THE WORDS WE SAY, THE WORDS WE OBEY | BRIAN RICHARDS

Amen. He is holy. Friends, if you can

give me just a second. We have this

beautiful, beautiful problem that God

has given and entrusted to us. We

continue to be out of room at this

service. That's a good thing, but it's

also somewhat inconvenient at times. So,

here's what I would like. If you are

willing, if there's any room around you,

slide to the middle of your row and

leave the outside seats for people who

are coming in later or people who have

just arrived or in the back and trying

to find a way in here. And let me also

encourage you. If you happen to be a

regular servant and steward in this

house and you might happen to be willing

to step out of your seat and listen to

me holler and scream

outside. There's TVs out there. There

may be other rooms we could we could go

into, but we'd love if you would be

willing to I understand what that may

seem like. We're not kicking you out of

church.

But as a people of God,

we we serve a God who has made

room for you. Thank you, Mr.

Nick. He loves my 5-year-old. Every

Wednesday night, he teaches him God's

word, and I love that man. He is a great

man. But if anybody is willing to give

up their seat, we would appreciate this.

Here's what I'm going to do. As you

slide through, I'm going to pray over us

and then we're going to dive into God's

word. Thank you for your willingness.

Thank you for being here. And if you are

new, let me once again also say thank

you for coming. If you don't have a

seat, hopefully we've got some up there

that are that are uh empty for you. So,

let's pray together. Father God, we love

you so much. God, I thank you for the

ridiculous problem we have that there is

not enough room in this building. But

the beautiful thing is God, you have

made room for each and every one of us

who have called upon the name of Jesus

to be

saved. God, we will deal with parking

issues. God, we will deal with any type

of uncomfortable setting that there

could possibly be as long as people are

hearing the

gospel and people come to faith in

Christ. We want to honor you with our

life today. Thank you for this word.

Thank you for the privilege we we have

to hear your word. May we live it out.

We pray all this in the name of Jesus.

Amen. And

amen. You can have a seat. Good morning.

If you have a copy of God's word, and I

hope that you do, whether it be one of

these things, physical things, anybody

who got a Bible, or if you need to

scroll and find a place on your phone or

your tablet, we're going to continue

through our journey in the book of

James. James chapter 1, we're in this

James 1 · chapter mention

collection of conversations that we have

entitled Walk the Walk. And as you've

been told repeatedly and we've heard

over the last couple of weeks of what

this is, James is writing a letter to

Jewish believers in Christ scattered

across the Roman Empire sometime between

the middle and end of the first century.

And what we find in this letter is that

James is not writing a letter the same

way maybe some of the other letters of

the New Testament have been written.

When we read some of Paul's letters,

Paul often spends a few chapters talking

about what we need to believe and then a

few chapters on how we should live in

light of what we believe. But James is

writing a letter sort of like a text

message to some friends about you best

get your life together. Are you with me?

So, it seems like it could be scattered,

but there's some themes that weave in

and out. This is wisdom he wants to give

to them as these men and women are

living in an increasingly hostile world

against those who claim to follow Jesus.

And so, as a result, we have James

writing this letter. And if you remember

from a few weeks ago, James is the the

brother of Jesus, a leader in the local

church at Jerusalem. And he's sharing

this information that would likely have

gone to a variety of churches that are

popping up across the Roman

Empire. And James is wanting us to know

over and over what it looks like to walk

the walk. To not just say we follow

Christ, but live for Christ on a daily

basis. James chapter 1. Want to remind

James 1 · chapter mention

you we believe as a church that the word

of God is always relevant for our life

today. So that while James is writing to

a historical audience in the past, the

word of God through James is still for

us today. Can I get an amen? Are you

with me?

Listen, the more you talk, the faster I

go, the quicker we're done. Got it?

This is foundational for our faith.

Without the word of God and the spirit

of God helping us apply the word of God

into our lives, we are left only to our

own human devices, which will utterly

fail us. The word of God is relevant for

our life today.

James chapter 1, beginning in verse 18.

