You have no idea what just happened, but it was fun. My iPad wasn't connecting to the screen, but look, there it is. So the devil's in the details, and it worked out. I'm going to put this water bottle down. We're in James chapter 2, as I come back around. And you guys all got to sing and pray, and I was scrambling around to make sure this iPad connected. And man, it just did, barely. But here we are, James chapter two tonight. We continue our time together as we have been digging into the book of James and in a kind of a unique fashion. Our ushers have some of those. It looks like you already got them, so appreciate them, handed them out. And you can follow along that way. I did want to make mention to you that Pastor Fisher has actually ordered for us something that we'll be doing. In fact, in the coming weeks, you'll see kind of the display in the bookstore tweaked just a little bit to offer some resources that are particular to the different sermon series that we're in. Many people ask, well, what's a good book in Ecclesiastes? Well, first of all, that's a It's a hard book, so it's good to have some good resources. We'll have some recommendations there. We'll have some recommendations related to our Sunday evening series that we're going through. But related to this series on Wednesday night, we actually purchased journaling books just in James. So it's the text of James in a journal form. And we'll have them for a pretty good cut rate discount deal at the bookstore. Our bookstore is not there to be a to make money, but to be a blessing. And so we're just trying to be a blessing to you to get these resources into your hands, and that will be coming, and it's been ordered, so it'll be coming here very soon. But we're in James chapter two. As you're turning there, who can help me out? We were in James chapter one, the end of chapter one, last time we were together. And what is the theme that is introduced in verse 26 that continues and flows into the rest of chapter two? Anybody remember? What is the theme? The tests of what? Genuine Christianity. And so the last time we were together, we were talking all about genuine Christianity. And what are some of those tests that we looked at? What are some of those tests of genuine Christianity? Let's go back and see them. There are three of them beginning in verse 26. We have, if any man among you seem to be religious and bridleth not his tongue. So the first test is, Self-control of the tongue, control of the tongue. Number one is control of the tongue. The next test we saw at the end of verse 27, pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, to visit the fatherless and the widows in their affliction. What would we call that test of true Christianity? That was concern for the needy is what we called it. And then the last one is to keep himself unspotted from the world, and we called that character, or good character, character that is holy. When we come into chapter 2, that theme of genuine Christianity continues to flesh out. And last time we were together I said the three that we looked at, 1, 2, and 3, in verses 26 and 27, at the end of chapter 3, or chapter 1 rather, are not the only three tests of genuine Christianity. And now, beginning in verse 1 and making its way into verse 13, James gives one other test of Christianity. Now there are others, but we're only gonna look at the one, and I'm gonna read the text, and we're gonna see what is that test, and then we'll pick apart that test together this evening. So let's read it together, and then I'm gonna ask, what is the next test of genuine Christianity? Beginning in verse one of chapter two. My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons. For if there come unto your assembly a man with a gold ring, in goodly apparel, and there come in also a poor man in vile raiment, and ye have respect to him that weareth the gay clothing, and saying to him, sit thou here in a good place, and say to the poor, stand thou there, or sit under my footstool, are ye not then partial in yourselves, and are become judges of evil thoughts? Hearken, my beloved brethren, hath God chosen the poor of this world, rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to them that love him. But ye have despised the poor. Do not rich men oppress you and draw you before the judgment seats? Do they not blaspheme that worthy name by which you are called? If ye fulfill the royal law according to the scripture, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself, ye do well. But if you have respect to persons, you commit sin and are convinced of the law as transgressors. For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. For he that saith, do not commit adultery, said also, do not kill. Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law. So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty. For he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath shown no mercy, and mercy rejoiceth against judgment. Now that's a lot of verses that we're going to look at together, but there is one particular test of genuine Christianity that is now beginning to be outlined. Let's see, what is that test? Show no partiality. The test is if you are a genuine Christian, you will show no partiality. Now what is partiality? Now we're gonna spend some time in there. One way I was trying to illustrate it once when I was a junior camp speaker, And I still do, do speak to juniors. And I don't mean any offense to adults in this room, but I gotta be honest, speaking to kids is a whole lot more fun than speaking to adults. Sorry, just gotta be honest with you. But I was speaking to juniors in Houston, Texas, and the chapel theme for the