PROCESSING TRUTH: OR THE WAY THAT THE HEAD, HEART, AND THE HANDS ARE USED IN PRACITCAL CHRISTIANITY.
Text: James 1:18-27 W. Max Alderman
INTRODUCTION: I am going to consider the total man when I consider the way that Truth is processed. I will show you how the head, the heart, and the hands must be involved in ones practical Christianity. If you get this simple principle involving the way Truth is to be processed, your attitude towards the Word of God should never again be the same. I trust that we may all be helped.
TRUTH: You believe something about the Word of God. You use the expression, “I have Bible convictions”. If you really do have Bible convictions, it must be in relationship to what you believe about God’s word, in conjunction with what you express as being your conviction. Your belief is based upon what you have been taught and what you accepted after being taught. We will explore this further in the message.
The ultimate goal of Truth being taught and Truth being received is for the purpose of being conformed to the image of Christ and then to function as Christ would. A Christian is a Christ-like person. TO be Christ like, one must know who Christ is. You know Him by looking at Him. You do this through the Word of God. This brings about a transforming that results in us being like Christ. Notice this passage of Scripture. (Philippians 2
I. THE PROCESSING OF TRUTH MUST START IN THE HEAD
The head is where the brain or the mind is. That is where your cognizance is. That is where your thinking takes place. For you to have strong Bible convictions you must take Truth into your mind. The bottom line is this: What I believe is not important unless it is what God’s Word teaches. That in and of itself is what makes belief important. Is it Bible? Will I allow myself to be conformed to His image by the transforming of my mind? Romans 12:2 illustrate how this should happen. “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”
A. You Must Recognize the Truth
If you realize that Truth never changes then you must know what the Truth is. The King James Bible does not only contain the Word of God; it is the Word of God. As simple as it may sound, the menu for exercising practical Christianity is a steady diet in the Word of God. The Word of God is a lamp to your path insuring that you walk in His ways. David knew this when he said, “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” (Psalm 119:105).
B. You Must Respond to Truth
For Truth to be processed there must be first a willingness to respond to it. God allows the will to be a major part of one’s processing of Truth. If you are unwilling to let the Word of God fall on good ground and respond favorable to it, you will never see in your life God’s fully intended purpose. Your attitude every time that you hear the Word of God should be, “God has something to say and I will listen to what is being said.”
Illustration: Bridge out (knows that it is out and goes on anyway).
C. You Must Receive the Truth
Once you recognize Truth and respond to it accordingly, it is time to receive it. You may pray as David, “Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law.” (Psalm 119:18) or as David also prayed, “Give me understanding, and I shall keep thy law; yea, I shall observe it with my whole heart.” (Psalm 119:34). This verse introduces my next thought. Once you have the mind to receive it, then may it go to your heart…
II. PROCESSED TRUTH MUST GO TO THE HEART
The heart is the seed bed for the emotions. The heart is where you begin to feel and anticipate what you believe. It is where the Word of God has begun to do its faith work. Remembering that “…faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” Some will have you to believe that faith is so sterile and that there is only a mechanical application of Truth. I have been saved too long to believe that. For Faith will affect how you feel, but how you feel should not affect your faith; there is a great difference.
A. There Must Be A Passion For Tuth
As you study the Word of God in regards to practical Christianity, you should develop strong feelings or might I say convictions about the importance of applied Truth, or literally the planned program of taking the Word of God into your heart for the purpose of developing a passion that results in conviction. The definition for passion is, intense, driving, or overmastering feeling or conviction.
As we learn more of what God’s word says about a subject, we should become even more passionate about that subject. Convictions need to be Biblically defined in a spiritually passionate way.
B. There Will Be A Compassion Involving Truth.
When a person has strong feelings about something, he then has the potential for compassion. Compassion means, having a sympathetic consciousness of others’ distress together with a desire to alleviate it. This means that Truth becomes practical in the sense that I minister not has a robot, but with feelings. The Lord Jesus Christ is touched by the feeling of our infirmities. We should care because He cares.
III. THE PROCESSING OF TRUTH MUST CONTINUE WITH THE HANDS
The hands symbolize action. There are very few things that we do without our hands. We work with our hands, we talk with our hands, and we minister with our hands. We even fight with our hands. We use our hands to sign contracts, to adjust the microscope or play the piano. We use our hand to show joy or disgust. I can see my mother in my mind now dropping her hands in disgust after me bringing her disappointment.
Your hands will reveal something about you… Dish pan hands, the carpenter’s hands, the blacksmith’s hands. They all say something about you. Someone also said that, the position of the hands is symbolic of the position of the heart.
I wish to return to the thought that, “The hands symbolize action”. When the head is right about one’s practical Christianity, and the heart is right about one’s practical Christianity, then the hands need to be right. There needs to be something going on. When a person is motivated by the Word of God he will involve himself in the right manner and will be led by the Spirit according to Truth.
I remember while in the army, the sergeant would ask for volunteers. He asked the volunteers to raise their hands. When they did so, they were admitting that they understood what was being asked of them. They also admitted that they had feelings about it, so much so that they were willing to raise their hands and volunteer. They were willing to serve based upon what had already entered the head and made it to the heart. Therefore they raised their hands.
A. There Must Be Hands of Surrender
There may be something that is hindering you from doing what God wants you to do. Your mind is crowded with things other than the things of God. Your will is over riding God’s will. You are holding on to something that you must drop. If you continue to hold on to whatever it is, it may weigh your hands down and keep you from raising them in surrender. Moses had to turn lose the staff. He had to drop the crutch that he may have been holding on to. Are you holding on to something that may keep you from serving God? It may be….(fill in the blanks).
B. There Must Be Hands of Service
Proverbs 6:4 tells us, He becometh poor that dealeth [with] a slack hand: but the hand of the diligent maketh rich. The implication in this verse is that the lazy person will not prosper nor will the person who refuses to do the work.
CONCLUSION: As Truth is being processed, you will be called on to respond in someway. If you have truly learned what God’s will is from God’s Word, you will have a passion or conviction to do something about it. That is where you develop the mind of Christ. When you have his mind in you, then you will do as He does…
