The Sin of Partiality: Part 2

Redeeming Grace Church

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May 12, 2019

Taming the Untameable Tongue: Part 3

00:00: James chapter 2, I was thinking about this message and isn't it wonderful that the
00:10: Word of God gives to us through holy men of God that was moved by the
00:18: Holy Spirit, breathed upon, the Spirit of God was breathing upon, they were moved, they wrote these wonderful words, it's in our language today, but as I was thinking about and preparing this message
00:32: I could not help to think God's Word does not hold back the fullness of truth that what we need to hear, it's not what we want to hear, there's many itching ears out there today that want to hear what they want to hear, they have desires not to hear the truth and yet there are teachers out there that they cling to that give them what they want to hear, well it's not always what we want to hear, it's what we need to hear, it's like David in Psalm 23, the
01:11: Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want, it's the shepherd that leads us beside the still waters, he takes us where we need to be taken, you see, the sheep, if a sheep strays, sheep's dumb, they're going to lead, they're going to go somewhere they don't know,
01:36: I saw this on Facebook, this wasn't planned, sheep got away from the flock, somebody posted it and they were shearing the sheep, this one needed to be sheared, he was away like five or six years, they found the sheep and the thing was like a huge, huge ball of wool and it was kind of funny looking, it was like the thing couldn't hardly walk and it's like look what happened to the sheep, it needed to be sheared, it didn't get sheared but it was in bad shape, thankfully the sheep was found and sheared, that's love, the shearing is love.
02:19: Well, and likewise, James the apostle, he has a way to shear us, doesn't he?
02:27: And scripture says that, when the Lord tends to his own sheep, it's tough love.
02:37: Here in James chapter 2, there's tough love. Now, what we've been looking at, this is part 2 of looking at this little series, we're looking at personal favoritism, we're looking at the sin of partiality.
02:53: Scripture has a lot to say about it. And I'm going to read all 13 verses, but in particular we're going to look at verses 18,
03:01: I'm sorry, yeah, 8 through 13. But I would like to read as a whole to get what we covered last week, a good portion of this and he gives us a striking example of about personal favoritism that has happened, that actually happens within the church here and that was a real example,
03:22: I believe, that he was giving. So, hear the word of the living God as the apostle
03:28: James brings to us, beware of personal favoritism. Verse 1, my brethren, do not hold your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ with an attitude of personal favoritism.
03:45: For if a man comes into your assembly with a gold ring and dressed in fine clothes, and there also comes in a poor man in dirty clothes, and you pay special attention to the one who is wearing the fine clothes, and say, you sit here in a good place, and you say to the poor man, you stand over there and sit down by my footstool.
04:08: Have you not made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil motives?
04:15: Listen, my beloved brethren, did not God choose the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom in which he promised to those who love him?
04:28: But you have dishonored the poor man. Is it not the rich who oppress you and personally drag you into court?
04:40: Do they not blaspheme the fair name by which you have been called? If, however, you are fulfilling the royal law according to the scripture, you shall love your neighbor as yourself.
04:55: You are doing well. But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors.
05:07: For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all.
05:14: For he who said, Do not commit adultery, also said, Do not commit murder. Now, if you do not commit adultery, but do commit murder, you have become a transgressor of the law.
05:28: So speak and so act as those who are to be judged by the law of liberty.
05:36: For judgment will be merciless to one who has shown no mercy.
05:44: Mercy triumphs over judgment. May God bless the reading of his word to our hearts this morning.
05:54: Let's pray. Our Father in heaven, you have given to us your holy word.
06:02: Oh, how thankful we are this morning. We fear and tremble before it. It can bring great comfort, but can also strike, cut deep to the heart.
06:16: But that's what we need. Father, we thank you for that. We thank you that it's a sharp, two -edged sword.
06:23: It pierces, it cuts, but it's the kind of cutting that brings the healing to our souls.
06:31: Lord, may we be open to this kind of spiritual evaluation, spiritual surgery, so to speak.
06:42: Father, may we be committed to a spiritual devotion, commitment of the heart.
06:51: This is what you require to do justice, to love mercy, and to walk humbly before you.
07:00: Father, our prayer and our cry today is really summed up in one simple request.
07:07: Oh, that we may see Jesus. Oh, that we may see Jesus. This one request will change everything.
07:15: And once we see him, there's healing to our souls. So Father, because it transforms us and alters our lives totally and completely.
07:26: So Father, we ask this for your glory, and we ask it in the name of Jesus.
07:33: Amen and amen. The epistle to James is very practical.
07:39: We saw that by the illustration we looked at last week, these first seven verses.
07:46: Very, very practical and much more with day -to -day issues than with theology and doctrine, even though there is theology and doctrine there.
07:55: But James is, he comes right down to where we live, doesn't he? In a very usual sense.
08:04: In the present passage we have just read, James is dealing with partiality, or you should say favoritism, in all 13 verses.
08:16: Chapter 2 is made up of three parts. I've written it down in these three parts, or should
08:22: I say three subjects, are discussed by James. First of all, it's the duty of impartiality and the treatment of others.
08:32: He deals with this in verses 1 -9. The duty of impartiality and treatment of others.
08:39: That's really what he's talking about is how to treat others, no matter what class and distinction. Secondly, it is divided up as the duty of yielding obedience to the whole law in order to have evidence of true religion, or true
08:56: Christianity I should say. Let me say that again. And this is what we're going to be looking at today. The second part of this is the duty of yielding obedience to the whole law in order to have evidence of true
09:11: Christianity. That's found in verses 10 -13 and that's what we're going to look at.
09:17: But third, Lord willing, we're going to be going in this direction. The last part of this chapter is dealing with the subject of justification.
09:27: Showing that working faiths are necessary in order that a person may be justified.
09:35: And notice what I said, working faith. It's faith that works. It's not works and our works that saves us, but it's the works of Christ.
09:46: But there's something that happens in our life and works follows it. So we're going to be looking at that.
09:53: A lot of gray areas in that, but the word of God makes it very clear. There's no contradictions.
09:59: And it basically deals with being justified or esteemed. That's another word of justification, esteemed, declared righteous before a holy
10:10: God. How I can be right before God. And as I said before, Paul deals with that before the eyes of God and James deals with it before the eyes of men.
10:21: And James deals with this in verses 14 -26 and I can't wait to go in those verses.
