James Chapter 1:19 - 2:26 - Pastor Brad DeLong

I'm thankful that the lights flickering is not the only sign of a power surge in the building but the Holy Ghost is here and the true litmus test of that song has given our all is whether we give it when the conditions are right or not so in this case whether the mics are working or not we're going to praise and when I'm outside this if if life is going perfectly or not I'm going to praise and if I'm walking through a trial or not I'm still going to praise those conditions change the fact that he's worthy so I will praise you I will give you my all I'm gonna praise that name that's Worthy of Every Praise I thank God I've got 26 added reasons Bishop text me before I

came up 26 children have received the baptism of the Holy Ghost at camp this week one of our own [name redacted] received it as well last night we thank God thank God for what he's doing thank you worship team for praising God whether those mics were going to help you out or not thank you AVM team for helping us out thank God for his wonderful presence that's here and the rain is coming all right you can be seated tonight in the presence of the Lord so good to be with you all and I want to commend you in the presence uh of a full summer slate vacations in full swing Junior Camp happening I'm just glad you're here tonight

and I believe you've come ready to dive into the word of Truth we were up in in Canada for a wonderful wedding so good to have a Garrett and Holly back we were there for a wedding and we met a man at a breakfast spot up there and he found out that uh me and Bishop were ministers and he said you know I'm a pastor and we said that's wonderful that's awesome he said but our church is closed for the summer he said we just take the summer off and I got in the car after and I thought thank God he can move in the summer and we are fully open and we're ready

for moves of God and that's not to disparage anyone but we're going to praise God whether it's storming or not whether it's summer or not we're going to be here we're going to be faithful and his word is going to help us and tonight I am so excited to dive into this book this book of James together glad to have our kids with us in this room and I recognize I'm up against the clock with them here but they want to learn too so we're going to dive into this this book this book of James truth is I I absolutely love this book it's chock full of what I call truth bombs and just plain language

and commands and James just doesn't seem to care what in the world his readers and his audience thinks he's just gonna say it anyway and you'll find this out there's a man named Tim Mackey heads up a an organization called the Bible project he said described James one of the best ways I've heard described he said James is a beautifully crafted punch in the gut for those who want to follow Jesus a beautifully crafted punch in the gut is Tim Mackey and it is it is if you ever just need a good punch in the gut read James All right but Peter Wright told me that he had one Theologian gave just a PhD level assessment of James very lofty very academic

but this Theologian said James is like being slapped in the face with a soggy fish whatever that means but it is just in your face and it's one of my personal favorite books in the Bible it's refreshing to hear the truth in such a blunt and in your face way especially in light of the culture in which we live so as we heard last week I want to give just a little synopsis of this book and then we're going to dive in James the half-brother of Jesus he just doesn't water anything down he he gives us in that original audience in the original audience was likely Messianic Jews outside of Jerusalem Jerusalem he

he gives us the straight laced version of things in a letter that many consider to be the first ever written in the New Testament era and as I said it was written to a Jewish audience and you can see their culture and the foundation of Judaism all throughout the letter we'll notice that throughout and instead of this letter being written to just one church only it was likely written to several churches and just passed around it'd be like our superintendent brother Bernard writing a letter to several churches in the United Pentecostal church and just like brother Bernard James was also a leader probably the leader of the Jerusalem Church the mother church and

he led this church through years of uh the first years of Christianity which were difficult years think about what happened in this span of time as the church began to get off the ground they faced persecution they faced famine and eventually they faced the great dispersion they all were scattered and James is writing to some of those scattered Christians James himself was likely martyred after writing this letter so you can see the full weight of the words that he uses and especially the full weight of the of the first few verses we talked about last week when James writes and proclaims hey consider it all joy when you go through various trials he's not saying that

in the vacuum he's saying that knowing that he's likely at this point lost some some fellow leaders in the Jerusalem Church that people are facing persecution he's uh he may not have known at the time but he's staring down execution himself he says those things from a place of experience and when you hear that it makes you think okay this is not some guy sitting up on a Mountaintop on his high horse saying hey you uh down in the dumps you consider no no this man has faced persecution he's he's seen it firsthand he led the church to a difficult season with several of their key leaders being martyred and persecution all around

