WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:22.260 Hi, and welcome to the Willow Ridge Church weekly podcast. 00:00:22.760 --> 00:00:25.880 This is where you can find audio for our current and past sermons. 00:00:26.080 --> 00:00:30.420 We hope that you enjoy this week's installment, and be sure to check back next week to hear 00:00:30.420 --> 00:00:31.260 the latest message. 00:00:31.680 --> 00:00:32.460 Thanks for listening. 00:00:46.000 --> 00:00:47.120 Well, good morning again. 00:00:47.220 --> 00:00:49.960 If you've got your Bibles, go ahead and open up to James chapter 2. 00:00:50.520 --> 00:00:54.040 If you do not have a Bible, we would like to give you one, and back there at the table 00:00:54.040 --> 00:00:57.180 that I'll be, we have a few paperback copies of God's Word. 00:00:57.540 --> 00:00:59.220 And so after the service, please stop by there. 00:00:59.280 --> 00:01:03.380 We'd love to get one to you so that you can join us in studying of God's Word. 00:01:03.500 --> 00:01:08.760 Well, last week, me, along with a small group from here and a small group of pastors, made 00:01:08.760 --> 00:01:16.640 the extremely but wonderful long journey to India, where we were able to serve and to minister. 00:01:16.960 --> 00:01:21.140 And I want to talk about that briefly before we dive into James chapter 2. 00:01:21.260 --> 00:01:25.480 But I also want to say, as we continue on, I want to thank Shane Parker for stepping in 00:01:25.480 --> 00:01:29.080 last week and doing a wonderful job of preaching and teaching of God's Word. 00:01:29.920 --> 00:01:35.580 Our trip was an extremely successful trip, a wonderful trip, and seeing what God is doing 00:01:35.580 --> 00:01:38.300 and what God may have in store for us in the future. 00:01:38.560 --> 00:01:42.200 We're able to visit a lot of ministry sites and see a lot of things that at a different 00:01:42.200 --> 00:01:46.200 point in time we'll have the wonderful opportunity to go through slideshows and to talk about. 00:01:46.200 --> 00:01:50.160 But I do have two different pictures of one I want to show you, because what we were there 00:01:50.160 --> 00:01:55.340 largely for was for the pastors' conference, but then also the Bible College graduation. 00:01:55.700 --> 00:01:59.040 So if we go ahead and jump to those couple pictures, that's the first one right there. 00:01:59.140 --> 00:02:02.580 So I want to kind of show you, you see, we got a couple of members of our team. 00:02:02.680 --> 00:02:04.720 There's Mike and Gwen Vaught and Kevin Adams and myself. 00:02:05.160 --> 00:02:09.300 And then what you have here is there was 13 graduates from the Bible College. 00:02:09.300 --> 00:02:13.980 So what they did is they had them all line up and we got to greet them and congratulate 00:02:13.980 --> 00:02:18.340 them as we were walking to a banquet that would celebrate them. 00:02:18.400 --> 00:02:21.180 And so you can see some of the men and women who were there. 00:02:21.360 --> 00:02:23.600 And then let's go ahead and jump to the next one. 00:02:23.720 --> 00:02:25.860 Yeah, that's me in a suit and a tie and the other. 00:02:25.980 --> 00:02:27.700 And then there's me with a tie on. 00:02:27.780 --> 00:02:31.840 I wore a tie three times, which is like three times more than I've worn this year. 00:02:33.580 --> 00:02:36.600 But I wore a tie and a suit. 00:02:36.600 --> 00:02:40.880 And so there you see just a privilege and honor that I had to be able to stand with the 00:02:40.880 --> 00:02:45.720 faculty and staff of the Bible College and then all of the graduates that are there. 00:02:46.560 --> 00:02:54.000 And I shared these pictures with you to continue to lay into our hearts and our minds as we've 00:02:54.000 --> 00:02:59.620 come out of a few previous weeks that I talked about with the trials and the temptations that 00:02:59.620 --> 00:03:00.020 you face. 00:03:01.080 --> 00:03:06.640 And it hits me every time that I see pictures, that I go to India, that I speak to people at 00:03:06.640 --> 00:03:09.980 the Bible College, that it's different than it is here. 00:03:11.040 --> 00:03:16.900 And when I graduated with my Master's of Divinity from seminary, my family was there. 