CHAPTER 2

INTRO
In the USAF basic training, our platoon was all standing at attention.
Sarge: "ALRIGHT! You IDIOTS! FALL OUT!"
ME: Still standing at attention.
Sarge walked over and stood eye-to-eye with me.
ME: "Looks like we're the only two left, Sarge."

VS 1
1 My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons.

Mother Teresa said, "If you JUDGE people, you have no time to LOVE them!"

This chapter is all about faith without partiality; and,
exhibiting faith through good works.

Jesus said, "Judge not according to appearance, but judge righteous judgment."
(John 7:24)

In Acts 10:34, Peter said, "...of a truth I perceive that God is NO respecter
of persons."

In 1Tim. 5:21, Paul says, "I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord
Jesus Christ, and the elect angels, that thou observe these things without
preferring one before another, doing nothing in partiality."

When a life-long drunk is saved, he immediately gains the same status as the
one who has always abstained from alcohol!
(John 1:12)

VSS 2-4
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?

((An old gray-haired man came into the church with ragged clothes.
He listened intently, and at the altar call, he went to the preacher wanting
to be saved.
The preacher said, "You'll have to come in some better clothes."
Next week, he came in a suit.
The preacher said, "You'll have to shave that beard."
The man went outside and sat on the steps weeping.
Jesus came and sat by him and said, "Don't worry, son. I have been trying
to get in that church for years!"))

Partiality and prejudice breed "EVIL thoughts!"

VS 5
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?

God promised His kingdom to "WHOSOEVER!" (John 3:16)

Social standing does NOT imply spiritual standing!

VSS 6-7
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?

To push aside the poor, and give preferential treatement to the rich and powerful
is to "despise(d) the poor!"

Think about that.
The rich and powerful often look down on the poor!

Doing that is to "blaspheme" God Who says there is NO ROOM for
partiality or prejudicial judgment in HIS LOVE!

VSS 8-9
8 If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself,
ye do well:
9 But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as
transgressors.

The "royal law!"
Jesus said ALL the laws of God HANG on THESE TWO:
1) Love God with all you are;
2) Love your neighbor as yourself!

It is important that Christians examine themselves for this!

In Luke 10:25-37, a lawyer asked Jesus, "WHO is my NEIGHBOR?"
Jesus answered with the parable of "The Good Samaritan!"
(If you haven't read it lately, do so now!)

The main point of the parable is, your neighbor is ANYONE - ESPECIALLY
if they have NEED!

EVERYONE NEEDS the LORD!

VSS 10-11
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.

Ps. 14:2-3 says, "2 The Lord looked down from heaven upon the children of men,
to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God.
3 They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that doeth
good, no, not one.

We are ALL SINNERS!! (Rom. 3:23, Is. 53:6)
HOW then, can we look down on someone else?

ONLY by the grace of God can we be SAVED!!

12 So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty.

I believe this verse is a sort of conclusion to the previous 2 verses.
The "law of liberty" means the law of God's MERCY, which sets
sinners FREE!

We must remember, we shall ALL staind before the judgment seat of Christ!
(2Cor. 5:10)

If we ourselves have been judged by that "law of liberty", then let us
ACT ACCORDINGLY with others!!

VS 13
13 For he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath shewed no mercy;
and mercy rejoiceth against judgment.

WHAT a SCARY statement!
If we do not SHOW mercy, we shall NOT receive mercy!!

For "mercy REJOICETH against JUDGMENT!"

If we have given our lives to Christ, then at His judgment seat we shall be
ACQUITTED!
HIS mercy shall OVERCOME judgment against our sin!

Therefore, all our speech and actions should exhibit that SAME mercy
toward others.

That verse 13 is a transition from thoughts of partiality to actions of faith
in Christ.

VSS 14-16
14 What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have
not works? can faith save him?
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?

((Go back and read James 1:22-27 -- PRACTICAL FAITH))

Many have discussed this question: "Can faith save him?"

