1 JOHN+—An Illustrated Summary of Life Applications from Every Chapter of the Bible by G. Campbell Morgan

"On every page of the God-breathed writings are many thoughts that stretch out like long, clear arms of light across the darkness, discovering things otherwise hidden and illuminating wider areas than those of the immediate context. They are searchlights. I have selected one in each chapter of Scripture, for at least one central thought in every chapter should arrest the mind and affect the life," wrote G. Campbell Morgan, a skilled, wise, warm-hearted Bible teacher who conducted a classic 3-year study called Life Applications from Every Chapter of the Bible. Here is the fruit of that research—summarized, illustrated, and amplified with useful details—on all 66 books of the Bible.

GENESIS, EXODUS, LEVITICUS, NUMBERS, 

DEUTERONOMY, JOSHUA, JUDGES, RUTH, 

1 SAMUEL, 2 SAMUEL, 1 KINGS,  2 KINGS, 

1 CHRONICLES, 2 CHRONICLES, EZRA, 

NEHEMIAH, ESTHER, JOB, PSALMS, 

PROVERBS, ECCLESIASTES, 

SONG OF SOLOMON,  ISAIAH, JEREMIAH,

 LAMENTATIONS, EZEKIEL, DANIEL, 

HOSEA, JOEL, AMOS, OBADIAH, JONAH, 

MICAH, NAHUM, HABAKKUK, ZEPHANIAH,  

HAGGAI, ZECHARIAH, MALACHI,

 MATTHEW, MARK, LUKE, JOHN, 

ACTS, ROMANS, 1 CORINTHIANS,

2 CORINTHIANS, GALATIANS, EPHESIANS, 

PHILIPPIANS, COLOSSIANS, 1 THESSALONIANS,

2 THESSALONIANS, 1 TIMOTHY,  2 TIMOTHY, TITUS,

PHILEMON, HEBREWS, JAMES, 1 PETER, 2 PETER,

1 JOHN, 2 JOHN, 3 JOHN, JUDE, REVELATION

1 John 1:3 "Our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ." First John is the first of three general letters the aged apostle John wrote to reaffirm the core of the Christian faith: the full humanity and deity of the Lord Jesus Christ and the obedience to Scripture and genuine love that characterize all true Christians. John begins, "That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes ... and our hands have handled concerning the Word of life ... that ... we declare to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us." Peter said essentially the same thing: "We did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty" (2 Peter 1:16). These apostles had literal fellowship with the Lord Jesus from the beginning of His ministry, and were led by Him into fellowship with God the Father. Those of us who believe their eyewitness testimony are drawn into the same fellowship, which expresses itself in a relationship and community that shares resources and responsibilities. The Father, His Son Jesus Christ, and all believers have all things in common. All the resources of each in this wondrous relationship are at the disposal of the others. Such is the grace of our God. In Him "is light, and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with Him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as He is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another" (verses 5-7), which makes it clear we are genuine believers whose sins Christ has indeed forgiven.

1 John 2:15 "If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him." It has been said that the apostle John was never afraid of an apparent contradiction when it would save his readers from a real contradiction. The apparent contradiction is how this highlighted verse from 1 John correlates with this famous verse from John's Gospel: "God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son" (John 3:16). To interpret each statement correctly, we must determine what "the world" refers to in each. The world God so loved is the whole order of His creation, at the summit of which under Himself is mankind. He gave His Son to redeem and reinstate sinful men and women, which will lead to the redemption and reinstatement of creation (Romans 8:19-22). The world we are not to love John later describes like this: "the whole world lies in the power of the evil one" (1 John 5:19). To love this world as it is—alienated from God and in rebellion against Him ever since the first man and woman fell to the temptation of the evil one—is impossible for the man and woman who loves it with the love of the Father. Since God's love seeks the world's highest good, it can make no terms with evil, but is willing to die that it may live. That is the radical difference between the child of God and the man of the world.

