Clouds Without Water

Dearly Beloved, my heart has been very heavy of late. As I continually look at my heart and my life, I see so much hypocrisy, so much luke warmness, so much filth. I can speak of the Scriptures and cary on conversations about godly matters, but my inward being is wicked. My heart is deceitful. This post came directly out of my utter disgust for the depravity of my own soul. Hypocrisy is in us all. Please examine yourself as you read this. 


"What good will it do you when you are in hell that others think you have gone to heaven?" [Thomas Watson] Brethren, "Counterfeit piety is double iniquity." As a side note, for all those people that own The Godly Man's Picture, you should read the third chapter on this Lord's Day. It is very painful as it strips away at our religious show and leaves our true self naked and open, but it is also very helpful. Remember, "God resisteth the proud but giveth grace to the humble."


Brethren, God declares in His Word: "I would that you were either cold or hot, but since you are luke warm, I will spue you out of my mouth." You see, we are on the brink, we sit on the fence, we are almost Christians. With one voice we speak of God, with the other, we are caught up with the cares and concerns of this world. We have one foot in this world and one foot in Heaven. We want both. I declare to you, "A double minded man is unstable in all his ways."[James 1:8] "You are either for God or you are against God." There is no neutrality. 


Brethren, do you go to church, do you believe in God, do you fast and pray? You know, "the devils believe and tremble." The Devil never eats. Are you making a show of religion? Is your piety just a facade? Do people think much of your Christianity, when you know full well that you do not love God? Are you the same man in private as you are in public? Yes, there is a degree of hypocrisy in us all, but to what level does your filth extend? Are you content to live a godly life just as long as it is not too demanding? Are you ready to forsake all for Christ? Do you die daily? Do you take up your cross and follow after God? I do not. I am a hypocrite. O Lord, take my hypocrisy from me. Make me to be on fire for Thee and Thy kingdom work. May I love Thee with my entire being. 


Where is your heart? You cannot serve two masters. James compares such people as clouds without water. They promise rain, but they have none. "Thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead." [Revelations 3:1] Please do not say, "Well, this is not referring to me. I am not all that bad. I love the Lord. I serve God. I pray and read my Bible. I even go to church." So what? Where is your heart? You may go to church, but where are your thoughts while you are in church? What makes you happy? What gets you excited? Does talking about God get you excited? Can you say, "O Lord, it has been my delight to speak and think on your name"? Are you more concerned about what is going to happen tomorrow or next week or next year than about meditating on the things of God? What do you do with your time? Where do you invest your money? If you have no time for God, he will have nothing to do with you. 


What are you investing in? "Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." [Matthew 6:21]


Here is another application. Are you doing things your way and not taking head to the Word of God? Are you living for yourself and what you like? Oh, so often we do things because they are fun for us. We do things because we want to do them, when they have nothing to do with Christianity. We despise the man that works hard, provides for his family, is content and quiet at home, and that loves the Lord in simplicity. We want more. We want to be "doing things" with our life. We want to see the world. Where is your heart? If your heart is right, than go see the world, but make your heart right before God first, and take the world captive for Jesus Christ.


Furthermore, we look for the approval of man. We want to be noticed of others. We say our long prayers, we do "good deeds." All of it is to be seen of man. Examine your heart. Yes, there are small glimpses of true piety in us. There is small glimpses of true religion, by the grace of God. Thank God for this, but please do not take comfort in this. You must scrub the garment until it is clean. You must put off the former deeds and press forward to what lies ahead. Lay hold on eternal life. No hypocrite will enter the kingdom of Heaven. 


Brethren, take heart. If you show signs of hypocrisy, this does not mean you are a hypocrite; however, you should continually seek to purge all hypocrisy from you and press on. You need to examine yourself. I don't really know how to wake you up. You are so comfortable. Please take head. I pray that you will take head to these words. I am pleading with you. "It is high time to awake out of sleep."[Romans 13:11] Put aside your counterfeit piety, your ridiculous mask. Live uprightly. Live according to the Scriptures. Live Coram Deo.


The Godly Man's Picture:


Question: But why do persons content themselves with a show of godliness?


Answer: This helps to keep up there fame: "honor me now before the people" (1 Sam. 15:30). Men are ambitious of credit, and wish to gain repute in the world, therefore they will dress themselves in the garb and mode of religion, so that others may write them down for saints. But alas, what is one the better for having others commend him, and his conscience condemn him? What good will it do a man when he is in hell that others think he has gone to heaven? Oh, beware of this! Counterfeit piety is double iniquity.

Soli Deo Gloria

The House of Mourning

"It is better to go the house of mourning, than to go to the house of feasting: for that is the end of all men; and the living will lay it to his heart. Sorrow is better than laughter: for by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made better. The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning; but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth." [Ecclesiastes 7:2-4]


I had the privilege of attending a funeral yesterday. Yes, it was a privilege. As the funeral progressed, I found myself reflecting on the verse above. Going to the house of mourning is extremely helpful. It reminds us what our end is. It helps us with our walk. God gave us these ceremonies, funerals, as a gift to strengthen us and remind us of eternity. The wise man's heart is constantly reflecting on and living for eternity. 


Today, we see a lot of gayety, always trying to find out how we can have fun. We are always looking forward to the next fun time, but Solomon is communicating something different. He is not saying that having a good time is wrong. He is not saying that you should not be joyful; however, if one is to be preferred above the other, we should much prefer the house of mourning than to the house of feasting. 


Also, Solomon says something very interesting here. He says, "Sorrow is better than laugther: for by the sadness of the countenance, the heart is made better." Wow. When one is sorrowful, they are often very contemplative and thoughtful. In Titus 2, Paul exhort Titus to sobriety. There is a certain sobriety that comes with sadness.


There is another portion of Scripture that helps us understand this statement by Solomon. Second  Corinthians says, "We are sorrowful, but always rejoicing." So, though we sorrow, we have great hope. Though we are sad, we have great joy. God is completely sovereign and ordains all things for our good, even funerals. 


One other point...the funeral yesterday was for a young man that was a wonderful Christian. He lived His life for God. Some may ask, "why did God take this thirteen year old boy?" Well, while we don't know the exact reason why God decided to take him, we do know that God sometimes takes the strongest of the believers, to give the church an example, to wake them up, to make them step up to the plate. To ask questions like, "What am I doing with my life?" "What will people remember me by? "What will be written on my grave stone?" The person of whose funeral I was attending prepared a message that was to be played during this occasion. During the short video message, he asked, "What are you investing your life in? Are you investing in the things of Heaven or the things of earth?" You can imagine watching this young boy that can't even smile because of the cancer, ask you that. It really makes you think. He was trying to communicate the need to redeem the time. A few years back, Michael Moede, was listening to a very good speaker talk about the need for redeeming the time. After Michael heard this message, he purposed to give up video games, which he had played one hour a week. He gave them up for two years. Now, imagine a person that you know is dead and that died at thirteen, telling you to redeem the time because life is very short. I can't communicate what it means to have that testimony before me. Praise the Lord for giving us such an example.


May the Lord richly bless you.

Soli Deo Gloria