James 3, verse 1. My brethren, be not many masters,
knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation, or
the greater judgment. For in many things we offend
all. If any man offend not in word,
the same is a perfect man. able also to bridle the whole
body. Behold, we put bits in the horses' mouths that they
may obey us, and we turn about their whole body. Behold also
the ships, which though they be so great and are driven of
fierce winds, yet are they turned about with a very small helm,
whithersoever the governor listeth. Even so the tongue is a little
member and boasteth great things. Behold how great a matter a little
fire kindleth. And the tongue is a fire, a world
of iniquity. So is the tongue among our members
that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course
of nature, and it is set on fire of hell. For every kind of beast,
and of birds, and of serpents, and of things in the sea is tamed,
and hath been tamed of mankind. but the tongue can no man tame. It is an unruly evil, full of
deadly poison. Therewith bless we God, even
the Father, and therewith curse we men, which are made after
the similitude of God. Out of the same mouth proceedeth
blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought
not so to be. Doth a fountain send forth at
the same place sweet water and bitter? Can the fig tree, my
brethren, bear olive berries? Either a vine, figs? So can no
fountain both yield salt water and fresh. Who is a wise man
and endued with knowledge among you? Let him show out of a good
conversation his works with meekness of wisdom. But if you have bitter
envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against
the truth. This wisdom descendeth not from
above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. For where envying and
strife is, there is confusion and every evil work. But the
wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle,
easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits. without
partiality and without hypocrisy. And the fruit of righteousness
is sown in peace of them that make peace. The title of the
message this morning is Wisdom from Above. We'll just take this
verse by verse. We begin in verse 1. It says,
My brethren, be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive
the greater condemnation. Now, it's true that the word
master here means teacher. It does mean teacher. And it's
true that the Lord's teachers, His pastors, shall be held to
a greater judgment. It's not a
light thing to have to stand up and preach a message from
God's Word. You're preaching to eternity-bound
sinners. You're preaching as an ambassador
of Christ. And you want to make sure what
you say is true. You don't just lightly prepare
something or lightly throw something together, add a poem here or
there and be done with it. It's some work that goes into
it. But according to the context
of what is being said here, I believe that that's not exactly all that's
being addressed. You know I've told you this before,
that you know in Galatians we're told that that company of folks
that came from James, they walked in and Peter was sitting at a
table with a group of Gentiles. And when he saw these Jewish
men and women walk in, Peter got up and went from that table
and sat down with the Jews. He came and joined them and sat
down at their table. And Paul confronted Peter about
it because he said, you're basing this thing on the flesh because
of their natural ancestry, because they're circumcised, because
they're Jews. And you've gotten up and moved from these Gentiles
and set with them. You're building again that which
Christ has destroyed. Christ has done away with us
looking to the flesh. We don't do that anymore. I don't know if James is addressing
problems that might have occurred from that or not. But I do know
this. I do know that it's helped me to study the book of James,
to think on that, because he begins talking about trials.
And he talks about being swift to hear and slow to speak. And
he talks about respect of persons. And now he comes to this point
where he talks about, brethren, be not many masters. When we
hear something like what took place, if Paul would have spoken
to Peter, say Peter walks over to our table, sits down with
us, we naturally have a natural affection for him. And if Paul
rebuked him for something, we're naturally going to feel rebuked
ourselves by it. And anytime something like that
happens, whether that's the case of what happened here or not,
but anytime something like that happens, it can cause a trial
with us individually. It can cause us to begin to question
somebody like Paul. And to begin to question somebody
like the Gentiles that aren't like us. Or to question those
in our own assembly. It can cause us to talk. And
James says here, Brethren, be not many masters. In the day
which James ministered, there was a disease. going sweeping
across the land in the day in which he ministered. And when
he uses this term, many masters, he uses that term because there
were in that day many who considered themselves masters. The disease
that swept across the land in that day was the desire of men
to be praised by other men as wise, as wise men. And we all have a desire for
such a thing, and it's sinful to be looked at as to be a wise
old sage. We want to be wise, a master.
