God Revealed

But if you take your Bible this morning, and I trust that you have your Bible, turn with me to the book of James, in James chapter 1, starting in verse 16, 16 through 18. Well this morning we are in our series, "Good Works Flow from Good Faith," and we are just going verse by verse, word by word, phrase by phrase through the book of James. And we are learning, as James is teaching us, that the world around us is in desperate need of seeing true Christian works that come out of our faith. We know that in our culture there are a lot of people who are cultural Christians.

We understand that, we know that, we understand what that is, but we desire that God would so work in us and teach us that we become that Christian that their lives permeate, their lives are full, their lives radiate, good works that follow behind those good words of declaring a faith in Christ. Now we have learned that the book of James is nothing more than a manual for Christian living. We talked about that in the very first message as we introduced the book of James. But I reminded you last week that this is supposed to be a manual for Christian living.

Now last week's message was "Temptation Revealed," and we saw how first there was the source of temptation, and then second we saw the process of temptation. Now if you look at the message and you study the message and you take a few steps back, you will see just how practical that message was, that for us as Christians we can see where temptation comes from and the very process of temptation as it comes our way. And it is nothing more than a manual for the Christian life. Now again, what's the context?

These Jewish Christians who've been scattered, they are scattered from here to there to everywhere, they've left their homes, they've left their jobs and their security and their families. There was that great dispersion there in the book of Acts, and James is writing to them and he's helping them in their practical walk with Christ. And so we're seeing this book really become this manual for Christian living.

And you know for me as I've been preaching and I've been hearing what God's doing in your life, it encourages me, although some of you are struggling in certain areas, I am hearing that God is giving you the answers and the teaching and the correction that you need. And that just tells me that the Word of God is doing its work. Now this morning, this message is similar but yet different from last week's message. Last week was temptation revealed. But this morning the title of the message is God Revealed. God Revealed. And again, this is very practical.

And this is basic truth which enables us to become the people that good works flow out of our faith. In other words, our words line up with our deeds. And that's what James is all about. So the title of the message this morning is God Revealed. God Revealed. Now let's pick back up in verse 16. We're going to read just three verses, 16, 17, and 18. James says, "Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. Every good thing bestowed and every good gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.

In the exercise of His will, He brought us forth by the Word of truth so that we might be, as it were, the first fruits among His creatures." Now in these verses I want us to see two main truths. You can jot these down. The first main truth is the character of God, the character of God. And the second main truth is the grace of God. Two main truths, and we're going to hang some truth on these two truths. And at the end of the message, through these verses, we're going to see that God is revealing Himself to us. God is revealing Himself through James to these Christians who were scattered here and there, and we will see God in a fresh new way.

And I hope that you take notes for your own study. And if you are taking notes, I encourage you to write this down. First of all, our number one, our Roman numeral one, we must understand the character of God. The character of God. We must understand the character of God. Now, let's pick back up in our verses. Let's look at verse 16 and part of verse 17. Or verse 17, "Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. Every good thing bestowed and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shifting of shadow." So in these verses, God is showing us His very character.

Now, I want to tell this to you before we dive into the verse. It is extremely important that we understand the character of God. Now, none of us can fully grasp God. None of us can fully explain God. None of us can fully come to a place of understanding the character of God, the person of God, the totality of who God is. But we can gain an accurate understanding of God that will evolve and grow in understanding as we walk with Christ. Now, there are many people who have a faulty understanding of the character of God. And I want to tell you all throughout the ages, Satan has been about assaulting the character of God.

Let me give you an example. In the garden in Genesis chapter 3, we know that the creation was perfect. You had Adam, you had Eve, you had the garden, and Adam was to care for the garden. He had a job. He wasn't to sit around and be lazy. And lo and behold, one day Satan comes in the form of a serpent. And what does he do is he tempts Eve. He assaults the character of God. What does he say? He questions God. He questions the Word of God, the truth of God, the person of God. Did God really say? He's questioning the character of God. And what we see here in these verses, God is revealing His character.

So, if you're taking notes, I want to give you four truths. First, I want you to see that God teaches us. Look at verse 16. "Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren." What is James saying right here? This verse 16 really applies to the previous verses, starting with verse 2. What I'm showing you is, James has been dealing with trials. He has wrapped up temptations. We understand that a trial, if it's not handled right, can lead to a temptation. And what he is saying is, "Do not be deceived by what I have taught you." Receive it, study it, learn it, let it be assimilated into your understanding and your teaching and your thinking.

