Amen. James chapter one. I want to say thank you once again for being here. Hope God blesses you
a hundred fold for the efforts that you put in. You know, last time I came with a guy from
Canada. This time I'm still bringing people from all over the world. You know, when you
get a chance in the back, the big man over here, that's Pastor Peter Bogart from South
Africa, came down here to visit us for the Prophecy Conference. I was able to be with him down in South
Africa this year for a couple weeks, be able to preach at a couple of churches, and we ended up
getting about 75 people saved, just one-on-one soul winning. And also, where did she go?
Right here in the middle, you notice the other visitor from our international, you know,
listeners. This is Camille. She's from France, came down here as well to learn soul winning.
You know, you imagine that. I have to travel across the world to learn how to get somebody
saved. You know, but she's having a great time, and she didn't even know she was coming. I just
told her, Camille, let's go to LA. She's like, what? She's like, let's go to LA. Pastor Anderson's
like, you ever been to LA? I stopped there once on the way over. That doesn't count. You know,
let's just go to LA and get some people saved, amen. So who knows what's going to happen
next time, what country, who people I'm going to bring, but we'll see. So you're right there
in James chapter one. You know, this is a great book, a book that has a lot of lessons. One
of my favorite books, one of my favorite chapters. I mean, James preaches hard, and you'll find
out in a sec, you know, but what I want to show you right away is what James is teaching us.
And right here in James chapter one, verse one, it starts out by saying this, James, a servant
of God, James, a servant of God. But I want to point that out. You know, I want to point
that out that James is saying, I am a servant. One thing he is not saying is I am a slave,
but there are some people that believe that, that believe that we are slaves. You're looking
down at James one, one, I'm going to read from the new living translation, tell you what they
believe we are towards God. This is what they said. You're looking down at James one, one,
follow with me. I'm going to read from the new living translation. It says this,
this is how they started out. James one, one in the new living translation says this,
this letter is from James, a slave of God, a slave of God. So there are some people
that believe that we're slaves. And there are some people that believe that James didn't
mean to say servant, he meant to say slaves. But let me tell you something tonight. There's
a big difference between a slave and a servant. And I'm going to give you two big things that
are different in regards to these two things. Now I got this definition, you know, straight,
I just googled slave. So I got it straight out the internet. I don't know if it's
dictionary.com, Webster's, I'm not 100% sure. And the reason I'm talking fast, again,
I got 18 pages and I want to get through it all. Amen. You know, but don't worry,
reading those 18 pages is font size 20 or maybe font size 30. So it really should be about
five pages if it was font size 12. You know, but let's start out with this definition that
I found on the internet. A slave says this, a person who is the legal property of another.
And I can agree to that. I mean, our bodies do belong to the Lord, do they not?
Had he not purchased them? Yes, he has. But I don't agree with the second part right here.
Well, I do agree that this is what a slave is, but it's not, you know, what is referring
to us as far as what we are to God. It says this, a slave is a person who is the
legal property of another and is forced to obey them. That is what a slave is, somebody who's
forced to do something, forced to labor. Now God does not force us versus a servant.
This is what it says in regards to a servant. And I just Googled it. So if you Google servant,
you may find this exact same definition. I just cut and pasted it. But this is what it says.
It says a servant is a devoted and helpful follower or supporter. Now that's the difference.
One is forced, the other one is not. One is forced, the other one does it because he wants
to. And as Christians, we are children of God. We are not his slaves. Not only that,
we are his friends if you do those things which he commanded, you know, so we should be friends
of God. We are children of God, but we are not his slaves. He does not force us to serve
him. But another big difference between a slave and a servant is that a slave doesn't get wages
at all versus a servant. He will get wages because he's working. That's what he's doing.
Volunteer work or he's working to earn and he earns wages. But in regards to our service towards
God, it's not a slave type service. It's a willful service. At least that's what God wants.
Let me give you a few verses. Ephesians 6, 6, not what I service as man pleasers,
but as the servants of Christ doing the will of God by force. No, if you know that verse,
it says this, from the heart. Wanted to do it. Look at this. Look 14, 26. If any man come to
me, we were just talking about this, if any man come to me and hate not his father and his mother
and his wife and his children and his brother and his sisters, yea, in his own life also,
he cannot be my disciple. That doesn't say we believe on God is going to force us to be
his disciples. God's saying, look, if you don't want to forsake all, you can't be my
disciple. You can't follow me. And it even says it again in Luke 14, 33. So likewise,
whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he has, he cannot be my disciple.
So it doesn't come automatic. It's not this Calvinistic type of thinking where it says
that God is controlling all of us like robots. He's forcing us to everything. He forces this
guy to commit adultery. He forces this guy to commit for an occasion. He forces this guy
to steal. He forces this guy to molest. God is just behind everything. He's forcing people to
do what he wants, when he wants, however he wants. That's not true at all. You know,
we are not his slave, just so you know. Now, every single Bible version that I read, the
NL, the NIV and the other ones, they still have servant in there, but this group of
individuals want to add the word slave, hoping that they don't read the other versions, or at
least the King James. Because if you just take this one, it doesn't sound cool to be a slave.
You're like, man, I got a slave for God. That doesn't sound cool at all. See, God doesn't
force us to do anything. And in fact, sometimes we seem to be begged by God to do things
through his prophets. I'll give you an example. First Peter 2 11 says this,
There will be love, I beseech, I beg, so I'm begging you guys, as strangers and pilgrims
abstain from fleshly lust, which war against the soul. You got your Bibles? Please go to
Matthew 5 11, Matthew 5 11. Like I said, the other difference is that a slave doesn't get
anything for what they do. They don't get wages. The first thing is simply this, that a
servant is not forced. He does the work. He wants to do the work. He does the work for whatever reason,
but a slave, you're forced to do it. That's it. You have no free will, you are forced. So guess
what? James says he's a servant, and what we see in the other epistles is the same thing.
You read from Paul, Paul says, Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ. Peter, a servant of Jesus Christ.
None of them say slaves. And they have many opportunities while writing the Bible to put in
their, that they're slaves. No, they put servants, friends, children of God, but none of us are
slaves of God. He doesn't force us and he will give us wages according to his word. I'm gonna read
from John 4 34 by you making the Matthew 5 11. John 4 34 says this, Jesus says unto them,
my need is to do the will of him that sent me and to finish his work. Say not ye there are
yet four months and they come as harvest. Behold, I say unto you, lift up your eyes and look in
the fields, for they are white already to harvest and he that reapeth receiveth wages.
Now if we were slaves, God doesn't have to give us wages, but we're serving him and he's a just
God. Just like a just employer, he will pay his people because he wants them to keep working
for him. But a slave, he is forced to do it. He doesn't get anything. He has to do it. He
will be forced to do it or he will be punished. But we obviously are in an army. We're in God's
army and it will be wise to decide to serve God. It will be wise to do so. Matthew 5 11 says
this, blessed are ye when men shall revive you and persecute you and say all manner of evil
against you falsely for my sake. Rejoice and be exceeding glad for great is your reward in
heaven. Great is your reward in heaven for so persecuted day the prophets wish were before
you. Now Christianity is getting kind of cool, right? When we're getting ridiculed, when they're
making fun of us, when we're out there door knocking and they're slamming the doors or not
giving us a chance or they're even, I think it was you were telling me your neighborhood's
really rough. You know, they're like persecuting you. They're like yelling at you, telling you
get out. We're atheists. What are you doing? You're believing wrong. Believe right. You know,
be atheistic. They get on you really bad because you're some nicer neighborhood,
correct? Well imagine if you were forced to do that with nothing to look forward to,
no reward whatsoever, you'll want to quit at the first door, right? But when you see this
verse, you're like, you know what? Let me just remind myself to keep myself motivated.
Not just reward, but great reward. Matthew 6 1 says this, take heed that you did not
your alms before men to be seen of them otherwise you have no reward of your Father which is in
heaven. See the only time God's not going to reward you when you do things the wrong way.
See when we give alms, when we give to people that need it, not people that are greedy, but
people that are needy and we do it and we do it in secret with no glory whatsoever, guess what?
Your reward will be great in heaven. 1 Corinthians 9 6, 1 Corinthians 9 6, you guys stay in
James, but I'm going to read from 1 Corinthians 9 16 says this, for though I preach the gospel,
I have nothing to glory of, for necessity laid upon me, yea, woe unto me if I preach not the gospel.
