1 00:00:00,560 --> 00:00:05,680 Well, good morning, Matt. I have an excuse. 2 00:00:05,680 --> 00:00:08,280 I had a stroke. You don't have an excuse. 3 00:00:08,280 --> 00:00:18,840 So, well, we're going to go ahead and keep marching through 4 00:00:18,840 --> 00:00:24,120 James today, and we're going to be picking up at James 2. 5 00:00:24,920 --> 00:00:29,760 And so I'm sure it won't be the anointed message that it would 6 00:00:29,760 --> 00:00:33,720 have been if if Pastor Nick had presented it, but we're going to 7 00:00:33,720 --> 00:00:36,400 March through it. And, and it's actually, I'm very 8 00:00:36,400 --> 00:00:40,640 fortunate that he left off where he did because this particular 9 00:00:40,720 --> 00:00:43,960 chapter has a tremendous amount of information in it. 10 00:00:44,480 --> 00:00:47,880 And hopefully we can flesh it out a little bit and talk about 11 00:00:47,880 --> 00:00:52,400 the important points. And so before we do that, let's 12 00:00:52,400 --> 00:00:54,560 go to prayer and ask for the Lord's presence here. 13 00:00:56,000 --> 00:00:58,000 Father, we just ask for your presence here today. 14 00:00:58,000 --> 00:01:02,320 Lord, we've come here to sit before you and we praise you for 15 00:01:02,320 --> 00:01:04,920 who you are. Lord, we thank you for the 16 00:01:04,920 --> 00:01:08,680 ability to come into a place of peace and and be taught. 17 00:01:09,280 --> 00:01:11,880 I would ask for an anointing on this this message. 18 00:01:12,560 --> 00:01:15,720 And I would ask Lord that you would anoint these people. 19 00:01:15,880 --> 00:01:18,240 I know there are people here that are going through 20 00:01:18,240 --> 00:01:24,840 incredible situations, health issues, financial issues, every 21 00:01:25,040 --> 00:01:27,880 problem that can be said a human being is present here today, 22 00:01:27,880 --> 00:01:30,520 Lord, or online. And I would ask that you would 23 00:01:30,520 --> 00:01:35,800 give them the the peace that goes beyond comprehension, Lord, 24 00:01:35,800 --> 00:01:39,480 That you would let them know that you are here and you love 25 00:01:39,480 --> 00:01:42,240 him, love them. And I think this message 26 00:01:42,240 --> 00:01:46,320 confirms that Lord. And so we just thank you for who 27 00:01:46,320 --> 00:01:49,040 you are. Lord, we ask this in Jesus name, 28 00:01:49,400 --> 00:01:53,800 Amen. So I had originally planned on 29 00:01:53,880 --> 00:01:57,400 giving my much anticipated message about whether people 30 00:01:57,400 --> 00:02:00,160 that drink hazelnut coffee can be saved. 31 00:02:00,760 --> 00:02:06,360 But as you can see, Nick has preempted that message so it'll 32 00:02:06,360 --> 00:02:09,479 get kicked down the road. I will give you a hint. 33 00:02:09,479 --> 00:02:13,120 It doesn't look good for him, but OK. 34 00:02:13,120 --> 00:02:19,160 So anyway, so we're going to start off in James 2 and so here 35 00:02:19,160 --> 00:02:23,320 we go. Funny panic point before I start 36 00:02:23,320 --> 00:02:27,560 this, I, I started doing this in the new King James Version and 37 00:02:27,560 --> 00:02:30,400 in my brain warmed up and said no, we don't use that, we use 38 00:02:30,400 --> 00:02:34,280 the new international. So I am going to read what is 39 00:02:34,280 --> 00:02:38,080 actually what's on the screen. I think my brothers and sisters, 40 00:02:38,080 --> 00:02:42,640 believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ must not show 41 00:02:42,720 --> 00:02:46,080 favouritism. Now this really is the opening 42 00:02:46,840 --> 00:02:51,280 concept for this entire first section, and that is it's He's 43 00:02:51,280 --> 00:02:54,120 talking about favoritism, especially in the church. 44 00:02:55,040 --> 00:02:58,240 Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and 45 00:02:58,240 --> 00:03:02,480 fine clothes, and a poor man in filthy old clothes also comes 46 00:03:02,480 --> 00:03:05,200 in. If you show special attention to 47 00:03:05,200 --> 00:03:08,960 the man wearing fine clothes and say, here's a good seat for you, 48 00:03:09,280 --> 00:03:13,520 but say to the poor man, you stand here or you sit on the 49 00:03:13,520 --> 00:03:17,880 floor by my feet, Have you not discriminated amongst yourselves 50 00:03:17,880 --> 00:03:20,480 and become judges with evil thoughts? 51 00:03:21,320 --> 00:03:26,840 So what James is beginning to introduce here is the concept 52 00:03:26,840 --> 00:03:32,200 that God is no respecter of men. Now that kind of that phrase is 53 00:03:32,200 --> 00:03:37,160 a little bit different, but it it generally means that he views 54 00:03:37,160 --> 00:03:41,600 all of us equally. He does not show favoritism to 55 00:03:41,600 --> 00:03:47,040 people based on who or what they are or in the sense of wealth or 56 00:03:47,040 --> 00:03:53,000 status. And we see this throughout the 57 00:03:53,000 --> 00:03:57,080 Bible and even Paul, who we're going to talk about some 58 00:03:57,080 --> 00:04:01,080 perceived conflict between this particular section and and Paul 59 00:04:01,080 --> 00:04:06,960 this this chapter. But even Paul says in Romans 211 60 00:04:07,240 --> 00:04:09,840 for God does not show favouritism. 