James

[0:00] We have been studying the book of James. We're in chapter 1. I think we're going to finish chapter 1 today. That's the plan anyway. The context of James that we've talked about, we'll just kind of go through it real quickly again, is James, the brother of Jesus.

[0:18] His name is actually Jacob. For whatever reason, the translators many hundreds of years ago decided on the name James. But really, it's Jacob. So James is named in the exact same way as Jacob the patriarch.

[0:33] So, I said one of the commentators I've been reading, everywhere he mentions James, he does a slash Jacob to make sure that it's very clear that James is the name Jacob.

[0:46] But the big context is James is writing to the 12 tribes of Israel. So, this is a very Jewish book. He's writing to the 12 tribes that are dispersed among the Gentiles.

[1:00] So, these are not Jews who are living in Jerusalem or even in Judea, but who are out among the Gentiles in what even today is called the dispersion.

[1:12] Even today, Jews who don't live in Jerusalem are called the diaspora or diaspora, however it's pronounced. And there are many Jews, even today, who do not live in Jerusalem.

[1:24] In fact, it's actually a really new thing, right, for Jews to actually live in the land of Israel just since the, what, 40s, I think? Is that when Israel was established as a nation again?

[1:37] And so, and also the time period. James, many scholars believe, is the earliest of all the epistles.

[1:49] And so, we don't know exactly when it was written. It was very likely that James was written even before the Apostle Paul came on the scene. And we know that the Apostle Paul was the apostle to the Gentiles and brought a message of grace to the Gentiles that was different from what the original message of both Christ and his original apostles were bringing.

[2:19] The message that Jesus brought during his ministry was the kingdom of heaven is at hand. The kingdom of God is at hand. And he was preparing his people, the Jews, for this kingdom.

[2:32] And what needed to come before the kingdom? Well, repentance, yeah. He told them to repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. But also, there was going to be a lot of tumult.

[2:45] We call it the tribulation today. Back then, the prophets called it the time of Jacob's trial is what the prophets of old called it. And so, Jesus warned a lot about persecution coming.

[2:56] And he says, you need to be prepared. He says, if you're going to come follow me, it's not going to be an easy life. And so, he did a lot of preparation in warning his disciples and his apostles about this tribulation that was coming.

[3:12] So, last week, we went through some of these scriptures. I think we were in, what, chapter, verse 12, 13, 14, and 15, about sin. And James is warning, don't fall into sin.

[3:28] One of the things that Jesus warned about was, you need to endure through all these difficulties that are coming. Endure through the end. Even endure to the point of death, if that's required of you.

[3:42] Because it's better for you to die enduring, holding, keeping to the faith, than to give up and lose that faith or lose your reward.

[3:56] Entrance into the kingdom required enduring through the end, even through that tribulation. Now, in this age of grace in which we live, things work a little bit differently, and we'll get into that a little bit today.

[4:10] So, I think we ended last week in verse 15. In verse 16, it says this, Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren.

[4:21] Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.

[4:32] And we'll kind of sit here for a bit. Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. Now, I think the context, again, is James is talking to these believers who are among the Gentiles.

[4:44] He starts out in the very beginning, Count it all joy when you fall into various temptations or trials. It's also translated. And so, he's in that context of persecution and intensity of life and the kind of life that they're living right now is they're expecting a lot of trials and experiencing a lot of trials and also temptation to sin, to give in during this difficult time.

[5:14] And so, he talked about sin, and now he's talking about deception. Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.

[5:31] So, he talked about sin, now he's talking about deception. And deception is one of the ways, right, that we can be seduced, if you will, to sin, to turn from the Lord.

[5:47] So, let's turn to, and we're going to look, compare a lot, both, when we're in the book of James, we're going to compare a lot to both things that Jesus said and also the book of Revelation. So, let's turn back, and I think we've turned here before, Matthew 24.

[6:06] And look at some of Jesus' warnings that are along the same lines of deception. Deception. Matthew 24.

[6:19] Let's look at verse, where should we start? Okay, verse 3. Now, as he sat at the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, Tell us, when will these things be?

[6:31] And what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age? And Jesus answered and said to them, Take heed that no one deceives you.

[6:41] For many will come in my name, saying, I am the Christ, and will deceive many. And so, Jesus said, there's a time coming, and it's coming quickly.

[6:53] It's at hand. When there will many be deceived. And he said, sometimes, he said, even, I don't think it's here, but in other places, and maybe I have it written down.

