Steadfast Faith That Acts

were the whole earth echoing his eminence. His name would burst from sea and sky. to the mountains reaped in Christ bey. Oh Christ and oh Christ be magnified. Let his praise arise. Christ be magnified in me.

And oh Christ be magnified from the altar of my life. Christ be magnified in me. [Music] Clever creature. When every creature finds its inmost melody and every human heart it's native cry. Oh then in one and rapured hymn of praise we'll sing Christ be magnified. Christ be magnified.

And oh Christ be magnified. Let his praise arise. Christ be magnified in me. Oh Christ be magnified from the altar of my life. Christ be magnified in me. [Music] [Music] [Music] I won't bow to I'll stand strong and worship you.

And if it puts me in the fire, I'll rejoice cuz you're there, too. I won't be formed by feelings. I hold fast to what is true. And if the cross brings transformation, then I'll be crucified with you. Cuz death is just the doorway into resurrection life. And if I join you in your sufferings, then I'll join you when you rise.

And when you return in glory with all the angels and the saints, my heart will still be singing. And my heart will be the same. Oh Christ be magnified. Let his praise arise. Christ be magnified in me. And oh Christ be magnified from the altar of my life.

Christ be magnified in me. And so Christ be magnified. Let his praise arise. Christ be magnified in me. And oh Christ be magnified from the altar of my life. Christ be magnified in me.

I want to hear your voices. Let's sing out that chorus one more time. And so Christ be let his praise arise. Christ be magnified in me. And oh Christ be magnified from the altar of my life. Christ be magnified in me.

[Music] Come thou found. Come thou f of every blessing. Tune my heart to sing thy grace. Streams of mercy ever ceasing. Call for songs of loudest praise. Teach me some melodious song sung by flaming tongues above.

Praise the mountain fixed upon it. Mount of thy redeeming love. Here [Music] I raise here I raise my Eer hither by thy help I'm come and I hope by thy good pleasure safely to arrive at home. Jesus saw me when a stranger wandering from the fold of God. He to rescue me from danger. Interost his precious blood.

[Music] And oh to grace how great a debtor daily I'm constrained to be. Let thy goodness like a feather bind my wondering heart to thee. Prone to wonder, Lord, I fear. Prone to leave the God I love. Here's my heart, Lord. Take and seal it.

Seal it for thy courts are above. Prone to wander. Prone to wonder. Lord, I feel it. Prone to leave the God I love. Here's my heart, Lord.

Take and seal it. Seal it for thy courts of [Music] You guys can be seated. So, we're singing a new song this morning, and it echoes Jesus's prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane with the knowledge of what was to come on him. The wrath of God, the full cup of God's wrath being poured out on Jesus completely with with no drops left. The entire wrath of God poured out on Jesus on the cross. He knows this is coming.

And I think it's a prayer we too can pray, especially when we're in our trials or walking through difficult seasons. But I can it can also be a prayer of trust and hope when go God God calls you to obey him in whatever circumstance he may call you to. It is a prayer that our Lord Jesus prayed on his own when the world was seeming to fall apart. An innocent man praying alone in the garden, abandoned by his friends, abandoned by his father. For the first time in history, eternity's passed. He calls out to his father with no response.

Complete silence from the father. He's betrayed by all those he trusted. Um, and he's awaiting his death. And even at his lowest point, Jesus was able to pray this, "Father, not my will, but yours be done." Because he knew that in the chaos, his father loved him and that his father's will was always good. If there was any plan that Jesus trusted in that dreadful hour, it was his father's plan.

So, in our time of confession, I want us to think about um this question and ask ourselves this question. Is this also our prayer? Are we seeking his will over ours even when we don't understand or are in the midst of a hard season? And I know for me, are we deciding to obey before God even tells you what you need to obey in? You know, oftentimes we wait to hear or feel like how God's leading us before we determine whether or not we're going to going to obey. I know that's true for me.

We should be praying this in hope because there is a God who is still ruling on the throne and he is a good and loving father. If there is anything you can put your trust in, let it be the will of your loving father. So church, let us confess where we aren't trusting in the will of the father. And then let us lift our voices and sing, father, not our will but yours be done, which Bri will lead us here in a second. So, I'm going to pray and then I'm I'm going to um give you guys a chance to pray just to yourselves for a minute or so. But Lord, we just come to you this morning, God.

Um Lord, I know that oftentimes I wait, Lord, to to see whether or not it's something I want to do, to see how you lead before I decide to obey, God. And I pray that we'd be a church who desire obedience because we trust your will, Lord God. Um people that even look to you, Jesus, who put your trust in in the father even when it it seemed uh impossible, God. And we can't do it without you, Lord. We can't trust you, Lord. We can't put your will before ours, Lord, without your help, Lord.

So help us, God. Help everybody in this church. May we be people that submit to you, God. That submit to your will, Lord, your guidance, God. Even in our hard seasons, Lord, may we see your hand. May we trust you, Lord, the sovereign God who endured the cross, the wrath of God on our behalf when you when you didn't have to, Lord Jesus.

And so, may we do it not just as an act of obedience, but as an act of worship, Lord. So, we love you, God. Thank you for this song and just the chance to um continue to confess to you, God. [Music] Your will be done my God and Father in heaven so on earth. My heart is drawn to selfexing. Help me seek your kingdom first.

