Religion fails

Alive to Christ Jesus

/ Bobby Mayfield / Leave a comment

Dead to the World

Book of Galatians Chapter 6 Verse 11 through 18

We have spent this entire Winter quarter in the Book of Galatians. This book is one of the best in the New Testament and clearly explains that salvation is by God’s ” Grace.”

We know the letter’s purpose to the Galatians was to defend the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Gospel of Grace.

Some Judaizers had infiltrated the Church claiming to be Jewish Christians and were teaching a double error.

1) They taught that a person is saved partly by faith and partly by works.
2) They also taught that a person grew in Christ partly by faith and partly by his own effort.

Both of these things are wrong!

They taught that a person had to believe in Christ, but he also had to submit to the rituals of religion which was circumcision.

We could compare this today to what some require for church membership, baptism, and other requirements today.

No one has to observe all the ceremonies and rituals of religion to be saved!

Paul taught that we are saved by our faith in Christ and Christ alone, which is the absolute truth.

What Paul did not say.

Paul never says it is wrong for Jews to be circumcised because it is not.
Paul never said it was wrong for them to keep the Law or to observe special festivals because it is not.

What Paul said is that these things have nothing to do with salvation and they do not!

Customs and practices may differ, but salvation by faith never differs!

There is only one way to be saved, and it is by the “Grace” of God!

It is the Book of Galatians that stirred up Martin Luther and the Reformation.
It is the Book of Galatians that gave John Wesley peace of heart that he knew the truth of salvation.

The Book of Galatians has moved many great men of God to a better understanding of the Gospel, and it still works today in the Bible Believing Church.

The Churches in Galatia were at the point of deserting God, but Paul’s letter to these churches made them steadfast in the Grace of God.

*Gal 6:11 Ye see how large a letter I have written unto you with mine own hand.

In most cases, the Apostle Paul would dictate his epistles to a scribe who would write down the words that Paul had said.

It is possible that Paul would dictate to someone who was more familiar with the Greek language than he was.

It seems here that Paul took the pen from the scribe and wrote it himself.

1) Paul wanted to boldly emphasize the points he was making. Many of us today use capital letters to do the same.
2) Some believe that Paul could not write very well, but Paul was a well-educated man and this is unlikely.
2) Many believe that Paul had some problem with his eyes some kind of blurred vision.

It could be one of these or none of these reasons Paul wrote this epistle himself.

We know that Paul wanted to emphasize this message of Grace and to verify that he was the Author of this letter.

Paul wanted those Judaizers to know it was he who called out their hypocrisy!

Why Paul wrote in large letters is unknown except we know he was led by the Holy Spirit.

We all need to pay attention to what is written in the Book of Galatians.

This is the first of the Epistles of the Apostle Paul to the Church.

If Paul wrote the Book of Hebrews which I believe he did, he would have written fourteen of the Books of the New Testament.

*Gal 6:12 As many as desire to make a fair shew in the flesh, they constrain you to be circumcised; only lest they should suffer persecution for the cross of Christ.
Gal 6:13 For neither they themselves who are circumcised keep the law; but desire to have you circumcised, that they may glory in your flesh.

If you see false teachers on the TV most of them are well dressed and they make a good impression.

It was no different for these Judaizers many of them were Pharisees.

We all want to make a good impression!

If we take a look at those who have a false message today, we will see that they seek worldly popularity, and they brag about the riches they say God has provided when in fact they have stolen from the poor and the vulnerable of this world.

The Apostle Paul unmasked those who taught a false message to Christians.

The Lord Jesus was really blunt at such people: Mat 13:11 He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.
Mat 13:12 For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.
Mat 13:13 Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.
Mat 13:14 And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive:
Mat 13:15 For this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.

Any man of God who begins to seek worldly popularity will change the message of the truth of Jesus Christ and twist the Scriptures to gain a following.

They will not take a stand on the truth of God.

These false teachers were afraid to teach the truth because of persecution that would come from their fellow Jews.

As many found out during that time, persecution caused the Gospel to spread even more and it does the same today.

We should understand that these men were men of the Church and a great example for us today that we all must stand against the message of false teacher and false preachers and not be afraid.

The truth will always be the truth, and no false teacher can change that.

Many of the earliest preachers or priests were men who saw Jesus Christ as the Savior of the world. However, they accepted Him only as an addition to the Law and they were wrong.

