Living God's Word

James chapter 1, we're going to be in verse 26 and 27 this morning. James chapter 1 verse 26 and verse 27. Now, obviously we're in the last message of chapter 1 in the book of James. This is part of our series, Good Works Flow from Good Faith. And this is our third message in dealing with the test of truth. Many of you who maybe have studied the book of James, you might not have seen these tests. And I'll reiterate, I'll repeat these tests because they help us understand the purposes of James writing. We had the test of temptation, excuse me, the test of trials. We had three messages on the test of trials. Then we had the test of temptation.

And now we are in the test of truth. And this is the third message in dealing with this test of truth. Now, I want to remind you of something that I spoke to you in the message, "Receiving God's Word," when we were dealing with verses 19 through 22. And what I shared with you was, verses 19 through 27 are all one unit. They're all one message, although we have broken it down into multiple messages. This is important for us to remember because verse 19 applies all the way down to verse 27. Go back to verse 19 and look at it.

James says, "This you know, my beloved brethren." But he says, "Be quick to listen, be slow to speak, and slow to anger." These three short commands. In other words, James is saying, "Just be quiet. Sit down. Be quiet. Listen to what I have to say and don't get angry at the truth you will hear." This is the test of the truth. And this needs to be reminded. We need to be reminded that verse 19 applies all the way down to verse 27. And I want to warn us because if we're not careful, we can let a little time and distance cause us to lose the memory of verse 19. James is saying, "You must listen. You must be slow to speak.

And do not let the truth anger you but receive the truth." Now in our passages this morning, verses 26 and 27, we are going to come across a new word and that is the word religion or the word religious. If you've read these verses, you've already noticed that. Now this word religion or religious is found only in two other places in the New Testament. In Acts 26, verse 5 and in Colossians 2, 18. And this word religion, it speaks of one's outward practice of their service to God. Let me repeat that. This word religion in the original meaning, it speaks of one's outward practice in their service to God.

I was reminded of something that I saw when I was in India. We were coming out of the orphanage ministry that we had been in for about seven days. We had been in the countryside. We were in the state of Bihar, which is in the north. Now the state of Bihar is a very poor state. As a matter of fact, it used to be called the state that was the missionaries graveyard because it was so dark. We were in the countryside and we were coming out and we were coming into a city. The city was called Pernia. We were meeting up with one of Luke's friends who is in charge of some of the orphans that we sponsor. His name is Jeevan.

But all of a sudden there was this great commotion coming down the street and it was a commotion different than the normal commotion because every street in India that I saw was full of commotion. But I turned to see and it was a Hindu funeral procession. And you saw all of these people dressed in their attire for worshiping their Hindu gods and they had this bamboo mat made and they had the body on the mat and they had flowers and they had singing and they had dancing and they had music and there was just this just procession or going down the street. See that was more than just a funeral procession. It was an outward expression.

It was a practicing of their religion. We could see it. It was visible. Now we understand that they do not worship the one true God but we can identify with that because it helps us get our mind around the fact that this word religion means an outward practice of our service under God. We're familiar with images like this and other examples that I could give you. In other words, examples of people who serve a foreign God and those of us who worship the one true God. We can get our mind around this visible outward practice. Now I also want to give us a quote again before I leave this chapter.

I've given it to us two or three times just by the old English evangelist in Ravenhill. It's one of my favorite preachers who's long since dead but he said the world isn't looking for a new definition of Christianity but a new demonstration of Christianity. Now why do I repeat this quote? Why do we need reminding? In our culture today, many churches are about defining their mission statements. Many churches are about defining their purpose statements. Many churches are about giving you their creed or their confessional. In other words, this is what we believe and why we believe it. This is who we are and what we do.

Now when it comes to the lost world, none of these things matter. The lost world could care less about our mission statement or our purpose statement or our creeds or our confessions. What I mean is they could care less about our words and as a matter of fact, our purpose statements and our creeds and confessions will not reach the world. James is about being a biblical church and a biblical demonstration of Christianity. I guess if I could take the book of James and what I learned from Lincoln Ravenhill, I could say it like this, James is about a biblical church being a biblical demonstration of Christianity to the lost world.

