I invite you to take your Bibles with me this morning. We're turning to the book of James and continuing our journeys with James the just, turning to James chapter one. And as you're turning there, let me remind you that week by week and service by service in front of you, there are some prayer cards. I know that the offering has already been received, but if you have a prayer request that you'd like us to pray with you about, If you fill that request card in, either put it in the offering during the services or drop it off at the Welcome Center, we have a five o'clock prayer hour that we'd invite you to be part of this afternoon. And we'll be praying for those requests on a week-by-week basis, not only the five o'clock prayer hour, but also in the midweek service. And yes, you may notice, if you're a prospective member, that I did say five o'clock for that meeting this afternoon. And the bulletin says 445. If you're at five, you'll be on time. And we'll look forward to meeting with you at that time. The book of James in chapter one, we've turned once again to a very practical book. If you like straight talk, James is the book for you. It's often been called the Proverbs of the New Testament. Fifty seven times, James is going to be speaking in the imperative, the voice of the command. He's not shy about giving to us instruction as the Spirit of God has moved through him to give to us this instruction for today and for every day until the Lord returns. The first 12 verses of James chapter one deal with the topic of trials. And there we discover that glorious golden chain. The Bible tells us that the trials of our faith bring patience and when patience has had its perfect work, we become mature, not wanting anything. Then, beginning in verse 13, down to verse 17 in chapter one, he moves from the topic of trials to the topic of temptations. And as he focuses on temptations, he reveals to us a rusty chain of ruin. Lust, when it conceives, brings forth sin. And sin, when it conceives, brings forth death. And he's instructing believers, don't be deceived then, my beloved brethren. And now, as the chapter ends, we discover that James as led by the Spirit of God, is going to be focusing on the topic of truth. For only through the truth of God's Word can we come to understand our trials and our temptations. And so we come to James 1, and we begin our reading in the 18th verse. James 1, beginning in verse 18. Of His own will begot He us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures, Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak and slow to wrath, for the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God. Wherefore, lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness. And here are the key to this text that we consider this morning. Receive with meekness the engrafted word which is able to save your souls. Be doers of this word and not hearers only deceiving your own selves. We live in a generation that is ever learning and never able to come to a knowledge of the truth. How essential it is for us to hear this imperative, receive with meekness the engrafted word which is able to save your souls. I'm going to be asking a question this morning. How's your reception? Are you regularly, are you really, are you readily receiving God's word? Do you realize that week by week as we come into this place, along with the beauty of the music that we've enjoyed and along with the wonderful privilege of sharing a message from God's Word, one of the most beautiful sounds that we hear in this room is the sound of believers paging through their Bibles. That's a precious sound. Holy Bible, book divine, precious treasure. Now we're at mine. Mine to tell me whence I came, mine to tell me what I am. Are you really receiving God's Word? Let's ask the Lord to bless as we look in His Word this morning. Father, our hearts have been lifted into the heavenlies in song this morning. You are indeed worthy of praise. And one day Your Word gives us the confidence of saying, every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. What a day that will be when of every nation, tongue, and people, Expressions of joy to the one alone who is worthy will be sung before the throne. Lord, until that day, may we be found with a song in our heart and an expectation. May we be looking upward, realizing that our redemption draws nigh and that the judge is nigh. He's even at the door. And Lord, I would pray that this morning as we open your word, you would open our hearts. Lord, we do not take for granted that we live in a free land that allows this kind of assembly. So we're mindful to pray for kings and those who have dominion over us. Lord, that they would come to know the joy that we express today as believers together. The hope in Christ, the grace of salvation, the forgiveness of sins. Lord, today as we gather in this place, help us seize this moment knowing we'll never come quite this way again. For those who are in this room this morning, some represent long periods of convalescence, now rejoicing that they're able to be with us. Some who have come from afar to join us in gratitude this morning and singing the praises of the Savior. Others who during this season will find themselves moving to different locations. But right now, Lord, help us to be reminded that where two or three are gathered, You're in our midst and You're walking in the midst of this multitude today desiring to bring a blessing Desiring to give hope to someone who's hurting and love to someone who feels lonely. And Lord, I pray that from your word today, we would be well fed so that we might be able to stand and having done all to stand, have our loins girt about with