Sermon Tone Analysis

Last week we had discussed a major problem of self-control in our lives.

James teaches that it is very difficult to control our tongue — what we say and what we think which is often the source of what we say.

We could control what we say by cutting out our tongues or taking a vow of silence.

We could limit what we communicate by avoiding social media.

(I just read a post from someone I know who has a bad habit of posting questionable comments on Facebook and because she was reprimanded she has decided to avoid posting for a month.

(Thank God!)

But James solution is much better than such remedies.

This section gives guidance on how to humble ourselves and produce godly fruits which will display themselves in much more positive communication.

Here James contrasts two types of wisdom.

What are they?

Wisdom from heaven:

Worldly wisdom:

How does he describe each?

See similar passages taught by Jesus.

See also St. Paul.

See also St. Paul.

So how is such wisdom to be gained?

Where can you find it?

To understand this, we need to see the ways in which real wisdom differs from worldly wisdom.

There are two kinds of wisdom, and they are wildly different.

One comes from heaven; the other is earthly.

One is spiritual; the other unspiritual.

One is from God; the other is f from the devil.

True wisdom, in other words comes from outside this world,.

It comes from God alone as the Proverb reminds us: “For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.”

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And, as James has already told us: “If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God” ().

We cannot gain true wisdom without turning to God for it.

If the source of this wisdom is God, we need to be those who pray.

The fact is, we need to have God’s perspective on our lives.

We need him to humble our hearts.

We need him to tame our tongues.

It is why humility and wisdom go together in this passage: to truly know yourself it to know yourself as someone in need of God’s grace.

(James for You by Sam Allberry)

Agree or disagree.

There should not be conflict with the local congregation.

Give some examples of times when there has been conflict in the local congregation.

“Pad the Pew” project.

Rummage sales held at church.

95 Theses.

Jesus preaching at his hometown of Nazareth.

St. Paul arrested in the temple courts.

Conflict seems unavoidable, even within the church.

But there is a solution.

We need to realize the root cause of many conflicts and that is a sinful selfish desire to get what we want instead of bowing to God’s will.

Give biblical examples of people who killed to get what they wanted.

What instigator of conflict does James cite in verses 1-3?

Why is this source so powerful?

In verse 3 James teaches that there were Christians who prayed, asking God for something, but their prayers were not answered with a “Yes”.

How does this seem to conflict with the following promise?

How does James explain why certain prayers and not answered with a “Yes”?

Agree or disagree.

It is absolutely wrong to “spend what we get on your pleasures”?

Or as one Christian author asked, “Is it wrong for a pastor to drive a BMW?”

What is the balance . . .

or should we seek a balance?

Give biblical examples of people who killed to get what they wanted.

Give biblical examples of people who killed to get what they wanted.

We should not assume that some of James audience had already resorted to murder but he warns of the potential for it.

This seems to be a reference to the powerful destructive force of the tongue in chapter 3.

We seek to balance selfishness with generosity.

We may also seek to balance our commitment to God with the viewpoints of the world.

In the following scenario, what would you do?

Your employer is a Christian who respects the religious beliefs of his workers.

On a warm Friday afternoon in April he asks the workers if they would like off from work because their local congregations are holding special Good Friday afternoon worship services.

What plans do you make?

Recently at Figi’s during the Christmas rush employees could work on Sunday at a wage of time and a half.

One worker declared that he would not work because he would be worshiping at his local congregation.

Agree or Disagree.

Church attendance is down because now there are so many other things that people can do on a Sunday morning.

When we try to balance commitment to God and commitment to the world, we are like Hilda in the cartoon.

What is eventually going to happen?

Even thought we may try to justify our duplicity, what is God’s attitude toward such “friendship” with the world?

Jesus taught the same thing in regard to mixed loyalties.

Explanation of verse 5.

Bible Knowledge Commentary -

3. Cure for Conflict (4:5-6) 4:5

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3. Cure For Conflict (4:5-6) 4:5.

This is one of the most difficult verses to translate in the entire letter.

A very literal translation would be, "Or think you that vainly the Scripture says to envy yearns the spirit which was made to dwell in you, but He gives great grace."

Is the "spirit" the Holy Spirit or the human spirit?

Is the spirit to be taken as the subject of the verb "yearns" or as its object?

Is "envy" to be seen as "unrighteous desire" or as "righteous jealousy"?

Numerous translations are possible: (a) "The Spirit who indwells you jealously yearns [for you] and He gives more grace."

(b) "He [God] yearns jealously for the Holy Spirit which indwells you and He gives more grace."

(c) "The [human] spirit which indwells you yearns to envy, but He [God] gives more grace."

The niv favors the latter idea: Or do you think... that the spirit He caused to live in us tends toward envy, but "He gives us more grace?"

(v. 6) Not only is the translation of the sentence a problem, but also the apparent indication that it is a part of Scripture poses difficulties.

James' question, typically rhetorical, "or do you think Scripture says without reason" (kenōs, lit., "vainly"), introduces the section.

The ambiguous sentence that follows is not a direct quotation of any passage in Scripture.

Rather than assume that James quoted some other sacred book, or some unknown Greek translation of the Old Testament, or that he simply referred to the general sense of Scripture, it seems more reasonable to assume that he focused on the quotation in verse 6, a statement clearly taken from : "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble" (also quoted in ).

Read from “Teach the Text Commentary Series” by Jim Samra.

“Out of the heart come . . .

“

5. in vain—No word of Scripture can be so.

The quotation here, as in , seems to be not so much from a particular passage as one gathered by James under inspiration from the general tenor of such passages in both the Old and New Testaments, as ; ; .

spirit that dwelleth in us—Other manuscripts read, “that God hath made to dwell in us” (namely, at Pentecost).

If so translated, “Does the (Holy) Spirit that God hath placed in us lust to (towards) envy” (namely, as ye do in your worldly “wars and fightings”)?

Certainly not; ye are therefore walking in the flesh, not in the Spirit, while ye thus lust towards, that is, with envy against one another.

The friendship of the world tends to breed envy; the Spirit produces very different fruit.

ALFORD attributes the epithet “with envy,” in the unwarrantable sense of jealously, to the Holy Spirit: “The Spirit jealously desires us for His own.”