What to Do with What You Know

Transcript

GR 1645
06/24/2012
What To Do with What You Know
James 1:22-27
Gil Rugh

We are in the book of James chapter one. James and the first chapter. James probably the first of the New Testament books written. It is written by the half-brother of Christ, leader of the church of Jerusalem. Those early years of the church. Became a believer after the resurrection of Christ and had a post-resurrection appearance of Christ to him. And then in Acts chapter 15 we find James starting his leadership in the church of Jerusalem. He becomes a strong leader among the Jews. We think of Peter as an apostle for the Jews and indeed he was but there in Jerusalem it seems that James was key figure in leading their church there which would have been primarily and basically a Jewish church. And so the letter of James is written to Jews who have been dispersed and scattered outside the land of Israel for one reason or another so we noted that the address is for the twelve tribes who are in the dispersion. The diaspora. They were disperse abroad. He talked about trials and difficulty through this first chapter.
He mixes in with here the importance of functioning properly as God’s people. The importance of persevering under trial. That is part of God’s plan in maturing us and in preparing us for the glory that He will bestow upon us. The crown of life in verse 12 that will be given to those who love Him. God never tests us with the intention of leading us into sin. Testing comes to refine us. That if we don’t function properly we can use those tests for an occasion to sin. Then reminded us that every good gift comes down from God. The ultimate gift from God is the salvation we have in Christ. Then in verse 19 he says, “This you know, my beloved brethren,” reminded them to “be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger.” Man’s anger doesn’t accomplish God’s righteous purposes. “Therefore, putting aside,” picture similar to what Paul will use in his letters. To the Colossians and the Ephesians. Picturing the old live and a conduct associated with the old life like old clothes that are taken off and replaced. Because these are the things, our conduct, is what displays us before the world. So verse 21, “Therefore, putting aside all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness, in humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls.” From that command, “receive the word implanted.” That word that is implanted into the heart at salvation. To take root and flourish and blossom, producing the character of God, manifest in our behavior in all areas. So that’s the exhortation for the word to function properly and to produce its intended results. We have to turn away from sin even as believers.
We looked at Peter who wrote the same thing, that we set put aside the wicked practices, the practices of sin, and we long for the pure unadulterated milk of God’s word. That we might grow in respect to our salvation. There can be no compromise with sin. Well, there are some things in my life that don’t belong there. There are things I don’t think God would be pleased within my life but overall I think I’m doing a good job. That kind of compromise is never acceptable. I have to be hard on myself when it comes to sin. There can be no tolerance there. So that is “putting aside all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness (and) in humility receive the word.” And we know that means to respond to it, submit to it, welcome it, and have it do its work in your life. That is the word that is able to save your soul. Bring us to the ultimate salvation God provided.
Continuing this same emphasis as you come to verse 22, “But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves.” “Prove yourselves doers of the word.” Another command, just as we had the command in verse 21, “receive the word implanted.” And the command is, “prove yourself doers of the word, and not merely hearers.” The danger. Israel fell into this pattern and remember in the Old Testament, the Jews with their background could appreciate the danger and we can as well. Israel began to think because the Law had been given to them, because they were the possessors of the revelation from God therefore they were accepted by God. Having the word, hearing the word was enough. James’ concern is that pattern not be followed by those who now profess faith in Christ. So he commands them to prove themselves doers. This word doer is one that James will use three more times. He uses it two more times before the chapter is over, then will use it once over in chapter 4. Doers, those who put the word into practice, who do the word. “Doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves.” Now for these Jews, they have an advantage. They come out of a Jewish past where they would have been taught the Old Testament scriptures. So they had that reservoir to draw from. We as Gentiles come to salvation in Christ and often we are all but completely ignorant of the Old Testament except for some of the more familiar stories. But for the Jews from childhood they would have been taught the scriptures and were familiar. With what James says here is drawn from the Old Testament.
Come back to Deuteronomy 28:58, “If you are not careful to observe.” And that word translated observe, when the Jews translated their Old Testament into Greek a couple hundred years before Christ they translated with the same word we have translated doers in James. New Testament people were often using a Greek translation of the Old Testaments since Greek was the common language used at that time. So here, “If you are not careful to observe,” or to do, “all the words of this law which are written in this book, to fear this honored and awesome name, the Lord your God, then the Lord will bring” chastening and judgement upon you. That emphasis, the law wasn’t given just to fill them with knowledge. The law was given to guide them in their conduct. It was given to be obeyed. To practice it. To do it.
