JAMES 2:1-132009 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: James 2:1-13

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2009. This morning I would start off by asking you to consider this. Do you show partiality? If we were to ask you, do you consider yourself to have a problem with partiality, what would your response be?

Do you think that you have this problem? Do you think that this is an issue in your life? That there is partiality in your heart, in your actions, in your decisions? Do you demonstrate, do you show partiality? For me, as I've been preparing for and reading over and studying this passage, it's amazing how many times we are able to kind of gloss over and just kind of skim by the

and miss really the application for our own hearts. And as I've been preparing for this, there's been, well, I think if this message is received properly, if this passage is received properly, not so much if it's delivered properly, but if it's received properly by you, it should sting a little. I think this is an area that God really wants to work in our hearts. And I think this is an area where we have some problems.

Speaking generally, of course. But very often we think of ourselves and we don't think, if you're like me anyways, when we start to look at the Word of God, well, I don't really have a problem with this. But as you take some time to evaluate and consider what it says, perhaps God wants to speak to you about partiality. And perhaps there's some areas that we need to grow as believers in Jesus Christ that we do not show partiality to.

And so James gives us some, well, he gives us some challenging words that we need to consider. And as I always do, I encourage you, beyond the message this morning, beyond this day, take some time to evaluate the things that God will be speaking through this time. Spend some time later on this afternoon or perhaps tomorrow or later on in the week thinking

And meditate on these things and seek God because the book of James is an application book. We talked last time, two weeks ago, about being doers of the word and not hearers only because hearers only deceive themselves. And so I want to challenge you, I want to encourage you to be a doer of the word and that is to put into practice this idea of not showing partiality, not being partial.

Four things this morning that the Lord wants to speak to us about partiality. The first point from verse 1 is that partiality has no place in our faith. Partiality has no place in our faith. Verse 1 says, My brethren, do not hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with partiality. James tells us we are not to have the faith of Jesus Christ with partiality.

The Lord of glory, this magnificent Lord that we have, we're not to hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ with partiality. So what is partiality? What are we talking about this morning when we talk about partiality? Well, this word partiality that's used here in verse 1 is the idea of when a person is called upon to give judgment...

That they have respect towards the outside of a person, the outward circumstances of a person, and not their intrinsic merits or their internal merits. And so this person who is making a judgment prefers...

Saying this one is more worthy, who is perhaps wealthy or of a royal nature, maybe has great power. And they prefer this type of person to another that does not have those qualities. To show partiality is to make a judgment, to render a judgment based upon the outward appearances or their genealogy or things of that nature.

A different word for partiality is used in verse 4, but it's the similar train of thought. There the word partiality means to separate or to make a distinction, to discriminate or to prefer. It means to give judgment or make a decision. Then in verse 9, another word for partiality is used. And that word means to respect a person.

Looking at the external condition of a man. It's to be a respecter of persons or to discriminate. And so all of these different words are used for partiality here in this passage. But the theme amongst all of them is the common thread through all of these words for partiality is the subject of judging. There's a judgment that is taking place. There's a judgment that is being made. And the problem is the basis upon which that judgment is made.

You see, there's different kinds of judgment and there's different kinds of judging. We often hear, you know, people say, hey, don't be judging me. The Bible says not to judge. And when a Christian says that or when a person says that, back it up even more accurate. When the Bible says that, the Apostle Paul, when he shares that, he's talking about not judging the heart or the thoughts or the motives of people.

And the reason why we're not to judge in that respect is because, well, those are things that we cannot know. We think that we understand why other people do what they do. And we come to conclusions about people based upon what we think about, you know, them and their heart and their motives and their decisions. But we do not have access to that information.

God does, and so God is able to judge the motives of the heart very accurately. But we're not able to judge the motives. We're not able to judge a person's heart. We're not equipped to do so, and it's not the right time to do so. In that case, in that instance, we are not to judge. We have no business judging in that respect.

But there's a different kind of judging that we are to participate in and that we are to be involved in. And that is not the judging of thoughts or hearts or motives or intent or those types of things, but the judging of actions. We are able to make a determination. We are equipped, because we have the Word of God, to make a determination upon the actions or about the actions of individuals.

Turn with me for a moment. We'll come back to James chapter 2 shortly, but turn to Matthew chapter 7. In Matthew chapter 7, Jesus explains the right kind of judgment for us. The way that we are to judge or the things that we are to judge. He says in verse 15 of Matthew chapter 7, "...beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves." He says, "...you will know them by their fruits."

