James 1:27, "Pure
religion and undefiled before God
and the Father is this, To visit
the fatherless and
widows in their afflictions, and
to keep himself
unspotted from the world."
This morning, there are many
natural widows and
orphans in this world. Many are
grieving over their
lost loved ones, and nothing
short of the grace of God
and His mercy will reconcile
them to their situation.
Many times, we cannot even seem
to have the ability to
say anything worthwhile, because
we have no idea what
they are going
through. While we should visit
and try
to comfort these in their
condition, let us consider this verse in another light.
There are natural widows and
orphans in this world, but there are also SPIRITUAL widows and orphans. You
might ask, "What in
the world do you mean by that?"
Well, consider for a
moment what happens to a child
of God immediately
(days and weeks to possibly
years) after regeneration.
When they begin to see
themselves as they are (for
the first time), they cry out,
as Paul did, "Oh
wretched man that I am, who
shall deliver me from this
body of death!" When a child of
God is at this point,
they feel to be a widow and
orphan. They have no
father or husband to take care
of them. It is now
that they need the gospel
preached to them. They need
to hear some good news from a
far country. They need
the ambassador to tell them of
the peace that rules
and reigns in the country to
which they are going.
When the child of
God learns this and begins to press
into the kingdom, they learn
that they are not a widow
or orphan. They learn that their
Father has loved
them with an everlasting love.
They learn that His
promises are yea and amen, and
one of them is that He
will never leave us nor forsake
us. They learn that
He chose them and loved them,
when He knew that they
were unlovable. When there was
no chance of them
doing anything good or
righteous, He still chose to
love them according to His good
pleasure and will.
Then, they learn of their
Husband who redeemed them
from the curse of the law of sin
and death. They
learn that He suffered what they
should have suffered.
Even when we were unfaithful, He
drank the bitter
water for us. Even though we had
many infidelities,
He still presented us legally
and will present us manifestly without spot
and wrinkle to
God.
Therefore, the
preaching of the
gospel tells of the Father and
Husband that loved,
love, and will continue to love
us. While it is our duty to visit the sick and infirmed (including widows and
orphans), this is, I
believe, another aspect of
visiting the fatherless and
the widows. Preach to them and
show them that they
are not fatherless and widows.
Finally, the preaching
still needs to be to those who
have already heard
about their Father and Husband.
For, if they fail to
hear it, they can forget about
the One that loved them
and forget that they were purged
from their old sins.
Let us, this morning, be ever
thankful to our Father
and Husband for
the love that was bestowed upon us.
In Hope,
Bro Philip
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