Jesus Christ. Let's seek the Lord in a word of prayer together, and let's just still our hearts in the Lord's presence for the meeting. Loving Father, in the name of thy dear son, Jesus Christ, we come into thy presence. Lord, we just stand for a few moments, and we are in awe of this, that we sinners can approach thee, the holy God, We can come with confidence that thine ear is towards us, thine eye is upon us, thy hand is open to us, and thy heart, dear God, is a heart towards thy people. Thou art the one who delights in us. because of thy dear son the father loves us because we are in union with christ we have his righteousness that has been placed to our account we stand legally justified before thee we we stand as if we lived the life of christ what a marvelous thought that we died his death for us for the sacrifice has been accepted on our behalf the sacrifice of our savior and tonight lord we just we revel and we rejoice in our standing in christ jesus we have no standing really in this world lord who really knows us beyond to my radius of her home, if even that, Lord. We are but a face that we know, an acquaintance, someone that we would meet on the road, but Lord, what is our standing in heaven? Oh God, we rejoice in this. And we thank thee for the promises of God, how they encourage our souls, even in these days of, Lord, that would cause us great dismay, Lord, we do not dismay. Thou hast promised, I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And Lord, thou hast not revoked the promises of God, neither this promise, thou art building thy church, We find before the souls that we've been hearing, O God, that have come to Christ, even in the last week, that rejoices our souls. God is saving despite all. O God, thy word is not bound. O, we may be restricted. Lord, we may be curtailed. Lord, with regard to our movements, but we rejoice that there's no restraint, there's no bounds put upon the Word of God. We thank Thee that it runs, it has legs to it. O God, we were to pray, are we not encouraged to do so, that the Word of God may have free course? The Word is run, that it might have legs and be glorified. And Lord, we pray that the Gospel would run in to those great areas of darkness that we would seem to be impregnable. We rejoice in the Word of God and the light of the Gospel that can break into darkened areas and in darkened souls. We thank Thee for every Gospel calendar delivered. Think of those 1,000 paper evangelists in our community, in Portlanone and in Killary. and in Ellsrush and Lord in Queen's Park and out the road, out the Town Hill Road and Lord we pray use O God thy word to the saving of the lost. Lord let us not be discouraged Lord, may we live above the circumstances that we find ourselves in. May we be those of faith. Lord, grant to us, Lord, faith to rise in these souls of ours and grant, dear God, all things. We will know, and we do know, that all things will fall out. to the furtherance of the gospel. Paul said that whilst in prison, it fell out for the furtherance of the gospel, and this will fall out for the furtherance of the gospel. We believe it to be so, though we may not think it, though we may not see it, we believe that it will fall out to the furtherance of the gospel. And so, dear God, take away our gloom, and take away our despair, and take away our downheartedness, And Lord, may we look to Thee, and may we trust in Thee, and grant, dear God, these souls of ours to be blessed and challenged. Lord, may we not come to the house of God out of some form, but Lord, may our hearts be challenged, and may the word of a good age on it tonight and may it wound us. Oh God we want to be wounded Lord because then we believe that oh God the pruning knife is in the hand of the husband man and he wants us to be more fruitful and therefore the heart of God is towards us and the heart of God is designed and purposed and is moving towards us to make us what we ought to be and to be as fruitful as we ought to be and therefore prune us Lord. And may we be ready, O God, for, as it were, the spring, when new growth appears. And Lord, may the old dead boughs be knocked off, and may we be fruitful, like Joseph's bough that ran over the wall, though he was solely, Lord, shot at by the archers. We rejoice in his fruitful ministry. Now bless us and all those who gather with us, Lord online and here in the building, we offer prayer in Jesus name, Amen. We join with us online in Sermon Audio and on Facebook Live. We welcome you in our Savior's precious name. James 1, just the last two verses of the chapter, and we'll close out the chapter this evening. It says, 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. Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, to visit the Father this, and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world. Amen. And may God bless our study of these two verses this evening. in James chapter 1. How a Christian behaves is a reflection of what a Christian believes. How a Christian behaves is a reflection of what a Christian believes. This is what James has been driving home in this opening chapter of his letter, his epistle. James has dealt with the believer's behavior regarding the matter of life's trials in the verses 2 and 4. The correct response to the trials of life is that they're to count it all joy when they fall into diverse various temptations and trials, knowing that the end result of passing through such difficulties is that the genuineness of our faith is revealed first to us and then also to others. and that our patience is developed and our spiritual maturity is advanced. He deals with the believer's behavior with regard to sin's temptations, verse 13 to 15. The correct response of the believer to sin's temptation is for them to understand where such arises from, not from God, but from within ourselves and to see the end result of sin. With such knowledge to hand, the believer then is to flee from temptation's snare lest they become entangled in it. He's dealt with the believers behavior when it comes to hearing and heeding the Word of God. Verses 17 through to 25. The believer is to be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath when they hear the Word of God. And having heard the Word, they then are to heed the Word, and then by heeding the Word they are to live out the Word of God, within their lives and so he's been dealing with our behavior in these opening verses right down to the verse number 25 and now James concludes this opening chapter by again drawing his readers attention to their behavior In these two verses, the inspired pen man, he sets forth the behavioral characteristics of those who possess a false religious experience and he sets that alongside those who possess a true religious experience. And so we want to simply look at these two verses and highlight what distinguishes the counterfeit from the genuine. distinguishes the counterfeit from the genuine Christian. I want you then to see the first of all the mark of a counterfeit religious experience. You see a counterfeit religious experience can be detected. James gives us, as it were, the lead in how we detect someone who has a vain, an empty, a worthless religious experience. Verse 26, if any man among you seen to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart. This man's religion is vain. Oh, what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive. Those words are often attributed to William Shakespeare, but they were actually written by Sir Walter Scott. And what Walter Scott was highlighting in those words was the danger involved in deception. Often one lie will lead to another lie needing to be told. And eventually the person who's involved in such deception, they trap themselves in their own web of dishonesty. And at times we can be self-deceived and that can be the greatest tangled web for any of us to be trapped in. James speaks of such a person who deceives their own heart. They've swallowed their own lies in so much that they now think themselves to be something that they are not. And self-delusion can be a very dangerous thing when it comes to all things, but especially when it comes to spiritual matters, it can be fatal. To think that you're converted and actually not be saved can be fatal. The eternal consequences that flow from such self-deception are almost unthinkable to think about. to believe that you're right with God, but actually you're still a child of the devil. Now many of the Savior's parables, a very interesting study, many of the Savior's parables, they set forth examples of people who were self-deceived. You think of the foolish builder there in Matthew's gospel. That foolish builder who built his house upon the sand, he believed that it would survive the storm, only to find that whenever the storm came, that that which he built was swept away. He was self-deceived. We think about that pious Pharisee in Luke chapter 18 who went up to the temple to pray along with the publican and he believed that his works were meritorious towards God. And yet he was found to be self-deceived. It would be the publican who would go home justified rather than The Pharisee or think of the parable of the foolish virgins and the wise virgins a group of people those foolish virgins They believed that they were prepared for the bridegrooms coming only to find that on his arrival that their lamps were out and their oil was spent and they were unprepared Each of the parables of Christ alert us to this danger of self-deception, this thought of being right with God while all the time not being truly and genuinely converted. And James is dealing here with this particular issue of self-deception when it comes to a religious experience that many would boast themselves about, but actually there's been no hard work, there's been no work of grace wrought within the soul. He identifies those who have a form of godliness, those who, we read the words, seem to be religious, but by their deeds, By their words, specifically, they reveal that they have deceived themselves, and what they profess is vain, empty, worthless. Now, there is a specific deed that James alerts us to and speaks of in verse 26 that discloses the counterfeit Christian from the genuine. And it has to do with that muscular organ that God has wisely placed behind a set of lips and two row of teeth, whether those teeth are yours or not, I'm not going to