True vs. Worthless Religion | Pastor Daniel Batarseh (Maranatha Shabiba Conference 2022)

I was planning to do this tomorrow in our final session, but can we genuinely show our appreciation for this praise and worship team? Here's here's my personal thank you on a public platform to the worship team. Thank you, not just for leading us in worship, but worshiping as you lead us in worship. Makes a big difference, doesn't it? And, it's an honor to know that I can serve alongside each member of the worship team on a week to week basis at our local church.

So I praise God for all of you, And thank you for, taking your gifts seriously and taking this weekend seriously. You've blessed us tremendously by exhorting us in song with the truths of the the scripture. I also want to say one more thing before we dive into the Word of God. I always miscalculate whether this is my seventh or eighth year, but I've gone to know many of you for for many of those years. And sometimes I only see you around this time.

And others I've kept in touch throughout the year, and we meet here in person. I don't know if anybody can agree with me, and maybe this won't make sense to anybody, but I'm saying this as an encouragement. Every year at Miranatha is special for different reasons. But this year in particular is special to me because what I've personally noticed in my conversations, especially with those that I know, though they are from different states, there was a tangible, observable growth in the spirit in many people. You know, sometimes when you see somebody after a long period of time, you can tell physically if they've taken care of themselves.

It's it's very, obvious. And I believe that the true, the truth can be said also of the spirit. That there is a mannerism, there is a way of speech, there is a substance in the conversations concerning the things of God that I have been so blessed by by talking to many of you. And so I I'm just personally edified. Usually, conferences like this tend to have an emphasis on reviving people who have been backslidden for the whole year or, even preaching the gospel.

We'll do that every single year. I have great conversations with a couple of different people about the gospel, people who have no church background, who are just like, what does it mean to be saved? But this year feels more like an equipping. This this year feels more like just adding more fuel to a fire that you brought to this conference. And here's my admonition to you, just keep going.

Keep going. Keep loving the Lord. Keep serving the Lord. Keep growing in the Lord. If, if you feel like that's not affecting anybody in your world, know that this weekend you have, you have caused me to rejoice in the Lord in a special way.

So I praise God for that as well, which is a perfect segue into what we are going to speak tonight. If you're joining us for the first time, welcome. We've been in this past couple of days discussing the warnings in the New Testament about how Christians can be deceived. And the different avenues of deception will seek to attempt and misdirect us to believe something to be true in in various facets when things are in fact not true. And with that being said, I believe we can be free from every form of deception, whether it's from our hearts, whether it's from people around us, or from Satan himself.

The Bible gives us absolute assurance that we can soar above the tactics of Satan who seeks to create a fog in our perception so that we can bump our heads and even do more damage than that, spiritually speaking. But I'm sure you would agree that there are different levels of deception that have different levels of threats. There are some deceptions that are more devastating than others. And I am under the persuasion that there is nothing more that the Holy Spirit will want us to have clarity on than on the absolute certainty of the health of our spiritual condition. The Holy Spirit wants to make sure in his word that you and I as followers of Jesus Christ know for certainty that we are pursuing true spirituality.

And the danger is that we can actually do the opposite and put all our energy and our emphasis on that which God does not call us to prioritize or even ask of us. Now this clarity about the the the condition of our spirituality for some, even some in this place, is a matter of life and death. It's a matter of life and death because please pay attention, especially especially if you're not sure you're a true Christian. You can fall asleep after this point. But pay attention to this.

I don't want you to be the person who at the end of the road will realize at the judgment that all your empty rituals and even your knowledge of evangelical creeds had no saving value. And so I was jokingly saying, you can fall asleep, but don't. I just want to grab your attention with that statement. Because what I want you to be assured of is that you do know Jesus Christ and your soul is indeed saved. At the same time, for those who are truly regenerated by the Holy Spirit, you are born again.

This deception is still very real. And how it threatens you and I as believers is that it can stunt our growth and taint our testimonies to the degree in which we bring displeasure to God and become ineffective in our fruitfulness to those who desperately need to taste something of the grace of God through our lives. And what happens to many Christians is because they slip into this deception, their devotion to God is reduced to nothing more than just a performance void of any true life and life giving value. The other day, you and I heard that we are capable of being deceived about calculating sin the same way God does. And I wanna make the same point about this, that you and I are also equally in danger to believe that God evaluates a pleasing and fruitful life the same way do we do.

And assuming that I'm speaking to a group of Christians in this room, the message today will help us avoid, again, that which God does not ask of us, and to pursue the exact thing that he is looking from us as Christians. Now, again, let me address those who might be confused about how this whole thing works, how this Christianity thing works. Do not misinterpret this message to say that we pursue genuine spirituality to please God in a saving way. We don't do that. We we come to God broken.

We come to God in sin. We come to God filthy. And just as we are, we confess our need from him, and this is what happens. He doesn't tell us what to do to get clean. He cleans us.

