The"American
Wisdom Series"
presents
Pamphlet #5126 KCJames4
You
can't pick and choose from the commandments of God which ones you will
keep and which ones you won't.
God has given to each of His children
diverse gifts and talents befitting them to become faithful doers of the
Word.
Matthew 25:15 says, "And unto
one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every
man according to his several ability; and straightway took his journey."
If you claim to be a servant of
God and have faith, but you sit on your talent(s) and do nothing, you could
be in for a big surprise on payday!
There are several aspects of "faith"
which ministers of the Church of the Unbridled Tongues rarely teach.
And it is not that initial faith
which one has when he or she first comes to know the Lord and accepts Him
as his or her Savior.
There are no works of any kind required
for that beautiful initial first step of salvation, only a belief in Him
and a repentant heart.
That is the faith of babes in Christ.
What James is going to teach us
about in this second chapter are the elements of "faith" for those 12 scattered
tribes who now claim to be Christians, who have taken that initial step
of faith.
Where is true "faith" in our nation?
Have you ever read Luke chapter
18?
Christ, the avenger of His elect,
asks a pointed question, "Shall He find "faith" on the earth", when He
returns?
We know He will find a lot a Christians
who claim to believe in Him and claim to have faith.
Luke
18:8
I tell you that
he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh,
shall he find faith on the earth?
What in the world is happening
to our Christian nation?
What in the world are Christians
doing or not doing?
What kind of "faith" in God and
in the Lord Jesus Christ do they really have?
Let's learn from a servant of His
about faith.
James
2:1
My brethren,
have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect
of persons.
Remember, James is writing
this letter to the 12 tribes scattered aboard, which includes millions
upon tens of millions who live right here in the good old USA, the leader
of the Christian nations of the world.
So this applies BIG TIME to us in
this final generation.
Why then is James telling us that
IF we have faith in our Lord Jesus Christ that we should not have "respect
of persons", which as we will see means to show partiality in judgment,
exercising favoritism and giving preferential treatment, like to the wealthy
for example?
Because it goes against God's law*!
Because if you have "faith" you
had better be keeping and promoting the laws of Almighty God.
Here it is, the law concerning the
respect of persons:
Deut.
16:19
Thou shalt not
wrest judgment; thou shalt not respect persons, neither take a gift: for
a gift doth blind the eyes of the wise, and pervert the words of the righteous.
The law of God says that you
shall not twist judgment, you shall not respect persons, and you shall
not take bribes.
When you do any of those things
you PERVERT the Word of God!!
That's right, when the rich buy
their way out of their crimes and the courts in this nation show partiality
and twist justice by letting them go when they are actually guilty, they
all blaspheme God and His Words of righteousness!
Or perhaps you think the "law *
" was done away with and our judges are
free to be double minded and do whatever they "feel" is best and take bribes
and look for some stupid "precedence" to justify their perverted decision!
* The only "laws" that
were nailed to the cross were the laws contained in ordinances and religious
statutes. In other words all blood sacrifices, ritualism, and religious
ceremonies were done away with. Christians need to learn to rightly divide
the word of God and learn there are different types of laws. You can start
with a simple English dictionary.
The 10 Commandments and the laws
which expound upon them in detail were never done away with nor destroyed.
Jesus Christ made that PERFECTLY
CLEAR:
Matthew
5:17
Think not that
I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy,
but to fulfil.
The point is that if you claim
to be a Christian and have faith in the Lord, then you must be fair and
just to all, rich and poor alike, according to the "royal law of God" which
James is going to talk to us about.
He gives us the following example
even as it relates to our assembling together in our churches today.
James
2:2
For if there
come unto your assembly a man with a gold ring, in goodly apparel, and
there come in also a poor man in vile raiment;
The rich man being talked about
in this verse is the same one James refers to in verse 6 who has become
rich from "oppressing people".
In so much as the subject is going
to be the "law", many attorneys (not all) and judges (not all) would certainly
fit into this category.
In any case, there is absolutely
nothing wrong with a person becoming wealthy through honest means and through
the blessings of God.
