Book of James chapter 1. We looked
at this particular passage on Wednesday night and. Won't be
speaking on the same subject as we. See here, but. And I mentioned some of this
on Wednesday night, but I want to reiterate simply. I know we have some here
that weren't here. It wasn't here on Wednesday. James is the
half brother of Jesus. And what mercy it is that James
was called to see the Lord Jesus Christ as the Lord Jesus Christ.
We know that many who saw the Lord didn't know he was God.
He had to reveal himself to them. And we know that's evident by
him standing up in the temple, if you remember, and quoting
Isaiah 61, where he says, the burden of the Lord is upon me.
The Lord hath anointed me to preach the gospel. And close
the book, and he tells them, today, this prophecy's been fulfilled
in your ears, today. And they marveled, and they said,
well, is this not Joseph's son? And Mary's son, what does he
mean this prophecy's fulfilled? They couldn't see him as the
Lord Jesus Christ. Every time we come into this
place, we're asking the Lord to send his spirit. We believe
that the Lord's spirit's already present. We believe that the
Lord's everywhere all the time, and yet we can't see him unless
he reveals himself through the eyes of faith. We can't hear
him unless he causes us to hear him. That's what we beg for when
we gather together. We know that he has all the power
to do so, and he does so according to his will and purpose. And
by that will and by that purpose and according to his grace, he
caused James to see him as Lord and Savior, and then called him
to write this epistle. Now if you were to write a letter,
as James is writing, this is a letter, you would be writing
to an individual. I said this Wednesday too, you
would be writing to a particular person or a particular group
of people. How often would you write a letter
to everyone without exception? Well, the answer is really never.
You may write a law or you may write a decree if you were in
a position of authority that would be to everyone. But a letter
is specifically to a people. And he tells us who he's writing
to in verse one. He says that it's to the 12 tribes scattered
abroad. Now, James is not just speaking
to the Jewish tribes of blood. He's speaking to those who were
called according to the purpose of the Lord, those who are ordained
into eternal life, the 12 tribes, the Lord's elect, the Lord's
people, that's who he is writing to here. Now with that in mind,
I want us to read our text, James 1 verse 1. It says, James, a
servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ to the 12 tribes
which are scattered abroad, greeting. My brethren, count it all joy
when you fall into diverse temptations, knowing this, that the trying
of your faith worketh patience. but let patience have her perfect
work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing. If any of you lack wisdom, let
him ask of God, which giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth
not, and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing
wavering, for he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven
with the wind, and tossed. For let not that man think he
shall receive anything of the Lord. A double-minded man is
unstable in all his ways. Some of you may remember me coming
up and preaching for you multiple times. And one of those times
I came up prior to being your pastor, we looked at this very
text and the title of that text was a double-minded man. I have
since been given better understanding of this scripture. And although
we've looked at it being the new man and the old man is being
double-minded, that's not what James is addressing. Now we do
believe in us having two natures, the old nature and the new nature.
And the scripture says, the elder will serve the younger. We believe
that, but that's not what James is talking about here. James
is mentioning to us, not just the old man of sin, but he's
talking about a non-believer. And we know that's evident because
of verse seven. He says, let not that man think that he'll
receive anything of the Lord. Anything means anything. Those
that don't receive anything of the Lord are reprobate. Anything
means no love, no grace, no peace, no mercy. That's a reprobate. That's somebody that the Lord
does not love. So that's who James is speaking of here is
a double-minded man, one that says that they know who the Lord
is in word. But yet they do not have a need of the Lord. Those who say that they believe
the Lord Jesus Christ is all in salvation, but I have to do
something in order to be accepted with God. That's a double minded
man. Someone that believes that it is finished, but yet I have
to give Jesus my heart or I have to do my part or I need to see
some evidence that I am the Lord's. That's a double minded man. That's
who James is speaking of. It's the saddest condition possible
because a man that's double-minded doesn't know he's double-minded.
And those who are of the Lord's are concerned and are the only
ones that are concerned that they are double-minded. Lord,
I don't want, if this double-minded man receives nothing from you,
I don't want to be double-minded. I've got to be singularly minded.
What does that mean? You're looking to one thing.
