The Spurgeon Blog

In the last BLOG we looked at many ways that people can have high religious feelings and yet be lost. This is not just an isolated sort of thing, but in our nation which is so focused on self the religion in America has taken on that basic thrust and is now the religion of self. This can be true in any denomination and any theology. The fallen heart and nature of the human soul has fallen from God-centeredness to self-centeredness. The heart is naturally inclined toward self and so it will be very religious for self without even thinking about it. This is how mega-churches come into being. They intentionally set out to give people what they want. They do what makes people comfortable at church and play the music that people like or are comfortable with. They don’t want to preach on sin because people will become uncomfortable. When this happens it is self-centered people planning services for self-centered people. The only One who is not comfortable at meetings like that is God. So the music and the preaching that are focused on the people to make them comfortable is actually idolatrous because it is not focused on God in truth.

The following quote is taken from The Religious Affections by Jonathan Edwards. The total quote being used can be seen in the BLOG Humility 36.

“But the essence of evangelical humiliation consists in such humility as becomes a creature in itself exceeding sinful, under a dispensation of grace; consisting in a mean esteem of himself, as in himself nothing, and altogether contemptible and odious; attended with a mortification of a disposition to exalt himself, and a free renunciation of his own glory…This is a great and most essential thing in true religion. The whole frame of the gospel, every thing appertaining in the new covenant, and all God’s dispensations towards fallen man, are calculated to bring to pass this effect. They that are destitute of this, have no true religion, whatever profession they may make, and high soever their religious affections may be.”

The writings of Edwards as he follows the depths of Scripture are devastating to the modern versions of Christianity. While modern versions pursue self with a version of a god that is focused on our self, Edwards teaches that God is God-centered and can desire nothing but His own glory. So the real God’s desire for His people would be to take away their wicked self-centeredness and give them love for Himself which is the greatest good. For God to give an unregenerate person all that the person’s heart desired would be to give them an awful judgment on them. An unregenerate heart will only desire sinful things for self and if they are religious it would still be self-centered. This is why the modern version of Christianity can be the judgment of God upon us.

If true religion only comes when the heart is truly humbled, then clearly a massive amount of false religion is sweeping the United States and the world. If in fact this is true: “This is a great and most essential thing in true religion. The whole frame of the gospel, every thing appertaining in the new covenant, and all God’s dispensations towards fallen man, are calculated to bring to pass this effect,” then the vast percentage of what we see going on in religion is false because it is based on self which is opposite of true Christianity. If all of what God does toward fallen man is calculated to bring man to an end of his self-love and self-focus, then the orthodoxy and good works of people that are moved by and focused on self simply are wrong from top to bottom. It is like a beautiful tree or house on the outside that has nothing but rotten wood on the inside. What does God require of human souls? “He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you But to do justice, to love kindness, And to walk humbly with your God?” (Micah 6:8). What is it that is at the essence of Christianity?

Isaiah 57:15 - For thus says the high and exalted One Who lives forever, whose name is Holy, “I dwell on a high and holy place, And also with the contrite and lowly of spirit In order to revive the spirit of the lowly And to revive the heart of the contrite.

Colossians 1:27 - to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

Hab 2:4 - Behold, as for the proud one, His soul is not right within him; But the righteous will live by his faith.

The essence of Christianity has to do with Christ living in souls, but God is opposed to the proud and gives grace to the humble. He will only dwell with and in the contrite and lowly of spirit. Those who are proud and focused on self, despite elevated feelings and devotedness to religion, are opposed to God and the essence of Christianity.

In the last BLOG we looked at the fact that it is not necessarily a sign of true religion to have high religious affections. This is true because of the fact that a person without evangelical humility is a person that loves self and all that is thought to bring good to self. Forms of religion, apart from evangelical humility, can be nothing more than acts of self-love. Music and preaching can be aimed at the feelings and as long as God is mentioned people may think that their feelings that are raised by those things are religious affections, though they might not use that language. Preaching that declare that Christ died for you may do nothing but move self-love in a person. Singing and music can produce high and elevated feelings, yet add a few words about God and people will think that their elevated feelings are toward God and they will be certain that they love God because of those feelings.

The following quote is taken from The Religious Affections by Jonathan Edwards. The total quote being used can be seen in the BLOG Humility 36.

“But the essence of evangelical humiliation consists in such humility as becomes a creature in itself exceeding sinful, under a dispensation of grace; consisting in a mean esteem of himself, as in himself nothing, and altogether contemptible and odious; attended with a mortification of a disposition to exalt himself, and a free renunciation of his own glory…This is a great and most essential thing in true religion. The whole frame of the gospel, every thing appertaining in the new covenant, and all God’s dispensations towards fallen man, are calculated to bring to pass this effect. They that are destitute of this, have no true religion, whatever profession they may make, and high soever their religious affections may be.”

If Edwards was and is correct, and I am not sure how his position could be argued against from Scripture, there could be large numbers of people donate money and do good works, but they do so because it makes them feel good which is from self-love rather than love for God. People can donate money to a “good” cause because it makes them feel good or because it gives them relief from their guilty feelings. But as should be obvious, that is not the same thing as giving or doing out of love for God. So not matter how high and elevated the feelings are while doing these things, apart from evangelical humiliation it is all done for self rather than love for God.

