The Issue of Spirituality, Part 2
Selected Scriptures
For our study this morning, I wanna continue and conclude what we began last time - the study of the issue of spirituality within the broader study that we've been doing on the charismatic movement. If you're a visitor with us, let me just say that we've taken a break in a rather lengthy study of 1 Corinthians; and in a couple of week, we'll be beginning again in the 14th chapter of 1 Corinthians to finish the Book. But in the interim, because so many of you were so inquisitive and needed insights, and because the elders directed me to do so, we've been pursuing a study of the charismatic movement as we see it in the church and the world today; and this particular aspect of the charismatic movement, the issue of spirituality, is the subject we began last week and will continue and complete this morning.
Now, you'll remember last week that we began to study this issue of true spirituality, because it is such a very important theme within the charismatic movement and far broader than that. We looked at a clear, Biblical definition of true spirituality, and then compared it with what the charismatics have been teaching or implying in their view of spirituality; and we tried to show you last time that the charismatics say or imply, even though they sometimes are not willing to say, they certainly imply by their experiential approach to the Christian life that if you have a certain baptism or you speak in tongues or you have a certain ecstatic experience, that that automatically lifts you to another level of spirituality.
My own wife was raised in Pentecostal charismatic circles, and she told me this week that it is just sort of a standard situation that the people who've had the experience, and the people who have the visions, and the people who speak in the tongues are thought of as second-level Christians or spiritual ones; and the rest are sort of left in another category in a second-class basis. And we saw how that, when you...when you make the experience everything and the pursuit of the experience everything, and then you attain a certain ecstatic experience or a certain baptism or whatever, then automatically you're thought of as spiritual; and we showed how that, compared with Scripture, this is just not so. The Bible never makes such a connection between any spiritual gift or any spiritual vision or any experience and true spirituality. That connection is not made biblically.
And we saw last time that true spirituality is the result, not of an experience or a gift or anything like that, but it is the result of a moment-by-moment walk in the Spirit. That is the real issue. True spirituality results when we are walking in the Spirit; and we showed that the charismatic view of experiential, instantaneous, sorta spectacular spirituality just can't be supported biblically. Spirituality, we said then, is walking in the Spirit which involves two things. See if you remember. Receiving the Word of God and living it out in obedience; and where we receive the Word and live it out obediently, at that point, we are walking in the Spirit. That is the true Biblical standard...
Now, we saw further that true spirituality doesn't necessarily even result in any experience. It doesn't result in any ecstasy or any vision or any revelation or any supernatural thing; but the true spirituality really results in the graces of the heart; because in Galatians 5:22 it says, "The fruit of the Spirit is not gifts and tongues and signs and wonders, but the fruit of the Spirit is...what?...love, joy, peace, gentleness, goodness, faith, humility, and self-control." Those are the real fruits of the Spirit. That is what is really produced when true spirituality exists; and the charismatics who claim that true spirituality is based on experience and issues in greater experiences, just doesn't square with the Scripture; and so we have to come back to what the Bible teaches.
Now, I want you to take your Bible as we begin this morning, and I want you to look with me at Psalm 85; because Psalm 85 provides for us a very helpful text on evaluating true spirituality or true spiritual revival. This is a test by which we can judge true spirituality.
Now, you'll remember in 1 Corinthians chapter 3 that Paul said to the Corinthians, "I cannot write unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal." In other words, "I have to treat you as carnal." Why? "Because you can't receive the Word, and there is division and strife and so forth among you." In other words, two things were missing in Corinth. They did not and could not receive the Word. They did not live it out. The absence of those two things means carnality. In reversing it, the presence of those two things means spirituality. So spirituality is to receive the Word of God and to live it out obediently. That's basic.
Now, we see this in Psalm 85. Basically, this is a prayer for...for revival. This is a prayer that true spirituality would exist among the people. This is a plea from the psalmist to God to bring about a true revival of...of spirituality; and the key verse would be verse 5, which says, "Wilt Thou be angry with us for ever? Wilt Thou draw out Thine anger to all generations? Wilt Thou not revive us again, that They people may rejoice in Thee?" In other words, "God, we've had Your chastening. We've been through the exile. We've had that, and, oh, God, now we want a revival. We wanna see Your gracious hand. We want true spirituality to take the place of the disobedience that brought about the punishment." And so it's a plea for real revival, a plea for genuine holiness to grip the hearts of the people of God; and such a plea really draws out the basic elements of revival.
