ALL ROADS LEAD TO CHRIST
CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST!!!
THE BOOK OF JAMES CHAPTER 4 (Study)
Pride Promotes Strife
4 Where do [a]wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members? 2 You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and [b]war. [c]Yet you do not have because you do not ask. 3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures. 4 [d]Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. 5 Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, “The Spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously”?
6 But He gives more grace. Therefore, He says:
“God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.”
Humility Cures Worldliness
7 Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.
Do Not Judge a Brother
11 Do not speak evil of one another, brethren. He who speaks evil of a brother and judges his brother, speaks evil of the law, and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. 12 There is one [e]Lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy. Who[f] are you to judge [g]another?
Do Not Boast About Tomorrow
13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow [h]we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit”; 14 whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. 15 Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.” 16 But now you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil.
17 Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.
Notes James 4 Study – (vv. 1-17)
4:1-10: WARS AND FIGHTS in the Church are just another example of what true results look like when you have faith without the works … Many of these disputes come from DESIRES FOR PLEASURE THAT WAR IN OOUR MEMBERS, passions that bring disruptions in the body of Christ … These passions are fragmenting – (v. 1), self-centered – (v. 3), of this world – (v. 4), energized by Satan – (v. 7), and therefore at ENMITY WITH GOD – (v. 4) … God does not answer prayers for selfish desires – (v. 3) … ADULTERERS AND ADULTERESSES: the image of unfaithfulness in marriage is common throughout the OT for the faithlessness of God’s people …
How do we conquer arrogant pleasure- seeking??? (1): STOP PRAYING for self-centered pleasures – (vv. 2, & 3) … (2): RENOUNCE the world and build a friendship with God – (v. 4) … (3): YIELD TO THE HOLY SPIRIT WHO DWELLS IN US through chrismation – (v. 5) … In seeking the Holy Spirit, we gain the Holy Trinity!!! (4): BE HUMBLE, recognizing that God resists the proud – (v. 6) … (5): RESIST – (be insubordinate to) Satan and SUBMIT TO GOD – (v. 7) … (6): APPROACH GOD IN WORSHIP – (draw near) … Take special care to CLEANSE YOUR HANDS AND PURIFY YOUR HEARTS through repentance in preparation for worship – (vv. 8, 9) … “Never laugh off God’s call to mourn for sin … “
“The rewards for the toils of virtue are dispassion and spiritual knowledge … For these are the mediators of the Kingdom of Heaven, just as passions and ignorance are the mediators of eternal punishment … It is because of this that he who seeks these rewards for the sake of human glory and not for their intrinsic goodness is rebuked by the words of the Scripture: ‘You ask, and do not receive, because you ask wrongly” – (MaxCon) …
4:11-12: Belittling criticism of other is another case of pride coming out in what we say … It is a lack of faith united with evil works, and is an offense to both the person criticized and to God … God’s will be to love others (James 2:8) with humility and mercy, even if they are in the wrong – (see, also James 3:13-18) …
4:13-16: True faith depends completely on God and seeks ways to do good works … But to plan as if we knew exactly what will happen is arrogance …
PSALM 147:12-20 Study & Breakdown – Proverbs 16 Study on Humility, Discernment & Righteousness continued: Reading and commentary will also be from Proverbs 16:29 – This study will be read and summarized from my Orthodox Study Bible, to hear this study please tune in to my video, that is posted daily with write-ups … Be blessed and be thankful to the Lord for all we have!!! Jehovah Shalom – Good day!!!
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