Faith Over Favoritism | Sermon 04/03/2022

So We are done with chapter 1 The book of James.

We're on to chapter 2.

Please turn there with me in your Bibles.

James chapter 2.

We had about 12 sermons in chapter 1 because James just

like the Proverbs seemed to be changing Topic all over the place,

but chapter 2 you're gonna find is a little bit different.

There's going to be some larger discourses here.

And I think there's going to be about four sermons in chapter 2 opposed to the 12 that was

in chapter 1.

So we're going to be looking at James chapter 2 verses 1 through 7

so You guys were good.

You turn there in your Bibles.

I didn't let me get there.

James chapter 2 the title of this sermon is Faith over

favoritism.

Faith over favoritism.

Brethren here now the words of the living and one true God starting in verse 1 of chapter 2.

My brethren do not hold your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ with an

attitude of personal favoritism.

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 you say

sit here in a good place.

And you say to the poor man you stand over there or sit down by my footstool.

Have you not made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil motives?

Listen my beloved brethren did not 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.

But you have dishonored the poor man.

Is not is it not the rich who oppress you and personally drag you into court?

Do they not blaspheme the fair name by which you have been called?

Thus ending the reading of God's holy and inspired word.

Let's pray real quick father.

Please speak through me today.

Please bless the message.

Teach your people today.

Lord illuminate the scriptures.

Help us to be solely focused on you and your word and your praise.

And God help us to learn ever more so deeply.

Why you detest?

Partiality.

Lord help me to speak in a way that is clear today.

Let it be helpful.

Let it always be true in Christ's name.

Amen.

For centuries now the sin of favoritism has plagued the church.

Especially where biblical principles are ignored favoritism abounds.

We see from our text that it was a problem from the very first century.

Martin Luther saw this in his day.

The common people didn't know Latin.

They didn't have Bibles for themselves.

They could never fully participate in the worship of God.

The Working peasant class didn't get to enjoy the full benefits of Christian assembly as the

way the wealthy did of that day.

Then you have men like John Wesley who I don't agree with all his theology, but he spotted the

problem, too.

The Church of England became extremely elitist.

And unwelcoming to the common man.

It is said in 1739 that Wesley left the churches and went to

graveyards and fields to preach the gospel.

After doing that some accounts recall up to 30 ,000 miners

listening to his preaching in the fields.

Finally after after hearing the truth of God's Word covered in dust and coal these men Would experience for

the first time the saving power of the gospel.

Some consider John Wesley a schismatic while others believe he was simply trying to reform the Church

of England.

But after it was clear common folk were not welcome to worship Christ in their congregations.

He founded what is called the Methodist Church.

Methodism.

Well Wesley died and not even a hundred years later what he had accomplished out of

reform was Undone in the Methodist Church in the 19th century you

could walk into churches that had shop owners.

Politicians and all type of all types of aristocrats and important people.

Who who would be sitting in the front pews facing the pulpit facing the pastor?

Pews that had cushions and back supports and All those nice things that we take for granted.

But there was a separate door to be used for the common man.

Separate door the working man the peasant families.

They would be forced to sit in the very back of the church.

Not on pews, but on basic hard wooden benches without backs without

cushions.

Sometimes churches would even have partitions.

I mean we're talking full -on partitions between the commoners and And the higher

class of society.

So we're saying that there could have been a divider right here.

And the people in the back wouldn't even be even be able to see the pulpit.

They would close it off, so they couldn't even see it, and that's what they would do for the common

man.

And unfortunately this pattern continued into the 20th century with such separation eventually with our

black brothers and sisters in Christ and.

And It even happens today more than you would even know.

I I decided to watch that three -part Hillsong

megachurch exposed documentary, which I don't.

It's not for children by the way.

There's some there's some pretty Intense scandals that have occurred in there, but I

I thought I could maybe learn from what what had occurred there and In

you might have you might know this name there's a pastor by the name of Carl Lentz who was the

Hillsong pastor in New York City and They be just they became huge

Hillsong.

Especially there in New York.

They would meet at like a nightclub, and there'd be a line out the door for people to get in well eventually in

the first pews.

There would be special Ropes and and and things keeping the

regular person coming in separated and Justin Bieber's and you know all these

celebrity types and governors and people of who are well -known.

They had reserved seating in the front.

This is just within the past few years.

This is still happening today, and it is wicked.

It is wicked.

You see Christ didn't tear the temple veil in two for us to wickedly put a veil back up

right.

For our brothers and sisters.

