 Yeah, good morning. Good morning, Prince. Good morning, Dave. Prince. Can you pray and lead today's session? Thank you, Dave. Thank you. Thank you a lot From our heart lot that you are giving us a wonderful day as in the first day of the week lot Thank you and you blesses Thank you this time I submit in your hand lot as we going to learn from the book of gentler help us and Give us some wisdom and knowledge so that we can understand. Well, thank you You did the things reveal to us And I play in our daily life, but thank you Amen. Amen. Thank you. Thank you, Prince So before we go forward, how are the assignments going? I hope you have seen the questions Yesterday I I submit to but Again, there is swing unit to feel that but if we feel to once that it should not be so the feel again Yesterday Okay, no, I didn't understand Prince. Can you can you explain to me? Yeah So yesterday I filled a cement to my second one. I submitted it and There is I opened again and they're showing that I need to feel again that yeah So I have given you an option To resubmit Okay, in case, you know, so there was some issue in the first one because sometimes students hit submit And then they are not able to they don't fill in certain questions and all So if you left anything incomplete in the previous one, you just take up another form and you fill the questions Yeah, if you've already completed it, there's no need to open another form and fill it Okay Yeah, you finished it, right? Then leave it you don't have to do another form Okay How about the others? Have you seen the questions? Are you okay with it? I think it's a little simple this time Compared to other other courses Yes No, all of them or the objective ones. I think this semester it's comparatively easy. I know they've My questions Yeah, I've done the object one I haven't done it yet Yeah, you can finish it and moreover the questions are not from James So there's nothing for you to wait for you can just go ahead and do the you know, the third test also because you already completed This week we have one So all other classes are completed Maybe mine is the last one still going on Okay Okay, great. So anyway, praise God we've had sufficient time, you know, we haven't rushed through anything So which is most important And you get a good grip on things. I would encourage you See, whatever I have shared isn't it? So I have shared the Key points, okay, though we have done a verse by verse study There is so much more in each of the verses, but just the key points have been highlighted So as I've shared earlier, you could also go and refer to There is a David Guzik I told you blue letter Bible or Enduring word comm so he has these two websites where he also Follows a word by word study. So that can be helpful You know, it could be One of the resources that you use the best thing to do is to read the the passage Many times read it several times after that you can start to look at some commentary So David Guzik is a really wonderful one, which even I refer to quite a bit. Also, there are expository teachings from a Church group called Calvary Chapel. So Some you know, again, you can listen to a lot of commentaries But the we have to be very careful to bring out the right meaning So for that, the best thing to do is to read the passage many times. That is the best thing then you can also use Resource like ESO because then it will give you the Greek meaning of the words and you know, how you can compare the words and know the actual meaning Of the exact word which was used. So use ESO that's also helpful There are a couple of commentaries that it already comes with. So that will also help you a lot then What else? Yeah, so the other Nice thing you can do is you can go to a resource like Bible Gateway commons just where you can lead the Bible. Okay, but you can get it in different versions. So To understand the essence of what is being said in a passage Sometimes an easier version of English will be helpful. So you can go to you know We usually generally we use NKJV then you could look up For an easier English you could look up something like an NIV you know and For the original vein which it was written you can look up the amplified So when you look at different translations that will also help and I think you must have already done, you know some translations are very like word-to-word so Passages like KJV version and all it's it's the translation is quite accurate from the from the Hebrew and the Greek but then you have certain other versions like You know the message Bible the past the passion translation which bring out more of the essence So they are not word-to-word or accurate in terms of the Translation that has been done. So versions like that which are newer and more simplified ones We look to careful because they are more paraphrased version So they won't give you the exact meaning but they might give you The essence of what that passage is saying. So this is how You have to be careful in understanding the meaning so Though we have gone through these books five books in our course I would encourage you to go back and you know meditate further meditate further and you can keep building On the knowledge that you have picked up from these Books for example, just I think Hebrews. This is my third or fourth year of teaching the the book so Every year that I've taught, you know, initially my understanding is a little bit and then the next year There are new things that I see in the in the same passages and then following year You know, I've seen new thing even newer things in the same passages And so each year I'm so excited to see the truth which is already in it But I have not had the understanding, you