Landis, George: Group Discussion On James ~ George Landis-Peter Pell-Group

James, bondman of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are in the dispersion, greetings. Count it all joy, my brethren, when ye fall into various temptations, knowing that the proving of your faith worketh endurance. But let endurance have its perfect work, that ye may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. But if any one of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all freely and reproaches not, and it shall be given to him. But let him ask in faith, nothing doubting. For he that doubts is like a wave of the sea, driven by the wind and tossed about. For let not that man think that he shall receive anything from the Lord. He is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. But let the brother of low degree glory in his elevation and the rich in his humiliation, because as the grasses flower, he shall pass away. For the sun has risen with its burning heat and has withered the grass, its flower has fallen, and the comeliness of its look has perished. Thus the rich also shall wither in his goings. Blessed is the man who endures temptation, for having been proved, he shall receive the crown of life, which he has promised to them that love him. Let no man, being tempted, say, I'm tempted of God, for God cannot be tempted by evil things, and himself tempts no one. But everyone is tempted, drawn away, and enticed by his own lust. Then lust, having conceived, gives birth to sin, but sin, fully completed, brings forth death. Do not err, my beloved brethren. Every good gift and every perfect gift comes down from above, from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither nor shadow upturning. According to his own will begat he us by the word of truth, that we should be a certain first fruits of his creatures. So that, my beloved brethren, that every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath. For man's wrath does not work God's righteousness. Wherefore, laying aside all filthiness and abounding of wickedness, accept with meekness the implanted word which is able to save your souls. But be ye doers of the word and not hearers only, beguiling yourselves. For if any man be a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like to a man considering his natural face in a mirror, for he has considered himself and has gone away, and straightway he has forgotten what he was like. But he that fixes his view on the perfect law, that of liberty, and abides in it, being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, he shall be blessed in his doing. If anyone think himself to be religious, not bridling his tongue, but deceiving his heart, this man's religion is vain. Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this, to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, keep oneself unspotted from the world. Just a few words by way of introduction. The Epistle of James is generally supposed to have been written by James, the brother, the natural brother of our Lord Jesus Christ. Certainly it was not James the apostle, the brother of John, the son of Zebedee, for we know that he was martyred very early in the Christian, uh, church, soon after Pentecost. Nor was it James the son of Alphaeus, the, uh, the brother of Judas, not Iscariot. There's no evidence he wrote it, but very much evidence it was by James, the brother of our Lord. Now we know there's a certain great division of professing Christendom, which, uh, denies the fact that Mary and Joseph had any other children. But we have many passages of scripture which indicate that they had. And for instance, when you turn to the sixty ninth Psalm, verse eight. Psalm sixty nine and verse eight. We would see there a prophecy of such. We recognize this as a messianic Psalm. I am become a stranger unto my brother, and an alien unto my mother's children. And so we also read that his brother did not believe in him until after his resurrection, and a number of other passages in the New Testament about the brethren of the Lord. There's some who try to get around that fact by saying it was probably children that Joseph had had by a previous marriage. It'd be very difficult to prove that. Then we notice that this book, the style of it is, uh, very much like the wisdom books of the Old Testament. It's a very rugged style, very graphic, filled with very star- striking figures of speech and metaphors and similes, and very epigrammatic. It's a little difficult, uh, by way of, uh, outline because, uh, one subject simply merges into another like links in a chain, but a very wonderful portion of God's word it is. A way of outline, Mr. Ironside divides it by chapters thus. Chapter one, Victorious Faith. Uh, Chapter two, Manifested Faith. Chapter three, Controlling and Energizing Faith. Chapter four, submission of faith, and chapter five, patient and expectant faith. Our brother, Mr. John Smart, divided by chapters this way: The patience of faith, chapter one; the practice of faith, chapter two; the prudence of faith, chapter three; the purity of faith, chapter four; and the prayer of faith, Chapter five. But now the Bible reading is open, and we're very happy to have any brother take part. However, if you do speak, please speak out clearly and distinctly that all may hear. And again, we advise the brother on the platform, if