a day in the life with Jesus. Jesus said, follow me. A day in the life with Jesus, you would see the most amazing things. You would see deaf people receiving their hearing. You would see blind people receive their sight. You would hear the most amazing teaching that you've ever heard. But, you know, you do have access to that. We can read this. We have the Bible, right? We can read the Bible. There's something else that you would see. You would see how Jesus treated people. And I think that would be one of the most astounding examples. Jesus was a revolutionary in the sense that He didn't play by the standards of this world. He was constantly touching lepers. He was always going to the outcast and to the downcast and speaking to Samaritan women at wells. Like, who goes up and what Jewish man goes up and speaks to a Samaritan woman at a well? He was constantly turning over norms and breaking societal standards that kept people apart, kept people in categories, kept people oppressed. And He did that with a heart to free people from their sin. And He did that equally to everyone. Turn with me to James 2. James 2. we see that the church is to be the body of Christ. As the body of Christ, we're to continue the doctrine of Jesus, the teaching of Jesus, because we have the Spirit of Jesus through the Holy Spirit, and we're also supposed to continue the revolutionary way in which Jesus treated people. So James is reminding the church, do not hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with prejudice. You can't hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ and have partiality in your heart. So last week we talked about this, and we went into the first four verses and talked about partiality. Partiality is the sin when you treat one person different than another because there's prejudice in your heart So when you treat one person better you show favoritism and you could show favor give special attention to there's a lot of different translations for this because it's the idea of showing deference to one and not the other. It's not wrong to give someone attention. It's not wrong to give someone deference, right? It's when you give this person favor, but not this person based on or because of an evil motive in your heart. And that evil motive is defined as some superficial characteristic while you choose outside of God's Word and independent of God's revelation to like this person, not this person. That's the sin of partiality. And that's what we're going to jump into. We're going to look at that this morning, and we're going to go all the way and finish this section. So in James chapter 2, verse 1, Two, he gives examples. So James makes it very clear, crystal clear, what he's talking about. And again, you can see here in verse 1, my brethren, right? So he's talking to who? Christians. This is the brethren, right? These are believers, right? They do have a faith in the Lord of glory, in the Lord Jesus Christ. But there's this old sin, which is common to all people of all times in the world. has partiality in their hearts. Everybody is prone to prefer certain characteristics or flavors or types of people over and against other types of people, right? And there's all kind of ways that that's done. And again, we did speak about that last week. There's all kind of ways in which prejudice can be done. But it's inconsistent with the gospel because Jesus doesn't do that. God is not a respecter of persons. God loves people, right? He doesn't look at your face and say, oh, it's you. I'll change my standards because it's you. He doesn't do that. He keeps his standards, right? There's only one way to be saved, and that's through Jesus Christ. And when you're saved in Christ, guess what? You're saved. You're born again. You stand forgiven before God, and we all stand equally either under God's judgment, or under God's forgiveness. Because it's not up to us to gain that salvation by our works, it's by God who gives it. So everyone here will either know God as Savior, or you will know God as Judge. And all people fit into one of two categories. You're either saved or you're lost. You know God by grace or you're going to know him through your works and face his judgment because you're not good enough. So this is the grace of God in Jesus Christ. So for the church, this idea of partiality is completely inconsistent with the gospel. So James gives an example so that we all know clearly what he's talking about. very vivid example, and he's speaking to those in the church, they're gathered together, they're assembled together, and he says, hey, you know, someone comes into the church, into the assembly, and he has gold rings, fine apparel, and then another person comes in, and they have filthy clothes, they're poor. And he asks this question, how would you respond to them? And it's kind of interesting. He focuses on the main heart issue there, and it's the issue of verse 3. Pay attention. Which one do you pay attention to? Wow, we have a well-to-do person coming into our church today, right? Well, here. Why don't you come and sit here? We'll give you the best place. We want to make sure you're cared for. Is there anything I can give you? Is there anything I can get for you? Here's a sermon outline. Come on in. And then the poor person, you don't even really recognize that person. You just kind of look right through them. Oh, here, you can sit at my footstool. Right? We're not going to give you any special attention. So it's what you pay attention to. And you pay attention to that which you value. And so last week we talked about how we can give this special attention to. show partiality to, have prejudice in our heart, because of rich and poor distinctions. But there's a lot of distinctions that we can make other than rich and poor. Americans aren't as, I mean it's in our culture, but it's not as much as other cultures. I mean some cultures there's a straight line and rich people don't talk to poor people. Right? And they don't even have a middle class. So, you know, America