short series in the book of James for your honor and glory, dear God, and that
we would be able to somehow get a little bit of a grasp of this
great book of the Bible, dear God. There's so much to talk about.
Help me to prioritize and spend time on the things that you would want me to
spend time on in this chapter, dear God. And in Jesus' name I pray, amen.
Now James chapter one, we're starting out a brand new book tonight,
five chapters long, and the book of James starts out in verse number one. James, a
servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ
to the 12 tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting.
So the book is being written to the Jews that are scattered
throughout the world at this time. He's writing
similar to the book of Hebrews that was written to the Hebrews. This is written
to the Jewish people that have believed on Jesus Christ that
are all throughout the world at this time in Asia
and all over Europe and so forth. And he says in verse number two, my brethren,
count it all joy when you fall into diverse temptations
knowing this that the trying of your faith worketh patience
but let patience have her perfect work that you may be perfect and entire
wanting nothing. Now you see, first of all, we're talking to people that are saved
in this entire book. In fact, look at the beginning of chapter number two.
What are the first two words? My brethren. You see, it's very important to
understand that throughout the book of James and you'll see this later but
this book is totally directed at saved, born-again Christians. Look at verse
number one of chapter three. My brethren. You see that? And all
throughout chapter one you'll see that, throughout chapter two,
all throughout the Bible. Look at verse 14 of chapter two.
What does the prophet, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith and have
not works, can faith save him? So who are we talking to?
Talking to born-again, saved Christians all throughout this book and the book's
very clear about that. But verse number two of James chapter one
says, my brethren, count it all joy when you fall into diverse temptations. Now
the word temptation has two different meanings in the Bible. The
word means literally to test. Now there are two kinds of tests that you
can go through and you'll see both of those in this chapter.
One of them is God tempting you. That's found in Genesis chapter 22 verse
one when the Bible says it came fast that the Lord
God did tempt Abraham. But then in verse number
13 of chapter one it says, let no man say when he is tempted I am tempted of God.
For God cannot be tempted, here's the key words, with evil
neither tempteth he any man. So there's two kinds of temptations that you're
going to endure in your life. There's a temptation where your own flesh
is lusting after something that's wrong and sinful.
When you see something or you have an idea about some kind of a sin
that you want to commit that's a temptation the Bible says
and that's the evil kind of temptation. Then there's another kind of temptation
that's a temptation where God is tempting you like God is
testing you. God is trying to put you through
some kind of a period of testing to strengthen you
and to perfect you. The word is similar to our word
attempt. You know the word attempt means you're going to try something.
Well the word attempt comes from the same word as temptation.
And so the Bible says when you fall into divers, temptations, divers means
different or various types. When you come across
a temptation in your life, a trial in your life,
something difficult in your life, he says count it all joy
knowing this that the trying of your faith worketh patience.
Now you'll see of course that God always uses the Bible to define itself.
He says the temptation and then he says the trying
of your faith. So you can see that a temptation is when God is trying you
and testing you. The Bible says the Lord tryeth
the righteous but him that loveth violence, the wicked and him that loveth
violence, his soul hateth. And so God loves you therefore he tries
you. God loves you therefore he purges you.
God loves you therefore he puts you through difficult times in your life.
And he says but let patience have her perfect work
that you may be perfect and entire. Again God is defining the word perfect
for us, entire, complete, wanting nothing. He says I
want you to be perfect. I want you to have the whole package. I
want you to be entire and complete and wanting nothing. See how much the
Bible defines itself. I mean three words right there.
God teaches us the definition in these three verses.
But flip over if you would to 1 Peter chapter 1.
Just one page over in my Bible. I don't know how your Bible is but flip over to
1 Peter chapter 1.
And look at verse number six. And remember James 1 2 said my brethren
counted all joy. Think about those two words. Count it
all joy when you fall into diverse temptations.
Knowing this that the trying of your faith work at patience. Look at verse 6
of 1 Peter 1. Wherein ye greatly rejoice though now for
a season if need be you are in heaviness through manifold
temptations. Same idea being talked about here.
That the trial of your faith being much more precious than of gold that
perisheth though will be tried with fire might be
found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ whom
having not seen ye love in whom though now you see him not you
believing yet you rejoice with joy unspeakable
and full of glory receiving the end of your faith
even the salvation of your souls. So here we see those same two ideas
related again joy trials and temptations.
He says when that temptation comes when that hard time comes
he says you ought to be thrilled you ought to be rejoicing
that God is trying you knowing that the trying of your faith work at patience.
See the goal of the Christian life sometimes we can
become goal oriented in our life where we think well my goal is to win x amount
of people the Lord and that's a great goal that's important that is what God
wants you to do or my goal is to achieve such and such
financially or my goal is to achieve such and such in my family.