truth. Of course, in Christ's precious name we pray. Amen. When my wife and I were first married, someone thought it would be a good idea to present us with a television. It wasn't a new television. In fact, it was an old television. It had a picture about this big and a box about that deep. You remember that kind, it took about an hour to warm it up. In fact, we started timing how long it took to warm those tubes up. Because at that time, my wife was kind of hooked on Little House on the Prairie. It was a great television, it was perfect. You had to warm it up so you had to premeditate your viewing. And it would stay on for about an hour and five to an hour and ten minutes, then it would die. Perfect. Finally, it really did die. Someone hearing about our life without a television gave us another television. The television that they gave to us this time was a television without sound. I was in seminary and so I was walking through a department store one time and I saw a radio that had television sound. And I bought an inexpensive radio, and if we wanted to watch television, we got out the television, we got out the radio, we put the radio on top of the television, we turn on the picture, we turn on the sound, we made sure that it all came together. And it was always one of those where the lips were flying and the words weren't quite there. A bit later on, my wife had some bed rest required during a time of maternity. And I splurged and went to Target, I believe, and bought a 12 inch black and white television with rabbit ears. And that served us well for many years. In fact, there was a gentleman in the church who was videotaping things and always handing me videotapes. I had this catalog of videotapes. And he said, did you watch that last tape, Pastor? I said, we don't have a tape player. Had all these tapes and he got us a tape player. My wife decided that she would start exercising in the morning with a friend. And so she would get out the television, hook it up to the videotape player and they would do their exercises. And one time when they got up to do their exercises, they broke the rabbit ears off. I can still remember it was the final four. My son was. What? My son was with me and. I was standing near a window holding on to a television trying to fix some aluminum foil. I think if I touch my belt buckle just right and held my hand just like this, we could get a signal. My experience with television technology taught me that proper reception takes real effort. Did you know that the same is true in the spiritual realm? God is speaking right now. He is. Do you hear him? I'm confident that he's speaking. There's no problem with the transmission. The 19th Psalm says the heavens are declaring the glory of God. The audio signal is perfect. And the firmament is showing his handiwork. The video signal cannot be improved upon. The problem is never one of transmission. The problem is frequently one of reception. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night showeth knowledge." The audio signal and the video signals, they're perfect. There is no language in which the speech is not uttered. He has a universal signal being sent out to this world. How's your reception? When's the last time you could say, I really sensed a message from the Lord to me." Born-again believers ought to be ready receivers of God's revelation. How's your spiritual reception? Have you picked up any messages from God lately? In James 1, beginning in verse 18 and moving through the 27th verse of this chapter, the Spirit of God recommends that we focus on three adjustments, if you will, that will allow the signals of the Spirit to be well received by us who want to be ready receivers of the revelation of God. The 21st verse, I'll remind you, says, we are to receive with meekness the engrafted Word which is able to save our souls. Some fine-tuning is often in order for us who would receive the messages from the Lord. There's an attention adjustment that you and I must be willing to make. Beginning in verse 18, that attention adjustment is being considered. Don't forget, James is writing to Believer And so he says in chapter 1 and verse 1, to the 12 tribes scattered abroad greeting, verse 2, my brethren, count it all joy when you fall into divers temptations. And lest we've forgotten that he's writing to believers the 16th verse, he reminds us when he says, do not err, my beloved brethren. It's very important that you understand the audience to whom James is writing. When he says in verse 15, when lust conceives, it brings forth sin. And when sin conceives, it brings forth death. He's speaking to believers. And I'm so thankful that there's a contrast in this text. There's a message for us who have just pondered this thought that the conception of sin is death. Note verse 18. In contrast, the 18th verse says, of His own will beget He us. with the Word of Truth. Just as surely as sin conceives and brings forth death, the Word begotten in us bears life. And the contrast is ever so readily apparent. Faith comes by hearing, Romans 10 says in verse 17. How was it that you came to know spiritual life? Not from listening to the message of the stars, Though it's profound, not from hearing from the whispering willows, though they're beautiful in displaying God's handiwork. But faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. In the pages of God's word, there's a message that is told that is without equal. From the pages of God's word, we discover that we are all sinners. We've all come short of the glory of God. In the pages of God's word, we as sinners come to discover that God commended his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners. Can you