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Proverbs
1:1-9 The proverbs of Solomon the
son of David, king of Israel: 2 To know wisdom and instruction, To perceive the
words of understanding, 3 To receive the instruction of wisdom, Justice,
judgment, and equity; 4 To give prudence to the simple, To the young man
knowledge and discretion— 5 A wise man will hear and increase learning,
And a man of understanding will attain wise counsel, 6 To
understand a proverb and an enigma, The words of the wise and their
riddles. 7
The fear of the LORD is the
beginning of knowledge, But
fools despise wisdom and instruction. 8 My son, hear the instruction of your father, And do
not forsake the law of your mother; 9 For they will
be a graceful ornament on your head, And chains about your neck.
Father God, help us to love without
partiality. Holy Spirit help us to show our Fathers LOVE in all that we say and
do. In Jesus name
we pray, Amen!
Book of James 2:1-9 NKJV
Chapter two starts out with the topic
of Brotherly Love, “Love Thy Neighbor as Thy Self”. This is a very difficult
thing for the world to grasp and follow. We don’t have to look very far to see
the hatred around the world and at home. We say we are Christians, but dislike
or hate fellow human beings enough to shun or even kill them. People are hated
for their skin color, religion, nationality, etc. Then on a lesser degree
people are disliked because they are poor or rich, they don’t have a pleasant
appearance, they are overweight or very short in stature, they have a speech
impediment or some other type of handicap, they are arrogant and repudiating,
etc. As human beings and having the inherited sin nature from the fall of Adam
and Eve, we find many things wrong with other human beings because they don’t measure
up to our standards, in fact I think I’m safe in saying humans devise things in
order to dislike a person.
So does that mean we are to love all
human beings? What exactly is James talking about, our true Christian brothers or
people of all walks of life? Hmmm?
1 My
brethren, do not hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with partiality.
Let’
rephrase this verse to get a better understanding of what it is saying: My dear
brothers and sisters, how can you claim to have faith in our Glorious Lord
Jesus Christ if you favor some people over others?
My
brethren, do not hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory; James answers our question with, “My
brethren” along with, “faith of our Lord Jesus Christ. If one claims to be a
Christian (Born Again) then yes we are to model our life after Jesus and love
everyone. If we don’t love everyone, then we don’t have the love of Jesus in
our hearts, therefore we don’t belong to Jesus. Didn’t Jesus love everyone when
He said, “forgive them they know not what they are doing”? Luke 23:34 Jesus said, "Father,
forgive them, for they don't know what they are doing." And the
soldiers gambled for His clothes by throwing dice. Now some would argue that Jesus didn’t
have love in His heart when He drove everyone out of the temple on two
occasions, but what He actually hated in those instances was what was being
done there, not the people. We are to love the sinner, but hate the sin!
“Brethren”
this signifies that James is addressing fellow believers in Jesus Christ. In
fact this book of James is considered the proverbs of the New Testament because
it is directed at Christians in how they are to conduct themselves, if they
proclaim to be believers.
Many people are likely to see people
according to culture, but we must understand the following: Whenever a person
comes to Christ, they leave their old way of life behind which they have always
known, and come into the culture of Jesus Christ, through “Faith”. This “Faith”
addresses every single thing in a Believer’s life. In fact, James deals with
most every practical aspect of life and living, and how “the Faith” impacts us
in every conceivable way. We are to conduct ourselves according to “the Faith,”
and believe and trust according to “the Faith.”
However,
it is impossible to understand “the Faith,” if we don’t understand what
transpired at the Cross. The same can be said for the Word of God; it’s
certainly true that some things about the Word of God can be understood by
anyone, even the unredeemed, but to understand its full driving force and
meaning, one has to be led and taught by the Holy Spirit. 1 Corinthians 2:14 But people who aren't spiritual can't receive
these truths from God's Spirit. It all sounds foolish to them and they can't
understand it, for only those who are spiritual can understand what the Spirit
means.
So in a nutshell what James is saying is this;
if a person claims to be a Christian, a true Christian not a lip serving
christian, then they will live a life according to Jesus precepts.
With partiality; The way of the world courts the rich
and despises the poor; Jesus honors both alike. The reference to the rich and
poor here refers to classes of people and not a person. Therefore, it does not mean
that all poor people are saved, and all rich people are not. This partiality
isn’t something that came about in the New Testament, it was also stress in the
OT by God. Leviticus 19:15 'You shall do no injustice in judgment. You
shall not be partial to the poor, nor honor the person of the mighty. In
righteousness you shall judge your neighbor.