some brother on the platform asks a question of another brother, don't turn and look at him while you're answering it. The congregation may not hear. I always remind the folks it's very much like when I'm riding with someone in a car, I never, never want to see the face of the driver. You know some people. This way, eighty miles an hour, yes, and talking away to you. So face the audience when we're speaking. So the meeting is now open for any to take part of the brethren. The The last. last word that our brother Landis mentioned, brethren, is a key word in this epistle. As you've heard, James was a brother of the Lord, but, uh, we don't have any evidence of him having trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ until later on, because you remember how they said to him, why don't you go and show yourself if you are what you claim to be? But you'll find James hearing something that our Lord Jesus uttered that he never forgot. They, uh, said to him, your mother and your brethren are here. And then the Lord Jesus turned around and looked at his disciples and said, here are my brethren. And in the three gospels, you have three characteristics of the brethren. In Matthew, he says, they are those who do the will of my father. Those are my brethren. And in Mark, he looks round, there's a circle round himself. And the brethren are those who are gathered round a person, each one of them having their eyes on him. And in Luke, he said, these are my brethren who hear the word of God. Their ears are open to hear a father's voice. And so James takes up that thought, and sixteen times in his letter he uses the word brethren, brethren, my beloved brethren. And if you take those verses, you'll learn some lovely things about the brethren. It's a wonderful privilege to belong to the brethren. I was introduced one time as belonging to the brethren, and somebody said, little B or big B? I said, they're all capitals, everyone. All princes. Mm, that's right. The royal family. But notice the humble position that James takes, the bondservant, the bondslave of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ. Mm. Though he was a brother by the flesh, he was a bond slave of that blessed, blessed one. I like to think of his humility. He was one of the three pillars of the church, according to Paul in Galatians one nineteen. He was a leading brother in, in Jerusalem, and perhaps the leading brother, Acts twelve seventeen. And then he was the deciding voice at that conference that they had. You read it in Acts fourteen thirteen. And yet he calls himself a bond slave of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's wonderful. I was in Toronto one time, and they had on the billboard of one of the large cathedrals there, the very right reverend, now this is fictitious, John Wilkinson, PhD, LLD, and I don't know how many things behind his name, will speak subject, Paul. What a transformation from being a skeptic to a bond slave, because James had been a skeptic concerning the person of the Lord Jesus, and here he speaks of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, showing that he honored the Son even as he honored the Father. And this is what the Jews especially had to come to learn, Mm. and James had come to learn it. Then he addresses it to the twelve tribes, but am I not correct in thinking that this means believers from the twelve tribes who were scattered from the dispersion. We must remember that many of the early believers were Jews, most of them, the first. The three thousand at Pentecost were all Jews or Jewish proselytes. And of course, when they returned to their homes, and you remember ten different countries are mentioned in Acts two, And so James writes especially to them, and we know that many of them, it was a little difficult for them to get out of the, uh, system of Judaism. If you had been raised in a synagogue, you- it'd be difficult for you to give up all the things of the synagogue and the Jewish feasts and all. We read in the twenty first chapter of the book of Acts this statement concerning those, that they were zealous for the law, but they were believers at Jerusalem, and evidently the epistles of the Hebrews had not as yet been written, and so James writes especially to those with a Jewish background, and you'll find many evidences of that fact as we go through the epistle. I think there's a lesson for us here. When Elijah, who was with the ten tribes, built an altar, he didn't build an altar of ten stones. He built an altar of twelve stones. Though Israel was divided, he thought of them as in the purpose of God. They were still one nation. When Paul speaks to Agrippa, he says, where to our twelve tribes are seeking. There was a purpose, and in the mind of God, that people still was one. And so James writes to the twelve tribes. Now there is one body, and however divided God's people may be, we should never think of them in any other way than as being one in Christ Jesus. Do you think of this, uh, dispersion as being a dispersion prior to the Christian era or afterwards? Oh, I think we have it in Acts eleven nineteen, but, uh, James still has in mind, uh, the Lord's people, his earthly people. Don't think this is the scattering that began in the record of the 8th of Acts? Well, yes, he writes to, uh, the crowd, to the Jews, to Israel, but he has in mind the