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James 2:1-9 - Partiality Among Christians · The Bible Explained with Jenn Kokal

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  Speaker 1: Life Audio. Well, howdy and good morning, faithful listeners, and
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  Speaker 1: welcome to the Bible Explained podcast on this lovely morning. Today,
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  Speaker 1: we are in James chapter two, and we're going to
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  Speaker 1: be talking about showing partiality among Christians and why you
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  Speaker 1: shouldn't do that for the obvious reasons and maybe for
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  Speaker 1: some unobvious reasons that you guys might not have realized.
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  Speaker 1: So we will be reading James chapter two one through
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  Speaker 1: nine in just a little bit here, right after I
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  Speaker 1: moved to an ad break from one of my sponsors. Okay,
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  Speaker 1: faith listeners, hopefully you got a chance while that ad
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  Speaker 1: was playing to grab your delicious hot beverage, whether it's
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  Speaker 1: coffee or tea for you crazy tea drinkers, and also
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  Speaker 1: a Bible out of the version that you prefer. Except recently,
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  Speaker 1: I've been getting kind of convicted about saying that I
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  Speaker 1: found out recently that there are some very strange translate
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  Speaker 1: well not even translations of the Bible, but paraphrases that
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  Speaker 1: are called translations, specifically the Passion version. I don't know
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  Speaker 1: if you guys have been paying attention to anything that's
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  Speaker 1: been going on with the Passion quote unquote translation, but
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  Speaker 1: it's not good. There's a lot of lies that have
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  Speaker 1: been found in the Passion Translation and some heretical statements
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  Speaker 1: as well, So if you are a faithful listener that
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  Speaker 1: uses the Passion Translation, I'm going to link an episode
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  Speaker 1: in the description where one of my favorite podcasters, Mike Winger,
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  Speaker 1: and the Minor Prophets got together to talk about just
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  Speaker 1: the inconsistencies they found in the Passion Translation, some of
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  Speaker 1: the heretical statements, and some other problems associated with that
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  Speaker 1: version of Scripture. So I'm going to recommend on this
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  Speaker 1: podcast that you do not use the Passion Translation. If
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  Speaker 1: you're interested in what kind of translations are the best ones,
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  Speaker 1: then I haven't really done any episode on that, but
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  Speaker 1: my favorite, personally is the CSB version the Christian Standard Bible,
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  Speaker 1: that is a literal translation of Scripture that is done
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  Speaker 1: very well and in modern English. So that is one
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  Speaker 1: of my favorite versions of Scripture right now. And I
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  Speaker 1: also like the NLT, even though it's a paraphrase, but
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  Speaker 1: I think it's a pretty decent paraphrase for what it is,
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  Speaker 1: So if you want something that's a little bit more readable,
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  Speaker 1: the NLT is quite good, And of course I always
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  Speaker 1: read it from the Web. The Web is not a
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  Speaker 1: literal translation. I believe it was taken from the American
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  Speaker 1: Standard Bible and put into more readable English. But I
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  Speaker 1: think it's a fantastic translation actually, And if you go
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  Speaker 1: to the web website, it is hilarious. It is so funny.
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  Speaker 1: They are so snarky in so many different ways. But
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  Speaker 1: if you read through everything that they stand for, it's
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  Speaker 1: all pretty good, and you can see how they translated it,
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  Speaker 1: why they translated it, and all that kind of information.
