11/1/2015 A Summary Of James Part 1 – Steve Mixsell

Silicon Valley Reformed Baptist Church

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12/6/2015 Is There No God? – I Kings 22:41 – 2 Kings 1:18 Pastor Josh Sheldon

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For our scripture reading this morning, we'll be reading from Psalm 1 and from John Chapter 15.

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If you're using the pew Bible in front of you, the first passage you'll find on page 368, and the passage from John on page 727.

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When you find that, you would stand with me for the reading of God's word. Psalm 1, verses 1 -6.

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Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the prideful, but his delight is in the law of the

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Lord. And in his law he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bring forth its fruit in season, whose leaves shall not wither, and whatever he does shall prosper.

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The ungodly are not so, but are like a shaft which the wind drives away.

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Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.

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For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly shall perish.

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Reading now from the book of John, chapter 15, verses 1 -16.

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I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine dresser. Every branch of me that does not bear fruit

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He takes away, and every branch that bears fruit He brings, that it may bear more fruit.

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You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in me, and I in you.

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As the bridge cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me.

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I am the vine, and you are the branches. He who abides in me, and I in him, bears much fruit, for without me you can do nothing.

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If anyone does not abide in me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered, and they gather them and throw them into fire, and they are burned.

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If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.

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By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit, so you will be my disciples.

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As the Father loved me, I also have loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my

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Father's commandments, and abide in His love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full.

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This is my commandment, that you love one another, as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends.

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You are my friends, if you do whatever I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing.

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But I have called you friends. For all things that I hear from my Father, I have made known to you.

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You did not choose me, but I chose you, and appointed you, that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the

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Father in my name, He may give you. These things I commend you, that you love one another.

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We are thankful that we are gathered here today to hear your word.

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We ask that you would open our hearts and our minds to the teaching of your word, as Steve opens your word and shares it with us.

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We pray that you would be with Steve. We are thankful that you have been with Steve through his preparation.

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We ask that you would allow him to deliver the message that he has prepared for you in a way that affects our lives.

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We ask that your spirit would be with us for a time. We ask that you would bless our brotherhood. In Jesus' name, amen.

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Because of, I think, spiritual wisdom, I feel compelled to go to the Lord in prayer again. Dear Heavenly Father, in Jesus' name,

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I thank you and praise you for your incredible mercy and kindness towards us. Father, I humbly ask that you'll pour out your

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Holy Spirit on this gathering and on myself. Father, that you'll open the ears of those who are here, that they may hear.

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Father, that you'll loose my tongue, grant me clarity, grant me,

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Father, the words that you would have me speak to your people, and grant by your spirit some ability for me to, despite my failings, ascend to the great and glorious heights which are always present in your word.

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Father, I just want to confess my inadequacy, and that if it were based on my merit, on my preparation, on any sense of worth, anything other than your grace and mercy towards your people,

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I would not only fall flat, but I would fall flat in a way which would truly make me ashamed.

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And so I just thank you for your promise in your word, that whatever we ask, Father, in your name, for your purposes, you will do.

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So I ask, in your name, for your purposes, that you will not let me hinder your word going forth with power to change, to encourage, to convict, to bring salvation to those that don't know you, to strengthen those who do.

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I humbly ask these things for your mercy's sake and your glory's sake. In Jesus' name. Amen. I hope

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I can be forgiven for reserving these two messages to take a look back at the book of James before moving on to other portions of God's glorious word.

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I've told all of you many times during the course of this lengthy series on the book of James that I believe this book is probably the best book in all of the scriptures concerning true spiritual wisdom and practical godliness.

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So before we leave, I just want to take time to take a look back and make a very few observations about the greatness of our

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God as seen through the lens of his greatness toward his people. Or to put it another way, to show the greatness, richness, satisfaction, joyfulness, victoriousness, and gloriousness of life in his service for his kingdom.

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That is my sole aim of today's message. These are takeaways. I don't think there's going to be anything new.

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I just want to, before we leave, to emphasize the greatness of our God. I'm very glad that in the prayers and in the hymns we had so many great theological truths.

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I had originally planned to lay out some of the great theological truths about our

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God before moving on to this more specific, which I think James shows a little more clearly, the greatness of God by virtue of his greatness towards us.

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I just want to, because I'm going to begin, I'm going to skip that. When I got to five pages, I decided it was not practical for me to go through all the theological greatnesses of our

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God. I've mixed it in, but the primary focus I want to be the greatness of our

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God as seen through the lens of his greatness towards you, who are his servants.

