In verse 18, of His own will, He brought us forth by the word of truth. This is God saving us. He does it through the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures (James 1:18). Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear. And as I made the case last time, the hearing is obviously connected to the word of truth, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God (James 1:19-20). And you’ll see in verse 21 he picks back up this idea of the word: therefore put away all filthiness, rampant wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word. It’s interesting. He’s speaking to my beloved brothers. We can talk to Christians this way, folks. We can say that they need to put certain things off in their life, receive the implanted word, and it’s able to save your soul (James 1:21).
Brethren, we are being saved. And there’s a way. God. Not us, not in our own strength. There is a way God saves, and it’s got to do with a relationship with the word. It’s able to save your souls. And how does it save your souls as you’re receiving it? And what does receiving have to do with verse 22? Not just hearing it. Be doers of the word and not hearers only (James 1:22). You see, there’s deceit if you hear only. Deception, obviously, has got to do with whether or not we’re a Christian.
Now we keep reading. If anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, then we’re going to get a metaphor. He’s like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror, for he looks at himself and goes away, and at once forgets what he was like (James 1:23-24). Verse 25 is where I want to focus today: but the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing (James 1:25).
You know, this idea of being a doer and not a hearer only is something that James is going to keep at. When we get into chapter two, this idea that if you really want to validate faith, it’s validated by your works. You remember he’s going to bring up Rahab; he’s going to bring up Abraham. This is where he’s headed. He’s going to keep us in this tone of doing, doing, being doers of the word.
Okay, let’s dive in. Perfect Law of Liberty. Now, most of our translations say the perfect law. Verse 25, the law of liberty. Actually, if you’ve got certain translations, they like to put in italics what is not actually in the original, you’ll see that it actually reads in the Greek, the perfect law of liberty. The law isn’t in there twice. Many of the translations add it twice just to, I think, to pull out the perfect law. And then they reiterate the law of liberty.
So what is that? What is the perfect law of liberty? Is it the same as the entire Word of God? And I would say absolutely. Consider the metaphor. Now, look, I recognize this law can be used in different ways in the Scripture. You have to take the context to figure out the scope of what the author is talking about when he talks law. And there are different. Law can be like a principle or like the law of gravity. Also, law has to do with commandment here.
Just consider the metaphor. Look at verses 22 and 23. Be doers of the word, not hearers only. Verse 23: if anyone is a hearer of the word, and then what does that do? Well, it produces this idea in James’s mind of an illustration concerning a mirror. And in verse 25, what is the mirror into which we look? Well, obviously, it’s the word that he’s been talking about, except here he calls it the perfect law, the law of liberty.
And what he’s doing is he’s stressing three aspects of this word, of this mirror into which we look. And you see what he’s stressing. He’s stressing that it’s law, it’s perfect, and there’s liberty. And so, brethren, do you recognize that whenever God expresses His will, then is the ultimate law God telling us what to do, what not to do, expressing His will to us? That’s law. God comes along and He says, here’s my son, my beloved son. And He says, hear Him (Matthew 17:5). And Paul can come along and talk about the law of Christ. Christ is speaking. Christ is the Son of God. Christ came and has spoken on behalf of His Father. He’s relating to us what God wants us to know. And it’s called the Law of Christ.
There is law here. There’s an expression of the will of God. This law is perfect. You see that word? Those who look into this perfect law, brethren, perfect eye. Are you really grabbing that? You know what that means. That this is perfect. It really does mean this, folks, that I don’t need supplements. This is sufficient. I recognize it’s not sufficient for learning calculus, but it is sufficient for the things in life that really matter: how to be right with God, how to walk with God, how to have your soul saved. That’s the idea.
Brethren, to equip the man for works that please God. To equip a man of God perfectly. This is where we get it. You don’t need additions. You don’t need addendums. You don’t need other books. Brethren, it’s. Other books can be good only as much as they rightly divide this perfect word. Mentors, counselors. Others are only as good as they come back to this word. This is perfect. Now we sing about this: the law of the Lord is perfect (Psalm 19:7). Some translations say convert or revive. There’s this idea of a restoration of refreshing.
Brethren, do you recognize? Perfect. If you will seek to conform your life to this book, the greatest that man can achieve, the greatest excellency, the greatest beauty, the greatest perfection that men can achieve in this life is going to come from being conformed to this book. You can’t get away from that. Brethren, this is really sufficient. Perfect. So don’t add to it. Don’t take away from it. Not even in your mind where you’re saying, well, I need something else. You get there. I mean, brethren, how often do you feel like I need something else? This is just not working.
But, brethren, our problem is typically not being doers of this word, not coming back and living in this word and knowing it and living it and having it characterize our life. That’s the issue. Aren’t the answers there? How to be in the will of God? It’s in this book. Extra-biblical books, extra-biblical stuff, extra-biblical people, extra-biblical whatever. The mentors that you. Brethren right here, brethren, we really have to be people who can come to the Word of God and find it to be perfect and find it to be sufficient, and recognize that we got to run there.
