The Book of James

The Perfecting of Our Faith

Lesson #2 for October 11,2014

Scriptures: [James 1:2-3,19-20; 1 Peter 1:6-7; Philippians 3:12-15; Luke 12:16-21; 17:5-6][i].

1.    In this lesson we will see that the Christian’s primary task is to focus on Jesus. Focusing on the life of Jesus will result in the transformation of our lives. This transformation is not our work but His. We may go through trials and difficulties. But, if we keep our eyes fixed on Him, He will bring us safely home in the end.

2.    This means that we need to turn away from focusing on our past sins and, instead, focus on Jesus. Preoccupation with dealing with past sins is a recipe for disaster. Much of Christianity has been focused on forgiveness for past sins. If we become like what we focus on, isn’t that going to get us even more and more involved and buried in our sins? (See #7 below.)

3.    Is it reasonable for us to look to Jesus and trust Him-with the help of the Holy Spirit—to do the necessary work? Or, do we think it is too difficult for Him?

4.    Read James 1:2-3ii; 1 Peter 1:6-7; 4:12-13iii. What should be our attitude when we face troubles and trials? Does God sometimes test us? Do we have any control over that testing? Are we supposed to be happy that God is testing us? Does the Devil ever test us?

5.    When trials come, is it really possible to “Be happy and glad, for a great reward is kept for you in heaven”? (Matthew 5:11-12iv, GNB) Compare 2 Timothy 3:12[v].

6.    Do trials help us to better understand Jesus? There is much Scripture supporting the idea that God will not abandon us as we are being tested. (See Romans 8:28vi.) So, what is the purpose of such testing? James 1:3vii tells us that it leads to patience which really means endurance or perseverance. That is, when we realize that we can survive it, we learn to trust God more. Do you find that testing and trials have improved your Christianity? Or, not? Of course, if we insist on holding onto our world and all its attractions, trials may not produce patience but, instead, only make us more irritable.

7.    Read James 1:2-4viii. Look back at your own Christian experience. Do you agree with James that faith will lead to testing which will result in patience and ultimately perfection? Could we as Christians on this earth become “perfect and complete”? (James 1:4, NKJV) Is it possible for us to become more and more like Jesus?

It is a law both of the intellectual and the spiritual nature that by beholding we become changed. The mind gradually adapts itself to the subjects upon which it is allowed to dwell. It becomes assimilated to that which it is accustomed to love and reverence. (Great Controversy 555.1)

8.    Read Ephesians 4:13ix and Philippians 3:12-15[x]. Do we really believe God’s Word that it is possible to reach the “very height of Christ’s full stature” as we focus on Jesus? (Ephesians 4:13, GNB) Does God actually promise that? Of course, that does not mean that we will puff out our chests and start telling people that we are perfect! Like Paul, we will be constantly striving to become more and more like Jesus. This is a journey not a destination. If our picture of God is not growing and improving, we are worshiping a static idol. Do you believe that when we reach heaven, we will see God and Jesus more clearly than we ever have before? If we believe that by beholding we become changed, won’t that process continue? Shouldn’t it continue for the rest of eternity? If so, there is no way that we can consider any human position as being perfect with no more effort or change to take place.

9.    In Mark 4 Jesus told the story of a man who scattered seed in his field. First, there appeared the single blade; then, the plant grew; and finally, the grain appeared and ripened. The farmer did not make that happen, but he rejoiced at the perfect progression of the plant, step-by-step. In the same way, if we trust God, allowing Him to make the necessary changes in our lives, He considers us perfect at each step of the way.

10.    Read James 1:5-6xi. What is the difference between knowledge and wisdom? Have you ever prayed for wisdom? Have you ever thought that you needed more of it? Could you define wisdom in your own words? Do we know how to make good use of the knowledge we have? That is wisdom.

11.    Read James 1:19-21; 2:15-16; 3:13xii. These verses strongly suggest that wisdom is proven by good deeds. Shouldn’t Christians be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry, just as James suggests? Did Jesus ever become angry? Do we think about what we are about to say before we say it? Or, do we just regret it after we have said it? Plato once said: “Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools, because they would like to say something.” Think about all the talking that takes place around us every day. How much of it is wise? How much of it is foolish? Should Christians be trying to steer conversations in the right direction? If our focus is continually on Jesus, wouldn’t we talk about Him more? If we are full of this world’s wisdom, does that lead us to talk about Jesus?

