Book of James - Ch. 2, Vs. 1-13 (02/13/2000)

Good evening, ladies and gentlemen Welcome to the

Park Meadows broadcasting booth all right, we're gonna be in James chapter 2 1 through 13 and the first section here verses 1 through 9 lists, let's

We're gonna talk about how to deal with the rich and the poor How that pretty much includes all of us, doesn't it?

Okay Actually, no, we left the middle middle class out But we're gonna talk about dealing with the rich and the poor a little bit for a while Then we'll that's verses 1 through 9.

So let's Let me start by reading Proverb to you and then we'll start with James chapter 2 verse 1.

I want to read to you Proverbs 30 verses 8 and 9 Proverbs 38 and 9

Remove far from me vanity and lies Give me neither poverty nor riches

And that an interesting statement. So you're supposed to be in the middle class Give me neither poverty nor riches feed me with food convenient for me lest I be full and deny thee and say who is the

Lord or Lest I be poor and steal and take the

Lord of my the name of my God in vain so We're given the fact that there is danger in both ends of the spectrum

And I think it was J Vernon McGee, I was reading in his commentary this week about this little section and He he mentioned the fact that in his ministry all the years of his of his preaching ministry and His witnessing and his life in the

Lord that he had found that the two most difficult groups of people To deal with in the ministry were the very poor and the very rich and he said

Satan comes at it from both directions and This verse says the same thing now, let's go back to James chapter 2 verses 1 through 9

It gives us some information about dealing with these groups My brethren have not the faith of our

Lord Jesus Christ the Lord of glory with respect of persons Well, I probably spent most of my time

Right there trying to figure out that first verse In the way that it reads in the

English It just is very difficult to understand what it means to me, but there was a key that I found

I think that in the first part of the verse where it says Have not the faith of our

Lord if you would change the word have to the word hold It makes more sense Hold not the faith of our

Lord Jesus Christ with respect of persons Don't Don't have the faith of Jesus and think that you can be a respecter of persons at the same time is what it's saying

Because God is not a respecter of persons Now the only other verse that I felt needed a little bit of translational help was verse 4

So let's skip down to that and we'll clear that up before we go on into what the passage is saying In Verse 4 are you not then partial in yourselves and are become judges of evil?

Thoughts the word of should be with Are you not become judges with evil thoughts?

I? Think would be closer to the right way. Now. Let's let's read the passage and see what we can learn from it

My brethren have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ the Lord of glory with respect of persons for if they're coming to you your assembly a man with a gold ring and goodly apparel and There come in also a poor man in vile raiment and ye have respect to him that where the gay clothing

Y 'all be careful about that now. Yeah watch those and Saying to him sit down here in a good place and you say to the poor stand out over there

Or sit here under my footstool Are you not then partial in yourselves and are become judges with evil thoughts?

Harkin my beloved brethren hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith and Heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him

But ye have despised the poor Do not rich men oppress you and draw you before the judgment seats

Do not they blaspheme the worthy name by the which you are called If you fulfill the royal law according to the scripture thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself ye do well

But if you have respect to persons you commit sin and are convinced of the law as transgressors

For whosoever shall keep the whole law and yet offend in one point. He is guilty of all

For he that saith do not commit adultery saith also Do not kill now if thou commit no adultery yet if thou kill thou art become a transgressor of the law

So speak ye and so do as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty

For he shall have judgment without mercy that hath showed no mercy mercy rejoiceth against judgment

Let's see if we can deal with that passage a little bit today. First of all

Be careful not to be judges with evil thought thoughts That's what verses 1 through 4 talk about Be careful not to be judges with evil thoughts the first concept here is that God is no respecter of persons in Leviticus 19 and 15

The Bible says ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment Thou shalt not respect the person of the poor

Nor honor the person of the mighty But in righteousness shalt thou judge thy neighbor

That is an awesome verse by the way Leviticus 19 15 If we could put that up in the law of the halls of our

Congress In the United States and put it in the president's office and put it over in the Supreme Court justices room

It would really help our nation Because our nation has been conditioned by the liberal political politically speaking the liberal thought process and It is that we need to take all the monies that we can accumulate possibly from those who are thrifty from those who work hard from those who have entrepreneurial ideas and For those who invest their talents and create more

We want to take from them and give it to the poor and that's the basic concept

So there is in fact a respecter of persons that is backwards from the way you would think it would be

It actually is a respecting of the poor to the hurt of others and verse 1915 in Leviticus Talks about that and look at the beautiful balance that you see in this verse and and you can tell that a human being did not write this verse

It may be true that one penned it but he was not the author of it God was the author of this verse.

