Preface
See HERE for Japanese translation. 日本語訳はこちらをクリック
Between November 2019 and November 2020, I was invited by the elder of my church, Covenant Grace Church Penang (CGC) on the island of Penang in Malaysia, to deliver a series of messages during the Lord’s Day worship service.
As this was my first such experience, he kindly lent me a copy of a book called Practical Religion published in 1878 by the British preacher J.C. Ryle (1816-1900) to assist in my preparations. After prayer I decided to base my messages on the first message contained in Ryle’s book, which is titled Self-Inquiry.
I relocated from Penang back to Yokohama, Japan in December 2020, less than one month after delivering the sixth and final message of this series. A year later, while sorting through my notes from more than five years at CGC, a thought came to my mind: Why not share these messages with the whole world on my blog? Why keep it hidden on my cloud storage?
So, with consent from the elders of CGC, here is the text from first message of the series. I will also provide translations in Japanese. I have made some further edits for clarity.
Please note the following:
- All Scripture text is taken from the New King James Version, which is one of two versions used in CGC (the other being good old King James).
- We did not record the audio from this service. I thought about recording “after the fact”, but decided against it because it would not do justice to the fact that this is a message delivered as part of a public worship service. My apologies to those of you who were looking forward to hearing me speak.
May the Lord use these messages to encourage and strengthen your heart and soul.
CGC Lord’s Day Service on November 24, 2019
Scripture Text for the Message: Psalm 139, Acts 15:22-41
Introduction
What I am about to share with you is based on a piece written by a man named J.C. Ryle who was a prominent Anglican preacher in 19th Century Great Britain. His original writing is directed toward the British believers of that particular era. Therefore, I have done some re-wording on the original message. I hope that this will help us receive and heed this important message as something highly relevant to us living in 21st Century Asia.
I just read from the Book of Acts Chapter 15. This text contains a proposal which the Apostle Paul made to Barnabas after their first missionary journey. He proposed to revisit the Churches which God used them to found, and to see how the believers there were doing. Were the church members continuing steadfastly in the faith? Were they growing in grace? Were they moving forward in the faith, or standing still? Were they thriving in the faith, or backsliding?
This proposal to revisit the churches was a wise and useful one. Let us pay close attention to it, and apply it to ourselves as we live our daily lives. Let us search our ways, and find out how matters stand between ourselves and God. Let us “see how we are doing.”
Before celebrating each Lord’s Supper we read the Form of Administration in the back pages of the Psalter book, which reminds us to truly examine ourselves. Indeed, we need to examine ourselves day by day, because God knows everything about us as I just read in the 139th Psalm.
We should start by recognizing that we live in an era of unprecedented spiritual privilege. Since missionaries from the UK and elsewhere came to this part of the world centuries ago, the Gospel has been preached in almost every corner of Asia. And today, God has blessed us with a vast range of Bible study programs, devotionals, doctrinal literature, testimonies, tracts, and other Gospel resources from all over the world, made available through that wonderful technology called the Internet. I am sure that more than a few of us sitting here today have benefited from the material made available on the Web from organizations such as Ligonier Ministries, The Gospel Coalition, Canada Reformed Theological Seminary, and Focus on the Family, just to name a few – often without paying a single ringgit.
But we must ask ourselves: Are we any better thanks to all these resources? How are we doing with our souls?
We need to ask these questions of ourselves because we not only live in an era of unprecedented spiritual privilege, but we also live in an era of unprecedented spiritual danger. The world today is full of mere outward profession of religion by those calling themselves Christians. Many people who profess to be Christians are people who have never been truly converted, whose hearts have never been transformed, who do not attend church regularly, who never confess Christ in their daily lives.
The parable of the sower (Matthew 13, Luke 8) is being played out in real life day in, day out. The seed of the Word of God is falling by the wayside, withering away on stony ground, and being choked by thorns all over the place.
It appears that the life of many people today who profess to be religious is nothing better than an endless series of chasing after new things. They are always craving fresh excitement; and they seem to care little about what it really means to follow Jesus.
When they listen to preaching, they only want to hear what is clever, have their ears tickled, and sit in a crowd. I myself have been to many churches where the act of public worship on the Lord’s Day feels more like a concert, where the congregational singing of hymns and songs of praise is replaced by wannabe celebrity singers on stage belting out tunes which are difficult to follow for those not musically inclined.
Worst of all, there are countless unestablished believers who are so infected with the same love of excitement, that they actually consider it a duty to always go after it. Often without knowing, they take up a kind of hysterical, sensational, sentimental Christianity. They no longer appreciate what is time-tested and tried-and-true (some of you might prefer the expression “old paths”), such as the creeds, catechisms, and confessions given to us through the centuries, including the Heidelberg Catechism that we just read from. Like the people of ancient Athens, they are always running after something new.
