Lift Up Your Heads

 

James 5:7-8 “Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. The farmer waits for the precious produce of the soil, being patient about it, until it gets the early and late rains. You too be patient; strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near . . . As an example, brethren, of suffering and patience, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. We count those blessed who endured. You have heard of the endurance of Job and have seen the outcome of the Lord’s dealings, that the Lord is full of compassion and is merciful.”

 

During the past few weeks, we’ve looked at what it means to have a ‘fear’ of God – which is considerably deeper than simply being afraid of Him. The biblical idea combines reverence, awe, honor, and a deep desire to live in a way that pleases Him. As we saw last week, reverence toward God also leads to an increasing confidence in God. It’s the same kind of confidence that allowed Peter to sleep between two Roman guards as he awaited execution in the morning. It’s the kind of confidence that allowed Paul and Silas to sing praises and hymns in that filthy dungeon even while their feet were fastened in wooden stocks and their wounds still stinging from their beatings for preaching the gospel.

 

Today I want to revisit that point of a reverence-driven trust in God’s utter sovereignty over all nations and over all individuals within those nations –those who sleep under bridges and those who are powerful political leaders – and everyone else in between. In so doing today, I hope to remind us that nothing can happen on earth or in our private lives without His direct involvement.

 

Nothing can happen without Him – even if it be a car accident or cancer or a murder or the promotion of wicked people to governmental or religious power. Nothing can happen without God’s direct involvement – an involvement which always flows from His love, His kindness, and His desire for the salvation of souls – yours, mind, everyone’s.

 

Why am I emphasizing this point? Do you follow the national and international news? If you do, then I suspect you have at times become – as I have become – increasingly agitated and even fearful of where our world and our nation are rapidly headed – and how that direction will affect us and those we love.

 

It is clear to all those whose eyes have not been glazed over by the lusts of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the boastful pride of life that something is happening here. Something not good. Something menacing.

 

In 1965, after reading a chapter in Billy Graham’s book, World Aflame, his wife, Ruth Graham told him: “If God doesn’t soon bring judgment upon America, He’ll have to go back and apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah.”

 

She said that in response to the sweeping sexual immorality, the violence, abortion, and growing lawlessness ravaging America in the 60s. But what would she say about America today?

 

In the short 60 years since that decade, America has slaughtered more than 60 MILLION babies in their mothers’ wombs – and so few in our country care. You know that’s true because Americans – even churchgoers – keep voting for proabortion politicians.

 

And it’s hard to find a movie or TV program that doesn’t treat adultery and fornication as normal fare, whereas virginity before marriage and sexual fidelity in marriage is portrayed as abnormal. And how can it be in this once-Christian nation that we permit the surgical and medical mutilation of boys and girls who want to change their anatomical sex? And Americans still vote for politicians who support that satanic evil.

 

Just watch what happens at the polls in a few weeks.

 

No wonder it’s becoming increasingly difficult for anyone with even a modicum of spiritual understanding to read today’s headlines and not become fearful or frustrated, or a little of both.

 

But please hear this word of encouragement from God Himself as He speaks to us through His infallible and inerrant word we call the Bible: Things are not falling apart. They’re falling into place.

 

I say it again for emphasis. Things are not falling apart. They’re falling into place. Scripture assures us through the prophets and apostles – “The king’s heart is like channels of water in the hands of the Lord. He turns it wherever He wishes.” (Proverbs 21:1)

 

The king’s heart and everyone else with political power – all of them, the godless and the godly – they’re each, moment by moment, at the utter mercy of their Creator who easily moves them like pieces on a chessboard according to His will and His plan. And they are abject fools to think otherwise.

 

I think of the godless pagan Pharaoh to whom God gave disturbing dreams that resulted in Joseph’s elevation to vice-regent of Egypt and which ultimately led to the salvation of the twelve tribes of Israel. I think of the wicked pagan King Nebuchadnezzar to whom God also gave disturbing dreams. Those resulted in Daniel’s elevation to leadership in the king’s court and to the protection of the Jews during their Babylonian exile.

