After nations have fallen to ruin, after great societies have crumbled and become buried deep beneath the sands of time, archaeologists dig into the ruins to discover what past society was like, what man was like during that time. No matter what ancient ruins are probed, what cities or villages are unearthed, one fact always appears: man is a religious being.

Man will acknowledge and pay homage to a deity. Whether it be an Inca temple where maidens were offered as human sacrifices; the Easter Island long-faced stone statues or the Egyptian tombs; the barbaric gods of Attila the Hun or the Great Spirit of the American Indian, all evidence shows that man is innately religious.

Perhaps you will think that this is a very strange thing for a preacher to say. But, personally, I think that much of the tragedy in the world today has been caused by man's religious nature. I use that word "religious" in the context that we most often find it; that is, the belief in the existence of a god and the performing of certain deeds to please that god.

There is another definition of religion which I will speak about later, but first I want to show you that this yearning for religion that beats in a man's heart has caused him much trouble through the years. I want to talk to you about the religious nature of man.

I wonder how many people were killed in the Crusades in the name of religion? how many were tortured? how many homes were shattered? how much grief and mourning came because of religion? I wonder how many young native children have lost their lives because of their religious tribal rites which demanded deep marks cut into their flesh? Oh, how much painful infection and disease has been caused by this! How many mothers have thrown their beloved babies into the waters of a supposedly holy river to appease the wrath of some god? How many children have died of malnutrition because their religious tradition forbade the eating of certain nourishing foods? The grain that could fill their bellies is fed to sacred cows. It is religion that forbids them eating those cows and growing into health. How many lives have been ruined because of some religious madness that makes men, good potential men, who could become educated and become benefactors to mankind, shave their heads and spend the rest of their lives carrying a begging bowl, supposedly emulating Buddha? How much potential has been cast away in other religions including Christianity?

How many have been deceived by their own religious feelings into thinking that God wants them to live pallid, barren lives and bleak days, not developing their talents and not becoming successful because they think this is pride; not daring to enjoy a moment without self- condemnation; not an hour without soul- searching and self-examination; questioning every motive, fighting every normal feeling, repressing every human-like thought until an unbelievable structure of rationales and self- deceiving mechanisms has been built up in their minds and hearts all because of religion.

I want to show you that man's wish to express his desire and his tendency to follow his religious feelings can make him very, very blind spiritually.

Come with me for a little while into the Bible. I want you to see how man's religious nature distorts truth. I want to prove to you that human religious tendencies make a terribly poor compass for a man who wants to find God. This is an important lesson because, unfortunately, many people think that their religious instincts are an unerring guide to God and righteousness, but the Bible shows otherwise.

If you are a Bible student, or at least somewhat familiar with Scripture, you will know about the time the Israelites sinned, and judgment was sent upon them in the form of serpents. The people cried out to Moses to help them. Moses prayed and God told him to make a serpent of brass and those that looked upon that serpent would live. The serpent represented the future Savior, Jesus, who said Himself, "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up" (John 3:14). This spoke of Christ becoming sin that we might be made righteous. The Old Testament spoke the truth about the upward look of faith, look up and live. It spoke of God's power to deliver. But what did the people do with this brazen serpent? Second Kings 18:4 says that they made a god out of it. They burned incense to it. They even gave it a name, Nehushtan. Their religious instincts led them to replace reality with a relic.

When David stood in the name of God and brought down the giant with a stone, he cut the giant's head off with his own sword, (the giant's sword). What a spiritual lesson! The sword that the enemy raises toward a child of God will turn into that enemies own destruction. As God said, "No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper" (Isaiah 54:17). The Cross was used by Satan to kill Jesus but it became the most powerful weapon against Satan. Now go back for a moment to the sword of Goliath. What did they do with it? They made it a religious relic; they wrapped it up in a linen religious garment. David wanted to use the sword again and he found it all wrapped up in the trappings of religion. We have taken the Cross and wrapped it in the trappings of religion. We have taken the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God and we have wrapped it up in the trappings of religion. The sword of the Spirit which can cut the head off our fears, sever us from our doubts, chop away at our problems. Man's religious nature has transformed God's Word into complicated traditions and theology.

When Jesus came to the Israelites, He said that they had made the Word of God of no effect because of their tradition (Matthew 15:6). The Cross is God's gift to man. It is the way to eternal life; the way to full pardon for every sin; the way to a new life and walk with God. But we have made it a gleaming symbol, a flowery, ornate work of art, gracing our altars with its presence. Our religious instincts have driven us to bend before it, to honor it. The cross was an instrument of execution; it was a place of pain and shame; it was bloody. Why did He, He who was perfect, spotless, sinless have to die on the cross? We forget! The reason has become all but lost in the exercises of religion.

When Jesus was transfigured before three of his disciples, when Moses and Elijah appeared, Peter spoke right out of the heart of his religious nature. He said, "Let us make here three tabernacles" (Matthew 17:2). This is the natural way to honor God. We want to build something; we want to make a marble cathedral; we want to make an ornate altar; we want to create something to bring glory to God; we want to express our religion.

Jesus came and He taught us how to really express our religion in the practical way, the way that brings forth real spiritual truth, the truth that brings glory to God, in two words . . . love and belief. Love God with all your heart and love your neighbor as yourself; do unto others as you would have them do unto you; forgive men their trespasses. The Bible says, "Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world" (James 1:27). In other words, express religion by kindness, by keeping yourself unspotted from sin, by not judging others for their sins but looking well to yourself.

Real religious expression is found in the 58th chapter of Isaiah: Feed the hungry, house the poor, clothe the naked, undo the heavy burdens, let the oppressed go free. "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto Me" (Matthew 25:40).

Love not relics nor dogmas but believe that Jesus Christ died for your sins; believe that He has created a place in heaven for you; believe that on the other side of this turmoil, this confusion, this pain and bewilderment, is an eternity of glory and everlasting life. Believe in the face of adversity and trial; believe when it looks like you are going to be swallowed up by a terrible circumstance; believe when a cloud hangs over your life; believe when every man around you is wagging his head and scoffing. Believe! This is the expression of true religion that pleases God. The Bible says, ". . . building up yourselves on your most holy faith" (Jude 20).

If your religious instincts make you want to build something for God, then build something out of your life. This is what Christ taught. Build something decent, clean, productive. Make the most of what God has given you, and the only way a man can do this is to offer himself completely to God . . . "your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit" (1 Corinthians 6:19). The Bible says, "Present your bodies a living sacrifice" (Romans 12:1). Give Him your heart, your mind, your life. Dedicate your temple, your body, to the Lord Jesus Christ. Ask Him to come and possess it. This is the expression of love. This is the expression of faith.

Religion is not what you can do for God but what He does in you and with you. Human religious instincts will lead you into many meaningless superstitions or empty and useless expressions of religion. God's Spirit within you will enable you to express His nature, His love, His fruit, and then you will build to His glory. Your words will build faith in the hearts of men. Your deeds will comfort and bring hope to men. Your faith during trial and adversity will be an example. Your life will say to men, "There is a way, there is meaning and purpose, there is hope." Your life will say to men, "Trust in Jesus, believe in Jesus, put your hope in Jesus." And in this way you will express, truly express, religion.