12.    What is the relationship between faith and doubt? Are they direct opposites? If faith means trusting God, does doubt suggest we have lost trust in God? Doubt tends to cripple people. They cannot seem to get anything done. They are not sure which way to go. And if they turn their eyes away from Jesus as their goal, they are likely to make a wrong choice. Is it better to make a wrong choice and move forward? Or, to remain paralyzed with doubt?

13.    Look at the experience of the Israelites as recorded in Numbers 13 and 14xiii. Why do you think they chose to believe the report of the ten spies who were filled with doubts instead of believing the two spies who were filled with faith? The report of the ten spies was inherently contradictory. Did any of the Israelites recognize that? When God told them that they would have to turn around and go back into the wilderness and that all the adults would die there, they suddenly appeared to change their minds and wanted to follow God’s directions. Was that true repentance?

Now they seemed sincerely to repent of their sinful conduct; but they sorrowed because of the result of their evil course rather than from a sense of their ingratitude and disobedience. When they found that the Lord did not relent in His decree, their self-will again arose, and they declared that they would not return into the wilderness. In commanding them to retire from the land of their enemies, God tested their apparent submission and proved that it was not real.—Ellen G. White, Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 391.4.

14.    Read Luke 17:5-6xiv. What does it mean to have faith like a grain of mustard seed? Does that mean that even a little faith can go a long way? The most important thing about a grain of mustard seed—or for that matter any seed—is its capacity to germinate and grow. Faith that has the capacity to grow and continues to do so is what we need.

15.    How many reasons can you think of to trust God? Think of stories from the Bible. Think of your own personal experience and the experiences of others that you know. Are you encouraged?

16.    As we mentioned in our first lesson, many people, taking a hint from Martin Luther, have looked down on the book of James. We suggested that the teachings of James are almost all paralleled by teachings from Jesus Himself. Compare James 1:9-11xv with Luke 8:14xvi; compare James 1:27xvii with Matthew 25:37-40xviii; compare James 2:15-16xix with Luke 10:29-37xx; and compare James 5:1-4xxi with Luke 12:16-21xxii. Aren’t the similarities pretty clear? What is the common message? Just as Jesus spent His time caring for those who needed His help, shouldn’t we first of all care for our believing Christian brothers and sisters, and then, as suggested in Luke 10:29-37xxiii, care for anyone else who needs our help?

17.    What do you think about James’s attitude toward the rich and the poor? Is it really dangerous to be rich? Read 2 Corinthians 4:18xxiv. Do riches tend to make us turn our attention away from Jesus to the things of this earth? Remember that Jesus Himself said: “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” (Matthew 6:21, KJV)

18.    What do you see happening in our world today? Are wealth, education, and social influence creating gaps between the rich and the poor? Do we as Christians constantly look after those who are poor? As far as possible, are we willing to share our earthly riches as well as our spiritual riches?

19.    Ellen White was strong on this point.

As long as there are hungry ones in God’s world to be fed, naked ones to be clothed, souls perishing for the bread and water of salvation, every unnecessary indulgence, every overplus of capital, pleads for the poor and the naked.—Ellen G. White, Signs of the Times, June 20, 1892, par. 5; Healthful Living 276.4; Welfare Ministry 269.2.

20.    So, what is your attitude toward money? Who does not want more of it? Some of us want more in order to help others. Others want more in order to indulge their wishes and wants. In a world that is consumed with keeping up with the Joneses, getting and spending more money, how do Christians maintain the proper attitude toward money?