As Jesus walked, so I shall walk. Help by your same unchanging love. Be still my soul. Oh, lift your voice and pray. Father, not my will but yours. Please stand with us.

How in that garden he persisted, I may never fully know the fearful weight of true obience. It was help by him alone. What wondrous faith to bear that cross to bear my sin. What wondrous love my hope was sure when there my savior prayed. Father not my will but yours be done. [Music] When I am lost, when I am broken, in the night of fear and death, still I will trust in my good father.

Yes, to one great king I bow. As Jesus rose, so I shall rise in ransom glory at the throne. My heart restored. If all your saints I sing, Father, not my will but yours be done as we go forth. Our God and Father, lead us daily in the fight that all the world might see your glory and your name be lifted high. And in this day we overcome.

For you shall see us safely home. Now as your church we lift our voice and pray. Father not my will but yours be done. And in this name we overcome for you shall see us safely home. Now as your church we lift our voice and pray. Father, not my will but yours be done.

Father, not my will but yours be done. Father, not my will but yours be done. [Music] Lord, you are good and you are sovereign. And we come to you singing this song in in awe um and sometimes bewilderment of the fact that you know every detail. You know everything that's going on because you've planned it. Your word says that every day is written in your book and there is not one day, there is not one minute, there is not one moment that you do not have a perfect plan for everything that is happening.

Lord, in the moments that we can clearly see your hand at work and we can clearly see your gospel going forward and people coming to you and just redemption taking place. we praise you. And sometimes in those moments where trial comes and hardship comes, it's really easy for us to say, "This can't be God's will." But Lord, I just pray, as Grant was talking about in our confession, that we would acknowledge that you are sovereign and that you are in control even over the moments that um it seems like darkness is overcoming. Lord, help us to understand that you have won and that you are sovereign and that you control all things and that you are worthy of our trust because of that because you have always proven yourself faithful and that you have never let us down. Lord, thank you for your word.

Thank you for the book of James that we get to walk through as a church. And we just pray um for our pastor Josh that he would um just bring your word today. Bring your word boldly. bring your word in truth without holding anything back. We thank you that we can have your word to look to and that we can trust that this is the the word that is breathed by you and that it is um profitable for us for our lives. And I pray that through this this morning's sermon that you would stir our hearts and that you would um lead us further into your work um and just making your name known.

So, we love you and we thank you for this time that we get to have together this morning. It's in your son's name we pray. Amen. What's up? All right. Good morning, everyone.

How are we doing? Oh, I guess I could use that one. Yeah, sure. Easy, easy peasy. Uh at this time we'll go ahead and dismiss all of our kids between 3 through 7. I think that's right, Greg.

Yeah. Okay. Uh they are all going to be in the office for anybody that needs to pick them up. Um and uh they will be learning about Noah this morning. So that is okay. I am on.

Cool. Um yeah, God's faithfulness through Noah. So just pray for their hearts to be able to receive uh the truth of God's word. Um, if you have your Bibles, go ahead and open to James chapter 1. We're going to be continuing in our steadfast steadfast faith series. Um, before you guys or before we get going, what I also want to do is I I just want to thank you from um the bottom of my heart uh for these past couple of weeks.

Um, many of you may not know this and some of you might. Um, I have been going through a trial with my family that uh really has been very hard. Um, and there's been a couple of seasons in my life that I have seen the people of God make the gospel visible to me. Um, and this has been them. And so, as uh a church, I am so thankful for you guys. And I just want to say thank you for the text messages and the me uh the prayers, the phone calls.

Um, it's been a great joy and an honor to be not only your pastor um but also a part of this body. And so, I just want to thank you for that. Um it's been truly humbling. Um so as we continue on um looking at James and looking at what it means to have a steadfast faith, what we're seeing this morning uh is a continuation of James's encouragement to the believers to live out where they've been called. So if you remember in verse 18 as James started to transition into how the believer lives and how we bear fruit. He gives us this foundation that looks like this.

He says in verse 18 of his own will he's talking about God's will. He brought us forth by the word of truth that we should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures. So through the word of truth, which is the gospel of Jesus Christ, we have been called as believers as well as the Jewish believers that James is talking to. We have been called to be first fruits of God's creation. We are the first fruits of his creation. And therefore, we must bear fruit that shows the faith that we believe.

It shows the calling that we have, shows how we've been brought forth by this word. And so our challenge this morning, what we should really be taking a look at as we see James calling these believers to act out this faith is that the Christian life is a life that lives and it lives in outward acts that demonstrate our inward faith. James starts his exhortation with the foundation that hey, you've been brought forth as the first fruits of God's creation. And so this is how you should live. And we saw this last week that that first fruit or how we should show the fruit that we believe is in how we listen, how we take in God's word. When somebody comes to us in correction, do we receive it in humility?

Are we slow to speak? Are we quick to listen? Are we slow to get angry? Do we not produce the unrighteousness of this world, but do we produce the righteousness of God? And so, we saw last week in in verses 19- 21 where James is encouraging these believers to live out where they've been called and live out and be fruits that God has called us to. And we understand that this is under this umbrella, right, of being in the midst of trials.