2 For if
there should come into your assembly a man with gold rings, in fine apparel,
and there should also come in a poor man in filthy clothes,
Verse
one addresses partiality and here in this verse James is telling us how we are
to conduct our self by using a congregation as an example. James uses the word
“assembly” indicating synagogue or a gathering of gentiles in a church. The
rich and poor are contrasted, in order to proclaim where our love is, for
Christ or for money?
What
thoughts run through your head when you are seated in church before the service
starts and a person or family you have never seen before comes into your church
that is wearing tattered clothing and drove up in a car that sounds like and
looks like it should be in the junk yard? Are they the same thoughts you have
when a person or family comes into your church dressed in the finest of clothes
and drives a luxury car? What thoughts go through a pastor or priest mind;
another family the church has to help or more income for the church. If we are
honest with ourselves we have all had thoughts of partiality in certain
situations. Partiality is sinful, therefore it is brought to our attention in
many scriptures, and something we need to put to death and replace with love.
3 and you
pay attention to the one wearing the fine clothes and say to him, "You sit
here in a good place," and say to the poor man, "You stand
there," or, "Sit here at my footstool,"
When
a church or person pays more attention to someone that is rich, famous, or a
dignitary, they are being partial. I’m not saying that were not to respect
authority, but we aren’t to show them special favors. We are to treat all
people as equal. What is sad in our present day society is that practically all
Hollywood celebrities, nation dignitaries, and even state and local leadership
all expect special favoritism. One thing I do appreciate in the present day
Pope is his humility and not wanting special favors.
If
you were in charge of setting up a banquet room for several speakers to speak
at and didn’t set a head table with name tags, how would the people and
speakers react? When people would arrive you would tell them to sit where they
please. Let’s assume the speakers included a Prime Minister, a Queen, a
President, a Rock Star, a Hollywood Celebrity, and Jesus. I wonder where each
would choose to sit, up front or with the rest of the guest? What if each
speaker was placed at a table, where would the entering guests choose to sit,
with Jesus or man’s chosen people of importance? Where would you sit if your
favorite celebrity was there? If the names were unknown and you had to choose
based on appearance, what would your choice be?
When
Jesus came to this world, He came for the totality of humanity John.
3:16. When He died on
the Cross, He died for all of humanity Matthew 11:28–30; Revelation 22:17. If we conduct ourselves as
Christians in any other manner, it is a gross sin in the eyes of God.
Partiality proclaims a terrible attitude and spirit.
4 have you
not shown partiality among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts?
While religion only
addresses the externals, true Christianity goes to the very heart. Why is it
wrong to judge a person by his or her economic status? Wealth may indicate intelligence,
wise decisions, and hard work. On the other hand, it may only mean that a
person had the good fortune of being born into a wealthy family. Or it may be
the sign of greed, dishonesty, or selfishness. By honoring someone just because
he or she dresses well, we are making appearance more important than morality.
Sometimes we do this because: poverty makes us uncomfortable, we don't want to
face our responsibilities to those who have less than we do; we want to be
wealthy, too, and hope to use the rich person as a means to that end; we want
the rich person to join our church and help support it financially. All these
motives are selfish, stemming from the view that we are superior to the poor
person. If we say that Christ is our Lord, then we must live as he requires,
showing no favoritism and loving all people regardless of whether they are rich
or poor.
In Biblical times a person
of wealth was often regarded as a sign of being blessed by God's and they met
His approval. But God does not promise us earthly rewards or riches; in fact,
Christ calls us to be ready to suffer for him and give up everything in order
to hold on to eternal life Matthew 6:19-21;
Matthew 19:28-30; Luke 12:14-34; Romans
8:15-21; 1 Timothy 6:17-19. We will have untold riches in
eternity if we are faithful in our present life Luke
6:35; John 12:23-25; Galatians 6:7-10; Titus
3:4-8.
5 Listen,
my beloved brethren: Has God 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; In the KJV the word “hearken” is used
instead of “listen”. Paul also used the word hearken which is to call us to
attention; listen very closely; I have something important to say. Just like
“Selah” in the Psalms, we are to stop and ponder what was stated, hearken is
similar.
Has God 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; Going back to the early Church, meaning
the Apostle’s time, what class of people made up the Church? For the most part,
it was not drawn from the wealthy or ruling classes, but from the poorer
people, those who are “poor in the eyes of the world.” James is stating this
fact here; Paul implied it in 1 Corinthians 1:26-29, and it is apparent in the Gospels Matthew
11:5.
