Latest / Living Waters of Grace / Calvary Chapel of Westmoreland Sunday Services / James 4:11-17 - Fellowship with God and One Another - Part 2

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James 4:11-17 - Fellowship with God and One Another - Part 2 · Living Waters of Grace / Calvary Chapel of Westmoreland Sunday Services

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Good morning, Calvary Chapel. Well, we are the US, right?
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We are, That's right. We are the US that's here this
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morning. Thank God for all of you guys
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who were able to make it and judge through the weather and
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elements to get here. For those of you who are at home
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and you're listening by way of whatever platform, Facebook,
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listening by way of YouTube or whatever way, we just thank you
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for being here. Those of you who are listening
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to us behind prison walls, we want to thank you for joining us
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this morning. Also.
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You guys are a blessing to us every week.
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But I have to thank you guys who were were able to come out this
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morning and, and, and come through the snow and everything
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else in order to get here. I thank God for you.
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We appreciate you coming and for those who weren't able to make
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it, we appreciate making that decision.
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If it doesn't feel the right thing to do, then feel safe.
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Please. It makes sense not to be here.
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Our guest speaker and I have to apologize ahead of time because
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we were some of you are probably here because you're expecting to
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hear this guest speaker, which would have been worth it.
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He has a really amazing testimony.
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He wasn't able to make it this morning.
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He's coming in from Pittsburgh. Don't know what's between here
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and Pittsburgh and him trying to get through here.
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He has young family members, young kids, and he wanted to
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keep them safe, you know, But his attitude, you know, I call
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him Drew. His name is Andrew, but his
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attitude is, hey, you know me, brother, how you know I'm a
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savage man. I'd have been there.
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I know you would have, brother, but it was the right move to
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make to not put your family in jeopardy if you felt that it was
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not safe. So we thank God for that.
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I also want to mention before we actually get into the word this
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morning that we have lost a very dear sister who was a part of
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this Calvary Chapel family, our sister Joyce Miskovich, who went
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home to be with the Lord. In fact, it was on Friday when
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Pastor Clark was did that service for them.
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And she's going to be missed. She is going to be seriously
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missed. I, you know, there's certain
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people that come into your life and they don't have to be in
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your life long in order for you to be able to recognize the gift
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of God that they are and they make an impact on you.
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You just, you don't have to be in your life long in order to do
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that. She was one of those people for
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me. She's the most real sister that
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I've met in a long time. You know, whatever's on her
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mind, you ain't got to wonder. She'll let you know.
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Yes, she will let you know but thank God for her and she's now
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with Jesus and I know that she is in the arms of our Savior and
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she just would not be happier. So also want to why we do have a
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little bit of time. I want to thank those of you who
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came out with my sister-in-law and brother-in-law is here this
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morning a friend from Indiana came She's in town with us this
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morning and my three BS family is actually some members from
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our 3B family is here as well. I won't embarrass nobody by
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making them raise their hands or stand up and give a testimony or
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anything like that, but I did just want to acknowledge that I
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do thank God for you guys coming today and being with us on this
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beautiful Sunday morning. So having said that, let's get
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into the word now. I'm going to say it up front.
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It's going to be a little shorter, OK, So we can get you
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guys out of here and be home. Yeah, I know.
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I know some people who know me a lot pretty well on there.
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Yeah. Yeah, right.
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We know we, we want to get people out of here and, and, and
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not have to be snowed in. So we want to make it a little,
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a little more abbreviated this morning.
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But we are going to ask you to turn in your Bibles if you
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would. We are going to go to the Word
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of God. Let's go to James.
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And we're going to pick it up at verse 11, James verse 11.
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So we're going to pray and we want to go into the word of God.
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OK, And it's chapter, I'm sorry, verse 11, actually chapter 4.
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Thank you, honey. Thank you.
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See, you know, Pastor Clark and I, we always say, well, what
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will we be without our wives? Right, Pastor?
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Will we be without our wives? So thank you.
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Yeah, it is James chapter 4 and we're in verse 11.
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OK, let's pray and let's go into the word of Godfather.
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We do. Thank you once again for your
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grace. We thank you for your, your
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loving kindness even this morning.
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Lord, you're traveling. You're, you're safe traveling
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mercies that you bestowed upon us to get us here without any
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hurt, harm or danger. Father, we thank you, Lord, that
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you were in control of everything, even in this
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situation. Lord, you knew who it was that
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would be here this morning. So, Father, I just pray, as we
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do all the Time, Lord, that You would be the one to speak to us
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this morning, that You would just use my mind and use my body
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and speak through my lips. But let this service be from
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you. Let this teaching be directly
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from your heart. Lord, execute the thoughts of
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Your heart this morning through your servant.
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And I pray that Your spirit will be manifested in here.
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I pray that today would be the last day that someone who did
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not know you, someone who did not give their lives to you, for
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someone who may not have been trusting you for their
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salvation. Let this be the last day that
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they're not aware or not sure of their eternity.
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But today, Lord, I pray that they would believe on the Lord
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Jesus Christ and that you would be their Savior and that they
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would be able to escape the wrath to come because of the
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blood that you shed on Calvary and your broken body.
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We ask these things in the name of our Savior and our Lord in
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Jesus name we pray, Amen. So as we go into our word for
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this morning, just as a short recap, one of the things that we
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want to just emphasizes the fact that James, as we've said many
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times, James the brother, the half brother of Jesus, who
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himself was a non believer at one time until the to the
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resurrection of Jesus Christ. And and then he believed and not
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only did he believe, but he became a zealous believer.
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He was zealous about the things of the law before Jesus, but now
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he's zealous about the things of Jesus Christ, even to the point
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where he gave his own life for the Gospel.
