WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.560 In the exercise of his will, he brought us forth by the word of truth, 00:00:04.560 --> 00:00:08.460 so that we would be kind of a firstfruits among his creatures. 00:00:09.339 --> 00:00:14.040 This you know, my beloved brethren, but everyone must be quick to hear, 00:00:14.599 --> 00:00:17.620 slow to speak, and slow to anger, 00:00:18.160 --> 00:00:21.679 for the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God. 00:00:22.559 --> 00:00:27.900 Therefore, putting all filthiness and all remains of wickedness aside, 00:00:27.899 --> 00:00:33.500 in humility, receive the word implanted, which is able to save your soul. 00:00:34.219 --> 00:00:39.839 But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. 00:00:40.939 --> 00:00:45.099 For anyone who is a hearer of the word and not a doer, 00:00:45.579 --> 00:00:49.280 he is like a man who looks at his natural face in the mirror. 00:00:49.939 --> 00:00:52.379 For once he has looked at himself and gone away, 00:00:52.780 --> 00:00:55.679 he has immediately forgotten what kind of a person he was. 00:00:55.679 --> 00:01:00.340 But one who looks intently at the perfect law, 00:01:00.619 --> 00:01:01.560 the law of liberty, 00:01:02.159 --> 00:01:03.759 and abides by it, 00:01:03.939 --> 00:01:08.299 not having become a forgetful hearer, but an effectual doer, 00:01:09.019 --> 00:01:11.900 this man will be blessed in what he does. 00:01:12.799 --> 00:01:15.060 If anyone thinks himself to be religious, 00:01:15.539 --> 00:01:17.460 and yet does not bridle his tongue, 00:01:17.819 --> 00:01:19.500 but deceives his own heart, 00:01:20.000 --> 00:01:21.780 this man's religion is worthless. 00:01:21.780 --> 00:01:28.439 Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and our Father is this, 00:01:28.939 --> 00:01:31.939 to visit orphans and widows in their distress, 00:01:32.540 --> 00:01:35.879 and to keep oneself unstained from the world. 00:01:36.659 --> 00:01:37.920 This is God's word. 00:01:37.920 --> 00:01:40.060 How you guys doing? 00:01:41.280 --> 00:01:41.760 Yeah. 00:01:42.680 --> 00:01:44.159 What an amazing worship. 00:01:44.680 --> 00:01:49.500 Thanks for bearing with us and jaunting all the way up here on the ninth floor. 00:01:50.519 --> 00:01:51.920 Amidst all the craziness, 00:01:52.040 --> 00:01:57.640 we're just very thankful that God has given us a place to meet this week. 00:01:57.640 --> 00:02:00.579 If you were here last week, 00:02:01.299 --> 00:02:03.159 you learned some things. 00:02:04.079 --> 00:02:06.960 You learned that my wife was not here, 00:02:07.819 --> 00:02:10.659 and so that my kids and I dressed themselves, 00:02:11.599 --> 00:02:14.139 and that I took a lot of flack for that 00:02:14.139 --> 00:02:18.759 by some of the more honest mothers in this group. 00:02:19.539 --> 00:02:21.979 I was thankful that after the church service, 00:02:22.159 --> 00:02:24.319 some of the more empathetic ones came up and said, 00:02:24.400 --> 00:02:25.460 I think they look great. 00:02:25.960 --> 00:02:27.219 You did a great job. 00:02:27.620 --> 00:02:28.639 So thank you very much. 00:02:28.879 --> 00:02:31.199 I got some field in there also. 00:02:32.819 --> 00:02:35.500 And it was interesting because we went home that night, 00:02:35.579 --> 00:02:36.639 and we called Christina. 00:02:37.340 --> 00:02:38.599 And oh, by the way, Christina's back, 00:02:38.659 --> 00:02:39.460 so you can look at our kids. 00:02:39.520 --> 00:02:40.740 They're dressed normal, and that's okay. 00:02:41.139 --> 00:02:44.539 But the first thing my youngest one said on the phone Sunday night was, 00:02:44.680 --> 00:02:48.599 you're not going to believe what Dad let us wear to church on Sunday. 00:02:49.099 --> 00:02:50.360 I was like, you tattletale. 00:02:50.919 --> 00:02:52.560 I'm not going to tell you anything anymore. 00:02:53.680 --> 00:02:55.300 So Christina's back, and it's good. 00:02:55.300 --> 00:02:57.420 And I have another confession to make. 00:02:58.080 --> 00:02:59.480 So the confession is this. 00:02:59.520 --> 00:03:02.620 In our household, we have pretty strict rules about television 00:03:02.620 --> 00:03:06.700 because if we don't, our kids and us, we'll just watch it all the time. 00:03:06.699 --> 00:03:13.159 And so the kids aren't supposed to watch television during certain times during the week 00:03:13.159 --> 00:03:14.500 and even sometimes on the weekend. 00:03:15.179 --> 00:03:18.699 And I want to confess, too, just bring it out here. 00:03:18.780 --> 00:03:20.319 So we're bringing everything out here in the open. 00:03:20.319 --> 00:03:28.539 Ladies, don't make your husbands the primary caregivers of your children, okay? 00:03:29.120 --> 00:03:30.599 It just will not work. 00:03:31.959 --> 00:03:38.319 And like after four hours of Uno, something goes on in the male's brain, 00:03:38.599 --> 00:03:41.180 and it just kind of clicks, right? 00:03:41.219 --> 00:03:43.539 And you kind of shut down, and you don't know what. 00:03:43.539 --> 00:03:50.699 And so, but I didn't let my kids watch TV, but I gave them an iPad. 00:03:52.819 --> 00:03:57.859 To which I said, hey, your dad needs to go do some reading in the bedroom, 00:03:57.959 --> 00:03:59.379 which means sleeping. 00:04:00.219 --> 00:04:05.459 And you can watch this iPad, but don't tell your mom right away, okay? 00:04:05.479 --> 00:04:06.519 We can tell her later on. 00:04:06.520 --> 00:04:09.980 And so I went back to do some reading in the bedroom. 00:04:10.600 --> 00:04:15.820 And after about an hour, the silence woke me up, and I wondered what was going on. 00:04:16.180 --> 00:04:18.699 Because the silence in the house isn't with four kids. 00:04:18.740 --> 00:04:19.939 That's just not good either, right? 00:04:20.439 --> 00:04:24.480 Like they're burning down something, or someone's bound and taped, 00:04:24.519 --> 00:04:27.079 and they're stuck to the wall, or you don't know what's going to happen. 00:04:27.160 --> 00:04:31.360 So I went around looking for them, and I found KK, our youngest six-year-old, 00:04:31.800 --> 00:04:34.040 with her iPad there, and she was watching. 00:04:34.120 --> 00:04:35.580 She was watching Disney, Charles. 00:04:35.579 --> 00:04:36.479 You'll be very happy. 00:04:36.579 --> 00:04:37.419 She's worked for Disney. 00:04:37.979 --> 00:04:41.379 And she was watching that movie, you know, and I hadn't seen it in a long time, 00:04:41.439 --> 00:04:42.839 so I sat down and I watched it too. 00:04:43.319 --> 00:04:47.659 And, you know, it's the one where the ugly witch, and she has the mirror, right? 00:04:48.599 --> 00:04:51.099 And she goes to the mirror, and she says? 00:04:52.479 --> 00:04:53.139 Mirror, mirror. 00:04:53.379 --> 00:04:56.620 Well, she actually says magic mirror, I think, is the actual correct words. 00:04:57.180 --> 00:05:00.459 But, and I thought that was kind of interesting. 