All right, we are continuing our series here in the book of James, and we're in chapter
2.
Now chapter 2, specifically verses 14 through 26, is one of the most abused chapters in
the Bible.
Okay, this is a chapter, and specifically those verses are used to teach a lot of
false doctrine, unfortunately, okay?
And it's been the main focus of a lot of false prophets and teachers that have the agenda
to twist and pervert the doctrine of salvation, okay?
Now it's interesting because of the fact that the Bible is so clear when it comes
to this matter of salvation, that it's by faith alone, that all you have to do is
believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, you know, that it's not by works of righteousness,
which we have done, but according to His mercy, He saved us.
For by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves.
I mean the list goes on and on and on and on, telling us it's not by works.
But yet in spite of all the clear evidence in the Bible, people still go to James chapter
2 to try to prove and prop up their false doctrine that you have to have works with
your faith, or if not, you're just not saved, okay?
And that's mainly what they teach.
Now before we get into that, let me just let you know here that in the book of James,
it's written to an audience that James is trying to encourage to just mature, to grow
up, right?
So he's not writing to necessarily, the book is not like the book of John, where salvation
is just being emphasized like every single chapter throughout the book.
There are two different books here.
The book of James is for the brethren who he's trying to encourage to just grow
up spiritually, okay?
Now we know that because of the fact that the very first verse of chapter 2, what does
it say?
My brethren.
So he's talking to saved people.
This is not a chapter that we're to take unsaved people to, to show them how to get
saved, right?
And that's what a lot of people try to do.
They'll say, you got to have works, and if you don't have the works, you're not
really saved, or you know, the Pentecostal type crowd where, you know, they say the
same thing, but only they'll just put a different twist on it and say you're not,
you lose your salvation.
You know, if you don't do the works, if you don't go to church, if you don't get
saved out of your life, you lose your salvation, you know, you got to get right with
God in order to get saved again.
But they're both false doctrine.
It's not what the chapter is teaching.
We're going to get into what is specifically being laid out here.
Look at verse number 1, it says, my brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ,
the Lord of glory with respect of persons.
Now James chapter 2 is just a continuation of what we read at the latter end of James
chapter number 1.
Look at verse 27 of chapter 1, pure religion, undefiled before God and the father is this,
to visit the fatherless and the widows in their affliction and to keep himself unspotted
from the world.
My brethren, right?
Then he goes into chapter 2, my brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ,
the Lord of glory with respect of persons.
What is that talking about?
Well, he's basically admonishing them, hey, if you're going to be a doer of the word
and not just to hear your works should accompany all types of people, right?
Don't just try to reach those who have money or those who have status.
We ought to love those who are widows, those who are fatherless, those who are afflicted.
We are not to be a respecter of people when it comes to the gospel.
Have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ with respect of persons.
So the issue that's being dealt with here is that he's instructing the brethren to
not show favoritism, to not be partial, right?
Not be a respecter of people.
In other words, be a doer of the word but don't try to accommodate, right?
Don't try to accommodate brethren over others based upon their financial status, based upon
their ethnic or positional status.
This is known as partiality, okay?
Now let me read you from Proverbs 28 and 21, it says, to have respect of persons
is not good for a piece of bread that man will transgress.
Now what is the teaching here?
Well, he's basically saying if you have a leader, if you have a person who's partial,
right, in other words, they show favoritism to one person over the next because of
whatever reason, this person who's showing that partiality, they'll transgress for any
reason.
They will sin just to get their own way.
They will sin just for the sake of pleasing man.
Now how can we apply that today?
Well, let's talk about pastors for example, okay?
You know, someone who accommodates their sermons, his service or their behavior based
upon the people, they're gonna trespass the commandments of God just to please the people
in the pews, right?
How about if the pastor knows there's like some millionaire visiting, right?
And if they're a respecter of persons because they need to pay the bills, because
things need to get paid for, you know, and he wants to have a comfortable life
and you know what, that's gonna help him out, he's gonna tailor his sermon for
that person.
But you know what God wants?
God wants a servant who just preaches the whole Bible without partiality, without being
a respect of people.
Now look, there's a commandment not to be a respecter of persons, but there's also
a commandment to love your neighbor as yourself.
What does that mean?
That no matter the status, you treat everyone equally the same and what does that mean?
You love them.
You love everyone exactly the same, you treat everyone exactly equally, you don't
show favoritism, you don't show partiality, you're not a respecter of people.
If you are, you can't be a servant of Christ.
Because at that point you're not serving Christ, you're serving man.
You know, we as Christians need to make sure that we're serving God and we're putting
his commandments first and look, if the message offends, it offends.
A lot of the things in the Bible, they're not very popular to talk about.
And I can see why a lot of pastors don't talk about these certain subjects because
of the fact that they might lose half of their congregation.
People might just get up and walk out, which has happened here.
And you know when they get up and walk out, I could be like, oh man, maybe I gotta
rethink the way I'm doing this.
Or I could say, you know what God, I'm just gonna keep preaching it the way you want
me to preach it.
Talk about the doctrines you want me to preach on and not hold back and just trust you.
Have faith that God can provide for every need.
And look, you say, well what if everyone walks out?
Then hey, I got a child on the way, so I know for sure there'll be four guaranteed
people that are gonna have to listen to me every service, okay?
It's no biggie, you know?
And we need to get to a point where we practice James chapter two and we're not a
respecter of people, okay?
The Bible tells us in Galatians 1-10, for do I now persuade men or God?
Or do I seek to please men?
For if I yet please men, I should not be the servant of Christ.
