QUESTIONS – James 1
Temptations
- A person should be (a) happy or (b) sad when trials come his way. James 1:2 ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
- How can an individual obtain wisdom?
How should he ask? James 1:5-6 ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ - What has the Lord promised to those that love him and persevere under trial? James 1:12 ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
- Lust leads to sin and sin leads to __ . James 1: 14-15 ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
- James did not say a person should be (a) quick to hear, (b) slow to speak, (c) quick to argue, or (d) slow to anger. James 1:14-15 ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
- The implanted __ is able to save souls. James 1:21 ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
- Pure and undefiled religion is not to (a) visit the orphans, (b) visit the widows, (c) only hear the word, or (d) keep oneself unstained by the world. James 1:23, 27 ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
My Hey, there we go. Test one, two, Testing, one, two, Testing, one, two, Testing, one, two, testing, one, two, testing, one, two, testing, one, two, Testing, one, two testing testing one, two, testing, one, two testing.<inaudible><inaudible><inaudible><inaudible><inaudible> It is time for us to get started.<inaudible> we’ll do it this way.
We are in the book of James this evening. Hey, Eric turned me down, just a hair. One of my hair’s not want to Eric Halvorson’s please.<inaudible> Good to see everyone out this evening and hope everyone is doing well, continues to do well. And also a glad for those who are still at home, but doing well. And, uh,
those who are traveling in a way Eddie and, and the boys left Tuesday. So their multi-week journey has begun. So they’ll, they’ll be back, uh, probably around the beginning of July. So maybe a few days after that, but seeing the aunts, seeing the grandparents. So James chapter one is where our study will come from this evening. Let’s begin with a word of prayer Gracious father in heaven.
We bow before you at this time, grateful for this day that you’ve given to us in the life that we have the opportunities that we have to serve you. And we pray that we will diligently serve you throughout our lives. That we will look for opportunities to serve. And not only do the things that we are asked Lord, we pray that you be with those who are dealing with hardship.
Right now, we pray for many that have lost jobs. Others that have lost loved ones as a result of the things going on in the world today. And we pray that you will give them comfort and strength. We’re also mindful of those who may be dealing with longterm illnesses, and we pray that they will be able to have comfort in the hard times.
And the hard days have strength in the good days. We pray that you will be with those who are struggling spiritually, pray that you will give them strength, pray that they might seek that strength through your word and that they might make you their ally and their fortress. They might be held up by the power of your word, Lord. We pray that you’d be with us as we go throughout this period of study this evening.
As we look into this book that was penned by James, but ultimately came from you. Pray that we might put on those first century glasses and be able to understand in the words and the perspectives in which it was written, but also be able to understand it and apply it in our own lives. We pray that you forgive us when we sin and fall short of your glory,
help us to always strive daily, to walk in your, uh, acceptably in your sight. All this we pray in Jesus name. Amen. Pop quiz. Ha no, just kidding. Who is James? Most likely the James of this epistle is the brother of Jesus. Uh, we know of at least two James’s in the new Testament, which one of them was an apostle James,
the brother of John. Okay. But we know as well that Jesus had a half brother because he was the son of who Joseph. Okay. He was a half brother because he was of, uh, he was from Mary, but he wasn’t from the same father. Uh, and so a son of Joseph who knew Jesus knew about what Jesus claimed to be,
but did he believe Jesus was who he claimed to be at the beginning? No. Uh, and I’m not going back and looking at these passages because they’re all passages that we looked at when we were studying the book of John. Uh, but Jesus, his brothers did not believe him to be what he claimed to be at the beginning. And matter of fact,
during one of the feasts, they said, well, what are you doing here? Go and show yourself at the feast. If you are who you claim to be, go manifest yourself as a prophet would do. Don’t be a profit in secret if you’re a prophet. Uh, and so mocking him saying, you need to go do this, not understanding what they were saying.
So the indication of history tradition is that as the resurrection occurred and the church was established, one of, uh, one group of people that were converted, Jesus having risen from the dead Jesus, having, you know, done all of those things that he said he would do evidencing himself as the Messiah. One of those groups that was converted were his siblings.
There’s another indication that there’s another brother of Jesus who was an author of one of the books of the new Testament, which one might that be? Jude. Jude is also most likely a reference to Jesus’s half brother Jude. So yes Is involved. The assumption would have to be yes, but you also get this perspective that throughout his ministry, even Mary doesn’t comprehend.
