Faith-Minded Not Double-Minded | Sermon 02/13/2022

Apologia Utah

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Continuing our series in the book of James, right after Hebrews, before the epistles of Peter.

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James chapter 1, we're going to be looking at verses 5 through 8. The title of this sermon is

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Faith -Minded, Not Double -Minded. Okay? James chapter 1, starting in verse 8.

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My friends, these are the words of the living and true God. But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God who gives to all generously and without reproach.

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And it will be given to him. But he must ask in faith without any doubting. For the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind.

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For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord. Being a double -minded man, unstable in all his ways.

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My friends, this is the word of the living God. If you would, please pray with me quickly.

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Father, please bless the message. Speak through me now,

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Lord. God, illuminate the scriptures. Teach your people today, dear

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Lord. And help us, God, to know so much more deeply what it is to ask things of you by faith.

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Lord, we thank you for this time. Please help me to speak in a way that is clear. Let it always be helpful and true.

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In Jesus' name. Amen. So there have been examples of many great men and women throughout salvation history who have exhibited emulative lives of prayer and faith.

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But there have been very few as devoted and trusting of God as George Mueller.

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He was born in Prussia in 1805. And really, as a young man, he was of the rotten sort.

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He was of the rotten kind. When George was a teenager, he'd steal from his father's business, steal from friends, he'd commit fraud and take money from his neighbors or pretend that he was part of his father's business and take money from other businesses.

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He was a thief. The night when George's mother was dying as a 14 -year -old, he went out carousing into the night.

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He got drunk at a tavern, only to arrive home too late. His mother had died while he was out in the night.

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He didn't get to say goodbye. His father wanted him to become a clergyman, to set him straight.

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And in that time, it was a comfortable life for you to be a clergyman. There was security there,

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I guess, is what his father expected. George was absolutely brilliant from a young age.

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As a teenager, he mastered Latin, French, German, and he loved history.

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He would take the Lord's Supper twice a year, almost kind of like a day of atonement.

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He would take the bread, representing the body, and he'd put it in his mouth, and he'd say these vows, and he'd swear to God, Now, Lord, with this in my mouth,

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I will turn from my ways, I will stop stealing, I will stop carousing,

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I will stop drinking. And he put it in his mouth so as, I don't know, maybe a better connection in his prayer or something like that.

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But it was not too long after he'd make those vows that he'd go right back into the lifestyle of drinking and stealing.

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A friend of his started going to a Bible study, and he was, for whatever reason, interested in attending.

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His friend pleaded with him not to attend, actually, knowing what kind of young man he was, which you've got to be pretty bad.

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I think a lot of us would take an unbelieving person to a Bible study that God may quicken their souls and bring them to faith in Christ, but apparently he was so wicked, his friend was like, please don't come, which is incredible.

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Nevertheless, he was invited in. George attended the Bible study. He had never seen anything like it.

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They were praying on their knees to God, reading Scripture out loud, they were singing hymns, and they were reading a sermon manuscript out loud as well.

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In Prussia, this sort of thing didn't really happen all the time because technically, an ordained clergyman was required to be there in those moments to be able to open

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God's Word. So he had never seen anything like it.

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He felt a joy that he had never felt before. A joy that was greater than all the wicked pleasures and licentiousness he sought prior.

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He couldn't stop attending. And then the Lord changed his heart, his desires, and George Mueller became a missionary at that point.

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He went to England to serve there at just 24 years old. Quickly there in England, he became ill.

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He became ill, and it was at that point that he became ever more dependent upon God, and therefore his sanctification deepened in those moments.

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He used to take and steal from anyone for anything, but he resolved that at that moment, all that would ever come to him from then on would be given by God's grace through prayer.

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That's it. It was George's heart to build orphanages and give the precious children in his community the

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Gospel of Christ. And it's truly amazing. The book is $4 .99

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on Amazon, I believe. It's the autobiography of George Mueller. I highly recommend it. It's an easy read.

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It's a short read. Autobiography of George Mueller. I mean, the life of this man and the faith he exhibited was incredible.

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He had millions of dollars pass through his hands, but he died.

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He started with nothing and died with nothing. It was all for the ministry. It was all for Christ, all for the orphans.

