FOR THE LOVE OF GOD

Scripture Reference: James 2:14-26

The term for ‘mercy’ referenced in the verse preceding our text is often related to that for giving to the needy. One form of mercy I’d like to discuss in relation to faith and works, is charitable giving. Therefore, if one is not supposed to discriminate against the poor, the question arises as to how one should treat them? The answer is, with mercy, that is, amongst other things, with charitable giving. This idea introduces another study, a study, or message, on the relationship of works, mainly charitable deeds or generosity, to faith.

The Principle. James states the principle very simply, “What good is it . . . if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds?” In other words, if a person or persons states that he or she believes all of the right doctrines, but their life does not show obedience to Christ, what good is this type of faith? The answer, which is implied in the question, is, “No good at all.”

In case any of us have missed the point, James adds, “Can such faith save them?” In Greek the way you state a question implies the expected answer. In this case the answer James expects is clearly, “No, it can’t save them.”

The Example. James adds an example to make it very clear what he is talking about. He paints a picture of a Christian brother or sister in real need. It is not about whether they have nice clothes, but rather do they have enough clothing to keep warm and decent. It is not about whether they have any food for the rest of the week, but rather do they have anything to eat today. What does their fellow-Christian do? He or she says a prayer. A statement that might be said, “Go, I wish you well,” is a blessing meaning, “Go in peace.” The “keep warm and well fed” makes this blessing specific. Its point is to be, or appear, pious. It is full of faith, the person saying it, believing that God will provide. It is very religious. It is theologically correct. However, it is not spiritually correct. What it lacks is the going to their own wardrobe and pantry and getting out their own clothing and food and sharing it with their unfortunate brother or sister. Because of this James says that such a prayer is totally useless, there is no merit to it. He also concludes, so are all forms of faith which are not accompanied by action. We may believe that Jesus is Lord, but if we do not obey Him in actively loving one another, that belief is just empty words. We may believe that God loves the poor, but if we do not care for them in a loving and unselfish way, our faith is in essence dead, non-existent.

To Be Continued

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV © 2011 by Biblica, Inc.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture Reference: Galatians 6:11-14

The Cross – A Sign of Our Hope of Heaven – Continued

That cross is a sign of our hope of glory. If, (and I say that rhetorically) there is any tomorrow, if there is any Heaven, if there is any God and life yet to be, the cross is a sign of that hope.

Pass by any large cemetery and you will find that most of them have an area filled with hundreds, if not thousands of white crosses. When you look at them you can’t help but think of many other cemeteries, especially American military cemeteries around the world, such as at Arlington, Virginia, in the Philippines, in the Hawaiian Islands, in France. Everywhere, erected above that fallen American boy who has died in battle, our people erected a cross. Why? Because it is a hope. It is a prayer, it is a vision, it is a dream, it is an expectation, it is a promise, it is an assurance that God has prepared some better thing for us than what we know in the sorrow and tears of this life. If we have any hope, any forgiveness, any tomorrow, it lies in the atoning death of the Son of God.

I’m reminded of a story of a little girl in Charing Cross in London:

There was a little girl in the city who lost her way. She just wandered around in the streets of London, crying heart-brokenly, piteously. An English bobby saw the child wandering and stopped her to ask her why her sobbing. The child answered that she was lost and did not know how to find her way home. The bobby said to her, ‘Do not cry. Sit down here by my side and we will find where you live, where home is.’ So the bobby sat on the curb of the street and the little brokenhearted girl sat by his side. He said, ‘Now I am going to ask you some places in London and you tell me if you recognize any of them. Piccadilly Circus?’ ‘No.’ ‘Westminster?’ ‘No.’ ‘Charing Cross?’ ‘Ah,’ said the little girl in her tears, ‘Yes, yes. Take me down to the cross and I can find my way home from there!’ ”

How true for all humanity, for all mankind, for our hopes and our hearts, and our lives! Take me to the cross and I can find my way home from there. This is God’s invitation to each and everyone of us. This is God’s love and mercy poured out in the earth. This is God’s sweet invitation to us today. I invite you all, especially as we celebrate this season of the resurrection, come, come, to the cross. The cross is where we all have to start!