Turn over to chapter 29 of Deuteronomy, verse 29, “The secret things belong to the Lord our God.” There are some things He has chosen not to reveal. They are known only to Him “but the things revealed belong to us and to our sons forever, that we may observe.” Again, the Greek translation of the Old Testament, that is the word we have in James translated doers. That we may do “all the words of this law.” The importance. You have to hear the law, you have to know the truth, but that is not good enough. It is not enough to have the facts poured in. I was reading a seminary professor who has written a commentary on this section. He was reminded that there are seminary professors who are not saved. They have much knowledge of the word, but it is not put into practice. They have to be assimilated into our lives and lived out. That is the intention of the word of God. Never intended that because we have a bible, because we go to church, because we sit in bible study, therefore we are saved. It is important to be taught the word, to be involved in the study of the word. What is my life like? How conformed to the word of God is it becomes the evidence of the reality of God’s work in our lives.
Come back to James. That word translated prove, they’re to be doers, it’s a present tense command, an imperative, this is something they are to be doing. Be doing the word, not merely hearers but doers. Doesn’t say it’s not important to hear. Not merely hearers. Obviously you have to hear the word. If you don’t hear the word, you are not taught it, you don’t know what God said, but if it stops there, something’s wrong in the life. Not merely hearers. Those who are merely hearers delude themselves, deceive themselves. Somebody used the analogy in a college environment you can audit classes, sometimes you audit the class. What does that mean? I remember auditing a couple classes. That meant I could go, I could take in all the information, but I wasn’t responsible to do anything with it. I didn’t have to take the tests, I didn’t have to do the other things. I just was there taking in the information. It is not possible to audit biblical Christianity. Audit the word of God. Yes, I’m taking it all in, I’m learning a lot, I go to Sunday school and church, bible study, and take it in. The point is where is it going? What is happening with it? If nothing’s happening then we are deluding ourselves.
Those who don’t do the word but only hear the word delude themselves. They deceive themselves by false reasoning. The idea of the word here. Hearing the word doesn’t save you. It’s difficult. Some people have been raised in the church here. Maybe parents, you’re first generation Christian, but now you have Christian kids, they were born in the home with Christian parents. Brought to Christian church, heard the word of God, taught from the youngest age in Sunday school. They grow up, they are adults, easy to begin to think “Yeah, I go to a Christian church, hear the bible, been taught” we hear testimony at baptism often like that but that is the reality. Comes to them that my life wasn’t what it ought to be. That the word was revealing what I really am. They come to salvation and were thrilled with that. We don’t want to deceive our self. I know we don’t want to fool our self. No matter what our age. Oh yeah, I can quote verses. I can quote many verses, but that doesn’t mean I’m saved. Means I can know a lot about the bible.
I am convinced that what is going on in our church and in our schools alike is we have many people who have been raised in a Christian environment, but have never truly been born again. And they have a headful of knowledge about the scripture, they can write books on it. But they have never experienced true salvation. Comes by faith in Christ. The evidence is the life they live and the doctrines they are teaching. Something doesn’t come together. So don’t deceive yourself, that is James’ concern. Verse 23, going to give an example, “For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer,” there’s our word again, a doer, you are not saved by doing, but when you are saved you do. The order is important and it is inseparable. You get the order wrong there is no salvation. Person who thinks they are saved by works or by works plus faith is not saved. But a person who thinks they can by saved and not have the character of God produced in their life is deluding themselves, they are not saved either.
Salvation comes when a person truly believes the truth. That truth is implanted in the heart. We are born again. We become partakers of the divine nature, as Paul said. And now the character of God is produced in us. “If anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was.” A picture then, look in the mirror and your face is dirty, your hair is not combed, you go away and forget it. And then, my, I look good today, we walk around and people were staring at you and the next thing your thinking is probably because they haven’t seen anyone who looks so good. And they’re looking at you because they haven’t seen anyone who looks so strange. You look in the mirror, you walk away and you forgot, like I never looked, that’s the point. An analogy obliviously. That is a person who’s looking into the word of God. The word of God is like a mirror.
