Hello, everyone. Good morning. Welcome to church. Excited to see you guys. Happy to see Ms. LeJuan. Service is better with Ms. LeJuan. Amen. It's hard to believe her and her Texas twang can help us sing, but she does it. It's amazing. Turn with me to the book of James. I'm going to preach an odd message. If you just heard the title, you'd write me off, but it's called Justified by Works. And the reason I want to preach this message is because there's a lot of confusion about the book of James. I can't preach it all. I can't preach through it all. I don't have time. But what I want to do is go through chapter 1, up through most of, if not all of, chapter 2. I know that's a lot. I've got more here than I usually have. But I really don't want to get through all of it, and we're starting probably a little earlier than we usually start, so that's good. I have seen so much about the book of James. I don't even know where to start. I'll just tell you. It says, James, a servant of God and the Lord Jesus Christ to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting. So don't get hung up on the 12 tribes business. That really throws people for a loop, I guess. And I've heard people almost say, well, we can just take James right out of the Bible because of this line right here. But I will remind you that all scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works. And that is the message right there. That second part, or that verse 17 of 2 Timothy 3, that the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works. Let's do this. Let's read, I'm gonna go through James 1, but let's read James 2, and then we'll go to the Lord in prayer, and we'll just go from there. I'm not gonna go slow, I never go slow, but I'm gonna go maybe even quicker than usual. I got a lot, I wanna get to it. So James 2, it says, my brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons. For if there come unto your assembly a man with a gold ring and goodly apparel, and there come in also a poor man in vile raiment, 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 here, or sit here under my footstool, are ye not then partial in yourselves, and are become judges of evil thoughts? 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? But ye have despised the poor. Do not rich men oppress you and draw you before the judgment seats? Do they not blaspheme that worthy name by the which ye are called? If ye fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. Ye do well. But if ye have respect to persons, to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors. For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all." That is very important. Remember that. Whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, He is guilty of all. 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. So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty. For he shall have judgment without mercy that hath showed no mercy, and mercy rejoiceth against judgment. Mercy is going to beat judgment and defeat judgment, but you're going to need mercy. What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith and have not works? Can faith save him? If a brother or sister be naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, and be ye warm and filled, notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body, what doth it profit? Even so, faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. Yea, a man may say, thou hast faith, and I have works. Show me thy faith without thy works, and I will show thee my faith by my works. Thou believest that there is one God, thou doest well. The devils also believe and tremble. But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? Seest thou how faith wrought with his works? And by works was faith made perfect. And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness, and he was called the friend of God. You see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only. Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works when she had received the messengers and had sent them out another way? For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also. Let's pray. Dear God, thank you so much for your word. Thank you for giving us every bit of it. Thank you for the hard parts, Lord. We know that it is an honor to search out the things that are confusing, and it's our glory, and I pray that you'd help us to do that. Help me to say the right things. I pray that you'd help this chapter, these chapters, to be clear and not confusing, to be concise, and for folks to leave here with an understanding of this book. I pray that you bless this time, Bless everything that's done here today, Lord. I pray that you'd help me, help Pastor Turk, help every bit of the singing, and just everything that's done in your name, I pray that it will honor and glorify you. In Jesus' name, amen. Okay, I'm gonna just jump right into it. James 1.1, it says a servant of God, and then it says the 12 tribes which are scattered abroad. Again, don't get hung up on that. That seems like people are just jerking the wheel. There's a ditch on both sides when we talk about this kind of stuff. You jerk the wheel way off course. All scripture is given by inspiration of God. All scripture is profitable. All scripture is good for doctrine. All scripture is good for reproof. All scripture is good for correction. All scripture is so that the man of God, that's us, may be perfect, complete, throughly furnished, completely adorned and equipped to do whatever God would have us to do in all good works. You know what that is? That's grace, is what that is. Throughly furnished, fully equipped, having all you need to do God's will, to walk in the Spirit, to be filled with the Spirit, to