 

I think of the pagan monarch, King Ahasuerus, or the Medo-Persian king Cyrus, or any of the dozens of powerful kings and rulers in Biblical and post-Biblical eras who were unknowingly moved by their Creator to do what His plan and purpose had decreed from eternity past.

 

One of my favorite examples of God’s chessboard is found in 2 Kings 19 and repeated by the Holy Spirit in Isaiah 37. When the brutal and ruthless Assyrian king waged war against Israel, King Hezekiah prayed in desperation to the Lord. And God, in response to Hezekiah’s prayer said this to the pompous Assyrian king:

 

(Isaiah 37:26-29) “Have you not heard? Long ago I did it, from ancient times I planned it. Now I have brought it to pass, that you should turn fortified cities into ruinous heaps. Therefore their inhabitants were short of strength, they were dismayed and put to shame; They were as the vegetation of the field and as the green herb, as grass on the housetops is scorched before it is grown up. But I know your sitting down and your going out and your coming in and your raging against Me. Because of your raging against Me and because your arrogance has come up to My ears, therefore I will put My hook in your nose and My bridle in your lips, and I will turn you back by the way which you came.”

 

Tell me why anyone would think the king’s heart – ANY king or ruler – why they are not like channels of water in the hands of the Almighty?

King David captured the point of it all quite well when he wrote in the second psalm: (Psalm 2) “Why are the nations in an uproar and the peoples devising a vain thing? The kings of the earth take their stand, and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against His Anointed, saying, “Let us tear their fetters apart and cast away their cords from us!” He who sits in the heavens laughs, the Lord scoffs at them.”

 

It is a fearful thing to be scoffed at by Almighty God.

 

Kings, rulers, and the average individual citizens – God’s sovereignty reigns over all of them, checkmating even the vilest and most powerful.

 

Let me now drive home this point which I direct to all whose faith is in Christ for forgiveness, salvation and eternal life: God’s authority and sovereignty in 2026 have not faltered or changed one iota. He repeatedly declares it – probably so we don’t forget it: Malachi 3:6 – “For I am the Lord, I change not.” Hebrews 13:8 – “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and forever.” James 1:17 – “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.”

 

Which brings us back to the text in the fifth chapter of James we started with: “Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. The farmer waits for the precious produce of the soil, being patient about it, until it gets the early and late rains. You too be patient; strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near . . . As an example, brethren, of suffering and patience, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. We count those blessed who endured. You have heard of the endurance of Job and have seen the outcome of the Lord’s dealings, that the Lord is full of compassion and is merciful.” James 5:7-8

 

Brothers and sisters in Christ – Be Patient. Do not fret because of the growing evil in our nation and even the growing apostasy in so many churches. Be patient. The Lord Jesus is right at the door, and it is about to swing open. “Lift up your heads, O ye gates! And be ye lifted up, ye everlasting doors! And the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, O ye gates! Even lift them up, ye everlasting doors! And the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The Lord of hosts, He is the King of glory.” (Psalm 24:7-10) 

 

God has always used, and is still using, the rich and the powerful – even as He is using you and me – to bring about His purposes, one of which will culminate with the glorious return of the Lion of Judah – King Jesus – to set up His throne on earth; A throne Daniel saw in vision like a stone cut out of a mountain that crushed and scattered all the kingdoms of the earth and which then grew and filled the entire earth (Daniel 2). And what is that stone? Scripture tells us:

 

“The stone which the builders rejected, this became the chief corner stone

 . . . And he who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; but on whomever it falls, it will scatter him like dust.” (Matthew 21:42,44)

 

That stone is the Lord Jesus Christ, our great God and Savior.

