I want to love him more, don't
you? James chapter 2, let's read verse
12 again. So speak ye, and so do. Let your speech and your actions
be in agreement as they that shall be judged by The law of
liberty. The law of liberty. These two words to me don't seem
to fit. Law and liberty. When I think
of law, I certainly don't think of freedom. I think of restraint. And when I think of freedom,
I certainly do not think of law. But here the two words are joined
together. And it's what will be judged
by. The law of liberty. Now, I hope by the end of this
message, we're going to understand this. What is this law of liberty? Now, back back to verse 22 of
chapter one. James chapter 1 verse 22, But be ye doers of the word,
and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. For if any be
a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man
beholding his natural face in a glass or a mirror. For he beholdeth
himself, and goeth his way, and straightway immediately forgetteth
what manner of man he was. But whoso looketh into the perfect
law of liberty, of freedom, and continues therein, he continues
looking into that perfect law of freedom, he being not a forgetful
hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in
his deed. Now, that man who was not a doer
of the word, but a hearer only, and that's something that scares
me. I don't want to be in that crowd, do you? Someone who is
a hearer only and not a doer. That man who was a hearer of
the word only took a look at himself, and he left, and he
forgot what he looked like. He didn't remember, and he went
on his way. But the man who looks into the
perfect law of liberty and continues looking, he doesn't stop looking
like the other fellow did. He went away. He continues looking
into this perfect law of liberty, which is the gospel. He continues
looking in this perfect law of liberty. He doesn't forget what
manner of man he is. Now, when I look in the gospel,
when I look in the mirror of the gospel, it tells me what
it looked like more accurately than a real mirror. You know, I was talking to a
fellow this week and he was talking about how bad he thought he was. I said, it's worse than you think.
He was kind of shocked, but it is. It's worse. When I look into
the mirror of the gospel, I see what manner of man I am. I'm
a sinner. I'm a sinner. I don't have one
atom of righteousness. I'm a sinner. But you know what?
It is easy. It really is easy to trust Christ
as my righteousness before God when I don't have any. The issue
gets clouded when I start thinking I have some. But when I'm nothing
but a sinner needing a Savior, it is easy to trust in His righteousness. I continue looking into the perfect
law of liberty, and it shows me I'm a sinner. It shows me
my need of Christ. But also, looking into this perfect
law of liberty, I see that I'm a man that Christ has set free.
If the Son has made you free, You are free indeed. You are liberated. I am liberated
from the curse, the bondage and the condemnation of the law.
I'm liberated from that. The law has nothing to say to
me but not guilty. I am free from the dominion of
sin. Now, what do I mean when I say
I'm free from the dominion of sin? Well, here's exactly what
I mean. There was a time when I had no love for God. And I do now. I was under the
complete dominion of sin. I couldn't love God. I do now. There was a time when I did not
believe and I could not believe. And I do now. Because I've been
delivered from the dominion of sin. Greater is he that's in
you than he that's in the world. Every believer has been delivered
from the dominion of sin. Sin shall not have dominion over
you. That's a promise. For you're not under law, but
you're under grace. I have liberty to approach his
throne and come into his very presence as his child. I've got
liberty to do that. I'm his child. Now, here's what
manner of man I am because of the gospel. Now I know what manner
of man I am. In and of myself, looking into the gospel, looking
into the mirror, the looking glass, it tells me what I really
look like, the gospel. I find out I'm nothing but a sinner
in and of myself. That's it. That's not just speech. I really believe that. I really
believe it. I know it's so concerning. I
know it's so concerning you, too. I mean, it's what the scripture
teaches. But I also know that in Christ Jesus, I'm free. In Christ Jesus, I've been set
free. And in Christ Jesus, I'm holy.