know, three years ago or four years ago about the same passage. So Basically what I'm trying to say is that It's a great opportunity wonderful opportunity and don't let it go Do your best to Go back to The books of the Bible as if you've never read it before and each time try to do a Tarot study So then what happens you learn the truth and then we're able to apply the truth So don't stop because your course is getting over. Okay, never do that because that's not the right attitude at all The Bible is a speaking and a living book which will speak to us every day, you know, even into Eternity because God's heaven and earth will pass away, but his word will not pass away So I just want you to continue to be curious about what the word has in it Okay, so now let's just go to our passages here from the book of James and as I shared Since at APC we've done a study on the book of James. You already have notes for it So it makes your work so easy. You just have to You know go go to the notes and read it up. So please do that last class we stopped Then in the verse five, I think so Yes, so we stopped their verse five we said that Initially, you know James was talking about He's talking to a Jewish audience and he was quite Knowing of their situation, which is that they were going through persecution and there were a lot of Things in the in the Gathering or at that time it was not called the church or Ecclesia But the gathering of these believers that needed to be addressed So with all these things in mind, you know, James is speaking to the believers So the first thing that he talked about was to have a positive attitude or an attitude that Shows our dependence in God So he says, you know, when you go through tribulation Count it all joy brethren And then you know, he adds to the fact that when we go through these difficulties as we've seen in the second Peter It will build up character and when character is built up, you know We have a sense of hope which cannot be taken away from us And then he says the important thing when we are going through trials of all kinds is to Have wisdom because we need to know what to do in that difficult situation So he says, okay, how to get wisdom the main source of wisdom obviously is God So he says you ask God if anyone lacks wisdom, let him ask of God who gives to all Liberally and without reproach and it will be given to him and I explained to us how God is a generous giver He does not withhold anything from us And he does not Scold us or ill treat us because we are lacking. Okay, so that is something which we have observed now He goes on to sharing about the importance of faith He says but let him ask ask in faith Let's just give me a moment. I'll just be back with you. Yeah Thank you. Hope you can hear me. Well Okay, all right, so he says God is generous and he will give abundantly to all who ask him So and then he says the way we must ask is with faith What makes a prayer effective believing in our hearts, isn't it? So first we believe with our hearts then we speak with our mouths And that's how we see the answer to our press So he says the important thing when we approach God is faith and we must ask with faith Without doubting and then he goes on to say that when we Ask with doubt then, you know, one should not expect to receive the answer from God Because what is lacking faith is lacking in that situation. So when we pray the important thing is to have faith so even when we ask God for wisdom have faith and then he points out something which has to do with the the Attitude or you could even say, you know the the sort of Like it's still immature character of a person because he says that if at all we ask but we don't believe then That person is a double-minded man Who is a double-minded man? A double-minded person is somebody who is not making a firm decision. The person is Holding on to option a as well as option B and You know, it's like Unable to decide am I going with option a when I talk it sounds like I want a When I talk talk after sometime it sounds like I want option B So what is it that you want is it a or B be very clear? So double-minded person is that kind of a person who doesn't make a clear decision So when it comes to our prayer life and our faith in God What James is saying is don't be double-minded Don't say things like God if you do this for me great If God doesn't do it, I have another idea. I'll just figure it out So then what is it? Are you really fully depending on God or like what what is it? So we must not misunderstand this as be that God is asking us to be Unplanned or unwise that's not what God is saying But he's saying when we are showing our dependence on God, you know Let it be single-minded where we are determined to put our full trust in God So this attitude or this this part of us being double-minded that is something we must work on and get rid of and sometimes double-mindedness can also be Something that is influenced by the the demonic So if we sense that hey, you know not able to get rid of this double-minded attitude or behavior We are and and that it is a demonic influence you can even bind it can even bind it in the name of Jesus and Be set free from it because God wants us to have single-minded focus You know don't be all over the place because what does it say a double-minded man is Unstable in all his ways we become unstable because we are not able to make decisions Okay, so when it comes to asking God trust that God will bless you He will hear your prayers now going to verse 9. I Know that we have not gone through the full chapter because again, it'll take time. You'll have the Text in front of you. So just follow along. So verse 9 now he's