You know, there's a big temptation for leaders and just Christians in general to
tailor their lives to please men.
You know, we can't do that because at that point we can't serve God.
We can't be loyal to His word, all right?
Look down at your Bibles, look at verse number two.
And we see more of this in the coming verses.
Verse two, four, if there come unto your assembly a man with a gold ring.
This guy's bling-blinging, in other words, okay?
He has that ring on and he's like, you know he has money.
And goodly apparel.
And there come in also a poor man in vile raiment.
He's wearing a Fila outfit or something, echo.
He's looking kind of ghetto, a little, you know, gangster-ish.
And you have respect to him that wear it to gay clothing.
By the way, gay clothing is not referring to homo clothing, okay?
Gay clothing just means like happy clothing, you know, just regular clothing.
And saying to him, sit down here in a good place and say to the poor, stand out there
or sit here under my footstool, are you not impartial in yourselves and become judges
of evil thoughts?
What is he saying?
So if a guy comes in and you can tell based upon what he's wearing that he has
some feria, he's got some money on him.
And then you see the guy come in and you know what?
He looks like he's a little down on his luck.
He's not wearing the nicest of clothing, right?
Maybe it's a little tattered.
Maybe it looks like he got it from the thrift store or whatever.
He doesn't look like he has money, you know.
The one who's a respecter of people will say, hey, the guy with the money, just sit
here, you know.
Let me just hook you up with a good seat and move out of the way, you know, this
person.
Now look, we do do this in our church to a certain extent.
He said, what do you mean?
Well, we do this, but it's not necessarily being a respecter of people.
We're trying to show love, right?
For example, you know, our church is growing, okay.
And today we're pretty full and that's with a lot of people missing.
A lot of people are out sick.
I want to say thank God for that, but that sounds kind of bad.
But if there were to be here, it's like, man, we have nowhere to put them, you know.
But you know, a lot of the men even in our church have said, they're like, well,
if it continues to get full, single guys will just move.
We'll just stand in the back, you know.
So they're willing to give up their seats for those who need a seat for a visitor,
whatever it may be.
They're not showing partiality, they're showing love to their neighbors, right?
They're giving up something of themselves so someone can have a better seat.
But this is a different example.
This is someone who is a pastor, for example, who's telling someone to move because they
want to benefit from giving favor to that person.
You see what I'm saying?
Whereas the person, for example, the single who moves, right, for the sake of a mother,
he's not benefiting from that.
Who is?
The person who's sitting there is benefiting from that, okay?
Now it says there in verse 4, are you not then partial to yourselves and become judges
of evil thoughts?
Harken, my beloved brethren, hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith
and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him?
But ye have despised the poor.
Do not rich men oppress you and draw you before the judgment seats?
Do not they blaspheme that worthy name by which ye are called?
What is he saying?
Man, you're showing all kinds of favoritism to these rich people, and these rich people
are the ones who are going to be oppressing you.
They're not rich in faith.
They're going to be oppressing you.
And in fact, they blaspheme that worthy name by which ye are called.
Now this isn't carte blanche for every single rich person in this world, right?
I know people who have money, and they're some of the godliest people that I know.
But why is that?
Because they're not serving mam and they're serving God, okay?
And he's basically telling them, look, these people will oppress you.
And this is true in a lot of churches.
Why?
Because of the fact that the guy who has the money, the guy who has the dough, dictates
what takes place in the church, because the pastor doesn't want to lose that person.
And they'll do whatever it takes to keep Mr. Millionaire in the church.
You know, I've said it before and I'll say it again, we just booted out one of the
biggest givers of our church, but you know what, his giving doesn't determine whether
he gets booted out or not.
You know, he got excommunicated for heresy, teaching damnable heresy at that, for railing
and all kinds of things.
I would be a man of partiality if I said, well, you know, it's okay, you know, I
know you didn't mean it that way.
I get what you're saying, you know, that's being partial.
You know, we're not going to tailor, we're not going to accommodate people who are trying
to, rich people who are trying to oppress, right?
The leader or leaders in the church, just because they got, don't come here flashing
your money.
It means nothing to us.
Okay.
Now, look, we do have to pay the bills obviously, but you know who pays the bills
for us?
The Lord.
Amen.
Who provides for our needs?
The Lord.
Okay.
Who's the one who's going to continue to bless us and give us a building or give
us that which we need, materials?
The Lord.
And you know what we need to continue to do in order to receive those things is be
pleasing unto the Lord.
Okay.
That's as a church and as individuals as well.
So what is he saying here?
Well, he's basically telling them about these rich people that they don't have
their best interests in mind.
You don't have to turn to Exodus 23 verse 8 says this, and now shall take no gift
for the gift blinded the wise and perverted the words of the righteous.
You know, a lot of the times this happens a lot where a rich person comes into the
church and uses that basically pushes their weight around with that, with those finances
to try to pervert judgment.
Okay.
The judgment of the pastor.
Look at verse number eight.
If you fulfill the royal law, according to the scripture, thou shall love thy neighbor
as thyself.
You do well.
So it's like, don't be partial.
Just love your neighbor, you know, regardless of who they are.
Verse nine.
But if you have respect to persons, he commits sin and are convinced of the law as transgressors.
You know, we should love people, all people by default.
Every person who comes through our doors, we should love.
What if they're a reprobate?
Well, we don't know if they're a reprobate, so why don't we just love them until we
find out that they're a reprobate?
So love everyone by default.
Don't suspect everyone coming through the doors.
Well, they look a little funny.
Yeah, well, worldly people look funny.
I came to church with a Mohawk.
Not today.
Everyone's like, I missed that.