Now I am for creeds and confessions and there is a time for a purpose statement or a mission statement but if it does not transpire into us being a true church, a body of Christians who demonstrate a real Bible Christianity to the world, then they are just words. Now the title of the message this morning is "Living God's Word." Living God's Word. We started off in verse 19 with receiving God's Word and then it went to the message number 2, "Receiving God's Word," part 2. That was reacting to God's Word and now we are seeing in these verses living God's Word. Let's look at the text.

I am going to read verse 19 because I think it does need to be read again, part of verse 20. "This you know my beloved brethren, but let everyone be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to become angry." Let's move on down to verse 26. "If anyone thinks himself to be religious and yet does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this man's religion is worthless. This is pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father to visit orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself unstained or unpolluted by the world." Now in the message this morning we are going to have three main truths.

You can write these down if you want. I trust that you do take notes and I hope you do. We are going to see that we live the Word through speech. We live the Word through speech and then right under the word speech you can put service and then separation. We live the Word through speech. We live the Word through service and we live the Word through separation. To abbreviate the three main points it is speech, service and preparation right out of the text. So having written down these main truths let's dive into truth number one or Roman numeral one. We live the Word through speech. Go back to verse 26.

"If anyone thinks himself to be religious and yet does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this man's religion is worthless." Now here we find this word religion or religious that we mentioned earlier. There's two times right here in verse 26. But I want you to notice that James, he really seems to be calling certain people out in this verse. Remember our context? These are Jewish Christians. They have fled Jerusalem. They are on the run. They are scattered in many different places because of the persecution that is broken out against the New Testament church.

These are people who love the Lord Jesus and James in a very pastoral role is rotting to these people and he's instructing them in practical Christianity. And it's like he's calling these Christians out in verse 26 because he's very bold and then he's very obvious in what he's saying. Now let's just break this verse down and let's see what James addresses. I want you to see that he addresses correct thinking. He addresses correct thinking.

Notice what the verse says, "If anyone thinks himself to be religious, he is addressing correct thinking." I want you to see that this person, they think themselves to be religious or pious but they are not. Now what does that mean to be pious? There are some people who they have an outward expression of their religion. They have an outward expression of their holiness and righteousness. They have an outward expression of being a religious real Christian. But what he's saying is there are some of you, you need to have your correct, you need to have correct thinking. Jesus dealt with many religious people who had incorrect thinking.

If you follow Christ through the gospel accounts, we're going to refer to one a little bit later in Mark chapter 7. But in Mark chapter 7, the Pharisees and the scribes and the teachers of the law, they approached Christ about breaking the traditions of man and what Jesus showed them was they had incorrect thinking as they looked at themselves as religious and pious. And that's what James is doing. He is addressing correct or incorrect thinking. Look back at the verse, "If anyone thinks himself to be religious." Second, I want you to see that he addresses seeing sin. He addresses the need of seeing sin.

Look at the verse again, "If anyone thinks himself to be religious and yet does not bridal his tongue." He is addressing them to see their sin. Now this is the person who cannot control their tongue. Now I want you to go back to the verse and I want you to notice a word. If anyone thinks himself to be religious and yet does not bridal his own tongue. Now the King James in the English Standard Version, it uses this word bridal. Those of us who have been around horses before or even other animals of that nature, we understand what the bridal is. But in the original language, it literally means to guide with a bridal.

I know that I used to help my father-in-law. We used to work cattle together. He had purebred cows. And we would put a halter on some of those heifers and we would leave them. We would guide them with that halter around their face. Those of you who are familiar with horses, you know that a horse has a bridal that goes around its face and it has a bit that goes in its mouth and it is used for what? It is used to guide that animal. As I was doing some studying, I was reminded about something one time that's kind of comical but it helps us to understand.

Years ago I had some teenagers in Tennessee and we took some teenagers on a horseback riding trip. And I don't know if you've ever been to one of those stables. You've got all kinds of horses when you go in places like that and you don't know any of them. And see, the people who were over the stables, you might not see it but they will assess people as they come along. And what the gentleman did was, he took the gentle horses and the old horses and he put those young people on those particular horses, the ladies and things like that. But I didn't know he put a certain horse under me. So we went on that joyous ride and we had a good time.

We were on trails, you know, that on the right side you would look straight up almost. On the left side you'd look straight down, several hundred feet. You know those horses, they always want to walk right on the edge of that trail. No matter what you do, you can't move them. But you know we made a loop and when we got to the end of that loop, my horse knew that it was time to start coming back towards the barn. And lo and behold, that horse went from second gear to fifth in about two seconds.

