The Counsel of James | Ep. 134

Can trials and temptations actually be blessings in disguise? Tune in as we unpack the profound lessons from the book of James, revealing how the challenges we face are designed to cultivate patience, steadfastness, and a perfected character. Discover how enduring these trials can lead to spiritual maturity and the ultimate reward of the crown of life. We’ll also tackle the nature of temptation, reflecting on the story of Adam and Eve, and discuss the importance of guarding our hearts against our own desires that lead us astray.
 
Have you ever wondered why simply knowing the scriptures isn't enough? In this episode, we delve into James' teachings on the significance of being doers of the word. We emphasize the futility of religious practices without self-control and the importance of caring for orphans and widows. Our conversation highlights the issue of discrimination within the faith community, urging listeners to embrace genuine, action-based faith and show impartial love for all individuals, mirroring God's inclusive love.
 
Do your actions truly reflect your faith? We'll explore the interconnectedness of faith and works, using examples like Abraham and Rahab to illustrate that true faith is demonstrated through obedience to God's commands. The episode also addresses the power of the tongue as a reflection of the heart's condition and the necessity of yielding ourselves to God rather than sin. Finally, we emphasize the importance of love and restoration within the Christian community, advocating for loving correction and fervent prayer to support one another in our spiritual journeys. 

Transcript

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j - Jesus M. Ruiz 0:03

The vision received was that of blood cells traveling throughout the body, supplying the much-needed oxygen and other nutrients to the differing members of the body to fulfill their purpose. Once the blood cells are spent, they must return back to the heart to be refilled before being sent out again and fulfill their purpose.

unknown 0:24

Thank you. It's always an honor and pleasure to be up here before you to be able to share the word of God.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz 0:33

As he's uh shared it with me. And uh I think uh trying to ask the Lord to show me what he would have me share, he kind of brought to remembrance uh question that the young lady that just left with her little boy, uh, Kim asked. I thought it was on a Tuesday, but it could have been on a Sunday. And uh I guess I had some thoughts on the matter, and and the Lord kind of uh used that to spark uh what he wanted me to share today. So we'll all turn to James. The book of James. Right after Hebrews. And uh I guess I would I just want to pull some of the counsel that the Lord was giving through James as he wrote this letter. First thing you'll notice is that this letter is written to not a particular person or a particular church. It's actually written to saints all over the world who are experiencing various trials, tribulations, provings. And he says that the trials of our faith are working in us, patience. That word patience is also steadfastness or endurance or persevering. And when we go through our trials, and we we did mention it earlier today in various uh people, um there's a purpose in the trials. It's not a purpose of I want to grind you until you are a pulverized particle of dust. But there's a greater purpose in going through a trial, a proving. I like that word, it is a proving of something or in you. And when the Lord has his way with you through these provings or trials, it brings forth a completed work, a perfect work, a work where you become a perfect man or perfect woman, needing nothing. And the man that endures the temptation to the very end, if you read chapter one, you read the book, the man that is going through the temptation must endure to the end to receive the crown of life that is promised to them. And we need to be aware of that because the race that we run is not a sprint, it's a long, arduous process that we go through, and sometimes we have to go around the track a few times. Like the Israelites for some for obvious reasons had to go around the mountain many times before the Lord said, Okay, now let us go on and move on and go forth. And some of that is really our stubbornness, some of that is really our own doing. We seem to have to go through the same trial, the same temptation, the same proving of our faith because we didn't get it the previous other times that we were going through it. Now, James makes, I think, a very important point in saying that the temptation with evil, the temptation to do evil does not come from God. God is not

Are you being tempted of God or tried, tested and proved by God?