When I first came to church, when I first got saved, I came to church with a Mohawk.
Okay?
Yeah.
If you could even picture that.
You know?
But I'm thankful for the people that met me at the door and didn't judge me according
to that.
Okay?
There's going to be people who come to church that don't look like you.
Okay?
They're not going to have their ducks in order.
Hey, they might even be tatted from head to toe.
Oh, yeah, that guy's a reprobate.
No, he's just tatted from head to toe.
They might even have piercings all over their body.
You know, we're not to judge them, we should just love them by default.
Everyone is innocent until proven guilty.
And when they come, we love them, we care for them, we try to get them saved, living
for the Lord, you know, and we leave it at that up until something happens, right?
But we're to love our neighbors as ourselves, and that way we can do well.
Treat everyone equally in the service of the Lord, amen?
You know, we don't want to be characterized as being people who are just jumped the
gun on every single person we see.
You know, be hasty in our speech to just condemn every single person because they're
not just lockstep with us, okay?
We need to make sure that we love everyone equally when they come through those doors
by default.
And you know what?
The Bible tells us that reprobates, that their folly shall be made manifest.
So why worry?
Don't worry, be happy, amen?
Their folly shall be made manifest.
So you know what?
As long as we fulfill our role in loving our neighbors as ourselves, God will bless us
for that, and He will allow their folly to be made manifest so that we can continue
to do right, cleanse the church, and do what we have to do.
Look at verse number 10.
It says here, for whosoever shall keep the whole law yet offend in one point, he is
guilty of all.
Now we use this verse often, even in soul winning.
I love using this verse in soul winning, you know, to just basically remove the self-righteousness
of people who just believe that just because they've lied or stolen, but they're not like
a murderer or something like that.
This is a good verse to use, but again, this is in context of partiality, you know?
That's what that's referring to there.
Verse 11, for he that said, do not commit adultery, said also, do not kill.
Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law.
And by the way, just talking about soul winning, this is just a great passage of scripture
to use for that, isn't it?
You know, you talk to people, and they're just like, well, I'm not that bad.
They always talk about the white lies.
Have you ever told a lie before?
Well, a white lie.
It's just like, well, you know what?
God's commandments, they're not racist.
So, black, white, yellow, green, it don't matter what it is, a lie is a lie, man.
You know, we need to make sure that we use this too.
This is a great passage of scripture to use in that, that whosoever shall keep the whole
law.
But it's not teaching that all sin is equal in the sense of one, you know, murder is
exactly like lying in this world, right?
Now these sins are equal in the sense that they'll take you to hell, right?
If you lie, but you never commit murder, you're still going to hell, according to
the Bible.
But in God's law, as far as the law of the land, these are obviously, you know,
the sin of murder is not just a sin, it's what?
It's a crime.
Adultery is a crime.
Sodomy is a crime.
These are things that are not just considered to be sinful in the Bible, but they're actually
a crime punishable by death as well.
Okay?
But this is a good verse to use to basically show them that they're condemned in the eyes
of God.
Look at verse 12.
So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty.
For he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath showed no mercy, and mercy rejoices
against judgment.
Now go to Matthew chapter seven, hold your place there in James chapter two, excuse me.
It says there, mercy rejoices against judgment.
And some people will say, you know, you only have mercy and don't judge at all, right?
We're only supposed to show mercy.
But here's the thing, we need both.
We need mercy, we need judgment, okay?
And in fact, judgment is in the category of being the weightier matters of the law.
It says, judgment, mercy, faith.
These ought to have done and not to leave the others undone.
And it labels it as being the weightier matters of the law.
So just as mercy is important in the eyes of God, guess what?
Judgment is important as well.
We are to judge.
And not be hasty in our judgment, but judge righteous judgment, amen?
How are we to do that?
Look at Matthew seven, verse one.
Judge not that ye be not judged.
Most people stop right there.
The chapter has ended, you know, right then and there.
But let's read on.
For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged.
And with what measure ye meet, it shall be measured to you again.
And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but consider'st not the
beam that is in thine own eye?
So what is the measure that's being measured to you again?
Well, if you're guilty of the thing that you're judging, then you're basically guilty
of that.
You're being a hypocrite is what it's saying.
At that point, you should not judge because you're guilty of the same exact sin.
Verse three.
And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, that speck, but consider'st
not the beam that is in thine own eye?
Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, let me pull out the mote out of thine eye, and
behold, a beam is in thine own eye?
How hypocrite!
First cast out the beam out of thine own eye, and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out
the mote out of thy brother's eye.
So what is he saying here?
This is the way you're supposed to judge.
Don't be guilty of the things you're judging about.
It's pretty condensed and pretty simple.
This is how you judge righteous judgment.
Don't be an adulterer and condemn adulterers, right?
Don't preach against gambling and you're gambling.
Don't be guilty of that which you are, excuse me, don't be guilty of the sins that you're
preaching against.
But look, if you're not guilty of these things, guess what?
You can judge.
Because God wants us to judge.
It's important that we judge.
There's an entire book in the Bible called the Book of Judges.
You know, a father is to judge his family, a pastor is to judge the church.
We are to judge.
Go back to James chapter number two, where it becomes sinful is when you become guilty
of that which you're judging, okay?
Look at verse 14.
So from verses one through 14, it's pretty self-explanatory, but here's the thing is,
verses one through 14 do have to do what we're gonna see later on, okay?
It's all in context.
And remember, the context is this.
The context is what we saw in James chapter one, to be doers of the word and not hearers
only, right?
Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God, right?
But then what?
Then we're to be doers of the word.
