The Book of James, Part 2

Okay, James chapter 2. James, half-brother of Jesus Christ, born of the same mother, Jesus Christ, begotten of the Father, James, by a man.

James was the resident pastor of the church at Jerusalem. He was the one who made the famous decision of the conference recorded in Acts 15, where they came together to discuss the question of circumcision. Do you have to be circumcised according to the law in order to be justified? You notice in James chapter 1 verse 1, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ to the twelve tribes, which are scattered abroad greeting. So James is writing this, apparently to Jewish converts, scattered abroad throughout the Roman Empire, Mediterranean world.

We come to chapter 2, My Brethren. Now, brethren in this sense is in the spiritual sense. It could also be in the physical sense, but because it is spiritually oriented, I'd say first and foremost, it is in the spiritual sense. Have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons. Another way to say this, if you have respect of persons, you do not have the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ.

If you do have respect of persons, you are not as God is, because God is not a respecter of persons. God has made of one blood every nation on the face of the earth. The flood that came upon the earth and destroyed humankind at that time eight souls, it says, were saved at that time. Noah, his wife, his three sons, and their three wives, Ham, Shem, and Japheth, and from them the earth was repopulated. And God set the nations.

He gave the nations their inheritances and their bounds, and they went out from there after their debacle at the Tower of Babel. For if they come into your assembly... Now that word there, assembly, is the only place, might be one other place, where the word synagogue. The word there is, the Greek word is synagogue, where the Jews would hold their services. If they come anyone into your synagogue, and if you're speaking to mainly Jewish Christians, of course they would be familiar with that, a man with a goal ring in goodly apparel.

And this word, goodly apparel, is the same one as gay apparel in some other places. If they come under your assembly, your synagogue, a man with a goal ring in goodly apparel, and they come in also a poor man in vile raiment. Now, vile in this sense doesn't necessarily mean vile in the criminal sense, but he's dirty, he's grimy, he looks like one of the homeless people that you see under the underpasses in Houston or Los Angeles or any other major city in the U.S.

You don't have the faith of Jesus Christ if you have respective persons in this case, and you have respect to him that wears the goodly apparel. The same way that word is goodly back in verse 2. In other words, the fashionable apparel, that which seems good, pleasing, you'd say, well, we know they have money, and say unto him, sit you here in a good place, and in these Jewish synagogues they were seated according to rank.

That is, the highest rank would sit nearest the speaker and so on back. Now, if you're looking at the laws of learning, which I have studied quite a lot over the years, the closer you are to the front, the greater the attention span usually, and the closer you are to a stimulus, the quicker the reaction, and the chances are you will pay more attention. But in the Jewish synagogue it was by rank.

If you were the highest rank, you sat up near front and so on to the back. Sit you here in a good place and say to the poor, stand you or sit here under my footstool. Now, the footstool can have even the connotation of sit here on the ground. Just get out of the way. Are you not then partial in yourselves and are become judges of evil thoughts? Just based on a person's dress and demeanor, you may make all kind of judgments that are not based on anything more than appearance. Now, I know that appearance can mean a lot, and over a period of time I think appearance does say a lot to the way that people are on the inside.

But just on first appearance, you oftentimes might be mistaken if you make a judgment just based on appearance. See, are you not then partial in yourselves and become judges of evil thoughts? Well, you know, look the way he's dressed. Look at him. He couldn't possibly be converted.

Harken. In other words, listen up. If you are guilty of that, if you have fallen into that trap, listen, my beloved brethren. Has not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith? And basically it was the poor that responded to the gospel during the time of Jesus Christ. It was the poor that basically responded to the gospel during the time of the apostles. It has been the poor that has basically responded to the gospel during our time. Basically, the worldwide Church of God was built by those out in hinterland, as I was, and many of you who listened to the 50,000, 100,000 watt stations that beamed out of Mexico, WLAC, Nashville, Tennessee, the station in Cincinnati, Chicago, and so on, and all of those farmers and so on throughout the Midwest and those sharecroppers down south, like we were. Well, at the time I heard we weren't sharecropping then, but started off that way. My parents did. You heard the word coming out. Harken, my beloved brethren, has not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith. It is more important, of course, to be rich in faith and spiritual things than it is in physical things. We owe your place here. Look at 1 Corinthians, which, of course, we have a hymn that we sing, chapter one, set to this and set to music, the words and the music.

1 Corinthians chapter 1 verse 18, For the preaching of the cross, the stake is to them that perish foolishness, but unto us which are saved, being saved, it is the power of God. For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputing of this world? As not God made foolish the wisdom of this world. For after that, in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. Of course, one of the great drawbacks to the gospel in the past 50 or more years has been so many of these preachers have made a travesty out of preaching the gospel, and they have cheapened the gospel, and they have made the gospel into a sideshow, and they have made the gospel into so many different things.

From ordering, call on the phone, get this bottle of magic healing water or magic prosperity, water, whatever it might be. And the true gospel of Jesus Christ is hidden because people have allowed Satan to blind them of the truth. Continuing in James 5, Harken, my beloved brethren, hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom. There can be no greater inheritance than to be an heir of the kingdom.

You can talk about, well, I understand that he and she married into money.

Well, I understand that he was left, she was left, a big inheritance.

