"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? 6 But you have dishonored the poor man. Is it not the rich who oppress you and personally drag you into court? 7 Do they not blaspheme the fair name by which you have been called?"
Good Morning my beloved, Welcome to worship this Lord's day! We're so glad to have our brothers and sisters from around the world here with us today. Please know, that we continue to lift all of you up in our prayers. We would ask that you would do the same for us.
Sadly, Christians and churches throughout history have allowed prestige and status to cloud their judgement. I have even known church leaders, who are often chosen to pastor in certain in churches based on their bank accounts. They may not have the spiritual or moral character required of biblical leadership, but they are put in a position of leadership because they have the right financial standing.
I believe that money speaks far too loudly in many Christian circles, and when this is allowed to occur, so does the glory of Christ departs.
I have also witnessed a number of churches who are afraid to preach a particular doctrine or go in any direction that might be considered offensive and cause such a person to withdraw their contribution from the collection plate. I have even heard of wealthy church members that they have stated they will retract their tithes if the message or direction of the church does not change.
I want to be very clear here, both the rich and the poor stand condemned before God; and both stand justified in Christ. If we take it upon ourselves to show favoritism, then we deny the gospel, its that simple! The the only legitimate favoritism allowed by God is that which allows us to esteem everybody else better than ourselves.
The Apostle Paul tells us in Philippians 2:3-4, "Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others."
How dare we favor the one over the other when God Himself has treated them equally by His grace!
Let us pray.
Heavenly Father,
Father, we thank You for this time together, for this wonderful opportunity to again be in Your Word. Help us to understand and apply the principals we are about to learn today. O' Lord, save us from the sin of partiality. That we would love all Your children with the same love we ourselves have been given. May we welcome all the beloved equally for who they are in Jesus Christ. Reaching out to others graciously and generously, even those outside the fellowship who have need, knowing all that we have comes from You.
Lord, we just pray for those in our midst who are yet unsaved, that You would reach down and touch their hearts , open their eyes and ears to the truth, that today would be that glorious day of true saving faith and salvation. May Your Holy Spirit be at work, in every man, woman and child gathered with us today. For Christ's sake and Your glory
In His precious name we ask and pray
Amen
Today's Message: The Sin Of Partiality - Part Two
The Apostle Peter says in I Peter 1:14-17, "As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; because it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy."
You will remember, in our last message, we discussed that when Jesus came into the world He revealed that God was an impartial God. All throughout the Bible, it is repeated over and over, you’re not a Christian if you don’t demonstrate love to your brother.
I John chapter 4 says "We love, because He first loved us. If someone says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God should love his brother also."
In the genealogy of Jesus, you have Tamar who committed incest, Rahab
who was a prostitute, Ruth who was an idolatress.
You have Bathsheba who was an adulteress and the paramour of David. From all of those kinds of people to the good and the godly, Jesus comes and even in His genealogy He is the leveler of all men. In fact, Jesus spent His life, up to the age of 30, in that obscure, dusty town in Galilee called Nazareth. It was reported that people said, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" And, when you look at the ministry of Jesus, His primary ministry was among the poor. Throughout His ministry, He taught principles of impartiality. Jesus wanted to illustrate that the last shall be first and the first shall be last.In other words, everyone finishes at the same time because if you’re first you become last and if you’re last you become first.
The point is, whether you’re talking about the genealogy of Jesus, you’re talking
about the place in which He was raised in Nazareth, you’re talking about
the focus of His ministry among poor people, Jesus
demonstrates this great impartiality.
In n Mark chapter 12, when He was teaching in the temple, "David himself calls Him ‘Lord’; so in what sense is He his son?” And the large crowd enjoyed listening to Him. In His teaching He was saying: “Beware of the scribes who like to walk around in long robes, and like respectful greetings in the market places, and chief seats in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets, who devour widows’ houses, and for appearance’s sake offer long prayers; these will receive greater condemnation."
