James chapter 2. I titled this message, The Royal
Law. The Royal Law is the King's Law. The Royal Law is the Law of God's
Kingdom. And that Royal Law is this. It's to love one another. That's
the law of God's kingdom. That's the law of the king. It's
to love one another. That's the royal law. Now James,
in this chapter, is forbidding respect of persons. Showing partiality. among brethren,
among the brethren. We are brothers and sisters in
Christ. And we show the same respect
for one as we do the other. One may be wealthy or have a
lot more of this world's goods than another. In Christ they're
one. In Christ we are all one regardless
of our possessions. Our possessions do not make us
who we are. Christ does. I am what I am by
what? What I possess? By the grace
of God. Whether I have little or much.
If I have much, he gave it. If I have little, he put me there
too. He said I make rich and I make
poor. He puts us where we would bring Him the most glory, and
it's for our good. It's good that I am where I am.
I have what I have, that I make what I make. It's good for me. And if it was good for me to
have more, I guarantee I'd have it. If it was good for me to
have less, I guarantee I'll have less. Our Father does and gives
us what's good for us. And so James is condemning this
thing of respect of persons among the brethren. If our Father shows
no respect of persons, then neither are we to do so. Now James says
in verse 1, my brethren, he's speaking here to the family.
James is speaking to the family. Have not the faith, that saving
faith, that faith which is the gift of God, that faith which
gives God all the glory, that faith which is in the Lord Jesus
Christ. Do not have that faith with respect
to persons. You know, true faith that's in
Christ is the gift of God. It's the gift of God, and it's
given to a new nature that's born of God. And that true faith
and respect of persons don't mix. They do not mix. They are contrary to each other.
And this shows, James is saying, this shows a flaw in our understanding
of the gospel of grace. And this shows a flaw in our
understanding of God's choice of His children. I'll show you this here in just
a little bit. There's a flaw here, James is saying. There's
a flaw. And it's to be guarded against. Watched against. Because
on down here, he said it's a sin. It's not a mistake. It's not
something you ought not to do. It's a sin. But I'm getting ahead
of myself here. And the faith that is of Christ
will look upon others better than themselves. As we grow older in Christ and
we learn more of the grace of God and we taste more of the
grace of God, believers do look upon others better than themselves.
I know we have pride still in us and I know we have sin that
raises its ugly head and causes us a lot of problems. But overall,
The tenor of one's life is to look upon others better than
themselves. Here's what faith understands. This faith that's
of God. It understands this. I am what I am by the grace of
God. And so is everyone else whom
he saves. Everyone else. Don't claim to have faith. And
that's what he's saying down here in verse 14. What does it
profit my brethren though a man say he has faith and hath not
works? Can this type of faith that's without works, can that
kind of faith save him? No. It's not faith at all. It's not the faith of God. And
so don't claim to have this faith if we're given. If you're given
to this, he says, if you're given to respective persons. The Scriptures
teaches us this. We are one in Christ. Look over in Colossians chapter
3. Colossians chapter 3. Paul says here in verse 10. Let me go back to verse 9. 9
Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old
man with his deeds, and have put on the new man which is renewed
in knowledge after the image of him that created him, where
there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision,
barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free, but Christ is all and in
all. We are all one in the body of
Christ. Look over in Galatians 3. Galatians
3 I wrote this down here in Galatians 3. Let me see. I think it's verse
26 Okay in verse 26 For ye are all the children
of God by faith in Christ It doesn't matter if you're poor
in this world or if you're rich if you have been brought to faith
in Christ you are all the children of God by faith in Christ for
as many of you as as have been baptized into Christ and put
on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek,
there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female,
for ye are all one in Christ Jesus." One. He says, so therefore, don't
have this respect of persons. Then he gives an example. He
gives us an example. Verse 2, For if they are coming
to your assembly, to the worship service. A man with a gold ring. Back in that day particularly,
the Romans who had some class and clout, they were the ones
who wore the gold rings. Poor people didn't wear gold
rings. But those who were influential and had some wealth, they wore
gold rings. And he said, if this person comes,
this man with a gold ring and he's in goodly apparel, dressed
to the tee, just debonair. He walks in and he's just dressed
to the tee and it looks good. He's got a gold ring on. And,
you know, you can tell by looking at him, he's got some wealth,
some influence. And that causes trouble when
we start looking like and we start considering those things.
And there come in also a poor man and Bower Raymond. Two men come to the worship service.
One is dressed in expensive clothing. The other is dressed in poor
clothing. He doesn't have much. He has no influence. He walks in and just kind of
slips off. Nobody greets him. You kind of
just let him go off to the side. And everybody greets the one
that comes in with the expensive clothing. in the ring. One man
is influential, the other is not. One man is admired by the
world. He's successful. He's intelligent.
