James 1:22-25

In our study, I'm going to reference some charts.

If you have a bulletin already in your hands, you'll see these already and probably have already thought, what in the world are these?

If you don't have one in your hand right now, I think you'll be benefited by having one in your hand.

This will not magically appear on the screen over my left shoulder.

So if you don't have a bulletin and you'd like one, Adam's got a stack of them in the back and he'd be glad to put one in your hand right now.

If you'll raise your hand, he will run around the room and make this happen.

Here's some hands.

Okay, very good, Adam.

Keep him high for him so he can see him.

Don't do a little half elbow hand.

Do a full hand.

Let him get around the room and get him to you.

I believe these will be helpful to you.

I'll do my best to talk about them in such a way that you may not need them, but just in case.

As those are coming around, let me remind you, in last week's text, we were exhorted by James to be quick to hear in verse 19.

And I made the specific case to you that James is telling us to be quick to hear God's word.

There's a broader application to this idea of being quick to hear and slow to speak and slow to anger.

But specifically, he's talking about being quick to hear God's word as he goes on in verse 20 to exhort us to receive with meekness the implanted word.

Two weeks ago, in celebration of Reformation Day, we considered 2 Peter 1, verse 16 through chapter 2 and verse 3,

2 Peter 1:16

and the need for us always to be reforming by God's word.

To come back to it again and again and again.

Hold up our lives and the function of our church, the light of God's word.

Peter writes in verse 19 of 2 Peter chapter 1,

2 Peter 1 · chapter mention

And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.

So, we will do well to hear God's word and to be transformed by God's word has been the theme that's been kind of picked up over the last couple of weeks.

And today's text continues this line of reasoning.

So, before I read James chapter 1, beginning in verse 22 and following,

James 1 · chapter mention

I remind you, beloved, that this is God's word to us.

It has bearing on us today, sitting in this room.

It was written for his glory and for our good.

And so, we would all do well to listen to it in order to believe its promises and to obey its commands.

James chapter 1, beginning in verse 22.

James 1 · chapter mention

But be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.

For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror.

For he looks at himself and goes away at once, forgets what he was like.

But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets, but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.

There are times when we come to a text in God's word and I want to read it and I just want to go, okay, let me read it one more time for you and we'll be done.

And initially, this is kind of the impulse for me of a text like this, right?

Don't just be a hearer, be a doer.

Everybody got it?

And to walk away from it.

But there's a lot to consider and I think there's especially a lot to consider in our age about what a text like this means for the church.

So we are going to study it.

We're going to keep it open and we're going to continue to look at it over the next half hour or so.

James here in this text juxtaposes two types of people.

And notice that they are both hearers of the word.

So they're within the category of those who are hearing the word.

But only one is obedient to the word.

Let's consider this text with a very simple outline.

Number one, the way of the deceived.

And number two, the way of the blessed.

The way of the deceived and the way of the blessed.

So first, the way of the deceived.

James desires that his hearers not be deceived.

And he's giving them instruction to that very end.

So you have to notice just off the cuff that it is possible to be a hearer of the word and to be deceived.

I think he's even suggesting that you can be quick to hear and slow to speak and slow to anger.

That you can sit under the instruction of the word and take the word in and yet be deceived.

Out of great love and out of great care for you, for your soul.

Let me say to you, my friends, it is altogether possible to believe that you are in the faith.

That you have placed your trust in the personal work of Jesus Christ.

But to be deceived.

And we say these kinds of things a lot in the life of our church.

Because we live in an age where it seems that many people are, in fact, deceived.

But I want you to know that we don't do this because we want to cause doubt in your heart.

We want you to have the assurance of your salvation.

We want you to stand confident in Christ.

We don't want you to come here every week and walk away going, I just don't know.

But we want you to know.

And often the warning is not issued.

And so we want to clearly, with great clarity, issue the warning.

It's possible to think you're in the faith and not be in the faith.