10:29: It's beautiful the way he brings this out. But Lord willing, we'll be looking at this third part beginning next
10:36: Lord's Day as God wills it. But to recap a little bit to you that was not here last
10:42: Lord's Day. We covered last Lord's Day. We saw that the first nine verses of this chapter that James deals with is how we are to treat people.
10:54: That's got to be emphasized and we see a lot of mistreatment in churches today and that's the one place it should not happen, but it still happens, doesn't it?
11:04: There's redeemed sinners and there is mistreatment and there's reasons for this.
11:14: There's no justification for it before God as far as God's concerned because the law is perfect and the standard is perfect.
11:23: So we saw in these first nine verses how James deals with how we are to treat people in different strata of society.
11:31: He answers the question such as how do you treat the rich man when he comes in the church or the assembly?
11:41: How do you treat the poor man when he comes into the assembly?
11:47: Rich or poor? Black or white? No matter what class?
11:54: He deals with it, doesn't he? The Word of God deals with our everyday circumstances and that's what
12:00: I love about James. He's very practical. Very, very practical. It's Christianity in shoe leather and he deals with, actually here's another, some things he deals with.
12:12: He deals with God's war on poverty and interestingly enough he also deals with God's war on riches.
12:20: That's what the Word of God, and the Word of God has a lot to say about riches. Much. There was to be no favoritism whatsoever on account of rank, birth, color, wealth or even clothing, attire or apparel, however you want to say it.
12:41: The case to which the apostle refers for illustration of this is that where two persons, and we saw this, should come into the assembly of meeting of Christians, worshippers, one is elegantly dressed and the other is poorly dressed and they should assign to the latter, the poor, a more humble place and the reasons which the apostle assigns should not do is this.
13:09: Number one, and like I said, the reasons which the apostle assigns this, that we should not do this, and I'm just going to clip some quick pointers here, that God, number one, has chosen the poor of this world and haven't selected his friends mainly for them.
13:31: We see that in verse 5. If you notice in verse 5 that, listen my beloved brethren, did not
13:39: God choose the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which he promised to those who love him?
13:48: Yes. Those are the ones that God, most of the time, there are some rich, it doesn't say not any, it says not many.
14:00: And it is hard for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven, isn't it? We see that. So God has chosen, in verse 5, secondly, because rich men, in fact, oppress the poor.
14:15: They oppress the poor and show that they were worthy of no special regard.
14:21: We see that in verse 6. Notice what verse 6 says, but you have dishonored the poor man. Is it not the rich who oppress you and personally drag you into court?
14:33: And you see the situation, the word oppress literally means to tyrannize, a reference to civil court.
14:44: And I'm sure it got very, very ugly. We're not going to look at that, we capped on that a little bit.
14:51: And third, because they were often found among revilers, in fact, despised their religion.
15:02: We see this in verse 7. Notice what it says in verse 7. Do they not blaspheme the fair name by which you have been called?
15:12: MacArthur notes here, probably a reference to religious courts, wealthy Jewish opponents of Christ were harassing these poor
15:21: Christians. And there is a reference here that is given to us about this that Jesus refers to in John chapter 16 verses 2 -4.
15:35: This is what he said to his disciples. They will make you outcast from the synagogue, but an hour is coming.
15:45: Notice that. He was saying, guaranteed this is going to happen. An hour is coming.
15:52: And for everyone who kills you to think that he is offering service to God.
15:59: In verse 3, this is the words of Jesus. These things, these things that he's talking about, suffering, persecution to the church, to his people.
16:07: In other words, he says, expect it. It's going to happen. These things they will do because they have not known the
16:15: Father or me. And then he goes on to say, but these things, notice how many times he's saying these things, he's talking about sufferings,
16:23: I have spoken to you so that when their hour comes, and I love this, he's telling them this, that you may remember that I have told of them to you.
16:37: These things I did not say to you at all at the beginning because I was with you.
16:44: Now what is he talking about? Technically he didn't need to warn them at that time, but now he's giving warning.
16:52: Why? Because he was there to protect them. He is the great shepherd of the sheep. He is the protector of the sheep.
16:59: A sheep is always safe close to a shepherd, right? What happens when the shepherd goes away?
17:05: Well, they're not under his protection, but that's why he says, I'm going to give you another comforter. And if you notice in the context of this, in John 15, 16, and 17, he gives warnings, and then what he does, he turns right around, he gives promises to assure their hearts, to encourage their hearts.
17:24: I love that about the Lord, don't you? He gives warnings, and that's absolutely pure truth in action.
17:32: That's pure compassion for his own. He gives them the truth, he gives them the warnings, and that's what a true shepherd does.
17:40: He warns the flock of the dangers, but yet he comes back and he gives promises to guarantee everything.
17:49: But everything Jesus tells him is right there and it comes true. And he's talking about martyrdom, he's talking about persecution, he's talking about sufferings.
17:56: And to the early church, this was very real. And by the way, it's very real today in other parts of the country.
18:02: So because he was there, he protected his sheep like a good shepherd, protecting his own, keeping them from harm, but now he warns of his own, of persecution to come, and tells them why, and what reason they were to persecute you.
18:18: And he says it, thinking these people will persecute you and put you to death, thinking that they are offering service to God.
18:27: Now, let me pause right here and insert this of what's happening today in our world. The Muslims in Islam, they are very, very devout in what they're doing.
18:39: They really do think that what they're doing in beheading and killing people in the name of Allah is something that they're really going to get some reward in eternity.
18:53: And look at how real Satan is. This evil is real. It's evil and it's deceptive and it shows you
19:01: Satan is alive on this earth as well. But there is a God in heaven that's over all.
19:08: And sometimes you sit back and people think, why does God allow such evil? But God is in control, folks.
19:17: He is in full control. We don't understand a lot of this. And I'm telling you, there are some things on social media, be careful what you see.
19:26: I came across something the other day and I should not have seen it. It was a live witness of a death from an
19:33: Islamic. And that image is stamped in my mind and I'll tell you, it's such a sobering thing of the evil that's before us.
19:43: There's people dying for the name of Christ and even some not for the name of Christ, but these people are so serious in annihilating anyone that does not bow to Islam, to Allah.
19:54: So we need to be wise, don't we? We need to be, I believe the
19:59: Lord would want us to have defense. But in every way we can, for his name's sake,
20:06: Jesus was very well, in that time, terrorism was real. That's what I'm saying. Now why
20:12: I'm saying this, Paul the apostle was saved. Before Paul was converted to Jesus Christ, he was a terrorist.
20:21: Saul of Tarsus literally had Christians put to death. He had the authority to do this.