The law of liberty, the perfect law of liberty, brethren. But let me tell you this, I get thinking about liberty, the law of liberty. But how does Scripture speak? I’ll tell you how Scripture speaks where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty (2 Corinthians 3:17). We read that the law of the Spirit of life sets us free in Christ (Romans 8:2). Brethren, there’s only freedom in this law if you’re a Christian because you know what Romans said. You know what Romans eight says about the law and in the last verse, brethren, the reality is this, that God frees us from our natural hatred to His law when He saves us. So now we find delight in the very thing that we used to detest. And the thing is, you know what the psalmist said: I delight to do Your will. Oh my God, Your law is within my heart (Psalm 40:8). I mean, David speaks for us. Is the Christian not free?
This is the beauty. I want you to recognize this. The Christian is free, not free to sin. Brethren, we are free to be like Christ. We are free to do right. We are free to obey. We are free to go down the path that really beautifies men. Free indeed. If the Son sets you free, you are free indeed (John 8:36). And we are indeed free. And we’ve got this perfect law of liberty. It’s set before us. We’re free to love. We’re free to be pleasing to God. Free from the bondage of sin and Satan.
You know what? We’re free from following the course of this world. Following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit. Get this. The spirit that is at work in the sons of who? Isn’t that amazing that people that are lost in this world are characterized as sons of disobedience? Not us, not us, not if our trust is in the Lord Jesus Christ. That is not the title for us. We’re sons of obedience. There’s a difference there. We’re sons of obedience. If we are.
Brethren, look, verse 25, the one who looks into the perfect law looks. Now, that is not a glance. That is a word that means to bend over. It’s got the idea of the person bent over to gaze into the depths. There’s an intensity. Somebody says it means to stoop sideways
. Some of the commentators actually say that this is the word that’s used when they come and they stoop to look into the empty tomb. There is an idea here of a real intensified look. And brethren, you know what Scripture says. You want wisdom. What do you do? You search for it. It’s like hidden treasure (Proverbs 2:4). Brethren, you go out there in the streets and you go walk around. You don’t find rubies scattered on the ground and diamonds scattered on the ground and gold scattered on the ground. You get it, dig for it. It’s the same thing with wisdom. That’s what Scripture tells us. It’s not just some casual glance.
Brethren, if somebody told you there’s a book over there and it is perfect, it perfectly describes what you should do and how you should live your life in order to please God. There’s a book over there that tells you the way to heaven. It tells you the way to the greatest joy, the greatest good, the greatest of all. This is a book, and it’s over there. And it’s perfect. What are you going to do? You’re going to ignore it. I mean, that’s what we’re being told here. When you go look, when you really look and notice it says perseveres. The Young’s Literal Translation says continues there, brethren. That idea of perseverance is the idea of the look. You look into the law, the law of liberty, and you’re looking with perseverance. You continue there. That’s the idea.
You know what? Sometimes you get people, you recognize this. You watch people you’re seeking to pastor, people you’re seeking to point people. You got to live in this book, live in this book, and you get people that have this occasional enthusiasm. But then as far as the word of God goes, they dive into it. You know, they have some New Year’s resolution. They’re going to read through their Bible and whatever, and they’re going to come to the Bible study here. But then it’s surrounded by vast seasons of just coldness and apathy. For a long time, I just assumed. I know what God did in my life and the hunger He gave me for the word. And so. And I remember the days I moved down here to Texas and out there at CBC, and it just seemed like, and you know, everybody’s carrying their Bible and this is so good and this is so healthy. I went to Bible churches up in Michigan, and they were carrying their Bibles. And it’s like people carry their Bibles. People are interested. There’s just an assumption. God’s people are in the word. God’s people are in the word. And I’m assuming that. And more than once my wife has said, Tim, I wouldn’t assume that. And it’s, we gotta persevere here.
There was a brother visiting last week. I don’t know if he’s here today. He told my daughter, Joy, that he visited another church in San Antonio, and he said he walked in with his Bible and the pastor looked at him and said, Oh, you won’t need that here. We’re not that serious. You know what Spurgeon said? Spurgeon said, Some of you can write damnation in the dust on your Bible. I would say that pastor can write damnation on his Bible.
Brethren. Perfect. Think of it. All that God has spoken and preserved as absolute truth is recorded in this book. The stuff that He wants us to know. And He can give us everything that could be known. But He’s given us 66 books of exactly what He wanted His people down through this. The running centuries of time. Here it is. This is what’s been preserved for us. It’s perfect. What are you going to do? You’re going to make it the 10th most important thing that you’re going to do today? Is that what is going to be? Are you basically going to live? Well, maybe I’ll get to it. I’m going to play my video game, and I’m going to watch my movie, and I’m going to go on Facebook and I’ll do that, and I’ll eat and relax, and then I’ll relax some more. And maybe if I have time. What are you, crazy? What are you doing? This is perfect.