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  Speaker 1: But anyway, grab the version of the Bible that you prefer,
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  Speaker 1: which is hopefully not the Passion, and let's go ahead
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  Speaker 1: and read James two one through nine together. I'll be reading,
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  Speaker 1: as always from the w e b or the World
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  Speaker 1: English Bible. My brothers, don't hold the faith of our
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  Speaker 1: glorious Lord Jesus Christ with partiality. For if a man
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  Speaker 1: with a gold ring in fine clothing comes into your synagogue,
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  Speaker 1: and a poor man in filthy clothing also comes in,
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  Speaker 1: and you pay special attention to him who wears the
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  Speaker 1: fine clothing, and say stay here in a good place,
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  Speaker 1: and you tell the poor man stand there or sit
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  Speaker 1: by my footstool. Haven't you shown partiality among yourselves and
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  Speaker 1: become judges with evil thoughts. Listen, my beloved brothers, didn't
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  Speaker 1: God choose those who are poor in this world to
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  Speaker 1: be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which
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  Speaker 1: he promised to those who love him? But you've dishonored
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  Speaker 1: the poor man. Don't the rich oppress you and personally
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  Speaker 1: drag you before the courts? Don't they blaspheme the honorable
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  Speaker 1: name by which you are called. However, if you fulfill
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  Speaker 1: the royal law according to the scripture, you shall love
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  Speaker 1: your neighbor as yourself, you do well. But if you
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  Speaker 1: show partiality, you commit sin, being convicted by the law
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  Speaker 1: as transgressors. I bet you a lot of you faithful
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  Speaker 1: listeners can kind of relate to the passage we just read,
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  Speaker 1: mainly because you've probably seen it before. Especially if you've
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  Speaker 1: been going to church for any length of time, you've
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  Speaker 1: probably seen something similar to what James is warning against
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  Speaker 1: right here. This actually happened to my mom. My mom
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  Speaker 1: was raised pretty much destitute, and she was going to
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  Speaker 1: this one church that ended up kicking her out back
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  Speaker 1: in the eighties. I think it was because she was
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  Speaker 1: not giving enough money to the church, and so they
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  Speaker 1: sent her a letter, and we're basically like, yeah, so
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  Speaker 1: you're not giving enough. And my mom was like, okay,
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  Speaker 1: I have nothing. But unfortunately, we see this stuff happening
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  Speaker 1: in churches, and it does not matter what church you
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  Speaker 1: go to. It doesn't matter if you're Catholic, if you're Protestant,
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  Speaker 1: if you're Baptist, if you're non denominational. There are tons
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  Speaker 1: of churches out there that are doing exactly what James
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  Speaker 1: warns us about right here. So he says in verse one,
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  Speaker 1: my brothers don't hold the faith of our glorious Lord
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  Speaker 1: Jesus Christ with partiality. So we are not supposed to
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  Speaker 1: hold the faith with partiality, meaning it doesn't matter what
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  Speaker 1: kind of Christian walks into our church. It doesn't matter
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  Speaker 1: if they are rich, if they are poor, black or white,
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  Speaker 1: male or female, anything in between. We are not supposed
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  Speaker 1: to treat any Christian above another person. So we are
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  Speaker 1: not supposed to show partiality with anybody. It says, for
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  Speaker 1: if a man with a gold ring in fine clothing
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  Speaker 1: comes into your synagogue, and then a poor man in
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  Speaker 1: filthy clothing also comes in, but you pay special attention
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  Speaker 1: to him who wears the fine clothing, and you say,
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  Speaker 1: sit here in a good place, and you tell the
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  Speaker 1: poor man stand there or sit by my footstool, then
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  Speaker 1: you have shown partiality among yourselves and become judges with
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  Speaker 1: evil thoughts. So this is an analogy of two two
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  Speaker 1: different individuals that walk into the synagogue. Now, by the way,
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  Speaker 1: the word synagogue just means a meeting place, and since
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  Speaker 1: many of the early Christians started out as Jews, they
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  Speaker 1: probably continue to call their church services synagogue just because
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  Speaker 1: it means a meeting place. Interestingly enough, so he says,
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  Speaker 1: if someone comes into your synagogue or meeting place or
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  Speaker 1: church who is wearing all these beautiful clothes with a
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  Speaker 1: gold ring, and he just smells of wealth, and then
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  Speaker 1: right after him a poor man in filthy clothing who
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  Speaker 1: probably is a beggar who wasn't able to wash his clothes.
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  Speaker 1: These two men walk into the meeting place and everyone
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  Speaker 1: starts paying attention to the wealthy man, and they say, oh,
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  Speaker 1: sit here at this very fine seat at the head
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  Speaker 1: of the table, and then they look over at the
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  Speaker 1: poor man and they're like, sit on the ground or
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  Speaker 1: stand over there out of the way of everybody. James
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  Speaker 1: actually says that you are showing partiality among yourselves, actually
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  Speaker 1: considering the reader to be the same as the poor person,
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  Speaker 1: and also as the rich person as well, because in
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  Speaker 1: the eyes of God, we are all equal, it says
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  Speaker 1: in First Samuel sixteen seven. This is God himself speaking.
