JAMES 1:21-25 – REFLECTIONS FROM THE MIRROR OF TRUTH

INTRODUCTION:

Have you ever wondered what you look really like to God? Most of us have a picture of how we look to us or how we want to look for our spouse or significant other. But how do we look to God?

We spend so much time in front of the mirror in our bath areas. We spend so much money on things to fix up, pull up, tighten up, and to make us presentable to those around us. But we spend so little time on preparing ourselves for God to look at.

Even though there are some trick mirrors usually mirrors do not lie. Many times we don’t like what the mirror reflects but in actuality it is really us we are looking at. As a matter of fact there are some things about glass I think we should look at today concerning this lesson.

Glass is one of the world’s most versatile materials. Chemically it is one of the most stable materials other than some of the most noble metals. Dimensionally it keeps it shape, it has very low expansion, and will not absorb odors or moisture (don’t get me started here I could preach about things that smell). Glass has one of the hardest surfaces of any material in the world that is why diamonds are used to cut it.

Glass is smooth, strong, and stable, will not rot, very clear, can be coated, polished, or etched, but…..glass will only reflect the image of what is placed before it. In other words what you see is what you are.

Out of all the good qualities of glass it cannot reflect what is in your soul. You must have the word of God for that. That is why I titled this sermon “reflections from the mirror of truth”.

THE FORGETFULNESS OF THE NATURAL EYE

James 1:22-25 teaches us that a man who hears the word and does not do it is like the natural man who looks in the mirror and sees himself by his own reflection. But when he goes his way he thinks of himself as he wants to think of himself.

That is the way of the flesh and the natural man. It says I’m not that bad, I’m OK, I’m not as bad as others, I will take care of that later.

But in verse 25 we are told of the reflection from the perfect law of liberty.

2 Cor 3:17  Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.

Gal 5:1  Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.

Gal 5:13  For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.

Christians are free from sin but not free from service. If you say you are living by grace but you reflect sin you should check on the liberty of your soul. It is so easy to forget when you live in the natural.

THE FORGETFULNESS OF IMMATURITY

I Corinthians 13:11-13 teaches us that a child acts like a child but when we mature there are some things we should put away. Now we see through a glass darkly but then face to face. Life is like a blur as though you lift up a drinking glass and look at an object through it. It is blurry and distorted. It is not a clear picture of the real image but looks hazy and unreal. That is the way life is and it is encased in immaturity.

If you intentionally stay immature in your walk with God you can never see him as he is nor can you be who he has created you to be. How do we mature you say? We the answer is in verse 13 “Now abides faith, hope, and charity” but the greatest of these is charity.

Faith gives substance and evidence

Hope gives perseverance and strength

Charity gives love that cannot be stopped or held back

When you look at your situation and others through love you never have a dim image of the Lord or what to do to keep a clear picture of the salvation that comes from the Lord.

THE FORGETFULNESS OF CONDEMNATION

II Corinthians 3:13-18 teaches us that our liberty is living in the Spirit. Where the Spirit of the Lord is there is liberty. When we look through the glass illuminated by the Spirit we see the glory of the Lord. We are changed from glory to glory in the Lord.

But every time we look at the Law there is a veil that keeps us from seeing the end. The law demands judgment unto justice. Grace brings justice by faith in the finished work of the cross. If we look with the veil we see only what the law allows us to see. If we look in the Spirit there is revelations and glory that can only be revealed in the Spirit.

With each change to another glory the way seems clearer and the light is brighter. It makes us move closer and closer until the blessed day of the Lord.

CONCLUSION:

Mirror, Mirror, on the way, who’s the fairest of them all is the old fable that asks for a false resemblance of what we want to be. But the reflection of the truth is what gives us peace that passes all understanding.