1 My
brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with
respect of persons. 2 For if there come unto your assembly a man with a
gold ring, in goodly apparel, and there come in also a poor man in vile
raiment; 3 And ye have respect to him that weareth the gay clothing, and
say unto him, Sit thou here in a good place; and say to the poor, Stand thou
there, or sit here under my footstool: 4 Are ye not then partial in
yourselves, and are become judges of evil thoughts? 5 Hearken, my beloved
brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs
of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him? 6 But ye have
despised the poor. Do not rich men oppress you, and draw you before the
judgment seats? 7 Do not they blaspheme that worthy name by the which ye
are called?
8 If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou
shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well: 9 But if ye have respect
to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors. 10 For
whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty
of all. 11 For 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 a
transgressor of the law. 12 So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be
judged by the law of liberty. 13 For he shall have judgment without mercy,
that hath shewed no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth against judgment. (James
2:1-13)
How we love to sit in the highest seat of honor, and how we are disposed to
deny that seat to the poor and powerless who enter our doors! This attitude is
gross sin in the eyes of the Lord. While it is necessary to judge open sin in
the sinner, it is never acceptable to God for us to judge by appearance. The
Lord judges by the hidden heart and not the outward appearance. Should we
believe that we can judge righteously in areas that the Lord does not by
judging the outward appearance? I can assure you that the equal welcome of a
pauper and a banker in our churches is the great rarity and not the common
fare. Modern churches, focused on filthy lucre rather than faithful service,
aggressively seek out those who have deep pockets. They subscribe to referral
services whereby the names of doctor, lawyers, and financiers who are locating
into the local community are provided them. They then follow up by elaborate
invitations and even visits. Will they do the same for the itinerant laborer or
factory worker? I think not. James gives us a wonderful example: 2 “For
if there come unto your assembly a man with a gold ring, in goodly apparel, and
there come in also a poor man in vile raiment; 3 And ye have
respect to him that weareth the gay clothing, and say unto him, Sit thou here
in a good place; and say to the poor, Stand thou there, or sit here under my
footstool: 4 Are ye not then partial in yourselves, and are become
judges of evil thoughts?” I can assure the Reader that this happens
every Sunday at churches around the world. In the eyes of God, there is neither
rich nor poor. We set ourselves up as judges of the heart when we judge by the
outward appearance.
James now issues a resounding admonition for those who harbor these
hypocritical inclinations: 5 “Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath
not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom
which he hath promised to them that love him? 6 But ye have
despised the poor. Do not rich men oppress you, and draw you before the
judgment seats? 7 Do not they blaspheme that worthy name by the
which ye are called?” One Church of the Seven
that with which Jesus found no fault was the poor and penurious Church of
Smyrna. “I know thy works, and tribulation,
and poverty, (but thou art rich) and I know the blasphemy of them which say
they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan.”
(Rev 2:9) Wouldn’t you, friend, rather belong to a loving and even persecuted
and poor church than to the pharisaical synagogue of Satan? Wake up! Have you
been oppressed by the poor and humble, or has it been men who hunger after
wealth and power?
Have you known the Royal Law of Scripture which is that of the Great King? It
is the Law of Love on which all other laws hang. 8 “If ye fulfil
the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as
thyself, ye do well.” How is that law stated? “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and
with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great
commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as
thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”
(Matt 22:37-40) That Royal Law begins where every Royal Edict begins – with the
Great King. We must love the lord our God first and foremost. The unqualified
love we have for God is a mere reciprocation of that love He has for us. And
then, we must love everything associated with our God including our neighbors
whom He has Made. 9 “But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit
sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors.” Do not judge
people by the accident of their births or the size of their treasures – it is
sin. This sin is not really a single sin in isolation to all else. Murder,
theft, adultery, and lying are all outgrowths of this failure to esteem and
honor the lives of all people fairly and without distinction as to station in
life. A poor Russian peasant mother loves her child with perhaps a greater love
than the New York elitist mother who is very concerned about her career.
10 “For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one
point, he is guilty of all.” There is no living person who has only
breeched one law of God, for we all have broken as many commandments as can be
imagined. But, even if we had only broken one commandment, we would need the
justice of God for the breech which is death. God can brood no sin at all in
His Heaven. We must be made clean and Holy ere we enter into His Presence. So
we all stand under the conviction of sin even if only one. Guilt of one sin is
the same as guilt for all. “ For the wages of sin is death; but the
gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans
6:23) 11 “For 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 a
transgressor of the law.”
12 “So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the
law of liberty.” There
are but two approaches to addressing the disposition of a criminal (which we
all are): Either Justice, or Grace. With God, Justice will always be done for
the penalty MUST be paid. But the penalty HAS been paid freely for us by the
Lord Jesus Christ if we will accept Him as our Advocate at the Bar. This is
free Grace to us, but it cost our Lord His shame and humiliation at Calvary.
Our Liberty is in Christ. We enjoy the status of being considered righteous in
the eyes of God for we have the imputed righteousness of Jesus to be our own.
We may always enjoy the Mercy and Grace made available to us through His
suffering and death. Judged by THAT Law of Liberty, we stand as free citizens
of a free Kingdom. We have been pardoned and restored. That is Liberty to the
prisoner who Christ has set free.
What are the consequences of a judgmental and condemning disposition? It is the
same which shall be delivered to him at the White Throne Judgment. 13 “For
he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath shewed no mercy; and mercy
rejoiceth against judgment.” There is an excellent parable in
Matthew that describes this principle to the letter. It is that of the servant
who owed the king ten thousand talents (a debt approaching the national debt of
the United States). He was forgiven the debt after much pleading; yet, he went
out and saw a fellow servant who owed him only a hundred pence. He grabbed the
man by the neck and demanded his pay, or he would sell the poor man’s family
into slavery. The king’s guards witnessed this and reported to the king. The
wretched ingrate was, himself, cast into prison. (Matthew 18:22-35) If we would
find mercy with God, we must exercise the same to others. This is particularly
important for us who come to the Lord’s Table. Forgiveness must be granted to
all those who have offended us and seek that forgiveness before we approach the
Table of the Lord.
