May all those who make a decided profession of religion, but whose heart is not right before the Lord; the lukewarm, the self-righteous, and the hypocritical; learn that God will never accept of a divided heart; that He will never approve of a self-righteous spirit, and will never receive the incense of feigned lips. Hypocrisy must be peculiarly offensive, as it is peculiarly insulting, to the Majesty of an omniscient and omnipresent God. That one of his creatures should dare to make His name or service a cloak to cover his selfish and worldly views; should profess a great reverence for Him, only to secure the applause, or procure the assistance of men, is at once such a bold and impious fraud, as must excite the displeasure, and call down the vengeance of an insulted and offended Deity. What! shall the weak and miserable creature who has been graciously allowed to approach his great Creator, and “tell out his wants and unburden his sorrows to Him in prayer,”—shall he pervert to his base ends this high and holy privilege, and “make long prayers, that he may be seen of men!” Such a fearful profanation resembles that of Belshazzar, when he used, at his unholy banquet, the sacred vessels taken from the Temple at Jerusalem, and with them gave honour to his false gods. [63] For the hypocrite, who worships in the sanctuary to advance his worldly interest, is employing the holy ordinances of the Lord in the service of Belial, who is his god.
It may be hoped that hypocrisy of this impious nature is rare; but neither its criminality nor its extent are sufficiently regarded by men in general. For what, in reality, are all who make merely an outward profession of religion? they are all hypocrites: they do not attend religious worship to offer their sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving to their Preserver and Benefactor; but they pretend to do so; and perhaps might consider themselves unjustly stigmatised, if the real cause of their being in the courts of the Lord’s house was stated to be, either regard for reputation, to set an example, general custom, or the force of habit. But if men go not to the house of prayer for worship—and those who make merely an outward profession of religion cannot be sincere in offering up any prayers—it remains that some other motive must have drawn them there; and whatever that may be, as the real but not ostensible motive, it stamps them as hypocrites. There also are, it may be feared, other hypocrites, of a very different description, who lay claim to more religion than they possess; and, in the cause of the Lord of Hosts, profess more zeal for His honour than they feel. All such—more especially if they assume a character of which they know themselves to be totally unworthy, seeking to gratify their pride or advance their interests; for then they are hypocrites of the worst description;—expose themselves to the righteous displeasure of the Lord. May men, therefore, learn, that the profession of religion, without regard to its principles, will, sooner or later, bring down upon them swift and sudden destruction; for “the prayer of the wicked is an abomination unto the Lord,” when “they take the law of God into their mouths, but hate to be reformed in their hearts.” And whilst their principles must always correspond with their profession, their practice must be in accordance with both. The repentance of the hypocrite is extremely difficult: he has profaned, to his own ungodly purposes, all the means of grace; and sometimes, so perfect becomes the delusion of lengthened deception, he almost believes himself really to be the character he has falsely assumed. Nothing but Divine grace can rescue him from his alarming state; for he resembles one who has himself poisoned the wholesome aliment intended for his sustenance; still the Great Physician of souls is a sure refuge. May he, through Him, obtain mercy and pardon, and escape having “his portion with the hypocrites, where shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
Amongst the Pharisees it appears, from the severe reproofs our blessed Lord directed against them, that both an hypocritical and self-righteous spirit prevailed to a great extent. Such will ever be the case where the forms are substituted for the spirit of religion. It will then quickly degenerate into a number of lifeless observances, and the shadow of the religion will remain whilst the substance will be lost. Self-righteousness, in this day, rests nearly upon the same foundation as in the time of our Saviour. Amongst ourselves it is often built upon the groundwork of regularity and strictness in religious observances, and of belonging to a particular sect or party. It is often characterised by an appearance of much self-complacency and spiritual pride; still it is at the same time distinguished generally by a correct standard of morals, a due regard for decorum, and a strict attention to religious duties. Alas! every one must lament that the spirit is wanting which will give acceptability to these services in the sight of God: for “thus saith the high and lofty One, that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy: I dwell in the high and holy place; with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit; to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.” [66a] There exists not in the heart of man a feeling more perfectly irreconcileable with his corrupt and fallen nature, than spiritual pride. In the first place, “who maketh thee to differ from another? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive? Now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory as if thou hadst not received it?” [66b] And in the second, “Who can tell how oft he offendeth? O cleanse thou me from my secret faults! Keep thy servant also from presumptuous sins, lest they get the dominion over me: so shall I be undefiled, and innocent from the great offence.” [66c] One of the first Christian virtues is humility; and he must be equally ignorant of his own heart and of the spirit of the Gospel, who prides himself upon his excellences, instead of lamenting his deficiencies. A deep consciousness of personal unworthiness; a fearful sense of his little progress in holiness, in comparison with the advantages which have been afforded to him; a humble thankfulness that God has enabled him to advance some way in his Christian calling; and an entire dependence on his Saviour for grace, for strength, and guidance, for the time to come, generally characterize those most favoured servants of the Lord who have reached the highest attainments in piety, and best served their generation. May the self-righteous receive grace “to learn of Him” who was “meek and lowly of heart,” and then they will find present and eternal “rest unto their souls.”
