Godly Religion

What does true religion look like?

Often times when people talk about the first century and New Testament Christianity, they talk about it as if it were the golden age of Christianity.

Think about it.

At that time you’ve got the apostles.

These were people who personally knew the Lord Jesus Christ.

They traveled with Him.

They were taught by Him.

They knew Him.

At times they performed miracles.

They did amazing things.

Then you had miraculous events.

Things that don’t happen today.

They saw the resurrected Christ.

They saw the ascension, as He went into heaven.

You had the day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit was given to the church.

You had people speaking in other languages.

You had healings going on.

This was an amazing time.

And yet … the first century church had major problems.

You had the Corinthian Church.

They had a man having an affair with his step mom … at least I hope she was his step mom and not his real mom.

You had the Galatian church which was making circumcision a membership requirement.

Their membership classes were … intense, to say the least.

You had III John, which describes a man named Diotrephes, who was throwing missionaries out of the church.

You had the Thessalonian church.

A church that had lazy people.

A church that lived on welfare, because they refused to get jobs.

Paul said, “If you don’t work … you don’t eat.”

You had the Philippian church.

A couple ladies were in a good old fashion church feud.

They had sexual immorality, false teaching,

Church problems are nothing new.

Think about some of the modern day arguments against the church.

What do we see?

We see hypocrites.

We see people who claim to be Christians … but they clearly aren’t.

They have no fruit.

You have people who will say that they agree that the Bible is the Word of God … but they don’t obey.

They flat out read something, and refuse to acknowledge it, or change.

And what have we see in James?

The very same thing.

Nothing’s changed.

The church of today, faces the same troubles and trials as the church of the yesterday.

James is a book about faith.

James is written to Christians who say, “Now what?”

They claim to have faith, but now they want to know, “What’s next?”

We have been going through the book of James.

James is a book about faith.

It’s a book about what your life should look like if you have faith.

James answers the question, “I’m a Christian, now what?”

He was writing to people that were facing the same trials that we face today.

Open your Bibles to 6-27.

Last week we looked at a doer of the word.

James said that we are to be doers of the word and not hearers only.

He concluded by saying that you are blessed in your doing.

Some of you might be wondering, what does a doer look like?

James continues that conversation.

And he answers the question of what a doer looks like.

Today, James will show us 3 ways that you do the word of the God.

He will show us how the you can be a doer when it relates to yourself.

How to be a doer when you relate to others.

And how to be a doer when you relate to the world.

Read :26-27.

First we look at The Word and how it relates to yourself.

What does religion look like?

Some religions have fancy services.

They have fancy robes.

The leaders have fancy titles.

They might even have fancy smells, and light incense.

But this isn’t what God is calling for.

The religion that the Bible describes is a powerful religion.

It’s more than decoration and clothing and smells.

The religion the Bible describes brings actual change.

In Christians were accused of turning the world upside down.

Changing the fabric of culture itself.

Think about the change that it has brought upon yourself.

The language of conversion is powerful.

The convert is never described as being static or the same.

The language of conversion is that you change.

You go from being dead to alive.

describes us as dead in our sins.

Unknowingly being a servant of Satan.

says that prior to conversion, your heart was desperately sick.

says that you were a slave to sin.

That’s how we start.

Isaiah says that though your sins be as scarlet, you shall be white as snow.

When you are converted you go from death into life.

, “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—”

Death to life.

says that we go from bing a people of outcasts, to becoming sons of the living God.

You go from not being a child of God, to being called beloved.

says we were once enslaved in sin, slaves of sin, being unable to not sin.

And that we are set free in Christ.

That’s a powerful religion.

The New Testament shows its affects upon people.

Prostitutes turning from their sin.

Tax Collectors returning what they stole.

Pharisees completely changing sides, and preaching Jesus Christ crucified, resurrected and alive.

This is powerful.

This is real.

This is seen.

This is evident.

A lot of people want religion, but they don’t want change.

