Simon Magus, at Samaria, that he "believed," and yet his heart was not
right in the sight of God. It is even written of the devils that they
"believe and tremble." (Acts viii. 13; James ii. 19.)
Is there not an unreal _holiness_? Beyond doubt there is. Joash, king of
Judah, became to all appearance very holy and good, so long as Jehoiada
the priest lived. But as soon as he died the religion of Joash died at
the same time. (2 Chron. xxiv. 2.)--Judas Iscariot's outward life was as
correct as that of any of the apostles up to the time that he betrayed
his Master. There was nothing suspicious about him. Yet in reality he
was "a thief" and a traitor. (John xii. 6.)
Is there not an unreal _love and charity_? Beyond doubt there is. There
is a love which consists in words and tender expressions, and a great
show of affection, and calling other people "dear brethren," while the
heart does not love at all. It is not for nothing that St. John says,
"Let us not love in word, neither in tongue, but in deed and in truth."
It was not without cause that St. Paul said: "Let love be without
dissimulation." (1 John iii. 18; Rom. xii. 19.)
Is there not an unreal _humility_? Beyond doubt there is. There is a
pretended lowliness of demeanour, which often covers over a very proud
heart. St. Paul warns us against a "voluntary humility," and speaks of
"things which had a show of wisdom in will-worship and humility." (Col.
ii. 18, 23.)
Is there not unreal _praying_? Beyond doubt there is. Our Lord denounces
it as one of the special sins of the Pharisees--that for a "pretence
they made long prayers." (Matt. xxiii. 14.) He does not charge them with
not praying, or with praying too shortly. Their sin lay in this, that
their prayers were not real.
Is there not unreal _worship_? Beyond doubt there is. Our Lord says of
the Jews: "This people draw nigh to Me with their mouths, and honour Me
with their lips, but their heart is far from Me." (Matt. xv. 8.) They
had plenty of formal services in their temples and their synagogues. But
the fatal defect about them was want of reality and want of heart.
Is there not unreal _talking_ about religion? Beyond doubt there is.
Ezekiel describes some professing Jews who talked and spoke like God's
people "while their hearts went after their covetousness." (Ezek.
xxxiii. 31.) St. Paul tells us that we may "speak with the tongue of men
and angels," and yet be no better than sounding brass and a tinkling
cymbal. (1 Cor. xiii. 1.)
What shall we say to these things? To say the least they ought to set us
thinking. To my own mind they seem to lead to only one conclusion. They
show clearly the immense importance which Scripture attaches to reality
in religion. They show clearly what need we have to take heed lest our
Christianity turn out to be merely nominal, formal, unreal, and base.
The subject is of deep importance in every age. There has never been a
time, since the Church of Christ was founded, when there has not been a
vast amount of unreality and mere nominal religion among professing
Christians. I am sure it is the case in the present day. Wherever I turn
my eyes I see abundant cause for the warning,--"Beware of base metal in
religion. Be genuine. Be thorough. Be real. Be true."
How much religion among some members of the Church of England consists
of _nothing but churchmanship_! They belong to the Established Church.
They are baptized at her fonts, married at her communion rails, buried
in her churchyards, preached to on Sundays by her ministers. But the
great doctrines laid down in her Articles and Liturgy have no place in
their hearts, and no influence on their lives. They neither think, nor
feel, nor care, nor know anything about them. And is the religion of
these people real Christianity? It is nothing of the kind. It is mere
base metal. It is not the Christianity of Peter, and James, and John,
and Paul. It is _Churchianity_, and no more.
How much religion among some Dissenters from the Church of England
consists of _nothing but dissent_! They pride themselves on having
nothing to do with the Establishment. They rejoice in having no liturgy,
no forms, no bishops. They glory in the exercise of their private
judgment, and the absence of everything like ceremonial in their public
worship. But all this time they have neither grace, nor faith, nor
repentance, nor holiness, nor spirituality of conduct or conversation.
The experimental and practical piety of the old Nonconformists is a
thing of which they are utterly destitute. Their Christianity is as
sapless and fruitless as a dead tree, and as dry and marrowless as an
old bone. And is the Christianity of these people real? It is nothing
of the kind. It is base metal. It is not the Christianity of Owen, and
Manton, and Goodwin, and Baxter, and Traill. It is _Dissentianity_, and
nothing more.
