Our Prayer

Our Prayer

Heavenly Father, I know that I have sinned against You and that my sins separate me from You. I am truly sorry. I now want to turn away from my sinful past and turn to You for forgiveness. Please forgive me, and help me avoid sinning again. I believe that Your Son, Jesus Christ, died for my sins, that He was raised from the dead, is alive, and hears my prayer. I invite Jesus to become my Savior and the Lord of my life, to rule and reign in my heart from this day forward. Please send Your Holy Spirit to help me obey You and to convict me when I sin. I pledge to grow in grace and knowledge of You. My greatest purpose in life is to follow Your example and do Your will for the rest of my life. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.

Wednesday, July 10, 2024

Class Lesson July 14, 2024

 Week 8 - The Book of James




Last week, we discussed how James warns against false wisdom. False wisdom produces a friendship with the world, which James now addresses in chapter four.

  • Friendship with the world is rooted in sinfulness and self-centeredness.                                                                                                                    
  • Friendship with the world produces the chaos we see in the world.

God is not content to let his children be friends with the world. God is a jealous God, and He will not share us with the world. As followers of Jesus, we are called to have a heavenly view of the world and the trials we face. This perspective means that we pursue friendship with God not friendship with the world.



The Point: Visible Faith Intentionally Pursues God.

 

James 4:1-12

What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? 2 You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. 3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. 4 You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore, whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. 5 Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us”? 6 But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.

11 Do not speak evil against one another, brothers. The one who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks evil against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. 12 There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), James 4:1-12.



 

Study Notes

James spent the last section talking about two types of wisdom. Here, as David Platt points out, he moves to talking about two types of friendship. What is clear in this section, as with the previous section, is you and I have a choice to make.

·      Are we going to seek friendship with the world?

·      Or are we going to seek friendship with God?

It sounds simple, but on a practical level this is a choice we struggle with each day of our lives.

 

Friendship with the World

Friendship with the world comes from false wisdom (3:14-16). How do we know this? 4:1-5 can be seen as the practical outworking of false wisdom from chapter 3.

Friendship with the world is really friendship with ourselves. We choose ourselves and our interests over others and God. James’s point is that those Christians who have chosen such a friendship are the reason for the strife and conflict that exists within the church he is writing to.

His question in verse 1 outlines this, why do such things exist? Because you choose the friendship of the world over God. This friendship is driven by selfishness. This friendship may seem like it pursues God, yet it’s always for selfish gain. James notes that even when these Christians “ask” God for help it’s for dishonest gain to spend on themselves. In James’s mind, this is akin to adultery. They are “cheating” on God to satisfy vain pleasures. In turn, the natural outworking we saw from chapter 3 is coming home to roost. Disorder, chaos, quarrels, and strife abound for those that choose friendship with the world.

 

James’s concluding point in this section is that you have to choose one of these friendships. You cannot remain a friend to this world and remain in right standing with God. Those who choose friendship with this world are choosing enmity with God.

 

Friendship with God

James ends the previous section and starts this section (6-12) reminding his readers (and us) God is a jealous God. This is a good thing. God isn’t content to let us simply choose the world over Him. Rather, God moves in our lives to see a better way, a better friendship.

What does this friendship with God look like?

It’s heavenly minded. Whereas the earthly friendship seeks the here and now; friendship with God seeks the already but not yet. Earthly friendship seeks the immediate, friendship with God seeks the lasting. James points out what this friendship should look like. It’s driven by grace (6). This is a friendship that isn’t based upon performance or continuously seeking pleasure. Rather, it is based upon the free grace from God. This grace enables the Christian to find a rest that cannot be found anywhere else. This grace enables the Christian to resist the devil (7) by submitting to God, and ultimately overcome the temptation of following the devil. It’s the grace of this friendship that allows the Christian to be single-minded towards God and thereby to fight sin effectively.



 

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION

How would you define the two types of friendships in your own words?

Why does friendship with the world create chaos and strife?

Have you ever thought of choosing friendship with the world as spiritual adultery? Why or why not?

What is the main characteristic of a friendship with God?

How does this friendship help us to fight sin?

Why does this friendship allow us to take the “long view”?

How can this group help you choose friendship with God?

How can you fight against friendship with this world?

What changes need to take place in your life today to choose friendship with God?



END

Teachers' Notes:






Rick Warren explains that there are many aspects to how you perceive God - He's your Creator, Father, Lord, Savior, Redeemer, Counselor, but the most amazing of all of these is the fact that God wants you for a Friend!















