Royalty: Royal Rule

So, don't hit your head. How was it, bro? Good. Hey, that'll be all right.

So how we doing today, Church? Good. That was better. I'm so happy you guys are back.

I just want to let you know that we really did miss you. It's different when these seats are empty. It was funny, I tried to walk down when you went in here, tried to stand in there because I'm always over there and she gets crazy when she warps up. She's her hands are going out.

She's up. We were at this, she took me to this concert of a guy I really like here Thursday. And we were standing by each other. And it's just you're trying to worship and she keeps bumping in and she don't care what's going on.

So I'm like over here, I'm like, no, but we did. We missed you guys. We're glad you're back. So, everyone's doing all right.

All right. So, first I got to start off with wearing royalty. But hold up. Did everyone get a wristband?

Hold your wristband up. If you didn't, there's a wristband and it will make its way to you. But hold it up. All right.

So everyone's got one for the most part. If you don't, now everyone put your hands down. Who doesn't have one? There you go.

Can we get one? Thank you Stephanie. It's important that we have a wristband on. I'm going to tell you why.

Because we've been talking about royalty and we've been in it for a few weeks. I don't even know how long we've been in it. We've been in it for a while. And I started to think like, when are we going to, when are we moving to the next?

Where it's like, I still got more. I was like, let's keep going. And then I realized holy cow, we can stay in royalty for the rest of our lives, right? Eternity.

But the idea is the wristband said what had happened was the delivery system has been a royal pain. These were supposed to arrive last week, guaranteed last week, but they didn't come in. So, you know, we wanted to get them out to you. Jay had a great idea about his message.

She was here last week, great message. And it was about putting on your royal clothes, right? So now what we have on, we have our royalty on. And what I want to do today is help us understand what we're to do next, right?

Now we're closed. But now there's some things behind that that we're actually called to do. There's some actions that were actually meant to walk out. We're closed.

That's great. But now we have a job to do. So, I titled the message today, the royal role. Everyone say the royal role.

Do any of you guys have a role for your house? Do we? And not funny. Yeah, all the rules.

But there's a role, right? There's like a main role everyone has. I think one of the big ones, it might not be anymore, but it's like take your shoes off, right? Take your shoes off the door.

And this is what it is. But I was just thinking of the royal role, but this role is going to sound interesting. I'm just going to sound familiar. But I'm hoping I bring some understanding today of the, you know, the rules that we are given, but how much it means to us to actually uphold.

Amen. Right. We know there's things we're supposed to do, but let's be honest, there's a life and there's a lot of different things that makes us just be like, I don't, yeah, I'll do that, but I ain't going to that, right? All right.

Well, we're going to get into it. We're going to be in James. You got your Bibles? Turn to James?

Yeah, you know the, you got to have the paper Bible, right? It's like it's more holy, I guess. I don't know. I've never understood it.

Just so you can read it on paper, your screen, right? What, what that thing can go away. I'll keep my technology forever. I'm just kidding.

Right? Well, it should be a, you're right. It should be in here. So James 2 and the main verse we're going to talk about today is going to be verse 8.

And I read out of the message translation. You probably already judge me and I'm okay with that. But I'm going to be in the message translation this whole time. Bear with me, King David.

Becca. Now, this is going to be tough for some of you guys. I'm going to help you. I'm going to help you say this.

Stay with me, all right? Love others as you love yourself. I got to, I got to call her out. I'm looking back here and she said it with a deep breath.

Love others. Like you love yourself. It's a challenge, right? I don't want to spend too much time there of, I want to get to a certain point and only have like two and a half hours.

So I want to make sure I get there. The idea of loving others as you love yourself can be a challenging thought. And most people would probably look at that and say, we got to love yourself first before you can love others. Correct?

Which that would be, it would make a lot of sense, right? Absolutely. But I want to go in a different direction a little bit today. I want to touch on that.

But I want to give you a little background that James. So, you know, James won. James is continuing his letter. The main theme of James' letter really is genuine.

This is basically, if you want to write this down, this is good though. Genuine faith in God results in changed lives. I want to say it again, huh? Genuine faith, it's all right, you can say there.

