We conclude this song, then we'll dismiss the kids in just a moment. But this is a song that actually I really enjoy singing for sure. It's one called Give Me Jesus. And when you think about this, it's like one of the thoughts are, it's like when you wake up in the morning, what do you really want? Do you really want a day off work? I mean, yeah. especially paid, you know, something like that. Do you really want out of school? Yeah. What do you really want, though, in life? And I would say this is what a Christian's real desire for is Christ. It's want Jesus. And then you think about, as you are alone, maybe, what do you want? You want Jesus. And I love, this is the last verse, and it's really, when it comes to the point of a Christian's death, what do you want? You want Jesus. And so really, this song is a simple song of a heartbeat of a Christian, of desiring more of Christ. I'm In the morning when I rise, in the morning when I rise, in the morning when I rise, give me Jesus. Give me Jesus, give me Jesus. You can have all this world, but give me Jesus. And when I am alone, Oh, and when I am alone, and when I am alone, give me Jesus. Give me Jesus. Give me Jesus. You can have all this world, but give me Jesus. And when I come to die, oh, and when I come to die, and when I come to die, give me Jesus, give me Jesus, give me Jesus. You can have all this world, You can have all this world, You can have all this world, but give me Jesus. Well, this time, let's go ahead and we can dismiss the kids. They can follow our team members out. And I know we're anticipating that. And as we look forward to Wednesday night as well, I think we'll all be in together. And then we will kind of then disperse after some special music and stuff for Wednesday. So hope to see you back again Wednesday. And if you need snowshoes or things like that to make it here, do that. We were in Kansas. It was Wichita area, a place called Clearwater, Kansas. And we got a dumping of SNEP. And it was really neat. Actually, in the whole area, they canceled all the schools and stuff in that area. But because of where we were in Clearwater, Kansas, it's not a major place. Basically, what that meant was, why don't we still have services? Because some people could actually, you know, it's like a mile is the distance of town. It's flat. And so, sure enough, we had services there still. and had great attendance with that. Then the next day they canceled the school again, but we still had services. We did give them services and everything was going on just like normal. It was just really kind of a blessed week. I realize this area is a little different because it's not real flat, so you want to be careful. And so anyway, we're praying that the Lord will give us just a wonderful week and especially open up doors of opportunity within the hearts and lives of all of the young people this week. And I love it. To me, one of my favorite things to do is to preach to kids. And I say that because you sit there and you think about the next generation. You think about the tenderness, the openness of a heart and life of a kid. And we always would consider working with junior age even a rescuing work. In other words, could you imagine what happens when a junior age kid will actually learn to really walk with the Lord. What will that rescue he or she from? I mean, unbelievable things in life. So we minister to children, and that's kind of a normal thing that the Lord's allowed us to do in the summer times. I don't think if you had told me years ago, Jeremy would be ministering to kids, you know, even on a consistent basis. That would be something I would have said, really? Work with teens and work with adults. So during the year we work with adults and teens. So this week it's actually kind of flopping for us, which is really neat. And then to be able to focus in on the elementary school and even the high school as well. And so our prayer is that God would use us in a very special way. So please pray for us this week that God would stir the hearts and lives of those who were ministering too. And I would say it's really exciting. Actually, I hadn't done a lot of school retreats in a row, but actually this year in August, I did a bunch. I did multiple ones kind of around our country. It was really just neat before our team got together and we all kind of started off. And to me, what was so exciting was to see what God's doing. God is doing a work in hearts and lives, and He's raising up another generation of service to Him. And it's really, it's very evident. And I thought it was just an encouragement to my own heart. You're hearing testimonies of just what God's doing throughout the lives of these teenagers. And what an encouragement. Tonight I'd like to encourage you as well. I'd like to challenge your thinking. That's probably good, huh? Challenge your thinking and challenge your walk with the Lord and encourage you. I would like us to go to the book of James. James chapter 1. And tonight's going to be an unusual... It will be an unusual message. And you'll have to... Stick with me. OK, I say that just because it's not what you're going to think. Actually, my text is James chapter one and verse one, which even more sounds that's just odd, Jeremy. OK, as as we get into this, but you'll see that tonight, it's really not odd at all. It's really a wonderful thing. Sometimes in the summer times, what we would do is is in in the different camps and stuff that we work with, we'll focus in on a text of scripture. And in doing that, what I like to do is I like to go to the book that we're going to be studying and that text, and before I even get to that text, is really read through the book multiple, multiple times. They say good exposition, basically, or good expository preaching is where a guy's going to go and set the legwork of just reading through that passage. so many times. It's like the book of James. Before you ever preach to it, you read through it some 30, 40 times before you even start working on messages and really grasping what's going on here. And I would encourage you the same way. This is one of those studies that as I did, I was shocked because I came across James chapter 1, verse 1 in my study and I didn't get past it, which is really kind of interesting. But you look at James chapter 1, verse 1, James calls himself, he says, James, that's the writer, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ. To the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, he encouraged them, greeting. My brethren, he says, count it all joy when you fall into diverse temptations or various trials, knowing this, that the trine of your faith worketh patience or endurance. But let that endurance or patience have her perfect work, that you may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing. And if any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, and give it to all men liberally in a braided knot, and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavers is like the wave of the sea, driven with the wind and tossed. For let not the man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord. It goes into the double-minded man. It goes into so much practical wisdom. Some people even look at James and would say, James is like the wisdom book of the New Testament. I mean, you think about Proverbs, and Proverbs is a book where any Any verse itself really can kind of pull out and actually it's a great message. And that's kind of James is sort of similar to that. Very practical, very helpful. But again, we look at verse one and we see James him calling himself a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ. Tonight, actually, what I want to challenge our thinking in is actually digging deeper. And I hope that you love to dig deeper in the Word. I hope that you don't just kind of read surfacely, but that you actually put the time in and you go deeper in the Scriptures. But actually, what's interesting, he uses a Greek word here, and the word is called doulos. And the word doulos means slave. And I'm going to go into this for just a minute. But actually, when you look at this, James, he's calling himself this slave of God, of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's why I would call this message. Who is your master? Maybe you want to make a little subtitle, a little bit like that. I would say that's the shocking truths about slavery. And this is actually one of these things where as you begin to have this unfold in our hearts, some of you may tonight, you may leave tonight going, hmm, I don't know Jeremy, you know, whatever. You may think that way, and I hope that will encourage you to study the Word. And as you study the Word, and you come back a little bit later in the week, and you say, yeah, you're right. Because I am. And anyway, I have to say, as