James - James 1:22-25

And now let’s pray together as we open the Word of God. Gracious Father in heaven, we give thanks for Your Word. It nourishes us, it encourages and enlightens us, and we're grateful that today we have the freedom to open the Word of God and study. And now we pray, teach us by Your Spirit. May we learn far more through the Holy Spirit's ministry than what any preacher might say to us, and help us to apply it and practice it. Meet our needs today and help us to accomplish Your will. We ask in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

One of God’s greatest gifts to His people is the Word of God, and James magnifies the Word of God here in this first chapter. In James 1:18, he tells us we have been born by the Word of God: "Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth." This parallels what Peter wrote when he said, "being born again, not of corruptible seed but of incorruptible, even by the word of God which lives and abides forever." And so the Word of God gave us our life and the Word of God nurtures our life. It’s the seed that brings forth fruit. In James 1:21: "Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls." It’s a picture of weeds that are growing and choking out the beautiful flowers and the good fruit. Receive the implanted word—the whole picture is agricultural. We are the firstfruits, we're the first of the harvest. We're the highest of His creatures. By His own will He brought us forth. We didn't do it ourselves; that’s the grace of God. God in His grace has made us His firstfruits. God has given to us all of His goodness. So the Word of God is seed that produces fruit in our lives—the fruit of the Spirit and all Christian character.

But in James 1:22-25, he compares the Word of God to a mirror—a mirror that can utterly transform our lives. "But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does."

Now the Word of God is pictured here as a mirror, and as a mirror it has three very special ministries in the life of the believer. First, the ministry of examination—that’s what James talks about. Secondly, the ministry of restoration—we're going to find that in Exodus 38:8. Then thirdly, the ministry of transformation—you find that in 2 Corinthians 3:18. Three words that are easy to remember: the mirror of the Word of God has the ministry of examination, restoration, and transformation.

Now James is talking here about examination. He sees two men. They are both looking into the mirror. They see their faces in the mirror. One goes away and forgets what he saw, and the other one remembers and does something about it. James is warning us here not to be guilty of self-deception. James 1:22: "But be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves." James 1:16: "Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren." Now if Satan can use the Word of God to lead people astray, he has won a mighty victory. You see, the Word of God is given to me for examination. Every day I read my Bible. I study my Bible, but every day, first thing in the morning, I open the Word of God and I read it, and I seek to see what is wrong in my own life or what needs to be strengthened or encouraged. I see the Lord Jesus Christ in the Word and how He meets every need in my life.

Now James warns us here about a threefold deception. First of all, we can be deceived about ourselves; we can be deceived about the Word; and we can be deceived about the Christian life. We can be deceived about ourselves. Both of the men looked into the mirror. Now some people say that the first man was just giving a quick glance; that’s not true. He observed himself in the mirror. Both people attended to the hearing of the Word of God. Looking into the mirror and seeing yourself is the equivalent of hearing the Word of God. James 1:19: "Let every man be swift to hear." So both looked into the mirror and they attended to the Word of God. However, one man when he turned away from the mirror forgot what he learned. It didn't settle into his mind and heart; he didn't get a hold of it and really make it a part of his being. He did not make it personal. So he forgot what he heard, and he went away and didn't do anything about it. This is like a person looking into the mirror and saying, "My, my face is dirty. I must have picked up some soot somewhere today. My face—look at that, there's dirt on my cheek, there's dirt on my chin, there's even some dirt on the end of my nose. Isn't that interesting? My face is dirty." Then he turns away, and the first thing you'd expect him to do would be to turn on some water, get some soap and wash his face. But he doesn't. And he goes through the day with a dirty face. He forgets what he was like.

Now the second person looked into the Word of God. It’s rather interesting the word that is used here in James 1:25: "But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty..." It’s a word that means to stoop down and look in very intently. It’s used of the apostles when they stooped down and looked into the tomb in John 20. Well, here's a man who stoops down—he humbles himself. He looks into the mirror. He sees what he is like. He remembers what he is like. He continues to follow what he learned from the Word of God. Notice the word "continue." He continues in it. He doesn't just hear a sermon and go home and then turn on television, watch football games and forget about the Word of God. No, he continues in the Word of God. The Word of God is something that is a part of him. He receives the implanted word with meekness. He doesn't argue about it and doesn't fight with the Lord.