twelve tribes. I don't know whether I make it clear. I think it would certainly embrace those that were scattered abroad in the eighth of Acts, but also when we remember that at the day of Pentecost there were Jews there from ten different nations, including Rome. And, uh, uh, so as they went back, these believers, uh, doubtless many, many assemblies were established by those who returned, and uh, they needed instruction. And uh, so they also, I think, are surely in view. James is very practical. The word of God is a lamp for our feet, light upon our pathway. Paul gives us visions of the glory. James says, you better watch out how you walk. And, uh, his, uh, epistle is much like the Sermon on the Mount, practical instructions for everyday living. His theme is that faith must be a living faith, and it must be manifested to be real. In verses two through seventeen, we seem to have the subject of holy trials and unholy temptations. In verses two through twelve, you have holy trials, and they're discussed, and the attitude of the believer toward them, whether he's a rich man or a poor man, and also if he has difficulty in understanding them, how he can obtain wisdom from God in this connection. Mm. But then you also have the subject of unholy temptations. The believer is advised to be sure that he realizes that these don't come from God, they come from within. These are the temptations that the Lord Jesus knew nothing about, and these are discussed in verses thirteen through seventeen. Mm-hmm. Trials from without and lust from within. We must keep in view that the word temptations may be, uh, rendered trials, as ev- evidently is in many places, and temptations in others. And so from the context, we must determine which it is. I think in verse two it is trials. Uh, my brethren, count it all joy when you fall into divers trials. I don't think we thank God for solicitations to evil that come from the devil, but we can thank him for the trials which he permits to come into our lives. I've always been taught that James is elementary. If he is, I'm still in the kindergarten. My brethren count it all joy. When I was at Bristol, Mrs. McKay came to me, and she said, uh, brother Peter, is there a difference between resignation and acceptance? I said, yes, there is. She says, will you explain it? And I tried to explain it. But it's one thing to be resigned to the will of God and say, oh well, it isn't different. It is this way, I'll resign. But acceptance is a different thing altogether. And she said, well, I trust I have grace for acceptance. So thank God and rejoice in the trial. Then I read a little article, calendar, of course. Counted all joy when ye fall into divers temptations, knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. Among some skaters was a boy so small and so evidently a beginner that his frequent mishaps awakened the pity of a tender-hearted spectator. Why, Sonny, you are getting all bumped up, she said. I wouldn't stay on the ice and keep falling down so. I'd just come off and watch the others. The tears of the last downfall were still rolling over the rosy cheeks, but the child looked to the shining steel on his feet and answered half indignantly, I didn't get new skates to give up with. The whole philosophy of earthly discipline was in the reply. Life's hard tasks are never sent for us to give up with. They are always intended to perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle us. As ships need the weight of the ballast, their decks ever upright to keep, as trees need the blast of the north wind to make their roots go down more deep, as kites need the tug of the strong string, or down to the earth they would sweep, so we need God's trials and temptations to make us more patient and sweet. Yes, there's a great difference between taking the attitude we're embarrassed Mm-hmm. and rejoicing in trials and tribulation. Would you think that the trials here in verse two are primarily persecutions that were coming upon these Jewish believers? I know that it could be wider than that, but I wonder, as James wrote it, was he thinking, you think of primarily of the persecutions that would come upon them from their own countrymen? I think quite likely, although it may embrace the other trials that would come to them. Dyers. I was going to the Detroit conference some years ago, and my wife said to me, what's you going to preach on? I said, I'm not going to speak. If they ask me to, I'm not going to speak. I was in a condition, sometimes we get into it. I hope God has a message for me at this conference. When I came back, she said, did you get your message? I said, yes, I did, and I'll never forget. What did you get? Uh, don't ask me what any of the other speakers preached on. I don't know. But I know one thing that Brother McCrory said, and I'll never forget it. He said, God tries us to get the best out of us, and the devil tempts us to get the worst out of us. And I've never forgotten it. Knowing this, that the triumph of your faith worketh patience. Mm. The testing of our faith develops patience. Paul brings that same thought out in the fifth of Romans, you remember. I think in acceptance, there's a certain entering in to the very will of God by oneself. Mm-hmm. A closeness to God that does... it, unless you, uh, pardon this line, but, uh, Mm-hmm. It implies to me acceptance, as I