Tested Allegiance | James: Tried, Tested, and True

So thankful for the Ohms family and we're gonna be welcoming some other

families over the coming rest of this month and next month which is exciting.

But James starts us last week talking about joy and trials and had a lot of

conversations with you about this how we do that. Had a lot of conversations about

if God loved me why would he bring trials into my life? That was one of my

favorites because I thought that too like why would a good God allow for

trials in this life and it's not comforting at all but say well there's

sin in the world so we're going to go through those things. It doesn't always

feel like a warm blanket. It doesn't always bring comfort but the fact that

James implores us to find joy even in trials though that doesn't mean when

trials come or bad things come in life that we go hey can I have another thank

you? I don't I'm not like that I don't expect any of you to be. But now he's

gonna finish chapter one with really the the reason why we can have joy in trials.

It's because of faith. This understanding of true faith and I know we've looked at

Lord's Day 7 we'll get there in a little bit we're gonna look at a bunch of

different things in the height of our catechism today which is a catechism we

use in the Reformed faith to help guide us to truths in Scripture. We do not hold

that equal with Scripture by any means. Without Scripture we wouldn't have a

catechism or a Belgian confession or a Canaan's Adorner if you're Lutheran the

Luther, small or big catechism or the Westminster catechism. All of that is

founded on Scripture, little side note. But how do we walk out faith in the

midst of trials? How do we walk out faith just in our everyday life? That every day

you wake up to have faith in God, have faith in the the things of God, God's

promises in your life. From the minute you wake up and you go through all sorts

of emotions, I'm not gonna take this personally, but how many people could

have slept after their alarm went off, could have slept in? Yeah

exactly. Jason's hand first went up. I won't take that personally at all. But

understand you have choices to make just like in faith you have choices to make

and how we walk through those, James is gonna round us out today in the end of

chapter 1. And what he's gonna do, he's going to bring about an understanding of

how the world actually sees a person of faith by what they do. Because the world

can tell about who you believe in or let's liken it to, I mean people can tell

who you root for when it comes to sports because of maybe the things you say,

things you wear, you know maybe you you made sure everybody was home on Friday

to watch the Bulls right and go we're gonna make the playoffs this year. Nope

nope we didn't. Same thing as last year but I made sure I wanted to watch that.

We wanted to endure that I guess as a family. But we, people know especially

Cubs fans right. I mean all the garb, all the flags and all of that stuff I know

they're Cubs fans right. I knew it when I threw the egg. I get it right that they

are Cubs fans. But I wonder if the same goes through for people of Munster

Church about their faith in God, not Munster Church. So yeah in the future we

may have shirts and all that kind of stuff. Be careful and I've said this

before about like that magnet that we have in the back, like having that on

your bumper or maybe on your car. Like you should probably think of how you're

gonna drive. I have yet to get in six years calls from anybody be like oh

those are the kind of people you have at Munster Church. That so-and-so cut me off

on 80-94. I don't know how many people would actually like look into Munster

Church and probably you're driving fast enough where they thought it was Faith

Munster that's fine. Let them get the call. Charlie can deal with it. But

understand when we wear Jesus the world expects certain things of us and some

people expect to get hypocrisy and that's hard. Oh you're a Christian. Oh

that must mean you're gonna judge me. You're gonna hate on me. You're gonna

this that or the other thing. Because in a lot of ways we've we've built a little

bit of a bad name for ourselves. But what does it look like to actually walk out

faith? Walking out Jesus, your relationship with Jesus, your

understanding of Jesus, the truths of God's Word. So James is gonna start

breaking this down. My first point is that faith can be seen. A dynamic of true

faith is being, and we're gonna start with conviction right off the bat. I'm

okay if you're audibly grown so did I. That point one is that you're quick to hear,

slow to speak, slow to anger.

Just gonna let that sit. Slow that we are quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to

anger. James 1 19 says know this my beloved brothers. Let every person be

quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger. For the anger of man does not

produce the righteousness of God. Therefore put away all filthiness and

rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted Word which is

able to save your souls. So right off the bat he's gonna go right here. I warned

us two weeks ago, this is exactly what James does, that part of walking out

faith is that we're quick to listen, slow to speak, and I'm also going to say type

or post, okay, and slow to anger. I think it's funny kind of the rhythm of that.