Here's the part I want you guys to listen to. Look what Paul says right here, for if I do
this thing willingly, does that sound like he's being forced? No way. If I do what? Preach the
gospel. It says woe unto me if I preach not the gospel, I have nothing to glory of, for if I do
this thing willingly, Paul says this, I have a reward. I have a reward. So we're not slaves,
we will be rewarded because we are servants. Bottom line, we can already learn something from
James and he's saying look, we're servants, not slaves, servants. Why did I have to enter?
Because down the road people are going to start saying that we're slaves. You know,
that doesn't sound so cool. You know, but you guys are in there in James, let's continue with
just the first verse, I mean that's just the first part of it. Let's look at the other part,
it says this, James a servant of God. Now I get kind of mad with this next part,
so let me drink a little bit of water.
It is something that we're battling right now and you're going to battle it as well.
It says James a servant of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. Is that what it says? No.
It says James a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ. Just reading that, what do you get
from it? The trinity. That there's two. He's saying look, James I'm a servant of God and
I'm also a servant of who? Jesus Christ. Exactly right. So what I see just right off the bat,
one, he's correcting us as far as like what we are, putting us in check as far as what we
are. We're servants and the second thing is what's he doing? He's debunking oneness right away,
is he not? Now here's the thing, I just opened this up and I'm like not even trying to look
for it and it just jumped at me, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ. I say a
servant of God and or a servant of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, but then when I saw that,
I'm like I wonder how the other books start. I know I've read it, but let me just remind
myself and why don't we look at the epistles as well because this is James talking,
let's see kind of what Paul said, let's see what Peter said, let's see what John said,
so please go to Romans 1 and if you're not there by the time we start reading, don't worry,
just go to 1 Corinthians. Romans 1 says this, Paul a slave of Jesus Christ, no he says the
same thing, Paul a servant of Jesus Christ, called on the apostle, separated unto the
gospel of God. To me that seems like it's a difference, you know it's making it very clear
I'm a servant of Jesus Christ, I'm also here separated from the gospel of God.
And verse three says this, concerning his son Jesus Christ our Lord. Whose son? God's son,
but here's the fourth verse, and declared to be the son of God with power. Now it's getting more
specific and then it gets even more specific, to all that be in Rome, beloved of God,
called to be saved, gracing you in peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
And the Lord Jesus Christ. So what do you see right there, do you see oneness?
Absolutely not. Now convince look at verse eight, first I thank my God through Jesus Christ.
My God through Jesus Christ. I mean just looking at this, are you left thinking, hey I see oneness?
I don't see oneness. Let's go to 1 Corinthians, 1 Corinthians really quickly, we'll blow through
this because I got a lot of material. It's a great book, I want to cover it as best I can
without going too fast. But what do we see in James? A servant of God and of the Lord Jesus
Christ. What do we see in Romans? The same thing, what do we see in 1 Corinthians? Let's take
a look. Verse one, Paul called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of who?
Through the will of who? Jesus Christ? No, through the will of God. This is God the Father.
Two different wills, look at verse three. Grace be unto you, I love this part, in peace from
God our Father the Lord Jesus Christ. Is that what it's saying? Absolutely not. Grace be unto
you in peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. Is that oneness? Absolutely
not, that's not oneness. Look what it says, from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus
Christ. What does he use? The word from and from. Why? To keep it from believing in the same person.
That's what he's doing. Let's go to 2 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, the first chapter.
2 Corinthians, I'm sorry, 2 Corinthians verse 1, I'll start reading. Paul an apostle of Jesus
Christ, once again, by the will of God. By the will of God. Grace be to you in peace,
look at this, from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. Is that oneness?
Look at the next verse. Blessed be God, even the what?
Doesn't say blessed be God, even Jesus Christ. Blessed be God, even the Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ. Keep reading. The Father of mercies and the God of all comfort.
Is that oneness? Well, let's keep going. Next book, Galatians. Galatians verse 1 Paul
an apostle, not a man, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father. Is that oneness?
Let's look at verse 3. Grace be to you in peace, from God the Father and from the Lord
Jesus Christ. Is that oneness? Who gave himself for our sins that he might deliver
us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father.
Do you see oneness so far? Let's keep moving to the next one. Ephesians, Ephesians 1, Paul
an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the will of God. He hasn't changed yet, has he?
Grace be to you in peace, from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Has he changed so far? Has he even done anything different so far?
And guess what? Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Let's keep moving to the next book. Philippians. Philippians 1, Paul and Timothy
as the servants of Jesus Christ. So all the saints in Christ Jesus, which are in Philippi,
with the bishops and deacons, grace be unto you and peace from God our Father
and from the Lord Jesus Christ. Has he changed yet? He has not even come close.
Let's keep moving. Colossians, Colossians 1, Paul an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the will of God
and Timothy as our brother. Verse 3, we give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Isn't it amazing how he just hasn't changed? Next book. Thessalonians, 1 Thessalonians.
Paul is conveying this into multi-theism to the church of the Thessalonians, which is in
God the Father and in the Lord Jesus Christ. Anything new? Grace be unto you and peace from
God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I mean, he didn't have many opportunities to
tell us crystal clear that God the Father is Jesus Christ or the same person. There's none
different. He had many opportunities to do so. Did he do it? No. He's making it clear. These
are two different people. God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. From God the Father
and from the Lord Jesus Christ. James, a servant of God and of Jesus Christ. Let's go to the
next one. 2 Thessalonians. Verse 1, Paul an Thevenius into multi-theism to the church of
the Thessalonians and God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace unto you and peace
from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. Keep moving. Timothy, 1 Timothy. Paul
an apostle of Jesus Christ by the commandment of God our Savior and the Lord Jesus Christ,
which is our hope unto Timothy, my own son, and the faith. Grace, mercy, and peace from
God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. Making it very clear. Let's just keep moving.
Don't worry. We're almost getting back to James. Timothy, 2 Timothy, verse 1. Paul an
apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God according to the promise of life which is in
Christ Jesus. 2 Timothy, my dearly beloved son. Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father
and Christ Jesus our Lord. Does that sound like oneness at all? Let's keep moving. Titus,
Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ according to the faith of God the
leg and the acknowledging of the truth which is after godliness. Verse 4, to Titus my own
son after the common faith. Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus
Christ our Savior. Our Savior. Philemon, chapter 1 or Philemon, verse 1. Paul a prisoner of Jesus
Christ and Timothy our brother unto Philemon our dearly beloved and fellow laborer and to our
beloved Apphia and Archippus our fellow soldier and to the church and the house.
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. And then Hebrews
verses 1 through 9. You can read it on your own but I'll give you the highlights.
Thou has loved righteousness and hated iniquity. Therefore God, even thy God, has a nudity with
the oil of gladness above thy fellows. Very simply put, there is no oneness according to
these men. We were in James. Let's just skip a few. Go to Peter. Go to 1 Peter.
1 verse, verse 3. Blessed be God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Did we get that?
Blessed be the God and Father of the Lord Jesus Christ. Let's have a little bit more fun. Let's go
to 2 Peter. 2 Peter 1-1. Simon Peter serving an apostle of Jesus Christ to them that have
attained life, praise, and faith. We'll go to verse 2. Grace and peace be multiplied unto you
through the knowledge of God and of Jesus Christ. Very clearly he keeps mentioning it over and
over and over. Let's just go back to James and I'll read from 1 John 5-7. For there are three
that bear record in heaven. There's the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost and these three are one.
That say that one is pretending to be all three. One does all three. It says that these three
bear witness. These three are one. Now I was going soul winning and my soul winning partner was
me and him were with this teenager and I was wearing this black jacket and I had some BDUs on,
some military khaki pants on. We were just going soul winning. I believe it was on a Wednesday
night and I had these glasses on but it was still daylight and this teenager's like man you
kind of remind me you know of Arnold Schwarzenegger from Terminator 2 Judgment Day. I'm not sure if
that even comes close. I get it. My hair is a little bit darker. I'm like okay whatever
but I'm thinking how do you even know about Terminator 2 Judgment Day? How do you even know
about that? You know you're like what 15? And they're like oh it's one of my favorite movies.
I'm like this movie is like 27 years old. How the heck do you even know about this movie?
But I'm bringing it up for one reason because I figured if a teenager knows what I'm
talking about you guys are laughing you guys probably know what I'm talking about as well.
So Terminator 2 is simply this. This is the God that these one is believing.
They believe that their God is like the T-1000. Raise your hand if you know what the T-1000 is.
