Religious But Lost

Happy Sabbath. I see some new faces, familiar faces from

my workplace, and from here I joined the pastor and

the elders and everyone else in this church to welcome you.

Welcome again. I praise God for this opportunity to present

the Word this morning, this afternoon, and I thank Bastor

Mike for giving me the opportunity to speak today, for

giving the pulpit to me. Shall we pray our Father

and our God. You have said my word will not

return unto be void, but it will accomplish its purpose.

We claim that promise today. May your word fall on

good soil, and may we be renewed, rejuvenated. May you

speak to us three year word in Jesus name. We pray. Amen.

Dennis Brown grew up in the church and served as

a leader in the local congregation. He learned how to

say the right things, to do the right things, pray

the right things, sing the right songs. However, when an

altar call was made and he responded to the altar call,

he confessed and he said, I have been a religious

person all my life, but I have come to realize

that I have never had a real relationship with Jesus Christ.

From all external appearances, Chadford seemed like a devout Christian,

but when an al the call was made, he bluntly confessed,

I have been playing a big game, he said. He

played it so well, well enough to be appointed as

an interim youth pastor. Until then, he had never accepted

Jesus Christ as his personal savior. Baster and preacher, Heleick

stepped forward at his own auter call and gave his

life to Christ. Baster Hellick was a gifted speaker. He

knew what to say, how to say, and what was

expected of him. However, till that moment, he had never

had a true relationship with Jesus Christ. Three very moral

and religious individuals, baptized and faithfully serving in the church,

yet spiritually lost up to that point, they encountered Jesus

and accepted him into their lives. Jesus toole three parables

in Luke chapter fifteen, he told about the lost sheep.

The lost sheep knew that it was lost, but it

didn't know how to return back to the ford. The

prodigal son knew that he was lost. He knew his

way back home, but he had to come to his

senses to turn around. And go back home. But when

it comes to the lost coin, the lost coin was

lost in the house, and it didn't even know it

was lost. Matthew Chapter seven, Jesus is speaking about the

last days. He says, some of them will come to me, saying,

Lord Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and

in your name drive out demons before miracles? And what

does Jesus say? Then? He said, then I will tell

them I never knew you. Could it be? I'm saying,

could it be that some of us are like this

lost coin? In the parable of the lost coin? We

belong to a church. We are baptized members. Maybe we

do the right things, we say the right things, and

yet we do not belong to Jesus Christ. Yet we

are in the church, but we are still lost. Believe

someday that great preacher says, going to church doesn't make

you a Christian anymore than going to a garage makes

you an automobile? Are we are you? Am I truly

in the Lord? Do I have a living relationship with

Jesus Christ? Is he the Lord of my life? In

the Book of Acts, we find another deeply religious person, Saul,

who became later known as Paul. And we see that

more than half of the Book of Acts speaks about

Saul or Paul. And who was he? The Bible tells

us in Philippians that he was a very extremely religious,

extremely moral person. He was circumcised on the eighth day

according to the levitical law. He belonged to God's chosen race.

He was from the tribe of Benjamin. It was a

special tribe, the only tribe that supported the Tribe of

Judah when the kingdom split into the Northern and Southern kingdoms,

and Israel's first king was from the tribe of Benjamin.

Saul was a Hebrew of Hebrews. His parents were Jewish,

and he was raised according to the customs and tradition

of the Jews. He was born in Tursis, the capital

city of Silicia, the Roman province of Silicia, and he

was raised in Jerusalem under a very renowned teacher, one

of the most well known teachers of his time, Gammelleo.

And at his feet he learned the Bible, he learned

the Torah, he learned the prophets, the salms, and the

history of his nation. And in regard to the love

of Paul, was a Pharisee. Paul was not just a Pharisee.