 

There is good reason – of course – why God repeatedly tells humanity in general and you and me individually of His unassailable power. Surely He does so to provoke and to mature reverence toward Him – fear, awe, wonder – and reverential confidence in Him. What the Lord Jesus told His disciples living under the heel of a despotic Roman government He speaks also to us living in 2026 as our culture and our political and religious leaders grow increasingly malevolent:

 

“These things I have spoken to you so that you may be kept from stumbling. They will make you outcasts from the synagogue, but an hour is coming for everyone who kills you to think that he is offering service to God. These things they will do because they have not known the Father or Me. But these things I have spoken to you, so that when their hour comes, you may remember that I told you of them.” John 16:1-4

 

He then closed His prophecy with this divine oath: These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation but take courage; I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)

 

Christian, because you are by faith ‘in’ Christ, you have nothing to fear from man or circumstances. Things are not falling apart. They are falling into place.

 

How then are we to live? As always, Scripture guides us. Listen again to James who opened this epistle with a call to patience: “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” (James 1:2-4)

 

Listen also to Peter: (1 Peter 1:13-16) “Therefore, prepare your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; because it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”

 

Now to John: (1 John 3:2-3) “Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is. And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.”

 

Fixating on Jesus and walking in holiness are not God’s suggestions to His children. They are His commandments because it is only by living in and striving toward holiness will we find His peace – peace that surpasses all human understanding.”

 

Christian, be patient until He returns. Strive for holiness until He returns. “The farmer waits for the precious produce of the soil, being patient about it, until it gets the early and late rains. You too be patient; strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near

 

And live evangelistically, even now, in our old ages in which Almighty God promises us fruitfulness Psalm 92:12-15 “The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon; Planted in the house of the Lord, they will flourish in the courts of our God. They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green, proclaiming, “The Lord is upright; He is my Rock, and there is no wickedness in him.”

 

Christian, we are almost done. We are almost home. Keep at it. “God is [and always will be] our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change and though the mountains slip into the heart of the sea; Though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains quake at its swelling pride.” Psalm 46:1-3

 

Things are not falling apart. They are falling into place. Lift up your heads. Our redemption draws near. 

Real Reverence

We focused attention last week on the final verses of chapter one of James’ epistle. Specifically: “If anyone thinks himself to be religious and yet does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this man’s religion is worthless. Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.”

 

As we saw last week, we demonstrate reverence God when we live in profound and humble awe of His holiness and His inexpressible greatness. How can we not be in awe when we contemplate who our God is? The heavens declare His unmatched glory and the skies His majesty. Those who can look to the skies, and the roaring seas, and the majestic mountain ranges – indeed, those who can study a high school textbook on human anatomy and biology and still refuse to fall on their knees in utter reverential awe before God make themselves worthy of God’s judgement.

 

The psalmist said it long ago and it continues to prove true: “The fool has said in his heart, there is no God.” (Psalm 14:1). The Lord Jesus said: “This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the Light and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. John 3:19-20:

 

And so, Paul writes, “They are without excuse.” (Romans 1:20).

 

If you were here, you will remember we looked at three points James makes in these two verses: Guard our tongues, help those who are in need, and keep ourselves unstained by the world. We saw that the deeper our reverence for God, the purer our lives will become because we will strive to please Him and keep our souls unstained by sin.

 

We also saw that we demonstrate reverence for God, and keep ourselves unstained by the world, when we make it our goal to never take Him causally – such as when even Christians use OMG – “Oh, My God” – as if the phrase has no more significance than the word, ‘wow.’

 

Christians might not mean to be casual with God, but by misusing His majestic Name, they are in truth acting irreverently. And make no mistake; That seemingly minor transgression will, if unchecked, lead to further and greater sin.

 

I need to repeat that for emphasis: That seemingly minor transgression will, if unchecked, lead to further and greater sin.

 

Because we ran out of time last week, I want to return to yet another spiritual outcome inherent in reverencing God: We gain a deeper and more robust trust and confidence in Him – even if and even WHEN circumstances are arduous and even fearful. It is to that point about reverencing God that I want to begin today’s message.