I find it truly indicative of the impartiality of God that even Jesus Christ in

his earthly ministry Picked the oddest group of men to be his apostles.

You have unlearned fishermen the unliked Roman employed Tax

collector you have even a thief with Judas.

They were men.

Let's be honest that most churchgoing people wouldn't choose but that shows our problem

of favoritism.

Harold L. Fickett jr. Gives a story from his James commentary about a woman of low status

who lived across the tracks in the in the in the more the worst part of town and

She came across the tracks, and she wanted to join the more what he called a more fashionable church.

And so she came to this church.

She talked to the pastor, and he said you know what maybe this isn't for you.

Why don't you go home once you think about it carefully for a week if you want to join our church?

So at the end of the week this woman came back and He said now let's not be

hasty.

Go home and read your Bible.

For an hour every day this week.

Then come back and tell me if you think you should join our church.

So she wasn't very happy about this.

She didn't understand why he was saying this, but she agreed to do it.

But the next week she was back.

Assuring the pastor she wanted to become a member of his church.

He though was hoping she wouldn't return an Exasperation.

He said I have one more suggestion.

Hear me out hear me out.

You pray every day this week, and you ask the Lord if you should be a part of our church.

And so she left the woman left the congregation and Six months had gone by and he had

not seen her.

And it says he said that on the streets one day six months later the pastor saw this woman.

They passed each other and he said hey.

So what did you end up doing?

What'd you end up doing.

And she said I did what you asked me to do.

I went home and I prayed.

One day while I was praying it was as if the Lord had said to me Don't worry about not getting into that church.

I've been trying to get into it myself for the last 20 years.

James however gives us a scenario to contemplate as well.

Two types of men enter their Christian assembly and we are shown the wrong response.

Let's consider now in our text how true faith in Christ does not participate in personal

favoritism starting in verse 1.

My brethren do not hold your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ with an attitude

of personal favoritism.

And James is not addressing a general audience or a hypothetical person here now.

Once again, he draws the reader back in as he addresses Christian brethren

brethren, listen up.

Listen up.

He is going to apply some of his main ideas from chapter 1 to this specific

situation of discrimination and elevation.

Remember he taught us to observe the perfect law of Liberty.

He showed us true religion.

Entails caring for the least of these.

That's what we saw last week, right?

So James makes an imperative a command.

Have not your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ with partiality.

With partiality you see to think someone could have a faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Something that is given in no way based on self -merit.

Reputation or how we look.

That's how we're given it without any of those things in mind could then be used as a

Righteous criteria for someone else.

It's irony in the most evil way.

We were saved by grace apart from anything that we have done or we look like or our status and yet we would then

Use status and appearance to disregard other people or to elevate someone else.

Completely Antithetical to what Christ has done,

but I'm afraid we do this sort of thing more than we'd like.

Think of the secondary command love your neighbor as yourself.

One of the things we know infinitely is how we want to be loved.

Right.

We probably think about ourselves and that too much.

We know how we want to be loved.

That's a problem if we go too far with it.

We're so focused on how we would like to be loved that we ignore the fact that we are to take

that knowledge and love.

The people love people the way that we want to be loved.

Look at yourself briefly and how you want to be loved and get away from yourself.

So then you could extend it to your neighbor.

If we love God properly the way we want to be loved is the way God has prescribed it in his

word and the way he gives us love with blessing grace

patience provision care.

Nurture and much more.

We are supposed to take those items those qualities and share them with others.

He says our glorious Lord Jesus Christ.

This could also be read in the Greek Jesus Christ the Lord of Glory.

Jesus Christ the Lord of Glory.

And Paul calls him the same thing.

Paul calls him the Lord of Glory in 1st Corinthians chapter 2 verse 8.

Not only is this a hint at Christ's divinity, but it's possible.

Glory is also brought up as a way to say Will you put the glory of the Lord

first and his desires first or?

The so -called glory of man.

Do you put the glory of man first or do you put the glory of God first?

Will you elevate man when you ought to elevate God?

Because personal favoritism isn't simply a sin.

Merely against a brother or sister it insults God.

He detests it this word personal favoritism is Made up of a

Greek word, which is combined of two individual words put into one

prosopon and lambano.

Prosopon and lambano.

Lambano is received while prosopon is face.

So it means receiving the face.

Now what am I trying to say to receive the face is to make judgments based off of

people's physical appearance.

You receive the face you receive them based off of how they look.

And also the word is plural.

So besides James's example, it seems there can be a multitude of ways you can practice personal

favoritism.

