The Word of Truth
Notes
Transcript
Handout
The book of James was written to a scattered church and we are still a scattered church… have been since COVID.
James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes scattered among the nations: Greetings.
People got used to not being in church and many have not gone back. Today is very similar to the day that James wrote his book.
Two weeks ago, we learned to be joyful in trials and temptations. He starts right off telling us to be joyful in trials and temptations. There is a difference between a trial that God will allow to grow your faith and a temptation. God doesn’t tempt us, the devil tempts you. And sometimes it’s hard to tell the difference. Check that sermon out.
Tonight, we will finish chapter 1. He shifts from trials and temptations to this. This is a deep passage.
16 Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers. 17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. 18 He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.
19 My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, 20 for man’s anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires. 21 Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.
22 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. 23 Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror 24 and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 25 But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does.
26 If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless. 27 Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.
James 1:16–27 (NIV)
16 Don’t be deceived, (and many will be deceived) my dear brothers and sisters. 17 Every good and perfect gift is from above,
God only gives us God things. Many people don’t believe that and blame God when things go wrong.
coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. 18 He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.
19 My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, 20 because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires. 21 Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.
22 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. 23 Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror 24 and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 25 But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.
26 Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless. 27 Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.
James says over and over again do not be fooled. It has the power to anchor you… even if you are scattered. If there is one thing that’ vital in these days, it’s staying true to the WOG. It anchors us to something that’s true.
Listen, today the WOG, the Bible is under attack from all over… from the devil and our culture. There are people who don’t believe it, want it destroyed or changed and that is dangerous because it leads to death.
Now this isn’t new, look at Satan in Genesis. Here are his first words. They are questioning the WOG.
1 The serpent was the shrewdest of all the wild animals the Lord God had made. One day he asked the woman, “Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?”
He is always questioning the WOG… trying to get you to doubt the WOG or even not believe the Word. Staying true to the WOG is the single most important discipline you need during these dangerous times. It’s important.
We have a generation that thinks they know more than God. They pick and choose… You can’t do that. They follow their feeling way too much and look at the Bible and only take what they like.
People are living a hedonistic lifestyle. They say, God wants me to be happy… NO He doesn’t. He wants you to be Holy. Look at this.
There is a path before each person that seems right, but it ends in death.
You don’t have to argue that God’s truth is truth… they will eventually believe it. Because the world’s way doesn’t work. People say I don’t believe that… give them time because the World’s way does not work.
Once you understand the difference between a trial and a temptation, you need to have the right attitude towards the WOG.
He asked the question?
What is going to be the basis for how I live my life? The world or the Word?
What is going to be the basis for how I live my life? The world or the Word?
We all base what we believe on something. It could be Fox / CNN / Social Media / Buddha / Koran / something… What’s wrong with basing what you believe on the Bible?
The longest book in the Bible is about the WOG. David placed his hope in the WOG.
David said,
My soul is weak from waiting for you to save me. My hope is based on your word.
We can’t change what’s going on. We can’t change COVID changing how the world works. We can change Russia invading the Ukraine. We can’t change Hamas type Muslims killing thousands in the Sudan. We can’t change Hamas murdering 1200 Israeli citizens. We can’t change the economy.
But we can determine our attitude about it. You can determine what your attitude will be like as you go through the storm.
There is single discipline that you can have to help you survive a storm than the WOG.
“Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won’t collapse because it is built on bedrock.
House - emotions… marriage… kids.. against every part of your life.
Not just a listener - you are doer.
Listen, I am a Bible person. I love reading it and studying it. We need to love the Bible. I want you to love it too. It’s life giving. It’s not just a book, it’s God’s word to us. It’s how we get to know God.
James is giving us three attitudes toward the Bible we need to have.
The Word of Truth
The Word of Truth
The first is…
1. Gratefully receive the Truth that saves me.
1. Gratefully receive the Truth that saves me.
He says don’’t be deceived… we need to have the right attitude about the WOG
16 Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers. 17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. 18 He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.
He is saying that if you come to God, it’s not going to be fun… or you can’t do this and that… No Everything God gives us is good.
Knowing God is the best part of my life. That’s what he is saying here. If it’s good it’s from God.