And so what you need is not behavioral modification. Listen, What you need is not steps to become spiritual. What you need is your spirit to come to life. And the way your spirit comes to life is not by one, two, here's some hoops. Let me stand on my head and impress God.

The way you come to life is just as you are and confess your need for somebody's righteousness to be imputed into your bankrupt soul. And so understand that we are people of grace. We are people who rejoice in the fact that we've been saved by the mercy of Jesus. And all that we're doing here as we live the remainder of our lives with that grace that has saved us is with a joy, with a a true joy wanting to know how we can actually represent and please the one who has saved us. So we're not trying to merit anything here.

We're not trying to get brownie points with God. We're not trying to make sure the balance of our good and bad is in favor so that when we get before God, he can he can say you've passed. We're doing this because he already saved us. And so I want you to understand something before we move forward. Believers, ask yourself now, even before we go to our text, when you think of what should be expected from a Christian, a true spiritual Christian, what comes to mind?

Just think about it. What what image comes to mind? What lifestyle comes to mind? What does their day to day look like? What is a true spiritual Christian look like?

Now think about it for a few seconds. Now consider this. Turn with me to first Corinthians chapter one verse four, and I want you to see something that is quite sobering. Keep those qualities in mind. Who is it in your life that you can say, that's a spiritual man, that's a spiritual woman.

And And I want you to know how Paul addresses the Corinthian church. This is not even our main text. In chapter one verse four, Paul says in his introduction, I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus. That in every way you were enriched in him in all speech and all knowledge. And then in verse seven, he goes on to say that you've been gifted in every way and how true is that?

When you read about the Corinthians, you see that it is so obvious that God has poured out a special grace by the will of the spirit. They were operating in in miraculous gifts, not just administrative gifts, not just speaking gifts. Miraculous signs and wonders were a regular occurrence in their church. And people with the gifts of healing, people with the gifts of prophecy, the gift of knowledge, all these amazing wonderful things. And even more so, we re hear that they were enriched with speech so even the the gifts of communication, oratory, exposition, if I can use that word, preaching, teaching, insight.

Right? Knowledge, even knowledge, the depths of the word of God, the depths of who Jesus Christ is. Paul says, honestly, you have really hit something special here and that's all by the grace of God. It was a very unique church in that sense. Now, with all of that in the introduction, you go to chapter three verse one and notice what Paul says again as he addresses them.

But I brothers could not address you as what? Spiritual people. I could not address you as spiritual people but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. Do you see how this is kind of conflicting with our assessment of what true spirituality is? He told them that they were enriched with all knowledge.

He told them that they were supernaturally gifted, and yet two chapters later he says, I can't talk to you as spiritual people. And so revisit your list now and ask yourself, what does true spirituality look like? Because according to these scriptures, I realize that it's not about having supernatural abilities. I realize that it is not about having and being engaged with spiritual activities. I see that it's not about powerful preaching.

It's not about deep knowledge and memorization of the word of God. Those things do not assess the holiness of a person or a ministry. And do you see how we can obviously find ourselves deceived about our own sanctification, our own pursuits, or even the piety and the purity of other people who claim to be spiritual, who claim to be sensitive to the things of God, who claim to be holy? Now you have this to deal with, you have and I have my own list, my own misjudgments and then I wonder if I were to ask the Holy Spirit, oh Lord, what do you say is a spiritual man? How do you quantify genuine spirituality?

And I don't have to wait for a subjective voice. I have the word of God and you have the word of God and he discloses to us ever so wonderfully of what he expects from us, what it is to have top tier spiritual health in a way that touches the heart of God and will be most effective to touch the hearts of other people. So you might be shocked to know what it is that God asks of us. You got a little glimpse of it today. You who are spiritual restore him who is caught in transgression.

But I wanna stir your heart even more leaving this place this week and to rediscover what it is that God really asked of us in our sanctification. What is it that the Lord really wants from me? And here's what I wanna tell you beforehand. This message, though the verse I'm gonna read is gonna have some oomph to it. It's gonna be kind of because the writer of it is very strong in his writing.

Please hear it as as a very encouraging thing because you you will see the mind of God and know this with everything that you hear that we are told that the commands of God are not burdensome. So turn with me to a book that tells us what true faith looks like. In James chapter one, we get one glimpse, a small window into a house of many windows of what it is, it means to abide in the will of God. James chapter one verse 26. If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue, but deceives his heart, This person's religion is worthless.

If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue, but we've heard this word all weekend, but deceives his heart. This person's religion is worthless. Now, in in Christendom, I believe we have developed an unofficial Christian dictionary that is universally shared and understood. I'll prove it to you. Collectively, I think most of us have the same definition when you hear the word religion.