is set up because of the gospel, and because of God's blessing, it's a little different. You know what I'm talking about, right? There's other cultures. You're rich, poor, and they don't touch at all. And so, in America, we are a little more melting pot. But we have all kinds of distinctions that we make. Rich and poor is one of them. How about just the person that has it all together and the person that doesn't? What do you mean by that? Well, you think about that. You know what I mean by that, right? We all have our definition in our heads of the person that has it all together and the person that doesn't, right? Or we have it in our heads, the person that we would feel comfortable with and the person that we wouldn't feel comfortable with, right? And why is that? And there's a lot of reasons for that. It could be the person who is a giving person. Some people are just more giving. Some people are, in that sense, easier to love. Some people are more needy. They need more help. Some people are more friendly. Some people have more burdens in their life. There's all these reasons, right? Well, I kind of like to be around the happy people, you know, because... Or I like to be around the sad people, because I'm a sad people, right? I mean, so in other words, birds like a feather actually do flock together, right? They do. But in the Church of Jesus Christ, we all flock around Christ. So it's a little different setup here. In the church is a little very different than the world. In the world, people gather around what they like or what they don't like, what they do or what they don't do, how they perceive themselves or how they don't perceive themselves. In the church, we gather around Christ. We are in Christ and we relate through Christ. Our fellowship is built on Jesus Christ. It's not built on the things we do, it's built on who we know. And if you know Christ, you're my brother, you're my sister. We're in Christ together. And that is the core of our koinonia. Now, it flows out from there, and there's different aspects. You know, not all of you would like to go hunting with me. Some of you would, right? That's fine. That's friendship, and that's different stuff, right? That can ebb and flow, right? But the core of it is Christ. And so, we give attention to different people for different reasons. I brought up the in-person versus the virtual people, and I think that's an issue in our day. In our day we have a major change in our culture where we give preference To the people that aren't present with us, but the people that are somewhere else I remember the first time I was talking to someone and They interrupted my conversation with them because they picked up their phone and took a phone right in the middle of my conversation and this is like I don't know, this is like almost 20 years ago. And I'm thinking, wow, I guess our culture's changing now, isn't it? Hey, since Wynn gives you the, why would you cut me off? Because to talk to someone who's not even here, right? But that's, I mean, that's only grown with social media, right? We give preference to the virtual people, not the people that are right in front of us. And so that's a big change. We're under a massive sociological transformation with the social media and all these things. Again, I'm not against using technology. We should use technology. I'm not anti-technology. I'm anti-prejudice. And we need to be aware of how these things are transforming our culture and they're transforming it in a way that's not always good. Here's the issue. Why do people do this? And James hits the issue, he hits the nail on the head. It's verse 4. Why do people show prejudice? Why do people show preference in this way? Why do people pay attention to the wrong things? And it's because, verse 4, "...have you not shown partiality among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?" So it comes down to this motive. There's an evil motive. There's an evil motive that is a heart issue, and it has something to do with showing and making inappropriate judgments, judgments that are against God's will, that we make in our hearts that cause these actions where we show partiality to one person and not the other. So, when we think about this, what kind of evil thoughts would create such kind of evil actions? What are some of the reasons, do you think? And I would encourage the fathers to have this conversation around the dinner table. So what did you learn from the sermon today? Right? And I was confessing to my family, talking to some ways in which there's things in my life, from my background, that I would tend to show preference to this person, not to that person. And I was talking about that with my family. So we all do this. Remember, we need to be aware. The worst person, the worst offender is the person that is completely blind. I never do that. It's like, what do you mean you never do that? You're just blind then to your own evil thoughts, right? So let's not be blind to our evil thoughts. Let's be honest and aware of these so that we can deal with them. And I'm not trying to be microaggression in how the world and the Marxists are trying to use this to shame those who are doing good activity. I'm not going there. What I'm talking about is living authentically in light of the gospel of Jesus Christ. And I think we could all summarize this in terms of the evil thoughts. It's pride, right? It's selfishness. So what do you think? The rich person comes in, oh, maybe there's something I can get from him. You know, maybe I need a new job. And put it back in the day, the wealthy landlord in the Jewish settlement there in Israel, he owns 100 acres or 500 acres, and I need a job to work on his vineyard. So I'm trying to be friends with this guy. I'm trying to get something from him. So why do rich people have friends? If you're a rich person, and you know this, people are not really your friends. What do they want from you? They want your not many rich people here. So you don't know the answer to that question. Well, they