But in the book of James chapter one, James chapter one and verse twenty-two, James one and twenty-two, there's only the back of your Bible, but be doers of the word and not hearers only. deceiving your own self. 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. For he beholdeth himself and goeth his way, and straightway forgetth what manner of man he walk. but who so 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. If any man among you seem to be religious, or think she is, and grindeth 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 fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unswattered from the world. We've been speaking the last few Sunday mornings. on vain things. We notice vain faith. How easy it is to exercise vain faith. Find that over in First Corinthians chapter fifteen and verse three. That man's faith is vain. Paul is warning these Corinthians lest they have believed in faith. Then we notice also another vain thing and that is If righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain. The death of Christ is a vain thing. It's an empty thing. If man can save himself, it was a big and bad blunder for the Lord Jesus Christ to go to the cross, if man could have saved himself. It was a dreadful mistake. All his suffering was in vain. Then we notice also another thing, vain worship. It's possible for people to engage in formality and ritual and go through all kinds of sentimental emotions and expressions, and that be just vain worship. Empty. The Lord Jesus accused the Pharisees, the scribes and Pharisees of that, of trying to carry out the traditions of men. and not the Word of God. And Christ refers to and rebukes vain worship, for in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men, and not the commandments of the Lord. Then we also notice another vain thing, vain grace, the grace of God, exercise in patience, all in vain to some people. God gives them time and time again opportunity to get saved. How patient and long-suffering God is. But the time comes when God gives all my patience and long-suffering and perseverance is absolutely in vain. It hasn't produced a thing. It hasn't accomplished what I had hoped it would. Now we come to vain religion. That man's religion is vain. So you have these things that are in vain. This will be the last one. Next week we'll be getting further into this wonderful chapter of First Corinthians chapter fifteen. Now we come to this remarkable chapel. Tibet's a very searching paragraph that we've read over in James. And he's pointing this out that those who are regenerated Those who are saved are readers. They love to read, and they look into this perfect law of liberty. But listeners are, and I say those who listen and listen attentively, listeners are learners. It's nice when a person is a real listener. They listen with all their ears. You know, like gossip, why tell me more, tell me more. People have always got elephant ears when it comes to gossip. But when it's truth, they're like giddy things. You can hardly see their ears so small. In other words, how easy it is not to hear. But Christians, those who are born again, they really listen. sit on the edge of their seat, trying to get every word. So listeners are learners. They're going to learn something. And hearers are doers. We notice that in our passage. He that heareth and doeth. What he hears has made such an impression he's going to act. That's what it says. But talkers are truthless. I don't mean by telling a lie or a falsehood, simply meaning those who do a lot of talking are lacking in the knowledge of the truth. Well, that's what it said in our passage over there in verse twenty-six, if any man among you seemed to be religious, and bridaleth not his tongue, but deceiveeth his own heart. And so often that's true. Deceive of his own heart. This man's religion is vain. These are remarkable statements, and I trust that we'll profit from these statements. You know, God gave man two ears, one tongue, so we should listen quite as much as we talk. And when God gave us one tongue, he anchored it at one end. He just, well, they wanted the one end loop. God help us that had been anchored in the middle and both ends of the loop. But God gave us two ears, one tongue. We should listen twice as much as we've talked. A quick ear, a cautious tongue, a calm temper, and a pure heart. Result of looking steadfastly into this perfect wall of living. Looking into the mirror, that God has given up his word. You know, James evidently practiced what he preached. I was amazed to find this out. The James who writes this little book, and we understand that he refers, and there are only a hundred and eight verses here, and five small chapters, and he alludes to it. to Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, and Joshua, First Kings, the Psalms, the Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, and seven of the minor prophets, and there are fifteen references and connections between the book of James and the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew five, six, and seven. Now here is James, and he must have been steeped in the Bible. He must have been saturated with the Word of God, because here in these five chapters, he makes reference to all those passages of Scripture that I have referred to. You know, it's a pitiful thing today, the lack of the knowledge of the Bible on