addressing the the situation of Having different social Strata or classes in the same church does it happen today? Yes, it happens today unless a church is specifically for You know a particular Social class of people but we know in the kingdom of God that all kinds of people are welcome so here in the gathering of Jewish believers James noticed that some people are rich or they have more possessions and You know resources as compared to others. So some are rich while some are poor So he he talks about how to treat people you will see this in many different passages in James as well But here he's starting out and he's saying let the lowly brother glory in his Exaltation so he's saying when God blesses materially, okay a particular person who is poor Let him be happy now. He also tells the rich person. He says the rich in his Humiliation or he says that a person who is rich should be okay to be humble before the Lord Okay, it doesn't mean that you know God is going to Bring down the rich person or humiliate a rich person. No, but it means the rich person should be happy walking with Humility humiliation and humility. There's a big difference. They're not the same thing. So humility is to carry an attitude of reliance on God Then he says because of as a flower of the field, he will pass away. So he's just telling the rich people to realize that Life here on earth is not permanent Similarly holding on to riches and having the riches is also not permanent. So how can You know, somebody be become proud Because they have resources that would be very immature again So he says so let the rich brother in his humiliation are coming to verse 11 For no sooner has the sun risen with the burning heat that it withers the grass It's flower falls and it's beautiful appearance perishes So the rich man also will fade away in his pursuit. So he's just referring to the Temporary status of our life here on earth and the temporary status of the riches Which is that people hold on to Yeah Now coming to verse 12 You see you would find in James He's addressing the issues and he is quickly jumping to new issues. So We could Feel That there is a disconnect between the topics, but that's not the case You know, we are the ones who put the numbers James chapter 1 James chapter 2 But when James originally wrote this he never Had chapters and verses he was just addressing different issues. So now about how to Express our reliance on God whether we are poor whether we are rich. He he talked about it Now verse 12 he's going to talk about temptation So he says bless it is the man who endures temptation for when he has been Approved he will receive the crown of life, which the Lord has promised to those who love him. So He is encouraging the people to overcome Temptation and uses the word end your end your has to do with Pressure it has to do with You know a certain timing Something that doesn't get over immediately Requires end your men endurance. So when it comes to temptation as well, you know, we might have to struggle a little Under the temptation, but he's encouraging the believers and he's saying if we overcome then We will receive a crown of life Which the Lord has promised for those who love him. So he's saying come on believer You must overcome temptation. There is a crown waiting for you Then he shares some truth about temptation in verse 13 He says let no one say when he is tempted I am tempted by God for God cannot be tempted by evil nor does he himself tempt anyone So this is very important. He is letting the believer know that God is not the source of Temptation so whenever we say I'm going through a tough time and God is testing me. Have you heard that? It's typical in many cultures people believe that it is God who puts them through Challenging time. It is God who gives sickness to them. It is God who Wants people to End your you know Poverty and misery and despair and depression and loss and all those things But that's not the God of the Bible as per what we are reading. Yes There are these challenges in the world simply because we're in the world and you know the world has these challenges But it's not to say that God puts it on people Also Temptation God does not put temptation on people and say, okay Let me see how is this person going to overcome the temptation if they overcome? Well, and good if they don't overcome, I'm going to punish them. So God is not Putting temptation on anyone, but in the world. Do we have temptation? We do One thing to settle very clear James chapter 1 God is not the source of Temptation now verse 14 He explains where does temptation come from he says but when one is tempted When he is drawn away by his own desires and entice Remember, we've talked about this earlier that even a born-again believer Carries what is known as the flesh flesh has to do with the evil desires of the soul This the soul and the body these evil desires when we don't Overcome them how to overcome the flesh only one way crucify Okay, there's no question of counseling the flesh or you know Pacifying the flesh convincing the flesh. No, the Bible teaches us we have to walk with self control Which is a fruit of the spirit and crucify the desires of the flesh So when we crucify the flesh, that's when these temptations will cease However, because we are all battling with flesh here on the earth There will be temptation and it is coming from he says our own desire So when I am tempted the problem is not God The problem is in me in my flesh my own desires and enticed Then he talks about the Progression of temptation we have studied about this when we did believers authority Also in the human soul, I'm sure you have studied about this. So what is the