James 1 · chapter mention

We're going to primarily focus on verses

19- 26, but I want to give us a little

bit of context. Starting in verse 18,

James writes, "Of his own will," that is

God's will. This is what God has done.

He has brought us forth by the word of

truth, that we should be a kind of first

fruits of his creatures.

Know this, my beloved brothers. Let

every person be quick to hear, slow to

speak, slow to anger. All right, have a

great night. And

um we'll get into that. You feel a

little nervous right now? Me, too. Try

preaching it. For the anger of man does

not produce the righteousness of God.

Therefore, put away all filthiness and

rampant wickedness, and receive with

meekness the implanted word, which is

able to save your souls. 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 then he goes away, and at

once he forgets what he was like. But

the one who looks into the perfect law,

the law of liberty, and that person

perseveres, being no hearer who forgets,

but a doer who

acts, he will be blessed in his doing.

So if anyone thinks that he's a

religious person and does not bridle his

tongue, but deceives his heart, this

person's religion is worth worthless.

We're going to pray. We're going to dive

into this. And I simply want you to be

to consider this that the words we say

and the words that we

obey will always show us who has the

real authority over our

life. The words that we say and the

words that we

obey expose in the depths of our hearts

who has authority.

And my prayer today is that we will

submit ourselves to the word of God and

understanding that God's

word is not only what governs and guides

what we say, but it must be obeyed so

that we can live a life that pleases

him. Let's pray together. Father, we

thank

you. Thank you for our time together.

Thank you for the people who are here.

Thank you for those who are watching

online who couldn't make it today. God,

we pray in advance for the work you're

going to do in our hearts today. We pray

in advance for all of the life change

that's going to take place this week as

we celebrate you so many different times

in different ways. We celebrate the

death, burial, and resurrection of

Christ. And we thank you. We are utterly

lost without

you, God. We need you. I need you. Fill

us with your spirit in such a way that

we can walk out of here rejuvenated and

encouraged to live a life that honors

you. We pray all this in the name of

Jesus. Amen. And amen. The words we say

and the words we

obey will reveal who has authority over

our lives. I love how James gives us

this perspective. He wants to show us

what holy living looks like. But he

anchors this in verse 18. And I want you

to understand something. for us to get

to this place about being doers of the

word and to get to this place where we

can talk about being slow to anger.

We'll get there. Being quick to listen

and slow to speak and slow to anger. I

want you to see how he shows us so

clearly what's rooted in our hearts.

Listen to what he says in verse 18. of

his own will. He brought us forth by the

word of truth that we should be a kind

of first fruits of his creatures. I want

you to see this. God has given us new

life from his own will. Not

begrudgingly. God didn't say, "I guess

I'll save that one." No. Out of love and

joy and desire from his will. He has

given new life to us.

And James goes on to tell us that God

has given us new life through the word

of truth. At some point in our life, if

we're a follower of Jesus, we heard the

gospel message that we are lost and

depraved. That we are far from God. That

even being enemies of God, God in his

gracious love towards us, you know what

he did? He sent his

son who lived the life we could never

live in perfect obedience to die the

death that we deserve, rose again from

the power of the spirit to conquer death

and to assure us we can have new life

when we call upon his name we can be

saved. God from his own will has given

us new life and through his own word.

But I want you to see what he says here.

I love how James summarizes what this

looks like. God has given us new life

for his own glory. How does he say that

in in verse 18? He says this. So that

why have we been saved? So we can just

go to heaven one day. Have you thought

about that? If the only purpose for your

salvation was for you to be somewhere

with Jesus only, why don't we go right

now? Ever thought about it?

The purpose of your salvation is not

just to be with him one day, but it's

right now to live as the first fruits of

his creatures. The first fruits would

have been the first portion of a crop

that that the the Jewish people would

bring to God as an offering. And as a

result, what we see is that James is

using this language of first fruits to

say that we as saved people, as God's

new creation, we are the appetizer of

what God is going to do in the future of

all creation when he makes all things

new. And so, as a result, we are the

first fruits. We are the mozzarella

stick. Can I say mozzarella sticks?