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  Speaker 1: Yahweh said to Samuel, don't look on his face or
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  Speaker 1: on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him,
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  Speaker 1: For I don't see as man sees. For man looks
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  Speaker 1: at the outward appearance, but Yahweh looks at the heart.
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  Speaker 1: So according to God, all of his children are equal
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  Speaker 1: with one another. A poor person is not any lesser
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  Speaker 1: or better than the rich person or anyone else. So
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  Speaker 1: James says, you are showing partiality among your own brothers
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  Speaker 1: and sisters, favoritism. When you do this kind of thing,
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  Speaker 1: he says, you become judges with evil thoughts. And he continues, listen,
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  Speaker 1: my beloved brothers, didn't God choose those who are poor
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  Speaker 1: in this world to be rich in faith and heirs
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  Speaker 1: of the kingdom, which he promised to those who love him. Now,
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  Speaker 1: James is not trying to say here that poor people
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  Speaker 1: are morally superior because they are poor. You know, in
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  Speaker 1: today's day and age, the more of a victim you are,
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  Speaker 1: the more moral you are according to the eyes of
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  Speaker 1: the world. But that is not how it should be
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  Speaker 1: in Christian circles. Poor people are not morally superior, And
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  Speaker 1: that is not what James is getting at, because if
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  Speaker 1: he were saying that, he would be completely negating his
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  Speaker 1: whole point about not showing partiality, because showing partiality to
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  Speaker 1: the poor person instead of the rich person is still
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  Speaker 1: showing partiality. Don't forget what James said in the previous chapter.
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  Speaker 1: James one nine through eleven said this, let the brother
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  Speaker 1: in humble circumstances, or the poor people, glory in his
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  Speaker 1: high position, and the rich in that he is made humble,
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  Speaker 1: because like the flower in the grass, he will pass away,
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  Speaker 1: for the sun arises with the scorching wind and withers
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  Speaker 1: the grass, and the flower in it falls and the
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  Speaker 1: beauty of its appearance perishes. So the rich man will
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  Speaker 1: also fade away in his pursuits. So right there, James
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  Speaker 1: is saying that both rich and poor can obviously be
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  Speaker 1: children of God. The rich person obviously has their wealth,
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  Speaker 1: but the poor person is rich in a completely different way.
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  Speaker 1: Jesus illustrates this in Mark tenh seventeen through twenty five.
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  Speaker 1: As he was going out into the way, one ran
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  Speaker 1: to him, knelt before him and asked him, good teacher,
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  Speaker 1: what shall I do that I might inherit eternal life?
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  Speaker 1: And Jesus said to him, why do you call me good?
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  Speaker 1: No one is good except one God. You know the commandments.
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  Speaker 1: Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal,
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  Speaker 1: do not give false testimony, do not defraud. Honor your
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  Speaker 1: father and your mother. He said to him, teacher, I
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  Speaker 1: have observed all these things from my youth. Jesus, looking
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  Speaker 1: at him, loved him and said to him, one thing
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  Speaker 1: you lack, Go and sell whatever you have and give
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  Speaker 1: to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven.
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  Speaker 1: And come follow me, taking up the cross. But his
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  Speaker 1: face fell at that saying, and he went away sorrowful,
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  Speaker 1: for he was one who had great possessions. Jesus looked
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  Speaker 1: around and said to his disciples, how difficult it is
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  Speaker 1: for those who have riches to enter into God's kingdom.
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  Speaker 1: The disciples were amazed at his words, but Jesus answered again, children,
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  Speaker 1: how hard it is for those who trust in riches
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  Speaker 1: to enter into God's kingdom. It is easier for a
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  Speaker 1: camel to go through a needle's eye than for a
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  Speaker 1: rich man to enter into God's kingdom. Now, I'm sure
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  Speaker 1: many of you listening have heard that story before. That's
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  Speaker 1: the story of the wealthy young man that came to
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  Speaker 1: Jesus looking for salvation. He was following the Old Testament laws,
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  Speaker 1: but he knew that something was still not quite right.