j - Jesus M. Ruiz 4:35

one to tempt his children to do evil. It would be to say that he tempted Adam and Eve to do evil when he gave them the one choice in the garden. Everything is yours. Everything you want is made for you. Just don't eat of this tree. That's not a temptation to evil. But some people would blame God for having fallen. When he then explains that it's not that God is tempting you, because he calls it a proving, a temptation, a trial, it's that you are being tried, you are being tested and proved by your own lust. Your own lusts are the things that are drawing you away from the Lord. And the testing or the proving is: are you going to go that route? When God gave the choice to Adam and Eve, it was their choice, it was their own lust that drew them away from what God really wanted for them. What his perfect will was for them. It had nothing to do with God why Eve fell, had nothing to do with God why Adam fell. It was Eve that was deceived through the subtlety of the serpent. But if you look at the root of the matter, Eve was drawn away after her own lust. The serpent said, Well, if you eat of that tree, you're going to be like God. Ooh, what? Be like God? I'm going to be like God, knowing good from evil? I wonder what that's like. And then she was drawn away after her own lust. So these things of this world that we desire, James says, are the things that are tempting us to be drawn away from the things of the Lord. The desires begin in our thoughts. The desires begin in our mind and in our heart. And that is where it's conceived. If you think of how we came into existence naturally before we were born, we had to be conceived. Well, he's using this analogy to talk about how does the wages of sin lead to death? It wasn't the sin that it began with, it was conceived in a desire in your heart. And then that desire, when you ruminate and you think about it, and it leads to the birth. And the birth is the engagement of that sin. And once you engage in the sin, what is the ultimate result? Death. And that's exactly what happened with the fall of mankind. If we all turn to Numbers chapter 15, the Lord warns the Israelites of this in verse 38. Numbers chapter 15, verse 38. We start at verse 37. The Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and bid them that they make fringes in the borders of the garments throughout their generations, and that they put upon the fringe of the borders a ribbon of blue. And it shall be unto you for a fringe that when you may look upon it, you would remember all the commandments of the Lord and do them. So God is trying to help his people. Do his commandments. I want you to put this article of clothing or this design on your clothing, so that when you look upon it, you remember it's a reminder to do the commandments of the Lord. But look at the next thing that is said. And that ye seek not after your own heart. And seek not after your own eyes. After which ye use to go ahoury, to go committing idolatry or harlotry against the Lord. Because that's where it starts in the heart of man to conceive these things. He says in verse 40, that ye may remember to do all my commandments and be holy unto the Lord your God. I am the Lord your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God. I am the Lord your God. It is the thoughts, it is the machinations, the imaginations that go on in our heart, that we must guard our heart diligently and daily. That we don't allow the thoughts that sometimes are not even our own thoughts, they are dropped there by the enemy to err, to be led astray. The question is, what do you do with those thoughts that the enemy brings forth to you? Are you combative like a commando, like a sergeant at arms? Do you put on the armor of faith and you combat the thoughts? Or do you allow them to sink into the soil of your heart? To then over time bring out an engagement in sin. Because the thoughts and the imaginations of our heart that are contrary to the Lord, what must we do with them? Cast them down. As what? Vain imaginations of who? The enemy. Because he wants you to fall. James continues on to say that all perfect gifts come from above, and he begins from above. And he says that in his godly counsel, and remember, he's speaking to all the saints at large who are going through tribulation. He gives this counsel. Be swift to hear. Be slow to speak. Be slow to wrath. It reminds me of how another apostle said, Have this mind be in you. Do you remember who said that? Paul said that. He said that in Philippians 2, verse 3 through 5. Let's read that. Philippians 2, 3 through 5. He says, let nothing be done through strife or vainglory, but in lowliness of mind. Let each esteem others better than themselves. Let every man on his own, let not look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. In other words, be unselfish. Don't be thinking about yourself all the time. Think about others. Put them first before you put yourself. And then he says, Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. Christ Jesus was the perfect epitome of that. The man literally disrobed himself and washed the disciples' feet. Yet he was the Lord of glory. He taught them everything that they needed to know to walk in the authority that God wanted to give his children. He taught them how do they walk about walk on water? How do they cast out the enemy from the lives of others? What is it that they need to teach others? Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand. He taught them everything. He was a servant unto them. This is the type of mind that we need to have. So all the saints in the world that are going through tribulations, your counsel from James is be swift to listen, be slow to speak, be slow to anger. He said, Anger, the anger of man. Because what when you go through provings, when you go through trials and tribulations, you can get mad. You don't like how you're being mistreated at work. You don't like how this and that other person seemed to take advantage of you. You don't like what the enemy is doing. You just seem like everything is just falling and it doesn't go right. And there's nowhere to turn. There doesn't seem to be anything. And the first thing that we want to do naturally is to rise up in anger. But James says that anger does not bring forth the righteousness of God. So he's ministering to the saints that are going through trials and he's giving them the counsel that they need to hear. We need to remember that. It wasn't just an introduction. When you write a letter, most of the time the first thing that you're writing about is the first thing that's on your mind that you feel is most important to deal with, and you want to address that matter. And this whole book is addressing saints who are going through trials and provings. And some of it is not a God, it's of themselves. How are they all going to come? Their own carnality. The anger that comes about from man is not an appropriate response of man who is trying to endure trials and provings of the faith. He says also later in chapter 1, to put aside all abundance of wickedness. But then he also says on the same side of the coin, receive in meekness. Receive with a gentle spirit the implanted word, the instruction of the Lord. What is the Holy Spirit teaching you? What is he trying to get you to understand so that you can walk in his spirit? Because it says that the implanted word is able to save your souls. And if you continue reading in James chapter 1, in order for the implanted word to be at work in your life to save your soul, it starts with you having an attitude of meekness. But it always accompanied with what he

