Well, we're going to be over in the book of James tonight, picking up where we left off three months ago when I did my famous disappearing act. James, first chapter. And this is a good spot tonight. I trust that you're somewhat familiar with these words in our text this evening. We were at verse 21 of chapter 1. Tonight, we'll pick up verse 22 through verse 25. James 1, 22 through 25. Let me just ask, sort of as a review, what does the book of James remind you of? What genre of literature does it fall into, do you think? Wisdom literature? So in that respect, what would it be similar with? What other books? Proverbs? the wisdom literature of the old testament uh... notice that already we have had a number of topics the idea of uh... temptation the idea of blaming sin on yourself rather than on god uh... then the idea of putting away wickedness and god uh... every good thing coming down from him him be guiding us again with the word and so forth That gets us up to where we are tonight. Let me pick up with verse 22. He says, But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. For if any will be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like a man beholding his natural face in a glass, or a mirror. For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. but whosoever looketh into the perfect law of liberty and continueth in it, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed." Notice the emphasis as you sort of look back at the context here. Let me get my thing up here on the screen so you can sort of follow along with my plan tonight. Note the context. We are dealing here with being a doer of the word. And notice how we've already just previous had two references to the word of God in verse twenty one. He says put away all this wickedness and receive with meekness the engrafted word which is able to save your souls. Interesting phrase the engrafted word like you would graft a limb onto a tree. Jay Wimberly in Florida years ago he's had a tree out in his backyard that bore four kinds of fruit. It was I think it started out of being an orange tree but he had. Limes and all sorts of citrus fruits growing off this one tree sort of like the tree of life in the book of Revelation had twelve fruits one for each month you know for the healing of the nations. The idea is you graft a limb into an existing tree. Well, that's the idea here, that you receive this engrafted word. And then look back in verse 18, where he's talking about God giving us birth with the word of truth, that it is through the word, as we would say that God is the author of regeneration, being born again. The Spirit is the agent of regeneration. The word is the instrument of regeneration. The night I preached in Franklin, we had a primitive Baptist pastor in attendance, which was sort of interesting. And the primitive Baptists deny the use of the gospel in regeneration. Essentially, they say that you are justified from all eternity, or basically you've been saved all your life. All salvation is is waking up to that fact. they call us gospel regeneration is which okay i'll take that charge that's pretty good that's what this verse is a with this word of truth and clearly by that phrase he has in mind what we would call the gospel the new testament word of truth by that he is speaking of the message of salvation in christ and by that word we've been born again so i don't mind being called a gospel regeneration is we call our minions decisional regenerationist but uh... we believe in the use of me in the salvation of god's people that's what hyper calvinist and i've been away enough of that so notice that it is the emphasis on this word but here we are taught that merely to be a hero of the word in in this context undoubtedly again it is speaking of the gospel to be a hearer alone is not sufficient. Now let's notice the contrast. There are those who are doers of the Word. Verse 22, the first phrase, be ye doers of the Word. But then there are those who are hearers only. Now, notice that hearing the Word is not a bad thing. In other words, we're not contrasting good thing and bad thing doers of the word here's a word because the newer the word has to be a hero word before you know it what he's saying is to be a hero only and other words if that's all we ever are there's a sense that hearing is good and necessary but it is not sufficient and just as a couple of examples I hope wouldn't take much scriptural proof here but look at Luke chapter eleven Luke eleven verse twenty seven it came to pass as he spoke these things a certain woman of the company I think only a woman would think of this sorry ladies a woman of the company lifted up her voice and said unto him Blessed is the womb that bore thee, and the paps which thou hast sucked. Only a woman would think of such a thing. But blessed is the woman who gave birth to you. Of course, this speaks right at the heart of Mary worship in Catholic circles. But he said, Yea, rather blessed are they that hear the word of God and keep it. They do it. They perform it. So rather than getting all excited about who gave birth to him, the more important thing is to hear the Word of God and to keep it. Now there's various phrases that are used for the idea of doing the Word, but keeping the Word. To keep a commandment means that you perform the commandment. So notice here we have the idea that obedience must also be connected with the idea of hearing the word go over to Matthew seven this is the well known little parable that