The first seven verses kinda make up a prayer for true revival, and then in 8 to 13, you see the elements of it. We're not gonna study all of it, but lemme just show you the two things that make up true revival. Verse 11, "Truth shall spring out of the earth, and righteousness shall look down from heaven." Now, you have two phrases there. "Truth shall spring out of the earth, and righteousness shall look down from heaven." There are two things that always accompany true revival. Truth and righteousness, always...Those are the issues. Truth and righteousness, and these two things are really a theme in this closing part. You see the mention of righteousness in verse 10. You see the mention of righteousness going before God, and "He will set us in the way of His steps," in verse 13. So righteousness is an integral part of true spirituality or true revival. Holiness and righteousness, mark this, always accompany the work of the Spirit. That's very basic.
In Ezekiel, to give you an illustration of it, in the 36th chapter of Ezekiel, and there are many illustrations, but this would be one that might be helpful. Ezekiel 36:27, just listen. "And I will put My Spirit within you." All right, that's a great promise of spirituality yet to come. "I'll put My Spirit within you." Now, watch what happens. "And cause you to walk in My statutes, and you shall keep My ordinances." Now, listen, you see, true spirituality, the result of the true work of the Spirit, is not some ecstasy. It is not some revelation. It is not some vision. It is not some experience. It is the obedience of righteousness. You see? It is walking in God's truth. It is walking in His statutes. It is keeping His ordinances and doing them.
Verse 31 of the same chapter says, "Then shall you remember your own evil ways and your doings that were not good, and shall loathe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and for your abominations." Now, listen, beloved. True spirituality results in righteousness or holiness, and that is a two-part item. For one part, it is the pursuit of the commandments of God; and for the other, it is the loathing and the despising and the hating of sinfulness; and where there is true spirituality, there will be that pursuit of righteousness that carries with it a deep anxiety and sense of conviction about sin; and that is something that I don't see in what is going on today in the name of spirituality in the charismatic movement in many cases. There is a lot of laughing and a lot of...of having fun and a lot of happiness and a lot of outward frivolity, but I don't know if I see what accompanies real spirituality, which is a deep burning sense of the conviction of sin and the pursuit of true holiness in a desire a obey the commands of God and to walk in them. That's true spirituality. That's the heart of the matter.
Spirit-filled people pursue righteousness with a burning sense of conviction and sin, so that where the Spirit is at work, there is joy, but there is also deep sorrow. This is the heart of true spirituality. When the Spirit of God came at Pentecost, it says, "Thousands were pricked in their hearts and cried out in the misery of guilt, 'What shall we do?'"...And I don't believe that any true Christian can live in this world without a deep pain caused by his own distress and his own sorrow and his own sin; and when the stench of immorality fills his nostrils, the Spirit-filled man just can't be happy, happy, happy all the time.
And you know what? Sometimes it doesn't square with what I see in the name of the Holy Spirit. As one writer said, "He is not the jolly Spirit. He is the Holy Spirit."...And I'm afraid that, as I watch, for example, on Channel 40 or wherever, and I see this frivolity and this superficiality and this happy, happy, happy all the time, and...and this constant smiling, and everything is so wonderful, that they don't understand two things. One, the deep sense of the conviction of sin and, two, the lostness of the world around them, or they just couldn't be happy, happy, happy all the time.
The Apostle Paul said, "I have continual sorrow and heaviness of heart." See, that's the balance of it. Sure there's joy, but the joy is deep down; and very often what's on the surface is the pain from the guilt and the sin and the concern; and I believe if we were seeing the true revival in our country, I believe if it was true spirituality that were seeing in this supposed charismatic movement that's to be of the Spirit, if it were real spirituality, there would be people weeping like Christ wept. There would be the flowing of tears caused by the Holy Spirit. Instead of clapping our hands, I think we would be beating our breasts and lamentations would fill the streets, as they filled the streets of Nineveh on the day that Jonah preached; and the Spirit of God brought a true revival. I don't see true revival as turning onto Jesus is a groovy trip. I see true revival as that which makes a man beat his breast and sense his sin deeply and pursue holiness...
Walter Chantry says, "It cannot be said that all who are entering charismatic ranks are doing so with a desire to know God and advance in purity of life. The more...quote...from God that many are seeking is freedom from earthly troubles. Where the gifts themselves hold primary attention, it is suggested that the Spirit will cure all ills and smooth all the rough bumps along the road of life. Nowhere is this so evident as in the popular emphasis on healing. The impression given by the full Gospel to the average believer is that God doesn't want his people to suffer in this world. If only Christians will believe, Spirit-filled men will heal 'em of anything. Sufferings are pictured as detrimental and undesirable for the Christian. Here is the candy-coated life, guaranteed to extract all bitter tastes; and while many of talk of blowing their minds on Jesus and of exploding and experiences of the Spirit and finding happiness, we have heard too little of a sober interest in holiness."