Blessed by Doing not by Hearing or Knowing

j - Jesus M. Ruiz 14:43

said. If you're going to receive the word of God in meekness and gentleness of spirit, it must result in you being a doer of the word. Otherwise, what are you only? A hearer. And just by being a hearer, you deceive yourselves and you have a false sense of security that just because you merely have the knowledge of God, or the knowledge that he died on the cross and that he rose again on the third day, just that mere knowledge you think that, oh, I'm good, I'm saved, I'm alright, that's what I believe. Yeah, that's the truth. In verse 25 of James 1, excuse me, James 1, verse 25. It says, Whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed indeed. He's telling you specifically that it's not merely a person that has knowledge that is okay. It is the man with knowledge that applies the knowledge and does what the knowledge says to do. That is the man that will be blessed indeed. We cannot rely on mere knowledge. What does knowledge do? It says in what it says elsewhere in the scripture. Knowledge puffeth up. It just makes you arrogant, it just makes you prideful. But when you're a doer of the word, then you were blessed and you are a blessing. Because the the hypocrites, the Pharisees, knew the word of God. Well, why were they hypocrites? Why did he say, Woe is them, woe is you, woe is you? Because you don't do the word. You just rely on the mere knowledge. You search the scriptures and think, and then you have eternal life, yet I'm standing before you. He that is eternal life, and you do not see me for who I am. The knowledge didn't help them, the knowledge didn't save them. It says in 1 John 2, 17 that he that doeth the will of God, what will happen to him? Anyone know? He that doeth the will of God abides forever. This is the man that is blessed. This is the man that inherits and obtains eternal life for himself, the doer of the word. He brings about an example in verse 26 of those that are religious, those that are that say that they're worshippers of God. And he says that if you're a worshiper of God, if you're a religious person and you can't control your tongue, you're deceived in your own heart. And your religious practices are vain. Your religious practices are useless because you can't even control your own tongue. And Bisend says, besides pure and unstained religious practice before God is visiting the orphans and the widows in their affliction and keeping oneself unspotted from the world. He speaks more of that in chapter 4. We're gonna get to that. But I'm gonna pass over that, but just remember that. We go into chapter 2. Chapter 2, he begins to speak about those who hold the faith of Jesus are not to show partiality toward anyone. One of those provings that you go through in your faith is do you discriminate? It seemed to be an issue that James felt, I need to address this. But we know that James is not the author, he's just the pen. Who took the pen and wrote it down? It's the Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit said, we have an issue here. There's discrimination amongst my people. And it was mostly about the rich and the poor. He says, You regard one who is obviously rich over one who is obviously poor, and you separate the two and you exclude one from the other, and you put this one in an inferior position than another. That's discrimination. And that discrimination is in your heart. It puts you in a place of judgment. You judge the value of people. You are not a judge of the value of people. Because Jesus didn't die for the rich, he didn't die for the poor, he didn't die for the sick, he died for all men. He died for all mankind. And for you to now say, well, I'm only gonna treat you nice because you look nice or you have riches and no, you don't look as good. I'm not gonna treat you the same way, I'm gonna treat you slightly different, you are now putting yourself in between God and the people that he died for. Who are you to discriminate? And we don't just discriminate on rich and poor. That's why you have to search your heart. What is the Spirit speaking to you? Do you show discrimination? And do you justify your discrimination for whatever reason? God hath chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith. You who are discriminating between rich and poor and treating them differently, do you not realize he chose the poor of this world to be rich in faith and to be heirs of the kingdom of God? To them that love him. He says, to them that love him. And then he James tries to reason. He says, You despise the poor, but you honor the rich. And then he asks the question Aren't the rich the men that oppress you? That doesn't even make any sense. He's trying to reason with that. Don't the rich the ones that blaspheme in the name of Jesus? He says. We're not cutting down trees and making little Buddhas with red eyes and gold plates and silver clothing. That's not how we commit idolatry today. It's the affections of our heart are given over to the things of the world. That has become our idolatry. And it's not seen. It's spiritual. It's not natural. All of these natural things, that's the way they did it back then, but we do it in a different manner. We pump up this Hollywood star, this oh, he's so fine. Or the Oh, she's so hot, and she's part of the top 25 beautiful women of the world, and she's an actress and she's so rich, or this guy is one of the 25 most beautiful people, and it's on all the magazines. These are the people that we vaunt and highlight. And we don't realize that these are the same people that, number one, they're taking advantage of you because you paid 12 bucks just to watch their movie and make them millionaires. How about the advertisements you see from the multinatural corporations that make you feel like you need something when in reality you don't even need that thing? But then you go out and buy it. And what you do? You got lollipoped. You made them billions of dollars rich, and here you have something that you never really needed in the first place. Music industry, the same thing. You buy their CDs and you go gung-ho about that. You just made them a million dollars, and you got a CD that just breaks later on, you get tired of the music anyway. Because we always get tired of all that stuff. We want something new. And they feed off of that. They milk you like a cow with all of that.

SPEAKER_01 23:04

That's right.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz 23:07

We need to think about that. What are the affections of our heart? Because when we go through the provings and the trials of our faith, if the affections of our heart are for the world, it may lead us to be falling away. It may lead one day where our love will wax cold for our brethren, as it says in the scriptures. So he recommends, he counsels in verse 8 of chapter 2. It's called the royal law. If you fulfill the royal law according to the scripture, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. Ye do well. Jesus put it this way: what is the greatest commandment? Yes, love the Lord your God, love with all your heart, soul, and mind, and strength. And what's the next one that's just as important? Love your neighbor as yourself. This is the royal law.

unknown 23:58

Doesn't change?