That what gets us in trouble is when we don't listen and we're quick to speak

and we go from 0 to 10 when it comes to anger. Well some people are like, oh yeah,

they just have a bad temper. That's not an excuse. That for a believer, for a

person of faith, that we are to be slow to anger and James doubles down on it

when he says for the anger of man. So that's different than the righteous

anger of God. So are we allowed to be angry? If we're going to be angry at the

level of righteous anger of God which is against enslavement, which is against

hypocrisy, which is against darkness, which is against saying one thing, living

another, it's saying one thing or thinking another, those are the thing.

Divisive spirits, Proverbs talks about that, is one of the only thing the Lord

hates or abhors is a divisive spirit. So if you are being divisive in a situation

in your life, guess what? In that moment, God hates what you're doing and if you

are a person of faith, you should probably stop. But he's not talking about

God's anger. He's talking about man's anger and if we kind of find what the

root of man's anger, who thinks they know what it is? What is the root cause of

man, humanity's anger? Ego. What else? You're almost there. Pride. Who said pride?

Alright, give Avya a high five. Good. Pride. Well pastor, there's a lot more

things that I'm angry about. Yeah, but the root of that is you. The root of that is

me. Again, we're not talking about righteous anger. We are not. We're talking

about man's anger. We're talking about sinful anger. Why do you think the first

four commandments given from God to the Israelites had everything to do with

man's ability to try and replace God? Because he knew we would. Given of

ourselves we won't, we wouldn't need God because we'd want to be God's ourselves.

How did they know that that was even a possibility? They were in Egypt. Pharaoh

was God. Or a God, lowercase g, always lowercase g, but that's what he thought

about himself. I'm here to tell you, as a position of

authority in an organization, the minute I think that way, it's over for me. The

minute that ego and that pride, that thinking, thus saith Jim, no. And I have

ten elders that will keep me honest to that. And a wife that very much will keep

me honest to that. But understand that that's what he's talking about. He's

talking about those things. When I, in my mind, in my thoughts, in my speech, in my

post, place myself over somebody else taking a God-like position. Now I know

some of you are saying, but I defend the goodness and the righteousness of

God. I get it. I get it. But at some point, or a lot of the points, we don't make it

about that. We make it about winning and losing. We make it about TKO, a total

knockout in a conversation. Whether you're in the boardroom, whether you're

in the family room, whether you're in the sanctuary or whatever it is, when we get

into fights, when we get angry, we want to beat that person. All I know is Jesus

could have done that all the time. We could go through, go to Luke chapter 4,

Luke 4 · chapter mention

the first time he was the attempt to hit on his life. Some of you may not even

realize that, that they tried to kill him in Luke chapter 4 for saying that the

Luke 4 · chapter mention

scriptures are being fulfilled in him. They wanted to stone him, meaning either

stones come at you or you get thrown two stones, meaning off a cliff. And what does

Luke say? He passed right through him for it was not the right time. But at any

time, right? Woman caught in the act of adultery. At any time, he could have been

like, and you're all dead. He could have, but he didn't because we're to learn how

to work through these situations, these ideas of judgment. Now, it's totally...the

Bible is used to be held accountable, to hold people accountable, to rebuke them

when they are doing something evil. Absolutely. We are called to do that, but

this anger is not the righteous anger of God. It is the sinful anger of man. This

understanding of being quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger is that for

a believer, our practices should be humility and patience because that is

mirroring the heart of true faith. That in trials, in affliction, in conflict, we

are to have true faith. That this faith is a gift from God, granted to those who

he calls. So we will get to Lord's Day 7, but we're going to go to Lord's Day...we're

going to go to question and answer 20 first. And then we'll get to question

21, what is true faith? The first, are all people then saved through Jesus Christ

as they were lost through Adam? The answer, no, only those are saved who,

through true faith, was grafted into Christ and accept all his benefits. That

the world, someone who is not of the elect, someone who does not claim Jesus

as Lord, right, this isn't an us versus them, this is those being called of faith

has been given this gift of true faith. How does that sit with us this morning?

