James 1. I've entitled this message, The
Double-Minded Man. I wonder if any of us in here
has not feared that that would describe them. The double-minded
man. We're given this blessed promise
In verse 5, if any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God that
giveth to all men liberally, generously, and upbraideth not,
and it shall be given him. What a blessed promise. But then he adds this, but let
him ask in faith, nothing wavering, not doubting in any way. For
he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea, driven with the wind
and tossed. For let not that man think that
he shall receive anything of the Lord. A double-minded man
is unstable. in all His ways. I don't know how many times I've
read that passage of Scripture and thought, well, that excludes
me from getting anything because I'm always doubting something.
I always feel a measure of doubt. I always feel a measure of unbelief. Am I going to receive anything
of the Lord because that's always with me? nothing doubting. Does that mean that I have to
be totally sure that God is going to answer my prayer and give
me what I ask for, and if there's any measure of wondering as to
whether or not I get it, then I won't? Is that what that means?
Well, if that is what it means, I don't believe anybody in here
is going to get anything to ask for. But thank God that's not what
it means. I hope I'll be enabled by the
grace of God to give you the meaning of this passage of scripture. Now, when he says, you can't doubt when you ask,
and that's what wavering means, it's doubting. Does that mean
if you ask for something and don't have complete confidence
that you will be given what you ask for, you won't have it? Well,
if it does mean that, what about that man who said, Lord, I believe,
help thou mine unbelief? Number one, is there ever a time
when you're without that? Not as long as you have an old
nature. Your old nature never believes. Your new nature always
believes. But what if the Lord said that
to this man? He said, Lord, I believe. Help
thou mine unbelief. And the Lord replied to him,
well, I'm not going to give it to you because you've got unbelief.
Didn't happen, did it? He healed that man's son. What about when the answer is
no? You know, Moses prayed on several different occasions after
the Lord told him, you're not going to enter the promised land. Moses said, let me come in. The
Lord said, no, and I won't hear you anymore about this matter. The answer was no. What about
when Paul asked that the Lord remove the thorn from his flesh. Now, the Lord didn't do it. He
asked three times and the Lord didn't do it. It wasn't because
Paul didn't have sufficient faith and didn't believe God enough
and that's why that took place. That's not the case at all. God
had his own glorious purposes in letting the thorn in the flesh
remain. David said, I want to Build you a house. The Lord said,
no, you're not going to build me a house. You're a bloody man.
Your son, Solomon, will build you this house. Now, when he
says let him ask in faith, that doesn't mean let him ask knowing
for sure that he's going to get what he asks for. Now, anything
I request of the Lord in prayer, I'm never sure that I'm going
to get it. I always think he may say no. And if he does say
no, it's for my good and his glory. I'm glad for the no. Whatever he says no to me for,
good. Thank his name. If I had it,
it would ruin me. So I'm thankful for the things
he says no for. He gives me exactly what I need. But when it talks
about asking in faith and not wavering, it's talking about
asking in faith in Christ. Now, we realize that the only
reason that our prayer will be heard or answered is for Christ's
sake. That's why we pray in His name. I don't come in my own name.
I come in His name. I'm asking in faith, hear this
for Christ's sake. You may say yes, you may say
no, but I want you to hear it and I want you to accept my person
for Christ's sake. Accept the one praying for Christ's
sake and you give me what I need, thy will be done. You feel that
way? Whatever I need, give it to me
according to your will. Thy will be done, but you're
doing that in Christ's name. Now that makes me ask the question,
what is faith? Let him ask in faith. Well, what
is faith? Well, turn to Romans chapter
4. I think that this is a great chapter on faith. If you want
to understand faith, read Romans chapter 4. Verse 1, What shall we say then
that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found? For
if Abraham were justified by works, if he was justified because
of something he did, be it ever so small, he hath whereof to
glory, but not before God. For what saith the scripture?
