Heartfelt Religion

After spending some time walking and talking with Jesus on the road to Emmaus, two of his disciples discussed the experience;
Luke 24:32 And they said one to another, Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures?
These disciples had been saved for some time; they had sat under the teaching of Jesus and had witnessed his miracles but something was wrong. Before Jesus had joined them in their Sunday stroll, they had been walking along and commiserating with themselves in abject despondency. Their following of Christ hadn't turned out the way they had hoped. Instead of seeing him drive out the hated Romans and establishing a kingdom in which they had hoped to share, they had seen him cruelly crucified.
Sure, they had been told that He had risen from the grave, but that seemed to them to be just idle prattle from some of the emotional women. They looked at their own dashed hopes and were dejected.

Their condition was a perfect analogy of what many experience today. The happy, joyous, zeal of the new convert soon fades away as the reality of an unfriendly world closes in. They had been talking about Jesus but that hadn't brought about any contentment.


How often do Christians spend hours discussing their church, church problems, their fellow church members, the preacher. The talk usually follows the same general pattern as it did on the road to Emmaus; They weren't discussing the hope and promises of the Lord but rather their disappointment that things hadn't turned out as they had expected! Sure, they knew the angels had proclaimed Him to be alive, that some of the disciples claimed to have seen him and that Jesus had promised to rise from the dead, but they were still sad, Why? For the same reason that many today are not happy even though they might be preoccupied with church and religion.

Their hearts did not burn within them until they quit talking ABOUT Christ and began to walk WITH Him and letting Him speak to them! This is the secret of real, heartfelt religion. It is a personal, everyday relationship with Christ. Studying the Bible is essential to, but not sufficient alone, to bring about this happiness. What IS crucial, is seeing Christ in the Word and in fellowshipping Him in our daily walk.

Lest someone get the idea that I am saying it doesn't matter WHAT you believe and that heart felt religion is based on emotion alone, let me hasten to say, "It DOES INDEED” matter what you believe!"Happiness in Christian service comes from His presence with us. He can only be present and walk with us in Truth. He will accept, bless and walk, only with those of our labors that are done according to Truth. It is for this reason that we place so much emphasis on the study of the Scripture. Just remember that Bible study and discussion is not to be an end in itself, but only the means to an end. The end result should be our walking and fellowshipping with Christ and only then will our hearts be made to burn within us!

Gal 2:20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
These were the words of the apostle Paul as he set forthhis life plan. Remember, we are discussing heartfelt religion. Where Christ is, his presence WILL be felt and manifested. As it was with the apostle, so it will be with us; When Christ is alive in us, his presence will be made known.
Is it important that we feel Christ in our hearts? Jesus said, "for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh."(Mat 12:34).
Our thoughts and our conversations are filled with that which saturates our hearts. For this reason we need to allow Christ and His promises and hopes to gorge our hearts.

Too often we are satisfied with being partial Christian. By this, I mean that sometimes, we might dedicate our minds to learning about God, while other times we attempt to find satisfaction in doing things FOR God, while others seem to seek satisfaction in merely working up an emotional fervor.
The full and complete Christian is the one in whom the Word of Christ dwells.
Col 3:16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in allwisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.

In obedience then, to this Word, he presents his body a living sacrifice. Rom 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy,acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
He doesn't become a 'do-gooder' whose every action seems to scream, "Hey, everybody, look at me. I'm a dedicated Christian!"He IS one in whom Christ is seen daily in the things he does and in those things he refuses to do. As a result of this daily walk with Christ according to the instructions of the Word, his heart in lifted up in joy that can only come from Christ.
1 John 3:21 Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God.

Heartfelt religion is not a phenomenon to be relegated to the past era of 'brush arbor revivals', nor is it to be understood by clinically investigating its cause and effect. It is a real, present day experience available to those who truly know Christ as their savior and are willing to walk with him in their daily life.

The entire outlook and attitude of the two disciples was altered after this encounter with Christ. No longer was their conversation of broken dreams and failures but rather they talked of the joy of communing with the Lord.

Luke tells us that the name of one of these men was Cleophas. John records the fact that it was the wife of this man who was present at both the crucifixion and the burial. She was one of those who discovered the empty tomb. No longer does he have to depend upon his wife's account for he has personally been with Jesus! He has experienced it for himself!

REVIVE ME

Lift me, Lord and make me rise
And live above my fears.
Make me know the joys of Christ
Though seen through veil of tears.

Make my spirit soar aloft
By humbling me, and then,
Help me shun all evil,
But love all souls in sin.

Deliver in temptation
And make me know the rest
that's only found IN service;
Help me give my best.

Then Lord, If I should falter
Humble me, and then
Show me Christ through veil of tears
Revive me once again!
fcc

FAITH LOOKS TO ITS FULFILLMENT
Song;This world is not my home--
Text:Heb 11:22 By faith Joseph, when he died, made mention of thedeparting of the children of Israel; and gave commandment concerninghis bones.
Scripturereadings; Gen 50:24 And Joseph said unto his brethren, I die: andGod will surely visit you, and bring you out of this land unto theland which he swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.
Gen50:25 And Joseph took an oath of the children of Israel, saying, Godwill surely visit you, and ye shall carry up my bones from hence.
Gen50:26 So Joseph died, being an hundred and ten years old: and theyembalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt.
Exo13:19 And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him: for he hadstraitly sworn the children of Israel, saying, God will surely visityou; and ye shall carry up my bones away hence with you.
I.Faith in the future is essential for a child of God.
1Cor 15:19 If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of allmen most miserable.
A.Death held O.T. Saints prisoners of hope. Zec 9:12 Turn you tothe strong hold, ye prisoners of hope: even to day do I declare thatI will render double unto thee;
B.Yet that hope gave them courage.
Job19:26 And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in myflesh shall I see God:
Isa33:17 Thine eyes shall see the king in his beauty: they shall beholdthe land that is very far off.
C.Death now FREES US! 2 Cor 5:8 We are confident, I say, andwilling rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with theLord.
Rememberthe freedom felt in salvation? Multiply it. Free from ALLconstraints. Time, lust, pain, sorrow, etc.
D.This Hope and Assurance gives meaning to present service.
II.Our Hope is based upon the FACT of the resurrection of Christ.
Acts17:31 Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judgethe world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereofhe hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him fromthe dead.
Let others be concerned with the lord of the underworld and thepowers of death, we have the Prince of Life! Acts 3:15 And killedthe Prince of life, whom God hath raised from the dead; whereof weare witnesses.
III.This truth is so important that God used many ways to teach it.
A.Sheaf of Firstfruits.
B.Feast of Tabernacles.
C.Even Joseph's burial in Shecham wasn't the end of the story!
Josh24:32 And the bones of Joseph, which the children of Israel broughtup out of Egypt, buried they in Shechem, in a parcel of ground whichJacob bought of the sons of Hamor the father of Shechem for anhundred pieces of silver: and it became the inheritance of thechildren of Joseph.
Buriedwith Abraham, Isaac and Jacob;
Mat22:32 I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God ofJacob? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.
Mat8:11 And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east andwest, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in thekingdom of heaven.
Conclusion;Consider the joyous departure from the land of toil and sorrow.
posted by Freddie Creel 27.3.04 0 comments