Do men gather grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit. But a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Verse 20, Therefore, by their fruits you will know them. Jesus explains here that there's to be a determination made regarding false prophets.

There is to be a judgment that's made when it concerns false prophets. He says, look, false prophets, people who claim to speak on behalf of God but do not, they're going to come among you. And they're going to come pretending to be sheep. They're going to come in sheep's clothing. They're going to want you to think that they are sheep. But you need to make a determination about these people. And he says, you're going to know them. Here's how you'll be able to judge. By their fruits.

by the evidence of their life, by the actions that they take, by the lifestyle that they have, you will be able to recognize these people. It's often been said we're not to be judging, but we're to be fruit inspectors. We're to inspect the fruit. We can look at the actions of a person's life, compare them with the Word of God, and

And make a determination about those actions. We don't have the equipment to be able to examine or analyze a person's heart or intent or thoughts. But we can look at the fruit. And you learn about the tree by examining the fruit. Now I don't know about you, but me personally, I have a hard time

Picking out good fruit. When my wife sends me to the store and says, well, I need a cantaloupe, or get some peaches, or get some oranges, I have no idea what I'm looking for when I go to the grocery store. I mean, I know I've heard all the different things, and every fruit has its particular things that you're supposed to look for. I'm completely clueless. Now, one fruit that I absolutely love is a watermelon. And it's almost time. There you go, on the screen. There you go.

It's almost time for watermelon season. Now, let me ask you, is this a good watermelon? How do you determine if a watermelon is good? Can you do it?

By looking at a picture on a screen? Can you look at that and say, "Yes, that's a good watermelon," or say, "No, that's a bad watermelon." Well, I looked up yourproduceman.com. You can check it out. He gives you his opinion on how to pick the best watermelon. Here's what he says. Number one, to pick the best watermelon, look for a watermelon that's symmetrical in shape. So, that looks pretty good. It's pretty symmetrical. It looks the same on both sides. Number two, he says, "Look at the belly of the watermelon."

And looking at the belly of the watermelon, if the color is white, he says, then you don't want it. If it's yellow or a dark yellow, then that means it's good, that means you want it, he says. Number three, he says, pick it up. He explains it should feel heavy.

For its size, and if it's heavy, it means that there's a lot of juice, and so it's probably a good watermelon. Fourthly, he says, gently scrape your fingernails across the rind, or along the rind, along the outside. He says, if it comes up easily underneath your fingernails, then that's a mature watermelon that's ready to be eaten. He says, you can also, number five, you can look at the stem, the end where the stem was, and there should be a hole where the stem used to be.

indicating that it naturally fell off the vine and it didn't have to be cut off. That means it's ripe, it's ready. Number six, he says, look for black crystallized sugar around the stem. Another indication that it's ready. And then number seven, he says, finally, when you pick it up and hit it,

See how it feels. See if you can feel the vibration in your other hand. He says not so much to listen to it, but to feel and see if you can feel the vibration when you hit it. That means it's ready to be eaten.

So I know there's lots of different opinions. Everybody kind of has their own way of picking watermelons. But this is his thing. Now, what's interesting about these things is you have to look at it. You have to pick it up and look at the bottom. You have to scrape your fingers across it. You have to look and move it around and see different parts of it. You have to tap on it and feel it. There's an examination that takes place that's more than just what you see on the screen.

And that's the point that I'm trying to make this morning as we talk about partiality. There's a saying, you cannot judge a book by its cover. You can't judge a fruit by its picture. You can't look at it through binoculars and find out about it. You got to go up, you got to touch it. And ultimately, if you want to know if it's good, what do you need to do? You need to cut it open and take a bite. When it comes to human beings...

We cannot, the same way that we cannot with watermelon, we cannot just look from a distance and have a determination and know what is in that person. In order to make that determination, you have to get close. You have to examine it. You have to feel it. You have to taste it. You have to talk to this person. You have to get to know them a little bit and spend a few moments to hear their story and to love them.

James tells us, do not hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with partiality. Partiality has no place in our faith. To look on the outside and make a determination has no part in our faith in Jesus Christ. God is calling us to love people the same way that he does. Did you know that there is no partiality with God? Romans chapter 2 verse 11 tells us that. Whether a person is born of high pedigree or not...

