This is Connect with Skip Heitzig. Thanks for joining us for today's program. At Connect with Skip, we're all about helping you connect with God's Word in a deeper way. That's why we make messages like Today's available to you and others across the globe. And right now, when you sign up for Skip's weekly devotional emails, you'll receive a free download of chapter 1 from Skip's book, The Biography of God.
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Now, let's dive into today's teaching from Pastor Skip Heitzig. Paul writes this: His purpose, God's purpose, was to make peace. By creating in Himself one new person. from the two groups. Together as one body, Christ reconciled both groups to God by means of his death, and our hostility toward each other was put to to death.
So it's not your brown, white, black, male, female, this, that. You're a child of God. You're a son or daughter of the living God in the church. That's where this diversity and inclusion reaches its pinnacle. And without the church, diversity becomes an idol we worship.
rather than a byproduct of the one we worship.
So, diversity, that kind of diversity that I just described from the world will turn people into very self-centered. Divisive Groups of people.
So As James begins, he says, My brethren, my Christian brethren. Do not hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with partiality. Then notice he gives this example in the next couple of verses, an example of sinful. Exclusion, bias, prejudice. He said, if somebody comes into your assembly, see that word assembly?
The word in Greek is sunagoge. What does that sound like? Synagogue. He's writing to Jewish believers who are still meeting in the synagogue.
So he says, Suppose you go to. to a synagogue one Sabbath. And you're there to worship God. And two different people walk in. One guy with the bling.
He's chic. One guy Who's shabby? See, they didn't have shabby sheik back then. It was you were either sheik Or you were shabby. In fact, you need to know this: there really was no middle class.
It was absent in the ancient world. Most people were in the lower class. Every now and then you'd have an upper class person.
So here's somebody comes in, dressed to the nines. Chic. Then somebody comes in shabby. Things have changed quite a bit.
So today you have Lousy-looking clothes that are phenomenally priced. And so now you can tell if a person has money because they're wearing really lousy-looking clothes. Oh, that person must have money. Look at the holes in his jeans.
Sorry, I couldn't resist that.
So People are prejudiced naturally. Second truth is that favoritism is foolish logically. I want you to notice what James does. Favoritism is wrong because of the character and nature of God, because of the person and nature of Jesus Christ, and because of. what the scriptures say, it's contrary to the scripture, but It's also contrary to basic logic.
And James asked four questions to appeal to the rationale of his audience. Four logical questions. First one is in verse 4. It's at a practical level. He says, Have you not shown partiality among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?
In other words, you're dividing people superficially, just on the outward appearance. True story. In the fall of 1775. What looked like an average American farmer tried to check himself into a fashionable hotel in Baltimore. The manager of the hotel, because of the high class of the hotel, was worried about the reputation of his institution if he were to rent a room to this poor farmer, so he turned him away and that farmer went somewhere else.
Until the manager discovered that farmer was none other. The Thomas Jefferson. who at the time was the Vice President of the United States under John Adams.
So he sent a letter to Jefferson begging him to come back at his own expense. He would sponsor him. He would take care of him. He would be welcome as his guest. Jefferson's response was simple.
He said this: I value your good intentions highly, but if you have no place for an American farmer, you have no right giving hospitality to the Vice President of the United States.
So that's the practical level that James is approaching his audience with. You're dividing people superficially. He says you become people with evil thoughts. That is, evil motives. You're trying to get something from that person.
Who has money? Second question is in verse 5. And this is the spiritual level. After looking at it on a practical level, he looks at it on a spiritual level and he says, 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, but you have dishonored the poor man. Uh What he's saying in the second question is you're dishonoring the very one that God wants to honor. Why is that?
Well, you'll notice in the ministry of Jesus that.
Well, I'll ask you. When it came to the people who follow Jesus, were most of them rich or most of them poor? They were poor. They were the common people, right? It tells us in the Gospel of Mark.
The common people. People heard him gladly. The farmers. heard him gladly. In Matthew chapter 11, John the Baptist sends a message to Jesus because he's A little bit.
