James 1:19-27

[0:00] Good morning, Shoreline. If you don't know me, my name is Matt. I'm very excited to be sharing this morning with you all.

[0:14] ! Welcome to church. Welcome to Shoreline. We're happy to have you here. Rob Johnson's been preaching the last two weeks on the book of James, and we're on the third sermon in this series.

[0:30] The first week he preached on James 1, 1-12. One of the most remembered verses, I'd say, in James. Count it all joy when you experience various trials.

[0:44] And so, we've seen our faith seen in times of trial, and we're told to count it all joy. Verse 5, how do we do this? By asking for wisdom. James 1, 13-18. Our faith is seen in times of temptation.

[0:57] Well, how do we get through this? Verse 17 and 18. Through the gift we've been given, the gospel. The word of truth. Which allows us to live as God's children.

[1:09] And so now we see, as the third section of chapter 1, the end of chapter 1, verses 19-27, our faith is seen by our obedience to Scripture.

[1:19] So times of trial, times of temptation, and now our faith is seen by our obedience to Scripture. How is this done? Verse 21. By receiving the implanted word.

[1:31] So whereas the first two sections of the chapter address issues of the heart, trials, and temptation, mostly internal, our third section will be looking at the external representation of our faith and our obeying Scripture.

[1:45] And we're going to unravel the question, what does it mean to receive the implanted word? So we're going to see what James has to say here at the conclusion of chapter 1. So read with me, please, verses 19-27 of James 1.

[2:01] Know this, my beloved brethren. Let every person be quick to hear, or listen, some versions may say, quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger. For the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.

[2:13] Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.

[2:26] For if anyone is a hearer of the word, and not a doer, it's like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself, and goes away, and forgets what he was like.

[2:37] But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets, but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.

[2:48] Verse 26, For if anyone thinks he's religious, and does not bridle his tongue, but deceives his heart, this person's religion is worthless. Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father is this, to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.

[3:06] Please pray with me. Lord God, we long this morning to have open and humbled hearts. Lord, we want to hear your truth, spoken through, Lord, myself as your tool, as your messenger today.

[3:24] Lord, won't you make my heart right, and pure intentioned, and humble. Lord, and so also, all of our hearts in this room today, let them be soft, and willing, and open, to listen to the words, Lord, that you have spoken in your scripture.

[3:42] In Christ's name we pray, amen. Amen. So there's going to be three major divisions to the end of chapter one today, and they're all going to say this, how are we obedient to scripture?

[3:58] And so number one, how are we obedient to scripture? By listening. How are we obedient to scripture? Number one, by listening. This is verses 19 through 21.

[4:11] Verse 19 says, Know this, my beloved brothers. Let every person be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger. And so, it's easy to take this verse at face value and say, wow, that's a wise proverb.

[4:24] That's a great proverb. The truth about anger and speech, right, it crosses all generations. It's been true since the beginning of time, and it will be true forever. However, our interactions with people on how we talk and becoming angry with them.

[4:39] And it's stressed in the Bible constantly. The book of James actually has many references to speech in the tongue. Actually, half of chapter three is addressed to this very issue. We also see many proverbs in the book of Proverbs about anger.

[4:53] Proverbs 19, 21. A fool always loses his temper, but a wise man holds it back. Proverbs 15, 18. A hot-tempered person stirs up conflict, but the one who is patient calms a quarrel.

[5:05] Proverbs 19, 28. Even a fool is thought wise if he keeps silent and discerning if he holds his tongue. We may have heard these proverbs before, and they're all over Scripture.

[5:17] Do you see yourself as an angry person? Maybe you do, maybe you don't. I'm not sure. But regardless if you do or don't, we have to see that anger is not the beginning of anger.

[5:29] Anger doesn't start with anger. It's a progression. Anger starts, as this verse tells us, by being slow to listen first, and then progresses to anger, sometimes very quick, very quickly, and sometimes very detrimental to our lives and to the lives of those around us.

[5:47] So I'll say this. Anger is the fruit reaped from the one who sows the seeds of not listening. Now, while this proverb indeed is a wise saying worth heeding, there's a lot more going on here.

[6:02] If part of not being angry is to first listen, what are we to listen to? Quick to listen in this passage serves a dual purpose. Surely it speaks to human interaction, right?

