Sermon
James 1:19-26
Publisher transcript
Transcript
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Well, I guess it was in the days when Steve was still somewhat young in the mission, well that's not quite true.
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About 25 years ago, I don't know if Steve was not yet halfway through, where they finally ended up,
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a church gathered a bit like this, not too many miles from here,
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and I don't know all the details, thankfully, but halfway through the, I think it was the evening service,
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an argument broke out.
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Clearly some tensions had been under the surface for a long time,
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and the argument was between the two main families in this relatively small church, about 40, 45 people.
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Now what happened as a result of that argument?
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I don't know the details.
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But what happened was that more or less overnight, a church of 40 to 45 went down to a church of 5.
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And some of those people have never been back to church since.
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Others have gone to other churches, some have never been back.
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And whatever witness the church did have in the neighbouring community was completely blown.
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You can imagine it primarily, all the neighbours saying,
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did you hear about that church?
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What a bunch of hypocrites.
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Christians are just hypocrites, aren't they?
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And I suspect here tonight, there are some of us who've had that experience, haven't we?
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Christians are just hypocrites.
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Maybe you've been winded by it.
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Maybe, like me, you've been one of those hypocrites.
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And maybe for others, you've been hurt by tensions in churches in the past.
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I've not been in this church long enough to know some of the tensions that may have been in the past.
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Or maybe you're sitting here thinking, this could never happen to us.
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We're not a basket case like that other church you talked about, Stuart.
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Well, that other church was a Bible-believing, reformed church.
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So James has something to say for all of us.
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Whether we think it could happen or not, whether it's happened to us or not.
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And in these verses we're looking at, we hear how such rows can come about.
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Why it's wrong.
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And what we need to do to stop this happening to us.
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What we need to do to ensure we don't demolish the witness of a church somewhere.
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So how do these rows happen?
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Well, look at James' command here in verse 19.
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Know this, my beloved brothers.
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Let everyone be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger.
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Why do these rows happen?
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They happen because people are not quick to hear and slow to speak, but the other way around.
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They're quick to speak, quick to anger, and very slow to listen indeed.
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Now why is it that we get angry?
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What is it that makes you angry?
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What is it that makes me angry?
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Isn't it usually that something's getting in the way of what we want?
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So a car cuts us up on the roundabout.
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We get frustrated.
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What makes us quick to speak is the fact that we love our own voice.
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We think our point of view is right.
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When was the last time you got really angry about something?
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Let me tell you about what makes me angry.
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It's in the mornings at about 8 o'clock when I want to get to do my work,
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and my children are still messing around,
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not knowing where their book bag is,
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not able to put their coats on,
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not finding their shoes,
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and I'm going mad.
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Now, of course, part of that is my self-righteous anger.
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What do I want to do?
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I want to get down to work.
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Especially on Monday morning,
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I've got to stand there for Tuesday morning.
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Let me get on with God's work for my life.
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And our anger can be even worse
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when we think it's somehow righteous and allowed, isn't it?
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I think that's what's happening here in this community
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that James is fighting to.
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People are getting angry about stuff.
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They're not listening to each other.
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Why?
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Because they think they want what God wants.
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Look at verse 20.
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See the warning James gives?
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For the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.
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The righteousness of God is the righteousness,
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the right relationships among his people that he wants,
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that is his desire that he saved people for.
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So it seems these Christians James is writing to
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are people who are arguing with each other
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and not listening to each other
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because they think the church should be how they want it.
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They think that's what God wants.
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I'm sure you've known that
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in communities of believers, haven't you?
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I know I have.
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How many times have you heard it said
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or how many times have you said?
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I'm guilty of a number of these.
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This church would be so much better
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if only the marriage would look out for the single people
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and actually invite us around for dinner occasionally.
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This church would be so much better
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if only the elders actually knew what was going on
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and took time to listen to people.
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That's the problem.
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This church would be so much better
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if only we sang some of the songs that I really like.
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If only we knew what Sovereign Grace were up to.
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This church would be so much better if the sermons were shorter.
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My gifts were recognised.
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If those people over there actually got off their chairs and served
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instead of letting me do all the work.
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So you quickly think it's righteous anger, don't you?
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That actually we're doing, we're wanting what God wants, aren't we?
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James says no.
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The anger of man never produces the righteousness of God.
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So what makes us angry really is not that we want what God wants.