“How long halt ye between two opinions?” was the indignant enquiry addressed to the Israelites by the Prophet Elijah: “If the Lord be God, follow Him; if Baal, then follow him.” [67] In every age there have been too many lukewarm in religion, to whom the same enquiry might be addressed, for there has ever been the same disposition to make a compromise between God and Mammon. They are unwilling to forfeit all hope of the fair “inheritance of the saints in light;” they are afraid to encounter the awful terrors of the blackness of darkness for ever; still the world, with its seductive pleasured and engrossing cares, takes a strong hold upon the heart, and is like a withering blight upon the blossoms and fruit of genuine piety.
There is no vitality of religious principle, and no consistency of religious conduct. They profess the Gospel, it is true; but they are desirous to accommodate it to their own views and wishes, that it may not interfere with their worldly advantage, not interrupt their present enjoyments. But such a cold and calculating spirit, which appears ever to ask, “How little can I do, and yet get to heaven?” has nothing in it of the Gospel of Christ. Our blessed Lord employs, in the Revelations, terms expressive of the most contemptuous rejection of the works of the Church of Laodicea, because it was “lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot.” [68a] The whole tenor of Scripture inculcates the duty of obedience to “the first and great commandment”—“Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.” [68b] And they can know little of the glorious and blessed privileges of the children of God by adoption and grace, who do not habitually look up to Him as “a reconciled Father in Christ Jesus our Lord;” who do not cry with humble but firm and confiding faith, “Abba, Father;” and who do not obey, with willing and joyful readiness, the command, “My Son, give me thine heart, and let thine eyes observe my ways.” There is a necessary union between adoption and grace, between grace and holiness, between holiness and love: “as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God:” “Ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you:” “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace.” They, therefore, who do not manifest in their hearts and lives those blessed proofs of the indwelling of the Spirit, renewed minds, sanctified affections, and holy obedience, cannot be said to “walk after the Spirit.” “Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his:” he is “carnally minded;” and “to be carnally minded is death;” “because the carnal mind is enmity against God, for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.”
Oh, how does the faithful servant of the Lord mourn over the lukewarm in religion, a class which may sometimes embrace those dearest to him on earth—united to him by the closest ties of blood—by the sweetest bonds of affection. He feels for them, for he remembers the time when he had “set his affections on things of earth:” He estimates fully the difficulties they have to surmount, for he knows how hard it is to “set the affections on things above.” For this world invites us, through the medium of the senses, with objects present, visible, and palpable; but it is only by the power of abstraction, and through the medium of faith, we can even contemplate the future invisible and unpalpable realities of a spiritual world, whose rewards and joys are covered with a veil which revelation has only raised so far as to show, that whilst their nature transcends the power of human conception, their extent exceeds the limits of human comprehension. He fears, therefore, lest, bewildered by the false glare of earthly attractions, they may never be able to fix the steady eye of faith upon what human “eye hath not seen, nor hath it entered into the heart of men to conceive;” he fears lest, still impelled forward in the broad way of destruction by semblances of happiness, as alluring but as illusive as the mirage of the desert, they may never enter upon the narrow and often thorny path of life, which leads to the Zion of our God.