You're not looking to yourself. You're not examining yourself
to find some evidence or some hope for salvation. You're looking
to the Lord Jesus Christ alone. That's the singular man. That's
the new man created in the Lord Jesus Christ that must look to
him. Only those who have been given
this faith, only those who are singularly minded worry about
being double-minded. It's interesting, isn't it, how
that works? Someone that's double-minded doesn't worry about being double-minded.
They believe they've got everything figured out. You ever lay your
head on your pillow at night time and think, yep, I've got
it all figured out? No. But do you lay your head
on your pillow at night time and believe that the Lord Jesus
Christ successfully redeemed his people? Yes. Is that your
singular hope for eternal life is what he has done? Yes. That's
a single-minded man. That's a single-minded woman.
Double-minded men would lay there, and you remember Mr. Rogers had the show Mr. Rogers'
Neighborhood. He was on his deathbed, and you
can look this up. But he looked at his wife, and it was a religious
kind of affiliation what he was doing. It was self-righteousness
is what it is, and it manifests in many different ways. But it
was part of his righteousness is what he was doing, trying
to give unto children and do good things. And there's nothing
wrong with humanitarian efforts. I don't discourage humanitarian
efforts, but we don't do humanitarian things as part of our salvation. We don't. Christ did it all.
We do what we do looking unto Him, looking unto Him. Mr. Rogers looks at his wife on his
deathbed and asks this question, have I done enough? Have I done enough for God? Have I done enough? That's a
double-minded man. That's the definition of a double-minded
man. He's not gonna receive anything
from the Lord except these words when he stands before the Lord.
Depart from me, you that work iniquity. I never knew you. See,
only a singular-minded man or woman can lay their head on their
deathbed and say Christ is all. No, not in my hand. No price
do I bring, nothing that I've accomplished, nothing that I'm
doing or haven't done. In my hand, no price I bring,
simply to Christ. Lord, if I'm not found in you,
I've got no hope. I know there's nothing I can
do that would please you. Not unto salvation, no. Lord,
cause me to look to Christ, cause me to be singular-minded, not
double-minded. A double-minded man, he gives definition,
is one who waivers, waivers back and forth. You remember when we were looking
at the sons of Jacob and they were going to go down into Egypt
in order to get more grain the second time. And they were told,
do not buy Joseph. Don't come back unless you bring
Benjamin. Don't come back unless you bring
Benjamin. And Jacob says, you're not taking Benjamin. And Reuben
stood up and Reuben said, father, I'll take him. And I guarantee
he'll come back. And if he doesn't, I will slay
my two sons. That's what Reuben said. Jacob
said, that's not good enough. You're not taking Benjamin. Well,
the next chapter we realize they ran out of grain and they had
to go back and Judah stands up and he says, Father, I will be
surety. If if he doesn't come back, let
me bear the blame. Let me bear the reproach. Let
me bear the guilt of it. And we know that's a picture
of what our Lord did before the father for his people. Lord,
I'll be their surety. But why didn't he accept Reuben?
Well, because Reuben wasn't willing to lay down his life. He was
just willing to take another. He was willing to offer up something
of his hands. He was willing to offer up something
that he had done in his children. And it wasn't good enough for
the father. It wasn't good enough. And Jacob says these words to
him in Genesis 49, verse four, you're unstable as water. Thou
shalt not excel. This is when Jacob was on his
deathbed. This is the remarks that he gives to his first born
Reuben. He says, you're unstable as water. Now, what did he mean
by that? Well, water takes whatever form
of container that it goes into, doesn't it? Whatever shape that
the container is and water is poured into it, that's the shape
that water becomes, is it not? See, Reuben was a double-minded
man. He was unstable in all of his ways. That's what being double-minded
is. Like a wave, he says here, James.
James calls it this way, like a wave that the sea is driven
with the wind and toss. A double-minded man is uncertain.
I wrote the words down, wishy-washy. I think y'all know what that
means. Wishy, you heard that before, wishy-washy. That's what a double-minded
man is. One day they're saying, yes,
Christ is all, and the next day they're saying, have I done enough?
One day they're saying, yes, I believe it's all by grace.