crucify and deny the flesh, to die to self daily, everything you need. It's all right here in the Bible, and every word of God is pure, all right? So we're gonna need the book of James. There's a bunch in here. Let's go through it quickly. James chapter 1 verse 2 says, My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into diverse temptations. I was listening to...what's his name? He talks real high-pitched and he starts off all of his sermons with singing. Lester Roloff. I don't know if he does the singing or if they just put it at the beginning, but every one of Lester Rolloff's messages starts with him singing a little tune. But he said, you know, hey, count it all joy when you fall into diverse temptations. And I can't remember exactly what he said, but something to the effect of this is going to stump the math geniuses out there, because it doesn't say that it's joy. It just says you count it as joy. And I like that. You know, it might not be joy, but just count it as joy. And that's what we're going to talk about here, that the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works. It's a good thing when you're tempted and tried. You know, I know the Lord's prayer is, you know, lead us not into temptation. I don't want to be tempted and tried, but let me tell you what, it's a good thing when you're tempted and tried. And you say, why? How can that be? And here's the answer, because you can handle it. The Bible says, there hath no temptation taken you, but such as is common to man. And God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted. Above that you're able, but will with the temptation also make a way to escape that she may be able to bear it. So God has given you an out, and if you would just obey Him in every temptation and every trial, you would grow stronger and more complete, more perfect with each one. Count it all joy when you fall into diverse temptations. Going on, verse three, knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. So everything, every temptation, every trial, every potential pitfall, all of it proves your heart. You know, I think about these two guys a lot, but the trying of Joseph's faith proved his heart. And the trying of Samson's faith proved him to be weaker than anybody would have imagined. And so the trying of your faith, count it all joy when you're tried, but you're going to have to respond according to God's word and according to God's will. And you're going to have to, this is where you're going to mix in the works. You're just going to have to do it. All right, and that's not what's gonna save you. What's gonna save you is believe in the Lord. But here's a good example. If you believe, if I preach, come to your door, I preach the message to you, you know, and we've been out soul winning and have had a great time lately. But say, you know, me and Noah, we walk up to your door, we knock on your door, you open the door, we preach the message to you, you believe it. You say, I believe all this. I believe every bit of this. But you're just not wanting to call on the Lord. Do you really believe it? I mean, you believe all the facts, you've laid it all out, but I'm not willing to do that. Now, I'm not gonna force you to call on the Lord, because if I were to get you to call on the Lord, and you didn't really want to in your heart, it'd be no good. And I've given you some kind of false assurance. But here's the point, if you really believed it, you know, it's either Psalm 32 or 37, let me just go and find it, because I've got tons of time. Psalm, I don't know how else to say it better, so we'll just use the Bible way to say it. Bear with me, I like elevator music. Psalm, I think it's 32. Okay, I acknowledge Psalm 32, verse five and six. I acknowledge my sin unto thee, and my iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord, and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sins. Say, Law, for this shall everyone that is godly pray unto thee in a time when thou mayest be found. I'm gonna stop reading right there. Here's the point, if you really believed it, if you really confessed your iniquity unto God, and you really saw where you're at, you'd call on the Lord, all right? You may believe all the facts, But if you really believed it, you trusted it, if it really was gonna do anything for you at all, if it would save your soul, you'd call on the Lord. It'd make you do something. You know, Joseph, he really believed the Lord. He really applied the things that God would say to do, and it made his life just, it made him a great man in everyone's eyes. Samson was just so great, and he just had so much aptitude. Boy, he's like a lot of us, isn't he? But he proved himself to be weak in fortitude and weak in wisdom. Going on, verse 4, "...but let patience have her perfect work, that she may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing." Listen, if you've been saved, then it's already been determined, ultimately, eventually, you will conform to the image of the Son. You know, God has a purpose for what you're going through. It says, "...let patience have her perfect work, that you, ye, may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing." Here's another way to say it, and we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose. For whom He did foreknow, He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom He did predestinate, them He also called, and whom He called, them He also justified, and whom He justified, them He also glorified. What shall we say then to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? Listen, once you got saved, it's just a done deal. One day you're going to be perfect and righteous and holy in heaven with the Lord. You're going to