James 2:1-13, "What's Your Glory?"

James chapter 2 verses 1 to 13 hear the word of the Lord My brothers show no partiality as you hold the faith in our

Lord. Jesus Christ the Lord of glory for if a man wearing a gold ring and a fine clothing comes into your assembly and a poor man and shabby clothing also comes in and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say

You sit here in a good place while you say to the poor man you stand over there or sit down at my feet

Have you not been made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? Listen, my beloved brothers

Has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom?

Which he has promised to those who love him But you have dishonored the poor man are not the rich the ones who oppress you and the ones who would drag you into court and Are they not the ones who blaspheme the honorable name by which you were called?

If you really fulfill the royal law according to the scripture, you shall love your neighbor as yourself

You were doing well but if you show partiality you are committing sin and Are convicted by the law as transgressors for whoever keeps the whole law

But fails in one point has become accountable for all of it For he who said do not commit adultery also said do not murder if you do not commit adultery

But do murder you have become a transgressor of the law So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under the law of Liberty For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy mercy triumphs over judgment

May the Lord add his blessings to the reading of his Holy Word Well our

North Carolinians and Virginians too for that matter, I guess proud of their basketball Because they're good at it

Or they good at it because they're proud of it our

Alabamians proud of their football because they're good at it Are they good at it because they're proud of it our

Singaporeans proud of their wealth because they're wealthy Are they wealthy? Because they're proud of wealth

Our Chinese proud of their culture and civilization because they have a great one or do they have a great one because they're proud of it

Are Americans proud of their freedom because they're free or are they free because they're proud of freedom?

Obviously Americans would be proud of their freedom or Chinese proud of their culture and history if they if they didn't feel they had A lot to be proud of Alabamians might be proud of their basketball if they had a decent team and I better leave,

North Carolina alone People are proud of something that that's the way we speak.

That's our terminology Which makes it kind of difficult for us because Bible condemns pride But I don't think that's the way we're using proud of when we talk like that But people are proud of something if they feel that is something great to be proud of Which begs the question then what is great to be proud of?

Well the way the Bible speaks of that of that thing that is great to be proud of is where the word glory

Glory in the Old Testament is literally heaviness. It's weightiness It's important or it is self is importance.

It's what makes the one who has it Important you have glory. You're important.

Well, then what is glory? What is glorious so North Carolinians think college basketball is the most important glorious?

Because not coincidentally they have some of the best college basketball teams If you're the best at football

You'll probably think that is glorious If you have a lot of money

You probably think that is what gives you weight makes you a big shot

Being educated is glorious You'll pursue degrees and hang them on your wall

If the beautiful girlfriend or boyfriend is what's glorious having that that relationship people won't rest until they can post that adorable

Profile picture of themselves and their sweetheart cheek -to -cheek on their social media account

Maybe it's your family Right a lot of cultures think family is glorious Confucian cultures family is what makes for glory and even in here in the

US, you know, the people say We need to focus on the family because that's what that's where your glory comes from Proverbs chapter 20 verse 29 says the glory of young men is their strength

Because they have a lot of it or at least they can and the splendor of old men Is their gray hair

Well, that's a different culture, isn't it? Maybe in our culture we Say things like, you know,

I've forgotten more about life than you even have learned so far I've been around the block a few times, you know,

I'm old enough to be your father Something like that. It's just proud of their

Years, even if they buy this stuff from the drugstore to make their hair not so great Something is your glory if that's what gives you weight gives you respect

Importance. So what is it? You think gives you weight? Of course, it's not so simple that everyone just feels proud of whatever they have

Some people don't have what they think will give them respect and and crave it

They want that glorious thing that that money that that talent that degree and work hard to get it

I remember like 2005 2006 him some guy on TV Watching an

Alabama game Alabama was just another mediocre team and some sports commentator was commenting that these

Alabama He's a crazy Alabama fans Just got to get used to the fact that they'll never go back to the glory days

