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We are continuing our sermon 
series on James and I. 

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I try to make today's a little 
shorter so we could all enjoy 

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the festivities outside. 
All right, So what we believe 

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matters. 
Doctrine, theology, our belief 

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system, value system, it all 
matters. 

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And for the most part, unless 
you are visiting and you have no

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idea, like what our church is 
about, for the most part, the 

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people who are here, you guys 
match up or agree at least on a 

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basic level, believe what our 
church believes or even though 

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if you disagree or at least OK 
with what we believe and what we

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believe as a Christian matters 
so much. 

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And that's why there's all these
branches of Christianity and 

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denominations and all of that. 
There was a pastor that just 

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started in Gardena, and I got a 
chance to get lunch with him a 

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couple of weeks ago. 
And yeah, when 2 pastors get 

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together, I don't like talking 
about, you know, like 

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denominations. 
But that's the first question 

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that, you know, he asked and I 
said, you know, we're done 

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denominational. 
And, and then he said, well, are

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you going to join the 
denomination war? 

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I said, you know, it's been 13 
years or probably not. 

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I, I think that boats, you know,
has sailed. 

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A ship has sailed. 
Also, I don't think there's a 

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denomination that kind of 
matches perfectly what we 

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believe in. 
I know that sounds crazy, but 

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our combination of beliefs is, 
is kind of a little, it's a 

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little rare. 
Like if we joined, I don't know,

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the biggest, I think the 
nomination, you know, it's 

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Southern Baptist, you know, I'm 
OK with them. 

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But our female preachers 
wouldn't be able to preach 

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anymore. 
I'm not OK with that anymore. 

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If you join like a Presbyterian 
Church and the elders will 

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decide everything. 
And you know what right now are 

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we have membership and we, we 
vote on everything. 

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And that wouldn't be able to go 
anymore. 

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And Methodist is a whole 
different thing. 

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And it's just like, well, 
nothing fits us and we stay non 

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dominational because what we 
believe matters. 

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It matters to me, matters to 
you. 

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What we believe matters. 
Our doctrine, our theology, it's

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all important and there's no 
doubt about that. 

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But James is asking a very 
interesting question this 

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morning in this passage. 
He's asking us, hey, you guys 

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are all about beliefs and faith 
and all of that. 

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He's asking the audience, is it 
possible that all your beliefs 

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are useless? 
Let me read verse 14 real quick.

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What good is it, my brothers and
sisters, if someone claims to 

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have faith but does not have 
works? 

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Can such faith save him? 
He's saying what good is your 

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beliefs if it doesn't come with 
works? 

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And he goes one step further. 
He says, can such faith save 

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him? 
He's saying, are you even a 

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Christian if beliefs is all you 
have? 

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So today we're going to talk 
about what kind of faith, right?

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How we could have a faith that 
also has works? 

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OK, That's what James was 
talking about today and that's 

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the question we want to answer 
today. 

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How can we have a faith that 
works? 

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How can we have true faith? 
Number one, we need to know that

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faith and works cannot be 
separated. 

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Faith and works cannot be 
separated. 

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I already read 14, so I'll be 
reading 15 to 19. 

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Should be in the back behind me.
If a brother or sister is 

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without clothes and lacks daily 
food and one of you says to them

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go in peace, stay warm and be 
way well fed, but you don't give

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them what the body needs, what 
good is it? 

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In the same way faith if it does
not have works is dead by 

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itself. 
But someone will say if you have

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faith and I have works, show me 
your faith without works and I 

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will show you faith by my works.
You believe that God is 1 good. 

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Even the demons believe and they
shudder. 

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Here James starts off with two 
examples. 

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He has actually has four total. 
But for the first point I'll be 

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going over the 2 examples. 
He starts with the 2 examples 

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that are negative. 
He gives us basically different 

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case scenarios. 
The first case is 1517 and he 

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what James does really well is 
he takes like theology, he takes

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concepts and then he said he and
he brings it down to real life 

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instead of like all faith and 
works. 

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You know, you got to separate an
Amen. 

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He says, let me give you an 
example. 