Remember 2 Corinthians 3:18? “We are beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord” and we “are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory.” But for some people that is not happening. They’re are looking into the mirror, then go away and forget, and it makes no impact on them. They make no change, if you will. The word of God is not working in they’re heart and mind. They heard it, they know it, they can give all the right answers perhaps, and their life has something missing. Something is wrong. They don’t compute, I have talked to people over the years a number of times and they go, yeah, I know I am a believer, there is no doubt, and say something is wrong. By your own admission your life is not what it ought to be. It doesn’t bear any resemblance to what God says a child of His should look like and yet you sit here and say you are a believer. Something is wrong. Just like a person who says I don’t believe in the death, burial and resurrection of Christ, but I know I am a Christian. I know I am going to heaven. You say, where do you get that assurance? They can be like the person who is looking in the mirror, person can come here and study the bible regularly. Get up, close up their bible, they go out, nothing changes. They are like the person who looks in the mirror. Go away and nothing happened. They make no adjustments, they don’t make the changes by the grace of God that He would indicate in their lives.
James would have a background here from some of what Christ taught. Come back to Matthew 7. We are in the Sermon on the Mount here and many commentators say that they think much of James draws from the Sermon on the Mount. James would not have been a believer during Christ’s earthly ministry. He was probably exposed to much of that ministry and much of the teaching would have been passed on to him. In Matthew 7:15, “Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.” How do you know? What is in them? “You will know them be their fruits.” He is going to repeat that down in verse 20, “you will know them by their fruits.” “Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? So every tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So then, you will know them by their fruits.” The conduct. That doesn’t mean unbelievers can’t conform themselves in ways that look like believers. The general pattern is clear. You know, all of us, we get down, people then don’t go to church. Say, yeah, I think they are believers. We could ask their spouse, their husband or their wife, or their children. Wait till I get home. We might find out something more about them, right? What about at work? We go to an interview and we might find something out. You know we all put on a good front here. You think that I am going to lose my temper and holler at my wife here? Not likely. I have to hold it in, even though I am going, but I will wait till I get in the car, we might not get home, that I reveal truly what is inside, right?
That is what false prophets are. They can put on a good front, they have sheep’s clothing. So it’s not saying here it’s just so blatant. But you look carefully, what’s being produced in the life? Verse 21, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does,” form of our word, doer, “he who does the will of my Father who is in Heaven.” That is not saying you are saved by works. It’s always been by grace through faith. But God’s salvation changes us, If any man being in Christ, he is a new creature, a new creation. The old things pass away, new things come, Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 5 verse 22 of Matthew 7, “Many will say to me”- note that- “many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name preforms many miracles?’ ” So they’re doing a lot of things that are impressive. “I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’ ” So even though there is much religion going on in their lives, the reality of it is they do not live lives in submission and obedience to God. “Everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them,” verse 24. That word ‘acts’ and a little number 1 in front of it and in your margin it says does, a form of that word, a doer. Who does then? Acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who builds his house on the rock and when the rain and the floods come, the house stands. “Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man.”
Again we have that same contrast we talk about in our study with Proverbs. The wise and the foolish, the wise knows the Lord, the foolish does not. And you hear the word, but you don’t change. You have a house built on the sand and it will not stand in the storm of judgement. So change, not saying anything new, they think the Old Testament said. The same thing Jesus taught. He reminded them because that danger is there. And we think if we can conform in some ways and we are happy, if we get our kids to conform in certain areas, but they know where they are. We don’t want to play games, we don’t want to deal with reality.
On your way back stop in Romans 2. It gets in a debate that is related to Lordship issues, Lordship salvation, and does a life have to change when you are saved? John Calvin had it right. That you can’t be saved by your works, but there is no salvation apart from producing works. We want to be careful that we distinguish between justification and sanctification, but you don’t separate them. Sanctification, that transformed life, a life of holiness, is a result of God’s salvation. In Romans 2:17, “If you bear the name ‘Jew’ and rely upon the Law and boast in God, and know His will and approve the things that are essential, being instructed out of the Law, and are confident that you are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, a corrector of the foolish, a teacher of the immature, having in the Law the embodiment of knowledge and of the truth and you, therefore, who teach another, do you not teach yourself? You who preach that one should not steal, do you steal?” And then moral issues run on down. So you have all this, but that doesn’t mean you are saved. You have the word of God, you teach the word of God, you are instructing people, but if that is as far as it goes that doesn’t save you. It takes a transformation of the heart, which is verse 29, “He is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that which is of the heart.” That word has to be implanted in the heart. That is where the true change has to occur and it is out of the heart then that all these things come.
