The Great Separation: from An Illustrated Summary of J.C. Ryle's Practical Religion

This is a chapter from J.C. Ryle's classic book Practical Religion.

THE GREAT SEPARATION

"His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire." Matthew 3:12

1. The two great classes into which mankind may be divided. The passage of Scripture above was spoken by John the Baptizer. It is a prophecy about the Lord Jesus Christ that has not yet been fulfilled. Viewed with the eye of man, the earth contains many different sorts of inhabitants. Viewed with the eye of God it contains only two. Man's eye looks at the outward appearance; God looks at the heart. Tried by the state of their hearts, the two classes are illustrated here by wheat and chaff.

A. The wheat. The wheat are all men and women who are believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. They have been led by the Holy Spirit of God to feel themselves sinners and flee for refuge to the salvation offered in the Gospel for all. They therefore love the Lord Jesus, serving and obeying Him, taking the Bible for their only guide, regarding sin as their deadliest enemy, and looking to heaven as their only home. All such individuals of every church, name, nation, people, language, rank, station, condition, and degree constitute God's wheat.

They are the sons and daughters of God the Father. They are the delight of God the Son. God the Holy Spirit regards them as spiritual temples He Himself has erected.

B. The chaff. The chaff are all men and women who have no saving faith in Christ and no sanctification of the Spirit. Some are irreligious and some are very religious. Some are sneering Sadducees and some self-righteous Pharisees. Some of them make a point of keeping up religious practices and some are careless of everything except their own pleasures. What they have in common is no faith and no sanctification or holiness in God's sight.

They bring no glory to God the Father, for "he who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him" (John 5:23). They neglect that mighty salvation countless angels admire. They disobey the Word of God, which was graciously written for their learning. They do not listen to the voice of Him who condescended to leave heaven and purchase salvation through His righteous life, death, and resurrection. They pay no tribute of service and affection to Him who gives them "life, breath, and all things" (Acts 17:25). Therefore God takes no pleasure in them. He pities them, but He reckons them no better than chaff, which is useless vegetation.

This is humbling truth: You may have rare intellectual gifts and high attainments; you may sway many by your influence, but if you have never submitted yourself to the yoke of Christ and honored His Gospel by heartfelt reception of it, you are spiritually lacking in His sight. Natural gifts without grace are of no eternal value. You do not honor God with heart, will, intellect, and body, which are all His. You invert His order and arrangement, living as if time is more important than eternity and body better than soul. You are cold about the subject that fills all heaven with hallelujahs. So long as that remains the case, you belong to the ultimately worthless part of mankind: you are the chaff of the earth.

See now what cause there is for self-inquiry! Are you among the wheat or the chaff? Neutrality is impossible. Either you are in one class or in the other. Which is it of the two? Do not rest until you know how it is between you and God. Better a thousand times to find you are in a dreadful spiritual state and then repent than to live on in uncertainty and be lost eternally.

2. The time when the wheat and the chaff  shall be separated. There is no separation yet. Good and bad are now all mingled together in the world and even in the visible church of Christ. But it shall no always be so. Christ shall come the second time with His winnowing fan in His hand to separate the wheat from the chaff.

A. Before Christ returns, separation is impossible. It is not in man's power to effect it. There is no minister on earth who can read the hearts of everyone in his congregation. The winnowing fan is not put in their hands. Grace is sometimes so weak and feeble that it looks like nature. Nature is sometimes so plausible and well dressed that it looks like grace. Judas looked as good as any of the apostles, yet he was proved to be a traitor only at the end. Peter looked like chaff when he denied the Lord Jesus, yet he repented immediately and rose again. We are all fallible, for we "know in part" (1 Corinthians 13:9) and scarcely understand our own hearts. It is no great wonder we cannot read the hearts of others. 

But it will not always be so. One is coming who never errs in judgment and is perfect in knowledge. Jesus shall purge His floor, sifting the lightweight chaff from the dense wheat. Until then, we are to lean on the side of charity in our judgments. As Jesus taught in His Parable of the Wheat and the Tares, it is better to tolerate some chaff in the church than cast out one grain of wheat. The certainty about every one shall be known soon enough.

B. Before Christ returns, it is useless to expect to see a perfect church. There cannot be such a thing now. I pity those who leave one church and join another because of a few minor faults and unsound members. They are seeking that which cannot be found on this earth. Only when Christ returns will there be a "glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing" (Ephesians 5:27). Then, and not until then, the floor will be purged.

C. Before Christ returns, it is futile to look for the conversion of the world. How can it be since He is to find wheat and chaff side by side in the day of His second coming? I see nothing in the Bible or in the world around me to make me expect it. What we can expect to see is a few raised up as witnesses to Christ in every nation and place. Then I expect the Lord will return with His fan in His hand. When He has purged His floor, and not until then, His Kingdom will be realized in full.

