Amen, you may be seated. Our sermon text this morning comes from James chapter one, and we'll be reading verses 26 and 27. James chapter one, 26 and 27. Hear God's word. If anyone among you thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one's religion is useless. Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this, to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world. Amen. You may be seated. And please pray with me. Father in heaven, we're thankful, Lord. We're grateful that you have given us your word, that you have revealed your truth to us, And we thank you as well that you have given your spirit so that our eyes would be open and illuminated to your word and that through your word you would show us salvation through your son Jesus. And so we thank you for these blessings and we ask that you would lead us and guide us and teach us from this word that we would be encouraged, that we would be convicted and that we would be built up and sent out to follow your son, the Lord Jesus. And we do thank you and praise you in his name. Amen. Amen. Last week, we were encouraged from James' letter in chapter one to be doers of the word and not just hearers. And part of being a doer of God's Word is being one who practices, practices it and practices pure and undefiled religion. And so this morning, our main thought, main point is this, that God calls us to practice pure and undefiled religion. God calls us to practice pure and undefiled religion. Now, we need to define terms. For example, pure and undefiled means pure, clean, inside and out, undefiled, not debased or soiled. And so, there is a characteristic of our religion that needs to be pure and clean inside and out. And then religion. The word translated religion comes from a root to tremble, to fear. And so this speaks of being those who are God-fearing. And so our definition of religion would be this, God-fearing redemptive worship rooted in a saving relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. God-fearing redemptive worship rooted in a saving relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. And so God wants us to give God-fearing redemptive worship, and that's While we're gathered here this morning, we are here gathered to worship our God. And so we gather at 11 a.m. to worship. So I want to encourage you to get here at 11 a.m. so that we can worship God together and hear his word and then hear a sermon as well. Amen. And so, you've probably heard the saying, Christianity is not a religion, it's a relationship. And we've heard it so many times that we think that that statement is in the Bible. It's not. This is a saying made by men, and I think it's a saying that has some validity in an effort to try to correct a mistaken notion that God can be approached and pleased by man-centered rules and law-keeping. And so, Christianity is not a man-centered religion by which we please God. That's not what Christianity is. And the Bible does indeed caution against useless religion that cannot save, as we saw in our text. But our text does describe a positive understanding of pure and undefiled religion that pleases God our Father. Let's explore what pure and undefiled religion looks like. because God calls us to practice pure and undefiled religion. And so what does pure and undefiled religion look like? Well, I come up with five points from our text and from God's word. Pure and undefiled religion controls the tongue. Pure and undefiled religion is not useless or subject to self-deception. Pure and undefiled religion cares for widows and orphans in trouble. Pure and undefiled religion keeps oneself unspotted from the world. And then pure and undefiled religion finds its most perfect pattern in the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. And so let's look at the first. Pure and undefiled religion controls the tongue. Useless religion does not bridle the tongue. But pure religion does. And we see that in verse 26. where it says, if anyone among you thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one's religion is useless. Useless religion does not bridle the tongue. What does an unbridled or uncontrolled tongue look like? Benson notes that One like this is a tongue that's tail-bearing, back-biting, evil-speaking, slandering, or vain, foolish, ostentatious, talking, ingesting, or rash, bitter, passionate, malicious, revengeful, in expression. So that covers a lot of ground. And so our prayer is that we would not have unbridled or uncontrolled tongues. And if we do that, we would repent of that. Amen. Amen. Genuine religion bridles or controls the tongue. We control the tongue rather than it controlling us. Amen. And James will expand on this theme in chapter three of, of, uh, of the book of James portraying the controlled tongue as the ultimate proof or test of maturity and self-control and the uncontrolled tongue as a deadly poison and a deadly fire set on fire by hell itself. That's what God's word says about it. And so, true religion, pure religion, undefiled religion controls the tongue. And pure and undefiled religion is not useless or subject to self-deception. If anyone thinks he is religious and does not broddle his tongue, he deceives his own heart, and this one's religion is useless. Useless, or to no purpose, King James translates vain. We don't want to have vain or empty religion, a religion that is not pleasing in God's sight, This is what Jesus continually rebuked in the Pharisees. And so he quoted Isaiah 29. We see in Matthew 15, 8, these people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. And so God looks on our heart. He wants our hearts to match our lips. And so we want a purified heart and purified lips to match. Amen. We don't want to be self-deceived. We may think that God is pleased with us, but we may be deceiving our own heart. Why is that? Well, our hearts are easily deceived. Pride makes us want to think more highly of ourselves than we ought. And so we need to be undeceived. And so we ask for God's spirit to search us and know us. And We also recognize that pure and undefiled religion cares for widows and orphans in trouble. Our passage says visits, and that's an important word if you think about the promise that Joseph gave God's people when they were in Egypt. He says, after some time, God will visit. And he says, surely God will visit you and redeem you and bring you out of this nation. And so God is one who sees his people in distress, he saw his people in distress, and surely he did visit and redeem them, bring them out of Egypt in the exodus. And so God visits his people, he cares for widows and orphans in trouble, and this reflects God's character, it reflects the character of God, our merciful Redeemer. We see that in Deuteronomy 10, 18. God ensures that widows and orphans receive justice. He shows love to the foreigners living among you and gives them food and clothing. And then Deuteronomy 24, 19, when you are harvesting your crops and forget to bring in a bundle of grain from your field, don't go back to get it. Leave it for the foreigners, orphans, and widows. Then the Lord your God will bless you in all you do. And so this was the law of gleaning. the idea that God's people weren't to harvest all the way to the corners of the field. They weren't supposed to go back and get the grapes that were left after the harvest or the olives that didn't all shake off the olive tree. The remains of the harvest were left for the foreigners, orphans, and widows to gather. There was a sense of welfare