have a glorified body. You're going to have no sin. Once you got saved, it's a done deal. It wasn't a done deal that you'd get saved. You had to trust the Lord. Everybody gets light. Everybody gets the truth. You've got to receive it. You've got to be humble enough to receive it. But if you would do that, it's done. You'll be conformed to the image of his son. The way it was said, I heard it from somebody else who heard it from somebody else, but this is a good way of explaining it. I don't fish for elect fish. I fish for all the fish. I'll take all the fish that'll bite, just cast it in there, take anyone that'll bite. But when they bite, I know they're elect, and when I get them in the boat, they're predestinated for the table. And that's the way it is. You're wanting all those fish on the table, and God would that we'd all go to heaven. But He's not going to bite for you. You're going to have to humble yourself and receive the Lord. If you get yourself lined up with God, lined up with His will, the way Brother Charlie, my old pastor, used to say it, put yourself under the window of blessings, of God's blessings, then the things you desire and ask of Him, He will provide. It's if it's God's will and you go to him for it. He will provide it It's just that way 1st John 5 14 And this is the confidence that we have in him that if we ask anything according to his will he heareth us And if we know that he hear us whatsoever we ask we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him if you would ask according to God's will you'd get it if you'd ask to be saved and earnestly mean it and you'd be saved. No doubt about it. There isn't anybody God doesn't want to save. And then if you'd line your will up with God's will, once you're saved, and walk in the Spirit, deny the flesh, the things that you would want, God would grant them to you. He would give them to you because they would be in line with His will. If we ask anything according to His will, He heareth us. And if we know that He heareth us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desire of Him. Back to James. It says in verse five, if any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God that giveth to all men liberally and upbraideth not, and it shall be given him. If you'd really ask God, if you'd really desire and beg and earnestly desire wisdom, then you'd surely, most definitely receive it. Most definitely, all right? But here's the point, verse six, let him ask in faith nothing wavering, for he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. If you're going to go to God, you better go hard. You better go all the way. You better not go tippy-toe and halfway to the Lord. Ask in faith, nothing wavering. If you don't really desire wisdom, then God will know it. I won't know it. God will know it, certainly. If you don't really want God's counsel, then so be it. He won't give it to you. He knows. I don't know. He'll let you go without it. If you don't want it, he's not going to push it on you. But if you earnestly desire to be right and to have the truth and to be pleasing to God, then he will make certain that you don't go without everything you need to do so. All right? Let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord. That's the guy that wavers and tossed about with the sea like wind. It says a double-minded man is unstable in all his ways. Don't think that halfway is acceptable to God. Don't think, well, you know, I walked down the aisle, you know. What is it? Somebody was saying that they, you know, they're going to do this, they're going to do that, and they're going to do all this other stuff. And then, you know, there was this one time where I, you know, I went down the aisle and I prayed to the Lord and I received Him. Not trusting that if you're naming off all the other stuff. That's halfway doing it. That's halfway going to the Lord and receiving it. If you don't trust that completely and only, then you've not trusted the Lord. If you trust 100% in Jesus plus just a little bit of you, then you're not been saved. You've not trusted the Lord. You can't go halfway. You can't go a little bit of the way. Let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord. A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways. Samson was double-minded and it showed up in more than just his prayer life. It was evident in all his ways, everything we saw Samson do. But Joseph was spiritually minded, and it didn't just show up in one area or another. It governed his walk. It governed his decision. It made his conversation something that you'd look at him and say, boy, that's a guy that's serving the Lord. That's a guy that believes the God, the God of the Bible. He has an exemplary conversation. And that's what we're talking about here. Romans 8.5, for they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh. Think about Samson and Joseph. But they that are after the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God, for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be, so then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways. Let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord. He that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. They that are in the flesh cannot please God." You see what I'm saying? It's all or nothing when it comes to pleasing God and doing God's will. You can say you have faith, you can say you believe, you can say whatever you want to say, but ultimately, I'm going to look at what you're doing, and God knows your heart. God knows your heart, all right? Going on, verse nine, let the brother of low degree rejoice in that he is exalted, but the rich in that he is made low, because as the flower of the grass, he shall