Good morning, everyone. Speak, O Lord, as we come to you to receive the food of your holy word take your truth plant it deep in us shape and fashion us in your likeness that the light of Christ might be seen today in our acts of love and our deeds of faith. Speak, O Lord, and fulfill in us all your purposes for your glory. Teach us, Lord, full obedience, holy reverence, true humility. Test our thoughts and our attitudes in the radiance of your purity. Cause our faith to rise Cause our eyes to see Your majestic love and us all relieved Words of power that can never fail Let their truth prevail over unbelief Speak, O Lord, and renew our minds. Help us grasp the height of your plans for us. Truths unchanged from the dawn of time that will echo down through eternity. And by grace we'll stand on your promises And by faith we'll walk as you walk with us Speak, O Lord, till your church is built and the earth is filled with your glory oh speak oh lord That's some song. Beautiful. Thank you, Vicki. Let's pray, please. Father, we think about those families in New England that lost their children. Moreover, Your glorious purpose in judgment and in rescuing children by the sacrifice of Christ for the innocents, taking them to be with you forever. We'll see that manifest in eternity and it will be a source of great happiness and worship, worship of your glorious person. Father, we thank you for perspective that comes from the Word of God that evens everything out. We don't have to fret or strive because your Word gives us inner peace, tranquility of soul that does not depend on the absence of conflict. Father, as we enter into the study of the book of James, may it edify us, strengthen us, advance us in the truth, Give us your wisdom, faith that works through love, and everything else, the self-control, the resistance of temptation for the crown of life, the faith of Abraham in offering Isaac justification by works, that is, the works of faith, labors of love, and the steady production of hope that cannot be denied, that its source is from you. Father, open our eyes that we might behold wondrous things out of your law. In the name of Christ Jesus, our Lord, we pray. Amen. How about those shootings, huh? Interesting stuff. People will be glued to the television set, but few will have perspective. They think it's a terrible tragedy when God has rescued those young people, those babies, and taken them to be with himself. And that'll be manifest for all eternity. That'll be a wonderful thing. So we don't have to think, oh my, my, my. And we don't have to worry about that happening to us. I hope it does. Get a disgruntled postal worker to mow me down with an automatic weapon. People think that we're crude and coarse and uncaring because we have perspective. So, get used to being misunderstood. Comes with the territory. Jesus says it right here in an early passage that I'll bring forth. So, I've entitled the message today, Not like on Tuesday, I entitled it, James Who? Today it's Intro to James, because we already know who James is. But I'll enlighten some of you that weren't here. The Word Will. The Lord Will. His Spirit Will. Turn to James 1-1. It's Sunday, 12-16, 2012. James 1, verse 1. That's all the further we're going to get today. I'm not going to do this for every verse. I'm going to group some things up. I don't want to spend forever in this epistle, but enough time. Be led by the Spirit so that we give it thorough treatment, but we're not going to do it exegetically or even verse by verse. I exegete, but I'm not going to do it for you. You have to learn it for yourself. James, I'm kidding, James 1.1. James, introducing himself here, the author of this epistle, this inspired letter, he calls himself a bondservant of God. Here, in case you don't know this, he is the brother, half-brother of Jesus Christ. This James is called James the Lord's brother. That's what Paul calls him. And in Galatians 2 and 1 Corinthians 15. And here James, a bondservant, is interesting because he goes from blood relative to bondservant. That's quite a jump. That's quite a step. And because, early on, his brothers and sisters didn't accept him and didn't believe him, and you can't blame them how hard that would be to live with the Son of God and to recognize who he was, when in so many ways he seemed so, so much, so totally human. And he was, but also divine in his nature, bearing about two natures. the divine and the human. In Matthew 13.55, you don't have to turn there, but you may if you'd like, they were questioning Jesus based upon the things that he said and did. They can't imagine that he could do these things and say these things, having never received a formal education. and the works of power were indisputable. They said this, they said, is not this the carpenter's son? You know, familiarity breeds contempt. Is not his mother's name Mary and his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? Not Simon, not Simon Peter, not Judas Iscariot. Those were very common names. Judas was Jude, the Jude that wrote the epistle of Jude. He starts out his epistle, Jude, the Lord's brother. And that's who he is. And so it says, don't we know his mother's name is Mary and his brothers, James, Joseph, Joseph or Joseph and Simon and Judas and his sisters. Are they not all with us? In case you don't know this, Mary and Joseph had natural children. At least five, probably six. He says, sisters, so there must be more than one. So, don't let that throw you from your Catholic background. Some guy told me yesterday, he said, I am a recovering Catholic. I said, that's interesting. I said, I know what you're talking about. I said, what are you recovering from, guilt and fear? He said, yeah. I said, good. And we talked a little bit about the Lord. And he said, I'll be back to talk more. So I hope he does. Oh, by the way, I want to announce something else, which I forgot to announce on Tuesday, and I almost forgot to announce now. There's a fellow and his wife that have come here on Tuesday nights, Dave and, gosh, I can't think of her name all of a sudden, Dave and his wife. And they go to the Presbyterian Church up here. And that incident where the doctor was released from the terrorists by the Navy SEALs, he was the one that was killed. That's his son, Dave's son. His name is Nicholas Chek, C-H-E-C-Q-U-E. So keep that family in prayer. My friend John, who walks his dog around