Yeah. Yeah. Or the chips and queso. My

kids. All right. Some of y'all eat

salad. No thank you. All right. So, the

mozzarella sticks to the entire entree

that is to come. When God redeems all of

his creation, what was broken will be

made

new. And so, in light of this, this is

what James wants you to to root this

living

in. We are the first fruits. So, what

does it look like to be the first fruits

of God's redeeming work on this earth?

How do we live in such a way that we

show that God is renewing us already and

that he's going to renew everything in a

time to come? I'm glad you

asked. If we're going to be a

people who reflect the redeeming work of

God on a daily basis, we need to be a

people who are careful with our own

words. James says this, "Know this."

That's his way of saying, "Hey, hey,

listen

up." Got school teachers in the room or

just parents in general, right? Your

kids, no, we won't get

there. Why is it the fourth time that

they

listen? Why? Why is it the fourth time?

And then they're like, "Why are you

raising your voice?" Because the first

three times you didn't hear

me. I'll I'll Lord, work on me. We'll

get

there. We're people who are careful with

our own words. Listen to what he says.

Know this, friends. Listen. That's what

he's saying. Know this, my beloved

brothers. Let every person be quick to

hear, slow to speak, slow to

anger. I'm just going to stop right now

and and tell you that that I'm not good

at this. Can I get a sympathetic head

nod from somebody in the room? That I'm

not the only sinner in the building.

That would be great. Let every person be

quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow

to become angry. I feel like my entire

day is the reverse of

that. From the moment my kids get up and

they can't find the same clothes that

they put out the night before. Do you

know what I'm

saying? It magically just

disappeared. Socks that don't match,

shoes that are gone, they were right

there.

So often in my life, I'm not going to

ask you to raise your hand to confess,

but we can be honest enough that give me

a little head nod that that this this

isn't easy. That's why James wants to

give this

encouragement. Perhaps even maybe last

night you were trying to get all four of

your children to bed hypothetically and

one of them just didn't want to go to

bed hypothetically.

Then you were up all night trying to

figure out how am I going to preach this

after Lord Jesus

help. Maybe this morning you were

rushing out the door to get here and you

had one kid with one shoe had a dress

shoe on and a flip-flop on the wrong

feet. Yeah, it

is. Or you had a kid that the same

sweater they wore every single Sunday

now all of a sudden is too

itchy. I'm just saying hypothetically.

Hypothetically or maybe as my daughter

reminded me as I was studying last night

in my office, she came downstairs and

she asked me what I was preaching

on. I had a lot of things I could have

told her. I said we'd be looking at this

passage in James and about being people

who honor Jesus with the way that we

speak and to be quick to listen and slow

to speak and slow to become angry. And

I'm telling you without missing the

beat, I am not making this up. Not

kidding. That sweet, precious baby who

looks just like her mama but acts just

like me had the

audacity to look at me and go,

"Well, this family's got a lot of work

left to do on that.

I I I really didn't know whether to

laugh or cry. I'm serious. I I She's not

wrong. But it it stung. It

hurt. I have so much room for growth in

this area in my own life. And and I'm

I'm optimistic that maybe you do, too.

So, what is James really referring to?

Is he talking about how we speak about

God's word or or or receive God's word

or or is he talking about how we speak

to other people? And and I want to just

simply say it's

yes, it's both. Because here's the

situation. James is going to give us

more instructions about our speech and

about bridling and taming our tongue in

chapter 3. But right now, if James's

primary encouragement is about the way

in which we speak to other people, then

all the more we should be cautious in

the way that we communicate with God. We

should be conscientious about the way

that we listen to the word of God. And I

think this is helpful for several

reasons. Here's the deal. When we comm

the way we communicate with other people

through our words and our actions is an

influence and indicator of how well we

are communicating with God. If I am too

hurried to hear and to listen for

understanding when someone speaks to me

or if I'm too quick to toss a hurtful

grenade of words toward somebody who is

bothering me or cut me off in traffic.