So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
Some of you will hear the WOG and you will convicted. You will think, I need that, so you need to gratefully receive the fact that Jesus saved me.
First Fruit - Basically means that we give the first and best to God. This is where the principle of the tithe comes from. It means that anything I produce, I give the first part to God. It’s why we have church on the first day of the week… before we have a week, we give it to God. You are giving God a first fruit by being here today. But we don’t do it because we have to, we do it because we get to…
Our attitude isn’t oh man, I have to give God 1/10th of what I just made… NO… Our attitude is that we get to give back something to God as a way of thanking him for giving us the ability to earn the money we have.
It’s an act of worship. It’s an attitude change. When I got saved, it was ok Lord what do you want… anything.
It’s like this old song…
Love so amazing, so divine. Demands my soul, my life my all.
Love so amazing, so divine. Demands my soul, my life my all.
It’s an attitude. You just say, God thank you for saving me… here I am… all of me.
He then goes, now that you are saved,
2. Humbly accept the truth that confronts me.
2. Humbly accept the truth that confronts me.
Humbly? Because we have a lot of pride in what we are doing.
19 My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, 20 because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires. 21 Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.
IOW, there will be times you read the Bible and go UhOh. You will read something you don’t like and then you will be faced with a decision.
James is saying to humbly accept it. We don’t get to cherry pick what we believe out of the Bible. God is God and He gets to tell us what’s right and wrong… we don’t get to decide that.
Timothy Keller -
If your god never disagrees with you, you might be worshipping an idolized version of yourself.
This means that you will hear or read something that will make you have to make a decision as to whether or not you will live like this. James says you better accept it.
Dechomai - Accept - Welcome like a stranger. You don’t know them, but you let them in. There will be times when you read the word and it comes to you, You allow it into your life. It’s used again here....
13 And we also thank God continually because, when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as a human word, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is indeed at work in you who believe.
If you do not welcome it like a stranger, it won’t work in your life. You have to have the right attitude about the WOG.
The mark of a God-changed heart is that I like God telling me how to live.
The mark of a God-changed heart is that I like God telling me how to live.
That’s the mark of real belief.
I receive the WOG, then I accept it’s truth… then,
3. Intently embrace the truth that guides me.
3. Intently embrace the truth that guides me.
Carefully or intently - look at it intently. Look…
22 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. 23 Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror 24 and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 25 But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does.
We think we are looking good until we look in the mirror. Then we go Ohhh. Hair is out of place… you you have a hanger… a hair coming out of your nose or wrapping around your ear.... That causes you to come to a place of decision. When you realize it’s there, are you going top pluck it or not?
Some days you will read the Bible and see that you have a hanger. And you have to decide if you are going to pluck it or not. Some people Just want to go right on living life with the hanger… you need to pluck it.
It’s an attitude.
Here is a way to be intent…
Get a paper Bible
Get a paper Bible
You need to have a Bible that you love. I love technology, but paper is good.
Set aside time to read, study, and meditate on God’s Word.
Set aside time to read, study, and meditate on God’s Word.
Mark it up. I do that in my Bible and even on my digital Bible.
Have a Bible reading plan.
Have a Bible reading plan.
One Year Bible
Don’t just read the bible, let the Bible read you.
Don’t just read the bible, let the Bible read you.
Let it tell you what needs to be plucked. What is the WOG telling you that you need to change?
Conclusion
Here is what it produces.
27 Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.
You become of person of justice… You care about those who are oppressed.
You care about righteous living. We live in a generation that you have to pick one of the two. Our culture says you have to advocate for justice … for the poor… for whatever. It doesn’t matter how you live…
Then there is another group of conservatives that say you don’t advocate for the oppressed, but they will tell you in a second where you are wrong or in sin.
Justice and righteousness are the foundation of what God wants.
Prayer -
Let us become people who love the WOG, submit to it and have the right attitude about it.
Maybe you are listening … and you feel far from God. You need to gratefully receive the WOG, Humbly accept it, and Intently embrace the truth it shows me.
If you are ready, pray this with me.
Jesus I need you. I submit my life to you. Jesus by my Lord… I give you everything. I believe that you are are the SOG that you died, were buried and rose again. Today I put my faith in you. Thank you for saving me.