00:03:17.480 --> 00:03:18.340 We celebrated. 00:03:18.460 --> 00:03:19.140 We took pictures. 00:03:19.880 --> 00:03:21.160 We went to Outback, right? 00:03:21.880 --> 00:03:26.240 We told everybody what I had done, what I had accomplished, what God was doing. 00:03:27.380 --> 00:03:30.640 The waiters and waitresses were sharing and celebrating with us. 00:03:31.080 --> 00:03:33.540 There were other graduates who were there with their family. 00:03:33.680 --> 00:03:38.480 We all, in spite of not knowing one another, because we did all of our school online, in 00:03:38.480 --> 00:03:43.080 spite of not knowing one another, we celebrated together all of this work that God is doing. 00:03:44.080 --> 00:03:47.900 But in the pictures that you saw, we gathered in the basement. 00:03:49.700 --> 00:03:50.580 Families weren't there. 00:03:51.740 --> 00:03:54.240 Most of their families are not believers. 00:03:54.240 --> 00:03:59.780 They can't go back to where they came from out of the fear of what will definitely happen 00:03:59.780 --> 00:04:02.380 to them there because people know who they are. 00:04:02.640 --> 00:04:07.220 So instead, they will be sent to other villages and other places where they'll proclaim the 00:04:07.220 --> 00:04:10.800 gospel away from a lot of the people that they know. 00:04:11.640 --> 00:04:17.940 There was no time of going out of public celebration, and instead it was us gathering together. 00:04:18.700 --> 00:04:24.560 But you couldn't tell because of the sweetness and the joy that was shown on the face of these 00:04:24.560 --> 00:04:28.960 pastors and missionaries and church planners who had graduated with their degrees. 00:04:29.820 --> 00:04:34.060 And so it was just a privilege and an honor to be able to be there, to share of God's word, 00:04:34.240 --> 00:04:39.160 to encourage, and to know that we were going to come home, right, to our families and to 00:04:39.160 --> 00:04:45.600 our friends and to our church congregation, where we don't experience nearly the same level 00:04:45.600 --> 00:04:47.560 as persecution that they will face. 00:04:48.720 --> 00:04:55.040 And so while you may never make the trip to India, I want you to always remember the pastors, 00:04:55.340 --> 00:05:01.140 the missionaries, the church planners that cover not only India, but so many of the other 00:05:01.140 --> 00:05:07.400 persecuted countries and places in our world, and that we lift them up and that we pray for them. 00:05:07.800 --> 00:05:14.800 It was a wonderful, wonderful time celebrating all that God has done, but we need to remember to 00:05:14.800 --> 00:05:17.800 have them on our hearts, right, and to pray for them. 00:05:18.320 --> 00:05:22.200 So before we jump into James 2, let's go to the Lord in prayer and pray for these. 00:05:23.280 --> 00:05:26.340 God, I thank you so much for the time that you gave us to be in India. 00:05:27.380 --> 00:05:30.340 Lord, I thank you for the faithfulness of those who were there. 00:05:31.320 --> 00:05:37.360 Lord, I thank you that when they read and they understand, right, Lord, the trials that they 00:05:37.360 --> 00:05:45.180 will face, Lord, they know that it could cost them their life, and they still seek to obey you. 00:05:46.860 --> 00:05:52.940 Lord, may you encourage them and strengthen them in their faith in spite of what it might call for, 00:05:53.320 --> 00:05:55.360 in spite of what it may require. 00:05:57.140 --> 00:06:08.040 Lord, could you give us that level of faith to grow us in that point to where we are recklessly obedient to you. 00:06:09.240 --> 00:06:10.600 And it's in Jesus' name we pray. 00:06:11.620 --> 00:06:11.940 Amen. 00:06:12.720 --> 00:06:13.020 Amen. 00:06:13.500 --> 00:06:15.340 Well, we've got James chapter 2. 00:06:15.400 --> 00:06:20.320 We don't have much time, so I am going to be brief, but we want to go ahead and jump in and look at that. 00:06:20.400 --> 00:06:21.340 So look at James 2. 00:06:21.520 --> 00:06:23.340 We're going to read verses 1 through 13. 00:06:24.200 --> 00:06:24.960 James writes and says, 00:06:24.960 --> 00:06:30.980 My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. 