I'll Be Honest - Podcast

James 1:26 – If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless.

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.

In this sermon, Tim Conway exposes 26 mental gymnastics we perform, 26 excuses we make after the sermon, and 26 ways we talk ourselves out of obeying God’s Word, even when convicted by its truth. Drawing from James 1:21-22, he’ll reveal the gap between hearing and doing, challenging us to move beyond mere conviction and into active obedience.

0:00 Introduction and Reading Text

In this sermon on Mark 3, we explore the context of Jesus’ teachings on blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, distinguishing it from other sins that can be forgiven. The discussion includes the meaning of blasphemy, Jesus’ warnings, and the relevance of these teachings today, offering hope and clarity to those with sensitive consciences.

00:00 – When You Exposit a Book, You Cannot Overlook Any Text.

James 1:18 – Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures. 19 Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; 20 for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. 21 Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. 22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.

What does it mean for God to bring us forth “by the word of truth”?

0:00 James 1.19-20

This sermon delves into what the Bible teaches about demonic oppression and possession, providing scriptural insights and practical observations to help understand this matter.

0:00 Sermon Opening

The reason most cultures have categories for “the supernatural and spirit possession” is not because they are backwards or pre-modern, but because they are more in touch with Biblical reality than we are. We often talk about not letting our culture trump the Bible. We don’t want to be “woke” like the culture; we want to be biblical. Yet this issue runs so deep that we don’t even notice it. Any focus on one thing for a prolonged amount of time is viewed as a dangerous potential for imbalance, rather than recognizing that the boat may indeed need rocking.

0:00 Preview

Jesus speaks some profound words in John 14:27, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.” In this sermon, Tim considers these glorious words of Christ.

Often, when people think about God’s love for those who believe, they neglect to think about his love which is evident in his divine correction of us. Hebrews 12 says God disciplines those he loves–his discipline is evidence of his love for us.

0:00 – Read Hebrews 12.5-11.

Blessed are the peacemakers, according to James chapter 3. Could it be said that you are pursuing peace and unity within your church? Or is the testimony about your character that you constantly divide Christ’s church like dynamite?

Transcript:

Please take your Bibles and turn to James 3, I want to read the entire chapter this morning—it is a good reminder.

Jam 3:1 – Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. 2 For we all stumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body. 3 If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well. 4 Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. 5 So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! 6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell. 7 For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, 8 but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. 9 With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. 10 From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so. 11 Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? 12 Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water. 13 Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom. 14 But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. 15 This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. 16 For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice. 17 But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. 18 And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.

Let’s pray together.

Father, we have an aversion to anyone that would seek to make an open show in the flesh. Lord, I want you to give debilitating grace this morning, Lord, to make me so consciously dependent upon you. I would pray, Father, that you would save me from myself, that you would save us all from ourselves. Lord, there will be risings of thoughts, of diversion, self-deception, pride as we sit and listen to this message. But I pray, Lord, that they would be kept at a distance, not to interfere in any way with what the Spirit seeks to say through the Word of God to us this morning. Thank you for this great privilege Lord, to be with these people, please help us. In Jesus name, Amen.

This morning I have chosen a text and I have felt led to set forth a title that hopefully will be a great encouragement to you as a faith family in the upcoming days. It’s something that resonates within my heart. I have worked with HeartCry Missionary Society for the last 16 years. We see the issue of variance and selfish ambition, even among some of the best of our missionaries. I’ve battled with that in my own heart on many occasions. So this morning what I want to do is share with you just some thoughts under the title of Blessed Are The Peacemakers.

The background of the text here is that you had a plethora of men that were coming forward equating a call with their ability to speak, and from the outset there was a very solemn warning issued in 3:1—My brethren, be not masters, don’t aspire to be spiritual leaders, for you shall receive the greater condemnation, the stricter judgment.

So interesting that James would proceed and he would give this contrast between the evil tongue and the good tongue. And he shows us the nature of it and what inspires one from the other. And then you read on and you find in verse 13, and here is the emphasis of the text: Who is that wise and understood ending man or woman among you that by his or her good conduct, let them show their works in the meekness of wisdom. That certainly is a conduit for peace. And then the writer James precedes and he talks about what is heavenly wisdom as opposed to that which is characterized by sensuality and even demonic character. And it’s interesting, brethren, that it all culminated in this precious verses scripture in verse 18. And this is the emphasis of what James is setting forth: a harvest of peace is sown in peace by those who make peace.