I mean that thing lit out boogity, boogity, boogity down that trail right through the rest of the horses and I didn't know that that was the free-spirited horse that that man had put under me. Now I don't know if I did it on purpose or by accident but I had those reins in my hand and I think I reached down and by the time I grabbed those reins there were about three inches left and I jerked those reins back and I jerked that horse's face all the way into her chest. She put on brakes, quick. I managed to stay on and the gentleman who was riding with us came up and said, "Good job. She always wants to run back to the barn to be fed.

But you showed her who was boss." I didn't really appreciate it but I was glad he put that horse under me because I had teenagers, junior hires and girls and ladies that I would have hated to see what that horse would have done under the wrong person. But see, after that moment that horse did everything I told it to do. That horse had a bridle around her face and a bit in her mouth and all I had to do was tell it what to do and she would mind me. See that is a wonderful picture of what James is saying. He is addressing the sin in their lives. What does he say? If anyone thinks himself to be religious, see that's correct thinking.

They think they're religious but what does he say? He does not bridle or control his tongue. I don't know about you but when I was reading this and studying this I was instantly under conviction because what is James doing? He's addressing correct thinking and them seeing their sin that they must guide and control their tongue. Third, I want you to see he is addressing or he addresses understanding deception. Look at verse 26 again if anyone thinks himself to be religious and yet does not bridle his tongue but here we go this word but again but deceives his own heart. James is addressing understanding deception.

Now I want you to see this person is deceived by whom? This person is deceived not by another individual but by their own heart and as a matter of fact the King James and the English standard uses this same word deceived. See this is foreign to many people. The thought that they can be deceived by themselves. Jeremiah 17 verse 9 and 10 speaks of this self-deception. You don't have to turn there but I sure do want you to write that verse down. Jeremiah 17 9 and 10 and notice what the prophet says. The heart is more deceitful than any than all else. Excuse me let me repeat that say it again so I can say it clearly.

The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick. Who can understand it? And Jeremiah answers this question. I the Lord search the heart. I test the mind even to give to each man according to his ways. What do we see here that Jeremiah explains? No man can know their heart. No man can know the intention of the heart. It is only God who knows the heart and this is understanding that we can deceive ourselves. Fourth I want you to see he addresses viewing religions worth. Viewing religions worth. If anyone thinks himself there's this correct thinking to be religious and yet does not bridle his own tongue.

This is seeing sin but deceives his own heart. This is understanding our own heart understanding the deception. This man's religion is worthless. This is viewing religions worth. And what we see is this person's religion according to God is worthless. See James is calling them out. He's revealing to them that they have incorrect thinking. They do not see their sin. They do not understand that their hearts can deceive even their own self and their religion is worthless if they can't control that little thing called the tongue. And see for us it is imperative that we apply these verses to our lives.

It is imperative that we live the word look through our speech. And that's what James is trying to teach us. See what I want us to do what I want to challenge you to do challenge me to do is I want to challenge you to examine three things. Number one what we say. Number two how we say it. And then this one might be a little different. But number three how we react to what others say. See it matters what we say. It does matter what we say because what we say in an instant can undermine everything we have tried to live for and everything we have proclaimed as Christians. We can be in the workplace. We can be in our home.

We can be with our neighbors and our friends. And we can tell people of Christ express our love to Christ and according to James in a moment in an instant we can open up our mouths and completely undermine everything that we've done. And what we say matters. You know the word is good and the word is true because after studying this verse all this week I caught myself in certain situations stopping myself from saying certain things. But also how we say it. You know we can say a good thing but we can say it in the wrong way. I think you know what I mean. People pick up on that just as much as they pick up on what we say.

What we say and how we say it. But also the third one how we react to what others say. Sometimes somebody will say something it's nothing more than a trap for us to open our mouth and reveal an unbridled tongue. I'll never forget I worked with a man and I noticed two things about that man. He very very he was very seldom that he fell into reacting with speech by what other people said. He was very good at not saying anything and very good at walking away. See it's what we say. It's how we say it. It's how we react to what other people say. Sometimes someone can make the right comment and all we've got to do is say uh huh.

And that's just enough. But also I want us to examine our real life circumstances. First people. This one is the hardest but how do we speak to our spouse. It's real easy to be kind and considerate to others and it's real easy to come home and take out our frustrations on our spouse. Not only our spouse but our children. Our parents. You see? It's real easy to be kind and considerate and speak well around certain people but it's real easy to come home and when the door is closed to open up our mouth to the ones that we love the most and do the most damage to what our religion. But not just people but our places. How do we speak in our home?