Uncertain if Jesus is the Messiah.
So he sends some messengers to say, ask this Jesus, are you the coming one, or should we look for another? Jesus says, go tell John this. Go tell John. The blind see, the deaf hear, the lepers are cleansed. The Lame Walk And The poor.
Have the gospel preached to them. Then Paul the Apostle in First Corinthians chapter one, my life verse, by the way. It says, you see your calling, brethren, not many mighty. not many noble Has God called? Yeah, don't Don't make a mistake with that.
Paul didn't say not any, he just said not many. Every now and then you get a noble, mighty, brilliant, rich. Believer. But for the most part, not many mighty, not many noble are called, for God has chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise, those things that are weak and based and despised.
So most of the citizens of the kingdom. of God through the centuries have been the farmers, the common people, the poor. And they are dishonoring James is saying, you are dishonoring the one that God honors. Heard a great story, and I've always loved this story. Don't know if it's true or not, but it's a good story.
It was a woman who was trying to get into a fashionable church, and they were really reticent to let her in. And so she tried to go back several times, and they hemmed and hawed, and they said, Well, you got to go through this hoop and that hoop.
So finally, she came again one Sunday. She's very poor, and it was a very wealthy congregation. And one of the elders said to her, Well, go home and pray about it. For a month. And see what God has to say.
So she left and she never returned. One day, that elder was out in the community and saw her working at a job pushing a broom and said, Hey, I recognize you. You're that lady trying to join our church. Did you ever pray about it? Uh-huh.
And it God ever answer you back? She goes, Yes, he did, as a matter of fact. As I prayed about it and poured out my heart, because I really wanted to come to your church, I felt like the Lord spoke to my heart and told me this. Don't worry. I've been trying to get into that church myself for over 30 years with no more success than you've had.
That takes us to the third question. That's a historical level that he approaches them at, verse 6. Do not the rich oppress you and drag you into the courts. Evidently, those in the rich segment of society were oppressing. these poor believers, dragging them into court.
It's sort of still true these days. If you have money, you can afford to hire your own attorney. If you're poor, they give you a public defender. In court.
So what what James is essentially saying On this historical level, is why would you pander to the very group that has been against you historically? Why would you be building up the very ones that are trying to tear you down? Why would you pander to that? Or as John Calvin brilliantly captured it. Why honor your executioners?
The fourth question is in verse 7. And it's on a Relational level. Do they not blaspheme that noble name by which you are called? What is the name we bear? The name of Christ.
We are Christians. We call ourselves according to His name. Do they not blaspheme that noble name? By which you are called? They blaspheme the very name that you love, Christ.
Sometimes I notice that Christians pander. To God haters. In a society. Rock stars. Actors Politicians They just love them, love them, love them.
But then listen to what they say about you. And about the Christ that you serve.
So, just from a purely logical level, He's noticing they're pandering to a group of people and he's saying that makes no sense. You're listening to Connect with Skip Heidzig. Before we return to today's message, what does real spiritual maturity actually look like and how can you achieve it? In his new series, Adulting, A Study Through the Book of James, Pastor Skip gives straight talk from scripture on how to grow up in your faith through trials, temptations, and daily life. This eye-opening 21 message series is our thanks for your generous gift of $50 or more to help reach more people with God's Word through Connect with Skip.
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Now, let's get back to today's teaching from Pastor Skip. Here's another true story, and it's heartbreaking. Mahatma Gandhi, he writes this in his own book, his autobiography, Mahatma Gandhi, the Indian leader. In his student days, he went to a Christian church because he had been reading the Gospels. And in reading the four Gospels, especially the teachings of Jesus Christ, he noticed that this Jesus is different from anything I've ever heard before.
And it seems to me that the only answer to the caste system in our culture in India. high and low cash, you know about that.
So the only answer is the gospel. This is the answer. It would solve the problem of the caste differences in our culture. And he believed that so strongly in his student days. that he decided, I'm gonna go to a church and convert and become a Christian.