say it with me? Christ died for us. What a wonderful message that he who was without sin bore my sin on Calvary. First Corinthians 15 makes it ever so clear that Christ died for our sin. If you're here this morning and you've never accepted Christ as Savior, I can tell you with the assurance of God's revelation, Christ died for your sins. And He was buried. And the world did its best to seal that message in the tomb. But He was gloriously resurrected. And Christ rose again the third day according to the Scripture. I can't look at the stars and know that. I can't hear the trees and know that. But when I look in God's Word, the revelation of God's Word helps me to know that I'm born again, not with corruptible seed, but with incorruptible by the living Word of God. Now, with this wonderful standing, born again by His living Word, He wants me to respond when He speaks. And so he says in verse 21, look at it there in the text, lay aside, he says, lay apart all filthiness. The picture there is of garments that are as rags in their filthiness. Get rid of those. All of your righteousness, as you remember, is as filthy rags and superfluity of naughtiness. Now, there's a good King James phrase, superfluity of naughtiness. It literally pictures those habits that you brought over with you from your pre-salvation life, and we all have them. That superfluity, those superfluous things that are not beneficial to your Christian journey, the Spirit of God wants them to be removed. Don't carry those habits with you. but be sanctified by the truth, for the word is truth." Pastor James has pastored in Jerusalem for quite some time, and that becomes apparent when you read the book of James. He knows the challenge of sharing the truth with people who sit and go, uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh, and nothing changes. And so the Spirit of God has provoked James to write, listen, Unlike those conceived in sin and dying a sure death, having been conceived by the living Word, let's lay aside those filthy rags and those habits from our old life and receive with meekness this engrafted Word, this living Word that so transforms our lives. About a year ago at Christmas, my wife bought a GPS system. Watch this for me. Now, I've really appreciated it when I've had it. And we share it together, we really love it. My kids try to have different voices on it just to keep us alert. I'm not sure which voice I like the best, and I'm not sure at all that I know what that thing is doing, but it usually gets me where I'm going and I usually get home and my wife will say, where have you been? And I'll say, I have no idea. I just went where it told me. And what I understand about that GPS is somewhere up in the heavenlies, there are satellites that are getting three coordinates and moving me along. As I look in this text, I find that the Spirit of God has given to me some coordinates that help me to understand whether or not I am really being attentive to the instruction of God's Word. Come back with me and see those coordinates, if you don't mind. If you would be able to say, my attention has been adjusted properly, then verse 19 says, you need to be swift to hear. Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear. So what have you heard from God lately? What eternal message from His Word made a difference in your earthly life? The author of the book of Hebrews says in Hebrews 5 and verse 11, our dull of hearing. And we're reminded in 2 Timothy 4 that there are some in this generation who have turned aside seeking teachers having itching ears. When's the last time God's Word in a message, in a song, or in your personal devotions brought conviction, brought a challenge, or brought comfort, or clarity, or required confession? Did you come this morning expecting to hear from the Lord? Did you make preparations today? Or did you just hustle in because that's what you do when it's Sunday morning? He that hath ears to hear, the Savior says, let him hear. Will you hear from the Lord this morning? Are you swift to hear? Did you hear about the man who every Sunday morning went by the pastor's door and greeted him by saying, Pastor, you really gave it to him today. You really gave it to him today. One snowy winter day, the pastor stood up and the only person present was that man who made that same comment every week. And the pastor spoke on every sin he knew that man to be committing. And on the way out the door, you know what the man said, don't you? He shook the pastor's hand. He said, man, pastor, if they'd have been there, you'd have really given it to him today. There are those who are like that. Oh, that we would sing with the songwriter, open my ears that I may hear. Voices of truth thou sendest near, and while the wave note sounds on my ear, everything false will disappear. Swift to hear is the second coordinate in this text. Slow to speak. It's been well said. God gave us two ears and one mouth, so we ought to listen twice as much as we speak. Don't nudge anybody right now. It's very difficult to hear when we're talking. It's very difficult to accept when we're arguing. I remember years ago being in Cambodia with my son. Guy was selling sunglasses. I said to my son, watch this. I don't really want any sunglasses. I wanted five dollars. I think it was. And every time he would come down, I'd just stand there and go. I didn't say anything. And because I didn't say anything, the price went down to something like 50 cents. The less I said, the more I got. I never did buy the sunglasses. But often the less we say, the more we receive. He that hath knowledge, Proverbs 17 says in verse 27, speaketh sparingly. Proverbs reminds us in chapter 10 and verse 