James 2:1-13 looks at the double standards we can often live by. As he has previously said in chapter 1, we need an eternal perspective if we are to cope with the trials and temptations of everyday life. It’s so easy to be swayed by public opinion, having our values and mindsets determined by the world around us.

These verses warn us against judging by appearances and against favouring the rich over the poor. It’s easier to judge by appearances than to ‘search much deeper within’, in Matt Redman’s words. Such favouritism, partiality or segregation is discrimination and sin (see Lev 19:15. The reason that appearances are deceptive and we shouldn’t live by the world’s standards is that God doesn’t work this way (see Is 55:8-9, 1 Sam 16:7). We are His children and need to reflect His character.

How, though, do we learn to avoid being driven by public opinion? How do we avoid conforming to the world? As Eugene Peterson says in the Message version of 2 COr 10:3-6, it’s a ‘dog-eat-dog’ world out there, with unprincipled living, where it’s easier to look down on people than value them and it’s easiest to judge by appearances (fashion and riches being the easiest way to do that.) We are not of the world, however, and have different weapons. Our minds need to be transformed and renewed (Rom 12:2) so that we can see things the way God sees them.

God favours the poor (see Luke 1:52-53, Matt 5:3, Ps 140:12). They are ‘rich in faith’, precisely perhaps because they have no other riches and therefore put their whole trust in God. That is how He wants each of us to be: wholly trusting, wholly dependent. James summarises his teaching by talking of the ‘royal law’: ‘love your neighbour as yourself’. In many ways, this chapter is like an echo of Matthew 7. In both portions of the Bible, we are warned against judging and showing partiality; we are urged to examine our own hearts so that we can help others; we are warned not to despise the sacred things in favour of the things which may have shiny allure in the now and we are reminded that in its most basic form, loving others starts with doing to them what we would have them do to us. Mercy and judgment are contrasted in James 2:12-13. R.V.G. Tasker, in his commentary on these verses, says “Mercy shown on earth by the justified sinner, who has himself been the object of God’s mercy, is a sure ground for confidence that for him the sting of the final judgment will be found to have been already drawn.” We need mercy, for we are all lawbreakers. We cannot pick and choose which commandments to follow; as Calvin said, “God will not be honoured by exceptions.” Rather, recognising our own sinfulness and need for mercy, we are commanded to show mercy to others and to let words and action combine to produce congruent living.

Last night we looked at Hosea 10:12
“Sow for yourselves righteousness;
Reap the fruit of unfailing love, and break up your unploughed ground;
For it is time to seek the LORD, until He comes and showers righteousness on you.”

Hosea, one of the 12 minor prophets, is probably best known for his life which God used as a parable to reflect His unconditional love for Israel. Hosea was ordered to take Gomer the prostitute as his wife and much of the book details the difficulties he faced but shows how his unfailing love reflects God’s relationship with His people who have proved to be just as fickle and unfaithful as Gomer ever did. Hosea’s words often challenged Israel to realise their sins and to do something about them.

Israel’s self-sufficiency and pride led to problems. They turned away from God to idols: we too can do the same thing, even if our idols look different to the wooden images carved in the Old Testament. The principles of the way back to God are laid out for us in this verse:

Break up your unploughed land
The Parable of the Sower (Mark 4, Luke 8, Matthew 13) talks about different kinds of soils. We have to make the hard soil of our hearts soft through the washing of the Word (Eph 5:26) and we need open ears that hear what the Spirit has to say to us. More than just hearing, however, we need to obey (see James 1:22-25).If we fail to act on the conviction the Holy Spirit brings, we are, in effect, hardening our hearts and we only have to look at what happened to the Israelites in the wilderness to see where this will lead us.

Sow for yourselves righteousness
Christ’s righetousness is imparted to us (see 2 Cor 5:21, 1 Cor 1:30). Our own righteousness is as filthy rags (Is 64:6), but we participate in a divine exchange – “a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord, for the display of His splendour.” (Is 61:3)We sow for ourselves righteousness when we live in right ways which reflect who God is (see Matt 5:16) and accept God’s estimation of us rather than our own views on who we are and what righteousness is.

Reap the fruit of unfailing love
Galatians 6 reminds us that we reap what we sow and that to reap spiritual fruit, we must sow to the Spirit. Jesus reminded us that there is a correlation between the tree and the fruit it produces (Matt 7:16-17). The fruit of the Spirit listed in Galatians 5 is the result of our ongoing relationship with Christ. We can reap the fruit of unfailing love ultimately because God’s character reflects this (see Ps 130:7, Is 54:10). Human love may fail, but God’s love never fails.

Conclusion
The conditions of our heart soil matter.We have to break up the unploughed ground in our lives, letting God’s Word water our hearts, responding to God with eagerness and willingness, not grudging reluctance.

We need to live righteously, accepting God’s evaluation of who we are and seeking to abide in Him so that we hunger and thirst for righteousness.

The rewards of living this way will be to reap the fruit of unfailing love.

We also had a birthday to celebrate!

Mark spoke on 2 Timothy 1:6 this morning: “This is why I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands.”

(1) Stir up/ fan into flame…
Sometimes we expect God to do all the work! The gifts given to us come from God, but He expects us to do our part too and that part is to ‘stir up’ what is within, to be active in stirring up what He has given. 1 Timothy 4:14 tells us not to neglect the gift we have been given. We can neglect our gifts and can neglect people too; we can neglect the spiritual work of the church, leaving it to other people to do this vital job and therefore robbing ourselves and others of the blessings God wants to give through us. If we neglect anything, it remains there, but is not in pristine condition. We have to seek to use the gifts God has given us and combat the fear that we will look stupid if we step out in faith.