we used to sing about and sunbeam in my church sunbeams was the little billions and we used to sing the wise men built his house on the rock. Sure we all have sung that at some time what we fail to realize is the emphasis here on obedience connected with this little story Matthew seven verse twenty four. Notice the preface here. Therefore, whosoever hears the sayings of mine and doeth them, I will liken him into a wise man who built his house upon a rock. And then verse twenty six and everyone who hears the sayings of mine and doeth them not. He is like into a foolish man who built his house on the sand. Notice that in both cases we are dealing with whether you're just a hero only or whether you in fact do it. So notice the importance that's being stressed here on being a doer of the word notice as well our text would tell us that if we are just hearers only he puts this last phrase we are deceiving our own selves it is a sign of self deception for us to be a hearer and not a doer now why is that why uh... if a preacher teaches you the word of god and you don't do it why in it his fault why or why would it be you have deceived yourself maybe i'm not estimate question right why would that be self-deception self-delusion yes yeah and the point is is that the message itself is all about doing that's that's the idea but in other words if you have been preached the message of the gospel then there's a whole bunch of do in that message and for you to think that hearing only and not doing is sufficient then you're only deceiving yourself no matter what the preachers if he has faithfully delivered to you the message then commandments and duties are going to be found all through it Notice the Greek word here for being self. Deceived or deceiving yourself is this word. Parallel does the. Low. Low gives a my. Is how you would say it. Parallel gives a my low gives a my is a very. Common word in scripture. It's the word that's translated to count or to reckon. Reckon yourselves dead. Count yourself dead. In other words it's it's a term of mathematics compute. that you're dead, reckon that you're dead. Paralogizamai means to come up with an answer that's alongside the real answer. In other words, it is to miss, MacArthur uses the term to miscalculate. You've miscalculated if you think hearing the word is sufficient. and notice there are three ways that we can be deceived by being a hero only number one we are to save the most obvious one is as to our duty we're being told to do some things and we think just knowing what it is i'm supposed to do must be sufficient so we are deceived as far as our data our duty is not just to be a hero right that's what james is tell us secondly we're also being deceived as to our purpose and this is one that's very interesting to me I've been giving a lot of thought I had a lot of time on my hands hanging around up in the mountains you know and the idea of what is our purpose here what what's going on I mean the big picture and you have God I talked about this some Sunday who is spirit who has created this physical tangible universe and we man is such a peculiar critter in that we have a compounded nature. We have two components to our nature. God is simple. Simple not in the sense of easy to understand, but simple in the sense that he's not compounded of parts. We are. We have a spiritual part to us, a side to us that's able to commune with God who is spirit, and we have a physical side to us that is able to commune with this physical universe so what why did god make us that way why did he want to do it what's the point and it is sensually that you and i flesh out in a physical way spiritual truth as i said sunday something spiritual is sort of like a thought or an idea but notice here were being told that that's not enough just to think right To hear right. Even we could say to believe right if we understand faith just to be mental assent. And remember James is going to say just in the next chapter, if that's all you think faith is, the devils believe and tremble. They've got that. But notice the point is that we flesh out spiritual truth in a tangible way. It's not enough for us to sit in a cave staring at our navel. We're supposed to be actively fleshing out the truths of the gospel and acting them out, manifesting them before the eyes of the moral universe. I'm going to stop and let me ask, do you get what I'm trying to say here? We're not just spirit beings wandering around thinking good things. But we've been given a physical body with which to manifest gospel truth. We're to put it in action in a way that it can be demonstrated and seen by the eyes of men and the eyes of the moral universe. Because if God just wanted to sit around and think just beings of pure spirit, he already had that with angels. But he's given us this body and this physical universe in which to operate. There is, I don't know whether to go here or not, You realize that the physical universe, which is our reality, to God, it's more like His virtual reality. You know what I mean by virtual reality? It's a manufactured reality. Because the universe to God is a manufactured reality. It's not the real deal. It's not eternal. It's not His reality. It's a manufactured reality. It's a created reality. now to you and me is the only reality we know it is our reality but to a god who is pure spirit it's almost like virtual reality to try to illustrate you guys play these computer games right sit around on the couch all day playing games you got these