A Living Faith in the Life of the Church
Book of James Chapter 2
As our first lesson discussed, the fact that we face temptations and trials every day.
One the greatest trials we face today is that of showing favoritism or partiality or discriminating against people.
Our world is caught up in the middle of this crisis today and as is normal the world chooses the side of sin.
Remember the Lord says, "to come as you are"!
This means every person upon this world can come to the Lord Jesus Christ just as they are.
It is then when we give in to the Lord that the Holy Spirit will begin His work in us.
These things are the main headlines in our nation today and the cause of many of the problems we face in America and throughout this world.
We must clearly understand that there are only two types of people in this world and they are those who are saved and those who are lost.
The color of their skin, the way they dress, nor whether they are rich or poor, have anything to do with it.
It is only if they have a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ or not.
By the way, as Christians we have become the greatest enemy to our government today because we refuse to fall in line with their policies and the policies of this world.
*Jas 2:1 My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons.
Showing partiality means to favor some people over others or to pay special attention to a person because of his wealth, social standing, position, authority, popularity, looks or influence.
James has addressed this message to the Church and we need to be active in obedience to it because it came by the Holy Spirit, from our Heavenly Father.
What is going on in the world we cannot solve, but we can solve these issues in the Church.
The Church is to always be obedient to the Word of God which will never change because says He will never change.
Those in the world are the lost and we need to reach out to them with the message of Christ and we cannot expect them to act in a way suitable to the Lord.
Those in the Church who get caught up in this foolishness are the ones we need to address.
Our number one job is to be obedient to all the Word of God.
Our last lesson stated: Jas_1:22 But be ye "doers of the word", and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.
Of all the people upon this earth, the people who should never show partiality are believers!
Everyone in the Church stands on equal ground with the Lord Jesus Christ!
Everyone that knows the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior, bow before Him As Lord.
All those who refuse to do so, the lost, are those same ones that we must pray for their salvation!
When we bow before the Lord, it is as a servant or a slave, all with equal standing!
The Lord Jesus throughout His short lifetime was no respecter of persons.
Mat 22:16 And they sent out unto him their disciples with the Herodians, saying, Master, we know that thou art true, and teachest the way of God in truth, neither carest thou for any man: for thou regardest not the person of men.
Every Christian will share the same glory of the Lord when He returns to take us to our home in Heaven.
So, we cannot allow these things to become part of the Church and we cannot expect those who are lost outside the Church to act any different than they do because they do not know Jesus!
We must pray for them, but the ones we need to reach are those who have not heard the Gospel or have only heard lies about the Gospel.
When we stand before the Lord no matter what we think of ourselves we can only see His glory which we cannot compare ourselves with because of His infinite glory.
On any given day we can expect many different people to step into the sanctuary of the Lord.
We must immediately show them the love of Christ!
*Jas 2:2 For if there come unto your assembly a man with a gold ring, in goodly apparel, and there come in also a poor man in vile raiment; Jas 2:3 And ye have respect to him that weareth the gay clothing, and say unto him, Sit thou here in a good place; and say to the poor, Stand thou there, or sit here under my footstool:
In the time of James a man with a gold ring probably had several gold rings because it was rare for any of those people to even come into the Church, unlike today when many wear gold rings for many reasons, marriage being one of those reasons.
Many a person with no gold rings or even goodly apparel would enter into the Church to hear the wisdom of Jesus Christ and not much fanfare was made over those, unlike the attention that the man with the gold rings would attract.
This is showing partiality and it is sin.
When we see that phrase "weareth gay clothing" it just seems to fit in with the things going on in our nation.
The fact is that if such a person comes into the doors of the Church, we should welcome them as we would anyone else.
They also have a soul that is valuable to the Lord!
If their actions prove to be against the Church, then we should ask them to leave as much as we would anyone who is not civil in God's House of Prayer, but we must refrain from being the cause of their actions.
If they refuse to leave, then we may have to get help to get them removed without causing harm to the Church.
We must allow the Word of God to convict them just as it has done to each of us.
Any house of worship that has specific good places for those who seem to be of high rank and bad places for the poor to sit, is not a Church!
Every Sunday there could be those who represent the extreme ends of wealth and poverty. If partiality is not to be shown in this case, then partiality should never be shown in any case.
In the Church there must be no distinctions, no distinctions of social class, standing, position, wealth, prestige, or recognition.
We should ask ourselves how many times a poor person has visited our Church and not been welcomed with open arms.
