1 My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus
Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons.
Consider Israel in the beginning of the first century. God had ordained that there be priests,
Levites and a single High Priest. The
High Priest was for all practical purposes the head of Israel. Before this time the doctrine of angels, spirits,
good and evil was well established. At
the time of Jesus’ entrance into Israel’s history as a human being the
priesthood was broken down into Pharisees and Sadducees. Like many of our Christian churches today,
the Sadducees did not believe in spirits, angels or the absolutes of good and
evil (Acts 23:2-8). Serving God was to
them a concept of obtaining power and authority. The Pharisees did believe in the pantheon of
spirits as well as in God. Both believed
in Israel’s destiny as a great people and as they considered the Maccabean
revolution a century before, believed God or destiny would once again put
Israel into power.
Jesus came to save the pauper as well as the prince. This idea was totally unacceptable to the
Sadducees who were the most powerful part of the priesthood at this time. Things had gotten so out of control that the
Sadducees had created an entirely new class of priest called Chief
Priests. These rulers even built raised
walkways above the normal walkways in the temple so they would not have to walk
among the peons, the lowly ordinary people or even ordinary priests. They always took the best places in the
feasts and enjoyed being respected and bowed to (Matthew 23:1-11). When Jesus came into the temple and beat the
money changers (loan sharks) He was directly challenging their leadership and
greed.
They were everything he was not and so his ideas and words
could not stand in their sight. We
should always keep in mind that though most Jews have a reputation for being
sharp traders, they also had a powerful, scriptural reputation for giving. The Sadducees and Pharisees had taken this
godly requirement and added bylaws that allowed them to escape what seemed to
them to be an onerous requirement. Jesus
had rebuked them more than once for being blind leaders of the blind (Matthew
15:12-14). Jesus taught that God honored
those who were the servants of all.
If this is the case then we shouldn’t be guilty of placing
special honor on secular leaders or business people. We ought to have respect for everyone
regardless of rank or fame or wealth. Verse one does not say we should not have the
faith of Jesus the Messiah, the Lord of all Glory. It says we should not have the faith of Jesus
Christ and allow ourselves to have respect for titles and rank. Scripture says, “God is not willing that ANY
should perish,” yet for all His glorious power He will be disappointed on
judgment day. Consider that truth for a
moment. Almighty God has left Himself
open for disappointment in order to give us free will in serving Him. What He wants and demands from us is that we
become all things to all men so we might by all means save some (1 Corinthians
9:22).
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; 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: 4 Are ye not then partial in yourselves, and are become
judges of evil thoughts?
Notice the word ‘for’ in verse two. That means it continues from verse one
without a break in context. Verse three
begins with and which is a conjunction and joins it with verse two. Verse four also continues the thought. These four verses are one single
comment. What are you going to do when
an obviously affluent man or woman comes into the church followed by someone
who looks like they slept on the street last night? Will you treat the wealthy person with
dignity and tell the smelly one to sit in back?
To God they are one in the same for value. If you judge your visitors and members by how
much they give in the offering then you have become what this verse abhors.
Our financial needs must be met by our faith in God and His
ministry upon the hearts of those we touch.
I have had a few opportunities to pay tithes on large sums of money even
though my average income has never been much.
While there is always a twinge of fear or doubt when you go against
Satan and step outside your comfort zone, it is a thrilling experience…I highly
recommend it. Now, having said that, look
at the newcomers in your midst with an eye to what they need from the Lord and
what gifts God has blessed them with that might assist the work God has given
you. Never look at wallets or you might
miss the move of God.
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?
1 Corinthians 1: 26
For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh,
not many mighty, not many noble, are called: 27 But God hath chosen the foolish
things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things
of the world to confound the things which are mighty; 28 And base things of the
world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which
are not, to bring to nought things that are: 29 That no flesh should glory in
his presence.
Queen Elizabeth once said she was saved by an ‘M.’ The scripture says that not MANY mighty or
noble are called rather than not ANY.
