Passage: James 4 — 5:12

Chapter 4
Worldliness

• Internal dissension among brethren caused by worldliness (v. 1)
• The spirit wars with the flesh (Rom. 7:21-25)
• The sign of a Christian is that he struggles with sin, and does not want to sin
• Examples of sinfulness (v. 2)
• Unanswered prayer (Ask and do not receive – v.3)
• Ask wrongly, for carnal reasons
• DO NOT BE FRIENDS WITH THE WORLD!
• Friendship with the world is enmity (being enemies) with God (v. 4)
• It is spiritual adultery, since you are having two masters (the world + God) (cf. Mt. 6:24)
• If you love the world, the love of God is not in you (1 Jn. 2:15)
• However, help is present
• God gives grace to those who are humble (v. 6)

Pride

• God gives grace to the humble BUT opposes the proud (v. 6)
• Pride is the very antithesis of godliness
• It mocks God by putting ourselves first before God, violating the 2^nd commandment
• Satan was the first person to be prideful and that caused his downfall (Is. 14:12-15; Ez. 28:12-18)
• Submitting yourself to God destroys pride (v. 6-7a)

Temptations and Demonic influences

• The way to fight the devil is to resist him (v. 7)
• This is done by submitting yourself before God first, then resisting him, and then you will succeed as he flees from you
• Resisting the devil is done through putting on the full armor of God (Eph. 6:10-18)
• Application Question: So are you submitting yourself before God so as to be able to resist the devil?

Coming to God

• Submit to God (v. 7)
• If Jesus is our Lord, then we are to follow Him in whatsoever we do (Mt. 16:24-28)
• Why do you call Jesus Lord unless you submit to Him in whatever you do? (Lk. 6:46)
• God promises that when you draw near to Him, He will definitely draw near to us (v. 8)
• Do you yearn to know God, to see and experience Him? You re commanded to draw near to God!
• This is done through brokenness and humility, and repentance (v. 8-10)
• God is near to those who are sorry and broken for their sins (Ps. 51:16-17)
• Jesus promises that those who come to Him He will in no way throw out (Jn. 37b)
• Those who come to Him in humility will be lifted up by Jesus and exalted (v. 10)

Slander

• Slander is wrong (v. 11)
• Whoever slanders another brother or sister, you are as one who judges the law
• What does this mean?
• This DOES not mean that judging is wrong, because we are commanded to judge righteously (Jn. 7:24)
• This is written in reference to the OT in Lev. 19:16
• Slandering a brother or a sister is a thus a violation of the law
• Furthermore, in the context of the Jews (the primary intended audience) who were very concerned about the keeping of the Law, such slander was on placing restrictions which were said to be on par with the Law (i.e. observance of holy days and meat eating cf Rom. 14)
• Therefore, we should not slander others nor pass judgment on another because they do not obey our customs, traditions etc.
• We should be doers of the Law (obey it) instead of judging it (v. 12)
• Questioning God and His Word for the sake of it is sin

Boasting about tomorrow (v. 13-17)

• Don't boast
• Your life is uncertain (v. 14)
• All boasting in ourselves (our arrogance) is evil (v. 16)
• The future belongs to God; don't worry

Principle:
Whoever knows the rights thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin (Sin of omission) (v. 17)

Chapter 5
Conduct of the rich

• Those who are rich and misbehave through the abuse of their power and influence will be answerable to God
• God will send miseries upon them (v.1), such dreadful miseries that they will weep and howl
• God Himself will be against their riches (v. 2) and they will ultimately be destroyed (v. 3)
• The first sin: Covetousness (v. 3b)
• The second sin: Those who exploit their workers (whether legally or illegally, as if God cares whether you can play politics and get away legally scot-free) will suffer the wrath of God (v. 4)
• These rich people are in luxury and self-indulgence (v. 5). God looks at the situation as those who fattened themselves for slaughter
• They condemned the righteous (v. 6) – Legal persecution
• All of these sins will be punished by God. It matters not whether it is legal or not. Don't think that just because something is legal means doing it is ok

Patience in suffering

• Patience is commanded and commended (v. 7)
• Wait on the Lord, knowing that He will help us
• In the meantime, establish our hearts (v. 8), by being firm in our faith and good works
• Do not grumble against each other (i.e. cf. Love one another) (v. 9)
• As an example of patience in suffering, the prophets and especially Job was presented as an example of how the Lord is compassionate and steadfast

Swearing

• Don't swear
• Loose swearing, especially if you call on the name of God, violates the 3^rd commandment (cf. Mt. 6:33-37)
• Let us be men and women of integrity; that our 'yes' is yes, and 'no' no