How much Ritualistic religion is utterly unreal! You will sometimes see
men boiling over with zeal about vestments, and gestures, and postures,
and church decorations, and daily services, and frequent communions,
while their hearts are manifestly in the world. Of the inward work of
the Holy Ghost,--of living faith in the Lord Jesus,--of delight in the
Bible and religious conversation,--of separation from worldly follies
and amusements,--of zeal for the conversion of souls to God,--of all
these things they are profoundly ignorant. And is such Christianity as
this real? It is nothing of the kind. It is a mere name.
How much Evangelical religion is completely unreal? You will sometimes
see men professing great affection for the pure "Gospel," while they are
practically inflicting on it the greatest injury. They will talk loudly
of soundness in the faith, and have a keen nose for heresy. They will
run eagerly after popular preachers, and applaud Protestant speakers at
public meetings to the very echo. They are familiar with all the phrases
of evangelical religion, and can converse fluently about its leading
doctrines. To see their faces at public meetings, or in church, you
would think them eminently godly. To hear them talk you would suppose
their lives were bound up in religious Societies, the "Record" or "Rock"
newspapers, and Exeter Hall. And yet these people in private will
sometimes do things of which even some heathens would be ashamed. They
are neither truthful, nor straightforward, nor honest, nor manly, nor
just, nor good-tempered, nor unselfish, nor merciful, nor humble, nor
kind! And is such Christianity as this real? It is not. It is a
miserable imposture, a base cheat and caricature.
How much Revivalist religion in the present day is utterly unreal! You
will find a crowd of false professors bringing discredit on the work of
God wherever the Holy Spirit is poured out. You will see a mixed
multitude of Egyptians accompanying the Israel of God, and doing it
harm, whenever Israel goes out of Egypt. How many now-a-days will
profess to be suddenly convinced of sin,--to find peace in Jesus,--to be
overwhelmed with joys and ecstacies of soul,--while in reality they have
no grace at all. Like the stony-ground hearers, they endure but for a
season. "In the time of temptation they fall away." (Luke viii. 13) As
soon as the first excitement is passed off, they return to their old
ways, and resume their former sins. Their religion is like Jonah's
gourd, which came up in a night and perished in a night. They have
neither root nor vitality. They only injure God's cause and give
occasion to God's enemies to blaspheme. And is Christianity like this
real? It is nothing of the kind. It is base metal from the devil's mint,
=and= is worthless in God's sight.
I write these things with sorrow. I have no desire to bring any section
of the Church of Christ into contempt. I have no wish to cast any slur
on any movement which begins with the Spirit of God. But the times
demand very plain speaking about some points in the prevailing
Christianity of our day. And one point, I am quite persuaded, that
demands attention, is the abounding want of reality which is to be seen
on every side.
No reader, at any rate, can well deny that the subject of the paper
before him is of vast importance.
II. I pass on now to the second thing which I propose to do. _I will
supply some tests by which we may try the reality of our religion._
In approaching this part of my subject, I ask every reader of this paper
to deal fairly, honestly, and reasonably with his soul. Dismiss from
your mind the common idea,--that of course all is right if you go to
church or to chapel. Cast away such vain notions for ever. You must look
further, higher, deeper than this, if you would find out the truth.
Listen to me, and I will give you a few hints. Believe me, it is no
light matter. It is your life.
(1) For one thing, if you would know whether your religion is real, try
it by _the place which it occupies_ in your inner man. It is not enough
that it is in your _head_. You may know the truth, and assent to the
truth, and believe the truth, and yet be wrong in God's sight.--It is
not enough that it is on your _lips_. You may repeat the creed daily.
