Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in his wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace. Show me folk who had the right response to worship, and I'll show you folk whose sinfulness dealt with itself.
You're listening to Treasure Truth with pastor and author James Ford, junior senior pastor of the Christ Bible Church in Chicago. I'm Steve Hiller, and glad you're with us. As today we continue our message from James chapter one. It's called the Inner Me enemy and pastor. As you point out, once we really understand that we are sinners who have been saved by grace. Sounds like you're saying the natural outcome of that is for us to worship God.
Oh, yes. And, uh, when we're worshiping, uh, we allow God, the Holy Spirit, uh, to put his finger on some things. And I just find in worship we have a tendency to want to be clean because we're in the presence of a holy God. I mean, that's Isaiah six, really. You know, the bottom line is what happened. Isaiah sees God. And remember, uh, he says, in the year that King Uzziah died, I also saw the Lord. Most modern translations
remove the word also. It's in the Hebrew text. And the reason I like it is because it shows us that simultaneously Uzziah dying caused him to see the Lord. He had preached for five chapters. You ought to be able to see him. But no, it was Uzziah's death that brought about a clear vision, and that prompts me to say, I hope no one in our listening audience has a Uzziah that's keeping them or obscuring their vision of God. But then remember, he sees God high and
lifted up his train. Just the back part of his robe fills the earth and the seraphim and the cherubim. Holy, holy, holy. That's a worship scene. And then what's his response?
He's on his face.
He's on his face. I'm a man of.
Unclean lips.
That he confesses his sin. Nobody asked him. But in the context of worship, as the fullness and beauty and glory of God is revealed, what is there left to do?
Hmm. Get right with him.
That's right. Yeah. And that's what he does. Yeah. Yeah. And then he volunteers.
Yeah. And, uh, I think it's so encouraging for us to recognize the fact that here is this incredible prophet that God used who still had to when he saw his sinfulness confess, get before God, worship him. And for me at least, it reminds me of the fact that, yeah, I am a very flawed person. And if Isaiah needed to do that, then absolutely every single one of us will need to do that.
Oh most definitely man. You know, on a consistent basis, I like what D.L. Moody said. He said they asked him, why do we have to be continually filled with the spirit? And D.L. Moody said, it's because we leak.
Yeah, absolutely. Well, today we're going to be in James chapter one, so I hope you'll grab your Bible. Join us there as we continue a message entitled The Enemy, enemy. Here is Pastor Ford.
So you look to God. Why do you look to God? You look ahead to see the conclusion, why he's talking about the judgment of God. Uh, he says, don't err. My beloved brethren. Don't get it twisted. Don't get it wrong. Hey, hey, you. You have to give an account to God. But then he says, look around. Verse 18. See the consistency? God is good.
Focus on the goodness of God rather than your own faults and failures. And then he says, look inside. Verse 18, see the conversion. Now we've dealt with the gifts of God. Let me fill it in for those who are not here. Uh, Roman numeral one. He says, look, here's how you overcome it. The first aspect of God that helps you to overcome your sinful tendencies is the gifts of God. He talks about in verse 17, every good and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the father of lights,
with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. So he says three things about the gifts I can only give them to you. We already talked about them. He talks about the measure of the gifts. He talks about the motive of the gifts, and he talks about the manner of the gifts. So the measure, the motive and the manner. Let's move on. Let's finish it. The second focus we ought to have on God the Father is
the glory of God, the glory of God. Listen to what he says, that every good and perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. Paul, what are you trying to tell us here? He's saying listen, listen, listen. Here's what you need to do. God wants us to worship him based on who he is. And so when we understand who he is, we understand what we need to do in response to who he is, because that's
what worship is. Let me see if I can get you with me. He says two things here. You can write them down. The glory of God in His creation, the glory of God in his character. I submit to you that why he wants us to. In the words of the song, anybody remember it? It came out of hymn books. Turn your eyes upon Jesus. Look full in his wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace. Hey, show me folk who had the right response to worship,
and I'll show you folk whose sinfulness dealt with itself. Okay. Let me give you a couple examples. Isaiah chapter six. In the year that King Uzziah died, I also saw the Lord high and lifted up, and his train filled the earth. And the cherubim and seraphim hollered, Holy, holy, holy. He sees a worship scene. And what does he do? Immediately he falls on his face and he worships. Now he's got the right perspective of God. When he gets the right perspective of God, he then gets the right
comprehension about himself. It falls in line. In other words, the closer we come to him, he's called the father of lights. Okay, I've done this so many times. I think I've told you a couple of times, too. Uh, but this is embarrassing. Uh, I, uh, you know, dressed to the nines. I'm getting ready to head down. Moody. And I don't like to be late. I know. But anyway, I'm on my way down there and somebody cuts me off on Dan Ryan. And, you know, I think something.