My church is mostly white so let us ask ourselves, how many times has a black person or a brown person come into our church and not be welcomed with open arms.
Since I have been at my church for over twenty years, I have not seen any rejected of any color, but I also know we can improve because the future that is front of us will weed out the true Church from the false church.
We must never think we cannot improve as a church!
We have the message of truth and a Pastor to preaches it.
We have loving people who show it.
We have prayer warriors who can make it happen.
We serve the one Lord of Salvation that says, "come as you are".
We will never feel uncomfortable around those we show the love of Jesus Christ!
*Jas 2:4 Are ye not then partial in yourselves, and are become judges of evil thoughts?
Jas 2:5 Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him?
When we show partiality, we have set ourselves up as a judge!
When we become a judge, then we think of ourselves as God!
We are saying that we can judge better than our Heavenly Father!
We judge by what we can see, but we cannot see into their hearts, but God can!
We do not know what is on their minds, but God does!
So we do not qualify as a judge in the Church of the Living God!
When we focus on the outward appearance of someone, we cannot focus on that person who possesses a soul that the Lord Jesus came to save.
Material things upon this earth will never be as important as the humans that live upon this earth!
Much of the world has forgotten this today!
The purpose of every human being upon this earth is to serve the Lord and make the fullest contribution to society. We can only do both by being in the family of God!
We are not put here to despise anyone!
*Jas 2:6 But ye have despised the poor. Do not rich men oppress you, and draw you before the judgment seats?
Jas 2:7 Do not they blaspheme that worthy name by the which ye are called?
Who are we to despise the poor?
When we despise the poor, we are showing contempt.
I do not know anyone in our church who is considered to be rich. In fact, Gethsemane is the most down to earth church that I know and I know there are other true churches.
Very seldom do the poor cause problems for anyone.
It is the rich and the high and mighty that oppress the poor and take from anyone if they get the chance to.
It is the rich and the high and mighty who will take advantage of every law to cause more problems for the poor.
No matter what our government tells us, the rich just get richer because it is they who make the laws.
The poor are getting poorer and the middle class is disappearing!
Why in the world would we try to impress the rich or show partiality to them?
The rich are those same ones who make themselves lords over us all!
Even the Lord Jesus cautioned us on this thing.
Mat 20:25 But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them.
Mat 20:26 But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister;
Mat 20:27 And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant:
It is the rich of this world who have placed themselves above the Word of God.
It is the rich of this world who have shown that they are the enemies of the Church today, and it is sickening to watch the world bow to them and grovel at their feet.
To grovel is to beg like a hungry dog.
We do not need any of this in the Church because the Church is a place to worship the Lord and we all stand on level ground in the Church.
What we see today is that everyone has been taught how to criticize.
In America today, everyone criticizes everyone else and the Church gets dragged into the middle of it when the Lord says to avoid it.
I have been guilty myself.
Let us just pray for the salvation of the lost and use the power of discernment to make the right decisions in our own lives and serve the Lord according to the Word of God.
*Jas 2:8 If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well:
Jas 2:9 But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors.
Jas 2:10 For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.
What is royal law?
The royal law came from King Jesus!
Mat 22:37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
Mat 22:38 This is the first and great commandment.
Mat 22:39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
Mat 22:40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
A neighbor is today considered to be those who live closest to us, but this is not at all that the Lord Jesus means.
Our neighbors are all those who are connected with us in the bonds of humanity, and the love of God in us requires that we treat them all as friends.
The Lord Jesus means, that the entire world is to be considered our neighbors!
The Lord Jesus means, that we must not do to others that thing we would not do to ourselves.
A good example would be the parable of the good Samaritan.
It is a sin to show partiality!
James was speaking to Jewish people who knew the Laws of Moses, and James reminded them that the Laws of Moses directly forbade all respect of persons.
He also reminded them that it they broke one of the Laws of Moses, they were guilty of them all.
If we say we love the Lord and then, not show that same love to all others, then we are not being like the Lord Jesus Christ and if we are not being like the Lord Jesus Christ, then we are not being Christians.
This is the message James was giving to the Jewish Christians and to all Christians no matter their so-called race!
God does not see race; He only sees humans!
The Lord Jesus said if we could keep the Royal Law the Laws of King Jesus, then we will be keeping all the laws of Moses and all the laws of God.
If we could just love like Jesus loves, this world would already seem like Paradise.