Today many false teachers just say that God can make mistakes, and they are more wrong than these Judaizers were.

Even today it is unpopular in many places to proclaim that Christ alone is the way to God and God’s New Heaven.

These people need to realize that God will not be mocked, and His Word is the greatest truth in this world!

In the day of Paul, those who preached the Cross of Christ were said to be destroying established religion and this is God’s intention.

Religion cannot save anyone!

It took real courage for the Apostles and other great men of God to stand up for the truth of our Savior and most of them were murdered or locked in jails.

Remember Paul who was beheaded and John who was placed on a deserted island, but the truth of God just keeps moving along at God’s pace and God’s will.

How many today go along with false religion? Billions of unknowing people are shielded from the truth of Christ.

How many in the Church are afraid to preach the whole truth because it might affect their pocketbook and their bank account?

The Bible is specific there was only one person in the history of Judaism who morally fulfilled the Law and it was Jesus Christ!

Why? Since the time of Adam, we have inherited his fallen nature.

1Co_15:22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

These false teachers just like those of today wanted recognition through the appearance of a growing ministry.

I have said it before the truth of a growing ministry is not in numbers but is in growing closer to Christ Jesus.

Those who grow close to Christ will reach out into this lost world with the truth.

We are not to strive to be accepted by the people, we are to strive to get closer in our relationship with Jesus Christ.

False teachers do not impress God at all, in fact they will suffer the wrath of God!

*Gal 6:14 But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.

God forbid that we should boast of anything but the Cross of Jesus Christ.

There is no other approach to God accept by His Son Jesus!

God accepts us only, if we come by the Cross.

It is at Calvary’s Cross where my sin was washed away by the blood of Jesus Christ!

There is no other way to be acceptable to God!

1Co_1:23 But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness;

When people cannot see the truth, it does not mean it is not right in front of them.

It is the Cross of Jesus Christ that destroys all self-righteousness and boasting!

It is in deepest humiliation we have to admit that the Lord Jesus had to die in our place.

We have to reach that place in life when we realize we are guilty of death, but the Cross of Christ saved us by the Grace of God that we are so unworthy of.

Until you realize that Christ died in your place you will not meet our wonderful Savior!

Jesus Christ was crucified for our sins, and He was raised for our justification, and by this, we can have a changed life and be “Born Again” into a new life that has not death.

It is this truth that saves lives!

The Cross was an instrument of Christ’s crucifixion, and my flesh was crucified with Him.

We can now say that the world has lost all its worldly charm and attraction and we as Christians have lost our appetite for this world.

Nothing in this world will last very long and will soon fade away.

Something new is only new for a few days then it is old.

There is nothing upon this earth that is eternal!

We now know of a place that is full of the glory of God, and this is where our home is located.

Our Lord Jesus came to this earth to die in our place.

The Law offers nothing but death!

The Cross offers nothing but life everlasting.

What really is in this world?

1Jn_2:16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.

We cannot brag about any of these things because they are worthless, and the Holy Spirit will remind us of this daily.

These are the diseases of this world that have no remedy, but that Jesus Christ came to heal!

Jesus Christ came to make us new creations!

*Gal 6:15 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature.

Paul has already taught us: Gal 5:6 For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love.

So, faith worketh by love and this same faith and love makes us new creations of God by His Son.

Paul also wrote: 1Co 7:19 Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but the keeping of the commandments of God.

These commandments are not of the Law but the commandments of Jesus Christ.

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.

This new creation is the change produced in our soul by the operation of the Holy Spirit!

We leave the state of nature of this world and into a state of “Grace”.

Eph 2:10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

Those not created in Jesus Christ cannot enter into God’s New Heaven.

Again, nothing makes a person acceptable to God except God’s very own Son!

How does using the name of Jesus make us live forever?

First God knows who is sincere and who is not. God cannot be deceived!

When we are sincere in our faith, God will give us a new Spirit.

God actually places His Divine Nature, the presence of His Own Spirit, into our life.

We are then “Born Again Spiritually”.

2Pe 1:3 According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:
2Pe 1:4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

*Gal 6:16 And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God.

This is how we receive the peace of God that no one else understands.

Php_4:7 And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

This is how we can walk in this life understanding the true mercy of God.

When we walk by the rule of the Cross we will seek to live as a New Creation of God because, we are a new Creation of God.