We live in an age of cheap grace.

I want to define that term for you.

And I'm going to do it with the one who coined the term.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who was an early 20th century pastor.

You need to learn about him.

He's a wonderful study in history.

And he defines this term cheap grace as opposed to costly grace in his book, The Cost of Discipleship.

So listen to this paragraph from that book.

Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance.

Baptism without church discipline.

Communion without confession.

Absolution without personal confession.

Cheap grace is grace without discipleship.

Grace without the cross.

Grace without Jesus Christ living and incarnate.

Costly grace is the treasure hidden in the field.

For the sake of it, a man will go and sell all that he has.

It is the pearl of great price to buy, which the merchant will sell all his goods.

It is the kingly rule of Christ.

For whose sake a man will pluck out the eyes, which causes him to stumble.

It is the call of Jesus Christ at which the disciple leaves his nets and follows him.

To follow Christ is costly.

It requires all of us.

Last week, I rushed through a reading of the parable of the sower from Mark chapter 4.

Mark 4 · chapter mention

Toward the end of the sermon.

I want to put this toward the beginning of our time together today.

And so, if you will, turn with me.

Keep James chapter 1, Mark.

James 1 · chapter mention

We're coming right back to it.

But turn with me to Mark chapter 4.

Mark 4 · chapter mention

And let's take another slightly less hurried look at this text.

Mark chapter 4, verses 3 through 9.

Mark 4:3–9

Now, as I read this, I will add comments.

But these comments are Jesus' explanation following his telling of this parable.

This is one of those rare parables where he tells us exactly what it means.

And he says this beginning in verse 3 of Mark 4.

Listen.

There's a call right away to be quick to hear.

Listen.

Behold, a sower went out to sow.

And we're told later that the sower is one who's sowing the word.

Who's making a broad gospel call.

Sowing the word.

And as he sowed, some seed fell along the path.

And the birds came and devoured it.

So it's seed that never takes root at all.

Satan comes along and snatches it away.

Satan is the father of lies.

So some other lies come in and take the seed of the truth away.

Verse 5.

Other seed fell on rocky ground where it did not have much soil.

And immediately it sprang up since it had no depth of soil.

So there's some apparent growth from this.

But then verse 6 says,

And when the sun rose, it was scorched.

And since it had no root, it withered away.

We're told that the sun is tribulation or trouble and persecution.

So trial comes into the life of this soil.

And it withers.

And it doesn't come back.

Right?

There's no progress.

Verse 7.

Other seed fell among thorns.

And the thorns grew up and choked it.

And it yielded no grain.

And Jesus tells us later that these thorns are the cares and the riches of the world.

And lastly, other seed fell into good soil and produced grain,

growing up and increasing and yielding 30-fold and 60-fold and 100-fold.

And this is the fruit of righteousness.

Right?

People who are producing good works.

And he concludes the parable in verse 9 by saying,

And he who has ears to hear, let him hear.

Be quick to hear.

Understand that it is possible to receive the word and to not bear fruit.

James here in our text, you can go back to James 1,

uses a bit of a parable in warning us not to deceive ourselves.

That's what he's doing in verse 23 and verse 24.

If you're a hearer of the word and not a doer,

if you're not obedient to the word that you hear,

then you're like a man who looks intently at your natural face in a mirror.

You look at your face.

You see your face.

And what does he say happens?

He looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like.

It doesn't bear any work in your life at all.

Look in the mirror and you forget what you look like.

If we are saved by Christ, right,

we have been made fundamentally new.

We no longer have hearts that are bent toward the world,

toward sinfulness,

towards rebellion against God.

We now have hearts that are bent toward obedience,

toward being his children.

And our lives will, in varying degree,

look different or fundamentally changed.

In the discipline of my children,

I say to them all the time,

you're my kids, right?

And I love you.

And my children want to obey.

My children want to listen to their loving father, right?