How do we speak in our workplace? And how do we speak in our places of hobby? Maybe the deer camp or the fish camp are in the boat with our friends. See verse 26 it encompasses all of these people in all of these places. See if we're not careful our religion to some can be worthless. But you know what's more fearful than our religion being worthless to certain individuals. The most fearful thing is that our religion will be worthless to God because go back to the verse.

He says if anyone thinks of self to be religious there's our correct thinking and yet does not bridle our own tongue there's our sin but to seize our own heart there's the self deception this man's religion is worthless. That's one thing for others to see our religion is worthless but what about God? And look I want to tell you this is the hardest.

I mentioned earlier this quote by Leonard Ravenhill and there are many things that I've learned greatly from him but one of the things that I heard him say in a sermon I don't remember the name of it he was talking about this subject and he said it doesn't matter really what we profess or what we say but he said it matters who we are and it matters what we say in our own homes. He said do you are you a kind person are you a loving person are you a gentle person in your home what was he getting at these most difficult verses like verse 26. For truth number one we live the word through speech.

Truth number two we live the word through service through service. James says this is pure and undefiled religion or unpolluted religion in the sight of our God and father to visit orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself unstained or unpolluted by the world. And in this verse we find this word religion. Now in verse 27 James is giving us the antithesis or the opposite to verse 26. If verse 26 were a question then verse 27 is the answer. If verse 26 is the problem then verse 27 is almost like a solution. But I want us to see let's see the answer to James the problem in verse 26. Let's see the response to verse 26.

James says some things very plainly and I want us to see these truths. He says simply first God sees all religion. God sees all religion. Go back to verse 27. This is pure and undefiled religion in the sight of God our father. God sees our religion. This speaks to the fact that God sees all Christian activity. God sees all Christian religion as it truly is and it is not judged by man standards but by God's. God does not judge by your standard or mine but by his. But I want you to notice some things about this God sees all religion. First I want you to see that he sees it is pure and undefiled. Pure and undefiled. Think of the verse.

This is pure and undefiled religion in the sight of God our father. So he can see it as pure and undefiled. Now the word pure speaks of cleanliness. And undefiled speaks of no contamination. And then he sees it either as first pure and undefiled or second he sees it as defiled or polluted. Now that would be the opposite of pure and undefiled. He sees it either pure or impure undefiled or defiled. He sees it one way or the other. Go back to the verse. This is pure and undefiled religion in the sight of God our father. So he sees it one way or the other. God sees all religion either pure and undefiled or impure and polluted.

I was listening to Brother Keith talk this week. He mentioned running into an old friend. Now this friend claims the name of Christ, exhibits a life of Christianity as a biblical testimony. But Brother Keith was talking about how this friend began to say some impure things. He began to open up his mind and speak of defiled things. And Brother Keith was talking about how he instantly referred to and thought of his church. Because he's in a weak church, a struggling church. And he began to explain to me the circumstances. And I thought about it like this. See he's in a defiled church. But see it starts at the top.

Because what we have is we have ministers who create defiled churches and defiled churches who create defiled people. What he was expressing was this person opened up his mouth and expressed some defilement that was in his heart. And all it is is an example of where he's come from. He's not getting preaching like this. He's not getting the word systematically preached. There are not people around him striving to live holy and pure lives. And God sees all religion. And he sees it pure or impure. And I'll say it again. Defiled ministers create defiled churches and defiled churches produce defiled people.

You show me a defiled church member and I'll trace it back to a problem with the church and with the minister. Unless they are just living in a place with a stiff hard hearted, as a stiff hard hearted Christian. Second, I want you to see, he says plainly what pure religion is. What pure religion is. Verse 27, this is pure and undefiled religion in the sight of God our father. And notice he transitions to visit orphans and widows in their distress. Now there are two key words here. The first one is visiting. The first one is visiting. Not orphans and widows as many would see. But the first key word is visiting.

Now the new international translation uses the phrase look after. And that's good. This is a good translation. But this word visiting, it means more to simply visit. It means personal contact. It means caring for others for their own good. It means to be helpful in whatever way is needed. This word visiting, it means more than knocking on the door one time. It means getting involved in someone's life, meeting their needs, identifying with them day in and day out, week in and week out, year in and year out. That's what this word visit means. Now the second word that I want you to see is distress. Look at the verse.