and that's why some of the key themes of the book are so critical for us to know as I mentioned he starts talking about trials he eventually goes on to those themes those themes include Faith how you live out that face so tonight we're saying all My Worship all my we Proclaim that we're going to give all and we actually have to live it out James is very concerned with these things he he gets in our grills he gets in the faces of those original Jews he challenges them to actually live what they profess to believe so if you're going to sing the song or you're going to say something live it it's one of my friends said don't just talk about

it be about it live it out so it gets in our business quite a bit and and he Spurs those original hearers and us to good works just as the writer of Hebrews discusses James just seems to have no stomach whatsoever for half-hearted religion or as he puts it useless religion or for people who Proclaim that they believe something and didn't live it out he talks about this continually throughout in fact one of the things I found most interesting and you'll notice this word uh the word perfect James uses this word perfect meaning wholeness he uses it seven times in the book which is significant and what he's getting at is that in order

for us to be whole or perfect our actions actually have to align with our professed fate our faith needs to influence everything we do everything we speak he talks a lot of if you've read this book you know he talks a lot about what you say so everything you speak has to align with what you believe in that way we can be whole again you'll see that theme throughout this book the other one you'll see is James thoughts and allusions to wisdom in the wisdom of God this book has been called the the New Testament Book of Proverbs by many it it echoes the Proverbs specifically Proverbs one through nine and it includes 12 individual wisdom speeches

so if you uh took James and kind of outlined it uh Tim Mathew I mentioned earlier says it's almost like a quilt uh just a patch of of different wisdom speeches 12 wisdom speeches that he has individual speeches and they're tied together by these Central themes and by that first chapter that introduces each of these themes we're going to see two of those speeches in chapter two and I'll make sure to point those out so different patches and they seem to stand alone but they're all tied together they're connected by the main themes of Faith wisdom and love which is the final theme I'll mention tonight before we Dive In love we're going to see right off the bat

in chapter 2. it's explicitly stated and it ties everything together it's it acts as a a linchpin for this book you're going to see this in Chapter 2 and verse 8. he says if you really fulfill the Royal law according to the scriptures if you really love your neighbor as yourself you do well that's a linchpin for this book many of those 12 wisdom speeches are connected to this theme and to the others and it's abundantly clear throughout the book especially as James addresses tough topics like how to treat the poor and the destitute as opposed to how to treat the rich some a little more historical background some think that there was a dispute happening

when James wrote this between the rich and the poor you see that quite a bit the the interaction between those who are well off and those who are not some think that there was some kind of dispute happen in these churches and James is addressing that because he gets so specific about that but either way his answer to all of this and you'll see this is the Royal law the one that shapes his letter and our foundation as well love the Lord your God love your neighbor as yourself so we've got to keep all of that in mind I know I went through that somewhat quickly of trying to give you some background some context on this book keep that

in mind the history of the church at that time their struggle their persecution keep these themes wisdom true faith and love in mind and when you do it helps fill in the gaps as you read this awesome straightforward gut punch of a letter with all that in mind we're going to read the last part of chapter one but the reavers started chapter one last week and then we're going to read all the way through chapter two and we're going to keep these themes of Faith wisdom and love and mind as well as those 12 wisdom speeches afterwards we're going to do a brief exercise those of you who have been in a class similar to this

you know if you didn't get a handout you need to raise your hand and we'll get you one of those handouts but our core values are on that handout so as we read through this be looking for those core value use and I'm going to give you some time after we read this to fill in where you found those core values starting verse 19 of chapter one this is after James discusses our approach to trials our requests the need for wisdom in our faith and I'm going to try to read this a little slower than I typically do because I've been told I can read quickly and I need to slow down so here

we go he says in verse 19 so then my beloved Brethren let every man be swift to hear slow to speak slow to wrath for the Wrath yeah Amber's laughing because I'm too swear okay I'm slow just speaking on this matter for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God verse 21 therefore I'm talking about that righteousness lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word which is able to save your souls just a hint there's one of our core values right there the implanted word which is able to save your souls truth all right be doers of the word and not hearers only deceiving yourselves

if anyone's a hero of the word and not a doer he's like a man observing his natural face in a mirror for he observes himself he goes away and immediately forgets what kind of man he was but he who looks into the perfect law of Liberty and continues in it and it's not a forgetful hero but a doer of the word this one will be blessed in what he does if anyone among you thinks he's religious and doesn't Bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart this one's religion is useless there you are James just giving it to us straight pure and undefiled religion before God and the father is this to visit orphans

