you ¶ ¶ you and we're so glad you're here today for the second service. We've had a great day already today, and we're looking forward to what all is in store for today, especially as a baptism Sunday, and we're excited about all those getting baptized, and also a new membership Sunday as well. And we'll go over, at the end of the service, we'll go over the slides of those that are joining the church this morning, but then also you'll see a long line of people getting baptized. And we're excited for that and thankful for a church that are seeing people take that step of obedience here at Faith Baptist Church. And so that's the first slide. The next announcement this morning is the men's Bible study. And that is going through the book of Hebrews. It's at Denny's there by Walmart on this side of town. And so we're excited or excited always for that opportunity for you to have a chance to study the Bible, have a good time of fellowship and a meal as well. That's at eight o'clock. That's a different time, different location than they've been meeting for the last couple of years. But take note of that, and if you're a man, I hope you can come and take advantage of that Bible study. Next Sunday, we're gonna have Lord's Supper during both services. So don't feel like you need to come to the early service or the second service for the Lord's Supper. It'll be at both services. But we're excited about observing the Lord's table next Sunday. Also next Sunday evening, we're gonna be having a pie and praise service. And so because of the holiday, the week of Thanksgiving, we will not have midweek service that Wednesday night, the 20, I believe it's the 22nd. but we will have the Sunday evening service at 630 and we'll start in here with some singing and praises and people giving just praise to God for things that he's done in their life. But also we wanna sing some of the songs that you'd like to have sung. So if you don't mind, if you could let one of the pastors know if you have a song and say, man, I really wish we could sing this song at the pie and pray service, we will add that to the list. We're singing a little bit more than normal, And so if you have a request, please let myself or Pastor Cordova, Pastor Spicer, Pastor David, or even Tim know, and we'd be happy to add that to the list. But there is a signup sheet in the foyer if you want to come also to get on the, so we can figure out how much dessert is going to be there. December the 4th, there's a ladies Christmas banquet in Hess Hall. That's at 6.30, and there is a special speaker for that, and so we're excited. Ladies, please make plans to be here for them. And then also, December the 6th, Wednesday night, we'll have medical missionary Lindsay Yesa will be joining us for the evening service at seven. She'll be sharing what God is doing through her and her ministry. And then December the 9th, there's a Young at Heart Christmas Fellowship and Auction. And Pastor Cordova's asking that each person attending to donate at least one auction item. And so that is a great time each year. And I believe there's a sign-up sheet If not yet for that, there will be soon. Please mark that on your calendar. Pastor Spicer's gonna come and open us up in a word of prayer. Again, thank you so much for coming today. We have a full crowd. Hopefully we didn't miss anybody that's visiting for the first time. But if you are here for the first time, we have a special gift we'd like to get to you. And so we'll be looking out and I wanna make sure we just welcome you and thank you so much for being a part of our service today, Pastor. Thanks, Will. Good morning. If you have a song you wanna sing, don't tell me, because I will forget before I get out of this auditorium. So you see Pastor Jeremy or Johnny and they'll take care of that for you. Also, if you are visiting with us first time here, we're just glad to have you as our guest. We've got a little gift bag for you, a nice little coffee cup. So make sure you get your coffee mug before you go. You can remind me of that and I'll get you your mug anyway, if you do not get the package. So welcome, we're excited. Special service today as our membership Sunday and baptism. Sunday and just looking forward to all the ones who are following the Lord and believers baptism So as we start our services this morning, let's pray Father God, we love you. We thank you for who you are. We thank you for the opportunity to gather together We thank you for just a number of families that are here We thank you for that bond that we have through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and God I just don't thank you for the familiar faces and friends that I see and some that just meeting for the first time and But God, wherever they are, wherever they've come from, you know the needs of their hearts. You know, Father, what they're facing and going through. And I just pray you'll help us as a local church to step up, to come around and support them in any way that we can, praying for them and encouraging them as they are here. And God, we pray for the service as we open up the Word of God that you will just allow the Word of God to challenge us, encourage us, and pray the Spirit of God will just speak through our hearts as we take what we're gathering today and just use that in our lives tomorrow. And God, as we pray, we do pray for the needs that are represented here this morning. We know many unspoken requests heavy upon hearts. God, we pray for Lexi as she's had her surgery there on Friday, but thank you that she's home and doing well, and pray you continue to be with her in her recovery process. God, we also pray for Chad Fletcher, just this battle he's had for the last year or so with brain cancer very ill and in the hospital, that you'll just be with him and his family. And God, just give the doctors wisdom as they work with him at this time. And Father, we pray for others that are going through illness, sicknesses, chemo, radiation, checkups with doctors. Lord, just so much going on right now that I pray that you'll just encourage, come alongside them, and just give grace to help in these times of need. We love you, Lord, and thank you for the time again that we can worship in singing and in your word. And it's in Jesus' name we pray, amen. Well happy Sunday and what a privilege we have to come together and worship as a family corporately before our sovereign Lord and Father. Our theme for worship this morning is Our God of creation, as we look and as we observe the created universe, the one behind it all, our Creator and Sovereign Lord Jesus Christ. Our call to worship this morning comes from Colossians chapter 1, verses 16 and 17. The Apostle Paul says that by Him, by Christ, were all things created that are in heaven and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones or dominions or principalities or powers, all things were created by Him and for Him, and He is before all things, and by Him all things consist. Paul is reminding us who is truly in charge Today, as we look around