Beloved, I am glad to share with you today the above theme from James 4.1 and following. Indeed, the first note chapter is exactly the opposite of peace: it is that of war. What is behind peace is purity which is the first mark of wisdom from above. So, we now discover that what is behind wars and battles, what is so common among those who profess to be part of God’s people, is the impure lust of the human heart, the lust linked to this wisdom that is earthly, sensual, diabolical.
It is the pleasure that comes from the satisfaction of our desires or lusts, rather than the desires themselves. If our desires are unleashed and we find a sinful pleasure in satisfying them, we immediately have the root of endless wars and battles.
This is why these evils operate in the following way: First of all, there is the desire to have what we do not have. Now this desire can lead man to murder to achieve his ends, and in any case, it fills him with jealousy if he fails to fulfill this desire. If we are truly Christians, there is, after all, a very simple way to receive what we desire. We can fight and fight and move heaven and earth without ever receiving anything. Yet the Savior Himself told us to ask and we will receive. We don’t have it because we don’t ask. How clearly this teaches us that God looks to the heart. He scrutinizes the hidden motives behind our demands. This probes deeply, and explains why many prayers have no answers. We can ask for completely right things, and be refused because we ask for reasons that are not good at all.
Maybe you are serving the Lord. Perhaps you have begun to preach the gospel, and then you want your words to be imbued with grace and power. Isn’t that fair? This is absolutely right, but be careful for fear of asking for this only out of a desire to have perfect mastery, to be a successful preacher. Your prayer may seem very beautiful to all of us, but God will know the thought you have in your head.
Another sad aspect of that time was the lack of piety, and in this regard James utters words of reprehension (Jas 4. 13-17). The true Jew went from town to town to buy and sell to make money. If he was unconverted, he thought only of the demands of his business, and drew plans accordingly. If he was converted, the Jew was under obligations of a higher order than those of business. For hehad a Lord in heaven to whom he was responsible, and all his movements had to be planned in relation to His will and be subject to it.
Indeed, true piety introduces God and His will into all things. It is salutary to acknowledge our smallness and brevity today. If we have a vantry mind, we can start making decisions about our future, but that’s bad work. We do not have the power to legislate because we cannot even order what will happen tomorrow. And why would we want to legislate when we are of the Lord, and He has a will toward us? Will we not recognize His directions, and will we not be satisfied with it? Not only must we recognize His directions, but we should be happy to recognize them in all our ways, and also through the word of His mouth. Rather, we must say, “If the Lord wills and if we live, we will also do this or that” (Jas 4. 15). This is not something we can possibly say and see if God approves of it. This is something we must say if we want to give Him his rightful place in our lives. Avery striking statement: Sin is not only about doing what is wrong: it is also about not doing what we know to be right. That is why knowledge confers great responsibility.
That is why we still have the judgment of unbridled nature, of the will in its various forms: the conflicts that come from the lusts of the natural heart, the requests addressed to God, from the same source, and the desires of the flesh and the spirit that develop and find their sphere in the friendship of the world, who is thus enmity against God. The nature of man covets with envy, it is filled with envy towards others.
The following verses have been compiled for your edification and grouped together for your better understanding.
People with a shared heart:
- Carnal spirit
Ex 16:3 The children of Israel said to them: What have we not died by the hand of jehovah in the land of Egypt, when we were sitting by the jars of meat, when we ate bread to the fullest? for you have led us into this wilderness to starve this whole multitude to death. Ps 78:18 They tempted God in their hearts, asking for food according to their desire. John 6:26 Jesus answered them: Truly, truly, I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you have seen miracles, but because you have eaten loaves of bread and have been satiated. Gal 5:13 Brethren, you have been called to freedom, only do not make this freedom a pretext to live according to the flesh; but make yourselves, through charity, servants of one another. 1 John 2:16 for all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, does not come from the Father, but comes from the world.