3. The Lord's provision for His people.

A. The Lord takes pleasure in His people. It is comforting to know that "the Lord takes pleasure in His people" (Psalm 149:4) and "cares for [them]" (1 Peter 5:7). But how much He cares for them I fear is little known and dimly seen. Believers have their many trials, the flesh is weak, the world is full of snares, the cross is heavy, the way is narrow, and the companions are few. But still they have strong consolations if their eyes are widely opened. Like Hagar, they have a well of water near them in the wilderness (Genesis 21:19) and like Mary Magdalene, they have Jesus standing by their side, though their eyes are blinded by tears (John 20:14). They need to be reminded they are sons and daughters of God by adoption and enjoy full and perfect forgiveness. They have a place in the Book of Life and a name on the breastplate of the Great High Priest in heaven.

He took them for His own with a perfect understanding of their liabilities and infirmities. He will never break His covenant and cast them off. When they fall, He will raise them again. When they wander, He will bring them back. Their prayers are pleasing to Him. As a father loves the first stammering efforts of his child to speak, so the Lord loves the petitions of His people. He endorses them with His own mighty intercession and gives them power on high. Their services are pleasant to Him. As a father delights in the first daisy his child picks up and brings him, even so the Lord is pleased with the weak attempts of His people to serve Him. Not a cup of cold water shall lose its reward. Not a word spoken in love shall ever be forgotten. 

B. The Lord cares for His people in life. Their addresses are intimately known by Him. The street called Straight where Saul/Paul temporarily lodged and the seaside place where Peter prayed were familiar to their Lord (Acts 9-10). No one has better assistants than His people. Angels rejoice when they are born again, angels minister to them, and angels encompass them for protection. No one has better food. Their daily bread is provided and they are nourished by the water of life. They have food to eat of which the world knows nothing. No one has better company than they do. The Spirit indwells them and the Father and the Son make Their home with them (John 14:23). Their steps are all ordered from grace to glory. Their difficulties are all measured out by a wise Physician: not a grain of bitterness is ever mixed in their cup that is not good for the health of their souls. Their temptations, like Job's, are all under God's control. Satan cannot touch a hair of their head without their Lord's permission or tempt them beyond what they are able to bear (1 Corinthians 10:13). When they are transplanted from place to place, it is so they may bloom more brightly. All things are continually working together for their good (Romans 8:28).

C. The Lord cares for His people in death. Their times are all in His hand. The hairs of their heads are all numbered and no one can ever fall to the ground without their Father (Matthew 10:29-31). They are kept on earth until they are ripe and ready for glory, and not one moment longer. When they have had sun, rain, wind, and storm enough, when the grain is perfect in the stalk, only then will they be harvested. It is a blessed thing to be Christ's wheat. Death opens the door to believer and instantly lets him or her into paradise.

D. The Lord will protect His people on the awesome and dreadful day of His return. The voice of the archangel and the trumpet of God shall proclaim no terrors to their ears. They shall lift up their heads with joy as they see their full redemption approach. They shall be instantly changed, putting on their beautiful garments in the blink of an eye, caught up together "to meet the Lord in the air" (1 Thessalonians 4:17). Jesus will do nothing to a sin-laden world until all His people are safe, just like there was an ark for Noah when the Flood began. There will be a barn for all the wheat on Judgment Day. Whether then or now, Christ's people persevere throughout life. "My sheep," says the Good Shepherd, "shall never perish" (John 10:28). They shall all be gathered into the same fold and barn. 

4. The Lord's punishment of those who are not His people. When the Lord Jesus Christ returns to purge His floor of the chaff, all who are found impenitent and unbelieving—who "suppress the truth unrighteousness" (Romans 1:18), clinging to sin and the world instead of Christ and His Word, will come to an awful end. Christ will "burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire." There is no pain like burning. Fire is of all elements most opposed to life. Creatures can live in air, earth, and water, but nothing can live in fire. This punishment will be eternal. The fuel of that fire will never waste away or be consumed. These are sad and painful things to speak of, yet they are written for our learning and it is good to consider them. "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness" (2 Timothy 3:16).

A. Hell is real. Some believe there is no hell at all, thinking such a place is inconsistent with the mercy of God. They say it is too awful an idea to be really true. The devil delights in the views of such people, for they are preaching his favorite doctrine: "You surely shall not die" (Genesis 3:4). Jesus at His return, however, will say to those who wickedly forget God and His people, "Depart from Me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.... These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life" (Matthew 25:41-46). The same blessed Savior who now sits on a throne of grace will one day sit on a throne of judgment. Terrified people will discover there is such a thing as "the wrath of the Lamb" (Revelation 6:16). The same lips that now say, "Come to Me" will then say, "Depart from Me."

