March 3, 2025 • 59 mins
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Join us as we wrap up the book of James, focusing on standing firm through struggles and the importance of grace. The host shares personal stories of recent hardships, emphasizing reliance on community for support. Unpacking James chapter five, we explore patience, resilience, and our duty to uplift one another in faith.
- Understanding personal struggles while relying on God's grace
- The importance of community and accountability
- Insights on the transformative power of prayer
- Community involvement as a measure of real faith
- Action steps for supporting and restoring one another
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Welcome to Christian Warrior Mission: the ministry where Christian warriors are forged, equipped, and united for the battles of life and faith. Our channel is dedicated to empowering you to stand firm, advance the line, and claim victory for Christ’s Kingdom. We offer two powerful streams of content:
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Heart Alignment: Begin with a prayer of gratitude and humility, aligning your heart with the Lord.
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Nehemiah 4:14
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Happy Lord's Day to you.
I hope you had a better weekthan I did, but happy to be here
.
Welcome to Christian WarriorChurch, a home church, community
ministry and farm that forgesChristian Warriors for today's
challenges.
Some announcements as you guysknow, there was no Christian
Warrior mission, christianWarrior talk on the past two
(00:23):
Wednesdays.
My back went out before we wentready because we changed and
then my back went out on Tuesday.
And, for those of you guys whodon't know, I had a bad
parachuting accident in themilitary when I was serving as a
Navy SEAL and that is with mefor the rest of my life.
So occasionally I have reallybad days or really bad weeks,
(00:45):
and we're in one of those rightnow, which is why you know God
forgive me I'm in Crocs.
I hate to not.
You know, they're the onlyshoes I can get on without
totally relying on my wife whoalready is dressing me at this
moment on everything below, youknow socks, underwear, pants,
yeah, so it's been a veryhumbling week for me, but you
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know, again, I have manyblessings, and not to grumble
and complain, but for things inthe context happens when that
(01:30):
we're preaching some of the mostclear words in the Bible, which
is the book of James.
It is a manual for applicationto your life, to where,
sometimes, god will show you amirror and give you a magnifying
glass.
And boy has that been myexperience this week.
For those of you guys whohaven't been following us the
(01:53):
past few weeks, we are wrappingup the book of James today,
chapter five, and this week hasbeen a struggle between all the
meds that I'm on and everythingelse.
And this week has been astruggle between all the meds
that I'm on and everything elseand walking out things that I've
been preaching for the pastfive weeks four weeks going on,
five now has been very humbling,with a lot of failures, a lot
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of struggles, and my house hashad to be a cathedral of grace
for me, for me, and you know.
So again, I find that when theLord moves this way, this is
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often where we take the mostground in our lives.
It's a season of struggle withthe gift of clarity, and that
clarity is you know what youshould be doing.
You've just preached on it,you've just heard it.
You've heard it preached.
Now you're in the fire of itand you know that you're not
(03:03):
enough.
You're not enough, you're notenough, and now you need to know
why you need to give grace sofreely, because you need it so
much.
And boy do I need grace from mywife, my kids, my mom, my dogs,
my cows, my pigs, maybe thechickens I haven't really
interacted with the chickensmuch, but you know every toy in
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the ground that I've kicked andcursed, that I've tripped over
this week, which has been many,you know I've had to repent for
all of it.
So again, this isn't to makethis about me.
This is about showing you thatcoming to church, trying to walk
it out as best you can, knowingand being in the word doesn't
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mean that it's going to be easyand that you're not going to
struggle.
The gift in this is theknowledge of God will give you
grace if you ask for it and ifyou give it in your own life.
And having the manual on how tocome back, the manual on how to
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correct it, the manual on howto walk it out when it isn't
easy Because if this was likethe week that I planned, I was
going to be in the gym every dayLife was going to be great, my
whole family was going to seethat I am a shining light of
Christian.
From the moment I wake up to themoment I go to bed.
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Everyone's going to be likethat is a good Christian over
there.
Yeah, not so much.
Not so much.
That's okay, because the onlyway I can ever any of us can get
there is is when jesus does.
Jesus does it for us.
Now we're supposed to doeverything we can to be there
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and we're supposed to fight tobe that way.
But there are going to be timesand seasons where you're going
to be crawling through brokenglass in your own filth Filth of
your sin, your past sin, yourcurrent sin filth that is not
even your.
Sometimes your problem it'ssomeone else's, and you're
crawling through glass withsomeone which brings its own
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warfare on you.
So one of the things in James 5that we're going to talk about
today and I haven't even gotteninto the sermon, I haven't even
finished the announcements isgoing back for people who've
come off the way.
Now, I didn't come off the way,I didn't stop being a Christian,
I didn't do any of those things.
(05:45):
I had a down dip.
But there are times where,multiple times this week, where
I had to go to my shield maid,my wife, and ask her to pray for
me.
Just call her out of whatevershe's doing and saying I need
your covering right now.
I need you to go to war for meand most men, most even women,
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particularly in your spiritualbattle.
The more you're considering anestablished Christian can be
really reluctant to do that.
And we can't, we can't.
Every one of us we're going tohear here in a moment are called
to be medics for one another,spiritual medics for one another
, spiritual medics.
Looking at the people in ourlife who are Christians, who
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have committed to our Lord andSavior to walk this out.
And when we know that we lookdown on the ground and there's
gallons of spiritual blood onthe ground, you know because
they're bleeding out fromsomewhere.
If you don't do anything,what's wrong with you?
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How can you not try to helpthem?
That's what you're ordered todo and we're going to see that
today.
So some other good news, somegood news today.
So some other good news, somegood news.
So we're going to try again tostart Christian Warrior Talk on
this Wednesday night, which willbe the Bible study and
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everything else with it.
Baby Ruth is doing well.
Baby Ruth, our female blackAngus cow, is the cutest thing
out there sprinting around thatfield, and her and Tomahawk have
become good friends.
Karen, her mom, has finally lether start hanging out with the
older Tomahawk and they sprintaround the field and it's really
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cute.
And Mocha has become a farmchupacabra.
Lauren has made homemademozzarella today from that
cheese and it was great.
We had mozzarella caprese thefirst of the season.
Oh man, I love my mozzarellacaprese in the summer, and so
that's good.
The other thing is to remindeveryone the first men's
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fellowship fire will be onFriday, march 21st at 7 pm up at
Warrior's Rest Fire Pit.
So RSVP on Facebook or tell me,and so we can prepare for that.
So let's go to prayer and let'sget this going.
Dear Heavenly Father, lord, wethank you.
We thank you for the tests andtrials in life, the ones that
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refine our faith, the ones thatshow us that we are not enough
and that the only way we getthrough this is relying on you.
So, lord, bring clarity to thissermon.
May it help someone out theresomewhere to understand you and
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understand your marching ordersfor us.
Lord, lord, we thank you forall the things in our life, all
of our blessings, known andunknown, all of our protections,
known and unknown, and wepraise you with every breath of
our lungs, serve you with everybeat of our hearts.
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We ask that this time wouldglorify you and only you, serve
you and only you, and that itwould please you.
In Jesus' name, we pray amen.
So again, if you're new to faithand you need an example on how
to pray, the simplest prayer isoften the best prayer.
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A child's prayer is God knowseverything anyways.
So just open up and talk to him, but do it humbly.
Do it humbly.
You're talking to God, not yourbro, not Jesus' bro, not Jesus'
surfer dude, not you know.
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No, you're talking to thecreator of the universe, who
suffered unimaginably for youand paid for you.
So come to him with the rightamount of deference.
Creator of the universe, whosuffered unimaginably for you
and paid for you.
So come to him with the rightamount of deference.
So there's that way.
And then there's the model ofMatthew, that when Jesus'
disciples asked him how heshould pray, how they should
pray, jesus gave the perfectexample.
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Our Father, which art in heaven.
Hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done on earth as itis in heaven.
Give us this day our dailybread and forgive us our debts,
as we forgive our debtors, andlead us not into temptation, but
deliver us from evil, for thineis the kingdom and the power
and the glory forever.
Amen.
All right, so we are wrapping upthe book of James today,
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standing firm in the finalbattle, james 5.
Let's recap what we've learnedand then turn the page into this
brief review here.
Remember, james is believed tobe the brother of Jesus, who did
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not believe that Jesus was whohe said he was until he came
back from the dead.
He became a leader in thechurch, became known as James
the Just and a pillar of theearly church.
So, james 1, faith tested andtrue religion.
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Trials lead to endurance.
Okay, you know, trials are whatrefine the weakness out of us
and it is what proves that weare who we say we are and
produces endurance.
God's wisdom versusdouble-mindedness Right, we know
that we are to rely on God'swisdom and not the worldly
wisdom.
We are commanded to be doers ofthe word and not hearers only.
And that is the rub, that's thehard part.
(11:31):
That's how we go from not beingthe worst word in the Christian
language practically, which isa hypocrite Right, and the
Christian language practically,which is a hypocrite right.
And remember that true religioncares for the vulnerable and
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remains unstained by the world.
You know just crazy this morningwe're doing stuff and put the
Hobbit on for the kids.
You know the one that wasrecently redone by Peter Jackson
and such a touching scene inthere.
And you know, praise the Lordfor godly works like this.
And you know I'm not going tobore you with fantasy and all
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that stuff.
Jr Tolkien was a Christian, aCatholic, but a Christian.
And there's a scene in therewhere they're trying to decide,
you know, on whether Sauron'scome back and the dwarves can go
take their home.
And Galadriel, who's you knowthe main character in the story
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asks Gandalf, who's one of themain heroes of the whole thing
why did he bring along a hobbit,which is this defenseless
little, child-sized person thatno one would bring on a quest
ever anywhere?
And he said something thatreally struck me, particularly
this morning.
And he's like Saruman, who washis boss, who's like the head
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wizard says it's mighty deedsand heroic works that hold evil
at bay.
And Gandalf had a quote thatI'd like to read.
He says but I don't believethat it is the small everyday
deeds of ordinary folk that keepthe darkness at bay, and small
acts of kindness and love.
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Now, that is more true, and Ibelieve to be true here, because
none of this relies on us.