 

1 John 3:18 "Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and truth." That is the practical application of a train of thought beginning like this: " By this we know love, that [the Lord Jesus] laid down His life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers" (verse 16). Whatever other ideas about love people may have, the Christian  recognizes the supreme manifestation of it in Christ. Then John asks a pointed question: "But if anyone has this world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him?" Only one answer makes sense, which is that such a person  obviously lacks the love of God. John's application of these truths puts two kinds of love into contrast: love in word or talk versus love in deed and truth. Opposed to love in word is love in deed; opposed to love in talk is love in truth. Love in word may possibly be sincere, but it is of no real value if it stops short of the deed. Love in deed is always of value, even though it speaks no word. Love in talk is evidently insincere since it is contrasted with love in truth. Therefore, the first love is not love at all. Love that professes, but does not act, is not true love. Love that acts is love in truth.

1 John 4:19 "We love because He first loved us." John writes with simple precision here. We can love God only because He first loved us, but it is also true that we love one another and all people because God first loved us. John had come to realize that much of what is called love is not love at all from God's perspective. He has already declared, "By this we know love, that He laid down His life for us, and we ought to lay down our loves for the brothers" (1 John 3:16), "Love is of God" (1 John 4:7), and superlatively, "Love is God" (1 John 4:8). Nothing, therefore, is worthy of the name love that is not of that nature. In now saying "we love," John is not describing any mere human affection or emotion, behind which may lurk considerable selfishness, but is upholding as a diamond on display pure, disinterested love that pours itself out in uttermost giving. We come to experience and give out that kind of love only when we find it redeeming us at infinite cost. The apostle Paul describes that reality here: "God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit ... given to us. For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die—but God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:5-8). When we come to know that love, then we do truly love. We love God in an utter abandonment of all we are and have to Him. Nothing is withheld from Him. We love people with the same abandonment. Like with the early disciples, anything we have is valuable in proportion as it may be given for the enrichment of others.

1 John 5:21 "Little children, guard yourselves from idols." That is how this letter of fellowship and love startlingly and yet appropriately ends. The cry of the heart that truly knows God is, "What have I to do with idols?" (Hosea 14:8). Still, however, the warning is necessary. There can be no perfect fellowship if devotion is divided. The one and only peril that threatens us in the life of fellowship is admitting any person or passion that seeks to share the supreme place in our lives with our Lord Jesus, through whom we also have fellowship with God the Father and God the Holy Spirit. Therefore anything that divides the heart in its loyalty to the Lord is an idol. It can be something plainly wicked or something good in itself, but used as a substitute for God and His Word. Whether person, place, thing, or idea, if its influence alienates us from our Lord, it is an idol. John uses strong language to describe the remedy for idolatry: he speaks of keeping ourselves in isolation from idols. We are not to go near them, nor to allow them to come near us. Anything that has the remotest chance of interfering with our fellowship is to be put away and kept away. Our devotion to our Lord Jesus Christ is to be kept pure.

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2 PETER+—An Illustrated Summary of Life Applications from Every Chapter of the Bible by G. Campbell Morgan

"On every page of the God-breathed writings are many thoughts that stretch out like long, clear arms of light across the darkness, discovering things otherwise hidden and illuminating wider areas than those of the immediate context. They are searchlights. I have selected one in each chapter of Scripture, for at least one central thought in every chapter should arrest the mind and affect the life," wrote G. Campbell Morgan, a skilled, wise, warm-hearted Bible teacher who conducted a classic 3-year study called Life Applications from Every Chapter of the Bible. Here is the fruit of that research—summarized, illustrated, and amplified with useful details—on all 66 books of the Bible.