B. Hell is eternal. These are all biblical descriptions of hell: eternal fire, eternal punishment, their worm does not die, torment of thirst, weeping and gnashing of teeth, darkness, blackness, and the second death. All are figures of speech, but they describe something real and even worse than what mere words can describe. The present suffering, the bitter recollection of the past, the hopeless prospect of the future will never be thoroughly known except by those who go there. "Trembling has seized the godless: 'Who among us can dwell with the consuming fire? Who among us can dwell with everlasting burnings?'" (Isaiah 33:14). "Those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake: some to everlasting life, some to shame and everlasting contempt" (Daniel 12:2). "God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.... He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him" (John 3:16-36).

C. Hell should be spoken about. It is striking to observe the many texts about it in Scripture. No one says more about hell than our gracious and merciful Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. John, the most loving apostle, wrote often about hell. The most loving thing we can do for others is to speak the truth in love about supremely important matters. What would you say of the man who saw his neighbor's house in danger of being burned down but never said a word of warning? Beware of manufacturing a god of your own who is all mercy, but not just; all love, but not holy; a god who has a heaven for everybody, but a hell for none; a god who can allow good and bad to be side by side in time, but will make no distinction between good and bad in eternity. Such a god is an idol. The hands of your own sentimentality have made him. He is not the God of the Bible, and beside the God of the Bible there is no God at all.

5. The Lord's merciful provision for people now. Realize you are reading this by God's design. The truth about hell is for you to know and take to heart. Never mind now what it means for others. You will be either gathered with the wheat when Jesus returns or burned with the chaff. If you are willing to be of the wheat, the Lord Jesus Christ is willing to receive you. Do you suppose He is not willing to see His barn filled? Do you think He does not desire to bring many sons and daughters to glory? If so, you know little of the depth of His mercy and compassion. He wept over unrepentant Jerusalem. He mourns over the impenitent and careless in the present day. He sends you an invitation right now to hear and live, to forsake the way of the foolish and go in the path of understanding. "I have no pleasure in the death of one who dies," says the Lord God. "Therefore turn and live!" (Ezekiel 18:32).

If you are determined to have the world and the things of the world, all its pleasures and rewards, all its follies and sins; if you must have your own way and cannot give up anything for Christ and the sake of your soul, there is but one end before you. Sooner or later you will come to the unquenchable fire. But if you want to be rescued from that fate, the Lord Jesus stands ready to save you. "Come to Me," He says, "and I will give you rest. Come, guilty and sinful soul, and I will give you free pardon. Come, lost and ruined soul, and I will give you eternal life" (Matthew 11:28). Arise and call upon the Lord. Let the angels of God rejoice over one more saved soul.

Settle it down in your mind that if you have committed your soul to Christ, He will never let you perish. The everlasting arms are around you. Lean back in them and know your safety. The same hand that was nailed to the cross is holding you. The same wisdom that framed the heavens and the earth is maintaining your cause. Take comfort and know your privileges. Cast every care on Jesus. Tell Him about every need. He loves serving as your High Priest. He loves to be trusted and seeing His people ceasing from the vain effort of carrying their fears, anxieties, and doubts for themselves. Be among Christ's wheat now and then, on the great day of separation, you will be gathered into Christ's barn.

Formalism: from An Illustrated Summary of J.C. Ryle's Practical Religion

This is a chapter from J.C. Ryle's classic book Practical Religion.

FORMALISM

"Having a form of godliness but denying its power." 2 Timothy 3:5

"He is not a Jew who is one outwardly ... but he is a Jew who is one inwardly ... of the heart, in the spirit ... whose praise is not from men but from God." Romans 2:28-29

Let us try to discover whether our Christianity is a thing of mere form or of heart and mind. I know of no better way of unfolding the subject than by turning to the Pauline passage in Romans 2 above: "He is not a Jew who is one outwardly nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh; but he is a Jew who is one inwardly, and circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter;  whose praise is not from men but from God." Three instructive lessons stand out: 1. Formal (merely outward) religion is not true religion, and a formal Christian is not a true Christian in God's sight. 2. The heart is the seat of true religion, and the true Christian is the Christian in heart. 3. True religion must never expect to be popular. It will not have the praise of men, but of God.

1. Formal (merely outward) religion is not true religion, and a formal Christian is not a true Christian in God's sight. What is formal religion? When a man or woman is a Christian in name only and not in reality: in profession only, not practice; in outward things only, not inward convictions and feelings. He or she possesses only the form, husk, or skin of religion,  not its substance and power. 

These are the kinds of people who participate in religious services, but know nothing of experimental Christianity. They are not familiar with the Scriptures and take no delight in reading them. They do not separate themselves from the ways of the world. They draw no distinction between godliness and ungodliness in their friendships and marriages. They care little or nothing about the distinctive doctrines of the Gospel. They appear indifferent to what they hear preached. You may be in their company regularly and see nothing to separate them from agnostics and atheists. Their religion is an empty form.