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  Speaker 1: So he came to Jesus and he was like, Jesus,
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  Speaker 1: how do you actually gain salvation? And so Jesus told him,
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  Speaker 1: there is something you lack. Go and sell everything that
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  Speaker 1: you have and give it to the poor. And the
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  Speaker 1: young man's face just fell and he walked away super
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  Speaker 1: sorrowful because he trusted in his riches, because he wanted
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  Speaker 1: his riches more than he wanted Jesus. So this young
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  Speaker 1: man was not rich in faith. He had many worldly riches,
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  Speaker 1: but he did not have the richness of faith that
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  Speaker 1: was required of him to become saved. Essentially, he trusted
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  Speaker 1: more in his wealth than he did in Jesus. And
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  Speaker 1: that's when Jesus tells his disciples it is harder for
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  Speaker 1: a rich man to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven
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  Speaker 1: than it is for a camel to go through the
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  Speaker 1: eye of the needle. And why because he trusts in riches,
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  Speaker 1: That's what it says in verse twenty four. But those
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  Speaker 1: who are poor, they don't have anything else that they
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  Speaker 1: can trust in. They don't have wealth to put their
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  Speaker 1: trust in. They have to rely on Jesus every single
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  Speaker 1: day for their next meal. They have a richness of
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  Speaker 1: faith that most wealthy people can never attain. Because the
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  Speaker 1: wealthy individual relies on their own money and their own
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  Speaker 1: selves to get them by, they don't understand as much
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  Speaker 1: that they have a need for a savior because they
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  Speaker 1: have all of their needs, really, their earthly needs taken
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  Speaker 1: care of. But those who are poor, they don't have
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  Speaker 1: their earthly needs taken care of. So the poor person
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  Speaker 1: that trusts in Jesus, James two says, they have a
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  Speaker 1: richness of faith that you can't see. And so when
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  Speaker 1: you are discriminating against that poor person, you are discriminating
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  Speaker 1: against a child of God. Then he says in verse six,
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  Speaker 1: you've dishonored the poor man. Don't the rich oppress you
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  Speaker 1: and personally drag you before the courts. Don't they blasphem
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  Speaker 1: the honorable name by which you are called So James
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  Speaker 1: starts getting really snarky here, and he's just like, why
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  Speaker 1: are you trying to impress the rich people so much? Anyway,
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  Speaker 1: He's like, the majority of them, especially the ones that
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  Speaker 1: aren't Christians, they come in and they drag you before
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  Speaker 1: the courts. They treat you like absolute crap. Do the
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  Speaker 1: poor people do that? No, the poor people support you.
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  Speaker 1: They come into your synagogue. They need what you are
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  Speaker 1: giving them. But the rich, who think that they have
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  Speaker 1: everything that they need need oppress you and they blaspheme
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  Speaker 1: the name of Jesus. So why are you trying to
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  Speaker 1: impress the rich so much? Because you can see what
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  Speaker 1: earthly wealth does to an individual. It tends to corrupt them.
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  Speaker 1: So don't add to that corruption. When a rich person
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  Speaker 1: walks into your synagogue. You should not be treating him
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  Speaker 1: any differently than anybody else, because, first and foremost, that
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  Speaker 1: is a bad testimony to that rich man, because he's
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  Speaker 1: going to begin to think that he is better than
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  Speaker 1: the poor Christian even though in the eyes of God
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  Speaker 1: he is on the exact same level. So it's even
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  Speaker 1: a bad testimony to that wealthy Christian individual. This is
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  Speaker 1: why we should never be showing partiality to anybody who
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  Speaker 1: comes into our churches. And by the way, all of
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  Speaker 1: this applies to today as well. This is not a
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  Speaker 1: problem only in James's day. And that's why it says
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  Speaker 1: in One Timothy, you know when Paul was giving all
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  Speaker 1: of the stipulations for who an elder could be. One
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  Speaker 1: of the stipulations was an elder cannot be greedy for money,
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  Speaker 1: because if he's greedy for money, then his treasure is
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  Speaker 1: in the wrong place. Jesus tells us to store up
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  Speaker 1: our treasures in heaven, not on earth, because the treasures
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  Speaker 1: on earth they pass away, they rust, they deteriorate, but
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  Speaker 1: the riches in heaven they never pass away, they never deteriorate.