So what? Maybe you have 10 years, maybe you have 50 to spend, however much it is. So what?

Heirs of the kingdom, far more important, heirs of the kingdom, which he hath promised to them that love him, which is promised to them that love him, and always have playing in the back of your mind. The 1 John 5, 3, the definition of love. This is the love of God that we keep his commandments, and his commandments are not grievous. But you have despised the poor. It just seems to be human nature, and especially in the world in which we lived. And sadly, so many people have acted it out by their behavior of what they have done. You have despised the poor.

Do not rich men oppress you and draw you before the judgment seats.

And sadly, we have been respecters of persons to some degree in the Church of God over the years.

And thinking that some rich, influential person, maybe some well-known politician or person of this world, will come into the Church. You know, with regard to that, you remember the story about Jesus Christ saying that if they will not hear Moses and the prophets, they will not hear one, though he be risen from the dead. Miracles have a short-term effect. And one of the reasons why we have Sabbath school, and trying to have the emphasis that we have in Sabbath school, is to get young people from cradle to the grave education to understand why they are here, why they draw breath. You were created for this great transcendental purpose, to become a child of God in the kingdom of God. There is no greater inheritance. There are no greater riches than that. But if you can't come to understand that, then it's like it's all in vain.

No matter what happens with regard to things in this world, even great healings, people being raised from the dead, oh yes, we can have a great calamity. We can have our 9-11, and church attendance might go up for a few months. And that's it. We might have World War I or II, and church attendance go up. It's come to the point in Europe now that they might as well close the church doors, because basically the churches are empty. You have despised the poor. Do not rich men oppress you, draw you before the judgment seats.

Do not they blaspheme that worthy name by which you are called Christians, a follower of Jesus Christ. And once again, the name of Jesus Christ has been cheapened throughout the world, from the cheap grace gospel all the way down to the prosperity gospel to some of the most inane things that you could possibly think of in the name of religion. Now, the contrast, if you, on the other hand, fulfill the royal law. See, the royal law is the highest law of the universe. There is no higher law. The royal law, the law of God. If you fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. Do you well?

You're doing well when you do that because you have come to that understanding that God is not a respective person. It's up to you to hold your place. We'll be going back to various scriptures. Go to Leviticus 19-17. This thing about so much of what Jesus Christ taught, of course, was contained in the first five books of the Bible. In Leviticus 19-17, you shall not hate your brother in your heart.

You shall in any wise rebuke your neighbor and not suffer sin upon him. It also says in the Pentateuch, in essence, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. That royal law, you remember that Jesus Christ, when asked what is the greatest commandment in the law. He said, number one, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, and soul.

And number two, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. Then he said, and oftentimes we don't read the last part, verse 40, which says, on these two, hang all the law and the prophets. On these two, verse 9, but if you have respect to persons, you commit sin and are, this is an old English translation of the Greek word that means convicted, and are convicted of the law as transgressors.

In respect to persons, what he's saying is sin.

Now you can develop all your slick-covered magazines and try to appeal to those who are in high offices, both in the literal sense of being, quote, somebody in this world, and usually they are on the 16th to the 49th floor. They appear up in looking out over the city.

And in their waiting room, they have some slick-covered magazines, and you can develop quest or human potential or some other sort of magazine, and thinking that's going to make a difference. You know, when Paul came to Corinth, we go back now to 1 Corinthians chapter 2, and it seems that people cannot get this straight. And somehow, because I think we overreacted to this cheap grace, cheap gospel, and using the name of Jesus in a way that really should not be used, you go into Hawkins on highway 80 from the east, you come into Hawkins, big sign, Jesus welcomes you to Hawkins.

Well, the churches in Hawkins ought to have that taken down.

1 Corinthians chapter 2, and I, brethren, when I came to you, 1 Corinthians 2 verse 1, 2 And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom.

2 But in demonstration of the Spirit and of power that your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. All there are men who can deliver, they can develop and deliver some of the most powerful sermons in a sense that you have ever heard.

But on the one hand, it is more of appeal to emotion and not really getting to understand what life is all about. Do we understand what this life is all about? We're going to have a retreat the first day of the council meetings in August on Sunday. I think that's August the 11th, in which hopefully we get down to the some call it brass tacks of what should be the message that goes out. Because we don't have new people coming through the door to any extent. Basically, our attendance has been flat for a long time, and so it is with virtually all the churches of God, the various splendor groups. Oh, some say they're growing at this, that, and the other, and they may steal a few here or steal a few there. Whatever it is, maybe they don't steal. Maybe just people say, well, they're not preaching over here. I'm going over there.

And so on it goes. Continuing in James, verse 10, for whosoever shall keep the whole law. So Jesus Christ, of course, was the instrument through whom the 10 commandments were thundered from Mount Sinai. He is the living word, and the law in a sense is viewed as a seamless whole. If you think you're going to be justified by keeping the law, if you transgress in one point, you have transgressed in all. That's what James is telling you here. For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. You can't be a selective obeyer. I don't know if there's a word obeyer.

You cannot be a selective obeyer. You cannot say, well, you know, this is not so bad, that's not so bad, but you know, I really do the important things. You know, I'm not so concerned about these less important things, but I do the important things.

I really do those. And some people get so caught up with the rituals that surround that they never really come to understand that this is all about the heart and mind and what you really are.