you look at this, you can go, wow, that's kind of, it really is, it is life-changing though. I've had many people say, this is so life-changing. And it is life-changing, even in my own heart, even in understanding of the Word. And so my prayer is that God would use this in your life the same way. He would unfold these things in our hearts, that he would open us up as we go into this whole idea of who is your master. Just before I pray, I think of a friend of ours, and some of you may know him, a guy named Rand Hummel. How many of you know who Rand Hummel is? Okay, oh yeah, so many of you know him. A guy who's worked at the Wilds for all these years and now he's at the Wilds of New England. He's a conference speaker and things as well. And he would fly different places and speak. And one of the places he was flying to, he said it was such horrible turbulence. I don't know if you've ever been in a flight like that where you're just like, I mean, it's awful where you just feel like everyone's going to throw up or, you know, just sick to your stomach or are we even going to make it? And it was one of those kind of flights. As they kind of finally landed, he thought on his way out, he was encouraged by the flight attendant. So he kind of says to the flight attendant on the way out, he says, I want you to know you went above and beyond your call of duty job. And I really speak, he's kind of looking back, because I speak for the rest of the passengers on the plane. And I just want you to know, you truly served us. And he looked at her and just started complimenting her and smiling at her. And he said, ma'am, you truly are a servant. And she got angry. She says, servant, I am nobody's servant. Don't you call me a servant. Now, we all know if you've grown up at all in a realm where you've read the scriptures or the You know that actually that was a great compliment, because the truth is a servant is a really good thing. Actually, Jesus says the greatest are going to be the ones who are servant of all. But you look at the Old Testament, and you think about the Old Testament, and you think about who are the servants of God. I mean, you've got Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob. You've got the whole idea of David and Ruth. You've got working in the New Testament, all the apostles and different people there. You've got Aquila, Priscilla. I mean, you've got servants of God. You've got the angels who are called servants of God, ministers of God. I mean, it's a good thing to be a servant. But what's even more interesting is this word here is really stronger than the word servant. It's the word slave. So my prayer is that God would stir us in a real way as He works in our hearts that we would be true and good slaves of Christ. Let's pray tonight. Father, as we would look to you, we look to you because we need you. You don't need us. We need you. And God, as we look to you, we're grateful that you delight in us and that you have made a way for us to be rescued. And Lord, if there is somebody here tonight who is without Christ, I pray tonight that you would stir them and And they would understand what you've done for them. And they would turn from their sin to trust in Christ alone. And Lord, that they would get saved tonight. And for those who are truly in Christ tonight, I pray that you would take us deeper in our understanding of who you are and what the word says. And then, Lord, work in our hearts as we come to grips or face to face with these truths. Lord, I pray that we would humble ourselves before you. And I pray that you'd give me wisdom, Lord, as I deal with some of these things that are very difficult. I pray that you would give me very, very much wisdom from you that I would would do the scriptures justice tonight and in a sense that explaining. So, God, I pray you'd work in me, through me, fill me, use me now. I trust in you right now. Thank you, God, that we can be your slaves. In Jesus' name we pray, and all God's people said, Amen. As we look at James chapter 1, verse 1, he says, James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, as I've already told you, that word is doulos, which the word doulos means slave, which would bring me to point number 1, and I'm going to go into this in just a second, but point number 1 is this. Everyone is a slave. Did you know that? According to the scriptures, we're actually all slaves. Now, at first glance, you look at it and say, well, Jeremy, I mean, you know, it's servant. And why are you getting servant from this? Well, it's interesting because as you begin to study out words of the scriptures, what you can do is you can go to what's called a Greek lexicon. I mean, you got the New Testament written in Greek and you go to a Greek lexicon. What's that? It's basically simply a dictionary that's going to give us the Greek word that's going to tell you the English equivalent. OK. As you get to that Greek lexicon, you get the best lexicons will simply say this. The word doulos, which is right here, that word simply means slave. What's even more interesting is you can there are multiple words in the Greek words. There's actually six different Greek words for the word servant in the Bible, but actually doulos isn't one of them. But it's so often translated that. And so I think what happens is right away we lose the grip. You say, what are you talking about grip, Jeremy? Well, what I say that when I say that there's a man named Harris who wrote a book on the slave of Christ and he said it this way, and I think it's very helpful. He said there's an important difference between a servant and a slave. These two words, he said, because a servant actually gives service to someone, but a slave actually belongs to someone. I mean, that is different. A slave actually has no personal freedoms or personal rights. And again, there are at least six different Greek words in the New Testament dealing with the word servant. But this word doulos is really not one of them. So why then would it be translated as that? That's a good question. And I would say this. I mean, when I come to you and if I were to say the word slave, Does that conjure up good things or bad things? I think we would probably all say probably negative. We think about it in American history, we think negative. We think about it in world history, we think negative. And actually you say, well, wait a second. I mean, what about when the scripture was originally translated into English? I mean, it was a major ordeal and it was a big, it was a big struggle. So what would often happen is they would come across words like that and they would put the synonym. They would put something that you could definitely understand it. And I'm not looking at you tonight and I'm not saying that the word servant is a wrong word. I'm just saying that it's even much more clear when you come across what it really is. Now, you think about this for just a minute. You had this whole idea of a slave versus a servant. Now, a servant, If they don't like the job anymore, you know what they can do? They can say, I don't like the job anymore, so I quit. But a slave couldn't be like, man, I hate being a slave. So I'm just telling you, I quit. It didn't work that way with the slave because the slave was owned by someone. And actually, when you look at this word here, it's interesting because we're going to see this kind of unfolded. But James is actually calling himself a slave of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ. And I'm looking at you tonight. I'm telling you that everyone's a slave. And you might say, well, come on, Jeremy, I'm not a slave. I mean, I'm an American. I'm not a slave. I'd look at you and say, no, actually, the scripture teaches you that you are truly a slave. Where does it peak at then? Because I'm not getting it right here. I mean, James is a slave, maybe, but I don't know. Well, actually, let's hold this spot and go to the book of Romans, Romans chapter 6. Because we look at Romans chapter 6, we kind of see this even more unfolded. Romans chapter 6, we read in verse 16. I'm going to literally translate it as we get to that word. And so you'll see this, but in verse 16, it says, Romans 6, 16, Romans 6, 16, Romans 6, 16, Romans 6, 16, Romans 6, 16, Romans 6, 16, Romans 6, 16, Romans 6, 16, Romans 6, 16, Romans 6, 16, Romans 6, 16, Romans 6, 16, Romans 6, 16, Romans 6, 16, Romans 6, 16, Romans 6, 16, Romans 6, 16, Romans 6, 16, Romans 6, 16, Romans 6, 16, Romans 6, 16, Romans 6, 16, Romans 6, 16 slaves to obey His slaves, ye are to whom ye obey, whether of sin unto death or of obedience unto righteousness. But God be thanked that ye were the slaves of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you, and being then made free from sin, ye became the slaves of righteousness. I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh. For