Have
you ever thought about the poor making up the early Church? It makes sense that
the poor would have. Just by reading scripture we know the rich man couldn’t
give up his estate (His love was money.), the educated Pharisees weren’t going
to be persuaded that Jesus was the way (They had their customs, rituals, and
heritage; they were smart.), and the powerful leaders weren’t going to humble
themselves to follow Jesus (No one was going to tell them what to do, they “had
the power”.). So when a person is of the world and lives according to the ways
of society, then they reject Jesus. They practice spiritual adultery because
they idolize the material world, and only give Jesus lip service.
6 But you
have dishonored the poor man. Do not the rich oppress you and drag you into the
courts?
But you have dishonored the poor man; The object of James here is to call
the attention to the offensiveness of partiality pertaining to the disposition
of the rich.
Do not the rich oppress you and drag
you into the courts; Going
back to James time and what was going on then with the persecution of the
Christians, who was doing the persecuting? It wasn’t the lower class of people,
but the rich and famous. It was the people of influence that was dragging in
the poor Christians and sentencing them to death. That’s what Paul was doing
before Jesus knocked him off his horse.
Present
day; who is behind the turmoil of today? Who backs the killing of babies, who
backs the same sex marriage movement, who backs the movement to remove guns
from law abiding citizens, etc. These are just a few examples here in the USA,
but we have many issues around the world. It isn’t the poor executing these
crusades, it is people of power, money, and arrogance. They are of the world
and want more, more, more. Can you see the sin nature at work here?
7 Do they
not blaspheme that noble name by which you are called?
James
is bringing out another point here in the behavior of non-believers or people
that claim to be Christians, but are only religious. It is the name of our
Saviour, “Jesus” that people use daily to express themselves in a
non-worshipping way. Those that persecute God’s children blaspheme the name of
Jesus and God. This is common in every age of the world.
8 If you
really fulfill the royal law
according to the Scripture, "YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS
YOURSELF," you do well;
LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS
YOURSELF; The "royal law" was given by our great Lord Jesus Christ,
who said, "Love each other in the same way that I have loved you" John
15:12. This law,
originally summarized in Leviticus 19:18, is the basis for all the laws of how
people should relate to one another. Christ reinforced this truth in Matthew 22:37-40 Jesus said to him, 'YOU
SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH
ALL YOUR MIND.' 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the
second is like it: 'YOU SHALL
LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.' 40 On these two commandments
hang all the Law and the Prophets."; and Paul taught it in Romans
13:8 and Galatians
5:14. If we love we
have no partiality!
9 but if
you show partiality, you commit sin, and are convicted by the law as
transgressors.
Verse
nine is plain and straight forward; we must treat all people as we would want
to be treated. We should not ignore the rich, because then we would be
withholding our love. But we must not favor the rich for what they can do for
us or ignoring the poor who have nothing to offer us.
Colossians
1:16 For
by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth,
visible
and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers.
All things were created through Him and for Him.
Romans
3:23 for
all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
Romans
6:23 For
the wages of sin is death, but
the gift of God is eternal life
in Christ Jesus our Lord.
John 3:3
Jesus answered and said to him, Most assuredly, I say
to you,
unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."
The
Lighthouse Full Gospel Church
Sinners Prayer; Pray this, and if you
believe it with your heart, Jesus will save you!
“Lord
Jesus I know I am a sinner. I confess my
sins to you; I am sorry for my sins; I repent (Meaning, desiring to turn from a
sinful lifestyle.) of all my sins, and I am asking for your forgiveness. I believe that only you can forgive sin. I commit my life to you and ask you to come
into my heart, direct, and take charge of my life. I believe that you died to set me free from
my sinful lifestyle and you rose from the dead to give me eternal life, and
right now you are seated at the Right Hand of God Almighty. I believe you are
the Son of God; the only Way, the only Truth, the only Life, and my
Savior.” I believe this and have faith
you will make a new person out of me, by sending the Holy Spirit to dwell in my
heart and lead me in a new life. In Jesus name I pray Amen.” (John 3:16,17;
Romans 3:23; 6:23; 5:8; 10:9-13; Ephesians 2:8-10; 1
John 5:11-14; 1:6-10) (Sin: Rom.
1:22-32; Gal. 5:19-21; Eph. 5:3-7)
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