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It's just incredible. So he started with two shillings, which was essentially 50 cents in his pocket, and he walked by faith that God would provide.

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Again, George Mueller never once made his request to men but to God alone. He would land on his knees in prayer in what seemed like hourly petitions to the

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Lord. Over the decades, without asking anyone but God for a thing, 1 .4

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million pounds, or back then $7 million in the 1800s, was given towards, over the decades, the building of the orphanages and the support of the children.

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George kept a journal during his ministry, and I want you to hear a few of the entries.

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He says, September 12, 1838. The trial still continues. Only nine shillings came in today, given by one of the laborers.

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In the midst of this great trial of faith, the Lord mercifully keeps me in great peace. He also allows me to see that our labor is not in vain.

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Yesterday, one of the orphans died, who was only about nine years old. She had just come to know

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Jesus as her Savior several months before her death. He says,

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September 13, no help has come. We're starving. We prayed this morning, and we had a very happy meeting.

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Often they had no coal to stay warm. Food was scarce. He didn't know when the next provision would arrive, but he always believed

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God would give generously. Listen to this entry. He says, one morning, all the plates and cups and bowls on the table were empty.

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There was no food in the larder and no money to buy any food. It was completely out.

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The children were standing, hungry, waiting for their morning meal, when

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Mueller said, Children, you know we must be ready for school. It's time to pray.

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So they lifted hands together, and George prayed, Dear Father, we thank

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Thee for what Thou art going to give us to eat. And the kids are like, there's no food.

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Right then there was a knock at the door. The baker stood there and said, Mr. Mueller, I couldn't sleep last night.

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Somehow I felt you didn't have any bread for the children, and the

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Lord wanted me to send you some. I got up at 2 a .m., and I baked loaf after loaf after loaf for the children.

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And so he brought all that fresh bread in, and it was just shortly after he thanked the baker, no sooner than when he had left, that there was another knock at the door.

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It was the milkman. He announced that his milk cart had just broken down in front of the orphanage, and he said,

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Mr. Mueller, the only way I can repair my cart is if all the canisters of milk are given to the orphaned children.

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Will you take all this milk? And they received all that milk, and they were just praising

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God. You see, these kinds of miracles, if you read the autobiography, you'll hear these accounts over and over.

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They happened all the time, and they always knew it was from the Lord's hands. George believed

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God was sovereign, but he also believed so deeply that our God is a God who answers prayers, who gives to his children in abundance.

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I wanted to start this sermon with that example because it demonstrates when the children of God ask their father for their needs, whether it be wisdom, food, or peace in the trial,

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God gives generously to those who ask by faith and with full sincerity of heart.

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So with that, let's go through our passage today, if you want to pull that up, starting in verse 5.

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But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him.

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James established that developing endurance through various trials will bring them to maturity.

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That's what we talked about. The maturity and completeness God will work in them will make them lack in nothing.

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But as if to say, for now, if any of these Jewish Christians lack wisdom, they are to ask

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God for it. I think that phrase that James writes, but if any of you lacks wisdom, is actually a statement of fact.

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It's a statement of fact. That is to say, the point is, all of us lack wisdom.

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All of us do. We need more of it. As long as you are still being sanctified, you need wisdom.

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And you will continue to need it, and more and more, as you grow in your walk with Christ.

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James knows they need wisdom, but he writes, any of you, any of you, so as to give them, and us,

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I think, the opportunity to examine ourselves. I do. I need wisdom.

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God, I need wisdom to walk through this trial. Lord, I need wisdom on what decision to make here.

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Father, I need wisdom to lead my family according to your precepts. Lord, I need more wisdom in your words so I can grow in my faith and help others do the same.

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We need to ask God for wisdom so often, don't we? We truly do.

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And not only wisdom, but we need to ask of God for everything. Everything. Wisdom, though, is a divine attribute of God.

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Wisdom doesn't exist outside of God. Just as He breathes the breath of life into all creatures,

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He gives wisdom as He sees fit. In Proverbs 8, wisdom is personified.

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It says, The Lord possessed me, wisdom, at the beginning of His way, before His works of old.

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From everlasting I was consecrated, from the beginning, from the earliest times of the earth.

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Blessed is the man who listens to me and those who keep my ways. All those who hate wisdom love death.

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There seem to be, according to the Scriptures, two types of wisdom. Two types.