Our heroic acts are not whatsave the universe.
Those are acts of kindness andlove and everything else, and we
should do those.
But the balance of the force ofgood in this world is when
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Jesus has been proclaimedthroughout the world and
everyone is a servant to oneanother, and the smallest act of
kindness and a smile in helpingsomeone overcome a moment of
shame or doubt or fear, orovercome some sin, that's where
God will change the universe.
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That's where God will changeeverything.
When the smallest things becomethe norm, that's when his
kingdom will become and his willwill be done, because that's
what we're preached to do hereall the time.
So, yes, some brave men goingout and doing heroic deeds
because no one else is doinganything in their everyday life.
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They can carry us for some time.
But I believe, as in the wisdomof JRR Tolkien when he wrote
that line, that again, line thatagain, there's the gospel
preached and the gospel lived,which is small, everyday deeds
of ordinary folk that keep thedarkness at bay, small acts of
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kindness and love.
I mean, that's the gospel rightthere.
All right, so what's ourapplication as warriors?
We must persevere under trials,seek god's wisdom and practice
genuine faith.
In proverbs three, five throughsix, we're told to trust in
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yahweh with all your heart anddo not lean on your own
understanding.
In all your ways, acknowledgehim and he will make your path
straight.
What an act of faith itrequires to trust God.
As an atheist and as a cerebralChristian, for the first part of
my journey I had to understandGod.
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Well, you're not going tounderstand God, you're not going
to understand his ways, so youmight as well just throw that
out the window.
You're not going to understandGod, you're not going to
understand his ways, so youmight as well just throw that
out the window.
And once I realized that I hadthe scale wrong, made in God's
image, christ man and God, allman, all God oh well, we're here
.
No, god is as big as is beyondscale, infinite.
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And we are dust, microscopicdust.
You can't understand infinite.
It breaks your mind, it goes onforever.
You can say that, but you don't.
You can't see it, you can'tunderstand it.
That is the difference.
So how is my dust brain goingto understand infinite?
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It can't.
It can't possibly knoweverything that God knows.
It can't possibly understandthese things.
So giving it over to him is myact of faith and trust, and he
will then, when you surrenderthat way, will make your path
straight.
So, james 2, no partiality,right, we are the servants.
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We don't care if we're helpingsomeone who's rich or poor or
this or that, we are just calledto be servants for the people
who are at your feet.
Some people feel called to gooff to faraway lands.
Good on them.
God bless them.
We need to do more serving thepeople who are in our lives, at
our feet right now, including inour households, first in our
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households.
And that faith without works isdead.
If you're a Christian who hasn'tdone anything to help anyone,
there's a great thing in thenews.
You're a Christian who hasn'tdone anything to help anyone,
you know there's a great thingin the news.
Elon Musk dared to ask federalemployees to write five things
they did last week.
Five things they did last week,and you wouldn't believe the
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PTSD that these entitled spoiledGen Zers whatever the heck
they're called I don't even knowwhat they're called melting
down that.
How dare their boss ask them toask them what they did.
You know, someone asked themwhat they did.
Five things they did last week.
You would have thought thatthey were in a Nazi
concentration camp, and I postedabout this on Twitter.
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What a horrible example.
What a nightmarish, horribleexample of the most entitled
generation of all time.
You have to earn your job everyday.
That's what we have to do inthe civilian world.
You have to provide value andprovide services every day to
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earn your job In the federalfantasy world.
You get hired and then youcoast until you retire and every
day is just ticking off.
Another day you can go back todoing nothing, getting paid for
nothing in your retirement, forthe nothing that you did while
you were working, supposedly.
Now again, there are hardpeople working in the federal
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government and it's not all ofthem, but boy do they show
themselves.
If you can't in your faithjourney, it's five things you
did to help someone last week.
If you can't come up withanything, things you did to help
someone last week.
If you can't come up withanything, you got really big
problems and that should be afive-alarm fire in your life.
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If all you did was take care ofyou for that?
How many of those weeks haveyou strung along?
How many of those weeks haveyou just done you?
Are you even saved?
Are you even Christian?
Or are you fire insurance?
So real faith shows itself inworks of service and love, as a
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warrior's training revealsitself in battle.
Proverbs 14.31,.
He who oppresses the poorreproaches his maker, but he who
is gracious to the needy honorshim.
James 3,.
Taming the tongue in truewisdom.
Oh boy, teachers face stricterjudgment.
I am in trouble.
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The tongue is a powerful weaponfor blessing or destruction.
We have two kinds of wisdomthat we learned in James 3,
earthly and heavenly.
They run opposite.
And what is our warriorapplication here?
Verbal discipline is likeweapon discipline.
We must practice supremediscipline of our mouth, just as
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we do with our firearms, andpursue peaceable, pure wisdom
from above.
And it is hard.
It is going to be.
Some of the hardest things youever do is control it, because
the selfishness in you is goingto want to rage and complain and
gripe.
Nowhere does God ever lookfavorably on griping and
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complaining Nowhere.
Usually, when they're gripingand complaining, that's when the
hammer gets dropped.
That's when awful things happen.
That's when you get God'sjudgment.
Proverbs 18.21,.
Death and life are in the powerof the tongue, and those who
love it will eat its fruit.
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James 4, the war within andsubmission of God.
Quarrels come from lusts within.
Most of the fights in your lifeare from your own sin and not
meeting the expectations thatyou have for the sin in your own
life.
Friendship with the world ishostility toward God.
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So submit to God and resist thedevil.
Do not slander.
Life is a vapor Plan.
Humbly Understand that.
Whether you are successful ornot is whether God blesses you
or not.
But you do have to do the work.
Potatoes are not going to growin my backyard if I don't plant
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them.
But if God doesn't give me theright weather, it's all for
naught.
It's all for naught.
So you have to go out there anddo what Clear all the weeds
Till the earth, plow the earth,plant it, take care of them, and
then God provides theenvironment.
But you still have to do thework for God to bless it, unless
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you're Israel and God calls youout of slavery and sends you
into the wilderness, and therehe makes manna rain from heaven.
But that doesn't happen often.
It hasn't happened in thousandsand thousands and thousands and
thousands of years.
So go out and do your part.
God wants you to be the ant.
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Ants are looked favorably on inthe Bible.
Why?
Because they're always doingtheir duty, they're always in
community, they're alwaysworking together.
What's the warrior application?
The most dangerous war is theone within.
We must submit to our divinecommander, christ, resist the
devil, control our tongues andremember we are vapor under
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God's sovereign.
Will.
You listen to Christian musictoday and I love Christian music
today, most of it, or some ofit actually not some of it and
it can really put you right upto their eye to eye with God.
And you've got to be reallycareful.
Some of my favorite artists, Ithink, are too familiar, far too
familiar with the Lord.
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Bible tells us Proverbs 16, 32,he who is slow to anger is
better than the mighty, and hewho rules his spirit than he who
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captures a city.
Control of self is better thancontrol captures a city.
Control of self is better thancontrol of a city.
Controlling your own spirit,your own tongue, your own sin is
more important than capturingan enemy city.
So now we get to James 5.
I'm going to read it to you andthen we'll break it through.
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So go ahead and turn to James 5.
Mine it's page 2,399.
And somebody else's issomewhere else, but I'm reading
out of the LSB Come now you richWeep and howl for your miseries
which are coming upon you Now.
People out there with a lot ofnothing think this is the time
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to rejoice that if people havestuff that they are going to be
punished because they have stuffNot, so We'll get into that.
Your riches have rotten andyour garments have become
moth-eaten.
Your gold and your silver haverusted.
Gold and silver do not rust.
This is James using hyperbolehere to show you that even that
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is nothing and will be witnessesagainst you and will consume
your flesh like fire.
It is in the last days that youhave stored up your treasure.
Behold, the pay of the laborerswho mowed your fields and which
has been withheld by you criesout against you and the outcries
of those who did the harvestinghave reached the ears of the
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Lord.
You have lived luxuriously onthe earth and led a life of
wanton pleasure.
You have fattened your heartsin the days of the day of
slaughter.
You have condemned and put todeath the righteous man.
He does not resist you.
Verse 7.
And therefore be patient,brothers, until the coming of
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the Lord.
Behold, the farmer waits forthe precious fruit of the soil,
being patient about it until itreceives the early and the late
rains.
You too, be patient, strengthenyour hearts for the Lord, for
the coming of the Lord is athand.
Do not complain, brothers,against one another, so that you
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yourselves will not be judged.
Behold, the judge is standingright at the door.
Verse 10,.
As an example, brothers, ofsuffering and patience, take the
prophets who spoke in the nameof the Lord Verse 10.
This is James again.
I'll talk about this a littlebit, teaching you that no matter
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what's going on in your life,you need to bring God into the
center of that.
If you're in joy, be thankingGod.
If you're suffering, ask Godinto the middle of it to help
you with it.
Is anyone among you sick?
Then he must call for theelders of the church and they
are to pray over him, anointinghim with oil in the name of the
Lord.
But anointing Bea with oil,with her struggles right now and
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the prayer of faith will savethe one who is sick and the Lord
will raise him up and if he hascommitted sins, then they will
be forgiven him.
Verse 16,.
Therefore, confess your sins toone another.
To who?
To one another, when you have adear friend, a dear brother in
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Christ, what I call your warcouncil.
These are people who know allyour secrets.
You pour into them.
You tell them these are the badthings I've done.
And they tell you the badthings they've done.
It's mutually assureddestruction.
You know all your blind spots.
You are to confess that to themand them to you, and then it's
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done.
Confess it, bring the Lord inpraying over it, get it off.
You Share that burden and prayfor one another so that you may
be healed.
The effective prayer of arighteous man can accomplish
much.
Elijah here's an example was aman with a nature like ours, and
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he prayed earnestly that itwould not rain.
And it did not rain on theearth for three years and six
months.
Then he prayed again and thesky poured rain and the earth
produced its fruits.
My brothers, if any among youstrays from the truth and one
turns him back, let him knowthat he who turns the sinner
from the error of his ways willsave his soul from death and
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will cover a multitude of sins.