characters in the game and so forth are they real characters no their virtual characters you've got an environment in which those virtual characters play and run-around shoot each other and that kind of stuff right is it real are you right when you shoot that character any blows up busy really dead now it's a virtual reality you say but if you were actually a character in the game it wouldn't be virtual iron reality of the reality usually you understand that the universe to god is sort of like that computer game now and i don't have time please bear with me here i'm not saying this is just a game because what might be a game to him is real to us we are really in it and it's the real deal more and more science is suggesting that we could be in a generated reality and i'm all i'm saying is they're finally catching up with what genesis one one says that's what genesis one one says that this isn't the eternal thanks not always been here this is a created realm the things that start looking suspicious is the fact that we know that matter in energy aren't quanta as you've heard a quantum mechanics you you would think you can just keep dividing particles smaller and smaller and smaller in you for just keep going long as you want to but we know that's not true there is a point that we cannot divide energy or matter any smaller than that. In other words, the universe starts to look pixelated. You know what pixelated means? When you look at a screen on your TV, you get real close, what looks to be a solid picture is in fact made up of little small pixels, right? More and more of the universe is beginning to look like it's pixelated, as if it has been, we would say, digitally fabricated. Now the pixels are really small, so we can't see them. But if we get down on the subatomic level, that's what it starts looking like. Am I scaring you? I mean, you say, well, this sounds like the Matrix. It's exactly like the Matrix. There are billionaires funding scientists to try to come up with a way to break out of the matrix. The reality we're in. I'm serious as a heart attack here. Which I want to say, hey isn't that what happened in the garden? They tried to break out. In other words, rather than being a character in the program, rather than being the programmed, they wanted to be the programmer. and therein lies the whole problem we see and it's us wanting to be the programmer when we have been the program we've been made we've been created and what is our duty is it to rebel against our creator or is it to bow the knee okay i realize i'm getting into deep stuff here but yes ma'am hey you can't get more off base and what i'm doing but yeah you're exactly right Well, you have just jumped ahead to my last point here, is that we're also then deceived as to our standing before God. Because if the gospel that we say we believe does not translate into works exactly as the text Tony quoted there, it says you've been created in Christ Jesus unto good works, Then wait a minute, what's happening? Something's getting short-changed here. Good works that were aforeordained that we should walk in. We can tout sovereign grace all we want, we can tout predestination all we want, but here it's saying that we've been predestined to good works. Now notice, he just got through telling you you're saved by grace, not by works. It is not your works that in any way is going to give you a standing in the sight of God, but good works are the necessary evidence of your standing, a right standing with God. Or else you are deceived, you are not fulfilling the purpose that God has designed for saved people, and therefore deceived as far as whether you actually are saved. that makes sense you say well i believe in pretty as the nation where we listen to paul over there we've been predestined unto obedience under children not because we were obedient but we've been predestined in love having been predestined to the obedience of children and you say well i'm not a very obedient children what it could just be that you're not predestined because that's the whole point of predestination that did that make sense we are in this universe with the purpose of performing works that glorify our maker our god having been reconciled to him through the death of his son we now have the duty to flesh it out in this universe of tangibility substance we have a body in which to do it I mean, this is a great thing because, you know, if it wasn't for that, you could never feed the hungry. They got no body. They never get hungry. You can never go visit the sick. They didn't have a body. They'd never get sick. You see the deal? It is in the body. And because we have bodies that we are capable of performing the very works that we've been predestined to do. All right, I'll get off this hobby horse. Notice there is a contrast here between a doer, or to do a good work, and a doer of good work. Now you might not have noticed that in our text. He just doesn't say you do good works, but if you're a doer. Any man who is a hearer of the word, verse 23, and not a doer. It's like the difference between the man who builds and a builder. It's the difference between a man who fights and a soldier. You know the difference? One of them, that's something that he does occasionally. The other, that's what he is. And notice here, the idea of being a doer is the idea that this is the tenor of your life. This is the constant activity of... It's your profession. I mean, you can give me a hammer and nails, and I can nail a couple of boards