I mean, brethren, this is something to get worked up about. God’s people going along, and I prioritize. Brethren, we live in a time when, I’ll tell you. You better be careful. All these little toys and all this technology, it saps people’s time and energy and attention away from that which is perfect. And all that time you spent on Facebook, you think that’s perfect? Video games. Guys, I hear guys in this church come home and play video games. It’s like, hey, be honest. The amount of time you spend on video games, what if you spent it in here? The amount of time you spend on movies or TV or whatever. What if you spend it here? The time of. I mean, it’s like these things. What are we doing? Do we not have souls? This is able to save your soul. That’s what it says. So it. Here it is. A doer who acts. That’s verse 25. Did you know this? That when you come to this book, this book gives us a work to do? Did you know that you can’t be hearers only? You got to be doers. That means doers of what? Doers of the word. That means when you go in here, God’s got something for you to do. You agree with that, right? And, brethren, what I’m going to do is show you in a second. The primary thing for you to do is not simply figure out how to make it to the meeting on Sunday. Now, that’s important. But isn’t that the main thing He’s calling us to do? You only come here to get equipped for the things that you’re supposed to be doing.
Brethren, we read in our Bible a work of faith. Have you ever read that? A labor of love. Fruits that are meat or suitable for repentance, or the obedience of faith? That’s the way our Bibles read. Brethren, what you’ll notice here is verse 25 is a beatitude. You remember the Beatitudes there in the sermon on the Mount. Blessed are the poor in spirit. Blessed are the meek. They shall inherit the earth. There’s a promise given. This is a beatitude. Blessed is the doer who acts. He shall be blessed in his doing. Let’s see and get this. He shall be blessed in his doing. That’s exclusive. You say, what do you mean? Do you recognize that it’s only those who do, who are blessed? Because if you back up to verse 22, the person that hears and doesn’t do isn’t in the camp of the blessed, is in the camp of the deceived. That’s the kind of thing that we’re dealing with here.
Brethren. It doesn’t say blessed are those who just simply accumulate lots and lots of biblical knowledge. That’s not what it’s saying. Listen to this. You’ve probably seen this, but I’m going to throw some of these verses together to try to give you the impact of this. Have you ever noticed the Bible’s insistence that you, being blessed, is directly related to your obedience to God’s Word? And it’s inescapable. Listen to this: Psalm 19 that we just sang. Moreover, by them, he’s talking about the rules of the Lord. The Word of God. The commandments of God. Listen to this. Moreover, by them is your servant warned, and in keeping them, there’s great reward (Psalm 19:11). Not just knowing them, keeping them. Listen to this: Psalm 119. Blessed are those who keep His testimonies, who seek Him with their whole heart (Psalm 119:2). Or how about this? You remember the woman in the crowd? She raised her voice and she said to Jesus, Blessed is the womb that bore you, the breast at which you were nursed. He said in Luke 11:28, Blessed rather are those who hear the Word of God and keep it. Are you recognizing the connection, blessing to keeping the word? John 13:17, If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them. Our brother was in Revelation. Revelation ends, in the last chapter. Behold, I am coming soon. Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book (Revelation 22:7). You can’t get away from it, folks. Blessing. I’m not saying you can’t live your life in disobedience to God and not know some of the kindnesses of God. He allows the sun and the rain just and the unjust, I recognize. But we’re talking about true deep spiritual blessedness is attached to this reality. And that’s the way Scripture speaks. You’ll be blessed in your home. You’ll be blessed in your workplace. You’ll be blessed in that family arena. You’ll be blessed in your prayer life. You’ll be blessed serving the church, blessed as a citizen, blessed in the recesses of your own soul.
So here’s the thing. This is what I want to do that James doesn’t do. At least he doesn’t do it yet. He is going to do it. But I want to step in right here and actually look back. We’re blessed if we look here. We receive this. We’re doers and not hearers only. We’re blessed. The doer of the word is blessed in his doing. So that’s a big book. What should we do? Some things undoubtedly could come to your mind right now. But what do we do? I was thinking, where do I start? Well, I figured this. Let’s let Scripture dictate where we should start. Have you ever read any place that said maybe from the mouth of Jesus himself, that there are some things in this book that are weighty? Have you ever read that? There
are. Remember Jesus speaking to the Pharisees, scribes, and the Pharisees, and He says, you guys do this, this, and this, but you neglect the weightier matters (Matthew 23:23). I would say that if we’re going to look in this book and we’re going to be doers, not hearers only, we’re going to be these blessed doers. Then you know what, brethren? We need to really be striving to embrace that which is weighty in the mind of our Lord Jesus Christ. And so let’s turn in your Bibles. Go to the verse, Matthew 23, because that’s where He talks about weightier matters of the law.
Again, in tune with James. James is saying, you’re blessed if you do. He says, if you don’t do but you hear, only you’re deceived. Well, listen, Jesus talks the same way. He’s going to talk to some people who are not doers of the weighty matters. And He doesn’t say you’re blessed anyway, or you’re blessed because you do these minuscule things with the dill, the cumin, the mint. He says, woe to you, woe to you. That means they’re in trouble, folks. They’re not in a good place. Obviously, Jesus does not want us to neglect these weightier matters. And what are they? Justice and mercy. Some translations say kindness. And I mean, I’m going to point out, why am I making that emphasis in a second? But justice, mercy, or kindness? And some translations say faith, some say fidelity, some say faithfulness. These you ought to have done without neglecting the others (Matthew 23:23).