The premiere characteristic of a spiritual leader in a man or a woman is that they make for peace. We certainly believe that there are qualifications in Titus and Timothy concerning spiritual leaders that must be observed and must be followed. But from what I’m learning these days, one of the primary characteristics of a spiritual leader, whether it’s the Mom in the home or whether it’s a Father over it’s household, or whether it’s a leader in the church in some capacity, is do they say those things and do those things that make for peace.

So the context of the overall passage begins with a solemn warning. James cautions those who desire to be teachers of this grave responsibility, such administration causes a man to tremble in light of a future judgment, a stricter judgment. So consider the verses on the tongue that follow. As a spiritual leader, it’s not about how well he speaks, it’s not about how well he articulates. They are thinking to themselves that if I’m able to interpret this scripture, to preach with smooth words, to engage people with my verbal expression, then God certainly has a hand on me to lead them. But James says, “No!” The premier qualification of being a leader is a person that makes for peace. And when considering a man as a teacher, James tells us furthermore in the text, to look for one whose life is governed by wisdom and knowledge, not just simply a knowledge of scholarship that comes to the study of God’s Word, but a knowledge that is experiential in nature, that governs over the life of the individual. The nature of this wisdom is spiritual, because you see this man, this woman who has some type of leadership capacity, views things from an eternal perspective. They can see beyond. They can see what’s going on behind the scenes. They’ve cultivated their minds, their intuitive faculty to see what’s going on beyond. Whereas the knowledge or understanding speaks of a practical understanding of truth. There are two marks here of spiritual maturity, knowledge and wisdom, and both are demonstrated in a spiritual life characterized by sincerity, holiness, and meekness.

How about that as a need in this hour? Oh, now it’s interesting, brethren. A proper understanding of the text reveals that there were men who thought they were qualified to teach because they could speak well, they could move a congregation with persuasive words, but there was an absence of inner character to lead the people. They could impress with enticing words of man’s wisdom but they were inefficient in self-control that makes for peacemaking. So after James here, contrast divine wisdom with worldly wisdom, he tells them at the end of the chapter, once again, I reiterate that the real qualification for teaching is being, listen, an intentional peacemaker, which oftentimes in the way of implication, requires us exercising risk, by faith confronting people. And he says in verse 18 that the harvest of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace.

So track with me this morning when I think on the qualifications here in Titus and Timothy of elders and deacons in the church in times past with our own small faith family, our own congregation in Sheffield, Alabama, I’ve stressed the importance of looking for men who evidence those character qualities beyond those qualifications. I believe that one of the vital needs of a leader is to give and receive corrections. But beyond the biblical qualities of spiritual leaders and my personal preferences, I begin to recognize not only from the Scripture, but also in my interaction with people, how vital it was for a man or a woman to be a peacemaker.

I don’t know where you are, but as I shared with the men the other night, my resolve at 69 years of age, if I leave anything behind to the praise of his glory, I want to leave a legacy of love, not to the tune of biblical compromise—but God, I want to do everything I can to endeavor to keep unity in the bond, not for the sake of it, but in the bond of peace.

So think about this for a moment. When you see this, and as I saw it, I reflected on church history and recalled how many divisions, separation there were. Bloodshed could have been avoided if Christian ministers, as well as lay people would have only taken the time to reconcile their differences and exercise radical faith to promote unity. Think about it in our own day. How many churches in our may have been kept from division leading to destruction if their leaders would have pursued the things which make for peace? How many relationships may have been spared from discord and permanent separation if men and women would have spoken the truth and love, how many people would have found motivation in the example of one another? If the people in the church had not been overcome with evil, but would have overcome evil with good, I’m not promoting a philosophy of how to win people and make friends—none of that at all. But I tell you, friend, there’s so much I could have done. There’s so many things I could have avoided that could have made for peace. In this very hour would have resulted in fruit abounding to the glory of God. But oftentimes I shoot quick from the hip and the lip, and I’ve hurt the cause of Christ.

