When Jesus walked the earth as a man, there were many religions, just like there are today. Systems that are man's attempts to climb up and connect to God. But somewhere along the way, Religion can become of greater importance than the God it was created to connect with. It can become the tower of Babel which attempted to reach into heaven through man's own efforts, designs and works. But like the tower of Babel, those efforts usually just bring confusion and discord which only pushes people further from God. It is important then, that we continually define and identify the purpose of religion....Jesus redefined religion.
Into the midst of all these religions, Jesus came to confront the Pharisees, scribes, and Sadusees with pure religion which he taught to His disciples and James, His biological brother who got right up in the face of the religious leaders of his day and he describes what pure religion is, in the book that bears his name.... Let's take a moment and read this passage beginning with the 22nd verse....
James 1:22 "But as for you, be doers of the word, and not hearers only, otherwise you are only deceiving yourselves. v23 For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like a man beholding his natural face in a mirror, v24 who sees himself, and goes on his way, and forgets what he saw. v25 But whoever looks into the perfect law of liberty, (the word of God) and walks it out, not being a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the word, this man shall be blessed in his deeds. v26 If anyone among you seem to be religious, and does not discipline his tongue, but speaks contrary to his own heart, this man's religion is vain. v27 Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep yourself unspotted from the world". What James was saying is that if you look into the Word of God you'll see two things. One, you'll see your own sin and two; you'll see your Savior. The man who continues looking into the mirror of God's Word sees in it things far more wonderful than his own face. For he sees Jesus standing before God, and standing between himself and his sins.
James is not only talking about religion, but about how that religion is expressed or lived out. So, what kind of religion do we have? Is it like a... SPARE TIRE RELIGION...(only used in the case of an emergency) Pulled out of the trunk where it's hidden when nothing else works? .. Is it WHEELBARROW RELIGION... (it must constantly be pushed and will easily flip over if you hit a rut)? Is it BUS RELIGION..(ridden only when it's going your way) then you get off and leave it behind ?
To be sure that our own religion is acceptable before God, let's notice some of the characteristics which the bible gives for "Pure And Undefiled Religion"
First, Pure religion isn't just "show and tell" ... It's also "come and see".... This is clearly implied in the phrase "be doers" and "not hearers only" -
A lot of folks talk the walk, but they don't walk the talk. And some folks just talk too much! They have too many opinions, and they share them too quickly. Because they have an answer and a criticism for everything under the sun and they wreak havoc wherever they go. Christianity would be an amazing thing if it weren't for a lot of the people who say they are Christians.
Luke_6:45 Jesus tells us, "Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.
Did you know the average person speaks 16,000 words a day? In a month you speak 480,000 words. In one year you speak 5,760,000 words, which is roughly equivalent to 4 volumes of the Encyclopedia Britannica. If we stretch that out over 70 years, the average person speaks 403 million words, roughly equal to the entire 44-volume set of Encyclopedia Britannica, multiplied nine times. No wonder Paul says that we are written epistles read of all men. That's a lot of words, and a lot of opportunities to bless inspire and encourage those around you. Numbers 23:20 "Behold, I have received a commandment to bless..."
Imagine if someone could read the contents of the book you are writing with your tongue. Suppose it was recorded somewhere, written down somehow, caught on video, and then played back on the Internet for the whole world to see. What would we learn about your religion? If that thought doesn’t terrify you, at least a little bit, then you are a saint far advanced beyond the rest of us, or you are completely clueless about yourself. Perhaps a lot of folks need to pray for the gift of silence. I can speak silence fluently in 10 different languages!
Social media increases the temptation of careless speech: “In a day of text-messaging, email, cell phones, Skype, Twitter, blogs, Facebook, etc., we need to be careful. We’ve created an entire culture that says if you have a thought, then you should immediately lay it out there to the rest of the world to see. You can’t skate past the words of James about brideling our tongue, or our religion is vain, by saying, “My speech is pretty good and upright 95% of the time.” That’s like saying, “I’m not really a murderer, or thief or liar. Most of the time I never murder anyone. I only kill people, or steal, or lie, or cheat 5% of the time.”