progression of temptation? He says that when desire has conceived it gives birth to sin. So He says thoughts will lead to action Action, so there is a desire in our flesh. I'm just giving you a simple example if at all, you know, there is Some food in our house, which is very rich and it's a little bit is okay But if you eat too much, it's not good for your health, but it is there. What happens? There is a desire Generally, it starts with a thought when we say oh wow, you know, I can have a little bit of this It's so tasty. I will be Satisfied with this sweet and so it's the thought process and maybe you are battling the temptation and you're saying no, no No, I've already had One bowl, I don't think I should have another bowl So you're just battling with this temptation, but the desire is within you But we are told the thought life when we lose So it says when desire has conceived that means the desire is overtaken So I am in a place where I'm thinking it'll be so nice if I can have one more bowl of that sweet So the desire and I'm giving a green signal to my desire say, okay Go ahead. It's okay. Nothing will happen. I'll just have it. So when I Say, okay, go ahead desire has conceived then it will lead to action So what is that action? The action is I am indulging in You know eating way more than what I'm supposed to Eat. So then I say, okay, I'll just go ahead and eat. So there is action to it Now take the same and apply it to other things stealing robbery There is Money which doesn't belong to us. So in our minds if we give ourselves a go-ahead You know, there are all these arguments going on But then you give yourself a go-ahead and explain justify and say nothing. I'm not doing anything wrong So once desire has conceived then it will give birth to sin or you do the act you actually do it So that is sin Okay So when you act on it and then sin happens It said when it is full grown brings for death. What is the wages of sin? The wages of sin is death So when whenever we sin The result is going to be death Corruption so we must remember that but it begins with our thought life With a desire and where is the desire coming from not from God but from our flesh? That's what James is explaining now He continues to Encourage the believer and talk about temptation some more and verse 16. He says so don't be deceived my beloved brethren meaning Don't think that God is tempting you and get into temptation. Don't do that Know that you have to work on yourself. That's how you will overcome temptation and verse 17. He Shows the real character of God earlier. He said when we ask for wisdom God is very faithful He will give generously to us Once again, he shows a generous character of God in verse 17 And he says every good gift every perfect gift is from above meaning God is a god who does everything perfectly He will not give us something that is faulty. Okay, so think about the holy spirit He is what he's a blessing to us. He's a gift who is given to us Is he perfect? Yes. He's so perfect. Think about the gifts of the holy spirit. No prophecy tongues Um Word of wisdom word of knowledge to son discerning of spirits. These are all gifts from God Are they perfect? Yes Now we can talk about how man applies it and in the application things can go wrong But is the gift perfect? Very much so every gift of God Again, you can look at so many other things in the bible Life is a gift from God Every blessing is a gift from God, you know Daily bread resources provision is a gift from God Children are a heritage. They are a gift from God. They are like arrows in one's quiver. We are told So everything that is coming from God is perfect. How do you think God can give you temptation? Which is imperfect so God does not tempt anyone So he's talking about the character of God how God is so generous. He makes and provides perfect gifts and He says that God is very single-minded. So he says The the gift comes down from the father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow of Turning so basically he's saying earlier. He said don't be double-minded. You know, I want this also I want that also. No make up your mind. What is it that you want? You can't have both similarly Now he's talking about the Attitude of God and he's saying God is very single-minded He made up his mind that he wants to bless us. He won't go back on it No, he won't do one thing and then change his mind and do something else So don't be afraid. God is generous. God is good. His gifts are very good and perfect So whatever you receive from God even the calling on your lives, it is good It is perfect the anointing on your life the grace on your life All this is good. It is perfect and there is no shadow of turning which means that when God gives Tomorrow he won't change his mind and say, okay, you just you know Parcel it back to me. He'll never do that once he gives it to you He knows that he wanted to give it to you because it belongs to you so you can be thankful rejoice and Use that gift for the glory of God. Okay, so now let's go to the next section here from verse 18 What do we see here? No here we are talking about the word of God Okay, how about the word of God? So in verse 18 he says of his own will He brought us forth by the word of truth that we might be a kind of first fruits of his creatures So then my beloved verse 19 my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear and slow to speak slow to wrath 20 for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God So a little bit about anger. He talks about it. So he says see how did how did we all Come to know God come to Love him because he loved us. Isn't it? We all experience the love of God. So it was the