Religion Record Reputation But No Regeneration — E.A. Johnston

A Friend With Religion, Record, and Reputation

I had a good friend die recently, and I was troubled by it. I was troubled by the news of his death. But I was more troubled at the nagging question of his death. This man had spent his life as a churchman.

I mean by that, he was dedicated to his church. He was there every time the doors were open. He labored tirelessly in the church, as a leader in the church. You could say he lived for the church, and he had a good reputation in the community as a Christian businessman.

If anyone were to point to someone as an ideal example of a Christian, it would be that man. It was obvious to anyone who knew him that Christianity was a big part of his life. He had a religion, a record, and a reputation.

But I was a little closer to him than many of his friends, and there had been more than one occasion in my personal dealings with him where, in the back of my mind, I always felt a nagging suspicion about him, although he had a religion, a record, and a reputation.

I never saw any evidence of regeneration. He could defend a religious conviction adamantly, like the time he gave a lecture to his Sunday school class not to support Disney Corporation because of their stance on homosexuality.

He said it was wrong for a Christian to even go to Disney World and support that theme park. Well, he made a very convincing case against them. Then one of the members of that Sunday school class went to Disney World anyway with his family, and while he was there, he ran into the very same Sunday school teacher who spoke against Disney, but he was there enjoying himself with his family, even though he had strongly denounced it a month earlier.

And there were times in my personal dealings with him where I saw a man zealous for Christianity, but you couldn't count on him personally when it was a matter of life and death. He'd let you down every time, and he not even treated you the same way you would have treated him had the situation been reversed.

In the 20 years that I knew him, he was never there for me when I really needed him. I saw a man working tirelessly for Jesus, but I never saw Jesus in the man. I never felt the love of Jesus from that man.

And that was the nagging feeling about him always. And now he's dead, and it bothers me. He had religion that took up all his free time. He had a long track record of service within his church and denomination.

He had an outstanding reputation in his community as a Christian businessman. He had a religion, a record, a reputation, but once again, I never saw any evidence he had regeneration. Well, only God knows the true condition of the heart, and it's not for us to pass judgment on another and say who's saved and who is not because we just don't know for sure.

The Wheat and the Tares Until the Day of Judgment

The Bible says the wheat and the tares will dwell together unrevealed until the day of separation. We read in Matthew's Gospel in chapter 13 and verses 24 to 30. Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field, but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way.

But when the blade was sprung and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst thou not sow good seed in the field? From whence then are the tares?

He said unto them, An enemy has done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? But he said, Nay, lest while ye gather up the tares ye root up also the wheat with them.

Let them grow together until the harvest. And in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather up the wheat into my barn.

I will stop there, friends. But I am still troubled about my friend, now that he is dead and gone. Did he really make it to heaven, or is he suffering with the damned in hell? And are there many other religious individuals just like him who live under the banner of Christian, but perish without a saving knowledge of Christ Jesus?

Many Religious Professors Who Do Not Possess Christ

What did my Bible say about this matter? Well, I looked it up. In Matthew's Gospel there is a very disturbing passage found in chapter 7 where Jesus is speaking. Listen to his words, beginning in verse 21.

We read, Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me... Let me pause here, friends, in our text to say, because there is a great emphasis placed on the word here.

Jesus doesn't say a few. He doesn't say one or two. He uses the word many, meaning a lot of people, a vast crowd of people, a multitude of people. Let's get back to verse 22, which clearly states that there are a lot of religious lost people in our churches.

Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name, and in thy name have cast out devils, and in thy name done many wonderful works, meaning they were zealous witnesses for Christ.

They did startling things for Christ. Some were even a marvel. They did many things in the name of Christ and Christianity, and they had a reputation for doing good among men. But listen to what Jesus says to them.

I never knew you. Depart from me, ye that work iniquity. Here in God's word is evidence that there are church members out there who have a religion, a record, and a reputation, but they do not possess Christ through regeneration.

Matthew Henry on Outward Profession and Heart Conversion

I have a Matthew Henry Bible that I really like, and I looked up his comments on this passage, and this is what he had to say. Outward professions of religion, however remarkable, will not bring us to heaven unless there be a corresponding conversion of the heart.

This is his will, that we believe in Christ, that we repent of sin, that we live a holy life, and that we love one another. If we comply not with the will of God, we mock Christ in calling him Lord. A man may be a preacher, may have gifts for the ministry and an external call to it, and perhaps some success in it, and yet be a wicked man.

He may help others to heaven, and yet come short of heaven himself. Grace will bring a man to heaven without work and miracles, but work and miracles will never bring a man to heaven without grace. Well, those are the words of Matthew Henry, the Puritan commentator, and I want you to think about that, and also think about the words of Jesus in our text here, regarding the many who claim Christ, but Christ doesn't claim them.

Easy Believism and the Necessity of Repentance

You know, it breaks my heart, friends, that so many have grown up in a day of easy believism that says you don't need repentance for salvation. It began years ago with Lewis Sperry Shaffer and his systematic theology that he wrote over 80 years ago, where he taught that repentance was not a necessary element to salvation.

The old boy is sweating over it now, but it spurned a generation of preachers who quit preaching the truths of the gospel. They quit preaching about ruin. They quit preaching about redemption. They quit preaching about repentance, and they quit preaching about regeneration.

And the multitudes drank their gospel Kool-Aid and died and went to hell. And consequently, many in our church today have never heard the real gospel before. Some of you here may only have a religion, a record, and a reputation, but you don't have Jesus through the new birth.

Get to Christ, friend. He is salvation. Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by me. Jesus spoke about the many and the few in Matthew. We read his teaching.

The Narrow Gate and the Few Who Find Life

Enter ye in at the straight gate, for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction. And many there be which go in thereof, because straight is the gate and narrow is the way, and few there be that find it.

A Prayer for Genuine Conversion

Oh, friends, I'm going to take some time to pray. I can't leave you without praying for you. Please bear with me, friends. If there's a nagging feeling in you that all is not well with your soul, settle it now.

Settle it now, friend, before it's too late. Let us pray. Oh, great God, how tragic will it be on that day when you judge the living and the dead to learn at that time that a man can spend his or her life as a Christian only to be strangers to you.

Lord, in your mercy, I pray that if there's a person here listening to this message, that you'll speak to them, that they will hear your voice in its power and authority and majesty in the conviction of your spirit, awakening them to their lost religious condition.

Grant them the necessary grace, Lord, of a work of grace upon the heart in true conversion. Let them know the reality of Christ Jesus. Give them such an experience of Jesus that they are transformed from their head to their toes to the inside and the outside, and they're forever changed, that they will know the difference between just being religious and having religious works done in the name of God and the life of God in the soul of man through regeneration by your spirit.

I pray these things in the name of thy son Jesus, who suffered and died on a bloody cross for sin so man could be reconciled back to you, Lord. Your only begotten son, who died and rose again, ascended back to heaven, now sits at your right hand.

He earned that right by way of a bloody cross. He will come again to judge the living and the dead. How tragic, how awful you'll be to hear you say on that day, Lord, depart from me. I never knew you, great God.

Open hearts, I pray, and by your spirit, disturb folks. Reveal your son Jesus to someone here. I pray these things in the strong name of Jesus. Amen.