But there's another goal that God has that's a little bit different than our
goal. God's goal is found in Romans chapter 8
you don't have to turn there but the Bible says but we know that all things
work together for good and of course this is talking about bad
things that happen in your life we know that all things work together for good
to them that love God to them who are the called according to his purpose
for whom he did for know he did also predestinate to be conformed to the
image of his son and so God is saying that he his goal in
our life is to make us as much like Jesus Christ
as he can see he wants to have a servant that he
can use to the fullest and sometimes that means
putting you through pressure and pain and tribulation and trials and
troubles in your life because he's trying to purify you
to make you into the person that he wants you to be to make you like Jesus
Christ and sometimes we see a maybe a financial
problem we call the financial setback because it sets us back in our goals of
what we're trying to achieve financially we think about maybe setbacks in the
growth of this church think about maybe setbacks and soul
winning but God says no it's not a setback at all
because I'm strengthening you and trying you
because I'm perfecting you so that you can be perfect
an entire wanting nothing you should be rejoicing that I'm taking the time to
work with you and to mold you into what I want you to be
you know the bible says that if the axe I'm sorry I don't have it memorized
exactly but he says if the axe is is dull
he says then the person you know who's chopping down the tree is gonna have to
put more work to it it says in the book of ecclesiastes
and we're tools that God is using and God takes the time I heard somebody say
a saying that a woodsman never loses any time when he
sharpens his axe it's never a waste of time when you're
cutting wood to sharpen your axe because it saves you time and so God says
yes you're sick or ill and it's and it's keeping you from doing what
God wants you to do yes your finances are bad
yes things are going bad in other areas but he says that's okay I'm just
sharpening up the axe a little bit I'm just taking a little time to sharpen
you up to get you where I want you to be because
I know you'll be so much more productive when you're perfect and entire wanting
nothing because the trial of your faith is going to be more precious than gold
and the bible says here in first peter chapter one the same
principle there but he says that you may be perfect and entire
wanting nothing you know there's so many people that are that are one-sided
they're one-dimensional I was thinking about this and I was
talking to a buddy of mine how how many churches that we can think of where
you'll find a church that's really good on soul winning
and man they're reaching people like crazy I mean they're out knocking doors
they're running the buses but then the way that the women dress is
ridiculous I mean it's sleazy it's like the world
it's promiscuous and then you'll go to another church and man they're strict I
mean the women are wearing modest dresses I
mean they're not decorated up like a Christmas tree looking
looking all jazzy and and worldly and flashy and draw
look everybody look at me type of a look and you'll see
them they're just straight down the line strict standards
no soul winning and you're thinking what's the point
so what what are you here to show off how holy you are
why don't you go preach the gospel to every preacher like god says to do
in practically every chapter of the bible to open your mouth boldly
to make known the mystery of the gospel and I say to myself why is it
that they can't be perfect you say I'm look I'm looking for the
perfect church you say well are you talking about a church that
has nothing wrong well no I'm talking about god the bible definition of
perfect I mean a church that has the whole
package I mean they're zealous about soul winning
and they have the strict standards of holy living you know
according to the bible strong preaching on on right and wrong and then you'll
find churches that have those two but they're shallow you know the pastor
will get up and and maybe read one verse and then just talk for 45 minutes
and you know you don't learn the bible or the pastor doesn't really know the
bible so you'll hear just the same verses and
the same subjects over and over and over again
or just the plan of salvation over and over and over again and you don't get
any meat out of the word of god why can't they just have the whole
package soul winning knowledge of the bible deep knowledge of
the bible and soul winning and standards and fiery
preaching why can't they be perfect and entire
wanting nothing is my question look it's not enough to be a soul winner
if you don't know the bible I remember I've heard so much preaching growing up
and always irritated me I heard preachers get up and say you're
going to have all eternity to study the bible
the main thing you need to just focus on winning souls you focus on prayer
and you'll you have all the time in the world to read that thing
no wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong
if I have to sacrifice anything the last thing I will sacrifice is reading the
bible and I'm not talking about reading it a
little bit I'm talking about reading it a lot
is number one priority is me fellowshipping with god
this is where the power comes from now we talked about on sunday night the
sermon the power of the holy ghost and boy I had to just blow through the
material there's just so much I mean I cut out half my sermon and I
couldn't even get through what I want and it was a long sermon
but I couldn't even get through what I wanted to get through because the bible
talked so much about it here's something I didn't get to and
I'm going to read it for you
I'm going to make this a long sermon no I'm just kidding let me read this John
chapter 3 I didn't get to this and it's a great verse
this is John the baptist speaking boy you want to talk about a powerful man
I mean you want to talk about a man that had the holy ghost upon him in mighty
power John the Baptist where then came out to
then went out to him Jerusalem and all Judea and all the
region round about Jordan and were baptized of him and Jordan confessing
their sins hey this is a powerful man the whole
area came out to get baptized I mean this man prepared the way of the
Lord and made his paths straight and he was a great man listen to
John the Baptist explain where the power came from and he was
talking about Jesus Christ in this particular verse
but the bible says in verse 34 of John chapter 3
for he whom God had sent speaketh the words of God for God giveth not the
spirit by measure unto him you see that he says Jesus Christ the
reason why the Holy Spirit's power was just maximum I mean just infinity it
was poured out on Jesus Christ without measure
why because every word that came out of his mouth
he was speaking God's words see that's where the power is
and so don't tell me that you know don't sit around and
they say like well don't sit around and study the manual
you know can you imagine a lifeguard just sitting around studying the manual
he should be jumping in saving people look he needs to say the manual to know
how to do it properly it's a dumb illustration
or they said like can you imagine if we all got together and sat around the
sword and looked at the sword and oh what a beautiful sword use the sword
hey no I'm going to sit around and examine the sword for a while I don't
know about you I'm going to spend a lifetime training
how to use the sword properly because I'm going to tell you something
I've knocked doors for hours and hours and hours and hours and seen nothing
happen and I've I've knocked doors for a half
hour and seen great things happen because it's
it's God that does it my friend and so don't leave God out of
the equation don't go running with all your excitement
and don't have knowledge of the bible and by the way
the bible says that the children of Israel he said for I bear them record
that they have a zeal for God but not according to knowledge
for they being ignorant of God's righteousness and going about to
establish their own righteousness have not submitted themselves under the
righteousness of God why why did they do that because they
were ignorant why were they ignorant because they didn't read the bible like
they should have read the bible and so reading the bible is is vital but
if you don't go soul winning what's the point and if you don't go
soul winning you're not going to understand the bible because the bible
says he that when its souls is wise and the