Now suppose one of these rich-by-ill-gotten-gains
lawyer dudes $how$ up in church with a ring of gold and perhaps the social
status to go along with it, while at the same time someone from the "low
rent" district, like Nazareth was in Christ's day, comes in.
How will you treat them?
(Try to "get real" and honest here
because this is important if you are a servant of God. It's pretty easy
to get starry-eyed when the rich and famous show up and unwittingly be
drawn away from the Word.)
[3]
And
ye have respect to him that weareth the gay clothing, and say unto him,
Sit thou here in a good place; and say to the poor, Stand thou there, or
sit here under my footstool:
[4] Are
ye not then partial in yourselves, and are become judges of evil thoughts?
What's the problem here?
Well, for one thing, this is supposed
to be the house of God they have both entered.
Will they find godliness or partiality
from the keepers of His house?
If you show more respect to the
rich man you do err, not just in your own sin which you have committed,
but
you do the rich man great harm and become a stumbling block before him
by reinforcing in his mind that his rich status and/or loot "buys" him
favor with God and he can also get away with oppression.
After all, he was able to buy favor
with God's servants, wasn't he?
In that case, you did no better
than the lawyers and the judges that you accuse of twisting justice for
the rich.
Think about it.
James
2:5
Hearken, my
beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith,
and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him?
One cannot tell the spiritual
wealth of a person by the outer clothes or "gold" he or she wears, but
our Father knows who is truly "rich" and who isn't.
Remember the scripture we quoted
in our first study, concerning the church of Smyrna?
Rev. 2:9 "I know thy
works,
and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art rich)...".
Talk about the wealthy!
These folks of meager worldly means
in this temporary flesh age are the inheritors of One who owns a lot of
real estate... would you believe the entire universe?
So suppose it was one of God's beloved
Smyrphs who showed up in street clothes and you gave him or her the cold
shoulder while giving all your attention to the rich man?
Shame on you for dishonoring one
who God honors!
James
2:6
But ye have
despised the poor. Do not rich men oppress you, and draw you before the
judgment seats?
There is so much frivolous
litigation oppressing the 12 scattered tribes at this very moment it is
a disgrace in our nation.
The same laws of justice should
apply equally to the poor, the rich, and the politicians alike.
And it is also a disgrace how some
churches cater to, thereby showing respect to, some of these "rich" oppressive
men.
[7]
Do
not they blaspheme that worthy name by the which ye are called?
Yes they do, and in many ways
starting with perverting His righteous Word which they won't even allow
in a courtroom these days!
(On a deeper level this should also
bring to our minds that there is soon coming a time of "delivering up"
to councils for His name's sake (Mat. 10:17).)
James
2:8
If ye fulfil
the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour
as thyself, ye do well:
The "royal" law "according
to the scripture" means the "king's law", the law given by the Royal King,
Jesus Christ.
Royal = basilikos, bas-il-ee-kos',
Greek 937; from Greek 935 (basileus); regal (in relation), i.e.
(literal) belonging to (or befitting) the sovereign (as land, dress, or
a courtier), or (figurative) preeminent :- king's, nobleman, royal.
Here is that royal law spoken
by the King of kings when asked by a lawyer (now there's a surprise) which
is the great commandment in the law.
It was supposed to be a trick question,
the kind lawyers ask as a "set up".
Matthew
22:35
Then one of
them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying,
[36]
Master, which is the great commandment in the law?
To listen to what some preachers
teach about the law, it seems Jesus should have told them not to worry
about it because He was soon going to abolish the law!
But He didn't!
Matthew
22:37
Jesus said unto
him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all
thy soul, and with all thy mind.
[38] This
is the first and great commandment.
This summarizes the first 5 of the
10 Commandments.
[39]
And
the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
This summarizes the second 5 of the
10 Commandments.
[40]
On
these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
In other words, these two commandments
sum up all the law and the prophets.
Have you read ALL of the details
concerning them in the law and the prophets?
James
2:9
But if ye have
respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors.
The word convinced means "convicted
of" as in you are found guilty, meaning you have committed sin!
So if you judge with partiality
and treat the rich better than the poor, then you transgress the law of
God (Deut. 16:19), and that transgression of the law is sin!
