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(James 1 & 2)
God is giving all of us a great royal education in the perfect Law of Freedom!
[General Comments | Byron Norrod Ordination - Gospel in James]
Fred R. Coulter—July 11, 2020
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Looking to the Resurrection:
In understanding that the Church is not going to die out, that it's going to continue right along. Actually the greatest number of converts are going to be two years into the last three and a half years: the great innumerable multitude and the 144,000!
They will be converted and sealed with the Holy Spirit of God, through the power of a Holy angel.
There won't be any ministers to baptize them and lay hands on them for the receipt of the Holy Spirit. For those of us today, we're all getting closer to the finish line. As we do, we're going to get weaker, and just like we need to pray for the people that we have requests for. We love them, God loves you, and the older you get and the more faithful you are, God loves you still.
If difficulties and trials come, that doesn't mean that God doesn't love you. Here is the truth of the matter:
Isaiah 57:1: "The righteous perish, and no one lays it to heart…" [those of us in the Church do] …and merciful men… [and women] …are taken away; none considering that the righteous are taken away from the evil to come."
When you read of all the evil that's going to be coming, dying in the faith is a great blessing, because we look forward to the resurrection. What a day that's going to be!
I did the internment at the cemetery and did a phone video on it, but the phone was 30 feet away and the wind was blowing, and helicopters were flying, so the sound was really, really bad. Then we had a really nice memorial service on the Sabbath in Hollister, and Roger Tointon came down and he gave the service, but somehow we didn't get any sound on the video. That's why I did the short memorial and put it online.
Randy did all the music and pictures. My daughter Rachelle came and stayed for four weeks and went through all the photos and all the things that needed to be gone through. It's amazing how much junk you accumulate through the years. She had to go through four big closets!
I'll tell you one other thing: After we left Worldwide Church of God I had to get a job and Dolores got a job. She worked as a high paid secretary for a company over in Gilroy. He wanted her to become a Notary Public, and in order to do that you have to study and get ready. It's run by the state and they approve it.
One day Dolores was out shopping and she came across this place: Notary Public tests today. To show you how smart she was, and what a legal mind she had—that's true, I couldn't get away with anything—she went in and never even having opened the book, took the test and passed it. That shows what kind of woman she was.
Isaiah 57:2: "He shall enter into peace; they shall rest in their beds, each one who walked in his uprightness." So, the resurrection is going to come!
Satan is preparing the world for the return of Christ!
If you don't believe it, watch Ancient Aliens on the History Channel. Much of what they have to say is true, because most of that was open demonic activity with the people. But they don't know the Truth of the Bible.
Satan knows that Christ is going to come in power and glory! But he is not going to be done until he has the last battle against Christ. Of course, he has to use all the armies and everything, and all the demons like we find in the book of Revelation.
The sun that is out there—the sign of the Son of man—for one year, shinning, shinning, shinning looking like a second sun {go to any Pentecost message at truthofGod.org} at the set time that sun is going to start coming closer and closer to the earth. Then it's going to spread out into a great Sea of Glass. The world is going to see it, and then when the seventh trumpet sounds the resurrection begins.
One very interesting thing is that when the two witnesses die in Jerusalem and their bodies are in the street for three and a half days, they are raised just few minutes before the seventh trumpet sounds. Think of this for fulfillment of God, how He takes care of every single detail.
What does He say? The last shall be first! So, the last two martyrs will be the first resurrected, and then all the rest of us!
I don't know how that's going to work, but I think God is going to let the world see it. I think it's going to occur on the day portion of that day wherever it is on the earth. The word is going to go out: They're body-snatching! True! Only it's the resurrected saints!
We're all raised and we get on the Sea of Glass and Satan gets those on the earth all stirred up:
We're being invaded by aliens from outer space! Bring your armies, bring all your weapons, we have to save the world! If we don't save the world, it's going to be destroyed.
You know that's what they're going to do! The surprise for them is the seven last plagues!
Then we'll all have our assignments, our new names, know what we're going to do, all organized and come down and take over the rulership of the world under Christ. We are going to end the works of Satan the devil! End all the works of the evil that have taken place!
That's going to be quite a time! Keep that in mind when someone passes to their place of safety, remember that! It's sorrowful when you go through the whole thing and see the weakness and everything that takes place when they're coming to the end. It's difficult. They're weak and helpless! They don't where they are. Dolores talked about things from years and years ago, different things like that. Finally, God had mercy and Jonathan came at seven in the morning and said, 'Dad…' Remember all the good things!
