Skip to content The Christian's Field Guide to Trials - James, Part 3 Sep 22 · 43 min ...more
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Empowering multimedia ministry for bold Christian living: Weekend Messages, Deep End Podcast, Deep Dive Bible Study. Tim Hatch, Lead Pastor, Waters Church, 26 years of pastoral ministry, book author.
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0:00 You are listening to Waters Church podcast. Waters Church is a multisite, multigeneration community of faith on the East Coast of America. Now for a message from our pastor.0:13 Well, good morning to all of our locations at Waters Church. My name is Tim, and I'm so glad that you're here, and I'm preaching to you from the warm, comfy confines of Apollo Beach, Florida. Apollo Beach, would you0:24 welcome all of our other locations in and say hello to them? Yeah. We're in a series on the book of James, and we're gonna take out our notes. They look like this if you're in house. They look like this. And on0:36 I down here, at least, they gave you some cheat codes for the first couple of blanks. They didn't they filled those in. They weren't supposed to be filled in, but we're just gonna say those things anyway in just a0:45 moment. And I wanna talk to you on this message series through the book of James. Take out your bibles. Let's go to them right now and stand for the reading of God's word. No. Not Apollo Beach. You stay seating because0:56 you'll block the cameras. Everybody else stay standing for the reading of or stand up for the reading of God's word. Here it is. Verse 1 verse 19 of James 1. Know this, my beloved brothers, let every person be quick to1:07 hear, slow to speak, slow to anger. For the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. Therefore, put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word which is able to1:19 save your souls. But be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror.1:31 For he looks at himself and then goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the 1 who looks into the perfect law of liberty, the and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be, or1:43 she will be blessed. Somebody say blessed. Blessed. Blessed in his doing. This is God's word. Let's pray. Father, we ask in Jesus' name that you guide and direct to the1:55 moments that we share under your word. May the words of my mouth and may the meditation of all of our hearts please you that we might hear from you and be shepherded by our2:07 great shepherd, the Lord Jesus Christ. And Lord, in order to be shepherded by him, we must see him and hear him. And I'm asking God that we will see Jesus. We pray this2:18 in his name. And everybody say the good Amen. Amen. God bless you. I have another, seat at other locations, and I wanna talk to you on the Christian's Field Guide to Transformation. So week 1, the Christian's Field Guide2:30 to Trials, and then week 2, Temptations, and week 3, how do you fix things? How do you get over or get through things? And this is this week's2:42 topic, transformation. The old hymn, what a friend we have in Jesus. How many remember that song? I loved that song growing up. And there is a great line.2:54 Have we trials and temptations? Is the lower load too much to bear? And later on, take it to the Lord to in prayer. We we have a resource in trials and3:06 temptations. The resource is God's word. God's word is what is going to move you forward in life as you follow Christ. Now you come to3:18 Christ through the word. The word is preached. Scripture says this. We just talked about it last week. Verse 18 in James chapter 1, of his own will, he brought us forth through3:30 the word of truth that we should become a first fruits of his creatures. So God's word is preached, our hearts are changed, and we are saved. But how many know it doesn't stop with just3:42 salvation? It starts a new process in our life wherein we hear God's word regularly, and we're transformed. Write this down so I I know you're getting it right off the bat. The word of God fuels3:53 transformation. The word of God fuels transformation. So much of our lives is focused on what is happening to us. Some of you, that's where you are. You're4:05 focused on what God has or what the world has or what life has done to you, the trials on the outside, how people have spoken about you, what somebody did to you, how someone4:17 hurt you years ago, or maybe you're, fearing something coming up and what might happen to you. The trials that are unavoidable in life. There's going4:29 to be many of them. There's going to be lots of them. That's what James chapter 1 verses 2 to 5 was about. Then some of us are obsessed about what's going on inside of us. The temptations that we feel and experience on a4:41 regular basis, the sin the draw towards sin that we know is harmful and hurtful for us, and we still continue to be drawn by it. But but how many of you would love it to get to that point where you stop focusing4:53 so much on what's happening to you because there's a resilience that's in you because God has changed you. Or you stop worrying about the temptations that that used to trip you5:04 up because you've grown. You've gotten stronger. You've gotten better in walking and talking with the Lord, and and there's a peace