The King's Commandment, Part 2

My third and final paraphrase of James answer three.

Let's get resolved to show love and mercy shall love and mercy James Rice were supposed to speak and so act as those were to be judged by the law of liberty choices in classes and just remember we are accountable, so speak and so act as those who are to be judged by the law of liberty, let's remember that there's somebody who lives above us. It doesn't matter if you live in the very top of the mountain. There somebody higher. They are often rooted in feelings of superiority. When a person thinks of himself as better or more important than another. It's easy to take the next step and start treating people poorly friend God hates prejudice and commands that we demonstrate unity today on wisdom for the heart. Stephen Davey takes us back to James chapter 2, where God makes his opinion clear on our last broadcast.

We began a message that we didn't have time to complete. This is the conclusion to Stephen's message entitled the king's commandment. James generation, the Jewish scholars believe that the laws of a series of detached command there all separated and if you can envision it, the 10 Commandments they viewed as as if you went bowling in their those 10 pins. I and you roll your ball down there and you're supposed to knock some of them over and avoid the two things along the edge which Bible I think there's some well anyhow but you not to over and there's eight left but there still extent that's the Jewish comprehension during the days of James with with the law to keep one law is to gain credit to break the law is is that goes in the other side of the calamine and so the end of the day you might have enough of these that outweigh this in your all right, which of course developed into something that the human heart pampers after it makes us feel good and there are a lot of people think you're getting a dab and because of that, and they envision God out there somewhere sitting by us scale with your name on it and you do get added to the side of the bad things get out of this side and if you can be long and you can the bad with the good and God will say you did fairly well. The laws of that role is in separated bowling deeds that we can categorize. It's a chain. Look at verse 10 whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point has become guilty of all that is we are all considered lawbreakers because we have broken anyone law, and that gives us the verdict you are lawbreakers or transgressors. If you break one only of the law you break the chain and become a lawbreaker.

I know if you're hanging on this over the side of a cliff and hear her hold onto it. A chain with 10 links which link is really important to you and the third when the matter of the ninth. That'll connect there's another way to understand the unity of the law which James is describing by which we all find ourselves to be lawbreaker is that they are all directly or indirectly related to this little exercise. If you take the sin of partiality or prejudice and connected to the 10 Commandments, you discover that in some way, either directly or indirectly you have violated all 10 here we go.

The first and second Commandments are broken simply because God commands us to not show partiality and to do so is to deny his will in place are will above kids thus idolizing our own opinion and not God's alone. The third commandment is broken because the favor someone over another is to misrepresent the name and nature of God. The fourth commandment is broken as we show favoritism in church, thus defiling our sacred worship.

The fifth commandment dishonors the poor and we should dishonor no one, especially those whom we should give our care and concern, prejudice and favoritism effectively kills the spirit in the hopes of the poor by demeaning them and thus violates the sixth the seventh commandment is violated as we favor the rich and powerful, and in so doing show infidelity and unfaithfulness to our Lord and to the bonds of this Christian family. The eighth commandment is broken as we steal from the poor, the dignity that is theirs as unique creations of God. The ninth commandment bears false witness because prejudice implies they have less worth than others and that is a lie in the 10th commandment is broken because favoring the rich is a form of consciousness which values possessions over and above the value of a human being.

All 10 of the people in this assembly might try to say, well, okay, we broke this little thing law but wheat we did show we did show some love me. We didn't kick the guy out. We let the poor guy stand by the wall and said we get the same one we had to get to hear the same message we heard.

We love him to which showed a little differently than we showed it to the rich got no love doesn't avoid the law. It is the highest law and it must be dispensed equally because the law supreme in the law of love is over and above all other laws infecting royal law is the law of love.

Just because you love doesn't mean you're not accountable to all the other laws mechanics using this guy doing all these things that matter.

Now you can say that look like if I if I get pulled over by state trooper on the way home today after church I got use your imagination on this but I can pull over because on Penny Road.

It is 45 miles an hour and I'm doing 47: I hate it when they do that only doing 47 get pulled over, but I do okay so I and a policeman comes up to my parties as Mr. Davey my pickup truck and he says I'm in have to write you a ticket. What if I said but I love you, officer, I mean I really love what you get. It is done in the window units. Excuse me sir, and I would say well I II just want you to know I love all the policeman of the world you would have me get out of the truck and breathe in this little plastic thing listen if I promise to love all of the state troopers can I speak maybe. I mean I mean true love does not set aside the law should make us want to keep the law. James is saying if you really want to love keep the loss of classism and racism and cultural favoritism, and in James mind are not just little misdemeanors. By the way, they violate the greatest, most supreme of all partiality, prejudice, pigeonholing whatever you want to call it violates both the vertical and horizontal law of God is nothing less than a violation of the heart of God seen in his condescension forgot the sonic when we discovered that God does not play favorites. God is not targeted any income level or race above another using massmarketing the gospel to attract a certain segment of society and I get those cards from churches in my mailbox that are doing exactly that very thing you glad God doesn't do that. Aren't you glad the gospel isn't just for people who have it together for people to live at the top of the mountain or maybe even the middle of the mountain that the gospel is also the people live at the bottom of the mountain. So what we need to do is we have to admit we have we have become acquainted with God's hearts.