week was the Book of James. And we were in chapter two on that particular day, and I was trying to explain partiality to them. And I was trying to use kind of the illustration we're gonna get to here in a moment, and talked about, well, what if you saw someone come in that was really famous and rich into our camp today? And what would that person be? Well, one particularly precocious boy was wearing his LeBron James basketball shirt, right? And he said, well, that would be pretty cool if LeBron James came in. And I said, you know what? For you, I think that's true, given that you're wearing the uniform. I think that'd be pretty cool. Now, what would you do if LeBron James came in? He said, oh, boy, I would want his autograph, you know, all that. OK, that's pretty cool. And I said, now, what if someone came in that looked rather raggedy and distinctly different than everybody? And how would you treat that person? Of course, as we just read, that's kind of the illustration that James has given. And I was trying to put it on a kid's side. And I said, now, how would you treat him? And the same young boy said, well, if I'm going to treat him like LeBron James, I'd ask for his autograph. I said, well, OK, I guess. Now the next day, this story keeps going as the music gets better, the next day they took us to the Houston Children's Museum. All the kids at the junior camp go to the Houston Children's Museum and there we are lined up and I could just see the little boy, the same little boy standing in front of me and all of a sudden he turns around and his eyes get really big and he turns around and he looks behind me and I had no idea what he was, he just looked like he'd seen a ghost almost. And I turn around, and the biggest, tallest man I've ever seen closest to me stood right behind me. At that point, he was playing for the Houston Rockets. His name is Dwight Howard, the basketball player. He's about seven feet tall. And it's a miracle if he can get his biceps through a T-shirt. And he was standing there right behind me. And that little boy knew exactly who that guy was. And he got to live out his life lesson. So he went over, and he asked Mr. Howard for an autograph. And he actually did give him an autograph. It was like this light bulb moment. Well, if I have to treat Dwight Howard for an autograph, I have to. You know what I'm doing? And the rest of the time in the Children's Museum, he got autographs of every worker in the Children's Museum that was there. All right. Now, at least in some ways, he understood a little bit. I am not entirely sure if their autographs were on the same thing as Dwight Howard's autograph, but he still put it to practice. What is partiality? Well, I think you understand, right? Partiality is treating one person better than the other just because, really. Now, is that really that serious? Is it a very serious offense? Well, let's ask James that question. How serious of an offense is partiality? And we could just use the number of verses to demonstrate how serious it is. How many verses? We just read. Well, here we have 13 verses all about this subject. And this is a very serious concern. But who particularly is struggling with this problem? Well, let's go back to verse one. Who is it that James is addressing that must be struggling with this problem? He says, my brethren. So James is talking to Christians. which indicates that this is particularly problematic in the church. And he says, this is an issue that you are treating people differently in the church. Now obviously, years later, we have matured far beyond this, right? We don't have this problem at our church. Obviously I'm speaking tongue-in-cheek here. Of course we do. This is an issue. And James is making very plain about it. This is a very serious issue. And he says, my brethren, have not the faith of, and I just want to focus just for a moment on that word of. I know it's interesting to focus there. I want to go over here and you want to see the preposition here, usage of that word. And here is that word, the word of. it could be translated and we're talking about a faith really we're saying the faith whose object is that's what that verse is that word of is so the faith whose object is what? What is the object? Well, the object is Jesus. So you can't have a faith whose object is. So we are talking about a faith in, we could say, a faith in Christ. That'd be the same usage of that word. You could talk about, if you wanted to talk about it, you could talk about it as being a saving faith. This is the kind of faith we're talking about. We are talking about, to use our word from last week, we are talking about genuine faith. We're talking about genuine Christianity. So we're continuing the theme of genuine Christianity. He's saying you can't have genuine Christianity with something attached to it. So come back to it. Obviously he's talking about, as we already noted, this is this idea of genuine Christianity. And he's saying you can't have this genuine Christianity and also have this attached to it with respect of persons. The word we used already, the word is the idea of partiality. What he's saying is, do not have an attitude of personal favoritism. You could phrase it that way. Do not have an attitude of respecting persons, as we see here. And we note that there's a particular issue because he repeats it twice. See it there, chapter two, verse one, with respect of persons. Come over to chapter two, verse nine, if you have respect of persons. So he uses it twice. He uses the same word with respect of persons in chapter one, or chapter two, verse one, and chapter two, verse nine. And as we already noted, we're talking about this idea