bible says strong meat belongeth to them that are
of full age even those who by reason of use
have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil
so he says you learn the bible by using the bible
if you don't learn the bible you're not going to know how to use it you're not
going to know what to use and if you're not a clean and holy
righteous separated vessel God can't use you the spirit of the
lord's going to depart from you like it departed from saul
i'm not talking about the indwelling of the holy spirit of course talking about
the holy spirit's power resting upon you like it rested upon saul
in his early days and so you see how important it is to have the whole
package a three-fold cord is not easily broken
the bible says and you have to have the balance
not a balance of well we're we half know the bible
and we have to go soul winning and we have to have standards so we're balanced
now i'm talking about 100 percent learning the bible
100 zeal for winning souls and a hundred percent
clean righteous living you gotta have the whole thing
a church has to have the whole thing we need to be perfect and entire
wanting nothing the complete package look at verse number five
if any of you lack wisdom james chapter 1 verse number 5 if any of you lack
wisdom let him ask of god that giveth to all men liberally
and abraith not and it shall be given him but here's the catch there's always a
catch whenever god promises something he always has something that we have to
do in order to get that promise like believe on the lord jesus christ and
thou shall be saved there's a part that we have to we have to
put our faith in jesus and then he does the saving
but look at this but let him ask in faith this is what makes your prayers
get answered but let him ask in faith nothing wavering for he that waverth is
like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and toss and boy
this is a very chilling verse look at the next verse
for let not that man think that he shall receive
anything of the lord boy how would you like to be that man
oh man you know that's that's scary thought
to be the man in verse number seven that's not going to get
anything from god well what a good night what do i have to do to be that way
he says if you waver he says if you if you if you if you don't ask in faith
he says if you if you're just kind of tossed around you're not really sure and
he explains it more verse number eight a double-minded
man is unstable in all his ways you see when you ask god to do something
when you pray the bible says you have to ask in faith
nothing wavering for he that wavers is like a way to see driven with the wind
and toss he says you'll just go through life being tossed about
i was thinking about an example that i've used before but when i was in bible
college perfect example i got the bible college
and you know ninety percent of the guys in bible college they worked on
wednesday night and they would miss church on wednesday
night because they had work because they put school over church you
know which is wrong i don't remember god starting a school i
do remember him saying that he purchased the local church with
his own blood and so i i think church is number one and so they would
they would go to school in the mornings you know monday through friday
or tuesday through friday and then they would work second shift
monday through friday and they would miss wednesday night church
because they had to okay well i decided that uh
i do you know i drove out to bible college and didn't have any money at all
no money no job just had enough to get into my
uh rental house there and just didn't know what i was going to do i just
figured that god was going to lead me and that god
was going to take care of me and so i went there and i sat down to make my
resume and you know what i did i said i'm not available
monday through friday in the morning because i'm going to be in school and i
said i'm not available on wednesday night and i'm not available on sunday and i
mean i had that resume and i told god i said you know what god
i said god hell will freeze over before i work on wednesday night god
i said i will not miss church and i said god if you can't give me a job that'll
pay my bills where i don't miss church on wednesday
night then i will not go into the ministry i refuse to be a
pastor ever because i'm not going to serve a god
that wants me to violate what he told me to do
in order to somehow serve him that doesn't even make sense
i said no i won't do it god and so you do
what i'm asking you to do or or you're just telling me that you don't want me
to be a college because if i can't do both then guess what
college is going to go out the window and so that's why i told god and people
told me that i was wrong and they told me it was stupid
but my ministry leader that was in charge of the ministry i was in mike
ramsey he said yep he told me and even before i told him
that that's what i did i'd already made my resume
he said well here because i told him i was trying to find a job he said well
here's a tip i told god 10 years ago that i was never
going to miss wednesday night church to work
and he said and he said if you tell god that you know that
that pleases him and so that's what i told god i said god i won't do it
now some people have this attitude like i'm going to really try not to miss
church on wednesday night for my job you know i'm going to try and get a job
that doesn't make me work on wednesday night
but if i have to i have to because i got to pay my bills i got to feed my family
hey those people always work on wednesday night
and you know that's true i mean you know that just in every area of the christian
life whenever you say like i'm going to do my
best the devil hears that says oh you're
going to do your best okay well i'll just figure out where that
breaking point is right where i can stop you
well i'll just figure it out and i'll push you to that point but when you just
say i refuse to do it period then the bible
says resist the devil and he'll flee from you
and the devil just says you know i'm not gonna mess with this guy
and i remember i walked into a job and i went down to the college and they set me
up this job interview he said go talk to this guy i sat down at
this trucking company and i told him i said you know i can't
work wednesday nights though that's the only thing
and i'll do i'll do whatever else i'll work extra hours the other days i said
all if you if i just can only work 35 hours
or 36 hours you know that's what i have to do that's fine
but i can't work wednesday night he said well
said well i don't think uh you know i don't think it's gonna work but you know
well maybe we can work something out we'll give you a call never called me
and uh and i i asked the the guy at the college for more help he said no just
wait you know just wait and see if that guy calls you
so i'm thinking great you know it gives me one lead
and the guy's not going to hire me because i'm not willing to work through
wednesday night and uh you know there's the amount of
money that they're offering me was low but at this point i was just desperate
anyway well a few more days went by and i was just
just all day more than eight hours a day out
putting out the resumes making phone calls
just doing everything i could i put out like 50 resumes i was on the phone i was
driving around nothing nothing nothing nothing and then
right there on the seventh day i was just getting to the end of my rope
trying to figure out how to make something happen
i saw that in the chicago tribune got a great job making
immediately one and a half times what that other job was offering me
and to this day i'm still working for that same job
now i'm making well over double what that other job was offering me i mean
way more than double and so god can you can you imagine this
and i'm thinking to myself just as i think back over some of my financial
needs that i've had in the last three years of my life and just kids
being born and just things that i've had to do
i'm saying to myself there's no way i could have made it on the salary from
that job there's no way i'd still be there right now and
literally you you may not understand this but
literally i would not be standing here right now pastoring this church
if i had not refused to work on wednesday night because i would have got that
stupid job but i held out for the job that god had for me
because i didn't doubt i didn't waver i said god
i will not do it i refuse to do it and god says man i like that faith
because i don't like somebody who just is like a wave of the sea
driven with the wind and toss for letting out that man think that he shall
