In our study, I'm going to reference some charts.
If you have a bulletin already in your hands, you'll see these already and probably have already thought, what in the world are these?
If you don't have one in your hand right now, I think you'll be benefited by having one in your hand.
This will not magically appear on the screen over my left shoulder.
So if you don't have a bulletin and you'd like one, Adam's got a stack of them in the back and he'd be glad to put one in your hand right now.
If you'll raise your hand, he will run around the room and make this happen.
Here's some hands.
Okay, very good, Adam.
Keep him high for him so he can see him.
Don't do a little half elbow hand.
Do a full hand.
Let him get around the room and get him to you.
I believe these will be helpful to you.
I'll do my best to talk about them in such a way that you may not need them, but just in case.
As those are coming around, let me remind you, in last week's text, we were exhorted by James to be quick to hear in verse 19.
And I made the specific case to you that James is telling us to be quick to hear God's word.
There's a broader application to this idea of being quick to hear and slow to speak and slow to anger.
But specifically, he's talking about being quick to hear God's word as he goes on in verse 20 to exhort us to receive with meekness the implanted word.
Two weeks ago, in celebration of Reformation Day, we considered 2 Peter 1, verse 16 through chapter 2 and verse 3,
and the need for us always to be reforming by God's word.
To come back to it again and again and again.
Hold up our lives and the function of our church, the light of God's word.
Peter writes in verse 19 of 2 Peter chapter 1,
And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.
So, we will do well to hear God's word and to be transformed by God's word has been the theme that's been kind of picked up over the last couple of weeks.
And today's text continues this line of reasoning.
So, before I read James chapter 1, beginning in verse 22 and following,
I remind you, beloved, that this is God's word to us.
It has bearing on us today, sitting in this room.
It was written for his glory and for our good.
And so, we would all do well to listen to it in order to believe its promises and to obey its commands.
James chapter 1, beginning in verse 22.
But be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror.
For he looks at himself and goes away at once, forgets what he was like.
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.
There are times when we come to a text in God's word and I want to read it and I just want to go, okay, let me read it one more time for you and we'll be done.
And initially, this is kind of the impulse for me of a text like this, right?
Don't just be a hearer, be a doer.
Everybody got it?
And to walk away from it.
But there's a lot to consider and I think there's especially a lot to consider in our age about what a text like this means for the church.
So we are going to study it.
We're going to keep it open and we're going to continue to look at it over the next half hour or so.
James here in this text juxtaposes two types of people.
And notice that they are both hearers of the word.
So they're within the category of those who are hearing the word.
But only one is obedient to the word.
Let's consider this text with a very simple outline.
Number one, the way of the deceived.
And number two, the way of the blessed.
The way of the deceived and the way of the blessed.
So first, the way of the deceived.
James desires that his hearers not be deceived.
And he's giving them instruction to that very end.
So you have to notice just off the cuff that it is possible to be a hearer of the word and to be deceived.
I think he's even suggesting that you can be quick to hear and slow to speak and slow to anger.
That you can sit under the instruction of the word and take the word in and yet be deceived.
Out of great love and out of great care for you, for your soul.
Let me say to you, my friends, it is altogether possible to believe that you are in the faith.
That you have placed your trust in the personal work of Jesus Christ.
But to be deceived.
And we say these kinds of things a lot in the life of our church.
Because we live in an age where it seems that many people are, in fact, deceived.
But I want you to know that we don't do this because we want to cause doubt in your heart.
We want you to have the assurance of your salvation.
We want you to stand confident in Christ.
We don't want you to come here every week and walk away going, I just don't know.
But we want you to know.
And often the warning is not issued.
And so we want to clearly, with great clarity, issue the warning.
It's possible to think you're in the faith and not be in the faith.
We live in an age of cheap grace.
I want to define that term for you.
And I'm going to do it with the one who coined the term.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who was an early 20th century pastor.
You need to learn about him.
He's a wonderful study in history.
And he defines this term cheap grace as opposed to costly grace in his book, The Cost of Discipleship.
So listen to this paragraph from that book.
Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance.
Baptism without church discipline.
Communion without confession.
Absolution without personal confession.
Cheap grace is grace without discipleship.
Grace without the cross.
Grace without Jesus Christ living and incarnate.
Costly grace is the treasure hidden in the field.
For the sake of it, a man will go and sell all that he has.
It is the pearl of great price to buy, which the merchant will sell all his goods.