And then they put an interjection in there, but. But, and you can
fill in the blank with that and take it as far as you want. It
doesn't matter what little bit of but comes after that. A little
leaven leaveneth the whole lump. The Lord will not take it. The
Lord will not accept any work of our hands whatsoever. He will
not take the addition to his son's blood. It's the blood alone. It's the death of Christ alone
is our justification. That's why he was resurrected
is because we were justified. The Lord was pleased with him.
We can't add to it or take away from it. If you believe that,
you're singularly minded. But if there's something that
you must do, it's a double-minded man. That's what James is talking
about here. Water takes the shape of whatever container it's put
in. It's uncertain. This double-minded
man doesn't have certain hope. Do you have certain hope in the
Lord Jesus Christ? Are you completely confident
that he saved his people from their sin? Yes. Do you believe
that there's one thing that you must do to help him in that regard? No, no. And people say, well,
I don't really believe I'm doing anything to help him, but if
you're doing anything, that's exactly what we're trying to
do, isn't it? It's that simple. The Lord says,
no, there's not one thing that you do that I'm pleased with.
I'm pleased with my son. This is my beloved son with who
I am well pleased, hear ye him. It's not Christ plus something,
it's not Christ minus something, it's Christ is all. That's what
it means to be singular minded, to look unto the Lord Jesus Christ
alone. This thing of putting water in
a container and it taking the shape of whatever container you
put it in, I'm reminded of all false religion. All the different
religions are just different shaped containers and whoever
falls into it takes that shape. There's only one shape that the
Lord's looking for, and it's the Lord Jesus Christ. We must
be found in Him. We must have His shape. We must
have His blood applied, His everything. Remember, the scripture talks
about, and we're gonna hear this a little bit in the second hour,
but it talks about when the Lord was offered up unto the Father. He
satisfied the Lord's senses, insomuch that it says He was
offered up as a sweet-smelling savor unto the Father. The only
way we're gonna be accepted by the Father is if we look just
like the Lord Jesus Christ If we have the perfect righteousness
of the Lord Jesus Christ, if we smell just like Him. That
might sound silly, but that's the truth, isn't it? We've got
to be just like Him. We've got to be in Him. Not having
our own righteousness, which is of the law. Not about what
we do or what we don't do. What He has done. I've got to
have that. That's the difference between
a singular-minded man and a double-minded man. A double-minded man would
say, well, yeah, I know all that, but you have to do your part.
You have to let go and let God. We don't let God do anything.
He's God. He's sovereign. This thing of being driven with
the wind like the sea and tossed. You ever been around somebody
that agrees with everything you say or everything that's around
them just to fit in? Especially in religion. Have
you ever been with somebody that tries to find a common ground
with you? I've been around many. I have family members that call
people brothers. I would never call brothers,
at least not by the confession they have right now. My hope
is the Lord be merciful. And I don't say that pridefully.
My hope is the Lord be merciful and save them. I would love to
call them brother, but I can't right now. Not because they're
not good enough, but because of their confession that Christ
is not all. They've had to do something to
maintain their salvation, or they had to do something in order
to get their salvation. That's a double-minded man. A double-minded man is unstable
as water. Imagine trying to walk on water. That's unstable, isn't
it? You can't go walk on water. Peter did, but it was all by
the faith of Christ that he did that. For a brief moment, Peter
was singular-minded, focused on Christ. And this is a good
example. What happened when he took his mind off of Christ?
Now it was Christ plus the storm. He began to sink. That's not
to say Peter was double-minded in salvation at that moment.
It was just to say he took his eyes off of Christ. A singular-minded
man, those who the Lord calls unto salvation, look to Christ
alone. That's what faith does. That's
what faith must do. It always does that. Very simply put, a double-minded
person is a person that doesn't believe. They say do. They may attend service. They
believe that they know who God is. They may have the right words. but there's just something that
they had to do or there's something that they've had, they are doing
as part of their salvation. And the scariest part about that
is it can be the most minute thing. It doesn't have to be
some big ordinance that we're keeping. It could be something
very, very simple. Well, I don't do that anymore. Something really simple like
that as having righteousness before God. It's a double-minded
man. They who are double-minded deny
the Lord in deed and action, even though they may say the
right words. What do I mean by deed or action? The lifestyle
that they live? No. No, there's one distinct
difference and only one between a believer and a non-believer.
Do you know what that is? It's not that the believer lives a
good Christian life. It's that God's made him a sinner.