- Lack of prayer
Is 43:22 And thou has not invoked me, O Jacob! For you have grown tired of me, O Israel! Isaiah 64:6 There is no one who invokes your name, Who wakes up to cling to you: So you have hidden your face from us, and let us perish by the effect of our crimes. Dn 9:13 As written in the law of Moses, all this calamity came upon us; and we did not implore Jehovah our God, we did not turn away from our iniquities, we did not pay attention to your truth. So 1:6 Those who have turned away from the Lord, and those who do not seek the Lord, Who do not consult Him.
- Lowering of the proud
Ps 18:28 You save the people who humble themselves, and you lower the haughty looks. Ps 106:43 Several times he delivered them; But they were rebellious in their designs, and they became unhappy by their iniquity. Isaiah 10:12 But when the Lord has done all His work on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, I will punish the king of Assyria for the fruit of his proud heart, and for the arrogance of his haughty looks. Mt 11:23 And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted up to heaven? No. Thou shalt be lowered until the sojourn of the dead; for if the miracles that were done in your midst had been done in Sodom, it would still exist today.
- Warning Against Bad Conversions
Eph 4:31 Let all bitterness, animosity, anger, clamor, slander, and wickedness disappear from your midst. Tt 3:1-2 Remind them to be subject to the magistrates and the authorities, to obey, to be ready for every good work, 2 to disparage no one, to be peaceful, moderate, full of gentleness towards all men.
John 4:11 Do not speak badly of one another, brethren. He who speaks badly of a brother, or who judges his brother, speaks badly of the law and judges the law. Now, if you judge the law, you are not an observer of the law, but you are a judge of it. 1 Pet 2.1 Rejecting therefore all malice and cunning, concealment, envy, and all backbiting,
From all of the above, we note that God gives more grace. There is a force that acts against this nature, if one is happy to be small and humble, to be nothing in the world. God’s grace and favor are with those who are such, for he resists the proud, but he gives grace to the humble. On this James develops the action of a soul directed by the Spirit of God, in the midst of the incredulous and selfish multitude with which it was associated, because he assumes that the believers to whom he addresses are still in relationship with the law. By speaking ill of his brother, to whom the law gave a place before God, one said evil of the law, according to which this brother had such great value. The judgment belonged to God, who had given the law and who could claim his authority, as well as grant deliverance and salvation(1 Thess 4. 8). The same self-will and the forgetfulness of God are blamed; the false trust arising from relying on one’s own ability to do what one wanted, the absence of dependence on God are put into their true day. The knowledge of the good, without the practice of this good, makes the very absence of the work that could have been done, a positive sin. The action of the new man is absent; that of the old man is there, because one has the good before one’s eyes, one knows what one should do and one does not wish to do it; there is no provision to accomplish it, we do not want to do it. Will we then flee from knowledge? It would only make business worse to the extent that it would close our eyes to the light; and those who do will have no reason to complain against God if He does for them what He has long done for others, locking them in hopeless darkness. No, let us welcome the light, and let us regard as a very great privilege the responsibility that comes with it to put into practice the good that we know. Our prayers are with you all.
PRAYER OF ACCEPTANCE OF JESUS CHRIST AS LORD AND PERSONAL SAVIOR
I now invite every person who wants to become a new creation by walking in the truth, to pray with me the following prayer:
Lord Jesus, I have long walked in the lusts of the world ignoring your love for humans. I admit to having sinned against you and ask your forgiveness for all my sins, because today I have decided to give you my life by taking you as Lord and personal Savior. I recognize that you died on the cross of Calvary and rose from the dead for me.
I am now saved and born again by the power of the Holy Spirit. Lead me every day to the eternal life that you give to all who obey your Word. Reveal yourself to me and strengthen my heart and faith, so that your light may shine in my life right now.
Thank you, Lord Jesus, for accepting me into your divine family, so that I may also contemplate the wonders of your kingdom.
I will now choose a nearby waterpoint to baptize myself by immersion, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
All adoration, power and glory are yours, now and forever and ever. Amen!
I would be happy to react to any questions and comments you may have, before sharing with you tomorrow “To the bad rich; various exhortations.”
May the Lord Jesus Christ bless you abundantly.
David Feze, Servant of the Almighty God.