in your heart, and there's a contentment in your heart. See, what5:16 James does here is brilliant in chapter 1. He opens up with 2 experiences every Christian will have. Trials on the outside, temptation on the inside. But here is5:28 the way to get better in both areas. Transformation through God's word. I don't know if you're like me. Actually, I think you are, many of you. I don't want5:40 to respond to the same trials that I have with the same attitude. I wanna grow. I wanna get better. When when I'm criticized and I'm young in the5:51 faith, it's perfectly normal to let that criticism kind of throw you off for a couple of days. How many of you have ever been criticized and it threw you off a couple of days? You know what I'm talking about. But instead6:03 of worrying about criticism coming, wouldn't it be better? Couldn't it be better to be stronger inside so that the criticism that you're going to inevitably face doesn't6:15 trip you up, doesn't come it doesn't, you know, cause you to lose yourself for 7 days because you were criticized by somebody. Or how about this? Wouldn't it be better to be stronger in the Lord6:27 through the word so that the same temptations you struggled with in your twenties is not the same temptations you're struggling with in your forties? Anybody with me on this? In other words, I wanna get stronger.6:37 Somebody say stronger. Stronger. The way we get stronger, and and this is really it, is by God's word. God's word is a transformational tool. There are6:49 7 word pictures that are in your notes there to talk about this. Let's go through them 1 at a time. This is how scripture refers to the word. Number 1, a sword. Hebrews 6 says the sword of the spirit is our offensive7:00 tool against the enemy's tactics. When when Jesus is tempted in the wilderness, what does he do? Does he just resist? Does he just say, no. No. I shouldn't. I shouldn't. Or does7:12 he think about the consequence? No. The consequences are gonna be too bad. Or I I don't wanna wake up feeling guilty in the morning. No. No. He doesn't do any of that. What does he do? He quotes scripture. It is written,7:24 and the scripture becomes a weapon by which he defeats the temptation. Are you getting that? He he doesn't wrestle with the temptation. He speaks against the temptation,7:36 and the silence the enemy is silenced because the word of God is powerful. This book of Hebrews says it's like a 2 edged sword. It slices. It dices our spiritual enemy.7:48 Most importantly, it cuts up our heart and opens us up to the power of God's holy spirit. Number 2, a lamp. This is what Psalm 1 19 says. Your word is a lamp unto my feet, light unto my path. The the word the Lord's word7:59 is a light that illuminates. It informs. It shows us where to go, where to walk, where not to go, what not to do. It's also called a fire and hammer by Jeremiah in chapter 23. A a8:11 hammer burns and purifies and purges. A hammer smashes things to pieces. There are things in our hearts. We we we don't know what they are. They're they're idols. They're things that we're drawn to. The word of God is8:23 a hammer that destroys and demolishes those idols. Jesus said the word is like a seed in Luke chapter 8. A seed goes into the ground and it germinates, and then it becomes a seedling and8:35 it and it sprouts and it grows. And eventually, if it's if you wait long enough and and and there's water and and good soil, the seed will produce fruit, and inside the fruit will be more seed. There will be a8:47 multiplication process of God's word in your life when you receive it with a good heart. Now number 5, the the seed is milk. That when you're first growing up as a human being, when you're an infant, you require milk.8:59 And Peter says, desire pure spiritual milk that you might grow up into your salvation. And at some point, you put the milk away and you start eating solid food. So there is a transformational process in the word9:10 as you are a young Christian that you get stronger, that you develop a hunger for deeper things in God. And then number 6, the word of God is food. Jesus said, man does not live by bread alone, on every9:22 word that proceeds from the mouth of God. And then number 7, water. The Bible says in Ephesians 4 that Jesus washes his bride with the water of his word. All of those9:34 elements are transformational elements. And the big point here is this, that God's word has the power to transform you. It transforms you. It makes you a different9:45 sort of you. I know our world is obsessed with change. Everybody wants to change. We always make these announcements in January, New Year's resolution. I'm gonna change. I'm gonna this is the year I'm gonna get in shape.9:57 This is the year I'm gonna stop eating this. This is the year I'm gonna stop smoking. This is the year I'm gonna and and and by February, it's out the window, and we're back to our old ways. Why? Because we can't10:09 change us. Turn to your neighbor and say, you can't change you. Yeah. Yeah. Some some of you wives, you had a little bit too much fun with that. You can't change10:20 you. God can change you. So say this, God can change me. God can change Okay. But he doesn't just do it because he's up there and you're here. No.10:32 He does it through the tool that he's given you, the