God would have his servants become acquainted with their own hearts. In order to bring to them a true knowledge of their condition, he permits the fire of affliction to assail them, so that they may be purified. The trials of life are God’s workmen to remove the impurities, infirmities, and roughness from our characters, and fit them for the society of pure, heavenly angels in glory. Then as we pass through trial, as the fire of affliction kindles upon us, shall we not keep our eyes fixed upon the things that are unseen, on the eternal inheritance, the immortal life, the far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory? and while we do this, the fire will not consume us, but only remove the dross, and we shall come forth seven times purified, bearing the impress of the Divine.—Ellen G. White, 1Testimonies 706.2; The Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, April 10, 1894 par. 11; ML 92.3. [Bold type is added.]

21.    The Bible tells us clearly that at the end of time, things will be like they were in the days of Noah. There will be a time of Jacob’s trouble. Many will go through experiences like those of Job. Do you look forward to those kinds of experiences? As you look back in your own life, do you find that times of trial and testing have increased your faith?

22.    Do we really understand how Jesus Himself, in cooperation with the Holy Spirit, perfects our faith? Do we recognize that trials are really for the purpose of strengthening and purifying that faith? Are we demonstrating Christian wisdom in everything we do?

23.    A biblical definition of faith based on all of Scripture and stated so well by one of God’s best modern friends, Dr. A. Graham Maxwell, is as follows:

Faith is just a word we use to describe a relationship with God as with a Person well known. The better we know Him, the better the relationship may be.

Faith implies an attitude toward God of love, trust, and deepest admiration.

It means having enough confidence in God based on the more-than-adequate evidence revealed to be willing to believe what He says as soon as we are sure He is the One saying it, to accept what He offers as soon as we are sure He is the One offering it, and to do what He wishes as soon as we are sure He is the One wishing it without reservation for the rest of eternity. Anyone who has such faith would be perfectly safe to save. This is why faith is the only requirement for heaven.

Faith also means that, like Abraham and Moses, God’s friends, we know God well enough to reverently ask Him, “Why?”—Spoken many times by A. Graham Maxwell.

24.    True faith and wisdom reveal themselves in good deeds. Do they tend to make us proud? Or, humble? Faith, of course, must grow. The problem with earthly wealth and means is that it tends to turn our attention away from Jesus.

25.    So, where does this wisdom come from? If we exercise true faith and do our best to follow the example of Jesus, does God give us wisdom as a gift as suggested by James 1:5? (Compare Mark 11:24.)

26.    Do you see a parallel between the passages in James that we have studied this week and the description of the faithful in Revelation 14:12xxv? Do we need to be constantly reminded that perfection is not our job but Jesus’s job? (Hebrews 12:2xxvi)

27.    Review once again the great men and women of faith mentioned in Hebrews 11. Could we have experiences like those of Abraham and even Enoch?

28.    Are we certain that as we move forward in life, we are practicing true faith and not presumption?

Faith claims God’s promises and brings forth fruit in obedience. Presumption also claims the promises, but uses them as Satan did, to excuse transgression. . . . It is not faith that claims the favor of Heaven without complying with the conditions on which mercy is to be granted. Genuine faith has its foundation in the promises and provisions of the Scriptures.—Ellen G. White, Gospel Workers, p. 260.3.

29.    Let us remember as suggested by Romans 10:17 that faith comes from hearing the Word, from studying it, focusing on it, and being transformed by it. The results will be out of this world!

Not even by a thought did He [Jesus] yield to temptation. So it may be with us. . . . So long as we are united to Him by faith, sin has no more dominion over us. God reaches for the hand of faith in us to direct it to lay fast hold upon the divinity of Christ, that we may attain to perfection of character.—Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 123.3. [Content in brackets is added.]

30. The 144,000 who live at the end of time as God’s faithful people will not only be keeping the commandments of God but also will have the “faith of Jesus.” (Revelation 14:12) As a result of our study this week, do we have a clear idea what that faith means and how it should impact us?

© 2014, Kenneth Hart, MD, MA, MPH. Permission is hereby granted for any noncommercial use of these materials. Free distribution of all or of a portion of this material such as to a Bible study class is encouraged.

i-James 1:2 My friends, consider yourselves fortunate when all kinds of trials come your way, 3 for you know that when your faith succeeds in facing such trials, the result is the ability to endure. 19 Remember this, my dear friends! Everyone must be quick to listen, but slow to speak and slow to become angry. 20 Human anger does not achieve God's righteous purpose.