at the world and wonder who could possibly be in charge, Jesus Christ declares, He says, I'm over the thrones, the kingly powers, the royalties, I'm over the dominions, the ones who possess that dominion, the power and the lordship. I own the principalities, the first place, those who are in the spiritual realms, I created those and rule there too. And the government, the powers of government, the ones who are to be submitted to and obeyed, I own those, they were created by me. and for me. He has created it all. It is all for His glory. He existed before it all. He exists in front of and before it all. And in Him all things, we're told, hold together. They all consist. He is the controlling power behind everything in our universe. He deserves our worship. He deserves our praise. He is worthy. Let's stand together this morning as we give our praise to Him. You're the word of God the Father and your cry of love rings out across the lands. You're the Word of God the Father from before the world began. Every star and every planet has been fashioned by your hand. All creation holds together by the power of your voice. Let the skies declare your glory. Let the land and seas rejoice. You're the author of creation. You're the Lord of every man. And your cry of love rings out across the land. Yet you left the gaze of angels, came to seek and save the lost, and exchange the joy of heaven for the anguish of a cross. With a prayer you fed the hungry, with a word you calmed the sea, Yet how silently you suffered that the guilty may go free. You're the author of creation. You're the Lord of every man. And your cry of love rings out across the land. With a shout, he goes into heaven. Resting victory from the grave And ascended into heaven Leading captives in your way Now you stand before the Father Interceding for your own From each tribe and tongue and nation You are leading sinners home. You're the author of creation. You're the Lord of every man. And your cry of love rings out across the lands. He is our great creator and he is worthy of our worship. Jesus declares to his disciples, In Matthew 28, he says, all power and authority is given unto me. He is worthy of our worship and praise. Let's sing to him this morning, worthy and wonderful. Worthy of worship, worthy of praise, worthy of honor and glory. Worthy of all the glad songs we can sing. Worthy of all of the offerings we bring. You are worthy, Father, Creator. You are worthy, Savior, Sustainer. Worthy and wonderful, worthy of worship and praise. Worthy of reverence, worthy of fear, worthy of love and devotion. Worthy of bowing and bending of knees, worthy of all this and add it to these. You are worthy, Father, Creator. You are worthy, Savior, Sustainer. You are worthy, worthy and wonderful, worthy of worship and praise. Almighty Father, Master and Lord King of all kings and Redeemer Wonderful Counselor, Comforter, Friend Savior and Source of our life without end You are worthy Father, Creator You are worthy, Savior, Sustainer. You are worthy, worthy and wonderful. Worthy of worship and praise. Amen. He is worthy this morning. The last song we'll sing, the great hymn, How Great Thou Art. Moses in the 90th Psalm says, Lord you have been our dwelling place in all generations, before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world from everlasting to everlasting. You are. In this hymn, we observe creation in all of its splendor and all of its grandeur. And we bow in humble worship to its creator as we understand His glory and His omniscience and all power. And we say, how great Thou art. Let's meditate on the words. Let's lift our voices corporately to our great God. How great Thou art. Oh Lord my God when I in awesome wonder consider all the worlds thy hands have made I see the stars I hear the rolling thunder thy power throughout the universe displayed then sings my soul my Savior God to thee How great thou art How great thou art Then sings my soul My Savior God to thee How great thou art How great thou When through the woods and forest glades I wander and hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees. When I look down from lofty mountain grandeur, I hear the brook and feel the gentle breeze. Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to Thee. How great Thou art! How great Thou art! Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to Thee. How great Thou art! How great Thou art! and when I think that God his son not sparing sent him to die I scarce can take it in that on the cross my burden gladly bearing He bled and died to take away my sin Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to Thee How great Thou art! How great Thou art! Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to Thee How great Thou art! How great Thou art! when Christ shall come wish out of acclamation and take me home what joy shall fill my heart and I will bow in humble adoration and there proclaim, my God, how great thou art. Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to thee, how great thou art, how great thou art. Then sings my soul, my Savior God, Amen and amen. You may be seated. Kids sixth grade and down, you can be dismissed for junior church. Man, you all can sing. That was good. Very good. Let's take our Bibles this morning, or our electronic standard version, whatever you have there, and let's go to the book of James. James chapter one. James chapter one. When I was early in ministry, I was the third pastor at our church in Ohio. I remember one Sunday morning walking in, and the brother of the pastor, who at the time was about 68 years old, and his assistant was 73 years old, and I'm about 25. And so I walk in, the pastor's brother gets the bulletin. And he's like, hey, I want you to look at something. I said, what? He's like, you see that name there? And it was his brother's name. I said, yeah. He's on the top. See the next name is the assistant pastor's name. He's in the middle. And he said, where's your name? I said, on the bottom. And he said, never forget it. I'm not sure how to take it. that was kinda my early years in ministry but anyway in that position I got to leave the church because I was a nobody quite often to fill pulpits and I was preaching at a church about 30 minutes away for a good friend of mine at Maranatha Bible Church Pastor Stephen Shaw, he was a young man, just a year older than me but we grew up together and we preached together at different places and he was out of town speaking so I was filling in for him so I got done preaching and it was a it's a smaller church at the time maybe about a hundred people or so that were there and and I get done and and Some young people come up and they want me to sign their Bible and I'm telling you what as a 26 year old I thought I was all that man. I am now signing Bibles now Somebody asked me to sign their Bible. I say I didn't write it. I'm not gonna sign it But at that time I was all about it. And so there were three or four kids lined up and you know, the parents are watching and I'm thinking, man, they're, you