receive anything of the lord and so when you i mean think about it if
i was going to come here and start this church
and i'm not one of these prosperity preachers i mean i barely scraped by
with the job that i had while i was while i was in bible college
but i couldn't have even made it with that other child
but i i was thinking about this think about if i would have come to start this
church and said you know what
god please build faithful word baptist church
god please you you have to do this i can't do it
and then i said well i'm going to go to phoenix and try and start a church
wrong that i think about what would that that's not faith
look if i ask god and say god build faithful word baptist church now i'm
going to come out here and say i am starting a church in phoenix arizona or
i'm going to die starting a church in phoenix arizona i'm
going to be 70 years old knocking on doors saying someday
someday and of course i came in faith that's the only way you're going to get
anything from god you say i'm trying to give up the sense of
sin i'm going to pray and ask god to help me
well have you decided that you're not going to do it anymore or you're not
sure okay but then you ask god like god please
help me give up the pornography but you're not
really sure whether you're really going to give it up
that's not faith god god's going to say well you know what come back and talk to
me when you're sure that you're going to
give it up and then i'll give you the strength to give it up
no wait no just wait a minute just come back to me when you're ready
to quit the sin and then i'll be there to help you when you're ready to do it
when you're sure you're ready to do it and see that's what god's saying here
he's saying let him ask in faith and he said what
sort of things you ask believing that you have them he says
you'll receive them is what he said in the gospels and so
you have to ask for god and things in faith you know you have to live by faith
you have to step out on a limb sometimes out of the comfort zone
you have to step out and put yourself in a position where
if god doesn't come through then i'm through
because god will come through and if you don't believe that then you don't have
the kind of faith that it takes to get anything
from god because god doesn't hand out anything
unless you have faith that's just the way it is
it's the way god operates but don't be double-minded
you know it just this whole philosophy of double-minded you know do you hate
when people use double talk you know they talk out of both sides of
their mouth you ever heard that expression before
they'll say one thing to somebody and then somebody else gets around they'll
say something a little different or they'll act different around certain
people hey don't be double-minded hey why don't you just decide and this
also has to do with the thought about you know asking in
faith and nothing wavering and not being tossed tossed about and
carried about with every wind of darkness hey decide what you believe
and then just stick with it and don't be double-minded
well why are people so double-minded about the king james bible
look is the king james bible the word of god or not
i was talking to our visitor on sunday morning and i was
i was telling he was he was trying some different church i said well have you
tried this one over here you know try this one over here these are these are
good ones that i've heard about and he said well i said yeah you know
these these ones were king james only and he said well you know what
he said when you really pin people down though
that are supposedly king james and you ask them why they're king james or what
they believe about the king james he said you get all kinds of answers
he said you get some real weird answers about what they mean by that
and that's the truth why are people so double-minded they just decide whether
the king james bible is the word of god whether you're king james only and just
quit even worrying about it quit even uh fathoming the idea of
bringing in some other bible you think i'm going to bring in some stupid other
bible in this pulpit if i look if i ever if i ever get up
here and tell you that another bible says something that
makes a little more sense or if i get to say well let me read it to you in the
niv it'll make it a little simpler hey you have the obligation to throw me
out of here i'm serious i don't care if it's 10 years
from now and i started this church and i came
here this church wasn't even around i just came here
and started it with god doing the work of course
but if i if i pass through this church for 30 years and i get up and use a
different bible in this pulpit i hope to god that you'll be smart
enough to throw me out on the street and say get out of here
paul said if i come back to you and preach another gospel than what i
preached to you he says let me be accursed he says
curse me because i don't have loyalty to a man
have loyalty to jesus christ have loyalty to king james bible
and don't be double-minded just decide what you believe
and nail it down you say well i'm not sure what i believe well it's time for
you to figure out what you believe in if you're not sure what you believe about
the king james figure out sit down and read it study to show
thyself approved unto god a workman that needs not to be ashamed
rightly dividing the word of truth figure out what you believe hey figure
out whether you're a baptist or not and then just stay a baptist figure out
what you believe about salvation and about soul winning
and then just stick with it and if you're not sure what you believe then
figure it out read the bible until you figure it out
i know what i believe and that's why i'm going to get things from god when i ask
because i'm not double-minded because i know what i believe
i want to go all the way this way i'm not going that way at all
i want to be all the way right wing conservative fundamental
radical insane i'm not going to be anywhere in between
the spectrum of well you know he's a little liberal on this hey tell me what
i'm a little liberal and i'll change it tomorrow
honestly meet me after the service because i don't want to be i don't want
to be i don't want to be liberal at all i don't have any darkness
at all in me i want to be 100 righteous before god
and i'm not and i'm on and that's the direction i'm going that's the direction
i'll continue to go but i i would i would uh i would say that
the average baptist church and the average independent fundamental baptist
church should be called double-minded baptist church
double-minded baptist church uh pastor wave
toss to and fro with every you know these these these pastors
i can't figure them out sometimes i'll hear them preach and they'll preach
boy uh they'll preach on sin and they'll preach hard and then i look at
like brochures and stuff they hand out it looks exactly what i just got in the
mail from the charismatic church down the street
i mean it looks identical oh i'll sit down in their service and they'll say
we're not gonna have this christian contemporary music this liberal music
and then you'll hear the music in their church and that's exactly what it is and
you're thinking of my what i can't figure this out it's
double-minded hey look figure out which side of the
coin you're on and just go all the way in that direction
you say does it bother you when people leave this church or when people come
and go it doesn't bother me at all because they
don't they might not want to be where we are
but that's just the way we're going to be forever
and by the grace of god that's the way that we're going to continue to be
and the people who want to line up with it if the people want to line up with
this Bible and good night they don't have to line up with everything we
believe but if they can handle being here and listening to it hey then glory
to god they could they'll be here with us and
god will build the church with those kind of people
but people who can't take it we're not going to we're not going to come their
way no never never oh i might as well just
pack up my stuff and leave town which isn't going to happen
but anyway don't be double-minded but i will say this i'm not trying to be
negative because i will say this i strongly
believe that all across this nation right now in 2006
there are young men and boys and young adults
who's who's got a fire burning in their heart who
god is speaking to right now i mean who god is speaking to when they read their
bible who god is speaking to where they are and
god is raising up a generation of
preachers i just believe that they're that there are some people
that still haven't bowed the knee to bail in this country i believe that as