She said she was thankful that God made a way even for her. We who are in Christ must understand that God
has a plan for our lives and He fully intends to fulfill that plan. It’s not about you but about the plan. He has certain souls who he wants to send
your way and unless you are ready, with the correct attitude and open heart,
they might well never hear the words of salvation. My great concern is that on the day of
judgment, when Jesus opens the books to see my actions and reward me for the
words I have spoken there will be missing names and dates where I was not in
the Spirit and did not hear the call of God.
He’s not looking for rich or famous, poor or downtrodden,
wise or dull. He’s looking for obedient
souls who will speak the word in season and out of season; who are willing to
reprove, rebuke and exhort with all long suffering and doctrine (2 Timothy
4:2-4). He does have a soft spot in His
heart for the poor and downtrodden because He sees they are badly treated by
their wealthy brethren. God will not put
up with this (Luke 16:25).
6 But ye have despised the poor. Do not rich men oppress
you, and draw you before the judgment seats? 7 Do not they blaspheme that
worthy name by the which ye are called?
It has often bothered me that I am not a great organizer or
a great Bible scholar; that I have struggled for so many years to accomplish
what I have. I have come to realize that
my greatest impediment to success has always been my inability to let go and
let God. He didn’t call me because I was
a great leader of men or could read the Bible one time and its words would
always be at my beck and call. He called
me because I was not a great leader and because of my struggles to memorize and
walk comfortably in scripture.
There is no doubt who any successes in my life belong
to. They all belong to Jesus. If I fail it is because I put my own skills
first and failed to release the work of the Holy Spirit. I CAN do ALL things through CHRIST who
strengthens me (Philippians 4:13). I
shall succeed in everything in Christ who made me and gave Himself for me. All along the way I will reach out to those
He has placed in my path and He will become a miracle in their lives as well.
Because it is not me who has earned these honors I will
never allow myself to forget just how far God has brought me and I will
continue to reach out to those who need His help. Wealth is to assist in the building of the
body of Christ. God doesn’t need our
wealth since it all came from Him anyway and He certainly does not need our
power which also begins in Him. It is
easy for me to be humble. I know what I
am and whose I am. It is easy for me to
surrender to Jesus because I need everything He is offering me.
In all honesty I do not understand those who believe they
deserve God’s gifts. I understand that
Lucifer, the prince of light became the devil, the prince of darkness because
of pride. He believed he could sit on
God’s throne by virtue of the extraordinary beauty of his person. He was all spirit and not afflicted by these
frail human bodies; nevertheless he fell by one of the most insidious of vices,
pride. He believed he was worthy. There are many delusional people in the world
who still believe in their position.
Some will become famous for their voice or business acumen
or acting talent. Others will build
military empires and stand before the world declaring, “I have created this
great nation!” Every one of them
possessed a gift, given by God and used for their own selfish purposes. Every one of them like Nebuchadnezzar (Daniel
4:30-37) will fall. The greater their
natural gifts, the greater will be their fall.
It is a far better thing to remain humble and give God the glory.
God will have His glory.
You can never die enough to escape His judgment. When Israel went to battle under Joshua and
was badly defeated, Joshua prayed until God revealed that sin was in Achan’s
house (Joshua 7:19-20). Joshua’s
statement to Achan was not, “Tell me what you did and you may live.” His statement was, “Glorify God by telling
the truth.” Achan admitted that he had
stolen some gold and clothing during the attack and had coveted. He took what God had ordained for Himself and
God told it to everyone. There was no
plea bargain involved just like there was none in Judas’ life. He and his family went to hell after honoring
God with the truth.
