Hello, this is Father Paul, and I'm glad we're
taking this journey together to read the Bible
in a year. Today's reading is the entire book
of James, chapters 1 through 5. Chapter 1. James,
a bondservant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ,
to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad.
Greetings. My brethren, count it all joy when
you fall into various trials, knowing that the
testing of your faith produces patience. But
let patience have its perfect work, that you
may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.
If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God,
who gives to all liberally and without reproach,
and it will be given to him. But let him ask
in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts
is like a wave of the sea. driven and tossed
by the wind. For let not that man suppose that
he will receive anything from the Lord. He is
a double -minded man, unstable in all his ways.
Let the lowly brother glory in his exaltation,
but the rich in his humiliation, because as a
flower of the field he will pass away. For no
sooner has the sun risen with a burning heat
than it withers the grass. Its flower falls and
its beautiful appearance perishes. So the rich
man also will fade away in his pursuits. Blessed
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. 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. But
each one is tempted when he is drawn away by
his own desires and enticed. Then when desire
has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and sin,
when it is full grown, brings forth death. Do
not be deceived, my beloved brethren. Every good
gift and every perfect gift is from above and
comes down from the Father of lights, with whom
there is no variation or shadow of turning. Of
his own will he brought us forth. by the word
of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits
of his creatures. So then, my beloved brethren,
let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak,
slow to wrath. For the wrath of man does not
produce the righteousness of God. Therefore lay
aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness,
and receive with meekness the implanted word
which is able to save your souls. But be doers
of the word, and not hearers only. deceiving
yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the
word and not a doer, he is like a man observing
his natural face in a mirror. 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. If
anyone among you thinks he is religious and does
not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart,
this one's religion is useless. Pure and undefiled
religion 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 cloth 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 yourselves and become
judges with evil thoughts? Listen, my beloved
brethren, has God not chosen the poor of this
world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom
which he promised to those who love him? But
you have dishonored the poor men. Do not the
rich oppress you and drag you into the courts?
Do they not blaspheme that noble name by which
you are called? If you really fulfill the royal
law according to the scripture, you shall love
your neighbor as yourself, you do well. But if
you show partiality, you commit sin and are convicted
by the law as transgressors. For whoever shall
keep the whole law and yet stumble in one point,
he is guilty of all. For he who said do not commit
adultery, Also said, do not murder. Now if you
do not commit adultery, but you do murder, you
have become a transgressor of the law. So speak
and so do as those who will be judged by the
law of liberty. For judgment is without mercy
to the one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs
over judgment. What does it profit, my brethren,
if someone says he has faith, but does not have
works? Can faith save him? If a brother or sister
is naked and destitute, Of daily food. And one
of you says to them, Depart in peace, be warmed
and filled. But you do not give them the things
which are needed for the body. What does it profit?
Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have
works, is dead. But someone will say, You have
faith and I have works. Show me your faith without
your works, and I will show you my faith by my
works. You believe that there is one God. You
do well. Even the demons believe and tremble.
But do you want to know, O foolish man, that
faith without works is dead? Was not Abraham
our father justified by works when he offered
Isaac his son on the altar? Do you see that faith
was working together with his works, and by works
faith was made perfect? And the scripture was
fulfilled which says, Abraham believed God and
it was accounted to him for righteousness. And
he was called the friend of God. You see then
that a man is justified by works and not by faith
only. Likewise was not Rahab the harlot also
justified by works when she received the messengers
and sent them out another way? For as the body
without the spirit is dead, so faith without
works is dead also. Chapter 3 My brethren, let
not many of you become teachers. knowing that
we shall receive a stricter judgment. For we
all stumble in many things. If anyone does not
stumble in word, he is a perfect man, able also
to bridle the whole body. Indeed, we put bits
in horses' mouths that they may obey us, and
we turn their whole body. Look also at ships.
Although they are so large and are driven by
fierce winds, they are turned by a very small
rudder wherever the pilot desires. Even so, the
tongue is a little member and boasts great things.
See how great a forest a little fire kindles,
and the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity.