00:05:00.560 --> 00:05:03.360 So I watched it, and she said it again. 00:05:03.360 --> 00:05:08.400 And I was like, wow, that's good theology. 00:05:10.139 --> 00:05:14.100 In Texas language, what she probably would have said was, how you doing? 00:05:14.360 --> 00:05:15.280 Or how am I doing? 00:05:16.819 --> 00:05:22.220 To which she was hoping the mirror would say, you're doing really good. 00:05:22.220 --> 00:05:27.580 And she did really good until you know who came on the scene, right? 00:05:28.200 --> 00:05:33.120 And when you know who came on the scene, Snow White, she no longer got that affirmation from the mirror. 00:05:33.220 --> 00:05:37.020 And so the whole story is about her trying to get the mirror to say, you're doing good. 00:05:38.280 --> 00:05:39.480 No matter what that takes. 00:05:39.480 --> 00:05:46.500 And I thought about that as we think about going into this book for the next couple weeks. 00:05:46.600 --> 00:05:49.939 And I think, you know, that is a lot like our lives. 00:05:52.240 --> 00:05:57.620 I think a lot of us have mirrors in our lives. 00:05:57.620 --> 00:06:04.579 And these mirrors we come to every day, every morning, more than once a day. 00:06:04.920 --> 00:06:09.040 And we ask the question of ourselves, how am I doing? 00:06:12.759 --> 00:06:16.819 I don't know what the mirrors are in your life. 00:06:16.879 --> 00:06:23.840 I don't know what the mirrors are that you come to and that you ask, what is really real? 00:06:23.839 --> 00:06:27.459 What's the reality check in my life? 00:06:27.519 --> 00:06:28.159 What do I get? 00:06:28.259 --> 00:06:28.979 How do I understand? 00:06:29.119 --> 00:06:31.579 How do I find out if I'm doing good? 00:06:32.319 --> 00:06:36.639 If you're a single, maybe you're judging if you're doing good by your friends. 00:06:37.579 --> 00:06:41.159 Maybe you're looking around at the friends in your office and the place they're coming in there. 00:06:41.379 --> 00:06:45.059 And I think we judge and we compare by what we don't have and what we do have. 00:06:45.099 --> 00:06:46.439 What we haven't done and what we have done. 00:06:46.779 --> 00:06:49.679 And maybe as a single, you're looking at your peers and you're looking at their lives. 00:06:49.979 --> 00:06:52.359 And you're looking at the things that they've accumulated. 00:06:52.519 --> 00:06:53.379 You're looking at their wealth. 00:06:53.379 --> 00:06:54.399 You're looking at their titles. 00:06:54.839 --> 00:06:57.339 You're looking at the relationships they've had. 00:06:57.379 --> 00:06:59.480 And you're comparing them to that mirror. 00:07:00.639 --> 00:07:02.399 You're looking at the mirror of their life. 00:07:02.519 --> 00:07:05.379 And you're asking yourself, well, how am I doing? 00:07:06.740 --> 00:07:08.659 When you compare it to them. 00:07:09.540 --> 00:07:10.740 Do I have the same stuff? 00:07:11.079 --> 00:07:12.259 Do I have the same relationships? 00:07:12.699 --> 00:07:13.540 Am I engaged? 00:07:13.800 --> 00:07:15.399 What's happening in my life? 00:07:15.439 --> 00:07:16.079 How am I doing? 00:07:17.379 --> 00:07:18.659 I grew up with a guy. 00:07:18.660 --> 00:07:20.800 And he's still a very good friend of mine. 00:07:21.100 --> 00:07:24.240 And his mirror was sexual relationships. 00:07:24.240 --> 00:07:33.319 And this guy realized that he was going to do good in life if he had a new partner every day. 00:07:33.319 --> 00:07:36.439 And I knew him through high school. 00:07:36.839 --> 00:07:37.899 And I knew him through college. 00:07:38.240 --> 00:07:39.659 And I knew him as a single guy. 00:07:40.500 --> 00:07:43.800 And, you know, sometimes we would talk and he would talk about his exploits. 00:07:44.279 --> 00:07:45.319 And I just was in... 00:07:45.319 --> 00:07:49.620 And I looked in that mirror and compared my life. 00:07:51.139 --> 00:07:52.240 I'm a college student. 00:07:52.360 --> 00:07:53.339 I've never had sex. 00:07:53.879 --> 00:07:54.579 I'm a loser. 00:07:55.980 --> 00:07:56.860 I'm 24. 00:07:57.779 --> 00:07:59.659 I've never had a relationship intimately. 00:08:00.560 --> 00:08:01.459 I'm a loser. 00:08:02.579 --> 00:08:03.439 I'm 30. 00:08:04.480 --> 00:08:08.480 And I'm still choosing to walk with the Lord and choose what he said is true, 00:08:08.480 --> 00:08:10.939 even though it's so incredibly difficult and hard. 00:08:12.039 --> 00:08:12.860 I'm a loser. 00:08:12.860 --> 00:08:15.180 I'm 34. 00:08:16.840 --> 00:08:26.120 And when I look at myself in the mirror of my friend, my life didn't measure up. 00:08:27.980 --> 00:08:31.360 After we got married, he came and we were talking. 00:08:31.759 --> 00:08:34.240 And, again, he just talks about his exploits and all these things. 00:08:34.759 --> 00:08:36.860 And it might not be sex for your friends. 00:08:37.560 --> 00:08:38.259 It might be money. 00:08:39.740 --> 00:08:40.800 It might be house. 00:08:40.799 --> 00:08:43.219 It might be power. 00:08:44.539 --> 00:08:45.959 It might be people that he can control. 00:08:48.000 --> 00:08:50.299 But he looked at me and he started talking about all these people. 00:08:50.399 --> 00:08:51.519 And finally I said, okay, come on. 00:08:51.579 --> 00:08:53.679 Now tell me, how often are you really having sex? 00:08:54.639 --> 00:08:55.419 And he shared it. 00:08:55.439 --> 00:09:00.159 And I'm like, well, I'm a married guy and I have sex just as much as you do. 00:09:00.159 --> 00:09:08.419 But the difference is I have it with one person in a relationship that God has ordained. 00:09:08.419 --> 00:09:15.620 If you're a married person here today, what's the mirror you're looking into? 00:09:18.019 --> 00:09:20.579 What's the thing that you're comparing yourself to? 00:09:20.779 --> 00:09:26.179 What's the thing that you judge yourself by when you look at that mirror in your friends' lives or other married people's lives? 00:09:26.179 --> 00:09:30.399 What is it that says you're doing pretty good? 00:09:32.859 --> 00:09:36.399 Is it that you have three houses now and you can now rent out? 00:09:36.479 --> 00:09:37.399 That's what I've always been told. 00:09:37.479 --> 00:09:38.639 That's what we've got to do in Hong Kong. 00:09:38.699 --> 00:09:42.479 We've got to have three apartments and you rent out two and you live in one and you're set. 00:09:42.859 --> 00:09:43.719 I'm doing good. 00:09:44.299 --> 00:09:44.879 Is it that? 00:09:44.879 --> 00:09:48.179 Is it your spouse? 00:09:50.480 --> 00:09:52.960 Is the mirror, oh, we've been married 15 years. 00:09:53.019 --> 00:09:53.919 We have to be doing good. 00:09:55.139 --> 00:09:56.720 Or we've been married 40 years. 00:09:58.159 --> 00:09:59.379 That has to be something. 00:10:02.939 --> 00:10:05.220 Is it where your kids go to school? 00:10:07.740 --> 00:10:09.820 Is it your kids got into that school? 00:10:11.179 --> 00:10:13.440 Is it your kids graduated from this university? 