Latest / Mount Eaton Church / The Word - God Said - “Hear The Word, Do The Word” - James 1

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The Word - God Said - “Hear The Word, Do The Word” - James 1 · Mount Eaton Church

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Father, I just want to praise you and thank you
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for your faithfulness and for your word, Lord.
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We have learned quite a bit about your word,
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and we are asking that you would help us to be
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doers. Show us how important it is to do what
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you command, not just to hear it. and the reality
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of the attitude of the heart of obedience is
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seen in how we actually do your word. May you
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be honored and glorified. May the full counsel
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of your word be taught today, and may we as your
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people rightly divide it for your glory. We do
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praise you and we thank you for your faithfulness.
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In Jesus' name, amen. James chapter 1. James,
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a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ,
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to the twelve tribes in the dispersion. Greetings.
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Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet
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trials of various kinds, for you know that the
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testing of your faith produces steadfastness,
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and let steadfastness have its full effect that
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you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
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If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God,
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who gives generously to all without reproach,
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and it will be given him. But let him ask in
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faith with no doubting. For the one who doubts
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is like the wave of the sea that is driven and
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tossed by the wind. For that person must not
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suppose that he will receive anything from the
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Lord. He is a double -minded man and unstable
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in all his ways. Let the lowly brother boast
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in his exaltation. And let the rich in his humiliation.
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Because like a flower of the grass he will pass
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away. For the sun rises with its scorching heat
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and withers the grass. falls and its beauty perishes
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so also will the rich man fade away in the midst
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of his pursuits blessed is the man who remains
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steadfast under trial for when he has stood the
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test he will receive the crown of life which
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God has promised to those who love him. Let no
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one say when he is tempted, I'm being tempted
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by God, for God cannot be tempted with evil and
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he himself tempts no one. But each person is
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tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own
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desire. Then desire, when it is conceived, gives
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birth to sin and sin, when it is fully grown,
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gives birth, brings forth death. Do not be deceived,
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my brothers. My beloved brothers, every good
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gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming
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down from the Father of lights, with whom there
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is no variation and no shadow due to change.
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Of his own will he brought us forth by the word
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of truth, that we should be a kind of first fruits
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of his creation. Know this, my beloved. My beloved
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brothers, let every person be quick to hear,
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slow to speak, slow to anger. For the anger of
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a man does not produce the righteousness of God.
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Therefore, put away all filthiness and rampant
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wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted
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word which is able to save your souls. Be doers
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of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
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For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not
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a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at
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his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at
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himself and goes away and at once forgets what
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he looks like. But the one who looks into the
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perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres,
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being no hearer, who forgets, but a doer who
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acts, he will be blessed in his doing. If anyone
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thinks he is religious and does not bridle his
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tongue, but deceives his heart, this person's
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religion is worthless. Religion that is pure
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and undefiled before God the Father is this,
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to visit orphans and widows in their affliction
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and to keep oneself unstained from the world.
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There's a lot of practicality here. And the most
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important part of the reality of this chapter
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is verse 27. So we're going to be addressing
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those things. But before we get to the heart
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of the message, which is 19 through 27, I don't
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want to do a disjustice by just going through,
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even though we could, and expound on just 19
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through 27. I think it'd be important. Do we
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got a duck? I'm hearing, I'm like. It was a good
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time to be funny. It was a good spot. All right.
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One of the most important things we need to do
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is we have to make sure that we are thinking
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through these kind of practical things in here
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and then really get into what James is saying.
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Okay. First thing I want us to notice is in verse
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one, the dispersion. This is during the time
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when the Christians in Jerusalem were scattered.
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James is the brother of Jesus. He is the head
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of the church. He's the apostle that's overseeing
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the church in Jerusalem. That's his responsibility.
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And he is sending this letter out to the brothers
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who were in Jerusalem. And they have been now
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dispersed across the area. And how would you
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encourage the brothers to hold? firm to the faith
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to not let the trial and the testing that has
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been placed on them to discourage them but to
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hold truth to the word and do it and so what
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he does is he starts it off quite frankly okay
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i want you to pay attention number one notice
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what it says in verse two For you know that the
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testing of your faith produces. Why does God
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allow suffering in your life? Why do we go through
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difficulty? We go through difficulty because
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he wants our faith to produce steadfastness.