*****
Ordination:
Today we're going to have a special service and ordain Byron Norrod as an elder. He's been doing this through thick and thin, a lot of difficulties and trials, and especially here in the area of Pasadena. There's so much that has gone on. But he's been faithful, loyal, dedicated and working hard in spite of very traumatic things taking place. We're very thankful for that!
1-Timothy 3:1: "Faithful is the saying, 'If any man aspires to be an overseer, he desires a good work.'" It's not wrong to desire to be an overseer, but it is not an overlordship!
We are to feed the flock. Many of you saw the Elder's Conference that we had last month, and feeding the flock is the test that Jesus gave to Peter, and hence all elders after that.
- IF we love God we will feed the flock
- IF we love God we will shepherd the lambs
- IF we love God we will feed the flock
That's what it has to be! There are many aspects to it:
- praying for you when you're sick
- helping you when you're down
All of those things are involved! That doesn't mean that because a man is an elder that he is perfect or free from any faults. But those faults help us consider our weaknesses in our selves so that we don't get overlording the people.
Verse 2: "Now then, it is obligatory that the overseer be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, serious-minded, respectable, hospitable, skillful in teaching; not given to much wine, not a bully, not greedy for selfish gain; but kind, not a quarreler, not a lover of money; one who rules his own house well, having his children in subjection with all respect; (For if a man does not know how to rule his own household, how will he take care of the Church of God?)" (vs 2-5).
Notice the difference there; you rule the family, but you take care of the Church!
Verse 6: "Not a novice… [Byron certainly isn't] …lest he become conceited and fall into the same condemnation as the devil. It is mandatory that he also have a good report from those who are outside the Church, lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil" (vs 6-7).
(ordination and prayer)
*****
The Gospel in James:
Let's come to the book of James. I want to cover some things here, because the book of James is one of the most interesting books in the New Testament from this point of view:
It was written by James who was the half-brother of Jesus Christ. One other half-brother of Jesus Christ was Jude, who wrote the General Epistle of Jude.
There are many things that we can learn here, but what I want to do is use this as a guide and show how the Word of God is consistent all the way through the Bible.
Let me also mention another thing that I cover on Church at Home all the time. One of the key to understanding the Bible is keeping the Sabbath. Why is that? Though the world doesn't know it, the Sabbath is the day that God puts His presence in for:
- those who are seeking Him
- those who are worshipping Him
- those who gather together in fellowships and churches
He puts His presence there! That's in accordance with
Psalm 111:10: "…a good understanding have all those who do His commandments…."
Do you think that God is going to give understanding to someone who is a liar, a cheat and a thief? No!
They may try and do some of those things, Jesus talks about that, but their not from Him. So, on Church at Home what I do, I challenge the individual to begin to keep the Sabbath four weeks in a row and study the Sabbath and the Bible.
I gave that on one of my first visits when I visited a woman whose husband wasn't in the Church. He wasn't hostile, but I told him the very thing I just told you and I said, 'You study the Sabbath and you will understand why we need to keep the Sabbath.' So, he did! It always works.
God is always there to hear your prayer. Doesn't matter where you are, as long as you cry out to God in Truth and in sincerity of heart that you want God and desire Him. Everyone of us can remember our very first prayer that we prayed to God. Generally that comes when we're in trouble and we ask God for help. God answers those prayers!
James 1: Summary of the whole Gospel:
The short Epistle of James has an awful lot in it.
James 1:1: "James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes, which are in the dispersion: Greetings!"
If you write a letter, you know who you're writing to and where it should go, so this tells us that the ten tribes were not lost at this time.
That's why we have the book: Two Nations that Changed the World America and Britain in Prophecy: Their Biblical Origin & Prophetic Destiny by Philip Neal.
Being a true Christian, in many cases, upsets everything and everybody else's life around you.
Verse 2: "Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you are beset by various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance" (vs 2-3).
What did Jesus say about the way? Enter into the straight gate, for narrow is the gate and difficult is the way! So, that ties right in with this.
Verse 4: "But let endurance have its perfect work, so that you may be perfect and complete, not lacking in anything."
This doesn't mean just in physical goods. Some of the people in the world who have the most physical goods do not have God and their lives are hollow and empty! Their lives are filled with sin and wretchedness! All you have to do is just look at the rich of the world and you will see that that's the way it is.