00:10:13.440 --> 00:10:18.320 See, what is it, the mirror, that you compare your lives with every day and you look at it and you go, 00:10:18.380 --> 00:10:19.860 you know, I'm not doing that bad. 00:10:19.900 --> 00:10:21.160 I'm doing pretty good. 00:10:21.360 --> 00:10:25.100 When I look at things, I'm pretty happy. 00:10:26.820 --> 00:10:27.920 I don't know what your mirror is. 00:10:28.000 --> 00:10:29.260 I think we all have mirrors. 00:10:29.320 --> 00:10:33.400 I think some of us have more than one mirror in our lives. 00:10:33.400 --> 00:10:40.480 And I think that if we're honest, when we look at these mirrors, often we become very depressed. 00:10:40.480 --> 00:10:49.200 We look at the mirror in our life and we're like Thoreau when he says that most men live lives of quiet desperation. 00:10:49.759 --> 00:10:54.460 I think that most of us are spending time trying to get the mirror to say what we want it to say. 00:10:54.779 --> 00:10:59.740 And some of us have been very good at angling the mirror so that it looks just a certain way so that it says you're doing okay. 00:10:59.740 --> 00:11:08.039 But I think for most of us, our lives, when we look into the mirror, we're not doing too good. 00:11:08.039 --> 00:11:16.319 The scripture that we talked about last week in Luke 17 when Jesus came and he said, 00:11:16.439 --> 00:11:18.000 this is what it looks like to be a follower of Christ. 00:11:18.079 --> 00:11:18.699 Remember what he said? 00:11:19.019 --> 00:11:21.500 He said, it means take short accounts of sin. 00:11:23.059 --> 00:11:25.439 That don't allow yourself to become a scandal. 00:11:26.000 --> 00:11:30.360 He said, hey, don't make sure that when you see sin that you rebuke it. 00:11:30.719 --> 00:11:34.059 Hey, make sure that when you've rebuked it that you're quick to forgive each other. 00:11:35.000 --> 00:11:38.679 Make sure that when you walk with the Lord that you use the faith that God has given you. 00:11:38.739 --> 00:11:39.559 That's what he's given you. 00:11:39.599 --> 00:11:40.159 That's the faith. 00:11:40.539 --> 00:11:41.599 Use that because that's enough. 00:11:41.659 --> 00:11:44.819 Even if it's a little, it's enough because it changed you. 00:11:45.779 --> 00:11:49.579 And then a lot of our questions and a lot of our problems are we just don't use the faith that God's given us. 00:11:51.019 --> 00:11:52.179 We beg for more faith. 00:11:52.239 --> 00:11:53.079 We try to get more faith. 00:11:53.079 --> 00:11:57.399 And then we finally told that the ultimate end of that was that we are called to serve. 00:11:57.519 --> 00:11:59.000 We're called to serve each other. 00:11:59.419 --> 00:12:02.819 And so the Luke says and Jesus says, this is what it looks like to be my disciple. 00:12:03.820 --> 00:12:11.060 What I want to do, what we want to do is for the next couple weeks, we want to take a snapshot of that and we want to project it 15 years. 00:12:11.220 --> 00:12:16.620 Because in 15 years when Jesus is dead and he goes to heaven, a church is born in Jerusalem. 00:12:16.620 --> 00:12:22.720 And this church is struggling with comparing itself and looking at how are we doing? 00:12:24.179 --> 00:12:25.580 What's going on in our lives? 00:12:25.639 --> 00:12:26.299 How are we doing? 00:12:26.560 --> 00:12:27.840 And that is the book of James. 00:12:28.060 --> 00:12:31.919 The book of James for me is one of my most exciting and favorite books. 00:12:32.039 --> 00:12:35.100 It's the book that I grew up with as a young Christian. 00:12:35.600 --> 00:12:40.039 James and Romans were the books that shaped my life and the guys that discipled me. 00:12:40.039 --> 00:12:42.719 And the thing about James is he's hard. 00:12:44.259 --> 00:12:45.319 I mean, he's simple. 00:12:47.079 --> 00:12:48.039 He's raw. 00:12:49.159 --> 00:12:50.159 He's straightforward. 00:12:50.959 --> 00:12:53.419 You don't ever read James and go, what does that really mean? 00:12:53.539 --> 00:12:55.279 Because he just tells you that's what it really means. 00:12:56.019 --> 00:13:02.039 And often when you read James, you walk away and you, it kicks your butt. 00:13:02.500 --> 00:13:03.740 Can I say butt in church? 00:13:04.939 --> 00:13:05.480 Your pigu. 00:13:05.480 --> 00:13:07.440 Or however you want to say it. 00:13:10.279 --> 00:13:11.440 It's just hard, right? 00:13:11.899 --> 00:13:14.980 And so what we want to do is I want to look at James today really briefly 00:13:14.980 --> 00:13:19.620 and get us thinking about this as a family of God. 00:13:19.860 --> 00:13:21.279 What are the mirrors we look into? 00:13:21.639 --> 00:13:23.259 What are the reflections we expect? 00:13:23.580 --> 00:13:24.379 And what does that look like? 00:13:24.399 --> 00:13:26.300 And what James is going to say is he's going to say this. 00:13:27.320 --> 00:13:32.440 He says the only mirror that you can look into is God's Word. 00:13:32.440 --> 00:13:41.480 The only mirror that we can find a true reflection of ourself is God's mirror, is God's Word. 00:13:42.420 --> 00:13:44.820 In Jesus' day, a mirror was made out of metal and tin. 00:13:45.180 --> 00:13:49.320 And no matter what the metal and object looked like, whenever you looked at it, there was a distortion. 00:13:50.620 --> 00:13:56.620 And James is saying you are going to be distorted if you look at any other mirror but the Word of God. 00:13:56.620 --> 00:14:02.899 And so what I want to do in this really brief time, in this passage, is I want to look at three things, 00:14:03.039 --> 00:14:07.740 hopefully that maybe two things, maybe one thing, because we only got a couple more minutes left because he started so late. 00:14:08.039 --> 00:14:13.899 But I want to look at some things that God says, if you are my child, if you walk with me. 00:14:14.259 --> 00:14:16.080 James' main premise is this. 00:14:17.480 --> 00:14:21.799 If you say you're a Christian, how come you live like you're not? 00:14:21.799 --> 00:14:30.240 Or another way James says is, as you look into the mirror of God's Word, what should a Christian look like? 00:14:32.639 --> 00:14:36.359 And James says as we look into God's Word, we are going to change. 00:14:36.459 --> 00:14:38.719 We are going to look different in three things. 00:14:39.399 --> 00:14:41.500 We're going to look different in our view of God's Word. 00:14:42.319 --> 00:14:44.339 We're going to look different in our view of ourselves. 00:14:44.979 --> 00:14:47.439 And we're going to look different in the view of other people. 00:14:47.440 --> 00:14:55.480 So the first thing I want to just really fly through, and we want to look at, this is what it looks like to look different in the view of God's Word. 00:14:55.900 --> 00:15:01.460 If you turn to your bulletin and look at verse 21, James says this. 00:15:02.620 --> 00:15:04.200 Therefore, and so what is it therefore? 00:15:04.340 --> 00:15:05.080 You're looking to the front. 