So think about that. Woe to you. That’s the camp we find ourselves in if we neglect weighty stuff. Now remember, a doer acts. These guys did not act on the weighty matters; they neglected. You got to act. Actions are key, brethren. Passivity is the opposite of activity. Do you recognize something? Oftentimes, we can talk about the surrendered life. We need to be surrendered to Christ. But, you know, sometimes there’s almost this idea that if we surrender to Christ, we’re passive. That’s not true. That is not true at all. To be surrendered to somebody is to do what they say. To be surrendered to Christ is to be very active in the things that He calls us to be active in, not passive. You need to grab that. So true surrender calls for true obedience and true activity according to what God has said in His Word. And of all the acts one, you got to distinct that the weightier matters are the issue. And, you know, the Old Testament stresses just this as well.
Remember this, He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you? But to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God (Micah 6:8). That’s why I brought kindness in before. Do you recognize the Old Testament? What Jesus says is exactly the same thing. Justice. Mercy. These guys neglected that. Now, when I talk justice right now, you remember we were singing Psalm 19 and judgments, the judgments of the Lord. But you know, that doesn’t mean that somebody is going to be punished in the end. The judgments of the Lord there is and be basically a synonym for the rules, the commandments of God. In fact, justice. Listen, I’m going to use the term right now, and I don’t want you to think about it the way you were thinking about it when Jeff brought it up. The idea of justice, it fits, undoubtedly, with what Jeff said. But don’t think of our court system. Justice is what you do when you uphold the law. And remember, we’re looking into the perfect law of liberty. That’s where we’re looking. Justice is basically just the administration of what is right. What is fair, by God’s standard. And here’s the thing. The justice he’s talking. See, these guys? They were taken advantage of. Widows. And when Jesus comes along and He says you’re neglecting justice, it’s that. It’s that which is right by God’s law that goes side by side with mercy and kindness. Brethren, do you know it is a just thing to, according to God’s law? It is a very just thing to show kindness to people and to be merciful. Often when we think justice, we’re thinking, well, they get what they deserve. But do you know to be just at this time, before the end and before the judgment? It is a very just thing to obey what God has set forth. And you know what He said as much as possible. What should we be doing? He’s as much as.
Let’s not the verse. I have as much as possible. You know, somebody said it. Not the piece. Other good were to do good to others, especially. So let me say. God’s law. If we’re looking for justice, if we’re looking for that which is just and oftentimes justice is, is side by side with righteousness as well. But if you take what is just, it is to do good to all men. As much as possible, we do good to all men, especially those of the household of faith. This is the idea. Listen. This idea of mercy and kindness, the justice that goes with that. This is weighty, folks. Jesus comes along and He says, go and learn what this means. I desire mercy and not sacrifice (Matthew 9:13). Again, that was Matthew 9. In Matthew 12, He says, if you had known what this means, I desire mercy and not sacrifice, you would not have condemned the guiltless (Matthew 12:7). Proverbs 21:3: To do righteousness and justice is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice. You go to Jeremiah. Remember this: to the sons of Josiah. God said this. Do you think you’re a king because you compete in cedar? Did not your father eat and drink and do justice and righteousness? What did he do? Then it was well with him. He judged the cause of the poor and needy (Jeremiah 22:15-16).
See, judgment is not just giving people what they deserve for their crimes. The judgment here is to judge the cause of the poor and the needy. That’s how Scripture speaks. We’re talking about the weighty things. We’re talking about looking into this book. God wants us to be doers of it. So this is the kind of thing that He wants us involved with. He wants us concerned with. James himself is going to tell us almost immediately, you know, what true and undefiled religion before God is? What is it? This is to visit the orphan and the widow in their affliction (James 1:27). And I’ll tell you, that word visit is a broad word. That doesn’t mean you pay a visit and you show up at their door and they open it. You say hello. Visiting them in their affliction. That means you’re seeking to mitigate their affliction and their suffering and their needs.
Out of all the things. Think of it. I have scanned Scripture studying Judgment Day. And I mean, we get these broad things like we’re going to have to give an account for the things that we did in our body. But I come back to this over and over. The one place where you actually have the person’s deeds, I don’t know. There’s places like Romans 2 where it talks about, well, the people over on this side, they’re selfish, and they did this. And the people over here, well, they’re doing good. They’re patiently doing that. I mean, there’s things like that, kind of broad. But you know what’s very interesting? Matthew 25 captures the justice and the kindness, and Jesus steps in and says, you know what’s going to differentiate? I got people over here on the right hand who were doers. You know what they did? They found the hungry and they fed them. And He says, I was hungry and you fed me (Matthew 25:35). Now, listen, we’re to do good to all men, especially to the household of faith. The household of faith is Christ as much as you do it unto one of these little ones. You’ve done it unto Him. And He says, I was hungry, and you fed me. You think this is weighty? Out of all the things that Jesus could have said that He’s going to look for on that day when He’s evaluating your life and my life. Don’t read that as though that’s like some story or fairy tale that’s detached from you. It’s not detached from you. You’re going to be there in all the nations that are gathered there. You’re in that crowd. And you know what? As He divides, there’s some doers and there’s some that didn’t do. There’s some that did something about hungry people and needy people and widows and orphans. Homeless people. Sick people. There’s that. This is weighty, folks. This is really weighty.