It is difficult to find a calm-minded young believer, who is not stuck up, not self-confident, not self-conceited – someone who is content with a daily steady effort to grow up into Christ’s likeness, who is more eager to learn than to teach, who is committed to doing Christ’s work quietly and unostentatiously, in his or her everyday life.
Too many people show how little root they have, how little knowledge they have of their hearts and souls — by their noise, their forwardness, their readiness to contradict and set down believers who have traveled before them, and their arrogant confidence in their own imagined soundness and wisdom. They are so eager to challenge what they consider outdated ideas, but they are resistant to reproof, correction, and instruction in righteousness which Scripture is given to us for by the inspiration of God (2 Timothy 3:16). It would be a miracle if they do not end up being “tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine” (Ephesians 4:14) and joining some petty, narrow-minded, hypercritical sect, or embracing some senseless, unreasoning crotchety heresy.
Surely, in times like these there is great need for self-examination. When we take a serious look at the situation around us, we cannot avoid the question, “How are we doing with our souls?”
In tackling this question, it will be useful for us to break it down into multiple questions. J.C. Ryle broke it down into 10 questions, and today I would like for us to consider the first three. Let us all engage in calm, searching self-examination for a short while. I am speaking as a fellow sinner who needs self-examination as least as much as you do. Please bear with me if I say things which might sound harsh and severe. Believe me — he who tells you the most truth is your best friend.
Question 1
The first question we want to consider is Do We Ever Think about Our Souls at All?
I fear that the majority of people here in Penang – and, yes, in Japan where I come from – cannot answer that question in a satisfactory way. We might be acutely aware of the restrictions placed by the Government of Malaysia on religions other than Islam, but I suspect that so many people never give the subject of their own souls any place in their thoughts.
From the First of January to the Thirty-First of December, we are absorbed in the pursuit of business, pleasure, social status, and money. Not to mention the never-ending pursuit of the best place to eat char kway teow, roti canai, ramen, and nasi lemak. Or the never-ending quest for that powerful automobile that will outrun any other car on the Second Penang Bridge.
When we graduate from school and join the workforce, we are obsessed about getting into the elite jobs. As we advance in our careers, we are obsessed not only about what percentage pay raise we get, but even more paranoid about how much of a raise our colleague is getting who sits in the next cubicle. Whenever we have a spare moment, we open our Facebook apps on our mobile phones and devour an endless stream of articles on how to get ahead and how to build our financial portfolio.
But we almost never stop to think quietly and seriously about the hard, cold reality that every single one of us must die one day – and we do not know when that day will come. We do all we can to avoid thoughts, much less conversations, about things like death, judgment, eternity, Heaven and Hell, and the world to come.
The only times when such people think about matters of the soul are when they are struck momentarily by sickness, death in their families, or an accident. Then they get desperate and cling momentarily to whatever “god” they can find (that’s “god” with a small G). Without such interruptions, they ignore religion altogether, and continue to “do it my way”, as Frank Sinatra would say.
Then one day, when the doctor tells them that terminal cancer is eating away at their very life, they are terrified because they have no place to run, because whatever they rely on for their so-called peace of mind is proven to be a fraud. Is this the kind of life we really want to live?
And yet, in Penang, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Shanghai, Tokyo, and all over Asia, you see such people by the millions — people who think about everything under the sun, except the one most important thing: the salvation of their souls.
Scripture is full of examples of people living in this way. Let’s turn to some of them.
Here are some of the opening words of the Book of Isaiah:
“Hear, O heavens, and give year, O earth! For the LORD has spoken: ‘I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against Me; the ox knows its owner and the donkey its master’s crib; but Israel does not know, My people do not consider.” (Isaiah 1:2-3)
And Moses, in one of his final messages before dying, spoke in this manner regarding the people of Israel:
“For they are a nation void of counsel, nor is there any understanding in them. Oh, that they were wise, that they understood this, that they would consider their latter end!” (Deuteronomy 32:28-29)
And finally, this is what Solomon wrote about the careless manner in which the people of Israel approached the House of God:
“Walk prudently when you go to the house of God; and draw near to hear rather than to give the sacrifice of fools, for they do not know that they do evil.” (Ecclesiastes 5:1)
Now, let us turn our Bibles to Luke 12:19-20. Here you will see where we will end up if we neglect our souls and ignore God in our lives.
So many people are in effect saying to their souls, “You have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.”
And this is what God says to such people: “Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?”
Brothers, sisters, and friends, are we really sure that we do not fall into this dreadful category?