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We want God to want what we want, don't we?
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Everyone else wants what we want.
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That's why we don't stop to listen.
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We want to speak.
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That's why James is warning us here,
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be slow to speak.
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Slow to anger.
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Quick to listen.
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That's how arguments happen.
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That's how that church got to a stand-up fight in the middle of the service.
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People thought they were pursuing God's agenda, they weren't.
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They were pursuing their own agenda and not stopping to listen.
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So how can we avoid that again?
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How can we make sure that doesn't happen here?
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Well, three words James gives us.
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Receive, respond, submit.
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Receive, respond, submit.
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Look at receive first.
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Verse 21.
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Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness
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and receive with meekness the implanted word
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which is able to save your souls.
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I'm not a great gardener, but I do know this much.
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If you want to plant something that will actually grow and take root,
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what do you need to do first?
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You need to remove all the weeds, don't you?
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Look at the weeds James is talking about here.
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The weeds are filthiness and rampant wickedness.
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What is filthiness and rampant wickedness?
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At this point we're going to get out all sorts of sins for our minds.
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But hasn't James already defined them?
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Invert the previous verse.
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The filthiness is being quick to speak.
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Quick to become angry.
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That's the rampant wickedness.
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It's being slow to actually listen to other people.
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That's what we have to put away.
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That are the weeds that have to go.
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And what do we have to plant in its place?
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What needs to be implanted in its place?
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Well, it's interesting what James says, isn't it?
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The word there in verse 19 is
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to put things off.
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I'm sorry, verse 21 rather.
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Therefore put away, put off all filthiness.
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It's the language used in taking off clothes.
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So you expect James then to say,
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you've taken off these clothes,
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put on this next set of clothes.
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But he doesn't say that, does he?
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He doesn't talk about clothes.
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He talks about something being implanted into you.
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Verse 21.
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The implanted word.
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Received with meekness.
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The implanted word.
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Now meekness is the absolute opposite
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of pursuing our own agenda, isn't it?
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We pursue our own agenda in forceful pride.
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Meekness is absolutely the opposite.
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Meekness is one of the characteristics of Christ.
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2 Corinthians 10 verse 1.
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Paul talks about speaking to the Corinthians
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with the meekness or the gentleness of Christ.
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It's the same word.
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It's the word he used to describe
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a horse that's been broken.
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Its strength under control.
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Responding to its owner.
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So what is to be received with meekness?
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It's the implanted word
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which is able to save your souls.
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Now God had promised back in the Old Testament,
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back through the prophet Jeremiah,
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that one day he would write his law
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on people's hearts.
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There's a picture of how human beings
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are not naturally able to do what God wants.
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Naturally we are not slow to become angry.
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But God promised that because we couldn't keep his law,
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he would write his law on our hearts.
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That would be the implanted word.
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The law on the wall causes us to sin, doesn't it?
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It provokes us.
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You know, there's signs on buses saying,
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do not put your feet on the seat.
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I never thought of doing that,
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but thank you for giving me the idea.
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That's how the law works for us, isn't it?
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So God promised to implant his word into human hearts,
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to write his command on our hearts.
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And that is what is able to save our souls.
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No amount of self-discipline,
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no amount of self-help,
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no amount of following rules
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concerning us in changes.
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It's only receiving with meekness
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God's implanted word.
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You see what this word is.
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He describes it back in verse 18,
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back in the other column,
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just a little bit up,
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as the word of truth.
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The word of truth
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by which God brought us forth
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by the word of truth.
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That we should be a kind of first fruits as creatures.
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It's this word that brings new life right within us.
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That God uses to make us new people.
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That's what we need.
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That's what needs to be implanted in us.
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So how do we receive this word?
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We receive it with meekness,
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don't we?
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And do you notice the contrast
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between verse 19 and verse 21?
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Verse 19 is,
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be slow to speak.
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Sorry.
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Every person be quick to hear,
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slow to speak,
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slow to anger.
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That's obviously,
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James' people weren't doing that,
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were they?
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They were being very quick to speak,
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quick to angry,
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and very slow to hear.
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James is saying,
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if you want to actually try
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and be slow to anger,
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and quick to listen,
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then you need to receive God's word.
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And by the way,
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you're not going to receive God's word with meekness,
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if you're not listening to one another.
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If you're not listening to others,
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if you're quick to speak,
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and quick to get angry,
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and not quick to listen,
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then you're not receiving anyone else's word at all,
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are you?