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  Speaker 1: We will have them for eternity. So all of us
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  Speaker 1: Christians need to be aware of this, to not show
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  Speaker 1: partiati to any Christian above another Christian. It doesn't matter
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  Speaker 1: what they look like, it doesn't matter what they smell like,
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  Speaker 1: it doesn't matter whether they have money or not. If
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  Speaker 1: they are a Christian, that means they are a brother
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  Speaker 1: or sister. And James says, if you begin to show
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  Speaker 1: partiati among yourselves, then you are becoming a judge with
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  Speaker 1: an evil thought. However, verse eight, if you fulfill the
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  Speaker 1: royal law according to the scripture, you shall love your
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  Speaker 1: neighbor as yourself. You do well. So he goes back
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  Speaker 1: to the Old Testament laws, now calling the second greatest commandment,
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  Speaker 1: which is you shall love your neighbor as yourself, as
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  Speaker 1: the royal law. Now, the first greatest commandment you guys
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  Speaker 1: might remember is love the Lord your God with all
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  Speaker 1: your heart, soul, strength, and mind. I think it is.
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  Speaker 1: And then the second greatest commandment is love your neighbor
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  Speaker 1: as yourself. And the entire Old Testament laws can be
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  Speaker 1: summed up by those two laws essentially. So that is
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  Speaker 1: why James calls it a royal law, because it's essentially
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  Speaker 1: a law that rules all of the other ones. Just
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  Speaker 1: as a king reigns and is supreme. Apparently, this law
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  Speaker 1: reigns and is supreme above most of the other ones
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  Speaker 1: other than you shall love the Lord your God first.
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  Speaker 1: That's the only greater commandment, he says. You do well
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  Speaker 1: if you follow this commandment, But if you show partiality,
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  Speaker 1: you commit sin, being convicted by the law as transgress. Again,
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  Speaker 1: the entire law can be summed up by love loving
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  Speaker 1: God first, and then loving your neighbor. Second, if you
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  Speaker 1: refuse to love one of your neighbors, one of your
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  Speaker 1: fellow Christians, then James is very blunt. He says, you
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  Speaker 1: commit sin and you are convicted by the law as transgressors.
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  Speaker 1: So that is pretty harsh. If we show partiality to somebody,
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  Speaker 1: that means that we are loving somebody above another person.
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  Speaker 1: And I can tell you this is hard to do
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  Speaker 1: sometimes as somebody who's been in the church for a
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  Speaker 1: really long time, there are people that just great on you,
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  Speaker 1: you know, and you don't want to show them the
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  Speaker 1: same amount of love and respect as you do to
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  Speaker 1: somebody that you really enjoy and somebody that you like
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  Speaker 1: in the church. But James doesn't qualify it here. He
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  Speaker 1: doesn't say you only love somebody because you like their personality,
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  Speaker 1: or you only love somebody because you think they're cool. No,
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  Speaker 1: he says, you love everybody. You should not be showing partiality.
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  Speaker 1: It doesn't matter if you think that they're annoying. You
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  Speaker 1: are still supposed to love them because they are a
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  Speaker 1: brother or sister in Christ. Now that doesn't mean we
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  Speaker 1: bend over backwards necessarily and you know, let them walk
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  Speaker 1: all over us. I don't think that's what James is
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  Speaker 1: talking about here at all. That's a completely different subject.
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  Speaker 1: But James is talking about treating somebody as better than
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  Speaker 1: another person. That is what we're not supposed to do
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  Speaker 1: because ultimately, as children of God, we are not better
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  Speaker 1: than any other person. So, faithful listeners, thank you so
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  Speaker 1: much for listening to today's episode. I hope you guys
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  Speaker 1: enjoyed it, and thank you for staying with me for
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  Speaker 1: the entire thing. I have one last thing i'd like
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  Speaker 1: to say about James chapter two before I wrap up
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  Speaker 1: today's episode, But of course before I do that, here's
• 17:48
  Speaker 1: one last sponsored ad. I think the last reason that
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  Speaker 1: partiality is so wrong not just because it is unloving,
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  Speaker 1: though that is the main problem, but it also encourages
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  Speaker 1: disunity in the church because people who show partiality are
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  Speaker 1: forming cliques. They are saying, my group of people is
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  Speaker 1: better than this group of people. And I don't know
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  Speaker 1: if you guys have ever been to a clique type
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  Speaker 1: of church, but it is not fun. You feel like
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  Speaker 1: an outsider, you feel like you don't belong, and that
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  Speaker 1: should never be the case in a church. You should
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  Speaker 1: never feel like you don't belong at that church. If
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  Speaker 1: you do, then it's probably not a very good church
• 18:28
  Speaker 1: and you might want to find somewhere else to go,
• 18:30
  Speaker 1: because that proves that church has a bad culture. They
• 18:34
  Speaker 1: are showing partiality, They are being unloving to certain individuals
• 18:39
  Speaker 1: because they aren't in their cool little clique. A church
• 18:41
  Speaker 1: should not feel like an offshoot of high school, and
• 18:44
  Speaker 1: if it does, then that means it's a very unhealthy church.