Eph 2:4 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,
Eph 2:5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)

Now Paul says the true Church is the Israel of God.

It is through the Church that God will fulfill His promises.

Rom 2:28 For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh:
Rom 2:29 But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.

Rom 9:6 Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel:
Rom 9:7 Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called.
Rom 9:8 That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed.

Hos 1:10 Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered; and it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people, there it shall be said unto them, Ye are the sons of the living God.
Hos 1:11 Then shall the children of Judah and the children of Israel be gathered together, and appoint themselves one head, and they shall come up out of the land: for great shall be the day of Jezreel.

Over and over again we see it is those whose faith is in the promises of God who are the true Israel.

We should be steadfast in the Gospel because it is the truth of God!

*Gal 6:17 From henceforth let no man trouble me: for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus.

Then Paul asserts that through the power given to him as a duly commissioned Apostle of Jesus Christ and a tried and tested servant of His Heavenly Master, he had fully discussed the matter of the Law and Grace that he had nothing else to say about it.

I know if you study this great writing of the Apostle Paul, you should be clear that we are saved by Grace through faith, and there is no law above this.

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.

Some things we know that the world ignores are:

1) The creation of the world is designed to reveal the glory of God.

Psa 19:1 The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.

2) The vastness of Heaven and the beauty of the earth reflect the glory of God.

3) God’s sovereign act whereby He predestined all believers to salvation is to the praise and the Glory of His Grace.

Eph 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:
Eph 1:4 According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:
Eph 1:5 Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,
Eph 1:6 To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.

Eph 1:11 In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:
Eph 1:12 That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.

God is glorified in the display of His unconditional “Grace”!

Rom 9:23 And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory,

Rev 4:11 Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.

When the Lord Jesus said we must be “Born Again”, He was speaking of the creating power of our God.

In fact, the regenerated Christian is probably the only thing that God has created since Chapter 1 in the Book of Genesis.

Our Lord Jesus died and raised again on the third day because of the predetermined plan and the foreknowledge of God even though a wicked world was responsible for His death.

Act 2:23 Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain:
Act 2:24 Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it.

Even though God has decreed these things, we are still responsible for all our sins, and it is by Grace through faith that we can be forgiven.

Grace is still the unmerited favor of God!

Psa 145:8 The LORD is gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy.
Psa 145:9 The LORD is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works.

*Gal 6:18 Brethren, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen.

In conclusion Paul said he will have no more attacks on his ministry nor the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

These churches in Galatia and their people needed to repent and get rid of those false teachers.

It is still the same for every church today.

We cannot ignore the Gospel of Jesus Christ and be saved.

We cannot ignore the Grace of God and be saved.

We cannot ignore our faith in the truth of God and be saved.

Amen

What Is True Faith

/ Bobby Mayfield / Leave a comment

The Humble Dependence of a True Faith

Book of James Chapter 4

What is the theme of our lesson today?

Jas 4:17 Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.

No matter what we say, we do have that fear of when that last war will come because we know these politicians that are elected in all nations will one day set off the nuclear armament, they are so proud of and refuse to do away with.

It is a fact that the leader of every national power today is trying to cement themselves and the things they have changed while in office to remain the law, long after they are gone.

We simply cannot allow this to happen.

All of us see war on the horizon, because every nation is trying to dictate what happens in other nations and have forgotten how to take care of their own people.

It may look like the end for us all, but the Lord made a promise to His children and this takes away some of that fear for most of God’s people.

Jesus said: Luk_21:9 But when ye shall hear of wars and commotions, “be not terrified”: for these things must first come to pass; but the end is not by and by.

The world will tell you that religion has caused most wars and that maybe true, but I have no faith in religion.

It has always been evil men seeking some imaginary power they desire who use people to cause wars.

Eph_6:12  For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

According to the Lord these things are just a part of our lustful flesh.

1Pe 2:11 Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, “abstain from fleshly lusts”, which war against the soul;

James is saying that coveting the things that we do not have but we think we must have, are a cause for most wars.

Today the drug traffic and human trafficking have become so profitable that men are willing to go to war over them.

No doubt sin is the biggest moneymaker in all this world and those who will pull the trigger are in high places in every nation.

Who would ever believe war would be so profitable and death would be so cheap!

This is not to be the way of the Christian!

It simply does not register with us just how sinful our flesh is!

