The General Epistle of James
The General Epistle of James
By Richard St.James
Bible 1611.Com / Old Paths Baptist Mission © 2024
Chapter four:
Verse one:
“From whence come
wars and fightings among you? come they not
hence, even of your lusts that war in your
members?”
All the wars in
history, for the last six thousand years, have
occurred because of mankind’s inordinate
desire to possess, or enjoy, what belongs to
another. This desire is called lust.
This lust involves the three things
that are in this present world, because of
man’s sin. We see these three things in
the First Epistle of John:
1 John 2:16: “For all
that is in the world, the lust of the flesh,
and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is
not of the Father, but is of the world.”
There we have it!
Wars come from man’s lusts.
There are some accounts
that have been recorded, that since 1800 A.D.
alone, more than 37 million direct combatants
worldwide have died while actively fighting in wars.
This number would be much
higher still if it also considered the
non-combatants who died due to the fighting, the
increased number of deaths from hunger and disease
resulting from these conflicts, and the deaths in
smaller conflicts that are not considered wars.
The problem is wars
among mankind start from inside of man
[us].
Verse two:
“Ye lust, and have not: ye
kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye
fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not.”
Now, lust
is akin to covetousness. When
the LAW forbade the coveting of something
that is not yours, lust became illegal before
God. We see this connection is made in the
Epistle to the Romans:
Romans 7:7: “What
shall we say then? Is the law sin? God
forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law:
for I had not known lust, except the law had said,
Thou shalt not covet.”
Lust
unchecked always results in fighting,
and the fighting leads to the killing
of men.
Rule: Lust begins
the downward progression to death, so that
death becomes the winner. And the Devil
smiles.
When a man continues to
lust, all manner of evil can occur:
Psalm 94:6: “They slay
the widow and the stranger, and murder the
fatherless.”
Verse three:
“Ye ask, and receive not,
because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it
upon your lusts.”
Ye ask amiss. You
ask therefore, contrary to the truth.
The lust of a man
leads him to ask amiss. His inner
motive is to devise [by using religion, and by
scheme] by a method that would obtain by hook and
crook what another man already rightfully
possesses. This man, thus craftily searches
out the vulnerabilities of others, in order to
trap their prey:
Psalm 64:6: “They
search out iniquities; they accomplish a diligent
search: both the inward thought of every one
of them, and the heart, is deep.”
Conclusion: Friend, you
had better be careful about what you ask for
from God. For God sees the inward
thoughts of a man. He sees the motives.
Verse four:
“Ye adulterers and
adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the
world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will
be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.”
Under the LAW both the
man, and the woman, were to be put to death for
adultery:
Leviticus 20:10: “And
the man that committeth adultery with another
man's wife, even he that committeth adultery
with his neighbour's wife, the adulterer and the
adulteress shall surely be put to death.”
Now, here is something
else. Those who commit adultery are
stating clearly that they are friends with the
world, which alliance makes them the enemies of
God. In other words, the love of the father
is not in him:
1 John 2:15: “Love not
the world, neither the things that are in the
world. If any man love the world, the love of the
Father is not in him.”
Verse five:
“Do ye think that the
scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in
us lusteth to envy?”
The spirit
revealed here, is the old man. The
old man is consumed with lust. This
lust is so busy, it produces envy.
The old man, which
is called the natural man, or the carnal
man, is inside this body of flesh.
We are instructed by the Scripture to put off
our former life of the flesh, our life of
sin.
Put him off!
Just give him a big shove down the road:
“That ye put off
concerning the former conversation the old man,
which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;”
[Ephesians 4:22].
Our former
conversation that is referenced here, is also,
represents our former life:
Colossians 3:7-10: “In
the which ye also walked some time, when ye lived in
them.
But now ye also put
off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy,
filthy communication out of your mouth.
Lie not one to
another, seeing that ye have put off the old man
with his deeds;
And have put on the
new man, which is renewed in knowledge after
the image of him that created him:”
Put off the old man!
