I want to give you an overview
of the letter, the epistle of James. It's been a book that
has been abused by many. It's been a book that's been
difficult to understand by many. But it's a good book and it's
full of valuable, valuable instruction, full of the gospel. And what
the Spirit of God moves James to write in the first ten or
so verses is the theme of the whole letter. From there on,
James is expounding upon the things he mentions in the first
part of this letter. Now, I hope that you can see
here from this overview This will open up the book of James
for you and that we're dealing with one subject, one subject,
and the subject is how brethren are to wait on the Lord as we deal with one another,
with fellow brethren, with sinners, who don't know heaven or have
erred in the truth or are out of the way. That's the theme,
how to deal with brethren. Now, we begin with the salutation
in James 1.1. James, a servant of God and of
the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the brother of our Lord,
the son of Alphaeus. He's a minister of the gospel
to the Jewish brethren at Jerusalem. And he says here, he's writing
this to the 12 tribes which are scattered abroad. He says, greeting. Now he's writing to Jewish believers,
probably to some elders of the various churches where they were
scattered and to some of the brethren there that believed
on the Lord. But I want you to pay careful
attention. They had been scattered abroad. They were persecuted, that's
what the word means, they were pushed away, rejected by their
own kinsmen after the flesh because they believed on Christ. That
would be a trial, to be pushed out because you believe God and
you trust Christ Jesus. So that's a trial right there.
Then they were enduring another kind of trial as they were being
taught through the gospel to leave the old covenant law behind
for Christ who is the end of the law for righteousness to
everyone that believes. And they were zealous for that
law. They'd been They'd been under the law for so long, they
were zealous for the law. So to be told that Christ is
the end of the law for righteousness presented a trial to these brethren
scattered abroad. And then many were enduring another
kind of trial because not only this, but now they're being told
that the Lord has an elect people among the Gentiles that he's
called by his grace. In Acts 21, Paul went to Jerusalem. And when he got there, James
was there and many elders were there, probably these ones that
came from these churches that were abroad. They came there.
And you remember, they talked to Paul and they were in a trial
over this thing. There was concern for them, a
yearning for them, for these young Jewish converts, these
brethren. And they said to Paul, they said,
Thou seest brother, how many thousands of Jews they are, which
believe they believe the gospel. And he said, and they are all
zealous of the law. And they're informed of the,
that you teach all the Jews, which are among the Gentiles
to forsake Moses saying that they ought not to circumcise
their children, neither walk after the customs and Paul deals
very wisely with them in Acts 21. We're going through Acts
back home, and we're coming up on that, and we're going to deal
with what Paul did, but what Paul did for them manifests what
Christ does for sinners. paying our debt, what have you.
But you see, what I want you to see about this is these Jewish
brethren were suffering many trials, different kinds of trials
in all this. Now, in these trials, because
the old man is still with us, we want for others to hear We
want for others to be, to grow. We want our brethren to forsake
that which is going to hinder them and harm them and to cast
all their care on Christ. But because we are in our flesh,
do have the sinful old flesh with us, there is a nature within
us that loves to exalt ourselves. over our brethren, to try to
condemn our brethren, judge our brethren, to constrain them,
to comply with what we would have them to know. And this is
a word, this whole letter of James is a word to God's preachers
and to the believers that have been called who are suffering
these trials are in the midst of this trial. This is just as
needful for us today because we very often have brethren who
have erred and we see it and we know it. But listen to what
the exhortation is here in verse 2. My brethren, count it all
joy when you fall into different trials. knowing that the trying
of your faith worketh patience. Count it all joy. Everything
about the trial that God the Father sins is worthy of rejoicing
over. God's trials are the means to
an end for the believer. In one way or another, God is
growing us. in patience to trust Him, to
make us see how complete we are in Christ, so that we come to
this realization that nothing can separate any believer for
whom Christ died from the love of God that's in Christ Jesus.
