Being Faithful In Our Obedience [James 1:22-25]

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We are going to be looking at being a faithful woman in a faithless age by being obedient.
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If you would turn to James 1 22 James 1 22 father.
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I do pray that you will give grace. I know that this is now the third session that I must teach and they must listen to and Lord.
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I think this is probably the most important one of the four And I do pray father that you will give us sensitive hearts to the
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Spirit of God that we would not forego what he's trying to teach us through this.
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We know he leads us into all truth. So I pray that you will give grace for this session in Christ's name.
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Amen. Well, I want you to imagine with me this morning that I am an owner of a rapid growing company and that you are my executive assistant.
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And I want to expand my company overseas. And so in order to do that, I'm going to move my family and we're going to go over to Europe and I'm going to do some business over there to expand my company, but I tell you that while I'm gone, you're in charge.
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So you're going to run the company here in the United States and I'm going to be gone for about six months. And so I leave you in charge and when
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I'm gone, I send you a series of emails for you to read so that you know what to do in my absence.
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And so I go overseas and I come back and take my family home and make sure they're fine.
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I start coming to the office. I get my car and head to the office and I noticed when I pull up into the parking lot that the grass hasn't been mowed and there's some windows that have been broken and haven't been fixed and it really just kind of looks pretty junky and I'm thinking, okay, that's not a very good sign.
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So I walk into the lobby of the office and the secretary sitting there with headphones in, you know, she's bopping around showing her gum and she's obviously not even aware that I've come back and I say, hey, can you tell me where the my assistant is the one that I sent all these emails to and she goes, oh, yeah boss, you know, he's down the hall.
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We've turned the the lunchroom into a temporary room to be watching all the, you know, trashy soap soap boppers that are on in the afternoon.
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So I go down the hall and I'm a little disturbed and so I ask you to step into my office and so we can have a talk and I look at you and I say, what is going on here?
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What's going on? And you say, what do you mean boss? What do you mean? What's going on? I say, well, look at this place.
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I mean the front of the office is horrible. The grass hasn't been grown of mode.
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The windows are broken the secretary. She's chewing gum and listening to music. She's not even answering the telephone and and the lunchroom has been turned into a soap opera room.
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And I said, what didn't you get my letters? Did you get my letters while I was gone? Yeah, boss.
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We got your letters. In fact, we got every one of them. In fact, boss, we've had letter study every
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Friday night since you left. In fact, we've even divided all the personnel into small groups and discussed many of those things.
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You wrote some of those things are really interesting and boss, you'll be pleased to know that a few of us have actually
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Committed to memory some of your sentences and your paragraphs one or two of us even memorize one of your entire letters.
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Great stuff in those letters. And so I say, okay. Okay, you got my letters.
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You studied them. You meditated on them and you discuss them and you even memorize them.
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But what did you do about them? Do we didn't do anything about a boss?
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Now ladies that behavior would be professional suicide. Wouldn't it? My company would go down under.
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But you know what? We are just as absurd spiritually when we hear God's word without the slightest inclination inclination to obey the letters that he's written to us.
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That would be spiritual suicide. In fact, James says in James 1 22.
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But be doers of the word and not hearers only deceiving your own selves for if any man be a hearer of the word not a doer of the word.
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He is like a man beholding his natural face and Mary beholds himself forgets what he looks like goes about his business, but whosoever looks into the perfect law of Liberty and continues in it.
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He being not a forgetful here, but a doer of the work this man will be blessed in what he does.
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Now, you just have a twofold outline there before you first of all, we're going to look at the danger of being a here only and then lastly the delight of being a doer always the danger of being a here only and the delight of being a doer always.
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We don't have time to get into the verse before but it is interesting that James has just talked about the engrafted word which is able to save our souls and ladies.
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We know that we've all been engrafted. We have the promise of the new covenant and if you are a genuine believer a genuine believer, that was one of the things that I noticed that changed in my life after I became a believer.
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I used to read my Bible every day. I prayed every day. I did all the religious junk, but it's not junk. But that's what
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I it would have been back then and after God saved me there was something different. I had a desire for the word of God that I had never had before and that's what
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James saying here. The engrafted word is in our heart. And so we strive not only to know it more but to practically obey it.
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And that's why he says after he says verse 21 the engrafted word which is able to save your souls.
