Quote:
Originally Posted by ZNPaaneah
Here is another thing that happened:
James
2:5 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?
2:6 But ye have despised the poor. Do not rich men oppress you, and draw you before the judgment seats?
The discussion of being partial to the rich and having them sit in better seats is an analogy, he begins that discussion in verse 2 saying "for", he is explaining, and then verse 5 sums it up that he is talking about faith.
The phrase "the poor of the world" could refer to lacking anything, not merely money. You could walk into the LRC meeting hall lacking "spiritual credentials". In the LRC it makes a big difference if you are "2nd generation" or 3rd generation, etc. This was referred to all the time. They even taught that you are sanctified by your parents being in the LRC, so then if you are 2nd generation you are more sanctified than if you were saved into the LRC and if you are 3rd generation then you were even more sanctified.
Where did this teaching come from? Didn't WL promote this thinking because his close association with WN made him "more sanctified"? Yet in this chapter which describes him more, the one who is "poor of the world yet rich in faith" or the "rich man that oppresses you and draws you before judgment seats"?
In my opinion this was a major flaw in the LRC. They had respect of persons. RG was ga ga over WL, so much so that he was willfully blind to all that PL was even though he would have beat that person down if he wasn't WL's son.
When I was in Houston I knew two men in the church that were "the poor of the world who were rich in faith" that were also despised in the LRC. This is my testimony and the very thing that James warned us of.
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Until you mentioned this concept of 2nd and 3rd LC generations being sanctified, I had never heard of it. Not in California and not in Washington. However touching on the respect of persons. I definitely saw it. While he was living it was WL and even before Lee died it was select FTTA trainers (later known as blended brothers). If you were a brother or sister one who was not "ga ga" with respect of persons, or immersing youself in ministry publications, you were generally referred to as "lukewarm", "cold", etc.