[6:15] We should show love to each other by caring for each other and how we speak and how we interact, regardless of how people's thoughts or opinions or ideas may sound silly or childish or unrealistic.

[6:27] This is how Christ acted, and we're to act the same way. But being quick to listen also completes the thought from the previous verse. What shall we do with the word of truth mentioned at the end of verse 18?

[6:40] Listen. The word of truth is the gospel of how Christ has redeemed us, how Christ has saved us and given us a new life. He's given us a new way of doing things.

[6:50] He's given us hope and joy. We read about this during trials. We can endure and press on in victory in the thick of temptation. We're no longer slaves and prisoners to the ways of evil.

[7:01] This is what the word of truth tells us, and this is what we're supposed to listen to. So when our interaction with man has learned to be quick to listen to the gospel, our conduct might, will exhibit being slow to speech and slow to anger that this verse calls us to be.

[7:21] And so having loving interactions and humility, longing for the good of the other, hearing them out, lending a listening ear. Areas of potential struggle for this are many.

[7:33] To name a few big areas, though, of where we're not quick to listen in our interaction with man. The biggest one, I think, is in our family. With children or our spouse or a significant other or even our parents.

[7:50] I think we probably all trace back times where we've been very slow to listen to these people. Do you see yourself as being very angry? Maybe enraged?

[8:01] Acting out in violence, even? Do others feel the wrath of your words and language? Does the way you speak make them shrink back in fear? These are things we need to ask ourselves.

[8:13] The truth of the gospel, praise the Lord, has the power to completely change their interactions with other people. Some of you, if you accepted Christ later on in life or not early on as a child, would probably be able to see evidence of this much more easily than those who had conversions farther back in life.

[8:34] And I think that's probably such a blessing that you'll see that in your life, see that change. And so interaction with man, and the same is true interaction with God. When we practice listening ears to the word, we see his plan as good, not forsaking.

[8:50] His ways as loving and caring, not confusing and unkind. This keeps our hearts content, full of joy, not angry and bitter towards the creator. Areas of potential struggle here could be with how we view ourselves, our identity, that besetting or habitual sin that you can't just seem to be free of, you can't seem to knock down.

[9:16] The job that you don't like, the marriage, an issue with your spouse or trouble with your spouse, finances, where we just can't seem to get ends to meet.

[9:29] And so, so many times we don't like the season that God has us in. And anger at God and says, why me, Lord? And not listening to the truth of the word says, I don't agree with you, God.

[9:41] Right? I don't want to be here right now. Proverbs 3, a beautiful verse in chapter 3 of Proverbs says, trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding.

[9:55] And so, what both of these areas of struggle, with man and with God, boil down to is our selfishness. Be it in relation to God, not listening is selfish and comes from a selfish heart.

[10:10] Because the believer's life has been made new, it ought not to exhibit sinful anger that comes from not listening. Why? Well, let's read on. For the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.

[10:25] Anger is sin. It's hard to disagree with that. Then it's not consistent with the new life the believer in Christ has been given. We've been deemed righteous in our position in Christ and are to be righteous in our action as Christ.

[10:40] We've been deemed righteous in Christ and are to be righteous as Christ. 2 Corinthians 5.21 says, God made him who had no sin to be sin for us that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

[10:54] And so our sin goes against what God's done through Christ. You may be sitting here saying, well, you know, I'm not really all that angry all the time. I don't really struggle with that.

[11:06] It's not really a big issue of mine. It's way down on the list. So I'm going to go ahead and tune out, you know. But now that you mention it, there's this co-worker that I have and he or she is just always, and then my spouse and my husband and my wife is just always so angry and then the people that go to church with us are so quick to speak.

[11:24] All right. It's easy to do that. It's so easy to do that. We think of other people. Automatically, we deem ourselves, you know, we're clear. We're in the clear, right? We're not that bad. Well, lucky for us because anger is not the only sin that we see in this phrase of be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to anger.

[11:42] Let's take a look at this. Be quick to listen is the first part of this. By not listening, we're not showing love. We're not showing kindness or goodness.

[11:55] By being quick to speak, we're not exhibiting patience, not exhibiting self-control. The one who's quick to anger does not reveal gentleness or peace, joy, faithfulness to the gospel.

[12:09] Does anyone recognize this list? Right? Galatians 5, 22 and 23. The fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.