of partiality. What does it mean to show partiality? Well, this word, respect of persons, is actually a compound word. It can be difficult to define words, and not always wise, to define words by their compound nature. I'm reminded that DA Carson doesn't like doing so. But there are also times when you can actually define words by their compound nature. I would say an example of that would be ecclesia. And I would actually say, you can actually use the compound structure of that to define that. You could do the same here with the word partiality. I'll just put it on the screen, because it's interesting. And at first glance, to be honest with you, when I was studying it, even reading some of the commentators, most of them who agreed on that, they saw this as being a word that you could describe as a compound word. And there are two roots to it. There are the two roots of it. And it means the two ideas are lift up Lift up is the first part of that. And the second part of the word partiality, or respect of persons, is face. Get it? I've got to say, when I started seeing it, I thought, no, actually, I don't. I'm not sure I understand what lift up face means. And so I was continuing to dig in and try to understand. And one particular commentary I read gave an illustration that finally helped me unlock what is being described that may help you. And he said it would have been a word used in a judicial setting. It would have been describing a judge who, for whatever reason, looked at someone who was guilty, and perhaps just true, plain old guilty, but had a favoritism towards that individual, and that individual knew they were guilty, was downcast as a result, and the judge just said, just on a whim, not because of anything that person did, just because that judge had favoritism in his heart, and lifted up his face and said, you're better now. Nothing that person did, he just kind of played favorites as opposed to someone else that they're ruling against. To me, that helped understand what's going on. It's a person who's basically just picking and choosing who it is that they care about, who it is that they're going to show favor to. Lifting up the face. It's the joint of that word. That's what the word is referencing. It's referencing the idea of a partial judge. Now, I hope you don't have to appear before a judge anytime soon. But if you did, I would also hope you don't have a partial judge, right? You would want a fair judge. Well, this is an impartial judge. This is not a fair judge. This is someone that's just choosing willy-nilly on how they're going to describe things. And he says, this is the person who is showing partiality. But he also talks about this idea of have not the faith. And I wanna pause there for just a moment. Believers, he's saying, should not show partiality. And if that's all we had in this passage, if that's all we had, we would be left to speculate. What kind of partiality is he referencing? Is it just a general statement? Don't play favorites. What specific example of partiality is James referring to? Now there are more than one application here, but there is a specific example of partiality. the wealthy and the prosperous, the rich and the poor. And by the way, remember, how many have been here since beginning in chapter one, when we've been with chapter one? Many hands, all right? Remember, we already talked about money in chapter one. Remember that? James has already referenced this, another point to my cyclical point that I've been trying to make, that James will introduce the subject and come back to it. He has a particular idea in mind. Here's his illustration, verse two. If there come unto your assembly a man with a gold ring, in goodly apparel, and there came also unto you a poor man in vile raiment, and you show respect to him that weareth the gay clothing, and saying to him, sit thou in a good place, and say to the poor, stand thou here, or sit there under my footstool. So there's an idea here. Look at verse two, just for a moment. This phrase, this particular word that he uses, he talks about having a gold ring. In ancient times, a gold ring would have been considered a sign of wealth. This same word, translated gold ring, could be translated gold fingered. So this man could have been one that had just a lot of wealth at his fingertips, you could say, is what he's saying. This may be a reference to multiple rings on his finger. It may also be a reference to the fact that he could just reach down and get whatever wealth he needed. He was gold-fingered in that way. That's what it's talking about, this idea of gold ring, this gold-fingered individual. That's who he's referring to. And this person is talking about one who has goodly apparel. That's an interesting word choice that James now uses when he talks about goodly apparel, because that particular word is the same word choice that the Bible uses to describe the apparel of angels. What is he referring to then? It's talking about shining clothes, is what it's saying. If you want to translate it, you could talk about it, the one who comes in with shiny clothes, is what he's talking about. And the idea is that as he walks in, there is an appearance to him that just stands out. Wow, he walks in a room, like man, we would say that guy is dressed to kill, right? Or that guy is one dapper dude, whatever it may be, and he walks in, and man, that really stands out. And then there's, on the contrast, there's the man who comes in, of course, there's a different guy who comes in, and a poor man, and that poor man is, according to what James is talking about, is wearing this vile raiment. Now, what would vile mean? That shouldn't be hard for you to