know, they just think this is great that their kids are idolizing, you know, such a great young man and speaker. And so one brings her Bible up and I take the pen and I sign it. Another brings her Bible up, I take the pen and I sign it. And finally the last one comes up and everybody's standing there watching and we're talking and I take his Bible and I go and I click the pen And that pin had about 220 volts of electricity in it. And I was set up. And I hit that pin, and it put a shock through my whole body. I throw the Bible, I throw the pin, and the whole church starts dying laughing. It had nothing to do with me signing Bibles. It had everything to do with me being deceived. And they all wanted to see it happen, and I fell for it hook, line, and sinker. As you look here in the book of James, we see James a few times bringing out that word, deceived. And James is concerned for the church. Remember, as we've talked, this is the first paragraphs ever written to the New Testament church. They have no Bible. They have the teachings of Jesus that's been passed on in the Old Testament, but as far as New Testament is concerned, they have nothing. So the Lord is inspiring James to write and pen these words. And it's not, some people say, well, James was just jotting his thoughts, you know, like a book of Proverbs. No, okay, ink was way too expensive and hard to come by, and the parchment paper was way too difficult to make. It's not like James could run down to Dollar General, buy a pen and a paper, and say, I'm just going to write some memoirs. And there was no good lighting. It's just not easy. He was writing this for a specific purpose, and it was hard for those people. And so he writes them, and he's like, look, you are being deceived. And he kind of gives the theme in verse 8 of what he's writing about and what his concern is. His concern is about them being double-minded. Okay, about them saying one thing and then doing another, doing one thing and saying another. And you see that theme going throughout the book of double-mindedness. We're a hearer of the word, but not a doer. We're religious, but we're not really religious. We say good things and then we say bad things. We have faith, but we don't have works. We have works and we don't have faith. This is double-minded theme that you see carrying out throughout the book. And it all comes back to that word that he uses, deception. Satan is the master deceiver. As we've looked at this word, we see ways that we are deceived into being double-minded. One way we're deceived into being double-minded is this idea of our prayer life. We've got to ask in faith nothing wavering because he that wavers is like the wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed and he will receive nothing from the Lord. A double-minded man saying, well, I'm gonna pray and ask God for it, but at the same time, not believing that God's gonna do it. Well, I believe God can if he wants to. James says no. And then you read on and you see this other double-mindedness that's going on. And it's this idea of taking in the Bible, verse 22, to be doers of the word, not just hearers deceiving your own selves. Look, Satan, the devil, could care less. if you're in church today or not. Matter of fact, he might've encouraged you to get up and go. But as soon as you sit down, get ready for distraction. As soon as I'm here, my mind is everywhere else but here. We're thinking about what's gonna happen, what we're gonna do, where we're gonna go, how's this baptismal going to be, and all these things, and that's exactly what the devil wants. He doesn't care if you have Christian radio on as long as you're not listening. He doesn't care if you're listening to your Christian podcast as long as you're thinking about something else. He doesn't care if you read your Bible every morning as long as your brain is daydreaming about your day. And James says, look, if you're hearing the word of God and you're not doing the word of God, Satan has deceived you. And then he goes on and he says, you're also being deceived if you think you're religious, verse 26. Some of you are like, oh man, I'm a religious person. Yeah, I'm religious. Yeah, I grew up in religion. And there's a lot of religious people, as we said last week, and a lot of sincere people out there who are sincerely wrong. And Satan has deceived them in their religion. Satan is making them think because they've gone through the motions of religion this morning, they are okay. Because they went through the motions of religion last night, they are okay. Because that you were catechized or you were this or that, that you're okay because grandpa was a member of the church and dad was a member of the church and now I'm a member of the church, I am okay. And James says here in verse 26, look, if that is your religion, you're deceiving your own heart and this man's religion is Worthless. It amounts to nothing. And then James goes on and he talks about another issue that we have. Another issue of double-mindedness. An issue that says we love everybody, but we treat certain people differently. It was about three years ago. And David Platt at McLean Bible Church just finished up preaching his first service. David Platt is a well-known author, pastoring a large church, went from Georgia to the D.C. area. God's used David mildly on the mission field. He's adopted several children from the mission field, and I just appreciate him and who he is as a person, even though I don't know him, and he pastors a large church there in D.C. He's not into politics. He doesn't get into politics, and he's very careful not to do so. and just a genius of a guy and a great communicator. And David finished his first service like I do. He went into his office like I do, and he was sitting down just catching his thoughts, figuring out, okay, what's next, and thinking about the next service when there was a knock at the door. And he told the person to come in, and the person comes in, and he says, hey, pastor, we've got some guests coming for the second service. He's like, we always have guests coming for the second service. He's like, no, you don't understand. And he heard, and I have the quote right here of what security told him. The president of the United States is on his way to the church. He will be here in a matter of minutes, and he would like for you to pray for him. This is President Donald Trump. Now imagine, so what's David gonna do? President Trump comes up, You can Google it. You can go online and David's prayer is online. He just does a fantastic job. And David's like, look, I'm not political, but God tells us to pray for those who have the rule over us. And that's exactly what I'm going to do this morning. And man, the tweets went flying and he was being criticized and called out and church members were mad that he would do such a thing. And as I think about that, I can honestly say that I do not sit in my office between nine and 11 and wonder if the president's gonna show up. It's never crossed my mind. But let's say, for