We're going to talk about thathere, so let's get into the
exposition of this, verses 1through 6, a warning to the
wealthy oppressor Wealthyoppressor, not wealthy.
Wealthy oppressor.
Come now you rich, weep andhowl for your miseries which are
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coming upon you.
The context of wealthy hereimplies unjust or oppressive
wealth.
James is not condemning havingmoney or hoarding, but hoarding
and abusing it.
Weep and howl.
The Greek kleonates and OlozoProbably just ruined that.
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Strong terms signifying loudlament, basically wailing at the
top of your voice, reminiscentof Old Testament prophetic
judgment.
Remember in verse 4 when I saidthe Lord of Sabaoth is heard,
which means the Lord of hosts,god's battle-ready might to
defend the oppressed.
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An example of this would havebeen during COVID, how we saw
the small man get smashed, howwe were forbidden to work but
Walmart was allowed to stay openand Lowe's was allowed to stay
open and everything else, andall the mighty used it to enrich
all their pockets.
You can see it now in the newswhere we see our tax dollars
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being used to take from thosewho don't really have and use it
to enrich themselves.
You see the tyrant of Ukrainewho has a 4% approval rating in
his people 4%.
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Who had no money before, nowhas Ferraris and, like 15 homes,
is worth over a billion dollars.
Some say All this from a nationthat's completely destroyed.
You know, god bless Elon Muskand all the people out there who
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are diving in to find thecorruption to where?
All of us who have been payingtaxes for our whole lives
wondering how it doesn't work.
Why doesn't this add up?
How can we spend more moneythan anyone on every student in
the world?
We spend more money on our kidsin school and we get the worst
results out there.
Why?
Because none of it makes it tothe actual child.
It all goes as a moneylaundering scheme.
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To what?
To politicians.
We now are seeing that everyonewho is on the green initiative
agenda not everyone, but a vastmajority, super majority have
been using it to launder moneyfrom the original John Kerry,
stacey Abrams, like she's somegreat whatever great
environmentalist, she's gettingpaid millions of dollars and all
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these green initiatives, whichdoes nothing, just gives them
money to stir up racial hatred.
These are the wicked people, orexamples of wicked people, who
are holding down the poor, thepeople who say they're going to
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serve black community, and theirpoliticians get richer Al
Sharpton and those and the likeand their people don't do any
better.
There's still more black menkilling black men than
practically ever before inhistory, but we don't care about
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those ones.
We lose 100,000 people, over100,000 people, a year to
fentanyl overdoses.
Every single one of us knowssomeone who's died of a drug
overdose.
I guarantee you, if you'rewatching this or you're in this
room, you know somebody who diedfrom drugs 100% preventable.
These are all in an effort tokeep their field, the workers,
(32:39):
out in the fields working andinstead they fleece his pocket,
they cheat him of that money andthey enrich themselves.
This is happening today andJames is saying it's been
happening for a long time Now.
Back then there was I don't evenknow if there's a free press
now, because of Elon Musk maybebut imagine back then when you
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were just gifted your wealth oryou inherited it, and if you
were poor, the Jewish peoplesaid that's because you were
cursed and you sinned.
And imagine how that could beabused.
Which is why the Bible tells usthat you were to not pick the
end of your fields, because thatwas for the poor to come in and
be able to pick the end of yourfields.
(33:24):
You were to harvest the innersof your fields, but not the
outer parts of your fieldBecause there was no safety
programs back there, just theword of God.
You're like why are we alwaystalking?
Why is all the apostles talkingabout widows and orphans?
(33:44):
Because there was no safetyprograms, there was no safety
nets.
They were out there with cups.
If you were deformed orparalyzed or injured, the rest
of your life was this and youdidn't live very long.
So again, that's who they'retalking about.
(34:10):
They're talking about theRothschilds, the world economic
forum.
They're talking about the powerpeople who say you will own
nothing and be happy.
Now we've strung some victoriestogether by the glory of God
and are pushing back againstthis darkness.
We have 24 months less thanthat now To achieve enough
(34:37):
momentum to show people thetruth, to see if they can handle
it and maybe turn back fromthis calamity.
So again, this echoes thewealthy who exploit the needy
(34:58):
and provoke divine wrath whichis coming.
Covid and those who areresponsible for COVID will pay.
No one gets away with anything.
God will judge From theeconomic theft and the
transference of massive wealth,the death of businesses all over
this country, the concentrationof wealth to a very small
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percentage, while they puteveryone else out of business
and made it illegal for them towork, to enriching
pharmaceutical companies andeverything else that we have
seen.
So what do we do?
Wealth is an idol.
A soldier weighed down bygreedy spoils can't fight
effectively.
You know, an image came to mymind is you're on a ship and
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you've got all this gold, andthe ship's going down and what's
one of the heaviest thingsknown to man Gold.
And what's it going to do?
It's going to suck you to thebottom of the ocean.
So you can either let it go orit's going to kill you.
And justice is like internalmutiny, weakening the moral
(36:10):
integrity of the body.
That's why they spend so muchtime trying to make us feel that
America is unjust, why they tryto make us hate one another,
because that's how you destroy anation from within.
And that's all at the hands ofChina and our enemies, soviet
Union, who have been sowing thissince the 40s, if not sooner
Earlier.
To quote Martin Luther, richesare the least worthy things
(36:34):
which the human heart can setitself upon.
They are the smallest externalgood.
Proverbs 11, 28,.
He who trusts in riches willfall, but the righteous will
flourish like a green leaf.
Now I want to dispel something.
You are not called to poverty.
Some people believe that.
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In fact, some very bigtheologians think if you buy a
new car, that that's some typeof sin, which I think is
absolutely ridiculous.
Your dollars are bullets in thewarfare.
Who you spend your money withmatters.
You go to Starbucks and you putmoney in the Starbucks coffee.
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Starbucks hates you, hates.
God, hates everything about youand is trying to destroy your
children.
Yet you go through and givethem $10, $12 for a coffee.
It's easy, right, it's there,it tastes good.
I have given up Starbucks.
Now.
There are times where I'm goingacross country and there is
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nothing else there and that's itFine, but I do everything that
I can not to.
So understanding who you'redoing business with matters and
being successful is good for thekingdom, because if you have
more resources and God isblessing you with a war chest,
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what should you be using that?
For?
Bigger cars, bigger house,bigger this?
Maybe?
If you're using it for thekingdom, not for your own
pleasure, the more resources youhave, the more people you can
help.
So don't treat resources andwealth as a negative, only if it
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becomes your idol.
Is there a single reason to owna Louis Vuitton purse?
No, there is not.
There is not a reason to own aFerrari.
These are examples of excess.
A purse that is worth $24,000that just holds your makeup.
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What could you have done withthat?
How many people could you havehelped with that money?
Again, have fun, enjoy life,share it.
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Share it.
Reassess.
If you're hoarding or helping,look at yourself and say the
balance of my life.
Am I helping anyone or am Ihoarding?
(39:25):
Is my life about gatheringstuff for me?
And if it is, you're in trouble.
And james tells us this, as wellas the bible over and over 7, 7
to 11, patience and sufferingin the coming of the Lord.
Therefore, be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord.
It could be meaning that theLord is coming back imminently
(39:46):
and tomorrow, which we believe2,000 years ago, when this was
or that could be, the Lord iscoming in the next instant.
In some way, your prayer couldbe answered.
Tomorrow, the rain that you'vebeen waiting for came, coming to
the Lord.
Blessing of the Lord, thingsthat only God controls.
Be patient.
(40:07):
The Greek here connoteslong-suffering and enduring of a
prolonged siege, which is someof the most horrific warfare
known to man, to where peopleturn to cannibalism.
That is the language, again,the Bible uses.
It's always warfare language.
Always Think of some examplesNoah, the 70 years or so to
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build the ark.
Moses wandering in the desert,job, his extreme trials Verse 7,
he talked about early and latereigns that God will come
through.
How God praised Job for hisunyielding endurance, god's
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compassion in the end.
So, as warriors, what do we dowith this?
We hold the line.
We hold the line.
We wait for divinereinforcements.
That could be an answeredprayer.
That could be Christ returning.
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It could be a brother coming into stand in the gap with you.
It could be a blessing thefinances, that of a gift that
you didn't even look for or knewwas coming.
Blessing the finances that of agift that you didn't even look
for or knew was coming.
And we stand firm despiteadversity.
No complaining, scrubcomplaining from your language.
This is hard from a 10,000generation complainer like
(41:35):
myself.
Gotta, get rid of it.
Avoid destructive grumbling.
It saps morale.
The words of wise JohnChrysostom he that endures
patiently is in higher favorwith God than he who works
miracles, because if you'reworking miracles, you know God's
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there.
What faith is that?
If you're doing all thesethings, you know God's in the
middle, but the person who's outthere doing it when that's not
happening.
That is where things are, whereGod smiles truly down.
Proverbs 20, 22,.
And we're wrapping up here.
Do not say I will repay evil.
Wait for Yahweh and he willsave you.
(42:18):
So here's a practical step Holdthe line habit During trials.
Take 30 second prayer, pauseLord, I trust your timing and
rate steadfast until you move.
How hard that is for a doorkicker like myself, for somebody
who's a doer and somebody who'smaking a decision in charge.
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That is the hardest thing everfor me to do.
It goes against everything thatI am, that got me to where I am
and that is going to be thehardest lesson.
I had a brother pour into me onthat recently Speech integrity.
But above all, my brother, donot swear.
This is oath-taking.
Okay, and a lot of us areraised and taken our oath to
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defend the Constitution of theUnited States in various formats
and other things.
It's not talking about thatBasically, back in the day,
culturally, people would sayelaborate oaths like that was
going to they didn't do itbefore, but because they're
going to swear on their mother,the eyes of their mother, is
this that and saying this andwho?
And just let your no be no andyour yes be yes.
(43:20):
Imagine being a man where youdidn't have to promise for
people to believe you.
You just said it and that waswritten in stone.
A warrior's word is born.
Trust is paramount in any unit.
Dependable speech fosters unity.
John Calvin said an uprightman's word should suffice.
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An oath is only needed to quellthis trust.