And that’s the hard thing for you and me is we get to look at it and knowing the facts afterwards, it’s a whole lot harder when they’re living in the moment, looking at it, you know, and, and this is just, this was just the, the brother this, you know, um, and who knows did didn’t Mary and Joseph ever tell the brothers am,
by the way, this is how Jesus don’t don’t know. Don’t know I have no, no knowledge whatsoever. Um, it would make sense to us that that was the case. But, uh, nonetheless, uh, of course then again, you add into it of, of course all children always do everything and understand and believe everything their parents tell them.
So, uh, we’ll, we’ll just leave that one at that. Also bear in mind that James would have been younger than Jesus. Jude would have been younger than Jesus. How many years we don’t know, but if Jesus began his ministry at 30, that means they’re in their twenties or maybe late teens, depending upon how much distance there is between the brothers.
Um, so, you know, there’s, there’s that side of things as well. Okay. Uh, no, no, actually there, there is, I said there were two there’s three James, is that we’re aware because there are actually two apostles who are referenced as, as James, um, is, and this is coming off the top of my head,
but I believe James, the less has also won the one references Bartholomew. You might have to look that up, but, uh, but there were two apostles known as James James, the brother of John. And in one of the texts, we also have James the less, Well, he was the one they would think Ruth, right? That seems to be,
that seems to be James, the brother of Jesus. That was, that was at Jerusalem. Galatians speaks concerning him as, as a one who was in Jerusalem, also acts chapter 15. He’s referenced as one of the elders in Jerusalem. Um, so that those references in Galatians and acts 15 seemed to be the same. James who wrote this book,
Jane, I do not believe so. I think That references a different, different James among the apostles. Um, so James begins this a Pissle this letter with James, the half brother of Christ in the flesh. Nope. He actually begins it in a very similar way that Jude begins his epistle James, a bond servant of God and of the Lord,
Jesus Christ. James does not begin. If all, everything that we’ve said to this point is accurate and it is the half brother of Jesus. He doesn’t begin with his earthly relationship to Jesus. He doesn’t go, Hey, you need to listen to me because I’m no, no, he begins it with I’m a bond servant. And any of you that have siblings put yourself in that perspective,
I imagine you saying about your sibling, I’m their servant. And then think about what that would be when you were younger. You just wouldn’t have done it. But this, this maturity, this perspective to say, even if he was my half brother, it didn’t matter anymore because the higher relationship, the most important relationship was not their fleshly connection. It was their spiritual connection.
So he begins James, a bond servant of God and of the Lord, Jesus Christ, Lord he’s the master Jesus. He’s the savior Christ the translation in the Greek of crystals of Messiah from the old Testament. He’s the Messiah. James says to the 12 tribes, which are scattered abroad. Greetings is James writing to the Jews, the nation<inaudible>. It could be there.
There’s not really a definitive idea on exactly the timeframe of this. Uh, I’ve seen, I’ve seen numbers anywhere between, um, you know, 50, 80 all the way to, to later. And maybe some maybe suggest even earlier than that. But, um, based upon my reading, my research, I think we’re probably good, 20, 30 years into,
uh, you know, the, the establishment of the church. And this is probably after the dispersion, uh, that you read about in book of acts where they’re driven out because of persecution, the Christians are driven out among the other nations, but as we get into this, one of the things that we need to be clear about is who is James writing to,
and he’s not writing to the Jewish nation by blood. He is writing to Christians, predominantly Christians who were Israelites Jews, but he’s writing to Christians, but he dresses them as the people of God. You remember where Paul says that the real Israel isn’t fleshly Israel, but the real Israel is spiritual Israel. When John or when James uses this reference, the 12 tribes,
he’s not talking about the people living in Jerusalem or Judea or Galilee. He’s talking about the Christians everywhere. And he says to the 12 tribes, which are scattered abroad, greetings my brethren, count it all joy. When you fall into various trials, temptations, the King, James says he, he wants them to be joyous. He already begins with your scattered abroad.
Now they weren’t scattered abroad because they were all just out having a good time out on vacation. They didn’t end up scattered everywhere because everything was going well, why were they scattered abroad? Because of persecution. And in the midst of this persecution, he says, I’m writing to you. And I know what you’ve been going through because you’re scattered abroad. I know why you are where you are,
but know this. You need to count it all joy. As if to say you start, we’ve got that, that song, counter many blessings. And I’m afraid what we do habitually in our own lives is we count every good blessing. We count everything. We consider a blessing and not everything. The Lord considers a blessing. We count all the good things that make us happy.