 

When theologians speak of “reverencing God,” they mean something considerably deeper than simply being afraid of God. The biblical idea combines awe, honor, a desire to live in a way that pleases Him, and trust.

 

In the next few minutes I want to return to where I left off last time in our examination of reverence and focus on the impact reverence has on our ability to confidently trust in God’s unalterable authority and sovereignty over every circumstance in our lives – the good, the bad, the frightening, the joyful – or whatever.

 

As Solomon wrote: “In the fear [reverential fear] of the LORD is strong confidence.” Proverbs 14:26a:  And the psalmist: “In God I have put my trust, I shall not be afraid. What can man to do me?”  Psalm 56:11

 

In other words, an increasing reverence toward God leads to a deepening knowledge of His character which, in turn, leads quite naturally to a deepening trust in Him. It turns us from self-confidence to a ‘God-confidence.’ And as our ‘God-confidence’ matures, the easier it becomes for us to conclude that when something happens to us that we do not understand – or like – that we do not have to understand it to trust Him. The more we reverence God the less we fear people or circumstances.

 

Let me say that again for emphasis: The greater our reverence for God the less we fear people or circumstances.

 

“If God is for us,” the apostle Paul wrote, “who is against us? . . .  Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? . . . But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us.” (Romans 8:31,37)

 

I’ve read the book of Acts many times, but most recently the stories of Peter awaiting execution, and Paul and Silas in the Philippian jail caught my attention. Luke tells us at the beginning of chapter 12 that Herod “had James the brother of John put to death with a sword. When he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter also.”

 

Peter knew he was to be executed in the morning. But what was he doing the night before? He was sleeping while chained between two Roman guards. And why was he sleeping? I’ll come back to that question in a moment.

 

Then there was Paul and Silas in Philippi. Luke tells us they caused an angry stir preaching the gospel. It wasn’t long before: “The chief magistrates tore their robes off them and proceeded to order them to be beaten with rods. When they had struck them with many blows, they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to guard them securely; and he, having received such a command, threw them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks.” Acts 16:22b-24

 

It was a filthy place. A demoralizing place. But what were the two doing? “They were praying and singing hymns of praise to God” (verse 25). Why?

 

I think the answer to the questions why could Peter be sleeping between the Roman soldiers and Paul and Silas were singing praises to God in that jail – I think the answer lies in their reverence for God, a reverence which resulted in their deep and profound trust of God and His absolute sovereignty in their circumstances. A trust that allowed them to rest peacefully, or to sing joyously. A trust that convinced them that nothing could happen to them – whether an execution or an imprisonment – nothing could happen to them that their sovereign and loving Father did not ordain for them for whatever reasons He had.

 

Let’s pause a moment. We need to be very careful to not allow ourselves to excuse ourselves from that kind of trust by thinking, “Well, sure. They were saints. They were apostles. No wonder they could do what they did in their ominous circumstances.”

 

We must be careful to not allow that thought to ROB us of what God also wants for you and for me – that being to realize that WE TOO can have their kind of reverence-driven trust in God.

 

Yes, Peter, Paul, and Silas were ‘saints’ as we call them. But they were not ‘stained-glass’ saints with halos above their heads. At their core they were just as prone to sins, to doubts and fears as any of us in this chapel. Scripture tells us Peter played the hypocrite in his relationship with the Gentiles because he feared the criticism and social pressure of his Jewish peers. You’ll find that story in the second chapter of Galatians.

 

As for Paul, he became terribly angry with his missionary companion, Barnabas, because he wanted to take Mark along with them on their next missionary expedition and Paul absolutely refused. If you know the story from Acts 15, the two giants of Christian faith walked away from each other and went their separate ways – Barnabas with Mark and Paul with Silas.

 

By the way, and as an aside, if Barnabas had not been willing to take Mark under his proverbial wing, we might not even have the gospel written by Mark.