61 00:04:10,800 --> 00:04:14,560 And if you take a look at the Bible and and Jesus ministry, 62 00:04:14,920 --> 00:04:18,720 then you know that Jesus treated everybody the same. 63 00:04:20,320 --> 00:04:24,360 It was Jesus who called on the poor to follow him. 64 00:04:24,360 --> 00:04:27,160 And we're going to talk about that a little bit more. 65 00:04:28,000 --> 00:04:32,440 God views us all equally and we're basically all in the same 66 00:04:32,440 --> 00:04:36,440 situation when it comes to how the Lord views us. 67 00:04:36,800 --> 00:04:43,040 And especially James is talking about, if you notice it says in 68 00:04:43,040 --> 00:04:47,360 here, suppose a man comes into your meeting. 69 00:04:47,360 --> 00:04:51,520 So what he's talking about initially is this concept that 70 00:04:53,000 --> 00:04:58,800 in a church setting. And so this makes complete sense 71 00:04:59,240 --> 00:05:05,680 because in this church setting, there there is no person who is 72 00:05:05,800 --> 00:05:08,680 greater than someone else. If we're all brothers in Christ, 73 00:05:08,680 --> 00:05:18,360 we're all partakers in the salvation, then it is it is in a 74 00:05:18,360 --> 00:05:20,760 sin. He'll later tell us that we are 75 00:05:20,760 --> 00:05:25,520 not to be treating wealthy people or, or someone of a 76 00:05:25,520 --> 00:05:30,800 certain social status better than say a poor person. 77 00:05:31,080 --> 00:05:34,400 And of course, the inverse is also true, that if if you have 78 00:05:34,400 --> 00:05:39,480 somebody who's poor, that they should be given the same social 79 00:05:39,480 --> 00:05:44,200 status or attention as just, you know, your regular church 80 00:05:44,200 --> 00:05:48,920 attender. Now, when I when I started 81 00:05:48,920 --> 00:05:52,560 working on this message, I didn't realize it, but when he's 82 00:05:52,560 --> 00:05:54,960 talking about gold rings and fine clothes, obviously 83 00:05:55,400 --> 00:05:59,480 nothing's really changed in 2000 years, you know, gold rings and 84 00:05:59,480 --> 00:06:03,560 fine clothes, you know now it might be a gold chain with your 85 00:06:03,560 --> 00:06:08,480 shirt unbuttoned down to here, but apparently back in those 86 00:06:08,480 --> 00:06:14,360 days, you could actually go and rent gold rings if you wanted to 87 00:06:14,360 --> 00:06:17,800 make a good impression. Now, if any of you have ever 88 00:06:17,800 --> 00:06:20,640 gone to your class reunions, which I have refused to go to 89 00:06:20,640 --> 00:06:24,880 all mine, but I went to one of my wife's class reunions, you 90 00:06:24,880 --> 00:06:28,080 know that there's a lot of people showing up, trying to 91 00:06:29,160 --> 00:06:32,720 present themselves as having been very successful when maybe 92 00:06:32,720 --> 00:06:35,480 they really haven't been. And this is kind of the thought 93 00:06:35,480 --> 00:06:37,880 on this, that these people are showing up at whatever event 94 00:06:37,880 --> 00:06:40,600 they're going to wearing. They could rent gold rings to 95 00:06:40,600 --> 00:06:43,760 impress people. So kind of an interesting 96 00:06:43,760 --> 00:06:47,440 concept. So we know from this initial 97 00:06:47,440 --> 00:06:53,080 opening that we're not to be treating people differently due 98 00:06:53,080 --> 00:06:58,920 to social status. So let's go ahead and let's 99 00:06:58,920 --> 00:07:02,880 continue on in the next verse. Listen, my dear brothers and 100 00:07:02,880 --> 00:07:06,880 sisters, has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes 101 00:07:06,880 --> 00:07:10,600 of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the Kingdom He 102 00:07:10,600 --> 00:07:15,040 promised those who love him? And you know, that's a really, 103 00:07:15,080 --> 00:07:19,800 really important comment in there because what he's telling 104 00:07:19,800 --> 00:07:24,640 us is exactly what Jesus has always said, and that is that 105 00:07:24,640 --> 00:07:29,800 it's the poor, the people that are maybe the the least paid 106 00:07:29,800 --> 00:07:33,400 attention to or who have the greatest need, who are going to 107 00:07:33,400 --> 00:07:38,240 inherit the Kingdom of God. But you have dishonoured the 108 00:07:38,240 --> 00:07:40,520 poor. Is it not the rich who are 109 00:07:40,520 --> 00:07:43,920 exploiting you? Are they not the ones who are 110 00:07:43,920 --> 00:07:47,120 dragging you into court? Are they not the ones who are 111 00:07:47,120 --> 00:07:50,840 blaspheming the noble name of him to whom you belong? 112 00:07:52,080 --> 00:07:54,160 I'm going to read that again with one word change. 