But partiality towards others and a faith in Jesus Christ are not compatible.

Partiality and a faith in Christ are not compatible.

They do not go together.

Like in the courtroom the jurors are scrutinized to see if they will be fair and

impartial right unbiased.

I am that kind of guy that the local

Court system loves to call for jury duty like every other month I feel like especially when I was living in

Phoenix so far.

It's only been once here and I've only been here eight months.

But I remember one time I made it all the way to we were in a courtroom the judge was there and

all these selected jurors including myself were there and The lawyers were allowed to ask

each and every one of us questions.

Which and the question, you know, of course was would you be fair and impartial?

Would you be fair and impartial as a juror?

And I remember it was about something awful a man there and I saw him

a criminal who had murdered a police officer and at the time my

I had two uncles who were police officers and it was I was unsaved at the time.

I I made an excuse but I but I tried to act like I wasn't gonna be fair and impartial like no

I have Uncles who are police officers, but really I had a full -time job in full -time school.

And I didn't want to participate in that which was wicked of course to lie like that.

But of course they they look and they see that and they're like, okay.

He's got uncles who are police officers.

This man murdered a police officer.

So that criminals lawyer is like, I don't know if we want this guy.

And so I walk out of there like, you know, like a dum -dum.

Not doing the right thing again.

But again, the the question is would you be fair and impartial?

To not grant favor.

Based on a sinful precondition but judged fairly based off of truth in fact,

and so we follow God's example.

Romans chapter 2 says.

For there is no partiality with God.

The context of this verse speaks about how God will judge Jews and Gentiles doesn't matter

whether you were born under the law or without the law.

He will judge both.

Ephesians 6 9 and masters do the same things to them and give up threatening knowing that both their

master and Yours is in heaven and there is no partiality with God.

This verse speaks about how whether.

About how with Christ whether one is slave or free that they are free in Christ

and Christ is their master.

Colossians 3 25.

For he who does wrong will receive the consequences of the wrong which he has done and that without

partiality punishment or judgment is.

It doesn't matter who you are.

It doesn't discriminate.

Judgment will come if you if you are in Christ though that punishment has been paid for by the Lord

Jesus but your loving father will.

Can sometimes chastise in love?

No matter who you are if you do wrong You will answer or Christ will answer.

Proverbs 18 verse 5 to show partiality to the wicked is not good.

Nor to thrust aside the righteous and judgment.

So favoring the wicked in a decision or judgment is itself wicked

is what it's saying here.

The King James Version has a great title for all the times.

It says partiality.

The King James Version says God is not a respecter of persons.

I don't know if you've ever heard that before God is not a respecter of persons.

That phrase means God will not make one single decision based off

status or characteristics of a person.

He will not.

Also, he respects his own nature and character above another.

He respects or regards his righteous law his righteous nature

before.

Anyone else has done anything?

He makes decisions based off of himself.

He will not compromise His standards depending on the person.

This is also why I believe this is very important in regards to Arminianism which I think

fails when we consider the impartiality of God.

God's choice for the elect is based not on persons but on his own sovereign

will and desire.

In Arminianism if his foreknowledge was not an intimate knowledge

Of you and love for you long before he created you but was a looking Through the corridors of time to see

if you would choose him then he would be doing something based off of you.

If God had to see what you would do He'd not be.

He'd be then a respecter of persons.

He'd be a respecter of of Wade.

Oh Wade, okay, Wade chose me.

Okay.

I'm gonna save him.

God doesn't do that.

He's no respecter of persons.

He considers him himself in his will alone and in his sovereign decree.

He would be practicing personal favoritism at that point.

Which is funny again, that's what that's what we get Accused of right?

Oh, you're the elect.

That's personal favoritism.

No, God has decided sovereignly based off of no man.

Based off of only his will and his desire.

Who are the elect?

Acts 10 34 and 35 opening his mouth Peter said I Most

certainly understand now that God is not one to show partiality.

But in every nation the man who fears him and does what is right is welcome to him.

That's when Cornelius had been baptized, you know the centurion.

He was he was a Gentile and at that point Peter understood.

Wow.

God shows no partiality.

He saves the Jew and the Gentile Gospel the salvation is for both.

Galatians 3 28 there is neither Jew nor Greek.

There is neither slave nor free.

There is neither male nor female for you are all one in Christ.

Is this verse could easily have Added to it.

There is neither rich nor poor in Christ, right?

There's neither rich nor poor.

You come to Christ as you are as he saves you.