[12:24] So the one that sows the seeds of a listening ear to the truth of the gospel, God's marvelous plan for humanity, therefore reaps righteous conduct.

[12:35] Righteous conduct. So if all sin does not produce the righteous new life we've obtained through the word of truth, then what is the Christian to do in regards to sin?

[12:52] I got it, right? Casually approach situations. How about take sin lightly? No. Make an honorable attempt but try to not break a sweat when it comes to actions?

[13:03] No. So like a gardener, who sees weeds amongst her vegetables, she must quickly pull them out of the soil because they're not going to just destroy whatever the weeds near.

[13:16] Eventually it will destroy the entire garden. Why do we do this? Verse 21 tells us, read with me, therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word.

[13:31] The language used for put away is indicative of taking off dirty clothing. And so, for example, if you do work in your garden or outside or something like this, there often time is dirt or soil or something or other things on the bottom of your shoes.

[13:49] and so, taking off or fully removing your clothing doesn't mean tracking it in through the house and then putting it next to your bed or kind of close to the laundry basket or whatever you use for your laundry so that your spouse has to pick them up later and properly deal with them, right?

[14:07] Ask my wife, I do not do these things. I do do these things. This verse doesn't say, I'm sorry, it's astounding how we all can be so conscious about not tracking dirt in the house, right?

[14:22] But when it comes to spiritual dirt, spiritual sin, many times it's easier to just let it be and not deal with it. To just push it aside or sweep it underneath a piece of furniture or something like that.

[14:33] And so, we don't want to take the time to deal with the filth that our sin through selfishness has created. And we don't want to take the detriment and consequence that is carried with it.

[14:45] And so, this verse doesn't say, therefore, put away the sin that pertains to anger, brothers and sisters. No, it says, not that at all.

[14:56] It doesn't say, put away the worst sin either. It says, put away all sin. Okay, sometimes I sin, right? But, filthiness and rampant wickedness, that sounds horrible.

[15:08] That sounds like some of the really bad people groups I've read in the Bible or in history books. On this subject, theologian Matthew Henry says this, we're taught to lay aside not only those more gross and fleshly dispositions which make a person filthy, but all the disorders of a corrupt heart which would prejudice it against the words and ways of God.

[15:32] Rampant wickedness, we can consider the abundance of sin and evil that's all around us and often in us, still there from the time of our conversion to Christ. We're in a constant battle against sin and James calls us at last to get rid of it, to take it off, put it away.

[15:52] Why? Because those in Christ have new life according to the word of truth. Colossians 3, 7, and 8 says, you used to walk in these ways in the life you once lived, but now you must rid yourself of all such things as these, anger, rage, malice, slander, filthy language from your lips.

[16:10] Ephesians 4, 22, put off your old self which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires. Hebrews 12, 1, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles.

[16:25] Let's run with perseverance the race marked out for us. So how are we supposed to live this new life both in inward and outward purity and righteousness after we've taken off sin we must have to put something on, right?

[16:41] We see it right here. Therefore, at the end of verse 21, receive with meekness the implanted word. As true Christians we've accepted the word, right, one time through our faith accepting Christ's blood as our substitute and gaining his righteousness locking in our eternal future our souls have been saved once and for all.

[17:06] Let's think of the gospel as a seed. The good news of Christ has been planted deep in the soil of our hearts where it can grow its roots at the moment of salvation and continuing thereafter transforming and renewing us day by day.

[17:22] So saving our souls also daily by making us more like Jesus. So listening to the word is first part of the process of growing the fruits of the roots of the word.

[17:35] It requires actually spending time with the Lord in scripture and in prayer to see what he has to say. So consider your life. Are you actively spending time with God reading scripture, praying, meditating?

[17:51] The question is why or why not? Do you see the incredible power and influence that the Bible has in your life? And I speak these same truths to me, Shoreline.

[18:02] I speak the same thing to myself. Do you see how it's essential? Do we see how it's essential for our growing of the implanted word? We must listen to the word by spending time with the word.

[18:17] But we can't fail to see there's also a second part to receiving the implanted word. And that is a daily choice. And it's a decision that's made upon our acting upon what we've just listened to or our not acting upon what we've just listened to.

[18:35] Fully receiving the implanted word means listening but also doing. So number two, number one was how do we be obedient to scripture by listening?