figure out. What is vile? Dirty, disgusting, whatever it may be, right? This man, as opposed to the kind of clothes that draw your eye. Wow, fancy. This guy is wearing vile clothes. His attire stands out, not because it's good, but because it's bad looking. Now before we move any further, I think this is an important side. There's nothing in this passage that has stated that there is anything wrong with the rich man wearing nice clothes. Nothing in this passage says that. There's also nothing in this passage that says there's anything wrong with this man wearing dirty clothes. There's also nothing in this passage that says it's his wrong to be rich. There's nothing in this passage that says it is wrong to be poor. The Bible doesn't condemn the rich guy for wearing nice clothes, nor does the Bible condemn the poor person for wearing shabby clothes. What is condemned? How you treat them, that's what's condemned. Not what they're wearing, but how you respond to what they're wearing. Look what he says in verse three. And you have, again, he's not talking about these fellows, he's talking about you guys. Who's the you? The brethren is the you, and you have this problem. He's not condemning these two in this illustration. He's condemning the brethren and how they've responded to these two men in this situation. So this is the say, and this is what they do. They say to the poor man, stand thou, to this poor man, they say, stand thou here and sit here under my footstool. And this is the idea. By the way, there are things we don't know about these people. These are just two different guys. We don't know, in this illustration, who they are. We don't know anything about them. We are only left to judge them on their superficial appearance, which is to say, skin level. And it's a pretty bad place to judge people just there, isn't it? And James is saying, that's all you see. All you see is what they're wearing and you've already made a judgment call. That is the sin of partiality. So verses two or three, James is clear that he has in verses two and three, these two verses, James has, you could say money on the mind, right? That's the illustration that he's gonna use as he looks at verses two and three. And in these verses, he's thinking of treating people with money different than people without money. But I would say that this goes broader even than that. This is talking about any partial treatment based on race, any partial treatment based on clothing, any partial treatment based on past knowledge of that person. Well, you know that person has a reputation that precedes them, right? And then you could fill in the blank. Maybe you don't want to, because then you're starting to get, then you're starting to step on toes, maybe your own. So James makes it clear. Now to be balanced, we know that the Bible does tell us to respect people. Who are we to respect? Who are some people we are supposed to respect? Parents, elders, who else? Those in authority, the elderly, Right? These are the respects that he's talking about. James is not referring to those here. James is talking about a denial of the gospel that dedicates its subject on people's outward appearance. And I did use the word denial of the gospel, and some of you say, really? Denial of the gospel? Partiality is denial of the gospel? Actually, yes. The partiality is an opposition to the gospel itself in several ways. And as we've done each time, I want us to kind of dig in a little bit by using headings. That at least helps me in my conversation with you. And so this evening, I want to use some headings with you again. And I want us to talk about the opposition. And the number one way that partiality is an opposition to the gospel is that partiality opposes, number one, it opposes God's character. Number one, partiality opposes God's character. And we're going to see this in chapter two, verse one. Partiality opposes God's character. Let's come over here. And it says, my brethren have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. Who is Jesus Christ? I'm glad you answered it with James' words, right? We could've answered it a lot of ways, right? If I asked you that question before we read James 2, verse one, you might've given me a lot of different answers, but because I read James 2, verse one with you, you all said the Lord of glory. Who is the Lord of glory? The answer backwards is Jesus Christ. Let me read some verses to you just so you can see them. John 14, verse nine, I'll put them on the screen. Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long with you and yet thou has not known me. He that has seen me has seen the Father. That's who Jesus is. He that's seen me has seen the Father. How about John 1 verse 14? And the word was made flesh. Who's the word? that was made for us, Jesus, and dwelt among us. And we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father. That's who Jesus is, the Lord of glory. One more verse, Hebrews 1 verse 13. Who being the brightness of his glory and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he made himself, purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the majesty on high. Who is sitting there? Who's at the right hand of God on high? Jesus, this is who Jesus is. Jesus is the Lord of glory. Now what does the word glory mean? What is the word glory? How would we define the word glory? Well, we could define the word glory as the manifestation, the manifestation of God's presence. That's what glory is. Glory is the manifestation of God's pleasance. If you wanna know what God is like, who do you study? Jesus. I've had conversations with, and maybe you do, a lot of people, they wanna know who is God and all