Series: James
Lesson #5
Title: Mercy Rejoices Against Judgment
Scripture: James 2: 12, 13
Date: January 24, 2010
Place: SGBC, NJ
James 2: 12: So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty. 13:…mercy rejoiceth against judgment.
The Perfect Law of Liberty
James 1: 25: But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.
The perfect law of liberty is the gospel of the grace of God in Christ Jesus. When a believer looks into the gospel of Christ Jesus we behold two things:
1) In our flesh dwells no good thing. No believer had any power to bring himself into subjection to God. We had no power to discern the truth or believe that salvation is freely wrought for us by Christ Jesus. As believers we are kept by the power of God unto salvation. Nor do we have any power to bring any other in subjection to Christ. In our flesh dwells no good thing. That is the first thing we behold and believe when God gave us life and light.
2) God of own will begot us with the word of truth. We know and believe that every good and every perfect gift is just that, a gift from the Father above. Our full acceptance with God is Christ Jesus alone. Every believer is complete in Christ Jesus. We broke the whole law of God. Christ Jesus justified us and put our sin away forever. Christ Jesus is the Righteousness in which we are clothed—perfect and accepted with the thrice holy God. This is what we see and hear when we look into the gospel of grace, the gospel of liberty, the law of liberty.
How Is Our Faith Justified As Genuine Faith
James 1: 27: Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.
Widows and orphans represent those utterly helpless to help themselves. A true widow, according to scripture, is someone without son or daughter, niece or nephew, to help them. An orphan is equally helpless. You may come into contact literally with orphans and widows, but the principle reaches beyond the literal.
Affliction is translated from a root word which means “trouble.” The sinner without Christ is in “trouble.” Also, the believer suffers much “tribulation.” Every sinner, believer and unbeliever, is utterly helpless to help themselves.
Spots--Unbridled Tongues and Glorying in the Flesh
James describes a few of those spots here for us.
James 1: 26: If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man’s religion is vain.
First, pure religion and undefiled will visit those who are in trouble—not unbridling the tongue, upbraiding for those are spots—God does not deal with us that way. Pure religion and undefiled is to continue-remembering that “of his own will begot he us with the word of truth.” God is one who removes the burden from the afflicted. He does so with the word of truth. Whether it is temporal or spiritual affliction, those who are doers of the work, visit with the word of truth, the gospel of God’s grace in Christ Jesus. Also, as God enables us we relive the temporal need with our substance, but the word of truth is always needed no matter the affliction.
Isaiah 40: 1: Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. 2: Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received of the LORD’S hand double for all her sins.
God comforts the afflicted when he reminds his own, “You are my people.” He speaks into the heart saying you have received “of the LORD’S hand.” Through the word of truth, the LORD says to the heart, “I have accomplished your warfare; I have pardoned your iniquity; I have rewarded you double.” The LORD speaks to the heart, saying, “I have done it all in my Son.” That is word of truth whereby the Lord removes the affliction, whether the trouble is temporal or spiritual. That’s what the Word himself, says:
John 16:33: These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: [same word for affliction] but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.
So first, it is visiting the helpless with the word of truth, and whatever temporal substance we can. In short it is to be merciful.
James 2: 1: My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons.
Secondly, pure religion and undefiled will visit those in trouble—regardless of their persons. A respect of persons is one of those spots of the world. Those who are afflicted may be poor materially or they may be rich in material things, but we never put one above another based on outward appearance.
2 Corinthians 5: 14: For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: 15: And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again. 16: Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more. 17: Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. 18: And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;
So speak ye and so do
James 2: 12: So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty. 13:…mercy rejoiceth against judgment.
Speak the word of God’s grace to all alike. And do so rejoicing to show mercy toward all men alike. Speak and do, remembering, we have no power in ourselves, but it is God who takes off the burden with the word of truth.
Mercy Rejoiceth Against Judgment
Mercy rejoices against putting ourselves in the judgment seat, of passing a sentence of condemnation, of choosing one over another, based on outward appearance. The Lord said that there are those that we are to avoid. There is but one way we know—the gospel of Christ Jesus.
Hebrews 4: 12: For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. 13: Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do. 14: Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession.
Trials of our Faith
James began speaking of trial. When we think of trials we think of big trials. When the big trial comes to us, or one of our brethren, we tend to get serious and think on these things. But these illustrations that James gives are not so much the big trials, as those we encounter daily.
When we think of visiting those who are utterly helpless we tend to think of some great instance of need. But daily we encounter those who are in desperate need—for example: our own children.
We tend to envision one in need as being receptive to our help. Were we receptive to Gods’ grace? Was all Israel? Peter had a great need as a believer, but when his trial began was he receptive?