113 00:07:54,520 --> 00:07:57,800 Are they not the ones who are blaspheming the noble name of 114 00:07:57,800 --> 00:08:05,680 the Lord to whom you belong? So, you know, one of my thoughts 115 00:08:05,680 --> 00:08:09,720 that was I was reading through this and getting prepared is if 116 00:08:09,720 --> 00:08:12,280 you think about it, you know, there seems to be a lot of a 117 00:08:12,280 --> 00:08:16,440 whole class of people, you know, and we can all figure out who 118 00:08:16,440 --> 00:08:23,520 they are who act completely against God's law and do things 119 00:08:23,520 --> 00:08:26,600 that he has specifically told everyone not to do. 120 00:08:27,160 --> 00:08:29,720 And you don't, don't you just wonder, you know, what are these 121 00:08:29,720 --> 00:08:31,840 people thinking? Even as they get up to the point 122 00:08:31,840 --> 00:08:34,200 of death and we've seen this, you know, throughout the 123 00:08:34,200 --> 00:08:37,080 centuries, they don't seem to to repent, You know, are these 124 00:08:37,080 --> 00:08:40,480 people thinking that that God is a respecter of men? 125 00:08:40,480 --> 00:08:43,000 They're going to say, you know, maybe you don't know who I was 126 00:08:43,000 --> 00:08:48,040 God, but I was, you know, the the CEO of Whamco, you know, and 127 00:08:48,040 --> 00:08:52,880 he's going to go cool. It's just amazing that that 128 00:08:52,880 --> 00:08:56,280 people act this way. Of course, I think he's also 129 00:08:56,280 --> 00:08:59,120 going to say to the same people. And of course, I think they'll 130 00:08:59,120 --> 00:09:02,960 be so intimidated by his presence that they're probably 131 00:09:02,960 --> 00:09:04,440 going to be in an absolute panic. 132 00:09:05,040 --> 00:09:09,560 But I think his next question will be, what did you do with 133 00:09:09,560 --> 00:09:10,640 that? What did you do with your 134 00:09:10,640 --> 00:09:14,800 fortune or fame, your status? You know, what did you do for 135 00:09:14,800 --> 00:09:19,720 the Kingdom? So James is emphasising that the 136 00:09:19,720 --> 00:09:23,840 Lord has chosen the poor of the world to be rich in faith and 137 00:09:23,840 --> 00:09:27,280 heirs to the Kingdom promised to those who love him. 138 00:09:28,080 --> 00:09:30,640 And as we'll see in the verse coming up, James is really 139 00:09:30,640 --> 00:09:34,520 challenging the worldview not only of wealth, but especially 140 00:09:34,520 --> 00:09:41,360 our view as the poor. He, he's challenging and he's, 141 00:09:41,440 --> 00:09:47,120 he's inferring, I believe a, a certain favouritism as far as 142 00:09:47,120 --> 00:09:51,320 Christians towards the most vulnerable and the most needy. 143 00:09:52,000 --> 00:09:55,280 And that was a radical idea back in that time. 144 00:09:55,760 --> 00:10:01,120 And it continues to be in our society, a pretty radical idea 145 00:10:01,120 --> 00:10:07,120 that, you know, that that we as Christians should be concerned 146 00:10:07,120 --> 00:10:10,840 about widows and orphans, the most vulnerable and the most 147 00:10:10,840 --> 00:10:13,720 needy. And that's one of the things I'm 148 00:10:13,720 --> 00:10:16,920 personally excited about with the change that the church has 149 00:10:16,920 --> 00:10:21,200 made is that not only are we going to be sharing the gospel, 150 00:10:21,560 --> 00:10:24,800 but that we're also going to be trying to meet some of those 151 00:10:24,800 --> 00:10:30,640 physical needs that are out there with these folks that, you 152 00:10:30,640 --> 00:10:33,400 know, are the most vulnerable and the most needy. 153 00:10:33,920 --> 00:10:37,920 And I think it's also a good example of why, if you take like 154 00:10:37,920 --> 00:10:41,040 the issue of abortion, I can't think of anything more 155 00:10:41,120 --> 00:10:44,640 vulnerable than a baby. And that why it's so critical to 156 00:10:44,960 --> 00:10:51,480 continue the fight to end that, you know, abortion and and that 157 00:10:51,840 --> 00:10:53,800 the killing of the the our young. 158 00:10:55,640 --> 00:10:59,480 All right, continuing on, if you really keep the royal law, this 159 00:10:59,480 --> 00:11:07,560 is 8. If you really keep the royal law 160 00:11:07,560 --> 00:11:11,680 found in scripture, love your neighbor as yourself, you were 161 00:11:11,680 --> 00:11:14,880 doing right. But if you show favoritism, you 162 00:11:14,880 --> 00:11:18,920 sin and are convicted by the law as law Breakers. 163 00:11:19,480 --> 00:11:23,800 For whoever keeps the whole law yet stumbles in at just one 164 00:11:23,800 --> 00:11:28,080 point is guilty of breaking it. For he who said you shall not 165 00:11:28,080 --> 00:11:31,560 commit adultery also said you shall not murder. 166 00:11:31,840 --> 00:11:35,560 If you do not commit adultery, but you do commit murder, you'll 167 00:11:35,560 --> 00:11:40,560 become a law breaker. So there's a lot of a lot of 168 00:11:40,560 --> 00:11:45,680 content in this few lines here. First of all, we're reminded of 169 00:11:45,680 --> 00:11:48,440 the royal law. Love your neighbor as yourself. 170 00:11:48,840 --> 00:11:53,040 And that is obviously not always easy. 171 00:11:53,720 --> 00:11:57,680 You know, sometimes our neighbors can be frustrating. 