would want your money. Yes, they want your money. So if any of you would go to another country, they would flock to you. Like another third world country or something like that, they flock to you. Have you ever been there? Oh, Americans, they flock to you. And they want to do everything for you. Why do they want to be your best? And they won't leave you. And I was in different countries. I mean, they don't leave your side. They want your money. and they know you can give them five bucks, you can pay them 20 bucks to do something, and they're like, that's a lot of money for them, right? So that's why that happens, is because when we see someone of means, maybe they'll share it with us, right? That's an evil motive. That's, what can I get from this person? Well, what can you get from a poor person? Not much, sit at my footstool. That's the evil motive. It's pride, it's selfishness, it's antithetical to the gospel, right? Is that how God treats us? Not at all. Right? Not at all. So, James deals very clearly with us. He gives the context. This is to believers, and this is completely inconsistent with the gospel. He gives examples so we can see what that looks like. Rich and poor, a great example. We need to make sure we extend that out to the various aspects in our culture and understand it in our life and in our world and really pay attention to the motives that create this. Now, that's the sin of partiality. Let's go now to the next part of this message, which is the answer. So what's the answer for partiality? What's the answer for discrimination, prejudice, this type of thing? And there's three aspects to this on the outlines that are in the back. Listen, love, and learn. Listen, love, and learn. So the answer to the sin of partiality is to listen. It's right there in the text. James 2, 5. Listen, my beloved brethren. Listen. You know, God gave you two ears and only one mouth. So you should do double the listening versus the speaking. Listen. God has something to teach you. Are you open to learning what God would have to teach you about the sin of partiality in your life? Christina's open, she says yes. I'm getting feedback from one person. Everyone else is just looking at me. Are you open to learning what God would have to teach you about the sin of partiality in your life? There we go, yes, yes. And really, we have to listen. And again, this is not always comfortable. This applies to all people of all times, all churches. There's not a church of Jesus Christ that doesn't have to deal with this, right? Listen, listen. Listen, my beloved brethren. This is why you shouldn't do this. You know, God has not chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which He promised to those who love Him. Listen, my beloved brethren. Has God not chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom? Think about that. God has chosen the poor. Right? Don't show partiality against the poor. God has chosen them to be rich in faith, which He promised to those who love them. Verse 6, "...but you have dishonored the poor man." It's God's choice. When you show partiality to the poor, you are doing the opposite of what God does. God chooses to show love to poor people, and so should you. God chooses to show love to those who are outside, to those who are outcasts, to those who don't have it all together, and so should you. After all, God does choose us, doesn't He? Our salvation rests on the choice of God. on His divine love, on His divine sovereignty. God chose you. This is one of the most glorious gospel realities for those struggling with shame. Let's imagine a typical school playground. I realize some of you haven't been on a typical school playground, but I think you'll get the analogy anyway. There's two groups, two athletic team captains. These team captains are popular, they're cool, they are, in the world sense, good-looking, right? They're strong. And they are picking teams. It's time to play a game. And they're picking teams, one by one. What do these team captains look for in the people that they pick? Well, they want to pick people that are like them. They want to pick the strongest. They want to pick the fastest, right? They're going to pick their friends. So they pick all the other cool, athletic, strong kids to be on their team. And as time goes on, only the weak, small, overweight kids are left. And there they are standing, right? This is how the world works. And this is why this passage is so surprising. Because in this scenario, God is the team captain. And He happens to be King of Kings and Lord of Lords. And the choice that He makes is the difference between going to heaven and going to hell. And look at the ones that He chooses. He chooses the weak. He chooses the small. He chooses the insignificant. He chooses the poor to be on His team. This is what James is saying. Listen, my beloved brethren. Has God not chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith? This is what God has done. And heirs of the kingdom, which He promised to those who love Him. Wasn't it Jesus who said, blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. I find it interesting in Luke 6, verse 20, in the Beatitudes, Jesus said, Blessed are you poor, for yours is the kingdom of heaven. And Luke 6, 20, unlike Matthew 5, he leaves out poor in spirit. Now, I think poor in spirit is the heart of the matter. But you can certainly make a case from Luke 6, 20 to the Beatitudes in Matthew 5, that the poor, physical poor, are the group of people that are poor in spirit. Now, can you be physically poor and not poor in spirit? Absolutely. Absolutely. I remember when I was in the Ukraine, I was in Zaporozhye, and all the brothers were around me. And we're all talking one night. There's probably 20 of them or something. And they all wanted me to give them a car. They thought I could just give them a car, because I was an American. Like, I don't have money to give. I was in college, right? Like, I don't have money to give you a car. Like, oh, you're an American. Everybody has