So one Sunday he went to Uh church. He is studying to become a lawyer at the time. As he entered the building, the usher refused to give him a seat. Turn them away. And suggested that he go worship with his own kind.
He was very dark-skinned. Go worship with your own kind. Mm-hmm. Mahatma Gandhi left the church. Never to return.
And in his autobiography, he writes these words: if Christians also have caste differences. then I might as well remain A Hindu. Never went back. Heartbreaking story.
So people are prejudiced naturally. That's the first truth. Else James would not have written this. Favoritism is foolish logically. He asks them four logical questions to appeal to their rationale.
Third, Christians are corrected. Biblically. It's one thing to approach somebody logically, but if you're a Christian, where the change happens is when you get chapter and verse. And so he gives them that. Look at verse 8.
If you really fulfill the royal law according to the scripture.
Now he's pulling out the big guns. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. You do well. But if you show partiality, you commit sin. and are convicted by the law.
As transgressors.
So he's using scripture to correct the thinking of the brethren. in these places. And he's quoting a very famous verse: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. Who said that? It was a trick question, actually.
Yes, he did say that. But he's not the one who originally said that. That actually comes from the law. That comes from way back in the Old Testament in Leviticus chapter 19, verse 8. It says, You shall not bear a grudge against any of the people around you, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself.
Now, of course, Jesus did affirm that. And of all the teachings in the Bible, this one truth is perhaps the most revolutionary truth: to love your neighbor. as yourself. Notice he calls it the royal law. Why the royal law?
Because though it was spoken about in the Old Testament, the king of kings himself. Affirmed it. And let me just tell you one of the ways he affirmed it. One day Jesus quoted Leviticus 19. And he said to the people who were listening to him, he said, You can sum up the whole law by two things: love God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength.
Love your neighbor as yourself. And some hot shot in the crowd listening to him said, Well, who's my neighbor? Right? Who's my neighbor? You know, you want to put a fine point, a nuance to it.
Yeah. Because that could mean a lot of things, my neighbor.
So Jesus said, Let me tell you who your neighbor is. A man went from Jerusalem to Jericho, fell among thieves. The thieves beat him up. Laid him on the side of the road. A Levite came by, passed by on the other side.
A priest came by, passed by on the other side. Two religious Jewish people. Finally, a Samaritan came by. Bandaged his wounds, cared for him. paid the money to the innkeeper.
In other words, This is your neighbor. Anyone that you know has a need. Love your neighbor as yourself. Care for others like you care for yourself. He quotes that scripture.
Calls it the royal law. Then, as we keep going down in our text, I just want to point it out before we read it in a moment. He quotes two other verses. In verse 11, do not commit adultery. And the next one, do not murder.
Two more verses of scripture. From Exodus chapter 20. Why? Because The scripture Is the basis for all our activity. Right?
Reason we do things. It's because the Bible says. It's not, we don't do things.
Well, you know, we've always done it that way. No, we do it because this is what the Bible says about that.
So it's always the Bible that should be the source of our authority for our activity and our change. 2 Timothy 3:16, all scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for Correction. for instruction in righteousness.
So James is correcting them biblically because Christians are corrected. Biblically. Fourth and final truth I want to point out to you is that life should be lived consistently.
Now that's what James is addressing in the remainder of the verses, verse 10. For whoever shall keep the whole law, 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. Can you imagine somebody saying that? I didn't break the law. I only murdered somebody. At least I didn't sleep with another man's wife.
Yeah, but you're a murderer. He's using extreme examples here. If you do that You have become a transgressor of the law.
So speak and so do as those who will be judged by the law of liberty. For judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over. Judgment. It's pretty apparent that James knew that some people in his audience who would read this letter would dismiss.
The idea proffered by James that their prejudice was a big deal. They would see it as, ah, it's trivial. It's not a big deal. It's a white sin. It's a white, kind of a white lie.