sake of story, that I'm sitting in my office and Tyler Hall's out there watching the parking lot and my phone rings as I'm sitting in there preparing for 11 and it's Tyler and I'm like, that's odd. So I answer, I said, Tyler, what's up, man? He's like, hey, we've got a few cars pulling into the parking lot that we don't normally have. So I've stopped and talked to them it's the governor's entourage and he's gonna be here for the service today like all man Jim Justice is here he's coming to the service and so I hang up and immediately I leave my office okay because I want to be the first to greet the governor as he comes walking in and so he gets out and he comes in and Now look, if any of you came into church this morning, I got a number of visitors, you know I greeted you. But if you came in holding a dog, it might have been a little different. Okay, but for the governor, bring the dog, man, that's the best part. And so the governor's coming in, he's got baby dog with him, I'm like, Cordova, get water for the dog and the governor. And so he gets it, we're taking care of him, he comes in, you know, everybody's looking, and you can't miss the guy, he's huge, and we're all watching and whispering, And you know, I'm giving him the royal treatment as he comes in and sitting him down and all the kids are coming, wanting a picture with baby dog and all this is going on. And in the midst of all of this, there's a girl in a little Corolla that pulls into our parking lot, maybe 20 years old. Tyler looks at her, waves at her, shows her where she can park, but he doesn't call me. I mean, college students come all the time. And she parks her car And she comes walking in, and by now the governor's in here, and everybody's standing around talking, and if they're not talking, they're staring and whispering about the governor being here, and she just kinda slips in and sits in the back. I miss her, I don't see her, because I'm so caught up with who's here. And she slips in the back, and then I get up, and then I welcome the governor, and just so thankful that you're here with us, and obviously I make no mention of this 20-year-old who's in the back, But those sitting around her can tell that she's hurting. You can see it on her face. She's had it rough. She's had a rough week. She's had a rough month. She's had a terrible semester. Things have been bad back home. And she figured the last thing she could do to try to make things right was step into a church. And she knew that was her only hope. So she walks into Faith Baptist Church hoping for a kind word. hoping for someone to pay attention to her, hoping that someone would just give her the words that she needs to hear to endure another week. She goes through the singing. We dismiss the service. Obviously, everybody's coming around the governor. I escort him out, and in the entourage of all of that, she just kind of quietly slips away. She gets in her little Corolla. She pulls out of our parking lot as lonely and as broken as when she pulled in. Why? How is she missed? Because of partiality, favoritism. Notice the governor. Look at who he is. Look at what he is. Look who's here. I mean, aren't we justified to do the same? And James says, no. So let's look at James chapter two of what James is saying to us And as I read James chapter two, I'm gonna read it in story form because just as the story I made up is, that's the story that James is making up. Chances are this has not happened in the church and he's gonna make sure it does not. Brethren, listen, don't hold the faith of our Lord and Jesus Christ, this faith in Christianity that you have with partiality and favoritism. Man, if somebody comes into your assembly, and what James says here is interesting. If you were in Sunday school, you heard about the Greek. Mr. Knotts was teaching on that and how our Bibles were originally written in Greek because the Romans changed everything, but they did not change the literature culture of the day because the Grecians had it down. And so they keep this Greek language. And when they write this, we have a man with gold rings. Actually, you could read it, a man with golden fingers. Have you ever met someone that's all ringed up, right, with all the rings? My grandpa loved jewelry. He had golden bracelets, silver bracelets, rings all over his hands. And this man has so many of these rings on, it's like he has golden fingers. He's in fine apparel. You know, he's in this Armani suit. And then there comes in this poor man. His clothes aren't very nice. And you pay attention. You give honor to the one that's wearing the fine suit with the shoes, with the Mont Blanc in the pocket. And you say, sit here, sit in a good place. And then the other couple said, look, the auditorium is kind of full, you guys can just stand in the back if you want to, it's fine. You know, we pipe it in on the speaker, you can listen to it there, or you know, you can just kind of sit on the floor, it's whatever. And James says, look, have you not shown this favoritism and this partiality among yourselves. And in these thoughts that you're having, you're so judgmental and critical in these evil thoughts. Listen, brethren, has God not chosen the poor of this world to be rich in the faith? You're judging their outward, but you have no idea what's going on in the inside. Has God not chosen the poor of the world to be heirs of the kingdom of the grace of God that he's promised to those that love him? but you've dishonored the poor. Isn't it the rich anyway who drag you into the courts and despise you? Isn't it the rich who blaspheme the name of Christ, the one by whom you are called? And you know what Jesus said, the greatest commandment is to love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul and all your mind and all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself. And by showing this favoritism, you're breaking the royal law. And if you show partiality, verse nine, you're committing sin, and you are convicted by the law as a transgressor. For whosoever keeps the whole law, but breaks in this one point, you're guilty of all. James was concerned about this idea of partiality. James was concerned about this idea of favoritism that was going on in the church of the day. Now, culturally, things were different. You know, if you've been to a third world country or maybe one of the islands on a cruise or whatever, you very quickly realize that there's two classes of people. There's rich and there's poor. And you go to the land of India, there's rich and there's poor. I'm standing in the streets of Manila in the Philippines, and I'm looking at one of the greatest malls I've ever seen in my life, and Jaguars and Mercedes, and then I look across the street and there's shanties, mud, dirty, living under these tarps with absolute nothing. We have the rich and you have the poor. And so when James is writing, this is the scene. We want to Americanize it and Westernize it and put it in middle-class language, but it's not there. It's simply the rich and the poor. And