For he that said, do not commit adultery, said also, do not kill.

Now, the taking of someone else's life is the supreme act of hate, as it were. Now, under the terms of the Old Covenant, there were ten offenses listed in the Old Covenant, whereby people were put to death.

Even recalcitrant children, children who would not obey, children who showed that they would continue to rebel were put to death.

Now, we're not doing that now, but I'm just saying that the killing, the taking of life, of course, is the highest thing, because God is the giver of life, and He made us, in His own image, and human life is to be respected. Human life is to be respected. It is to be cherished. It is to be valued. It's amazing how some of these people will stand up with regard to civil rights, human rights of people, and then at the same time say, that which is in the womb has no rights at all. It's only when you break forth from the womb that you have any rights. Yet, on the other hand, they may try somebody for double murder if they kill a woman who is pregnant at a certain stage.

Now, if you commit no adultery, you're perfect in that sense, yet if you kill, or what have you covered, or taking God's name in vain, or having some other God before you, you can name all ten and more. Yet, if you kill, you become a transgressor of the law, so speak you, and so do as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty.

It's an interesting contrast. On the one hand, if you do this, you're judged by the law of liberty, because the law of liberty says the wages of sin is death. Then, on the other hand, if you obey the law, there is no law against it, and you are free. If you don't commit adultery, if you don't steal, if you don't murder, if you don't take God's name in vain, if you keep the Sabbath, and on and on you could go. That's the perfect law of liberty. Against such, there is no law. It is the law of liberty. Turn back a page here and look at James chapter 1.

In James chapter 1, verse 25, but Housou looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues therein.

He, being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed. If you are dedicated, voted to, determined to, walk in the perfect law of liberty. There is no law against it. No law. Continuing chapter 2, verse 13, for he shall have judgment without mercy that has shown no mercy, and mercy rejoices against judgment.

We've covered this twice or so in our monthly Bible studies. It is a very important understanding, if you can understand it. The weight of your matters of the law are judgment, mercy, and faith. Matthew 23, 23. One of the main reasons why Israel went into captivity and identified as such is because they refused to exercise judgment, mercy, and faith. One of the main reasons why we have had the difficulties in the Church of God, and it's always been, is the refusal to exercise judgment, mercy, and faith before God and your neighbor. You look at Zechariah chapter 7.

You'll see what I said about with regard to Israel in captivity. Zechariah chapter 7.

Zechariah chapter 7, verse 8. Now the word of the Eternal came unto me, came unto Zechariah, saying, now we're at Zechariah 7, verse 9, Thus speaks the Eternal of hosts, saying, Execute true judgment, and show mercy and compassion to every man to his brother. Opress not the widow, nor the fatherless, the stranger, nor the poor, and let none of you imagine evil against his brother in your heart.

But they refused to hearken, pulled away the shoulders, stopped their ears, that they should not hear. Yes, they made their hearts as an adamant stone, lest they should hear the law, and the words which the Lord of hosts has sent in his spirit by the former prophets.

Therefore came a great wrath from the Eternal of hosts. Therefore it has come to pass that as he cried, and they would not hear, so they cried, and I would not hear, says the Eternal of hosts.

But I scattered them with a whirlwind among all nations whom they knew not.

Thus the land was desolate after them, that no man passed through nor returned, for they laid the pleasant land decently, because they refused to exercise judgment, mercy, and faith.

I wonder if we really understand it. I believe it is the first work. I believe it is the key to peace.

You look back a little bit. We covered this in our monthly Bible study, Michael 6, verse 8.

Let's look at verse 5 to begin with. Remember now what Balak, king of Moam, consulted, and what Balaam, the son of Beor, answered him from Kitim unto Gilgal, that we may know the righteousness of the Eternal.

Wherefore shall I come before the Eternal? How does God want you to come before him? What does he want? What does he require?

It's one of the most weedy parts of the whole Bible.

And bow before the high God. Shall I come with burnt offerings with calves of a year old?

We'll read in a moment where it says that God desires mercy and not sacrifice. God wants an understanding of who we are in relationship to him.

You can go through the rituals and keep them perfectly, but if you don't come to this understanding, then it's in vain. Shall I come before him with burnt offerings with calves of a year old? Will the Eternal be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn, which some of them were doing for my transgression in the Valley of Hinnom, sacrificing their firstborn to pagan gods, the fruit of my body for the sin of my life potential, my soul? Is that what you want? That's not what he wants.

He has shown you, O man, what is good and what does the Eternal require of you, but to do justly, to exercise true righteous judgment, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God, which is the same as saying, go walk in faith, walk humbly with your God. Now, look back at Leviticus 19 verse 15.

God expects us to exercise judgment, mercy, and faith before him and before one another, and walk in a reconciled position with him, with Christ, with each member of the body of Christ.

Leviticus 19 verse 15.

You shall do no unrighteousness in judgment.

Now, some people will read Matthew 7 where it says, judge not that you be not judged.

But if you read on down, it says, before you go to that judgment, get the beam out of your own eye before you try to get the moat out of your neighbor's eye. It doesn't say that you have to just bypass everything and you make no judgment. Some people misunderstand 1 Peter 4 verse 8, which says, and love will cover a multitude of sins. How does love cover a multitude of sins?