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James is, you know, he is one of those nuts and bolts Christians.
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He just gives it to you the, the, the true nuts and bolts of
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Christianity. He doesn't cut corners about it.
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He doesn't sugarcoat anything. And I can imagine him growing up
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with Jesus. And he was probably the one to
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say to Jesus, man, you, you, you just think you, you're just too
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good. You know, you, you just don't
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get in trouble. You don't do nothing, man.
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You mom's, your mom's pet. He would probably be the one to
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say something like that, but at the same time understanding
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righteousness. And now he loves his brother,
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even to the point where he gave his life for his Savior.
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He doesn't even refer to him as brother.
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He refers to him as his Savior, his Lord, as we should refer to
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Jesus Christ. But in this particular epistle,
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he says to us some very direct things.
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And even though it's direct, it really is for the good of our
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walk in this Christian faith. It's for our knowledge to
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understand what is Jesus's heart for us as Christians living in
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this world that we're living, this current world that we're
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living in. What is the heart of Jesus?
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And that's really what we're looking for, isn't it?
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We're looking for the heart of Jesus.
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Jesus gives his heart with the sermon on the mound.
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You know, he says, look, you know, you've heard it said
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before that you know, you know a man should not commit adultery.
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But I say to you, if you look upon a woman, you know, with
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lust in your heart, you've committed adultery.
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You know, you, you, you should not murder, but if you hate your
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brother, you have already murdered him in your heart.
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So Jesus is giving, Jesus gives us his heart concerning things.
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And as we go through the Scriptures, I would ask that we
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always pray that the Lord Jesus Christ would give us his heart
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concerning these things. Not just what we read on the
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paper. It can be very superficial just
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reading the Bible itself, but when we understand the heart of
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what it is Jesus is saying, not what I want to say, not what I
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want to say, not what I think is important to emphasize in these
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things, but what is Jesus's heart?
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What does he want us to leave here pondering?
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So in this particular scripture, as he tells us, this is about
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the backdrop of this is about worldly wisdom versus godly
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wisdom. And that continues on throughout
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this entire chapter. And as we spoke earlier, he he
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says that it's worldly wisdom to be adulterers.
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That means to be spiritually unfaithful to Jesus Christ by
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going after ungodly things and going after worldly idols.
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That's a that's like committing adultery against Jesus.
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And then he also talks about not being a friend of the world.
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That means compromising. And then when he gets a little
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lower, he says, listen, we can change these things.
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If this is something that we've done in the past, all we have to
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do is humble ourselves. Let's humble ourselves.
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What does it mean to humble ourselves?
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That means acknowledge that Jesus Christ is the ultimate
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authority to acknowledge that we have sinned.
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To acknowledge that we have broken His heart with going
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after strange gods and doing things that are of the world and
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not things according to His word, and humbling ourselves and
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admitting our weaknesses concerning those things and
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crying out to Him and asking Him.
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Lord, help me, help me. I can't do this on my own.
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So he says in order to do that, he says, first of all, submit
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yourself to God, submit to his word, submit to his will, which
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also means to surrender. And when you look at
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surrendering, it means to basically just give up your
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will, give up your ways for his. I surrender.
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That's why when we worship, we worship with our hands up in a,
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in a position of surrender to him.
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Lord, this is your, this is your life, this is your body, this is
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your will. Have your will and not let me
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have my will. So we surrender and we submit
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ourselves to God. And in doing that, we resist the
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devil. We're able to resist the things
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that the devil wants us to do with our with our hands, the
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sins that he wants us to commit with our hands.
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We resist him when we submit to God.
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Then he also says that we draw near to God.
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And how do we draw near to God? What's important for us to draw
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near to God? Well, first of all, we have to
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cleanse our hands. That means we have to cease from
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doing the sinful things with our hands.
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If we were stealing, steal no more.
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If you were, if you're out there and and partying is what you
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were into and and and fornicating, which means having
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sex outside of marriage, do it no more.
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If you're participating in idle gods and things of that nature,
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put down those idle gods. Do it no more.
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That's what he's talking about. Cleanse your hands, you sinners,
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is what he is what James says. And then he says purify your
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hearts, you double minded. How do we purify our hearts?
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We get rid of those ungodly things that's in our heart.
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Hatred, lust, anger, dissensions, deceive,
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deceitfulness. Get rid of those ugly, ungodly
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things that's in our heart that causes us to have problems with
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other people. He says get rid of those things,
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cleanse ourselves with those things.
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And we cannot do that without the help of the Holy Spirit
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because we can't do it on our own.
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We can't do it on our own, no matter how much we try, we
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can't. So once we do that, and then he
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says over in verse on verse 9, he says to lament those things.
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Mourn and weep and let your laughter be turned to mourning
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and your joy to gloom. After you realize the life that
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we have lived, as opposed to celebrating those things and as
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opposed to, you know, being proud of the things that we have
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done, we should weep and and lament those things.
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How could I spend so much time in my life, the days, the weeks,
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the months, the years, committing ungodly things,
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spending my time looking at worthless things, listening to
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worthless things, participating in worthless things.
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How do I spend that time doing that?
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James is saying to us that as opposed to celebrating those
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things, that we should lament those things and allow our
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hearts to break before God so that He can come in and we can,
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He can take over through His Holy Spirit and lead us in the
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things of righteousness, Help us with those things.
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Then he says humble yourselves in the sight of God and he will
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lift you up. So what we just covered from
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verses 7 to 9 to 10 are ways that we have our fellowship with
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God. And for the next few minutes,
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well, maybe more than a few minutes, but but for the next,
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the rest of our time, we're going to be looking at what it
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is to have fellowship one with another as a result of our
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change of fellowship with the Lord.