Look at the wisdom here. Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment Thou shalt not respect the person of the poor now wouldn't you've expected that to say thou shalt not expect the

Respect the person of the rich because that's what we naturally would tend to do But he starts by saying don't respect the person of the poor

Nor honor the person of the mighty don't respect either one of them and there is a great tendency among Christians Sometimes to have a respect for the poor in this sense.

Someone comes in poor And they look like they're really needy Without even trying to discern the spirits are trying to discern what

God wants to do or what the Bible says the church ought to do They say well, let's let's all get together and let's raise a bunch of get a bunch of food together and a bunch of money and let's give it to him and That now you didn't say that to the middle -class guy that walked in the room to the church

You didn't say that to the man who walked in with the rings and then fine -clothed the gay apparel

Brother Richard said get him out of here But so we are respecters of persons the poor comes in and we all just look at them and we want to do you know, we want to do something special for him

God says be very careful about that and Certainly as a nation this country should should take a look at this verse

It would help it really would but God is saying very clearly don't respect any person

Do not look at what they're wearing and judge them don't look at whether that you think they're rich or poor and judge them discern the spirits

Now second Chronicles 19 7 wherefore now let the fear of the Lord be upon you

Take heed and do it for there is no iniquity with the Lord our God nor respect of persons

Isn't it interesting that that that is speaking of God and it says there is no sin or iniquity with God Nor does he respect persons all in the same breath?

So to be a respecter of persons was the only specific sin that was listed here when it was talking about God It says

God there is no sin with God and he sure doesn't respect persons That just as me looking at that from a human view point

It makes it look like God's telling me well on the human level respecting persons is one of the biggies

It's one of the bad sins You know, we got these little good ones and bad ones people like to talk about and we know which ones we think of is

The biggies wouldn't think of this as one of them would we? But I think it is.

I think it's a major thing. We need to examine our hearts about do we respect persons? Are we more likely to walk up to someone?

We suspect is successful or Highly highly educated in certain topics or certain areas and we want to get right up there with him and talk to him

So he'll know who we are Isn't that human nature? And then on the other hand the very poor comes in and we just flock to him want to make sure they understand we help the poor

Yes, sir I'll help you brother. Our church is a

Caring church. We're spiritual You're respecting him. How do he might be the devil?

He might be totally demonized walking in off the street and he's gonna take that money you give him and go buy booze and drugs

And you just gave him God's money to go buy booze and drugs in your whole time

Why we respected him because he was poor and so there is a warning against both in this passage

So it points out the thing we have to operate off of is God is not a respecter of persons

So therefore if we're in Christ, we will not be respecters of persons

Second point we get out of this it is human nature to favor the rich and to scorn the poor

This is a warning against this in verses 2 through 4 For if they come into your assembly a man with a gold ring now that comes from their social habits back in those days

In the Bible days the wealthy sometimes would wear many rings The men especially would wear many the more gold rings they had on their fingers

You know, it just was a status symbol of the fact that they're very very wealthy So you see a man like that walking to the church and He has gay apparel on and you see another guy come in.

It's poor and just has old tattered clothes Which one do you want to bring right up and let him sit with your family?

Who that hurts doesn't it? Well, if if the eye is what made that choice

We're in sin You can't make that choice by the eye and by the senses you have to try the spirits you have to figure out is this an angel coming in unawares

Or is this man dressed in the gay apparel is he perhaps? Demonized and he's come in in a tear and he's gonna tear up the church and rend us

We cannot go by the outward appearances. What is obviously being taught here now when we do

It ends up with the verse for it says we then become judges with evil thoughts we're judging from a carnal position right

Education social status well Economic status and it then it can go into social status like he's a

Samaritan I don't want to mess with a Samaritan, you know that sort of thing race racial

All of that is God is not a respective person in any of those areas and we're not to be either so there's the warning now

The next thought I want to talk about a little bit from this passage is with respect to the poor

What do we have that we can learn about the poor in this passage? Look at verse 5

Hearken my beloved brethren Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith?