We are NOT saved by FAITH!!
We are saved by GRACE THROUGH faith!
(Eph. 2:8-9)

Faith comes as a GIFT from God when we surrender to Jesus as Lord!
Grace saves us, and faith is put <_"IN"_> us!!
That faith is the gift of God that helps us CLING to Him, and DESIRE
to do things that PLEASE Him! (Ppns 2:13)

((A man was out walking in the dark. It became so dark he could hardly see.
He walked carefully, but fell off the side of a cliff! Luckily, he thought, he
was able to grab a small bush and hang on. But he felt the bush begin to
pull out of the ground. He called out to God: "God, if You are up there...HELP!"
The loud voice came from the sky, "Let GO of the bush!"
The man CRIED out, "ANYONE ELSE up there?"
God's voice again said, "LET GO of the bush!"
The man did. He dropped about 3 feet to a trail. That trail led him to the
bottom of the cliff!
MORAL: When one ACTS on faith, God HELPS!!))

LET GO of your prejudicial judment and ACT in love toward others!!

17 Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.
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.
19 Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe,
and tremble.

FAITH in God, WORKS IN us!
But we must also WORK in FAITH!

Faith produces works for and with God, ONLY if we are willing to DO what He says!

A true Christian, endowed with faith, is QUICKENED! MADE ALIVE to God, and
for HIS purposes!

Here are five things that SHOW our faith in Christ:
1) PRAYER
2) BIBLE STUDY
3) ATTENDANCE in church
4) GIVING and DOING in church
5) MINISTERING to others in the love of Christ.

Look closely at verse 19.
A LOT of people are going to miss heaven by 18 inches! BELIEVING and NOT doing is what the DEVILS DO!!

One can believe with the mind, and not be decided in the heart to do as God says!!

Even devils believe in Christ, but they are NOT saved! WHY?
Because they don't ACT in a way that glorifies God.

Remember, faith PRODUCES works that glorify God!

Now, let's look closely at verse 20

VS 20
20 But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?

To SAY one has faith, without works, is like being DEAD!! NOT "quickened"!

Ask yourself: "Where are my works that exhibit my unlimited trust in Christ?"

VSS 21-25
21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his
son upon the altar?
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.
24 Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.
25 Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received
the messengers, and had sent them out another way?

Two examples: Abraham and Rahab.

Abraham BELIEVED God and SHOWED it.
He told Isaac, "My son, God will provide HIMSELF a Lamb."
Of course, when it came to putting the knife to Isaac, God showed a RAM
caught in the bushes.
But, Abraham's faith was proven when God Himself became the TRUE LAMB!!

Rahab BELIEVED the reports about God and those Jewish spies.
She ACTED on that belief, showing FAITH.
She was rewarded by marrying a Jewish man and becoming included in
the LINEAGE of that TRUE LAMB!!

Believing God and acting in faith can, yes, be scary at times.
But it can also be FUN!!

((Once, Ann and I were invited by our children and grandchildren to go
ZIPLINING!
We climbed somes steps to a launching pad.
Now, I believed that the pully holding my strap seat and the cable would
hold me all the way across the gorge!
But that believe was EXHIBITED when I launched into the AIR!))

See! Faith can be FUN! EXHILIRATING!
When you LAUNCH into LOVING one another, you receive love BACK!!!

VS 26
26 For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.

Here is the main feature of the conversation of this chapter concerning faith
without partiality and exhibiting faith with works pleasing to God.

When the "spirit" leaves, the body is DEAD!
The only thing a dead body produces is decomposition!

But, when the "spirit" of the person is QUICKENED, by surrender to
Christ, the body dies, but the "spirit shall reurn to God who gave it!"
(Ecc. 12:7)

The Spirit of REAL LIFE comes from CHRIST!
"I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I LIVE; yet not I, but Christ
living IN me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the FAITH of
the Son of God, Who loved me, and gave Himself for me!"

Can you say that?
Is the faith of Christ WORKING in/through YOU?