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If that's your attitude to other people,
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then you will not receive God's word with meekness either.
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See, all through this letter,
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James keeps pointing out to us,
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that actually the way we treat other people,
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is indicative of what we,
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the way we're really acting towards God.
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We may say,
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that we love God,
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and worship him,
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and want to hear his word,
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but actually if we're despising other people,
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not listening to them,
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then we're not really in a place,
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where we can receive with meekness,
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God's implanted word.
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So we need to receive it with meekness,
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that means listening to others first,
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so that we will actually be listening to God.
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But it also means,
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not just receiving it with meekness,
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it means repenting, doesn't it?
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It means stopping pursuing our own agendas,
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and instead turning,
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and accepting God's agenda,
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instead.
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It means coming to him for forgiveness.
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It means confessing our sin,
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and seeking the forgiveness,
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that is only available in the Lord Jesus.
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He will then send his Holy Spirit,
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to implant his word in us,
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and to write his law on our hearts,
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to bring us forth by the word of truth,
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to make us new people.
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But also accepting this word,
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can just sound like it's passive,
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can't it?
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It sounds very internal.
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It is internal.
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When we accept people's food,
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we take it into us,
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then it becomes part of us.
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That's what it means to have God's word
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implanted into us.
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It's taking it in.
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So it's part of us.
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But that then,
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is not just a passive thing,
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but it becomes active.
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So having received,
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the second word James gives us,
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is to respond.
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Verses 22 to 25.
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Here's the second step,
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so that we don't end up fighting each other.
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Receive this word,
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and then respond to it.
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Verse 25,
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verse 22 rather.
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But be doers of the word,
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and not hearers only,
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deceiving ourselves.
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Many years ago,
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we had a family holiday,
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driving through France at one point,
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and we got lost on the Paris Ring Road,
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which I believe is a familiar experience
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of people in crime negotiated,
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and we were looking for a campsite.
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So my father stopped the car,
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got out,
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asked some local lady,
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in his best broken French,
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where this particular campsite was.
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She just figured it wildly,
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gave a long series of instructions,
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now came back to the car,
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we were all telling him,
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in anticipation and bated breath,
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retired,
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and wanted to go to bed.
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He said,
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so where is it dad?
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I don't know,
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I didn't hear,
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let's just go,
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I'll find out,
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I'm sure.
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It was dark,
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by the time we reached that campsite,
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I was only about six at the time,
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my mother could give you more details,
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unsure.
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But obviously it's foolishness,
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they listen to something,
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and then not respond to it,
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when you are in need of help.
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And James says,
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brothers and sisters,
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we're in need of help.
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We need to respond,
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to what God's word is saying.
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And that's the whole point,
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James' illustration.
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You see the illustration,
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of a man with a mirror,
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verse 23.
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If anyone is a hearer of the word,
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and not a doer,
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he's like a man,
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who looks intently,
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at his natural face,
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in a mirror,
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for he looks at himself,
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and goes away,
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and at once forgets,
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what he is like.
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Now I sit there,
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don't you think,
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what sort of idiot would do that?
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Well let me tell you,
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what sort of idiot would do that.
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At breakfast the other morning,
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my wife turned around to me,
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and said,
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Stuart,
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do you know you still have
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a shaving foam on your ear?
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I don't know why it's on my ear,
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I don't shave my ears normally,
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but there you go,
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it was there.
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And I didn't know that,
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how did I not know that?
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I was standing in front of a mirror,
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shaving.
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Was it because I'm blind?
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Well,
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perhaps I'm a bit daft at times.
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Or was it more likely,
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I just kind of assumed,
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that I knew,
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what the mirror was going to tell me?
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And therefore didn't really
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pay attention?
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Could it be that?
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Could it be that I didn't really think,
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that the mirror was going to have
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anything relevant for me?
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Sometimes we like that in God's word,
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with God's word,
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aren't we?
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I think it's especially a danger
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in churches like this,
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and the other I used to serve in,
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where we love God's word,
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don't we?
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We say we do.
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We love listening to sermons.
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Some of you will download sermons
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and listen from on the way to work.
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That's a good thing.
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Some of you will read lots of books.
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That's a good thing.
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We love God's word.
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Yet so often,
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we fail to actually respond to it,
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don't we?
