1 00:00:04,800 --> 00:00:07,100 What is it is good to be here today? 2 00:00:07,200 --> 00:00:10,900 It was good to be back. Back home with you guys Sherry 3 00:00:10,900 --> 00:00:12,700 and I have definitely missed you all. 4 00:00:12,900 --> 00:00:17,500 We have been out of town for several weeks now and might not 5 00:00:17,500 --> 00:00:20,800 be that long on the calendar but man it is felt like months and 6 00:00:20,800 --> 00:00:23,400 so we are very grateful to be back. 7 00:00:23,400 --> 00:00:25,300 It's good to see everybody. It's good to get to hug 8 00:00:25,300 --> 00:00:28,600 everybody. Just very, very grateful, 9 00:00:28,800 --> 00:00:30,300 obviously, a lot of visitors today. 10 00:00:30,300 --> 00:00:33,300 I want to welcome you to New Life Community Church and Echo. 11 00:00:33,300 --> 00:00:35,400 What James is already said. We're glad that you're here 12 00:00:35,400 --> 00:00:38,800 today to just make yourselves at home. 13 00:00:38,800 --> 00:00:42,500 We hope you enjoy the service and so my name is Jasper, I'm 14 00:00:42,500 --> 00:00:46,100 the associate pastor here, not a very good one because you don't 15 00:00:46,100 --> 00:00:48,800 have bulletins today so you guys need to find somebody better, I 16 00:00:48,800 --> 00:00:52,300 guess I'm sorry we're out of ink and so because we're out of ink, 17 00:00:52,300 --> 00:00:54,700 also didn't print my sermon, it's on a computer. 18 00:00:54,700 --> 00:00:57,000 So, forgive me for this. I know, I'm sure you might not 19 00:00:57,000 --> 00:00:59,500 even see me over the screen here, but I'm going to move 20 00:00:59,500 --> 00:01:01,500 around some. How about that you guys can 21 00:01:01,500 --> 00:01:03,400 watch? Josh try to follow me with the 22 00:01:03,400 --> 00:01:05,900 cameras. Drive him crazy today. 23 00:01:05,900 --> 00:01:11,000 So anyway, it's good to be back. Good to see you guys hopefully 24 00:01:11,000 --> 00:01:13,800 within the next few weeks. We'll be home for good. 25 00:01:14,000 --> 00:01:16,600 Things are going great. So we're right on track, we 26 00:01:16,600 --> 00:01:19,300 should be back by the end of the month and looking forward to 27 00:01:19,308 --> 00:01:22,400 that. So be sure to hug Sherry. 28 00:01:25,700 --> 00:01:28,600 Anyway, all right, so let's let's get rolling with this. 29 00:01:29,800 --> 00:01:31,900 For those of you who maybe who are visiting or don't know, 30 00:01:31,900 --> 00:01:35,100 we've been working through the Book of James on Sunday mornings 31 00:01:35,100 --> 00:01:37,100 and on Wednesday nights in our home groups. 32 00:01:37,100 --> 00:01:41,500 And so just to give you a really, really quick, snapshot 33 00:01:41,500 --> 00:01:44,700 Into the Book of James as a whole and kind of some context 34 00:01:44,700 --> 00:01:46,500 that will play a part. In what we're going to talk 35 00:01:46,500 --> 00:01:52,400 about today, the Book of James was written by a guy named James 36 00:01:52,600 --> 00:01:56,700 and it He's a very short book that is just packed full of 37 00:01:56,700 --> 00:01:59,500 practical application for Christians. 38 00:01:59,500 --> 00:02:01,600 Okay? So it's not a book that's full 39 00:02:01,600 --> 00:02:05,500 of just a lot of real heady theological just thoughts and 40 00:02:05,500 --> 00:02:08,199 stuff. It's real down, down to earth, 41 00:02:08,199 --> 00:02:11,200 boots on the ground. This is how you should live as 42 00:02:11,200 --> 00:02:13,700 Christians, okay? So it's a lot of application, 43 00:02:14,000 --> 00:02:16,500 it's a lot of that. So the Book of James is known 44 00:02:16,500 --> 00:02:20,200 for versus like don't just be hearers of the word, but be 45 00:02:20,200 --> 00:02:22,500 doers actually do what it's saying. 46 00:02:23,000 --> 00:02:26,300 It's also, Also known for what we're going to get into next 47 00:02:26,300 --> 00:02:29,700 week that faith without works is dead. 48 00:02:29,800 --> 00:02:33,100 And so we're covering some big big passages like that. 49 00:02:33,500 --> 00:02:36,900 Today is no different. It's a passage that is very 50 00:02:36,900 --> 00:02:40,800 practical and its application. It's just very simple stuff. 51 00:02:40,800 --> 00:02:42,300 It's not anything too complicated. 52 00:02:42,300 --> 00:02:48,300 So if you have your Bibles turn to James chapter 2, Now, the 53 00:02:48,300 --> 00:02:53,600 Book of James also was written to Christians who were dispersed 54 00:02:53,600 --> 00:02:57,800 at the time, James opens the letter by saying, greetings to 55 00:02:57,800 --> 00:03:00,000 the Twelve Tribes of the dispersion, okay? 56 00:03:00,000 --> 00:03:04,100 So there was a guy named Herod Agrippa, the first, he was 57 00:03:04,100 --> 00:03:07,200 persecuting Christians, they were dispersed everywhere, and 58 00:03:07,200 --> 00:03:09,600 they were meeting and house churches probably, you know, 59 00:03:09,600 --> 00:03:12,100 underground churches. They were having a kind of hide 60 00:03:12,100 --> 00:03:14,600 and be sneaky about it, so they're just kind of spread out 61 00:03:14,600 --> 00:03:18,500 everywhere and So, he's writing this letter to these Christians, 62 00:03:18,500 --> 00:03:21,000 into these churches about just very practical things. 63 00:03:21,300 --> 00:03:24,400 So, these were would have been Jewish Christians that he was 64 00:03:24,400 --> 00:03:26,600 riding to. And so he addresses them as 65 00:03:26,600 --> 00:03:29,900 brothers throughout this letter, and gives them all kinds of 66 00:03:29,900 --> 00:03:33,800 great instruction. Now, if you were able please 67 00:03:33,800 --> 00:03:36,500 stand, you don't have to if you can, but if you were able to 68 00:03:36,500 --> 00:03:42,400 stand we're going to read James chapter 2 verses 1 through 13. 69 00:03:44,300 --> 00:03:48,600 My brethren do not hold your faith and our glorious. 70 00:03:48,600 --> 00:03:52,800 Lord, Jesus Christ with an attitude of personal favoritism 71 00:03:53,500 --> 00:03:56,700 for if a man comes into your assembly with a gold ring and 72 00:03:56,700 --> 00:03:59,800 dressed in fine clothes. And there also comes in a poor 73 00:03:59,800 --> 00:04:03,700 man and dirty clothes. And you pay special attention to 74 00:04:03,700 --> 00:04:05,500 the one who is wearing, fine clothes. 75 00:04:05,500 --> 00:04:09,500 And say, you sit here in a good place and you say to the poor 76 00:04:09,500 --> 00:04:12,800 man, you stand over there or sit down by my footstool. 77 00:04:13,200 --> 00:04:15,900 Have you not made? Distinctions among yourselves 78 00:04:15,900 --> 00:04:20,600 and become judges. With evil motives, listen, my 79 00:04:20,600 --> 00:04:25,200 beloved Brethren did not God. Choose the poor of this world to 80 00:04:25,200 --> 00:04:29,300 be rich in faith and Heirs of the Kingdom, which he promised 81 00:04:29,300 --> 00:04:32,400 to those who love him. But you have Dishonored, the 82 00:04:32,400 --> 00:04:37,200 poor man, Is it not the rich who oppress you and personally, drag 83 00:04:37,200 --> 00:04:39,800 you into court? Do they not blaspheme? 84 00:04:39,800 --> 00:04:44,100 The fair Name by which you've been called, if however, you are 85 00:04:44,100 --> 00:04:46,800 fulfilling the Royal law. According to the scripture, you 86 00:04:46,800 --> 00:04:49,500 shall love your neighbor as yourself, you're doing well. 87 00:04:50,100 --> 00:04:53,300 But if you show partiality, you're committing sin and are 88 00:04:53,300 --> 00:04:56,900 convicted by the law as transgressors for whoever, 89 00:04:56,900 --> 00:05:00,300 whoever keeps the whole law. And yet, stumbles at one point, 90 00:05:00,800 --> 00:05:04,100 he has become guilty of all for he who said do not, Commit 91 00:05:04,100 --> 00:05:06,700 adultery also said, do not commit murder. 92 00:05:07,200 --> 00:05:09,600 Now if you do not commit adultery but you do commit 93 00:05:09,600 --> 00:05:12,400 murder, you've become a transgressor of the law. 94 00:05:12,900 --> 00:05:16,300 So speak and act. As those who are to be judged by 95 00:05:16,300 --> 00:05:19,500 the law of Liberty. For judgment will be merciless 96 00:05:19,500 --> 00:05:21,200 to the one who has shown, No Mercy. 