A Faith That Works (11)
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A boy once asked his dad, “Dad, how do wars begin?”
“Well,” said his father, “Take the 1st World War, it got started when Germany invaded Belgium.”
Immediately, mom interrupted, “Honey, tell the boy the truth. It began because somebody was assassinated.”
The husband drew himself with an air os superiority and snapped back, “Are you answering the question, or am I?”
Turning her back on him, she stormed out, and slammed the door as hard as she could… When the dishes stopped rattling, an uneasy silence followed…
The boy broke the silence saying, “Daddy, you don’t have to answer my question anymore; I know how wars begin!”
“Why can’t we all just get along?”
That is the age old question! It goes all the way back to Cain and Able....
Let me ask you: “What is the biggest barrier to the Gospel in our world today?”
— Christians… (Or more specifically, Christians in conflict.)
Think about it…
We cannot even agree on doctrine. There are hundreds of different denominations — all of which developed because “this group couldn’t agree with that group, and they couldn’t even hold a conversation about their differences.”
(And… make no mistake, even “non-denominational” churches are guilty of this… )
Christians are called …
— haters (hate-filled)
— Judgemental
— Hypocrites
— Angry, and divisive
— Evil
— Unloving
— etc…
Why do you think that is?
— We spend more time “warring” against ourselves then we do loving people!
Think about it… (during covid… over hot topics {racism, lgbtq, etc…])
Why would people want to come to church… to listen to our message… or even believe it… when we cannot even love each other?!?
Jesus told us:
35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
Paul says:
4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling,
5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism,
6 one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all.
YET… When people look at the Church today, What do they see?
— Conflict… strife… anger… bitterness… and disagreement… NOT LOVE!
— We spend more time arguing about doctrine… current affairs… hot topics… social justice… “how” we should speak to people… music styles… then we do actually sharing the gospel!
— And we cannot even agree on how to do that!!!
Yet… all the while… Jesus is pleading with us to “Look at the Fields!” (Jn 4:35)
A Faith That Works, is a Faith that is “UNIFIED”!
— Unified in the mission of God!
— It is a Faith that seeks God and DENIES the world!
Jesus told us:
24 Then Jesus told his disciples, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.
25 For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.
Paul tells us:
28 There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.
Yet… Look at James’s words in chapter 4:
1 Those conflicts and disputes among you, where do they come from? Do they not come from your cravings that are at war within you?
2 You want something and do not have it; so you commit murder. And you covet something and cannot obtain it; so you engage in disputes and conflicts. You do not have, because you do not ask.
3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, in order to spend what you get on your pleasures.
4 Adulterers! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.
5 Or do you suppose that it is for nothing that the scripture says, “God yearns jealously for the spirit that he has made to dwell in us”?
6 But he gives all the more grace; therefore it says, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”
7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
Remember… James is not speaking to unbelievers… He is not speaking to the “heathens of the world”… He is speaking to the Church… to Christians!
James paints a pretty bleak picture of the Church here…
— These Christians were arguing and fighting among each other…
— They were not revealing the Love of God…
— They were busy trying to get their own way… to be the “important ones”… to be in charge…
In his commentary on this passage, J. Micheal Walters says:
James: A Bible Commentary in the Wesleyan Tradition (Chapter 9: The Problem of Double-Minded Desires (James 4:1–5))
What a frightening picture of degraded religion James paints here. Rather than the peaceable fruit of wisdom from above, this kind of “faith” bears the kind of fruit that rightly deserves its designation as “earthly, unspiritual, of the devil” (3:15).
A quick look around the contemporary church tells us that we ought to take James’s words to heart. People are being killed—both literally and figuratively—in the pursuit of desire dressed as religion.
The inability to satisfy the misplaced longings of humankind has turned our cities into gutters of unthinkable filth and moral depravity. Hucksters posing as preachers hawk a brand of religious faith where God is offered as the answer to all our wants and fantasies.
