Verified Faith

• Message Notes

  The Church must be found genuine or risk being exposed by her disingenuousness.

  
  What does life look like when our faith is under pressure from tests, trials and temptations?

  
  James 1:27 
  Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you.
   

  James 2:1-13 
  1 My dear brothers and sisters, how can you claim to have faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ if you favor some people over others? 2 For example, suppose someone comes into your meeting[b] dressed in fancy clothes and expensive jewelry, and another comes in who is poor and dressed in dirty clothes. 3 If you give special attention and a good seat to the rich person, but you say to the poor one, “You can stand over there, or else sit on the floor”—well, 4 doesn’t this discrimination show that your judgments are guided by evil motives? 5 Listen to me, dear brothers and sisters. Hasn’t God chosen the poor in this world to be rich in faith? Aren’t they the ones who will inherit the Kingdom he promised to those who love him? 6 But you dishonor the poor! Isn’t it the rich who oppress you and drag you into court? 7 Aren’t they the ones who slander Jesus Christ, whose noble name[c] you bear? 8 Yes indeed, it is good when you obey the royal law as found in the Scriptures: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”[d] 9 But if you favor some people over others, you are committing a sin. You are guilty of breaking the law. 10 For the person who keeps all of the laws except one is as guilty as a person who has broken all of God’s laws. 11 For the same God who said, “You must not commit adultery,” also said, “You must not murder.”[e] So if you murder someone but do not commit adultery, you have still broken the law. 12 So whatever you say or whatever you do, remember that you will be judged by the law that sets you free. 13 There will be no mercy for those who have not shown mercy to others. But if you have been merciful, God will be merciful when he judges you.

  1. The Genuine Church is Verifiable

  
  When we are intimate with God’s ways, wisdom and words we will be accurate in our ministry expressions of the Father’s Heart. 

  
  James 1:27 
  Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you.

  One of the ways we can verify that a church is genuine is by WHO and WHAT is being revealed through their ministry expressions.

  The Genuine Church Expresses the Father’s Heart by Genuine Faith through Genuine Works. 

  James 1:20 
  for the [resentful, deep-seated] anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God [that standard of behavior which He requires from us]. - AMP
   

  Psalm 103:8 
  The LORD is compassionate and merciful, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. 
   

  2. The Genuine Church Sees the Most Vulnerable

  
   James 1:27
  Pure and unblemished religion [as it is expressed in outward acts] in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit and look after the fatherless and the widows in their distress, and to keep oneself uncontaminated by the [secular] world. - AMP

  
   The Christian who is pure and without fault, from God the Father’s point of view, is the one who takes care of orphans and widows, and who remains true to the Lord—not soiled and dirtied by his contacts with the world. - TLB

  
   External religious worship [religion as it is expressed in outward acts] that is pure and unblemished in the sight of God the Father is this: to visit and help and care for the orphans and widows in their affliction and need, and to keep oneself unspotted and uncontaminated from the world. - AMPC
   

  “Keep caring for the fatherless and keep corruption from leaving you faithless!” 

  When the Genuine Church focuses on the vulnerable, the Father’s Heart becomes more visible. 

  3. Genuine Faith Deems Everyone as Valuable
   

  James 2:1 
  My dear brothers and sisters, how can you claim to have faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ if you favor some people over others?

  The faith that flows from The Genuine Church doesn’t entangle itself in favoritism. 

  Favoritism in the Church undermines our faith and trust in God and misleads us to put our faith and trust in people. 

  Faith becomes the great equalizer in the Genuine Church.

  Everyone deserves to encounter God’s heart for them, but sometimes our preference gets in the way of God's perspective he has for people rich or poor. 

  
   My preference can limit the abundance of the Father’s Heart flowing through my life.

  James 2:12-13 
  12 So whatever you say or whatever you do, remember that you will be judged by the law that sets you free. 13 There will be no mercy for those who have not shown mercy to others. But if you have been merciful, God will be merciful when he judges you.