and widows in their trouble to keep oneself unspotted from the world we go into chapter two and this is the first of those wisdom speeches chapter 2 verse one my brethren do not hold the Faith of Our Lord Jesus Christ the lord of Glory with partiality for there should come into your assembly a man who has gold rings and fine apparel and there should also come in a man and filthy clothes and you pay attention to the one wearing the fine clothes and you say to that man will you sit here in a good place and then you say to the poor man you stand there why don't you sit here at my footstool have

you not shown partiality among yourselves and and you become judges with evil thoughts listen my beloved brother has God not chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and Heirs of the Kingdom which he promised to those who love him but you've Dishonored the poor man do not the rich oppress you and drag you into the courts do they not blaspheme that Noble Name by which you are called if you really fulfill the Royal law according to the scripture you shall love your neighbor as yourself if you really do that you do well but if you show partiality you commit sin and you're convicted by the law as transgressors for whoever shall keep the whole law

and yet stumble in one point he's guilty of all for he who said do not commit adultery also said do not murder now if you don't commit adultery but you do murder you become a transgressor of the law so speak and so do as those who will be judged by the law of Liberty for judgment is without Mercy to the one who has shown No Mercy Mercy triumphs over judgment then he goes into the second wisdom speech it rounds out the end of chapter two he says what does it profit my brethren if someone says he has Faith but does not have worse can Faith save him if a brother or sister is naked

and destitute of daily food and one of you says them depart in peace be warm be filled but you don't give them the things which are needed for the body what does it profit that's also Faith by itself if it doesn't have works it's it's dead but someone will say you have faith and I have Works show me your faith without your works and I'll show you my faith by my works you believe there's one God you do well even the demons believe and tremble but you want to know a foolish man that fakes without works is dead it wasn't on Abraham Our Father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar do

you see that Faith was working together with his Works in my Works Faith was made perfect the scripture was fulfilled which says Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him for righteousness he was called the friend of God see then that a man is justified by works and not by faith only likewise was not Rahab the Harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way for as the body without the spirit is dead so faith without works is dead also at this point I just imagine he just drops the mic and then he picks it back up again and goes into chapter three I wanted to take a moment

and search this passage for some core values the Bible talks about studying to show ourselves study to show yourself approved unto God and rightly divide the truth so I want to take a moment we're just doing this intentionally to pause and let each of us search this passage we just read you can look through the whole book of James and try to find those core values those on that page are love specifically the love of God our love for him worshiping him truth the truth of the word growth which is spiritual growth in development connection which is unity in love for one another and then Mission which is reaching others helping others and fulfilling or sharing the gospel

so I'm going to give you a couple minutes I'm going to walk away and work on this myself and then we'll come back together in about three minutes if that's all right with you starting now all right go for it if you need a PIN we'll work on it did anyone finish I'm just curious that's all right I knew we would have enough time and I'll say this I usually have the answer key ready and I give you those answers but on the heels of what we talked about Sunday some take home work I'm gonna let you take this home now if you need any help by all means you come talk to me

but I wanted to I like I mentioned I intentionally wanted to carve out time in the middle of this because I wanted just to get a taste we need more than a surface level encounter with the word which James talks about that a little earlier a little later on so we wanted to take some time and uh I will uh I'll I'll help you out later if you need any of those answers or you could work with someone else and get those answers some of you that are wanting to fulfill that fill that out I'm going to ask you just to Zone if you can do both at the same time wonderful if

you can't really uh key in and out we're going to walk through some of these passages like I said Sunday uh I don't want this to be the only time we dive into the word of God but this is a great time to do that instead we we want to study we want to correctly handle the word of Truth so take that home and finish it out and notice that when you do just a quick search through this this book and you'll find those core values and you'll find those themes that we talked about a moment ago I want you to take note of those themes everyone say faith say wisdom and love Faith wisdom look we're going to key

in on those things as we walk through this line by line or verse by verse we look back at chapter one verse 19. it says so then or or since we've been made by God through his word which is what the last verse talks about my beloved Brethren let every man be swift to hear slow to speak even when you're reading scripture and slow to rhyme for the wrath of man he says does not produce the righteousness of God so he's pointing back to the foundation he laid in the previous verse if you read that chapter 1 17 18 talks about how we were created and he also alludes to the new birth as