1 Peter 1:6 Be glad about this, even though it may now be necessary for you to be sad for a while because of the many kinds of trials you suffer. 7 Their purpose is to prove that your faith is genuine. Even gold, which can be destroyed, is tested by fire; and so your faith, which is much more precious than gold, must also be tested, so that it may endure. Then you will receive praise and glory and honor on the Day when Jesus Christ is revealed.

Philippians 3:12 I do not claim that I have already succeeded or have already become perfect. I keep striving to win the prize for which Christ Jesus has already won me to himself. 13 Of course, my friends, I really do not think that I have already won it; the one thing I do, however, is to forget what is behind me and do my best to reach what is ahead. 14 So I run straight toward the goal in order to win the prize, which is God's call through Christ Jesus to the life above. 15 All of us who are spiritually mature should have this same attitude. But if some of you have a different attitude, God will make this clear to you.

Luke 12:16 Then Jesus told them this parable: "There was once a rich man who had land which bore good crops. 17 He began to think to himself, "I don't have a place to keep all my crops. What can I do? 18 This is what I will do,' he told himself; "I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, where I will store the grain and all my other goods. 19 Then I will say to myself, Lucky man! You have all the good things you need for many years. Take life easy, eat, drink, and enjoy yourself!' 20 But God said to him, "You fool! This very night you will have to give up your life; then who will get all these things you have kept for yourself?' " 21 And Jesus concluded, "This is how it is with those who pile up riches for themselves but are not rich in God's sight."

Luke 17:5 The apostles said to the Lord, "Make our faith greater." 6 The Lord answered, "If you had faith as big as a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, "Pull yourself up by the roots and plant yourself in the sea!' and it would obey you.

ii-James 1:2 My friends, consider yourselves fortunate when all kinds of trials come your way, 3 for you know that when your faith succeeds in facing such trials, the result is the ability to endure.

iii-1 Peter 1:6 Be glad about this, even though it may now be necessary for you to be sad for a while because of the many kinds of trials you suffer. 7 Their purpose is to prove that your faith is genuine. Even gold, which can be destroyed, is tested by fire; and so your faith, which is much more precious than gold, must also be tested, so that it may endure. Then you will receive praise and glory and honor on the Day when Jesus Christ is revealed.

1 Peter 4:12 My dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful test you are suffering, as though something unusual were happening to you. 13 Rather be glad that you are sharing Christ's sufferings, so that you may be full of joy when his glory is revealed.

iv-Matthew 5:11 "Happy are you when people insult you and persecute you and tell all kinds of evil lies against you because you are my followers. 12 Be happy and glad, for a great reward is kept for you in heaven. This is how the prophets who lived before you were persecuted.

v-2 Timothy 3:12 Everyone who wants to live a godly life in union with Christ Jesus will be persecuted;

vi-Romans 8:28 We know that in all things God works for good with those who love him, those whom he has called according to his purpose.

vii-James 1:3 for you know that when your faith succeeds in facing such trials, the result is the ability to endure.

viii-James 1:3 for you know that when your faith succeeds in facing such trials, the result is the ability to endure.

ix-Ephesians 4:13 And so we shall all come together to that oneness in our faith and in our knowledge of the Son of God; we shall become mature people, reaching to the very height of Christ's full stature.

x-Philippians 3:12 I do not claim that I have already succeeded or have already become perfect. I keep striving to win the prize for which Christ Jesus has already won me to himself. 13 Of course, my friends, I really do not think that I have already won it; the one thing I do, however, is to forget what is behind me and do my best to reach what is ahead. 14 So I run straight toward the goal in order to win the prize, which is God's call through Christ Jesus to the life above. 15 All of us who are spiritually mature should have this same attitude. But if some of you have a different attitude, God will make this clear to you.

xi-James 1:5 But if any of you lack wisdom, you should pray to God, who will give it to you; because God gives generously and graciously to all. 6 But when you pray, you must believe and not doubt at all. Whoever doubts is like a wave in the sea that is driven and blown about by the wind.

xii-James 1:19 Remember this, my dear friends! Everyone must be quick to listen, but slow to speak and slow to become angry. 20 Human anger does not achieve God's righteous purpose. 21 So get rid of every filthy habit and all wicked conduct. Submit to God and accept the word that he plants in your hearts, which is able to save you.