That true faith is a gift. Does any of us have a reaction to that? That what? Peace.

Interesting. Anyone else? When you hear that true faith is a gift that we are

given, what goes through your mind or your emotions when you hear that?

Thankful. Anyone else? Comfort? Sure. Hope. These are all positive. I'm going to be a

little more realistic. I go, oh no. That I've been given the gift of true faith

and how badly I've stepped in it when it comes to that. That when I'm walking out

in anger towards my spouse, my kids, my church, whoever, the person in front of

me, that I'm denying the gift of true faith. Though it's hopeful and comforting

in all of those things, like, ooh, that's a responsibility. So what is this true

faith? True faith is question and answer 21 of Lord's Day 7. We know this, we've

learned it, I'm just going over it because it calls for this. True faith is

not only a sure knowledge by which I hold as true that all God has revealed to us

in Scripture, it is a wholehearted trust which the Holy Spirit creates in me by

the gospel that God has freely granted not only to others but also to me.

Forgiveness of sins, eternal righteousness, and salvation. These are

gifts of sheer grace granted solely by Christ's merit. So if I'm doing the

transitive property, whether I know that definition right or not, that if true

faith, the gifts of faith means listening, not being quick to speak, and not being

angry, then there is a responsibility I have to the gift of true faith. And the

thing about gifts is God gives them, we are to receive them and use them. I'm

sure some of you in time have gotten a gift that you kind of had to paste a

weird smile on because you thought to yourself, I don't see a receipt, I have no

idea what to do with this, and it's been sitting somewhere in your house,

crawl space, or closet, or whatever, and you will never use it. That is not what

we're talking about today. That to strive knowing that James is how we not work

out our salvation but because of our salvation get to work, that part of that

work is showing the world a true faith. Quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to

anger. But pastor, I have a worker that just doesn't come on time and it drives

me insane. We've talked about, like I get so angry. Okay, what is God saying to you

in that moment? I'm not saying you have to let them off the hook. I am not all

about a world of participation trophies that you break a rule, you're gonna get

in trouble. The Bible makes that very clear. But the anger side of it, do we

leave that with the Lord? Do you ask, Lord, give me patience as I deal with this

employee? Give me patience as I deal with whatever it is? Or do we just want to

hammer it? We just want to get it done because we want it our way. I think

that's the crux. That's where I think we stray from this understanding of true

faith, this understanding of the gifts that James is telling us we get, that we

because of being people of faith we have been given, now I know it's kind of cheesy

but two ears one mouth. As a talker I get that a lot. Thanks mom. But understand,

it's true. Checking my anger or for some of us anger slash rage, checking that at

the door. I don't know anyone that says, you know what, I really came to know the

Lord because I was at a church full of rage and I felt completely judged and

completely hated on when I got there. I don't know anybody that goes, ooh I want

that Jesus. No. I'm not saying we need to be wimps either but we are to love, we

are to listen, we are to speak truth and life and we are to be patient not only

in our own afflictions but also in the afflictions other people cause us and

guess what? Patient in their afflictions as well. Why? Because we are not called

just to sit with this little light by ourselves in our room or on a Sunday

just all of us here together. No, we're supposed to take it out. What does that

mean? James tells us in verse 22. He tells us, but be doers of the word not

hearers only deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a

doer he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he

looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he looks like. But the

one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty and perseveres being no

hearer who forgets but a doer who acts he will be blessed in his doing. Keep that

up there. I think it's a great understanding. I'm not gonna ask how many

people spend a lot of time in the mirror, right? Because I don't want to out anybody, I

don't want anyone to feel uncomfortable but for a lot of us it's

something we do we don't even think about it, right? Whether we have to get

things just right or whether it's just like okay I'm brushing my teeth looking

in the mirror I'm done. It's the person that looks intently in a mirror. Maybe

it's to notice all the blemishes, maybe it's the dark circles under the eye or

maybe it's like I'm 52 how do I have acne still I don't care what it is but

then you turn away and go what was I looking at? What was I seeing? It's the

same thing with faith. Friends, this has been very clear, hasn't changed, of how

we're supposed to walk out lives of faith. How we're supposed to walk in

truth and in love. It even says in liberty, in perseverance. But how many

of us may go wow Jim made a good point today and then by four o'clock this

afternoon you go what did we do? What did he say? And believe me for a preacher if

you understand one thing from what I said by noon today I count it as a win.

