Our lesson this morning will
be taken from James chapter 2. James chapter 2, verses 1 through
12. My subject is the royal law. Let's read these verses together.
James chapter 2, verse 1. Have not the faith of our Lord
Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons. For if there come unto your assembly
a man with a gold ring and goodly apparel, and there come in also
a poor man in bowel wrangling, and you have respect to him that
weareth the gay clothing, and you say unto him, sit thou here
in a good place, And you say to the poor, stand thou here
or sit thou here under my footstool. Are you not then partial in yourselves
and are become judges of evil thoughts? That is, you make a
distinction between the rich and poor and your thoughts are
evil. Hearken, my beloved brethren,
hath not God chosen the poor of this world? rich in faith
and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that
love it. But you have despised the poor.
Do not rich men oppress you and draw you before the judgment
seats? Do not they blaspheme that worthy
name by the which you are called? If you fulfill the royal law
according to Scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. You do well. But if you have
respect to persons, you commit sin and are convinced of the
law as transgressors. For whosoever shall keep the
whole law and yet offend in one point, he's guilty of all." What's
he talking about there? Talk about the royal law, the
law of love. The whole law hangs on that.
If you, if let's say you, a man kills
somebody, it's obvious he had no love for him. But if you don't
kill him, it can also be a sin because he doesn't give to him,
he doesn't treat him right, and that love is absent. So no matter
what you keep in the law, if it's not done out of love, you're
guilty of the whole law. He's guilty of all of it. If you offend him one point,
he's guilty of all. For he that said, Do not commit
adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou commit no adultery,
yet if thou kill thou art become a transgressor of the law. So
speak ye, and so do as they that shall be judged by the law of
liberty. There's two laws mentioned in
these verses. The royal law, which he tells
us what that is, that's the law of love. Love the Lord thy God
with all thy heart, soul, mind, and strength, and thy neighbor
as thyself. That's the royal law. The law
of love. He that loveth not knoweth not
God. This love is preeminent both in the law of God, that
written law, in the moral law, and in the law of liberty, the
law of grace. The royal law is the law of love.
Thou shalt love the Lord thy God and thy neighbors thyself. hang
the whole law. The whole law hinges on these
two things. And there's two things that James
was inspired by God to write to show us again the distinction
between a false profession and real effectual salvation, love
and faith. The royal law is the law of love
and the law of liberty is the royal law manifested in the hearts
of all who hear and believe the gospel of God's sovereign grace
in Christ. That love is manifested. How
can that be? By His mercy and grace. If there is to be a kingdom,
there must be a king. There must be a government by
this king by which their lives can be enriched and the glory
of God be seen. And make no mistake about it,
God has set His King upon His holy hill in Zion. His throne
and dominion are not something hoped for. You hear me? His kingship, His lordship, His
authority over everything that is, is not something hoped for. Something that we're waiting
to see. He's seated. He ascended up into
glory. The Father accepted Him, gave
Him power over everything that is, that He might give eternal
life to as many as the Father has given Him. That authority
is in Him. He's a sitting King right now. Nothing that comes to pass, comes
to pass without Him. You remember back in Egypt, Joseph
was sold into slavery. But the Lord raised him out of
that slavery and put him second in command over all Egypt. And
they come to Pharaoh and they said, we're hungry. He said,
go see Joseph. Go see Joseph. Why? Because he's in charge of the
whole thing. Huh? That's right. He gave him the
seal. He gave him the ring. You can
get anything without Joseph. And you don't get anything apart
from Christ. Christ is the sitting King. Romans 14, 7, he said, for none
of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself. We think
we do, though, don't we? I'm going to do what I want to
do. When you do, you're going to
do what his hand and his counsel determined before to be done.