well and reminds us because of our creation and because of our Recreation we've been we've experienced New Birth we want to live in such a way that pleases God and in a way that lives up to the faith that we're supposed to be professing and if we do both he says we'll be Swift to hear slow to speak and slow to wrath it says our wrath doesn't produce the righteousness of God often produces the opposite of that many of us have experienced that our wrath doesn't lead to a whole lot now we can be angry in sin not but anger is often a quick gateway to sin and that word wrath uh is a little extra or more than anger itself verse 21

he says therefore be because of that because we're a new creation lay aside all filthiness and the Overflow of wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word which is able to save your souls this scripture here in particular as I noted when we're walking through this showcases that truth core value in a powerful way James says if we'll lay aside filthiness and we'll receive and this word is key here the implanted word it's able to save our souls that word is is critical because a word that just falls on the surface or in a shallow place like in the parable of the sower that word may not take root long enough to save us or to change us

for that word to have its intended effect it has to be planted it has to take root so for us to be hearers and not just doers we've got to actually receive that word fully so on this Wednesday night I know some of us are coming in from work or we've worked all day it can be hard not to check out it can be difficult to actually take that word in and really focus in and let that word settle in our hearts well essentially for our context he's saying we can't just shovel this over our shoulders every week whether we're here or whether we're reading at home we have to have more than the surface level encounter with the word I feel like the Lord's been drawing Us

in this uh particularly and if you have just kind of had a a relationship with the world where you just skim over it James is saying it's got to be planted in your spirit has to take root and when it does you see the results of verse 22 it says but be doers of the word and not hearers only deceiving yourselves anyone ever listened to a song 20 times but you never really listen to it and then you hear Stephen has and you listen to it and then you're like I didn't even know it said those words sometimes we can read the Bible as powerful as it is and I believe that it will always have an effect

but we can skim it and it never really take root it says for anyone who's hearing the word and not a doer he's like a man observing his natural face in a mirror he observes himself goes away and immediately forgets what kind of man he was again this points back to you ever read the Bible and you got up and someone would have asked you five minutes later you'd be like huh I don't remember I don't know if someone asked you what'd you read two weeks ago on a Wednesday oh what'd you study oh let me ask you like this anyone ever right before you walked out of the house you looked in the mirror real quick

and then you took off and you didn't notice the giant piece of pepper in your teeth anyone yeah cilantro mustard this is the kind of analogy James is using the next verse he says but he who looks into and one translation says he who looks carefully looks thoroughly into the perfect law of Liberty and continues in it and it's not a forgetful here but a doer of the work this one will be blessed in what he does so some only allow for just a quick glance into the word of God that word acts as a mirror it's a it's a measuring read we measure Our Lives by it some will settle for just this shallow encounter here

and there on a weekday or Sunday but they won't carefully search it or continue in it long enough for it to actually change their habits and for them to be a doer as opposed to just someone who hears it all the time how many biblical and personal examples have we seen of people who just hear it but never act on it there were so many that heard the word in the Bible but it fell amongst the thorns and fell into a shallow Place eventually it faded and it never took rude but instead James says we've got to take a good long look in the mirror so to speak look at that mirror study

and I'm talking about this one and obviously you want to take a look in the regular glassware but look at this really take a good look into the word of God let it take root continue and the word continue There means to abide to remain in response to what you hear and see in the word the apostolic Study Bible makes the distinction that the person who remains in the word will not conform sporadically to the word so it won't just be a a one service oh I got to do that and then five days later and we're not you won't conform sporadically but you abide in obedience to the perfect law of Liberty

and that phrase perfect law of Liberty can refer to all of scripture that was written to that point like I said this is one of the earliest New Testament books but there's also in that a special allusion to the Royal law to the law of Moses here which James discusses later and one that those readers would recognize these are Jews again they would have recognized that it says essentially take a good long look at that Royal law and the the law as a whole and continue or abide within it and this will result in not just hearing the word but you'll actually do it like I said earlier that Royal law it's a focal point

in the book and James is helping those readers take a good long look at that law really meditate on it really think on it really pray on it and live it out and we'll see exactly how he tells us to do that in those 12 wisdom speeches later on in this month we also see it though in the final two verses of the chapter If anyone among you thinks he's religious and doesn't Bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart this one's religion is useless James just makes no bones about it his earlier point is seen don't just hear that you should love your neighbor make sure your speech reflects it he talks about the tongue later on