GENESIS, EXODUS, LEVITICUS, NUMBERS, 

DEUTERONOMY, JOSHUA, JUDGES, RUTH, 

1 SAMUEL, 2 SAMUEL, 1 KINGS,  2 KINGS, 

1 CHRONICLES, 2 CHRONICLES, EZRA, 

NEHEMIAH, ESTHER, JOB, PSALMS, 

PROVERBS, ECCLESIASTES, 

SONG OF SOLOMON,  ISAIAH, JEREMIAH,

 LAMENTATIONS, EZEKIEL, DANIEL, 

HOSEA, JOEL, AMOS, OBADIAH, JONAH, 

MICAH, NAHUM, HABAKKUK, ZEPHANIAH,  

HAGGAI, ZECHARIAH, MALACHI,

 MATTHEW, MARK, LUKE, JOHN, 

ACTS, ROMANS, 1 CORINTHIANS,

2 CORINTHIANS, GALATIANS, EPHESIANS, 

PHILIPPIANS, COLOSSIANS, 1 THESSALONIANS,

2 THESSALONIANS, 1 TIMOTHY,  2 TIMOTHY, TITUS,

PHILEMON, HEBREWS, JAMES, 1 PETER, 2 PETER,

1 JOHN, 2 JOHN, 3 JOHN, JUDE, REVELATION

2 Peter 1:9 "Whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins." Second Peter is the second of two letters the apostle Peter wrote. He begins with this astonishing reality for all true believers in the Lord Jesus Christ: "His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness ... by which He has granted to us His precious and very great promises so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature" (verses 3-4). That is God's part in our sanctification, or progressive holiness and Christ-likeness. This is what Peter says about our part: "Make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue ... knowledge ... self-control ... steadfastness ... godliness ... and brotherly affection with love" (verses 5-7). The verse highlighted above is a graphic description of the spiritual condition of a Christian who fails to advance as Peter outlines. The condition, thankfully, is not total blindness, but a serious form of nearsightedness. Such a person sees what is immediately before him or her, but fails to recall what is eternal. He focuses on himself but not on God. He has "forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins," which means he has failed to respond to the enlargement of life and vision that came to him when he received the cleansing of his nature at the beginning of his Christian life. The cure for this nearsightedness, Peter says, is to "be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities," the aforementioned virtues that characterize our Savior, who purchased our forgiveness, "you will never fall. For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ" (verses 10-11). High levels of assurance rightly accompany high levels of obedience rooted in God's grace.

2 Peter 2:19 "They promise freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption. Whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved." This entire chapter is a serious warning about false prophets or teachers who promise freedom, but cannot deliver. This verse explains why they cannot. The apostle Paul says something similar here: "Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?" (Romans 6:16). It is a truth mankind is slow to believe because it means that the freedom of the will is strictly limited. I am free to choose my master. I am not free when I have chosen. I become the servant of that master. A man or woman may choose to yield to temptation and sin, but in doing so he or she becomes the servant of that sin. It is impossible for anyone to treat sin as completely under his control, to be either indulged in or set aside at will. Yielding is yielding and that means submission, the bending of the neck, and being compelled to obey the commands of sin. The only way to freedom from the mastery of sin is escape through submission to Christ, and that submission must be more than an act, but instead an attitude maintained by steady action. Otherwise, to quote Peter, those who superficially profess faith in Christ but are again entangled in the defilements of the world, "the last state has become worse for them than the first. It would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them" (verses 20-21).  This truth humbles the soul and leaves no room for pride of will. When we recognize and obey it, however, we will remain free from the dominion of sin. Abandoning ourselves to the Lord delivers us from the power of sin, but in no other way shall we be anything other than slaves of sin.