This is pure and undefiled religion in the sight of God our Father to visit orphans and widows in their distress. Now the King James and the English Standard use the word affliction. This speaks of those in society who are distressed or under duress or under affliction. See what we understand is, especially from our study in 1 Timothy, that one of the greatest groups of people in culture in that day who were under duress were the widow and the orphan. They were many times lumped together because there were no social security networks for the widow. There were no social security networks for the orphans.

And in that day and in that time, that was the greatest group of people who were under affliction, under duress, under distress. So the two key words are visiting and distress. Visiting means to pour one's life into and duress means any people. Distress means any people who are struggling, who are afflicted. And in this case, it happens to be widows and orphans. And this is what James says, pure religion is. Now James is really making application here by bringing up orphans and widows. They represented the most afflicted and the most distressed.

See I was reminded in my study this week of a great example that will bridge the gap from this verse, what we're looking at to where we are today. Years and years ago when I first started in ministry, I had the curiosity strike me to begin to read and study about great Christians who had lived in the past, Christian biographies. And the very first one that I bought and I read in its entirety was a biography about the American evangelist that was named DL Moody. Now many of us can identify with DL Moody because he was an unlikely candidate for Christian ministry.

But DL Moody's testimony is wonderful and not only his testimony but his use in gospel ministry. DL Moody was born in Northfield, Massachusetts in 1837 and he was born again in 1856. And shortly after his conversion, he left the Northeast and he went to the Western Frontier, a major city that was under development and that city was Chicago, Illinois. Shortly after he was born again. And he found good work and he was able to make good money because it was difficult to make money in that day. But he was involved in Christian ministry. He found a place to serve. He found a church to pour his life into.

But if you read about his life, in 1858 he started what is called a Sabbath school. Today we would call it Sunday school. There was a place in town. It was in the North of Chicago. It was called the Sands. It's a NDS. In our language, we would just say it like this. It was on the wrong side of the tracks and he had a burden for these children who were roaming the streets and he rented a vacant saloon. And then began to walk the streets dragging up all of these street kids. They called them urchins and he started with the help of many other individuals, a wonderful Sunday school ministry.

And if you trace that ministry, it ended up turning into a local New Testament church. And within a short period of time, he had over a thousand street kids attending Sunday school. Now were they unruly? Yes. Were they dirty? Yes. Were they difficult to handle? Yes. Did all of the church rules apply to that set of circumstances? No. But what he did was he loved those individuals and they taught them the word of God and many of those individuals came to Christ.

One of those individuals moved across the city and that little child, that little boy kept going across the city all the way to the Sands to Deol Moody's ministry and they asked him, there are many churches around here son, why don't you go to one of these? And his reply was, they love a fellow over there. What am I trying to show you? He saw in his culture those who were afflicted and all he did was he lived out this verse practically. He lived it out. And see, it is imperative for us that we apply these verses as well. And what am I showing you? We live the word through service.

And let me tell you, God sees our religion as either pure and undefiled or defiled and polluted. He sees it one way or the other. And it's not just our speech, but it is how we serve. Look people, there are people around us who are in duress. There are people around us who are afflicted. What I mean is they are in need of people to carry the gospel to them. Those of you who attend Wednesday night prayer meeting regularly, you know that we have been praying for about two years for the spiritual orphans in our community. Now we don't have orphans like D.L. Moody's Day. And we don't have orphans in our culture like they do in India.

We have friends in India who are involved in wonderful orphan ministry. But we do have spiritual orphans. And these streets and these roads and these back alleys are full of children. Their parents do not bring them to church. Their parents do not love the Lord. They are not under the teaching of the word of God. They are spiritual orphans. And we've been praying for them. And if you pay attention, God is bringing them. God brought us a whole pile last year at Vacation Bible School. And recently God's been bringing us a room full. And all this is is a great opportunity for us to live out verse 27. But just like in D.L.

Moody's Day, look, they don't fit the mold. They don't have parents to teach them. They don't know when to sit down and be quiet. They don't know when to speak and not to speak. They don't know the church manners and the church words, do they? But God loves them just as much as He loves us. And it is our responsibility to go out to them and to bring them in and to pour the truth of the word of God and to see that those are a people that are within our reach that are under duress because they need the truth of the word of God, the gospel. And it is up to us not to just visit, but to pour our lives into them.