18, he that refrained his lips is wise. Quietly now, I wait for thee. Ready, my God, thy will to see. Open mine eyes and lumen me. And then he finally says, if you would know how your attention receptor is doing, don't just be swift to hear and slow to speak, but be slow to wrath. The end of verse 19, be slow to wrath, for the wrath of man, verse 20, worketh not the righteousness of God. Now, let's be reminded this morning that the primary focus of the Spirit of God in this text is on receiving God's Word. How many parents here today? Let's see your hands. How many parents? How many have ever had parents? Don't you know that it's true that those who love us, and no one loves us quite like our parents, at times annoy us? And we say, well, I'll just do it my way. I don't know that I need all this advisement. In the text that we're considering this morning, the God in heaven who loved us and begat us by the word of truth, who loved us and sent his son to die for us, has yet more messages for us to receive. What a wonderful privilege we have. And isn't it interesting that in James chapter one, having just dealt with the topic of trials in those first 12 verses, the trials of your faith bring patience and patience when it has its perfect work, you become mature. And having just dealt with the topic of temptation, when lust has conceived, it brings forth sin. And when sin is conceived, it brings forth death. Isn't it now interesting that the Spirit of God moves in this text to the topic of the truth, helping us to understand that you will become discouraged in your trials and you will become defeated in your temptation. If not for the truth of God. So I ask you, Christian, this morning, are you discouraged? Have the trials of life and the burdens that you're carrying weighed heavily upon you? Would you say, I'm living a life that's kind of two lives. There's what people see and there's who I really am. In either of those situations, there's only one remedy. Receive with meekness the engrafted Word of God. Don't argue with the revelation of God. Accept that revelation as that precious golden statement from the Lord who loves you. I was preaching in a senior citizens home a couple of years ago. Something happened that I've never had happened before. I stood up and I was preaching for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. And as I finished that phrase, a lady sitting right on the front row said, I haven't. But did I hear that? Excuse me, she said, I've never sinned. I said, well, ma'am, the Bible says for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Well, I haven't, she said. I said, well, the Bible further says all we like sheep have gone astray, we've all turned everyone to his own way in Isaiah 53. She said, well, not me. I said, well, man, Romans three and verse 10 tells us there's none righteous, no, not one. I said, in fact, First John says in chapter one, if we say we're without sin, we lie. Now, at that point, I crossed the line. At that moment, I knew I'd crossed the line, but let me tell you something. There are many times in preaching and sharing the truth that we don't know we've crossed the line. But you do. When we become out of sorts with the revelation of God's word, understand that the wrath of man works, not the righteousness of God. When we say, well, others should submit, but not me. The wrath of man works, not the righteousness of God. Others might get caught, but it won't happen to me. The wrath of man works, not the righteousness of God. You know, there are many channels sending out bad information. I noted a few of them here. There's the no Bible channel, NBC. There's the argue with the Bible channel, that's ABC. PBS, persecute the Bible. In fact, that would be persecute the scripture channel. Then there's CBS, corrupt the Bible system. This text gives us some dashboard indicators, if you will, of a proper adjustment. Am I swift to hear? Do I come expecting to hear from heaven? There's nothing wrong with the transmission. Am I slow to speak, not arguing? Am I slow to wrath, not losing my temper? There are some in this room this morning. who have been going through job changes or new relationships. There are some here this morning who have had health difficulties, are facing major decisions. How in the world are you going to get through that without hearing from heaven? Swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath, receiving with meekness, verse 21, the engrafted Word of God. Make an attention adjustment. And once having made that attention adjustment, we move forward in this text and we note there's also expected an action adjustment. Hearing the word, that's the information stage, doing the word, that's the action stage, and that's verse 22. But be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. He's no longer comparing the engrafted word to seed. Now he's going to be painting a different picture, and it's a very appropriate and a very convicting picture. He's going to say the word of God is like a mirror. When you look in that mirror, it reflects with accuracy. Verse 25. Whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man should be blessed in his deed. Do you look in this mirror? I went out to eat this week with a friend of mine, and I'm glad he's a friend. We had a very nice and substantial meal. I came back that evening after we'd conversed for an hour or two, and he'd shown me around the church where he pastors, and I looked in the mirror. You ever had this happen? And I smiled at myself and I was horrified. My teeth were filled with food. And I thought, I wonder if I smiled all evening. I hope not. I hope I haven't smiled. But I had. The mirror didn't lie. The