We're to put in practice what we're hearing, okay?
And what happens if you don't?
What if you just listen to a sermon and, you know, brother, he is ripping on the
sodomites and, you know, I'm talking about all these things that we hold dear
as far as the doctrines are concerned, but then you just walk away, you don't change
anything.
What does the Bible say?
It says you're deceiving yourself.
So if you're only here but you're not a doer of the word, guess what?
You are deceiving yourself.
Why?
Because now you have the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ with respect of people, okay?
Look at verse 14.
What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man may say he hath faith and hath not
works?
Can faith save him?
Now keep in mind the context of what we've been reading, right?
We're talking about being partial, making sure that we don't show partiality or favoritism.
He's saying here, what does it profit my brother now?
What does it profit the person who has faith and has not works?
No.
What does it profit the brother?
Can your faith save that person?
And by the way, it's not referring to save as unjustified because this entire chapter
has nothing to do with salvation.
Sorry to break it to you.
Has zero to do with salvation.
You say, save from what?
Well, we'll see that their brethren are naked, need food, they're destitute, okay?
Look at James.
Go back to James chapter one.
Let's read some verses here.
Verse 22.
It says here, but be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving your own
selves.
For if any be hearer of the word and not a doer, he is likened to a man beholding
his natural face in a glass.
For he beholded himself and goeth his way and straightway forgeteth what manner a man
he was.
But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty and continueeth therein, he being
not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the word, this man shall be blessed in his deed.
So how can we be blessed in our deeds?
By blessing others.
By taking the faith that we have and putting it into practice and helping others.
That's what it's referring to when you're talking about being a doer of the word.
Now go back to chapter two, look at verse 15.
If a brother or sister be naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you say unto them,
Depart in peace, be warmed and filled, notwithstanding ye give not those things which are needful
to the body, what doth it profit?
So if you say, yeah, I have all kinds of faith, I believe in the King James Bible,
you know, I believe in the right doctrines, okay, what is that profiting those who
are in need?
How does that help them?
Well, you know, salvation by faith alone, amen to that, but we're not talking about
salvation right now.
We'll cover that in a different sermon.
Now we're trying to get people to grow up.
And guess what?
Growing up is not just knowing the totality of salvation and the doctrines therein.
Growing up takes you knowing the rest of the Bible.
The entire Bible is not just about salvation.
Now that's one of the main themes that we see throughout the Bible, right?
But there's tons of commandments.
There's tons of instructions that God gives to his people, and you know what?
Only people who mature in the Lord are going to be able to get these things.
Look, you run into people all the time, not so many, they get saved,
they never come to church, right?
They never come to church, they never exercise their faith, they never get sin
out of their lives, they don't go to church, they don't read their Bibles.
Doesn't mean they're not saved, it just means they have a dead faith.
But it doesn't mean that faith doesn't exist, okay?
So it's not profiting those people when we tell them that we have faith, okay?
Verse 17, even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.
So put it this way, let's say your friend is stranded, and you say,
don't worry, I have a car to come pick you up.
Okay, I'm going to come pick you up right now.
The only problem is, is my battery's dead.
It's like, well, how does that help me then?
Because you're not going to be able to come pick me up, you know?
Now, what if that person said, well, that means you don't have a car then?
Well, it's like, no, I have a car, it's just not working, okay?
It's just the battery has no energy.
No, what you're telling me is that your car is nonexistent.
You're lying, you don't even have a vehicle, okay?
It's like, no, I have a vehicle, it's just not working right now.
It just needs to be fixed.
I need a, you know, what is that, I need a jump, is what I need.
And then I can go pick you up.
You know, that would be ridiculous for
that person to just claim this person doesn't have a car or a battery.
You know, they have it, it's just dead.
The vehicle's dead, it's not working.
But here's the thing, the person who's stranded,
it doesn't profit that person anything, right?
On the flip side, well, I mean, I'm telling you, I'm going to help you.
It's just the fact that my car doesn't work.
I have a car to pick you up, but it just doesn't work.
It's like, well, how does that even help me then?
That's not going to profit me anything.
Thanks for the information that you have a vehicle.
But unless your vehicle can get from your house to where I'm at,
you know, it profits me nothing.
In like manner, we have faith, amen?
But if it's dead, if you don't have brotherly kindness and charity,
it profits no one.
You can believe the post-trib pre-wrath rapture.
You can believe reprisement theology and know all the intricacies thereof.
You can know everything about the reprobate doctrine,
but if you have not works, it doesn't profit anyone, you know?
If you want a mature faith, have all those right beliefs,
but have some works to go along with it, okay?
Now, I've gone through this chapter many times,
but let's look at it again.
Go to 2 Peter, chapter 1.
2 Peter, chapter 1, look at verse number 5.
Look, 2 Peter and James, they're like,
they're books that complement each other very well,
because they're talking to an audience
that they're trying to encourage to just grow, you know,
and put in some work and have works along with their faith.
Look at verse 5, it says,
and beside this, giving all diligence,
add to the work of God,
add to your faith.
Now, if they don't add to their faith,
does that mean the faith is not there?
No, you have to have something there to add to it, right?
Add to your faith virtue and to virtue knowledge,
reading the Bible, right?
To knowledge temperance, self-control,
and to temperance patience, to patience godliness,
to godliness, brotherly kindness.
You know, that's what we see in James chapter 2,
giving to the person's need,
if they're destitute of food and they're naked
and they have all these needs, right?
And to Godliness, brotherly kindness,
and to brotherly kindness, charity, love.