Abraham believed God. Now that's what faith is. It's
that simple. Abraham believed God. When God said, see the stars? So shall your seed be. Abraham
did not doubt God's word. Abraham believed what God said. And it was counted to him righteousness. Verse 4, now to him that worketh
is the reward not reckoned of grace but of debt. In other words,
if you in any way do anything that obligates God to do something
for you, that means God is paying you. He's in debt to you. Here's what faith is, but verse
5, to him that worketh not. If you have faith, you are dead
sure that you can't be saved by your works. You're dead sure
of that if you have faith. To him that worketh not, but
believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly. You believe on that
one who by his giving of his son to die on Calvary's tree
that he actually accomplished justification. He justified ungodly
sinners. Do you believe that? Do you believe
that Christ actually justified ungodly sinners and now they're
justified before God simply because of what he did without any reference
to their works at all? Do you believe that? His faith
is counted for righteousness. Look in verse 13 of the same
chapter, for the promise that he should be the heir of the
world was not to Abraham or to his seed through the law, through
some obedience, some act of obedience on his part, but through the
righteousness of faith. You see, there's the righteousness
of the law, which is nothing but unrighteousness that's really
non-existent. Nobody's ever kept the law. And
then there's the righteousness of faith. That's the righteousness
of Jesus Christ. You're trusting his righteousness
as your righteousness before God. For the promise that he
should be the heir of the world was not to Abraham or to his
seed through the law, but through the righteousness of faith. For
if they were to of the law be heirs, faith is made void. It's
meaningless. The promise made of none effect,
nothing but a bunch of hot air. Because the law worketh wrath.
For where no law is, there's no transgression. Therefore,
it is a faith What? Salvation is a faith, not of
works, a faith that it might be by grace to the end that the
promise might be sure to all the seed. Not to that only which
is of the law, but that also which is of the faith of Abraham
who is the father of us all. Now faith simply is believing
what God said. God said that He justifies the
ungodly by the work of His Son. Faith believes that. Do you believe
that? Then you have faith. You have the gift of God, God's
gift of grace, saving faith. What a blessing it is to have
saving faith. What a blessing it is to know
that Christ is my righteousness before God. What a blessing it
is to know that all things because of Him are working together for
my good and His glory. saving faith. Let him ask in
faith. Now what that means is, when
you ask for anything, you ask knowing that the only reason
you'll be heard is for Christ's sake. That's plenty enough reason
though, isn't it? You don't have any other ground
upon which you come, only for Christ's sake. Now if I think
something other than faith in Christ is needed, that's called
wavering. And at that time I become like
a wave of the sea, completely unstable, driven of the wind,
and tossed. Let him ask in faith, looking
to Christ only, nothing wavering." Now turn back to James 1. Verse 7, regarding that man who
wavers, let not that man think that he
shall receive anything of the Lord. How many different ways
are there to take that? If I waver in this thing of faith,
if I somehow look to my works and not Christ only, Don't let
that man even imagine that he'll receive anything of the Lord.
And here is what Paul calls, or James calls this man, verse
8, a double-minded man. He's unstable in all of his ways. Now there's salvation by faith
and there's salvation by works. That's the only two views there
are. They're salvation by faith and they're salvation by works.
They're diametrically opposed and can't be brought together.
And the man who tries to bring them together, James says, is
a double minded man. He waivers between faith and
works and he's unstable in all of his ways. Now listen to me
real carefully. The only thing stable The only
thing stable is faith in Christ. The only thing stable is what
Christ has done. You know, I've heard preachers
say all that counts, all that's important is what is done for
Christ. No. All that's important is what
Christ does for you. That's so, isn't it? I can enter
into that. Faith is the gift of God and
what accolades are given faith. Turn to Hebrews chapter 11 for
just a moment. About just a couple pages to
Hebrews chapter 11. Look what the writer of the Hebrew
says. Now, faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence
of things not seen. Now, can I see my justification? No. Not at all. Well, how do I know He's justified
me? Faith. That's the only way. Can I see
I'm elected? No. What is the evidence I have
been? Faith. As many as were ordained
to eternal life, believed. Can I see that Jesus Christ died
for me? No. Well, how do I know he did? I
believe the gospel. You know, I'm a believer. I'm
a believer. I'm not a worker, I'm a believer.