Look in another direction at people whose whole religion seems to consist in talk. They know the theory of the Gospel and profess to delight in their doctrinal positions; they say much about the soundness of their own views and the darkness of all who disagree with them. But when you examine their inner lives, you find they know nothing of practical godliness. They are neither truthful, loving, humble, kind, gentle, or honorable. Their religion is likewise an empty form.

One of the wickedest things Machiavelli said is that the appearance of religion is useful, but the reality and practice of it is cumbersome. Such a notion is of the earth or deeper still: it smells of the pit. Hear what Paul says to the Romans: "He is not a Jew who is one outwardly nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh" (Romans 2:28). Those are strong words! Paul is saying a man might be a son of Abraham according to the flesh, circumcised the eighth day of his birth, a regular worshiper in the temple, yet in God's sight not be a Jew. Just so a man may be a baptized member of a Christian church who participates in its services and ceremonies, yet in God's sight not be a Christian.

Hear what the prophet Isaiah writes from the Lord: "To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices to Me? I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams.... I do not delight in the blood of bulls.... Bring no more futile sacrifices; incense is an abomination to Me.... Your new moons, sabbaths, and your appointed feasts My soul hates; they are a trouble to Me, I am weary of bearing them. When you spread out your hands, I will hide My eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not hear. Your hands are full of blood" (Isaiah 1:10-15). Keep in mind that those sacrifices, sabbaths, festivals, and the incense were appointed by God Himself! He pronounces His own institutions to be useless when they are used formally and without heart by the worshiper. In fact, they are worse then useless: they are offensive and hurtful. Formal religion is worthless in God's sight. It is not worth calling religion at all.

Hear what our Lord Jesus Christ says: "Hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying: 'These people draw near to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. In vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men'" (Matthew 15:7-9; Isaiah 29:13). We see Him repeatedly denouncing the formalism and hypocrisy of the religious leaders. Eight times in one chapter (Matthew 23) He says, "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!" For many kinds of sinners Jesus had a word of kindness and held out to them an open door for repentant hearts, but He wants us to know that unrepentant formalists must be exposed in severe terms.

A. Formalism is common. It is one of the great family diseases of the whole race of mankind. It is born with us, grows with us, and is never completely cast out of us in this life. It meets us in church and out, among rich and poor, among the highly educated and minimally educated, among Roman Catholics and Protestants, among Evangelicals and any other Christian grouping you can think of. If you think there is no formal religion in your own camp, you are unobservant. If you love life, beware of formalism.

B. Formalism is dangerous. Familiarity with the form of religion while neglecting its reality has a fearfully deadening effect on one's soul and conscience. It builds up a thick crust of insensibility over the whole inner person. None seem to become so desperately hard as those who are continually repeating holy words and handling holy matters while their hearts are running after sin and the world. They are gradually hardening their hearts and searing the skin of their consciences. If you love your own soul, beware of formalism.

C. Formalism is foolish. Can formalists really suppose the outward Christianity they profess will comfort them in the day of sickness and the hour of death? A painted fire cannot warm, a painted banquet cannot satisfy hunger, and a formal religion cannot bring peace to the soul. Do they really think God does not see the heartlessness and deadness of their Christianity? Although they may deceive acquaintances, fellow worshipers, and ministers with a form of godliness, do they think they can deceive God? "He who formed the eye, shall He not see?" (Psalm 94:9). God knows the very secrets of the heart and "will judge the secrets of men" at the last day (Romans 2:16). The risen, ascended Christ, who said to each of the 7 churches in the Book of Revelation, "I know your works" (Revelation 2-3) has not changed. He who said, "Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?" (Matthew 22:12) will not be deceived by a little cloak of outward religion. If you would not be put to shame at the last day, once more I say to beware of formalism.

2. The heart is the seat of true religion, and the true Christian is the Christian in heart. The heart is the real test of a man's character. It is not what he says or does by which he may always be known. He may say and do right things from false and unworthy motives reflecting his heart. As a man "thinks in his heart, so is he" (Proverbs 23:7). Man "looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart" (1 Samuel 16:7). This is what Paul lays down distinctly as the standard measure of the soul: "He is a Jew who is one inwardly ... and circumcision is that of the heart" (Romans 2:28-29). Who can doubt that this mighty sentence was written for Christians as well as for Jews? He is a Christian, the apostle would have us know, who is one inwardly, and baptism is that of the heart.

The heart is where saving religion must begin. It is naturally irreligious, which is why the promise of the New Covenant is this: "A new heart I will give you.... I will take away your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh" (Ezekiel 36:26-27). "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart. These, O God, You will not despise" (Psalm 51:17). We read that the Lord "opened" the heart of Lydia to believe what Paul was telling her about Christ (Acts 16:14).