Now, let me Well, let me read the whole thing make a comment and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him

Now I've got to ask you a question Who is it that loves him? If we're talking about just the poor in the world, we've got a lot of poor people

What poor people does this mean that God has chosen all of the poor people in the world to be rich in faith

So that so that what the gospel was given to the poor and they're gonna be the ones that are saved and all the rich People are going to hell.

Is that what this is saying? Because it almost sounds this way So what poor people will love him

It's a good thought his poor people That's right So we know now from the scriptures

That God does not choose his own on the basis of whether they're mighty or weak are rich or poor he simply chooses them because he wants to and We get into the scriptures in Deuteronomy 7 -7 the

Lord did not set his love upon you nor choose you because you were more in number

Than any people for you were the fewest of all the people and in the

Hebrew language, it means you were the least of the least and He said but because the

Lord loved you He did not choose you because you were mighty But because he loved you

Isn't it interesting that as we study this word elect and choose we get in all kinds of trouble anyway

But but isn't it interesting that the choosing is not Where it started

Sometimes We present it that way like well God elected and chose his own that's not where it started

If you read Deuteronomy 7 7 and verse 8 very carefully He did not choose you because you were more in number because you were the least and it goes on verse 8 tells you why?

He chose you So it did not start by God choosing you They said but because the

Lord loved you it started with his love and you know what His love is eternal

That's too deep for us to get into it And man

You have always been loved There's never been a time if you're

God's child there's never been a time when you weren't loved You were loved before time

You're loved in the eternal present tense, it can't get any better than that But anyway, we go back to the fact that in verse

Where was I this verse about the poor being chosen

God verse 5 God had chosen the poor of this world rich in faith It simply means there are many poor people who have been chosen by God And who are saved and who are rich in faith and They may never attain any stature financially.

It may not be their calling in life But they are rich remember when

Jesus was talking to the The the Laodicean Church, he said you think you're rich you have plenty you a lot of that I said, but really you're poor and naked

Etc See, but so there are some people who view themselves as rich and Jesus views them as very very poor

There are some people that we would consider poor and Jesus says but you're rich in faith And that's what verse 5 is talking about.

So be very careful not to judge the poor Because God has chosen many who are poor and many of them are very rich in faith

Certainly heirs of the kingdom, etc. So that's the first thing that God teaches us about the poor as far as Being careful in how we judge now over in John 7 48

He said have any of the rulers of the Pharisees believed on him Now it kind of falls in with verse 6

But ye have despised the poor Do not rich men oppress you

Why is it that you love the rich man when he walks in the congregation when in fact the rich more often than not will

Oppress you they will use you to meet their Desires in life and then they'll take you to court if you cross them in the least little bit

They'll take you right to court and they'll say it's just business. Nothing personal and They'll sue you and take everything you had

So, why is it that's the one we want to sit next to in church That's what the sense of this verse is and in 1st

Corinthians 1 verse 26 Turn over and look at that a minute. I Mean should should we make it a point to go soul winning and we're gonna pick the

Let's pick we need to build a new Auditorium, so let's pick the riches their richest area of town and knock on those.

We got knock on doors Anyway, that's might as well knock on those, right? Rich people need to be saved too

Did you know that that's true? I mean they do need to be saved too, but who's in control of all that Not us and you know what your luck's gonna be

You're gonna if you do if you do somehow see one of them get saved They're gonna go to church where they grew up over at First Baptist and I come in here

You're gonna be so frustrated if you try to build this church by saving rich people

Look at 1st Corinthians 1 26 for you see your calling brethren.