[7:06] Yeah, it's the next verse. Actually, let's go ahead and go there, because it's just later on in Matthew 24 here. If we look at verse, let's start with verse 22.

[7:18] He's talking about this great tribulation and how intense it will be. Verse 22, And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved. But for the elect's sake, those days will be shortened.

[7:31] Then, if anyone says to you, Look, here is the Christ, or there, do not believe it. For false Christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.

[7:48] This will be a time of great deception. And there will be these miracles that happen even to try to deceive people. He's saying, don't fall for it.

[8:01] Be on the lookout. And what are the kinds of things that you would look out for when it comes to deception? And this is, he's talking specifically about the tribulation period.

[8:13] But we can apply that at any age, right? When it comes to deception. How do you look for deception? Because Jesus did miracles, and Jesus said some pretty wild things.

[8:26] And really, miracles in the Bible are one of the ways that God uses, especially when there's like a new message. Think about Moses. Moses was bringing this whole new law thing to the Israelite people.

[8:40] And this was all new. And so one of the ways that God put his stamp of approval, really, on the words that Moses spoke was all these miracles that Moses did, right?

[8:53] People knew he was from God. The same thing during the period, the time in which Jesus lived and the apostles. They did all these miracles. And it was a witness to their message.

[9:07] So if you see somebody doing miracles, but they're speaking lies, how do you know? And I think one of the things to look at is, well, what are they teaching? What are they saying? Are they talking about being faithful to the Lord?

[9:20] Or are they teaching you to sin, like James was just talking about? Don't be deceived. If somebody's message contradicts what God has said before.

[9:33] If he's teaching you to do things that take you away from the Lord, that is something that should be a sign that this person is not speaking the truth.

[9:45] But the deception will be very, well, deceitful, right? And some people will be drawn astray. So James is warning, do not be deceived, my beloved brethren.

[9:59] Another verse we can look at here is in 1 John. John was also one of the original apostles. And he warns of something similar.

[10:13] 1 John 2.18, he says this, little children, it is the last hour. And as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many Antichrists have come by which we know that it is the last hour.

[10:31] This is the last hour before Jesus returns. And this can cause a lot of confusion for Christians because, well, this was 2,000 years ago. And this was the last hour.

[10:43] And so there are actually different kind of theological systems that try to figure this out. Jesus said things like, some of you will still be alive when I come back.

[10:54] He said that. So people are like, well, what does that mean? And, you know, there are some people that have taught, well, some of Jesus' original apostles are living out in a cave somewhere.

[11:06] They're still alive. And some people, you know, will teach that. I think that's a very small minority to try to uphold that. And then others teach that well, all those things that Jesus prophesied and foretold about and all this time of tribulation and trial, it already happened.

[11:25] That's in the past. And there's a view called, what do you call it? Preterism, I think is the view. And the, what the teaching is is that there was this grand event that happened.

[11:38] It was the destruction of the temple that happened around A.D. 70. and that was the time that Jesus was speaking of. And so, it has to kind of make things a little bit more, some of the warnings and the things that were foretold that would happen a little bit more allegorical than maybe we would take them.

[12:00] We take a more literal view. And so, the way that we teach it, right, is that these things were foretold and these things were at hand and they were going to come to pass but then a change happened.

[12:17] And as Paul says in Romans 9, 10, and 11, the Jews were cut off from their root. Those branches were cut off and God said, I'm turning from the Jews and I'm going to turn to the Gentiles and I'm going to graft in the Gentiles.

[12:35] And I'm going to return back to the Jews. We're going to come back to the Jews with the program that was prophesied that the prophets foretold but for now, we're going to give grace to the Gentiles and why?

[12:47] What was the purpose in making this change that was somewhat temporary but from our perspective has lasted 2,000 years? What was the purpose in bringing grace to the Gentiles?

[12:59] To make the Jews jealous. So, I want to make them jealous. The Jews, they rejected the cornerstone, the Messiah and because of that, he says, okay, forget about it but not forever but for right now, we're going to put this whole thing on pause and I'm going to bring grace to the Gentiles.

[13:19] Offer them, the Gentiles will be my people. And then when the time of the Gentiles is complete, Paul says in Romans 11, I will graft those Jews in again and then the Jews will again be my people.

[13:37] And I think that's the context in which James is at. This transition had not happened yet and so he's speaking to them and so I think in the future when the church is raptured away and this whole tribulation thing comes back on the scene, people will be spending a lot of time reading the book of James and the things that James is teaching here to the dispersion.