Now, here is a list of
the things for the Christian to put off:
1.
Put off anger.
2.
Put off wrath.
3.
Put off malice.
4.
Put off blasphemy.
5.
Put off filthy communication.
6.
Put off lying.
We are rather, to put
on the new man, which is in the image of
Jesus Christ as beholding as in a glass:
2 Corinthians 3:18:
“But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass
the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same
image from glory to glory, even as by the
Spirit of the Lord.”
Verse six:
“But he giveth more grace.
Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but
giveth grace unto the humble."
When we were born of
the flesh, we had a spirit that was a
kindred spirit with the Devil.
Fact: “That
which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which
is born of the Spirit is spirit.” [John 3:6]
We naturally from
our birth hated God, but when we received
the Spirit of adoption, we became by the
grace of God an adopted son, born of
the Spirit:
Romans 8:15-16: “For
ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to
fear; but ye have received
the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba,
Father.
The Spirit itself
beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the
children of God:”
Observe: Pride locks
out grace! The proud of this earth
are locked out of this grace of our LORD, and
Savior Jesus Christ. Grace is only given to
the humble:
Psalm 69:32: “The
humble shall see this, and be glad: and your
heart shall live that seek God.”
A Promise: God always
gives the grace to us that is needed, day-to-day
to overcome the wicked one:
1 John 2:13-14: “I
write unto you, fathers, because ye have known him
that is from the beginning. I write unto you,
young men, because ye have overcome the wicked one.
I write unto you, little children, because ye have
known the Father.
I have written unto
you, fathers, because ye have known him that is
from the beginning. I have written unto you, young
men, because ye are strong, and the word of God
abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked
one.”
Remember this: The
believer in Jesus Christ is an overcomer of the
world!
1 John 5:4: “For
whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and
this is the victory that overcometh the world,
even our faith.
Who is he that
overcometh the world, but he that believeth that
Jesus is the Son of God?”
Amen!
Verse seven:
“Submit yourselves therefore to God.
Resist the devil, and he
will flee from you.”
What a thought!
What? Submit to God?
Now, the word submit,
is a command. To submit, is an
abhorrent aberration to all the people that
are living here on the face of this earth in the 21st
century.
To them, the idea of
oneself having to submit to God is an
archaic carryover from our aboriginal ancestors.
Submission,
therefore, to any authority is considered
evil, according to all the rebels of
this world.
But the days for the
rebellion of those in this world will soon end.
Judgment is coming, and it is even here now.
Question: What will
God do to these rebels?
In the book of Ezekiel,
the prophet, we find out what God will do to
the rebels. They will be separated
[or purged] from the general population, and then
they will be locked out of the land of
promise:
Ezekiel 20:38: “And I
will purge out from among you the rebels, and them
that transgress against me: I will bring them forth
out of the country where they sojourn, and they
shall not enter into the land of Israel: and ye
shall know that I am the LORD.”
It will be for them, as
it was for Israel in the days of Isaiah the
prophet:
Isaiah 1:20: “But if
ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the
sword: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.”
To the contrary, the word
submit is:
1.
Totally up to date,
2.
Totally applicable,
3.
Completely healthy [for all those,
who approach by FAITH the word of God
with believing hearts, and dare to obey
the command: Submit yourselves therefore
to God.
4.
The Bible is the cutting-edge state of the
art.
Submit to God!
Now, submitting
yourself to God puts you under the shadow of His
wings, and enables you to resist the
devil. As like for Israel, He will
keep you, even as the apple of His eye:
Psalm 17:8: “Keep me
as the apple of the eye, hide me under the shadow of
thy wings,”
Now here is the promise
to you as an adopted son of God in the time of
your temptation:
Resist
the devil, and he will flee from you!
Verse eight:
“Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you.
Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and
purify your hearts, ye double minded.”
