SUPERFICIAL RELIGION AND SUPERNATURAL REGENERATION
John 14:6 (752) April 28, 2013
INTRODUCTION:
The most popular Rock and Roll song of all time according to Rolling Stone Magazine is Led Zeplins “Stairway to Heaven”. Rewritten by Jimmy Page and Robert Plant…Page said, “It was as if some unknown spirit moved my hand…deep within the song is this line…”Yes there are two paths you can go b y, but in the long run there’s still time to change the road your on.”
Two paths that lead to the stairway to Heaven…and “Hey, don’t stress over which one you choose….in the long run there is still time to change roads.”
I think about those words because it seems Satan uses that ploy, that lie…over and over again….
We live in a day and time when it’s popular to believe….”all roads lead to heaven.” And if you decide you don’t like the road you’re on try another because it’s just as valid!
And for anyone to say that the road they’re on is better or…the only road…”Well, they’re just bigoted or intolerant.
When you look at the other major religions in the world each of them share something in common: in every religion, a teacher (or a series of teachers) prescribes certain paths to follow in order to honor God (or different Gods) and when you follow the path or paths in the prescribe manner you achieve salvation (however) that is described.
In Hinduism, ancient teachers passed down Vedic traditions prescribing the rites and rivals for Hindus to observe….In Islam, Muhammad pointed in the Koran to 5 pillars for muslins to practice. In Buddhism, Buddha’s eightfold path is just one of the 4 Noble truths he taught, alongside hundreds of other rules for Buddhists to follow. In Sikhism, 10 gurus have pointed to one body of teaching as the way to truth and life.
But Christianity is radically different…it stands alone…when Jesus came on the scene in human history and began calling followers to himself…He did not say “Follow certain rules” Observe these rituals and regulations…Perform these duties…instead Jesus said, “Follow Me”
Those two simple words made it crystal clear that Jesus wasn’t interested in being just a rabbi who dispense spiritual teaching….His primary purpose was to call his disciples into a personal relationship with Him…He wasn’t saying, “Go this way to find eternal life” He was saying “I AM the way, the truth and the life.” (John 14:6)
The call of Jesus….”Come to me, everyone of you that is burdened and weary and you will find rest…”
But I wonder…is that what the church is still doing…Are we still saying, “Come cling to the person of Jesus for life itself!” …or have we slowly let Christianity devolve into just another choice in the cafeteria line of world religions…follow these rules, regulations, practices and principles for salvation…
David Plat in “Follow me” writes… Hindus bathe in the Ganges River: Christians get baptized in the church. Muslims go to worship on Friday; Christians go to worship on Sunday. Buddhists recite mantras; Christians sing choruses. Sikhs read their holy book and share with the needy; Christians read their Bible and give to the poor.
He says, don’t get me wrong…I’m not saying we shouldn’t baptize, sing in worship, read our Bible, or serve the poor. But I am saying that if we’re not careful, any of us can do all of these things completely apart from Jesus….
Here’s an important truth…
I RULES MAKE YOU TRY HARDER OR PRETEND YOU DON’T BREAK THEM
Regulations and rules dominated Jesus day…these 4 Galileans fisherman who had been invited by Jesus to “Follow Me” were surrounded by a religious establishment that was consumed with rules and regulations…The Pharisees had taken the Old Testament commands of God and had twisted them to become the principle means by which you earned God’s approval…The teachers of the law began to add onto the commands requirements that God never intended…John Macarthur in his commenting of the New Testament writes…Instead of Remembering the Sabbath and keeping it Holy…these add on rules became impossible burdens…
Tailors did not carry a needle with them on the Sabbath for fear they might
be tempted to mend a garment and thereby perform work. Nothing could be bought
or sold, and clothing could not be dyed or washed…Chairs could not be moved because
dragging them might make a furrow in the ground, and a woman was not to look in
a mirror lest she see a gray hair and be tempted to pull it out.
These rules dominated the society in which Peter, Andrew, James and John lived…In a society that said “TRY HARDER”, WORK HARDER, DO MORE…AND BECOME BETTER.
Jesus said, “Follow me”…”Come to me all of you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest…take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart and you will find rest for your souls. (Matt 11: 28-30)
These words from Jesus tenderly resound in the midst of every other religious teacher saying “Work Harder”, Feel Guiltier!
Our greatest need isn’t trying harder…Our greatest need is a new heart.
The curse of a superficial religion is the constant attempt to do outward things apart from inward transformation… [Like the plate spinner at the circus who entertains audiences with trying to keep all kinds of plates in the air at the same time]…You feel like your faith is mainly performing your duty with almost no Joy.