Well, the most common avenue that men took to achieve this
coveted praise was that they would oppress sinners religiously
with rules and regulations. And some from God's Word, and
others they just made up. And then when the sinner committed
an offense, this self-appointed master would expose them to others
in the congregation. And the motive was ambition and
pride, a desire to exalt oneself above others in the eyes of men
so as to appear more holy than any of their peers. And James
is warning Brethren here Just as our Lord, after the Lord's
Supper, when they began to argue over who would be greatest in
the Kingdom of Heaven, and He said, that's what the Gentiles
seek after. That's what folks who don't know
God, the carnal man, the carnal heart, that's what the desire
of the natural heart is. Let it not be so among us. That's
what the Lord told them. And turn with me over to Matthew
23, verse 1. Now, the Lord made this clear to His brethren. And it almost sounds like what
we're looking at here in chapter 3 of James is somewhat of a commentary
on what the Lord said. It says, Matthew 23, verse 1,
Then spake Jesus to the multitude and to His disciples. saying,
The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat. They have
the legal authority. All therefore whatsoever they
bid you observe, observe it and do it. But do not ye after their
works. You've got to obey them because
they have the legal authority. But don't follow after them.
Don't be like them. Listen to what he says here.
He says, for they say and do not. For they bind heavy burdens
and grievous to be born and lay them on men's shoulders, but
they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.
But all their works they do for to be seen of men. They make
broad their phylacteries and enlarge the borders of their
garments and love the uppermost rooms at feasts and the chief
seats in the synagogues. and greetings in the markets,
and to be called of men, Rabbi, Rabbi. But be not ye called Rabbi,
for one is your master, Christ, and all ye are brethren. And
call no man your father upon the earth, for one is your father
which is in heaven. Neither be ye called masters,
for one is your Master, Christ. Be he, but he that is greatest
among you shall be your servant. And whosoever shall exalt himself
shall be abased, and he that shall humble himself shall be
exalted. And therefore James says, my
brethren, be not many masters. Be not many masters. We have
one master. We have one Father. We have one
Lord. He's in heaven. Not only, sir,
we're brethren. We're equal with one another.
And he says, knowing that the greater the judgment we use against
men, the greater the judgment God will use against us. Look
back there at James 2 and verse 10. He just said this, whosoever
shall keep the whole law and yet offend in one, he's guilty
of all the law. Look at verse 12. And that means
every one of us are guilty. That makes us all sinners and
guilty. And look what he says in verse
12. So speak ye and so do as they that should be judged by
the law of liberty. You're going to be judged by
grace, by mercy. Our judgment was poured out on
Christ Jesus the Lord. And it says here, for He shall
have judgment without mercy that hath showed no mercy. And mercy
rejoiceth against judgment. We show judgment, harsh, strict
judgment, rebuke, censure somebody in strictness, trying to exalt
ourselves as a master. insisting that we have our way
and try to exalt ourselves as wise before men without showing
any mercy to men. And the Lord said, He said, you
will receive the greater judgment, the greater condemnation. Every
man, chapter 3, verse 2, it says, for in many things we offend
all. Every man is an offender. in many things. And offending
in one point is breaking all the law. So then it's hypocritical
of us to deny to others the mercy that we need ourselves. Isn't
that right? Let's look at King David's response
to Nathan. 2 Samuel 12. You know this. You're familiar with this. But
let's look at this. This illustrates this point very
well. In many things, we offend all.