get into that issue, namely our tongue, our tongue. This is where James has us to focus on. You see, if you want to know whether a person is genuinely saved or not, then what they do with their tongue will be a good indicator If any among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion is vain. A professing Christian may undoubtedly have many things in their character which seem to be the evidence of the existence of religion within the heart, and yet this inability to control one's tongue shows the evidence that all other characteristics are but a mere profession and are a mere show. Now, what does it mean to bridle the tongue? Well, the word bridle, f here in the verse, means to curb, to hold and check, to restrain. I'm sure you've all used the Ulsterism, how your tongue, My grandfather, he used to say, hold your waist. Well, this is what it literally means. This is what it is to bridle the tongue, to hold it in check, to hold your waist, to hold your tongue. And the person who cannot do that, their religious experience is vain, empty, and worthless. Now you might ask the question, well why does James highlight the tongue? Why not the hands of the believer? Or the actions or the deeds of the believer? Well, if you remember the words of the Lord Jesus Christ in Matthew chapter 12 and the verse number 34, you'll understand why James focuses on the tongue. Because Jesus Christ said in Matthew 12 verse 34, that out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaketh. In other words, what we say is simply a reflection of the true condition of our hearts. Corrupt, unholy speech. That which becometh not the gospel indicates the presence of a corrupt, unholy heart. A person may have all the outward formalities of religion in their place, but if they do not bridle their tongue, that person is one who is greatly deceived, the person who lets their tongue run wild. the individual who employs their tongue to spread gossip and to spread slander, the one who backbites and maligns others, the one who destroys the character, the testimony of another by tittle-tattle that has no foundation to it whatsoever is a person whose tongue has never been bridled and therefore their religion is worthless, it's vain. The Christian is one who is careful, not careless with their tongue. Professing Christian, if what you profess does not bring every bodily faculty under the control of the Holy Spirit, then your religious experience is worthless. Worthless. and that includes your tongue. If it doesn't bring your tongue, your speech, and what you say under the control and the influence of the Holy Ghost, then the Holy Spirit has not come to take up residency within your life. Even though it is but a small body member, if that tongue is never restrained, and if you have the problem of unable to bridle your tongue, well then can I say that there's no true religion in that soul of yours? Now there are people who have trouble with bridling their tongue. And those that do so are found among the company of people that you don't want to be in the company of. And I say in the first place that the gossip bridleth not his tongue. The gossip. Such people are those who are greatly interested in, and constantly talking about the concerns and the business of others. These are people who spend hours over coffee and on the telephone talking about the home life, the social life, the business life, the moral life, the religious life of another person. That's who a gossip is. And they bridle not their tongue. The critic bridleth not his tongue. Such a person is constantly criticizing and condemning his fellow man, forgetting the words of Christ, judge not, lest ye be judged. The critic, they don't bridle their tongue. The pride bridleth not his tongue. Such a person, they boast of their own goodness, their wealth, their family, their standing society, their business. They do not curb their tongue. The complainer, They do not bridle their tongue. Such a person is one that you wish to avoid. They're always complaining about something. Either the sun, it's too hot for them when the sun is shining, or if the snow's at the door, it's too cold. Nothing's ever right. Nothing's ever right for the complainer. They bridle not their tongue. And then to use another, I don't know if it's an Ulsterism or an Irishism, whatever it is, but a ganch. We all know what a ganch is. You know, a ganch spreadleth not his tongue. Such a person or conversation is always marked by frivolity. Always so light. There's never anything of substance. They never speak about spiritual matters. They never speak about serious matters. They're always jesting and joking. I like a joke. I like a joke like everyone else. But such a person has an unbridled tongue. The exaggerator, they have an unbridled tongue. Such a person is a person who by their exaggeration, they venture into the realm of lying. They lie as they exaggerate. Now would you want to be in the company of such people? The gossip, the critic, the pride, the complainer, the exaggerator, the individual who speaks of light things but never of deep and serious matters. I wonder, are you such a person? Are you the person that spends hours on the phone talking about others? Are you the individual who criticizes maybe the minister, maybe the elders, maybe some other person within the work of God? Are you an individual that likes to hear some juicy tidbit, as it were, with regard to some scandal in the country, and you quite like to spread the news? 