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®, ESV © 2016 by Crossway Bibles.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture Reference: Galatians 6:11-14

The Cross – A Sign of Our Hope of Heaven

Third, the cross is a sign and an emblem of our atonement and our salvation, our hope of glory. Christ died. How did He die? Why did He die? Did He die like Socrates, drinking the hemlock, a martyr to philosophical truth? Did He die like Julius Caesar, a hero in the senate before the cruel daggers of Brutus and Cassius? Did He die like the Agamemnon in Aeschylus carrying out the heroic assignment of the Greek nation against the Trojans? Did He die like Shakespeare’s tragedy of King Lear? Did He die like Abraham Lincoln under the assassin’s bullet in Ford’s Theater in Washington? How did He die?

We know from the Word that there is a divine meaning in the death of Christ. This is God’s plan for our salvation. There is no pardon and peace apart from atonement. There is no remission of sins apart from the shedding of blood (Hebrews 9:22), and there is no reconciliation without the payment of death. This is our atonement, our propitiation, our sacrifice for sin. This is our means of reconciliation to God. The cross to the Apostle Paul and to us is the same thing as the brazen serpent raised in the wilderness was to Moses and the children of Israel. It is a sign of universal love, mercy, forgiveness, and healing from the hands of God.

The cross is a sign of our atonement. It is a sign of our forgiveness, once and for all. It is a sign of God’s inviting love, His invitation to pardon and forgiveness. It is an invitation to life. The cross has an upraised beam. Raised toward the sky, it points toward God in Heaven. It has a lower part that touches the earth. God, reaching out His loving hand, extends it down even to us. It has crossarms and they go in either direction as far as the East goes East and as far as the West goes West (Psalm 103:12). The arms of the cross are extended to the limits of the earth. It is the open invitation to all men everywhere to find life, liberty, forgiveness, mercy, and salvation in the atoning love, sobs, tears, suffering death of the Son of God. We are all welcome.

The arms of the cross extend to all mankind, to the Greek and to the Barbarian, to the Roman and to the unsophisticated, to the Jew and to the Greek, to the bond and to the free, to the lettered and to the unlearned, to the rich and to the poor, to the wise and to the unwise, to the old and to the young, to the near and to those who are far off, to the good and to the not so good, to all of us does God extend wide His invitation. The world could never be the same again because our Lord died in it. It was this planet upon which Jesus spilled His sacred blood.

To Be Continued

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®, ESV © 2016 by Crossway Bibles.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture Reference: Galatians 6:11-14

The Cross – Speaks of Man’s Universal Depravity

Second, the cross is a sign and an emblem of the universal depravity of the human heart. If one would see what humanity is really like, look at the cross, cruel and merciless, dark and sinful. The Lord was born in Bethlehem. The gift of God in love to the world came in that little town of David. When the gift was made the angels sang and the stars were lowered like golden lamps from the sky. The shepherds worshiped and eventually the wise men came and brought their gifts. Just five miles away is Jerusalem. Thirty-three years later the human family, humankind, gave back the gift of God’s love in Christ Jesus on the point of a Roman spear. Who did that, who crucified the Lord? Who is responsible for His shameful, indescribably shameful and humiliating death? Who did that?

Well, there could be many answers. Some say it’s God’s fault, that God did it. The wife of Job said to her husband, “Curse God and die” (Job 2:9). There are others who say it is His own fault. He should have been a better manager and a better planner, and He should have been shrewder. There are those who say that the Jews did it. There are those who say that the rulers did it. Some say Judas Iscariot did it. He sold Him. There are those who say Pontius Pilate did it—the weak, vacillating procurator who looked upon the miscarriage of Roman justice. There are those who say the soldiers did it. They braided the crown of thorns and they nailed Him to the tree. Who did it? Pontius Pilate washes his hands and says, “I did not do it. I am innocent of the blood of that just man” (Matthew 27:24). The Roman soldiers say, “We did not do it!” Who did it? Who slew the Son of glory? Who nailed Him to the cross? It must have been that we all had a part. The truth of it is that we all did it. Our sins nailed Him to the tree and our sins pressed upon His brow the crown of thorns. We all did it.

There’s a story often told of a man who at one time said:

“In a dream I saw the Savior. His back was bare and there was a soldier lifting up his hand and bringing down on His back that awful scorpion of nine tails, that awful cat-o-nine tails with its leather thongs and its pieces of iron woven into the leather. In the dream I rose and grasped his arm to hold it back. When I did, the soldier turned around in astonishment to look at me, and when I looked at him I recognized myself!”

Who slew the Son of glory? Again, we all did it. Our sins crucified the Prince of Heaven. Therefore, there is no doubt that the cross is a sign of universal human depravity and sin.

To Be Continued

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®, ESV © 2016 by Crossway Bibles.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.