That's what we're being taught through these trials. When God
first began a work of grace in your heart, It was a trial. We suffered a trial because the
gospel is against our flesh. The gospel cuts against the old
nature, and it's contrary to everything that we imagined about
God, everything, every aspect we thought about God. It declared
there's nothing good in our flesh. It declared that all our so-called
righteousnesses were filthy rags, and Christ is the righteousness
of God. He declared to us that God justified
everyone for whom Christ died. He justified them. Christ laid
down his life. He's risen again for them. And
he's made his people the righteousness of God in him. And we were brought
to see that God's grace has no respect of persons. He doesn't,
he didn't choose anyone based on any good or evil in us. He chose his people solely by
his grace because he would choose whom he would choose. He doesn't
have respect of persons. Jew and Gentile alike. And because
each of those He chose, each of those for whom Christ died
are totally dead in trespasses and sin, we must be born of God. We must be quickened, made alive
by God. We must be granted repentance
and faith through the Spirit. And we must be brought to cast
all our care on Christ. He's got to do this. He had to
do this in the beginning, didn't He? That's how we began in the
Spirit. Through the Word, by God's will,
By His grace, by the Spirit, by the power of the Holy Spirit,
that's how we began. And when we were in that trial,
it was by His grace that His love was shed abroad in our hearts
to make us to see that all His love is in Christ His Son, that
He loved His Son and He sent forth His Son to work out a righteousness
for us, to make us accepted in Christ Jesus so that We're complete
in Him. We have peace with God now. Everything
that's required of God, Christ has fulfilled it. He has accomplished
it on behalf of everyone He represented. And so, when that love was shed
abroad in our hearts, we realized that being justified by faith
that he gave to us, we have peace with God now. And we glory, we
thank God and we rejoice in him. And we rejoice in Christ in whom
we have access by grace into this grace wherein we stand.
And we rejoice in hope. We know God's gonna come and
receive us to himself. We rejoice in hope of the glory
of God. Well, just like that, in every
other trial after that, That same love's got to be shed abroad
in our hearts. That same will of God has got
to work the work. The same power of the Holy Spirit's
got to work the work. The same word of the gospel he'll
use to work the work. And we got to remember that because
these tribulations are designed to make us to work patience. They're designed to make us wait
on God. And these tribulations, then
once we behold God, do this work. And once we behold him again
in the midst of a trial, work this work of grace in our own
hearts and in the hearts of that brother that's out of the way
or what have you, we matured and we realize when it comes
around the next time, the trial that comes again, We can wait
on God. We can be patient and wait on
Him. And every time that He matures us, as He grows us in this love
and this patience, this love is shed abroad more and more.
We're persuaded more and more that God really is Christ Jesus,
the King of glory, really is seated at God's right hand. And
He really is working this work of grace in the hearts of His
people. He may use us. He may not use us, but He's going
to work this work of grace according to His will, in His time, in
His purpose, using His Word, and He's going to cause us to
wait on Him to do it that He might receive all the glory in
doing it. Now, all our trials involve this same principle.
Every trial we go into involves this same principle. It's to
turn us away from this legal, corrupt, old man of our flesh
that thinks, well, we can fix it. We can correct our brother. We can condemn him in our heart
and then we think we can go and we can pull out the sin that
he's in. Pull him out of it. And when
we do that, we're in a worse sin than he's in. We're in self-righteousness. We've tried to exalt ourselves
to the throne of God and do what only God can do. And these trials
teach us to wait on Him. And you know when a brother experiences
a trial or a sister experiences a trial to where they err in
the truth, when that happens, it's as much a trial for that
brother's pasture as it is for the brother. Sometimes the brother
or sister don't, it's not even a trial for them. They don't
even realize it. It's more of a trial for the one who beholds
it. And you brethren know that when you see a brother or sister
in error, it's sometimes more of a trial for you suffering
under it than it is that one. Well, that's who he's talking
to. He's telling you how you are
to deal with a brother that's out of the way. That's what this
whole epistle is about. How I'm to deal with the brethren
that are out of the way. That's what he's dealing with
here. Now, in verse 4, he says, but let patience have her perfect
work, that you may be perfect and entire, complete, wanting
nothing. Use the patience God's already
given you as a believer by His grace. Believe on God. Wait on God. Wait on Him to show
you through this trial what He's going to do, how He's going to
grow in grace, how He's going to accomplish this work. It'll
grow you. You won't lack anything if you wait on God to do it.
You'll get the entire benefit of the trial by waiting on God
and being used of God in the manner that he would have you
to be used. Here's the second thing. I'm
laying down for you what James deals with in the first, and
now I'm fixing to go over and look at some other scriptures
throughout James to show you how this is the theme. This is
the subject of the whole book. I used to think James was jumping
around, that he was talking about this subject, then he jumped
to this subject, then he jumped to that subject. He's dealing
with the same subject all the way through. Now watch this.