They want to be identified with their father and his ways.

And of course, I don't do this perfectly.

But when my children disobey,

I don't reject them as my children.

I don't put them out on the curb with a free child sign around their neck.

But I say to them again,

you're my child.

And my children want to listen to the loving instruction of their father.

Imperfect, but loving instruction.

And beloved, we have a heavenly father

whose instruction is always perfect.

It is never with fail.

It always is the right instruction for us.

And therefore, as his children,

we ought to want to obey.

We'll do it imperfectly,

but we ought to desire

to turn away from the things of this world

and to turn toward God.

If we have been delivered from our bondage to sin,

we will be moved progressively

to look more and more like our Savior

from day to day.

A quotation on your bulletin by Thomas Brooks.

He says,

There is no fear of knowing too much of the Bible.

Right?

Oh, no, the Bible.

Right?

It is a rich, rich book

for our good and for the glory of God.

There is no fear of knowing too much of the Bible, he says,

but there is a great amount of fear

that goes into practicing too little.

Now, I think at this point,

it may be helpful to make careful distinctions

about how we are saved

and how we are kept to the end.

There's always a fear

in talking about sanctification,

which is what we're going to be discussing at length,

of making people believe

that they are saved by their works.

No, you are not saved by your works.

I want to be very clear about that.

No, no, no.

We are saved by the works of another,

the Lord Jesus Christ.

His perfect work,

his sacrificial death.

We cannot be saved by our works.

So you've got to write that big

at the top of your page.

If that's going to be confusing to you

at any point

in the rest of what I'm going to say today,

we cannot be saved by our works.

But our works will give evidence

of our salvation.

Now, to work this out for you a bit,

I'm going to give to you

what is called the ordo salutis

or order of salvation.

We are first elected

before the foundation of the world.

God has chosen people for his glory.

Second, for our benefit,

an atonement was made.

Jesus Christ died in our place,

paid the penalty for our sin.

Third, there's a general gospel call made.

Anybody sitting in this room

who is a Christian heard the gospel,

whether it was proclaimed,

word, or picked up and read

in a track form,

in the scripture itself,

some way the gospel of Jesus Christ

was shared with you.

There was a gospel call made.

And the spirit of Christ

took that gospel call

and made an inward call.

It's step four.

An inward gospel call was made.

And he made your heart new

in the act of regeneration, right?

Caused your heart to be changed

so that, in step six,

you could believe

in the gospel of Jesus Christ.

You could repent

and place faith in your conversion

in this gospel call.

And at that moment,

step seven,

you were declared by God justified,

declared righteous.

In Christ,

all of your sins forgiven,

all of his righteousness

given to you,

you were justified in him.

Step eight in the Ordo Salutis,

you are sanctified.

And we find in the scripture

three different tenses

for this word.

So I want to be clear about this, right?

There's both a past,

present,

and future use of this word

because to be sanctified

to mean to be declared

holy or set apart.

So there's a past tense to this,

like when you are justified,

you are also sanctified.

You are set apart.

Set apart for God.

But there's also a present reality to that.

We are being set apart.

We are growing in our holiness

in the way in which we represent God.

And this is the most common usage

of this term.

Typically,

when you hear it spoken,

right,

from a stage,

from a pulpit,

we talk about sanctification.

This is what we're talking about,

right?

The life in which we now live.

Having been justified,

we are being sanctified.

And then from time to time,

it'll also be used in a future tense.

We'll be fully and finally set apart one day.

And for that,

we typically use the term glorification,

which is the last step in that, right?

When our body of flesh

will be put off fully,

we'll be delivered completely from sin

when we're in the presence of our Savior.

So election,

atonement,

a general gospel call,

an inward gospel call,

work by the Spirit,

regeneration,

conversion,

which happens with repentance and faith,

justification,

sanctification,

glorification,

right?

So again,

hear me,

we are not saved by our works.