When they were the best team around and I listen to that guy I thought that guy doesn't know anything about Alabama people not he doesn't have a clue

I mean they they may not have it right now, but they crave it and because they crave it They're gonna go out and get it and that's exactly what they did

I know a young man around here who ran a 514 mile as a freshman in high school five minutes 14 seconds

Freshman in high school, so that's about 14 15 years old, which isn't which is not bad It's not spectacular, but it's not bad

If he had developed that he could have turned into a good runner perhaps earned an athletic scholarship to college somewhere

But he's from North Carolina Where every boy it seems Wants to be a basketball player

That's that's where the glory is in basketball not in running and so he tried to become another basketball player and you know

There's just too much competition The glory isn't there in basketball mate in China ding Zhao Ping is supposed to have said oh

They don't really know if he said it or not. It's early in his leadership of China to get rich. It's glorious Now he said that said to have said that and in the late 1970s or early 1980s

Before China had begun to get rich as he said that as an incentive as a

Signal to the people that they were now free to get rich to pursue wealth

It was now the glory they could go out and and get even if most of the people were still poor at the time

People are very capable of believing that something is the thing to be proud of the thing that is glorious Even if they don't have it yet So what's your glory?

Is it money? Is that why you pursue it? You know, not just to pay your bills and have a place to live

But you kind of agree with ding Zhao Ping to get riches glorious Or is it that adorable relationship?

So that's why you crave it or or is it athletic prowess It's not maybe if not for yourself, so you know, you know, you're not gonna be the great athlete

So you're not going to the gym every day, but your team by association Can give you the glory

Right. Is that what you're counting on? Maybe that's maybe that's why are you counting down the days for the basketball season to start?

I've more four more weeks. However long it is. My glory is coming back. Are you loving this current football season?

Are you saying no, that's so juvenile My money is for the family the sport the sports

Yeah, the kids like to watch the family likes to watch my our sports. The family is the glory

Or is it something else? What's your glory? Whatever it is

That will shape what you pour your money your time your energy your interest and your life into your glory is

What you pursue? We see that here in James what we just read in two broad parts first the glory then the mercy

Sorry, don't rhyme or illiterate or anything James doesn't make any secret of what the glory is in verse one

He just says it right out, but the translations I don't think show it. Well He's making a practical case here.

I expect specific application that his brothers and sisters us Should not show partiality in the church and he gives us the reason why not to show partial not to prefer one people over another

As you hold faith in our Lord Jesus Christ notice that as you as you're in the process you're holding faith in the

Lord Jesus You cannot be partial to one kind of people over another Those two are contrary to each other.

It is faith versus favoritism Those two things should not coexist

Believing in Jesus and preferring one kind of people over another They cannot go together because he says at the end of verse 1

Jesus is the glory That's what it literally says in Greek Sometimes I'm really glad I took

Greek The SV in some other translation translates it here like here the Lord of glory They're trying to make it sound good and smooth

English, but the word Lord is not repeated there It occurs once where you know, we have faith in in our

Lord Jesus Christ But it doesn't occur again with glory. I can hear it It doesn't say

Lord of glory the NIV translates It is our glorious hold faith in our glorious Lord trying to make glory modify

Lord as an adjective, which is okay I think it's probably I think actually better over here than the ESB. But what it literally says is

Here don't be partial to certain people as you hold faith in our Lord Jesus Christ The glory he's saying

Jesus is the glory That's why we're not to show partiality to certain people, you know

If our glory is college football and Nick Saban enters here Wow you know the

The maestro the the great champion of college football. Well, we give him glory, right?

We we greedy but a special he's especially important. We give him the best seat if there is a best seat I don't know but that seat that is here

But if it was basketball, maybe you do the same for coach K or whoever if it's political power is being prominent

When the president comes in here, well, we fall all over ourselves trying to host him, you know

Try to make him special have him come up here. Give some words if it's money Then we prefer the rich Come driving up here in a

Rolls -Royce nice suit, man. We want him to stay the social status That's what we crave

But we think the glory is then we want above all, you know, the doctors the lawyers the PhDs the

CEOs we want to somebody's We want a church full of somebody's Maybe they get quickly made deacons and elders because there's somebody

While other lowly faithful members get ignored even after years of faithful service.