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When James says here
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that the man forgets,
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it doesn't necessarily mean
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that intellectually he couldn't
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remember what he saw.
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It means he didn't act upon it.
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For those of you who are in church
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this morning,
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Paul reminded us that
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that word remember in the Bible
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is never just about
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intellectually recalling a hand.
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It's like remembering a birthday,
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isn't it?
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My daughter turns seven
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on Tuesday
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when she says to me,
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Zoe, Daddy,
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have you remembered my birthday?
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She doesn't want me to go,
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yes, it's the 11th,
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it's the 10th of November,
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I need you to date,
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but 10th of November.
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She wants to know
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there's going to be a present
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for her when she gets up.
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And so it is.
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Scripture tells us
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to remember.
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It isn't just mentally
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recalling things.
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When this man forgets,
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not that he absentmindedly
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didn't have a clue
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what he looked like.
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He didn't act
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on what he'd seen.
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He acted on the fact
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he knew.
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We can be like that
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with God's word,
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can't we?
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And we can make
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very sophisticated
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excuses for it, too.
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We say,
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well, I'm saved by grace,
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I'm not under law anymore,
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so it's okay,
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I'm forgiven.
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In fact,
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somebody accused James
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of preaching legalism here.
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Martin Luther,
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the great reformer,
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had a bit of a problem
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with the book of James
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for this reason.
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He called it
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a right-strawy epistle.
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It seemed to be
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going against
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the gospel of grace,
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justification by faith.
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But let me ask us
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a couple of questions.
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If we're arguing
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with God's word,
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then are we
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receiving it meekly?
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Of course,
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we're not,
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are we?
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Let me ask another question.
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If God has
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implanted his word
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into us,
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so we want to obey,
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so we're ready
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to obey,
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because that is
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the Spirit's work
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in our heart,
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then how can we
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possibly say no?
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If we say no,
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isn't it evidence
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that the word
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has not been received
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into our hearts at all?
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See, this is,
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the danger here
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is we're deceived,
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isn't it?
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Do you notice how
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James uses that word
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twice?
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Verse 22,
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be doers of the word,
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nor hearers only,
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deceiving yourselves.
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Then down again
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in verse 26,
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talks about someone
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deceiving their own heart.
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It can so easily
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be deceived.
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That's why James says
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we need to respond.
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We need to respond.
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We need to be doers
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and not just hearers.
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But in case you're worried,
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that makes you a slave
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again to the law.
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Look at how,
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look at how James
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describes God's word,
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verse 25.
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The one who looks
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into the perfect law,
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the law of liberty
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and perseveres,
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being no hearer
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who forgets,
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but no doer
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who asks,
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will be blessed
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in all his doing.
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It's a law of liberty,
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James says.
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Now,
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naturally in our culture
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we hate the idea
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of law,
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don't we?
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We hate laws,
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we hate authority over us.
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That's the spirit
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of our age.
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James says,
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this is a law
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that is good.
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It brings liberty.
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There's actually
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a subtle change
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in James' language here.
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So far,
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he's been talking
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about the word of God,
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verse 18,
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verse 21,
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verses 22 and 23.
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But now he refers
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to God's law
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because he wants
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us to catch
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the authority
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that God's law has,
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God's word has.
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And he describes
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it as a perfect law.
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Perfect because
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it reflects
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God's character.
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Perfect because
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it's been fulfilled
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perfectly
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in the Lord Jesus Christ.
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Perfect because
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through Christ
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those of us
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who believe in him
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now have his spirit
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in us,
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so this law
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becomes something
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we can keep,
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not something
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that makes us slaves.
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And therefore,
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he describes it
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as a law of liberty,
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meaning the law
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that brings liberty
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and freedom,
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not a law that
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constrains and enslaves.
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Now,
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if we went out tonight
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and asked people,
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what does freedom
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mean for you?
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What does freedom
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mean for us?
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What do you think
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would be the response
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most people would give?
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I think most people
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would say that freedom
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is about being able
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to do whatever
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I want to do.
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And yet we only need
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to reflect on that
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for a minute,
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see that's nonsense,
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isn't it?
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You know what it's like
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when you get to a big
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roundabout,
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like some of these ones
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on the A40,
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you're not far from here.
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And if someone thinks,
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I'm just going to do
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what I want to do,
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and sneaks through the lights
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and sits on the yellow box junction,
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what happens to that roundabout?
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You could be queuing for hours,
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can't you?