And we think, well, if I counted all the bad things that make us upset, sad, frustrated, angry, you know, make our lives difficult. I I’d probably have to lower my joy count a little bit. James says, no. James says you count your trials among your blessings. He says, count it all. Joy. Tally it up on your joy meter as it were,
as these are good things. Now notice what he says. He says counted all joy. When you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. This word fall here is, is interesting. And I want us to comprehend. This is not James saying to people, you are ignorant and foolish and your ignorance and your foolishness has produced trouble in your life.
And you need to be happy about it. That’s not what he’s saying. The idea of fall here is, is much like, you know, we sometimes will talk about people who fall in love. They, they, they didn’t really do anything to get there. It just happened. Okay. Uh, James is saying, you didn’t put yourself in this position.
You didn’t travel into trials. You didn’t drive into trials. You didn’t pursue trials. You got trials dropped on you. And yet he says no, that these trials produce something. They produce the word patience here is<inaudible>. It is to stand up under something. As if to say you were going to bear a burden, thinking your minds of the,
uh, the priests bearing the Ark of the covenant, those, those posts, they would lift those posts up and they would carry them on their shoulder. They would Bayer the Ark on their shoulders as they would travel. They’re lifting it up. They’re bearing it up. That’s this word?<inaudible> Absolutely. Absolutely. Uh, first Peter one six is,
is again another idea here. So he says, knowing the testing, the trials, the difficulties produce something. Now in order to produce something, uh, you’re talking about a manufacturing process. You generally have to have energy. You’ve got to have effort. You’ve got to have all in a lot of situations. You’ve got to have heat. Peter uses that illustration when he says that the trying of your faith is like a fire,
which does what to gold refines it. But it here’s the thing. If you have a house burning down and there’s a really hot fire in the midst of it, and there happens to be gold jewelry in the midst of that fire, when the fire’s over is the jewelry refined. It may be melded, but it’s not refined. Why? Because care wasn’t taken in the midst of the fire to produce something more valuable.
It was destroyed by the fire. Instead you would actually have gold that has been inundated with things that aren’t pure gold. Something that is produced is intentional. You don’t look at the trials that you’re going through and say, you know what? I’m going to sit back and wait until God produces me into something better on the other side of this. No,
no, no, no. You’re involved. You’re active here. You’re making a choice to become better because of the trial, which is the active part in which you can find the joy. Notice what he says. He says, but let patience have its perfect work that you may be perfect and complete lacking nothing. Is this perfection, sinless perfection kind of perfection.
Is it? It’s another word here that we could use in the English complete or mature. He says, use this to grow up. Um, Eric has just gone through a, in class Keith Mosher’s series of lessons on the stages of faith. And one of the things that you will find is true in life is also true in your faith is generally catastrophe.
That moves someone to another level. It’s hardship that creates the opportunity for someone to become more mature in their understanding of God and in their growth. And so one of the things that you find here is he says you have to allow patience, endurance to work in you. What does that mean about the trial? Is it going to be a quick trial?
You know, they’re done finished. Whoo, glad I got out of that. Oh, if patients is going to be working and you’re going to be enduring, cause that’s what the word patients mean. If you’re going to be bearing up under something, you’re going to be burying up, bearing up under it for a while. This isn’t a, uh,
a drive through trial. This is life. But he says, if you lack wisdom, now he says, patients can have its perfect work. And in that patient, you can become complete. You can become perfect. You can become mature, lacking nothing. You allow God to do what he wants to do with you. And you’ll become mature. You become complete.
You’ll become one. Who’s lacking nothing. You can step over to the books of Peter and look at the Christian graces and see how endurance and patience falls into that growth, circular pattern there. But here he says, this work can happen, but it requires an integral piece. Uh, the, that has to happen. There there’s a necessary event or,
or substance that has to be in your life in order for this patience to produce completeness and its wisdom trials, plus endurance, without wisdom, doesn’t produce completeness. So he says, you can be without lacking, but if you are lacking, one of the things you need is wisdom. One of the things you need to endure trials is this wisdom. He says,
if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God who gives to all liberally and without reproach. And it will be given to him, but let him ask in faith with no doubting for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. This individual who asks wisdom from God. So you’re going to get it like Solomon,
you know, God asks Solomon, what, what do you ask, ask for what you will. And Solomon asked for what wisdom and God said, because you didn’t ask for riches and long life and all of these other things, I’m going to give those things to you. But I’m also going to give you wisdom. It’s not going to work that way for us.