2 Peter 3:8 "Do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day." Peter concludes his final letter with a challenge to Christians of all times and places to rethink how we think about time. We basically need to cancel the time element when contemplating the ways and works of God. Time is as nothing to God. We become hurried and flustered because we have only a day in which to do something. God has no such unrest, for in our small one day He is able to accomplish things we could only hope to do in a thousand years. On the other hand, we look down on the long time that must elapse before things can happen that we earnestly desire, but to God a thousand-year wait is as a day in passing. Throughout this chapter Peter has been talking about the imminent return of our Lord Jesus Christ. People today tend to declare either that the promised return is false because about 2,000 years have passed since the promise was made or that He who made it is not acting as speedily as He might. But when we look at time from the Lord's perspective, thanks to Peter's clarity, we see that the purposes of God are so vast that their working out in human experience must take place at what He deems to be the optimum point in our time. On the other hand, His power is such that if and when He will, things can be done in the "twinkling of an eye" that will revolutionize all life, something so overwhelming that it will strike either irresistible love or irresistible horror into every creature. To let Peter have the last word, "What sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! But according to His promise we are waiting for a new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells" (verses 11-13). Meanwhile, "grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity" (verse 18).

Read All the Applications for Yourself!

1 PETER+—An Illustrated Summary of Life Applications from Every Chapter of the Bible by G. Campbell Morgan

"On every page of the God-breathed writings are many thoughts that stretch out like long, clear arms of light across the darkness, discovering things otherwise hidden and illuminating wider areas than those of the immediate context. They are searchlights. I have selected one in each chapter of Scripture, for at least one central thought in every chapter should arrest the mind and affect the life," wrote G. Campbell Morgan, a skilled, wise, warm-hearted Bible teacher who conducted a classic 3-year study called Life Applications from Every Chapter of the Bible. Here is the fruit of that research—summarized, illustrated, and amplified with useful details—on all 66 books of the Bible.

GENESIS, EXODUS, LEVITICUS, NUMBERS, 

DEUTERONOMY, JOSHUA, JUDGES, RUTH, 

1 SAMUEL, 2 SAMUEL, 1 KINGS,  2 KINGS, 

1 CHRONICLES, 2 CHRONICLES, EZRA, 

NEHEMIAH, ESTHER, JOB, PSALMS, 

PROVERBS, ECCLESIASTES, 

SONG OF SOLOMON,  ISAIAH, JEREMIAH,

 LAMENTATIONS, EZEKIEL, DANIEL, 

HOSEA, JOEL, AMOS, OBADIAH, JONAH, 

MICAH, NAHUM, HABAKKUK, ZEPHANIAH,  

HAGGAI, ZECHARIAH, MALACHI,

 MATTHEW, MARK, LUKE, JOHN, 

ACTS, ROMANS, 1 CORINTHIANS,

2 CORINTHIANS, GALATIANS, EPHESIANS, 

PHILIPPIANS, COLOSSIANS, 1 THESSALONIANS,

2 THESSALONIANS, 1 TIMOTHY,  2 TIMOTHY, TITUS,

PHILEMON, HEBREWS, JAMES, 1 PETER, 2 PETER,

1 JOHN, 2 JOHN, 3 JOHN, JUDE, REVELATION

1 Peter 1:12 "Things into which angels long to look." First Peter is the first of two letters the apostle Peter wrote to the church at large in many locations. It opens with praise to God and proceeds exuberantly to deal with the wonders of Christian experience and privilege. Because of God's mercy, Peter tells all Christians, we have been "born again to a living hope," to an inheritance kept in heaven for us. That, of course, brings joy, which brings encouragement as we face necessary trials in this life while we wait for the next, which all have the good effect of refining and testing or proving the genuineness of our faith. "Concerning this salvation," Peter writes, "the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, wondering what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories." These are things into which angels long to look. This helps us realize the depths and glories of our salvation. The angels are the unfallen beings who serve God in holiness and dwell with Him in the light. So great is human salvation that they desire to understand it better. This longing is of the simplest and strongest kind, showing us they realize its amazing wonder and earnestly wish to apprehend it. The Greek word translated "look" is also a strong one, suggesting the closest attention and inspection of ones bent over in careful examination. While prophets sought and searched diligently, and angels still long to look at, those of us who are the objects of this mercy so full of wonder should be satisfied  with nothing less than our utmost diligence to grasp the deep things of our "inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading."