Come back to James 1. There given the illustration of the mirror, a person who looks in the mirror and just goes away, didn’t do anything about it. Comes, sits down, studies the word, go home, hold up the bible, put it down, and go live our life, just like we never heard anything from the word. Verse 25, “But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer.” Doer of work, this man will be blessed in what he does. Here is a person who is looking intently at the perfect law, he is not talking about the Mosaic Law here. The Mosaic Law was for Israel. Its purpose was complete with the coming of Christ. Paul makes clear in Galatians it was the school master until Christ came. That doesn’t mean there aren’t things we learn from the law. But we don’t live under the authority of the Mosaic Law. There are things we learn out of the law. But we don’t live under the Mosaic Law, but God’s word is the law for us. This is the perfect law. The same thing as verse 18, “In the exercise of His will He brought us forth by the word of truth.” It is the same thing as the implanted word in verse 21, “Receive the word implanted which is able to save your soul.” Verse 25, the “one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty.”
It is not the law of bondage. It is the law that sets you free because it is the power of God’s salvation. He calls it the law because it is the authoritative word of God. When we say we’re not under the Mosaic Law, we are not antinomian. Nomian meaning law from the Greek word ‘nomas,’ which means law. We are not anti-law. We are not saying when you are saved you are now free to live as you please. Free from the law, O happy condition, sin all you want, for there is remission, a little ditty we make out of the song. That is not the case. We are free from the Mosaic Law, that is a happy condition. That does not mean we can sin all we want, because now we are under the law of Christ. When Gods speaks that is the law. That is a commandment. Letters to the churches are filled with commandments; we noted some commandments here given by the Spirit through James. Verse 21, “receive the word,” verse 22, “prove yourself doers of the word.” And those are commands imperative. God commands all everywhere to repent. He is not giving a suggestion, He is giving a command. Men refuse to obey His commands, they’ll come under judgement. So when you are looking into the perfect law, the law of liberty, the law that brings God’s perfection.
This is what is promised in the Old Testament. Come back to Jeramiah 31. We live under the new covenant, some of its provisions… The new covenant hasn’t been implemented but there has been provision made for it. Foundation has been laid in the death and resurrection of Christ. Jeramiah 31:33, “ ‘This is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,’ declares the Lord. ‘I will put my law within them and in their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.’ ” Jesus instituted the communion at the Last Supper. This cup is the new covenant in My blood. Because it was His death that laid the foundation for the implementation of the new covenant. And we become partakers of the salvation blessings of this covenant. Even though it is the covenant to find its fulfillment particularly with the nation Israel. So it is the perfect law.
Come to Matthew 5:17. This is the earlier part of the Sermon on the Mount. Chapter 5, 6, and 7 as Matthew records it. Matthew 5:17, “Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill.” And it all had to be fulfilled. Then He fulfills it. Verse 20 “For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.” It is not righteousness that we can accomplish. So we need the righteousness of Christ credited to us. With that comes the new life in Christ that we are now going to live out because we have been made new within. The law of God has been written on our hearts. And we’re living that out now. Not the Mosaic Law, but the law of God as provided in Christ. Called the perfect law of liberty because it’s the law that sets you free.
You are roaming around here, come to John 8. Jesus speaking to the Jews and in verse 31, “Jesus was saying to those Jews who have believed Him, ‘If you continue in my word, then you are truly disciples of Mine’’. You see the connection. It is not a profession. It is not just an action in time, but it is something that begins at a point in time, but continues on. If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” What we call the perfect law of liberty. It sets you free. It liberates you. Stay in John 8 here. Come down to verse 34. “Jesus said, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin.” But in verse 36 “So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.” That’s the law of liberty. The truth concerning Christ. Need to be careful that we don’t get confused and say, well, we see the word ‘law,’ that must be the Mosaic Law. No, that law is not binding. James is part that lead the way in the clarification of that in Acts 15. So he is not confused about this. That he doesn’t talk about the Mosaic Law. He is talking about the perfect law of liberty. The truth concerning Christ. And the commands God has given in the context of the provision of His salvation.