I'm a little bit prejudiced, but who isn't? People kind of do that today. They like to say, I'm not as bad as that guy. You know, I'm not perfect, but I'm not a murderer. But Jesus did say, you may not be a murderer physically, but if you hate your brother, you are.
A murderer. You may not be an adulterer, but if you lust after somebody, you are. An adulterer.
So, James' point with these extreme examples of adultery and murder is simply to showcase inconsistent obedience. Inconsistent obedience. Life should be lived consistently. A lawbreaker is a lawbreaker. If somebody breaks the law, he is now by definition a Law breaker.
He's broken the law. The law is like a chain with ten links. Let me ask you this: if you break one link. Did you break the chain? You broke the chain.
The same God who said, Don't be an adulterer, is the same God who said, Don't kill, don't steal, don't covet. If you break one law, you're a lawbreaker.
So his point is this: consistent obedience is required. If spiritual maturity is to be attained. If you're going to write one thing down, write that down. Consistent obedience is required if spiritual maturity is to be attained.
So then we should accept all Brothers and sisters, With courtesy, compassion, and consistency, just as love triumphs over prejudice, mercy triumphs over. Judgment. By the way, you should know this. There was found an ancient church manual. Goes way back hundreds, maybe even thousands of years, ancient church manual from the churches in Ethiopia, evidently based upon what we just read in James.
It gives instructions in that manual: if somebody rich comes into your congregation, That the presbyter, the elder, is to do nothing. at all. Just let that person be welcomed by the congregation. But if somebody poor comes in, the presbyter was to make sure that he was welcome and had a place to sit, even if the presbyter, the elder, had to give up his own seat. Oh, there's a poor person.
Let me give him my seat. That's exactly what Jesus did. When he left The place of incomparable glory. and came down to this earth. To save us.
Let me remind you of the verse, 2 Corinthians 8, verse 9. For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, Yet for your sakes he became poor. That you Through his poverty, might become rich. What James is advocating is nothing less than what Jesus himself practiced. He gave up His life.
He gave up his status and his position to serve, to make us who are spiritually poor. Eternally wealthy. As we began the service, one of the songs we sang, do you remember it as I Surrender All? I love that song. We all sang it, or at least most of us did.
I surrender all, but it... Truth be told, Some of you. have not surrendered At all. You've not surrendered your life to Christ. You watch people around you who have surrendered.
That's good. We're glad you're here. We don't care why you're here. We're glad that you are here. We don't care who you are, what you have.
We don't want anything from you. But we do want you. eternally rich. eternally wealthy. We want you to have the salvation that we enjoy.
And you should know that Jesus Christ left his throne of glory to make that possible. I call it the Great Exchange. God made him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in him.
So He made it possible. But Like DEI. that is forced upon us or unlike that, he will not force you to be saved. He will not force you to go to heaven. There's people that say, I want nothing to do with God.
Okay, you don't have to have anything to do with God. Ever. And if you don't want anything to do with God here, he would never make you live with him forever in heaven. God forbid. That you should have eternal heaven because you want nothing to do with God.
But if you want your life changed, if you want salvation to come to your life, it's possible. But you need to surrender. to him. You need to give your life to him. You need to receive Christ as your savior.
He paid the debt that you owe so that you might have heaven. They'll not force it. But he wants to make you eternally Rich, wealthy. Thanks for listening to Connect with Skip Heitzig. Before you go, don't forget to request this month's featured resource, Adulting, a study through the book of James, Pastor Skip's 21 Message series that gives you straight talk from Scripture about how to grow in spiritual maturity and live out your faith in the real world.
Adulting is our thanks for your generous gift of $50 or more to help share God's Word with more people. Call 800-922-1888 or visit connectwithskip.com/slash offer. And while you're there, sign up for Skiff's weekly devotional emails and get a free download of a chapter of Skip's The Biography of God. Come back next time for more verse-by-verse teaching of God's Word here on Connect with Skip Heitzig. Make a connection!
Make a connection, never fool. Connect with Skip Heitzig is a presentation of connection communications, connecting you to God's never-changing truth in ever-changing times.
