Living Hope Fellowship Church...Sermons From the Pastor
PRACTICING
RELIGION
by Pastor Kevin Badgley
Matthew 7:21-23 says, "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me 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 unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity."
This is a hard saying; who can hear it? I pray that everyone will "hear" it at least once, in truth. Today there are many "practicing religions". "Practice" means to exercise repeatedly. Many are exercising, repeatedly, religion. You can do it in the name of the Lord, Buddha, or you can do it in the name of some other "god". It doesn't make any difference, it is still religion. It is the same devil, but a different name, and a different paint job.
God hates "religion". I said God hates religion, because Jesus came against those in His day that were "religious leaders" instead of Godly leaders. They didn't walk in the will of the Lord, and they didn't obey the will of the Lord. Therefore, they were in sin and bound of the devil, because God is not religious. God is God. He is Godly; He is Holy; He is Righteous; He is Upright. He is Pure, and He commands His people to be the same!
If you claim to be a Christian, and you don't behave as Christ commands us to, you are a hypocrite and a liar. If through your weakness or your newness in the Lord you fail, you can ask forgiveness. You can get up and go on and believe God, and cease from doing that which you have failed in. You can walk uprightly before Him again. However, if you continue to sin, calling yourself godly, you will go to hell. God has made it expressly known in His Word that this applies even to those in ministry.
We see a picture of those who come before the Lord on judgment day in Matthew, Chapter 7. Jesus lets us know ahead of time as a warning. God's Word many times sends forth warnings to those who think that they are doing fine, and they aren't. Not every one that says "Lord, Lord," will go to heaven. I think that some people could probably grasp that, but what they really have a problem with is Verse 22: "Many will say to me 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?" These are people in the ministry. These are people who have seen signs, wonders, and miracles at their hands, yet they didn't walk with God, and those signs were not of God.
There are those in the land today who are popular and well known, who are performing lying wonders. They do not preach holiness. Many people are following their example rather than what the Word of God says. These people will come to the Lord in that day of judgment and tell the Lord all the things they did. We practiced religion. We practiced what you said to do. Then He will I profess unto them, ". . . depart from me, ye that work iniquity." They weren't walking in the anointing of the Lord; they were working in the flesh. They were working iniquity. The Bible says in Romans 7:18, "For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing. . . ." They were working "religion". God is not religious; He hates this work and calls it iniquity.
You can't talk religion, and expect it to come to pass in you. Much of the church world is headed in the wrong direction. They think: If I repeat what God says, I will take on the attributes of God. They use the scripture in Romans 4:17 that says, "(As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were." If I am not in the Spirit, and God hasn't told me by His Word that these things are so, and I call something one thing, and it's another, that is lying.
If someone says they are healed, and they are not really healed, they are lying. If you claim that something is so, and it is not really so, you are lying. The Bible says that liars will go to hell. Many people claim that people are delivered when they pray for them, yet the same problems crop up in their life again and again. They are not delivered. Those who say that they are delivered are either liars or are badly mistaken. When they learn that they are mistaken, they need to shut up, pray up, and get real and right with God. They need to quit trying to make a reputation for themselves, and come on for Jesus. Then when they pray for somebody, God will honor their words.
These people of Matthew 7:22 were prophesying and doing many things in the name of the Lord, but Jesus said that they were working iniquity. The devil can use the name of Jesus, and he can say, Thus saith the Lord. The devil can tell lies in the name of Jesus, and so can man. Why do we think that it is so marvelous that men would do things that are an abomination in the eyes of the Lord, and do it in the name of Jesus?
Jesus said that these use vain repetitions. Look in Matthew 6:6-7: "But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking." They talk it; they speak it out. They confess it; they claim it.
When you are calling something that isn't so, just as if it was, and you say, Well, God does that all the time, let me ask you a question. When God calls something that is not as though it was, doesn't it go ahead and come to pass, anyway? Yes, it does, because when God gives a command it is going to come to pass! Heaven and hell can't stop Him! Somebody walking in Christ Jesus consecrated, dedicated, and holy before the Lord can bring forth by the anointing of the Lord, Thus saith the Lord, and it will come to pass! However, when people claim all this, and it does not come to pass, somebody is either mistaken or a liar.
We know that God can't lie, and God can't fail. We also know that man fails. Man can continue to profess, confess, or have a bunch of repetitions, and even vainly repeat the scriptures, without godly results. Witchcraft people do it all the time. Although they have seen some "signs" we know that it is in vain, because they are still going to hell.
When that is your walk, and that is what keeps you going, thinking you can talk the devil out, or talk yourself out of your trouble, that is working iniquity. That is "positive" thinking, but it is not the kind of positive thinking that God gives us by the mind of Christ. The mind of Christ is developed in you by reading the Word and obeying it.
Jesus said in John 15:7, "If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you." Then you will see that these signs shall follow them that believe. It won't be what they claim to believe, nor what they say they believe, but will be what they actually do believe! They will perform what the Word of God has said to do.
2 Corinthians 4:13, in part says, ". . . I believed, and therefore have I spoken. . . ." Many people believe that if they speak something long enough, they will believe it. It is sort of like preaching to yourself. This is psychology; it is not of God. God's Word says that you must believe Him, and then confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus. Roman 10:10 says, "For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." That is the order in which it must come.
If you read God's Word, and you believe it, and then you call upon the name of the Lord, God will answer, but there will not be performance until you first believe. You must believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved. You cannot say, I believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, when you really don't, and expect to be saved. You can get a religious devil that way. This happened to those people in Matthew, Chapter 7. In fact, it is a prophetical utterance that the Lord gives, talking about judgement day. He says in Matthew 7:22, "Many will say to me 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?"
They will want to know why He is putting them on the left hand with the goats, and why he is treating them like the heathen, as if they vainly repeated these things. Matthew 7:23 gives His answer to them: "And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity."
Don't you know that the devil can give signs and quote scriptures? He can mimic the things that are of God, but he doesn't require his followers nor his "religiousness" to be holy. This is why the current church world attitude is not of God, but is of the spirit of anti-Christ. it will usher in the Anti-Christ who comes as the angel of light, as a minister of righteousness, and as a man of peace. He will tell you he understands, and that God understands your sin.
God hates sin. In Romans 6:23 God says, "For the wages of sin is death. . . ." God will not overlook your sin, because He would have to overlook His Word to compromise for you. God will not do that. God will not honor you over His Son. God will not honor you over His Word. God will not honor religion, or preachers, or books, or tapes, or programs over what His Word says.
If you realize that this is the truth and have sinned, get on your knees right now and ask God to forgive you. Ask God to set you free from practicing religion, from vain repetition, and from foolishness that God has not called you to. Ask God to come into your life for real, and to make you quit sinning.
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