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He says but but in the Greek this means make sure make sure that you are but be doers of the word.
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Make sure you're a doer of the word and ladies this indicates that some in James day are just like you and me.
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We regularly listen to God's word, but we're not real disciples.
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I mean, I heard my dad preach. I heard Warren Wears be preached when my husband was a Moody at Moody Bible Institute.
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I heard my husband preached for years. I listened to God's word.
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These people were interested in the Old Testament and the New Testament, but they lacked obedience and ladies.
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This is not a new idea to the Jewish reader nor should it be to us. In fact, turn over to Deuteronomy 28
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Deuteronomy 28 verse 58 notice.
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What the Lord warned the nation of Israel about through Moses. If you do not carefully observe all the words of this law that are written in the book that you will fear this glorious and awesome name the
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Lord your God then the Lord will bring upon you and your descendants extraordinary plague great and prolonged plagues serious and prolonged sicknesses moreover.
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He will bring back on you all the diseases of Egypt of which you were afraid and they will cling to you also every sickness every plague which is not written in the book of this law with the
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Lord bring upon you until you're destroyed. You will be left few in number. Whereas you were as the stars of heaven in multitude because you would not obey the voice of the
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Lord your God and it will be that just as the Lord rejoiced over you to do good and multiply you so the
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Lord will rejoice over you to destroy you and bring you to nothing and you will be plucked off the land which you go to possess, you know,
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Moses says nothing about hearing the word. He says obeying the word if you know anything about Deuteronomy 28, it's a great portion of God's word to look at all the blessings of obedience and all the cursings of disobedience.
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Now back to James when James says but be doers of the word the doer here is not one who sporadically obeys.
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It's one who habitually characteristically regularly obeys the word now, obviously, you're not going to be perfect.
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You're not perfect. I'm not perfect, but your life will resemble one who's known as doing the word.
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In fact, the way James States it here instead of doer of the word. It's really do the word do the word.
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This is the kind of a woman. We should be we are a doer of the word.
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In fact, Paul says the same thing in Romans for not the hearers of the law are justified before God, but what the doers of the word are justified not the hearers but the doers our
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Lord put it this way my sheep hear my voice and I know them and they what they follow me.
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They obey me ladies. It's one thing to run in a race.
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I have never, you know run in a race, but I can run but I it's another thing to be a runner and it's one thing to teach a class, right?
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Anybody can teach a class but to be known as a teacher. In fact, it's one thing to bake a cake, but it's another thing to be known as a baker, right?
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I remember when my girls wanted my daughter -in -law wanted to take a cake decorating class and they wanted me to join them.
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This is when they all lived back in Oklahoma and I said, okay, that sounds like fun, but I don't really want to be a baker, but I want to eat the icing.
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So yeah, that sounds like fun. Let's do a baking class, you know, and so I ate the icing and they learned to be great cake makers and they both even today make cakes for people's weddings and things like that.
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I don't don't ask me to make a cake. I can bake a cake, but I'm not known as a baker runners are known for their running right teachers are known for their teaching bakers are known for their baking.
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Likewise doers of the word are known for what doing the word they obey the word. Ladies, the direction of our life is what should be one of real obedience to God's will and his word.
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Now, if I were to ask your husband, if you're married, is your wife a doer of the word? What would he say?
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Do others know you as a doer of the word James goes on to say but be doers and not here's only interesting word.
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The word hearing here refers to auditing a class auditing a class.
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Have you ever audited a class? Have you ever taken a college course where you audit? You know what that is?
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That's where you go and you listen to the teacher, but you don't have to do the homework. You don't have to do the work.
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You just come and you learn ladies people who listen to God's word, but never obey it are spiritual auditors.
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They delude themselves by thinking all I have to do is hear the word of God. I hear it on Sunday. I read it, but I don't have to do the work.
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I don't have to do anything about it. Now ladies. I want to make it clear hearing is essential, right?
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We do need to hear the word. We do need to read the word, but our obligation doesn't stop there. My fear is many of us today are auditing the word of God, but we're not acting on what we hear.
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My husband I've seen it in the years of ministry people come to church. They tentatively listen, but we watch their lives over years and years of ministering and there's no change.
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There's no desire to do the word and unfortunately, our churches are full of hearers only not doers of the word.
