If you got a Bible, turn with me to James, chapter two. We jumped into chapter two last week, so we're going to continue in that. Before we jump into it. We live in a culture right now. More specifically, we live in an area of the country where it's still generally acceptable to be a Christian, to call yourself a Christian, right, that you can show up to church this morning, and I won't say this for everybody, but my assumption would be that most of you in this room, like, nobody's going to ridicule you for being here today. Now, I know there's some specific instances where that might be the case, but generally it's pretty acceptable for you to show up to church this morning. It's even acceptable for you to say, like, oh, yeah, I'm a Christian, and we live in this world where that's acceptable, which is encouraging. I hope we're all encouraged by that. I know our world is trending in a much different direction. That's an encouraging place to be when it's accepted. But it also is a dangerous place to be. It's a dangerous place to be because I think we can kind of snuggle up next to this comfortable Christianity that makes us feel good, where we love coming to Veritas on a Sunday morning, and we love the worship team, and we love to praise Jesus, and we love to do all those things and kind of, it makes us feel really good. But my concern, and I think the danger is that for some people in this room, there's a false sense of security that comes with that, that you go, yeah, I'm a Christian. But then your life doesn't seem to align with what you're saying or what you're hearing every Sunday. I think that's what James has really been addressing thus far. If you're new with us, the Book of James, James writes to a group of dispersed Jewish background believers. So these people have become believers. And then because of persecution, most likely, they're scattered into a bunch of different places, so they're no longer in the familiar place that they're used to. With the familiar people that they're all the familiar people they're used to. They've been scattered and dispersed. And so he's writing because some of them have been deceived. Some of them have been deceived into thinking they are a Christian because they just call themselves Christians. And so he's kind of saying, hey, I want to show you what authentic faith really looks like. I want to show you how to work out your salvation. And it's kind of like he's putting authentic faith on trial. So I want you to pretend with me for a second, all right? Just imagine this with me. Imagine that you are in a courtroom right now. Now, courtrooms don't have, like, pretty paintings all around. It's a pretty bland courtroom, right? And you're sitting there and it's not very fun. And it's also not really fun because you're the one on trial. You're sitting there on trial, and what you are being accused of is being a fake Christian. And what James has been doing God through James, as kind of the prosecutor, is to say, hey, I'm going to prove to you, I'm going to show you that your faith might not be authentic unless it's lived out in these ways. So he said, hey, if you go through trials and you're just trying to escape the trials and get out of them and you don't see what God's trying to do in your life through those trials, maybe your faith is not working itself out the way it's designed to work itself out. Or when you face temptations in your life and you're tempted to sin. Authentic Christianity doesn't give birth to those sins that lead to death, but it avoids those sins. If you're really a Christian, your faith will work itself out. And when you hear the gospel, when you hear the preaching of the word, when somebody shares a Bible verse with you, you receive it well, or do you push back against it? And then when you hear that word, do you actually do something about it? Because James is saying, if you're an authentic Christian, you don't just hear the word. You actually live the word out. And then James is saying, hey, authentic Christianity actually sees the helpless in our society and shows compassion to those people. But it doesn't just show compassion to the helpless, but it cares deeply about holiness. And then last week, when we get into chapter two, what James is trying to get at is this, hey, the gospel actually affects your faith, actually affects how you treat people. And remember the scenario, there was a man who walked into the church assembly and he has a gold ring and fine clothes on. And the people in the church go, oh, you sit right here in a good spot, but a poor person walks in and says, in shabby clothing. They walk in and you're like, hey, you just sit over here to the side, or you sit at my feet and serve me. And James is saying, what you're doing is showing partiality. You're showing favoritism based on appearance. And that is not the way faith works itself out. Doesn't do that. So he said last week, showing partiality is wrong. And the reason it was wrong was because we value the things of the world more than we value God, he said. So this is what it is and this is why it's wrong. Today we're actually going to talk about partiality again. But we're not just going to talk about what and why. We're going to talk about a better way. A better way than showing partiality, showing favoritism based on appearance. So it's kind of like this. If I'm trying to teach my kids, hey, don't run across the street or don't run through a parking lot, how are we going to do that? So my kids are going to take off running from our house and they're going to get to the cross street and they're going to run across the street because the pool, the neighborhood pool is like across our street. So they love to run to the pool, but there's a busy street that crosses and if they're running and if I just say don't run across the street, they might hear me. All right, I'm going to yell loud if they're running. Really? Okay. All right. That's just what's going to happen. All right, so they run. I'm going to say you don't do that. You