god said to elijah he said there's seven thousand men that haven't bowed the knee
to bail he says you don't even know about them
but i've been preparing them i've been using my word i've been working in their
life and they're going to rise up and fight
against the syrians and that's what happened ahab
led them to battle ahab led seven thousand men who had not
bowed the knee to bail and fought against a giant multitude in
this army and i don't have time to tell that whole story great story i'll preach
the sermon on it sometime but don't be double-minded the bible
says in verse number nine let the brother of low degree
rejoice and that he's exalted let's talk about somebody who's of low financial
means somebody's poor he's saying let the
brother of low degree rejoice and that he's exalted
but the rich and that he is made low because as the flower of the grass he
shall pass away but the sun is no sooner risen with the
burning heat but it withereth the grass and the flower thereof falleth and the
grace of the fashion of a parisheship so also shall the rich man fade away in
his ways well i was i was just in uh los angeles
of course as i as i usually am in the first part of the
week and i was in los angeles and boy there's so many new areas springing up
i mean that area is growing in los angeles everywhere in los angeles
and this just seems like the city's just getting further you can be several hours
out and it's just a metropolis i was in i was in a lot of
different areas you know see me valley i was in long beach and boy long beach
the skyline was bigger than phoenix's skyline just long beach
and some of these other suburbs you know glendale you know they had big skylines
and it was it was amazing but i was just
thinking about because i i do a lot of work in department stores
and sometimes i'd be in a mall setting in a department store
and these malls some of them are so lavish in some of these rich areas
good night i mean they had giant statues giant fountains just everything is just
seemingly gold-plated and marble everything's fancy
everything is first class everything is just brand
new and i was just thinking to myself wow you know what's it going to be like
something in heaven because you know it's going to be so much nicer than this
i mean it's going to be so much more plush and and rich and lavish and nice
but i was just thinking about how it's all just going to decay and just fade
away and god says it's worthless he and he
says later in in the book of james in chapter five he says
go to now ye rich men weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you
your riches are corrupted and your garments are moth eaten
your gold and silver is cankered and the rest of them
and he goes on and on to describe how he says it's like your gold is
cankered your money is like rotten you're going to fade away
he says don't toil for earthly riches because they're going to sour and rot
but he says let the brother of low degree rejoice
and that he's exalted see god makes the high places low and the low places high
that no flesh should glory before him you see the rich man
he says you better watch out because riches don't endure forever and i'm
going to send you the trials and tribulations
just like everybody else buddy if you're a born-again child of god
but he says boy the poor man he says i'm going to lift you up and exalt you
to show my glory by giving you the desires of your heart and i'm not
talking about financially but i'm talking about he says in the in
in the bible he says for the first shall be last and the last shall be first
and a lot of people that have prominence now are going to be nobody in the world to come
but he says boy some of the people that you thought were just the
they were just of low degree i mean they didn't have any money
they didn't have any fame nobody knew who they were
but god's going to lift them up and exalt them because they lived for god
because they stayed with it and because they pleased god with their lives
but it says in verse number 12 i'm going to hurry through this but verse says
verse number 12 but the whole point of that is that you know don't labor for riches
god says woe unto you rich that's what he said he said he said blessed are the poor
and i know it says in matthew blessed are the poor in spirit but in the book of luke
chapter number nine i think it is he says blessed are the poor
he says all because i'm taking care of that and so don't don't try and be rich
it's not what it's corrected to be verse number 13 or verse number 12 says blessed is the man
that endureth temptation it's talking about those struggles those trials that god sent you
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's tempted i'm tempted of god for god cannot be tempted with evil neither
tempteth he any man but every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust and enticed then
when lust have conceived to bring it forth sin and sin when it is finished bringing forth death
so lust is the precursor to sin it starts with you having an inordinate desire covetousness
a wrong desire for something that god doesn't want you to have and a lot of people say wow
it's not my fault you know the devil made me do it or you know you heard people say the devil made
me do it now he says every man is tempted when he's drawn away of his own lust and enticed look
you don't the devil you don't even need the devil's help because you have so much sin inside your body
that's going to take you to the gutter anyway i mean you think people think that the devil's down
at the at the strip club tonight he he's probably never even been inside that strip club i'm serious
he's a well he's not the bar he's never even seen the inside of that bar the bible says that the
devil's transformed into a minister of light the devil's down the street at the southern baptist
church friend that's the truth you don't like that that's the truth okay the devil's not in
a bar because at the bar the wicked lust of mankind will destroy himself devil doesn't even
need to be there no the devil's behind the false religion the devil's behind all the the roman
catholic church the devil's behind every idol that anybody worships the bible says the devil
is behind those things because the lust of man is what causes you to sin it's not the devil that's
tempting you all the devil's really tempting me look do you think you're that important there's
only one devil you think the devil's just tempting you all the time no your flesh is tempting you
now sometimes the devil may tempt you but most of the time it's your own lust is drawing you away
and enticing you and so you just have to subdue the old the old man and walk in the spirit but
god says every man is tempted when he's drawn away of his own lust and enticed and then listen
to this wording then when lust have conceived it bringeth forth sin now what do those two words
mean well you know what conception means right that's when a child is created in the womb of
its mother when lust hath conceived it bringeth forth and you know what bring it forth means it
means to give birth it says when lust have conceived it bring it forth sin and sin when
it is finished bring it forth that so what happens is when you start to lust when you start to get
that wrong desire for whatever it is for money that god doesn't want you to have you know for
power that god doesn't want you to have for uh lusting like a man lusts after women or vice
versa when he says when you have that lust in you he said it's like you're pregnant and you're like
ready to give birth to wicked sin and you know the thing is a lot of people think well you know
and i used to talk to guys on the job i remember i'd be you know i'd be like on an electrical job
and walking with another electrician he'd say hey look out that window over there
okay you know i thought he's trying to show me something about the job he's like look out this
window i look out the window and there's some you know indecent some girl in a bikini or something
or some girl bending over or something indecent and i look out the window and see that and he
says huh huh huh and i said hey i said you know what i said i said are you married and he said
yeah you know i'm married i said well do you think your wife appreciates you looking at that
i mean wouldn't that wouldn't that hurt her feelings do you love your wife you know i just
said to him like that i said you love your wife i mean do you think that do you think that she
feel good about you looking at at other women like that you know do you want her to lust after some
other man in her heart and that and he said well you know just because i've already ordered you
