Monthly Archive for November, 2000

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James 4:4b

Published on November 20, 2000 in James. 0 Comments
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"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."

 

Whoever therefore
 
There are no exceptions to the following principle. 
 
wants to be a friend of the world
 
The word “wants” conveys more than desire or a wish but the more forceful idea of resolving to hold one value over another. It is a volitional decision after careful deliberation. This is the process whereby a carnal Christian arrives at his carnality. 
 
2 Ti 4: 10 “…for Demas has forsaken me, having loved this present world, and has departed for Thessalonica—Crescens for Galatia, Titus for Dalmatia.”
 
PRINCIPLE: 
 
Friendship with the world constitutes the carnal Christian as an adulteress.
 
APPLICATION: 
 
Some Christian chose the world system over God’s system. The world-system is all that is contrary to God’s viewpoint. There is a difference between the world-system and the natural world. We live in the natural world, therefore, we do not from the physical world but we do separate ourselves from the world-system. We believe in separation from the world but isolation from it. We are in the world but not of it. We are what the soul is to the body. 
 
2 Co 6: 17 “Therefore
            ‘Come out from among them
            And be separate, says the Lord.
            Do not touch what is unclean,
            And I will receive you.”
18 ‘I will be a Father to you,
            And you shall be My sons and daughters,
Says the Lord Almighty’.”
 
We cannot love God halfheartedly. He wants all of us or none of us. To embrace one is to forsake the other. When we lose heart for God something else has displaced our love for God. 
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James 4:4

Published on November 19, 2000 in James. 0 Comments
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"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."

 

Adulterers and adulteresses!
 
James uses “adulterers and adulteresses” in the figurative sense, not the literal sense here. The word “adulterers” does not occur in some manuscripts but he word “adulteresses” does. James intends shock value with this term. 
 
Believers throughout the Roman Empire were no longer faithful to God so James shocks them by calling them “adulteresses.” We violate intimacy with God by loving the world because the world is the Devil’s kingdom and system of values. God will alarm us with that truth occasionally. 
 
1 Jn 2:15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. 17 And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.”
 
Do you not know
 
The words “do you not know” are a challenge to carnal Christians to break out of their carnality. They need to discern a fundamental principle to do this, which he expresses in the next phrases. 
 
that friendship with the world
 
The word “that” introduces the principle by which the believer breaks out of carnality. If he understands the havoc that worldliness does to his fellowship with God, then he might break out. 
 
The readers of the book of James fell in love with the world. The word “friend” means affection. Carnal Christians gave their deepest emotional affection to the world. The world is a system of belief about what is best for one’s life. The Devil runs this system. They were, in effect, in love with the Devil’s ideas. 
 
Jn 11: 1 “…of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.”
 
Jn 14:29 “And now I have told you before it comes, that when it does come to pass, you may believe. 30 I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world [the Devil] is coming, and he has nothing in Me.”
 
2 Co 4: 3 “But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, 4 whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.”
 
1 Jn 5:19 “We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one.”
 
is enmity with God?
 
Note the contrasting words “friend” and “enmity.” If a Christian loves the world, he is the enemy of God. Whenever he becomes a friend to the world, he will hate God. The carnal Christian revolts against who and what God is by cuddling up to the world system. The word “enmity” means alienation. 
 
Rom. 8: 7 “Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. 8 So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.”
 
PRINCIPLE: 
 
Worldliness is a condition of the heart and attitude that changes our orientation of life away from God’s values. 
 
APPLICATION: 
 
A carnal Christian is someone who divides his affections between the world-system and God’s viewpoint. 
 
We cannot love the world and God at the same time. It is either/or, not both/and. God demands that our love for Him be mutually exclusive. He does not want the bride of Christ [the church] to get into bed with anyone else. 
 
Jesus reconciled us to God when we accepted His unadulterated grace. We are no longer God’s enemies. 
 
Ro 5: 10 “For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.”
 
Eph. 2: 14 “For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, 15 having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, 16 and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity.”
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James 4:3

Published on November 18, 2000 in James. 2 Comments
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"You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures."