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This is how it looks like when 
faith and works are separated. 

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Does this look OK to you? 
And the first case study that he

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he offers us, someone comes to 
church and that person is in 

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need. 
It says here without clothes. 

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It's not literal. 
It just means that person is 

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underdressed probably for the 
weather, doesn't have an outside

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coat. 
Those are most more costly. 

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And it says LAX daily food. 
That's obvious. 

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Somebody who is underdressed and
underfed and then someone comes 

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to that person and says nice 
things, they're polite. 

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Oh, I hope you stay warm. 
I hope there's food in your 

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stomach. 
I'll be praying for you. 

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And walks away. 
James is saying, does that. 

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Is that OK to you? 
And he's not saying like people 

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are doing this. 
So he's pointing it out. 

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He's bringing theology to life. 
And he's kind of discovering 

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what the what the audience. 
Hey, essentially, this is what 

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you're doing. 
Does this look OK to you? 

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No answer is no. 
That does not look OK. 

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Somebody comes hungry. 
You just can't be nice to them, 

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is what James is saying. 
He's saying that kind of faith 

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is dead. 
And he gives us a second 

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scenario, verses 18 and 19. 
You have faith and I have works.

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Is some someone saying, you know
what works is not my thing. 

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Good deeds are not my thing. 
Obedience is not me. 

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I'm all about faith works. 
That's kind of like your thing. 

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You know, I'm not good with 
people. 

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I'm shy, I'm introvert. 
You know what I'm I'm more of a 

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faith person and and works is 
someone who is maybe outgoing 

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and and yeah, I'm just not that 
kind of person. 

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MJ saying, oh, you think faith 
in the work is separate. 

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It's you think works is for some
people and faith in some people.

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OK, let's separate it and let's 
see what it looks like. 

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And he's he's giving us an 
example of somebody who has 

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faith but no works. 
And and he's kind of being 

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extreme here. 
And the example he gives is 

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demons. 
He says you believe that God is 

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1 good. 
Well, even the demons believe 

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and they shudder. 
He's saying, you know what? 

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Demons have faith. 
They have faith in God so much. 

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OK, you guys are all pointing at
somebody who's dressed like a 

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demon today. 
You've got the all right, we got

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demon hunters and we also got a 
demon as well. 

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All right. 
You know, when I was a kid, you 

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weren't a lot of dressed a demon
in church. 

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That was just maybe I grew up in
a conservative church. 

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But yeah, we got a, we got a 
demon over there. 

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Anyway, what was he talking 
about? 

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Grew up, guys. 
I see demons like demon. 

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Oh, my goodness. 
All right. 

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This is a children's service. 
What's going on here? 

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Right? 
Demons have faith in God so much

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that when they hear God's name, 
they shudder. 

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They have more faith in God than
us, perhaps. 

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And, you know, let's think of it
this way. 

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If you're a parent, you should 
feed your kids, OK? 

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It's not like someone could say 
feeding kids. 

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That's not my thing. 
I'm not, I'm not much of A cook.

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I'm more about education. 
I'm more about taking them on 

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trips. 
Feeding your kids is kind of 

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your thing. 
What I do is educate. 

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And James will reply. 
You know what, like feeding the 

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kids, It's so basic that even 
the worst parent will do that. 

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You can't just, you can't just 
feed your kids. 

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You got to love them. 
You got to educate them, house 

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them. 
You can't really separate it. 

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You feed them and you do all 
these other stuff and you say 

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you can't separate our faith and
works. 

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Let me let me I attempted to do 
what James does, bring it into a

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modern day example. 
I'm going to I'm going to 

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Cambodia next week. 
That's that's like for real. 

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I am next week after service, 
next week, Sunday night, I'll be

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leaving Cambodia and we'll be 
leaving me and Frankie and and 

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and couple missionaries that we 
support in Thailand. 

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We'll be meeting in Cambodia and
we'll be doing Pastors 

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conference. 
I'm only gone for 10 days, but 

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let's just pretend for the sake 
of the story, I'm gone like 2 

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months. 
That'll never happen. 

