James (part 4)

James 1: Hearing the Word and Doing What It Says

All right, so we didn't quite finish up James chapter one last week, so as I talked to John I felt like we were time was like quickly running out on us and.

And all these years you've made fun of me for not finishing a lesson.

Well, I never put together a lengthy dossier of questions. All right, where is it? There it is. So we we had talked about Being slow, quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger and we had also Started talking about how we deceive ourselves by only hearing the word.

Only being part of it, and we began to talk a little bit about what it is to be a doer of the word also and I Think James uses a little bit of humor in here when he gives the example of how You know, you look in the mirror and then you forget your face.

I think maybe as we get older we look in the mirror and we wish we could change things that we see in there. You know, but I mean, I just remember as a young kid like trying to impress Girls, like I knew everything that was in that mirror and what I wanted it to look better.

And you know, so I spent a lot of time there. I got Caught once admiring myself in the mirror. My mom opened the door on me. I think I was flexing or something like that. Yeah, yeah, yeah so I think it's a lot I Think he's a little humor in there to kind of say like come on like you can't you don't forget what you look like and then I had read something to where I Think one of the commentators was saying it'd be like going in and listening to Jeff and coming out and completely not Remembering what he said or not applying anything that he talked about in the sermon.

It's your daily life that week. Which I mean sometimes we're guilty of. And I also felt to after our discussion. There was a little bit in his sermon. He talked a lot about just listening to God and Maybe a little bit of a contradiction from what we had talked about.

But I think I think you have to not be so regimented in its passage where It is good to just listen to the word and soak it in like Jeff had been talking about in the sermon. But you have there has to be that action afterwards.

Maybe it's not not everything. It's an immediate thing, but eventually do that's the other side of the corn I guess you can say. So, why don't we well somebody could pray first and then we'll read the last few verses of James.

We'll finish up our discussion on chapter one and then John's gonna Jump out of there and then John I'll come into chapter two.

Which one.

We thank you. There were two or more gathered. You were right near me. Store. We acknowledge your presence. We seek your glory in honor of God. And pray and you will give John wisdom to teach us to apply what we've learned so that we glorify you.

Love and edify and build each other up for your glory. No, we ask all these things in Jesus precious.

So if someone would read 22 to 27 and then.

Do not merely listen to the word and so you see yourselves do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word Does not do what it says. It's like a man who looks at his face in the mirror. And after looking at himself goes away immediately forgets what he looks like.

But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom and continues to do this Not forgetting what he has What he has heard but doing it he will be blessed. If anyone considers himself Religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue He deceives himself, but religion that God our Father accepts as pure and farthest is this.

Look after orphans and widows. And they're distressed and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. So what I thought we could.

We needed to finish up on was talking about verse 25 so in 25 James refers to The the perfect law the law of liberty. With what do you think he's referring to in that passage?

The law points out your sin, so I know that I'm breaking the law. I knew that I'm sinning against God. So I have to come back to him. As for forgiveness It seems like every day I'm breaking the law. So I continually have to humble myself and keep coming back and back and back and yet I feel like I'm stumbling.

But yet it's almost impossible to keep God's laws perfect. Perfect law.

That's why he sent his son. Yeah, so he's he's referring back here to the law of Moses the Ten Commandments and It's one of those it's one of those things where You have to be perfect to hold it. But yet it's it stands there as a mirror So to speak to reflect how we are unable to do that but yet we have Christ who has come and died for us that allows us to When we mess up when it comes to him ask for forgiveness.

And is that the law of liberty? Well, I would think I would think so as well. And that's that was one of the other questions as you say so how it seems kind of Opposite that that we could describe that as a law of liberty.

But why why do you think it would be? Liberated for us.

So it's liberating the sense that we didn't have to have our own selves try to live by the most a lot of you.

To.

When you live by the law and if the laws are right just tomorrow there there is total freedom in following those laws.

There's actually a topic that comes up in the next lesson. Well, give me a favor. Read of course 12 of chapter 2.

To.

Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom because.

It is so this is a theme that he's going to use again.

Almost a.

You have liberty on one side. And you have judgment.

We had mentioned last week to that this this kind of any point of One is really the springboard. So I looked up the the definition of liberty. This is liberty is defined as being free from restriction or control.