Think with me for a moment. Just one passing illustration of church history. I’m so indebted to Alexander Strauch, who wrote so extensively on the importance of agape love. And if you remember, one of the books he wrote was Lessons We Learned from the Life of R.C. Chapman. You can think of this man’s life for a moment. Charles Spurgeon said of Chapman that was a saintly man, that he ever knew, and Chapman was ever a peacemaker who walked in love so much so that at the end of his long life of 99 years, he became so well known for his loving disposition and wisdom that a letter from abroad addressed simply to R.C. Chapman. It was addressed to R.C. Chapman, University of Love, England was correctly delivered to him. That was a reputation he had on one occasion when someone asked Chapman, “How are you?” He replied that he was, “heavily burdened.” The concerned inquirer was relieved when Chapman added, “He daily loads us down with benefits.” That’s the right perspective. And it’s interesting that after Chapman assumed the pastoral role of Ebenezer Chapel in Barnstaple, England, that a few of the members of the congregation did not like the change that was occurring in the church. They reacted to Chapman’s leadership and gave the pastor much trouble ultimately leaving the church. But interestingly, because of the minister’s relentless love for these people in the years that followed, most resolve their differences with him and many of them returned to the church. I want to be like Chapman.

There are three things that you see in our texts. Three Indispensable qualities of a peacemaker.

First of all, is godly character. Look at verse 13 again. Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show my good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom. This is important. Listen carefully. What does this mean? The Apostle James challenges those who believe that the qualifications of being a teacher, they believe that their speaking ability was what was called for. But he tells them that the real proof of whether they can teach is found in a godly behavior of meekness. He is saying that the benefit of those who recommend themselves by how well they spoke, that their verbal giftedness is no proof of their leadership capacity. While the real mark of leadership maturity is a life of holiness couched in a meek disposition. I’m so disenamored today with platform speakers because up close and personal, some of the men that I have gotten to know very closely, there’s anything but meekness. It’s all about them.

Second characteristic here in verse 17 is godly wisdom. Notice the text, but the wisdom that is from above is first, purer, then peaceable. Then gentle, willing to yield. In other words, as the ESV says, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits without partiality and without hypocrisy, in other words, the grace of sincerity. Heavenly wisdom, brothers and sisters, is to see life once again from a providential perspective. It is God centered. And it enables us to view everything through the lens of eternity. James gives us eight aspects of this divine give that are at the heart of peacemaking. Listen very carefully for the sake of time. Let me just articulate or enumerate these things in your hearing.

First of all, he says, what characterizes this wisdom is that it is pure wisdom from above. Note purifies the mind. It refers to a purity of heart. The word literally means innocent, harmless. And one commentator says the meaning here is that the first immediate effect of religion is not on the intellect to make it more enlightened, but it is to purify the heart, to make the man upright. In a sense of and good. So peacemaking wisdom from above has good intent to help others.

Secondly, he uses the word peaceable. This wisdom inclines a man to be a passive of fire. It seeks to pray for and take the initiative to reconcile parties. A believer under the influence of this wisdom, strategizes his ways of peace on how he might restore parties recommending the best possible alternative to encourage to promote peace.

The next word is gentle. This just cuts against the grain of my flesh. I’ll stop here to share this with you. It’s amazing that it’s true that the two greatest agents for impacting a life and changing the course of a life and offering a character are the books you read and the people you meet. When I came on, HeartCry and went to Eastern Europe and I saw some things that concerned me. I did not approach the brethren in a spirit of meanness, considering myself, but I had the tendency to be highly confrontational. I engaged them in much anxiousness and God used brother Paul Washer and brother Sorin Prodan to teach me to love, not to be so quick to draw, not to be impulsive but to listen, and to speak the truth. And I had to be firm about it. But to learn this dimension of approach that these confrontations are couched in the spirit of meekness is something that is distinctly supernatural. But the word here for gentle means mild. It is a word that we get to expression gentlemen from. It suggests the virtue of patience. You see the idea here? The implication is a peacemaker. His demeanor is characterized by a gracious, long suffering in seeing things resolved.

