James 1:19-26 | Part 7
Matthew 4:8-11
Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. 9 And he said to him, “I will give you all these things if you will fall down and worship me.”
10 Then Jesus told him, “Go away, Satan! For it is written: Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.”
11 Then the devil left him, and angels came and began to serve him.
Bread (food, drink, creature comforts)
God wants to bless you whatever you do
Worship me (the world) not your creator
James 1:19-27
My dear brothers and sisters, understand this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger, 20 for human anger does not accomplish God’s righteousness. 21 Therefore, ridding yourselves of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent, humbly receive the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.
3 B’s:
Be QUICK to listen
Be SLOW to speak
Be SLOW to anger (Self-righteous anger accomplishes your will, not God’s will)
HOW IN THE WORLD DO WE DO THIS???
Remove moral filth and evil
Receive (deep in your soul) the WORD. This will save you
22 But be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 Because if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like someone looking at his own face in a mirror. 24 For he looks at himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of person he was.
Do works matter?? YES, They do!! They don’t save you, but they can point to the grace that has saved you
We listen…and we listen…, and we listen…, and we choose to tell ourselves that it is not time to ACT yet because we need to…listen more.
Church, it’s time to get up!
It’s time to be doers of the WORD!!
Scripture says right here, if you are not DOING, you are…lying. You’re a liar. To whom? Yourself first, and others. And liars lead other people in the wrong direction
Do you get the mirror analogy? Here it is:
Mirror:
You see your face
You walk away
You can’t remember what kind of a person you are
Listening:
You HEAR the word
You walk away
You choose not to remember what kind of a person you have been made to be
25 But the one who looks intently into the perfect law of freedom and perseveres in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer who works—this person will be blessed in what he does.
We look at the law of freedom (The Gospel through Christ alone)
We choose to obey what we have seen and heard
What have we heard?
Mark 16:15
And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.
Acts 1:8
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
Philemon 1:6
And I pray that the sharing of your faith may become effective for the full knowledge of every good thing that is in us for the sake of Christ.
Romans 1:16
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
Go
Be my witness
Share your faith
Don’t be ashamed
26 If anyone thinks he is religious without controlling his tongue, his religion is useless and he deceives himself. 27 Pure and undefiled religion before God the Father is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself unstained from the world.
Two different callings here:
Your own personal religion
God’s spiritual calling to His people
Your own personal religion:
Don’t say cuss words
Use manners (propriety)
Serve others
Keep the commandments
Do the right thing
But you don’t control your tongue
God’s spiritual calling to His people:
What does the word say?
1.) Control your tongue (It speaks from the heart)
Luke 6:45
A good person produces good out of the good stored up in his heart. An evil person produces evil out of the evil stored up in his heart, for his mouth speaks from the overflow of the heart
2.) Take care of widows and orphans
Service to God’s people
For others first, for ourselves last
3.) Be in the world, but not OF it
We live in the world, we work in the world, and we have connections to people, places, and things in the world, but we are not OWNED by the world, enslaved by the world, and we don’t owe the world anything
So as Believers, how are we to live in this world?
Romans 12:2
Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.