Faith involves *consistency.
By Pastor George Lehman
Consistency: It’s the jewel worth wearing; it’s the anchor worth securing; it’s the thread worth weaving; it’s a battle worth winning.” – Charles Swindoll
*consistency = stability, to change you go forward not backwards, steadfast to the same principles
Inconsistency – when your words and actions don’t align.
James 1:18-25 (NIV) – 18 He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of first fruits of all he created. 19 My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, 20 for human anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires.21 Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent, and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you. 22 Do not merely listen to the word and so deceive yourselves. *Do what it says. 23 Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror 24 and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 25 But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does.
*Do what it says = Like Putting a password in your computer but never pressing enter, it will never open the programs.
True faith is characterized by
Knowing Christ.
Sowing consistency
True faith starts with knowing Christ as our Saviour.
Ephesians 2:8-9 (NIV) – 8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast.
Our best offer was…
Ephesians 2:1-2 (NIV) – As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.
You are not born a Christian – you must be born again.
Then our true faith involves sowing consistency in our lives.
This consistency manifests itself in our talk and our walk – our conversations and our conduct.
This is when consistency begins to become a reality.
If we are going to be a credible witness of Christ to the world…
…we must not only genuinely know Him; we must also be consistent in living in a way that honours Him.
Consistent in our talk.
The mark of genuine Christianity is having one’s conversations consistent with biblical standards and Christian beliefs.
James encouraged the church to listen more than we speak.
Let your life do the talking.
Proverbs 10:19 (NIV) – When words are many, sin is not absent, but he who holds his tongue is wise.
Jesus gave us this warning:
Matthew 12:36-37 (NIV) – 36 But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. 37 For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.”
Genuine Christian living demands that we be cautious in our conversations and that our words are consistent with God’s word and character.
James admonishes us:
James 1:21 (NIV) – Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent, and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.
Although God chooses us and calls us to Himself, there is something for us to do.
We are to take off our old coats of sin and strip away all filth.
You can’t keep playing in the mud when God has taken you out of it.
James was writing to believers like you and me who already know Christ.
Knowing and representing Jesus, we need to be consistent in our conversations as well as our conduct.
James never held back to make his point.
That if we are going to show the world a credible Christ then…
…we must know Christ and sow consistency in our lives.
Consistent in our walk.
This is some of James’ most famous and most repeated words.
“Be doers of the word and not hearers only.”
Then comes a promise: James 1:25b -“He who is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does”.
My desire is that I would rather see people “DO” one sermon than hear a hundred of them.
Consistency is in the DOING not just in the HEARING.
Like:
How did you learn to ride a bike ?
By reading a manual
Watching others ride
Listening to instructions about keeping your balance
No! You’ll never learn to ride a bike until you get on it and do it over and over.
James likened the one who only hears God’s word, but does not do it to…
“A man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away and immediately forgets what kind of a man he was.”
His message is all too clear. A mirror doesn’t lie – it tells the truth.
The Bible is like a mirror, when we look into it, we see ourselves as we really are in God’s eyes.
Not what we say we are or who others might think we are.
Have you been looking in the mirror of the Bible lately? Not just a passing glance.
See yourself in:
Psalm 139:23-24 (NIV) – 23 Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. 24 See if there is any offensive way in me and lead me in the way everlasting.
James spoke of one who every day opens the Word and looks intently into it…
The result is a “Blessed life in what he does”.
E.g. We are not blessed in our stewardship and tithing by studying what the bible teaches us, but in doing it.
He challenged us to:
James 1:21 – Receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.
James must have had Jesus’ word in mind.
Luke 11:28 (NLT) – Jesus replied, “But even more blessed are all who hear the word of God and put it into practice.”
When we humbly receive God’s word in our hearts, it has a supernatural way of leading us to…
“Be doers of the word and not hearers only”.
True faith involves not just knowing Christ but also sowing consistency between what we read and hear and our conversations and our conduct
Close:
2 Thessalonians 3:13 (Amp) – And as for you, brethren, do not become weary or lose heart in doing right [but continue in well doing without weakening].
