Bona Fide
A study of James
Part 11
“Stuff that works”
I am often told by people who don’t know me or how I work very well
“ You need a new truck, when they see my old Ford”
Or you need a new trailer when they see me rocking it back and forth in order to secure the cross latch
Sometimes well meaning folks will say
Randy- Dad- Preacher
You need a new hat
Or a new pair of boots when they see the well broke in ones I often wear
Or they may say
You need a new this or that
My reply is
Why?
This one works just fine
-Pause—
Listen
I don’t think I am all that different from many of you
I like things that work
An old blue shirt
A beat up old truck
A hat that is almost worn out
But is comfortable and provides the shade and rain protection it is designed to provide
Having things that don’t work don’t please me
You know a tool that won’t do what it is supposed to do is worthless in my opinion
And things that are shiny and new are over rated
And are not high on my priority list
Things must work are
Things that work accomplish their purpose
As we continue our study of James this morning
As we keep connecting the dots that James draws for us
That
Lead us into a genuine
Bona Fide
Life changing relationship with Jesus Christ
That
Help us develop our faith
Grow our faith
Show and share our faith
We come to a place where James shows us things that work
Like an old hat
Or a well worn pair of boots
He desires for us to get comfortable with Jesus
To get comfortable with our relationship with him
He encourages us to get comfortable with things that work
And
James encourages us to use things that work in order to
Grow
Mature
And expand our faith
----Pause---
If you have ever been involved in any type of livestock judging
You will understand the term “characteristics of the breed”
When a judge looks at a cow or horse- lamb, goat or even a rabbit
He will often use the term characteristic of the breed when he is giving his reasons for why he selected one animal over another
In real common terms
What that means is
The animal in question
Has the desired characteristics that identify the breed they belong to
Think of a Brahman cow in a Herford class
She can be a great cow
But she is not representative of the breed she has different characteristics
----Pause---
We have been learning about Bona Fideness
Sanctification if we want to use a big theological word
In simple terms
Means
Becoming more like Christ
In our actions
Our words
Our prayer
Our faith
And more importantly in our love
And listen
This Bona Fideness
Results in blessings for us personally
It helps lead others along the right trail
But
It also pleases God
And this is where I want to go this morning
Characteristics of the breed that please God
What breed you may ask?
The Bona Fide
Believer
The believer who desires to please God
In deed
In action
In word
In faith
In prayer
And in love
Please open your bible to James chapter 4
James 4:7-10
In this passage James shows us 6 characteristics that please God
In our walk
In our lives
And in our Prayers
James 4:7-10
“7 So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Come close to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world. 9 Let there be tears for what you have done. Let there be sorrow and deep grief. Let there be sadness instead of laughter, and gloom instead of joy. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up in honor.”
If you are perceptive and have been reading and studying James
You should notice I skipped ahead slightly from our teaching on wisdom from 2 weeks ago
The verses I skipped are important
But I believe we have covered the material very well earlier in the sermon series
James starts out with the topic of fighting
Quarrelling and the causes of those things
And we have covered the root of sin in our lives
And seen that many times it is caused by pride
And our friendship with the world
Meaning we seek the things of man over the things of God
Pride causes arrogance
Pride causes conflict
Pride causes us to be unwilling to bend
Pride causes an unwilling to see others views, ideas as important
Pride can and will cause a separation between us and God
As we look to ourselves to fix our problems instead of HIM
So in the characteristics list we are going to study
When we apply them to our lives
We will see that the things addressed in
Verses 1-6 should begin to take a back seat to the things that please God
So First in James list is just the opposite of Pride
Verse 7a
“So humble yourselves before God”
Humility is the first characteristic and one of the things that work
Humility
---Means we trust in his power not our power----
Lack of humility
Leads to arrogance
Self suffiencity
Selfish ambition
Listen
Humility is an important key to pleasing God
But it is also a very important key to learning how to become more like Christ
When we trust in God for everything
We are becoming more like Jesus
Remember how Christ cried out in the garden
--- Not my will – but yours Father---
Humbling ourselves to God
Means giving him the reins in cowboy terms
Understanding that every good and perfect gift comes from him
Humbling ourselves
Means we are
Willingly
Purposefully
Trustingly
Allowing God to lead our lives
And this pleases him
Verse 7b
“Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”
Resistance in the 2nd characteristic we see in this passage of James and another of the things that work that James teaches
Resist the Devil
Guys let’s get real this morning
Old Slick is on a mission
To steal kill and destroy
He wants to use
Gossip to cause dissention
He wants to use conflict to cause destruction
He wants to steal your joy
He wants to kill your faith and
He wants to destroy your witness and effectiveness
I have told you before
Old Slick in real simple terms only wants two things
If you are a believer he wants to STOP you from leading others to Jesus
And if you are not
He wants to KEEP you from becoming a believer in Jesus
Either way he wins
When he discourages you
Distracts you
Deceives you
And when we let him do it
He gets what he wants
Saved people who are playing on his team
And lost people who can’t see the light for the darkness
James says we have to resist the Devil and if we do he will flat R -U –N- N- O –F-T
He can’t stick around when we resist him in God’s power
He has got to go
So how do we do that?