Next, "Pure And Undefiled Religion" must also be... "PRACTICAL" where the rubber meets the road.... Someone has said that what happens on Sunday is important, but what happens on Monday is very important!
Bob Rowland pictures the problem in his poem “Listen, Christian!”: "I was hungry, And you formed a humanities club, And discussed my hunger. Thank you. I was imprisoned, And you crept off quietly to your chapel, and prayed for my release. I was naked, and in your mind, you debated the morality of my appearance. I was sick and you knelt and thanked God for your health, in fear that you might catch what I had. I was homeless, and you preached to me about the spiritual shelter of the Love of God. I was lonely, and you left me alone and said you would pray for me. You seem so holy, So close to God. But I’m still very hungry, alone, and naked.
Pure religion is virticle as well as horizontal....We live our lives for an audience of one, but our religion, must also be horizontal as we extend our hand to our fellow man in ministry and service.
The motto of the religious leaders of Jesus' day was "Let your fingers do the walking"..... But Jesus told His disciples, "Let your sandals do the walking, let your hands do the serving"
We can never substitute another church service or even more Bible reading for rolling up our sleeves and getting involved. Pure religion gets its hands dirty. Pure religion will serve and help those who can never repay, or do anything in return. James is using widows and orphans as a symbol of those who can give nothing back.
With that perspective, James is saying God bless those who care for the widows, single mothers, foster children, who adopt children, who care for the disabled, who support missionaries, who speak up for the unborn. The religion God approves cares for those who cannot care for themselves, the sick, the dying, the homeless, the disabled, the immigrants, the victims of sex trafficking, prisoners, refugees, and many others the world would rather overlook.
Martin Luther King, Jr. stated that "Religion operates not only on the vertical plane but also on the horizontal. It seeks not only to integrate men with God but to integrate men with men and each man with himself".
A further characteristic of "Pure And Undefiled Religion" is that it is a ..."PERSONAL" RELIGION... It is not "do as I say"..... but it is "Do as I do".
The Apostle Paul didn't just say, "Follow me", He said "Follow me as I follow Christ"..... That's personal..... A print shop was making leaflets for a local church, and the church wanted a logo with the Earth being held by the hand of God. The print shop sent the church a proof copy. Shortly after it arrived, the printer got a call from the pastor, saying, "That hand looks too human. Please use a hand that looks more like God’s".
Religion tries to make human hands appear as God's but God is focused on making His hands look human.....He uses our hands, our feet, our eyes and our words. Religion will never please God, but it is faith that works religiously in a sin tarnished world, that pleases Him!
Imagine a two boys coming home from school. It’s been raining hard, so there is a huge mud puddle in their path. What do they do? Well, it depends. If they remember what their mom told them, they will walk around the mud puddle so they won’t get dirty. But if they feel in a frisky mood, they may jump into the puddle, getting mud all over their clothes, no matter what they have been told!
A life of Anarchy always leads to Godlessness. It has to, because Godlessness is rebellion's ultimate end. It doesn't matter how good you are; salvation is not because you're good—Hell is not because you're bad. It is because you failed to accept the sacrifice God has provided in Jesus.
Religion began in the Bible with Adam and Eve covering themselves with fig leaves, in Genesis 3, But when God slew an animal, shedding it's blood, so they would have a covering, it prophesied that atonement and redemption was on it's way. And as God walked with them in the garden we can see that it was relationship which He wanted, not just a religion.
If you were to ask a lot of people if they were saved, they would tell you what religion they were.... Lutheran, Catholic, Presbeterian, Pentecostal, and on, and on.... But those are just fig leaves, when God has provided a perfect sacrifice for all mankind through the cross of Jesus Christ.
Church is who we are, not where we go....Going to church and giving in the church offering, is never to replace our individual and personal responsibility for "BEING THE CHURCH".... and serving those who need assistance ....