here, went immediately to see him and stayed with him for hours and consoled him with the Word of God, which is a wonderful thing. So I wanted to make that announcement. Of all people in all places, it would be somebody from here. Wow. He's a hero. He's a true hero. And if you interviewed him, he wouldn't say, oh, I wish I had stayed alive and I didn't have to do what I did. No, he was happy to do it. It was his duty and his destiny. So, see, that perspective will get you every time. You know, we don't only know what happens, but why, from the Word of God. So you're informed in more ways than one, and balanced by it. So, his sisters and brothers are here. It says, this is Matthew 13, 55 to 57. He says, then, where did this man get all these things? And they took offense at him. They were offended by him. But Jesus said to them, a prophet is not without honor, except in his hometown and among his own family members, his immediate family members and his relatives. Is that true? Oh, yeah, that's true. All right. I'm here to tell you it's true. And I can tell you all kinds of things that happen, but it would bore you to tears because we're here to hear the Word of God, not about people's experiences. Now turn to Acts, chapter 8. And we're still in James 1. You can leave your finger there so you can refer to it. Because what he says next in James 1 is, that he's a bondservant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, that's his half-brother, and he's addressing his letter to the twelve tribes who are diaspora, that is, dispersed, sown abroad. Diaspora is the sowing of seed, and that's exactly what the Lord did. He did it in ancient times and he does it in modern times. He scatters people out so that the word will be disseminated and heard by more and more people through those who have it. So don't be surprised if the Lord sows you into the world and spreads you out, disperses you. And it's a good thing. So he says, in Acts 8, he says, let me go back to James 1. He says, James, a bondservant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ to the twelve tribes who are dispersed abroad. Greetings. In Acts 8, after the stoning of Stephen, We see a young man who's still called Saul, who will later be called Paul. Saul means big and Paul means small. It says, Saul was in hearty agreement with putting Stephen to death. And from that day on, a great persecution arose against the church in Jerusalem. James, by the way, is stationed in Jerusalem. He's the bishop of Jerusalem. He took the bishopric of another, that is of Judas Iscariot. It was not Matthias who was God's choice. That was the Apostle's choice by lotto, by drawing straws. But it wasn't God's choice. His choice was somebody else. Somebody named James that used to be an adversary and became a bondservant. Used to be a relative and became a bondservant. He used to be a blood relative and became a bond slave to him. So it says, from that day forward persecution arose against the church in Jerusalem and they were all scattered, that's diaspora, sown, as it were, into the field. It says they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria. Those are the ancient borders of the promised land. And in case you don't know, Samaria is the northern kingdom and Judea is the southern kingdom. Except for the apostles. Isn't that amazing? God protected them. You would think they would flee first. No, they're ready to go down with a ship. You know, they're ship captains. Apostolos are admirals in God's navy. That's what they were in ancient Greece, was admirals. They were called apostolos, apostles. And so these guys are going to stay at the helm no matter what. Come hell or high water, they're going to stay at the helm. And they feel safe in doing so because they know that nobody can take you out unless the Lord gives them permission to and not until he does. And all of those things are his domain and his promise to do as he wills. Every soul is created by him and every soul is taken back by him. And everyone will give an answer, the unsaved and the saved alike. So he says, that some devout men buried Stephen. Stephen's an important character because he's the first one persecuted to death and was ready to go. See? And the principle is that's not going to be required of you unless you're ready to go or before you know what hits you. In terms of being taken out under judgment because the righteous are swept away with the wicked. You say, does God sweep away the righteous from the wicked? I'm talking about those who have the righteousness of God, believe in Christ, but never have that crisis of consecration. God's discipline and his wounding of that believer never results in his getting serious about his spiritual life and bringing glory to God, fearing Him. They don't fear God. But rather they fear man. And the fear of man is a snare. But the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom. And wisdom is the most important thing. It will cost you everything you have. Get it. Get understanding. If anyone lacks it, James tells us, what do you do? Ask God. And he'll give it to you. as much as you need. He'll make you look like a genius and you won't be able to say anything except God gave me the information I needed to think with and to choose and the strength to choose and the resolution and to be resolute in making decisions and implementing his strategy, not mine. He's a wonderful counselor, which means extraordinary strategist. So he'll tell you what to do, when to do it, how to do it. That's wisdom. Wisdom takes into account the when and the how also. Not just the what. The what, the when, the why, the where and how. All of it. God's wisdom does. And so, Saul began, next it says, some devout men buried Stephen. and made loud lamentation over him. They probably didn't have the perspective, see? Oh, poor Stephen, what a tragedy to lose our brother, this good man. They made loud lamentation. And they did that back then. I guess that was cultural more than anything else. You know, if you went to a funeral, you had to wail. It wasn't because they couldn't help it. They just did it. Whoa! Poor thing. He didn't feel no pain. And you could really care less that you just go through the motions. That's what they did. They had professional mourners. Remember? The little girl that died and Jesus came, he kicked them all out. He goes, get out of here. I'm going to raise her from the