God's made you a sinner, you need a substitute. God's made
me a sinner, I've got to have a substitute. That's the only
difference between a believer and an unbeliever, is a believer
believes Christ is all. A believer rests all of their
salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ alone, in nothing that they do,
but in everything that he did. God must create the need that
only he can fill, and he always fills our need with the Lord
Jesus Christ. He creates the need, And then
he shuts us up to Christ and he feels the need, doesn't he?
Always. Now, one who is double-minded
don't have a need. They don't have that need, that
necessary substitutionary work of the Lord Jesus Christ. They
may say they do, But I'm talking about full substitution, not
partial substitution. I don't need a little bit of
substitution. I need someone to stand in my
stead. I need a surety. Don't you need
a surety? Someone who did everything for
your salvation, not part. Paul said, oh wretched man that
I am. Not that I was. Paul had a need. He was made
a sinner. And only the Lord Jesus Christ can fill that need of
the sinner. One who is single-minded knows
that everything required God must provide. A double-minded
man asks God believing that they have obligated God, but a single-minded
man believes the Lord Jesus Christ is all their wisdom. They ask
because they're begging for mercy, not because they're obligating
him, but they have a need. They have a need. Double-minded
man never truly looks to the Lord Jesus Christ as all their
righteousness before God. They have some self-righteousness,
somewhere deep down, some little bit of self-righteousness. A
lot of double-minded men believe they can obligate God by their
prayer, reminded of a an account in the Old Testament with Jacob
and Esau. And you've heard this account probably by me or others
before, but it's a beautiful allegory of what I'm describing
between a double-minded man and a single-minded man. We know
that Esau, being hungry, came to his brother. His brother had
made porridge. His brother had made soup, if
you will. And the scripture calls it lentils.
And when Esau came to him, he said, give me some of your food
lest I die. And Jacob said, well, tell me your birthright. I've
got to have your birthright. And Esau said, well, I'm dying.
It ain't going to do me any good anyways. And he discredited the
birthright. He said, you can have it. You
can have the birthright. And he sold it to Jacob for a
bowl of soup, for a bowl of soup. The scripture says that in doing
so, he despised his birthright. That was the word used, despised
his birthright. Discredited the birthright, devalued
the promise of the Lord. And in essence, devalued Christ. That's what the birthright represented,
is the Messiah would come through and by the lineage of he who
got the birthright. It was the promise of the Savior.
That was the birthright. Jacob said, I've got to have
that. I've got to have that. Now, how is it that Esau could reject
the remedy for sin? That's what this was, is the
Messiah would be the remedy for sin. It would be the one that
would put away sin. It was the promise of just that.
Now, how is it Esau could reject something like that? Men are
doing it in churches right now. They sell out the Lord. They
say, yeah, we believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, but there's
something that we can do also. That's what Esau believed. There's
something I can do also. He didn't value it like Jacob
did. It's much like Cain and Abel,
isn't it? Abel believed that the Lord demanded
blood, and he did. He offered up that which was
pleasing, not the works of his hands. And he saw in the other
hands believed there was something he could do. That's a double-minded
man and a single-minded man. It's not someone that's in the
gutter somewhere that has no idea about God. It's somebody
that the Lord's never revealed who God truly is, so he's never
been given repentance and faith. Repentance turns a double minded
man into a single minded man or woman. And Esau didn't have
that. He didn't have that. Just like
many churches today. Men sell out the truth. To the
Lord, they sell out the truth of the Lord for something meager,
some little bit of self-righteousness or some little bit of hope for
health, wealth and prosperity, whatever it may be, you can fill
in the blank there, but. Men say you can find favor with
God. If you want favor with God, you've got to be found in Christ.
It's not a physical favor. It's a spiritual matter. I've
got to have him. I've got to be found in him.
Like Jacob said, I've got to have this birthright. I don't
have any hope to get rid of this sin that I am. And we saw as
a picture. of a double-minded man that doesn't
value the Lord's word or the Lord's promise or the Lord's
Christ. He didn't value the Lord's Christ.
Now the fullness of time came. The fullness of time came. Jacob,
uh, or I'm sorry, Isaac, the father's on his deathbed and
his eyes are dim. The scripture says he's blind.