unblameable and unreprovable in the very sight of God. I know
what manner of man I am in both respects. I know what manner
of man I am in myself as a sinner, and I know what manner of man
I am in Christ. I'm perfect, and that's the real
me. That is the real me. That's the one God knows what
he's done for me and in me. Now, there are two elements to
freedom. Remember, this is the perfect
law of liberty that we'll be judged by. Now, I want you to
listen to me real carefully. Freedom. What is freedom? Well, there's
two things that come to my mind. First, freedom from debt. I don't
owe anything. I stand perfect before God's
holy law and I owe nothing. We do not sing, Jesus paid a
half and the other half I owe. No, we sing, Jesus paid it all. All the dead I owe. See an electric
crimson stain? He washed it white as snow. I owe nothing. And not only do I owe nothing,
freedom is getting to do what you want to do. Isn't that what
freedom is? Getting to do what you want to
do. Not serving for fear of punishment. Nobody ever served God out of
fear of going to hell. It hadn't happened. Not serving
out of hope for reward, but doing what you want to do. You see,
I want to has been changed. People are scared to death of
that unless you want to has been changed. I want to has been changed
to will, Paul said, is present with me. That want to, that desire,
that wish, it's present with me. Truly, my want to has changed.
And let me tell you what I want to do. I want to deny myself. And I want to take up my cross
and I want to follow the Lord Jesus Christ. I want to never
sin again. I want to honor Him. That's what
I want to do. I love what Bill Clark used to
say. Bill Clark, the missionary. to France, he used to say, here's
the rule of the believer's life. Trust Christ and do what you
want to. What do you want to do? That
proves who you are. What you want to do is who you
are. Trust Christ and do what you
want to. Now, if you put me under law,
If you make salvation to be in some way, I don't care what it
is, any aspect of salvation, if you make any part of salvation
dependent upon me, I have no freedom. I'm miserable. I'm under bondage. Oh, stand
fast in the freedom wherewith Christ hath made us free. And don't be entangled in that
yoke of bondage, salvation by law in any way to any degree. Here's liberty. Colossians 2.10
says you are complete. There's nothing you can do to
make it better for yourself. There's nothing you can do to
make yourself more saved or more accepted or more loved. You're
complete. And there's nothing you can do
to mess it up. There's nothing you can do to lessen it. You
are complete. Now, is that liberating? Yes,
sir, it's liberating. I find such liberty, such joy
in knowing I am complete in Christ. Now, all believers are one in
Christ Jesus. There's no hierarchy in the kingdom
of heaven. Christ is Lord. Where, brethren, all distinctions
are gone. You know that clergy lady distinction
that preachers make and the churches make? There's no such thing as
that. All of God's people are God's clergy, God's special inheritance. There's no distinctions in the
kingdom of heaven. Christ is the distinction. Christ
himself is the distinction. There are no other distinctions. If you be Christ, then are you
Abraham. See, it nears according to the
promise. Look over in Galatians 3 for a moment. Hold your finger
in James 2. I want to read this passage of scripture to you. Verse 26. For you are all the
children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as
have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ All distinctions
have been removed. There's no Jew nor Greek. There's
neither bond nor free. There's neither male nor female,
for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you be Christ,
Then are you Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise. You're one in Christ. There are
no distinctions in the kingdom of heaven. And I think it's almost
humorous that religion tries to make higher rewards in the
kingdom of heaven. Do you know if you're going to
fight over something, if you're a believer, you'd fight over
taking the lowest place. You wouldn't be looking for a place
above your brethren. You wouldn't be looking to be exalted above
them. You'd be looking for the lowest place there, and you'd
be fighting for it. You'd say, this is where I belong.
If you're a believer, that's the way you'd act. We're all
one in Christ Jesus. Now, back to James chapter two.
All that being said, James chapter two, verse one,
my brethren, Had not the faith of our Lord
Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons. Now in Christ Jesus, there is
no rich or poor. There is no educated or uneducated. There is no black or white. There is no important or unimportant. There is no great or small were
to show no favoritism toward certain types of people were
children of the same father and were never to cater to the rich
and powerful and show contempt for the poor and weak. Now, look
what he look at this scenario. He gives us. He says in verses
two and three. For if they're coming to your
assembly, a man with a gold ring. In goodly apparel. And there
come in also a man Poor man, in Val Raymond's. And you have
respect to him that weareth the gay clothing and say to him,
sit down here in a good place. And you say to the poor, stand
out there, sit here under my footstool. What a horrible scenario. Where a rich man comes in, or
an important man comes in, a famous man comes in, everybody's impressed
with the old. I remember one time a UK basketball player came
to service. Nobody heard a word I said. You know, it's just everybody
was so, so, I hope he did, you know, but I can remember that.