The Lord sent Nathan to David. You know, David had committed
adultery with Bathsheba. And then her husband came in
and tried to bribe her husband. Well, that didn't work. He sent
him into the heat of battle where he was killed to cover up his
own sin and his own rebellion. David was covering up his own
sin and rebellion. And the Lord sent Nathan unto
David, and he came unto him, and said unto him, There were
two men in one city, the one rich, the other poor. The rich
man had exceeding many flocks and herds, but the poor man had
nothing, save one little ewe lamb, which he had bought and
nourished up. And it grew up together with him and with his
children. It ate of his own meat, drank of his own cup, lay in
his own bosom, and was unto him as a daughter. And there came
a traveler unto the rich man, and he spared to take of his
own flock and of his own herd to dress for the wayfaring man
that was coming to him. But he took that poor man's lamb
and dressed it for the man that was to come to him. And David's
anger was greatly kindled against the man. Now listen to this judgment
without mercy. And he said to Nathan, As the
Lord liveth, the man that hath done this thing shall surely
die, and he shall restore the Lamb fourfold, because he did
this thing and because he had no pity. And Nathan said to David, Thou
art the man. You're the man, David. Now listen
to David's response, verse 13. And David said unto Nathan, I
have sinned against the Lord. And Nathan said unto David, the
Lord also hath put away thy sin. Thou shalt not die. There's nothing
that'll cause a sinner to be merciful to another sinner like
knowing that he himself needs mercy. Needs mercy. We offend
in many things. So who are we going to be to
set ourselves up as masters over one another? To yoke someone
into going the direction we want them to go? We can't do that,
brethren. That will result in confusion. You'll see that here in just
a minute. That will result in men looking at the flesh rather
than looking at Christ. You know what it will do? If you succeed in it for a while,
All it'll do is it'll cause men who hear you and who are scared
to death of you, it'll cause them to want to do everything
they can to please you instead of beholding Christ and following
Him. But that's what these men wanted.
And that's what the natural heart wants is to be exalted as a master,
to be followed by men rather than to have men follow Christ.
He says here, "...if any man offend not in word, the same
is a perfect man, able also to bridle the whole body." The man who is not in subjection
to God in the tongue is not in subjection to God in the body
either. Just not. And the Lord said that in that
passage we just read. They bind heavy burdens and grievous
to be born. And they lay them on men's shoulders.
You know how they did that? With the tongue. Told men what
they had to do and what they shouldn't be doing, what they
should be eating, what they shouldn't be drinking, how they ought to
be washing. Do and do not. All these things.
But the Lord said they themselves won't move one of them with their
fingers. They don't do one of them. Their old bodies aren't
in subjection as they claim it to be. James says here in chapter 1
and verse 26, if any man among you seem to be religious, this
is what we're talking about, if you seem to be religious,
appear religious to the natural eye, and bridleth not his tongue,
how does he not bridle his tongue? He constantly wanting to appear
wise before men. He may appear religious. He may
appear meek and humble as a little lamb. He may not be oppressive
with a yoke. But what's his desire? Whose does he want your eye to
be focused on? Himself or on God? Himself or
on your Lord? And it says here, he browleth
not his tongue, but to see with his own heart. This man's religion
is vain. It's vain. pure religion and
undefiled before God and the Father exists to visit the fatherless
and widows in their affliction and to keep himself unspotted
from the world. Now let's look back here at our
text. The wise man is not one that this world is going to view
as a wise man. Did you know that? A truly wise man that's been
made wise by God's grace is not going to be viewed by this world
as a wise man. He's been taught of God, he knows
when to speak and when to be silent. He knows how to speak,
what to speak, so that God might be glorified. That's his number
one concern, that God be glorified, that the saints be edified, and
that the gainsayers have their mouth shut. That's his threefold
purpose in everything he said. Believers You can consider it
a great fruit of God's grace to do what Paul said in Colossians. He said, walk in wisdom toward
them that are without, redeeming the time. Wait for the time when
you can speak to a man and let your speech be always with grace,
seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer
every man. You know, silence can be the
wisest answer. Silence can be the wisest of
all answers. Very often the Lord was silent
when He was questioned by men. You remember, He was accused
of the chief priest and the elders, and He answered them nothing. A believer is not going to be
somebody that you see trying to defend himself. That will
be somebody that you see trying to counter what everybody says
about him. A believer will take his spot
in the dust right where they put him. You don't know the half of it,
buddy. But the Lord, He didn't answer
him. And Pilate said to him, Hearest thou not how many things
they witness against thee? And He answered him never a word.
He didn't even answer Pilate. And it says the governor marveled
greatly at this. He marveled at this. Wonder what
he marveled at. This is a wise man. He's not
saying anything to all these buffoons out here that keep on
railing on him with all their accusations. Didn't faze him
one bit. And then next, James gives some
illustrations of how powerful the tongue is. Look here in James
3, verse 3. He says, Behold, we put bits
in the horses' mouths, that they may obey us. We turn about their
whole body. Behold also the ships, which
though they be so great and are driven of fierce winds, yet are
they turned about with a very small helm, whithersoever the
governor listeth. Even so, the tongue is a little
member. It's like a bit, a horse's bit. It's like the rudder on a ship.