dead. So you don't need all your gyrations. and your empty traditions." So, they made loud lamentation over Stephen, his dead body. Stephen's not there. Remember, the Lord stood in heaven and received his spirit. But Saul, it says in verse 3, began ravaging the church. He was intending to destroy it, albeit unsuccessfully, as you know, because the Lord intervened, intercepting him on the road to Damascus and placing him into service, not as the twelfth apostle, as the thirteenth, the apostle to the Gentiles, not the apostle to the Jews, Paul was a Jew and a Gentile, which was perfect, a perfect fit for the church which would be predominantly Gentile, with some Jews in every generation mixed in. The great amalgamation, Jews and Gentiles into the body, the body, the body of Christ. They're not Jews anymore. There are no Jews or Gentiles. slaves or free, male or female, rich and poor, that is spiritually speaking, but all are one in Christ and everybody is fit together by the Spirit who gifts each one. as he desires and specifies. That is, in local assemblies, so that there may be functional believers, functional sons in the kingdom of God, led by the Spirit of God. Because only those who are led by the Spirit of God are the functional sons of God. Been led by the Spirit lately? Nobody! Wow! Good! No, I'm kidding. We're led by the Spirit, sometimes beyond anything that we recognize. Just like the filling of the Spirit. It's not sensational. It has no sense to it. It has no feeling to it. It's just truth, which is received and applied to your life. Today I'm filled with the Spirit. Really? Yeah. I'm counting on it. If I'm not, then I will have absolutely, I'll make no sense and have no impact at all on you or anybody else. And they'll say, oh, there's another religious fool who needs wisdom from the Lord. He better ask. He doesn't have it because he didn't ask for it. I'm going to tie James in all over the place. So, Paul's ravaging the church and he's entering house after house and dragging off men and women that he intended to put in prison, that he would put in prison. And then from there they would have their Jewish trial and be stoned to death like Stephen. That's what he wanted to do. He was a violent offender. And he was doing it with zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. He understood that very well when he addressed his countrymen, Jews according to the flesh in Romans chapter 10. He said they have a zeal for God, but not according to righteousness. Therefore, they've set out to establish their own righteousness and will not ever You know, have the righteousness of God as long as they're counting on their own righteousness, being righteous before him. So, he was dragging off men and women, put them in prison. Therefore, those who had been scattered, that's diaspora. Remember in James, he says to the twelve tribes who are scattered abroad, dispersed abroad. It says that, therefore those who had been scattered went about preaching the word. Think God has something to do with that? I think he has everything to do with it. And Philip, one of the disciples of Jesus, one of the only ones that you really hear about, you have Matthew, of course he wrote the Gospel of Matthew, then you have Mark, Luke, oh those aren't disciples. Mark's not a disciple, Luke's not. I mean, they're disciples, but they're not the original twelve disciples. But you have John, and Matthew, and Philip here. Not many others besides. James is mentioned in Acts 12.1. He was put to death. That is, James, the brother of John. This is James, the Lord's brother, who wrote this epistle. So it says that they went about preaching the word and Philip went down to the city of Samaria. See, you always go up to Jerusalem, but down to Samaria. Right, Eddie? Yeah? And Samaria's north, but it says he went down to Samaria. They said, let's go up to Jerusalem. They're going south. But Jerusalem's at a higher elevation. I learn stuff from this guy all the time. Important things. Have you still got some seats left at the house for your study? None. Oh well. One. Let's compete for it. It's good stuff. So they went down. Philip went down to Samaria. That's the northernmost part of Israel. And began proclaiming Christ to them. And the multitudes with one accord were giving attention to what was said by Philip, as they heard and saw the signs which he was performing. For in the case of many who had unclean spirits, they were coming out of them, shouting with a loud voice. And many who had been paralyzed and lame were healed. And there was much rejoicing in that city. So accompanying the preaching of the word were miraculous acts like people being freed from demon possession and demon influence, which always happens when the gospel is preached. And the only way that demon spirits are exercised is by faith in Christ, not by Catholic or occult rituals. and not in the demonstrable way that they show it on and dramatize it in movies. Although, when Jesus was here, there was a demonstrable presence and manifestation. But I think it's mostly coming from His perspective, the way He would see it versus the way you would see it. You know how God spoke to some and they just thought thunder happened? You know, they just thought there was a clap of thunder? But Paul, he heard the Lord saying, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? And the rest of them just saw a bright light and heard thunder. And that's the way it goes. He speaks to one individual at a time. except for on three occasions God the Father spoke. This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. In one instance at the baptism of John and then hear him on the Mount of Transfiguration and in another place this is my son identifying him and certifying his acts of power. So we have Saul and Philip going down to preach. He's sown. And for in the case of many who had unclean spirits, they were coming out of them, shouting with a loud voice, and many who had been paralyzed and lame were healed. And there was much rejoicing in that city. So you see what happens to the diaspora, the spreading out or the sowing of the church. under persecution and who sponsors that persecution or allows it for that purpose and it's God. So the word can get to more and more people and so that more people can know the true identity of Jesus Christ. In Acts 12.1, our James is not the same James that's being addressed as the