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So when we humble ourselves and when we submit ourselves to God,
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when we cleanse our hands and we come near to God and he draws
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near to us, when we when we purify our hearts through our
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humility, then we can have a change of a relationship with
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others. That's one of the ways that we
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see it is through a change in our relationship with others.
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So we start to hear verse 11 and when we and when you really
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consider that, you know, this is a continuation of the fact that
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we as the church, as believers in Jesus Christ, we should be
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separate from the world because he called us to set us apart
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from the world. And there's a lot of ways that
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we can do that. But one of the main ways that
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James talks about, he talks about several places in his
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message is through our speech. Sure, we can do it by our
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behavior, but our speech, the way we talk to and about each
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other, that is one of the sure ways that people can see that we
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are in Christ Jesus. What do we sound like when we
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talk? Do we sound like the world or do
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we sound like we're separated unto God?
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James's message to the scattered believers is really about just
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that. Yes, we should conduct ourselves
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in the wisdom of God and not the wisdom of the world.
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But in the sermon in the mound, Jesus made it clear that we
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should be light and salt and that's just not being light and
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sought with our actions but also with our speech.
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He really drives that home. He talks about being separate.
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Also in the book of Philippians chapter 2 and verse starting at
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verse 14. He says, Do all things without
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complaining, without disputing, that you may become blameless
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and harmless children of God without fault in the midst of a
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crooked and perverse generation among whom you shine as lights
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in the world. How do we shine as lights in the
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world? If we dispute with each other
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all the time, if we talk evil of each other all the time, if we
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complain about each other and to each other all the time, then we
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sound more like the world than we do like the people of God.
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He wants us to shine his lights like he said in in Matthew and
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the sermon in the mountain, He says, look, you are salt and
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light in the world. That's who we are.
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We stand out. And then in first Peter, first
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Peter chapter 2, he says to us starting at verse 9, he says,
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but you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy
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nation, his own special people that you may proclaim.
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This is why he chose us out. This is why he separated us,
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that we may be those who proclaim the praises of God.
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We proclaim his praises. Who called you out of darkness
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and into his marvelous light? He, he, we, we, we, our lives
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should glorify Jesus. And that doesn't mean that we
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always run around saying, look, I believe in Jesus.
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Look at me, I believe in Jesus. Yeah, I like to go to church and
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I believe in Jesus. That means nothing.
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That really means nothing. You know, the Bible says even
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the devils believe. The demons believe and they
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tremble. That means nothing.
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Does our lights have? Does our lives have light?
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Is our life a light in a Dark World?
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That's what he's looking for. That's what we're looking for.
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And James talks about that here, beginning at verse 11.
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He says do not speak evil, brethren.
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He who speaks evil over of the brother and judges his brother,
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speaks evil of the law and judges the law.
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But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law, but a
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judge. Verse 12 says there is one law
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giver who was able to save and to destroy.
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Who were you to judge another? So we see that James goes back
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again to talking about the tongue several places in the
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book of James, he talks about the tongue.
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Let's just look at a a couple of them.
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He, you know, he, he talks about the tongue over in chapter 1
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over in chapter 1, verse 19. What does he say?
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He says be swift to hear and slow to speak and be slow to
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wrath. And then he drops down to verse
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26 and he says anyone who thinks they're religious and cannot
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bridle or cannot control their own tongue, they are deceiving
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their hearts and their religion is useless.
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It's a useless religion. If we think that we're
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spiritual, we're self-righteous and we're so good.
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We're we're we're better than everybody else who doesn't live
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for Jesus, and yet we can't even control our own tongue.
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He said. If that's you.
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Then your religion is useless and you're just deceiving your
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own heart. And he also mentions things
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about the tongue that are very important.
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He says the tongue in chapter 3, which is almost dedicated
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entirely about the tongue. James chapter 3 He says that the
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tongue is a small member, but it boasts great things.
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And he also says that the tongue is an unruly member, full of
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deadly poison. The tongue is a fire, a world of
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iniquity. And then he makes a statement in
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that same section, he makes a statement about the tongue.
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And it's one that I still think about today when he said that
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man can control and they can tame almost every deadly
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creature on the face of the earth.
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Almost every deadly creature on the face of the earth can be
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tamed by man. And for me, what's amazing, and
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I've seen men tame killer whales, they tame them to the
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point that they can get in the water with them.
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Now, sometimes that don't go right.
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But this time I wouldn't want to be in that situation where it
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didn't go right. But there's times that they can
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get in there with them. You know, men change.
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They, they, they, they change tigers and lions and all these
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ferocious beasts. But James said no man, no man
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contain the tongue. And it's so true.
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We can't control our own tongues because our tongues, our tongues
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are usually controlled by our emotions.
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That's why we need the Holy Spirit to come and guide us and
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teach us and help us to control our tongues.
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Because left up to us without the Holy Spirit, who knows what
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we'll say and when we'll say it because we respond based on our
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emotions. So he said, so he says over
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here, he says do not speak evil, brethren, do not speak evil.
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Well, most of it I think like why James?
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Why do you talk so much about the tongue?
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And what I've heard people say that the book of James is
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actually like a New Testament book of Proverbs, very similar
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to the New Testament book of Proverbs.
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So I went back and I looked at Proverbs and I wanted to know
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like what it is that James wants to grab so hard on about the
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tongue versus other things. And it didn't take me long to
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find out. When you go to Proverbs chapter
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6, which gives us 7 things, the Bible says that they are
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abominable to God. Six things he hates, but seven
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things are abominable to God. Three of those things have to
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deal with the tongue. Three of those things have to
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deal with the tongue. It talks about the tongue, sins
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of the tongue. It's a lying tongue.