And again, I come back to the Old Testament and I recognize you get these. You’ve got these people that God actually says He makes statements about them. He says to His people, Israel in Isaiah, declare to my people their transgression (Isaiah 58:1). What was their transgression? Well, He starts by saying, they seek Me daily. Was that transgression? Is there something bad with that? They delight to know My ways. Well, that sounds great. As if they were a nation that did righteousness. You see that? You got to get that. They were portraying themselves as seeking God and delighting to know His ways, as if they really were concerned about righteousness. And get this: and did not forsake the judgment of their God (Isaiah 58:2). You know what
judgment means. It’s the legal claim. You see, God says, you neglected this. You forsook this, the judgment or the legal claim of their God. They ask of Me righteous judgments. They delight to draw near to God. They say, why have we fasted? You see it not. Why have we humbled ourselves? You take no knowledge of it. Behold, in the day of your fast, you seek your own pleasure. You see, there’s the issue, selfishness. You fast only to quarrel, in other words, of seeking themselves. They’re not seeking others and not seeking the care of others. Fasting like yours this day will not make your voice to be heard on high. Is such the fast that I choose? Will you call that a fast, a day acceptable to the Lord?
And then He says this. You want to know what pleases Me. And brethren, this is no different today. This is no different than the picture that Jesus gives us for Judgment Day. And dividing the sheep and the goats and those on the right hand. They were doers. And He says to them, you weren’t doing the things that mattered. We can be very good at doing lots of stuff, but we miss the weighty matters. Well, I’m a churchgoer. I own a Bible. I go to the Bible study. I plan on going to the ladies’ meeting. Those things are great. It’s great to hear. It’s great to learn. But here it is. Of all that God has to say to His people, Israel, all that He desires that they do in their religiousness, religiosity. They’re doing many things, but in all of it, they’ve forsaken that legal claim of God, that judgment of God, which is what? What is His legal claim? So that. And the very thing that is heart and soul of what God wants is missed.
What is justice according to God’s perfect law? What’s it look like? Listen to this: Is this not the fast that I choose? This is. This is the heart of the matter, is what God is saying to them. Just like it was the heart of the matter with Josiah. Don’t think you’re some king because you come along and you’ve got riches or you got wealth, or you’ve got cedar, or you’ve got these different things. There is a king. And he gave himself to the poor and needy that you know what God said? That’s what it is to know Me. And it’s no different today, this fast that God is looking for. What’s it look like? Is not this the fast I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, undo the straps of the yoke. We’re looking to set people free from their afflictions, their bondage. Let the oppressed go free, break every yoke. Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, bring the homeless poor into your house? This sounds a whole lot like what Jesus was saying there in Matthew 25. When you see the naked, to cover him, not hide yourself from your own flesh. Verse nine: if you take away the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger, speaking wickedness, if you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted. And you know what James says? If you’re a doer, you’re blessed in your doing (James 1:25). Are these people blessed? Then shall your light break forth like the sun, your healing shall spring up speedily, your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard. Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer (Isaiah 58:8-9).
I mean, there’s a promise of answered prayer. There’s a promise that God’s going to be there. There’s a promise of light in our life. There’s a promise of just righteousness. Go before you. You’re going to have a reputation of being righteous, of being upright. You’re calling, and God is saying, here I am. Then shall your light rise in the darkness, your gloom be as noonday. The Lord will guide you continually, satisfy your desire in scorched places, make your bones strong. You’ll be like a watered garden, like a spring of water whose waters do not fail. Your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt (Isaiah 58:10-12).
You know what? God came along and He said, Satan, have you considered Job? And you know what He said about Job? Job was blameless and upright (Job 1:8). Okay? What does blameless and uprightness look like? Job said this: I was a father to the needy, and I searched out the cause of him whom I did not know (Job 29:16). This is not just simply passivity, where I wait for a need to come. This is actually a man who is searching. He’s got his eyes moving back and forth. He’s looking for the need.
Brethren, we have to get past this, thinking that Christianity is primarily about what we don’t do.
That is key. I did some searching in the past and listen to this world. Religions basically tell us to leave people alone. This is Buddhism’s Udonna Varga: “Hurt not others with that which pains yourself.” Hindus’ Mahabharata: “This is the sum of duty. Do not to others, which if done to thee, would cause the pain.” Judaism’s Rabbi Hillel: “What is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow creature. This is the whole law.” Confucius says, “Do not to others what you would not wish done to yourself.” The Apocrypha: “Do not do to anyone what you yourself would hate.”
The parent comes along and asks a child, “What did you do to your brother?” I didn’t do anything. It’s always what we don’t do. Ask somebody at evangelism, “Are you good?” “I never murdered anybody.” I mean, that’s that. You know what? When Jesus commends people and says to them at the end, to those that are to enter into joy, what does He say to them? “Well done” (Matthew 25:21). You don’t give a commendation like that unless they had done something worth the commendation. The idea is they did something.