Don't be deceived. And what we see here is, God is teaching the hearers of this book, the readers of this book, and us. He's saying, "Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren." These are born-again Christians. And we see that in verse 12. If we're not careful, we will blame God for trials. I mean, temptations, isn't that not right? That would be an assault against the character of God. He's saying, "Don't be deceived. Temptation doesn't come from God. It comes from your own flesh and the world and the enemy." And what we see is, God is teaching. And this is part of the character of God, is that he sees fit to give us what we need.

And every now and then, he sees fit to pause in his teaching and say, "Now come on, people. Don't be deceived. Get what I'm teaching you." That's all he's doing right here in verse 16. It's been practical teaching after practical teaching, lining us out, preparing us, correcting us, and teaching us, and forming us into the people that God wants us to be. And then verse 16, James just says, "Come on now. Don't be deceived." Every word I've given you is truth. And this is nothing more than God teaching us. You know, I don't have this in my notes, but I'm reminded of what Jesus told the disciples.

If you can remember the Gospel of John, chapter 14, 15, and 16, Jesus is telling the disciples, he says, "I'm going away. I'm going to be crucified. I'm leaving you." And he said, "But I will not leave you as orphans." And he promises them the gift of the Holy Spirit, which is the third person of the Godhead. And what does he use? He uses language that describes what the Spirit would do. For us who are born again, for the disciples, he says he will counsel you, he will correct you, he will teach you, he will cause you to remember what I have spoken to you. What is he saying? The Spirit of God will teach you.

And that's what we're learning here, is that God is so good that he gives us all that we need, and he teaches us right where we are. And that's what verse 16 tells us. Second, I want you to see that God reveals himself to us. Look at verse 17. "Every good thing bestowed, and every good gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights." Now, what are these words talking about? What are they saying? We're seeing, James is telling us, that God reveals himself to us. That's what he says. "All good things come from God." This is God revealing himself to you and to us.

Now, I'm going to give you three things here with this God revealing himself to us that I really want you to see. First, I want you to see what is called general revelation. General revelation. There are some Bible theologians use the term "common grace." We understand that general revelation, or common grace, is none other than the goodness of God that is extended to all men. Let me repeat this. General revelation, or common grace, is none other than the goodness of God that is extended to all men. Now, let me give you an example. God has given us the creation, has he not? He has given a very, a home for lost humanity.

Those people who live down the road, those people who live in our neighborhoods, who hate God, who revile God, who do not want to submit their lives to God, they experience the goodness of God. They have air to breathe, they have food to eat, they have jobs to go to, they have health in their bodies. God has given them good gifts. Many have wives and children. I mean, the list goes on and on and on. This is nothing more than general revelation, or common grace. These are gifts from God.

And we can look around and see that even people who are enemies of God, even people who worship foreign gods, pagan gods, false gods, experience the common grace of God. Now, general revelation specifically speaks to the creation. We see in Acts chapter 14, verse 15 and 17, where Paul is dealing with some individuals who are kind of revering Paul in a false way. And what does he do? He says, God has given you the creation. That's general revelation. But in his sermon, he gives more by giving the gospel. Now, I want you to get this. Mankind, all of mankind, is held accountable by general revelation.

Romans chapter 1, starting in verse 18, explains to us how God could send men who have never heard the gospel to a devil's hell. Romans, Paul tells us that people who reject general revelation reject God. What does Paul say in Romans? That mankind has been given the creation. God's given them the sun, the wind, the moon, the stars, the earth, the soil, the trees, the plants, the flowers, the animals. This is a picture of God's goodness. And rather than knowing that there is a God, recognizing that there is a God who created that creation, Romans says they worship that creation. Therefore, they damn themselves. What am I showing you?

This is the revelation of God. So when we walk outside and see a beautiful sunset, or we fill a crisp, cool fall day, when we experience good rain that we need, the warming of springtime, the cold of winter, all that is is general revelation. When we see health that's been given, babies that have been given, jobs that have been given, freedom that have been given, and the list goes on. This is general revelation. This is God revealing Himself. Also, I want you to see special revelation. This is all part of God revealing Himself. Some people call this special grace. This is when revelation gets specific.

This is when Christ is revealed through the Word of God. This is when redemption is revealed. The gospel message is revealed. And this is special revelation when a man or a woman or a people group receive the good news of the gospel, the good news of the one true God. Some people say it like this. Special grace is the work of redemption, the work of sanctification, and later the work of glorification. What am I showing you? We have general revelation that is for all mankind. And then we have special revelation or special grace when God chooses to reveal Himself to men.