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He said He hates a lying tongue. He hates a false witness who
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spreads lies, and he hates the sowing of discord, which is
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usually done by the tongue whispering over here about
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somebody that's over there and that sows discord.
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So there's three out of those seven things that that that that
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the book of Proverbs. Solomon says in the book of
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Proverbs that God hates. So we get to the book of James.
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We see that James talk a lot about the tongue and the damage
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that the tongue can cause. So he says to us, he says, look,
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if you change, if you give your hearts to the Lord, you get
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saved and you are transformed. That means not only your actions
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are transformed, but your heart should be transformed, which
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means that your tongue will change.
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Also, what comes out of your mouth should change as well.
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And there's several things, there's several verses that that
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talk about that. Even Paul agrees that it's
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important for us to not speak evil over.
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In Ephesians 4, he he talks about taking off the old man and
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putting on the new man. And the old man represents the
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old worldly lust, the old worldly flesh.
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It's the old man. But he says that once you get
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saved, you take off the old man, you put on the new man, you put
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on Christ Jesus. So we should speak like Christ
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Jesus. We should act like Christ Jesus
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because we put him on and he says here in Ephesians 4 and 31,
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he says, let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor and evil
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speaking be put away from you. That should be away from you.
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That should go away from you. That should be off, set off far
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from you. And then in first Peter 2 verse
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one, Peter says to us, he says that we should lay aside malice,
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we should lay aside all deceit, lay aside hypocrisy.
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Envy, which is one of the things that James warned us about, is
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having that bitter envy in our hearts and that selfish
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ambition. And what those things 'cause
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they bring about confusion and they bring about every evil
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thing, yes, even evil speaking. So he says here that we put all
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those things away, all deceit, all hypocrisy, all envy, and all
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evil speaking. So what is evil speaking?
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When I start to slander my brother or sister?
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That's evil speaking. That's evil speaking.
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And what's involved in, in slandering and well, first of
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all, speaking unkind either to or about my brother or sister.
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When I speak unkind to or about my brother and sister, that is
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not godly wisdom. That is the wisdom of the world.
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That's being influenced by the wisdom of the world.
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It's it. And it's certainly, it's not a
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heart of humility. So we speak unkind, we speak
26:38
unhelpful words. I'd like that, that, that phrase
26:43
of speaking unhelpful words. We are to encourage each other,
26:48
to love each other, to build each other up.
26:51
So the words that we speak to each other, even if we're
26:54
helping you to see something about you that you don't see in
26:58
a loving way, I should be able to share things with you that
27:03
help you. It doesn't help me if you're
27:07
speaking to someone else about me and you're just tearing me
27:11
down. And I know there's a lot that
27:14
you can say about me to tear me down.
27:16
But if you're speaking those things, that doesn't help me.
27:20
That doesn't help me. So he says you're speaking words
27:23
that are unhelpful, words that don't edify.
27:26
That means you're not building anybody up.
27:28
You're just tearing down. James is warning us of these
27:32
things. He said it spreads hurtful lies.
27:35
And we just talked about the fact that, you know, over in
27:38
Proverbs, he said that when you have when you have a false
27:42
witness or you speak lies about others, God hates that.
27:48
So when we speak evil and we slander one another, that's
27:51
usually involved. And the other thing is that he
27:56
talks about having evil thoughts.
27:59
If I have an evil thought about you, eventually I'll start
28:03
speaking evil about you because that's what's in my heart.
28:09
The Bible says out of the abundance of the heart, the
28:11
mouth speaks. So if I have evil thoughts about
28:14
you in my heart, eventually, eventually I will begin to speak
28:19
evil about you eventually. So speaking evil really, you
28:27
know, it really reveals the heart.
28:29
And there are certain times in the Old Testament that we we get
28:31
this example of people who spoke evil about another and God dealt
28:36
with them. For example, Miriam and Aaron,
28:39
they spoke evil about Moses behind his back.
28:42
Moses didn't know it, but God did and he dealt with them about
28:46
it. There were people who spoke evil
28:49
about Jesus and they even lied on him and, you know, put
28:52
together a kangaroo court, totally, totally illegal court
28:58
that they put together to try to condemn him.
29:03
They spoke evil against him. They spoke evil against Stephen.
29:08
David even said in Psalm 41, five, he said my enemies speak
29:13
evil of me, my enemies. So before we speak about
29:22
someone, if I'm holding a conversation, this is a good
29:24
example. I learned this years ago.
29:26
If I'm holding a conversation with someone and if I feel like
29:30
I need to speak about someone else, there are three things I
29:35
need to ask myself before I start speaking about that
29:39
person. The first thing I need to ask
29:42
myself is what I'm about to say about this person.
29:45
First of all, is it true? Is what I'm about to say true
29:49
and do I know that it's true? Or am I just saying what
29:53
somebody else told me and because it's negative, I like
29:57
it, so I want to share it with somebody else because I really
29:59
don't care much for this person. So I need to ask myself, is it
30:05
true? And even if it is true, there's
30:08
a second question that I need to ask myself.
30:11
And that question is, even if it's true, but is it necessary
30:16
to talk about with someone else? Is this something that I, if I
30:21
really cared about this person, rather than talking about this
30:25
with someone else, is this something I should be going to
30:27
that person myself and talking about with them in person
30:31
between me and them? Was it really necessary for me
30:35
to share this with someone else? Is it necessary?
30:41
Then the third thing is, will it edify?
30:45
What kind of light, what kind of picture am I drawing of you?
30:50
When I say what I'm about to say to someone else, What kind of
30:54
picture am I drawing? What kind of impression am I
30:57
giving this person of who you are?