love of God which produced the Righteousness of God in us. It was not the wrath of man or you know, somebody telling us Don't do this do that and giving us all the rules strictly putting us on the track to righteousness that's not how we have become righteous, but We have received God's love his kindness. That's how righteousness has taken root in us So similarly he's saying how is it going to be useful if we are filled with anger And you know, we we do what we do Motivated by anger. So that's why he says come on. Let's not do that Um, and you know, he gives a nice tip there. He says be swift to hear slow to So he's saying How can I overcome? Being angry and saying evil things when I'm angry Have control on the words that we speak So be slow to speak We may feel like I'm going to say all these things and hurt the person But no be slow to speak Even if you're feeling angry be quick to hear hear more That will help us to overcome our anger Now 21 Again, he encourages them to live a holy life. He says therefore Lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word Which is able to save your souls. So he talks about How we put it is Walk in the spirit. Now paul said it like that walk in the spirit or be led by the spirit not by the wickedness of the flesh And also receive with meekness the implanted word meaning humbly Listen to god's word And he says implanted word. How should the word be? It should come and settle down in our hearts Remember the parable of the sower the sower sows the seed But there are some seeds which don't take deep root. What happens to such seeds? They cannot grow up. They cannot produce fruit Instead if the word is planted in our heart Then what will happen, you know, it will do its work. It will cleanse our hearts It will direct us in the ways of god And you know, it will really strengthen us spirit soul and body So he says in this in that manner believer to receive the word of god be Planted in you And verse 22 he says but be doers of the word and not hear us only Deceiving yourself for if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer He's like a man observing his natural face in a mirror verse 24 For he observes himself goes away and immediately forgets what kind of man he was But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it and is not a forgetful hearer But a doer of the work this one will be blessed in what he does So again, you know, he's saying Let the word sit in you like a seed in the ground Then it will develop roots. It will produce It will grow. It will produce its fruit now After talking about the implanted word he says Be doers of the word and not hear us only. So have you ever heard of a doctor who Has only taken online classes five years studied online never went to hospital Never treated a patient and can such a doctor be qualified with a degree and said, okay, you know, great You've never seen a patient. You've never done practicals. You've only done theory It's great. You come we will Give you the permission to Operate on people. You know, nobody would do that because it's not enough To just hear and know theoretically You know the the uh subjects, but one has to have practice. They have to do it It's when they do it that You know the the fruit of what they've learned. Okay, I've learned this But then I have done it and it has benefited a patient and experience grows from that So see there is value in doing something only theory will not help In the same manner when it comes to our engagement in the word of god It's not helpful to know I know but I don't do anything I know about holy spirit. I know about gifts of spirit. I know about word of god I know about worship, but I don't I don't uh, you know worship or anything, you know, I don't Uh do any ministry. I don't serve anyone How does it help? We know everything, but we are doing nothing. So he's saying come on believer You have to be a doer of the word. Don't just be listening Listening is good, but doing is also important and that is why Whenever we have you know things like bible studies and all you're all bible college students and you will be working with people It's very nice. Okay, you can have bible studies teach people god's word But also help them to do the practical. So give them some opportunity and uh, ask them. Okay now, uh, evangelism Go ahead share the gospel with two people and come and tell us about your experience. So whenever we Study god's word, we have to do that word. You know, that's how we grow in god's word So don't just hear but do and he gives this example. He says do we ever look at the mirror and imagine You know, your hair is all over the place Sunday morning. You're going to church You woke up and your hair is like a mess Do you just go as it is? No, you would set it right So the person who looks at the word or who reads the word studies the word and never makes corrections in their lives It's like a person who looks at the mirror and who does not take action So he says don't be like that instead be a one who will apply the word now coming to verse 26 and 27 He says If anyone among you thinks he's religious now, you see another subject So he has jumped to another subject. So maybe in the church, there were people who were Thinking that they are very godly. They are following god with all that they have within them So he says if any person thinks that they are religious, he says Here are certain characteristics that that person should have one is tongue Okay, if they don't control if he does not bridle his tongue, but deceives his own heart This one's religion is useless. So he's saying that somebody who does not Control that tongue but speaks evil Such a person even if they say I