Now, this is an amazing thought Both both in our passage in James and then as Paul speaks in 1st

Corinthians the two Apostles are trying to get us to to look at The reality of things instead of trying to make our own plans and follow our own designs

They're saying just look among you for you see your calling brother Look among you how that not many wise men after the flesh

Not many mighty men don't see too many generals in here We don't see too many bank executives in here

Not many noble. I don't see too many huge landowners

Not that many are called whoa What does that mean I Mean they're not too many of those saved really

But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty and The base things of the world and things which are despised hath

God chosen Yea, and things which are not to bring to naught the things that are so we better be very careful

How we judge a person that walks in this place? They may not be dressed according to our social standards

They may not have the things that we need to build our infrastructure But they might be the wisest and the richest in the room

We just don't know and that's the warning that's given here now.

It is interesting. I want to Get this out here now. Let's go back up to verse 5 all of this down down through That passage down through verse 5 and then getting over in the verse in 1st

Corinthians that we just read from Speaks of this contact this idea of being chosen now in the 1st

Corinthians passage. It called it being called Here in James is chosen.

Let me give you this word for chosen in James chapter 2 verse 5 Hath not

God chosen some of the poor of this world rich in the faith would be a good way to say it

Or if you want to put this in the context of the world being the world of the elect

Then he's saying even the poor are saved if they're elect

Either way you want to look at that. But what I want to focus in on is the word chosen. I Had a an interesting conversation

With a man's real becoming a real good friend of mine and you kind of a new acquaintance of mine and he's he's born again, and he's growing he's studying the word every day and I get attracted to people like that real quickly

But we had a conversation over this idea of choosing and we had a slight disagreement

About what it meant exactly, but I want to just show you what the word means Itself this found in chapter 2 verse 5

It came from it comes from the Greek word ek Lego may he Did you get that you spell it, right?

ek Lego may he I Don't always give you the word But I wanted to give you this one because I think there may be a little word in it that you'll recognize here in a minute

Comes from two smaller Greek words. The first one is ek Ek that one's easy to even for me to spell that word denotes origin

The point from which a motion or action proceeds Is what ek means in the in the

Greek language? It can mean from or from out Coming out from something

That's the first part of this word ek Lego may he it's ek from or out from and The next part of this word is the word

Lego Now any of your kids don't we have some toys call that?

Mm -hmm. All right What do they mean what what do you do with Legos you build something and It comes from the

Greek word Lego learning something Paul Katie's love those things you thought you guys thought that was a boy toy, but Katie loves them

Well, it comes from the Greek word, which means to lay forth Literally to to lay forth and It also carries the connotation of laying it forth by your word

Okay, you starting to get ahead of me a little bit here when you put this whole thing together it means to call out

From or to lay something forth by your word and This with respect to God when he says

God has chosen It means that he has laid it forth with his word and made it to be that way

Now that totally negates this concept that God used his foreknowledge to choose but I have to tell you there are a great number of Born -again believers who believe it that way.

It doesn't mean they're not saved like me and you are It just means they haven't looked up at Lego may yet when they look it up.

Look at the grammar. It'll solve it for And I'm hoping my friend will get this tape

And but but to call out by your word That's what

God did when he chose you Why did he do it? Deuteronomy 7 in verse 8 says he had set his love upon you in what we would call

Eternity past because we look at it from time, but to God it's eternity now But it's forever

It's going back that way and this way and everywhere. However, you think of it. It's difficult, isn't it?

There's never been a time when God didn't love you and based on that love He called you out

He chose you because of that love it is a love that a father has for children

So there was no choice to be made The word that he chose you is a word that has to be placed there for us as humans to understand the mechanism

It's not really That he decided Oh Richards down there sitting in church.

I'll choose him because he's a church goer. That's not how it worked He looked and he said well,

I Guess it's time for Richard to figure out. He's mine. That's more how it worked

Richards walking down this road to go kill a bunch of Christians Gonna kill his family gonna kill his poor old brother

Mitchell friend. It was trying to help him I'm trying to kill everybody in his life, including himself

All of a sudden God says I think for brother Mitchell's sake Deborah's sake it's time for me to tell

Richard who he is He called him out I Saw it happen with my own eyes

He called him out of darkness And he said you're mine Richard said what do you have me to do