But understand what the Bible is saying is for all of us people of faith we know

what we're looking at, we know how to walk it out, we know how to be doers of

the word but the minute we stop reading we forget or the minute life gets real

hard we choose to forget or when all of a sudden I'm being attacked I forget

that I'm supposed to be a person of faith and I go to become a person of

wrath because I have to defend myself. I'm not gonna let anyone put me down I'm

gonna defend myself I'm gonna punch back. Well let's if we model our faith after

the faith of Jesus we can go he didn't do that now he called out those that

need to be called out he corrected what need to be corrected absolutely he did

but did Jesus need to defend himself because he was right with the Father do

we need to defend ourselves if we're right with the Father and I know some of

you're saying but the world's attacking right the world's gonna make it hard

yeah the Bible's made that very clear that should not be a shock to you the

world doesn't like me because I'm a believer friends that's not a new idea

that goes all the way back to the first century we read that Easter Sunday the

cover-up the money the power the authority the darkness has been there

since guess what the darkness has remained now there's a time limit on the

darkness it has an expiration date it will be all put to death at one point

but we're not there yet but what the Lord's calling each and every one of us

is to remember the faith that has been instilled in us for good works for being

doers what are good works Lord's Day 33 question answer 91 what are good works

only those which are done out of true faith can form to God's law and are done

for God's glory and not those based on your own opinion or human tradition

remember that umbrella grace we prayed for it this Lord's Day cuts right there

that the world is not done given your interpretation of the scripture it is

the scripture alone what the scripture says we should do now we get caught up

in interpretations oh we get caught up in interpretations that's a whole nother

sermon series but understand that you can take any interpretation and bring it

back to the original you can the original Greek the original Hebrew and

how many of you know how to do that exactly and so understanding that if

you go okay is what I'm reading really true go back to the simplest

understanding of the law that all the law and the prophets hang on these two

things love for God which means holding up his commandments and loving people

it's that peace though if we think about it that peace is the one that we can and

we can have dividing lines as many rows as we have in this church of what is it

mean to love what does it mean to come alongside because we are called to

correct and rebuke we are called to do all these things we're supposed to do

those things the law in Christ tells us to but we are to do it in love that

doesn't mean there isn't consequences one thing I know about faith is there

are gonna be some people that don't get it the Bible makes that very clear

but I called out to you Lord Lord and the Lord said I never knew you but there

are people in the world today that they think they have this down they think

they've got Jesus all figured out almost to the point where they don't need him

and guess what that's the missing piece we can do all of these good things but

the good works that Christ is seen in us with that are being done through the

Father conform to God's law are done for God's glory and there's the dividing

line we do a lot of things in faith for our own glory oh man I really love doing

the soup kitchen this week it made me feel so good well if that's what you're

chasing yeah not a bad thing but are you doing it because your life is submitted

to Christ guess what it flows top-down elders and deacons for the joy of

serving are you doing it for by God's law for God's glory and not based on

your own opinion awkward the council rooms full of opinions but it's what is

God word God's Word says I've said this over the last couple weeks because we're

getting ready to cast lots we'll talk about that in May and in June and we have

three-year terms here at Munster and it's it is it's a lot of fun it is it

working with all different people all different skill sets but the three-year

term thing gets hard as the only constant in the room Lord willing you

know it's kind of the joke you know pastors we get to joke too about all of

you there's whether or not we tell from a sermon but understand that it's kind

of like one the first year you're learning you're picking it up great

second year you're like oh now we're in stride there you're like I can't wait to

be done what as pastors we feel a little bit of that whiplash not gonna lie I'm

just gonna throw that out there because at the end of the day getting unity

takes time now if we know as a church where we're going and I believe as

Munster Church we're working in that space it's a lot easier but what are our

good works the good works of your counsel should be based on these as well

done for by God's law for God's glory and not based on our own opinion or

human tradition what does that mean that the one sentence that I can't stand as a