like five cars there. Can't you give me a car? Most of them could never, they would never be able to afford a car. So we can be poor and want everything in the world. and be discontent because we don't have everything in the world. And think that everyone in the world should give you everything from the world. That's not being poor in spirit. But when you are poor, when you don't have the means to make it through your life, that's humbling. And that's what it means to be poor in spirit. I don't possess the means to make it through my life. I can't even pay my bills. I can't even provide food for my kids. I don't know how I'm going to get through this. And so when you're poor, you don't have the means to lean on. And that humbles you. So that's why the poor are humble. Because they don't have the means to do it themselves. That's what Jesus is talking about here. Let me ask you, do you have the means to make it through life without Christ? No! Poor in spirit. Right? You may or may not have the means to pay your bills. Right? But when you're poor in spirit, you realize, I need Christ! I don't have the means within myself. Without Christ, I can do nothing. John chapter 15. He is the vine, I am the branch. Without Christ, I can do nothing. I can't pay my bills without Christ. I can't love without Christ. I can't be pure without Christ. I can't love without Christ. I need Jesus Christ in my life, working in me and through me. Blessed are the poor. Blessed are those who understand that they don't have the means to make it through life without God's mercy. The problem in America, we're complacent. Why are we complacent? Because we're fat. Meaning, we have everything we need. We have food, we have comfort, right? We have everything we need, so we think. So to have a revival is to have a revival of The understanding that we need God. Like we can do nothing without Christ. We can't homeschool our kids. We can't train our kids. We can't follow Him. We can't be a spouse. Who gives you the ability to make wealth in the first place? Deuteronomy chapter 6. God gives you the strength. God gives you the ability. And God gives it to you for His glory and for His purposes. I can do nothing without Christ. This is what it means to be poor. Poor in spirit. And God is saying, these are the people that I choose to receive my kingdom. So here comes someone in, and you attribute to him worldly success. And you just gravitate to that person. Have you not become judges with evil thoughts in your heart? Don't do that. That's not who God gravitates to. That's not who God chooses. When you do that, you actually dishonor the poor. You shame those whom God has chosen. And we don't want to shame those whom God has chosen. Verse 6, you have dishonored the poor man. If you value faith more than money, you wouldn't do that. If you valued Christ more than worldly gain, you wouldn't do that. God has a surprising love for the shame-filled outcasts of society. The woman at the well. The woman caught in adultery, right? The lepers. He touches them. He gravitates towards them. He moves to them. Back to the playground scene one more time. So the popular kids are chosen first, and there you are. Standing there again, feeling left out, feeling ashamed. You kind of stand there, and no one's picking you. What do you do? Oh, we're going to do teams, and they're going to not pick me. And you're standing there, your head's down, your eyes are downcast. You feel exposed. You feel like you would want to be anywhere other than where you are right here. Everybody's looking at me. No one chooses me. It's obvious, right? I'm not good enough. I don't quite cut it. But if you have ever been in that situation, I'm sure everybody can identify to that at some level or another, feeling like you're just not part of the in crowd. So now, you're feeling like that, and here comes Christ. And Christ comes into that circle. And He changes everything. And He looks you right in the eye. And He says, I choose you. You're on my team. I choose you. You're on my side. You're on my team. And everybody looks at Him. And He is the biggest, the strongest, the most powerful, the most holy. He is King of Kings. He is Lord of Lords. He is Master of the Universe. And he says, I choose you, I choose you, I choose you, I choose you. You're on my side, you're on my team. And he chooses you out of the kingdom of darkness. He chooses you out of the systems of the world. He chooses you out of the thinking of this world. And he chooses you to be on his team, to be identified with him, to be in Christ. And that makes all the difference. You are His. And when you are His, you no longer belong to the world. You're no longer of the world. And when you get a hold of that by God's grace, you could care less of the world. Because you're on His team. He's your Master. He's your Lord. He's your covering. He is your righteousness. When this reality gets its grip in you, You realize that the world loses its grip. And then Jesus does something. He looks over at you and he says, you know what? I don't know if he would say, you know what? I know what it's like to be rejected. They rejected me too. Jesus says, I know what it's like to be rejected. They rejected Me too. But I don't reject you, I choose you. 1 Peter 2.7, the stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. the stone which the builders rejected. In the temple analogy, they needed that one major perfect cornerstone. And in that cornerstone, all the building, the whole temple was gauged off of that cornerstone. And they would take great precision. That cornerstone had to be set perfect. And these are massive stones that serve as the base of the temple mount. perfect cornerstone. And the builders are going through the cornerstones. Nope, not good enough, not good enough. Jesus said, they rejected Me as their perfect cornerstone. They rejected Me as their Messiah. They rejected Me as their King. I know what it's like to be rejected. I know what it feels like to be rejected. I know what it is like