Genuine faith in God results in changed lives. Amen? Amen? All right.

The works that we do are actions and thoughts. I want to just, these are a couple points I want you to ponder on for a minute. Those who receive the gift of salvation through trust in God are expected to act out their trust. While making choices on all their actions.

We say all of our actions. Because this can get a little bit of challenging this topic we're going to talk about because the thought is, you know, that we're saved. And then there's a mass confusion on the works part of things. But what we're going to learn today, I'm hoping that as we leave here that we have a little bit better understanding that salvation itself, we're not saved by works, but works come out of that.

Amen? And we're going to hear some stuff and today that's probably going to challenge our thought. But what I really want to do, I'm being so serious when I mean this, I was praying and in my spirit God said, do you trust me? And I said, the obvious thing that we all say, of course I do.

So in this, what I want to do is I want us to read, we're going to read the word. We're going to break it down a little bit, but we're going to read the word in my heart today is that God would highlight himself through what we read that we can now see what we do now as believers and being saved, the works that come from that. To bring glory to him that we will actually be able to distinguish the trust through our character that we have in Christ. Because most of the time it's like, I trust in God, but it's one of those things it's like, but you can't see it, right?

It's almost like you got to be like, well, who am I to say that you do or you don't? But the reality of this is if we read the word in its most basic form, it tells us that through the understanding our character will actually show the amount of trust that we have in God. All right. Yeah, it's going to be interesting.

So the first, the first point, he's already passed it. The royal rule is what we're going to talk about first. And I'm going to go ahead and read. I'm going to read if you're with me, I'm going to read one through seven and we'll stop in the middle of that.

But James chapter two verse one, my dear friends, do not let public opinion influence how you live out our glorious Christ originated faith. Okay, some of you are still asleep. My dear friends, do not let public opinion influence how you live out our glorious Christ originated faith. I'm going to have to stop.

I don't know if I'm going to get to everything, but I have to talk about this. Because it's interesting to me that a personal relationship, a personal faith, how we could allow somebody else to impact that and actually draw us away from that. All right, let me go over here. So listen, when we understand who Christ is and I'm seeking him for myself every single day, how in the world could somebody else pull me away from that?

Do you guys get that? Because guys, listen, the faith, I'm just going to be real with you. I don't know how to love my wife without the guidance from him. Matter of fact, he let me know I can't love her without giving my complete trust in him.

Because the love that he is designed for her, I don't carry by myself. I have to receive that from him and then in that I'm able to then give that to her. But if I don't give it that way and I try my own strength, then I'm tired. Then I'm not giving her and loving her the way she needs to be loved.

Are you guys following me? All right, let's keep going. If a man enters your church wearing an expensive suit and a street person wearing rags comes in right after him and you say to the man in the suit, sit here, sir. This is the best seat in the house.

And either ignore the street person or say, better sit here in the back row, haven't you segregated God's children and prove that you are judges who can't be trusted? I'm going to keep going. Listen, dear friends, isn't it clear by now? How much you guys read this with me?

That God operates quite differently. Whoo, that's so cool. And how he operates completely different from us? There are so many scriptures and things I wanted to go back on to show that the Kingdom of God operates completely different than how we do as human beings.

Like completely, right? Like we think if we're the first, we're the best, but he says no. The last will be first. And the first shall be last.

Or the, or the, the, y'all know the story of the talents. I don't have time to talk about it, but the one takes it and multiplies it and the one does nothing with it. And what's he do? He takes it from the one that did nothing and gives it to the one that has ten.

We're like, that doesn't, God doesn't make any sense. No, because, because the Kingdom of God works backwards. It works different. So, if it works different, what's that going to require us to do?

We're going to have to look very closely to the one that created it. The one that whose Kingdom it is, we're going to have to look to with an understanding that it's his word, it's his truth, that's going to then impact our lives and help change us. Amen? He said, he chooses the worlds down and out as the Kingdom's first citizens.

