7.2 - James 1, Seeing Ourselves

Having studied James 1 for the purpose of better understanding God, we now turn our attention to better understand the part we have to play. How does James' writing apply to us in our lives? Join us as we continue the journey through James!

Fill out our Listener Survey or Submit a Question.

Paul and Noah both preach and teach with the Cedar Park church of Christ in Cedar Park, TX. You can visit our site at: https://www.cedarparkchurchofchrist.org/

Transcript

Paul: 0:30

Well, hello, hello to everyone today. Welcome to a new week and a new season. We're still in this new year. I mean, it's January, so we're going through the book of James journey through the book of James Noah. And what we decided we wanted to do is we wanted to start by looking at God in each chapter. We were in chapter one last week, just trying to see God in chapter one, what we need to realize and understand what James wanted his audience to understand about God. And now today we're going to look at ourselves some application in James one that, that we need to make to ourselves. And it's interesting. How James just begins, I mean, he's talking about the character of faith, the purpose of faith in our lives. He started in chapter 1 about our faith being tested, and we talked about God. Hey, God, we can ask God for things, especially wisdom when our faith is being tested. But I think that's a good starting place as it relates to us, since it's our faith, since it's my faith that's being tested as I'm going through trials. James says, okay, Paul, you've got a God and you can ask of him. But you need to make sure that you ask the right way. And he says, you've got to ask in faith, verse six, with no doubting. Ask in faith, you lack wisdom, you need of God, make sure you ask in faith. So that for me, if I'm looking at myself, okay, how's my faith?

Noah: 2:06

Yeah.

Paul: 2:07

How's, how do I see God?

Noah: 2:08

Yeah. And the fact is that in this discussion, the context, when we're asking the question of how's my faith? We're asking that in a situation that James is saying, Hey, consider it all joy when you're going through trial. So we're, we are asking this question about our faith in the middle of our faith being tested. And some, some might say, well, that's not fair. I, my, my faith should be evaluated. You could say, you at its peak, at its, at the, at the best times. But I think even that betrays a misconception about the meaning of faith, what it means to trust in God. Is the peak of our faith really when we're comfortable and there's nothing challenging our faith? Is that, is that really the peak? Right. And I, I think part of what we see in James chapter one, as far as application for ourselves, is no. It's not our faith is at its peak when we are tested and we are tried. And we go to the right place, we go to God,

Paul: 3:21

right? There's no, there's a difference between putting faith in faith and putting faith in God.

Noah: 3:26

Amen.

Paul: 3:27

And so I've, I've said this before. Faith is acting like God's telling the truth. So James says you lack wisdom. Okay, ask of God, do I have full confidence and belief, trust as you said, that God can do what he says he can do, that he has the power, he has the compassion all that is sourced in God because he is God. good. James says you can't have this faith today. Okay. I'm confident when I ask God for wisdom today, because he is good, because he's all powerful, he is sovereign, he will make good on that request. And then two days later, a week later, I'm not so sure about that. And he says, Hey, that's a double minded man. That man ought not to expect to receive anything from the Lord. So when my faith is being tested. That's when I need to see God for who He is, because I need to ask in faith.

Noah: 4:23

Yeah. Yeah. Something that I think we'll see not only in James chapter 1, but as we move through the book of James, as we journey through James here, is that because of God, and because of who He is, and how He is, and what He has done, We will see change. We will see transformation, and we will see growth. And that's from the very opening of the letter. When, when James talks about counting our trials as joy, why? Because it tests our faith and produces endurance. But then that carries forward through the verses that we just talked about, about God giving wisdom, providing that and, and to us. But then as we continue, you know, we get to verse 12, which we talked about some in, in last week's episode, blessed is the one who endures trials again. Why? Because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that was promised to those who love him. There's this, there's this idea that because of who God is and what he does, we will change, we will grow, and we will receive his blessings because of his goodness.

Paul: 5:40

Yeah.

Noah: 5:41

And so, all of that to say, when we, when we're reading through James and we're asking the question What, what application can I make here? What am I, how am I seeing myself in, in James writing here? One thing is how is this changing me? What change ought I expect to see because of God in my life? And then maybe a harder question. Am I seeing the change, the transformation and the growth that I should? Mm hmm. And I, and if the answer is no. We need to come back to the text and say, okay, what am, what am I missing? In, in the way that I am serving God and, and trying to please God that I am not receiving the transformation and the growth that he talks about.

