A Different Tune

You may have never been a drunkard or a dope fiend. A profane word may have never dropped from your mouth.  You may have been upright in your business, and in all intents and purposes you think yourself to be a reputable and respectable man in your community, worthy of divine regard. But you must be brought down spiritually by the Holy Ghost from a prince to a penniless beggar.  You must understand the hollowness of an outward morality, and the emptiness of superficial religion which does not proceed from a renewed heart.

The sins which you have committed against such a good God are exceeding sinful, and the religious professions you have made before man are nothing better than mere pretenses, for your heart does not go with them.  Your religiousness is nothing but a mockery of God and an insult to the Son of God.  Have you been a professor of religion for many years and been honored in your church or ministry?  Without Christ, you are still lost in your sins and your in religion.  The very worst place to be lost is in religion, for you are then twice dead, and twofold more the child of hell.

Have you maintained an upright character before man?  Have you paid your bills, taken care of your family, and given money and time to some worthwhile charity? Have you had moral courage and resolution enough to make yourself all you ought to be?  Have you ever done anything good that you can boast about?  Is there some good thing that you've done that you could speak of? Have you gotten yourself right with God?  Do you deserve a pat on the back if you make it to Heaven?  When you get to Heaven, will you throw your hat up in the air and shout, "Glory be to myself, I made it!" Can you say, like the Pharisee of old, "God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are"? Have you been very good and zealous in your religious convictions, very consistent and persevering?  Do you feel you deserve a good deal of esteem and honor in your religious circles as an acknowledgment of your distinguished services?

All this religious nonsense may be acceptable with man, but it will never be accepted by God Almighty in Heaven.  God is no respecter of persons; the only Person that God ever will regard is His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.  There is no one in glory land that ever says - "I have done well; I deserve credit and honor; I have earned my right to be here." It is the quite the reverse in New Jerusalem,  you see. There is a different tune, a new song, played up there in Emmanuel's Land, "Not unto us, O LORD, Not unto us, but unto Thy name we give glory, for Thy Mercy, and for Thy truth's sake!  Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and blessing!" Have you learned that tune?  Is that your spirit every day?