He's arranged in all things. The heart of the King is in the
hand of the Lord. Preparation of the heart and
the answer to the tongues of the Lord. And whether we live, we live
unto the Lord, and whether we die, we die unto the Lord. So
whether we live, therefore, or die, we're the Lord's. We're
His. For to this end, Christ both
died and rose and revived, that He might be Lord both of the
dead and the living. And you can kick and scream and
shake your fist in the air and swear that there is no God, that
God will have no hand in your life, but it won't stay His hand,
and it won't thwart His purpose, and it won't diminish His rule
at all. Not at all. He's God's seated
King, and the Lord will have all them who are incensed against
Him, He's going to have them in public derision. He's going
to make a public fool out of you if you deride him. That's his case. Fine for you
to kiss the son. That's what he said to Dad. What's
he saying? Kiss the king. I see these fools bowing down,
kissing the man's ring, the pope. That's utter idolatry. But the sitting king, you can
kiss his ring. Yes, He has kissed the Son. He's God's seated King, and He's
Lord over all, and we're warned in the Scriptures, Beware therefore,
lest that come upon you which spoken of in the prophets. Behold,
ye despisers, and wander and perish, for I work a work in
your days, right before your eyes, which you shall in no wise
believe. Now listen to me. Jesus Christ
walked into a house in front of Pharisees, believers, Gentiles,
people who hated God, and He raised the dead. There came to Him, there were
thousands around Him. Read about it. Great multitudes
all around Him. There came to Him a leper. Said,
Lord, if you will, you can make me clean. He said, I will. That
man walked away with no leprosy. They didn't believe. Huh? Boy, you said if I'd seen that,
I'd believe. No, you wouldn't. No. No more than you do now. No more than you do now. Behold,
he said, wander and perish, you despisers. I work a work in your
days, a work which you shall in no wise believe, though a
man declare it to you. And denying his authority does
not in any way diminish his rule. Faith is the gift of God. He
gives it to whomsoever he will. And he can break the wild ass's
colt or simply take him out of the way. Let him run wild in
the hills. He can take a poor sinner and
make him a trophy of His grace, or He can send him strong delusion
and make him a vessel of dishonor. It's in His power, under His
authority. And He can pluck a bran from
the burning, or He can just let it burn on for all eternity.
Jesus Christ is Lord, and He's Lord over all. He's Lord of the dead and the
living, but in the hearts of all who believe, He's the Lord
whom they love. That's the difference. That's
the difference. Every knee is going to bow and
every tongue is going to confess Jesus Christ as Lord. Huh? Lord of what? Lord of everything. Their Lord. Every tongue, every
knee gonna bow, every tongue gonna confess Jesus Christ to
be Lord. Now listen to the glory of God
the Father. He was a righteous Lord, a just
Lord. A holy Lord. But in the hearts
of all them that believe, He's the Lord whom they love. He's
the Lord sitting upon the throne of grace. They don't see that
throne. They see that throne and acknowledge
that throne as the throne of absolute dominion. But it's sovereign
grace that they see. They see a throne of grace. They
see a throne of love and mercy. They see in that throne an extended
hand. They see in that throne a way
out of the mess that there is. They love Him. He wears a crown
of love, and he holds a scepter of mercy. The government of the
kingdom of God is an authority established upon love. That's
what James is telling us. It's a royal law. It's a royal
law, and nowhere is that law upheld like it is in Christ.
Nowhere. You want that kind of love, then
see it in him. If you ever see it in him, You'll
spend the rest of your life wanting it, desiring it. Turn with me
to 1 John chapter 4. I've only got 16 minutes left. I'm going to try to give you
8 things in these last 16 minutes, so I'll get 2 minutes each. Eight things that I know about
his loving authority. First of all, I know it's source.
It's of God. What's that mean? That means
it's an attribute of his. It's his very nature. You remember back in the Old
Testament, Moses, he saw, I can't imagine what that man saw. What
he saw He came down off the mountain and his face was glowing so brightly
they had to put a veil over it. I just can't imagine that. God
spoke to him face to face. Moses said, Lord, show me your
glory. And he said, OK. Now you can't
look at my face, but I'm going to put you in the cleft of a
rock and I'm going to pass by. And I'll just let you see a little
bit. I'm just gonna let you see a little bit. He told him all of these things. All of these things. I will by
no means clear the guilty. I'm merciful. I'm gracious. I'm
the Lord. I'm the Lord God. He told him
all these things and then he told him this. But I'm long-suffering. I'm long-suffering. Long-suffering. Oh, my soul. It's a very part
of the nature of God, this love. This love that He has. He loves. He never quits loving. Never
quits loving. Love is born in God. That's where
you find it. Back yonder in eternity. He loved
us. gave himself for us. He gave
himself for us and then loved us because he gave himself. He
loved us and gave himself for us. That's where love forms back
yonder. You see it. It's an attribute
of God. It's an integral part of the
nature of God. God is love. And you cannot have
love, know love, or show love apart from its source. Listen
to what our Lord said to all those theologians back in his
day. He said, I know you that you
have not the love of God in you. That's what I know about you.