As far as we are concerned, God will have His honor and that
honor should be as important to us as it is to Him. God said of Pharaoh to Moses, “I will get
mine honor.” Pharaoh had stolen God’s
honor by claiming to be a god and keeping Israel in cruel bondage. Whether He works it out while we are alive or
after we die, God will get His honor out of our lives. You may be rich or famous or talented, but
one day, living or dead, you will stand before the God of the universe and give
God His glory. Once that happens,
judgment comes. It is far better to give
it now while we live than too late after we’re dead. By that time He will get His honor and we
will be cast into Hell.
8 If ye fulfill the royal law according to the scripture,
Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself, ye do well: 9 But if ye have respect
to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors.
I have several neighbors.
Most of them wave in a friendly manner as they drive past me and I wave
back. Some just look at me and drive
on. My requirement is to love them all
and pray for them. If I choose to
dislike those who dislike me I have become a transgressor. If I dislike those who actively hate me I am
a transgressor. I am not given a
choice. There are often opportunities to
show God’s love to the unlovable and I must always be ready to do so. If I do not love them and pray for them I am
a sinner and transgressor of the law.
Sitting here I am trying to think of a good example but all
that comes to me is a Jew praying for Hitler’s soul before he died. He was an evil man who killed six million
Jews during the Holocaust and yet by God’s Word, we should have prayed for him
every day. Why? Because vengeance belongs to God. Hatred is too strong a spirit for us to
manage. God can hate and love perfectly
but we tend to hate everything that is not like us. This is unacceptable to God. We must care enough to pray and He will make
the final decision and dispensation of justice.
10 For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend
in one point, he is guilty of all. 11 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.
The whole point here is that nobody can keep the law of
God. Paul has expressed this over and
over again. The hard work is to continue
to press toward the mark in holiness, study, prayer, fasting, love, grace,
mercy and all the spiritual gifts while doing your very best to obey His
Word. You cannot allow the fact that you
will not be able to live up to God’s standards prevent you from trying. The Word is clear…PRESS! Do not allow the fact that what you would not
do you do (Romans 7:15-17). You will
fail from time to time. Study to show
yourself approved unto God (2 Timothy 2:15).
The Holy Spirit will bring what you learn to you when you need it (John
14:26). Pray without ceasing (1
Thessalonians 5:17). Whatever your hands
find to do, do it with all your might (Ecclesiastes 9:10). According to the Law, the 613 Torah
commandments and a host of New Testament instructions you have already failed
if you are trying to succeed in this thing by your natural abilities or even
your own spiritual ones.
12 So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged
by the law of liberty. 13 For he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath
shewed no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth against judgment.
I said earlier that you must love those who hate you. That’s not so difficult but when you consider
loving those who have grievously hurt you, it gets much more difficult. What about loving those who have grievously
hurt those you love. Now them there’s
fighting words! I’m gonna… You’re going to what? Cuss them out? Kill them?
Destroy them? No. If you are sold out to Jesus and dead to sin
and the flesh, you are going to LOVE them.
Have I opened up an entire can of worms here? I’m not saying you hold the bullets while
someone kills a family member but I am saying that after the deeds are done you
are required to love that hateful person and try to win them back to God.
Am I the only one in need of some stretching? Now, if you are saying it does not take all
that and God would not require that of you…you’re wrong…hopefully not DEAD
wrong. It takes your very life and soul
and spirit to serve God. Your brain and
every feeling too. For with what measure
you meet, with that measure it will be meted unto you (Matthew 7:2).
14 What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he
hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him?
This is one of those rubber meets the road verses. It’s not about lofty thoughts or passionate
prayers, it’s action that makes your prayers and faith real. The next verse is going to give examples, but
let’s look at a few others. You’re
needed in a specific place but it makes you uncomfortable. Do you stay or press until God says you’re
done or do you take the out? Do you even
ask? In many areas, we flit from
circumstance to circumstance without even a thought to prayer. One of my favorite teachers, Chuck Missler
once said, “If you are a woman looking for a dress; do you take God to the
store with you?”