It is the kingly rule of Christ.
For whose sake a man will pluck out the eyes, which causes him to stumble.
It is the call of Jesus Christ at which the disciple leaves his nets and follows him.
To follow Christ is costly.
It requires all of us.
Last week, I rushed through a reading of the parable of the sower from Mark chapter 4.
Toward the end of the sermon.
I want to put this toward the beginning of our time together today.
And so, if you will, turn with me.
Keep James chapter 1, Mark.
We're coming right back to it.
But turn with me to Mark chapter 4.
And let's take another slightly less hurried look at this text.
Mark chapter 4, verses 3 through 9.
Now, as I read this, I will add comments.
But these comments are Jesus' explanation following his telling of this parable.
This is one of those rare parables where he tells us exactly what it means.
And he says this beginning in verse 3 of Mark 4.
Listen.
There's a call right away to be quick to hear.
Listen.
Behold, a sower went out to sow.
And we're told later that the sower is one who's sowing the word.
Who's making a broad gospel call.
Sowing the word.
And as he sowed, some seed fell along the path.
And the birds came and devoured it.
So it's seed that never takes root at all.
Satan comes along and snatches it away.
Satan is the father of lies.
So some other lies come in and take the seed of the truth away.
Verse 5.
Other seed fell on rocky ground where it did not have much soil.
And immediately it sprang up since it had no depth of soil.
So there's some apparent growth from this.
But then verse 6 says,
And when the sun rose, it was scorched.
And since it had no root, it withered away.
We're told that the sun is tribulation or trouble and persecution.
So trial comes into the life of this soil.
And it withers.
And it doesn't come back.
Right?
There's no progress.
Verse 7.
Other seed fell among thorns.
And the thorns grew up and choked it.
And it yielded no grain.
And Jesus tells us later that these thorns are the cares and the riches of the world.
And lastly, other seed fell into good soil and produced grain,
growing up and increasing and yielding 30-fold and 60-fold and 100-fold.
And this is the fruit of righteousness.
Right?
People who are producing good works.
And he concludes the parable in verse 9 by saying,
And he who has ears to hear, let him hear.
Be quick to hear.
Understand that it is possible to receive the word and to not bear fruit.
James here in our text, you can go back to James 1,
uses a bit of a parable in warning us not to deceive ourselves.
That's what he's doing in verse 23 and verse 24.
If you're a hearer of the word and not a doer,
if you're not obedient to the word that you hear,
then you're like a man who looks intently at your natural face in a mirror.
You look at your face.
You see your face.
And what does he say happens?
He looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like.
It doesn't bear any work in your life at all.
Look in the mirror and you forget what you look like.
If we are saved by Christ, right,
we have been made fundamentally new.
We no longer have hearts that are bent toward the world,
toward sinfulness,
towards rebellion against God.
We now have hearts that are bent toward obedience,
toward being his children.
And our lives will, in varying degree,
look different or fundamentally changed.
In the discipline of my children,
I say to them all the time,
you're my kids, right?
And I love you.
And my children want to obey.
My children want to listen to their loving father, right?
They want to be identified with their father and his ways.
And of course, I don't do this perfectly.
But when my children disobey,
I don't reject them as my children.
I don't put them out on the curb with a free child sign around their neck.
But I say to them again,
you're my child.
And my children want to listen to the loving instruction of their father.
Imperfect, but loving instruction.
And beloved, we have a heavenly father
whose instruction is always perfect.
It is never with fail.
It always is the right instruction for us.
And therefore, as his children,
we ought to want to obey.
We'll do it imperfectly,
but we ought to desire
to turn away from the things of this world
and to turn toward God.
If we have been delivered from our bondage to sin,
we will be moved progressively
to look more and more like our Savior
from day to day.
A quotation on your bulletin by Thomas Brooks.
He says,
There is no fear of knowing too much of the Bible.
Right?
Oh, no, the Bible.
Right?
It is a rich, rich book
for our good and for the glory of God.
There is no fear of knowing too much of the Bible, he says,
but there is a great amount of fear
that goes into practicing too little.
Now, I think at this point,
it may be helpful to make careful distinctions
about how we are saved
and how we are kept to the end.
There's always a fear
in talking about sanctification,
which is what we're going to be discussing at length,
of making people believe
that they are saved by their works.
No, you are not saved by your works.
I want to be very clear about that.
No, no, no.
We are saved by the works of another,
the Lord Jesus Christ.