j - Jesus M. Ruiz 24:00

No. And will not. It is forever written and declared from heaven. So when we discriminate, excuse me, discriminate. When you discriminate, you're not loving your neighbor as yourself because you wouldn't treat yourself in that manner. You wouldn't sit him in that chair down there. You wouldn't put food on the floor and feed him there while everyone else gets to sit at the chair at the table. You wouldn't do such things like that. Everyone would, you know, you know, King Arthur and the knights of the round table. It's myth, it's fictional. But it has some principle. King Arthur sat at the table, at a round table, not higher up than them, not lower than them. It was a round table because he was honoring and respecting everyone, and everyone in turn honored and respected him, even though he was king. There's a principle in that. That you can take, you can extrapolate that or realize, oh, that's the royal law. Because even the person that authored the King Arthur was being influenced by the scriptures. And they came out with this myth, this fable that we all know well with Gilgamesh and King Arthur and the knights of the round table. But let's get back to the scriptures. Verse 11 and 12. The same person that said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself, is the same being who said, Do not commit adultery, do not kill. The law, I think of it as like a ruler. You ever seen a

No matter where or when the law is broken, it's broken.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz 25:50

meter ruler that teachers use in class? It doesn't matter whether I take that meter ruler, which is about this long, and break it here at the inch mark. Or here at the 12-inch mark, or here at the 36-inch mark. Does it matter as soon as I broke it? Is the ruler broken? Yes, it is. It doesn't matter where I did it. The same God that said thou shalt love thy neighbors, the same God that said that thou shalt not show partiality, the same God that said thou shalt not kill. So it doesn't matter if you kept all of it. If you broke it right here, it's broken. You're a lawbreaker. You broke the rule. The royal law. What is this law of liberty? Turn to Romans 8 1 and 2. We'll come back to James. Don't lose James. We'll come back to 8. Or we'll come back to James, but go to Romans 8, 1 and 2. The law of liberty is this. There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus who walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit. For the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. Liberty is freedom. The law is the is is the new law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus is this law of liberty that James is speaking about. It is the law that broke me free from the law of sin and death. I'm now under a new law. We call it a new covenant. And in this new covenant, James is counseling those that are being tried in the faith. And he says, For he shall have judgment without mercy that has shown no mercy. In other words, God is not going to show anyone mercy who does not show mercy. It is the same principle when Jesus was walking in the days of this flesh when he gave the parable that if you don't forgive others, your heavenly father will not forgive you. James is repeating the same principle. You've been forgiven of far too much for you to hold a grudge against anyone. That's a part of your trial of your faith. Are you going to hold grudges in unforgiveness and bitterness and resentment and anger against those whom are your brothers? And even those who are in the world. Judgment without mercy shall come to the one who showed no mercy. Probably my favorite part of James. 14 on through 26. He's speaking to the saints who are going through trials and provings. And he says, What is it profit, brethren? If a man say he has faith and have not works, can the faith save him? He's asking, does faith without works save a man? He said if you have a brother or sister who's destitute of food, and one of you saying to them, Oh, be at peace, be warmed, be filled, and you don't give them what they need. What faith is that? That is not faith. Just because you say the right things, but you don't accompany it with the doing of the right things means nothing. You wouldn't respect anyone who had the means to help you if you needed food. I mean, you knew he had it. And he said he loved God, and he said he loved you as a brother, but he sent you away and didn't give you food. You wouldn't respect that man. It doesn't make any sense. And James is saying the same thing. It doesn't make any sense for you to call yourself a Christian and not have works that coincide with being a Christian. That doesn't make sense. And you know that in the world. So he continues on. He says, even so, faith, if it hath not works, is dead. Faith alone is dead without works. It's meaningless, it's vain, it's useless, it has no value. It's just a belief. And all of Christianity is immersed in a belief and do not follow it with works. If a man says, I have faith, James says, Well, show me thy faith without works, and I will show you my faith by my works. Who will you respect more? The one that says, I believe, I believe, and doesn't do anything, and the one that says, I believe, here, let me help you out. It's very obvious. Who are you going to respect more? This is not rocket science here. But because of the perversion of the world, it becomes a treasure found in a haystack. Like a small diamond found in a great big haystack. Because of the perversion of the word of God, it's not as clear anymore. We listen to preachers more than we get into the word of God ourselves. Because they seem sincere, because they seem genuine. Because they're popular. They're on TV. They're rich. They have mansions. They have a bunch of cars. I've never seen them for lack of food or water or anything. I mean, they're on the TV all 24 hours a day, seven days a week. They're popularized on the billboard, they're on this commercial and that commercial. And we venerate and exalt them rather than the word of God. And it's the word of God that we have to go to at all times. Because everyone here knows the hypocrisy we see out there. With all of these mega televangelist preachers. It's probably going on before I got interested in it. You know, before the 80s. I was born in 74. It was probably going on there. I don't know. Then this is the one that this is the kicker. It's obvious, I think. It should be obvious

Belief in God saves?