But the Lord dealt mercifully, in tenderness. He sent forth the same word of grace to all What was the result—some believed and some believed not.
Where We Live
Let’s not lose sight of those without, but let’s consider how we deal with those in our own homes—our children on a daily basis.
Ephesians 6: 4: And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord….Colossians 3: 21:…lest they be discouraged.
Do you find that the trouble your children fall under—the little daily things--often becomes a great trial to you? We teach our children to be patient, to wait on us, to ask us and we will help them. We teach them to be swift to hear us when we speak, slow to talk back, slow to become angry when we correct them. But when they don’t obey—our patience so often goes out the window. They present their problem to us and we upbraid saying, “Well, if you have just listened to me in the first place.” Is that a trial? Does he mean even in these little day-to-day trials? Sure he does.
James 1: 3:…the trying of your faith worketh patience. 4: But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing. 5: If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.
My children are utterly helpless? How do I visit them? My children are not rich in temporal things or spiritual riches.
Here is the point: we think of the trial as the big trials but these are everyday trials—this is the life of the believer. We do our best to appear patient before one another in the big trials---but what’s the tenor of our life in the home with our own family? We are sure to pray in the assembly during these bigger trials—but what about in private in the face of these little trials? The widow and the orphan—the helpless, the comfortless—is not just out there in the big wide world. Respect of persons is not just out there somewhere. We face these things daily.
AND NONE OF THIS IS ME LOOKING AT YOU OR YOU LOOKING AT ME. That’s the surest way for us all to be turned away from Christ and exalt ourselves. The deception is not pulling the wool over someone else’s eyes, “he deceiveth his own heart.”
The doer of the work does not forget the nurture and admonition of the Lord.
If I am not a forgetful hearer only, but a doer of the work then I remember the nurture and admonition FROM the Lord toward me.
Psalm 103: 13 Like as a father pitieth his children, so the LORD pitieth them that fear him. 14: For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust.
I am slowly learning how my heavenly Father nurtures and admonishes me. In the very first trial when he visited this helpless sinner in grace, he drew me unto himself. He literally turned me from all else and drew me like I draw my child into my own breast.
Hebrews 12: 11: Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous:
At first, I fought against him but he took everything away and drew me into his sweet embrace. He stopped me from fighting against him until I felt absolutely foolish for doing so. He settled me so that my full attention was on him.
Illustration: A hug or a kind gesture melts the heart.
He spoke into my heart the word of truth
He made me to know that I am his son by his free choice. With the word of truth God made me to know he made all necessary provision long before I was ever born. When I was dead in trespasses and in sins he loved me and gave himself for me. He spoke the word of reconciliation that he reconciled me to himself in his Son justifying me and bringing about peace for me with God. He clothed me in the righteousness of only begotten Son. By his Son, he gave me faith to enter into this grace wherein all I do is stand and rejoice in hope of one day being with him in glory.
Every trial since, he continually visits me in my helplessness and teaches me through his word and through these trials, correcting me and reminding me of his great mercy and longsuffering toward me. By his word of power, that word of power: that raised him from the dead, conquering sin and death and hell for me, that word of power which first brought me to newness of life, that word of power that will one day change this vile body so that it will be like his glorious body, by that mighty working whereby he is able to subdue all things unto himself he subdues me from turning away from him
He teaches us mercy by drawing us to himself and dropping down wisdom into our hearts, not with upbraiding, but as a tender Father. The Holy Spirit enters in and strengthens us with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness (Colossians 1: 11.) We say within ourselves: This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope. 22: It is of the LORD’S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. 23: They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness. (Lamentations 3: 21.)
In these little daily trials (and in the big trials) this is how he teaches us to patiently wait on him, to ask wisdom of him, believing him, to continue trusting him, to visit the helpless in mercy, to put no confidence in the flesh.
The disciples came to him one day and asked, Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?
Matthew 18: 2: And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them,
Put yourself in the place of that little child: here you are in the midst of all these people gathered together listening to the Master. Everybody is bigger than you, everybody is wiser than you, everybody is worthy of more notice than you, they don’t even not notice you. Yet, out of all those people suddenly the eye of the Master falls on you and he calls you to himself.
That child was too surprised to say anything. He offered no resistance, no babbling, he stepped out and came to the Master. He stood there silent while the Master did all the talking.
Matthew 18: 3: And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. 4: Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
When the Master singles you out of the crowd and calls you to himself—you will humble yourself as that little child and come to the Master. Then we will begin to deal with others in the humility of a child of God.
Amen!