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All right, we are in James chapter number five and tonight we conclude the book of James and so look down at your Bibles at verse number one it says, Go to now ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you. Your riches are corrupted and your garments are moth-eaten, your gold and silver is cankered and the rest of them shall be a witness against you and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. You have heaped treasure together for the last days. Now chapters one through chapter number four we saw basically a pretty common theme about perfection about maturing and chapter number one talked a lot about afflictions and trials and how that causes us to be perfect and complete wanting nothing. We see also in chapter number two that when we add works to our faith we become a perfect person or a complete person. Chapter number three when we're able to bridle the tongue as well as the body the Bible says that that person is a perfect man a complete man. Chapter number four we got into the wars and the fightings among you which war on your members and we talked about that and then here in chapter number five we basically go back to the subject of suffering and afflictions but in the very beginning verses one through six he addresses rich people okay he addresses those who have money he addresses those who really trust in the riches and here specifically those who are rich that oppress the poor. Now look at chapter number four and verse 13 it says here go to now ye that say today or tomorrow we will go into such a city and continue there a year and buy and sell and get gain whereas you know not what shall be on the morrow for what is your life it is even a vapor that appear for a little time and then vanishes away. Now verse 14 we can apply that verse to ourselves can't we because our lives are but a vapor our lives are you know they're here for a moment and they appear for a little time and then they vanish away but in context this is talking about someone who is saying today or tomorrow we will go into such a city continue there a year buy and sell and get gain right and he's telling them hey you're making all these plans but you don't understand that your life is but a vapor your life is but a vapor is here for a little time and then it vanishes away and then it goes into verse number one of chapter number five go to now you rich man so just as verse 13 says go to now ye that say he's talking to those in verse number one go to now you rich man weep and how for your miseries that shall come upon you why is that because what shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul you see riches do not profit in the day of judgment in the day of wrath it doesn't matter how rich you are how big your bank account is how much you got what positions you what possessions you own at the end of the day you have a soul like everyone else you know the sad thing is is that rich people often are the people that are hardest to get saved why is that because they're trusting in their riches it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God you know that's why it's difficult when we go to these areas sowing and they're more of the nicer areas more well-to-do these are the hardest people to win to Christ you know they feel like they don't need religion they don't need God they don't need the Bible they don't need salvation why because of the fact they have everything they want in this life and the possessions and the riches of this life basically blind them it blinds their judgment to the point they feel like they don't need God well what's gonna happen to them well here it says weep and how for your miseries that shall come upon you you think of these pharaohs in ancient Egypt and all these emperors in Rome who had all these riches and money and wealth you know they're weeping and wailing and gnashing their teeth today you know why because it doesn't matter how much money they had doesn't matter how much money Tutankhamen was buried with and all the gold and rubies and jewels he didn't take any of that with him and right now he's burning in hell he's weeping and wailing and gnashing his teeth because at the end of the day riches don't profit you in the day of judgment verse 2 says your riches are corrupted and your garments are moth-eaten what does it mean to be corrupted well it basically means it's destroyed why because money has wings amen they're here one day gone the next that's why it's important for us to understand that we should use money not allow money to use us money is a tool to help us to pay the bills put food on the table and further the gospel amen when it becomes more than that when you begin to esteem finances in such a way that it gets in the way of the things of God then you know what you're gonna your your riches are gonna be corrupted your garments are gonna be moth-eaten the best thing to do is to invest your finances in eternal things because here's the thing God is not against you being rich he's against you being rich in this world but not rich in faith and God wants us to be rich in the world to come amen and the way we do that is by sending our finances ahead investing in those things which are eternal if not the riches are gonna be corrupted the garments are gonna be moth-eaten verse 3 your gold and silver is cankered so what is he doing here he's threatening the rich is what he's doing and specifically he's threatening those who oppress the poor it says your gold and silver is cankered and the rest of them shall be a witness against you and shall eat your flesh as it were fire you have heaped treasure together for the last days now go with you if you would hold your place there in James chapter 5 go to Luke chapter 12 Luke chapter 12 now it's interesting that it says that the rest of them shall be a witness against you and shall eat your flesh as it were fire why because simply for the fact that their finances their riches just that it's gonna be corrupted so are they you know just as their finances are gonna be cankered and rust away corrupted and moth-eaten so shall be to them why is that because when they die and go to hell their bodies will suffer corruption right their bodies will suffer corruption and even at the white throne judgment when death and hell give up their dead right though they stand before God the Bible says that their body and soul shall be cast into the lake of fire what does it say therein shall be corruption okay now look look at Luke chapter 12 because at the end of verse number three of chapter five it says he have heaped treasure together for the last day what is that referring to well look look at verse 16 of Luke chapter 12 it says