James is encouraging these believers that as they're walking through trials and as they are living in such a way that shows who they've been called to and whose they are, this is how they are to live. And what we'll start to see in this passage, well even last week, we started to see this shift of James calling these believers to live out their faith. And we'll start to see this example continued through chapter 4 12. This very theme of living out your faith through outward acts. And so James called us as believers to listen well last week. And we'll see this week that we are to act in what we hear.

We're not just to hear the word. We're not just to take in what we see or hear from others or what the word of God says, but we are also supposed to act. There is supposed to be an outward display of our inward faith. And so if you'll take a look with me at James 1 starting in verse 22, we'll see what he has to say about this outward faith or inward faith that is demonstrated in our outward acts. James says this, "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 who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror.

For he looks at himself and goes away and once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets, but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing. If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue, but deceives his heart, this person's religion is worthless. Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this to visit orphans and widows in their affliction and to keep oneself unstained from the world. This is God's word. Let us go to him in prayer and ask him to open up our hearts and minds to hear what he has to say in order for us to be grown in maturity in Christ.

Lord, you are good and we praise you this morning that you have called us to yourself. You have brought us forth by the word of truth and you call us your own. And so Lord, I pray that as we hear your word this morning that we would not just be people who hear, but also people that do that proclaim the gospel we believe that makes it visible to the world around us. Lord, that we would take the gospel light and shine it into dark places. Lord, would you challenge us this morning? Encourage us through your word.

Help us to see first that we are yours and that that truth leads us to live out our faith. I pray this in Jesus name. Amen. So last week we looked at a steadfast faith that causes us to listen well. And this week what we're going to be taking a look at is the mature believer who has steadfast faith that acts. Right?

And what I want to show us this morning is rooted in verse 18. And it's this idea that who who's we are defines who we are and how we live. So when I was younger, whenever I would leave my house, I go to a concert, go to school, go hang out with my friends, anything that would cause me to leave, my parents, specifically my dad, would give me a reminder. And he would remind me of two things. He would say, "Remember who's you are and who you are. remember whose you are and who you are.

And the reason that I wanted to show you verse 18 before we got into James's encouragement to live out our faith is the same reason why my dad would remind me of this truth. James is showing us that we have been brought forth by the word of truth and this is our reality as Christians. This is our union with God and it is the foundation for how we live and act. So remembering who's we are, remembering that we are united to God through Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit, this should cause us to live in such a way that makes this truth visible that makes this reality known to the world. So knowing whose you are should define who you are and how you live. Our lives should be an outward demonstration of this inward faith.

See verse 18 again shows us who we are. That we are brought forth as first fruits. Right? James is giving this imagery of a tree that brings forth fruit and that tree is the source of life for the believer. So like a tree that grows good fruit, it must have a good source. This source for us is the knowledge that we are united in Christ.

This is the source that grows our good fruit and our first call as James gives us in verse 19 through 21 that first fruit exemplifies or shows itself in how we listen. So the first fruit that we see as believers is that we hear and do the word or we hear the word and we listen well. The second fruit that produces is in what we see today is that we hear and do it. We don't just hear the word but it just it compels us to act. It transforms how we think, how we speak, how we live, and how we love those around us. Right?

This is what Jesus says that culminates in the great uh the the great commandments. The two greatest commandments Jesus gives is to love God and to love others. And so we take this word in, but we also act and live in such a way that shows what we believe. Those who hear the word and do the word are as Paul or as Paul would write in Philippians 4:2, those who look not only to their own interest but also to the interest of others. Those who hear the word and do the word, they can hear correction. They can take it in humility because they know that the Holy Spirit is sanctifying them and maturing them in Christ.

Those who hear and do the word are not deceived into thinking that nothing needs to change. They hear what is said to them in humility and they're not deceived. And this is a a a re a re reiterated theme throughout the book of James is to not be deceived. To not be deceived in trials. To not be deceived by yourself. To not be deceived by anything, but see the truth.

Look into the mirror of God and see yourself for who you truly are. And when you hear correction, take it and with wisdom act on it. James does something that's very normal to a Jewish writer or a Jewish reader in this passage. And if you've already picked up on this, you'll notice that James compares and contrasts two people. He compares and contrasts the wise and the unwise. or as Proverbs would call the fool.

Here in this passage, the fool is the one who's deceived. The fool is the one who hears the word that has been given to them and they do nothing about it. They are deceived into thinking that they don't have to change. That they don't need to receive it in humility. That whoever is giving it to them is in fact incorrect. But God has given us tools in which he is growing us.

And it is through his spirit. It is through his word. It is through his people that help us live and see where we need to be corrected, where we need to change. Because they're able to look outside of us and see our actions, see how our faith is not being lived out. And the problem we often have is that we can be deceived. We can be deceived by our own selves.

We can be deceived by the world. We can be deceived and we often act as the fool or the unwise when we hear the word of correction and we don't change. Now I understand that correction doesn't feel great. Anybody in here like to be corrected? No. All right.

Ransford, you do? Okay. Correction doesn't feel good. But what we what we need to see is that this is a gift and a grace from God. It is a gift and a grace from God that people are willing to step into our lives who see error in our lives and they're willing to call us out using the word of God, using the word of truth in order for us to not walk down a path that could eventually harm us. In fact, if you've been reading through the book of James, as we've encouraged you to do, you'll see that this again is said at the end of chapter 5.