We’re not going to wake up one morning and just have the wisdom to judge Israel. It’s not going to happen. We’re going to have wisdom because we have gained it intentionally. But this is one of those passages in the scripture where we get this comprehension that God’s actions are joined with our actions to produce God’s will because God is not going to give us wisdom.
Miraculously, God’s not going to open up our brains and just stuff wisdom in there. He’s going to expect something from us to gain that wisdom. And sometimes that’s going to in, I mean, all of that time is going to involve study because the entire book of Proverbs, which is kind of the, the, the old Testament counterpart to the book of James is they’re telling you here’s wisdom.
It’s crying out to you, but you got to show up and actually get some of it. It’s crying out to the fool too, but the fool’s going to ignore it. The fool doesn’t want to learn. We have a society. We have a culture, I think to some degree in some areas it’s changing. But we, we are really in opposition to failure.
I mean, we really look down on failure. We look at someone who has made a mess of their life. Maybe it’s because of something they did, or maybe it’s something. And, and, and we just, our culture looks down on them. You take someone who has started a business and then failed. They’ve gone under the, you know,
there’s a lot of people in that situation right now question, how many of them had a really any say in it whatsoever? None, but they’re still failures, right? Maybe they are by some people’s standards. But here’s the thing. The failure in reality, the person who’s a real failure is the same person. God calls a fool because it’s the person who will not receive wisdom will not receive instruction and will not grow from trials.
No one who goes through trials and in experience is a failure, but then grows and learns from it is a failure. They’re not a failure. They’re someone who’s growing. When we see a little toddler, just learning to walk and he’s holding onto the Pew. All of us, remember when Micah was at this stage, he’s at the running stage now,
but when he was at this stage and he’d hold onto something everywhere, he went and get two steps. And none of us looked at him as a failure. None of us thought he’s just never going to get it. He’s never going to walk because falling down didn’t equal failure. And we do that. We have that mindset naturally when we’re looking at a toddler,
but we don’t have that mindset when we’re looking at an adult, but we need to, we need to have the mindset that says falling once or twice stumbling, and then getting up that wasn’t failure. That was growth because it’s the getting up. It’s the going back. It’s the re-examining. Why did I fail? Why did I fall? What happened?
And how do I overcome it? Next time that produces growth. He says, if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God who gives to all liberally and without reproach. And it will be given to him. The one thing that was brought out by a commentary or by a class that I was listening to on this, this aspect, it made a good point.
Since we’ve all, at some point had this situation where maybe someone we know a sibling or parent, whatever, uh, we’ve been in the experience where someone asked someone for some money, Hey, can I have 15 bucks? And the response has been what happened to the $15 I just gave you the other day. We’ve all seen it. We’ve all been,
it’s all happened. At some point, I gave you something the other day. What happened to that? If you had used that properly, you wouldn’t be coming back to me asking again, that’s here in this idea of God who gives to all liberally and without reproach, God’s not going to be looking back at us. When we say, Lord, I need more wisdom and saying,
didn’t I didn’t. You ask me for wisdom yesterday. When is it? When is enough enough? That’s not, God, God gives liberally. God says, yes, here’s more. Yes, here’s more now careful. You might get some trials with that wisdom, what you need application and not just learning. So you’re, you might go through the ringer,
getting it, but God gives liberally. But he goes on to say for, let that let, not that man, suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord. Why? Because he doubted he would receive something from God he asked, but he didn’t actually believe God would do it. Careful. If you ever pray to God and ask him for a million dollars,
you might get it. But guess what? Money is often a trial money is often in scripture described, described as a stumbling block. So careful what you ask for you might get it. Absolutely. Absolutely. It’s always going to come back to your faith. It’s always going to come back to your focus on God and not self here’s. The problem with the person who doubts.
He’s doubting God, almost invariably, because he’s doubting him self. And when you have someone who’s judging God by themselves, they’re never going to see God for who he is. They’re never going to see God for what he can do for them because they’re judging God by themselves. So this person’s unstable. James says he’s like a ship. That’s just being beaten by a storm.