And what I liked about that was like we have that through the power of Christ as a believer It's the right or power to act Believer express themselves in a matter of one's own choosing free from confinement servitude or forced labor.

Freedom from unjust or undue governmental control. Immunity to engage in certain acts without control limitation not employed or occupied.

You might if I take a couple of passages because I had planned on touching this. At least you race in the Greek. I'm sure Eric and I did the exact same thing. Could not find much of anything in any Commentaries about what this is all about.

It's like they just seem to pass over this concept. So if anybody's got anything in any of your study bibles, it's cool. What I did was I went back to find this word La few ramus and see how it's used in the New Testament.

This is this word of liberty.

Freedom.

Being Romans 8 19 There are about 10 passages these are four of the best tables and insight into this concept First Corinthians 10 23 Rick and then after that 28 29 the same chapter Chad Galatians 5 1 and the first Peter to.

For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility not willingly but because of him who subjected it. In hope that the creation itself would be set free from its bondage to corruption And obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.

And that's the same word the word freedom there is the same word that here's translated as liberty. That's the same word. So the concept creation was held involuntarily in bondage and Corrupted state will eventually be set free.

Will eventually be set free. Same with Rick.

First Corinthians 10 33.

10 23, I'm sorry.

All things are lawful, but not all things are helpful. All things are lawful, but not all things build up. But if someone says to you this has been offered in sacrifice then did not eat it. For the sake of the one who informed you and for the sake of conscience.

I Mean your conscience, but his. For why should my liberty be determined by someone else's conscience?

And again the concept there had to do with how? With Peter the sheep that came down It's okay to eat. No, it's close enough. It's okay to eat. Okay, but then the concept of Being able to eat anything even even meats that offered to idols There's nothing wrong with that unless there's a conscience and he's arguing Well, if I have liberty, why should my liberty be judged by others.

This is reality that some of the Constraints that were held by the old law We're no longer under bondage to but that gets into the matter of conscience. It goes deeper. But again that concept the same let where that's in Liberty there.

Go ahead Chad. Relations. I have one. Uh-huh.

For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm therefore and do not submit again to your disavery.

Same word freedom. Same word is Liberty. However, it tells us and it does give us the contrast. Don't be submitted to the yoke. Okay, so there's this release.

Fortis. God's will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men. Lives free men. But do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil. Live this service to God.

Very prevalently when this word in the Greek is used in the New Testament. Well, that's what it would be used. It's this concept of being released from these constraints or these things that the old law would have put us into that our World our life is now defined to it to a large extent by Peter's experience.

It's easy for license to become licentious.

Go ahead with that. Yeah.

Well, you feel like you have a freedom, but then you might go too far with it.

Which takes us back to Eric's question because it says judgment. Being judged by the law of freedom. So that's the conundrum. Where do you take that?

Also talked two weeks ago about how you know because of our freedom that we have in Christ of the power of sin. Well, you know before I could use the example of the overhead projector from.

Men's.

Retreat that our pastor used he had to find that a sin now we're handcuffed to it but through the power of Christ, we've been freed from that bondage, but yet we we are the ones who willingly go and clamp on The handcuffs again, so to speak with particular sins or the desires.

We were talking about that during the temptation that We have power over that sin to overcome it but yet we are the ones who willingly walk back in and say No, I want I want to be Mastered by this again, but yet we're sitting there with The keys to get out again like borers before we did not have that power that freedom.

And now we're locked back in again. What was your question to me? Where are we going with?

The concept of being judged By the law of liberty it almost sounds like a contradiction in itself. How do you get. How are you judged by the law of liberty?

What do you do with it?

It's a very tough one because What is liberty to me might not be liberty to you over through this room and how is each one of us going to be judged according to the liberty that we think that we have.

If we're not.

Really not into the scriptures and following it.

Well what Rick was talking about the early church took that liberty to an extreme. It was called antinomianism. They got free from the law because the law doesn't apply to us. We can sin. We have freedom to sin instead of freedom from sin.

So if you go back to Kimberly's strong kind of thought at the beginning of lesson one if we do anything in the book of James a good place to be well obviously the best place to be is in prayer and in the Holy Spirit.

But as we start to intellectually pursue what's being presented here good idea to do is to do what? Remember what Kimberly said?

Remember the context.