We often quote, “In everything give thanks, for this is the
will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you (1 Thessalonians 5:18).” It’s a wonderful scripture but do you ask for
guidance before making these momentous decisions? Yes, feeding the poor is an act, and so is
helping little old ladies across the street; but prayer, fasting and knowing
God’s Word is also an act. It takes
faith to operate the weapons of God’s warfare but if you do not know how to use
the shield of faith and the sword of the spirit, you can have no faith to use.
15 If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of
daily food, 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? 17 Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead,
being alone.
Pay your tithes.
Simple, yes? Find out how much
income you have before your government takes it from you. Take ten percent of that amount and give it
to the Lord. You say you don’t make
enough to live on without that ten percent?
God says you do. Who is
right? If you trust Him and receive His
blessings then He is. If you cheat Him
and still can’t make ends meet, He is.
God is always right and so is His Word. If we spent less time justifying why we don’t
do the scriptural thing and more time just helping one another then God would
have some incentive to make the money flow.
Until then, we keep ourselves in poverty. You will always prosper in direct proportion
to your faith and that faith requires action.
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.
Faith without works is dead.
Work without faith is just work.
Work motivated by faith is miraculous.
We need to be working miracles.
Let’s take this faith out for a spin and see what it can do. Faith is never invisible if you know what to
look for. Whenever we press toward the
mark against all odds it shows. There is
strong confusion in the eyes of those who watch us as they wonder why we are
always in a position to fail … but don’t.
What is it that makes our path like butter? We know it’s faith but they only know we have
some source they do not understand.
19 Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well:
the devils also believe, and tremble. 20 But wilt thou know, O vain man, that
faith without works is dead?
It’s not enough. Just
knowing that there is one God is not enough.
The demons who afflict us regularly believe and tremble at the name of
God. They know their time is nigh. You cannot serve God in the privacy of your
own mind. Serving God requires outreach
in love, mercy, grace, service and more service. Without this service and outreach your faith
is in vain. It has no power and no
future. I’ve run into those who believe
in the live and let live attitude of someone who doesn’t care what anyone
believes because the grace of God is sufficient. Yes, the grace of God is sufficient as long
as you are pressing toward the mark of the calling. If you are living in your sin with no desire
to improve or press closer, that grace will wave at you as you break open Hell. Faith drives you to do the works of God as
you rise higher. You backslide as you
cease climbing. There is no static
position in Christ, you are either rising or falling.
21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he
had offered Isaac his son upon the altar?
Some people read Romans 4:2 and James 2:21 and say the Bible
contradicts itself. Paul’s statement in
Romans is somewhat incomplete because while we are not justified by the works
of the Torah (law), our faith is activated by works. Even Paul specifies in Galatians 2:16 that he
is speaking about the Jewish adherence to the 613 Old Testament laws. As I stated earlier, “Faith without works is
dead. Work without faith is just
work. Work motivated by faith is
miraculous.” It doesn’t even matter if
it is strictly speaking, “Ministry stuff.”
If you walk before God in faith, God honors your faith. I once asked my late apostle why he could
give someone advice that wasn’t specifically scriptural. It wasn’t unscriptural, just not a scriptural
promise of God. He told me that when you
have a relationship with God, He will answer just for the relationship’s sake.
Abraham could have stayed at home with his wife and said,
“Lord I believe.” He would never have
received anything. He left his wife (who
he never saw alive again) and climbed a mountain alone with Isaac. He believed to the point of raising the knife
to slay his son when God stopped him. It
was enough. The foundation of Israel had
been established, not in blood, but in something stronger. His faith SHOWED in his actions. There are Jewish historical accounts of Isaac
and his wife climbing up the same mountain where his father offered him because
after years of marriage his wife was still not pregnant. That ACT of climbing to the place of his
being offered to God moved God to act on his behalf and his wife Rebekah became
pregnant. Isaac and Rebekah had
CONTENDED for the faith.
