A. Have you experienced the FRUSTRATION of trying to LIVE in two WORLDS?
1. You are a Christian on Sunday morning, but then during the week at WORK or at SCHOOL when
with your Non-Christian friends you ACT like them. Christ certainly doesn’t SHINE through.
ILLUSTRATION:
I shared with you recently that as a teenager that’s exactly what I tried to do. When I was at church or youth functions or just hanging out with my Christian friends, I always put my best foot forward and acted like a good Christian. Everyone would say to my Mom and Dad, “Your son Freddie is such a fine Christian young man.” And I was—around them.
But when I was at school or hung-out with my WORLDLY friends, Christ could seldom be seen in my LIFE. I would tell CRUDE JOKES just like them. I would use FOUL LANGUAGE. I would involve myself in SINFUL ACTIONS. You couldn’t tell us APART.
The PROBLEM was trying to LIVE this DOUBLE-LIFE. When I was with my Christian FRIENDS I acted like a Christian should. But when I was with my WORLDLY FRIENDS, I acted like the DEVIL. I didn’t want either GROUP to know about my DOUBLE LIFE.
So, when I was with my WORLDLY FRIENDS and a Christian FRIEND walked in, I would quickly LEAVE. And I did the same thing when I was with my Christian FRIENDS, and a WORLDLY FRIEND walked in. And this went on for a long time until I finally MADE UP MY MIND who I was going to SERVE—Christ or Satan?
2. This is what James is describing in our text- James 1:5-8 (READ)
a. In the Greek the word “DOUBLE-MINDED” is a combination of two words “twice” and “soul”, which literally means: “TWO SOULED” or “A SOUL DIVIDED IN TWO”.
b. James is the only writer in the Bible who uses this term and he uses it twice, here and 4:8.
COMMENT:
It’s the idea of going two different DIRECTIONS in life—to follow two opposite PATHS. James is describing a person who WAVES and WAFFLES over every CHALLENGE, every DECISION, and every POTENTIAL DIRECTION for his life. Which way he GOES depends on the PRESSURES felt at any given moment.
The DOUBLE-MINDED are the type of people that you can never REALLY COUNT ON for anything. They TALK BIG, but do very little that is LASTING.
B. As Christian we are not to be DOUBLE-MINDED.
1. With DOUBLE-MINDEDNESS come DIVIDED ALLEGIANCE.
a. Jesus- “No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will
be devoted to one and despise the other” – Matthew 5:24a.
b. Jesus- “He who is not with me is against me”- Matthew 12:30a.
2. We either SERVE God or we don’t. We are either on Christ’s SIDE or we’re not.
3. We can’t STRADDLE THE FENCE and think that God is pleased with our WALK.
4. We have to MAKE UP OUR MINDS.
MESSAGE:
I. CHARACTERISTICS OF THE DOUBLE-MINDED
A. He or she is a DOUBTER.
1. James said, “When you PRAY you are to BELIEVE and not DOUBT”- James 1:6a.
a. This is ASKING in FAITH.
b. What kind of FAITH is James talking about?
COMMENT:
Is it a FAITH that simply believes, with confidence, that we will RECEIVE that for which
we ask? Or is it a FAITH based on our COMPLETE TRUST in God no matter what?
Is it a FAITH fueled by our BELIEF that God EXISTS? Or is it a FAITH based on our GENUINE BELIEF in WHO GOD IS and WHO WE ARE in Him?
2. The DOUBTING person is one who is DIVIDED in his or her own MIND.
a. James said, “He is like the wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind”- James 1:6b.
ILLUSTRATION:
How many of you saw the movie “The Perfect Storm”? It was a good movie—ROTTEN ENDING. It’s a TRUE STORY, and sometimes TRUE LIFE doesn’t END the way we like. It starred George Clooney and Mark Wahlberg. For those of you who may have missed it, it was the story of incredible storm of 1991 that struck the northeast coast. The story chronicled the fateful events that led to the SINKING of the fishing boat, ANDREA GAIL, and the LOSS
of its SIX-MAN CREW, captained by BILLY TYNE—played by Clooney in the movie.
The “PERFECT STORM,” was actually called the “HALLOWEEN STORM OF 1991.” It was called the PERFECT STORM because of the extraordinary way it formed. Three massive WEATHER SYSTEMS came together in the northwest Atlantic Ocean. A massive COLD FRONT had moved south out of Canada. An EXTRATROPICAL CYCLONE had formed about 300 miles east of Nova Scotia. And the subtropical HURRICANE, GRACE, was moving north from the south. These three SYSTEMS met in the PERFECT PLACE, at the PERFECT TIME,
to make the PERFECT STORM.