00:15:05.160 --> 00:15:06.100 What is he talking about? 00:15:06.480 --> 00:15:08.680 Putting aside all filthiness. 00:15:08.800 --> 00:15:10.560 The Greek is take off your dirty clothes. 00:15:10.980 --> 00:15:11.880 Take off the filth. 00:15:12.000 --> 00:15:13.660 Take off the things that have clung to you. 00:15:14.320 --> 00:15:16.400 Take off the mud cloths that hang on to you. 00:15:16.399 --> 00:15:21.179 And all that remains of wickedness, anything else that's left in you, take it off. 00:15:21.319 --> 00:15:23.860 Throw it off in meekness. 00:15:25.919 --> 00:15:32.279 Receive God's Word, the Word of truth, the gospel, the message of what God has written to us. 00:15:32.620 --> 00:15:34.279 Receive that Word implanted. 00:15:34.759 --> 00:15:36.379 And that Word implanted is very interesting. 00:15:36.919 --> 00:15:38.480 It doesn't mean that you earned it. 00:15:39.120 --> 00:15:41.539 It doesn't mean that you studied really hard to get it. 00:15:41.539 --> 00:15:45.460 It means that God stuck it in your life. 00:15:46.399 --> 00:15:52.240 And so when you came to faith, God stuck this kernel of His Word in your life. 00:15:53.179 --> 00:15:58.039 And He says, receive that Word implanted, which is able to save your souls. 00:15:59.319 --> 00:16:04.059 In Greek, the word actually means it's able to save your life. 00:16:05.740 --> 00:16:07.299 It's able to help your life. 00:16:07.360 --> 00:16:08.500 It's able to direct your life. 00:16:08.579 --> 00:16:11.939 It's able to change your life. 00:16:11.940 --> 00:16:16.720 And so the question we have to ask ourselves when we look into the mirror of God's Word, 00:16:16.900 --> 00:16:18.620 what do we think about God's Word? 00:16:18.620 --> 00:16:27.679 I need to tell you that I think today, more than ever, Christians are ignorant of the Word of God. 00:16:28.759 --> 00:16:29.539 And it's amazing. 00:16:29.639 --> 00:16:32.600 I almost wanted to start the time off with a test, but I didn't want to embarrass myself. 00:16:32.659 --> 00:16:33.700 I didn't want to embarrass anybody else. 00:16:34.060 --> 00:16:36.460 But we have the Bible all around us. 00:16:36.519 --> 00:16:37.340 It's on our iPods. 00:16:37.399 --> 00:16:38.019 It's on the Internet. 00:16:38.220 --> 00:16:38.840 It's everywhere. 00:16:39.220 --> 00:16:41.980 It's in an abundance, more so than any time in history. 00:16:41.980 --> 00:16:46.860 But the people of God don't know the Word of God. 00:16:50.360 --> 00:16:51.920 How do you handle God's Word? 00:16:51.980 --> 00:16:53.360 What does it look like in your life? 00:16:57.159 --> 00:16:59.500 In 1989, I was in mainland China. 00:16:59.600 --> 00:17:00.259 I was a teacher. 00:17:02.019 --> 00:17:07.339 And the first person I saw the Lord bring to Christ, his name was Tex. 00:17:07.599 --> 00:17:08.680 He's a good friend of mine. 00:17:09.819 --> 00:17:10.819 He was graduating. 00:17:11.980 --> 00:17:13.180 He was graduating. 00:17:13.360 --> 00:17:16.079 He had just came to Christ from my class and my friendship and teaching. 00:17:16.539 --> 00:17:18.860 And he's about to go back to his hometown because in those days, 00:17:18.940 --> 00:17:20.700 you had to go back to your hometown where you came from. 00:17:21.420 --> 00:17:23.880 He came to me and he said, I have two weeks. 00:17:23.900 --> 00:17:25.480 I have two weeks before I have to leave. 00:17:25.819 --> 00:17:27.620 Will you teach me God's Word? 00:17:28.839 --> 00:17:31.539 Now, Tex was, he graduated, so he's off of campus. 00:17:31.819 --> 00:17:32.920 He was an hour away. 00:17:34.559 --> 00:17:36.799 I said, for two weeks, I'll teach you the Word of God. 00:17:36.900 --> 00:17:38.400 Come to my dorm room every night at 6 o'clock. 00:17:38.480 --> 00:17:39.960 We'll have been 6 to 10 o'clock teaching. 00:17:39.960 --> 00:17:43.480 And at the end of the time, I'll just do a total brain dump and I'll teach you everything I know. 00:17:43.519 --> 00:17:44.420 Everything I know you'll know. 00:17:44.819 --> 00:17:45.420 Let's do it. 00:17:46.039 --> 00:17:47.759 And for two weeks, Tex came. 00:17:48.160 --> 00:17:51.120 And I had a couple Bibles with me, Chinese Bibles. 00:17:51.539 --> 00:17:54.140 But I didn't want to give it to him yet because I didn't know if he was sincere. 00:17:54.220 --> 00:17:56.680 I didn't know if the Word, the seed was really in there. 00:17:56.740 --> 00:18:01.100 I didn't know if God had really implanted it or was it something cool because the Western told him about it. 00:18:01.099 --> 00:18:06.959 And so every night, Tex came and we started with him just copying my Bible. 00:18:08.359 --> 00:18:14.079 So for an hour, he hand copied my Bible, every word, and we started in the Gospels. 00:18:14.279 --> 00:18:19.179 And he just wrote down every word and he'd finish it up after about an hour and we would discuss what he wrote. 00:18:19.180 --> 00:18:22.840 And he did that for two weeks. 00:18:24.360 --> 00:18:30.420 Every night, an hour there, three hours writing, four hours talking, go back home an hour. 00:18:31.580 --> 00:18:33.500 At the end of two weeks, Tex was going to leave. 00:18:34.000 --> 00:18:39.019 And I brought him out this Bible and I gave it to him in Mandarin and English. 00:18:39.019 --> 00:18:46.139 And he looked at it and he goes, this is precious, isn't it? 00:18:51.500 --> 00:18:53.259 I said, yeah. 00:18:54.940 --> 00:18:56.660 It's the Word of God for you. 00:18:59.420 --> 00:19:00.940 How do you view God's Word? 00:19:02.660 --> 00:19:05.900 What do you look like when you think of God's Word in the mirror of your life? 00:19:05.900 --> 00:19:12.880 I know growing up, for me, the Bible was just a big book that was stuck in my bookshelf with my parents. 00:19:13.460 --> 00:19:15.680 And I would take it down sometimes because it had really good pictures. 00:19:16.940 --> 00:19:19.800 But it didn't really mean anything to me. 00:19:19.860 --> 00:19:22.480 It didn't really speak to me. 00:19:24.519 --> 00:19:27.340 There are a lot of books I've read over and over and over again. 00:19:27.420 --> 00:19:29.580 One of my favorite books is the Tolkien trilogy. 00:19:29.700 --> 00:19:30.360 I know I'm a nerd. 00:19:30.480 --> 00:19:33.640 I've read The Hobbit over and over, maybe five or ten times. 00:19:33.640 --> 00:19:35.680 But every time I read it, it's the same. 00:19:35.680 --> 00:19:36.700 It's the same story. 00:19:37.039 --> 00:19:38.299 It doesn't emote me. 00:19:38.380 --> 00:19:39.220 It doesn't change me. 00:19:39.299 --> 00:19:39.980 It doesn't move me. 00:19:40.019 --> 00:19:41.120 It doesn't speak to me. 00:19:43.660 --> 00:19:46.740 We went home this summer and we went to Christina's parents' lake house. 00:19:47.080 --> 00:19:48.519 And we were in the storage rooms. 00:19:49.019 --> 00:19:50.160 And we had these boxes. 