Come over to Romans 8, then we will go back to James. Romans 8. The chapter opens up, “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death.” Chapter 7 has made clear that the Mosaic Law was the law in sin and death because it didn’t provide the power, I couldn’t keep it. The Jews couldn’t keep it, so it became a law of sin and death. They could condemn, it could command, but Israel was enslaved to sin. So now we have the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus which sets you free from the law of sin and death. So we see its the law of liberty. It sets you free. For what the law, talking about the Mosaic Law, could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh as an offering for sin. He condemned sin in the flesh. So that the requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us. It demands righteousness. In Christ we receive the righteousness of God. So we are set free from a law of sin and death.
Come back to James. The “one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty,” it is the truth concerning Christ, “and abides by it.” This person looks into the word, he’s not become a forgetful hearer. He submits to what he sees, he is looking at the perfect law. It is comparing it in that analogy to the mirror. He is not like the one who goes away and forgets it, but he lives in it now, he abides in it. That truth of God is shaping his life. He is proving himself, verse 22, doer of the word. He’s welcoming the word implanted as verse 21 talked about. He is not become a forgetful hearer, but he is an effectual doer, literally a doer of work. In the sense he is doing what the word of God says. The Spirit of God is working in his heart and life. He is submitting himself to the Spirit. The Word of God, Christ, is dwelling richly in Him. As we saw in Colossians 3 in our study earlier. So his life is being shaped by the word. This man will be blessed in what he does. In his doing, literally. It is not just a single act of doing something here. Life is changed. Now what I do is shaped and controlled, by the word of God. We talked about the family and our conduct as men and women being shaped and controlled by the word of God. It is true in all we do because we’re new creatures in Christ. It is not just trying to change an area of my conduct. Unbelievers do that. They quit drinking or quit taking drugs or quit doing other things, but that doesn’t really change them on the inside. That means they just stopped doing something. The salvation that God talks about makes us new. Now we have a new life from Him.
Gives us some examples here of the importance of implementing and putting into practice the truth of the word of God. “If anyone thinks himself to be religious, and yet does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this man’s religion is worthless.” So person could be very religious. Again, Israel, Jews, they practice things, Paul uses himself as an example. I mean, he was very religious. Very devoted to the Mosaic Law, the Old Testament scriptures, but he was a lost man by his own testimony. So James is going to give some indications of the transformation in areas he is talking about. When he talks about being religious. The idea is religious activity. For Jews it could involve certain Jewish things. Now that we are believers it could involve things like Christians are to do. And they are involved in. He thinks himself to be religious. He thinks he is doing what would make him acceptable to God, but he doesn’t bridle his tongue.
The tongue is a burden of James. We get to chapter 3 we get that extensive discussion about the tongue. He gives it to a root area. He doesn’t bridle his tongue, he thinks he is a religious person. He thinks he’s what God wants him to be, but he doesn’t control his tongue. He is going to use that same analogy of bridling the tongue when you get over to chapter 3 and he is talking more about the tongue. Verse 2, “For we all stumble in many ways. If anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to bridle the whole body as well.” At the bridle, the control, the animal. It controls the person, he can’t control his tongue. Your religious activity is worthless. And the tongue is mentioned because the tongue reveals what is in the heart, right?
Come back to Matthew chapter 12:33. Similar to the things that Jesus said earlier in the Sermon on the Mount. Verse 33. “Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for the tree is known by its fruit. You brood of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak what is good? For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart.” We reveal what is inside us. Nobody can see my heart. So we like to tell people, well, you can’t, you don’t know what I’m like on the inside. You don’t know me, you can’t say what my heart is like. Yes, you can. You reveal it when you speak. Again, can fool people because here we all speak nicely to each other, we are careful what we say, generally, and so on. But what are we like when we are not in this environment, and when the pressure is on and so on? “The mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart.” What James is talking about here when you come back to James 1:26 a person thinks himself to be religious yet he doesn’t bridle his tongue, he really deceives his own heart. Verse 22 “But prove yourself doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves.” And here is a person who deceives themselves. They are a very religious person but you know I just can’t control my tongue, I can’t help it, people get me upset. What does that got to do with it? People don’t make me sin. People don’t make me say what I shouldn’t say with my tongue. I like to say they do, try to take the responsibility off of me, but I really say what is in my heart. And you know I want to get it out. They deserve to hear this. And I am going to let them know. And if they hadn’t said this to me or treated me this way, then I wouldn’t have said that so it is their fault. James doesn’t accept that. You can’t control your tongue, you have a worthless religion, you deceive yourself in thinking you’re truly a believer. It is a pretty strong word when he says his religion is worthless, empty.
