Brother Gary Kelly Sunday Morning 2/3/13

Brother Gary Kelly Sunday Morning 2/3/13

Sometimes the events of life leave us totally drained spiritually.  I hope that you came hungry this morning.  The Great Shepherd is here and He is able to feed you.

Jas 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.

We are blessed this morning to look at this scripture: Who so looketh into the perfect law of liberty.

In a world full of bondage, oppression, depression, people driven by spirits, according to Revelation, the world is full of men and woman leading others into captivity and themselves going into greater captivity.  This is speaking of the total opposite this morning.  The individual that will look into the Word of God, the perfect law of liberty, and then continue there in will be blessed.

It is not just to take the Bible and glance at it.  There may be those, that in trouble and distressing situations in life, that will look into the Word of God and get an answer, but the key is to continue in the Word of God. 

We’ve all found ourselves in need of a miracle from God and in need of an epiphany from God and God in His mercy gives us that.   

Jas 1:1  James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting.

James, an aged pastor, was used of God.  He pastored a lot of people there in Jerusalem and then wrote this epistle.  He didn’t say, “I’m James, a pastor in Jerusalem, one of the biggest congregations.”  He said, “I’m a servant.”

Jas 1:2  My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;

He wanted us to know what he had learned serving God and doing his best to rescue the perishing.  He wrote to, “My brethren.” 

If my memory is right bro Maconahae said, “People are all about all the same.”  You can see here, fifty or sixty years after Jesus was born, people having the thought pattern expressed here. 

When things go wrong people begin asking the question, “How come I am in trouble.”  We can thank God if we have allowed the difficulties in life to turn us to God and then to draw closer and closer to God. 

Jas 1:3  Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.

Jas 1:4  But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.

The trying of your faith worketh patience:  life positions us, from the time of being a child until the oldest in age, into positions of our faith being tried.  That is only for our benefit and for our good that our faith is tried.  Faith can be tried and God has never not honored when one’s faith is in God.

The trying of your faith works patience.  Patience is a fruit of the spirit.  In patience you possess your soul.  The universal confession this morning would be that a lot of our battles and sorrows are because instead of waiting on God we ran ahead.  God forgives the past and is saying, “The trying of your faith works patience.”

Let patience have her perfect work.  There are some things that you will never gain in your personality, maturity, disposition, or character other than letting patience have her perfect work.

That you may be perfect:  there is a heart cry with everyone that is saved or wants to be saved, “God I want to be right with you.”  It seems like as human beings, we are individuals that have the ability to have a compass that can get pointed in the wrong direction. 

I’m trying to learn about compasses.  I know a little bit.  I learned that before a compass, there were stones that had an ingredient in them that caused them to be turned towards the north.  That is interesting to me.  Then someone learned how to build a compass and we are thankful for that knowledge but you must be able to read a compass in order to receive direction from it.

We have the ability to have our compass pointed in the right direction.  That desire to be right with God, with mankind, to right our past… we cannot relive our past, but all the sin of our past can be forgiven.  That is wonderful.  That doesn’t mean that there will not be marks from it in your life or reaping, but you can be forgiven.

That you can be perfect:  We as humans can become dissatisfied and begin to wish things were different.  If your basement looks like mine, I hope that you are dissatisfied with your basement as I am with mine. 

In our spiritual man, when we look into this perfect law of liberty, the message that sounds out very strong is that God wants you to be perfect, entire, and without lacks that you are blaming yourself or someone else for.  God wants you to be taken care of.

Jas 1:5  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.

If any of you lack wisdom:  I’ve thought of the wisdom of James, inspired of God to write this in such a way that any normal human would respond, “I lack wisdom”

Let him ask of God that gives to all men liberally:  there is a cry for wisdom in this audience this morning.  We as young parents felt the pronounced need of wisdom.  What God has called you to do working for God, how important it is that you have the wisdom of God!

As parents you need the wisdom of God.  I read the newspaper last week and was upset.  Parents make unwise decisions and turn their children loose to be used and abused.  May God help me to be a voice to help every parent that I possibly can.

No one here would be ignorant enough to think less of you for coming to the altar.  If any did, I wouldn’t let them to hinder me from getting what I needed from God. 

