Are you guilty of the sin of “respecting of persons”? As stated in James 2? JAMES CHAPTER 2 Do not favour the rich 1 My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons. 2 For if there come unto your assembly a man with a gold ring, in goodly apparel, and there come in also a poor man in vile raiment; 3 and ye have respect to him that earth the gay clothing, and say unto him, Sit thou here in a good place; and say to the poor, Stand thou there, or sit here under my footstool: 4 are ye not then partial in yourselves, and are become judges of evil thoughts? 5 Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him? 6 But ye have despised the poor. Do not rich men oppress you, and draw you before the judgment seats? 7 Do not they blaspheme that worthy name by the which ye are called? 8 If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well: 9 but if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors. What is respecting persons? It is best summed up as treating one man with higher esteem due to his status, than we treat another without that status, such as with Hollywood movie stars, music singers and bands, religious leaders (pope, dalai lama, etc), political leaders, etc. Respecting persons falls under the category of IDOLATRY because it is form of worship by respecting a persons dress, ability, education, and/or title over the truth. Some of us think we are not guilty of it, but many Christians act differently when an “honourable person” or someone like a movie celebrity or the Pope comes to town. In our society, anyone who has any kind of advanced degree or position is given special places of honour, respect, and privilege over everyone else. The weight of words is automatically given to him because of his title; this is respecting persons, and it is incredibly common in todays societies. The danger here is this “honourable person” finds himself starting to love the feeling of pleasure from the respect, adulation, and honour he receives everywhere he goes. If hes not careful, this can lead to blind followers and falling to teach false doctrines, following his authoritative title blindly with an invisible cloak of infallibility on his shoulders. Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall. -Proverbs 16:18 But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. -James 4:6 Charles Spurgeon used to preach the following about respecting persons: They used very grand phrases in those days, and doctors of divinity were very common, almost as common as they are now; and the crowd of doctors and rabbis helped to keep each other in countenance by repeating one anothers fine names till they believed they meant something. Dear friends, it is very difficult to receive honor and to expect it, and yet to keep your eyesight; for mens eyes gradually grow dull through the smoke of the incense which is burned before them; Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment: thou shalt not respect the person of the poor, nor honour the person of the mighty: but in righteousness shalt thou judge thy neighbour. -Leviticus 19:15 Ye shall not respect persons in judgment; but ye shall hear the small as well as the great; ye shall not be afraid of the face of man; for the judgment is Gods: and the cause that is too hard for you, bring it unto me, and I will hear it. -Deuteronomy 1:17 Every person alive today is not immune to the temptations of pride; this also applies to every Christian. As the Body of Christ, as a peculiar people, we should refuse to respect a mans person, and treat everybody equally, regardless how smart, or famous they are, what title or authority they carry, we must treat them equally. We in God Save the World pray that our Lord Jesus Christ would remove the pride from our hearts, to guard against all forms of respecting persons, and thereby become a peculiar people that will glorify Him. God Save the World, Inc.
Posted on: Sat, 26 Jul 2014 13:06:40 +0000
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