John 6:26 Jesus answered them and said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled.
Philippians 2:19 But I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you shortly, so that I also may be encouraged when I learn of your condition. 20 For I have no one else of kindred spirit who will genuinely be concerned for your welfare. 21 For they all seek after their own interests, not those of Christ Jesus.
John 7:7 “The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me because I testify of it, that its deeds are evil.
John 15:24 “If I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they would not have sin; but now they have both seen and hated Me and My Father as well.
Romans 5:10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.
And when, in addition to these measures, the general strain of what is said to sinners is adapted to work upon their selfish feelings and animal passions, as most of what I have heard has been, and some of it extremely well adapted to work up those feelings to a high pitch, it would be strange if some affections were not excited which they might readily mistake for true religion. When God is represented as desiring their salvation, without the least qualification, and that his desire for it is infinitely strong, what impenitent sinner, that has the least seriousness of mind, is not prepared to be pleased? If “sinners love those that love them,” as our Lord assures us, they can love such a being as God is represented to be, without any change of heart. A God of all mercy, is just such a God as sinners desire. Will it be said that his justice is also brought into view, and that the terrors of hell are exhibited? True; but in what light are they exhibited? Is it not commonly in a light to which the selfish heart will as readily accord? WILLIAM R. WEEKS.
The selfish heart is perhaps the most destructive force in the universe. It destroys souls and the selfish heart destroys all other things in some way, or at least attempts to destroy all other things. The devil has a selfish heart and all of his children have selfish hearts as they are like their father. The devil, as the original selfish heart, is by nature a liar and the father of all lies. As such, the devil is opposed to Jesus Christ and the truth about Truth. The devil does not care if people are religious, even very, very religious. He did not care about how religious the Pharisees were as long as they lied about the truth of God and opposed the truth of God.
Unregenerate sinners are at war with God even when they deny that God exists, but what they don’t realize is that their very attempts to be atheists are in fact acts of enmity and war against the God they so strongly deny. In the quote from William Weeks above we can see the enmity of the human heart against the true God. The human hearts is pleased with a god that fits his or her own desires and easily accepts that as true. As Romans 1 clearly sets out, the human heart hates God and will not have that God in the understanding. The human heart loves self and is full of pride and as such it is lifted up against the true God and true Christianity. The devil does not care how religious people are, just as long as they are not true Christians. He opposes the Truth, not lies about the truth. He opposes true Christianity, not the false ministers and people who have the externals of Christianity.
Why does a person lie? It is in order to protect something of self or something self has. A lie is really a form of self-protection of a selfish heart or perhaps a way to obtain something. How can one “build” a really big congregation? By lying about the true God and setting forth a god that is pleasing to the fallen heart. The fallen heart will be religious to varying degrees but it will not submit to the true God apart from the grace of God changing that heart.
The ninth commandment sets out that God never lies and that all lying hearts are opposed to Him. The ninth commandment stands opposed to all selfish hearts and the battle that selfish hearts have against God and His truth. How those selfish hearts will fill church buildings and then bigger buildings to make room for more selfish hearts that the lies of the minister about God has attracted. As long as ministers (in name) will set forth a god that leaves man in control, men will come to the buildings built to house people who love a false god. Some men will become very, very religious and they will read massive amounts of books in order to support their own selfish heart’s claim to be a true person of religion. These people will join churches and become leaders of the externals of Christianity and all the while they are lying about the true God and are joining their father the devil in his opposition to Truth.
Selfish “Christianity” is the majority report on the scene today. We have mega churches that set out to fill the buildings with people and do so with lies about God. We have liberal “churches” (an oxymoron) that are known for their concern for humanity, but it is not a true spiritual concern. It is man-centered and as such is a lie about the true god. We have conservative churches that have the Pharisees for their fathers. In other words, as long as a “church” is guided and driven by selfish hearts it will never truly be Christian. All people are born with selfish hearts and unless God grants them His sovereign work of regeneration those people will live selfish lives that are opposed to the truth of God and that means they will live a life of lies about God.
The Pharisees were the most religious people of their day and they opposed the truth of God with great vigor, yet they did so with selfish hearts that deceived them about their conservative brand of religion. Human beings were created in the image of God and they will always either be reflections of the true God or they will be fallen reflections who oppose the true God. They have the truth of God in their inward persons, but it is that knowledge that they will not have and will to varying degrees oppose Him and fight Him in that. Thus, the selfish heart will always lie about God because it opposes the true God and fights Him and the knowledge of Him that it has in the inward man. This is the root problem of all false religion, and that can include conservative Christians. Being conservative and orthodox is not a way away from a selfish heart as the selfish heart will use anything to oppose to deepest truths about God. The selfish heart is a lie about God and will always oppose God in some way even when it is but a whisker’s distance from the truth.
God Loves... Himself 
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