December 17, 2017
Read Matthew 26:54. Christ died for our sins so the scripture might be fulfilled. How many more scriptures will be fulfilled? There are many that we could turn to. And there are many more that have yet to be fulfilled. How blessed we are to know that God will fulfill His word.
Hymn 349 - News for little children!
Prayer
In the Bible, the Philippian jailer asked, “What must I do to be saved?” The answer was, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.” John 3:16 says the same thing, “whosoever believeth on Him [Jesus] should not perish.” But what does “believe” mean? And what are we believing in? Believing something means to have confidence in it. We are to believe that Jesus died for our sins, and rose again the third day. This means that we have to admit we are sinners, otherwise we wouldn’t need to believe that Jesus died for us. Our verse today talks about confessing sins.
Proverbs 28:13. If we cover our sins, we won’t prosper; however if we confess our sins, we will receive mercy. If we admit we are sinners, and trust in Christ for salvation, He will have mercy on us. It’s like the story of the prodigal son. He ran away from home, spent all his money, and wound up feeding pigs. He was sorry for what he had done, went back to his father, and said, “I’m not worthy to be called your son.” His Father forgave him, gave him a new robe, and accepted him back as his son. It’s a picture of how God accepts and forgives sinners. We have an eternal hope!
After we’re saved, however, we still sin. There is good news, though. 1 John 1:9. Maybe we have lied, or disobeyed, or cheated, or were angry with someone. That displeases God, but if we confess our sins, He will forgive us. If we don’t confess our sins, we will carry a burden of guilt, and our relationship with God won’t be what it should be.
One summer Johnny and Sally went to visit their grandparents in the country. As a present, Johnny got a slingshot. He played with it in the woods, trying to shoot rocks and trees, but wasn’t a very good shot. On his way back to the house, he saw Grandma’s favorite pet duck across the pond. Not really aiming, he shot a rock at the duck. It was the first time that he actually hit something! The duck fell over dead! Johnny decided to cover up his sin, and buried the duck behind the woodpile. When he stood up, though, he realized that Sally was watching from the window and had seen everything!
Johnny could hardly look at Grandma all through lunch. After lunch Grandma said, “Sally, would you please help me with the dishes?”
“I’d love to,” said Sally, “But Johnny said that he wanted to help today.” Then she leaned over to Johnny and whispered, “Don’t forget the duck!”
So Johnny helped Grandma with the dishes. Later that week he missed a fishing trip with Grandpa because he “wanted” to help Grandma make dinner. He could hardly look at Grandma, and he had to work with her all the time! Finally, he couldn’t stand it any longer, and he went to Grandma.
“I’m so sorry Grandma,” he said, “But I shot a rock at your duck and killed it! I buried it behind the woodpile. Can you ever forgive me?”
“Of course I forgive you,” said Grandma, “I saw the whole thing happen, and was wondering how long you would let Sally run your life.”
The Lord has given us confession as the method of clearing our conscience and restoring fellowship with Him. We may also have to apologize to others, and possibly make restitution if we have stolen something. Even King David knew the blessing of confessing his sin. Psalm 32:5. Jesus has died for our sins, both past and future.
Proverbs 28:14. We will be happy if we fear the Lord, but won’t be if we harden our hearts and don’t acknowledge our sin. We don’t always want to confess our sins, but—just like Johnny—we won’t be happy until we do.
Not only do we need to confess our sins; we need to forsake them also. We need the Lord’s help for this. We won’t be perfect, but with the Lord’s strength, we can refuse the temptation to sin, and live a life that honours Him.
James 1:25 - 2:4
Are you religious? Religion is in the New Testament only four times. Twice in our chapter and two times in Acts. Have you ever been asked, “Can you do this in your religion?“. There is a difference between believing a religion and believing in Christ. Mr. Kelly talks about the different meanings of the words translated religion. This one appears to mean a manifestation of something relating to a religious group. Judaism is a religion. His audience knew that. Darby puts this verse as, “If any one think himself to be religious, not bridling his tongue, but deceiving his heart, that man’s religion is vain”. This person thinks he’s religious and doesn’t have control over his tongue. His religion is vain. It’s a way of life. “Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.” (Matthew 12:34a) This person didn’t learn what we had in verse nineteen about being quick to hear and slow to speak. He deceived himself. When Peter denied the Lord, the servant girl said to him that his speech betrayed him. How does our speech sound? It’s a manifestation of what’s inside. And it’s not about how it affects others, but how it affects him; not that is doesn’t affect others. He sounds a bit like a Pharisee. Like the one who listed off all his religious character qualities when praying.
Darby translates verse twenty-seven as, “Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, to keep oneself unspotted from the world”. These verse contrast what we say and what we do. It’s never been an exercise of me (Brother Norman) to visit the fatherless and widows, but I did know of a man who felt it his duty to do so because it was pure religion. James is looking for someone who not just talks about it, but who also does something. It’s a selfless act; doing something for someone who can’t return the favour or offer a reward. We are to have a concern for others, but keep ourselves unspotted from the world.
We have to be careful that the way people dress, whether with high prestige or those who don’t, doesn’t affect the way we treat them. The “faith of out Lord Jesus Christ” might be the religion or the way they behaved in the first chapter.
Colossians 3:25, 1.Timothy 5:21
It’s an issue of the heart.
Hymn 180 - Whom have we, Lord, but Thee
Prayer