{"id":3589,"date":"2024-05-08T12:21:16","date_gmt":"2024-05-08T12:21:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/67.223.117.105\/~gracetruthpress\/?p=3589"},"modified":"2024-05-08T12:21:16","modified_gmt":"2024-05-08T12:21:16","slug":"old-time-religion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/graceandtruthpress.com\/index.php\/2024\/05\/08\/old-time-religion\/","title":{"rendered":"Old Time Religion"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Henry Scougal once said,\u00a0\u201cTrue religion is a union of the soul with God, a real participation of the divine nature, the very image of God, drawn upon the soul, or, in the apostle\u2019s phrase, it is Christ formed within us. Briefly, I know not how the nature of religion can be more fully expressed, than by calling it a divine life.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n

Today I wish to assert that it was the \u201cold-time religion\u201d that compelled the saints to continue in the faith given to them by the Lord.<\/p>\n

Alexander Maclaren said,\u00a0\u201cThere are differences plain enough between their (the saints of old) condition and ours<\/i>\u00a0(the saints of today); but it is as true for us as ever it was for them, that our safety is in God, and that, if we want to find shelter from impending dangers, we shall be wise to take ourselves to the altar to worship there rather than to make defense for ourselves.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n

One of the old hymns says,<\/p>\n

\u201cPress on it won\u2019t be very long (not long)
\nUntil we reach that land of song
\nIn heaven some sweet day,
\nI\u2019m going there to stay
\nPress on, it won\u2019t be very long\u201d<\/i><\/div>\n

There is no example in history of a society maintaining a moral life without the aid of religion. Despite all the changes about us, we have not moved beyond \u201cthe faith once delivered unto the saints.\u201d It is just as relevant now as it was then. Sin is still the curse of humanity. Salvation is still its greatest need. And that\u2019s what the \u201cold-time religion\u201d is all about. It centers around Jesus Christ who is \u201cthe same yesterday, today, and forever.\u201d The central glory of the old-time religion is not a great truth nor even a great movement. It is a great person – Jesus Christ himself. Without him, there would be no forgiveness of sin, no deliverance from sin, and no victory over sin. Without him, there would be no Gospel. The world doesn\u2019t need a new religion; it needs a new birth. Only the Christ of the old-time religion can give that.<\/p>\n

Some people may say that using language like \u201creligious worship\u201d and \u201cspiritual service\u201d is antiquated and outdated. Perhaps they are not outdated terms, but ignored and overlooked terms. The old-time religion \u2013the worship of the True and the Living God \u2013 has been cast aside for a new, self-centered worship. Are people really any better, spiritually speaking, today than they were 6000 years ago after the fall? Have we really evolved past our need for salvation?<\/p>\n

God dictates the means for mankind to worship him, not the other way around. As we see in our text today, the people sought to worship God acceptably, with reverence and Godly fear. This is what we find in the words, \u201caccording to the words of David, the king of Israel.\u201d The people were not trying to find a new way to worship God. Rather, they were seeking the old, tried, and true way.<\/p>\n

Jeremiah\u2019s prophecy to this same group of people reads,<\/p>\n

\u201cFor from the least of them even to the greatest of them, everyone is greedy for gain, and from the prophet even to the priest everyone practices lying. They have healed the brokenness of My people superficially, saying, \u2018Peace, peace,\u2019 but there is no peace. Were they ashamed because of the abomination they have done? They were not even ashamed at all; They did not even know how to feel dishonor. Therefore they shall fall among those who fall; At the time that I punish them, they shall be cast down,\u2019 says Yahweh. Thus says Yahweh, \u2018Stand by the ways and see and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is, and walk in it; and you will find rest for your souls.\u2019 But they said, \u2018We will not walk in it\u2019\u201d<\/i>\u00a0(Jer. 6:13-16<\/a>).<\/div>\n

Now, they are recalling the words of the Lord that had been spoken to them many years beforehand. You can believe that, at least for now, they would walk in the old paths.<\/p>\n

Old-time religion is not about a style. Years ago, there arose a conflict between the old and the young church, regarding modern worship and traditional style services. The old folks wanted to keep their style, and the young folks wanted their style. But style, as time has proven, is fleeting and cyclical. What was cool in the 70s became out of date in the 80s and 90s. And guess what? In the 2000s, the 70\u2019s came back again!<\/p>\n

Style is ever-changing. Old-time religion is not about styles. It is about the substance of our worship. In fact, it would be more correct to say that old-time religion is about the person whom we worship. The fact that the Lord established an outward form of worship in the days of Enoch as early as Genesis 4, and continued to to make it even more clear in the days following, should show us that we should not worship a style. Instead, we worship the Savior who has loved us and given himself to be the propitiation for our sins. Christ is the substance of the shadows in the Old Testament. When we read about the altar being rebuilt and sacrifice taking place in Ezra, we are to understand this to point us to the future redeeming work of our savior on the cross at Calvary.<\/p>\n

The people found their identity in their worship. For all of God\u2019s people, true worship must be placed before any other consideration. Men and women of all ranks of society joined in the cause with initial enthusiasm, knowing that it was for this purpose that God had brought them into a relationship with himself. God is seeking worshipers, now just as much as then (John 4:23<\/a>). He seeks worshipers who put the worship of God before everything else, willing to worship in the way God has set forth in his Word.<\/p>\n

This was a big deal. In the book of Ezra, the foundation was laid again. For the first time in seventy years, God\u2019s people were able to have a formal worship service. Both the old and the young together witnessed old-time religion once more. Soli Deo Gloria!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What can someone aspiring to missions be doing now to best prepare for cross-cultural kingdom work someday? This article will be a follow-up to the previous article on “What is a Missionary?” It has three application points for young people to consider before heading to the field. These are directed primarily at young people, but are also for pastors who have aspiring missionaries in their churches.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3600,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[236],"class_list":["post-3589","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-christology","tag-religion"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/graceandtruthpress.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3589","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/graceandtruthpress.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/graceandtruthpress.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/graceandtruthpress.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/graceandtruthpress.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3589"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/graceandtruthpress.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3589\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/graceandtruthpress.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/graceandtruthpress.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3589"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/graceandtruthpress.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3589"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/graceandtruthpress.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3589"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}