00:19:50.240 --> 00:19:53.620 And we had to get rid of these storages because our parents were transitioning in life. 00:19:53.680 --> 00:19:54.620 And we didn't know what we were going to do. 00:19:55.000 --> 00:19:57.700 And she opened up this box and it was all my journals in it. 00:19:58.720 --> 00:19:59.840 So I would journal. 00:20:00.039 --> 00:20:01.799 When I became a Christian, I just journaled. 00:20:01.799 --> 00:20:05.460 And as a single person, I was journaling about the mirrors I was looking into. 00:20:05.859 --> 00:20:07.059 And I had all these. 00:20:07.139 --> 00:20:08.180 And she goes, what do you want to do with these journals? 00:20:08.299 --> 00:20:12.359 And I started reading to them because I wrote them hoping that they would give insight in my journey. 00:20:12.460 --> 00:20:16.339 They would enlighten me one day when I read them after 20 or 30 years. 00:20:16.339 --> 00:20:19.740 And God would show me how he brought me along, the things that I was doing. 00:20:20.039 --> 00:20:21.199 And I started to read them. 00:20:21.259 --> 00:20:25.279 And I was like, what was I thinking? 00:20:28.619 --> 00:20:29.099 Love. 00:20:29.899 --> 00:20:31.099 Lost love. 00:20:32.039 --> 00:20:33.359 Bad relationships. 00:20:34.699 --> 00:20:35.259 Hardship. 00:20:35.500 --> 00:20:37.539 And I read and read and read some of my journals. 00:20:37.939 --> 00:20:40.259 And it didn't relate to me at all. 00:20:41.439 --> 00:20:42.759 It didn't change me. 00:20:42.819 --> 00:20:43.699 It didn't impact me. 00:20:43.700 --> 00:20:46.380 It didn't mean anything to me. 00:20:47.360 --> 00:20:48.660 Christina says, well, what do you want to do with them? 00:20:48.680 --> 00:20:52.299 And I'm like, I kind of want to throw them away. 00:20:53.059 --> 00:20:55.259 And I want to shred them before I throw them away. 00:20:55.660 --> 00:21:00.480 So no one sees how messed up I was as a young person. 00:21:01.880 --> 00:21:03.640 So I kept one just as a souvenir. 00:21:03.799 --> 00:21:05.240 Then I burned the rest. 00:21:06.759 --> 00:21:08.819 But you know, God's word isn't like that, is it? 00:21:08.819 --> 00:21:18.079 When you come to God's word and you read it, and you read it over and over and over again, 00:21:18.700 --> 00:21:20.519 that kernel starts to grow. 00:21:21.799 --> 00:21:26.099 And you can read James, and I've read it now for 20 and 30 years, over and over. 00:21:26.159 --> 00:21:29.319 And every time that I come to God's word, it speaks to me differently. 00:21:29.460 --> 00:21:30.399 It changes me. 00:21:30.400 --> 00:21:37.860 So the question for us, how do we handle the word of God? 00:21:39.880 --> 00:21:41.720 What does that look like in our life? 00:21:44.700 --> 00:21:45.900 Does it change you? 00:21:46.800 --> 00:21:47.880 Does it move you? 00:21:47.880 --> 00:21:54.180 James says that if you're in the family of God, if that kernel of truth has been put into your life, 00:21:54.520 --> 00:22:01.320 that God's word should be precious and something amazing. 00:22:02.940 --> 00:22:07.260 And he's saying, if it's not, if it's not precious, if it's not amazing, if it doesn't speak to you, 00:22:07.720 --> 00:22:11.320 if it's not changing you outwardly, if it's not giving you life, 00:22:11.320 --> 00:22:15.580 then you have to ask yourself the question, are you in the family? 00:22:17.880 --> 00:22:20.480 Do you know the Lord? 00:22:20.560 --> 00:22:21.660 Is the kernel put there? 00:22:23.160 --> 00:22:27.320 James goes on in verse 18, and he says this, 00:22:27.380 --> 00:22:30.680 in the exercise of his will, God, he brought us forth. 00:22:30.980 --> 00:22:33.960 In Greek, the word actually means that God birthed us. 00:22:36.040 --> 00:22:38.480 That God gave birth to us. 00:22:38.600 --> 00:22:39.080 How? 00:22:39.320 --> 00:22:44.220 By the word of his truth, by the gospel, by the whole measure of God's word. 00:22:44.220 --> 00:22:51.160 He gave his word to us so that we would be a kind of first fruits among his creation. 00:22:54.160 --> 00:22:57.920 James says if you look into the mirror of God's word, you're going to see yourself differently. 00:23:00.120 --> 00:23:02.500 That word first fruits is really important. 00:23:02.640 --> 00:23:04.100 It's very, very important. 00:23:04.279 --> 00:23:05.920 Everyone in Hebrew culture would have known it. 00:23:06.140 --> 00:23:07.039 It would have meant the best. 00:23:07.100 --> 00:23:07.960 It would have meant the first. 00:23:07.960 --> 00:23:14.000 It would have meant the most prime piece of everything that you give, that you give that to your Lord. 00:23:14.140 --> 00:23:15.400 It is an act of worship. 00:23:15.539 --> 00:23:16.860 It was the highest quality. 00:23:16.980 --> 00:23:19.259 It was set aside for God and God alone. 00:23:20.079 --> 00:23:27.220 It wasn't just your paycheck or your harvest or your first son that you gave to him as an act of worship that you set aside. 00:23:27.400 --> 00:23:29.680 But here what he's saying is what? 00:23:29.680 --> 00:23:47.100 What James says is if you come into the family of God and you understand what happens to you, that God has asked you to give your whole life to him. 00:23:47.099 --> 00:23:55.099 The passage is going to say later on, basically, if you're a follower of Christ, you can't live your life the way you want to. 00:23:58.339 --> 00:24:01.639 If you're a follower of Christ, you cannot live the way you want to. 00:24:01.740 --> 00:24:04.139 You can't live your marriage the way you want to. 00:24:04.279 --> 00:24:06.379 You can't live your business the way you want to. 00:24:06.619 --> 00:24:08.699 You can't live your relationships the way you want to. 00:24:08.700 --> 00:24:17.480 What James is telling us and what we have to look at and we have to evaluate in our lives is that when we come to know the Lord, our lives are not His. 00:24:17.680 --> 00:24:23.559 They're first fruits that we lay down to God because He has made us born again. 00:24:24.500 --> 00:24:28.779 He has changed us and His Word abides in us. 00:24:30.240 --> 00:24:32.840 And that Word changes us. 00:24:35.840 --> 00:24:37.200 We see ourselves differently. 00:24:38.700 --> 00:24:41.940 Let me ask you a question. 00:24:44.340 --> 00:24:45.720 How do you see yourself today? 00:24:49.759 --> 00:25:01.160 I mean, how do you make choices in your world, in your marriage or in your life or in your business when you have to make choices? 00:25:01.160 --> 00:25:08.920 All the mirrors around us are going to say, do whatever you want. 00:25:11.019 --> 00:25:13.300 Do whatever feels good. 00:25:13.299 --> 00:25:17.180 Do whatever is practical. 