I Know someone in Yanceyville that goes all the way to Durham to go to church Because that church there in Durham is full of professional people full of somebody's people with degrees and high incomes

Driving to churches in their Rolls -Royces and that person doesn't want to be associated with you know, a church full of lowly

Wage earners on the world some of some of them don't even have college degrees He imagined sitting with such riffraff their glory is

The status the education the position the income And so they will pass dozens of churches on their way so they can go wallow in that glory.

James says no Jesus is the glory And James gives a specific example starting in verse 2 a visitor comes to church

Dressed in expensive clothes and their day wearing a gold ring a fine suit No in our day, maybe a five thousand dollars

Italian suit another visitor comes in at the same time wearing shabby clothes He looks he looks homeless

He's one of those guys you recognize, you know, there's a few of them. I'm just at least one of them Anyway, I recognize he's always walking up and down the streets and in Yanceyville Or maybe some guy you've seen panhandling in Danville Or maybe

One of our gym guys comes to church, you know With sagging pants.

Don't you hate that? Fashion statement. I mean that's got to be that's the dumbest looking fashion statement.

I think in history maybe I'm not sure. It's that or the the wigs, you know, they wore like 300 years ago

You look at those pictures of men with wigs on that looks so dumb too. I think I think you know It's a debatable, but I think

I'd go with the sagging pants that's worse You pay attention to those the one with a nice suit Give him give him a visitor packet.

We show him. I don't know where the good seat is But we show him whatever it is Every everybody tries to be friendly to him

We think you know If we can only get a few more like him get him and a few more like him to come and stay we'll be able

To build a proper sanctuary. Well, I'd be sitting in a gym anymore the gym guy though You know over there with his sagging pants, well he can

He can go play basketball for all we care until the service starts at least and and where he sits after that Who cares if he even stays or at all?

Who cares? Of course, he's gonna have to lift up his pants, right? You know in there our early years here.

We in did in fact have a gym guy visit us on Sunday morning With with the with the obligatory sagging pants and a couple of members former members now

Made an issue out of it confront him about it. I remember even one I couldn't see in my mind right over there

Chasing the guy trying to take the basketball away from him because he's not gonna be allowed to play basketball until he raised up his pants

We tried to compromise at the time which maybe would have been a mistake on our part Tried to explain to both sides

Mary even bought the guy a good pair of basketball shorts So even if he sagged his pants, it was just basketball shorts showing what you say

Why don't you have a long shirt, you know tuck it so you can sag your pants under your shirt We don't see it, you know this kind of stuff Looking back on it

I'm just so ashamed I'm ashamed we had members of this church who did that One of the members who did that had a son's girlfriend who came to church about the same time

With a top that left very little to the imagination But that was okay with them,

I guess just not the sagging pants. What why what's the difference? Well, they were making distinctions

James calls it in verse 4 they thought they were valid distinctions You know, they desperately did not want to be part of a church where guys could come with sagging pants.

That's disreputable That's gangster and they don't mean that in a good way It's shameful.

It's the opposite of glorious James says that that is

James says that what is shameful is your distinctions in verse 4

We've made distinctions and that's the same word there as he used in chapter 1 for the double -minded

In one mind we say Jesus is our Lord. Jesus is our glory and another we say being reputable being sophisticated being well -mannered being upper -class being somebody

That's our glory. That's what counts a Divided mind and then shown by the different treatment the divided treatment we give to different people depending on how

Glorious the world says they are the sagging pants guys are at the bottom

Doctors lawyers CEOs politicians. They're at the top. We want more of them. I Once went to a church in Birmingham, Alabama where a senator spoke he gave the sermon now

Do you think the senator was the most godly most biblically sound? Preacher that they could find that day.