His perfect work,
his sacrificial death.
We cannot be saved by our works.
So you've got to write that big
at the top of your page.
If that's going to be confusing to you
at any point
in the rest of what I'm going to say today,
we cannot be saved by our works.
But our works will give evidence
of our salvation.
Now, to work this out for you a bit,
I'm going to give to you
what is called the ordo salutis
or order of salvation.
We are first elected
before the foundation of the world.
God has chosen people for his glory.
Second, for our benefit,
an atonement was made.
Jesus Christ died in our place,
paid the penalty for our sin.
Third, there's a general gospel call made.
Anybody sitting in this room
who is a Christian heard the gospel,
whether it was proclaimed,
word, or picked up and read
in a track form,
in the scripture itself,
some way the gospel of Jesus Christ
was shared with you.
There was a gospel call made.
And the spirit of Christ
took that gospel call
and made an inward call.
It's step four.
An inward gospel call was made.
And he made your heart new
in the act of regeneration, right?
Caused your heart to be changed
so that, in step six,
you could believe
in the gospel of Jesus Christ.
You could repent
and place faith in your conversion
in this gospel call.
And at that moment,
step seven,
you were declared by God justified,
declared righteous.
In Christ,
all of your sins forgiven,
all of his righteousness
given to you,
you were justified in him.
Step eight in the Ordo Salutis,
you are sanctified.
And we find in the scripture
three different tenses
for this word.
So I want to be clear about this, right?
There's both a past,
present,
and future use of this word
because to be sanctified
to mean to be declared
holy or set apart.
So there's a past tense to this,
like when you are justified,
you are also sanctified.
You are set apart.
Set apart for God.
But there's also a present reality to that.
We are being set apart.
We are growing in our holiness
in the way in which we represent God.
And this is the most common usage
of this term.
Typically,
when you hear it spoken,
right,
from a stage,
from a pulpit,
we talk about sanctification.
This is what we're talking about,
right?
The life in which we now live.
Having been justified,
we are being sanctified.
And then from time to time,
it'll also be used in a future tense.
We'll be fully and finally set apart one day.
And for that,
we typically use the term glorification,
which is the last step in that, right?
When our body of flesh
will be put off fully,
we'll be delivered completely from sin
when we're in the presence of our Savior.
So election,
atonement,
a general gospel call,
an inward gospel call,
work by the Spirit,
regeneration,
conversion,
which happens with repentance and faith,
justification,
sanctification,
glorification,
right?
So again,
hear me,
we are not saved by our works.
But as a proof that we have been saved
by grace alone,
through faith alone,
in the personal work of Jesus Christ alone,
we will make this evident
by the power of the Spirit,
through progressive sanctification.
There is much well-meaning confusion
about the nature of sanctification,
which is why I want to bring clarity
to the issue, right?
By showing you the five prominent views,
some more prominent than others.
And this is the back of your bulletin.
This is why I think you'll benefit
from having this in your hands.
Please don't see this as a distraction
to the text today, right?
I'm trying to explain to you
why James picks this up,
why he says it's important
that we be doers of the word
and not just hearers, right?
This is all an explanation
of how it is
that we can deceive ourselves.
So first, and quickly,
and I want to say,
I didn't create any of these images.
I don't want to be a plagiarist here.
So if you want to know
where I got these things from,
I'll be happy to send them to you.
I'll send you the article
that they're found in,
explains these things more and more.
So first, the Wesleyan view,
sanctification,
taught originally by John Wesley.
Note, in every one of these diagrams,
the cross is the point of salvation.
That's what it's communicating.
So you'll see first work of grace
in this first one.
Saved by grace, Wesley would have said,
but non-sanctified at this point.
And at some point in the life of a Christian,
there's some crisis of faith
and a second working of grace.
This is what he argued.
And at this point in the Christian's life,
they experience entire sanctification,
or he also called it Christian perfection.
He didn't mean that we were made entirely like Christ,
but that we would put off all known sin.
Still capable of sinning,
but we would put off all known sin.
And in this chart,
the little dotted arrows pointing up and down
means that Wesley would argue
that you could step out of this state of perfection
and then back into this state of perfection.
But it wasn't so much a progress being made,
but an either or.
You're stepping in,
you're stepping out of this position.
Out of this,
I'd suggest to you,
some very unhealthy views of sanctification have come.
I don't know that Wesley would have supported,
but perhaps some who hold this view of sanctification
claim that they haven't sinned in years.
