WEBVTT 00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:12.480 Therefore, since God doesn't show partiality, God doesn't judge with wrong evil thoughts, God doesn't judge what he just sees on the outside. No. God judges what he sees on the what? On the inside. 00:00:22.935 --> 00:00:37.530 Hello, friends. Welcome to the Life Tabernacle Church podcast. It's an honor to be with you today. This podcast serves as our church's weekly sermon archive. Tune in each week to hear what God is speaking in our community. 00:00:37.930 --> 00:00:42.250 Be sure to follow and share with a friend. We hope you enjoy today's message. 00:00:42.465 --> 00:00:54.465 The word. I'll go ahead and read the text, and we'll get into it. So it's gonna be James two, verses one through 13. It will be on the screen behind me. My friends, this is the word of the Lord. 00:00:56.730 --> 00:01:43.795 My brothers and sisters, believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ must not show favoritism. Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, the poor man in filthy old clothes also comes in. If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, here's a seat for you, a good seat for you, but say to the poor man, you stand there, on the floor by my feet. Have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? Listen, my dear brothers and sisters, has God not chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised to those who love him? 00:01:44.115 --> 00:02:04.620 But you have dishonored the poor. It is not is it not the rich who are exploiting you? Are they not the ones who are dragging you into court? Are they not the ones who are blas the noble name of him to whom you belong? If you really keep the royal law found in scripture, love your neighbor as yourself, you are doing right. 00:02:04.860 --> 00:02:38.135 But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers. For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking it all. For he who also said, you shall not commit adultery, also said, you shall not murder. If you do not commit adultery, but do commit murder, you have become a lawbreaker. Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who's not been merciful. 00:02:38.615 --> 00:02:56.750 Mercy triumphs over judgment. Let's pray over God's word this morning. Lord, we thank you. Thank you for the series in your word through the letter, the book of James. Help us to become doers of the word and help us to understand what you're trying to teach us about favoritism. 00:02:56.830 --> 00:03:09.075 In the precious and glorious name of Jesus, all of God's people said, amen. Amen. We're gonna play a little game to start today. So I'm gonna need your participation. All I'm gonna need you to do is raise your hand when I say something. 00:03:09.075 --> 00:03:16.595 Are you ready? We're gonna play a game called This or That. Let's start off simple. So I'm gonna give you two examples. I want you to tell me what your favorite is. 00:03:16.595 --> 00:03:26.400 Is that okay? Alright, here we go. We got pizza or tacos. Raise your hand if you like pizza more than tacos. Raise your hand if you like tacos more than pizza. 00:03:26.800 --> 00:03:30.640 Alright. Tacos win that one. Alright. Next one. What about this? 00:03:31.655 --> 00:03:39.095 Elvis versus the Beatles. Alright? Raise your hand if you like Elvis more. Alright. Alright. 00:03:39.095 --> 00:03:44.055 Put your hands down. Anybody like the Beatles? Raise your hand. Okay. Sounds good. 00:03:44.055 --> 00:03:50.800 Alright. Here's another one. Summer or fall? Summer or fall? Raise your hand if you like summer more. 00:03:51.840 --> 00:03:59.120 Raise your hand if you like fall more. Yeah, come on somebody. There we go. Now let's do another one. This one would be real fun to I'm interested to see. 00:03:59.715 --> 00:04:10.675 Raise your hand or no, I got two hymns for you. Your favorite hymn out of these two. How great thou art and amazing grace. Here we go. Raise your hand if you like how great thou art better. 00:04:12.440 --> 00:04:17.880 No. You can raise both hands if you want. What about Amazing Grace? Raise your hand if you like Amazing Grace. K. 00:04:17.880 --> 00:04:20.520 Good. Good. Good to know. Alright. What about this? 00:04:20.920 --> 00:04:29.435 Two different shows. I Love Lucy and The Andy Griffith Show. No. I Love Lucy or Andy, ready? Raise your hand for I Love Lucy. 00:04:30.155 --> 00:04:36.875 Okay. Andy Griffith? You got both hands up there, back there? Okay. What about this? 00:04:36.955 --> 00:04:44.360 Beach vacation or mountain vacation? Okay. Beach or mountains? Raise your hand for beach. Raise your hand for mountains. 00:04:44.680 --> 00:04:51.880 Come on. But now we're split. What about this? What about the I don't know if this one's gonna land or not. What about Frank Sinatra or Dean Martin? 