*Jas 2:14 What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him?
Some think faith is just believing the truth of Jesus Christ when in reality we show our faith by our conviction in action.
We show faith in our conduct in this world.
Head faith cannot save anybody!
We should ask ourselves, "is our faith moving us in the right direction"?
We could say that the greatest tragedy in the Church, is people who confess faith in Jesus Christ yet, they do not live for Him!
Millions profess Christ and are baptized and confirmed and made members of the Church, but they do not follow the Word of God, nor do they live for Christ Jesus.
Are they saved, it is between them and God, but the Lord Jesus said to deny ourselves and to pick up our own cross and follow Him.
Our faith must be more than a faith of speech, our faith must include our behavior and how we live our lives.
It should also include giving what we have in an effort to reach the lost!
A dead faith does not help anyone!
*Jas 2:15 If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food,
Jas 2:16 And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?
Jas 2:17 Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.
We must understand that our faith must be more than just sharing words of comfort!
There must be action in our faith!
When a brother or sister has a need, we must offer more than words of comfort, we must try to get the things they need for them.
Now James is talking about the Church and the members of that Church.
This does not mean we are not to help the lost, but helping the lost must include evangelism.
True faith begins with the Love of the Lord who cares for and is compassionate for all those who are in need by providing that need when we are able.
Now this does not change the fact that we are saved by faith without the works of those old Laws of Moses.
Eph 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Eph 2:9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
There is no contradiction between these Scriptures they both tell the truth of God.
True faith cannot subsist without works after our salvation!
There is empty faith and there is faith working by love, which is being like the Lord Jesus Christ.
*Jas 2:18 Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.
So many believe they are saved by faith and God accepts them because they believe in Jesus Christ regardless of if they fail to live for Christ and this is between them and God.
Once they have first believed in Christ then, in obedience to Him, professed Him before the church, and been baptized and joined the Church, God has accepted them and will take them to Heaven when they die and this is the truth.
I personally believe we can know we are saved when we are doing these very things.
I also believe we have an obligation to follow in the footsteps of the Lord Jesus Christ and it is these who do so who are called Christian.
What does the Lord Jesus say?
Mat 7:21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
We must ask ourselves, then what is the will of our Heavenly Father after He has saved us?
The Lord goes on further to say:
Mat 7:22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
Mat 7:23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
Mat 7:24 Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:
Jesus goes on to say all those who hear His Words and Does Them, are the same ones who are wise Christians.
Those who hear the Words of Jesus and do nothing else are then, the opposite of wise.
Mat 7:26 And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:
The Lord Jesus is saying we are fools if we are not following Him, doing the things that He did, with all their heart.
James says show me your faith without thy works and I will show you my faith by my works.
These things sound tough, but the Word of God is always right.
*Jas 2:19 Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.
Jas 2:20 But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?
James says that even the devils and the demons and even Satan have head faith and are convicted with the fear of God, but they still follow Satan knowing they will spend eternity in Hell.
We need to ask ourselves; do we have more faith than the devils do? They not only believe, but they tremble knowing this truth because they cannot be saved.
The faith that they have cannot save them!
The question we must ask is, do we just have a head faith or a faith that knows our work is outside the Church and it consists mainly of reaching out to those in the world who do not have a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.
We need to be working on our relationship with Christ at all times!
What was the purpose of Jesus Christ?
Joh 4:34 Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work.
Joh 4:35 Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest.
Joh 4:36 And he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal: that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together.
Joh 4:37 And herein is that saying true, One soweth, and another reapeth.
Joh 4:38 I sent you to reap that whereon ye bestowed no labour: other men laboured, and ye are entered into their labours.
We are to enter into the labor of all those who are Christian and who have gone before us.
This was the will of God for His Son and it is the will of the Lord for us after we are saved.
This takes more than just Head Faith!
Why are we hated today?
Joh 15:22 If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloke for their sin.
Joh 15:23 He that hateth me hateth my Father also.
Joh 15:24 If I had not done among them the works which none other man did, they had not had sin: but now have they both seen and hated both me and my Father.
Joh 15:25 But this cometh to pass, that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law, They hated me without a cause.
It is the Gospel that points to sinners and they cannot hide their sin from the eyes of God!
It is because the work we are to do, is to show those who do not know the Lord Jesus Christ that they have no cloak to hide their sin.
We have a work to do after we are saved, and it begins by studying the Word of God so we can give them the truth of salvation!
Amen