You all have experienced general revelation and we all also have experienced special revelation. You've heard the gospel. You have the Word of God in your hands. You are not held accountable by general revelation. Yes, you are held accountable by special revelation. See, this is when men hear the gospel. But then also I want you to see personal revelation. Personal revelation. This is when God is revealing Himself to a particular person. We see this all through the scripture and I can clearly explain how it's happened in my life. One day in Luke chapter 5, there was a man named Peter who was fishing and what happened?

Jesus came and He revealed Himself. He had general revelation. Then He had specific revelation. The gospel was preached to Peter. And then Jesus said something to Peter that He didn't say to the other people. He said, "Come on Peter. I will make you a fisher of men." He was called to be an apostle. That is personal revelation. And from then on, He embarked on that journey of being the man of God that God called Him to be. That is what some people call experiential Christianity. And see, for us, when we walk with God, we will have personal revelation as He comes and He meets with us.

And look, we might be in a trial that no one else ever experiences. And in that trial, we can have personal revelation. Now for the sake of time, I can't go into it. But I have received personal revelation as God has come to me and revealed His plan for my life. And my plan for my life is not like anybody else's. That's personal revelation. Abraham, Moses, Joshua, Peter, James, John, Luke, Bartholomew, Silas, you name them. They all had personal revelation from that special revelation or special grace, the work of God in their life. This is God revealing Himself. And look, this is the character of God.

It is that God did not choose to leave humanity lost in their sin without hope, but He chose to reveal Himself. Look back at the verse. "Every good gift bestowed and every perfect gift is from above." "Every good gift of fresh air and warm sunshine." "Every good gift of a gospel message and a personal work in our lives is from God." This reveals Himself, but it reveals the character of God. Then third, I want us to see God is Creator. Look at verse 17.

"Every good gift bestowed and every perfect gift is from above." "Coming down from the Father of Lights." Now, this Father of Lights in the New American Standard, King James, English Standard Version, it is all listed the same, the Father of Lights. This is nothing more than an ancient Jewish title for God. And this refers to what? The creation. What they are saying is all these things that have come, general revelation, special revelation, personal revelation, they have come from God who is the Creator. What He is saying is God created it all and it doesn't matter what scientists say. This is the character of God. He is Creator.

And look, don't you be deceived. This thing didn't evolve. It wasn't a big bang. It might have been a big bang when God spoke, but it came from God. And this is none other than the character of God. And then also fourth, I want you to see God is unchanging. What does He say in verse 13? "Coming down from the Father of Lights with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow." Now, the King James uses the word "variableness." The New American, the English Standard uses the word "no variation." And it speaks to the unchanging character of God. The prophet Malachi tells us this in chapter 3, verse 6.

Malachi basically says, "For I," that's a quotation from God, "For I, the Lord, do not change." Our world is changing. We're changing. But God isn't. And what am I showing you? The character of God. God teaches us. God reveals Himself to us. God is the creator of all things. And He is unchanging. And what do we see? God does not leave us alone. Some of you are facing great trial. Some of you might be facing great temptation. But God has not left you. And look, He has come to teach you.

In the midst of your trial, in the midst of your temptation, in the midst of the darkness that you're in, what we have learned starting in verse 2 is God does not leave us alone. He is revealing Himself no matter where we are, no matter what circumstance we're in. He is teaching us. He is revealing Himself to us. And He is wanting to unfold His character. God has revealed Himself to you, no matter how dark it may be. Just trust the work of God. So, truth number one, we have seen the character of God. Then truth number two, we must understand the grace of God. We must understand the grace of God. Go to verse 18 with me.

James says, "In the exercise of His will, He brought us forth by the word of truth, so that we might be, as it were, the first fruits among His creatures." What we see here is that we must understand the grace of God. Now, the grace of God right here spoken of is none other than salvation. It's none other than man being made right with God. It is none other than conversion. You can say salvation, conversion, man being made right with God. And this is terribly misunderstood today. And let me tell you, just like we cannot misunderstand the character of God, we cannot misunderstand conversion. I'll give you an example. Two stories.

I was listening to someone talk about how some people were teaching their children Bible stories and Bible illustrations, and I was thinking, "How sad, because I know their theology and they do not have salvation and conversion right." I'll give you an example, a story to illustrate what I mean. I have an older brother, and my older brother was one of those kids that grew fast. You know those kids when they're 11 or 12 and they look 16? He was one of those. I think he shaved months before his friends. I can remember when he was a kid when he went to the movie, he was accused of being older than he really was. Well, what did that do for him?