Because I love you so much, or you love your children so much, that you will correct them.

Paul writes in Hebrews chapter 12 beginning in verse 6 about whom the Lord loves, he chases. He chases every son that he loves. And if you are without chastisement, then are you illegitimate and not sons. Now, there is a time to correct children, even if you're not the parents. I've been out here before, and kids were throwing checkers at each other, bouncing off the glass.

Stop that! You know.

You shall do no unrighteousness in judgment. You shall not respect the person of the poor, nor honor the person of the mighty, but in righteousness shall you judge your neighbor.

You shall not go up and down as a tail-bearer among your people, neither shall you stand against the blood of your neighbor. I am the eternal.

You shall not hate your brother in your heart. You shall in any wise rebuke your neighbor, and not, in the correct translation, and many margins have this, and not bear sin for him. In other words, if you don't love him enough to do that, then you are as guilty as he is.

I know that, see, among the youth, and it has been this way for decades, it's this way with the mafia, thou shalt not narc. You just don't narc. In Leviticus chapter 5 verse 1, "...and if a soul sinned, and hear the voice of swearing, and is a witness whether he has seen or known of it, if he do not utter it, he shall bear his iniquity." Does the Bible teach that you are your brother's keeper? Yes, it does. Of course, there's a right way and there's a wrong way to do it, but it does teach that. Judgment, mercy, and faith. Now you go to Hosea chapter 6. Hosea chapter 6.

There's a whole package wrapped up with this that we want to understand. Hosea chapter 6 and verse 6, "...for I desired mercy and not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings." So what does that mean?

Now let's go to Matthew 23, 23 and read that. Matthew 23 verse 23.

"...woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, you pay tithe the mint anise and coming. All they were diligent to do sacrifice. They were willing to do all the ritualistic things. Plus, they imposed a whole bevy of things in addition to that.

And it omitted the weightier matters of the law." If it's a weightier matter of the law, it means it springs from it. Judgment, mercy, and faith. These ought you to have done and not to leave the other undone. How do you make a judgment? Well, when the Pharisee and the publican went up in the temple to pray, the Pharisee thanked God and he was not like other men. And he listed his great works. He fasted twice in the month he gave alms to the poor and all of that. And the publican, not so much lifting up his eyes to heaven, said, have mercy on me, a sinner.

He made a judgment. How did he make the judgment? He made the judgment from the law of God. Sin is a transgression of the law. Paul says in Romans 7, I would not have known sin unless the law said, thou shall not commit adultery. So judgment springs from the law. Now, how do you have mercy extended? Remember this? We're getting to this in James where we're going to read that mercy glories against judgment. See, when you judge yourself, you go before God and you judge yourself and you confess your sins and you cry out for mercy.

God says, I am faithful and just to forgive you of all unrighteousness. I will give you mercy. But God and Jesus Christ, they're not the minister of sin, but they say, now that your sins have been forgiven, go walk in faith. Go walk in faith. Judgment, mercy, and faith. You see now, mercy glories against judgment because when you judge yourself, confess your sins and God forgives your sins, it is His glory, it says, to pass over a transgression. But in order for Him to pass over that transgression, you have to repent of it, confess it, ask for forgiveness, the blood of Christ will cover that sin.

And so mercy then can glory in against judgment. You as a parent, you know how it is. If you bring your child into question, you know that he, she has done something wrong and that they confess or however it comes about, they confess and you talk it over, tears might be shed, oh there might be punishment involved. And then you have this, what Paul describes, we'll read in just a second in Hebrews 12, this peaceable fruit of righteousness, just a peace that settles over.

Instead of having this gnawing, aching kind of thing inside, you're set free because you know that mercy has been extended. It's gone. God says, go walk in faith. Now look at Hebrews 12. Now with regard to your neighbor, it's the same thing. That is, you go to your neighbor and you confess your faults one to another. You become reconciled. You make a judgment, something's wrong here. Then you ask for forgiveness. Reconciliation is made, mercy is extended.

Then you walk arm in arm. In Hebrews chapter 12, we've already referred to Jesus Christ inspiring Paul to write that if you are without chastisement. So look at verse 11. Now no chastening for the present seems to be joyous but grievous. Nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby. So when you do that, when all is well between you and God, and all is well between you and your neighbor near and far, some have defined neighbor the one nearest you.

Of course, in a family, husband, wife, parents and children, then it extends from there, brethren in the church, brethren not in the church, brethren in the sense of physical beings created in the image of God. Now look at this James again. James chapter 2 verse 13, for he shall have judgment without mercy that showed no mercy. That is, the one who has respect to persons, who has evil thoughts just based on the way they look, maybe they dress, that showed no mercy, and mercy rejoices against judgment. It is so wonderful to be able to be reconciled to God, be reconciled to one another. And that peace that passes all understanding settles over you.

You know that instruction there in Ephesians, and especially with husbands and wives, where it says, don't let the sun go down on your wrath, neither give place to the devil. Because if you do let the sun go down on your wrath, the thing will fester, it will get worse. And before you close your eyes and sleep, husband and wives, if you can, if you have to stay up all night, be reconciled, be reconciled. One of the great keys. In verse 14, another big topic here, in verse 14, What is it, prophet my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works?