pass away. You know, I said this last week, but be glad that life isn't just so easy. Be glad for some storms. You need some storms. You know, the Bible says, count it all joy when you fall into diverse temptations. I'm going fast. I want to get to chapter two, I know, but I want to get through this because this sets up chapter two. You know, I don't like it when somebody comes and takes a verse or three verses and pulls it out and makes a doctrine out of it. You've got a whole book. You've got a whole Bible here. You've got to make that one verse fit with all these verses. That's what you've got to do. But you definitely, if you just want to get this cursory understanding, you need to make that verse fit with the rest of the book. All right? So let's just do that. That's what we're doing. Verse 11, For the sun is no sooner risen with a burning heat, but it withereth the grass, and the flower thereof falleth, and the grace of the fashion of it perisheth. So also shall the rich man fade away in his ways. So all the best of everything here on earth is only for a moment. It's just for a little while. and if you got everything you ever wanted without exception, you'd be a spoiled brat, is what you'd be. If you got everything you ever wanted without exception, you would be verifiably, objectively worse than you are now. If you got everything all the time you ever wanted without exception, nobody would like you, and you wouldn't like them either. You'd be a real stick in the mud. You'd be worthless. If you got everything you ever wanted all the time without exception, You'd die and go to hell, sure thing, sure thing. You'd most certainly be a spoiled brat and die and go to hell. So just be happy that God puts you through some kind of storms and trials and allows you to know what affliction is. Because God wants, and I don't have time to preach all of it in the whole Bible, but God wants to bring you to a place where you will repent and believe on Him. Blessed is the man that endureth temptation, for when he has tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him. So again, be thankful for some storms. Hey, don't say that God tempted you. Don't you dare say that. God lets you prove your heart, Samson. God allowed you to manifest what or whom is in control of you. Don't tell anybody that God tempted you. Verse 14, but every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin. And sin, when you allow lust to conceive, it brings forth sin. And sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. I could talk about that, but I want to go on. Do not err, my beloved brethren. So don't mess this up. Don't think that everything outside of hellfire is not a gift from God, because it most certainly is. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. of his own will, begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures." You know, God's never wrong. God's never messed up. When God saved you by Christ, he did it for good. He won't take it back. Simply, you represent God now. If you've been born again, you represent God now, and God has a right to tell you exactly how to act, and you have the responsibility and the duty to follow him. How to be. Let's go on. Verse 19. Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath. For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God. Your way, your will is not God's will. Verse 21, wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness and receive with meekness the engrafted word which is able to save your souls. So first lay aside your naughty will and your filthy pride and be born again and then from that point continue to receive with meekness the engrafted word which will, what does it say, make you perfect unto all good works. Going on, verse 22, but be ye doers of the word and not hearers only. deceiving your own selves. So, you know, get to work representing Christ the best you can. You've got to let the Word save you. You've got to let the Word change you. And how does that happen? By obeying from the heart. So the Bible says, Romans 6.16. I'm fixing to slow down because I'm kind of getting to the point of the message. Romans 6.16. Know ye not that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey, whether of sin unto death or of obedience unto righteousness? But God be thanked. that you were the servants of sin. Thank goodness you saw that. But you have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. Being then made free from sin, you became the servants of righteousness. I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh. For as you have yielded your members, servants, to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity, even so now yield your members, servants, to righteousness unto holiness. Don't just be a hearer of the word, be a doer of the word, all right? Verse 23, for if any be a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass. You'd be surprised how many hearers of the word there are out there. You know, I believe this. I hear what you're saying, brother. I believe every bit of it. Yet they simply will not do God's will. They will not do God's word, even to the saving of their soul. They just will not. They will not. And you know, it's easy for me that Jesus said, few there be that find it. So it was not easy. As a new Christian, just like all new Christians, I think, I thought that everybody who went to church and said Jesus is saved. But as I learned the Bible, I realized what Jesus said, few there be that find it. And it's easy for me to believe that most people are not saved. So when I think about these hearers of the word and not doers of the word, and I want to just give everybody benefit of the doubt, but the fact of the matter is, if you