Here is a life-long lesson, and we are continuously learning and growing in grace and knowledge. That's why:
Verse 5: "However, if anyone lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, Who gives to everyone freely and does not reproach the one who asks;and it shall be given to him…. [notice how we are to ask]: …But let him ask in faith…" (vs 5-6).
Your faith is increased when you understand and take to heart that everything that there is comes from God! That's for all people, converted or not! It is true that 'in Him we live, move and have our being.' and We have nothing we didn't receive!
- we ask in faith
- we know that God is there
- we know that He hears
- we know that His Word is true
- we know that He's given us understanding to whatever degree we have, whomever you are
Verse 6: "But let him ask in faith not doubting at all because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven by the wind and tossed to and fro. Do not let that man expect that he will receive anything from the Lord. He is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways" (vs 6-8)—can't make up your mind!
Coming to God and receiving the Spirit of God is the greatest change that will occur in anyone's life, young or old! That's important to understand!
You can't be like the one man who attended church and he was a man who had one foot in the Church, so that if troubles came he could call on God. And he had the other foot in the world so if things were going good he could be out there with the world.
You can't have it both ways! Why? Jesus said, 'I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life!' So, He is the Way, there are not two Ways, there is one Way, and He will provide the way.
When you get a trial, it's awfully hard to understand this, because you get emotions involved, problems involved, you have doubts that you're wondering about, and all of those things will arise. But notice this, and tie this in with vs 2 & 3:
Verse 12: "Blessed is the man who endures trials…"
- How does that work?
- Why does God do that?
Some people have more trials than other people!
"…because after he has been proved…" (v 12). That's important to understand, because God wants to know:Do you really mean it? And that agrees with what Jesus said, 'Let your yes be yes, and your no be no.'
There's one thing about trials: they're difficult! But when you get through the tunnel of the trial, there's joy because you understand it.
"…he shall receive a crown of life…" (v 12). The whole thing is to work toward building the character and love of God in all things and in all circumstances so that He will give you eternal life! "…receive a crown of life…" I don't know what that's going to be like, but I tell you there are going to be a lot things going on. on that Sea of Glass!
"…which the Lord has promised to those who love Him" (v 12). That's the key: loving God!
Let's see what Jesus said about that. When you watch any of these Protestant programs, they tell you how much God loves you, which is true. But:
- What is it that they don't tell you?
- What is it they never emphasize?
I did a series on Protestantism—The Mystery of Protestantism—and I had to watch TBN for quite a long time. You could pretty well pick up on certain ones and what they're going to say. They always say that God loves you unconditionally, and it doesn't matter what you do. That is a lie!
God love you, but He expects you to love Him back! So, let's see what that requires. I did not ever hear them say:
Matthew 22:37: "And Jesus said to him, 'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.'"
Think about this for a minute. If God in His love—which they like to quote that 'He gave His only Begotten Son, that whoever believe in Him may receive eternal life—that's conditional—may not perish.'
So, here's what we do. We love God with all our heart, with all our soul and with all our mind! Is that not complete dedication to God?
Different people have different things that they love. Some people have pets, some have cars, others have themselves. But God says that if you want His love, 'I'll be glad to give it you, but you love Me back, because I want to bless you, and you have to keep the commandments, too.'
Verse 38: "This is the first and greatest commandment; and the second one is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets" (vs 38-40). They are not done away or substituted!
They depend on the love of God. So, why don't you do this: Do a study of the Ten Commandments, Exo. 20, and read the first one; just start with that:
Exodus 20:2: "I am the LORD your God, Who brought you out of the land of Egypt…"—today the world is called Sodom and Egypt!
Verse 3: "You shall have no other gods before Me" Why? Because there aren't any! There are idols, statues, demons, Satan, but there is no other God!
He loves you and wants to bless you. So, that commandment is based upon love. Same way with the second commandment. He doesn't want you to get superstitious with idols and things like that, so He says, 'Don't make any idols, don't bow down to them' (vs 4-5). Can they help? No, they can't help!
The third one is v 7: "You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain…"
The fourth one is v 8: "Remember the Sabbath Day to keep it Holy."
Sidebar: After Adam and Eve were created by God and they came to understand Who He is, what was the first thing they were introduced to?
He created them on the sixth day, so the first thing they were introduced to was the Sabbath Day. God says that you keep the Sabbath to remember that HE made and created everything!
Those who love God; Romans 8:28: "And we know that all things… [even the worst trial you've ever gone through] …work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose"
James 1:13: "Do not let anyone who is tempted say, 'I am being tempted by God,' because God is not tempted by evil, and He Himself tempts no one with evil."