to be shamed. He takes our guilt. He takes our shame. They stripped Him completely naked. No one can even draw Christ that way because it's not appropriate. But He was stripped completely naked, hung on the cross, bore our guilt, bore our deep, deep shame. I know what it's like to be rejected. I too was rejected. But through that rejection, He endured that shame, He takes our guilt, and He overcomes it with His grace, His mercy, and His love. And on the third day, He rises again. The stone, which the builders rejected, has become the chief cornerstone. Jesus Christ is the King, the Lord. He is the centerpiece of all history. Every Neshabah and every tongue will confess. He is the cornerstone of the temple, and He is building His temple, the church, out of every tribe, tongue, people, All these outcasts that the world says are no good. He chooses these people. He chooses His people from around the world, and He's building His church, and He is the chief, the core cornerstone. Rejected by men, rejected by the world, but beloved by His Father. And that's really what matters. So for you, His church, Let's build our life on Him. Let's build our life on the chief cornerstone. And just as Christ left the glories of heaven to come into this sin-cursed dark world to reach us, let's now leave our comfort zone and reach out and love others. Don't hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of Glory, with partiality. They don't go together. It's water and oil. They don't mix. Consider how Christ has brought you in. Do not dishonor the poor man. Do not the rich oppress you and drag you into court. Do they not blaspheme the noble name by which you were called? The world is going to scream and they're going to call you names. You just know that God has chosen you. And learn to think like Christ. Amen? Learn to think like Christ. Learn to show love like Christ. Learn to pay attention to people like Jesus paid attention to people. and don't show partiality anymore. Love what God loves. So we go from learn to love. To love. Verse 8. If you really fulfill the royal law, according to the Scriptures, you shall love your neighbor as yourself, you know you do well. You do well. So the way to overcome the sin of partiality is to show love. We're talking about love here. And when you love, you do well. Love your neighbor as yourself. This is the way to overcome the sin of prejudice, partiality, favoritism, discrimination, and the like. So ask yourself, would you want someone to discriminate against you? Have you ever had that happen to you? Myself, I grew up in the predominant culture in Pennsylvania. And I really didn't experience a whole lot of that until I had a job in downtown inner city Philadelphia. I was not the predominant culture there. And it was a very different culture there. And I spent a lot of time there and had a lot of really good conversations with a lot of dear people. But boy, they would definitely discriminate against me because, man, I couldn't play basketball to save my life. So that was just like, and I wanted to play soccer. And they're like, what? You play soccer? So I mean, and we had all these discussions. And I learned a lot from them. And they learned a lot from me. I remember one time I got in the van, and they wanted to play the hideous rap music, the horrible rap music. I'd turn it off. I wouldn't play it. And then they call me all these racial slurs, right? Because that's not my... But they said, no, he's not listening to the rock music either. I'm like, no, there's an objective standard of right and wrong. And I just kept pointing them to the objective standard of right and wrong. This is what God's Word says. You need to be saved. It's not about a cultural issue. It's not about an interpersonal ethnic issue. It's not my color or my skin. It's what does God say? And as I kept bringing them back to that, bringing them back to that, right? It's like, no, you know, sexual immorality is not like a cultural thing, like certain cultures can do it and certain cultures can't do it, right? There's objective standards of right and wrong. Let's live there. And in that way, I was able to show them love and we were able to build respect. Well, then I was helped by, I remember James Montgomery Boyce, member of 10th Presbyterian Church. It was right down that area. And there's a dear brother, An older black man, Dr. Phil, well, we called him Doctor, but he wasn't really a doctor, but Mr. Phil, he would come in and he would teach those boys the Bible. And he could get away with saying things that I couldn't. And we just worked together. It was really a neat time in my life. I learned a lot. But it's the love of God and the will of God and the grace of God transcends all these cultural minutiaes that people get all worked up about. That's what love does. Love looks to the universal truths of God's Word and just seeks to show people love based in God's Word. Amen? That's really where we want to go. We want to go to the place where we're loving, and I would often think to myself, and I still do, how would I want to be treated in this situation? Would I want to be singled out because of some Peculiarity in my life, things I can change or can't. No, none of us would like to be discriminated against, right? So we all know what it's like to be discriminated against, right? We all know what it's like to feel like we're not good enough or to feel left out at some level, right? So, in light of that, what should you do? And this is how the world takes that. Okay, I was discriminated against, so now I'm going to try to be the biggest and the best and the strongest and make sure no one ever discriminates against me, and if they do, bam, bam, I'll pound them, right? Or I'm going to gossip about them, or I'm going to slander them, or I'm going to do something to make sure that I'm on the top. That's how the world responds. How should we respond? The opposite. We know what it's like to be not good enough, felt left out, that type of thing. So how should we respond? We