I believe the gospel of God's grace. I'm relying completely
on Jesus Christ. I love what Paul said in 2 Timothy
1, 12, I know whom I have believed and I am persuaded that he is
able to keep that which I've committed to him. I've committed
to him the entire salvation of my soul. Full commitment. It's
not 99% Christ and 1% me, it's full commitment. And I'm persuaded he's able to
keep that which I've committed to him against that day. For by it, verse 2, by faith
the elders obtained a good report. Now how are you going to obtain
a good report? How are you going to get a good report card? Only one way. Faith in Christ. And Hebrews 11 shows such powerful
examples of that that I think, take Sarah. It says, by faith,
Sarah received strength to conceive seed. She believed God. You can
read about it. Now, when you read the account
in Genesis, what's it say about her? She didn't believe. She
laughed. And then she lied to the Lord
when He accused her of laughing. She said, I didn't laugh. He
said, you did too. I mean, you don't see much, but the New Testament
account of her is, by faith, Sarah received strength to receive
seed. What about Abraham? Abraham murdered a man, hid his
body in the sand, and ran in fear to the land of Midian. And
what does the New Testament account say? It says he feared not the
wrath of the king. It's only by faith that me and
you will get a good report card. Verse 3, through faith We understand
that the worlds were framed by the Word of God so that things
which are seen were not made of things which do appear. Now
we understand that, and we understand that by faith. We understand
that everything that is was framed by the Word of God. The things
that we see were not made of things which do appear. The living
God, the Creator God, we understand that by faith. By faith, verse
4. Abel offered unto God a more
excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness
that he was righteous. And I love the way it says that.
It doesn't say righteousness was imputed to him. It says he
was righteous. I like that even better. I like
being righteous better than having righteousness imputed to me.
Because if righteousness is imputed to me, you know what that means?
I'm righteous. He's righteous. This is God's testimony. God
testifying of his gifts and by it he being dead yet speaketh. By faith Enoch was translated
that he should not see death and was not found because God
translated him for before his translation he had this testimony
that he pleased God. Well how did he please God? Without
faith it is impossible to please him but beloved by faith you
do please him. For he that cometh to God must
believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that
diligently seek him." Now I could, I intend you don't go on reading
in that chapter, but read it on your own. The accolades of
faith. Now, when faith is left, all
you're left with is wavering, indecision, and instability,
and that makes you a double-minded two-faced, two-souled, literally,
man who will receive nothing from the Lord. Now the double-minded
man is the man who halts between two opinions. You remember during
the days of Elijah when Israel was halting between Baal worship
and the worship of Jehovah. That's what they were doing.
They were afraid to plum leave the worship of Jehovah, but Ahab
was in power and it was politically correct and financially advantageous
to be a Baal worship. So they said, here's what we'll
do. We'll do both. We'll do both. And Elijah said,
how long halt ye between two opinions? If Baal's God, serve him. If
Jehovah is God, serve Him. Don't try to halt between two
opinions. The Lord said, no servant can
serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love
the other, or else he'll despise the one and hold to the other.
You can't serve God and Mammon. You can't have two masters. The
Lord said, The light of the body is the eye, therefore if thine
eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. But if
it be evil, if it be mixed, hearing different messages, it will be
full of darkness. If therefore the light that's
in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness. James said,
Know ye not that friendship with the world is enmity with God? He that's the friend of the world,
is the enemy of God. You obviously can't be a friend
of the world and a friend of God. You can't do both. It can't be done. Turn with me
for a moment to 2 Corinthians chapter 6. I'd like you to see
this passage. 2 Corinthians chapter 6, verse 14. Be ye not unequally yoked together
with unbelievers, and then he goes on to ask a series of five
questions. He said, For what fellowship
hath righteousness with unrighteousness? None. What communion hath light
with darkness? None. And what concord hath Christ
with Belial, or the devil? None. What part hath he that
believeth with an infidel, an unbeliever? None. And what agreement
hath the temple of God with idols? None. These things can't be brought
together. Now the double-minded man attempts
to bring them together. That's exactly what he does. Come with me to 2 Corinthians
chapter 11 while you're in 2 Corinthians. Paul says in verse 2, For I am
jealous over you, with a godly jealousy. For I have espoused
you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin
to Christ. But I fear, lest by any mean
does the serpent beguile thee through his subtlety, through
his deceit, so your minds should be corrupted from thee. And I
love this word. The simplicity. The simplicity
that's in Christ. You know what that means? That
means the onlyness. The onlyness that's in Christ. We cannot look to Christ and
anything. It's impossible. We can't have
two objects of faith. We can't have two grounds of
salvation. Christ is either all in my salvation
or he's nothing at all. Now let me repeat that. I want
you to hear that. I want you to see how you measure
up. Same thing is true of you. Christ is either all in my salvation
or he is nothing at all. I think of the Old Testament
laws. For instance, I've heard people make fun of this and use
this to prove that the Bible could not possibly be the inspired
word of God. What about the rules concerning
blended clothing? You can't mix wool and linen
together to make a garment. Wow, that's ridiculous. Why would
that? Obviously that's not inspired. That's some kind of weird Old
Testament law. If you know the gospel, you know what that means,
don't you? You can't mix human righteousness and Christ's righteousness
as your garment. It's got to be Christ's righteousness
only. What about when the Lord was
passing through to destroy the firstborn in Egypt? What did
he say? He said, when I see, what? The blood. He didn't say, when
I see your faith. He didn't say when I see your
sincerity. He didn't say when I see your ability to overcome
besetting sins. He didn't say when I see your
ability to pull yourself up by the bootstraps. He didn't say
when I see your ability to walk with me and your sorrow. He didn't
say anything like that. No mention was made of anything
like that. There was one thing he was looking
for. What was that? When I see the blood. I will pass over you. Not when I see the blood and
something else. I think of old Mephibosheth.