God loves them. He loves them the same. There's no partiality with Him. Whether a person has rejected Him a hundred times or received Him the first time, there's no partiality. God loves them the same. There is no partiality with God. The scriptures tell us over and over again, God is not partial. Now, you and I as representatives of God, as followers of Jesus Christ,

those who are called to imitate Jesus Christ and take on the nature and person of Jesus Christ, we are not to show partiality. Partiality has no place in our faith. We are not to love people differently based upon these outward things, these superficial things. We're not to come to determination, to judgment about them based upon the outward.

There's many examples that we can look at and we'll look at a few, but let's continue on here in James. So number one this morning, partiality has no place in our faith. Number two, here's why actually, partiality is judging with evil thoughts. This is what partiality is. It's judging with evil thoughts. Here James gives us an example of what he means by partiality.

Verse 2 says,

So as he goes on now, he gives us this example. What does he mean by partiality? Well, James says, let me paint you a picture. Can you picture this scene? Can you put yourself in this situation? Here we are in church. Service is going on. And in through the door walks a rich man. Wealthy apparel, well-dressed. You look out the window, his limousine's right at the front. He comes in.

We say, oh, welcome. We're so glad you're here. Come on up. Sit. We know people don't like the front row. So sit right here in the third row. It seems to be, you know, pretty popular. There's a really good seat here in the third row for you. Man, we hope you're comfortable. Can I get you some coffee or a donut or anything? So he gets settled. We continue on with the service. And then he walks through the door. Poor man.

No special clothes, no special appearance, no limo outside waiting for him. The usher is kind of like, look at him and say, hey, what's up? And then let him find his own seat. This is the example of partiality that James is giving to us. The contrast between the way that we would treat a rich person or a poor person when they come into our midst. He says, if you pay attention to the one wearing fine clothes...

you've shown partiality. You've become judges with evil thoughts. To pay attention, it means to turn your eyes upon or to look upon or to gaze upon. Your focus is on this person. You're paying attention to this person. Now, when you are driving down the road and you come to a stoplight and there on the corner next to you is a person holding a sign and

Do you ever tell yourself, don't make eye contact, don't make eye contact, don't make eye contact? You know, if you look, then you make eye contact, are they going to expect something? Are they going to want something? Are they going to think you're trying to say you're going to give them something? What's going to, okay, best just, you know, you're walking down the street, you see the person, or you're pumping gas at the gas station, and you see, you know, over a couple pumps over, and you're like, oh my goodness, let me hurry up and put this away so I can get out of here because I know they're coming after me.

Don't look, just don't look. Honey, don't look, don't look. We got to get out of here. Don't make eye contact. But someone famous walks by. Boom! You know, they got our full attention. Someone's talking to you like, I don't know what you're saying right now. Look at, look at. This is going on. There's this person. There's this happening over here. This is what James is talking about. Someone comes in who's wealthy or well-off and they've got our full attention. And we cater to them. We serve them. We want to...

We want to pay attention to them. But someone comes in who's not so favorable, who's not so well off, and we don't pay them attention at all. He says, look, that is judging with evil thoughts. That is judging with evil thoughts. Do you think that's what Jesus did when he was relating to people? Do you think Nicodemus or the rich young ruler walked by and Jesus was like, hang on guys, hang on. Let's see where they're going. Let's see what's happening.

Do you think he paid more attention to those who were well off, to those who were of high degree, to those who had power and influence than he did to those who had none of those things? Do you think he taught his disciples to do that? In Acts chapter 3, right at the beginning of the work of God in the church, Peter and John, you know, they're on their way to the temple. And as they're walking to the temple, there's a man who's lame. He's begging.

And he looks at Peter and John. He's asking for some type of contribution from them. And in Acts 3, verse 4, it says, And fixing his eyes on him, Peter said, Look at us. To pay attention, it means to look at, to turn your eyes upon, to gaze upon, to regard. Peter says, Look at me. Look at us. Peter looked at him. He looked back. Incredible miracle took place. This lame man was healed.

Now, if that were you and I, would we be walking into the temple saying, okay, don't make eye contact, don't make eye contact, don't look, don't look, don't pay attention. They're always begging, just ignore them. If someone famous comes by, if someone that we're excited about, you know, do we tell ourselves the same thing? Don't make eye contact, don't make eye contact. That's Michael Jordan, oh, don't look at him, don't make eye contact. I said that for Richard, I don't know, whoever your celebrity person is. Don't make eye contact, don't look. Okay?