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We have wisdom from God and wisdom of the world. The latter, you could say, is no wisdom at all.

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1 Corinthians 1, verses 18 -23 demonstrates this for us. It says,

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For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God, for it is written,

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I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the cleverness of the clever I will set aside.

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Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age?

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Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know

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God, God was well pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.

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For indeed, Jews ask for signs and Greeks search for wisdom, but we preach

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Christ crucified. To Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness, but to those who are the called, both

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Jews and Greeks, Christ, the power of God, and the wisdom of God. So, Paul says

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Christ crucified, essentially the gospel, is the power of God and it's the wisdom of God.

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God is the one who gives that kind of wisdom, my friends. There is an understanding here that God imparts,

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He grants or He gives wisdom to those who seek it from Him.

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This is different than just obtaining knowledge, okay? Many have knowledge, but not many have the wisdom to use or exercise that knowledge properly.

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Proverbs chapter 2 verse 6 puts it this way, For the Lord gives wisdom, and from His mouth come knowledge and understanding.

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There we see, again, the Lord is the giver of wisdom. Wisdom is what

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He speaks, it's His word, and the ability to understand it is to apply it.

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Knowledge, if understood properly, will result in a righteous utilization.

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You will use the knowledge. You will use the knowledge in a righteous way. That's wisdom. Someone who is wise, truly wise, is regenerate, who understands where and from whom the wisdom comes, our great

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God and Creator. Simply put, if one is intelligent and yet denies the truth of God, that man is not wise at all.

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Knowledge for the sake of knowledge, listen to this, Knowledge for the sake of knowledge was the sin in the garden.

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Knowledge for the sake of knowledge was the sin in the garden. Eat of this tree, receive knowledge.

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God, though, gives wisdom. A man must come and humble himself and admit he is inadequate.

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We have to set aside our pride and acknowledge we need wisdom and it is not generated within ourselves.

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We need to make a request to God. And the good news is that God's storehouse of wisdom is infinite.

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Amen? He will freely give it. He will generously give it. The question is, if He is the source of it, why don't you and I ask for it more?

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If all we must do is ask, why do we hesitate, brethren? He will not show partiality.

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He will give to all who ask humbly. Every time someone asks,

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He does not withhold from His treasury of wisdom. There is no loan, no payback at all, my friends.

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Every time someone asks, He gives. I remember the great toilet paper shortage of 2020.

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Right? I'm sure you guys do as well. I remember we were coming down to our last few squares,

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I think, and we were praying to God. And we had heard rumors of a warehouse offering toilet paper, big amounts, for cash payers.

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You know, like rumors would go around. Where did you get yours? Things like that. You remember how crazy that was?

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You know, whispers of three -ply rarities, things like that.

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Boy, where is that? My father -in -law, we learned of where this warehouse was, and we got in line.

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There was a line. After waiting for quite a while, a man came out and said,

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We're out. You're going to have to come back tomorrow. And all these people kind of turned around and got back to their cars.

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There was no more TP for us. But here's the thing. God doesn't say,

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Come back tomorrow. God doesn't say He's out of wisdom. He doesn't say,

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I don't have what you need. He gives with no earthly limitations. Not only will

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He give generously, but it says, without reproach. Another way you could write that in the

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Greek is, God gives generously and doesn't reproach you while doing it. He will not fault you in asking or expressing displeasure in your sincere request.

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He will not be angry with you if you say, Lord, I need wisdom. He's not going to hold past failures or sins over you when you request wisdom or you request something from Him each and every time

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He freely gives. So we need to stop saying that we can't approach

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God for our needs. We need to stop saying that we're not worthy because we aren't worthy.

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I'm not worthy. By His grace, we can approach our

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Father for our needs. It says, Ask and it will be given to you. Seek and you will find.

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Knock and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives.

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And he who seeks, finds. And to him who knocks, it will be opened.

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I have to make mention of something really quickly, though, because of our context in Utah. Notice this is not like the

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Mormons who ask God for a spirit or a feeling to determine truth.

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They often use these verses to say that that's what we need to do.

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The thing is, the Spirit already gave the Word. The Spirit can't contradict

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His Word. They can't. We don't test

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God's Word by a feeling. We use God's Word to test all other things.