Religious. And it's generally understood to be a negative thing inherently because it denotes some kind of empty ritualistic behavior that is that is not that is not true obedience to the Lord, but has has some kind of veneer of pleasing God, but is really just void, void of true life. But that is not what the original word means. When James tells us if anyone thinks he is religious in the original, the word means if anyone thinks that he worships or fears God genuinely. It's an attitude.

It's an outward attitude. It manifests outwardly in deeds that are stimulated by a sincere desire to please and honor the Lord. So you and I can safely rephrase the statement in the following way. If anyone thinks that he is living in a way that is offering sacrificial worship to God and reverential honor to his name, pay attention. Listen closely.

He's saying if you believe that about yourself so if you're a person in in here and you're like, I I like, yeah. I can say I I live in a way that I believe pleases God. I actually I actually honor God with my life. What James is saying, if anyone thinks like that, this is for you. This is for you.

So lean in and understand what he's about to convey here. In the mind of the Holy Spirit, this is this is so amazing. One of the most revealing and reliable proofs of the purity of someone's devotion to God is studied by our manner of speech. Now this is not the only thing, but it is one of the strongest indicators of whether a heart is harnessed by the influence of God's spirit or not. And this is so important that if that element is ignored, you know what James is saying, it actually nullifies all the other evidences that we would point ourselves to or others to to try to justify the genuineness of our practical righteousness.

He's like, if if if your tongue is out of control, like, any other thing that you try to point, it's actually worthless. Like, it's so profound and serious in the eyes of God that it has the ability to cancel all other things that we would try to seek comfort in again, in our practical righteousness. And so it's it's almost as though we have to say, okay. Like, so all the services I attend and all the ministries I serve in and all the books that I read and all the theology that I've crammed into my mind and the things that I can explain, that that is erased of this thing, this tongue is out of control and the Holy Spirit would say, yes. Yes.

And some of us are probably losing our breath right now and that's okay because this is this is important. Somebody would be thinking, really? And I love honest people. I've had honest conversations with people this week. I love it because I believe Jesus loves it.

He loved it about Nathaniel. There is no guile in him. Does the way I communicate verbally actually have the weight of significance to determine whether whether my faith is meritless or not? And that question alone proves that this is why the Holy Spirit gives a verse like this. Because he says here that he deceives his heart.

He's he's very specific. He deceives his heart. Why the heart? Why not the mind? Because it's about feeling.

This is this is where the seat of our emotions rest. And and this is we can be deceived in how we feel about even our own spirituality. No matter what may seem positive in our assessment, James says, your feelings do not determine it. Understand that feelings have a pull, have a power that can make you trick yourself about yourself. He he is not speaking about conscious hypocrites.

He's not speaking about those who are like, you know, I wanna fool people, so I'm gonna pretend to be religious. He's speaking about those who genuinely think they are religious, but they're deceived. And as we understand this, God is giving us his help to avoid it so that we can know pure and undefiled religion that reaps genuine rewards, like genuine rich rewards in this life and the next. But you and I have to make a determination right from the beginning. Right here, right now, you and I have to make a choice.

And the choice is the first half of the second verse. No. Look what he says here in verse 27. Religion again, that's not the negative thing. True religion, true worship and fear of God, religion that is pure and undefiled before God the father is this.

Notice notice the wording. Before who? God the father. And so every person in here has to understand that there is pure and undefiled religion before God, and there is pure and undefiled religion before man. And what James is saying, oh, listen.

This is what God the father sees as true holiness. This is what near is near God's heart. This is what blesses him. So you and I have to make the choice. Is my pursuit of sanctification going to be the standard based on the the eyes of men including my own or to live before God the father?

And if your interest is in God the father and his assessment of your life, then he says, understand what I'm trying to say. Listen, genuine holiness, understand this, begins by discovering what it is that God the father looks in my life and looks for my life. Once you discover it, then to determine it to be the mark in which you strive towards in the power of the Holy Spirit. That's true holiness. If you wanna simplify true holiness, living before God the father.

Not your elders, not your pastors necessarily, not your mom, not your dad living before God the father. I've often say this, people champion accountability partners, don't they? Champion it. Most people that I know who have accountability partners prove that account partners barely work. Now, I might have just hit a nerve there.

Right? Because of our Christian culture. But I see my Bible an emphasis of living before God the father than about worrying about if so and so finds out about what I'm doing. Is the greatest accountability partner in this life is the fear of God. Fear of God will go to you with you to that business trip when your wife is at home.

The fear of God will be with you in the bedroom when everybody else is asleep and you're before the laptop. The The fear of God will be with you when you're punching your numbers in with the taxes and everybody else doesn't know what you're doing. The fear of God is the greatest accountability partner. So get the fear of God. You can have the numbers of the most godly and spiritual bible teachers.