subject. In Acts 12.1 it says, now about that time, now this is about the same time, it's a little bit after the stoning of Stephen, Herod the king laid hands on some who belonged to the church in order to mistreat them and he had James, the brother of John, put to death. with a sword. So that rules him out. He's dead. He can't write an epistle. And so now turn to 1 Corinthians 15. We're going to introduce James. I'm going to show you how God did things. If you ask most people, they would say, Matthias is the twelfth apostle that took the place of Judas, or Paul was the twelfth apostle and disciple who took the place of Judas, and neither one is true. James is dead, but there's no apostolic succession. So, there's 11 left after James dies. But from the beginning, it had to be 12. There had to be 12. Most of the apostles, it doesn't tell us in detail, but we know that Peter, after his swan song, was put to death. And we know Paul was put to death. We don't know the details of it because the Bible doesn't tell us. And you can't go by Fox's Book of Martyrs. You can only go by the Bible and what it says and by what it doesn't say. You don't add to it. You don't need to. And they're not exalted. Christ is exalted. Men are not exalted in the Scriptures. God will exalt those who humble themselves, but man does not exalt himself, and God doesn't share His glory with man. 1 Corinthians 15.1. This is Paul speaking to the Corinthians. In 2 Corinthians, he's going to tell them about a man in Christ. who about 14 years before that time was taken up into the third heaven. Paul had the greatest revelation of all, the revelation of the mystery. Those things hidden from ages and generations past revealed to him and then he revealed them and taught them to the others. That's why, because of the revelation that Paul received in the third heaven, he went up to Jerusalem to meet with the apostles for the first time. And he met with who? Peter and James and John. And James, that is, the Lord's brother, who had the bishopric of Jerusalem and was the twelfth apostle, the one the Lord picked himself, as we'll see. He says, Paul says, Now I make known to you, brothers, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received. By which also you stand, that is, you stand firm in grace. That's the death, the burial, and the resurrection of Christ as he's about to tell us. By which you are also saved, that is, eternally saved, and saved in time by having those realities front and center in the frontal lobe, staring at the cross until you're cross-eyed. And you'll see the reality, not only of the justice and righteousness of God, but the love of God, all seen through the viewing window of the cross. So stare at that puppy until you can see everything through it. Puppy's not, you know, that's just a slang terminology. In case you didn't get it, you go, what's he talking about puppies for? I love puppies. And they love me. Okay, puppy love. It's only puppy love. I love puppies too. Who doesn't? I cry when puppies are killed instead of people. Something wrong with me? Uh-uh. Puppies don't go to heaven. People do. Children do. So think about that one for a minute. Okay. He says, I make known to you, brothers, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, and which also you stand, by which you are also saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless, of course, you believed in vain. What does that mean, believed in vain, to no effect? See, if you don't believe that God raised Jesus from the dead, you're not saved. You know, you have no Savior unless He was raised from the dead. If He just put to death and died and His body's in the ground, there's no salvation. God had to raise Him from the dead. He raised Him from the dead for our justification. That means it's proof positive that He accepted His sacrifice, His payment in full to meet the demands of justice and righteousness on our behalf. To pay for our sins. To judge the devil. All of those things. He vindicated him. That's the mystery. Vindicated in the Spirit. Preached among the nations. Believed on in the world and taken up into glory. 1 Timothy 3.16 Great is the mystery of godliness. It's all about Christ. He says, unless you believed in vain. That means if you don't believe in the resurrection like the Corinthians didn't, See, they were Greeks. Remember when Paul went to Mars Hill and he started talking about the resurrection of the dead? He goes, we'll hear you again on Sunday. And not too many people, on the Sabbath, and not too many people there believed Paul's message because he talked about resurrection. Well, that was not a popular concept in Greece. Resurrection. It's all about here and now, not about there and then. The by and by. Just all here and now. And that resurrection thing was, they thought was stupid. Versus Eastern religion where everybody comes back in a different form, reincarnation. They didn't buy that either. They really didn't buy that one. So, believing in vain means you don't believe in the resurrection. Therefore, you are of all men, most miserable. And why curtail the activities of your life? You don't live forever, you die in a grave like a puppy, like a dog. No, that's not the case for any human being. Every human soul will dwell one place or another for all eternity, in one place or another for all eternity. That's the most pressing issue of human life and time. To answer the first great question and to answer the second question, which will give you entrance into the New Jerusalem and allow you to eat from the Tree of Life, have the privileges of the elite, the elect, the aristocracy of eternity. and dwell in the regions, the layers, levels, and even the lofts of the New Jerusalem, which is 1,500 miles high. You think you're going to get away from that? Nah, never. Can't. It's burned into my soul. So I just relate to that right away. This is how I study. I'm studying for you right now. I did study this, but I'm studying. That's how I go. I go from this one to that one, this one to that one, that one, this one, this one, and it paints a beautiful picture. of Christ. Because it's only and always about Him. Christ and Him crucified. Paul says, I purposed to do nothing while I was among you Corinthians. This is Corinth here. Except Christ and Him crucified. Crucified, buried, and raised. He says, except or unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you