20:28: He personified this attitude as he persecuted the church, thinking he was doing service to God.
20:34: That's what he said. But he was, of course, he was taught under the law of God, but the law, as you well know, condemns and puts to death.
20:49: He didn't see grace and mercy until he met Jesus Christ, or should I say Jesus met him on the road to Damascus.
20:56: And after Paul's conversion, he was the persecutor, he became the persecuted.
21:03: You ever wonder why Paul took persecution so powerfully, gracefully,
21:09: I should say, in a way that hardly anybody else you could see? This man was incredible.
21:15: Read his life. He even gives it at times. He's stoned three times.
21:21: He's shipwrecked. He's beaten. He's naked. He's destitute. He goes on. I was beaten with many stripes here.
21:28: He's put in dungeons, and he's been put in chains, and he's in much, much affliction.
21:34: And Jesus said this is what he's chosen to do. Now, that doesn't sound like a calling of glamour to be an apostle, does it?
21:44: Chosen to suffer. This man was chosen to suffer. But look at what came out of all that suffering.
21:51: And the more he suffered, the more closer he came to Jesus. You know, a lot of times we look at suffering, and some of you have gone through much suffering.
22:00: Ms. Lillian, I know it's gone down some roads of suffering that none of us ever see here. Different roads that God has for each one of us, right?
22:09: But suffering, the way the early Christians looked at it was a privilege, and they counted it joy to be closer to Jesus.
22:20: Now, we look at it as, oh, wow, it's such a pain. You know what it is with babies, the pain.
22:26: And don't get me wrong. I don't like pain myself. Do you? But you know it's in the midst of the heartache and pain.
22:35: C .S. Lewis said this. God whispers to us in our comforts.
22:42: But when pain comes, he shouts to us. It's like you hear
22:48: God's so clearly. You see Christ closer. So when we start seeing the sufferings, and that's why you hear a lot of false teachers.
22:57: They won't talk about suffering. But that's the way we get close to Christ. When Paul said in Philippians that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, he didn't leave it there, did he?
23:10: But the fellowship of his sufferings. And you see this.
23:15: We need to count this joy. And for his name's sake, when it does come to us, and when the hour does come, and Jesus said that you may remember.
23:24: That's what we need to be reminded of. And fourth, let me say this. There's the most important of all that this is where we pick up today, and that's because the law of God has required that we should love our neighbors as ourselves.
23:42: And that they did this, and in doing this, it was all that was demanded.
23:50: And that standard is high. That's what we're going to look at. That is, that love of man was not to be set aside, the love for man, by the love of splendid clothing.
24:05: And James deals with this in a very profound, clear way. So, I really only have one point today.
24:11: So that's enough, I believe. But since I'm a long -winded preacher, I have to watch myself. I'm trying to narrow this thing down.
24:18: And I'm trying to look at my clock more and more here. So we're going to look at one point, and it's this, and I already mentioned it.
24:24: The duty of yielding obedience to the whole law in order to have evidence of true
24:29: Christianity. The duty of yielding obedience to the whole law in order to have evidence of true
24:35: Christianity. And we'll look at some applications. So, let's look at verse 8. Look at verse 8.
24:43: If, however, you are fulfilling the royal law according to the Scripture, you shall love your neighbor as yourself.
24:50: You are doing well. Well, the subject seems to have introduced in accordance with the general principles of the apostles' goal in this epistle.
25:00: And that is pure religion and undefiled. We looked at that, and that's what he's talking about. This is pure religion and undefiled.
25:07: And should I say, true Christianity consists of the obedience to God's Word.
25:14: It's better to obey than to sacrifice. Because when we obey, we truly show our love toward our
25:21: God. Now, we're going to look at this. It consists in the obedience to God's Word, obeying the law of God, obedience to the commandments of Jesus Christ.
25:30: Not that we are saved by keeping them now. I want to make that crystal clear. We're not saved by keeping the law or the commandments of Jesus Christ.
25:40: But the faith then in which is by God is a gift of grace. It produces good works.
25:48: There's a vast difference. Regeneration comes first, then from out from regeneration and the changed life that God gives us, there produces and follows good works for His workmanship.
26:05: It's not backward. A lot of people have got it backwards. From the outward inside, but it's in the side out.
26:12: It's not reformation, it's regeneration. So it's a gift of grace. It produces good works.
26:18: So as verse 8 says, He calls it the royal law. Look at this.
26:23: The royal law. I like that, don't you? That word royal. It's better translated.
26:30: There's another translation and it says the sovereign law. So what do you think of when you think of sovereign?
26:39: And royal. You think of a king. You think of majesty. That's what you think.
26:45: And that's exactly what's in James' mind. The thought is that the law of God is supreme.
26:51: And it's binding. It's supreme. It's the highest in the universe. And this is the highest law in the entire universe of God in which
27:01: He created. The law of God. The king. We have the king. What James is doing here, he's reaching back into the
27:08: Old Testament. That's what he's doing. He does this a lot and you notice all the apostles did that.
27:15: Even Peter when he preached on the day of Pentecost. He goes into the
27:20: Old Testament. Shame, I'm telling you, shame on these heretics that say the
27:25: Old Testament is no longer for us. Who in the world? Why rip out 39 books that was inspired and say
27:35: I only have 27? We believe in all 66. You see what
27:40: I'm saying? You've got to have the both. You've got to have the law. You've got to have the gospel.
27:46: Well James is reaching into Leviticus 19 .18 and what does it say? You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
27:53: That's powerful. Very powerful. Jesus speaks of this in the parable of the Good Samaritan.
27:58: We looked at that last week and told us that our neighbor is anyone who needs help. There's a lot of people that's needy and there's a lot of people that needs help.
28:07: We also have to be wise of course. But mainly we want to talk about people who truly in need.
28:15: Truly need help and there's plenty of people out there in that situation. So we see this in Luke chapter 10 and I'm not going to go there but you know the parable of the
28:26: Good Samaritan. Even the Levite passes by and you have people passing them by and they pay no attention but one showed compassion.
28:40: The Good Samaritan. The mixed breed. He showed compassion. It's not a matter of geography is it?
28:50: But it's a matter of I think Brother Keith nailed it this morning. Opportunity. Now opportunity is there and this is what he's talking about.
28:59: Opportunity and the important question is not who is my neighbor? That's not the question.
29:05: Really the important question is to whom can I be a neighbor? That's the question.
29:12: And we have plenty of opportunity to be a neighbor to many a people. You know really that's what the gospel is all about.