Let no parent or grandparent feel bad for going to the altar to pray for wisdom.  Let no child think that they have done wrong just because their parent is praying for wisdom.  They are praying because they love you.

The cry for wisdom:  I use this term ‘cry’ because Pr 8 says, “Wisdom cries in the street.”  James is saying that if any lacks wisdom to get a cry out to God.  James had the experience 2000 years ago of teaching, preaching, and helping people in Jerusalem that needed wisdom.  This is what God gave James; then he gave it to his congregation and then sent it out to all of us in this epistle. 

God gives liberally!  “God, make me a big man, a big person that my soul can encompass much of the wisdom of God.” 

We as individuals have tendencies to live in a capsule, to be a capsule.  We say, “I can only do this much or handle this much, or have this much of God.”  One thing for sure you will never have more of God then you allow yourself to be in God.  God is looking for individuals with big hearts, big minds, and a vision.

“Would my soul could more encompass Heaven’s glory willed to me.”  Don’t let the enemy limit how much God can do for you.

It is not the thought of God dealing with you on the thought of what your family was or how much you are educated none of that is important.  It is vitally important that you ask.  If you don’t ask, then you will not receive. 

Jas 1:6  But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.

Jas 1:7  For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord.

Jas 1:8  A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.

How to ask:  in faith nothing wavering.  There are some things that you will never get if you are wavering all the time. 

The parable of the man that went to the neighbor to ask for bread and was met with, “I’m in bed and asleep and cannot come:” the man wouldn’t give up.  Jesus brought the parable to a conclusion, “if that man would get up and give bread, how much more shall the Father give good things to them that ask.”

Ask in faith nothing wavering for he that wavers is as a wave driven of the wind and tossed.  The waves move because of the wind and are tossed.  If you waver you will find yourself as a wave of the sea, moving this way and that and bouncing against the cliff. 

A double minded man is unstable:  it is vitally important that we settle it: I’m going to serve God, hold faith, and hold a good conscience in favor with God.

Jas 1:9  Let the brother of low degree rejoice in that he is exalted:

Jas 1:10  But the rich, in that he is made low: because as the flower of the grass he shall pass away.

Jas 1:11  For the sun is no sooner risen with a burning heat, but it withereth the grass, and the flower thereof falleth, and the grace of the fashion of it perisheth: so also shall the rich man fade away in his ways.

Let the brother of low degree rejoice:  If you feel that you cannot do anything as good as someone else, then God wants you to know that He has a way of lifting up that part of you that is weak and bringing you to the point of saying, “I can do all things through Christ which strengths me.”

The rich: there were probably those that He’d pastored in Jerusalem that were affluent and well capable.  James said that God knows how to bring those that feel that they are above everyone else down so that we are all one. 

In the body of Christ there is not the thought, “We have to handle this one with Kid gloves because…”  No throw the baby bottle away and grow up.  The one that is rich, they come down so that they are one with us.  The middle wall is broken down and we are all one in Christ. 

What a wonderful, wonderful thing the perfect law of liberty is!

Jas 1:12  Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.

When we are tempted then we think, “What did I do to get myself here?”  As long as you have this treasure in earthen vessel, the devil will come around to see if the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, or the pride of life will distract you.

You can be tempted and tried and still have Jesus.  “I’d rather have Jesus.”  Whatever the enemy offers you have a marvelous song to point them to.  “I’d rather have Jesus.”

He has promised a crown of life to all that over come.

Jas 1:13  Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man:

Jas 1:14  But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.

It is not God that brings the temptations but the devil, the world and your own flesh. 

We see we will be tempted by evil, but always keep your body under and bring it into subjection and say, “I’d rather have Jesus.”

Jas 1:15  Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.

When you yield to sin, the finished product is that you backslide and lose your place with God.

Jas 1:16  Do not err, my beloved brethren.

Do not error.  In my mind I think you can sense the love of this pastor, James.  Do not error my beloved brother.

Jas 1:17  Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.

Every good and perfect gift is from above.  One of the greatest robbers that you will ever deal with is the enemy moving in your mind with a temptation, a visual that takes you into a place of being distracted. 

Chambers said you decide how long the battle will be.  You can fight all week or you can say, “I’ve already made my choice and I will not spend my time distracted.”  God has good things for you every day.  We want to live with this thought. 