as you have yielded your members, slaves, to uncleanness and to iniquity and to iniquity, even so now yield your members, slaves, to righteousness and to holiness. For when you were the slaves of sin, you were free from righteousness. What fruit had you then in those things where you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. But now being made free from sin, you become slaves to God. You have your fruit unto holiness and the everlasting life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. What does this passage teach? This passage says this. Everyone is a slave. Now, the truth is, as I said earlier this morning, what's interesting is you know you're a slave to sin if you ever just try to stop sinning. You know what I mean? Because before you're saved, the Bible actually teaches us that, yes, we're actually born sinful and we do sin. But the truth is, when we try to stop sinning, we realize we can't stop sinning in and of ourselves. We are slaves to sin before Christ. Isn't that true? And then what's amazing is this, it's slaves to sin and sin unto death. I mean, that's the ultimate where we're ending up. And ultimately, you could even say, too, I mean, where are we? We're a slave to sin. You have this wicked taskmaster of sin. But isn't it amazing when you come to grips with the doctrine and come face to face and you obey from the heart that form of doctrine which has delivered you, what happens? Now, all of a sudden, you go from being a slave to sin to now a slave of God. and you're a slave to righteousness. Now, that's actually a wonderful thing. In other words, slavery isn't really all that bad. It all depends on who your master is. I mean, if you have a benevolent, loving master, some slaves actually would say no when they were trying to... the master's going to release them. No, I don't want to be released. I'm willing to make myself indentured. I'm willing to make myself someone who's a slave for a lifetime with that master as long as they knew that master and they loved that master and they knew the master loved them. You know, you sit there and think about, you know, what slavery is not always was not always bad. I mean, actually, in this sense, there will be some who would, who would get to the point where they're just begging for the next day's meal. And they're, they're trying to make enough money through begging to then help their own family. And it's not like the begging that we see in our culture, you know, saying where some people can hold signs and actually make 40 grand a year holding signs. Okay, it's not like that. We're talking about real, real begging. And what's amazing is that, OK, so you have these people who do this, but some would get to the point where they would just sell themselves into slavery. And if they happen to get a really good, benevolent master, it was a wonderful thing. And actually, they would have all their needs provided for in that. But the Bible would teach you here again, before you're saved, you're actually a slave to sin. But what happens is you get saved and God radically changes your life. You have a new master. Now to think about this just even for a moment, I want to go into some slave terms that are out throughout the New Testament and I think that are really helpful. Take our Bibles and let's go to the book of Ephesians, Ephesians chapter 1. And as we turn there, I want to deal with a couple of these things because you have to ask yourself again, how did James become a slave? I mean, how did he really become a slave of the Lord? Now, I want to look at salvation from really an eternal perspective and yet also from man's perspective as well. So in other words, we can see it kind of from God's perspective, from man's perspective, and it's unbelievable when we do this. We see in Ephesians chapter 1, verse 3, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ. According as he has chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy without blame before Him in love, having predestinated us into the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise and the glory of His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted in the Beloved. Now, wait a second. You go back and you see some slave terminology. There's a slave terminology actually that's found in verse 4. Notice as it says, according as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world. I know just reading this verse is dangerous. You know, if you're like, ah, you know, they kind of get nervous about the Bible. And I always tell people, listen, don't don't don't freak out or get nervous about the scripture. OK, even when we don't understand it, that's OK. There's a lot of things we don't understand. I don't I mean, I think many of you got into the vehicle today. You drove to church tonight. And the reality is there's probably a few people in this room, if any, I don't know, that understand every working part of an engine. But you by faith got in and you came here. You see what I'm saying? I mean, that's why I say you didn't be like, I don't know how does the starter work? You know, you didn't. I don't think you freaked out. So I'm telling you when it comes to Scripture, though, that there are difficulties in the Scripture and some things are not meant for us to really understand completely this side of eternity. You know, I say that to say we got things like the Trinity. And if you were to look at me tonight and say, Jeremy, well, I can fully explain to you the Trinity, and I got some great illustrations to prove it. I would look at you and say, well, then you don't understand the Trinity. Because the truth is you've got three truths that are dynamic, that are unbelievable, that are just like, okay, you can put two together, but when you add the third one, it just doesn't seem to fit right in our mindset. We can't quite grasp all of this. So how can there could be three really in one and yet just the three separate, but yet we struggle with this. They say theologically, it's like trying to carry actually three big watermelons. In other words, you can pick up one, you can pick up the other. But when you try to pick up the third one, you drop one somewhere. You know, it's just it's just too it's too difficult for us to grasp. And this is one of these words here that I would say can cause a lot of struggles. And I'd say we don't need to make it. We don't need to struggle over it, but we can embrace it. You say, what do you mean? When you think about this, chosen in him before the foundation of the world. Now, think about this for a minute. This is a slave term. Did you know that? Do you realize what they would do is this? There would be a slave market with the slaves up front. And sure enough, there'd be a wealthy landowner who would come up to this slave market and know what he'd say. He'd go, I'll take that one over there. And he would choose one. I like Charles Spurgeon. Spurgeon was was really was a masterful. He's called the Prince of Preachers. OK, and he was he was really amazing at what he would do. Spurgeon kind of said it this way. He said, I wish I knew who the elect were. He said, I wish because they would be the ones I want to witness to because that's the ones who get saved. I wish he said it this way. I wish that you could go behind a person and you could pick up their shirt and see an E on their back. And if there's an E on their back, he would know that that was one of the elect. And that's the ones you witnessed to because then they were going to get saved, you know, but you can't do that. And I would look at you tonight and say, don't try. Okay. Don't you do that. You're going to be put in prison really fast. You know, what are you doing? I'm looking for the E, you know, no, it doesn't work that way. And he even said that he says, you can't do that. He says, so because of that, he says, we don't know who the elect are. So what do you do? You witness to all people, but guess what? God's going to save his elect. I mean, now, when you think about this, too, again, it's like, OK, is it really? Wait a second. He also put it this way. I love this. He said, it's almost like this. As you were to enter the gates of heaven, you would see on the front of the gate that says this, whosoever will may come. He says, but then as you enter into the gates of heaven and you go a little further and you look back at the gate on the back of that gate, it's like it says that's chosen in him before the foundation of the world. In other words, there are two truths that are taught in Scripture, and yet in our understanding, it is difficult because there's this, well, there's a healthy tension there, isn't there? Of the sovereignty of God, and yet man responds to this. And yet, how does this all work? Because if it's all about man, well then, we're in charge. But if