172 00:11:58,080 --> 00:11:59,880 Sometimes our neighbors don't like us. 173 00:12:00,400 --> 00:12:04,840 But we are told as much as we're able to, to live in peace with 174 00:12:04,840 --> 00:12:08,600 other people. And we're to love our neighbors 175 00:12:08,600 --> 00:12:12,920 as as we would love ourselves. And the second part of this is 176 00:12:12,920 --> 00:12:17,040 that James is telling us that salvation is not by keeping the 177 00:12:17,040 --> 00:12:24,160 law and that it is impossible to keep the law, and he's going to 178 00:12:24,800 --> 00:12:28,960 flesh us out a little bit more. And finally, he's telling us 179 00:12:28,960 --> 00:12:32,560 that when we do show favouritism, that we're 180 00:12:32,560 --> 00:12:38,520 committing a sin and we're doing so because of the Lord. 181 00:12:38,520 --> 00:12:46,280 He holds the view that we are not to not only show 182 00:12:46,280 --> 00:12:52,720 favouritism, but that if he has special favour and has a heart 183 00:12:52,720 --> 00:12:56,360 for the poor and the vulnerable, then how can we act differently 184 00:12:56,360 --> 00:13:00,080 than how the Lord views if we are truly saved and truly 185 00:13:00,080 --> 00:13:04,240 Christians? Of course, the second issue 186 00:13:04,240 --> 00:13:07,640 that's running through this and, and James doesn't directly 187 00:13:07,640 --> 00:13:11,960 comment on this, but I think it's, it's inferred in it is 188 00:13:11,960 --> 00:13:15,120 that, you know, when you start treating the rich, somebody that 189 00:13:15,120 --> 00:13:18,840 comes into church with lots of rings and it's obviously 190 00:13:18,840 --> 00:13:21,200 wealthy, there's a secondary gain issue. 191 00:13:22,240 --> 00:13:25,880 When you start doing that, that maybe you're not just showing 192 00:13:25,880 --> 00:13:28,440 them favour because they're rich, but because you think you 193 00:13:28,440 --> 00:13:32,920 might personally profit from treating them better than the 194 00:13:32,920 --> 00:13:37,160 guy who, you know, isn't able to advantage you in some way, 195 00:13:37,160 --> 00:13:40,840 whether it's at work or, you know, money or, or whatever it 196 00:13:40,840 --> 00:13:44,360 is, some business deals. And, you know, ironically, 197 00:13:44,960 --> 00:13:49,240 having known some very wealthy people, I know they're aware of 198 00:13:49,240 --> 00:13:55,520 this, that they're constantly on being aware that people are 199 00:13:55,600 --> 00:13:57,880 trying to use them to gain advantage. 200 00:13:57,880 --> 00:14:00,200 You know, they need a loan. They, you know, they think 201 00:14:00,520 --> 00:14:05,480 somehow because they're wealthy, that they can help these people. 202 00:14:05,480 --> 00:14:08,160 And so they, they have, they have a lot of them have real 203 00:14:08,160 --> 00:14:12,040 trust issues because they've been burned in the past. 204 00:14:12,040 --> 00:14:19,360 So there's a lot of stuff going on in this particular chapter. 205 00:14:20,400 --> 00:14:25,760 So now the other thing that you need to know is that back at 206 00:14:25,760 --> 00:14:29,880 this time when James is writing this is that and you're talking 207 00:14:29,880 --> 00:14:33,840 about a meeting that these obviously where is everybody 208 00:14:33,840 --> 00:14:36,160 knows, probably held in somebody's home. 209 00:14:36,880 --> 00:14:41,480 But the mix of people in these, you know, these meetings, these 210 00:14:41,520 --> 00:14:46,680 early Christian Church meetings was comprised of quite a mix of 211 00:14:46,680 --> 00:14:50,280 people. I mean, you may have bond 212 00:14:50,280 --> 00:14:58,160 servants, slaves, slave owners, I mean military men, I mean 213 00:14:58,360 --> 00:15:00,760 governors. You can have anybody, you figure 214 00:15:00,760 --> 00:15:04,000 anybody that has heard the gospel and has accepted it could 215 00:15:04,000 --> 00:15:07,760 potentially be in these meetings and you know, these church 216 00:15:07,760 --> 00:15:11,040 services. So it it, you know, you don't 217 00:15:11,040 --> 00:15:15,560 want to have a situation where one is being treated differently 218 00:15:15,720 --> 00:15:19,040 than another just because of their financial or social 219 00:15:19,040 --> 00:15:22,840 status. In fact, it it would not be on 220 00:15:23,800 --> 00:15:28,800 thought or it would not be unusual for say, maybe a 221 00:15:28,800 --> 00:15:32,880 bondservant to be leading the message or a slave to be leading 222 00:15:32,880 --> 00:15:35,920 the message. And you have a slave owner there 223 00:15:35,920 --> 00:15:39,400 or, you know, some elected official or high official or, 224 00:15:39,640 --> 00:15:43,400 you know, insert whoever it is. So I mean, it was a pretty 225 00:15:43,400 --> 00:15:46,840 eclectic mix of these people that were were happening and 226 00:15:46,840 --> 00:15:49,040 it's still to some extent that way. 227 00:15:49,440 --> 00:15:52,640 But I mean, we we have a different society than what they 228 00:15:52,640 --> 00:15:56,240 had at that time. But the take away point remains 229 00:15:56,240 --> 00:16:02,000 the same. OK, continuing on to verse. 230 00:16:02,600 --> 00:16:06,520 Yeah, verse 12. Speak and act as those who are 231 00:16:06,520 --> 00:16:10,120 going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, because 232 00:16:10,120 --> 00:16:14,400 judgement without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been 233 00:16:14,400 --> 00:16:17,880 merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgement. 234 00:16:19,480 --> 00:16:23,200 Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law 235 00:16:23,200 --> 00:16:26,920 that gives freedom, because judgement without mercy will be 236 00:16:26,920 --> 00:16:28,960 shown to anyone who has not been merciful. 237 00:16:28,960 --> 00:16:30,680 Well, that that's pretty straightforward. 