The heart is the seat of true saving faith. "With the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation" (Romans 10:10). A man may believe that Jesus is the Savior of the world, as the devils do, yet remain in his sins. He may believe he is a sinner and even be convinced that Jesus is the only Savior, feeling occasional lazy wishes that he were a better man. But no one ever lays hold of Christ and receives pardon and peace until he or she believes with the heart. It is heart faith that justifies.

The heart is the spring of true holiness and steady continuance in doing good. True Christians are holy because their hearts are interested. They obey from the heart. They do the will of God from the heart. Weak, feeble, and imperfect as all their doings are, they please God because they are done from a loving heart. He who commended the widow's small coins more than all the offerings of the wealthy regards quality far more than quantity (Mark 12:41-44). He likes to see things done with "an honest and good heart" (Luke 8:15). There is no real holiness without a right heart.

Paul teaches us about this matter in 3 parallel texts: "In Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but ... faith working through love (Galatians 5:6) ... a new creation (Galatians 6:15) ... [and] keeping the commandments of God is what matters" (1 Corinthians 7:19). True religion consists of far more than circumcision or any other external form, but of being born again to obey God's Word from the heart.

A. When the heart is wrong, all is wrong in God's sight. The ark was the most sacred thing in the Jewish tabernacle. On it was the mercy seat. Within it were the tablets of God's Law, written by God's own finger. The high priest alone was allowed to go into the place where the ark was kept, behind a veil, but only once a year. The presence of the ark within the camp was thought to bring a special blessing. And yet this very ark could do the Israelites no more good than any common wooden box when they treated it like an idol, their hearts full of wickedness. They said, "Let us bring the ark that it may save us from the hand of our enemies" (1 Samuel 4:3). When it was brought into the camp, they shouted with joy to show it reverence and honor, but it was all in vain. God allowed the Philistines to defeat them and take away the ark. Why? They honored the ark, but did not give the God of the ark their hearts.

There were kings of Judah and Israel who did many things that were right, yet were never written in the list of godly rulers. Rehoboam, the son of King Solomon, for 3 years walked in the ways of David and Solomon (2 Chronicles 11:17), but afterwards "he did evil because he did not prepare his heart to seek the Lord" (2 Chronicles 12:14). Abijam of Judah said many things that were right and fought successfully against wicked King Jeroboam of Israel, but the general verdict is against him because "his heart was not loyal to the Lord his God, as was the heart of his father David" (1 Kings 15:3). Amaziah "did what was right in the sight of the Lord, but not with a loyal heart" (2 Chronicles 25:2). Jehu, king of Israel, was raised up by God's command to put down idolatry. He was a man of special zeal in doing that work, but unhappily it is written of Jehu, "He took no heed to walk in the Law of the Lord God of Israel with all his heart; for he did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam, who had made Israel sin" (2 Kings 10:31). One general remark applies to all those kings: they were all wrong inwardly, rotten at heart.

There are many fair places of worship in the world, but God sees nothing with an eye of favor in such buildings, services, ministers, or people if He does not see converted, renewed, broken, penitent hearts. Bowed heads, bended knees, and loud amens are nothing in God's sight without right hearts.

B. When the heart is right, God can look over many things that are defective. There may be faults in judgment and infirmities in practice. There may be many deviations from the best course in the outward things of religion, but if the heart is sound in the main, God is not extreme to mark that which is amiss. He is merciful and gracious, pardoning much that is imperfect when He sees a true heart and a single eye.

Jehoshaphat and Asa were kings of Judah who were defective in many things. Jehoshaphat was a timid, irresolute man who did not know how to say no, even to making an alliance with Ahab, Israel's wickedest king. Asa was an unstable man who at one time trusted in the king of Syria more than in God, and punished a prophet who rightly rebuked him. Yet both of them had one great redeeming point in their characters: with all their faults, they had right hearts (2 Chronicles 22:9, 2 Chronicles 15:17).

The long-neglected Passover feast, which the good King Hezekiah sought to restore, was quite irregular. The proper forms were not observed by many. They ate the Passover "otherwise than as prescribed," but with true and honest hearts. Hezekiah prayed for them, saying, "May the good Lord pardon everyone who sets his heart to seek God ... even though not according to the sanctuary's rules." We are told that God honored his prayer (2 Chronicles 30:18-20). The Passover feast kept by King Josiah years later must have been far smaller and worse attended than Hezekiah's, not to mention the glory years under David and Solomon, but notice what we are told about it: "There had been no Passover kept in Israel like that since the days of Samuel the prophet, and none of the kings of Israel had kept such a Passover as Josiah kept" (2 Chronicles 35:18). There is but one explanation. The Lord does not look at the quantity of worshipers so much as the quality. The glory of Josiah's Passover was the state of the people's hearts.