00:06:31.400 --> 00:06:34.880 For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, 00:06:35.300 --> 00:06:37.980 and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in, 00:06:38.260 --> 00:06:41.660 and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, 00:06:41.800 --> 00:06:44.700 you sit here in a good place, while you say to the poor man, 00:06:44.780 --> 00:06:47.240 you stand over there or sit down at my feet, 00:06:47.500 --> 00:06:52.380 have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? 00:06:52.700 --> 00:06:54.640 Verse 5, listen, my beloved brothers, 00:06:54.980 --> 00:06:59.680 has God not chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, 00:06:59.900 --> 00:07:02.560 which he has promised to do to those who love him? 00:07:02.720 --> 00:07:04.540 But you have dishonored the poor man. 00:07:05.200 --> 00:07:08.820 Are not the rich ones who oppress you and the ones who drag you into court? 00:07:09.160 --> 00:07:13.220 Are they not the ones who blaspheme the honorable name by which you were called? 00:07:13.420 --> 00:07:18.640 If you really fulfilled the law, the royal law, according to the scripture, 00:07:19.120 --> 00:07:21.880 you shall love your neighbor as yourself, you are doing well. 00:07:22.140 --> 00:07:28.120 But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and convicted by the law as transgressors. 00:07:28.540 --> 00:07:32.520 Whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of it all. 00:07:33.000 --> 00:07:37.840 For he who said, do not commit adultery, also said, do not murder. 00:07:38.160 --> 00:07:42.320 If you do not commit adultery but do murder, you become a transgressor of the law. 00:07:42.660 --> 00:07:47.060 So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty. 00:07:47.060 --> 00:07:52.580 Verse 13, for judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. 00:07:53.060 --> 00:07:55.840 Mercy triumphs over judgment. 00:07:56.180 --> 00:08:03.600 Well, last week, as Shane shared with us, right, that Christianity is not simply an intellectual pursuit. 00:08:04.080 --> 00:08:04.200 Right? 00:08:04.280 --> 00:08:13.560 So, so we're not just to hear and to know, we're not just to read and to know, but we are to hear and to do, we are to know and to do. 00:08:13.800 --> 00:08:20.420 God's word tells us in James 1, 22, to be doers of the word and not just hearers only. 00:08:20.420 --> 00:08:27.040 And so James even gave us three different illustrations of what that looks like tangibly in the life of the believer. 00:08:27.380 --> 00:08:27.480 Right? 00:08:27.680 --> 00:08:37.240 So our faith is not to just be, here's what I know, sit around Starbucks with a bunch of believers, debate theology, call it a day and go home and we're done. 00:08:38.180 --> 00:08:46.440 But what we believe should impact at who we are to our very core, that the truth of God is transforming us and changing us. 00:08:46.500 --> 00:08:49.180 Not just the way that we think, but the way that we live. 00:08:49.420 --> 00:08:55.200 And it's why as we study through James, it's one of the most practical books of the Bible that we see. 00:08:55.200 --> 00:09:09.400 So when we go through here and we're going to see this continue to penetrate through these 13 verses today, right, as we know what God's word says, right, it's easy to say, I want to love God and love others, right? 00:09:10.480 --> 00:09:15.980 Almost every church in the world should and does embrace that truth. 00:09:16.500 --> 00:09:17.480 We should know that. 00:09:17.540 --> 00:09:18.920 We should say that. 00:09:18.920 --> 00:09:24.340 But the question comes with James, when we live that, do we live that out? 00:09:25.360 --> 00:09:31.380 Is it something that we high five each other with as we're leaving here and it's all about loving God and loving others? 00:09:31.580 --> 00:09:37.080 But then when we step out of this place, we become me focused, we become I focused. 00:09:37.260 --> 00:09:40.700 It becomes about who we are and not who he is. 00:09:40.980 --> 00:09:44.560 And so James begins this section with a command in verse one. 00:09:44.780 --> 00:09:50.480 He says, show no partiality as you hold the faith. 