It is reported that ANDREA GAIL faced repeated WAVES reaching around 75 feet. The winds would have been anywhere from 80-120 miles per hour. It is believed the ship was hit by two MONSTROUS, ROGUE WAVES, one at EIGHT O’CLOCK and another at MIDNIGHT that reached 100 feet or more—that’s the height of a 10-story building.
The way the STORM had formed, the ANDREA GAIL would have been tossed in every direction. There was no way to PREDICT which DIRECTION the WAVES would come from and the seas were BOILING and SWIRLING around them. Can you even begin to imagine the level of FEAR and UNCERTAINTY the six men of the ANDREA GAIL must have experienced
before the ship SANK?
COMMENT:
The DOUBTER is like the ANDREA GAIL, tossed unmercifully on the SWELLING seas. The doubter has NO CONTROL and no SENSE OF DIRECTION. They lack the ANCHOR of DECISIVE BELIEF. They lack the ANCHOR of GENUINE FAITH. They lack the ANCHOR
of SINCERE HOPE that comes from DEPENDING on God to ANSWER our PRAYERS.
b. Hebrews 6:19a- “We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure.”
c. The person who doubts is fighting an INTERNAL, MORAL STRUGGLE. There is a fight in their inner person over who they should follow—GOD or the WORLD.
3. James is writing this DESCRIPTION from personal experience, because, remember, James was a
DOUBTER.
COMMENT:
James walked and talked, ate and slept in the same room with Jesus, and, yet, DOUBTED that His older brother was the Christ, the Son of God. James possessed the CREDIBILITY and AUTHORITY to call his READERS to stop DOUBTING, to MAKE UP THEIR MINDS—to choose between GOD and the WORLD because he had once come to the same point in his life.
B. He or she is UNSTABLE. This “INSTABILITY” reveals itself in at least three ways.
1. UNSTABLE EMOTIONS
COMMENT:
When you can’t make up your mind it drives you crazy. There’s this constant nagging dilemma as to what DECISION should I make, what DIRECTION should I go? What if I make a DECISION and it’s not the right ONE? What if I go to COLLEGE and can’t MAKE the GRADES? What if I start this JOB and can’t do the WORK? What if I MARRY this man and find out that I really don’t LOVE him? There is such EMOTIONAL INSTABILITY in your life when you can’t MAKE UP YOUR MIND.
2. UNSTABLE RELATIONSHIPS
COMMENT:
Look at the DIVORCE rate in America. A lot of people MARRY with the idea that if it doesn’t WORK out, we can always get a DIVORCE. A LACK of COMMITMENT destroys RELATIONSHIPS.
INSTABILITY in relationships is seen when you make PROMISES that you don’t keep, when you tell your CHILDREN one thing and you DO something else, when you are constantly CHANGING JOBS or CAREERS, CHURCH hopping, breaking-up old FRIENDSHIPS for new FRIENDS.
ILLUSTRATION:
A college man walked into a photography studio with a framed picture of his girlfriend. He wanted the picture duplicated. This involved removing it from the frame. In doing this, the studio owner noticed the inscription on the back of the photograph: “My dearest Tom, I love you with all my heart. I love you more and more each day. I will love you forever and ever. I am yours for all eternity.” It was signed “Helen,” and it contained a P.S.: “If we ever break up, I want this picture back.” Now that is one STABLE RELATIONSHIP!
3. UNSTABLE SPIRITUAL LIFE
COMMENT:
DOUBLE MINDEDNESS affects our PRAYER LIFE, our RELATIONSHIP with God, our RELATIONSHIP with His CHURCH, our RELATIONSHIP with our FELLOW-CHRISTIANS. It sets us up for a FALL.
II. HOW DO WE OVERCOME DOUBLE-MINDEDNESS
A. RESIST the DEVIL and DRAW NEAR to God.
1. James 4:4, 7-8 (READ) (We’ll talk more about this SECTION of Scripture when we get to it.)
a. James wants his readers to understand that the DOUBLE MINDED person is the one who tries
to be FRIENDS with both God and the WORLD.
COMMENT:
Such a person calls him or herself a Christian, but their LIFESTYLE is far from the LIFE that Jesus lived. They try to have it both ways, but as Christ said, “You are either for me or you are against me.” YOU CAN’T HAVE IT BOTH WAYS!
b. You cannot follow Satan and follow God—they are diametrically opposed to each other.
COMMENT:
Our primary INTERACTION with the Devil is very simple: “RESIST”! Don’t HANG OUT with him. Don’t CONVERSE with him. Don’t try to OUT-SMART him. Just RESIST—hold your ground, OPPOSE him. This verse promises that IF we RESIST, the DEVIL
WILL leave us alone (at least temporarily).