In the Old Testament... (Deuteronomy 26:12) the tithe of the third year was set aside for the widows and orphans, but folks were to still help them whenever there was need and they had the opportunity!
Notice also that A "PURE" RELIGION must be PURE.... John instructs us about walking in continuous cleansing.....we have to go where people are who need Christ, but in our going, we must not lower our standards or somehow compromise our values and convictions.
The old saying is that "if you lay down with the dogs, you'll get up with the fleas! Somehow we must find ways to get deeply involved in this hurting world while at the same time not letting the world rub off on us.
Put simply, there are some places I personally can’t go. There are some people I don’t need to be around. There are some Internet sites I won’t visit. There are some TV shows that only drag me down. To borrow the words of Clint Eastwood, a man’s gotta know his limitations. I need to know who I am and whose I am. As a practical matter, I need to know my own limits and stay within them even if others have no problem doing what my convictions tell me I can’t do.
I drink all the booze I want, cheat on my wife all I want to, cuss and swear all I want, and steal and lie all I want......I JUST DON'T WANT TO!!
During the church announcements, the pastor read a note he’d been handed moments earlier. “It says here that I should announce that there will be no B.S. tomorrow morning,” he said. He tucked the piece of paper into a pocket and added, “I’m really hoping that they mean ‘Bible Study."
*.....1 John 1:6 If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we are not of the truth: v7 But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. v8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. v9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. v10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us".
A repentant heart before God will not stray far from the path of purity.
The danger is to have a "Ho-Hum" attitude to sin.... and to develop an insensitivity to sin in our lives.... We sometimes think a little sin doesn’t matter. Would you drink a glass of water that was 90% pure, but had only 5% poison in it? Of course not. You want unpolluted water to drink. The world rubs off on us more than we realize. Pretty soon we start to talk and act like the people around us. We are called to be in the world, but not of the world.... A little boat can cross a big ocean as long as the ocean doesn't get in the boat. The world system includes three basic areas of temptation which Adam and Eve bought into, in the Garden of Eden.
THE LUST OF THE FLESH – What feels good THE LUST OF THE EYES – What looks good THE PRIDE OF LIFE – or it's all about me.....me, me, me....my rights, my space, my time, my money, my fun, my stuff!
We have been given the example of Jesus who left the glories of heaven for a barnyard birth. He left behind the purity of heaven to rescue us from the impurity of this world. He walked among mankind, lived , talked, ate, laughed, and wept with them. He rubbed shoulders with gluttons and drunkards. But he never became a glutton or a drunkard or a hypocrite. The prostitutes, drunkards and theives evidently knew him, and recognized in him a kind of man who was different from all the others they had known. Because He lifted the fallen but did not fall himself.
And this is what makes the religion of Jesus Christ so UNIQUE!
Other religions may be "practicing, practical and personal" But only the true religion of Jesus Christ can present us "pure" in the sight of God! - He freely gives us what religion never can.... redeemption and eternal life....He not only gives us eternal life but He gives us heaven to go to heaven in!!!
There was a fellow who decided to quit smoking? The doctor had told him, "You'll die with cancer if you don't quit smoking." So he quit smoking and started eating a lot of fruit instead, and he died choking on a grape.
Listen, religion will get you to the grave, but it takes a relationship with Jesus the savior of the world, to get you to heaven.
He lived among us that He might identify with us, He died in our place and took our judgment, so we might receive His holiness. He rose from the dead to prove that physical death is not the end. He ascended up to heaven to represent us before Father God, And He's coming back again to be the perfect ruler of a perfect government, which shall bring into existance a perfect world without sin.
John 14:6 Jesus said unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man comes unto the Father, but by me.
Every other path is just another tower of Babel, where man in his own strength and by his own works seeks to reach God.
May we choose the path of pure religion, that we may be an agent of transformation in the lives of those who know us best!
He simply says.... ask and you shall be given..... The best things in life really are free!
Death is conquered, His grace is free, Jesus has won
The victory!!!!