1 John
3:4
Whosoever committeth
sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the
law.
However, if you think the law
of God was done away with, then you must believe there can be no sin, for
you cannot transgress that which no longer exists, can you?
Therefore there is no need for Christians
to repent of sin (for sin can no longer exist if there is no law) and so,
hey, anything goes!
James is going to give a little
clarification about the subject of law using the Big Ten (commandments
that is).
James
2:10
For whosoever
shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of
all.
You can't pick and choose from
the commandments of God which ones you will keep and which ones you won't.
It's either all or nothing!
(Again, you must know what laws
we are talking about.)
Here's a simple example from the
Ten Commandments to illustrate the point:
[11]For
he that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou
commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of
the law.
The point is that "sin is the
transgression of the law", any part of it, including that of Deut. 16:19
in showing respect to persons!
Before Jesus Christ paid the price
with His shed blood on the cross at Calvary, the transgressing of God's
law carried with it the death penalty, right?
IT STILL DOES TODAY!... for even
all of Christianity teaches that unless you accept Christ as your Savior
and have repented of your sins (transgressions of the law) you will DIE!
And no one can perfectly keep the
law of God, for "all have sinned and come short of the glory of God", i.e.
all have (and do) transgress the law.
So salvation can only be achieved
through Jesus Christ, but again, that doesn't mean the law is now null
and void because you weren't saved by the law, but by His grace, or that
there are no "works" for the Christian because you didn't need any works
to be saved.
[12]
So
speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty.
Look into the perfect law of
liberty and DO IT!
What?
Keep God's commandments so as to
achieve salvation?
No, if you are saved, then keep
the law to show you have faith is Jesus Christ.
If you transgress the law, you don't
need re-saved, just repent and ask for forgiveness.
The law is not bad.
It is a very, very good thing!
It teaches us right from wrong and
when properly followed in our Christian nation, which means enforcing the
penalties to be executed upon criminals, it gives us liberty and freedom
throughout our land.
Have you not read the inscription
on our Liberty Bell taken directly from that perfect law?
Leviticus
25:10
Proclaim liberty
throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof.
The courts of this land have
drawn away from the laws of God and the results are not good, not good
at all.
James said "So speak ye, and so
do."
If you talk the talk then you better
walk the walk.
If you say you have faith then show
it by being a doer.
How would we know the servants of
God had faith unless we saw them in action.
Actions speak louder than words.
People are promoted by what they
do, i.e. how they perform on the job.
So if you have looked into the perfect
of law of liberty and you see yourself as a servant of God, a workman for
Jesus Christ, and you claim you have faith, what do you see as your "job
description" and what does your "job performance" evaluation sheet look
like? What is written in your book?
Does it say:
1.) Hard working seed planter.
2.) Keeps up to date with what's
happening by constantly studying the Word.
3.) Shows no respect of persons
and judges others on their merits.
4.) Displays patience and wisdom
in dealing with salvation prospects and those who have been sorely deceived
by the unbridled tongues of competitively oriented ministers.
5.) Repentant when violating company
rules.
Evaluation Remarks: Displays tremendous
faith.
Or does your evaluation sheet read:
1.) Frequently does not show up
for work except perhaps once a week to punch the time clock.
2.) Routinely requests blessings
and raises and asks why he's not receiving them.
3.) Is not knowledgeable with company
policies, procedures, and rules which he believes are no longer applicable.
4.) Does not maintain the required
continuing education credits in the Word to show himself approved by top
management.
5.) Tends to pre-judge others who
disagree with him and often gives preferential treatment.
6.) Doesn't believe working for
the company means "working" for the company.
Evaluation Remarks: Claims to have
faith but there seems to be little evidence of it.
In our next study James is going
explain that faith without works is dead faith. Imagine that!
To study the Bible is the noblest of all pursuits;
to understand it, the highest of all goals.
We pray that with the guidance of the Holy
Spirit, you accomplish both.
1 Corinthians
10:11 Now all these things happened unto them {the
ancient Israelites} for
ensamples, and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends
of the world are come.
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