We won’t take the time. We could go back to look in the Old Testament. That word is used in translating the Hebrew word into Greek in the Old Testament in Jerimiah 2:5, Jerimiah 10:3. What? A idol worship is worthless. It is empty. It has no profit, no value. That is what he is saying. So we get into a practical area. The importance of the tongue. The prophets had to remind Israel their religious activity could not be a substitute for true, heart faith. And that’s something we have to… You know, the longer we are together and we create an environment and people think because they are religious. This is my church, this is where I was raised, I was baptized here. I go here pretty regularly. I’m a pretty religious person in the good sense of that word. But am I saved? That is what James is dealing with.
Another example, come back to James 1: 27. “Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows into their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.” Pure, undefiled religion. And again, sometimes we think we don’t like the word religion because we think that is what man does, but it’s used here in a biblical sense. Of what God would desire of a person. How we are to function in our relationship to Him. In our service for Him, and our worship of Him. A religion that is pure and undefiled and these words are synonyms. We have the positive and the negative side. That which is pure is that which is undefiled. And that which is undefiled is that which is pure. It is acceptable to God. It is free from sin, if you will, in the sight of our God and Father. I mean, that’s all that matters, right? I mean, I can fool you, you can fool me, but God is never fooled. So it is what is pure and undefiled in His sight that matters.
To visit orphans and widows in their distress. The ‘visit,’ involves a word here, the oversight for caring for them, being involved in meeting their needs. This again would have strong Old Testament background. We won’t take the time to go back. Deuteronomy 10:18, 14:28-29, 26:12, 27:19. That’s just Deuteronomy. In the Old Testament Israel was responsible for the poor and needy within their nation. They were not responsible for the widows and orphans in Babylon or Assyria, or other nations, but they were responsible for those in the family of the Israelites. It has become important because it manifested you are here giving that help and caring for those that God says are important to Him. Be careful. Read some commentators that said this is why we ought to be involved in meeting the needs of the immigrants and doing this. That is a whole different subject. Talking about here our relationship among the family of God. The Israelites were responsible for the Israelites. The church is primarily responsible for the believers there. If we had the widows and orphans and they are often picked out because they were the most helpless. In those days they didn’t even have some of the safety we might have today.
We read Naomi and Ruth in the book of Ruth. Without the husband providing that they are left to, what? Become beggars in the field. Go out and follow the reapers and gather what you could to try to get a living. There are no other resources for them. So the nation Israel was to care for them. When they gleam the field, what? They had to leave some of the fallen grain for the poor, the widows, and the orphans so they would come. And couldn’t get every last drop of grain you could out of your field. Because that would leave nothing for those who didn’t have resources, so part of the provision. Other ways they were to meet the needs that are clear instruction. Every third year the tithe that was to be taken and used to meet needs like that and so on. So in the church we’re responsible for those orphans, widows, that have needs that ought to be cared for, visited, seeing that their needs are meet. This becomes a sign of true godly character because you are doing it for people who can’t do anything in response. There is going to be no payback here. So I am doing it out of the love that Christ has for me and for them and I’m showing that love to them.
Now I am not saying you can never give help to an unbeliever, but the prime focus of James has here is how we’re related as believers. Remember this became an issue in the earlier church in Acts 6. At this time the disciples were increasing, a number of complaints arose on the part of the Hellenistic Jews against the native Hebrews because their widows were being overlooked in the care of daily serving of the food. So they had to make special provision to see that the care of these widows was taken care of. A part of the issue in the early church. James says that this is one example. In everything there is to be conduct that is acceptable to God. He is giving some examples here on bridling the tongue. That’s obviously not the only sin he could have used as an example. Pure and undefiled religion. Visiting the widows and orphans in their need, taking care of them. That is just an example here. One area. An important area, but we ought not to make this all there is. I care. It is inconvenient because you got to take time to meet them. We got enough of our own problems in that. No, we ought to be ready, ought to be checking on them, seeing their needs are meet, that they have need of help, and so on. We need to be ready to do that among the family of believers.