word, the seed, the milk, the hammer, the sword, the lamp, the water, the word. Amen. So write this down so I know you're getting it. If you want to change, get10:44 engaged with God's word. I don't want to struggle with the same temptations year in and year out, year in and year out, year in and year out. I want those things to fall away from my heart.10:56 I don't want to let the same trials and troubles trip me up for 7 days in a row. I want to get stronger in the word so that I'm not bothered by what happens in the11:08 world. And if you're interested in that, James has this process in approaching God's word that is gonna help make that happen. So the that's the message. Let's talk about it. 311:20 things that James talks about in this text concerning God's word. And I wanna say 1 more thing before we get there. The message is the main event.11:32 The message of Jesus is the main event. It's it's not about the messenger. Amen. The message is the main event. Everybody say that with me.11:44 The message is the main event. So why am I aiming why am I hammering this? Because, it's not about me. It's not about the preacher. It's not about11:56 a video screen or if he's here in person. It's about the word getting into my heart. How many of you have ever received an12:08 Amazon package? Raise your hand. Every single person should have their hand up. I don't know what you're doing. Every person. We've all gotten a package from Amazon. Now how many of you have ever rejected the12:20 package because your regular delivery person didn't show up to deliver it? How many of you even know who your regular delivery person is? You12:32 don't care about the method of delivery. You care about the package. I am the mailman. I work for12:44 the heavenly postal service. I am your celestial Cliff Clavin. That's who I am. It is not about me, friend.12:56 It's not about video preaching. It is not it's about God's word getting into my heart and changing my life. Amen. I know you're on board13:08 with this, but nonetheless, I just feel like because I get this weird vibe from some people that I meet, and if you're 1 of those people, I don't mean to offend. Get stronger than word, you won't be offended. This weird13:19 vibe that when they see me, they're like, it's you. And my wife was always like, what's the deal? Like, she's always like, you don't know him. And I'm like, you're right. You don't know me. And this is the reality. I'm13:30 just a slave of Christ. I'm just a servant. What you're seeing here is dust that's been animated by the holy ghost. That's all you're seeing. And so don't put your hope in the preacher. Put your hope in the word of God13:41 that the preacher gives you. That's a strong Christian. That's a growing Christian. I just want the word. Amen. So 3 things, and then we're done. Number 1, transformation in the13:53 word happens when I quiet my opinions. When I quiet my opinions, God has capacity to speak to14:04 me. This is the reason why so many people don't grow as Christians or grow at all or become Christians is because they have opinions that they believe are actually true. And you have to14:16 understand that the human condition is such that your heart will lie to you and deceive you in such a way that you will think you are right when you are absolutely wrong. Has anybody had that happen to them where you're14:28 just convinced you're right and then you're wrong? I mean, 1 time, I had lost, my keys, and I remember I did a dirty trick on my wife. This was horrible, and she will call14:40 me out about this. But anyway, I I didn't know where they were, and I was blaming her. I said, I know you took them. I know you and she said, no. You always do this to me. You always blame me for taking your keys. And so14:49 I was so convinced that I was right, so convinced. And we got into an argument about it, and then I stumbled upon my keys where I had left them. And I did something horrible,15:01 because this is how awful we are as humans. I took the keys and I snuck them into her pocketbook. And then I let her say and then I let her say, check your pocketbook. I'm sure and15:13 she took them out. And because I I am a Christian, I have the holy spirit inside of me, I couldn't stop cracking a smile, and she said, you put them here. And I'm like, yeah. Yeah. I did. I did.15:26 We we are naturally self deceived to think we are right when we could very well be wrong. That's the that's the difficult part about being human,15:38 thinking you're right, but you're really wrong. And when we come to God's word, it's the same thing. We can think we're right, but we're really wrong. Look at what James says in verse15:50 19. Know this, my beloved brothers. Now whenever James says beloved brothers, he's about to smack them upside the head. That's what a pastor does. He said, I say this in love. Now get ready for some hard truth. And he16:02 says, let every person be, what, quick to Hear. Hear. Slow to See. The old the old adage is, god gave you 2 ears and 1 mouth on purpose so that you hear16:14 more than you speak. But I want to just pause here, and I wanna give every person listening to me a warning. Under no circumstances is is James giving us16:25 this general admonition to just simply listen more and speak less. Some of you take this as a