mirror helped me change. Those who hear the word need to make an attention adjustment, and with that attention adjustment, there comes an action adjustment. James is very practical. Show your faith by your works, he's going to say. Faith without works is dead, being alone. It's not just about hearing, it's about doing the Word. It's not really how much you mark your Bible, it's how much your Bible is marking you. And we're living in a generation of Bible believers who are saturated with information. The radio is on 24-7. If you don't like the radio, go to the website. If you don't like the website, go to the bookstore. And you're always getting information, but does it really change you? In the text to which we've turned, the Spirit of God has given to us two compelling reasons to make this action adjustment. He says in verses 22, 23 and 24, that hearing without doing is dangerous. Hearing without doing is dangerous, but be doers of the word and not hearers only. How's it dangerous, Pastor? Well, you've only deceived yourself. Hearing without doing, you're a deceiver of your own self, there's the danger of self deception. My wife and I, a number of years ago, were traveling on a highway heading south from Minneapolis-St. Paul. Before I left, I checked the mirror. I made sure the seat was properly adjusted. I put the safety belt on. There was a lady who was doing the same thing, but she was heading from the south to the north. She checked the mirror. Seat belt was adjusted. Everything looked in order. Gas in the tank. And we passed her. We were going south in the southbound lane while she was coming north in our southbound lane. A lot of things were right. She was heading north. But she was self-deceived. There are those who can parse the verbal system of the Greek language and come into God's word and show you all the nuances of the text. But when it comes to the activity that demonstrates that the Word is deep down in them making a difference, they're self-deceived. Don't just hear it and study it. Do it. Trust it. Don't live a self-deceived life. There's great danger in this self-deception. For he says in verse 22, these self-deceived ones are continuing on in verse 23 as one who's looked into mirror and a glass and beheld himself in verse 24 and gone his way, forgetting what manner of man he was. They're still defiled, these poor, deceived people. You see, when I look in God's word, there are times when tears break out and I say no one could have ever described me so specifically. There are times when glory breaks out No one could have provided comfort so wonderfully. And there are times when the old chuck breaks out and I say, I don't think I want to read that right now. I don't think I want to trust that right now. And I continue on in that self-deceived, sinfully defiled state. And when I do, the 25th verse says, hearing and doing not only can bring danger. Hearing without doing, rather, but hearing and doing will always bring blessing. For those who look into the perfect law of liberty and continue therein, not being forgetful hearers, but doers of the work, this man should be blessed in his deed. How will I be blessed? Oh, we learned last week the 17th verse. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above. You can't pay for the gifts that God wants to give. You can spend all your money seeking health and never find it. You can spend all your time seeking wealth and never gain it. Every good gift and every perfect gift, the gift of peace that passes all understanding, the gift of family that draws near and loves and remains loyal, the gift of friendships that the world could never understand in the common household of the faith. How do I find these gifts? I become. One who receives with meekness the engrafted Word, hearing it swiftly, not arguing with it, but seizing upon those gifts that the Lord ever so frequently wants to give to His children. The attention setting. The action setting. The attention setting. That's plugging in the mind. The action setting. That's plugging in the will. That leads to a final setting. If you would know the joy of being a good receiver of the Word of God. And that's the appearance adjustment. And somehow I believe that the appearance adjustment could only be touched by the Spirit of God. I can focus my attention, I can submit my will, and as I do so, note what the Spirit of God is able to do in verse 26. You see, this adjustment is ever so essential for if any man among you seem to be religious and bridle not his tongue, but deceives his own heart, that man's religion is vain. For pure religion and undefiled before God the Father is this, to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction and keep himself unspotted from the world. It's one thing to have a word filled mind. It's another thing to have a word filled and led will. How do I know if the Word of God is really engrafted in me and bringing forth that fruit? Well, the appearance adjustment will tell me. There's a speech test that's discovered here. The 26th verse, any man among you seem to be religious and bridle if not his tongue. James again and again is going to put before us this speech test. How do I know if I'm a Word-filled Christian? I depended upon the Word for my salvation, believing Christ died for me, Now he wants to build in me through the Word. How do I know if that's happening? My tongue begins to be transformed. If any man's seeming to be religious and not able to bridle his tongue, he has deceived his own heart. And that man's religion is vain, for out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. If the mouth is speaking gossip, if the mouth is filled with griping, If the mouth is