 

What’s my point? Despite our failures and sins, there is no Biblical basis why we cannot grow in our reverence for God – for His holiness, His awesomeness, His beauty, His power. And there is no Biblical basis for any of us to not have developed within us the same kind of confidence that developed in Peter and Paul and Silas – and in the numberless men and women of God through the ages.

 

But let’s pause again for another moment. Such reverence for God is not at all something anyone can ‘gin up’ on their own. Our carnal nature strains to get as far from God is it can. As Paul reminds us in Romans 8, our nature of sin “does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so” (Romans 8:7) That’s why the Lord Jesus tells us, “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him.” (John 6:44) And He said, “No one knows the Son except the Father; nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.”(Matthew 11:27) 

That’s why God sent us His Holy Spirit who will teach us, and bring to our remembrance all that the Lord has said to us. (See John 14:26)

 

Christians know that salvation itself is a supernatural work of God. We were all spiritually dead in our trespasses and sins, and dead people cannot do anything on their own. That’s why God Himself had to intervene to make us alive together with Christ. Again, here is the apostle Paul: “But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ - by grace you have been saved.” (Ephesians 2:4-5)

 

God had to intervene to make us alive in Christ, and God must also intervene to GIVE us reverence for Himself and to GROW in our reverence for Him. Only by His intervention can we attain to the reverence that results in the kind of trust that Peter, Paul, and Silas had in God.

 

How badly do we want that kind of reverential confidence? How badly do we want such confidence in our heavenly Father that we can even sleep peacefully or sing joyously in hard places?

 

Scripture tells us: “Faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ (Romans 10:17). It is nothing short of foolish futility to think God will grow our reverence for Him when we choose to leave His book unopened and off to the side. You know the children’s song: Read your Bible, pray every day and you’ll grow, grow, grow.”

 

So, Christian, just as we asked God to save us when He intervened to reveal to us our sins – and He saved us – even so we can ask God to grant us a deep and deepening reverence for Him – and He will do so.

 

Isn’t that the principle James put forth in the first verses of this chapter? “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God who gives to all generously . . . but let him ask in faith, without doubting.” (See James 1:5-6) Of course it’s the same principle. So, ask, seek, and knock – and it shall be given us.

 

Which now brings us to the next verses in this epistle which seamlessly integrates reverence for God and obedience to Him: “My brethren, do not hold your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ with an attitude of personal favoritism. For if a man comes into your assembly with a gold ring and dressed in fine clothes, and there also comes in a poor man in dirty clothes, and you pay special attention to the one who is wearing the fine clothes, and say, “You sit here in a good place,” and you say to the poor man, “You stand over there, or sit down by my footstool,” have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil motives? . . .. But, if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all.” (James 2:1-4, 9-10)

 

The context of this section is about prejudiced decisions based solely on outward appearances. And the text speaks clearly enough on its own; We commit sin – condemnable sin – when we judge someone by their appearance.

 

But the principle of James’ warning goes far beyond wealth or the lack of it. The principle applies to ANY decision we make based on someone’s appearance – as, for example, when a white person prejudges a black person, or a black person prejudges a white person based on their skin color. To do so is nothing less than sin. Period.

 

And let me be very clear, God solemnly warns bigots than they must repent and turn from that sin. There is absolutely no room in the heart of a Christian for racial bigotry. These are not only my words. That commandment is rooted in Scripture from one end of the Book to the other.

 

“Jesus loves the little children of the world – red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in His sight.” And if they are not precious in OUR sight, we’d better ask God to forgive us and to change our hearts. We will not grow in reverence for God if we judge people by their skin color or their outward appearance.

 

Of course, human nature being what it is, racial bigotry is not the only sin or prejudice of which a Christian can be guilty. Ageism falls into the category of sinful prejudice. I’ve been guilty of it myself. I don’t think I’m still guilty of it, but that doesn’t necessarily mean I don’t still practice a form of ageism. We all are quite adept at hiding our sins from ourselves, and only the Holy Spirit can reveal our secret sins to our hearts.