the other thing that's interesting in what James does here is when he uses this word favoritism or partiality, When it was originally written, we like to go back and we see what the word was in the Greek and then we like to see what Greek poets or Homer or how these guys used it. And so when James uses it, we know what's in the mind and how that word was used at the time. You cannot find this word in any secular literature. It's only in the church. Why? Because it was such a prominent place in culture, they didn't even name it. It was just life. You treated the rich better. You honored the politicians. They had the priority and in low class, you were just nothing. And of course we treated them better. And James says, no, there's no place for that. And he has this word that he uses in this Greek word of partiality and favoritism to help them wake up. So this morning, what I want to do is I just want to take this chapter and kind of teach it, preach it, but unpack what I will call the fatalism of favoritism. The fatalism of favoritism. What's the problem here? How does favoritism even come about? What's going on? I love what Solomon says in the book of Proverbs chapter 22. He says, a good name is to be better chosen than great riches. Okay, and favor is better than silver or gold. But here's what Solomon says next, the rich and the poor, they meet together and the Lord is the maker of them all. You see the problem with favoritism is we forget the maker. We forget that these are God's created being. I remember that a buddy in my little elementary school growing up would wear a t-shirt It says, God don't make no junk. Now he wasn't a Christian any more than anything in the world, but he thought that was a pretty cool shirt. And it was true. God's never made no junk. We are all fashioned in the image of God. We all, as David said, have been fearfully and wonderfully made. It doesn't matter who we are. It doesn't matter where we are. It doesn't matter on what side of the tracks that we come from. It doesn't matter if what country we were born in. It doesn't matter our nationality or our backgrounds. We were all created precious in his sight. And we all are brothers and sisters in Christ as Christians. There's no room for favoritism in the church. There's no room for exalting one person over another. There's no room for that, not only here in the States, but around the world. And that's why the Hindus hate Christianity in India. Because they can say the caste system is gone, but it's never gonna be gone because it's just life in India. And I was preaching to a group of pastors, 100 plus pastors in India at a Bible conference, and I needed a translator. And one of the young men, a senior in the Bible college, volunteered to do my translating. And preaching through a translator is rough. You know, you've talked to somebody and you get interrupt a hundred times. You just, you're like done with this conversation. We're trying to do that on purpose. And so, you know, it's favoritism was such a common way of life in the Greek culture. Okay, that's tough, but imagine doing it. And this Kepha would stand here and he'd go like this in my face. And he would watch my face and the way I would speak it. And then he would come and he would not only translate it, but he would mimic my facial expressions as he would do it. And then he would come back like this again. And I have no clue, but they said he was a natural. It's not easy to do. And they said he was amazing at it. He was just a gifted, gifted young man. And because of his talents and because of his gifts and his ability to communicate, they asked him to stay. My buddies that oversaw the ministry there, they were high caste, they were born in Southern India, they were lawyers and attorneys and God saved them and they went north and suffered persecution, a lot of persecution to get this church rolling. And now they've got a Christian school and an orphanage and a university and the church and it's just been amazing. And they wanted Kayfa to stay. They said, Kayfa, you stay and you run our school so you can preach, you can be on our pastoral staff. Now, Kayfa was low caste. He came from the bottom of the barrel. And you want to, low caste is just, they're spit upon in India. And I could tell story after story that I've heard. But if you are a high caste person in India and someone of the low caste walked by you and their shadow fell on you, you would go shower. If you were to buy something at the store as low-cast, and we actually support a missionary who is low-cast in Hyderabad. He said, when I go to the store and pay for something, and I get change, I've gotta hold my hands out like this, and they dump the change in my hands for fear they might touch me. Because he's low-cast. Now, in Hyderabad, where Solomon is, if you're low-cast, you do have a card, and you can go to the government and get some money, because it's impossible for you to get a job, or at least a real job, But what's interesting with that, and I see it here in James, verse seven says, do they not blaspheme the worthy name by which you're called? If you get saved, you get a Hindu name, and usually your name in Hindu is with a god of India. And so you get the name of this god. If you remember Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that's their given name, their god name, because they went to Babylon. Well, you're born with this name, and if you get saved, you don't want that name anymore. So Solomon, after he got saved, he changed his name to Solomon Raju, which if you translate, that's King Solomon. So we support King Solomon in India. But when you go to the government and you say, I wanna change my name, they take your government supply away from you. You no longer get your card. You no longer get extra money and food because now you've taken the name of Christ. So when it says here, you blaspheme the worthy name by which you're called, that's going on right now in countries around the world, even today. So why are we showing this favoritism? Why are we allowing this to happen? What is going on? I don't know, but we do it, don't we? I mean, already some of you have seen people this morning that you've never seen before, and boom, you've drawn a conclusion about them in your mind. My daughter's at a Christian college right now and she'll be on speakerphone and she'll be like, yeah, I met a guy last night and his name is, and I mean, before she gets done with the rest of her sentence, my kids are all on their phones looking this guy up. And last night it happened. And we're like, hey, that's a, you know, he was, it was the championship soccer game and he plays on the soccer team. I'm like, I like that kid. He's pretty nice. No, dad, nah, not for Cammie. I'm like, why not? because he wears Birkenstocks with high socks, short shorts and a long baggy sweatshirt. So, it's not good dad, not good, not for Cammie. Pray for my daughter. We make judgment assessments, right? And we look at people and we draw conclusions. And James says, stop, don't you know, these people are rich in faith. These people are heirs of the kingdom of God. I mean, what the teaching that a lot of James gets has got to be only from Jesus because he has nothing else. So what does Jesus say? Jesus says this, if you know no Bible, you know this, blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they that mourn. for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God. Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. That doesn't sound like a lineup that you want on your sales team. But I'm telling you, that's the lineup you want on your prayer team. That's the lineup I want sitting in the pews of Faith Baptist Church. That's what we need. The poor in spirit, the humble, the meek, the gracious. Those who are willing to turn the other cheek. Those who are willing to be persecuted for the cause of Christ. And what happens is, because they don't match up to our standards, because they don't fit our social status, because they don't, wear their Birkenstocks the right way, what do we do? Verse six, we dishonor them. We treat them differently. We don't invite them out to eat. We don't spend time with them. We don't text them. But I'm telling you, we sing a hymn, a tent or a cottage, why should I care? He's building a palace for me over there. I've added another line, a Porsche or a Pontiac, God will not stare. He doesn't care, doesn't care. What you get in. He does care if you bought a portion, you can't afford it, you can't give to him because of it. But if you can afford it, he doesn't care. It doesn't matter. What are we doing? Why are we doing it? What is going on inside of us? And then James says, look, this is the problem, but this problem is even bigger than what you guys think. Okay, there's some dangers with this discernment that's going on. And one of the dangers, chapter two and verse one, is I don't even know if you all are saved. I mean, how can you claim to be a Christian, double-minded, and not treat the poor in the right way? How can you show favoritism? How can you treat one better than the other? It just shouldn't happen, and we shouldn't be seeing this in the body of Christ. K2, James says, I need you all to measure your motives here. You're so judgmental. Verse four, you become judges in your evil thoughts. You're critical. Okay, you're judgmental. You think because you've had this background and because you've had this education and because you've been to this church and that church and because you listen to this guy's podcast and this guy's podcast that you've got it all figured out. And he says, stop. There's no room for that in the body of Christ. We are all one in him. We are all one body. Listen, the right arm and the right hand in the body of Christ is just as much valuable as the left foot and the big toe on the left foot to God. We're all valuable to him. And it shows, James says, this lack of spiritual discernment. Don't you know the law? Don't you understand what he's asking? If you truly had discernment, you would understand love. And you would know love covers a multitude of sins. And if you truly had love, you would not be sinning in this area of partiality. And that's the danger. As we look at this whole passage, what it comes down to the end. And James uses this word judged. And James uses these words to help us think. And then as James brings it down, he brings it down into one word in verse 12, judgment. And James is saying, look, church, I need you to understand that one day you are gonna stand before the judgment seat of Christ. Okay, it reminds me of a story in the Bible. And in order for this story to happen, I need Colin, Cade and Coleman to come up, please. Colin, Cade, and Coleman, please come up. Come on, up here, up here. Is this Mr. Limley's tie? Mr. Mr. Limley. All right, so where's Laura? Laura, is this your husband's tie? Oh wow, that's awesome. All right, so Mr. Limley passed away how many years ago? 16? 16 years ago. And Coleman was at the house yesterday and stole his tie. So he's showing off that tie. Are you both, all three of you are? That is awesome. That is wonderful. Okay, so anyway, that has nothing to do with what I was gonna say. So David becomes king of Israel, but how does this all start? Well, Saul was king. Saul totally destroyed the kingdom. God comes to Samuel and he says, look, you've got to go and you've got to find someone to be the king of Israel. And Samuel goes to the house of Jesse. And he goes to the house of Jesse and he's looking at the house of Jesse. He's like, man, I've got to find somebody, okay, that can stand up. I've got to find somebody who can take the role. I've got to find somebody who can be, okay, this king. And so he goes up to the first one. Okay, now he's a fine looking young man, broad shoulders, okay, nice head up, nice smile. Okay, comes from a great lineage. Surely, surely, this is the one, right? This is the king. God says, nope. So he comes to the next one. All right, now that's even better. We've gone from six two to six three. And so I found the king, right? I have found the king. No, God says not. Him either. All right, then we come to number three on the totem pole. And God, okay, this is it. He might not be as tall and as strong as the other two, but there's some qualities in this young man that I see that they can just take off. And God says, no. And he goes through the other brothers, and God says, no, and God says, no, and God says, no, and this one's gonna get me in trouble, and I'm sorry. And he says, is there anybody else out there? And he says, yes, there's one. Josiah, come up, please. All right. And he's told, everybody's tall in this auditorium today. I needed one of the kids. All right, come on, Josiah. Stay right there. It's because he looks like a David. God says, there's one more. He says, well, do you guys have any other brothers? He said, yeah, there's one. But he's out practicing his slingshot and messing around with his sheep in the wilderness. He said, go get him. So they go and get him and he comes up. All right, go line up with the other ones. And God says, To Samuel, look. 5.11. Okay. 5.11 in this case is better than 6.1 or even 6.3. Okay. Why? Because God doesn't look on the outward. Who's he said looks on the outward? Man. But he says what? God looks on the heart. See, it's not about the show that I'm putting on. It's not about the self-righteousness that I'm living. It's not about standing when Tim says stand and sit when Tim says sit. It's not about closing our eyes when we pray. It's not about opening our Bibles and having so many highlights in my Bibles you can hardly read it. It's none of that. I could do all of that and not be what God wants to be because God doesn't look on the outward, God looks on the heart. And God is looking on the inside. Thank you guys, you can go sit down. God is looking on the inside of what's happening on the inside of me. And God is partial when it comes to this because it's one or the other. It's either innocent or guilty. It's either friend or foe. It's either saved