filled with innuendo or inflammatory words, you're really not a word filled Christian. For the word filled Christian is going to be a spirit led Christian. And when the word has been heard and the actions have been moved in the direction of agreeing with God, not arguing with God, the speech changes. You can tell. That the Lord has done something in that person's life, and old things are passing away and all things are becoming new. The taming of the tongue, you see, no man can do, James 3 says. But the Spirit of God can do it. And the picture of Christ becomes even more clear. For when the Word of God dwells richly within us, there's a service test that's going to be passed. Pure religion, verse 27, and undefiled before God and the Father is this, to visit the fatherless and the widows in their affliction. The speech test, the Spirit of God has changed my tongue. The service test now involved in sacrificial service. That's a joy. Even to the widows and the fatherless, those who really can't give me anything in return. It's not about me anymore. It's about living for him. And did you notice the last part of verse 27? This appearance adjustment that the Spirit of God is doing, the speech test is passed, the service test is passed, and there's a separation test. And to keep himself unspotted from the world. We live in a generation that can't even define what the world is. Let alone remain unspotted from it. Kent Hughes, who pastors the campus church in Wheaton, Illinois, wrote a book entitled Set Apart, Calling a Worldly Church to a Godly Life. And this is what Kent Hughes, a well-known evangelical, said. He said, among evangelicals, there is a great disconnect between, on the one hand, what Christians believe and, on the other hand, how Christians actually live. The contemporary evangelical church is not lacking for moral instruction. It's lacking in its ability to remain uncontaminated. By the un-Christian thinking and morality of contemporary culture, the world has overwhelmed the thinking and behavior of Christians. How do I know when I'm a word-filled Christian? My speech changes, my desire to serve changes, and I want to be separated from the world. I don't want to live like the world. I don't want to be involved in the things I used to be involved in. because the Spirit of God has ministered to my heart. I am born according to this text, begotten by the Word of Truth. And now having been begotten by that Word of Truth, which gave to me the hope of eternal salvation, when the Spirit of God through the Word speaks to my heart, I'm attentive to it. And I want to activate through my will that dependence upon it. And then the Spirit of God brings the picture in. And Jesus Christ is seen. in deeds of service and statements that are filled with the Spirit and spotlessness from the world. Listen, there are many people who live round about us today who know much of the Bible. Who are saturated with all kinds of messengers of the Bible whose lives haven't begun to change at all. And we have to go to the book of James and say, Pastor James, what would you say to us through the Spirit of God? He'd say, You better be slow in your speech and swift in your hearing. Don't get angry when the Word of God crosses your preconception. But rather, submitting your will to it, watch the Spirit of God. Bring the picture into view. He wants Christ to be seen through you. And it will never happen if you're never in the Word. And it will never happen if you never submit to the Word. So we asked the question this morning, when's the last time the Word of God convicted your heart Once the last message from Christ that was heard by you and bet your will in his direction. Or are you just looking in the mirror like I did? Thursday evening. And becoming horrified. And then saying, I'll be all right. Don't let the spirit of Christ be provoked within you to anger. May Christ be seen in you as the word of God ministers to you today and every day. Father, I thank you that on this good day, as we look in your word. We can be challenged to live for your glory. Lord, I pray that you would cause some adjustments to be made today, for there are those in this room who have to be honest before the Lord. But there's been some love of the world There's been some resistance to God's will. There's been some provoking of the spirit. Heads are bowed, eyes are closed and no one looking around. In a moment, our instruments are going to play number 366. Have thine own way, Lord, have thine own way. Thou art the potter, I am the clay. I wonder if there are some here this morning who would have to acknowledge there's been no time in the word this week. And so when the trials have come and so when the temptations have come, I have not had any power to live in the spirit. There's been no transformational work by the word done in a while. So when the temptations come, I'm vulnerable and when the trials come, I'm confused. There may be even someone here this morning who's never trusted Christ to save you. And today you want to come and know the blessing of eternal life given by the one who loved you and gave himself for you. I don't know what the spiritual need is, but wouldn't it be wonderful this morning if you'd hear the Spirit of God saying, I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present yourselves a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service and be not conformed to the world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. And someone would say, yes, dear spirit, I have been resisting, but today I'm going to come, even on bending knee, bend my will to do the will of the one who loved me and birthed me by the word. I want to be enlarged by it.