it's all God and we don't do anything ever, you know, then well, how does this all work? And I would look at you and say, no, no, it's okay. Because it's there in the scripture, so we embrace it. And we're looking at it from God's perspective. And what does God do? God, yes, He does divinely work and He saves people. Now, I would say this too. When it comes to dealing with other things other than salvation, we're okay with it. I don't know why. It's like this. I've never met anyone who's gotten angry over the whole idea of God's chosen people, Israel. His chosen nation like that. You know, when's the last time you saw someone go, oh, man, it makes me so mad. Why did God choose Israel, not the United States? I've never had anyone say that to me ever. Maybe you're thinking that, but I've never had anyone say that to me. And what's interesting is that we go, well, this is God's chosen, and why did God choose Israel? Oh, I know He knew they would be perfectly obedient. Oh, He knew they were just the most best looking and God's people, and they would be obedient. And so sure, I'll choose them. All we can say is God and His sovereignty did something miraculous. We look at believers as, and this is a great doctrine for the encouragement of the saints. And we kind of say, why would God ever choose me? And you know what? I wouldn't actually choose him apart from him doing a work in me. And there's a point where you just kind of go, you know what, God's at work. Again, man's got to respond. So you see this whole kind of thing. But I would say that's a slave term. Okay, he goes, okay, I'll choose this one. Okay, so that's slave. But wait a second. You go even further and you know this next verse. Think about this. 1 Corinthians 6. You can go there. Let's go to 1 Corinthians 6. Watch this. I'm kind of unfolding this so we can kind of see this tonight. 1 Corinthians 6. And we see in verse 20. Notice what it says. For ye are bought with a price. Therefore, glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's. The whole idea is this is when a guy would come to the wealthy landowner and say, OK, I'll take that one over there and he would choose a slave. It wouldn't be his slave until he pays for it. And so he's got to purchase that. Now, think about this. Here's Christ who purchased our redemption. I mean, that's really interesting, too, because to think about this, he didn't, he didn't, he wasn't like the down payment. It wasn't trying to pay off Satan because Satan needed to be appeased. No, God had to be appeased. It was God's wrath who had to be appeased. And so the whole idea is that God's wrath had to be satisfied. And yet, here's what happens at salvation when a person comes to grips with sin. Man's perspective. We come to grips with our sin. We can't save ourselves. So what do we do? We turn from sin and we trust in Christ alone as Lord and Savior. What happens? Well, from a heavenly perspective, God divinely has chosen us and worked in us and we got saved. And what an amazing kind of truth to this. And yet, here's a person who is chosen, but any slave who is chosen must be purchased. And so you see this from God's perspective. Not only that, but Romans chapter 14. Turn there for just a moment. Romans chapter 14. And we see in verse 7. It says, For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself. Verse 8. For whether we live, we live unto the Lord, and whether we die, we die unto the Lord. Whether we live, therefore, or die, we are the Lord's. For to this end Christ both died and rose and revived that he might be Lord both of the dead and the living. I mean, what does this teach us here? It's like this. Okay, if you've been chosen, then you must be purchased. And then guess what you are? You are owned by your master. Remember, I mean, 1 Corinthians even 6 verse 19 that you're not your own. I mean, you have been bought. You have been purchased now. Now, if a person is chosen, bought and owned, he or she would be subject to their master's will and control over them. Now, we see this in the example of the apostles, who in Acts chapter 5 are told, stop preaching Jesus. I mean, they're told, don't preach Jesus anymore. And your doctrine is turning our world upside down and stop it. And what do they say? They say, I'm sorry, we must obey God rather than men. Why? Because God owns us. And we're subject to His will, not yours. And if the two are contrary, guess what? We're following God. I mean, you think about this for a minute. I mean, even in your own salvation, isn't this an amazing truth? It's like here you are. OK, you're working your master's field, let's say. And it's back in the day. And so you're working the field. And I mean, you are doing your hard labor. And you're working hard. And all of a sudden you hear, hey, slave, come here. You look over. It's over the rock wall. It's over there. And it's another wealthy landowner who says, come here. So you kind of walk over to the wall and say, yeah, can I help you? And he says, he says, yeah, I've noticed you're working your master's field and it's looking pretty good over there. But look at my field. It's awful. Look at all these rocks and different things too. So jump the wall, get over here and start working my field. And what would you say? No, I'm sorry. Why? You don't own me. Give me this true of sin. Isn't this amazing? It's like, get over here. Start doing this. The temptations and the stress. Sorry. You don't know me anymore. I've been purchased. I have a new master. I mean, the truths of this are just wonderful and really transforming. I mean, you go even further about this. What would they be? They would be totally dependent on their master for everything in life. 419 says this, but my God shall supply all your need according to his riches and glory in Christ. Now, think about this for a minute. He promises to those who are his, he will supply the need. You notice he doesn't say he'll supply all your wants and anything you ever wanted and desired. I'm going to give it to you. Did you imagine child rearing that way? That would be wonderful. Every time your child wanted anything, you gave you gave them exactly what they always wanted. They would be like dead or in prison by the time they're nine or something. You know what I mean? It's like, what are we thinking? And yet God promises not to supply all of our wants, but He promises He will supply all of our needs. Why? Because anyone who's really a slave would be totally dependent on their master for everything. Their food, their clothing, their housing, all these things. And this is the truth of those who are slaves of Christ. Not only that, but a true slave would ultimately be called to give an account. Romans 14, verse 12. So then every one of us shall give an account of himself to God. And we talked about that even this morning. You'll be evaluated, won't you? 2 Corinthians 5.10, For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that everyone may receive the thing done in his body according to that which he had done, whether it be good or bad. We'll be evaluated. We'll be called to account. We can be chastened. We can be rewarded. I mean, even Hebrews 12 talks about the chasing of his own children. I mean, think about that. I mean, whom the Lord loves, he chastens. And if he doesn't chasten you, then, well, I'm sorry, you're illegitimate. He goes even further, though, and you think about the reward there as well. It says in 1 Corinthians 3, verse 14, If any man's work abide which he had built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. I mean, you look at this and what's this? This is all slave language. And I look at you tonight and I would ask you this question. Who is your master? Because everybody in this room is a slave of some sort. Maybe you're a slave to sin or you're a slave unto God. Now, let's go a little bit further, okay? That's point number one. I know I'm freaking you out. We're going, wait, what's going to happen here? Is he going to preach forever? Here we go, ready? James chapter one, verse one. Okay? See if we can go quicker. James one, verse one. James, a slave of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting, but wait a second, a slave of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ. Point number one, everyone's a slave. Point number two, every slave has only one master. I mean, all slaves, all true slaves, have only one real master. We know this to be true, don't we? How do we know that? There's this passage in the Scripture that... Oh yeah, Matthew 6. Hold your spot here and look at Matthew 6 for just a second. I told you I'm going to make you look around. That's good. Alright. Matthew chapter 6. And we read verse 24. What does this say? It says this. No man can serve two masters. And I would look at you tonight and I would say this. Yes, you can. Yeah, you