So I only have to promise.
I only have to make an oath ifyou won't trust me.
Proverbs 10, 19,.
When there are many words,transgression is unavoidable.
But he who holds back his lipshas insight.
Practical step Aim for concisetruth-telling.
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Replace I swear or I promisewith simple, clear statements.
Okay, we've got two moreteaching points.
Hang on now.
Prayer, confession healing.
Is anyone among you suffering?
They must pray.
Prayer covers all circumstancessuffering joy, sickness, sin.
Anointing with oil symbolizesconsecration in the Spirit's
(44:29):
work.
Prayer of faith emphasizesconfidence in God's power,
submitted to his will.
Confess your sins.
Vulnerable accountability withbrothers and sisters fosters
communal healing not just yourhealing, but theirs.
When you start doing this withyour spouse, you're going to
(44:52):
have the deepest relationshipyou could ever fathom and you're
going to prevent more firesfrom ever starting than you
would, because you're going toknow what they're struggling
with.
You're no longer a mind reader.
You don't have to interpret thesize which you're going to
misinterpret or what they'restruggling with, because they're
bringing it to God and God andyour attention and your
(45:13):
authority and their authority inyour life.
And now it's full transparency.
This is where I'm hurtingauthority in your life and now
it's full transparency.
This is where I'm hurting,instead of all of your baggage
being projected onto theirbaggage and miss cross lines.
We are called to be trauma,spiritual trauma, medics for
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each other.
You get around each other.
Notice if someone's bleeding.
Notice, notice if they'rehaving a you know, a spiritual
heart attack or a spiritualstroke.
Is their language normally off?
Are they cussing all the time?
That's what happens to me.
When I start going down, mymouth gets foul.
That is the primary.
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One of the primary, mostimportant roles of fellowship is
that medic role.
If you're far away and I can'tsee you and I can't talk to you
and you're not talking to me andwe're not hanging out, how can
I observe that?
Which is why you need to be ina congregation so people can
notice and see if you're takingthe off ramp of the faith.
So the warrior application,corporate intercession.
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Soldiers rely on communicationwith command.
Prayer is our lifeline HQ.
That's what we call on airsupport, that's what we call on
the medevac Right, that's whatwe call an air support.
That's what we call in themedevac.
That's what we call forextraction.
This is where this is how we doit and, like a medic checking
for wounds, we uncover spiritualinjuries so they can be treated
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.
Charles Spurgeon said prayermoves the arm that moves the
world.
In Proverbs 15, 29,.
Yahweh is far from the wicked,but he hears the prayer of the
righteous.
Commit to weekly or biweeklycheck-ins, exchanging prayer
requests, confessing strugglesand celebrating victories.
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Do this with people and thenfinally restoring the wanderer,
if any among you strays from thetruth.
Strays from the truth may be adoctrinal error, a moral
compromise or a simple drift.
James calls believers tospiritual rescue.
We are called to go after thosewho fall away.
We are called for those who are, who were here and then
(47:40):
something happened and the enemytook them out, and it's our job
to try to bring them back onthe life raft.
They were on the life raft ofChrist and they just fell back
in the water or sewage.
Pull them up instead of havingto go search and go to Haiti to
save someone when your brother'sright here or your neighbor's
right here.
This covers a multitude of sinsyour sins, my sins.
(48:06):
Doing this covers the thingsthat you need your sins covered.
Love's pursuit of the wandererprevents further downfall and as
warriors, we should know nosoldier is left behind.
Christian warriors must dosearch and rescue for straying
souls.
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Restorative is redemptive andnot condemnatory.
Augustine said he that is insin is not in safety.
Yet you may help him withbrotherly correction.
Galatians tells us to approachwith humility.
Proverbs 27, 5 and 6,.
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Better is open reproof.
That's confrontation, that'ssaying you are doing this wrong.
Stop X.
Then love that is hidden.
You say you know you've got afamily member who comes out of
the closet and is LGBT, whatever.
If you don't say anything there, you are not fighting for their
(49:13):
soul and calling them back home.
That's just one example.
Or cheating on your wife, or orback and drinking, or whatever.
Faithful are the wounds of afriend, but deceitful are the
kisses of the enemy Proverbs 27,5 and 6.
Better is reproof than lovethat is hidden.
Faithful are the wounds of afriend, but deceitful are the
(49:34):
kisses of the enemy.
Practical step Identify adrifting believer.
Reach out with gentle,accountability, prayer and
consistent presence.
So the full arc of enemy.
Practical step Identify adrifting believer.
Reach out with gentle,accountability, prayer and
consistent presence.
So the full arc of James.
James 1, trials and truereligion.
James 2, partiality and faithin action.
James 3, tongue and wisdom.
James 4, eternal warfare andsubmission.
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James 5, patience, prayer andrestoration.
From faith under trial toprayerful restoration.
James is a blueprint forauthentic faith in a troubled
world.
So here's what we're called todo Face adversity with patience.
The supreme commander has yoursix.
Jesus Christ, god himself hasyour six.
Guard your heart from greed,self-sufficiency or slander.
(50:17):
All those are very hard.
Will prayer, as a weapon forhealing, unity and miracles,
rescue your wandering comrades?
No soldier left behind.
Aw Tozer said true faith restsupon the character of God and it
does not apologize because ittrusts his word.
So, final reflection and prayerMemorize this verse James 5.16.
(50:46):
Therefore, confess your sins toone another and pray for one
another so that you may behealed.
The effective prayer of arighteous man can accomplish
much.
Let's go to prayer, heavenlyFather, we have traversed James
and confronted trials, deadfaith, favoritism and the
untamed tongue and worldlyalliances.
Now we behold the deeper callto patience, prayer and
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restoration.
Equip us as Christian warriorsto fight well, defending our
families, fellowship,communities and country,
guarding against wickedness andjustice, strengthening one
another in prayer and rescuingany who wander.
We stand ready on guard untilthe coming of the Lord, living
as agents of hope and healing inthe fallen world.
In Jesus' powerful name, amen,all right.
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We do the Lord's Supper hereevery week, and this is
sometimes the most stressfulpart of the whole sermon is
opening these amazing cups.
So I think I am there, yep.
God bless me today.
Thank you, lord.
So we must do this correctly.
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This is a big deal.
This shouldn't be donewilly-nilly.
This is only for true Christians, baptized believers, and this
is why, in Corinthians 11, 27-32, whoever therefore eats the
bread and drinks the cup of theLord, an unworthy man, will be
guilty concerning the body andthe blood of the Lord.
Let a person examine himself,then, and so eat of the bread
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and drink of the cup, for anyonewho eats and drinks without
discerning the body eats.
And let's go ahead and closeyour eyes.
Now let's reflect on this.
First, let's remember whatChrist did for us, the sacrifice
(53:03):
that he paid, the wrath that hebore of God, how he came and
fought for us when we were stilltraitors, and then see him rise
victorious.
As he defeats death, ascends tothe right hand of the Father to
(53:26):
judge the world and rule foreternity.
Now let's look at us, look atour many failures this past week
and beyond.
How are we not walking out thismanual that James gave us,
these guidelines?
Have we served anyone?
(53:47):
Do we have faith?
What does our tongue sound like?
Are we speaking words of lifeor death?
Have we rescued anyone?
Are we serving anyone?
Have we gone after a brother?
Are we helping those lessfortunate than ourselves?
Are we helping those that welove, that are even right at our
feet?
And what most of us will findis that we are woefully
(54:13):
inadequate and failing at allthose things.
So let us repent, bring that toChrist's feet now.
Let us bring any otherunfinished business, any sin,
unrepentant sin.
Ask God to share with you orreveal to you any unrepentant
(54:37):
sin that you need to work on, ablind spot that you may have,
and, after you've repented, letit go.
And he took a cup and when hehad given thanks, he gave it to
them, saying drink of it, all ofyou, for this is my blood of
the covenant, which is pouredout.
I'm sorry I not ordered therenow.
(55:02):
As they were eating, jesus tookbread and, after blessing it,
broken and gave it to thedisciples and take, eat.
This is my body.
Go ahead and eat.
And he took a cup.
When he had given thanks, hegave it to them, saying Drink of
it, all of you, for this is myblood of the covenant which is
(55:22):
poured out for the many, for thegoodness of sins, go ahead and
drink.
And we, father, lord, we thankyou.
We thank you for your Son, wethank you for your Holy Word.
We thank you for the book ofJames.
We thank you for your crystalclarity.
We thank you for your crystalclarity.
We thank you for your HolySpirit, lord.
May it guide us this week in aneffort to walk out more like
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you, to die to ourselves and tobecome more like you.
We are struggling, I amstruggling, others are
struggling.
We can only do this with you bysubmitting to you, and we
submit to you, lord.
So now I call on a prayer and ablessing of protection and
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blessing on this fellowship andcongregation, on the persecuted
church, on our troops overseas,our first responders at home our
veterans of yesteryear.
I want to pray that this worldwill not go into World War III.
I pray for our leaders ingovernment, particularly Donald
(56:29):
Trump and other righteous rulersthat are in our government.
To do your will and not theirs,lord.
To do your will and not theirs,lord, that they are nothing
without you and that you woulduse them to do your will, lord.
(56:51):
I lastly pray for my belovedAmerica.
I pray that you would humbleherself, turn from her sins, hit
her knees and seek your face,and that you would see her, heal
her, so that we could onceagain be one nation under God,
indivisible, with liberty andjustice for all.
Now I call upon this fellowshipto put on the full armor of God,
strap on the shield of faith,pick up the sword of the Spirit
(57:13):
and boldly march forward to jointhe shield wall, locking
shields to the left and right aswe march forward to take ground
for your kingdom, for yourglory forever.
In Jesus' name, we pray Amen.
Go ahead and rise.
May the Lord bless you and keepyou.
May the Lord make his face toshine upon you and be gracious
to you.
May the Lord lift up hiscountenance upon you and give
(57:34):
you peace.
God bless you.
Happy Lord's Day to you.
I hope you had a better weekthan I did, but happy to be here
.
Welcome to Christian WarriorChurch, a home church, community
ministry and farm that forgesChristian Warriors for today's
challenges.