Remember the context.

Huh?

Remember the context. Remember James' writing to a specific context. What's being written is going to be applicable to us all. Scripture is giving grace to the person of God. It's profitable. But the Jews were going through a certain problem.

They were going through several problems and one of them was antinomianism.

And I think too we were talking as well as we put ourselves in their shoes. This is a new a new belief system of following Christ. They are trying to reconcile with the old laws that they had been used to for years.

People coming and saying well you still need to be circumcised. No I don't. So that all that confusion happening. And the idea of these people are choosing to follow Christ they are being persecuted. And we talked about the anger.

There was a passionate anger that was ready to go kill someone. It was that deep rooted so tempers were flaring. And you know they are trying to figure out how do we navigate our old world with the new world or the new belief system that we are trying to follow this guy Christ.

We don't have the luxury of having this and teachers and historians and stuff to help us navigate it. This is all fresh and brand new.

For them.

So I think that was another challenge that we are doing that we don't often think about because of our context today.

What was the turn of words you used there?

I just said license.

To licentious.

To licentious there is a risk right in there and as Eric was saying there is a liberty there is a liberating grace that believers have the risk. The concept of antinomy is taking this expectation and turning it into a license to do license to sin.

He is fighting against that in this book of James. Eventually he is going to say even the demons believe he is fighting against that and making us be still accountable. We are not accountable under the law for salvation but we are still accountable for what we do.

And I think he kicks up a notch now where he starts talking about what religion is. It's funny as I was thinking last night if we can go around the room what would be. I guess the way I would like to tackle this last part would be how is James how would you define religion.

How do you think one of your non-christian friends would define religion. And then we finish up with how is James defining religion and why does he kind of limit we had alluded to a little bit last time.

Like how.

Why does he only list three things. You would think that this would be a good part where there would be a long list of things that would define true religion. So what. For me one word popped in my head it would be pharisee.

These guys would have. Jesus had pointed out how pharisees were religious. So how would you define religion. How would a non-christian friend of yours would they look at religion as being a good thing or a bad thing.

Throw that out there.

I see so many people today that I believe.

To them.

Today.

Religion is a neutral thing.

To them you know.

They don't have any fire about it. They're politically correct they don't want to put it in the corner.

But yet.

It holds no sway.

In their life.

So I think to them religion is one of those things that's ok for some people if that's what you believe that's ok but I don't think that in their they don't know how to assess it and judge it in people's lives.

When they see it they don't have the basis to even begin to understand why we live as we live why we feel as we feel why we act as we act why we do. They often do because it's the right thing to do but they don't do it because they believe what's behind.

That right thing.

I don't know whether how clear I'm making myself.

If they don't do it because they believe what's behind it then why do they do it.

I go back to Martin Luther King.

When he was a Roman Catholic.

Religion was trying to appease the Holy God through rules and regulations. You were trying to get right with God by what you did by abiding by the sacraments. And then when you read the gospel you realize grace.

You're saved by grace and not by words not by religion. You're not made right with God through your efforts.

What's the difference between religion and worship.

I think religion is man made. True religion is Christianity that's the only true religion. Hinduism is a religion Buddhism Mormonism. All man's efforts to get right with God by his own works and worship is realizing that Christ has saved you by grace and you want to give glory and praise and honor to God for what he has done for what he has done because it's all here.

I think to Ralph's point too is that you now in today's society you have people who do it because they're forced to. It's something that their parents brought them up in it's all they know. It's a cultural thing.

Oh well this is what my people do. They have no idea or that's ok for you to do that. I'm doing my thing just don't push your thing on me. But I think back then everybody had a very strong they were very strongly rooted in whatever their belief system was and there were many of them around and I think they were able to have good healthy discussions.

I mean they would debate this openly.

In the forum.

There was a healthy dialogue and a healthy respect for the other religions where we don't maybe have that in today's society. So these people knew, they knew what they believed and they could defend it.

Maybe that was a reason why you know there was this quick anger as opposed to.

But it's stunning. Even atheists often do you see atheists.

And atheists.

And then they say they don't believe in a religion.

But I think too, Christians don't necessarily want to be labeled as religious.

Because that.

Has a negative connotation. You know if we're known by helping orphans and widows, if we're known by our love, that's one thing but I don't want to be called religious because that has such negative.