With full rights and privileges, this Kingdom is promised to anyone who loves God. And here you are abusing these same citizens. Isn't it the high and mighty who exploit you? Who use the courts to rob Yvonne?

Aren't they the ones who scorn the new name Christian? Use in your baptisms? This is interesting, guys, and it's challenging because, again, like I said, James is talking about really after, as he's leading up and following through his letters, about how we are to live. And listen, a lot of us like to think we haven't figured out how we're supposed to live.

But what I want to suggest is that maybe we get caught up and we think we have an understanding, then it gets hard to unlearn. But what we're going to see today, I believe God's going to highlight how easy it is and that this isn't really a choice of what you want to do, but he says, this is how to do it. Like, this is what we do. Like, if you're going to, if you're going to believe me and follow me, like, this is what comes out of that.

And that's a hard concept and it's a hard thought for a lot of us because, again, we like to do some of it, but then when it comes to the other challenging things, or, oh, man, I've had a bad day, you know, I'm human. I'm all of these things, but what I'm learning at the Word of God does, it encourages me and it challenges me that I don't have to stay there. I don't think you guys are hearing me that when I'm having a bad day, the power in the Word and what it can do is it can take my bad day in that moment and it can shift it and direct it towards him to where now, I'm getting something from a different source that's now actually lifting me up and it's encouraging me to get back on track and to do what the Word says, not do what Seth thinks he needs to do. Hey, man, go the next slide.

I want you all to write this down. If you can, I'm going to say it, but you can't see that, let me know. If you let the creator of the kingdom show you around, you won't get lost. I want you to write that down because think about it.

Like, just imagine showing up at somebody's house, right? And you just knock on the door and they let you in. Make yourself at home. Most people say that, right?

My first question is like, all right, where's your bathroom at? Right? That's one thing I need to know. I'll find the couch.

I'll find that. But where's the bathroom at? But think about this. If I'm looking to the creator who guides my life and he has instructed me on how the kingdom is and how I'm to live, if I will allow him to instruct me, allow his work to instruct me, then I don't get lost in the sauce.

I don't get lost in the fact that he's talking here that I'm not going to switch up. I'm not going to take somebody who walks in with nice clothes and be like, hey, can you move here? You can hold it in your Jeep right now. You sit right up here.

Do you mind just one back? Maybe covering over sitting back behind the booth, you know, back there. I'll put a chair back here for you. Like, we don't get it confused.

But listen, guys, when we go in with our own personal agenda, we take his word, we take all this and we throw it way out of whack and get it way confused. And now we're walking around and we're looking crazy. We're saying one thing and doing another. But if I knock on the door of the kingdom and I allow the creator to show me how these things are supposed to go, if I follow these most basic forms, I'm going to get this and we're going to start walking around with the understanding of who he is.

And we're going to follow that rule. That rule is going to trump my rule. Y'all may not realize it, but you got a rule. I know a lot of you sitting in here and I know everyone has certain things you do and you don't do.

But I'm just wondering how much of what we've learned or how easy and comfortable we've gotten to just be able to accept our rules and implement God's here and everyone we want to. Because here's what that does. When I need to love my neighbor, I don't know how to. Because guess what?

I had a bad day. I don't know if we read that in there or they might have left that out, but I don't think it said that. I don't think it said depending on how you feel or what you want to do or what you're going through. I think it said because of what I did for you and that's where you put your trust in.

That's what you do because of that. Amen. Guys, listen, I'm not here to step on no one's toes or beat anybody up. I'm here for us to read the word together and what it says, try to help each other walk it out.

Because that's what's going to help us and that's what's going to help the people around us. But these rules, these things that we are given, you know, and works, anytime it's talked about that, people get all upset and they're all upset. Because the reality is that it challenges you as a person to actually do what you said you've committed to do and that you're going to follow. And for us to reach more people in our personal lives, those two have to match up.

And I don't know if no one's loved you enough to tell you that. But as in this church, we're going to love on you. We're going to let you know that we're here for you. We're walking this out together.

But we're going to read the word and put the word in front of you and allow that to change your life. Because that's what this is all about. So, verse eight, you do well when you complete the royal rule of scripture. Love others as you love yourself.