Is that why he spoke you made distinctions among yourselves in the assembly

The church and become judges with evil thoughts evil thinking judges

James says strong words in it We might think come on James What's so evil about recognizing obvious differences one is wealthy and he can help us have a bigger budget and the other

Come on, he really doesn't have anything to offer us In fact, he'll probably we'll probably end up having to give to him

You know, we need those wealthy people for the good of the kingdom For our you know for our budget for the things we can buy with it his money

That's the evil thoughts that James condemns come on we think what's so evil about that We need rich people to help us pay our bills

We need respectable people, you know, they're respectable Ness will wear off on us and will be looked up to So you're judging then

You're deciding based on your criteria you made up about who deserves respect

Who has quote glory? You're judging what you think you need and worst of all

You're overlooking Who your real glory is? the real evil thought is that thought that says

The Jesus we hold in our faith Isn't glorious enough

Mark ever says in Capitol Hill That it was or maybe still is for all

I know but full of ministries are aimed at quote influencing the influencers You know reaching the powerful shaping the culture by shaping those who shape the culture and of course if you're gonna go be

You know be a witness to the congressmen and senators and stuff like that You got to have a status that's equal to theirs Which means you need to have an income that's equal to theirs and drive like they do and look right

So we got a fun that we used to make fun of beach ministries because we know that was you know I want to go to the beach and witness to the girls there.

You know what that's about Meanwhile, we still can't find anyone except for that one that one

Chinese church in Houston It was really interested in helping a small church that tries to reach the local mostly poor kids

Why is that you think you know in the church business? Members are our should say numbers are our glory numbers

Are the glory of churches often these days the bigger the church the more people the more the more budget the bigger buildings?

maybe multiple campuses linked by video the more glory and So so the more respect is given

The the pastor then gets more invitations to speak at conferences sell books to be somebody and of course that all wears off on us

More numbers, it's glory When we were getting started about 10 years ago.

I spent a lot of time Believe on this time you believe the number of emails and stuff I sent I spent a lot of time trying to get help for us from outside from denominations and other organizations

I even went to a conference in Houston on planting churches. Mainly the main intention. I'm going to that conference was to get help for us

We eventually did get help from Houston ironically, but not from not from anyone attached to that conference

While I was at the conference Mary was invited to go see this Chinese church there and that's where we got our help What I heard there when

I went to that conference from the pastor of this large church It was hosting the conference the pastor there big church about how when he applied to be part of the organization

All right big church lots of numbers the national head of the organization comes to him

To talk to him and accept him When it came our time to apply

No one ever came to us. I Had to go to them in Raleigh. I didn't get to meet certainly not with a national head.

You kidding I'm a nobody and not even with the regional head Some of his assistants

Sent to talk to me We're small We didn't deserve much attention

Small means no glory To be fair. Well, we can say well, they can't possibly go to every little church plant that tries to apply for help.

Yeah, maybe Maybe that explains why they didn't come to us. But what explains why the national head went to the to the big church?

I Think if we had a few hundred more members, we'd have all kinds of people interested in quote helping us

James says favoritism ought not to be Because Jesus is our glory if Jesus are our glory then why are you these people here?

Why are you pursuing the rich or the powerful or the? connected the accomplished You occasionally hear

Christians say, you know, if we can only get so -and -so that celebrity converted and he'll testify

And then people out there in the world then they'll perk up and then they'll listen and they'll be converted

The so -and -so's they so desperately want are the ones they think have the most glory You know the rock stars or the movie stars or the great athletes you know if only

Metallica or Jay -z would get converted or Tom Hanks or LeBron James would become

Christian then we'd have glory their glory Can you imagine LeBron James's glory wearing off on us?

