0:05 [Music]
0:07 welcome to back to the Bible Radio
0:09 featuring best-selling author and
0:11 internationally known Bible teacher Warren
0:12 Warren
0:15 weby thank you for opening your Bible to
0:19 James chap 1 as we consider the fourth
0:23 barrier that God has erected to keep us
0:27 off of the path of sin now James has
0:29 told us already of three of these barriers
0:30 barriers
0:33 he tells us to look ahead and notice
0:36 God's judgment he warns us that we
0:40 cannot sin and get away with it then he
0:43 encourages us to look around and to
0:46 notice God's goodness every good gift
0:49 comes from God we don't need any of the
0:53 devil's bait then he tells us to look
0:57 within at God's nature down inside James
1:01 1:8 and to allow the new nature to
1:03 control us this is what Paul calls
1:06 walking in newness of
1:09 Life the fourth barrier is the word of
1:13 God he tells us to look into God's word
1:16 and you'll notice in verses 18 through
1:19 25 that the emphasis is on the word of
1:22 God let me read these verses to you of
1:25 his own will begot he us with the word
1:28 of truth that we should be a kind of
1:30 first fruits of his creatures
1:33 wherefore my beloved Brethren let every
1:37 man be swift to hear slow to speak slow
1:40 to wrath for the wrath of man worketh
1:43 not the righteousness of God wherefore
1:47 put away all filthiness and overflowing of
1:48 of
1:52 wickedness and receive with meekness the
1:56 engrafted or the implanted word which is
2:00 able to save your souls but be ye doers
2:02 of the word and not hearers only
2:04 deceiving your own selves for if any be
2:07 a hearer of the word and not a doer he
2:09 is like a man beholding his natural face
2:12 in a mirror for he beholdeth himself and
2:22 forgetthe gazes into the perfect law of
2:26 Liberty and continueth in it he being
2:29 not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the
2:32 work this man shall be blessed in his
2:35 doing now you notice that over and over
2:37 again the word of God is mentioned in
2:40 verse 18 it's the word of Truth in verse
2:43 21 it is the engrafted word or the
2:47 implanted word and then down in verse 25
2:52 it is the law of Liberty the word of God
2:56 can keep us from sin now the psalmist
2:58 knew this he said wherewith all shall a
3:01 young man cleanse his way or how can a a
3:04 young person keep his way clean that's a
3:06 good question because we live in such a
3:08 dirty world and the answer comes by
3:11 taking heed according to Thy word the
3:14 psalmist also said Thy word have i
3:17 hidden my heart treasured in my heart
3:20 guarded in my heart why that I might not
3:23 sin against thee Jesus said to his
3:24 disciples there in the upper room now
3:28 you are clean through the word which I
3:31 have spoken unto you when our lord Jesus
3:34 met Satan in the wilderness and three
3:38 times Satan tempted Jesus three times
3:40 the Lord Jesus used the sword of the
3:43 spirit which is the word of God he said
3:46 it is written again it is written it is
3:49 written now my friend the word of God
3:52 will keep you from yielding to
3:55 Temptation do you spend time with the
3:57 word of God that's a good question now
3:59 we have time for so many things but do
4:03 you take time for the word of God we
4:05 spoke in a previous lesson about this
4:08 new nature that we have down inside
4:11 James 1:18 of his own will begot he Us
4:14 by the word of Truth the same word that
4:18 gave birth to that new nature sustains
4:21 that new nature the same word of God
4:23 that gives you life strengthens that
4:28 life as newborn babes wrote Peter desire
4:31 the unadultered ated milk of the word
4:34 that you may grow thereby and you know
4:36 the more you grow the stronger you're
4:39 going to be and the stronger you are the
4:41 easier it's going to be to face the
4:44 tempter and to get Victory let's take
4:47 these three descriptions of the Bible
4:50 and apply them to our lives Verse 18 of
4:55 James 1 the word of Truth God's word is
4:57 the word of Truth therefore we should
5:01 hear it we should learn it it is God's
5:04 truth now the devil's a liar every
5:08 Temptation involves a lie we saw back in
5:11 verse 14 that the picture of Temptation
5:13 is the picture of a hunter or a
5:16 fisherman every man is tempted when he
5:20 is drawn away of his own desire now that
5:22 little phrase drawn away means the
5:25 baiting of a trap a hunter puts bait on
5:28 the Trap and he is drawn away of his own
5:31 desire or lust and he is enticed and the
5:33 word enticed there carries the meaning
5:38 of a baited hook Satan is a hunter of
5:43 souls s Satan is a a Fisher for souls he
5:45 wants to hook you he wants to trap you
5:48 and so he always uses bait but that bait is
5:49 is
5:53 deceptive he said to the woman you shall
5:57 be as God knowing good and evil Genesis
6:00 chter 3 and she believed that that was a
6:03 lie in one sense it was true in another