You can find that in Leviticus 19 verse 18. But I'm really starting to focus on key words in scripture. You do well when you complete. So no part of that.

And God's hearing me when I say this because this is just what I'm being challenged with. It doesn't say when you try to complete. Like here in my heart, let's read it for what it is again. Leave stuff out of it.

Leave everything that you know you're going through and you go through as people out of it. It says when we complete this. So when I fully trust God in his word and what it says. And I allow that to work in me and my desire is so strong and trust and belief in that that it then it comes out of me complete receive complete.

But there's a block. This is what was on my heart. There's a block when it comes to releasing that into completion. And it could be it could be fear.

It could be a lot of different things. I'm going to say I wasn't going to say this but I thought this was so interesting. I'm like I'm like trying to pray on another level. It's going to sound weird but I'm like I'm going all in.

And I'm laying there and I'm half asleep like you know I'm in it but I'm out of it. I'm a little in between both of it. And I'm praying. And like something on my heart was just like do you want to do you want to know why?

And I'm like of course I want to know why. And I'm like yeah. And it was like do you want to know why we get so tired. And I'm up.

So it's like 3.30 in the morning. I'm not that early of a person. I'm upset. I got to get in the shower to wake myself up.

And I get ready. I come downstairs and get ready to come in here. And my wife's waking up and she's like I had the craziest dream. And I'm like what?

She's like I kept carrying these bricks and started to get really tired. And this guy comes along. He's like hey do you want some help? She's like no thank you.

I got it. We're done. And so then she keeps going. She gets to a next level.

And she gets super tired. She sits down. She's like hey would you like some help now? And she's like no I got it.

I'm fine. I got it. So then she gets to that. And I'm going to climb to the top.

And my wife will. She'll do it all. And I'm getting mad about it after. But she gets to the top.

And she wants some help. All this. And it was revealed to her that basically we got to start giving these things over to God. He's there trying to help trying to help trying to help.

And I just like that is so strange. I said as you're dreaming this I'm laying beside you. Something saying do you want to know why we get so tired and she wakes up. I'm so like this is wild.

But the reality of it is how much God is really trying to get to us. And that if we would begin to really put our trust in him the things that he'd begin to reveal to us. And I thought like I had to share it with y'all. I don't know why.

But that was so interesting to me that I'm like what in the world. This is wild. You probably thought I was sitting there watching her sleep or something. But it says complete the royal rule of the scriptures.

Love others as you love yourself. But if you play up to these so called important people. You go against the rule and stand convicted by it. You can't pick and choose in these things.

Specializing and keeping one or two things in God's law and ignoring others. The same guy who said don't commit adultery also said don't murder. If you don't commit adultery but go ahead and murder. Do you think your non adultery will cancel out your murder?

No. You're a murder period. She's a period. So I want to make sure I take the time as we're talking about this.

That we understand like the point that I'm trying to get across here. We all sit here and like oh my God I don't want to talk about this stuff. But here's the reality. We got to quit picking and choosing what the word is telling us.

Because here's why. I'm striving towards what his promises. What he says that I am who I am and the promises and the greater things that he promises us. We can't get there if we pick and choose.

We can't judge people and we can't. Some translations have favorites and pick favorites and all that stuff. Again we can't pick out what we want to do. It's either you're trusting God and that's flowing from you or you're trusting you and that's flowing from you.

And I promise you you're going to be able to tell a big difference. Because I believe in like I was talking about if you're trusting you you're going to get tired. You're going to get exhausted. It's going to seem like it's way too much and you can't do it anymore and you're going to be sitting there in the middle like oh my God what is happening what is going on.

But the reality is that the more I trust God and who he is and the things that come out of me accepting him as my Savior. That I'm not saved by that but then there's something that draws me to commit to all that. Does that make sense? Amen.

Okay, some of you are looking at me a little crazy. Let me know. Verse 12, talk and act like a person expecting to be judged by the rule that sets us free. If you refuse to act kindly you can hardly expect to be treated kindly.