And it turns this great body, whichever direction, for good
or for evil. It can do great good or it can
do great evil. And the man who speaks out, desirous
of being looked upon as wise, Brethren, it's a man whose tongue
is engaging before his brain engages. It's like his tongue
is in control rather than the governor or the captain of the
ship or the rider of the horse. He's under the dominion of somebody
else. Guilt. Guilt. I mean, guile. Guile is
deceit. Deceitfulness is what guile is.
And it appears righteous outwardly. It appears righteous outwardly
to have a good motive for the glory of God, yet inwardly the
motive is selfish for personal gain. That's what guile is. And
these next few verses could be looked at as a definition of
guile. Look at verse 9. With this tongue, and he's not Speaking of the general tenor
of the believer, the believer says things he regrets. We say
things we wish we could take back that we never said. But
this is not... The spirit within us that God
has created rules and reigns. And we're brought into subjection.
The flesh is brought into subjection. But this, I think, is about the
men who desire to be wise. Therewith bless we God, even
the Father, and therewith curse we men, which are made after
the similitude of God. Out of the same mouth proceedeth
blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought
not so to be. It's like he's saying what the
Lord said to the disciples. Don't let this be named among
you. Don't let this be the case with you. That out of the same
mouth we come into this place and we bless God. and then go
out into the world and curse our brethren. He says, does the
fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter?
Does it? It can. It has to be one or the
other, doesn't it? Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive
berries? It has to be either bear figs or olives, doesn't
it? Either a vine, figs? So can no fountain both yield
salt water and fresh water? David, he said of the religious
folks, the wannabe masters in his day, he said, they speak
vanity everyone with his neighbor. Look at this, Psalm 12. Look
at Psalm 12. He said, they speak vanity, verse
2, they speak vanity everyone with his neighbor. What is this
vanity they speak? Well, with flattering lips and
with a double heart do they speak. They flatter with the lips. Say great swelling words of flattery. And we like that, don't we? We
like flattery. But it's from a double heart.
There's a hidden motive behind it. And he said, verse 4, "...who
have said, With our tongue will we prevail." That's how we'll
prevail. You know what it is to flatter
a man? You know what it is to flatter a sinner? If we don't
bring these things down to the truth, we're not going to grasp
anything here. It's flattery to a man whenever
we speak to men as if they can do something to commend themselves
to God. That's the flattery we're talking
about here. That flatters a man. It makes him think he can really
do something to approach God. But it's from a double heart.
And that double heart is this. It's for personal gain. It's
for filthy lucre, Scripture says. It's to make merchandise of men.
To get what they can get out of you. And they've said, with
our tongue will we prevail. We got wisdom. We can say this
thing just right so that it appeals to everybody. Who's Lord over
us? Our lips are our own. Who's Lord
over us? Masters. These are masters who
think they don't have a master. They don't have a Lord over them.