know doesn't mean i can't look at the menu and he says you know i'm just he's like hey i'm just
looking he's like my wife said this is what he said to me and it's a true story it's like many
true stories this is this is i'm thinking of one particular instance and he said well you know what
my wife said she said that i can look but don't touch and i just thought to myself you know what
that that poor woman you know she's probably saying that just to be cool or something
since since guys today you know they they go through women like you know they drop them and
dump them or she probably feels like she has to say that you know so that her boyfriend or
husband or whatever it is that's just temporary these days will stay with her but you know she's
got to hurt inside because no woman wants to to feel like she's a second grade or something like
that i mean isn't that just disgusting this is make you sick and it made me sick when he told
me that and i just thought to myself that that makes me even sicker that she told you that because
she doesn't mean that she that hurts her inside that you're lusting after other women and i was
just thinking to myself and i told him i said well you know what the bible says it says whosoever
looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in this heart and i said
and the guy wasn't even a christian you know and i gave him the gospel but i i told him i said you
know what i said i'm not i don't even want to look at it because you can't play with it my friend if
you if you if you just indulge looking at wrong things like that you will eventually act on it
because what happens is the moment that you look at that and just decide you know you might see
something and say okay i'm not going to look at it you know by accident but as soon as you take
that second look and say you know what i'm just going to lust after what i just looked at i'm just
going to desire it and covet it then you know what happens something is conceived inside you
and then you know what it does just like a baby inside its mother's womb begins to grow
and it just keeps growing it keeps growing and it keeps growing and it keeps growing and then
one day it's time for it to be born and that's when you fall into sin fall into sin right no
i said hey it took you nine months it took you nine months my friend to to commit adultery
because lust conceived nine months ago and you've been feeding it and feeding it and feeding it and
it's growing and growing and growing and growing you went through the first and second trimester
and now you're in the third trimester and now you're ready to give birth to the shin that's
been festering inside of you for nine long months you know obviously it's not exactly nine months
but that's that's the picture that jeans is painting here he's saying lust conceives and
eventually it brings forth sin and then once you get into sin sin conceives and then the grandchild
of lust is death conceived death and so that's the end of sin but look at the next verse the
bible says do not earn my beloved brethren every good gift and every perfect gift is from above
and cometh down from the father of lights with whom is no variableness neither shadow of turning
see if you were happy with what god gave you if you're happy with all the good things that
god has already given you you wouldn't have this inordinate lust for everything that god
does not give you you'd be satisfied and thankful to every good gift that god gave you
but you wouldn't be lusting after things that aren't yours and look at the next verse the
bible says of his own will begat he us back on the now we're back on the childbirth illustration
of his own will begat he us
with the word of truth that we should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures
now again i've hit on this so many times but you know what i constantly being challenged on this
all the time and i just cannot understand it friend sometimes i just wonder if anybody who
doesn't believe this maybe they're just not saying sometimes i mean once they've had it explained to
them because the way that people are so dumb about this and i'll explain it to them it seems
like it just goes right over their head and i'll show them verses over and over again the bible
says of his own will begat he us with the word of truth how did god beget us as his children
how did god bring us forth as sons of god what was the seed that created the conception
to where we could be born again it's the word of god the word of truth the bible is what conceived
us have you noticed that the bible and i'm not trying to be graphic but you know the bible
calls what comes from a man seed in the old testament and did you know that the bible calls
the word of god the seed the sower soweth the word the bible says he that received the seed
among the good ground is he that heareth the word you know the non the joy received because
the seed is always in both cases is referred to as the word of god of his own will begat us with
the word of truth that was the seed both in the sense of a man and a woman giving birth
producing children the seed is the word of god and again with a seed going into the ground same
illustration the word of god is what saves you i was thinking about the verse elations 4 19 oh
my little children of whom i travail in birth again is what paul said until christ be formed
in you he said i'm like a woman in labor is what paul is saying giving birth to children when i
win people to christ see god provides the seed the holy ghost uses the seed of the word of god
and he says i'm like the female i'm like the woman who's pregnant who's travailing travail
is what a woman goes through it's pangs the bible calls it travail labor pains he says i'm feeling
the pain that it takes as a servant of god to bring forth children into the kingdom of god
and he says oh my little children of whom i travail in birth again until christ be formed
in you and on and on you'll see that illustration throughout the bible i preached a little sermon
about that a long long time ago i guess it couldn't have been that long ago since this
church has only been around for 11 months seems like a long time ago it was one of the it was
one of the really early sermons but i was look down a few verses and uh look at verse number
21 and we'll see the same thing again in the same chapter wherefore lay apart all filthiness and
superfluity of naughtiness and receive with meekness the engrafted word which is able to
save your souls wow you see it again now i i made a quick list and i didn't i wanted to do this and
i forgot to do it and i didn't really have time to do it but just right before the service after
i got home from my trip i sat down and just came up with a list of just a few verses on this i'm
just going to read them for you the bible says in psalm 119 50 this is my comfort in my affliction
for thy word hath quickened me of course the bible says the fees to you have to be quickened
who are dead and trespassing sins quicken means brought to life he says thy word hath quickened
me of course mark 413 and he said to them know ye not this parable and how then will you know
all parables preacher who doesn't believe that you need the bible to be saved how are you going to
know any parable how do you know anything about the bible if you don't understand the word of god
because then in the next verse he says he says no you're not this parable and how then will you know
all parables and i love the short verses in the bible where the the holy ghost just decided to
just have just a short little verse and it's just a five-word verse mark 414 the sower soweth the
word that's what soul winning is he here's another one he that goeth forth and weepeth bearing
precious seed that's the bible shall doubtless come again with rejoicing bringing his sheaves
with him of course john chapter six i don't have time to preach this like i'd like to but in john
chapter six in verse 47 jesus said verily verily i say unto you he that believeth on me hath
everlasting life with a great verse i am that bread of life is the next verse your fathers did
eat manna in the wilderness and are dead this is the bread which cometh down from heaven that a man
may eat thereof and not die i am the living bread jesus is saying which came down from heaven if any
man eat of this bread he shall live forever see how simple the gospel is but listen this and the
bread that i will give is my flesh which i will give for the life of the world and i'm going to
skip some of this but he well actually i won't because it's so good i have to read all this
the jews therefore strolled among themselves saying how can this man give us his flesh to eat