What was the one reason David had mercy on him? He did it for
Jonathan's sake. No other reason. What is the
one reason Christ forgives me of my sins? For God forgives
me of my sins. Be ye kind, tenderhearted, forgiving
one another, even as God for Christ's sake. Now that's the
simplicity that's in Christ. The singleness, the onliness. I love that statement. The simplicity,
the onliness of Christ. There's nothing to get confused
about. I don't have to make a choice between two things. Don't have
to do that. Christ only. The simplicity that's
in Christ. What about, there's one place,
I'm thinking of these Old Testament examples, there's one place where
you could get fire to burn the incense. You know where that
was? It was fire from off the altar of sacrifice. If you got
some other fire, well, Nadab and Abihu did it, and what happened?
Fire came down from heaven and devoured them because there was
only one fire that's acceptable. That's the fire of the sacrifice
of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Old Testament has so many
examples of this simplicity that's in Christ. I love the parable
in the New Testament of the king giving up marriage for his son.
What's the one thing you had to have on? the wedding garment of His providing. If you didn't have that, you
were cast out. What is the one way to God? Christ said, I am the way. The way that excludes all other
ways. There are other ways to God,
but you won't get there by There's only one way to God. That's right. There's only one way of salvation.
By grace, you are saved. Through faith, that not of yourselves,
it's the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast.
Now, the double-minded man is the man who would have Christ
share his glory with himself. Christ and, Christ and this,
Christ and that. Now, in the days of the Reformation,
and in some respects, you know, I love what happened during the
Protestant Reformation, but in a way, I don't even like the
term Reformation. I mean, because reformed from what? There's always
been people preaching the truth. There's always been people preaching
the gospel. God's never left himself without
witness. And the message of the scripture is not reform her,
but come out of her and be separate, saith the Lord, and dust off
the unclean things. So in that sense, I don't know
why I'm saying this, but I'm saying it. But I love the Reformers. I love Calvin and Luther and
Hux and Zwingli, and I admire them, all the things they're
preaching and the good that was done through them. But one of
the things that the Reformers, this was, and you've heard me
give this before, they had what they called five solas, five
onlys. Scripture alone, Christ alone,
grace alone, faith alone, and the glory of God alone. I love that. Scriptures alone. Not the Scriptures
and our traditions, or the Scripture and the Shorter Catechism, as
much as I like the Shorter Catechism. Or not the Scriptures and our
church bylaws, or our church covenant. And, you know, a lot
of churches have these big documents that tell you what we believe.
The Bible. The Bible. I'm not going to give
anything else. The Bible. Scriptures alone. We don't believe something in
the Scriptures and our tradition. I mean, if it's not in the Bible,
I don't believe it. And I love what Donnie Bell said
here once. He said, if the Bible said that
Jonah swallowed the whale, I would believe it. And you know what?
I would too. I believe what God's Word says. I believe it's the inspired,
inerrant Word of God. We look to the Scripture alone. We don't go to the Bible to prove
our belief. We go to the Bible to find out
what to believe. Do you? Ask yourself that question. I don't go to the Bible to prove
my beliefs. I go to the Bible to find out what I do believe. I love what Paul said to Timothy.
Preach the Word. Whatever God's Word declares,
preach it. Well, this part is of secondary
importance. You able to make that judgment?
If God revealed it, it's important. What do I preach? Everything
God says. What do I have to believe? How
much of the truth do I have to believe? Everything God says.
Everything God says. We look to the Scriptures alone.