It grows ever more difficult to distinguish the believers from nonbelievers as lifestyles in the church increasingly mirror the culture around us.
He goes on to say:
James: A Bible Commentary in the Wesleyan Tradition (Chapter 9: The Problem of Double-Minded Desires (James 4:1–5))
Christians have replaced the standard of “Behold how they love one another,” with the more likely words, “Behold how they [quarrel] one another!”
Why?!?
Why do we seem to spend more time fighting with each other than sharing the gospel?!
Why do different churches spend so much time arguing with… and condemning each other over “man-made” doctrine?
James asks the same question:
1 Those conflicts and disputes among you, where do they come from? Do they not come from your cravings that are at war within you?
2 You want something and do not have it; so you commit murder. And you covet something and cannot obtain it; so you engage in disputes and conflicts. You do not have, because you do not ask.
Look at his answer to the question:
James 4:1 (NRSV)
1 Those conflicts and disputes among you, where do they come from? Do they not come from your cravings that are at war within you?
The Greek word for “cravings”/”desires” is Hedonon. (Sound familiar?)
Hedonon menas “pleasures”
It is the root of the word “hedonism”.
Hedonism views pleasure as THE CHIEF GOAL of life.
We desire to please ourselves in every way… to have the best that this world has to offer… We think we deserve it!
We desire to satisfy our sensual and temporal desires… and we are willing to do anything to accomplish that.
James says: “You eagerly desire to have something, but you don’t get it.”
We will NEVER be satisfied with what we possess — We will always want more!
(now listen)
Possessions… Wealth… Power… NEVER bring contentment!
Why?
James says: “They [we] do not have… we cannot get it...”
Why? Why can we not seem to find contentment?
We would think the answer would be complicated, but....
Look at James 4:2 (c)
James 4:2 (NRSV)
2 You want something and do not have it; so you commit murder. And you covet something and cannot obtain it; so you engage in disputes and conflicts. You do not have, because you do not ask.
God is the Giver of ALL Good Things!
All we have to to is ASK!
“But Pastor… I ask and ask, and God does not answer!”
3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, in order to spend what you get on your pleasures.
How often do we ask, simply for ourselves?
— God, fill MY needs…
— God, bring her/him back to me…
— God, fix him/her…
— God, pay him/her back for what he/she did…
— God, show them where they are wrong…
— God, give me_______…
— God, Bless me… Bless my work… Bless my finances… Bless my home…
Have you ever noticed how — most often — our prayers … our asking of God… turns into asking for the things of this world?
James says:
3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, in order to spend what you get on your pleasures.
Why did they not receive?
— Not because they had the wrong parents…
— Not because of their spouse…
— Not because of a lack of education…
— Not because of bad luck…
But…
— They did not ask God.
— They were lusting and fighting rather than praying.
— They tried to get it on their own.
— They left God out of the equation.
They asked with the wrong motives.
True Blessings cannot be achieved on our own ways, or through our own strength…
A True Blessing is something that only God can give!
Let me tell you:
— Worldly blessings can make us rich… but they cannot make us live richly.
— Worldly blessings can buy healthy food… but they cannot make us healthy.
— Worldly blessings can buy expensive cars… motorcycles… homes… but, they cannot buy us happiness and protection.
We MUST seek blessings from God.
4 Adulterers! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.
5 Or do you suppose that it is for nothing that the scripture says, “God yearns jealously for the spirit that he has made to dwell in us”?
6 But he gives all the more grace; therefore it says, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”
When we seek the world, and not God, we commit spiritual adultery!
James says: “If one desires to be in friendship with the world… with the things of this world… then that person is at enmity with God.”
In scripture, the word “world” refers to the system of evil controlled by satan.
— It is wicked and opposed to God!
Therefore, friendship with the world is hatred toward God.
Pastor Micheal Collins says: “If we choose to be friends with the world, we are choosing to be an enemy of God.”
Because… we are forsaking our covenant with God, and making a covenant with the world.
