Text:
Luke 11:42
42 "Woe to you Pharisees, because you give God a tenth of your mint, rue and all other kinds of garden herbs, but you neglect justice and the love of God. You should have practiced the latter without leaving the former undone.
The Pharisees were so wrapped up in keeping and preserving their traditions that they lost sight of any relationship with God or those they were supposed to be serving.
The text we are using today is a perfect example of what can happen if we let the laws of religion replace the law of love.
Over the years, as I have pondered my relationship with God, I have often asked myself what is the correct way to live? As a teenager, I remember asking some of the other teens in my youth group; can you do this or that and still be considered a Christian? As I grew older I found myself reverting back to the days of my youth when I attended a church where you weren"t allowed to wear make-up, short dresses, short sleeves, short pants, or jewelry, among other outward restrictions. I have since come to realize that some of these folks that "practiced" this religion, had tongues that were longer than their dresses and their pants, always eager to point out how everyone else was missing "their standards" but completely ignoring anything in their own relationship with God and others, that needed attention. Only interested in the outward appearance.
I have studied a little about the other four major religions that exist in the world today. Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Judaism all require the prospective practitioner to observe some set of rules or regulations in order to achieve a correct relationship with God or some other deity. In other words, the focus is upon the acts or rituals themselves as opposed to focusing upon a relationship with God. In a way, it is almost like worshiping a practice or theology that will see us through to eternal life or nirvana, as one religion calls it.
So what is the point of what I am speaking of today? I am saying that if we are not careful we can fall into the same pattern as the Pharisees mentioned in our text, or our relationship with God can become nothing more than a ritual or a religion. So how do we avoid falling into this practice?
I. Keeping our relationship with Jesus passionate. It is a love relationship.
If we could see this relationship with God like we see our relationship with our spouse, it really becomes very easy to understand. If I only did things for my wife out of obligation, what kind of relationship would we have? If I said to her, "honey it"s Saturday night so we have[/i] to be romantic," how far do you think I would get?
II. Realizing that it doesn"t matter where we are, we can worship God anywhere. The law of religion tells us we must be in a certain place to worship. The law of love tells us that the true worshiper worships God in spirit and in truth and that the Father is seeking that type of worshipper.
III. The law of religion tells us we must pray a certain number of times per day. The law of love says the prayers of the saints are stored as golden bowls of incense in the very throne room of God.
IV. The law of religion tells us we cannot come to God or any other deity until we achieve a certain level of consciousness. The law of love says whoever comes to me, I will never drive away. Jn. 6:37
We must always remember, everything we do must be motivated by love, either our love for God or our love for our fellow man.
Mark 12:29-31
29 "The most important one," answered Jesus, "is this: 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' 31 The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these."
I want you to take one thing from this message.
"Religion is man"s attempt to get to God. Christianity is God"s attempt to get to man" Practice the Law of Love today.
Blessings.....Pastorjim
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Mere religion is just hanging around the cross.......True Christianity is getting on the cross.
And thank you for teaching me how to transfer a writing from one media to another. I typed that in word and then was able to paste it here. Thanks for the computer lesson.
Blessings....Pastorjim
__________________
Mere religion is just hanging around the cross.......True Christianity is getting on the cross.
And thank you for teaching me how to transfer a writing from one media to another. I typed that in word and then was able to paste it here. Thanks for the computer lesson.
Blessings....Pastorjim
You're welcome. That comprised pretty much everything I know about computers and word processing.
She's not kidding She doesn't even know how to use Google
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Proud parents of our own "Daddy's Little Girls"
I heard Jesus He drank wine and I bet we'd get along just fine.
Excellent message Pastor. Sounds as if we may have sat on the same pews in the past, but it was a great learning lesson that I am glad I part of. Where else would I have been able to gather the EXPERIENCE had I not been there. Experience ig gained with the "hands on the plow", not sitting in secludedisolation.
Imo The difference in the Law written in stone, and the Law written in the fleshly tables of the heart is the key. Transfering it from the head into the heart.
Quote:
Imo The difference in the Law written in stone, and the Law written in the fleshly tables of the heart is the key. Transfering it from the head into the heart.
WOW!!! I couldn't have said it better or moreclearer than that.But I must be a knucklehead because it took me a long time to be able to overcome my very early teaching and understand it myself.
Blessings.....Pastorjim
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Mere religion is just hanging around the cross.......True Christianity is getting on the cross.
Apreciate the message Jim,
I came here preaching that message and was either loved or hated..The religious people hate it..They would rather choose tradition and their religious views over love..Christ demonstrated clearly by the 'Good Samaritan ' that obedience to love exceeds having totally correct doctrine as He said,"Go and do thou likewise." ..whereas the religious leaders were too busy being religious.
We also see that in Luke 18..whereas 2 went up to the temple to pray..9And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others:
However; Jesus tells us the sinner in the back of the church was the one who walked out justified.
Note ..the Pharisees's righteousness were good things..fasting, tithing etc..but his sin was .He trusted in 'those things ...causing him to compare himself with others puffing himself up...we don't trust in our good works..for good works are expected of a servant ..that is our reasonable service..
No matter where we are at we still all must trust in Christ's blood to wash our sins away.
Will someone please explain to me why we have to choose? The rituals are a great thing for helping you stay focused, reminding you of your relationship to God. The fasts and abstinence during Lent for example, even though I'm not required to follow, still reminds me that it's Lent and what Lent is all about, that is, an opportunity to meditate on Jesus' sacrifice for us. We don't get brownie points for observing. But observing reminds us of our faith.
We have nothing to add
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Proud parents of our own "Daddy's Little Girls"
I heard Jesus He drank wine and I bet we'd get along just fine.
Sister,
There is no choosing..James speaks of "True Religion" The word religion in this post speaks more of legalism than the religion you are speaking of..I have no problem with churches doing religious rituals to "Remember " certain things..The Old Testament is full of rituals to help Christians to "Remember"
The thing to be careful for.is like the Pharisee in Luke 18..he thought he was more closer to God than sinners because he followed these rituals...
We all have some rituals that we follow..
A.Some go to church every Sunday,
B. Some dress a certain way.
C. Some refrain from certain things
D. Some go through church rituals to remember important events..such as Holy Communion
Again..the word that Jim is using here means the word religion in the negative connotaion..legalism
The law of Love vs. the law of religion
She's not kidding She doesn't even know how to use Google