The Process of Sin:
- Temptation: Verse 14: "But each one is tempted when he is drawn away and is enticed by his own lust."
That means that you're drawn away because your own human nature thinks it's a good thing, and you haven't checked it out with God first! That's how you get in trouble.
If you recognize the temptation and the lust, you can put it away and you don't have to sin.
Verse 15: "And after lust has conceived…"—The thought that comes into your head and you roll it around and you convince yourself that it's a good things, when it's really not a good thing!
- Sin: "…it gives birth to sin…" (v15).
Think about a thief, someone who plans. He sees this store and he plans to steal! He could stop right then and say, 'No, I'm not going to, that's the other person's property, that's not mine.' But he gets a plan and works it out and he steals and the sin is committed. If the authorities are on the ball, they'll catch him and he will put in some time in prison.
I recommend that you watch this on the American History Channel: I Almost God Away with It. You will see exactly how all of this takes place, especially those who escape from jail or penitentiary; they work and scheme and they get out. Everyone who has ever escaped has been caught or shot.
It will tell you when the human mind starts thinking that sin is good, it gets in trouble!
- Death: "…and sin, when it is completely finished, brings forth death" (v 15).
Verse 16: "Do not deceive yourselves, my beloved brethren." The first thing we come to understand when God calls us is the human heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked! A lot of people don't believe that when they first hear it.
I ask them to keep track in a little notebook and when a lie comes into your mind put a little tick mark. See how many tick marks you come up with every day. There are a lot of them!
God's way is to overcome all of that, and don't let that temptation come in as a sin. Remember that Jesus said, 'I am the Way, the Truth' and the truth of the matter is that as long as we live we're overcoming this deceitful mind! Satan never gives up and neither does the deceitful mind give up.
That's why we pray and study every day, so that we don't get carried away.
Verse 17—why God has called us: "Every good act of giving and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with Whom there is no variation, nor shadow of turning. According to His own will…" (vs 17-18).
What are we talking about in our lives though all of this that James is writing about? The will of God in our lives! That's quite a thing!
"…He begat us by the Word of Truth…" (v 18). That takes place after baptism and the receipt of the Holy Spirit! That's quite a thing to receive the Holy Spirit from God. That will lead you and convict you and give you understanding!
"…that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all His created beings: (v 18). Firstfruit refers to the first resurrection!
John tells us what that's going to look like; we will see Christ exactly as He is! Receiving the Holy Spirit of God and becoming a begotten child of God—doesn't matter your age—and to offer to us eternal life, to live forever! Think about that!
Men want to explore the universe, but they're not built to do it. But when you're resurrected from the dead and changed from flesh to spirit and you're a spirit being… They can probably go a whole lot faster than the speed of light.
Anytime I see pictures of the universe I'm reminded that that is what God is going to have us also participate in ruling. Since God lives forever, and His plan is forever, just think of what we're going to do. If He is doing with us what He is planning, which He is so that we will be in the first resurrection—and it all begins on this earth—what's it going to be when the new heavens and the new earth comes (Rev. 21-22). That's going to be something! Think how beautiful that's going to be!
1-John 3:1: "Behold! What glorious love the Father has given to us, that we should be called the children of God!…." In the world there are children of the devil!
"…For this very reason, the world does not know us because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are the children of God, and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be; but we know that when He is manifested, we shall be like Him…" (vs 1-2).
He showed Peter, James and John what it was like the vision of Transfiguration. He showed John what it was like in Rev. 1
"…because we shall see Him exactly as He is" (v 2). Notice what this does for us: This gives us the strength, love, endurance and the things that we need in this life to attain to it!
Verse 3: "And everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, even as He is pure." That's accomplished through prayer, study and yielding to God in our physical life!
Being the half-brother of Jesus, I wonder what it was like growing up with Jesus. We don't have any of that. When we're resurrected, we can find out.
James 1:19: "For this reason, my beloved brethren, let every man be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger, because man's wrath does not work out God's righteousness" (vs 19-20).
That's a hard lesson to learn if you've got a temper. Human wrath doesn't workout the righteousness of God. Whenever you get so angry what happens? It's a bucket of sin! Not just a little, but a bucket! You're not doing God's will. There is such a thing as 'righteous indignation' and 'cry aloud and spare not.'
What does it say to every one of the Churches in Rev. 2 & 3? To the one who overcomes…
Verse 21: "Therefore, having rid yourselves of all filthiness and all the abounding of wickedness around you, then in meekness accept for yourselves the implanted Word, which is able to save your lives."