[18:47] Number two, how are we obedient to scripture? By listening and also doing. Read with me in verse 22 of James 1. But be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.

[19:03] And so verse 22, it's pretty clear. It tells us that there are really only two choices. We can either be hearers or be hearers and doers. There really is no middle ground.

[19:15] There's no middle area here. James says that hearers only hear, they are not doing. And they're being deceived by themselves. But how can we deceive myself?

[19:27] Usually we think of deception as something that we do in relation to somebody else. Well, verse 23 thankfully gives us an illustration for that. Verse 23, for if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, it's like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror.

[19:44] For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. I always love looking at mirrors because you never know what's going to be in there. It's like a little secret adventure.

[19:57] What's in this one? In the bathroom there's like six or seven mirrors. You've got to look in every one because who knows? Right? It's like a trip to another world. It's like a window to another world.

[20:09] No, it's not. Right? I was really excited about that one. Mirrors only do one thing. They reflect what's in front of them.

[20:21] There's nothing to see behind a mirror. It's just a wall. And so when you want to use a mirror to see what you look like, you look in a mirror. Sometimes in the morning I don't look in the mirror because I don't want to see what I look like sometimes.

[20:41] And so there's no mistaking what a mirror is and does. A hearer looks at his face and then quickly leaves. The text says he looks intently and then like rushes out and just as quickly doesn't remember what he saw.

[20:57] And we're thinking, come on. You don't know what? And it says natural face. You don't know what your face looks like? You just looked in the mirror. Plus you've done it a hundred other times this week. So why did he even bother looking in the mirror if he forgot what he saw?

[21:11] The Bible also acts as a mirror. Showing our imperfections and impurities and our sin. As we open it up, open the scripture, it does not flatter and it reveals truth that many times we want to just turn the page with and forget about what we just read.

[21:30] it shows us where we don't match up to God's standards and where our sins have entangled us and that can be hard to read and hard to process.

[21:46] But the hearer acknowledges these things that he's just read or seen or listened to and may even give a hearty amen or hallelujah but then leaves the mirror of the word of God and doesn't change his life.

[22:02] He's forgotten. And so we illustrate our forgetting by not changing or processing or taking action upon what we've been shown in scripture.

[22:14] And the truth is that these experiences are for naught if we've not acted upon them. If they're only heard. In the case of the man in the mirror if we see an imperfection in our hair, face or clothing we fix it.

[22:30] After all that's why we even bother to look. And the same is true as if we see an imperfection in our lives looking in the mirror of scripture. If not why do we bother?

[22:42] We know that we've listened to the things we've seen they've made it to our hearts when we actually begin to express outwardly the things that we've heard. When it's changed us to the point of doing.

[22:53] If not we've just listened. Oh but I haven't forgotten what I learned in Sunday school as a kid. Right? I still know that truth. I can still quote that chapter of Ephesians or I can still say this super spiritual Christianese phrase.

[23:10] Right? I have all the answers. You can but you're just to hear if you're not living those things out. This is how we deceive ourselves. We ask ourselves how do we deceive ourselves?

[23:21] This is how we do it. Examples? A convicting scripture passage we've read that lasted for like a day and that was it. Moments of prayer and intimacy where God's revealed something powerful.

[23:36] The time is when we feel really accomplished because we've been listening to a lot of Tim Keller sermons in the last month and they've been really good or whoever you choose to listen to. Or even today's sermon.

[23:49] Times where the Holy Spirit we've felt the tug in our hearts we've felt the spirit beckoning but we've just cast it aside. And even coming to church check in the box or small group Bible study.

[24:06] Mere experiences and encounters are all that these things really are. if the truths they contain have only made it to our ears and not to our hearts. They carry little to no meaning or value and they just kind of sit in the bottom of our hearts unactivated.

[24:26] Someone made me aware of a very neat illustration this week of a tall glass of pure white milk with a dark Hershey syrup poured into the bottom.

[24:41] Very exciting. Very yummy. And so we pour it in and it's there and it's like 16 ounces. It's huge. And we start to drink it but it tastes like milk.

[24:53] It's because we forgot to stir it. And so just as syrup does nothing to a glass of milk without being stirred so also these truths that we listen to need to be stirred up and activated become active in order for us to reap the benefits that they have to offer.