 

Anyway, I’m ashamed to tell you how often in the past I’ve sat in a church whose pastor was 25 or 30 years younger than I, and I smugly told myself, “What can this young kid tell me about walking with God? He was probably in diapers when I was already in the navy.”

 

How arrogant I was to think that to myself. It took a long time before I realized that when a man of God faithfully and accurately preaches the word of God, it is not the young man who speaks to me, but it is the Spirit of God who speaks through the word of God. We all would do well to remember the apostle Paul’s encouragement to young Timothy who likely faced some ageism in his congregation in Ephesus: “Let no one look down on your youthfulness, but rather in speech, conduct, love, faith and purity, show yourself an example of those who believe.” (1 Timothy 4:12).

 

It is nothing short of self-delusion and heart-hardening to think the sin of prejudging someone based on their appearance doesn’t matter much to God.

 

Yeah, it does. James emphasizes that point when he warns in verse 10 of chapter two: “For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all [of them].”

 

Well, I need to bring this message to a close, so let me quickly review: First, we each should routinely ask God to change our hearts, that we will treat Him with ever increasing reverence, awe, obedience, and trust. And second, we ought to routinely ask God to keep us from the sin of prejudging someone based on their skin color or other outward appearance.

 

As Paul wrote to all with ears to hear and eyes to see: “Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things. ⁹ The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.” (Philippians 4:8-9).

 

We will continue next week with our study in God’s word.

Remaining Unstained

Already in this short chapter the Holy Spirit speaks to us about several evidences of faith that will be true in the life of a real follower of Christ Jesus. Perseverance is one mark of Christian faith – perseverance in trials, including temptations to sin – and perseverance in DOING God’s commandments, not merely hearing them. That’s why he writes: “But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves.”

 

Paul wrote to Titus about the hearers and doers his young protégé faced in the church on the island of Crete. Some there did a lot of ‘hearing’ without ‘doing’ God’s commandments: (Titus 1:16) “They profess to know God, but their actual behavior denies their profession, for they are obviously vile and rebellious and when it comes to doing any real good they are palpable frauds.” (JB Philips)

 

Of course, human nature being as it is, the contrast between hearing and doing has been going on for a long time. Listen to what God said to the prophet Ezekiel: (Ezekiel 31:32-33) “They come to you as people come and sit before you as My people and hear your words, but they do not do them, for they do the lustful desires expressed by their mouth, and their heart goes after their gain. Behold, you are to them like a sensual song by one who has a beautiful voice and plays well on an instrument; for they hear your words but they do not practice them.

 

Christian – guard your heart. Routinely seek God’s help to be more than simply a hearer of God’s word, but to DO what He commands of us.

 

Now, to today’s text. After challenging his readers to be more than passive hearers of God’s word, James then writes: “If anyone thinks himself to be religious and yet does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this man’s religion is worthless. Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world. (James 1:26-27)

 

I want us to look at three points in these two verses: (1) Control the tongue (see next chapter), (2) Help those in need, and (3) Walk with God in holiness.

 

First, Control the tongue. If anyone thinks himself to be religious and yet does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this man’s religion is worthless.’

 

We’ve all heard the children’s rhyme “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never harm me.” And we ALL know – many of us from personal experience – we all know how wrong those words are.

 

God tells us, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue.” (Proverbs 18:21) That certainly could be one reason the Lord Jesus warns us: (Matthew 12:36-37) “But I tell you that every careless word that people speak, they shall give an accounting for it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”

 

In her essay, When Words Kill, Clinical Therapist and author Lisa Ferentz writes: Those of us who work in the mental health community have long understood the incredible impact of words. The way others talk to us profoundly influences our emotional states, our subsequent thoughts, and many of our behavioral choices. Unkind or abusive words can literally be used as weapons . . . Clients in their 60’s and 70’s can still recall the exact words and phrases that belittled and hurt them in childhood . . . And when they do, they are still overcome with sadness, helplessness, self-doubt, or self-loathing. The messages remain powerful because they were spoken by people who were supposedly safe, trustworthy, and loving.” 