 

You ask
 
The word “ask” conveys the idea of imploring. There is an element of deference proper prayer. Jesus never used this term for “ask” because He asks on equal status with the Father. However, we come to the Father as finite beings asking something from the infinite One. 
 
and do not receive,
 
God does not answer every prayer because there are conditions to answered prayer. We found some of these conditions in 1:5-7,
 
Ja 1:5 “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. 6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.”
 
because you ask amiss,
 
The word “amiss” means improperly, badly, incorrectly. The improper request in this case is praying with motivation of personal pleasure. 
 
that you may spend it
 
The word “spend” connotes to consume, squander, waste. Some people excessively spend money on pleasure. This is what the prodigal son did with his inheritance (Lu 15:13). Paul, on the other hand, did another kind of spending,
 
2 Co 12: 15 “And I will very gladly spend and be spent for your souls; though the more abundantly I love you, the less I am loved.”
 
on your pleasures.
 
“Pleasures” is the same term as in verse one. It is from the root for hedonism, the philosophy of pleasure. If it feels good, do it. 
 
PRINCIPLE: 
 
God answers prayer when we pray legitimately. 
 
APPLICATION: 
 
There is a legitimate ask and a non-legitimate ask. God established prayer on certain conditions but we can misuse it. God does not hear the prayer that seeks personal pleasure. The thesis of prayer is to give deference to God’s will who sovereignly provides for us for He does not always give us what we want but He always gives us what we need. 
 
Some of us pray and God does not answer our prayers. We say, “Why does God not answer my prayers? Does He hear me? It appears that the heavens are silent.” The problem lies within us.
 
1 Jn 5: 14 “Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. 15 And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.” 
 
If our motivation in prayer is to gain place, pleasure, power and prestige, then we ask amiss, improperly. This kind of prayer disgraces God. God honors prayer motivated by His purposes. 
 
Mt 6: 33 “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.”
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James 4:2d

Published on November 17, 2000 in James. 0 Comments
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“You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask.”
 
Yet you do not have because you do not ask
 
The addressees of the book of James did not pray about their needs, so they did not get answers to the prayers that they did not ask! They deemed themselves sufficient in themselves so they did not pray about their needs.
 
“Ask” conveys the idea of imploring (1:5-6). God wants us to ask things from Him because asking is an act of dependence. Christians are powerless in their spiritual lives because they simply do not ask God for things because of unbelief. Yet, prayer has as much power today as in any period of church history.
The root of all carnality is the same – internal lusts contrary to God’s plan. The reason we do not pray is that we approach life from an autonomous viewpoint.
PRINCIPLE:
The remedy for a lust orientation to life lies in prayer.  
APPLICATION:
The sure bet solution to rivalry is prayer. Ask God for something beyond your normal ability. It is better to deal with God than to manipulate men.
Jn 16: 24 “Until now you have asked nothing in My name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.”
Carnal Christians meet all their needs by operation bootstraps, “I have enough education, enough brains. Why should I depend on God?” God wants us to ask.
Mt 7: 7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. 9 Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? 11 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!”
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James 4:2c

Published on November 16, 2000 in James. 0 Comments
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“You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask.”
 
You fight and war.
 
All conflict originates in self. An attitude of murder and coveting always produces difference and discord among believers.
 
PRINCIPLE:
 
Lust for place brings rivalry among believers.
 
APPLICATION:
Lust for place and privilege brings rivalry among believers. All conflict comes from covetousness. We cannot gain recognition by a negative. We find no place by downing others. Lust for recognition is the root of wars among believers.
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James 4:2b

Published on November 15, 2000 in James. 0 Comments
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"You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask."

 

You murder
 
“Murder” is the final consequence of frustrated desire. The idea has the possibility of lethal hatred rather than literal murder. In any case, the idea is that covetousness results in destructive behavior. Absalom is a good example of this (2 Sa 15-17) when he tried to kill his father David. David killed Uriah because he lusted after Uriah’s wife Bathsheba.   James clearly addresses “you murder” to believers. 
 
1 Pe 4: 15 “But let none of you suffer as a murderer, a thief, an evildoer, or as a busybody in other people’s matters.”
 
and covet
 
This is not the main word for “covet” as in 3:14. The idea in this verse is to boil with desire toward something that belongs to someone else. This person does this because he deems himself lesser than someone else is and wants the same for himself. He takes the next step and tries to tear down what is in the other person. 
 
and cannot obtain.
 