together, but that hardly makes me a carpenter. But the idea here is this more than just performing some work, it is to become a doer of good works. The interesting thing here is the word doer in Greek is the word poietes, which means a poet. So it would literally read, now keep in mind words have a range of meanings, but this same word is found, I had you read Acts 17 Sunday, of where paul is preaching on mars hill having just stood there on mars hill felt had quote that but anyway he what does he say as certain of your own poets have said in him we live and move and have our being even as some of your own poet same word now why would you have a word that is translated in one case poet and in another case doer that seems very strange Very different. But the idea is, is that a poet is a person who is creative in his use of words. He fabricates words together that are beautiful, that are poetic, right? The harmony, the rhyme. In the same way, what he's defining as a doer of good works is like a poet who in this case is not working with words he's working with works but it's the same creativity behind it that you would have in a poet creating poetry me stop you understand you you get that any does that any of you does that speak does that other words it's a beautiful thing when we act in accordance with the gospel of Jesus Christ. It's almost like a poetry in motion. There's a beauty to it, a symmetry, a congruency that is glorious and brings glory to God. So some folks are poets with words, but here we see the idea of being a poet with works. Fascinating. I realize I get fascinated about things other people don't. All right, so let's move on. He talks about this fellow who is just a hearer, not a doer. And he says he gives us a mirror illustration here. Now, in the ancient world, mirrors, as we know them, made with glass, didn't come about until late in the time of the Roman Empire. So there were no glass mirrors in Paul's day. uh... more times than not a mirror what number one was very sort of rare expensive and made of a metal brass even in some cases silver and gold uh... some times uh... people simply looked at the reflection in a puddle of water uh... that what's who was the uh... god all narcissus you know narcissism is to love yourself Narcissus is said to have looked at his reflection in a pool of water and fell in love with himself. One of the gods. Okay? So, anyway, there's various ways of looking at your reflection. Now, he uses the masculine here. Notice, if a man, if he beholds himself, he being a forgetful hearer, down in verse 25, But it seems that the word man here is being used in a generic sense for just people. And undoubtedly, I think in Paul's day, as well as in our day, the people who normally look at themselves in the mirror are women. Right. I mean, if you just count the amount of time you spend looking at yourself in the mirror, I heard I heard it estimated how many times a man looks at itself in the mirror, how many times a woman looks at herself in the mirror. I can't remember the figure, but it's an amazing, the discrepancy. And if you count the amount of time you spend looking at yourself in the mirror, there's no comparison. I mean, some of us, we just don't waste a lot of time. There's not much going to happen. This is the way it is. We glance, we go on out the door. Okay. Having sort of now got the women mad at me. How do we, what is the purpose of looking at yourself in the mirror? Why do you even bother to look at yourself in the mirror? That was one of the beauties about camping up in the mountains by myself. I didn't have to worry about it. You say, your hair is out of whack. Well, OK, it's fixed now. Why would you look at yourself in the mirror? You got lettuce in your teeth. Ladies, why do you look at yourself in the mirror? To make improvements. In other words, correction, right? There's basically several things you can say that is being illustrated here by a mirror. And it's the idea, number one, of enlightenment. Because now you know. Looking at yourself in the mirror, you now know what you look at. Number two is the idea of instruction. You see what needs to be done. Number three is the idea of correction. Yeah I did put those up there. That's the intent of a mirror. That's why we look. Unless you just want to sort of like the old song Mac Davis I can't wait to look in the mirror and get better looking each day you know that kind of haughty prideful attitude. Most of us don't have that problem you know. I'd rather not look in the mirror afraid of what I'll see. In fact there's a story of a missionary that went into one of these pagan cannibalistic societies like david sittin and gave the chief a mirror and uh... the chief started talking about how ugly the fella in the mirror was till he realized that he was talking about himself and he took it and smashed it in pieces alright so if we're dealing here with the mirror of the word of god or as it is called here the perfect law of liberty in verse twenty five now notice that clearly what we're being shown here is that the word of God serves as a tool for the same three things that you look in a mirror for enlightenment see what the deal is see what you look like number two instruction as to what you're all to do and then correction if there's something flawed you want to improve right That implies there's something not like you want it. You want it better. Got a speck or spot on you, you want to wash it off. That's the idea. And we may fail to use this