The Invitation/ Perfected/ Works of Brideship

Visit Fatherless and Widows; Keep Yourself Unspotted From the World

Jas 1:27 December 22, 2015

The generic definition of religion is “Man’s search for God”. The religious person is normally identified by where they worship, how much dough they give, how sincere and vocal they are in following their religion’s rules and regulations, and how much they know about their religion’s doctrine. All too often Man’s quest to find God ends in a quagmire of ritual and a box of conformity lodged hopelessly under the shadow of some dead religious system. But once we have found the one true God, Jesus Christ, we come to find out that God’s idea of religion is quite different. Like a jewel, hidden away from the passing world and revealed only by the Son’s reflecting rays, the quintessential definition of religion sits in the Epistle of James where it is nestled under the noses of God’s sanctified children. Declaring in a simple and direct fashion, the passage lays out what God requires from those children who wish to live a religious life – “Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction and to keep himself unspotted from the world. verse 1:27

That simple and clear definition of religion, which comes straight from the mouth of the Holy Ghost, is a far cry from the entangled idea one naturally acquires while traveling the circuit of religion, Christian or otherwise. In the world of religion, there is very little example of this kind of pure religion. For an example of this “pure” and “undefiled” religion it is again best that we travel to the Scriptures and the Book of Luke where Jesus performs one of his most dramatic miracles and in the process exhibits God’s pure religion in action.

“Now when he came nigh to the gate of the city, behold, there was a dead man carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow: and much people of the city was with her.
And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her, and said unto her, Weep not.
And he came and touched the bier: and they that bare him stood still. And he said, Young man, I say unto thee, Arise.
And he that was dead sat up, and began to speak. And he delivered him to his mother.
And there came a fear on all: and they glorified God, saying, that a great prophet is risen among us; and, That God hath visited his people.” Luke 7:12-16

Here, in this brief encounter, Jesus showcases the Father’s concept of pure religion. Christ first came upon a widow and in her grief had compassion on her. In spirit, he was primed and ready to allow the Spirit of God to “visit” her. Next, he had mercy on her and her only son, a fatherless person in need of the Father’s mercy, when, by faith in the power of the Holy Ghost, he brought the son to life. When the Holy Spirit brings Jesus to a place there is the power to bring the “dead” to “life”, the power to make people born-again. Jesus in his compassion and yieldedness had allowed the visitation of the Holy Ghost with power. A widow and the fatherless were “visited”, and the crowning moment of the episode came when the people “feared” (or experienced the reverential fear of the Lord) because they knew God had visited them.

God wants to use “religion” to visit people in this way, through individual disciples of Christ, coming in the power of God. God wants to “visit” the lonely and forsaken, and as Christians we can be a part of it by letting the Holy Ghost minister by us and through us. Visiting is not merely going to see people or performing carnal works, no matter how good those acts may seem on the surface. But to visit in the sense of God’s religion, of being with them, standing with them, carrying their burdens, bringing with them God’s Spirit and letting the Spirit have his way. We wait, listen, and act at the Spirit’s prompting. By faith, we believe that the presence of the Spirit in us will bring about a work of true power, vibrant love, and of the refreshing of life’s true hopes in the Messiah. When the Holy Ghost visits a heart, even if there is no dramatic outward sign, that heart will more than feel God, it will know God and know he has visited. This power of visitation has nothing to do with our intellect or ability discern people’s needs. The Spirit, because we yield, is at work to do that thing and when the Spirit of God visits, things spiritual, lasting, and eternal happen.

If we worked as hard at learning to discern the Spirit’s ways and ministry of visitation, and how we yield to it within our own spirit, as we work at the practices and requirements of our religion then the believer would have no trouble comprehending the “visiting” power of the Holy Ghost and what it means when the Bible says we should walk in the Spirit. But visiting is only half the equation, the” passive” part of true religion. Our active part is to “keep ourselves unspotted from the world”. This part of religion is important if we are to have the visiting part be anything but hypocrisy. If we try to live a life of duplicity; one foot in the world and one foot in Christ, then we will be continually spotted by the world. “Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you.” says God. (2 Cor 6:17) Let those who name the name of Christ depart from iniquity, just as the Bible urges us to do. We must further beware the religion of man. John concludes his first Epistle with this heartfelt advice; “Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.” 1 John 5:21

If one wants to be busy in religious things try pure religion on for size. Pure religion with its aspects of visiting and keeping oneself unspotted from the world is a full-time business for the born-again believer. It is a full-time business which one needs to approach with religious fervor and zeal. Pure religion has very little to do with where one fellowships or what church one attends. It has a world to do with bringing the Spirit’s ministry into people’s lives so they know that God has “visited” them. And our religion has to do with not being a bad witness, not being a hypocrite, but being separate, so God, Jesus, and the Spirit within us can not be accused.

Sounds like a full-time job to me.