When I do those

things, it reveals that my heart is most

likely not prepared to hear clearly from

God. When I rush to defend myself or to

launch an assault against someone else

with my words and actions, what it does

is it exposes a deficiency in both the

quality and the quantity of time that I

am spending with God in his

word. And for this reason, James tells

us why we must be cautious with our

words. He says in verse 20, "This is why

for the anger of man does not produce

the righteousness of God." Let me pause

for just a second because we may get

confused with this wording and this

phrase of the righteousness of God. This

verse can make it sound as though if I

just get my act together, if I'm just

kind with my words and my tones, if I

say all the right things, then then God

will accept me. and then I will get the

righteousness of

God. That's not what the scripture

intends here. I want to be very clear.

There is nothing that you and I can do

on our own to earn or produce the

righteousness of God. We are saved by

God's grace through faith in Christ. And

it's his perfect obedience that applies

to our life when we trust in Jesus. You

and I are made righteous in God's eyes,

not because of any of our own works, but

because of the work of Jesus on the

cross.

When we declare that Jesus is Lord, we

are

covered in the righteous robes of

Christ. We've died to our old life.

We've been raised to new life. And this

is the kind of righteousness of God that

Paul speaks about in his letters like in

1 Corinthians chapter 5 21 when he says

1 Corinthians 5 · chapter mention

God made him Jesus who knew no sin to

become sin so that we might become the

righteousness of God. You see when Paul

speaks and writes about the

righteousness of God, he's speaking

about right standing before God. That I

have been forgiven of my sins because of

Christ's death, burial, and

resurrection. and I am in right

alignment,

justified, in right relationship with

God. But when James speaks about being a

person who sees this anger and how it

doesn't produce the righteousness of

God, he's not speaking about right

standing before God. I've got that. I'm

in Christ, God's will through his word

for his glory. I've got that. He's

speaking about right living every single

day. You see, the fact is, we can't

produce the righteousness that saves us,

but God still has a standard for us to

live up to, to reflect his goodness.

So if we're going to be a people who are

the first fruits, the appetizer of God's

redeeming work of all creation, we need

to be careful with our words because the

anger that comes from those moments and

those situations in our life does not

reflect the goodness and graciousness of

God. So how do we even begin to deal

with

this? I don't know. I don't know.

But luckily, James helps

us. I was thinking about this because

just last week or two weeks ago, I was

in a car rider line, which I hate. Can I

get a head nod? Anybody understand what

I'm saying? You better follow the rules.

Don't cut people off. You knew way back

on then that you supposed to get

over. But what irks me the most, I have

three kids at one school, another kid

across town. Takes me an hour every day

to drive my kids to school.

Um, what world?

What irks me the most is when I go to

drop my children off, my three oldest at

their school, they have little numbers

at the polls. Does everybody understand

what I'm saying? Where you're supposed

to drop them off. So, you can drop them

off all the way to poll

15. I got no problem because the curb

come goes around. There's a sidewalk. I

kick my kids out as soon as we get into

the parking lot. I'm like, "Look, you're

good right there. Go ahead and walk. Be

with Jesus. He'll guide you. He'll guide

you all the way. You don't need to be at

the numbers. Just go.

But here's the problem here. There's one

particular person. I hope you're not

here. I

hope luckily I live on the west side of

Orlando, not not here in Wind. So, okay.

Um, this particular person who I seem to

get behind every

day, they don't drop their child off at

at number

15. They don't even drop their child off

if they're at number seven.

I watched this car take their kid, not a

kindergartener, a fullg grown fifth

grader, all the way up past number one

to the

door and slowly helped him get the door

open. Got a grown man getting

out, probably a teacher's

aid. And I have some words in my head

that probably don't honor the Lord. I'm

just being

honest. Usually singing something like

Rich Mullen's like, "Holy Jesus." Right?

I'm shaking. Our principal came by. My

window was down. I just looked at her

and I shake my head and Miss Alvarez

said, "Jesus needs to take the wheel."

Right? And I said, "He needs to take

that whole car. Not the wheel. the whole

car by God's grace and for his

glory. I'm a work in progress. I hope

you are, too. But it's those little

things even in my own day. Can I be

honest with you? I I was I was just

telling one of our elders in the back

earlier that my wife kept asking me,

"Why is it taking so long for you to

finish your message?" I said, "Because

God's

doing way too much in my heart." because

I need to know and I want to understand

God. Why am I so easy to be

angry?