6:06 sense it was a lie Satan is a liar he's
6:09 a deceiver and if you know the word of
6:13 Truth he won't fool you my friend your
6:16 mind and your heart should become like a
6:20 spiritual computer you and I should have
6:22 so much of the word of God stored in our
6:26 hearts in our minds that when we Face a
6:29 Temptation automatically God gives us
6:31 the answer answer we shouldn't have to
6:33 thumb our way through the Bible we
6:34 shouldn't have to reach for our
6:37 concordance occasionally we do but we
6:39 should be like the Lord Jesus who was
6:41 able to reach into his heart and pull
6:43 out the book of Deuteronomy and three
6:46 times quote from it so it is called the
6:49 word of truth because it wants to bring
6:52 truth to my mind and Truth to my heart
6:55 now how do I respond to this word of
6:58 Truth well verse 19 tells me be swift to hear
7:00 hear
7:04 slow to speak and slow to get angry are
7:07 you Swift to hear the word of God it's
7:10 amazing what we respond to swiftly the
7:14 thing you love is what you respond to
7:17 swiftly the mother hears the baby crying
7:20 and and swiftly she runs to the baby's
7:23 little bed now says James be swift to
7:27 hear the word of God and then be swift
7:30 to listen to it to take it in but not to
7:35 talk back slow to speak it's hard to
7:38 find people who really keep their mouths
7:42 shut and listen and James tells me if
7:43 the word of Truth is going to keep you
7:47 from Temptation and from sin be swift to
7:49 hear but be slow to speak don't argue
7:52 with God don't talk to God listen to God
7:56 Speak Lord for thy servant heareth and
7:59 then he says be slow to get angry
8:01 sometimes we hear the word of God and we
8:05 we react to it we get angry who is God
8:09 to tell me this be slow to speak and be
8:14 slow to get angry you know why anger
8:16 unrighteous anger cannot work the
8:19 righteousness of God so it is the word
8:22 of Truth we should hear it in verse 21
8:25 he tells me that my Bible is the
8:28 engrafted word the implanted word now
8:31 this happens to be a an agricultural
8:34 picture in fact throughout James's
8:36 letter there are a number of pictures
8:39 that come from the farm he says the word
8:43 of God is like seed or like a plant
8:46 that's going to be planted or like the
8:49 grafting of a branch into a tree it is
8:52 the implanted word in the parable of the
8:55 SE our lord Jesus says the seed is the
8:59 word of God a seed has life in it God's
9:03 word has life in it a seed produces
9:06 fruit God's word produces fruit a seed
9:09 must be planted to do any good God's
9:12 word must be planted in the heart to do
9:16 any good now he says receive this word
9:18 when Paul wrote to the Thessalonians he
9:21 said I thank God that when you receive
9:24 the word of God you received it not as
9:27 the word of men but as it is in truth
9:30 the word of God
9:32 prepare the soil of your soul is what
9:35 James is saying put away all filthiness
9:39 and overflowing of wickedness one
9:41 translation reads put away all
9:44 filthiness and rank growth of wi of
9:47 wickedness the rank growth of wickedness
9:51 is like weeds like noxious weeds growing
9:54 in the soul my friend have you done any
9:57 weeding in the garden of your soul
9:59 lately have you pulled out some of those
10:01 weeds that are taking up the place that
10:04 the seed ought to be planted receive the
10:07 implanted word that you might be a kind
10:11 of first fruits of his creatures now the
10:14 third picture he gives us is verse 25
10:17 the perfect law of Liberty that's a
10:20 strange statement isn't it Law Liberty
10:21 we have the idea that where there's law
10:23 there's no Liberty where there's liberty
10:25 there's no law oh no God knows better
10:27 than that there is no true Liberty
10:32 without law law means outward constraint
10:34 Liberty means inward
10:37 compulsion when a person begins studying
10:39 the piano or the violin or football or
10:41 swimming there is first the outward
10:43 constraint first you put yourself under
10:47 law and the coach says up down up down
10:50 run around the track throw that pass
10:52 tackle you're putting yourself under law
10:55 do you know why outward law develops inward
10:56 inward
10:59 discipline this is true of any skill
11:02 first there must be the law before there
11:04 can be the Liberty now if you and I want
11:09 to walk at Liberty and not be trapped by
11:12 Temptation we must put ourselves under
11:16 the perfect law of Liberty the word of
11:20 Truth hear it the implanted word receive
11:23 it into your heart pull out the weeds
11:26 cultivate the soil of your soul the
11:29 perfect law of Liberty obey it
11:37 Victory only the word of God can set you
11:40 free if you put yourself under the
11:42 authority of the word of God you'll
11:45 enjoy beautiful Liberty Jesus said in
11:48 John chapter 8 the truth of God shall
11:50 make you free if the son shall make you