At hand here, is another
beautiful promise made to all the souls who thirst:
Draw nigh to God, and drink of ME:
John 7:37: “In the
last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus
stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him
come unto me, and drink.”
Conclusion: Drawing
nigh to God is seeking God.
Seek ye the LORD.
The answer for
any people in trouble with sin has always
been the same: Turn to God! Seek God!
Seek God with all your heart. That is
what any people should do. This is what the
word of God will show you, time and time
again, as the remedy for sin. This is
so, as it is seen in the book of Isaiah,
chapter fifty-five verse, six:
“Seek ye the LORD
while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is
near: Let the wicked forsake his
way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let
him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy
upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly
pardon.” [Isaiah 55:6-7]
This instruction
to God’s people [as it is for Israel here] is:
Seek him with all thy heart, and
with all thy soul:
Deuteronomy 4:29: “But
if from thence thou shalt seek the LORD thy God,
thou shalt find him, if thou
seek him with all thy heart
and with all thy soul.”
Friend: Seek God!
Do not forsake HIM.
1 Chronicles 28:9b:
“…for the LORD searcheth all hearts, and
understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts:
if thou seek him, he will be found of thee; but if
thou forsake him, he will cast thee off for ever.”
Do you seek the
LORD? Our High Priest, Jesus Christ, by
a better hope paved the way whereby we can
come to God:
Hebrews 7:19: “For the
law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a
better hope did; by the which we draw nigh
unto God.”
The promise of
God: Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to
you.
Come to
HIM!
“Draw nigh to God, and
he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands,
ye sinners; and purify your hearts,
ye double minded.”
Verse nine:
“Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your
laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy
to heaviness.”
Warning: The
hypocrites of this world had better cease their
doubleminded fakery, and the sinners of this
earth had better sober up quickly. The time is
coming, and is very soon, when all men will have to
face the music in the great day of judgment.
In the book of
Ecclesiastes, we will find the recommended
advice to the sinners and to the
hypocrites of this world:
Ecclesiastes 7:2-4: “It
is better to go to the house of mourning, than
to go to the house of feasting: for that is
the end of all men; and the living will lay it
to his heart.
Sorrow is
better than laughter: for by the sadness of the
countenance the heart is made better.
The heart of the wise
is in the house of mourning; but the heart of
fools is in the house of mirth.”
Note: Mourning and
sorrow are better friends, than laughter and
fun, to any people, who are sick with sin,
and on their way to HELL.
Verse ten:
“Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and
he shall lift you up.”
Psalm 51:17: “The
sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a
broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not
despise.”
Take note: Humility
is one of the attributes of Jesus Christ.
If humility was
not one of the attributes of Jesus Christ,
then the Son of God would never have gone to the
Cross of Calvary.
If the Son of God,
WHO is God come in the flesh, did not go to
the cross, then we would be still dead in our
sins, and on our way to the Devil’s Hell.
I am not asking you to
believe me. I am asking you to believe this
BOOK [the Authorized Version of 1611, or any
edition, thereof (1613,1644, 1676, 1680,
1701, 1767].
Look at what the
Spirit of God says about humility:
“And being found in
fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became
obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.”
[Philippians 2:8]
Now here is a thought.
If the God of this BOOK humbled HIMSELF to
go to the Cross for us, then we should likewise
deny ourself and take up our cross and
follow HIM:
Luke 9:23 “And he said
to them all, If any man will come
after me, let him deny himself, and take up his
cross daily, and follow me.”
Follow Jesus!
When a man, or a woman, is willing to die to
self, he or she will then, obtain life.
Is not this what the Spirit of God says in John,
chapter twelve, verse twenty-four and twenty-five?
“Verily, verily, I say
unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the
ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it
bringeth forth much fruit. He that loveth his
life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in
this world shall keep it unto life eternal.”
[John 12:24-25]
A seeming contradiction:
To have life … you must first die to
self. Do you understand this?