Which one do you think you would pay attention to if Donald Trump came in here and right behind him was a guy from the homeless shelter down the street? Who would you pay attention to? Who would you be more interested in? James says to do that, to pay more attention to one over the other, either way, of course our tendency is to pay attention to the wealthy, but to pay more attention either way. He says it's judging with partiality. It's judging with evil thoughts. It's judging with evil thoughts.

Do not hold the faith of our Lord of Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory with partiality, James says, because it's judging with evil thoughts. And the rich man comes in, we say, hey. The middle class man comes in, we say, hey, come on in, have a seat. Great to have you here this morning. The homeless man off the street comes in and we say, well, have you ever had this happen? Perhaps you have, perhaps you haven't, but you're there, you're worshiping, perhaps your eyes are closed. Then you begin to...

Kind of smells something a little bit funny. You open your eyes and there in the row in front of you is someone who's not bathed recently. They're homeless. Clearly there's some situations going on in their life. And do you begin then to think, man, this person smells. Why didn't they have him sit on the outside? There's tables out there and chairs. They could have him sit out there. Why don't the ushers escort this person outside? This person is ruining my worship time. How would you respond? How would you react?

In the example, in the picture that James has painted for us, what would your response be? James says, look, to show partiality is to judge with evil thoughts. To pay attention to or prefer a person over another, it's to judge.

Now, if it was someone famous or influential or someone that we knew or that was really popular, we might say, well, this is so-and-so. Man, I want to hear what they have to say. Man, if they got saved, think about what they could do. Or I want to hear about, you know, maybe it's a Christian. I want to hear about their ministry. We've determined that the poor person in front of us is less important than this influential or powerful or rich person that is there as well.

We've determined they're not as important. It doesn't matter if they get saved or not. If this person gets saved now, imagine what God could do. We've forgotten that God can do even greater things because he's chosen the base things of the world, 1 Corinthians 1 tells us. The lowly things to confound the wise. We've misaligned our evaluations. Our values are skewed. We've become conformed to the world. We've become judges with evil thoughts.

When you look at a person, what criteria do you use to evaluate whether or not they're worth talking to, ministering to, sharing with, hearing their story? Do you even care enough about people to hear their story? Using whatever criteria that you use, would you have spent some time with Job in the midst of his trial and his difficulty? Would you walk by him? Don't make eye contact. Don't look. Don't look. Would you have followed Jesus? Yes.

You know, Jesus was a poor man. He said, look, I don't even have a place to lay my head to the guy who wanted to follow him. Would you have followed John the Baptist? He's a crazy guy who lived out in the desert and ate locusts and wild honey. Would you have spent any time with these men? These were men of God. These were men that would have been incredible to spend some time with. But would you and I have missed out? Now, I'm not saying we trust everyone, you know, who looks questionable. Say, hey, you know, let's walk down this dark alley together.

I want to hear your story. No, I'm not saying that. There needs to be, but in order to examine the fruit, you can't do it with binoculars. You can't do it. There needs to be an evaluation, but it needs to be done like you're picking fruit. You got to get up close. It takes a little bit of time. And there's some who are just seeking to rip people off. And there's some who are in a genuine place of hurt or need. There was a time, it was a while back,

We were doing some work here around the church, and Will was with me, and as we're working out in the yard, this couple comes onto the church property, and my memory is not the greatest, but I think it was the guy, he was pushing the girl in a wheelchair. One of them was in a wheelchair, so it was a man and a woman. One of them was in a wheelchair. They came up, they walked up, and they were asking for help. And so...

We took a little bit of time. We were talking with them, finding out about their story. Of course, they had this long, drawn-out story and

The whole time, this happens all the time around here, you know, there's people who come by asking for help. And so this is kind of our normal routine. You talk to them for a little bit. You're praying as you're talking with them. Lord, what do you want to do? Have you provided? Have you made, you know, provision in a way that we can help? Is there, you know, do I have money in my wallet or money in my pocket that I'm able to give? You know, is it even a position where I'm able to? Or if I'm able to, Lord, do you want me to? You know, just trying to determine what the Lord wants. And so

We're talking with them. We're praying. They really laid on the guilt, man. I mean, it was like they laid it on thick and heavy. We talked with them for some time. But even though it kind of hurt our hearts, even though it kind of like made us feel bad, as both of us prayed, there was really nothing that either Will or I could do to help them. And, man, we just felt horrible. But we just prayed with them and we sent them on their way.