For if these things be in you and abound,
they make you that you should neither be barren
nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Let me tell you this,
some of the most miserable Christians I've ever met
are those who have faith but they don't have works.
Bunch of selfish people.
Bunch of pure Mormon, selfish people.
You know, and they want to focus just only
on their problems and their issues,
when really, those problems can readily go away
if they just go help someone.
If they just go be a blessing to someone.
If they just take their eyes off themselves
and put it on someone else who's in need.
You know, a lot of those problems will just go away,
and if they don't go away, they're real minimal
in comparison to the person you're helping.
Because then you realize,
oh man, someone has it worse than I do.
But you know why people don't want to help other people?
Because they don't want to know
that other people have it worse than they do.
You know, they want to have this pity party, right?
And woe is me, and I got the worst problem,
I got the worst circumstance in the world.
No, you don't.
There is no temptation taking you
but such as is common to man.
Everything you're going through,
look, and if you do have a hard issue,
a hard circumstance, cast already care upon him
for he cares for you, amen?
And the command still stands
to be, to have brotherly kindness.
So you can't be, so that you won't be barren
nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
When we add to our faith, we put it to work,
we begin to benefit those who are around us,
and we can be a blessing to others.
That should be our goal.
You know, isn't that what the song is?
Make me a blessing.
I'm gonna sing a special.
Make me a blessing, right?
That should be the prayer of our lives,
is like, Lord, help me to be a blessing
in anything that I do, right?
Now look, there's two ways, really,
if you break it down, where you can be a blessing.
Number one, soul winning.
That's like the biggest way you can be a blessing.
Because you rescue people from hell.
You know, there's people who need a drink of water,
but there's also people who need
that spiritual drink of water, right?
Of salvation.
There's people who need food
and they're destitute of food and a meal,
but you know, there's others who need the bread of life,
which is Jesus Christ.
And we need to make sure that we continue
to go soul winning, preach the gospel, see people saved.
But you know what?
There's also a second aspect,
which is that brotherly kindness.
Okay?
And look, these are two categories
that we as Christians need to constantly work on.
It's good that you go soul winning,
but do you have brotherly kindness?
You know?
It's easy to just go soul winning,
especially in a church like this,
where most of the people go soul winning.
Most of the people get encouraged by your team leaders
and you have a great time and there's accountability.
You're going out there, you're seeing people saved.
We're seeing the numbers and it's a fruitfulness.
It's great, but you know,
it's another thing to actually have brotherly kindness,
where it's not a team effort.
At times, it's just yourself
being a blessing to someone else.
And if you do all the soul winning, that's great,
but you know, why don't you add
to your faith with brotherly kindness as well?
You say, well, I only, I do have brotherly kindness.
Okay, how's your soul winning?
Gotta have both.
Okay?
I'm good at brotherly kindness.
I'm always, I try to be a blessing.
Okay, but how's your preach,
how's the preaching of the gospel going?
How's your soul winning?
When's the last time you won someone to the Lord?
You know, we need to have both.
The Bible tells us in 2 Corinthians 8 verse six,
in so much that we desire Titus,
that as he had begun,
so he would also finish you,
in you, excuse me, the same grace also.
Therefore, as he abound in everything,
in faith and utterance and knowledge,
and in all diligence and in your love to us,
see that he abound in this grace also.
God wants us to abound, amen,
in faith, utterance, but he says,
in your love to us, okay?
We should continue to abound.
Look, as the years go by,
we should love the brethren that much the more.
You know, I can honestly say,
from the time that we started the church up until now,
I love my brethren that much more.
Amen.
You know, the fellowship,
the times that we've gone through,
difficult times, just within the last two years,
my love for the brethren has just gone up.
It's not where it needs to be,
but you know what, I do love my brethren.
And I hope the same could be said for you,
where you're just like, man, I love my church.
I love my brethren, okay?
I wanna help my brethren, I wanna be there for them.
That is an area that we need to abound in.
Now, go back to James.
I don't know if you're in James.
Look, James chapter two, verse 18.
So the false doctrine that if you don't add faith to works,
you aren't saved, right here, verse 18.
This is what they'll use.
Yea, a man may say, thou hast faith, and I have works.
Show me thy faith without thy works,
and I will show thee my faith by my works.
Thou believeth there is one God, thou doest well.
The devils also believe and tremble.
But wilt thou know, O vain man,
that faith without works is dead?
Was not Abraham our father justified by works?
Let's go home, that's it.
He was justified by works,
when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar, okay?
And look, so let's go through these real quick.
Verse 18, yea, a man may say,
thou hast faith, and I have works.
Now, has any new character
been introduced into this verse?
Yea, a man may say, thou hast faith, and I have works.
God is not the one saying,
show me thy faith without thy works,
and I will show thee my faith by my works.
We're talking about people here, right?
So if you say you have faith, and this person has works,
this person is saying,
show me thy faith without thy works, that's fine,
but I'm gonna show you my faith by my works.
Why is that?
Because at the end of the day,
we can't see anybody's heart.
You know, it's only God who can look upon
the recesses, the inner recesses of the heart.
God is the only one who can see
the inner recesses of our minds, our motives.
People can't see that.
You say, well, you know,
I believe in the King James Bible.
I believe the right doctrines.
It's like, okay, I guess I gotta take your word for it
because your words have to match up to that.
Not to justify you as if you're justified, you're saved,
but just to justify you in my eyes.
You know, you claim to be a Christian,
you claim to be a Baptist, independent, fundamental,
hell-breathing, fire-damnation, preaching,
chicken-eating, all, biscuit,
the list goes on and on and on.
It's like, okay, well, thou says that thou has faith.