97 00:05:21,500 --> 00:05:25,000 Mercy triumphs over judgment. Let's pray. 98 00:05:25,900 --> 00:05:27,400 Father, I thank you for your word. 99 00:05:28,000 --> 00:05:30,500 Thank you. That we have it that we can read 100 00:05:30,500 --> 00:05:34,900 it and I thank you for everything that Contained in it. 101 00:05:35,000 --> 00:05:38,100 And God, I just pray this morning that as we talk through 102 00:05:38,100 --> 00:05:41,700 this and we think through James chapter 2 that you just help us 103 00:05:41,700 --> 00:05:44,200 to process this. I pray that you speak to us 104 00:05:44,200 --> 00:05:46,800 through the Holy Spirit Lord, and that you help us to hide 105 00:05:46,800 --> 00:05:50,000 these truths in our heart and apply it to our everyday lives. 106 00:05:50,400 --> 00:05:53,400 We give you all the honor and all the glory Jesus name. 107 00:05:53,500 --> 00:05:55,400 Amen. You can be seated. 108 00:05:57,200 --> 00:06:03,300 Okay, so James does what? Any good pastor does and right 109 00:06:03,300 --> 00:06:06,200 out of the gate, he has this format for how he's going to do 110 00:06:06,200 --> 00:06:09,600 this. He tells them the topic and then 111 00:06:09,600 --> 00:06:12,700 it gives an example and then it gets right down to the root and 112 00:06:12,700 --> 00:06:15,900 his main point and then he supports it with scripture and 113 00:06:15,900 --> 00:06:18,900 things that the Bible teaches. So it's a great sermon layout 114 00:06:18,900 --> 00:06:20,900 and so we're just going to kind of follow through that today. 115 00:06:21,200 --> 00:06:25,400 So right out of the gate, he tells them what the issue is and 116 00:06:25,400 --> 00:06:27,200 verse 1. My brethren do not. 117 00:06:27,200 --> 00:06:28,800 Do not hold your faith in our glorious. 118 00:06:28,800 --> 00:06:32,700 Lord Jesus Christ with an attitude, a personal favoritism, 119 00:06:32,700 --> 00:06:34,600 and then he launches into this example. 120 00:06:34,600 --> 00:06:37,600 So personal favoritism, another way of saying this and some of 121 00:06:37,600 --> 00:06:40,500 your translations. I think the ESV says partiality, 122 00:06:40,500 --> 00:06:43,400 so showing partiality playing favorites. 123 00:06:43,400 --> 00:06:47,600 Having bias amongst your brothers and sisters in Christ 124 00:06:47,600 --> 00:06:51,600 within your church. Now, apparently, this was, this 125 00:06:51,600 --> 00:06:55,400 was an issue for these churches and we know that this is not the 126 00:06:55,400 --> 00:06:57,100 only time that this is in Scripture. 127 00:06:57,300 --> 00:07:00,000 Right there, there are other examples of this. 128 00:07:00,000 --> 00:07:03,600 You remember in First Corinthians 3 4 through 8. 129 00:07:03,600 --> 00:07:08,200 Paul says this, for when one says I follow Paul and another I 130 00:07:08,200 --> 00:07:12,500 follow Apollo's, are you not being merely human what? 131 00:07:12,500 --> 00:07:16,600 Then is Apollo's and what is Paul servants through, whom you 132 00:07:16,600 --> 00:07:20,100 believed as the Lord assigned to each, I planted Apollo's 133 00:07:20,100 --> 00:07:22,200 watered. But God gave the growth. 134 00:07:22,700 --> 00:07:26,200 So neither he who plants or he who Waters is anything but only 135 00:07:26,200 --> 00:07:29,700 God who gives the Oath, he who plants, and he, who waters are 136 00:07:29,700 --> 00:07:32,900 one, and each one will receive his wages according to his 137 00:07:32,900 --> 00:07:35,600 labor. So, James is actually written 138 00:07:35,600 --> 00:07:38,700 before First Corinthians, even though that's not that way in 139 00:07:38,700 --> 00:07:41,300 your Bibles. But even Paul is saying here, 140 00:07:41,300 --> 00:07:44,600 this was an ongoing issue for Christians, okay? 141 00:07:44,600 --> 00:07:47,600 And the church at Corinth, the churches that James is writing 142 00:07:47,600 --> 00:07:50,800 to, it's always been an issue, playing favorites showing 143 00:07:50,800 --> 00:07:53,900 partiality. And so Paul is saying and this 144 00:07:53,900 --> 00:07:56,000 is what James is saying today that we're not supposed to do 145 00:07:56,000 --> 00:07:59,300 this, like Paul is saying He doesn't say, who is Apollo's or 146 00:07:59,300 --> 00:08:01,100 who is Paul? He says, what are they? 147 00:08:01,300 --> 00:08:01,900 What? Does Paul? 148 00:08:01,900 --> 00:08:04,000 What is their servants? That's what they are. 149 00:08:04,100 --> 00:08:07,700 They're nothing, it's God, that deserves the honor and the glory 150 00:08:07,700 --> 00:08:10,600 and he goes on to say the one that plants in the one that 151 00:08:10,600 --> 00:08:14,100 waters are one. And so he's stressing Unity 152 00:08:14,100 --> 00:08:17,100 amongst the brothers in Christ and that all the glory goes to 153 00:08:17,100 --> 00:08:19,000 God not to any one of us. Okay. 154 00:08:19,000 --> 00:08:22,400 So that's what James is going to stress in his letter today. 155 00:08:22,400 --> 00:08:25,900 So James is bringing this up apparently because this was an 156 00:08:25,900 --> 00:08:28,700 issue, this was a problem. Problem for this for these 157 00:08:28,700 --> 00:08:33,000 churches and it is still a major issue even amongst Christians 158 00:08:33,000 --> 00:08:36,799 today, right? So we know this happens all the 159 00:08:36,808 --> 00:08:38,799 time and I'm going to get into this here in a minute, kind of 160 00:08:38,799 --> 00:08:41,100 some modern-day examples of this, but we know that this is 161 00:08:41,100 --> 00:08:45,200 still still an issue. So he goes from, lay it out, he 162 00:08:45,200 --> 00:08:48,100 lays it out there partiality. Okay, that's the issue. 163 00:08:48,200 --> 00:08:51,400 That's what we're talking about. And then in verses 23, he starts 164 00:08:51,400 --> 00:08:53,800 giving an example, okay? So he gives the example of the 165 00:08:53,800 --> 00:08:57,100 rich man, and the poor man that come into your assembly. 166 00:08:57,300 --> 00:08:58,500 Okay. That's another way of saying 167 00:08:58,500 --> 00:09:01,200 into your church. So for us it would look like, 168 00:09:01,200 --> 00:09:02,600 you know, this on a Sunday morning. 169 00:09:02,600 --> 00:09:04,400 They remember their meeting in homes. 170 00:09:04,600 --> 00:09:06,900 So the house you know, smaller houses. 171 00:09:06,900 --> 00:09:09,300 Not as much room, it would have been about like a homegroup on a 172 00:09:09,300 --> 00:09:14,200 Wednesday night and so not much room, may be kind of cramped, I 173 00:09:14,200 --> 00:09:16,800 don't know how many people they had meeting in these, you know, 174 00:09:16,800 --> 00:09:18,500 house churches. I don't know how big the houses 175 00:09:18,500 --> 00:09:22,900 were but it's essentially like you meeting in homes seating is 176 00:09:22,900 --> 00:09:24,700 limited. Maybe some people are having a 177 00:09:24,700 --> 00:09:27,000 sit on the floor. Summer having to stand up and 178 00:09:27,000 --> 00:09:28,400 all Of that. But you guys know, you've been 179 00:09:28,400 --> 00:09:30,400 to a homegroup just about every house. 180 00:09:30,400 --> 00:09:34,000 You go to is going to have a couch and maybe like a really 181 00:09:34,000 --> 00:09:36,600 nice recliner that like, you know, somebody likes to sit in 182 00:09:36,600 --> 00:09:38,900 and all that. So at home group on Wednesday 183 00:09:38,900 --> 00:09:41,000 night, what happens after we eat the meal, right? 184 00:09:41,000 --> 00:09:43,200 When it's time to kind of start working our way into the living 185 00:09:43,200 --> 00:09:45,700 room, usually somebody's going to go on there and take that 186 00:09:45,700 --> 00:09:48,300 Bible and kind of sit in like a really good recliner you know 187 00:09:48,300 --> 00:09:52,300 like that's how you go ahead and get your spot right there. 