The tongue is so set among our members that it
defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the
course of nature, and it is set on fire by hell.
For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile
and creature of the sea, is tamed and has been
tamed by mankind. But no man can tame the tongue.
It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.
With it we bless our God and Father, and with
it we curse men who have been made in the similitude
of God. Out of the same mouth proceed blessing
and cursing. My brethren, these things ought
not to be so. Does a spring send forth fresh
water and bitter from the same opening? Can a
fig tree, my brethren, bear olives, or a grapevine
bear figs? Thus no spring yields both salt water
and fresh. Who is wise and understanding among
you? Let him show by good conduct that his works
are done in the meekness of wisdom. But if you
have bitter envy and self -seeking in your hearts,
do not boast and lie against the truth. This
wisdom does not descend from heaven, but is earthly,
sensual, demonic. For where envy and self -seeking
exist, confusion and every evil thing are there.
But the wisdom that is from above is first pure,
then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield. full
of mercy and good fruits, without partiality
and without hypocrisy. Now the fruit of righteousness
is sown in peace by those who make peace. You
ask and do not receive because you ask amiss,
that you may spend it on your pleasures. Adulterers
and adulteresses, do you not know that friendship
with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore
wants to be a friend of the world makes himself
an enemy of God. Or do you think that the scripture
says in vain, the spirit who dwells in us yearns
jealously? But he gives more grace, therefore
he says, God resists the proud but gives grace
to the humble. Therefore submit to God. Resist
the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near
to God and he will draw near to you. Cleanse
your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts,
you double -minded. Lament and mourn and weep.
Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your
joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the sight
of the Lord and he will lift you up. Do not speak
evil of one another, brethren. He who speaks
evil of a brother and judges his brother speaks
evil of the law and judges the law. But if you
judge the law, you are not a doer of the law,
but a judge. There is one lawgiver who is able
to save and to destroy. Who are you to judge
another? Come now, you who say today or tomorrow,
we will go to such and such a city, spend a year
there, buy and sell and make a profit, whereas
you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For
what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears
for a little time and then vanishes away. Instead,
you ought to say, If the Lord wills, we shall
live and do this or that. But now you boast in
your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. Therefore
to him who knows to do good and does not do it,
to him it is sin. Your gold and silver are corroded,
and their corrosion will be a witness against
you, and will eat your flesh like fire. You have
heaped up treasure in the last days. Indeed,
the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields,
which you kept bagged by fraud, cry out. And
the cries of the reapers have reached the ears
of the Lord of Sabaoth. You have lived on the
earth in pleasure and luxury. You have fattened
your hearts as in a day of slaughter. You have
condemned, you have murdered the just. He does
not resist you. Therefore be patient, brethren,
until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer
waits for the precious fruit of the earth, waiting
patiently for it until it receives the early
and latter rain. You also be patient. Establish
your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at
hand. Do not grumble against one another, brethren,
lest you be condemned. Behold, the judge is standing
at the door. My brethren, take the prophets who
spoke in the name of the Lord as an example of
suffering and patience. Indeed, we count them
blessed who endure. You have heard of the perseverance
of Job and seen the end intended by the Lord,
that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful.
But above all, my brethren, do not swear, either
by heaven or by earth, or with any other oath,
but let your yes be yes and your no, no, lest
you fall into judgment. Is anyone among you suffering?
Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing
psalms. Is anyone among you sick? Let him call
for the elders of the church, and let them pray
over him, anointing him with oil in the name
of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save
the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And
if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.
Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray
for one another, that you may be healed. The
effective fervent prayer of a righteous man.
Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and
he prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and
it did not rain on the land for three years and
six months. And he prayed again, and heaven gave
rain, and the earth produced its fruit. Brethren,
if anyone among you wanders from the truth and
someone turns him back, let him know that he
who turns a sinner from the error of his way
will save a soul from death and cover a multitude
of sins. I hope you enjoyed today's reading as
much as I did and I look forward to seeing you
again tomorrow to continue on our journey. God
bless you and have a great day.