00:04:52.120 --> 00:04:58.525 Anybody have any preferences? Here we go. Frank Sinatra, raise your hand. Dean Martin? Alright. 00:04:58.525 --> 00:05:06.950 Good to know. What about this, sweet or savory? Do you prefer sweet things or savory things? Raise your hand for sweets. Good. 00:05:07.350 --> 00:05:11.430 Raise your hand for savory. Good. Alright. I like it all. What about this? 00:05:11.430 --> 00:05:21.110 The Dallas Cowboys are the Washington Commanders. Raise your hand for God's favorite team, Dallas Cowboys. Great. Raise your hand if you're Chris West. Alright. 00:05:21.110 --> 00:05:29.165 Sounds great, Chris. Next one. What about this? Two different preachers. David Wilkerson or Billy Graham? 00:05:30.285 --> 00:05:43.870 Raise your hand for David Wilkerson. Billy Graham. Alright. And let's do one more. Raise your hand if you like to eat breakfast. 00:05:45.230 --> 00:05:53.445 Like you prefer breakfast or you prefer lunch. What is your favorite meal? Breakfast, raise your hand. Lunch. I love good lunch. 00:05:53.445 --> 00:06:09.180 Ain't nothing like like Sunday after I growing up, nothing like going to the Mexican restaurant to get queso dip and my dad always had to get it from me because I always ask. There's nothing like a good lunch after church. So, you know, those are hope that's fun. Hope that I now have learned some things about you. That's very good to know. 00:06:09.420 --> 00:06:26.005 When it comes to food, sports teams, or you know, even something as simple as shoes, we all have favorites, right? And there's nothing wrong with have favorite foods or favorite shows. There's nothing wrong with that. But what happens when I begin to ask a question like this? Now if I were you, I'd keep your hands down for this. 00:06:26.005 --> 00:06:39.250 Are you ready? Who is your favorite amongst your children, your kids? What about your grandkids? What about your best friends? 00:06:40.770 --> 00:06:42.530 We do without our hands, Sam. 00:06:42.690 --> 00:07:04.680 Keep your hands down, your thoughts to yourself. Right? For some reason, that feels a little different, and there's a reason for that. When we get into these questions, we begin to find ourselves on dangerous ground. Mind you, this word that James is giving us on favoritism or partiality is not to discourage you all from a couple of things. 00:07:04.680 --> 00:07:15.255 Number one, it's okay to have best friends. Raise your hand if you have a best friend or have best friends. Okay? Look, there is nothing wrong with that. We see in the Scriptures David and Jonathan are like best friends. 00:07:15.255 --> 00:07:29.030 They have this unique relationship where they love one another, and they're devoted to one another, and there's nothing wrong with having a best friend. Okay? So I have best friend, my wife's my best friend, just news flash. And and there's nothing wrong with having a best friend. Just wanna point that out. 00:07:29.030 --> 00:07:49.655 And also, there's nothing wrong with showing honor to your leaders or to someone. Okay? Because sometimes this can get a little confusing. So I just wanna say it's okay to have best friends, nothing wrong with that, and it's okay to honor your leaders. And it might seem like you're showing them favoritism, but there's a reason why you all have honored Pastor Tino and Brenda all these years. 00:07:49.655 --> 00:07:58.730 Right? They're your spiritual leaders, they have led you for so long, and you show them honor. That's not necessarily favoritism. I just wanna point that out. Okay? 00:07:58.970 --> 00:08:32.030 But what we're talking about today is something a little bit different. James is writing about a very particular type of favoritism that the church was dealing with and something that we all deal with to some degree. This teaching on favoritism and partiality versus love is the first of 12 teachings that James will give us through the rest of the book. James exposes how we show favor to people who can benefit us, and we neglect people who can't because they are needy. This behavior is the exact opposite of love as Jesus defined it. 00:08:32.030 --> 00:08:52.405 So let's go back in this word. Let's begin to dig it out together to understand what the writer James is saying. Look back in your word with me to James chapter two verse one. The word of the Lord says this, my brothers and sisters, believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ. Let's pause there. 00:08:53.470 --> 00:09:11.525 James is giving a tough word. James has been talking to them now for some time about being doers of the word. He's bringing up different topics. He's telling them to persevere in trials. And now, as he begins to teach them how to be doers of the word, he begins with a very nice reminder. 