188 00:09:52,300 --> 00:09:55,500 Essentially that this is what's happening here is that he's 189 00:09:55,500 --> 00:09:58,900 given the example like look. Guy walks into your, to your 190 00:09:58,900 --> 00:10:03,500 assembly, into your church house into your church looking like 191 00:10:03,500 --> 00:10:07,100 Tom Hanks off of Castaway and you're telling the guy like 192 00:10:07,100 --> 00:10:09,600 okay, you can you can sit on the floor. 193 00:10:09,600 --> 00:10:12,300 You can stand in the back if you want or just use hang out 194 00:10:12,300 --> 00:10:16,100 outside, if that's okay. But then got looking like Tom, 195 00:10:16,100 --> 00:10:19,000 Cruise walks in a suit with a fresh shave and smelling good. 196 00:10:19,000 --> 00:10:20,600 And it's like, who come here Tom. 197 00:10:20,600 --> 00:10:22,000 You get the best seat in the house. 198 00:10:22,000 --> 00:10:25,000 Like, it's a horrible example, but you get what I'm saying? 199 00:10:25,000 --> 00:10:29,800 They're showing preferential. It meant to People based on 200 00:10:29,800 --> 00:10:33,400 appearances and based on wealth and money and things like that 201 00:10:33,400 --> 00:10:37,200 external factors, and we're going to get into that more in 202 00:10:37,200 --> 00:10:41,200 just a moment. So after he gives his example, 203 00:10:41,700 --> 00:10:45,500 James jumps into and verse 4, the heart of the matter. 204 00:10:45,900 --> 00:10:51,400 Okay, the root sin that's taking place in their hearts that's 205 00:10:51,400 --> 00:10:54,500 working. Its way out and showing itself 206 00:10:54,800 --> 00:10:57,100 in partiality what's really going on? 207 00:10:57,200 --> 00:11:00,900 On in the heart and in the mind that leads to this. 208 00:11:01,100 --> 00:11:06,500 So look at verse 4, have you not been made distinctions among 209 00:11:06,500 --> 00:11:10,100 yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? 210 00:11:10,400 --> 00:11:15,900 Again some translations, say evil motives So the partiality. 211 00:11:16,300 --> 00:11:20,800 Okay, the favoritism treating people differently was the out 212 00:11:20,800 --> 00:11:24,500 working again of something, something deeper that was going 213 00:11:24,500 --> 00:11:26,900 on. Inside their hearts, the roots 214 00:11:26,900 --> 00:11:30,300 in was that they were judging others. 215 00:11:31,500 --> 00:11:34,400 They're judging other people. They're judging their brothers 216 00:11:34,400 --> 00:11:36,900 and sisters in Christ, and they're not even judging them. 217 00:11:36,900 --> 00:11:39,600 According to God's standard, they're judging them, according 218 00:11:39,600 --> 00:11:42,900 to their own standards that they have set for who's worthy. 219 00:11:42,900 --> 00:11:46,100 And who's not, who's good and who's bad, right? 220 00:11:46,800 --> 00:11:50,100 They're basing it on things like wealth and clothing and stuff, 221 00:11:50,100 --> 00:11:53,300 external stuff. That's what's going on in the 222 00:11:53,300 --> 00:11:56,400 heart here in James recognizes this and he says, look, you are, 223 00:11:56,600 --> 00:12:00,000 you're creating distinctions and you're judging for yourselves 224 00:12:00,500 --> 00:12:04,100 between these people and what happens is the result of this, 225 00:12:04,100 --> 00:12:06,800 as you begin to make what he calls distinctions. 226 00:12:07,400 --> 00:12:10,500 Another way of saying this is separations, you start to make 227 00:12:10,500 --> 00:12:13,900 separations in your own mind when you start to look at people 228 00:12:14,300 --> 00:12:18,300 and look at external things, and you say he dresses really nice, 229 00:12:18,300 --> 00:12:21,600 and he dresses really shabby. And so, I'm automatically going 230 00:12:21,600 --> 00:12:24,800 to divide in my mind who's worthy, who's not, who's good, 231 00:12:24,800 --> 00:12:28,400 who's bad rich and poor, you start to separate and now 232 00:12:28,400 --> 00:12:30,700 because you've separated these people into two different 233 00:12:30,700 --> 00:12:33,400 groups, you To treat them differently and treat them 234 00:12:33,400 --> 00:12:37,300 accordingly in your own mind. And it plays itself out in the 235 00:12:37,300 --> 00:12:40,900 way you act because of what's now taking place in your heart, 236 00:12:41,500 --> 00:12:48,200 this is the very same sin that Adam and Eve fell into They 237 00:12:48,200 --> 00:12:52,900 tried to play God, right? They wanted to be like God. 238 00:12:53,400 --> 00:12:55,600 And that's what James is audience. 239 00:12:55,600 --> 00:12:58,100 Since what we do to, when we start to judge people, we know 240 00:12:58,100 --> 00:13:01,900 that we are not to judge. We can judge a tree by its 241 00:13:01,900 --> 00:13:02,900 fruit. Absolutely. 242 00:13:02,900 --> 00:13:06,500 That's according to God's word, but we are not to cast judgment 243 00:13:06,500 --> 00:13:08,400 on others. We are not to make distinctions 244 00:13:08,400 --> 00:13:11,800 and determined some to be worthy and some to be unworthy. 245 00:13:11,800 --> 00:13:13,200 And that's what these people were doing. 246 00:13:13,800 --> 00:13:19,400 James fully understood this, and this is why Why it mattered so 247 00:13:19,400 --> 00:13:24,500 much to him? This is why he's placing such 248 00:13:24,500 --> 00:13:27,900 high importance on this is because he understands what is 249 00:13:27,900 --> 00:13:33,600 at stake. You see, James fully understood 250 00:13:34,600 --> 00:13:39,100 that by people doing this, by just looking at external 251 00:13:39,100 --> 00:13:42,700 superficial things and making distinctions and judging people 252 00:13:43,000 --> 00:13:46,000 and starting to treat people differently that they were in 253 00:13:46,000 --> 00:13:50,600 grave danger of jeopardizing. The unity of the church. 254 00:13:52,700 --> 00:13:57,000 Christ called his church to be one body with many members. 255 00:13:57,500 --> 00:14:00,800 Each one different serving, a different purpose, but unified 256 00:14:00,800 --> 00:14:04,600 as one body and James understood that what you are doing is 257 00:14:04,600 --> 00:14:06,800 you're taking all those different parts and you're 258 00:14:06,800 --> 00:14:10,300 separating them out as if they don't belong together. 259 00:14:11,000 --> 00:14:14,800 And this is a very, very dangerous thing for the church 260 00:14:15,300 --> 00:14:18,000 or else, he wouldn't have even written on it. 261 00:14:18,300 --> 00:14:24,500 And so today, the big point that I I want to make to you all and 262 00:14:24,500 --> 00:14:29,600 looking at this, my big idea for you is that we maintain unity in 263 00:14:29,600 --> 00:14:33,000 the church through impartial love for one another. 264 00:14:34,200 --> 00:14:38,700 Okay, we we maintain Unity amongst ourselves amongst 265 00:14:38,700 --> 00:14:42,500 Brothers and Sisters in Christ through an impartial love for 266 00:14:42,500 --> 00:14:45,100 one another. We can't play favorites. 267 00:14:45,100 --> 00:14:49,400 We can't begin to judge amongst ourselves who's worthy of my 268 00:14:49,400 --> 00:14:55,100 time and attention and love and who's not Anyone in this room or 269 00:14:55,100 --> 00:14:56,900 any other church across this country? 270 00:14:58,200 --> 00:15:02,700 That has been. Saved by the grace of God and a 271 00:15:02,708 --> 00:15:05,100 brother and sister in Christ is worthy of our love and 272 00:15:05,108 --> 00:15:08,300 affection. We don't get to decide who those 273 00:15:08,300 --> 00:15:11,800 people are, amen? Okay. 274 00:15:11,800 --> 00:15:16,300 So let's keep moving the external things that they were 275 00:15:16,300 --> 00:15:19,700 looking at here in this text was wealth and money and clothes, 276 00:15:19,800 --> 00:15:21,900 okay? Pretty easy stuff to notice. 277 00:15:22,100 --> 00:15:25,000 So I told you earlier that we talked about this, this happens 278 00:15:25,000 --> 00:15:29,000 even still today in churches. So great example, you see a guy 279 00:15:29,800 --> 00:15:33,000 Big beard, flannel boots drives, a truck likes. 