Number four, he uses the term willing to yield. This is interesting, brethren. Listen up. The world speaks of a difference and reason wins. It means easily persuaded or about this one complaint according to one man. The sense is that he who is under the influence of the wisdom, which is from above, is not stiff, stern, obstinate and unyielding. The peacemaker is willing to listen carefully without interruption, to the view of another. This applies to the home. Don’t run roughshod over your wife. Be a leader, but be a loving leader and listen to her out.

Next one, he uses his full of mercy. Another character quality of this wisdom. It means the ability of brethren to feel…to feel! I have to tell you recently Adam from Poland gave me a book Something Must Be Known and Felt by Stuart Olyott—what a change it brings about. It resulted in almost a complete paradigm shift. I’d been tracking this area of experience of spirituality, but to know I felt Christ to make something mystical or super subjective or radically charismatic. I’m talking about something far more real than that. To be known by Christ, John Owen and Spurgeon both believed this. And rarely did they ever minister that there was not a pervasive sense of the presence of Christ that stood beside them. What we’ve lost in Christianity, our ability to feel, the ability to feel under difficult circumstances, the idea is disposed to compassion. He is inclined, brothers and sisters listen to imagine himself in the same conflict of interest. It’s like you cross into the shell, the body of the other. All of a sudden he begins to see things differently. And then there’s good fruits, he says. It means to extend grace and kindness and a benevolent hand to those who hurt and conflict. You see, notice the peacemaker will encourage peace by often making personal concessions to restore harmony.

Then here’s another characteristic: love without partiality. It means to show no favoritism due to race, sex, social status or personal relationship. True wisdom seeks to show no bias toward one party over another. We started a church many, many, many years ago in Kinston, North Carolina. The church began to thrive and grow. There were probably 80 or 90 people coming. It was so encouraging to see what God was doing. We had a young man come and he took over the church, a very gifted preacher. But he was not a peacemaker. And one of the older men in the church came to me on the behalf of the other older men in the church voicing concern. I listened to the side of the story of the young man. I listened to their side of their story and all I can say was that I’m not a part of the church. I’m not a part of the leadership. But I listened to the older man. I said, You’ve told me what you believe. And this young man told me what he believes, what his perspective is. But I said, But has anybody considered what God feels and what God believes? And I said, in case you need reminding brothers, God says, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace with our brothers. See, that’s another characteristic here. It means no false front. In other words, you’re not sitting there nodding and agreeing, but you’re really taking things here and you’re seeking to assimilate those things before the Lord God. What is a proper answer? God, please give me the grace of discretion to answer this thing properly in such a way that will afford peace. There is no separation, in other words. Here’s the idea here in his words, or inward intent. Once again, one commentator says what it professes to be. It denotes sincerity. There is no disguise or mask. Assume what the man pretends to be. He is. He does not give a false impression, a false assumption. Here’s another characteristic of this type of person, this peacemaker. And that is there’s a godly pursuit. Verse number 18. This is where it all culminates. Brothers and sisters. Don’t miss this one verse of scripture this morning. Take this with you. Let it sink deep down into your heart. But James says in verse 18, Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace. James says, show me your ability to make peace. So the fruit of righteousness here. How about this is the anticipated harvest of those who pursue peace. The best fields for reaping and harvest of gospel fruit are quiet, restful places that are not among battles, turmoil, political unrest or fiery disputes. Why? Because the wrath of man never produces the righteousness of God while God’s sovereign grace can work mightily brothers and sisters in the most turbulent context. He normally chooses his greatest work and lasting work. When the gospel is sown in peace. That’s what I want.

And if you notice today, I mean, we’re part of a Sovereign Grace Network. We’re part of the Reformed Network, whatever you want to call it, you know, but we certainly have no monopoly on peace. We know all the scriptures about peace. We can wax eloquently in expounding it, but where is the reality of it? I’ve never known this part of the Church of Jesus Christ. What would make the Reformed Church more fragmented than it is today? And all because everybody’s got to make a point over minor issues in most cases.

So here’s my conclusion this morning. Get a load of this. It is appropriate to remind ourselves of what Jesus said in Matthew  5:9. This is weighty. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God. They’ll make you smile—and make your heart dance. J.C. Ryle said peacemaker means that those who use all their influence to promote peace and unity on earth in private and in public, this is what we should desire, he said. But how disconcerting, brethren, it is that so many people are inclined to be instigators and contributors to strife. They delight in inciting contention rather than promoting peace.