But as a proof that we have been saved

by grace alone,

through faith alone,

in the personal work of Jesus Christ alone,

we will make this evident

by the power of the Spirit,

through progressive sanctification.

There is much well-meaning confusion

about the nature of sanctification,

which is why I want to bring clarity

to the issue, right?

By showing you the five prominent views,

some more prominent than others.

And this is the back of your bulletin.

This is why I think you'll benefit

from having this in your hands.

Please don't see this as a distraction

to the text today, right?

I'm trying to explain to you

why James picks this up,

why he says it's important

that we be doers of the word

and not just hearers, right?

This is all an explanation

of how it is

that we can deceive ourselves.

So first, and quickly,

and I want to say,

I didn't create any of these images.

I don't want to be a plagiarist here.

So if you want to know

where I got these things from,

I'll be happy to send them to you.

I'll send you the article

that they're found in,

explains these things more and more.

So first, the Wesleyan view,

sanctification,

taught originally by John Wesley.

Note, in every one of these diagrams,

the cross is the point of salvation.

That's what it's communicating.

So you'll see first work of grace

in this first one.

Saved by grace, Wesley would have said,

but non-sanctified at this point.

And at some point in the life of a Christian,

there's some crisis of faith

and a second working of grace.

This is what he argued.

And at this point in the Christian's life,

they experience entire sanctification,

or he also called it Christian perfection.

He didn't mean that we were made entirely like Christ,

but that we would put off all known sin.

Still capable of sinning,

but we would put off all known sin.

And in this chart,

the little dotted arrows pointing up and down

means that Wesley would argue

that you could step out of this state of perfection

and then back into this state of perfection.

But it wasn't so much a progress being made,

but an either or.

You're stepping in,

you're stepping out of this position.

Out of this,

I'd suggest to you,

some very unhealthy views of sanctification have come.

I don't know that Wesley would have supported,

but perhaps some who hold this view of sanctification

claim that they haven't sinned in years.

You hear that claim being made.

And I hope that you go,

what?

I've probably sinned,

not known,

in the moment that you've seen me standing on this stage,

that some way my inclinations or my motives

have been wrong in what I've done.

But Wesley brought it down to this very narrow,

known sin category.

And even then,

I would say,

how could you claim

if you're not paying attention,

if you think in years you haven't sinned?

Now,

out of this Wesleyan view,

the Wesleyan view collided with Pentecostalism,

and some other views came about.

I made these small to fit them on the page,

but also because they're kind of subcategories

of this same view of sanctification.

So you have the Keswick view,

which is a region in England.

That's where the name comes from,

the Keswick view.

And in this,

you may have heard this phrase before,

let go and let God.

The key to this view is trusting,

not trying.

In the same way,

you're saved,

but here you're not spirit-filled.

They would call you a defeated Christian.

And I don't know about you,

but when I was converted,

I was in no way defeated.

Christ declared me victorious in him.

They make the distinction

between the carnal person

and the spiritual person.

Again,

another crisis of faith

where a person stops trying so hard

and just lets go

and has God work in them.

Perfection.

Another spirit-filled,

victorious Christian life.

The congregational holiness movement

came out of this.

We have a congregational holiness

congregation that meets

just down the road here.

Free Chapel,

if you're familiar with,

is a congregational holiness church.

I don't know how both of these congregations,

if they hold this view strictly or not,

but this is

the view that birthed

those kinds of movements.

Also,

the Pentecostal view,

right?

You're saved.

This is the first work of grace,

but you're a defeated Christian

at that time

until

you're

filled with the spirit.

You get the spirit baptism,

right?

Many Pentecostals will argue

that's the first time

you receive

the spirit,

that you're evidenced

in

various outward signs

like speaking in tongues

and you live this

victorious Christian life

at that second work

of grace

in your life.

Now,

some of us may encounter people

who are believing these

and may not even know,

right?