280 00:15:33,000 --> 00:15:35,100 The hunt and fish. Must be a man. 281 00:15:35,100 --> 00:15:36,400 Right? He's a man's man. 282 00:15:36,400 --> 00:15:42,500 He's manly. But almost did the Tim the Tool 283 00:15:42,500 --> 00:15:47,200 Man, Taylor Grant thing. But you have no idea whether 284 00:15:47,200 --> 00:15:55,000 that man teaches his children. You don't know whether that man 285 00:15:55,000 --> 00:15:59,100 loves his wife, the way, he's commanded to the way Jesus loved 286 00:15:59,100 --> 00:16:02,400 the church. You don't know what that man 287 00:16:02,400 --> 00:16:04,900 does in his free time when he's alone. 288 00:16:06,900 --> 00:16:10,700 But you see that man and you start to make judgments right 289 00:16:11,600 --> 00:16:15,900 now, the flip side of that coin, that same guy beard flower boots 290 00:16:15,900 --> 00:16:19,000 drives, a truck blue, collar job, you might look at him and 291 00:16:19,000 --> 00:16:21,500 say, well, he's got to be just a dumb redneck, right? 292 00:16:22,500 --> 00:16:25,200 Might be one of the greatest theologians you've ever met in 293 00:16:25,200 --> 00:16:30,400 your life and you have no idea. And so, the point I'm making is 294 00:16:30,400 --> 00:16:33,300 that we still do this. Now, we do this all the time, we 295 00:16:33,300 --> 00:16:35,600 see people. And we just automatically And 296 00:16:36,000 --> 00:16:38,800 it's just Instinct, we make assumptions about them. 297 00:16:38,800 --> 00:16:42,700 You know, they must be x y, z or the fit into whatever category 298 00:16:42,700 --> 00:16:47,600 and so they were doing this to, in these churches that James is 299 00:16:47,600 --> 00:16:50,300 writing to. And when we do this, as we've 300 00:16:50,300 --> 00:16:54,800 been talking about so far, it causes divisions amongst God's 301 00:16:54,800 --> 00:16:58,200 people, it allows our mind and our thoughts. 302 00:16:58,200 --> 00:17:01,200 Now, to start to affect our actions in the way that we treat 303 00:17:01,200 --> 00:17:04,200 people. We begin to become judges, we 304 00:17:04,200 --> 00:17:08,599 began to cast judgment. But we begin to act differently 305 00:17:08,599 --> 00:17:11,500 around those people. Maybe there's someone that you 306 00:17:11,500 --> 00:17:15,800 and your mind have deemed worthy and so on a Sunday morning, even 307 00:17:15,800 --> 00:17:17,900 in here, you run over and shake that hand. 308 00:17:17,900 --> 00:17:20,099 And you want to talk for five minutes to that person. 309 00:17:20,500 --> 00:17:22,599 But then there's another person right beside that. 310 00:17:22,599 --> 00:17:24,300 You had even said, hello to today. 311 00:17:24,700 --> 00:17:29,500 Why will they not both bought and paid for by the blood of 312 00:17:29,500 --> 00:17:31,600 Christ? Are they not both worthy and 313 00:17:31,600 --> 00:17:35,900 God's eyes? And so we do this, we don't do 314 00:17:35,900 --> 00:17:37,800 it on purpose. A lot of times it's just become 315 00:17:37,800 --> 00:17:43,300 ingrained in us now. Following James's progression 316 00:17:43,300 --> 00:17:45,400 through this, right? So he gives them the issue 317 00:17:45,400 --> 00:17:48,300 partiality, he gives them the example, he gets to the root 318 00:17:48,300 --> 00:17:50,900 cause here what's happening in their hearts and then he begins 319 00:17:50,900 --> 00:17:52,400 to support what he's telling them. 320 00:17:52,400 --> 00:17:55,200 Okay. Some scriptural support in 321 00:17:55,200 --> 00:17:58,400 verses 5 through 7, he starts to point out to them. 322 00:17:58,400 --> 00:18:03,600 Look this is not how God operates, okay, this is not how 323 00:18:03,600 --> 00:18:06,500 God does things when you're doing this when you're treating 324 00:18:06,500 --> 00:18:08,200 the rich man. Better than the poor man. 325 00:18:08,200 --> 00:18:11,100 This isn't this isn't normal for God. 326 00:18:11,100 --> 00:18:13,400 Okay? So the whole group curriculum 327 00:18:13,400 --> 00:18:16,400 word it like this. It is not in sync with God's 328 00:18:16,400 --> 00:18:20,100 character with who he is as Creator. 329 00:18:20,100 --> 00:18:23,600 And so when we begin to do this, we are now acting in opposition 330 00:18:23,600 --> 00:18:26,900 to who God is, okay? That's important to remember. 331 00:18:27,100 --> 00:18:33,600 You remember the story in first Samuel when Saul was King and 332 00:18:33,600 --> 00:18:36,200 God has decided he's going to choose a new King, right? 333 00:18:36,200 --> 00:18:38,700 And who was that? Who was the guy that came after 334 00:18:38,700 --> 00:18:42,600 Saul David, Okay? So, Remember, David was just a 335 00:18:42,600 --> 00:18:46,000 boy and God sends Samuel to Jesse's house. 336 00:18:46,000 --> 00:18:48,700 That's David's dad, goes to Jesse's house and tells him. 337 00:18:48,900 --> 00:18:51,000 You're going to anoint a new king, okay. 338 00:18:51,300 --> 00:18:53,200 He doesn't tell him who it is, right? 339 00:18:53,200 --> 00:18:55,500 He doesn't say, hey, it's David go find David. 340 00:18:55,700 --> 00:18:57,600 You just said it's going to be one of Jesse sons and you'll 341 00:18:57,600 --> 00:19:00,500 know it. And so he gets there and right 342 00:19:00,500 --> 00:19:03,300 off the bat, he starts to see some of Jesse's oldest son's. 343 00:19:03,300 --> 00:19:06,000 And I'm not sure if it was his absolute oldest, but one of 344 00:19:06,008 --> 00:19:09,800 them's name is reliable. And it says that when Samuel saw 345 00:19:09,800 --> 00:19:11,400 him, he just knew by his stature. 346 00:19:11,500 --> 00:19:13,600 ER in his bill and he's handsome, he's tall, he's 347 00:19:13,700 --> 00:19:15,100 strong. All that he knew his like, this 348 00:19:15,100 --> 00:19:17,000 has got to be the guy. I mean, look at this guy, you 349 00:19:17,000 --> 00:19:19,700 know, I mean he's over there just he's living it up. 350 00:19:19,700 --> 00:19:24,800 This is the dude for sure. This is what God says though in 351 00:19:24,800 --> 00:19:30,300 first Samuel 16:7 but the Lord said to Samuel, do not look on 352 00:19:30,400 --> 00:19:33,900 his appearance or on the height of his stature because I have 353 00:19:33,900 --> 00:19:37,600 rejected him. For the Lord sees, not as man 354 00:19:37,600 --> 00:19:43,300 sees, man looks on the outward appearance, but God looks on the 355 00:19:43,300 --> 00:19:46,900 heart. God doesn't look at the outward 356 00:19:46,900 --> 00:19:49,200 appearance. God looks on the heart of man. 357 00:19:50,100 --> 00:19:52,200 And that's why God loves the poor. 358 00:19:52,800 --> 00:19:55,900 And that's what James gets into in these following verses in 359 00:19:55,900 --> 00:19:59,900 verses 5 through 7. We see that God has chosen those 360 00:19:59,900 --> 00:20:02,700 who are poor to be rich in faith. 361 00:20:03,500 --> 00:20:06,100 Okay? Now multiple verses throughout 362 00:20:06,100 --> 00:20:09,300 scripture support this, this is one of the exercises we did and 363 00:20:09,500 --> 00:20:11,500 home groups. This week was to look up Old 364 00:20:11,500 --> 00:20:15,300 Testament verses that support this idea that God favors the 365 00:20:15,300 --> 00:20:19,000 poor. Okay, tons of verse Psalm 1012 366 00:20:19,000 --> 00:20:22,000 song 41 1 through to Proverbs 22, 22. 367 00:20:22,000 --> 00:20:24,400 I had all these listed I was going to read them, but it's 368 00:20:24,408 --> 00:20:26,500 going to take too long, but there's a lot of them. 369 00:20:26,500 --> 00:20:27,900 Okay, there's a lot of them in there. 370 00:20:28,900 --> 00:20:32,200 Matthew Henry and his commentary, even says this 371 00:20:32,200 --> 00:20:36,200 about, you know, what James is telling his readers, is that 372 00:20:36,700 --> 00:20:41,600 Those whom you have such a low opinion of are, those whom God 373 00:20:41,600 --> 00:20:46,500 has made Heirs of the Kingdom? They are princes and princesses. 374 00:20:46,500 --> 00:20:48,900 They are going to inherit the kingdom and those are the ones 375 00:20:48,900 --> 00:20:50,200 that you're treating. Eating like dirt. 376 00:20:51,500 --> 00:20:58,500 Now we know that poorer can mean in impoverished, no money, but 377 00:20:58,500 --> 00:21:00,600 it doesn't always just mean financially. 