here and he spake a parable unto them saying the ground of a rich man brought forth plentifully by the way that's another word for rich richly means abundance right plenty verse 17 and he thought within himself saying what shall I do because I have no room where to bestow my fruits and he said this will I do I will pull down my barns and build greater and there will I bestow all my fruits in my goods so he's like man I got so much money so much fruit so much riches what should I do well I should just tear down the one that I have now the barn that I have now and just build greater and just store them in that basically he's hoarding money he's hoarding riches now let me tell you something riches money finances we should save to a certain extent but not to the point where you hoard things and guess what you die and nothing ever happens to it in fact it goes to another person right money especially for the Christian should be used to be invested into the work of God it says here in verse number 19 and I will and I will say to my soul soul who talks like this by the way rich people soul thou has much goods laid up for many years take thine ease eat drink and be married but God said unto him thou fool this night thy soul shall be required of thee then whose shall those things be which thou has provided and there's gone a joke in the old IFP that says her next husband you know your wife's next husband okay that's the person who's gonna inherit all the things that you heaped up to yourself verse 21 so is he that layeth up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God now notice in verse 19 that he says soul thou has much goods laid up for many years so what do we see in James chapter 5 the people treasure up riches for the last days in other words they just hoard riches for a rainy day right or they hoard riches because you never know what might happen in the end and I'm not saying don't exercise wisdom and and prepare for disasters or prepare for your retirement whatever it may be but I'm talking about people who hoard money to the point that they die and they leave thousands and millions of dollars for someone else who they did not want to have it I know someone personally my family who passed away he was a millionaire and now I mean he's burning in hell today and his finances are being fought over over wicked people from wicked people you know what good is that you know we need to make sure that we as Christians never fall into the trap that we want to be rich you know they that will be rich the Bible the Bible condemns the person who wills to be rich we should want to be rich in faith that's not to say you you can't work hard make money have nice things and enjoy the fruit of your labor but you know what don't have an evil eye what's an evil eye a covetous eye that you want money and you're just not content with whatever dollar amount that you have to the point we just make more money make more money to the point we even compromise your own biblical convictions to get money you begin to get unjust gain right now there's a flip side to this that there's people who just don't want to work and that's that's another extreme that's also sinful you got to have an even balance where it's you know what we don't want to be lazy so we need to work but we don't want to have this you know this ungodly desire covetous greedy envious attitude that causes us to compromise our biblical convictions for the sake of more finances at that point you need to recognize that godliness with contentment is great gain not money amen go back to james chapter number five so here he's condemning the rich and it's the same rich people that we see in chapter number two we'll go there in just a bit but look at verse number four it says behold the hire of the laborers who have reaped down your fields which is of you kept back by fraud crieth and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the lord of sabioth ye have lived in pleasure on the earth and have been wanton and ye have nourished your hearts as in the day of slaughter ye have condemned and killed the just and he doth not resist you so this is not a rich person who got rich because he was a hard worker this is a person who got who got rich because of unjust gain they were doing wicked things and in fact verse six tells us you have condemned and killed the just and he doth not resist you so verses one through six is addressing the rich man who's gotten his riches by unjust gain and god is basically telling him i'm gonna get you you know you're gonna get yours the rich of this world will get hey the jews of this world they're gonna get theirs oh you're racist no this is common knowledge you don't even have to be saved to know that this is just common knowledge okay you know the rich people who oppress the poor the rich people who try to you know the roth childs of this world you think they you think they became the most richest family in the world by by hard labor and hard work no they got it through wars through usury okay this is wicked and evil in the eyes of god and what is god saying here verses one through six he's telling them you're gonna treasure up this day against the day of wrath you're gonna you're gonna get yours one day is what he's telling them okay go to change james chapter two look at james chapter two verse five it says harken my beloved brethren hath not god chosen the poor of this world rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which he have promised to them that love him but you have despised the poor do not rich men oppress you and draw you before the judgment seats do not they blaspheme that worthy name by which ye are called so what do we see here what what is james chapter five teaching us it's not teaching us not to have an abundance it's not teaching us that we should not work hard to earn more money it's simply signifying that this these rich people are those who oppress people to get unjust gain and that we should not desire to be that way okay we should want to work hard to earn more money to provide for our families and yet even for the nicer things in life but that should not be our main focus in life and in fact in Matthew chapter six if you could turn there matthew chapter number six look god wants us to have treasures and no this is not a prosperity gospel amen god wants us to have treasures but he doesn't want us to lay up treasures upon earth look at verse number 19 of matthew chapter six lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth where moth and rust doth corrupt and where thieves break through and steal doesn't that sound similar to what we read in james chapter number five he says look you need to be wise about this don't lay up treasures where