This verse tells us a lot. The Word of God is implanted in our mind. What did Paul say the New Covenant is? God will write His commandments in our mind and inscribe them on our heart! How does God do that? With His Spirit and your cooperation of prayer and study!
It's quite amazing what in the first chapter of James! "…the implanted Word, which is able to save your lives." Why? Because:
- you'll love God
- you'll do things that are right
- you'll be pleasing to God in what you do
That doesn't mean that you'll be perfect! It just means that God is working with you to help you grow in grace and knowledge and all of that.
Verse 22: "Then be doers of the Word..." How about that! It's not God's unconditional love and you can do anything you want. You've got to love God with all your heart, mind, soul and being and be a doer of the Word!
"…and not only hearers, deceiving your own selves" (v 22). That's the way it is with the world; they flatter God every time there's trouble. 'Oh, got to pray to God!'
if you pray to Got when there's trouble and there's no repentance, it's going to be difficult for God to intervene to help you. That's why there's repentance. You go through the whole Old Testament and there were some men who had done some of the most despicable things and they repented! God forgave them! So, likewise with us; that's why we pray every day, and in the daily prayer it says 'forgive us our sins.'
With the writing of God's Word in your mind, what that is doing is overriding the evil that is already there and will help you get rid of it.
Verse 23: "Because if anyone is a hearer of the Word and not a doer, this one is like a man considering his natural face in a mirror. Who, after looking at himself, went away and immediately forgot what he was like. But the one who has looked into the perfect Law of Freedom…" (vs 23-25).
That's interesting expression! The world thinks that the Laws of God are shackles to hold you down. No, it's not! If you keep the Laws of God it's called the Law of Freedom!
- Why?
- What are you free from? From actively living in sin!
- Why is called freedom?
Not free to do anything you want to, but freedom from the penalty that comes about from sinning!
The Sabbath keeps us from suffering the penalty of sinning for breaking the Sabbath. That's what it means "…the perfect Law of Freedom…"
"…and has continued in it… [not start and stop] …this one himself has not become a forgetful hearer, but is a doer of the work. This one shall be blessed in his actions" (v 25). That can't be any plainer!
Every time our deceitful mind comes about and convinces us to sin… That's why James in the first part of the chapter here let's us know how to overcome a temptation when it comes. That's helps us in it.
Verse 26: "If anyone among you considers himself to be religious, and does not control his tongue, but deceives his own heart, this ones religion is vain. Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their afflictions, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world" (vs 26-27).
This is quite a thing! Just in this one chapter you have everything that's necessary to begin loving God and serving Him, tied in with other Scriptures.
(go to the next track)
The first book that I translated was James. So, we have online a very detailed study on the book of James:
When you come back on these things time and again through the years, after you've studied different places in the Bible and so forth, you go through like we're doing with James, it's almost as if it's the first time. But it's not, because look at all that we have covered here, the whole Gospel of Jesus Christ is summarized in James 1. Some of the very things that we do.
In the Catholic Bible and in the King James Bible James, 1st & 2nd Peter, 1st, 2nd & 3rd John and Jude are all put before Revelation, because the Catholics had so much hatred against the Jews that they put the book of Romans right after the book of Acts. The General Epistles—James, 1st & 2nd Peter, 1st, 2nd & 3rd John and Jude—tell the Christians to keep the commandments of God.
That's why they come after the book of Acts in the original order because that tells you the basic things you need to do to start. However, most Protestants jump into the middle of the most complicated verses of the Apostle Paul and come to the conclusion that the Law is done away. They do that because they have absolutely no understanding of Judaism.
They're fighting the Catholic/Protestant fight when the early Christians were fighting the Jewish tradition fight!
You will notice that all the way through all of the writings in the New Testament, especially the things that Jesus Himself said we shouldn't do—the traditions of the Jews—that it always points people to loving God and keeping His commandments. Very simple. In a three-word sentence to always keep in mind: Obey My voice!
Someone will say, 'How can I obey God's voice when He's up in heaven and I'm on the earth.' Well, everything that God wants you to know is right here in the Bible! He's the One Who commanded:
- Moses to do what he did
- all the prophets what they did
- all the apostles what they did
It's written down! If it weren't written down look what happens when they say it's done away, and you go out and do anything you want to do.
James 2—Faith:
Let's understand something about faith:
- faith is the noun
- believe is the verb
It's the same word in the Greek. We will see some very interesting things about faith.