that which is of first importance, that is in terms of the salvation issue. One issue, faith in Christ. He says, when I also received myself, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, just as the Scriptures predicted He would. like in Isaiah 53, like in Psalm 22, like in many passages from the Old Testament, the Law, the Prophets, the Psalms, the Nebaim, the Kethubim, you know, the old, the codices, the various codices of the Law, all about Christ, all about His death, His burial, His resurrection, like Leviticus, offering the sacrifice, each one, you know, describing or illustrating a part of what Christ would do in reality. And so he says that I delivered you as first importance when I also received myself that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures and that he was buried and that he was raised on the third day according to the scriptures and that he appeared to Cephas, that's Peter, then to the twelve So he had a private audience with Peter and then to the twelve. Well, there's only 11, right? Oh, well, maybe Matthias was there. No, he wasn't. That wasn't done until afterwards. Well, after the resurrection of Christ. He says that. He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. After that, he appeared to more than 500 brethren at one time. Most of whom remain alive until now. He says, but some have fallen asleep. Some have died. I mean, that's many years after the resurrection of Christ, when Paul's writing to the Corinthians. 30 or so years. So, he says, next, then he appeared to James. This is the only way we know this, is because Paul tells us. And nobody else knows this. This was disclosed to Paul, that he appeared to James, his brother, his half-brother. And he says, then to all the apostles. What do you mean to all the apostles? That makes 12. See? James makes 12. He appeared to Peter, then to all the apostles. He appeared to James and the twelve. See, it makes twelve. Then to all the apostles, and last of all, as it were, to one untimely born. One untimely born means that he wasn't fully developed enough to be born and live. He was snatched as a premature or an abortion from the womb and made to live by the grace of God. I am what I am by the grace of God, which he says next. So one untimely born, in other words, born too early, He appeared to me also, for I am the least and the last. Least means last, oftentimes. The first shall be last and the last shall be first. And we know Paul will be first in many areas, many categories. He says, I am the least of the apostles who are not fit to be called an apostle. Because I persecuted the church of God has nothing to do with Paul's deserving it and it has nothing to do as a reward for Persecuting the church has nothing to do with those things with his good deeds or his dirty deeds thunder cheap And he says I persecuted the church but by the grace of God grace is always emphasized it's the glorious theme from the beginning the Word of God to the end. It's all the Word of His grace which is able to build you up and reveal your inheritance among all those who are saints, sanctified. And in the end to give you a rich reward. Riches and treasures, unlimited measures. from the treasuries of heaven so that you might have pockets full of spending money, even though you don't have any here. You just have chump change in your pocket. Not even enough to give a good tip. Buy the meal, but no tip. Right, Dan? How's that work? That's a subject for a different time that I'll never probably address. Won't give Dan the microphone. He can address it. So anyway, He says it has nothing to do with me. It has everything to do with grace. I am what I am. Who said that? Popeye. Not just Paul, but Popeye. I am what I am. Something like that. Thank you for that pity laugh. He's pitiful, isn't he? He's beside himself. You should really stop trying to make us laugh because you're not funny. Honey? What was I talking about? Oh, money. See, I rhyme, too, all the time in my head. I live in a world of alliteration. So anyway, here we go. He appeared to me also, for I am the least of the apostles. who have not fit worthy to be called an apostle because I persecuted the church of God but by the grace of God I am what I am and his grace toward me did not prove empty or non-productive or ineffective did not prove vain but I labored even more than all the rest of them put together. It's exactly what it says. It says it in the English, but we think that it's just a colloquialism, like I did more than all of them put together, which isn't true. Well, Paul did. More than all the rest of them put together. Yet, it wasn't me. But the grace of God that was with and upon me which is so true. Paul was in prison in Rome, and because of his imprisonment, and because of the publicity of his trials, and because of the Praetorian Guard that was receiving the word from Paul and going out into the whole Roman Empire, the word of God was spreading like wildfire, even through the very house of Caesar himself. where so many believed in Christ and spent time with Paul who was in a rented apartment and received guests and taught them the word of God. The Jews he had to keep sending away because they didn't consider themselves worthy of the kingdom of God. And they were of James. James wasn't sponsoring their negativity or their false teaching, but they came from Jerusalem, so they were from James, they would always say. And James says, they weren't from us, like those who taught that unless you're circumcised according to the Law of Moses, you can't be saved. In Acts chapter 15, that was some of the Pharisees who had believed, who became the Judaizers. who were the test and torment of the true apostles. Came in behind them and tried to dismantle everything they taught and said, including the gospel. They'd bring a different gospel, a different Jesus, another spirit, and Paul calls them messengers of Satan. Can you be a messenger of Satan and be a saved person? You betcha. You sure can. Because most of the time, believers act like the devil more than they do like Jesus. And if you don't think that's true, God will even show you this. And you won't say, oh well, that's the way it goes. No, you'll repent. You'll confess your sins and then that will lead you to repentance. The goodness and kindness of God leads you to repentance. The severity and discipline of God leads you to repentance. So what's