The"American
Wisdom Series"
presents
Pamphlet #5127 KCJames5-1
We
live in a nation full of Biblically illiterate professing Christians all
of whom claim to have faith.
In our last study James told us
that we need to speak and act as men and women of God "as they that shall
be judged by the law of liberty" (vs. 12) and that we should not have "respect
to persons" which is sinful (vs. 9).
Why is it sinful?
Because it transgresses God's law
and it therefore becomes unrighteous and unmerciful judgment on our behalf.
So we must be careful and merciful
because the way we judge others will be the way we are judged and we won't
be able to claim that is unfair, will we?
Remember well that mercy always
triumphs and rejoices against judgment, i.e. when judging.
James
2:13
For he shall
have judgment without mercy, that hath shewed no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth
against judgment.
This is the flipside of Mat. 5:7.
Matthew
5:7
Blessed are
the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
James is now going to talk
to us about two types of Christians, those who say they have faith and
those who display they have faith.
We live in a nation full of Biblically
illiterate professing Christians all of whom claim to have faith.
Yet, if the majority of professing
Christians in America had the kind of faith that causes one to be a "doer
of the Word", we wouldn't be in the spiritual famine and drought in which
we now find ourselves.
We Christians of the final generation
to whom this book of James is specifically addressed, especially we of
the scattered tribes (the so-called lost tribes), need to pay close attention
to what it is James has to say about our faith.
So here's James' question to us,
who he calls "my brethren":
James
2:14
What doth it
profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have
not works? can faith save him?
What good is it if a man just
"says" he has faith but he doesn't have any works to back up his statement,
especially if he's been a Christian for many years.
It would be little like a man who
tells you he's a contractor, a builder of fine houses, but if after many
years he has never gotten around to actually building anything to show
that he is a good contractor, then what good is his boasting of being one?
You might ask, "What good is a fruit
tree if after many years it never brings forth any good fruit?"
Jesus can answer that question and
even tell us what will done to it.
Matthew 7:19 "Every tree that bringeth
not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire."
In the same sense, what good is
one's statement that he (or she) is a Christian and says he has faith if
after many years he hasn't done anything for the Lord?
Do you not think Christ looks at
what kind of servants we are, what kind of a "doers" we are?
Let's see what the King will say
when He returns.
This part is addressed to the "doers".
Matthew
25:34
Then shall the
King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit
the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
[35] For
I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and
ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:
Jesus is obviously pleased
at their "doings".
[36]
Naked,
and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison,
and ye came unto me.
Of course Jesus wasn't talking
about Himself. He was talking about "doing" to the same "my brethren" as
James!
Matthew
25:40
And the King
shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have
done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done
it unto me.
By the way, Matthew 25:34-36
precisely describes the "spiritual" condition of our brothers and sisters
in this final generation.
You might want to read the rest
of Mat. 25 and see what Christ had to say to those who were not doers unto
the brethren.
James is now going to use the same
example of our Christian brothers and sisters who are naked and lack "daily
bread" to teach us about faith.
James
2:15
If a brother
or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food,
Don't make the mistake of SEEING
this only in terms of the flesh.
This particularly applies to spiritual
nakedness and spiritual starvation of our brothers and sisters today who
are STARVING TO DEATH spiritually.
We are in the famine of the end
time spoken of by Christ and that famine is not for sandwich bread.
It is for the "daily bread" which
comes from the table of the Lord, which is the true Word of God.
Amos
8:11
Behold, the
days come, saith the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine in the land, not
a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of
the LORD:
What our brothers and sisters
hear today from the pulpits of the land are mostly traditions of men, not
the line by line teaching from the Word of God.
[12]And
they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east,
they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the LORD, and shall not find
it.
And they do wander from "sea
to shining sea", and waver to and fro in the religious confusion while
they try to find the truth of God's Word.
Again, all they find taught in the
churches are the traditions of men.
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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