Kind mercy wins over harsh judgment every time. Next slide. Sorry, you're reading that like what is happening? It's all right.

We'll wait on. I'll read it again. Talk and act like a person expecting to be judged by the rule that sets us free. If you refuse to act kindly you can hardly expect to be treated kindly.

Kind mercy wins over harsh judgment every time. Love your neighbors like you love yourself. Isn't that like the old golden rule like treat others the way you want to be treated? Why is that such a hard concept for us to understand as believers?

I just wanted to let it sit quiet for a minute. So if we're really chasing after these things guys, these are the things I believe we're going to start asking ourselves. And I know that this is challenging because one thing we don't like to be challenged with is to believe that we're not doing that. We like to think that we're doing it all.

We're doing everything. And here's the other thing. I'm doing it to the best of my ability. Well, guess what?

Let me help you out with that. What you just said, the best of your ability. If you haven't learned yet, your ability outside of Christ is no ability that you want it all because you can't take it to the place it needs to go. Again, back to what I was saying.

When I let the creator of the kingdom show me around, then I learned what he's trying to get me to see, which is a greater thing, which is an identity that is so much far beyond that I can even ever picture myself. But I live and I stand and I work from that and I stop working for that. Listen, when you understand your true identity, you're what? We're clothed.

We're royal, right? Mr. Mr. J back there.

Hotbox. He explained that last week. It's put on. We're put on.

We have the royal clothes on. We're royalty. So what does that mean? Right?

But what if I'm operating in that? What am I operating in? Royalty. I'm not working to be royalty.

I'm working from royalty. But if I understand that I'm working from it, then there's so much more that flows out of it. But when I'm trying to work for it, and I'm not understanding who I really am, I'm not understanding that I'm forgiven. I'm not understanding that everything he's already done and where he's placed me at, like I'm not understanding and I'm trying to do all that together.

Guess what happens? Oh man, this is hard. It's hard to love people. It's hard to love people out.

Like, you know, you love yourself. Why can't they be like I am? Why? They don't mean my expectations.

They put the toilet paper over the top now under it. Y'all, we will start doing the craziest things and holding people at the craziest places that they'll forever fall short and fall under that. And there will be wasted upon wasted upon wasted opportunities to example Christ and show them and help them see who they really are when we don't understand who we are. Thank you, Jen.

Hey, listen, maybe I'm preaching just to you, girl. Our identity in Christ is important. What time do I got here? I know what to watch for.

If you guys don't know Fred, if you ever go anywhere with him, he's back. I miss you so much, bro. So we're sitting down eating. I think it was that for Telly's actually.

And we're sitting there for a minute. Me and my wife can talk. She says, I talk. I love the talk.

I do. But we're sitting there talking. You can tell he starts to get antsy. He starts fidgeting.

He'll go to the bathroom like three times. Because every time he comes back, this is what I truly believe. Every time he came back to the table, the thought was like, alright, start putting my jacket on. Don't sit down.

But then he feels bad and sits down. So then he gets to this point. Then when he starts getting to jacket on, he'll slowly start doing it. And he was at the bathroom.

Christ is like, yeah, when he puts his jacket on, that's when he's ready to go. He has no jacket today. So, you know, that means guys, we're going to be here for a while. He got nothing to put on.

Alright, so we're down to royal action. We just talked about if you refuse to act kindly, you can hardly expect to be treated kindly. So the royal action, like I've been talking the whole time, that the understanding of all this is that something should flow out of this. Why does it bother us to challenge each other's like to grow further in our faith?

You ever notice that? When you can lovingly want to help somebody and like instant offense comes up when you're just like, hey, I believe it doesn't matter how you do it. But it causes this big problem when you go to talk about how if you have faith that it produces something to make action want to take place. This is going to be fun.

So, James 2, starting in verse 14, dear friends, do you think you'll get anywhere in this if you learn all the right words but never do anything? Does merely talking about faith indicate that a person really has it? For instance, you come upon an old friend dressed in rags and half starved and say, good morning, friend, be clothed in Christ. Be filled with the Holy Spirit and walk off without providing so much as a coat or a cup of soup.