00:09:11.525 --> 00:09:27.280 He says, my dear brothers and sisters, look at your neighbor and say, you're my brother, or you're my sister, whatever they are, whatever gender they are. Okay? You're my you're my sister. Okay? We are brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus our Lord. 00:09:27.520 --> 00:09:39.415 And this is who he's writing to. He says, my dear brothers and sisters, you are believers. You are Christians. I'm writing to you all. James is not writing to the whole world. 00:09:39.415 --> 00:10:03.210 He's writing specifically to the people of God. You say, my brothers and sisters, I'm trying to be nice, so relax. My dear brothers and sisters, you are believers. He's writing to Christians who are believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ. Only a couple times in this book, James specifically mentions Jesus Christ. 00:10:03.635 --> 00:10:21.060 But when he does hear, right here in verse one, he adds something to it. He doesn't just say, Lord Jesus Christ, which we see all over the scriptures. He says, our glorious Lord Jesus Christ. Glorious. Can you look at your neighbor and say, glorious? 00:10:21.060 --> 00:10:46.345 Glorious. This word glory or glorious comes from the Hebrew word kavod, which means basically the weightiness of the presence of God. And right before he tells them anything and gives them an exhortation to do this or not do that, he's just reminding them, hey, you are my brothers and sisters. You all are Christians. You are believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ. 00:10:46.760 --> 00:11:23.290 When he says that word glorious, it reminds us of the faith that we have and in who the faith is in. He's saying, remember our glorious Lord who's ascended on high, who died for your sins, that's the one we're submitted to. That's our Lord and our master, and he is glorious. And so with that with that said, our brothers and sisters and our dear beloved in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, then he gives the exhortation, do not or must not show favoritism. I love how another translation put it. 00:11:23.290 --> 00:11:45.420 It says, in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, you must not have an attitude of personal favoritism. So, what type of favoritism is James talking about? Now this is gonna be different than what we began our day with today. Right? He's not talking about if you prefer I Love Lucy over The Andy Griffith Show. 00:11:45.420 --> 00:12:18.350 That's not the type of favoritism he's talking about. Rather, when you begin to dig and understand the word, the type of favoritism or partiality he's talking about could be maybe better defined as discrimination. To prefer one person or one group over another because the other group has something that you don't like. And if you were to look at the literal meaning of this word, this word means to receive the face of someone over another. This is an example. 00:12:18.350 --> 00:12:31.315 Let me try to put this to you in this way. I have watched people receive the face of others many times. I've been to many church conferences in my life, and I like to people watch. Anybody here like to people watch? Or you do this in airport or whatever. 00:12:31.395 --> 00:13:25.865 And I've been to many church conferences where I will watch someone see two people. They will see a leader who's well known, has wealth, who's really smart, who's really charismatic, and they will want to gravitate to them more than the other person standing over here. This is the leader who pastors a small church, who's not a very good preacher, who in their eyes is not the smartest. And what what happens is I will see people neglect this brother or sister and prefer the one who looks prettier, the one who's more painted up. They literally you can literally walk like through these conferences, and you can see people making eye contact, and they, you know, they're gonna go talk to the person that can do something for them, rather than the person who's just gonna talk their ear off, rather than the person who's lonely, rather than they're gonna prefer the, in their eyes, the greater over the lesser. 00:13:26.425 --> 00:13:46.960 This is what James is kind of talking about. It's to discriminate against one person over another, or one party over another. And unfortunately, I've just seen this too much. And then here in James two verses two through four, he gives us a very specific example of what type of discrimination or partiality is going on. He says this in James two two through four. 00:13:47.175 --> 00:14:26.525 He helps us understand. He says, suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in filthy old clothes also comes in. Right? If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, here's a good seat for you, but you say to the poor man, you stand here or sit on the floor by my feet, have you not discriminated amongst yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts. In this case, the audience in James is writing to, the people are favoring rich people over poor people, which this is really confusing. 