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But let's just say I'm gone for 
two months, and two months is 

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long enough, or I might have to 
write something, write something

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down for my kids. 
I'll be like, dear Maddie and 

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Micah, you're 11 and 13. 
You're old enough to kind of 

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replace who I am while I'm gone.
So I need you to clean the 

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house, take out the trash. 
I need you to help mom with 

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Thanksgiving Turkey. 
That thing's really heavy. 

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I need you to fold the laundry. 
And I might give them a list of 

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things for them to do. 
And let's say two months later, 

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I come back and nothing is done.
They did nothing and that bring 

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my kids over and say, hey, how 
come you guys didn't do anything

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I asked you to do? 
And imagine my kids say this. 

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Well, dad, it's not like we did 
nothing on Friday nights. 

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We came to church and we got 
together and we studied your 

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letter. 
We even memorized parts of it. 

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And this part of the letter, we 
made it into a song and we sang 

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it every week. 
And Dad, you're going to like 

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this. 
I even invited my friends and we

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studied that letter and we sang 
that letter together. 

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But Dad, I didn't know that we 
had to actually do what the 

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letter says. 
You get the point when somebody 

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who's willing to have faith and 
they know all the right things 

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and they say, you know what? 
I'm good there. 

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I'm good with knowing. 
I'm good with believing. 

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I'm good with faith. 
And you stop right there, James,

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giving us all these examples of 
why that's not enough. 

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It's like my kids saying we 
celebrated your letter, but we 

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didn't know we had to follow it.
So how can we have faith that 

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works? 
Well, faith and words cannot be 

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separated #2 how can we have 
faith that works #2 we need a 

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faith that is evidenced by 
difficult obedience. 

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Our faith has to have evidence, 
and the evidence is not just 

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obedience, but difficult 
obedience. 

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A difficult obedience requires 
true faith in God. 

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Let's read verse 20 to 24. 
Senseless person. 

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Are you willing to learn that 
faith without works is useless? 

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Wasn't Abraham our father, 
justified by works and offering 

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Isaac his son on the altar? 
You see that faith was active 

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together with his works and by 
works faith was made complete 

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and the scripture was fulfilled.
That says Abraham believed God, 

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it was credited to him as 
righteousness, and he was called

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God's friend. 
You see that a person is 

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justified by works and not by 
faith alone. 

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Let's stop there. 
Now this, this four or five 

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verses that we just read, if 
taken out of context, could be 

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very dangerous. 
We know from the other parts of 

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Scriptures that, you know, 
especially Paul's letters, that 

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we are justified by faith. 
In fact, the, you know, when 

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Protestant Christianity kind of 
became Protestant Christianity 

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in the Reformation, in the faith
alone, grace alone, Christ 

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alone, it's like kind of became 
the slogan of our faith. 

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You aren't safe through faith 
alone. 

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That that is kind of what all 
Christians believe in. 

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And it seems like James is 
saying something else. 

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He's saying, wasn't Abraham, our
father, justified by works? 

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We've been learning, we've been 
justified by faith. 

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And James sounds like he's 
saying something else. 

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You see, faith was active 
together with his works. 

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And by works, faith was made 
complete. 

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Now, what does that mean? 
Works? 

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Faith is not complete without 
works. 

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Like what you need. 
You need both to be saved. 

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What? 
What is James saying? 

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OK, so let me clarify why he's 
saying, OK, we all, I hope we 

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all agree that works do not 
produce salvation, OK? 

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That means follow all the rules.
Then you go to heaven. 

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That's not what we believe in, 
OK, That's works equals 

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salvation. 
We do not believe that. 

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00:14:50,280 --> 00:14:54,400
It kind of sounds like here it's
OK, you have faith and works and

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then you're saved. 
It kind of seems like that. 

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But that's not what actually 
James is saying either. 

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He's saying faith in God, 
knowing the gospel, faith 

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produces salvation and salvation
produces works. 

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You are saved through faith 
alone. 

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00:15:19,280 --> 00:15:22,320
But if you're truly saved by 
faith, grace alone, Christ 

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alone, there will be evidence in
your life which is works, which 

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is obedience. 
And he says in that way that's 

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complete salvation will produce 
works. 