James 2:15 Suppose there are brothers or sisters who need clothes and don't have enough to eat. 16 What good is there in your saying to them, "God bless you! Keep warm and eat well!" - if you don't give them the necessities of life?

James 3:13 Are there any of you who are wise and understanding? You are to prove it by your good life, by your good deeds performed with humility and wisdom.

xiii-Numbers 13:1 The Lord said to Moses, 2 "Choose one of the leaders from each of the twelve tribes and send them as spies to explore the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the Israelites." 3 Moses obeyed and from the wilderness of Paran he sent out leaders, as follows: 16 These are the spies Moses sent to explore the land. He changed the name of Hoshea son of Nun to Joshua. 17 When Moses sent them out, he said to them, "Go north from here into the southern part of the land of Canaan and then on into the hill country. 18 Find out what kind of country it is, how many people live there, and how strong they are. 19 Find out whether the land is good or bad and whether the people live in open towns or in fortified cities. 20 Find out whether the soil is fertile and whether the land is wooded. And be sure to bring back some of the fruit that grows there." (It was the season when grapes were beginning to ripen.) 21 So the men went north and explored the land from the wilderness of Zin in the south all the way to Rehob, near Hamath Pass in the north. 22 They went first into the southern part of the land and came to Hebron, where the clans of Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the descendants of a race of giants called the Anakim, lived. (Hebron was founded seven years before Zoan in Egypt.) 23 They came to Eshcol Valley, and there they cut off a branch which had one bunch of grapes on it so heavy that it took two men to carry it on a pole between them. They also brought back some pomegranates and figs 24 (That place was named Eshcol Valley because of the bunch of grapes the Israelites cut off there.) 25 After exploring the land for forty days, the spies returned 26 to Moses, Aaron, and the whole community of Israel at Kadesh in the wilderness of Paran. They reported what they had seen and showed them the fruit they had brought. 27 They told Moses, "We explored the land and found it to be rich and fertile; and here is some of its fruit. 28 But the people who live there are powerful, and their cities are very large and well fortified. Even worse, we saw the descendants of the giants there. 29 Amalekites live in the southern part of the land; Hittites, Jebusites, and Amorites live in the hill country; and Canaanites live by the Mediterranean Sea and along the Jordan River." 30 Caleb silenced the people who were complaining against Moses, and said, "We should attack now and take the land; we are strong enough to conquer it." 31 But the men who had gone with Caleb said, "No, we are not strong enough to attack them; the people there are more powerful than we are." 32 So they spread a false report among the Israelites about the land they had explored. They said, "That land doesn't even produce enough to feed the people who live there. Everyone we saw was very tall, 33 and we even saw giants there, the descendants of Anak. We felt as small as grasshoppers, and that is how we must have looked to them."