j - Jesus M. Ruiz 33:01

that a man who says, I believe and doesn't show anything, and then the man that says I believe and does show something, it's obvious who you're going to respect more. James says it this way: You believe that there's one God? Good for you. So do the devils. So how great is that belief? He's saying that belief means nothing because the devils believe the same way. They know there's one God, and they fear and trouble when he comes into prison. Oh my gosh, have you come here before the time so to make me torment? They fear him is not saving them. The devil's belief in God is not saving them, and neither is your belief in God going to save you. That's what James is saying. And then again, this whole little section of chapter of James is perverted because they think that, oh, he's talking about when Paul talked about works, the works of the law. This has nothing to do with the works of the law. Let's read it in its context. He says, Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son upon the altar? Think of the timeline. Adam, Eve, Seth, Abraham. Moses. When did the law come? Moses! When was Abraham? Before. Did Abraham bring his son to the altar to sacrifice him because the law told him? It wasn't even in existence. So what were the works of Abraham that justified him before God were works of obedience to the word of God. And that's what it's always been. The law is the word of God. But what has declared man righteous in God's eyes in the old covenant was when God spoke, they listened, and they did. And it wasn't just Isaac. Did not God speak to Abraham, leave your country. Did he not leave his country? Leave your family? Did he not leave his family? Did he not go in the direction of where the promised land was? Yes, he did all of that at the bidding of the word of the Lord. He obeyed. His works of obedience were the works of faith. Because if he didn't believe God, he wouldn't have done it. I believe, therefore I do. If you had a quarter that only had the front side with the face and didn't have the backside, would we consider that legitimate coins in our day? We wouldn't know. That's a fake, that's a counterfeit. That's I'm not taking that. Why is it any different in the faith? Faith working together with works justifies a man. That is what declares him to be righteous. Is it works of my own ideas? Is it works of my own imaginations? Is it works that, oh, oh, if I could just be this good, God will accept me. No, because none of this came from me. This came entirely from God. God is the one that told me to repent, therefore I shall repent. God is the one that told me to get baptized in the name of Jesus, therefore I'll get baptized in the name of Jesus. God is the one that said, I need to receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. This is not me. This is not my idea of how I should get saved or how I can save myself. I am simply following directions. Is that simple? You can try to go ahead and build some kind of machinery or some model without the directions. Good luck. Let me know how that goes for you since you've never built it before and you don't have any experience in it. I've never saved anyone like God has saved everyone eternally speaking. So I don't know how it's done. I don't know where to begin. I don't know where to end. I only know if he's the one that's saving, then maybe I should listen to the Savior. Amen. So it says, see how faith worked together with his works, and by works his faith was made complete. The word was perfect, but it means complete. That coin with the front side and without the back is not complete until that backside is engraved. Ah, then it's a quarter. Then it has value. A dollar bill. It's gotta have that front side. It doesn't have the backside, that's a counterfeit. It's not a value until you have both sides. Because they're both sides of the same coin. And the scripture was fulfilled when it said Abraham believed God. How did he believe God? Because of his obedience. He can't separate the two, that's the context. His works of obedience when he sacrificed his son on the altar was about to, was because he obeyed the word of God to him. That is what declared him to be righteous. And it says it was imputed unto him for righteousness, and he was called a friend of God. Wow. He was called a friend of God. Faith exhibited. Faith is declared by works. It is what makes your faith complete and whole. It says in Hebrews 4 2 about how they had to mix faith with the word. Let's turn to that very quickly. Hebrews 4 2. Israelites fell in the wilderness, did not enter the promised land. Because unto them the gospel was preached, as well as unto them, but the word preached did not profit them. Why? It not being mixed with faith in them that heard it. So James has now defined for us what faith looks like. When you hear the word of the Lord, you obey. And there it is complete. It's not just merely hearing and saying, Oh, I heard you. I agree. That's not even, that's not even faith. It's when you apply it and you walk in it. Likewise also, was not Rahab the harlot justified by works when she received the messengers and had sent them out another way? Now you might wonder there, well, hmm, when did har when did Rahab the harlot hear God so that she could have works that that justified her, declared her to be righteous? Look very carefully. Joshua two, nineteen and twenty-one. Joshua two, nineteen through twenty-one. Just to give you the understanding and the backdrop, Rahab was in the city of Jericho. Messing, spies came in, trying to scout out the place, and the people of Jericho, the leaders, the government, wanted to take them out. They were searching all over the place. They knew they had come in. They knew that the Israelites were coming to Jericho to take it down. They had heard word. Rahab took these two in, and it said in verse 19, that whosoever shall go out of the doors of thy house into the street, his blood shall be upon his head. Am I in the right place? Okay. And we will be guiltless, and whoever shall be with thee in the house, his blood shall be on our head. If any hand be upon him. If thou utter this business, then we will be quit of thy note. So they're talking about the agreement. She took them in, she found out who they were, she made a covenant with them. She said, listen to what she said. Let me read this because we gotta come back a few verses. Yeah. She says this. I know the Lord has given you this land. All the people have heard what God did for you. And all the people are in fear of you coming in. This is her confession. It's not like she heard the word of the Lord like Abraham. She heard of his testimonies. And now she's telling them, after having heard the testimonies, this is her confession. The Lord your God is heaven above and on earth beneath. Rahab then did what? She stood in the gap for her family, for her loved ones, her mother, her father, her brothers, and her sisters, and made a covenant with the spies and says, Listen, I'm gonna let you out because I know that the Lord is giving you this land. We all know it. We're in fear. I'm gonna let you out. I'm not gonna turn you in. And they came to her. They asked her. There were two men that came in here, and there were part of the other. Well, I didn't know who they were at the time, but yeah, I did see them. But she didn't give them in. And she let them go free. Now, what were her works of faith? She confessed and declared, who is God of gods and Lord of Lords? And she helped the spies out and escaped them because she knew what the Lord was going to do. That's called acknowledging the truth. Turn to Second Timothy two twenty-five. Second Timothy two twenty-five. Is it twenty-five or second Timothy? Two twenty-five, two, twenty-five, second Timothy two