can. Can't you? How many of you have ever had two jobs at the same time? In other words, maybe you had a job you worked during the day, maybe one different at night, or maybe you had one that you worked during the week and one different on the weekend. Ever been there? Yeah. And what happens? And you serve the masters, don't you? You serve two masters, maybe. You serve three or four or five. I think of summer times in the past. I think about serving this guy, Steve Pettit or Paul Witt. And they both work together. It's like, you know, and rarely ever would they ever conflict. But I serve both of them. I serve two masters. You can serve two masters. But do you know what? This word is actually a form of due loss. So, let's read it again. Verse 24. Are you ready? No man can, well, Be a slave to two different masters. What's a master? A slave owner. No one can be a slave to two different slave owners. For either you will hate the one and love the other, or else you will hold to the one and despise the other. You cannot be a slave to both God and mammon, material possessions or money. Look even further. I love this. Verse 25. Therefore I say unto you, take no thought for your life what you shall eat or what you shall drink, nor yet for your body what you shall put on. It is not the life more than meat and the body more than Raymond, or clothing? Of course it is. Then he says, look at the birds. Verse 26. Behold the fowls of the air. The birds. For they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are you not much better than they? And the answer is yes. That's his whole point. Jesus is saying you're better. You're like, but I love the spotted owl. Well, that's nice, but you're more important than that. You're more important than that. You go even further and it's It says in verse 27, which of you, by taking thought, can add one cubic to his stature? It's like, by somehow worrying, you can add time to your life. It's just impossible. It doesn't work that way. You go even further and you see verse 28. And why take ye thought for your clothing, your raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow, they toil not, neither do they spin. And yet I say unto you, that even Solomon, in all of his glory, was not arrayed like one of these. I mean, wherefore, if God so clothed the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith, Therefore, take no thought saying, well, what shall we eat or what shall we drink or wherewithal shall we be clothed? For after all these things do the Gentiles, or maybe you could read it this way. After all these things do the pagans seek. For your heavenly father knoweth that you have need of all these things. And because you know that he knows you have need, what do you do? Verse 33, you seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. And all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore No thought for tomorrow, for tomorrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient is the day is the evil thereof. And the idea is trust him. I mean, hey, if he's your master, you can trust him and you can't be a slave to two different slave owners. But there's a problem when you go back to James. Here's the problem. James says he's a slave of God. And of the Lord Jesus Christ. And I look at you tonight and say, that's a real problem. If you're a Mormon. That's a real problem if you're here tonight as a Jehovah's Witness. I mean, our next door neighbors over there. That's a problem. Why? Because what James is actually claiming is that Jesus Christ is deity. Isn't that amazing? I mean, it's right there as he's claiming he's a slave of both God and of the Lord Jesus Christ. There are there. You can't be a slave to different slave owners. And yet here he is. He's saying he's not. He's a slave to both. But yet they're both one. He's claiming his deity. Now, I say this, and I would look at you tonight and say, James had to come to grips with some unbelievable truths. You say, well, like what? Well, first of all, who is this James? Now, think about this for a minute. There are multiple Jameses in the scripture, but who is this James? Do you remember? He has a half-brother. of Jesus, okay? Now that's really interesting to think about for a minute. I want you to go back. I want you to think about this for a minute. A half brother, what does that mean? Well, Jesus was virgin born, okay? So Joseph was not his real father in that sense, but yet an earthly fatherly figure for him. But the truth is, here he is, virgin born, then Joseph and Mary after Jesus was born, then they, as a married couple, then begin to have relations. And sure enough, they begin to have children. And they have multiple children, don't they? Actually, James is not the only one. The Bible actually speaks of four names, at least four boys in the scripture, of the brothers. And so, that's pretty interesting. And then the Bible says he has sisters. Now we, you know, that means at least two. I mean, if they're sisters, so wait a second, four plus sisters, at least two. OK, plus Jesus. There's at least seven kids in that family. I don't know if you ever thought about it. I mean, this is kind of interesting to think about. What would it be like to grow up in the family of Jesus? Would that be really cool? I mean, how would you like it if Jesus was your brother? Somebody would be like, that would be awesome, the perfect brother, you know, whoo! Really? I mean, then you have Mary saying things like this to you. Why don't you just act like your brother? Why don't you just act like your older brother? Why don't you just be like Jesus? Actually, that would be a right thing for her to say, too, which is even, ah, ah, ah. You know, why don't you just be like Jesus? And then, man, he never does anything wrong. Now, we had team members that traveled with us. Sorry, Kathy, it wasn't you this one we're talking about. But we had team members that traveled in a sense that, and I don't want to say on this team, but I remember being on Steve Pettit's team, and there was a girl named Cheryl, Cheryl Monroe, and that married a guy named Tim Chapman. Cheryl Chapman, a missionary down in Peru. And Cheryl was one of these people where you're like, Do you ever sin? You know what I mean? It was like a struggle because you're like, she was always so sweet and so kind. And it was the most, I mean, you're just going, come on, you know, like, why don't you just get mad once, you know? And I remember we're saying, why don't you ever get mad? And then, you know, one day I remember she has some morning time and she says, I am so ticked right now. And we were all like, just kidding. And then we're like, no. You know, and why is it a struggle when you hang around people like that? It's a struggle because it's like, it makes you realize how sinful you are. You know, when people are really walking the power of the spirit, and I mean, it can be really convicting. Now, this just showed you how This is how rotten I am. OK, but I mean, as a brother, if Jesus was my brother, I would struggle with that, too. OK, he is like perfect. He never does anything wrong. OK, I know, I know what we'll do is this. I would gather the brothers and sisters and say, listen, Jesus is going to come through that door in just a minute. When he comes to the door, here's what we're going to do. We're going to jump him. We're going to tack him to the ground. Let's make him mad. Let's just kind of get him mad, you know. Yeah. Here we go. Ready? One, two, three. Ah! You know, the only problem is Jesus probably would have known, you know. Guys, guys, what are you doing? The whole point is this. In the midst of real brother life and sister life, okay, sibling, you know, he never sinned. That is amazing. Not only that, now think of it this way. How would you like to be a parent to a child who never ever sinned? Some of you are like, I mean, how do you think that would be? Yeah, maybe not. Because if he never sinned, I mean, you would be like the biggest loser of a parent ever. You understand what I'm saying here? You'd be like, always, you'd be like, you can't, because every time you try to correct him, you have to correct yourself. You have to apologize to him because he was right and you were wrong. I mean, really, this is true. This would be growing up in a light there. And then here's James going through this and struggling through this. But he had to come to grips with some truths. I mean, can I just tell you this? I love, I love my brothers. And I've got an older brother named Johnny. He lives in Charleston, South Carolina. And I love Johnny. I would not want to be his slave. I love him, but I don't want to be his slave. I've got a younger brother named Joey. I definitely don't want to be his slave. You know what I mean? I'm just like, oh, you know. And James is willingly