You hear that claim being made.
And I hope that you go,
what?
I've probably sinned,
not known,
in the moment that you've seen me standing on this stage,
that some way my inclinations or my motives
have been wrong in what I've done.
But Wesley brought it down to this very narrow,
known sin category.
And even then,
I would say,
how could you claim
if you're not paying attention,
if you think in years you haven't sinned?
Now,
out of this Wesleyan view,
the Wesleyan view collided with Pentecostalism,
and some other views came about.
I made these small to fit them on the page,
but also because they're kind of subcategories
of this same view of sanctification.
So you have the Keswick view,
which is a region in England.
That's where the name comes from,
the Keswick view.
And in this,
you may have heard this phrase before,
let go and let God.
The key to this view is trusting,
not trying.
In the same way,
you're saved,
but here you're not spirit-filled.
They would call you a defeated Christian.
And I don't know about you,
but when I was converted,
I was in no way defeated.
Christ declared me victorious in him.
They make the distinction
between the carnal person
and the spiritual person.
Again,
another crisis of faith
where a person stops trying so hard
and just lets go
and has God work in them.
Perfection.
Another spirit-filled,
victorious Christian life.
The congregational holiness movement
came out of this.
We have a congregational holiness
congregation that meets
just down the road here.
Free Chapel,
if you're familiar with,
is a congregational holiness church.
I don't know how both of these congregations,
if they hold this view strictly or not,
but this is
the view that birthed
those kinds of movements.
Also,
the Pentecostal view,
right?
You're saved.
This is the first work of grace,
but you're a defeated Christian
at that time
until
you're
filled with the spirit.
You get the spirit baptism,
right?
Many Pentecostals will argue
that's the first time
you receive
the spirit,
that you're evidenced
in
various outward signs
like speaking in tongues
and you live this
victorious Christian life
at that second work
of grace
in your life.
Now,
some of us may encounter people
who are believing these
and may not even know,
right?
Probably few people
would say to you,
oh,
I hold the Keswick view
of sanctification,
but you might see it work in,
maybe even in your own thinking,
the way you ought to live.
I've been saved
by the grace of God.
I ought to live more perfectly
than I'm currently living.
You might have some of this work
inside of your
thought process.
The one I'm more concerned about
tends to be held
more regularly
is the Chaferian view
of sanctification.
This view
comes out of,
there's three prominent
theologians
that have espoused this view.
The primary one
is Lewis Sperry Chafer.
That's the Chaferian view.
And they all
come out of
Dallas Theological Seminary.
Now,
this is a prominent view
in American evangelicalism.
I grew up
in churches
under this view
of sanctification.
We get phrases like
backslidden
and the idea
of rededication
from this view
of sanctification.
You may be
more familiar with it
than you
realize.
This view
divides up
mankind
into three different categories.
First,
the natural
or unconverted
man.
second,
the carnal,
which is the converted
but not spirit-filled
man.
Again,
the term defeated
is often
used in this case.
This is a person
that accepts
Christ
as Savior.
This view
would argue
that you can make
a profession
of faith in Christ
most typically
during an invitation.
So you've walked
an aisle,
you've signed
a card,
and they want
to give you assurance
at that moment.
So you've accepted
Christ as your Savior,
but
you've not
accepted Him
as your Lord.
They draw a distinction
between the two.
You can have Jesus
as Savior
and not as Lord,
but there will be
some crisis of faith
in your life
where you really
dedicate yourself
to this.
And at that point,
they would call you
spirit-filled,
at which point
you begin this process
of bit by bit
by bit growing
in holiness.
A little more tomorrow
than the day
before.
Now,
perhaps I need
a doctorate
to understand
the arguments
of the Chaferian view.
And perhaps
that doctorate
would have to come
from Dallas
Theological Seminary.
But I want to suggest
that if I am
quick to hear
and slow to speak,
that the Bible
makes it plain
that we are to have,
if we're going to have
Jesus as our Savior,
then He must
also be our Lord.
I love the doctrine
of the perspicuity
of Scripture,
the clarity
of the Bible.
So let me just read
to you a couple of texts.
Jesus said
in John chapter 14
and verse 15,
this Jesus
that we're talking about,
He said,
if you love Me,
you will keep
My commandments.
How do we have
Jesus as Savior?
Certainly we love
Him as Savior.
He saved my soul
and suggests
that we don't
then have to keep
His commandments.