You may say "Amen" to public prayer in church, and yet have nothing more
than an outward religion.--It is not enough that it is in your
_feelings_. You may weep under preaching one day, and be lifted to the
third heaven by joyous excitement another day, and yet be dead to
God.--Your religion, if it is real, and given by the Holy Ghost, must be
in your _heart_. It must occupy the citadel. It must hold the reins. It
must sway the affections. It must lead the will. It must direct the
tastes. It must influence the choices and decisions. It must fill the
deepest, lowest, inmost seat in your soul. Is this your religion? If
not, you may well doubt whether it is "_real_" and true. (Acts viii. 21;
Rom. x. 10.)
(2) In the next place, if you would know whether your religion is real,
try it by the _feelings towards sin_ which it produces. The Christianity
which is from the Holy Ghost will always have a very deep view of the
sinfulness of sin. It will not merely regard sin as a blemish and
misfortune, which makes men and women objects of pity and compassion. It
will see in sin the abominable thing which God hates, the thing which
makes man guilty and lost in his Maker's sight, the thing which deserves
God's wrath and condemnation. It will look on sin as the cause of all
sorrow and unhappiness, of strife and wars, of quarrels and contentions,
of sickness and death,--the blight which has blighted God's fair
creation, the cursed thing which makes the whole earth groan and travail
in pain. Above all, it will see in sin the thing which will ruin us
eternally, except we can find a ransom,--lead us captive, except we can
get its chains broken,--and destroy our happiness, both here and
hereafter, except we fight against it, even unto death. Is this your
religion? Are these your feelings about sin? If not, you may well doubt
whether your religion is "_real_."
(3) For another thing, if you would know whether your religion is real,
try it by the _feelings toward Christ_ which it produces. Nominal
religion may believe that such a person as Christ existed, and was a
great benefactor to mankind. It may show Him some external respect,
attend His outward ordinances, and bow the head at His name. But it will
go no further. Real religion will make a man glory in Christ, as the
Redeemer, the Deliverer, the Priest, the Friend, without whom he would
have no hope at all. It will produce confidence in Him, love towards
Him, delight in Him, comfort in Him, as the mediator, the food, the
light, the life, the peace of the soul. Is this your religion? Do you
know anything of feelings like these toward Jesus Christ? If not, you
may well doubt whether your religion is "_real_."
(4) For another thing, if you would know whether your religion is real,
try it by _the fruit it bears in your heart and life_. The Christianity
which is from above will always be known by its fruits. It will produce
in the man who has it repentance, faith, hope, charity, humility,
spirituality, kind temper, self-denial, unselfishness, forgivingness,
temperance, truthfulness, brotherly-kindness, patience, forbearance. The
degree in which these various graces appear may vary in different
believers. The germ and seeds of them will be found in all who are the
children of God. By their fruits they may be known. Is this your
religion? If not, you may well doubt whether it is "_real_."
(5) In the last place, if you would know whether your religion is real,
try it by your _feelings and habits about means of grace_. Prove it by
the Sunday. Is that day a season of weariness and constraint, or a
delight and a refreshment, and a sweet foretaste of the rest to come in
heaven?--Prove it by the public means of grace. What are your feelings
about public prayer and public praise, about the public preaching of
God's Word, and the administration of the Lord's Supper? Are they things
to which you give a cold assent, and tolerate them as proper and
correct? Or, are they things in which you take pleasure, and without
which you could not live happy?--Prove it, finally, by your feelings
about private means of grace. Do you find it essential to your comfort
to read the Bible regularly in private, and to speak to God in prayer?
Or, do you find these practices irksome, and either slur them over, or
neglect them altogether? These questions deserve your attention. If
means of grace, whether public or private, are not as necessary to your
soul as meat and drink are to your body, you may well doubt whether your
religion is "_real_."
I press on the attention of all my readers the five points which I have
just named. There is nothing like coming to particulars about these
matters. If you would know whether your religion is "real," genuine, and
true, measure it by the five particulars which I have now named. Measure
it fairly: test it honestly. If your heart is right in the sight of God,
you have no cause to flinch from examination. If it is wrong, the sooner
you find it out the better.
And now I have done what I proposed to do. I have shown from Scripture
the unspeakable importance of reality in religion, and the danger in
which many stand of being lost for ever, for want of it. I have given
five plain tests, by which a man may find out whether his Christianity
is real. I will conclude all by a direct application of the whole
subject to the souls of all who read this paper. I will draw my bow at a
venture, and trust that God will bring an arrow home to the hearts and
consciences of many.