The word “obtain” means to attain to, to reach, to hit the mark, to gain one’s end, to be successful. Coveting never reaches its goal. A bad feeling about someone else does not improve our place in any way. 
 
PRINCIPLE: 
 
We cannot attain a high place by putting others down.
 
APPLICATION: 
 
Some people are never satisfied. God can give them the moon but they will be frustrated. If we do not get what you want, we manipulate our way to get it. Some people lust for money to such a degree, they will kill for it. A man falls for another man’s wife and that drives him to murder his own wife. 
 
We think that we can build ourselves up by tearing someone else down. We believe that someone else’s failure brings our success. If someone has an accomplishment, we diminish it by some negative comment about him. Our jealousy drives our judgment because we feel diminished by his success. Coveting seeks to hides one’s own inadequacy by detracting from others. 
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James 4:2

Published on November 14, 2000 in James. 0 Comments
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“You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask.”
 
You lust
 
Almost all evils in life come from our system of coveting. The verb for “lust” means to turn upon a thing, to covet, to fix desire upon, to long for. In the present tense, it means to keep on coveting after something. Lust here has to do with seeking place and special honor.
 
This word for “lust” is a different word than the word in verse one. The word in this verse comes from two words: upon and desire, passion. The idea here is inward impulse manifesting itself in such things as approbation lust, power lust and lascivious lust. This person sets his soul on these things.
Mt 5: 27 “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’28 But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”
Ga 5: 16 “I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.”
2 Tm 2: 22 “Flee also youthful lusts; but pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.”
and do not have.
The verb for “do not have” means to light upon, obtain, hit upon any person or thing, to hit the mark. We do not gain answer to prayer because covetousness distorts our spiritual life.
He 6: 15 “And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise.”
Ro 11: 7 “What then? Israel has not obtained what it seeks; but the elect have obtained it, and the rest were blinded.”
PRINCIPLE:
Lust does not give us what we desire.   
APPLICATION:
A craving for something does not complete the thing. Lust does not bring us the desired end we seek. The method does not produce the end result. We can set our hearts on something but it does not necessary bring us our desire. If we make financial success our goal, we will find no ultimate fulfillment in that.
Ac 20: 33 “I have coveted no one’s silver or gold or apparel.”
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James 4:1c

Published on November 13, 2000 in James. 0 Comments
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“Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members?”
 
that war in your members?
 
The word “members” here refers to fallen sinful dynamics within our mind and body. This does not refer to church members. Every Christian has the potential for an army of lusts to encamp within his soul.
 
Ro 7: 23 “But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.”
 
“War” means to serve as a soldier, a soldier in service, to make war, do military service, serve in the army. The figurative idea here is spiritual warfare. Pleasure makes spiritual military expeditions in the soul; it makes incursions in the soul. Passion constantly fights to have its way with our soul. It does more than prowl in our souls; it wars against the will of God. Pleasure takes to the field of our hearts but it breaks out in open warfare in the church. That is why we must go to spiritual war against it.
 
1 Tim. 1: 18 “This charge I commit to you, son Timothy, according to the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you may wage the good warfare, 19 having faith and a good conscience, which some having rejected, concerning the faith have suffered shipwreck, 20 of whom are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I delivered to Satan that they may learn not to blaspheme.”
 
1 Pet. 2: 11 “Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul, 12 having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may, by your good works which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation.”
PRINCIPLE:
 
Interpersonal tensions come from inner personal tension.
 
APPLICATION:
 
Strife in Christian community occurs from within ourselves – from carnality, from satisfying self. Every Christian engages in the war of allowing his sin capacity to dominate him versus allowing the power of the Holy Spirit to control him.
 
2 Co 10: 3 “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. 4 For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, 5 casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, 6 and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled.”
 
Power lust, lusts of dominion, lust for pleasure, materialism lust all broil in the community of believers. All this comes from the corruption of carnality and from lack of spirituality. We need to lay the axe to these sins by confession and yielding ourselves to the Holy Spirit.
2 Tim. 2: 18 “3 You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. 4 No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier.”
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James 4:1b

Published on November 12, 2000 in James. 0 Comments
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“Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members?”
 
