Seeking for the help of the Lord,
I direct your prayerful attention to the general epistle of James
chapter 1 and verse 25. But whoso looketh into the perfect
law of liberty, and continueth therein, he be not a forgetful
hearer, but a doer of the work, this man, shall be blessed in
his deed. James chapter 1 verse 25, specifically
the last clause, this man shall be blessed in his deed. Many of the Lord's dear people
are often troubled that they are like leaking vessels when
it comes to remembering the word of the Lord. You might hear the
word preached, and then the next day we've forgotten what the
text was, and we maybe forget what the message was, and we
feel to be leaking vessels. But it's very evident from the
children of Israel's sojourn in the wilderness that the manna
had to be gathered day by day. If it was stored up, then it
had bred worms and it stank. They must not hoard it up. So, for the most part, the Word
of God that we hear is that which fulfills the Word, give us this
day our daily bread, And man shall not live by bread only,
but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. So we
need not be surprised if for the most part we do forget the
word because we need to have fresh manner the next day. And if we think of it even in
a literal sense, if we were suddenly asked, well, what did you have
for dinner two days ago, what did you have for breakfast, what
did you have for midday meal, and your mind goes blank and
you can't remember. Unless it was a special occasion,
if it was a birthday, if it was a special outing, and the meal
was some special one, then you would remember. But the children
of Israel, they were accused of despising the manner, because
it was small, because it was constant, they despised it. Now we're not to despise the
word, we're not to be hard on ourselves either, because we
don't remember every service and every word, but there is
a sense where we are to remember the word, where we are to not
forget what that word was. And that is what this subject
is this evening. It is the practical part of the
word, or the practical part of the gospel, which is not so much
remembering a specific word, though it may be, and it's good
for us to be stocked up in our mind of specific texts and words
that relate to precepts, how we are to walk, what we are to
do, but really it is the spirit of the Gospel and having that
deep rooted in our heart so that the whole principle of the Gospel,
not confining to individual things, but having the principle of it
there, then we shall be blessed in our deed. And so it is the
word before us and I want to look at the whole verse because
it is very important in the order that it is put here. And so our
first point, a man blessed in his deed begins with the gospel. Now that is the first part of
our text, that is what is referred to as the perfect law of liberty,
that is the gospel. Who so looketh into the perfect
law of liberty? And then secondly, it is continuing
in the gospel as a hearer that remembers the precepts of the
gospel. Remember that which applies to
our life, applies to how we to act and what we are to do. And then thirdly, this man is
blessed in, not for his deed. This man shall be blessed in
his deed or margin in his doing. But firstly, the need of the
gospel, it must begin there. If we do not know the gospel,
then we will come under the works, the covenant of works, and whenever
we think of our deeds or what we're doing, All the time we're
doing it with the idea, even if it is a subconscious idea,
that we are meriting the blessing of the Lord. We are purchasing
it, we are earning it, we are doing something that is to our
account, putting God in debt, as it were. We are told that
all of our works are stained and died with sin, and that whatsoever
is not of faith is sin. And when we don't know the gospel,
then we are not doing anything in faith. If we are but a natural
man who cannot receive the things of God, neither can he know them
because they are spiritually discerned, then all the time
we are doing maybe exactly the same works outwardly as one who
is blessed in his deeds. But with us, we are looking at
those works in a very, very different way. We are seeking to, as Paul
says in Romans 10, being ignorant of Christ's righteousness, we're
going about to establish our own righteousness. And if that
is the case, and God looks at the heart, He knows what our
motive is, He knows why we are doing this or that, and He sees
that if that is just really trying to replace what He has done,
trying to add to it, trying to merit salvation, merit God's
favour, pride is in it, and we'd be most offended. Many men would,
if you said to them, well, no, you don't have faith in the Lord
Jesus Christ. You cannot get to heaven. And
they'd say, yes, but we attended many, many sermons in the Westminster,
in the Church of England. We'd be told by the former Archbishop
that all your charity works, they're so good and they're so
laudable and so praiseable But we can get to heaven because