00:14:26.925 --> 00:15:08.840 Because the majority of the audience he's writing to is a bunch of poor Christians who are struggling, who are being, persecuted because they are Christians, and they're being persecuted financially. And they, for whatever reason, whether it's someone just visiting their worship gathering or new Christians coming in, they are showing favor to the ones who are rich over the ones who are poor. And this is very confusing for James, because many of these folks were poor themselves, and even their glorious Lord Jesus Christ was poor. Jesus, from my knowledge, never a rich man. He was the richest man we know because of his relationship with God, but he himself was poor. 00:15:09.160 --> 00:15:30.750 He just was a regular guy who worked a regular job for the most of his life, didn't have much wealth, pretty much made as much as he needed just to get through each day. And these believers are neglecting people who are just like Jesus. And mind you, Jesus came and began preaching to who? The rich? To the elite? 00:15:30.750 --> 00:16:02.880 No. He comes and begins preaching to the poor and is able to say something like, blessed are the poor in spirit, for they will inherit the kingdom of God. Poor in spirit means literally poor financially, lack of resources, but it also means spiritually poor. And Jesus came to the poor and has a very acute attention on those who are poor. But for some reason, these brothers and sisters in Christ are preferring the rich folks over the poor folks. 00:16:03.360 --> 00:16:29.690 Perhaps they feel as if the rich people could do something for them. We see this too many times, that people will prefer to talk to rich people, especially like when you see people coming to church. I've seen this across different churches in America. The people with the money will get to make all the decisions. They are preferred, while the poor people who serve well but don't have many resources are discriminated against. 00:16:30.010 --> 00:16:47.125 That even no matter what they say, even if they don't have any spiritual maturity, they are preferred over everybody else. And that's not good. That's a sad thing. And that's exactly what these people are doing. And so, unfortunately, we see this like I said, we've seen this attitude. 00:16:47.125 --> 00:16:59.040 And also, this might be weird. I know different pastors and leaders across the country feel called to different areas. Right? Like somebody might feel called to plant a church in in Catawba. Right? 00:16:59.040 --> 00:17:14.665 Somebody might feel compelled to plant a church in Salem. And that's fine if the Lord calls you to do it. But I've seen too many times across this nation where pastors and leaders will intentionally plant their churches in the richest parts of town. Why? Is money a bad thing? 00:17:14.665 --> 00:17:34.555 No, not per se. But they're making it very clear. I'm gonna go to the richest part of town, I'm gonna go to the suburbs where all the money is, and I'm going to prefer them over everybody else. And then you get a church with a, just a bunch of upper class, rich folks, and you've neglected everybody else. Last time I checked, the Gospel is for everyone. 00:17:35.115 --> 00:17:54.470 And that's a problem when we begin to just prefer one another because of finances. But here's the thing, it's not just the finances that's the problem. Here's the issue that the Lord has. Remember what he says right here at the end of verse four. He says, have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? 00:17:54.550 --> 00:18:08.335 Here's the issue, is that these people are not judging as the Lord judges. He says they're judging with evil thoughts. How do you know somebody's rich? They look like it. Right? 00:18:09.440 --> 00:18:25.095 They drive the nice car, they wear their super nice clothes, they maybe go to the super nice fancy restaurant. That's not every rich person. But the point is if you're rich, you can see it on the what? The outside. And these people are judging just based on what they see on the outside. 