I am well acquainted with such professing believers presently in my own life. One individual, for example, has a reputation of criticizing every church leader. He becomes acquainted with an infraction in a little minor point that does not sit well with him. He promotes dissension. One of my responsibilities now with HeartCry, since I have stepped down from the Eastern European Coordinator position, is my wife and I, we do the counseling. Everybody that contacts through the website, normally most of that channeled to us. The other day a dear brother, I assume he’s a brother, but he’s a wrangler. As soon as I got on the phone, I mean, with him, he’s flaunting his intellectualism. He’s quoting verses of Scripture. He’s waxing eloquently as to what he believes theologically. And then he says he’s been to so many churches in his area of the country and he is never satisfied because sooner or later somebody is going to say something or the preacher is going to preach something he doesn’t agree with. And what he does is he takes his wife and his child and leaves the church. So I confronted him and talked to him on the phone. I said, Brother, you’re not doing your family any good. You have no idea the damage that your wife and child are causing because of your obnoxious pride. Now, I said some of these things that you mentioned. We’ve all got varying views in these minor areas, but for him, that gives you the right to create dissension and cause discord among the money. He thanked me, but obviously two days later he contact he contacted HeartCry again and went to speak to somebody else.

So the question is asked this morning, do you want to be a peacemaker? Do you deserve brothers and sisters to take the painstaking steps to assume the role of encouraging men to reconcile their differences? Are you willing to begin the process of sowing in peace by dying to your own self-will to right wrongs with people that you have carried a personal grudge or offense toward? So you ask the question: Well, how can I become a peacemaker? How can I cultivate this character?

Let me close with this. First of all, Seek peace and pursue it in your own relationship with others. Don’t get absorbed with other people’s conflicts or other people’s relationships. But come before God—what is it in my life right now that perhaps in my heart of hearts there is a hurt? Is there bitterness? By the way, a lot of people, what they call hurts toward people is nothing but bitterness. Bitterness is a subliminal sin. And you call it hurt. God calls it bitterness.

1 Peter 3:10-11. Listen to this. For he that will love life and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil and his lips that they speak no guile. Let him shun evil and do good. How about this for a pursuit? Let him seek peace and pursue it. You know what the word pursue means? It means to stalk. Nobody likes to be stalked. Nobody likes to be the object of a stalker? You hear about it all the time. But this is what we’re talking about because this is what should be on our side spiritually if I am literally stalking peace. I’m hunting down peace.

Secondly, determinant in your life as a Christian to be gospel driven in your pursuit of peacemaking. Now, please listen to this Ephesians 4:32 through chapter five verse to the Apostle said, 

Be kind when to another tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake have forgiving you be there for followers of God as dear children and walk in love as Christ also loved us and has given himself.

Notice this posture of ministry: walking in love is inspired by the love of Christ demonstrated on Calvary. I got to tell you something, brothers and sisters, the sustains and drives everything in my life. It drives my marriage and drives my mortification of sin and drives my mission. And when you read those, my autobiography of Charles Spurgeon and the year before last I read that and followed up with the two volumes set on Martyn Lloyd-Jones by Iain Murray. You know what it was that drove them? You know what the difference was in those men’s lives is they were caught up with wonder. They were intentional in setting up opportunities to contemplate the wonders of God and the premier wonder was the cross and this is what drove them was the depths of the cross, the wonders, the beauties of the atonement. And it and it fuels our fire. When I think of Calvary. And I think that Christ took the position of death to reconcile for me as an enemy of God to God himself through the merits of his son. This motivates me to be a peacemaker. Nothing sustains peacemaking any more than consistently pondering the cross one because propitiation and propels peacemaking.

Here’s a proper approach to reconciling with the person. Before anyone reconciles, someone must take the position of death. Death to reputation, death to rights, death to opinions, I’m going to take the position of death to see God magnified in my attempt to reconcile with this person. And that’s exactly what God did. He took the initiative to take the position of death in the person of his Son, to reconcile us to himself.