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The richness of life serving Christ. It is no meager life. It is no life of impotence, weakness, waveringness, done properly, fully committed to him.

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It is a life of richness, of glory, of victory. And this reflects on our

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God. This reflects on the God we serve. He is rich towards his servants. He does not leave us weak or wavering.

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And I want to begin, as I try and endeavor to accomplish this one thing, by making a rather bold claim, one which at first might seem discouraging.

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It's my considered belief that many of those that have bowed the knee to the Lord Jesus Christ and come into his kingdom are not.

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They're not only not experiencing the fullness of this blessedness and greatness and richness of life in his kingdom, which is available to them, but I think,

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I fear that several of us, and certainly all of us at times, I'm not meaning to gradate levels of believers, but I think that many of us and all of us at times might actually be experiencing only the palest shadow of that blessedness and greatness and richness that our

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Lord has made available to us. And so I hope to encourage you, by showing how great our

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God is and how great the service in his kingdom is intended to be, to encourage you to pursue that.

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And then part two, Lord willing, next week, that we all live, will be up some practical observations from a look back at James on how to go about doing that.

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The first observation I make, life in his kingdom, in his service, is glorious because your

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Lord, your master and your king, Jesus Christ, is also your friend, who remains unswervingly, unalterably, immutably for you.

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He is for you today, if you are in his kingdom. He desires your good. He is working all things for your good.

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This is nothing new. It was the subject of my first message on the book of James. And I want to take a moment, for any of you who have not been present for the message, the long series,

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I can't remember exactly how many messages it has taken me to get through James. But I'm not going to be as persuasive,

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I don't think, or as exhaustive in proving all of these points to you. I commend you simply that each point

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I try and make is more fully defended in the appropriate message throughout the course of James.

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This is just intended to be a quick look back for some critical takeaways, what

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I think are some of the most critical takeaways from the book of James. So my first message, if some of you may recall,

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I made the point that once an individual enters his kingdom by bowing the knee to Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, not only are his sins forgiven and the

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Holy Spirit of God given to dwell within him, but God the Father, God the Son, and God the

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Holy Spirit become for him, unfailingly and unswervingly. The believer in Jesus Christ can know this, whether a life of some measure of outward prosperity might be his, or perhaps even great measure, or whether his life is characterized by one or more severe trials, long -term trials, long -term difficulties.

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This is why James tells us in chapter 1, verse 2, to reckon it all joy when we fall into various trials, confident of the fact that our

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Heavenly Father and his Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, have sent the trial to do us good.

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All trials, knowing that the testing of our faith produces patience, hoopanomai, endurance, constancy, steadfastness, an ability to endure more.

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Just as the weightlifter struggling under the weight has a goal in mind to strengthen himself, these trials are strengthening you.

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But let patience have its perfect, finished, completed work, that you may be perfect, mature, and complete, lacking nothing,

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James goes on to say. So we can be confident that God, among other things, and there are many other, no less wonderful truths, that some of the things

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God has sent the trial to prune us, we heard from the parable of the branches and the vine, so that we may bear more fruit, which can be rightly understood as synonymous with strengthening us.

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The Holy Spirit, we can be confident that God sent the trial to strengthen us, and by strengthening us, make us a more mature servant of our

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Lord, indeed making us more like our Lord, in thought, word, and deed, as the

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Holy Spirit tells us in Ephesians 4 .13, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the

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Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.

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So in becoming more mature, we are becoming more like Christ, the glorious Lord who we serve.

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And rightly understood, if we really are able to, by practice, learn and experience how these trials, which are difficult and not pleasant, are benefiting us, rightly understood, even our most difficult trial, our most lengthy trial, can be seen as a good and perfect gift, which is sent from above, from the

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Father of Lights, as James tells us in 1 .17. This is so because the trial is sent not to give us greater strength and endurance, merely so that we can glorify

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Him, merely. We certainly, that is the reason, in the parable of the vine, he tells us that in bearing more fruit, we glorify our

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Father. However, and this would almost be worthy of a sub -point,

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I almost would think of making it four points, but of a sub -point, the great truth is that in serving

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God, everything we do for Him cannot help but benefit us.

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Never do our interests diverge. In serving an earthly king, in serving in an earthly organization, in an earthly army, we may be called upon to take one for the team, to make a sacrifice, which will not benefit us.