Right? It's just one Terminator that morphs into one individual, another individual,
and another individual but yet it's just one Terminator. Who knows what I'm talking about?
Is that the God of the Bible? A guy that for this situation morphs into this individual,
this situation morphs into this individual, this situation morphs into an individual,
to accomplish certain missions. Is that the God that we serve?
Absolutely not. You know I don't know who to compare our God to but if I had to try it
calls him the God head. The only thing I can think of is something military. Who's been in
the military in here before? Have you heard of the headquarters element? The headquarters
element? See when they would train us to take out the enemy they would say look we always
try to focus on the head, the headquarters element. It's not one individual, especially
in the Marines. See my company was you know was a few elements. It was the security element,
the assault element, and the head element. Guess who wants to charge everybody? The head element
but it wasn't one guy. It was ironically three individuals. They made up the head of our
company. Three individuals. The company commander, the executive officer, and the first sergeant.
Similar to when you were in the military. Three guys. Three guys. They were the head.
Since if you want to take out the head of that company you have to take out those three
individuals. All three of them. Guess what? All three of them were different. They were not the
same person. All three of them were completely different but yet each one had a different job
depending on what's going on. Now the company commander ironically is almost like God the
Father. We almost never saw him. He was always doing his thing with his unit commanders and
that's okay. You know trying to keep him as safe as possible. Same thing in the military.
We almost never saw the guy. The executive officer, you know, was similar to Jesus Christ.
We saw him for a little bit but he would be gone most of the time. The guy we dealt with
the most was similar to the Holy Ghost. That was the company first sergeant. We saw that guy
every day. You know what I'm talking about? For clean up, for training, you name it.
That was the guy we dealt with every single day but we did deal with the executive officer
at certain times but we almost never dealt with the company commander. He was the guy you
barely saw. He had like a mass formation. You see him off at a distance and he does the CEO. Are you
sure man? I haven't seen him in a while. We needed like a picture in our company headquarters to
remind us of what it looks like. That's how often he wasn't around but you know what? That
headquarters element, you know, worked very well even though we never saw the company commander.
Even though you could barely recognize his voice on the phone, guess what? He gave orders all the
time. All the time but it went to the executive officer, different executive officer, it went to
the first sergeant and the first sergeant always had a formation in the morning and he's passing
word. Is that similar how it went with you? So that's the closest I can describe the Godhead
where that's just how God wants to be. Three individuals. Ask him when you get to heaven why
he chose that but that's the God that we serve. We don't serve this T-1000 type of God
where he just morphs into this individual and pretends to be a police officer then he morphs into
this individual and pretends to be the step-parent of John Carter and then he morphs into this
individual and then he decides to just hunt people on a motorcycle. The rest of the movie. That's
not the God that we serve, all right? Our God is like the Marine Corps headquarters, the head,
three individuals. They're not the same person. I mean imagine if I were to say hey there's the
company commander. Who's the first sergeant? Yeah that's him. No it's not. They look at you
like you're crazy but I know he's part of the head. Hey whatever he says goes because what's
coming from him is coming from the top but guess what that's just how it is.
Why does the Marine Corps choose to do that? Why not have four or five or six? I don't know
but three work very well and they got the job done and God's getting the job done existing
as three. That's just how he wants the business. That's on him that he can do whatever he wants
but clearly there is no oneness. How come you believe that there's a Trinity? I mean
it's not even the entire chapter that we're reading and just so you know all I did was
say man how could these guys in our church that are preaching this oneness doctrine,
how could they have fallen to that? I just searched the word father on my app and all
these verses came up. God the father and the Lord Jesus Christ from God the father and
from the Lord Jesus Christ. God the father of Jesus Christ and I'm thinking why in the world
and then people get mad because we doubt their salvation. Well excuse me for doubting your
salvation because this is clear verses. It's nothing hard. It's just crystal clear. James a
sermon of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ. Two individuals that he's mentioning not one.
If you were to say a sermon of God the Lord Jesus Christ then I'll be with these oneness
guys but it doesn't say that anywhere in the Bible. They like to go to the Old Testament and
stick to the Old Testament. Guess what? Because the New Testament blows them away.
They don't want to go and stay in the New Testament. They like to say well John doesn't
do anything for me but Isaiah 96 he should be called everlasting father. That does it for me
right there man but all these clear verses do nothing for me. Then your little testimony
does nothing to prove to me that you're safe. Get out of here. People wonder why we kicked
them out but let's continue. James right? I had a little fun with it.
So James a sermon of God and the Lord Jesus Christ to the 12 tribes were just scattered
abroad. Greetings. So what I want to say simply this is clear. The entire book of James
if you look at it is written to save people. Especially when it to save Jews. How do we know
that? Because it says right there you know that it's the 12 tribes that he's writing to.
It says that are scattered. It says they're scattered abroad. They're all over Europe
around this time. All over Europe. All over Asia. They're all over the place. Says I'm writing to
you guys. And then James 2 one if you look at it simply says this. My brethren have not
the faith of the Lord Jesus Christ. Let me ask you this. Do the Jews today this Judaism today
have faith of the Lord Jesus Christ? Do they? No way. So is he just talking to Jews all save
unsaved? No. He's talking to those that guess what have the faith of the Lord Jesus Christ.
But it says clearly don't have a respect to persons. So I think you're better than you
than other people just because you have faith in Christ. Look have it and have it well.
You know don't have this faith that is like yeah we're saved we're Jews we're better than
everybody else that's saved. Not even the case. But even James 3 one says this my brethren
again. So verse one my brethren verse two my brethren verse three my brethren so he's
talking to his brethren his believers his brothers in Christ. Verse two my brethren
it says count it all joy when you fall into diverse temptations. So of course we know that
he's talking to the Jews and he's motivating them he's exhorting them he's encouraging them
and it's also warning them. Say look I'm warning about what? Diverse temptations. Diverse
temptations. You know you guys are right there in your Bible you know we're going to stick
right there to James one you know we're going to go through verse two and three but it's
clearly saying this you know you're going to go through diverse temptations you know temptations
like lust adultery fornication maybe an uttering of slander lying lips being high-minded those
things are wicked those things are sinful all the time you know but the word temptation
doesn't mean to be tempted with sin all the time the word temptation simply means to test
you know see God will try you you know specifically try your faith you know to see you
know how you're doing to see what you're made of and it says right there in James you
know chapter one verse two the reason my brethren counted all joy when you fall into diverse
temptations knowing this that the trying of your faith worketh patience worketh patience
so you will basically have three types of temptations according to the Bible you know
one is a temptation that will come from God and this is a good type of temptation a really
good one it says why does God test you you know because like it says right there that you
may be perfect an entire one to nothing that's verse four but it says that God's going to try
your faith to help you to gain patience patience is something great something that we all need
so if you have your Bible just go to Genesis 22 just go to Genesis 22
I want to make sure I didn't skip anything here perfect Genesis 22 and see a big reason that God
will test you is to see if he can use you for his honor for his glory I'll read from
Proverbs 17 3 you guys are in Genesis 22 1 it says the finding pot is for silver and a furnace
for gold but the Lord trieth the hearts the Lord trieth the hearts he is testing people out
Ezekiel 22 29 says this the people of the land has used oppression and exercised robbery
and have vexed the poor and needy yea they have oppressed the stranger wrongfully and I
sought for a man among them that should make up the hedge and stand in the gap before me
for the land that I should not destroy it but I found none what I want to point out is that
God is making very clear I'm looking for man a lot of time when he's testing us he's testing
us to see if you are that man if he can use you for whatever it is that he wants done
he goes around he tests people I'll give you an illustration as such I got down here
this bit this viper tag this is a viper tag it says right here it's a BTS 971
it's a viper tag BTS 971 this is a stun gun and so I decided to get one
and why in the world would I get one it's simply this because our church is trying to
do big things and one of the things that our pastor wants to do is to preach the gospel
to the Navajo Nation so we're starting to do that going from reservation to reservation
you know knocking them out one house at a time but one thing that we've noticed
is that there are a lot of loose dogs all over the place who said yeah you know what I'm talking
about so then I'm thinking to myself man this is going to become a problem especially since
I'm taking my 10 year old son and I want to take my nine year old and my eight year old with
me but you know what I don't want him to get bit so I'm thinking what can I do to just kind
of help me out so then just like God is seeking for a man I was seeking for a stun gun
all right so I went to ebay and I found this stun gun this viper tag BTS 979 it was
$12.99 including shipping you know so right you know right when we got it my wife was like hey
that stun gun came in so all my kids got excited you know they all got excited they're
like oh dad open it up open it up so guess why I was opening it up to test it to see if this