It has in no control whatsoever of its destiny and it’s unstable. But he says he is, double-minded unstable in all of his ways. He’s of two minds. Then verse nine, he says, let the lowly brother glory in his exaltation. Sometimes God is going to come and he’s going to take a lowly brother. He’s going to take one who is humble in spirit,
but also humble in experience. And God is going to lift him up. But he also says, but the rich in his humiliation, God may take one. Who’s up here and bring him down. Guess what? Which one of those? The one who has experienced humiliation and the one who has experienced exaltation, which one of them’s the failure, neither one,
because both of them are servants of God. Catch onto this. He says, count it all joy. When you fall into various trials, grow from your wisdom. Don’t doubt God game in your faith and in your wisdom, through your endurance and through your patience. And then when life brings you changes, whether you’re going up as a humble man, or whether you’re rich and you’re going down to gain humility,
he said either way, you are one who can count it, all joy. It’s, it’s easy for a humble poor man to say, I’ve become richer and I’ve been exalted and I’ve been brought to a higher place and count it joy. It’s a lot harder for a rich person. Who’s become destitute to count it all joy. Unless his mindset is I haven’t moved one degree in relationship to my God.
See, this is where the perspective comes in. None of these changes that James describes here have anything to do with your relationship to God, but your faith and your wisdom and your endurance of trials has everything to do with your relationship to God. So then he says, let the lowly brother glory in his exaltation, but the rich in his humiliation, because as a flower of the field,
he will pass away for no sooner has the sun risen with a burning heat than it Withers the grass. It flowers, it’s flowers fell it flowers fall, and it’s beautiful appearance parishes. So the rich man also will fade away in his pursuits. This isn’t new thinking, this isn’t new, new revelation from God in the sense that God hasn’t told you this already go back and look at Proverbs,
go back to the book of Ecclesiastes. He’s you just had him summary form. The book of Ecclesiastes. He’s the rich man who does everything to gain his riches in his life. Does what ultimately dies and leaves it to somebody else. And Solomon looks at it and says, Anne, what happens to the rich man who does everything and all of his wisdom to gain all this wealth and die that leave it to,
to a fool who is his son? What point was it? Vanity of vanities all is vanity except serve God and keep his commandments. So then here we have this picture, beautiful flower comes out, buds. It grows, develops into this beautiful site that all of us appreciate. I don’t know anybody who looks at flowers and goes, except for people who maybe have dealt with flowers for a long time.
And all they see is the work. No way. He looks at flowers and goes, ah, those are just ugly. All of them everywhere in the world. They’re just ugly. Now. They’re not, we know better. What, how long do they last long? And yet God’s still in control. So the rich who’s bloomed in his riches like a flower.
And then it faded away. He can still glory in what has happened. So then in verse 12, he says, not only do you need to endure trials, not only do you need to come with grit, come to grips with the fact that life brings you changes. Sometimes you go up in physical possessions and sometimes you go down, but either way you stay humble and you glory in God and not riches.
He then says, bless it. As the man who endures temptation this temptation because King James says temptation both at the beginning of the, of the chapter. And here, this temptation is not the same as the first one, the trials of life or the first one, the temptation here is sin. And we’re going to get that. He says blessed is the man who endures temptation for when he has been approved.
He will receive the crown of life, which the Lord has promised to those who love him. Let no one say when he is tempted, I am tempted by God for God, cannot tempt cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone. But each one is tempted. When he is drawn away of his own desires and enticed. Then when desire has conceived,
it brings, gives birth to sin and sin. When it is full grown, brings forth death. There is a growth pattern, not only to spiritual success, completeness and perfection, there is a growth pattern to sin and you’re growing one of the two directions because there’s not a third alternative. You’re growing into center. You’re growing toward God. You’re not stagnant because life won’t let you be.
Every trial that you were in. Dewar brings you closer to God or pushes you away. And every temptation you endure either pushes you closer to God or pushes you farther away. How many of us, when we’ve been faced with the temptation to sin have said, I am blessed. No. Why can’t I get rid of all these temptations? You know,
sometimes that’s the way we are as Christians. Why can’t I get rid of all the temptations? Not why can’t I avoid sinning. We go through our lives, trying to walk around, avoiding temptation instead of looking at the temptation and going, I’m going to serve God. And every time I’m tempted and choose to serve God, I become stronger. I become closer to him.
Jesus didn’t walk around without temptations. And yet Jesus never looked at a temptation as being the same thing. As having committed the sin, Jesus looked at the temptation and said, I’m going that direction. A temptation is only a temptation when it’s something that you actually in some form or fashion want. And Jesus walked himself into temptations at times. Didn’t he?