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You're trying to get over it,
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because everyone starts doing it,
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everyone blocks it,
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you can't get anywhere.
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It's because everybody's doing
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what they want to do.
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We see that
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generally in life,
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don't we?
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As we pursue
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our own agendas,
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we hurt other people,
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block other people,
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thwart other people,
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and end up ruining
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ourselves as well.
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Freedom is not being free
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to do whatever we want,
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is it?
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True freedom
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is freedom
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from selfishness.
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Johnny Depp,
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the actor,
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when he talked about
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when his first child was born,
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he told the interviewer,
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when I was holding
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my first child,
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I felt it was
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a truly liberating moment.
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I felt free
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for the first time.
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They define that
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as being,
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as my first
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selfless thought ever.
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My first
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selfless thought.
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There,
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Johnny Depp
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in that moment
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got the idea
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of what freedom is.
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Freedom
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is being free
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from our selfishness,
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free from being
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turned in on ourselves.
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This is what God's law
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written on our hearts
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does for us.
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It sets us free.
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It's the perfect law,
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the law of liberty,
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the law that brings liberty.
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So you want to know
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what liberty looks like?
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You want to know
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what true freedom is,
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James says?
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It's not pursuing
-
your own agenda.
-
Rather,
-
it's responding
-
to God's word,
-
responding to God's commands.
-
So there's an obvious
-
question for me
-
and for you,
-
isn't there?
-
Are we dearers
-
of God's word
-
or hearers only?
-
I have to ask myself,
-
what's changed
-
in my life
-
in the last six months
-
given what God's word
-
has said to me?
-
What's changed
-
in your life?
-
Has God been speaking
-
to you about
-
relationships
-
with certain people?
-
Has God's word
-
altered the way
-
you think about money?
-
How you use it?
-
How you think about it?
-
How have you responded
-
to God's word
-
in terms of
-
your ambitions?
-
Your priorities?
-
Has God's word
-
done anything
-
to your attitude
-
to work?
-
To your work
-
or other peoples?
-
It's hard to change,
-
isn't it?
-
But then God
-
is writing his law
-
in our hearts.
-
So it might be hard,
-
but it is possible.
-
But do you notice
-
the word James uses
-
here in verse 25?
-
The one who looks
-
into the perfect law,
-
the law of liberty,
-
and perseveres.
-
We've got a fine example
-
of perseverance tonight,
-
haven't we?
-
Stephen Pan
-
persevering for 41 years,
-
six months and seven days,
-
or whatever it was,
-
in London City Mission.
-
That's perseverance,
-
isn't it?
-
We need to persevere
-
in God's word
-
as he writes it
-
on our heart
-
that he would change us,
-
make us more like Jesus.
-
And then his obedience
-
is possible
-
because God
-
is writing his law
-
in our hearts.
-
It's also desirable.
-
See what James says
-
there at the end
-
of the verse?
-
He will be blessed
-
in his doing.
-
Not blessed
-
in his hearing only,
-
but in his doing.
-
Everyone looks
-
for blessing,
-
don't they?
-
Everyone wants
-
to be blessed,
-
everyone wants
-
to feel loved,
-
respected,
-
significant.
-
Some people look
-
for that in their careers,
-
some people look
-
for it in their families,
-
some people look
-
for it in their possessions.
-
James says,
-
this is where
-
true blessing is.
-
Being approved
-
and loved
-
and accepted
-
by God
-
and enjoying
-
walking in his ways,
-
that's true blessing.
-
We're blessed
-
not in our hearing,
-
but in our doing.
-
Receive
-
with meekness,
-
respond
-
with action.
-
And the third word,
-
submit.
-
Look down to verses
-
26 and 27.
-
This is how we need
-
to avoid
-
arouse and catastrophe
-
in the church,
-
but also spiritual
-
shipwreck
-
in our own lives
-
personally.
-
Submit
-
to someone else's
-
evaluation.
-
The company
-
I used to work for
-
many years ago,
-
they had an
-
employee welfare scheme
-
where every two years
-
they'd send you
-
for a medical.
-
And I remember
-
going to my first
-
employment medical
-
thinking,
-
this is a bit
-
of a waste of time,
-
isn't it?
-
And yes,
-
inevitably the nurse
-
told me I should be
-
eating less fatty food
-
and doing more exercise
-
and less sugar
-
and all this kind of stuff.