D. W. Whittle tells of a man who came to Charles Finney, a gospel preacher, and said: “I don’t believe in the existence of a devil.” “Don’t you?” asked the old PREACHER. “Well, you RESIST him for a while, and I promise you that you will BELIEVE in him.”
2. The reason the devil FLEES when we RESIST him, is because in the process we are “drawing
near to God”.
COMMENT:
When we DRAW NEAR to God, we see ourselves as we really are—we see the INDECISIVENESS of our LIFE, the UGLINESS of our SINS, the PAIN that we cause others, and we want to do something about it. We change our WAYS, we change our HEART, we change our ATTITUDE—we get REFOCUSED on what’s really IMPORTANT and pursue that.
B. PRAY for WISDOM
COMMENT:
I detect a little sarcasm in James’ words when he wrote, “If ANY OF YOU lacks wisdom…” James knows that WE ALL lack WISDOM. Yet, the DOUBLE-MINDED wanders
AIMLESSLY in life in every direction without ever seeking God’s WISDOM.
1. It’s only when one HUMBLES himself before God that he comes to the REALIZATION of how
desperately he needs WISDOM to face the CHALLENGES and TRIALS of life.
a. This time he PRAYS, not with DOUBT, but in FAITH that God will PROVIDE everything
that he NEEDS to be VICTORIOUS.
c. Now, do understand that WISDOM is not INTELLIGENCE, it’s not KNOWLEDGE—you don’t gain Godly WISDOM by reading a SELF-HELP BOOK or watching Dr. Phil. It comes only from God through His Word, the Holy Spirit, the WISE COUNSELORS He uses, and through PRAYER
ILLUSTRATION:
In his Journey Study series, LEARNING TO PRAY, Billy Graham wrote the following: “I heard about a young president of a company who INSTRUCTED his secretary not to DISTURB him because he had an important APPOINTMENT. The CHAIRMAN of the BOARD came in and said, ‘I want to see Mr. Jones.’ The secretary answered, ‘I’m terribly sorry, he cannot be disturbed, he has an important appointment.’
“The chairman became very ANGRY. He banged OPEN the door and saw the PRESIDENT of his CORPORATION on his KNEES in PRAYER. The CHAIRMAN softly closed the door and asked the secretary, ‘Is this usual?’ And she said, ‘Yes, he does that every morning.’ To which the CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD responded, ‘No WONDER I come to him for ADVICE.’”
2. Whenever we face LIFE’S CHALLENGES, TRIALS, DECISIONS, and RESPONSIBILITIES,
let’s PRAY to God for WISDOM, believing He will give us the ANSWER that we need.
a. When FACED with PROBLEMS—PRAY for WISDOM.
b. When TEMPTED by Satan—PRAY for WISDOM.
c. When in the midst of an ARGUMENT—PRAY for WISDOM.
d. When DECIDING what to do with your LIFE—PRAY for WISDOM.
e. When LOOKING for the GUY or GIRL you will one day MARRY—PRAY for WISDOM.
ILLUSTRATION:
One lady said this is what she PRAYS when she is UPSET with her HUSBAND:
Lord,
Give me…WISDOM - to understand my husband;
LOVE - to forgive him;
PATIENCE - for his various moods;
Because, Lord, if I PRAY for STRENGTH . . . I’ll BEAT him to DEATH. Amen.
3. And when you PRAY believing, James said that “God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, will give us the WISDOM we need to FACE any SITUATION in life.”
a. God gives WISDOM generously because He wants what’s BEST for us.
b. Remember, it was “King Solomon’s PRAYER for WISDOM that DELIGHTED God so much”- 1 Kings 3:7ff.
COMMENT:
If we SINCERELY and with FAITH approach God in PRAYER asking for WISDOM, He
gladly GIVES it to us.
He will HELP us with our PROBLEMS. He will PROVIDE a WAY OUT when we are TEMPTED. He will help you SETTLE that ARGUMENT in a Christ-like manner. He will give you DIRECTION and OPEN DOORS of OPPORTUNITY. He will help you FIND the right person for you to spend the REST of your LIFE with.
And, maybe most important, He’ll give you WISDOM, LOVE, and PATIENCE so you won’t BEAT your HUSBAND to DEATH. Just don’t PRAY for STRENGTH!
4. When you PRAY, be WILLING to LISTEN and to ACT on the WISDOM that God GIVES.
CONCLUSION:
A. DOUBLE-MINDEDNESS is a problem that many Christians have.
1. They haven’t MADE UP THEIR MINDS as to who they TRULY want to SERVE—GOD or the
WORLD?
2. You can’t have it both WAYS! You’re either FOR the Lord, or you’re NOT.
B. Joshua 24:15- “If serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then CHOOSE for yourselves this day whom you will serve… But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”
