AF-S87-091105 James H
Alêtheia Christian Fellowship Sermon #87 James H, September 11, 2005.
Aircraft pilot death rate 92.4 per 100,000 for 109 last year.
NET, designed specifically for the internet. Bible readers are often not aware that every translation makes many interpretive decisions for them, this translation meticulously points them out.
§ James Chapter 4:1-3 ~
Where do the conflicts and where do the quarrels among you come from? Is it not from this, from your passions that battle inside you? You desire and you do not have; you murder and envy and you cannot obtain; you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask; you ask and do not receive because you ask wrongly, so you can spend it on your passions. (NET)
Civil war, not national defense.
"In your members," Jewish belief that evil resides in the 248 members of the body.
The root of conflict is internal self-centered desire. There can be no conflict otherwise.
Desire frustrated leads to murder. Instead of reexamining the desire we fight and manipulate, slander and jealously condemn others.
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus traces murder back to it's foundation of an anger and we can easily see that anger is the result of pride, which only comes from selfishness.
Even with all the intrigue you still are not satisfied and never will be. You don't ask from God because it's selfish and you don't receive if you do ask for the same reason. Now, that ought to tell you something.
We want a thing, we justify it and rationalize it until we think it's God who really wants it. But we don't get it; why? Because it was a selfish desire (kakov) in disguise.
Prayer in concert with God's will is always answered.
If you can get God to give you what you want then you are practicing magic. The Christian isn't trying to get God to do anything except that, which God desires.
When a trusting child asks dad for something to eat, dad is happy to give not just a plain piece of bread, but a wonderful happy meal. When a spoiled child demands a steak dad may respond with a plain piece of bread.
§ James Chapter 4:4-6 ~
Adulterers, (NASB: Adulteress', KJV: Ye adulterers and adulteresses) do you not know that friendship with the world means hostility toward God? So whoever decides to be the world’s friend makes himself God’s enemy. Or do you think the scripture means nothing when it says, “The spirit that God caused to live within us has an envious yearning”? But he gives greater grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud, but he gives grace to the humble.”
4- GK moicali>dev, plural feminine. Old Covenant term for people who want God and other gods. The woman who wants the stability, security and respectability of being married to the successful man, but wants the enjoyment of her lawn-boy lover.
Extremely common sentiment throughout the Bible. You cannot serve two masters, it is all or nothing as far as God is concerned. God must be your one and only God.
Idolatry is when we worship or pledge allegiance to something as God. If I am self-centered then I am loyal to my own ideas and if I am proud I praise myself.
There are thousands of forms to be sure, like reading your horoscope for one.
5- NLT- the Holy Spirit, whom God has placed within us, jealously longs for us to be faithful?
NRSV- “God yearns jealously for the spirit that he has made to dwell in us”?
NASB- "He jealously desires the Spirit which He has made to dwell in us”?
It's either:
1) Our spirit God put in us to live is a spirit that is evil in it's desire. NET, KJV & ASV
2) The Holy Spirit in us longs for us to do what is right. NLT
3) God jealously longs for the spirit in us to be in fellowship with Him. RSV & NASB
pro<v fqo>non ejpipoqei~ to< pneu~ma o{ katw|>kisen ejn hJmi~n;
towards envy/jealousy yearns the spirit which dwells in you.
Option one fits the immediate context and the straightforward reading in Greek
Option two is unlikely
Option three is now very popular with the eggheads because it fits the context of Old Covenant teaching about a jealous God and both, "the spirit," and katw|>kisen, usually refer to God as His Spirit and He caused Himself to dwell. The word is not certain, "B." it can simply be, "dwelt."
6- The sense is: Not to worry because He actively gives greater grace as it says in Proverbs 3:34 ~ Literally: “he scorns / arrogant scoffers // but to the humble / he gives grace.” It is a typical Hebrew chiastic construction so your Bible will probably change the order of the second part. The actual quote is from the 70. Peter qoutes the same verse in the 5th chapter of his first epistle. Jesus said in Matthew 23:12 ~ And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.
I find the bottom line is not just what you believe, but how much you believe.
§ James Chapter 4:7-10 ~
So submit to God. But resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and make your hearts pure, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn, and weep. Turn your laughter into mourning and your joy into despair. Humble yourselves before the Lord and he will exalt you.
James then goes into 12 things you must do, 4 relations and 3 responses:
These are imperatives, i.e orders!
X Devil= Resist…. Satan will flee diabo>lov, through throwing, i.e. the accuser.
Satan's biggest deal is to influence you to do what you selfishly desire and one of the easiest ways to do that is to get you to diabo>lov another person especially another Christian.
The Greek word in verse 11, is katalalei~te. The imperative command to not, "speak against." Slander is not necessarily false it's simply speaking about another when they cannot defend themselves.
B Self= Cleanse internal, external, grieve, mourn, weep, laughter to sorrow, joy into despair, humble yourself…. God will exalt you
÷ God= Submit and draw near to God…. God will draw near to you
e Others= Do not speak against
We will talk at great length about this next time.
Pride leads to self-exultation an inflated view of self fosters the, "entitlement mentality." I deserve this or that, You can't treat me that way, If you don't give me what I deserve I will take it.
New Orleans and the Columbine Boys.
It blurs the line between man and God, so we believe we are almost good enough in our own effort.
Our work is of value and must be recognized.
It becomes a great barrier between God and man because we think God owes us.
He owes us an explanation for…. He owes us an apology for….
We can never be happy because we never get as much as we think we deserve and it creates open and active warfare with God and those around us.
Humility leads to the exultation of others starting with God.
Hands are external and the heart is internal, both are critical.
The last imperative is the beginning of verse 11, and goes into a new section on how we are to behave towards others.