I don't say it. I hit the brake. Whoo! Then I looked down. I got a dark brown shoe and a black shoe because I wear Stacey's. And so I have blue, black and brown all the same style I had on a dark brown shoe and a black shoe. I had to be late because I had to turn around because I wasn't going there with it. Now here's here's the. When I was in the house getting ready to go. It was dark when I went to the garage. There was a little bit of light, uh, but not
enough to make a contrast. But when I stepped out into the brightness of day. Then I saw what was wrong with me. You get it? Yeah. When we have an encounter with the true and the living God, when we see his glory, that's what he's doing. He calls him the Father of Lights. So what's he talking about? The glory of God in his creation and in his character. So he is the father of light, in whom is no variableness. Or here's what he's saying. He is incandescent
and he is immutable. That is John 812. Jesus said, I'm the light of the world. So guess what? If you go into the light, you will see there is no darkness. And if you're in the darkness, you will see there is no light. Ain't that profound? It's very obvious. So. So here, now, let me show you something A lot of our worship is get oriented, not God oriented. When the praises go up, the blessings come down. Show that to me. I've been looking for it. I've been looking
for it. Show it to me. You know now it may be in there because there's a whole lot in there. I don't know, but I've been looking for it because the praises ought to go up, even if the blessings don't come down. So you mean the only time you're going to praise him? The only time you're going to worship him is when the blessings come down? No. In everything give thanks. For this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. So then we ought to always, uh,
praise him, give him worship. I will bless the Lord at all times, and his praise shall continually be in my mouth. Oh, magnify the Lord with me, and let's exalt his name together. So here's what James is doing. Let me put you in the brilliance of a God who has given you everything you need and has glory. He calls him the Father of lights. First John one five.
If we walk in the light as he is in the light, then we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of His Son, Jesus Christ, cleanses us from all sin. Did you get that? Wait a minute. I gotta say it slow. If we walk in the light as he is in the light, then logical connector to show sequence. All I have to do is this. And what happens then? We have fellowship one with another. Who's the one another? He's not talking about us. He's talking
about with God the Father. So then. So then what happens? Then? We walk in the light as he is in the light. Then we have fellowship one with another. Why? Because the blood of Jesus Christ, his son, is cleansing us, its present tense. As I'm walking in the light, it cleanses me. So then what happens? I'm in the light. I see all my spots. I see all the blemishes. Oh, God. I've been trying to do something about this, but it's not working. Now you do it. Anybody ever go to
a matinee at the show? You go in and your eyes have to adjust because there's no light. But when you come out, it blinds you because you've been in the dark so much. Maybe that's why a lot of people, when they get born again, say they saw the light.
This is treasure truth with Pastor Ford. A message called the Inner Me enemy. And we're going to get back to this teaching in just one moment. If we've never connected on social media, I hope you'll take a moment today and like us on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter. You can access our Facebook page and leave us your comments. That way, you can also listen to today's program directly on the Facebook page. And if you do like us,
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Turn to Psalm 19. Let me show you something real quick. Psalm 19. Psalm 19 gives us a threefold witness about the glory of God. So the heavens declare the glory of God. The earth shows forth his handiwork. Day unto day, utter speech, not in the night just proclaims the glory of God. This this Psalm 19 is very powerful. Let me just break it down for you, okay? Watch this in these verses. In verses one through six, he's talking about the witness in the skies in Psalm 19, verse
7 to 11. He's talking about the witness in the scriptures. In Psalm 1912 through 14, he's talking about the witness in the soul. Now get this, get this. So he says, there's a witness in the sky. It declares the glory of God. All of creation says God is grand and glorious. But then the the, the witness in the Scripture talks about the greatness of God, that God is great and then the witness and the soul talks about the grace of God. Man, this stuff is powerful. So then the
witness in the sky, verses one through six. The glory of God, his infinite worlds. Then the witness in the Scripture seven through 11, the greatness of God, his infallible word. Then verses 12 through 14, witnessing the soul, the grace of God, his inexhaustible wealth. Wait a minute. That ought to do something for us. That ought to give us a motivation, that ought to give us an impetus. I want to walk with him. I want to talk with him. I want to be with him. Why? Because everything I
need to overcome. Why, why, why does my flesh draw me to stuff? Because I feel that I need it. Well, when I'm with God, what do I need? App solutely nothing. In him we live and move and have our being. And apart from him we can do nothing. It just reminds me of, uh, my oldest grandson when he was a shorty, and and we were out, you know, I started dating my grandkids like, I was dating my kids. I dated my boys, and I took him out, and, uh, I said, uh, uh, where we want to go, man.