Baggage.

There are enough evidences of televangelists and stuff like that that have used this mantra of religion. It's really hard to abuse the mantra of worship.

Though.

When we look at Moses and our friends look at us and they know that we are Christians. They look at the law the ten commandments and they look at us you're pious, you're strict you're no fun and we don't want any part of that.

They don't want to have these strict rules and laws that they have to follow. And when they look at us what you're saying Rick is you're religious. Because you've got to follow these strict laws by Moses, written by God and the Pharisees too and they don't want any part of it.

I want to go out and have fun, I want to live my life. I don't want to live your life. And this is where we get into worship, religion strict, friends. Freedom, liberty. I want the liberty so I can do what I want to do.

I don't want to have this law of Moses.

I think for Rick's point too. I think you even see it now recently in the Christian culture.

Where.

A little bit of wanting to escape from some of the names that we've placed on, church names have been changing they're dropping Baptist or this and because that has a negative connotation I think even now, even Christian people now are, what I hear around is I'm a follower of Christ because you talk to someone, oh I'm a Christian I think we talked last week.

My kids had asked me that in my class are you a Christian, are you Jewish. And I was like, oh wow we're going to have a Christian talk here in my PE class but it was more of like they wanted to know what side I'm on do you celebrate Hanukkah or do you celebrate Christmas.

Do you like Moses or do you like Santa Claus. We talked a little bit about that last week so I think now you hear the word Christian and that just means a cultural, you're not a Jew you're not a Muslim.

You call yourself a Christian but now, and that we talked a little bit about being skeptical last week too, what does that mean to you as a true believer you want to know, what does that mean to you and now you see people saying, well I'm a follower of Christ and you're kind of like, oh okay so you're a true believer.

They're trying to put themselves under a new label so that it's easier to figure out who you're dealing with, so you can either rejoice in that or figure out how to navigate that new discussion that's going on.

A lot of people you talk to them not saying that they're a follower of Jesus, but they'll say when you are a witness to them or tell them who you are, or bring your faith in they'll tell you, I'm a Christian I'm a Christian and what they're saying is I am a Christian.

What they're saying is, yeah I know that there's a God and I know that there's Jesus. Any further than that, they're not going to get it so they want to hold you off at that point.

So please don't.

I think.

A big problem with religion per say.

Is.

The hypocrisy you can't be perfect because you stumble and fall. A non-believer will see that.

And.

Yeah, because they don't understand the concept.

Of grace.

They think, well you're no better.

Than me.

And we're not but it's just because of God's grace that we have any righteousness at all. They can't understand that and so they see so many religious people just be hypocrites.

And we're going to get there to a large extent because the bible tells us the natural man cannot understand the things of the spirit but as long as we live holy lives the best we can in accordance with God's word.

You know, the seeds will be planted. You know, if they're meant to know Christ. If you believe in Calvin's sovereignty the seeds you plant will bear fruit in its season. It might be 10 years down the road but we can't stop planting seeds even though we don't get nowhere without seeds.

We don't have.

We just don't have. Why not see what germinate.

What germinate.

It will not return void one way or another it will accomplish what God meant send it out to do.

So what is James' list of pure religion and pure and defiled religion here in 27.

Caring for the orphans and the widows and living an unstained life trying to be very aware of sin so that you can avoid it.

Go back to the original commandment love your neighbor as yourself and this is what he's saying here.

That's not written on the 10 commandments.

No.

This is in the new this is the new testament to Jesus. If we love our neighbor as we love ourselves we're going to take care of the orphans we're going to take care of the widows we're going to do what God has asked us to do.

This is what I think James is trying to draw out here.

Ok.

Don't be on yourself don't think of yourselves only think of others outside of the box that need that help.

And.

Not to take your thunder away. That's what chapter 2 gets into. Ok. And just how we're going to live our lives and how we're going to go through that and take care of one another. You know he talks about I think the rich and the poor.

You know.

This is where James is coming to. You've got to take care of all not just yourself and not just looking at the rich.

You know.

Jesus says look at the poor too I love them just as much as I love you.

I think Eric's.

One of your opening volley questions or comments.

Was.

This list seems to be very short. Put yourself in a situation where you're sitting on the church board and you're trying to establish perhaps a new church. How old is this church? 37 years ago. Put yourself in Bill Wien's basement 30 years ago.