Jude 1:3 says we should earnestly CONTEND for the
faith. Part of this is to pray
effectually and fervently (James 5:16) which in itself is an ACT of faith. God will give us responsibilities to
accomplish and these responsibilities, these actions, reveal our faith.
22 Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by
works was faith made perfect? 23 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.
In Matthew 5:20, Jesus said that unless our righteousness
exceeded the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees we could not enter the
kingdom of heaven. Christians have an
arrogant disdain of the Pharisees. We
often fail to recognize just how hard they worked to be sinless and holy before
God. What we do by the unction of the
Holy Spirit, they tried to do by obeying the Law. These men poured their lives into serving God
but without the cleansing work of Jesus it was largely wasted.
Abraham didn’t have all of Moses’ laws to follow. For him, service to God was easier AND
harder. It was easier because there were
fewer laws to obey and as long as he faithfully obeyed and trusted God everything
worked out. It was harder because while
he had fewer laws to obey, just having the laws took away much of the question
of, “Am I doing the right thing.” He
struggled by being a trailblazer of faith without knowing exactly what God
wanted. God made the rules to make sure
Israel knew that He was interested in EVERY aspect of their lives. Instead of all those little rules we have
been given His Spirit to lead us.
It should be much easier to serve God with His Spirit in us
and yet we rarely make the effort to develop an ear to hear what the Spirit
says to the church (Revelation 2:7, 17).
If God gave all those rules to Israel to make sure they knew how serious
He was, doesn’t it make sense that we should learn to hear and obey His
indwelling Spirit even more so we can more accurately obey His
commandments? Does God expect us to
follow Him less now that we are in Christ?
God forbid.
24 Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and
not by faith only.
Hebrews 11:1 says that, “…faith is the substance of things
hoped for and the evidence of things not seen.”
If I only hope to be healed, I am not healed. If my faith gives substance to my hope then I
will behave as if I am healed until the manifestation of that healing
comes. This means that I will not walk
around moping or sad or unbelieving. It
also means that if there are steps I can take to bring this healing to pass I
should take those steps. If I know that
eating too much and not exercising will make diabetes and high blood pressure
worse then I should exercise and eat properly so God can heal me. We used to sing a song that says, “You take
one step and He (God) takes two.” The
English word ‘wait’ has many meanings.
One means to sit and do nothing until it is time to act. The other
is to serve someone and is where we get our word, ‘waiter,’ someone who
serves. You’ll never get what you want
from God by sitting around doing nothing.
We are God’s waiters. We serve.
25 Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by
works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way?
Rahab, living in Jericho, committed treason for hiding the
two spies and helping them get away. She
understood that their God was stronger but her actions were not completely
altruistic. She helped them in order to
be protected when Israel came to destroy the city. Christians are more and more in danger in
this country and many others. One day
open persecution will break out against Christians and we will have to decide
to obey man or God. I don’t say we
should sell our nation’s secrets to our enemies (something Rahab did not do
anyway), but we should never forget that God comes first in our life and our
allegiance.
All the Christians in Rome had to do to satisfy the emperor
and live another year in peace was to go to the courthouse and offer a pinch of
incense to Caesar. They didn’t have to
make loud public proclamations or dedications to him, just that little pinch of
incense signifying worship. A few
did. Most did not. Christians were terribly persecuted by Rome
for failing to honor the king. We may
well be coming to a time where this nation and others, perhaps even the office
of Homeland Security, will require every American citizen to be chipped (to
accept a digital nametag). They will be
injected under the skin and every citizen will be required to swear faithful allegiance
to their country and to serve it and the president above any other leader, king
or potentate. Failure to swear will
constitute treason and you will not be allowed to buy, sell or work. What would you do? Is your active faith strong enough to make
the right decision?
26 For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith
without works is dead also.
It is quite obvious that we must serve God with action and
not just a mental touch of faith. Spirit
makes the body live and action brings faith alive. I pray you all believe powerfully beloved.
Bishop J.
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