We'd finally have something glorious if LeBron James would be with us People would pay attention and millions would be saved and the kingdom would come

That's what they apply James says You know, we've already got the superstar

Don't you know we we already have glory if you think you need the stars of the world

The the wealthy or the connected or the somebody's then you're missing Jesus You can't hold

Simultaneously faith in our Lord Jesus Christ and Be desperately looking for glory from the world

But from the rich to fundability project or from the professors and the professionals to make us high -class

You can't do both at the same time holding faith in Jesus while with the same hands trying to grasp for the glory of the world because if you do

You show you don't understand Who that Jesus you're supposed to be holding on to is

The one you claim to hold in faith. Who is he? He's the glory Listen James says in verse 5 to his beloved

Again, he's affectionate. Yeah, he's those strong terms of rebuke You become judges with evil thoughts evil thinking judges, but then warm terms of love my loved brothers and sisters

You want to know why else you shouldn't make a distinction Listen several reasons here. Well first most importantly

Jesus is our glory But why wait should make distinctions with you. These are our kind of people. We want more like them these others not so much because Well first most importantly

Jesus is our glory But second God has chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom

Notice again in James the sovereignty of God there with that those who have faith and Who inherit his kingdom are that way at our believers who inherit his kingdom?

ultimately Because God chose them God chose

Now sure, they made their choices But God chose them God chose in the mostly poor

God chose the poor now Sure, they chose him too, but they did that they chose him because first from eternity past God chose them notice the verb tense there in verse 5

God has chosen In other words, the choosing is all already done.

The choice has already been made. It's settled by God and He chose for his own glory as Paul says in 1st

Corinthians 1 the weak things of the world To shame the strong God chose

The lowly things of this world and the despised things and the things that are not

To nullify the things that are so that no one may boast before him.

No one comes I'm so proud of what I am before you God. No, he doesn't choose those kind And yet we still are often scrambling around looking for something to be proud of But Jesus is our glory

Here he chose the poor to be rich in faith to have a have a lot of faith In Jesus and to be heirs like a rich kid is an heir of his or her parents wealth

So we whom he has chosen as heirs of the kingdom That means we will inherit that kingdom and since God's kingdom

Will bring every enemy even death every thought captive Every Kingdom the

Republic's the Commonwealth's every country all the world and all it contains all the kingdoms of this world

Have become and will become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ and we inherit that kingdom

Then we as the father's heirs Will inherit all things all things are yours

Paul says He has here at the end of verse 5 promised that all -encompassing kingdom

To those who love him That's a lot of wealth coming

For you. Imagine if you saw a will and there you are stated in the will all my wealth is being

What does it work? Bequeathed I guess at the fancy word bequeathed to and there's your name and this person is the billionaire

And you would think man, I'm set maybe for right now, you know, I'm getting by but when

I when I get this inheritance I'm set. That's what we have All things are yours

It's settled. It's yours So we have a lot of wealth coming our way more than enough to keep to keep us from so Craving the crumbs that the local rich people have that we feel like we have to cater to them

Hoping to maybe get a crumb or two to fall our way So don't dishonor the poor the nobodies the gangster wannabes with their ridiculous sagging pants

You might want to give them a fashion tip if they still trust you But don't dishonor them by treating them with no honor after all he says in verses 6 to 7

It's the rich who don't often don't share our values Who wield their money only for themselves

Who will sue you if you get in their way, they will you don't think they will they will They'll charge you over charge you if they get a monopoly

It will squeeze you will make laws that are benefit them and not us who often blaspheme the name of Jesus You know just two weeks ago on the news.

I heard a story from a man happened to Oliver North complaining about how that senator That I heard give that sermon in that church in Birmingham, Alabama That senator that that church put in that prominent place

Had slandered him had lied about him in public we crave their approval that their worldly glory would wear off on us and So we overlook their behavior

What's your glory? James is going on driving home. This key point is really just one big point in this whole passage

That That point is the evil of us choosing who we will prefer in church These are our kind of people not those people used to do that based on race

I don't think not so much anymore at least probably do in some places, but not so much now We're back to pretty much back to what

James was talking about the money the status We want those who have it

He he condemns that because first Jesus is the glory second God chose the poor third.