But, you know, show me your works.
You know, because that's the only way
we can validate if it's true, right?
Well, I don't need to prove myself to anybody.
That's fine.
But the Bible says you have to have brotherly kindness,
so God is commanding you to do that, okay?
And a mature Christian will work, will work.
Because if not, you're not a mature Christian.
You're a babe in Christ.
And there's nothing wrong with being a babe in Christ.
What's wrong is if you stay a babe in Christ.
There's nothing wrong with being a babe in Christ
because we all started that way.
What's wrong is if you stay that way.
That's wrong.
What's wrong is if you have a good church to go to,
you're hearing the preaching of God's word,
you're encouraged to read the Bible,
you have soul winners, a plethora of soul winners here,
a myriad of people that can help you grow in the Lord,
and you remain a babe.
Grow up.
Add to your faith virtue.
Seek to grow in the Lord.
Measure yourself.
I mean, are you the same Christian today
that you were last year?
That's a good thought to think.
Are you the same Christian spiritually,
at the same spiritual level today
that you were last year?
If you can say, well, no, I feel like I've grown a lot,
I feel like I've learned a lot,
I feel like I've done more works,
then hey, you're on the right path to maturing
and having a perfect faith, as the Bible puts it, okay?
But if not, hey, you know what?
This is a wake-up call.
You know, grow up.
Stop spiritually playing video games.
And physically, too.
You know, with your video games and Minecraft and,
someone call out a video game.
I call it, I, uh-huh.
I just, he just condemned himself.
By thy words, thou shalt be condemned.
By thy words, thou shalt be justified.
Call of duty, give me another one, Mark.
Ha ha ha.
Hey, look, I'm not against all video games.
I like Tetris.
But you know, it's time to put those away.
You know, when I was a child, I spake as a child
and understood as a child, I thought as a child,
but when I became a man, I put away childish things.
And we need to make sure that as Christians,
especially, I'm talking to the men.
Man, we gotta grow up.
Okay?
Hey, let's get our priorities in line.
Let's get our priorities in order.
Let's make sure that we're growing up.
How do we do that?
Adding to our faith, right?
Making sure we have those works there.
Verse 19, or let's skip down to verse 21.
Was not Abraham our father justified by works
when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar?
Now, this is so easily debunked.
Go to Romans chapter number four.
Because Abraham was justified by works,
but not before God.
And it's a blessing that James,
inspired by the Holy Ghost,
added when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar.
Thank God for that, amen?
Because that gives us a marker to reference
to know when that took place, right?
You are in Romans chapter four.
I'm gonna read to you from Hebrews 11, verse 17.
By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac.
And he had received the promises,
offered up his only begotten son,
of whom it was said that in Isaac
shall thy seed be called.
Accounting that God was able to raise him up,
even from the dead, from whence also
he received him in a figure.
Look at Romans four, verse number one.
What shall we say then that Abraham our father,
as pertaining to the flesh, hath found?
For if Abraham were justified by works,
he hath whereof to glory, but not before God.
Verse number three.
For what saith the scripture?
Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him
for righteousness.
So we see here that if Abraham were justified by works,
as James puts it, he hath whereof to glory,
but not before God.
So obviously, the scriptures
are not contradicting themselves.
We see that Romans chapter four
is talking about the same exact character,
by the name of Abraham, who was justified by God
by just believing, right?
Which, by the way, just destroys dispensationalism,
because of the fact that Abraham was found
in the dispensation of promise, okay?
Well, no, here he says that he believed God,
and it was counted unto him for righteousness, okay?
Look what it goes on to say, verse four.
Not to him that worketh is the reward,
not reckoned of grace, but of debt.
But to him that worketh not, okay?
Worketh not.
You don't do anything.
That means you don't work.
Worketh not is just the old way of saying you don't work.
To him that worketh not, but believeth on him
to justify at thee ungodly,
his faith is counted for righteousness.
Now, here's the thing.
I've talked to people who believe
in like works-based salvation.
They always take me to two places.
Where?
James 2 and what?
What's the other scripture they use?
Matthew 7.
Those are like the two main scriptures, right?
Matthew 7 and James chapter two.
Because in Matthew 7, you know,
you have the person saying, Lord, Lord.
You're like, see, you guys believe
in calling upon the name of the Lord.
This person is calling upon the name of the Lord.
He's going to hell.
Well, yeah, but that person's a false prophet, though.
You gotta read it all in context.
When they take me to James 2,
I just show them Romans 4,
and I just obliterate them, and what do they do?
They just say, well, go to Matthew 7.
It's like, well, hold on a second.
Can we just address the fact
that you were just wrong about this scripture?
And then at the end of the conversation,
it says, they say, well,
I showed you all kinds of scriptures.
Yeah, but you were wrong on every single one of them.
I just showed you that James 2
doesn't say what you believe
or what you say in it says.
You know, Romans 4 just completely abolishes that,
that way of thinking that doctrine.
And yet, what do they say?
Well, you know, we quoted all kinds of scripture.
That's what the Bible says.
No, Romans 4 is talking about salvation.
James 2 is talking about people who are saved,
people who got saved, and how they got saved, okay?
Look at verse six.
Even as David also described it,
the blessedness of the man,
unto whom God impudeth righteousness, without works.
Well, this is a good verse to use
when you're out soloing as well.
Because of the fact that people struggle sometimes
understanding eternal security,
just because they don't understand
that once you're saved,
you're actually forgiven, exonerated
of all sins past, present, and future.
So it's not like you're just your past sins are forgiven.
Your future sins are forgiven.
