The Humble Dependence of a True Faith
Book of James Chapter 4
What is the theme of our lesson today?
Jas 4:17 Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.
No matter what we say, we do have that fear of when that last war will come because we know these politicians that are elected in all nations will one day set off the nuclear armament, they are so proud of and refuse to do away with.
It is a fact that the leader of every national power today is trying to cement themselves and the things they have changed while in office to remain the law, long after they are gone.
We simply cannot allow this to happen.
All of us see war on the horizon, because every nation is trying to dictate what happens in other nations and have forgotten how to take care of their own people.
It may look like the end for us all, but the Lord made a promise to His children and this takes away some of that fear for most of God's people.
Jesus said: Luk_21:9 But when ye shall hear of wars and commotions, "be not terrified": for these things must first come to pass; but the end is not by and by.
The world will tell you that religion has caused most wars and that maybe true, but I have no faith in religion.
It has always been evil men seeking some imaginary power they desire who use people to cause wars.
Eph_6:12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
According to the Lord these things are just a part of our lustful flesh.
1Pe 2:11 Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, "abstain from fleshly lusts", which war against the soul;
James is saying that coveting the things that we do not have but we think we must have, are a cause for most wars.
Today the drug traffic and human trafficking have become so profitable that men are willing to go to war over them.
No doubt sin is the biggest moneymaker in all this world and those who will pull the trigger are in high places in every nation.
Who would ever believe war would be so profitable and death would be so cheap!
This is not to be the way of the Christian!
It simply does not register with us just how sinful our flesh is!
We all seem to think we have some good in us when the Word of God says we have no good in us.
Jas 4:5 Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy?
These are all things that the Devil has influenced in this world while we all go about thinking we have some good in us.
The only way we stand a chance for peace in our lives is to humble ourselves before the Lord!
*****Jas 4:7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
Submitting ourselves to God means that we will receive His Messiah as our Savior.
That Messiah is the Lord Jesus Christ who came to this earth just as described in the Old Testament, fulfilling every prophecy that was written of Him.
If God was willing to send a Savior surely, we can take some time to listen to what He has to say.
We know that we face the temptation to do evil on every side.
When temptation comes sin will follow, unless we have the strength to say no to temptation.
We have no strength to overcome temptation without the strength that comes from the Lord.
Every sin is preceded by temptation!
When we are young, we try to imagine a world without war, without murder, without hatred, without arrogance, and without neglect, but it takes some time to realize all these things come about because of sin and most do not ever figure this out.
We think that every person has some good in them when the fact is that none of us have any good in us at all.
Every person has a different definition for the word good!
In fact the word good comes from the word god.
In the best dictionaries the word good can cover a whole page.
Everyone in this world has a god whether they acknowledge it or not, but there is only One True God.
He is the only God who is denied and His name was Jehovah in the Old Testament and the Old Testament says He is the Messiah, the Christ of the New Testament called Jesus.
The Lord Jesus said that God is the only one who is good.
Mat_19:17 And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.
The Lord Jesus then said He is that God, He was the Messiah of the Old Testament.
Luk 4:17 And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written,
Luk 4:18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,
Luk 4:19 To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.
Luk 4:20 And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him.
Luk 4:21 And he began to say unto them, "This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears".
The Bible is specific, we are to submit ourselves to the Messiah of the New Testament.
It is He and He only, the One who can bind the Devil!
Once we submit ourselves to the Lord Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit will move into our Soul and it is then, that we have the power to Resist the Devil and only then.
Other than this, no lost person can resist the Devil!
2Ti_2:26 And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, "who are taken captive by him at his will".
No one can overcome the wiles of the Devil who has not submitted themselves to the Lord Jesus Christ!
This is a fact!
We can turn away from temptation and push it out of our mind, only if we have the truth of God on our mind.
When we focus our mind on the truth of Jesus Christ the Devil will flee and that temptation will be gone.
1) We must submit to the Lord!
2) We must resist the Devil!
It is a two-part thing.
We can never defeat the Devil if we are fighting him alone.
We can never defeat the Devil if we are going our own way.
We can never defeat the Devil by giving in just a little.
We can never defeat the Devil by not obeying the Word of God!
If we even listen to the Devil's tempting offer, we have begun our path to defeat!
Even if we have been enslaved to the Devil for years, the Lord Jesus can break that bondage!
Our freedom begins when we draw nigh to God.
*****Jas 4:8 Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.
That nearness to God is the promise that is attached to true and earnest prayer!
We cannot get any closer to God than just getting on our knees in submission, and just telling our Heavenly Father just what is happening in our lives, and He cannot hear us unless we are one of His children or part of our prayer is submitting to His Son.
Psa_66:18 If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me:
Drawing near to God includes repentance!
We must walk away from that old life we had, and join the many others in knowing that we are never alone when we are facing trials and temptations that all come in one way or another from the Devil himself.