We all seem to think we have some good in us when the Word of God says we have no good in us.

Jas 4:5 Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy?

These are all things that the Devil has influenced in this world while we all go about thinking we have some good in us.

The only way we stand a chance for peace in our lives is to humble ourselves before the Lord!

*Jas 4:7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

Submitting ourselves to God means that we will receive His Messiah as our Savior.

That Messiah is the Lord Jesus Christ who came to this earth just as described in the Old Testament, fulfilling every prophecy that was written of Him.

If God was willing to send a Savior surely, we can take some time to listen to what He has to say!

We know that we face the temptation to do evil on every side.

When temptation comes sin will follow, unless we have the strength to say no to temptation.

We have no strength to overcome temptation without the strength that comes from the Lord.

Every sin is preceded by temptation!

When we are young, we try to imagine a world without war, without murder, without hatred, without arrogance, and without neglect, but it takes some time to realize all these things come about because of sin and most do not ever figure this out.

We think that every person has some good in them when the fact is that none of us have any good in us at all.

Every person has a different definition for the word good!

In fact the word good comes from the word god.

In the best dictionaries the word good can cover a whole page.

Everyone in this world has a god whether they acknowledge it or not, but there is only One True God.

He is the only God who is denied and His name was Jehovah in the Old Testament and the Old Testament says He is the Messiah, the Christ of the New Testament called Jesus.

The Lord Jesus said that God is the only one who is good.

Mat_19:17 And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.

The Lord Jesus then said He is that God, He was the Messiah of the Old Testament.

Luk 4:17 And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written,
Luk 4:18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,
Luk 4:19 To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.
Luk 4:20 And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him.
Luk 4:21 And he began to say unto them, “This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears”.

The Bible is specific, we are to submit ourselves to the Messiah of the New Testament.

It is He and He only, the One who can bind the Devil!

Once we submit ourselves to the Lord Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit will move into our Soul and it is then, that we have the power to Resist the Devil and only then.

Other than this, no lost person can resist the Devil!

2Ti_2:26 And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, “who are taken captive by him at his will”.

No one can overcome the wiles of the Devil who has not submitted themselves to the Lord Jesus Christ!

This is a fact!

We can turn away from temptation and push it out of our mind, only if we have the truth of God on our mind.

When we focus our mind on the truth of Jesus Christ the Devil will flee and that temptation will be gone.

1) We must submit to the Lord!
2) We must resist the Devil!

It is a two-part thing.

We can never defeat the Devil if we are fighting him alone.
We can never defeat the Devil if we are going our own way.
We can never defeat the Devil by giving in just a little.
We can never defeat the Devil by not obeying the Word of God!

If we even listen to the Devil’s tempting offer, we have begun our path to defeat!

Even if we have been enslaved to the Devil for years, the Lord Jesus can break that bondage!

Our freedom begins when we draw nigh to God.

*Jas 4:8 Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.

That nearness to God is the promise that is attached to true and earnest prayer!

We cannot get any closer to God than just getting on our knees in submission, and just telling our Heavenly Father just what is happening in our lives, and He cannot hear us unless we are one of His children or part of our prayer is submitting to His Son.

Psa_66:18 If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me:

Drawing near to God includes repentance!

We must walk away from that old life we had, and join the many others in knowing that we are never alone when we are facing trials and temptations that all come in one way or another from the Devil himself.

The Devil is a real person and he will make himself known to you the very moment you have the Lord on your mind.

Other than this he will remain hidden in this world of sin because he is a coward!

Get close to God, as close as you can.

We get close to God with a good prayer life.
We can get close to God by reading His book.
We can get close to God by remembering what we have read and discussing it with others.

If we take one step toward God, He will take two steps toward us!

God knows how this world affects us!

Heb 4:15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.
Heb 4:16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

We cannot draw near to God if we have sinful, unclean hands.

When we touch the things, God forbids us to touch, why would we think He will accept us.

Even after our salvation our soul has been saved, but these bodies that soul lives in is still just as sinful.

It is this closeness to God that can overcome that sinfulness!

1Ti 2:8 I will therefore that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting.

Holy hands are clean hands.

Those who have the right to draw near to God are those same ones who are not ashamed to walk in fellowship with the Lord!

These are the same ones to walk in victory over the Devil and victory over the trials of this life!

1Co 10:21 Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord’s table, and of the table of devils.