Why? Why have I apologized to my

children for my tone more times in the

last

week than I have in the weeks before?

What is wrong with my heart,

Lord, that I'm so prone to to being

quick to speak and quick to get angry

and I'm not slow to

listen? And I love that James reminds us

of of how we can deal with this. Listen

to what he says in verse 21.

He says, "Therefore, put away all

filthiness and rampant wickedness and

receive with meekness the implanted word

which is able to save your

souls." I believe looking at this, the

antidote to thoughtless words and anger

is ultimately submitting myself to the

word of God.

And in order to do that, James reminds

us that we have to remove the filth

completely in our life and receive the

word of God with

humility. We've been saved by the word

of truth. And now James says, God has

implanted that word in you. So what

exactly does it mean for this word to be

implanted? This is us preaching the

gospel that saved us to ourselves every

day to sustain us and to sanctify

us. The same gospel message that brought

you to Christ and gave you new life is

the same gospel message that we need

every single day. So, how can I deal

with

my tendency towards being very sharp and

critical? I need to pause for just a

moment and remember that God was patient

with me. That God loved me even when I

didn't love him. And that God loved me

despite my

stupidity. And that God loves me even

now as his child despite my stupidity.

Now this implanted word

It's already

there. The question becomes for all of

us. How receptive is our

heart to that implanted

word? I love the way the Old Testament

has described what God is going to do in

the new covenant with relationship with

Christ.

share just briefly. Jeremiah spoke and

wrote down his prophecy from the Lord.

And the Lord said in Jeremiah 31:33 that

Jeremiah 31:33

he was going to make a new covenant. And

that covenant I will make with the house

of Israel after those days. This is what

he says. I will put my law within

them and I will write it on their hearts

and I will be their God and they will be

my people.

And in Ezekiel, Ezekiel says something

similar and he was says this that God

God was doing this work in the hearts of

the Israelites that there's coming a day

when I will give you a new heart and a

new spirit I will put within you and I

will remove the heart of stone from your

flesh and give you a heart of flesh and

I will put my spirit within you and

cause you to walk in my statutes and be

careful to obey my rules and you will

dwell in the land that I gave to your

fathers and you shall be my people and I

will be your God.

Friends, the only way you and I can deal

with our careless words is to remind

ourselves of the word of

God. The same word of truth that saved

us is the same word that's been

implanted in us to sustain us and

sanctify us. Jesus said in his high

priestly prayer, and I love this. Do you

remember Jesus said, "Don't take them

out of the world." Could you imagine if

they were overhearing that

going, "We're going to snatch us up out

of here. This place is

rotten." Jesus in this high priestly

prayer in verse 16, chapter 17 of John

said, "They're not of this world just as

I'm not of this world. Sanctify them in

the truth. Your word is truth.

As you sent me into the world, so I have

sent them into the world. And for their

sake, I consecrate or set myself apart

that they may also be sanctified in

truth. If we want to be a people who are

careful with our words and emotions

towards God and to others, then we need

to cultivate a heart that is receptive

to the word of God. You remember how

Jesus said it in this parable of the

seed and the sewer? That sewer went out

and tossed seeds all over the place in

Matthew 13. It's the only par one of the

only parables that are recorded in

Matthew, Mark, and Luke. And Jesus gives

an interpretation of the parable because

the disciples didn't get it. And Jesus

like, "Hold up. This is what I

mean." But the sewer scattered seed all

over the place. And the the seed fell in

different places, hard ground, rocky

ground, and and ground uh that that was

that was good soil that would receive

the seed. And do you remember what

happened in matthew chapter 13? Listen

Matthew 13 · chapter mention

to how Jesus

describes what a receptive heart is.

Now, think with me for a second. Often

times, we preach this and it's true.

This is speaking about the gospel, being

receptive to the gospel message. But we

just learned the best way for me to be

sustained in my life and to be

sanctified in my life is to keep

preaching that same gospel message to

myself. Listen to what Jesus says in

Matthew chapter 13:1 18.