[14:03] Paul actually talks about what's going to happen in the future during this time of tribulation as well. He says in 2 Timothy 3, 10 through 15, actually we can turn there since we've got more than a few verses.

[14:17] 2 Timothy 3, 10 through 15. But you have carefully followed my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, long-suffering, love, perseverance, persecutions, afflictions, which happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra, what persecutions I endured and out of them all the Lord delivered me.

[14:49] Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ will suffer persecution. But evil men and imposters will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived.

[15:01] Again, there's that deception there. But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the holy scriptures which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith, which is in Christ Jesus.

[15:18] So he's talking about in the last days there will be deception. And then in verse 17, he says, every good gift and every perfect gift is from above and comes down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.

[15:33] So one of the ways that we can recognize deception is by knowing what God is like. Is God the kind of God who will change his character?

[15:51] He'll say, well, before I told you not to worship idols, but let's change that. Let's do something different.

[16:02] Now I'd like you to worship stone gods, gods made out of stone and wood and those kinds of things. Is God the kind of God that would do that?

[16:14] No, not at all. And so I think that's what James is getting at here. Every good gift, every perfect gift is from above. So God, he's going to deliver his word through his prophets in a way that honors him, that honors uprightness, justice, those kinds of things.

[16:38] It comes down from the Father of lights. What's the opposite of light? Darkness. Our God is a God of light, not darkness. Holiness, things that are good.

[16:52] Light represents good in the Bible over and over. Dark represents evil. Where there is no variation or shadow of turning. He uses this allusion to light and I think that's where this variation or shadow of turning is coming from.

[17:13] If you think about the sun, right? The sun, well, we think of it, right, as rising and setting but really, that's not what really happens, right? It's actually the earth spinning.

[17:26] It looks like the sun is rising and setting. But, we have night and we have day and there's variation and there's actually shadows during the day and the sun can actually even be blocked, right, by the moon.

[17:41] Has anybody ever seen one of those solar eclipses? Yeah. We went, we actually traveled down to, what, was it Kentucky or Tennessee? I think it was southern Kentucky to see the one, was it five years ago or seven years ago?

[17:53] Yeah, I know. Has it been that long? I can't remember. Something like that. And, I think there's, isn't there one coming up soon that's going to kind of hit?

[18:04] 24, directly over our house. Directly over our house. Directly, okay. So, Caleb's keeping track. 2024. Couple years. There's going to be another one.

[18:15] What's that? We're traveling to Cedarville. We're traveling to Cedarville. Yeah. And so, our son, right, has some variation.

[18:26] There's things that can happen that can block, block the light. But with God, it's not that way at all. There is no shadow or variation of turn, or variation or shadow of turning with him.

[18:38] He's constant in his character and his goodness. He will never change morality. He will never say, you know, one day, sexual morality will be just fine with him.

[18:49] Can you imagine that? Right? But there will be false prophets and that's what they will teach. They will teach that. They'll say, this is the new message from God. Sexual morality is good and it's wonderful.

[19:03] Are there false prophets today that teach that even in Christian churches? Yeah, there are. They will teach these things that they will call good evil and even on the other side they will call evil good.

[19:22] All right, verse 18. Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth that he might be a kind of first fruits of his creatures.

[19:35] And so, here he's talking to these Jewish people, these Jewish Christians who have trusted in Jesus, who are waiting, who are expecting to go through a tribulation period, here waiting for the kingdom of God which is at hand.

[19:52] He's saying, of his own will, of God's own will, he brought us forth by the word of truth that we might be kind of a first fruits of his creatures. These were the early Christians.

[20:04] They were the first fruits. They were the ones who, and what is first fruit? You know, that's not a word we use today typically, but it's used a lot in the Bible. The first fruit is that early part of your crop.

[20:18] And so, the expectation and what Jesus taught was he said, the fields are ripe unto harvest. Remember when Jesus said that? The fields are ripe unto harvest, but the laborers are few, and we need lots of laborers.

[20:32] And he called many people to walk away from their jobs and their careers and even their families and come with him to be fishers of men. That's what he called his disciples. Come follow me, be fishers of men.

[20:43] The fields are ripe with harvest. And these early Christians, they were the first fruits of that harvest. And this whole idea and concept applies not just to the early Christians of that day, but is the harvest ripe today?