00:09:51.300 --> 00:09:52.780 No, none. 00:09:52.920 --> 00:09:55.200 It's to be excluded from who we are. 00:09:56.200 --> 00:10:01.920 And then in verses two through four, he gives an example as to how this command is broken. 00:10:03.280 --> 00:10:04.580 He paints the picture. 00:10:04.680 --> 00:10:09.220 He says, look, two men come into your assembly or two men come into your church. 00:10:09.880 --> 00:10:15.160 One man who comes in is a wealthy, known dignitary, right? 00:10:15.420 --> 00:10:19.120 So imagine they come in with their people who are surrounding them. 00:10:19.340 --> 00:10:23.840 You hear the rumblings on the streets that they're coming to your church today and you get a little excited. 00:10:24.080 --> 00:10:26.020 Make sure the chairs are a little straighter. 00:10:26.220 --> 00:10:28.100 Make sure the floor is extra clean. 00:10:28.340 --> 00:10:30.180 Make sure the coffee is extra good, right? 00:10:30.260 --> 00:10:32.640 Because they are coming to be with us today. 00:10:33.220 --> 00:10:37.960 And then when they get here, we say, well, here's the best seat. 00:10:38.100 --> 00:10:43.520 Now, I say the seat at the front, but I know that for a lot of us, that's not the seat that you want, right? 00:10:43.720 --> 00:10:45.140 But let's just pretend, right? 00:10:45.320 --> 00:10:46.940 Let's pretend it's the seat in the front. 00:10:47.540 --> 00:10:49.320 We say, come here and sit at the front, right? 00:10:50.120 --> 00:10:51.580 The lighting is the best here. 00:10:51.680 --> 00:10:53.340 The sound is the best here. 00:10:53.480 --> 00:10:56.540 And not to get on a sensitive subject, right? 00:10:56.660 --> 00:10:59.700 But the AC is just right, you know? 00:11:00.180 --> 00:11:07.660 And we all agree that in this one chair is exactly where it will not be too hot or too cold. 00:11:07.720 --> 00:11:08.840 And we've saved this for you. 00:11:09.460 --> 00:11:14.860 And so we bring in this wealthy person, a person who's known, a person of power. 00:11:15.320 --> 00:11:17.220 And we say, this is what we specially give for you. 00:11:17.820 --> 00:11:19.600 But then there's man number two who comes in. 00:11:20.560 --> 00:11:21.480 This man is poor. 00:11:22.320 --> 00:11:23.260 He's dirty. 00:11:24.180 --> 00:11:25.600 He's a beggar off of the street. 00:11:26.560 --> 00:11:36.020 In fact, as you got off the interstate, you probably saw him standing there holding up a sign, asking for food, asking for money, covered in filth. 00:11:36.840 --> 00:11:43.980 And it was, hey, let's look over here at the road construction and not look over here where he is to eliminate the awkward moment. 00:11:44.760 --> 00:11:45.800 But he comes in. 00:11:45.880 --> 00:11:52.820 And instead of the best seat for him, he's not received with the same acceptance that the first man is. 00:11:53.660 --> 00:11:55.880 And instead, you're going to stand in the back. 00:11:55.880 --> 00:12:02.200 Or if you would like to, feel free to sit at my feet. 00:12:03.120 --> 00:12:04.960 Which is weird for us, right? 00:12:05.760 --> 00:12:10.400 But when James would have written this, this was the place where the lesser would have sat. 00:12:10.500 --> 00:12:12.260 The servants would have sat. 00:12:12.940 --> 00:12:20.560 So let's remove you because you don't deserve, right, what the other man is offered. 00:12:21.160 --> 00:12:25.240 And you don't want him because he isn't worthy of all of these things. 00:12:25.900 --> 00:12:27.080 So what have you done? 00:12:27.740 --> 00:12:29.580 What have we done if that's our attitude? 00:12:30.020 --> 00:12:33.740 What have we done if this hypothetical situation has played out? 00:12:33.900 --> 00:12:35.120 Have we been strategic? 00:12:39.120 --> 00:12:40.720 Have we used common sense? 00:12:42.740 --> 00:12:43.900 We've shown partiality. 00:12:45.080 --> 00:12:52.740 We've looked at the soul of an individual and said one is more valued than another. 00:12:53.600 --> 00:12:55.440 And we've determined it. 00:12:56.060 --> 00:12:58.720 Yes, we've shown one man kindness. 00:12:59.280 --> 00:13:01.200 We've shown one man hospitality. 00:13:01.800 --> 00:13:02.660 Is that wrong? 00:13:02.800 --> 00:13:03.040 No. 00:13:03.220 --> 00:13:05.360 But the motive in the heart is what's wrong. 