Conflicts and disputes among believers are always harmful.

 

James explains that these quarrels result from evil desires within us – we want more possessions, more money, higher status, more recognition. When we want badly enough to fulfill these desires, we fight to do so.



Do you even talk to God?

When you do, what do you talk about?

Do you ask only to satisfy your desires? Do you seek God’s approval for what you already plan to do?



There is nothing wrong with wanting a pleasurable life.

God gives us good gifts that He wants us to enjoy.

But friendship with the world involves seeking pleasure at other’s expense or at the expense of obeying God.







This message is not unfamiliar.

1 John 2:15-17 says, “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. For all that is in the world - the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life - is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.” - Sobering words these are. If we take them seriously, as we must, we can find ourselves becoming uncomfortable.

And maybe that’s the point.















Click Play to Watch
















Pride makes us self-centered and leads us to conclude that we deserve all we can see, touch, or imagine.

 

It creates greedy appetites for far more than we need.

 

We can be released from our self-centered desires by humbling ourselves before God, realizing that all we need is His approval.


It creates greedy appetites for far more than we need.

 

Humbling ourselves means recognizing that our worth comes from God alone.

 

To be humble involves working with His power according to His guidance, not with our own independent effort.












Jesus summarized the law as love for God and neighbor. 

(Matt. 22:37-40)

 

Paul said that love demonstrated toward a neighbor would fully satisfy the law.

(Rom. 13:6-10)

When we fail to love, we are breaking God’s law.














Friendship with the World: What’s the Big Deal?

Written by: Pete McClanathan

So, we approach a subject that is fundamental to our lives and our faith. What is this thing the Bible calls “friendship with the world,” and why is it so critically important? How does it apply to us, and how does that matter?

Keeping with our goal of learning what scripture tells us on a subject, we start there. We find we don’t have far to look, and we encounter a message that is stark and unyielding.

 

James 4:4. “You adulterous people! Don’t you know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore, whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.”

 

This message is not unfamiliar, nor is it unique to James’ epistle. We find these words in 1 John 2:15-17: “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. For all that is in the world - the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life - is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.”

 

Sobering words these are. If we take them seriously, as we must, we can find ourselves becoming uncomfortable. And maybe that is exactly the point.

 

We find in the Bible three different ideas that, in the English language, become the word “world.” One use refers to creation (God created the heavens and the earth). Another refers to the human race (God so loved the world). Neither applies to this discussion. The Bible is filled with appreciation for creation, and the character of love in its many forms, but the warnings of James 4 appear to be referring to something else.

 

The term “world” used in both James 4 and 1 John 2 translates the Greek word “kosmos,” which refers to “order” or “system.” James 4 declares that friendship with the world system is enmity toward God. We read 1 John 2 to warn not to love the world system, and that whoever loves the world system does not have the love of the Father in him.

 

So, what then is this world system? Plainly stated, it is anything and everything in our existence that opposes the one true God or promotes itself as a God-substitute for our allegiance and trust. It is rooted in the rebellion of the angelic realm and the rise of the demonic world. We see it invading God’s creation as a catalyst for the fall of man (Gen. 3). It is the source of human conflict and violence (Gen. 4), the reason for God regretting His creation of man (Gen. 6), the cause of the flood (Gen. 7-8), and the arrogance of man revealed in the tower of Babel (Gen.11).

 

The world system resonates with the worship of man, his achievement, and his pleasure. It cleverly creates a culture that embraces and promotes whatever may advance that worship in whatever time and place it may find itself.  Today’s culture may contain its own details, but the process is no different from prior times. Materialism is worshipped as the source of security and significance. Physical beauty, athletic ability, intellectual skills, and celebrity entertainment are the cultural beacons that seek to light the gardens of value for our lives. And we struggle mightily to nurture those gardens to harvest a sense of our own value. We plant and cultivate the things that correspond to what the culture declares valuable. And we measure our own value by how well we meet those standards in the eyes of ourselves and others.

 

And we quickly come to believe that disregarding or compromising God’s character in our lives is no big deal if it helps us achieve the goals we hunger for. So, we become greedy and compulsive in pursuit of material gain. We trade our sexual innocence for the deceptive and shallow feelings of acceptance and security that we crave.  Our lives are infected with fears, insecurities, and doubt about ourselves and how we fit into the world. Our emotional health becomes dependent on how we believe we’re doing from day to day in the things we’re told really matter…. physical beauty, accomplishments, personality, skills, possessions. All in the consuming pursuit of our personal security, purpose, and significance.