Verse 5, he says, if any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God
that giveth to all liberally and upbraideth not and it shall
be given him. Now that's the chief purpose
of the trial. That's the chief purpose of it. God makes the
believer to realize we don't have wisdom and we need Christ
to be our wisdom. That's the in purpose of every
trial, and he giveth abundantly to all brethren that come and
ask of him. He doesn't revile you. He doesn't
reproach you. Somebody will run out of gas
on the side of the road, and they'll come knock on our door
and ask for help, and we'll go out there and help them. But
the whole time we're helping them, sometimes we'll be saying,
you didn't check your gas gauge. How'd you let yourself run out
of gas out here? We're throwing it back at them. Helping them,
but God don't do that. You come to him asking for wisdom,
he knows your frailty, he'll give you wisdom. And he don't
reproach you when he gives it to you. Because we have a high
priest that's been touched with the feeling of our infirmities.
He was tempted in all points that were tempted, and he never
sinned. And he's able to comfort all
them that come to him and ask for his grace to help in time
of need. Doesn't say that he'll necessarily
take you out of the trial, does it? He doesn't say come to him
and ask for that. He says come to him and just
ask for his grace. Ask for his wisdom, for his strength, for
his power. He can give you grace right in the middle of the trial
and never take you out of it. And you'll be just fine. Now,
in chapter three, In chapter 2, Paul, I mean, James deals
with respective persons, and that's what we'll do when we
get puffed up in the flesh. And most of chapter 2 is illustrations. That's what James, he's illustrating
the point he's making. And we'll come back later and
look at this, but look in chapter 3 in verse 1. Right here, James is quoting
the exact same thing the Lord Jesus Christ said when He told
His disciples, the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat. They desired
to sit in the upper seats and to be called rabbi and master
and father. He said, don't you be that way.
Here's what He said, My brethren, be not many masters. They want
to sit in God's seat. They imagine they can accomplish
by force what only the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit
accomplishes by grace. He says, and knowing that we,
if we exalt ourselves that way, we shall receive the greater
condemnation. We're in the worse sin than our
brother when we exalt ourselves in that manner, and we're going
to run roughshod over him. We're going to make him comply
with us. For in many things we offend all." He goes on to describe
that this is from a heart of bitter envy. And it's the heart
of the old flesh. It's that bitter envying of that
old man who wants to be as God. Wants to be as God. It's a heart
of strife. It's earthly. It's sensual. It's
devilish, James says. No man can bridle this tongue. Out of the heart, out of the
heart, the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. He says to
us at the end of chapter one, he says, if any man brattles
not his tongue, if he's a respecter of persons, if he wants to try
to force somebody to obey, force somebody into submission through
his strict judgment, his harsh dealings with people, that's
a bitter, that's from that bitter fountain. Grace don't come from
that fountain. God don't change that old man.
He don't renew it. He don't make it better. It's
what it is. It's what it's always going to
be, and it's going to return to the dust. God has to give
us a new fountain, a new heart. He creates a new heart within
a believer, and from that heart proceeds the grace and the mercy
that we're talking about right here. God has to create it. Salt water and fresh water can't
come from the same fountain, and it don't ever come from the
same fountain. All that's going to come from this flesh is salt
water. It's not fit to drink. But what comes from the heart
that God's made new is fresh water, living water, the water
of Christ in us. He teaches us how to speak. What did Zachariah say, or what
did the Lord say to Zerubbabel and Zachariah? He said, it's
not by might, it's not by power, not by my might, not by your
might, not by my power, not by your power, that the Lord's gonna
build his house, that he's gonna glorify his people, that he's
gonna beautify his temple. It's not gonna be that way. It's
not gonna be by our strength and our power, it's gonna be
by his spirit. That's what he said. Now, we've
experienced, believers have experienced the Spirit of God. We've experienced
His power. And what we have to have happen
is we have to be brought to cry out to God, to ask God for wisdom. And when we ask Him for wisdom,
look at verse 17, James 3, 17. But the wisdom that is, and I
encourage you, let me stop here a minute, I encourage you, take
some notes, I hope you are, but go through, read the whole letter
of James, and have this one subject in mind as you read it, and you'll
see this begin to make sense to you, that this whole book's
dealing with this. I'm just touching on some highlights tonight. We'll
go back and look at it in depth. But he says here in verse 17,