saying, listen, my own brother, I am his slave. He's not going, damn. No, there is joy in all of this, because when you start reading this and start understanding who he is, you're going, this is an amazing thing. He is claiming that his own brother, yes, he's a slave to his own brother. In other words, he's a slave. His own brother is the master. Now, he also had to come to grips with not only that, but I would say this. When did James actually become a real believer? All we know is this. Before the resurrection, as far as we know, he was not a believer. John chapter seven, actually the first five verses tell us that actually the brothers were saying, listen, go to Jerusalem now. And as we go there and present yourself during this feast time, because then everyone can see and you can tell them who you really are. And John tells us they said this because they were not believers. But we do know this. James sees the risen Christ. And something radically happens in his life. And so James, we know, is this believer. But think about this. James is making this claim that his own brother is his master. Not only that, he's making the claims that his own brother is the Savior, is the way. Think about that for a minute. He had to see that his own brother is the Messiah. My own brother is the Messiah. I've got to trust in my brother to be saved. Not only that, but he's also making the claim that his own brother is deity. He's a slave of God and of Christ. Why? Because Jesus is God in the flesh. I mean, to come to grips with these things is really radical and amazing. I would look at you tonight and say this, that really all slaves or every slave has only one master. And when you start to see this, it should help us to go, I want to get to know my master better and better and better. Because I think sometimes we go, well, I got saved. That's good, but what about getting to know him? I mean, you look at James and say, this guy, he got to truly know his brother in a real way. This is after the resurrection. This is through fellowship of time with the Lord Christ, through prayer and through the word and his life and just what God's doing. I mean, think about that. And this should challenge us to seek him, to get to know him, to realize who he is. But there's one point, the third point, the final point tonight is this. Every good slave, is about his master's business. I mean, wouldn't that be true? Any good slave would be about their master's business. And as you start to read James again, you start to go, OK, so what's he writing about and what's he doing? And James, I would say to you, is about his master's business. And what's even more interesting, he says, James, the slave of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, He encourages them, so he's writing to Israel, or God's people there. He greets them, and then he goes even more specific. My brethren, count it all joy. Now wait a second. So now he's going even more specific, dealing with the believers. And when you start to study out the life, you start realizing he's about a certain business. You say, what are you talking about? Well, let's look even at some of these highlights. I mean, in verse 2. Consider yourselves. Here's what he's saying. Consider yourselves the most joyful people. that you face all kinds of trials. You're going, are you crazy? It's kind of like, trials, yes. Lord, thank you so much for these trials. Oh, it's a more. But that's what he's saying, isn't it? Why is he saying that? Knowing this, that the triumph of your faith worketh patience or endurance. In other words, you know that when you go through a trial as a believer, that God is at work. He's at work and he's working something in you, this patience or this endurance under the trial. But then if you let this endurance have her perfect work, what will happen if you let this endurance continue to go instead of trying to get out of the trial? Isn't that what we try to do? Oh, get me out of here. Oh, I don't want that. Oh, we want relief. We want it now. You know, we're like fast food Christian people, you know, like, oh, I want it my way. I want it now. But when you stay under the trial, as a mature believer would desire. What's happening? God is perfecting you. He is maturing you. But if you let that endurance have her perfect work, that you may be perfect. That idea of matured and entire, wanting nothing. I mean, it's like you get to the point in your trial, you could face all kinds of trials, but it's okay if you have Jesus. Think about Job. I mean, here we get discouraged. What do we read Job? And you'll realize right away, whoa. Okay, because he basically loses everything. Family, possessions. He gets to the point where physically he's just covered in boils. He's lost his teeth. He's got the worst breath in the world. His body is breaking down. He's scraping himself with pieces of pottery to just relieve the pressure of the boils. And his wife, think about this for a minute. Do you blame her to say, why don't you Just curse God and die. But Job's response really is, though he slayed me, yet I trusted him. Like a true believer can fall down, but he doesn't ultimately fall away. And you know, it's amazing what God does. God knows us. And he didn't ever understand that. He never saw it until really after death. And really, God would have explained it to him. But we benefit from his trials, don't we? And yet, God did restore in his lifetime. And God did some amazing things there. But the truth is, whether God restores or not, there's a sense of a believer going, OK, God, I can trust you. As I told you, the guy with cancer this morning gets that response. It's a mature response to say, listen, God is allowing trials to happen in my life. And you get to the point where, you know what? It doesn't matter. I can go through trials. As long as I have Jesus, I'm OK. And I've got you. That's really an amazing thought. He encourages them during the trial. He talks about when you struggle and you're not sure what's going on, when you ask in faith and don't waver. And he talks about a double-minded man. What that means, you go further in the passage. You start to see this idea, verse 22, of be doers of the Word and not hearers only. Why? Because you'd be deceiving yourselves. You walk out of the church, even tonight, and it's like, oh, you heard it, but you don't really apply it. And you walk away unchanged, and you walk away deceiving yourselves. Do we personally read the word? No, don't just read it to read it, but read it to obey it. Be doers of this word. I mean, you look at that and he continues to encourage you. You go to chapter two and you start seeing this whole idea of, listen, don't be a respecter of persons. Do you think we struggle with this? Think about it for a minute. His idea was like, hey, come in. Oh, man, look at this. It's like these people got it together. Hey, hey, look, that's awesome. Man, they got a good job. Their family seems to be put together. Oh, hey, come here. We got some spots for you. Hey, come up here. Oh, hey, you go. You guys, hey, sit on the floor or something, OK? We got these. Yeah, you guys, come here. Now, you say, we wouldn't do that in our culture. Really? Did you imagine all of a sudden? The door opens up and we have 10 homeless people walk in the room. And they're drunks. And they smell like BO. I mean, it's bad. It's a bad smell. But they're coming in. How many people would so eagerly go, hey, come sit with me. Hey, can I sit beside you? Yeah, I'm so glad you're here. Do you think we were having problems? Yeah, we struggled with this. And he's saying, listen, no, don't be a respecter of persons. He goes further and he talks about this whole idea of faith without works is dead. I mean, remember what he says? He says, demonstrate your works, demonstrate your faith by your works, because faith without works is dead. And so the idea of it's true faith, then demonstrate. He encourages them, listen, use your tongue, not for evil, but use it for good. Don't love the world. He talks about chapter four. Listen, God resists the proud, but he gives grace to the humble. I mean, you start thinking about chapter five, then as you're going through all these trials, what does he encourage them? Patiently wait on the Lord who judges all things. Don't worry. In the end, God will bring it all together. And it may not be even this lifetime. It may be in the lifetime to come, but He will. He will fix it all. He promises to. He will. What's James about? I would look at you tonight and say this. James is about his master's business. You know what his master's business is? The church. Because here's James, he's the head of the church in Jerusalem. He's encouraging the church. Why? Because in our day and age, this is God's economy. This is what God does through the church. But isn't that