Good Morning and welcome in everybody. Today we are going to take a look at a passage of scripture but before we do that, I wanted to ask you a little question.
Can you imagine forgetting what you look like? Most of us see our reflection each day when we look in the bathroom mirror. But when you are riding your bike with a friend, do they need to remind you that you have blue eyes? When you sit down for supper, does your wife need to remind you that you have a scar on your head? When you walk by your neighbor’s house, does he need to remind you that you have gray hair? The way that we look is permanently etched in our minds, and as familiar to us as our big toe! Year after year we see the same person looking back at us in the mirror, and it’s hard to imagine forgetting somebody that you have known for so long. It’s hard to imagine seeing anything other than the face that you have grown so accustomed to.
This reminds me of the Christian Life.
Although it’s hard to forget what you look like, some people do it all the time. They forget about the person that God expects them to be. They forget to walk as a Christian. They forget to put on the new man. They forget to depart from iniquity. They forget that we are not of this world. They forget the high calling of God. They forget God’s punishment for sin. They forget to walk in newness of life. If a sinner is going to become a saint, they need to act like a saint. It’s more than hearing God’s Word. It’s more than knowing God’s Word. It’s about doing God’s Word.
James 1 ²³ For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: ²⁴ For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. ²⁵ But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.
The church is a place where we are undergoing a process of change, but change will never happen in your lives unless you do the things that change requires. Throughout the centuries men of God have preached repentance, which means to change the way that you live. You must turn from the darkness of sin, and walk in the light of righteousness. Sometimes people will hear the Word of God preached, but when they walk out the door, they completely forget the person that they are supposed to be.
To forget means to cease to remember.
They quickly forget that God forgave them so they could become a new creature.
“But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.” 2 Peter 1:9
God grants us His incredible grace, but forgiveness with Him is just the beginning. We need to remember the things that we have been taught, and put them into action in our daily lives. We must go on unto perfection, putting to an end dead works, and learning to go and sin no more. It’s hard to imagine forgetting what you look like, and we should never forget the person that Christ wants us to become. We must take the things that we have learned from scripture and allow it to transform our lives. This happens through complete submission as you surrender your will, to the will of God. Repentance is more than good intentions, or claiming that you will do something with your lips. It is to prove it by your actions.
Matthew 21 ²⁸ But what think ye? A certain man had two sons; and he came to the first, and said, Son, go work to day in my vineyard. ²⁹ He answered and said, I will not: but afterward he repented, and went.
³⁰ And he came to the second, and said likewise. And he answered and said, I go, sir: and went not. ³¹ Whether of them twain did the will of his father? They say unto him, The first. Jesus saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you. ³² For John came unto you in the way of righteousness, and ye believed him not: but the publicans and the harlots believed him: and ye, when ye had seen it, repented not afterward, that ye might believe him.
Unless you become a doer of God’s Word, all you possess is a profession of faith without any works. Faith without works is dead. True faith will result in obedient actions, just like the Apostles, just like Moses, and just like Abraham.
James 2 ¹⁷ Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. ¹⁸ Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works. ¹⁹ Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. ²⁰ But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? ²¹ Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? ²² Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect?
What’s the purpose of making frosting but then never applying it to a cake? Why build a home but then never put on a roof? Why buy worms but then never bait your hook? These things were only done halfway. Some forms of modern Christianity do the same thing, practicing a halfway form of Christianity. They want to profess faith in Christ, but reject the teachings of Christ. They claim to be a believer, but then they go out and live the same way that the world does. Many times you can’t even differentiate between them and an unbeliever, other than the fact that they wear a t-shirt with a verse on it. In order to become blessed by God requires an attitude change.
“But he said, Yea rather, blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it.” Luke 11:28
Many times people can hear things, but they never follow through on the things that they have been told. It simply goes in one ear and out the other. In order for repentance to happen, they must act on the Spiritual knowledge that they have been given. If your neighbor told you that there was a tornado coming, would you act on that information? If your children told you that there was a bear on the deck, would you act on that information? In order to obtain salvation, we must act on the things that we have been instructed out of God’s Word. Repentance is more than having good intentions, it’s about a change in direction.
Luke 6 ⁴⁷ Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them, I will shew you to whom he is like: ⁴⁸ He is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock.
A rocket doesn’t take off into space until you push the right buttons, and before our lives can ever be launched in a new direction, the flame of repentance must be lit in one’s heart. It is our actions that push the button, igniting the fuel inside. It is our actions that burn within us, propelling us towards God’s celestial Kingdom. It is our actions that pushes us closer to what Christ wants us to be.
It takes action to paint a house.
It takes action to fix a car.
It takes action to cook a meal.
And it takes action to obtain eternal life.
Without action, repentance cannot happen. Faithful actions towards the will of God is the outward proof that something is going on deep inside of you. They are the evidence that the rocket has lit inside your heart, and begun lifting you into a new orbit and a new life. We must honor God by the way that we live our lives, and this is going to require heartfelt inner change.
Whenever you look in the mirror, you see a reflection of yourself, but as a Christian, we are supposed to reflect the virtues of Christ to the world. We must walk in the truth, live the truth, and apply the truth, and embrace the new person that God is calling us to be.
Heaven is a Holy place, and to obtain that world, you are going to have to change. You must say goodbye to sinful living. You must say goodbye to the carnal nature. And most of all, you will have to say goodbye to the….
…..Man in the Mirror
Let’s think about these things for right now. We can be found on your web browser by searching, tlkjbc where you can find our diaries distributed through various platforms. We are not associated, nor affiliated with any other religious groups. You can get our entire podcast feeds directly, along with transcripts at tlkjbc.com or I suppose that you could find us somewhere up here, in the Great Northern Minnesota woods. Peace to you, and Lord willing, we will talk with you some more tomorrow. Till then, bye bye everybody. ❤️
tlkjbc.com
Teufer Lake King James Bible Church 