Probably few people

would say to you,

oh,

I hold the Keswick view

of sanctification,

but you might see it work in,

maybe even in your own thinking,

the way you ought to live.

I've been saved

by the grace of God.

I ought to live more perfectly

than I'm currently living.

You might have some of this work

inside of your

thought process.

The one I'm more concerned about

tends to be held

more regularly

is the Chaferian view

of sanctification.

This view

comes out of,

there's three prominent

theologians

that have espoused this view.

The primary one

is Lewis Sperry Chafer.

That's the Chaferian view.

And they all

come out of

Dallas Theological Seminary.

Now,

this is a prominent view

in American evangelicalism.

I grew up

in churches

under this view

of sanctification.

We get phrases like

backslidden

and the idea

of rededication

from this view

of sanctification.

You may be

more familiar with it

than you

realize.

This view

divides up

mankind

into three different categories.

First,

the natural

or unconverted

man.

second,

the carnal,

which is the converted

but not spirit-filled

man.

Again,

the term defeated

is often

used in this case.

This is a person

that accepts

Christ

as Savior.

This view

would argue

that you can make

a profession

of faith in Christ

most typically

during an invitation.

So you've walked

an aisle,

you've signed

a card,

and they want

to give you assurance

at that moment.

So you've accepted

Christ as your Savior,

but

you've not

accepted Him

as your Lord.

They draw a distinction

between the two.

You can have Jesus

as Savior

and not as Lord,

but there will be

some crisis of faith

in your life

where you really

dedicate yourself

to this.

And at that point,

they would call you

spirit-filled,

at which point

you begin this process

of bit by bit

by bit growing

in holiness.

A little more tomorrow

than the day

before.

Now,

perhaps I need

a doctorate

to understand

the arguments

of the Chaferian view.

And perhaps

that doctorate

would have to come

from Dallas

Theological Seminary.

But I want to suggest

that if I am

quick to hear

and slow to speak,

that the Bible

makes it plain

that we are to have,

if we're going to have

Jesus as our Savior,

then He must

also be our Lord.

I love the doctrine

of the perspicuity

of Scripture,

the clarity

of the Bible.

So let me just read

to you a couple of texts.

Jesus said

in John chapter 14

John 14 · chapter mention

and verse 15,

this Jesus

that we're talking about,

He said,

if you love Me,

you will keep

My commandments.

How do we have

Jesus as Savior?

Certainly we love

Him as Savior.

He saved my soul

and suggests

that we don't

then have to keep

His commandments.

If we love Christ,

we love His commandments.

He must be our Savior

and our Lord.

God bless you

The Apostle Peter

wrote in 2 Peter chapter 1

2 Peter 1 · chapter mention

and verse 10,

Therefore,

brothers,

be all the more diligent

to confirm your calling

and election.

And this is on the tail

of a bunch of qualities

that should be exhibited

in the life of a Christian.

For if you practice

these qualities,

you will never fall.

James,

the brother of Jesus,

wrote further

in this letter

that we're studying

in James chapter 2

James 2 · chapter mention

and verse 14,

What good is it,

my brothers,

if someone says

he has faith

but does not have works?

Seems very clear to me.

As if he's saying,

What good is it,

my brothers,

if someone says

he has Jesus as Savior

but not as Lord?

Can that faith

save him?

James asks

and he'll go on

to argue

that it can't.

James chapter 2

James 2 · chapter mention

and verse 20,

Do you want to be shown,

you foolish person,

that faith,

apart from works,

is useless?

The Apostle John

wrote in 1 John chapter 2

1 John 2:15

verse 15

and following,

Do not love the world

or the things in the world.

If anyone loves the world,

the love of the Father

is not

in him.

For all there's in the world

the desires of the flesh

and the desires of the eyes

and pride of life

is not from the Father

but is from

the world.

And in 1 John chapter 5

1 John 5 · chapter mention

in verse 3,

John writes,

This is the love of God

that we keep

his commandments

and his commandments

are not

burdensome.