The solution is to become reacquainted with what Jesus Christ said is the greatest law that should govern everything. We should also get real about lame excuses to get reacquainted with the father start to get real about lame excuses, James is anticipating somebody in the assembly not only a lot of this going to say okay we could have been nicer to the poor guy look we were nice to the rich guy so if you if you are doing your maps even at 55th one attitude is for baseball we be back in 500 we be heading to the Hall of Fame. James says you're not even getting to first base writes in verse nine look there if you show partiality or committing sin, your convicted by the laws transgressors forever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point has become guilty of all that is. He is a transgressor.

So James anticipates that an argument of self-defense and anticipates it the spirit of God moving through him because the spirit of God, knows full well human nature and human nature is brilliant at concocting loopholes and excuses.

Someone once said that we have several million laws to deal with all of the excuses created by people who won't keep 10 commandment James anticipates the response in verse 11 where he said do not commit adultery also said do not commit murder that you do not commit adultery but do commit murder, you become a transgressor of the law again. He sang the law as a unit were all lawbreakers.

By the way, not because we broken every law, but because we have broken the law. James is saying here is his illustration. You don't stand before a judge, guilty of murder and say your automatic may I mention that I never committed adultery expecting the judge to go hopeful well in that case, you can do for James uses courtroom language or system of justice would not say to a guilty see you know it comes to my mind are 100 things that you've not done so will let this one thing that you done slip under the radar and you can just slide on through see the problem with the human heart is is that we would look at classism and racism and we would say look, Lord, I haven't done bigger crimes against you, like murder or adultery engine. James E is anticipating that he says you're still a lawbreaker because you have violated at least one of them Yankee candle you can fall into this human nature, loopholes, loving self defending culture imitating attitude you talk to somebody on the street about being a sinner and don't respond to you with well, wait a second. I didn't do this and I've never done that and I never done this and I've never done that. I've never done that. He human nature because when work confronted with the fact that were lawbreakers.

We immediately think think.I did that or that or that James is proving the were all guilty of breaking the law and the concern of his heart. Is this sinful deed and attitude of partiality and he actually puts it in the company of adultery and murder. Frankly, his point is that sin is sin and any sin is as sinful as any other sin. Some sin may have more serious consequences, but all sin makes us all transgressors. So were all guilty like the word transgressor that James uses at the end of verse 11 is a compound word that means literally to walk beside to step over the word is used of someone who has a path and are supposed to walk it and they stepped off the ideas of alignment and and you step over it. We have that same expression today in English I results of over the line. What we mean. Don't transgress sin is stepping over the line. Sin is failing to walk the line James calls a transgression of the world and our own fallen nature will excuse it and we will say you know what I live the good life. And if you care, I'll take all the things I never did were guilty: off the Internet. A news article some time ago but is a classic illustration of this gentleman who would become at the age of 91. He was a successful businessman and family man and in the 91 he became known as the oldest bank robber in US history, and when interviewed he said you know why our banks because I feel good about. I feel awful for our sometimes they in 1998 I read this article before his 87th birthday week before he entered the Southtrust Bank in Biloxi Mississippi told the girl behind the counter to give him money. He was caught put in jail for three his cellmate was a bank robber who taught how to rob banks successfully. When he got out of prison, he attempted to get was caught. This time he spent three years in prison at the age of 87 he became the oldest inmate in the Florida prison system. When he got out eventually got a car from his nephew and attempt rob another bank but was caught again now and 91 is in prison where he died.

He was interviewed during his final incarceration which become time it is interested in. This is what grab my attention during every he said I have quote led a good life and I have no regrets. I live the good life and you know what much of his life probably was, but he also attempted to steal money than that belonged to him. He also cost the taxpayer to support his incarceration legal. He became a convicted felon is a bank robber and yet even as he sat in prison he said I live the good life and I have no X what you say I didn't do this business is scala.would say that's the human heart.

James is saying, perhaps, to our surprise, partiality and prejudice as part of our corrupted nature and God is saying to us, don't worry about it. Let that slip on through because you haven't done this. This this or that there are no loopholes.

