Bible Study on the Book of James: Chapter 4

well james is about to enter into some pretty difficult territory he's going to call on us to do some very difficult things he's already talked about difficult matters about how we treat people and favoritism and how our faith is demonstrated by our deeds and now he's going to talk about a little bit about how we talk the words that we use and what that reflects about the inside of our inner character and our inner spiritual life this is such a relevant section of scripture if there is ever a relevant section of scripture today people are arguing so much people are getting so upset so angry there's all kinds of new words that we've added to the dictionary in the last few years just about being upset over online conversation and yes there are things worth getting upset over there's there's no doubt about that some things call for some upsetness but i'm afraid that what we've experienced is some enmeshment of our emotional uh emotions with other people to where we're only okay if we think other people agree with us or we're only okay if uh if other people affirm what we're saying and if someone doesn't then we act like they're crazy and you know we need to come back to the scriptures on how we talk to each other and how we use the words that we use here's what james says in james chapter four verse one what causes fights and quarrels among you don't they come from your desires that battle within you you want something but don't get it you kill and covet but you cannot have what you want you quarrel and fight you do not have because you do not ask god and when you ask you do not receive because you ask with wrong motives that you may spend what you get on your pleasures he's saying there's all these fights and quarreling and it sounds like it's even worse than just verbal like when we think of a fight we think of verbal we think of words attacking and insulting i mean it sounds like they're actually kind of fighting each other like over stuff and that just it just seems horrible and he's saying that all those actions come from somewhere they don't just come from a vacuum just like jesus talked about a good free doesn't bear bad fruit a bad tree doesn't bear good fruit he says that the things that the fighting and the quarreling that's going on is coming from a deeper place it's coming from covetousness it's coming from our desires and this is not to say we should become buddhists who go off and and just try to rid ourselves of all a desire and go into nirvana and complete emptiness and nothingness and transcendental meditation he's not saying that he's saying we need to deal with our desires we need to convert our desires to better desires so we kill and covet but we don't have what we want and the reason that we're fighting is because we don't have what we want but who has truly what we want it's god has truly what's most important and maybe sometimes it actually comes upon us to evaluate our wants to evaluate our desires and see if they actually align with the kingdom or not and he says but if you are going to ask god for something instead of taking it out on other people you really need to believe that god is the one who can truly provide you everything that you need the most so he he continues on here going on this track of you gotta pick one side or the other you can't just ride the fence he says in verse four you adulterous people don't you know that friendship with the world means enmity against god therefore anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of god or don't you think the scripture says without reason that he jealously longs for the spirit he has caused to dwell in us but he gives us more grace god opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble so god is saying james is saying that we have to pick one side when he says don't be a friend of the world he's not saying don't be friendly to people in the world he's saying don't embrace the ways and the systems and the processes and the thought processes of the way the world works the more friendly we get with the way the world is and the evil in the world the more we buddy up to the evil in the world the more at odds with god we're going to find ourselves and so he says here in verse 7 to submit ourselves then to god because god shows favoritism or favorites favor to the humble not to the proud god's going to stand against your pride we can't get into entitlement i deserve this i deserve that you know don't be boastful don't be prideful god will oppose you if that's the track that you want to take so he says first submit yourselves to god first submit yourselves to god submit yourselves to what god wants for you to have most the second thing he says is to resist the devil because those desires ultimately are coming from an evil place they're coming from a place just of bad a bad spirit a bad heart a bad mindset bad thinking so we're going to have to submit ourselves to god's way and when we submit ourselves to god's way we're resisting the devil and then james tells us exactly what the devil's going to do if you resist him he's going to flee from you okay so you are to submit you are to resist the devil will flee and then verse 8 you are able to come near to god and he then will come near to you you see god has already given us jesus christ while we were still sinners christ died for the ungodly god made the first move and now he's awaiting to see if we have faith that turns itself into action that we should then come near to god and if we will turn to god if we will submit to him if we will resist the devil then we can come near to god and he then will come near to us and that is relationality we have a relationship with god that's going to ultimately require submission and obedience and and resistance if we're not resisting the devil and we're just going along with every little desire that comes along the way that we are not going to be near to god that's why we have to repent of those things submit to god and then draw near to him and he will draw near to us he can and then he gives us just like a boom boom boom list of some things that we need to do wash your hands you sinners purify your hearts you double minded grieve mourn and wail change your laughter to mourning your joy to gloom humble yourself before the lord he will lift you up this is not to say don't ever be joyful this is not to say don't ever laugh he's saying that these people he's writing to are laughing over the wrong things they're finding joy in their covetousness they're finding joy and taking things from people and hoarding it up for themselves and they're laughing about it they're finding joy in it he's saying that's going to turn to gloom one day if you don't want that to turn to gloom one day you better turn that to gloom today and then you will humble yourself before the lord and if you do that just like if you submit resist and come near then god will come near to you humble yourself verse 10 before the lord and he god will lift you up this is strong language adulterous people you're cheating on god by the way that you're living double minded half a mind with the with the world half a mind with god we're cheating on god he is faithful but we are unfaithful our friendship again is love of