James 2:1: "My brethren, do not have the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons."
What happens when you have a hierarchy? You respect persons! God does not want that.
Verse 2: "Now then, if a man comes into your synagogue…"
The KJV says assembly. Synagogue is where the Jews met.
- Where was this letter written to? The 12 tribes scattered broad!
- those who knew of the Jewish religion
- those who knew of the Old Testament
- Where did Paul go first when he was preaching? He went into the synagogues and caused a riot and left it in spiritual destruction!
They had some fights in the synagogue! This tells us that this was written before Gentiles were in the Church. He doesn't mention Gentiles at all in this book.
"…[he comes in] wearing gold rings and dressed in splendid apparel, and there comes in also a poor man in lowly apparel" (v 2)—another caveat to add to this: one in lowly apparel might be an angel!
But if someone comes in—with "splendid apparel"—like this, you tell him to take the first seat, and you tell the other guy to go back in a corner and sit down (v 3). When you do that:
Verse 4: "Then have you not passed judgment among yourselves, and have made yourselves judges with evil opinions?"
- What is the worst thing you do when you think of other people?
- What's the biggest sin?
- You think you know what they are thinking!
And you don't, because you can't read their mind! That's why James says, 'you have passed judgment with evil opinions'!
You may not know. How do you know? Maybe that person is standing over there and praying for you in his mind, and you think that he or she is thinking something evil about you. How do you know? You don't know!
Just because someone comes in wearing good clothes does not mean they have good character. Just because someone comes in with disheveled clothes or clothes that you don't like, doesn't mean that they're evil. You don't know!
Verse 5: "My beloved brethren, listen. Did not God Himself choose the poor of this world, rich in faith, and heirs of the Kingdom…"
Look at this group here, you could take a big picture of it and send it on back to the Congress and say, 'Congress, these people are going to replace you!' You would get a lot of evil opinions! But that's what's going to happen!
'Heirs' means participation in ownership; "…which He has promised to those who love Him?" (v 5). There it is again, loving God!
Verse 6: "But you have dishonored the poor man. Do not the rich oppress you, and do they not drag you into the courts? Do they not blaspheme the worthy name by which you are called?" (vs 6-7) Sounds like Washington, D.C.!
Verse 8[transcriber's correction]: "If you are truly keeping the Royal Law…"—Jas. 1:25, Law of Freedom! Why is called the Royal Law because it came from God, who is King! So, it's the Royal Law! When you understand it, what God is doing is giving all of us a great royal education in preparation for the Kingdom of God!
Think of that! That's something to really dwell on.
Verse 8: "If you are truly keeping the Royal Law according to the Scripture… [this tells us that the rest of the Bible is the Word of God] …'You shall love your neighbor as yourself,' you are doing well."
With ANTIFA and Black Lives Matter and all the gangs that are out there, someone mentioned that to them: Why do you do this? Destroy, steal, burn and loot? Do you want this done to you? Why don't you love your neighbor as yourself? They got mad!
Verse 9: "But if you have respect of persons, you are practicing sin, being convicted by the Law as transgressors…. [this backs up the whole Bible]: …for if anyone keeps the whole Law, but sins in one aspect, he becomes guilty of all" (vs 9-10)—living in sin!
Think about this with Sunday-keepers, the very strict Sunday-keepers. Those who are the Protestants who used to keep most of the commandments of God, but they were keeping Sunday.
Is that breaking one aspect of the Law? Of course! One of the most important! You can't make Sunday the Sabbath because man does not have the power of God! God created the Sabbath Day Himself, so if there's any change to the Sabbath, Who must make it? God!
- not man
- not a bishop
- not a pope
- not a theologian
This is why I've said that if you're a Sunday-keeper and you think it's from God, you show me in the New Testament where Jesus said:
You have heard it said in ancient times that you shall remember the Sabbath, to keep it Holy, but I'm telling you that I'm changing that and you shall now remember the first day of the week instead of Sabbath[transcriber's correction].
They can't find it, no matter how hard they look! That's why God has it written down!
It's just like when you buy a car or house, there's a contract. You abide by the contract or the deal is null and void. Well, the contract is the Word of God. If you go against the contract—the Word of God—then what you are professing is null and void.
The Catholics say that you can't even study the Bible without a priest being there, because you won't understand it. That's not the real reason why! If you study the Bible without a priest, you're going to discover the Truth! That's what they don't want you to discover. That's why they have a hierarchy and do it that way.