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In fact, I heard once this is a true story. About a pulpit committee that called a pastor and they were very excited.
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This new pastor is great. First Sunday got up preached a wonderful sermon. It was wonderful and the pulpit committee is like, yeah, we got the right guy next
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Sunday came and you know what you got up in the pulpit and he preached the same message. So some on the pulpit committee said pastor.
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Do you realize you just preach the same message you preached last Sunday? You know what he said when you start living the first message will go on to the second one.
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Now, maybe that'd be a good rule for all of our churches, right? When you start obeying the first message, then I'll go on to the second one.
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Now ladies those who hear the word but do not obey it know what James says. He says you deceive yourself.
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You know what this means? It means you've you're beside yourself. You have miscalculated about yourself.
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You've calculated wrongly about yourself. Now, what have I deceived myself about according to the greater context in James?
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If you know any bit anything about the epistle of James, you've deceived yourself about your salvation. Ladies.
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I was a hearer of the word from the time I was born. I mean my dad was a minister when I was born. I heard the word for 30 years.
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Did I do the word? No, no, this man. This woman has deluded themselves into thinking that all they have to do is hear the word without doing it.
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They have a superficial encounter with it. This statement is frightening. It's really frightening because you know what you're not deceiving anyone.
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You're not deceiving God. You're not as I mentioned earlier. My husband almost called off the wedding the night before we got married.
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I didn't deceive my husband. I'm not deceiving my kids my friends. They know people know whether we're doers of the word or just here's only.
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In fact, Jesus says the same thing in Matthew 7 16, you will know them by their fruits.
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In other words, we will know we will we will know we can judge righteous judgment. You should be able to look at my life.
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I should be able to look at your life. And I know I don't know most of you but if I hung out in this church and we went to church together,
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I should be able to track with you and you track with me and I would say wow, you know, this woman's really changing.
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In fact, just yesterday. I was on the day before yesterday. I was on the phone with one of the gals. I disciple and we're going through some systematic theology stuff and I was talking about, you know sanctification and she said
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I thought was really sweet question. She said have you seen any changes in my life in the last year? And I said, yeah,
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I've seen growth and I told her I said I kind of bit my like have you seen any changes in me and because you know,
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I we should be seeing changes in each other growth. By their fruits, you will know them.
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In other words, we will know true believers by what they do and notice here ladies. It's not what we claim.
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It's not what we claim. It's by what we do people will know you can't fool them for long.
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If you're producing fruit or not. In fact, Jesus says in the
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Sermon on the Mount something very similar. Not everyone says to me Lord Lord will under the kingdom of God, but only what those who do those who do the will of my father who in Heaven you can say all you want
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Lord Lord didn't we prophesy in your name? Didn't we cast out demons in your name? Didn't we do all these wonderful works in in your name and he's going to say depart from me.
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I never knew you you workers of iniquity and you know what I think is so so telling about that passage in the
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Sermon on the Mount is that the Greek word there when he says most many will say to me in that day. Lord Lord, give me this do we do this and we do this the
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Greek word there is most most most are going to say into me that day he's going to say depart from me.
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I never knew you you called me Lord Lord, but you didn't do the things. I say you didn't do it ladies.
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That's a frightening warning to us. Well James in gives a description.
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Of those who hear but do not obey in verse 23 notice what he says for Finney is a hearer of the word not a doer.
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He's like a man beholding his natural face in a mirror interesting the one that is observing here is not it's not a casual observing.
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It's a careful cautious observant stare.
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So this person is taking a long good look at himself into the mirror.
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He's examining self was correct careful scrutiny. It may be the lesson on trials. We had it may be the lesson on the tongue that we just had and you're like,
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I know I'm not responding correctly to trial. Oh, I know I need to help. I need help with my tongue.
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Ladies here's of the word are not necessarily superficial or casual in their approach to Scripture.
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They can be even serious students of the word. And yet the fact is some
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Sunday school teachers some pastors some pastors wives are not true believers.
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Some even write biblical commentaries and books. Ladies are response to the word not our depth of study alone is the issue with God faith without works is dead.
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John even says he who says I know no God I know God but doesn't keep his commandments is a what a liar and the truth isn't even in him.