29:20: It's taking it to people that need it. And that's what they need most. And Jesus taught us.
29:26: There is a sense of taking care of the outward needs to go toward the inward need.
29:34: The inward need is the aim. It's the heart. And we know we can't change people right?
29:39: It's the gospel that changes them. But how can we take that gospel to people? And we've got to remember this.
29:46: We cannot change their hearts right? The result is God's. But it's ours to obey.
29:52: To take the gospel and to be compassionate and to show the love of God in real simple way.
30:02: So you take it from the very top. Why is love your neighbor called the royal law?
30:10: Well I like this. For one thing it is given by God the Father. He's the King. He is the
30:16: King. There's a theocracy in the scripture. Who gave the law?
30:24: The Father gave the law. And God the Son Jesus Christ reaffirmed that law to his disciples.
30:31: You see this. And if you get this you can pretty much understand what
30:37: God is after. And actually he wants our hearts to love him.
30:42: What's the first great command? It's to love the Lord thy God with all your heart, your soul, your mind, your strength.
30:50: Love your neighbor as yourself. Jesus said on this great command it's fulfilled in all the law and the prophets.
30:58: It's all there. And Jesus did this. I don't know about you. When I just quoted that I said immediately something within me said
31:06: I don't do this. How about you? Now do we fail to do this?
31:11: Absolutely. Well I got good news for you. Jesus fulfilled it. Now if we go in Jesus name but does that mean that we set aside our works and say we don't know.
31:21: We strive to do this because we're children of God. Because there's a family resemblance. Now in John 13 34
31:29: Jesus reaffirmed it. A new commandment I give to you. That you love one another even as I have loved you.
31:38: That's a powerful love. That you also love one another. Notice that what he said.
31:44: He stresses it again. The importance of it. And God the
31:50: Holy Spirit fills our hearts with God's love and expects us to share this with others.
31:57: Now let me say this. Romans according to Romans 5 5 the scripture says and hope does not disappoint.
32:03: Stop right there. We're talking about a living hope. We're talking about the only hope this world has and that's in Jesus Christ.
32:12: The only hope. And I just mentioned about these other religions. They're out there killing people thinking they're doing something right before they're
32:19: God. But the gospel gives a living hope. And it does not disappoint.
32:26: Let us remember that. When we give this gospel to people out there that are in desperate need of it. Let us remember that the gospel is a living hope and these people have no hope.
32:37: We got to remember that. They are desperately without hope. And Brother Keith and Fee are encountering this.
32:45: It's a reality isn't it? They shared this and this girl shared her whole life it seems on email.
32:55: And I read just almost all of it and it was incredible. I'm telling you. People need
33:02: Jesus. Desperately. But some people and we look at it.
33:07: Well they're put there by their own bad choices and circumstances. Well naturally they don't have any wisdom.
33:14: They don't make the right choices. They go into disaster and they look at the sin. They look at the fruit.
33:20: It's pleasure to die into the flesh and they partake of it. What happens? There's deceit.
33:26: There's lies. There's abuse. And then it plummets them downward. Downward.
33:32: It doesn't promise what it's supposed to promise. The wages of sin is death.
33:38: The gift of God's eternal life through Jesus Christ. But yeah I want to sow my wild oats and have fun to the flesh.
33:46: Well that's disaster. It's going to bring a person down. There's no wisdom in sin.
33:52: Beloved. Period. Sin makes you stupid doesn't it Brother Keith?
33:57: And it will continue to make people stupid. But think of this.
34:03: The beginning of wisdom is fear God. Once you start fearing God. But how can you do this on your own?
34:10: There has to be something happen. A divine intervention. And it is the
34:16: Gospel. The Gospel comes and it says but God. But God.
34:23: And that's what happens. And as I was about to share the scripture. Romans 5 .5.
34:29: And hope does not disappoint because the love of God has been shed abroad or poured out within our hearts through the
34:40: Holy Spirit. Who has been given us? That's regeneration. So how can we have the love of God in our heart unless God supernaturally changes our heart to give it.
34:52: So the love of God has been lavishly. That's the way I like to look. It's been lavishly shed on you and poured in your heart.
34:59: That's mercy. And that's what James is eventually going to give to us. Mercy. And we're going to look at justice.
35:06: Judgment. But that mercy has been lavishly given to us. Something that we do not deserve.
35:14: It's an act of God's grace that has been implanted within our hearts. Evidence that we belong to him and that we love the one who first loved us.
35:24: How can we give compassion unless we have received compassion? You see? And that's what scripture teaches.
35:31: Scripture teaches that true believers are taught of God to love one another. You see that in 1 Thessalonians 4 .9.
35:37: They've even been taught of God to love one another, right? So why doesn't this always happen in churches?
35:45: One answer. Sin. What's James dealing with here? He's talking to...what
35:52: did he say? Notice right here in the verse. Verse 5.
35:57: Listen, my beloved brethren. He's talking about brothers and sisters in Christ.
36:06: He's giving them a rebuke. He's...and that's love. And he's giving them illustrations.
36:13: But you notice...we'll see this in just a minute. He calls partiality sin. Period. He calls it like it is.
36:23: Because of sin, James here is dealing with the sin of partiality. And think of this. There would be no need for thousands of complex laws in our nation or in this world and each citizen if everyone truly loved his neighbor.
36:38: Did you ever think of that? There would be no need for it if we truly loved our brothers and our sisters and our neighbor.
36:46: James goes to the royal law. The supreme law. The love your neighbor as yourself.
36:54: And I like what MacArthur says here. He says this in this verse. This sovereign law quoted from Leviticus 19 .18.
37:03: When combined with the command to love God in Deuteronomy 6, 4 and 5 summarizes all the law and the prophets according to what
37:13: Jesus said in Matthew 22, 36 through 40. James is not advocating some kind of emotional affection for oneself.
37:24: Self -love is clearly a sin. And you see this in 2
37:29: Timothy 3, 2 where people will be lovers of themselves. Lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God.
37:38: And then there's a list. Bam, bam, bam. He's talking about loving money and this and all these false things.
37:44: But rather – he goes on to say this. Rather the command to pursue meeting the physical health and spiritual well -being of one's neighbor all within the sphere of our influence with the same intensity and concern as one does naturally for oneself.
38:04: That's well put, isn't it? I mean, you know, if we care for ourselves and we take time for ourselves and we pamper ourselves, he's saying we should do that in helping others.
38:14: We should do that with that same kind of sacrifice. Really if you want to look at it, scriptural agape love is sacrificial love.