And I often tell people at the door,
do you believe that God knows everything?
They say yes.
And I said, so do you think he knows
all the sins you're gonna do in the future?
Yeah, well, you know what?
When he died on the cross,
he even paid for those as well.
The future sins.
And then I'll take them to a verse like this.
Verse seven, saying,
blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven,
whose sins are covered.
Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.
Future tense.
Cometh his blessedness then upon the circumcision only,
or upon the uncircumcision also.
For we say that faith was reckoned
to Abraham for righteousness.
How is it then reckoned,
so what's the question being asked here?
When was Abraham saved, right?
How is it then reckoned?
When he was in circumcision or in uncircumcision?
Not in circumcision, but in uncircumcision.
So the Bible's telling us that Abraham got saved
before he was circumcised.
Now, if you go back to Genesis chapter 12,
that would basically show you that he got saved
when he was about 75 years old.
Approximately 75 years old.
You know when he got circumcised?
When he was about 100.
Close to 100 years old.
So if he got saved at 75 approximately,
before the circumcision, and he got circumcised at 100,
well, when was it that he offered up Isaac?
That was close to being 110.
That was way later.
Because he got circumcised way prior to him
offering Isaac upon the altar, okay?
Now, go back to James chapter two.
So this is a proof text.
This is like an ironclad proof text to show us.
By Abraham, he got saved when he was 75,
he got circumcised around 100 years old,
and he actually offered up Isaac upon the altar
approximately 110, some say it would be 130 years old,
but it was long after he got circumcised.
So we see that in James chapter two,
when he says he was justified by works,
when he had offered up Isaac, his son, upon the altar,
that took place long after he believed on the Lord
and he called upon him in Genesis chapter 12, okay?
Same thing with us, when we get saved,
our work should follow after that, amen?
The Bible says that we are his workmanship
created in Christ Jesus unto good works,
you know, that we should walk in these works, amen?
But the fact is, is that salvation
always comes prior to that, right?
Salvation comes prior, and if someone doesn't do the work,
it doesn't mean they're not justified before God,
it just means they're not justified before man, all right?
And look, this is a good reminder to show us,
hey, have work so you can have
a good testimony before people.
Don't be some worldly Christian, you know,
some gang-banging worldly Christian,
or some just out there Christian,
because you're just, oh, I'm saved
so I can live however you want.
Yeah, you can, but here's the thing,
first of all, God's gonna punish you.
God's gonna chastise you.
But number two, you're just being
a bad testimony before people, you know?
You don't wanna do that.
You wanna make sure that you let your life so shine
before men that they may see your good works
and glorify your God, which is in heaven, okay?
Now we don't believe in lifestyle evangelism here,
but we do believe in having a good testimony.
Have a good testimony, amen?
Look at verse 22.
So see us then, see us thou how faith wrought
with his works, and by works was faith made perfect.
Now here's the culmination of what we're reading here
in James chapter two, what is it?
To make your faith perfect.
Now perfect does not mean sinless.
Perfect means complete, entire, right?
So in order for us to perfect our faith,
in order for us to be entire, complete,
we need to have works.
Look at James chapter one, let's look
at some verses here.
James one, verse one, says James the servant of God
and of the Lord Jesus Christ to the 12 tribes
which are scattered abroad, greeting.
My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall
into diverse temptations, knowing this,
that the trying of your faith worketh patience,
but let patience have her perfect work,
that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.
So what does God want to do after you get saved?
He wants to perfect your faith.
How does he do it?
Well, he does it by allowing trials into your life,
but he also does it by you putting in some work.
So those are the two avenues there.
Diverse temptations.
Now look, some of the godliest Christians
that I know are those who I've seen go through trial
and tribulation and they come out like gold.
They don't quit on God, they don't draw back,
they don't go back to the world,
they just remain consistent,
they do what they're supposed to do,
and they pass with flying colors.
What is it?
It's the person who is falling into diverse temptations,
their faith is being tried.
But the patients had their perfect work and now what?
They're perfect and entire, wanting nothing.
And look, this is very much important.
Go to Hebrews chapter 11.
So again, we're talking to Christians
who want to mature in their faith.
Hey, if you want to have perfect faith,
you got to go through some troubles.
You got to go through some trials.
You need hardship, you need pain.
No pain, no gain.
You need to go through emotional problems,
you need to go through circumstantial financial problems
and you just need to stick with the stuff through it all.
Oh, I think I'm going to take a break from church.
Wrong idea.
Wrong, wrong, wrong.
You're wrong.
Well, I just need to take a break.
I just need to gather my thoughts.
Gather them in church.
Look, coming to church does not work either,
unless you're driving from afar.
You know, all you got to do is sit right there
and just hear me scream at you for an entire hour, you know?
You could even space out if you want.
It doesn't take much.
You know what it's going to do when you come to church?
It's going to help you.
It's going to, look, when you're going through a trial,
when you're going through a difficulty,
the worst thing you can do
is separate from your brethren.
Because the brethren are there to exhort you,
to encourage you, to help you to continue to go forward.
And sometimes when you think stupid things,
your brethren's also there to just kick you in the rear end
to say, what are you thinking?
No, no, no, that's not going to work.
You need to just keep doing this.
You need to keep doing that.
You need to make sure you stick with the stuff.
You know, let's go get a burger.
Let's go get, amen to that.
Who said that?
You know, the trying of your faith worketh patience.
You know, and when you come out of that trial,
you become that much more mature,
because it humbles you,
it causes you to depend on God more,
it causes you to pray more,
and it causes you to appreciate your brethren more too.
Because they're there with you during those times, amen.