should respond with the royal law of love. We should do unto others as we would have them do unto you. We know that we didn't like to feel left out, so if someone is doing that to us or we perceive it's being done to someone else, we should show them love. Amen? So this is the church of Jesus Christ because they did this to our Lord. He knows what it's like to feel rejected. And He shows us how to do it. We're not to go into the ways of the world and not reject those who reject us. We're not to hurt people because they hurt people. We're to take the love of Christ, and as Jesus overcame evil with good, so we're to overcome evil with good. We're to overcome prejudice with love. We're to overcome... Partiality with impartiality, or to overcome this with love. That is, or to love others as we are loved, and we're to do unto others as God would have us. We would treat others as we would want to be treated. And we all know what that means. So, if someone comes into the assembly that no one knows, what should you do? Ignore them? You should reach out and say, hi, how you doing? you can reach out and share Christ with them. Right? What about the people that get walls? People build walls for all kinds of reasons. We get walls around our hearts. In the church, we should tear down the walls. Like, tear down the walls in your hearts. Tear down the walls in your hearts against others. Christ doesn't put up walls towards you when you don't act the way He thinks you should, does He? Right? Does God put a wall up against you? There's my child again. There they are acting stupid again. Right? Does God do that to us? No, He loves us, right? And we know that. And that's how we would want to be treated. So do that to other people. It's the golden rule. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Show them Christ. renew your mind. Here, I was really praying, God, what does this look like? Like, what does this look like? Because, you know, I've been a pastor for a few years now, and I've been through a lot of stuff in the church. You know, I've had the privilege of pastoring a A great church that has a lot of dynamic relationships. And so a lot of close relationships with people. And you see people act different ways. And I would say, Lord, what does this look like? And I was reading through the Bible and the Holy Spirit just illuminated this, you know, like the hooks come out of the Bible and the lights start flashing and you hear ding, ding, ding, ding, ding. Right? And it was, this time, it was Romans 12. So as an answer to this question, just look at Romans. I'm going to read Romans 12, right? You're probably going to hear Romans 12 because it's really got my attention. As an answer to how to what love should look like what is it? What is a church? That's really showing love look like okay Romans 12 I beseech you therefore brethren by the mercies of God that you present your bodies a Living sacrifice wholly acceptable to God which is your reasonable service and do not be conformed to this world But be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove. What is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God? so to not get into Romans too much. Because of the Gospel, therefore, Romans 1-11, because of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, died for our sin, rose again from the dead, we're justified by faith, we're sanctified by faith through grace, all this great doctrine. Because of the Gospel, our mind is renewed. Remember the evil thoughts that cause prejudice? So we renew our mind. That's our thinking. So we're putting off the evil thoughts, and we're renewing our mind with the truth of God's Word. This is what the Gospel produces. Now, what does that look like? Now, that's the rest of the chapter. Though I say through the grace given to me to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think. Well, who am I that I would have to love that lowly person? I'm much better than they are. It would be beneath me to love such a person like that, right? See, there's the verse that deals with that. Stop thinking of yourself so highly, but think soberly as God has dealt with each one a measure of faith. Be sober-minded in your assessment of yourself. Have a Christ esteem, right? It's Christ who loves you. Remember, you're on the winning team by grace. So what does Christ think of you? Have that according to the faith He's given you. For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, so we, being many, are one body in Christ and individually members of one another. Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them." So next he goes into spiritual gifts. And we talk about spiritual gifts. Look around. We don't all have the same gift. but we are members of one another. And we each have a responsibility to use the gifts before God. That means I'm not responsible to create a program to stick all of you in a slot so you know what to do. Okay, that's the program approach. Here's a slot, everybody fits in, right. What I do, here's faith. Here's a bunch of believers. Now use your gifts. What does that look like? Use your gifts. I can't create a slot for everybody. It doesn't work. Why? Because it needs to be initiated by you in your ministry and the gifting that God has given to you. There's not enough slots available to fit everybody. And again, I'm not anti-program. We have programs and we put things together and people fulfill responsibilities. I'm not against that, okay? That's not in and of itself a bad thing. It's the mentality that says, this is all that I do and therefore I don't have to love people that are hard for me in my gifting. Because everything takes love in the spiritual gifts. Everything takes love. Without love, eh. So our problem here is faith and love, right? So look how he breaks this out. So we come in together here, and you know what? There's ample opportunity for everybody to use your spiritual gifts today. If you're here from 10 to as long as I am, maybe you don't have to stay that late, but there's ample