Even the violation of fact law, even partiality makes us transgressor.

So what are we gonna do is my third and final paraphrase of James answer number three let's get resolved to show love and mercy as we demonstrate the gospel. Let's show love and mercy. James writes in verse 12, so speak and so act as those who are to be judged by the law of liberty, the antidote to racism, classism is to remember we are accountable, so speak and so act as those who are to be judged by the law of liberty, let's remember there's somebody who lives above us. It doesn't matter if you live in the very top of the mountain. There's somebody higher. As believers we will stand before him in.

He will reveal to us what he considered profitable or unprofitable.

The unprofitable will be burned away the profitable will be rewarded and it is this law and fact James is by the way, it's the law of liberty isn't that interesting, perhaps ironic, but it's true.

The believer who lives as a slave to the will of God and the law of God knows he experiences as he obeys the greatest measure of freedom.

You can ever experience submission to the will of God bring the greatest measure of joy. There is no greater fulfillment. There is no greater sense of satisfaction in saying, Lord, whatever it is you want me to do. I am willing to do it in here in this text are telling me to topple over in my own heart.

The mountain to turn it upside down to deal with prejudice and partiality in my own heart toward others. I am willing to do that and I will do it for I can do all things through Christ who strengthens by the way, this is in the context beginning back in verse 26 of chapter 1 deals with widows and orphans and now here in chapter 2 the poor. James writes so speak and so act present active imperative. That's his favorite. That's it! After each one of these.

So speak keep on speaking keep on doing nonstop. Keep it going where you are, where more opportunities that are offering you to be able to speak in love and grace and mercy and love and grace and mercy deal money you said that every believer's Bible really ought to be bound in shoe leather. Just do it. Let's admit though that there are commands and the fact that we are commanded there is natural resistance.

It must be the spirit of God in our lives and are surrendered to the spirit of God takes that resistance and turns it into a meeting or something about responsibility that that will put off. There's something about the pressure to be nice. We were coiling what he told to be nice to be told to mind my manners while your mother and remind you all the time at the table. Never been at the mall. The restaurant here in the parking lot in your car and you're waiting for that person to get into their car in the pullout so you can pull in and you are convinced they are taking their sweet time.

It's actually true. It is would you believe it, I came across this is just wonderful. A recent study of 400 drivers. I don't know whose job is to study drivers in the moment. Here it is 400 drivers were studied in time and they found it. Drivers took longer to pull out of the space.

If somebody was reading on I knew it I actually tying them. The study discovered nobody was waiting for the space drivers took an average of 32 seconds to open her door get in and start the car and back out of their spot 32 seconds if they saw before they got in that somebody was waiting for them. They took an average of nearly 10 more seconds and then to those who don't do that. They took five more seconds. The key is not to let them know you want their spot. Okay, she's human.

It's tragic.

It's funny but it's it's who we are. Don't push me don't tell me don't try serving J if you don't, your center is writing to the church. He ends this discussion by saying in verse 13 when he began to talk about for the last 14 verses but in verse 13 reasons for judgment will be merciless to show mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment. Don't misunderstand the sermon of 60 seconds. James is not saying mercy earned if mercy is earned. It's not mercy. James is simply giving us in this verse to what they call aphorism. These are two wise statements grammatically.

These are two statements joined without a conjunction, which means he's dropping in general true. By way of summary, the first truth is for the world second truth is for the believer.

The first truth is you are known for your lack of mercy are known to be driven to judge without mercy are known to classify and divide to scramble up the mountain and step over anybody. You need to get there. Guess what, there's a day coming when you will not receive. There's no mercy at the great white throne of Revelation chapter 20 the world will be judged and found to belong to the shock one and the same class of people, namely the contempt for the believer is come to know the Savior is mercy. He says in the second aphorism God's mercy triumphs over judgment because we are in Christ is mercy triumphs, which are scale look like Christ saved us according to his mercy. Titus 35. God is rich in mercy, because of his great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive in Christ Jesus. Ephesians 24 in us is mercy has triumphs over judgment and we will be all found one day, much to our surprise to be in one class, namely the forever.

The hymn writer put it this way by God's word at last my sin.

I learned that I trembled at the lights burned to my guilty soul imploring turn to Calvary mercy. There was great and grace was free pardon, there was multiplying the mean there my burden soul found liberty at Calvary challenge of James to you dear unbelieving person is this run to the mercy of God. The message to the servant of Christ is this, since we have received and we benefit forever from the mercy of God, can we do anything less than demonstrate the same people cannot do anything orphan window to get reacquainted with the hard we need to get real about a lame excuse when you get resolved show mercy to our the king's commandments.

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