interesting? We live in a world, you know, that's like, you know, church. Well, I mean, maybe. And I like as one author put it, stop dating the church. It's like the idea is, it's not a dating relationship. This is much more than that. And here's Christ. You say, well, you know, what's the big deal? Well, Christ so loved the church, He gave Himself for it. He died for the church. I think in our mindset, this should be pretty important to us. You know, when you think about this for a minute, I meet people and people say, well, where do you see church membership in the Bible, Jeremy? Church membership is not there. I don't see church membership. One guy told me this. He said, Jeremy, he says, I go to three churches. Because I get to benefit all three. I said, well that's great. That's neat. But here's my question. My question is, why wouldn't you become a member? Like, why would you be so arrogant that you wouldn't submit yourself to the local church? He said, what are you talking about? Well, think of it this way. Actually, wouldn't you want to be disciplined or go through the process of church discipline. If you were tanking in your sin, wouldn't you want them to go through that process to go after you in a loving way? Because what's the whole purpose of church discipline? It's like restoration. You want to be restored, don't you? And what happens when you're all by yourself and you're your maverick? And yet you go and you start tanking your sin. And now no church has worthy authority to even do any of that form of discipline in your life. And so now what do you do? You tank in your own sin. Now, I'm so thankful because you know what? I have my pastor and the people of my church could easily say, Jeremy, what are you doing? And what are you doing in your ministry? What's going on here? And I'm not, I can't be a maverick. That's a good thing. That's actually the loving relationship of a community of believers. And we should so desire to be part of the community. Now, we do this to communities that we would say we truly believe the doctrines that they're espousing. And obviously, if it's kind of a wacko community and they're not really preaching the truth, then don't be a part of that community. But when you begin to see this and you say, but they're all different. That's the glory of the church. different walks of life, ages and stages and ethnic groups. I mean, everything about it, they come together in one. Isn't that amazing? This is this our world. And yet, James, he is about God's business. He is about the business of the church. So let me ask you a question tonight. Whose business are you about? Because some people make the claim. But the truth is, they're not really God's children anyway. You say, what are you talking about? Luke 6, 46. Jesus said to them, Why do you call me Lord, Lord? Now, he's calling him Lord. That means you're saying he's the Lord. I'm the slave. He's the master and the sovereign one. And I'm his subject. And you call me Lord, Lord and do not the things which I say. His rebuke to them was to say this. You aren't any of mine. You make the claim with your mouth, but the truth is it's not true in your own life. If you truly were mine, wouldn't you be obeying me? Wouldn't you be following me? Do you realize this? The call to be a Christian is a call to slavery. What's interesting, it's a call to be totally submissive to your master. Romans chapter 10, verse 9. What does that say? We all know this one. that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, what does that mean? Confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus. It means that you would literally, and sometimes it's translated literal this way, that you would confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord. And you'd believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead and you'll be saved. Now, I could also say this to you. I was at a school in Kansas when we were in school there. It was in Wichita, and I'm talking to these three girls after service. I preached a gospel message, and they said, can we talk to you? And I talked to them, and one girl says this. She says, I know I need to get saved. Her name was Ashley. I need to get saved. And I said, well, what's holding you back from getting saved? She says, well, I know this. I'm dating this guy. He's on the basketball team. He's not saved. And because he's not saved, if I get saved, I'll have to break up with him. Yeah? Because she says, you can't be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. So she knows the Bible. I said, yeah. And she goes, I don't want to break up with him. I said, so wait a second. So here's what you're telling me. You're telling me that you love him more than you love God. He's your idol. that you're an idolater. That's what you're saying to me. Because you should be so willing to get rid of the idols and trust Christ. I've had the same thing with a little kid about video games. I'm not joking. A kid, he's crying in front of me. This is at Pioneer Village. He's crying in front of me and he says this, he says, I know if I get saved, I'll have to give up some of these video games. I know that I shouldn't be playing them, but you know what, I just love these videos. He was dead serious. And so I said, wait a second, so you're telling me you'd rather die and go to hell for your video games? I'm looking at that girl saying something. I say, listen, you're telling me you'd rather die than go to hell because of this relationship? What's happening? She's come to the point of grips of salvation. Real salvation is not partial repentance. You don't kind of go, oh, maybe I'll... Well, just rescue me from these sins, because I don't want to go to hell, but oh, I really like these over here. But just rescue... No, no. Repentance is a change of mind that leads to a change of direction in life. In other words, it's turning completely 180 to the other direction. And it's not in of yourself. You don't work repentance, you know, because that's a gift from God. But the whole idea is I don't want my sin. I want you. And so the point is the call to be a real Christian is a person who says, listen, I will confess with my mouth that the Lord, that Jesus is Lord. And I believe in my heart that God raised him from the dead. And that's what happens when a person gets saved. A person is placing Christ as their Lord and their Savior of their life and is trusting in Christ. Now, you might not understand that. You might be five and you might really be turned from sin and trusting Christ. You might not understand the Lordship of Christ completely. But the idea is, as it comes to those grips and you come to face to face with different things, are you going to follow Christ? What does a true Christian do? They follow Christ, don't they? And I'm not saying a Christian can't not. But the whole point is, as a real Christian, that's the desire. And it is that sense of lordship and submission to Christ. It's total submission to the master. That's real salvation. That's why I really believe this. I believe there are many, many people in this world, especially even in our own world that call themselves Christians, but really aren't. Because they've never really come to grips with that total surrender of Christ in their life. And that happens, that salvation, but it's a continual thing, isn't it? Because we always, we keep coming to grips with this. But it's amazing because that's the beginning point. The call to be a Christian is really a call to slavery. It's a call to totally submit and to have a new master. And then not only that, I mean, think about this. In the end of your life, what do you as a believer want to hear when you stand before God? You want to hear what? Well done, thou good and faithful. Really? Actually, the word is Dulos. You could read it. Here's Matthew 25, 21. His master said unto him, Well done, good and faithful slave. You have been faithful over a little. I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master. And that's really interesting to think of that. It's like this call is a call to slavery. Do you realize that word Duluth is some 130 plus times in its various forms? It's really interesting as you come to grips with this. And it's not they're not the only ones. Think about this. Romans 1 verse 1, Paul calls himself a Slave of Christ. Philippians 1, verse 1. Paul and Timothy are slaves of Christ. Titus 1, verse 1. Paul and Timothy. James 1, 1. James. Peter. Think about this. 2 Peter 1, verse 1. Peter calls himself a slave. Jude, another half-brother of Jesus. Verse 1. He calls himself a slave of Christ. Revelation 1, verse 1. John is a slave of Christ. 