Sermons and Biblical Studies

The admonition to “love the Lord thy God with all thy heart,… and with all thy mind” (Matthew 22:37) can mean only one thing. It means to adore Him. I use the word “adore” sparingly, for it is a precious word. I love babies and I love people, but I cannot say I adore them. … Continue reading “ADORATION;
WORSHIP: ADORATION”

Working for Christ has today been accepted as the ultimate test of godliness among all but a few evangelical Christians. Christ has become a project to be promoted or a cause to be served instead of a Lord to be obeyed. Thousands of mistaken persons seek to do for Christ whatever their fancy suggests should … Continue reading “ACTIVITY:
TEST OF GODLINESS; BUSYNESS”

It is possible to have motion without progress, and this describes much of the activity among Christians today. It is simply lost motion. In God there is motion, but never wasted motion; He always works toward a predetermined end. Being made in His image, we are by nature constituted so that we are justifying our … Continue reading “ACTIVITY:
RELIGIOUS; SPIRITUAL GOALS”

Much religious work is being done these days that is not owned by our Lord and will not be accepted or rewarded in that great day. Superior human gifts are being mistaken for the gifts of the Holy Spirit, and neither they who exercise these gifts nor the Christian public before whom they are exercised … Continue reading “ACTIVITY:
RELIGIOUS; SERVICE: MOTIVES FOR”

It is more than probable that in the whole history of the United States there was never at any one time so much religious activity as there is today. And it is also very likely that there was never less true spirituality. For some reason, religious activity and godliness do not always go together. To … Continue reading “ACTIVITY:
RELIGIOUS; SERMON ON THE MOUNT”

“The accent in the Church today,” says Leonard Ravenhill, the English evangelist, “is not on devotion, but on commotion.” Religious extroversion has been carried to such an extreme in evangelical circles that hardly anyone has the desire, to say nothing of the courage, to question the soundness of it. Externalism has taken over. God now … Continue reading “ACTIVITY:
RELIGIOUS; EXTERNALISM; CURRENT CONDITIONS: SHALLOWNESS”

There is all around us, however, a very evident and continuing substitute for worship. I speak of the compelling temptation among Christian believers to be constantly engaged, during every waking hour, in religious activity. We cannot deny that it is definitely a churchly idea of service. Many of our sermons and much of our contemporary … Continue reading “ACTIVITY:
RELIGIOUS; BUSYNESS; WORSHIP: MEANINGLESS”

Today the Christian emphasis falls heavily on the “active” life. People are more concerned with earth than with heaven; they would rather “do something” than to commune with God. The average Christian feels a lot nearer to this world than to the world above. The current vogue favors “Christian action.” The favorite brand of Christianity … Continue reading “ACTIVITY:
RELIGIOUS; BUSYNESS”

I suppose my suggestion will not receive much serious attention, but I should like to suggest that we Bible-believing Christians announce a moratorium on religious activity and set our house in order preparatory to the coming of an afflatus from above. So carnal is the body of Christians which composes the conservative wing of the … Continue reading “ACTIVITY:
MORATORIUM ON; CHURCH: SPIRITUAL CONDITION”

I think we are the busiest bunch of eager beavers ever seen in the religious world. The idea seems to be that if we are not running in a circle, breathing down the back of our own neck, we are not pleasing God!… I heard a Christian leader warn recently that we are suffering from … Continue reading “ACTIVITY:
MORATORIUM ON; BUSYNESS; CHURCH: ACTIVITIES”