No one, I repeat no one, will live forever. Each and every one of us must die one day and appear before the courtroom of God, and be put on trial. The fool who does not care about the soul will have his or her full catalogue of sins committed over a lifetime read out by the prosecutor at this ultimate tribunal, with no lawyer defending him, and will be sentenced to eternal suffering in Hell where there is no such thing as a Savior. Is that where we want to be?
Question 2
The second question we want to consider is, Do We Ever Do Anything about Our Souls?
Many of us think occasionally about religion, about God — but never get beyond thinking.
After we hear a stirring sermon — or after a funeral — or under the pressure of illness — or on Sunday evening — or when things are going on badly in our families — or when we meet some bright, shining example of a Christian — or when we are enthralled by some powerful religious book or tract — we will, at that time, think a little, shed a few tears, and even talk a little about religion in a vague way.
But we stop short, as if thinking and talking were enough to save us. We are always meaning, and intending, and purposing, and resolving, and wishing to do this and that for God’s glory. We say that we “know” what is right, and “hope” to be found right in the end — but we never take any concrete action based on that knowledge of what is right.
There is no actual separation from our old way of life, our old life as slaves to sin. We do not really take up the cross and follow Christ — there is no positive doing in our so-called Christian life. Our life is like the son in the parable at Matthew 21:30. The father says, “Son, go, work today in my vineyard” and the son answers, ‘I go, sir,’ but he did not go”.
In an era like this, when hearing and thinking without doing is so common, it is not surprising that many non-believers accuse Christians of being hypocrites. That is why we have an absolute need of self-examination. That is why we need to ask ourselves the question — “How are we doing with our souls?”
Question 3
Now, for the third question: Are We Trying to Satisfy Our Consciences with a Mere “Formal” Religion?
Many of us love to talk about the outward part of Christianity, while the inward and spiritual part is totally neglected. Such people are careful to attend all the services of their place of worship, and regular in using all its forms and ordinances. They are never absent from Communion when the Lord’s Supper is administered. They are often keen partisans of their own Church, or sect, or congregation, and always ready to engage in spirited debate with anyone who does not agree with them.
And I do not say that this is all completely bad. It is important for us to be diligent in hearing the preaching of God’s Word. It is important for us to diligently participate in the life of the church. It is important for us to be diligent in defending proper Biblical teaching and doctrine.
Yet there are times when there is no heart in our practice of religion.
We need to ask ourselves whether our affections are set on things below, and not on things above. We need to ask ourselves whether we are trying to make up for the lack of inward Christianity — by an excessive quantity of outward form. Let’s be honest – it is far easier to follow a certain outward form or appearance than to truly put our heart into following our Lord Jesus.
And this formal religion does not do us any good. We end up not being satisfied in our souls. When we begin at the wrong end, by making the outward things first, we end up knowing nothing about inward joy and peace. We pass our days in a constant struggle, secretly conscious that there is something wrong, and yet not knowing why.
If you love life, do not be content with the husk, and shell, and external scaffolding of religion. If you will turn with me to Matthew 15:7-9, we will find how the Lord Jesus viewed such people:
“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. And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.”
We need something more than going diligently to church, and receiving the Lord’s Supper if our souls are to be taken to Heaven. Means of grace, and forms of religion, are useful in their way, and God seldom does anything for His church without them. But if we become obsessed over the outward form while our hearts are pointed in a totally different direction, we are like a ship crashing into the lighthouse which is there to show our way into the harbor. That is why we must ask ourselves, “How are we doing with our souls?”
You may be feeling troubled, even discouraged, hearing these words. If that is the case, may I remind you that you are not alone. I have been guilty of all these things and more in my 26 years as a believer – and, even worse, did not even think about these things for a long time. These are biting words for me as well.
It is for you and me that our Lord Jesus cried out on the Cross as he was about to expire: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:34) Our souls were saved from Hell by such a precious sacrifice.
My friends, if you do not know Christ or have not confessed in Christ as your one and only Savior, do not delay any longer. You do not know when you will be brought before the ultimate courtroom of God. Be convicted of your sins, repent, received Jesus as your Savior, and live as children of God.
So let us continue to ask ourselves, and invite God into our hearts and minds to ask us, “How are you doing with your soul?”
Heavenly Father, forgive us for our laziness in examining ourselves, for our lukewarm attitude toward death and the day of reckoning when our souls and sins are laid out before your tribunal. Awaken us, pour into our hearts and minds a sense of urgency for the well-being of our souls. May we never treat lightly the ultimate price that Your Beloved Son paid for the salvation of our souls. In Christ’s name, Amen.