Verse 11: "For He Who said, 'You shall not commit adultery,' also said, 'You shall not commit murder.' Now, if you do not commit adultery, but you commit murder, you have become a transgressor of the Law."
You can take that with anything. God says to 'keep MY Holy Days; these are MY Feasts!' What does that statement tell you? These are MY Feasts (Lev. 23)! He owns them! They are His!
Just like if you have a car all paid for and someone comes and tries to take it away. You say, 'Get away from my car,' because you own it!
Sinning is lawlessness, against Law! We will see that there's one Lawgiver, and that's God! We find in:
Matthew 7:21: "Not everyone who says to Me 'Lord, Lord' shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven; but the one who is doing the will of My Father, Who is in heaven." The will of the Father!
What did Jesus said about what He said? I speak nothing of Myself! Only what the Father gave Me commandment to say, this I do!
Think on that! "…doing the will of My Father, Who is in heaven." Everything in the Bible comes first from the Father, then to Christ and it's all written down. That's a marvelous thing, indeed! Think about it today. We have Bibles, more Bibles than ever before. All the digital Bibles, it's amazing! Billions of digital Bibles! But how many people are falling on their knees and repenting? They're too busy!
Verse 22—speaking of the 'religionists': "Many will say to Me in that day… [the Day of Judgment] …'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy through Your name? And did we not cast out demons through Your name? And did we not perform many works of power through Your name?'"
That's talking all about Protestantism and Catholicism! It's not talking about the Jews, the Buddhists or Hindus. That's Protestantism and Catholicism vs the true religion of God (if you want to put it that way).
Here's Jesus' answer. He didn't say, 'You really did a good job. You did everything except the Sabbath. You kept Sunday pretty good; I'll give you credit for it.' That's what they're expecting! But they're not going to get it!
Verse 23: "And then I will confess to them, 'I never knew you….'" That's quite a statement!
'Lord, I was a Baptist minister for 60 years!' You never read where it says to keep the Sabbath, keep it Holy! 'But Lord, we had good Sunday services.' or the pope could say, 'I had High Mass every Sunday.' Jesus will say, 'I was never there!'
"'…Depart from Me, you who work lawlessness'" (v 23)—so, lawlessness is sin! Lawlessness is anti-law!
In this age we're told by Jesus that lawlessness will multiply. You've seen it on television! Isn't that lawlessness being multiplied. I suppose that they're doing away with the cops and give it to all the 'nice little people' who have 'flowers.' We will see how long that lasts. They are even asking in New York City for the police to not carry weapons. Lawlessness! God gave, as it says in Rom. 13, the civil authorities to protect everybody! God is interested in the safety of unconverted people, so He gave that so there would be protection, so there would be law and order.
Verse 24: "Therefore, everyone who hears these words of Mine and practices them… [meaning you do it over and over and that's how you live] …I will compare him to a wise man, who built his house upon the rock; and the rain came down, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; but it did not fall… [all the troubles of life] …for it was founded upon the rock. And everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not practice them shall be compared to a foolish man, who built his house upon the sand" (vs 24-26)—gone!
This really struck me coming here; with the Bible on CD so I put in the first one from Matthew to Philemon. It's different when you hear it than when you read it. Since I do most of the speaking, I don't hear it very much. But when I heard it and we came to James, 'Look at that, listen to that,' I said to myself, that's the whole Gospel that James is preaching! When we get the other parts of the Bible and tie it together it helps expand our knowledge and understanding of it.
James 2:12: "In this manner speak and in this manner behave: as those who are about to be judged by the Law of Freedom. For the one who has dealt without mercy will be judged without mercy. But mercy triumphs over judgment. My brethren, what good does it do, if anyone says that he has faith, and does not have works? Is faith able to save him?" (vs 12-14). You've got to have faith, but is that alone?
Verse 15: "Now then, if there be a brother or sister who is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, 'Go in peace; be warmed and be filled,' and does not give to them the things necessary for the body, what good is it? In the same way also, faith, if it does not have works, is dead, by itself" (vs 15-17).
What did Christ personally say to all the seven Churches? I know your works! He didn't say, 'I know your faith.' Works define your faith!
Verse 18: "But someone is going to say, 'You have faith, and I have works.' My answer is: You prove your faith to me through your works…"
Understand that every single human being has works in their lives that they do! And thoughts and things that they think that motivate them to do those works!