I can do this. And verse 8 says, The wicked
walk on every side when the vilest men are exalted. Crowds flock
to it. When vile men are exalted, that's
you and me by nature, brethren. When we're exalted and told how
great we are, flattered, telling us what we should do and shouldn't
do, the problem with a master and those that hear somebody
that exalts themselves to mastery is this. By nature, every man,
woman, and child on this earth loves to be told what to do and
what not to do. We like that because that lets
us know, well, maybe this thing is in my hands. And that's what
we want. And a man who exalts himself
to that lofty position of telling you that that's the case, glory
is in nothing but your flesh. He'd suffer persecution if he
preached Christ Jesus the Lord. He can't do that. He'd lose his stronghold, lose
his status as a wise master, so he thinks. Psalm 50 and verse
16, unto the wicked God saith, what hast thou to do to declare
my statutes? Or that thou shouldest take my
covenant in thy mouth. Thou givest thy mouth to evil,
thy tongue framed with deceit. Thou sittest and speakest against
thy brother, thou slander'st thine own mother's son. You know,
we tend to think of slander and we tend to think of speaking
against somebody as, you know, gossiping about them and calling
them some ugly name or something. The worst of all we can do to
somebody is not telling them who Christ is and not telling
them how God saves sinners. That's the most evil we can speak
against somebody by flattering them into thinking they can satisfy
God. That's evil. I meant to make
this statement last week when I spilled my water, but I didn't
finish it when I said, you see, you read in scripture where they
throw children to the fire. Every time children are coerced
into making a decision for some false Jesus, it's the same as
taking your child, lighting up a match on a burning house and
throwing them right square in the middle of it. That's just
what it's like. And the men that threw their
children in the fire, threw them in the fire thinking it would
commend them to God. And that's exactly why these
masters flatter men. It commends them to God, they
think. Skip down now to James 3 verse
14. James 3 verse 14. You see, what James is saying
here, brethren, It may come across as being harsh
in some way, but it's edifying for a believer. This is edifying
for a believer because any time that we begin to use our tongue
to speak evil of another, we're exalting ourselves. I don't care
if we're doing it out of this Word. I don't care if we're doing
it, how we're doing it, we're exalting ourselves. Scripture says you become judges
of the law, Scripture says. There's but one judge. There's
one judge. Now let's come down here to verse
14. But if you have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory
not and lie not against the truth. This wisdom descendeth not from
above, but is earthly, sensual. That word there is natural, just
natural. It's devilish. For where envying
and strife is, there's confusion and every evil work. What is
it that bitter envy and this striving and this earthly, sensual,
devilish desire, where does it come from? Where does it come
from? You know the envy, the bitter
envy for God's glory, the bitter envy for God's glory said this
right here. Yea, hath God said you shall
not eat of every tree of the garden? That bitter envy, questioning
God. Strife against the God of truth
said, you shall not surely die. earthly, sensual, devilish desire
for mastery over me and said, God does know that in the day
you eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened and you shall
be as God's, knowing good and evil." Did that bring on confusion? Did that bring on evil work? James says here, where envying
and strife is, there's confusion in every evil work. What was
the result of what took place in the garden? Confusion. Evil. evil. It's our heart's
desire to be masters over men. He says, glory not, lie not against
the truth. This is not heavenly wisdom.
It's not heavenly wisdom. A man whose heart is set on ruling
men, binding men, having his way is a man whose heart is set
on having the throne which belongs to Christ the King alone. To
having the preeminence that belongs to him alone. The Lord said to
the double hearted, he said, oh generation of vipers, How
can ye, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance
of the heart the mouth speaketh." That's what he's talking about
here. If it's envying and strife in the heart. Now I want to take
verses 13, 17, and 18 together here. Look at verse 13. Who is
a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? Let him show out of
a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom. Look
at verse 17. But the wisdom that's from above,
it's first pure, then peaceable, gentle, easy to be entreated,
full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, without hypocrisy,
and the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that
make peace. Who is the wise man and dude
with knowledge among us? Whose every thought, word, and
deed is true wisdom. Isaiah 11. Isaiah chapter 11. If you'll turn there a moment,
verse 1. And there shall come forth a
rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of
his roots, and the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him,
the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might,
the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord, and shall
make him of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord. And
he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither approve
after the hearing of his ears. But with righteousness shall
he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the
earth. And he shall smite the earth
with the rod of his lips, and with the breath of his lips shall
he slay the wicked. And righteousness shall be the
girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins. We speak
the wisdom of God in a mystery, Paul said, even the hidden mystery
which God ordained before the world under our glory. He told
the Colossians that in Christ are hid all the treasures of
wisdom and knowledge. Who is the wise man endued with
knowledge among us? He said where two or three are
gathered in my name, I'll be there in the midst of them. Who's
the wise man? And yet for all this, He shall
grow up before Him as a tender plant, as a root out of a dry
ground. He hath no form nor comeliness. When we shall see Him, there
is no beauty that we should desire in Him. Earthly wisdom, devilish
wisdom, sensual wisdom, thought surely He could come into Jerusalem
riding on a magnificent steed rather than a lowly ass's coat.
He said, My ways aren't your ways. My thoughts aren't your
thoughts. That which is highly esteemed among men is an abomination
in the sight of God. He said, I didn't come to bring
glory to myself. I came to glorify my Father and
to save my brethren. That's why He came. And in truth,
He is. He is greatest among us. And
He came to serve us. He said, Him that's greatest
among you, let Him be your servant. He's the greatest that ever walked
on this earth. And He came the whole time serving. Serving God and serving His brethren.
