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‘And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in Me.’
Mat_11:6
I. Reasons for the mistakes.—How is it that there have been, and are now, so many common mistakes about religion? There are two reasons:
(a) Religion is not a set of rules. It has to do with our actions, words, thoughts, motives, and the future, and these are matters which cannot be estimated by the same standards as your work.
(b) Most of us give so little attention to it. Can you say that you give as much thought in any one week to religion as you do to Saturday afternoon amusements; or that you have any such interest in it as you have in party politics? If your daily work received no more thought, it would go ill with you.
II. What are the mistakes?
(a) One mistake is that it is a system of spiritual fire insurance. The Bible says that Jesus came to save from our sins, not in our sins.
(b) Another error is that religion is a matter of mere forms and ceremonies. There are many so-called religious persons whose religion consists of mere forms and ceremonies. I do not believe that is true of the majority of Christian people. But forms and ceremonies have their place, not, indeed, as religion, yet to some extent its outward dress and expression. Religion is, at least in part, a clinging to, a love and devotion to God our Father.
(c) A third mistake about religion is that it is not sufficiently practical. We are charged with making it too much a matter of feeling, or at the best, mere domestic virtues; and that it has been trailed along the ground, like the proverbial red-herring, to draw men off the track of reform and freedom, which can be better achieved by politics than by religion.
III. The answer to these mistakes.—What answer have I to these charges?
(a) You have forgotten the fountain of the Christian religion—the life, words, actions, sufferings, and death of the Lord Jesus Christ.
(b) As to religion not being ‘practical,’ read the Sermon on the Mount. Would not this world be a far happier place than it is now if men would but carry out Christ’s teaching?
(c) The teaching of Jesus Christ is not for this life only; but it is also for the life to come.
(d) The religion of Jesus does certainly inculcate the milder and more domestic virtues. We cannot do without them. Acts of Parliament will not fill your house with grace, peace, and love. No; politics can do a great deal, but religion can do more. Cultivate it thoroughly, and you and your homes will be the better for it.
Canon C. Ll. Ivens.
Illustration‘All the good in the world comes from God, and is God’s doing. If we once let ourselves get into the habit of criticising and fault-finding, there is no saying where it may not lead us. Once fall into the habit of fault-finding, and you will never be able to do anything else than find fault, even though it be with what is good. And if you find fault with what is good, you find fault with the work of God; and are just in the temper of those who were offended, and found fault with the Lord Himself. Therefore it is that whenever a real Christian finds himself slipping into words of fault-finding about others, he stops short and finds fault with himself. All the good in the world is God’s doing, and of it all God says still.’