Old Llantrisant Hill
- Personal example
- Have you had a similar moment of embarrassment?
- We encounter something similar towards the end of chapter 1
- The book of James can be summarised in 1:22
- Chapter 1 is an introduction/overview
- Looking into the mirror – looking and doing
- We must hear the word and act upon it
- "Be swift to hear" v19
- Be swift to act
- The primary aim of Scripture is to effect the unbeliever and believer
- We are not specifically to ‘learn’ more
- It is to affect how we live our lives
- We must be careful to act upon the word
- Observing – a close and detailed examination
- This can be difficult and painful
- The Holy Spirit prods us
- Our thinking and attitudes should be closer to Christ
- Not to ‘do’ the word but "doers" of the word
- Not activity but personality
- We should do various things but our motives must be right
- The perfect law of liberty
- What does this mean?
- Do we exchange the word ‘fulfil’ for ‘replace’
- Law vs Christ
- For the early believers – the cannon of Scripture was not yet complete, they primarily had the Old Testament
- Remember that James is writing to Jewish Christians – who know their Old Testament very well
- How do we reconcile this with Christ’s teaching?
- What is the law?
- Not just the statues and Ten Commandments
- It is obedience to God
- Ps 19:7-10
- It is the yardstick by which we measure other things
- Christ is all these things
- Christ sacrificed Himself to fulfil the law – so that we no longer need to fear the law
- In Christ we can keep the law as an act of worship
- The law reveals Christ
- The believer must become more Christ like
- Serving as an act of worship
- The law and the gospel are two sides of the same coin
- Matt 7:21-29
- Christ is the rock on which to build our house/life
- Christ has authority
- Neither James nor Matthew speak simply about doing works
- It is about living in obedience to God as an act of worship
- A change in lifestyle in response to a loving God
- Spotless religion is marked with compassionate love
- John 13:34-35
- To those who are the ‘lowest’ / ‘worthless’
- The practical effect of this will be different from person to person
- It is a sacrificial ministry
- Quote from Warren Wiersbe
- What needs are there around us?
- Be doers of the word
- Closing Remarks
- Serve as an act of worship