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In His kingdom, there is no such sacrifice. You cannot out -give

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God, is my favorite extra -biblical saying. And it's shorthand for a point that you certainly will always gain.

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Anything you give up, if you lose your life, you will find it. And this truth can be seen in John 15 .2,

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where he says, Every branch that bears fruit, he prunes, that it may be more fruit. Which I hope you can see how that's the same thing as strengthening.

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Strengthening so that you may have greater endurance to bear more fruit. First, in 15 .8,

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John 15 .8, By this my Father is glorified that you bear much fruit, so you will be my disciples.

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But then going down to chapter 15, verse 15 and 16, No longer do

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I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing, but I have called you friends.

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For all things that I heard from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you, and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain.

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We bear more fruit, that our fruit should remain. We'll be preserved unto that day when rewards are given to the faithful for their fruit.

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So James clearly declares this great truth of the kingdom, That not only are all things worked together for the good of those who love him and are called according to his purpose,

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But that the trials are specifically sent in order to make us more like our glorious Lord, That we may glorify him better and enjoy a greater reward and inheritance in his eternal kingdom.

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One of my favorite hymns is, I Know Whom I Have Believed, and this hymn echoes this great truth.

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It goes on to say, And I am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have delivered unto him against that day.

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No one will ever lose. Tomorrow's failure will not cause you to lose the reward for today's service.

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That you should bear more fruit, and that your fruit may remain. This is why he prunes us.

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He is no miserly Lord, seeking to wring, as so many of our earthly Lords are, Seeking to wring every last drop of blood out of us.

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Many of you, if you've ever worked for law firms and restaurants, there's many employers that are famous for this. All, to some extent, are trying to get the most they can out of you.

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They're not concerned whether your career will be short. In the restaurant business, I think the average manager's tenure is six years,

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And after their 90 -hour weeks, that's about it. Among lawyers, there are often pools, macabre, morbid pools, of how long it's going to be until the next lawyer dies,

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Because of the stress. God is not like that. He is not like that at all.

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He is strengthening you, so that you may both glorify him, and may enjoy him more fully today,

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And may have greater reward unto that day. In other words, the trials are sent by God to help us learn to give up, or at least to hold lightly,

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Those earthly things we cannot keep, in order to gain those eternal things we cannot lose, ever.

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Know this, Christian, he remains for you, even amidst your most fiery trial, even on your worst day.

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We're so tempted, our flesh is so tempted to lose sight of this, when we're under difficult trials.

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He remains for you. Second observation. Life in his kingdom is glorious, because your

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Lord, the King, the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the

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Last, He who was and is and is to come, Jesus Christ, has an intense and highly protective affection for you.

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To say you were his friend is only scratching the surface.

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Not only does the sovereign ruler of every molecule in the universe work all things for your good,

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Including the trials he sends into your life, But he is no cold and detached father, no cold and detached

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Jesus, Who merely logically and pragmatically governs events for his glory and your benefit,

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Like some grand economist seeking to maximize utility to all. But the love which he has for you is a fiercely protective love,

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Which will not stand idly by and see the least of his servants treated with any less honor and glory than a man's personal favorites.

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This can be seen in chapter 4, verses 4 and 5, where he says,

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Adulterers and adulteresses, do you not know, I'm afraid for a moment that I've interjected a text out of order,

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So there may be a little disconnect, but hopefully I'll tie it up. Adulterers and adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God?

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Whosoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you think that the scripture says in vain, the spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously?

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The Holy Spirit, through the pen of James, we are told, The servants of Christ, it's one of the motivations they should have seeked to avoid double -mindedness,

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The double -mindedness characterized by friendship with the world and its wisdom, And with the people governed by that system, world system and wisdom,

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Is that the spirit of Christ who dwells within us yearns to have our affections,

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Our friendship, exclusively for his own. This intense, passionate, jealous, and interventional love that the

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Father and the Son have for those who are their servants Pops up many places in scripture.

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It can be seen not only expressly in some passages such as Matthew 25, And we're familiar,

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I think, most of us with this longer text. I'm only going to quote two verses. In describing the sheeps and the goats,

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And what separates the sheeps and the goats is how they've treated the least of his servants. The least of his servants.

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The king will answer and say to them, Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do this,

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Inasmuch as you did do this to one of the least of these, my brethren, you did it to me. And then in verse 45,

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Then he will answer those others saying, Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it, To one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.