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To think we need to test His Word is to begin with a presupposition that it is errant, that it is fallible, that it has issues with it.

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That it is satanic and has its origins with the serpent of old in the garden. Remember, the context above was about trials.

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Asking God for wisdom, possibly to endure trials, is a fair connection.

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The apostles, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, developed doctrine based off of the written

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Word of the Old Testament and the oral teachings of Christ, inspired, God -breathed, and used these men, carried them along by the

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Holy Spirit. It wasn't a request -based system. So, this is not asking for salvation -related wisdom.

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He is writing to people who are already believers. Do you get that? They tell unbelievers all the time, pray this, see this, ask

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God for wisdom about the Book of Mormon. But the context here is not salvation -related wisdom.

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He is writing to people who are already bought and purchased by the Lord Jesus Christ. Why would that context be relevant that they're giving us?

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Does that make sense? Alright, verse 6, But he must ask in faith without any doubting.

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For the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. What we saw at the end of verse 5 was the unquestioned sincerity of God who desires to give generously so as to bring us to that maturity promised in verse 4.

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But now, God desires the same sincerity to be reciprocated to Him from us in the request.

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He was sincere in what He promised. He wants you to be sincere in the request.

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God gives without reproach, and He wants us to ask Him without reproach.

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Without reproach. We are to ask in genuine faith. We ask with an assurance of things hoped for, with a conviction that the

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God unseen to us will answer our call. I've mentioned before how the root word for faith is belief in Greek.

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Asking by faith is asking and believing God will respond. God will supply.

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Hebrews 11 verse 6 says, And without faith it is impossible to please

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God. For he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who seek

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Him. So, asking in faith is asking without doubting.

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That is to say, full faith doesn't doubt. Full faith doesn't doubt.

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The word here in the Greek for any doubting is to not doubt, not to waver, not to be uncertain.

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James demonstrates in verse 6. He was listening to his older brother

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Jesus, because Jesus admonishes in Matthew 21 using hyperbole, but confirms

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His statement when He says, Truly I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain,

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Be taken up and cast into the sea, it will happen. And all things ask in prayer, believing that you will receive.

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So, there's definitely some judgment language there, I think, concerning fruitless

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Israel with the fig tree that was all withered, and then corrupt

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Mount Zion, the mountain there. But the principle is evident. Asking while believing we will receive is something that honors

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God. When you ask, you are to believe that He will answer.

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Okay? Many false prophets have tried to use that verse to claim health and wealth, but we don't ever see

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Christ and the apostles providing that example with that verse in Matthew 21, or even with what

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James is saying here. It's not simply that we need to have strong enough faith.

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There is no blank check on James' or Jesus' statements.

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Whatever we ask is to be something conditioned out of Scripture. Something God intends or desires to give us.

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Okay? And that's got a wide scope, okay? Because think about it, you could apply that to many things.

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Like, a lot of us have moved here from out of state, and we have a large desire to put down roots and to partake in becoming generations of Christians for centuries to come.

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And with that, we would love to own a home and put roots down deep. And I think that is a righteous thing to consider.

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That's taking dominion. That's being rooted in what God's Word says. So with that, an application would be,

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I don't think it's wrong for me and my wife to pray, God, would you provide a home one day that we might own?

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That we can, again, have generations of Christians come out of that. And I think that's a good thing.

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So you could apply that to a lot of things. But it's considering what God's Word says.

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Do you want an object or an item for sordid gain or for materialistic things or to make yourself look elevated or good?

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That is contrary to God's Word. But if you ask things by faith according to His Word and the principles thereof, that is what we're called to do.

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I just want to give you an example there. Back to the doubting aspect.

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We're not talking about strange thoughts that assail you sometimes.

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We're about to look at some examples of that. But we ask with the same level of certainty concerning even

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Christ's atonement, His resurrection and His ascension. We ask with that same level of certainty knowing those things happen and we believe them.

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If we doubt in our request, what does that say about our faith in the

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One who we make the request to? Right? So we can read these verses and often get nervous.

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I know I have. But there's a difference between, I think, the doubting believer and the one tossed and driven by the wind.

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We'll go into that. But first, consider Abraham the patriarch.

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He had witnessed God do incredible things. God promised him a son, an heir, that would lead to, we've talked about it, descendants innumerable.