1 Peter 2:7 "The honor or preciousness is for you who believe." This is speaking about the preciousness of Christ, the stone the builders rejected who in fact became the cornerstone of God's building. The declaration is not that believers know the preciousness of Christ, but rather that they share it. Preciousness speaks of honor and the qualities worthy of honor. Twice in this passage Christ is described as precious in God's estimate. We know the things in Christ that made Him precious and honorable in the sight of God: His purity, His love, and His conformity to the perfect will of God. All these things are communicated to those who believe in Christ! His very life and nature are given to the believer, and by the might of their working, make that believer precious with His preciousness. He is the living Stone, and those who come to Him in saving faith receive that very quality of life that is His, thereby becoming living stones in God's building. It is in the power of that preciousness that they become "an elect race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession," and so enabled "to show forth the excellencies" of God.

1 Peter 3:15 "In your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect." At the center of the Christian life is but one Lord, and that is Christ. Christians faithfully honoring that fact maintain unity of being, consistency of conduct, and accomplishment of purpose. To do otherwise is to be divided in our own life, inconsistent in our conduct, and ineffective in our service. Divided loyalties, such as our own selfish desires, worldly wisdom, and the pressure of circumstances, bring disaster. Therefore the urgency of this command. To hallow the heart by excluding all other lords except Christ Himself is to be strong, true, and effective. His knowledge is perfect, not only of the heart, but also of our circumstances and the true way of life. To be governed by many lords is to be in bondage to them all and desolated by their conflicting ways. To be in bondage to Christ is to be released from all other captivity. Living like that will lead to good and sincere spiritual questions from people seeking hope. Our answer is to be a defense. The Greek word translated "defense" is apologia so Christian apologetics are not apologies but defenses based on evidence. The Christian faith is reasonable, but it is also humble, which is why Peter says the evidence we present for Christian hope is to be explained with gentleness and respect.

1 Peter 4:16 "If anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name." This is one of the few places in the New Testament where that description of believers is used. There are only three. In the first we are told where it originated: "The disciples were first called Christians in Antioch" (Acts 11:26). It was not necessarily a term of reproach, but one used to mark the fact that they were followers of Christ. The second is a cynical remark made by King Herod Agrippa II to the apostle Paul: "In such a short time would you persuade me to be a Christian?" (Acts 26:28). The third and last time is here, where Peter makes it obvious that sometimes suffering comes with being known as a Christian. The apostle says two things in view of that fact. The first is that no shame is attached to such suffering. Perhaps he is remembering when he and his fellow apostles had been beaten before the Jewish council in Jerusalem and ordered not to speak about Christ. Although in actual physical agony from the stripes laid on them, they nevertheless "left the presence of the council rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the Name" (Acts 5:41).  The second word is a command: "Let him glorify God in that name." That is more than glorying in the Name of Jesus Christ the Lord; it is also living worthily to the glory of God. If a person is known as a Christian but does not live as one, he or she dishonors God. To bear the Name is to take a responsibility both great and solemn.

1 Peter 5:9 "Knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brethren throughout the world." Peter ends the meat of his first letter to the church at large like this: "Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for 'God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.' Humble yourselves, therefore, under  the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time He may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on Him because He cares for you. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brethren throughout the world. And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you" (verses 5-10). This is comfort amid conflict. No brother or sister in Christ is fighting alone. Each one is at once supporting and supported by all the rest. Therefore to stop standing firm is to weaken the line of spiritual battle and create an advantage for the enemy of our souls, but to continue to withstand is to strengthen that line and make it difficult for the foe to break through. The resources of our enemy are not limitless. The greater the number of loyal soldiers opposed to him, the greater the difficulty he has advancing upon one soul. The resources of our Lord, the great Captain of our salvation, are limitless. In proportion as we avail ourselves of them, we are invincible. Remember that when temptation comes. If we yield, we weaken the whole battleline. If we stand firm in our faith, the strength of our victory adds power to all the ranks. We need never yield, not only because our Lord is on our side—that is enough—but also because all our brethren who resist are helping us. We never fight alone.