I mean, he could have stayed away from the Pharisees. He could have eaten food for 40 days instead of fasting for 40 days. But he opened himself up to temptation by fasting for 40 days. And Satan came to him and said, you see those stones, go ahead, make them bread. He put himself in a place where he could be tempted.
Now I’m not advocating. Let’s go rush into temptation. No know Paul still says, flee, youthful us. Turn away from, tentation go away from tentation and pursue righteousness. But as you’re pursuing righteousness, guess what’s going to catch up with you temptation. And James says, bless it. As the man who endures again, stands up under those temptations.
Instead of giving into them, do not be deceived verse 16, my beloved brethren, every good gift and every perfect gift is from above and comes down from the father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning of his own, will he brought us forth by the word of truth that we might be a kind of first fruits of his creatures.
God brought us forth, birthed us by what brought us forth by the word of truth. But then he goes on to say so then my beloved brethren, let every man be Swift to hear slow, to speak, slow to wrath. We generally reverse all three of those slow to hear quick, to talk and quick to get angry. James says, don’t do that for the wrath of man does not produce Whoa,
wait a minute. Then we just have that produced word earlier. Endurance and patience produces perfection, but quick to wrath produces not righteousness. So then he says, therefore, lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness and receive with meekness. The implanted word. If you are holding on to filthiness, if you are holding on to wickedness, you’re not going to receive the word of God because you’re holding onto something else.
He says, if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror for he observes himself, goes away and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. But he who looks into the perfect law of Liberty and continues in it and is not a forgetful hearer of the word, but a doer of the work.
This one will be blessed in what he does. This is, this is Matthew chapter seven, verses 13, through the end of the chapter right here, all in summary form straight narrow way or a way that’s wide and broad and easy to walk. Few there be that, find it. Well, there’s going to be plenty who find this over here.
Then there’s the wise man who builds because he hears and he does something with what he hears. And there’s the fool over here who hears and goes away and forgets. We need to be mindful of these things and we need to see the lessons that are here. If anyone among you thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue, but deceives his own heart.
This one’s religion is useless. There’s more here than just someone who says I’m a, I’m a religious person and then uses profanity. There’s here. The person who claims to be religious and then is raffle. There’s your context. He’s talked about the one who is quick to hear and slow to speak and slow to wrath. And he comes up behind that with here’s your religious person.
They claim to be religious, but they don’t speak that way. He goes on to say pure and undefiled religion before God. And the father is this to visit orphans and widows in their trouble and to keep oneself. Unspotted from the world. You keep yourself, you want to, you want true religion. You keep yourself out of the world, which means you’re walking in the light.
You’re walking with God, you’re applying righteousness to your life, but then you also be worried about others. The fatherless, the widow, those who can’t provide for themselves, you do for others. Oh, wait a minute. It wasn’t a Jesus. Who said the greatest commandment in the law is I shall love the Lord. Thy God, with all my heart,
with all I sold with all, I strengthen all that in mind. Isn’t that? Keeping your cell phone spotted from the world because you’re at one with God. And then the second, like unto him, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. There’s your true religion, James. Isn’t telling you anything. Jesus, didn’t already tell you. He’s just saying it in different words.
Okay. Let’s go through the questions. We’re out of time. Question one, a person should be a happy or be sad. When trials come his way, a happy, joyous question. Two. How can an individual obtain wisdom ask from God? How should he ask in faith without doubting? What has the Lord promised to those that love him and persevere under trial crown of life.
Lust leads to sin and sin leads to death. James did not say a person should be a quick to hear, be slow to speak. See quick to argue or D slow to anger. C quick to argue. Number six, the implanted blank is able to save souls. Word number seven, pure and undefiled. Religion is not a visit the orphans B.