He was the son of a Pharisee. His father was

a Pharisee. And as you know, the Pharisees were a

highly respected religious group dedicated to studying the scriptures and

teaching the scriptures. The Pharisees identify six hundred and thirteen

commandments in the Torah, and they carefully observed these six hundred,

six hundred and thirteen commandments. They also upheld the oral

teachings of their forefathers, known as the traditions of the Elders,

and they came up with numerous fans laws to protect

the teachings in accidents. Chapter twenty, we have the fourth commandment,

remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. You shall

not do any work on the Sabbath day, and the

Pharisees created many types of prohibiti it works so that

no one would break the Sabbath low. For example, they

thought that you could not spit on the Sabbath day

because it would disturb the dust of the dirt, and

that would be it would be guilty of plowing, which

is work. You could not kill a fly on the

Sabbath because then you would be guilty of hunting. A

woman could not look at herself in the mirror on

the Sabbath day because she might see a gray hair,

maybe like mine, and would be tempted to pluck, and

if she did pluck, that would be considered work. So

the Pharisees were extremely strict in their observer of the law,

and they made many many more loss to support the

law of the Bible. And the Bible continues saying as

for legalistic righteousness, Paul was faultless, he was blameless, he

was faultless. He met every ritual and legal requirements of

Judaism to perfection. In other words, if one could gain

heaven by performance or by doing the works of the law,

Saul or Paul would have been one of the first

candidates to go to heaven. In Look chapter eighteen, we

read a pharisee telling about his habits. What did he say?

He said, I fassed twice a week. Every Pharisee he

would fast twice a week on Mondays and Thursdays. They

believe that when Moses has ended up on Mount Sinai

to receive the second tablet of the Ten Commandments, he

went up on a Thursday, and he came back on

a Monday. And therefore every Pharisee fasted twice in a week,

on Mondays and Thursdays, and the Pharisee a boasted. I

give tides of all I poses. S Saul was a

fight giver. And in Matthew we read three pillars of Judaism,

arms giving, giving alms to the poor, fasting, and praying.

And in the Book of Tobit it says prayer is

good when accompanied by fasting, arms giving, and righteousness. So

Paul did all this to perfection. He was blameless in

his observance of the law. So if we look at

the Bible, Saul had the right ancestry, he had the

right religious upbringing, he had the right education, and he

belonged to the right religious group of his time, the Pharisees.

But he was still lost till he encountered Jesus Christ.

As we have read in scripture reading, Paul was on

a mission when he encountered Jesus Christ. He saw Christianity

as a threat to Judaism, and he was filled with

murderous anger against Christians and was bent on destroying Christianity.

According to his own words in Galicians, Chapter one, verse thirteen.

He says, how intensely I persecuted the Church of God

and tried to destroy it. And he was on this

mission trying to destroy the Church of God. He was

on his way to the Mascus, a journey of around

one hundred and fifty miles, to catch Christians and put

them into prison. And as we have read, a soul

approach Damascus, a light from heaven shone around him, and

he fell to the ground, and he heard the voice

of Jesus Christ asking him, soul, soul, why are you

persecuting me? And Saul asked, who are you, Lord? And

Jesus answered, I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. Rise

and enter the city, and he will be told what

to do. And we know that all those souls eyes

were open. He could see nothing. He was blinded by

the light, and his companions had to lead him into

da Mascus, where he remained without sight and did not

eat or drink for three days. And we know that

God sent his disciple Ananneus, and he placed his hands

on soul, and he said, the Lord Jesus has sent

me to restore us, and filling with the Holy Spirit,

and immediately scales fell from his eyes, and he regained

his side, and he was baptized, and after eating he

felt strengthened. After his encounter with Jesus Christ on the

road to Damascus, Ball's life was changed forever. From being

a persecutor, he became the persecuted. From being a Christ hater,

he became one of the most faithful and ardent followers apostles,

disciples of Jesus Christ. From being an opposer of the Gospel, well,

Paul became a champion of its message, spreading it wherever

he went. And he declares, for I am not ashamed

of the Gospel, because it is the power of God

that brings salvation to everyone who believes. The question comes,

how did this transformation come about in the life of Paul?

How did he become from being a persecutor to being persecuted,

from being a Christ hater to someone who loved Jesus

Christ with all his heart and who laid down his

life for the spreading of the Gospel. How did that

take place? Paul had experienced the new birth, the spiritual birth.

He was born again. He was being regenerated through this experience.