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In fact, turn over to Ezekiel having to do some Old Testament stuff. This is good for you. Ezekiel 33 very telling passage.
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Remember James is writing to a Jewish audience. They would have been familiar with Deuteronomy 28.
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They would also be very familiar with Ezekiel 33 Ezekiel 33 beginning in verse 30
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God says to Ezekiel and you son of man the children of your people still are talking against you by the walls and in the doors of the houses and they speak one to another and say to their brother come
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I pray you hear. What is the word that comes from the Lord and they come to you as the people come and they sit before you as my people and they hear your words, but they will not do them for with their mouth.
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They show much love but their heart goes after covetousness and lo you are to them as a very lovely song of one that has a pleasant voice and can play well on an instrument for they hear your words, but they do not do them and when it comes to pass and it will come to pass they will know that a prophet has been among them
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Ezekiel was a very popular had a very popular following among the people. They'd say hey, let's go hear
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Ezekiel. I love to hear Ezekiel talk. He has a great voice. It sounds like the piano playing
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Debbie was saying this morning. She goes. I need to listen to more piano music. We were eating breakfast at the hotel and she said I need to listen to more piano music.
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It's oh, it's so pretty. Let's come here Ezekiel. And God says that they'd love to listen to you, but they don't like to do what you say and then he's going to say lo the day will come and it will come they will know a prophet has been among them, but it's going to be too late.
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It's going to be too late. Now back to James James says this man.
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He's a hearer of the word. He's not do he's like a man beholding his natural face in a mirror.
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It's interesting because you know in the biblical world. They did have mirrors by the way. I mean, have you isn't it crazy all the mirrors?
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I'm so thankful. There's not some in here but our hotel room even this morning there was mirrors behind both of our beds.
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There was mirrors, you know in the way you first walk in mirrors the bathroom everywhere you go and the wonder were such a narcissistic world because we just constantly have looking at ourselves, but in the biblical world, they did have mirrors.
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They weren't like ours. They were made out of brass copper tin and they did give a reflection not quite like the mirrors of our day, but nonetheless they could reflect a person's face and so just like that mirror gives a reflection of our face ladies.
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The word of God the mirror of God's word gives a reflection of our hearts. Well then in verse 24
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James tells us after this man is finished. He observes himself and notice what he says. He beholds himself.
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He looks at himself in this mirror and he goes his way and he immediately forgets what he looked like.
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Now ladies despite the here's lingering look in the mirror in the word of God. It's like oh, yeah,
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I need to do something about my tongue. Oh, yeah, I need to start responding correctly to trials. Oh, yeah,
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I need to do that. But you know what you're going to close your Bible here at 2 o 'clock and you're going to head home and you're going to do whatever you're going to do this afternoon this evening and there forget what you heard forget what you heard the mirror soon fades away and you forget the image of your heart that needs to be changed.
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And ladies we all do that right even this morning. I got up and I was a sight to behold and you know, my pink pajamas and my curlers in my hair and and no make and you believe me.
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I aren't you glad that I got dressed and came but you know, I look at myself and that's a sorry sight
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Susan joy heck and surely don't want to go teach the ladies in that outfit and you know, I look at myself and I'm gray and starting to sag in places that I didn't used to sag and you know, but I come in out of sight out of mind, right?
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I forgot what I looked at look like and so it is we hear the word of God. It's like a mirror.
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It's held up before us and I see my sin. I see my defects. I see all the things that I need to change.
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And I might even become emotionally aroused during a Sunday morning service when my husband's preaching or Sunday night or a ladies conference or a ladies
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Bible study. And I immediately turn away and forget everything
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I've heard. If however ladies were doers of the word we will endeavor to remove all these defects all the sins and bring ourselves into conformity to Christ.
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Ladies. What if I didn't get dressed this morning? What if I had come in my white socks and my pink pajamas and my curlers in my hair that have
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Southwest Airline pics in them. I love those Southwest Airline coffee stirs. They're great for those of you like to curl your hair.
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It's a layer. It's great. So, you know, I put four little curlers on top of my hair and those pink
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Southwesters they I mean bread and they have little hearts on the end. They're great because I have so much hair and it holds it in there great.
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But what if I come to teach like that this morning, you know, I mean yours not really this where did Janet Cooley get this speaker?