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JAMES+—An Illustrated Summary of Life Applications from Every Chapter of the Bible by G. Campbell Morgan

"On every page of the God-breathed writings are many thoughts that stretch out like long, clear arms of light across the darkness, discovering things otherwise hidden and illuminating wider areas than those of the immediate context. They are searchlights. I have selected one in each chapter of Scripture, for at least one central thought in every chapter should arrest the mind and affect the life," wrote G. Campbell Morgan, a skilled, wise, warm-hearted Bible teacher who conducted a classic 3-year study called Life Applications from Every Chapter of the Bible. Here is the fruit of that research—summarized, illustrated, and amplified with useful details—on all 66 books of the Bible.

GENESIS, EXODUS, LEVITICUS, NUMBERS, 

DEUTERONOMY, JOSHUA, JUDGES, RUTH, 

1 SAMUEL, 2 SAMUEL, 1 KINGS,  2 KINGS, 

1 CHRONICLES, 2 CHRONICLES, EZRA, 

NEHEMIAH, ESTHER, JOB, PSALMS, 

PROVERBS, ECCLESIASTES, 

SONG OF SOLOMON,  ISAIAH, JEREMIAH,

 LAMENTATIONS, EZEKIEL, DANIEL, 

HOSEA, JOEL, AMOS, OBADIAH, JONAH, 

MICAH, NAHUM, HABAKKUK, ZEPHANIAH,  

HAGGAI, ZECHARIAH, MALACHI,

 MATTHEW, MARK, LUKE, JOHN, 

ACTS, ROMANS, 1 CORINTHIANS,

2 CORINTHIANS, GALATIANS, EPHESIANS, 

PHILIPPIANS, COLOSSIANS, 1 THESSALONIANS,

2 THESSALONIANS, 1 TIMOTHY,  2 TIMOTHY, TITUS,

PHILEMON, HEBREWS, JAMES, 1 PETER, 2 PETER,

1 JOHN, 2 JOHN, 3 JOHN, JUDE, REVELATION

James 1:22 "Be doers of the Word, and not hearers only." Sometimes called the Proverbs of the New Testament, this Letter written by James, the half brother of our Lord Jesus Christ, speaks as by one who grew up with Him. James witnessed His practical holiness day in and day out, was personally visited by the resurrected Christ (1 Corinthians 15:7), and was with his mother and brothers in the upper room praying with other faithful disciples as they waited for the promised Holy Spirit (Acts 1:14). James became one of the main leaders of the Jerusalem church. He knew by long experience the harmony between the Lord's teaching and His life. Therefore James emphasizes here and in the next chapter that a faith not expressed by deeds is of no value at all. He had just spoken of "the implanted Word, which is able to save your souls" (James 1:21). That is one of the reasons two classic Christian Confessions define saving faith as "receiving and resting on Christ and His righteousness, the alone instrument of justification; yet is it not alone in the person justified, but is ever accompanied with all other saving graces, and is no dead faith, but worketh by love" (WCF and LBCF 11.2). There is no profit, but rather the reverse, in hearing if there is no doing: as useless as looking in a mirror but not acting on what you see or merely knowing Jesus is Lord, like a demon does, but not submitting willingly to His lordship.