[21:01] The whole world you know, Jesus was going just to the children of Israel. He said, my ministry is to the lost sheep of the house of Israel is what Jesus said.

[21:14] But later on, he opened up the door and Paul, on his first missionary journey, came back after his first missionary journey and he was so excited and he said, the door has been opened to the Gentiles.

[21:28] That door has been opened to the Gentiles. And the Gentiles, that's all of us, or most of us, I don't know if we have any Jews here in this room, but we are the Gentiles and that door has been opened to us and the door is open to the entire world, Jew and Gentile alike, to trust in Jesus Christ.

[21:47] And the fields, even today, are ripe unto harvest. I don't know if we would be called the first fruits. The gospel has been around for a long time, but those early Christians, they were the first fruits of the gospel.

[22:01] It says, of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth. And sometimes people kind of take that phrase, of his own will, and there's a teaching that, well, it's more of a kind of a, what's the word I'm looking, not necessarily fatalistic, though sometimes we can think of it that way, but a big emphasis on predestination and everything that happens it's all God's will.

[22:29] And so they'll say, well, when it comes to salvation, it's only, God only, the only people who are saved are those who God chooses and he chooses, it's his will that certain people be saved and other people will not be saved.

[22:43] And that's not the case at all. Here it's saying, of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth. But our will is involved as well and the people that he's talking to, their will was involved.

[22:57] But the idea that he's trying to express is it wasn't our idea that we be saved, that the Messiah be sent, that the Messiah come and offer salvation.

[23:09] It was God's idea. It was his original idea and it was his purpose that people come to him. But not everybody did. He wanted all of his people, all of his Jewish people to come to him.

[23:22] But ultimately, they didn't. In fact, we'll look at what it says in, let's see, John, John chapter 1. John chapter 1.

[23:34] We'll just look at two verses. John 1 verse 12. But as many as received him, as many as received him, to them he gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in his name, who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

[24:00] So it was God's will that people come to him. But what had to happen, it says, to as many as received him. Here's the offer. Come to me, all you who are heavy laden.

[24:13] I will give you rest. But you have to receive him. To as many as received him, they can become sons of God. And again, it uses the same phrase that was used here.

[24:26] I guess I didn't get there. Of his own will, he brought us forth. That's the new King James, which is what I use. I think in the King James, does anybody have a King James? What does it say? Anybody? Anybody have a King James?

[24:38] Got it? What does it say there? Dave? Of the will begat me, that's what the word of truth that we should be. Yeah. He begat us. That's not a word we use, right?

[24:49] But that means, that's talking about birth. We were born. We were born of him. Or in this case, he's talking to these early Christians. They were born. He brought forth, as a woman brings forth a child.

[25:03] And so the same language is used in that verse that we just read from John. Who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And is that word about being born used elsewhere?

[25:19] Being born of God? You ever heard of the term being born again? Yeah. That's used a lot. But here, let's look at Peter. Peter 1, verse 3.

[25:32] Peter 1, verse 3. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his abundant mercy has begotten us, again, again that word, brought us forth through birth to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

[25:50] And if you skip ahead a few verses to verse 23 in 1 Peter 1, he says, Having been born again, not of corruptible seed, but incorruptible, through the word of God, which lives and abides forever.

[26:07] So for these early Christians, and Jesus said, he talked about being born of water, or being born of the flesh, right, and of the spirit.

[26:22] You must be born again in the book of, in the gospel of John. And we won't take the time to go there, but most of us are familiar with that word.

[26:33] This concept of being born again is kind of new in the Christian faith. In fact, I don't know who really popularized it, but the one book I can think of, there was a book called Born Again.

[26:44] Does anybody know, remember who wrote that? I think it, wasn't it Chuck Colson? Chuck Colson? Yeah. And he wrote a book about his conversion experience, and Chuck Colson was part of the Nixon administration, and part of the Watergate scandal, and went to prison.

[27:01] And when he was in prison, God got a hold of his life. And so he wrote a book called Born Again about his experience having new birth in Christ. And there's some discussion and controversy kind of in dispensational circles about whether we should use the term born again, because it really was a word used by the Jews.

[27:25] And Jesus was talking to the Jews when he was talking about being born again. But I don't think there's any problem at all with us using that language.

[27:36] We are born of God. We are his children. And so I think it's totally fine for us to use that kind of language for those of us saved by grace.

[27:46] Let's continue on. Verse 19. So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath, for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God.