238 00:16:31,600 --> 00:16:35,800 If you're seeking mercy, then you have to show mercy. 239 00:16:36,240 --> 00:16:45,240 Mercy triumphs over judgement. So we have this initial first 240 00:16:45,240 --> 00:16:50,240 half of the verse which is talking about the actions within 241 00:16:50,240 --> 00:16:54,760 the church, about how the church looks at the members and also 242 00:16:54,760 --> 00:16:57,280 how the church looks at the poor. 243 00:16:57,680 --> 00:17:01,720 And as I said, I think there is an implied favouritism towards 244 00:17:01,720 --> 00:17:05,800 these people that at least we as a church have a duty to try and 245 00:17:06,880 --> 00:17:08,599 meet their needs. And that's what's going to 246 00:17:08,599 --> 00:17:12,520 happen next in the next section, starting in chapter 14. 247 00:17:13,119 --> 00:17:18,280 Now chapter 14 in this whole remainder of the verse is really 248 00:17:18,280 --> 00:17:21,760 interesting. And quite honestly, I knew about 249 00:17:21,760 --> 00:17:26,200 the controversy that came out of this, but I didn't realize that 250 00:17:26,200 --> 00:17:29,800 depth of the controversy that came out of this is around the 251 00:17:29,800 --> 00:17:36,000 time of the Reformation, and that is this supposed conflict 252 00:17:36,000 --> 00:17:43,560 between Paul and James. And so let's read this and then, 253 00:17:43,560 --> 00:17:46,960 and then I'll comment on it. We'll start at 14. 254 00:17:48,240 --> 00:17:51,640 What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to 255 00:17:51,640 --> 00:17:56,400 have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? 256 00:17:56,920 --> 00:18:01,000 Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. 257 00:18:01,480 --> 00:18:05,880 If one of you says to them, go in peace, keep warm and well 258 00:18:05,880 --> 00:18:09,640 fed, but does not, but does nothing about their physical 259 00:18:09,640 --> 00:18:14,080 needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself 260 00:18:14,160 --> 00:18:18,080 it is not accompanied by action, is dead. 261 00:18:19,160 --> 00:18:24,200 But someone will say, I have faith, I have you have faith, I 262 00:18:24,200 --> 00:18:26,760 have deeds. This is James. 263 00:18:26,760 --> 00:18:30,520 Now show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my 264 00:18:30,520 --> 00:18:34,200 faith with deeds. You believe there is one God 265 00:18:34,480 --> 00:18:37,040 good. Even the demons believe that and 266 00:18:37,040 --> 00:18:39,680 shudder. You foolish person. 267 00:18:40,320 --> 00:18:44,080 Do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? 268 00:18:44,720 --> 00:18:47,840 Was not our father Abraham considered righteous for what he 269 00:18:47,840 --> 00:18:50,600 did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? 270 00:18:51,200 --> 00:18:55,040 You see that his faith and his actions were working together 271 00:18:55,480 --> 00:19:00,000 and his faith was made complete by what he did and the scripture 272 00:19:00,000 --> 00:19:03,240 was fulfilled. That says Abraham believed God 273 00:19:03,720 --> 00:19:07,440 and it was credited to him as righteousness and he was called 274 00:19:07,440 --> 00:19:10,680 God's friend. You see that a person is 275 00:19:10,680 --> 00:19:14,040 considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone. 276 00:19:14,760 --> 00:19:19,280 In the same way was not even Rahab the prostitute considered 277 00:19:19,280 --> 00:19:23,040 righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies 278 00:19:23,040 --> 00:19:25,160 and sent them off in different directions? 279 00:19:26,240 --> 00:19:30,720 As the body without spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is 280 00:19:30,720 --> 00:19:34,960 dead. So from that, around the time of 281 00:19:34,960 --> 00:19:41,880 the Reformation, there is this conflict or supposed conflict 282 00:19:43,360 --> 00:19:51,480 between Paul and between James and the controversy put in a 283 00:19:51,480 --> 00:19:54,320 couple of different verses. Paul's saying, well, we're 284 00:19:54,320 --> 00:19:57,960 justified by faith apart from works of the law. 285 00:19:59,760 --> 00:20:03,480 James is saying a person is not justified by faith alone. 286 00:20:04,520 --> 00:20:10,280 Now, you know, we have a political party that always says 287 00:20:10,280 --> 00:20:13,760 never let a good crisis go to waste. 288 00:20:14,080 --> 00:20:18,840 And you know, old Satan, he, he never lets one go to waste 289 00:20:18,920 --> 00:20:21,200 either. And I think this is some of 290 00:20:21,200 --> 00:20:24,880 Satan's best work. In creating this conflict, I 291 00:20:24,880 --> 00:20:27,680 mean, this apparently got to the point where we're talking about 292 00:20:27,680 --> 00:20:33,000 fighting words, you know, about faith versus deeds. 293 00:20:33,480 --> 00:20:40,360 And there is no conflict if, if you understand what both Paul 294 00:20:40,360 --> 00:20:45,400 and James are saying is they're they're saying the exact same 295 00:20:45,400 --> 00:20:47,600 thing. They're just approaching it from 296 00:20:47,600 --> 00:20:50,480 different angles. And if you go back and if we 297 00:20:50,480 --> 00:20:54,200 look at what James is saying, we can see this. 298 00:20:55,360 --> 00:21:01,640 So what James is saying is that if you have someone who 299 00:21:02,320 --> 00:21:06,840 professes faith in Christ, but there are no works, that person 300 00:21:06,840 --> 00:21:11,800 has no faith. In other words, that the good 301 00:21:11,800 --> 00:21:15,160 works of that person is evidence of the faith. 