The whole time thinking, man, Lord, did we blow it? Did we really mess up? Did we not hear from you? But, Lord, you really didn't tell us to do anything. And so just this confliction that's happening. Well, it just so happens, it was about two weeks later, that Will was somewhere else. I think he was, I forget exactly where he was at. He was somewhere else, and he sees the same couple. Easily recognized because we spent a good hour with them. Dressed nicely, neither one of them's in a wheelchair. They're...

involved in activities that clearly the whole story that they gave to us was not true. And there are situations like that. There are people like that. There are people who seek to rip off others and they're just trying to take advantage. But there's another time. This one was not so long ago. I came here to the church as I was getting settled. A man comes to me and lets me know that he slept on our property the night before and

Wants to know if perhaps we could help him. Cisco and I spend some time together with him. We're praying together. We're seeking the Lord. He says he's a believer. Of course, they all do. And he's in this tough situation. He has a job that starts Monday, but...

You know, it's Friday. Is there anything we can do to help him between now and then? He doesn't want anything for free. He wants to work for it. And so Cisco and I are praying. And, you know, we allow him to do a little bit of work around the church. Cisco, you know, works with him. He participates. He helps out. He does some work. We're able to bless him. It was great. There's good. There's bad. But you have to examine the fruit. Spending a little bit of time with this last gentleman, it was clear. This guy loves the Lord.

Perhaps he's in a situation like Job. He's a godly man. Job was. But look at the situation he was in. You and I often were so quick to make a judgment, a determination based upon the outward, based upon the circumstances, based upon the situation, without taking any time to really get to know. And to do that is to judge with evil thoughts. We need to withhold judgment until the fruit can be inspected.

Verse 5, he goes on to say, 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, you're ignoring the poor, but isn't the poor, don't the poor have a special place in God's kingdom, James says? Verse 6, But you have dishonored the poor man. Do not the rich oppress you and drag you into the courts? Do they not blaspheme that noble name by which you are called? Here's the tragic thing. When we show partiality in that way, we set aside what God thinks and what God has said, and we prefer those who blaspheme the name of God. That is tragic.

It's insanely tragic. We prefer, we pay more attention to those who profane the name of God than to those who walk with God but are in a difficult situation. Our culture kind of cultivates this mentality as well. There's all this hype. There's all this attention placed upon celebrities, powerful people. I mean, it's hard to turn on the TV without watching some type of celebrity gossip.

And so here we are, we watch TMZ, we want to know about all these people's lives. We pay attention, our eyes are gazing, we're focused. And we couldn't care less about the people right in front of us. It's partiality, it's judging with evil thoughts. Determining they deserve our attention, they deserve our focus. James says, Do they not blaspheme that noble name by which you are called? Do we pay more attention to those who blaspheme the name of Christ, have nothing to do with God, want nothing to do with God?

In fact, promote a turning away from God or an alternative to God. And then we pay little attention to people who are in need, who are right in front of us. Now look, James gives us this example of the rich and poor, but it's just an example. That's one example of many. That's not the limitation to partiality. We can have partiality. We can be partial. We can come to a judgment. We can judge with evil thoughts.

When it comes to skin color or nationality, where it's just making a determination based upon what we know, what we see, without getting to know the person that's inside. We can show partiality. We can be judgers with evil thoughts based upon a type of car that a person drives or the condition of the car that they drive or if they drive a little red scooter. I know you... No, I'm just kidding. Okay.

We can make determinations about people by the way that they're dressed. If they're disabled or not. If they're disfigured or not. And we pay attention to one and we don't the other to save ourselves some comfort or to save ourselves some discomfort. We can discriminate. We can show partiality based upon religion. Jehovah's Witness knocks on the door. Already we've decided it's not even worth talking to them.

Best thing to do is just kind of end the conversation quickly and get them on their way. Someone else knocks on the door like, Lord, do you want to minister to this person? Do you want to reach out to them? Partiality. It's making a judgment based upon our preconceived ideas, based upon what we think or what we think we know, based upon appearances, based upon the way that they look, based upon their status, their place in society.

Things that have no real meaning when it comes to the kingdom of God, that really doesn't impact their salvation at all. But that's what we become consumed with all too often. Partiality has no place in our faith. It doesn't belong in our faith. Because partiality is judging with evil thoughts. Point number three this morning. Partiality is sin. Partiality is sin. Verse 8 says,

He says,

That's good. That's what you need to do. That's what we're called to do. It's really the opposite of partiality, to love your neighbor as yourself. We'll get to that a little bit more in just a few moments. But in contrast to that, the opposite of loving your neighbor as yourself is to show partiality. And he says, if you show partiality, you commit sin.