that, and I say, you know, a great place would start, would you start reading the Gospels? Start reading the Gospels, you're gonna read about Jesus. When you start reading about Jesus, you're gonna know what God is like, that this is who God is. And by the way, as we learn about God, we learn things like this. There is no partiality with God, Romans 2.11. Deuteronomy 10 verse 17 says, the awesome God who does not show partialities. How about 2 Chronicles 19.7? The Lord will have no part in unrighteousness or partiality. Or Job 34 verse 19, who showeth no partiality. Revelation 22 verse 17, whosoever will may come. Engaging in favoritism is contrary to the very character of God. What does it mean to glorify God? It means nothing more and nothing less than showing people what God is like. So if I go around being partial, I am not glorifying God's character. What I mean by that is you can sing all the right songs, carry the right Bible, wear the right clothes, but if you show favoritism, you are not glorifying God in church. This is an opposition to the very character of God. But James continues, not only does it say it opposes God's character, but James also notes, number two, number two, well how else does it oppose it? Well it opposes, it's an opposition to, it opposes, excuse me, oh there you go, you can figure it out, opposes Christian values. It opposes Christian values. What are those Christian values, James? Well, let's read them in chapter 2 verses 3 through 4. Here's what he says in verse 3, 4, if they're come unto you. And there we now see this example. And he says, now if you show favoritism to the rich man just based on his clothes and what he looks like and not to the poor man just based on what he looks like. Are ye not partial in yourselves, verse four. And the implication is that the distinctions in verse three that you have made are wrong. Now are distinctions amongst people always wrong? No. You say, why not? Well, I'll give you an example, a really easy one. I don't see any kids in the room right now. See, all the kids are over there and all the adults are in here. We made a distinction. We made our distinction based on age, but we did make a distinction. Are you okay with that? So it's okay at times to have distinctions, but is there, when are distinctions wrong? Look at verse four. When are distinctions wrong? Come to verse four. Here's when you have distinctions that are wrong. He says in verse four, are you not partial in yourselves and are become judges of evil thoughts? When are distinctions wrong? What is the evil thought? What is the evil thought in context here? What is the motivation causing you to treat other people better than other people? The poor guy's inferior, the rich guy's up here, that's the evil thought. The evil thought is well maybe I can get something out of this guy that I can't get out of that guy. This is what one commentator I read called the scandal of the pew. You treat one person better than the other based on what's in it for me. That's an evil thought. Is that not in opposition to the gospel message itself? Man, if we were treated how we deserve to be treated, where would we all be? James says that's an evil thought. It's a pretty evil thought to dredge people that way. I'm gonna stay on this page for our next heading and he says, number three, not only is it an opposition to God's character and it's opposition to Christian value, it's an opposition, number three, it's an opposition to God's viewpoint. It's in opposition to God's viewpoint. And what I'm specifically referencing in verses five through seven is how God actually looks at people. As we've noted over and over and over again now, we tend to look at poor people a little differently than God looks at them. So how does God look at them? Look what he says in verse five. Hearken, my beloved brethren, hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him? And notice what God does. He has chosen the poor and he describes them as being rich. I love, when James kind of highlights things and connects those together for you. We think they're poor. God says they're rich. God loves flipping things around, right? What's the verses? The first will be last. The last will be first. Here's God doing it again. Now, warning. We have to be careful and we have to be precise here because these verses have a tendency recently to be misused in support of a new wave of theology called liberation theology. I don't know if you've heard of this. If not, don't worry about it. Well, do worry about it, just stay away from it. If you have heard of it, I warn you because these are their proof verses. And liberation theology basically teaches that it is a sin to have any money And if you are poor, you are saved already. Immediately you guys gasp. Yeah, that is a shocking way of looking at things, absolutely. I don't care if you're rich or poor, there's only one way to get saved. What does he say? Who does the saving? Has not God chosen? The interesting point is that God chooses in ways differently than ours, but the point remains that the ultimate author of salvation is not you, and it is not me, it is God. Nor is it your money, nor is it anything else. You can't earn your way to heaven, friend. You have to trust alone in God. And Jesus has a way, though, of doing things different than we expect. I think the best example would be in his inner circle, even the disciples that he chose, what was their vocation? Some of them were fishermen. Tax collectors, these are not exactly men that we would have expected to find in and amongst this group. And to show partiality can be a focus in the wrong way, James makes it clear. He says, you despise the