if you can if you if your speech can reflect that you love you and that's a good litmus test there he says otherwise your religion your worship you're a parent devotion it's it's useless if you if you don't Bridle that tongue and you use that tongue to hurt others because pure and undefiled religion before God and the father is this visit orphans and widows in their trouble keep oneself unspotted from the world you're going to claim that you're a doer and a Christ follower James says you actually need to do it your faith needs to translate into action your your faith needs to be integrated within every area and facet of your life this is what

we talked about Sunday in these two verses he's gives some of the Hallmarks of being a doer at least three Hallmarks of that okay before he goes into his wisdom speeches speeches he says first of all Bridle your tongue speaking the right way you're gonna if you read this book you're going to see that over and over and over again James must have been just sick of someone running their mouth I don't know what happened but someone was running their mouth and James was like I'm done with it you know who you are you know I just wondered if there was seriously someone going from church to church just and and James was like oh I'm gonna track him down

he talks about our speech continually then he says visit or care for the widows and the orphans these were often the most neglected in that Society they typified those he is talking about in chapter two who need to be treated with fairness without partiality so Bridle your tongue care for those less fortunate and lastly he encourages them that undefiled religion means being holy devoted to the Lord unspotted unblemished that that same theme Here comes up as being whole or complete or perfect through your faith so you want to be a Christian you want to be a doer of the word let your faith and the Royal law push you to Bridle your tone care

for the less fortunate live a life that's pleasing to God these are pure and undefiled religion and devotion and then that flows right into chapter two now obviously at this time when he wrote it there was no chapter and verse delineations this was just one letter so it flowed right in those were added later James uses chapter one as a launch pad and he just goes into his first wisdom speech punching Us in the gut all the while he starts by pointing to a Jewish custom that would have been well known in that day and time he uh alludes to it and he it's talked about in Luke 14 and 7. they're going to have that

in the screen in just a moment many of you recall this Jesus In this passage is teaching uh dinner party gas a lesson he's in a Pharisees house he's talking to them about humility and verse 7 he says he told them a parable to those who were invited when he noted how all those who came chose the best places and he he said to them when you're invited by anyone to a wedding Feast Do not sit down the best place that's one more honorable comment that's been invited and and he and another come to you and they say hey give this place to this guy you you go sit at the end said verse 10

but when you're invited go and sit down in the lowest place so that when he who invited you comes they may say to your friend go up higher go sit over there then you'll have glory in the presence of those who sit at the table with you for whoever exalts himself will be humbled he who humbles himself will be exalted this was part of their custom their culture the point is that where you sat in a place or setting often indicated your status it indicated your prestige we still had that in some limited ways in our culture but it was a big deal in their culture it had to do with being valued

it had to do with being honored and you see examples of that throughout the Bible this is the custom that James is alluding to in the first part of the chapter he just said care for those less fortunate and then he launches in diverse one of chapter two he says my brethren do not hold the Faith of Our Lord Jesus Christ the lord of Glory with partiality now again he's talking about having a perfect faith if you have faith with this partiality that's not a perfect faith that the faith that he's talking about complete whole does not allow for partiality and I also find it interesting he he invokes the name of his brother

and the Lord Of Glory when he says he's just laying it on thick my brother said you shouldn't do this I love my brother James had a pretty I mean he had pretty wild you talk about uh trying to measure up his brother was Jesus he says for if there should come into your assembly a man with gold rings find apparel and there should also come in a poor man filthy clothes and you pay attention to one wearing the fine clothes and you say you sit here in a good place again he's going back to that there's that same language you sit here in this good and then you say the poor man

you stand here or sit at my footstill that was a that was a pretty low spot have you not shown partiality among yourselves and you become judges with evil thoughts there's a saying that one of our ministers has said says that carnality hates clarity whoever or whatever is carnal hates what's very clear and direct James just cuts through all of this with Clarity he's very specific again I don't know if this actually was happening in the churches if they were making people sit on the ground that uh that that didn't have a good look about them I don't know what was actually happening but uh James just gets specific he calls out this specific situation

and when he does he calls out those who prefer the rich over the poor and he says your judges with evil thoughts that was a pretty bad diss in that day and time still is today just lays it out there and we may not have the same cultural norm uh or our way of honoring people you sit here you sit here but the principle certainly applies we can't treat others differently because of social class or status or wealth and we certainly can't do that if we keep these next few verses in mind he says listen my beloved brother has God not chosen to pour this world to be rich in faith and Heirs of the Kingdom which