Jesus could have said to those on His right, “Well, I came to your door and you didn’t kill Me.” Yeah, but the guys on the left can say that. You see, that’s exactly the point. Is that why we don’t? You see, the guys on the left? They didn’t kill Him. The guys on the left didn’t spit on Him. You know what they did? Nothing. They didn’t do anything. Just indifferent. And you know what? The religiously indifferent are all around us. Just because we carry a Bible doesn’t mean we can’t.
Brethren, the idea is the guys on the left didn’t do good or bad. They just avoided it all. They just ignored it. They acted like the needy didn’t exist. Brethren, see Christianity for what it is. Christianity is not just this list of negatives. You see, sometimes we have this idea. Wasn’t it like this when we were lost? This is how I saw Christianity when I was lost. Christianity is all about what it’s against. You know, Christianity. If you’re a Christian, you got to be against this and against this, and it’s all these negatives. Do you see the heart and soul of this? Is not that. The heart and soul of this is to love and give your heart. When we’re lost, we’re just takers. We’re not givers.
All of a sudden you get saved and Christianity is radical. I mean, brethren, do you recognize we’re called to be the followers of this blessed one who is called the friend of tax collectors and sinners? And Scripture says He’s anointed with the Holy Spirit and with power. And what did He do? He went about doing good and healing all those who were oppressed by the devil. God was with Him (Acts 10:38). I mean, that’s weighty. What Jesus did is weighty. He went about doing this good. He went about and He was seeking out people. And He was just constantly doing good, constantly.
Brethren, you know what? Jesus comes along and He says, hey. Let me tell you something. If I take all the Old Testament, which He calls the law and the prophets, He said, you want to know if I take all that Moses said, all the prophets and all your Old Testament? And I basically boil it down to the weighty matter. What are we left with? You know what we’re left with. Jesus tells us, listen to this. Whatever you wish that others would do to you. Do you see? That’s how it’s different from all these world religions that tell us just to leave people alone. It’s not that. Do. This is the law and the prophets (Matthew 7:12).
Now we can admire this. All this golden rule it says is glorious. But what a wonderful scene it is. We can typically quote it. But you know what Jesus says right after this, just a few verses later, everyone then who hears these words of Mine and does them will be like the wise man who built his house on the rock (Matthew 7:24). Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not do them, will be a foolish man who built his house on the sand (Matthew 7:26). This is precisely what James is saying. Doers, not hearers.
The golden rule. This is the law and the prophets. What does that mean? The law and the prophets. Jesus said, “Don’t think I came to abolish the law and the prophets. I did not” (Matthew 5:17). But you know what He says when you boil it all down, it comes down to this: You’ve got to treat others the way you want to be treated. And He says, give yourself to treating other people the way you want to be treated. The spirit of the law, the spirit of what Moses gave us, is summarized and boiled down to a single principle. Whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them. For this is the law and the prophets (Matthew 7:12).
That’s the same substance. You see the true intent. It’s not a list of restrictions. It’s not, brethren. Being a Christian is not just trying to do the bare minimum so that I can get in. That’s not the idea here. If that’s all I see, just some mechanical list. And in regulations and negatives. Brethren, you recognize you missed the very heart of the law. You missed the weighty stuff, which is what? Justice. Mercy. Luke’s rendition says the love of God. That’s the issue.
Folks, don’t simply be someone able to quote the Golden Rule. We’re supposed to implement it. So how do you implement it? How do we do this? Weighty stuff. Think Jesus assumes that whatever I want others to do to me, others want me to do to them? That’s what He’s assuming. I desire to be visited when I’m sick or clothed. If I don’t have clothing or fed or cared for, that’s the idea. You desire encouragement. So do I. You desire not to be forgotten. You desire to be helped when you have some need come up. You desire to be dealt with kindly. You desire to be well spoken of. You don’t like people to gossip about you. You don’t like people to do evil to you. You don’t like people to steal from you. You don’t like. You don’t like those things. You don’t like to be forgotten.
How quickly we forget others. We do. And we don’t forget our own needs. Brethren, it’s like out of sight, out of mind. But we’ve. Brethren. The thing is, we. How do we implement? The idea here is that you just have to think, how do I want to be dealt with? What kind of desires do I have and spin the thing around? Put yourself in the other place. Job searched out, John said. You know what? If I was out there and I. And I was just forgotten and I had these needs and nobody knows and I’m just forgotten. Oh, we hate to be forgotten. And he says, I’m searching it out. I’m searching out people’s needs so that they’re not forgotten. And I brought them to my table and I found clothing for them. And I did these things. This is how you implement this. You’ve got to be proactive, folks. You’ve got to be intentional. You got to be deliberate. And, brethren, it’s the perfect law of liberty. We’re free. We can. We’re just free to love people in the different ways that God has gifted us, or with the things that we have. But you got to be intentional. You got to be deliberate at this. You got to think. You got to imagine yourself in their place. Isn’t that what the author of Hebrews says? Didn’t he say, put yourself in the very place of the people that are in prison? That’s what he said (Hebrews 13:3).