If we love Christ,
we love His commandments.
He must be our Savior
and our Lord.
God bless you
The Apostle Peter
wrote in 2 Peter chapter 1
and verse 10,
Therefore,
brothers,
be all the more diligent
to confirm your calling
and election.
And this is on the tail
of a bunch of qualities
that should be exhibited
in the life of a Christian.
For if you practice
these qualities,
you will never fall.
James,
the brother of Jesus,
wrote further
in this letter
that we're studying
in James chapter 2
and verse 14,
What good is it,
my brothers,
if someone says
he has faith
but does not have works?
Seems very clear to me.
As if he's saying,
What good is it,
my brothers,
if someone says
he has Jesus as Savior
but not as Lord?
Can that faith
save him?
James asks
and he'll go on
to argue
that it can't.
James chapter 2
and verse 20,
Do you want to be shown,
you foolish person,
that faith,
apart from works,
is useless?
The Apostle John
wrote in 1 John chapter 2
verse 15
and following,
Do not love the world
or the things in the world.
If anyone loves the world,
the love of the Father
is not
in him.
For all there's in the world
the desires of the flesh
and the desires of the eyes
and pride of life
is not from the Father
but is from
the world.
And in 1 John chapter 5
in verse 3,
John writes,
This is the love of God
that we keep
his commandments
and his commandments
are not
burdensome.
Many years ago
in the life
of this church
I had a young man
who was a
college student
at the time
walk up to me
and said,
My father is furious
with you.
This is not a thing
you want to hear
a college student
say,
although it's not
the only time
I've heard it.
I said,
Really?
Why?
And he said,
You're a heretic
because you believe
in lordship salvation.
And I had no concept.
I was like,
I don't know
what that even means.
And so I said to him,
Well,
I'm going to go look
into that.
If I've erred in any way
I certainly want to be
made aware of it.
I don't want to teach
a heresy
in the church.
So I went to my computer
that afternoon
and I typed in
lordship salvation
and very quickly
within a few moments
went,
Oh,
Oh yeah,
I totally believe
this to be the case.
If we're to have
Jesus as our savior,
he must be our Lord.
He's going to work in us
not with perfection.
Don't hear me say that.
I'm not saying I'm perfect.
That's not what I'm saying.
But if Jesus is my savior,
I will desire
to grow in holiness.
I want to honor him.
I want to listen
to his good commands.
So the next Lord's day,
I went to this young man
and I said,
Yep,
I would suggest to you
that I am not a heretic,
but that is what I believe
to be true.
And I turned to first John
chapter five in verse three.
This is the love of God
that we keep his commandments
and his commandments
are not burdensome.
And I'm very grateful
that this young guy
searched out the scripture
and stayed with our church
until he moved away
and he is our accountant
for our church
to this day.
Right?
So if Jesus is our Lord,
we will be pursuing holiness.
Right?
We will find this miraculous work
in us
that we'll want to turn away
from the things of the world
and turn toward
the things of God.
But we don't do this
immediately.
We don't do this
with perfection.
John also wrote
in first John chapter one
and verse eight,
if we say we have no sin,
we deceive ourselves
and the truth
is not in us.
Right?
So James warns us
that we ought to be very careful
not to deceive ourselves.
Right?
That we ought to be doers
of this word.
We ought to love
the commands of God
and want to follow God.
John also says,
but don't be deceived
and think that you
don't have
sin.
So we must be careful.
Do not be deceived.
We're going to be told
verse 25
that we're to persevere.
We're to continue
to follow.
That it's going to take
effort on our part.
And we do not do this alone.
This is why you need
the church.
The greatest affirmations
my salvation
is that I have a group
of people
that I walk together with.
A group of people
who are looking
into my life.
A group of people
who bring to me
loving correction
when I'm at fault.
That I might repent
and continue
to pursue
Christ.
We need the spirit.
We need the word.
We need
one another.
Be careful.
Do not be
deceived.
It is very possible
to be a hearer
of the word
and to think
that you're a Christian
and your life
looks nothing
like the word.
Don't be deceived.
Help others
not to be
deceived.
So this is the
way of the deceived.
Right?
Always hearing,
never acting.
But we also see
the way of the
blessed.
He says,
but the one who looks
into the perfect law
and this word,
this Greek word
looks means gaze.
It's a deep gazing.
Right?
It's not merely
a quick glance.
It's a staring
within the perfect
law.
Right?
The commands
given to us.