the world the love of the ways of the world what's the answer it's humility and it's submission these two things go together humility is like an attitude it's an attitude the way we see ourselves is a humble attitude but submission i think in a sense is more of an action word it's our choice of direction to put god in his ways first and reflected in the way that we live our lives so we live a humble life and then through our through our seeing ourselves from a humble perspective we are then able to submit ourselves to god if we have a prideful perspective rather than a humble perspective then we will not submit to anyone pride does not allow us to submit to anyone and if you are proud he says god will stand opposed to you he just said a few verses ago and it will completely keep you from humbling yourselves so that god can lift you up it will completely keep you from coming near to god so that god will not be able to come near to you or not that he's not able god just won't because you're not showing that you have an interest in god now too many people i think are not resisting the devil and so the devil is just having a field day here they're not living like the devil matters they're not living like the devil's real and we often knowingly engage in things that are unrighteous we need to resist we need to fight the devil we need to convert our desires into holy righteous desires and then the devil will flee it's time to come near to god it's time time to be purified it's time for us to give up our double-mindedness and set our soul focus upon the lord rather than upon friendliness with the world and then we will have a kind of joy and then we will have a kind of laughter that will never go away because it will be based in righteousness and in relationship with god our father here's what he says next in james 4 11-12 brothers and sisters don't slander one another anyone who speaks against a brother or a sister or judges them speaks against the law and judges it when you judge the law you are not keeping it but sitting in judgment on it there is only one lawgiver and judge the one who is able to save and destroy but you who are you to judge your neighbor to he says don't slander your brother your sister that that word means to speak evilly against someone whether it's i guess mostly made up things really you think of made-up things are true they're typically not true things this goes on so so much in christian circles there is so much slander that takes place i see it all the time and it's going to put us in too tightly with the devil's ways and friendliness with the world and it will result in us being far from god let us leave the judgments to god it's interesting that he ties slander to leaving the judgment to god because slander is largely made up and you know the honest reality is most of our judgments are made up we just make up judgment against someone we make up something and we judge them for it we often don't know the whole story for the things that we're judging people against leave it up to god because god will judge with impartiality and god will judge with perfect wisdom and insight and mercy that you and i just do not possess there are certain jobs roles and responsibilities that you have been given and being the judge of the world is not one of them only god is the judge and he is the one who is the law writer and the law giver so he is the law enforcer you and i are not now here's what he says last james 4 13-17 now listen you who say today or tomorrow will go doing this this or that in that city spend a year there carry on business and make money why you don't even know what's going to happen tomorrow what is your life you are a miss that appears for a little while and then vanishes instead he says you ought to say if it is the lord's will we will live and do this or that as it is you are boasting your arrogant schemes all such boasting is evil and if anyone then knows the good they ought to do and doesn't do it for them it is sin does this mean we shouldn't make plans he says don't boast about tomorrow don't say you're going to go here and go there and do this or do that and make money and all these kinds of things should we not make plans should we not be responsible i think we should make plans i i think we should be responsible and try to figure out a proper course of action into our future but we're always as we go back a few verses to um earlier on the book of james to do this in a submissive sense to do this in a humble sense often people will say well i'm going to go do this or that lord willing if the lord wills it if the lord provides for it and that that helps us ensure that we're keeping god in the center and we're not going about in a prideful arrogant boastful way i'm going to go do this i'm going to go do that and with no concern for if god wills it if god wants it if god's going to help me in this and so it's okay to make a plan but always realize that god can have different plans and if you're not willing to submit to god's plan then you're going to be out of alignment with god always consider that god has a plan and try to discern what that plan is and then make your plans accordingly because god can give you major course corrections and can certainly humble the pro the proud our lives he says are fragile they're fragile they're just but a vapor they're about a missed you know if you're in your teens 20s 30s 40s it feels like we got a long time but we really don't know and even another 30 40 years 20 30 years really isn't all that long in the whole scheme of things but only god knows what's going to happen next we we cannot predict that and so we need to submit our plans to the lord we need to submit our lives to the lord we need to be humble people we need to not be double minded we need to not slander people and we need to not be going after people attacking people from our covetousness but instead appreciating the blessings that god has given to us because he is sufficient he is sufficient and to know these good things that we ought to do and not do them james says that's sin sometimes we think sin is just going out and doing something wrong but james is saying it can actually be the wrong thing is to not do the right thing just to to not do anything sometimes can be said if you know that that's the righteous thing and you avoid it you go to something else instead even if that's not you know lying murdering stealing whatever you can still be in sin because you knew the right thing you knew your responsibility you knew of the righteous option and you didn't opt for it so so i hope and pray this video in the book of james chapter 4 is beneficial to you is helpful to you in your walk god bless you thank you so much for watching and we will see you next time with james chapter five take care god bless

Channel: Wineskins

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Keywords: Christianity, Religion, Wineskins, Bible study, Bible study lesson, Bible study on James, Bible study on the book of James, Matt Dabbs, Matt Dabbs bible study, New Testament bible study, New Testament and the book of james, James chapter 4, James 4, Study on James 4

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Length: 12min 54sec (774 seconds)

Published: Wed Sep 30 2020