They want to smell the incense, do the religious deed, and nothing more.

They think that by observing, watching, smelling, they’ve done something.

The true religion of the Bible will produce a change in your life.

And that’s what James is getting at, there needs to be a change.

People want religion, but they don’t want any real power or expectations behind it.

They want the:

Sights.

Smells.

Robes.

All the pageantry of religion, but without any of the substance.

Look again at verse 26, “If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless.”

If you think you’re religious, and you think Christ has done something in your life, then there should a change.

That’s what James has been saying.

Just above us, in verse 22, “But be doers of the word ...”

And now he starts fleshing that out for us.

if you have heard the word and you are going to be a doer then something should change within yourself.

The Word of God should affect you.

He says that your tongue should be bridled.

It’s like the bit that you put into a horses mouth to control it.

If you are in Christ, then your tongue should be bridled, it should be controlled.

The tongue, how you speak, becomes a barometer of your spiritual condition.

The tongue is an indicator of true spirituality.

The tongue becomes an indicator of what is inside a person.

The tongue becomes an indicator of whether or not any change has taken place.

The tongue is dangerous.

As a child we are told, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.”

Yet, when it comes to yourself, your tongue, your words do damage.

God cares how you speak.

Think of the law.

The third commandment says, ““You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.”

How you use your mouth says something about how you feel about God.

The name Yahweh was so holy, that the Jews wouldn’t even say it.

And yet, we’ve turned God’s name into a cuss word.

Something that you say when you stub your toe.

Or as an exclamation for how good food is.

It’s blasphemy to use the Lord’s name in vain.

And the consequences is guilt.

“For the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.”

That’s Hell.

That’s pretty important.

How you use your mouth condemns you.

The ninth commandment, again another commandment regarding how you speak.

“You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.”

You tell the truth.

You do not lie.

Why?

Because you are created in the image of God.

God does not lie.

He is truth.

We saw that earlier in James.

There is no variation or shadow of change.

So if you are going to be an image bearer, then you will reflect this character of God.

You will tell the truth.

But if you lie … then what do you say about God.

Being an image bearer, if you lie, you’re telling the wrong story about God.

How you speak says something about our religion.

How you speak says something about God.

How you speak says something about what has happened inside of you.

So if you consider yourself religious, then you will consider how you speak.

You will bridle your tongue.

And if your tongue isn’t controlled, then it an indicator of your spiritual condition.

In Jesus said, “You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.”

And a couple verses later in He said, “for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”

The condition of your heart is manifested, it’s made known in how you speak.

Because if you have a mouth problem, what do you really have?

You have a heart problem.

If Christ has changed your heart, then how you speak will be one of the first things to change.

It will change in how we speak to others:

says, “Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another.”

And how we use our tongue will change.

It used to be used for telling dirty jokes, cuss words, and for gossip.

And now it’s for praising God.

- “Then my tongue shall tell of your righteousness and of your praise all the day long.”

If the heart is changed, then the flavor of your language will reflect the work of Christ.

says, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”

So you know that you have received the word, heard the word.

You know that you are a doer of the word when it affects yourself.

When there is an internal change.

Because what happens inside, then gets worked out on the outside.

Notice that the religion that James talks about … it steps on our toes.

It requires us to change.

It requires some honesty and for us to realize that our desires are flawed.

A lot of people want religion, but they don’t want conviction.

They don’t want to be told any bad news.

They just want to be affirmed.

“I’m okay.”

“You’re okay.”

“We’re all okay.”

But we are not talking about just any religion.

Who’s religion is this?

It’s God’s religion.

When the law was given to Israel, when they were given the 10 Commandments, how was it presented?

Moses didn’t say:

“I’ve been looking at a lot of other religions, and seen some good things that they do. So here’s a list of 10 suggestions for you to live by.”

Moses didn’t say, “Here’s a new religion I invented.”

says, “And God spoke all these words, saying, “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.”

Who’s religion is it?