Large numbers of people go to church because it is a time of quiet and they can hear a moral lecture, but that is again obviously and simply self-love seeking things for self and not out of love for God. There seems to be something so right about going to church in America for many people, but still that is far from going out of love for God. We live in a nation that exalts self and thinks that things are to be done for self, so it is so easy to slip into a way of doing that in things of religion. The modern version of Christianity seems to be nothing more than another way to seek self, yet the biblical truth teaches over and over that self must be denied in order to follow Christ. Apart from evangelical humiliation, people are full of self and seek God for self.

There are popular preachers that are quite orthodox that focus on preaching about wealth and about joy and things like that. While it may sound God-centered, in reality it is not or at least it is not heard that way by many. God is not to be sought for anything but is to be sought for Himself. Yet apart from evangelical humiliation, the soul is bound to itself in pride and self-love and will not and cannot seek anything but itself. This shows how dangerous it is to have preachers that tickle ears. Many people will say amen to that and yet love ear ticklers themselves. The love of ear tickling sermons can come in many forms. Some love to hear those who are quite entertaining on stage. Some love to hear those who tell them good things about themselves. Some love to hear those who speak to them and claim to seek their happiness and joy. Some love to hear folksy stories during so-called sermons. Some just love an intellectual approach to the Bible. Some love to hear good old time fire and brimstone. Some love to hear orthodox doctrine from the pulpit. Some love to hear practical things from the pulpit. Some love to be made to feel great joy in the sermon. Some love to hear what they are to do from the pulpit. Some even love to hear hard things from the pulpit and can have pride that they go to hard preaching. But none of those things are inconsistent with hearing from self-love and pride. The unhumbled heart loves to base what it does on the feelings it gets from being apart from the crowd, though some like to be part of the crowd. The heart that has been truly humbled, however, no longer lives for self but out of love for God and does all for the glory of God. The truly humbled heart has pain when it hears sermons that are aimed at self rather than the destruction of self. They that are destitute of this, [evangelical humiliation] have no true religion, whatever profession they may make, and high soever their religious affections may be.” Religious affections can be raised very high without the least bit of Christ in them.

The following quote is an excerpt taken from FIRE FROM HEAVEN by Paul Cook:

“In 1807 the early beginnings of Primitive Methodism had taken place at Mow Cop in Staffordshire… There were some mighty men of prayer amongst them. One of these was a quaint character… the name of John Oxtby. Born in 1767 near Pocklington, he had lived for thirty-seven years haring religion and indulging himself in every form of wickedness. But in 1804 he was awakened and came under a terrible conviction of sin. After suffering great agonies of soul he was wonderfully converted. In 1824 he entered the word of God full times, and we are told he did so ‘like a boxer wanting to give a knock-out blow to Satan’…who became known as ‘Praying Johnny’ because…’his power lay in the spiritual realm and there he was indeed a prince of God. Six hours each day he usually spent on his knees and in this way he girded himself for his amazing conquests.’”

“Filey, a fishing village in the East Riding was noted for its wickedness and pagan practices. Attempts had been made to establish a work there…but the work had proved fruitless and a proposal was made to abandon it. John Oxtby objected…’let me go.’ When he reached Muston Hill and viewed Filey in the distance, he fell upon his knees in a dry ditch and began to agonize with God. A miller passing that way thought he heard two men arguing. But it was only one man praying. He was engaging in ‘the argument of faith’ with his God. Evantually God gave Oxtby the assurance that his prayers were answered. He ‘rose in faith’ and exclaimed. ‘It is done, Lord! It is done! Filey is taken! Filey is taken! So he descended into the town; and it was taken!…He preached through the village…fifty of the eighty were saved. A great revival swept the town which completely transformed its moral and spiritual tone and laid the foundations of a powerful church which continued in strength into the twentieth century… The outlook…before Charles Finney’s ideas began to influence evangelical life in this country, was that when the work of God languished they needed to seek by earnest prayer a sovereign intervention of God.”

There are several things to notice that should burn the necessity of prayer into our souls. First, the great need to have mighty men of prayer among the people of God. David had his mighty men around him who could handle swords, but we need to have mighty men who can truly seek the Lord in prayer. The souls of mighty men in prayer need to train a lot in prayer and faith. God raises up men who are mighty in prayer when He is about to pour out His Spirit. This is not to say that mighty women in prayer are not needed, but we need mighty men of prayer who fill the pulpits in the land. Second, though not all will be able to spend six hours a day in prayer, it points to how utterly bankrupt we are in America when we have books that encourage us to spend five minutes a day. We need men and women who will seek the Lord for strength and power to spend a few to several hours a day in prayer. We need Anna’s in the land: “And there was a prophetess, Anna the daughter of Phanuel… She never left the temple, serving night and day with fastings and prayers” (Luke 2:36-37). We need people who will give themselves to prayer and a kind of prayer that is truly seeking the Lord.