00:18:25.575 --> 00:18:39.870 And that's not the way the Lord judges. And we're gonna get to that in a moment. That's the main problem that James is having with him. He's saying, hey, you're just looking at what's on the inside when God wants you to look what's on the inside. That's why he says this next in verse five. 00:18:39.870 --> 00:19:03.950 He says, James two five through seven. Listen, my dear brothers and sisters, has God not chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised to those who love him? Just let's be reminded. It's not a bad thing to be poor. Jesus came to the poor. 00:19:04.030 --> 00:19:28.915 He came to the lowly. And he says, actually, those who are poor in the eyes of the world are rich in the thing that really matters most, faith. I met a lot of rich people. They don't have nearly as much faith as the poor people I know. I told you about the lady I met in Saint Louis a few weeks ago, about four foot eight, sweet black lady. 00:19:30.210 --> 00:19:50.445 Not of many much means, yet she had faith that the Lord was gonna take care of her cancer in her body. I need to see if I can find her to follow-up and see if the Lord's done it. Because, and I mean, this is this is the concept. The Lord has came to the lowliest of us, the poor, the needy, those who have been disregarded. And these are the ones who get to be rich in faith. 00:19:50.605 --> 00:20:06.300 So I don't know about you, but sometimes like I want, I'm like, am I I feel poor in a way. I don't have as much money as I think I should have. Yet what I do have is actually richer than anything else in the world. Forget the billions of dollars, forget trillions of dollars, forget having massive bank accounts. I know one thing. 00:20:06.540 --> 00:20:18.985 I have faith. I have faith. When I lived in Missouri and I made less than $300 a week, I had faith, and the Lord provided for all my needs. Right? And that's never changed. 00:20:19.945 --> 00:20:36.070 And the problem is when you have riches, when you have resources, you trust in those more than you trust in God. And he's reminding James is reminding them, hey, look, this group of people that you're neglecting, these are the richest people among you. You should get to know them. You should love them. You should care for them. 00:20:36.070 --> 00:20:53.685 They have something they can actually teach you. But the problem is, he says right here, he says, but you have dishonored the poor. Then he begins to say this, which is just ironic. He says, is it not the rich who are exploiting you? Are they not the ones who are dragging you into court? 00:20:53.930 --> 00:21:22.955 Are they not the ones who are blaspheming the noble name of him to whom you belong? They're preferring these rich people, yet it's the same rich people who are persecuting you. How does that make any sense that reveals the human heart, that we truly look at people who have wealth and resources, and we actually elevate them to a godlike status in our hearts? Because we think that money is more valuable than faith. And he's saying, are you blind to this? 00:21:24.530 --> 00:22:01.380 You're favoriting them, and yet they're hurting you over and over and over again in hopes they're gonna give you a little money to get out of your situation. This doesn't make any sense, my brothers and sisters in Christ. So this doesn't make sense to him at all, because they're judging wrongly and think these rich people are special because they have money or power or prestige or whatever, yet they're the same ones who are gonna turn their back and destroy them. Then James begins to move in verse eight to the heart of the matter. So we see the outward behavior of favoritism, of discriminating against one person or one group over the other. 00:22:01.380 --> 00:22:26.990 Now James gets to the heart issue of why that is. Look at verse eight with me on the screen over here. James says, if you really keep the royal law found in scripture, love your neighbor as yourself, you are doing right. But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers. Now, James is at the heart of the issue, Sister Judy. 00:22:27.390 --> 00:22:49.825 He's bringing up the law, which these Christians would be very familiar with. And then he reminds them of one of the most important things Jesus says. When Jesus was asked what is the greatest commandment, Jesus sums up the whole law. He sums up the whole Old Testament law in two things. He says, love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, all your strength, and what? 00:22:49.890 --> 00:23:07.345 And the and he said, and this one is equally as important. He says, love your neighbor as yourself. He reminds them of the royal law, to love your neighbor as yourself. And this reveals what we've been trying to answer today. So let me just ask this question again. 