really believed it, you'd do something about it. That's just the truth. That's just the truth. Like the guy who won't fix his hair or brush his teeth or comb his hair or just stuff all over his face and then he goes to the ball and expects you to just, he identifies as good looking and sharp or whatever. No, it doesn't work that way. Verse 24, For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed. So if a man will look with truth at the perfect law of God, he would see his need for a Savior. that he is inadequate and he needs to be born again, but if he'll continue to look therein into the perfect law of liberty, the Bible says, continue it therein, being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, and he'll be honest and he'll have some humility and he'll abide therein, then God will perfect that man. Then God will not, he's not gonna be perfect ever on this earth, he's got flesh, but God will make him more complete. You know, some of the most wicked people I ever met were old men and women that didn't ever get saved. And some of the wisest, most treasured men and women I ever met were old men and women who had got saved and just continued therein. So, will you be perfect and entire, wanting nothing? Or will you be so just glaringly imperfect and incomplete and wanting wisdom and discretion and discernment and just all of it, you know? Will you look in the perfect law of liberty and continue therein, or will you draw back unto perdition, as another verse says? Verse 26, if any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion is vain. You'll prove it one way or another with your words. You'll prove it. I'm gonna read this real quick. Luke 6, 45, a good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good, and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil, for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh. Let's go on, though. We're talking more about what James is saying here, so I'm just going to keep reading in Luke 6, verse 46. And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say? Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them, I will show you to whom he is like. He is like a man which built a house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock. When the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it, for it was founded upon a rock. But he that heareth and doeth not, who does not continue therein, is like a man that is like A man that without a foundation built an house upon the earth, against which the stream did beat vehemently, and immediately it fell. And the ruin of that house was great." There's more to believing in Jesus than just saying, I believe in Jesus. And I'm not saying you've got to work your way to heaven. I'm not saying that. I would never say that. I want to be so ultra extra clear. I don't believe in any works of any kind for salvation. For by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. But there's some predictable behavior for a child of God. There's predictable behavior for Bo's kids. They're not perfect, they mess up all the time, but you can tell my kids from somebody's kids in Zimbabwe or something. I'm not saying they're better, I'm just saying it's predictable behavior. You can tell the difference. So the Lord's children, there's some predictable behavior, there's some predictable adornments that will attend their conversation. Verse 27, Now I put in here the definition of religion from Webster's 1828, and it's pretty long. But I want to give you just maybe one of the definitions, because here's the point, and I'll read the definition, the first one. Religion, in its most comprehensive sense, includes a belief in the being and perfections of God, in the revelation of His will to man, in man's obligation to obey His commandments, in a state of reward and punishment, and in man's accountableness to God, and also true godliness or piety of life, with the practice of all moral duties. It therefore comprehends theology as a system of doctrines and principles, as well as practical piety. Without preference for his will or commands, it is—I'm sorry, I skipped a line—for the practice of moral duties without a belief in a divine lawgiver and without reference to his will or commands is not religion. So here's the point. When I think religion, I think Catholic Church. I think work your way to God, make yourself good enough for God, because that's what the world calls religion. But what the Bible says is religion is you just give your whole life to God. Just every bit of it. It encompasses all of it. Moral duties, beliefs, every bit of it. Everything you do. That's pure religion. So here's the point, there's more to believing in Jesus. Did you say, yeah, I believed in Jesus one time? You know, I hope you did, but I don't believe it. That's what I'm saying. James chapter two, let's finish up here. I got 10 minutes. My brethren have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory with respect of person. So now we're talking about you using your judgment and applying your will Your judgments ought to be conformed to God's will and to God's word, and your judgments ought not reflect your preferences and your proclivities, all right? James 2.2, for if there come unto your assembly a man with a gold ring and goodly apparel, and there come in also a poor man in vile raiment, 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 here, or sit under my footstool, are ye not then partial in yourselves, and are become judges of evil thoughts? So you've taken this partial, preference which is in you. Y'all, I like that guy. Smells good and looks good and he's sharp and sparkly. There's personal preference in you and you've applied it. You've become a judge of