He's right. We're not just a bunch of people chasing happiness, you see? Where there is true revival, there will be the pursuit of holiness, righteousness. There will be a deep burning conviction of sin, and a consuming desire to obey the statutes of God. That's the part that I see missing...Mature believers don't look for the candy-coated life. They confess with David in Psalm 119:71, "It is good for me that I have been afflicted."
Spirituality is not experiences and signs and wonders and miracles and happy, happy. May be closer to the opposite. Charles Spurgeon said, "The greatest earthly blessing that God can give to any of us is health, with the exception of sickness." I like that. "Sickness has frequently been of more use to the saints of God," he says, "than health has. If some men that I know of could only be favored with a month of rheumatism, it would, by God's grace, mellow them marvelously...I would not wish for any man a long time of sickness and pain, but a twist now and then one might almost ask for. A sick wife, a newly-made grave, poverty, slander, sinking of spirit might teach lessons nowhere else to be learned so well. Trials drive us to the realities of religion. Our afflictions come to us as blessings, though they frown like curses." He's right...See, you see, where there's true spirituality, where there is true revival...righteousness looks down from heaven, and God leads His people along the steps of righteousness, not giddiness, not happiness, not frivolity. Righteousness, holiness, true spirituality.
And the second element of true spirituality in Psalm 85, and the one I told you last week, too, is in verse 11. "Truth shall spring out of the earth." The second element of true revival is truth all of a sudden comes from everywhere. There is a great, deep commitment to the truth. Second principle for measuring the Spirit's work is the truth. After all, he is called in the Bible the Spirit of what? Truth, and where there is true revival, there is the receiving of the truth and there is the living out of it in righteous behavior. That's it, folks, and it has nothing to do with gifts and signs and ecstasies and wonders and visions and revelations.
When they had the revival in Nehemiah's day, Nehemiah chapter 8 verse 1 began, Nehemiah said, "Bring the Book," and once they brought the book, the revival began, and it'll never begin any other way in any other age; and you can't have people with false doctrine about the Holy Spirit producing right kind of responses...to Him. You can't have true spirituality with wrong theology. You have to have truth springing from the earth, and then righteousness comes down from heaven. That's what Psalm 85 is saying; and true spirituality will have that deep sense of devotion to the Word of God, and a deep conviction for sin and a desire for holy living...
Biblical exposition, Biblical instruction are the work of the Spirit. In Ephesians 5:18, "Be being kept filled with the Spirit." Colossians 3:16, "Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly." Those are two parallel passages, as you know if you study them. Being filled with the Spirit is the same thing as letting the Word dwell in you richly, see. You receive the word. You live it out - true spirituality. Nothing to do with any charismatic experience.
So what have we learned? Lemme summarize. We said last week that all believers are spiritual, positionally. We said that not all believers live up to it practically, but God wants us to live a spiritual lifestyle, which is a lifestyle of receiving the Word of God and obeying it; and that the ultimate end of spirituality is to be like Jesus Christ; and it has nothing to do with a gift or an experience or a baptism or a feeling. It results in obedience. It results in not fulfilling the lust of the flesh. It makes the Christian humble and meek rather than proud. It...it gives him a deep sense of inadequacy in the misery of sin. It produces a commitment to the Word of God. It balances His joy with His conviction of sin; and that is the true spirituality...
That's the thing God is after. You know, I see a lot of so-called revival in America, but it doesn't have these characteristics. I wanna add a very important note to conclude our theme of true spirituality...and it's very important, and I want you to hear me say it. I've been waiting a long time to say this, a long time...Because the charismatics have the wrong view of spirituality, they have fallen into the problem of exalting the wrong people, you see. In other words, where you make an experience the criteria, the more fantastic or exciting the experience, the more chance you're gonna get to become the super saint, you see?...And the truly spiritual people, some of whom I'm sure are in the charismatic movement, but the truly spiritual people who are receiving the Word as best it's being given and as best they understand it, and living in obedience as best they can...and the true spiritual people in the rest of the church who receive the Word and live it out, you see, they're pushed into the background, because they don't have anything to say; because in an experiential world, where the experience is everything, the people who rise to the top are the people who've got the greatest story to tell. Do you see? So the wrong people get exalted.