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And he gives us 2 examples of 
salvation producing works. 

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Case number 3 is Abraham, right?
Talked about Abraham. 

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Abraham believed God and it was 
credited to him as 

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righteousness. 
If you read the Bible from the 

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beginning, which a lot of us do 
within the 1st 15 chapters, we 

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read what we just read. 
Abraham believed God and it was 

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credited to him as 
righteousness. 

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That is a direct quote from 
Genesis 15-6. 

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Abraham believed God, that's 
faith, and it was credited to 

247
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him as righteousness. 
OK, that is imputed righteous, 

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meaning God gave his 
righteousness to Abraham. 

249
00:16:23,960 --> 00:16:26,600
That's what happened to us when 
we became Christians, when we 

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became, when we were saved, 
Jesus gave us his righteousness,

251
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grace without we didn't deserve 
it. 

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We didn't earn it through grace.
Jesus gave us righteousness. 

253
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That's why we're able to be 
saved. 

254
00:16:41,760 --> 00:16:49,760
And he says that a person is 
justified by works and not by 

255
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faith alone. 
Faith cannot be by itself. 

256
00:16:55,440 --> 00:16:59,360
You could say somebody said 
this, you're safe through faith 

257
00:16:59,360 --> 00:17:03,280
alone, but not faith that is 
alone. 

258
00:17:04,520 --> 00:17:11,000
You need works. 
So what is the works that that 

259
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is evidence in Abraham's life? 
Well, we know the famous story. 

260
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God wants Abraham's son. 
Abraham waited like 100 years 

261
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for a son, and finally he has a 
son, names him Isaac. 

262
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Name's laughter. 
There's so much joy. 

263
00:17:25,440 --> 00:17:27,800
They love the baby. 
And God says, I want your son, 

264
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take him to the mountain and 
sacrifice him. 

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And Abraham obeys. 
He's willing to go that far for 

266
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obedience. 
Does God want really, Isaac? 

267
00:17:41,120 --> 00:17:47,960
No, God wanted to reorient his 
hierarchy of love, meaning God 

268
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wanted to make sure that Abraham
had God #1 and everything else 

269
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#2 What was Abraham's difficult 
obedience? 

270
00:17:58,640 --> 00:18:03,120
That he loved God above his 
children, His child. 

271
00:18:04,640 --> 00:18:09,520
That was a difficult obedience. 
That was something that required

272
00:18:09,760 --> 00:18:13,720
true faith in God. 
Otherwise, if it was left to 

273
00:18:13,720 --> 00:18:17,760
just human desires, no way any 
parent could obey that. 

274
00:18:18,360 --> 00:18:23,840
It is impossible to have your 
children as #2 without some 

275
00:18:23,840 --> 00:18:28,800
miraculous power strength given 
by our faith in Christ. 

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00:18:31,120 --> 00:18:34,720
So in Abraham's life, that was 
evidence of salvation. 

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00:18:35,360 --> 00:18:40,800
He was able to forgot number one
kids #2 and then we have the 

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00:18:40,800 --> 00:18:47,760
second the last case study, 
second of the second part case 

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00:18:47,760 --> 00:18:51,920
study #4 is Rahab. 
Let me read verses 25 and 26. 

280
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In the same way, wasn't Rahab 
the prostitute also justified by

281
00:18:59,080 --> 00:19:02,640
works in receiving the 
messengers and sending them out 

282
00:19:02,640 --> 00:19:06,360
by a different route? 
For just as the body without the

283
00:19:06,360 --> 00:19:10,800
spirit is dead, also faith 
without works is dead. 

284
00:19:10,800 --> 00:19:12,400
This is the third time he's seen
something like that. 

285
00:19:12,400 --> 00:19:14,600
Faith without works is dead. 
They need to be together. 

286
00:19:16,920 --> 00:19:21,200
Now, why is Rahab an example of 
a difficult obedience? 

287
00:19:21,600 --> 00:19:25,000
OK, well, Rahab's story is the 
Israelites. 