We do this when life becomes all about money and possessions.
Have we traded our relationship with God for a relationship with money and possessions?
24 “No one can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.
We cannot serve both God and money… (now listen) We don’t have to!!!
25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?
26 Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?
27 And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life?
28 And why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin,
29 yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these.
30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith?
31 Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’
32 For it is the Gentiles who strive for all these things; and indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.
33 But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
God is able to meet our needs… for food… for water… for clothing… for shelter… IF we ONLY seek Him!!!
Look at that last verse again:
33 But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
That is a promise — from God — to care for us!
— ALL we have to do is TRUST HIM.
Look at verse 5.
5 Or do you suppose that it is for nothing that the scripture says, “God yearns jealously for the spirit that he has made to dwell in us”?
God placed His Spirit within us.
— When we gave ourselves to Christ, He sent His Holy Spirit to live in us…
— That same Spirit longs for us to be in a “committed” relationship with God… and He will do EVERYTHING He can to help us do that!
— But… He loves us with a jealous love…
5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and the fourth generation of those who reject me,
6 but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments.
God says, we are NOT to REPLACE our worship and reverence of Him with anything!
— We are not to serve money… or possessions… or anything else of this world, including ideologies…
We are to serve God alone!
When we serve the things and ideas of this world, we walk away from our relationship with God.
A Faith That Works seeks God alone and denies the world.
This may seem like difficult things to live by, but…
Look at verse 6
6 But he gives all the more grace; therefore it says, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”
God gives us “grace upon grace.”
— He sets a high standard for us, but… He also gives us Grace to meet it!
In Mt 19:16-30, we find the story of the “rich Young Ruler”…
Jesus called him to a “higher standard” and he found that he could not meet it.
22 When the young man heard this word, he went away grieving, for he had many possessions.
23 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly I tell you, it will be hard for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven.
24 Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”
The disciples were completely shocked by Jesus’s words, and in verse 25 they ask:
Matthew 19:25 (NRSV)
25 When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astounded and said, “Then who can be saved?”
Look at Jesus’s answer:
Matthew 19:26 (NRSV)
26 But Jesus looked at them and said, “For mortals it is impossible, but for God all things are possible.”
— God is able to give us the Grace we need to live the life He calls us to.
All we have to do is ask!
This is why James says:
7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
9 Lament and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy into dejection.
10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.
We need to move from a position of rebellion against God, to a place of submission to God… in every area of our lives!
When we do, then we are able to “resist the devil”…
I want you to see something…
Look at:
Matthew 4:8–11 (NRSV)
8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor;
9 and he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.”
10 Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! for it is written, ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.’ ”
11 Then the devil left him, and suddenly angels came and waited on him.
Notice Jesus’s words in verse 10.
— satan tempted Jesus with the things of this world, but Jesus stood on His relationship with God.
Look at verse 11:
11 Then the devil left him, and suddenly angels came and waited on him.
When we put our relationship with God first, the enemy flees from us!
When we draw near to God, God draws near to us!
I wonder… How often have we missed out on God’s Grace in our lives, because we have traded our relationship with Him for the things of this world?!?
It is not enough to merely enter into a relationship with God.
— We must COMMIT to it.
— We must seek to move deeper in it.
— We must seek an intimacy with God that prevents the enemy from gaining a “foothold”… and forces him to flee from us.
If we hold on to the world, WE LOSE!!!
15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. The love of the Father is not in those who love the world;
16 for all that is in the world—the desire of the flesh, the desire of the eyes, the pride in riches—comes not from the Father but from the world.
17 And the world and its desire are passing away, but those who do the will of God live forever.
A Faith That Works is a Faith that is UNIFIED by seeking God and denying the world.
What is it that is coming between you and God?
What is it that you are holding on to?
What is keeping you from EXPERIENCING the grace of God?
You cannot hold on to the world, and receive God!
(Altar call — Get up and come to the altar!)