2 Timothy 2, verse 24. Guess what? The pastors are slaves of Christ. This is not just like a, oh, it's kind of rare. But I love this, John 15. He says, no longer do I call you my slaves, but I call you my friends. This is another metaphor. It's another word picture. He's saying, because I tell you what I'm about. In other words, it's like, you know, a slave, he could say, just go do this, do it. But you know what he's saying? I don't tell you just to do this. I tell you why to do this. And not only that, you know what? We haven't even gotten into the idea of sonship. And we're children. I'm not going to get into that, but I'm going to be like, oh no. No, okay. Alright, and I'm done. But I look at you tonight and say this. You look at all this and you have to ask yourself the question, so who's your master? And if Christ is your master and Lord, then you know what? You should be about his business. In total submission and surrender, and you should be saying, okay God, whatever you want of me, that's okay. I'm trusting you. I'm following you. And he will provide for the needs, won't he? Doesn't mean you sit down and do nothing. Doesn't mean you go, oh, I'm not going to, you know, and I'll just sit here because, I mean, God's going to give me a job, won't he? And so, he'll give me the job. No, you get off your rear end and go and search hard and pray hard. And you know what? God promises to supply the needs. And you know what? He will, won't he? It's not always in our timing. It's in His perfect timing, though. I love this, and I say to you tonight, who is your master? And I think when you come to grips with this, one lady told me this. Jeremy, that was life-changing for me. So I began to look at this because she said, I looked at my life as a Christian. I was a true believer. She says, but I realized I'm not about my master's business. I'm living so selfishly about my business. And this has been a transformation in my heart because I want to be a good slave about my master's business. May God help us all be good slaves of Christ. Let's pray to my father. We're grateful for these truths. We're grateful for the power of the word. God, as these truths sink deep into our soul, we are challenged, God. Lord, we naturally want to rule. Even as believers, our flesh is strong. But God, thank you tonight. that we have a new master. And thank you that you are so benevolent and so loving. Lord, you love us more than we could ever imagine, more than we even love ourselves. And so, God, as we think about these truths, I pray that tonight we would humble ourselves in full submission once again to you, our Lord, our Savior. God, I pray that we would trust you, not just in salvation, but in daily living. God, thank you so much for what you're doing. Lord, help us to be about your business. Help us to be about the business of the church, what you call us to do. With our heads bowed, our eyes closed, let me ask a couple questions. Thank you for allowing me to speak like this. I wonder tonight how many would say, Jeremy, by the grace of God, I have become a true slave of the Lord. Just like James. I mean, there's a point in time where God saved me. I mean, it's evident that God has done His work in my own heart, my own life. And He's changed me. And Jeremy, if I died tonight, I know I'd go to heaven because I am a slave of Christ. I am no longer a slave to my sin by the grace of God. And you just lift your hand up and hold it up high. Praise the Lord. Many of you here tonight. You can put your hands down. Is there anyone there tonight that might say this? Jeremy? Pray for me, please. Because Because honestly, I think I'm a slave to my sin. And you say this makes you concerned for your own salvation. Jeremy, pray for me tonight, because I am a slave to my sin, and I haven't really become a true slave to Christ yet. And I'd like you to pray for me. And you just lift your hand up high enough so I can see it. I know to pray for you tonight. Jeremy, pray for me tonight, please. Because I don't know if I'm really a slave of Christ. I'd like you to pray for me about that. And I'll know to pray for you. I think that everyone in the room here pretty much is claiming to know Christ. My next question is this. How many would say, Jeremy, by the grace of God tonight, I'm a slave and I am about my master's business. I'm really not about my own. I'm really earnestly pursuing God's business and I'm about the business of the church. That's God's business in our world today. You say, Jeremy, I really am about God's business and by the grace of God and you would Slip your hand up as a testimony, Jeremy. I really believe I can say that about God's business. Put your hand down. But I wonder who might tonight would say this, Jeremy, pray for me because I'm a true Christian. But God is showing me how much I'm about my own business. And he's convicted me. That's a good thing. He's humbling you. He's wanting you to submit back to him as your Lord. It doesn't mean you're re-getting saved. It means that you are submitted to him for who he is. and you're trusting him. But you say, Jeremy, pray for me. God is actually dealing with my heart. And I need to submit to him. You need to slip your hand up and hold it up. Yeah. I wonder, too, how many might even say this, Jeremy, I am a slave to Christ, but so often I act as a slave to my sin. I know I'm in Christ, but I am acting like a slave to my sin. And God tonight is really working on my heart. about that, and I know I need to confess it for sakes of things in my life. Can you just slip your hand up and hold it up? Jeremy, pray for me now. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Can you put your hands down? And then I wonder, even tonight, who might say this? You'd say, Jeremy, I'm going through a lot of trials for you. And in these trials, it is truly my desire to trust in my Master, the Lord. But I am going through some trials. Will you pray for me about that? And you would slip your hand up, right? Yeah, I will. Father, you have seen our hands tonight and you know what we need. And God, we need to be totally submitted to you. You call us that way. Even as believers, you beg us all by the mercies of God that we would present our bodies as living sacrifice, that we would truly dedicate ourselves and recommit ourselves consistently to you. We follow you as our Lord and Savior. You are the Lord and you are the Savior. God, may we not just have that in our mind, but may it be true in our lives. May we trust in you. With our heads bowed and our eyes closed tonight, I'm going to ask us to stand to our feet tonight. As we stand to our feet tonight, I want to just give you an opportunity, if God is dealing with you tonight, to humble yourselves to the truth that we've heard. People do this in different ways. You may want to come forward here, get on your knees before the Lord and really confess forsake or resubmit in the sense of your heart. Or maybe where you are, you just want to drop to your seat there and just honestly do some business with God. But God's stirring you and I want to encourage you that you would humble yourself and do business with the Lord right now. So our instrumentals are here and I'm going to play through just a hymn of invitation. I want to invite you as she plays through that you would do some business with the Lord tonight. So as she plays, we need to do business with the Lord tonight. Maybe tonight as you're praying too, you're praying something like, Lord, I've just been about my own business. And God, I want to confess that, forsake that. I want to be about your business. I really do want to be a good slave of Christ. I want to be used of you. I want your name to be glorified. Maybe tonight you're saying again, Lord, it's my own sin and I have been living like a slave to sin, but I am no longer under that master. So God, help me to submit to my Lord and trust you. And whatever you're going through tonight, again, as well, that we would submit even our trials to the Lord. God, thank you that we can trust in you that way. We'll have Pastor come and continue the invitation as he would like. Father, we're thankful that now we do belong to you. And because we are your slaves, you have also obligated yourselves to us, and we don't understand that. And I don't think we fully realize what all that entails. That as slaves, we're joint heirs with Jesus Christ, I think what we can expect of heaven, it will far surpass those expectations of reality. And for us to bow the knee now is to receive the crown later. And Lord, I don't understand that. And how often we get duped by our own selfish desires and by the devil himself to think that somehow we're losing out. by giving our lives to Christ, by serving, slaving for Him. And yet, your Word tells us that your yoke is easy, your burden is light. That's the only true path of joy for us. Whatever it is that you call us to do, O Lord, I pray that we would be faithful. For it's in Christ's name we pray, Amen. You are dismissed.