Boy, that's tough, ain't it? Are these the most religious
people on earth? And you can have some common
ground, you can have respect and admiration, you can even
have a sort of friendship with one another, but love is of God,
and love is the giving of yourself. Well, He crossed me, so what? I thought you gave yourself to
Him. Huh? Well, you gonna take it back
now? No, He loved us. He gave Himself
for us, and He don't take it back. He ought to. my soul when
I think about how I act a thousand times a day, but he won't take
it back. God is love. Secondly, I know
where God's love is manifested. Look here in 1 John chapter 4,
verses 9 and 10. In this was manifested the love
of God toward us because that God sent His only begotten Son
into the world that we might live through Him. Why would God
send His Son into this pitiful, sinful, wicked world? Huh? Have Him rise up off the throne,
clothe Himself in absolute humility. Think about that. This is God
Almighty, holy, righteous, just. Lord of heaven and earth, created
all things by word, robes himself in human flesh. Huh? But that ain't enough. That ain't
enough. He was born in a cow stable.
Wrapped in swaddling clothes, laid in a manger. Huh? Had no beauty that we should
see. Just a man. Just a man. Oh. That's love. That's love. Herein is love. Listen to this, verse 10. Not
that we love God, but that He loved us. You looking to see
if you love God? That ain't it. That ain't it. Listen to this again. Herein
is love, not that we love God, but that God loved us. and sent His Son to be the propitiation
for our sins. That's love. There's no other way to perceive
the love of God than in the way that God chose to manifest it.
Men have been saying for thousands of years, there's a little bit
of love and a little bit of good in all men. Ain't that not great?
No. And that's why they plead with
men and try to reason with men and follow after men. But man's
void of love. You want to learn something about
love, you're going to have to look to Christ. People talk about making love.
You can't make love. You can have sex, but you can't
make love. That union between Christ and
His church is pictured when they become one flesh, and it's a
precious thing for men and women to know and to understand. But the only place where love
can be known is where God manifests it, and that's in His Son. That's
in His Son. God's love is manifested in the
appearance, the life, the death, the resurrection, the ascension,
and present reign of the Lord Jesus Christ. Alright, here's the third thing.
Love's reasoning. Look at verses 11 through 19
here in 1 John. Beloved, if God so loved us,
we ought to love one another. Does that make sense? That's how love reasons. Verse 19, we love him because
he first loved us. Many women lost They're lost,
void of any real knowledge of God. Men and women living in
a godless world, a world of heathen religion and idolatry. Men and
women dead. That's the picture, dead. That's
metaphorically speaking, because I'm talking to live people, but
you're dead. Unless he's giving you life.
Dead in trespasses and sins, walking in the vanity of their
minds. who rich in mercy for his great love wherewith he loved
us even when we were dead quickened us together with his Son. By grace ye are saved. By an eternal union with Christ were made one with Him, made
provision for in Him, chosen in Him, predestinated to adoption
by Him, made accepted in the blood, drawn by the Father, called
by His gospel, made partakers by the Spirit of the inheritance
of enlightened saints. And our Lord said, now, see,
you can't reason yourself, but the Lord said, come now, let
us reason together. That's how real godly reasoning
is born. It's when God summons you to
reason with Him. You ain't got anything to reason
with. All the truth and life's in Him. If you're going to come
reason with Him, though your sins be like scorpions, I'll
make them white as snow. All by myself. Though they be red like crimson,
they'll be like wool. And then fourthly, he declares
love's evidence. He said in verse 12, no man has
seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth
in us, and His love is perfected in us. Love is the one true evidence
of eternal life. You can do all kinds of things
and I tell you, if you look, I'm going by somebody I know
is saved. David. Man after God's own heart. But if you take a portion of
his life and look at it, and this didn't happen in five minutes.
It wasn't something he tripped up and did and then got over.