288
00:19:25,600 --> 00:19:29,200
They wander around the desert 
for 40 years as punishment. 

289
00:19:30,040 --> 00:19:33,120
And finally they got to the the 
promised land, Canaan. 

290
00:19:33,680 --> 00:19:38,720
By this time, it's the second 
time around and they send spies 

291
00:19:38,880 --> 00:19:43,920
to scout the area. 
And the spies hid in Rahab's 

292
00:19:43,920 --> 00:19:46,080
house. 
The soldiers went to Rahab's 

293
00:19:46,080 --> 00:19:49,080
house and say, hey, did you guys
see any spies or did you see any

294
00:19:49,080 --> 00:19:51,400
spies? 
And Rahab says they went that 

295
00:19:51,400 --> 00:19:55,160
way, but they were spies were 
really hiding in our house. 

296
00:19:57,120 --> 00:19:59,920
And in Joshua 29 through 11, 
this is what it says. 

297
00:19:59,920 --> 00:20:01,360
You don't have to turn to it. 
I'll read it. 

298
00:20:02,760 --> 00:20:08,120
And she explains why she was 
able to risk her life to and lie

299
00:20:08,120 --> 00:20:12,960
to the soldiers. 
I know that the Lord has given 

300
00:20:12,960 --> 00:20:16,600
you this land and that the 
terror of you has fallen on us. 

301
00:20:17,640 --> 00:20:20,640
Everyone who lives in the land 
is panicking because of you. 

302
00:20:20,640 --> 00:20:24,560
But we have heard how the Lord 
dried out the water of the Red 

303
00:20:24,560 --> 00:20:29,040
Sea before you when you came out
of Egypt, and what you did to 

304
00:20:29,040 --> 00:20:33,320
Shihon and AOG, the two Amorite 
kings you completely destroyed 

305
00:20:33,320 --> 00:20:37,280
across the Jordan. 
When we heard this, we lost 

306
00:20:37,280 --> 00:20:41,320
heart and everyone's courage 
failed because of you. 

307
00:20:41,920 --> 00:20:47,800
For the Lord your God is God in 
heaven above and on earth below.

308
00:20:49,920 --> 00:20:53,760
Rahab saying is you know what? 
I risked my life to help you 

309
00:20:54,400 --> 00:20:56,640
because your God is the true 
God. 

310
00:20:57,480 --> 00:21:02,680
I believe in your God so much 
that I know 100% that Canaan 

311
00:21:02,680 --> 00:21:06,840
will be conquered by your God. 
So I want to worship that God 

312
00:21:06,840 --> 00:21:11,800
and that's why I am helping you.
Now this little speech, 3 

313
00:21:11,800 --> 00:21:17,280
verses, it sounds like faith, 
but we know that her faith was 

314
00:21:17,280 --> 00:21:23,480
genuine only by her works. 
Rahab acted on her faith. 

315
00:21:23,680 --> 00:21:26,080
She risked her life to act on 
her faith. 

316
00:21:26,760 --> 00:21:31,440
Her faith led to action only 
when what she did and what she 

317
00:21:31,440 --> 00:21:35,760
said matched up. 
Then it becomes evident that her

318
00:21:35,760 --> 00:21:39,880
faith was real. 
These two examples that James 

319
00:21:39,880 --> 00:21:45,800
gives us, it's not just any 
obedience, and I hope you see 

320
00:21:45,800 --> 00:21:50,480
this. 
It was difficult obedience to 

321
00:21:50,480 --> 00:21:54,600
put God above your child. 
That's difficult to risk your 

322
00:21:54,600 --> 00:21:57,200
life forgot. 
That's difficult. 

323
00:21:58,880 --> 00:22:02,720
Often times after a sermon like 
this and obedience in the works,

324
00:22:03,600 --> 00:22:06,520
we look at our lives and we go, 
oh, you know what the talent 

325
00:22:06,520 --> 00:22:08,480
team went to Michel. 
Yeah, I gave them some money. 

326
00:22:09,080 --> 00:22:11,000
Frankie's, you know, Mingle 
House Farm. 