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As numerous as the stars in the sky, as sand on the seashore. God even cut a covenant with Abraham.

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But what did Abraham do? A lot of you remember this story. When he went down to Egypt with his wife,

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Sarah, even though God had made that promise, he doubted. And he said, Sarah is my sister.

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So Pharaoh wouldn't kill him. Right? And then God reveals to Pharaoh that that's a man's wife.

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And he gives Sarah back. And nothing harmful has occurred, thank

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God. But again, Abraham displayed a lack of faith. The same thing happens.

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I mean, come on. The same thing happens again with Abimelech. And he says, oh, this is my sister.

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Even though God had promised to give him descendants innumerable. He thinks that he's going to die.

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Right? That he's going to be murdered. He's going to be killed. And so he doubts. Then, of course, you have

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Peter, the faithful apostle and disciple of Christ. When they're on the sea, a wind comes upon them and batters the boat as they head to land.

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In the fourth watch of the night, Jesus came to them walking on the water. We remember this story, right?

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They were afraid, but Jesus says, take courage. It is I. Do not be afraid.

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And in some way, Peter starts to doubt even before he gets out of the boat. He says, Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.

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And Jesus says, come. But it says, seeing the wind, Peter became frightened and beginning to sink.

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He cried out, Lord, save me. And immediately Jesus stretched out his hand and took hold of him and said,

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You of little faith, why did you doubt? Peter showed there that the power of those waves were greater in the moment than the

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Son of God. He doubted. He had little faith. But here's the thing.

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Back to Abraham. Abraham demonstrated his repentance in correcting his belief.

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What did he do to showcase that he acted on faith that God would still provide even when the

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Lord commanded him to offer up his only son Isaac? And so he did.

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Isaac and Abraham and their servants went up and they climbed up Mount Moriah.

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And Abraham laid the wood upon Isaac's back. And as he drew his knife back, the

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Lord stopped him. Right. The Lord said, for now

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I know that you fear me since you have not withheld your son, your only son from me.

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God was greatly pleased in Abraham's faith there. Peter, of course, wasn't finished doubting after that moment on the sea.

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Many point to doubting Thomas, but I think you could say that Peter doubted just as much as Thomas from that point all the way onward.

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But Peter, too, later displayed repentance and that his faith had grown in the living

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God when he was put to the test. As we see in the book of Acts, his boldness with the gospel and his various imprisonments and persecutions.

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James says, the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea driven and tossed by the wind.

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James, of course, grew up in Nazareth, which was just about 18 miles away from the

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Sea of Galilee and the Mediterranean coasts from either side. The sight of waves barreling in or storms or waves tossing boats around would have been something

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James was familiar with. The image shows instability, restlessness.

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The moving up portion, which are the crests, and the coming down, which are the troughs.

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Right. This kind of man is at the mercy of his doubt. Being tossed around means there is no stability, no control.

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Simply put, a doubting person has no solid ground. He's like on the waves, being moved by the waters, tossed around.

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Verse 7 and 8. Verse 7 and 8. For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the

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Lord, being a double -minded man, unstable in all his ways.

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So I just demonstrated that we can often lack faith. It can be weak.

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We can have periods of doubt. Jude 22 even says to have mercy on those who are having problems of doubting.

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But the question is, are we, or the scattered

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Christians, the people James is talking about here, are we unstable and double -minded?

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I think the Lord Jesus helps us here. He said to Peter, you of little faith.

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He often calls the disciples little faiths. Hey, little faiths, in the original language.

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But that's the key. Little faith. A faith that will grow.

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Not a no faith. Not a zero faith. Some faith. Some faith is there.

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He has transitioned away, I think, from the believer who asks by faith to someone different.

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He puts distance between them. So I interpret this to be describing someone who actually doesn't know

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Christ. Faith is being pitted against doubt here. Faith and doubt.

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Faith and doubt. They're clashing against each other. Think about it.

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This is just like the format of a proverb in the Old Testament. The proverbs will say something about the righteous and then say something about the wicked.

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And I think that's what's happening if you look at these verses together. So it could say something like this, if we change the format a little more.

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It'd say something like, the righteous have faith that God will give wisdom generously, but the wicked receives nothing from God, being double -minded, unstable in all their ways.

