In the last post the attempt was made to show that much religious activity can be nothing but hating God. The text used was Isaiah 1:10-15. This text must not be dismissed because it is an Old Testament text dealing with many laws that have been fulfilled by Christ. All of those laws pointed to Christ and deal with the hearts of sinful human beings as well. When we look at the nature of true religion or Christianity, we will see that what was lacking then is also lacking now. The Greatest Commandment is to love God with all of our being. I Corinthians 13 sets out how there is nothing we can do to please God if we do not have love. I might add that this must be true love as well. “If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing” (I Corinthians 13:1-3).
Isaiah 1:10 – Hear the word of the LORD, You rulers of Sodom; Give ear to the instruction of our God, You people of Gomorrah. 11 “What are your multiplied sacrifices to Me?” Says the LORD. “I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams And the fat of fed cattle; And I take no pleasure in the blood of bulls, lambs or goats. 12 “When you come to appear before Me, Who requires of you this trampling of My courts? 13 “Bring your worthless offerings no longer, Incense is an abomination to Me. New moon and sabbath, the calling of assemblies– I cannot endure iniquity and the solemn assembly. 14 “I hate your new moon festivals and your appointed feasts, They have become a burden to Me; I am weary of bearing them. 15 “So when you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide My eyes from you; Yes, even though you multiply prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are covered with blood.
When we see this passage and compare it with the Greatest Commandment and I Corinthians 13, we see how God would be so angry at the wicked religions acts (though commanded) of the Jews. Later in Isaiah the commanded actions that were carried out were compared to various hideous sins: “But he who kills an ox is like one who slays a man; He who sacrifices a lamb is like the one who breaks a dog’s neck; He who offers a grain offering is like one who offers swine’s blood; He who burns incense is like the one who blesses an idol. As they have chosen their own ways, and their soul delights in their abominations” (Isaiah 66:3). The Jews trusted in their religious actions rather than God Himself. They trusted in the performance of the action rather than looking to see if their hearts loved God. The Greatest Commandment was true in the Old Testament as well. Their special religious actions could not be endured by God. Their prayers were not listened to and God hid His eyes from them. Yet they continued on with their religious actions thinking that God was pleased.
The religious actions of the Jewish people were actually used to harden their hearts. They lived as they wanted to live and gave God what they thought He wanted. They treated Him as if He were nothing more than the gods of the heathens who needed to be appeased in order to get something good or perhaps to be protected. They lived in love for themselves and instead of loving God; they actually hated Him in carrying out His external commands. But let us not think that we are any different. The Greatest Commandment and I Corinthians 13 still stand in our day. If we are going to worship God as He commands, it must be done in truth and from the spirit. There is no worship of God apart from that which is done in spirit and in truth (John 4:24). There can be a lot of high octane music that get people fired up and their feelings flowing at high levels of energy, but the priests of Baal had their feelings at a high level too. There can be a lot of what people call sacrifice in terms of time and money, but the Israelites did that too. There can be a vast amount of time devoted to prayer, but the Pharisees did that. What of those who have hardly any prayer at all? There can be vast amount of time and money given to build buildings, but many heretics throughout history have done that. There can be long sermons given, but heretics and false religions do that.
There is nothing that we can do in our day apart from love for God that is anything but hatred of God. If even our very best religious actions are as filthy rags before Him, then we can claim nothing for them. We either love God or we hate Him. Imagine how awful it would be to lift up our eyes in hell and discover that all of our preaching, our prayers, our Bible study, and all that we have done in the name of Christ was actually only lawless deeds done out of love for self rather than love for God. Imagine the truth of what God thinks of us if we do not love Him now. Our prayers would be an abomination to Him and our worship would really be action sacrificed to idols because it is not out of love for Him. I fear for many today it is no longer “would be,” but in fact is. We must seek Him.
God Loves... Himself 
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