00:13:06.580 --> 00:13:08.300 Because we've determined it. 00:13:09.080 --> 00:13:12.400 And we've shown the other man the exact opposite. 00:13:13.560 --> 00:13:18.480 So I would argue in situation one and in situation two, sin reigns in both. 00:13:19.360 --> 00:13:26.520 Both of them are matters of selfishness in the heart of the first, in the person who greets them. 00:13:26.860 --> 00:13:28.480 Well, I want to be known by you. 00:13:28.620 --> 00:13:30.580 I want to be appreciated by you. 00:13:30.580 --> 00:13:33.960 I want to esteem you, but not you. 00:13:34.880 --> 00:13:37.860 And the self is what drives that. 00:13:38.600 --> 00:13:43.220 And so James paints this hypothetical picture in verses two through four. 00:13:43.480 --> 00:13:46.280 But his command in verse one is very important. 00:13:46.700 --> 00:13:53.500 You see, the verb that James uses in verse one is not a verb that would be used in a hypothetical situation. 00:13:53.500 --> 00:13:57.040 But it is based off of the reality of those who he's addressing. 00:13:57.040 --> 00:14:05.800 What James is saying in verse one is, show no partiality because I know that's what you do. 00:14:07.280 --> 00:14:13.240 right shane used the phrase several times and i'm just going to take it and keep running with it 00:14:13.240 --> 00:14:20.740 right it's like he's reading our mail right it hits right home with them i could see them as 00:14:20.740 --> 00:14:27.520 they read this letter and they're like oh yep yep yep yep yep yep yep this is us right and so what 00:14:27.520 --> 00:14:35.300 begins to happen in this what james wants him to understand is that partiality contradicts faith 00:14:35.300 --> 00:14:43.660 partiality contradicts who we are saying we believe in and what we were saying we believe 00:14:43.660 --> 00:14:52.580 look back at verse one show no partiality as you hold the faith in our lord jesus christ 00:14:52.580 --> 00:14:58.440 so in this which one are you going to cling to which one are you going to hold on to 00:14:58.440 --> 00:15:05.800 what this is going to be show no partiality as you hold the faith in our lord jesus christ right 00:15:05.800 --> 00:15:15.220 faith does not create partiality but flesh does flesh within us says i prefer this social class 00:15:15.220 --> 00:15:21.580 i prefer this gender i prefer this race i prefer this education i prefer this color of hair i prefer 00:15:21.580 --> 00:15:28.140 this word this way of speaking insert whatever begins to register inside of you when you meet 00:15:28.140 --> 00:15:31.620 someone who's different than you and you don't want to associate with them 00:15:31.620 --> 00:15:41.440 what we see is this classism from the beginning but it reigns true in so many of us in different ways 00:15:41.440 --> 00:15:52.180 think about the level of prejudices that we have in race in gender in social status in where you live 00:15:52.180 --> 00:15:58.160 and where you send your kids and what cars you drive and where you work and the jobs that you have 00:15:58.160 --> 00:16:04.500 we can begin to list them time and time again and when we notice that we find ourselves that we've 00:16:04.500 --> 00:16:10.820 fallen into the categories of what james says in this hypothetical situation the wealthy or the poor 00:16:10.820 --> 00:16:23.500 this race that race this job that job show no partiality is what james says because he says partiality 00:16:23.500 --> 00:16:30.340 opposes god partiality opposes god when we embrace partiality james says in verse 4 right 00:16:30.340 --> 00:16:36.820 we become judges with evil thoughts have you ever had somebody tell you you remind me of someone 00:16:36.820 --> 00:16:45.780 right you remind me of someone right whenever someone says that to me hey you remind me of someone 00:16:45.780 --> 00:16:55.220 i don't ask who i ask why why does that person remind you of me well because they're terrible right 00:16:55.220 --> 00:17:00.180 like that's not what we want to hear we want to hear because they're the best looking kindest 00:17:00.180 --> 00:17:05.220 nicest person i've ever been around and that's why they remind me of you i've never had that happen 00:17:05.220 --> 