Where does that get you? Isn't it obvious? I love this so much. I might put this on a shirt.

Isn't it obvious that God talk without God acts is outrageous nonsense? And guys, listen, help me. Can you help me today? Because I by no means am standing up here reading this and like, yeah, it's you.

We're reading something together. And to disconnect, God used me today to come here and on a mission to say, hey, this is my word. This is what I'm calling you to. If you believe in me and you really trust what I did for you and you put all that trust there, this is what comes out of you.

And it's funny because we'll sit here and we'll laugh at these things and we'll talk about them and I love the joke around. I love to laugh at them too. But more than anything, reading it this week, it hit me in my heart. It was like, man, am I doing this stuff?

And I do it. Listen, I do it when I'm loving life. I do it when things are going great. But in those challenging times, I don't want to do it right now.

I'm done with people right now. I don't want to hear about another this, another that or I don't want to do any of that. What source do you think you're drawing from in that? Yeah, you're running empty, aren't you?

I get there. I'm speaking to myself in this. But what the promises that we're given is that we don't have to get there. Listen, I know you're already, people are searching now and you got your favorite scripture that justifies for you to want to feel the way that you want to feel and not do what you want to do because I get it.

You're blessed and you're human and you have that days you have all that. But guess what? I don't want to speak to that. God, give me a mission to come today to speak to the thing that can overcome that.

That if you take my word out of context and you apply it to self and your desires, you're going to receive that in full. And guess what you're going to be bitter. You're going to be angry. You're going to walk around and have no time for no one but yourself, but everybody else to have all the time in the world for you.

But that's not what my God's word says. He says, if you follow me and you follow this thing, what comes out of that is not only just enough for you, but it's enough for those around you. He says, I need you to get this today. I need you to understand this.

Says, for instance, you come up on an old friend dressed in rags and half starved and say, good morning friend, be clothed. I don't have the time. I got to get somewhere. I'm late for work.

I'm whatever you want to put in there. I just, I don't have the finances. I don't have the ability to do this right now. It ain't my fault.

I'm going to go there. It ain't my fault they're in that situation. Ooh. They put themselves there.

Look what I did. Look what I worked out of that pit. I got myself up out. They can too.

Go get a job. Okay. I'm only one that said that. Y'all can make.

Listen, y'all can put it on me. That's fine. But I'm just, I'm going to be real with me today and real with you. We've all done that and we've all made excuses.

But my God's word doesn't give us room for the excuses. He says that if you love me and you follow me, this is what comes out of that. So if there's a disconnect and what's coming out, you need to follow the wire. I couldn't figure out how to get these lights back together.

I'm like, oh my goodness. Ray was working on this thing. Ray was such a good guy too. He's like four people asked.

He's like, yeah, I had some help. I'm like, no, he didn't. I was one of their state workers. I was still here.

I'm like, yeah, bro, that looks great. He was like, can you grab me a pen? I was like, absolutely. He's here.

Got like a board on his shoulder. He's got, he's like nailing it in doing all this other stuff. And I'm just sitting there like, man, you're good, bro. And he still had the, he was still like, man, there.

Yeah, I had all the help and the word. I'm like, no, he didn't. I was here all day. I didn't help that man one time.

So I just started looking for this wire to get these lights back together. And I'm plugging it in. There's like five back there unplugged. Funny thing is, is he unplugged it.

So found out the truth. But so there's five back there. I was just, I kept plugging them into different things. I plugged the one in and this sound starts going crazy.

It's like, I'm like, oh my goodness, I ripped it out. But when I found the right source, the right connection to plug it into, guess what instantly came back on? No, guys, I don't think you hear me instantly came back on. That everything was plugged, this whole half of these lights were off.

And it was because one connection. But when I made the one connection, everything came right back to how it was supposed to be. That's, that's the power of this thing. And I don't, I don't, I don't know if we're not getting it.

See, that's the power of this thing. That thing was in my way all day yesterday. Thank you Jesus. That's the mic we didn't hang up.

Oh, look, that's the only one we didn't hang up. Oh, man, that's great. So that's the spirit. There you go, right?