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And then in Matthew 18, As I expressed during our messages several times,

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We are told to take heed that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I say to you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my

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Father who is in heaven. With the idea that the Father who loves the least of these little ones is ready to give the signal to that angel.

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To go take action against those who are not honoring them. Who are abusing them.

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And this, I hope I can interject a little bit. Some people read these texts and they're like, wow.

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Because this text is kind of cast as, Be careful that you do not despise one of these little ones.

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And so it can be understood merely as something to be terrified as. Contrary, don't fail to read,

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Don't fail to meditate on his word with eyes that seek to know the

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God behind the word. To not just look at this command, but to understand the heart and mind.

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And when we come to next week's Lord willing message, I'll be focusing on this as one of the practical pieces of advice.

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We seek to understand the mind of the God behind the word. The heart of the God behind the word.

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Not merely what he's told us to do. And as you do that, as you begin to identify what are the major highways and arteries of his word versus the capillaries and side roads.

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You really do begin to know his mind in more complex situations. You get a better idea for how he would have me make this decision today.

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Just as the good soldier, the good second commander, executive officer.

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In order to be a good servant to his general, learns the strategies and ways of his general so that absent clear orders, he can still anticipate what his general would tell him to do in that situation.

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This is one of our goals. So this warning not to misuse the least of his children, not to despise, not to even lightly regard them.

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Don't think little of them. Because I love them so much that their angels are waiting right there for me to raise a proverbial finger.

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He loves you that way. On your worst day, he loves you that way. With a jealous, protective, interventional love.

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And this truth can be seen if one listens to the tone of many other texts. And I made a point, and I'm convinced.

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I hope you all see this. In chapter 2, verses 1 through 5, when James tells us, My brethren, do not hold the faith of our

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Lord Jesus Christ, parenthetical, the Lord of glory, with partiality.

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For if there should come into your assembly a man with gold rings and fine apparel, and there should also come in a man with filthy clothes, a poor man with filthy clothes, and you pay attention to the one wearing the fine clothes and say to him, sit here in the good place, and say to the poor man, you stand there, or sit here at my footstool.

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Have you not shown partiality among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? Listen, my beloved brethren.

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Has not God chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which he promised to those who love him?

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And this text echoes this. This little parenthetical, the Lord of glory, I'm convinced, is put in there as this.

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And by the way, the caution against partiality, James goes on to say, that it's a sin worthy of condemnation.

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Remember, he says if you've broken one law, you've broken them all. After referring to breaking this law of showing favoritism towards some people, some brothers and sisters versus others, is that the least of us we're called upon to treat, in a sense, as though he were the

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Lord himself. He is the purchased of God. How dare you treat, how dare you show partiality against the least of he or she chosen by the

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Lord of glory. By virtue of the fact that I've chosen him,

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I've given him a measure of my glory. At least you should treat him that way. You should treat him as though he were me.

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And I am the Lord of glory. So how dare you despise one of mine.

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And in Romans 14, we're told not to despise those who disagree with us over doctrine, even if they're wrong.

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Sometimes we reformed folk don't follow this as well as we should. Let not him who eats despise him who does not eat, and let not him who does not eat judge him who eats, for God has received him.

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Who are you to judge another servant? To his own master he stands or falls. Indeed, he will be made to stand, for God is able to make him stand.

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Skipping to verse 15. Yet if your brother is grieved for food, you are not walking in love.

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Do not destroy with your food the one for whom Christ died. Again, a reminder of the gravity.

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Even in your theological differences, even if you're right, be careful that you do not hold your doctrine, your increased knowledge in such a way as it causes your weaker brother to stumble.

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Ending with a caution, do not destroy with your food the one for whom Christ died. Again, merging the glory of Christ with the least of his servants, even the one who is mistaken.

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This truth is also echoed in the stern warnings of chapter 4, verses 11 through 12, and chapter 6, verses 7 through 9.

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In chapter 4, verses 11 through 12, James says, Do not speak evil of one another, brethren.

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He who speaks evil of a brother and judges his brother speaks evil of the law and judges the law. But if you are a judge of the law, you are not a doer of the law, but a judge.

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There is one lawgiver who is able to save and destroy. Who are you to judge your brother?

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Again, illustrating that when you do this foolish thing, when you think lightly of your brother, you are actually invading the territory of the

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Lord of Glory, of the God of this universe. He alone is the judge. How dare you take that upon yourselves?