Even when we are sick, God loads us with benefits:  Know there is a healer, this too shall pass, know to call for prayer, and know that the prayer of faith shall be prayed when we call for prayer.  The Bible tells us to call, to anoint with oil, to pray the prayer of faith and the Lord shall lift them up.

Every gift comes from above, from the Father of lights.  God help us to have our compass pointed toward the Father of lights.  God is light and in Him there is no darkness at all.  For whatever challenge you have, look into the perfect law of liberty and have the Father of lights speak to you. 

He is not always changing.  We live in a world of changing philosophies and thought but God is not this way and doesn’t want His saints this way.

Jas 1:18  Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.

First fruit:  God wants us to be one of his own bearing His fruit.

Jas 1:19  Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath:

Jas 1:20  For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.

Swift to hear…, that means in the secret closet of prayer as well as everywhere else.  When you go into your secret closet make you request before God but then let Him have a chance to talk.

Slow to speak, good counsel!

Slow to wrath.  God doesn’t want you upset, uneasy, mad at the world and everyone in it.  That is not the plan of God.

Jas 1:21  Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.

Lay apart all filthiness.  We live in a society that has gone past being smutty and grayish.  We live in a society that is dark and filthy.  We live in a society that is calling good evil and evil good.  We live in a society that doesn’t want to say anything is wrong about anything. 

Lay apart all filthiness.  Anything that the word of God condemns is filthy.

Don’t be the excess of a prankster.  Naughtiness here means prankster.  It is alright to have a good time, but draw a line of how ornery that you are going to be. 

He left us so much better: receive with meekness the engrafted word.  We have all have overstepped our line before in having lots of fun and then going a little past that.  When that happened, God said, “You went a little too far.” And you said, “God I’m sorry.”  He said, “Draw a line and know how to live on the right side of that line.”

Receive with humility the engrafted word.  Sometimes people get high and mighty in their mind and don’t think that they could ever need anything from God or anyone else. 

That is like the man that was wandering about London portraying that he was the Jesus.  A van drove up and went along side him.  The people inside it were singing: “You shall know him by the nail prints in his hand.”  He was never seen on the streets again.

There are those that wander about and think that they have been everywhere and can learn from no one.  Sometimes the enemy puffs people up in their mind.  Never go there.  We can be edified by a child or if we are God’s child, then we can edify a child.

Receive with meekness the engrafted word:  there is something about God coming to us and writing the word on the fleshly tables of our soul.

Jas 1:22  But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.

Be doers of the Word:  I say to even the children the Word of God speaks to children.  There is not anyone in this audience that the Word of God doesn’t speak to.  It speaks to the pastor, to the deacons and to everyone else. 

This old pastor, James, had learned that what makes people happy is to be doing what the Bible says.  Be doers of the Word and not hearers only.  Find a scripture for you.  Not for the other brother.  You find a scripture that will keep you busy 24 hours of the day and 365 days of the year. 

Jas 1:23  For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass:

Jas 1:24  For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.

Forget what manner of man he was:  Every one of us looks into the perfect law of liberty, you know yourself: your spirit, your attitude, the things that you suffer from and you know what you battle with if it is the thought, “I could do it better than …” 

Whoso looks into this Word of God and then sees a need and doesn’t take care of it, is like a young man that goes to his wedding with paint on His face.  “I knew it was there but I did not take time to wash it off.”

Jas 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.

He that looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues therein:  He looks here in the Word, and then goes back, searches, and finds a concordance and says, “I’ll measure.”  And continues therein this man will be blessed in his deeds: in his labors.  If this man looks in and labors then he is blessed when he prays, when he fellowships, when he reaches to the poor, and he is blessed in industry.

Dear church, it is ours.  We have this perfect law of liberty.  If God has spoken to you, the entire thought of the Father and His Son is that He shows us that our need can be met.  He shows us so that we will not be found embarrassed, won’t be found with conditions in our life not taken care of.

Who so looks into the perfect law of liberty and stays right there in the Word of God and refuses to be distracted knowing your conviction and measuring to the glory of God.  Not measuring to be accepted of this one or that person, but to be accepted of God.  This man shall be blessed in his deed.