we've got all of these. And most solemnly, the messages
from many churches is completely opposite to what we have before
us here. By the deeds of the law shall
no man be justified. That is very, very clear. The
word of God is final upon that. When we get to the judgment throne,
no one will be able to say, I have done this, I have done that,
therefore I should be given a place in heaven. All our works, all
our righteousnesses are as filthy rags. So the very first thing
is to look first into the perfect law of liberty and looking into
the gospel We see the gospel of God's free and sovereign grace. We see the good news of salvation
in a crucified Jesus of Nazareth, one that was made sin for us,
one that laid down his life and took it again, one that came
into this world, was made of a woman and made under the law
to redeem us from under the law. No man can redeem his own soul. We were helpless. We were powerless. We were under the sentence of
death. We were dead. We were dead in
trespasses and sins. And the Lord in great mercy came
and by his own sacrifice redeemed his people. The gospel is in
the finished work of Christ with nothing to be added or taken
from it, salvation says Jonah from the whale's belly is of
the Lord. And that is to be really established
by us first, that we do not have an eye to our works or lack of
works as undermining the gospel. Sometimes we need to remember
this in the negative as well. Because many of the Lord's dear
people, when they see themselves still as sinners, when they feel
their failures, then they are ready to count themselves as
not the people of God. But may we be clear on this regarding
the gospel. We could ask this question of
ourselves. those that are redeemed by Christ,
those that are called by his grace, has he in that provision
of redemption, the provision of the gospel, provided that
here below on this earth they shall live as saints, sinless,
spotless, and without any transgression of the law of God? And the answer must be no. God's salvation, God's gospel
does not provide for perfection here below. And all of the saints, they testify
of this by their own lives, their faults, their sins, David's adultery,
his murder. Many of the Lord's people, Peter
denying his Lord, Peter not living according to the freeness of
the gospel, separating himself from the Gentiles when the Jews
came. We think of how the provision
of the gospel is for sinners, and they remain sinners. Paul
says that, the good I would, I do not, the evil that I would
not, that I do. A wretched man that I am, who
shall deliver me from the body of this death? He says that as
a converted sinner. And so we are not to expect something
that God has never said shall accompany salvation. One of our
hymns says, in this perfection we deny the chief of Satan's
wiles. And it is the chief, because
it is false. It misrepresents the gospel. What a narrow way it is, though,
because Paul, he says in Romans 6, if it be by grace, shall we
sin that grace might abound? He asked that question. If it's
not our works, if we are still sinners, will we just get resigned
to that? In other words, will we just
live carelessly? We just live, well, if we sin,
we sin. If we don't, we don't. It doesn't
matter. We don't have to be too careful
on it because we'll be saved anyway. That again is contrary
to the spirit of the gospel. Those that truly love our Lord
Jesus Christ will hate sin, will mourn over it, will seek that
they will not be under the dominion of it. If they know the great
blessing of forgiveness, of mercy, of the blessing of eternal life.
They will not be trifling with that which our Lord suffered
under. The other aspect, of course,
is the gospel. Paul says, if in this life only
we have hope in Christ, we've all been most miserable. The
gospel will have a two-sided effect. It will make those that
are the subject of it look for a heavenly country, and also
they will view this world as not their home, and that there
are strangers and pilgrims in it. And so it is to know the
Gospel in truth, to be born again of the Spirit, to know what the
Lord Jesus Christ has done for us, to be eternally grateful
and thankful, than to be willing to be His servants and to show
forth His praise in all we do and all that we say. And so,
if we were to be of those that want to be blessed, if we look
at this word, and say, I desire that I might be blessed, this
man shall be blessed, Well, it goes on, this man shall be blessed
in his deed. But the first thing is, do we
know the Lord? Do we know his salvation? Have
we seen him by faith on Calvary suffering for us? Do we value
what he has done? Has he been set before us as
the only name given among men, whereby we must be saved? The
hymn writer says, I could from all things parted be, but never,
never, Lord, from thee. And again, if ever my poor soul
be saved, tis Christ must be the way. Our Lord declaring that
if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall perish in your sins.