What was the message of the Lord Jesus Christ?

Mat 5:3 Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Mat 5:4 Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.

James gives us this same thought.

*Jas 4:9 Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness.

When temptation comes it is not time to be laughing and joking around.

We need to have a sense of urgency and misery.

The Apostle Paul wrote: Rom 7:24 O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
Rom 7:25 I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.

The Lord Jesus wrote: Luk 6:25 Woe unto you that are full! for ye shall hunger. Woe unto you that laugh now! for ye shall mourn and weep.

While we are to enjoy the truth of our salvation and we should, we must always be prepared for that next battle with trials and temptations, for they will surely come.

This Scripture is teaching us that laughter at trials and temptations is that of a careless, selfish world and the sport of a fool.

Pro 10:23 It is as sport to a fool to do mischief: but a man of understanding hath wisdom.

Trials and temptations are real and they are nothing to laugh about, and we are never to laugh at others while they are going through them no matter how serious we think they are.

How can we expect the Lord to be merciful to us, when we do not take these things seriously?

Temptation is an affliction and we must discipline ourselves to be in control of the comforts and joys of this life.

To have victory over our temptations we must be humble before the Lord!

*Jas 4:10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.

We must understand that the Lord has His eyes upon us at all times and He understands that we have needs and He will fulfill those needs when we remain close to Him in obedience.

We must never look upon temptation seeing how attractive and enticing it is!

We must see temptation for what it is, the Devil trying to cause us to fail while the Lord has His eyes upon us.

It is looking at that second helping of food that is not needed, just as it is that second look at an attractive man or woman or any other thing that is considered sin.

Remember King David would have saved himself from a lot of problems had he not taken the second look at Bathsheba.

If we look upon any other human being with hatred, we are just as guilty and these are also temptations.

2Co 10:4 (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)
2Co 10:5 Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;
2Co 10:6 And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled.

This verse is speaking to our own disobedience, when we are to be obedient to all the Word of God!

When we humble ourselves before God, He will lift us up. This is His promise!

This is something we are to do first and not wait until we have no choice, but to seek God.

Most of the time we will only go to the Lord when we realize that we cannot cope with life by ourselves, and we waste the limited time we have to get close to the Lord.

Rom 12:3 For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.

The Lord hates all sin, but we can be sure that if we become a judge of other people that God will hate this sin the most!

*Jas 4:11 Speak not evil one of another, brethren. He that speaketh evil of his brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of the law, and judgeth the law: but if thou judge the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge.
Jas 4:12 There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy: who art thou that judgest another?

Over and over again the Lord has said we have only one Master, and we can be sure that we also have only One True Judge.

There is no one in this world who does not understand the meaning of both judge and judgment!

Act_10:42 And he commanded us to preach unto the people, and to testify that it is he which was ordained of God to be the Judge of quick and dead.
2Ti_4:1 I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom;

What is speaking evil?

To criticize, to backbite, to gossip, to condemn, to grumble, and to judge any other person than ourselves, is speaking evil of others.

When we tear down some other person or even share things of them that we should not be sharing, we can cause harm to them that they may never overcome.

When we speak evil of another person, then we have judged them to be evil!

We will all come up short and fall or fail, as we try our best to serve the Lord.

The Lord Jesus expressly teaches us not to do this!

Mat 7:1 Judge not, that ye be not judged.
Mat 7:2 For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.
Mat 7:3 And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?
Mat 7:4 Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye?
Mat 7:5 Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye.

We already know the Lord Jesus gave us the “Royal Law” and we are to be obedient to that law!

The Lord Jesus is the Lawgiver to the Church and the Holy Spirit warns us, that it is only Our Lord Jesus who is able to save and able to destroy us!

There is no other in any place that has this power that only the Lord has!

Sure, another person can take our life and snuff it out, but if our soul belongs to the Lord, we will still wake up in the arms of the Lord.

Satan has been designated as our accuser and we are never to follow in his footsteps!

Rev 12:10 And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: “for the accuser of our brethren” is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.

The reason we are given by the Lord, is that these are our brothers and sisters in the Church and each and every one of them have already been judged by the Lord, and again we will be making ourselves to be judge of the Church.

This position is filled by Our Lord and we cannot ever over rule Him.

We are to reach out to help our brothers and sisters in the Lord, and certainly not to condemn them!