mirror properly in at least three ways. And by that, looking into the Word of God, some never ever look at the mirror. uh... what i mean by that is that there are some and unfortunately in sovereign grace circles who refuse to ever look at their duty uh... i know a whole circle of guys that if in their churches you always if you're preaching there you want to preach on the first half of paul's letters not the second half you know in the first half you find all this good doctorate second half you find all this duty these guys or so opposed to anything that even smacks of duty that they simply ignore all of these commands and injunctions that you typically find in the application of paul's doctrine so that's one way miss out number two is look but never see the need for instruction or correction they never see anything wrong remember happy days You remember when Fonzie would go look in the mirror and nothing to change. You know, he's already perfect. There's the second problem. Some don't look at all. Some, they look, but they don't see anything wrong. And then some, the ones that James is most concerned about, are those who are forgetters. Notice he says that they simply behold their way and behold themselves in verse twenty four. Go their way and immediately straight way. They forget what manner of man he was. They see it but they as quickly forget it. And as I say not necessarily forgetting it mentally but forgetting it in a practical sense. There's never any change in the conduct of this kind of man. And so you've got three ways that you can miss on what the mirror is designed to do the contrary example in what we're supposed to do is to look into what he calls the law of liberty and continue in it it's our old friend the word minnow what do you know we've had that a number of times to stay to abide and it's a present tense he constantly continues in the word that he has seen the message that he has seen what he calls here the law of liberty this is the man he says who will be blessed in all these days now what is this law of liberty uh... several things we need to say about this because as you well know paul uh... in romans and galatians puts law and faith that law and gospel sort of juxtaposed against one another so here james is telling us that we need to look into Verse 25, whosoever looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it. So it's obviously we need to know what it is. Number one, he says it's perfect. Perfect means complete. Comprehensive. It is all we need to know when it comes to what is our duty before God. It's complete. other words we'll have to figure out we've we've been told what to do but if that way the secondly this is an authoritative law he didn't use the word law uh... without reason notice a couple of passages here as you sort of work back in chapter two verse twelve and thirteen he says so speak he and so do as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty over this is more than just good suggestions these are laws and laws that if you violate them you will be judged and then verse thirteen he shall have judgment without mercy that is shown no mercy and mercy rejoices against judgment so notice that there are clear consequences to violating this law of liberty when they say law of liberty your first impression is to say well that that that's not that's not binding that's not rigid that's just What you ought to do, you know, is sort of like the speed limit. It's a good idea. Hardly anybody obeys it. Probably get away with it. You know what I'm saying? But notice that what he goes on to say when he uses this expression again over here in chapter 2, 12, and 13, he's talking about being judged by this thing, whatever this law of liberty is. notice that it is the law of liberty and to use the term liberty here as paul would imply it's a in galatians five one where he says sent stand fast in this liberty with which christ has made you free especially we are set at liberty from the mosaic the credal isms call it that the shadows the types from the stoke area of the world that we've spent a lot of time on the last few years we are set at liberty from those things in other words we are not under law in regards to meet and drink and uh... is a you observe feast days there that special days and i stand in doubt of you uh... that's this law doesn't involve those things it involves other things but it doesn't involve those things we've been set at liberty from those things and then he will use the term it's a royal right over here in verse eight of chapter two if he fulfilled the royal law and to call it a royal law means that it is a law that comes from royalty from your king from your lord and your master so in other words are we under law all depends on what you're talking about as Paul will say that we are not without wall to christ to god we are in law to cry we stand in a different relationship to the law then we did before as a law center under the law condemned by the law but we are nevertheless under a law the law of christ the law of the gospel i think we'll we can see that here And I want to point out that we're not talking about a legalistic quid pro quo here, something for something. The reason is, though we are blessed for doing it, there's no contractual obligation on either side. We have no right to demand blessing. Under the law of Moses, you could say, wait a minute, we obeyed it, and God didn't send rain, and He said He'd send rain, and He owes us rain. well it's not that kind of law