So the point in all this with all those passages I was quoting you is that the Lord Gives

us his own example.

He is impartial.

He is equitable.

He doesn't practice personal favoritism, he does everything according to his own desires.

Not what you've done.

Now on to verses 2 through 4.

Verse 1 declared the thesis.

Now verses 2 through 4 will provide a Scenario to emphasize his point in

verse 1.

It says 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 the poor man you stand over here or sit down by my footstool.

Have you not made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil motives?

So it appears to be a hypothetical scenario.

But just because it's hypothetical doesn't mean it is not likely in fact.

Based off of what James says especially later in verses 6 and 7 I suspect that this is something that

possibly James has seen in the church or something he is concerned may happen as.

The church was very much made up of poor brothers and sisters, but as the gospel went out Rich

men and women were being saved as well and coming into their own congregation, okay?

So it's a scenario, but I think it's likely because James is a pastor.

Pastors use life examples in their points right so that's what he's doing here.

One man is wearing a gold ring on his finger.

The Greek literally says gold fingered.

He's a gold fingered man.

That's how the Greek puts it.

The Romans loved to show off status with jewelry.

They loved it.

The philosopher Seneca wrote we adorn our fingers with rings.

At every joint is fitted a gem.

He says a gem.

In addition to the ring he is wearing fine clothes.

The word fine can be used for the word shining or bright.

His clothes aren't faded or dirty.

But bright with likely bright colors or pure white.

Rather than some sort of plain linen.

And these two words are the used are the words used to describe the

gorgeous robe that the soldiers placed on Jesus to mock him when he was scourged and

crucified when they mocked his kingship.

Gorgeous robe and fine clothes the same exact words being used here,

but this man is clean.

With high quality clothes and a gold ring on his finger.

He possibly has high status and.

Then another man comes into the assembly.

They walk into the doors almost together rich man and poor man.

They walk through the doors and.

This man has no jewelry.

His hands are likely worn.

They're likely dirty and dry.

His nails are probably worn down.

He is wearing dirty clothes.

The same word used for the word filth.

He is covered in filth.

These are likely the only Clothes he owns.

He's wearing the only clothes he owns right then.

It makes one think of the typical homeless person of our day with dirty or faded ripped

clothes mismatched stained possibly odorous.

This man is without he's greatly without.

So the two different men walk into the assembly.

They approach the rich man first.

To tell him come come sit up here sit sit at a high place sit at a high place of prominence.

Come come here come and.

The word in Greek for pay special attention.

That's all one word is actually in the plural.

It's in the plural.

Demonstrating that multiple Christians in the assembly were fawning over this guy.

Oh come on.

Come on.

Yeah, let's get to know you come here.

Come come sit up here well while the poor man walks in and he's just.

He's not greeted the same way.

He's not treated the same way so with that.

These two men they walk in.

The poor man he doesn't get a seat.

He either gets to stand in the back or sit on the ground by a footstool by feet.

He gets to sit by feet and It says sit down

hoopoe.

Hoopoe my footstool hoopoe my footstool that comes we get the word hypo from that which is

under like hypoglycemia.

Not not proper blood sugar under right so it's it's as if he's it's saying

sit under my footstool.

That's that's how low that they think of this man.

Because footstools back then were already so low to the ground.

They're already so low.

But James might be using some form of hyperbole here to demonstrate.

They are making the poor man so low.

It's as if he's under the footstool.

The poor man is only good enough to have feet sitting on top of him get underneath me

and put a foot up.

That's the image we see here.

The fact that they were ushered somewhere to sit and didn't do it on their own could possibly indicate that

they were visitors.

More than likely I think in the first century due to scare of Persecution and threat of death

they were probably new converts.

In this scenario new converts.

Places of seating demonstrated often the influence one had over others.

It is inferred that the rich man has influence.

That the poor man has none of.

We see in the Gospels that scribes and Pharisees typically sat in the most important seats.

Jesus said in Matthew 23 of The Pharisees he says they love the

places of honor at banquets.

They love it.

They love the chief seats in the synagogue.

Jesus says.

They love it.

In fact Christ gives us the example that Excuse me at a wedding feast.

We should be taking the lowest seat rather than the highest.

Show humility and it is likely you will be brought up in front of all.

Jesus says He says the exalted the the humbled shall be exalted in the exalted shall be

humbled in that regard.

Excuse me.

Isn't it.

Isn't it interesting how seating has changed now though, so I mentioned that.

Karl Lensky.

But I feel like in all the Baptist churches I've ever been to.