There is none other name given among men whereby we must be
saved. Whosoever believeth in the Lord
Jesus Christ, he shall be saved. And so this must come first,
this must come as the real spring of everything else that is done. So then, our second point. This man not only looks into
the perfect law of liberty, why it is that law of liberty because
it sets free from the condemnation of a broken law. It sets free
from a slavish trying to fulfill the law and to work works to
gain our own salvation. It gives us we liberty knowing
that it is not the case that if we just make one little mistake,
then all is undone. You know, if we had an employer,
a natural employer, and they said to us, look, you do your
best, you just do your work, and if you make mistakes, well,
you learn by them, and we'll get on well together, and you'd
feel quite free of doing your work, and learning from mistakes,
you wouldn't purposely make them. But if you had an employer that
said to you, now look, you make one little mistake and you're
out the door. Your employment's finished. I won't tolerate any
mistake at all. You'd be fearful of doing anything.
Everything you did would have this cloud over it. What if I
make a mistake? What if I put a foot wrong? How
different? We think also the illustration
in the Word of God are different between a servant and a child. If we had a child in our house,
we give the rules of the house, what they could do, what they
couldn't. If they broke those rules, we'd chasten them, we'd
correct them, but we wouldn't throw them out the house. They
knew that they could stay in that, that was their home. and
that they'd be lovingly corrected, but they wouldn't lose their
home. But then if you had someone to come and stay, if they were
a servant living in quarters, or if they were just a lodger,
and you gave them the rules, and you said to them, look, these
are the rules. If you consistently break these,
then you're out. You can't stay in this home.
You're not living here anymore. that would be a very different,
they'd be under the same roof, but a very different feeling
that they would know that if they did things wrong, they'd
lose the roof over their head. Whereas a child wouldn't ever
have that fear at all. And with the gospel, when we
view what the Lord has done for us, where it has been sealed
by calling, Then it brings liberty, it brings joy and gladness that
we are set free. The Lord said to those that believed
on him, if you continue in my word, you shall be my disciples
indeed. You shall know the truth, the
truth shall make you free. So our second point is that continuing
in the gospel as a hearer that remembers the precepts of the
Gospel. So he's not thinking that, well,
this is just a whole list of doctrines. As long as we keep
the doctrines, we'll be all right. No, it relates to how we actually
act. You remember the man that came
to our Lord He wanted to know how that he could get to heaven.
And our Lord set before him the law of God. Love the Lord thy
God with all thy heart, with all thy mind, and thy neighbor
as thyself. And he was willing to justify
himself, so he asked him, who is my neighbor? And in answer to that, the Lord
told the parable of the Good Samaritan. And there you have a man that
went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, fell among thieves, and they
stripped him, they wounded him, they left him half dead, and
there came along first a priest and then a Levite, those representing
the law, those representing the ceremonial law, the priesthood. And they just looked, and they
passed by on the other side. They didn't help. But then they
had the Samaritan. And of course, the Jews, they
despised the Samaritans. But he went right where he was,
tended his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, put him on his
own knees, took him to an inn, gave charge concerning him, gave
the money, said he'd restore, if they paid anything more would
come again. And our Lord asked, which one
was neighbor to him that fell amongst thieves? He said, I suppose
the one that had compassion upon him. The Lord said, go and do
likewise. And in that parable, there's
a setting forth again of the practical part, the precept of
the gospel. Our Lord is very clear of this.