The double-minded man looks to the Scriptures and. We look to
Christ alone. This book is only about Him. Every verse is only about Him. His righteousness is the only
righteousness. He is the only ground of salvation. Simeon put it this way. Lord,
now let us all, thy servant, depart in peace according to
thy word. Let me depart in peace, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation. Christ himself is salvation. He himself is the only object
of faith, and the double-minded man introduces Christ and. We believe grace alone. How much comfort would you have
if any of your salvation was dependent upon something you
do? But how much comfort do you have if it's all by grace? And we believe grace alone because
the Bible teaches this, and because we find in our own experience
that if it's not by grace alone, then I won't be saved. I was
thinking about this issue, and I can remember back on American
Avenue, not American Avenue, but Grace Chapel. That's how
long, this has been 30 years ago. I remember Henry Mayhem
preaching for us. And he brought a message that
we had 45-minute cassette tapes. It went on both sides and didn't
finish it. So he went over an hour and a
half that night. And if I went over an hour and a half, I'd
probably be walking out, but he could do it. And he brought a message
entitled, Six Stubborn Statements. And he got it from Barnard. God
is either absolutely sovereign or he's not sovereign at all. Men are either dead in sins or
they can save themselves. Salvation is either dependent
upon God's choice or man's choice. Christ's death actually saves
or it didn't. God's grace either saves or it
can be rejected and resisted and is no more than an offer.
A true believer can wind up in hell, or God's people will persevere
unto the end, all the way to the end, walking with Christ
and following Him. Six stubborn statements that
can't be brought together. They can't be mixed. They're
opposed to each other. They're as opposed as light is
to darkness. Salvation is by grace alone. Faith alone, not faith and. Gosh, I'm glad it's not faith
and. But faith alone. Right now, I'm someone who is
relying completely on Jesus Christ. I don't have anything else. And
I'm so fine with that. I'm so happy with that. I'm so
at peace with that. If you give me anything else,
I have no peace at all. Faith alone. Not faith and. Faith
alone. And the glory of God alone. This is the fifth sola. The glory
of God alone. The only issue is who gets the
glory? That's the only issue. Who gets
the glory? The double-minded man keeps one
foot in the world, and he tries to please the Lord and men. Yes,
God gets some glory, but he doesn't get all the glory. I love what
Paul said in Galatians chapter 1, verse 10, If I yet please
men, I should not be the servant of Christ. Now, the double-minded
man is the man who tries to blend things. He has no problem with
that garment made of linen and wool. He tries to blend things. He has two ways of salvation. He says there's this side and
there's that side. Let not that man think he shall receive anything
of the Lord. So remember, when it's saying
let him ask in faith, it's saying ask looking to Christ only. And if that's not the way you
come, you're not going to receive anything of the Lord. You're
double-minded, you're double-souled, and you're not saved. The double-minded
man is a man who is not saved. Now, that gives me more confidence
when I read this scripture. If any man lack wisdom, Oh, I want God's wisdom, don't
you? I want to be a truly wise person. And you know, the only
way you're going to be wisdom is not by studying and by diligent
effort. It's by God revealing himself
to you, by revelation. This is not something you figure
out and just give it. No. The only way you're going
to ever and I'm ever having true wisdom is for God to give it
to us, to lighten our hearts by his grace, by his spirit.
If any man lack wisdom, Let him ask. That's all you've got to
do is ask. Ask God. You've got to ask the
right person. He's the only one who can give
it. Ask God who gives to all men liberally. Anybody who asks,
he liberally bestows this gift. And he doesn't upgrade. He doesn't
boil you out for coming again. You're coming again? No, he receives
you graciously and fully. But let him ask in faith. Nothing wavering. He that wavereth
is driven like a wave in the sea, tossed. Let not that man
think he shall receive anything of the Lord. The double-minded
man is unstable in all his ways. May the Lord cause us to be simple
people, simply looking to Christ and nowhere else. Let's pray. Lord, once again, we ask for
wisdom, the right use of knowledge that will cause us to see thy
son as the wisdom of God and see him as our wisdom. And Lord,
give us wisdom to walk in this world by faith in thy son. Give
us wisdom to preach your gospel to this generation, to the people
around us. Give us the wisdom to have a
right estimate of ourself, knowing that we are what we are only
by thy grace. Lord, cause us to always ask
by faith, nothing wavering. And Lord, When you announced, Behold, I
come quickly, thy servant John said, Even so, come Lord Jesus. And Lord, how thrilled we would
be if you would hasten your return and we would be allowed to see
you coming in great glory. Thy will be done. In Christ's
name we pray, amen.