And it is custom at the time to give the birthright upon the
time expected of death, toward the end of life. And he does
so. And that's what we were talking about earlier with Jacob with
his sons. He called all of his sons in to give the birthright.
And the story is given that Isaac calls for Esau. And Isaac loved
Esau because of his venison. And that's literally what the
scripture says, loved Esau because of his venison. And I can imagine
knowing the story, knowing the account, Jacob's a mama's boy.
And Esau, his firstborn son, this is my son, that kind of
mentality that Isaac would have had. So he was well pleased with
his oldest son. Jacob had no hope of getting
his birthright, walking in there like Jacob. Well, he sold me
his birthright back then. And what would Esau have said?
I did not. He would have lied about it,
right? I mean, obviously. But here we are in the fullness of
time, he calls for Esau and he says, go and make me the venison
that you make me and I'm gonna bless you. And he departs. Well,
Jacob's mother overhears this and says, time's come for you
to get the birthright. Time's come for you to get the
blessing. But you can't go in there dressed as Jacob. Here,
I'm gonna put goat skin upon you because Esau was a hairy
man. Jacob wasn't. Here, put these garments on.
They're Esau's garments. You gotta smell just like him
too. Your father won't be able to know the difference. He won't
be able to see you. And here, take this venison that I've prepared
just like your brother makes and he'll accept this. And Jacob
goes into his father. Isaac says, who art thou? And he says, I'm Esau. And he
says, are you my son Esau? He says, I hear Jacob's voice
approach. And he touches him, and he feels
the wool, and he says, He notices that he's hairy like Esau. And
he smells him, he says, come closer. He hugs him and brings
him into his bosom and he smells him. And he says, I smell Esau. And you feel like Esau. And the
porridge, the meat is like Esau's, but I hear Jacob. Jacob says,
it's I, it's Esau. And what does Isaac do? He blesses
him, gives him the full blessing of the firstborn. tells him that
he's going to have the fat of the land, that the promise of
the Savior is going to come to him. And all the things that
Jacob desired in the promise, in the birthright, he got all
the blessings. Esau returns after Jacob departs. And Esau says, here I am, my
father, here's the food. And he says, who is it that I
just blessed? And he says, it must have been Jacob. And Esau
hated Jacob. And he says, Father, do you not
have any blessing for me? Do you not have anything left
to give to me? I'm the one that was supposed
to receive the blessing. I did everything that you told me to
do. And I need to receive the blessing. And Isaac had nothing
left to give him. Nothing left to give him. And
Esau hated Jacob. because Isaac gave the birthright
to Jacob. Now, he saw begin to weep, the
scripture says, and when he saw that Isaac was not willing to
give him a blessing, he wanted to kill, he literally wanted
to kill Jacob, and it was in his heart to do so, the scripture
says. It's just like Cain and Abel all over again, isn't it?
Every time we see in scripture, every time we see in scripture
a man or a woman that is not given repentance and faith, that
is rejected of the Lord, What is the flesh's response to that
rejection? Away with this man. Isn't it? Away with this man. Let his blood
be upon us and on our children. Kill him. Kill him. That's what
they did with the son of God, the king of glory. This is what
Esau was doing to Jacob. He hated him. The father said,
no, you're gonna have to serve Jacob now. He's the one of promise.
He's the one that's been given the blessing. And Esau hated
him and wanted to kill him. Esau began to try to fix it by
begging. Esau thought that if he begged
more, if he cried louder, his father would notice his sorrow
and bless him. The scripture says in Hebrews
12, Esau calls him a profane person. He's double-minded. Don't
forget. Calls him a profane person. And it says, who for one morsel
of meat sold his birthright. For you know how that afterward,
when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected,
for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully
with tears. Now, this is very important,
brethren. Repentance isn't something that you can choose to have.
Repentance isn't something you can find just by looking. Repentance is the gift of God.
It says very clearly that Esau could not find repentance, though
he sought it with tears. He thought that if I can offer
up my tears unto my father, if I can cry louder, if I can pray
unto him more fervently, if I can do more, he'll bless me. That
is all false religion. There is no blessing outside
of the Lord Jesus Christ. There is no blessing. Doesn't
matter how hard you cry or how loud you cry unto the Lord, how
sincere you are, it doesn't matter. It's not relevant. Unless the
Lord gives repentance and faith, everything he requires, he must
provide. Esau was never given repentance.