The Devil is a real person and he will make himself known to you the very moment you have the Lord on your mind.
Other than this he will remain hidden in this world of sin because he is a coward!
Get close to God, as close as you can.
We get close to God with a good prayer life.
We can get close to God by reading His book.
We can get close to God by remembering what we have read and discussing it with others.
If we take one step toward God, He will take two steps toward us!
God knows how this world affects us!
Heb 4:15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.
Heb 4:16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.
We cannot draw near to God if we have sinful, unclean hands.
When we touch the things, God forbids us to touch, why would we think He will accept us.
Even after our salvation our soul has been saved, but these bodies that soul lives in is still just as sinful.
It is this closeness to God that can overcome that sinfulness!
1Ti 2:8 I will therefore that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting.
Holy hands are clean hands.
Those who have the right to draw near to God are those same ones who are not ashamed to walk in fellowship with the Lord!
These are the same ones to walk in victory over the Devil and victory over the trials of this life!
1Co 10:21 Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord's table, and of the table of devils.
What was the message of the Lord Jesus Christ?
Mat 5:3 Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Mat 5:4 Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.
James gives us this same thought.
*****Jas 4:9 Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness.
When temptation comes it is not time to be laughing and joking around.
We need to have a sense of urgency and misery.
The Apostle Paul wrote: Rom 7:24 O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
Rom 7:25 I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.
The Lord Jesus wrote: Luk 6:25 Woe unto you that are full! for ye shall hunger. Woe unto you that laugh now! for ye shall mourn and weep.
While we are to enjoy the truth of our salvation and we should, we must always be prepared for that next battle with trials and temptations, for they will surely come.
This Scripture is teaching us that laughter at trials and temptations is that of a careless, selfish world and the sport of a fool.
Pro 10:23 It is as sport to a fool to do mischief: but a man of understanding hath wisdom.
Trials and temptations are real and they are nothing to laugh about, and we are never to laugh at others while they are going through them no matter how serious we think they are.
How can we expect the Lord to be merciful to us, when we do not take these things seriously?
Temptation is an affliction and we must discipline ourselves to be in control of the comforts and joys of this life.
To have victory over our temptations we must be humble before the Lord!
*****Jas 4:10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.
We must understand that the Lord has His eyes upon us at all times and He understands that we have
needs and He will fulfill those needs when we remain close to Him in obedience.
We must never look upon temptation seeing how attractive and enticing it is!
We must see temptation for what it is, the Devil trying to cause us to fail while the Lord has His eyes upon us.
It is looking at that second helping of food that is not needed, just as it is that second look at an attractive man or woman or any other thing that is considered sin.
Remember King David would have saved himself from a lot of problems had he not taken the second look at Bathsheba.
If we look upon any other human being with hatred, we are just as guilty and these are also temptations.
2Co 10:4 (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)
2Co 10:5 Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;
2Co 10:6 And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled.
This verse is speaking to our own disobedience, when we are to be obedient to all the Word of God!
When we humble ourselves before God, He will lift us up. This is His promise!
This is something we are to do first and not wait until we have no choice, but to seek God.
Most of the time we will only go to the Lord when we realize that we cannot cope with life by ourselves, and we waste the limited time we have to get close to the Lord.
Rom 12:3 For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.
The Lord hates all sin, but we can be sure that if we become a judge of other people that God will hate this sin the most!
*****Jas 4:11 Speak not evil one of another, brethren. He that speaketh evil of his brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of the law, and judgeth the law: but if thou judge the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge.
Jas 4:12 There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy: who art thou that judgest another?
Over and over again the Lord has said we have only one Master, and we can be sure that we also have only One True Judge.
There is no one in this world who does not understand the meaning of both judge and judgment!
Act_10:42 And he commanded us to preach unto the people, and to testify that it is he which was ordained of God to be the Judge of quick and dead.
2Ti_4:1 I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom;
What is speaking evil?
To criticize, to backbite, to gossip, to condemn, to grumble, and to judge any other person than ourselves, is speaking evil of others.
When we tear down some other person or even share things of them that we should not be sharing, we can cause harm to them that they may never overcome.
When we speak evil of another person, then we have judged them to be evil!
We will all come up short and fall or fail, as we try our best to serve the Lord.
The Lord Jesus expressly teaches us not to do this!
Mat 7:1 Judge not, that ye be not judged.
Mat 7:2 For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.
Mat 7:3 And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?
Mat 7:4 Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye?
Mat 7:5 Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye.
We already know the Lord Jesus gave us the "Royal Law" and we are to be obedient to that law!
The Lord Jesus is the Lawgiver to the Church and the Holy Spirit warns us, that it is only Our Lord Jesus who is able to save and able to destroy us!
There is no other in any place that has this power that only the Lord has!
Sure, another person can take our life and snuff it out, but if our soul belongs to the Lord, we will still wake up in the arms of the Lord.