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I mean, what if I forgot to change my clothes and get dressed that would be kind of absurd wouldn't it?
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But that's a lot of what we do when we hear the word of God. We see ourselves in mirror the spiritual mirror.
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We know what we need to do and we go about in our Southwest curlers. I mean our curls with our little things in them.
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Ladies, I'm afraid too many church members deal with God's word in the same way. In fact, how many of you can remember last
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Sunday's sermon? The last message that you heard if you can remember it was your conscience stirred.
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What did you do about it? Have you made any changes? And by the way, just as my getting dressed this morning and cleaning up a little bit benefits you.
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So does my hearing and doing the word of God it benefits you as well as myself.
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Well, James goes on to say this person goes their way and immediately forgets what manner of man.
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He was the word go away means the departure was a settled condition. The guy went away.
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The woman went away and they didn't come back for a second look. In fact, what they saw in the mirror of God's word was so bad when they looked at their heart.
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They departed. They didn't come back. Why bother? Why bother ladies?
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Sometimes our physical appearance is so bad. We don't even want to return for a second. Look right. I've been there. And spiritually to you might not like what the word of God reveals today about your heart.
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And so you don't want to come back for a second. Look or maybe you're saying to yourself, you know,
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I'll take care of that sin tomorrow. I'll take care of that next week. What's the rush?
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Some of you may go home this afternoon turn on the television get involved in yard work to drown out your conviction.
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Well, what is the danger of being a here only you've deceived yourself. That's what James says ladies.
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I know I did it 10 years first 10 years of my marriage. I did all kind of spiritual gymnastics with the
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Bible to justify my sin always. I was deceiving myself. If you'd asked me if I was a
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Christian, I would have told you. Yes. I'm a Christian. I believed I truly was but I was a
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Pharisee. I was a hypocrite. I deceived myself into thinking all I had to do was hear the word and not do the word.
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Well, we turn from the danger of being a here only to now the delight of being a doer look at verse 25, but whoever looks into the perfect law of Liberty and continues it.
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He being not a forgetful here, but a doer of the work this man this woman will be blessed in what they do.
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Interesting in verse 25. The Greek verb here is a looking into almost with a bending down to examine.
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It has the idea. Remember when Peter and John were told that, you know,
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Christ had risen from the dead and John and they was like, they can't believe it. So they ran and John outran Peter, but eventually
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Peter got there. John kind of looked in went out like, okay, he's not here, but not Peter man.
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He went in. He looked at examined every corner. No, wait a minute. Where's Jesus? He's not here. It's like an intense looking same
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Greek word is used there. This person looks intently into the word. They go out of their way to study its pages.
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They they want to know what God says about this area in their life. They bend over it stoop over it look intently.
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In fact, the looking here in the Greek actually means a humility. It's like, oh Lord change me looking at your own spiritual condition.
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So ladies, it's an attitude as well as an action. And so James is describing here.
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The doer is one who has such an intense interest in the word of God that he or she goes out of her way to study its pages and to look and examine themselves.
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Does that describe you? Well, he gives certain definitions about this word.
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Notice what he says. It's the perfect law of Liberty. You might say why does he call it perfect?
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Well, unlike those perfect mirrors that were in the biblical world, you know, they were not as good as ours.
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Unlike those imperfect mirrors ladies. The word of God is perfect. It's perfect.
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It's sufficient. It's all we need for life and godliness. Also a second meaning to this word.
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Perfect. You remember in our first lesson on trials. They're sent to what perfect us make us complete make a strong that is the same idea here.
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Ladies perfection is used as something to describe something that reaches an end or a completion.
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So we would say this the woman who obeys God's word fulfills the purpose for which
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God has sent her into the world. She will be the person she ought to be. She will be perfect in the sense that she will obey the law of God.
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Now. He also besides calling it perfect interesting. He calls it the law of Liberty the law of Liberty.
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Now that may sound paradoxical to you because we tend to think of law and freedom.
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As opposites, right? One is binding one is free. But you know what?
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That's not true. Ladies as you look intently into the word of God and the
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Holy Spirit enables you to put off sin and live your life to the glory of God. You know in a sin fleas there is that freedom.