302 00:21:15,800 --> 00:21:19,240 And I believe that what Paul is saying, and he's saying a number 303 00:21:19,240 --> 00:21:23,880 of different things, is that that you have to have faith. 304 00:21:24,600 --> 00:21:29,760 But then he says later that you have to obey the law, which of 305 00:21:29,760 --> 00:21:36,280 course is acting in compliance and, and as you're directed by 306 00:21:36,280 --> 00:21:39,160 the Bible, which of course involves works. 307 00:21:39,760 --> 00:21:42,560 So they're basically saying the same thing. 308 00:21:43,120 --> 00:21:47,160 But this controversy arose over a period of time. 309 00:21:47,600 --> 00:21:50,720 And I would just go back and look at the concepts of 310 00:21:50,720 --> 00:21:53,880 justification, sanctification and glorification. 311 00:21:54,280 --> 00:21:57,720 If you remember, justification is the concept that when you 312 00:21:57,720 --> 00:22:02,080 really and truly accept Christ, that our lives are justified, 313 00:22:02,080 --> 00:22:04,240 we're saved in the eyes of the Lord. 314 00:22:04,240 --> 00:22:08,040 And if you really and truly have accepted Christ and you die 5 315 00:22:08,040 --> 00:22:10,480 minutes later, you're justified or saved. 316 00:22:10,480 --> 00:22:13,800 You, you know, you, you go to heaven, you, you are saved by 317 00:22:13,800 --> 00:22:15,680 him. And I can't think of a better 318 00:22:15,680 --> 00:22:18,920 example of this than the thief. You know, remember Christ was 319 00:22:18,920 --> 00:22:22,440 crucified with two thieves, one on each side, and one of them 320 00:22:22,440 --> 00:22:28,400 accepted Christ. And Jesus said, I tell you today 321 00:22:28,400 --> 00:22:29,840 that you'll be in heaven with me. 322 00:22:30,360 --> 00:22:33,240 And the other one, of course, refused to accept him. 323 00:22:33,600 --> 00:22:36,000 Now, there wasn't anything this thief could do. 324 00:22:36,000 --> 00:22:37,480 I mean, he was nailed on a cross. 325 00:22:37,480 --> 00:22:41,320 He he couldn't go to a, you know, a membership class. 326 00:22:41,760 --> 00:22:43,240 Yeah. He couldn't fold his hands and 327 00:22:43,240 --> 00:22:46,000 say, you know, the believer's prayer or whatever. 328 00:22:46,240 --> 00:22:47,960 Yeah. I mean, he was, he was there. 329 00:22:47,960 --> 00:22:54,080 And so simply by his commitment and his heart, he was justified. 330 00:22:54,080 --> 00:22:58,400 He was saved. So then the the second component 331 00:22:58,400 --> 00:23:03,120 of this is sanctification. And So what we're talking with 332 00:23:03,120 --> 00:23:10,240 sanctification is simply the indwelling Spirit of Christ, the 333 00:23:10,240 --> 00:23:14,640 Holy Spirit, which is when we really and truly accept Christ, 334 00:23:14,880 --> 00:23:19,040 which is placed in US. And as Pastor Ben used to say, 335 00:23:19,280 --> 00:23:22,200 Jesus begins throwing the junk out of your lives. 336 00:23:22,520 --> 00:23:27,600 And so this sanctification process is a slow and gradual 337 00:23:27,600 --> 00:23:31,880 process, but we begin once we accept that indwelling Spirit 338 00:23:31,880 --> 00:23:35,640 into our hearts to begin to repent, to change our lives. 339 00:23:36,080 --> 00:23:39,200 And that from that stems the work. 340 00:23:39,840 --> 00:23:43,760 And so these guys are both talking about the exact same 341 00:23:43,760 --> 00:23:46,800 thing. And that's, that's what they're, 342 00:23:48,520 --> 00:23:53,280 that's what the whole point of all of this is, is that as I 343 00:23:53,280 --> 00:23:56,640 can't remember who used to say it, one of the Bible scholars 344 00:23:56,640 --> 00:23:59,000 called it an exchanged life. So in other words, you had the 345 00:23:59,000 --> 00:24:02,600 old life, you accept Christ, begin the sanctification 346 00:24:02,600 --> 00:24:05,040 process. The indwelling spirit of, of 347 00:24:05,040 --> 00:24:08,520 Christ begins and you begin to throw the junk out and you 348 00:24:08,520 --> 00:24:10,960 change your life. You mean you throw away the old, 349 00:24:10,960 --> 00:24:14,240 the evil, and you begin to act more Christ like. 350 00:24:14,640 --> 00:24:17,160 And by the way, if you run into somebody who tells you they have 351 00:24:17,160 --> 00:24:23,360 been completely sanctified, run because it is a never ending 352 00:24:23,360 --> 00:24:28,680 process. So what James is saying is faith 353 00:24:28,680 --> 00:24:32,160 without works is dead and there should be some evidence of a 354 00:24:32,160 --> 00:24:37,320 changed life of sanctification and the indwelling of the Spirit 355 00:24:37,320 --> 00:24:42,040 in your life. Now Paul said in Romans 2 at 356 00:24:42,040 --> 00:24:46,840 verse 13, For it is not those who hear the law who are 357 00:24:46,840 --> 00:24:49,520 righteous in God's sight. And so, you know, everybody 358 00:24:49,520 --> 00:24:54,800 hears the law at some point, but is those who obey the law, who 359 00:24:54,800 --> 00:24:57,600 are to be cleared, declared righteous? 