the part of professing Christians. I've done a lot of visiting in my life. I dropped into a home one time, and this lady, a man told me before I went there, you know, she's superintendent of a Sunday school down here, without an accompaniment. And on the next confession, she's superintendent of a Sunday school. She's one of the best Bible readers we have around here. She stayed back one night, and she said, I don't know that I'm saved. Well, I said, would you mind turning over to the Gospel of John? I make to show you some text. Well, I noticed they're flipping the pages, and she was over in the Old Testament. And she was superintendent of the Sunday School. And she didn't know the difference between the Old Testament and the New Testament. It was terrible. She did get saved. And that's true today. People don't seem to know much about the Bible here, certainly. I'm a Christian. Friend, you've got a physical appetite and a good one. You feed your body well, too well. What about your soul? The Bible is the food for the soul as newborn babe, spiritual babe, desire the sincere milk of the word that ye may go thereby. And because of the pitiful lack of the Bible today, it means one of two things. First, Either a lot of people who say they're Christians are not, or if they are, they're in a backslidden condition. James is pointing out here that a real Christian loves this book. He looks into this book. He's longing for knowledge, and when he finds it, he obeys it. This is a remarkable thing. I wonder, friend, if you know something of looking into this wonderful mirror, and that's one of the offices of the Bible. God uses it. One of the purposes of the Word of God is to act as a mirror. Well, when you think of a mirror, they can be deceptive. But a picture can be more deceptive. You'll say more about that little later on. It says he beholdeth his natural face in the glass. What does he mean by that? He beholdeth his natural face. That means the face he was born with is natural face. And you can't help your face. Yet many try. Many need to. The natural face in a glass. It's not what your face looks like from without. But what your face looks like from within, that's the main thing. God looketh upon the heart. Man looketh upon the outward of you. How does the Bible explain this? They looked unto him and were radiant. And their faces were not ashamed. Isn't it nice when you see a person and... They're contented. They're happy. They've got a happy heart. That's why. And we read over in St. Corinthians three, eighteen. It tells us there, beholding as in a mirror, the glory of the Lord. Now, he's talking about the Bible with a mirror. Beholding as in a mirror, the glory of the Lord, your change into the same image. Your change into the likeness of Christ, even as by the Lord the Spirit. If a person lives in this book and reads it, pours over, he's going to become like the author of this book. He's beholding the glory of the Lord as he's presented in his word and is going to take on some of the countenance of the Lord. Similar to the Lord. That's a remarkable thing, isn't it? You can help. the face you were born with, by reflecting the light you were born again with. Do you get the point? Maybe your outward features are not too much to be bragged about, but friend, you can change those outward looks by being born again, having a change from within. That's what God wants. It is nice. when you can see someone and they're reflecting peace, joy, happiness, contentment, satisfaction. Where do they get this expression of calm, quiet, competent? It comes from the heart. Strange to say, so Pateys urge young men to carry and consult a mirror. That struck me quite strange when you consider that it's generally the ladies that carry a mirror in their purse. But here is Socrates, and he's urging, he did back in those days, urge young men to carry a mirror. Well, this is what he said. If they find themselves handsome, it would remind them that an ugly life was not in keeping with good looks. That's right a point, isn't it? And he said, if they found themselves plain looking, they might remind themselves that handsome actions did much to improve ugly features. So you see how he balances it up. God looking upon the heart, and you reflect what you are by what your heart is. He comes out through your face. And that's what James is getting at. You know, when you think of the Old Testament, men evidently didn't see their wife or their bride till after the marriage. You remember when Isaac came to get Rebecca, and Rebecca was going to meet Isaac, and when she said, who is this man that comes with the warrant? But he says, that's Isaac. That's your future husband. And she veiled herself. And you remember that's how Laban fooled Jacob. For Jacob wanted Rachel. But he didn't get Rachel. He got Leah. And then Leah was under him. And the next morning, after the night, he saw he got the wrong one. Water shot. Because men didn't see what their bride looked like the last of the night. I guess there's been a lot of shock since. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised a lot of bride got shocked. In these days of long beard, they don't know what the husband looked like until they get shaved. It must be a shock. is one thing is just what am I as God gave me. What are my looks? What is my character? The Bible is very plain, very blunt. We are outwardly what we are inward. I remember years ago before whenever I came south, when my teens, the missionary came to the little church, And he told about the first time an African chief ever saw a mirror. He said it was comical. The first time that after then was true, God wants you to do something about that. Okay? God will give you a new heart, a new life that the ignorant he can't go on after him. Christ never will have. He will have not sinned. He did not suffer. He never would have tried had they not. He came under the swamp and he gave up his life with him. When you have Christ in your heart and you're born again and you have a new life, he's not suffering for anyone. He saved. He saved. That's what the Lord wants to have. This morning is what they man with the wise, though man be born and listen to this. They man, the Bible says, would be wise, though man is born like a wild afterscoat. They men with their puffed up knowledge. They would be wise. Yet, says God, they're born like a wild ass. They've got a fallen nature, and it's still there. And it says in the Old Testament, the first thing of an ass, thou shalt redeem with the lamb, and if thou shalt not redeem it, break its neck. The next speaks of stubbornness. And God has provided a redemption, a substitute for your soul salvation. That poor little creature, eight days old, has left the owner of a found lamb to die in its place. It has to have its neck broken. The first thing I'm going to ask, thou shalt redeem the lamb. And if you don't redeem it, break it next. God has provided a salvation for men and women that he likened unto vagueness, vagueness. And if you don't accept that redemption, God's going to break your neck. Your pride is going to crack. You're stubborn. How does he conclude this passage? He says in verse twenty-seven, Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this. And that's very solemn. Before God and the Father, that means before God dies. what you are is going to be before God's eyes. He's the adjudicator. He's the appraiser. He's the one that knows your heart and the condition of it. It's in God's eyes we're dealing with more. And he says this in verse twenty-five, and I want to go over these last three verses temporarily and quickly. But who so looketh into the perfect law of liberty and continueth therein? This is one who's taken a good hard look. He being not a forgetful hearer, but the doer of the work this man shall be blessed. Here is a real believer. Here is one who's taken a good hard look. Here is the one who has heard with all his heart. He that heareth my word and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation. He's passed from death unto life. The next verse, verse twenty-six, is the shallow listener. He's deceived. If any man among you seemeth or think of himself to be religious, and bribeth not his tongue, but deceives his own heart. This man's religion is vain. Nothing to it, no gift to it. It's all on the surface. But the last verse, how wonderful it is. Verse twenty-seven, pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, to visit the fatherless and widows. in their affliction and to keep themselves unspotted from the world. Here is practical Christianity. Love to God, for that's the first command. Love to God and love to man, to visit the fatherless, the widow. Love to God and love to man. That's what salvation through salvation is. and good at it to keep himself unspotted from the world. Now you sum it up there. If you really hear with all your heart and you accept Jesus Christ, you will have a love for Christ. You'll love him because he first loved us. And you'll read the book about it. There you'll have practical righteousness, practical godliness. Leaving God seen in your love to man, and living for God, and living for others, keeping himself unfotted, not soiled, stained by this filthy world, you're living a consistent life. You've been born again. Now it's coming out in your country. coming out in your life. And people can say, he's a changed man. He's a changed woman. You're created in Christ Jesus. That's the change in the heart. On to good works. That's the outward part. That's what man sees with change. What about you this morning? Have you taken a good look at yourself? you haven't I hope you'll go home and read this first chapter of James and take another book and keep looking until an impression is made and you come to Christ and find out what you are before him and you get saved and you'll know that's an impression that lasts for eternity shall we pray our Father in heaven in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ we come into thy presence We thank thee for thy holy word. Father, may it be blessed to all our hearts. We thank the surgeon for finding our trouble and administering to us. And taking care of it, O Father, thou art a great physician. Thou hast examined, let's read our hearts this morning. The report is true. We're lost. On the way to hell, those who are not born again. Father, we thank you, Father, for come the remedy. For the remedies in the Lord Jesus Christ whose blood cleanseth from all sin. Thou hast the situation in hand. Salvation is of the Lord. What sin did thou can't undo. Thou can't give us a new life in Christ. Oh, that some who are not Christian this morning may become Christian by receiving the Savior now. We ask of His worthy and precious name. Remember.