you know where moth and rust doth corrupt where you know the thieves they come in and they take your stuff how many have ever had your house broken into how many have ever had your car broken into okay how many of you had your car stolen you know right here okay jacob right you're i think you're the last one okay hey lay not for up for yourselves treasures on earth i'm just kidding you know that's what's that these are the things of life that happen right verse 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven this is a good verse for these people who want to practice this this form of religion that you need to go without you know what i mean you just gotta have a little bit of no pleasure whatsoever no money no food you just gotta live this this type of life or this uh voluntary humility right where they try to go without and that's their form of godliness right this is something that the hindus practice this is something that the buddhist practice that's garbage god has given us all things richly to enjoy and he says here verse 20 but lay it for yourselves treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt and where thieves do not break through nor steal for where your treasure is there where your heart be also the light of the body is the eye if therefore thine eye be single thy whole body shall be full of light but if thine eye be evil thy whole body shall be full of darkness if therefore the light that is in thee be darkness how great is that darkness no man can serve two masters for either he will hate the one and love the other or else he will hold to the one and despise the other ye cannot serve god and mammon mammon is just another word for money and you know unfortunately a lot of christians struggle with this right here you know whether to serve god or to serve mammon and how do you know whether they're having that victory or they're overcoming that battle their priorities you know show me your calendar show me your bank account what you're spending your money on and where your time goes and i'll tell you what's important to you you know your calendar your time and your finances where they go and i'll tell you what's important to you you know you can say god is important to you but if you're not in church is that really true you know look obviously you can there's people in the world who don't even have a church that can go to and they love the lord you know there's other places all around the world where you know there's not a good independent fundamental baptist church there's not even a christian church period and they love the lord but you know in a place like where we live now there's a lot of churches even if it's an old ifb church okay i know that's something we we rag on them all the time and rightfully so but you know what you can't say you don't have any church right if you have one whether it's 45 minutes away 30 minutes away whatever even if it's an old ifb church but here's the thing is you know you can basically tell where people invest what's where their heart is in other words based upon what they invest their money their time their talents in you know we want to make sure that we constantly redirect that towards the things of god right and look you can serve god and live a normal honest life where you provide for your family you provide for you know your your wife and your children you fulfill your your god-given responsibilities and roles and still do the things of god why because duties never conflict amen you know if god tells you to provide for your family and be in church you can do both okay go with me if you would to first timothy chapter six i'll read to you from proverbs 28 verse 22 he that hasted to be rich hath an evil eye and considerth not that poverty shall come upon him proverbs 13 verse 7 says there is that maketh himself rich yet hath nothing there is that maketh himself poor yet hath great riches you know the most miserable people in this world rich people those are some of the most miserable people you ever meet ever and by the way misery comes from the word miser okay let's think about that for a second that's why you have these rich people these old guys who are rich they have all kinds of money but they're just miserable grumpy just misers because money doesn't make you happy money does not buy you happiness you know this is this guy on youtube casey naystadt am i pronouncing his name correctly who knows who that is raise your hand okay okay this guy came out with the video i don't know how long ago and he said you know people say money doesn't buy you happiness of course it does you know and he talks about how you can pay your bills you can pay for the things that you want money can't buy you happiness that guy's an idiot what are you talking about by the way paying for the bills is not necessarily happy that's just what you're supposed to do right and look money can't buy your happiness because happiness comes from happenings happiness comes from happenings you know you get a brand new car you'll be happy for a little bit you know you get that brand new iphone 10xd1573 new phone whatever they have you'll be happy for about a week and then you know everything there is to know about it and then you want to move on to the next you know the corporate takeover of our minds is what it's called right where they try to make you make it they try to sell you happiness through materialistic things and you think you're going to be happy once you get it once you get it and then once you get it it's just like wow i'm not as happy as i thought i was going to be because i'm bored with what i have so what i have to do i have to spend more money to get something better and the cycle just continues on and on and on no learn contentment now look when you when you get something of course it's going to create a sense of happiness because you got something that maybe you wanted but look don't allow your joy to be dependent upon the things that you have your possessions because a man's life consists of not in the things which he possesses and the abundance of things which he possesses a man's life consists of the things that you do for god fulfilling your god-given roles whether you're a wife staying at home serving your husband raising your children or you're a husband working providing for your family and learning how to be a great soul winner these are the things which are important you know there there is that maketh themselves rich yet hath nothing let's think about that for a second that goes to show you that god is not impressed with how much money you have why because he owns all the silver and gold in the world every all the cattle on a thousand hill your riches don't mean nothing to god the bible tells