It will not come close to having your heart awakened to the reality that God is there. Besides the point, so living before God the father, this is what's pure and undefiled. Go by what he says and you know what he says at this point? That's something that is as overlooked as our speech is what God is looking for. My children, I'm looking at you and I'm asking you to understand that if you want something that is pure and undefiled that had that radiates light, Understand that it has to do with this little thing in between your two sets of teeth.

Have you ever wondered how much the bible speaks about speech just in the book of James? Journey with me. Do you have a bible with you? I'm like a book guy, so you won't hear me say scroll with me. Turn with me in your bibles.

If you have the technological version, there's no condemnation. Don't worry. I just don't like getting notifications while I read my bible. Let's go here in James one thirteen. We're just gonna read these verses.

Let no one say when he is tempted. I'm being tempted by God for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. James one nineteen, know this my beloved brothers, let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger. Skip a couple chapters. Chapter three verse 14.

That's the sound that we like to hear. Right? But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast. Do not boast and be false to the truth. James four eleven.

Do not speak evil against one another brothers. The one who speaks against a brother or judges his brother speaks evil against law and judges the law, but if you judge the law and are not a doer of the law, but a judge. Chapter five verse nine. Do not grumble against one another brothers. So that you may not be judged.

Behold the judge is standing at the door. James five twelve. But above all my brothers, do not swear. Do not swear either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath, but let your yes be yes and your no be no so that you may not fall under condemnation. You see?

You just gather all the evidence as we say, Lord, I I wanna know what it means to live before God the father in purity and undefiled true devotion to you. This is right here. Right here. Just by doing that, I understand what the Lord is looking for me as his child, as a brother to other sisters and brothers. A true Christian doesn't blame God for evil.

A true Christian is disciplined to listen and is slow to react in speech with anger. A true Christian does not exaggerate or boast in things that are not true, especially about their piety. A true Christian does not speak evil about another brother, but is extremely, extremely careful on how they handle the names of other people and their reputations especially in their absence. A true Christian doesn't complain to other Christians. A true Christian doesn't give another Christian a reason to be further discouraged.

But a true Christian has salt and edifies. A true Christian has developed such a reputation of integrity that when somebody asked that Christian if they can do this or if this is true, all they need to do is say yes. All they need to do is say no and that suffices. Pure and undiviled religion before God the father is this. Is this.

My focus in this message is not to help us adjust our speech. That can be a sermon series in itself. The purpose of this is to nudge by the scriptures to nudge and say, would you rediscover what it is that God really asks of us? Would you look and explore and be on a quest to say, oh, Lord, what it is it that you really want from me? And that should excite us because what you will realize on that quest is that you don't have to get a PhD and you don't have to be a skill for writer, and you don't have to be somebody who knows how to operate in supernatural gifts of the spirit in order to to carry the fragrance of Jesus Christ.

And what God says he desires is something we can all attain, something we can all achieve no matter our differences, no matter your demographic, no matter the place you are at in life today. All of us here, by the grace of God, by the wisdom of God, can walk in a now here's the thing, you preach like this and and you you you're hoping that people are already at the place where they say, my heart has been changed where I wanna please the Lord. And so this is to me, it's like, you're on the edge of your seat. Tell me what it is that my master longs for me. Oh, he has done so much already to save me.

Would you show me, preacher, what it is that the Lord desires for me? That's what I hope I'm speaking to right now. And if you wanna simply categorize, if you want a summary, if you want an umbrella, if you want a banner by which you can live by confidently, but what it is that the Lord looks for from heaven that is near to his heart, look at verse 27 again. Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the father is this, to visit orphans and widows in their affliction and to keep oneself unstained from the world. Two things.

Two things that have practical implications underneath both, but two categories and the first is this, practical acts of service with a heart of deep compassion, widows and orphans. And second, personal holiness and consecration from worldliness. That's that's true spirituality right there. That's it. And look at the first one, to visit orphans and widows in their affliction.

Now orphans and widows today have greater advantages, have greater opportunities than they did in James' day. Western societies provided much help to be able to ease the burden of their unfortunate circumstances. But here's the idea. It's it's not just to see the the surface level. It's to dig a little bit and to see the heartbeat behind the verse.

And the heartbeat behind the verse is very straightforward. Visit affliction. What the Holy Spirit is essentially saying is, look at people and and be sacrificially present in the lives of others, especially especially especially when they are in need. I'm I'm just giving you the keys to Christian life. I'm giving you the clues to Christian life.

You heard it a little bit today. True spirituality, it is impossible to know pure and undefiled religion without relationship. Impossible without community. Impossible without getting in people's worlds. Impossible.

And what we're supposed to direct our energy towards by the grace of God is just this. Go to the ones who are overlooked. Go to the ones who have nothing to give to you in return. Step outside of your world. Step inside of your group of friends that make you comfortable, and go into other places and spaces with the intentional awareness of where they're at and say, I'm here.