but the wisdom that is from above is first pure. It's pure wisdom. It's of God. And then it's peaceable. It's gentle, easy to be entreated,
full of mercy and good fruits without partiality. Doesn't look
on the outward appearance of things. Doesn't have respect
to the man who seems to be doing all the right things and the
brother who seems to be, it doesn't exalt him above the brother who
seems to be in sin. It's without partiality. Doesn't
have a respect to persons. It's grace. It's without hypocrisy. It's not done for us to lift
up ourselves. It's not done for us to exalt
ourselves. It's wisdom. And the fruit of righteousness
is sown in peace. of them that make peace. See
what he's saying? You want to make peace? You want
that brother to be brought into the peace of God? It's not going
to happen by this thing that this religious world loves to
do where they love to set up their Sanhedrin and bring men
before their council. and yoke them and bind them and
give them an ultimatum, that's not how it's accomplished. You
know, when our Lord Jesus Christ walked this earth, the only folks
he dealt with that way was the folks who dealt with sinners
that way, the Pharisees and the scribes. That's the only ones
he dealt with that way. Paul, when he went to the church
at Corinth, the only ones he dealt harshly with, that's what
I tried to show y'all as we looked through those messages in Corinth,
the only ones he dealt harshly with were those who were coming
in there and were attempting to deal harshly with God's people
and bring them away from Christ and bring them under their yoke
and their oppression. God hates oppression. He hates
it. Read, go through Isaiah and read,
he hates it. The whole purpose of grace was
that God would be merciful, delight to show mercy. And He did that
by pouring out the justice that we deserve on Christ that He
might shower us in showers of mercy and grace. Now the man
that's experienced that, he realizes when he comes to God and he asks
God for grace, God makes Christ unto us to be wisdom. That's
who we come asking for. We behold this pure wisdom of
Christ Jesus, who was holy through and through. And it makes us
to realize, who am I? I'm not holy. Then we behold
this wisdom and how he dealt with sinners peaceably and gently. How he leads those that are with
young gently. Scripture said. This is him who
is without partiality. He doesn't, he deals in grace. You know, when he was on the
Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5, when he says, he says, you've
heard it said, love you, love your brethren and hate your enemies. He said, I say to you, love your
brethren and pray for your enemies. And he said, doesn't God make
the rain to fall on the just and the unjust? He's not declaring
what so many use that to declare that, well, God's grace is common
to all men. There's nothing common about
God's grace. There's nothing common about
the blood of Christ. His grace is particular. It's in Christ
and it's to a particular people. What the message is there is
His grace is free. It doesn't have a respect of
persons. And when we behold that Christ didn't deal with men based
on some work in us, because we had on some goodly apparel outside
that looked good to the eyes of men, that's highly esteemed
by men, not by God. Christ dealt truthfully with
us. Scott and I were talking on the
way over here about how the Lord, sometimes it seems like He's
just being blunt with the brethren. But there was no hypocrisy in
him. He dealt with the rich young
ruler in a way that you and I probably wouldn't have dealt with him.
We probably would have candy coated what we said, but he did
it not in a mean way, in a gracious way, but he told the truth. He said, your earthly treasures,
your earthly riches, go sell all those. You've kept the law
from your youth up? Good. Go sell those and follow
me. Give them to the poor and follow
me. And what he manifests by telling him that was that the
riches of his heart was his obedience. I've kept the law from my youth
up. And he manifests to him, no, you've not kept the law.
You can't give away all that you have and follow me. Your
treasure, just like it's these temporal riches, your treasure
is that obedience that you think you've accomplished. You got
to give all that up. You got to let go of all that.
But he dealt so truthfully with him because scripture says he
loved him. That was one of his elect that later would come to
the gospel. He dealt with him mercifully
and truthfully, but he didn't yoke him. He didn't oppress him.
He led him. He led him. That's how he dealt
with you and me. That's how he teaches us to deal
with our brethren. And that's what we behold here.
And when you're in this trial, And you behold a brother who's
out of the way. And you feel that sin of your own flesh being
puffed up to correct him. You begin to feel yourself condemning
him in your heart. You begin to feel yourself thinking
that you know what's best for him. You know how to get him
out of this. He said, the only cure for that is to go ask God
to make Christ your wisdom. And God will cure you of that.
He'll cure you of that. But look now. It's only when
we're renewed, that's what this thing, renewed to remember Christ,
how he sowed this righteousness into our hearts, peacefully,
gently. The inner man then is renewed.