And you're convicted by the law as transgressor. You are a transgressor. You are a sinner if you show partiality. So the question is, do you show partiality? Is that your heart? Is that my heart? Is that our practice? Do we show partiality? Who would you rather minister to? Someone, you know, perhaps middle class, got things going on, not scary at all, not smelly, not stinky, not

pleasant to look at, or someone who is opposite of that? Who would you rather minister to? Who would you rather pay attention to? The popular one, the actors, the actresses, the athletes, the wealthy? Maybe you're a poor person and you'd rather minister to the poor and you don't give a second thought to the rich because you've got your own conclusions and you're judgmental and partial when it comes to those who are wealthy. Would you be more interested in the salvation of someone who is famous?

Would you get more excited about someone famous coming to know the Lord than some guy at McDonald's that some Christian bought a cup of coffee and shared the gospel with? Who would you be more excited about? Do you show partiality? Would you be more excited about someone popular visiting the church? Someone famous comes in the door? How excited would you be? Someone else comes in the door? Didn't even bother to get their name. Would you be more willing to have lunch with

Some athlete that you've longed to meet or some wealthy person or someone that is able to pay for your meal? Who would you rather have lunch with? James says, look, if you show partiality, you commit sin. If you judge, if you come to this determination about people based upon the hours, based upon the things that really mean nothing in the eternal perspective, you show partiality and you commit sin. We are sinners.

We sin when we show partiality. Now, God is an expert. He knows the heart. He's able to make a determination about a person because he knows the heart. He knows the motives. He knows the state of a person's life. He knows their spiritual condition. He knows it. But we, we're not. We're not experts.

It's like examining fruit. We got to get close. We got to lift it and feel it. We got to taste a little bit, see how it is. We got to try it out by looking at the fruit. We're able to make a determination about the tree. You remember the story in Luke chapter 19? You say, of course I do. I have that memorized. No. Luke chapter 19 is the story of Zacchaeus. You know Zacchaeus was a wee little man. A wee little man was he. He climbed up into the sycamore tree for the Lord he wanted to see.

He wanted to see Jesus. He was a small man. Jesus is walking by. He looks up in the tree. He says, Zacchaeus, you come down. I'm going to your house today. So he goes to Zacchaeus' house. He goes. He has a feast there. You know what the people said? Luke 19, 7. But when they saw it, they all complained, saying, He has gone to be a guest with a man who is a sinner. The people were upset because Jesus went to Zacchaeus' house. He's gone to be the guest of this sinner. He was a tax collector.

They made a determination. They made a judgment. This guy is a sinner. Why on earth is Jesus wasting his time? Why is Jesus spending his time? Why is he even bothered? How could he go and be a guest in that house? That man is a sinner. They judged him to be a great sinner. But Jesus had a different judgment. He had a different determination. He spends a little bit of time with Zacchaeus. Zacchaeus says, Lord...

If I've robbed anybody, I'm going to pay him back double. I'm going to give back everything that I've stolen. Jesus says, this man is a son of Abraham and salvation has come to this house. Zacchaeus got saved. Zacchaeus became a follower of Jesus Christ. Everybody else said, he's a sinner. Why is he even bothering? Why is he going to his house? Why is he spending time with him? Why is he wasting his time? That guy is a tax collector. He's a sinner. Jesus said, he's a son of Abraham.

Salvation has come to his house. Well, you remember the account in Luke chapter 7? There Jesus is a guest again, but not at the house of a tax collector or a sinner, but he's a guest at the house of a Pharisee, a spiritual leader, a religious leader of the day. And Jesus is there at his house. He's having dinner and this woman comes in and begins to wash his feet. The Pharisee and the rest of the guests, they begin to say, what in the world is going on here?

Luke 7, 39, it says, Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he spoke to himself, saying, This man, if he were a prophet, would know who and what manner of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner. The Pharisee says, Look, if I was Jesus, and this woman was touching me, I would not allow it. I'd kick her out. She'd have no business here. She is a sinner. I wouldn't allow her to touch me like that. He's saying to himself. If he was a prophet, he wouldn't let her do this.