00:25:17.180 --> 00:25:27.440 And the mirror of God's Word says, do what honors the Lord. 00:25:27.440 --> 00:25:34.580 Because your life is not your own. 00:25:34.579 --> 00:25:38.779 What do you think about the Word of God? 00:25:38.779 --> 00:25:46.899 When you come to it and you're trying to find out what you should do in your life and you're trying to make decisions, how do you handle God's Word? 00:25:46.900 --> 00:25:53.480 Do you look at it and you say, you know, I like some of it, but I really hate the rest of it. 00:25:55.580 --> 00:26:00.600 Do you look at it and say, well, I think the New Testament is pretty true, but the Old Testament is, that's fiction. 00:26:01.460 --> 00:26:02.140 It's false. 00:26:02.140 --> 00:26:10.200 Do you look at it and you say, some of it is very helpful for me, but some of it I don't understand or some of it I just don't want to deal with. 00:26:14.900 --> 00:26:21.840 Jesus said all of God's Word is inspired in itself, God. 00:26:21.839 --> 00:26:34.179 James is saying all of God's Word is instructive to teach us where we should go. 00:26:35.720 --> 00:26:36.879 What do you think about that? 00:26:41.359 --> 00:26:42.039 Is that true? 00:26:45.159 --> 00:26:46.959 I mean, God seems kind of narrow, doesn't he? 00:26:48.299 --> 00:26:51.419 I mean, there's a lot of things I want to do and it would be really fun to do those things. 00:26:51.420 --> 00:26:52.620 And he's saying, don't do that. 00:26:54.039 --> 00:26:55.640 Isn't that kind of pessimistic? 00:26:59.600 --> 00:27:03.400 I mean, he's put a lot of boundaries around my life and he's really hemmed me in. 00:27:03.460 --> 00:27:06.660 I don't really have the freedom that I want to have in business or in my relationships. 00:27:08.120 --> 00:27:11.580 I don't like those passages that talk about purity and holiness. 00:27:13.180 --> 00:27:15.240 Because sometimes I just need to do what I need to do. 00:27:18.360 --> 00:27:19.279 You ever said that? 00:27:21.420 --> 00:27:23.560 I have. 00:27:26.120 --> 00:27:28.120 Sometimes I say it more often than I want to say. 00:27:31.800 --> 00:27:32.779 Back to the lake house. 00:27:32.820 --> 00:27:35.920 We go to the lake house every summer and we want to ride the boat. 00:27:36.560 --> 00:27:38.060 Her dad, Christina's dad, has a boat. 00:27:38.360 --> 00:27:41.440 And it's very interesting because to start the boat, there's a checklist of 50 things. 00:27:42.039 --> 00:27:43.360 I mean, literally, there's 50 things. 00:27:43.359 --> 00:27:45.759 You have to check the oil. 00:27:45.899 --> 00:27:46.799 You've got to take the tarp off. 00:27:46.859 --> 00:27:47.819 You've got to oil it on the seats. 00:27:47.939 --> 00:27:49.119 You've got to check the oil pressure. 00:27:49.240 --> 00:27:50.099 You've got to put the gas in. 00:27:50.179 --> 00:27:51.179 You've got to check the fluid pressure. 00:27:51.579 --> 00:27:53.839 And you have to do like 50 things before you start that boat. 00:27:55.119 --> 00:27:58.740 And I get in there and I'm like, sometimes I just hate getting in the boat because of all the rules I've got to do. 00:27:58.740 --> 00:28:04.920 But then all of a sudden I realized the day I forgot to check the oil. 00:28:04.920 --> 00:28:08.920 And the engine starts smoking. 00:28:11.360 --> 00:28:15.420 There's a reason for that checklist. 00:28:18.519 --> 00:28:21.600 I think as God's people, sometimes we forget that. 00:28:23.640 --> 00:28:25.360 And we feel like God is archaic. 00:28:25.420 --> 00:28:26.480 He's trying to hem us in. 00:28:26.560 --> 00:28:27.580 It's not going to work out. 00:28:27.640 --> 00:28:28.880 It's not convenient for me. 00:28:28.880 --> 00:28:36.340 But there's something there he wants to teach us and to protect us and to guard us. 00:28:38.080 --> 00:28:47.540 And James is saying, if you compare yourself to the mirror of God's word, your life is going to look different. 00:28:49.280 --> 00:28:50.660 It's not yours. 00:28:51.760 --> 00:28:54.080 It's been given to the Lord as a first fruit. 00:28:54.079 --> 00:29:00.539 And so now the question we have to ask ourselves is, what does God want me to do here? 00:29:02.799 --> 00:29:05.599 How am I to honor him in this relationship? 00:29:07.119 --> 00:29:09.619 How am I to honor him in this business venture? 00:29:11.139 --> 00:29:13.679 How am I to honor him raising my children? 00:29:13.680 --> 00:29:15.299 How am I to honor him in this relationship? 00:29:15.299 --> 00:29:16.299 How am I to honor him in this relationship? 00:29:16.299 --> 00:29:20.620 The world and everything around us are going to put up a lot of mirrors. 00:29:22.120 --> 00:29:25.980 And they're going to give us images of what things look like and how we should do. 00:29:27.220 --> 00:29:29.720 But James says, no. 00:29:31.640 --> 00:29:32.580 Be careful. 00:29:34.000 --> 00:29:37.000 Because as the people of God, we're different. 00:29:39.240 --> 00:29:41.440 We see God differently. 00:29:41.440 --> 00:29:43.480 We see his word differently. 00:29:43.680 --> 00:29:46.259 We see ourselves differently. 00:29:48.380 --> 00:29:52.799 At the end of the passage, we see other people differently. 00:29:54.680 --> 00:29:56.100 We're called to go out. 00:29:56.980 --> 00:29:58.100 We're called to take care of. 00:29:58.120 --> 00:30:00.279 The word there in Greek is very interesting. 00:30:00.720 --> 00:30:04.240 It's this word that basically says to visit, but it doesn't mean to visit. 00:30:05.380 --> 00:30:07.120 It means to advocate for. 00:30:07.220 --> 00:30:08.259 It means to come alongside. 00:30:08.580 --> 00:30:09.980 It means to take care of. 00:30:09.980 --> 00:30:12.779 It means to develop a relationship with. 00:30:14.940 --> 00:30:17.099 And James really clearly says this. 00:30:18.539 --> 00:30:25.440 If you say you're in the family of God, then these are the things that are important to the family of God. 00:30:25.440 --> 00:30:29.059 And these are the things that I want you to do. 00:30:30.400 --> 00:30:31.460 Visit widows. 00:30:32.880 --> 00:30:34.059 Care for orphans. 00:30:35.720 --> 00:30:40.620 Take care of people who cannot take care of themselves. 00:30:40.619 --> 00:30:41.619 The history of the church. 00:30:41.619 --> 00:30:43.539 The history of the church. 00:30:43.879 --> 00:30:45.059 That's why the church grew. 00:30:45.199 --> 00:30:46.579 It's why it took over the Roman Empire. 00:30:47.119 --> 00:30:50.679 The Christians were always out there doing those things. 00:30:52.019 --> 00:30:54.299 While the rest of the world was looking at a mirror. 00:30:56.199 --> 00:30:58.159 It just reflected their image. 00:30:58.160 --> 00:31:01.820 How are we doing? 00:31:03.620 --> 00:31:04.700 I'm going to end here. 00:31:05.560 --> 00:31:07.440 But I want to share one final thought. 00:31:08.240 --> 00:31:08.840 Bear with me. 00:31:10.279 --> 00:31:11.820 When I come to the scriptures, 00:31:13.200 --> 00:31:18.000 sometimes it overwhelms me. 00:31:20.500 --> 00:31:22.560 When I come to God's word, 00:31:24.060 --> 00:31:25.840 sometimes it crushes me. 00:31:25.839 --> 00:31:30.199 Because I walk away thinking, 00:31:30.379 --> 00:31:31.079 I got to do this. 00:31:31.139 --> 00:31:31.740 I got to do this. 00:31:31.779 --> 00:31:32.319 I got to be this. 00:31:32.379 --> 00:31:33.039 I got to do these things. 