then jesus said unto them verily verily i say unto you except you eat the flesh of the son of man and
drink his blood you have no life in you who so eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood hath eternal
life and i will raise him up at the last day for my flesh is meat indeed and my blood is drink
indeed he that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood dwelleth in me and i in him as the
living father hath sent me and i live by the father so he that eateth me shall live by me
you say what in the world is that ever eating jesus christ he said you need you must eat my flesh
to have any life in you he that eat my flesh has eternal life he said so he that eateth me shall
live by me but then he explains it in verse 63 he said it is the spirit that quickeneth
the flesh profiteth nothing he says i'm not talking about flesh i'm not talking about literal
flesh he said it's the spirit that quickeneth the words that i speak unto you they are spirit
and they are life see he's using an illustration here he's comparing himself to the manna that
came down from heaven where the bible says man shall not live by bread alone but by every word
that proceeded out of the mouth of god he said he that eateth me shall live by me he said don't
don't be confused the flesh profiteth nothing it's not about the flesh he says the words that
i say unto you they are spirit and they are life he says you must consume god's word in order to
have any life in you he says you can't be saved it'd be like a virgin birth if you're going to
get saved without the word of god how are you going to get saved without the seed how's a tree
going to grow without a seed how are you going to be saved without the jesus christ coming into you
through god's word he says you must eat the word of god he says you must live by the word of god
and live meaning live by means come to life by the word of god quickening you that's a whole
another sermon in and of itself john 8 30 as he spake these words many believed on it that's the
whole verse i love these short verses where god just lays it out for us romans 10 9 classic
verse that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the lord jesus and shall believe in thine heart
that god has raised him from the dead thou shalt be saved for with the hard man believeth unto
righteousness and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation for the scripture saith
whosoever believeth in him shall not be ashamed for there is no difference between the jew and
the greek for the same lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him for whosoever shall call
upon the name of the lord shall be saved how then shall they call on him in whom they've not
believed and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard and how should they hear
without a preacher as it is written how beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of
peace and bring glad tidings of good things but but but they've not all obeyed the gospel for
his eyes saith lord who hath believed our report so then faith cometh by hearing and hearing by
the word of god so if you're saved by grace through faith where does the faith come from
it comes by hearing the word of god i'm sorry to belabor this but you know what someday my
children are going to grow up and sit sit in some church somewhere god forbid where some idiot gets
up and says that you don't need the word of god to get saved or some idiot gets up and says that
it doesn't matter what bible you're using out soul winning you can still get people saved some idiot
gets up and said that it's just the gospel that saves it's not the word of god that saves no it's
the word of god that has the saving power it's it's the word of god that's needed for salvation
it's the word of god that's needed for sanctification and it's the word of god
that's needed for glorification because i'm going to tell you something if you don't need the word
of god to win people to christ well you know what maybe that's why people have such a flipping
attitude about what bible they use because they've demoted how important the word of god is and how
powerful it is well as long as you get the same point across no he said when they heard these
words remember the sermon on sunday night and when peter spake these words while peter spake
these words the holy ghost fell on them that heard the words you see that they didn't fall
the holy ghost didn't fall because he was telling a story about jesus it's because he spake god's
words the holy ghost fell on them that heard the words and on and on i'm belaboring this you all
know this but you need to be grounded in what you believe and know why you believe it ephesians 1
13 in whom he also trusted after that you heard the word of truth see let's get the order right
after that you heard the word of truth the gospel of your salvation in whom also after that you
believe you were sealed with that holy spirit of promise uh acts 13 26 men and brethren children
of the stock of abraham and whosoever among you fearth god to you is the word of this salvation
sent psalm 107 20 he sent his word and healed them and delivered them from their distresses
and of course my favorite john 5 24 verily verily i say unto you he that heareth my words and word
and believeth on him that sent me half everlasting life and shall not come into condemnation but is
passed from death to life heareth the word and believeth that's salvation you hear the
word of god you believe the word of god and i wish i could have had time to make a more
comprehensive list but then again it would have taken too long so i'm glad i didn't have time
it would have taken up the whole sermon but anyway back to the book of james i'm going to hurriedly
close here but the bible says of his own will begat he us with the word of truth that we should
be a kind of first fruits of his creatures of course the begetting of us is also is always
associated with a brand new creature this is any man being christ he's a new creature god created
something new in our spirit the moment that we got saved and then at the rapture he'll create a new
body for us and that's another sermon but the bible says wherefore my beloved brother and let
every man be swift to hear slow to speak slow to wrath for the wrath of man worketh not the
righteousness of god don't go through life angry all the time now the bible does say that god's
angry with the wicked every day and the bible says be ye angry and sin not the bible commands
you to be angry but the bible also says anger resteth in the bosom of fools and it says be
ye angry and sin not let not the sun go down upon your wrath he's saying don't go from day to day
angry he says when the time there's a time to be angry there's a time to have a wrath and anger and
indignation but he says then there's a time to put off anger the bible says those exact words
put off anger you know you get angry but what's the key word of your life joy count it all joy
we're always rejoicing rejoice evermore uh this is the day that the lord have made we will rejoice
and be glad in it you know sometimes you you can get tendency to get angry a lot just because
there's so many bad things going on in the world and bad things going on in our lives hey look put
off anger though because god says the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of god
look there's a time to have wrath and anger but he says you got to be able to know how to put on
off anger you know i put on anger sometimes while i'm preaching but when i'm done preaching i'm
gonna put off anger and i'm gonna you know enjoy some time with my family and so you have to be
able to put it on and put it off like the bible says and then the bible says for the rat and also
says slow to wrath don't be one of these hot heads that flies off the handle at the drop of
a hat the bible says the lord is slow to anger and of great mercy see god has more wrath than
you can even imagine god's anger is so much that his fury and his wrath is epitomized in a place
called hell that is just basically just the center of god's wrath and anger just culminated in his
uh wrathful damnation anger just burning for all eternity that's how mad god is you want to know
how mad god is go check out what hell is like and that's how mad god is but at the same time
he's slow to anger you know he's not one of these people that just flies off the handle
he's like a time bomb that's ticking and by the way he's ticking about america he's just ticking
ticking ticking and one of these ages is going to cloud up and rain on us and so we need to seek the