It’s also a mirror for restoration—we'll be looking at that from Exodus 38:8. It’s also a mirror for transformation—that’s going to be our study next time from 2 Corinthians 3. A mirror for examination. Now here's a man who looks into the mirror and considers attentively what he sees, but he forgets what he sees. Well, the second man remembers what he saw and he does something about it, and he goes out and obeys the Word of God and he ends up growing and becoming more like the Lord Jesus Christ. The great tragedy in the church today is the tragedy of self-deception. A lot of people think they're saved and they're not. And a lot of saved people think they are growing and they are not. And just because they hear Christian radio programs or hear good preaching in the service or read good Christian books, they think they're really growing, and they're not. They're confused and deluded and deceived about themselves and about the Word of God. "But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it..."

Now let's take that name for the Word of God. First of all, it is the law. It’s the perfect law of liberty. It’s the law—that means there's authority. Now he's not talking about the law of Moses; he's talking about the whole Word of God. The Word of God has authority. It is final and complete and it is to be obeyed. It’s perfect. "I esteemed all of His words more than my necessary food"—Job said that in Job 23:12. "All of Your words are right concerning all things"—the Psalmist said that in Psalm 119:128. God’s Word is perfect; it’s complete in every area of life. Whatever it says about home or work or church or thinking, whatever it says about nature—these things are right. Now the forgetful hearer says, "That’s interesting," and goes his way. But the growing Christian says, "Aha, this is God’s Word. It has authority. It must be obeyed, and if I obey this Word, I will have liberty." That’s the interesting thing—it is the law of liberty, not the law of bondage. The Old Covenant law was the law of bondage; this is the law of liberty. When you obey this law, this Word, you are free. That’s what he talks about in James 1:12: the crown of life. What did Jesus say in John 8:32? "And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." What kind of freedom? Spiritual freedom—free to be yourself, free to do the will of the living God. Psalm 119:45: "And I will walk at liberty, for I seek Your precepts." People say, "Well, the Word of God puts you into bondage." No, in fact literally that verse says, "And I will walk in a wide place." Now the law of Moses gave us boundaries, but the whole Word of God gives us horizons. And God wants to open up to us the horizons of His blessing.

Don't be deceived about the Word of God and think the Word of God is just a textbook to be studied, just something to get some new truth from. "Let's learn some new truth about God or about the Bible, let's get some new outline." I don't want to offend anybody, but I think that there are a lot of Christians who listen to every radio program they can listen to, collect every free book they can collect, stack it up in their garage someplace, have all these books and listen to all of these preachers, and they're fooling themselves. They think that they are really growing in the Christian life. Notice what he says: "If we're a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does." We are not blessed in what we read. We are not blessed in what we hear. We are not blessed in what we study. We are not blessed in what we outline or the books we collect. We are blessed in what we do. The Greek says, "This one will be blessed in the doing of it."

Now it's not in the hearing. I fear that we have a lot of Christians with big heads and small hearts. Oh, they've heard everybody, every great preacher, and they criticize this one and compare that one. They've read all the books, they've been to the seminars, but they are not growing because they're not obeying what the Word of God says. In fact, he moves ahead and says if you want to really practice your religion, control your tongue in James 1:26. James 1:27: go visit somebody who's lonely, find some orphan, some widow, go visit them. Oh, that to us is not Christian living. To us Christian living is marking our Bibles and going to seminars and carrying notebooks and acting very pious. James says you want to grow in your Christian life, take a pot of soup to that hungry widow up the street. Go find some lonely teenager who would like to go do something and have some friends. Get practical.

The trouble today is we have too many auditors. That’s what he's talking about here—don't just be hearers of the Word. When I was teaching at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois, we had auditors in our classes. These were students who did not pay as much as the other students. They did not take the exams, but they were permitted to learn everything that the other students learned. They could get the textbooks, they could hear the lectures, they could ask questions, they could take notes, they got the free giveaways in the class, the handouts. But there were two things about these auditors that were true: one, they didn't take the exam; and two, they didn't get a grade. Therefore, three, they couldn't get a degree. Now a lot of Christians are auditors. Oh, they're sitting in class and taking notes and learning all these things, but when the exam time comes, they cop out. They don't go through the trials, they don't go through the testing. They don't practice what they're learning. Fine, they won't get the degree—they won't get the crown of life. I fear we have today far too many people like that.