proverb.16:37 Listen more, speak less. Listen more, speak less. Don't take it that way. That's not James' intention here, and I'm gonna show you this in just a moment. And this is why it's important that you get this. Listening more16:49 and speaking less is only beneficial if what you're hearing is truth. Did you get17:00 that? Yes. I don't, for a second, think that God is interested in his pre in his children listening more to lies. I17:12 don't think that God wants you to shut your mouth and just listen up when you hear deception. In fact, the enemy will speak to you. Does the Lord want you to listen to him? Absolutely not. This is not17:24 some general admonition for God's people to speak less and listen more. Now, yes, for sure, we should hear people out, and we should have consolation towards others and, you know,17:36 concern for the voices of other people. But when we are listening to certain things, we need to develop a discernment to say, wait a second. That's a lie from the pit of hell, and I don't want that entering into my head.17:47 I don't want that entering into my kids' heads. I don't want that to become part of my heart. So this is not a general admonition. In fact, the bible says in Psalm 1 0 1, David says this in verse 7. He says, I will not17:58 allow deceivers to serve in my house. And then he says, and I and, liars will not stay in my presence. So this listen more, speak less, he's18:10 not just saying that in general. He's talking about in approach to the word of God. Here's how I know. Here's how you study the Bible properly. Anybody new Christian? You wanna know how to study the Bible properly?18:21 Here's how you do it. You don't just take a verse and lift it out of its context and say, that's my verse. You have to read what's before it. You have to read what's after it. So let's look at what's before verse 19.18:31 Look at it. What's before verse 19? We read it last week. Of his own will, he brought us forth by the say the word. Word. By the word of what? Truth. Truth. That we should be18:42 a kind of first fruits of his creatures. Then he says, know this, listen more, speak less, slow to anger. Anger does not produce the righteousness of God. That's verse 20. Look at verse 21. Therefore,18:55 rid yourselves of, filthiness, rampant wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted, what? Word. Verse 18, word brings us forth. Verse19:07 21, word must continually be received. In the middle, James is saying, listen before you preach. Listen before you speak. If you want to properly19:19 approach God's word in such a way that it will transform your life, listen first. Let it correct you. Your job is19:31 not to correct the word. So when we come to God's word, we listen. I wanna give you a bible study tip for your own life. And I pray and trust, and I and not19:43 trust, but I hope, and I really mean this, that every Christian is in God's word on a daily basis. A daily and we really have no excuses anymore. We19:54 really don't. Because I do this on my daily routine, and you don't have to be a preacher to do this. I open something called the Bible app. And if you haven't, I want you to open up the Bible app on your phone. I know20:06 I'm big on the on the on the paper Bibles lately, but the Bible app is just as good. It really is. You open this up, and here's a great way to learn how to read God's word.20:18 There's something called different translations. Different translations. See, when you see a verse on the screen when I say it, there's little 3 letters. There's 3 little letters afterwards after the verse, And that20:30 means is that translation. ESV stands for English Standard Translation or English Standard Version. But there's many, many other translations, and there is a spectrum of Bible translations that you should get a hold of.20:42 Here is the spectrum of bible translations. There is the literal translation way over here. Literal word for word from the original Greek, from the original Hebrew, and the Aramaic. And the20:54 bible was written thousands of years ago, so it's not written in English. So the Greek is New Testament. The Hebrew is Old Testament, Aramaic. There's some parts of Daniel and some parts of other passages that are21:02 Aramaic. And and so here is the literal translation, the NASB, the ESV, the King James version, the NASB. These are all translations of the bible. Now21:14 in the middle, there are thought for thought for thought translations. And I would put the NLT, the New Living Translation. I actually just read from the NLT just a little while ago. The New Living21:25 Translation. And here's what the Bible translators decided to do that with those translations. They decided to make the word, more contemporary so that we can hear it in our I21:37 in in our language, in our lingo. And but they've been a little bit more faithful to the word for word, but they've given it more thought for thought, and here's how you should hear that verse. But then over here, way on21:48 the other end of the spectrum is what we call paraphrases. If you've ever heard of the bible translation, the message, it's not a translation. It's a paraphrase. And that was written by a a Presbyterian minister named21:58 Eugene Peterson. And he did that so that the bible would be as contemporary and as