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That's how we could look at this. New Testament wisdom literature. James is bringing us back to that wisdom literature formula.

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The righteous do this. The wicked do that. He says, that man.

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He doesn't say one like them. He says that man. That man ought not to expect to receive anything from the

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Lord. The doubting man won't receive wisdom. In fact, it says the doubting man won't receive actually anything from the

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Lord. Does that sound like a believer? Like a child of God? He receives nothing from the

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Lord. One commentator states, James isn't talking about the one who battles doubts and wards it off, but this is a man who may try religion out, and if it does not do any harm, it may do good.

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Or this is a man who thinks he has no need of God and believes himself to be self -sufficient or independent.

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Think about the father of the epileptic. He said to Jesus, I do believe, but help my unbelief.

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I do believe, but help my unbelief. Jesus heard a prayer of faith. The man struggled in his faith, but asked in sincerity for help.

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And he received it. He received it. And that's the difference, my friends.

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Cain didn't bring his offering to God by faith, and as a result, he murdered his brother

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Abel and was banished to wander the earth like a vagabond. King Saul tried to act independent of God.

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He performed a sacrifice against God's wishes. He thought himself independent of God.

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Remember with the Amalekites, he kept the king alive and he took the spoils because he said, the people told me.

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I feared the people in these moments. These men, as far as my knowledge goes,

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I don't think we see any signs of repentance or faith for Cain or for Saul.

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They ought to have expected to receive nothing from God then on. A double -minded man.

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You know, I used to think this means, when I used to read this prior before doing this study,

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I used to think this meant like when the spirit and the flesh are waging war against each other,

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I'm double -minded, I've got the spirit, I've got the flesh, and they're going at each other. Paul talks about these two natures that are still in us, and they're waging war, and God's sanctifying us through that, and that's all occurring.

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But I don't think that's what this is anymore. Like I said, this is something different.

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The word here is desucas. Two souls.

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Two minds. Or it's often translated two -faced. Two -face.

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I called my good friend, Pastor Charlie Lopez. He preached on this.

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He's a pastor in Payson, Arizona, of a 1689 church. I love that brother. And we were talking about this passage, and he brought up a really good illustration.

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I said, I'm going to bring that up, and I want to tell my church about this.

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It's kind of a strange illustration, but I think it will help us. Some of you have probably heard of or seen the movie

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The Mummy with Brendan Fraser. You can't say you've seen a lot of Brendan Fraser movies, but maybe you've seen

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The Mummy, apparently. Let me tell you a little bit about what's going on here. There's a scene where after they have accidentally brought the mummy,

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Hemotep, back to life, everyone is kind of running around in this pyramid or these ruins, and this weasel of a guy named

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Benny survives from all these creatures and booby traps, and he's trying to save his own neck.

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He's trying to get out. Well, in pursuit of trying to escape, he comes face to face with the still corpse -like version of Hemotep, the mummy.

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So in great fear, and trying to avoid death, he pulls out this necklace, and this necklace is a cross, and he holds the necklace and the cross in front of the corpse -like mummy, and he prays to God for deliverance, and the mummy keeps advancing, okay?

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And so when he realizes that doesn't work, he pulls out a wad of necklaces that are all tangled together, and he's fumbling through them, and Benny then finds,

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I think it was like an Arabic amulet, and he's holding this, and he starts speaking in Arabic and asking

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Allah for deliverance, and so he speaks this, and the mummy keeps advancing on him, and he's like, okay, doesn't work, and he kind of comes down back to his wad of necklaces, and he pulls out something that is

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Asian, and so he speaks in some Eastern dialect. That doesn't work, and so as a last -ditch effort,

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Benny pulls out a Star of David, and he speaks in Hebrew real quick, and if you remember, if you've seen this scene, the mummy goes, ah, yes, the language of the slaves.

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I may have use for you, and the reward will be great. So he shows

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Benny a handful of gold, and Benny's eyes light up, so at that time,

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Benny looks at the gold in his hand. He's looking at the gold, not Imhotep, and he goes, my prince, my prince.

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He makes allegiance to this creature, to this abomination.

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He uses religion as a means of gain. When it is convenient, he is a

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Christian. When he is convenient, he is a Muslim or a Jew, whatever is necessary.