lord while he may be found in this country but it says be slow to wrath don't be a hot head
don't fly off the handle control yourself it's okay to be anger if you decide to be angry
okay it's you need to control the anger you know you should be able to control i'm going to decide
to be angry sometimes i have to decide to be angry at my children sometimes i have to be decide to be
angry while i'm preaching but it's because i decided to be angry not because i'm just out of control
just flying off the handle and you got to be able to see the difference there and it says for the
wrath of man working out the righteousness of god wherefore lay apart all filthiness and
superfluity and naughtiness and receive with me this thing grafted word which is able to save
your souls hallelujah but be doers of the word and not here is only deceiving your own selves
for if any be a hearer of the word and not a doer he is likened to a man beholding his natural face
in the glass for he beholded himself and go with his way and straightway forget what manner of man
he was he's saying if you if you don't do what the bible tells you to do and and this is what
happens i'll get up and preach a sermon right and uh i don't know whether i'm one of these emotional
preachers or not maybe i you know maybe i maybe i preach and people get emotional or i don't know
you know i don't have the big altar calls and the drawn out invitations and everything like that
but at the same time you know there's there's going to be emotion involved in a church service
and preaching and sometimes i'll preach something right and uh the holy ghost will fall on them
that hear the words and and something will cut to the heart that i preach on not me but
the bible will cut to the heart sometimes but here's what happens when the bible cuts to the
heart and you're a hearer but then if you're not a doer like if you hear what you're supposed to do
like go soul winning you know you're like oh man i need to go soul winning if you don't go soul
winning here's what happens the bible says it's like you looked in a mirror and saw what you are
and you said i'm not a soul winner you know or i'm involved in this and those so sin you know
whatever i just heard in church just fits me exactly that's where i'm at but he says if you
don't do it and right away he says if you don't do it while you're standing in front of that mirror
of the word of god he says as soon as you walk away from that mirror you're going to forget what
manner of man you were you know it's kind of like if i walked up to the mirror and saw what was it
today i had a hole in one of my suit pants that i was i was ready all ready for church tonight and
there's a big hole right here in my suit pants you know if i looked in the mirror and say good night
look at that big hole in my pants and then just walk away just go about my business and forget
about it but he says look while you're in front of the mirror that's where you need to decide to do
something about it when you're reading the bible all by yourself and god speaks to you he says i'm
trying to show you and you'll have ever seen yourself in the bible all the time right it's
like a mirror you look in the bible you see yourself you see yourself negatively sometimes
you see yourself positively many times but when you see yourself in that mirror if you don't do
what god's telling you to do immediately he says the moment that you walk away from the mirror
and close the mirror and put it down and walk away you're going to forget what it was that you were
going to do so the bottom line is act fast you know when you hear god's word when god speaks to
you act fast don't walk away from the mirror until you've done what god said to do but he
says but here's the positive side of the coin verse number 25 but who so looketh into here's
the mirror illustration again who so looketh into the perfect law of liberty that's the bible
and continue it therein he being not a forgetful hearer who's the forgetful hearer the person who's
not a doer if you're not a doer you will be a forgetful here i mean i talked to a man the other
day and it seemed like he knew less about the bible than he did five years ago and i was
thinking to myself how could he have how could he know let i mean you think people learning like
they sit in church they learn more learn more this man knows less why because he's a forgetful here
because he's not a doer and he says who so looketh into the perfect law of liberty and continue it
therein he being not a forgetful here but a doer of the work you see that's how you you say but i
wish i could retain the bible as long as i go to church like i can't even tell you what was
preached on sunday morning i don't even know what was preached on sunday night it seems like i just
go to church and it goes in one ear and out the other it's because you're not a doer you will be
a doer of the work there's only two kinds of people doer of the work forgetful here which one
do you want to be do you want to be a doer of the work or do you want to be a forgetful hearer and
he says who so looketh into the perfect law of liberty and continue it there he being not a
forgetful here but a doer of the work this man shall be blessed in his deed and then it says
the next verse if any man among you seem to be religious and bridled not his tongue but to see
with his own heart this man's religion is vain pure religion and undefiled before god and the
father is this to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction and to keep himself unspotted
from the world here's what god's saying if you can't control your mouth and i'm out of time so
i'm just blowing through this real quick if you can't control your mouth you're not spiritual
he says you're not right we've got you're not religious you're not spiritual
he says that's the most basic thing learn to control your mouth
and you make the application there wherever you want and then the last verse he says pure
religion and undefiled before god and the father is this and well i have to teach you this right
here i'm hurrying to finish but see how it says pure religion before and undefiled before god and
the father you know that god and the father are the same person all the time throughout the bible
the word and is used to put two parallel ideas next to each other and people don't understand
that but it's god and the father looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the
great god and our savior jesus christ same person the great god and our savior jesus christ if you
understand the english language you know that but he says in uh verse number 27 pure religion and
undefiled before god and the father is this to visit the fatherless and widows in their
affliction that's the positive that's where you're serving god that's where you're doing
for others and to keep himself unspotted from the world so he says again back to the theme of the
beginning of the chapter having the whole package he says if you want to have the right kind of
god's religion he says it's a religion that does the work not just a forgetful here but one that
visits the fatherless and the widows and their affliction a religion that knocks the doors in
the poor side of town where nobody wants to go nobody wants to drive through there and you'll
walk up and down that street winning souls he says that's the pure undefiled religion of god
and to keep himself unspotted from the world see you gotta have both sides of the coin yes i'm
serving god that's the positive and then i'm rejecting the things of the world and i'm keeping
myself unspotted i want to be clean and white and not uh not slight like you picture like a white
shirt with dirt on it how how ugly it looks and he says keep yourself unspotted from the world
let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer god thank you so much for the bible of course and
father i thank you that when i go out soloing i'm not going with some kind of a butter knife
trying to trying to preach and get people saved in my own strength with some kind of a trowel or
a garden tool or some kind of a uh dole object but dear god i've got the two-edged sword
the powerful word of god which is able to save souls glory to god father i just pray that you
would use the message tonight i talked about so many different things tonight and the book of
james talked about so many different things but father i just pray that something that i said
would would stick in somebody's mind that it wouldn't all just be forgotten but that something
would stick because why why would it stick because somebody's doing what they heard tonight and we
love you in jesus name i pray amen all right let's turn to our last song tonight