And truly, He came and showed Himself, abased Himself to such
a lowly condition, but God hath also highly exalted Him and given
Him a name which is above every name. Isn't that what He said?
He that abases Himself, God will exalt Him. But to man that tries
to be a master over God, he's going to be abased. He's going
to be brought down. He's pure wisdom. He's pure wisdom. Who shall ascend to the holy
hill of the Lord? Who's going to go into the holy
hill of the Lord? Who's going to approach the holy
God of glory? He that hath clean hands and
a pure heart. That describes one. Christ is peaceable and gentle
wisdom. He's peaceable and gentle wisdom
for the glory of His Father and the redemption of His people,
even though He was oppressed. Even though these lofty, wise
men who exalted ourselves to the lofty throne of being masters
and oppressed Him and took Him from judgment, and brought false
accusations against Him, even in the midst of all that, He
opened not His mouth. He opened not His mouth. He was
led as a sheep to the shearers. He didn't open His mouth. He
didn't say a word. He indeed is the Prince of Peace. He did
it, reconciling us to God while we were yet enemies. He reconciled
us to God, brought peace between His people and God Almighty.
Christ, our wisdom, is gentle. He's gentle. He shall feed His
flock like a shepherd. Like a shepherd. He shall gather
the lambs with His arm and carry them in His bosom and shall gently
lead those that are with young. How is He going to lead them?
He's going to whip them? He's going to bind them? He's
going to torture them with the law? Oh, He's going to lead them
like a shepherd. He's going to gather them in
His arms because He loves them. He's going to lead them. You
know how patient he is with our unbelief right now? We say, what
are we going to wear? Where are we going to live? And
he says, look at the lilies in the field. Look at them. They
don't toil, they don't spin, they don't do any work at all,
and they are arrayed in more splendor than Solomon and all
his splendor was arrayed. Don't you think God will provide
for you? Trust Him. Cast all your care on Him. He'll
provide for you. Christ, our wisdom, as God's
faithful servant, He was easily entreated. You know what that
word means? Compliant. He was compliant with the will
of His Father. When He taught His disciples
to pray, you know what He taught them to pray? When you pray,
say, Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be
done, as in heaven, so in earth. These masters that James warns
about trying to become are men who say, my will's going to be
done. I'm the judge over you now. If
you don't behave, Eric, do my will. That's what James is warning
us against. Let's not be that way. Consider
our Lord. Christ our wisdom. He's full
of mercy and good fruits. He visited us orphans and widows
in all of our affliction. He's pure and undefiled religion.
He is. He came to this orphanage right
here where we didn't know we had a father. He came to us widows
who didn't know we had a husband from all eternity. And He came
and visited us because He everlastingly loved us. And He gave ears to
the deaf and sight to the blind. Much more valuable than these
ears or these eyes. Spiritual sight, spiritual hearing
that we might hear Him. And He feeds us with the bread
from Heaven. He spread before us a feast of fat things. I haven't
got tired of eating, feasting on this yet, have you? I haven't
got tired of feasting on Him to go off seeking some other
kind of bread. I haven't got tired of this light
bread. I want this bread. And He clothed us in the garments
of His righteousness, full of good fruits, full of mercy and
good fruits. And He hedges us about as a flaming
fire and protects us and carries us all the way that we go. Christ,
our wisdom is without partiality and without hypocrisy. He shows
no respect of persons based on outward appearances. I'll tell
you what we'll do. We'll do. James said here, two
fellas come into your assembly and one of them looks like a
popper, looks like he came straight off the railroad track, just
jumped out of a boxcar. And the other one comes in wearing
a gold ring and fancy apparel. And you tell the man in the gold
ring, sit here, you come here and get this good seat now, buddy.