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. What a challenge. I wonder what does my tongue say about me? Does it evidence the presence of saving grace within my soul? You may say, preacher, I have a problem with my tongue. I admit tonight that I'm one such person and I have a problem with my tongue. And you may say, well, preacher, is there anything that I can do that will help me to bridle my tongue, to keep it in check, to restrain it? I think of the event whenever it came to David's attention that Saul and Jonathan had been killed on Mount Gebuah. What did David say? Tell it not. in Gath. Who lived in Gath? Goliath. Goliath of Gath? David said, don't be spreading the news. He was my archenemy, Saul. He tried to kill me. But tell it not in Gath. Let the news stop here. No further. You may say, Preacher, I do struggle with this. What can I do? A few things before we quickly move on. Keep the words of Jesus Christ before you. What words? The words of Matthew 12, verse 36. But I say unto you that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give an account thereof in the day of judgment. Did you know that every word you speak, you will give an account for in the day of judgment? Every word that I speak, I will give an account for in the day of judgment. Folks, the day of judgment is before us. It's maybe sooner than we believe. What are we to do? We're to keep this thought. I am going to be judged for what I say. Secondly, live in light of the fact that God is omniscient. and God is omnipresent. He is everywhere. And therefore he hears all you say, though you do it in the privacy of your home. He hears all you say. He is the silent listener of every conversation. And then heed the advice of the Reverend Thomas Raffles, He was a 19th century English congregational minister. This is what he advised, learn the art of silence. I say the art, for there is as much wisdom required in knowing when to be silent as when to speak. Learn to keep your tongue where God wisely put it, behind closed lips, with the exception of preaching the gospel preaching out Christ, and seeking God in prayer. Let thy words be few. And so these are but helps. I believe they will help me, they will help you, if we have this difficulty with our tongues. You see, Jesus Christ saved you all, all of you. He saved you all. He saved your soul. He saved your hands and your feet and your eyes and your ears. He saved your tongue. He would have it to be sanctified. And may God help us, therefore, to be not like the deviant religious experience, the man who professes to know God, but in their works and in their words, they deny him. the marks of a genuine Christian or a genuine religious experience. This is the matter that James deals with in the verse number 27. Pure religion, he speaks off. That means that which is genuine, that which is sound, that which is sincere, that which is uncontaminated by hypocrisy and by sin. This is what the word, the free is pure religion. Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this. What do you think it would have been? I don't think any one of us would have put these things. If we were to write down what pure religion is, this is what God puts by inspiration, to visit the fatherless and the widows in their affliction and to keep himself unspotted from the world. You see, a true religious experience will express itself in a twofold way. Firstly, kindness to others. and secondly, personal purity. To Marx, kindness to others and personal purity. First, kindness to others. A person who's come into possession of a genuine faith is going to express that faith by being kind to others. And James identifies two groupings of individuals that the Christian will have pity on, that they can have pity upon and then do all they can to relieve those that are found in such affliction, namely the fatherless and the widow. Now you'll be aware from your Bible that God is a concern for the fatherless and the widow. I don't have time to read the verses. I'll give them to you. Exodus 20, verse 22. You shall not afflict any widow or fatherless child. In Deuteronomy 14, 28 to 29, every third year there was demanded by God a special tithe to be brought in by every Jew to care for the orphan and for the widow. In Deuteronomy 24, 19 through to 21, We see how orphans and widows were to be cared for in the harvesting of the fields. And then in Deuteronomy 27, 19, God places a curse on the one who perverted the judgment of the fatherless and of the widow. Why? Because the Psalm 68 verse five states that God is a father of the fatherless and a judge of the widows is God in his holy habitation. God, has a special heart for people who have great needs. And the widow and the fatherless, the orphan, falls into that category. And then, is it not then amazing that often these are the groupings of people that the church overlooks? The widow and the orphan. You see, we can make