Now I could wish that James had used the word for obedience, but he didn't. He used the word ergon in the Greek, but it is in this context, it is the same as obedience. Because he uses the example later on of Abraham, that Abraham believed God, he obeyed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. The simplest definition of faith. Now, first of all, we know we have this definition of faith in Hebrews 11 verse 1.

Faith is a substance of things hoped for, and the evidence of things not seen. In simplest terms, faith is to believe God and do what he says. In simplest terms, faith is to believe God and do what he says. Faith is inextricably linked to obedience. Or, if you want to use the word works, works. What does it profit my brethren? Though a man say he hath faith and have not works, can faith save him? Faith, there is an abstract dimension to faith. It is in the mind where you believe something with all your being, and you trust. Faith and trust go hand in hand.

They are handmaidens. You have faith in God. You trust in God. Let's say you have faith in your spouse. You trust your spouse. And we could go on, not many people, you could say that you have faith or trust in. In fact, there's a Psalm verse that says, put not your trust in the Son of Man with whom there is no help. In the ultimate sense, we know that no man, no woman, can save you.

But there is a certain amount of trust. I mean, if you drive from here to Gilmer, you may meet a hundred cars at Highway Patrol ten times. They're patrolling that road all the time. They must have a really good thing going. And you trust that they're not going to cross that median and hit you head on.

There are all kind of people out there driving that road. What does it profit my brother, though a man say he hath faith and have not works? Can faith save him? This abstract dimension that you believe in certain things. You believe in God. He would, who would come to God must first of all believe that he is and a rewarder of those who diligently seek him.

So there's that element of belief in the mind. But just to believe it and not act on it, that's what James is getting at, to just believe it and not act on it.

And then he uses these examples. If a brother or sister be naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you say unto them, depart in peace, be you warmed and filled, notwithstanding you give them not those things which are needful to the body, what is it profit? It doesn't do any good.

Even so, faith, if it has not works, if you're not willing to act on the Word of God, if you're not willing to do what God says, it's dead being alone. It's just the dimension in the mind that you believe a certain thing. Yes, a man may say, you have faith and I have works. Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. In other words, the way I live.

The old saying, I'd rather see a sermon than to hear a sermon.

You believe there is one God. A lot of the commentators bring this out in a better translation. You believe that, and some people say, oh well, there's a great proof of strict monotheism. But oftentimes this is translated, you believe that God is one. Can God be one?

And yet there be plurality within the Godhead. Did Jesus Christ have anything to say about that?

Look at John 17. On the night before Jesus Christ was crucified, the next day Jesus Christ prayed this prayer in John 17. The greatest unity prayer, the greatest treatise per se, along with 1 Corinthians 12, of unity in the whole Bible. The Gospel of John 17, we read this Passover every year in John 17. Verse 20, John 1720, Neither pray I for these alone, but for them which also shall believe on me through their word, that they may be one, as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they may be one in us, too, one in two. I in them, you in me, that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that you have sent me, and have loved them, as you have loved me. Father, I will that they also, whom you have given me, be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory, which you have given me, for you loved me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father, the world has not known you, but I have known you, and these have known that you have sent me.

And I have declared unto you your name, I have declared unto them your name, and will declare it, that the love with you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.

You can have a collection of beings that are one.

So, a better translation here in James, where it says you believe that there is one God, you believe God is one. You do well. The devils also believe and tremble.

Satan, of course, knows that God exists. The demons know that God exists.

The demons, a lot of them, confess Jesus Christ when Jesus Christ is ministry here on the earth.

Have you come to torment us before the time? I am one said.

So that abstract dimension that you know that a certain thing is true.

But you see, if you know that a certain thing is true, and then don't act on it, then you will receive the greater judgment.

I know that I should not smoke cigarettes, but I'm going to smoke them until the day I die. Puff, puff, puff that cigarette. Puff, puff, do you smoke yourself to death?

Meet old Peter at the Golden Gate, and he'd say he doesn't hate to make him wait, but you get to have another cigarette.

You know better, but you do it. The greater condemnation.

We have all kind of people in this nation. Various figures say at one time 90 plus percent of Americans said that they believe that God exists. I think now the figure is more like 70 percent.

They say, I believe that God exists.

If you believe God exists, one time I gave a sermon. It was up in Gilmer a few years ago.

Title, if you believe in God, then what? If you believe in God, then what? What are you going to do?

Will you know vain man that faith without works is not a true thing?

Will you know vain man that faith without works is dead? The devils believe and tremble.

Then he comes to the example of Abraham.

Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? And you could just as easily call it obedience because God said, now take your only son now, your son of promise, take him, go up to this mountain, and sacrifice him there before me.

And Abraham obediently went and Isaac went with him. On the way Isaac said, where's the sacrifice?

Abraham said, God will provide.

Was not Abraham our father justified by works or obedience when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? Seeing you how faith wrought with his works, with his obedience. If he had not done it, he could say, well, I believe in God. In fact, God appeared to me, and he promised me this son, and this son was born. But now he's asking me to do this.

Now I know that God exists, but I'm not going to do that. I'm not going to take my son and do that.