pastor is well this is the that is heresy maybe not quite heresy but

understand that goes against a lot of this well this is the way we've always

done it and I know some of you and you can double down that it's actually a

good thing right it's a good thing that we preach the gospel every Sunday

totally buy into that right totally but we can throw that on all these different

things that if it follows God's Word and it's giving God the glory and what does

that mean oh this is gonna hurt and it hurts me first that means it may cause

us to be uncomfortable just because we're doing it in a church and we're

comfortable about it doesn't mean that it's for God's glory or maybe even by

God's Word no it's for our comfortability friend if the Christian

faith was derived and guided by Jim's comfortability or your comfortability

this church wouldn't exist because we all know it's not about us or at least

we should and that's what James is saying true faith is not about you true

faith is about Christ in you the hope of glory true faith is dynamic it's

manifesting not only our beliefs but also our actions we are engaged in God's

Word to be transformed doers of his Word rather than passive spectators that's

why if someone says you know what pastor Jim I serve for years and years and

years I'm gonna take a break now until I'm dead and you're 45 I know now

you're in the 90s club you do whatever you want pastorally fat phenomenal you're

playing with house money but understand that for a lot of us we go so hard for

the church and for being honest we burn out and we get scared to do it again

well guess what if we're in a system where burnout doesn't necessarily

happen it's okay to take a season a season off that's totally fine but we

all are still to be doers of the word we never get to hang up our faith coat and

go oh not this season of life you know what I'm in my 50s now I don't need to

be doer I've been a doer of the word since I made my profession of faith so

you're in your 50s now so you get to hang faith up no nothing in here says

that that though it may be hard and though we may need to ask for that

double that double portion of energy and spirit God still got this but the right

mindset comes with that too that the kingdom of God is not dependent on

whether or not you're a doer of faith that's another thing we have to

understand about ourselves because it's not for our glory it's for God's glory

the hardware catechism then doubles down on this truth in Lord's Day 32

question answer 86 since we have been delivered from our misery by grace

through Christ without any merit of our own we didn't do anything Christ did at

all why then should we do good works just leave that up there don't go go

back then why should we do good works what a selfish question God's done all

the work he I have salvation because of Jesus and it would be great if I didn't

have to do anything with it well I'd work catechism helps us here because

Christ having redeemed us by his blood is also restoring us by his spirit into

his image so that with our whole lives we may show that we are thankful to God

for his benefits so that he may be praised through us so that we may be

assured through our faith by its fruits and so that by our godly living our

neighbors may be won over for Christ what the Heidelberg catechisms missional

yes it is Dan Ardsmath it totally is that understand that by working good

works our neighbors may be won over Wow this is us making the conversation

connect that the way we live out our faith as the opportunity for others to

see it to be won over gonna land the plane with this question is the way you

are being a doer of the word something that can win somebody over for Jesus I

get it that's a hard question that's almost not fair and understand I asked

myself the same that the way I live out my faith every day of the week not just

the hour and a half on Sundays not just every other Wednesday at gems or cadets

or whatever we're involved in is my faith me doing can someone be won over

by that because I think that's the real question am I living out my truth am I

living out true faith in a way that people are gonna look at that and go

man I know we're different but they love me and they won't stop asking me to

church maybe I should go with the way that we live out our faith meaning in

trials this is what happens when we go through every verse and that family just

went through all that and they're not fighting there they're not bickering they

didn't get divorced but like they love each other through it and I've seen a

bunch of people drop off food so much so that they even brought stuff over to our

house other people I don't need your food at our house they just bring it

over to other people like you see the differences there you see the difference

in the way it the way we act wait they found joy in trials they said that

through this God's teaching me something that God is producing something in me

they have a peace in the midst of wherever the world would have anxiety

what is that that they might be won over for the sake of Jesus as redeemed

children of God we are called to reflect his holiness and his righteousness in

every single aspect of life true faith compels us to flee from sin to pursue

purity and integrity with our thoughts our words and our deeds so Munster

Church gems gems leaders former Calvinets all of us let us strive to

keep ourselves unstained from the world shining as beacons of light in a dark

world that desperately needs to be won over