poor. Oh, by the way, don't you remember, do not rich men oppress you and draw you before judgment seats? It's like, you guys already know what it's like to do this. Frequently, it was the well-to-do that were the enemies of Christ, and everything being equal. James is saying, is it easier for a poor person to come to Christ or for a rich person to come to Christ? Everything being equal. Well, Jesus actually answers that for us in Matthew 19 verse 24. Again, I say unto 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. As he's saying, the rich man can't be saved. That's not what he's saying. You don't misconstrue this. He's just saying there are times when we are put all the way on our back that the only place we can look is up. And sometimes when we get there, and I think there are many, even rich, that would say, you know, there's times God got me to that point, all to push me for my focus to be on him. That's the point James is now making. He's saying, make sure your viewpoint is in alignment with how God is seeing people. And we don't have our eyes, oftentimes, in the right direction, and we view things way differently than how God views them. But number four, it also opposes, it opposes, number four, God's royal law. Now what is the royal law? Well, we'll look about it in verses two, or chapter two, verses eight through 11. We'll talk about this royal law. Look what he says in verse eight. If ye fulfill, and then he references this royal law according to the scripture. Now this idea of, this idea being phrased royal, could be translated this sovereign law. That's what he's talking about. You could say big law or main law. What is the big law? What is the royal law? Continue reading. Thou shalt love thy neighbor. So the royal law is this over here. Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. Here's a fun exercise. If you could boil down the whole Bible into two laws, what would they be? Love God, love your neighbor as yourself. That's the whole, all of scripture boiled down into two points. And James is making mention of a second here. He's saying, thou shalt love thy neighbor. And what is this love that he's talking about? Well, this love is a seeking out another's best interests in mind. which is something that we struggle with. I don't care what people now say nowadays, they're telling us that we need to learn to love ourselves better. The Bible actually makes it clear that we're already really good at loving ourselves. In fact, Ephesians 5 verse 29 says, there is no man that hates his own flesh. So Jesus never considered the idea that we don't love ourselves enough. What he did say is, we don't love others enough. When I'm thirsty, I drink water. because I know I'm thirsty. James is saying in the same way that you look to yourself, you should be looking to others. Verse nine, if you have respect of persons, you commit, and he uses two words in verse nine. He says you commit sin, there's one, and he says you are convicted of the law as transgressors, there's two. What is sin? How would you define sin? Someone help me out. Sin is coming short of God's glory, missing the mark, right? That's sin. What is transgression? It's trespassing, right? It's crossing the line. You went over the line. So you miss the mark and you cross the line when you show partiality. Is this really such a big deal? How big of a deal is it, James? Look at verse 10. This is how big of a deal it is. James says, for whosoever shall keep the whole law and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. When is this verse normally used and quoted? In what context do you normally hear this verse quoted? In evangelism. That's a good context for it, by the way. I'm not saying don't use it, but that is normally when you hear it. What context is James using it in? Partiality, isn't that interesting? How serious is it for me to treat other people better than the other? Boy, I don't know if there gets to be a stronger verse on the subject, on any subject, than the one James is using. And notice the parallels James now draws. And you might say, or think, I'll go to church, I'll serve there, I'll even tithe there, but I'm just not gonna talk to that guy over there because he's different from other people, And that's okay. And James says, look how different it is. This is how serious it is. In case verse 10 wasn't serious enough, verse 11. For he that said, do not commit adultery, said also, do not kill. If thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou shalt become a transgressor of the law. So James is saying this is serious, like this is on par with these other sins that we're listing. No wonder it's an opposition to God's law, God's sovereign big law. You can't claim one thing and go the other. And finally, number five, if we're gonna continue our headings, number five, he says finally together, I'll get a new color here, number five, he says it opposes it opposes God's mercy. And that we see in verses 12 through 13. Here's what he says, so speak ye and so do as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty. Now, this word judged is difficult here because remember, who is it that's being judged? Who specifically? Go back to verse one, brethren, There's all kinds of ink spilled over this, right? Because you say, well, verse one, chapter two, verse one, that's my brethren, there you have it. Chapter two, verse five, hearken my beloved, there you have it again, brethren. Is James really saying Christians are gonna be judged? Does this mean that we'll be judged for our sin? No, why no? What's that? Christ paid for our sin, so there's been a divine transaction. So what is James referencing in verse 12? I'll just tell