or lost. And look at verse 10. You can have it all together. But you're failing on one point and you're guilty of all. Listen. I can look at the Ten Commandments and say, I match up pretty well. I can look at my neighbors and say, you know, I'm a pretty good person. You know, I can look at my life and I can say, I've done this and I've done that and I've checked this box and I've checked that box and I've done all of these things just right. Yeah, I think if I look at the Ten Commandments, I could say I've kept them all. Mmm, I'm gonna beg to differ. Any of us ever told a lie? Any of us ever stolen even time away from our corporation when I was supposed to be working? Say, but Trey, come on, that's just a little thing. It was a 10 minute break and I took 12 because it was beautiful outside. Mmm, you stole 10 minutes, two minutes from the company. And God looks at you and says, you know what, that makes you a thief. Yeah, that's not exactly how that story went, you're a liar. Yeah, but I'm not a murderer. God says it doesn't matter. Because if you've broken one of these, you're guilty of all. And one day, verse 13, I'm gonna stand before the judge of judges, the king of kings, And he's gonna say, you are guilty. And you're gonna say, how am I guilty? Look at everything I've done. Look at everything I've accomplished. And he says, because you broke the law. You are here because you've broken the law of God. And there's only one way to be found not guilty. And that's not to come on our own merits, but to come on the merits of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. And it's to say, you're right, God, I couldn't keep the law. You're right, God, I am a sinner, and I'm not coming in my own righteousness alone. I am coming by the righteousness of my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, because I should have been the one who died on that cross, but he took my place. As God says, guilty, Jesus says, put the punishment on me and let them go free. And that's what he did for us. That was Christ's work on the cross. And I look at someone like that that's going through something like that, how dare I have criticism? If I need to point the fingers at anybody, it's at me. We say it all the time, I can't worry about their problems, I've got enough problems of my own. So why in the world am I casting a stone when the stone should be cast at me? If you're here this morning, Man, you've been critical. Man, you've been living a life of partiality, favoritism. Man, God does not tolerate such behavior. You need to deal with that in your heart and life. Maybe you're here this morning and you know that on the outside you're religious and a good person, but on the inside, no one else knows, but you know you've never accepted Christ as your Savior. You know you're trying to do this on your own. You know You're not doing this in Christ. Let me ask of you before you leave here today to make sure you've done business with God. Let's pray. Father, as we come before you now, we just thank you again for your word. And God, I pray and I ask that you help us to be doers of the word, not hearers only. We've heard some difficult teachings from your word this morning. And God, I'm critical, I'm judgmental. Father, my kids get it from me. I pray you'll forgive me of that and just worry about what's going on on the inside of my heart. And God, I pray that'll be the case for all of us, that we'll look at Matthew chapter five and look for what you're looking for in our lives. And God, if someone here today has never accepted you as Savior, They might be a really good person. They might even be religious, but they're guilty. I pray, God, that they'll see that you show no partiality, that, God, you can't close a blind eye and say, okay, come to heaven. God, there's no room or toleration for that, and I pray that today will be the day that they realize they can't do it on their own, and they come to you as seeking Jesus as their Savior, as the one who took their place. Father, now as we go into this baptismal service, I pray that you'll just be glorified through it. And it's in Jesus' name we pray, amen. All right, if you are going to be baptized at this time, you can be dismissed. If you have kids that are going to be participating, you can go and get them now. We will take just a few minutes here as a church body meditate on these wonderful truths this morning, worship our Lord together. So join with me in standing, if you will. We're gonna sing two verses of the great hymn, Great is Thy Faithfulness, as we think of the fact that He is constant, that He shows us, He shows no partiality. We remember His faithfulness to us and ask Him for that same faithfulness to give to those around us. So let's lift our voices this morning as we say, Great is Thy Faithfulness. Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father! There is no shadow of turning with Thee. Thou changest not, Thy compassions they fail not. As Thou hast been, Thou forever will be. Great is thy faithfulness. Great is thy faithfulness. Morning by morning, new mercies I see. All I have needed, thy hand hath provided. Great is thy faithfulness, Lord, ♪ Pardon for sin and the peace that endureth ♪ ♪ Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide ♪ ♪ Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow ♪ ♪ Blessings all mine with 10,000 beyond ♪ ♪ Great is thy faithfulness ♪ ♪ Great is thy faithfulness ♪ ♪ Morning by morning new mercies I see ♪ ♪ All I have needed thy hand hath provided ♪ ♪ Great is thy faithfulness Lord Jesus Christ ♪ This next song we'll sing, Christ our hope in life and death, is a wonderful testimony of our position in Christ. That for all eternity we have one hope. The Apostle Paul writes in 2 Corinthians that since we have such a glorious hope and a confident expectation, we can speak, he tells us we can speak the gospel with great courage. This time of baptism is a wonderful picture of our death to sin and our resurrection and new life in Jesus Christ. And that is what each one of these that are going to be going through the waters of baptism this morning are declaring, that Christ is our hope. He is our confidence. He is our Lord. Savior. So let's lift our voices this morning in testimony with them, Christ our hope in life and death. What is our hope in life and death? Christ alone, Christ alone What is our only confidence? That our souls to Him belong Who holds our days within His hand what comes apart from his command and what will keep us to the end the love of Christ in which we stand Oh sing hallelujah our hopes brings eternal Oh sing hallelujah now and ever we confess Christ our hope in life and death what truth can calm the troubled soul God is good God is good where is his grace and goodness known In our great Redeemer's blood Who holds our faith when fears arise Who stands above the stormy trials Who sends the waves that bring us nigh Unto the shore, the Rock of Christ O sing hallelujah, our hope springs eternal O sing hallelujah, now and ever we confess Christ our