327
00:22:11,040 --> 00:22:11,440
Yeah. 
Yeah. 

328
00:22:11,440 --> 00:22:14,320
I don't need to that. 
You know what I helped out at 

329
00:22:14,320 --> 00:22:18,360
the, you know, at at the local 
shelter, The 10 commandments. 

330
00:22:18,360 --> 00:22:19,280
I obey. 
You know what? 

331
00:22:19,280 --> 00:22:21,520
I think I'm good with the 
obedient thing. 

332
00:22:22,000 --> 00:22:27,480
I think I have enough works in 
my life, but often times it's 

333
00:22:27,480 --> 00:22:30,040
all the easy obedience in our 
lives. 

334
00:22:33,400 --> 00:22:37,880
Obedience is easy when it's 
beneficial. 

335
00:22:39,040 --> 00:22:42,440
Like do not murder. 
It's pretty beneficial to obey 

336
00:22:42,440 --> 00:22:46,880
that if you murder, you're going
to go to jail and you might bad 

337
00:22:46,880 --> 00:22:49,920
things happen. 
So we say, yeah, I'll, I'll keep

338
00:22:49,920 --> 00:22:52,240
that. 
Do not lie. 

339
00:22:53,240 --> 00:22:55,760
Well, if you lie and people find
out you're lying, well, you'll 

340
00:22:55,760 --> 00:22:57,680
be embarrassed. 
So I'll be saying what? 

341
00:22:58,280 --> 00:23:02,040
I won't lie, right? 
I won't, I won't. 

342
00:23:02,040 --> 00:23:05,920
I'm not going to go around 
saying I'm 510, OK, That's not a

343
00:23:06,240 --> 00:23:07,720
people will laugh at me. 
That's not a good lie. 

344
00:23:09,960 --> 00:23:15,720
So if it's, if it's clearly not 
beneficial, then we say, OK, 

345
00:23:17,640 --> 00:23:19,760
that lying is not good for me. 
So I'll. 

346
00:23:19,760 --> 00:23:22,640
I'll just not lie. 
There's a there's a certain 

347
00:23:22,640 --> 00:23:27,680
benefit to these obediences. 
You help Frankie's farm. 

348
00:23:27,760 --> 00:23:29,200
It feels good. 
Oh, yeah, Yeah. 

349
00:23:29,200 --> 00:23:32,800
Hey, I'll do that. 
But what's the difficult 

350
00:23:32,800 --> 00:23:36,960
obedience? 
Like even going back to lying? 

351
00:23:38,000 --> 00:23:42,480
How about lying benefits you? 
Even the little things. 

352
00:23:47,600 --> 00:23:49,400
Maybe my wife. 
Text me. 

353
00:23:49,760 --> 00:23:53,600
Hey, did you do dishes like I 
asked you to do? 

354
00:23:54,560 --> 00:23:57,160
And I didn't do it, but here's 
my options. 

355
00:23:57,880 --> 00:24:00,480
I could say, no, I didn't do it.
And then, you know, it could be 

356
00:24:00,480 --> 00:24:04,040
another fight or whatever. 
Or I say, yeah, yeah, yeah, I 

357
00:24:04,040 --> 00:24:06,120
did it. 
And then hurry up and do it 

358
00:24:06,120 --> 00:24:09,880
before she comes home. 
A little lie. 

359
00:24:10,480 --> 00:24:16,560
No fight win for me, right? 
That lie benefited me. 

360
00:24:18,720 --> 00:24:22,320
Little lie on your taxes 
benefits me more money. 

361
00:24:24,120 --> 00:24:30,520
A little lie here there When you
tell the truth and it hurts you,

362
00:24:32,120 --> 00:24:43,440
that's difficult obedience. 
I think This is why dating 

363
00:24:43,440 --> 00:24:45,320
couples have such hard time 
staying pure. 

364
00:24:46,480 --> 00:24:49,240
People don't see the benefit of 
staying pure. 

365
00:24:52,280 --> 00:24:56,800
How does how does controlling 
myself with the person I'm 

366
00:24:56,800 --> 00:24:58,360
dating, how does that benefit 
me? 