The seating in a church is like the splash zones at SeaWorld so up here is like the the people who are up

here are just Above the precipices of hell.

In the middle you have people who are kind of getting fire and brimstone.

It's kind of hitting them in the side of the head then the people in the back.

It's like opening a warm oven pulling a casserole out and that's kind of like a series of heat, you know splash

zone sort of thing.

That's a bad joke, all right.

So James leaves the scenario and now brings on the admonishment.

Have you not made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil motives?

It's an if -then statement.

If they were to do what the potential situation detailed then they would be making evil

distinctions if then They are making differentiating evaluations

on these men.

One commentator points out the translations.

Have you not made distinctions among yourselves or have you not discriminated among yourselves?

These have been the most popular translations of this text for this section of Scripture

but diachrono.

Diachrono is typically used to say doubt or waiver.

In fact James used it in chapter 1 verse 6 to show how one can

doubt God.

So the distinctions and why are why is James using the word doubt or waiver.

A Principle in this letter is to not have a doubtful or divided heart towards God.

So you could say then with that word they are not to have Divided judgments or

divided hearts towards another person in the congregation.

A Division of persons has been made essentially with that

doubt.

Instead of looking at the incomparable Glory of the Lord Jesus Christ.

They look at the faux glory of a rich man brothers and

sisters.

We are to accept people based on the basis of their faith not on

status or appearance.

Do you want to build relationships here with some people and not others based off of what you see with your eyes?

I Can tell you confidently then you would be dead wrong to want to make relationships

only based off of what you see.

Each individual here is Unique and God has done something tremendous in each person

here, and it is worth figuring out in the process you will glorify your Lord

and Hearing stories here.

It'll give you cause to glorify your Lord.

We would miss out.

If we used appearance to make decisions on who we would associate with here

in the process of making inequitable judgments.

They would then become judges with evil motives or thoughts.

When you got an evil judge in his town.

Nothing is done right the whole town is corrupt.

If we were wicked judges here with evil motives.

This would not be a good church.

This church would die out, and it should it should at that point.

This means they are no longer Unbiased.

They're no longer fair.

They're no longer impartial.

They have something to gain by making a prejudice judgment.

So that evil motivates them.

They don't know these men.

What if the man dressed in fine clothes is a false brother?

What if the poor man is a false brother?

What if the poor man's a righteous brother a real brother or the rich man is you just don't know?

You can't make judgments based off of appearance.

John chapter 7 verse 24 Says do not judge.

I'm just kidding.

It says do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.

Right you're like wait.

This is apologia do not judge according to appearance.

But judge with righteous judgments.

Yes, we make judgments every day of our lives.

We make judgments.

We have to.

There was someone there was something someone here late one night, and everyone was leaving.

But there was children playing out here, and there was a person in a hood in a hood.

With a black hood with a mask on and our children were out there.

And I had to make a judgment to go out there and investigate and just see who they were.

They could have been someone fine.

They could have been someone though evil seeking to hurt the children.

I had to make a judgment and we went out there.

And it was a young lady who had just gotten out of the Salt Lake City prison and was trying to get

home.

And we helped her out and that's what it was the case, but we made the judgment and we didn't just

lock the doors and.

And and hope that they would just go away right.

We don't do that as Christians.

But again, I had to make these these judgment calls we do that every day.

Judge not with appearance.

I had to judge with righteous judgment.

There you get what I'm saying, and I'm not trying to you know.

Don't tell me things about that.

It's just an example of what had happened a couple weeks ago.

Kissed a maker states regarding this since time immemorial.

Justice has been depicted as a blindfolded lady who holds

scales on her hands.

The blindfold prevents her from seeing anyone so that she is able to serve impartially the cause of

justice within the context of the Christian faith.

Practicing discrimination is the exact opposite of loving ones neighbors oneself.

He says.

Even the Proverbs Say a rich man has many friends.

A rich man has many friends it says.

Many seek to gain something by such a relationship.

And I'll tell you this is one of the biggest sins for pastors in America, and it makes me sick.

This is one of the biggest sins of what they will do the big givers.

Come to the church, and they can sway the pastor they can sway the leadership.

It is alive and well today.

The pastor ends up fearing man over fearing God and his word and and doesn't speak

to certain sins.

Because the big giver has those sins.

They won't speak from the pulpit about certain sins.

That the big donor is going through they'll avoid certain texts.

They will fear man over fearing God.

The big giver has become higher than God for this type of pastor.

The big giver has become bigger than God for this kind of pastor.

All his Decisions are based and revolved around the big donors of the church.