don't run across the street. And then what's the question? That I'm going to immediately get from them. Why, dad? Because you're going to get hit by a car and get hurt really bad or die. All right, we're just blunt with our kids. All right? That's what's going to happen to you. All right? It's not going to be a good situation for you if you just take off running across the street. Now, I can tell them, hey, don't do that. And this is why you don't do that. But what I ultimately have to do is say, I want to give them instruction. There's a better way to cross the street, right? You walk to the street, you stop, then you look both ways. You know, cars are coming. Then you can walk across the street. So it's not just, hey, there's something that's wrong and this is why it's wrong. But there's actually a better way to go about doing this. And that's what James is going to get to this morning. There is a better way than showing partiality and showing favoritism. So let's see what it is in James, chapter two, verses eight through 13. If you really fulfill 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 but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it. For he who said, do not commit adultery also said, do not murder. If you do not commit adultery but do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty. For judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment. So let's go back to the courtroom for a second. And you're the one sitting on the witness stand, and you're being accused of being a fake Christian. And you've got to defend yourself on why you are acting the way that you're acting or living the way that you're living. And I think, as any good prosecuting attorney here, James is saying, like, I'm going to anticipate some of your defenses and I'm going to address those before you can even address them. And the first one is this, hey, some of you are treating people impartial or with partiality. You're treating people with favoritism based on their appearance as you're doing that. You know that it's not okay, but the excuse or the defense could be, well, I'm just loving my neighbor. That's why I'm treating those people so well. It just sounds goofy right when you say it out loud. But what does he say back in verse eight? If you really fulfill the royal law according to the scripture, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. You're doing well if you are truly doing that. If you are actually loving your neighbor, well, you are loving your neighbor as yourself. He goes, great. You are doing the right thing. That's awesome. I hope we would all be marked as a church like that. Man, those people love their neighbors really well. Those people love other people really, really well. This is what authentic faith looks like. You love your neighbor as yourself. Now, why is it such a great thing? Because it's attached to the royal law. Says if you really fulfill the royal law. Now, royal here means belonging to and leading to the king. Belonging to and leading to the king that this law that's been given, that's being summarized. And love your neighbor as yourself. This has come from the king. He's the one that's given it. Now we see this. First show up this law. First show up in Leviticus, Chapter 19. Now, I know a lot of you don't read Leviticus every day, all right. But this is what Leviticus 15, 1915 through 18 says. You shall do no injustice in court. You shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great. So this is not just something that James has come up with. This is God to Moses WAy back in Leviticus. But in righteousness shall you judge your neighbor. You shall not go around as a slanderer among your people. And you shall not stand up against the life of your neighbor. I am the Lord. You shall not hate your brother in your heart. But you shall reason frankly with your neighbOr. Lest you incur sin because of him. You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people. But you shall love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord. So this is something that God has given long, long time ago. This is not a new command, like, to love your neighbor as yourself. He's given it to his people many, many years before. It's coming from God. That's why it's a good thing to follow it. It's coming from God. But Jesus actually expands this even more in Matthew, chapter 22. A very familiar passage for many of you. This is what happens. But when the Pharisees heard that he, being Jesus, had silenced the Sadducees they gathered together. So Jesus had silenced this one religious group. And now this other religious group is coming after him. And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him, teacher. Which is the greatest commandment in the law? And he said to him. You shall love the Lord your God. With all your heart. And with all your soul. And with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it. So he's summarizing all the law and love the Lord your God. And the second is like it. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the law and the prophet. All the law is hanging on these two commandments. The first one, love the Lord your God. With all your heart, soul, mind and strength. That's what you need to do. There's a deep love for God. Where you treasure him above all else. And when you treasure God that way, it's going to overflow in how you treat other people. And he says, the second's like it. Love your neighbor as yourself. This is the royal law. Because it's one of the two most important laws that were given and confirmed by the king of kings. That's what makes it royal. And he goes, you are doing well. If you are purely completing the heart and essence of what King Jesus demands you to do, that is a good thing. That is a really good thing. If that's how you're living out your faith, ChristiAn, great. That's awesome. But verse nine. But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. So he gives a contrast to loving your neighbor. If you're loving your neighbor, that's great. You're