 

We come into conflict with those who appear to deny us what we believe we need or deserve (James 4:1-4). A subtle and vulnerable pride creeps into our lives as we hold onto a self-image that will protect us amidst the insecure chaos of life.  We kill and covet (James 1:1-4) yet we fail to attain reliable peace of mind. We base our choices and emotions on the things of man and the world. God becomes an afterthought, just one thing to factor into our decision making. 

 

The term assigned by the Bible is sin. Casual use and simplistic understanding of the word can minimize the devastation it expresses. It is nothing less than rebellion against God and His created order. The rebellion is described in Rom. 1:21-23:

 

“For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.”

 

Give that some thought: Every sinful act or thought is not a mistake or poor judgment, or a bad decision made in a difficult situation. Though we often employ these terms to explain or defend ourselves, it is nothing less than an act of rebellion toward God. The root of rebellion consists of placing myself and my well-being at the center of my world without submission to God’s character, His commands, or His purposes.

 

If we face this fact straight on, we begin to understand what lies beneath the common measures of sin. Every vengeful act or condemning word is rooted in a belief that I do not fully trust or submit to God’s authority to judge and punish. Every disrespectful word or violent act demonstrates that  I do not value God’s creation or His purposes. Every lie declares that I do not respect God’s essence of truth, and I do not choose to display that essence in my words and actions. Every theft cries out that I am not satisfied with what God has provided me. Every sexual sin shouts rebellion against God’s created order, against my own value and that of another, and against the intricacy and wisdom of God’s purposes.

 

These examples only begin to tell the story. A core sin addressed in the Bible is idolatry, the reliance on false gods, revealing an incomplete or flawed view of God.  Books and treatises have been written on this matter. And it will be the subject of our next several discussions in this blog. It is that broad and that important.

 

 We’ll wind up this chapter by considering a question that may bring some focus to the whole matter. Why do James and the other writers devote such focus to the struggle of friendship with the world, its appeal, and its dangers? One obvious answer is that sin is repugnant to God and dangerous to us. Carry that thought a bit further and it takes us to a chilling place: wrongly worshipping things of man and of the world will poison our fellowship with God. And facing life without that fellowship to direct and support us leaves us vulnerable to a hostile and confusing world and its numerous attractive false messages and promises.

 

I suspect this understanding lay in part behind the apostles’ warnings to the early church. Recall the setting. James wrote his epistle sometime in the A.D. 60’s. As with all the epistles, the readers were first generation Christians facing persecution at the hands of the Romans, sometimes aided by the religious establishments. It was a menacing and terrifying time to be a follower of Christ. Emperor worship and deification were in full practice. Jews had been ordered expelled from Rome by the emperor Claudius in A.D. 49. Imprisonment and mutilation of Christians and their families were widespread and increasing, as were confiscation and destruction of their property.

 

The wicked emperor Nero in A.D. 64 directed that large neighborhoods in Rome be set on fire. His purpose was to create room for his building plans, but he directed the blame at Christins, which only intensified the outcry for persecution. The Jewish temple in Jerusalem was ordered destroyed in A.D. 70 (an event which fulfilled Jesus’ own prophecy recorded in Mt. 24:1-2, and one of the intriguing focal points in discussions of end time prophecy). Persecution continued through the end of the first century and beyond.Paul was decapitated in A.D. 67. John, a founder of the church in Ephesus and later a leader in the church in Jerusalem, lived his last years on a prison island. Prospects for a peaceful life for Christians were largely absent.

 

Into the midst of these dire circumstances, the authors of the epistles directed a radical message

 . . . do not love the world. In the context of the first century and its persecutions, what purpose can we find in these words? Could it be along these lines:

 

The world will not, cannot, provide security and meaning. But it will try. And it will offer hopes and promises that will entice us to compromise, to exchange the truth of God for the lies of the world. But they will prove false. Health, wealth, and happiness are elusive and temporary. They will fail. Every person is guaranteed to suffer, and ultimately to die. Getting out of the world alive is not an option. We can take nothing with us. The success and fulfillment that we sought, maybe even though we partially attained, will disappear and mean nothing in that day. Life is plagued with suffering and pain, and no one is exempt. Difficult times will continue, perhaps intensify.

 

But God has not left us helpless. There is a redeemer who has overcome the world. There is His promise of eternal life and blessing in His presence. Cling to Him as if He were your only hope. He is.

 

Taking an honest look at the world, and the courses of our own lives, we must consider: Is the message any different for us today?








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