God's purpose for your repentance? Repent! For the kingdom of God is at hand. That doesn't change. That message never changes. So, he says, I labored more than all of the rest of them put together. Yet it wasn't me, but it was the grace of God that was with and upon me, whether then it was me or them. He says, so we preached, and you believe. And so Paul is responsible for the diaspora at this time. James addresses the diaspora, those scattered abroad. There was a great persecution also in Jesus' time, and that persecution was leveled against him, even as it is in James, or in the time prior to James. Turn to John chapter 7. I want you to see these things and then we'll show you the history of Diaspora very briefly and then we'll close. It's just an introduction, just one point. They're scattered abroad so the word can be scattered. See those who sow their seed in Sadness will come again rejoicing bringing in the sheaves That's the whole idea. That's in the Psalms. I'll show you that too. Oh John 7 1 says we skip through John go to different portions in John 7 He says after these things Jesus was walking in Galilee. You know where Galilee is. That's Galilee of the Gentiles Which is the region outside of Israel proper Why would he do that? Well, because in Israel they were trying to kill him. It says he was unwilling. It says he was... Jesus was walking about in Galilee. That means spending his time in Galilee. For he was unwilling to walk in Judea because the Jews were seeking to kill him. Especially in Judea. That's where Jerusalem is. He would go there eventually. I must go to Jerusalem, he says, to be handed over, to be spit upon, beaten, and crucified. They didn't like to hear that. Peter says, far be it from you, Lord, I will not let that happen to you. And that's why Cephas gets the nickname Satan from Jesus, because he had to die. Now look at verse 27. We'll do 27 through 35. They were saying, once again, we know where this man is from, but whenever the Christ comes, no one knows where he's from. What? They didn't know anything, do they? Because, O Bethlehem Ephrata, smallest among the nations and the tribes, one will come forth from you, who was from old, even from everlasting. They don't know where he's from. He's from Bethlehem, the city of David. But he grew up in Nazareth, and now they say, well, you can't know where Jesus came from. He has no origins. You know, even in his humanity, no origins. That's not true. So that's false doctrine right there. They're laboring under misconceptions, under false notions that you can't know where Christ is from. Jesus therefore cried out in the temple, teaching and saying, you do know me and you know where I'm from. And I have not come from myself. He says, you should know where I'm from because look at that. You can tell just by the powerful signs and miracles that I perform and my word. You can tell that's not human origin or human authority that's in view, but God's very own essence and authority. If you've seen me, you've seen the Father. For the Father and I are exactly alike. He manifested God. He was the visible image of the invisible God. Colossians 1.16, Hebrews 1.3. So, He says, You do know Me and where I am from. I have not come of Myself, but He who sent Me is true, whom you don't know. You don't know God. Who doesn't know Him? All those who study the Word all their life. Like the Pharisees who memorized the whole Torah. All that was extant in their day, they memorized it, knew it. And yet, you know, they spoke of Christ, he says, and you refuse to come to me that you might have life. He says, you think that by studying the scriptures you have life? They speak of me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life. That is to believe in me for life. For there is no life or eternal life apart from believing in Jesus. He's the way, the truth, and the life, and nobody goes to the Father except through Him. John 14, 6. So, he says then, But I know Him that is the Father, because I am from Him. I came out from Him. And he sent me. They were seeking therefore to seize him, and no man laid his hand on him, because his hour had not yet come. But many of the multitude believed in him, and they were saying, When the Christ shall come, he will not perform more signs than these, which this man has, will he? In other words, the signs were abundant and they witnessed many, many things and heard his words. The Pharisees heard the multitude muttering these things about Jesus and the chief priests and the Pharisees sent officers to seize him, to seize Christ. Jesus therefore said, for a little while longer I'm with you, then I go to him who sent me. He's going to be sown out of the world and take us with Him, seated together with Him in the heavenlies, so that we might receive divine instruction, instruction from on high and be instructed by God, so that we might be wise believers by receiving and retaining the Word and then by the Holy Spirit, same Holy Spirit, applying it to life. in divine solutions for spiritual problems, not human solutions for human problems. And there's no such thing as human problems. There's only such thing as spiritual problems. They all have spiritual basis. And you need spiritual solutions. Because human solutions are not good enough. Just like your happiness is not good enough. So you've got to have his happiness. Or your peace isn't good enough, so you have to have his peace. My peace I give to you, not as the world gives it, not worldly peace, but composure and the integration of soul so that under the most difficult circumstances, emotion doesn't rise above cognition, thinking. And you can be calm in a crisis. How often are we? Oh, probably not often enough, right? Ready, always ready to fly off the handle. Oh my God! How did that happen? Oh my. Everything's against me. Everything I touch turns to crapola. A big pile of it. Well, then maybe you gotta adjust. and repent and then, like James tells us, everything you do will prosper. If you're a real hero or doer of the word to do or the word is one who never stopped looking at it that's all just like a guy who looks at his face in the mirror he studies based on what he does exactly who he is in Christ instead of looking is natural face in the mirror going away is saying on the same old swine bag possible audit that I always was. No, I'm a new creature in Christ. I'm the righteousness of God in Christ. If