And then with this, “keep oneself unstained by the world.” I mean, that encompasses everything in one umbrella statement. I have a responsibility before God for my personal holiness, “to keep oneself unstained by the world.” The world is a defiling place. We say, oh boy, I work with unbelievers, I just feel dirty around them. Don’t. Just keep yourself unstained. It’s not what they do that stains us with sin, it’s what we do. We talk about its not what others do, it’s what we do. What someone else does, does not make me sinful. Other than the fact that I have inherited sin from my parents, as we all go back to Adam. But in my conduct I am to keep myself unstained by the world. It’s not saving yourself. That is now one who has been saved by God’s grace. Is living on the basis of the provision of His grace. To submit myself to the Spirit and draw upon His enabling power. To live in submission and obedience to the word of God. It’s delightful to know whatever your personal situation you can live unstained by the world as a believer in Jesus Christ because the provision has been made. But the responsibility is upon us. The world is a dirty place. The whole world lies in the power of the evil one, 1 John 5 says. You know, if we make the world a better place… Everybody gets caught up with the politics and the decisions being made. That is not the issue whatever. Living in a sin-stained world we have to be unstained by. God makes provision for us to live just that way. These are the people that are acceptable for God and that God desires to worship Him. Those who worship God must worship Him, how? John 4, in spirit and in truth, and no one comes to Him but through Christ. So when we come to salvation by faith in Christ He cleanses us. Makes us new. His spirit indwells us, now we are responsible to live for Him every day of our lives. We’re in the word so that we can take it in, receive it and welcome it and put it into practice. And none of us here is perfect, but if we are continuing to mature that cannot be an excuse for me. Well, nobody is perfect. Think I have improved in a lot of areas. But if I know there are areas I haven’t improved, improve. That will take time. It’s almost 7:30, is that enough time? I mean, if I know what I have to do, do it, right? I am thinking, well, this will take time. Meaning what? I am going to take time. I need some time to stop losing my temper, since James has started that. How much time do you need? Well if my wife stops doing some things I probably won’t lose it as often. If I get treated better at work I won’t lose my temper. Well wait a minute wait a minute, what do I need time for? Well, is time going to do it for me? Well, I’m involved in an immoral relationship, I am going to work my way out of it. How long do you need? Should be done today, right? Done. It’s over.
All these areas of excuses I might make, the scripture is clear. Do it. If you are aware of an area of life, there are things in your life that don’t belong there, first question is, Lord, have I settled my relationship? I mean, there are people because they have been raised in an environment or part of an environment think that they are saved. Stop and think, hey, I want to be honest. In my heart before the Lord am I? I can’t pretend games with the Lord. Lord, something is wrong. These things in my life don’t belong there. If I really know You they have to be dealt with. Do I really know You? I really trusted the Lord. Then clean it up, “keep oneself unstained by the world.” We have the strength, we have the responsibility, God has made the provision. So any sin in my life is there because I have chosen not to give it up if I am a believer.
Some people tell me I can’t, that I’ve tried, I can’t give it up, then I have to say let’s go back to point one. Have you ever been set free in Christ? If you’ve not been set free you’re right, you can’t, you are trying to do something you cannot do. You must bow before God and receive His gift of salvation He provided through death and resurrection of His Son. Then by His grace you can. We like to muddle our life as though this is really confusing and, you know, it’s not confusing. You are either a believer or you are not. There is nobody who is half-way a believer. You are either a believer or you are not. You have either been set free or you have not been set free. If you are set free you are set free. Right? Free. Just as Paul told the Romans don’t sin anymore. But James is saying, don’t sin anymore, bridle your tongue. That will be one evidence that will be most clear. Particularly in our homes, right? That’s where we probably manifest with our speech most clearly. That would be home. Yeah. I don’t have to lose my temper, I don’t have to say that mean thing, I don’t have to be unkind, I don’t have to. But that is what James is concerned about. He is writing to them as believers, but he is warning them, if you don’t put the word into practice, you have deceived yourself because you’re not really a believer. So be sure. He is going to go on to that in chapter 2, but we will pray now.
Let’s pray. Thank you, Lord, for Your word. Thank you for Your salvation is life changing. Lord, what a miracle takes place when by Your grace we come to trust in Your son and enter into the grace of Your salvation. Lord, I pray the truths of Your word, would grip our hearts. And even as we study this portion of Your word, have looked into the mirror of Your word, that we might take these truths to heart. We might not forget them, we might examine ourselves in light of the word. Lord, we might rejoice at the change that has come about in our lives, that we might be careful to live for You in all that we do. Bless us this week as we represent You, as we serve You, as we make Jesus Christ known wherever we are. We pray in Christ’s name. Amen.