367
00:24:58,640 --> 00:25:00,880
It doesn't. 
It bothers me. 

368
00:25:01,920 --> 00:25:06,840
We don't see the benefit. 
So that's not something that 

369
00:25:06,840 --> 00:25:12,040
people obey these days. 
Difficult obedience. 

370
00:25:13,560 --> 00:25:22,920
How about helping somebody? 
You know, there's a someone who 

371
00:25:22,920 --> 00:25:25,640
came to our church, you know, 
one of our original members and 

372
00:25:25,640 --> 00:25:28,680
she had a really crazy life, 
probably one of the craziest 

373
00:25:28,680 --> 00:25:33,480
like life stories that mom 
passed away and that wasn't 

374
00:25:33,480 --> 00:25:36,280
around. 
So she was like 16 and she had 

375
00:25:36,280 --> 00:25:39,000
to take care of her little 
brother and she worked full time

376
00:25:40,600 --> 00:25:43,600
for $3.00 an hour. 
Now this is, you know, like 30 

377
00:25:43,600 --> 00:25:46,880
years ago, but still 25 
something years ago, but still 

378
00:25:47,240 --> 00:25:50,840
$3.00 an hour. 
The liquor store owner knew that

379
00:25:50,840 --> 00:25:53,160
a, you're an illegal immigrant. 
There's no way, you know, you 

380
00:25:53,160 --> 00:25:55,360
get a job anywhere else. 
You work for me for $3.00 an 

381
00:25:55,360 --> 00:25:58,800
hour. 
And she, she, and this is like 

382
00:25:58,800 --> 00:26:00,440
way before she came to our 
church, but that was her life 

383
00:26:00,440 --> 00:26:02,760
story. 
Let's say there was somebody 

384
00:26:02,760 --> 00:26:07,400
like that in our church, right? 
Just straight A student, just 

385
00:26:07,400 --> 00:26:11,720
amazing person, nice, kind, 
dedicated, working full time, 

386
00:26:12,120 --> 00:26:15,160
supporting her brother who 
wouldn't help her. 

387
00:26:19,600 --> 00:26:23,840
But the difficult obedience. 
If somebody that's opposite of 

388
00:26:23,840 --> 00:26:30,160
that kind of person, it's like 
you're in need because you 

389
00:26:30,160 --> 00:26:32,800
messed up. 
Like I said, somebody just 

390
00:26:32,800 --> 00:26:38,080
gamble their life away. 
Maybe somebody is, they come 

391
00:26:38,080 --> 00:26:40,120
here looking for community, 
which is a good thing. 

392
00:26:40,880 --> 00:26:43,320
But you realize, oh, this person
needs community because he's 

393
00:26:43,320 --> 00:26:45,400
such a jerk. 
He has no friends. 

394
00:26:46,840 --> 00:26:51,360
He's selfish. 
He's he or she is, I don't know,

395
00:26:51,360 --> 00:26:53,880
always angry, always blaming, 
whatever. 

396
00:26:55,960 --> 00:26:57,200
So it's like, oh, you have no 
friends. 

397
00:26:57,240 --> 00:27:00,440
Oh, you kind of deserve that. 
Oh, you have no money because 

398
00:27:00,440 --> 00:27:04,600
you gambled away or whatever. 
That person kind of deserves to 

399
00:27:04,600 --> 00:27:07,520
be poor. 
How do you help that person? 

400
00:27:07,920 --> 00:27:09,560
How do you be kind to that 
person? 

401
00:27:09,920 --> 00:27:12,600
For somebody who is. 16 and 
working full time. 

402
00:27:12,600 --> 00:27:15,080
It's like oh you deserve better.
Oh poor kid. 

403
00:27:15,080 --> 00:27:19,440
Here let me help you. 
But to a person, it's like. 

404
00:27:19,960 --> 00:27:22,000
Oh, you kind of did that to 
yourself. 

405
00:27:22,040 --> 00:27:25,440
You kind of deserve that. 
How do? 

406
00:27:25,440 --> 00:27:28,760
You help that person, That's the
difficult. 