Be clothed in Christ. Be filled with the Holy Spirit. Walk off without providing much as a coat or a cup of soup. Where does that get you?

Isn't it obvious that God talk without God acts is outrageous. Some translations say dead. Like if something's dead, you can't like, what's that mean? It's dead, right?

It's not like, I mean, things have come back from the dead. I get it. But I'm just saying it's dead. And this, it tells us that if you have one and not the other, that it's, it's dead.

I don't, I don't want a lot of any of you or you'll walk out here thinking that if you have one, you have both because that's not, that's not how this works. And I care so much about you to let you know that listen, you may think you're walking in both, but if you're just walking in one and this stuff isn't coming out, then what you have is not the full thing. What you have is not what has been promised to you. But when you carry the thing that's promised to you, guys, please hear my heart.

When you carry that thing, you have full ability in season, out of season, whatever the case may be, to give that thing exactly what it needs and you're holding what you need. He's strengthening you and giving you what you need to give to that thing what it needs. Do we understand that? But if I have half, guess why I'm giving it?

I'm not just, I'm not just giving the wrong thing off, I'm giving them the wrong thing. I'm leaving them with half, half of what they deserve. And maybe that's the other part of it. Maybe you're here today and you don't think you deserve all of it.

Well, I want to share something with you, that's not up to you. He already made the decision and died for you. And the moment you receive that, that's where he gives you full access, you're in royalty and you now have the ability to release that and you get to live from that. Don't matter the clothes you have on, don't matter the job you have, it don't matter how many times you prayed, how many people you've led to the Lord, how many, all these things that we like to chalk up and think that they're actually in the church.

Oh, I'm a Christian, I'm doing them living the life, baby, yeah, like all that stuff doesn't matter. You don't have to do any, I'm not doing here, not this doesn't matter, that's great stuff. But as soon as you call on his name, you instantly become royalty. You instantly get to start living in the thing that he paid for.

And you know, it's so awesome, I was thinking about this, somewhere in my notes I'm just going to talk about now. But think about like Michael Jordan, super popular guy, right? Remember when he started doing like t-shirts and like Hanes underwear and all that other wild stuff? This is weird that I'm talking about, but he endorsed it.

That made other people want it. Like this rules endorse, do we know that? Now you don't, listen, do you know that this rules endorse by the King of Kings, the one that paid for everything, the one that has the ability to turn nothing into something? Do you guys get that?

So if he's endorsed it, why is it so hard to follow it? If I can go buy Hanes underwear or was it the bacon neck t-shirts, remember that one? That the t-shirts get all crumply? Guys in here know what I'm talking about.

But it was like, you wouldn't get bacon neck. But if he can endorse that and make you go buy it, why not? The rules and the commands and things were given in the Bible by the creator that's supposed to be the center and head of our life. If he endorses that, why is it so hard for us to want to buy into that?

Why is it so hard for us to want to get in that? Yeah, I knew this was going to be a little different. Listen, my name's Fred, I just got back from vacation. No.

All right, let me get through this. I got a couple minutes. My alarm's going off. I got a couple more slides.

I'm going to jump through. Starting in 18. I can already hear one of you agreeing by saying, sounds good. You take care of the faith department, I'll handle the works department.

Not so fast. You can do more or you can do no more. Show me your works apart from your faith, then I can show you my faith apart from my works. Faith and works, works and faith fit together hand and glove.

Your hand and glove catching a baseball. That's exactly what I thought about. These two go together. It's, listen, it's required.

I don't know how else to say it. It's required of us. Verse 19, do I hear you professing to believe in the one and the only God, but then observe your complacency, setting back as if you had done something wonderful? That's just great.

Demons do that. But what good does it do though? Use your heads. Use your head.

You suppose for one minute that you can cut faith and works in two and not end up with a corpse on your hands? Wasn't our ancestors Abraham made right with God by works? When he placed his son Isaac on the sacrifice altar, isn't it obvious that faith and works are yoked? Partners?

That faith expresses itself in works. That the works are works of faith. The full meaning of believe in the scripture sentence. Abraham believed God and was set right with God.