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And then it can really be seen, and I hope you'll learn to read Scripture this way, to be looking at the heart.

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Throughout Scripture, God speaks very threateningly and jealously about how we treat the least of our brethren.

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Any brother, every single brother and sister, he makes these statements like,

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The judge is standing at the door. Their angels always see them. And of course, again, going back to that, understand, brother and sister, these warnings should be to your encouragement because he loves you that way.

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He doesn't just warn you. These warnings against mistreating or despising your brother apply to all of his servants towards you.

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It is a great love. James 5, 7 through 9 also echoes this. You also be patient. And this is in his final summation, his final comments to the recipients of the letter, the

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Church of Jesus Christ. You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the

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Lord is at hand. Do not stenazzo, a word that's translated grumble, but could also be translated sigh or groan.

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Do not grumble, sigh or groan against one another, brethren, lest you be condemned.

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Behold, the judge is standing at the door. Again, hear the heart of God and his jealous love for the least of his servants.

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Don't even sigh. Don't even sigh against the person that tries your patience, lest you be condemned.

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Behold, the judge is standing at the door. Rejoice, servant of Christ, for though you are his servant, your

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Lord and his Father love you with a fierce, passionate, protective, interventional love.

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Just as a little caveat, this does not mean there will be no pain in your life, no suffering. We've already shown in the first point that trials, even difficult trials, are going to come into your life because he will have you be mature.

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He will have you grow up into the full stature of Jesus Christ. Third observation, and this is the main one in a way, and I ask your forbearance for those of you that have been here.

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I beat the drum on this a lot, and the reason I do is because I think it's the weak point.

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It's often the weak point in our understanding of how the Christian walk described in Scripture should be, and one of the reasons we don't experience the fullness and richness of that life.

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Third observation, life in this kingdom is glorious because of the great resources your

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Lord and King has placed at your disposal, resources which, if you will merely avail yourself of them, will result in a life of victory where all those things you truly endeavor on behalf of your

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Lord and King, things you endeavor in his name for his purposes, will succeed.

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What a great, I don't know if I'm a little unique, but this person of German ancestry, success, victory.

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No matter how hard the battle, what you attempt for him, and if it truly is for his kingdom, will succeed.

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There is a true Christian prosperity gospel, a reformed prosperity gospel. It is very different than the prosperity gospel you'll hear at churches, but what you truly do for him, for his kingdom, for his purposes, will succeed.

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It may not succeed immediately. It may not succeed visibly. It may not succeed in the way that you thought it would succeed, but know this servant, it will succeed.

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Whatever he does shall prosper. Psalm 1, which was just read to you. The man who delights in the law of the

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Lord, or woman, and in his law he meditates or she meditates day and night, will be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, whose leaf also does not wither, that brings forth fruit in its season, and whatever he or she does will prosper.

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And we get a little bit of a clue into what it is, what it is to seek to do things according to his will, for his glory and for his purposes.

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It involves meditating on the word of God. One has to know the purposes of your

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Lord in order to pursue them. And this is true, know this, whatever you endeavor in his name, and whatever you ask for in prayer, truly asking on his behalf for the sake of his kingdom, rather than your own selfish, independent interests or desires, he will give to you, even to the point of working the amazing, mighty, and miraculous.

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This can be seen not only in the text that was read for you this morning, John chapter 5, John chapter 15, excuse me, verse 16, whatever you ask the

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Father in my name, he will give to you, but also in chapter, in James chapter 5, verses 16 through 18, confess your trespasses one to another, and pray for one another that you may be healed.

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The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months.

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And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit. The word energeo is translated, the words effective and fervent come from the single

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Greek word energeo, which has a picture of great energy expended properly, like the master construction worker, the master builder, who's not only expending great labor, but he's doing it properly, making a straight cut, doing it right.

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And verse 16 stands for the proposition, I argued, and I'm not going to go to the depth, it's important that I make this point, because this is one of the areas of mistakenness by many believers,

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I think. Verse 16 stands for the proposition that if one prays properly, God will give you what you ask for.

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And praying rightly, being understood as the prayer of true faith, which asks him based on his promises contained in his revealed word, or according to his revealed word, and ask for things in his name, which should be understood as on his behalf, on behalf of his kingdom, for his glory, rather than wrongly praying for your own interests, as can be seen in chapter 4, verse 3, where James tells us, you ask and do not receive.