this personal preference outwardly. You're judging evil thoughts. Evil means harmful. It means it's not going to be edifying and good and right. It's going to ultimately be harmful and tear something down. So you have taken your will and you're applying this judgment to these people and say, I like this guy better. Well, that's not what the Bible says. You're doing evil is what it says. So going on, judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment. That's Jesus speaking in John chapter 7. So if you judge with respect to persons or with partiality, it's your will. It's your judgment. But if you judge according to God's will, which by the way you ought to judge, Don't get caught up on, oh, judge. Yeah, you better judge. You better make all kinds of judgments. Should you stay here and listen to this preaching? Or should you just hit the door? Should you come back next week? I mean, you've got to make all kinds of judgments. You better judge. Good grief you've got to judge. But if you judge according to God's word and God's will, then it's His judgment and it's righteous judgment. But if you judge according to your will and your preferences, you're judging evil thoughts. That's what the Bible says. Verse five, 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? but you have despised the poor. Do not rich men oppress you and draw you before the judgment seats? Do they not blaspheme that worthy name by which you are called?" You know, it's the poor people, it's the downtrodden people that are always sweet and nice to us, that hold the door for you, and it's the rich people that are making your dollar not worth a fraction of what it should be. It's the rich people that are doing everything they can do to afflict you in the name of the devil Yet we like the rich people, and we prefer the rich people, just in our own flesh, don't we? We prefer the rich. We prefer the nice. We prefer the affluent. We prefer the politically connected. We prefer all these things, but they're the bad guys, most often. You know, not as a rule. The exception proves the rule. But generally speaking, God says, your preference is wrong. You're flat out wrong. I've chosen the poor and the meek and the humble, and I want to uplift them, and you like the opposite. Talking to me, I'm talking to you. Your judgment is wrong. You judge according to your judgment, you've judged evil thoughts. You judge according to God's word and God's will and God's judgment, boy, you've done right. If you fulfill, here's the point, your judgment's evil while God's is pure and perfect, all right? If you fulfill the royal law according to the scripture, verse eight, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself, you do well. But if you have respect to persons, you commit sin and are convinced of the law as transgressors. So again, if you judge as you should by your judgment with partiality, then you're not loving your neighbor as yourself, and you are sinning. But if you judge, again, as you should, you should judge. If you judge according to God's word, then though possibly making harsh and definitive judgments, you're loving your neighbor as yourself. You're doing right. For whosoever shall keep, verse 10, the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. 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." Listen, if you do a whole bunch of things exactly right and do one thing wrong, you're a guilty sinner. So even if you are a wonderful Christian by most accounts and most measures, but you insist on applying your judgments and your way, even if you never miss church and soul winning, then thou art become a transgressor of the law, is what the Bible says. So speak ye, verse 12, I know I'm going fast, I'm almost done. So speak ye and so do as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty. So don't worry about every little thing. Don't worry about trying to keep all the rules. Oh, it's almost sundown, I gotta get off work because of the Sabbath. Don't worry about that kind of stuff. That is stupid. Just judge everything by God's Word. Just judge it all by justice and judgment and grace and mercy and equity and judge it all according to God's Word. That's how you're going to apply righteous judgment. And if you don't apply God's righteous judgment, and if you don't, you know, what if you just pray a prayer and you never see your condemned state? What if you just go through the motions? What if none of it ever really means anything to you? You just say, I have faith, or whatever. For he shall have, verse 13, judgment without mercy that hath shown no mercy, and mercy rejoiceth against judgment. You know, what if you say, I'll get saved, but I'll do it my way. You know, what if you say, well, I'll serve God, I'll do it my way, though. Well, then you didn't get saved, and you're not serving God. That's what I want you to know. Verse 14, what doth the prophet, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? Can faith save him? So here's what it is. The idea, and this is not my, somebody quoted this, I'm gonna butcher the quote, but it's a really good point, so I'm gonna try to think of it. The idea of a faith that doesn't produce any good works is just as foreign to the Bible as the idea of a faith that is produced by good works. Works don't make anybody saved and they won't give you faith, but if you have faith, then you're gonna do something. If you believe it, you're gonna do something about it. Maybe not as much as me, maybe a lot more than me, maybe not as much as this guy, maybe more than that, I don't know. But if you have faith, you're gonna do something about it. Verse 15, If a brother or sister be naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you say