doing what King Jesus demands you to do. But if you're showing partiality, you're committing sin, and you're being convicted by the law as a transgressor. If you're treating other people differently based on their appearance, you are not loving your neighbor as yourself, you are committing sin. If you are showing partiality based on people's class and weight and color and age and attractiveness, you are not loving your neighbor as yourself. So he goes, keep the law of King Jesus. That's great. That's authentic Christianity. Show partiality, that's sin. Some of you in this room right now, you're going, okay, I get it. It's a sin to show partiality. Why are we talking about this two weeks in a row? Aren't there bigger things to deal with in our world? Like there are wars going on, there's division, there's terrorism, there's mass shootings, there's gender confusion. There's all these things. Why at church are we going to talk two weeks about showing partiality? If you go back to the courtroom and you're on the stand and God through James is saying, I want to demonstrate to you. I need you to show me. I need you to demonstrate to me why your Christianity is authentic. And he goes, you've been showing partiality to people. You've been showing favoritism. And you go, wait, James, you know I'm a Christian. Like, I come to church. I haven't killed anybody. I haven't cheated on my spouse. You know I'm a Christian, right? And James, anticipating that, writes verses 1011 for whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point, has become accountable for all of it. For he who said, do not commit adultery also said, do not murder. If you do not commit adultery, but you do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. There's a principle in verse ten and an example he gives in verse Eleven. And again he's going if you've put your life under the authority of King Jesus and you're following what King Jesus says, you're doing great. If not, you're a transgressor of the law, and you have to keep the law 100% of the law, 100% of the time. That's how. You're not a transgressor. If you keep 100% of the law 100% of the time, a perfect score in the law is required forever. That's kind of sobering news, right? Like, oh, wait, that's hard. If you've committed one act of adultery, you're an adulterer. If you've committed one murder, you're a murderer. If you have broken one law, you are a lawbreaker. Paul summarizes it like this in Romans chapter 13. O no one anything except to love each other. For the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. For the commandments, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall not not steal, you shall not covet, and any other commandment are summed up in this word. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. Love does no wrong to a neighbor. Therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law. But you got to get that right every single time. Now, he's not lowering the bar in murder and adultery. He's raising the bar for every other sin here. That's what James is doing, raising the bar. You go, man. I haven't killed anybody. I haven't cheated on my spouse. But if you're showing partiality, you're a transgressor of the law. If you have treated someone differently because of their appearance, you've broken the law. If you discriminate against people because of their appearance, you have broken the law. If you are racist, you have broken the law. And again you go, hold on. I haven't killed anybody. I know my friend, they cheated on their spouse, but I haven't. So why is breaking the law that big of a deal? Why is it that big of a deal? The first four words of verse eleven, give us a hint. For he who said, do not commit adultery also said, do not murder. For he who said, who's the he he's talking about? So I'm a God. God. Remember, the king gave this law. For he who said, it's about the king, it's about God. When you break a law, you sin against God. When you break a law, you sin against God. If you disobey the law, it's a big deal because of who you have disobeyed, not simply the act of disobedience. Now, what I think James is trying to get his audience to see at this point is kind of the ultimate characteristic of God here. And the ultimate crowning attribute of God is God's holiness. God's holiness. When I talk about holiness, I mean absolute moral purity. He's morally flawless in every single way. And because he's morally flawless in every single way, there is a clear, crystal clear gap between him and between humanity. He's distinct. He is set apart. There is no one like him. There is no thing like him. That's why our sin, including showing partiality, is bigger than we believe it often to be. Because who you sin against makes your sin far worse than just what you thought, just what you said, or just how you acted. And it affects more than just your mind. Oh, I feel bad because I've sinned. It affects more than your marriage. It affects more than your kids. Because unholy, unrighteous acts are an absolute offense against a holy, righteous God. Our sin is far worse than we imagine. It's deeper than just breaking the moral law. It's deeper than just breaking the royal law. It's deeper than just being a transgressor of the law. You're a transgressor against a holy God. And some have been deceived into thinking like, oh, yeah, I call myself a Christian. I'm not going to love my neighbor as yourself. And you're deceived because you're comparing it to a terrorist. Like, oh, yeah, I feel better about myself. Right? I feel better about myself when I compare myself to a murderer. But I haven't killed anybody. He's going, but you've sinned against a holy God by showing partiality. Your appearance before God is anything but good apart from Christ. And we're going to get to the Jesus part in a second, all right? Because some of you are like, this is heavy, man. There's good news coming, I promise. But in order to realize how great the good news is, we got to sometimes realize how bad the bad news is. So