Lord? It's no different. Yeah And I said you don't have to call me

Lord brother Richard just call me David you need to go to Roloff's I Guess I guess that he saw

Jesus in me a little bit, but I know who he saw it in was his wife but That's how

God works Now so when someone tells you Well, what

God what really happened is God looked off in the future And he saw that you would believe and so on the basis of that at the point when you believe just after you believe he

Then chose you to be his don't believe him for a minute That would be like saying that you looked at somehow

Clinton's record and you liked it so much that you went and you voted for You elected him it doesn't work that way and it defies the meaning of the word

I thought I'd just take a minute to talk about that The word chosen is rich if you look into what it really means

So we were called out at the appropriate time in in time now it's interesting also that this word chosen is in the

The middle voice The middle voice indicates the subject performing an action upon himself reflexive reflexive

Sorry, sorry about that reflexive action Are for his own benefit, for example the boy groomed himself

Now it's interesting when you think about the middle the middle voice The boy groomed himself and You get in the passage and it says

Harkin my beloved brethren hath not God chosen the poor. Well in this case God is the subject of the sentence

So God is the one who did the action It has nothing to do with him looking out and seeing you do an action and choosing you on that basis

So even the grammar bears it out It is God it points totally to the fact that it's

God that did the action and Deuteronomy 7 and verse 8 points to the Fact that it comes from his agape love that was eternal and is eternal and has always been upon you

Deuteronomy 7 7 the Lord has set his love upon you

What a beautiful Concept. All right. Now, let's talk for a moment about how he brings this idea to a summation of Dealing with the poor look at verse 8

If you fulfill the royal law According to the scripture thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself you do well

It's almost like James said Even before you get to the place where you grow enough where you can have a whole lot of discernment if you'll just love

Your neighbor as yourself, you'll do okay on this thing but you need to grow in discernment so that you don't favor anybody on the basis of your senses but on the basis of who they are and Rather in the

Lord or whatever their state is now, let's talk about the rich for a moment First of all, he talks about the rich he says

Be careful, because don't you understand that it's the rich man who oppresses you and takes you to court? And if I you find that in verse 6

He also says in verse 7 that it's the rich man often who blasphemes the very

Lord you believe in Because many times the rich man is trusting his money And we'll talk about that in future

Sundays as we go into the parable. We're studying on the deceitfulness of riches It's not the riches that bring the problem.

It's the fact that they lie to you and you believe them Riches are deceitful And so he talks about the rich man.

It's tempting to be more interested in the rich Is the warning here?

You have two men walk in the room You're going to be immediately tempted to be drawn to the one that you perceive is more educated is richer and So forth

Proverbs 14 20 says this the poor is hated even of his own neighbor

But the rich have many friends That tells you human nature, doesn't it?

The poor is even hated by his own neighbors and they're just as poor as he is And they despise him

But the rich have many friends He comes and says the rich oppress you they take you to court and they blaspheme

God now this passage closes with this point

The serious nature of the sin of being a respecter of persons.

So let's start with verse 9 But if you have respect to persons you commit sin

It's as if James thinks that we don't understand that I Mean, we know what adultery is

We know fornication. We know what that is. We know what murder is. We know what stealing is and All the biggies we know what they are

He says well, but I need you to understand this now if you have respect a person that's a sin, too

It's like we don't know that So obviously this is something that even Christians forget from time to time and we have to be reminded so he says but if you have respect to persons you commit sin and are convinced of the law as Transgressors for whosoever shall keep the whole law and yet offend in one point

He is guilty of all and that sums it up this way if you're a specter of persons You've broken the law as much as if you're a murderer.

That's the whole sense of it now That kind of wakes us up Makes us think for a moment and then look at the sins that he puts it in context with in verse 11

For he that has said do not commit adultery Said also do not kill and he said also do not be a specter of persons

Yet if thou kill thou art become a transgressor of all it implies very strongly

That if you and if you're a respecter of persons you've broken the whole law

So It is interesting to note that the end of verse 10 is a good one to mark in your

Bible For those who think you're saved by works You can point out that if you offend in one point, you're guilty of the whole law

It's just a good verse to keep in your quiver to use But really in the context of this what

God's really using it for is for us right here in this room to say look If you're a specter of persons watch that thing

He's gonna get you brother Richard if you're a specter of persons It's right in there with murder.