Numbers 14:1 All night long the people cried out in distress. 2 They complained against Moses and Aaron, and said, "It would have been better to die in Egypt or even here in the wilderness! 3 Why is the Lord taking us into that land? We will be killed in battle, and our wives and children will be captured. Wouldn't it be better to go back to Egypt?" 4 So they said to one another, "Let's choose a leader and go back to Egypt!" 5 Then Moses and Aaron bowed to the ground in front of all the people. 6 And Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, two of the spies, tore their clothes in sorrow 7 and said to the people, "The land we explored is an excellent land. 8 If the Lord is pleased with us, he will take us there and give us that rich and fertile land. 9 Do not rebel against the Lord and don't be afraid of the people who live there. We will conquer them easily. The Lord is with us and has defeated the gods who protected them; so don't be afraid." 10 The whole community was threatening to stone them to death, but suddenly the people saw the dazzling light of the Lord's presence appear over the Tent. 11 The Lord said to Moses, "How much longer will these people reject me? How much longer will they refuse to trust in me, even though I have performed so many miracles among them? 12 I will send an epidemic and destroy them, but I will make you the father of a nation that is larger and more powerful than they are!" 13 But Moses said to the Lord, "You brought these people out of Egypt by your power. When the Egyptians hear what you have done to your people, 14 they will tell it to the people who live in this land. These people have already heard that you, Lord, are with us, that you appear in plain sight when your cloud stops over us, and that you go before us in a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. 15 Now if you kill all your people, the nations who have heard of your fame will say 16 that you killed your people in the wilderness because you were not able to bring them into the land you promised to give them. 17 So now, Lord, I pray, show us your power and do what you promised when you said, 18 "I, the Lord, am not easily angered, and I show great love and faithfulness and forgive sin and rebellion. Yet I will not fail to punish children and grandchildren to the third and fourth generation for the sins of their parents.' 19 And now, Lord, according to the greatness of your unchanging love, forgive, I pray, the sin of these people, just as you have forgiven them ever since they left Egypt." 20 The Lord answered, "I will forgive them, as you have asked. 21 But I promise that as surely as I live and as surely as my presence fills the earth, 22 none of these people will live to enter that land. They have seen the dazzling light of my presence and the miracles that I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness, but they have tried my patience over and over again and have refused to obey me. 23 They will never enter the land which I promised to their ancestors. None of those who have rejected me will ever enter it. 24 But because my servant Caleb has a different attitude and has remained loyal to me, I will bring him into the land which he explored, and his descendants will possess the land 25 in whose valleys the Amalekites and the Canaanites now live. Turn back tomorrow and go into the wilderness in the direction of the Gulf of Aqaba." 26 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, 27 "How much longer are these wicked people going to complain against me? I have heard enough of these complaints! 28 Now give them this answer: "I swear that as surely as I live, I will do to you just what you have asked. I, the Lord, have spoken. 29 You will die and your corpses will be scattered across this wilderness. Because you have complained against me, none of you over twenty years of age will enter that land. 30 I promised to let you live there, but not one of you will, except Caleb and Joshua. 31 You said that your children would be captured, but I will bring them into the land that you rejected, and it will be their home. 32 You will die here in this wilderness. 33 Your children will wander in the wilderness for forty years, suffering for your unfaithfulness, until the last one of you dies. 34 You will suffer the consequences of your sin for forty years, one year for each of the forty days you spent exploring the land. You will know what it means to have me against you! 35 I swear that I will do this to you wicked people who have gathered together against me. Here in the wilderness every one of you will die. I, the Lord, have spoken.' " 36 The men Moses had sent to explore the land brought back a false report which caused the people to complain against the Lord. And so the Lord struck them with a disease, and they died. 38 Of the twelve spies only Joshua and Caleb survived. 39 When Moses told the Israelites what the Lord had said, they mourned bitterly. 40 Early the next morning they started out to invade the hill country, saying, "Now we are ready to go to the place which the Lord told us about. We admit that we have sinned." 41 But Moses said, "Then why are you disobeying the Lord now? You will not succeed! 42 Don't go. The Lord is not with you, and your enemies will defeat you. 43 When you face the Amalekites and the Canaanites, you will die in battle; the Lord will not be with you, because you have refused to follow him." 44 Yet they still dared to go up into the hill country, even though neither the Lord's Covenant Box nor Moses left the camp. 45 Then the Amalekites and the Canaanites who lived there attacked and defeated them, and pursued them as far as Hormah.

xiv-Luke 17:5 The apostles said to the Lord, "Make our faith greater." 6 The Lord answered, "If you had faith as big as a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, "Pull yourself up by the roots and plant yourself in the sea!' and it would obey you.

xv-James 1:9 Those Christians who are poor must be glad when God lifts them up, 10 and the rich Christians must be glad when God brings them down. For the rich will pass away like the flower of a wild plant. 11 The sun rises with its blazing heat and burns the plant; its flower falls off, and its beauty is destroyed. In the same way the rich will be destroyed while they go about their business.

xvi-Luke 8:14 The seeds that fell among thorn bushes stand for those who hear; but the worries and riches and pleasures of this life crowd in and choke them, and their fruit never ripens.

xvii-James 1:27 What God the Father considers to be pure and genuine religion is this: to take care of orphans and widows in their suffering and to keep oneself from being corrupted by the world.