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Why? Because you ask amiss that you may spend it on your pleasures, rather than spending it on the advancement of his kingdom and his glory.

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And it's important to understand that the effective fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much, that a righteous man is not the qualifying restrictive clause.

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And I think most of us, our flesh has a tendency to interpret it this way, that it's possible for me to pray rightly, effective and fervently, but to not be answered because I'm not quite righteous enough.

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I know something against myself. No, this is a descriptive phrase.

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If you are praying properly, you are the righteous man. This is a descriptive of a man or woman who prays properly.

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Because if you are seeking, if you are endeavoring, brothers and sisters, we all have failings.

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We all, the Holy Spirit will ever be revealing things to us in his word, especially if we're truly going before his word, that we fail at, we'll be ever convicted.

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And in fact, I maintain that if you're not under conviction when you're spending time prayerfully in his word, you're doing something wrong.

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You can take that to the bank. I invite disagreeing discussion, but I doubt that you will change my mind.

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You are going to fall short when that mirror of God's righteousness is held up before your face.

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You're going to see you fall short. And it's vital to understand that if one prays properly, it is what is meant by a righteous person.

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And we went in, we exegeted the fact that praying properly is praying the prayer of faith, and that faith comes through a knowledge of his word, what he's revealed, his promises, and praise, most importantly, in his name.

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In other words, for his purposes. You're asking for things on his behalf and not on your behalf.

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You are bending every fiber of your mind by looking deeply into his word, by meditating on his word, to know what he would have you do in this situation.

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And many times it's clear. It's easy. If you're familiar with his word, you're going to know what he wants you to do.

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But sometimes it's going to require a little more depth of having looked into his word.

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But the point being, if you're asking for the things he's commanded you to do, and you're truly pursuing his kingdom, you will have what you ask for.

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This is why James gives us the example of Elijah, and says, Elijah was a man with a nature like ours.

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The whole point of that is not to think that in using this example of Elijah, Elijah is, as my prophet, a high -ranking saint who was uber -righteous, ultra -righteous, more righteous than you, therefore this does not apply to you.

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The whole point is, this applies to you. Elijah, the example I'm using, was a man with a nature like ours.

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He had the failings we have. He had the variability. So know this.

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If you'll simply pray rightly, and that is to pray for his glory on his behalf, working to accomplish what he has commanded you, you can be confident he will give you what you ask for.

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And we'll talk about why we don't see this, I think. This is a...

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It always has mystified me why this truth is so under -appreciated and perhaps even misunderstood.

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It's a very convicting truth. If we don't see this happening in our lives, it reveals how little love we have for one another that we don't care to ask.

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And I'll share with you. I've seen people healed from terminal cancer that I have asked for and told them

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I was asking for them. Put God's glory on the line. I know these truths not only exegetically.

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It was first exegetically, but through deep experience of many years. I've seen many miraculous answers to prayers.

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And yet it boggles my mind how seldom I earnestly seek his good for my brothers and sisters in Christ in importunate, fervent prayer.

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And you know what it does? It shows how little love I have in my heart for my brothers and sisters in Christ.

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That's the truth. Although I certainly have more love than I had when he came into my life and when he made me his many years ago.

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It's convicting. And also, as a little preview, the enemy is in ourselves.

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It's double -mindedness. We're not all in. We're not asking for things truly and fully for his kingdom, for his purposes.

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We're asking amiss that we may spend it on our pleasure. Or that's at least poisoning our asking. I'm convinced that.

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So we have this virulent, we have this resilient enemy within us, this fleshly mind which is asking for things very deceptively often for our own purposes.

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This is why the Holy Spirit commands us in Ephesians 4, 22 -24 to put off concerning your former conduct the old man which grows corrupt according to this deceitful lust and to be renewed in the spirit of your mind and that you may put on the new man which was created according to God in true righteousness and holiness.

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And then in another text in Colossians it says you have put off the old man. Speaking of this ever -present battle,

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God has declared it. He's made us a new creation. It's a fact. We have the Holy Spirit. And the death, the ultimate death of that old man is also established.

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It's going to happen. One day the old man will be gone completely when we're in his presence. But there's this between stage where the old man is mortally wounded but he still makes a lot of trouble for us.

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He still has a lot of energy and cunning left and we do need to put off actively although in one sense it has been put off we do need to continue to actively put off the old man.