Was not Abraham our father justified by works or obedience when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? Seeing you how faith wrought with his works or obedience, and by works or obedience was faith made perfect. If you want your faith to be perfected, you have to do what you know to do. Faith is the only thing that's listened in the Bible that is a gift of the Spirit and a fruit of the Spirit. In 1 Corinthians 12, it's listed as a gift of the Spirit. In Galatians chapter 5, it is listed as a fruit of the Spirit. And I've used, and you have heard it, the analogy of a tennis game, or it could be volleyball or some similar game, in which God is the server and he serves the Word of God through his Spirit and Word. He convicts you. He puts the ball over in your court. He puts a racket in your hand or whatever it is and says, now you return that back to me. You say, I'm not going to do that.

Well, you are quenching the Spirit and you're not obeying. Now, God is the initiator of faith because he is the one who calls you and opens your mind and your heart to it and makes it possible for you to exercise faith. So in that sense, it is a gift. And if you reciprocate with it, then you bear fruit and your faith can be perfected.

Now oftentimes, people will say, well, I prayed in faith that such and such would happen.

Now, last evening when Mrs. Neff called concerning her daughter, and of course I had called her to see how she was doing, and she brought this up and it looked pretty bad right then. She asked for an anointing cloth. Of course, she couldn't send it till today at the earliest. This morning is a lot better. At the same time, she told me about a fellow, maybe some of you know them. I think they're with another organization now that he worked in Pasadena. I knew him well, Ray Epperson.

He is now diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. See, we had a lot of people with pancreatic cancer relatively speaking.

I've experienced many nights in recent months of God taking away pain from my body. I have prayed for other people that God take away the pain from their body, and he did not. He did not.

So we cannot dictate, obviously, to God what he's going to do, but we still have the same faith and confidence. And we say that we pray according to God's will, and we say your will be done.

Verse 23, and the Scripture was fulfilled which said, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him. To understand this word imputed is very important, because some people take this to believe that if you do a certain thing, just believe that God exists, believe that Christ died for your sins, that he will axiomatically, I guess we could use the word automatically, but as a result of axiomatically, transfer his righteousness to you. That is not what it means.

The word means, this word imputed is also, in some cases, translated reckon. It is laid to your account. In other words, because Jesus Christ lived perfectly and did what he did, and you believe that he died for your sins, and so you must, in order for your sins to be forgiven. But that does not mean that his righteousness future is axiomatically imputed to you for the rest of your life. It was reckoned unto his account for righteousness, and he was called the friend of God. You see then how that by works for obedience a man is justified and not by faith only. You see, this is one of the reasons why Martin Luther, the leader of the Protestant Reformation, called James, the epistle of James, and epistle of straw, largely agree because of this one word of this verse right here, and not by faith only. If you understood what faith is in all of its dimensions, then you could say by faith only because true faith is inextricably linked to obedience.

In other words, you can't have one without the other. It's like the old song, Love and Marriage, Love and Marriage, Go Together Like a Horse and Carriage. You can't have true faith separated from obedience. Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works or obedience 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. I don't see how it could be made any clearer.

You will not hear many preachers preach from the book of James. That is, preachers outside the church of God. Back in the late 1980s, I wrote this paper on faith. I've never submitted it to be published in any of our publications. I don't think it might have, but I worked with it with various people in Pasadena when I was out there in the late 80s. We went out there in 1987 and came back here in 90...I guess it was 90 or 91.

So I'm going to cover this article right now. It's only four o'clock.

Well, that clock's slow. I've got six after four.

We'll be out way before 4.30, probably 4.29.

I'm going to basically read this with some comment. Then what I plan to do is I'll send it out to the email list. We send out the news items too and other announcements.

So it ties in with what we have covered here today, and hopefully you come to a much better understanding. False religion has made faith into a mystical exercise of the human mind.

Remember we talked about that abstract dimension. But real faith springs from God's law.

Matthew 23, 23. Faith is a weightier matter of the law. Thus, there is a direct relationship between the law and faith. How is this relationship developed? Relationship results from God revealing spiritual principles to a person's mind through his spirit and word, like the analogy of the tennis game or volleyball, where God's word and spirit is served in your court, convict you, and what are you going to do? The spirit and the word of God convict a person of the truth.

Christ said he would send the Holy Spirit and that it would convict the world of sin. That's John 16, verse 8. Paul wrote in Romans 10.14, How then shall they call on him, in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in him, of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? Then he wrote in Romans 10.17, that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. So in summary, you see that the word of God and the Spirit of God work in conjunction to convict you of sin, and God uses human instruments to convey that word to you.

Conviction is a precursor of belief, and it stems from God. Conviction causes a person to believe, and belief is one element of faith. He would come to God, must first of all believe that he is. The next crucial element of faith is left up to the individual after conviction and belief. He must choose to obey or disobey. The choice to obey or disobey is never removed. Even after a person is baptized and receives God's Spirit, he still has the choice of whether to obey or disobey.

James writes that faith without works is dead. We've just covered it.

He noted that the devils believe and tremble, but the devils refuse to obey. On the other hand, Abraham believed God and obeyed God. James concluded that through works of obedience, faith is perfected. Faith, in its simplest terms, means believing in God and obeying him. So one should begin to understand that faith has a concrete basis in the Word of God.

Spiritual faith is founded on the Word of God. You can have physical faith in many different forms, and it's founded on much of it. You say, well, it's a scientific fact that's such and such.