I mean, all the kids were just buzzing. It's a distraction, isn't it?
Distraction. Famous people, rich people, people
treat them differently, like they're more important, like
they can help us, as if the Lord needs anybody's help. Like somebody
who has money, the Lord needs them. He doesn't need your money.
He doesn't need anything that you think you have to offer.
But at any rate, look at this scenario. James is saying an
assembly, a man comes in with a gold ring and goodly apparel,
and there comes in also a poor man in bomb arraignment. And
you have respect to him that wears the gay clothing. You say
to him, sit down here in a good place, in a place of honor. We're
glad to have you. We're thankful you're here. And
you say to the poor, stand down there or sit here under my footstool.
Are you not then partial in yourselves? And you become judges of evil
thoughts. Now, that word partial is to
divide. You have discriminated. You have
made a difference. One is more valuable and honorable
than the other. And what we do when we do that
is all of a sudden we become judges. Are you not partial in
yourselves and you become judges? of evil. Watch, you've become
a judge. Look what James has to say about this in James chapter
4, verse 11. Speak not evil of one another,
brethren. He that speaketh evil of his brother, and judges his
brother, speaketh evil of the law. and judges the law. But if thou judge the law, you're
not a doer of the law, but a judge. Now, any time I stand in judgment
over you, I irrigate to myself a place that belongs to God only. He is the only judge. And when I judge you, all of
a sudden I try to take God's place. Verse 12, there is one
lawgiver. who is able to save and destroy,
and who are you? And the original states it like
this, you, who are you to judge anybody? But it's home, doesn't
it? And it's home with every one
of us. Now, when I make a difference,
all of a sudden I become a judge, I become a discriminator and
so on. And look in verse five of James,
chapter two. Harken, my beloved brethren,
hath not God chosen the poor of this world? rich in faith
and heirs of the kingdom, which he promised to them that love
him. What if the Lord chose according
to wealth, talent or merit? What would happen to you? It'd
be over for you, wouldn't it? There wouldn't be any hope for
us, but thank God he doesn't. He's chosen the poor of this
world. And that's not only talking about
poor of purse, it's talking about poor in spirit. Those who see
that they have nothing. Now, the only reason they see
this, the Lord showed it to them. But they see they have nothing.
They're poor. They may be poor in purse, but
they're poor in spirit. But I'll tell you what, everybody
that's poor in spirit is rich in faith, rich in faith and heirs
of the kingdom. You see, everyone that's poor
in spirit believes on the Lord Jesus Christ, every single one
of them. And this is who God has chosen. Are they, my beloved
brethren, have not God chosen the poor of this world, rich
in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them
that love him? But you have despised the poor. Do not rich men oppress
you and draw you before the judgment seats? You know, every one of
us has been guilty of showing respect to somebody because of
their intellect, because of their money, because of their social
position, making a difference. And when
we do that, we're saying he did a wrong thing in choosing his
elect without regard to natural advantage. That's what we're
saying. We do something like that. We're
disagreeing with God for choosing the base things in the world
and the things which are despised and the things which are nothing
at God chosen. Yeah. And the things were not to bring
to not the things that are. And don't forget, it's the rich
who hate the gospel, the poor need the gospel. Now, here's
another element of freedom. I love thinking about this. I
love thinking about the day of Jubilee or the year of Jubilee. It happened
every 50 years. And what I think is awfully interesting is while
it was supposed to happen every 50 years in all the Bible, you
don't find one place where it really did happen. It was supposed
to happen, but as far as we know, it never actually happened. But
here's what took place on the year of Jubilee. If you're a slave,
after this 50th year, if you're a slave, you were set free. Whatever
you owed, your debts were canceled. Whatever you lost was restored. And the land was given a year's
rest. Now, can you imagine how happy
that person would be when he heard that silver trumpet of
jubilee sound forth the coming end of that year? And all of
a sudden, he was debt free. He was no longer a slave. Everything
was restored to him. He had a year's vacation. Can
you imagine how that person felt? How happy he was? Who wasn't
happy about it? That person who had money owed
to him. That person who owned that slave,
he felt like he was the loser by it, and he didn't like it.