James says this as the last ver last two verses to remind the believers to live in such a way where we are acting and looking out for our brothers and sisters in Christ. He says, "My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, let him know that whoever brings a brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins." So when a hard truth comes from the word, I I pray that this can be our response of humility to be able to receive it, to be able to hear it, to be able to have wisdom to act on it. Because if we don't, we are deceiving ourselves and we're responding like the fool. And James shows us how the fool responds, right? He gives us this analogy and he shows us that the fool forgets because he's deceived.

The fool walks away from what is being shown to him. James shows us in verses 23 and 24 that the fool hears the correction and even is stirred by the correction. But like when they walk to a mirror, they see all of these imperfections. They see what needs to be changed, what could harm them, and they walk away carelessly and forgetting what they saw and choosing not to do anything. James gives this implied truth that the fool looks at himself in the mirror at a careless glance and then forgets everything he saw. It would be like one of us going to the doctors with stomach pain that is causing us so much pain that we feel like we're going to die.

And the doctor gives us an an MRI, gives us a blood test, does some more tests to help diagnose what's going on. And then the test comes back and it's cancer. And the fool takes that news, is even challenged by that news, but they walk out of the doctor's office doing nothing and not taking it seriously. This is what the fool does. This is what James is showing that the fool is deceived that nothing needs to be changed. They hear the word which is the mirror in which is showing them their heart, is showing them their lives, is showing them their sin and their misery and their imperfections and they do nothing.

They even acknowledge it. They know they need Christ's help to put to death their sin, but they forget these convictions and they forget the affections of the Lord and they do nothing about it. This is what the fool does. He hears, but he doesn't act for he is deceived. The fear of the Lord is not in him, and he despises wisdom and instruction. And guys, if we are to be doers of the word, we need to not live like the fool, not live like the unwise.

We need to seek to remove and put to death the sin and desires of our heart that lead us to disobey God in order to bring out a life of conformity to his word and his call for us to be holy. And so we need to recognize that God has put tools in our lives, his word most importantly, but also gospel community around us that will like a mirror reveal those imperfections and correct us. This is what it means to live in the reality of being brought forth by the word of truth as a type of first fruit. Is that the mature believer, the wise understand that they are defined by whose they are. And this definition allows them to be able to take correction and understand that God is using these tools as a gift to make them more like Christ. And it changes the way they live because they act on this information.

They act on this wisdom. And James goes on to show us in this kind of comparison and contrasting of how the wise respond. Look at verse 25. James says this, "But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets, but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing." So we see two things in how the wise respond. They respond by acting and they respond by persevering in the word of God.

They act when they hear the word of God, both inwardly and outwardly. And James's emphasis here in this verse is that they the is both twofold. It is both in the manner of how the wise look into this mirror and in their perseverance in their pursuit of knowing God's word. This phrase, the one who looks is implying an inward act. It implies a deep and close look. It's comparison again in contrasting to the fool who casually glances and forgets.

The wise look into the perfect law and the law of liberty and they allow it to read them. Now, I just want to stop right here and and kind of help us understand or unpack what this phrase perfect law, law of liberty means. Because this seems like an odd phrase for James to say, right? It seems like an odd phrase to say that when we look at the law, we see a law of liberty. Because often times we can look at the law or we can look at the entirety of the scriptures and think there's a lot of commands. There's a lot of things that we must do or not do and that can bring us an immense weight that can bring us condemnation or guilt because this is how God calls us to live.

And so we can look at these commands and we can question how is this a law of freedom, a law of liberty, right? If we are to live in such a way that brings about God's glory and being obedient to his commands, how is that a law of liberty? I mean, even look at the example that we looked at last week, the command of being slow to speak, quick to listen, slow to get angry, right? How how easy is that for us? How easy is it to not get angry when our kids do not listen a hundred times and they finally break something, right? Or they hurt themselves and you can't help but get frustrated.

It's hard to not get angry when you're running late and someone cuts you off in traffic or you're out of gas or something happens to where you can't get to this destination. How easy is it to get angry when our expectations don't go the way we expected them to? You see, I bring this these examples to light because it's a recognition of the law is hard to keep. So, how can it be a law of liberty? When we read these commands, we often feel guilty or even condemned by them. But the word of God is a law of liberty because of the work of Jesus Christ.

And unless you know him, you are going to feel the weight. You are going to feel condemned. But if you know him, you know that this book points to the freedom he gives. It points to the freedom that we have in him. It points to the fact that when we follow God's commands from our understanding of who's we are, that we have life everlasting. That these commandments aren't meant to bring weight upon us, but to bring us to life and joy and happiness.

And this is why it is called the perfect law, the law of liberty, because there is freedom. Richard Baxter says this about this phrase, the gospel is a law of liberty, a law of liberation. It gives us deliverance from sin and guilt and wrath and death. And it is the wise counsel and direction and wisdom we must seek as believers of Christ. This law of freedom is not meant to bear weight when we are in Christ. It is meant to bring us to life and joy.

James's emphasis here is to show us that the wise man responds in action, in his inward action as he changes, knowing that this law of liberty has freed him. But he also emphasizes the manner in which the wise man perseveres in knowing God's word. You see, the wise man understands that even though sanctification is a process that seems f painful at times when we go to God's word and he reveals our sin to us, the wise keep returning to this mirror. They keep returning to the mirror of the gospel knowing that God is a good surgeon, seeking to wound us in a way that removes the deadly sin in order that we can live freely and in great joy and happiness. The wise keeps praying the prayer like David in Psalm 139 where he says, "Search me, oh God, and know my heart. Try me and know my thoughts and see if there is any grievous way in me and lead me in the way of everlasting.