readable as possible. So here's how that goes. You come over here to the literal and it's for God so22:10 loved the world that he gave us his only begotten son. Right? You get to the middle, the theosopher thought is like, God really loves the world and died through his son22:22 Jesus, and that if you believe in him. And you get over here to the paraphrase and it's like, yo, God truly loves you, baby. Like that I'm exaggerating. But you get the idea22:33 there is a spectrum of Bibles out there, and some of you have listened to too many YouTubers talk to you about why you can't trust certain Bible translations. Listen to me. Okay. Don't listen to those22:45 people. They don't know what they're talking about. They are self professed professionals, and they have no clue. The Bible translation process is a science. It's a study. There's checks and balances. It's a whole22:56 college of arts out there. It is a very particular field of study, and these people have to be accountable to other, you know, reputate for their reputations and to other notable23:08 translators. So you can trust I'm just telling trying to tell you. You can trust most Bible translations in your Bible app. Next to the passage on the top left on your app23:20 is the translation tab, and you tap that. And if you're a new Christian, I can't stress this enough, I would highly encourage you to read from the New Living Translation, the NLT. You will love it. It will make23:32 way more sense to you, and it won't be difficult. I share this because I want to remove from you all the obstacles that you might set up for why you can't hear God's word. And some of you will say this, you23:44 will say, I have a hard time reading. Okay. All you have to do is open like the ESV, and you just press this button down here Chapter23:55 20. And it starts reading for you. From Nayoth and Raymond and came and said before Jonathan. And I speed it up because I'm a fast reader and a fast hearer. And and so you can no. Duh. And you can24:08 ah, you're onto me. I see. Okay. Let me slow down. You can listen to God's word. And, yes, I'm24:20 I'm about to give somebody some good word right now. Hearing it counts as reading it. If you've listened to the audiobook, you've read the book. That's all24:32 I have to say. Okay? And there actually, the Bible actually says that faith comes by hearing and hearing the word of God. So get into whatever it24:44 takes. And and I'm trying to remove the obstacles between you and God's word because when it gets into your heart, transformation happens, strength comes to you, ability to24:56 overcome comes to you, and you start winning spiritual battles that you were previously losing. Amen, somebody. Then he says slow to speak.25:07 In back to verse 19. Slow to speak. And this is important because I think it's an admonition, number 1, to not just voice to God what you think he should be saying. Here's what I also think James is saying. He's gonna25:19 say it later in James 3 is don't eagerly become a teacher of God's word. Don't eagerly become a teacher of God's word. Slow to25:31 speak means don't just jump into the deep end of trying to, you know, tell people what God's word says. That that that's a very heavy responsibility. Later in James chapter 3 verse25:43 1, he will say, not all of you should try to become teachers because teachers will be judged more strictly. In first Timothy chapter 5 verse 22, Paul says, do not be hasty. He's talking to a pastor named Timothy. He25:53 says, pastor Timothy, don't be hasty in laying on of hands. What does he mean by that? What does it mean laying on of hands? Laying on of hands was the symbol by which the church would install new preachers, new pastors,26:03 new elders. And Paul says to Timothy, don't be hasty about that. Take your time in elevating or nominating or installing pastors. You have to understand that the word of God26:15 is serious. The word of God is holy. It's also necessary to interpret and to make plain. And I wanna say this to all the new26:26 Christians. I actually had a conversation with a guy this past week. I was in Washington DC for a conference, and and this guy had been bounced from church to church. I mean, he told me his story. Bounced from church to26:37 church, and he went to 1 particular church, nondenominational church, and he was saved 1 day. 3 months later, they made him a deacon. 3 months later, they made him an elder. 3 months later, they named him a pastor. He26:49 said that ruined me. I suddenly was a pastor. I was saved less than a year. Don't aspire. Understand the the term pastor means shepherd. A shepherd is27:01 a in the ancient term in the ancient world, a shepherd was responsible for sheep's lives. He had to fight off wolves. He had to protect27:13 at the cost of his at the the cost of his own life, in some cases, the the thieves that would come and try to steal the sheep. Understand this is why the bible tells us that pastors are shepherds because,27:25 church, listen, there are liars coming for you. There are thieves coming for you. There is a real vicious enemy27:37 in the spiritual realm that's coming for you. What you need is a man skilled in the word, men skilled in the word who know how to fight in the word and teach the word. So27:49 don't don't do this thing where you