Paul: 6:28

Yeah. So examining me. All right. What, so if the issue in chapter one is faith, and it is, then what does mature perfected faith look like? And James says, okay, a mature perfected faith is going to receive the word this way, is going to respond this way. And, and that's a point to start talking about obedience.

Noah: 6:57

Yeah.

Paul: 6:58

Yeah. And, and I think that's a good turning point. No, at this point in this, in this episode is okay. What about me? What about my faith? How do I respond to the Word? Do I lay aside, verse 21, all filthiness, overflow of wickedness? Am I receiving with meekness the implanted Word that has the power to save my soul? Am I being a doer of the Word or simply a hearer only who is deceiving himself? Right.

Noah: 7:29

I think it's interesting that James uses the terms humility and receiving in just right next to each other. He says humbly receive. It strikes me as, as somebody who has a very close personal relationship with pride. It strikes me that James says, that we are to humbly receive. And I think that's something, I think that's something we get kind of intuitively that who's going to better receive instruction or correction, the proud man or the humble man. But as, as evident, as self evident as that may seem, talk about a profound opportunity to reflect on ourselves. Do I have the humble spirit? That is willing to be receptive and when I think of receiving the implanted word that gives me the idea of like seed and soil, we could go back to, you know, the parable of the sower and the different soils and that kind of thing. So this implanted word, it's like soil. Do we have, do we have a heart that's tilled and prepared to receive this? Do we have a humble heart or do we have the kind of heart that like, It's like we we went outside and it was a little bit wet and we just kind of stomped on the ground for a little while and got it nice and flat and hard. And then we're like, there, that's where I'm going to plant the seed. That's where the implanted word is going to take root. And, and the key, one of the key differences is humility. That's what James brings out here. We have to humbly receive the word.

Paul: 9:07

Yeah. God's word, Noah, cannot change a heart as long as it's contaminated. And you dealt with the pride, but he says you got to lay aside certain things for 21. And for all their discussions about, man, is it the King James? I don't have the King James with me anymore. I don't have it

Noah: 9:26

handy at the moment, but

Paul: 9:27

I just remember who says super fluidity of naughtiness. And that's, that's gotta be, that's the King James. But James is telling us, you've got to lay aside. You've got to deal with. Attitudes and actions in your heart that will prevent or cause a barrier in relationship to being able to receive the Word. It's back to like you said, that garden, I mean, I'm looking down at the ground and it's just hard and there's weeds everywhere. Nobody's going to walk past it. Hey, this is a good place to plant seed because it isn't going to grow or it ain't going to grow. You, you got to deal with the heart. And the application for me is here's what a mature, perfected faith looks like in relationship to God. God, the power of the word. To change a heart, to soften a heart, to influence, to create transformation in our life. This is something that God can do and wants to do. But I've got to make sure that I am receptive. I'm receiving the word with great eagerness.

Noah: 10:33

Right. And to rewind in James for just a moment, as a side note, we're going to have a lot of trouble humbly receiving the word, if we're still trying to justify. The, the evil and the wickedness in our own lives. And, and one of the things that James says, Hey, don't be deceived about is the temptations that you face to do evil. Those aren't from God. We can't blame God when we desire, and then we act on that desire. And then we face the consequences of our actions. In contrast, James says, no, God is the source of all good things and all blessings, but we have a tendency. to point the finger at God and say, why, why am I facing these difficulties? Why am I facing these temptations? Maybe I'm justified in my, in my wickedness and in my sin because God's tempted me. And James makes it clear several verses earlier back in, you know, 13 through 15 area. That's not the case. So as long as we hold on to even a little bit of that idea that like God is responsible. for our sin we're not going to humbly receive the word.

Paul: 11:48

No,

Noah: 11:48

we're not going to be able to do that.

Paul: 11:49

No. And that's that we're pretty good at that as humans is, is, is we look to blame someone else and especially back to a time where we're vulnerable, especially during times where we're very vulnerable. life's challenges and changes and faith being tested. We're, we're reaching out. I've got to blame somebody. I've got to point the finger at somebody. It's, it's hard for me to look at myself in the mirror. We'll get to that in chapter one. But James says, you got to do that. You got to do that. It was your own desire. I mean, you're, you're responsible for, for that appetite or that desire, that attitude in you. And if, and if you give birth to that desire, that lust in you, that's evil, it's going to produce sin. Right. And that's not God's fault. That's your fault. Right.