Now, not all of us will necessarily touch them and teach them and sing to them and love on them. But if we are not the ones who are hands on, then we can be the second layer, those who pray, those who support and those who do whatever it takes. Because look, that is a church wide effort. D.O. Moody didn't do that ministry on his own. No, there were many individuals who helped him. But you know, God reminded me in my personal study in this verse, there are others who are in distress that we can overlook. There are people that God puts in our church and around us. Maybe they're older, maybe they're sick, maybe they are what we call the shut in.

Oh, they might have family to take care of their physical needs. Yes. But it is up to us to continue to take the work of the church and the gospel and the preaching of the word to them. They might not be able to come to us anymore, but they are in their duress as they are in the end of their life. They are sick, they're facing old age. They are shut in and we are to take the truth and the work of the church to them. I have a feeling that if there was a prison right down the road, God might show us that those are the ones who were in duress and he might burden us for prison ministry.

I have a feeling that if there was a large trailer park down the street from us, God might burden us and show us that those are the ones who were in duress and we would have a trailer park ministry. I shared with you my story last week, last Sunday, about how when I was at First Baptist Church in Ellisville and I used to take students to New Orleans, Louisiana a couple of times a year and we used to do ministry there and God burdened me. "Son, if you can do it down there, why can't you do it in your hometown?" And God opened up my eyes to a trailer park around the corner down the street.

Those who were afflicted and in duress and God led me to flesh out verse 27. And we have great opportunity to flesh out the Word of God through service. But I want to issue you a warning. Listen close. Beware of any church, any position, any people who would minimize and nullify the church going out to those who were in duress. That is a lie from hell. It comes straight out of the pits of hell because there are many people, they have spiritual reasons why we should not go out. We should not bring them in and look, any reason is from hell. Why? Because James says this is pure religion to go out and pour your lives into those who are in duress.

And look, I have come across it in many different ways. You know some churches, they have what I call a country club ministry. You got to dress a certain way, drive a certain thing and live a certain way to be a part of that fellowship. They don't recognize the one who are in duress, they overlook them. Any church, any view towards ministry that negates this verse is not godly. And that is a warning. See we should be comprised of yes, a church full of families, a church full of men and women who are married, a church full of church children.

Yes, but we should always be a church who is going out and touching and going out and bringing in the bruised and the afflicted and the hurt and the ones who are in duress and duress as well as going out to them. I automatically thought about our ministry and the nursing home. They're in duress. We begin to pray, Brother Keith and I discuss about what we could do there in the future, what we could do more than what we've been doing. I could go on and on. So we must live the Word through service. And then number three, I want us to see we live the Word through separation. Look at the second part of verse 27.

This is pure and undefiled religion in the sight of God our Father to visit or pour into orphans and widows in their duress and to keep oneself unstained by the world. Now this portion of verse 27, it almost seems like a tag on at the end of the verse. And if we're not careful, it can easily be overlooked. But simply James is saying they have a responsibility. Notice what he says. And to keep oneself unstained. James is saying you have a responsibility. This word communicates regular continuous action, regular continuous action. He says keep yourself clean. Keep yourself continually clean. It is your responsibility.

The responsibility lied with the readers of this letter and it lies with us as well. One of the things that I've enjoyed reading in my personal devotional time is a little book on power, the power of the Christian life by A.W. Tozer. It's about the fact that many times we can ask God and expect God to do things that we are responsible for. And that's just one of these things. We have a responsibility to keep ourselves clean. But also he says, James simply says they must stay pure. They have a responsibility and they must stay pure. Now this word pure, we understand that it means unstained, unpolluted. The King James uses the word unspotted.

We know that it means to be clean or pure. But I want you to see the key word here. The key word is the word world. World. Now in the New Testament the word world refers to three different things. First the physical world. Second the world of humanity. But then it speaks of another world and that's what James is speaking of. James does not say to keep ourselves unstained by the world, the physical creation. No. We're responsible for the world we live in physically. He does not say to keep ourselves unstained by the world, the world of humanity. No. If that is the case we would need to build a monastery and live there.