He couldn't find it, even though he tried his very best to find
it. There was no blessing left for him to give. Repentance is a gift of God,
always given to his people in the fullness of his time, Repentance
and faith are given because the Lord died for those, I'll say
it this way, those who the Lord died for, that he gives them
repentance and faith and nobody else. And nobody else, that's
who he gives it to. He requires it, so he must provide
it. He provides it unto his people. Esau was never given repentance
and faith. Esau thought he was worthy. That's the problem, isn't
it? Esau thought he was worthy of
the blessing. I've done everything that you required. I deserve
the blessing. No, you don't. No, you don't. Nothing we can
do can please the Father. The blessing's already been given
to the Lord Jesus Christ. Do you know why Esau wanted to
kill his brother? We know that Esau, by the account
given, Jacob's mother overhears that Esau's going to kill Jacob
and says, you need to flee. You need to go to Laban, my brother,
or Esau's going to kill you. So Jacob departs. Well, so Esau
couldn't kill him at that time, but we see that Esau never truly
repented of what he thought. Well, that's what we need, isn't
it? Is true repentance of what we think. I need my mind changed.
See, I think that I have something to offer. I have nothing to offer. I think that there's a little
bit of good in everybody. No, there's no good in anybody. That's the
change that the Lord makes, isn't it? I have nothing to bring.
I have to have the blessing, and yet I don't deserve the blessing. If I come as Jacob before the
Father, the Lord's gonna reject me. Because Esau was double-minded.
He wanted to kill his brother. And we know it was because Jacob
got the blessing. But why did Cain slay his brother? And why did Esau want to do the
same thing to Jacob? Well, let's read this again here
in James chapter one, verse five. If any of you lack wisdom, let
him ask of God that give it to all men liberally and upbraideth
not it shall be given. But let him ask in faith. See,
Esau never asked in faith unto the Lord. Esau never begged for
the wisdom of God, which is Christ. Esau just offered himself up.
Do we see the picture there? Let him ask in faith, nothing
wavering for he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven
with the wind and tossed. And let not that man think that
he shall receive anything of the Lord. A double minded man
is unstable in all his ways. That's why Esau wanted to kill
Jacob. That's why Cain killed Abel. They're double-minded men,
believing that they had something to offer unto the Lord. But you
and I can't offer anything to the Lord, can we? Now in closing,
I wanna look at this allegory that I just showed you again
from the singular-minded, the singular mind, what the Lord
gives to his people in salvation. So either we're singular-minded
or we're double-minded. The double-minded man Esau was giving nothing.
As James mentions here, that man will receive nothing of the
Lord. He was given no repentance. He wasn't the Lord's. The Lord
has to do that. But Jacob is a picture of how we must approach
God. Jacob is a picture of a single-minded
man, one who's been given repentance and one who has been given faith
in the Lord Jesus Christ to believe him. What does that mean? Well, how did Jacob approach
the father? How is he a single-minded man
and Esau is a double-minded man? Well, how did Jacob approach
the father? Esau approached him saying, I'm good enough. Jacob
knew he was not good enough. This is the picture. He comes
into the presence of the father and says, who are you? And Jacob
says, Esau. But he had a covering upon him
where his own flesh was not exposed. Himself was not exposed. He had
a covering, the goat skin. That's a picture of the righteousness
of Christ that's given to his people. You must have a covering
if you're going to approach the father. If he sees you, he'll
see you out. He'll know that it's you and
you will not receive the blessing. You will not receive the Lord
Jesus Christ if he sees you. But if you are in Christ, you're
clothed in his righteousness. You smell just like him. So whenever he brings you close,
all that he can see is the Lord Jesus Christ. That is a single
minded man. We must approach the Lord this
way alone. I've got to have his righteousness
robed in him. in His righteousness or I have
no hope. I've got to smell just like Him. I've got to be just
like Him. I have to have that substitutionary
work that was done on the cross of Calvary so that when He sees
me, He doesn't see Caleb Hickman any longer. He sees the blood
of the Lord Jesus Christ. He sees the Lamb of God. That's
how the single-minded man or woman approaches the Lord. Lord,
you're gonna have to see Christ. Look to Christ. And that's what
faith does is it causes us to look to the same thing that the
father is looking to for our righteousness. Faith causes us
to look to the same thing that the father looks to for our justification
before him. And it's found in the Lord Jesus
Christ. Nowhere else. Nowhere else. Everything which the father demands,
he provides in Christ and we bow to his Christ. We know we're
not good enough, don't we? We know that we've been made
sinners and we need a substitute. We know that and I'm not talking
about knowing it, I'm talking about knowing it in the inward
man as David talks about. A single-minded man is looking
to Christ alone. Looking to Christ alone as our
righteousness or Either we're a single-minded or we're double-minded. Single-minded man or woman comes
to looking to Christ alone. A double-minded man believes
there's Christ plus or minus something. Could be the smallest
thing. Could be the smallest thing,
but that becomes iniquity. And that becomes self-righteousness
no matter what it is. And you can fill in the blank.