David knows that God knows all about him. Right? This is not a prayer where David is like, "God, I know you don't know some of my inward parts." No, David knows the reality that God knows all that he is. And so, what David is asking God to do is reveal more of himself to himself so that he can bring that to the Lord. so he can put those sins and those evil desires to death and that he can obey the Lord more freely and have this way of everlasting in his life.

This is the prayer of the wise and they act upon it. They act upon it because they know their identity is found in God who has brought them forth through the word of truth. And because they know where their identity is rooted in, they are able to live in such a way that their faith is demonstrated outwardly in their actions. Specifically, as James calls us here, in how they hear the word and how they act upon the word. And when they do this, when the wise does this, they are considered blessed. You see at the end of verse 25, James says this, "A doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing."

The image that James is trying to bring about is the blessed man in Psalm 1. The blessed man in Psalm 1, as David would write, is the one who doesn't hear the counsel of the wicked, doesn't sit with sinners or scoffers, but his delight is in the law of the Lord. And on his law he meditates both day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water and ye and he yields its fruit. This is the image James is trying to give is that when we live like the wise, when we act like the wise, when we hear God's word and we don't just hear it but we are doers of the word in our acting out of faith, we are blessed. This isn't like a health, wealth, and prosperity bless.

This is an inward blessing where we are trusting in the Lord. Our faith is steadfast and we are delighting in his word. But James also shows us that the wise man and the wise woman of the word acts. I mean, this is a constant theme, right? They they don't just hear, but they are doers. But he closes out verse 25 by saying a doer is one who acts.

And I want to show us how they act. Because I think this is important for us to recognize that there are two ways in which we are to hear God's word and respond to it. The wise hear the word and it changes their lives both inwardly and outwardly. Their inward faith produces an outward act of obedience that makes the gospel visible. And we need to be a people like this. We need to be a people formed by the word of God and led by the spirit of God.

And so there's outward and inward transformation. Now, I do want to highlight this because I think this is a kind of a theme or one of the more dangerous parts of our society, especially in the church as it has brought itself forth, but it's this idea of passivity, right? And and we shouldn't be shocked that being passive is something that we're going to battle because even in the garden, that's one of the problems with Adam and Eve is they were passive in being obedient to God. But passivity is one that James is getting after here. The passive person, the fool, hears but does not do. Right?

And to be quite honest, this is something our society struggles with. It's something that we struggle with as the church. When we hear the word of God and we don't do, we are living out what Adam and Eve taught us. We are living in passivity. I heard it called this week. I thought it was funny, especially because most people don't do this anymore, but I heard it called this week, bumper sticker activism, or as the world would use this phrase today, virtue signaling.

As Christians, we have allowed this type of passivity into the church. And what I want us to see is that James is trying to correct us in this way of thinking. But he isn't just correcting us in this way of thinking today. He actually, as you might have heard me mention, he continues on this theme all the way through chapter 4. He's going to highlight a lot of different areas in life where God is going to call us to obey him by listening to his commands. And there are going to be things where he calls us to put to death certain things that we are doing.

And I'm going to be honest with you, as I've read through James, there are things even in these next couple of verses that have had has given me tension is the best way to put it. Has given me tension because it has made me uncomfortable with my own life and how I'm living because the word is going to the word has told me and is going to tell us things that we should be doing and not be doing. And we cannot be like the unwise living passively. James tells us that the one who is a doer of the word is blessed in his doing. And the ways that we can bless others is by also being obedient. Because when we don't live obediently, because when we hear and don't do the word, we're not able to to bless others with our own lives as well.

we are not able to make the gospel visible. So I want to take a look at this last two verses and how the wise are changed both inwardly and outwardly as they are doing the word of God as they are hearing and doing. James says this in verse 26. If anyone thinks he is a reli if anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person's religion is worthless. religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this to visit orphans and widows in their affliction and to keep oneself unstained from the world. So James begins to narrow in and make specific how the wise man and the wise woman lives in true religion.

And James shows us that true religion is characterized by two things. Inward holiness and outward compassion. Inward holiness and outward compassion. Now before we stumble over this word, because our society has a different definition of religion than James does, I I do want to highlight what he is talking about here. In our day, when we hear the word religion, we often have a negative connotation attached to it. Many of us including myself have used this phrase that Christianity is a relationship.

It's not a religion. And what is being said here in this phrase oftentimes is trying to help people see the difference between a religion where we believe that we must do things in order to earn God's love. We must do things in order to earn God's salvation. And so we use the word relationship because what we're trying to show is that this relationship that we have is initiated by God in Christ for the sake of our salvation and those who would believe. And so if we understand religion and relationship this way, then there's nothing wrong with this claim that Christianity is not a religion. But as RC Sproul says, we must be aware that in our individualistic culture, people might be tempted to think that someone can have a personal relationship with Jesus and have no concern for others.