unto him, Depart in peace, be ye warm and filled, notwithstanding give them not those things which are needful to the body, what doth it profit? Genuine care and concern out of unfeigned love and compassion that doesn't produce anything is not genuine care and concern out of unfeigned love and compassion. It's not. If you come to my house limping and broken and bloody and hurt and beat up and hungry and cold and tired and I said, brother, I love you and I'm going to pray for you and shut the door. I don't love you and there's no compassion. That's the truth. Maybe I can't do everything you need, but I can do something for you. You know, you might really care, but if you simply say, depart in peace, be ye warm and filled, notwithstanding, you give them not those things which are needful to the body, then I don't really believe that you do care, you know? And I'm not saying, I don't know God sees the heart, but let's just go on with the chapter, all right? Maybe you do believe, maybe you do believe, God knoweth. But if you got no fruit of the Spirit, and you couldn't care less for the things of God, and you can't stand God's people, and you hate to hear preaching, and I'm judging righteous judgment, then I'm gonna bet you've not been born again. Don't know. Maybe you have. Verse 19, Thou believest that there is one God. Thou doest well. The devils also believe and tremble. So you believe the facts? You say, Beau, I believe all the facts. I am impeccable on the facts. Well, let me tell you something. The devil is very orthodox. He's straight down the line. He knows this Bible about as well as you do, I bet. He's very orthodox. Frankly, he's got good doctrine, but what he knows terrifies him. All right? And I'll just take this point to say that Jesus Christ is both a judge and a deliverer. And if you think of Jesus Christ and you think of a judge, a terrifying judge that abides over the court, then perhaps you need to get on the right side of him. Because you need to look at Jesus Christ and see a gracious, merciful deliverer. And if you're guilty and do judgment, then you're not going to see him that way. So, going on, you better be a doer of the word and not a hearer only. Don't deceive yourself. Verse 20, but wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead. I'm going to say it again, a faith that doesn't produce works is just as foreign to the word of God as a faith that is produced by works. It's just no such thing. James 2.21, now here it is, all right? Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? Man, this is why people wanna just take this out of the Bible. Just take it out, lift it out. Seest thou how faith wrought with his works? And by works was faith made perfect. And the scripture was fulfilled, which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness. And he was called the friend of God. Now he believed God, And it was imputed unto him for righteousness, and he was called the friend of God. But had he disobeyed God, would we be able to say this? Would the scripture have been fulfilled? Would we call him the friend of God? Would he still have believed God? I don't know, maybe. Maybe he still would have believed God, but we wouldn't be reading about it. That's for sure. So there's the point. Because he believed God, it led him to do something. You know, I'm not going to go to Hebrews chapter 13, but every single one of those deals is there's an Old Testament saint who you thought or somebody thought got saved by works, who simply believed God, it was counted to them for righteousness, and then they did something about it. And that ought to be your life too, by the way. But I'm going to finish this off real quick. You see then how that by works a man is justified and not by faith only. Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works when she had received the messengers and had sent them out another way. For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also. You guys remember Rahab. She believed the messengers of God and she got a vow and she made a covenant with them and then she turned them into the authorities. No, that would have contradicted what she said she believed. Now, would that have been possible? Is it possible there's Christians out there that believe on the Lord and have seen their sin and received salvation and you just can't tell it by looking at it? Yes, it's possible, but it contradicts what they said they believe. So if I'm to judge righteous judgment, boy, it don't look like it to me, all right? Romans chapter 4. This is where we're going to end up. I've got to put this in here because this is the answer. Here's the thing about the Bible. It's got to be systematized. And this is a term that I learned not too long ago. I was already doing this, but you've got to make it all fit together. You've got to make James fit with Romans. You can't say, James doesn't fit with Romans, and I don't like it, and so it must be to the twelve tribes, and it's not for me." Well, you know, here's the thing about it. The Bible says that God inspired His Word, and God preserved His Word, so I don't trust some council, or some king, or some group of people. I don't even trust Christians. to keep God's Word perfect and pure and preserved. I believe God did it. Now sure, I believe He used Christians. I believe He used kings and councils and all kinds of other stuff too. Donkeys even. But that's not what I'm trusting. I'm trusting God to preserve it. So when you tell me, you know, we got the whole Word of God, I believe it's the whole thing. And for that reason, I have to presume that every Word of God is pure. That all Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable. All of it is profitable. So Romans chapter 