Oh, I can't I can't do this.

I may get them mad in there.

We really need them.

Well, we can't talk about this.

Because we'll lose them.

That's wicked that is desperately wicked.

He is now a slave to the rich man rather than God's freed man.

He's a slave to the rich man rather than God's freed man.

The Bible says Christ is the righteous judge.

He will return it says he will judge the living and the dead.

So we follow Christ's example.

Now on to verse 5.

Verse 5.

Listen my beloved brethren did not 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.

Hear me.

James says.

Did God not choose the poor of this world to be rich in faith?

It confounds all our reason in a way at least worldly reason.

God demonstrates.

No, man is more worthy for salvation Than any other based on social

or financial status.

No, man is more worthy for salvation based off of those things.

In his question about God choosing the poor it shows to give favoritism to a rich man

contradicts God's own heart.

Did not God choose the poor?

Of this world.

They're going against God's heart.

They're striving against God and his wishes.

In this way, it's God's choice not ours.

The Lord has shown from the beginning his choices are not based off of

us.

He's not a respecter of persons.

Deuteronomy 7 says the Lord did not set his love on you.

Nor choose you because you were more in number than any peoples.

For you are the fewest of all peoples.

But because the Lord loved you and kept the oath which he swore to your forefathers.

The Lord brought you out of the mighty by a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery from the hand of

Pharaoh king of Egypt.

So even there with Israel, he said I did.

I do nothing based off of you.

You're not big.

You're not large.

You're not mighty.

You're not strong.

You're not better -looking.

You're not like this.

I Do things he says out of my love.

I set my love on you and that's what determines.

That you are my people.

The Lord has confounded everyone with this.

He has chosen the poor.

He has chosen prostitutes.

He has chosen wealthy and rejected tax collectors.

He has chosen unclean and diseased lepers.

He has chosen the lime in the blame.

The lame in the blind.

He has chosen some of the most rotten sinners.

He has chosen men who were possessed with a multitude of demons.

My friends.

If you are a sinner, you are the kind of people the Savior wants to save.

Praise God for that Crisis perfect.

He doesn't save perfect people.

He saves sinners.

He saves sinners us wretches.

Some may think.

When they look at this passage.

Does he not save rich people.

Then, you know, you could look at that and go.

Does he not save rich people?

But remember my sermon on fading riches in chapter 1.

The rich man and was humbled and saved just as the man of poor status was.

Okay.

No one can boast in their riches or status.

All we can boast in is our weakness our weakness.

God has chosen the base or foolish things of the world to shame the

wise.

God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the strong it confounds everyone,

right?

So we boast in our weakness.

Because of Christ's strength to save wretched people

again.

Just going back to the fact that this is not saying being poor makes someone good enough to be saved.

Oh, so what poor people get saved?

Are all poor people chosen?

So we would be accusing God of the partiality.

We were just exhorted not to have.

God doesn't choose people just because they are poor.

He chooses that is out of his sovereign election and love outside of any external influence

to himself.

And Christ became poor so we would become rich in faith.

Faith starts in the inner man in the regenerate heart that God swapped in as

he removed the heart of stone.

The new heart is worth.

More than all the gold all the silver all the status and flattering friends than we could ever

have.

It's worth so much more.

And so we are saying God we seek spiritual treasure from you.

We seek a treasure where moth and rust don't destroy.

That is what we seek God.

We seek an inheritance undefiled.

Uncorrupted unfading waiting for us reserved for us in heaven.

That is what we seek God.

Amen.

Our God is the supreme Treasure as he will never fade away.

How many people know about the idols of the moabites?

Well, you might because you read about it.

How many people in this world know about all the idols and all the false gods of this world?

They're forgotten.

They're not remembered.

But the name above all names the lord jesus christ is remembered and it is known today.

And every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that jesus christ is lord to the glory of god the father.

Everyone will know his name whether in this life or in the life to come.

His status will never decrease.

His glory will always shine brilliantly as followers of christ.

No matter how poor in material possessions we are now or poor in spirit as jesus says

in the beatitudes.

No matter all that we can expect and anticipate infinitely greater

blessings and riches to come.

Maybe not here.

Maybe in eternity maybe in the future.

Not not always material.

Paul tells titus we have been made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

In romans it says now being children we are heirs of god and joint heirs with christ.

Brothers and sisters you may not have an inheritance in this life.

You may not have a home in this life, but you have one in eternity.

You have one that christ purchased for you.

One that is far better than this.