 

As many of us who are familiar with James’ epistle, we know he will come back to this point later in his letter: (James 3:5-6) ^“The tongue is a small part of the body, and yet it boasts of great things. See how great a forest is set aflame by such a small fire! And the tongue is a fire, the very world of iniquity; the tongue is set among our members as that which defiles the entire body, and sets on fire the course of our life, and is set on fire by hell.”

 

Richard needs to learn this lesson well: If you have nothing good to say to someone or about someone, then don’t say anything. And what I need to practice applies to every person here: If you have nothing good to say TO anyone or ABOUT anyone – then don’t say anything. God makes it very clear in this epistle and elsewhere in Scripture, if we don’t bridle our tongue, we deceive ourselves about our walk with Christ and we defile ourselves and give place to hell in the destruction of others.

 

Listen to the Lord Jesus (Luke 6:45-46) “The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil; for his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart. “Why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?” 

 

Here again is Solomon: (Proverbs 16:28) “A perverse person spreads strife, and a slanderer separates intimate friends.”  And once more: Proverbs 20:19 ‘[The one] who goes about as a slanderer reveals secrets, therefore do not associate with a gossip.”

 

Continuing in the next verse, James tells us: “Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress.” In other words, help those who are in need. James returns to this critical point in chapter two, and we do well to pay close attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place: “What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith, but he has no works? Can that faith save him?”

 

That was NOT a rhetorical question. It’s one on which true Christian faith is founded. The answer to James’ question is a resounding ‘No.” Such faith is NOT the faith that saves.

 

“If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,” and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself. But someone may well say, “You have faith and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works . . . But are you willing to recognize, you foolish fellow, that faith without works is useless?” (James 2:15-20)

To demonstrate his point, James reminds his readers of faithful Abraham and faithful Rahab: (Verse 21) “Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up Isaac his son on the altar? You see that faith was working with his works, and as a result of the works, faith was perfected; and the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “And Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness,” and he was called the friend of God. You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone. In the same way, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way? For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.

 

But some might quickly counter: “Paul tells us, “Having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, (Romans 5:1). To the Christians at Ephesus, “By grace you have been saved through faith” (Ephesians 2:8).

 

True; Yet at the same time we dare not overlook what Paul continued to say to the Ephesians two verses later, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them. (Ephesians 2:10).

 

And it is important to also note that Paul wrote in his short letter to Titus no less than five times that the Christian is RESPONSIBLE to God to perform good works. So, Paul and James are not at all in conflict. Indeed, they harmonize with each other.

 

Abraham’s faith compelled him to DO SOMETHING with his faith. Rahab’s faith compelled her to DO SOMETHING with her faith. And if OUR faith does not compel us to do likewise, then we have good reason to question if our faith is purely theoretical or is it actual.

 

Solomon writes: “Rescue those being led away to death; hold back those staggering toward slaughter. If you say, ‘But we knew nothing about this,’ does not he who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not he who guards your life know it? Will he not repay everyone according to what they have done?” Proverbs 24:11-12

 

Listen also to the apostle John: “But whoever has the world’s goods, and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him?”1 John 3:17

 

A week or two ago I cited the text near the end of Mathew chapter 25 wherein the Lord commends the righteous dead for having helped the poor, the sick, the prisoners, and so forth. But it is important to this point about faith and works that we hear the rest of that text in Matthew 25:41-45 –

Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink; I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.’ Then they themselves also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not take care of You?’ Then He will answer them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

 

Scripture cannot be any clearer: Faith, if it has no associated works, is NOT true Christian faith, and it will not saves us.