38:25: It's not this warm, fuzzy feelings. You see what I'm saying? Love is not based upon just a feeling.
38:33: It's willingness. It's sacrifice. And by the way, the Bible looks at it – if you look at Christ's love, it was a willingness to die.
38:44: He died. He had a willingness – I don't know if you know this, but read the gospel. It's almost like Jesus is so willing to die.
38:51: It's like other people, when Peter rebuked them being used of Satan, be it far from you,
38:57: Lord, to go to the cross, get thee behind me, Satan. In other words, Jesus, his mind – one thing was on his mind to do the
39:05: Father's will and was to die on that cross. Nothing else mattered to Jesus.
39:11: And he knew why he had to do it. Folks, isn't that great love? He did that for you and me so that we can obtain eternal life.
39:20: He was so, I mean, narrowed into that one great desire.
39:28: That's love. That's talking about the love of God. And if you look at what he went through physically and spiritually, it's an incredible love.
39:37: The more I think about it, the more it humbles me in thinking who that is who did this for my soul and salvation.
39:45: It's incredible. This is a place of worship right there. But what does he do?
39:53: It is a great love. So one of man's reasons why this is the royal –
39:59: I'm sorry, one of the main reasons why this is the royal law is that obeying it makes you and I like kings and priests unto
40:09: God. Did you ever think of that? Hatred makes a person a slave to sin.
40:16: But love, God's love, charity, sets us free from selfishness and enables us to reign like kings and priests unto
40:27: God. There's a freedom in this. There's a liberty in this. You ever wonder why he calls it the perfect law of liberty?
40:36: The law of liberty? He does. So God, so his love enables us to obey the word and to treat people as God commands us to.
40:47: And this, you don't hear much of this anymore and it's sad, but there is obedience to the commands of Christ and the reason why we obey our
40:54: Lord and we obey the Father is because we love our God first and foremost, right?
41:00: But we love our neighbor. We care for our neighbor. Because we see our neighbor and we see someone that is down to the pits and taking themselves down, you see what sin has done to them and you feel compassion upon them.
41:15: This is what sin has done to them. It's made them stupid. It's made them to make bad decisions.
41:20: But you overlook all these other things and say, I must reach out to them and love them as God would because there's the image of God on them.
41:30: And that's what God desires for us is to show compassion. We obey God's law not out of fear, but out of love.
41:39: Out of love. Showing respect to persons favoritism can lead to a person disobeying all of God's law.
41:48: Doesn't it? Take any of the Ten Commandments, would you will, and you will find ways of breaking it if you respect a person's social or financial status.
42:00: I can guarantee you. Respect to persons could make you lie, for example.
42:07: It could lead you to idolatry, getting money out of the rich.
42:13: We've seen that, haven't we? Or even mistreat one's parents to take it to another level.
42:21: Once we start acting on the basis of respect to persons and rejecting God's word, we're heading for serious trouble, beloved.
42:28: And that's a fact. So we need not to break only one of God's commands.
42:36: The way he pictures it here in the Scripture is, if you break one, you've broken them all.
42:42: Boy, this is something, the way he brings this out. But we're going to look at it. There's only one lawgiver, and all of his laws are from his mind and heart.
42:52: So if I disobey one law, I'm capable of disobeying all of them. I'm rebelling against God.
42:59: And rebellion is a sin of witchcraft. So I've already done so. If you look at it, if you've just broken one, because look at verse 9, look at verse 9 very quickly.
43:09: But if you show partiality, look how crystal clear the word of God is.
43:14: You are committing sin. Not a mistake. You show partiality, you are committing sin.
43:25: And are convicted by the law as a transgressor. That's crystal clear.
43:33: And he goes on to verse 10, for whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he's become guilty of all.
43:41: James, speaking of the royal law of God in unity. That's what he's talking about. There's a unison.
43:47: It's all together. And that requires, see, the perfect law of liberty, the perfect love of God.
43:57: And in order to keep the law, we must perfectly love God and perfectly love our neighbor.
44:03: And like I said, we've missed the point. We've missed that. So there is some good news.
44:09: Very quickly, returning in reference to Galatians chapter 3. Go back a little bit to this little epistle of Paul's.
44:21: He's dealing with Judaizers, right? And they just didn't get it when it came to faith alone.
44:32: They had to mix the law. Something that they had to do.
44:39: Galatians chapter 3, and look it right here. Verse 10 through 13.
44:45: For as many as are of the works of the law are under a curse, for it is written, cursed is everyone who does not abide in all these things written in the book of the law to perform them.
44:58: Now that no one is justified by the law before God is evident. So it's crystal clear that none of us can be justified and made right before God in the high court of heaven.
45:12: He gives us reason. And then he quotes another Old Testament prophet.
45:18: For the righteous man shall live by faith. Paul does that time and time again.
45:24: However, the law is not of faith. On the contrary, he who practices them shall live by them.
45:33: Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law. Having become a curse for us, for it is written, cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree.
45:46: Now this is really rich because verse 13 is really the main verse you want to get.
45:52: Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law. And that word translated redeem was often used to speak of buying one's a slave or a debtor's freedom.
46:04: And it's all in the death of Jesus Christ. And in his death, and it was because of his death as a substitution for sin, as the
46:12: Lamb of God, he satisfied God's justice. He satisfies
46:18: God's justice and he exhausted his wrath toward his elect and Jesus took it all on himself.
46:26: And it's all fulfilled. And every Jesus fulfilled the law to the T in his life and in his death.
46:34: Isn't that beautiful? So we can't live by the law. It's impossible and it's meant to be impossible.
46:43: But it can do something. Does that mean we throw it out? No. Paul says as a schoolmaster, it teaches us something.
46:52: It teaches us, it leads us to Christ. Without the law, I would never see my sin.
46:58: I would never know that I'm a transgressor. You know, first before I see God smile, I got to first see he's unhappy about something.
47:05: Right? I got to see he's unhappy. In other words, it's not going to be my ways that's going to make him happy.
47:12: What makes God happy? Jesus. What makes God smile? Jesus. God is angry with the wicked every day, right?
47:20: I like what MacArthur says, put that on a sign and see what kind of reaction you get. All these pastors and churches out there putting all these cute sayings on a sign.
47:32: He said, try that one for a sign. But you know what you think of it? That's what they need to hear.
47:38: That's what we need to hear. God's unhappy with you. He's angry with the wicked. God doesn't throw sin into hell.
47:45: He throws the wicked into hell. So we got to first see that God's unhappy with me.