us in jeremiah chapter 5 verse 26 for among my people are found wicked men they lay weight as he that said it snares they set it a trap they catch men as a cage is full of birds or their house is full of deceit therefore they are become great and waxing rich they are waxing fat they shine yea they overpass the deeds of the wicked they judge not the cause the cause of the fatherless yet they prosper and the right of the needy do they not judge what is this talking about these people are heaping up riches but they're completely neglecting the fact that there's people out there that are they're oppressing the poor you know what this reminds me of this reminds me of the pastor who maybe pastors a mega church or even independent fundamental baptists that as long as the tithes keep coming in they can care less what kind of sin takes place in the church they can care less if there's fornication there's some fagging in the church some transvestite walking in some pedophile in there hey all are welcome as long as you keep putting in the offering plate you know they're waxing rich fat they shine yea they overpass the deeds of the wicked and even when the pedophiles found out to be a pedophile and they find that out and they confront the pastor about it he can care less why because the money keeps coming into the bank and that's what he's worried about right there these people who are greedy a filthy lucre not only applies to those who are ungodly false prophets but yea it even applies to those who are saved sometimes these safe pastors who allow money to be the issue and because they don't want to you know offend anybody with their sermons because they might have to work a secular job if the money's not coming in they compromise the message and they overpass the deeds of the wicked they judge not the cause the cause of the fatherless the fatherless i think of like pedophiles when it comes to that right a child who does not have a father there to protect them from these wicked people bus ministry for example right by the way that happens in bus ministry a lot okay yet they prosper and the right of the need of the needy do they not judge shall i not visit for these things you know god believes in visitation amen you've heard of visitation and soul winning you know god believes in visitation but this is a different type of visitation shall i not visit for these things say the lord shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this you know this is what we have today in the united states is churches who are filled with pastors that are greedy of filthy lucre okay look at first timothy chapter six and verse 17 what does god want the rich to do because look there's rich people who get saved and they're just wise you know maybe they have a certain level of wisdom they've made good decisions they've had good parents to teach them you know how to be wise with their finances and i'm not talking about someone like bill gates okay that dude's just a riper bait okay we're not talking about him when we talk about rich we're just talking about someone who has an abundance of things okay or whatever whether it's finances or possessions you know maybe maybe they come from that type of family okay and so you know rich people can't get saved it's harder sometimes for them to get saved but they can't get saved i know wealthy people who are saved okay but these people obviously you know they're not trusting in their riches they know it has its place okay look at verse 17 it says charge them that are rich in this world that they be not high-minded nor trust in uncertain riches but in the living god who giveth us richly all things to enjoy so what is the temptation for a rich man to do to be proud you know i know people who literally try to control the pastor and the church using their money they flex the money you know to try to get the church to go in the direction they want it to go and i know the pastors that are fine with that you know they're pimping the pastor think about that for a second they pimp the pastor to make him do whatever they want him to do okay they're high-minded verse 18 that they do good that they be rich in good works so god says hey if you're rich in this world don't be high-minded don't trust in your uncertain riches but you know what you do do good and be rich in good works what does that mean have an abundance of works you know be careful to maintain good works ready to distribute willing to communicate what does that mean to distribute to communicate to give if you have an abundance of money god's encouraging these people to give of their money to give to those who need it okay and what happens when you do that verse 19 laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come that they referring to their finances may lay hold on eternal life so we saw in matthew chapter 5 that he encourages says lay not out for yourselves treasures upon the earth where moth and rust doth corrupt and where thieves break through and steal but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven how do you do that by distributing by willing to be willing to communicate by doing good by being rich in good works and what happens your finances your riches will lay hold on eternal life okay that's what god wants go back to james chapter number five hey i'm not against rich people amen we need more rich people in our church amen you say what for so we can do more more for god amen you can get more materials we can get the gospel out we can take more missions trips we can go to different cities to preach the gospel you know so we can do more the abundance of riches is for the abundance of work we can do you know i pray that god pours much money into this ministry here and so why what kind of car do you want i don't want any car i'm i'm satisfied with my little honda odyssey that's from like 50 million years ago okay as long as it gets me from point a to point b i'm good with that i don't care how it smells or how it looks okay as long as it can house my children my wife and it can get us from here from from home to church i'm happy with that what do you want the money for to do more works for god because we want i want our church to be rich when we get to heaven rich when we get to heaven amen look at verse seven i'm going to talk about comforting the brethren here in verses seven through eleven it says in verse seven be patient therefore brethren unto the coming of the lord behold the husband man waited for the precious fruit of the earth and hath long patience for it until he received the early and latter rain be also patient establish your hearts for the coming of the lord draweth nigh now why is he saying that how is it why does it segue into this thought of