Repentance must acknowledge the truth

j - Jesus M. Ruiz 43:27

twenty-five. Paul says, in meekness, instructing those that oppose themselves, if God, peradventure, will give them repentance, what's the next couple words? To the acknowledging of the truth. You see, if you're going to repent biblically, you must first acknowledge the truth. There's no other way around it. Rahab acknowledged the truth. The Lord your God, he's the God of heaven and earth. She acknowledged the truth. That was repentance. She changed her ways, she let out that. So that they can escape. And so those works justified her. As a matter of fact, if I remember correctly, she's a part of the line of the lineage of Jesus. Is she not? Yeah. Look at what that did. Her works working together with what she believed. Because she could have said, I believed your Lord God. I mean, he's easy. I don't want to mess with him. But then she could have turned him in. So how powerful is that faith or belief? It wouldn't have been that much because she really didn't fear. But she feared so much the Lord her God that she was willing to lie to those that were seeking after them and help them escape. So that she could save herself and her family. Because she recognized who the Lord actually was. So let's turn back to James. So faith without works, it says, is dead, just as a body without a spirit is dead. Chapter 3. Still speaking to saints who are going through trials and tribulations and struggling, he starts speaking about men offending, not in the word. The same as a perfect man. If you can walk about this life and you need not offend in word, perfect man. Who is able to also bridle the whole body. We put bits in the horse's mouth so that we can control them. We have rudders on ships so that we can take this big mammoth boat and steer them in a direction. It's about the control of something that's out of your control. The tongue is attached to the heart. Jesus said, out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. So if the tongue is an issue and it's spewing out evil and hatred and vengeance, what's really the problem? The heart. The heart of man is the issue. It says in Matthew 12, 34, and Luke 6, 45, it says, A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things. Mouths speak out of the abundance of what's inside them. So he starts talking about how a tongue is like it's a little member, but man, it can create a roaring fire. It says it is so powerful because it's so full of iniquity that the tongue among the members of our body is able to defile the members of our body. And set it on a course for hell, it says in verse 6 of chapter 3. So what that's saying is that the tongue can be a fire among our members, defiling the whole body, sending it in a course for hell. This is talking about a mouth that is untamed. A mouth that is uncontrolled. And but what is the mouth? It's the expression of the heart. It is a spirit that is untamed. It is a spirit that is uncontrolled. That's the problem. That's why it was the need for the Holy Ghost. He tames the heart. And we saw it as He tames, and the tongues came forth, and you spoke out of the abundance of your heart. What was in your heart at that time? The Holy Spirit filled you. He had the reins. He had what he needed of you: a surrender so that he can bring forth a new set of tongues in your life. And that was a sign of a new heart. He prophesied that through Ezekiel, through Jeremiah. A new heart I will give unto them. A new spirit I will give to them. I will renew a new heart and a new spirit. And I will indwell them with my spirit, it says in Ezekiel 36. This was prophesied because he needed to do that. He says, the tongue, no man can tame the tongue. No man. Not you, not me. Not Samson. Not Thor? Not Hercules. None of them can tame their tongue because none can tame their spirit. It is fallen. You cannot save yourself. Only the perfect Savior can save you. Talks about, James talks about, out of the same mouth we proceed with blessings and cursings. But did you know that in Matthew 7, 15 through 20, Jesus spoke about false prophets in very much the same words? False prophets are known by their fruits. A good tree produces good fruit. A bad tree produces bad fruit. It's an issue of the heart. How will you know the false prophets? By their fruit. You'll see it. So he says in verse 13, who is a wise man endued with knowledge among you? Let him show out of a good behavior his works. Faith works again. Out of with meekness and wisdom. There is a wisdom below. That wisdom is earthly, it is sensual, it is devilish, it leads to bitter envy and strife in your hearts, James says. Again, he's speaking and counseling to Christians that are going through provings. Because if the Christians that are going through provings, do not address these issues. What's going to happen? They're going to fall away. This whole thing is about trying to encourage and build up Christians that are being proven and tested. But that there's another wisdom that is from above. And it's first peaceable. It is first pure, peaceable, gentle, easy to be entreated, easy to teach, easy to minister to. It is full of mercy, good fruits, without discrimination, partiality, hypocrisy. And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace that make peace. These are the things