It's right in there with adultery. You've broken the whole law. So it's a very very Serious thing that God is warning us about now it

Comes to verse 12. The point is speak and live as those judged by the law of liberty

So speak ye and so do as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty

James 125 Says but whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty and continueth therein

He being not a forgetful here but a doer of the work this man shall be blessed in his deed and first Peter 2 16 says as free and not using liberty for a cloak of maliciousness, but as the servants of God and So we're being warned in verse 12 that we should speak and act as Those that will be judged by the law of liberty

Verse 13 says for he shall have judgment without mercy that hath showed no mercy

Well, what does the Book of Romans say verse 14 chapter 14 verse 10?

But why dost thou judge thy brother of why dost thou set it not thy brother for we shall all stand for the judgment seat of Christ and Verse 13 says let us not therefore judge one another anymore

But judge this rather that no man put a stumbling block or occasion to fall in his brother's way

We have to be very careful how we judge people We can if we use our eyes too much and our senses too much we might miss the whole thing

We have to be very careful not to put a stumbling block or an occasion to fall in front of especially a weaker brother

Because we've judged them to be a certain thing and we treat them accordingly And I believe this is the warning

God is is clearly giving us and God adds on this is very interesting as a father How many of you parents like it when you see your siblings fighting each other?

Do you tend to take sides? Not normally, but when you see that you do you take the side of the underdog?

The one that's getting picked on is you go and you get behind him and the other one better.

Watch out hadn't he I Think the Lord is saying right here. Okay, you go ahead and you judge people by poor man with Doesn't even have gay apparel on he comes in and you don't want to sit next to him

There's gonna come a day when you're gonna get judged the same way He says right here because the way you judge is the way you'll be judged

Matthew 7 1 Jesus said it this way judge not that you be not judged for with what judgment you judge you shall be judged and with what measure

You meet out to other people. It shall be measured to you one of these days It's like RG Lee said there's a payday

Sunday It's all gonna be judged. It's all gonna be right God's gonna make it all work out and he's not a respecter of persons

He loves every one of his children the same and yet you look at one of God's children that walks in and you judge him

To be less or more than yourselves and God is saying I love you all the same. Don't pick on my kid

Don't pick on my other children. Do you know that most of the grief that you and I have come from other

Christians? When's last time you had somebody in the world really pick on you not real often. I Expect it and everything but doesn't hurt your heart

But how many ones the last time you had a brother or sister say something or do something hurt your heart for weeks?

till you went got right with them and So God is saying, you know, I'm not real big on that happening

I don't like that and why behold out the moat your brother's eye, but you don't consider the beam that's in your own

You're you're the only way, you know, they have that faults because you have it How would you know it was wrong?

See like I heard that talk somewhere around here or how will that they'll say to that brother

Let me pull out the moat that's in your eye. Let me fix you where you'll be just like me

If you'll hang around me enough I can make you just like me and then I like you Because I like me

That is the sign of a Corinthian Church And a church that grows in the

Lord the more mature you are the more you can love and even like people who are vastly different than you you may be the guy with the ring and you got saved and the other guy may be in the tattered

Clothes and he's saved and you love him just the social things are gone in the

Lord That is a real sign of maturity How what they'll say that brother let me pull out the moat out of your eye and make you be just like me and behold

There's a beam in your own eye now hypocrite first cast out the beam out of that own eye and then

Shall fell see clearly to cast out the moat out of their brother's eye

And so I think that pretty well sums up what's being taught in the latter portion

James chapter 2 so let's stand and have prayer together Father we thank you for your word today and For how you've used it in our hearts to give us a glimpse of the heavenlies and fill our hearts with joy and We ask you to use

Everything that you've taught us today to your purposes in the coming week that as we go out into the world

We might sow seeds everywhere we go And we know that you'll bring the fruit and father

We love you, and we thank you so much for the Lord Jesus Christ and for having given us to him

And because you loved us and because you loved him Thank you so much for that ongoing relationship and Send us out from here father and help us to be the light and the salt