Well, when he played baseball, that made him a head taller than everybody and far superior. And he was pretty good. But I'll never forget there was one particular game. I don't remember how old he was. But I'll never forget my brother was at bat, and he drove one deep up against the fence, and man, he lit down the line to first base, and he rounded first base, and the first base coach rounded him on the second base. And when he came to second base, the third base coach said, "Come on to third." And when he got to third, the third base coach said, "Son, go on to home." And he went all the way home for an inside the park, home run.

And everybody's cheering, everybody's jumping for joy, and everybody is hooping and hollering. You know how that goes. But my brother didn't really get that excited, because right down the first base line, the first base arm, he said, "You're out." He didn't touch first base. He was out by the rules. And see what I'm showing you is salvation and conversion and how man has been made right with God. If it's not understood, you can touch second base, third base, and think you're going to come home, but you are out. And look, this is the grace of God, and we do not get this. James is teaching these Christians.

Now, let's look at what he's trying to say. First, I want us to see that we are born of his will. Go back to the verse. "In the exercise of his will..." Now, I didn't look in the other translations, but the New American Standard has his capitalized. That is deity. "In the exercise of his will, he brought us forth by the truth of the word." And there is so much right here, and we see first, we are born of his will. Now, the King James and the English Standard say, "of his own will." Now, what do we see here? What's going on in these verses? First, the will of God. Look at the verse.

"In the exercise of his will, he brought us forth." What we see here is, the simplistic translation is, "by his own will." In the language, in the construction of the language, it is a deliberate, specific exercise of God's will. What do we mean by that? Go back to the verse. "In the exercise of God's deliberate and specific will, he brought us forth." So, what we see is, we are born of his will. This is and has been the will of God. Now, also in the language, it is in the emphatic. What that means is, it is reinforcing that it is God's sovereign will that is exercised. So, what that tells us is, man is outside of this action.

He is the object. Go back to the verse. "In the exercise of God's will, his divine will, his sovereign will, it was God who brought forth us forth by the word of truth." And what we see is, is we are born of his will. This is the will of God. And look, not only that, it is the birth of God. Because when you look at the word, "being brought forth," that simply means to give birth. The King James uses the word "beget." So, what we see here is, verse 18, "In the exercise of his will, God sovereignly chose, he did it, he moved, and he brought about birth." He brought about what John calls the new birth.

Now, let me give you some verses to illustrate or back up what we are looking at to help us see that we are born of his will. John chapter 6 verse 44, what does John say? John says, "No one comes to the Father," how? "Only when he is drawn." Also, in John chapter 3 verse 2, Jesus is dealing with Nicodemus. And he says, "Nicodemus, you must be born from above." Now, what are we learning here? With the grace of God, with conversion, we are born of his will. Now, how do we apply that to us? How do I unpack this for us? We live in a culture where it's decision after decision after decision for Christ.

We are taught, or have been taught, to make a commitment to Christ, to pray and receive Christ. We have turned things around in the church today, and we have ignored what the Word says. What I want to tell you is, no man, no woman, no young person, ever is born of God if they pray, if they walk down the aisle, if they take the preacher by the hand, no, they will never be born again that way, but only when God so chooses. Look at the Scripture. "In the exercise of his will, he brought us forth." God chose it. God sovereignly ordained it. It is in the emphatic, and he brings forth birth. Now, will somebody pray? Probably, most likely.

Will they come down the aisle? Maybe. What am I trying to show you? It's not praying to receive Christ that saves us. It's God who saves us. And look, we are born again of his will. I like what John MacArthur says. He says, now get this, every word is good. "Our conscious experience of conversion, of believing in Jesus Christ, in his death and resurrection on our behalf, of committing our life to him, is all the consequence of God's will." Let me divide what MacArthur says. "Our conscious experience of conversion." Now, let me stop right there.

"I do not believe a man or a woman can ever be born again and not know it." Look, if you are born of the will of God, you will know it. So, MacArthur says, "Our conscious experience of conversion." Now, notice, "of believing in Jesus Christ, we're commanded to believe, aren't we not?" That is our responsibility. Then he goes on to say, "In his death and resurrection on our behalf, we are commanded to believe those truths, of committing our life to him, we are commanded to commit our life to him, is all..." Notice, "the consequence of God's sovereign will." What is MacArthur saying? You can't do any of this unless God does it.

