TITLE: Developing A Real Faith
TEXT: James 1:18-27
THEME:James. Maturity, genuine faith, good works, service, growing on.
P.S. The next part of the test is how our faith works itself in everyday life. James does not merely want believers to simply HEAR the truth, but also DO IT.
INTRODUCTION:
‘Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says...Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.’
The theme of this book up to this point has been the Marks of Spiritual Maturity. Too many Christians live in the shadow of past spiritual experiences. God wants us to know the ‘Joy of ongoing and increasing spiritual maturity and development in our walk with Jesus, even in the face of trials and temptations.
The marks of a maturing Christian is first of all, He is Patient in Testing.This testing involves a serioes of exams. The first is testings brought about by the trials of life. These are testing from the outside. Next are the testings of temtations. These test our moral strength. These test come from within. James sauys the test of maturity through trials and temptations, is perserverance. When we stand string in the Lord, in the face of unbeatable odds, there is a blessing, both now and in eternity. When the tests come, God’s word says to pray for wisdom, and God will supply all you need to face adversity and temptation. Not only that, He will give you patience to endure the trial and keep you strong.
The next part of the test is how our faith works itself in everyday life. It is the test of true religion. James is not refering to religion as an empty ritual. Nor is he refering to an institution. The word religion could also be translated faith. More specifically, faith that is worked out in practical action.
James does not merely want believers to simply HEAR the truth, but also DO IT. Living faith makes a difference in the world that you and I live in.
Notice the qualities of genuine faith(religion) First of all, James says true religion is opure and undefiled. That is he is not refering to religious excercises or intstitutions. He is refering to true or genuine faith. There is a fath that is genuime and a faith that is a out on or a mask. The kind of faith, that God takes notice of is geuine faith.
Secondly, genuine faith will be demonstrated in practical expressions of loving servie. James says, it is to look after orphans and widows in their distress. Now, anyone can oput in an offering to help the poor. It is not everly difficult to respond to the pleas from the food bank. But what James is saying here, is that true, genuine faith will express itself in loving service to those who cannot pay us back and who do not deserve our help.
Thirdly, James says, that genuine faith will not be alligned with the philosophy of the world. There will be a stark difference in how the Christian behaves and how the world responds to the same circumstances. There will be a difference in motive. There will be a difference in rewards.
Ask yourself, Is your faith merely a statement of belief or does it motivate you to active service? Has your faith made a difference where you live, work and play? How is it that some people can be in church all their lives and never ‘get it’? That is, it never makes a personal or moral impact upon them?
There seems to be a serious problem in the church of Jesus Christ. Somehow we have disconnected faith from action. There is a great chasm between what we say we believe and what we do. Without realizing it, I fear we have allowed the world to instill its philosophy into lives.
Jim Cymbala, in his book Fresh Fire, decries how the world has effectively evangelized Christians without their awareness. He cites George Barnas recent study that regular church goers are shockingly similar to the general populace. One example was that 27% of non-Christians purchased a lottery ticket in the past week, and 23% of evangelical Christians did the same. Barna gives many such examples of similarities between Christian and non-Christians. We watch the same movies, go to the same places and do the same things. Another research group found that 52% of church goers said they never donated time to helping the poor, hungry, sick or those unable to help themselves. One shocking statistic is that the divorce rate in some places is higher among evangelical believers than non-believers.
The question I ask this morning is in the light of this information, does it not bother you that there does not seem to be a difference among christians and non-Christians.? Somehow what we say we believe needs to come in line with what we do. This morning I do not want to dwell on the perceived problems of the church, but present the scriptural solution. If you are going to be a genuine Christian...
1. You must be intentional about your spiritual life
2. You must be consistent in your spiritual life
3. You must be endure in your spiritual life.
1. You Must Be INTENTIONAL in You Christian Life:(19-21)
No one ever became a hockey star over night. No one ever accidentally became a great musician. So why do some people believe they are believers when they have not put feet to their faith? No one ever becomes a mature Christian by accident. You have to purposefully develop your spiritual life.
First of all we must be intentional in our hearing. James says, Everyone should be quick to listen,...That is “Not swift to hear anything and everything.” One reason why there is a difference between how some Christians live and what they profess, is because they never stop long enough to listen to God. They may be talking to God, but there is no quiet time when they stop and listen to Him. How do we hear His voice? Paul tells us that ‘faith comes form hearing the message and the message is heard through the word of God.”
We need to be intentional in our speaking. James says to be ‘Slow to speak...” this means more than mere silence. James is saying, ‘Hear what the word says without argument...” Hear silently, hear reverently.
Thirdly, we need to be intentional about our attitude to God’s word. “Slow to anger, means hearing God’s word with patience.
Illustration: David and Bathsheba: Remember the story of David and Bathsheba? When the prophet Nathan confronted David about the story of the Ewe lamb, the king became angry, but at the wrong person.
Anger is one of the most common means of quenching the Holy Spirit. As Paul says in Ephesians 4:30-31- “Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God by whom you have been sealed for the day of redemption...Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamour and slander be put away from you...