 

Which brings us now to the third point James makes in these last two verses of chapter one: “Keep oneself unstained by the world. In other words, walking in holiness is not optional for the Christian. (Hebrews 12:14)

“Pursue peace with all men, and the sanctification [holiness] without which no one will see the Lord.”

 

Christian, we must each heed this dire warning of Scripture, perhaps especially in the culture in which we live. God doesn’t tolerate negotiation with the world. James is uncompromisingly blunt when he writes: (James 4:4) "You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore, whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God."  

 

Charles Spurgeon, in illustrating this text on one of his sermons, spoke of the white petals of a flower planted in the countryside that remain white, but the white petals of the flower planted in the city soon become stained by the surrounding pollution.

 

Spurgeon’s analogy ought to be instructive because it is impossible to remain pure when we surround ourselves with the pollution of this world – whether it be our entertainment, or friends with whom we spend the bulk of our time. Scripture asks what a believer in Christ has in common with an unbeliever. (See 2 Corinthians 6) The answer is, ‘Nothing.’

 

Whether it be our perspectives on morality, or the Church, or the Scriptures, or the authority of God over our life – what do we have in common with those who do not believe in the full authority of God and His word and routinely scoff at His commandments? There is good reason Paul warned the Christians at Corinth: “Do not be deceived: Bad company corrupts good morals.” (1 Corinthians 15:33)

 

Keeping ourselves unstained has very little to do with following a list of dos and don’ts. Rather, keeping ourselves unstained by the world is inextricably tied to our reverence toward God, and we reverence Him when we live in profound and humble awe of His holiness, His inexpressible greatness, and His absolute authority over our entire lifestyle. How then can we not turn away from anything that displeases Him?

 

We keep ourselves unstained by the world when we hold a holy and reverential FEAR of God. When ANYONE encounters God’s utter holiness, they’re immediately confronted with their own utter sinfulness. When Isaiah saw the Lord on His throne, “high and lifted up,” he cried out, “Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.” (Isaiah 6:5)

 

When Peter recognized who Jesus was, he said, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” (Luke 5:8) When the apostle John saw a vision of the Lord Jesus in His glory, he “fell at His feet like a dead man.” (Revelation 1:17)

 

It should not surprise us – indeed, it should be expected that those who are close to God recognize their profound sinfulness when held up to the light of God’s unspeakable holiness. And the more we recognize our sinfulness, the more grateful we are for God’s love and mercy to wipe away our sins with His precious sacrificial blood.

 

We keep ourselves unstained by the world when our reverence for God causes us to take His commandments seriously: “What does the Lord your God require from you, but to fear [reverential fear] the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and love Him, and to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.” (Deuteronomy 10:12)

 

We keep ourselves unstained by the world when we demonstrate reverence for God by never taking Him causally. It ought to drive the Christian to distraction when we hear professing Christians use the Lord’s name as a sort of punctation mark in conversation or hear them say “O-M-G” – meaning “Oh, My God” – as if the phrase has no more significance than the word, ‘wow.’

 

Christians might not intend to be irreverent when they say such things, but make no mistake – it IS irreverence, and the unbeliever hearing it from the mouths of churchgoers recognizes the irreverence, whether consciously or unconsciously.

 

Listen to the Psalmist speak in awe of God’s name: (Psalm 138:2) “I bow down toward your holy temple and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness, for you have exalted above all things your name and your word.” (English Standard Version)

 

The Lord Jesus was serious when He taught us to be reverent toward the Father AND toward His name: “Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed (holy) is Thy name.” (Matthew 6:9)

 

There are one or two more points to make about reverence for God, but I’ve run out of time to deal adequately with it, so I leave it for next time.

 

Christian, do you want to draw closer to Christ? Of course you do. How, then, can we do that? He tells us how repeatedly from Genesis through Revelation, and the entire book of James is only one set of instructions. We looked at this one today: “If anyone thinks himself to be religious and yet does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this man’s religion is worthless. Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.”

 

We’ll continue studying God’s instructions in this letter next time.