available to them, but they had to work for it, which I think is a better pattern to have people even work if they're poor and there's provision for them. And the Lord provided that for the foreigners, orphans, and widows. And then Psalm 68 5, God is declared as a father of the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy habitation. God cares for our orphans and widows and he wants us to care for them as well. And then Jeremiah 22 3, this is what the Lord says, Be fair-minded and just. Do what is right. Help those who have been robbed. Rescue them from their oppressors. Quit your evil deeds. Do not mistreat foreigners, orphans, and widows. Stop murdering the innocent. And so God cares for those who are poor and oppressed, and he doesn't leave us as orphans, but he adopts us into his family. We see that in John 14, 18, where Jesus says, I will not leave you orphans. I will come to you. And then Romans 8, 15, for you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, But you have received the spirit of adoption by which we cry out, Abba, Father. Amen. God doesn't leave us orphans. He adopts us into his family. And so we also ought to care for widows and orphans in trouble, reflecting God's character, also pure, and undefiled religion keeps oneself unspotted from the world. Unspotted, according to Strong's, means to be free from censure and irreproachable. And it's for something to be really pure and clean. Like when your mom told you to clean your room, she wanted it spotless. Amen? Now, the truth is, though, we live in the world, in a world which is, at this point, in rebellion against God. And there is a danger for us to be conformed to this world, which is ungodly. And we must resist and remain unspotted from this world. Amen? Romans 12 to encourages us along this line. This is a good memory verse Romans 12 to do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. Amen. Don't be conformed. to the world. Do keep yours unspotted from the world, amen? And then on the same theme, 1 John 2.15, do not love the world, nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, The lust of the eyes and the pride of life is not of the father, but is of the world. And the world is passing away and the lust of it. But he who does the will of God abides forever. And so there's the contrast. We live in a world that's passing away. We don't want to pass away with it. We want to love. the Father and not the things in the world. And he who does the will of the Father abides forever. Amen. Now, you might say, well, this is pretty tough. How do we keep ourselves unspotted from the world? Well, God promises to help us and to empower us. What God commands, he also empowers. And we have a promise to this effect in Ezekiel 36, 26. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you. I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And so God promises to give us a heart transplant. to take out the heart of stone and put in us a heart of flesh, a heart that will love Him and love our neighbor as ourselves. Amen. And then in the New Testament, 2 Corinthians 5.17, another memory verse, therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. Old things have passed away, that is, old things have died. Behold, all things have become new. And so, amen. And so if you have trusted in Jesus as Lord and Savior, You are a new creation. Old things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new. That's what God's word says about you. Amen? And so we need to believe it and live it out. Amen? And lastly, pure and undefiled religion finds its most perfect pattern and example in the Lord Jesus Christ. Hebrews 5.7 says about Jesus that, in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with vehement cries and tears to him who was able to save him from death and was heard because of his godly fear. Or we could say because of his pure and undefiled religion. Though he was a son, yet he learned obedience by the things which he suffered, and having been perfected, he became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey him. Amen. And so Jesus is that perfect example of pure and undefiled religion. And then according to Hebrews 4.15, It says that Jesus was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. And so he never sinned in what he said. He was in perfect control of the tongue. And then as we read in, we read in our scripture lesson, he raised the son of the widow at Nain. Isn't it interesting that the people noticed and said that God has visited his people. So there's that terminology again. He came to and cared well for his people. Jesus also cared well for his mother, Mary, after the death of his foster father, Joseph. And so, as he was dying, he gave Mary to John and John to Mary, Mary as a mother and John as a son, so that Mary would be well provided for in her continued widowhood and in the absence of Jesus in the flesh. So he cared well for his mother. And we also see that he preached the gospel to the poor. And so in Matthew 11.5, Jesus describes to John the Baptist what was happening through Jesus' ministry. The blind see. the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them. Amen. And Jesus was unspotted from the world. He was hated by the world. John 15, 18, if the world hates you, know that it hated me before it hated you. Why did the world hate Jesus? Well, the answer is in John 7, 7. The world hates me because I testify of it that its works are evil. So Jesus was unspotted from the world. And Jesus was the great pattern of compassion and mercy. We saw that in our scripture passage in Luke today that he had compassion on the woman at Nain. We also see it in Matthew 9, 10. Now it happened as Jesus sat at the table in the house, that behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with him and his disciples. And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to his disciples, why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners? When Jesus heard that, he said to them, those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick, but go and learn what this means. I desire mercy, or I desire compassion and not sacrifice. For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. Amen. And so Jesus was a great pattern of compassion and a great pattern of mercy. And he lived out pure and undefiled religion, and he calls and empowers us to the same. God calls us to practice pure and undefiled religion. Amen. Let's pray. Thank you, our Father, that you did not leave us orphans, but you sent your Son to us and you sent your Spirit to us. And you've poured out your Spirit into our hearts by which we cry out to you, Abba, Father. And so we pray, our Father, help us to follow in the footsteps of the Lord Jesus Christ. Help us also to live out pure and undefiled religion. Thank you for giving us that relationship with you through your son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Help us to walk in that new life that you have given us. Help us to care for the widows and orphans among us. Help us especially to care for those in our own families. And bless us also in watching out for those who are in the midst of us among your people. And so Lord, forgive us for where we have fallen short. Help us to walk in new obedience. Help us to fix our eyes on Jesus. and fill us with your spirit so that we can be obedient and so that we can live out the grace that you have given us. And Lord, may we desire mercy even as you desire mercy. And we thank you and we praise you in Jesus' name, amen.