Look at the way these glorious people you're pursuing often treat you often behave and And the way they treat the name of Jesus and now finally

What about lest we forget? Mercy the command to love our neighbors as ourself

What about mercy? We've forgotten about that if you really fulfill the royal law the law of the

King King Jesus who is the glory if you keep his law and then

James quotes it you shall love your neighbor as yourself If you do that, you're doing well

But notice the command according from Leviticus chapter 19 verse 18 According to the scripture we've we've heard so much we've heard it so much.

No love your neighbor as yourself You probably stopped thinking about it. It's only we just okay.

I heard that a million times But it's love your neighbor as Yourself It's not so many people think it's kind of a generic just love everybody

That's that's that's kind of what it means, but it's not really what it says. That's too general.

That's too shapeless So you could say, you know, I love everybody That's why I'm ignoring this person right in front of me

Because I love these other people over the horizon that I'm not seeing right now But this person in front of me who needs me Forget you

I love those other people over there. I want good things for everyone Even if I'm ignoring these specific people who are right there in front of me

The Lord Jesus illustrated that in the parable of the Good Samaritan, you know, the despised half -breed

Samaritan treated the wounded Assault victim as a neighbor the priest and the

Levite thought they'd go they would go love someone else They're gonna go love their families or love their friends they're going to see they're gonna go love the people of their own choosing

Why should I have to help they probably think in the cell? Why should I have to help this? moaning Bleeding victim just because I happen to be traveling here when he's in need

Why should I why is it my problem? They were playing favorites The people in the church who were falling all over themselves to impress the rich guy while chasing off the kid with the sagging pants

We're doing the same. They were playing favorites for their own agenda. They weren't loving whoever the

Lord put in front of them But if you love your neighbor Whoever's whoever is beside you and that's often out of our control

If you do that Then you're not going to show partiality if you do in verse 9 you are committing sin

Notice that in verse 9 that's not my interpretation of the verse. That's what it says You are committing sin if you're catering to the wealthy guy

Having the senator speak never mind that he slanders people Chasing after the stars of the world while at the same time chasing away the pants aggers

Having the people of another race sit back there sit in the balcony. Just be quiet you're treating some differently because they're not at the kind you want more of you are convicted by the law as Transgressors the law is love your neighbor as yourself

You wouldn't want to be treated like that. You want someone to wag differently be quiet and go sit up on the balcony

So if you treat some people like that you have broken the law and if you've broken that law

Even if you've kept everything else perfectly all six hundred and twelve other laws You've broken them all

It's not like school, you know where you can miss 30 to 40 percent of the exam and still pass and this exam

God's exam If we miss even one Even one time We failed you either get 100 % if nobody does or 0 % that's because for he explains it why breaking one is breaking them all in verse 10 for He who said

That's key He who said notice from whom the command comes

Do not commit adultery also said do not murder that is if you murder or Play favorites in the church because you really want to have some of those people their glory the glory of the senators and the billionaires

We're off on you Well, you don't care about the gangster wannabes or the homeless Then you then you've broken the command of the one who said it

He commanded it you broke it you flouted his authority you didn't care what he said

You're gonna do what you want to do. You violated him. He said do This but you do something else and so you show that you don't submit to God you you don't keep his word

He said it But you cared more about your own wishes where you could get some glory from the world.

You don't respect him and You don't love him Do we then earn his mercy?

By being merciful. Okay, that's that's it I got to be merciful to other people to get mercy from God is it just like that or maybe we we can hide behind mercy

Even if our lives are no different We just say mercy and we just go about go about our lives being completely unmerciful to everyone around us

What do we do? Well, yes, we need now a Responsive obedience to keep

God's commands that is we respond to his previous mercy to us by being merciful

We don't say well, I depend on mercy. I've already broken the law. So I don't even need to try to keep it anymore

I don't even need to try to be merciful anymore because it's already broke it. Never mind In verse 12 says so speak and so act as Those who are to be judged under the law of Liberty You might say well,

I'm not gonna be judged by the law I'm free from the law But even a song that goes that way, right?