[25:14] We gather these Christian experiences of listening in all the ways he just talks about large and small and I'm there with you guys we put them in a box and we bring that box with us everywhere we go or we could say something like a cell phone something where what's in that box is there it's in our hearts it's ready to go it's available and we bring it we bring it with us everywhere just like our phones and then situations arise or circumstances happen where those truths are needed those righteous actions are applicable this is it's a big neon sign this is it use it here they are the righteous responses and actions of the believer but we don't bring them out we just keep them there in our pocket or next to us or whatever instead we choose sin and we choose selfishness to shrug our shoulders towards God instead of bringing him glory what is hearing and not doing it's serving self it's during trials and temptations when the voice of the spirit is speaking to us but we speak a sarcastic or a mean word instead of a kind one we lash out in anger at the driver on the road we're jealous of that family or that spouse or those children those children we give in to immorality and lust instead of standing strong in the moment we don't spend time in God's word or in prayer or meditation because we're really tired and we're busy at work literally there are endless examples of this and I'm right there

[26:58] I'm just as guilty as these things as anyone else but shoreline if you've heard the truth and know it already and you choose not to do it it is sin James 4 17 says if anyone then knows the good they ought to do and doesn't do it to him it is sin so consider your life observe your behavior do you see times of sin in which you not listen to the word of truth how does that affect you how do we make what do we make of our listening if we're not actually using these things to do in our actions actually for the last week or so I've been trying this I've been making an attempt here and the amount of heaviness and conviction that I feel in times when I know what the right response is and I know what the right action is that's sitting in that box waiting for me to use and I've said to myself many times this last week or so

[28:05] I'm not a doer I'm just a hearer I'm just a hearer what value do these truths have that I've learned for 29 years or so we need to do these things we need to look into our lives and consider that so if we know what a hearer is it's the one who does not act on the truths of the word that he or she knows now this hearer is in contrast with a doer read with me again verse 24 for he looks at himself and goes away at once forgetting what he was like verse 25 but the one who looks into the perfect law the law of liberty and preserves being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts he will be blessed in his doing this reveals us a couple things about the doer he looks the language used for looks is to stoop down and bend over to get a closer look at something that's what we do right we bend down we look more intently we look harder so the doer looks he looks at the perfect law of liberty this is what's being looked at the law is perfect because

[29:26] God's created it God's plan to rescue humanity for Jesus has made the law perfect and fully complete that which was once condemning is now life giving where continual death was once required as payment for sin now Christ's blood fully covers once and for all as opposed to a real glass mirror showing external flaws the Bible acts as a mirror glancing into our life revealing the horrible sight of our sin through the laws that its people are to uphold whereas most laws hear me out seem to be restricting and keeping us from joy like the speed limit fireworks God's perfect law brings us to joy reminding the believer that even in the midst of failure friends that he's accepted in love you are accepted in love

[30:27] I am accepted and loved it means not being bogged down through rules and regulations but being raised up through forgiveness but he doesn't stop there because that's just the listening the doer looks he looks to the perfect law liberty and then he preserves and he does he sees his reflected flaws and he takes action to correct them and be right with the Lord he does not forget this is what the doer does he returns again and again persevering continuing to seek to be changed he lives in acts based on the security of who he is not what standards he's not upholding the cross of Christ covers it all finally the doer is blessed the reward we see is that the doer will be blessed in his doing fulfillment joy excitement for the things of the Lord as we're confidently obeying his word and his desire and will for our life become our desire and will for our life finding the law of liberty gives great freedom in life as we have never known before and allows for a spiritual growth that we've never experienced before so number one was we're obeying to scripture by listening number two was we're obeying to scripture by listening and doing and finally we're obeying to scripture by our continued doing so many times in culture people claim to be religious or see the religious and they do it by gauging their compliance with a set of rules or standards that whichever church or maybe it's the bible but maybe it's whatever church or whatever religious association they're part of they gauge their outward practice and so while as

