GROW UP

“By His own choice, He gave us a new birth by the message of truth so that we would be the firstfruits of His creatures.” (James 1:18 HCSB)

We love babies.  They are so soft and sweet.  But, the normal course of nature is for them to grow up.  If they stay babies, something is wrong.

This holds true in the spiritual realm as well as the physical.  I have seen this condition in the church.  Here is someone who has been a Christian for a long time.  You look at them and expect spiritual maturity, but what you see is a baby. 

There is nothing wrong with spiritual babies—a church that is reaching people will always have them.  When we are saved we have a new birth into the family of God.  That is what James reminds us of in 1:18. 

We rejoice in the presence of new believers.  No child of God is born fully grown.  We shouldn’t expect that.  But, we ought to expect Christians to grow.  Something is very wrong when you see a Christian who was saved years ago and they are still totally self-absorbed, constantly demanding—a cry baby! 

James tells us in this text how to grow up.  We must have the proper nutrition.  This is soul food—essential for developing into mature disciples.

 

There is the need for ILLUMINATION: Growing in Comprehension.

“By His own choice, He gave us a new birth by the message of truth so that we would be the firstfruits of His creatures.

My dearly loved brothers, understand this: Everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger, for man’s anger does not accomplish God’s righteousness.” (James 1:18-20)

Illumination is the work of the Spirit of God opening our minds to understand the Word of God.  He alone enables us to understand spiritual truth—shining the light upon our thinking, lest we remain in spiritual darkness.  James in verse 18 focuses on how the Word brings us into salvation.  In God’s will, He called us.  By His Word, He conceived us. 

This is regeneration—the new birth.  This regeneration is brought to pass by the Spirit and the Scripture.  This gives us the capacity to comprehend spiritual truth.  Before that we are blind to the light, and deaf to His voice.  “But the unbeliever does not welcome what comes from God’s Spirit, because it is foolishness to him; he is not able to understand it since it is evaluated spiritually.” (1 Cor.2:14)

We find this truth illustrated in John 3, in the encounter Jesus had with a religious leader named Nicodemus.  He was a man who knew the Bible—as a textbook of religion and a book of morality lessons—but he didn’t grasp the message.  Jesus chided him for claiming to be a teacher, while failing to comprehend the truth.  Until He was born of the Spirit, He could not see the Kingdom of heaven.  He had not the capacity to know heavenly things. 

Is the Bible incomprehensible to you?  Is its message foolishness?  You say, “I just don’t get it.”  That says more about you than it does the Bible.  This is not to say there are not deep things that we struggle with—sometimes when I read the text I feel as if I am trying to drink water out of a fire hydrant!  But, if we can’t understand basic Biblical truth, there is a fundamental flaw—and especially if we shrug that off with no hunger for it—that is serious!

When babies are born they instinctively hunger.  What does it say about a person who has no desire to feed on the Word?  What is communicated by a church member who disdains the Sunday School class?  What of the man or woman who can’t wait for the sermon to end?  Now, don’t get me wrong—we all have our days when the noise of this world distracts us and the Devil’s junk food takes away our appetite.  It happens to even the most spiritual person for we are not perfect.  In addition, there are some preachers and teachers that are so boring that it is a chore to listen and learn anything from them!  But, the bottom line is, there should be a craving and capacity to comprehend the Word of God.  If not, then we ought to ask is there any sign of spiritual life in such a person?

Now, comprehension of the truth is not enough.  Knowing what the Bible teaches is not sufficient.  But we must start there.  Otherwise our faith rests in the wisdom of men and not the power of God.  Our belief will be shaped by tradition and not truth. Experiences and emotions become the deciding factors governing our decisions and not God’s will as expressed in His Word.  Comprehending the message is not the point where we end, but it is the place where we embark.

So, we are born again—we have a thirst for the Word, yet why do many Christians at this point fail to mature?  Verses 19-20 can help us. 

“My dearly loved brothers, understand this: Everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger, for man’s anger does not accomplish God’s righteousness.”

The older I get the wiser my parents become!  When I was young I thought I knew it all.  Especially as a young Christian—I was swift to speak and slow to hear—that is a sign of spiritual immaturity and indeed is counterproductive to spiritual growth.  Another problem the immature believer can develop is a critical spirit when others don’t see things like they do.  They want to straighten everybody out.  But that spirit is wrong.  You can’t beat people over the head with the Bible.  You can’t cram truth down their throat.  Legalism—the critical, caustic, condemning spirit actually stunts your growth.  You can’t teach someone who knows it all!  I believe the Bible, I’m just not mad about it! 