378 00:21:00,700 --> 00:21:05,300 It also means those who are helpless, I love the way the 379 00:21:05,300 --> 00:21:07,700 homegroup God's word. It it says those who are 380 00:21:07,700 --> 00:21:12,900 helpless To whom God shows special concern those who are 381 00:21:12,900 --> 00:21:16,800 marked by a recognition that they cannot help themselves. 382 00:21:17,800 --> 00:21:20,700 And throughout scripture poverty, tends toward that kind 383 00:21:20,700 --> 00:21:23,200 of humility more than wealth does. 384 00:21:23,300 --> 00:21:26,100 Okay? And in the same way sickness 385 00:21:26,500 --> 00:21:30,000 tends toward that kind of humility more than health does, 386 00:21:30,000 --> 00:21:32,900 so don't miss this. I know I was reading a quote, 387 00:21:33,600 --> 00:21:39,100 but the point is this, that that kind of humility that being 388 00:21:39,100 --> 00:21:43,300 humble, knowing that you can't help yourself that happens more 389 00:21:43,300 --> 00:21:46,300 times than not, when we're sick. Not, when we're healthy, right? 390 00:21:46,300 --> 00:21:49,100 It's when we're sick and weird, Desperate and we're at our ropes 391 00:21:49,100 --> 00:21:53,100 in or crying out to God, for help the very humble and we 392 00:21:53,100 --> 00:21:57,400 recognize how powerful he is and how helpless we are and likewise 393 00:21:57,400 --> 00:21:59,400 maybe it's not sickness and health, maybe it is money. 394 00:21:59,400 --> 00:22:02,700 Maybe it's like, man, I don't have a dime left to my name. 395 00:22:02,700 --> 00:22:04,000 I don't know how I'm going to pay my bills. 396 00:22:04,000 --> 00:22:06,600 God, I need some help. It's then that we cry out to 397 00:22:06,600 --> 00:22:09,300 God, right? It's never when we're rich. 398 00:22:10,000 --> 00:22:15,200 And so, The point here is that those going through trials, 399 00:22:15,200 --> 00:22:21,000 tribulations, going through tough times, usually tend to 400 00:22:21,000 --> 00:22:24,000 lean more toward, that sort of humility and being poor in 401 00:22:24,000 --> 00:22:26,800 spirit. Now, that's not an absolute hard 402 00:22:26,800 --> 00:22:29,800 fast rule, right? We know that not every poor 403 00:22:29,800 --> 00:22:33,000 person loves the Lord and is showing humility toward God, 404 00:22:33,000 --> 00:22:34,800 right? We know that, not every rich 405 00:22:34,800 --> 00:22:37,700 person is living in sin. Say, oh, I got this. 406 00:22:37,700 --> 00:22:40,700 I don't need God, we know, that's not always the case, but 407 00:22:41,100 --> 00:22:43,300 Typically, that's how these things work. 408 00:22:43,300 --> 00:22:48,700 And that's why Jesus taught that it is easier for a camel to go 409 00:22:48,700 --> 00:22:52,400 through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter into 410 00:22:52,400 --> 00:22:55,500 the kingdom of God. Because with great money and 411 00:22:55,500 --> 00:22:58,400 great riches comes, great pride and arrogance. 412 00:22:58,900 --> 00:23:02,100 And this thought that I don't really need God, I'm doing okay. 413 00:23:02,900 --> 00:23:05,400 And so we have to be very careful with these things but we 414 00:23:05,400 --> 00:23:08,600 know that it's the poor that God shows special favor to. 415 00:23:09,200 --> 00:23:11,500 Now, I want to, I want to point this out and Again, the whole 416 00:23:11,500 --> 00:23:14,500 group, curriculum, I'm kind of reading through that this week. 417 00:23:14,500 --> 00:23:16,800 I'm reading through this text and I'm seeing all these 418 00:23:16,800 --> 00:23:19,500 connections, it did a great job of pulling this out. 419 00:23:20,600 --> 00:23:25,500 Being poor. Okay, being poor weather 420 00:23:25,800 --> 00:23:30,700 monetarily or poor in spirit or whatever does not mean that you 421 00:23:30,700 --> 00:23:34,200 automatically go to heaven. Okay, that's not the 422 00:23:34,200 --> 00:23:39,200 prerequisite to go to heaven, is I need to be poor and verse 5, 423 00:23:39,700 --> 00:23:44,300 we see that he has promised the kingdom to those who love him. 424 00:23:45,100 --> 00:23:47,300 Okay, it says, listen my beloved Brethren did God. 425 00:23:47,300 --> 00:23:50,600 Not choose the poor of this world, to be rich in faith and 426 00:23:50,600 --> 00:23:53,500 Heirs of the Kingdom, which he has promised to those who love 427 00:23:53,500 --> 00:23:55,400 him. So we know that typically the 428 00:23:55,400 --> 00:23:57,800 poor are rich in faith, but just because you're poor, doesn't 429 00:23:57,800 --> 00:24:01,600 mean yep, your tickets. Punched, it's those who love the 430 00:24:01,600 --> 00:24:07,100 Lord that will Inherit the Kingdom, God shows a special 431 00:24:07,100 --> 00:24:10,100 concern for those who were helpless and those who cry out 432 00:24:10,100 --> 00:24:13,600 to him and those who need him. But it is only those who put 433 00:24:13,600 --> 00:24:18,800 their total and complete faith hope and trust in God that will 434 00:24:18,800 --> 00:24:22,100 inherit the kingdom of God. That is the prerequisite. 435 00:24:22,100 --> 00:24:24,600 That is the only thing you bring to the table as an 436 00:24:24,600 --> 00:24:26,600 understanding. That all I bring into the 437 00:24:26,600 --> 00:24:30,400 situation is sin. I'm just a sinner and I need a 438 00:24:30,408 --> 00:24:35,800 savior and so I'm asking God to save All right that's that's 439 00:24:35,800 --> 00:24:39,400 all. And so if you do that, if you 440 00:24:39,400 --> 00:24:42,300 understand that you are separated from God because of 441 00:24:42,300 --> 00:24:46,400 your sin that you cannot save yourself and that you are a 442 00:24:46,400 --> 00:24:49,300 sinner. Romans 3:23 tells us this all 443 00:24:49,300 --> 00:24:51,500 have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. 444 00:24:52,000 --> 00:24:55,700 If you understand that that you you look you can't earn your way 445 00:24:55,700 --> 00:24:57,300 into heaven. You're not going to work your 446 00:24:57,300 --> 00:24:59,900 way into heaven. You're not good enough. 447 00:25:01,100 --> 00:25:04,900 You understand that then you can cast your cares on the Lord and 448 00:25:04,900 --> 00:25:10,200 say, Lord, forgive me, I Repent in dust and Ashes please save my 449 00:25:10,200 --> 00:25:13,600 soul. Then then you can be saved. 450 00:25:13,600 --> 00:25:16,600 You've put all confidence in him and not yourself. 451 00:25:18,200 --> 00:25:20,000 That is how we inherit the kingdom of God. 452 00:25:20,000 --> 00:25:23,600 It's not just by being poor or being rich, or being ugly or 453 00:25:23,600 --> 00:25:26,900 pretty or any of that stuff. It's total dependence on the 454 00:25:26,900 --> 00:25:29,500 lord. It's repent and believe is what 455 00:25:29,500 --> 00:25:33,600 his word teaches. So that's a word on the port. 456 00:25:33,600 --> 00:25:39,100 Now the rich if being poorer usually lends itself toward 457 00:25:39,100 --> 00:25:41,200 being humble in spirit, then like we've talked about being 458 00:25:41,200 --> 00:25:45,200 rich most of the time can lend toward being a bit arrogant and 459 00:25:45,200 --> 00:25:49,100 not dependent on God. So he James says, a couple of 460 00:25:49,100 --> 00:25:52,800 things here about the rich he says, look, do you guys not 461 00:25:52,800 --> 00:25:56,300 understand that that it's the poor that God's chosen to 462 00:25:56,300 --> 00:26:01,600 inherit the kingdom and the rich over here are the ones who 463 00:26:01,600 --> 00:26:05,100 oppose you? They drag you to court, and they 464 00:26:05,100 --> 00:26:09,700 blaspheme Jesus. So back, then this was a pretty 465 00:26:09,700 --> 00:26:13,800 interesting fine when I was studying for this, the ESV Study 466 00:26:13,800 --> 00:26:16,100 Bible says like this, it's frequently recorded in the Old 467 00:26:16,100 --> 00:26:20,200 Testament, but the wealthy would use the court system to steal 468 00:26:20,200 --> 00:26:23,800 from the port. So back, then you had not only 469 00:26:23,800 --> 00:26:26,900 people like these Pharisees that are running around taking 470 00:26:26,900 --> 00:26:31,400 advantage of people, you know, living this lavish lifestyle and 471 00:26:31,400 --> 00:26:34,500 all that. But the rich of that time use 472 00:26:34,500 --> 00:26:38,300 the court systems to manipulate people, and steal lands and 473 00:26:38,300 --> 00:26:42,000 titles and money from poor. All the time, they manipulated 474 00:26:42,000 --> 00:26:45,000 the system. And so James is telling them 475 00:26:45,000 --> 00:26:47,100 look. These rich people are walking 476 00:26:47,100 --> 00:26:49,700 into your church and you're seeing all the flashy gold rings 477 00:26:49,700 --> 00:26:52,800 and all of that you know who he must be special, come sit here. 478 00:26:53,100 --> 00:26:55,600 Those are the very people that are oppressing, you, those are 479 00:26:55,600 --> 00:26:57,300 the people that are opposed to God. 480 00:26:57,700 --> 00:27:00,400 Do you not see? This is completely backwards. 