This is the tension, the tension between God's sovereignty and man's responsibility. We cannot reconcile them, but they're there. And I'm going to tell you, if you're ever in a church service, where a preacher stands up and says these words, "Jesus is at the door and he's knocking. Open the door and receive Jesus." You get up and run. That's not what that verse means. That's humanistic salvation. And it does not say. And look, I was spending a little extra time here because it's needed. Our pews are full of people who have prayed to receive Christ. They've made commitments to Christ. They have joined the church. They've been baptized.

They've cried bucket loads of tears, but they've not been born of God. And there is a difference. And when you are born of God, it is a conscious experience of conversion. And see, when you're born of God, you're born of God's sovereign will and you are born born again. It's no coincidence that he uses these words brought forth. The King James says, "Beget." That alludes to the new birth. Second truth. I want us to see we're born through the truth. Verse 18, "In the exercise of God's will, he brought us forth," notice, "by the word of truth." Now, the word of truth here, it speaks of the entirety of God's word.

And in a specific sense, it speaks of the gospel message. What is James teaching? James is saying, "In the exercise of God's sovereign will, God brought about a new birth in you by or through the word of God." What is James teaching? James teaches that it is the word of God that God uses to bring about the new birth. The word is central. The word is key. The word is necessary. I'm not going to refer to many scriptures this morning for the sake of time, but I will ask you to write this one down, and I want you to study this one to help solidify this truth in you. Notice what Paul says in Romans, Chapter 10, starting in Verse 12.

Romans says, "For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek." Okay, I'm going to stop right there for a second. God does not see race. Men and women who are right with God don't see race either. "There is no distinct between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding and riches for all who call upon Him. For whoever will call upon the name of the Lord will be saved." Now, this is man's responsibility. This is the tension. "Whoever will call upon the name of the Lord will be saved." But man can't do that unless God chooses to reveal.

But notice what he says, Verse 14, "How then shall they call upon Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, 'How beautiful are the feet of those who bring glad tidings of good things.'" What is going on here? Paul is saying the men and women cannot believe and trust the gospel unless someone goes and preaches the gospel. That is the word of truth. And look, unless someone is preaching the gospel, teaching the gospel, preaching the word, they will not, cannot, will never be saved.

Games and gimmicks, baseball bats broken and fire breathed, and a big shot preacher won't do it. Only when the Word of God is brought forth. Go back to what we looked at in James. In the exercise of God's will, this sovereign work of God, He brought birth. Brought us by birth. Notice, by the Word. I ran across something that I was reading in some devotional time. It's from the old famous Christian A.W. Tozer. And this really applies. And I want you to listen close. A.W. Tozer said, "God has ordained four methods only by which truth shall prevail." And what is he saying? How truth is proclaimed. Now listen to these four methods.

Method number one, prayer. That might strike some of you funny. But in the Scriptures, in Acts chapter 4, you don't have to turn there, but I want you to listen to the prayer of the disciples. Acts chapter 4, verse 23. Listen close. "Disciples had been persecuted. They had been thrown in jail, some of them." And notice what they'd said. "And when they had been released, they went to their own companions and reported all the chief priests and the elders that said to them. And when they heard this, they lifted their voices to God." This is prayer.

"In one accord, and they said, 'O Lord, it is thou who didst make the heaven and the earth, and the sea, and all that is in them, who by the Holy Spirit, through the mouth of our Father David, thy servant, didst say, 'Why did the Gentiles rage and the peoples devise futile things? The kings of the earth took their stand, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and against His Christ.

For truly in this city, there were gathered together against thy Holy Servant Jesus, whom thou didst anoint both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever thy hand and thy purpose predestined to occur." And now notice what they pray. "And now, Lord, take note of their threats, and grant thy bondservants may speak the word with all confidence." What are they saying? In prayer, they're saying, "Enable us to preach the word." And what Tozer is telling us and helping us understand, truth is proclaimed through prayer. The second method is through song.

We see in the Old Testament that song was important in singing. Psalm 33 verse 3 tells us that. We see it in the New Testament. What did the disciples do when Jesus knew what the Lord's Supper or the Last Supper? They broke bread, Jesus taught them, and then they sang in Him and they were dismissed. So truth is proclaimed through song. But also number 3, truth is proclaimed through word. What did it say about John the Baptist? Luke chapter 3 said that he was a voice in the wilderness. And what did he proclaim? The Word of God. And then also number 4, Tozer said that truth is proclaimed by good works. By good works.