that we can somehow have a contractual relationship with god that well okay we did what you said we gotta roll race remember we're just nothing but forgiven sinners were criminals that have received a pardon we have no rights we've given up our rights so there is no quid pro quo here and in fact if we do what god says and blessing doesn't come do we have a complaint now anything short of hellish grace folks that's what you got coming so notice that regardless of what happens in life we're not living on the standard of something for something we don't have a contract with god in fact if you ask what does this look like it really looks more like a family uh... again i've been doing a lot of thinking about growing up on a family farm and uh... the obligations of a son on a family farm. David, you were there. Perhaps you city folks won't understand any of this, but the idea is when you're a son on a family farm, you don't have to worry about what summer job you're going to do. It's waiting on you. The fellow out there in the field with you may be getting paid, but he's working on a contract. You're working as a son. There's a completely different relationship. And I started looking at the Garden of Eden. This is like a family farm. And Adam is the son. In fact, Luke will call him that. When you say he's the son of so-and-so, he's the son of so-and-so. You know, Cain and Abel, he's the son of Adam. And Adam is the son of who? God. In other words, this is God's boy. He's created. Not in the sense of the divine eternal son, This is his father who's put him in the garden. It's not even his. He just came to life and already got a garden there, just sort of like me and David. We were born and there was already a farm there. And therefore, you have obligations in the family. And you're not working on the basis of a paycheck. That is your family obligation. And the kingdom of heaven, while it is subject to a king and white servants, yet it's also a kingdom of sons. And over and over again, the Sermon on the Mount is just full of these references that you do this because this is what your Father does. Over and over. That's why we do it. We want to be like our Father. We want to honor the family. And so we see in the final analysis here, there's simply no substitute for doing God's will. This perfect law of liberty, what do we mean by that? It's an expression of what is the will of God for me. It's the will of God viewed through New Testament glasses but notice can you go to James two just a minute just look at some of the samples of this thing he calls the law of liberty here in verse twelve and thirteen that he says you break it you're going to be judged in verse eleven he says do not commit adultery do not kill where those laws come from ten commandments. You'd ask me do you think the Ten Commandments are the summary of law. Well, I think they are a summary. They're not they, but they're one of them. There's your moral duty. You understand the Sabbath correctly. The Sabbath commandment in New Testament eyes is the failure to believe on Jesus. It's the failure to enter into rest. Kevin Dibley had a little cute little saying today. He said the crime that Matthew 11, you know, the one about you are weary and heavy laden. He said, the crime that is laid at the feet of mankind is the fact that they are resisting a rest. Resisting a rest. Well, where am I commanded to enter into rest? Fourth Commandment. Understood in Christ, I break that fourth commandment if I refuse to enter into rest. and then notice well is that all look up at bursary if you were fulfilled on the world royal law according to the scripture does not love by neighbor as the cell where that would come from it's not one of the ten but it's a little bit occurs in its in nineteen and it's the one that jesus quotes as the summation of our duty towards our neighbor then notice verse nine if you have respect of person You commit sin and are convicted of the law as transgressors. Where's the law that says you should not be a respecter of persons? Now, judges in the Old Testament are always commanded not to be a respecter of persons. But when it comes down to you and me, the common man, is there any law that says don't be a respecter of persons? I would argue that the gospel itself teaches you, you must not be a respecter person and the preceding verses tell you that if you treat a rich man differently than a poor man when he comes into your assembly you're guilty of violating this law being a respecter person you say well where did that law come from it came from the gospel because the gospel tells us we're all just alike before God we're all equally condemned and to start drawing distinctions between social status and racial status, or any other kind of status that we are by nature, is a violation of the gospel. Do you get the picture? And that's why he ends down here in verse 13, that you will have judgment without mercy, that you have shown no mercy. Well, where is it demanded that I show mercy? The gospel itself demands that. Because you yourself are a debtor to mercy. So you understand that behavior compatible with the gospel becomes a law to us. Because to do anything else is violating this revealed revelation of how you and I are to live. And therefore we're to show mercy because we've received mercy. We're to forgive even as God, for Christ's sake, forgave us. Here's the demands on those who are themselves the object and target of love, mercy, forgiveness, and grace. That they must then