11:52 free you shall be free indeed you shall
11:55 know the truth the truth shall make you
11:57 free but in verses
12:01 22 through 25 he compares the word of
12:05 God to a mirror listen but be ye doers
12:07 of the word and not hearers only
12:10 deceiving your own selves for if any be
12:13 a hearer of the word and not a doer he
12:15 is like a man beholding his natural face
12:18 in a mirror for he beholdeth himself and
12:21 goeth his way and immediately
12:24 forgetthe was but who so gazes into the
12:27 perfect law of Liberty and continueth in
12:31 it he being not a forgetful hearer but a
12:34 doer of the work this man shall be
12:37 blessed in his doing the word of God is
12:40 a mirror now the mirrors they had back
12:42 in those days were not like the very
12:44 fine mirrors we have today they were
12:47 really a polished bronze a polished
12:51 brass and they didn't give a very good
12:54 image the mirrors we have today reflect
12:56 beautifully and we're even able to use
12:59 them in scientific instruments but they
13:02 had polished metal mirrors back in those
13:05 days usually brass or bronze now the
13:10 mirror was used for three purposes examination
13:12 examination
13:14 restoration and
13:17 transformation first of all we use the
13:19 mirror of the word of God for
13:21 examination that's what he's saying here
13:24 in James 1:22 through
13:26 2 now there's some people who just open
13:28 their Bibles read a verse say a prayer
13:30 and away they go or they read the word
13:32 of God and say well this doesn't apply
13:34 to me or they read the word of God and
13:36 say well that does apply to me but they
13:39 forget about it James says when you
13:42 examine yourself in the word of God be
13:45 sure the light is on and be sure you
13:48 gaze into this perfect law of Liberty
13:51 don't just glance into it gaze into it
13:55 let the word of God as a mirror examine
13:59 your own heart and life you see you and
14:00 and I are either too hard on ourselves
14:03 or too easy on ourselves and our friends
14:06 are often too easy on us or too hard on
14:08 us the mirror of the word of God always
14:09 tells the
14:11 truth when you hold the mirror of the
14:14 word of God up to your life it reveals
14:17 the inner man it's sort of an x-ray
14:20 mirror now don't just be a hearer of the
14:23 word of God the hearer of the word of
14:25 God is somebody who just hears it it
14:27 goes in one ear out the other he doesn't
14:28 do anything about it if you really want
14:31 to get a blessing from the word of God
14:33 don't just hear it don't just study it
14:38 don't just mark it do it James 1:25 says
14:40 that the man is blessed not in his
14:44 hearing but in his doing and so often
14:46 you and I say oh I heard such a great
14:49 message oh that sermon by our pastor was
14:51 so wonderful fine what did you do with
14:55 it did you practice it well no then you
14:57 didn't get the blessing oh but I enjoyed
14:59 it no but you didn't get the blessing
15:01 the word of God is a mirror for
15:05 examination we must stoop down humbly
15:08 look into the mirror we should gaze a
15:12 long time we should continue to look we
15:15 should allow the word of God to expose
15:18 us as we really are the word of God is a
15:21 mirror for examination but don't stop
15:24 there if all you do is keep examining
15:26 yourself you're going to be very very
15:28 discouraged it's what I call a spirit
15:30 ual autopsy and you don't want too many
15:33 of those you may bleed to death the word
15:36 of God is a mirror not only for
15:38 examination but the word of God is a
15:40 mirror for
15:43 restoration and here we turn back to the
15:47 Book of Exodus and in the book of Exodus
15:50 chap 38 and verse 8 we read an
15:53 interesting thing Moses one day took up
15:56 an offering now Moses was accustomed to
15:59 doing that he gathered together all the
16:01 materials for the Tabernacle but this
16:04 was a very special offering there were a
16:08 group of women who served at the door of
16:10 the Tabernacle of the congregation we
16:12 aren't told exactly what their uh
16:16 particular function was but they served
16:18 at the door of the Tabernacle and they
16:20 had bronze mirrors that they had brought
16:23 out of Egypt well Moses came one day and
16:24 he said
16:27 ladies I need all of your mirrors that's
16:30 quite a sacrifice now they couldn't run
16:32 down to a local 10- cent store and buy a
16:35 new one I need all of your mirrors and
16:37 they gave him the
16:42 mirrors and exodus 38:8 says this and he
16:45 Moses made the labor of bronze and the
16:48 foot of it of bronze of the looking
16:51 glasses of the women serving who served
16:54 at the door of the Tabernacle of the
16:56 congregation now the labor as you
17:00 remember was that big brass pot so to
17:02 speak a big
17:06 Basin filled with water it stood between
17:11 the altar of sacrifice and the uh holy