want to quickly, eagerly teach other people the bible. Let's start a bible study. Let's start a bible study. Some of you don't know what you're talking about, and you gotta be very27:59 careful because the word of God can and has been very easily manipulated to kill people. In the 19 seventies, this guy was an up and coming28:10 pastor, a leader of the community. He met with congressmen and senators. He was beloved. He was celebrated. He was adored. He preached with Billy Graham. And he had a church in San Francisco that he eventually28:22 created a cult out of and moved them to Guyana in the jungles of Colombia. And 1 day, he had them all commit mass suicide by drinking cyanide laced Kool Aid. His name was Jim Jones. How did28:34 he do it? He took this word and he manipulated it. Be careful to become an expert on the word when really what you need is someone to help you learn the word. There is28:46 a place for growing in the word to the point where you can share it, but that takes time. Somebody say time. Do with that approach what I don't do with preaching. Do it28:56 slowly. Amen. Okay? Alright. God's word is not McDonald's.29:09 How many know the best food takes the longest to cook? We're we're in the South down here in Florida, and how many know barbecue takes time? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Nobody29:21 microwaves their brisket. If we we'll just send them to Africa if they do something like that. That that you just go to prison. I don't know. You gotta get out of this country. Right? You know what I'm talking about?29:32 And and if you're a any kind of chef knows this. The longer the cook, the better the meat. Well, God's word, the longer you let it simmer in your life, in your heart, the longer you29:44 meditate on it, the longer you feed on it, the better it becomes. Okay. Let's move on to number no. No. We gotta stay with 1 more passage. He says and don't worry. The last 2 points are quick. Slow to anger.29:56 When he says slow to anger, the word is in the in the Greek. And and it's not an outburst anger. It's an inward simmering against the word. It's an inward hostility, an agitation by the word.30:08 Here's how you know you're a Christian. I'm gonna give you a litmus test if you're a Christian or not. It's a very simple question. When you hear God's word, do you receive it or do you reject it? If you30:20 receive it, you're a Christian. That's as simple as that. Because there is an inward natural hostility to God's word. And every 1 of you who has been Christian for a long time, you know this, that there is a certain30:32 point that you can get to in a conversation with a non believer where it suddenly becomes ugly because you've talked about something in the word that they don't like. What is happening? That inward simmering, that inward30:43 agitation has responded to the word, and there's rejection there. So when when James says slow to anger, he's talking about the fact that there is a in in a natural30:55 hostility to God's word. Mark Twain famously said this, I don't have a problem with the bible because it confronts contradicts silence science. I have a problem with the Bible because it contradicts me.31:08 It cuts my heart up. It challenges what I believe. Now there's a psalm, a dear near and dear psalm to my heart. It's Psalm 1 19. Psalm 1 19 is the longest chapter in the Bible. It's31:19 176 verses, and it's all about how awesome God's word is. And let me just read some highlights. Verse 24, your testimonies are my delight. Verse 72, your law is better31:31 than thousand pieces of gold and silver. Verse 97, oh, how I love your law. It's my meditation. Verse 1 27, I love your commandments above gold above above fine gold. And now that's part of the some of the verses from31:43 that psalm, but listen to some other verses, because some of you are gonna kick yourselves right now. You're gonna kick yourselves. You're gonna think, yeah, but I don't always do what God says. I don't have I'm not31:52 angry about it. I'm not resentful. I don't reject it. I just don't do it. So the psalm who writes the psalmist who writes all of these passages, I love your law. Your law is better than gold. I love it more than32:01 anything. But listen to some other verses from the same Psalm. Verse 5. 0, that my ways may be steadfast in keeping your statutes. Verse 29. Put false ways from me and teach me your laws.32:13 In other words, I got some false ways. Put them away. Verse 71, it is good for me that I was afflicted. I might learn your statutes. I struggled and I suffered and thank God for that because then I went back to God's32:22 word. Verse 1 33, keeps keep steady my steps according to your promise. Verse 1 76, the last verse of the psalm, a psalm that is all about how awesome God's word is. The last verse is, I have gone32:34 astray like a lost sheep. Seek your servant, for I do not forget your commitments. Christians, listen to me. It is absolutely possible to love God's32:46 word and still struggle to obey it. The psalmist was writing about that very thing. This is why you must quiet your opinions and let God's word32:58 settle in your heart and let it do its let it do its smoking. Let it do its deep, you know, cleansing work inside of you. Okay.33:10 Number 2. Transformation happens in the word