if I could just summarize what James is saying up to this point. He's saying this, showing partiality is a sinful offense against a holy God. Showing partiality is a sinful offense against a holy God. So that's what he's saying. But this is what I think James is actually trying to do to his audience. He's trying to tell believers, you need to take your sin seriously, believer, take your sin seriously. Because I think some of us struggle with selective obedience. We take some sin seriously. But we don't take all sins seriously. We take murder seriously. But we don't take our laziness seriously. We take adultery seriously. But we don't take our gossip seriously or our pride or our gluttony or our selfishness. He's saying, scattered believers, you got to take your sin seriously. This is how faith works itself out you go, I didn't rob a bank. But you keep cheating on your time card at work and you've stolen from your job. Well, I didn't murder anybody. But you hate somebody that's hurt you. And that hate has grown into bitterness and anger and rage and malice. Well, I haven't had an affair. But you won't stop watching the sex scenes and all the TV shows. We got to take our sins seriously. Veritas. Let's be a church that takes our sins seriously, because it's not just about breaking a law. It's because we worship a holy God. What do you do? How do you operate when you hear this? Look at verses twelve and 13. So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty, for judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment. He says, I want you to speak and act differently because of this and the tense there is, I want you to keep on speaking and keep on acting differently. He says, as those who are to be judged by the law of liberty. Now, we're not going to touch on the law of liberty because we touched on that in chapter one, verse 25. So you can kind of go back and listen to that. But it's a little bit strange here. All right. I want to take my sins seriously, so how should I act? You should speak and act a certain way. As those to be judged under the law of liberty, we're to speak and act as though it's judged. That just feels odd, like I'm supposed to think about my judgment and that's what causes me to act differently. Well, it's a link back to the beginning of Chapter two that we looked at last week. Chapter two, verses one and four says, this, my brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of Glory. And then what he does is he gives that example about the person coming into the gathering. All right, so show no partiality, because this is what it says about you. Have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become what judges with evil thoughts? He's saying, when you show partiality, you've become judges of other people. When you treat people based on their appearance and you show favoritism that way, what you've done is you've become a judge. And he's going, hey, I need you to speak and act not as people judging others right now, but as the one that's going to be judged by God in the future. Sometimes we can often say, like, oh, only God can judge me. That's a scary thought. Only God, a holy God, can judge you? Yes, that's the one we need to be the most aware of, saying, before you start judging other people, I want you to remember the judgment, the impending judgment that's coming in your future. You're going to judge here, but remember, you're going to be judged one day as well. And God's judgment is far worse for those of us that aren't in Christ Jesus. Now, James says, like, if you're going to show no mercy, judgment's going to come to you without mercy. That's a tough space, tough thing to hear this morning. Like, harsh judgment is going to come from a holy God for those that don't show mercy, because our faith without mercy toward others really reflects that our faith might not Be genuine. Now, here's my concern for Veritas. My concern is not with those of you in the room, which I think is probably the majority of you in the room that would say, I love God. And I really struggle sometimes loving other people, but I don't want to operate that way. Like, I want to operate in pleasing the Lord. I want to love people well, but I'm struggling, guys, this is not about being perfect. This is about progress and sanctification to become more and more like Jesus. So if you. Man, I love God, but I struggle and I confess that, and I want to repent of that. Hear me out. Like, this is not addressing you. My concern is for the fringe in this room that you show up to church every week. Some of you, you call yourself a Christian, you might even raise your hands. When we worship, they only get here. They don't get up here. Right. It doesn't matter. You can put on this Christian show, but it never affects how you treat other people. The hate that you express toward other people, the lack of love that you express toward other people is revealing of what might not be authentic faith. That's where my concern is this morning. Now, why am I not concerned about the believer in this room who's progressing but not perfect? Because look at the end of verse 13. Mercy triumphs over judgment. Mercy triumphs over judgment. That's amazing, because here's the fact. Every single one of us is going to stand before a holy God and be judged one day. There's not one person in this room, myself included, that's going to escape God's judgment. What happens at that judgment for a believer? Romans eight one is true. There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. I want you to read this with me. All right? One, two, three, go. There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Is that not the best news when a holy God is going to judge you? If you are in Christ Jesus, there's no condemnation, man. That's good news. That is good news because judgment is going to come. In fact, two Corinthians 510 says this, for we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each 1 may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil. You're going to stand