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The steadfastness is the willing to stand under
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the pressure regardless of what's happening in
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your life. That is one of the most difficult
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things for American Christians to do. is when
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things get difficult we have a tendency to run
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away from God abandon the church not really stand
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for the faith because life's too difficult we
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have no idea what difficulty is when we look
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at the reality of faith We have a difficulty
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or an idea of what it means to live life, right?
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Like we have loved ones that get sick and die
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and we go through our own sufferings and pains
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and stuff like that. It's everyday life. Everybody
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in the world goes through that. But this is a
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specific testing. Persecution. So why does God
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allow or why does God test us? He is testing
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our faith so that it produces steadfastness.
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And notice what it says. When steadfastness has
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its full effect in your life, you are perfected
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and complete, lacking nothing. I kind of like
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that. He's telling you what the answer to a victorious
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Christian life looks like. The second is ask
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in faith. with no doubting. Now, there are many
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brothers and sisters, I'm sure, throughout Christendom
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that would state that we can ask God for whatever
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we want. As long as we don't doubt, we'll get
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it. But that's not what this means. It doesn't
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mean that if I want this, I can believe God and
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I'll have it. And that is one of the main issues,
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I think, that we've experienced quite a bit with
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the prosperity gospel folks. What does it mean
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that we should ask in faith with no doubting?
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What does it say in verse 5? If any of you lacks
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wisdom, what is wisdom? It is the knowledge and
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the truth of God applied. If anyone is lacking
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wisdom, let him ask God who gives generously
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to all without reproach. If you want the wisdom
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of God, God will give it to you. What else is
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the reality of this issue concerning faith? But
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let him ask in faith. What is faith? Being sure
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of what you hope for and the evidence of what
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you don't see. What do we know? We know that
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the word of God is God's promises in writing.
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His name is on his promises. His word is truth.
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What do we ask in faith? Faith is not believing
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that I will receive something. Faith is knowing
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the truth of the word of God and not doubting
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that God's word is true. Can you imagine how
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much more effective as believers we would be
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if we literally walked in the truth of the word
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and believed what God said is true, not what
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we think God will give me. God has promised that
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if I walk by faith, live in faith, that my faith
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will produce steadfastness. And when it is completed
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and as it reaches full effect, I will lack nothing.
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And so if I need the wisdom of God, that's the
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application of the knowledge of God lived in
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life, then I can ask him and I will live rightly,
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even under pressure. Number three, look what
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he says here. Why does he deal with these Two
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particular types of people in the church. I want
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you to notice something. In the church, there's
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no middle class. He just calls the lowly and
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the rich. Because everyone who's not rich is
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lowly. It's kind of interesting, I just say.
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And I'll be like, where's the middle class in
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that, whether it's not one? So most countries
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don't have middle class. Most countries just
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have lowly, poor, and rich. We're the only, we're
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one of very few countries that has middle class.
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So just saying on a modern day term. Anyway,
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what is he saying here? Let the lowly brother
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boast in his exaltation. What does God promise
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the poor? Blessed are the poor for they shall,
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what? Inherit the kingdom of God. Is there any
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kingdom, anything greater than that? No. We are
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receiving an inheritance as the children of God,
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of a kingdom that the world would probably do
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anything to get, but it can't. That's the reality.
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So we boast in our exaltation. We've been exalted
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from lowliness. To what? To kingship. We can
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live as kings with the king of kings and the
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Lord of lords. But look what he says to the rich.
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And the rich in his humiliation. Because why?
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What does the rich pursue on earth? What happens
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when the rich die? Do they take what they pursued
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with them? And that's exactly what he says here.
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So also will the rich man fade away in the midst
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of his pursuits. It doesn't mean that you can't
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want or it can't work to be wealthy here, but
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that your pursuits aren't defining you. What's
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the opposite of reaching out for your pursuits?
