Engrafting The Word
James 1:19-25
James is a practical book about the Christian life. It's a book where true faith is seen by the Christians conduct, character, and conversation. Christianity is not just theories. It is acts or, to use the Bible term, works. We have all the grand themes of the Christian life but what is missing in our day is its reality. That is what our Lord longs for in all of our lives [Lk 6:46; Mt 5:8; Mt 6:1-18]. In this portion of scripture James tells us why the Word of God has not changed our lives to the degree that God intended it to (the soul’s salvation). We have been saved from sins penalty. We will be saved from sins presence. However, not many believers are being saved from sins power. The Word of God is not becoming a part of our daily lives (engrafted). Before we can deal with the engrafting process there are three traits that we must possess.
I. The Traits for Engrafting
1. A teachable spirit - swift to hear [ Mk 4:24; Prov 1:5] James 1:19
2. A thoughtful spirit - slow to speak [ Prov 15:28; Prov 18:13:] James 1:19
3. A humble spirit - slow to wrath [ Prov 9: 7-10 ] the opposite of wrath is humility James 1:19
Many Christians are still attempting to accomplish spiritual results through the arm of the flesh James 1:20
II. The Trees for Engrafting
1. Only trees of the same botanical family can be grafted (apple tree cannot be grafted to an orange tree)
2. A lost person cannot graft into his life Rom. 6. His nature will not accept the graft
3. That is why Jesus said "A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt
tree bring forth good fruit " Mt. 7 :18
4. So let’s look at the engrafting process
III. The Technique for Engrafting
1. There Must Be Cleansing James1:21
a. Lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness James 1:21
b. All the grafting tools must be cleaned before they are used
c. If we fail to lay aside the sins of our lives the graft will never take Eh 4: 22-32; Col 3:5-10
2. There Must Be Cutting James 1:21
a. There are different types of grafting but all of them include cutting
b. We must have our lives opened up to God's Word through the convicting of the Holy Spirit
c. Some people say that they are not convicted, the truth is they have a seared conscience I Tim 4:2
3. There Must Be Fitting
a. The membrane of the grafts need to match up as close as possible
b. Often God speaks to us but we don't take the time to make personal application
c. David said in Ps 51:4" Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight"
d. I need victory, I need Revival, I need power, I need to grow; etc
e. Not someone else but me
4. There Must Be Binding James 1:21
a. Many get to this point and for some time they are deeply concerned about their life
b. But only to slip back into old routines
c. The graft needs to be bound to the branch through meditation Psalm 1
d. It's when we meditate on the truth of God's Word that the binding takes place
e. In just a short time the graft will become a part of the tree
5. There Must Be Protecting
a. Sometimes the graft is protected by a wax coating or sheltered in some other way
b. This prevents disease and pest from entering the graft
c. It is helpful to have a godly Christian friend to hold you accountable
d. The Lord established His Church to help protect His work in your life
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