What he is talking about, he's talking about the world and what we learned about from the world in 1 John chapter 2 verse 15. The world is this demonic system that is against God. We studied in 1 John chapter 2 verse 15 and 17 in February of 2002, February the 6th. And it is where John commands the Christians to not love the world. Now the world here is an organized system which continually opposes man, it opposes God and it opposes God's work here on earth. It is an organized system made up of ideas and plans and activities and participants. That is the world that he speaks of.

And we saw that there is the enemy Satan and he is over this system and he has a supposed supremacy and he also has servants. That is this wicked world, this system which is anti-God, anti-Christ, anti-Bible, anti-Christian and anti-man. That's the world he is speaking of. He says to keep oneself unstained or unpolluted by the world. And again it is imperative that we apply this verse to our day. We are to live a separated life, not from the creation, not from lost humanity, but from the world system that is anti-God, anti-Bible, anti-Christ, anti-Christian, anti-man.

All you've got to do is know what the word says and if anything is against the word it is anti-Christ, it is anti-God, it is of the world. See if we are not careful we have two extremes here. There is one extreme that is what would be called a monastic extreme. That's where we get the word monk from. They live a monastic lifestyle. They take a particular building or they take a particular secret place, a mountain side and they lock themselves up. They engage in what is called a monastic lifestyle. They separate from the physical world. And if we are not careful we can go that extreme right here in this verse. But that's not what he means.

The other extreme is to become what we would call a worldly Christian. Oh it's okay, we can mix and mingle, we can live like everybody else, we can live like they live so we can identify with them. That's the other extreme and that's not what he is saying. He is commanding us not to live like that. We are to live in the world. We are to engage in people who live in the world but yet we are not to live like them. Our morals are different. Our values are different. What we live for is different. What we hope for is different. And we have a responsibility. What? To live pure, undefiled, unstained, unpolluted lives. Unfiled by the world.

Now as I close I want to say this. I am not near as impressed by what people do these days as I am in who they are. Let me explain what I mean. With these two verses, verse 26 really begins with who you are. Because who you are determines what you say. And then who you are determines how you flesh out the word. Who you are determines if you will live verse 27. And what I have learned in my twenty something years of walking with God and quite a few years of Christian ministry is this, I am not near as impressed of what you do but in who you are. And it takes a little while to realize who someone truly is.

See someone can fool you by what they do. Someone can fool you about their sermons, about their express convictions, about their rules and their regulations, what they do, what they don't do. But see it takes living around someone to really see who they are. I never forget years ago when I was a youth minister I had a popular youth speaker come to our church and he preached wonderful messages with very catchy illustrations. Messages that I envied. But as I was around him and my wife was around him we began to notice things about who he was that alarmed us. It was almost like he never wanted to be home with his family.

He would rather be on the road. As a matter of fact there were times he would be on the road when he did not need to be on the road. That was a reflection of who he was. He would make comments about other females. Comments that I heard and my wife heard. That was a reflection of who he was. I didn't care how he preached. I think about another minister that I know and this minister is all about money. This minister is all about if things are just a certain way when he preaches. See it turns me off because of who he is.

See what James is saying is who you are matters because who you are determines how you speak and who you are determines how you flesh out. Listen this thing called Christianity. When I went to India this spring to be truthful I was very intimidated about what I would preach to those Indian ministers and opportunities I had to preach. Luke used to tell me all the time you've got a lot to offer. You've got a lot to say. You've got a lot that those guys need to hear. And I wrestled and I struggled. What can I preach to these people? I don't know them. Many of them have taken far greater risks than I ever have and ever will. But God led me.

And when I preached at pastors conference I preached hour after hour after hour and everything I preached on was lit this things that God had taught me about who I am not what I did. I didn't preach how to have a better church how to preach better messages how to win the lost how to knock on doors and bring them into the I didn't preach how how how I preached on who they were. And look that's what James is doing. He is first dealing with who we are and because who we are determines what we do and what we say. And you might say wait a minute brother Chris the title of the message is living God's word that's what we do.

But what we see here in the beginning just in the beginning of verse 26 is who we are because who we are determines what we do. And look if we are people who are like the Berean Christians we receive the word we react properly then we will live the word. If we will be slow to speak quick to listen and oh don't get angry we will live the word. I'll close after this quote Warren Wiersby says it like this. Your religion means practicing God's word and sharing with others through speech service and separation from the world. I will add to what Wiersby says by saying who we are determines if we can live that. Living God's word.

Lord God help us today. Help me help brother Keith. all the individuals here this morning we need it the most.