Because she's a sinner. He would know that she's a sinner and he wouldn't let her do this. He's showing partiality. He's making judgment based upon the outward, based upon his own ideas without taking the time to know she was forgiven of great many sins and she had fallen in love with Jesus Christ. She became a follower of him. Jesus spent some time with her where others would say, no way, I don't think so. She's a sinner. Doors closed. Why even bother? Don't even bother.

You remember when Samuel went to anoint the next king of Israel after Saul. Samuel goes to Jesse's house, tells Jesse, look, I'm supposed to anoint one of your sons. Can you have your sons come forward and let's take a look at him? So Jesse lines him up, oldest to youngest. Samuel sees the first one. Man, this guy, he is the next king for sure. Not even a question. Don't even got to pray about this one, right?

I mean, he's good looking, he's old, he's mature, he's got a good stature, stands a little bit above his brothers. He looks like a king. I mean, he must be the next king. God rebukes him. In verse 7 of 1 Samuel 16, the Lord said to Samuel, Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have refused him. For the Lord does not see as man sees, for the man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.

You see, this is the point of all the things that we're talking about here. Man looks at the outward, man looks at the outside, man looks at all the superficial things, but God looks at the heart. We, as ambassadors of Jesus Christ, are to do the same.

We're not to look at the outward and make the same judgments and decisions as the rest of the world based on appearance, based on their social status, based upon whatever they drive or whatever family that they come from or whatever political party they're involved with or whatever. We're not to be like the world. We're to be like Christ. And so we're to look at the heart. Partiality, he says, is sin. If you show partiality, you commit sin.

Samuel showed partiality. The Pharisee that Jesus was at his house, he showed partiality. The people, when they saw Jesus with Zacchaeus, they showed partiality. They're coming to judgment. They're coming to conclusion. They're making determination based upon these things that are not so important in God's perspective. And it's sin. Verse 10, For whoever shall keep the whole law and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all.

For he who said, do not commit adultery, also said, do not murder. Now, if you do not commit adultery, but you do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. So James goes on to explain, not only is partiality sin, but you can't think to yourself, well, that's just kind of how I am. I was raised that way. It's how my mom taught me, blah, blah, blah. All those types of things. And at least it's not that big of a sin. He says, look, if you keep the whole law, but you stumble in one point, you're guilty of all of it. It's sin. It's sin.

The same person who said, do not commit adultery, also said, do not murder. So if you commit adultery but you don't murder, you can't congratulate yourself and say, well, at least I'm not a murderer. He says, it doesn't matter. You're a transgressor of the law. You've broken the law. It's sin. In the same way, you can't be partial and say, well, at least I'm not an adulterer. I'm not a murderer. I don't do this or that. It's sin. Partiality is sin. To be a partial Christian, that is to show partiality, is the same as being a Christian fornicator.

To practice partiality, to show favoritism in this way, it's the same as living in sin. If partiality is our lifestyle, if it's our practice. If someone is living in an adulterous situation, but they say that they're a Christian, what would we tell them? We would say, listen, you're deceiving yourself. You need to repent. You need to stop. You need to turn and get right with God. The same is true with partiality.

Because the same God who commanded us not to commit adultery commands us not to show partiality. Partiality is sin. And therefore we need to repent if we show partiality. If that's our heart. If we look at people that way, through those eyes, we need to repent. We need to confess. We need to stop it. We need to turn and walk in the ways of God. And what is that?

Well, he tells us there in verses 12 and 13. That's the fourth point this morning. We need to love and show mercy. This is the opposite of partiality. Partiality we must not do. Partiality is sin. We must not show partiality. But what do we do in its place? We love and we show mercy. Look at verse 12.

He says, so speak and so do as those who would be judged by the law of liberty. For judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment. Now, when I first was reading through this portion, I'm like, how in the world does this have anything to do with partiality, what he's just been talking about? But here's how it fits. Here's what James is talking about. Partiality...

Remember the common thread of all the definitions of partiality? It's a judgment. It's judging that is going on. To show partiality is to judge with evil thoughts, James says. But mercy is to withhold judgment. Mercy is to withhold judgment. And so he says, look, you speak, you do, live your life as one. You're going to be judged by the law of liberty. Partiality is sin.