That his experience on the road to Damascus, and hereafter

and thereafter. In John chapter three, we meet another pharisee

by the name Nicodemus, a highly respected religious leader, just

like Paul. And he comes to Jesus Christ at night,

and due to his ancestry and his observance of the Bible,

he felt that salvation was his. But Jesus is a

all to shatter his spiritual delusion. What did Jesus say

to him? Jesus said, I tell you the truth. Unless

you are born again, you cannot enter the Kingdom of God.

Unless you are born again, you cannot enter the Kingdom

of God. What is she is just saying to the Nicodemus.

He's saying to Nicodemus. Nicodemus, you may be a very

religious person, well versed with the Bible, doing the right things,

saying the right things, But salvation is not yours. Yet

you haven't entered, You haven't stepped into the Kingdom of God.

You are still lost. Romans chapter three, verse twenty. What

do we read, Therefore, no one will be declared righteous

in God's sight by the works of the law. In

Desire of Ages we read a legal religion can never

lead souls to Christ, for it is a loveless, christless religion.

We can be religious without having Christ, without loving Christ.

Fasting or prayer that is actuated by a self justifying

spirit is an abomination in the sight of God. The

solemn assembly for worship and the round of religious ceremonies,

the external human the imposing sacrifice proclaimed that the doer

of these things regard himself as righteous and as entitled

to heaven. But she says, it is all a deception.

Our own words can never purchase salvation. However religious I

may be, unless I have Jesus Christ, my own words

will never allow me to enter into the Kingdom of God.

And Nicodemus responded when Jesus said, you cannot see the

Kingdom of Heaven unless you are born again or born

from above. Nicodemus said, what do you mean. How can

an old man go back into his mother's womb and

be born again? And she is replied, I assure you,

no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being

born of water and the spirit. What does it mean

to be born again or born from above? It is

to be born of water and the spirit. And Jesus

continues to say humans can reproduce only human life, but

the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life. So don't

be surprised when I say you must be born again.

There are two types of birds. The physical birth by

which we enter into this world, and then we have

the second birth, the spiritual birth, by which we enter

into the Kingdom of God. We have all had a

physical birth, all of us here, and that is why

we exist. But the problem is no one can enter

the Kingdom of God just with this physical birth. The

second birth, the spiritual birth is a necessity. Fallen people

can only give birth to fallen people. Only the Holy

Spirit can give spiritual birth, bringing spiritual life to us.

We must have spiritual birth to enter the Kingdom of God.

We must be born spirit So my question comes, have

we experienced the spiritual birth? Have we been born from above?

Until we are spiritually born. Even though we are physically alive,

we remain spiritually dead. We may be young adults, middle

aged seniors, but we are yet to have begin our

spiritual lives. In efficience, we read and we are dead

in the trespasses and sins in which He wants. What

but God being rich in mercy because of the great

love with which He loved us, even when we were

dead in our trespasses. He made us alive unto together

with Christ, has the Holy Spirit breathe spiritual life in

you in us? If the Holy Spirit has breathed spiritual

life in us, it will result in spiritual birth, transforming

us into children of God and members of His family.

And this will result in a new mind, new heart,

new disposition, affection and desires. It gives a new will.

The all things have passed away and all things have

become new. In Second Corinthians, Chapter five, verse seventeen, we

read therefore, if anyone is in Christ, it's talking about

someone who has been spiritually born. He is a new creation.

The old has gone, the new has come, and all

of this is from God. Elenchi White says the Christian's

life is not a modification or improvement of the old,

but a transformation of nature. There is a death to

self and sin and a new life altogether. And she

says this change can be brought about only by the

effectual working of the Holy Spirit. Have we experienced the

spiritual birth? If we have not, we may be in church,

but we are still outside the Kingdom of God. Why

do we need spiritual birth? As we have said, unless

you are born again, you cannot enter the Kingdom of God.

Why is this so? King David says in Psalm fifty one,

he says, behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and

in sin did my mother conceive me. We were born

in sin, and we were by nature the children of wrath.

And because we were born in sin, sin separated us

from God. As long as we are separated from God,

we are spiritually dead. And it is only by being

born again that we are made spiritually alife. The last,

my last question, how can you and I be born again?