And look, don't isolate yourself
from your brethren during hardships.
I know there's times when you have to kind of
isolate yourself and you just got to kind of grieve,
whatever, you know, depending on the circumstance,
you know, you got to just be allowed
to just be alone for a little bit,
to gather your thoughts, to read your Bible, to pray.
But for the most part, be with your brethren, okay?
Seek your brethren, fellowship is so important.
Fellowship is so important, why?
Because fellowship resonates with our spirit,
it resonates with our soul, we need it.
You know, it feeds the spirit,
the spirit desires fellowship.
You know, hey, preaching is good, amen.
We need preaching, we need to learn,
we need doctrine, but we also need fellowship, okay?
We need to make sure that we hang out with each other,
talk, you know, get it all out, okay?
And that's gonna help you continue to go forward.
Don't isolate yourself during the time of trial.
But if you're gonna have a perfect faith, you need trials.
Don't get out of church, don't throw in the towel,
don't take a break, just plow through it.
Because if thou faint in the day of adversity,
thy strength is small, amen?
If thou faint in the day of adversity,
thy strength is small.
And if you get out of church, you're gonna come back worse
than when you first came.
You're gonna come back worse.
And you know what?
It's gonna be harder to do the things
that you used to do with ease.
The things that you used to do with ease
will be harder to do when you get out of church.
Because it just is, it's just the nature of the beast,
it's just harder to get back into them.
Plow through it, grind your teeth,
you know, have a sour attitude if you have to,
but just do it, plow through it.
Look at Hebrews 11, verse 17.
By faith, Abraham, when he was tried,
what did he do?
Offered up Isaac.
And he that hath received the promises
offered up his only begotten son.
Hey, we kind of breeze over the story of Abraham,
but that's a trial.
Offer up my son?
I mean, I'm thinking of my son, Bruce.
Like, put myself in his sandals, amen?
Abraham's sandals are just like,
I gotta offer up my son?
By faith?
That's a trying time.
You know, and by the way,
God's not commanding anybody to do that today, okay?
Just let me put that disclaimer out there
in case there's some cycle over in YouTube land
and just like, brother, let me hear you said.
No, this is something that was very unique to Abraham.
That is a trial that he went through,
of whom it was said that in Isaac shall thy seed
be called accounting that God was able to raise him up
even from the dead,
from whence also he received him in a figure.
So what we see in the life of Abraham
is that when he passed that test,
shortly thereafter, he actually received the promises
that God gave to him in Genesis chapter 12.
And you know what?
There's some promises for you and I, amen?
But you gotta make sure you plow through the trials.
You gotta make sure when you're tried,
you come forth as gold, you know what?
With tears, with blood and sweat,
but you go through it
and then you will receive those promises
that God has for you.
Go to 1 Peter chapter one, 1 Peter chapter one.
Look at 1 Peter chapter one in verse number six.
It says here, 1 Peter chapter one, verse six,
wherein ye greatly rejoice, though not for a season,
if need be, ye are in heaviness
through manifold temptations,
that the trial of your faith,
being much more precious than of gold that perisheth,
though it 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,
and whom though now ye see him not,
yet believing ye rejoice with joy unspeakable
and full of glory.
You say, what if things never turn out right
in this lifetime?
Well, they will turn out right
at the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ.
What if things never just turn out the way I want them to,
things don't work out for me?
It will, because Jesus is coming, amen?
And at that point,
you might be found unto praise and honor and glory
at the appearing of Jesus Christ.
But let me say this,
it'll probably fix itself even prior to that, okay?
More than likely, it'll fix itself prior to that.
But if not, you can rest assured, it will one day, okay?
This is the goal, is to perfect our faith.
Now, let me skip some things here,
because we're pretty much out of time.
Go back to James chapter two.
You know, the goal is to be thoroughly furnished
into all good works, okay?
By reading the Bible, by hearing preaching,
by getting fellowship, so on and so forth.
Verse 23 says, and the scripture was fulfilled,
which saith, Abraham believed God,
and it was imputed unto him for righteousness.
And he was called the friend of God.
You see then how that by works a man is justified
and not by faith only.
Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works
when she had received the messengers
and had sent them out another way.
For as the body without the spirit is dead,
so faith without works is dead also.
What's the sermon this evening?
Sermon is simply this.
You know, you need to make sure that you revive your faith
if you have dead faith, okay?
And some Christians go through their entire life
with dead faith.
They're just like a corpse.
You know, rigor mortis is set in,
and they're just a stinky corpse,
because they do no works.
We need to make sure that we always take inventory
and say, Lord, am I doing the works?
Am I seeing people saved?
Am I showing brotherly kindness?
Am I adding to my faith virtue?
Am I growing?
You know, we need to make sure, hey,
we need to make sure that we earnestly contend
for the faith, amen?
That we know about salvation,
that we defend eternal security,
that we defend that it's by faith alone.
But you know what?
After that, let's go ahead and start adding to our faith.
Let's go ahead and start putting some works
to that faith, amen?
Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer.
Father, we thank you so much for your word.
Thankful for the book of James,
and thank you for the Holy Spirit that teaches us, Lord,
the meanings of the words found therein.
I pray, God, that you continue to help us to mature,
to grow, thank you for saving us.
But now that we're saved, Lord,
we can understand the Bible.
We have the supernatural power to see people saved,
to do great works, to be kind one to another,
to love people with brotherly kindness,
with the love of God.
And I pray, God, that you'd help us to do so.
Help us to have not just faith,
but works that accompany that faith as well.
And I pray, God, that you bless us for it.
In Jesus' name we pray, amen.