say, a very, the very interest into the will of God for one's particular Mm-hmm. line of Amen. And that we do not attain to it, we can. I think that's the force of verse five. Now, Job couldn't understand why God dealt with him as he did. But if any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God. And we can get into the secret pa- place of trial, close to the heart of God, and we wouldn't want it any other way. Would you say, brother, this would be the same as testing and trial would be the same as as chastening that we have in the book of Hebrews? Yes. Sure. It's from the hand of God, and we want to trace everything to the hand of God. It's his hand that holds the rock. There isn't a trial that doesn't come from him. We do not distinguish, however, those chastings of God, which are really his training as his disciples, and, uh, corrective chasing, where we've actually sinned and he's had to chase us. His hand was heavy upon us, they- upon me, said David. So a great deal of chasing that may not be punitive in its character. But it's all child training. We, we're on the way to the father's house. We are his children, but he wants us to know, uh, the manner of life that becomes the children of God, and he's training us along the way. Verse five says that we don't have to fear that we'll ever weary him in coming either. He giveth to all men liberally and upbraideth not. And so we can come repeatedly to him, seeking wisdom to understand these trials that come into our lives. Amen. Now we have the path of faith in verse two. we have the prayer of faith in verse six. And I think we have here the secret of unanswered prayer. Let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. Mm-hmm. Or doubting. For he that wavereth or doubteth is like a wave of the sea, driven with the wind and tossed. Perhaps we can all look back at some prayers we've offered, and very much like this graphic figure. What is your faith in? Confidence you're going to get the answer that you want? No, I think that's the very thing that James is speaking about, a double-minded man. You want God's will, but you've got your own. There must be the absolute surrender of your will. You can't have this double mind. I think it's important too to remember that, that faith must be based upon some promise Mm-hmm. of the word of God. I think some people have a naive idea that, that faith in prayer is just a matter of, well, if you ask God for a million dollars under the milk bottle in the morning, it'll be there. But faith really has to be based upon some specific promise of the word of God or revelation of God to your own soul. Well, here you do have the promise. If you lack wisdom, God will give to you liberally and upbraid not, and so you can come with a full mind and a complete mind on that subject and know that he'll do it. Taking God at his word, isn't it? That's the key word, as we've noticed, uh, this epistle, the key word is faith. Years ago, I was at a conference, and Frank Knox was there from London. He told a story that... You have to forgive me, I tell stories if you like it, all right, if you don't, all right. He told about George Muller and his work of faith. Told about, uh, the need for a certain medal that adjoined the buildings, and George Muller prayed about it and was assured that that meadow would be his. So he went to the real estate board in Bristol and discovered the price of the lot. Now, I'm just saying it, say seven thousand pounds. So he went to the owner of the lot and said, I would like to buy that meadow. He said, I expected you, George, Mr. Muller. It's the medal you need. And he says, I'm giving you seven thousand pounds for it. Oh my, seven thousand pounds. That's just half the price, fourteen thousand uh pounds. Well, said Mr. Muller, I'll give you seven thousand pounds for that medal. And he went home. This man met a friend on the way, and he said, huh, I just as much as made an extra seven thousand pounds today. He said, you did? Yes, you know that meadow adjoining the buildings. Well, George Muller, he he needs that meadow. He'll buy it. And uh, I sold it to him for fourteen thousand pounds. You did? Well, just as good as, because, you know, that man gets all he asks from God. Yes, that's right. That man gets all he asks from God, and he's going to get that medal for seven thousand pounds. If you have to dine your air, sell it to him for that. So that night he couldn't sleep, and he nudged his wife, and she said, what is it? He says, if I die tonight, sell that meadow to George Muller for 7,000 pounds. And I think we must always remember our asking must be according to his will. As has been suggested, sometimes we might ask for very foolish things that God knows we should not have. A parent cannot always say yes Mm. to the prayers of his child, but he answers the prayer. Sometimes it's no. I might ask for a Rolls-Royce and great faith, you know, but he says a Rambler's good enough for you. Rather difficult to get the connection between verses nine to eleven and what has gone before. I think William Kelly looks upon it as a, as a parenthesis. In fact, somebody described the book of James one time as a collection of sermon notes, Mm. and it seems that way at times, although personally I doubt that it is. But perhaps there is a connection between verses nine through eleven with regard to the matter