We must concern ourselves with what is going on at this very moment because we cannot ever be sure of the next moment in the day and certainly not tomorrow.

*Jas 4:13 Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain:
Jas 4:14 Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.

None of us are self-sufficient. That song that says “I Cannot Walk Without Him Holding My Hand”, we all know to be true.

When we plan without including the Lord in our plans we are just asking for failure!

There is nothing wrong with making plans even for our future and we all should.

Rom 12:11 Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord;

This Scripture is not talking about planning before we act, this Scripture is speaking of planning without the Lord.

We can be sure that if we are planning to move to another location it will not be any better if we do not stay close to the Lord.

Our life is not in our own hands!

We do not need the Lord just on Sunday and Wednesday, we need the Lord every moment that we are alive and our plans must include what happens after our death.

We have never been able to completely handle our own affairs alone!

We must accept God’s plan for our lives. We must accept God’s will for our lives!

We must realize that utter destruction of our future could happen in the next moment that we cannot see.

The next time we go to the doctor our plans could change.

The next time we drive our car our plans could change.

We are completely in the dark with what our future will bring.

We do not know what will happen in the next hour!

The only thing we can depend upon, is the truth of Our Lord and Savior!

Pro 27:1 Boast not thyself of to morrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.

We seldom know when death will come but we certainly know it is coming to us!

When death comes, we are snatched into eternity never to return to this life. We are gone forever!

Refusing to face up to this fact is certainly foolish!

Some of those plans we had been making in that old life had better been about seeking the Lord Jesus our Savior.

Compared to a life that we can have in the glory world which is for eternity, our life in this world is not more than a vapor which is only here for a moment and gone forever.

*Jas 4:15 For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.

Being self-sufficient is failure to acknowledge our God, Our Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ, who is also our Creator.

This verse is very simple! We should not do anything until we have talked it over with the Lord!

Pro 19:21 There are many devices in a man’s heart; nevertheless the counsel of the LORD, that shall stand.

The things we do must be part of the will of God for our lives!

Everything concerning life, whether we live or die and how well we live, should be discussed with the Lord and this daily, and sometimes moment to moment.

We depend upon the Lord for life!

Most everything in this life can be found in the Word of God and we should make it our guide in this life!

We should say “if the Lord will we shall live, and do this, or that”.

Even the Apostle Paul did this: 1Co 4:19 But I will come to you shortly, if the Lord will and will know, not the speech of them which are puffed up, but the power.

As he wrote to the Corinthians. Christ has the power to influence the heart of the Christian, when there is no power in the vanity and pride of man.

We must know that everything we do is dependent upon the Lord.

We are not able to do anything that goes against the will of God, not a single thing.

A million different things could happen to us in the next moment and prevent us from carrying out any plan that we have made.

It is just best we talk over all our plans with the Lord or search for an example of God reactions to a similar event in the Word of God.

We know that God never changes no matter what some man says!

We must be willing to listen to the Holy Spirit and sometimes He will speak softly just to see if we are listening.

We should see that the miracles of Christ in the New Testament show us His power to deliver us from the consequences of this world, if He so chooses.

We should never brag that we can do anything we want to do because the Lord will show us the folly in that statement.

*Jas 4:16 But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil.
Jas 4:17 Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.

We all have a tendency to look back on life and say, “look what I have accomplished”.

This in itself is boasting that we are better than those around us, who have not accomplished much.

We can all say that we will do even better next year and we have no power to do so.

Both of these things are in the hand of God.

I felt pretty good about my life about three years ago and then cancer came back into my life and it seems that I lost more than a year and I still struggle to get motivated to do things that I want to do now.

To be quiet honest, I just do not pray enough!

But I am still here and still serving the Lord because this is what He wants me to do!

Everything else is secondary to this!

We must just trust the Lord and know that He has a better plan!

Our theme for this lesson holds true every time!

*Jas 4:17 Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.

We can almost say that life is a test.

Other humans, angels, the Devil’s helpers, Heaven, and Hell are watching to see if we are going to pass this test.

The Lord will help us.

The devil will hinder us.

The Lord Jesus tells us He has a better plan for our life and we just need to have faith in His plan.

We cannot get to Paradise, that is called Heaven, without the Lord Jesus Christ.

We need to walk in fellowship with the Lord all the days of our lives.

Refusing to do this, is the sin that will send us to Hell!

Amen