31:01
Does it edify you? Does it build you up or does it
31:04
make you look like a villain? Does it make you look like
31:07
someone that they don't want to be associated with?
31:10
Do I paint you in a negative picture?
31:12
Because see, whoever got the mic is the one that can control it,
31:15
right? And if I'm talking to someone
31:18
else away from them, then I got the mic.
31:20
I can say what I want to say and I can make them look any kind of
31:24
way I want them to look. So those are three questions
31:27
that we need to ask ourselves before we talk about somebody #1
31:33
is it true? Bible says we speak the truth in
31:36
love. Number 2, Is it necessary?
31:40
Well, we know that the Bible talks about that because over in
31:42
Ephesians 429 he says, let no corrupt word proceed out of your
31:48
mouth. But what is good for necessary
31:52
edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.
31:58
So is it necessary? And of course, the third one,
32:01
will it edify? We're supposed to edify each
32:05
other, build up one another, love that's loving one another,
32:13
Edify. Then he also says that even when
32:17
you when you speak evil people and you're judging them, you're
32:20
judging them. You're putting yourself in a
32:22
position of judging. Now I noted that word judging
32:26
can be really controversial in some aspects because you know,
32:30
when people don't want you to share truth about them, you
32:34
know, or, or share something that you see about them.
32:37
Even if you're doing the loving way, you know, people like say
32:40
don't judge me, don't judge me. You judge me.
32:43
You judge me, right? Who you judge me?
32:47
Well, not all judging is actually created equal.
32:50
What James is referring to here, when he talks about judging,
32:55
he's saying that you are criticizing or condemning the
32:59
brother, which actually goes against the law.
33:03
It goes against the law. You're judging them according to
33:06
the law, but yet you are the one that's breaking the law by
33:09
judging them. By judging them, the person who
33:14
judges actually disobeys the law.
33:17
What law? The law To love our brother and
33:19
our sister. And if I'm always trying to find
33:23
fault with you, if I'm always condemning you to somebody else,
33:28
that's not loving you, that's not sharing love with you,
33:31
that's not really caring about you.
33:35
But we know that Jesus cares about us.
33:37
And the way he speaks to us, he says, you know, he speaks to us
33:40
like we are one of his chickens, like one of his little chicks.
33:44
And he covers us with his wings and he speaks kindly with us.
33:50
Even when Jesus confronted someone about their sin, he
33:53
spoke kindly to them. He didn't compromise and, and,
33:57
and and allow themselves to to continue to keep the sin, but he
34:03
spoke kindly to him. The woman he caught in the dog
34:05
tree. Where are your accusers?
34:07
Where are are those who condemn you?
34:09
He said, Lord, there there are none.
34:10
He said, I don't condemn you either.
34:12
Go and sin no more. His love, his compassion.
34:17
It was evident when he would talk to the woman at the well,
34:22
although he called out her sin, but he spoke to her in a
34:26
compassionate way, in a loving way to let her know that the one
34:33
that you were looking for, the Messiah, He's here, I'm him, I'm
34:39
him. So he does in a loving way.
34:43
And even the way he deals with us, I mean, think about it, the
34:46
things that we do when he speaks to our heart, it's never in a
34:51
condemning way. It's in a very loving and
34:54
gracious way, he said by with loving kindness, I've drawn you.
35:00
I didn't draw you by condemning you and by complaining about you
35:05
and, and by putting you down. That's not how he drew us.
35:09
He said with by loving kindness, I've drawn you loving kindness.
35:19
So he says that the judge and somebody puts us in a position
35:23
of authority almost over that person.
35:25
To think that I'm so righteous that I can judge someone who is
35:29
dealing with multiple problems, that may be dealing with
35:33
multiple problems, but instead of being a doer of the law,
35:38
we're a judge of it. And he tells us very clearly
35:41
over in James chapter, James chapter one, that we are to be a
35:45
doer of the law. And if all I'm doing is judging
35:49
you, I'm not being a doer of the law.
35:50
In fact, I'm breaking the law, but I'm not being a doer of the
35:54
law. We're not to judge the motives
35:57
and the thoughts of other people.
35:59
Only God can do that. Only God can do that.
36:02
We look at the heart, we try to look at the harp.
36:05
Only God really sees the heart. We look at what we see on the
36:08
outside, but only God truly sees the heart.
36:12
We can't judge another one's motives.
36:14
And when we try to do that again, we put ourselves in the
36:19
position of God. So if I'm criticizing and
36:23
condemning, then I'm not unifying.
36:27
I can't both criticize and condemn you and unify at the
36:30
same time. It doesn't happen.
36:33
And if I'm judging you, then I'm not loving you.
36:37
So it was over in Chapter 7 of Matthew when Jesus himself
36:41
talked about judging. And this is where people refer
36:45
to when they talk about judging. Look, what does Matthew 7 say?
36:48
Judge not, lest you be judged. You're right, it does say that.
36:52
It does say that, but what he's talking about is US judging the
36:56
most minute, the little small details, just just really paying
37:01
attention to every single little small thing and being critical
37:06
of every little small thing about somebody and judging them
37:11
about those things. So what he's saying here is that
37:15
you know you're, you're, you're judging everyone else's issues,
37:19
but yet the most, the most glaring things about yourself,
37:23
you don't see. And that's what he's talking
37:27
about when he says, how can you remove the speck that's in my
37:33
eye, that little small speck that's in my eye?
37:36
How can you remove that? If you have a big log in your
37:41
own eye, a big plank in your own eye?
37:44
There's something about you that is so obvious that you have to
37:48
be able to see it. But yet you look past those
37:51
things about yourself and we judge someone else on the little
37:56
minor details. And these are just things that
37:58
Jesus said that we should not do because that's not loving each
38:04
other. It's not loving each other.