481 00:27:00,400 --> 00:27:03,700 God has chosen the poor. The rich will be judged. 482 00:27:03,700 --> 00:27:06,400 You're choosing the rich and you're disregarding the poor. 483 00:27:06,400 --> 00:27:08,100 You've got it completely backwards. 484 00:27:13,000 --> 00:27:17,800 And then he gets to verse 8. James 2 verses 8 through nine, 485 00:27:17,800 --> 00:27:21,900 say if you really fulfill the Royal law, according to the 486 00:27:21,900 --> 00:27:25,000 scripture that says you shall not look or you shall love your 487 00:27:25,000 --> 00:27:27,300 neighbor as yourself you're doing well. 488 00:27:27,300 --> 00:27:29,200 So if you do that, if you're loving your neighbor as 489 00:27:29,200 --> 00:27:33,400 yourself, you're doing well but if you show partiality, you are 490 00:27:33,408 --> 00:27:37,100 committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. 491 00:27:38,300 --> 00:27:39,600 Let's think about this for a minute. 492 00:27:39,600 --> 00:27:42,100 If you really fulfill the Royal law. 493 00:27:42,800 --> 00:27:47,200 What is the Royal law? You thought, if you ever thought 494 00:27:47,200 --> 00:27:49,800 about that, I kind of glanced over it when I was reading 495 00:27:49,800 --> 00:27:51,900 through this, let's talk about that for a moment. 496 00:27:52,100 --> 00:27:54,200 If something's the Royal something, what does that if 497 00:27:54,200 --> 00:27:58,100 this is the Royal Pulpit, that means it belongs to the King, 498 00:27:58,100 --> 00:28:00,300 right? This is the Royal laptop, it's 499 00:28:00,300 --> 00:28:04,700 the Kings laptop, and so the Royal law is the King's law. 500 00:28:05,400 --> 00:28:07,900 Who's the king. Jesus. 501 00:28:08,600 --> 00:28:11,900 So the Royal law is Jesus law. But wait a minute, wait a 502 00:28:11,908 --> 00:28:13,600 minute. I thought Jesus came to fulfill 503 00:28:13,600 --> 00:28:15,100 the law. Not create new ones. 504 00:28:16,300 --> 00:28:18,200 Well, what did we just talk about in Sunday school this 505 00:28:18,200 --> 00:28:23,000 morning? Matthew 22 verses 36 through 40. 506 00:28:24,000 --> 00:28:26,600 Teacher, which is the greatest commandment and all the law. 507 00:28:27,000 --> 00:28:28,800 And he said to them, you shall love the Lord. 508 00:28:28,800 --> 00:28:32,800 Your God with all your heart and all your soul and all your mind. 509 00:28:32,800 --> 00:28:34,800 This is the great and first commandment. 510 00:28:35,200 --> 00:28:36,700 There's a second that is like it. 511 00:28:37,000 --> 00:28:40,600 You shall love your neighbor as yourself on these two 512 00:28:40,600 --> 00:28:43,900 Commandments depend on all the law and all the prophets. 513 00:28:45,600 --> 00:28:48,800 That is the King's law. That is the Royal law to love, 514 00:28:48,800 --> 00:28:53,500 God, and love others. Jesus himself taught that to 515 00:28:53,500 --> 00:28:57,700 love your neighbor. Is just as important as your 516 00:28:57,700 --> 00:29:02,600 love for the Lord and that every other law, all of it depends on 517 00:29:02,600 --> 00:29:06,900 your ability to do this. It can all be summed up in these 518 00:29:06,900 --> 00:29:09,200 two laws. Love God, and love your 519 00:29:09,200 --> 00:29:13,900 neighbor. So if you break this law, You 520 00:29:13,900 --> 00:29:17,000 are becoming a transgressor and you're breaking all the laws and 521 00:29:17,000 --> 00:29:19,100 that's the exercise we did this morning. 522 00:29:19,100 --> 00:29:22,700 We see that in Breaking these laws, we break all of them. 523 00:29:24,100 --> 00:29:29,000 That's how important this lesson was for these Christians. 524 00:29:29,000 --> 00:29:34,500 That James is writing to That is what's at stake when it comes to 525 00:29:34,500 --> 00:29:39,100 loving our Brothers and Sisters in Christ without partiality. 526 00:29:40,800 --> 00:29:45,600 And did you know, this isn't the only verse in scripture that 527 00:29:45,600 --> 00:29:48,700 says all the law and the prophets depend on that verse. 528 00:29:49,600 --> 00:29:54,100 There's another one, Matthew 7, chapter 7 verse 12 says this, 529 00:29:54,700 --> 00:29:58,600 whatever you wish that others would do to you do also to them 530 00:29:58,700 --> 00:30:00,300 for, this is the law and the prophets. 531 00:30:01,200 --> 00:30:04,200 That's known as the Golden Rule. You've all heard that your whole 532 00:30:04,200 --> 00:30:05,900 lives, right? They used to be posted in 533 00:30:05,900 --> 00:30:09,100 schools when I was growing up. So you've got the greatest 534 00:30:09,100 --> 00:30:11,700 commandment, love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, soul 535 00:30:11,700 --> 00:30:13,000 and mind, and love your neighbor as yourself. 536 00:30:13,000 --> 00:30:15,500 And you got the golden rule, do to others the way you want to be 537 00:30:15,500 --> 00:30:18,400 treated. Those two things, all the law, 538 00:30:18,500 --> 00:30:23,500 all the profits depend on those two things, love God and love 539 00:30:23,500 --> 00:30:25,600 people. And if you're not doing that, 540 00:30:25,600 --> 00:30:29,100 you're breaking them all. You're condemning yourself, 541 00:30:29,300 --> 00:30:32,200 you're going to jeopardize the unity and the church. 542 00:30:33,500 --> 00:30:39,200 It all hinges on this first. John 4:20 says, if anyone says 543 00:30:39,200 --> 00:30:41,200 that I love God, but he hates his brother. 544 00:30:41,200 --> 00:30:44,700 He is a liar for he who does not love his brother. 545 00:30:45,200 --> 00:30:47,500 Whom he is Meek, who he has seen. 546 00:30:47,700 --> 00:30:50,000 Cannot love God. Whom he has not seen. 547 00:30:50,700 --> 00:30:53,100 So you can't say, well, I love, I love the Lord. 548 00:30:53,100 --> 00:30:55,500 I just don't like his church. I love God. 549 00:30:55,500 --> 00:30:57,400 I like to spend time with him. It's don't like going to church. 550 00:30:57,400 --> 00:31:00,600 I don't like Christians. Doesn't work that way. 551 00:31:01,700 --> 00:31:04,600 We've I've heard this example. I know I've used this example so 552 00:31:04,600 --> 00:31:07,400 many times, I'm going to use it against too good, not to use it. 553 00:31:08,500 --> 00:31:13,800 If if I've invited some of you to dinner at my house, I said, 554 00:31:13,800 --> 00:31:15,800 hey man, Sherry want to have you guys over for dinner, we'd love 555 00:31:15,800 --> 00:31:18,400 to hang out, play some board games, and just have a great 556 00:31:18,400 --> 00:31:20,400 time. And I said, hey, Dylan. 557 00:31:20,700 --> 00:31:23,600 I'm gonna invite you guys over to play board games and sorry. 558 00:31:23,600 --> 00:31:26,400 Ashley, I'm not picking on you. Hey Dylan, come over to invite 559 00:31:26,400 --> 00:31:28,200 you guys over. But if it's cool with you man, 560 00:31:28,200 --> 00:31:30,600 like look, could you just come by yourself? 