God said it, it must be so. And I want to resemble those remarks. That's all. I just want to be what He made me to be. I don't want to be somebody I used to be. And then I've taken on this new religion that gets me to heaven but doesn't change me. The better. You can't change yourself. God's Word will change you because it changes how you think. And nobody does anything unless they think it. So it starts with your thinking. It starts with the renovation of your mind. It starts with the presentation of your body for the renovation of your mind. So that you might be a rare bird that demonstrates or proves what is the good, acceptable, and perfect will of God. That is, the presentation of your body for the renovation of your mind. That's what it's all about. and the glory of God the results so he says then they sent the officers to seize him Jesus therefore said for a little while longer I am with you then I go to him who sent me you shall seek me and you shall not find me and where I am you cannot come the Jews therefore said to one another where does this man intend to go that we shall not find him He's not intending to go to the dispersion, the diaspora, that is those who were scattered abroad in Jesus' day. He said those who are among the Greeks were among the Gentiles. You know that there were many people in many lands from the original dispersions of Babylonia, many of whom did not remember their roots in Judaism and their tribal roots in the 12 tribes, the 12 sons of Jacob. They didn't remember that anymore. They were completely swallowed up and immersed in the culture of the lands that they lived in, like the Babylonians. You know, when the call came back to rebuild the temple and for the Jews to come back, only a small percentage of them came back to rebuild the temple. The other ones didn't even come. They just stayed where they were and they were swallowed up by the nations. And it didn't take long for them to take on a new identity, a new national identity, a new heritage and culture, and to forget the old one. which indeed they did. They were Persians, and they were Babylonians, and they were Alexandrians, or Egyptians. You know, when Jesus was crucified, there was a double Passover, and Jews gathered from all over the world, and it lists all the different nations where the Jews lived. Everywhere Paul went in the Gentile nations, there were Jews, and he'd start out in the synagogue. They would reject him, and he'd go to the Gentiles. So they were dispersed throughout. And because their land wasn't theirs, you know, just like it wasn't in Babylonia. And those who fled from the Roman hordes also were dispersed, just like they were from the Babylonian and the Assyrians and the Greeks. So it says then, where does this man intend to go that we shall not find him? He's not intending to go to the dispersion among the Greeks, is he? and teach the Greeks, or the Gentiles, is he? Oh yeah, he's about to. He's going to do that through the 13th apostle, the 13th warrior, who is Paulos Apostolos, Doulos, Jesu Christu, that is, the bond slave, Paul, the bond slave of Jesus Christ, apostle and bond slave of Jesus Christ. So it was predicted long ago, like, turn to I'll go right back to the beginning. I have it all traced back, all the diaspora and the purpose for it, and how much more in the New Testament era, the beginning of the New Testament era, should not the church be sown into the world so that the Word of God might reach as many people as possible and salvation might go to the Gentiles through Jews. You know, it all started with the Jews. It's the root that bears us. Not we who bear the root. And many of us, unbeknownst or unknown to us, may be of Jewish heritage, sewn into the world. That was the whole idea. And God's going to call. He's going to call to the four winds and bring back his people. We won't even know until then, or they won't know until then who they even are. That is in the tribulation period and bring them back to the promised land. And you'll find out that this one and that one were born in her. That is in Jerusalem. The old Jerusalem translates to the new Jerusalem. And they'll live in layers, levels, and lofts there as those who were rescued by the Lord. The martyrs of the tribulation period and, of course, the faithful like Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob sit down in the kingdom of God and those from the nations get to visit. The kings get to visit and bring their glory into the nations and they get the leaves of the tree of life, which keeps them well. They don't have to worry about eating the fruit that is reserved for those who are overcomers or winners. The hupernikoah, the more than conquerors, by and through Him who loved us. So, Deuteronomy 4.27. This is Moses' swan song. He's going to be sown into the earth. That is, a corn of wheat. He's going to die. And God gave him this amazing doctrine. That is, because of pronouncement of judgment and discipline. Because he misrepresented the holiness of God. And he was responsible. He was more responsible than anybody else. Deuteronomy 4.27 He says, the Lord will scatter you among the peoples, that is, among the nations, and you shall be left few in number. This is from the very beginning. This is them coming out of Egypt. They're still in the wilderness. They haven't even come into the Promised Land. He's telling them they're going to be scattered. You'll be few in number among the nations. There'll be just a few here and a few there, where the Lord shall drive you. and there you will serve God's. The work of man's hands. Wood and stone. You think that's true today? You think it's true back then? It's just as true today as it was back then. They're worshiping material things. Wood and stone, which neither see nor hear, nor eat nor smell." They're not real persons. They're not real gods. But from there you will seek the Lord. That was the Lord's plan. He's going to send them out under difficult circumstances, under persecution, so that they might seek the Lord. He says, from there you will seek the Lord your God and you will find Him, if you really want to, if you search for Him, with all your heart. and all your soul. He doesn't want just a little piece of your life. He wants your whole heart. He wants your whole life. See, that's what believers don't get. Well, He's just going to have to be satisfied with this little part of me. He's