You may not know widows or orphans. I am totally convinced all of us know people who go through different kinds of affliction. That's it. And what is near to the heart of God is for his people to be willing to take time and energy to do something as simple as what? Ready for his true spirituality?

Check it out. I'm here. That's spirituality. That's spirituality. I'm here to be present in your suffering.

Why? Because God is present in our suffering. It's a reflection of his heart. Thank Thank you for making the time. I wanna just be here and you give them an ear to unburden their hearts with.

And you give them a hand to make the load a little bit lighter. And you strengthen their feeble knees and you sometimes in wisdom even have to contribute something from your own pocket in in times of unusual distress. That is spirituality. That is spirituality. And do you know what this demands?

I you just heard it. Intentional relationship. Intentional intentional engagement with people even with those check this out. Even with those who have nothing to contribute to your life socially, like they're awkward. They're just awkward and sometimes it's very draining to be in their presence maybe.

But you say, you know what? This is what the Lord asked me. This is what Jesus would do. You wanna know who Jesus hung out with? Just look at the 12 that he picked.

And he's he's my example. Is he not yours? That he, with the Spirit of God upon him in a special way, was able to mingle with people who had personalities that could easily have caused issues. I mean, you had Simon the zealot. You had the tax collector, you had fishermen.

I mean, it just odds everywhere. And Jesus was able to draw each of their hearts in a special way. And so listen, this goes beyond this goes beyond my personality, my social skills. There's something spiritual about this. There's something so spiritual about this.

I've given this example of that. I'm not the best at illustrations. So forgive me if you've heard this before, but hopefully, this will help somebody who's never heard it before. And pray for my ability to find illustrations. I remember someone told me, and this touched me.

It's so simple, but spirituality is so simple. They told me that a good portion of their service to God was to do something that would seem insignificant to the Corinthian church, who thought they were spiritual, because they can stand up in a room like this and prophesy, and somebody over there can do something else, and then people get healed. Here's spiritual are you ready for this? Brother, there is somebody who lives so far from our local church in our being, so I was the one who volunteered to pick them up and drop them off every single time we had a meeting. And you know what motivated me?

I said, what? Because I felt like I was picking up Jesus. I felt like I was gonna go pick up Jesus. I felt like Jesus was waiting for me. And so I have no problem sacrificing my time.

I have no problem filling up my car with gas. I never asked for money. Never asked for that. I felt like I was going to pick up the Lord. There's no hesitation with that ever before me.

And Jesus said that in Matthew 25, when you fed them, you fed me. When you gave them a drink, you gave me a drink. When you visited them, you visited me. That's that's what it is. I mean think about it.

Jesus will sit on his throne in the beginning of the millennial reign, in the judgments of the goats and the sheep, and he will judge certain people based on that. Why? Because it's spirituality. Like isn't this freeing? I hope so.

This is freeing. This is wonderful. This is glorious. Like that's the mind of God. You gave somebody a drink when they were thirsty.

Really? Really? Then we move on, we see that there's another part to this. A part that is underemphasized. It says here that there is a pursuit of keeping oneself unstained from the world.

Keeping oneself unstained from the world. So you have you have, like, these these two things. Right? And I'm afraid that even in the pursuit of these things, there's another danger, and that's an imbalance. So you have some people who make holiness and spirituality all about acts of service, and there is no concern, and there is no desire, and there is no intentionality with personal piety.

So this is what God wants. Just give, give, give, give, give, all the while their garments are stained everywhere. And yet you have others who do the opposite, and they they make their spirituality all about not doing. And so they shelter themselves. Right?

And they don't even they don't even get into any conversations because in in the midst of talking to an unbeliever, you can get contaminated. So I just gonna hide over here and just wait for the rapture. That's not spirituality, man. You'd be you're laughing now. You'd be amazed how many young people who grew up from a traditional background try to convince me about these people and these saints of old who go live in some rock in some desert.

Like, isn't that spiritual? What's spiritual about it? What's spiritual about it? Is that what Jesus had came to the world and he hid in the wilderness and he stayed there? And so we have to be careful here even in the pursuit of this that we can be imbalanced.

Right? May God give us wisdom by the spirit. But notice here, he says that the former point was a charge to give attention to others. The latter point is a charge to give attention to ourselves. And he says here, keep yourself unstained from the world.

He didn't say keep yourself from the world. Keep yourself unstained. How are you gonna do the first part? Because the widows and orphans don't have to be from your church beyond that scope. How are you gonna do that if you understand this to keep yourself from the world?

It just doesn't work. But what he is saying is that be careful of its polluting influence. Be be careful of its polluting influence. And this is a great danger today more than ever because the exposure of worldliness is very close. Is it not?

Very, very, very close. And so there's an offensive to this and there's a defensive of this. And that's what it is. That's that's where that's where in our thinking, in our praying, in our asking of the Lord of molding for these two realities to be in perfect sequence, perfect relationship, perfect marriage, perfect harmony. You know, I'm amazed to see some people when they buy new shoes, especially when they're white.