Many years ago

in the life

of this church

I had a young man

who was a

college student

at the time

walk up to me

and said,

My father is furious

with you.

This is not a thing

you want to hear

a college student

say,

although it's not

the only time

I've heard it.

I said,

Really?

Why?

And he said,

You're a heretic

because you believe

in lordship salvation.

And I had no concept.

I was like,

I don't know

what that even means.

And so I said to him,

Well,

I'm going to go look

into that.

If I've erred in any way

I certainly want to be

made aware of it.

I don't want to teach

a heresy

in the church.

So I went to my computer

that afternoon

and I typed in

lordship salvation

and very quickly

within a few moments

went,

Oh,

Oh yeah,

I totally believe

this to be the case.

If we're to have

Jesus as our savior,

he must be our Lord.

He's going to work in us

not with perfection.

Don't hear me say that.

I'm not saying I'm perfect.

That's not what I'm saying.

But if Jesus is my savior,

I will desire

to grow in holiness.

I want to honor him.

I want to listen

to his good commands.

So the next Lord's day,

I went to this young man

and I said,

Yep,

I would suggest to you

that I am not a heretic,

but that is what I believe

to be true.

And I turned to first John

chapter five in verse three.

This is the love of God

that we keep his commandments

and his commandments

are not burdensome.

And I'm very grateful

that this young guy

searched out the scripture

and stayed with our church

until he moved away

and he is our accountant

for our church

to this day.

Right?

So if Jesus is our Lord,

we will be pursuing holiness.

Right?

We will find this miraculous work

in us

that we'll want to turn away

from the things of the world

and turn toward

the things of God.

But we don't do this

immediately.

We don't do this

with perfection.

John also wrote

in first John chapter one

and verse eight,

if we say we have no sin,

we deceive ourselves

and the truth

is not in us.

Right?

So James warns us

that we ought to be very careful

not to deceive ourselves.

Right?

That we ought to be doers

of this word.

We ought to love

the commands of God

and want to follow God.

John also says,

but don't be deceived

and think that you

don't have

sin.

So we must be careful.

Do not be deceived.

We're going to be told

verse 25

that we're to persevere.

We're to continue

to follow.

That it's going to take

effort on our part.

And we do not do this alone.

This is why you need

the church.

The greatest affirmations

my salvation

is that I have a group

of people

that I walk together with.

A group of people

who are looking

into my life.

A group of people

who bring to me

loving correction

when I'm at fault.

That I might repent

and continue

to pursue

Christ.

We need the spirit.

We need the word.

We need

one another.

Be careful.

Do not be

deceived.

It is very possible

to be a hearer

of the word

and to think

that you're a Christian

and your life

looks nothing

like the word.

Don't be deceived.

Help others

not to be

deceived.

So this is the

way of the deceived.

Right?

Always hearing,

never acting.

But we also see

the way of the

blessed.

He says,

but the one who looks

into the perfect law

and this word,

this Greek word

looks means gaze.

It's a deep gazing.

Right?

It's not merely

a quick glance.

It's a staring

within the perfect

law.

Right?

The commands

given to us.

The law of liberty.

The gospel of Jesus

Christ that sets us

free from bondage

to having to earn

our acceptance

before God.

But the law of liberty

that sets us free

from that.

Sets us free

from having to

earn salvation,

which we cannot do.

But a glorious law

that we get to follow

now out of grateful

obedience to what

God has done

for us.

So the one who does

this,

who looks intently

into this law

and perseveres

in it,

who continues

to work,

to labor,

being no hearer

who forgets,

but a doer

who acts.

He will be,

there's this blessing

declared,

blessed.

He will be blessed.

In his doing.

So this brings us

on the back of your bulletin

to this final view,

which is most common

called the reformed view.

And just to be fair,

I put that on the sheet,

but I really just wanted

to say the biblical view.