that we need to cultivate in our lives. This wisdom from above. We come to chapter 4. Talks about how there's fightings among the brethren. There's wars among them. Why? It goes all the way back to the beginning. Is God tempting them to do evil? Why is there wars and fightings among you? Why is there disagreements? Why can't we live in peace with people that are children of God that are our brothers and sisters? Because there's lust in our heart. It says in verse 1 of chapter 4, your lust war in your members, not just in your body, but also in my body. Everybody's fighting. They want this, they want that, they want what that person has and what this person has. And there's constant fighting and infighting because of lust, uncontrolled, untamed. Ye lust, you don't have. You kill and desire to have, but you don't obtain. You fight in war and you don't have. Why? Because you just won't ask the Father of life. You just won't ask the Father, God, who owns everything anyway. He will give you that which you need. You do not need to lust and desire what other people have, whether in the world or whether your own brethren. And then he speaks really, really almost offending. He says, you adulterers? You adulteresses? Well, I mean, someone comes to you and say, You a whore. You'd be like, who are you talking to? He's saying that, you adulterers, you adulteresses, you harlot. Don't you know that friendship with the world is enity with God? You lust and desire after the things of the world. You make yourself an enemy of God. Because he's not with the world. He's not having anything of the world. He's already declared that the world is going to be consumed in fire. And there will be nothing left. He's not into that. Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is an enemy of God. Why does Paul tell us, do not be unequally? That friend of God, that comes back to Abraham. Abraham was called a friend of God. Because when he heard the Lord, he obeyed. Right? I said that. That's kind of what I said. That's kind of my interpretation of what happened. Well, look at what Jesus said in John chapter 15. So don't think I'm just sharing out my opinion and spouting my thoughts on the matter. Jesus said in John chapter 15, verse 14, you are my friends if you do whatsoever I command you. You want to be my friend, Jesus says? Do whatever I say. But his relationship is different than that of a master and a servant. Because a master will command that his servant do whatever needs to be done, and he won't share anything about it. Wise or anything at all. But what does he say in the next verse? Because of this, because you do what I say, I call you a friend. You're not a servant. Why? Because a servant does not know what his Lord does. But I have called you friends because all things that I have heard of my Father, I have made known unto you. I've given you the revelation. I've given you the understanding. I've given you, out of intimacy with you, that you're not my servant because you do what I say. You're my friend because you do what I say. He changed the whole relationship in that one statement. You are my friends if you do whatsoever I command you. That's why Abraham was called a friend of God. That's why anyone who does what the Lord says is a friend of God. But if you're walking with the world, you make yourself an enemy of God. He is not with the world. What does it say in Romans 8, verse 7? Actually, we'll go back. For to be carnally minded. No, five. For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh. But they that are after the spirit, the things of the spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is peace, because the carnal mind is enmity. The same word used by James. You become a friend of the world, it is enmity against God. And so here that same word is used. Enmity is to be of a carnal mind, because it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can it be. The ways of the world do not subjugate itself to the ways of God. How many times has he said, the law of non-contradiction? You can't be walking with the world and obeying God. It's two completely opposite things. You cannot do that. You can't have one foot in the world and one foot out of the world. That's only an illusion. If you have one foot in the world, you're all in the world. You only deceive yourself into thinking I'm still with God. You've got to make a choice. This is a deception. It's either this or this. You're either in or out. There's no, there's he doesn't he doesn't give us an idea that, oh, there's a middle ground. There is no middle ground. There's a spirit that has been deposited within the saints of God that desires us jealously. Jealously. I could read from Ezekiel 39. I'm just going to give you the scriptures. You can look at them later. Ezekiel 39, 25 through 29. You can look at Joshua chapter 24, 19 through 25. You can look at Ezekiel 34, 14, about the spirit that jealously desires his bride. Will not have his bride with any other, will not share her with anyone else. He's not with that. And if she happens to, for a season, commit adultery against him. He still loves her enough to cleanse her and save her and bring her back. Through what? As we walk it out, repentance. Yeah, she's got to change. Of course she's got to change. So he says, he gives more grace to who?