We tell that to lds people they have a lot to lose.

We tell them that.

But no one who has left mother father sister brother who has left home.

No one has left those things for the sake of christ without being promised to receive 100 fold in

the kingdom of heaven.

If you lose you will gain.

That's what we tell them.

They may lose their father's business.

They may lose the inheritance.

But they will gain the heavenly inheritance which is far more worthy.

Far more worthy.

You may not have an inheritance in this life, but the one coming is far more supreme.

It couldn't be adequately articulated by mere words.

In fact our inheritance after this life was hellfire.

What we were to inherit was hellfire, but now it is resting at the feet of our savior.

It is serving and worshiping and loving and enjoying and it's just it's we don't even know

it's going to be amazing.

God will give the crown of life to those who love him.

That's what it said in chapter 1 verse 12.

It's much like this promise to those who love them.

He will give the crown of life to those who love him.

So let's exhort ourselves.

We then don't make judgments in our hearts the way the world does.

The standard of the world is corrupted and it continues to corrupt People but we make

decisions and righteous judgments based off of god's standard.

And now finally on to our last verses verses 6 and 7.

They state.

But you but you have dishonored the poor man.

Is it not the rich who oppress you and personally drag you into court?

Do they not blaspheme the fair name by which you have been called?

James takes the admonishment further and reminds them of some things.

In demonstrating personal favoritism by elevating the rich man over the poor

man they Dishonor they shamefully treat the

poor man.

This was a big deal in in in the jewish culture, especially.

Shaming someone is a grievous offense in jewish culture so the

implication here is.

Do not dishonor someone whom god has honored.

Do not dishonor someone whom god as has honored with salvation.

God has honored the poor man with salvation and they have dishonored him.

That's huge.

That's huge.

They have gone against the very will of god.

You could then say to show personal favoritism is to oppose god.

And side with evil in that moment.

He reminds them of the fact of persecution with three things.

That the wicked rich have oppressed them.

Dragged them away.

And have blasphemed the great name by which they have been called three things.

He reminds them of what they've done.

Because the rich have taken advantage of them sometimes.

They don't pay them for their work.

They've done sometimes according to james chapter 5.

They turn it around on them.

Personally drag them off to court.

James is not saying christians should not be kind to the rich.

That's not what he's saying here.

He is saying don't treat them more favorably at the expense of the poor

brother.

If something flattering the rich will help them gain then remember that has not been the case that

that's what he's saying.

Oh, you're gonna fawn over that guy who comes into the assembly.

Remember what they've been doing to you.

Remember what they've done to us.

And you know, he's not trying to call out that man in particular.

He's just saying.

He's he's calling out their inconsistency.

Oh, you're gonna you're gonna kiss this guy's feet.

But you don't remember how we've been treated.

This isn't a call to now act impartially towards rich people in the congregation by thinking

of them to all be wicked people.

Okay.

It's a reminder that just because someone is rich we shouldn't elevate them.

Nor disparage them.

Don't elevate them.

Don't disparage them.

It's possible some Of the wicked rich were landowners.

Greedily wanted the land of their neighbor.

How did they get it?

Well their neighbor now belongs to a sect of judaism called the way.

And they follow one who they've heard has been crucified whose name is jesus and he calls himself the

messiah.

They've heard that about their neighbor.

So what do they do?

They take him in.

This one follows that guy.

Jesus jail.

They take their land.

That happened often, okay.

Dragged into court christians lost their land to follow jesus.

If you lose your home.

Or if you don't ever get a home today, you are in good company with your first century.

Brothers and sisters in christ.

Okay.

They had no homes either.

Christians were dragged.

Being dragged to court the apostles were being imprisoned and forced to stand before the sanhedrin in acts 5.

Saul used to drag men and women off.

It says in acts 8.

Paul and silas it says were dragged before the authorities in chapter 16.

Acts 17 says jason and the brethren were dragged away by the city authorities.

The jews grabbed paul and brought him before the judgment seat in acts 18.

And since then and to this very day brothers and sisters in christ are being dragged away

from then till now.

Men and women are being dragged for their faith in christ.

In front of the in front of the prison to the executioner before the judge they have been dragged away.

But they can never drag us out of the hands of the almighty.

They can't take us away.

No one will snatch us out of his hands.

He says All whom the father has given me.

I will lose none of them, but raise them up on the last day.

That's the promise.

Do they not revile blaspheme slander malign defame the name

by which you've been called.

In acts 11 it says everyone started to call them Christians.

Christians.

The noble name by which they are called is jesus christ.