And I was immediately drawn to two places. First of all, John 6, Jesus feeds the 5,000. That's a good work. But then what did he do? On the heels of that, what did he do? He preached the Word. He preached the Word. He preached the Word. I was reminded of our friend in Monsey, Monsey Daniel in India. As he is enabling people to go to school from the swarms, he is performing a good work and therefore their hearts are open to what? The Word of God. Now what do we see? Tozer is teaching us that there are four methods that are ordained from the Scripture to proclaim the truth. Prayer, song, words, good works. Now how does that apply to us?

When we sing, we sing truth. When we pray, we pray that the truth of God would be declared to all men. Why are we praying for our friends in India? That they would declare the truth of God. When we do good works, we do good works to do what? To proclaim the truth of the Gospel. And we are born again by the truth. And then third, I want us to see that we are born as first fruits. In the exercise of His will, He brought us forth by the Word of Truth so that we might be, as it were, the first fruits among His creatures. This speaks of the future. This speaks of the new heaven, the new earth. This speaks after Christ's return.

2 Peter 3.10 speaks of this. I like what John MacArthur says. He said that believers are the first installment on God's new creation. That is to come. What do we see? He is talking about the future. We are the first fruits of the new heaven, the new earth in glory when this old life is passed away. That's just how much God loves us. Now, what do we see here? We see the grace of God. We see the grace of God revealed. We are born of His will. See, the beauty of this is no man can take credit. We are born through the Word. We are born as first fruits. This is God revealing Himself to us. This is more than just general revelation.

This is specific revelation. As the Word of God is revealed, we see the grace of God. We recognize salvation and conversion and how it works. And look, let's just take a step back now. This is the manual for Christian living. These are Christians who are struggling. And what is He trying to teach them? How the grace of God operates. I know a lot of preachers who need to hear this and get away from these humanistic ideas and these efforts and these whims and these fancies and these tricks to get people to quote-unquote accept Christ. This is the grace of God. Now, as I conclude, I want us to take a step back. I want us to look.

The title of the message is God Revealed. And the first thing that we must understand that God is revealing, He is revealing His character. He is revealing His character. He's saying, "Listen, I'm teaching you, and I'm revealing myself to you. I am your creator. I am unchanging, although your circumstances have." And the second thing He is revealing, the second thing He is showing is He is revealing His grace. He's saying to these Christians, "This is how I saved you. I saved you. I worked in your life, and I brought you through the new birth by the Word, and you are the first fruits of tomorrow.

This is the revealing of God's grace." Now, as I conclude, I want to tell you why I do what I do. I do what I do because I understand, as James, you need the Word. Why do we meet on Sunday mornings for preaching? Why do we meet on Sunday nights for preaching? Why do we have Bible study and prayer on Wednesday nights? Why do we do those things? I understand that you desperately need the Word of God. That's why I implore you to be here Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night. Why do we pray? Why do we pray with tears? Why do we pray with brokenness?

It's because we see that God's grace must be revealed to people who are lost and damned and without Christ, and we're praying and begging that God would bring about this Word. Why do we sing? Because it's exemplified in the Scripture. It's exemplified in the Old and the New Testament, and we can declare the very truths of God through song. Why do we do good works? Why do we serve people? Why do we minister to people so that on the heels of that, look, there may be good works that flow from good faith, and then in that work we can declare the gospel. And look, this is why I do what I do. This is why, first and foremost, I work at preaching.

This is why, first and foremost, I devote my time to the Word and to study, to preach, and to pray so that I can come and teach you the Word. Now look, the nuts, the bolts, the nuts, the bolts, the meat, and the potatoes that you need each week. Sometimes it's glamorous, sometimes it's not, sometimes it's exciting, sometimes it's corrective, sometimes it blesses you, sometimes it convicts you. I do what I do because just like James, I see that you need the Word. And I'm going to tell you, as long as I'm here, we are going to preach the Word. And praise God, I was taught this when I was first saved.

And it formed me, and it molded me, and it sent me on the journey. And look, we can just look in these verses. We saw last week that temptation was revealed, and isn't that just so practical? And now this morning we see that God is revealed, and this is just so practical and it's so easy to see. James just wants it to filter into our minds, filter into our understanding, filter into our thinking, filter into our lives, filter into what we do, how we talk, how we act, so that we would have good works, biblical works that come out of our faith. And let's pray.

Lord, I thank You for the truth, the simplistic truth that we've looked at this morning. I thank You for how it ministered to me this week and how it will continue to minister to me.