Do they not come from
 
The word “from” means out of. James deals with the source of conflict among Christians. By asking this in question form, James appeals to the conscience of the Christians to whom he writes dispersed across the Roman Empire.
 
your desires for pleasure
“Pleasure” in this verse has the idea of “sinful desire” or the gratification of natural desire. It is the delight of desire, a pleasant lust. The Greek uses this word for physical pleasure and at times for sexual pleasure. We get our English word “hedonism” from this Greek word. Hedonism is the uninhibited desire to fill every pleasure available. The New Testament always uses this word in the sinful sense. It means satisfied pleasure.
Ja 4:3 “You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.”
PRINCIPLE:
 
Personal gratification is the reason for conflict in the Christian community.
 
APPLICATION:
Many people superficially think that strife among Christians begins with external situations. This is not true; conflict comes from an entirely different source – a pleasure orientation to life.
Lu 8: 14 “Now the ones that fell among thorns are those who, when they have heard, go out and are choked with cares, riches, and pleasures of life, and bring no fruit to maturity.”
Differences among Christians make us unhappy people. They rob our peace and usefulness as servants of Christ. All this begins within. If we allow pleasure to run rampant, we will enter into a danger to the structure of our spirituality. If pleasure gains the predominance in our souls, spiritual defeat is at hand.
Some Christians live for personal gratification of sensual and natural desire. They let their pleasure tyrannize them by allowing pleasure to become their primary orientation to life (1 Th 4:3-5). When these Christians give themselves over to these sins, they lose their spiritual freedom. They think that they gain freedom but they lose freedom because they become slaves to sin. Their pleasure is their master. They enter a frantic search for happiness through pleasure.
Jude 16 “These are grumblers, complainers, walking according to their own lusts; and they mouth great swelling words, flattering people to gain advantage. 17 But you, beloved, remember the words which were spoken before by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ: 18 how they told you that there would be mockers in the last time who would walk according to their own ungodly lusts. 19 These are sensual persons, who cause divisions, not having the Spirit.”
Hedonism is the philosophy of Playboy magazine, the philosophy that pleasure is the chief end of man. Aristippus the Cyrene (435-355 B.C.) formalized the philosophy of hedonism and taught that we are to avert pain and seek pleasure as a way of life. Christianity is not pleasure oriented but God oriented. The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.

 

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James 4:1

Published on November 11, 2000 in James. 0 Comments
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“Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members?”
 
James launches chapter four with three forms of desire that cause conflict: 1) an orientation to pleasure (4:1), 2) the emptiness of coveting (4:2), and 3) self-centered craving (4:2b-3).
 
The first 12 verses show the cause of conflict.
 
Where do wars
The word “where” indicates the source of wars among Christians.
The word “wars” literally means armed conflict but figuratively it means strife, conflict, quarrel. We get the English Word “polemic” from this Greek word. Some Christians levy war against other Christians in a prolonged and strategic way. Sometimes this involves a series of attacks. This is course of conflict as a way of life. They love to make open war and engage in protracted conflict with each other; they love this life.
and fights come from
The word “fights” means strife, combat, battle. This is someone who takes up arms in a specific battle. Figuratively, the word “fights” alludes to persons at variance, disputants, contention. This is the tactical aspect of war. Christians sometimes enter into open quarreling and violent wrangling. Their weapon is the tongue. They use it intensively in a bitter way; they clash in a fierce way.
among you?
“Wars” and “fights” on occasion take place between Christians. They engage in flat out verbal brawls in church. People take sides with one group or another. Some churches enter into real donnybrooks.
1 Co 1: 12 “Now I say this, that each of you says, ‘I am of Paul,’ or ‘I am of Apollos,’ or ‘I am of Cephas,’ or ‘I am of Christ.’ 13 Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?”
PRINCIPLE:
 
Both strategic and tactical conflict among believers is against divine viewpoint.
 
APPLICATION:
The source of conflict among Christians is the human viewpoint of self-seeking. Some Christians strategically enter into conflict with fellow believers. They do it with forethought. Their purpose in life is to levy war against Christians! Conflict is a way of life for them. They love a good fight. Other Christians like to fight tactical wars. They use the hit and run method of the tongue. They dispute anything anyone in authority has to say.
2 Ti 2: 23 “But avoid foolish and ignorant disputes, knowing that they generate strife.”
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