thing is going to be worth taking so of course I take it out the box and you know I turn the
switch and the lights up you know I'm like wow that's a nice little light and then I hit the
switch again and sure enough the red light turns on letting you know that it's ready to go you
know so then sure enough I squeeze it it goes off then I'm thinking man that is loud that should
scare off a dog because I don't picture myself fighting a dog you know going one on one all
right dog let's go pit bull burn you know I don't picture myself doing that but I'm just
looking for something that would scare him off and if it does have to like get hit I'd rather
hit it with this than to hit it with my fist or my foot so I'm thinking this could be enough
to scare him because it was pretty loud so then sure enough I showed it to my two-year-old
and I turned it on and it basically scared him he freaked out he's just like ah and I'm just
like come here son and I started chasing him who's ever owned a stun gun before
perfect for the rest of you I'm going to save you twelve dollars and ninety-nine cents in the
next you know minute or so so it basically went off and I'm thinking that was pretty cool
so then I chased him again so I held and I'm chasing him burn all of a sudden it shuts off
and I'm like what in the world
doesn't work anymore like you gotta be kidding me and I had to do
what all men hate to do read the instructions so my wife is like read it I'm like no read it no
read it all right so I take it out and I'm reading it and guess what it says do not
hold for more than two seconds will void warranty will make device malfunction so if
you ever get one of these it was a great stun gun while it lasted but I'm glad I tested it
before I tried it because if I would have tried it while I'm attacked by a dog it probably wouldn't
want to fight and see God tempts us before he uses us because it sends you out to the battle
knowing that you can't even fight you're gonna lose the fight so you're like why will God even
tempt us well that's because he's getting ready to use you and he wants to see if you are that
man he always wants to do big things I mean Pastor Anderson is flesh and bones and he's always
thinking of doing great things I mean he has a plan to evangelize not some of the world
the whole world and he's sinful man imagine God Almighty was holy and righteous he probably wants
to do twice as much as Pastor Anderson is thinking about but just like God is looking
for a man and I was looking for a stun gun and I'm still looking for a stun gun now you know
first thing we're going to do is test it out because it's common sense it just makes sense
to see if this thing is going to be worth taking into battle do you guys understand where
temptations are coming in now so the definition of temptation is just to try so I just read
Ezekiel 22 29 and why why to perfect us to straighten us to see if we can be used by him
and I'll just read John 23 it says by the hour coming that now is when the true worshiper shall
worship the father and spirit and the truth for the father seeketh such to worship him and
like he said like we saw earlier you know whoever doesn't forsake all that he has he just
cannot be a disciple of Christ God said you cannot be my disciple so he's going to see
if you're ready to forsake all in order for him to say yep you're the one I've been looking for
I'm about to use you let's look at Genesis 22 one to get that example it says this and
then it came to pass after these things that God did tempt Abraham and sent up to Abraham
Abraham and he said behold here am I and he said take now thy son thy only son Isaac whom
thou lovest and get in the land of Moriah and offer him there for a burnt offering
imagine God telling you that who has children in here just imagine for a second God telling
you that you're like why in the world you're thinking what is going on here upon the mountains
which I will tell thee of verse 12 and he say let not thy hand upon the lad he didn't do it
see God tempted it God was never going to have him kill his own son but he did it just to see
you know what what kind of faith Abraham had and verse 12 says and he said lay lay not thy hand
upon the land neither do thou anything unto him for now I know that thou fear is God and when
you get that temptation whatever may be and you fail God is saying well at least now I know
he's not ready for me to set into battle but he gives you that temptation and guess what you
pass it now he knows that thou fear is God and he's going to use you one of my favorite
examples of stories that I've heard was from my pastor he went to bible college and sure enough
what he said in in the sermon was that like 90 of the college students missed Wednesday night
service they wouldn't be here if this was a bible college and they basically told pastor well
you know you can basically you know get any job you know and we'll allow you to miss Wednesday
nights and pastor say you know what it would be a cold day in hell before I miss Wednesday
night service and when he moved his family he didn't have much money he had enough money
to get the house he was renting but he went over to where I think it was Indiana where he
went to bible college but he didn't have enough money to really survive much but he ended up
going there by faith he went there and he figured out well God if he's calling me to come here
he's going to provide for me he's going to take care of me so sure enough he did his best he moved
down there with no money and he got enough money to at least get the house and then he sought help
from I guess it was one of the employees of the college that was helping students to get jobs
well that employee ended up giving him a lead saying look go apply to this place this place
will hire you so then sure enough pastor aniston follows up on it gets an interview and one of
the things they asked him is what days you can't work where he says look I can work any day
but I cannot work Sunday nights you know I go to school in the morning I go to church
Sunday night I'm sorry Wednesday night I just cannot miss Wednesday night when he said okay well
you know we'll see we'll call you they never called him but he kept applying he put in like
50 applications and I forgot what else he had done you know but he was already steadfast in
regards to that he says I am not gonna miss Wednesday night I did not move to another state
going from where I was going to church three times a night moving to another state
and going to church less he said you know what no I believe God's gonna bless me and this is
what he said and even hearing this a few years back this will kind of help me move as well you
know to Phoenix he simply said this look if God does if God doesn't come through then I'm just
through if he doesn't come through then I'm just through I'll be happy with that but I am not
gonna work Wednesday nights he's like I'm just gonna put in the application I'm gonna pray
and he said that he prayed and told God God I am not gonna work Wednesday nights I am not
gonna do it so do you provide a job or I won't be able to get a job and provide my bills
and whatever so he was getting pretty desperate but he stayed faithful he stayed faithful that was
a temptation right there God was looking up in heaven saying well let's see if he's serious
I want to find out if this guy is serious because I want I want a job to get done I got
this job in mind and I want to see if this guy can at least handle this temptation I want to
see if he's going to break if he's going to take it and you're saying that most of the
students have this attitude well I'll try to get a job where I can work Wednesday nights and
he said they always work Wednesday nights all the time so what ended up happening was that he
just kind of held off on God waiting for God's hand to bless and then finally he did he got
him a job was able to go to church and sure enough long term that job he was able to transfer
in that job ended up paying them double what he would have had if it would have took the
other job and pastor Anderson even said this if it weren't for me sticking with that decision
I don't think it would be here right now this church probably wouldn't exist right now if
pastor Anderson would have failed that trial would have failed that temptation years back
amen so that's what we see here with Abraham because it says now I know that you fear me
now I know I see it and it says right there because by myself I swore to say the Lord for
because I have done this thing has now withheld thy son and I can easily see God in
heaven looking at pastor Anderson saying this because I have seen you that that has not
withheld yourself you know from serving me it says right there that in blessing I will
bless thee and multiply and multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which
is upon the seashore and thy seed shall possess the gates of his enemies and in thy seed shall all
the nations of the earth be blessed because thou has obeyed my voice so what do we see here
Abraham passes the temptation passes the trial God sees that he does fear him and then sure
enough God uses him and guess what we've been blessed through pastor Anderson's decision have
we not I know my life has changed through heart preaching I'm sure your life has changed
heart preaching as well I would have made some serious bad mistakes if I didn't come across pastor
Anderson I believe truly to my heart I probably would be divorced right now I wouldn't have
seven kids I probably would have gave up on church because it was becoming very lame
I was almost even wondering is it even worth going to church everybody's just as worldly as
myself and I consider myself to be a baby Christian but then I came across pastor
Anderson heart preaching I listened to him for about three months and I learned more in three
months than I did in eight years going to my old church I praise the Lord he passed the
temptation because I truly believe just like he said that he wouldn't be here if he would have
just said all right I'll compromise on this he truly believes that he wouldn't be doing what
he's doing today if it would just compromise on that temptation the guy gave him you know but
if you have your bible go to acts 20 please acts 20 but that's what God does you know he
tempts us you know so what I want to say simply this just get used to temptations you know
because they are and always will be part of this life and guess what they're a part of
jesus christ's life as well you know I'll read from first peter one six it says this
you know wherein you greatly rejoice though now for a season if need be you are in
heaviness through manifold temptations I'll read from one seven says that the trial of your faith
being much more precious than of gold that perishes though it be tried with fire might
be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearance of jesus christ who having not
seen any love in whom though now you see him not yet believing he rejoices with joy
unspeakable and full of glory luke 22 28 you are a day which have continued with me
in my temptations who said that who knows who said that it was jesus christ through my
temptations acts 2019 says this serving the lord with all humility of mine and with many
tears and what temptations I know you know who said this it was the apostle paul he said it