While while a personal relationship with Jesus results in salvation, if it is a true relationship, it will always move us to care for others. This is what true religion is. And this is what James is trying to use as his definition or scriptures definition of what true religion looks like. It's one that highlights inward change, a pursuit of holiness and outward compassion. And James is trying to show us that right religion isn't a bad thing. What's worthless is when your religion is wrong.

When how you live does not reflect the faith that you proclaim. Leegan Duncan would say, "True religion is expressed both in our inner life and in our outward practical compassion." And James shows us three characteristics of what true religion looks like. And he starts with the tongue. taming the tongue and he moves into compassion for the marginalized and vulnerable and then he calls us to pursue holiness. So three character characteristics of what true religion looks like starts with the tongue.

Here James shows us that a good diagnostic tool to check our own hearts to check our own inner lives is to look at our speech. Jesus tells us this in Luke 6:45 where he says, "The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good and the evil produce person out of his evil treasure produces evil. For out of the abundance of the heart, his mouth speaks." So our speech, our tongue, our self-control, our lack of self-control is a reflection of where our heart is. Proverbs reminds us of this truth when Solomon writes, "As water reflects the face, so the heart reflects the man." And James is flatly telling us, "If you do not bridle your tongue, if you do not control your tongue, if you are a hearer who says you have a faith, but you do not do that faith, you have worthless religion and you are deceiving yourself."

Now, that's a hard thing to hear. for myself and I'm sure many of you in here as well. But there are few areas more difficult for us to control than our tongue. And James is going to continue to come back to this theme of bridling your tongue and what it reveals about your inward self. The second thing James shows us is that true religion acts with outward compassion. He says that true religion takes care of the orphans and the widows.

And what James is talking about here is a true faith that leads to having compassion for those who are in need, to those who are marginalized and vulnerable in society. And so we have to understand first who James is writing to. He's writing to Jewish believers who understand their Old Testament and understand that the society that they're living, the widows and orphans are the marginalized and vulnerable. If you remember walking through the book of Ruth, we understand and see that when you have no husband and when you have no children, especially if you're a widow, it is hard for you to sustain in that society. It is hard for you to get anywhere in that society. So James is highlighting, look for those widows, look for the orphans, take care of the vulnerable and the marginalized in your society.

And he's calling us to still do the same 2,000 years later. We are to look for the marginalized and vulnerable in society. And I'm not going to lie to you that this is an area where I think the church has failed. This is an area where I think the church has not done a good job and have we have fallen into what James calls as deceived. Now, it may not be our church. I I think our church has done some really good things.

So, I am not trying to throw weight and condemnation on the district. Do I think we can get better? Absolutely. I'm going to show us some examples. But I think the church as a whole has done a bad job of stepping into society and recognizing our call as God's people to live out our faith to be on the forefront of taking care of the vulnerable and the marginalized. And to be honest with you, I I don't know where that comes from because if you look throughout scriptures, James is not the only book that talks about faith and works.

Jesus sums up the great commandments by what? Telling us to love God and love others. And what is he doing? He is summarizing the entirety of the Old Testament where God has given commands to his people to love and take care of the marginalized and vulnerable in society. This is not something new that believers should be like, "Oh, James, where did you come from with this faith and works idea?" This is something that is seen throughout scriptures and we should take heed to be the wise men and women who show compassion because we have a faith really.

We have a faith that has saved us and saved us from being the vulnerable and saved us from being the outcasts, saved us from our own sin. And that grace that's been shown to us should compel us to outward faith. in this world. And so that larger scope, I want us to consider who those people are that are vulnerable and marginalized in today's society. I want us to consider how we as a church can take the gospel light into these dark places. Now I am going to give you a little bit disclaimer and this might set some warnings off.

Please, I I I pray that I am I don't come off as condemn condemning. I I pray that the word of God has set us up to hear with humility who the marginalized and the vulnerable are in this society because some of these examples that I might bring, you may not agree with. You actually might agree with wholeheartedly. That's what seems to be society today is one or the other. And I pray that we can land in the middle. And I pray that we can consider and I pray that we can be humble, slow to speak, quick to listen, and slow to get angry when it comes to who the vulnerable and marginalized in the society are and how we can take the gospel to these places.

You see, James talks about the orphans and the widows and there are still orphans today. I had Alyssa give me some stats because this is a passion of hers and I appreciate what she and Tim have done. Um, and and I was shocked by some of these stats. There are estimated 153 million orphans worldwide. In the United States alone, there are 437,000 children in the foster care system at this moment. 125,000 who are available for adoption.

this statistic. I had to have this explained to me multiple times because I just didn't get it. But there are three churches for every child in the foster care system waiting to be adopted. And what that means is if one family per every three churches in the United States would adopt a waiting child from the foster care system, there would essentially be zero waiting children. From 2008 to 2017, adoptions in the United States, intercountry adoptions declined from 24,000 to 4,700. That is an 80% decline in 9 years.

In 2020, the US finalized only 1622 intercountry adoptions and that is a 45% decline from 2019. There are still orphans who are vulnerable and marginalized in in our country and in this world. And so I I bring you this information for you to pray and consider what God might be stirring your heart to do. The other parts of society that I think the church needs to step into is our prison systems. to consider how can the church help to change our prison systems that are monetized and set up to make people fail, to treat people with who are incarcerated without dignity and respect. to help re rehabilitate men and women in order for them to be able to get into society and function well and not set them up to put them back into prison.