He says this, "Hear the parable of the

swer. When anyone hears the word of the

kingdom and doesn't understand it, the

evil one comes and snatches it away.

What has been swn in his heart? This is

what was swn along the path. As for the

one swn on rocky ground, this is the one

who hears the word and immediately

receives it with joy and yet has no root

in himself, but endures for just a

little while. And then when tribulation

or persecution arises on account of the

world, immediately he falls away. As for

what was sown among thorns, this is the

one who hears the word but the cares of

the world and the deceitfulnesses

deceitfulness of riches choke the word

and it proves unfruitful. As for what

was sown on good soil, this is the one

who hears the word understands it and he

indeed bears fruit and yields in one

case 100fold and another 60 and in

another 30. Friends, the readiness of

our hearts determines the depth of the

word and how deep it gets into us. And

the depth of the root dictates the

abundance of the fruit in your life. If

we want to be men and women who are

careful with our words, we need to

recognize the word has been implanted.

But we also need receptive hearts where

God has torn up the ground so much so

that the seed can get in there so deeply

that it has strong roots.

Why? So when that lady doesn't drop her

kid off at number

15, I can sing it as

well and move on with my

life. My question for you is there an

eagerness to hear from God? Are you

consistently putting yourself in a

position to to to hear from

God? I'm convinced of this. Listen, as

James moves forward with what he wants

to share with us, a heart that is

receptive to the word of God is a heart

that will be obedient to the word of

God. If we want to be living as first

fruits of God's redeeming work, we're

careful with our own words and we're

obedient to the words of God. You might

be familiar with what James says in this

passage and you've probably heard it

over and over, but listen again to what

he says. Be 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's like a man who

looks intently at his natural face in

the mirror. For he looks at himself and

he goes away and then he 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. So, James gives another

strong command and a warning and then

illustrates what it looks like for our

hearts not to be receptive to God's word

and for us to not be obedient to God's

word. Luke said something a couple of

weeks ago that that's still just been

sitting with me. Something something to

this

effect. He said something like this. We

can't claim salvation from Christ

without submission to Christ.

And I was like, "Oh, that hold

on. I'm gonna use it." But I thought

more and more about it. We live in a

world in a society right now where

everybody calls themselves Christians,

but very few are being obedient.

And God, help us as those who are here

in this

room that we won't be the type of people

who speak it with our mouth and we hear

the word but we refuse to do what God

has called us to do. It's a recipe for

spiritual disaster. I've spent so much

of my life, my adult life in Christian

higher education. I've got multiple

degrees.

I I quit one after 10 years because

well, my wife's already a real doctor,

so it didn't matter if I got letters

behind my

name. I've taught pastors all over the

world. I've taught for three different

universities. I've been around some

smart people. And let me tell you very

plainly, knowledge of God's word does

not guarantee obedience to God's

word. And even more so, church

attendance does not prevent

disobedience.

Is knowledge good? Absolutely. Is church

attendance good? Absolutely. But none of

those

things make us obey God's word. We

cannot obey what we don't know. But you

and I can certainly disobey what we

already know. My dad used to say this

all the time. He would say, "If we could

just obey 50% of what we already know,

we would be 100% better off spiritually

than we are now."

I was like, I gave him a stank face.

Man, that's

good. It's possible to hear the word, to

come to church, and never see life

change.

Why? Because we're not obeying what God

has called us to

do. James tells us in verse 22, we

deceive ourselves if we're only hearers

and not doers.

In one of the most tragic passages and

and maybe one of the most haunting

passages in all of scripture, do you

remember what Jesus said at the end of

the sermon on the mount in Matthew

Matthew 7 · chapter mention

chapter 7? Jesus said this. Not everyone

who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter

the

kingdom.

What? Well, they're saying Lord,

Lord. They're claiming that that Christ

has saved them. And he goes on, "But the

one who does what?" Who does the will of

my father in

heaven, that's the one who will enter

the kingdom of heaven? And on that day,

many will say to me, Lord, Lord, did we

not prophesy in your name and cast out

demons in your name and do many mighty

works in your name? And then I will

declare to them, I never knew you.