and guess what he'd been serving god already said look I've been serving you guys for
humility of mine with tears and temptations but the good news is simply this with every temptation
the bible says clearly that the lord know it how to deliver the godly out of temptations
and to reserve the unjust until the day of judgment to be punished so the first type of
temptation that we see is one that will come from god to test you to see what you're made
of but the other temptation is our worst temptation that's the thing that comes within us
it comes from ourselves it comes from our flesh right there I'll just skip to
verse 13 in James 1 it says this let no man say when he is tempted I am tempted of god
for god cannot be tempted with evil neither tempted he any man but every man is tempted
when he is drawn away of his own lust is enticed James 1 15 says this then when lust has
just conceived it bring it forth sin and sin when it's finished bring it forth death so what
is the temptation about it's a temptation that comes from yourself that you're tempted when
you're drawn away from your own lust from your own lust the third temptation or one that will
come from satan see in Abraham's situation it came from god it says that god tempt Abraham
but then we see that Jesus Christ was also tempted of who of the devil I'll quickly read
Matthew 4 1 then Jesus will let up to the spirit or let up of the spirit into the
wilderness to be tempted of the devil he's dying through a scripture he did it to David
first chronicles 21 says this and satan stood up against Israel and provoked David to number Israel
so satan was there provoking David to number Israel and that did not please god
god punished him for that but it was satan that was there provoking David tempting David
and he fell for it see falling into temptation is not sin all Jesus Christ is one of the
biggest sinners on the planet he was tempted in all points as we were but here's the thing
though when it comes to Jesus Christ and he was able to beat all those trials all those
temptations as well and that's what god expects from us you know so what we see right there in
James is that clearly he says look trying your faith is going to build patience it's going to
build it you know but he says but hey let's just patience have our perfect work that you
may be perfect an entire one ten nothing see god wants us to be entire one to nothing being
complete you know having patience is something difficult I understand go to job one please job one
see god wants us to have patience and this is one thing that also is a reason why god will
tempt us one is of course to see if he can use us just like this taser hey I tested it out
right away to see if worth taking obviously it's not you know now if anybody wants it you
can take it after the service they have a nice flashlight okay you know but I'm not going to
take it to the res I'm not going to take it to fight dogs amen so now I'm looking for another
one that I hope will be better than this one that can get the job done I'm going to test
the next one right out of the box as well so when it comes to why god ends up tempting us
well like I said count it all joy why because this could be your time to shine this could be
your time to show god that you're ready you're ready to be used god is looking from him and
saying okay I see that you're reading your bible see that you're saying you got faith
hey let's see what you're made of I got this job that I want done I'm looking for a man
hey you know what I see you down there hey let me tempt you see if you are that man
you pass a temptation god will help you to do great things where other people will
be blessed because no matter what happened to Abraham he passed that temptation he says hey
now I know now I'm going to use you and guess what through you nations shall be blessed yes or
no well let's take a look at job one one you know because in the book of job we know
what happened you know he lost his job you know he lost his children and that's a hard thing
to go through you know but what ended up happening is that job he did pass that trial
you know because what ended up happening is in verse in the book of job chapter one the very
last verse is what I want you to look at with me I know I had to turn there for one verse but
I want you to see it where it says in all this you know and if you're new to the book of job
you know I'll just tell you what happened you know the devil was in heaven and god told him
have you seen my servant job there's nobody like him and he says well the only reason he
does what he does the only reason he serves you once again you know the only reason he serves you
is because you protected him and you're blessing him you know it's like take what he has and he'll
curse you to your face well sure enough that was a temptation right there that was a trial test
to see what would happen and so sure enough he got a bat his business was destroyed his friends
were killed off and what happened is his children were killed as well but look at this it says
even though all these these things happen says in all this job said not nor charge god foolishly
foolishly and see the definition of patience that capacity to accept or tolerance delay or
trouble or suffering without getting angry or upset and that's kind of what I see here as well
but see but one reason or another reason why god will tempt you will have you go through these
trials is for other people as well because when you go through things and they see your faith
and they see you overcome that builds other people's faith I guess the best example I can
give you if you're familiar with the bible is David and Goliath when they're facing off
the Philistines why didn't the army just charge them because they were afraid then he
had the faith then comes David sure enough is there not a cause sure enough he kills
Goliath sure enough he cuts off his head and what happens to the rest of the people
exactly their faith grows they become better and why it was a temptation it was a trial
David passed it and that helped other people around them to be blessed and they became more
bold they have more faith and I've seen this time and time again I mean this is a soul winning
church there's a lot of soul winning movements going on we started just so many marathons maybe
a few years back now we're getting emails pastor Anderson pastor word we have a group over
here and we're going to do soul winning marathons on this day other groups email us as well
hey pastor Edison get the word we're going to have our own soul winning marathon you know
on this day let the world know we want people to get saved but you know what that all
happened because one man passed his temptation one man passed years ago that trial the guy had
for him are you going to go to Wednesday night service or not are you going to give that up
are you going to be easily persuaded just give up on me pastor just said no way hell will
freeze over before I miss this church service and then sure enough fast forward to the future
guess what these people that have faith that are going around having their own so many
marathons hey it all started really through pastor Anderson they saw what he did they
looked at him and sure enough their faith grew and continue to grow and now they're on their own
and now they're blessed through the faithfulness of one man just like job when I see here in verse
22 and all this job said not no charge God foolishly and I never had anything close to
what happened to job happened to me but bad things have happened to me that are very minor
and I just about get ready to like curse God through his face but then when I read that verse
it helps me to stop and say no no no uh-uh I don't think so this is nothing what Joe
went through can you at least pass this test when your boss yells at you can you at least
pass this test before you start getting mad at Joe I mean you're not even fired you just messed
up your boss yelled at you you know can you like keep yourself under control you know I mean
look what Joe did and it went through way worse how much more should I as well so why would God
tempt us why should we fall or why should we have great joy when we fall into temptation
because guess what it's either to help you or to help others realize that's a good thing
God is testing you ready to use you or guess what somebody's watching and he wants to see how
you react and another good example is Pastor McMurtry who met him who met Pastor McMurtry at the
at the conference well the thing about him is that when he found out about Pastor Anderson
he didn't know what to think he looked into and figured out Pastor Anderson was against the
pre-trip post-trip and he said oh heretic crazy man I'm done with him I'm not gonna listen
to him who's heard that testimony he just totally just said oh no he's crazy and whatever
but then he started hearing the bottom being protested him and Pastor Jimenez he started
to hear all these bad things that were happening to them and he kind of just stood back and
watched and then sure enough Pastor Jimenez had his temptation at his trial is he going to back
off is he going to apologize is he going to is he going to get watered down you know is
he going to just fold what's going to happen let's see and guess what he didn't fold
it didn't at all he said I'm going to preach hard I'm not going to let this hit 600
plus mob of homos try to intimidate me get me to stop preaching the word of God I'm ready to die
before I let these people break me it's not going to happen outside that from heaven and guess what
Pastor McMurtry looked back and said you know what these guys aren't breaking these guys are
not doing it for fame they're not media whores like they're always accused of and that grew his
faith that caused them to see what they were saying and he realized that they were right
and did you know I don't know if he wants me to say this but he helped finance the
post-trip conference I don't know if you know that so how does a man go from saying
pastor is a total crazy man he's a total uh psycho he's a total heretic to basically run in the post
trip just a few years later how because they passed their temptations amen he's like I saw
these men didn't break I saw the persecution didn't break and he even said this my regret
now is that I didn't jump on board and help those guys I when they were going through hell
he said that was my regret I should have jumped in there and helped those guys out
but I didn't I stayed back and they said you know what I'm not gonna let that happen again
so when they had this pastor anti-pastor Anderson conference guess what he finally started
to stand up and say whoa you guys are wrong about him about pastor Jimenez and the rest of
them you guys are wrong about their movement and I'm gonna join them amen so that's what
ended up happening all right go to uh James chapter five all right I'm gonna have to
preach the entire chapter the next 15 minutes but I can do it I talk pretty fast
all right let's go to James chapter five
but I do appreciate this crowd I'm glad you guys came I know it wasn't easy I know the devil fights
don't be surprised when bad things happen when you reach your temptation when you want