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Live in humility. Live as a slave. Not as a person
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who owns slaves. That's really what he's saying
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here. Live in humiliation. And that's quite difficult
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to be a doer. As a poor man, to live in our exaltation
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is not to live in bragging like we've done something,
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but to live in such a way that we exude. Or we
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show, reflect the goodness of our God because
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now I am in the same position as everyone else
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when it comes to the kingdom. But to the rich,
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in the same way that the poor serve and slave
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and work for the rich, the rich should be serving
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and slaving to take care of the poor. We read
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this later on. Number four. But each person is
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tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own
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desire. So here's, I was watching, my wife and
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I were watching a little thing on TV where a
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gentleman stated that Satan is the ruler of the
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world and he is controlling everything. That
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all the bad things that happen in your life are
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Satan's fault. Here's a problem. James chapter
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1. Is it really? What's really going on here?
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Well, it's because we're selfish. Each person
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is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his
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own desires. The reality of sin in your life
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is not Satan's fault. He didn't put anything
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in your life that wasn't already there. The sinful
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world knows how to tempt. It knows how to put
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stuff in your face. Bulletin boards. commercials.
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Lord knows today when you watch the Super Bowl,
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you're going to be watching Bunny. Please don't.
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That's crazy. But it's the reality. And people
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will go, I want to know what that's about. And
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what happens? They get lured and enticed by their
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own desire of curiosity. I'm like, I'm not even
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going to watch it. I'll be home watching something
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else. No Super Bowl for me. Because if that's
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what you're going to continue to produce and
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offer to the people that watch it, especially
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all the little kids, I'm really having a hard
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time with them. What does it produce in the heart
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and the mind of any individual? You can imagine.
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So each person in reality is... tempted when
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he is lured and enticed by his own desire and
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desire when it gives when it is full grown gives
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birth to sin and sin gives birth to death it's
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no one's fault but yours is what james is saying
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number five what's the reality of the work of
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god The reality of the work of God. Every good
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gift. The fact that we're saved. That God saves
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us. That he gives us the perfect gift of heaven.
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Salvation. Done perfectly through a perfect God.
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Given to an imperfect people by which he will
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make perfect. He has done it by his own will.
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See that kind of throws a monkey wrench in the
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free will argument. I could go through. A whole
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mess of scripture. But the reality is, even in
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James chapter 1, verse 18, he tells you, your
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very salvation, your very being is of his own
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will, which he brought forth by the word of truth.
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Who's the word of truth? Jesus. And he completes
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the statement that we should be a kind of first
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fruits of his creatures. The first fruits of
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his creatures, the ones who reflect the righteousness
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and holiness of a living God. How do we do that?
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How do we reflect? How do we show that we're
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the first fruits of his creatures? Number six.
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To do the word requires that the word be implanted
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in you. The word of God must be implanted in
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you. Hebrews 10, 16. This is the covenant, which
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that I make with them after those days, declares
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the Lord. I will put my laws on their hearts
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and write them on their minds. Who gives you
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the word? God. Who puts the word in you? God.
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So when he says that the word has been implanted
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in you, it's because he put it there. God put
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his word in you. Very interesting, isn't it?
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So James 1, 19 through 21. Now, know this, my
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beloved brothers. Let every person be quick to
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hear, slow to speak, slow to anger. Very important.
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You're going to find out that the quickest way
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to know if somebody is of God and who's not of
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God is their mouth. Because out of the abundance
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of the heart, the mouth speaks. Anger of man
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does not produce the righteousness of God. You
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can see who is of God and who's not by how he
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or she speaks in anger because she Or he feels
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like his rights or her rights have been violated.
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How dare you do that to me? My rights are violated.
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And we get angry. I deserve better than that.
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In some cases, that'd be true. But the reality
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is, because we think our rights have been violated
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or they have been violated, The Bible says that
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the anger of man does not produce the righteousness
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of God. Well, what does produce the righteousness
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of God? The Spirit of God. So in your anger,
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do not sin, the Scripture says. Not God's anger.