-
And then she got
-
the blood test results
-
and said,
-
oh, by the way,
-
you need to go
-
and see your GP.
-
There's something
-
not right about
-
your kidney function.
-
I feel fine.
-
Okay, I'd better
-
go to your GP.
-
So I did,
-
and as many of you
-
will know,
-
what was it?
-
About 15 years later,
-
I had a kidney transplant.
-
It's a good job
-
I went to that
-
original employment medical.
-
It showed up a problem
-
in the early stages,
-
but it showed it up.
-
I had to submit
-
to somebody else's
-
evaluation.
-
And James says
-
you need to submit
-
to God's evaluation,
-
not your own.
-
Look at the contrast
-
between verse 26
-
and verse 27.
-
Verse 26,
-
if anyone thinks
-
he is religious
-
and does not
-
bribe his tongue
-
but deceives his heart,
-
this person's
-
religion is worthless.
-
we can deceive
-
ourselves
-
into thinking
-
we're doing
-
all the right things
-
and our religion
-
be worthless.
-
James rapidly
-
takes us through
-
three areas
-
where we need
-
to submit
-
to God's evaluation.
-
Now actually
-
in the next three
-
chapters of the book
-
he unpacks these
-
first.
-
We'll only look at
-
them very briefly.
-
The first area
-
is speech,
-
verse 26.
-
Do you think
-
you're religious?
-
Yet what are you
-
actually saying?
-
What words
-
are you using?
-
How are you speaking
-
to other people?
-
What do you say
-
when that guy
-
calls you up
-
on the road?
-
What do you say
-
when your children
-
are cheating?
-
What do you say
-
whatever the situation
-
is for you?
-
Now why does James
-
focus on speech?
-
Doesn't it go back
-
to what Jesus said?
-
It's out of the
-
overflow of our hearts
-
that the mouth speaks.
-
Do you want to know
-
what's really going
-
on our hearts?
-
Yeah, take yourself
-
for the day.
-
James points
-
to our speech.
-
And secondly
-
he points to
-
how we relate
-
to what we do
-
with the need.
-
Look at verse 27.
-
Religion that is
-
pure and under
-
far before God
-
the Father
-
is this.
-
To have great theology
-
no, that's not
-
what he says, is it?
-
Is this.
-
To listen to all
-
the servants
-
no, it's not that either.
-
To visit orphans
-
and widows
-
and their affliction
-
and to keep oneself
-
unstained from the world.
-
Now to visit orphans
-
and widows
-
and their affliction
-
orphans and widows
-
are two great categories
-
of needy people
-
in the Old Testament
-
and the Roman world
-
of James' day.
-
So really it's saying
-
how you respond
-
to those in need
-
around you.
-
And when he says visit
-
doesn't this mean
-
pop your head
-
round the door
-
and say hi to them.
-
A visit is a word
-
in the Old Testament
-
loaded with meaning.
-
God visited the people
-
in Egypt
-
as he came to rescue
-
them from slavery.
-
Exodus chapter 4
-
verse 31.
-
It's the word Zechariah
-
uses in Luke chapter 1
Luke 1 chapter mention
-
as he looks forward
-
to the birth
-
of the Lord Jesus.
-
Blessed be the Lord
-
God of Israel
-
for he has visited
-
and redeemed his people.
-
For God to visit
-
like God remembering
-
means God taking action.
-
So the kind of religion
-
that appeals to God
-
that pleases God
-
is to take action
-
for those in need.
-
Widows and orphans
-
refugees and immigrants.
-
people in the church
-
family primarily
-
to then beyond that
-
especially in the
-
global church family.
-
That's what God
-
approves of
-
because that's what
-
God is like.
-
We don't do this
-
so God will love us
-
but because God
-
has loved us
-
and visited us
-
in our need
-
in the Lord Jesus Christ.
-
So the first two tests
-
how do we control
-
our tongues?
-
Secondly
-
how do we help
-
the needy
-
especially the needy
-
among God's people?
-
And the third little test
-
there.
-
Little test.
-
Verse 27 at the end.
-
And to keep oneself
-
unstained from the world.
-
The world constantly
-
pursues its own agenda
-
around us doesn't it?
-
It's the mark of the world
-
going its own way
-
leaving God out of the picture.
-
We can so easily
-
be sullied by that.
-
Our attitudes and our desires
-
are so easily
-
influenced by them.