00:17:10.180 to me so afterwards if you want to say that i would embrace that and thank you for it all right 00:17:11.700 --> 00:17:17.380 right that that that comment comes a little bit for me with the nerves because is it positive 00:17:17.380 --> 00:17:26.340 or is it negative the bible says james says that when we judge people when we show partiality we are judges 00:17:27.140 --> 00:17:35.300 with evil thoughts we are judges with corrupt thoughts that were those who are being paid 00:17:35.300 --> 00:17:40.820 off were those who are being influenced and not based on what is right not based on the law james says 00:17:40.820 --> 00:17:48.420 this is who we become and and the bible is is clear right we aren't to be the judge god is the judge 00:17:48.420 --> 00:17:54.260 god is the only righteous judge and we make ourselves judges right from our fleshly perspective 00:17:54.260 --> 00:18:01.700 it's it's it's beautiful what james does is he's writing this in in scripture because he's reiterating 00:18:01.700 --> 00:18:06.020 what god said because god said he's chosen the poor to be rich in faith and heirs in the kingdom 00:18:06.900 --> 00:18:14.420 and james sets that as his hypothetical so in this when we discriminate them what we are doing is we oppose 00:18:14.420 --> 00:18:22.180 the lord and it all to come back to of what james says that we're called to love your neighbor as yourself 00:18:22.900 --> 00:18:31.460 love your neighbor as yourself love god love others and that's a hard dynamic for us how do i love 00:18:31.460 --> 00:18:39.940 myself who was my neighbor right in luke chapter 10 jesus is asked by an expert of the law who is my 00:18:39.940 --> 00:18:45.220 neighbor and jesus tells them the story of the good samaritan and we're not going to go back and read it 00:18:45.220 --> 00:18:50.660 today but i do want to kind of hit some of the high points as we as we see so this man comes i'm supposed to 00:18:50.660 --> 00:18:57.300 love god i'm supposed to love my neighbor as myself great question jesus i want to make sure i do this the bible 00:18:57.300 --> 00:19:04.980 says he asked the question seeking to justify himself so then god who is my neighbor identify that 00:19:05.620 --> 00:19:11.860 give me the list give me the bullet points help me check these off to make sure i'm getting this 00:19:11.860 --> 00:19:17.540 right and so jesus tells a story he tells the story of the good samaritan he says listen there was a 00:19:17.540 --> 00:19:23.380 man who's traveling from jerusalem to jericho a long distance on a dangerous road and as he's traveling 00:19:23.380 --> 00:19:29.780 along he's robbed stripped of his clothing he's beaten and he's left for dead the situation in which he finds 00:19:29.780 --> 00:19:36.100 himself is a situation that he cannot get himself out of and is going to be dependent on the kindness of 00:19:36.100 --> 00:19:44.340 others and there are those who begin to pass by on this road one is a priest the other is a levite both 00:19:44.340 --> 00:19:52.500 religious leaders of the time and both of them when they see the man broken beaten bloodied on the side of 00:19:52.500 --> 00:20:00.100 the road instead of running with compassion right they walk over to the other side 00:20:01.220 --> 00:20:04.180 they walk over why it doesn't say 00:20:05.780 --> 00:20:10.020 it's because they didn't want to get involved it's because they thought it's a sketchy individual 00:20:11.060 --> 00:20:12.660 it's because they thought he was where he was 00:20:14.260 --> 00:20:19.300 because he deserved it is was it for religious reasons they thought he was dead and they didn't want to 00:20:19.300 --> 00:20:24.900 touch the body of someone that was dead or someone that was unclean but whatever it was 00:20:25.780 --> 00:20:31.140 they journeyed to the other side but the samaritan man saw him and the bible says he had compassion 00:20:32.020 --> 00:20:38.260 he got to the man jesus he took care of his wounds he brought him to an inn and stayed there and cared 00:20:38.260 --> 00:20:45.620 for him and then before he left he financially provided for the man's care and so jesus says who do you 00:20:45.620 --> 00:20:52.260 think