Don’t Judge A Brother By His Cover
Notes
Transcript
The Bible is replete with examples of individuals who at first glance seemed to have little value, yet in God’s eyes, they were exactly the man or woman for the job.
David was small in stature and a shepherd boy, not the first choice for king in human eyes, but God saw his heart.
Rahab was a prostitute who took in the Israelite spies in Jericho. She was a woman of ill reputation, yet God saw her faith and saved her and her family. In fact, she would become one of Jesus' relatives in his lineage.
The poor woman who gave just a mite was commended by Jesus because she gave everything she had with pure motives. The value of her gift wasn’t the amount of money she gave, but the heart behind it.
James starts chapter two with a reminder that we need to be careful not to judge a brother by his cover.
Like the rest of the book of James, James provides us with a simple outline to follow. We will identify three points to consider and what I believe James is trying to teach us this morning.
The Sin of Partiality
The Sin of Partiality
My brethren, do not hold your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ with an attitude of personal favoritism.
James starts off right away with a stern statement.
You might even read it this way… “You say you have faith in Christ, then why are you not following His example?”
We see throughout Scripture that God does not show favoritism or partiality, yet this was a major problem in the early church, and it remains today.
For there is no partiality with God.
Not only does He not show partiality in general, but He also does not show partiality in judgment.
For he who does wrong will receive the consequences of the wrong which he has done, and that without partiality.
I love the story in Acts 10, which tells about Cornelius and Peter.
Cornelius was a devout man but a Gentile.
God tells him to have Peter come to his household.
Peter has a vision of different foods, we see this in verse 28.
And he said to them, “You yourselves know how unlawful it is for a man who is a Jew to associate with a foreigner or to visit him; and yet God has shown me that I should not call any man unholy or unclean.
Peter had spent all those years with Jesus, yet it took this event for him to make that statement. Look at verse 34 of Acts 10.
Opening his mouth, Peter said: “I most certainly understand now that God is not one to show partiality,
Favoritism or partiality was a real issue at the start of the church. You had the Jews and the Gentiles. It was so ingrained in the Jewish mindset to see any Gentile as less than, and so James is writing this letter to counteract that way of thinking.
Is this still relevant today?
Absolutely!
Consider our society, even among believers.
Our churches are still largely segregated.
We tend to cater to certain demographics.
I have attended churches where, if you didn’t drive a Mercedes or BMW or if you were a lady without a name-brand purse, they would look down on you.
The question we need to be asking ourselves collectively is whether the sin of partiality is a problem for Calvary Baptist.
Let's examine the next set of verses, as Peter provides an illustration.
Partiality Illustrated
Partiality Illustrated
For if a man comes into your assembly with a gold ring and dressed in fine clothes, and there also comes in a poor man in dirty clothes,
and you pay special attention to the one who is wearing the fine clothes, and say, “You sit here in a good place,” and you say to the poor man, “You stand over there, or sit down by my footstool,”
have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil motives?
Church Members Mistreat Homeless Man in Church Unaware It Is Their Pastor in Disguise
May 16, 2017
Pastor Jeremiah Steepek transformed himself into a homeless person and went to the 10,000 member church that he was to be introduced as the head pastor at that morning.
He walked around his soon to be church for 30 minutes while it was filling with people for service, only 3 people out of the 7-10,000 people said hello to him.
He asked people for change to buy food – no one in the church gave him change.
He went into the sanctuary to sit down in the front of the church and was asked by the ushers if he would please sit in the back.
He greeted people to be greeted back with stares and dirty looks, with people looking down on him and judging him.
As he sat in the back of the church, he listened to the church announcements and such.
When all that was done, the elders went up and were excited to introduce the new pastor of the church to the congregation.
“We would like to introduce to you Pastor Jeremiah Steepek.” The congregation looked around clapping with joy and anticipation.
The homeless man sitting in the back stood up and started walking down the aisle. The clapping stopped with all eyes on him.
He walked up the altar and took the microphone from the elders (who were in on this) and paused for a moment then he recited,
“Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
‘For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in;
naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’
“Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink?
‘And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You?
‘When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’
“The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’
After he recited this, he looked towards the congregation and told them all what he had experienced that morning.
Many began to cry and many heads were bowed in shame.
He then said, “Today I see a gathering of people, not a church of Jesus Christ. The world has enough people, but not enough disciples. When will YOU decide to become disciples?”