-
As we read on
-
through this letter
-
we'll see how James'
-
audience were influenced.
-
James talks about
-
their selfish ambition
-
their boasting
-
their covering up
-
their sin
-
chapter 3 verse 14
-
their coveting
-
fighting and quarreling
-
chapter 4 verse 1.
-
See don't deceive yourself
-
James says.
-
Don't deceive yourself.
-
Check your attitudes.
-
Are you being
-
affected
-
stained
-
by the world around?
-
See for those of us
-
who profess
-
faith in Christ
-
we need to receive
-
that word
-
implanted into us.
-
We need to respond
-
to that word.
-
And we need to submit
-
ourselves to God's
-
evaluation.
-
And not deceive
-
ourselves in thinking
-
we're in a good church
-
we're in a good place
-
we must be alright.
-
Now for those of us
-
who are not yet
-
followers of Jesus
-
this is an important
-
message for us too.
-
For you too.
-
I've heard people say
-
if there is a God
-
out there
-
and if there is a judgement
-
I'm sure I'll be alright
-
because I'm a nice
-
person.
-
I'm hinting to my
-
neighbours
-
I try and tell the
-
truth
-
I'm pretty honest
-
I'm not a bad
-
person.
-
I do my best.
-
How often do you
-
think that?
-
I do my best.
-
But is that what
-
God wants?
-
Look at these tests
-
here.
-
How do we control
-
our tongues?
-
How do you deal
-
with the needy people
-
around you?
-
Are you unstained
-
by the world?
-
The truth is
-
none of us are
-
actually like that.
-
God wants something
-
bigger and better
-
for us.
-
Here's a look back
-
to verse 18
-
for a second.
-
Of his own will
-
of God's own will
-
he brought us
-
forth by the
-
word of truth
-
that we should be
-
kind of first
-
fruits of his
-
creatures.
-
See God's will
-
ultimately
-
is to make us
-
new.
-
To make us into
-
the people he
-
originally intended
-
us to be
-
before we rebelled
-
against him as a
-
race
-
and went our
-
own way and
-
pursued our own
-
agenda.
-
The only way
-
to have that
-
is not through
-
our own effort
-
we cannot change
-
our own hearts
-
but through
-
receiving amidst
-
this implanted
-
word.
-
This message
-
of the Lord
-
Jesus Christ.
-
This message
-
of the one
-
whose speech
-
was perfect.
-
Who Peter says
-
of him
-
1 Peter 2
-
verse 22
-
he committed
-
no sin
-
neither was
-
deceit found
-
in his mouth.
-
This Lord
-
Jesus
-
his tongue
-
was always
-
under control.
-
Did he help
-
the poor and
-
needy?
-
Oh he certainly
-
did.
-
He gave his
-
life to rescue
-
us from the
-
deep need
-
to escape
-
God's judgment.
-
Was he
-
unstained by
-
the world?
-
Oh he certainly
-
was.
-
He was a lamb
-
without blemish.
-
He committed
-
no sin and
-
no deceit
-
was found in
-
his mouth.
-
It's only to
-
accept the
-
message of the
-
Lord Jesus
-
with meekness.
-
Coming to him
-
seeking the
-
forgiveness only
-
available through
-
the one who
-
died on the
-
cross for us.
-
Only through
-
accepting him as
-
our Lord and
-
Savior do we
-
have that word
-
implanted in us
-
written on our
-
hearts to change
-
us and make us
-
new people.
-
That is the
-
offer that is
-
here for us
-
tonight.
-
Not merely
-
be hearers of
-
the word but
-
doers also.
-
Now they
-
mean for some
-
who have never
-
come to Christ
-
for forgiveness
-
before.
-
There's a
-
chance for you
-
to do that
-
tonight.
-
Receive the
-
word implanted.
-
Respond to
-
his word.
-
Submit to
-
his evaluation.
-
Let us not
-
deceive ourselves
-
but come to
-
him for
-
salvation and
-
forgiveness.
-
let's pray.
-
ready.
-
CONGRATIST
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CONGRATIST
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CONGRATIST
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CONGRATIST
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CONGRATIST
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CONGRATIST
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CONGRATIST
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CONGRATIST
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CONGRATIST
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CONGRATIST
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CONGRATIST
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CONGRATIST
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CONGRATIST
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CONGRATIST
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CONGRATIST
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CONGRATIST