of trials coming into the life of the brother of low degree and the rich brother. As far as the brother of low degree is concerned, when these trials come in and might strip him of what little he might have, he can rejoice, eh, in his high estate. He can glory in the fact that spiritually God has enriched him and embraced him. And so when trials come into the life of a rich brother and perhaps take away much of what he has, he can be thankful to the Lord that either the trial has brought him to Christ or has brought him closer, uh, to the Lord Jesus, and realized that the material things of life are passing things, that they're transient things that he can't hold on to, uh, anyway. In the one case, grace exalts, in the other case, grace levels. Is that right? Two kinds of brethren here. If you haven't much in this world, you can thank God that you're exalted, you're a child of God, you're a brother of the Lord Jesus Christ, you're an heir of glory. Rejoice in what you have in Christ, and if you are wealthy, don't rejoice in that. You may be a bit of grass that grows a little higher than the rest of the grass, but it's all withered when it gets into the withering sun. Look at Saul of Tarsus. When the sun of righteousness shone upon him, he withered into his own insignificance and nothingness. Grace levels us. Uh, Harry Moorhouse was on the way to a prayer meeting in Miriam Hall, Dublin, and on the way he met a beggar, a pauper, talked with him and found out that he was a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. So he said, come along to prayer meeting with me. When he got to the prayer meeting, there were two empty seats alongside Lord Radstock, and so he placed the pauper between himself and Lord Radstock. And the way he put it, he said there were three peas in a pod. The peer and the pauper and the preacher. And he said at the prayer meeting, the preacher prayed and said, Father. The peer prayed and said, Father. What do you think the pauper said? Father. Father. All one. All brethren. I think it takes more grace for the rich man to rejoice in being nothing, than for the poor man to rejoice in that he's exalted in Christ. Blessed is the man that endureth temptation or trial, for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life which the Lord hath promised to them that love him. What a blessed promise, and what an encouragement to endure trials, however great those trials may be. There's more there than the spirit of resignation, grin and bear it. Mm. Is entering into fellowship with the one who's testing us and trying us. When Abraham was told to offer up Isaac, it wasn't a case of grin and bear it. He was in full fellowship with the God who made the request of him. It's interesting to note that the Spirit of God doesn't use the word if, but the word when. Mm-hmm. Not if he is a child. Mm. When. God's purpose in it and blessing. Mm. And isn't it touching to see how God desires our love? The reward is to those that love him. Delight thyself also in the Lord, and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Commit thy way unto the Lord, trust also in him, and he shall bring it to pass. And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday. Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for him. Resting in the Lord and waiting patiently for him is a very important thing. The hardest is the waiting. The hardest is the waiting. Let patience have her perfect work. May I ask just what is meant by the crown of life? I know it's a reward, but, uh, what is the significance, the real meaning? Well, I would suggest something simple, that we're going to reign in life with our Lord Jesus Christ. It's the trial now, it's the suffering now, it's the reign by and by. We're going to live with him, and we're going to reign with him. Kings are crowned. There's a crown awaiting us, and life means enjoyment. There are the trials of the way, there are the sufferings now, patience now. By and by, we're going to reign with him in life. Uh, is this not the victor's crown and not the diadem of the king of crown? Well, it doesn't make too much difference. The margin gives it victor's crown. People talk about seeing light down here, but we'll be seeing light Mm. when we're reigning as victors in life Amen. with him. Now, at verse thirteen, it's a matter of temptation, real temptation, solicitation to evil. And in verse thirteen, he makes clear as to the source of temptation. Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God, for God cannot be tempted with, uh, evil, neither tempteth he any man. That's certainly abundantly clear. God never solicits a man to do that which is wrong, but the devil does. I think it's important to notice this because a very good friend of mine has... has, uh, made this statement, and I expect some time to face him with it, that our Lord Jesus Christ, when he was tempted in the wilderness, he could have sinned. And if he hadn't been in touch with his father, if he had neglected prayer, he could have fallen as Adam did. But here's a positive statement. God cannot be tempted with evil. You have two things here, verse fourteen, his own lust. Over against that, I like what we have in verse eighteen, his own will. His own lust in verse fourteen, His own will in verse eighteen. The one is the world and all that's in it. Adam turned from God. But the secret of all blessedness is the will of God. The essence of sin is my will. I want what I want. But it's a blessed thing when we find ourselves in the center of the circle of the will of God. The one is the root of all misery, the other is the source of all blessedness. Someone a Christian. I suppose if you can think of those two impossible things that your friend was suggesting, the impossibility of the Lord conducting prayer, the impossibility of being out of, being out of communion with God, then you can very readily produce the third impossibility, that is his being tempted. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. There was not in him what there is in us. No. That contributes to the fact. Mm-hmm. You can add another impossibility to that. They say, of course, that it was as man that he could, uh, have been tempted, and you can add to your list the impossibility of separating the person of the Lord Jesus like that. Amen. He never ceased to be what he was when he became a man. In, in this, uh, section here, it's, it's not the sin personified as acts. I mean, it, it seems to me to be the actions here, the actions then resulting in death. The lust is more like what we would conceive of as, as, as thoughts and, and temp- and, you know, what we often call temptations that are in us, desires and things like this. It's, it's James is speaking of actions when he's speaking of sins. Paul, when he speaks of sins at times, speaks of the inner tendency of man. Well, James has the source, then the action, and then the result. The source is my lusting after something. Now, it's never sin to take what God gives you, but it's always sin to covet something you haven't got. See, that- that's from within. Now, say that I want your- your recorder. I'm lusting after that. I haven't got one, and that's yours. I'd like that. And then I go and take it. See, that's the sin. The sin is the lust in action, isn't that right? And then death is the result. Mm-hmm. There's the, uh, reason I'm asking is, is, is one Christian has been taught that, uh, the lust here was not the sin because it says the lust brings forth the sin, uh, so that he thereby he can say he hasn't sinned in his Christian experience. And, and why is that? When he uses this portion of James, he's using the, James is speaking here of action. He may have not had action towards, uh, fulfilling his lust or his desires, but he has, he has at times lusted and desired for, uh, things and objects. Well, coveting is a sin, absolutely is. Now, there's one thing I've often thought in connection with children who have been brought up in the assembly. They may not have acted, they may not have stolen, swore, and things like that, but they have a deeper sense of sin. Here it is within. That nature is, is there. This passage reminds us of the importance of, of the fountain being pure. Sin Mm. begins in the mind. Really what it means is to keep thy heart with all diligence, Mm-hmm. for out of it are the issues of life, and we control what we think. We can control what we think. We can eject it, or we can nourish it. Mm-hmm. And what James is saying is that when it is nourished, it, it comes forth, it breaks, there's a birth there. Mm-hmm. It begets sin, and then sin leads down to the pit of hell. So the teaching of the passage would be to be occupied with the Lord. Amen. You can't be occupied with the Lord and be occupied with sin at the same time. You see, there's all the difference in the world between one word in verse fifteen and one in verse seventeen. In verse fifteen, then when lust, in verse seventeen, every good gift. Lust is what I desire and want. Gift is what God gives me. I remember a notation I read somewhere and put it in the margin of an old Bible. I think that's like lust is the mother of sin. Sin is the mother of death. The sinner is parent of both. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. He'll entice us. He's got a good... Some things come from our own. That's right. I shall never forget, in connection with this, that the believer doesn't lust, he takes rather than grabs. Uh, I heard John McNeil preach. There are about two thousand people there, and his favorite subject was the twenty third Psalm. Oh, he said, is there anyone here who can give me the first five words of Psalm twenty three. And someone rose and repeated, the Lord is my shepherd. Now I said, is there anyone here who dare finish that verse? And the lady got up and said, I shall not want. He says, is your husband here? She sat down in a hurry. I shall not want. If our shepherd cares for us, then we never say, I want this, I want that. And a happy life is dependent upon God's will for us. That is, we can be really happy and satisfied if we're content with what God gives us. No lusting, no wanting. I know someone said to me, that's not true, the world couldn't go on if nobody wanted something they didn't have, but we're not of the world. The world will go on all right, you needn't worry about that. I think there's a nice connection between these verses. Um, verse fourteen tells us that unholy temptations, uh, verse thirteen tells us they do not come from the Lord. Verses fourteen and fifteen tell us they do come from within ourselves, and then verse seventeen tells us that only good things come from God. Amen. This is what he wants his readers to remember ever. What does that expression, the father of lights, mean? Does father there, does light there have the idea of perfection, the father of everything that is perfect? There's no shadow in anything that he gives. No. Sometimes a human gifts are given with ulterior motives, because they expect to get something in return, get applause, praise of men. But with God, he's the father of light. There's no imperfection in any of his gifts. No variation. You remember, Jacob said to his wives, I've noticed the face of Laban, your father. It isn't all sunshine, there's a lot of shadow lately. But you'll never find a shadow in his face. He's always the same. Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures. So James refers to the new birth, and it's God who begets, of course, by the Holy Spirit, but the instrument employed by the agent, the Holy Spirit, is the word of truth. And that's one reason why we should give out the word of God, preach the word. It's the word that God has promised to bless and is used in the new birth. And the new birth is the first fruits of a new creation of his own will he begat us. Now, the first thing that Paul said when he met the Lord Jesus, what will thou have me to do? The ultimate is that our Lord Jesus Christ will make the will of God the law of the universe. His will begins in us. Self-will, will is the essence of sin. When I trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, I'm no longer the captain. What wilt thou have me to do? And we are a kind of a first fruits, the harvest soon. Won't that be wonderful when there'll be nothing but the will of God in the universe of God? Could it be that the we in this verse, as James wrote the letter, refers primarily to the believers of the early church period, those early Jewish believers, and God set them forward as examples to generations to come, uh, that they might be this, uh, first fruits of his creation. Then in verses nineteen through the end of the chapter, you have, uh, the practical manner in which they can be this type of first fruits of his creatures, by being hearers of the word and not doers only, and then specific illustrations are given there of hearing and doing. And that new nature that we have now is a sample of the new creation that'll be soon. The righteousness of God. The righteousness of God is wrought in us now. Do we not find expressions of that new nature in, for instance, verse nineteen? Mm-hmm. Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath. Mm-hmm. That's not characteristic of the old nature. We often are very slow, uh, to hear and quick to speak and quick to anger, but not so with the new nature. Not alongside this verse in my Bible, God's traffic sign. Oh. Three things here. Usually have three, don't they? Yeah. Stop, go, and then what's the other? Stop looking. Oh, stop looking, listen. Well, here it is, swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath, slow to speak. You know, every word we utter should be filtered. They, uh, advertise, what do they advertise filters with? What, what are they associated with? Anyhow, I'm going to give you a, I'm going to give you a filter. Before you say anything, first ask, is it true? Second, is it kind? Third, is it necessary? And let it pass through that filter before. You'd save yourself loads of trouble. Wouldn't be talking about scandal, all those hideous things. Their ears wouldn't be itching ears that Paul speaks of in Timothy. Swift to hear, slow to speak reminds us of the illustration so often used with children that were born with two ears and one tongue. There it is, swift to hear. Outstanding example of it you have in one of the friends of Job, Elihu. I don't think I sh- I could have kept quiet that long. The more we hear of God's word, the less we'll speak about ourselves. Mm-hmm. Let's remember the word once spoken cannot be recalled. We often have an instance in our life when, uh, talking to somebody and after so we say, why didn't I think, uh, something to say? Mm-hmm. I thought about that and it was over. Absolutely well with business. Mm-hmm. Staves us from thinking after us, I wish I hadn't said that. You know the story, it's a standard story, maybe you've heard it, of the lady that had slandered her friend in life, and then when she was sick and she felt she was going to die, she was sorry and came and told her about it. And she said to her, listen, here's this pillow. It's full of feathers. I want you, on your way home, to take this and empty it. Scatter those feathers along the way and come back. She did. And she came back with the empty pillowcase. Now she said, go back and gather them all up again. She said, I can't do it. She said, no, and you can't recall those words you uttered either. Boys flying their kites can pull them in, but you can't do that with words. Can't. And in an unguarded moment, you can say something that'll cause years of sorrow. James is very practical. Read it first in Ecclesiastes, the fifth chapter. In the second verse, be not bad with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter anything before God. Mm. For God is in heaven, and thou upon earth. Therefore let thy words be few. Mm-hmm. In the Proverbs that he that contains his lips is wise. Mm-hmm. But here in the next verse, he actually says, a fool's voice is known by the voice of the word. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. And then he says something. He says, even a fool, when he holds his tongue, is considered wise. Someone has said, say nothing behind the brother's back that you would not say before his face. That's right. And say nothing to his face that you would not say before the No, that's right. Speaking of soldiers, we have in, uh, First Corinthians, that all things be done in love, all things be done on gratification. Mm-hmm. All things be done decently. Mm-hmm. Right. You have some of the grave clothes of the old creation in verses twenty and twenty one. One of them is wrath, the wrath of man in exhibition isn't the way of working out the righteousness of God. That isn't the way of demonstrating ourselves as first fruits of his creatures. Then two other grave clothes are putting away all filthiness Mm-hmm. and overflowing of wickedness. You only have to think of the world and its evil ways to realize what those, uh, what those words mean. And I think it's lovely, the expression, receive with meekness the ungranted word. It shows that there's a moral preparation necessary for receiving the word of God, and that preparation is the meekness, the human heart. And the salvation of verse twenty one is the salvation of our lives, isn't it? Because in verse eighteen you have new birth. He begat us. Now we're to receive it constantly with meekness, the engrafted word. What we eat, we are. And the word will be translated into action, into character, into life as we take it in. Someone has said it's not so much salvation from damnation as salvation from damage to one's soul. Mm-hmm. And then we have a principle that's ever true. From verse twenty two to twenty five we have the labor, looking into the perfect law of liberty. Wouldn't you associate that with what Paul says? Looking, we become like him. Now that's the difference between grace and law. Law was a looking glass, but you can't wash yourself with a mirror. But the labor was a looking glass, but it held the water for cleansing as well. That perfect law of liberty, that would be liberty in Christ. Yeah, liberty to do the thing you like to do. You have a bird in a cage. There's the law of gravity that that's up on high, falls down. The perfect law of liberty is that that bird wants to fly. And we have a new nature that delights itself in the law of God. It's like a balloon, it's tied down. Loose him and let him go. Someone say that's a dangerous thing. Well, can I do as I like? Yes, and if you like to re- bring reproach upon your Lord Jesus, if that's what you like to do, don't tell me you're a saint. Child of God can fall into sin, but he feels sorry about it. He doesn't like it, he doesn't want it. The perfect law of liberty is to do the will of God. And we delight in the will of God. Even Romans seven tells you that. However bound you may be by sin. Not like a certain misguided Christian who'd been in a number of different bodies and finally came into an assembly. He said he thanked God he was now in a place where he could do as he pleased. If he pleased to do God's will, that's wonderful. Amen. I think there's a difference here too. I think there, in the case of the man in the first place, it's a casual glance. In the case of the second, it's an intense gaze. He takes a casual glance into a mirror. Mm-hmm. Sometimes, perhaps in our daily quiet time, there's a, the danger of doing that, rushing into the word of God and rushing through it and rushing out of it again. Mm-hmm. But this is a matter of meditation, Mm-hmm. a matter of taking time, a matter of occupation. Mm-hmm. Contrast Eve, she looked, but she wasn't blessed in her deed. We look, and we're blessed in the deed. The religion referred to in the last two verses, it is rather a reference to religious observances, such as the Jews were quite, uh, apt at and insisted on oft times without real spirituality back of it? Perhaps someone to say a word in regard to those two verses as we close. Well, there are the two things that pleases God. One is grace, and the other is separation. The visiting the fatherless and the widow would be simply typical of a many, many different acts of grace Mm-hmm. that could be shown. Of course, keeping ourselves unspotted from the world takes in a great deal. James saw the practical side of this in his brother. That's what manifested. Yes. That was manifested in our Lord's life down here. Grace, grace, grace, and yet with all separation. He was the most accessible of men, and yet the most separate of men. Our brother McDonald was speaking about the reverse of that, a man using cigarettes and putting wine in his house to reach the unsaved, but the Lord didn't reach them that way. He reached them all right, but he is absolutely separate from sinners. We have to maintain separation from the world. What good will the light do that mingles with the darkness? Would you want that kind of a light? I know someone said that man so heavenly minded, he's no earthly good, but if you're not heavenly minded, you're no earthly good. Well, tomorrow, God willing, we'll take up chapter two. I'd read it a number of times before that. There's sing number one hundred and ninety. The stream that from the fountain flows, the fountain of eternal love, imparts its virtue as it goes, a gift all other gifts above, is life and peace divinely given, the love of God come down from heaven.