Let's take ANTIFA: they believe that destruction, burning and looting/stealing is the way to go! They believe it, they say it, they preach it! That's their faith. They were indoctrinated first here in order to have the mindset to do what they did. So, their faith of lawlessness proved that they did it willingly for the destruction set before them!
Everybody has faith, their own faith! Godly faith comes from God and through His Word! That's entirely different!
ANTIFA is indoctrinated Marxist, which is the doctrine of atheists and destruction!
God's way is to love God, keep His commandments, love your neighbor as yourself! So, here is James'[transcriber's correction] answer
Verse 18: "But someone is going to say, 'You have faith, and I have works.' My answer is: You prove your faith to me through your works, and I will prove my faith to you through my works." Everybody has faith and works:
- whether for good or for evil
- whether lawless or lawful
- whether loving or hatred
Those are all works!
Verse 19: "Do you believe that God is one? You do well to believe this. Even the demons believe and tremble in fear….[they know what's going to happen; they're lawless] …But are you willing to understand, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead?" (vs 19-20).
We will solve one difficult Scripture, Eph. 2, because this is one you hear all the time when you're in Protestantville!
Ephesians 2:8: "For by grace you have been saved…" Grace is God's personal intervention in your life and:
- giving you the Holy Spirit
- giving you understanding
- forgiving your sins, covering a lot of things
"…through faith, and this especially is not of your own selves… [not of you own faith] …it is the gift of God, not of works… [that is your works] …so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship…" (vs 8-10). When God is working with us we are His workmanship:
- through His Spirit
- through His Word
- through what He's doing
forming the character in us so that we can be raised from the dead and be spirit beings! That's His workmanship in us!
"…being created in Christ Jesus unto the good works that God ordained beforehand in order that we might walk in them" (v 10).
That's why Jesus judges us by our works! But in order to have good works we have to have the faith of God through the Spirit of God!
It is actually our faith combined with the faith that God gives us, which makes all of this possible.
James 2:20: "But are you willing to understand, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead? Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up Isaac, his own son, upon the altar?" (vs 20-21).
What did he do first? He believed God! Then he had the works. He believed what God said in offering up Isaac. We find in Heb. 11 that he knew that God could raise Isaac from the dead. That's how strong his faith was!
Verse 22: "Do you not see that faith was working together with his works…" He had faith, but was working the faith!
Faith today gave us the works of being here [in the Church of God]. That's how it works. You believe something and you do it.
- you believe the Truth, you do it
- you believe in error, you do it
That's the way that God made us to work!
Verse 22: Do you not see that faith was working together with his works, and by works his faith was perfected?"—completed! Brought to a conclusion!
Verse 23: "And the Scripture was fulfilled, which says, 'Now, Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him for righteousness'; and he was called a friend of God." There we have it:
- belief and good works
- belief and evil
Whatever you believe!
- Have we all had things we believed in that weren't true?
- What happened when you first found out that Santa Claus didn't exist? Big fat lie!
When I found out—because I got switched on my legs for lying—I came to my mother and said, 'Mommy, I found out that Santa Claus doesn't exist,' because I found the presents that she had hid in the closet. I said, 'Why did you lie to me?' She said that it was 'white lie, a good lie' Is there such a thing as a good lie? Can there be such a thing as a good lie?
What happens, that's the first cut into the child's mind against the parents, because the parents said, 'For all those years until you found out, don't you dare lie.' So, you have to have faith and good works!
Verse 24: "You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only. Now, in the same manner also, was not Rahab the harlot justified by works when, after receiving the messengers, she sent them out a different way? For as the body without the spirit is dead, in the same way also, faith without works is dead" (vs 24-26).
Scriptural References:
- Isaiah 57:1-2
- 1 Timothy 3:1-7
- Psalm 111:10
- James 1:1-8, 12
- Matthew 22:37-40
- Exodus 20:2-3, 7-8
- Romans 8:28
- James 1:13-18
- 1 John 3:1-3
- James 1:19-27
- James 2:1-2, 4-11
- Matthew 7:21-26
- James 2:12-20
- Ephesians 2:8-10
- James 2:20-26
Scriptures referenced, not quoted:
- Exodus 20:4-5
- Revelation 21-22; 1-3
- James 2:3
- Leviticus 23
- Romans 13
- Hebrews 11
Also referenced:
Book: Two Nations that Changed the World America and Britain in Prophecy: Their Biblical Origin & Prophetic Destiny by Philip Neal
Sermon Series:
- The Mystery of Protestantism
- Epistle of James
- Matthew and James
FRC:bo
Transcribed: 7/15/20
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