the neighbor is and the man responds to the one who showed mercy the one who showed mercy 00:20:53.540 --> 00:20:57.540 you see in this dynamic of what james is trying to get the church to understand 00:20:58.340 --> 00:21:03.540 is that you're either going to be a person of partiality of choosing or you're going to be a 00:21:03.540 --> 00:21:11.060 person of mercy and kindness and compassion and love and what we want to understand is that that is what 00:21:11.060 --> 00:21:19.140 god has called us to mercy not partiality and the understanding of what it means to be doers of the 00:21:19.140 --> 00:21:25.940 word is that you and i embrace the calling of what it means to show that level of kindness and 00:21:25.940 --> 00:21:34.980 compassion so when the man says the neighbor is the one who showed him mercy jesus says then you go and do 00:21:34.980 --> 00:21:41.940 likewise you see it's not about let me figure out who is my neighbor but it's about let me figure out 00:21:41.940 --> 00:21:51.780 that my neighbor is anyone whom i can share god's love anyone who i can share god's mercy so we're not 00:21:51.780 --> 00:21:59.620 called only to love those who were similar to us love those who were comfortable with love those who we have 00:21:59.620 --> 00:22:05.860 positive experiences with love those who we are like-minded with love those who are from the same 00:22:05.860 --> 00:22:11.220 neighborhood the same social status the same level of elevation that we want to be considered with 00:22:11.220 --> 00:22:20.100 right but we're to show love with with all of who god places in our path and so every moment 00:22:20.900 --> 00:22:29.620 in every individual that comes before us is an opportunity that god has given us and if in that 00:22:29.620 --> 00:22:38.100 moment your heart is one of partiality then in that moment your heart is one of sin and god says let 00:22:38.100 --> 00:22:45.380 it be of mercy let it be of mercy in matthew 5 43 through 47 i apologize this isn't on the screen this 00:22:45.380 --> 00:22:53.380 morning jesus says you have heard that it was said you shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy 00:22:54.740 --> 00:23:04.420 but i say to you love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you so that you may be sons of your 00:23:04.420 --> 00:23:15.140 your father who is in heaven for he makes his son rise on the evil and on the good and sends rain on the 00:23:15.140 --> 00:23:24.900 just and the unjust let me pause here for just a second so what jesus says is our heavenly father 00:23:25.940 --> 00:23:33.700 in the common grace of this world shows his love and his mercy on them right the sun rises 00:23:34.500 --> 00:23:39.940 for those who love him and for those who don't right god blesses both look at verse 46 00:23:41.060 --> 00:23:47.460 for if you love those who love you what reward do you have 00:23:49.540 --> 00:23:58.340 do not even the tax collectors do the same and if you greet only your brothers what more are you 00:23:58.340 --> 00:24:06.340 doing than others do not even the gentiles or some translations say the pagans do the same 00:24:08.260 --> 00:24:15.940 so when we embrace partiality when we love those who we determine are worthy of our love 00:24:17.540 --> 00:24:22.820 when we extend mercy when we extend mercy to those that we've determined are the ones who deserve 00:24:22.820 --> 00:24:28.260 mercy when we give grace to the ones that we've determined give grace 00:24:30.260 --> 00:24:30.980 jesus says 00:24:32.740 --> 00:24:34.100 tax collectors do that 00:24:36.820 --> 00:24:40.580 gentiles pagans do that 00:24:43.220 --> 00:24:47.780 but what does jesus do what does jesus do 00:24:50.740 --> 00:24:54.260 i heard someone say this past week at the pastor's conference that we were at 00:24:56.100 --> 00:24:59.620 the issues and the sins that we struggle with that we can't seem to overcome 00:25:00.900 --> 00:25:05.620 oftentimes we chalk them up in a category of what i'm just going to be this way 00:25:06.500 --> 00:25:13.220 and this is the this is where i am in my life and they said this they said it's a lie from the pit of hell 00:25:14.340 --> 00:25:22.500 and they said when