Maybe even helping change the narrative that do we view punishment over true biblical justice in society when it comes to our prison systems? Another area that I know the church has sought to step into is the industry of abortion. We are called to protect the vulnerable in society. And these are babies who are vulnerable. And this is the church. This is something that church needs to continue to fight and step into.

But what I want us to challenge, what I want to do in challenging us in fighting for or working to help end abortion is also understanding that there are crisis pregnancy centers who often function on shoestring budgets and struggle for volunteers. And so when it comes to the cause of abortion and if this is such a serious topic for the church and for believers, why aren't we doing everything we can to show these centers that often function in ways that are presenting other options? Why aren't we donating our time and our resources and our talents to help highlight these centers instead of solely just going against Planned Parenthood? I'm not saying that we don't fight against it. I'm not saying that we don't look to to to ways that we can help end it. But I'm I want us to consider that there are other options and other ways in which we can help those in society who feel like this is their only option.

And the church again has not done a good job of highlighting the crisis pregnancy centers, those people who are trying to show the other option other than abortion. Heck, I know a family in this church that they have told me personally if I hear of anybody that's going to have an abortion or if people who are they are working with are wanting to have abortion, they are willing to adopt that child and take care of that child should that mother have that baby. It's thought processes like this that we can consider other than just trying to celebrate a law that's passed or virtue signaling and not being doers of the word. The other way other ways that we can look to consider the vulnerable and the marginalized in society is even here and now in this pandemic. Have we considered those around us who are immuno compromised or have serious comorbidities when we're thinking about this virus and how we live?

And I'm not trying to highlight or mandate or push you into taking a vaccine or not taking a vaccine. Please do not hear me say that. But what I want you to do is consider those around you. As Philippians tells us, we are supposed to consider our own interests but also the interest of others. And so instead of and oftentimes this is what I hear from Christians maybe not so much in this church but again on a more global scale oftentimes what I hear during this pandemic from Christians is I'm going to be okay. How this is not going to affect me because I'm healthy.

This is not going to affect the people around me because we live a healthy lifestyle. And it stops there. It stops in themselves. And what I want us to do as a church is consider the interest of others. Consider our neighbors. Consider how we love one another.

And we do this by doing our research, by talking to men and women in the field, talking to doctors and nurses who deal with this virus every day that can give us a grander view of how we can make the correct decision and not just looking at our aunt's Facebook page that has some weird conspiracy theory, right? We should be people as the church who don't get swept up by conspiracy theories, who don't get swept up by false narratives, but we should be people who seek to know all that we can to make the most informed decision that we can for not only ourselves but also for the greater society. Again, this is not me telling you to get the vaccine or to not get the vaccine, to mask up or not mask up. I am just asking that we would consider not only our lives but also the lives around us. One more and then I'll I'll keep moving on. How can we consider the vulnerable and victimized and abused and the marginalized in their abuse?

Especially when we see abuse happening and coverups happening not only in society but also in our churches. How can we step in and be a safe haven of care for the abused and victimized? And how can we shine the light of the gospel in these dark places so that we can protect and stand up for them? I can keep going. I actually have a list. I just kept writing this week because I I hope you can see and I hope this has done the same thing for you.

But this has challenged me because I am someone who claims to be pro-life. And so what I want us to challen what I want to challenge us with is how we can consider being holistically pro-life and not just in abortion but in the entirety of the human life. And that is a complex conversation that I obviously can't even unpack from the stage. But what I want us to do is consider as believers what does that mean? John Calvin once said, "Our Christianity is shown by self-denial, compassion, and welloing to our neighbors." We are called to show compassion to the vulnerable and to the marginalized.

And finally, James says that true religion pursues holiness. Not only does true religion produce outward deeds of compassion, but it should also produce an inward holiness. Joe Thorne says, "The whole of the Christian life is upward, outward, and inward." It starts with our upward identity in Christ. And it flows both inward and outward. It should change our hearts and how we think and how we speak.

And it also should change how we live and how we love others. It should cause us to walk in a way that obeys God's commandments. That we live a life of repentance and devotion to God's word, letting that word, as we saw earlier, mirror be a mirror to our lives. And as believers, one of the greatest lies that the devil can do is try to deceive us into thinking that God does not care about our holiness. We've said this before from the stage, and this shouldn't be a shock to you, but the devil will try to deceive you in thinking that holiness is not something that God cares about, or worse, that you are a Pharisee and that your holiness is a way in which you're trying to make yourself better than somebody else. But our pursuit of holiness doesn't stem from an understanding that when we obey, God will love us.

Our understanding of holiness comes from who's we are. Right? Because who's we are defines how we live. And our pursuit of holiness comes from this foundation. That he has done all that we need to be sons and daughters of God. That he has promised to be with us.

And he has designed a way of living that is for our joy and our happiness. And the devil will deceive us in any way possible to think that this pursuit of holiness is a waste of time. Yet here in James, he calls us to remember and remain unstained from this world because he knows that in this pursuit of holiness, God looks glorious and we find true joy and true happiness. So what does true religion look like? It is a person who seeks and fights to tame their tongue, who has outward compassion for the vulnerable and the marginalized and pursues holiness because they know that in their pursuit of holiness, God has made glorious. So knowing whose you are should define who you are and how you live.