You see, there are some people who will not love the gospel
of liberty because they feel like they're the losers by it.
The only people who rejoice in the law of liberty are the people
who gain by it. Are you one of those people?
Oh, the perfect law of liberty. Verse 8. If you fulfill the royal law
according to the scriptures, thou shalt love thy neighbor
as thyself. You do well. And you love yourself. I don't know anybody in here
who doesn't love themselves. You love yourself and you should.
You should. There's nothing wrong with that.
I've heard people say, you ought not to love yourself. Yeah, you
should. I mean, as any man ever hated his own flesh, but he nourishes
and cherishes it as the Lord of the church, you ought to love
yourself. But you ought to love your neighbor as yourself. You
know what that means? It's the same thing our Lord
meant when he said, do unto others as you would have them do to
you. Do you want to be given the benefit
of the doubt? Then you give the benefit of
the doubt. Do you want to be forgiven? Then forgive. Do you want people to be kind
and gracious toward you? Then you be kind and gracious. Do you want mercy? You be merciful. Do unto others as you would have
them do to you. That covers everything, doesn't
it? That's the command of the kingdom
of heaven. Our Lord said it on two different occasions. But,
he says in verse 9, if you have respect to persons, you commit
sin and are convinced of the law as transgressors. This is what happens when we
show partiality. And that's what that's talking
about in respect to persons. We're all one in Christ Jesus.
Not one up here and one down here. We're all brethren. He's
the Savior. He's the head. We're the body.
One in Christ Jesus. Verse 10. For whosoever shall keep the
whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all."
You can't keep four commandments or seven commandments. If you
break one commandment, you're guilty of breaking every single
one of them. They're all together. God's law
stands or falls together. And he says, For whosoever shall
keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he's guilty of
all. For he that said, Do not commit
adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now thou commit no adultery,
yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law. Now
so speak ye, and so do. Let your actions and speech be
in agreement, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty. If we say we believe grace and
show respect of persons, we do not believe grace. You see, what
we put into practice is what we believe. If our actions deny
what we say we believe, we don't really believe. We don't believe
any more than we put into practice. Now, we will be judged by the
law of liberty. We're going to be judged by the
law of freedom. Now, what does that mean? It means this. God is going to meet us on the
ground that we want to come to him. Now I want you to on that. God,
the holy God, is going to meet us on the ground that we want
to come to him on. Now, if we want to come on the
basis of law, he'll meet us there. Turn with me to Luke chapter
10. Hold your fingers there in James 2 and turn to Luke chapter
10. I love this passage of Scripture. Verse 25, And behold, a certain
lawyer stood up and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I
do to inherit eternal life? And he said unto him, What's
written in the law? How readest thou? And he answered
and said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart,
with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy
mind, and thy neighbor as thyself. And I bet he was just swelling
up a little bit when he said that. I gave the right answer.
Oh, I feel good about myself. I love what the Lord says to
him. And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right. This do. This do. And I quote it right. this do, and thou shalt live."