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God's anger is good and righteous and true. That's
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the reality. Ben, can you give Ronald Goetz a
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call, please? Thank you. Therefore, put away
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all filthiness and rampant wickedness. Put all
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of that away. Why? It's the opposite. Anger produces
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filthiness and rampant wickedness. Put it away,
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he says. And look, what is the answer to putting
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away filthiness and rampant wickedness? And receive
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the meekness, the implanted word. Receive with
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meekness the implanted word. It's the word of
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God that keeps us right. Which is able to save
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your souls. Remember the word that God put in
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you? So. The seven. How do we do this? To do
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the word requires that you not only hear, but
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act on it. To do the word requires that you not
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only hear, but act on it. You must hear the word
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and do it, not just hear it. Why? Deuteronomy
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8 .1. The whole commandment that I command you
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today, forget the V, I forgot to delete it. That
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you, not view, shall be careful to do. You shall
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be careful to do that you may live and multiply
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and go in and possess the land the Lord swore
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to give your forefathers. Do you hear that? There's
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all kinds of applications here. We're not going
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to get on the tangent. The only way that God...
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That the people of Israel were to receive the
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land as if they were being obedient. If they
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were doing the word carefully. It's his land.
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Why? But he's telling you that you must be careful
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to do. James 22 through 25. But be doers of the
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word. Pretty simple, isn't it? Be doers. Not
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hearers only. Deceiving yourself. Be doers of
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the word. Be the one that is actively doing.
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Not hearers only. Deceiving yourself. You hear
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the word. And this happens many times in churches
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every Sunday. People come in. They don't bring
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their Bibles. They sit there. They hear a message.
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They hear a word. From the Lord. No wonder no
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one can discern what the word of the Lord is.
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Because they don't know the word. They'll be
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like, the preacher gave the word of the Lord
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today. I'm going to hear that. Okay. No. We must
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hear the word of God. Because if we just hear
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only, we deceive ourselves. How is this deception?
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The reality is. We deceive ourselves because
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we're not living out what was given to us. For
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if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer,
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he is like a man who looks intently at his natural
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face in a mirror. Oh, can you imagine what it
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would be like if you woke up in the morning,
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looked at your face, and were like, oh, how are
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you? Walked away and go, I forgot what I look
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like. Kind of weird. But that's what it's like.
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For he looks at himself and goes away at once
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and forgets what he looks like. He doesn't even
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reflect anything of what he is naturally. So
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what's the point? That we as believers naturally
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should be reflecting Christ. That's what it says
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in verse 25. But the one who looks into the perfect
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law. The one who... digs into the law of God,
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the law of liberty. The law of God is freedom
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for a believer. It's not the school teacher who
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whips us. It's a school teacher who whips us
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when we aren't living, when we aren't saved,
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when we don't know Christ. The law reveals to
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us our sinfulness, but now that we are in Christ,
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the law reveals to us our righteousness. Christ.
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And so the law of liberty. And what does the
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law do? If we persevere, being no hearer who
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forgets but a doer who acts, we'll be blessed.
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And that's exactly what God was saying to them.
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If you carefully do what I command you, I will
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bless you. You want blessings? You want to really
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truly know what it means to be blessed by God?
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do his word. So pure religion is to be a doer
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of the word. You guys ever watch that little
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video? I did this with John and Nick this week.
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After we went through line by line, they were
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like, yeah, that's a really bad video. That is
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a really bad video. You ever seen that video
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where it says Jesus is greater than religion
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or Jesus hates religion video? You guys ever
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watch that on YouTube? I should play it for you.
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I really am not. I can't. It's totally heretical.
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I can do it on Wednesday because then I can teach
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you why it's so bad. You can't even get past
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the first five words. And you go, whoa. It's
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extremely deceptive. That being said. God doesn't
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hate religion. That's a lie. God loves religion.
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God loves his religion. God hates man's religion.
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But Christianity is not man's religion. It's
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God's religion. Christianity or religion is not
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some man -made institution. Religion in reality,
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God's religion, Is what we should be living.
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But man has corrupted God's religion. And as
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a result of a corrupted religion. We come up
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with all kinds of other ideas. James chapter
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4 verse 17. So whoever knows the right thing
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to do. And fails to do it. For him it is sin.