38:09
But when we do judge it should be a according to the word of
38:13
God. Can we judge sin whether
38:15
something is a sin or not? Yes, absolutely.
38:18
But not judging someone's motives or judging someone's
38:21
appearance. Jesus even talks about that
38:23
judging with limited information over in John Chapter 7 verse 24.
38:30
He warns us, he said, do not judge according to appearance.
38:35
We judge one person to be faithful and to be and to be
38:38
good and to be helpful to the church because they may come in
38:41
and have the appearance of someone who was righteous and
38:44
holy, haven't seen no fruit. We just look at them from the
38:48
outside and we make all these decisions about who we think
38:51
they are. And because someone comes in and
38:55
they have on tattered clothes, just like he talks about, you
38:58
know, not not being not serving the Lord with partiality,
39:03
looking at someone who has maybe tattered clothes on or maybe
39:06
someone who doesn't look like there's well off.
39:10
And we just assume that this person is not a, you know, he
39:13
can't, he can't be a righteous person.
39:15
He can't be a good Christian. He's not going to be good for
39:18
this particular ministry or that particular ministry that's
39:21
judging according to appearances.
39:24
And Jesus said that's wrong. That's wrong, but we were to do
39:28
be righteous judges. That means we judge based on the
39:32
word of God. Isn't it funny?
39:38
Back in Genesis, back in Genesis, the Bible tells us very
39:45
clearly. Back in chapter 2, He tells us
39:48
how we are actually created. Every one of us, every one of
39:52
us. We are created of the dust of
39:56
the earth. That's how we're created of the
40:01
dust of the earth. I am a pile of dust.
40:06
You are a pile of dust. That's all we are.
40:13
So imagine complaining and judging one pile of dust.
40:18
Complaining and judging another pile of dust.
40:22
It's basically what we're doing. One pile of dust speaking evil
40:27
on another pile of dust. We're all dust.
40:32
We're just dust. And not had it be not for the
40:38
breath of God that he blew into our nostrils, we would be
40:45
nothing. We would be nothing.
40:50
So in verse 12 here he says, look, there's one lawgiver.
40:54
There's only one Lawgiver and we're not it.
40:57
The only lawgiver is God himself.
41:00
He's the one. That's why he can say how we do
41:03
the things in this world, how we do marriage, how we do family,
41:08
how what we do with our bodies. As far as abortion is concerned,
41:15
we're not our own. Bible tells us that we've been
41:18
bought with a price and we were not our own.
41:24
But both our bodies and our spirit belong to him.
41:28
Both belong to him. So it's not a legitimate
41:32
argument to say it's my body and I can do whatever I want to do
41:35
with it. No, sorry, you can't.
41:37
You didn't give yourself your own body and you can't tell us.
41:40
You can't be the one to say what you do with it.
41:45
God says the Bible says that he is the one who bought us with a
41:49
price and we are not our own. It's very clearly in the Word of
41:53
God. Very clearly not everybody likes
41:59
it, but it is in the Word of God.
42:00
Now I also want to say, now I didn't write it, I didn't say
42:04
it, OK, so don't get mad at me. But it is true nonetheless.
42:11
So he says, who are you to judge another?
42:13
Who are you to judge another over in Romans chapter 414
42:18
rather and verse four, he says who are you to judge another
42:22
servant to his own master? He will stand or fall, and he
42:29
will stand because God is able to make him stand.
42:34
So who are we to judge whether someone is truly called to do
42:38
this or whether someone should be in this ministry or whether
42:41
someone should be overcharged of that, or rather someone you know
42:45
is qualified for this or qualified for that.
42:47
It is God who qualifies the unqualified and we can't judge
42:54
another manservant and he tells us that he is able to make a
43:01
stand. So let's go on to the next
43:05
section here as we get ready to come in from 13 down to 16, He
43:11
says this come now you who say tomorrow, today or tomorrow, we
43:17
will go to such a such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell
43:23
and make a profit. Whereas you do not know what
43:27
will happen tomorrow, for what is your life?
43:33
It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then it
43:37
vanishes away. Instead you ought to say, if the
43:41
Lord wills, we shall live to do this or that.
43:46
But now you're you boast in your arrogance, and all such boasting
43:51
is evil. Now for context purposes, this
43:55
is James talking about those, those scattered believers who
44:00
some of them obviously make their living by trade.
44:03
You know, they will go, they buy, they sell, you know,
44:06
getting shipments, they ship out, they do all these things.
44:09
They travel to different places and trade and and and and
44:13
whatnot so that they can make money just like traveling
44:17
salesman that we have today, right.
44:21
But what James is saying here, So you, you make these plans,
44:25
Yeah, today or tomorrow I'm going to go to such and such a
44:28
place and I'm going to do such a such a thing or such and such or
44:33
go to such and such a city. And I'm even going to tell you
44:36
how long I'm going to spend there.
44:38
I'm going to spend about a year there and I'm going to buy and
44:42
I'm going to sell and I'm going to make a profit.
44:45
So this is all about what your plans may be.
44:50
I mean, we all do this, right? We all make plans.
44:54
We all have calendars. We all have things that we plan
44:57
many days and many weeks out. But the reality of the situation
45:01
is as a believer, we have to understand something.
45:05
Every single moment, every single movement is subject to
45:11
the grace and the will and the goodness of God.
45:17
It's all in His plans. I can't.
45:20
I have so many examples of people that I know had planned
45:27
to be here at a certain time or plans to be there or to do that,
45:34
and then they go to bed at night and don't wake up in the
45:36
morning. I can't tell you how many times
45:39
I've seen that happen. It happened to my own mother
45:42
with me, and I've shared this story before.