00:31:33.399 --> 00:31:35.000 Okay, Tobin just gave me a list of other things I got to do. 00:31:35.039 --> 00:31:35.439 I got to do this. 00:31:35.480 --> 00:31:36.039 I got to be kind. 00:31:36.099 --> 00:31:36.679 I got to be gentle. 00:31:36.799 --> 00:31:38.119 I got to change my words. 00:31:38.159 --> 00:31:39.319 I got to take off my dirty clothes. 00:31:39.419 --> 00:31:42.000 I got to watch Snow White. 00:31:42.079 --> 00:31:43.000 I got to do all these things. 00:31:43.359 --> 00:31:43.980 What am I going to do? 00:31:44.139 --> 00:31:45.240 There's too many things to do. 00:31:45.699 --> 00:31:47.079 And it's really interesting 00:31:47.079 --> 00:31:49.740 because the final thought that I want to give you 00:31:49.740 --> 00:31:51.259 is found in verse 25. 00:31:53.759 --> 00:31:54.879 James says this. 00:31:55.839 --> 00:31:57.039 As I blow my nose. 00:32:00.039 --> 00:32:01.779 But the one who looks intently, 00:32:03.059 --> 00:32:07.019 that word in Greek is only used twice. 00:32:08.199 --> 00:32:11.619 It's the same word that was used when Peter came to the tomb. 00:32:12.379 --> 00:32:14.539 And he looked into it and Jesus wasn't there. 00:32:15.699 --> 00:32:17.500 It's not just to look or to glance, 00:32:17.500 --> 00:32:20.579 but it's to ponder, to think about, 00:32:20.779 --> 00:32:22.859 to consider, to wonder, 00:32:23.119 --> 00:32:24.159 what does this mean? 00:32:24.160 --> 00:32:27.980 What does it mean that he's risen from the grave? 00:32:28.259 --> 00:32:32.040 What does it mean that God's word is all these things? 00:32:34.380 --> 00:32:36.360 But the one who looks intently at the perfect law, 00:32:36.420 --> 00:32:37.140 the law of liberty, 00:32:37.740 --> 00:32:38.880 and abides by it, 00:32:38.900 --> 00:32:39.519 that he holds it, 00:32:39.560 --> 00:32:40.400 he does it perfectly, 00:32:40.960 --> 00:32:42.860 not having become a forgetful hearer, 00:32:42.900 --> 00:32:43.880 but an effectual, 00:32:44.420 --> 00:32:45.700 the word in Greek actually is, 00:32:45.840 --> 00:32:46.779 he's perfect. 00:32:46.779 --> 00:32:49.819 He hears everything. 00:32:50.440 --> 00:32:52.240 He obeys everything. 00:32:53.039 --> 00:32:55.559 This man will be blessed in what he does. 00:32:55.559 --> 00:33:02.559 When I come to God's word, 00:33:02.879 --> 00:33:04.679 the thing I'm always reminded of 00:33:04.679 --> 00:33:07.039 is where's Jesus? 00:33:10.019 --> 00:33:10.980 Where's Jesus? 00:33:13.799 --> 00:33:14.679 The one, 00:33:15.059 --> 00:33:16.879 it's a very special phrase, 00:33:17.819 --> 00:33:19.879 it's not talking about you and me. 00:33:19.880 --> 00:33:23.400 It's talking about Christ. 00:33:25.720 --> 00:33:27.500 The only way that we can be 00:33:27.500 --> 00:33:30.140 the type of people that God has called us to be 00:33:30.140 --> 00:33:32.500 is if we understand 00:33:32.500 --> 00:33:35.160 that we have the one, 00:33:36.580 --> 00:33:36.980 Jesus, 00:33:38.080 --> 00:33:39.720 who's lived the perfect life. 00:33:41.920 --> 00:33:43.540 He's done everything righteously. 00:33:43.700 --> 00:33:44.400 He's obeyed. 00:33:44.460 --> 00:33:44.980 He's heard. 00:33:45.240 --> 00:33:46.140 He's done it all. 00:33:47.480 --> 00:33:48.200 He's done everything. 00:33:48.200 --> 00:33:49.340 He never sinned. 00:33:49.580 --> 00:33:50.180 He came here. 00:33:50.259 --> 00:33:51.420 He did everything perfectly. 00:33:51.740 --> 00:33:52.819 He's the one 00:33:52.819 --> 00:33:57.539 who holds it perfectly and righteously. 00:33:59.319 --> 00:34:00.799 And Romans says that he came 00:34:00.799 --> 00:34:01.940 and he did all those things 00:34:01.940 --> 00:34:03.500 and that he became a sacrifice 00:34:03.500 --> 00:34:05.680 for you and me 00:34:05.680 --> 00:34:12.559 so that we might receive his blessing 00:34:12.559 --> 00:34:15.760 in the inheritance. 00:34:15.760 --> 00:34:18.620 If you come to God's word 00:34:18.620 --> 00:34:19.720 and you walk away 00:34:19.720 --> 00:34:21.680 with a list of do's and don'ts, 00:34:21.800 --> 00:34:22.720 it will kill you. 00:34:24.520 --> 00:34:25.880 And after about three months 00:34:25.880 --> 00:34:26.560 or six months 00:34:26.560 --> 00:34:27.120 or a year 00:34:27.120 --> 00:34:27.880 or five years, 00:34:28.020 --> 00:34:29.220 you're going to be so frustrated 00:34:29.220 --> 00:34:29.940 you're going to give up 00:34:29.940 --> 00:34:30.960 because you cannot do it. 00:34:31.440 --> 00:34:32.260 It's impossible. 00:34:34.900 --> 00:34:35.340 Impossible. 00:34:37.460 --> 00:34:38.700 And what James is saying is 00:34:38.700 --> 00:34:39.200 you're right. 00:34:40.200 --> 00:34:41.880 You cannot do these things. 00:34:41.880 --> 00:34:44.079 But you have a Savior 00:34:44.079 --> 00:34:45.340 who did them. 00:34:47.400 --> 00:34:48.619 He did them all perfectly. 00:34:50.579 --> 00:34:51.539 And the question is 00:34:51.539 --> 00:34:52.880 are we going to accept that? 00:34:54.660 --> 00:34:56.260 Are we going to accept his sacrifice? 00:34:57.740 --> 00:34:58.960 Are we going to accept his blood 00:34:58.960 --> 00:34:59.980 poured out for us? 00:35:00.980 --> 00:35:02.019 Are we going to accept the image 00:35:02.019 --> 00:35:03.039 that he reflects in the mirror 00:35:03.039 --> 00:35:03.840 so that when God looks 00:35:03.840 --> 00:35:04.700 at the mirror of our life, 00:35:04.740 --> 00:35:05.400 he doesn't see us 00:35:05.400 --> 00:35:06.180 but he sees Jesus? 00:35:06.179 --> 00:35:08.759 Or are we going to try 00:35:08.759 --> 00:35:09.899 to produce our own mirror 00:35:09.899 --> 00:35:10.980 and own image? 00:35:13.299 --> 00:35:14.099 And James says 00:35:14.099 --> 00:35:15.279 the only way this works, 00:35:15.379 --> 00:35:16.199 the only way we can be 00:35:16.199 --> 00:35:16.919 the people of God, 00:35:16.980 --> 00:35:18.219 the only way that we can walk with him, 00:35:18.279 --> 00:35:19.079 the only way that we can allow 00:35:19.079 --> 00:35:19.879 that kernel to grow, 00:35:20.199 --> 00:35:21.399 the only way that can be nice to people, 00:35:21.480 --> 00:35:22.279 the only way that we can control 00:35:22.279 --> 00:35:22.679 our speech, 00:35:22.980 --> 00:35:24.139 the only way that we can guard our heart. 00:35:24.440 --> 00:35:25.440 I mean we have to do these things 00:35:25.440 --> 00:35:26.399 but before we do these things, 00:35:26.480 --> 00:35:27.199 before we make a choice, 00:35:27.279 --> 00:35:28.199 before we trust in them, 00:35:28.440 --> 00:35:29.599 we have to know the one 00:35:29.599 --> 00:35:30.819 who did it already. 00:35:30.820 --> 00:35:36.500 who took the place for us. 00:35:39.880 --> 00:35:42.120 And as we take his sacrifice, 00:35:43.760 --> 00:35:44.900 the passage says 00:35:44.900 --> 00:35:45.640 that we're given freedom. 