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I remember when I came to faith in Christ. I actually remember I would go to bed at night and I was so burdened with the guilt of my sin that my neck actually would hurt when
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I would go to lay down at night. I had so much guilt from my sin and I remember after God saved me there was a freedom there that neck pain actually left because the guilt of my sin was gone.
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In fact, I remember when one of the first things I had to do that I knew I needed to do by doing the word was being submissive to my husband as I told you he said he was going to put on my tombstone.
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She did it her way. So I was like, I got to start submitting and this is going to be interesting because nobody was going to tell me what to do.
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So anyway, I started submitting to my husband and you know what I found there was freedom in that and all these years
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I felt like that was a binding thing those first 10 years of marriage. I thought wow, this is the best thing ever.
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It's freeing. It's the perfect law of Liberty. Ladies God's word is liberating.
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It is not binding. That is true freedom. So a doer will look into the word and notice what
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James says you continue in it. You continue in it. In other words, you abide in it.
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You stay in it. In other words, you don't just well, I think I'll read I was talking to gal the other day and I said, how's your
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Bible reading going to live and read the Bible and I said, well, you got time for all this other stuff a person who's a doer of the word they continue in it.
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It's a it's a habitual thing. It's like the psalmist. Oh, how I love your law. It's my meditation all the day or someone the godly man who meditates day and night in the word of God.
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Ladies the psalmist was not a Sunday learner. He was a persevering learner and James says the one who looks content and continues to look is not a forgetful here.
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He's not a forgetful here. Ladies, the older I get the more
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I forget. That's how you say that the older I get the more I forget, but you know what a doer of the word determines beforehand that she will not forget what she's hearing the here only however will approach the word of God predetermined to forget saying
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I that was a nice ladies conference, but you know what? Yeah, I'm out of here.
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I don't need to do anything about what I just heard. But not a doer of the word.
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The doer of the word knows that God's word is a mirror unlike any natural mirror and it shows us our sin and how we can be right with God.
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Ladies a doer of the word. Here's the word and notice what James says. They do the work they do the work and then he says this one is blessed in what he does ladies blessing here is in the very act of obedience.
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Remember I mentioned Deuteronomy 28 all those blessings of obedience cursings of disobedience, you know, there's no blessing in hearing there's no blessing in hearing the word of God, but there is a blessing in doing the word of God the
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Psalm says in Psalm 1911 moreover by them. In other words the word of God your servant is warned and in keeping them.
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There is great reward. Jesus said in Luke 1128 blessed are those who keep the word who hear the word of God and keep it.
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Obedience always brings blessing disobedience brings cursing. So what is the danger of being a here only?
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You've deceived yourself into thinking you are saved. Are you a here only of God's word the delight of being a doer is that you will receive a blessing.
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You will be blessed. Are you a doer of the word?
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When is the last time you did the word? When is the last time you obeyed letters
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Lord? Oh, yeah. Sure. We have all 66 of them as a matter of fact
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Lord the ladies of our church participate in the letter study every Tuesday morning.
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We've divided all the women into small groups and we've discussed many of the things that you wrote some of those things are really interesting.
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You'll be pleased to know that a few of us have actually committed to memory some of your sentences and paragraphs some of us are working on memorizing an entire letter the one from James.
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There's great stuff in that letter Lord. Okay, you got my letters you've studied them you've meditated on them.
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You've discussed them and you've even memorized them. But what did you do about them?
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Let's pray Lord in heaven. I pray that you will give us the ability to obey your
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Lordship Lord. We know that. It is really true that most will say it to you in that day.
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Lord Lord. Didn't we do this? Didn't we do that? And you will say depart.
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I never knew you. I never had a relationship with you because we can't call you Lord and not do the things you say.
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So father, I pray that the Spirit of God. Would be free to Rome and to convict those that need to be convicted encourage those that need to be encouraged and Lord that each of us would do our part our responsibility in obeying all the while depending on the power of the resurrected
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Christ father. We know we cannot do this in and of ourselves. We cannot as Paul said.
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Oh wretched man that I am the good that I would I don't do and the evil that I don't want to do.
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That's what I end up doing. And so Lord, we're all in the same boat together, but we want to be growing more and more into the conformity of Christ.
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And so I pray that you will help us to put off those things that are hindering our walk with you so that we can run the race looking unto
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Jesus the author and finisher of our faith and it's in his name. I pray amen.