James 2:1-8

[Shield]

Shield> Hello and welcome everyone:)
Shield> lets open in prayer
Shield> Our Father we come before your throne
Shield> humbly seeking your face
Shield> we love you Lord
Shield> and we adore you
Shield> I pray for each person reading these words...
Shield> whether at this moment in the chatroom or via the logs later on...
Shield> bless their hearts...
Shield> minister to them
Shield> comfort and heal them at the point of their diverse needs
Shield> Lord...
Shield> some are feeling very lonely as they read these words
Shield> left out and even abandoned
Shield> touch them now I pray by your precious Holy Spirit...
Shield> may they sense that you are there with them in their homes
Shield> right now
Shield> in the name of Jesus
Shield> amen
Shield> James 2:1 My brethren, do not hold your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ with an attitude of personal favoritism.
Shield> James 2:2 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,
Shield> James 2:3 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,"
Shield> James 2:4 have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil motives?
Shield> go ahead and take a moment to let that portion of tonight's passage sink in
Shield> now then, having read it, what are your observations?
+HolyHeart> JESUS is glorious!
Shield> amen:)
+HolyHeart> tiz a high privilege to serve Him!
Shield> HolyHeart I appreciate you making that comment:)
Shield> amen!
+Sandyj> We shouldn't judge someone by their outside appearance, but by what is in their heart
Shield> yes, that is an interesting distinction...
Shield> because we can see the outward appearance...
Shield> but only God can see the heart
Shield> our observation of a persons heart...
Shield> is their behavior
Shield> or what we have observed of it
Shield> but God knows the true intents of the heart
Shield> beyond what a person does
+mar> I think that maybe he's trying to reinterate that God accepts all believers, be they jew, gentile, whatever
+mar> that it doesn't matter what there background is, it matters that they came
Shield> that is one element...
+mar> so we should be likeminded
Shield> but it does go beyond that into the arena of class distinctions...
Shield> yes tiggy?
@tiggy> i was going to say that even our observations of a person's behavior is clouded by our own perceptions of it
Shield> very true tiggy thanks..
+Shieldwolf> it is not so much checking out other people but yourself and your own motive
Shield> VERY good point
Shield> boy that cuts to the heart of this text
+Zeke1> to me this passage is not about judging peoples looks or status
+Zeke1> it is bout judging the people that judge people by their loks or status
Shield> well I think I see what you are saying
Shield> and that certainly is the intended audience for this text
Shield> by that I mean...
Shield> God is calling us as believers to account...
+Zeke1> James is asking us to evaluate the people we associat e with
Shield> regarding how we view others and treat them
@trishha> its an argument against partiality and inconsistency in ones conduct, an error in judement
Shield> well said trishha
Shield> let me make a couple of comments here...
Shield> When God inspired the writers of Scripture to write certain things...
Shield> it was not by accident
Shield> there was a reason
Shield> a motive
Shield> a need
Shield> in the lives of the reading community
Shield> so then when the writer penned these words..
Shield> it was because this kind of activity was prevalent in the church!
Shield> and you know what?
Shield> it is today as well
Shield> over the years and especially in recent days...
Shield> I have walked over the "ash-heap" of lives broken...
Shield> by the maltreatment that has been evidenced in certain churches
Shield> often this is due to gossip...
Shield> by I can tell you one story...
Shield> of a large affluent church in my state...
Shield> in the sixties...
Shield> during the Jesus movement...
Shield> they turned away several hippies who tried to attend their church
Shield> they were not well dressed and quite frankly they did not smell good
Shield> but there was a young pastor
Shield> he took them in
Shield> and loved them
Shield> they later became his elders
Shield> that church thrives today
Shield> with mulitple thousands of people
Shield> and has planted over 50 thriving churches around the globe
Shield> what is my point?
Shield> the church that showed favoritism missed out on what God wanted to do
Shield> so God did it elsewhere
+mar> it kind of reminds me of the story of picking David in I Samuel..