There are many assemblies of Christian worshipers today that meet in humble buildings, sing unmusically, pray meekly, and hear the Word of God proclaimed plainly, yet the Holy Spirit is in the midst of them. Sinners are often converted in them and the Kingdom of God prospers far more than in any gorgeous cathedral or church. This applies to any assembly where heart religion is taught and lived out. The consequence is that God is pleased and grants His blessing.

One word of caution before moving to my last point: do not suppose that because formal religion will not save that all forms of religion are of no use. The misuse of a thing is no argument against the right use of it. Use the forms of Christianity diligently and you will find them a blessing, but remember that the state of your heart comes first.

3. True religion must never expect to be popular. It will not have the praise of men, but of God. As eager as I am to commend heart religion, I will not try to conceal what it entails. Remember, Paul said at the beginning of this chapter that praise of heart religion comes "not from men, but from God" (Romans 2:28-29). God's truth and biblical Christianity have never been popular and never will be as long as the world stands. No one can rationally consider what human nature is as described in the Bible and reasonably expect anything else.

Atheism and rank unbelief, as a general rule, are never very popular, but a religion that does not require much or trouble a man and woman's heart and lifestyle is what many people crave. Formal religion gratifies the secret self-righteousness within. We are all of us more or less Pharisees. Formal religion also pleases the natural laziness of man. It attaches an excessive importance to the easiest part of religion, the mere externals. Formalism seems to open a wider gate and a more easy way to heaven.

But facts are stubborn things. Look over the history of religion in every age of the world and observe what has always been popular. Formalism was one main sin against which the Old Testament prophets were continually protesting. Formalism was the great plague that characterized the Jewish religion when our Lord Jesus Christ came into the world. Formalism ate out the life and vitality of the early church. In the Middle Ages formalism so completely covered the face of Christendom that the Gospel lay as one dead. Look at the history of churches in the last several centuries. How few are the places where the Christian religion is a living thing! Formal religion continues to be popular. It has the praise of men.

John tells us this about false religious teachers: "They are of the world. Therefore they speak as of the world, and the world hears them" (1 John 4:5). Only say your prayers, go to church with tolerable regularity, and receive the Lord's Supper occasionally, and the vast majority of religious people will set you down as an excellent Christian. "What more would you have?" they say. "If that is not Christianity, what is?" To require more of anyone is thought bigotry, intolerant, and fanatical. To insinuate a doubt whether a person like this will go to heaven is called uncharitable. Formal religion will always be popular until Christ returns.

Turn now to the religion of the heart, and you will hear a very different report. As a general rule it has never had the good word of mankind, but instead laughter, mockery, ridicule, scorn, contempt, enmity, hatred, slander, persecution, imprisonment, and even death. Its lovers have been faithful and ardent, but they have always been few.

A. Heart religion is too humbling to be popular. It leaves no room for boasting. It tells men and women that they are guilty, lost, hell-deserving sinners who must flee to Christ alone for salvation. It tells them they are spiritually dead and must be made alive again, born of the Spirit. The pride of mankind rebels against this. People hate to be told their case is so bad.

B. Heart religion is too holy to be popular. It interferes with their worldliness and sin. It requires things their fallen nature hates: conversion, faith, repentance, spiritual-mindedness, Bible reading, and prayer. It bids them to give up many things they love and cling to, and cannot make up their minds to lay aside. It seems to them a killjoy.

Was heart religion popular in Old Testament times? We read poor David moaning, "Those who sit in the gate speak against me, and I am the song of drunkards" (Psalm 69:12). We find the prophets persecuted and ill treated because they preached against sin and called people to give their hearts to God. Elijah, Micaiah, Jeremiah, and Amos are all cases in point. The people never seem to have objected to formalism and ceremonialism, but they often displayed their unwillingness to serve God from the heart.

Was heart religion popular in New Testament times? The scribes and Pharisees would have willingly received a Messiah who encouraged formalism and exalted ceremonialism, but they could not tolerate a religion with the first principles of humiliation and sanctification of heart.

What matters, however, is that God approves and honors heart religion, He looks down from heaven and reads the hearts of all. God is well pleased whenever He sees repentance from sin, faith in Christ, holiness of life, and love for His Son, Word and will. He writes a book of remembrance for His faithful people, and gives His angels special charge over them. He gives them daily supplies of peace, hope, and strength. One day all who have served Christ from the heart will hear Him say, "Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. You were faithful over a few things; I will make you rulers over many things. Enter into the joy of your Lord! You confessed Me before others, and I will confess you before My Father and His holy angels" (Matthew 25:21-34; Luke 12:8).