(1) My first word of application shall be _an inquiry_. Is your own
religion real or unreal? genuine or base? I do not ask what you think
about others. Perhaps you may see many hypocrites around you. You may be
able to point to many who have no "reality" at all. This is not the
question. You may be right in your opinion about others. But I want to
know about yourself. Is your own Christianity real and true? or nominal
and base?
If you love life, do not turn away from the question which is now before
you. The time must come when the whole truth will be known. The judgment
day will reveal every man's religion, of what sort it is. The parable of
the wedding-garment will receive an awful fulfilment. Surely it is a
thousand times better to find out _now_ your condition, and to repent,
than to find it out too late in the next world, when there will be no
space for repentance. If you have common prudence, sense, and judgment,
consider what I say. Sit down quietly this day, and examine yourself.
Find out the real character of your religion. With the Bible in your
hand, and honesty in your heart, the thing may be known. Then resolve to
find out.
(2) My second word of application shall be a _warning_. I address it to
all who know, in their own consciences, that their religion is not real.
I ask them to remember the greatness of their danger, and their
exceeding guilt in the sight of God.
An unreal Christianity is specially offensive to that Great God with
whom we have to do. He is continually spoken of in Scripture as the God
of Truth. Truth is peculiarly one of His attributes. Can you doubt for a
moment that He abhors everything that is not genuine and true? Better, I
firmly believe, to be found an ignorant heathen at the last day, than to
be found with nothing better than a nominal religion. If your religion
is of this sort, beware!
An unreal Christianity is sure to fail a man at last. It will wear out;
it will break down; it will leave its possessor like a wreck on a
sandbank, high and dry and forsaken by the tide; it will supply no
comfort in the hour when comfort is most needed,--in the time of
affliction, and on the bed of death. If you want a religion to be of any
use to your soul, beware of unreality! If you would not be comfortless
in death, and hopeless in the judgment day, be genuine, be real, be
true.
(3) My third word of application shall be _advice_. I offer it to all
who feel pricked in conscience by the subject of this paper. I advise
them to cease from all trifling and playing with religion, and to become
honest, thorough-going, whole-hearted followers of the Lord Jesus
Christ.
Apply without delay to the Lord Jesus, and ask Him to become your
Saviour, your Physician, your Priest, and your Friend. Let not the
thought of your unworthiness keep you away: let not the recollection of
your sins prevent your application. Never, never forget that Christ can
cleanse you from any quantity of sins, if you only commit your soul to
Him. But one thing He does ask of those who come to Him: He asks them to
be real, honest, and true.
Let reality be one great mark of your approach to Christ, and there is
everything to give you hope. Your repentance may be feeble, but let it
be real; your faith may be weak, but let it be real; your desires after
holiness may be mingled with much infirmity, but let them be real. Let
there be nothing of reserve, of double-dealing, of part-acting of
dishonesty, of sham, of counterfeit, in your Christianity. Never be
content to wear a cloak of religion. Be all that you profess. Though you
may err, be real. Though you may stumble, be true. Keep this principle
continually before your eyes, and it will be well with your soul
throughout your journey from grace to glory.
(4) My last word of application shall be _encouragement_. I address it
to all who have manfully taken up the cross, and are honestly following
Christ. I exhort them to persevere, and not to be moved by difficulties
and opposition.
You may often find few with you, and many against you. You may often
hear hard things said of you. You may often be told that you go too far,
and that you are extreme. Heed it not. Turn a deaf ear to remarks of
this kind. Press on.
If there is anything which a man ought to do thoroughly, really, truly,
honestly, and with all his heart, it is the business of his soul. If
there is any work which he ought never to slur over, and do in a
slovenly fashion, it is the great work of "working out his own
salvation." (Phil. ii. 12.) Believer in Christ, remember this! Whatever
you do in religion, do it well. Be real. Be thorough. Be honest. Be
true.