They even put on the cigarette package. The Surgeon General has determined that use of this product can cause cancer. The Surgeon General has determined if you consume alcohol during pregnancy, it might result in birth defects. A lot of these things are scientific evidence for your belief that a certain thing will happen based on certain circumstances or conditions.

You will hear it preached that you have a better chance of success in life if you get a good education. You may believe that intellectually, but never do it.

The Bible, a lot of people have intellectual knowledge of the Bible, and they can debate the Bible and argue and all that's debated good at polemics. This basic scenario of faith and action as exemplified in the faith of Abraham is consistent throughout the Scriptures.

Paul writes in Romans 4.3, Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.

That word that sometimes he imputed or reckoned was laid to his account.

But as James writes, Abraham did not just believe, he also obeyed. Christ asked the apostles, Who do men say that I am? Various answers were given. Peter said, You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. Christ replied that flesh and blood had not revealed it to him, but the Father in heaven. So God reveals and convicts a person of spiritual things.

Having faith is acting on the conviction and obeying. Of course, acting on and obeying, that's basically synonymous. Time after time in Scripture, one is brought back to the fact that faith springs from God in his Word. Hebrews 11.6 says that those who would come to God must, first of all, believe that he is and that he is a reward of those who diligently seek him.

A person cannot believe in God until God convicts him through his Spirit and his Word. Now, they can have some kind of intellectual concept or knowledge and say, Oh, I believe there's a God out there, whatever they might say.

You know, Psalm 14.1 said, The fool has said in his heart, There is no God.

As Christ said, Flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto you, but my Father, who is in heaven. So human beings do not come to believe in God through their own human power.

No man knows the things of God except through the Spirit of God. 1 Corinthians 2.11.

So when it comes to spiritual matters, there's no such thing as faith independent of God's intervention and revelation. You don't just come to it on your own, sitting down and meditating under the big pine tree. When someone is convicted by the Word and Spirit of God that he is a sinner, he comes to believe that he should turn from his sins. He also realizes that he needs forgiveness of sins. The death penalty is on his head, and if those sins are not forgiven, he's going to die, and not just die physically, he's going to die eternally. The wages of sin but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. God will forgive a person's sins if he's willing to act on the conviction and belief that he should turn from his sins. Once again, why does the sinner decide to turn from his sins? He turns because he is convicted and believes he should turn from sin and begin to obey God. There's this weight on the mind, this gnawing, this aching, this this urge that I need to do something.

He turns because he's convicted. That is the same as saying he believes God and obeys God and begins to walk in faith. The question arises from the above whether pre-baptismal faith is different from faith after baptism. Ephesians 2, 8 states, by grace are you saved through faith and that not of yourselves it is the gift of God.

This is an often debated scripture in the Church of God. I have talked with certain what we used to call evangelists about it.

Let's follow this. By grace are you saved through faith and that not of yourselves it is the gift of God. This does not mean that after baptism the process of exercising faith is different from faith before baptism. The phrase, and that not of yourselves, has two possible antecedents, either salvation or faith. Which one is the gift of God and not of yourselves? Is it salvation or is it faith? Most people assume that the phrase not of yourself refers to faith rather than to salvation, that God gives you the faith.

Now, what is the logical fallacy of that statement?

If God were the one who just gave you, you didn't have to return but serve over to your court, God would just give it to you whether you returned it or not.

If God didn't give that faith to everybody, he would be a respecter of persons.

And we know that everybody is not going to be saved.

There will be a lot who will be cast out into, or cast into, the lake of fire, which is the second death.

In the original text, the word faith is feminine.

Therefore it cannot be the antecedent of the pronoun that which is neuter.

In Greek, as in English, the pronoun always agrees with the antecedent and gender.

Since faith is feminine, it cannot possibly be the antecedent of that and that not of yourselves.

This expression refers to, by grace are you saved and that not of yourself. Salvation is a gift.

If we get into this catch-22 kind of thing where we will say that you cannot earn salvation, and you cannot earn it, but on the other hand, when Peter preached his sermon on the day of Pentecost, they were pricked in their hearts, and they said, Ben and brethren, what shall we do?

And Peter said, repent and be baptized, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

What is repentance? Repentance is turning away from breaking God's immutable spiritual law and going a different way. Now, the gift is there, but there are conditions, and people may say, well, I will give you this or the other if you will do such and such.

God's promise is eternal life if you will have faith in Jesus Christ or the mission of your sins, that you will exercise judgment, mercy, and faith before God in Christ and each member of the body of Christ. On this, hang the law and the prophets. Repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sin, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

In Greek, as in English, your pronoun agrees with the antecedent and gender, since faith is feminine, it cannot possibly be the antecedent of and that not of yourselves. This expression, that not of yourselves, refers to by grace are you saved. This is consistent with the teaching of the Scriptures. A person is not saved of himself, it is the gift of God. A person is saved through the life of Christ in him, the Holy Spirit bridges the gap between life and death.

God reveals his truth to the person, convicts him of the truth.

If he will act upon that conviction which weighs upon his mind, will believe and obey God, that is, exercise faith. He can be justified, and if he continues, he will be saved.

Faith is a gift of the Spirit and a fruit of the Spirit. As a gift of the Spirit, faith is dependent upon obedience. Is God going to give his Spirit to those who don't obey him?