So live your life knowing that you, you're going to stand before God. You're going to have to give an account for the life that you live. Don't live in sin, he's saying. You're going to be judged by the law of liberty. But he goes on to say, for judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. You want to approach your own judgment well? Then show mercy. Because judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. You want mercy from God? Show mercy now.

to others. Mercy triumphs over judgment. Mercy is to withhold judgment. Partiality is to judge by appearance. Mercy is to withhold that judgment, not to make a conclusion or decision by their appearance, by their stature, by their stench. Mercy is to withhold that judgment. It literally means it's kindness or goodwill towards the miserable and the afflicted and to join that judgment.

that kindness with the desire to help them. It's compassion, compassion, withholding of judgment and showing compassion. That's mercy. That's the opposite of partiality. Instead of looking upon and having a disdain for or a don't make eye contact, don't make eye contact attitude, we're to look upon with compassion. We're to show mercy. We're to desire to love them and minister to them.

Judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy. So show mercy. Show mercy, and the other part of that is love, which was found back in verse 8. He says, The opposite of partiality is love and mercy. Love and mercy. Jesus says,

You need to obey the command to love your neighbor as yourself. Well, James says it here. Jesus said it in the Gospels. Love your neighbor as yourself. Who's my neighbor, you might ask. Well, it's a good question. Someone else asked that of Jesus as well. You see, it's easy to love others that we know, others that we're comfortable with, others that love us back. Hey, you know, you and I, we've been going to the living water for a long time, and it's easy to love one another. Is that my neighbor? I could do that.

Jesus says, love your neighbor as yourself. The rich man says, well, who's my neighbor? Who is it that I'm supposed to love as myself? Jesus goes on in Luke chapter 10 to give the parable of the good Samaritan. A parable I'm sure you're familiar with, so I don't have to get into all the details. There was a man walking down the road. Robbers come, beat him up, strip him, leave him half dead. Religious leader walks by afterwards. The guy's laying there.

He has the attitude, don't make eye contact, don't make eye contact. He goes around the other way. I don't want anything to do with that. I'm about my father's business. I need to get to where I'm going. A Levite comes by. He does a little bit better. He goes and checks it out. Okay, never mind. I don't want anything to do with that. He keeps walking. And finally, a Samaritan comes by. That's why it's called the Good Samaritan. Because the Samaritan sees him. He has compassion. He has mercy. He sees the need. He has a desire to meet the need. Of course, you know,

The situation in those days, a Jewish person and Samaritan, they weren't supposed to hang out together. But the Samaritan didn't show partiality. He didn't say, well, you're a Jew. Never mind. I'm on my way. He saw the need. He met the need. He ministered to that man. Jesus, as he concluded that parable, he asked, so which one was that man's neighbor? He said, well, the one who showed him mercy. And Jesus said, go and do likewise. This is what he's called us to do.

Partiality has no place in our faith. It has no place. It's not the way that Jesus was. It's not the way that Jesus has taught us to be. Because to have partiality is to judge with evil thoughts. It's to disregard what God has said. It's to disregard one whom God loves dearly. To save ourselves from some discomfort or uncomfortable situation or difficulty or whatever. To show partiality is sin. It's wrong.

And so we need to repent. We need to stop. We need to turn around and do the opposite. We need to walk in the way of God, which is to love and to show mercy. Love and show mercy. Let that be at the forefront of your mind this week. Love and show mercy. As you come in contact with people, as you run into people on your way out and on their way in, as you're in the workplace, wherever you go, love and show mercy.

It's the character and nature of God that we're called to put on. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, I pray for all of our hearts right now. God, you hate partiality. Lord, you don't like it when we judge others on these things that in the eternal perspective are inconsequential. Lord, it doesn't thrill you that we're so able, so ready to close the door, to skip an opportunity to minister and to share your love, to not be merciful.

And so, God, I pray that you would help us to repent. Lord, in any area of our hearts, in any area of our lives where we show partiality, Lord, would you convict us? It's sin. God, help us not to water it down or to justify ourselves or try to convince ourselves that it's okay in our circumstances. Help us to accept your word on the matter, that it's sin and that we need to repent. God, forgive us for being partial.

Forgive us, Lord, for getting caught up in looking at and relating to people the way that the world does. Lord, we ask that you would give us your heart for the people around us. Lord, that we would love them, that we would show them mercy, that they might have an opportunity to get to know you. Lord, that we might have an opportunity to be blessed by them. Lord, we miss so much when we look at the outward, at the appearance, the way that man sees. Help us, Lord.

Not to look at those things, but to inspect the fruit, to see the heart, to have an opportunity to love and show mercy to one that you love and desire to show mercy to. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. We pray you have been blessed by this Bible teaching. The power of God to change a life is found in the daily reading of His Word. Visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and Bible study resources.