Some announcements as you guysknow, there was no Christian
Warrior mission, christianWarrior talk on the past two
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Wednesdays.
My back went out before we wentready because we changed and
then my back went out on Tuesday.
And, for those of you guys whodon't know, I had a bad
parachuting accident in themilitary when I was serving as a
Navy SEAL and that is with mefor the rest of my life.
So occasionally I have reallybad days or really bad weeks,
(00:45):
and we're in one of those rightnow, which is why you know God
forgive me I'm in Crocs.
I hate to not.
You know, they're the onlyshoes I can get on without
totally relying on my wife whoalready is dressing me at this
moment on everything below, youknow socks, underwear, pants,
yeah, so it's been a veryhumbling week for me, but you
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know, again, I have manyblessings, and not to grumble
and complain, but for things inthe context happens when that
(01:30):
we're preaching some of the mostclear words in the Bible, which
is the book of James.
It is a manual for applicationto your life, to where,
sometimes, god will show you amirror and give you a magnifying
glass.
And boy has that been myexperience this week.
For those of you guys whohaven't been following us the
(01:53):
past few weeks, we are wrappingup the book of James today,
chapter five, and this week hasbeen a struggle between all the
meds that I'm on and everythingelse.
And this week has been astruggle between all the meds
that I'm on and everything elseand walking out things that I've
been preaching for the pastfive weeks four weeks going on,
five now has been very humbling,with a lot of failures, a lot
(02:18):
of struggles, and my house hashad to be a cathedral of grace
for me, for me, and you know.
So again, I find that when theLord moves this way, this is
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often where we take the mostground in our lives.
It's a season of struggle withthe gift of clarity, and that
clarity is you know what youshould be doing.
You've just preached on it,you've just heard it.
You've heard it preached.
Now you're in the fire of itand you know that you're not
(03:03):
enough.
You're not enough, you're notenough, and now you need to know
why you need to give grace sofreely, because you need it so
much.
And boy do I need grace from mywife, my kids, my mom, my dogs,
my cows, my pigs, maybe thechickens I haven't really
interacted with the chickensmuch, but you know every toy in
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the ground that I've kicked andcursed, that I've tripped over
this week, which has been many,you know I've had to repent for
all of it.
So again, this isn't to makethis about me.
This is about showing you thatcoming to church, trying to walk
it out as best you can, knowingand being in the word doesn't
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mean that it's going to be easyand that you're not going to
struggle.
The gift in this is theknowledge of God will give you
grace if you ask for it and ifyou give it in your own life.
And having the manual on how tocome back, the manual on how to
(04:17):
correct it, the manual on howto walk it out when it isn't
easy Because if this was likethe week that I planned, I was
going to be in the gym every dayLife was going to be great, my
whole family was going to seethat I am a shining light of
Christian.
From the moment I wake up to themoment I go to bed.
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Everyone's going to be likethat is a good Christian over
there.
Yeah, not so much.
Not so much.
That's okay, because the onlyway I can ever any of us can get
there is is when jesus does.
Jesus does it for us.
Now we're supposed to doeverything we can to be there
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and we're supposed to fight tobe that way.
But there are going to be timesand seasons where you're going
to be crawling through brokenglass in your own filth Filth of
your sin, your past sin, yourcurrent sin filth that is not
even your.
Sometimes your problem it'ssomeone else's, and you're
crawling through glass withsomeone which brings its own
(05:24):
warfare on you.
So one of the things in James 5that we're going to talk about
today and I haven't even gotteninto the sermon, I haven't even
finished the announcements isgoing back for people who've
come off the way.
Now, I didn't come off the way,I didn't stop being a Christian,
I didn't do any of those things.
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I had a down dip.
But there are times where,multiple times this week, where
I had to go to my shield maid,my wife, and ask her to pray for
me.
Just call her out of whatevershe's doing and saying I need
your covering right now.
I need you to go to war for meand most men, most even women,
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particularly in your spiritualbattle.
The more you're considering anestablished Christian can be
really reluctant to do that.
And we can't, we can't.
Every one of us we're going tohear here in a moment are called
to be medics for one another,spiritual medics for one another
, spiritual medics.
Looking at the people in ourlife who are Christians, who
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have committed to our Lord andSavior to walk this out.
And when we know that we lookdown on the ground and there's
gallons of spiritual blood onthe ground, you know because
they're bleeding out fromsomewhere.
If you don't do anything,what's wrong with you?
(06:50):
How can you not try to helpthem?
That's what you're ordered todo and we're going to see that
today.
So some other good news, somegood news today.
So some other good news, somegood news.
So we're going to try again tostart Christian Warrior Talk on
this Wednesday night, which willbe the Bible study and
(07:11):
everything else with it.
Baby Ruth is doing well.
Baby Ruth, our female blackAngus cow, is the cutest thing
out there sprinting around thatfield, and her and Tomahawk have
become good friends.
Karen, her mom, has finally lether start hanging out with the
older Tomahawk and they sprintaround the field and it's really
(07:31):
cute.
And Mocha has become a farmchupacabra.
Lauren has made homemademozzarella today from that
cheese and it was great.
We had mozzarella caprese thefirst of the season.
Oh man, I love my mozzarellacaprese in the summer, and so
that's good.
The other thing is to remindeveryone the first men's
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fellowship fire will be onFriday, march 21st at 7 pm up at
Warrior's Rest Fire Pit.
So RSVP on Facebook or tell me,and so we can prepare for that.
So let's go to prayer and let'sget this going.
Dear Heavenly Father, lord, wethank you.
We thank you for the tests andtrials in life, the ones that
(08:12):
refine our faith, the ones thatshow us that we are not enough
and that the only way we getthrough this is relying on you.
So, lord, bring clarity to thissermon.
May it help someone out theresomewhere to understand you and
(08:35):
understand your marching ordersfor us.
Lord, lord, we thank you forall the things in our life, all
of our blessings, known andunknown, all of our protections,
known and unknown, and wepraise you with every breath of
our lungs, serve you with everybeat of our hearts.
(08:56):
We ask that this time wouldglorify you and only you, serve
you and only you, and that itwould please you.
In Jesus' name, we pray amen.
So again, if you're new to faithand you need an example on how
to pray, the simplest prayer isoften the best prayer.
(09:16):
A child's prayer is God knowseverything anyways.
So just open up and talk to him, but do it humbly.
Do it humbly.
You're talking to God, not yourbro, not Jesus' bro, not Jesus'
surfer dude, not you know.
(09:38):
No, you're talking to thecreator of the universe, who
suffered unimaginably for youand paid for you.
So come to him with the rightamount of deference.
Creator of the universe, whosuffered unimaginably for you
and paid for you.
So come to him with the rightamount of deference.
So there's that way.
And then there's the model ofMatthew, that when Jesus'
disciples asked him how heshould pray, how they should
pray, jesus gave the perfectexample.
(09:59):
Our Father, which art in heaven.
Hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done on earth as itis in heaven.
Give us this day our dailybread and forgive us our debts,
as we forgive our debtors, andlead us not into temptation, but
deliver us from evil, for thineis the kingdom and the power
and the glory forever.
Amen.
All right, so we are wrapping upthe book of James today,
(10:25):
standing firm in the finalbattle, james 5.
Let's recap what we've learnedand then turn the page into this
brief review here.
Remember, james is believed tobe the brother of Jesus, who did
(10:47):
not believe that Jesus was whohe said he was until he came
back from the dead.
He became a leader in thechurch, became known as James
the Just and a pillar of theearly church.
So, james 1, faith tested andtrue religion.
(11:10):
Trials lead to endurance.
Okay, you know, trials are whatrefine the weakness out of us
and it is what proves that weare who we say we are and
produces endurance.
God's wisdom versusdouble-mindedness Right, we know
that we are to rely on God'swisdom and not the worldly
wisdom.
We are commanded to be doers ofthe word and not hearers only.
And that is the rub, that's thehard part.
(11:31):
That's how we go from not beingthe worst word in the Christian
language practically, which isa hypocrite Right, and the
Christian language practically,which is a hypocrite right.
And remember that true religioncares for the vulnerable and
(11:52):
remains unstained by the world.
You know just crazy this morningwe're doing stuff and put the
Hobbit on for the kids.
You know the one that wasrecently redone by Peter Jackson
and such a touching scene inthere.
And you know, praise the Lordfor godly works like this.
And you know I'm not going tobore you with fantasy and all
(12:15):
that stuff.
Jr Tolkien was a Christian, aCatholic, but a Christian.
And there's a scene in therewhere they're trying to decide,
you know, on whether Sauron'scome back and the dwarves can go
take their home.
And Galadriel, who's you knowthe main character in the story
(12:39):
asks Gandalf, who's one of themain heroes of the whole thing
why did he bring along a hobbit,which is this defenseless
little, child-sized person thatno one would bring on a quest
ever anywhere?
And he said something thatreally struck me, particularly
this morning.
And he's like Saruman, who washis boss, who's like the head
(13:02):
wizard says it's mighty deedsand heroic works that hold evil
at bay.
And Gandalf had a quote thatI'd like to read.
He says but I don't believethat it is the small everyday
deeds of ordinary folk that keepthe darkness at bay, and small
acts of kindness and love.
(13:24):
Now, that is more true, and Ibelieve to be true here, because
none of this relies on us.
Our heroic acts are not whatsave the universe.
Those are acts of kindness andlove and everything else, and we
should do those.
But the balance of the force ofgood in this world is when
(13:48):
Jesus has been proclaimedthroughout the world and
everyone is a servant to oneanother, and the smallest act of
kindness and a smile in helpingsomeone overcome a moment of
shame or doubt or fear, orovercome some sin, that's where
God will change the universe.
(14:10):
That's where God will changeeverything.
When the smallest things becomethe norm, that's when his
kingdom will become and his willwill be done, because that's
what we're preached to do hereall the time.
So, yes, some brave men goingout and doing heroic deeds
because no one else is doinganything in their everyday life.
(14:31):
They can carry us for some time.