It's recorded in Matthew chapter 7. And he tells another account
or parable, if you like, illustrating the difference between one that
is just a hearer of the Word and one that is a doer of the
Word. And we read this from verse 24,
Therefore whoso heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them,
I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon
a rock. And the rain descended, and the
floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house, and
it fell not, for it was founded upon a rock. And every one that
heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, So he likened
unto a foolish man which built his house upon the sand. And
the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew and
beat upon that house, and it fell, and great was the fall
of him. He is teaching there the vital
necessity of being a fruitful hearer. And we may say this,
Those that truly know the gospel, they will be fruitful. They will
be doers of the word. They will obey the precepts of
the gospel. Having been forgiven much, they
will forgive. Having known mercy, they will
show mercy. Having known the blessings of
the Lord, they will bless. And so the practical part, that
is what, as in the words of our text, not being a forgetful hearer. Be being not a forgetful hearer. Those are the things that we
are to remember, are things that shape and fashion our lives. not just in an isolated text,
but in the whole tenor of the scriptures. We think of that
which concerns ourselves personally as sinners. How does that work
in a practical way? Paul, he says, I keep under my
body, lest when I preach to others, I myself become a castaway. He says before us in Romans 8,
the walking, not after the flesh, but after the spirit. Again,
it's remembering the word as we looked upon it, the word describing
what our hearts are, desperately wicked, evil hearts, ones that
will bring up all manner of evil. We need to be very careful of
them and in a practical way, Seek of the Lord much grace,
be much in prayer, that he deliver us from the power and dominion
of sin. In Galatians, we have a picture
of the fruits of the flesh and the fruits of the spirit. And
the apostle says in Galatians 5.16, this I say then, walk in
the spirit and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against
the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh, and these are contrary
the one to the other, so that ye cannot do the things that
ye would. But if ye be led of the Spirit,
ye are not under the law." And he gives the works of the flesh,
how they manifest, adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,
idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wraths,
strifes, seditions, heresies, endings, murders, drunkenness,
revelings, and such like. And then he gives the fruit of
the spirit, but not before he has said to them that, as I have
told you also before in time past, that they which do such
things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. And though we
are tempted with all manner of evil in our hearts, that these
things are those that we mortify through the spirit, the deeds
of the body, a constant conflict. Sin shall not have dominion over
you, you're not under the law, you're under grace, you've not
yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin. But then he gives
the fruit of the spirit, that which flows forth from the Gospel,
walking in the Gospel, knowing the Gospel, knowing the love
of our Lord, knowing His grace, knowing the work of the Spirit
in us, the Holy Spirit. The fruit of the Spirit is love,
joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance. Against such there is no law."
And we think then of this patterning or being a hallmark of a Christian
and of his faith. That one who is continuing in
the gospel and is not a forgetful hearer, he hears and he remembers
that the fruit of the Spirit is love and joy and peace and
long-suffering and gentleness and goodness and faith. And that
then will be shaping how he speaks to others, how he acts to others,
how he walks before men, how he walks before God. If we live
in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. And he is warning
them, he is saying, let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking
one another, envying one another. And it's the same things that
James is warning of here, isn't it? Because he, later on, he
is saying, for whence come wars and fighting among you? And James
4, even they come of lust in your members, of war in your
members. And he is reproving them. for
having a spirit that is completely opposite to the gospel. They're
forgetful hearers. They're supposed to have heard
the gospel, and then they go away, and their lives don't even
show anything like the gospel at all. They're not a mirror
of it. And especially when they say or tell others, well, I'm
a Christian, and they look at their life and say, you're a
Christian? And that's what you say, and that's what you do.