What does that mean? That means I actually think about them being over there and what they’re suffering. And, you know, if I was there, I’d kind of like, somebody bring me food and I’d like somebody to bring me a Bible, and I’d like somebody to do this. And then, brethren, that’s the idea here. If you were there, why. So you’d want is to be just forgot, and you’d want people to remember. And we don’t forget our own needs. And the idea here, here is we’re not. Jesus doesn’t want us forgetting the needs of others. I mean, brethren, imagine if the whole church was actually, I mean, striving to be doers of this striving to treat other people and love other people the way that we want to be. I mean, brethren, you turn the world upside down. And you know what? It did make the church this literal heaven on earth. But, brethren, do you recognize what we’re talking about? We heard in the first hour about the fact that the bride made herself ready. What was she clothed with? There’s fine linen. It’s the deeds of the saints (Revelation 19:8). These things follow us. I mean, when you compare Revelation 14 and Revelation 19, the deeds of the saints follow us and we’re robed by them. How does the bride make herself ready? By her deeds? That is how we’re seeking to do this, folks. This is and this is the issue that we’re dealing with.
And you just think about Mary. She did what she could (Mark 14:8). Brethren, do you realize you’re not called to do what other people are called to do? You’re called to do with what you have. You’re called to use the spiritual gifts you have and the money you have, and the time you have and the life you have for these things. I mean, Jesus said, whoever loses his life for Him, they find it (Matthew 10:39). Brethren, I’m calling you to that life. Go lose your life for Him. Do what Mary did. Do what you can. Mary did what she could. God doesn’t expect more than that.
Brethren, the thing is, the problem in all of this, we know where it is. It’s selfishness. And Romans 2 speaks this way. Those who are self-seeking do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness. There will be wrath and fury (Romans 2:8). Basically, you know what characterizes the people on the left? The goats. They’re self-seeking. Well, that’s obvious. They’re self-seeking because they didn’t help the people in need. They didn’t visit the sick. They weren’t mindful when people were homeless and naked. The whole thing can be boiled down to self. Just selfish, self-consumed self-deification. Our Lord would have us to love our neighbor as our own self. But you know why we don’t? Our neighbor just isn’t all that important to us. We’re important to us and our needs are important to us. And we feel them keenly. And we have a real problem. Brethren, you got to put yourself in other people’s place, and you need God to help you. And you need to have the warmth of Christ there. You don’t need to look at other people. It’s just like, well, they’re nothing special. I’m the one that’s important. There’s no room for them on my throne. Well, it’s just self-deification. I’m entitled. They need to bow to me. Treat others like I want to be treated. I don’t think so. I don’t like you doing that to me. But I have no problem doing that back to you. I mean, but that’s how we are naturally, folks. That’s by nature. We’re preeminently self-absorbed, preeminently a taker, not a giver. Oh, you see people in the church like that. They take, take, take, take. They don’t give. That’s a blight on all of this. And, you know, in the end, where they’re going to prove to fall out, they’re going to be on the left.
If there’s anything that ought to characterize Christians in a very selfish world, it is that we’ve been gripped by the grace of God to change us. Some radical change here, of course. By nature, people in the world, and we when we were lost, or you if you’re still lost, you’ll be kind to people to an extent, to a degree, just so long as you know it makes you look good and it serves your own interests. But by nature, we just don’t have the capacity to embrace those weighty matters. Why? The whole time I’m just consumed with me, exalting me. And you know what happens when you exalt you? You don’t much like the God of Scripture. Why? Because He’s the kind of God who dreadfully interferes with my self-importance. You know, the God of Scripture threatens me, and we tend not to like that.
But then what happens? Brethren, you know what happens. Then all of a sudden, we’re confronted. The gospel comes in, and the Son of Man, we see Him lifted up, His body broken. I mean, we come to Him to be healed of the selfishness, and that blood is very healing, and we become these new creatures, and our eyes get opened. Did you have that? I mean something, the Spirit comes in, and the first aspect of that, of the fruit of the Spirit is love (Galatians 5:22). And did you have that happen where suddenly your eyes get open, you begin to notice other people in a different way than you did before. Suddenly there’s a spirit of compassion. There’s this. Do you recognize it? All this. He died. He shed His blood for the stinking kind of selfishness like mine. The Spirit under conviction with all of that stuff. But all of a sudden, then what happens is supernatural compassion arises in us, and we begin to look around. You know what happens? We begin to notice others. We actually really look at them like they have eternal souls, and they have feelings and needs. An entirely new view of other people. That’s what happens, especially of those of the household of faith. We really, and God gives us an endearment there, and God help us to see people as more than just these impersonal blobs who block us in the checkout line. I mean, there’s people there, and they’ve got souls, and these are real people.
Brethren, again, I say it: Whoever loses their life for Christ’s sake and for the gospel, they’ll find it (Mark 8:35). Brethren, this is the kind of thing that He’s called us to. This is a true and undefiled religion before the Lord (James 1:27). We’re going to get to that right here, and then we’re going to dive into that more as far as what James is saying.