But I believe, as in the wisdomof JRR Tolkien when he wrote
that line, that again, line thatagain, there's the gospel
preached and the gospel lived,which is small, everyday deeds
of ordinary folk that keep thedarkness at bay, small acts of
(14:52):
kindness and love.
I mean, that's the gospel rightthere.
All right, so what's ourapplication as warriors?
We must persevere under trials,seek god's wisdom and practice
genuine faith.
In proverbs three, five throughsix, we're told to trust in
(15:17):
yahweh with all your heart anddo not lean on your own
understanding.
In all your ways, acknowledgehim and he will make your path
straight.
What an act of faith itrequires to trust God.
As an atheist and as a cerebralChristian, for the first part of
my journey I had to understandGod.
(15:39):
Well, you're not going tounderstand God, you're not going
to understand his ways, so youmight as well just throw that
out the window.
You're not going to understandGod, you're not going to
understand his ways, so youmight as well just throw that
out the window.
And once I realized that I hadthe scale wrong, made in God's
image, christ man and God, allman, all God oh well, we're here
.
No, god is as big as is beyondscale, infinite.
(16:06):
And we are dust, microscopicdust.
You can't understand infinite.
It breaks your mind, it goes onforever.
You can say that, but you don't.
You can't see it, you can'tunderstand it.
That is the difference.
So how is my dust brain goingto understand infinite?
(16:31):
It can't.
It can't possibly knoweverything that God knows.
It can't possibly understandthese things.
So giving it over to him is myact of faith and trust, and he
will then, when you surrenderthat way, will make your path
straight.
So, james 2, no partiality,right, we are the servants.
(16:53):
We don't care if we're helpingsomeone who's rich or poor or
this or that, we are just calledto be servants for the people
who are at your feet.
Some people feel called to gooff to faraway lands.
Good on them.
God bless them.
We need to do more serving thepeople who are in our lives, at
our feet right now, including inour households, first in our
(17:14):
households.
And that faith without works isdead.
If you're a Christian who hasn'tdone anything to help anyone,
there's a great thing in thenews.
You're a Christian who hasn'tdone anything to help anyone,
you know there's a great thingin the news.
Elon Musk dared to ask federalemployees to write five things
they did last week.
Five things they did last week,and you wouldn't believe the
(17:37):
PTSD that these entitled spoiledGen Zers whatever the heck
they're called I don't even knowwhat they're called melting
down that.
How dare their boss ask them toask them what they did.
You know, someone asked themwhat they did.
Five things they did last week.
You would have thought thatthey were in a Nazi
concentration camp, and I postedabout this on Twitter.
(18:01):
What a horrible example.
What a nightmarish, horribleexample of the most entitled
generation of all time.
You have to earn your job everyday.
That's what we have to do inthe civilian world.
You have to provide value andprovide services every day to
(18:22):
earn your job In the federalfantasy world.
You get hired and then youcoast until you retire and every
day is just ticking off.
Another day you can go back todoing nothing, getting paid for
nothing in your retirement, forthe nothing that you did while
you were working, supposedly.
Now again, there are hardpeople working in the federal
(18:43):
government and it's not all ofthem, but boy do they show
themselves.
If you can't in your faithjourney, it's five things you
did to help someone last week.
If you can't come up withanything, things you did to help
someone last week.
If you can't come up withanything, you got really big
problems and that should be afive-alarm fire in your life.
(19:04):
If all you did was take care ofyou for that?
How many of those weeks haveyou strung along?
How many of those weeks haveyou just done you?
Are you even saved?
Are you even Christian?
Or are you fire insurance?
So real faith shows itself inworks of service and love, as a
(19:30):
warrior's training revealsitself in battle.
Proverbs 14.31,.
He who oppresses the poorreproaches his maker, but he who
is gracious to the needy honorshim.
James 3,.
Taming the tongue in truewisdom.
Oh boy, teachers face stricterjudgment.
I am in trouble.
(19:53):
The tongue is a powerful weaponfor blessing or destruction.
We have two kinds of wisdomthat we learned in James 3,
earthly and heavenly.
They run opposite.
And what is our warriorapplication here?
Verbal discipline is likeweapon discipline.
We must practice supremediscipline of our mouth, just as
(20:16):
we do with our firearms, andpursue peaceable, pure wisdom
from above.
And it is hard.
It is going to be.
Some of the hardest things youever do is control it, because
the selfishness in you is goingto want to rage and complain and
gripe.
Nowhere does God ever lookfavorably on griping and
(20:38):
complaining Nowhere.
Usually, when they're gripingand complaining, that's when the
hammer gets dropped.
That's when awful things happen.
That's when you get God'sjudgment.
Proverbs 18.21,.
Death and life are in the powerof the tongue, and those who
love it will eat its fruit.
(21:01):
James 4, the war within andsubmission of God.
Quarrels come from lusts within.
Most of the fights in your lifeare from your own sin and not
meeting the expectations thatyou have for the sin in your own
life.
Friendship with the world ishostility toward God.
(21:21):
So submit to God and resist thedevil.
Do not slander.
Life is a vapor Plan.
Humbly Understand that.
Whether you are successful ornot is whether God blesses you
or not.
But you do have to do the work.
Potatoes are not going to growin my backyard if I don't plant
(21:45):
them.
But if God doesn't give me theright weather, it's all for
naught.
It's all for naught.
So you have to go out there anddo what Clear all the weeds
Till the earth, plow the earth,plant it, take care of them, and
then God provides theenvironment.
But you still have to do thework for God to bless it, unless
(22:10):
you're Israel and God calls youout of slavery and sends you
into the wilderness, and therehe makes manna rain from heaven.
But that doesn't happen often.
It hasn't happened in thousandsand thousands and thousands and
thousands of years.
So go out and do your part.
God wants you to be the ant.
(22:34):
Ants are looked favorably on inthe Bible.
Why?
Because they're always doingtheir duty, they're always in
community, they're alwaysworking together.
What's the warrior application?
The most dangerous war is theone within.
We must submit to our divinecommander, christ, resist the
devil, control our tongues andremember we are vapor under
(22:55):
God's sovereign.
Will.
You listen to Christian musictoday and I love Christian music
today, most of it, or some ofit actually not some of it and
it can really put you right upto their eye to eye with God.
And you've got to be reallycareful.
Some of my favorite artists, Ithink, are too familiar, far too
familiar with the Lord.
(23:16):
Bible tells us Proverbs 16, 32,he who is slow to anger is
better than the mighty, and hewho rules his spirit than he who
(23:37):
captures a city.
Control of self is better thancontrol captures a city.
Control of self is better thancontrol of a city.
Controlling your own spirit,your own tongue, your own sin is
more important than capturingan enemy city.
So now we get to James 5.
I'm going to read it to you andthen we'll break it through.
(23:57):
So go ahead and turn to James 5.
Mine it's page 2,399.
And somebody else's issomewhere else, but I'm reading
out of the LSB Come now you richWeep and howl for your miseries
which are coming upon you Now.
People out there with a lot ofnothing think this is the time
(24:19):
to rejoice that if people havestuff that they are going to be
punished because they have stuffNot, so We'll get into that.
Your riches have rotten andyour garments have become
moth-eaten.
Your gold and your silver haverusted.
Gold and silver do not rust.
This is James using hyperbolehere to show you that even that
(24:40):
is nothing and will be witnessesagainst you and will consume
your flesh like fire.
It is in the last days that youhave stored up your treasure.
Behold, the pay of the laborerswho mowed your fields and which
has been withheld by you criesout against you and the outcries
of those who did the harvestinghave reached the ears of the
(25:02):
Lord.
You have lived luxuriously onthe earth and led a life of
wanton pleasure.
You have fattened your heartsin the days of the day of
slaughter.
You have condemned and put todeath the righteous man.
He does not resist you.
Verse 7.
And therefore be patient,brothers, until the coming of
(25:26):
the Lord.
Behold, the farmer waits forthe precious fruit of the soil,
being patient about it until itreceives the early and the late
rains.
You too, be patient, strengthenyour hearts for the Lord, for
the coming of the Lord is athand.
Do not complain, brothers,against one another, so that you
(25:47):
yourselves will not be judged.
Behold, the judge is standingright at the door.
Verse 10,.
As an example, brothers, ofsuffering and patience, take the
prophets who spoke in the nameof the Lord Verse 10.
This is James again.
I'll talk about this a littlebit, teaching you that no matter
(26:37):
what's going on in your life,you need to bring God into the
center of that.
If you're in joy, be thankingGod.
If you're suffering, ask Godinto the middle of it to help
you with it.
Is anyone among you sick?
Then he must call for theelders of the church and they
are to pray over him, anointinghim with oil in the name of the
Lord.
But anointing Bea with oil,with her struggles right now and
(27:04):
the prayer of faith will savethe one who is sick and the Lord
will raise him up and if he hascommitted sins, then they will
be forgiven him.
Verse 16,.
Therefore, confess your sins toone another.
To who?
To one another, when you have adear friend, a dear brother in
(27:25):
Christ, what I call your warcouncil.
These are people who know allyour secrets.
You pour into them.
You tell them these are the badthings I've done.
And they tell you the badthings they've done.
It's mutually assureddestruction.
You know all your blind spots.
You are to confess that to themand them to you, and then it's
(27:46):
done.
Confess it, bring the Lord inpraying over it, get it off.
You Share that burden and prayfor one another so that you may
be healed.
The effective prayer of arighteous man can accomplish
much.
Elijah here's an example was aman with a nature like ours, and
(28:09):
he prayed earnestly that itwould not rain.
And it did not rain on theearth for three years and six
months.
Then he prayed again and thesky poured rain and the earth
produced its fruits.
My brothers, if any among youstrays from the truth and one
turns him back, let him knowthat he who turns the sinner
from the error of his ways willsave his soul from death and
(28:33):
will cover a multitude of sins.
We're going to talk about thathere, so let's get into the
exposition of this, verses 1through 6, a warning to the
wealthy oppressor Wealthyoppressor, not wealthy.
Wealthy oppressor.
Come now you rich, weep andhowl for your miseries which are
(28:55):
coming upon you.
The context of wealthy hereimplies unjust or oppressive
wealth.
