TRUE RELIGION
#417 TRUE RELIGION
Scripture: James 1:22-27 NIV Orig. 6/24/1962
Rewr. 2/5/1987
Passage: 22 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. 23 Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror 24 and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 25 But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do. 26 Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless. 27 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.
Purpose: Preaching in conjunction with a beginning Bible study a message signifying true religion.
Keywords: Character Love Religion
Introduction
Those who have studied history closely tell us many things. They tell us of the progress made in discovery. They tell us of journeys that, over the process of time, brought continual discovery. They tell us of the discovery of tribes of people even under the most inscrutable of circumstances.
When explorers went to the far north country, they found a people called Lapps. People who had lived for centuries beyond the Arctic Circle. It did not surprise anyone years later to discover that there were people called Eskimos who lived out much of their lives in a land of darkness and ice.
When other explorers were directed to the south and more humid conditions, tribes were found still. In the jungles, in the deserts, in the mountains, on the flood plains.
Even the most rabid scientist says that these people came from a common source, in fact, beyond that from amoeba, protoplasm, or primitive life form. There are all kinds, shades, cultures, with a common benefactor in Adam. Black, white, red, yellow meet in him, created that way by God. All the families of the earth from common blood lines. We are of one blood.
Acts 17:26 “And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth.”
Even so, there are many religions. All of them contain truth. One is truth. All have polemists who particularize their truth. But only one is the epitome of truth as God revealed it conditionally to especially chosen messengers, Jesus, Himself, being chiefest of all. It should not be any more surprising to us that there are no more ways out of this world than into it. It is erroneously claimed that “there are many ways out of the world, and but one coming into it.”
I. True Religion Reaches First Inward. V23 For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass . . . and . . . forgetteth what manner of man he was.
There is the mentality of faith: Emotions have their place. But one whose faith is expressed only through his emotions is only half a believer. No doubt the emotions are important:
· I Corinthians 14:15 “I will pray with the spirit, . . . I will pray with understanding also.”
· Romans 12:2 “Be ye transformed by the renewing of mind.”
· Acts 17:11 From Thessalonica to Berea “These [Berean Jews] were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the Scriptures daily.”
But faith is an inducement of the heart as well. Deuteronomy 6:5 “Thou . . . love the Lord thy God with all thy heart.” Old Testament example: When Solomon came to throne, he asked for wisdom. I Kings 3:12 “. . . I have given thee a wise, and an understanding heart.” New Testament example: Paul had a pretty good case of religion before his Damascus experience. But it only set him to the task of getting in the way of what God was doing in the lives of people around him.
I Kings 4:29 “And God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding, exceeding much, and largeness of heart.” When one begins to practice hearing without doing, then self-deception is practiced. “Be ye doers of the word.” How can mind and heart both be involved when one fails to perceive himself in mirror?
V21 Paul uses “engrafted word.” Who has heard of one using a dead branch? Bro. Morgan’s living Christmas tree. Lady in Ruston with a peach tree with 7 different __?___. Dogwood with both pink and white blossoms. Taken into the mind with understanding. Dedicated with the heart to committed use.
Thus, the entire personality becomes emblazoned by what our faith means.
· Christians ought to look better--not better than anyone else, [but] look the very best that we can look.
· Christians ought to act differently. We know what keeps us fixed on the Lord, [and are] to be constant in these things.
· We ought to feel better. What is happening when we are doing something that is not in our best interest? We know that the Lord doesn’t intend it, so we are out of His will. We are running the risk of taking something precious away from those who love us.
II. True Religion Reaches Upward. V25 “. . . whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, . . . this (one) shall be blessed in his deed.”
Religion can be a self-made ideal. Many people are living by such a standard. It does not necessarily mean their lives are better, just on a margin of acceptance. Do they give even a passing thought to the sovereignty of God?
Our lives could be better without God’s intervention.
· Psalm 23:5 “Thou preparest a table before me.”
· Psalm 78:20 “He shall give His angels charge.”
· Psalm 94:19 “. . . Thy comforts delight my soul.”
· Lamentations 3:22 “His compassions fail not.”
· Romans 5:10 “If, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.”
True religion must be acknowledged to have come from above. Not a prepared philosophy. The world has its fill of philosophers, some sincere in helping others, but at best their schemes seldom outlast their own lives, except in the classroom: René Descartes / Immanuel Kant / Voltaire / Thomas Paine / John Dewey. But a higher goal of truth. The prophets left three great marks. Knowledge of a word from God. Knowledge of existing conditions. Will to obedience to higher voice.