How earnestly, therefore, does he entreat them not longer to linger in the outward courts, but to enter at once into the temple of our faith; not longer to starve themselves with “the beggarly elements of the Law,” to which they secretly cling, but to refresh and invigorate their souls with the “rich mercies” of the Gospel dispensation, which supplies every want, and satisfies every desire, when fully understood, firmly believed, thankfully received, and implicitly obeyed. For it is not generally that they seek to escape the obligations to personal holiness, for they are moral men: it is not that they wish to avoid the observances of religion, for they are regular in their attendance on divine ordinances; but they will not submit themselves to the sole guidance of that Holy Spirit which can alone consecrate their prayers and sanctify their obedience. Their case is stated by St. Paul in a few words: they have “the form without the power of godliness;” and being destitute of its power, they enjoy not its present consolations,—they will possess not its future rewards, unless, by the transforming influence of divine grace, they are enabled to give their, at present, divided hearts to God. A merely formal profession of the Gospel never yet supplied comfort in the hour of affliction—never cheered the sufferings of the bed of pain—never took away the fear of death. It may be, that when the understanding is blinded, or the heart hardened, exhausted nature sometimes willingly seeks relief from present suffering in death; but such is an awful sign of spiritual insensibility. When the conscience is fully awake, and the mind, in full possession of its powers, is conscious of the rapid approach of death; the Gospel of Christ alone has power to divest the destroyer of his terrors by robbing him of his sting, and the grave of its victory. Still it is only a heartfelt profession of the Gospel, in which the approval of the understanding, and the desire of the heart, accompany the utterance of the lips, from which issue no lifeless words, but the earnest prayer for mercy and forgiveness for faith and hope, for sanctification and submission; which, proving that grace is employed in its blessed and holy work of the soul’s renewal, supports and comforts in that awful hour, when the soul is preparing to meet its God and Saviour. Oh that this consideration may have its due weight to rouse the lukewarm from their state of apathy! Can they imagine that their languid and lifeless services will be acceptable in the sight of that God, who is Himself love, and whose motive, in offering them eternal life, is love? Can they suppose their weak faith in the Saviour, their cold reception of His inestimable blessings, will satisfy Him, who referred the ignominious and painful death He endured to the greatness of His love,—“greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” [72] If, in the various relations of social life, the little services of affection are valued infinitely higher than the more costly benefits which spring only from a cold sense of duty:—if the willing obedience, the watchful attention, and the tender offices of love are prized, beyond all comparison, above the forced submission, the reluctant compliance, and the unwilling attendance of fear:—can we think for a moment that He, who has admitted us to all the privileges of sonship, and has allowed us to approach Him in the endearing character of children, and cry, Abba, Father, will regard favourably the services which spring from slavish fear, and not from filial love? It might be thought that the consideration of the infinite love of God towards man, and of the precious benefits conferred upon us by the Saviour, would fill every soul with gratitude and love: to think that weak, sinful, and guilty man, should be elevated to so exalted a relation to God as that of son; to remember that his title to his high dignity was purchased, by no less a sacrifice than the atonement made by Him, who is the brightness of His Father’s glory, and the express image of His person,—present to the mind such an astounding, and yet transporting view, of “the length and breadth, and depth and height,” of “the love of God, which passeth knowledge,” that we are constrained to exclaim, “Such things are too wonderful for me; I cannot attain unto them.” And yet, they affect not, they influence not, that large class of men, the lukewarm in religion! God now calls them by “His judgments, which are in the earth,” to “turn unto Him with all their heart.” May they all receive grace, to obey the call, and seek forgiveness at his hands; for there is impending over them a most terrible curse—a curse which repentance only can avert. “If any love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema Maranatha.” [73]
Let, then, all the several classes of men, who, as constituting the leading divisions of those who believe not, or practise not, the truth as it is in Christ Jesus our Lord—have been exhorted and warned “to flee from the wrath to come,” be now earnestly intreated to imitate the example of the Bereans of old, who “were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the Word with all readiness of mind, and searched the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” [74a]
And may God accompany with his grace and blessing such study of the Scriptures, that they who have heretofore neglected, perverted, disobeyed, or rejected the Gospel, may, through “its marvellous light become wise unto salvation!”
“All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.” [74b] In the “lively oracles of God,” therefore, they will find instruction how to proceed in the difficult work of true repentance. Let them not, however, be dismayed at the difficulty of the undertaking, for “He who worketh in them to will and to do of His good pleasure,” is ever ready to succour and omnipotent to save, “all who come unto Him” through Christ, “who is the way, the truth, and the life.” Let them not fear the power of the great adversary of man, whose galling yoke they long willingly bore; “for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds, casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God; and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.” [75a] Still, at the same time, let them underrate neither the difficulties nor the dangers which await them. Spiritual as well as worldly prudence is shewn in rightly estimating difficulties, that they may be the more certainly overcome; and real courage, whether carnal or spiritual, in learning the extent of danger, that it may be, as the case requires, carefully avoided, or manfully combated.