• 18:48
  Speaker 1: So partiality is not just unloving, but encourages disunity. And
• 18:52
  Speaker 1: the one thing that Christians are supposed to be is unified,
• 18:57
  Speaker 1: unified under Christ, following the commands of God and showing
• 19:02
  Speaker 1: them to the rest of the world. Because when the
• 19:05
  Speaker 1: church is unified, man, that is something that Satan absolutely hates,
• 19:09
  Speaker 1: because the church can get a lot accomplished, more souls
• 19:13
  Speaker 1: will come to Jesus if the church is unified. Part
• 19:16
  Speaker 1: of the reason why the church has such a bad name,
• 19:19
  Speaker 1: and Christians have such a bad name, is because we
• 19:22
  Speaker 1: are so fractured because there are so many denominations. There
• 19:25
  Speaker 1: are so many Christians contradicting each other over some of
• 19:30
  Speaker 1: the silliest things, by the way, so we should not
• 19:33
  Speaker 1: be adding to all of that fracturing by staying in
• 19:37
  Speaker 1: our own little cliques and refusing to move out of
• 19:40
  Speaker 1: them at church, refusing to allow anybody else to come in.
• 19:44
  Speaker 1: That is wrong, and James calls it sinful. So my
• 19:47
  Speaker 1: call to action for all of you faithful listeners is
• 19:49
  Speaker 1: going up to somebody who you haven't seen at church
• 19:52
  Speaker 1: before and saying hello to them, or maybe greeting somebody
• 19:56
  Speaker 1: at the door, or even if it's somebody that you
• 19:59
  Speaker 1: do know but you don't them very well because you
• 20:01
  Speaker 1: think they're kind of weird. You never know. You might
• 20:04
  Speaker 1: find a brand new friend, and you might find that
• 20:06
  Speaker 1: you have some preconceived notions about someone that weren't necessarily true.
• 20:11
  Speaker 1: Faithful Listeners, I hope you all have a fantastic and
• 20:14
  Speaker 1: wonderful rest of your weekend. Make sure to check the
• 20:16
  Speaker 1: description of the episode for related topics to James Chapter
• 20:20
  Speaker 1: two if you would like to study about this more,
• 20:22
  Speaker 1: and you can also find all of the links, including
• 20:25
  Speaker 1: my email address if you ever have a prayer request
• 20:27
  Speaker 1: that you would like to send me, And you can
• 20:29
  Speaker 1: also find out how to become a member to gain
• 20:32
  Speaker 1: access to the Bible explained on Fridays if that is
• 20:34
  Speaker 1: something that you all are interested in. If I don't
• 20:37
  Speaker 1: see you tomorrow on the member side. Then I will
• 20:39
  Speaker 1: see all of you wonderful, faithful listeners hopefully on Monday
• 20:42
  Speaker 1: as we continue through the Book of Me and Maya
• 20:45
  Speaker 1: together until Monday, Happy listening, happy weekend, and God bless.
• 20:55
  Speaker 1: I just want to take a second to thank the
• 20:57
  Speaker 1: team at Life Audio for their partnership with me on
• 20:59
  Speaker 1: the Bible Explain podcast. In fact, if you go to
• 21:02
  Speaker 1: life audio dot com you will find dozens of other
• 21:04
  Speaker 1: faith centered podcasts in their network. They've got shows about prayer,
• 21:08
  Speaker 1: Bible study, parenting, and more.