Pride
must go out, and then, humility will come in.
This is the way to life. This is the
way to riches, and honour, and life.
Proverbs twenty-two, verse four teaches us this.
Listen to the BOOK:
“By humility and the
fear of the Lord are riches, and honour, and life.”
[Proverbs 22:4]
Fact: The fear of God
in the heart of a man, or a woman, will lead that
man, or woman, to humility.
“The fear of the Lord
is the instruction of wisdom; and before honour is
humility.” [Proverbs 15:33]
“My soul shall make
her boast in the Lord: the humble shall hear
thereof, and be glad.” [Psalm 34:2]
“Better it is to be of
an humble spirit with the lowly, than to divide the
spoil with the proud.” [Proverbs
16:19]
God’s order in the
Bible is clearly shown. Are you ready for
this?
The younger person needs
to submit to the elder person. This is
for your health. This is what is
right!
Incidentally, the
right way is the old way!
Now, the old ways
have virtually disappeared in America … all to
our sadness, and to all our hurt. There
once was a time when the children respected
their elders. They willingly subjected
themselves, because there was still a vestige of the
fear of God in them.
Truth: The fear of God
is health for us. It produces …
humility.
To be clothed with
humility … is to be dressed in the
very best garment found in all the world. It
is humility that will promote us.
Humble yourself, therefore. Humility
will place you under the mighty hand of God.
Under the mighty hand of God is the safest
place for us to be in the eyes of God.
Verse eleven:
“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.”
The LAW is clear!
The LAW is right! In the second
book of Moses, called Exodus, we have this
command:
Exodus 23:1-3: “Thou
shalt not raise a false report: put not thine hand
with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness.
Thou shalt not follow
a multitude to do evil; neither shalt thou
speak in a cause to decline after many to wrest
judgment:
Neither shalt thou
countenance a poor man in his cause.”
James is saying here, be
a doer of the law! To this, the
Spirit of God, in the first epistle to
the Corinthians agrees:
1 Corinthians 4:5:
“Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the
Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden
things of darkness, and will make manifest the
counsels of the hearts: and then shall every man
have praise of God.”
Therefore, judge
nothing before the time of the Lord’s coming
to this earth.
Verse twelve:
“There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to
destroy: who art thou that judgest another?”
Who is this law giver!
Let us search for HIM! Search for HIM in the
book of Psalms:
Psalm 60:7: “Gilead
is mine, and Manasseh is mine; Ephraim
also is the strength of mine head; Judah
is my lawgiver;”
Psalm 108:8: “Gilead
is mine; Manasseh is mine; Ephraim
also is the strength of mine head; Judah
is my lawgiver;”
Who is the ONE
lawgiver? Hint! The lawgiver
is from the tribe of Judah. Proof for
this?
Now turn to the first
book of Moses called Genesis:
Genesis 49: 9-12:
Judah is a lion's whelp: from the prey, my
son, thou art gone up: he stooped down, he couched
as a lion, and as an old lion; who shall rouse him
up?
The sceptre shall not
depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his
feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall
the gathering of the people be.
Binding his foal unto
the vine, and his ass's colt unto the choice vine;
he washed his garments in wine, and his clothes in
the blood of grapes:
His eyes shall be
red with wine, and his teeth white with milk.”
Who is this law giver!
Make no mistake: The one lawgiver has red
eyes and has very white teeth. The
one lawgiver is Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ is:
1.
Our Law giver
2.
Our Judge
3.
Our King
Isaiah 33:22: “For the
LORD is our judge, the LORD is our
lawgiver, the LORD is our king; he will save
us.”
The perfect
government has now been identified!
Amen!
It is a theistic
monarchy. Jehovah saves!
Verse thirteen:
“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:”
Man both, plans,
and schemes, the course of his life in this
world.
But note this, there is a
certain kind of arrogancy in man’s attitude that is
detected here. It is called presumption.