360 00:24:58,440 --> 00:25:00,400 Well, what does obeying the law mean? 361 00:25:00,680 --> 00:25:03,600 Well, obviously it means that you're supposed to, you know, 362 00:25:03,600 --> 00:25:06,560 act the way that you're supposed to based on what the Bible says. 363 00:25:06,920 --> 00:25:13,840 And so from that, when you begin to act as a, as the Holy Spirit 364 00:25:13,840 --> 00:25:17,800 motivates you, there's going to be some evidence of that. 365 00:25:18,880 --> 00:25:23,960 And so, and I think the second thing that Paul was saying is 366 00:25:23,960 --> 00:25:28,360 that evil man can do good works. I mean, we have many, many, many 367 00:25:28,360 --> 00:25:32,120 examples of horrible people who have done good works, you know, 368 00:25:32,400 --> 00:25:35,040 built things, given money to charity and all that stuff. 369 00:25:35,400 --> 00:25:39,800 But personally, they never evidenced any of the indwelling 370 00:25:39,800 --> 00:25:45,160 spirit of Christ in their lives. And so works is what Paul is 371 00:25:45,160 --> 00:25:50,160 saying is not going to save them in and of themselves. 372 00:25:50,560 --> 00:25:57,360 And it's going to be the hearing of the law and the obeying of 373 00:25:57,360 --> 00:26:04,000 the law. And so, you know, we see in this 374 00:26:04,000 --> 00:26:09,040 that there's really no conflict between the two positions. 375 00:26:09,040 --> 00:26:12,880 It's just each of these guys is, is approaching this in different 376 00:26:13,000 --> 00:26:16,720 ways. Now Spurgeon, I, I like what he 377 00:26:16,720 --> 00:26:18,680 said about this and it really fits. 378 00:26:18,680 --> 00:26:22,200 And this is a kind of old Englishy, but I'll change it up 379 00:26:22,200 --> 00:26:24,520 a little bit so it's a little easier to understand. 380 00:26:25,200 --> 00:26:29,360 Faith and repentance are born in a spiritual life together and 381 00:26:29,360 --> 00:26:32,960 they grow up together. So faith and repentance. 382 00:26:32,960 --> 00:26:35,280 So if you accept, you're going to start repenting. 383 00:26:35,480 --> 00:26:40,000 I would say sanctification. The moment a man believes, he 384 00:26:40,000 --> 00:26:46,000 repents, and while he believes, he both believes and repents. 385 00:26:46,200 --> 00:26:50,520 So he's saying these come together and until he shall have 386 00:26:51,680 --> 00:26:55,000 done with his faith, he will not have done without repenting. 387 00:26:56,440 --> 00:27:01,240 If you have believed and but have never repented of your 388 00:27:01,240 --> 00:27:04,680 sins, then beware of your believing. 389 00:27:04,680 --> 00:27:08,320 In other words, if you say, Oh yeah, I believe, I believe, but 390 00:27:08,320 --> 00:27:11,200 there isn't any evidence. There isn't any sanctification 391 00:27:11,200 --> 00:27:16,360 occurring in your life. Beware if thou pretendest, if 392 00:27:16,360 --> 00:27:21,360 you pretend now to be a child of God, and if you have never 393 00:27:21,360 --> 00:27:23,720 clothed yourself in dust and ashes. 394 00:27:24,880 --> 00:27:28,840 If you have never hated the sins for which you once did. 395 00:27:29,160 --> 00:27:33,800 If you do not now hate them and endeavour to be rid of them. 396 00:27:34,360 --> 00:27:38,560 If you do not humble yourself before God on account of them as 397 00:27:38,560 --> 00:27:42,440 the Lord lives, you know nothing about saving faith. 398 00:27:42,680 --> 00:27:48,160 For faith puts a distance between US and sin in a moment. 399 00:27:48,160 --> 00:27:51,400 It leads us away from the distance between US and Christ. 400 00:27:52,120 --> 00:27:57,040 Near to Christ we are now, we are now far off from sin. 401 00:27:58,360 --> 00:28:04,360 So it's simply just the the exact same thing being said in 402 00:28:04,360 --> 00:28:10,040 two different ways. And I have another quote from, I 403 00:28:10,040 --> 00:28:14,080 believe it was Vernon McGee. Can I pardon me here? 404 00:28:15,560 --> 00:28:30,850 While I dig for it and he's this is Vernon Mcgee's 405 00:28:30,850 --> 00:28:34,050 comments on this particular chapter. 406 00:28:34,850 --> 00:28:39,530 God has a particular eye towards the poor, those who are often 407 00:28:39,530 --> 00:28:41,930 overlooked and undervalued by society. 408 00:28:42,720 --> 00:28:46,760 In fact, it's the poor who have been chosen by God to inherit 409 00:28:46,760 --> 00:28:50,960 his Kingdom, and this reveals God's heart towards humanity. 410 00:28:51,600 --> 00:28:55,040 Each of us has a part to play in recognising the inherent worth 411 00:28:55,040 --> 00:28:58,760 of all people, especially those who might be struggling 412 00:28:58,760 --> 00:29:02,000 financially, socially or emotionally. 413 00:29:03,440 --> 00:29:12,240 And so this chapter, which is pretty straightforward, has a 414 00:29:12,240 --> 00:29:16,600 great deal of depth, and it also has some instructions for us as 415 00:29:16,600 --> 00:29:22,280 a church, and especially when it comes to the poor and those who 416 00:29:22,280 --> 00:29:27,960 are in need and vulnerable. And so like I say, I am 417 00:29:27,960 --> 00:29:32,480 extremely excited about where we're heading with the church 418 00:29:32,480 --> 00:29:35,880 here. We're hoping that we can begin 419 00:29:35,880 --> 00:29:42,960 to address the needs of the people that are that come into 420 00:29:42,960 --> 00:29:47,640 our assembly and it's going to take discretion. 