Depart from me, you workers of

lawlessness. It's the same thing in John

5 when Jesus was speaking to the

religious leaders who had all the

knowledge, had memorized the first five

books of our Old Testament. They knew

what the word said, but they didn't

oy. Jesus told them in Matthew

Matthew 5:37

5:37, he kept telling them over and over

in so many different

ways. And he said to them, "The Father

who sent me has himself borne witness

about me. His voice you have never

heard. His form you've never seen. And

you don't have the word abiding, living,

resting in you. For you don't believe

the one that he sent. You search all the

scriptures because you think in them you

have eternal life. And it is they that

bear witness about me. Jesus said, "Yet

you refuse to come to me so that you may

have life." Friends, let's not miss it.

How in the world can we be a people who

have receptive hearts to the word of

God? We're careful with our words and

that we can then live in a way that is

obedient. I'm glad you asked the picture

that James paints for us in chapter 1

verse 25 when he says 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. The point here is

not necessarily the quality of looking.

There's two different words that James

uses to talk about that and I've heard

lots of sermons about. Well, they

stooped down and looked and they looked

for just a little while. The point is

this. One of them remembered what they

looked

like and one of them

didn't. So, what is it in our lives?

What does this mean for us? It means

when the word of God confronts my life,

I can't look at it and walk away the

same. when it rips open my heart and

exposes the depths where nobody else can

get to and I'll let nobody else see.

It's in those moment God is calling for

my

obedience and I have to remember his

word consistently in my life.

Friends, it's one thing to position

ourselves to hear from

God, but it's an entirely other

thing to have a heart that says yes to

whatever the word

says. I don't

know what the last thing was that God

told you to do, but I do know this.

There's blessing in

obedience. And if you're not sure what

to

do, where to go, how to live, simply go

back to the last thing you remember him

saying and say

yes. Our hearts are so prone to forget.

This is why throughout scripture, the

children of God would set up monuments

and stones when they crossed the river.

This is why throughout the Old

Testament, God told his people,

"Remember, remember remember." This is

why in what's known as the shama of

Deuteronomy chapter 6, which means to

Deuteronomy 6 · chapter mention

hear and to

obey. In Deuteronomy chapter 6, Moses

Deuteronomy 6 · chapter mention

wrote this from the Lord to the people

and said, "Here, O Israel, the Lord our

God, the Lord is one. You shall love the

Lord your God with all your heart, soul,

mind, and

strength. And these words I command you

today shall be on your heart. Teach them

diligently to your children. You shall

talk of them when you sit in your house

and when you walk by the way, when you

lie down, when you rise all the time,

you shall bind them as a sign on your

hand. You shall write them or or have

them as frontlets between your eyes. You

shall write them on the doorpost of your

house and on your gates. And when the

Lord God brings you into the land that

he swore to your fathers and gives you

all this good stuff, when your bellies

are full, when you have crops that are

abundant, this is what God said.

Take

care lest you forget the Lord who

brought you out of the land of

Egypt. If we want to be people who have

the first who are the first fruits of

God's redeeming work and we want to show

and display the goodness of God, we need

to be careful with our words preaching

the gospel that's implanted in our

hearts already. Preaching it to

ourselves on a daily basis. And we need

to put ourselves in front of the word of

God. be receptive to the word. And we

need to walk in obedience by remembering

all that God has done and all that God

has said over our lives, lest we forget.

So, how can you

remember? Oh,

man. Psalm 1, blessed is the man who who

walks not in the counsel of the wicked,

nor sits in the seat of of sinners or

sits in the seat of scoffers, but his

delight is in the law of the Lord. He

meditates on it day and night. Psalm

119, right? Right. I've hidden the word

in my heart so that I might not sin

against God. We need to fill our hearts

like sponges with the word of God so

that when we're squeezed, it's not that

nasty bucket water from school. Y'all

know what I'm talking about? That always

look like like like chocolate

milk. But when we're squeezed, it's the

word of God that comes out. Amen.