Visit the widows. See only hear the word or D keep oneself unstained from the world. See, all right, thank you for your attention. We’ll have our devotional in just a moment.<inaudible> Good evening. Welcome to the Collierville Wednesday night Bible study. It is really good to see each and every one of you out tonight. And for those of you that were unable to attend,
I’m so glad that you were able to either call in or watch it via live stream. We miss each and every one of you that are unable to make it out. And we pray each and every day that you’re able to return to us as soon as possible. The worship God announcements for this evening. Please remember our sick and keeping your prayers, uh,
Rodel and Dorothy Wilson, Joan Springer. I asked Maria, you know what exactly is all going on with her? And there is several different things that’s going on with her right now. So the best thing is just keep her in your thoughts and prayers each and every day and pray that she can get back to a normal life and she’d come out and worship with us again,
enjoy life. Um, other announcements, uh, Memphis school of preaching graduation is this Sunday. The reception is from three to four, and then the graduation itself is at five o’clock. And that is all over at the forest Hill chapel and, uh, fellowship hall over there. Eric and Holly and the family will be here with us Sunday morning for Bible study and a worship service.
So if you are unable to make it over to the forest Hill graduation, you’ll bill to come over and say, your sad goodbyes them Sunday morning over here, cause we’re gonna miss each. And every one of you believe me more than you can ever imagine a reminder about the nationwide gospel, a meeting call that is every night at nine o’clock, Monday through Friday,
there is a flyer out here on the table. If you’re interested in that to see what topic and who is speaking on that topic each night, and then next week will be the last week of that Sunday. We’ll put out those flyers for that. Um, only other non-sports I have is, uh, it’s kind of an admin thing I have ordered and should be here tomorrow at my house,
a couple of big bottles of hand sanitizer, and we will keep them on a table out here. So don’t be afraid to use any hand sanitizer while you’re here. If you need it. We’ve got, I’ve got plenty of common anyway, because I’ve got a line on som. So I got some more common tomorrow. Uh, the Steven in Murray sprinters,
uh, leader, a song service, Aaron Cozort will have the devotional and I will have the closing prayer. Thank you, please marketing your book. Number 943, number nine four three 153. Number four, five three. I was sinking deep in sin, far from the peaceful.<inaudible> very deeply stained within sinking to rise. No more bottom master of the sea heard my despairing cry from the waters lifted me and I say,
ah, love lifted me. Love lifted me when nothing else could help. Love me. Love lifted me. Love lifted me when a thing else could have<inaudible> me, all my heart to him. I give ever to him cleaning and his blessing presence live ever. His praise<inaudible> love. So my, he answered true marriage. My soul’s best songs,
painful lobbying is to, to him be home long<inaudible><inaudible> when nothing else could help me. Love me. Love me. When nothing else could help<inaudible> souls and dangerous above Jesus, completely sane. He will lift you by his love out of the angry ways. He’s the master of the sea billows is well<inaudible> he you’re saying here wants to be be saved.<inaudible> love lifted me.<inaudible> when a hurting house good help.<inaudible><inaudible> when a hurting has good hell,<inaudible> Take your Bibles and open them to the book of James.
We studied in James chapter one concerning the joy of Tim of trials, the benefits of trials, the faith with which we need to ask God for that, which we desire the troubles of temptation and enduring temptation, and yet the need to endure temptation. And in chapter one, and in verse 21, he says, therefore, James brings together. These previous statements brings together with those statements.
The fact that God is the giver of every good gift. And so he’s placed before you a realization that trials and difficulties are gifts from God and the realization that you are even blessed when you endure temptation and then you with this picture of God, the giver and his ultimate gift is truth. He said in verse 15 or verse 18, excuse me of his own will.
He brought us forth by the word of truth. God made a choice. He made a choice about you and me because while we were still in our sins, Romans tells us we were enemies of God. There was nothing about us to be desired yet. When we were still in our sins, he sent Christ to die for us and his own will delivered the truth that saves our souls verse 21,
therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness and receive with meekness, the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. The idea of implanted here is the idea of grafting, something in when you have a tree and you want to add to it or change it in some way, you graft in a piece to that tree. And over time and through a process,
I don’t understand that graft it in branch becomes part of the tree, but our bodies do the same thing. You’ve heard of a skin graft, take a piece of skin from one place, put it on another place. And before along the body graph, sit in, it makes it part of the original. That’s the word of God in our lives.
You’re not going to wake up one morning and just understand what God wants you to do. And it’s not going to come from inside you. There’s a whole new age, religion telling you the truth is inside you. Not unless you put it there because it’s not there naturally it’s there because it was taught to you. When Paul tells Timothy to think back concerning the things that he had been taught by his mother and his grandmother,
those things weren’t there naturally. They didn’t just happen. They were taught. But guess what? So as sin, we are imperfect naturally, but we are not flagrant abusive sinners naturally, that is also taught. And so he says, therefore, verse 20, because you have a choice because you as a human being, have a God that loves you enough to have it.