Isn’t it interesting that when Paul talks about Christians quenching the Spirit, the first thing he mentions is anger and its fruits. That’s because we can always justify our anger, it is always righteous. But take note that a rebellious, stiff heart will never experience the germinating power of God’s word.
James says, to: “...humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you. Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves, do what it says.”(v.22)
But we not only need to be intentional about our walk with God, we need to be consistent. And this is the second point:
1. You must be CONSISTENT in your spiritual life: (22)
Here is the hard part. It is not enough to hear the word, we must do it. You will never hear the word in a way that produces life until you search the scriptures with the desire to be like Jesus. This is a matter that is thought provoking. There is no life changing power in merely hearing the word. Many people have the mistaken idea that hearing a good sermon or Bible study alone is what makes them grow and get God’s blessing. It is not the hearing but the doing that gets the blessing. Warren Weirsbe notes that ‘Too many Christians mark their Bibles, but their Bibles never mark them.”
Anyone can start a race, but not everyone finishes. If you are going to finish, you are going to have to work on being consistent. Here is some practical advice:
• Don’t do it all at once, do a little each day. Begin by spending a little time, then increase the time over a period of several days or weeks.
• Sit with the Bible and listen as you read. Make it personal as though the words were meant just for you.
• read the word aloud, thereby cementing it in your mind and spirit.
• Keep a journal of your thoughts as you read.
Sometimes people think they have to do everything and learn everything at once. God has planted within us the desire to grow. But don’t get discouraged if you can’t do it all at once. Just be consistent. Do a little each day, but do it faithfully.
We need to be intentional, and we need to be consistent. But there is something more. If you are going to be genuine you must endure the Christian life.
3. You must ENDURE in the Christian life (v.23).
James gives us the idea of endurance through the metaphor of a mirror. (Read 23-25)The idea is that of a person who looks into the mirror and sees that her hair needs combing. Her nose is running. There is food in between her teeth. A huge pimple has made its way to the surface. She looks a mess, but the phone rings and she walks away from the mirror and promptly forgets what needs to be done about her appearance. She goes to work in her robe and slippers. Everyone else sees it, but she has forgotten.
This is the main purpose for owning a mirror, to be able to see yourself and make yourself look as clean and neat as possible. As we look into the mirror of God’s word, we see ourselves as we really are. James isn’t just talking about the man or woman who looks in the mirror and doesn’t use it. That’s part of the point, but not the whole point. The text goes much deeper than that. It has to do with the way all of us use mirrors. Those moments in front of the mirror are isolated from the rest of the day. You go your way and forget about the mirror while you work or shop or play. That is what verse 24 is all about. The mirror was important for that single moment; then you forget about it. You put it out of your mind.
So there are really two thoughts being worked here:
First, when you see what needs to be done in the mirror of God’s word, do it right away. After all that’s what mirrors are for. It’s not just to get information about yourself, “O man I’m a mess.. Or man do I look great...” Then off you go without ever cleaning yourself up.
Secondly, the limitation of any mirror is you can’t keep it in front of you the entire day. The impact of any mirror is lost the moment you walk away from it. This leads to the main point,
The word of God is the mirror you never walk away from. (Read v.25)
Peter Davids Commentary on James: It is not the person who momentarily notices a command from Christ who will be blessed, but the person who is characterized by obedience to Christ’s commands- for whom they have become the chosen lifestyle- such a person will indeed be blessed in all he does.
As I grow in Christ everything about my life passes through the grid of God’s word and my practise of it.
How can I bring my life under the umbrella of God’s word?
First, spend much time in the word. The more of the word of God you have in your system, the more likely you are to see parts that relate to more of your life.
“When you walk about, they will guide you; When you sleep, they will watch over you; And when you awake they will talk to you. (Proverbs 6:22)
this is a precious promise. Study the Word of God carefully with a prayerful desire to be more like Jesus. Then the promise that as you do your part, the Holy Spirit will begin to actually germinate the truth of the digested word when you need it the most.
Second, constantly bring your heart and conscience under the scrutiny of the Spirit. Hebrews 4:12 says that the “word of God is living and active and sharper than any two edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”
Don’t trust the standards of others. Don’t measure your life by your own feelings. All through the Bible great men and women of God took the time to question themselves in the presence of God.
Thirdly, pray daily for the illuminating work of the holy Spirit in daily activities. Do you remember what Jesus said how the Holy Spirit would help us?
But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, He will teach you all things, and bring to remembrance all that I said to you.”
Notice the key to everything, But the man who continues to do this”: there is no blessing in learning. No blessing in merely hearing. The blessing comes only in the doing. Obedience is the proof that we have committed our lives to Christ.
If we are going to convince a cynical world that the message of Jesus is real, we are going to have to be intentional about living the Christian life. We are going to have to be consistent in our obedience. We are going to have to endure to the end, even through the hard times. And as we do so, we lean upon the grace of God, the strength that comes from knowing Jesus and the indwelling power of the holy Spirit. The promise is that the ‘one who continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it, he will be bleed in all he does.”