being patient patient for what well keep in mind that verses one through six was referring to these rich men who oppress the poor and it looks like what this is referring to is what we see in james chapter two that these rich men are oppressing them so what is it sound to be patient it's like hey be patient because god's going to avenge you that's what he's saying there okay the judgment that shall come upon the wicked so this verse here is teaching the virtue of patience to say hey if you're being wronged if you're being oppressed you know god hasn't forgotten you he's going to help you in fact he's going to avenge you one day okay you know he's going to strike vengeance on those who have oppressed you those who have wronged you those who have slighted you who have been unjust towards you god will judge them and in fact if you notice in verse number eight it says be also patient establish your hearts for the coming of the lord draweth nigh now go to second peter chapter number three he said well what does it have to do with judgment well the coming of the lord brings not only with it the rapture but also the wrath the day of the lord is characterized not only by the rapture and the resurrection but it also characterizes the wrath of god so once he raptures his people what happens thereafter well wrath that's when the seven trumpets and seven vials and the woes the three woes take place this is god's wrath on the wicked people of this world look at second peter chapter three verse seven but the heavens and the earth which are now by the same word are kept in store reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men but beloved be not ignorant of this one thing that one day is what the lord as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day so you know what that answers it answers what it says in james 5 when it says that the coming of the lord draweth nigh why is that well because one day is with the lord as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day okay so that means james can say that to the people back in those days because in the realm of eternity one day is with the lord as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day you know he doesn't live in the vastness of time or excuse me in the space of time where we count the days and days seem long he lives in the vastness of eternity where he sees the beginning and the end look at verse number nine the lord is not slack concerning his promises as promised as some in count slackness but as long suffering to us we're not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance but the day of the lord will come as a thief in the night and the which the heavens shall pass away with the great noise and the elements shall melt with fervent heat the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up now verse nine is a common verse that we like to use in regards to salvation you know the lord is not slack concerning his promise he's not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance but we don't really think about what it's referred to what it says the lord is not slack concerning his promise as some men count for slackness who are the some men he's referring to well go up to verse number three knowing this first that there shall come in the last day scoffers walking after their own lust and saying where is the promise of his coming for since the fathers fell asleep all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation for this they willingly are ignorant of that by the word of god the heavens were of old and the earth sending out of the water and in the water so when he says the lord is not slack concerning his promise what is he referring to the promise of his coming you know you have people that say even today scoffers walking after their own lusts saying where's the promise of his coming you know they want to mock christ they want to mock god mock the bible you know what god's answer is oh the lord is not slack concerning his promise as some men count for slackness he's just long suffering to us we're not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance so they know the people the wicked people of this world the evil wicked people of this world they know god's going to get them the fag Gnostics and the gatheists the reprobates the haters of god they know they know they're gonna burn in hell they know god's gonna strike them dead and burn them for all eternity they know these things there's a it's it it's known of them roman chapter one tells us that and here's the thing they want to mock you know where is the promise of his coming god's like i'm not slack inserting my promise as someone count for slackness i'm just being long suffering because i don't want no one to go to hell i don't want people to go to hell i want people to be saved god is god wants all men to be saved amen but his coming in context of what we see here is referring to his judgment because in the beginning of the chapter he talks about the flood that's how we judge the world right and then the latter end what is it in the last days what is he going to do he's not going to judge it with water he's going to judge it with fire okay that's what that's talking about there go back to james chapter number five and look that should be comforting to us amen you know the frustration that you've had and you know the reprobates and how to just get away with all this stuff and the abortion clinics and you know the feminists and all these wicked people tyler baker and carrick how are these people just a lot oh they got it coming just that the lord is not slack concerning his promises as someone count for slackness god's just being long suffering not towards them he's not being long suffering towards them god is not long suffering toward the reprobate because the reprobate is twice dead plucked up by the roots he's not long suffering towards him he's long suffering towards everyone else because once god judges everyone gets judged except for us of course right we get raptured but people who are not reprobate during the time when he's pouring out his wrath people who are not reprobate who just regular sinners they're going to suffer the same wrath as well you know look at verse nine grudge not one against another brethren lest he be condemned behold the judge standeth before the door what this is referring to is is basically saying that the lord is nigh okay the lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart so we should be careful not to just grudge with one another because of the fact that god will plead the cause of those who are innocent okay and we need to be careful with that look at verse number 10 take my brethren the prophets who have spoken in the name of the lord