The law of liberty.
The gospel of Jesus
Christ that sets us
free from bondage
to having to earn
our acceptance
before God.
But the law of liberty
that sets us free
from that.
Sets us free
from having to
earn salvation,
which we cannot do.
But a glorious law
that we get to follow
now out of grateful
obedience to what
God has done
for us.
So the one who does
this,
who looks intently
into this law
and perseveres
in it,
who continues
to work,
to labor,
being no hearer
who forgets,
but a doer
who acts.
He will be,
there's this blessing
declared,
blessed.
He will be blessed.
In his doing.
So this brings us
on the back of your bulletin
to this final view,
which is most common
called the reformed view.
And just to be fair,
I put that on the sheet,
but I really just wanted
to say the biblical view.
I really make good effort
at being kind-hearted
to people that I disagree with.
And I disagree,
I disagree
with the Chafferian view
because I think
that it's damning
to people.
I think there are people
who think they're Christians
and they're fine
with that Jesus
is Savior piece.
They're okay with that.
They're like,
yeah, yeah,
got the Jesus is Savior
part of this
and I'm good.
And they think
they're in the faith
and they're not in the faith.
They're deceiving
themselves
and they're being deceived.
So,
the biblical view
of sanctification.
When we are saved,
which is entirely
a work of God,
we did nothing to earn it.
We could do nothing
to earn it.
We were dead in our sin.
He made us alive
in Christ.
We're submitting to him
both as Savior
and Lord.
And we don't do this perfectly.
We still carry around
the baggage of our flesh.
We have new hearts
but we still have our flesh.
And our flesh just loves sin
but our new hearts do not.
So,
it's the work of a Christian
as an individual
and a Christian in community
to take a careful look
of our lives,
to make our calling
and election sure,
to be constantly looking
and assessing
and not in an obsessive way,
but to ask,
am I growing in holiness?
Do I see an improvement
within me?
Do I love the things
of the world
or do I love the things
of God?
When I sin,
am I hardened
to that sin?
Or do I hate that sin?
Do I want
to put it off
and put on
righteousness?
Do I see
the Spirit of God
active
and at work in me?
Right?
As I take up the word,
am I being a doer
of the word?
This view
of sanctification
is synergistic.
It takes effort
on our part.
We don't let go
and let God.
We continue to work.
We pick up the daily things
that we ought to do.
The habits of grace.
The things that God
has given to us
to grow in Him.
And we press
and we press
recognizing all along
anything good
that we accomplish
is a work
of the Spirit
in our lives.
Bringing about obedience
bit by bit
by bit.
We ask others
to examine our lives.
Brother,
what do you think?
Am I in the faith?
Do you see me
growing in Christ?
When we have our doubts,
we look to our brothers.
Brother?
Sister?
Am I in the faith?
I've given much counsel
over the past decade plus
to people
who are doubting to say,
oh,
but I've watched your life
over these past years.
And you love
the things of God.
You are growing
in your faith.
Jesus tells a parable
in Matthew chapter 21
beginning in verse 28
and following.
He says,
what do you think?
A man had two sons
and he went to the first
and said,
son,
go and work
in the vineyard today.
And he answered,
I will not.
But afterward,
he changed his mind
and he went.
So he heard the word
and eventually
he was obedient
to the word.
And he went
to the other son
and said the same.
And he answered,
I go, sir,
but did not go.
So he heard the word,
but he was not obedient
to the word.
Jesus asked,
which of the two
did the will
of his father?
And they said,
these are the Pharisees,
the first,
Jesus said to them,
truly I say to you,
the tax collectors
and the prostitutes
go into the kingdom
of God before you.
Hated,
hated people
by the Pharisees.
For John came to you
in the way of righteousness
and you did not believe him.
But the tax collectors
and the prostitutes
believed him.
And even when you saw it,
you did not afterward
change your minds
and believe him.
Our belief
is evidenced
by our obedience.
Hear that.
Oh, hear that.
Do not be deceived.
Hear James' exhortation
one more time.
So at the beginning,
I said,
I just wanted to read it
and say, okay,
I'll read it one more time.
Well, I said a bunch of things
and now let me read it
one more time.
But be doers of the word
and not hearers only
deceiving yourselves.
For if anyone is a hearer
of the word
and not a doer,
he is like a man
who looks intently
at his natural face
in a mirror.
For he looks at himself
and goes away
and at once forgets
what he was like.
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.
Let's pray together.