It’s God’s.

A lot of people pick a religion in the same way that we try to find a new favorite restaurant.

You check out yelp.

Read the reviews.

Then you go to different restaurants and see who gives the best service.

You pick the religion that makes you feel the best.

That’s not what this is.

Look at the beginning of verse 27, “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this ...”

Genuiness of religion is not based on what we think about the religion.

It’s not based on even who is a part of it.

What makes a good religion?

It’s what God thinks about it.

Our religion isn’t for each other.

Yes it benefits each other.

But it’s not for each other.

… it’s for God.

I don’t sing to impress you … I’m singing to God.

I give … not to show off or impress you … I give to God.

This reminds us that our obedience isn’t to impress one another.

It’s because of who God is.

So the first sign of true religion, the first sign that you are doer, begins with how the word relates to yourself.

Has it changed you?

The next sign of true religion is The Word and how it relates to others.

James continues into verse 27, “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, ...”

If you are a doer of the word, this means you have been taught God’s Word.

You have heard it.

Back in verse 21 we learned that the word is implanted into you.

You now have God’s word in your heart.

You love what He loves.

And who is it that God loves?

He loves the neediest.

He loves the lowliest.

says of God - “Father of the fatherless and protector of widows is God in his holy habitation.

God has a concern for those who cannot help themselves.

That’s true of yourself, isn’t it?

This is how you approach God.

None of you are good enough to come to God on your own.

God said, “Do this and live.”

And what did you do?

Not whatever it is He commanded.

You sinned.

And your sin made you an outcast.

Your sins made you an enemy of God.

Your sins made you deserving of only one thing -

Your sins earned you only one thing -

Death.

You don’t come to God because somehow you’ve earned anything.

God isn’t saving the best.

You come to God as the poorest.

The neediest.

The lowest.

And that is you.

You are the neediest.

Your sin meant that you were completely undeserving.

God isn’t saving people that can save themselves.

He’s saving people who are unable to save themselves.

And if you have a heart like God’s, then you too will love and care for who God loves.

And who does God love?

The lowliest.

And who do we love?

That’s why James says to care for orphans and widows.

Orphans and widows are the standard of those who are needy.

Orphans have no parents.

They have no parent to care for them, protect them, provide for them.

We have just heard that God is a Father to the fatherless.

Widows have lost their protector.

The man of the house is gone.

And typically, these widows were women who had been abandoned even by their children.

Widows and orphans were the lowliest.

That’s who we care for.

The lowliest.

James says to visit widows and orphans.

It was the caring of widows that produced the first group of deacons in .

In , Paul gives instructions to Timothy on establishing an official ministry to widows.

James says to visit widows and orphans.

This doesn’t mean go over to their house for coffee and pie.

That might be a part of it.

But in James it’s more than that.

It actually means to care for them.

Within the early church, the caring of widows was a priority.

It was the caring of widows that produced the first group of deacons in .

In , Paul gives instructions to Timothy on establishing an official ministry to widows.

and are not developing a coffee with widows ministry.

It’s talking about a ministry that feeds, cares for and protects.

This is a caring, and protection ministry.

Are they lacking anything?

Are they needing anything?

You care for them.

James says to visit them in their affliction.

This is the same word that is used to describe the tribulation in revelation.

It means to suffer.

You visit them in their suffering.

Historically, this has been one of the big ministries of the church.

The Church has established orphanages.

This is the person that requires a lot.

Requires a lot of time

The church has built hospitals.

The church has cared for widows.

So now lets start putting this all together.

Who do we care for?

The lowliest.

And the lowliest who are suffering.

Have you ever known someone that was high maintenance?

This is the person that requires a lot.

Requires a lot of time.

This is who we care for.

And if we care for the lowliest, and the one most in need - James uses orphans and widows to set the standard - then it should be obvious that we care for everyone else.

At the end of , the church was located in Jerusalem.

This is pretty much where all the Christians are located at the time.