00:35:47.640 --> 00:35:49.580 And now I walk with the Lord, 00:35:49.840 --> 00:35:51.440 I talk in a way that honors him, 00:35:51.680 --> 00:35:53.400 not to earn my salvation, 00:35:53.860 --> 00:35:55.039 not to earn kudos, 00:35:55.300 --> 00:35:56.960 not to help that he'll think, 00:35:57.059 --> 00:35:57.900 oh you owe me for this, 00:35:58.080 --> 00:35:59.320 but I walk with the Lord, 00:35:59.420 --> 00:36:00.400 I do these things, 00:36:00.400 --> 00:36:02.160 often very imperfectly, 00:36:02.200 --> 00:36:03.660 he's continually changing me 00:36:03.660 --> 00:36:04.940 as that seed grows, 00:36:05.960 --> 00:36:07.900 but I do it as an act of worship 00:36:07.900 --> 00:36:12.160 because he's already given me salvation. 00:36:14.700 --> 00:36:16.180 He's already given me the gospel. 00:36:18.280 --> 00:36:19.720 He's already given me eternity. 00:36:22.320 --> 00:36:25.320 Those things allow us to walk with him. 00:36:27.380 --> 00:36:28.099 How are we doing? 00:36:30.400 --> 00:36:33.700 What mirror are you putting up 00:36:33.700 --> 00:36:35.240 to your life today? 00:36:37.240 --> 00:36:39.440 My prayer is that it would be just one mirror, 00:36:40.639 --> 00:36:42.460 the mirror of God's word, 00:36:42.559 --> 00:36:44.079 and no matter how hard that is, 00:36:44.980 --> 00:36:46.539 realize that you have a Savior 00:36:46.539 --> 00:36:47.940 who completed it all. 00:36:49.700 --> 00:36:50.920 All we're called to do now 00:36:50.920 --> 00:36:52.000 is to trust him, 00:36:52.960 --> 00:36:55.300 to surrender our lives to him, 00:36:55.300 --> 00:36:58.440 and allow him to live through us. 00:36:59.860 --> 00:37:00.500 Let's pray. 00:37:01.140 --> 00:37:02.720 Father, we just thank you for this day. 00:37:02.840 --> 00:37:04.880 We thank you for James that comes in 00:37:04.880 --> 00:37:07.680 and is so, so hard. 00:37:08.840 --> 00:37:10.720 We thank you for James that comes in 00:37:10.720 --> 00:37:12.600 and he's trying to shepherd this church 00:37:12.600 --> 00:37:15.400 that's falling apart in Jerusalem, 00:37:15.720 --> 00:37:16.660 that people are fighting, 00:37:16.800 --> 00:37:17.660 that people are arguing, 00:37:17.760 --> 00:37:18.960 that people are being selfish, 00:37:19.460 --> 00:37:22.120 that people are having bad business deals. 00:37:22.119 --> 00:37:27.039 And he doesn't address every one of those. 00:37:27.139 --> 00:37:27.859 He just says, 00:37:29.359 --> 00:37:30.279 guys, 00:37:30.779 --> 00:37:33.539 if you say your followers are Christ, 00:37:34.859 --> 00:37:36.859 why aren't you acting like it? 00:37:36.860 --> 00:37:42.200 I know there's some people in here 00:37:42.200 --> 00:37:45.300 who have no idea what I'm talking about. 00:37:46.440 --> 00:37:47.780 And they come to word, 00:37:47.900 --> 00:37:48.880 the word of God, 00:37:48.960 --> 00:37:50.760 and it's just like reading The Hobbit still. 00:37:52.000 --> 00:37:53.599 And we're so glad you're here 00:37:53.599 --> 00:37:56.840 because many of us were just in that same place 00:37:56.840 --> 00:37:57.860 not too long ago. 00:37:59.460 --> 00:38:01.240 My prayer for you is that you would 00:38:01.239 --> 00:38:05.719 just say a quick, simple thought 00:38:05.719 --> 00:38:07.259 to the God, the Lord. 00:38:08.679 --> 00:38:09.599 You would just say, 00:38:09.699 --> 00:38:12.159 Lord, if you are real and if you are true, 00:38:13.539 --> 00:38:14.699 would you show me yourself? 00:38:16.899 --> 00:38:18.659 Would you show me your realness? 00:38:21.000 --> 00:38:21.979 Then I would encourage you 00:38:21.979 --> 00:38:24.079 just to talk to the people who brought you 00:38:24.079 --> 00:38:24.799 and ask them, 00:38:24.879 --> 00:38:25.739 what does it mean for them 00:38:25.739 --> 00:38:28.039 to be born again 00:38:28.039 --> 00:38:29.739 and to have Christ in them? 00:38:32.039 --> 00:38:33.559 And Lord, for the rest of us, 00:38:35.480 --> 00:38:37.179 Father, I just ask your forgiveness 00:38:37.179 --> 00:38:38.360 for myself. 00:38:40.119 --> 00:38:41.460 So often as a pastor, 00:38:41.559 --> 00:38:43.360 I look into the mirrors of other things. 00:38:43.460 --> 00:38:45.259 The world says these are important. 00:38:47.059 --> 00:38:47.840 And in doing that, 00:38:47.920 --> 00:38:49.840 I miss the most essential 00:38:49.840 --> 00:38:51.539 of what it means to walk with you, 00:38:53.639 --> 00:38:54.960 to love justice 00:38:54.960 --> 00:38:56.059 and to do kindness. 00:38:58.039 --> 00:38:59.400 To search out for orphans 00:38:59.400 --> 00:38:59.920 and widows 00:38:59.920 --> 00:39:01.219 and those who can't take care 00:39:01.219 --> 00:39:02.000 of themselves. 00:39:04.279 --> 00:39:06.820 To keep oneself unstained 00:39:06.820 --> 00:39:07.860 by the world. 00:39:09.699 --> 00:39:10.900 And Lord, I just confess 00:39:10.900 --> 00:39:12.599 that I have a lot of stains 00:39:12.599 --> 00:39:13.519 on myself. 00:39:15.940 --> 00:39:17.219 So Lord, we come before you 00:39:17.219 --> 00:39:18.679 and we just ask you to heal us 00:39:18.679 --> 00:39:19.500 and to change us 00:39:19.500 --> 00:39:20.639 and to wash us. 00:39:23.159 --> 00:39:24.739 Help us to look at your mirror, 00:39:24.860 --> 00:39:25.320 your word. 00:39:25.420 --> 00:39:27.000 Help us to read it today. 00:39:28.039 --> 00:39:28.800 For many of us, 00:39:28.840 --> 00:39:30.420 we just need to start reading it 00:39:30.420 --> 00:39:31.960 for five minutes a day 00:39:31.960 --> 00:39:34.539 and your promise is that kernel 00:39:34.539 --> 00:39:35.519 that's in our life 00:39:35.519 --> 00:39:37.079 will grow and change 00:39:37.079 --> 00:39:38.019 and will be different. 00:39:39.300 --> 00:39:40.519 Not because of our efforts, 00:39:40.659 --> 00:39:41.699 but because of your son. 00:39:43.599 --> 00:39:45.139 So Lord, we pray as a church 00:39:45.139 --> 00:39:46.460 that we would be a church 00:39:46.460 --> 00:39:48.300 that loves you, 00:39:48.519 --> 00:39:50.019 that we find your son 00:39:50.019 --> 00:39:51.019 in every verse 00:39:51.019 --> 00:39:52.559 and we realize 00:39:52.559 --> 00:39:53.579 that if we don't do that, 00:39:53.659 --> 00:39:54.300 we're lost 00:39:54.300 --> 00:39:56.860 because we just become people 00:39:56.860 --> 00:39:57.980 who try to work harder 00:39:57.980 --> 00:39:58.800 to do more 00:39:58.800 --> 00:40:00.800 to make you happy. 00:40:03.360 --> 00:40:04.679 And that's never going to work. 00:40:06.239 --> 00:40:06.880 The only thing 00:40:06.880 --> 00:40:07.619 that can make you happy 00:40:07.619 --> 00:40:08.400 is your son Jesus. 00:40:09.980 --> 00:40:11.420 So Lord, help us to find him 00:40:11.420 --> 00:40:12.280 in our lives today. 00:40:13.719 --> 00:40:14.800 We need you desperately. 00:40:15.880 --> 00:40:16.500 We pray these things 00:40:16.500 --> 00:40:17.519 in your son Jesus' name. 00:40:17.519 --> 00:40:18.679 Amen.