we find those pieces within us what we need to do is aggressively attack it in prayer 00:25:23.380 --> 00:25:31.460 that god will change us and transform us we would all say yes and amen with our knowledge and our words 00:25:31.460 --> 00:25:38.180 that the power of god can transform us but do we believe that and do we attack those things in our 00:25:38.180 --> 00:25:45.780 life here's what i want to say there may be individuals in this world 00:25:46.980 --> 00:25:53.700 that is within you is a sense of distrust and distaste 00:25:55.460 --> 00:25:57.620 that may have been something that you've been taught 00:25:58.420 --> 00:26:06.500 from a child it may be as a child it may be something that comes from an experience a traumatic 00:26:06.500 --> 00:26:14.260 experience that you've had in your life it may be something that's a result of the culture that you live in 00:26:15.620 --> 00:26:22.260 and what i would plead with you is the heart of god for you to understand that that feeling of 00:26:22.260 --> 00:26:32.260 partiality within you is sin and we attack it we attack it through surrendering it to the lord 00:26:33.380 --> 00:26:39.140 and that we don't give up and that we persevere and that we lay it down 00:26:40.100 --> 00:26:47.860 and we say jesus i need you to do a work inside of me as we go through and continue to go through 00:26:48.740 --> 00:26:59.140 james it's wonderful of what we know it's wonderful but are we doing it are we being doers of the word 00:27:00.580 --> 00:27:10.180 and not just hearers only and thus deceiving ourselves would you pray with me 00:27:11.620 --> 00:27:15.700 lord we thank you so much for this time that we could be here to be in your word 00:27:17.140 --> 00:27:22.100 lord i pray for the hearts of all of us who are here the struggles that we face 00:27:26.660 --> 00:27:31.860 lord i pray for that your spirit would reveal to us the partiality that we have 00:27:34.740 --> 00:27:38.900 the things that cause us when we look at one individual versus another 00:27:40.740 --> 00:27:44.340 to think to ourself this person is more deserving than that person 00:27:47.700 --> 00:27:49.540 but to see people ward the way that you do 00:27:52.580 --> 00:27:54.340 so that we can see past race 00:27:57.700 --> 00:27:59.300 we can see beyond 00:28:01.540 --> 00:28:13.780 gender we can see beyond social status we can see beyond education we can see beyond careers 00:28:15.220 --> 00:28:21.700 we can see beyond the things that the world stacks up and says prefer one over the other 00:28:21.700 --> 00:28:23.860 show partiality to one and not the other 00:28:26.820 --> 00:28:28.500 lord we can be like the good samaritan 00:28:30.660 --> 00:28:35.060 who just wants to show the kindness and mercy in the grace of god 00:28:37.540 --> 00:28:39.380 what i know for so many of us 00:28:41.140 --> 00:28:46.660 these thoughts of others hit us and we don't like them 00:28:49.060 --> 00:28:50.820 and we wrestle with why they're there 00:28:53.220 --> 00:28:58.980 and we almost begin to carry it lord as this burden of sin that's just there for us to deal with 00:28:59.940 --> 00:29:07.060 on our own but lord you give us the power of the holy spirit within us lord you say that we 00:29:07.060 --> 00:29:14.980 not will be victorious but that we are victorious and so lord may we plead with you may we wrestle with you lord 00:29:14.980 --> 00:29:20.420 may we proclaim to you lord beg you to take this from us to be able to see 00:29:21.060 --> 00:29:25.460 men and women and children that they are made in the image and the likeness of you 00:29:27.140 --> 00:29:36.260 made in the imago day and that that's who they are so free us from the mind of partiality 00:29:39.300 --> 00:29:42.420 may we see others what you've called us to see them 00:29:42.420 --> 00:30:04.580 thanks again for listening to the willow ridge church weekly podcast we hope that you enjoyed 00:30:04.580 --> 00:30:09.380 listening to this week's message if you'd like to learn more about who we are or explore additional 00:30:09.380 --> 00:30:29.380 resources visit us online at www.willow ridgechurch.com or by searching for willow ridge church on facebook and instagram