But as these people are converted from Judaism to Christianity, they lose everything.

They were thrown out of their homes.

They lost their jobs.

People wouldn’t do business with them.

The way the church responded was by pooling all their resources together.

- “Now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common.”

This wasn’t communism.

They weren’t starting a political or economic revolution.

They were simply caring for each other.

Putting into practice the reality of the changed heart within.

They saw themselves as servants of God.

They saw themselves as benefiting from God when they had nothing.

And saw their fellow brothers and sisters in the same light.

So they shared with one another.

Therefore doers of the word care for and love others.

If you know the word, and if you do the word, then you will care for others.

This isn’t optional.

Loving others and loving other Christians is not optional.

The idea of a Christian who is isolated is foreign.

If you love Christ, you will love the church.

says, “Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling. But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.”

And notice who’s job it is to care for and love others.

Who’s job is it to visit widows and orphans.

Traditionally, we think it’s the pastor’s job to visit the sick.

I’ll be honest, I love visiting people on their death bed, especially Christians.

I’ve said this before, one of my favorite memories was visiting Verlene Peronto as she was dying.

I went to visit her.

She was on hospice.

For whatever reason she was having the carpet replaced in the house at the same time she was on her death bed.

She didn’t know she was on hospice either.

She didn’t know she was dying.

She had oxygen tubes in her nose.

She was surrounded by pills and medical equipment.

Those of you who have had relatives on hospice know what this looks like.

She asked what was going on.

I’d never told anyone they were dying before.

I told her that Jesus was preparing her body to be with Him.

He was preparing her body for death.

She was dying.

She said ok. Would you read me from the Bible?

I said I would.

But before I read, she asked for everyone in the house to hear me read from Ephesians, and then pray.

So we gathered the guys laying carpet.

I read from Ephesians.

Shared the Gospel.

And we prayed.

A dying Christian is a special person.

Verlene was known for cheating in cards.

But for whatever reason, when she was dying, she wanted the laborers in her house, and her family to hear Ephesians read and to be prayed with.

That was a special day.

I’ve had many moments like that with those who are dying.

Those memories are treasures that the Lord has blessed me with.

But

But according to this text who’s job is it to care for and visit people?

James isn’t writing to pastors.

Back in verse 1, he’s writing to the 12 tribes of the dispersion.

He’s writing to Jewish Christians.

He’s writing to the church.

Who’s job is this?

If that’s the case, James wouldn’t have told the church.

All of us.

All of us.

It’s our job.

The entire church is to be a church filled with ministers.

Myself and the Elders are not the only ministers.

You are.

says, “And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,”

A few of us went to the Shepherds Conference this week.

It’s an amazing conference hosted by Grace Community Church, out in LA.

What makes the week so touching is that it is the church that serves.

People use their vacations for that week.

They use their very valuable vacations to serve.

One time a reporter went to the church.

After seeing the church’s desire to care for people, he titled the article, “The Church with 900 Ministers”

I wish I could say that was an over exaggeration, because it’s now an under-exaggeration.

There’s far more serving than that.

Here’s an idea that I have to try and make this practical.

In your bulletin are a couple of needs.

And I’m sure there are more.

But I will try to communicate with you more of the needs within the body.

And if you know of anything, let me know.

But let’s start caring for those with needs in our church.

People need rides.

People need things done at their house.

And let’s show that we are doers of the word.

And we will do that by caring for and loving those who are the neediest.

Be generous with your time.

Have you ever known someone that was high maintenance?

This is the person that requires a lot.

Requires a lot of time.

This is who we care for.

If you are a doer of the word, then you care for others.

The final sign of true religion is The Word and how it relates to the world.

This is seen at the end of verse 27, “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.”

The idea here is that we offer our lives to God as spiritual sacrifices.

James says that we keep our lives unstained from the world.

To be unstained has to do with sacrifices.

Back in the Old Testament, God desired perfect sacrifices.

He desired holy sacrifices.