That's what we'll do. But our God, He didn't look on
the fact of what country we were from, what nation we were from,
whether we were Jew or Gentile. He didn't look on whether we
had obeyed His law or not obeyed His law. He didn't look on us
based upon whether we were bond or free, male or female, any
of those things. He loves freely by grace. And
the blessing of that is, brethren, grace can't ever... His grace
can't... It's immutable. It can't be changed. If He didn't base anything on
something He saw in us, He won't change His mind because of something
He sees in us either. He looks at His Son. He's without
partiality and without hypocrisy. He can say to somebody like Nathaniel,
here's an Israelite indeed in whom is no guile. You know why?
Because he's Nathaniel's surety. And in Him, Christ the Lord,
there was no guile, no hypocrisy, no deceitfulness whatsoever.
He could tell John in the book of Revelation that these were
redeemed from among men, the firstfruits unto God and to the
Lamb, and in their mouth was found no God, for they were without
fault before the throne of God. How could He say that? How could
He say that about me and you? No God? No deceitfulness from
me? in Him. As He is, so are we in
this world. As He is. How is He? There's
no guile in Him. There's no deceitfulness, no
hypocrisy in Him. James 3.18, He says, And the
fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace. The fruit of righteousness is
sown in peace by the peacemaker. He's the peacemaker. You know
that? He's the peacemaker. And through
the Holy Spirit, the seed that is sown in our heart is Christ. We're born of incorruptible seed. What is seed that can't be corrupted?
Being born of the seed of God. Being born of Him by the Holy
Spirit. And He sowed this fruit in righteousness
into our hearts. He sowed it in peace into our
hearts. Of God! Look at 1 Corinthians
1.30. 1 Corinthians 1.30. This is the very first Scripture
that I remember the Lord used to grab my attention. And it's
still one of my favorite passages of Scripture to this day. Verse
29, that no flesh should glory in his presence. Now get this
next verse. Camp on this next verse from
now to all eternity, okay? Listen to this. Of him, of God,
are ye in Christ Jesus. All spiritual blessings were
given to us in Christ Jesus before the foundation of the world because
of God. Who of God, Christ of God, has
made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption. That's everything you and I could
ever want right there. And all of it is Christ. And
God made Christ all those things unto us, His people. That according
as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. Where
am I going to find wisdom? If it's not Christ, then it's
foolishness. Where am I going to find out
about righteousness? How God can be just in saving
a hell-deserving sinner like me, and how He yet is the One
who justified me, and it's not me myself that justified me.
Where can I find out about the righteousness of God? One place. Same place you get the wisdom.
It's in Christ. Well, I thought I sanctified
myself. I thought I separated myself from my decision and I'm
going on doing this and not doing this and making myself more holy
as I go. Not unless Christ is our sanctification. When He becomes
our sanctification, we quit looking at these things. We start saying
with Paul, in me, that is in my flesh, dwells no good thing. Nothing good whatsoever. Nothing
good. Where am I going to find out
who I belong to? Where am I going to find out
whose I am by rightful, lawful purchase? Who redeemed me? Who ransomed me from sin and
death and hell and the devil and all of my own lusts and evil? Who bought me out from under
all that? He did. And of God, when He's made that
under us, brethren, We behold Him. We quit looking here. We quit looking at one another.
When we have a brother or sister that has a problem, we don't
set ourselves up as a master and whip them and bind them and
try to tell them what they ought to be doing. We try our best to
say, Brother, let me remember Christ. Remember what He is. Don't forget who He is now. And
we just preach Christ. All we can say is Christ. All
I can tell you about is the Redeemer. Well, you're making things so
narrow. That's how narrow they are. They're as narrow as He
is. If you go one step to the left
or to the right, you've taken the wide gate. I don't care what
the man said. That's the truth. Brother Henry
used to say, you take one step away from Christ, you might as
well have taken a million. Everything that's not peaceful
concerning salvation or anything else in this world is the result
of what the wrath of man did. Have you ever thought about that?
Our sin and rebellion, we cursed this world. We put it in the
shape it's in. We did it. The crucifixion of our Lord,
we did that. The great opposition at our time
of conversion, if we've been converted or if we haven't, that
opposition, that's all us. The wrath and rejection during
times of trials that we go through, you know who does that? The flesh,
the old man. When he speaks words of comfort
in our heart, peace, peaceable words. When he comes in power
to convert us during the first conversion and every trial we
go through, his words are words of grace. His words are like,
I've chosen you. I've everlastingly loved you.