for an example of suffering affliction and impatience behold we count them happy which endure ye have heard of the patience of job and have seen the end of the lord that the lord is very pitiful and of tender mercies so this basically shows that we should always see you know we have modern examples of people who suffer but we also have people in the bible who have suffered one of the greatest examples of someone who suffered was joe i mean i don't think anybody can say they went through what joe went through that's a good comparison when you're going through a tough time they just say well you know i don't have it as bad as joe you know lost all his children his riches and even the respect of his wife curse god and die you know and even the even the health of his body right and he's just and by the way this didn't happen over a time span of like years it's happening one day that is like affliction upon affliction and the bible is telling us here hey use his example of suffering and of patience because what he endured and what happened at the latter end of joe's life he got twice as much got his wife back more kids more riches and honor he rebuked his stupid friends his idiot friends who were just talking all kinds of trash about him saying that he was ungodly and this is why this was coming coming upon him i mean talk about being molded right when you have god himself coming down and rebuking your friends after you know spending days just you know accusing you and criticizing you this is the patience of joe and here's the thing look joe was just ready to die he's like i'm gonna come forth as gold though he's slain me yet will i trust him you know the sad thing is people go through afflictions in this life and they quit right at the at the moment where god's just gonna come through don't be the christian that when the the going gets tough that you get going you know at the height of affliction at the height of tribulation at the height of pain you know if thou faint in a day of adversity thy strength is small and it's typically when your night is the darkest that's when the light springs up that's when god comes through you know take the example of joe in that manner look at verse number 12 it says here but above all things my brethren swear not neither by heaven nor by earth neither by any other oath but let your yay be a let your name be a name lest he fall into condemnation we won't get it too much into that but basically hey be a person of integrity be a person of honesty and if you say you're going to do something do it and if you say you're going to do something and you decide not to do it let the person know who you say you're going to do it that you're not going to do it you know let your yay be a nay be nays what that's referring to is just talking about hey you know you should be a person of integrity okay that's what that's talking about and in fact in matthew it says but let your communication be yay yay nay nay for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil ye have heard that it had been said an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth but i say to you they resist not evil but whatsoever shall smite thee on their right cheek turn to him the other also so i think what this is talking about even in james chapter 5 obviously there's the principle of being honest but just don't swear vengeance upon someone okay because of the fact that vengeance is mine say the lord he will repay right okay go back to james and look at verse 13 we're going to see the immediate solution for the afflicted in verses 13 through 16 is any among you afflicted let him pray is any merry let him sing psalms is any sick among you let him call for the elders of the church and let them pray over him anointing him with oil in the name of the lord and the prayer of faith shall save the sick and the lord shall raise them up and if you have committed sins they shall be forgiven him so it's telling us here hey if you're afflicted if you're going through a hard time you know this is what you do you go drink a 40 you go smoke weed you go you know get involved in sin no you pray pray if is any money you afflicted pray and specifically in context again because we got to see this in context he's talking about the rich that are oppressing them right so if people are afflicting you what do you do you pray you know what you pray imprecatory prayers that's what you pray pray that judgment comes upon those people i don't think you should do that i mean that relieves the heart that alleviates the stress of the heart you know you read through the psalms of the imprecatory prayers of david break their teeth and let their bend back over always it makes you feel better you know because then you you kind of meditate on these things and you start realizing that you know what this is the bible is inspired by god this is here for a reason this is the mindset of god okay if is any money you afflicted let him pray but hey is any mary let him sing psalms hey psalm 139 amen hey there's two birds with one stone because if you're afflicted but you're married at the same time you can pray and sing psalm 139 do not i hate them oh lord that hate you know that that's great sing psalms verse 14 is any among you sick let him call for the elders of the church and let them pray over him anointing him with oil in the name of the lord and by the way this is not a charismatic passage that tells you you can you lay hands on someone and you just exercise that sickness out of them or whatever okay because it says the prayer of faith shall save the sick not you laying hands on them saves the sick okay this is just a practice that god tells us to do anoint them with oil in the name of the lord and the prayer of faith shall save the sick okay and look there's sometimes that it works sometimes it doesn't why because there's times when people bring that affliction upon themselves you know if someone is dying of cirrhosis of the liver you know don't matter if you have an entire bottle of olive oil and you just bathe that brethren in that oil and you pray for them don't doesn't matter how effective and effectual your prayer is it doesn't matter how righteous you are it's probably not going to get answered why because that person's suffering the consequences of their actions you know you know i look at any sick among you it could range from just a cold well if you have a cold you don't need to necessarily pray that anoint you with oil you know just drink more water take some vitamin c garlic amen garlic's good for you okay you know but also how about cancer i've seen this done where someone had cancer and they prayed over them and then they were healed of it or even brain cancer they were healed