Noah: 12:41

And we, we can't expect to experience the transformation of the implanted word and the salvation that God provides therein. If we're hanging on to that. But then on the other hand, since you already talked about looking in the mirror, where James goes is after receiving it, after hearing it, you got to do something with it. A receptive, a receptive heart is not much use if it just receives and then doesn't grow. And, and the mirror illustration, I think, is, is so important. It's so potent. The idea that you look in the mirror and you walk away and you know, when you looked in the mirror, you saw, you know, your hair was out of whack from, you know, you got bedhead, you haven't shaved in three days. You got garlic, not garlic, parsley stuck in your teeth, you know, that kind of thing. And you see all of that and you're like, wow, man, I am a mess. And then you walk away. And you, you don't change any of it. You immediately forget that all of these things are the case. That is such a, I think it's humorous, quite honestly, is the, the ridiculousness that we would do that. And yet that's exactly what it's like to, to receive this word, or as he puts it in the mirror illustration, to look into the perfect law of liberty and receive that knowledge But not be motivated to action, not be motivated to do anything about that.

Paul: 14:16

Right. Hearing truth is not the same as doing truth, and reading truth is not the same as applying truth. Listening to the podcast is not the same as learning and doing, going and being blessed. Who's the one that's going to be blessed? Right. And that's, that's the big question, and James answers that for us here in Chapter 1. Because we want to be blessed. Absolutely. Or who is the one that's going to be blessed? Well, I can't be a forgetful hearer.

Noah: 14:42

Yes.

Paul: 14:42

And we didn't even talk about the reasons like, James doesn't go into them. I mean, we can make a list. I mean, what causes us to walk away unchanged? What causes us to kind of just dismiss what we heard like 10 minutes after we heard it?

Noah: 14:57

Yeah. And it's funny that he doesn't, we want him to, I think we sometimes call James the wisdom literature of the New Testament because it is It's so eminently practical but because it's so eminently practical, you know, we want to, is there an extra page in here somewhere where he, he goes into all of those reasons? No, he, he doesn't, but but he does say, look in the mirror. And I think that that offers each of us the opportunity to examine not only what we see in the mirror, but why we're so hesitant to do anything about it. Why we're so hesitant to make a change. Quite frankly, why we're so hesitant to embrace the transformation that God intends for his people and he gives us through the implanted word. And we already talked about humility versus pride. Pride can certainly be a factor. But so can our, our our cultural influence and our peer pressure. Yeah, I know that this doesn't align with what I see in this perfect law of liberty, but it's, it's how everybody, everybody else lives. And if I do something different, I'm going to be weird. I'm going to be ostracized. I'm going to be uncomfortable. I'm going to suffer. Well, consider it all joy when you suffer various trials. There's a lot of, a lot of different reasons we could get into on that.

Paul: 16:26

Yeah, you know, I think about some of the things that he said, it, James is a hard book to outline. Yeah. James is a hard book sometimes for me to teach and preach out of because I'm a simple, I'm a simple thought guy. Give me three and I'll go with three. And James is just, in my mind, I mean, there's absolutely order here. I mean, the spirit of God, there's order in the spirit of God. There's, there's absolute order here. I know that, but for me and my brain, sometimes it can be very chaotic. And so I've been in this text, Noah, for 35 years. off and on. One of the things I missed for a long time, you know, he, he says to us back in chapter or verse 19 that I let everyone be swift to hear. All right, just make the application in relationship to the word. I need to be ready to hear, and I need to be slow to wrath. Well, Slow to wrath means, okay, I'm going to be energetic and ready. God, just, I'm listening to you here. And when I hear you like through the text here when I, when I see what you want me to see, I'm not going to resist. I'm not gonna get upset or angry about it. I wanted to hear it. And then you'd go over into verse 25 and he, he, he speaks about the perfect law of Liberty. All right, why am I so eager to hear God? Because I know everything you say is perfect. Cause you are perfect. And because your word and your revelation is perfect, then it will release me. It will bring freedom to me. So whatever I'm going through, whatever needs to be purged out of me to properly receive the word, I need to be delivered from that. Sometimes we're not getting delivered from things, even though we're hearing truth all the time. Yeah. Because we're not putting ourselves in a position to have the faith. That God, I know you know best, and if there's something in me that needs to be purged out of me, I'm ready to receive it and hear it, and then do what you've asked me in your word to do. Sometimes lives aren't changing because the heart is. is contaminated. People are not being set free from certain addictions, from certain repeated habits and patterns in their life because they're not ready to hear and they thought they were. They're not eager to receive and the pride is there. James says you want liberty, you want to be set free, then you can't just hear. You have to do, you have to respond.