And, He goes on to say in verse 41 and following "And He sat down opposite the treasury, and began observing how the people were putting money into the treasury; and many rich people were putting in large sums. A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which amount to a cent. Calling His disciples to Him, He said to them, "Truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the contributors to the treasury; for they all put in out of their surplus, but she, out of her poverty, put in all she owned, all she had to live on."
What people had, how people dressed, meant absolutely nothing to Christ. He evaluated people on their heart and their willingness to respond in faith to the message which He proclaimed.
Open with me your Bibles to the second chapter of the book of James. I pray that you would all open your hearts the things that are here. I believe that it's important for us to understand. I
invite you to follow along with me as I read the text for you in order
that you might have it well in mind, as we prepare our hearts for what
the Spirit has to say to us. I believe there is much to be said here in these three verses. James 2:5-7.
"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 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?"
The apostle James is reminding us that God’s choice is not a matter of partiality. He chooses without regard to gifts, abilities or bank accounts. In fact, the makeup of the church should baffle the world. The world should
not be able to explain how people of different races, economic and
social levels, and age groups can come together in love and harmony. It is our faith in Christ that brings us all together. To
divide up the church along such superficial lines eradicates the glory of God and
decimates His salvation!
The warning here is twofold. We cannot treat lightly those whom God has chosen. I believe that this is a warning that we need to heed seriously. In Matthew 18:6, Jesus said "but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone hung around his neck, and to be drowned in the depth of the sea."
I believe we can conclude the principal here is that you cannot hold partiality in one hand and hold the faith of the Lord Jesus Christ in the other. The two are incompatible. If you are committed to the faith of Jesus Christ you must be committed to impartiality. That’s the principle.
The gospel is the equalizer. It takes the poor man and exalts him to heavenly riches. It takes the
rich man and strips him of all the uselessness of earthly riches. So, James is saying if you do that, if you show partiality to someone, you have become a judge with an evil discriminating motive. You’re literally dividing people.
Obviously, there are times when some judgment is necessary, in the sense of evaluating right and wrong, truth and error, and in disciplining sin. However, those of us who bear the name of Christ, have no business acting in an ungodly way. When a believer behaves in this way, he is contradicting the Christian faith at its very core. James already has observed this sinful practice taking place, so he is writing to correct the problem.
Think about Christ, II Corinthians 8:9 says "For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich." The gospel is the a great leveler.
And, in Matthew 11:29-30, Jesus says "Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light." Come everyone. Anyone who needs rest, anyone who needs forgiveness. That’s the essence of the nature of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Salvation is not offered to anyone on the basis of anything that God
sees or foresees in a person. He does not choose the rich man to get
his money for the kingdom. God does not choose the poor man because of
his poverty. God does not choose those whom He foresees will one day
trust in Him, because that would make salvation depend on something that
originates in fallen man. God’s choice is based solely on His grace
and purpose.
In verse 5, James is pointing out the absolute inconsistency of being
disrespectful to those who are lower on some human level
of evaluation, the poor. "Listen, my beloved brethren," is a warm call upon the heart. James speaking not only from truth but he’s speaking from the standpoint of love. He has a pastor's heart, a passion for the people whom he is teaching. I understand that heart, you love the truth but you also love the people. And, like every good preacher, he calls for their attention. To be partial to the the status of certain people and to turn your back on others who are below that level, is inconsistent in light of two principals.
The first, is the divine choice of the poor, "Did not God choose the poor?" When you go against the poor and the downcast, you go against the ones
God has chosen. You are acting inconsistent with your faith. God has chosen the poor but you, if you act like this, have despised the very ones that God has chosen. You are reversing the
whole picture. As a footnote, he isn’t talking about poor in spirit, he's talking about the poor in economic status.
Throughout redemptive history, those who are poor in the eyes of the world, the elect of God are primarily the people who do not have everything that the rich possess. That’s not to say that no wealthy people are chosen by God, Abraham was a very wealthy man. In fact, he was extremely wealthy, beyond other men of his time. God not only chose him but chose him to the father of a nation.
Then, there was Job, a godly man, he was so wealthy, his substance was seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, five hundred she asses, a very great household according to Jon 1:3. And, he was so godly, that God literally turned Satan loose on him to test him.