[32:32] Christians we know there's much more than just external expression to religion we would consent that those who feel they're religious or we would say have faith in life ought to then submit themselves to the practices that manifest worship in obedience to God's law if you see yourself as religious or having faith you then long to submit yourself to that which brings worship to God and obeying God's word and James gives us a few marks of the one who's religious verse 26 if anyone thinks he's religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart this person's religion is worthless with the use of the word bridle right we have this I don't ride horses often but I've heard this term the use of the word bridle is the image of riding a horse right and so the person riding the horse controls the horse by the reins and the bit in the mouth of the horse and so this person can dictate where the horse goes left or right fast or slow and so we would ask ourselves if we're going to position ourselves riding a horse position ourselves correctly in the saddle wearing the right attire everything's ready to go we know how to do this we've taken our classes or our training sit there and we just keep our hands at our sides and don't take the reins that's probably not a good idea and you're not going to be able to ride the horse if you can even a little bit that's probably going to end in a kind of dangerous manner it's going to be nearly impossible to have that horse to do what you want it to this is the image of the one who listens to the word or mounts the horse but doesn't use it what it's designed for doesn't grab the reins just like the man looking into the mirror bridling the tongue means doing the truth that we know to be true in relation to our speech but further the tough thing is that actually our speech reveals our deeper hearts content

[34:48] Matthew 12 34 for the mouth speaks what the heart is full of when you've heard the word but don't apply it don't do its truth you've deceived yourself your religion whatever you think as religion or faith in that sense it's worthless that's what scripture says religion is worthless it's as if you've never really heard it all your outward actions have amounted only to sin and not the righteous life that God desires the word has not infiltrated your heart because the fruit that comes from listening is not there your speech is what you have to show for what's in your heart so we know we're doers by how we control our tongue also mentioned is verse 27 religion that is pure and undefiled before God the father is this to visit orphans and widows in their affliction to keep oneself unstained by the world the one who finds him or herself with a pure internal conduct from listening to the word of

[35:55] God find themselves with an external conduct that matches it in how they do things literally caring for orphans and widows yes yes it is good there's also a much broader sense that these two people groups of people fall into it's caring for those who especially in the Bible times but even now are many times uncared for many times are the most neglected if we looked at how Christ did his ministry there's not one speck of Christ's ministry that was about anybody else that was about himself it was always about someone else and so he cared for the souls and the needs of those that were around him evidence through his healing his miracles providing physical nourishment spiritual nourishment discipling and ultimately his death on the cross for mankind 1 John 316 says this is how we know what love is we know what love is

[37:00] Jesus Christ laid down his life for us we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters a much broader call to the follower of Jesus is this last section of to keep oneself unstained from the world the end of verse 27 the third mark of continued doing it relates back to the filthiness that we talked about a few verses ago what we're called to put off the filthiness and rampant wickedness take it off put it away dispose of it we shouldn't look like the world stained with its mark of habitual regular sin and continual resignation to its evil ways we're called to be doers with purity and cleanliness in relation to our interactions with what's around us in the world exhibiting holy behavior and righteous style of living there's a lot more to be said about these three final marks as we just discussed of Christian living in fact

[38:02] James actually devotes the entire rest of the book to these things we see sections on caring for others we see sections on keeping oneself unstained from the world we see most of chapter 3 on the power of the tongue and so we're going to see in the next many sermons until the book of James is done the practical advice of what it's like to actually live these truths but we had to first see what it was like to listen to them and to do them in the beginning stages so the conclusion of the first chapter like a new house being built where the foundation has been firmly set so James has done for us setting foundation for the Christian life to live according to the way that God desires for us we've seen that trials and temptations are all no match for the new life of the believer who listens to the word of truth the gospel of his or her salvation and if you don't know what that means it's simply this that sin has separated us in relationship from Jesus from God and that

[39:20] Christ came and bore that burden of our debt with his blood at the cross at Calvary so that we may have new life through his death and his resurrection and that's a truth that anyone any place through any time period in history can accept at any moment and so that's something that anyone you've seen up here would love to talk to you about today so through this listening we've already implanted the word of God with the already implanted word of God is able to grow firmly and securely this allows for the producing of fruit that comes from doing what we have first listened to what we're called to do as Christians by the law of liberty and freedom that are no longer condemning and binding but friends encouraging and releasing to continue for us to persevere in our outward expression of faith and our obedience to the

[40:21] Bible don't leave today discouraged we ought not to be discouraged by looking in scripture at what we see inside of us but if you're a believer in Jesus you ought to be encouraged remorseful for your sin but not filled with shame but getting up out of that and being and feeling and knowing that you're empowered to live a righteous life sin cannot hold us down we ought to be bringing glory to our maker God the father of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ pray with me God God God God God God God God God God God God