of it or how about this they weren't able people weren't they weren't able had to have children that's personal testimony right there okay they weren't able to have children they're anointed with oil and guess what they're able to have children in fact i know of a story where you know the the a couple came to the pastor and said hey we're not able to have children i don't know if there's something wrong with our bodies can you pray for us and he's just sure he he anointed him with oil and he prayed for him and they had a child amen and then they had a second child and a third child and a fourth child and a fifth child and a sixth child and he just kept going and he came back and he goes hey can you reverse this or was like it was like whoa this is like he was joking obviously but you know what is any sick among you let him call for the elders of the church let him and let them pray over him anointing him with oil in the name of the lord the prayer of faith shall save the sick okay look at verse 16 confess your faults not your sins confess your faults one to another and pray for one another that ye may be healed the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much okay and that's not to say that if you don't get your prayer answered it doesn't mean you're not righteous it just means sometimes that god doesn't want to answer that prayer okay look at verse 17 elias was a man subject to like passions as we are and he prayed earnestly that it may not might not rain and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months and he prayed again and the heaven gave rain and the earth brought forth her fruit so we see the um the example of elijah that's what that's who elias is referring to and by the way i just wanted i want to mention this it says that he's a man was a man subject to like passions as we are that word passion doesn't necessarily it's not being used here the way we would use it in modern terms which would be commonly used as zeal or compelling emotion or feeling passion here it actually means suffering and in fact it's easy to just see that because of the context of the chapter afflictions and sufferings and let me give you an example to go to act chapter one if you would act chapter one go to act chapter one hold your place here in james well i learned this from brother eddie brother eddie was teaching me this okay he was waiting for me to give him the honor for honors do amen you know the latin word that they're using means to suffer that's what it means passion that's where they actually that word comes from is from the latin word okay for example there's a stupid movie that came out like 15 i don't know plus years ago called the passion of the christ have you ever heard of that catholic long-haired faggoty jesus movie you guys know what i'm talking about okay you know they didn't just choose that name just because it was cute or whatever it was just like he was so zealous to die for the world that's not what i was referring to the passion that is referring to there is his sufferings because of the fact that it's highlighting his sufferings it's not highlighting his entire life it's highlighting his sufferings the afflictions that he went through there okay and look at the bible says in act chapter 1 verse number 1 the former treaties have i made otheophilus of all that jesus began both to do and teach until the day in which he was taken up after that he through the holy ghost had given commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen to him also he showed himself alive after his passion okay by many infallible proofs being seen of them 40 days and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of god you even have a fruit today and i'm not talking about homos you have a fruit today called passion fruit you guys ever had passion fruit and that fruit is is um purple okay it's actually from i don't know if it was in brazil that they named it this but they named a passion fruit because of the fact that it was likened unto the lord in the sense that it was purple just as jesus christ was clothed in purple in a purple robe so that's what that's referring to in james chapter 5 when it talks about elias was a man subject to like passions what does that mean he was a man who like us suffered you know so in other words there is no temptation taking you but such as is common to man there's no afflictions or sufferings that have taken you that other people have not suffered in times past you know elijah though he was a godly man he was used greatly of god he bled like we do he breathes like we do he has emotions like we do guess what he had relapses of faith just like we do even though he was a man of god he did great works even in his own personal life he had a relapse he had a lapse of faith okay where he questioned god okay he questioned his provision or his his protection so on and so forth go back to james chapter number five i'll read to you from first peter five verse eight it says be sober be vigilant because your adversary the devil is a roaring lion walketh about seeking whom he may devour whom resists steadfast in the faith knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world you know we often say this and it's it's in a negative way but there is truth to it finish the sentence misery loves company ain't that true don't you feel a little better when you go through something really bad and you find out that someone's going to go into that same exact even if they're not even going even if they didn't they're still in that affliction it just feels better when you know that someone's going through the same exact thing as you are and even if they don't have a solution just knowing that someone feels the same afflictions as you that kind of helps a little bit and i say that to say that when you go through a trial just remember there's probably someone in our church who's either going through that same trial has gone through that same trial or will be going through that same trial sometime in the near future now let's see here look at verse 19 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 error of his way shall save a soul from death and shall hide a multitude of sins now what this is referring to here at the at the end of the chapter is that we as christians obviously you know this is the reason why we preach hard against sin it's not to be a showman it's not to just get you know a kick out of people it's for the sake of converting the sinner from his ways so we can save a soul from death you know the reason we preach hard on fornication the reason we preach hard on drunkenness and the sins that the bible talks about is so we can rescue our brethren from falling into those traps into those sins because