1, let's finish up with the answer. to James 2. What shall we say then? Verse 4, I'm sorry, Romans chapter 4 verse 1. What shall we say then that Abraham our father as pertaining to the flesh hath found? As pertaining to the flesh hath found. You've got to catch this stuff. For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory. Now just a moment ago, and the scripture was fulfilled, which saith, Abraham believed God and was imputed unto him for righteousness. And it says, you see then how that by works a man is justified and not by faith only. Throw out James. No, we're going to systematize it. But let's go on. For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory, but not before God. So when I look at Abraham, I can say, boy, he's the father of faith. He's a friend of God, faithful Abraham. And it's because he was willing to offer Isaac, his son, upon the altar. If he had not done that, I presume Abraham would have still got saved and trusted the Lord. Don't know. Don't have to know. It doesn't matter. What matters is that because he believed God, he did something about it. All right? You know, nobody says Brother Bo and his family don't believe in church. We come to church every chance we get. We go to extra church because we believe in church. But you know what? There's other things that I say I believe in, like really taking good care of my car, but I don't do it. Or taking real good care of my body, but I don't do it very well. But I believe in church. And you know how you know that? Because you're going to find me here. And you say, well, I think Bo believes in taking care of his car. But if you go out and get in my truck, you're going to say, I don't know if he really believes that. The point is, if you believe it, you'll do something about it. All right, going on. I'm going to finish this up. For what sayeth the scripture, Abraham believed God, verse 3, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. There is the fact. That's what you need to know. You got to systematize it. Verse 4, now to him that worketh The guy that's trying to earn his salvation. This doesn't mean the guy that's doing good things after he got saved. This is the guy that's trying to earn his salvation. Now, to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. He says, God, you owe me. Lord, Lord, have I not prophesied in thy name, and in thy name have cast out devils, and in thy name done many wonderful works? Depart from me, ye that work in equity. I never knew you. It says, but to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. Verse five, but to him that worketh not, not trust in any works, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly." That's Jesus Christ that justifies us ungodly bums. His faith is counted for righteousness. And it goes on, let's be clear, even as David also described it, the blessedness of the man unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works, saying, blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin. Come at this blessedness then upon the circumcision only, or upon the uncircumcision also? Upon the people that have done what they're supposed to do and gone through the steps and done the works? Or no? For we say that faith was reckoned Abraham for righteousness. How then was it reckoned? Was when he was in circumcision or in uncircumcision? Not in circumcision, but in uncircumcision. So before Abraham ever did anything, God counted him as righteous because he believed. You say, how can he do that? Because God sees your heart, all right? I don't see your heart. All I see is what you do. So if I judge righteous judgment, I'm going to judge on what you do. I'm not going to judge on what you say, unless what you say just bears record of what you believe. How then was it reckoned, when he was in circumcision or in uncircumcision? Not in circumcision, but in uncircumcision. Verse 11, and he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had yet being uncircumcised, that he might be the father of all them that believe, though they be not circumcised, that righteousness might be imputed unto them also. So because he believed, he received the sign of circumcision, he did something, all right? That's not what saved him. and the father of circumcision to them who are not of the circumcision only, but also who walk in the steps of that faith of our father Abraham, which he had being yet uncircumcised. Could it be more clear? For the promise that he should be the heir of the world was not to Abraham or to his seed through the law, but through the righteousness of faith. I'll say it one last time. A faith that doesn't produce any works out of a believer is just as foreign to the word of God as a faith that is produced by works. Works won't save you, but if you're saved, you're gonna wanna serve your Father. You're gonna wanna do something for the Lord. That's just a fact, that's just Bible. I'm not preaching works, I'm preaching the truth. Let's pray. Dear God, thank you so much for your word. Thank you for giving it to us. Lord, I pray that you'd help us to be humble as we read it and receive it. I pray that you'd help us to know that we can be corrected and we don't have it right. And Lord, help us to put it all together. When we see something that appears to be a contradiction, I pray that you'd help us to meekly and humbly receive it and search the truth. God, I pray that you'd give it to us. I pray that we would earnestly desire truth, and you'd perfect every one of us. Thank you so much for this church, for the leadership here, for your doctrine and for your word. Thank you for blessing our lives. I pray that you'd continue to bless us today. Help us to do things that honor you. In Jesus' name, amen.