Well, that's true sort of he doesn't say James is not saying you'll be justified You'll be saved by the law

But he does say you'll be judged the law of Liberty is the same term He used in chapter 1 verse 24 about the word of God the word the truth that sets you free

It makes you at Liberty if you do it You won't be justified made right with God saved finally by whether you kept

God's law, but we will be judged Rewarded or not by whether you kept his word now some so -called

Christians need to judge themselves now By God's Word the law of Liberty to see if they are really saved at all to see if they're really free from sin

You know if not they need to Get safe. We need to live in obedience to it to God's Word even if we're not

Justified by it now why? Because you love him

Because he had mercy on you Even after you forgot to have mercy on the guy

With the sagging pants Speak and act as if you will be judged by God's law

Because in verse 13 for judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy

That's a strong sentence in that think of that judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy

The particular command here is love your neighbor as yourself show mercy to whoever God puts in front of you

If you don't keep that command you show lots of you. Maybe you show lots of mercy But it's always to the to the people that can show mercy back to you

By people over your house who can invite you to their house like that, you know, I'll scratch their back. They scratch mine a

Lot of people show mercy to rich people, you know, and the rich get a lot of mercy Our rich people have a lot of favors and gifts given to them

Mary and I have had the blessing of having some friends really all her friends who are rich It's it's nice.

It's nice to have rich friends Because occasionally they have extra, you know stuff if extra CD players or computers or purses or whatever that other people have given to them to curry their favor and They don't really need it because they have enough of their own stuff already and they'll pass it on to you

That nice so it's nice to have and I'm not complaining about that. If any of you ever come rich I'm gonna still be your friend.

I hope The people who gave them those gifts don't weren't really being merciful They were trying to win over a customer or a client or a contract and keep them and you know

Keep a good relationship. So next time they'll buy their services the poor hardly ever get gifts like that because they have nothing to give back

They don't get mercy from people So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under the law of Liberty Especially that law that commands us to have mercy on whoever is put before us

Love your neighbor no matter how poor no matter if he sags his pants if he can't do anything

Good for you because judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy If you break that command about mercy don't expect to be able to hide from judgment by calling on mercy

So We're in trouble you can't do you catch how much trouble we're in You break one law you've broken it all

Particularly about the law of mercy and if you do that, which we all have then judgment comes without mercy.

Oh, we're in trouble We've all failed at times Apparently these people have to show mercy

To love some poor person set before us to do for him or her what we'd like to have done for us

We're in trouble Look at this Treating the one shabbily dressed

Treating such a person poorly It's like treating Jesus poorly Now he too came dressed in the shabby body of mortal man

He came clothed in flesh And was treated poorly He said that at the judgment that he will tell people that as they've done it to To the rich to the senators to the billionaires as you've done it to the least of these the shabbily dressed

The gangster wannabes with nothing going for them to the prisoners to the lowlifes the riffraffs

As you've done it to them You've done it to me If you've not been merciful to those who can't do anything for us for you

Like like we can't do anything for the Lord then the only thing left for us is

Judgment without mercy We can't rely on mercy Without giving mercy.

What are we to do? plead for mercy Realize that relying on mercy means we recognize there's nothing about us that we can feel proud of Before his judgment some some glory that will bring to him to impress him with Not even our acts our own acts of mercy

Our kindness is our our loving our neighbors our charity. None of that is going to be impressive

Something glorious to show to the Lord. It's not as though we can earn God's mercy by being merciful

We rather need to be transformed by his mercy becoming merciful recognize

That we have no glory Not with us. We have no glory except Jesus and We have to trust that his mercy triumphs over the judgment we deserve

See them That because we broken even one law We have nothing to be proud of before God we have no glory we have nothing between us and judgment without mercy nothing absolutely nothing

Except sheer mercy and Thank God that his mercy