The way they walk, it's like they're surveying every aspect of the road. They're making and then when something like a speck comes, just they don't even care, man. Just rubbing in. They got product in their pockets, and and they're just like and you know what? Nobody looks at that and says, that's crazy.

And even the person who's wearing those shoes could care less. Well, you think, I paid a 100 and something dollars for these shoes. I don't care if you care, I care. And what happens over time though? You know, it happens, you're like, it's too much effort.

You just next thing you know, they become a different color. And we look at that, and I think that's a wonderful parallel to what happens spiritually. Right? We get very excited about this, very excited about godliness and holiness when we put on those fresh pair of the gospel of peace. And we're very aware, and we're and and is it legalistic?

Legalistic? Do do you feel that way? Did you feel that way? Absolutely. There was a joy.

There was a joy in protecting your heart and protecting your mind. Nowadays, Christians will watch anything. And all you can convince yourself to do is just press the fast forward button. Christians will listen to absolutely anything, and that's what happens just like the shoes. There was a great there was a great longing and a yearning for something more precious than your Nikes, more glorious than your dress shoes.

The testimony, the badge of wearing ambassador of Jesus Christ, and something happens. You just you get lulled by to sleep and just and then and without knowing, just things pile up. And now people can't Now you can't even decipher between Christians because everything's the same. The only difference between many Christians and non Christians is that the non Christian sleeps in Sunday and you don't. So there there needs to be a revived message of holiness in the church in America today.

We need to get back to true holiness and godliness. What happened to the messages of carry your cross daily? You don't hear that anymore. That's not what's racking up hundreds of thousands of views on YouTube. It's all about just tuck Jesus in somewhere, and if you just rub the lamp right, he'll make your dreams come true.

That's a that's if you wanna know the popular message, that's what it is. Nothing about kiss the world goodbye. Nothing about this world is crucified to me. Where is that? And we wonder why there is so little power in the church today.

I believe because the Holy Spirit is grieved. And so we see here that there is a protective element to this, that we need to shield ourselves. And I wonder how many of us in our pursuit of holiness have a conversation with God from time to time. Lord, does this please you? Does this please you?

I'll give you another illustration. I'm just reaching back to something I used before. A preacher went to a place once, and, he was invited to speak at a conference. This is overseas. And he didn't know much.

He just knew that they were hungry for the word. He was a preacher who preached the truth. And so when he arrived there, he realized that before the service, all these men were outside smoking cigarettes. And, this is interesting. And this man vows that he doesn't preach legalism.

I mean, there's no chapter or verse on this stuff. Right? And so, he asked God for wisdom, you know. I mean, he wants to make sure that, there's nothing because in everything, the Bible says, there are many things that are permissible but not beneficial. Right?

So the the the immature, the infant Christ asked, is this sin or not? The mature Christian says, is this beneficial or not? That's the two levels. Right? And so, he asked the Lord for wisdom and after the service, somebody had asked him about that, what he thought about that.

And again, there's no chapter of verse. All he said was, next time, he told the man, next time you smoke a cigarette, just ask Jesus if he wants one. Okay. So the break went on and they had a second session and they came back and the man came up and he goes, I thought about what you said and I stopped smoking. And he says, Why?

I didn't tell you that it was a sin to smoke. He said, Yeah, I asked Jesus and I think he doesn't want one. Pursue maturity in the spirit. Hebrews tells us, let us lay aside every weight and sin. Not just sin, weight.

Does this help me run? Does this amplify my testimony, or does it hurt my testimony? Does this exalt Jesus in my affections, or does it stifle my affections? Go there. Go there.

And here's here's what will happen. Here's what will be unlocked. There will be a sense of honor from the Lord. There will be blessing from the Lord. There will be a nearness of the Lord.

Right? It's relational. The law says, no, no, no. Yes, yes, yes. This is not what we're preaching today.

I'm trying to get you to get to a place of being motivated by love, by genuine love. Oftentimes, when people come up to me and say, brother, I'm struggling in my devotional life, this and that, and they I don't even know if I'm a Christian anymore. I just ask the question. It says, what does your heart feel? Are you scared of hell?

No. No. I'm not scared of hell. Are you scared of God pressing the button to strike lightning? No.

No. Not at all. What's in your heart? I I miss the Lord. I miss I miss him speaking to me.

I miss being able to pour out my heart to him. I said you're in a good place brother. That's what the Holy Spirit does in a heart. He makes this whole thing relational. He makes this whole thing so wonderful, effortless because it's, it's, I love him.

Lord, does this hurt you? Okay. That's it. No. No.

They are so sensitive. That's not that's not how it works. Oh, I want you to arrive to that reality, not just remember the the unofficial Christian dictionary. We're we're not a religion, we're a relationship. Well, what does that mean?