to go to church the devil tempts you somebody may break your window your tire may break who
knows but let's look at James 5 11 behold we count them happy which endure ye have heard of
the what patience of Job and seeing the end of the Lord that the Lord is very pitiful
and of tender mercy and see it will be worth it all in the end to endure that temptation to
pass that test that God's given you it will be well worth it in the end and I'm pretty sure
if we're all to die right now and God will give you the option hey you know what
you know who would you rather be right now and I'll give the option be anybody anybody would
it be job would it be John the Baptist or yourself a lot of us would probably be like hey you know
what I will take their place because you know they're going to get heavily rewarded in heaven
will they not you know we will easily say you know what I know why he's going to be happy or
I know Job right now is super happy because we all get the benefit from his trial from his
temptation our faith grows when we read about his life does it not so just always remember
that why am I going through this well it could easily be that God's getting ready to use
you you should be excited that God's looking at you the guy's even thinking about using you
should be excited about that you should be like man you know it's like basically trying out for
a team and the coach is like you know what I'm thinking about you kid oh you know let me go
practice a little more let me get ready I want to be on your team or you could be helping others
that are looking at you like a McMurtry who's looking and seeing how you're going to fold or
how you're going to succeed and that will cause him to step up and do more just like the
children of Israel fighting the Philistines when David killed Goliath kids what happened they
rushed the Philistines they went to war their faith grew so guess what being tempted you know
it is going to be sometimes from yourself you just got to say no to flesh and continue forward
but James 1 12 says this blessed is the man that endured temptation for when he has tried
he shall receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to them that love him
why did God tempt us like I said because guess what he wants to see if he can use you
just like this taser and you know what we are God's tools it's just the bottom line we
are his tools we are his weapons of warfare you know yes we have the bible but I quickly
read Jeremiah 51 20 this one motivates me it says thou art my battle axe and weapons of war with thee
while I break in pieces the nations and with thee while I destroy kingdoms I mean that just
motivates me when it says thou are my battle axe you know just like any true soldier before
they go to war they're probably going to check their weapons out to see if they work right
you're in the military I'm pretty sure you tested your rifle many times right check the
size make sure everything's good at the 300 yard line 500 yard line maybe you went up to a
thousand yards I don't know but you're making sure your weapon works and if it didn't guess
what you're saying hey my weapon doesn't work same thing with these guys I'm not sure maybe
they took their bad axe brand new out of the box I don't know straight out of amazon
I don't know maybe they started swinging it around checking it out I don't know
maybe they were just chopping things down I don't know before they went to battle
once they chopped enough and felt that it was well worth it maybe they just packed it
up cinched it up and we're ready to war we're the same way with God God's looking at
you as an axe saying look I want to see if that axe is worth using because I don't want
to try it out then it breaks so I'm going to test it out before I go out there and just remember the
temptations is what God is using to see if you're worth it and you know use it as well to help
you build other people's faith now I'm gonna have to skip real quick all right let's take
a look we went to James 1 through 4 let's take a look at James you know chapter 1 verses
5 through 8 I guess the main message out of James 5 through 8 is don't be this man
what man well let's take a look go to James chapter 1 verse 5
if any of you lack wisdom let him ask of God to give it to all men liberally and abraith not
and it shall be given him but let him ask in faith nothing wavering the heat that waver
is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed for let not that man think that
he shall receive anything on the Lord a double-minded man is unstable in all his ways let me drink
a little bit of water go to Revelation 21 8 so what do we see here James teaching us
that if we ask God for something but especially in this situation say look if you lack wisdom
ask of God he will give it to you he gives it to everybody he gives us so freely so
liberally and abraith not our brain means to just rebuke he says I'm not going to rebuke you
for asking me for wisdom it's not a selfish thing to ask for ask ask ask but if you ask
because it's a condition if you ask you better ask with faith because I hate when you doubt me
I hate when people doubt my word go to Revelation 21 8 I'm gonna go to mark 16 14 says this
afterward he appeared unto the 11 and as they said at me and abraided the same word that you
see right here in James abraith not in verse 5 up here says this that Jesus Christ abraided
once again abraided just means to rebuke or to kind of give somebody a piece of your mind
it says he abraided them you know with their unbelief and hardness of heart because they
believe not them which has seen him after he was risen so this is right before he gives the great
commission before he says go and preach the gospel to every creature he goes to them and
rebukes them and says look I'm rebuking you why because of their unbelief mark 11 23 says
this for verily I say unto you that whosoever say unto this mountain be thou removed and be
thou cast into the sea and shall not doubt in his heart but shall believe that those things
which he says shall come to pass he shall have whatsoever he sayeth if you believe if you
believe it so why is doubting so bad why is unbelief so bad well look right there
Revelation 21 8 simply put because unbelieving is a sin look what it says but the fearful and
what and for those of you that go so in especially our style you can probably quote the
rest but I want to point that out unbelieving and you use that example today to the man
right saying look have you ever appeared before what did you say have you ever been
afraid of a spider or something is that what you said say look that is sin to have
fear you know but it's also sin to be an unbeliever to not believe to doubt God's word
let me show you what the Bible says about it Hebrews 11 6 but without faith it is what
impossible impossible to please him and here's the thing for he that cometh to God must
believe that he is and that he is at war them that diligently seek him Hebrews 10 38
now the just shall live by what faith faith but if any man draw back look at this my soul who's
told God's soul my soul shall have no pleasure in him that turns back no pleasure on those that
turn back so see here's the thing God wants us to obviously have faith in his word not to
doubt him when we come to him we must believe and I struggle with this you know I struggle
with this like man I don't know if God's hearing me I wonder if God's hearing me I don't know
by the way help me overcome it big surprise was God's word so I'll quickly give you some verses
that help me when I pray to pray with faith help me and it keeps that keeps me from praying
and doubting when I pray here's one of my favorite verses that I use every time I start
to doubt I pull these out I use them here's what the Bible says Matthew 18 19 and again I
say unto you that if two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask
it shall be done for them of my father which is in heaven here's my favorite part I say
this with my kids all the time I say kids listen up listen to this for where two or three I gather
together in my name there am I in the mist there am I in the midst of them so when I'm
praying with my children I gather them around and say look guys listen up one two three four
five six seven eight nine that's how big my family is and I say look three what's it say
right there and I have my kids see it and I say he's in the mist I don't know where he's
at right now I don't know if he's sitting on the couch on the kitchen table standing right here
standing right there but I'm telling you Jesus here and I believe it and I believe it he's
standing right here right now I don't know where but he's standing right here right now
he said we need this let's ask him if he says no it's for a good reason if he says yes
hey let's just praise him when we get it but I said I believe this world that he is here
right now it's three of us plus more he is here and then I read him this one
whosoever should compel did he go a mile go with him twain jesus christ is the god of the extra mile
you're asking for something he's going to do the baba yon and then you can even imagine
you probably experienced that already it says right here in matthew 541 i'm sorry romans 826
likewise the spirit also help us on infirmities for we know not what we should pray for
as we ought but the spirit of self making intersection for us we're groanings which cannot
be uttered so I see that and I say you know what let's just pray maybe we say dumb things
maybe we'll pray for the wrong stuff I don't care he's going to fix it but let's just pray and know
that he's hearing us and he will answer us and I'll tell him but I want you guys to believe
that he's going to answer it better better than how we want it every single time every single
time so I'll tell my kids just think of it like that we're praying and not not just I'm
thinking oh I'm going to get I'm going to get better so if we mess up guess what he's going
to fix it and I love this verse right here Ephesians 3 20 now to him that is able to do
exceeding abundantly above all that we ask who is that god he says he's going to do above and beyond
everything you ask and sometimes we pray for things and we don't get them but later on
we look at it and say look I'm glad he didn't answer that prayer I'm glad he didn't do that
I'm glad it turned out this way this is much better even though people may not believe it
perfect example for our church is Botswana they kicked us out South Africa they kicked us out
oh I thought you guys were praying had this and that and whatever oh god what happened to your
little so many marathon South Africa it's all canceled but guess who did it me Pastor Bogart
and three others we were able to still do it get our prayers answered and we're in the media
and we got about millions of dollars you know worth of free publicity for a few thousand bucks
it was the truth you couldn't pay for that type of publicity
right pastor right all day every day in the news right so guess what he answered our prayers because
they're praying god let us have this let us have this they're trying to ban us they're trying to
keep us out of there you know let us have this so many marathon if everything would have
went smooth he wouldn't be here today he would have never heard of pastor Anderson he wouldn't