Thus we remember that such truth transcends the times. Lady Jane Grey—put to death in 1554 at 27 for her part in intervention against crown by “bloody” Queen Mary. “I ground my faith on God’s word and not upon the church; for, if the church be a good church, the faith of the church must be tried by God’s Word, and not God’s Word by the church, or yet my faith.”
III. True Religion Reaches Outward. V27 “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.”
True, or pure, is a medical term kathara: Cathartic—purgative, used by psychiatrists for cleansing of the turmoil of emotions; use it here for a religion that keeps the spirit clean.
The word visit episkeptomai, means to see with purpose: An act in another’s behalf; the word used by Jesus in Matthew 25:36,43, (35f—“For I was hungered and . . . .” Acts 6:3 “Look ye out” (deacons). True religion looks for ways to help others. It cannot do all things well. Some things are beyond reach. But people-help is the magnet of truth.
And to remain “unspotted” without defilement: Paul and Jude both use it for moral defilement. Paul to I Timothy 6:14, “That thou keep this commandment without spot.” No better use can we put to the word than to see it as an enjoinment to live by the Word. No clearer word comes to us than that of Christ as Lord to whom we are responsible.
Conclusion
According to a minister who talked with him just before his execution, the German war minister, Adolf Eichmann, had a religion. He claimed to believe in a “personal God” who “did not judge sin,” and “would not condemn” anyone.
Ah, but he, himself, judged it a crime to be a Jew, and condemned six million men, women, and children to brutal deaths. We rightly raise legitimate questions about such a religion as this. It is a form, without substance. What he believed might have even contained some truth, but it was not the truth. It sought not the betterment of others, and drew no strength from the unadulterated Word of God. How secure are we in what we call our religion?
Lady Jane Grey: https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/grey_lady_jane.shtml
THROUGH TRIAL TO TRUTH
#079 THROUGH TRIAL TO TRUTH
Scripture James 1:1-27 NIV Orig. 2/9/1987
Passage:
1 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes scattered among the nations:
Greetings.
Trials and Temptations
2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters,[a] whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. 6 But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 7 That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. 8 Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do. 9 Believers in humble circumstances ought to take pride in their high position. 10 But the rich should take pride in their humiliation—since they will pass away like a wild flower. 11 For the sun rises with scorching heat and withers the plant; its blossom falls and its beauty is destroyed. In the same way, the rich will fade away even while they go about their business. 12 Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him. 13 When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; 14 but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. 15 Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.
16 Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters. 17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. 18 He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.
Listening and Doing
19 My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, 20 because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires. 21 Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you. 22 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. 23 Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror 24 and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 25 But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do. 26 Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless. 27 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.
Purpose: To lead my people in an in-depth study of The Book of James.
Introduction
We have concluded that the letter was written by James, the brother of the Lord. He was a witness of the resurrection. Although he was not a follower of Jesus during the years of Jesus’ life, he became a follower in tandem with Christ’s death. He was a known leader of the church in Jerusalem, and had great influence to the churches as far away as Syria.
We conclude that the date of writing was early, 48-54 AD. There is no mention of the Jerusalem council (AD 49), the term “synagogue” is used for church (James 2:2), there is strong expectation of the Lord’s return (James 5:7-9), and the strong accent on poverty.
The book was written to Christian Jews, primarily, but the message was direct enough to be of benefit to other Jews as well. Perhaps, those who were entrenched in other parts of the Roman Empire, especially around the eastern end of the Mediterranean.
James is a significant voice, not because he is the Lord’s brother, but because of the nature of his struggle to believe, and his steady voice as a chosen leader in the church in Jerusalem.
The epistle reflects some of the economic and social struggles in the church such as treatment of oppressed, and appropriate use of wealth. Dealing with some of the behavioral problems helps us to understand how Martin Luther could come to see James as “an epistle of straw.”
James’ intent was an appeal to unity. There are different levels of social activity. All are to be treated equally. Materialism could be a problem. The wealthy were to heed the dangers. Likewise, the poor were to be careful not to let their poverty be the source of bitterness, disruption and disunity. It is an appeal to social justice. It is an institution of prayer as the means of expressing compassion. It concludes with a call for understanding for the backslider.