How swift are you to hear?  With what eagerness do you seek to listen to God?  Do you meet Him every morning in the Word?  Are you going through the Bible and letting it speak to you?  Do you come to Sunday School?  Do you listen to the preacher and follow along in the Scripture and take some notes?  The Word of God should not harden you, but soften you—it should make your countenance more winsome than stern.  Your attitude should be sweetened by its message and not soured.  The Bereans were noble because they searched the Scriptures to see if the things Paul was preaching were accurate (see Acts 17:10-12). 

Pray, “Holy Spirit, open my eyes that I may see!  Illumine me—Spirit Divine!”

Growth begins with ILLUMINATION: Growing in Comprehension and demands IMPLANTATION: Growing in Conviction.

“Therefore, ridding yourselves of all moral filth and evil, humbly receive the implanted word, which is able to save you.” (James 1:21) 

The Word of God is implanted in us at salvation.  Then we are to “receive” it—to chew on it and to digest it, so that Biblical convictions are formed.  The Scripture renews our mind (Rom.12:2)—causing us to think God’s thoughts after Him. 

So, why is it that so many Christians fail to think “Christianly” and instead are thinking carnally?  After thousands of Sunday School lessons and sermons , one would expect more expansion in understanding the eternal. 

The problem is that Biblical learning does not occur in a vacuum.  There are many other voices clamoring for our attention.  If we aren’t careful, we may find that our minds are shaped more by Oprah than Obadiah, more by Dr. Phil than Dr. Luke! 

The problem is that we have not received the Word with a hungry heart.  We must stop eating the Devil’s delicacies, “ridding yourselves of all moral filth and evil…” (v.21a).  It is time to clean out the refrigerator! This rotten stuff is spoiled and spoils our appetite. Satan’s sweets lead to truth decay.

We must come to the Word in a spirit of submission: “humbly.”   Do not think to read the Scripture as some interesting suggestions, but as imperative commands. 

James promises that receiving the Word this way means the Word will, “save you.”  It saves from sin.  This salvation is not speaking of the saving of our souls from the penalty of hell and giving to us the promise of heaven.  Rather, it is the on-going process of saving us from the power of hell and granting for us the provision of holiness.   This is sanctification and is the Spirit of God working by the Word of God to reshape our thoughts, redirect our emotions, and realign our will—all oriented toward God.  D.L. Moody put it this way: “Either this Book will keep you from sin or sin will keep you from this Book.”

In verse 23, James compares the Word to a mirror.  We may wish to ignore what we might see.  But none of this changes the reality of what the mirror reveals.  The best thing is to look in it every day and see what needs to be corrected.

When there is illumination and implantation, there will follow INCARNATION: Growing in Conformity.

“But be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.  Because if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man looking at his own face

in a mirror.  For he looks at himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was.  But the one who looks intently into the perfect law of freedom and perseveres in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but one who does [good] works — this person will be blessed in what he does.

If anyone thinks he is religious without controlling his tongue, then his religion is useless and he deceives himself.  Pure and undefiled religion before our God and Father is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself unstained by the world.”  (James 1:22-27)   

The aim isn’t just to know the truth and believe the truth, but to be shaped by it into the image of Christ.  Jesus is the Word made flesh (John 1), that is the incarnation.  As such He is the visual exhibition of God’s verbal expression.   To see Him was to see the Father.  Top hear Jesus’ words was to hear the Father’s will.  Similarly, the Word of God is to be “fleshed out” in our daily living.  People should be seeing more and more of Jesus in us.

Do we look like Jesus?  A mirror would help us see—and we have one—the Word of God.  The danger however is that we only glance at it and forget it, rather than gaze into it and face it (v.23-24).  How quickly we walk away from the mirror on Sunday morning and forget what we’ve seen by Monday morning. 

Growth only happens to “one who looks intently” and “perseveres in it” (v.25).  We must stay in front of the mirror until we get fixed up. 

There are some tests that will reveal if are being shaped by the truth.

Our conversation will be righteous, “controlling his tongue” (v.26). Stand in front of the mirror and stick out your tongue.  If it’s defiled, then that indicates disease.  It is why the doctor looks in your mouth.  It reveals a lot about our health—or lack thereof.  Thus, the Great Physician examines our spiritual health that way.

Our compassion will be real, as we “look after orphans and widows in their distress” (v.27a).  Jesus was moved with compassion—and although He loved all those He encountered during His ministry—Christ had an intense focus on the poor and lowly.  His love for children was apparent and He took note of a widow when nobody else paid any attention.  Being like Jesus means we will do likewise.

Our consecration will be relentless in order, “to keep oneself unstained by the world.” (v.27b)  We live in a dirty world, but we are called to be holy.  Jesus was tempted at every point as we are, but overcame.  He was stainless.  While we won’t be sinless, as he was, we can sin less than what we often do, and when we should stumble and fall in the mud, we can get up and be cleansed by confessing our sins.

Don’t you think it’s time to grow up?