opportunity for everybody to use their gifts, right? There is. What does that look like? It's right here in the text. We all are one body, but there's individual responsibility, right? Having then gifts differing according to the grace that was given to us. So this is motivated by grace. Let us use them. So what's the issue of spiritual gifts? Receiving God's grace and using the gifts that God has given you. What are these gifts? It's the gifts that God has given you to meet the needs of others. So if you see a need and you have the opportunity to meet it, that's how you use your gift. And it could be this. Prophecy. Let us prophesy in proportion to our faith. Ministry. Let it use us in ministering. He who teaches in teaching. So preaching is just one piece. I mean, there's counseling going on. There's sharing going on. There's ministry going on. As you get to know people, needs surface, right? As you're able to meet those needs, that's ministry. That's the love of one another. He who exhorts in exhortation. He who gives. He who leads with diligence. He who shows mercy. Mercy is going to be a big one here because we're going to end on mercy with cheerfulness. In other words, let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good. Be kindly affection to one another. That's the context of the spiritual gifts. Like, love each other. in honor giving preference to one another. So the poor person comes in the outcast, man, I want to be the first to show value to that person. Someone who looks like they have a wall against me, I want to move towards that person. Right? Well, they never do that to me. Oh boy. Done. That's it. That's the undoing of the spiritual gifts right there. They never do that to me, so I'm not doing it to them. Now you're living what? In the world. Is that how Jesus teaches you? I know what it feels like, so I'm going to move to love. See the difference? Not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord. Rejoicing in hope. Patient in tribulation. Continuing steadfast in prayer. Distributing to the needs of the saints. Giving to hospitality. We all enjoy being invited to someone's home for hospitality. But they didn't invite me back. What do you do? What do you do? Get bitter. Or love. Bless those who persecute you. Bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep. It takes both. And in the body of Christ, there's always people that are rejoicing and there's always people that are grieving. And that's how we grow. It's really how we grow. We rejoice. and we weep together. Be of the same mind toward one another. Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the lowly. Do not be wise in your own opinion. Repay no one evil for evil." Hey, they slighted me. Where I came from, if you slight me, I slight you back and I slight you back harder. That's the world. That's not Christ. Do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath. If your enemy is hungry, show good to him. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good." Isn't that powerful? That's what it looks like right there. That's what love is all about. And that's what we are called to do. We're to listen to God. We're to love like God. And finally, we're to learn. were to learn to think about it in this way, that you show no partiality. But if you do show partiality after all this, you need to know that you've committed sin. Verse 9, sin is missing the mark to show love. But if you show partiality, you commit sin and are convicted by the law as a transgressor. Sin brings the conviction. I have broke God's standard to love. You need to learn that it is not okay to not love. It's not okay. It's not acceptable. It's not okay to not love. And this is not a small acceptable sin. And that's the thing with being prejudiced. It can infiltrate a whole church very quickly. And a whole church can be prejudiced for all kind of reasons. And it's not okay. And that's where James, he goes to next. He said, verse 10, for whoever shall keep the whole law and yet stumble in one point is guilty of all. You know that. So in the context here, the stumbling at one point, it's just a little thing. You know, I just really like rich people better than poor people. Is that such a big deal? You know, look at my Rolodex. Just because there's all rich people and there are no poor people, it's just, it's not a big deal. It's just a little point. So James is saying, no, this is a big deal. For whoever shall keep the whole law and stumble at one point, you know you're guilty of all." And we use this in evangelism for the lost, but James is using this for the church. Okay? If you keep God's law and only stumble at one area, you're guilty of all. And this is serious before God. He commands His children to love one another, for to this you were called. And He gives an example, common example. He who said, do not commit adultery, also said, do not murder. Now, if you do not commit adultery, but you murder, would you say it's no big deal? Well, I haven't committed adultery. Just because I don't love people doesn't mean I'm a sinner because, you know, I'm not committing adultery. So James is taking that hypocritical way of justifying ourselves away. you must understand the standard to which God has called you to live by is not a partial standard. The only way to not be partial in your ethics is to be absolutely committed to an impartial standard. And we all need to hear that. Our world cries, discrimination, discrimination, my question to the world is what's your standard? Well, they have no standard. So all they do is show hypocritical judgment and partiality. They switch it based on the wind or based on their political maneuvering. They have no impartial standard. And the only way to not show partiality or discriminate in your judgment is to be committed to an impartial standard. Absolute truth. Absolute justice. God's justice. That's the only way to actually achieve, on earth, the royal law of love. So what do we do? How do we do this? It's verse 12. I think verse 12 is absolutely