Satan has been designated as our accuser and we are never to follow in his footsteps!
Rev 12:10 And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: "for the accuser of our brethren" is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.
The reason we are given by the Lord, is that these are our brothers and sisters in the Church and each and every one of them have already been judged by the Lord, and again we will be making ourselves to be judge of the Church.
This position is filled by Our Lord and we cannot ever over rule Him.
We are to reach out to help our brothers and sisters in the Lord, and certainly not to condemn them!
We must concern ourselves with what is going on at this very moment because we cannot ever be sure of the next moment in the day and certainly not tomorrow.
*****Jas 4:13 Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain:
Jas 4:14 Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.
None of us are self-sufficient. That song that says "I Cannot Walk Without Him Holding My Hand", we all know to be true.
When we plan without including the Lord in our plans we are just asking for failure!
There is nothing wrong with making plans even for our future and we all should.
Rom 12:11 Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord;
This Scripture is not talking about planning before we act, this Scripture is speaking of planning without the Lord.
We can be sure that if we are planning to move to another location it will not be any better if we do not stay close to the Lord.
Our life is not in our own hands!
We do not need the Lord just on Sunday and Wednesday, we need the Lord every moment that we are alive and our plans must include what happens after our death.
We have never been able to completely handle our own affairs alone!
We must accept God's plan for our lives. We must accept God's will for our lives!
We must realize that utter destruction of our future could happen in the next moment that we cannot see.
The next time we go to the doctor our plans could change.
The next time we drive our car our plans could change.
We are completely in the dark with what our future will bring.
We do not know what will happen in the next hour!
The only thing we can depend upon, is the truth of Our Lord and Savior!
Pro 27:1 Boast not thyself of to morrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.
We seldom know when death will come but we certainly know it is coming to us!
When death comes, we are snatched into eternity never to return to this life. We are gone forever!
Refusing to face up to this fact is certainly foolish!
Some of those plans we had been making in that old life had better been about seeking the Lord Jesus our Savior.
Compared to a life that we can have in the glory world which is for eternity, our life in this world is not more than a vapor which is only here for a moment and gone forever.
*****Jas 4:15 For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.
Being self-sufficient is failure to acknowledge our God, Our Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ, who is also our Creator.
This verse is very simple! We should not do anything until we have talked it over with the Lord!
Pro 19:21 There are many devices in a man's heart; nevertheless the counsel of the LORD, that shall stand.
The things we do must be part of the will of God for our lives!
Everything concerning life, whether we live or die and how well we live, should be discussed with the Lord and this daily, and sometimes moment to moment.
We depend upon the Lord for life!
Most everything in this life can be found in the Word of God and we should make it our guide in this life!
We should say "if the Lord will we shall live, and do this, or that".
Even the Apostle Paul did this: 1Co 4:19 But I will come to you shortly, if the Lord will and will know, not the speech of them which are puffed up, but the power.
As he wrote to the Corinthians. Christ has the power to influence the heart of the Christian, when there is no power in the vanity and pride of man.
We must know that everything we do is dependent upon the Lord.
We are not able to do anything that goes against the will of God, not a single thing.
A million different things could happen to us in the next moment and prevent us from carrying out any plan that we have made.
It is just best we talk over all our plans with the Lord or search for an example of God reactions to a similar event in the Word of God.
We know that God never changes no matter what some man says!
We must be willing to listen to the Holy Spirit and sometimes He will speak softly just to see if we are listening.
We should see that the miracles of Christ in the New Testament show us His power to deliver us from the consequences of this world, if He so chooses.
We should never brag that we can do anything we want to do because the Lord will show us the folly in that statement.
*****Jas 4:16 But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil.
Jas 4:17 Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.
We all have a tendency to look back on life and say, "look what I have accomplished".
This in itself is boasting that we are better than those around us, who have not accomplished much.
We can all say that we will do even better next year and we have no power to do so.
Both of these things are in the hand of God.
I felt pretty good about my life about three years ago and then cancer came back into my life and it seems that I lost more than a year and I still struggle to get motivated to do things that I want to do now.
To be quiet honest, I just do not pray enough!
But I am still here and still serving the Lord because this is what He wants me to do!
Everything else is secondary to this!
We must just trust the Lord and know that He has a better plan!
Our theme for this lesson holds true every time!
*****Jas 4:17 Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.
We can almost say that life is a test.
Other humans, angels, the Devil's helpers, Heaven, and Hell are watching to see if we are going to pass this test.
The Lord will help us.
The devil will hinder us.
The Lord Jesus tells us He has a better plan for our life and we just need to have faith in His plan.
We cannot get to Paradise, that is called Heaven, without the Lord Jesus Christ.
We need to walk in fellowship with the Lord all the days of our lives.
Refusing to do this, is the sin that will send us to Hell!
Amen
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