Third, no place is truly hopeless if the Lord gives people hearts to pray for it. No place is beyond the power of God if He chooses to act. If we truly believe in the sovereignty of God, then we must live in the assurance that God can act where and when He is pleased to act. Fourth, let us learn that when we begin to pray for a place, a few short utterances is not going to cut it. What is needed is a heart that is willing to spend the time in agonized prayer arguing with God (giving reasons for His name) to revive that place. A comfortable word a few minutes here and there is useless for revival. This is not a heart that is prepared to seek the Lord. Fifth, from the statement on Finney above, let us turn from his ways (or influenced by him) to ways taught of the Lord. We need hearts given over to earnest prayer for a sovereign intervention. Any revival is sovereign by nature and must be prayed for in that way. Until we are finished with the wisdom of men’s plans and see revival as God’s sovereign work we will not pray with fervency. As long as we just pray for God’s help, nothing will happen. But when our hearts are broken and we look to Him alone, revival may be at the door. Sixth, God saves great sinners by a great grace for a great work.

In the previous BLOG we looked a little deeper at what evangelical humiliation really is in light of the vital importance of it. In the modern day we simply have a person say that s/he is a sinner and then repeat a prayer, walk an aisle, or sign a card. We think of this as being a sign of faith because we think of faith as an intellectual act rather than what the whole soul does. The whole soul must receive Christ by grace in all of His offices or He is not received at all. If the whole soul does not receive Christ, then the soul does not truly believe. If the soul does not receive a whole Christ, then the soul is picking and choosing which part of Christ it desires and so does not receive a sovereign Lord. Indeed, in light of those things, it is patently obvious that a soul must have a faith that is attended with a mortification to exalt self. This teaching is so rampant in modern America that it may almost sound new to many that the whole Christ must be bowed to and received by a whole soul. One does not make Christ Lord because He is Lord already. One simply bows to Him as the utter sovereign of this universe. But when one bows to Him as He really is that means that a person must not seek to exalt self rather than Christ and must not seek the honor of self rather than Christ. Instead, true believers must seek to love God and do all to His glory.

The following quote is taken from The Religious Affections by Jonathan Edwards. The total quote being used can be seen in the BLOG Humility 36.

“But the essence of evangelical humiliation consists in such humility as becomes a creature in itself exceeding sinful, under a dispensation of grace; consisting in a mean esteem of himself, as in himself nothing, and altogether contemptible and odious; attended with a mortification of a disposition to exalt himself, and a free renunciation of his own glory…This is a great and most essential thing in true religion. The whole frame of the gospel, every thing appertaining in the new covenant, and all God’s dispensations towards fallen man, are calculated to bring to pass this effect. They that are destitute of this, have no true religion, whatever profession they may make, and high soever their religious affections may be.”

Without going off the point but taking in a bit more of what Edwards is saying here, he remarks that those without evangelical humiliation are destitute of true religion regardless of their profession and regardless of how high their religious affections may be. Vast numbers in our day listen to forms of music that is termed “Christian” and their feelings are lifted high. Because of the exalted feelings and of the fact that God is mentioned in the songs, people think that they are in worship of the true and living God. But that does not follow, and in fact it may be a sign that they are greatly deceived. The Scriptures tell us that God can only be worshipped in spirit and in truth (John 4:24). Feelings may or may not be indicative of the worship of the true God as one can be spiritually dead and still have a high level of feelings that are worked up by forms of music. One can also have a high level of feelings based on self-love as well. A person can even be seeking the high level of feelings much as people seek adrenaline rushes by doing various dangerous sports and activities. Without evangelical humility a person can do many religious things and do them for the high level of feeling which is to do them out of self-love rather than love for God.

There is also a form of preaching that has an intensity to it that can raise a high level of feeling, but that does not make it a way of preaching the truth. We must understand that the heart is so deceitful and try to get at the depths of the intents and motives of it. Preaching that is very personal or with a lot of stories can reach our natural feelings while we are spiritually dead. Preaching that is a form of drama or is performed by or carried out by the “preacher” It can lead us to feelings about God that is based on our self-love. A lot of talking about what God has done for us can lead to a high level of feelings. We have seen how secular speakers and talk shows can lead people to tears and high feelings, so clearly something that is called “preaching” can do the same thing that has nothing to do with the truth of God and of the Gospel. However, it is even more dangerous due to the deception that can occur as a result. It leads to people thinking they love preaching and therefore love God when in fact they only love themselves and the high level of feelings that they have while hearing a type of preaching that produces the feelings of self.

The teaching of Edwards on this should be read by preachers and all professors of Christ today and taken to heart. Satan is out to deceive and it is a very deceptive work he has done and is doing when his deception is through the preaching and singing at “church.” With such a premium placed on feelings or “emotions” today, anything that produces a feeling in religious services is thought to be true. However, as Edwards observes, without evangelical humility those feelings are not true no matter how high they are raised. Those feelings can be nothing but the workings of the natural man to things thought to do good things for self. It can be the deception of the devil.