1-James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the 12 tribes which are scattered abroad, greetings.
Greeting: James (Jacob)
Servant—bond slave
(grace/obedience, not two masters)
Twelve tribes—Matthew 19:28
2-My brethren, count it all joy when you fill into diverse temptations;
Joy in trial—Psalms 119:67
Greeting/joy (all)—count is imperative
Temptations working to our good.
Matthew 16:24-28 suffering
Romans 5:3-5
See verse 12 (endurance)
3-Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.
Strength from God through prayer.
1)Doesn’t suggest enough
2)For the Jew, from Torah
3)Contrast Hebrew/Greek/Roman
4)For Christian—through prayer
5)See James 3:13-18
6)God gave generously and without reproaching, when last reproached children
7)We must pray, and without doubt
4-But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.
Doubting is indecision about trusting God or ourselves. (1)Not without questions; (2)Not without uncertainty. Returns to prayer in James 5:13-18. Two-souled (dipsuchos)—Jews repeated shema Deuteronomy 6:4f. See Psalm 12:1-2—ex, JCPenney’s suit.
5-But if any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.
Consistency of spirit is key. The two supreme tests—plenty/want, affluence/poverty. (1)Test of poverty—rejoice in richness in Christ: Mary’s Magnificat Luke 1:46f, physically poor/spiritually rich. (2)Test of affluence—question his being ______; boast in humiliation—funeral coach no trailer hitch; watching soybeans in a.m. Life conditioned for physical will vanish away. It is much easier for the lowly to boast in exaltation than for the proud to boast of humiliation.
6-But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering: for he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven by the wind and tossed.
Trial and Temptation
1)Trial endured
2)Temptation resisted
Only one Greek word—peirasmos. Remember the Beatitudes—Matthew 5:2-12 (Revelation 2:10) (II Timothy 4:8). “Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord . . . will award to me on that day—and not only to me. . . .” (1)Given in response to trial; (2)Received by the one who victoriously endures (stands the test); (3)Such endurance is the mark of love.
7-For let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord.
8-A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways.
9-Let the brother of low degree rejoice in that he is exalted:
10-But the rich, in that he is made low: because as the flower of the grass he shall pass away.
11-For the sun is no sooner risen with a burning heat, but it withereth the grass, and the flower thereof falleth, and the grace of the fashion of it perisheth: so also shall the rich man fade away in his ways.
12-Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.
13-Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted by evil, neither tempteth he any man;
14-But every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.
Is this a contradiction? God can not be tempted/neither tempteth He. Hebrews 11:17 “Abraham, when put to the test”—same word. I Corinthians 10:9 “Neither let us tempt Christ as some of them tempted”—same word. (1)James prior to this refers to “trial” from without. (2)Here however, doubtless, he speaks of trial of uncontrolled passions and evil. (3)Though does not proceed from God are all-the-while under His grace, and He can manifest Himself within. (4)God permits, tests, that we might gain confidence in faith. Tempting to evil comes from the source of all wickedness.
Enticed—bait—deleazo
Drawn away—lured--exelkomenos
15-Then, when lust hath conceived it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.
The link between sin and death:
Contemplation
Consent
Consummation
16-Do not err, my beloved brethren.
17-Every good gift, and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, in whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.
18-Of his own will begat he us the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.
All Good v 16/18—God sends inducement to good, not enticement to evil. There is contrast between good and supposed evil.
V17b A comparison between God and the variables of light and shadow, and waxing and waning of sun and moon. The Milky Way contains 1 million suns brighter than our sun. One galaxy among millions.
Lessons:
1)Every believer prepared for trial.
2)Affluent Christians controlling, not controlled.
3)Avoid blaming God for social fall.
4)All good from God who doesn’t change.
19-Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath:
20-For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.
21-Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls
22-But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.
23-For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass:
24-For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.
25-But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.
26-If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man’s religion is vain.
27-Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.
Doing the Word, James 1:19-27
1)The point—to receive the word (v21). Therefore “quick” to hear tachometer, “slow” to speak, “slow” to anger (Moses). How much is available to us! Multiplicity of video tapes in 5 years. Don’t learn anything while talking. Proverbs 29:20, Psalm 46:10.
2)Is a sermon a thing unto itself, or is [it an] end to lead to action? Do we read Bible to check ___ or to learn to do?