47:51: So where do we see this? The law. The law shows that I'm a transgressor.
47:57: The law says I have broken his word. I have not kept his word.
48:06: God is frowning at me. But you know something?
48:12: People need to know that. So that's why we need to tell them the truth about the law of God.
48:17: But you don't leave them in the law. And once they see that they hear, oh, well hold on, what must
48:23: I do? What must I do to be saved? And you lead them right to Calvary.
48:30: You see? That's the proper way, really, in a sense, of giving the gospel.
48:36: Take them to the law. Take them to God's holiness. And then once they see their sinfulness, and I tell you, we cannot tell them there's sin.
48:48: How can I say this? We can, let me tell you Luther said it. Let me give you a Luther quote.
48:53: The law discovers the disease. But the gospel is the remedy for the disease.
48:59: You see? It gives the remedy. Well, going on, James is speaking of having violated God's law as a unity.
49:06: And one's transgressions makes fulfilling the law's most basic command.
49:13: And to love God perfectly and to love one's neighbor as oneself is what? Impossible.
49:19: Have you felt that? I've felt it. So first of all, so that if a man should obey every part of the law and yet be guilty of offending in one point, he was in fact guilty of all.
49:32: So that's what he's saying. For he showed that he had no genuine principle of obedience. He's guilty of violating the law as a whole.
49:41: Secondly, we hear, see, every part of the law of God rests on the same authority. So in other words, one part, therefore, is as binding as another part.
49:52: And they are all connected. You can't separate them. It's the same
49:57: God that has forbidden murder that also forbids adultery. And he who does the one is violated.
50:05: The law is doers of the other. So we go back to James and look at verse 11.
50:14: For he who has said, do not commit adultery, also said, do not commit murder. Now if you do not commit murder, adultery,
50:22: I'm sorry, but do commit murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. That's what he's saying.
50:27: You just, you can't, you can't break one law over here and say, okay, I'm okay over here.
50:34: If you've broken one, you've broken them all. That's what he's saying. So we need not just to break one part of the law to be guilty of all, you're guilty of all.
50:42: Although all sins, now let me say this, all sins are not equal. That is a fact.
50:49: You can see this in scripture. Even Jesus mentioned that some will be beaten with many stripes, some with lesser stripes.
50:57: Consequences are different, different with different sins. And sins are not equally damaging.
51:07: That's what I'm saying. The consequences are different. Some are more heinous than others. But they all shatter the unity of the law, don't they?
51:15: They render man as transgressors, period. Very much like in a sense of a window.
51:22: You hit a hammer on the window, you just don't break one part of it, you actually shatter the whole thing.
51:30: So that's what James is saying. Next we see that judgment, and this is really the important thing, is before us.
51:38: Okay, he's made his statement. Judgment is before us. We're guilty. We've been tried on impartial principles, not with references to obeying one part of the law, but with reference to the whole claim.
51:56: And we should so act as becomes those who accept to be judged by the whole law or on the question whether we have conformed to every part of it.
52:07: That's the Word of God. Now look at verses 12 -13, this is very important. So speak and so act.
52:15: Boy, that's powerful. Underscore so act. Because some people just speak and don't act.
52:25: That is so true, isn't it? If you notice in back, if you look back in what he says when he gave the example in verse 3, you pay special attention to the one who is wearing the fine clothes and say, you say, see, you sit here in a good place and you say to the poor man.
52:48: John the apostle did the same thing. You say you love God, but you can't love your neighbor whom you have seen, but you say you love
52:58: God whom you have not seen. You say it. Didn't Jesus say a lot about that? We're going there.
53:07: Every orthodox statement, I wrote this down, every orthodox statement of faith ends with some statement about the return of Jesus, doesn't it?
53:15: And the final judgment. And by the way, as you well know, not all Christians agree with the details of the future events.
53:21: There's a lot of differences. But the certainty, this is what we need to look at.
53:27: The certainty of them none denies. Judgment is going to happen.
53:34: There's no escaping it. But hey, let me tell you this. As a shepherd,
53:42: I would be in deep sin right now if I did not warn you of the wrath that is to come upon those who continue in sin.
53:49: It is mercy and compassion that I tell you the truth and it is sobering to me to know it's appointed for once man to die.
53:59: And after this, the judgment. My uncle that told me this was a father in the faith and he went astray into a wrong kind of gospel.
54:11: But he was instrumental. But it wasn't him. When he quoted that scripture, right here, the first thing that stood out, judgment.
54:22: I said, hold on. Now how can I escape this judgment? And he gave me the gospel.
54:28: He told me about hell first. And it was powerful, believe me. It was a living example.
54:34: That's another time. But judgment is sure. Judgment will come.
54:39: Not all Christians agree. It's the same details. But judgment will happen. Now, I want to talk a little bit about judgment here.
54:47: Any would not deny the importance of final judgment. If you look at Ecclesiastes 12, 13, 14,
54:54: I'm going to quote it real quick here. The conclusion, this is Solomon. When all has been heard is this.
55:04: Fear God and keep his commandments. Fear God and keep his commandments.
55:11: Because, and he tells the reason, this applies to every person. For God will bring every act, every act to judgment.
55:25: Folks, is that sober you? I'm sitting here, my knees are shaking. Every act.
55:33: Jesus even said every idle word. Amen, Keith. That's powerful, isn't it? That makes me tremble.
55:39: Because every idle word comes from every motive of my heart. Every thought.
55:46: God knows this. God knows everything. Billions and billions of people. God knows it all.
55:53: He's all wise God. So there's no escape in this. Now, then he says this.
55:59: Every act of judgment, everything which is hidden, even those things that are hidden, it's going to be exposed whether it is good or evil.
56:10: Good or bad. Do you notice that the judgment of the nations, when you read in Matthew 25, the goats are on the left and the sheep are on the right.
56:20: What's the difference between the goats and the sheep? The goats even hear what is being said.
56:28: They know by knowledge. The difference is the sheep obey. They follow through.
56:37: They go, they, they, Jesus said that you do unto the least of these, you do not unto me. I was in prison.
56:43: I was homeless. And he goes on. But you acted out of compassion. You showed mercy.
56:49: See that? The goats, they don't care. And guess what's going to happen on that day?
56:55: They're going to be thrown into eternal torment. Jesus made that crystal clear. Right? So it's, it's, it's, it's whether, it's not knowing it or saying it.
57:05: Folks, it's doing it. That's why James says, be you doers of the word and not just hearers.