be examples of mercy, love, forgiveness, and grace. And we must not be professional students. You know what I mean by professionals? I read about a guy that he's born into a rich family and his uncle or somebody died and they left him a trust fund that said as long as he was a student that his Expenses would be paid until he graduated. So the guy is like 60 years old. He's still a student. He's never, ever got out of school. He never, ever did. He's still learning. He's still being a hearer and not a doer. There is nothing wrong with loving the word of God, but to constantly be ingesting the word of God and it not being reflected in our behavior violates what James is telling us here. Barry, you had your hand up. Yeah. Social law or civil law. Yeah. Ceremonial, civil, social. Yeah. Well, I would say that it goes... The law of Moses, spiritually understood, is still in effect on us as far as the will of God. Everything down to plowing with an ox and ass. You say, well, wait a minute. You mean it's wrong for me to plow with an ox and ass, took the same team? No, that would be to literally understand it. But to spiritually understand it, be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers. That's what it's teaching you. It's not about donkeys. It's about joining two parties of two different natures. And you say, well, where in the world do you come up with a hermeneutic like that from Paul? Because he says you ought to pray your preacher. Why? Because the law says don't put a muzzle on the ox that's grinding out the corn. You understand the law as it's applied to us has nothing to do with cows. It's this principle. So I would say not only the Ten Commandments, the ceremonial law understood in Christ, still in effect, you see. make sense in other words that they should dividing the law into three parts is an artificial abstraction you could yeah you have no scriptural validity for doing that but what i'm saying is it's bigger than that that in those laws we see reflected foreshadowed our duty towards god that is made clear in playing in new testament line it seems to be You know he starts with the royal law in verse eight and then the law of liberty. Down here in verse twelve so it would seem that the whole section. That James is using the word law as I think it is as it is sometimes used as to express our duty before God. Yeah. Yeah. Right right. Well it's interesting in this context that it would seem would be applying to us as believers I think I don't know how else you could understand this and he's simply saying that don't be partial. I think he's using the law of Moses as an illustration here but that you can't be partial in your application of the law. You can't be selected. This is not a cafeteria play. and therefore just as they are under the law of moses you break one commandment you're guilty of violating that covenant same thing is true we're to flesh it out i am stumbled on an interesting story of a guy named frank smith he was a union soldier at andersonville you know about andersonville georgia of the horrible confederate prisoner of war camp Conditions were horrible in all the South and especially in Georgia. And the prisoners at Andersonville were just in miserable, starving condition. Now, there was another one up north with the Confederates in just as bad, but so it was just bad deal, bad deal. And there was this guy, his name was Frank Smith, and he was a Christian in Andersonville. that came time for a prisoner of war exchange there were exchange six union soldiers for six confederates and his name was drawn he was given a paper that gave him release from the andersonville prison but he had a fella come up to him who had a wife and children and begged him that he would be released so he gave his letter of release to that man and let him go instead well it happened again There was another prisoner of war exchange. His name came up again. He got a letter of release. But he said there was an infidel there, an unbeliever that he had been witnessing to and he had made a vow that he would not leave until that man became a Christian. So you know what he did? He went to the man and gave him his papers of release. And the man just stood there in shock. This is the guy he had been talking to resisting the gospel. He gave him the paper to get out. And the man said, why in the world would you do this? And he said, it's because of the love of Christ, the Christ that you have been refusing. So the man fell down on the ground in front of him and grabbed a hold of his knees, weeping and embrace the Savior. And then a third time, another prisoner of war again, his name came up. And there was a young boy, just a teenager, who had been captured in this prisoner of war camp, dying of tuberculosis, consumption, they called it. And this boy said, Frank, if you leave, I have no one else. I have no one else to pray for me. I have no one else to point me to the Savior as I'm dying. So for the third time, he gave away his release papers to stay with that young boy. Say, what in the world would constrain a man to do something like that? The love of Christ constraining us. Action that is harmonious, that is compatible with this gospel that we say we believe. We've fallen in love with grace, so we want to be gracious. We've fallen in love with mercy, so we want to show mercy. We have been forgiven this huge, huge debt, so how can we not forgive our brother these piddling things? Flesh it out. May we live it. Alright, let us go to prayer tonight.