he promised to those who love him but you've Dishonored the poor man do not the rich oppress you and drag you into the courts and don't they blaspheme the noble name by which or called the name you've been baptized in he's alluding In this passage back to The Sermon on the Mount Jesus said this in Matthew 5 and 3 blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven so James is saying the people who are going to inherit the Kingdom you're making them sit in the floor you're showing partiality people who are going to inherit all this they're going to be rich in faith Heirs of the Kingdom you're making

and then he said you're honoring the ones who are dishonoring the name you've been baptized in taking the poor to court and oppressing them again we don't know specific instances in which this happened but there may have been a dispute between the rich and the poor and the in the church and it just keeps popping up in the book and this principle Rings true and we see that same principle in Philippians 2 we read about it Philippians 2 and 3 let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit but and loneliness of Mind Let each esteem others better than himself others including who James is talking about look for the interests of others there's the principle

and we make no distinction about who those others might be pure and undefiled religion doesn't care whether they're rich or poor put together or not but he says in verse 8 if you really follow the Royal law according to the scripture that law you shall love your neighbor as yourself if you really follow that you do well there's the foundation on these two hang all the law and the prophets and those Jews would have understood that better than anybody verse 9 he says but if you show partiality you commit sin you're convicted by the law as transgressors for whoever shall keep the whole on yet stumble in one point is guilty of all especially this law the Royal law

you break this law he's saying you might as well break all of them which again that would have been some Stark language to those Jewish Believers James tells them keep that Royal law do not break it by showing partiality which would be like Breaking All the Other laws instead and as well and you notice the two laws he Compares it to okay verse 11. for he who said do not commit adultery I also said do not murder if you commit adultery but you do murder you become a transgressor of the law partiality adultery and murder aligns those three right there I could see someone say really like are those the same they're they are

in many ways if you read The Sermon on the Mount which James alludes back to regularly two the first things Jesus talks about after those blessings are murder and adultery it's not coincidental that James uses those in that sermon Jesus says he didn't come to destroy the law he came to fulfill it and then he says if you've got something in your heart against your brother without cause you're in danger of judgment including partiality James points back to that sermon that sentiment and he puts this partiality on par with breaking these two significant laws that these Jews would have been like whoa really James yeah he says so speak and do as those who will be judged by the law of Liberty

for judgment is without Mercy to the one who shall No Mercy Mercy triumphs over judgment so he concludes that first wisdom speech and then launches into the second one the one that closes out chapter two and I'm hurrying along verse 14 he says what does it profit my brethren someone says he has Faith but doesn't have works you say you believe these things but you don't do them can Faith save him if a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food again you there's that language about the poor and the destitute and one of you says to them depart in peace be warm God bless you but you don't give them the things which are needed

for the body what does it profit that's also Faith by itself if it does not have works it's it's dead you see the same themes faith that leads to action caring for the poor and less fortunate living by the Royal law and it caps that by saying if Faith does not include works it's dead faith now I'll say this what it's worth there's a whole lot of people that take issue with what James says here some have even said that we shouldn't include James in the Canon or the Bible because he promotes work salvation attaining salvation through Good Deeds they say that James contradicts Paul who said that we're saved by grace through faith

but that's not the case the apostolic Study Bible makes the case Paul is discussing works that were done to try to earn salvation to earn Grace he says only faith can save us through Grace but James Builds on that by saying this same Faith ought to lead to works and that those Works should be the natural result of genuine faith in God so the worship James is discussing they don't earn you salvation but because you're a new creation in Christ your faith ought to lead you to do some christ-like things and lead you to some good works like taking care of the destitute rather than sending them off empty-handed one of the best analogies I've heard this I'll share with

you briefly both brother Bernard and brother Ronk have have used this very simple we know that we're saved through faith but faith has to be coupled with action has to be coupled with obedience so what they said is if someone runs in the building right now and says the building got struck by lightning it's on fire it's not okay no one if you just woke up it's not someone runs in and says the building's on fire and we say oh great awesome thanks for letting us know and I just keep on teaching you would not be sitting here if you believed them you'd be up out of your seat you'd be running in an orderly fashion out of this building I believe