421 00:29:49,040 --> 00:29:52,960 We are not going to become a freebie giveaway place, but it's 422 00:29:52,960 --> 00:29:55,520 important that we try to address that. 423 00:29:56,240 --> 00:30:00,600 And to that, as Matt talked about earlier, I want to just 424 00:30:00,600 --> 00:30:03,480 take a moment and talk about what's going on right now. 425 00:30:04,080 --> 00:30:09,680 Most of you know that what I do and that I represent some of the 426 00:30:09,680 --> 00:30:15,480 poorest people, elderly veterans, you name it. 427 00:30:16,200 --> 00:30:23,160 And I know right now in Sandpoint a number of people who 428 00:30:23,160 --> 00:30:29,040 are in their late 70s, early 80s, widows who are now facing 429 00:30:29,520 --> 00:30:32,200 the loss of their SNAP benefits right now. 430 00:30:33,440 --> 00:30:37,840 And so, and these people, you know, they're the real deal. 431 00:30:37,960 --> 00:30:42,240 They're not the guy smoking a joint on the couch playing video 432 00:30:42,240 --> 00:30:44,760 games. These are people in, in real 433 00:30:44,760 --> 00:30:50,280 need and they cannot physically, you know, they're in bad, 434 00:30:50,320 --> 00:30:52,800 they're in bad situations. And this loss of these SNAP 435 00:30:52,800 --> 00:30:56,040 benefits is going to make a huge difference for them. 436 00:30:57,080 --> 00:31:03,400 And so as Matt discussed earlier, we're going to try to 437 00:31:03,440 --> 00:31:06,040 help the food bank. You know, I, I initially 438 00:31:06,040 --> 00:31:09,160 thought, you know, we could, we could bring in canned goods, 439 00:31:09,160 --> 00:31:12,000 which would be fine. But I think the easiest way is 440 00:31:12,000 --> 00:31:15,560 if you feel led to make a donation, there's a number of 441 00:31:15,560 --> 00:31:20,280 different things you can do. You can write a check to the 442 00:31:20,280 --> 00:31:23,480 Bonner County Food Bank and give it to Faye. 443 00:31:24,640 --> 00:31:28,840 If you want. You can give cash, drop cash in 444 00:31:28,840 --> 00:31:32,840 the box there. Just know it in there that it's 445 00:31:32,840 --> 00:31:35,080 for the food bank and we'll get it to them. 446 00:31:36,120 --> 00:31:39,680 Whatever you want to do. I think it's a good time and I 447 00:31:39,680 --> 00:31:42,160 know that the church is gearing up. 448 00:31:42,160 --> 00:31:44,720 We're going to try and do what we can to help meet that need. 449 00:31:44,720 --> 00:31:46,920 Now, you know, I've heard different rumours. 450 00:31:47,600 --> 00:31:53,680 I work exclusively with the feds on different programs, you know, 451 00:31:54,160 --> 00:31:58,280 in what I do. And the rumour is, is that this 452 00:31:58,280 --> 00:32:00,520 is actually going to go until after Thanksgiving. 453 00:32:01,800 --> 00:32:04,560 So, and there's a political reason for it and I'm not 454 00:32:04,560 --> 00:32:08,760 getting into it, but you know, I also know that tomorrow 455 00:32:08,760 --> 00:32:14,800 Congress, which is of course the opposite of progress, is going 456 00:32:14,800 --> 00:32:17,080 to meet tomorrow and there may be a vote. 457 00:32:18,080 --> 00:32:23,560 So this may end now the the wild card that got thrown in on 458 00:32:23,560 --> 00:32:26,960 Thursday or Friday as a federal court judge ordered the 459 00:32:26,960 --> 00:32:30,080 government to pay those SNAP benefits, which would take the 460 00:32:30,080 --> 00:32:35,200 pressure off of the Republicans potentially for trying to get 461 00:32:35,200 --> 00:32:39,120 this resolved. So I only know one person that 462 00:32:39,120 --> 00:32:41,160 knows what's going on. His name's Jesus. 463 00:32:41,920 --> 00:32:46,000 And so let's do what we can. I mean, if they let's say they 464 00:32:46,080 --> 00:32:51,240 kick this SNAP benefits back in tomorrow, we still have a huge 465 00:32:51,240 --> 00:32:54,560 need in this in this county. And these are people that we 466 00:32:54,560 --> 00:32:59,880 directly need to be addressing. So all right, I'm going to go 467 00:32:59,880 --> 00:33:05,400 ahead and close in prayer. Father, we just would ask again 468 00:33:05,520 --> 00:33:07,240 for your blessing upon these people. 469 00:33:07,240 --> 00:33:11,280 Lord, we play, pay, pray a special blessing upon those 470 00:33:11,280 --> 00:33:15,600 people in our community who are anxious and concerned about 471 00:33:16,040 --> 00:33:17,840 where their next meal is going to come from. 472 00:33:17,840 --> 00:33:22,200 Lord, I just pray that they would press into you and that 473 00:33:22,200 --> 00:33:25,520 they would seek you and that as a result of this, the faith of 474 00:33:25,520 --> 00:33:28,720 many would be strengthened. Lord, we just play pray a 475 00:33:28,720 --> 00:33:32,200 special blessing upon these people and we just thank you for 476 00:33:32,200 --> 00:33:35,720 this time to meet. We ask this in your name, Amen.