And, the Apostle Paul says to Timothy in I Timothy 6, "Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy. Instruct them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is life indeed." So, there were wealthy people in the early church.
And, according to Luke chapter 19, Zacchaeus, the chief of all tax collectors. Which likely meant that not only was he collecting money for himself but he was getting a piece of everybody else’s action too.
What he took in taxes was a fortune. So much so, that he could repay everybody multiple times what he took from them. But even though there were many rich in God's economy, He has a special affection and love for the poor. In other words, you take care of the poor and God will take care of you because you have the heart of God.
And remember when Jesus came to the rich young ruler, in Matthew chapter 19, He said "If you wish to be complete, go and sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me." He goes on to say in verses 23-24, "Truly I say to you, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."
So, James is not suggesting that God chooses the poor based on the fact that
they are poor. Their poverty has nothing to do with their election It is only when we take our perverse preference for the successful and wealthy as natural and normative that God appears to be biased.
First He chose them to be rich in faith. And second, not only do they become rich in spiritual dimension through faith but
they become heirs of the kingdom which He promised to them that love
Him. He gives us richly all things in Christ. Not in an earthly sense but in an eternal sense. It means their faith in Christ, has brought them eternal riches, true riches. The kingdom is inseparably linked to salvation. Calling someone to the kingdom is calling them to salvation. And perhaps that can be illustrated in Matthew 19, "Truly I say to you, that you who have followed Me, in the regeneration when the Son of Man will sit on His glorious throne, you also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or farms for My name’s sake, will receive many times as much, and will inherit eternal life." Eternal life, kingdom of heaven, kingdom of God all inseparably linked. The kingdom of heaven can be equated with eternal life.
Now, allow me to add something here, there won’t be any poor people in heaven, there won't be any outcasts. Everybody’s going to be living in the Father’s house. We’re all going to inherit the promised kingdom in all its glorious fullness. No matter how long or how short we worked. These are all wonderful truths.
So James is saying, "How in the world can you look down on the poor when God has chosen the poor to be the eternally rich?" In verse 6 he really makes his point plain, "But you have dishonored the poor man. Is it not the rich who oppress you and personally drag you into court?" In other words, "You are unbelievably unlike God, you have despised the poor!"
The second issue here is the blasphemy of the rich. "Is it not the rich who oppress you and personally drag you into court?" Not only do they drag you before civil courts, but they drag you into religious courts.Throughout history, the rich have oppressed the poor. When it says oppressed, that is the word tyrannize. He may be referring to the Sadducees, who were the most tyrannical of all. Not only do they depreciate your human value, but they also depreciate your religion. It conveys the idea of dragging you into court to exploit you by some injustice, some inequity.
In verse 7, he says "Do they not blaspheme the fair name by which you have been called?' He's talking about the name of Jesus. The wealthy Christ-rejecting Jews slandered the name of Jesus Christ! They were among those who persecuted Christians. Rejecting Jesus as their Messiah, blaspheming the name of Jesus, this is the worthy name by which you’re called. By which you have been called speaks of personal relationship with Jesus.
How foolish then it is to
favor those who largely hold God, His ways and His people in contempt.
Wake up and smell the sulphur in Hell.
In Closing..
By choosing those whom the world rejects and despises, God magnifies the riches of His grace.The church should show God’s love and grace to all, whether rich or poor. Even today, the rich man, who does not need the money, forecloses on the poor individual’s
property to collect on a debt, he charges exorbitant interest that
the poor could never even hope to repay. He pays a wage that barely allows a man to feed his family, all the while the rich just get richer. Of course, not all rich people do this, but generally speaking.
Love and faith are the currency of heaven. As Christians,we are not to get caught up in the world's system of values. We are not judge people based on the things that are unimportant to God.
We are those of a different culture, with different values, and a different vision. We are children of the Kingdom of God.
May it be so..
And now may the Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.
Now and forever, in Jesus' name
Amen
the Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.
Now and forever, in Jesus' name
Amen
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