(2)… the gift of God…
Spiritual gifts (charismata) are given by God to us through the Spirit. These could be the gifts listed by Paul in 1 Cor 12:4-11, but could be much wider than this list. God gives natural talents which He wants us to use for His glory. He gives us gifts that will enhance the life of the church. Sometimes, the gifts He gives are the ones we don’t expect (or even want!), but the gifts are His to give, however He wants and to whomever He wants. The purpose of all God’s gifts is to benefit us all. If we refuse to use our gifts, we suffer and the others suffer too.

(3)… which is in you
Mark urged us to remind ourselves that we are all vital to God’s plans in this place, in this location. We have to use the gifts God has given us and not neglect them. Don’t be in doubt: you each have a purpose in God. Sometimes we need prayer to discover our giftings or to reawaken these giftings. Hebrews 10:19-25 reminds us to spur each other on (stirring again!) to good deeds. We need to encourage each other and encourage ourselves so that the church can benefit overall.

After prayer, Mark gave out laminated cards with this verse on to remind us of the truths we had heard. On the card were other thoughts which I think also bear repeating:
*”We need to be reminded about what we have. Revival is stirring up what we have rather than thinking ‘I need something new.'”
* “Jesus, Paul, Peter all reminded their people of the things they already knew and had.”
* “We stir up our gifts by using them. Go and do your gift, everybody!”
* “Gifts can be imparted into our lives from others and we can impart what we have to others.”
* “Whose hand is on us? Who is discipling us? Who are we discipling? Who are we imparting to? This is our call – to make disciples!”

Tim Hughes, ‘Consuming Fire’

Every day we wake up to a world that celebrates victory and applauds success. Very shortly we will be applauding medal winners in the Olympics, forgetting those who don’t quite make the cut. We like the happy endings of triumph and success.

Every day we serve a King whose ideas of victory and success conflict wih the world’s views.

It’s easy for us to forget the radical nature of the kingdom of God, where at the present time God’s ultimate victory over sin and death is not visible to all, but only to those who have eyes to see and ears to hear. It’s very easy for us to be brainwashed into believing that the ‘dog-eat-dog’ mentality of the world is the only one that counts.

The death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ changed our perspective on life for ever. There on that hill, Jesus gave His life as a ransom for sin, showing us an alternative path to victory: one that looked, to all intents and purposes, remarkably like defeat.

Today, if you are tempted to despair and give up, feeling that victory will never be yours and that all life brings is failure, remember that the story does not end at Calvary. ‘Death has been beaten/ The grave has been conquered/ Jesus is risen/ Life ever after.’ (Phil Wickham, ‘The Victory) That is enough to hold on to.
‘The Victory’, Phil Wickham

I love songs that resonate with Scripture. They give me a framework to stand when I don’t know what to say or sing. Today I heard this song for the first time. It’s called ‘Sovereign over us’ and is by Aaron Keyes. It’s based on tremendous truths in Jeremiah 29:11 and in Genesis 50:20, verses which have upheld me for many years. Whatever we are going through, God is in control, working all things together for good, sovereign over all and over us.

There is strength within the sorrow,
There is beauty in our tears.
You meet us in our mourning,
With a love that casts out fear
You are working in our waiting,
Sanctifying us
When beyond our understanding, You’re teaching us to trust

Even what the enemy means for evil
You turn it for our good, You turn it for our good and for Your glory
Even in the valley You are faithful
Youʼre working for our good, Youʼre working for our good and for Your glory

(Words & Music by Aaron Keyes, Bryan Brown, and Jack Mooring.
Copyright (c) 2011 Thankyou Music (admin. worldwide by worshiptogether.com songs excluding Europe, which is admin. by kingswaysongs.com) (PRS))
‘Sovereign over us’, Aaron Keyes

Dave spoke from John 10:1-18 last night, looking at Jesus’s words on shepherding and sheep.

Jesus had just healed the blind man and was again under attack from the Pharisees. He urged His followers to follow Him, rather than those who could not see what the Father was doing through Him and used the simple illustration of a shepherd caring for his sheep. We too face many voices in the world which would seek to distract us from God, but have to listen for God’s voice above them all.

Jesus said He was the gate by which all sheep entered the pen. He is the Way, the Truth and the Life (John 14:6). Many try to enter by other doors (see Col 2:8, Gal 1:7-8), but the key element for us always to ascertain is how centred the message is on Christ. False prophets will undoubtedly appear (see Matt 24:24), but we can trust the man sent by God to care for the flock.

Sheep were raised for wool in Biblical times and therefore were kept for years, learning to recognise the shepherd’s voice and understand the shepherd’s heart. We too have to develop a deep and intimate relationship with God, so that we recognise His voice and His heart. We need to know the kind of God we serve: a God who forgives sins (Is 43) and restores us, a God who knows us by name and never leaves or forsakes us.

The quiz ‘Mr and Mrs’ gave married couples the opportunity to answer questions about each other. It was often shocking to realise how little they knew of each other’s tastes and preferences, even after years of marriage! We too can know remarkably little of God, despite years of following Him. We have to spend time with Him in order to recognise His voice and get to know His heart. It is God’s desire to spend that time with us: are we willing to draw close to Him and develop our relationship with Him?