He's smart. Well, you know, God gives us
the power to get. God said that over in, I think
it was over in Judah, I'm the one who gave you the power to
get what you've got. Job said the Lord giveth and
the Lord taketh away. But this one man is admired by
the world and the other is despised, thought little, looked down on. And here's the problem. And you
have respect to him that wears the gay clothing, the expensive
clothing. And you say to him, you make
sure to greet him. He's given an example here. You
make sure to greet him. And you say, sit here. Here's
the choice seat in the house. You don't know that man's heart.
This man came in, he looked fine, and you gave him a fine place
to sit. You don't know his heart. God knows his heart. That poor
man came in. He didn't have two nickels to
rub together. And you say to him, you stand over there. You ignore him. That's what you're
doing. You ignore him. Or you sit here, listen, under
my footstool. You put yourself above him. You
have respect and you show partiality to the successful man. You give
him the best seat in the house and you're unimpressed with that
other man, that poor man. The other man is despised and
he's thought little of because of his appearance. He's treated
with indifference. And he's saying this. You're
making a difference. Based not on faith. Based not
on this man's relationship to the Lord Jesus Christ, based
not on his love to the President, but on his appearance. And what happens when you do
that, you look and you see, this could be advantageous to us. This could be advantageous, you
know. Poor man costs you, but a rich
man might help you. And this is what he warns against.
And who's he warning? The brethren. The brethren. You know, I looked at this and
I thought, you know, listen to him. Listen to what he's saying.
Because it can creep up. It can creep up in my heart.
It can creep up. He said you're making a difference.
Not on spiritual relationship to Christ, but on an advantage
in fleshly judgment. That rich man may be lost. He
may be lost. That poor man may be saved. He
may know the Lord. He may be one of God's children.
We'll see this as we go on here. He may be one of the Lord's.
I'll tell you this, though. We need to know this. God's church,
His church, does not need the influence of this world. You
see when they have these crusades, they'll get an athlete, they'll
get a singer, they'll get someone that's got some notoriety, some
popularity for the craft. God doesn't need that. God does not need the influence,
advantage, and popularity of anybody in this world. Not any. And we realize that. God's children,
really for the most part, For the most part, God's children
are poor. You go outside this country, this country's rich.
I think this country is just, it kind of gives us a one-sided
view if you don't go outside of it. But you go outside this
country, you go to a lot of these other countries, everybody there's
poor. You might have maybe just a small
percentage that are rich, but the most of them go to Mexico. Poor. Poor people. But there
are some of those poor people that belong to God. that Christ
died for. What if one of those poor Mexicans
down there in Mexico walked in here? I've not met one of them.
But one of them walks in here. He's poor. He just slips off.
And you just leave him alone? And that's one of God's children.
That's one of His children. That's what I'm saying. Be very
careful here. That's the poor of the world. He's chosen. We'll see this as
we go on. He's chosen. Look over to Psalm
118. I'll show you God doesn't need men
or the influence of men, the advantage of men. Psalm 118. Let me find the verse
here. The Lord is on my side. I will not fear. What can man
do to me? The Lord taketh my part within
Help me, therefore I shall see my desire upon them that hate
me." Listen now, it's better to trust in the Lord than to
put confidence in what? In man. It is better to trust
in the Lord than to put confidence in princes, men of power, men
of wealth, men of influence. It's better to trust in the Lord.
He doesn't need these men. He doesn't need them. Not at
all. And we have to recognize this. I read this, I want to
show you this, over in Zephaniah. I read this right before I came.
In Zephaniah chapter 3. If you have a King James Version,
that's page 1166. Let's see if I can find that. In Zephaniah. In verse 12, chapter 3, in Zephaniah,
I will also leave in the midst of thee and afflicted and poor
people, and they shall trust in the name of the Lord. I will also leave in the midst
of an afflicted and poor people, and this people shall trust in
the name of the Lord." They shall trust me. God saves poor sinners,
whatever the outward appearance may be. Don't judge them by that
outward appearance. Don't do that. We are to value men and women
based on their relationship to the Lord Jesus Christ. Look over
in Acts chapter 10. In Acts chapter 10, look in verse
34. Then Peter, after he went to
Cornelius, Then Peter opened his mouth and said, Of a truth
I perceive that God is no respecter of persons, but in every nation
he that feareth him and worketh righteousness is accepted with
him. It doesn't matter if he's wealthy
or poor. God's no respecter of persons. Now he says here in
verse 4, Are you not then partial in yourselves, and are become
judges of evil thoughts? This is an inward problem. Because
he says, are you not the impartial in yourselves? That's where sin
arises from. In here. Sin comes from in here. And here's the seriousness of
it. You've become judges of evil thoughts. You've entertained
evil thoughts. Making a distinction between
these two based on outward appearance and advantage. You're judges
of evil thoughts. That kind of thinking is as evil
as the world. That's the way the world thinks.