James is not condemning havingmoney or hoarding, but hoarding
and abusing it.
Weep and howl.
The Greek kleonates and OlozoProbably just ruined that.
(29:19):
Strong terms signifying loudlament, basically wailing at the
top of your voice, reminiscentof Old Testament prophetic
judgment.
Remember in verse 4 when I saidthe Lord of Sabaoth is heard,
which means the Lord of hosts,god's battle-ready might to
defend the oppressed.
(29:40):
An example of this would havebeen during COVID, how we saw
the small man get smashed, howwe were forbidden to work but
Walmart was allowed to stay openand Lowe's was allowed to stay
open and everything else, andall the mighty used it to enrich
all their pockets.
You can see it now in the newswhere we see our tax dollars
(30:00):
being used to take from thosewho don't really have and use it
to enrich themselves.
You see the tyrant of Ukrainewho has a 4% approval rating in
his people 4%.
(30:21):
Who had no money before, nowhas Ferraris and, like 15 homes,
is worth over a billion dollars.
Some say All this from a nationthat's completely destroyed.
You know, god bless Elon Muskand all the people out there who
(30:45):
are diving in to find thecorruption to where?
All of us who have been payingtaxes for our whole lives
wondering how it doesn't work.
Why doesn't this add up?
How can we spend more moneythan anyone on every student in
the world?
We spend more money on our kidsin school and we get the worst
results out there.
Why?
Because none of it makes it tothe actual child.
It all goes as a moneylaundering scheme.
(31:11):
To what?
To politicians.
We now are seeing that everyonewho is on the green initiative
agenda not everyone, but a vastmajority, super majority have
been using it to launder moneyfrom the original John Kerry,
stacey Abrams, like she's somegreat whatever great
environmentalist, she's gettingpaid millions of dollars and all
(31:31):
these green initiatives, whichdoes nothing, just gives them
money to stir up racial hatred.
These are the wicked people, orexamples of wicked people, who
are holding down the poor, thepeople who say they're going to
(31:51):
serve black community, and theirpoliticians get richer Al
Sharpton and those and the likeand their people don't do any
better.
There's still more black menkilling black men than
practically ever before inhistory, but we don't care about
(32:11):
those ones.
We lose 100,000 people, over100,000 people, a year to
fentanyl overdoses.
Every single one of us knowssomeone who's died of a drug
overdose.
I guarantee you, if you'rewatching this or you're in this
room, you know somebody who diedfrom drugs 100% preventable.
These are all in an effort tokeep their field, the workers,
(32:39):
out in the fields working andinstead they fleece his pocket,
they cheat him of that money andthey enrich themselves.
This is happening today andJames is saying it's been
happening for a long time Now.
Back then there was I don't evenknow if there's a free press
now, because of Elon Musk maybebut imagine back then when you
(33:03):
were just gifted your wealth oryou inherited it, and if you
were poor, the Jewish peoplesaid that's because you were
cursed and you sinned.
And imagine how that could beabused.
Which is why the Bible tells usthat you were to not pick the
end of your fields, because thatwas for the poor to come in and
be able to pick the end of yourfields.
(33:24):
You were to harvest the innersof your fields, but not the
outer parts of your fieldBecause there was no safety
programs back there, just theword of God.
You're like why are we alwaystalking?
Why is all the apostles talkingabout widows and orphans?
(33:44):
Because there was no safetyprograms, there was no safety
nets.
They were out there with cups.
If you were deformed orparalyzed or injured, the rest
of your life was this and youdidn't live very long.
So again, that's who they'retalking about.
(34:10):
They're talking about theRothschilds, the world economic
forum.
They're talking about the powerpeople who say you will own
nothing and be happy.
Now we've strung some victoriestogether by the glory of God
and are pushing back againstthis darkness.
We have 24 months less thanthat now To achieve enough
(34:37):
momentum to show people thetruth, to see if they can handle
it and maybe turn back fromthis calamity.
So again, this echoes thewealthy who exploit the needy
(34:58):
and provoke divine wrath whichis coming.
Covid and those who areresponsible for COVID will pay.
No one gets away with anything.
God will judge From theeconomic theft and the
transference of massive wealth,the death of businesses all over
this country, the concentrationof wealth to a very small
(35:21):
percentage, while they puteveryone else out of business
and made it illegal for them towork, to enriching
pharmaceutical companies andeverything else that we have
seen.
So what do we do?
Wealth is an idol.
A soldier weighed down bygreedy spoils can't fight
effectively.
You know, an image came to mymind is you're on a ship and
(35:48):
you've got all this gold, andthe ship's going down and what's
one of the heaviest thingsknown to man Gold.
And what's it going to do?
It's going to suck you to thebottom of the ocean.
So you can either let it go orit's going to kill you.
And justice is like internalmutiny, weakening the moral
(36:10):
integrity of the body.
That's why they spend so muchtime trying to make us feel that
America is unjust, why they tryto make us hate one another,
because that's how you destroy anation from within.
And that's all at the hands ofChina and our enemies, soviet
Union, who have been sowing thissince the 40s, if not sooner
Earlier.
To quote Martin Luther, richesare the least worthy things
(36:34):
which the human heart can setitself upon.
They are the smallest externalgood.
Proverbs 11, 28,.
He who trusts in riches willfall, but the righteous will
flourish like a green leaf.
Now I want to dispel something.
You are not called to poverty.
Some people believe that.
(36:54):
In fact, some very bigtheologians think if you buy a
new car, that that's some typeof sin, which I think is
absolutely ridiculous.
Your dollars are bullets in thewarfare.
Who you spend your money withmatters.
You go to Starbucks and you putmoney in the Starbucks coffee.
(37:14):
Starbucks hates you, hates.
God, hates everything about youand is trying to destroy your
children.
Yet you go through and givethem $10, $12 for a coffee.
It's easy, right, it's there,it tastes good.
I have given up Starbucks.
Now.
There are times where I'm goingacross country and there is
(37:37):
nothing else there and that's itFine, but I do everything that
I can not to.
So understanding who you'redoing business with matters and
being successful is good for thekingdom, because if you have
more resources and God isblessing you with a war chest,
(37:57):
what should you be using that?
For?
Bigger cars, bigger house,bigger this?
Maybe?
If you're using it for thekingdom, not for your own
pleasure, the more resources youhave, the more people you can
help.
So don't treat resources andwealth as a negative, only if it
(38:20):
becomes your idol.
Is there a single reason to owna Louis Vuitton purse?
No, there is not.
There is not a reason to own aFerrari.
These are examples of excess.
A purse that is worth $24,000that just holds your makeup.
(38:42):
What could you have done withthat?
How many people could you havehelped with that money?
Again, have fun, enjoy life,share it.
(39:03):
Share it.
Reassess.
If you're hoarding or helping,look at yourself and say the
balance of my life.
Am I helping anyone or am Ihoarding?
(39:25):
Is my life about gatheringstuff for me?
And if it is, you're in trouble.
And james tells us this, as wellas the bible over and over 7, 7
to 11, patience and sufferingin the coming of the Lord.
Therefore, be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord.
It could be meaning that theLord is coming back imminently
(39:46):
and tomorrow, which we believe2,000 years ago, when this was
or that could be, the Lord iscoming in the next instant.
In some way, your prayer couldbe answered.
Tomorrow, the rain that you'vebeen waiting for came, coming to
the Lord.
Blessing of the Lord, thingsthat only God controls.
Be patient.
(40:07):
The Greek here connoteslong-suffering and enduring of a
prolonged siege, which is someof the most horrific warfare
known to man, to where peopleturn to cannibalism.
That is the language, again,the Bible uses.
It's always warfare language.
Always Think of some examplesNoah, the 70 years or so to
(40:29):
build the ark.
Moses wandering in the desert,job, his extreme trials Verse 7,
he talked about early and latereigns that God will come
through.
How God praised Job for hisunyielding endurance, god's
(40:50):
compassion in the end.
So, as warriors, what do we dowith this?
We hold the line.
We hold the line.
We wait for divinereinforcements.
That could be an answeredprayer.
That could be Christ returning.
(41:10):
It could be a brother coming into stand in the gap with you.
It could be a blessing thefinances, that of a gift that
you didn't even look for or knewwas coming.
Blessing the finances that of agift that you didn't even look
for or knew was coming.
And we stand firm despiteadversity.
No complaining, scrubcomplaining from your language.
This is hard from a 10,000generation complainer like
(41:35):
myself.
Gotta, get rid of it.
Avoid destructive grumbling.
It saps morale.
The words of wise JohnChrysostom he that endures
patiently is in higher favorwith God than he who works
miracles, because if you'reworking miracles, you know God's
(41:58):
there.
What faith is that?
If you're doing all thesethings, you know God's in the
middle, but the person who's outthere doing it when that's not
happening.
That is where things are, whereGod smiles truly down.
Proverbs 20, 22,.
And we're wrapping up here.
Do not say I will repay evil.
Wait for Yahweh and he willsave you.
(42:18):
So here's a practical step Holdthe line habit During trials.
Take 30 second prayer, pauseLord, I trust your timing and
rate steadfast until you move.
How hard that is for a doorkicker like myself, for somebody
who's a doer and somebody who'smaking a decision in charge.
(42:38):
That is the hardest thing everfor me to do.
It goes against everything thatI am, that got me to where I am
and that is going to be thehardest lesson.
I had a brother pour into me onthat recently Speech integrity.
But above all, my brother, donot swear.
This is oath-taking.
Okay, and a lot of us areraised and taken our oath to
(43:00):
defend the Constitution of theUnited States in various formats
and other things.
It's not talking about thatBasically, back in the day,
culturally, people would sayelaborate oaths like that was
going to they didn't do itbefore, but because they're
going to swear on their mother,the eyes of their mother, is
this that and saying this andwho?
And just let your no be no andyour yes be yes.
(43:20):
Imagine being a man where youdidn't have to promise for
people to believe you.
You just said it and that waswritten in stone.
A warrior's word is born.
Trust is paramount in any unit.
Dependable speech fosters unity.
John Calvin said an uprightman's word should suffice.
(43:40):
An oath is only needed to quellthis trust.