In fact, there is a Scripture that says, God gives his Spirit to those who obey him.

So, you see, there is a reciprocal involved in here. It is a gift, but it is dependent.

You can't just make Christ the minister of sin.

Let's pause there and turn to Galatians 2.

This is life and death stuff.

You're not going to hear this very often. You may never hear it again.

Those of us who are older will be passing off the scene in a few years.

He left up to the rest of you who are younger to really teach the truth of God.

Galatians 2 and verse 15.

Well, I'm sorry, Galatians 2.16. Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law.

In other words, whenever you're convicted of sin, when you come to know that you are a sinner, you see, you've already broken the law, and the wages of sin is death. That is an axiom that is true.

Now, how can you have that death penalty removed?

Can you have it removed by perfect obedience from that point on?

No, because the penalty has already been incurred. It's already on you.

But there's a reciprocal.

Can you just say, well, I just believe and not change your life and not repent? That's what Paul addresses here.

Knowing the man is not justified by the works of the law. Perfect obedience will not forgive sins that are passed, but by the faith in Jesus Christ.

I had one evangelist arguing that we went back into a blue in the face, in the face where there's the faith of Jesus Christ.

It is faith in Jesus Christ. It is not the faith of Jesus Christ. If Jesus Christ did not give every person the faith, then he would be a respecter of persons. He is not a respecter of persons.

And there is a responsibility on our part as he brings out.

Faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.

In Galatia, they were arguing that you had to be a circumcised.

But if while you seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is therefore Christ the minister of sin, God forbid.

In other words, you can't have it unless you are willing to repent. For if I build again the things which I destroy, I make myself a transgressor.

So I think that it's clear God gives his Spirit to those who obey him.

The law defines what must be obeyed. Christ knew what he was saying when he said, faith is a weightier matter of the law. As a fruit of the Spirit, faith testifies to the fact that a person has believed God and obeyed him. In this sense, all members of God's church must bear the fruit of the Spirit. You have to obey. From Paul's explanation of the gifts of the Spirit, it is clear that each member of the body is not given the same measure of each gift of the Spirit. In fact, Paul implies that some members of the body are not given a particular gift at all, for to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom, to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit, to another, so on. The point is that God and Christ expect faith from every member of God's church whether or not a gift of faith was given by God's Spirit. In the church, a distinction has been made between the faith of Christ and a man's own faith. Examples have been cited of men and women during the ministry of Christ who were healed according to their faith. In addition, passages have been cited that explicitly mention the faith of Christ, which we've just covered. A deeper examination of the instances in which people were healed according to their faith will reveal that these people were convicted about Christ's role in mission. They heard and saw his works, were convicted, believed that he was able to heal them. On one occasion Christ said, I have not seen such faith in Israel. Christ's ministry marked the transition from the Old Covenant to the New Covenant. God was showing through miracles that power and authority were invested in Christ and the apostles. Christ's expression, according to your faith, reflected his followers' conviction regarding his mission. Jesus, the Son of God, was on the scene performing miracles through the Spirit of God. Certain men and women were convicted of his power and authority. Christ honored their conviction and belief and healed them.

As pointed out earlier, conviction is a precursor of belief. As stated earlier, when it comes to spiritual matters, it is not possible without God's intervention and revelation. Not all miracles of Christ required conviction or faith on the part of the person being healed, but all acts of faith involve prior conviction and awareness of God's presence and power. God's presence and power are not revealed by flesh and blood, but by God in heaven. Thus, all acts of faith originate with God, and those passages that say, according to your faith, be it unto you, do not leave God out of the picture. This faith only appears to be human faith. In truth, however, this faith is initiated by God. The old King James expression, the faith of Christ, does not mean that God removes Christ's faith from him and places it in someone. There is no justification in the original text for this interpretation of the faith of Christ. If a matter were that simple, God would have performed this miraculous act and saved the whole world. God, however, does not by fiat create character without allowing human beings to exercise free moral agency. Thus, the faith of Christ must involve man's own active participation. By initiating conviction, which brings about one's faith in God, God is the author of faith. And by granting the Holy Spirit to those who obey him, God is the finisher of faith. Hebrews 12.2. Please note that the possessive pronoun hour in Hebrews 12.2 is not in the original text. The expression, the faith of Christ, has been granted only because it appears in the King James Version. The theology of the New Testament, which was expounded, makes no allowance for the miraculous transfer of Christ's faith to a person for salvation purposes. It is because you have faith in Christ and you exercise that faith that it is reckoned to your account. Brethren, I hope that this study here today has increased your understanding on several fronts. God is not a respecter of persons, that mercy, glory is against judgment, but ultimate mercy cannot be extended until the judgment has been made and repentance occurs. Then when that happens, ultimate mercy, that is, the forgiveness of sin and removing the sin as far as the east is from the west, can take place.

We see that faith without obedience is dead. We see that in Ephesians 2.8, by grace are you saved through faith, that not of yourselves. That not of yourselves is modifying salvation and not faith. That faith, in order to be perfected, has to be in conjunction with obedience. And so all of these things work together and form a beautiful harmony, like a beautiful garment that is woven together to make it a whole garment. So I hope that by studying this, that you have come to a better understanding of many of these elements, very weighty matters that are contained in James 2.