00:23:07.745 --> 00:23:32.430 Why is favoritism so hurtful to the heart and community of God? It's because it's not in God's character and it goes against his word. Let me show you both from the Scriptures. The first, the reason why showing favoritism to one group over the other is so wrong and sinful and we should run away from it is because it's not in God's character. So let's look at this. 00:23:32.685 --> 00:23:47.805 The Scriptures testify that God does not show partiality. Let me read Romans two eleven to you. Won't be on the screen, just from here. Romans two eleven says this, very profound, very simple. For God does not show favoritism. 00:23:49.790 --> 00:24:10.555 Acts ten thirty four. Acts ten thirty four basically says the same thing. Peter says, I know now that God does not show favoritism or partiality to persons. Therefore, since God doesn't show partiality, God doesn't judge with wrong evil thoughts, God doesn't judge what he just sees on the outside. No. 00:24:10.555 --> 00:24:24.730 God judges what he sees on the what? On the inside. He doesn't show partiality or discrimination for what he sees on the outside. Whether it's riches, whether it's skin color, whether it's social status, political party. He doesn't see He does He looks through all of that. 00:24:24.730 --> 00:24:36.575 And he looks right to the heart. I love a story in the Bible. You'll recall this. Let's see if I can pull this scripture up with me, because I've lost it. You remember the story of king David? 00:24:36.895 --> 00:24:53.930 You remember king David and Saul back in first Samuel chapter 16? There was a guy named king Saul. He's the first king over the nation of Israel. And everything started out pretty good with him. All of a sudden though, he began disobeying God and disrespecting God. 00:24:53.930 --> 00:25:33.555 And before he knew it, the throne would be taken from him. And then when it comes for time for the prophet Samuel to go anoint the next king of Israel, we get some very interesting words from God in first Samuel chapter six teen. First Samuel chapter six teen, this is what happens. First Samuel sixteen six says this, when they arrived, Samuel saw Eliab and thought, surely this is the Lord's anointed who stands here before the Lord. So so the prophet Samuel had went to the house of Jesse in the town of Bethlehem, and he was going to anoint the next king from this guy named Jesse's family. 00:25:33.555 --> 00:25:50.480 It's gonna be one of his sons. And when Samuel gets there, he sees the firstborn named Eliab, and he's a handsome guy. Okay? He's tall, he's strong, he's he's wise, and and Samuel's thinking in his mind, this is the guy who's gonna be the king. He's kinda like King Saul. 00:25:50.480 --> 00:26:12.850 He's head and shoulders over everybody. This is the clear choice of who should be the the king of Israel. That's why he says, surely the Lord's anointed stands here before the Lord. But the Lord said to Samuel, do not consider his appearance or height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. 00:26:13.170 --> 00:26:32.665 People look at the outward appearance but the Lord looks at the heart. God does not show favoritism from what he sees on the outside. He doesn't discriminate in that way. He looks right to the heart. So it doesn't matter if you're rich, poor, black, white, you name it. 00:26:32.665 --> 00:27:06.615 Whatever category we've come up with, he sees past all that and he sees our hearts. And so that's why, if anything, we shouldn't show favoritism, because God himself does not show favoritism. And I'm gonna be honest with you. I thank God, and you should too, that he did not show favoritism when he looked at me. My friends, if he just judged on the outside when I was in high school, when I was backsliding, if you will, he should not have chose me. 00:27:07.960 --> 00:27:26.335 I was a sinner. It was all on the outside. And if he were just to look on the outside like we do, he would have pitched me to the sides and I don't want nothing to do with that guy. If he would have looked at any of us on the outside, he wouldn't have chosen any of us. Yet, God in his mercy and grace was able to look at our hearts. 00:27:26.575 --> 00:27:56.595 And even though it didn't wasn't all together on the outside, he looked at our heart and said, that is a heart that's for me. And he has chosen all of us because he judges rightly, because he is God and he is just and he is perfect. And thank God he does not show favoritism in that way. He judges rightly. The second reason, the main second main reason that we shouldn't show partiality or show favoritism or discrimination to others, because it goes against his word. 00:27:56.595 --> 00:28:15.290 So I said his character, but now his word. Let me read a few scriptures to you. Deuteronomy one through 17, this is the Lord speaking to Moses and Moses telling the people. The Lord tells Moses to tell the people, do not show partiality in judging. Here are both small and great alike. 