In last week’s study we spoke about the truth that when prayer is offered to God, it must be done in faith. James points out that belief alone will not sustain a person’s faith. His example is that even the devils believe and tremble (James 2:19). Because of the ardent message we have in our hearts to proclaim the ministry and word of reconciliation, our message is never secret. It is both warnings and promises which can restrict and bless the lives of all those who heed it. In short we cannot hide the love of God in our hearts and live like the world. The world is to see in us a distinction which hopefully will lead them to ask questions about what make us “tick” (I Peter 3:15).
In the first century if one affirmed his belief that Jesus was the Messiah (Christ), he could very well lose his life. Jesus therefore placed great emphasis upon men confessing Him before the world (Matthew 10:32). There were some rulers of the Jews who considering the evidence believed that Jesus was the Son of God. To drive home the point of belief alone being incorrect, those same rulers would not confess Jesus openly (John 12:42). The reason the Spirit of God gives for them behaving in such a manner was they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God (verse 43).
The apostles on trial for their lives said we ought to obey God rather than man (Acts 5:29). Such a statement shows that no government on this earth has the right to over rule what God has revealed. The apostles were told to quit preaching in the name of Jesus. The government then and now does not have the right to declare such to any follower of Christ. The leadership of this country from the White House declares that the government and not God, defines marriage. Our president, for whom we should all be praying, lined himself up with that notion in his last inaugural address.
The encroachment of the government into more and more sacred areas should cause us all to increase our daily prayers and more than that. Our pens and computers should be humming day and night with the printed page showing that we do know what the Bible teaches. The government says you can pray but not in Jesus name. You cannot have symbol on government letterheads that portray a cross or a church. The world around us is declaring how sensitive we need to be to the plight and thinking of others. Why not test this out in the market place of ideas.
Is it legal for you to drive an automobile without a seatbelt? Is our government being insensitive to all those who would like to drive without having a belt over their shoulder and waist? If you choose to not have a gun in your home, how is that offensive to me? In truth it is not because I have no intention of coming into your home to do you harm. The case of sensitivity then is being determined by the government. The major threat from what we hear over the various forms of media is the religion of Jesus the Christ.
Would it not be a wonderful thing if people really started reading the Bible? James says we are not to have respect of persons (James 2:1). We are not to judge people on their outward appearance but rather on the conduct of their lives (John 7:24). Those who cry out, “do not judge” almost all the time are trying to hide some sin they enjoy. How long dear Christian friends before we come to the realization that a happy and successful prayer life is tied to an active faith. An active faith which causes us to act in courage in concert with what we believe in our hearts. We are not to spend time trying to be so careful with a sinful world that we embrace their knowledge and thinking. In fact, quite the opposite. We are to have no fellowship with and yet have the courage to reprove the wrong in the world around us (Ephesians 5:11).
We do not preach hate when we teach that it is wrong to hate your brother. It is not hate when we require of each other to be kind, tenderhearted and forgiving. It is not hateful speech to tell a man he can no longer spend his life stealing from others. It is not hateful to tell wayward Christians that by forsaking the assembling of the saints together that they are sinning. Neither is it hateful to declare marriage between two men or two women as being wrong. The homosexual life style and the life style of two heterosexuals living together without being married are all wrong. May God bless us all to put courage with the very things for which we pray for.
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