These trials, we behold that grace is not based on the outward
appearance. We don't, also we don't know
man after the flesh. We don't judge by the outward
appearance of things. Who can lay anything to the charge of
God's elect? It's Christ that died. You think
about this, when you get ready, get puffed up, you want to condemn
somebody that professes to believe Christ, and you decide you want
to yoke that person and try to make them comply. You just look,
when you look at them, you just see Christ and decide if you're
ready to do that to Christ. That's what, that's what Paul
said in Romans chapter eight. It's God that justifies, it's
Christ that died, it's risen again. But look here now, he
says in James 1, back there in James 1, so he said to us to
ask wisdom of God. Don't yoke this, make this thing,
don't try to set up as a rabbi. Go ask Christ to be your wisdom.
He'll work this work. Then look, but let him ask in
faith nothing wavering, for he that wavereth is like a wave
of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that
man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord. A double-minded
man's unstable in all his ways. Now go back over there to chapter
four. Look how he goes right now, he's
been talking about us being in our flesh and that wisdom that's
fleshly and he talks about the wisdom from above. Now watch
what he says in verse four. From whence come wars and fighting
among you? Paul, remember what he said to
the Galatians? If you walk in the flesh, you're going to bite
and devour one another. Now watch this. Come they not
hence even of your own lusts that war in your members? You
lust and have not. You kill. That's what this judgment
is. That's what this condemnation
is, everybody. It's killing him. We're killing him in our heart.
And you desire to have. You want to have him do what
you want him to do, what you think he ought to do. And you
can't obtain it. You fight, you're warring, yet
you have not because you ask not. And when you ask, when you're
in that bond, you ask and receive not, it's because you ask amiss,
because you're just asking to consume it on your lust. Here's
the question he's asking. Do you really want Christ to
have the preeminence? When you come and ask God for
this wisdom, do you really want the brother to be restored to
Christ? Or do you merely want Christ to grant you some sort
of wisdom so that in the lust of your flesh, you can usurp
authority over him and make him do what you want to do? Which
one? You receive not the peace of
Christ in your own heart, the wisdom to deal with your brethren,
because when we're in that bitterness, we're asking to miss. Now look,
James 4.11 there, this is what he says to it. He's still dealing
with the same thing. Speak not evil one of another,
brethren. He that speaketh evil of his
brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of the law, and
judgeth the law. But if thou judge the law, thou
art not a doer of the law, but a judge. There's one lawgiver
who's able to save and to destroy. Who art thou
that judges another? I'm sure not the lawgiver. I'm
sure not the one that's able to save him. I'm sure not the
one that's able to destroy him. I come to him and ask him to
do this work. Then you ask, right? And he finishes
out the fourth and fifth chapter describing how this is the treasure
of the rich fleshly man that's with us. Just like that rich
man heaps up treasures for the last days, so that when he gets
down the road and he retires, he'll have all his treasures
to support him. That's his self-sufficiency. That's what he's depending on.
He says, even so, that self-righteous man, even though you might not
think you're doing it, what you're doing, if he let you go on in
that way, and he let me go on in that way, you know what we'd
do? We'd come to God one day and
we'd say, didn't we do a bunch of wonderful works? Look how
we cast out those devils. And he'd say, you're the devil. You tried to ascend to God's
throne and do what only God can do. We don't deal with brethren
that way. Can't deal with brethren that
way. We got one Lord. We got one king. We got one master. We got one father. He'll deal with the brethren.
And He'll teach us the wisest way to deal with them. And then,
He hadn't changed the subject in James chapter 5 at the end
there. You know, this is always something that is taken out of
context too. But look in verse 13. Remember
He began by saying, now go ask God for this wisdom. Pray to
ask Him. Now watch what He said. Verse
13. Is any among you afflicted? You
see somebody in this trial? Are you in this trial? Are you
afflicted by this type of The trial, the suffering to where
he is fleshly bonded, he says, let him pray. It goes right back
to the same subject, doesn't it? Same thing he's been dealing
with. Is any merry? Have you already received this
wisdom? Have you already been converted
as Peter was after the trial that he suffered? What did the
Lord say to him when he came to him? Feed me sheep, Peter. You've been through this now.
You've got the wisdom. I've shown you that I'm the one
that's going to keep my people. Now go feed my sheep with that
understanding. What does he say here? If you're
married, sing psalms. Go to him and tell him how he's
complete in Christ. Go to him and restore him to
Christ by telling him the precious truths of Christ, not by breaking
out the whip. Look, is any sick among you?