The Word of God is for examination. Don't be deceived about yourself. Let God show you what you really are. Isaiah the prophet said, "Woe is me, I'm a man of unclean lips." He knew himself. Peter said, "Depart from me, I'm a sinful man, O Lord." Don't be deceived about the Word—don't just think the Word of God is something to study and look at. It’s to be obeyed—it’s the law of liberty. And don't be confused about the Christian life, deceived about the Christian life. It’s not in learning; it’s in doing that we get the blessing.

Well, the Word of God for examination. Now Exodus 38:8, the Word of God for restoration: "He made the laver of bronze and its base of bronze, from the bronze mirrors of the serving women who assembled at the door of the tabernacle of meeting." The laver in the tabernacle was used for the washing of the hands and the feet of the priests. They became defiled while they were serving the Lord. Now it's a picture of the water of the Word of God and the mirror of the Word of God. Moses took the mirrors of the women, made the laver, put water in the laver and said this is a picture of the Word of God. Jesus said, "Now you are clean through the word which I've spoken unto you" in John 15:3. Paul talks about "the washing of water through the word" in Ephesians 5:25-27. "Sanctify them through Thy truth, Thy word is truth"—John 17:17. The same Word that shows me my dirty face can also wash away the stain of sin. Now the guilt of sin is taken care of by the blood of Jesus, but the stain of sin—sin that stains my mind and my heart, sin that defiles me within—it is washed away by the Word. Paul talks about the spots and the wrinkles and the blemishes. Spots come from defilement on the outside, wrinkles come from decay on the inside, and blemishes come from disease on the inside. And the Word of God is able to wash us and make us clean, purify us within. The Word of God is a mirror for restoration. After you've confessed your sins to the Lord and the blood of Jesus Christ has cleansed you from the guilt of sin, then you spend some time in the water of the Word. Mr. Epp used to say that some people need to take a bath once a week in Psalm 51. I think that’s true of all of us—bathing in the Word of God. Let this Word, this priceless, pure, precious Word wash our hearts and wash our minds so that we're cleansed from filthiness of the flesh and of the spirit.

Now in 2 Corinthians 3:18 you have a third ministry of the mirror of the Word—for transformation. The Word of God not only shows us our sin and washes away that awful stain of sin in the heart and mind, but it transforms us. 2 Corinthians 3:18: "But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord." Here's the Word of God as a mirror. The contrast in 2 Corinthians 3 is between the Covenant of Grace and the Covenant of Law. At the beginning of this chapter, Paul tells us that the Law was written on tables of stone, but in this particular age, God is writing His Word internally on our hearts. The Law brought death, but the ministry of Grace brings life. There was a fading glory to the Old Covenant Law, but there is an increasing glory as we live by grace. Moses veiled his face when he came down from the mountain because his face was shining, and that shining face—the glory was fading away. We don't have a veiled face, we have an unveiled face, and we come to the Lord.

It boils down to this: when the child of God looks into the Word of God and sees the Son of God, he is transformed by the Spirit of God into the image of God for the glory of God. That encourages me. As I read my Bible and meditate on it and study it and obey it—as I obey what God tells me to do—then a miracle takes place. The word "transformed" in 2 Corinthians 3:18 is the word "transfigured." Jesus was transfigured before Peter and James and John. And as He was transfigured, the glory on the inside radiated on the outside. Now that’s what he's talking about here. Some people live by reflected glory. Oh, they want to be with big preachers. By the way, there are no small churches and there are no big preachers; we're all alike before the Lord and everybody is important. But some people like to be with big preachers, be in big meetings, be around famous people. They live by reflected glory. And Paul says no, let’s live by radiated glory. Get into the Word of God, and when the child of God looks into the Word of God—meditating on it, obeying it—he sees the Son of God and he’s transformed as he obeys by the Spirit of God into the image of God for the glory of God. We need the mirror of God’s Word if we're going to be beautiful Christians, if our lives are to be all that God wants them to be. We need the mirror of the Word of God for examination, for restoration, for transformation.