He met Him on the ground He came. Now, if we come to Him on the
ground of pure, free grace, the law of liberty, He'll meet us
on that ground. He'll meet you on the ground
that you want to come. If we come seeking mercy only,
we'll have mercy only. If we come on the footing of
our works, he'll meet us on the footing of our works. You come
the way you want to come. The perfect law of liberty. Look what he says in verse 13
of James chapter 2. For he, speaking of God, shall
have judgment without mercy. Toward that one that hath showed
no mercy, and mercy rejoices against judgment." Now, God is
going to meet us on the ground we come. And He's going to measure
out the blessings we receive in the basket we bring Him. Now,
let me show you that in the Scripture. Turn to Luke chapter 6. Luke chapter 6. Beginning in verse 27. The Lord says, but I say unto
you which hear. Not everybody hears. But do you
which hear? Oh, isn't it a blessing to have
hearing ears? To hear the Word of God. What a blessing. I say
unto you which hear. Love your enemies. Do good to them which hate you. Bless them that curse you, and
pray for them which despitefully use you. And unto him that smiteth
thee on the one cheek, offer also the other. And him that
taketh away thy cloak, forbid not to take thy coat also. Give
to every man that asketh of thee, and unto him that taketh away
thy goods, ask them not again. And here we go, and as you would,
that men should do to you, do you also to them likewise. For if you love them which love
you, what thank have you? For sinners also love those that
love them. And if you do good to them which do good to you,
what thank have you? For sinners also do even the same. And if
you lend to them of whom you hope to receive, what thank have
you? For sinners also lend to sinners to receive as much again.
But love your enemies and do good and lend, hoping for nothing
again. And your reward should be great
and you should be the children of the highest. For he is kind.
He is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil. Be ye therefore
merciful, as your Father also is merciful." Now listen to this. Judge not, and you shall not
be judged. But if you judge, you can write
this down, you will be judged. And then he says, And you shall not be condemned.
But let's turn that around. If you condemn, you will be condemned. I'll tell you what, a wise man
spareth his words, Daphne. He spareth his words. That's
what scripture says. He says in verse 37, forgive
and you shall be forgiven. But does the Lord not also say,
If you forgive not men their trespasses, neither shall your
heavenly Father forgive your trespasses. Forgive, and you
shall be forgiven. Give, verse 38, and it shall
be given to you good measure, pressed down and shaken together,
and running over shall men give unto your bosom. But don't give,
And you won't have the corresponding blessings. Give, it shall be
given to you. Don't give, and you'll see what
will take place. Now, notice what he says next
in verse 38. For with the same measure that
you meet, with the basket you bring, it'll be measured to you
again. Now, you'll get what you came
for. Did you come for justice? You'll
get it. Did you come to be paid for the
wonderful work you've done? God always pays his debt. You'll be paid. Do you come for mercy? But God did not give you what
you deserve. Do you come for grace? Is that
the footing you come? That's exactly what you're going
to get. God is going to deal with you
the way you come to him. Now, you can just write that
down. That's so. You will be judged according
to, I will be judged according to the perfect law of liberty,
of freedom. If we come for grace, that's
what we'll have. If we come for mercy, that's what we'll have.
Let our actions be congruent with our speech. So speak and
so do as they that should be judged by the perfect law of
liberty. The law of liberty actually is
the law of the kingdom of heaven. You know that there's laws in
the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever exalts himself shall
be abased. And whosoever abases himself
shall be exalted. That's an unalterable law. And the law of liberty is an
unalterable law. God will deal with you the way
you want to be dealt with. You want to be dealt with in
pure, free grace? Is that what you want? He'll
deal with you. On that level, you want to be
dealt with according to your works, according to the things
you've done. He'll do that if that's what
you want. And he'll measure out your blessings in the basket
you bring. I want to bring a big basket,
don't you? A big basket. The law of liberty is the law
of the kingdom of heaven. I think of that passage of Scripture
in Second Corinthians 317. Now, the Lord is that spirit.
And where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. What do you and I know of liberty? What do you and I know of coming
to the Lord in liberty and freedom through the righteousness of
Christ, expecting his mercy and grace? liberty. Stand fast in the liberty wherewith
Christ has made us free. And don't you be entangled in
that yoke of bondage. Now, I say to everybody here, trust Christ and do what you
want to. May God give us grace to do just
that. Let's pray.