He then dismissed service until next week.
We must be careful to treat everyone with the same Christian love and care, regardless of their background or financial status.
It is tempting to seek to attract lawyers, doctors, and those who, by the world's standards, are wealthy. However, if our reason for inviting them to our church is solely because of their wealth, then our motives are wrong and sinful. Everyone, regardless of status—rich or poor—is important and valuable to the body of Christ.
All of us, before coming to Christ, were clothed in the filthy rags of sin. Why then do we judge those who may come with a chance to hear the gospel, and yet we don’t treat them with the dignity of someone for whom Christ died?
James continues illustrating what true wealth looks like.
True Wealth Illustrated
True Wealth Illustrated
Listen, my beloved brethren: did not God choose 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. Is it not the rich who oppress you and personally drag you into court?
Do they not blaspheme the fair name by which you have been called?
Often, those who are poor here on earth are rich in heaven. Why? Because they lead a life of faith and trust in the Lord.
There is nothing wrong with wanting to be rich; the question is where you want to be rich.
Some people possess earthly wealth and are meek in spirit, but they are few in number. I have had the privilege of knowing some of them.
But generally, human nature leads us to depend on our own wealth rather than the wealth we gain from faith and dependence on God
When our dependence is on anything other than God, we live independently of Him and in sin. Additionally, when we show prejudice and preference, we are actually blaspheming the name of the Lord, according to verse 7.
James shows us in the next verses how the sin of partiality actually breaks the law and is therefore sin.
Illustration from the Law
Illustration from the Law
If, however, you are fulfilling the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well.
But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors.
For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all.
For He who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not commit murder.” Now if you do not commit adultery, but do commit murder, you have become a transgressor of the law.
Showing favoritism violates the Law.
Why is this important?
I don’t think we consider the sin of partiality or favoritism enough, but James reminds us that breaking one part of the Law means we're guilty of breaking all of it.
In God’s eyes, showing partiality — in other words, not loving others as much as we love ourselves — is no different than murder.
As believers, we must remember that although our sins are forgiven and we are heading to heaven, our actions while on earth will still be judged. Therefore, James concludes this section with a warning.
The Warning
The Warning
So speak and so act as those who are to be judged by the law of liberty.
For judgment will be merciless to one who has shown no mercy; mercy triumphs over judgment.
We will all stand before the Lord in judgment.
As believers, this will not be the Great White Throne judgment reserved for those who do not have their names written in the Book of Life.
However, we will be judged for our works—both the works we have done in the name of Christ and those done in the flesh.
Now if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw,
each man’s work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man’s work.
If any man’s work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward.
I believe many believers will enter heaven through what I call fire insurance.
There were rewards to be gained, but instead of doing things for Christ and His way, they pursued their own path.
When I think of the rewards I will receive, it’s not for my own pride, but to lay that crown at the feet of the one who saved me — Jesus Christ!
the twenty-four elders will fall down before Him who sits on the throne, and will worship Him who lives forever and ever, and will cast their crowns before the throne, saying,
“Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created.”
I believe that someday, like the twenty-four elders, we will also have the chance to worship Christ in the same way by giving Him the crowns we've earned through His grace.
In closing this morning, I want to make an additional point as to why judging others, especially believers, is so sinful.
Turn with me to Zechariah 3.
Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him.
The Lord said to Satan, “The Lord rebuke you, Satan! Indeed, the Lord who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is this not a brand plucked from the fire?”
Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments and standing before the angel.
He spoke and said to those who were standing before him, saying, “Remove the filthy garments from him.” Again he said to him, “See, I have taken your iniquity away from you and will clothe you with festal robes.”
I want you to hear me very clearly this morning.
Satan is the accuser of the brethren.
Satan is the one who points out our uncleanness.
When you or I cast judgment on a fellow believer, we are acting just like Satan.
We may be casting judgment on their appearance.
We may be casting judgment on their health.
When we do this, we are pawns of Satan himself.
According to scripture and as illustrated here in Zechariah, as believers, we are all, because of the blood of Christ, in our standing before God, clothed in royal robes of righteousness, cleansed and pure before Him.
Let us not judge others by their outward appearance and become pawns of Satan.
Instead, let us show grace and love one another as true disciples of Christ.
Let’s Pray.