45:45
I just left my mother on a Tuesday.
45:47
I was coming back the following week and we were going to do
45:50
this and we were going to do that when I left her in
45:53
Harrisburg and kissed her and told her I loved her goodbye.
45:55
I'll see you next week. That night she passed in her
45:59
sleep. I never got to see her again on
46:01
this side. So I know how quick things can
46:06
change in our lives. So we really should be careful
46:09
about what we say to people. We should be careful about what
46:12
we say to people because we never know what tomorrow may
46:18
bring. We never know.
46:24
We never know. There are people that I know.
46:28
I had a friend when I was in college and we had just left
46:31
Duquesne's campus. We just walked off that campus.
46:34
We had plans. We want to get together that
46:36
evening, go grab some some some fries and a hamburger somewhere
46:40
and just, you know, have fellowship with each other.
46:46
And I never heard from them again.
46:47
I'm calling them nothing calling nothing.
46:55
It was the following Monday. That was on a Friday.
47:00
It was a Monday when I saw a mutual friend who said, did you
47:05
hear about what happened? And I said, no, we what we're
47:12
talking about. He said his brother killed him
47:18
Friday night. They got into an argument in the
47:19
kitchen. His brother stabbed him to
47:21
death. Just like that, it changed his
47:25
life, changed his parents life changed just like that.
47:29
We don't know what's going to happen.
47:32
So James is saying, we make all these plans and we say we're
47:35
going to do this, we're going to do that and we want to go here,
47:37
we're going to go there. What if you don't make it till
47:41
then? But what we should say, And
47:46
since studying this, I've become a lot more conscious of this and
47:51
I need to be doing it more because I don't.
47:56
We need to say if the Lord will, I'll do this or that.
48:03
If the Lord will, I'll be here next Sunday again, if the Lord
48:09
will after service, we'll go out and we'll do this through that.
48:13
Because we used to say, you know, here today and go on
48:16
tomorrow. That's not always true.
48:19
You can be here today and gone today.
48:22
You see, the next 5 minutes is really not promised to us.
48:27
And there have been people who have left just that quick 5
48:32
minutes. They've been gone.
48:34
What is your life? Your life is like a vapor.
48:36
The Lord refers to the to a vapor several times, you know,
48:40
or or a mist or a dream or a sleep in the night.
48:46
The Lord refers to those to those things and he talks about
48:50
us being vapors. And you know, when I wanted to
48:53
mention that, you know, Paul eventually got that idea.
48:56
Paul got the idea that, you know, I can't make plans
49:00
thinking that I know that I'm in control of everything.
49:04
That's kind of a worldly humanistic thought to think that
49:06
they're control of everything. In fact, I read 1 context of a
49:10
of a preacher, Jonathan Edwards, who says that when, when, when
49:14
people even talk about hell, people who are not saved and who
49:17
hate God actually think that they can escape even a wrath to
49:21
come by their own doing. It's amazing.
49:25
But Paul understands that everything that we do in Christ
49:30
Jesus, everything that we do is really subject to God's will.
49:35
So he says in Acts chapter 18 and verse 21, he says I will
49:39
return again to you speaking to the those Corinthians at that
49:43
particular time in the Ephesians he was talking to.
49:45
He said, I will return to you, God willing over in first
49:51
Corinthians chapter 4 verse 19, he says, but I will come to you
49:55
shortly if the Lord wills. 1st Corinthians 16, seven.
50:02
He says, I hope to stay a while with you if the Lord permits.
50:08
So he understood that everything that he did was in subject was
50:11
subject to the will of God than the plans that we have.
50:16
So we have to be at his mercy all the time.
50:21
So it's not saying that we shouldn't make plans, not saying
50:24
that you shouldn't schedule things, but we should schedule
50:26
them not with the the pride that we can control whether we'll
50:31
complete those things or not. We shouldn't schedule them with
50:35
the pride that we are in control of whether or not I see you next
50:39
week or not, but we should schedule it with the with the
50:43
understanding and the humility that God is in control.
50:48
And we have to be. Subject to whatever it is that
50:51
he wills. Even Jesus was subject to what
50:55
God wills in the garden. He said, you know, he said,
50:58
Lord, look, take this cup from me.
51:02
But he understood. That it was up to God whether he
51:05
would do. That or not so he said,
51:08
nevertheless, not your will, but my.
51:12
Not my will, but your will be done nevertheless.
51:16
If it's my will, yeah, I'm not going through this.
51:19
I'm not hanging on that, on that cross.
51:21
I'm not having those nails go through my hands.
51:23
If it's my will. But if it's God's will, yeah,
51:27
Lord, have your will. Do what you will the way that
51:32
you will. We have to understand we only
51:35
see 2A corner. God sees around it, so when he
51:40
makes a decision based on his will.
51:44
It's also based on. His foreknowledge of knowing
51:48
things that we don't have Privy to, things that we don't know.
51:51
So that's why we trust him. Even though things don't come
51:54
out our way, we trust him. We trust him.
51:58
Even when we you know this. Is the way I wanted to do it,
52:00
Lord. Well, Lord, say we're going to
52:02
do it this way. We got to trust him that he's
52:05
doing. It the right way we.
52:06
Know he is not think he is. We know he is because he has
52:10
knowledge that we don't know. Just like kids got to trust
52:12
parents, right? If a parent says no, they said
52:14
no because they know something. It's not just because they want
52:18
to be mean. I'm talking to all the kids in
52:19
here now. It's not because they're just
52:20
trying to be mean. It's not because they're trying
52:22
to keep you from, you know, having fun.
52:25
It's because they know something and they're protecting you.