you so I'm going to act on it I'm going to obey they were pricked in their hearts in Acts 2 and they said men and Brethren what shall we do they believed but they said what should we do faith in obedience James makes it clear if you really believe this thing if you really believe this law you ought to act on it he says but someone will say you have faith and I have works show me your faith without your works and I'll show you my faith by my works you'll see my faith lived out in my life I won't just profess that I believe this thing I'm going to live it and

then he really drops the hammer okay just imagine your first century Christian this is a dis of all this he says you believe there's one God good for you even the demons believe and they tremble you're not even trembling I mean as a gut punch right there you guys are as good as demons he says I'm not saying that to you he said to them he said to all of us they believe the demons believe it too this is the ultimate first century disc he says but you want to know a foolish man that faith without works is dead you don't know why what's not Abraham Our Father justified by works when he offered his son Isaac on the altar being the Jew that

he was known in his audience James goes right for the jugular Abraham's the father of Faith he's the father of the nation James reminds him even Abraham proved his faith by works even Abraham had to live it out he says do you see that Faith was working together with his works and by works Faith was made perfect and there's that word again perfect scripture was fulfilled which says Abraham believed God it was accounted to him for righteousness and he was called the friend of God you see then that a man is justified by works and not by faith only again we're pointing back to the initial theme your faith ought to be perfect

it ought to be complete chapter 1 verse 2 through 4 says dear brothers and sisters those troubles come consider it an opportunity for Joy for you know that when your faith is tested your endurance has a chance to grow so let it grow for when your endurance is fully developed you'll be perfect there's that word needing nothing lacking nothing James is trying to get them to a complete and mature Faith one that's accompanied by works and obedience and that obedience should lead to those Hallmarks of pure and undefiled religion those themes are all throughout this book I'm sure we'll talk about those in the weeks to come and he closes out the chapter

and we'll close out tonight by using an example in the complete opposite end of Israel's history as Abraham James wants to just show you it doesn't matter who you are you have to live it out Apostolic Study Bible mentions there could be no one more unlike Abraham to those Israelites than Rahab but even she was proved righteous and justified by works likewise just like Abraham our our patriarch was not Rahab the Harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way for as the body without the spirit is dead so faith without works is dead also that's where I imagine he just drops the mic James uses example Polar Opposites of Israel's history

and ties them together somehow because they both exemplified the very same Faith he wanted his hearers to have complete faith perfect Faith accompanied by works and obedience just the first two chapters alone he gives us a compelling case for that kind of faith and wisdom and love and a kind that pleases and honors God and one that we all want to have in time I want to invite you to stand and we're going to pray to that end I didn't intend fully for for it all to line up but I couldn't help but think as I read through James about what we discussed this last Sunday that if we truly believe and we follow God

and we love him we don't just love him here we love him in our homes we love them everywhere else I believe that's that's a Hallmark of complete and in true mature faith and if we're going to sing those songs in church I give them all my worship I love that song but sometimes I get convicted when I sing that song and I read those words and I Proclaim it I lift my hands because I want to actually live it if I'm going to profess it I want to live it that is a mature and complete and whole faith as James put it I I want to live in that pure and undefiled religion I want to live with that kind of Faith complete faith lacking

and needing nothing one that honors God one that loves others by that Royal law I'm going to pray that in for myself and I'm going to invite you to pray for yourself and for your family that God would help you to grow Lord we thank you for your word oh what a powerful word it is what a true word it is what a straightforward word it is we thank you for these writings of James for everything that we've learned tonight and Lord we're asking for your help and I'm asking for your help that I don't want to just teach about this Lord and I don't want to just sing about it but I want to live

it out I want to have a complete and whole and perfect Faith lacking nothing I want my faith to be mature and I want to live by that Royal law help me Lord not just to teach about that law not just to talk about it and quote it but I pray you'd help me to live by it as well as the rest of your word that I would continue in it that I would abide in it and that your word would be fully implanted into my spirit I need your help I need your covering and I thank you Lord for your word tonight we honor you in Jesus name amen amen I told our staff our core value

for I really feel the focus on for this summer is the word growth and one of the ways we ought to be growing is really look into the mirror take a good long look into it if you haven't read this book just yet I implore you read through the Book of James it'll probably if you listen to it probably take you 17 minutes 18 minutes to listen to it take notes write it down fill out this paper and bring it back next week get some extra credit I don't know what we'll give you but we could give you something