be here learning how to win souls he would have never had me go preach in this church and get
people saved and baptized and he was taking me to people saying look hey I'm doing so many I know
this person is not safe this person is not safe we're going to their houses in the worst
you know neighborhoods out there I mean it was so bad that while we were so many you know his
wife and one of our church members there was a drive-by shooting or some kind of shooting this
kid's little this little kid is just running for his life runs into his wife and the other
soul winner they stop him he's like hey there was just a shooting at my school you know
there's a shooting over there and everybody give him the gospel and that kid got saved
but we never would have been there and got that kid saved if it weren't for the media
just letting people know hey this is what happened so pastor sent me there secretly
we didn't tell anybody until I got back but guess what our prayers got answered and then some
with Botswana with everything else so that's what it's saying he's able to do above and
beyond what you ask so just pray but if you're not sure if he's going to pray can at least
read this verse what it says with two or three I gather there he is can at least believe
that can you believe that he's the god of the extra mile he's telling you go an extra mile
somebody tells you to take him to him out you go the extra mile can you believe that
god would do the same for you he sure can it's right there here's another piece of
another verse that motivates me you know especially to pray for others says this
Ephesians 6 8 knowing that whatsoever good thing any man do it the same shall receive
of the lord whether he be bond or free is praying a good thing or not it's an absolutely
great thing but here's what I also tell people look don't just be selfish in prayer
in yourself get your mind off yourself and pray for others you know we're all struggling you
know the devil wants us all you know to be to be basically uh cast away by god you know you know
our church is basically on satan's you know to-do list for sure you know to get rid of us and
your church as well and sometimes I just want to focus so much on myself but I say you know
what I need to pray for others but you know what by praying for others in a way you take
care of yourself as well because look what it says knowing that whatsoever good thing any
man do it the same shall receive not of men of the lord so if you spend time praying for
such as this person may you spend 20 minutes praying for this person guess what
god's going to take care of you as well because what you're doing for others he's going to do for
you so if you help this brother out the same show you receive of the lord he'll help you out
you help this man with 100 bucks guess what god's going to help you out as well
he'll take care of you and then some let's move on it's 8 12 I know what time it is
it's time to speed it up all right let's go to james 1 9 james 1 9 the story of james 1 9 is
simply this don't live to be rich let's read it together james 1 9 let the brother love the
grippy georgian did is exalted but the rich and that is made low because as the flower of
the grass he shall pass away for the sun is no sooner risen with a burning heat but it
withered the grass and the flower thereof falleth and the grace of the fashion of it perishes
so also shall the rich man fade away in his ways so what do we see so far that it ain't
that great to be rich it really isn't here's some verses on it proverbs 30 uh chapter 30 verse 7
you know just stay right there where you're at it says two things have required of me
deny me them not before I die remove far from me abandoning lies give me neither poverty
nor riches feed me with food convenient for me lest I be full and denied thee and say
who is the lord or lest I be poor still and take the name of my god in vain now this is
a smart man right here he's saying don't make me so rich I forget about you don't make me so
poor I have to still just keep me middle class amen just keep me middle class
proverbs 23 4 famous verse labor not to be rich cease from thy own wisdom I can't explain it but
the bible makes it very clear go to now you rich man weep and how for your miseries that
shall come upon you your riches are corrupted and your garments are mouth eating your golden
silver is cankered and the rest of them shall be a witness against you and shall eat
your flesh as they were fire you know you have heaped treasure together for the last days
so all you really see is simply this all your heaping is just going to be gone if you're rich
all that work that you put into making all these different houses or building this or building that
you know it's really not going to be worth it in the end it's just not
you know in this life does not compare nothing to the lives that's to come
and one of the funniest stories that I heard is that Oprah Winfrey knows who Oprah is
billionaire woman according to herself she may not be worth billions but she says she is
well you know what money doesn't bring you really much you know respect either because she
was in a foreign country I forgot where it was and she was looking at a bag that was like fifty
thousand dollars it was some kind of Gucci bag I'm not 100% sure what store it was but what made
me laugh is that they treated her like she was some criminal she goes they're saying I want
to look at the bag and the first thing they say is like excuse me about that bag is sixty
thousand dollars they didn't even recognize for who she was you know and guess what that's how
it's going to be in heaven you know they're not going to care who you are that you're
a multi-billionaire and think people are going to be caring about who Oprah is if she
even gets a you know has no souls nothing whatsoever no who we're going to be looking for
joe paul peter james right of course jesus christ but who's going to be looking for donald trump
no one are you kidding me you know we're back there's no he won't be there right
are we on this side you know are we going to be getting his autograph in heaven
I mean the man that said that his favorite book is the bible the next one is the one he wrote
or something like that isn't that what he said the man says his favorite book is the
what's your favorite verse i'll talk about those personal things not even john 316 you know he's
not going to be in heaven are you sure man nobody's going to care about oprah of course
we're not why because about says we brought nothing into this world and there's a certain
being carried nothing out she's not going to take her buildings out there it's not like she's
going to be building a mansion up in heaven no way heavy footed raiment let us be what content
amen ecclesiastes he that love is silver shall not be satisfied with silver how many
i figured that out yet not me because i don't own silver but i'll take your word for it
especially the bibles okay let not that hard envy sinners but be that in the fear of the
lord all the day long be careful envying these people with their big jets and their
golden their jets and their golden toilets you know god says it ain't that great you'll
be satisfied serving me and enduring my temptations amen and do i really need to
talk about king saul and king you know solomon how they ended up with all their riches
what they did with all their riches they helped so many people with it right
no way their power corrupted them to the core go to roman 611 please roman 611 let me go to
james 12 15 james 12 15 i'll read that way you guys go to roman 611
james chapter 12 all the way to 15 says bless this the man that endured temptation for
when he is tried he shall receive the crown of life which the lord has promised to them to
love him let no man say when he is tempted i am tempted to god for god cannot be tempted
with evil near tempted he any man but every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own
and entice and uh sorry about that and entice then when lust has conceived and bringing forth
sin here's the part i want to focus on and when and when it is finished when sin is
finished it bring it forth death do not err my beloved brethren so i guess what you can sum it
up is simply this you gotta endure temptation or you can end up dead bottom line whatever
temptation is getting you pornography i don't know gambling i don't know if you let sin go
full circle i can easily see how pornography can get you killed i can easily see how you
can lead yourself into the sin of adultery and get murdered by the husband or by god who
knows what i can easily see how basically gambling can lead you to just committing suicide
when you lose it all i can easily see that so for yourself for god for the rest of us
just gotta do your best to get into this word get the faith that you need to achieve
and to endure the temptations that are going to be part of life for the rest of our lives
just get used to them but realize with every temptation there is a bible verse to help
you overcome that temptation you start to pray you doubt that god's even listening
get that verse out that says where two or three gathered there he is now he might be there
he says i am there bust it out get it out start praying it says look i don't care just pray
i will fix it don't worry i'm listening yes for a ferrari i'll give you honda civic
you know we'll take care of it but you gotta you gotta endure temptation you gotta beat it
you know because it will take you out how many men in the bible got taken out by sin
that started small this list goes on and on i'll just quickly read a few verses i want you
to go to john 325 please john 325 i'll just read from psalms 32 5 i acknowledge my sin
unto thee and my iniquity have not hid he says i will confess my transgressions unto thee o lord
and thou forgaveth the iniquity of my sin daniel 9 20 and while i was speaking and
praying and confessing my sin daniel said my sin and the sin of my people
verse 17 115 says this this is a faithful saying the word of our temptation that christ
just came to the world to save sinners of whom i am chief paul said that peter said this
depart from me for i am a sinful man so here's the difference between the ones that
just completely let sin go full circle and the man that stopped it at his tracks they confessed
it and forsaked it that's what paul did that's what peter did that's what david says i confess
my transcription unto the lord and the bible says that confessing is not enough oh god i'm
so sorry that's not enough it says he that confesses and who can help me out with the rest
forsake it shall have mercy it's like i don't understand i'll keep on into this temptation
because you haven't really forsaken it once god sees in your heart you forsaken it he'll give
you the grace to overcome it but when he sees you're just giving him lift service he knows i'll
just leave him alone i'll keep him at level one you know i'm not going to use that guy
but when he sees you confess and forsake it and i'm listening now you got my attention now
you know thank you for passing that one let me give another temptation boom all right now
let me use this as a battle axe you know to go do what i want to do so you're right there
in james 325 i read from james 16 one through or james 1 16 do not hear my beloved brethren