407
00:27:28,960 --> 00:27:32,040
Obedience and. 
Jesus did. 

408
00:27:32,040 --> 00:27:35,160
That throughout his ministry 
here. 

409
00:27:37,240 --> 00:27:41,560
The people who are. 
He was helping were prostitutes 

410
00:27:41,880 --> 00:27:46,680
rehab his example. 
People he helped. 

411
00:27:46,680 --> 00:27:49,800
Were lepers at the time, people 
thought people who had leprosy 

412
00:27:49,960 --> 00:27:54,800
deserved that they did something
bad, they deserved it so Jesus 

413
00:27:54,800 --> 00:28:00,800
was helping people that did bad 
things and. 

414
00:28:00,800 --> 00:28:03,000
That's why people cannot. 
Understand why Jesus was 

415
00:28:03,000 --> 00:28:05,240
spending time with the people 
that He was doing time with. 

416
00:28:08,920 --> 00:28:11,560
Difficult obedience is when. 
You yourself is financially 

417
00:28:11,560 --> 00:28:15,800
tight and you pay for someone 
else's meal because they're in a

418
00:28:15,800 --> 00:28:21,280
greater need than you. 
Difficult obedience. 

419
00:28:21,280 --> 00:28:24,720
Is you yourself had a rough 
week, but you. 

420
00:28:24,720 --> 00:28:26,960
Still take time to. 
Listen to your coworkers 

421
00:28:26,960 --> 00:28:32,720
problems. 
Difficult obedience is you do 

422
00:28:32,720 --> 00:28:37,680
works. 
You obey for God when there is 

423
00:28:37,680 --> 00:28:43,640
no clear benefit. 
So how do we love this way? 

424
00:28:43,880 --> 00:28:47,960
How do we care this way? 
How do we love difficult people?

425
00:28:48,560 --> 00:28:52,760
How do we obey difficult things?
How do we do that? 

426
00:28:55,360 --> 00:28:57,160
It's only. 
Through the power of the gospel.

427
00:28:58,680 --> 00:29:00,680
We have to be. 
Reminded of the Gospel. 

428
00:29:00,680 --> 00:29:04,440
Always, always, daily. 
Because what? 

429
00:29:04,440 --> 00:29:10,280
Is the gospel. 
Gospel is that God made the 

430
00:29:10,280 --> 00:29:13,560
worst trade with us ever worse 
for him. 

431
00:29:14,880 --> 00:29:22,040
We gave Jesus our sins, wrath of
God, punishment, and Jesus gave 

432
00:29:22,040 --> 00:29:27,240
us forgiveness, grace, eternal 
life, the rights to be sons and 

433
00:29:27,240 --> 00:29:30,640
daughters of God. 
Everything we have is. 

434
00:29:30,640 --> 00:29:33,600
Undeserved. 
We deserve hell and punishment, 

435
00:29:34,200 --> 00:29:39,000
but we got the opposite. 
When we realized through. 

436
00:29:39,000 --> 00:29:42,680
The gospel that whatever we have
is undeserved. 

437
00:29:43,560 --> 00:29:45,960
Then you will view the world 
with different eyes. 

438
00:29:46,280 --> 00:29:49,760
You will no longer be the judge 
and say you deserve that. 

439
00:29:49,960 --> 00:29:52,160
You deserve better, you deserve 
worse. 

440
00:29:53,160 --> 00:29:56,320
You don't see in those terms 
you. 

441
00:29:56,320 --> 00:29:58,840
See, you're in. 
Need I want to help? 

442
00:30:00,600 --> 00:30:02,400
You're lacking in something I. 
Want to help? 

443
00:30:03,800 --> 00:30:06,280
It's only through. 
The power of the gospel, we're 

444
00:30:06,280 --> 00:30:11,880
able to do that. 
Main point Genuine faith a. 

445
00:30:13,200 --> 00:30:14,360
Faith. 
That works is. 

446
00:30:14,360 --> 00:30:16,760
Evidenced through difficult 
obedience. 

447
00:30:17,600 --> 00:30:18,360
Let's take time to pray.