James 2:12 "Speak and act as those who are to be judged under the Law of liberty." James introduces this Law in the previous chapter: "The one who looks into the Perfect Law, the Law of Liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing" (James 1:25). He goes on to say, "If you really fulfill the Royal Law according to the Scripture, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself,' you are doing well" (James 2:8). That great Law from Leviticus 19 Jesus described as the second greatest commandment, the first being, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind." The Law of Liberty defines our relationship to God and man as love-mastered. To speak and act under that impulse by the saving work of God in us through Christ is to be free indeed. James concludes, "Judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment" (James 2:13). If the Law of Liberty is disobeyed, if no mercy is shown, then judgment based on that Law will show no mercy. Love is the most vigilant guard over one's own words and works. If it is obeyed, then is life a life of liberty. If it is disobeyed, we will be in bondage until we show mercy. We are to treat others with the mercy Jesus shows toward us, with love from the inside of us spilling out onto those around us.

James 3:18 "The fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace." James has been contrasting the fruit or actions of the unrighteous with the righteous. What he calls wisdom from below is earthly, unspiritual, and demonic, characterized by jealousy, selfish ambition, disorder, and every vile practice. "But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial, and sincere." Righteousness bears fruit after its own kind, which is peace, which begets more of the same. Our Lord said in His Beatitudes, "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God." Here that blessedness is shown in its effect. The peacemakers are those who live by heavenly wisdom, which is first pure and then peaceable. Those who make lasting peace do not compromise with wrong. They do not seek for peace at the expense of righteousness. Such compromises never secure peace, but make it impossible. However, to stand for righteousness, even though there must be conflict and suffering, is to sow the only kind of fruit that will bring true peace. The ways of God are the ways of goodness. To do right at the cost of ease is to make peace. To seek ease at the cost of righteousness is to drive away peace.

James 4:11-12 "If you judge the Law, you are not a doer of the Law but a judge. There is one one Lawgiver and Judge: He who is able to save and destroy!" James writes this in connection with judging or speaking evil of a brother or sister in Christ. His words are clear, sharp, and incisive in showing the wrong of all such action. As we have seen, the Royal Law of love says we should love our neighbor as ourselves. To speak evil against a brother or to judge his motives is the same as speaking against this Law and condemning it as worthless! In addition, it is impossible for anyone to find a final verdict against his brother or sister. One only is able to do that: the same One who makes the laws for the government of human lives. He alone knows whom He governs, and His laws are the result of that perfect knowledge. Therefore His laws are just, as are His judgments. He only, therefore, can pass sentence of salvation or destruction. Since our judgment is to come from the Lord, then with what care we should live! His judgment is perfectly righteous. If that fact fills the soul with a perpetual sense of awe, it also gives comfort and courage because righteous judgment passes beyond all actions to the underlying motives and aspirations. The apostle Paul, writing later about this matter, explains, "I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not thereby acquitted. It is the Lord who judges me. Therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. Then each one will receive his commendation from God" (1 Corinthians 4:4-5).

James 5:7 "Be patient, therefore, brothers and sisters, until the coming of the Lord." These words follow a stern denunciation of prosperous men who gained their prosperity by wronging their countrymen. Their worst offense? "You have condemned and murdered the righteous person. He does not resist you" (verse 6). The most notorious example of that, of course, is the Lord Jesus Christ, described as "the Holy and Righteous One" by Peter in a powerful sermon James probably heard preached. Thinking of the sufferings of many to whom he is writing—sufferings resulting from the oppression of such men as he just denounced—James appears to remember that Jesus Himself did not resist His persecutors. Therefore, he calls his brothers and sisters in the Faith, which include us, to be patient or longsuffering until our Lord returns. That is the day when all wrongs will be righted. For that day His suffering ones are to wait, and in their waiting, to be longsuffering even towards those who oppress them. That is the attitude of God Himself, whom James likens to a farmer: "See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and late rains. You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand" (verses 7-8). Too often we are inclined to become impatient as we wait. To the true child of God, however, the coming of the Lord is always at hand and in mind. The glory of it sheds unceasing light on our way. We walk in that light when we thank God at every morning's dawn and evening's shadows. Our Lord Jesus has not returned yet only because God is still waiting for the precious fruit of the earth, which is the saving of precious souls. Thank God He waited for us! Let us be patient in fellowship with Him.

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