57:12: I don't know about you. That's sobering. That's a sobering truth and none of us will escape. I like what
57:17: Luther said. Before his eyes, he said, I live every day of my life on a two day calendar.
57:26: Today and judgment day. I don't know about you. That's a good way to live.
57:33: In other words, I'm going to do something about it today because I'm preparing myself for judgment day.
57:39: And that's what we need to do. We need to be prepared. And there's only one way to be prepared. Let me give you an application because my time is almost gone.
57:46: First of all, you got to make sure that you're in Christ. I can't tell you there's anything more important than that.
57:54: You got to make sure you're in Christ. You got to be a believer in Jesus. Both Jesus and Paul assured us, by the way, let me get some comfort here, that there will never, that we will never be judged according to our sins if you're in Christ.
58:12: Now, did you hear what I said? If you're in Christ, if you're outside of Christ, all the sins that you've committed, you're going to be judged according to that and plus cast into everlasting darkness and hell.
58:26: Now, I didn't say that. That comes from the Word of God. But John 5, 24,
58:32: Jesus said, let me give you a chapter and verse. Jesus said, truly, truly, amen, amen. In other words, it's true.
58:38: Barely, barely. I say to you, he who hears my word and believes in him who sent me, the
58:45: Father, has eternal life and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.
58:56: You could take that one to the bank if you're a believer in Jesus. But that's what you got to make sure of.
59:02: You got to make sure that you're in Christ. Okay, Paul says in Romans 8, 1, don't you love this verse?
59:09: Can I say, can you say amen? Romans 8, 1. Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
59:21: See, you're in Christ or you're not in Christ. One of the two. So, the single most important thing in life is to make, as Peter said, make your calling and election sure.
59:35: You could do this because Scripture, if you go to the Scriptures, there's ways you could be tested. You could test yourself to see whether you're in the faith.
59:44: The word of God gives the test. That's why, beloved, stay in this word.
59:51: Eat this word. Eat it up more than you eat a physical meal. Now, I know a lot of you like to eat, and I love steak and potatoes.
59:59: You eat it more than you eat steak and potatoes. Love it. Devour it.
01:00:06: Meditate on it. Hey, it says meditate on it just not in the evening. Day and night.
01:00:12: Day and night. It's, yes, amen. I'm telling you, the word of God is everything.
01:00:20: We've got to make sure, and this is the truth. It sanctifies us. Make sure that you're in Jesus Christ.
01:00:27: That's all I've got to say. Make sure that you're on the mercy side of God's attributes and not on His justice.
01:00:33: And that's where James is going, right here. Now, let's follow him. Oh, one more verse.
01:00:43: What did Paul say? Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he's a new creation. Old things have passed away.
01:00:49: Behold, all things have become new. That's the evidence of a child of God, right there.
01:00:55: That's what happens. These two words comprise a brief and most profound statement of the believer's redemption.
01:01:02: So we say, from the wrath of God, if we're found to be in Christ yet as a believer, our works will be judged.
01:01:10: You can't get around it. Even as a believer we're going to be judged. You can see this.
01:01:17: Now, we're not going to be judged to our sins, but we're going to be judged and rewarded.
01:01:24: I don't have time to go to it, but in your verses 10 -13, he speaks about all will appear before the judgment seat of Christ.
01:01:36: All. He's talking about believers. In 2 Corinthians 5, 9 and 10, he talks about we're going to be judged according to our works.
01:01:45: And he talks about whether it's going to be with precious stones or wood, hay or stubble. He's talking to believers.
01:01:52: And you know what I like about this. I wish I had time to go there, but he's speaking to the
01:01:58: Corinthians there in that text. And to that context, that wood, hay and stubble is everything that's seen to the naked eye.
01:02:06: And everything that's precious jewels is in the ground. It's not seen. It's what people don't see, but God sees it.
01:02:14: And that's really what matters. It's what God sees. Because you see, hey, any preacher, me, anybody, is not going to be your judge.
01:02:22: Who's going to be your judge on judgment? Jesus. We're going to stand before him. The Father has given authority to Jesus, the judge, the whole earth.
01:02:31: He has that authority. And he's going to judge us, even as a believer, to our works.
01:02:37: Now, it's important. A lot of people say, I don't care about rewards. Well, hey, God loves to reward those that love him and are faithful to him.
01:02:45: We're not in it for the reward, because as far as I'm, I like what the scripture says, he is exceedingly great reward.
01:02:52: But if he gives you a crown, why do you think all the saints throw it back at his feet? You see that?
01:02:59: Because he's the one that's worthy. It's not the crown. But there is rewards.
01:03:06: So, three things, real quickly, while time's about gone. We will be judged by our words.
01:03:13: We're going to be judged by our deeds and by our attitudes. Our words will be judged, as I've already mentioned.
01:03:22: It's everything you say. Matthew 12, 36, every idle word. That's a powerful thing.
01:03:30: So, we need to be careful what we say. In secret, God knows. James is drawing from our
01:03:38: Lord's warnings. You can read this on the Sermon on the Mount, folks. Matthew chapter 5, Matthew chapter 7.
01:03:44: All the verses there, Jesus talks about, be careful what you say. By your words you'll be justified, by your words you're going to be condemned.
01:03:53: Solomon said, death and life is in the power of the tongue. So, we're going to be judged by that the words we speak come from the heart, right?
01:04:03: So, when God judges the words, he's really examining the heart. Let's look at the second one.
01:04:09: Our deeds are going to be judged, just very quickly. Colossians 3 speaks about this.
01:04:17: It's true that God remembers our sins against us no more, and he's blotted them out, but our sins affect our character and works, don't they?
01:04:26: We cannot sin lightly and serve God faithfully. That's all there is to it.
01:04:32: It's impossible. So, in other words, God forgives our sins, we repent, we confess them, but he cannot change the consequences of them.
01:04:40: Now, I don't have time to go into this, but there's plenty of examples. King David's a good example. King David got forgiveness, but there was consequences.
01:04:49: The sword never departed from his house because he committed adultery, he committed murder.
01:04:56: It was an issue of the heart, and God gave him the sword. And you know that story.
01:05:03: It's terrible consequences, it's terrible. So King David's a perfect example. The third is our attitudes.
01:05:10: I don't know about you, but when I say that, that's the biggest. Because if you look at the words and the deeds come from the attitudes.
01:05:18: It's the motive. God judges the motive. For judgment will be merciless on the one who's shown no mercy.
01:05:27: That's what he's saying. Mercy triumphs over judgment. Now, one more quote from MacArthur.