That's the way the world thinks. We should never prefer one before
another. We should love one another. Equally, the way our Father does. You know our Father has no favorites. It's not he has a favorite here.
No. He loved every one of his children
equally. Equally. Every one of them. Now, Harkin,
learn this. My beloved brethren. See, he's
not being harsh. He's teaching a lesson. I wouldn't
want to bring this in a harsh way. My beloved brethren, let's
learn something. Here's the lesson. Hath not God chosen the poor
of this world? He's chosen the poor of this
world, but listen, rich in faith. They're not poor. They may be
poor and not have the things of this world. They may not be
blessed with a lot of material advantage, They're not poor. They're rich in faith. Heirs of the kingdom. What if
you were heir of a kingdom of just this world? You would think
you were going to be rich sooner or later. But to be an heir of
the kingdom of God, a joint heir with Christ, we can't even begin
to imagine what awaits us. And we're heirs of it. Now, if
I come into this assembly, and I come into this assembly in
rags, and I don't have much, and I might live in a shack,
and I tell you what, my dad, my grandparents, and great-grandparents,
they lived in shacks. I mean, they lived in an old
room. What I live in, compared to what
a lot of them lived in, is something. But if I come in here, and I
may look like that, But if I have faith in Christ, if I've been
born of God and God's given me faith, I'm rich. You can't estimate
my riches. You and I can count our riches. The accountant does it every
year. And the tax filer. God's riches are infinite. They
can't be counted. What we have in Christ cannot
be counted. Hath not God chosen the poor
of this world, rich in faith, heirs of the kingdom? God's choice,
now here's what I say, God's choice of His people was not
based on outward appearance. God didn't choose me because
of an advantage, that He would have an advantage in choosing
me or choosing you. You know what God's choice of
us is based on? Love, mercy, and grace. He loved me because He loved
me. It's not because of those advantages,
but because He loved me. Look over in 1 Corinthians chapter
1. You know where I'm going with this. 1 Corinthians chapter 1. Look here in verse 26. For ye see your calling brethren,
how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not
many noble, are called. But God hath chosen what? The
foolish things of the world to confound the wise. And God hath
chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things
which are mighty and base things of the world, and things which
are despised have God chosen." That's God's choice. And then to despise a man because
of his outward appearance of being poor? Well, he says that's
sin. God did this so that no flesh
would glory in His presence. There's a description of the
people whom God chose. God loves poor sinners who are
nothing, nobody, and going nowhere. Going to hell. If He leaves them
alone, they are. But they're nobodies. Nobodies. God saved me. He saved the nobody.
And you know what? That doesn't offend me. There
was a time it would have offended me because I thought I was somebody.
I thought I knew something. But when I learned the Gospel,
And when you learn the gospel, you learn you are nobody and
that Christ is everything, or you haven't learned the gospel. Now he says here, the poor of
this world, but his elect are rich in faith, heirs of the kingdom. In Christ, every one of God's
children had the same riches. Equally rich. We are equally
rich in Christ. We are. He said in verse 6, but you have
despised the poor. Evidently there was a problem
going on with this. He said, but you have despised
the poor. Do not rich men oppress you and
draw you before the judgment seats, the ones you're impressed
with? Are they not the ones who draw you before the judgment
seats and take you to law and try to take everything you have?
Are they not the ones who cause you so much problem? But he's
saying here you're guilty of despising this poor man because
of his appearance. And you know, when a man does
this, when a man or woman does this. You know what you're showing?
First of all, you're showing contempt for God's children.