Knowing that you are united in Christ should cause you to be a wise woman and a wise man of God's word. who constantly goes back to this mirror of God's word, letting it examine you as well as defining how you live in true faith, in true religion. And one of the ways that we celebrate this reality, one of the ways that we can help really rally around this truth is in the beautiful the beautiful supper of the Lord. This is a celebration that we have every single week where we are looking at who's we are, right? The the juice and the bread represent Christ's blood and body broken for us. And it is a reminder that God's wrath has been poured out on Christ for us and his righteousness has now been given to us.

And as Galatians 3 reminds us, we now live for him and in him. And this is this truth that we take every single week to remind us that we are in him. But it should also compel us to live for him. And so when we come and we worship as the saints and we take this communion as a remembrance of what Christ has done, we remember and we are humbled that he would call us his own, that he would die for our sins. But we also should see it as a rally cry when we walk out these doors. that we are living not for ourselves but for glorifying him that we are not looking just to the interest of ourselves but the interest of others so if you haven't already grabbed the elements I would ask you do so now what I'm going to do is I'm going to close us in reading 1 Corinthians 11 and giving some time for us to contemplate the beautiful reality of communion and then we're going to take it together and then continue to worship in song.

So, I'll give you some time to grab that Paul writes, "For I have received from the Lord what I also delivered to you. That the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, "This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me." In the same way also he took the cup after the supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this as often as you drink in remembrance of me. For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.

Guys, let us proclaim as the church this death that Christ has given to us and we are now in him celebrating this beautiful reality. And then let us worship worship in song but worship with our lives. Lives that are committed to compassion. lives that are committed to pursuing holiness. Lives that are not just hearers of God's word, but doers of this word. So, let's celebrate communion.

Let's worship the Lord. Lord, you are good. And Lord, we thank you that we have this reminder in communion that we are united to you through the Father from the Son by the power of the Holy Spirit. We are united to you. And Lord, I pray that as we take communion this morning and every single week that we are remembering what you have done for us on the cross, but also that we see this as our rallying cry, the thing that compels us or stirs us up to go and be doers of your word, not just hearers. to live like the wise woman, to live like the wise man, and to not be deceived into thinking that I don't need to change, that this world doesn't need the gospel, that everything is okay, and that I can just live passively.

Lord, may this bread and this juice remind us that you were not passive. You were active in calling us to yourself. And not only calling us to yourself, but stepping out of heaven, putting on flesh, living the life that we should have lived and dying the death that we so rightly deserved, and then raising from the grave three days later, sealing our election and adoption as sons and daughters of God. You are not passive, Lord. I pray that your action causes us to live actively, causes us to live out our faith in such a way that brings glory to your name. I pray this in Jesus name.

Amen. [Music] [Music] Worthy of every song we could ever sing. Worthy of all the praise we could ever bring. [Music] Worthy of every breath we could ever brea. We live for you. [Music] Jesus the name above every other name.

Jesus, the only one who could ever save. [Music] Worthy of every breath we could ever brea. We live for you. Oh, we live for you, holy. There is no one like you. There is none beside you.

Open up my eyes in wonder. Show me who you are. And fill me with your heart. And lead me in your love to those around me. [Music] Worthy of every song we could ever sing. Worthy of all the praise we could ever bring.

Worthy of every breath we could ever breathe. We live for you [Music] Jesus. A name above every other name. [Music] Jesus, the only one who could ever sing. [Music] Worthy of every breath we could ever pray. We live for you.

Oh, we live for you, holy. There is no one like you. There is none beside you. Open up my eyes in wonder. Show me who you are and fill me with your heart and lead me in your love through those around me. Holy, there is no one like you.

There is none beside you. Open up my eyes in wonder. Show me who you are and fill me with your heart and lead me in your love deos me. [Music] [Music] I I will build my life upon your love. It is a firm foundation. I will put my trust in you alone and I will not be shen.

I will build my life upon your love. It is a firm foundation. I will put my trust in you alone and I will not be shen. Holy, there is no one like you. There is none beside you. Open up my eyes in wonder.

Show me who you are and fill me with your heart and lead me in your love. Do all around me. Holy, there is no one like you. There is none beside you. Open up my eyes in wonder. Show me who you are and fill me with your heart and lead me in your love around me.

I will build my life upon your love. It is a firm foundation. Will put my trust in you alone and I will not be shen. I will build my life upon your love. It is a firm foundation. I will put my trust in you alone and I will not be shen.

[Music] Jesus, thank you for the reminders that we've gotten this morning of your love. your salvation, your sovereignty, your righteousness. Lord, we thank you that you have called us into a life of freedom and of love. And yeah, we just pray that we would not be passive as Josh taught us this morning. That we will not be passive, but that we will take seriously the commands that you've given us in your word and that we would choose to go out and choose to reflect our faith and reflect our savior. We love you and we pray that today would be a day of rest, a day of reflection.

God, we love you and we praise you this morning and we thank you, Jesus, for what you've done for us on the cross. That you accomplish for us what we could never attain on our own. That we could never that we could never be reconciled to the father apart from you. And we thank you for the gift that you've given us that can never be repaid, but um yeah, help us to just live lives that reflect you and reflect your goodness. We love you. It's in your name we pray.

Amen. Thanks, Bri. You guys can have a seat real quick. Um just a couple quick announcements. Um,