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And the key to overcoming the power of this old man which creates double -mindedness is to prayerfully ask for the aid of God's Spirit to show us his wants and his desires his heart and mind by looking intently into his word and not being a forgetful hearer but a doer of the word which if done earnestly with a true heart which wants to be true, asks to be true, and seeks to be true that bears itself before his word will result in the success of our endeavors for his kingdom.

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This idea is echoed in chapter 1 verses 21 through 25. Therefore lay aside all filthiness and the overflow of wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted or engrafted 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 observing his natural face in the 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 but a doer of the work this one will be blessed in what he does.

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And again I think we see Psalm 1 echoed that the one who cares so much about the will of his

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God that he looks intently into the word of God he squats over it is the picture of that Greek word he's camped over it and he doesn't move.

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And then as a doer of the work this one will succeed whatever he does will prosper or she this one will be blessed in what he does not merely in his kingdom.

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I hope you can see the convergence of these multiple biblical texts if you really pursue his will and submit yourself to him and will ask for things in his name what you endeavor, what you ask for what you endeavor will succeed what you ask for you will have and again

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I just want to make the caveat again that there's not a promise that your deeds will prosper immediately in fact

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I would say that it's God's modus operandi because he is glorified when we exercise faith and faith inherently is the belief in things

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God has promised which we don't see immediately before our eyes this is why all through scripture we see faithful men and women waiting long periods of time to see what he's promised so there's no guarantee that it will be immediate there's no guarantee it will even be visible there's no guarantee it will look like what you thought it would look like but ought you to really care about any of these things if your goal is the glory of God if you will never see the salvation of that person for whom you've prayed and shared the gospel because the salvation occurs 20 years hence when the

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Holy Spirit brings to their memory all the things that men and women have spoken to them about Christ which is something that happened in my life which is a precious memory

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I always try and keep as an encouragement for faithfulness there was a moment shortly before I came to know the

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Lord where the few scraps, maybe 15 or 20, no one ever shared the gospel with me and I was 34 years old and an extrovert talking about philosophy and religion with anyone who would be willing to talk to me and no one shared the gospel with me but in a moment in time, little tiny grains of truth that were shown by God's Spirit crystallized in my mind after I had gone to a church service where the word of God was faithfully proclaimed crystallized in my mind in a way that is not explainable but by my recall, it just is not

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I've been a student through graduate school I know what I am capable of remembering and how well my memory works but in an instant, these tiny little 15 or so little bits of truth which could be fit together perfectly for some understanding of the gospel, were there and I try and remember that when

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I have the opportunity to share even a grain of truth not give a complete gospel presentation don't shy away from that because he'll prosper it he will prosper it it may be invisible it may not look the way you expect it to look it may not come immediately but you can serve him confident that it will come his word will not return to him void but will accomplish that for which he sent it and similarly his servant his faithful servant who seeks to do his will will not return to him void either so know this, servant of God if you truly desire to serve him enough to pour over his word that you might learn his heart and mind concerning the matters of your life and enough to endeavor to achieve his purposes concerning the matters of your life by praying earnestly in accordance with those purposes and desires you learn from his word as you endeavor these things to implement his will, he will bring them to pass you will be successful because he will give you what you ask for in prayer a corollary to this truth is that his word is clear enough that it will reveal his thoughts and goals and intents if you prayerfully meditate on his word day and night asking the

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Holy Spirit to reveal the mind of the Father and of Christ contained in those words you will be able to ascertain his will and this truth is echoed in chapter 1 verse 5 which 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 them with wisdom being understood as the ability to live skillfully and properly the same meaning

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I believe it has through the Old Testament wisdom literature and then continue in verse 6 through 8 revealing a truth

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I've touched upon already that the enemy of receiving what we ask for in prayer lies not with the nature of God with any lack, any stinginess but it lies in our own mixed motives 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 for let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the

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Lord he is a double minded man unstable in all his ways so brethren

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I hope you can see the greatness of life and service to Christ as he has designed it to be your

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Lord is great in every way beyond your ability our ability to fully even comprehend or imagine he underwent a suffering that no man has ever undergone in order to save you from the sentence of death due your sins to save you from eternal condemnation and punishment by paying the full price due to your sins and indeed the sins of the entire world not only has he saved you from eternal punishment but he has made you a trusted servant and a friend he has a jealous protective love for you in that he warns all of his other servants not only not to despise you to lightly regard you at the danger of immediate intervention on his part but he commands his servants to give you in a sense the same honor and service they would give to himself he has promised never to leave you or forsake you and he never will he also remains immutably sometimes