And if you've got a great story to tell, you'll be up there. You'll be on television. You'll write a book. You'll have the whole shot, particularly if you happen to be famous, also. If you can add to your experience a certain amount of fame, you've really got it made; and this is really sad. We've created a whole pile of Christian celebrities. I call 'em superstar saints...They've become the models and the spokesmen and the authorities for Christianity. A celebrity cult has begun.
You know, I thought we learned our lesson. Boy, the...the church 15 years ago, the church did that with Hollywood people. You take all the people who were saved in a Hollywood Christian group, and automatically put 'em up as great, great propagators of the Christian faith; and they were giving testimonies and singing here and appearing here, and this was the big thing. It was really tragic.
We had a man in our church who was in that. Bally-hooed, made a speaker and a famous Christian, traveled all over, said everything. He had all kinds of credentials and so forth. His life went right down the drain. He came to Grace, about 42 years old, without his family, went into obscurity in a sense. Just came here and learned the Word of God. He was only here a year, and he died of terminal cancer, and I sat in the hospital beside his bed as he was coughing and dying, and he said, "John," he said, "it's terrible what happened in my life. It's terrible. It's a tragedy. They ruined my life by exploiting my testimony, because I was somebody known."
You see, it's a tragic thing. I thought we learned, but we haven't. It's going on again. We've got the wrong people being exalted and put up on pedestals to be the spokesmen for Christianity instead of the really spiritual people. TV specials now put on by Christian personalities feature a steady stream of the Christian superstars. When one of 'em gets saved, boy, the line starts to book 'em for their big event.
I...I was listening to a deal the other night on television. The pastor said, "We're starting a new church," and this is what he said. This is a quote. "It is a fundamental, soul-winning, Bible-believing church; and we'll be meeting in Costa Mesa; and this Sunday, our special guest star is..." and he named him; and I thought, "What is this? Your special guest star?"...Another church had a Christian star who charged $5,000.00 a night...to come to a church. There's several who get $5,000.00; and so they wanted him, so they sold tickets for their Sunday evening service. You know, there are several ad agencies that I hear from monthly that send out the list of who's available; and the price is anywhere from $500.00 a night to $5,000.00 a night. If you want a famous Christian.
All I can think about is 1 Timothy 5:17, that if you're gonna give a lotta money to somebody, you know who it should be. It said, "The elders who labor...who...who rule well are worthy of double honor. Those especially who labor in the Word and doctrine," see. Who does God exalt? It's different than who we do. One Midwestern Baptist church that I know of has a Christian Hall of Fame; and in their Christian Hall of Fame in the foyer of the church, they have the pictures of the ten current best Christians...That's their superstars. That's true.
Christian magazines feature converted movie stars, singers, athletes, and politicians; and turning them into celebrities who are given pulpits all over the land is just standard fare. One prayer meeting last year was promoted by listing the 48 Christian stars you could pray with...You see, this whole...you see, the sad part of this, people, this whole thing has placed fame in the place of spirituality...People who lead the church are not supposed to be the ones that the most famous. They're the... supposed to be the ones who walk in the Spirit and are given this responsibility of leadership by God.
I see this especially in music. There are more people getting famous in Christian circles through music than in any other way, and the church is spending a fortune to fill the coffers of all these people. From the superstar super saint mentality has come some very tragic results manifested in charismatic circles and beyond. I can tell you five or so that I know of who went right into this thing, and then right out the back door of their faith into disaster...
There's celebrities like this, wind up telling about their experience, their fantastic conversion, or their fantastic baptism, or their vision, and whatever; and they get propagated and shoved and pushed to promote this and promote that; and they're soon speaking and writing books and having interviews and appearing on TV and radio. Hailed as great spiritual authorities; and you know what the Bible says in 1 Timothy? It says, "If somebody is a novice, don't even let him serve tables in the church." That's right. See, we're not doing them any favors. It's all outta whack. Read 1 Timothy 3:6 and 10, and 1 Timothy 5:22. It's all there.