Brethren, listen. Does the gospel call us to work? Yes. Does Christ call us to work? Yes. And sometimes people hear all these things, especially dogmatic talk, like the Sermon on the Mount or like James, and you just, you get hit with all of this and it’s like, where’s grace? Brethren, let me tell you something. The thing that differentiates this from Catholicism and from any kind of salvation by works, the great thing that you need to remember, and this is as weighty as anything, is, we look into this perfect law of liberty (James 1:25). Is this reality that without Christ you can do nothing (John 15:5). And the reality is, whoever abides in Him, in Me and I in Him, he it is that bears much fruit. And this is what we want. This is the fruit. This is all these deeds that make up this robe that will be robed, these deeds that follow us, this much fruit apart from Me. You can do nothing. You can do nothing of any value. Oh, you can be in motion, but you can’t do anything that’s worth anything to God. That’s the idea.
The great key to living the Christian life is found right here. All these weighty things. This is what He wants us about. But if you’re going to do this and you’re going to have deeds to lay at His feet, brethren, I’ll tell you this. Everything we do, we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do these good works (Ephesians 2:10). And God does them through us. God does them in the power of Jesus Christ. That power of Jesus Christ is that Holy Spirit. You want to know, we are branches. We’re plugged into the vine. You know what that sap is that comes out that we rest on? It’s the Holy Spirit. That’s where the empowering comes from. You’ve got to rest here. This is the key. This is the center of it all. There’s no greater truth concerning your time and my time in this world and in all these things that Christ has called us to do.
Fruit is not ultimately a matter of you being strong or you being weak, you being mature or you being immature. That’s a greatly gifted or little gifted. Christ is the key to making your life rise above nothingness. Christ is that key. If my link, if my life with Christ is right, all is right. This is the issue. It doesn’t matter what accomplishments you’ve had, what attainments in Scripture you have, whether you’ve gone to seminary, how extraordinary your conversion was. None of that matters. How well you know your Bible, how eloquent, how fervent. That isn’t the issue. You’ll not produce fruit detached from Christ. You got to live with Him. You got to live close with Him. The idea here, it’s all related to a person. There’s more to be had. But how is it going to be had?
And you look around, folks, look around at Christianity. Look around. There is so little power, so little supernatural, so little that is impressive. About so many. If there’s going to be that which is, it’s all related to a person. You ought to rise above nothingness. It’s involved with this person who said, whoever abides in Me, I in him, he it is that bears much fruit. Listen, the strongest branch is no different from the weakest branch. If it’s severed from the vine, it just doesn’t matter. The branch. What does a branch have a responsibility to do? Be plugged into the vine. Draw the sap and bear the fruit. That’s the responsibility of it. Absolute dependence. The branch in itself has nothing. It is nothing. It knows nothing. It can do nothing. Brethren, don’t you think that maybe we ought to be in the place where we’re studying and we’re meditating, and we’re trying to really get a grasp on what it means to be nothing. You see, the problem is we walk around and that idea of nothingness just isn’t permeating our thinking all the time.
We get, you know, one of our big problems is dependency. Independence, rather. Independence Day. Didn’t we just have that? We like to be Indian Americans. We like to be independent. We don’t want anybody else’s help or we want to break fruit. We want to be free from all of it. But there’s an absolute dependence here. Much work goes on in the church, but I think if we’re honest, there’s often little power. What’s the issue? Connection is the issue. That’s what abiding is. You got to live there. There’s got as brethren, brethren, brethren, brethren, as close to Jesus as possible. That’s the key. That’s the key.
And as much as, I’ll just say, brethren, you got to live in this book. But, brethren, you got to live communing with Him. You got to live talking with Him. You got to live in prayer. Brethren, don’t you realize we draw all our nutrients from Him? All of our wisdom, all of the power to live this life, all of our encouragement, all of our direction, all of our help. It’s from Him. Sister, God never gave you a husband to fill that spot. Money doesn’t fill that spot. It’s Christ. It’s Christ alone. No religion, no pastors, no mentors, no counselors. Not other Christians. Nobody else is going to fill that spot. It’s Christ. You can go to the Bible study. You can be around other Christians. You can come to the meeting. But, brethren, there’s no substitute for you living in the presence of Christ and walking with Him and talking with Him and abiding in Him and letting that image burn into your own being of who He is. That’s the way we get to see Christ and know Christ and trust Christ and hear Christ and love Christ. Run to Christ, find Him, abide in Christ. Oh, it’s in Him. And I tell you, you live in the fragrance of that reality. And then you put your sights on the weighty matters. He went about doing good. And I tell you, there will be fruit, there will be transforming fruit. Oh, oh, oh, Christ.
Father, I pray that you’d help us to live in these realities, to be doers, to consider the weighty matters—the justice, the mercy, the kindness, the needs in this world. Help us to all be like Mary, not to be concerned with what other people can do, but doing all that we can do. Oh, what it would be for every one of us to hear the same commendation that she heard. She did what she could. Give us grace to do what we can. Every one of us has different measures of health, different places in life, different amounts of energy, different amounts of money, different amounts of spiritual gift. Lord, help us be faithful. Well done. Help us be doers, not hearers only. Help us to know the fullness of the blessing that the doers of Your word will be blessed with. I pray it all in Christ’s name. Amen.