Sometimes we might even We might get tripped up. I have. We were
made a stand in employment years ago when we first come to faith,
and then in just a last moment said something of a very wrong
spirit, and the ungodly, they immediately jump on it and say,
ooh, that's not a Christian-like spirit, is it? and reprove you,
and the best thing to do, the thing I did immediately, is say,
no it's not, I'm sorry, I'm wrong, I should not have spoken in that
way, I should not have acted in that way, not to try and cover
it up or excuse it. And so it applies as remembering,
not forgetting, that concerning ourselves, our own spirit and
our own manner, Also it is concerning in a charity way. We read through the James 2,
but even before we get to that, in verse 27 of the first chapter,
pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, to
visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction and to keep
himself unspotted from the world. And there again is precept. There is things to, Remember,
the spirit of those under the gospel, this is how we are to
walk. Then James takes it in chapter
2 regarding faith. Even so, he says in verse 17,
Faith, if it hath not worked, is dead, being alone. The fruit, the works of fruit,
The fruit of faith will be works, not done to merit salvation,
but out of love and in the spirit of the gospel. And so he sums
it up, he says, a man may say thou has faith and I have works,
show me thy faith without thy works, and I will show thee my
faith by my works. And he gives the illustration
of Abraham, he gives the illustration of Rahab, and the things that
they actually did. Abraham going and offering up
his son, not just saying, well, God can raise him from the dead
even if I don't offer him up. He did it. And with Rahab, she
sent the messages out another way. She believed God had given
them the land, she believed the promise that they'd given her,
and she acted accordingly. We have the simple principles,
and we think of the verses there in verse 15, 16, if a brother
or sister be naked, destitute of daily food, one of you saying
to them, depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled, or perhaps
it would be in this way, I'll pray for your brother, I'll remember
you at the throne of grace, I'll be praying for you. But they've
got money in the bank and they've got ability to help and to give
them those things. They don't need to pray, they
need to act. And we have to remember that spirit. There is a time
when we're helpless. We haven't got the means or we
can't help in a practical way. Then we can pray and we should
pray. That where we are in a position
to be able to help, this is the where we are not to be a forgetful
hearer. We're remembering what the principles
of the gospel actually is, and to be acting upon it. You might
say, well, we know many people that they're not Christians at
all, and they're better at charity than me. They spend their lives
doing it. They love it, and they help to
do it, and they're a great blessing to society. Yes, they are. Many benefit from them. But are
they doing it out of gratitude for what the Lord has done for
them at Calvary? Or are they doing it with the
thought, and it could only be found out if you said to them,
you know, those are very good works, but they don't recommend
you to God, you know. And then they'd rise up in anger
against you. That is why the gospel must come
first. So though he may not be, even
able to do as much as what the world does, the important thing,
it is done out of love to the Lord and love to His people,
gratitude for what the Lord has done for us. It is done of a
completely different principle. That is the important thing here. We think of the disciples with
the Lord when the Samaritans wouldn't receive Him, They said,
shall we call down fire from heaven and consume them like
Elijah did? No, says the Lord. He know not
what spirit ye are of. The Son of Man came not to destroy
men's lives, but to save them. And so they were then learning
the spirit of the gospel. He says of those who come to
offer a gift at the altar, remember that they have a brother that
has ought against them. Go and be reconciled to thy brother. and then come and offer thy gift.
And all the time it's the practical aspect of religion. You know,
a hypocrite is someone that says and does not. We're told in the
epistles of Peter that we are to be ready to give a reason
of the hope that is within us, in meekness, in fear, to everyone
that asks us. We're to sanctify the Lord in
our hearts. Why do they ask? Because they
see us doing things. They see us doing things that
they would not do. Or they see us not doing things
that they would do. Then they ask. They can never accuse us then
when we set forth the truth or the spring and foundation of
our faith that we're a hypocrite. Because the whole reason why
they've asked us is because they've seen our works first. And then
we can tell them the gospel and tell them in such a way that
is not saying, well, I'm doing this so that I can earn my way
to heaven. To really testify that is not
why I'm doing that. My hope is not there. My hope
is in Christ's finished work, not in my own works. I'm doing
this in gratitude, in love to my Lord, and because he has given
me the precept and the example that this is what I should do
and how I should walk. And so this is enforced right
through the Word of God, that those that have believed, that
their lives then reflected. The mad Gadarene, his life is
different. Zacchaeus, his life is different. Immediately he's going to get
back fourfold if he has taken anything by false accusation,
and as a chief amongst publicans, no doubt he'd done that a lot.