am godly They are not godly according to the standards of god's word Okay, so he says control the tongue. Don't let the tongue be an evil You know a source of evil in your body verse 27 He says pure and undefiled religion before god and the father is this to visit Offends and widows in their trouble and to keep oneself unspotted from the world So what is true godliness? So he is saying that true godliness is to show kindness compassion and generosity So, how do you do that? He in this context he's saying that Have you ever helped people who are so needy and he points out widows and orphans widows and orphans because They don't have people taking care of them. You know somebody lost a husband A family lost a father and you know mother parents They are in need These are needy people So he says if you say you are godly you should be one who is compassionate and generous to the needy So do you ever help people in need? If you do and you know particularly here, he says so helpless such helpless people widows orphans Then you are a godly person and he also goes ahead and he says that one who keeps themselves unspotted from the world Unspotted from the world means living a righteous life Living a holy life. Now just think about it. You know somebody who claims to be godly But it's not that person's not compassionate Somebody who claims to be godly speaks evil, you know gossip slander all those things Curses from their mouth Then somebody who claims to be godly but Fully, you know one foot in the world one foot in the kingdom. So living a very worldly life Does it does it add up? It doesn't so he's telling the believers if you Are a true believer and a godly believer you will be compassionate generous ministering to the needy speaking Things that are a blessing, you know edifying words to people and also Pursuing godliness and holiness. Now that is what is you know, he says Religiosity or in other words you can say true piety piety is another word which is used to show godliness A godly person is like this pursuing all the good things. So these are some thoughts in his You know first first passive first chapter to the Jewish believers and also here one more thing That we observe is um, he says that if anyone Says they are godly but walk with all the ungodly characteristics he Talks about Deceiving one's own heart deceiving his own heart. Now. This is also something believers should understand. See self deception is the most dangerous Place for a believer because what is happening is a believer is not able to accept their mistakes And they keep saying that i'm right i'm right when they are wrong So when we start doing that when we are not sensitive and humble to the leading of god, what happens Even if the holy spirit convicts us even if you know elders of the church speak to us Even if you know, somebody counts is us. We are not able to let go of our sin. We are not able to let go of our Um fleshly desires, but we have convinced ourselves nothing is wrong with me So a person who says nothing is wrong with me That person is self deceived and it's very very dangerous because nobody can help that person to change themselves Okay, so that is self deception. So he says Don't get into that instead. Be humble walk humble before the lord. So now we can move on to James chapter two over here All right, so now We have three more minutes. So maybe the first section. I'll just quickly take it up So I already said that uh, james has addressed the rich people and the poor people in the church. Okay, and he told that Let the rich person Walk humbly let the poor person be happy when god blesses them now In james chapter two, he talks about not giving any preferential treatment to the rich person So this is how he writes it my brethren Do not hold the faith of our lord jesus christ the lord of glory with partiality For if there should come into your assembly a man with gold rings In fine apparel and there should also come in a poor man in filthy clothes And you pay attention to the one wearing the fine clothes and say to him You sit here in a good place and say to the poor man You stand there or sit here at my footstool. Have you not shown partiality among yourself and become judges with evil thoughts Okay, so I'll just explain Verses one to four In simple words he's saying Treat everybody equally Just because some people are rich or it could be that some people are influential You know it happens, isn't it in church? Some people come we know that they have a lot of money They have a lot of contacts if anything needs to get done for the church They will be able to do it for us. So what happens to the Leader or the leaders if they are not careful So they will tend to be partial to the rich and the influential because we can get some favors But james very clearly says no partiality Everybody is equal. Please do not treat the rich with special treatment and The poor with you know like not giving them any importance and Here he says that a poor man you give him a different place Okay, all the poor sit here all the rich sit here on better seats This is not the way god's house should be everybody is equal in the kingdom of god Just because in the world some people have more resources compared to the others We should not take that to discriminate between people Wouldn't it be so sad to be part of a group or a community of believers where there is partiality? It's not at all biblical, isn't it? So, uh, that should not happen You know have no Preferential treatment for the rich people. Okay, so that's what he's saying now Let's go for a break 10 minutes. We'll come back and we will continue with james chapter 2 verse 5 Okay, see you soon plus. Yeah, thank you