you to turn
to Psalm 12 you know just like James
chapter 3 is the great chapter on the
tongue in the New Testament Psalm 12 is
the great chapter on the tongue in the
Old Testament and it's very good for us
to read it Psalm 12 it's speaking about
the tongue right from beginning till end speaking
about it begins with this Lord help for
there are hardly any godly men around remember
the chapter on the tongue begins with this
sentence Lord have mercy on us there are
hardly any godly people around there are hardly
any faithful people among the sons of men
and when David wrote this psalm who was
he thinking of he wasn't thinking of the
Philistines and the Canaanites and the Amorites he
was thinking of the so called religious Jews
around him he says boy hardly any godly
people here they tell lies they flatter they
speak with a double heart mean one thing
and say something else they speak great things
boast they say verse 4 with our tongue
we will prevail our lips are our own
who is lord over us well I may
give my money to you lord but not
my tongue it's significant that when the Holy
Spirit came down on the day of Pentecost
it was a tongue of fire on top
of their heads signifying that this thing this
part of the human body is going to
come under the control of the Holy Spirit
and when that part of our human body
comes under the control of the Holy Spirit
like James says he who can control his
tongue is a perfect man if you cannot
control your tongue your Christianity is worth zero
people who say who is lord over my
tongue in contrast he says verse 6 the
words of the lord are pure words as
silver tried in a furnace on the earth
refined seven times I meditated on that and
this is the way I have considered it
there is a verse in Proverbs which says
the foolish man blurts out everything that comes
into his mind if you are one of
those people who says I am frank brother
I just tell people whatever comes into the
mind it's not me don't get angry with
me it's the book of Proverbs the Holy
Spirit says he who blurts out everything that
comes into his mind is a fool but
in the same book of Proverbs says the
wise man thinks before he speaks he doesn't
blurt out everything that comes into his mind
he thinks he says is this going to
hurt somebody is this the best way to
put it is this the wisest way to
put it now I am not throwing stones
at anyone the Bible says he who is
without sin let him cast the first stone
and I have said a lot of foolish
things in my life but we are pressing
on to perfection and I say as we
grow in maturity one of the things that
should take place in our life is we
become more careful with our words if you
are not becoming more and more gracious and
more and more careful with your words you
are not growing spiritually if you are just
as rude to your wife today as you
were 5 years ago you are not growing
spiritually at all brother if in your ministry
of the word your words are not more
gracious than they were some years ago something
is wrong there must be a greater graciousness
because our words are becoming purer more Christ
like the words of the Lord are pure
words purified 7 times it means I look
at it like this I want to say
something maybe to somebody or express something in
a certain way and I hang on I
don't want to be a fool and straight
away say it I put it back into
the furnace and say Lord is that the
best way to say it?
No I take it out again and I
say shall I say it like this?
No put it back into the furnace again
and over a period of time the words
become right for example you write a letter
I have often had this experience when I
have had to write a difficult letter to
somebody I write it and then say no
it's not good enough tear it up say
write it a little better back into the
furnace and keep it for a day or
two not happy about it yet and then
finally comes out a letter which is more
Christ like it's a matter of denying my
will Lord I can't do it right I
want to wait on you is this the
best way to do it?
just think what how many quarrels in our
homes would not have taken place if he
had just denied ourselves and said Lord I
don't know it all help me to humble
myself and not blurt out the first thing
that comes into my mind and be a
fool the Bible says in Proverbs 29 Proverbs
chapter 29 and verse 20 do you see
a man who is hasty in his words
there is more hope for a fool than
for him now the book of Proverbs is
full of fools it's right from chapter 10
it says this person is a fool this
person chapter 29 is the last chapter that
Solomon wrote after that someone else wrote chapter
30, 31 and before he ends chapter 29
Solomon says now I'll tell you the greatest
fool of the lot ok that's the man
who is hasty with his words he takes
the cake he wins first prize the greatest
fool of the lot this is spirituality it's
not activity primarily when my when I've got
a control over myself when I can control
my tongue then my activity my service becomes
gold silver and precious stones otherwise I destroy
everything with this lack of self-denial Jesus
taught us on the cross that in this
fallen sin-cursed earth there is only one
way to be spiritual and that is by
self-denial and by dying to ourself there
is absolutely no other way I have to
say no to my will and say father
I choose your will if you say forgive
that person whom I don't think deserves forgiveness
father your will be done I'll forgive him
I'll let him go that's how I must
read the scriptures I will find something in
scripture which doesn't sort of fit in with
my idea I say lord I give up
my idea I want it your way well
I hope we made a beginning today brothers
and sisters it's serious the fire will test
every man's work the bible says when we
stand before him everything we did in our
body we'll have to give an account for
and if I have not controlled my body
let me read this verse in closing 1
corinthians chapter 9 Paul says 1 corinthians chapter
9 verse 27 he says I control my
body the living bible puts it like this
I make my body do what it should
do not what it wants to do my
body wants to do a lot of things
my eyes want to look at in a
lot of directions which it should not look
at my eyes want to read a lot
of things which it should not read but
I make my eyes read what it should
read not what it wants to I make
my eyes look where it should look not
where it wants to I make my tongue
say what it should say not what it
wants to that's 1 corinthians 9 verse 27
I make my body do what it should
not what it wants to lest after having
preached to others I be disqualified he's not
talking about going to hell he's talking about
ending up with wood hay and straw lest
I be disqualified after having run this tremendous
marathon race and thinking that I have come
first resting the tail the referee says disqualified
can you imagine the disappointment it will be
nothing compared to the disappointment and the regret
that many believers will face in the final
day who substituted activity for holiness bible reading
for self-denial may God open our eyes
let's bow our heads before God out of
God always demands a response from God