What does that mean? So when people look at us and they see a purity, and they see a disassociation from the world, that's where we say, this is a relationship. I love my master and my God. I want to please him, and I want to show you a man in closing who who gives a perfect balance of both of these pursuits in one text. Would you like to go there?

You have no choice. Go to second kings four. Second Kings chapter four. And look at verse one, and then we'll go over to verse eight very briefly. Second Kings one.

Now the the wife of one of the sons of the prophets cried to Elisha, your servant, my husband is dead, and you know that your servant feared the Lord, but the creditor has come to take my two children to be his slaves. So here's a woman. Her husband was in ministry. He was in seminary. He died.

We don't we're not told why. He has two babies, two children, and at this time, there was no governmental aid. She was in a difficult spot. So much so that the merciless creditor was like, if you can't pay up, I'm taking your two kids with me. That's that's messed up.

And so what she does is she goes to the the prophet of the day, Elisha, and she comes with that need. And she says, this is my situation, and what I want you to see very simply, this is not a deep point. It's just really something so beautiful. It's not what Elisha says, how he says it. Verse two.

And Elisha said to her, what shall I do for you? Tell me what have you in the house. You don't need the help of a commentary to hear the deep seated care that this man has for this woman. What shall I do for you? Tell me, what have you in a house in the house?

She tells him, your servant has in the house nothing in the house except a jar of oil. A prophet, a man of God, you read chapter three before this. You know what he was doing? This man was standing before kings and prophesying to them. You're talking about a man who had stature.

You're talking about a man who had status. You're talking about a man who can move in the miraculous double of what Elijah was doing. And I love the contrast because here you see them. You see them determining destinies of kings and and their lives and their dynasties. And in the next chapter, here's this overlooked, marginalized woman who comes up to him, and he has such a deep love for her.

If she came before those kings, if she came before those false prophets, they would they would not even give her a lick of attention. And yet here's a man of God who looks at this woman in need and just says, tell me what you need. That that's passion. That's love. That's spirituality.

And so his heart was moved, as James would say, to help the widow, to help the orphan in their affliction. This man of God did not think that he was superior. He did not think that his gifting was unrelatable to her. He did not he did not try to give any excuse. He he would just fully bear, tell me, I'm here for you.

And Then you read on in verse eight, and you see the second part of what James speaks about. One day Elisha went to Shunem, where a wealthy woman lived who urged them to eat some food. Very Middle Eastern of this woman. So whenever he passed that way, he would turn in there to eat food. Verse nine.

And she said to her husband, behold now, I know that this is a holy man of God who is continually passing our way. This woman from Shunam, there's so much to say about her. But notice that this godly woman, after seeing Elisha pass by in her town, simply had this level of relationship. Hey, listen. I know you're a preacher.

I know you're a prophet. Whenever you come by, just knock on my door, and I'll have my servant. She was a wealthy woman. I'll have my servants come, and we'll make you a lunch or a dinner. How does that sound?

And Elisha, yeah. So he would do that frequently. We're not told how frequently, but notice that after a certain amount of visits, in verse nine, the woman rightly, accurately makes a conclusion of this man's conduct and character. She looks at her husband and says, Behold now, I know that this is a holy man of God. And when I read that, I stepped back and I thought to myself, she didn't hear him preach a sermon.

She didn't witness him performing a miracle yet. She didn't see some significant sign that made him stand out obviously as a prophet. She didn't really have much to work with. In fact, the only thing she really had to work with was a conversation over some good food. And after those frequent conversations in the context of a home, based on that alone, she can look at her husband and say, that guy is the real deal.

Again, no signs, no wonders, no series of sermons that displayed his depth and his eloquence and his power and authority. None of that. The only thing she had to work with was from time to time, a one on one conversation. What did she see? What did she see?

What did he say? How did he say it? How what what was his manners like? How can she just from that come to the point saying, that's a man who walks with God? That excites me more than anything else.

Because as you see, Elisha's relationship with God was proven within the boundaries of the home. And there is no other place where our true selves become more raw and more bare than when we are spending day to day. When we are spending day to day. I've met many broken, broken people, especially pastor's kids, who with tears in their eyes say, Yeah, the guy you see on the pulpit is not the guy once he steps foot in the living room. Elisha was a different person.

What does our speech sound like at home? What does our worship look like at home? What does our purity look like at home? What does our compassion and our patience? What does our tone of voice sound like at home?

Over the years, more and more as I study the Scriptures about what true spirituality is, The sermons people preach, I mean, they're important. The word of God being declared is important. But if I really want to know who a man of God is, I'll ask the people who know him. What's he like with his wife? What's he like with his kids?

And God, I believe looks at the kitchen before he looks at the pulpit. It's true holiness, guys. It's so simple. It's so so simple and that's what God is looking for. Other gods are pleased with performances.