What should Mt. Laurel Fellowship Evangelical Free Church look like? I think things that would have been on that list were. We're going to have a heart for missions. I think things that might have been on that list were.

We want to be making disciples of the Great Commission. I think things that might have been on there. We're going to challenge our communities with the word of God and we can do that through strong preaching.

We can do that through an effective relevant worship. We're going to have youth groups. None of that's on here. None of that's on here. Why not?

I think here you see it's funny how God. I think it's also fitting. We're talking about this as we start IHN this week.

There you go. Very relevant. Put yourself back to Kimberly's challenge as we read this. A good a good mindset when we read this is to put us into the times and the places where this was written as Eric just said a minute ago these people knew all about the worship teams, they knew all about Bible studies they knew all of it contextually at the time.

He didn't need to teach.

Them about those things but perhaps what he did need to smack them upside the head with was are you willing to surrender yourself to somebody else and the other one is are you willing to not as Rick said turn liberty into licentiousness or whatever it was.

These would have been risks for those people not. How do you have a youth group that wasn't their risk.

I think too these people if you think of context they were also in a system where women couldn't work so you relied on your husband or your husband's brother and then if.

You know they.

I'm thinking of Ruth. I can't remember the idea of this. Is now who you need to be for those who have lost everything.

You need to be a verb. You need to be an actual verb.

Not a here only.

But a do it.

Simple but good.

Just do it. I like that it's very good. I like that.

I think you got this right you can do it.

How do you go is it just let's do it.

Or something.

Give back.

When.

God really gave us justification. Where is that justification. Justification.

Sanctification.

We are to become like Christ this is where James is coming in.

Sanctification.

The verb that you are saying is being doers because we are to be Christ like because Christ is in us the spirit is within us. We don't have to have a list. We are to live like Christ like he was here today be like him.

That's why we are doing the sanctification every day.

We are going through it.

Sometimes it takes me a little bit longer than others but yet it's there you keep working at it. That's where the verb comes in. Be doers doers of what Christ living within you. What would Christ do. He would take care of the orphans.

He would take care of the sick the widows. That's the sanctification process. We are all going through it right now.

James was written.

To believers.

We went through that carefully three weeks ago. Probably the Jewish believers scattered. Probably they are the ones that went east. We don't know that for sure. But this is a book written to believers.

This isn't a book that is predominantly an evangelistic book. You don't get a ton of what you got in Romans in the book of James. But what you do get in the book of James is how can you be an effective evangelist by being a bird.

I think too in a broad context.

The church's.

Responsibility over the years was to provide for the orphans and widows when the church say abandoned that tack and the government takes over all kinds of regulations.

And.

Secular interests intervene. And it should be done as well because it's not being done through the love of Christ.

It's almost taking sanctification away from us.

If we let them they can't take it away from us we have to give it to them.

Well then you think of it as someone else's responsibility it's just wrong thinking.

So in some respects it is a condemnation today of the church because we haven't done our job. The state takes over.

And corruption.

And whatever else intervenes.

You know it's a wonder that concept and I agree with you. We haven't done our job. The church hasn't really done our job. It's a wonder that the marches wouldn't be against the church.

Because the government.

Stepped in. We're the ones that should be marched against because we're not doing our job. The church really has faulted us, big time not doing what we're supposed to. That's where the government stepped in.

I wonder if even though James Only specifically mentions all of the rules and this whole question of why not all these other things is his message in 26 and 27 kind of tucked under the question of the reminder to constantly be evaluating sort of where we are and assessing both.

Our.

Well basically our motivations in doing things and it seems in 26 he specifically mentions the caution about deceiving our own hearts and then he ends it in 27 with keeping oneself on a stage. And we come to faith because our eyes, the blinders are removed and the deception is suddenly we're not deceived anymore and there's that freedom.

But what happens as we proceed in how we walk our faith. Don't we tend to be deceiving ourselves again. Even if we're doing all the right things and doing the good things it can turn into religion again or we can be doing the proper things but having to go back.

And check.

For what reason and is it, are our hearts being deceived.

And that's it, that's back to the garden. You're absolutely right. There are two prongs to this verse Philippians 2 verses 5.

Through 8.