I really make good effort

at being kind-hearted

to people that I disagree with.

And I disagree,

I disagree

with the Chafferian view

because I think

that it's damning

to people.

I think there are people

who think they're Christians

and they're fine

with that Jesus

is Savior piece.

They're okay with that.

They're like,

yeah, yeah,

got the Jesus is Savior

part of this

and I'm good.

And they think

they're in the faith

and they're not in the faith.

They're deceiving

themselves

and they're being deceived.

So,

the biblical view

of sanctification.

When we are saved,

which is entirely

a work of God,

we did nothing to earn it.

We could do nothing

to earn it.

We were dead in our sin.

He made us alive

in Christ.

We're submitting to him

both as Savior

and Lord.

And we don't do this perfectly.

We still carry around

the baggage of our flesh.

We have new hearts

but we still have our flesh.

And our flesh just loves sin

but our new hearts do not.

So,

it's the work of a Christian

as an individual

and a Christian in community

to take a careful look

of our lives,

to make our calling

and election sure,

to be constantly looking

and assessing

and not in an obsessive way,

but to ask,

am I growing in holiness?

Do I see an improvement

within me?

Do I love the things

of the world

or do I love the things

of God?

When I sin,

am I hardened

to that sin?

Or do I hate that sin?

Do I want

to put it off

and put on

righteousness?

Do I see

the Spirit of God

active

and at work in me?

Right?

As I take up the word,

am I being a doer

of the word?

This view

of sanctification

is synergistic.

It takes effort

on our part.

We don't let go

and let God.

We continue to work.

We pick up the daily things

that we ought to do.

The habits of grace.

The things that God

has given to us

to grow in Him.

And we press

and we press

and we press

recognizing all along

anything good

that we accomplish

is a work

of the Spirit

in our lives.

Bringing about obedience

bit by bit

by bit.

We ask others

to examine our lives.

Brother,

what do you think?

Am I in the faith?

Do you see me

growing in Christ?

When we have our doubts,

we look to our brothers.

Brother?

Sister?

Am I in the faith?

I've given much counsel

over the past decade plus

to people

who are doubting to say,

oh,

but I've watched your life

over these past years.

And you love

the things of God.

You are growing

in your faith.

Jesus tells a parable

in Matthew chapter 21

Matthew 21 · chapter mention

beginning in verse 28

and following.

He says,

what do you think?

A man had two sons

and he went to the first

and said,

son,

go and work

in the vineyard today.

And he answered,

I will not.

But afterward,

he changed his mind

and he went.

So he heard the word

and eventually

he was obedient

to the word.

And he went

to the other son

and said the same.

And he answered,

I go, sir,

but did not go.

So he heard the word,

but he was not obedient

to the word.

Jesus asked,

which of the two

did the will

of his father?

And they said,

these are the Pharisees,

the first,

Jesus said to them,

truly I say to you,

the tax collectors

and the prostitutes

go into the kingdom

of God before you.

Hated,

hated people

by the Pharisees.

For John came to you

in the way of righteousness

and you did not believe him.

But the tax collectors

and the prostitutes

believed him.

And even when you saw it,

you did not afterward

change your minds

and believe him.

Our belief

is evidenced

by our obedience.

Hear that.

Oh, hear that.

Do not be deceived.

Hear James' exhortation

one more time.

So at the beginning,

I said,

I just wanted to read it

and say, okay,

I'll read it one more time.

Well, I said a bunch of things

and now let me read it

one more time.

But be doers of the word

and not hearers only

deceiving yourselves.

For if anyone is a hearer

of the word

and not a doer,

he is like a man

who looks intently

at his natural face

in a mirror.

For he looks at himself

and goes away

and at once forgets

what he was like.

But the one who looks

into the perfect law,

the law of liberty,

and perseveres,

being no hearer

who forgets

but a doer who acts,

he will be blessed

in his doing.

Let's pray together.