If there is anything in the world of which a man need not be ashamed, it
is the service of Jesus Christ. Of sin, of worldliness, of levity, of
trifling, of time-wasting, of pleasure-seeking, of bad temper, of pride,
of making an idol of money, dress, dancing, hunting, shooting,
card-playing, novel-reading, and the like,--of all this a man may well
be ashamed. Living after this fashion he makes the angels sorrow, and
the devils rejoice. But of living for his soul,--caring for his
soul,--thinking of his soul,--providing for his soul,--making his soul's
salvation the principal and chief thing in his daily life,--of all this
a man has no cause to be ashamed at all. Believer in Christ, remember
this! Remember it in your Bible-reading and your private praying.
Remember it on your Sabbaths. Remember it in your worship of God. In all
these things never be ashamed of being whole-hearted, real, thorough,
and true.
The years of our life are fast passing away. Who knows but this year may
be the last in his life? Who can tell but that he may be called this
very year to meet his God? As ever you would be found ready, be a real
and true Christian. Do not be base metal.
The time is fast coming when nothing but reality will stand the fire.
Real repentance towards God,--real faith towards our Lord Jesus
Christ,--real holiness of heart and life,--these, these are the things
which will alone pass current at the last day. It is a solemn saying of
our Lord Jesus Christ, "Many shall say in that day, Lord, Lord, have we
not prophesied in Thy name, and in Thy name have cast out devils, and in
Thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess to them, I
never knew you. Depart from Me, ye that work iniquity." (Matt. vii. 22,
23.)
IV
PRAYER
"_Men ought always to pray._"--Luke xviii. 1.
"_I will that men pray everywhere._"--1 Tim. ii. 8.
Prayer is the most important subject in practical religion. All other
subjects are second to it. Reading the Bible, keeping the Sabbath,
hearing sermons, attending public worship, going to the Lord's
Table,--all these are very weighty matters. But none of them are so
important as private prayer.
I propose in this paper to offer seven plain reasons why I use such
strong language about prayer. I invite to these reasons the attention of
every thinking man into whose hands this paper may fall. I venture to
assert with confidence that they deserve serious consideration.
I. In the first place, _Prayer is absolutely needful to a man's
salvation_.
I say absolutely needful, and I say so advisedly. I am not speaking now
of infants and idiots. I am not settling the state of the heathen. I
remember that where little is given, there little will be required. I
speak especially of those who call themselves Christians, in a land like
our own. And of such I say no man or woman can expect to be saved who
does not pray.
I hold salvation by grace as strongly as any one. I would gladly offer a
free and full pardon to the greatest sinner that ever lived. I would not
hesitate to stand by his dying bed, and say, "Believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ even now, and you shall be saved." But that a man can have
salvation without _asking_ for it, I cannot see in the Bible. That a man
will receive pardon of his sins, who will not so much as lift up his
heart inwardly, and say, "Lord Jesus, give it to me," this I cannot
find. I can find that nobody will be saved by his prayers, but I cannot
find that without prayer anybody will be saved.
It is not absolutely needful to salvation that a man should _read_ the
Bible. A man may have no learning, or be blind, and yet have Christ in
his heart. It is not absolutely needful that a man should _hear_ the
public preaching of the Gospel. He may live where the Gospel is not
preached, or he may be bedridden, or deaf. But the same thing cannot be
said about prayer. It is absolutely needful to salvation that a man
should _pray_.
There is no royal road either to health or learning. Princes and kings,
poor men and peasants, all alike must attend to the wants of their own
bodies and their own minds. No man can eat, drink, or sleep by proxy. No
man can get the alphabet learned for him by another. All these are
things which everybody must do for himself, or they will not be done at
all.
Just as it is with the mind and body, so it is with the soul. There are
certain things absolutely needful to the soul's health and well-being.
Each one must attend to these things for himself. Each must repent for
himself. Each must apply to Christ for himself. And for himself each one
must speak to God and pray. You must do it for yourself, for by nobody
else can it be done.
How can we expect to be saved by an "unknown" God? And how can we know
God without prayer? We know nothing of men and women in this world,
unless we speak with them. We cannot know God in Christ, unless we speak
to Him in prayer. If we wish to be with Him in heaven, we must be His
friends on earth. If we wish to be His friends on earth, _we must pray_.