many claims about our religious experience, but if our religious experience doesn't reach out to others, if it doesn't help others, if it doesn't relieve others, then we're no better than the persons whose religion is vain. Faith without works is dead, and this is what James is going to come into. He's going to speak about this. We're not saved by our works, but we're saved on to good works. And we show our faith by our works. And he here specifically deals with the fatherless and of the widow. But James's list, I do not believe, is exhaustive here. Rather, it is a representative list. The widow and the fatherless are groupings of people, we would call them vulnerable groups of individuals. Vulnerable groups. and helpless groups. And brethren, sisters, therefore, we are to extend help to all that are found in such a category, the stranger, the sick, the distressed, the poor, yes, and the widowed, and the orphans. Galatians 6.10, as we have there for opportunity, let us do good to all men, especially to them who are of the household of faith. And so I asked, do we look out for such opportunities to relieve such individuals? What about the widows in our congregation? We have them. What have we done for them? What have I done for them? For the widow, the one who was married for so many years to their husband. Have we called them? Have we rang them? Have we sent a car to them? Have we asked them, do they need help? Do they need assistance? And then whenever we come to those who are orphaned, not to my mind do we have any such among us, but what about the orphans in Nepal and Uganda and Kenya? Have we a heart for such people? And do we do something about it? John Adam, he said this, we are not to be satisfied with acting through a substitute. a missionary, an agent of some religious or charitable society, we are to come into contact with them. We are to go to them in person and help them personally. Or we'll give the missionary money and they'll, but what about us? True religion expresses itself in being kind to others quickly and personal purity. James speaks of the believer keeping himself unspotted from the world. Now the world in which we live, I don't need to tell you that it is a corrupting world. It is a defiling world. It's a polluting world that infects our minds and our hearts. And we're not to throw over the responsibility to God for God to keep us. It doesn't say here that God will keep you unspotted from the world. It says I'm to keep himself unspotted from the world. There's personal responsibility. We can't blame God. for our shortfalls and our sin and placing ourselves before temptation and becoming corrupted by the world. There is personal responsibility required and therefore we are to avoid everything that would sully and stain our lives and our testimony. Listen, a religious experience that does not result in personal holiness is a fraudulent religious experience. Did you get it? A religious experience that does not result in personal holiness is a fraudulent religious experience. A holy God seers unholy sinners and he makes them holy. As Christians, we are not to buy into the world's philosophy, we're not to buy in to its culture that then impacts our lives and governs our behavior. Sadly, there are those who fail to keep themselves unspotted from the world, and they walk with us no more. Beware of a worldly mindset, brother, sister, Be careful that the spirit of the world and the spirit of this age doesn't get into that heart of yours. Be wary of all that is appealing in this world. Treat this world as you would treat a contagious COVID-19 patient. Keep it at arm's length, and if not further from you, shun it, repel it, lest you become contaminated. We are to keep ourselves and spot it from the world. Two theological students were walking along the street in Whitechapel, London, and they saw a sign on the second hand closed store. It said, this slightly soiled, greatly reduced in price. On seeing the sign, one of the students said, we get soiled by gazing at vulgar pictures. reading a course book or allowing ourselves a little indulgence in dishonest or lustful thoughts. And so when the time comes for our character to be appraised, we are greatly reduced in value. Our purity, our strength is gone. We are just part and parcel of the general shop-worn stock of the world. Oh, brethren and sisters, let's not even be slightly stalled, but let us be pure and holy, and let us keep ourselves unspotted from the world. How do you distinguish the genuine from the counterfeit? The counterfeit just stand and listen to their conversation for a little time, and that'll reveal The heart has never been changed. The nature hasn't been changed. The spirit of Christ is not in them. They've never become a partaker of the divine nature. How do I know the genuine? I see what they do. And I see how they keep themselves unspotted from the world. And by this, I can see. that such a man's religion is pure, whereas the other, it's vain. May God search our hearts. May God help us to understand the true nature of what we profess, even as God's people and as those who profess his name. in these days. May the Lord bless his word to our hearts for Christ's sake.