This went on for a while. Adultery. Murder. Huh? Gross sin. And you look at that
portion of his life, there's no way under the sun that you
can even imagine this man being saved. Let alone a man after
God's own heart. And he didn't get away with it. Don't you dare someday because
of some gross sin that you did, so poor David got away with it. No, he didn't. No, he paid dear
for that. He paid dear for it. But here's
the thing, he never quit loving the Lord. He never did, and the
Lord didn't quit loving him. He loved him. He loved him. The only way that you can, if
you search your own life and look at your own sins and your
own transgressions and all of these things, the only way that
you're ever going to be able to, is with the mind of Christ
to perceive the love of God that He has for you. It was in Christ. He put that love in Him and chose
you in Him, that you might be before Him being loved. It's the one true evidence. And
once you understand that, you love it. You love it. Now by the faith, hope, and charity
of these, the greatest is charity. Eternal life is to know God,
to know Him as He's revealed in Christ, and to know Him in
the saving harmony of His attributes, love, mercy, grace, kindness,
gentleness, long-suffering, justice, righteousness, All of these things
in perfect harmony. Why would I say that? Because
I want you to know love's not alone. Somebody told me one time, a
loving God wouldn't send a man to hell. No, but a just God will. And God's love is just. That's
why he killed his son. That he might be just and justifier. A righteous God will. And He's righteous. That love
is righteous. It's to know Him in saving harmony
of His attributes, uncompromised in the perfection and in the
harmony of these things, that which I believe is called God's
holiness. Holiness. And love as it's manifested
in Christ is uncompromised. Jacob have I loved. Peace I'll
have, I hate it. To love one another is to love
on the basis of mercy and grace, not just in some imagined passion. If I don't have a passion for
you, I can't love you. You don't know the love of God.
That's what that is. You don't know the love. Be kind
one to another. A wind. When he's kind to me? No. When he means a rattlesnake,
be kind one to another. Tenderhearted. Forgiving one
another, even as God, for Christ's sake, has forgiven you. Love's effect. Herein is our
love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment,
because as he is, so are we in this world. And see, John gave
us love's distinction. If a man say, I love God and
hates his brother, he's a liar. He's a liar. Be careful. Be careful. He said, it'd be
better on you for a millstone. We don't know what that is today,
but that was a huge stone. He said, you'd be better off
that a millstone be tied about your neck and you cast into the
uttermost parts of the sea than to offend one of these little
ones. Be careful how you talk about God's children. I'm not
pointing my finger at you. I'm pointing my finger at me.
Be careful. Be careful. And I'll tell you
something else about words. You can't take them back. They go out. They lodge. They
fester. And you want to. I asked Henry one time, I said,
do you ever preach a message where you wanted to go back and
take something back that you said? He said, I said something
this morning I'd like to take back. I don't have to go back
that far. Be careful. Be careful. Love's distinction. If a man
say I love God and hateth his brother, he's a liar. For he
that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love
God whom he hath seen? There's a distinction between
essential passion and the love of God. God loves the unlovable. Lastly, God's present commandment. This is the commandment, and
this commandment have we from him, verse 21, that he who loveth
God loveth his brother also. The gospel of Christ, the perfect
law of liberty, operates on the royal law, the law of love and
grace. All rule in God's kingdom is
established on love. I've quoted this man so often,
and I won't ever tell you who he is, but he told me, he said,
well, we need a little love. No, you need a lot of love. That's
what you need. You don't need any love except
this law, the law of love. All rule in the kingdom of God
is established in love. Marriage. What's going to hold
two people together? Love. That's it. That's it. It's a union whose bond is love. Where there's no love, there
can be no union. Husbands, love your wife as Christ loved the
church. My soul. Men like to talk about
the women. What about that? Can you carry
that burden? Love your wife as Christ loved
the church and gave himself. What about the church? Bound
together by love. No other tie that binds. Rule. What about biblical rule in the
church? government, church government.
Where's the congregation that despises their pastor and yet
are willing to submit to his rule? If they don't love you,
you can't pastor them. Now, I'm telling you the truth.
Can't do it. Can't do it. Might as well take your law books
and throw them in the corner, because it won't have any effect
on them unless they love you. What about the believer's walk?
Walk in love, as Christ hath loved us, and hath given himself
for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for our sweet smelling
sake. All government in the kingdom of God is based on love. Every
bit of it. You reckon that's what God had
in mind when he gave him those ten commandments, and put those
two statutes right up at the beginning? Huh? So what can I say in summation? Verse 12. So speak ye, and so
do as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty. I'm back
in James chapter 2. 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. Isn't that what our
Lord said? Said that one fellow owed this
debt, man he couldn't, it was astronomical debt. And the master
forgave him. He went over there and here's
some guy that owed him two cents. Now he's gonna beat that guy
to death to get that two cents back. Huh? Oh boy. He's going to have judgment without
mercy that has showed no mercy. And mercy, if you have it, if
you've been shown it, if you know something about it, mercy
rejoiceth against judgment. He don't want any part of it.
Not here and not there. He wants no part of it. May the
Lord be pleased to establish His rule of love over us. and
be merciful to us for Christ's sake.