17:13 place now you remember there was no
17:16 floor in the Tabernacle as the priests
17:18 were working in the Tabernacle two
17:20 things happened their feet got dirty
17:22 from the dirt and their hands got soiled
17:23 from the
17:27 sacrifices and they dared not ever ever
17:29 go into the holy place
17:31 with dirty feet or dirty hands as we
17:34 serve God we have to be clean now what
17:37 did they do they went to the labor and
17:39 they were able to wash their feet in the
17:41 foot part of the labor and they were
17:44 able to wash their hands in the Basin
17:47 part of the labor it's a picture of the
17:50 cleansing of the water of the
17:53 word now you are clean said Jesus
17:55 Through the word that I've spoken unto
18:00 you John 15:3 Ephesians 5 526 talks
18:03 about the washing of water through the
18:06 word you see my friend when I read my
18:09 Bible when you read your Bible we see
18:11 how dirty we are but don't stop there
18:15 confess that sin to the Lord immediately
18:18 claim his forgiveness and allow the word
18:20 of God to cleanse your mind and cleanse
18:23 your heart just as the blood of Jesus
18:27 Christ cleanses the record in heaven the
18:30 blood of Jesus Christ go son cleanses us
18:33 from all sin when if we confess our sins
18:35 then he is faithful and just to forgive
18:38 us our sins and to cleanse us from all
18:40 unrighteousness I'm glad that the word
18:43 of God is a mirror for restoration it
18:46 doesn't just show me how dirty I am it
18:48 helps to cleanse me there's something
18:51 about the reading of the word of God
18:53 meditating on the word of God that just
18:57 cleanses the mind and cleanses the heart
18:59 but don't stop there we have a third
19:04 reference 2 Corinthians 3: 18 we
19:06 discover something else about the mirror
19:08 of God's word it is not only a mirror
19:12 for examination and a mirror for
19:15 restoration but your Bible is a mirror for
19:16 for
19:19 transformation in other words the same
19:22 Bible that shows me how dirty I am and
19:25 helps to cleanse me can keep me from
19:28 getting dirty again listen to 2
19:30 Corinthians 3:18 to me one of the
19:34 greatest statements Paul ever wrote but
19:37 we all with unveiled face beholding as
19:41 in a mirror the glory of the Lord are being
19:43 being
19:45 transformed it's the word transfigured
19:48 really are being transformed into the
19:53 same image from glory to glory even is
19:55 by the spirit of the Lord did you know
19:57 that as you read the word of God it
19:59 transforms you
20:01 now other books you can read they'll
20:05 transform you from sin to Sin from shame
20:09 to shame from dirt to filth but the word
20:13 of God as you meditate on it it
20:16 transforms your mind and transforms your
20:19 heart and and brings out of you the very
20:22 glory of God perhaps you've heard me say
20:25 this before but permit me to repeat it 2
20:27 Corinthians 3:18 is saying that when the
20:29 child of God
20:32 looks into the mirror of the word of God
20:36 he sees the Son of God and he is
20:40 transformed by the spirit of God into
20:45 the glory of God into the same image
20:48 what image the image of Jesus Christ now
20:50 don't ask me to explain this miracle
20:54 it's a process that only God can
20:56 perform how do you become like the Lord
20:59 Jesus Through the word as you read the
21:02 word of God the spirit of God takes that
21:06 word and your mind becomes like the mind
21:08 of Christ and your heart becomes like
21:11 the heart of Christ with compassion and
21:14 concern and you find yourself being transformed
21:16 transformed
21:19 gradually sometimes almost
21:22 imperceptibly in 2 Corinthians chapter 3
21:25 the background is Moses when he went up
21:27 on the mountain he came down his face
21:30 was shining Moses didn't know his face
21:32 was shining but it was now you may not
21:35 be able to tell that your face is
21:37 shining you may not be able to detect
21:39 the fact that you are becoming more and
21:41 more like Jesus but other people will
21:44 notice it the word of God is a mirror for
21:46 for
21:48 transformation Moses put a veil on his
21:50 face so that the people couldn't see the
21:53 glory fading away after all who wants to
21:56 follow a leader whose glory is fading
21:58 but the glory we have doesn't fade away
22:01 the path of the just is as The Shining
22:04 Light that shineth more and more under
22:07 that perfect day my friend are you
22:09 spending enough time in your Bible are
22:12 you digging into the word of God for
22:14 Examination for
22:17 restoration for transformation let God's
22:20 mirror change your
22:23 life we're glad you joined us today if
22:25 you miss part of the program or you'd
22:27 like to listen again just come to backtothebible.org
22:29 backtothebible.org
22:31 so be sure to come back again for more
22:34 wisdom from God's word back to the Bible
22:36 leading you forward in your relationship
Chrome Extension