when I seek purity of heart. When I seek purity of heart. In other words, I come to the word that it will cleanse me. I come to the word that it will cleanse33:22 who? Verse 21. Therefore, put away all filthiness. Circle those words in your notes. Filthiness. And let and then then the next words, and rampant wickedness,33:34 and receive with meekness the implanted word. Okay. James is not mincing words here. There is filthiness in us, and moreover, there is rampant wickedness in us. There is a dirtiness in our33:46 heart. And he doesn't give us soft terms about sin because here's what James is saying. The number 1 problem with you is you.33:58 The number 1 problem with you is what's going on inside of your heart. There's wickedness and filthiness, and you need that cleansed. You need that rooted out. So we come to God's word so that God's word will transform34:09 our lives. In front of write this down so I know you're getting it. We come to God's word for transformation, not just inspiration. Are you an inspiration34:21 only reader? What do I mean by that? I mean the people who say, I just need a word that encourages. I just need a word that lifts me up. And there's a lot of preachers out there. Listen. There's a lot of preachers out34:31 there who will do nothing but encourage, and they will never correct, and they will never say the things in scripture that are hard to hear. Run from these people.34:43 Run from these people. Yes. The scriptures inspire. Yes. The scriptures encourage. But at the heart of it, God wants to cleanse your heart, the filthiness and wickedness in34:55 all of our hearts, through his word. Amen, somebody. God, change me through your word. This is how you rightly receive the word.35:07 God, change me through your word. I need transformation inside of me, because the problem in my life is me.35:19 I remember also that I need repetitive teaching in the word. And it's not about memorizing, it's about receiving. Look at how James says it. Receive with35:30 meekness. In other words, I'm humbled by my sin. I'm humbled by my failures, and I come humbly to God's word. And then he says, receive with me this the what? The implanted word. Somebody say35:42 implanted. Here's what you need to understand. When you were when when God's word is preached, as we're doing right now, when God's word is preached, some of you need to see this, something supernatural is happening35:53 inside of you. Something supernatural is happening inside of The word is getting planted. You don't have to remember it, it's happening already. I remember the36:05 story of the pre of the the old church story, old pastor story of the man who was leaving church. The pastor was greeting people outside the door after church on Sunday, and the and the man came up, just grunted, and he36:14 said, pastor, I've decided I'm not gonna come to your church anymore. And he goes, really? Why? And he goes, because I just realized that I've listened to you preach for 20 years, and I can't remember a single pass I36:22 can't remember a single message you've preached. In fact, I can't even remember the message you just preached. And the pastor said, okay. That's interesting. Let me ask you a question. The man said, okay. Yes. He said,36:32 what did you have for dinner last Tuesday night? And he said, I can't remember. And then pastor said, but it kept you alive, didn't it? You you don't have to memorize my messages. You don't have to have to remember my36:43 message. Friends, I can't even remember my messages. That's not the point. What you have to understand is that there is a supernatural work taking place in the heavenly realms and in your heart,36:56 wherein God's word comes in and takes root, and it starts to change and transform you. It is a supernatural work. It is a spiritual work that happens when you sit under the word of37:07 God. When you walk out these doors, even if you're not a believer, I believe the word is that powerful that if you're not a believer, the word of God being preached nudges you closer to becoming a believer. And if you37:18 are a believer, the word of God nudges you close to your savior Jesus Christ. Every single time you hear it. Number 3, transformation happens in the word when I put it into37:30 practice. So you can't just hear it and you can't just believe it, you have to do it. You have to do it to see the blessing through it. Here's what he says in verse 22, be doers of the word. Now37:41 James comes to the theme of his book here because James' book is summed up in 2 words, faith and works. If you believe it, you should do it. Faith and works. So be37:53 doers of the word and not hearers deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer, verse 23, of the word and not a doer, he's like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror. Now James gives us 1 more picture, 138:01 more word picture for the word, a mirror. And I have a mirror right here. This is the thing about a mirror. You know you're using a mirror correctly when it's aimed at38:13 you. You should have said you should have said, pastor. Good preaching.38:25 You nobody walks around with a mirror like this. Hey. Just wanna let you know you're ugly today. Nobody does that. If you're doing itShow more
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