This is what Jesus said. If you abide in

my word, you are truly my disciples and

you will know the truth and the truth

will set you

free. I'm

curious if we understand that obedience

to the word of God is the greatest

evidence of a life that has been

changed. We have the gospel implanted in

us. We have the spirit living within us.

and we now have the freedom to obey.

What a privilege. What an honor to be

able to walk in newness of life. Let me

close with this. If if if every

Wednesday night or 12 to 14 weeks in the

fall and the spring, some of you don't

know that on Wednesday night there's

stuff that happens here. If you don't

have a kid, you may not know, but on

Wednesday nights, we have a little thing

for elementary school age kids and

preschoolers called Awana.

And shout out to Wana and Aana workers.

Thank you, Mr.

Nick. And and I have the distinct

privilege of being with my almost

seven-year-old in the kindergarten

class and spending all the time with him

and all that comes with that with his

sweet little uh uh neurode divergent

self.

And what I'm

learning is if I want to know the word

better, have a receptive heart, and if I

want to live in

obedience, the greatest display I've

seen

recently has been sitting in that

kindergarten classroom listening to some

sweet little

kids say the books of the

Bible memorize scriptures when some of

them can't even read

yet. My seven-year-old who will be eight

next six-year-old who will be seven next

week. I get them confused. We have 8765

right now. It's about to be 8775.

My almost seven-year-old who joined our

family almost two years

ago came from Haiti who spoke zero

English and my creole

was we spent six months having a good

time figuring out what we were saying to

one another. Let me tell you why the

word is so important. Let me tell you

why you are so important in the life of

this church. Because there are men and

women every Wednesday night who are

pouring themselves into our children

here. Those who have children, those who

don't have children, young and old,

investing, stewarding their time and

their heart with these kids. And just

last week on our final Aana night,

my almost

seven-year-old said, "All the books of

the New Testament

And and if you only

knew how far we've

come. He wants to come into the next

service. We said, "You stay with Miss

Katarina and Miss Madison in the back."

But if you knew how far we've

come, you would understand the power of

the word of

God. You would understand why I need the

word of God when I'm dealing with my

child. And I see people in here who are

there every

Wednesday. And I thank you, Miss

Melanie. Mr. Nick, for loving my

fouryear-old,

five-year-old. Think of Miss Gabriella,

who usually sits right there, who is

with my

oldest. Think about Miss Lindsay

Wages, who always listens to my

seven-year-old say her verses.

You matter when you walk in obedience

because my kids need

you. So maybe this morning your step of

obedience is to finally say, "God, I

want to be a steward of my time and my

treasures and my talents by investing in

these kids." Here's the fun part. You

don't need to know all the scriptures

because you got a book.

Here's the even better part. The more

you go over it with them, guess what?

You also memorize these are the books of

the Bible, the wonderful books of the

Bible. And and then it could just get

stuck. Praise Jesus, but not that

song. So friends, from the bottom of my

heart, let me let me just challenge and

encourage you. If we want to be a people

who are the first fruits of God's

redeeming work, may we be men and women

receptive to God's word so that we can

control our speech. And may we be men

and women who have a receptive heart so

that we can be obedient to the word of

God. And whatever that is, whatever

obedience looks like for you today, hear

me clearly. There is blessing in the

obedience regardless of what you think.

So say yes to whatever God has asked of

you. Father God, we love you. Oh God, we

praise you. Thank you for this time.

Thank you for your word. God, I thank

you. I thank you for every servant and

steward on this stage who leads us in

worship through music. God, I thank you

for Mr. Brad and Miss Lissa who have my

first grader. And I I thank you for all

the people in in the preschool area,

Miss Kim and Miss Ariana. I thank you

for for all the folks who take care of

Miss Michaela, Mr. Garrett, who take

care of my my

eight-year-old, Miss Madison, and Miss

Katarina, who take care of of my my

six-year-old. Thank you for every single

steward who has said

yes, who've been receptive to the word

and obedient to the word and invested in

God. May we be men and women who live a

life that honors you, being careful with

what we say, preaching the gospel to

ourselves, and obeying what you've

called us to

do. God, move in a mighty way in the

life of this church and the life of your

people in Jesus name. Amen.