It's words like, I particularly, particularly redeemed you. I
laid down my life for the sheep, and you're my sheep. It's words
of comfort like, in loving kindness, have I drawn you? It's irresistible
grace. If it's grace by Him, it's irresistible
and it's sovereign. That means He drew us. He drew
us to Himself from everything else. False, everything false,
every false way, even causes us to take sides with Him against
ourselves. That's drawing us. That's irresistible
sovereign grace. And He preserves us in power,
and He speaks kind words to us, telling us, I'll never leave
you nor forsake you. That's wisdom. That's wisdom.
And being born of His Spirit, being a partaker of the divine
nature, therefore His people sow this seed. This one who's
wise, you know what I've been doing here this morning? Planting
a garden. That's what I've been doing.
I'm just sowing. That's all I'm doing. Somebody
else might water, but God's going to give the increase if there's
going to be one. And I've tried to do it this morning by telling
you truthfully what we are by nature and turning you away from
yourself to Christ Jesus the Lord because I know that peace
that He's given me. I know how He sowed this fruit
into my heart. And that's how a sinner will
do it. Lacking wisdom, we ask God for wisdom. That's what James
said to do in chapter 1. Who gives to all liberally and
upbraideth not. When we're brought low, we rejoice,
for then we're strong when we're dependent on His grace alone.
Believers are swift to hear, slow to speak, and slow to wrath,
only by His Spirit dwelling in us. A sinner saved by free grace
has no desire to show partiality to men based on anything in the
flesh, but they seek to show discernment with mercy. With mercy. Tell you the truth. It's got to be told. But I'll
tell you about mercy too. I'll tell you about judgment.
I'll tell you about mercy too. I'll tell you about mercy too. And every man that hath this
hope in him purifieth himself even as he is pure." As our Lord
is pure. You mean I purified myself? No,
it's the hope that's in me. Purified me even as He's pure. These fruits, brethren, Philippians
1.11 says, that we're filled with the fruits of righteousness
which are by Jesus Christ unto the glory and praise of God. Not us. Not us. Let me end. I want to close here and I want
to give you something to look at. Galatians 5 verse 22. The false prophets who entered the
church at Galatia, who desired to be masters of morality, masters
of rules and regulation, oppressive masters over God's saints. The
result was confusion and many evil works within the church
at Galatia. And Paul's admonition to the saints was with kindness. And here's what he said to them.
Look at Galatians 5.22. Galatians 5.22. He said, the
fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness,
goodness, faith, meekness, temperance. And against such, there is no
law. There is no law against those
things. And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with
the affections and the lusts. When did we do that? When Christ
died at the cross. When He brought us to believe
on Him. That flesh is dead. It's dead. If we live in the
Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not be desirous
of vainglory, provoking one another, envying one another. Brethren,
if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore
such a one in the spirit of meekness. considering thyself, lest thou
also be tempted. Bear ye one another's burdens,
and so fulfill the law of Christ. For if a man think himself to
be something, when he's nothing, he deceiveth himself. If he thinks
he's a master, when in reality we're all nothing, we deceive
ourselves. The man that can't bottle his
tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, his religion's vain. But
let every man prove his own work. Then shall he have rejoicing
in himself alone and not in another. Do you want praise from another
man? Do you want rejoicing from another
man? My rejoicing is beholding my Lord and seeing what I am. I don't have any way to think
of myself any higher than I am. But my rejoicing is Christ in
me. My rejoicing is my Lord. And
I don't need rejoicing from anybody else when I have Him. I don't
need praise from any other man when I've got Him. Well, so James instructs us here. He says, My brethren, be not
many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation. If we truly believe our Lord, we don't have to attempt to usurp
authority over anybody. We can be helpers of one another's
joy. Just helping one another to joy
in Christ the Lord. That's where all joy is going
to be found. This other stuff may make you feel good just for
a fleeting moment to make somebody do what you want to. Ain't that
innocent? Well, I showed Him. I told Him. But all it's going to do is create
confusion and evil. That's all. But this right here,
the fruit of the Spirit, there's no law against it. There's no
law against it because it's of God. It's wrought of God. We
have a Master. Let's serve Him. Amen.