God does not seem to come into the equation in the
lives of such people. God is not in their
thoughts! There is instead a
presumption that they have another day to live,
another day to enjoy doing the things they love
while here on this earth. This is an error.
This is a mistake not to factor in what God will
do.
Here is what they should
do. They should factor in this prayer,
if God be willing.
If God be willing!
Now, the believer in
Jesus Christ, rather should follow Paul’s example
in the making of our day-to-day plans.
When Paul made known to his disciples his plan to go
to Jerusalem, he conditioned his plan with an
additional variable: If God will.
We can see this for ourselves in the book of
the Acts of the Apostles:
Acts 18:21: “But bade
them farewell, saying, I must by all means keep this
feast that cometh in Jerusalem: but I will return
again unto you, if God will. And he sailed from
Ephesus.”
A true Christian
should always preface his, or her, every plan
in their life in this very same fashion.
As curiosity killed the cat, so
presumption killed the man.
Verse fourteen:
“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.”
Our life is brief.
It is like a vapor, or like a smoke.
We are here only for a little while:
“Is there not an
appointed time to man upon earth? are not his days
also like the days of a hireling?”
[Job 7:1]
He is born, and then
he will die! This is certain!
[The exception being
Enoch, and those believers in Jesus Christ who are
alive when He comes for His Church.]
For all men there is an
air of uncertainty as concerning the
permanence of things on this earth.
Lesson: We ought to
trust in the living God. See the
epistle written to Titus:
1 Titus 6:17: “Charge
them that are rich in this world, that they be not
highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in
the living God, who giveth us richly all things to
enjoy;”
Trust in the LORD!
Verse fifteen:
“For that ye ought to say, If the Lord
will, we shall live, and do this, or that.”
Always, always
remember this! Always fly this way
in your life!
IF
THE LORD WILL,
… should be in our every
breath we take as a believer in Jesus Christ.
Verse sixteen:
“But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such
rejoicing is evil.”
When a man brags
about self, it is for self-glorification.
This is a man that is
filled with an imaginative, and odd conceit for
himself. His heart spends all its
time discovering himself. He thus,
brags about:
1.
His own merits,
2.
His own feats,
3.
His own superiority,
4.
His own advantages,
5.
His own riches,
6.
His own looks,
We now venture to say,
this person has become a fool.
Proverbs 18:2: “A fool
hath no delight in understanding, but that his heart
may discover itself.”
Yet not all bragging
and boasting is bad. Let me
explain. If we take the focus off self, or off
mankind, and put our boasting in God, or in
the things of God, then our boasting
will be for the good. The Spirit of God
shows us this same thing in the book of the Psalms:
Psalm 34:2: “My soul
shall make her boast in the LORD: the humble shall
hear thereof, and be glad.”
Psalm 44:8: “In God we
boast all the day long, and praise thy name for
ever. Selah.”
Verse seventeen:
“Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and
doeth it not, to him it is sin.”
The adopted sons
of God hear God’s word inside of them
[by the Spirit of God Who is dwelling within them in
their hearts], and exercise themselves to
doing right.
We are to do right,
so we might have a clear conscience, just as
the Apostle Paul had, and testified of, in
the book of the Acts of the Apostles:
Acts 24:16: “And herein do I exercise myself, to have always a conscience void of offence toward God, and toward men.”
Next - James Chapter Five
Friend
If you
know the Bible Is True,
And you
never received
Jesus
Christ as your personal Lord and Savior...
And you
want to come to Him for Salvation now ... Then:
1. Admit
... To God that you are a Sinner...
Deserving Hell Fire...
2. Believe ... that Jesus
Christ is the Son of God...
Who died on the Cross for
You! ...
3. Repent! ... Ask
Him to Forgive You of Your Sin...
4. Receive Him... By
Asking Him to come into Your Heart...
And You
Will Receive the Gift of Eternal Life!
Born of God! You
Are in The Narrow Way ... To HEAVEN!