561 00:31:30,600 --> 00:31:33,400 Just leave her at the house. Would that be okay? 562 00:31:33,400 --> 00:31:35,900 Like, you know, know, you know, you don't mean it, but that be 563 00:31:35,900 --> 00:31:41,100 okay Dylan's gonna go like no. No, that's my wife, I love my 564 00:31:41,100 --> 00:31:45,500 wife, we are one like, you know, we're a package deal and so you 565 00:31:45,500 --> 00:31:49,900 can't say that you love Jesus, but you hate his bride, the 566 00:31:49,900 --> 00:31:51,900 church that he gave his life for. 567 00:31:51,900 --> 00:31:56,000 That's not how it works. It's against his character, it's 568 00:31:56,000 --> 00:31:58,900 against scripture itself. You can't say, you love God and 569 00:31:58,900 --> 00:32:00,800 hate your neighbor. It's not true. 570 00:32:02,300 --> 00:32:06,100 And so, this is a huge huge deal for these churches. 571 00:32:06,100 --> 00:32:08,100 This is a big deal for all Christians. 572 00:32:08,300 --> 00:32:11,500 Back then and this is why James is taking the time to address 573 00:32:11,500 --> 00:32:15,200 this issue in these churches and it still applies to us today. 574 00:32:16,400 --> 00:32:18,900 This. Look, I get it. 575 00:32:18,900 --> 00:32:24,200 This is not easy to do, okay? Doing church is messy. 576 00:32:24,300 --> 00:32:27,400 People are messy, the whole room full of sinners in here right 577 00:32:27,400 --> 00:32:31,000 now, okay? And all of you have your own 578 00:32:31,000 --> 00:32:34,800 baggage and meant, trust me, I get to see and hear about a lot 579 00:32:34,800 --> 00:32:38,100 of that and that's a whole side of ministry that I did not even 580 00:32:38,200 --> 00:32:41,400 look forward to and didn't know that was part of it, but it is. 581 00:32:41,500 --> 00:32:44,100 And I, you know what, I'm happy to be right in the middle of it 582 00:32:44,100 --> 00:32:46,100 with you. It's tough at times. 583 00:32:46,200 --> 00:32:52,200 Times but we all have that, we all have that junk and it is not 584 00:32:52,200 --> 00:32:55,600 easy to love people. People are heart, people can be 585 00:32:55,600 --> 00:32:58,100 really hard to love and that some people especially if you 586 00:32:58,100 --> 00:33:01,700 ever heard that like a person's just hard to love, like some 587 00:33:01,700 --> 00:33:05,300 people are annoying. They're just not fun to be 588 00:33:05,300 --> 00:33:11,600 around, right? They're just not It's it's not 589 00:33:11,600 --> 00:33:17,200 always easy but and quite honestly the way some people 590 00:33:17,200 --> 00:33:19,400 treat you, they don't deserve to be loved. 591 00:33:21,500 --> 00:33:29,400 But real Christian Brotherly Love covers a multitude of 592 00:33:29,400 --> 00:33:33,800 offenses. Real love, overlooks. 593 00:33:33,800 --> 00:33:37,600 All of that. But it's that it's that kind of 594 00:33:37,600 --> 00:33:38,900 love. That is the only reason a 595 00:33:38,900 --> 00:33:43,700 marriage can work, right? I love someone so much that I 596 00:33:43,700 --> 00:33:47,000 care about them more than my own self. 597 00:33:47,700 --> 00:33:50,700 And I'm willing to overlook those things because I know, I'm 598 00:33:50,700 --> 00:33:55,300 not perfect either. It's only that kind of love that 599 00:33:55,300 --> 00:34:00,500 can make this work. Romans 5:8 says, God shows his 600 00:34:00,500 --> 00:34:05,200 love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died 601 00:34:05,200 --> 00:34:08,900 for us. He didn't tell us, go clean 602 00:34:08,900 --> 00:34:12,199 yourself up first, and then, I might think about giving my son 603 00:34:12,199 --> 00:34:14,800 for you. God loved us so much. 604 00:34:14,800 --> 00:34:18,600 He sent his only son while we were still Sinners to die for 605 00:34:18,600 --> 00:34:26,199 us. I think God, I thank God that he 606 00:34:26,199 --> 00:34:30,000 loved me even when I didn't deserve to be loved. 607 00:34:32,000 --> 00:34:36,800 Can you imagine? But yet, we treat people like 608 00:34:36,800 --> 00:34:41,400 they have to earn our love. If we are to love as Christ 609 00:34:41,400 --> 00:34:43,900 loves, that means we love people, even when even when they 610 00:34:43,900 --> 00:34:47,600 don't deserve it, even when it's really hard to love them, when 611 00:34:47,600 --> 00:34:51,100 they're pushing every button you've got you, love them 612 00:34:51,100 --> 00:34:58,800 anyway. If you have never experienced 613 00:34:58,800 --> 00:35:01,800 what I'm talking about, if you don't know that kind of love. 614 00:35:02,900 --> 00:35:05,500 And I and look, I get it, you know, our Earthly relationships, 615 00:35:05,500 --> 00:35:08,800 our marriages, our relationships with our parents, or our kids, 616 00:35:08,800 --> 00:35:12,800 or siblings can be really difficult, and maybe you've 617 00:35:12,800 --> 00:35:16,700 never experienced that kind of love inside a Earthly 618 00:35:16,700 --> 00:35:20,900 relationship. But that kind of love that, God 619 00:35:20,900 --> 00:35:23,700 shows us is available to everyone that would call upon 620 00:35:23,700 --> 00:35:27,000 the name of the Lord. And if you have never 621 00:35:27,000 --> 00:35:32,100 experienced that I invite you to experience that today, Jesus 622 00:35:32,100 --> 00:35:36,500 says, come to me all who are weary all, who are burdened? 623 00:35:36,800 --> 00:35:40,800 I will give you rest. He invites you to bring all of 624 00:35:40,800 --> 00:35:42,400 that. You know, we talked about being 625 00:35:42,400 --> 00:35:45,300 poor earlier and I told you guys, it's not just always money 626 00:35:45,300 --> 00:35:49,000 like Jesus, invites, you with all that mess, all that 627 00:35:49,000 --> 00:35:51,600 poorness, you carry around everything you've got going on 628 00:35:51,600 --> 00:35:56,200 to come to him, and lay it all at his feet and he will love 629 00:35:56,200 --> 00:35:57,400 you. Despite it all. 630 00:35:58,000 --> 00:36:01,200 He already has. He invites you to come to that? 631 00:36:01,300 --> 00:36:04,300 At, and when you do and you do what I explained earlier, and 632 00:36:04,300 --> 00:36:07,800 you say, look, Lord, I I've got a lot of sin that I'm carried 633 00:36:07,800 --> 00:36:09,700 around and I want to lay at your feet on a trust. 634 00:36:09,700 --> 00:36:13,800 In you on put my faith in you, please save me. 635 00:36:13,800 --> 00:36:17,300 When you do that, you get to experience the love that only a 636 00:36:17,300 --> 00:36:21,400 savior can offer you. A Selfless self-sacrificing. 637 00:36:21,400 --> 00:36:23,900 Love like none other. And I invite you to that today 638 00:36:23,900 --> 00:36:28,700 repent and believe the gospel and experience that kind of love 639 00:36:29,100 --> 00:36:34,800 that only Jesus can offer you. And then do your best the rest 640 00:36:34,800 --> 00:36:37,000 of your life to love other people like that. 641 00:36:37,800 --> 00:36:41,300 That's the standard, right? That's the standard by which we 642 00:36:41,300 --> 00:36:44,400 treat other people. Not our own hearts and Minds as 643 00:36:44,400 --> 00:36:52,500 judges. Pn's James ends this text with 644 00:36:52,500 --> 00:36:54,800 some really good practical instruction. 645 00:36:56,300 --> 00:36:59,600 And verse 12. He says so speak and act as 646 00:36:59,600 --> 00:37:04,100 those who are to be judged under the law of Liberty for judgment 647 00:37:04,100 --> 00:37:09,300 is without Mercy to one who has shown, No Mercy, Mercy, triumphs 648 00:37:09,300 --> 00:37:15,500 over judgment. So as those who have received 649 00:37:15,500 --> 00:37:21,500 happily happily eagerly received God's grace, and God's mercy, we 650 00:37:21,500 --> 00:37:24,200 should gladly extend that to other people. 651 00:37:25,300 --> 00:37:28,000 Right? We shouldn't take be willing to 652 00:37:28,000 --> 00:37:32,700 take all that grace and mercy from the Lord and say well thank 653 00:37:32,700 --> 00:37:36,200 you God, I needed this and you know I deserved your mercy and 654 00:37:36,200 --> 00:37:38,100 your grace but I'm not going to show that to other people. 655 00:37:39,000 --> 00:37:43,300 We don't get to do that. We should be willing to extend 656 00:37:43,300 --> 00:37:47,200 that same love that, same mercy and Grace to everyone and we can 657 00:37:47,200 --> 00:37:49,200 do this. This is possible this. 658 00:37:49,200 --> 00:37:51,400 This type of what's called agape. 