We must recognize his tactics
Avoid the things that tempt us
And focus on God and his word
Old Slick uses the desires in our hearts to lure us away
He knows where your weaknesses are
We must armor up with God and his word
-----Listen----
If you suffer for a drinking problem – don’t go to a bar for a drink of water
You just as well play with dynamite
If you struggle with internet porn- Take that computer and blow it to smithereens with both barrels of your Daddy’s shotgun
Stay away from the things that lead you astray
If you have problems with infidelity
Don’t allow yourself to be alone with members of opposite sex
No matter how innocent you think it might be
We have to make a conscious effort to resist Old Slick
That means we have to work at it
Don’t let him gain even an inch
Some of you have worked wild cattle
You know if they see daylight they are gone, just crack a gate and ---- they scatter like a covey of quail
Satan when we give him daylight in the form of letting down our guard even a little
Will charge right in
Get some Godly people who will hold you accountable
Confess your weaknesses to them and ask them to help you
Pray for God to give you the knowledge- wisdom
And the ability to overcome
He will
Verse 8a
“8 Come close to God, and God will come close to you.”
Willingness to come close to God is the 3rd characteristic and more of the things that work
Depending on how you see God will determine how you view coming close to him
If you see God as a harsh displinarian
You might see images of someone in your life who would say
Come- here- Boy
Or girl
And would proceed to whoop the tar out of you
Often times we deserved it
Sometimes not
But the words
Come here
Were not a positive thing
But picture with me a hen who brings her chicks under her wings when a hawk or owl id cruising the sky looking for a meal
Picture that good momma cow that fends off the dogs and coyotes and maybe even you when you are trying to tag her new baby
Drawing near to God means learning to understand his nature
Not fearing his discipline
And longing for his protection
We draw near to God when we pray
Really pray
Seeking his will in our lives
Putting our wants and desires aside
We draw near to God when we study his word
And we pray for and strive for understanding
We draw near to God when we let the world see Jesus in and though us
And James says
As we draw near to him
As we desire to be in his presence
He will come closer to us as well
Drawing near may mean accepting Jesus
Drawing near may mean surrounding to baptism
Making a statement of faith
It may mean taking a step of faith and following his directions and answering his call
Think with me for a moment about long distance relationships
Sometimes they work
But most often they fail
Communication becomes a problem and soon ends
And the relationship suffers
We must stay close to God in our hearts and minds in order for us to keep our end of the deal
Listen
When we can’t feel his presence
It ain’t him that moved
It’s us
Verse 8b
“Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts,”
Willingness to turn from our sins is the 4th characteristic
Unfortunately many people try and take this and other similar verses out of context
To say we must clean up our lives in order to come to God
That is just not true
None of us are worthy of salvation
It is the grace of God though Jesus Christ and that alone that saves us
He wants us to come to him
In our brokenness
In our filthiness
In our sin
And receive his gift of salvation
But he does not want us to stay broken
Dirty and sinful
He wants us to strive for a new live
He wants us to seek Bona Filenes
It has been said the God loves you just as you are
But he loves you so much he does not want you to stay that way
He wants you to become like Jesus
Washing our hands
Purifying our hearts
Means
Recognizing that we are sinners
Admitting our sins- confessing them
And
Repenting of those sins – going the other way
And
Seeking to be more like the perfect Savior who gave himself for us
None of us are perfect
But we have a perfect savior
Who died so we don’t have to be
But that should not stop us from desiring to be
Verse 8C
“For your loyalty is divided between God and the world.”
A willingness to give our all to God is the 5th characteristic and more good things that work
Giving God all the honor ---pleases him
Wavering
Being blown by the wind
Acting like Jake Spoon
Does not
God wants our worship
He wants our devotion
He wants all of us
Not the left over’s
Trust in God and God alone – this pleases him
Verse 9
“ 9 Let there be tears for what you have done. Let there be sorrow and deep grief. Let there be sadness instead of laughter, and gloom instead of joy.”
A willingness to repent is the 6th Characteristic and another tool that works
Many think this verse is telling us that sadness please God
This is not entirely true
We as Bona Fide believers
Should heart in our hearts
Hurt all the way to our toes
When we sin
We have made a choice to disobey God
Who loves us so much?
And there should be remorse
There should be regret
There should be tears and sorrow for what we have done
But the tears and sorrow and regret
Should lead to repentance
This is what pleases God
Going a new way
Following the instructions
Hurting because we fell short is a good sign of his involvement in our lives
If you sin
And feel nothing
I would encourage you to talk to God
Read your bible
Search your heart
And make sure that you know Jesus
And not just know about Jesus
Repentance pleases God
And
Listen
We should hurt when we sin
It should break our hearts that we strayed
God wants us to be happy
He wants us to be joyful
But he uses tears and sorrow to get us to repent so we can find that happiness
That Joy
That peace he desires for us
If we are believers
We should be unable to find those things while living in our sin—
Verse 10
10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up in honor.”
Back to step one
Humility
The opposite of pride
Surrendering to his Lordship
Trusting in him for salvation first
Then for everything else
Placing all of our trust
All of Our hope
And
All of our desires in him
Pleasing him by emulating Jesus
His one and only son
Verse 10b
“and he will lift you up in honor”
You see when we accept Jesus
When we accept his sacrifice
When we accept his love
His mercy
His grace
We become Children of God
We are no longer left out , no longer living in the darkness
We are adopted into the very family of God
And we are given the same honor as Jesus
He will lift us up on this earth in blessings
He will lift us up in joy
He will lift us up in peace
‘He will lift us up in love
And one day
He will lift us up to be with him in glory
When we are Bona Fide
We should strive to please God
It should be our strongest desire
It should become one of our characteristics
When people look at us they should be able to say
He or she looks like Jesus
Close from the heart
Pray