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It is sin. God loves. His religion. And Christianity
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is a religion. It's a life practice. It's what
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we do. So if anyone thinks he is religious and
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does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart,
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this person's religion is worthless. Remember
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I told you earlier that the quickest way to know
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if someone is truly a believer is to listen to
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their language. listen to what they say now that
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doesn't mean that we're not going to mess up
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i mess up we all mess up but the reality of consistent
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christian living is that we are putting a bridle
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we are we are being careful about what we say
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not going and destroying everyone and everyone
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and everything that disagrees with me because
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my truth is my truth and your truth is your truth
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and after all You don't have a right to mess
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with my truth. But as I said before, God could
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care less about your truth. And he really doesn't
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care about your opinion. You're like, oh, that's
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harsh. But that's true. Because if God was worried
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about everybody's opinion, he'd never get anything
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done. After all, I'm not going to say everybody
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has an opinion. All right. But notice what James
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says here. Religion. Life practice. Doing. That's
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what this word religion means. A doer of the
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faith. Religion that is pure and undefiled before
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God the Father is this. Visit the orphans and
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widows in their affliction. And to keep oneself
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unstained from the world. Now. Interesting enough,
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I was watching another interview this week of
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an Anglican bishop. Oh, thank God I remembered
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it in second service because the first service
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I totally forgot. It's the bishop. I was in Bible
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study. An Anglican bishop. And he is the bishop
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of the Anglican church in all of Jerusalem. He
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is the top -notch guy in the Anglican church.
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And what he shared concerning the Christians
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there would absolutely horrify you. They are
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going hungry in Israel. And his statement is,
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why are the Christians so quick to give money
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to Israel but not give money to their own family?
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Who's suffering and hurting. Why hasn't... Anybody
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talked about this? Because the Christian will
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always be hated. If they hated me, they will
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hate you also. Why do I say that? Because here,
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what we see in James' statement, and the same
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thing was happening then that's happening now,
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is that the real religion that is pure and undefiled
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of God the Father is to visit the orphans and
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widows in their affliction and to keep oneself
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unstained from the world. It is to take care
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of the marginalized family. He's speaking to
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the brothers and sisters that have been dispersed
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who now don't have children, who now don't have
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parents and women who now don't have husbands
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who can take care of them. This isn't the orphans
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and widows in all of Jerusalem because not all
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of the children and all of the widows have lost
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their loved ones. These are the persecuted Christians
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who have lost parents and husbands. And we know
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this to be true because Jesus says, they will
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know you are my disciples if you have love one
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for another. And we know this also because Jesus
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tells us again what the reality of good, true
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biblical religion looks like. Lord, when did
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we see you hungry and feed you and thirsty and
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give you drink and naked and clothe you and sick
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and care for you? When you did it for the least
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of these, you did it for me. Good, true biblical
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Christianity is taking care of the marginalized
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in God's house so that we can then go outside
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of the house to take care of the marginalized
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there. We're quick to take care of those outside
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of the house, but very slow to take care of those
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in. I can tell you, and I'm very thankful for
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our church, that we do work at this. We take
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good care of our family. And I give you all kudos
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for that. I am grateful for you. In that you
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are reflecting this truth. You are living pure
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religion. The hardest though, for all Christians,
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is holiness. To keep oneself unstained from the
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world. Care for those who cannot care for themselves
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and live rightly. That's the hardest. But that's
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real what true biblical pure religion looks like.
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So God doesn't hate religion. Jesus doesn't hate
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religion. He commands you to live it. And that
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is his expectation of you and his imperative
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for you. To do the word. Care for the marginalized.
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Live holy. Father, I want to thank you so much
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for your goodness. Thank you for your word. Thank
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you for your faithfulness. Thank you that you,
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Holy Spirit, live in us and that we can be guided
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through the truth as you illuminate us to the
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truth of the word by the very work and ministry
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you do in our lives, sanctifying us and conforming
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us into the image of your son, Lord Jesus. We
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thank you that you have given your life as a
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ransom for many. Bless your people and bless
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us as we learn to live your word. In Jesus' name,
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amen.