before God one day. And when you stand before God, he's going to say, like, how'd you handle this? How'd you treat people? And then second Corinthians or first Corinthians would say this. Now, if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or straw, the foundation should be Jesus. Each one's work will become manifest for the day. The Judgment Day will disclose it because it will be revealed by fire. And the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If anyone's work is burned up, he will suffer loss. Again. He's talking to believers. And this is how we know how, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire. Judgment's coming. You're going to be judged for how you lived your life. Some of you, it's all going to be burned up. You're just going to escape. How do we escape the judgment of a holy God? Because of the mercy of a holy God. Because of the mercy of a holy God. Mercy triumphs judgment. Mercy is victorious over judgment. Now, this is not some universalist statement of like, hey, all the sins in all the world, they're just going to be covered by the mercy of, like, no, you're covered by the mercy of God because of Christ's righteousness in you, not because of your own righteousness. We all deserve the judgment of a holy God. We all deserve the wrath of God. We all deserve not to enter the kingdom of heaven. But this is what mercy is. Not getting what you deserve mercy is not getting what you deserve. God is merciful because he withholds his wrath. He withholds his judgment from the Christian. Why? Let's go back to the courtroom one more time. You're in the courtroom, and God, even as the prosecutor, through James, has proven man, your faith's not authentic. It hasn't lined up. And then the judge, he's so angry, and he jumps up from his bench and he says, you're guilty. You're guilty because you're a liar and you're a cheater. You haven't loved people well, you've hated other people. You're guilty and you deserve death. And then all of a sudden, he looks to the side and out from the side comes his own son, and he says, but you're not going to die. He's going to die in your place. Guys, that's exactly what our God has done for us. When we were guilty and we showed partiality and we showed favoritism and we didn't love and we cheated and we lied. For those of us that are in Christ Jesus, we don't get the judgment we deserve. We get the mercy of God. But the judgment had to be poured out somewhere, and it was poured out on Jesus, his own son. That's good news. That is great news. So, believer in this room. I know it's weird to go like, hey, I want you to speak and act as those that are under judgment. He's going, I want you to think about your judgment one day. I want you to think about it. Often. You're like, that sounds like a terrible thing to think about all the time, right? Think about judgment. Every day I wake up, when you think about the judgment of God, I want your mind to quickly go to the mercy of God that he's shown you. You wake up in the morning like you sin. I deserve judgment. I deserve death. Oh, but the mercy of God. Oh, but the mercy of God, this triumphs over judgment. And then as you think about that judgment and you think about mercy, let that mercy overflow in. How you treat people, I would say it this way, treat others today how God will treat you in the future. Treat others today, how God will treat you in the future. Guys, this is the better way. It's not. Just don't show partiality and don't do it because you're treasuring the world more than you're treasuring God. But let me show you a better way. Treat other people with mercy, because that's how God's going to treat you. If you are in Christ Jesus, that's great good news. When you have received Mercy, you extend that mercy to other people. You extend compassion, not discrimination, not oppression. So what do you do? You speak and act. Number one, I want you to take your sin seriously, church. Take all your sins seriously. I don't know everything that you do. I don't know everything that you think. I don't know everything that you say you and God do. And I want you to take all your sins seriously. So take your sins seriously. Two, think about your future judgment. And if you are in Christ, you quickly think about the mercy that God's going to show you. And when you take your sins seriously and you think of the mercy of God that he's going to show you one day you start to treat people differently because of that mercy. Guys, let's be a church that's motivated by the love and mercy of our God, so that no person enters this room and thinks, man, they're going to think I'm weird or different, or they're going to put me in a weird place or an awkward place. Like, we treat people with mercy, with kindness. I don't care what your background is. I don't care what you look like. I've been shown mercy. I want you to be shown mercy. Guys, I know that we haven't always gotten that right as a church. We come with this many people every single Sunday. I'm sure there are plenty of weeks that we don't get that right. And if you've experienced that, I'm really sorry. That's not the kind of church we want to be. We want to be a church that operates like this. And it starts with every single one of us in this room that's been shown mercy. So when you sit down, like, you shouldn't ever walk out of this place, not meeting somebody new and not showing mercy to somebody else, get to know the people around you. Show mercy no matter where they've come from, no matter what they look like. Guys, let's be a church that takes holiness seriously and takes loving others seriously. Amen. Let's pray. Father, we praise you that mercy, your mercy, triumphs judgment. God, we know that we're in a battle every single day, but mercy is victorious for those that are in Christ Jesus. And we thank you for that this morning. Thank you, God. Help us through your spirit to show mercy, to show compassion, to show love, because that's exactly what you have shown us. Thank you, God. In Jesus name, amen.