we understand that those things can destroy people okay and the bible tell you not to turn to first john 5 14 says and this is the confidence that we have in him that if we ask anything according to his will he heareth us and if we know that he hear us whatsoever we ask we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him if any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death he shall ask and he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death there is a sin unto death i do not say that he shall pray for it all unrighteousness is sin and there is a sin not unto death you know what this means this means this means that there's people out there who are involved in sin that they still have hope there's still hope for them and look if you know someone who's saved who's not in our church they're away from god don't lose hope and look i'm not saying don't pray that that you know that their flesh is destroyed but you know it's not bad to even pray that they just get restored because we can still pray for them there's still hope for them you know and look we don't want to be this type of church is like yeah just judge them and destroy them god and you know there should be a sense of mercy that we have to to say you know if that's what it takes yes but i much rather him see get restored i much rather see her get restored and and and not die this type of death i i don't want god to destroy that person's life obviously if that's what it takes then that's what it's going to take but at the end of the day you know the bible tells us that he which converted the sinner from the error of his ways shall save a soul from death and shall hide a multitude of sins now the way we do that here is by preaching hard against it amen you know you sit in the service we preach against marijuana and you stop smoking marijuana we preach against fornication you stop fornicating we preach against you know you fill in the blank and the goal is that you would repent of that sin and you'd get it right now look i'll tell you what this does not mean okay this does not mean that you fellowship with people who have been excommunicated from our church i'm trying to convert them from their ways no you know we already tried to do that by excommunicating them out of the church that's what we do to try to restore them is give them the nine and a half boot we kick them out so that they can repent and get right with god but look don't try to take it upon yourself to say well you know i'm still gonna go eat with them and drink with them and hang out with them because i'm trying to win them back to the lord you're not helping when you do that now i don't know if anybody in our church that's doing that currently but i know there's people in times past that were doing that you know i know people who you know like deborah for example the lady we just kicked out a couple i don't know months ago or weeks ago i lose track um you know she sees herself as some martyr for christ who is just trying to restore people you know taking pictures with homos and dykes claiming that she's winning them to the lord oh she's she's doing such a big thing for god no you're not okay and look don't contact though it's pretty look but by the way don't contact people and i'm not going to be policing you to say hey did you did you talk to so-and-so that's none of my business i'm preaching from the pulpit so you know what i think about this you shouldn't be contacting people who've been excommunicated from our church for the sins of first corinthians five or even matthew 18 but you surely should not be contacting heretics who are kicked out of our church and look if i find out that anybody's doing that i'm coming down hard on you i'm coming down on you hard because you should know better than to hang out with wicked people fellowship with wicked people who hate our church they hate me yay they hate you you know and look and again it's not happening in our church i don't think anyone's like like being buddy buddies with eric balasteros or anything like that you know if you're buddies with them that you should be buddies with them okay you'll catch that after the service you know anybody who's friends with that guy is an idiot well what if they're saved they're idiots why because this man is a heretic you know and i have i have patience with people who are excommunicated from our church for the sins of first corinthians five and so on and so forth but not for the heretics not for these trinity denying heretics not for these reprobate defending heretics you know man because we're like preaching against adam fanning or whatever you don't want to defend that guy i have no patience for those people you know this is not referring to try to convert them you know is anybody trying to talk to adam fanning and try to convert him from his ways no he doesn't want anybody to try to convert him from his ways that's what those are the ways he wants he's going his own way miktau or whatever but the ender of are the ways of death so you know we need to make sure obviously that we pray that the people who are saved get restored you know pray that uh they get restored and they get restored back into fellowship but this is not applicable to heretics this is not applicable to reprobates okay so what is james chapter 5 talking about well it's really just hitting the subject of suffering and afflictions and it's given us instructions what to do when we are afflicted when we go through suffering and we would do well to take heed to it amen because it is going to happen we are going to go through times when we go through afflictions and trials and sufferings and we're going to wish we remember this sermon amen as far as i have a word of prayer father we thank you so much for your word we're thankful for the examples of joe elijah and those who have suffered in times past to give us an example i pray god that you'd help us lord that when we go through trials that that you would continue to strengthen us that we would find our bearings in the lord and through your word that we would strengthen our prayer life and read more bible and it's often through trials and difficulties that these things matter most you know church matters most and the bible begins to matter most to us and prayer and yeah even our own families and we begin to the things that maybe we have taken for granted in times past begin to matter to us a little bit more and that's where we're thankful for afflictions lord and i pray god that you'd help us that when we go through it that we would pray that we would depend on you that we would be fervent in our prayers and not faint and thank you so much again for all that you do for us pray these things in jesus name amen