We must flee to Christ alone. We must have his covering Only
those chosen to eternal life, ordained to the perfect union
with the Lord Jesus Christ, are stable in all our ways. He talked about being unstable
as water, being driven with the wind on the sea, tossed. Not
the Lord's people. Why not? Because we have a sure
foundation. We have an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast. We are unmovable, always abounding
in the work of the Lord. How can that be? I don't see
it. What the Lord sees with your looking to Christ, that's exactly
what you have is a sure foundation in Him. We don't have a sure
foundation in ourself. We don't have any hope of crying
out louder and hoping that the Lord would hear us because we've
done something. No, our sure foundation is a person. It's the finished work of the
Lord Jesus Christ. There's our hope. Our hope is to be covered
in His righteousness. Therefore, we have one singular
hope. One need, and we're never wavering on that. Can you say,
I never waver on the fact that I need Christ or I have no hope
before God. Can you say that? Do you have
any hope outside of Christ? Answer that in your heart. Do
I have any hope outside of Christ for my righteousness before God?
If you have any hope outside of Christ, you're double-minded.
But if you can say with certainty that Christ Jesus is your only
hope before the Lord, that his precious blood is your only hope
in salvation, you're singular-minded. You're not double-minded. We've been given one desire.
Paul said it this way, that I might know him and be found in him,
not having my own righteousness, which is of the law, but the
righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. The singular mind manifests
itself in one simple way, many ways, but one simple way. Lord,
have mercy on me, the sinner. That's your prayer. That's my
prayer. Lord, have mercy on me, the sinner. I can't bring anything
that you would accept. Lord, have mercy on me, the sinner.
I've got to have the birthright found in the Lord Jesus Christ.
I have no hope otherwise. I started this message by asking
a question. I'm gonna end this message by
asking the question, am I double-minded? Answer that in your heart. Am
I double minded or am I singular minded? Am I looking to Christ
as all my hope? Or am I looking to myself for my circumstances
or something else? Am I double minded? Not if your
righteousness is in Christ alone. Not if you're asking for Christ,
our wisdom by faith, nothing wavering, nothing wavering. I've
got to have him. If you know he did it all in
salvation. If you know that he was successful in redeeming his
people, if you believe he is certain in salvation, you're
singular minded. If he did it all, if there's
one thing else you have to do, you're double minded. If you
believe he did it all, you're singular minded. Single-minded
man receives everything. I like how he says here, the
double-minded man shall receive nothing, but we can use scripture
to know that the single-minded man receives everything in the
Lord Jesus Christ. On one hand, Esau received nothing. On the other, Jacob received
everything of the father. He knew exactly how to approach
his father, didn't he? We do not waver in this. Christ
is all. Everything required, God provided.
Am I a double-minded man? Are you a double-minded man or
woman? Not if you're looking to Christ
as all of your wisdom, all of your righteousness, all of your
sanctification, all of your redemption, all of your justification. If
you're looking to Him as all, you're not double-minded. He
gets all the glory in that because He's the doer of it. Amen? Let's
pray. Father, cause us to forsake ourself
and cleave unto You. Never leave us as a double-minded
man or woman. Cause us to be found in Your
precious Son, looking unto Him and be singular-minded, focused
on Him as all of our righteousness before You. We ask this in Christ's
name. Amen. Let's take a break.