Immediately there are changed characters. God has made a difference in
their hearts and in their lives. The Apostle Paul, how different
he was, what a change was wrought in his life. The practical part,
the precepts of the gospel. This is what is to be remembered
and not forgotten. Not every text we've heard or
every wonderful sermon that we've heard. Not those sort of things. A blessing if we have reason
to remember them because how the Lord has blessed them to
us and with the sweet savour of Christ and revealed himself
in them, blessed thing to remember them. But the things that we
are to remember is the precepts of the gospel. Those things that
show forth our faith. I will show thee my faith by
my works. May that be Our motto, as it
were, may that be what we remember of the gospel. We think of how
it's set forth, the character of the people of God, be not
forgetful to entertain strangers, given to hospitality. Those things
mark out the people of God. They, instead of avoiding where
they think there might be a need and they cross over the other
side of the road, they actually seek it out, think there might
be a need here, or this person might be in need, and they go
and ask in enquiries and see, well, do they need a roof over
their head? Do they need some help? Can I
help? And they're actively seeking
it out, rather than seeking to avoid it. It's a high standard. But when we think of what the
Lord Jesus Christ has done for us, he laid down his life for
his people. And again, John takes that up,
even so ought we to lay down our lives for the brethren. Stopping what we are doing, changing
our plans, sometimes it's very hard to do, sometimes we cannot
do it, but there it can be to be able to be a help and a strength
to the brethren. This is what is to be remembered. And continueth therein, he being
not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work. A doer of the work. A doer. A doer of the gospel. This is the context of the hearer
that doesn't forget. is remembering the whole precepts
of the Gospel. Well, on to come to our third
point, and that is, this man shall be blessed in his deed,
or in his doing, not for his deed. He's blessed in it. The Lord pronouncing a blessing,
she has done what she could. The Lord having regard, who so
shall give you a cup of water, a cold water in the name of a
disciple? Verily, you shall not lose his
reward. He's not doing it with an idea
for reward, but he shall not lose the reward. Inasmuch as
you have done it unto one of these of the least of thy brethren,
ye have done it unto me. There is thee. All what we do
in our labours, working as unto the Lord and not as unto men. In our secular works, in all
what we're doing, it might be a menial work, we might not get
any recognition from man for what we do, but we do it as unto
the Lord, not as unto men. and the pronouncing this man
shall be blessed in his deed. Remember Joseph? Joseph, when
he was thrown into the pit, when he was sold as a servant, falsely
accused, sent into prison, but you know when he was working
for that master where he was falsely accused, he worked so
well that his master gave everything into his hands. When he came
into the prison, he worked so diligently and so faithfully
that the water gave everything into his hand. And when he came
to Pharaoh, Pharaoh put everything in his hand as well. If we've
been faithful in that which is least, the Lord then gives that
which is more. And this principle, it runs right
through the word of God. and the blessing of the Lord
is upon him. Really, you may say this is the
true fruits of the gospel, but we would say it doesn't come
automatically by grace, but as through grace the Lord gives
a hearing ear, and he gives us to hear what the Spirit saith
unto the churches, then When we hear and not a forgetful hearer,
but a doer of that word, then we shall be blessed in our deed. So we remember that too. God's
people are not automatically going to do what is right. Otherwise
we would not have this epistle. We would not have the epistles,
Hebrews or Galatians, which are speaking, directing us how we
are to walk and how we are to act. If it was automatic, no. That faith that comes by hearing
is good. When we hear the word in the
house of God and we go home and we do something, we phone someone
up, we take action, we give someone something, we help someone in
their need. And we do it because we have
heard the word and we've not just forgotten it and pushed
it aside, we've remembered it. and we've then done our actions
according to that work. This man shall be blessed in
his deed, in doing that work, in doing that deed, he'll be
blessed in that. The Lord blessing his soul, blessing
him with that peace of God, blessing him with fellowship, communion
with the Lord, the answer of a good conscience, the blessing
of the Lord, it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with
it. It is a searching word, it's a practical word. I need it,
I find it searching. It's a word that is vitally necessary
and gives glory to God. May it have the double effect
as well, as to not making us hard on ourselves, when we forget
individual sermons or words, but may we be thankful to the
Lord and bless the Lord if he has given us to remember the
whole spirit of the gospel and that is how we live and how our
faith is shown. May the Lord add his blessing.
Amen.