He said, uh, he told me where he wanted to go. I said, how much money you have for that? He said, well, I don't have any money. I said, oh, yeah, well, where do you want to eat? And he told me where he wanted to eat. I said, how much money you have for that? He said, I don't have any money. He said, what do you want to do after that? We'll go to the show. You got any money for the show? No, I ain't got any money for the show. So how are we going to do all this? Oh,
come on, Papa, quit playing. You know you got it. And if you got it, I got it. Show you right? Yeah. And so he does what he says. Listen. So, so, so remember the last time we talked about this? What did he say? See, don't forget these things. Don't forget about the goodness of God. Don't forget about the glory of God. Don't forget about the grace of God. Because if we do, it leads us to our sinful tendencies. So I share with you the passages. We didn't go
over them, but Israel was our example. He kept telling Israel, when you go in the land, don't forget you're living in houses that you didn't build. Don't forget that you're eating from fruit trees that you didn't plant. Don't forget that everything you have I gave you even the victory. The battle was mine. And so what does it mean when I allow my sinful proclivities to lead me to sin? I have forgotten these three things. I've forgotten the goodness
of God. I've forgotten the glory of God, and I've forgotten the grace of God. And so here now, secondly, not just in his creation, but in his character. What's he talking about? Immutability. That God is not only incandescent in his character, he is immutable in his character. What does it mean? Malachi three six. I am Yahweh, I change not. He didn't change. Now what ought that to do? See,
you got to connect stuff. If he's talking about sinful tendencies and he's saying, listen, all you got to do is you gotta focus on the goodness, the glory and the grace of God. And then he says, God's immutable. He doesn't change. You can have confidence that no matter what you're going through, no matter what is drawing you to it, you can depend upon the goodness, the glory, and the grace of God. He's never going to let you down. Okay, let me jump back to chapter one
real quick. Watch this. When he's talking about trials now remember, now we switch right. One through 12 talks about trials on the outside. 13 through 18 trials on the inside. So then one through 12 is talking about circumstances, 13 through 18 is talking about cravings. You know when you're wanting and wanting and wanting and want. Now watch this. He's talking about trials and tribulations. My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into divers temptations, knowing this,
that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be complete and entire, lacking nothing. What are trials to do? Teach us, teach us. What else? Train us. What else? Take us to maturity. On and on it goes. Then he says in verse five, if any man, woman, boy, a girl is anthropos any man, woman, boy, a girl lack wisdom. Let him ask of God who gives to all men liberally and upbraideth not. I know that's King James. Anybody
have NIV anybody have NIV nearly inspired version. Anybody got that version? No. No. Okay. All right. Check this out. Here's what it means. That God is not going to say I'm not giving you any more wisdom because you didn't use the wisdom that I gave you before. Now that shouts me. I got goosebumps because there's a lot of things that God has granted to me. Gifted to me. Grace to me. Glory to me. And I didn't take advantage of it. Yet I can still go to him
and say, you know what? I need wisdom in this situation. And he's not going to say, I'm not giving you wisdom because you didn't use the wisdom I gave you the last time. That's what he's trying to get us to see. When he says that he does not change that God. God does not change. There's no shadow of turning with him. and so he uses it. He uses the sun because the sun doesn't change. And since he cannot change, we should never doubt his love. So verse 16,
let me say it again. Look ahead and see the judgment of sin. Verse 17, look around and see how good God's been. Now verse 18, look inside and see how you've been born from above and possess the divine nature. So here it is. Here's the last one. He says, the third aspect of God is not just the gifts of God, the glory of God. He says in verse 18, the grace of God. I like the way he does it.
So remember he said, look ahead, see the conclusion. Remember, a temptation is an opportunity to do a good thing in a bad way. It's the devil's perversion of God's good. He's not original. He can only pervert what God has created because he can't create anything. So God said, sex within marriage is good. And the devil said had premarital and extramarital Enjoy yourself outside of the will of God. Food is good. But he says, no, don't. Don't buffet
your body. Buffet your body. Yeah, sleep is good. But he says, yeah, be lazy, sleep all day. So on and on. Money is good. He says love it. So he perverts what God has done. But notice what he says. Now here it is. I gotta drop these real quick. Notice in verse 18 of his own will begot he us. That is God's plan. Notice with the word of truth. That's God's power, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creature. That's God's purpose. Grace has a plan. Grace has a power. Grace has a purpose.
You're listening to Treasure Truth with Pastor Ford and a message called The Enemy. Enemy. I hope that you've been benefiting from this teaching from Pastor Ford. And if so, we'd love to hear about that. Where do you listen? Why do you listen? And what difference does it make in your life? You can always give us your feedback by coming to our website. It's Treasure Truth Radio and click on the contact link. We recently heard from a listener in Florida who writes, Dear Pastor Ford, I'm truly
enjoying and learning from the series. Until when do we part? You covered a lot of areas that I've lived through personally. I'm learning so much because God is talking to me through this ministry, and my understanding concerning biblical marriage has increased. You are the real deal, sir, and I thank you for your openness and your honesty to this listener in Miami.
Thank you for writing, for letting us know that this program is making a difference in your life and in your walk with Christ and in your understanding of God's Word. What about you? If God is using this teaching ministry in your life, give us your feedback. Let us know what difference it's making. Come to our website. It's Treasure Truth radio.org and click on the contact link. Well, today's message was called the Enemy enemy. It's taken from James
chapter one. And if you've missed any of the previous messages in this series, you can always come to our website and listen online. Simply come to Treasure Truth Radio org. There you can stream programs, download mp3's, or order copies of this broadcast on CD. Again, come to treasure Truth Radio. Well, thanks for listening today. Thanks also to our producers, Amy Rios and Ryan McConaughey. I'm Steve Hiller. Treasure truth is a production of Moody Radio, a ministry of Moody Bible Institute.