critical. Verse 12, look at it, circle in it. Circle it. This is for the church. So speak and so do as those who will be judged by the law of liberty. What's the answer? So speak, and so do, as those who will be held accountable to God's law. Now, and he says law, he says the law of liberty. James is making a distinction here because this is to believers. And we know he's talking about the Ten Commandments because he just quoted the Ten Commandments, right? That's clear from the context. But it's the law of liberty. It's not the law of condemnation. Paul talks about the law of condemnation. The lost are under the law of condemnation. In other words, the law reveals their sin. They have no answer because they reject Jesus. They're not saved. So that's the law that brings condemnation. But for the believer, it's the law that brings liberty. My question is, do you understand that Christians will be judged by this law? And that's an important question. And the context makes it clear. James is saying to believers that they are to live in such a way that they will be judged, future tense, will be judged by the law that brings liberty. So James would say yes. What does that mean? Paul makes a great distinction in this, that there is no condemnation to those who are in Christ, right? Romans chapter 8 verse 1. He talks about the law of sin and death, the law that brings condemnation. So are we going to be judged at the great white throne judgment like the wicked would be? No. No. But Paul does say that in 2 Corinthians 5.10, 2 Corinthians 5.10, for we must all appear, talking to believers here, we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ. that each one may receive the things done in the body according to what he has done, whether good or bad." So when we are taken up together to be with the Lord, either the Lord returns or we die and we're standing before God. We will give an account of our life before Christ. That's what Paul said in 2 Corinthians 5.10. To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. That's the context there. For we walk by faith, not by sight. That's the context there. We will all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. He's speaking to believers. Now, there's no condemnation to those who are in Christ because we've been removed from the law of sin and death, the condemnation, but we will give an account. What did Jesus say about this? Jesus had a lot to say about this, and it's under the context of stewardship. Remember the stewardship? Luke 12, verse 41. Who is that faithful and wise steward whom his master will rule over his household and give them their portion and food in due season? Blessed is the servant whom his master will find doing so when he comes. The whole stewardship theology is God gives you a stewardship. Gifts and abilities. Then, the master is removed. You have a period of time to work out your responsibility. And then, Jesus comes. You meet the Lord. And you have to give an account of your life before God. That's stewardship. So we, as Christians, will give an account of our life before God. Blessed is that faithful servant who did his Master's will. That's the goal of the Christian life. James is just saying, know this, guys. You will give an account of your life before God, you will be held accountable to how you appropriated or lived out your life in Christ. Now, those who are saved, what do we lose? We lose rewards, right? Do we lose our salvation? No. If we could lose our salvation, we all would have lost it already. But if we're not faithful to Christ, and we stand before Him, there will be a loss of rewards and worship. So, my time is coming to an end here. My point is this. Today, listen, today counts for eternity. Like today. How you live your life today counts for all eternity. Your purpose for your life, what you do today, will have a reflection in the eternal state. You will give an account. Jesus said, as you have done this to the least of these, you have done it unto Me. So right now, we have the opportunity to take the love of Christ, to learn of Christ, to learn to love, and to show Christ's love to those who are hurting. To come into the body of Christ and have a relational context where we can love other people. Where we can use our spiritual gifts. knowing that we will give an account to Christ. And He will wipe away every tear from our eyes. He loves us. We are saved by grace. But that grace leads us to obey Him. James is reminding us that when we stand before the Lord, we will give an account of this. So how much more should we be motivated to love and good works because of the grace of God given to us in Jesus Christ. Finally, remember this. Judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy. Mercy is what triumphs over judgment. And that's a great gospel ending to this section. If you want to live your life without showing mercy to others, then, well, let's just say it's probably not going to be, it's not a good way to live life. Jesus said, blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. If judgment and mercy get in a fight, who wins? Mercy always wins. Because mercy covers judgment. And that's how the gospel overcomes judgment. So those who are in Christ, we've been shown mercy. And those who've been shown mercy, what do we do? We extend mercy. If you want to withhold mercy, then that's not a good idea. Because that's not how you overcome in this world. You overcome in this world by being like Jesus, who showed mercy, and He overcame with mercy. And that's what the body of Christ is here for. We're to carry on this revolutionary relational pattern of Christ. And that is, you do well when you love. Let's pray. Father, we thank You for Your Word. We thank You for Your testimony. We thank You for the commandments of Scripture. We thank You for this passage, Lord. I pray in Jesus' name that You teach us all to love like You love. Forgive us our sins, O God. Have mercy upon us. Teach us to walk these truths out in faith. In the name of Jesus Christ, I pray, Amen.