52:29
That's how they love you. That's how God loves us, by when
52:34
it's necessary tells us no, no. And then he says there's no, no
52:42
you. You boast in these.
52:43
Things and it's not good to boast in those things.
52:45
That's evil. Boasting in what you think you
52:49
can control. It's all evil.
52:51
And then in verse 17, and we're going to come to a close here,
52:53
praise and worship team, you can come forward.
52:54
We're going to come to a close here.
52:55
And he just simply says here, he says therefore to him who knows
52:59
to do good and does not do it, it is sin.
53:04
You know, I never thought a whole lot about the sin of
53:07
omission and the sin of Commission.
53:11
You know, I, I just looked at sin and sin, sin and sin and,
53:14
and, and quite honestly, most of us, I think we pay more
53:17
attention. We pay more attention to the,
53:20
the sins that we just shouldn't do.
53:23
You know the the sin of Commission is doing what we
53:27
should not do. OK, so it you know but but
53:32
Christianity is not just about the thou shall not do you know
53:38
when you. When you look at the the 10
53:40
commandments. It's a bunch of thou shall not
53:42
do, but then there's other places that there's things that
53:45
we are to do. So Christianity is just as much
53:49
about what it is that we shouldn't do as it is what it is
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that we. Should do that.
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We don't. That's a sin as well, and that's
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what James is talking about when he says when you know to do good
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and you don't do it, that's sin in Romans chapter, You know, in
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Romans Chapter 7, Paul admits to committing both.
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He admits to committing the sin of Commission and the sin of
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omission, because he says here. You know.
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That which I should do, I don't, and that which I should not do
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that I do. So that's what I'm supposed to.
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Do, but I also commit. The sin of Commission because I
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do what I shouldn't do. So those are the things that.
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James is looking at. Here, what sins of omission do
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we have? I mean, you know, it's easy to
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look at the sins that we have of Commission because we know it's
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very clear, right? You shouldn't do this.
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You shouldn't do that. You shouldn't do this, but what
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about the sins of omission that we do when the Lord says go help
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that? Person and you.
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Don't over in Matthew 25 is a clear picture of a sin of
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omission when he separate the goats from the sheep.
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Well, it was the goats that he separated who committed the sin
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of omission. Because the Bible said very
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clearly, you know, he said that when you were hungry, you gave
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me something to eat. But then when he talked about
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the goats, he said when you were hungry, you didn't feed me.
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When I was hungry, you didn't feed me.
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When I was thirsty, you didn't give me anything to drink.
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When I was naked, you didn't clothe me.
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So he's talking about. Omission.
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Things that we should have done that we didn't, so we should
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concentrate on those things as well.
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And we concentrate on that. But understand something.
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Even if we don't understand something.
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The grace of God is there for you just like it's there for me
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to say, Lord, I have not been doing.
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For example, I don't always pray for my leaders.
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The Bible tells us that to do that and I don't always do it.
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That's a sin of omission. That's a sin of omission
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regardless of who the leader is, regardless of whether I voted
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for them or not. The Bible didn't say just vote
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for the ones that you pray. That's just pray for the ones
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you vote for. That's not what it says.
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It says vote for your leaders. And some of those things are
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hard. Sometimes it's hard to do what
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it. Is that you?
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Don't want to do, Bible tells us, he said.
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Listen, go and and and. And love your.
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Enemies. It's hard to love your enemy,
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but the Bible tells us to do it. Sins.
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Of omission versus sins of. Commission, let's pray.
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Father, we thank. You for your word, Lord.
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That you give us strength, you give us wisdom to be able to
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understand your Word, and you help us, O God, to be able to
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just put it into. Our lives and to do it.
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Not just to hear it, but to be doors of it.
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That's what you challenge yourself every time we open your
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Word, Lord, and this is Your word.
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It's not the word of who's teaching it.
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It's the word of the one who wrote it, the one who's who
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inspired it. You are the creator of God.
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You are the God of this Bible, Lord, and we thank you that your
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word is available to us so that we do know what it is that you
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have for us to do. And Father not only did.
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You give it to. Us in written form, but even
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before that, Lord, you gave it to us in the form of your Son
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Jesus Christ, who came and lived these things out, all these
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things that we're talking about the one who.
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Never. Committed a sin of omission or
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Commission. He never speak evil, a word of
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evil about anybody. He didn't even revile when
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people reviled against him. And even when he was persecuted,
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the Bible says that he didn't threaten, but instead he
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committed himself to the one who judges righteously.
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So we thank you, Lord, for that sacrifice, the sacrifice, Lord,
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that gives us eternal life, the sacrifice that through your
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broken body, in the shedding of your blood, gave us salvation.
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It gave us redemption. The.
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Forgiveness of our sins. So today, Lord, we honor you, we
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honor what you've done for us, Lord, and we honor who we are in
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you, and we ask. O God, that you will receive.
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This service that you will receive, Lord, our worship, our
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praise. Receive it, Lord, as a sweet.
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Smelling savour in. Your nostrils that you would be
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pleased with us Lord, and you will show us what to do to be
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pleased of you, Lord, we thank you for that in Jesus name.
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So the night in which Jesus was. Betrayed, he took the.
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Bread, and when he had given. Thanks.
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He broke it and he said. Take and eat.
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This is my body which is broken for you.
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Eat this in remembrance of me. In the same manner, he also took
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the cup. And after supper.
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He said this cup. Is the new covenant in my blood
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which is shed for the? Forgiveness of sins of many.
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Drink this and as. Often as you drink it.
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Drinking and remembrance of me. So when you drink this cup and
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you eat. This bread we do show the Lord's
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death till he come. Amen.
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If anybody would like to ask for forgiveness for sins of omission
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or Commission, the altar is open and you're welcome to come.