659 00:37:51,400 --> 00:37:55,700 Love is possible but only through the power of the Holy 660 00:37:55,700 --> 00:37:59,900 Spirit through Jesus Christ, it cannot be done apart from him 661 00:37:59,900 --> 00:38:01,900 and so again, I'm going to plead with you today. 662 00:38:02,100 --> 00:38:05,600 If you've never given your life to the Lord to do that, you will 663 00:38:05,600 --> 00:38:08,000 never know this kind of love and you will never be able to give 664 00:38:08,000 --> 00:38:11,200 this kind of love apart from the Holy Spirit enabling you to do 665 00:38:11,200 --> 00:38:14,400 that. You might love your spouse but 666 00:38:14,400 --> 00:38:17,500 you'll never love your spouse. The way you were meant to if you 667 00:38:17,500 --> 00:38:20,900 are not a Christian, It's not possible. 668 00:38:23,600 --> 00:38:27,300 Again James wrote this. This was an issue. 669 00:38:27,300 --> 00:38:29,700 He wanted to protect the unity of the church. 670 00:38:29,700 --> 00:38:33,500 He wanted to show them. You are one body United together 671 00:38:33,500 --> 00:38:36,800 under the blood of Christ and you have to love one another if 672 00:38:36,800 --> 00:38:39,400 you don't it's all going to it's going to disrupt the unity. 673 00:38:39,400 --> 00:38:46,100 Look you guys know. Satan is out to destroy us. 674 00:38:46,400 --> 00:38:48,500 Any way you can. Scripture tells us that he 675 00:38:48,500 --> 00:38:50,500 prowls around like, a lion looking for those. 676 00:38:50,500 --> 00:38:53,000 He can destroy, he would happily do that. 677 00:38:53,000 --> 00:38:59,300 From within try to destroy the church from within Right, we 678 00:38:59,300 --> 00:39:02,100 have to do what we can everything we can. 679 00:39:02,100 --> 00:39:05,500 To make sure we are guarding our own hearts and our own minds and 680 00:39:05,500 --> 00:39:08,000 that we are loving one another in this kind of way. 681 00:39:08,100 --> 00:39:10,200 If we want to protect the unity of this church. 682 00:39:10,200 --> 00:39:13,900 You guys have done an amazing job of this over the last 683 00:39:13,900 --> 00:39:17,600 several weeks of the last month of coming together as a unified 684 00:39:17,600 --> 00:39:20,900 body of Believers. And just showing so much love 685 00:39:20,900 --> 00:39:25,500 and support to Colin Patricia Sherry and I the other Elders as 686 00:39:25,500 --> 00:39:28,800 they lead as we're out. What you guys have done a great 687 00:39:28,800 --> 00:39:31,600 job of this. I'm not here today. 688 00:39:32,700 --> 00:39:36,200 Scolding you, I'm here to praise you for doing. 689 00:39:36,200 --> 00:39:40,600 Such an amazing job at this, but don't let your guard down. 690 00:39:41,400 --> 00:39:44,200 Don't ever start thinking that you've got, it figured out and 691 00:39:44,200 --> 00:39:46,100 it were good and we can just kind of roll on. 692 00:39:46,100 --> 00:39:50,300 WE, this is something we have to step into every single day. 693 00:39:50,900 --> 00:39:53,300 Have to make a conscious decision every day. 694 00:39:53,300 --> 00:39:56,300 That I'm going to wake up today and love people the way God 695 00:39:56,300 --> 00:39:58,800 loves me. Even if they don't deserve it, 696 00:39:59,100 --> 00:40:01,300 I'm going to go out of my way to love people. 697 00:40:01,300 --> 00:40:04,500 Well, today, I want to encourage you in that. 698 00:40:04,600 --> 00:40:09,300 Now, one last thing, Galatians 3:26 through 29, we read in 699 00:40:09,300 --> 00:40:11,800 Sunday school this morning, I had to add it. 700 00:40:12,000 --> 00:40:14,100 We're in there in Sunday school and I'm like, this is I'm 701 00:40:14,100 --> 00:40:17,500 talking about this text, it says this for in Christ Jesus. 702 00:40:17,500 --> 00:40:19,800 You are all sons of God through faith. 703 00:40:20,300 --> 00:40:24,300 For as many as you have many, as many of you were baptized into 704 00:40:24,300 --> 00:40:28,600 Christ, have put on Christ, there is neither Either Jew, nor 705 00:40:28,600 --> 00:40:31,000 Greek, there's not slave or free. 706 00:40:31,000 --> 00:40:35,500 There's not male or female for, you are all one in Christ Jesus. 707 00:40:35,700 --> 00:40:39,500 And if you were Christ, then you are Abraham's offspring heirs. 708 00:40:39,600 --> 00:40:43,700 According to the promise, I want to encourage you in that today 709 00:40:43,800 --> 00:40:46,300 we are unified as a body of believers. 710 00:40:48,000 --> 00:40:51,500 We don't make distinctions among ourselves that some are worthy 711 00:40:51,500 --> 00:40:53,800 of my time and attention and love and some are not. 712 00:40:54,300 --> 00:40:57,300 We love one another equally and we love one another with all we 713 00:40:57,300 --> 00:41:00,000 have. And so, he ends this with two 714 00:41:00,000 --> 00:41:04,000 instructions to his readers. He says, speak as those who are 715 00:41:04,000 --> 00:41:08,000 to be judged under the law of Liberty and act as those who are 716 00:41:08,000 --> 00:41:09,400 to be judged under the law of Liberty. 717 00:41:09,700 --> 00:41:13,200 If I expect God to show me mercy, and Grace on the day of 718 00:41:13,200 --> 00:41:15,500 judgment because I've put my faith in Christ. 719 00:41:15,600 --> 00:41:19,500 I need to show Other Christians, that same mercy and Grace every 720 00:41:19,500 --> 00:41:20,800 day. Okay. 721 00:41:20,800 --> 00:41:23,800 So that's your application in your instruction today. 722 00:41:23,800 --> 00:41:26,300 Leave this place today and go out and treat other people. 723 00:41:26,300 --> 00:41:29,000 The way you want to be treated. Love them with brotherly. 724 00:41:29,000 --> 00:41:32,300 Love knowing that one day. If I expect to stand before God 725 00:41:32,300 --> 00:41:35,200 and be forgiven, I better be willing to forgive other people. 726 00:41:36,200 --> 00:41:40,400 Love people in that kind of way, let your speech be marked with 727 00:41:40,400 --> 00:41:44,700 love and grace, were people that you talked to let your actions. 728 00:41:45,000 --> 00:41:50,700 Reflect the love of Iced and prove the faith that you claim 729 00:41:50,700 --> 00:41:54,100 to have in him. Amen, let's pray. 730 00:41:54,500 --> 00:41:57,200 Father. I love you and God, I'm so 731 00:41:57,200 --> 00:42:02,100 grateful, Lord, for your word and I'm grateful for the 732 00:42:02,100 --> 00:42:06,400 opportunity to read it and to see situations like this in 733 00:42:06,400 --> 00:42:09,800 James, where we see issues going on in the church. 734 00:42:09,800 --> 00:42:13,200 And we hear some practical instruction and just things that 735 00:42:13,200 --> 00:42:16,100 we need to still here today. Things that we need to be able 736 00:42:16,100 --> 00:42:18,600 to apply I to our lives of God. I'm so grateful. 737 00:42:19,600 --> 00:42:24,400 So grateful that you sent your son Jesus to die for me when I 738 00:42:24,400 --> 00:42:30,500 did not deserve it. Lord, I'm thankful for your 739 00:42:30,500 --> 00:42:34,700 grace and your mercy in my life. I pray God that you helped 740 00:42:34,700 --> 00:42:40,600 everyone of us to love others the way you love us to not. 741 00:42:40,600 --> 00:42:42,900 Look on others with judgments and not begin to make 742 00:42:42,900 --> 00:42:47,800 distinctions in our minds but to treat all equally to see them as 743 00:42:47,800 --> 00:42:51,800 a bought and paid for brother and sister in Christ and to love 744 00:42:51,800 --> 00:42:55,000 them that way. God, please give us the ability 745 00:42:55,000 --> 00:42:57,500 to do this, Empower us to do this through your Holy Spirit 746 00:42:57,500 --> 00:43:00,900 and for anyone in this place that doesn't know you. 747 00:43:02,200 --> 00:43:05,300 I pray that through the Holy Spirit, you would just draw them 748 00:43:05,300 --> 00:43:07,800 and convict them. You would show them their own 749 00:43:07,800 --> 00:43:11,500 sin and help them to see their great need for a savior. 750 00:43:12,900 --> 00:43:17,200 We praise you this morning Lord. And we thank you in Jesus name. 751 00:43:17,800 --> 00:43:14,400 Amen. We praise you this morning Lord. 752 00:43:14,400 --> 00:43:18,200 And we thank you in Jesus name. Amen.