Shield> yea..there are some corollaries to be sure
+mar> God chose to work in someone others didn't recognize because of appearance
Shield> indeed mar
@trishha> partiality provokes Gods judgement
Shield> indeed trishha and we shall see that in the coming verses
+Shieldwolf> the gospels were writen for the poor and oppressed
Shield> well think of it this way...
Shield> Jesus said blessed are the poor in spirit....
Shield> for theirs is the kingdom of heaven
Shield> he also said it is harder for a camel to enter the eye of a needle...
Shield> than for a wealthy man to enter the kingdom of God
Shield> lets press on now...
Shield> James 2:5 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?
Shield> James 2:6 But you have dishonored the poor man. Is it not the rich who oppress you and personally drag you into court?
Shield> remember that this was a particular historical situation...
Shield> where indeed this was happening...
Shield> but I think we all know of instances where this kind of thing happens today as well
Shield> James 2:7 Do they not blaspheme the fair name by which you have been called?
Shield> let me ask you all this...
Shield> God chose the poor...
Shield> to be rich in faith...
Shield> and heirs of the kingdom
Shield> that is a given
Shield> how have the readers blasphemed and whom have they blasphemed?
Shield> any ideas?
@tiggy> they blasphemed Jesus
Shield> yes
Shield> agreed...
Shield> and how have they done so?
@tiggy is clueless
Shield> I appreciate an honest answer:)
@tiggy> :)
Shield> although I happen to know you have more clues than the game by that name:)
@trishha> we are suppose to love one another
Shield> go on sis..
@trishha> we cannot grow spiritually while we hate others
Shield> true
Shield> James 2:8 If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, "Love your neighbor as yourself," you are doing right.
Shield> verse 8 emphasizes that point
@trishha> our growning relationship with God will result growing relationship with others
@tiggy> did they blaspheme by taking them to court and making themselves the judge when Jesus is the true Judge????
Shield> amen indeed trishha
Shield> well let me offer you some greek insight...
Shield> the Greek word is transliterated here...
Shield> from its orignal form to the English Blaspheme
Shield> but it has shades of meaning...
Shield> such as slander...
Shield> insult
Shield> speak against God...
Shield> and so on
Shield> so in a sense I think the judging has a part to play in it
Shield> but it goes beyond that
Shield> because it is a judging based upon bias
Shield> unrighteous bias no less
+Shieldwolf> it is the rich blaspheming the poors persons name(sacred person)
Shield> lets look at the verse again...
Shield> James 2:7 Do they not blaspheme the fair name by which you have been called?
Shield> there is an assumption here...
Shield> and that is the persons being hurt are believers in Jesus
Shield> and when the rich went after them...
Shield> and degraded them
Shield> they were in effect going after the Lord God who called them by His name
+Shieldwolf> start with verse 6 and read through ...is it not the rich....
Shield> ok
Shield> James 2:6 But you have dishonored the poor man. Is it not the rich who oppress you and personally drag you into court?
Shield> James 2:7 Do they not blaspheme the fair name by which you have been called?
+Shieldwolf> o/
Shield> James 2:8 If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, "Love your neighbor as yourself," you are doing right.
Shield> ok one more and then we need to move on...:)
Shield> go ahead Shieldwolf
+Shieldwolf> they = the rich
Shield> yes I understand
Shield> but it is not a blanket statement...it is a statement specifically pointing out the rich whom are dragging the poor into court
Shield> the crux of the matter is this...
Shield> James 2:8 If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, "Love your neighbor as yourself," you are doing right.
Shield> Let's pray
Shield> Our Father we thank you for your Word
Shield> and the sobering admonition to treat those less fortunate with respect and dignity
Shield> Lord this was emphasized both in these verses and in the last verse of chapter one...
Shield> James 1:27 Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.
Shield> Lord may we become a people who put into practice the admonition of this Scripture..
Shield> and...
Shield> may those who have been unfairly treated come to you...
Shield> realizing that you are their provider and protector
Shield> thank you Lord
Shield> in Jesus name amen