If being born again or the spiritual birth is so important,

and unless I experience it, I cannot enter the Kingdom

of heaven, how can you and I be born again

or born from above? In Jeremiah we read can an

Ethiopian change his skin or a leopard its spots? Neither

can you who do good? Who are you do good?

Who are accustomed to doing evil? You and I on

our own cannot become good, cannot merit heaven, We cannot

change ourselves. Being born again, being regenerated, being born from

above is a supernah natural act of God. The Holy

Spirit convicts us of our sin. And when we feel

convicted and we are broken, and we come humbly before God,

saying we cannot save ourselves, and we confess and we

surrender ourselves to Him. It is then that a new life,

a spiritual birth, takes place in our lives. If we

read the experience of Paul, Jesus said to him on

the road to Damascus. He asked, Paul, is it hard

to kick against the gods? A God is a long

sharp stick used to prod or guide oxen. If an

ox kicks against the God, it only hurts itself. So

Jesus is using this imaginary to point out how God

had been working in the life of soul or Paul.

Paul was almost the same age as Jesus Christ. Scholars

believed that Paul must have witness the ministry of Jesus Christ.

He was a Pharisee living in Jerusalem. He would have

surely met Jesus Christ, witness his miracles, listened to his teaching,

and as he listened to Jesus Christ, his conscience the

Holy Spirit must have pricked him. But he went against

the pricking of the Holy Spirit in his conscience, And

if we look at the previous chapters, he was a

witness to the story of Stephen. He saw Stephen being

stone to death, and he heard the testimony of Stephen

saying that he saw Jesus sitting at the right hand

of Jesus. In all of this, Jesus was appealing to Paul,

to Saul to surrender his life to him. And in

Acts of the Apostles Pay one hundred and twenty, we

read as Saul yielded himself fully to the convicting power

of the Holy Spirit. He saw the mistakes of his

life and recognized the far reaching claims of the law

of God. He who had been a proud pharisee, confident

that he was justified by his good works, now bowed

before God with humidity and simplicity of a little child,

confessing his own unworthiness and pleading the merits of a

crucified and risen savior. In John three, in the third

chapter of John, what do we read? It says, just

as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so

the son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone

who believes may have eternal life in him. So what

is our only way out, How can you and I

be born again? Just as those victims victims of the

snake bites had to look at the brass serpent, Moses

made the only way out for you and for me

is to look at Jesus. Accepting his sacrifice is the

only remedy to heal us from our sin. In Isiah

chapter fifty three, verse five, it says, but he was

wounded for transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The

chastisement of our peace was upon him, and with his

stripes we are healed. That's our only way to be healed. Spiritually.

Jesus makes an appeal to the Laudisian Church, the Last

Day's Church, the church just before his second coming. And

what does he say? He says, I counsel you to

buy from me white clothes to wear, so that you

can cover yes shameful nakedness. What does this tell us?

It tells us that there are many many among God's

people who claim to be waiting for the Lord's return,

like the ten virgins. There are many among God's people,

like the foolish virgins, who claim to be waiting for

the second coming of Jesus. Christ, who have not been

born again, who have not been spiritually born? And what

is Christ's counsel to us if we have not been

born again? He says, I counsel you to buy from

me white clothes? What are white clothes Christ's righteousness? To

be born again? Which is to put on the righteousness

of Jesus Christ, so that you can cover yes shameful nakedness.

The wide rayment is the righteousness of Christ, the wedding

garment which Christ alone can give us. The spirit of

Prophecy says, many are laudicians living in spiritual deception. They

clothe themselves like the Pharisees, in the garments of their

own righteousness. Are we still wearing our own righteousness? Have

we put on the right? Have we been spiritually born again?

Putting on the righteousness of Jesus Christ. There is nothing

in us from which we can clothe the soul, the

soul so that its nakedness shall not appear. We are

to receive the robe of righteousness, or even in the

loom of heaven, even the spotless robe of Christ's righteousness.

It is my prayer today that, as we wait for

the return of the Lord Jesus Christ, we will make

sure that we have been spiritually born again and put

on the righteous robe of Jesus Christ, so that when

he comes, we will not be found wanting, but we

will be there among the crowd to welcome him into

as he comes. When he comes for the second time,