every good gift and every perfect gift is from a god from above and coming down from the father
of lights with whom is no variableness neither shadow of turning let me just read something
from or you guys are there in john 3 it says then there was a question between some of the
john disciples and the jews about purifying and he came on to john and said unto him rabbi
he that was with thee beyond jordan whom thou baptizes whom who that bears witness behold
the same baptize all men come to him john answered and said a man can receive what
nothing nothing except if he given him from heaven so every good and perfect gift is from heaven
john realized that and i'm helping him to become the greatest saying look i can receive
nothing unless it comes from heaven that will keep you humble donald trump should read the
oronomy 8 18 since he loves the bible so much but that's to remember the lord that god for
it is he that gives the power to get wealth and if we continue reading the list goes on
for i'm the least of the apostles that i meet me to be called apostle because i
persecuted the church of god but by the grace of god i am what i am paul says i am what i am
by the grace of god because of god i am what i am every good and perfect gift is from god so
that should be enough to keep us thankful throughout the day when we get something great in
our lives don't forget it came from god you're like wow that's such a good gift such a
perfect gift don't forget where it came from amen don't forget where it came from amen
psalm 75 says this lift not lift not up your horn on high speak not with a stiff neck for
promotion coming neither from the east nor from the west nor from the south but god is the judge
he put it down one and set up off another and before you think i'm just doing prosperity
preaching go to psalms 84 11 but there is the catch and i want to quickly throw that in there
because i like preaching that tells you hey it'll be worth it you know do what you got to
do god will bless you don't forget about god god will take care of you god will give you good
things god will do amazing things for you yes it's true but remember you got to pass that
temptation remember there is always a catch and here's the catch psalms 84 11 for the lord god
is the sun and shield the lord will be will give grace and glory here's the part i want you
to see you want that good and perfect gift it says right here no good thing will he withhold
from everyone from them the what walk uprightly it doesn't just come to everybody you want that
good and perfect gift it's not going to come automatically but it will come to you if you're
walking uprightly what does that mean obeying god's word what does that mean serving god
obeying what you know going to church is a clear one you know you ought to go you go guess
what praying hey pray with faith how do i get the faith god's word faith comes from being
here by the word of god that's why every time i pray i feel like god will answer me
why because i look at his word what it says just go a few pages over to Psalms 106 Psalms 106
one last thing on that point every good and perfect gift we'll just continue that thought
Psalms 106 8 just a quick reminder of how much god wants you to do the right thing Psalms 106
it simply says this i'm sorry 106 3 blessed our day to keep judgment and heed that what
do it what some of the time take a look at it does it say some of the time all of the time
now you're never going to be 100% right with god every day but that's what you should be
striving for and if you ever start to think that foolish thought god will understand he'll
realize i've been reading my bible i've been knocking doors surely he's going to let a little
bit of this and a little bit a little bit of that slide sure he's not going to mind if i do
x y and z i mean surely god you know i'm just weak right i mean you let david get away with
all those you know women you know all that bad stuff he did surely god will clearly understand
it's okay he'll understand this one time no he does not give anybody permission any time
to sin ever no matter what i don't care if you're going someone in every day 20 hours a day
reading every day praying every day preaching every day you will never ever have permission
from god to do one sin ever ever let's remember that as much as we possibly can
whether it's slandering people whatever it may be never realize that god will look the other
way because it's you you know come on lord it's me you know i just went so many for like five
hours this week come on surely you don't mind if i check that out surely a little bit of this
ain't gonna hurt me come on lord i'm asking you for forgiveness as of right now you know
remember that not some of the time all the time james 1 18 go back to james i will finish
it in six minutes i promise you that i will cut this thing off if i need to but thank you
so much for being here
so james 1 18
says this of his own will begat he us with the word of truth that we should be kind of
to be yeah so we should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures
wherefore my beloved brethren be swift to hear so to speak you know soul to wrath so i'll
quickly just talk about that you know god does begot us with his word there are people that
believe that hey it's just enough to just tell people that jesus died for them hey you know
what quoting scripture you know if you can't do it great you know but it's not that important
but remember first peter says simply this being born again not a corruptible seed but a what
incorruptible by the word of god all right let's take a look at james 1 19 go back to
that wherefore my beloved brethren let me be swift to hear so to speak slow to wrath for
the wrath of man working out the righteousness of god what lesson are we learning here don't
be quickly angered or like the bible says soon angry i'll quickly quote proverbs 14 17
he that is soon angry or quickly angry they live foolishly titus 1 7 says the same
thing for a bishop might be as blameless as the steward of god and i said will not soon angry
there's nothing cool about blowing up on people on the spot we need to be people that are
under control at all times it is a foolish thing to think it's cool to be quickly angered
at everything that that that you don't like all right let's go to james uh 1 21 james 1 21
rightfully apply all filthiness and profility and notiness and receive with meekness and grab
the words we're able to save your soul just cover that but be doers of the word not
hearers only deceiving your own selves so i'll quickly say this you know the bible says in first
john 3 18 my little children let us not love in word neither in tongue but indeed indeed it's
not enough to just say man i love you and you know what actions speak louder than words
we shouldn't just be hearers of the word we should be doers of the word and god will bless that
because god doesn't bless the hearers he blesses who the doers because it simply says that
you know that if you're a hearer but not a doer he says you're not going to be blessed
in your deeds let's just go to the very last part james 1 26 james 1 26 simply says this
if any man among you seem to be religions brought out his tongue but deceive his own heart
this man religion is vain so simply put if you can't control your mouth you're not right
with god bottom line if you can't just keep yourself from saying dumb stuff you're not right
with god no matter how much you go so in no matter how much you read your bible perfect examples we
have this guy who visited us for the prophecy conference you know my friend was in charge of
giving him rides but he stopped giving him rides i'm like hey whatever happens such as
hey i just stopped giving him rides because everything that comes out of his mouth is bad
but he had just come to the conference he's going soul winning hey apparently he loves the
bible i mean he's saying amen it's everything the preacher say and he's walking around saying
amen this and that whatever but when you hang around him he cannot control his tongue he says
things that shouldn't be said we shouldn't be like those people we should learn to control
our mouth james 1 27 the last one pure religion on the file before we got in the father is this
to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction and to keep himself unspotted from
the world easiest way to do this is just going out going out into the highways and byways you
will run into kids that are unfortunately bastards it's not a good thing at all they are fatherless
but they're also looking for somebody that can guide them right they're very easy to get saved
the youth of this world especially in the poor areas we need to seek them and because guess what
most of the fathers don't step up and do what they have to do take care of the children they're
you know they're out there just basically on their own and the devil's ready to devour them
but let us do our best to visit those individuals and in regards to widows you know
pastor can preach on widows later on but bottom line we need to take care of them as well once
we do have true widows not just any woman that walks in here whose husband may not be around
hey they come here asking for money we are supposed to refuse them why because guess what
they're not 60 years old and how could you come in here when you first need to go to your
your brothers and sisters and mother and who knows what else but you will have people coming
in here asking for money and we give them what we have but we don't like giving people
money because we know they're probably going to use for drugs that's just what it comes down to
you know about widows that are widows indeed let's just help them and it is 0 8 29 or 8 30
thanks so much for listening let's pray there father thank you so much for allowing me to come
up here lord i just did my best to preach all these great truths i pray that the people
just go back home and to read james chapter 1 and i promise them they can read james chapter
1 10 times and they'll get 10 new things from you there father because it's just so deep
and father i did my best to just try to fight the biggest problems that we're suffering today
and lord i just ask you as far as this church is concerned and these individuals that are
here tonight i pray to our god that you do protect them you do bless them their father
and i know you want to use them so when temptation and tribulation does come i do
pray their god from the bottom of my heart that they do remember your scriptures i pray
the holy ghost puts the scriptures into the hearts to help them overcome their sin
because at the bare minimum father is nobody's watching heaven is watching and it's clearing
your word there's rejoicing in the presence of angels when there's a sinner that repents
how much more when he's passing these temptations their father these trials they look at you
their lord and they look down on us and they know that we're gonna be teamed up with you
father to do great things and we know that father that in the end it's all about getting
people into heaven and helping them to get others into heaven and serving you until the end
and we ask you to bless everyone here i ask you to bless everyone here
in the name of your son jesus christ amen