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I think we miss this and this is the point of every good and every perfect gift comes down from the father of lights in whom is no variation or shadow of turning

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I made the point that there's a nuance in the language and I think context in a sense strongly argues in favor of understanding in whom is no variation or shadow of turning as not a mere repetition as I did for so many years in essence not saying he doesn't change he really doesn't change, let me emphasize it but he doesn't change, the immutable

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God not only doesn't change but miraculously, wondrously he doesn't change his attitude his stance towards you who do change he foresaw your failings before the foundation of the world when he chose you as a love gift for his son and nothing you do can change the fact that he is for you immutably for you without the slightest variation of turning away from you he's immutably for you on the day of your poorest service to him or even your temporary rebellion against him he remains as for you as he did on the day before the foundation of the world when he chose to give you, as I said earlier as a love gift to his son and purposed to have his son purchase you at an incalculable cost his own precious blood and as you live your life as a servant he has promised to give you whatever you ask in prayer so long as you truly ask on his behalf, on behalf of his son for the advancement of the kingdom of his son for his son's glory in other words he has promised to give your life not only meaning but also success and victory in whatever you endeavor for him and so thereby enables you to share personally and directly in the glory of the advancement of his son's kingdom every day of your life if you will but believe him and act upon his words and his promises to abandon your double -mindedness and go, as it were all in for him this is why our own author

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James the blood -born brother of Jesus Christ himself James was the brother of our

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Lord Jesus Christ born of Mary and Joseph the same way

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Jesus Christ was born of Mary and Joseph raised by the same mother and father in the same household chosen by our

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Lord to be accepted in the beloved and entrusted by our Lord to be the overseer of possibly the largest and most influential church in the world as of the date he wrote this letter he was the head of the

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Jerusalem church arguably the most important influential church on the face of the earth at the time

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James refers to himself simply in beginning our letter as James a bondservant of God and of the

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Lord Jesus Christ life of service in his kingdom is so great, so rich, so glorious that for a man or woman to be merely a bondservant of Christ is a title which not only properly humbles itself in the sight of the

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Lord James 4 .10 but because the Lord promises to lift up his servants who humble themselves in his sight it is a title of honor, glory, and riches beyond any on the face of the earth to be a mere bondservant of the

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Lord Jesus Christ is a more glorious title than to be king of the world, king of the universe seek out his ways,

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I encourage you in light of this truth to seek out his ways and his thoughts in his word, ask the

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Holy Spirit to grant you illumination and understanding of his word his ways, his thoughts seek to agree with them and act on them to the degree he gives you understanding pursue his goals, his glory, and his kingdom which require you to accept his testimony against you as you go before that word you will be convicted and if you're not, ask for him to show you where you fall short because the best of us fall short he sent his spirit to convict the world of sin, of judgment, of righteousness and he continues to send his spirit to you to convict you of sin, judgment, and righteousness you don't know righteousness, you don't know your own sin my word

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I have hidden in your heart that I might not sin against thee you don't know sin, you don't know what righteousness looks like without his word so seek it, seek it earnestly in prayer and he will give you what you ask even though it requires mountains to be moved and cast into the sea delight yourself in the law of the

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Lord and meditate in it day and night and whatever you do in pursuit of his kingdom and his glory shall prosper and Lord willing next week we'll make some final observations from James as to just how to go about doing this by closing

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I simply want to read another Psalm which reinforces I hope today's message

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Psalm 37 beginning at verse 3 trust in the

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Lord and do good dwell in the land and feed on his faithfulness delight yourself in the

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Lord and he shall give you the desires of your heart, commit your way to the Lord trust also in him and he shall bring it to pass he shall bring forth your righteousness as the light and your justice as noonday rest in the

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Lord and wait patiently for him do not fret because of him who prospers in his way because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass dear heavenly father in Jesus name we just want to thank you for your incredible mercy and kindness towards us clearly revealed in your word we humbly ask that you will impress these truths however poorly they may have been expressed deeply in our hearts that you'll bury your word in our hearts father that we may be encouraged to seek you with our whole heart to follow you with our whole heart father to put to death the double mindedness which is so inexorably a part of our nature father which requires daily struggle, daily reproof from your word daily exposure to the fellowship of our brothers and sisters in Christ father give us a deep conviction of the fact that these truths