The Bible is both a blessing and a responsibility. It is a blessing in that it is used instrumentally by God in the conversion of lost souls and in the sanctification of those who are redeemed. Yet, there is the responsibility to obey the command to receive the Word. In James 1:21, the command to receive the Word is given to those who have faith in Jesus. May God help us to listen carefully to the Word and receive the Word – to the salvation of our souls. To listen to this sermon, please click on the following link: James 1:21.
God has blessed us with a wonderful gift in giving us the Bible. God makes use of the Bible in saving souls. Yet, He has much more to accomplish through His word in our lives after salvation. Thus, we are instructed to give careful attention to the Bible. We are to be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger. The stress here is on the hearing. This is a major part of our responsibility. We are to listen, expecting that God will speak necessary truth to our hearts for our spiritual good. Do you approach the hearing of God’s word with expectancy? To listen to this sermon, please click on the following link: James 1:19-20.
James encourages his readers to not be deceived: God is good all the time. God’s ways and wisdom can always be trusted, even in the midst of trials. Then he turns to the climax of God’s goodness to mankind: regeneration. God has brought spiritual life to those who were spiritually dead. God has brought eternal life to those who deserve eternal death. God has done this by His own will – only God can give life to the spiritually dead. God is pleased to bring this spiritual life through the means of the proclaimed Word. This has implications for evangelism: we must proclaim the gospel for unbelievers to be converted. Pray that God would cause you to be obedient. To listen to this sermon, please click on the following link: James 1:16-18.
Each of us have fallen human desires. These fleshly desires are contrary to the Spirit of God. Those who are redeemed by Christ still have fallen human desires though they also have a new heart that desires to obey God. A believer must seek to put to death the deeds of the flesh by the power of God. Fallen human desires conspire with temptations to produce sin. Understanding this is important to your battle against sin. Most importantly you know that your fleshly desires want to produce sin. This enemy within each of us must be battled actively or we will lose. God has granted us His Spirit by which we may oppose our sinful inclinations, yet we are to set ourselves each day to actively battle sin. As John Owen said, “Be killing sin or it will be killing you.” To listen to this sermon, please click on the following link: James 1:13-15.