Those words will not be addressed to the formalists, the hypocrites, the wicked, and the ungodly. They indeed will stand by and see the fruits of heart religion, but will not eat them. Only then shall we fully understand how much better it is to have the praise of God than the praise of man. In the meantime, "We must through many tribulations enter the the Kingdom of God" (Acts 14:22), and "all who determine to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted" (2 Timothy 3:12). If the world hates you, God will love you. If the world forsakes you, Christ has promised He will never forsake or fail you. Whatever you may lose by your heart religion, be sure that the praise of God will make up for all.

I close with applications for 3 groups of readers: In the first place, is your religion a matter of form and not of heart? Answer this question honestly and in the sight of God. If it is, consider solemnly the immense danger in which you stand. You have nothing to comfort your soul in the day of trial, nothing to save you at the last day. Like base metal, formal religion will not stand the fire. I earnestly beseech you to open your eyes and repent.

In the second place, if you heart condemns you and you want to know what to do, consider seriously the only course you can safely take. Go to the Lord Jesus Christ without delay and spread before Him the state of your soul. Confess before Him your formalism in times past and ask Him to forgive it. Seek from Him the promised grace of the Holy Spirit and ask Him renew your inner self. Know that the Lord Jesus is appointed and commissioned to be the Physician of each person's soul. There is no case too hard for Him. Seared and hardened as the heart of a formalist may be, healing is available: "Ask and it shall be give you, seek and you shall find, knock and it shall be opened to you" (Luke 11:9).

In the last place, if your heart does not condemn you and you have well-grounded confidence in your Christian faith by God's grace, consider seriously the many responsibilities of your position. Praise God daily for calling you out of darkness into light and making you different. Have pity for those still in darkness and pray for them. Watch your heart and be on guard against formalism in your Bible reading and prayer, your temper and your tongue, your family, work, and church life. Look forward to the return of our Lord. Your best things are yet to come. One thing His return will make abundantly clear: there never was an hour in our lives when we gave our hearts too thoroughly to Christ.

Reality: from An Illustrated Summary of J.C. Ryle's Practical Religion

This is a chapter from J.C. Ryle's classic book Practical Religion.

REALITY

"Rejected silver." Jeremiah 6:20

"Nothing but leaves." Mark 11:13

"Let us not love in word or talk but in deed and truth." 1 John 3:18

"You have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead." Revelation 3:1

If we profess to have any religion at all, let us take care that it is real: that it is genuine, sincere, honest, and thorough, not hollow, false, counterfeit, and nominal. It may sometimes be weak and mingled with many infirmities, but real Christianity is something inward, solid, substantial, living, and lasting. I will endeavor to do two things: to show the importance of reality in religion and supply tests by which we may prove whether our own religion is real.

1. The importance of reality in religion. Can it be said that reality is rightly esteemed among professing Christians? I deny it entirely. Most people who profess to admire reality in religion seem to think everyone possesses it. They claim that most people have got good hearts at bottom, being sincere and true in the main, although they may make mistakes. They accuse Christians who doubt anyone's goodness of heart as uncharitable, harsh, and censorious. That widespread delusion is one of the reasons I take up this subject. What do the Scriptures say? Let us turn to our Bibles and examine them fairly.

A. Let us look at the parables of our Lord Jesus Christ. Observe how many of them put in strong contrast the true believer and the mere nominal disciple. The parables of the sower, the wheat and tares, the dragnet, the two sons, the wedding garment, the ten virgins, the talents, the great banquet, the 10 minas, and the two builders all have one great point in common: bringing out in striking colors the difference between reality and unreality in religion. They all show the uselessness and danger of any Christianity that is not real, thorough, and true.

B. Let us look at how the Lord described the scribes and Pharisees. Eight times over in one chapter (Matthew 23) we find Him denouncing them as hypocrites. In words of almost fearful severity He states, "You serpents, you generation of vipers, how can you escape the damnation of hell?" What may we learn from these tremendously strong expressions? How is it that our gracious Lord and merciful Savior used such strong words about people who were more outwardly moral than the tax collectors and prostitutes He ministered to? It is meant to teach us the exceeding abominableness of false profession and mere outward religion in God's sight.  Open immorality and willful obedience to fleshly lusts are no doubt ruinous sins if not given up, but there seems nothing more displeasing to Christ than hypocrisy and unreality.

C. Let us look at the startling fact that there is hardly a virtue in the character of a true Christian of which you will not find a counterfeit described in the Word of God. 

* Is there not an unreal repentance? Consider the examples of Judas Iscariot and Kings Saul, Ahab, and Herod. They had many feelings of sorrow about sin, but never repented unto salvation.

* Is there not an unreal faith? We are told that Simon the sorcerer in Samaria  "believed," yet his heart was not right in the sight of God (Acts 8:9-24). It is written, "Even the devils believe—and shudder" (James 2:19). 