Are you interested? David Miller, you know, he sits in his wheelchair, you know, and he’ll say something and it’s kind of cutting edge. And then he will cut his eyes back and forth because he can’t move anything else in his body and he will say: Are you interested? I hope you’re interested this morning about being a peacemaker.

Here’s the third and final thing I press upon your heart and conscience this morning. Remember that peacemaking will often require a confrontation and may result in rejection. You have to stand up and speak the truth, not arrogantly, but in a spirit of meekness. And often it may result in rejection. Galatians 2:11-14, you remember there is Peter being swept away by the influence of Judaism. The Bible tells us in verse 14, But when they saw that they did not walk up rightly according to the truth of the gospel, I said it to Peter before them all. Paul speaking. If now being a Jew, live after the manner of Gentiles and not as to the Jews, why compel the other Gentiles to live, as do the Jews. It took fortitude to confront Peter, but here’s the thought. Our spiritual maturity is often measured in ways that are foreign to our own way of thinking. One of those ways, brothers and sisters, is to exercise, as John Piper oftentimes uses his term, exercise risk taking faith in assuming the role of a peacemaker to reconcile two brothers who are at odds with one another. If Jesus blessed the peacemakers and called them the children of God on the Sermon on the Mount, what should we think of He considers being a peace forsaker?…You’ll not always be, always be received. As a matter of fact: sometimes people will turn on you, but your supreme motive in any attempt to make for peace hears that God would be glorified. Now we sit there and most of you would affirm what I just said, but let that sink down into your heart. This is not about us. It’s not about our acceptance. It’s not about promoting our glory. It’s about him.

Have you heard the story of what is behind the Nobel Peace Prize? In 1866, Alfred Nobel invented dynamite and built up companies and laboratories and more than 20 countries all around the world become a multi-millionaire. He amassed a considerable fortune after Nobel’s brother died; the newspapers made a mistake and read an obituary for Alfred rather than his brother. In the obituary, they stated that he was known for creating the most destructive force known to mankind: Dynamite. So when Nobel read the obituary, he decided that he didn’t want his family name remembered for destruction. Perhaps you know this part of the story, but on November 27th, 1895, Nobel signed his final will and testament at the Swedish Norwegian Club in Paris, where Nobel died. And on December 10th, it was discovered that, according to his will, his vast wealth was to be used for five prizes, including the Nobel Peace Prize. The prize for peace was to be awarded to the person who shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between the nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies, and for the holding of peace congresses. Just before his death notice, just before his death, he confided in a friend. I want to be remembered for peace, not destruction. I ask you this morning, friend, is that what you want to be known for? Peace or selfish ambition and an instigator of strife? And sitting silently by when somebody in your presence tears your brother apart is not promoting peace it’s aiding and abetting dissension. I ask you this this morning: What do you wish to be remembered for? Dynamite or peace? The dynamite of a contentious spirit or a disposition of peace. It is best to remember that a peacemaker is not overcome with evil, but overcomes evil with good and a peacemaker who lives in peace with all men. Romans 12:18. A peacemaker refuses to be argumentative, but be gentle unto all men. 2 Timothy 2:24. A Peacemaker speaks the truth in love (Eph. 4:15). This individual is a peacemaker, looks after the interests of others (Phil 2:4). He or she is willing to exercise risk taking faith to establish peace (Ro. 14:19). This is my pursuit.

Who will go with me?

You say, Well, what you’re saying this morning, in my opinion, reeks of compromise.

All right. That’s what you want to believe? I’m not going to violate my conscience. And once again, I reiterate what I said at the beginning of the message today. I’m not promoting peace at the tune of biblical compromise. But much of what’s going on today and dividing local churches and dividing the church at large around the world is our own selfish ambition that we’ve got to promote. We’ve got to protect, even if it means fragmentation in the body of Christ.

Let’s pray together, Father in heaven, so grateful that you were so intentional and in taking the position of death in the person of your Son to reconcile us to yourself, that we might taste the sweetness of death to our self, death to our rights, death to our reputation. That in this matter of pursuing peace, the excellency, the power and may be of you and not of us, make every effort that we administer in faith. In faith. Sometimes the fight of faith redound to your glory. In Jesus name, Amen. 

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