[28:06] This first chapter of James can be kind of confusing because it seems like he just bounces around between these kind of pithy sayings and wise sayings. It doesn't seem like it's a cohesive thing.

[28:19] But I think we should try really hard to try to see it as a cohesive subject matter. Keep the context. He's talking about going through persecution, going through trials, going through this difficulty and tribulation in order to enter into the kingdom of God.

[28:35] So then, how can we look at this? Maybe he is. It's possible. It could be wrong. I think he's really talking about the agenda of the day.

[28:50] And especially now, we need to be swift to hear, slow to speak, and slow to wrath. But these are things that are also just kind of wise things for anybody in any age, right?

[29:02] In fact, if you look in the book of Proverbs, is there a lot about being slow to speak and quick to hear? There is. In fact, I've found, I've got a list of 10 here from Proverbs that all speak to that.

[29:17] And I'm just going to read through them real quick. So you don't have to turn there. But Proverbs 10, verse 19, and the multitude of words, sin is not lacking. Do we find that true? But he who restrains his lips is wise.

[29:29] Proverbs 13, 3, he who guards his mouth preserves his life, but he who opens wide his lips shall have destruction. Does that mean you should never talk? Well, maybe if I never talk, I just keep my mouth shut and I won't sin.

[29:42] Well, that's not true. In fact, there's many times where God wants us to open up our mouths, right? Preach the gospel and share with people to speak words of wisdom. But he's talking about if you're too quick to speak, you know, there's certain personality types.

[29:58] Have you noticed that? Certain people. And sometimes you have to recognize that sometimes that's you, right? That's my weakness is I'm somebody who's quick to speak before I think. Other people, their weakness is the opposite.

[30:11] It takes them forever to say anything, right? And so we both, on both sides, kind of need to make adjustments to be wise in our language. But we need to think before we speak and not just speak whatever kind of enters our mind immediately.

[30:29] Proverbs 17, 27, He who has knowledge spares his words and a man of understanding is of a calm spirit. Proverbs 18, 13, He who answers a matter before he hears it is folly and shame to him.

[30:47] So if you hear of something but don't get the nitty-gritty details, right, you just hear the gossip and you just go along with it, that's not wise.

[30:58] You need to listen and hear the details. There's also a proverb. I didn't write this one down. You know, the person who hears just one side, oh, it seems easy, right?

[31:09] Oh, and then you hear the other side. Oh, wait, it's not as simple as I first thought. So you need to hear both sides. That's part of hearing. Proverbs 18, excuse me, 14, 17, A quick-tempered man acts foolishly and a man of wicked intentions is hated.

[31:25] So now we're switching over to being slow to wrath. So somebody who's quick-tempered acts foolishly. Chapter 14, verse 29, He who is slow to wrath has great understanding, but he who is impulsive exalts folly.

[31:41] 15, 18, A wrathful man stirs up strife, but he who is slow to anger allays contention. Chapter 16, verse 32, He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city.

[31:56] In that context, your spirit is really your emotions, the emotional side of you. If you can rule your emotions, you can be better than somebody or like somebody who takes a city.

[32:09] In the 1911, The discretion of a man makes him slow to anger and his glory is to overlook a transgression. And then 25, 28, Whoever has no rule over his own spirit is like a city broken down without walls.

[32:22] So this is just a matter of wisdom for anybody in any age. We should be slow to speak, quick to hear, slow to becoming angry.

[32:32] It doesn't mean we never get angry, right? There is a righteous anger and it's appropriate that we, in fact, the Bible talks a lot about God's wrath. Wrath by itself is not sinful, but it can be.

[32:47] It can be. If we are too quick to become angry in the wrong situation. But I'd like us to consider that what James is really getting at is not just these matters of fundamental wisdom that apply in any age, but he's talking about in this specific scenario that we're in, we need to be extra careful.

[33:10] Slow to speak, slow to wrath, quick to hear, swift to hear, and slow to speak and slow to wrath. So, this whole thing about hearing, I don't know if we realize it, but this whole idea of hearing God's truth is spoken a lot in the Bible.

[33:33] And this whole thing of words being planted and receiving good words. Jesus told the parable of the sower, right? And the whole parable of the sower was, he explained to his apostles, the seed is the word of God.

[33:49] And that word needs to be received and it needs to be held on to. And don't let trials or tribulation or the cares of this world take the seed away.

[34:00] The word needs to be heard, received, held on to through the very end. What words is he talking about? Well, is it the words of Moses? Is it the words of Jesus?