* Is there not an unreal holiness? Joash, king of Judah, was to all appearance very holy and good while Jehoiada the priest lived, but as soon as Jehoiada died, the religion of Joash died at the same time (2 Chronicles 24). Judas Iscariot's outward life was as correct as any of the apostles' up to the time he betrayed His Master. There was nothing suspicious about him at the time. Yet in reality he was "a thief" (John 12:6) and a traitor. 

* Is there not an unreal love and charity? Picture a great show of affection while the heart does not love at all. It is not for nothing that John writes, "Let us not love in word or talk but in deed and truth" (1 John 3:18), or that Paul says, "Let love be genuine" (Romans 12:9).

* Is there not an unreal humility? Paul warns against the mere "appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value" (Colossians 2:18-23).

* Is there not unreal praying? Our Lord said of the Pharisees, "You devour widows' houses, and for a pretense make long prayers" (Matthew 23:14). He did not charge them with not praying or making short prayers. Their sin was that their prayers were not real.

*Is there not unreal worship? Our Lord, quoting the prophet Isaiah, said of co-religionists at the time, "This people draws near to Me with their mouths and honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me" (Matthew 15:8; Isaiah 29:13). They had plenty of formal services in their synagogues and temple, but the fatal defect about so many of them was lack of reality and heart.

*Is there not unreal talking about religion? God warns the prophet Ezekiel about people who talk and speak like His people, "but their hearts pursue their own gain" (Ezekiel 33:31). Paul tells us we may speak with the tongues of men and angels, but be no better than sounding brass or a clanging symbol (1 Corinthians 13:1).

What shall we say about these things? Beware of base metal in religion. Be genuine. Be thorough. Be real. Be true.

2. Tests by which we may try the reality of our religion. I ask every reader to deal fairly, honestly, and reasonably with his or her soul. Believe me, it is no light matter. It is your life.

A. If you would know whether your religion is real, try it by the place it occupies in your inner self. It is not enough that it is in your head. You may know the truth, assent to it, and believe in it to some degree, yet be wrong in God's sight. It is not enough that it is on your lips. You may say amen to public prayer in church, yet have nothing more than an outward religion. It is not enough that it is in your feelings. You may weep when hearing something inspirational, yet be dead to God. Your religion, if it is real and given by the Holy Spirit, must be in your heart. It must lead your will, sway your real affections, direct your tastes, and influence your choices and decisions. Is this your religion? As Paul says, "With the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation" (Romans 10:10).

B. If you would know whether your religion is real, try it by the feelings toward sin it produces. The Christianity from the Spirit of God will not merely regard sin as a blemish and misfortune. It will see in sin the abominable thing God hates, the thing that makes man guilty and lost in his Maker's sight, the thing that rightly deserves God's wrath and condemnation.  It will look on sin as the cause of all sorrow and unhappiness, of strife and wars, of quarrels and contentions, of sickness and death—the blight of God's fair creation and the cursed thing that makes the whole earth groan. Above all, it will see in sin the thing that will ruin us eternally apart from the ransom provided only by the Lord Jesus Christ. Are these your feelings about sin? If not, you may well doubt whether your religion is real.

C. If you would know whether your religion is real, try it by the feelings toward Christ it produces. Nominal religion may believe that such a Person as Christ existed and that He was a great benefactor to mankind. It may show Him some external respect, but will go no further. Real religion will make a person glory in Christ as the Redeemer, Deliverer, Priest, and Friend without whom he or she would have no hope at all. It will produce confidence in Him, love toward Him, and delight and comfort Him as the food, light, life, and peace of the soul. Is this your religion? Do you know anything of feelings like these toward the Lord Jesus Christ?

D. If you would know whether your religion is real, try it by the fruit it bears in your heart and life. The Christianity from above will always produce repentance, faith, hope, love, humility, spirituality, kindness, self-denial, unselfishness, forgiveness, self-control, truthfulness, and patience. The degree to which these various virtues appear will vary in different believers. The germ and seeds of them will be found in all who are the children of God. By their fruits they may be known. Is this your religion? If not, you may well doubt whether it is real.

E. In the last place, if you would know whether your religion is real, try it by your feelings and habits regarding the means of grace. Prove it by the Sunday. Is it for you a day of weariness and constraint or a delight and refreshment, a foretaste of the rest to come in heaven? What are your feelings about public prayer and praise, the preaching of God's Word, and participating in the Lord's Supper? Do you find it essential to your comfort to read the Bible regularly in private and speak to God in prayer, or do you find these practices irksome and either rush them along or neglect them altogether? These questions deserve your attention so you can determine whether your religion is real. If your heart is right in the sight of God, you have no cause to flinch from examination. If it is wrong, the sooner you find it out the better.

The years of our life are fast passing away. Who knows whether this may be you last year of earthly life? Be a real and true Christian. Do not be base metal. The day is fast coming when nothing but reality will stand the fire. Real repentance towards God, real faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ, real holiness of heart and life are what will matter then, and are what matter now.