00:28:15.450 --> 00:28:37.070 Do not be afraid of anyone, for judgment belongs to God. Bring me any case too hard for you, and I will hear it. Leviticus nineteen fifteen says this, do not pervert pervert justice. Do not show partiality to the poor or favoritism to the great, but judge your neighbor fairly. Proverbs twenty four twenty three. 00:28:37.070 --> 00:28:57.905 These are also sayings of the wise. To show partiality in judging is not good. The Word of God tells us not to show favoritism or partiality. The main reason why is because it violates that one royal law that he told us. That's why. 00:28:58.385 --> 00:29:07.440 And you know the feeling. And and my family and I have always joked growing up, oh, who's the favorite? You're the baby of the family. You're, you know, your mommy's your mommy's boy. She loves you the most. 00:29:07.440 --> 00:29:19.495 Right? And we always kinda joke about stuff like that or people will ask me, hey, what's your favorite boy? Which of your your twins, what's your favorite? And my response is, I love them both, but whatever one's not crying at the moment, that one's my favorite for right now. Right? 00:29:19.495 --> 00:29:37.800 Alright. All jokes aside. Right? But we know that feeling though, unfortunately, when we know we're not someone's favorite. And you probably heard as a joke as a kid, maybe as a coworker that that you knew you weren't the favorite at work, and you weren't you weren't given special privileges like someone else was. 00:29:38.280 --> 00:30:10.860 The reason why this is so bad against the heart of God is because it makes you feel like you're not loved. It makes you feel like you're less than. It makes you feel like that you are not really worthy to be loved by God or anybody else. If I'm not someone's favorite, and if I'm not the best, then why should I be here? And that's why the scriptures over and over and over again tell us not to show favoritism or partiality because it violates the royal law to love one another as yourself. 00:30:11.895 --> 00:30:39.680 That's why. It goes against God's character and it goes against it goes against God's word. Keaton, you can make your way up here whenever you're ready. Like I said, we unfortunately know this feeling and it can lead us, I don't know, to feel less than. And so and I would also say the ultimate downside of propping up one another or showing favoritism on another is because one party feels propped up. 00:30:40.065 --> 00:30:52.465 Those who are the favorites feel prideful. I'm the best. I'm, you know, I'm mommy's favorite. I get whatever I want. And then it inflates their head, and then the other party party feels less than and doesn't even want to be around. 00:30:52.465 --> 00:31:18.075 And here's the thing. With God's people, it should not be that way. We should not show favoritism. So if a homeless man walked into here right now, cracked out on whatever, and sat down in one of these chairs, or if Donald Trump came through them doors, or some notable person in society, we shouldn't want to favor one of them over the other. We should love them both. 00:31:18.395 --> 00:31:35.130 We should respect them both. We should honor them both. That is how we keep the royal law of love in our hearts. Because I don't know about you, when I read the last part of this text, it terrifies me. Let me read it to you again. 00:31:35.130 --> 00:32:05.230 James two twelve through 13. James says this, speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Let's think about this for a moment. At some point, you're going to stand before God, and you're going to be judged for how you lived your life. I'm not talking about the judgment of sin. 00:32:05.230 --> 00:32:16.485 He's already taken care of that. You've entered into eternal life. Praise God. But God's going to evaluate evaluate your life at some point. You're going to stand before him, and the books will be open. 00:32:16.645 --> 00:32:44.575 And he's gonna look at you and say, Dallas, why did you not show mercy to those who are poor among you? Why did you prefer that person over that person? And I don't know about you, when it says that you won't be shown mercy, that terrifies me. I don't I want to be shown mercy. I I I I don't want to get on the wrong side of God's judgment, if you will. 00:32:44.575 --> 00:33:12.805 Right? It shouldn't necessarily make us fearful, but it should bring us to be sober minded that every decision we make, every time we encounter someone, it really does matter. Everything we do in life matters, and God sees it. When my daughter does something that she doesn't, shouldn't do in the house, and I don't see it, I remind her, I'm like, honey, I didn't see it, but the Lord saw it. He sees all things, and she's like, where where is he? 00:33:12.965 --> 00:33:33.960 Like, where where is he hiding? Is he on the camera or somewhere? Where is he at? The Lord sees everything we do outside and inside, And I don't want to be caught being judged without mercy. Rather, I want to do what it says here then, mercy triumphs over judgment. 