Other gods want great sacrifices. Just ask the prophets of Baal who whip themselves raw in a different way. You know what our God looks for? After you confessed your sin, believed on Jesus Christ, repented and he seals you with his holy spirit. You know what he looks for?

Speech. You know what he looks for? Who you are at lunch break at work. That's what he looks for. That may sound intimidating but here's the best part about pursuing true spirituality.

God doesn't leave us pursuing true spirituality. God doesn't leave us with our strength to accomplish it. Because true spirituality is energized by the Holy Spirit who has been granted to us. I'm gonna prove it to you in one verse and then this part will be done. In Colossians chapter one verse 28.

You know, I found another exciting thing in my study of the new testament that there is legal grounds for a preacher to say, I'm almost done when they're not almost done. If you don't believe me, read the book of Philippians. And you know what we read? Paul concludes in so many parts and he keeps going. At first, I used to feel guilty about it.

I'm like, I'm lying from the pulpit. And then Paul did it and said, I'm in a good place. Colossians chapter one, and I want you to see here. Him we proclaim morning everyone and teaching everyone, that with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. Here's here's what Christianity looks like after you get saved.

Remember, the Corinthians were known as infants in Christ. And here's the goal of the minister and here's the goal of those being ministered to by the minister. Maturity. That has to be in our thinking, in our praying. That has to be there.

I want to grow. I want these things to grow. But notice what he says in verse 29. For this I toil, that scares us. Struggling, that scares us even more, but look what he says.

With all whose energy? Paul's energy? His energy. That he powerfully works within me. It's his energy.

So, I look to receive people now and, recent history has shown us that things can change very quickly. We may not have another marathon the next year. I hope we do, But here's what I give to you. If this is my final message, which is not, tomorrow is if the Lord wills, but if this would be my final message to the believer in this place, as you go and pursue true spirituality in the part of the vineyard that God has providentially led you into, Go in the strength of the Holy Spirit. He is with you.

He will help you. When you fall, you tell him you fell. He already sees it. You come honestly before him, and he is right there to pick you up again and to move forward in his will. He will supply it.

He will supply it. Listen. Because I know people, if they hear this, they can hear it wrong. I know people who try to strive for spirituality, and it's really sad to watch because they're doing it in their strength. And so to they read James one, and they think I gotta speak King James.

And and they try to go, and they and they almost premeditate, and they and they're frustrated because there needs to be a dependency upon the Holy Spirit daily, daily, daily. And trust his work in you. You know, it's so wonderful when you look at the the construction of the temple in Solomon's day, there is an interesting insight where you read that the sound of the building was silent. I'm paraphrasing here. Do you remember that passage, some people?

There was a silent work. It could not be perceived. It was almost like it was mute, though it was in mute. And that is a perfect picture of the work of the Holy Spirit in us. It is not always so loud and obvious, but it is there.

It's happening even when you're not aware of it. And sometimes you catch yourself. That wasn't me. That was God, Shirley. And so I want to I want this time as we close in a moment, hopefully, just with a little a little bit of of verses here to get your heart really started to say, I I'm gonna make this a quest to my Lord.

What is it that you ask of me that you would have the greatest motivation, the greatest trust that God is for you and he's not waiting for you to mess up. He's for you. And he is so patient. And so may God help us. If anyone thinks he is religious but does not bridle his tongue, his religion is worthless.

May God preserve us from worthless religion. Let's pray. Lord, thank you. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. And Lord, in this place today, we have made a decision to submit to the standard of spirituality that you have set before us by way of example through James.

Help us Lord. We fail often. We stumble quickly. We miss the mark almost every day. And Lord, we just ask that you would show us what it is that it means to be a holy man, a holy woman of God.

Protect us from deceiving our own hearts. And Lord, if there's anybody in here who is deceived about their salvation, rescue them. If there is anyone here who is deceived about what it means to truly grow in the Lord, what it means from the point of their salvation to meeting you face to face, what that life is supposed to be about, Show us Lord. Show us where we went wrong and show us what needs to change. We wanna live before God the father.

Help us at home. Help us with the relationships that we are interacting with daily. Help us with those that we would be tempted to not give attention to. Give us divine opportunities to do what Elisha did and be eager to do it when it happens. Lord, we give you all praise and glory as we worship, as we sit and meditate.

We long for you Lord to smile over our lives. Thank you that positionally you smile and you will always smile. But Lord by the help of your spirit, we want to please you with our life. That's our desire. Receive our worship now as we meditate.

May the meditation of our hearts, may the meditation of our hearts, the words of our mouths be acceptable in your sight. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Just sit. Talk to the Lord.

Pour out your heart before him. Even before we sing guys, if we can just play softly and just meditate before the Lord and let this be something between you and him and then we'll sing together.