Roger Heidelberg wrote an article in the last issue of Moody Monthly, this month, May. If he hadn't have written it, I would've. It's...it's titled, "Let's Stop Cashing in on Converts." This is what it says. "Suppose Saul of Tarsus had been converted in 1977 on U.S. 60 en route to Denver...Would his conversion experience have been allowed to develop until he became the mightiest exponent of Christian doctrine the church has ever known? Let's see. No sooner would word of such a dramatic newsworthy conversion hit the wires of the press association, and staff men from People magazine, theater and TV news cameramen, feature writers, and radio producers would've descended on Denver in droves. When the scales fell off Brother Saul's eyes, he'd have seen his room jammed with these people. The man from Christian Star magazine contending for an exclusive feature against an associate editor of Time. The program director for the Heavenly Light TV Hour trying to outtalk the agent from Meet the Press. Over in the corner, Ananias serving as Saul's agent, lining up the contracts...Before the first sunset of Saul's new life, he would've been scheduled for appearance on every Christian TV and radio network who'd managed to land him; and in the shortest possible time, he would've found himself booked for months and even years in advance as the headline attraction at Gospel rallies all over Christendom. Evangelistic crusades, youth movements, even Bible conferences. See the banners go. 'Top Rabbi Tells How He Turned to Christ.' 'Hear World Famous Jew Preach Jesus.' 'Saul of Tarsus, Converted Pharisee, Preaching His Famous Sermon from the Sanhedrin to the Savior.'...
"Let our morning paper carry the story that Gloria Goldilocks, top star of stage, screen, and radio has gotten religion, as they put it. Within the week, the same paper will announce her forthcoming appearance on the nationwide Pearly Gates Revival Hour, or her affiliation with the Atomic Age Gospel Team...
"We're no respecter of persons either. Big league ballplayers, dance band leaders, bootleggers, kingpins of crime, any of these will do, just so the name is big enough to draw well; and, of course, so the conversion seems real. Please don't misunderstand. Each time any celebrity from show business, politics, or Murder, Incorporated, sincerely calls on the Lord for salvation, we feel like out shouting the very angels. The problem is our habit of propelling these converted celebrities into the foremost ranks of evangelistic Christianity long, long before they've been shown to be spiritually qualified to be there. Why did our girl, Gloria, get picked for the Pearly Gates Hour? Because they wanted the Spirit-bathed message she was capable of bringing? Or the headline value of Gloria Goldilocks, former star? Exposition of the Scriptures or exploitation of the celebrity?
"Little can be said in defense of those who are exploiting these name converts to serve our own...our own essentially selfish purposes. What of the ones, however, who are being used? What will be the result of all this in their lives? In the frenzy of dashing from one Gospel rally to another, little time is available for allowing their conversion experience to take root and ripen into an enriching, overflowing testimony. Consequently, these converts are likely to do the best they can, pick up some currently popular pious phrases, string them together into a smoothly flowing testimony, mix in a story of my conversion, and all is set for the show. They keep repeating their lines until, in time, all that conversion glow is gone. With nothing new flowing in to replace it, they become powerless play actors saying the right words which land charmingly and quite ineffectively on unconvinced consciences."...
It's a sad thing that we've begun to exalt the wrong people...You know, if you say, "Tonight we're gonna have a Bible study. The pastor will be speaking," nothing happens. "Tonight we're going to have...superstar so and so." Jam the place. See, all the wrong standard. The whole priority is mixed; and, you know, we've even gotten to the place in Christianity today where we authenticate our faith on the basis of the personalities who believe it, rather than Biblical apologetics. Do you know that? We publicly defend Christianity on the basis of the testimony of somebody who believes it...They write the books. They give the testimonies. They tell their experience. They appear on television. When's the last time you saw a television special that said, "And now we're going to have Reverend so and so. He's the pastor of such and such a church, and he is going to show you why Christianity is true from the Word of God." You ever hear that? Never heard that.
"And, now, here is, ahhhhh," and the fanfare, and then the testimony, see. But, you see, I'm not against their testimony. I'm not against the fact that they're converted. I praise God. But the point is, Christianity is not true because they believe it. Christianity is true because the Bible says it, and somebody's gotta teach that. We can't continue to authenticate the truth on the basis of personalities. Have you noticed that the cults have begun to do the same thing? And now they have their superstars defending their view in commercials. You get people on, and they...that's the way they sell coffee. That's the way they sell orange juice. That's the way they sell cars. That's the way they sell everything they sell, and that's the way we are selling Christianity. Celebrities are selling it...
This perpetuates experience-centered Christianity. "I've experienced it. It's really been satisfying. It's great. Why don't you experience it?" And you set up a whole experiential approach to the faith rather than saying, "It is true. Therefore, it is right for you to accept it."...The Apostle Paul went out, and he reasoned with them out of the Scriptures, and he proved to them why Jesus must needs have suffered and...and died; and when Jesus walked, in Luke 24, on the road to Emmaus, He didn't say to them, "Now, I want you men to believe all of this, so I'm gonna give you a few wonderful testimonies of some very famous people who believed it." He began in Moses, in the prophet, and He...prophets, and He taught them the things recorded in the Scripture...
How tragic it is when we let experience be the defense. I said to a publisher, vice president of a pu