Includes his action. I feel like we leave that stuff out guys. We don't look at the whole picture that him acting in his faith actually produced the very thing out of all of that. That it was his action.

I can imagine now me taking Opal up the stack. Like, babe, listen, God told me. That's our pit bull. She's like a human being.

I'd love to be like, sorry babe, I told me I got to sacrifice Opal. I can see her now. Let me pick back up. Includes his action.

It's that we of believing and acting that got Abraham named God's friend. Is it not evident that a person is made right with God? Not by bearing faith, but by faith fruitful in works? Last slide.

The same with Rahab. The Jericho harlot wasn't her action in hiding God's spies and helping them escape. That seamless unity of believing and doing what counted with God. You separate body and spirit.

You end up with a corpse. Separate faith in works and you get the same thing. A corpse. So as we read this today guys, I hope that it's challenging but I hope in the same way that you understand the word and what we're called as believers through all this.

What we say in our minds means nothing if it never influences us to take action. I want you to think about that. Because there's a lot of times I believe that we're called to take action and we don't. We thought it.

I think we even encouraged ourselves to think about it. My intentions were to do it. We're trying to make ourselves feel better but the reality of it is that when you actually do those things. You ever responded to something God was calling you to do?

Isn't it incredible? It just does something to you, right? Because you're acting on the thing that is inside of you. It's calling you to do and it's working itself up to do and you're reacting to that and responding to it.

And it starts to then build you. It's incredible. It's incredible when we step out in faith. And the last quick point I want to make here is the response, the royal response.

Scripture I'm going to read real quick is Ephesians 2, 7-10. Now God has us where He wants us with all the time in the world and the next to shower grace and kindness upon us in Christ Jesus. Saving is all His idea and all His work. All we do is trust Him enough to let Him do it.

It's God's gift from the start to finish. We don't play the major role. If we did, we'd probably go around bragging that we've done the whole thing. No, we neither make nor save ourselves.

God does both, but making and saving. He creates each of us by Christ Jesus to join Him in the works He does. The good work He has gotten ready for us to do. Work, we had better be doing.

Can y'all read that with me? Work, we have better be doing. Wait, can you come up? Can you go to the next slide please?

So James refers to works as an outcome of salvation, not the source. Guys, I want you to understand today that the works don't save us, but they do reveal the character of our trust in God. And everything that we just read, and we can leave here today with not having an understanding that we need. We can leave here today, honestly a little upset, maybe confused, but the reality of this is, is that His Word has all the answers.

All of them. And I'm telling you guys, when we match up and align up with the Word and our complete trust is there, our lives change. Like, hear me, our lives change when we do that. And what I mean by that is we're able to understand where He's brought us from and everything.

And we're able to look out at others and see the need, see the heart, and be able to look at them and say, man, I understand. My God loves you. I love you. And I can serve others the way that He's served us.

And that's the change here. That's how we change. And I don't know about you guys, but I don't come in here, I don't go into my Word, not expecting Him to show up and do something in my life. That's how good He is.

And if He said, if you just will read this, like I said the other day, last two weeks ago, what do you carry in? He's paved the way, guys. He's given us clear direction on what to do. The only reason we don't do it is because we're not fully surrendered to who He is and believe in trust and what He did.

Listen, I want us to leave here with a trust in God and who He is that's so complete that we walk in that, that that starts flowing from us. That when someone even so close to you does something that hurts you, you have such a compassion and heart and understanding that it's not, listen, it's Him. My focus stays on Him. It's not that thing.

It's Him that I've got to focus on. And this is what gives me that strength. This is what gives me that ability to walk this thing out and do what it's calling me to do. We got to stand with me today.

My question for you today is, maybe that trust hasn't been completely put in Him. Here's what I want to encourage you with today, guys. Listen, as long as you continue to keep that trust from Him and think that, oh, I'll just do it next Sunday, today's not today. I'll just do it later.

Until you get honest with yourself, He can't begin to do the full work in you that He's promised to do because it requires you to receive that and to accept that and choose that.