[34:11] Moses? Well, let's kind of, we've got ten minutes, tell a little story here. In Deuteronomy chapter 18, there's this interesting section.

[34:23] Who wrote the book of Deuteronomy? Moses, right? He said this in Deuteronomy chapter 18, verse 15 through 19. The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your midst, from your brethren.

[34:41] Him you shall hear. If you be on the lookout, there's somebody coming like me in the future that God is going to raise up from among your brethren, from among your people.

[34:53] Hear him. Listen to what he has to say. According to all you desired of the Lord your God in Horeb in the day of assembling, saying, let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God, nor let me see this great fire anymore, lest I die.

[35:05] I remember on the mount when Moses went up to get the law. The Jews were actually invited to hear the voice of God. And what did they say? I'd rather not.

[35:18] Moses, you go talk to God. You just, we'll listen to whatever you say. I'm sure, you know, you'll deliver the message just fine. But there was fear there. And the Lord said to me, what they have spoken is good.

[35:30] I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brethren. And I will put my words in his mouth and he shall speak to them all that I command him.

[35:40] And that shall be that whoever will not hear my words, which he speaks in my name, I will require it of him. And who is Moses speaking of?

[35:52] The prophet from among the people of Israel. That they must listen to. This is a prophecy of Jesus Christ, the Messiah, the one who is to come.

[36:04] They have to listen to him. So important. You can't miss this. When he comes, you can't be, you know, doing other things. You have to be on the lookout. You have to be listening for when he comes.

[36:16] And when he comes, whatever he says, that's what you need to do. Remember when Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist and the dove came down and then a voice from heaven, the voice of God, said, this is my son in whom I am well pleased.

[36:35] And then what's the last part? Anybody remember? Hear him. Listen to him. That's an allusion back to Deuteronomy. This is the one that I told you to listen to.

[36:50] Hear him. When Jesus told parables, in fact, when he told the parable of the sower about the seed being the word of God planted, one of the things he said when he explained the parable, he said, therefore, this is 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.

[37:16] They're not listening. They need to be listening. They need to listen and hear from the prophet. I've just got a list of verses here. Matthew 11, he who has ears to hear, let him hear.

[37:28] Jesus said that. Matthew 13, he who has ears to hear, let him hear. Matthew 13, 43, then the righteousness will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their father.

[37:39] He who has ears to hear, let him hear. The same place, we also see this same phraseology in the book of Revelation over and over and over again.

[37:52] This is later on, this is the prophet John speaking about the end times, this tribulation that's coming. Revelation 2, 7, he who has an ear, let him hear what the spirit says to the churches.

[38:06] To him who overcomes, I will give to eat of the tree of life which is in the midst of the paradise of God. Revelation 2, 11, a few verses later, he who has an ear to hear, let him hear what the spirit says to the churches.

[38:17] He who overcomes shall not be hurt by the second death. A few verses later, verse 17, he who has an ear to hear, let him hear what the spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give him some of the hidden manna to eat.

[38:32] Verse 29, he who has an ear to hear, let him hear what the spirit says to the churches. And on and on. I have six more verses where it says the same phrase, he who has an ear to hear, let him hear.

[38:46] That was the big message. When Jesus comes, when the Messiah comes, listen to what he says. It's important. And your life is going to depend on it. So I think when James is saying, be quick to hear, slow to speak, I think that's part of what he's getting at.

[39:03] Be quick to hear. Whatever God is saying, you need to listen for. Because this was a new thing. The things that Jesus were saying, some of them were new, not all of them. Some of the things, he was pointing them back to the law of Moses.

[39:17] He said, don't neglect the law of Moses. I didn't come to destroy the law of Moses. I came to fulfill the law. So slow to speak. What about slow to speak?

[39:27] One of the things that I think about when I hear slow to speak is Peter. Was Peter, did he have one of those personality types that we were talking about before? Somebody who's like quick to speak, right?

[39:40] Can anybody think of a specific example? I'm thinking of one. Maybe there's multiple ones. Okay, yes. That's a good one.

[39:51] That's not one I was thinking of. Yeah, that, yes. I won't deny you. The one when Elijah and Moses appear, he says, it says, not knowing what he was saying, he said, we can make three tents for one for you, one for Elijah, and one for Moses.

[40:12] That's right. Very good. Transfiguration. Here's the one that I put down. Then Peter took him aside. So Jesus was talking about the temple, his temple, his body being destroyed. Right?