W. Ian Thomas writes a description of this in “The Saving Life of Christ and the Mystery of Godliness.” You…seek to be godly by submitting yourself to external rules and regulations and by conforming to behavior patterns imposed upon you by the particular Christian society that you have chosen and in which you hope to be found “acceptable.” You will in this way perpetuate the pagan habit of practicing religion in the energy of the flesh, and in the very pursuit of righteousness commit idolatry in honoring “Christianity” more than Christ!”
In defiance of God’s Word, God’s mind, God’s will, and God’s judgment, men [and women] everywhere are prepared to dedicate to God what God condemns—the energy of the flesh! There is nothing quite so nauseating or pathetic as the flesh trying to be holy!
When we pathetically try to be holy in the flesh the results are: you will resign from church life and tip your hat at God occasionally …you’ll find something else to give most your energy to….or you will pretend…wear a mask…cover your failures with wax….get back on the hamster wheel…perhaps pointing out the flaws of others so your aren’t as evident.
So when Nicodemus came to Jesus from a culture doing just that…what did Jesus tell him?
Nicodemus you need…
II A NEW HEART
Jesus told him, “No one can see the Kingdom of God unless he is born again. (John 3:3) Then he went ever deeper a couple verses later….”No one can enter the Kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit”. (John 3:5)
What does Jesus mean? Well, hundreds of years before this conversation with Nicodemus God told His people this in Ezekiel 36
Ezekiel 36: 25-28 (p602)
Do you see the link between cleansing and the Spirit? Jesus is pointing out God’s promise to give His people a “New Heart”…this New heart would first and foremost be cleansed of sin…It’s why Jesus came…”He will save His people from their sins.” (Matt 1:21)
When John the Baptist first sees Jesus, John shouts “Look the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29)
God promises to wash, cleanse, all our iniquities…It’s a gift from God not based on our work…In the words of Paul
Titus 3: 4-5 (p 836)
God is the cleanser of our hearts; He is the only one who can wash away our sins…when we turn from our sin to Christ we receive a new heart and God remembers our sin no more.
Forgiveness is God’s greatest gift because it meets our greatest need…and with a new heart, cleansed of sin we have nothing to fear, even death…Christ has defeated even it.
But Christianity doesn’t stop with our New heart…the essence of the Christian life isn’t just being forgiven of sin…even though many professing Christians get stuck here. In Christ there is a real, radical change to our lives through…
III A NEW SPIRIT
God told His people “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you.”
When someone truly answers the call of Jesus…He not only forgives you of all your sin, but He also fills you with His Spirit….LISTON!!! HE PUTS THE SOURCE OF HIS LIFE IN THE CENTER OF YOUR LIFE.
Remember Paul saying “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live but Christ lives in me.
He lives in me…He lives in you…Jesus died for you so He might live in you!
[The Born again followers of Christ now have His Spirit living inside them…Can you tell if that’s true? Can you really make a judgment about whether that’s happening?]
Well Jesus said you could….Remember the task Jesus said he would make his followers capable of doing…”I’ll MAKE YOU FISH FOR MEN”
His great commission “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the father, son and Holy Spirit” (Matt 28:19)
His Spirit…the one who lives inside the sin cleansed heart resides there for one primary purpose…to make the one He lives in like Jesus…and Jesus came here for one primary reason;….”To seek and save that which is lost.”
Can the spirit of Christ live in you and not do what He’s intended to do? That’s a very good question isn’t it? Listen to the words of Jesus - John 15: 1-8 (p 752)
It’s His word that makes us clean…it’s His Spirit, who gives us a new heart…How can you bear fruit?...only in Him…who bears fruit? Those who show themselves to be true disciples of Jesus. What is the fruit of a disciple?
Another disciple
[Our lives are suppose to be about the father’s glory…but all too often our lives are about our glory…I’m not sure where Jesus will lead you, or what doors He might open for you…but rest assured, it’s so you can make disciples “as you are going”
If you have a clean heart, cleansed of sin, and you have a new Spirit calling followers…the purposes of Jesus are leading your footsteps…You’ll not only be looking for the doors when they open, the Holy Spirit will give you the words you need to say…And if we Christian in America start remembering why we have been redeemed in the first place…Our schools will be changed, our communities, our country and the world.
When Jesus says “Follow Me” This is the desire of His heart, and superficial religion will never accomplish His purpose…only a new heart with a new mind, and a new will, and a new desire will explode your life with the joy of being “A Fisher of Men!”
