OUTLINE:
Helping the Helpless
Were it not for God reaching out to us and saving us, we would have been lost forever. He offers the righteousness of Christ, and therefore spiritual adoption, to anyone whose willing to place their trust in His Son.
“Born This Way”
Every person since the Fall of Adam is born under sin, and therefore as “children of the devil”; children of a tyrant, under slavery to sin. 1Jn 3:10, Jn 8:44
Helping the Helpless
As an extension of Jesus, we reach out to spiritual orphans, and literal orphans… both are noble activities because they involve helping the helpless, the very thing God loves to do.
Orphans and Widows
A common description would be that they have lost someone in their life who loved them and provided for them… and therefore God the Father reaches out to them with both love and provisions, and He calls us to do the same!
Our Adoption
Jesus died to make us His brothers; and for us to be able to call God our Father, as He did. Gal 4:4-7
Jn 14:1-3 ESV
“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.”
Jas 1:27
Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.
Jer 22:16
“He pled the cause of the afflicted and needy;
Then it was well.
Is not that what it means to know Me?”
Declares the Lord.
Orphans and Widows
When you help those who are “in distress”, Jas 1:27, you’re helping those who cannot reciprocate, Lk 14:12-14.
Spirituality Is Practical
God is tying in the spiritual with the practical. He has us going back and forth from the spiritual to the material for a reason; to see that spiritual things have a practical application to life.
Love Is An Activity
It begins in the changed heart, and proceeds out in the living of life with others. We might say love is practical! Jn 13:17,15:13, Ro 5:8
Why “Blameless And Upright”?
Job defended the weak and spoke up for them when no one else would (as God does!). And people knew he wouldn’t overlook their unrighteous activities against the orphans and widows. In fact, he fought for them, even though it wasn’t his fight. Job 1:1,29:1-17
The Simple Truth
As followers of Christ, we are instructed to do things like participate in the Great Commission, Mt 28:20, care for orphans and widows, Jas 1:27, and love the brethren, Jn 13:34-35,15:13, Ro 13:8 .
These are all very practical ways to express our faith in Jesus Christ!
Defend The “Fatherless”
The Bible often calls orphans the “fatherless”, because the father is usually the provider in a family, esp. if the mother is staying home to properly raise the child. Ps 68:5, 146:9
God Loves Orphans
DO LIKE GOD.
Ps 68:5, Jas 1:27, Jn 13:17
God’s Purposes Are Known
We often get caught sitting home in self-pity, as though we haven’t been given new life in Christ. Well, we’re deceiving ourselves. His Word tells us what He wants us to DO, practically speaking! Mic 6:8, Jn 13:13-17, Gal 2:10
Mic 6:8 MSG
But he’s already made it plain how to live, what to do,
what God is looking for in men and women.
It’s quite simple: Do what is fair and just to your neighbor,
be compassionate and loyal in your love,
And don’t take yourself too seriously —
take God seriously.
Jas 1:27
Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.
Job 1:1
There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job; and that man was blameless, upright, fearing God and turning away from evil.
We’re Given Purpose
Following Jesus includes living for others, as Jesus did when He healed the multitudes everywhere He went. We are to lay down our lives for others, someway, somehow, as the Spirit leads each of us. Jn 15:13 – It is then we will be blessed/happy. Jn 13:17