James Message 3
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Real Faith that works
Real Faith that works
A Life of Obedience
A Life of Obedience
19 So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath;
20 for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God.
21 Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.
22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror;
24 for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was.
25 But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.
26 If anyone among you thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one’s religion is useless.
27 Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.
Intro: James has told us that even through trails we can be joyful.
And that we will be tempted, and it is own own desires and lust that cause us to give in to temptations.
VS 18
18 Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures.
When your faith is tested
Winning the battle over temptations
Now James speaks of Gods word. In order to do the things James is talking about we have to obey Gods word.
You may know Gods word, but do you obey Gods word? You can’t just pick out the parts you wants, you have to obey it all.
First, you have to receive Gods word.
We Receive God’s word Humbly.
We Receive God’s word Humbly.
19 So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath;
20 for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God.
James uses another illustration. God’s Word is not only a gift but also a graft. James speaks of “the engrafted word.”KJV . NKJV implanted word.
When we accept God’s Word for what it is, it will change our conduct, and our conversation by changing our character.
“So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak”
“So then, KJV “Wherefore” Beloved.
“Swift to her” Hear what? Gods word.
We need to approach Gods word ready to listen. God’s speaks to us through preaching. God speaks to me studying, but also through my own Bible reading.
“Real faith that works” A real faith that works is a faith that will grow. And the only way is to spend time in His word (prayer) listing. (Swift to hear)
Last week Mothers day. Hannah (Samuel)
God speaks to the boy Samuel
10 Now the Lord came and stood and called as at other times, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel answered, “Speak, for Your servant hears.”
Reading Gods word. Speak to me Lord. When you come to church. Speak to me Lord.
We say we believe Gods word, but are we willing to listen and obey Gods word.
Preaching Vs by Vs. You can’t pick and choose.
Some parts of Gods word are not easy, or popular.
“Wives to submissive”
“Husbands love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave His life for it”
Rich young ruler.
So but swift to hear.
“Slow to speak”
1 mouth 2 ears.
This is about hearing Gods word. VS 18
Its about hearing Gods word and how we respond.
When Nathan the prophet came to David with the story of the rich man who had stolen a poor man’s one little lamb, to provide a feast for a visitor, David exploded, when he should have been slow to speak.
His anger “was greatly kindled,” the Holy Spirit says. “As the LORD liveth, the man that hath done this thing shall surely die: and he shall restore the lamb fourfold,” he blurted—and, in so doing, he condemned himself.
Nathan was Gods spokesmen, David was not swift to hear, he was not slow to speak, he was not slow to wrath.
17 So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
Gods words says swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath.
Peter was slow to hear, swift to speak, swift to anger. He cut a mans ear, he could have killed him.
20 for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God.
for a man’s wrath does not bring about that which is righteous in God’s sight
Wrath: Human anger.
The word can be rendered “temper.” James adds an explanation. Losing one’s temper can never achieve anything, least of all the righteousness of God in one’s life
Trails in life can bring forth wrath. Temptations can bring forth wrath. This act doesn’t show the righteousness in God sight.
Wrath is anger, mans anger.
Anger that sits in the heart and builds up deep bitterness. And it comes out.
Mans wrath does not produce the kind of goodness and righteousness God desires is us. Remember, we are the light of the world every where we go in every situation we face.
We have to be careful what you say and how you say it. Because what says show who you are.
18 But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man.
Angry words, mean words, complaining words. (Story about monk)
But its not just the mouth, there are others sins that Clutter our spiritual life. (Weeds)
21 Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.
Lay aside: discard, strip off, rid yourself of. a word used of a snake shedding his skin.
lay aside all sin.
We need to get the junk out of our lives.
The Bible will keep you from sin, sin will keep from the Bible.
When God speaks to you, you are receive it “with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls:” (Gods word is the only way to salvation)
Key: “implanted word”
33 But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.
27 I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.
God puts His law on our hearts (Jer 31) and His Spirit in our hearts (Ezek 36), and the Spirit of God though the Word of God moves us. This is the language of James 1 (18,21).
God has planted His Word in us, and our hearts find life in this Word. Like the blood that flows to our hearts, we need this Word.
Parable sower and seed. Its about the soil where the seed lands. The seed is the word of God.
3 Then He spoke many things to them in parables, saying: “Behold, a sower went out to sow.
4 And as he sowed, some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds came and devoured them.
5 Some fell on stony places, where they did not have much earth; and they immediately sprang up because they had no depth of earth.
6 But when the sun was up they were scorched, and because they had no root they withered away.
7 And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up and choked them.
8 But others fell on good ground and yielded a crop: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.
9 He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”
When the Gods word is spoken to you, what kind of soil is in your heart?
We Remember the Word Constantly. VS 22-27
We Remember the Word Constantly. VS 22-27
22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
Moreover, keep on becoming doers of the Word and stop being hearers only, reasoning yourselves into a false premise and thus deceiving yourselves
When we read Gods word searching for answers, and God speaks to you, you may not like what you hear, don’t just be a hearer, but a doer.
We are to receive Gods word, we are to respond to Gods word.
Would you go out to eat, read the menu and not order?
23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror;
24 for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was.
Ealb on the mirrors in those days.
You look into a mirror, you examine yourself, you see changes that need to be made. You don’t stop looking in the mirror.
You hear Gods word, you see changes in your life that need to be made.
Don’t just be a hearer, but a doer.
25 But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.
“Continues in it” READ THE REST OF VS.
The blessing not in hearing from God, the blessing comes from doing the word that come from God.
26 If anyone among you thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one’s religion is useless.
27 Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.
Religion here is speaking of diligence in religious ceremonies, observance of external rituals of public worship. It has nothing to do with a transformation of inner experience.
“does not bridle the tongue”
You can tell a lot about a person by their tongue.
You don’t get a reputation by what you know, but by what you say and what you do.
If the heart is right, the speech is right.
VS 27 “Widows and Orphans, their trouble. “Visit” Means to take care of. More then just saying, its doing.