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This is the two -faced man. That's the illustration I'm trying to give you. We even know people like this, right?

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We'll have a cross around their neck, and then they'll kiss their rabbit's foot at the same time. You know, whatever will save them in a bind.

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They play the part of believer, but then they can live a life of total debauchery with their true friends, the people who really know them.

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The double -minded man has to cover all his bases so there's at least a chance he'll get into heaven.

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It's fire insurance. And it's almost like superstition, as I said.

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The doubting two -faced man only prays to God when he is in a bind and needs temporal deliverance.

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It's how George Mueller had the bread of communion in his mouth making oaths to God to reform in exchange for blessing.

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This kind of man feigns servanthood, pretends servanthood to Christ, but he doesn't actually believe.

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His prayers go unanswered. But here's the thing, Christ says no one can serve two masters.

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No one can serve God and money, He says, at the same time. You'll either hate one and love the other or love one and despise the other.

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Which is to say, none of us can have Christ and something else's master.

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It's not possible. You can't do it. The double -minded man believes he can serve himself and Christ at the same time.

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But there's only one Master. There's only one Lord. And he won't share his glory with anyone or anything else.

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Serving God and anything else demonstrates someone doesn't actually truly serve

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God. So we can read this, and we should take the healthy warning, but it's not like if we doubt once, we're done for.

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If you doubt, you're toast. You're not a believer. That's not what we should get out of this.

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Then that would mean we were done before we even started in a way, right? You heard examples of doubting men who then asked of God for faith, and it was granted to them he will not turn away someone with faith, even little faith.

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The man is unstable in all his ways. He is never solid on anything. The root word for unstable in the

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Greek is actually stand. Stand. This is a man who cannot stand.

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In Peter's second epistle, he warns of unstable souls, people who can be enticed by false teachers.

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Jesus says there is a man who builds his house upon the rock, and a man who builds his house on the sinking sand.

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The man on the solid rock endures, right, my friends? Our God is immutable.

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He is unchanging, and we are called not to be given into change either. Christians are not to be unstable people.

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When the world is in chaos all around us, we are called to stand firm, to demonstrate our faith in our stability.

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We are stable of mind because our God is not a God of confusion.

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A believer can doubt or be perplexed but repents and remembers who his

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God is. But the unbeliever doubts and makes a constant habit of doubting and unbelief.

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He pretends faith, but inwardly operates in that unbelief all the time.

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So it is my belief that I think Christ will keep His sheep from becoming the double -minded man.

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That's my hope in the Gospel. He will keep us from being the double -minded man like Benny there.

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So I'm wrapping up now. I don't want you to read this and make doubt the unpardonable sin.

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He will lose none that the Father has given Him, and Christ will raise us up on the last day. He will cause us to persevere to the end, preserving us to the moment of completion when our faith will be fully realized and seen with our own eyes.

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Listen, the question derived from this passage is not, is our heart right with God?

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Now maybe you do need to ask that. Maybe you have never turned to Christ and you need to ask that, is my heart right with God?

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But he's talking to believers here. So that's not exactly the question. That's eternally secure for those who have turned to Christ by faith.

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The question coming from this challenging part of Scripture should be, is our heart one with God?

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Not right with God, is our heart one with God? We are to give allegiance and faith to no one other than God Almighty.

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Not ourselves, not our doubts, not past disappointments.

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Our great God has spoken and promised and He will make good on those commitments.

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Amen? Psalm 119 verse 2 says to seek

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God with your whole heart. While Psalm chapter 12 verse 2 condemns the one who comes to Him with a divided heart.

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A double heart is the Hebrew there. Double heart. But with all that said, brethren, we would miss the point of James' warnings if we think the fact that the double -minded man is an unbeliever is a license for us to now be able to doubt or continue in our doubt.

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Alright? The fact remains, the one with faith asks without doubting.

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The one with faith asks without doubting. The ones without faith are always expected to doubt.

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They will always doubt. They will always doubt God's promises. In every proverb we see what the righteous do, but we also see what the wicked do, and it instructs us in that way to warn us of what is not pleasing to God.

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If you feel coddled in your doubt today, you have misunderstood the message. Don't be the double -minded man.

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That is a warning. Don't be the double -minded man. Turn to Christ. The two -faced one is divided and will never be united to Christ unless he repents.