There is ownership here.

Christ owns you.

And your master has been insulted.

The good or noble name he says who is good.

The lord god who is good the son of god who is good the holy spirit.

They are good.

The lord is good.

Jesus's name is noble.

By showing deference to the rich.

Knowing the rich have slandered christ's name they in a way approve of the blasphemy.

So they treat the rich guy better.

In a sense they approve of the blasphemy being made by the rich people against christ.

But the word defines what will happen.

It says so all the peoples of the earth will see that you are called by the name of the lord.

And they will be afraid of you.

That's what it says.

The name above all names.

Is the name we ascribe to the name we identify with.

Don't stain the name of christ with partiality.

Do not be like them according to our text here in james 2.

There's five things that the wicked do and five things that god does for us.

First we've been chosen.

We've been called we've been promised we've been given and we've been.

We've inherited according to this text and then the wicked.

They judge impartially they dishonor they oppress they drag and they blaspheme.

Do not be like them.

So let's wrap this up church.

To have a faith in christ with personal favoritism attached to it Is to be poor in

faith.

It's to be poor in faith not rich in faith to be impartial.

And loving towards all types of believers regardless of any appearance Financial status or

even race is to display a faith that is rich in christ.

This church should not have any cliques.

And now I know some will undoubtedly grow closer together here than others and i'm not talking about that.

I think that's a righteous thing um.

But no one group or no one person here is allowed to be unapproachable.

We're christians.

Our common bond is the lord.

Jesus christ.

That unites us.

That allows us to come together.

It mustn't ever be true of us.

We ought to embrace every single person in here Who's been called by the glorious name of the lord.

Jesus christ.

Okay.

That doesn't that doesn't mean to say that we will allow sin or Or

allow anything that we see is unrighteous to persist we will call that out.

But i'm talking about people who have called on the name of the lord.

Jesus.

They are one they are one.

We are family.

We ought to consider if all who walk in those doors here at apology a church feel welcome.

Do some people receive?

Warm welcomes while others get a cold greeting or no greeting at all.

I think about that a lot.

I want to make sure i'm better at that.

No one is to be excluded nor exalted.

No one is to be excluded or exalted.

One lord one baptism one faith and There's no way to not sound kind of just

like a.

I was thinking this this application is kind of dorky, but it's it could work.

You guys could essentially Get to know someone here that you don't know and the question is why don't you know them yet?

I I think that could be a good application here.

Get to know someone who you've always seen them, but you've never truly gotten to know them.

I want to challenge myself as well there.

Christ truly spent his time with many of the unpopular crowd.

How easy is it for us to categorize people into a different and unfavorable camp?

How easily could you see someone walk in here who doesn't seem like your kind of people?

Well, they're just not like me.

They're not they're not my kind of people.

Well, we're not allowed to do that.

We're not allowed to maintain our comfort in that.

Okay.

We might even do it subconsciously, but that is wrong.

That is wrong.

The gospel and the benefits of the church along with the service are for every type of

believer.

People of the world do such things as what's been warned about here separating the rich from the poor creating

A vip section here and making commoners in the back people in the world do that God's people

don't do that.

Because we aren't in the world anymore we aren't of the world anymore I should say.

So if you have looked down upon other brothers or sisters For any of these reasons it is

appropriate to repent For us to humble ourselves and treat the heirs of the kingdom the

way that god treats them.

Love your neighbors yourself.

We are to repent from ever looking down upon another believer.

Treat each person the same way christ did is better than yourselves and you will never stray into this error.

That's what he says in philippians chapter 2 treat everyone is better than yourselves as christ did.

So let's do that here church.

All right, let's pray Heavenly father, please bless the message that went out.

Lord help us to be Christian people who are impartial Lord

Lord.

That we don't look upon appearance.

We don't judge based off of appearance.

We judge with righteous judgment.

Lord everyone who's been called by your name every person who is a

christian has value and worth lord and Is worth

getting to know is worth associating with as christ did.

And lord, I know so many people use this passage for the marxist agenda so many use this

people this passage lord to propagate A false

intersectionality lord, but we look at this Biblically lord, we see that

separation for any reason is wrong.

Other than that believers are meant to be here.

This isn't a fest.

A festival for unbelievers lord, we worship you here lord in our assembly.

So god, please help us to Utilize what we've learned here today.

Thank you god for your word and how how very True and cutting it it always is and

needs to be in our lives sanctify us in this area lord.

We pray this all in the mighty name of your son the lord.

Jesus christ.

Amen.