For God's poor children. You're showing contempt. You
embarrass them. You hurt them. You hurt His children. Now, you don't have to feel somebody
hurt your children. His children are the apple of
his eye. Let me show you something over
in Matthew 18. In verse 4, Whosoever therefore
shall humble himself as this little child, the same as greatest
in the kingdom of heaven. And whoso shall receive one such
little child in my name receives me. But whoso shall offend one
of these little ones, and I don't care if you're 90 years old,
you're one of God's little ones. You're always one of His little
ones. And whoso shall offend one of these little ones which
believe in me, It were better for him that a millstone were
hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth
of the sea. Oh, to offend one of his little
ones. To do that is to show contentment,
and it's to offend one of his little ones, to hurt him, to
embarrass him. Oh, he says you don't do that. He says, Do not
they, that is the rich, blaspheme that worthy name by which you
are called? They're the ones who blaspheme
the worthy name of the Lord Jesus Christ. They act as though they were
much better than others because of their success. Solomon said the rich speak roughly,
the poor in truth. They speak roughly because they
think so highly of themselves. And then there are the ones,
he said, that are just blaspheming that name by which you're called. And it all shows this, contempt
for the wisdom of God in election. It shows contempt for the wisdom
of God in election. Why did God choose him? That's
the attitude. I'm telling you, to show respect
to persons, to say, this man is successful, this man is advantageous
to us, this man is something, this poor man, which is born
of God. You're saying, God, what? I don't
see any wisdom in this. All whom God has chosen. He has
chosen, now listen, He has chosen wisely. Everyone whom God chose, He chose
wisely. Now if you fulfill the royal
law according to the Scriptures, thou shalt love thy neighbor
as thyself, you do well. You do well. Oh, if you fulfill
the royal law of love, if you love Both those men, when they
walk in equally, and you greet both of them equally because
of your love to Christ and the love of Christ shed abroad in
your heart, you do well. You do well. This is the law
of the kingdom. This is the king's law. The royal law. It's love. Love others, he said,
as I have loved you. Love is of God and it's evidence
of sonship. Believe in election is not evidence
of sonship. There's a whole lot, there's
a lot of people that believe the five points of Calvinism. But they don't love Christ. But love, love. There was a time Paul believed
in his five points. He was a Pharisee. He believed
election. He believed particular redemption. Paul believed those
things. But he didn't know God. But one day he fell in love with
Christ. In love with the brethren. And
then those doctrines became so sweet. They became lively. Real. Because he met the one
whom the doctrines come from. Christ. The evidence of sonship. It's
evident that the love of God is shed abroad in the heart when
you love one another without respect to advantage or person. I had a lot of scriptures written
down here on this, but I'm going to go ahead and move on because
it's going to take too long. But if you have respect to persons, Ye commit sin. We do a lot of things, and rightly
so, not to commit open sin, adultery, stealing. But if you have respect to persons,
he said, you commit sin. It's as bad as any other sin.
It's as bad as any sin you try to avoid. You commit sin and
are convinced of the law as transgressors. What law? What law is he talking
about? The royal law of Christ. Because we're not under the Ten
Commandments, the moral law, because Christ bore our sins
and he put that curse away. He's talking here about the royal
law. That's what he's talking about. But he says here, you've
committed sin. And sin is a wicked thing. The
world laughs at it. You can talk to the world about
sin and they make light of it. But look what it did to the son
of God of Calvary when he bore our sins in his body on the tree. It gives you a fresh idea of
sin. I'll tell you something else
it shows. It shows a covetous heart. When you respect somebody
because of their possessions, it shows covetousness. Which,
as Scripture says, is idolatry. For whosoever shall keep the
whole law, and yet offend in one point, this man is guilty
of all, even though the law has many precepts. It's only one
law. It's just one law, and it's one
lawgiver. One lawgiver. To offend in one
point shows disrespect and dishonor, listen, to the lawgiver. It shows that. It shows a real
spiritual problem. For he that said, so he's talking
about the lawgiver now. He that said, do not commit adultery,
said also, do not kill. Now, if thou commit no adultery,
yet if thou kill, thou art become what? A transgressor of the law.
Because you've offended the law giver. You've offended him. Now, listen here to what he says.
And I'll wind this down. So speak ye, so do, as they that
shall be judged held accountable by the law of liberty, the law
of the kingdom, the law of the king, the law of love. Christ will hold everyone who
does this accountable for their conduct toward each
other. Chase them. Chase them for it. Discipline
them for it. They will be held accountable
for this kind of conduct, he says. And so he says, so speak ye,
and so do. For he shall have judgment without
mercy that has showed no mercy, and mercy rejoices against judgment. God will show no mercy. I'll
close with this verse. God will show no mercy to the
one who shows no mercy. to the one who ignores that poor
brother and falls all over that rich one for advantage. He said, that man who shows no
mercy, God will show him no mercy. He'll be lost. Now listen, mercy
rejoices against judgment. The man who shows mercy, the
man who loves that poor man and that rich man the same and shows
no favor but loves them in Christ equally. He rejoices against judgment.
Here's why he's saying it. He's not afraid of judgment.
He's not afraid of it. This man's not afraid of judgment. Doesn't need to be. Doesn't need
to be. Not at all. God's children. God's children. are merciful,
and they love one another. They love one another, not for
advantage, but because of our relationship in Christ. We have
the same Spirit, the same Father, redeemed by the same Lord. We
love the same Lord. We're family. We're merciful. But we have to guard against
these things, don't we? That's what James said. Brethren, guard
against this. Don't let it creep in. There's
still that old nature that's in us. That old nature's still
there. It still crops its head up. And
when it does, cut it off. Cut it off. Don't let it have
advantage. All right, we'll finish up this
chapter next week.