Noah: 19:01

Yeah,

Paul: 19:02

and receive.

Noah: 19:03

Yeah, as he puts in that in verse 25 you have to look into it and you have to persevere in it. Mm hmm There's there's this idea of there's just this continuous of I'm going to remain looking into the word and What we see James where he goes from here is Is talking about what that's going to some extent, what that looks like, the, the change that happens when we persevere in the word of God and looking into God's word in verse 26, he talks about our speech. If anyone thinks he is religious without controlling his tongue. It's useless and he deceives himself in verse 27. We, which we talked about a little bit last week, there's the compassion that pure and undefiled religion for God, the father is this to look after orphans and widows in their distress. There's the purity of conduct because the other half of what James says there is, and to keep oneself unstained from the world, all of these things, these changes, all of these areas where we grow and mature and transform. That comes from perseverance in looking into the law of liberty, looking into God's word. And if we don't, and that'll continue into chapter two, where he talks about partiality and those kinds of things that those changes are only going to happen when we look into God's word and we stay in God's word. And really, I think that that is where we might need to. And in this episode is, or where we need to put our focus here at the end of this episode is this perfect law of liberty, this mirror that we look into. It's flawless. It's perfect. If we're not changed. Because of our time spent looking into the Word of God. It's not because the Word of God messed up. It's because We didn't take it seriously. We didn't spend the time in it. We didn't genuinely in faith seek the wisdom of God going back to the beginning of chapter 1 and The perfect law of Liberty does not offer its benefits to those who are unwilling to look We need to get in the Word. If we want to experience the transformation that is possible through the person of Christ and through the wisdom of God, we have to do that by getting into the Word.

Paul: 21:25

Yeah, and nobody can do that for us. They can lead us, they can influence, but it's, it's got to be my desire. It's got to be my appetite. I love that. I love that. Yes, we got to be getting into the word, getting into the word. It's a new year, Noah. And, and how many people are making resolutions, they're recommitting their, and, and there's nothing necessarily wrong with that. Sure. I can tell you the things that I've done is, you know, made a list of 12. Oh my goodness, you know, 12 resolutions, how about, how about one, two, no more than three and it has to somehow be a resolute determined focus on God revealing himself to us through his spirit, through the word so that I can see me the way God sees me, see life the way God sees life.

Noah: 22:19

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Well, I've really enjoyed this discussion. James is such a rich book that we could spend double the time that we already have, but to respect each other's time and to respect the time of our listeners, we'll go ahead and wrap up on James chapter one, seeing ourselves right now. Now, if you're following along, don't turn to James chapter two yet because next week we're going to have one more episode on James chapter one. And I can hear you saying. What in the world? Why are you in James one again? But, but bear with us because next week we, you know, we've first week, we already talked about what do we see and learn about God in James chapter one. And this week, what do we see about ourselves and what applications can we make? But next week, Paul and I are going to take the opportunity to each pick a couple of points that are the most impactful to us. About James chapter one. Some of them we may have touched on already. Some of them may be something that is kind of a broader in scope, but we're going to talk about no more than four, Paul, by the way, no more than four. I get two, two and two. That's right. I get to, you get to no more than four. Y'all can hold us accountable on that. But no more than four. points of really great impact that we can see here in James chapter one. Before we move on to James chapter two, we want to make sure that we hit on those things. So I'm looking forward to that discussion next week, Paul.

Paul: 23:53

Well, thank you for everyone today. We're excited about this new year. Very excited about what God's going to do in us and through us in this year, especially as we're journeying through the book of James. So until next week. Get into the text, pray about the text. We just want to tap into the wisdom and the truth of God because God is the source of everything that is good. And with God's help, we can stand strong.