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But I have a greater hope for you, church. I have a greater hope for you. Remember a few things, okay?

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I'm going to give you a few things to remember from this. I know this was a long one. Number one, ask of God.

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He gives generously. Ask of God. He gives generously. He will. Number two, ask in accordance with His will.

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How do I determine His will? We talked about it. Look to His Word. Pray in such a way that aligns with the promises and examples in Scripture.

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Number three, God desires a sincere heart. If prayer is on a checklist, remove it in a hurry.

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If prayer is on a checklist for the day, remove it in a hurry. Don't make prayer a checklist item.

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Choose quality over quantity, right? Don't rush it.

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Talk to God as a child asks His Father for something He needs. When you wake up and you rush through your devotion and you rush through prayer, does that honor

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God? Do you take Him seriously in your requests? Do you really believe when you're just fumbling through the prayer that He will answer in the way that you request it?

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I don't think we're showing God the honor. I don't think we're showing Him belief in that. Take your time.

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Because I think the quality, right? I think we should be praying people and praying long time is great and an example of Jesus Christ.

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But I think quality will eventually become more into quantity. High quality will spill over into quantity.

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Number four, sometimes us reformed folks can lose what our kind of faith -filled, charismatic brothers and sisters possess.

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Here's the thing. We have to understand this. God's design to make dead people come to life through the

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Gospel is by means of people. You and I. Us, to give the message of Christ, still sovereign, but He wants us to share.

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I don't know if you ever heard that as a Calvinist. You just think everyone's just going to walk around and all of a sudden they're going to turn to Christ or whatever?

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No, we understand as people who recognize God's sovereignty that is by means of proclamation of the

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Gospel and we are commanded to partake in that and yet God is fully sovereign over salvation in someone.

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So, the same thing is with prayer. He will make things happen when you pray because that is the means

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He has ordained. Through our requests, He will sovereignly work out His will.

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It doesn't mean God is our genie. It doesn't mean He is designed to do our bidding.

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And it doesn't mean, as some heretics say, that He needs our permission to operate in His creation.

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Okay? It's almost mysterious. You know, at some basic level,

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I know Pastor Matt understands with me, especially the hypostatic union, the

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Trinity, God's sovereignty over sinful man. There's something mysterious about that.

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We take these things on faith and they're glorious and we believe them and this is true as well.

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God commands you to pray and He'll act and yet He's fully sovereign. It's just, you know, our minds sometimes can't compute.

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God will do all things after the counsel of His will and yet He answers prayers of His children.

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Number five, ask believing. Don't leave room for doubt. Rest in the fact that whatever happens is the very best thing for you.

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His will. It can never be bad. Andrew Sandlin says,

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God relishes and rushes to answer your prayer. Therefore, pray big and expect big.

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Pray big and expect big. Absolutely. Absolutely. Your Father has crushed sin, death, and the devil.

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How will He not freely give you all things in Christ? You've got to know that in your soul.

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You've got to know that deep within you. To the humble man or woman who calls Christ their king, they will find an endless supply of wisdom, provision, love, help, perseverance from the

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Master for growing in this Christian life. He will give freely, my friends.

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Ask believing it will be so. Ask knowing who our great

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God is and know so deeply, okay, know so deeply that you will be kept from the raging sea and being tossed by the wind because as Hebrews 6 says,

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Christ is the anchor of your soul. Let's pray.

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Father, please bless the message that went out. Lord, be glorified in it.

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God, I pray, Lord, that you would help us to be people who believe.

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In some ways, a lot of us have, for the majority of our

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Christian walks, we have been what Jesus called petered. We've been little faiths.

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We have requested things and we have had doubt in our hearts. Lord, we repent. We turn from this.

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God, help us more than ever now. Give us wisdom. Give us perseverance.

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Give us endurance. Give us, Lord, the ability to grow in our faith.

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God, like that man, help our unbelief. God, we come to you with sincere hearts.

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Help us to rid ourselves of doubt. Remove the doubt from us,

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Lord. Help us now to not doubt when we make requests to you,

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Lord. Help us to come believing. So, Lord, thank you for today.

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Thank you, Lord, for what you are doing in this body and what you will continue to do. Pray this all in Jesus' name, amen.