00:33:34.120 --> 00:34:14.135 I would rather show mercy, I would rather love the person in front of me, whether they can do something for me or not. I should love them as Christ loves them. And so, as we go forth in this church, as new people come in, the Lord adds to our number, we have to be careful not to prefer one group over the other as they come in. No matter who comes through those doors, no matter what they look like, what they smell like, or how much money's in their bank account, or lack thereof, we love them all the same. And when people experience that, and when we do it amongst ourselves, it is a sweet fragrance of heaven to them. 00:34:14.135 --> 00:34:30.880 Because they're saying, wow, these people are really different, brother Kenny. These people really love us for just who we are. We've been people made in God's image. You are worthy of the same love that you are worthy of. You are not greater than me, and I'm not greater than you. 00:34:30.880 --> 00:34:44.415 We are brothers and sisters. That's why he said at the beginning, we're brothers and sisters on the equal playing ground. Before I'm your pastor, my friends, I'm your brother. I'm a your younger brother. Right? 00:34:44.495 --> 00:35:10.055 But I'm your brother, no less. And so, if we want to be the type of community that's doers of the word, that loves one another without hypocrisy, we must do this together. So as we end today, you're welcome to stand if you want, if you wanna stay seated, whatever whatever you're good at, whatever is fine. I need you to think about these two things and ask the Holy Spirit these two questions. Here's these two questions for you. 00:35:10.055 --> 00:35:42.785 Number one, you can just say, Holy Spirit, it's in your heart and your mind. Is there any area in my life where I'm showing favoritism or partiality or or am I discriminating? Perhaps the Holy Spirit will just show you right now that wow, I've really preferred that person over one another. I've really tried to love them more than that one. Holy Spirit, help us to just see this in our eyes, in our hearts. 00:35:43.265 --> 00:36:24.110 Lord, we don't we don't wanna show partiality. We wanna be the type of family that loves one another equally. So Holy Spirit, show us right now if we have shown favoritism, and we need to repent of it right now. Perhaps you're here today, you wanna ask the Holy Spirit this, the second question. This text in this Bible or this book about the book of James talks about the poor so much over and over and over, and I'm being challenged as I'm processing how to serve the poor. 00:36:24.110 --> 00:36:55.605 And the question I came up with is this, how can I make sure I don't neglect the poor among me and care for them as Jesus desired? I don't want to neglect the poor. James said it last week to care for orphans and widows, and he's gonna continue to say it that that we should care for those who have less than us. And so, forgive us if we have shown partiality to those who could do something for us, Lord. Help empower us to serve those who, in our eyes, can't do anything for us. 00:36:58.885 --> 00:37:21.050 Because Jesus, you did the same thing for us. There was nothing we could really do for you, Lord. All of our acts were just dirty, sinful rags. There was no way we could work towards you to obtain salvation. Yet you saw us who are poor in spirit, and you loved us and laid your lives down for us. 00:37:29.165 --> 00:38:20.455 So today, we are charged to not favor one over the other, especially it pertains to people among us, especially those who are rich or poor. We shouldn't show favoritism to anyone, but rather we should do what the Lord calls us to do, and we should love one another as ourselves, even when they don't look like us, even when they sometimes get on our nerves, even when it's not easy. Lord, we thank you for your word this morning. Holy Spirit, help us to become doers of the word, not showing favoritism, but loving one another with pureness of heart. In the precious name of Jesus, everybody said, amen. 00:38:20.455 --> 00:38:38.500 Amen. I wanna invite you to stand with me today as Keaton plays this last worship song. If you need prayer today, sister Judy came to me today, wanted to pray for your grands. I'd like to pray with you here in a moment right here. But if you need prayer for something today, we'd love to pray for you. 00:38:39.460 --> 00:38:49.605 Whether you got a decision coming up, whether something's hurting in your body, or maybe you got something to rejoice about, Just wanna invite you and just say the altars are open. If you need prayer right now