His will to give you his word. You have a choice. Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness. As if to say, if you chose not to go the other direction, you would stand in a tide and we’ve probably all done this. We’ve at some point, Ben at the beach, walked out towards the waves and caught a wave.
That was a whole lot bigger than we expected. Cause it doesn’t take long. I’m pretty, you know, in a windy day or whatever you’re going to, you’re going to be out a little wave coming in all little wave coming in and Oh, there’s a big one. And it catches you by surprise. Well, that’s wickedness. Oh, I’ll just dabble my feet a little bit and wickedness.
Oh, I’ll just add, well, my, my feet a little bit in this sin that sin, this thing over here, I know God said now do that, but he wasn’t really serious. That was no big deal. And Oh wow. Did you just see that happen? I never expect, I didn’t mean to be there. I didn’t plan on doing that.
And yet you did because instead of walking away from wickedness, as he talks about the man who endures temptation, not succumbing to it, not giving into it, but remaining faithful to God, you played with it. And then you were drowned by it. But instead he says, you can have that implanted word defend you from wickedness. If you choose to,
and it will save your soul. When Satan wanted to overcome Jesus with sin, he tempted him and tempted him and tempted him again. And every time he did Jesus overcame temptation with what the word, not because he got it out of himself in the same way, the new age theory proclaimed, but because he had put it there to be able then in temptation to bring it forth and make it his sword,
the fight, the battle of sin. Paul writes to us and says in Ephesians that the sword belongs to the spirit. And it’s the word of God. The sword that defends you and attacks saves you. So you and I, we make a choice. We make a choice every day. Are we going to play with sin and be overcome by it?
Or are we going to choose to walk a path of righteousness and allow the word of God to save our souls? But the only way Paul’s going to go into that or James is going to go into that. The only way you’re going to be saved by the word of God, if you’re not just a hearer, but a doer of the work and being a saved person is not a state of being.
It’s a work. It’s a place where you are a location in Christ, buddy. It’s a work that you must be doing. If you’re outside the body of Christ and living in a state of sin, you enter into the body of Christ. You are saved. Initially you are born again by the word of God, you say, well, wait a minute.
And I thought I was born again through baptism. You are, but you wouldn’t be baptized unless you were told to. And you’re told to, by the word that you hear, that produces faith and that faith brings forth more hearing. And that faith produces a change in your life called repentance. And that faith teaches you about Christ because you’ve heard about who he is.
Therefore you can claim allegiance to him and confess his name and that faith brought forth by that word tells you that when you are buried in baptism, in that watery grave, you rise up to walk in newness of life. It is that word that has brought forth newness of life. And now in your life as a Christian, you begin allowing that word to change you so that when you look in the mirror,
you see what God wants you to be. And you don’t forget that. Looking into the perfect law of Liberty ought to show you a reflection of yourself being what the perfect law of Liberty would have you to be. So my question for this evening is what do you see in the mirror? When you look in the mirror of the law of Liberty, do you see you in the law of Liberty or do you see a stranger looking back?
You have need of the invitation. Why not come as we stand in? As we say, have you<inaudible>, Are you a, so that sea King rat from the bird,<inaudible> my age.<inaudible> have you heard<inaudible><inaudible><inaudible><inaudible> here’s each time you cry, ah, understand your heart. Hey, eggs rise to from your, uh, new,
you know, my GE is new. You know, my friend, have you heard,<inaudible> Let us pray. God, our father in heaven, we come to you at this time, thanking you for another opportunity to assemble here or via the live stream or the call in to most importantly, study another portion of your word as Aaron. So eloquently put it,
it is your word that can save us and guide us in the right direction. And it is our desire that you help each and every one of us, understand your word and apply it to our lives. That we may better serve you here on earth. God, we also want to keep in mind those that are struggling with many different illnesses and ailments and ask it,
if it be your, will you restore them to a measure, the health that they so desire, we ask that you watch over those that are traveling and make sure that they get to their destination safe. And when they returned to us that they returned safely. And Lord, we also ask you for strength for each and every one of us in our everyday lives with all that’s going on in our country,
in the world at this time, because there are times that we are tried out there. Even if we’re just in a grocery store, we get tried by different things, help us see and act like Christians and be the shining light that you want us to be. We asked you guys garden, uh, direct us till we meet again. We pray all this in your son.
jesus’ name. Amen.