This is how we present our lives to God.

We have been set apart.

Christians you are called saints.

Saints are not the extra good Christians.

All Christians are saints.

You are called holy.

You have been cleansed of sin by Christ.

Filled with the Holy Spirit.

Paul says you are a Temple of the Living God.

We live our lives as sacrifices to Him.

says that we present our bodies as living sacrifices to God.

And yet, here we are in this world.

We are holy, because we belong to Christ.

We live differently because we are holy.

Yet we are still in this world.

When James says world:

World here doesn’t mean planet earth.

It means the system of the world.

The thoughts of the world.

The morality of the world.

The ethics of the world.

The philosophy of the world.

The lifestyles of the world.

As long as we are here, there is a danger of us being influenced by the world, or as James says, stained by the world.

We must always keep in our mind that we belong to Christ.

We are citizens of the kingdom of God.

Later this year, athletes from all over the world will travel to Tokyo and compete in the olympics.

We follow Him.

These athletes will go to Tokyo, but they will represent their homelands.

There will be American athletes.

They will remain US citizens while in Japan.

They don’t become Japanese just because they are in Japan.

They remain distinct.

Your life is similar.

You are citizens of the kingdom of God.

And are spending your time in another land.

You remain distinct.

You remain holy.

Therefore be vigilant to remain unstained by the world you are visiting.

If you are a doer of the word, then you will do all that you can to keep yourself unstained, uninfluenced, uncompromising to the world around you.

You will do all that you can to not let the world leave her mark on you.

There was a pastor of Brick Presbyterian Church in New York, Dr. Maltbie Babcock.

One Sunday, a physician who was a friend of Dr. Babcock approached him.

The physician was worried that Dr. Babcock was working too hard, and that he needed some relaxation.

The doctor handed the pastor some tickets to a play.

He said, “Take these, you need the recreation of going to this play.”

The pastor looked at his friend, and said, “Yes, I am tired, and I do need recreation. But doctor, you are a physician, a surgeon. When you operate you scrub your hands until you are antiseptically clean. You wouldn’t dare operate with dirty hands. Well, I am a servant of Christ; I deal with precious human souls. And I wouldn’t dare do my work with a dirty life.”

He didn’t want to go to that play, because he thought it would influence him.

That probably sounds legalistic and puritanical.

But how much more do we need those words for us today?

If we are a doer of the word, we will keep ourselves “unstained from the world.”

Dr. Babcock was concerned about the influence the play would have on his soul.

Imagine what Dr. Babcock would think about the shows and the movies we watch?

If you desire to be unstained by the world what will it change in your lives?

If we desire to be doers of the world, how will we protect ourselves?

How will you protect yourself?

How will you protect your family?

If you are a living sacrifice to Christ, what are you doing to prevent yourself from being influenced by the world?

Don’t see how close to sin you can get.

Paul told Timothy to flee youthful lusts.

Rather, see how close to Christ you can run.

So what will change to keep you unstained.

Zacchaeus, never wanted to be accused of being a lover of money.

His desired to be above reproach.

Didn’t want anyone to think anything bad, so he paid back 4 times what he took.

What will you do to not be influenced by the world?

Verse 22, James says be doers of the word and not hearers only.

You’ve seen today what a doer looks like.

You’ve seen the signs of true religion in your life.

You:

Control our tongue.

Love and care for others.

You remain distinct.

Strive to be holy.

Strive to be unstained by the world around us.

This is all the result of knowing that Christ purchased you on the Cross, and the Spirit converted your heart.

If you aren’t seeing any of this fruit, if you’re not a doer, maybe the reason is because you’ve never met Christ.

Plead with Him to convert you.

Plead with Him to rip out that old heart.

Plead with Him to invade your heart with His Spirit.

It’s easy to think that we are good to go because of our church attendance.

Yet God’s standard is much higher.

He desires us not only to:

Love others.

But to remain distinct.

To be holy.

To be unstained by the world around us.