Apr. 02, 2025

“ENCOUNTERS WITH GOD”

“DON’T DECEIVE YOURSELF”

JAMES 1:19-27

Revelation 3:17 “Because you say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’—and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked.”

Spiritual reality results from the proper relationship  to God through His Word. God’s Word is truth (John 17:17), and if we are rightly related to God’s truth, we cannot be dishonest or hypocritical. James now states Three Responsibilities Toward God’s Word; and if we fulfill these Responsibilities, we will have an Honest Walk With God and Men.

1.  We Have To Receive The Word- James 1:19-21

James calls God’s Word the “implanted word” (vs.21), or the engrafted word.

Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23

The final test of salvation is fruit. This means a changed life, Christian character and conduct, and ministry to others in the glory of God.

But the Word of God cannot work in our lives unless we receive it in the right way: Jesus said:

Mark 4:24 “Then He said to them, “Take heed what you hear. With the same measure you use, it will be measured to you; and to you who hear, more will be given.” 

Luke 8:18 “Therefore take heed how you hear. For whoever has, to him more will be given; and whoever does not have, even what he seems to have will be taken from him.”

Matthew 13:13 “Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.”

Hebrews 5:11 “of whom we have much to say, and hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing.”

If the seed of the Word of God is to be planted in our hearts, then we must obey the instructions James gives us:

• Swift To Hear- vs.19

James 1:19 “So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath.”

Matthew 13:9 “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”

Romans 10:17 “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”

• Slow To Speak- vs.19

vs.19 “slow to speak…” We have two ears and one mouth, which ought to remind us to listen more than we speak.

Proverbs 10:19 “In the multitude of words sin is not lacking,
But he who restrains his lips is wise.”

Proverbs 17:27 “He who has knowledge spares his words,
And a man of understanding is of a calm spirit.”

• Slow To Wrath- vs.19

vs.19 “…slow to wrath.”- do not get angry at God or His Word.

Proverbs 14:29 “He who is slow to wrath has great understanding, But he who is impulsive exalts folly.”

James 1:20 “for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God.”

James warns us against getting angry at God’s Word because it reveals our sins to us.

• A Prepared Heart- vs.21

James 1:21 “Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.”

How can we prepare the soil of our hearts for God’s Word?

• By Confessing Our Sins- 1John 1:9

• Meditating On God’s Love and Grace- Jeremiah 4:3 
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• Having An Attitude of Meekness- vs.21 “and receive with meekness the implanted word.” 

2.   Practice The Word- James 1:22-25

James 1:22 “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.”

James now compares the Word of God to a mirror. 

Three ministries of the Word of God as a mirror:

*Examination- vs.23-25

James 1:23-25 “For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; 24for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. 25But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.”

First, They Merely Glance at Themselves- vs.23,24

The Second Mistake is That They Forget What They See- vs.24 

Let’s remember how the saints of old responded to the true knowledge of their own hearts:

Isaiah 6:5 “So I said: “Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, The Lord of hosts.”

Luke 5:8 “When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!”

Job 42:6 “Therefore I abhor myself, And repent in dust and ashes.”

Mistake Number Three is, They Fail To Obey What the Word Tells Them To Do

If we are to use God’s mirror profitably, then we must gaze into it carefully and with serious intent, vs.25

No quick glances will do. We must examine our own hearts and lives in the light of God’s Word:

Psalm 26:2 “Examine me, O Lord, and prove me; Try my mind and my heart.”

The blessing comes in the doing, not the reading of the Word, vs.25. 

Why does James call the Word of God “the perfect law of liberty?” Because when we obey it, God sets us free.

Psalm 119:45 “And I will walk at liberty, For I seek Your precepts.”

John 8:31-32 “Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. 32And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”

*Restoration: Exodus 38:8 

Exodus 38:8 “He made the laver of bronze and its base of bronze, from the bronze mirrors of the serving women who assembled at the door of the tabernacle of meeting.”

Water washing is a picture of the Word of God in its cleansing power. 

John 15:3 “You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.”

The church its sanctified and cleansed by the washing of the water by the Word.

Ephesians 5:26 “that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word.”

*Transformation: 2 Corinthians 3:18

2 Corinthians 3:18 “But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.”

Romans 12:2

3.   Share The Word- James 1:26-27

James 1:26-27 “If anyone among you thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one’s religion is useless. 27Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.”

Pure religion means practicing God’s Word and sharing it with others, through speech, service, and separation from the world.

• Speech- vs.26 “…and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart…”

There are many references to speech in this letter, giving the impression that the tongue was a serious problem in the church (1:19, 2:12, 3:1-3, 14-18, 4:11-12). It is the tongue that reveals the heart.

Matthew 12:34-35 “Brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. 35A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things.”

* Service- vs.27 “Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.”

Isaiah first saw the Lord, then himself, and the people to whom he would minister.

Isaiah 6:1-8

*Separation From The World- vs.27 “…and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.” 

By the world James means society without God.

John 17:11-12

We are sent into the world to win others to Christ. It is only as we maintain our separation from the world that we can serve others.

Principles to Practice: What are some examples of real Christianity in which hearing and living are reconciled?

• Don’t Divorce The Truth and Your Speech. When we speak contrary to the Word of God we are deceiving ourselves.
• Don’t Divorce The Truth and The Needs of Others. The truth should manifest itself not only in words but also in deeds.
• Don’t Divorce The Truth and You Upright Lifestyle. We should look different than the world.