He's still dealing with the same subject. This is the worst sickness
of all, brethren. Self-righteousness. Let him call for the elders of
the church. And this, I think, is the word
to the preacher right here. Let him call for the elders of
the church. And instead of that elder coming to this one who's
in this affliction and saying, well, but this brother right
here's got some money. Got them gold rings and all that
stuff. I'm gonna deal with him a little bit easier than I dealt
when I deal with old Joshua there. Joshua, I don't know if he's
gotten near as much. I deal a little more harsh with
him. If he leaves, I won't lose anything. No, don't deal with
either one of them that way. What does he say, dude? Let them
pray over him. That doesn't necessarily mean
come and get over him like the Pentecostals and all that stuff.
It means pray over the whole matter. Go get in your closet
in a secret place and ask God for wisdom. How to deal with
that, brother? And what does the Lord say? Anointing
him with oil in the name of the Lord. The whole time you wait
for God to give you wisdom, anoint him with the oil of gladness.
That's totally opposite from this yoke and this whip and this
and this hard dealing with sin, anointing with the oil of gladness.
This good news of the gospel and the prayer of faith shall
save the sick. And look now, how's it going
to be saved? And the Lord shall raise him up. The Lord to save
that brother. And if he's committed sins, they'll
be forgiven him. Instead of being exalted in self-righteousness,
he says, verse 16, this is the sum, this is what Peter said
to all the brethren. Submit yourselves one to another
and cast all your care on Christ. Elders and younger ones and pastors
and those brethren in the congregation, all of you cast all your care
on Christ. He cares for you. This is what
James says. Confess your faults to one another
and pray one for another that you may be healed The effectual
fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. Now, I got
one more thing for you. Back there in our text, James
1 9. And this is what's going to happen.
This is the effectual end that God works in his children through
trial. Go back there with me to James
1 9. Let the brother of low degree rejoice." Now he said rejoice
in this trial, didn't he? He said, let patience have her
perfect work. Now here's the coming to what he's going to
say. This is the end of it. Let the brother of low degree rejoice
in that he is exalted, but the rich in that he's made low, because
as the flower of the grass, he shall pass away. Through trials,
the same end is going to be accomplished in each child and everybody that's
in the trial, whether he's rich or he's poor. But if you want
to get more from this and you want to get the full meaning
of what James is saying here, view this brother of low degree
and this rich man as you, both in one man. Because through this
trial, listen, the new man that's created in righteousness and
true holiness is the brother within us, the brother within
each of our brethren of low degree. And the true brother in each
of us is going to be grown in patience and maturity. That's
what the word is. He's going to be renewed day
by day. But the rich man, that old fleshly man of Adam that
wants to heap up this treasure of exalting himself and be that
way, he's brought low in this trial. He's brought low. God
exalts the inner man. He renews him day by day, crowns
him with Christ our King, our life, our wisdom. But the rich
man, the outward man of the flesh, is perishing. He's brought low.
Rejoice in this because our fleshly man is grass. All flesh is grass. Look at verse 10. Because as
the flower of the grass, he shall pass away. You don't want God
to leave you trusting in that rich man of your flesh, do you?
He's passing away. For the sun's no sooner risen
with a burning heat, but it withered the grass, and the flower thereof
falleth, and the grace of the fashion of it perisheth. So also
shall the rich man fade in all his ways. Now they saw, by what James is
teaching them here, that they couldn't work this in their brethren
by force of hand. James reminds them that the self-righteous
man within them sought to do this, to usurp authority, to
have respect to Purdue. He's the rich man of the flesh.
God is subduing that man through trials, and He's subduing that
man by growing the inward man by His grace. That's what Paul
meant when he said, if you through the Spirit mortify the deeds
of the flesh, you can't do it by yourself. That's what God's
saying. Call on Him and He'll work this
work of grace in you. And then he says, the end then,
brethren, verse 19, and I'll just read this. Wherefore, my
beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak,
Slow to wrath, for the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness
of God. Wherefore, lay apart all filthiness
and that overflowing naughtiness, wickedness. He's saying, put
off the old man, put off the rich man with his self-righteous
deeds. And receive with meekness the
engrafted word, which is able to save your soul. But be ye
doers of this word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.
Over there in James 2, he says, Speak ye, and so do, as they
that shall be judged by the law of liberty. For he shall have
judgment without mercy that hath shewed no mercy. And mercy rejoiceth
against judgment. Do you see that? This is the
theme of the whole of the book. This is the theme of the whole
of the letter. Wait on the Lord. Let patience have her perfect
work that you don't lack anything. And you'll see Christ. God will
show you, draw you to Christ, your wisdom, and make you cast
all your care on him. And you'll watch God work a work
of grace in the heart of that brother that you're concerned
about. That's how God deals with sinners. All right.