01:05:33: He says this, a person who shows no mercy and compassion for people in need demonstrates that he has never responded to the great mercy of God, and as an unredeemed person will receive only strict, unrelieved judgment in eternal hell.
01:05:49: That's powerful. So he doesn't show mercy, he's never been received mercy. So verse 13
01:05:55: James is doing, he's contrasting two attitudes. Now, folks, let me say this in closing.
01:06:03: If you get this, you get the gospel. There's justice and there's mercy. Showing mercy to others and refusing to show mercy, one of the two.
01:06:15: If we have been merciful to show mercy towards others, God shows mercy toward us.
01:06:21: Now, however, we must not twist this truth, because a lot of people do, it does not mean that we earn mercy.
01:06:29: He's not saying that. By showing mercy, because it's impossible to earn mercy.
01:06:34: You can't earn God's mercy. He's not saying that. Nor does it mean to be soft on sin.
01:06:40: You have a lot of people there that believe that. We don't soft pedal sin. And never judge it in the lives of others.
01:06:48: Now, mercy and justice both come from God.
01:06:55: And they don't compete with one another. God is able to show mercy to whom he wants to show mercy.
01:07:03: It means compassion. Where he finds true repentance and faith, he will show mercy.
01:07:10: Where he finds rebellion and unbelief, he's going to minister justice. So justice will be given. That's what scripture teaches.
01:07:16: It is the heart of the sinner that determines the treatment that is received.
01:07:23: That's the whole key. It's the heart. And that's what God goes after.
01:07:30: You notice on the Sermon on the Mount, you read those three chapters. Everything that Jesus says, he aims, he hits, he nails the heart every time.
01:07:39: Bam, bam, bam. He goes to the motives. He said, you love to pray, don't you?
01:07:45: You tell the Pharisees this. This is an example. But you love to pray for the wrong reason.
01:07:51: You like to pray, and you love to pray because you like to be heard of men. You like to be seen like you're somebody great.
01:07:59: You're full of pride. Jesus is basically saying you're full of self -righteous. You're full of pride. And then he turns around and he says, but I say to you, you need to pray for your
01:08:10: Father in secret, only to God. In other words, it's the motive of the heart. And that's what he gets to.
01:08:16: We can fast for the wrong reasons. We can pray for the wrong reasons. We can go to church for the wrong reasons. But if you love
01:08:22: God for the right reason, you see what I'm saying? And if you love
01:08:27: God for the right motive, and love your neighbor for the right motive, only a changed heart can do this.
01:08:34: That's what I'm saying. So the motives change. It's our motive. Why we do things, see?
01:08:41: Why? So justice and mercy comes from God. And I don't have time to go to this parable, but Jesus gave a parable about forgiveness.
01:08:55: I'm going to skip that. I wish I had time for it. But if we forgive our brothers, then we have the kind of heart that is open towards the forgiveness of God.
01:09:06: Now let me close with this. We shall be judged by the perfect law of liberty. And there's a reason why he calls it the perfect law of liberty.
01:09:16: Why does James use this title? For one thing, we obey God's law.
01:09:21: It frees us from sin and enables us by the Holy Spirit to walk in liberty.
01:09:28: Real liberty. Psalm 119 .45. And I will walk at liberty for I seek your precepts.
01:09:38: Now, the law prepares us for liberty in other words. A child under rules and regulations.
01:09:50: Why is a child under rules and regulations? Well, because he's not mature enough to handle the decisions of life, does he?
01:09:58: Could you imagine putting little Felicity, little Madison, under some of the pressures that parents go through?
01:10:09: Could you imagine that? They can't handle it. It's impossible for them to handle it.
01:10:15: Likewise, see, there's outward discipline so that he might develop inward discipline.
01:10:22: And that's where he's going. And one day we'll be free from the rules. Liberty does not mean license either.
01:10:30: License says, well, I'm going to do whatever I want to. No, we're not free really to do that.
01:10:39: It's really freedom not to sin. Not freedom to sin. And that's the worst kind of bondage to say
01:10:46: I can do whatever I want to. I'm free to do whatever I want to. Really, that's bondage. You ever heard people say they rebel against you?
01:10:55: And they rebel against God, really. And they say, I'm free! I'm going to do whatever I want to. I'm free.
01:11:00: I'm at age 21. I can go drink. I can do whatever. Is that freedom? Folks, they slipped right into bondage.
01:11:10: See, liberty means freedom to be all that I am in Jesus. That's real freedom.
01:11:17: And by the way, let me add, for his glory. Because it's all about his glory. So license is confinement.
01:11:23: Liberty is fulfillment. Let me close with this thought. There's one more obvious message to this section, and I think it's an important one.
01:11:33: Our beliefs should control our behavior. That's what he's saying. What we really believe comes out in the way we behave.
01:11:45: That's everything. If we really believe that Jesus is the very son of the living God and that God is gracious and merciful and his word is true, then we will be free.
01:11:58: And one day that God will judge the living and the dead, and which he will, then our conduct will reveal who we really are, our convictions.
01:12:13: Prophet Jonah is a good example of somebody that, he saw justice, didn't he? But he sure didn't see mercy.
01:12:21: And look at the lesson that God gave him. He was a hard -nosed, prejudice
01:12:26: Jew. He was. All these wicked sinners in Nineveh, God says, you go to them and preach the truth.
01:12:35: And I said, what did Jonah say? I'm going to know the way. Remember the story?
01:12:41: Well, God knew how to get them back on track. And he took some suffering. He even transported them too.
01:12:47: Made his way. In the heart of a whale, they say. But he was a hard -nosed prejudice, very prejudice
01:12:56: Jew that didn't want them people to hear the truth. God wanted to show mercy.
01:13:02: And God was merciful. Well, Jonah had problems. Well, one of the tests of reality of our faith is how we treat other people, right?
01:13:11: Let me bring it down to one. Let me ask you this one question. Can we pass the test? Micah 6a.
01:13:18: He has told you. Oh, man. Oh, think about that. He has told you, oh, man, what is good and what does the
01:13:28: Lord require of you but to do justice, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your
01:13:36: God? That's in question mark, by the way. If you look at it in your text, it's in question mark.
01:13:44: Are you going to do that? To do justice, love mercy, love compassion, and to walk humbly with your
01:13:52: God. That's what's really important as we obey. Are we going to obey the voice of the
01:14:00: Lord to love mercy? Mercy triumphs over justice. Amen. Let's pray.