you the suggestions some have given. Some suggest James is talking about the judgment seat of Christ, the great Bema seat. Some suggest James is talking about some other eschatological judgment, and he's really just saying we should be thankful knowing we deserve to be judged for our sin. He's just saying, hey, remember, you deserve this. So those are the two kind of points. I'm not trying to land it on either way because I think either way the application still is resounding. Verse 13, James is saying this. This is the point that he's making. His point is, verse 13 is, that if I have been, if God has been merciful to me, I will be merciful to others. That's the point. Now, you can continue to spill ink over the judgment question for the rest of the time, and that's a fun exercise for seminarians, and it is an important one, but we're running up on the clock, so I won't get into it. And those are the two camps. But I think the application still remains the same. The application is, if you've been given much mercy, you will show mercy. Those who've been forgiven much, forgive much. Those who have mercy, show mercy. And here's something to consider. If I don't show mercy to people, it may be because I've never experienced the mercy of God. This is why it's a test of genuine Christianity. If I'm showing partiality on a regular basis, there's reason to question if I'm even saved. So yeah, it is an opposition to the gospel. Partiality opposes God's character, it opposes Christian values, it opposes God's viewpoint, it opposes God's sovereign law, it opposes God's mercy. You can't claim to be a little Christ and be partial. James is pretty strong. For if he shall have judgment without mercy, that has showed mercy, and mercy rejoiceth against judgment. So what are the evidence of genuine Christianity? Well, there are many of them, but here's one that James spends 13 whole verses nailing to the wall so that we really get this. Questions, comments as we close together this evening. Yes. Here's an exercise I want you to think about as we close. What would I want to have happen if I walked into a church the first time? What would I want? I've never been to a church before, I walk into the lobbies of this church, how would I feel welcomed? People would talk to me, people would greet me, how else? You're good, how else? How would I feel welcomed? If I've never been to this church before, ever before, and I walk in, what can I do to help that person out? I'd love for people to sit with me. Treat them like you know them and care about them. Pray with them, absolutely. You can even ask, what can I pray for you? Is there any burden I can pray for you? David? Ask for their autograph. Absolutely. The next visitor that comes through on Sunday is gonna really be freaked out. Yeah, share with them where the growth groups are, share with them where the services are, all those things. Here's something interesting as a guy who used to travel in evangelism. I have never, ever been to a church who did not view themselves as friendly. Every church in America thinks they're friendly. You know why? Because that's where your friends go to church. Right? So obviously you think you're friendly. So don't judge the friendliness on the church on how you think you're friendly. Judge the friendliness of the church on how you're treating people who are not part of your friend group as they come into church. Here's a really important exercise for us if we're going to be careful not to show favoritism. Here's a really good thing to do. Just kinda do an analysis of when you go to church and who you talk to, and if you find yourself talking to the same people group every Sunday, you may, I'm not saying you're sinning, but you may need to take an initiatory effort to say, I'm gonna go out of my way to go speak to people I don't normally speak to. And we're blessed to have a wonderful ministry where people are coming in and visiting us, some perhaps even tonight for the first time, and be thinking of ways, how can I reach out to these people. And I can't help but think that's the attitude our Lord had, that's the attitude that his disciples were getting, that's the attitude James is trying to come across. And I just want to put that thought in your mind to think, every church in America, they do think they're friendly. Everybody does. That's because that's where your friends go to church, right? Don't judge it on that. So maybe a helpful exercise is just to come together. Maybe you and a friend, you and your spouse tonight and say, hey, how can we think of ways to reach out to people as they come into our assembly and kind of introduce ourselves to them and be a friend to them in that way? And if you see someone and you don't know their name, a good place to start is just there, right now in the night. Say, hey, I don't know if I've met you, sir, what's your name, ma'am, what's your name? And just start a conversation there. There are so many gospel opportunities, I believe, wasted in churches because we just assume everybody that comes is saved. And really, if we flip that around and think, can you think of a better time to give the gospel than at church? I mean, you just have like a natural inroad right there. So let's use these. Let's take advantage of these. Let's pray together as we're dismissed. Lord, we thank you so much for your word and for the opportunity it is to crack it open again tonight as we explore the book of James. And Lord, we're thankful for the practical application of it. And may we be ones that are wise as we seek to follow you and not oppose your gospel but embrace it. We pray this in your name. Amen. Thank you for coming tonight. You are