[40:23] And Peter took him aside, you know, because Peter is very wise. And he began to rebuke him and saying, far be it from you, Lord, this shall not happen to you. But Jesus turned and he said to Peter, what did he say to him?

[40:34] Get behind me, Satan. Oh my goodness. I lost. Get behind me, Satan. You are an offense to me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but of the things of men.

[40:47] He could have said, Peter, you need to slow down. Just listen for a while, okay? Don't be so quick to speak up. Just listen. Listen to what I'm saying.

[40:59] Don't be quick to speak. And then, looking about this whole concept of being slow to wrath. This is something that Jesus talked about.

[41:12] Not engaging with the world. Persecution was coming and he didn't want them to resist it. Did you notice that? And this is where I think we get a lot of the pacifism.

[41:24] We were out in Amish country and the Amish and the Mennonites and all these people who we tend to call the plain folk, right? German Baptists and I can't remember. I'm sure there's others. But tend to take the things that Jesus said, I think, out of context.

[41:43] He was talking about a specific time in which tribulation was coming and he didn't want them to resist the evil people that would come and persecute them. So remember when Peter, when Jesus was being arrested and what did Peter do?

[42:00] Pulled out his sword and he cut some guy's ear off. What did Jesus say? He said, put away your sword. This isn't the time for that. He told his disciples, but I tell you not to resist an evil person.

[42:19] This is Matthew 5.39. not to resist an evil person, but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him as well. And, yeah, back to the verse about Peter.

[42:32] John 18.11 says this, so Jesus said to Peter, put your sword into the sheath. Shall I not drink the cup which my father has given me? Hey, listen, now is not the time for that. There may be a time in the future and I think that in the age in which we live, we should not be pacifists.

[42:48] I think when it comes to criminals and war, if a nation is attacking us, we have the right and really the duty, I think, the duty to resist those evil people.

[43:01] But in the time in which Jesus was teaching and this tribulation was coming, I don't want you to resist. My purpose for Israel is that you go through this difficult time and I don't want you to take up arms and resist these people that are coming to come persecute you.

[43:17] I want you to just kind of take it because this is my purpose for you during this time. We're out of time. Man, there's a lot left so I guess we'll have to finish up chapter one next week.

[43:33] Ron, yes? God created us with two ears and one mouth. Yes.

[43:44] And that has significance. Be twice as quick to hear as we are to speak. Any other comments or questions or anything to bring up?

[43:57] Yeah, Jeff. When you hear something in a scripture or read it, it usually makes you think of other scriptures so you need to take time to get all that together before you speak.

[44:13] Just like you are, you've got scriptures to back up certain scriptures. Right. So, consider the context. Yeah. When we're reading, you can just quickly read and that's, a lot of Christianity does that.

[44:25] Christianity does that. We'll just kind of open up the Bible and read a verse and I've got a little booklet called Never Read a Bible Verse and it's all about context. Right? If you read just, if you're just reading little verses here and there, you'll never really understand what it's really saying because many, many verses in the Bible mean something very different in context than they do just on their own.

[44:50] And so, yeah, be quick or slow to, even slow to understand, right? Take your time. Figure out what's really being said. Thanks, Jeff. Anything else?

[45:02] Oh, Roger. What did I say? Jeff. Where did Jeff come from? Jeff. Jeff. Jeff. Jeff. Jeff. Jeff. Jeff. Jeff. Jeff. Jeff. Jeff. Jeff. Jeff. Jeff. Jeff. Jeff. Jeff. Jeff. Jeff. Jeff. Jeff.

[45:12] Jeff. It was Neff. That's what I was thinking. I was thinking Neff. Oh, boy. Yeah, getting old. I ain't seen your mind.

[45:25] See, it doesn't happen to just Marv. All right. We'll end there. Let's send in prayer. Father, thank you so much for your word. Yeah, may we take our time, just as Roger was saying, to understand what you're really trying to say.

[45:38] To understand what you're really trying to say and not be kind of loose with the Bible, not quickly go through it, but take our time to try to really understand. And may you open up our eyes to see with the eyes of understanding, to know what you would have us do in this age in which we live, to understand the whole of Scripture from beginning in Genesis to the end in Revelation, that we would be wise in the Scriptures and wise in the age in which we live, to be able to give hope, the hope that we have to others as well.

[46:11] In Jesus' name, amen.