So I only have to promise.
I only have to make an oath ifyou won't trust me.
Proverbs 10, 19,.
When there are many words,transgression is unavoidable.
But he who holds back his lipshas insight.
Practical step Aim for concisetruth-telling.
(44:07):
Replace I swear or I promisewith simple, clear statements.
Okay, we've got two moreteaching points.
Hang on now.
Prayer, confession healing.
Is anyone among you suffering?
They must pray.
Prayer covers all circumstancessuffering joy, sickness, sin.
Anointing with oil symbolizesconsecration in the Spirit's
(44:29):
work.
Prayer of faith emphasizesconfidence in God's power,
submitted to his will.
Confess your sins.
Vulnerable accountability withbrothers and sisters fosters
communal healing not just yourhealing, but theirs.
When you start doing this withyour spouse, you're going to
(44:52):
have the deepest relationshipyou could ever fathom and you're
going to prevent more firesfrom ever starting than you
would, because you're going toknow what they're struggling
with.
You're no longer a mind reader.
You don't have to interpret thesize which you're going to
misinterpret or what they'restruggling with, because they're
bringing it to God and God andyour attention and your
(45:13):
authority and their authority inyour life.
And now it's full transparency.
This is where I'm hurtingauthority in your life and now
it's full transparency.
This is where I'm hurting,instead of all of your baggage
being projected onto theirbaggage and miss cross lines.
We are called to be trauma,spiritual trauma, medics for
(45:34):
each other.
You get around each other.
Notice if someone's bleeding.
Notice, notice if they'rehaving a you know, a spiritual
heart attack or a spiritualstroke.
Is their language normally off?
Are they cussing all the time?
That's what happens to me.
When I start going down, mymouth gets foul.
That is the primary.
(46:04):
One of the primary, mostimportant roles of fellowship is
that medic role.
If you're far away and I can'tsee you and I can't talk to you
and you're not talking to me andwe're not hanging out, how can
I observe that?
Which is why you need to be ina congregation so people can
notice and see if you're takingthe off ramp of the faith.
So the warrior application,corporate intercession.
(46:31):
Soldiers rely on communicationwith command.
Prayer is our lifeline HQ.
That's what we call on airsupport, that's what we call on
the medevac Right, that's whatwe call an air support.
That's what we call in themedevac.
That's what we call forextraction.
This is where this is how we doit and, like a medic checking
for wounds, we uncover spiritualinjuries so they can be treated
(46:52):
.
Charles Spurgeon said prayermoves the arm that moves the
world.
In Proverbs 15, 29,.
Yahweh is far from the wicked,but he hears the prayer of the
righteous.
Commit to weekly or biweeklycheck-ins, exchanging prayer
requests, confessing strugglesand celebrating victories.
(47:13):
Do this with people and thenfinally restoring the wanderer,
if any among you strays from thetruth.
Strays from the truth may be adoctrinal error, a moral
compromise or a simple drift.
James calls believers tospiritual rescue.
We are called to go after thosewho fall away.
We are called for those who are, who were here and then
(47:40):
something happened and the enemytook them out, and it's our job
to try to bring them back onthe life raft.
They were on the life raft ofChrist and they just fell back
in the water or sewage.
Pull them up instead of havingto go search and go to Haiti to
save someone when your brother'sright here or your neighbor's
right here.
This covers a multitude of sinsyour sins, my sins.
(48:06):
Doing this covers the thingsthat you need your sins covered.
Love's pursuit of the wandererprevents further downfall and as
warriors, we should know nosoldier is left behind.
Christian warriors must dosearch and rescue for straying
souls.
(48:28):
Restorative is redemptive andnot condemnatory.
Augustine said he that is insin is not in safety.
Yet you may help him withbrotherly correction.
Galatians tells us to approachwith humility.
Proverbs 27, 5 and 6,.
(48:50):
Better is open reproof.
That's confrontation, that'ssaying you are doing this wrong.
Stop X.
Then love that is hidden.
You say you know you've got afamily member who comes out of
the closet and is LGBT, whatever.
If you don't say anything there, you are not fighting for their
(49:13):
soul and calling them back home.
That's just one example.
Or cheating on your wife, or orback and drinking, or whatever.
Faithful are the wounds of afriend, but deceitful are the
kisses of the enemy Proverbs 27,5 and 6.
Better is reproof than lovethat is hidden.
Faithful are the wounds of afriend, but deceitful are the
(49:34):
kisses of the enemy.
Practical step Identify adrifting believer.
Reach out with gentle,accountability, prayer and
consistent presence.
So the full arc of enemy.
Practical step Identify adrifting believer.
Reach out with gentle,accountability, prayer and
consistent presence.
So the full arc of James.
James 1, trials and truereligion.
James 2, partiality and faithin action.
James 3, tongue and wisdom.
James 4, eternal warfare andsubmission.
(49:54):
James 5, patience, prayer andrestoration.
From faith under trial toprayerful restoration.
James is a blueprint forauthentic faith in a troubled
world.
So here's what we're called todo Face adversity with patience.
The supreme commander has yoursix.
Jesus Christ, god himself hasyour six.
Guard your heart from greed,self-sufficiency or slander.
(50:17):
All those are very hard.
Will prayer, as a weapon forhealing, unity and miracles,
rescue your wandering comrades?
No soldier left behind.
Aw Tozer said true faith restsupon the character of God and it
does not apologize because ittrusts his word.
So, final reflection and prayerMemorize this verse James 5.16.
(50:46):
Therefore, confess your sins toone another and pray for one
another so that you may behealed.
The effective prayer of arighteous man can accomplish
much.
Let's go to prayer, heavenlyFather, we have traversed James
and confronted trials, deadfaith, favoritism and the
untamed tongue and worldlyalliances.
Now we behold the deeper callto patience, prayer and
(51:06):
restoration.
Equip us as Christian warriorsto fight well, defending our
families, fellowship,communities and country,
guarding against wickedness andjustice, strengthening one
another in prayer and rescuingany who wander.
We stand ready on guard untilthe coming of the Lord, living
as agents of hope and healing inthe fallen world.
In Jesus' powerful name, amen,all right.
(51:53):
We do the Lord's Supper hereevery week, and this is
sometimes the most stressfulpart of the whole sermon is
opening these amazing cups.
So I think I am there, yep.
God bless me today.
Thank you, lord.
So we must do this correctly.
(52:14):
This is a big deal.
This shouldn't be donewilly-nilly.
This is only for true Christians, baptized believers, and this
is why, in Corinthians 11, 27-32, whoever therefore eats the
bread and drinks the cup of theLord, an unworthy man, will be
guilty concerning the body andthe blood of the Lord.
Let a person examine himself,then, and so eat of the bread
(52:37):
and drink of the cup, for anyonewho eats and drinks without
discerning the body eats.
And let's go ahead and closeyour eyes.
Now let's reflect on this.
First, let's remember whatChrist did for us, the sacrifice
(53:03):
that he paid, the wrath that hebore of God, how he came and
fought for us when we were stilltraitors, and then see him rise
victorious.
As he defeats death, ascends tothe right hand of the Father to
(53:26):
judge the world and rule foreternity.
Now let's look at us, look atour many failures this past week
and beyond.
How are we not walking out thismanual that James gave us,
these guidelines?
Have we served anyone?
(53:47):
Do we have faith?
What does our tongue sound like?
Are we speaking words of lifeor death?
Have we rescued anyone?
Are we serving anyone?
Have we gone after a brother?
Are we helping those lessfortunate than ourselves?
Are we helping those that welove, that are even right at our
feet?
And what most of us will findis that we are woefully
(54:13):
inadequate and failing at allthose things.
So let us repent, bring that toChrist's feet now.
Let us bring any otherunfinished business, any sin,
unrepentant sin.
Ask God to share with you orreveal to you any unrepentant
(54:37):
sin that you need to work on, ablind spot that you may have,
and, after you've repented, letit go.
And he took a cup and when hehad given thanks, he gave it to
them, saying drink of it, all ofyou, for this is my blood of
the covenant, which is pouredout.
I'm sorry I not ordered therenow.
(55:02):
As they were eating, jesus tookbread and, after blessing it,
broken and gave it to thedisciples and take, eat.
This is my body.
Go ahead and eat.
And he took a cup.
When he had given thanks, hegave it to them, saying Drink of
it, all of you, for this is myblood of the covenant which is
(55:22):
poured out for the many, for thegoodness of sins, go ahead and
drink.
And we, father, lord, we thankyou.
We thank you for your Son, wethank you for your Holy Word.
We thank you for the book ofJames.
We thank you for your crystalclarity.
We thank you for your crystalclarity.
We thank you for your HolySpirit, lord.
May it guide us this week in aneffort to walk out more like
(55:46):
you, to die to ourselves and tobecome more like you.
We are struggling, I amstruggling, others are
struggling.
We can only do this with you bysubmitting to you, and we
submit to you, lord.
So now I call on a prayer and ablessing of protection and
(56:07):
blessing on this fellowship andcongregation, on the persecuted
church, on our troops overseas,our first responders at home our
veterans of yesteryear.
I want to pray that this worldwill not go into World War III.
I pray for our leaders ingovernment, particularly Donald
(56:29):
Trump and other righteous rulersthat are in our government.
To do your will and not theirs,lord.
To do your will and not theirs,lord, that they are nothing
without you and that you woulduse them to do your will, lord.
(56:51):
I lastly pray for my belovedAmerica.
I pray that you would humbleherself, turn from her sins, hit
her knees and seek your face,and that you would see her, heal
her, so that we could onceagain be one nation under God,
indivisible, with liberty andjustice for all.
Now I call upon this fellowshipto put on the full armor of God,
strap on the shield of faith,pick up the sword of the Spirit
(57:13):
and boldly march forward to jointhe shield wall, locking
shields to the left and right aswe march forward to take ground
for your kingdom, for yourglory forever.
In Jesus' name, we pray Amen.
Go ahead and rise.
May the Lord bless you and keepyou.
May the Lord make his face toshine upon you and be gracious
to you.
May the Lord lift up hiscountenance upon you and give
(57:34):
you peace.
God bless you.
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