not. He wants your whole heart. He wants your heart to be completely or totally devoted to Him. Do any of us attain to that? I don't think I have. And so I don't think you have either. Maybe you have. I don't know. Possible. God's going to call you man after his own heart number two. That is like David, who the Lord says his heart was fully devoted to God's plan, purpose and will. And he used him to speak scripture. He spoke by David's lips and tongue. in the Psalms. So he says that when you are in distress, verse 30, when you are in distress and all these things have come upon you in the latter days, the end of human history, you will return to the Lord your God, all right, I put all right in there, and listen to His voice. because it's the only voice, it's the only message of salvation and rescue from dire straits under the judgments upon the earth, the judgments of righteousness and justice, and the retribution of Antichrist against God, the opposition of Antichrist against God. For the Lord your God is a compassionate God. Do you know that about Him? He's compassionate. You say, well, why would he take small children? He's compassionate. That's why. That's his compassion. You think that that's his judgment? No, that's not his judgment. His judgment takes out the wicked, but his judgment is merciful to the innocents. He takes them out and gives them eternal life by the sacrifice of Christ. That aspect of it for the innocents. those who have not come to God consciousness, who are not fully accountable for a decision toward the gospel, because children are naturally and God-givenly, but naturally disposed to the acceptance of God until they're poisoned by adults or by the culture, by mommy and daddy. There's no God, Johnny! We're on our own here! And if you think there's God, then you can join all the mental patients in the world. I wouldn't want to have to say, I wouldn't want to be one who said that to my children and influence them not to believe in Christ and God. And you know, New England in the United States of America is the hot spot. There we go. Connecticut this time. New York by Sandy and now Connecticut by Adam Lanza. going to mow them down, the children, and demonstrate that evil and God bring judgment. You know, you never know what lurks underneath that beautiful facade of that New England town, do you? Do you know? Nobody knows. God knows. And everything he does is perfect and poetic. I'm not saying they did something wrong. I'm just saying that God has a purpose and a reason for everything that he does. It's not arbitrary or capricious. He does it on purpose and to accomplish his will. So you don't know what's lying underneath. So he says, the Lord your God is a compassionate God. Can't forget that. He will not fail you nor destroy you nor forget the covenant he made with your fathers, which he swore with an oath to them. Indeed, ask now concerning the former days, which were before you, since the day that God created man on the earth, and inquire from one end of the heavens to the other. Has anything been done like this great thing, or has anything been heard like it, that is the preservation, the calling, the raising up, and the perseverance and the preservation of Israel. No, it hasn't. Has any people heard the voice of God speaking from the midst of the fire? You know, God is merciful and righteous. Righteousness and justice, satisfied in Christ, brings mercy to barren man. Then he says, Has any people heard the voice of God speaking from the midst of the fire as you have heard it and survived? Or has a God tried to go to take for himself a nation from within another nation by trials, by signs and wonders? and by war, and by a mighty hand, and by an outstretched arm, and by great terrors, as the Lord your God did for you in Egypt, right before your eyes. To you it was shown that you might know that the Lord, He is God, there is no other beside Him." And then Psalm 126.5, this will be a good one for you to take home. Refrigerator verse Those who are sown and sow in tears shall reap with joyful shouting. He who goes to and fro weeping, carrying his bag of seed." You're lonely out there. You're put in a place that you're deracinated, they say. That means you're put in a place that you're uncomfortable in. sent away from home and Carrying your bag of seed what's your bag of seed your soul and the Seed of the Word of God it contains that's your bag Unless you carry your Bible in a bag, but it's not in your soul, then you can look up verses so anyway, he says that You shall indeed come again, that is in the future, with a shout of joy, bringing your sheaves with you, that is the produce of the seed of the Word of God, thirty, sixty, and a hundred fold, the good soil. And God's sowing the seed, sowing you a seed into the world to bring the Word of God to many. That's why we are to sow with a view to righteousness, and reap in accordance with kindness. Break up the fallow ground. That's what we have to do. Break up the fallow ground. Present good soil ready to receive seed. He says, and seek the Lord until he comes to rain righteousness on you, which he always will do. He'll make everything you touch succeed, James tells us. He said, you have plowed wickedness. You have reaped injustice. You have eaten the fruit of lies because you have trusted in your way and in your numerous warriors or allies. That's not how it works. You can get all, you know what, here's what we're going to do. Just like in 9-11, he said the same thing. We're going to build better schools and have better security. Oh yeah, and great schools. Sure you are. Oh, that makes security that nobody can ever get through. Don't bet on it. Anybody can get through any of it. Any school. Anybody can get into any school there is. No question about it. I could do it, and I'm not even a second story man. But you know, I mean, that's just ridiculous. That's arrogance to say. It's defiance and arrogance to say, oh, we'll build better schools with better security. And that'll never happen again. Yes, it will. One of the teachers will pull out their gun and start mowing children down. Or a teacher will go and mow all the teachers down, or go down to the post office at lunchtime and mow down all the postal employees. Whatever. Like a disgruntled postal worker. They used to have a saying, go postal on them. So anyway, we're done. Let's pray. Father, thank you for these things.