xviii-Matthew 25:37 The righteous will then answer him, "When, Lord, did we ever see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you a drink? 38 When did we ever see you a stranger and welcome you in our homes, or naked and clothe you? 39 When did we ever see you sick or in prison, and visit you?' 40 The King will reply, "I tell you, whenever you did this for one of the least important of these followers of mine, you did it for me!'

xix-James 2:15 Suppose there are brothers or sisters who need clothes and don't have enough to eat. 16 What good is there in your saying to them, "God bless you! Keep warm and eat well!" - if you don't give them the necessities of life?

xx-Luke 10:29 But the teacher of the Law wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, "Who is my neighbor?" 30 Jesus answered, "There was once a man who was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho when robbers attacked him, stripped him, and beat him up, leaving him half dead. 31 It so happened that a priest was going down that road; but when he saw the man, he walked on by on the other side. 32 In the same way a Levite also came there, went over and looked at the man, and then walked on by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan who was traveling that way came upon the man, and when he saw him, his heart was filled with pity. 34 He went over to him, poured oil and wine on his wounds and bandaged them; then he put the man on his own animal and took him to an inn, where he took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper. "Take care of him,' he told the innkeeper, "and when I come back this way, I will pay you whatever else you spend on him.' " 36 And Jesus concluded, "In your opinion, which one of these three acted like a neighbor toward the man attacked by the robbers?" 37 The teacher of the Law answered, "The one who was kind to him." Jesus replied, "You go, then, and do the same."

xxi-James 5:1 And now, you rich people, listen to me! Weep and wail over the miseries that are coming upon you! 2 Your riches have rotted away, and your clothes have been eaten by moths. 3 Your gold and silver are covered with rust, and this rust will be a witness against you and will eat up your flesh like fire. You have piled up riches in these last days. 4 You have not paid any wages to those who work in your fields. Listen to their complaints! The cries of those who gather in your crops have reached the ears of God, the Lord Almighty.

xxii-Luke 12:16 Then Jesus told them this parable: "There was once a rich man who had land which bore good crops. 17 He began to think to himself, "I don't have a place to keep all my crops. What can I do? 18 This is what I will do,' he told himself; "I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, where I will store the grain and all my other goods. 19 Then I will say to myself, Lucky man! You have all the good things you need for many years. Take life easy, eat, drink, and enjoy yourself!' 20 But God said to him, "You fool! This very night you will have to give up your life; then who will get all these things you have kept for yourself?' " 21 And Jesus concluded, "This is how it is with those who pile up riches for themselves but are not rich in God's sight."

xxiii-Luke 10:29 But the teacher of the Law wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, "Who is my neighbor?" 30 Jesus answered, "There was once a man who was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho when robbers attacked him, stripped him, and beat him up, leaving him half dead. 31 It so happened that a priest was going down that road; but when he saw the man, he walked on by on the other side. 32 In the same way a Levite also came there, went over and looked at the man, and then walked on by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan who was traveling that way came upon the man, and when he saw him, his heart was filled with pity. 34 He went over to him, poured oil and wine on his wounds and bandaged them; then he put the man on his own animal and took him to an inn, where he took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper. "Take care of him,' he told the innkeeper, "and when I come back this way, I will pay you whatever else you spend on him.' " 36 And Jesus concluded, "In your opinion, which one of these three acted like a neighbor toward the man attacked by the robbers?" 37 The teacher of the Law answered, "The one who was kind to him." Jesus replied, "You go, then, and do the same."

xxiv-2 Corinthians 4:18 For we fix our attention, not on things that are seen, but on things that are unseen. What can be seen lasts only for a time, but what cannot be seen lasts forever.

xxv-Revelation 14:12 This calls for endurance on the part of God's people, those who obey God's commandments and are faithful to Jesus.

xxvi-Hebrews 12:2 Let us keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, on whom our faith depends from beginning to end. He did not give up because of the cross! On the contrary, because of the joy that was waiting for him, he thought nothing of the disgrace of dying on the cross, and he is now seated at the right side of God's throne.

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