hope in life and death unto the grave what will we sing Christ he lives Christ he lives and what reward will heaven bring everlasting life with him to meet the Lord then sin and death will be destroyed and we will feast in endless joy when Christ is ours forevermore Oh sing hallelujah our hope springs eternal oh sing hallelujah now and ever we confess Christ our hope in life and death what a testimony what a thought this next song we'll sing wonderful merciful Savior you are the one that we praise you are the one we adore let's sing to him this morning Wonderful, merciful Savior Precious Redeemer and friend Who would have thought that a lamb could Rescue the souls of men Oh, you rescue the souls of men You are the one that we praise. You are the one we adore. You give the healing and grace our hearts always hunger for. ♪ Oh, our hearts always hunger for ♪ ♪ Counselor, comforter, keeper ♪ ♪ Spirit we long to embrace ♪ ♪ You offer hope when our hearts have ♪ ♪ Hopelessly lost the way ♪ ♪ Oh, we've hopelessly lost the way ♪ you are the one we adore you give the healing and grace our hearts always hunger for oh our hearts always hunger for all right you may be seated All right. Some of you, the moment you've been waiting for. Man, look at this, standing, sitting in the front row. This is awesome. Welcome to our baptismal service. We do two, sometimes three of these a year, depending on how the Lord's working on hearts and the people that come to us. And sometimes it's adults, sometimes it's children. And we've got quite a few children being baptized today, which is very exciting. It's also exciting that the water is warm. Sometimes it's not the case. but I can probably, it's really good. Jeremy did a great job this time and getting it warm for us. So why do we baptize? I mean, why are we having this service? Well, this baptism, we've been buried with him by baptism into death, and now we live for him in Christ. And Jesus tells us when he was talking to his disciples, he came and he said, all power is given unto me in heaven and earth. Go ye therefore, teach all nations, disciple all nations, baptizing them. in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I commanded you. And lo, I'm with you always, even unto the end of the world." This discipleship is our primary goal. Baptism isn't salvation. And these children are not being baptized so they can get into heaven or anything like that. This is just the next step in their journey of faith. They've accepted Christ as their Savior and the Spirit of God has worked on their hearts to let them know they need to get baptized. A couple of them came to me in tears. St. Patrick's place, right? No, I need to get baptized or to their parents. And we're just excited about that and excited that they're willing to take this step of faith. And I'm telling you in front of all you, it's nerve wracking. And to stand up in front of the church and say that I know that I've accepted Christ as my personal savior. I know with total confidence if I were to die today, I would wake up in heaven and I know God wants me to be baptized as a testimony of that salvation. So that's why we are here, and that's what we are doing. And we are starting with Amelia Labreck. So Amelia, you come out up, please. There you are. Come on up, honey. My next one is Grayson fatty Grayson. Come on up, buddy. Grace, have you accepted Jesus as your personal savior? Yes. All right. And sister Lydia said, I know God wants me to be baptized too. So Lydia, come on up, honey. Let's go that way. I can pick you up. Let's go that way. There you go. Lydia, have you accepted Jesus as your Savior? Yes. And you know you need to get baptized today? Yes. Okay. John Elshie, come on up, honey. All right. Now, Johnny, you went to mom and dad and told them that God was working on your heart and you knew you needed to be baptized, right? And have you accepted Jesus Christ as your personal Savior? Yes. Okay. Matt and Watts, come on up, buddy. All right, my man, you know you've accepted Jesus Christ as your personal savior? and you're ready to be baptized, is a testimony of that in front of everybody today? Yes. Okay. All right. So, it's my privilege to baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Millie, come on up. The Lord has been working on Millie's heart for months now. And Wednesday night, probably about a month ago, a few weeks ago, she came and she's like, Pastor Spicer, I know I need to get saved and accept Jesus as my savior. And I said, that's awesome. And I went and I got Molly Pledger and Molly started to open the Bible and Millie's like, I know, I know, I know I'm a sinner. I need Jesus. I want to get saved. And so there was no doubts in her mind what needed to happen, and then she also knew what step two meant, and she did not drag her feet on it either. She's just ready to go forward in the faith, ready to go forward serving Jesus, and I'm so excited for what God is doing in Millie's life. So Millie, in front of everybody, you willing to say you've accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior? Yes. Okay, honey, because of your testimony, it's now my privilege. Andy. Andy's been saved for a while, but he's just been waiting for baptism. And he came to us last week after the announcements and said, you know, Pastor Drake, I know I need to get baptized. And so he's not been baptized, but he knows he needs to take this next step in his journey of faith. So Andy, you know you've accepted Christ as your Savior. And Isaac, come on up, buddy. Isaac also has been patiently waiting and just till he was ready and knew exactly why we are baptized and how this works. So we're excited to baptize Isaac today. All right, Isaac, have you accepted Christ as your savior? Yes. All right, he told me he was scared, so he's doing pretty good. All right, let's just stand together and sing the first verse of Amazing Grace. We see testimonies of His grace here, and we'll sing that first verse together. Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. All right. On the screen, we have, we do our new membership class on a quarterly basis. And these are all the folks that have been in the class and said that they know they're saved, they've been baptized, and now they're ready to join and become members of Faith Baptist Church. So as you look at the names up there, this is each one that's ready to jump in and get involved and make faith their home. And it's very exciting to see that and to see that transpire. So if you see these folks in the congregation today, Make sure you welcome them to the family of faith. And now as a church, we get to vote these members in. So Faith Baptist Church, and the members that's here and members that had just been baptized, I just need a yay vote. Do we vote all of them into the membership of Faith Baptist Church? All in favor, say aye. Aye. And if it's opposed, come see me after the service. You are dismissed. And if you are joining, make sure you see Carol after the service, because she's got a card for you in the lobby. Okay.