unknown 57:55

The humble one.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz 57:58

He says he resists the proud. So when you humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord and you start getting supplied with his grace, it means you are submitting yourselves to God. And when you put yourself in a place of submission to God, then you can do what? Resist the devil. And what will he do? He will then flee from you. But you had to submit to God first. It doesn't happen another way. Drawing nigh unto God means he just is going to draw closer to you. He begins to talk about in verse 11 of chapter 4 how we are not to speak evil of one another, not to speak evil of our brethren. Why? Because you put yourself in the place of a judge again. You're more worried about recognizing who's doing the law and not doing the law than doing the law yourself. That's a problem. That doesn't mean you don't bring correction to people, because you need to be walking in that correction yourself. And we want to save our brethren. We want to see them fall by the wayside, which is exactly how he ends chapter 5. We'll get there in a second. But we're not to speak evil of our brethren because that becomes, that means we make ourselves a judge of our brethren. We are not called to judge our brethren and condemn them for the way that they're acting. But we need to reach out to them,

Don't judge, but tell the truth in love

j - Jesus M. Ruiz 59:31

telling them the truth in what? Love. Peradventure, mayhaps, perhaps, they will turn from their wicked ways and be saved. There is only one lawgiver. James says, let that lawgiver be the judge. He alone is able to save and what? Destroy that life. In chapter 5, I'm skipping because I know we're running out of time. Our fellowship and our the ministry of the body, I think is encaptured in verses 12 through 16 of chapter 5. But above all things, my brethren, swear not, neither by heaven, neither by earth, neither by any other oath. But let your yes be yes and your no be no, lest you fall into condemnation. Is there any many that's sick among you? Anybody afflicted? Let him pray. Is any married? Let him sing Psalms. Is any sick among you? Call for the elders. Let them pray. And the prayer of the faith shall save the sick. Confess your faults one to another and pray one another that ye may be healed. The effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. What is the fellowship of the ministry of the saints? There should be much prayer, much intercession for each other. That we all attain to the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God of the perfect man, Jesus Christ. He ends in chapter 5. Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth and one convert him, let him know that he which converted the sinner from the air of his way shall save a soul from death and shall hide a multitude of sins. That's called the ministry of restoration. Love covers all sins, not through the acceptance of a person walking in the sin, but the loving correction that's brought forth. And that's how we bear one another's burdens. Because if that person will change his ways, even though he damaged his reputation, even though he marred it, and it's going to take time for people to get over what that person did. If he repents, would you not stand by his side? You bet you should. Because we've all made mistakes, some bigger than others. But if you were able to minister to someone and get them to see the arrowways and they repent, even though they damage and sully their reputation, and everybody else in the world is still condemning them for what they did, we need to stand by them. Because that's the heart of God. He doesn't have his people repent only to suffer the persecution and the condemnation from the world and then leave them. Why did he go to the cross? Because he bear all the sins of the world upon himself. And therein love fulfills the law, as spoken of in Galatians 5.14. What does it say in Galatians 5.14? For all the laws fulfilled in one word, even in this, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. There was a question that Kim brought forth. Yeah, you did. She has something about her parents' father, relatives, and who's their father? Is it the devil? Is it God? Was my father the devil for 30 years of my life? I raised my hand. He was about 21 years before I got born again. And all that while I thought I was a Christian. All that while I thought I was saved. But not until I was born again did my father, my God now, become my father. Now, I mean, yes, he's the father of all creation. Yes, he's the father of all mankind, yes. But we, because of our choices, change fathers. If I walk in righteousness, my father is God. If I walk in unrighteousness, he is no longer God, he is now the devil. And see, when we look at man, we look at our relatives, we look at our loved ones, there are two perspectives to see it in. As man, we have a finite perspective. We only see the here and now and the past of their lives. But man does not see the knowledge of the end without revelation. Now, God gives us revelation as to those that walk in his ways, we know their end. Those that don't walk in his ways, we don't know their end. But specifically speaking, he doesn't give that revelation very often. So we must work out our own salvation with fear and trembling. Now, who's a good example of this? I think Paul was a good example of this. Because he did not walk about his life, his ministry, believing that he was there. Matter of fact, he said, I have yet to apprehend that for which Christ hath apprehended me. I have yet to. But then he said, in another letter that was written after Philippians, he said to 2 Timothy, I fought the good fight of faith and I finished the course and I kept the faith. He knew then, because he knew he was going, that he was going to be with the Lord. But all the while before, he was working it out day after day, making sure he stays on that right track, on that right path. Now there's another perspective that we don't have, but God has it. His eyes is in an infinite perspective. He knows the end from the beginning. And he always deals with his remnant in kindness. He always deals with his remnant. Remnant faithfully without fail in mercy and loving kindness. He always does. The problem is we're still in the temple. We don't know whether we're in the remnant yet. So we have to what? Work out our own salvation and fear and trumpetum and make sure that we endure unto the end, as James started the whole thing with. It is those that endure until the end that will be blessed. But this everlasting love that God shows his remnant includes rebuke. It includes correction. It includes chastisement. He just doesn't deal with us in that eternal perspective and just let us do whatever we want. He enters into our present temporal state and he starts correcting. He starts fixing. So that we could end up where he already sees us, that we're gonna end up, but only he sees that. So I end with Romans chapter 6. Who will our father be? I don't know. When I'm walking in unrighteousness, my father's the devil, and when I'm walking in righteousness, my father is God. It really depends on who I yield my members to. It says in Romans chapter 6, verse 13. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin, but yield yourselves unto God, because that's the antithesis. As those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under the law but under grace. What then? Shall we sin? Shall we just get away with whatever we want? Because we are not under the law but under grace. God forbid. Know ye not that to whom ye yield yourself servants to obey? His servants ye are to whom ye obey. If I yield myself to the devil, he is my master. Whether I'm born again or not, if I yield myself to God, then God is my father, he is my master. He says, I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh. For as ye have yielded your members' servants to uncleanness and into iniquity, into iniquity, even so now yield your members' servants to righteousness, unto holiness. These are the words that James was giving to the saints who were going through their trials, who were going through their testings. You put that together with the other scriptures and you realize you need to work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. And you need to yield your members as instruments of righteousness to God. Allow him to be your Father. Allow him to be all that you can be. Let patience, the Spirit of God, have his perfect work in you, and he will bring you to completion in the day of Christ Jesus. If you were blessed and appreciate listening to this podcast, and you would like to support us in our efforts, consider lifting us up in prayer first. Then remember these four social media buzzwords. Share, like, subscribe, or follow. Share this podcast link with someone else by text, email, or word of mouth in the hope that they might be uplifted if you work. Like by leaving a positive rating or review with whomever you listen to our podcast with. 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