CHAPTER 4

Ole Boudreax from South Louisiana went to "confession" Saturday.
He told the priest that he had sinned.
The priest asked, "What have you done?"
Boudreaux said, "Mais father, I have stole some lumber."
Priest asked, "And how much lumber did you steal?"
Boudreax, "Enuff to build my coon dog a nice little house."
Father, "Well, that's not TOO bad."
Boudreaux, "Oh mah, Ah done lied....I built a 4-car garage too!"
Father, "Well, that sounds SERIOUS! You must make a novena!"
Boudreaux, "Well, Ah ain't neva made one a dem. But if you got da
blueprints, ah got da lumber!"

INTRO:

In chapter 3 the Scripture speaks how worldly wisdom leads to
"bitter envy and strife."
Instead, we should seek the wisdom "from above."
That seeking will help us exhibit God's love in our lives.

The Scripture now, in chapter 4, begins to condemn holding to the
desires of the world, instead of the desires of God.

VS 1
1 From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence,
even of your lusts that war in your members?

THIS is where "wars and fighting" BEGIN!
In the heart when it "lusts" for the things of the world!

VS 2
2 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.

Men KILL because they do not HAVE what they WANT!
But that doesn't even begin to obtain SPIRITUAL satisfaction!

Men fight and war, because of their desire to fulfill their WANTS!
But, too often, they FORGET to ASK GOD!!

VS 3
3 Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon
your lusts.

And, even though some DO ask, they just ask God to fulfil their OWN desires!
In other words, some are "professors" of Christ, but not KEEPERS of His
commands!!

For instance, in the USA, our Congress employs chaplains to PRAY for them;
but they make decisions based on bartering, graft, and corruption.

God DOES desire that we help the poor and needy; but not to the point
where it pampers our GREED!

The Scripture says, "consume it upon your lusts!"
That refers to a carnal and sensual prayer!

We should NEVER suppose God would answer prayers which ask Him
for worldly prosperity and success in business.
DECEPTION sneaks into those prayers!

VS 4
4 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.

Men and women who pursue "friendship" with worldly lusts are called
"adulterers and adulteresses" because THAT attitude is
IDOL WORSHIP -- worship of SELF more than God!

As Christians, our life's purpose is to put God FIRST, and everything else
SECOND!
Those who put worldly pleasures (riches and status) as the main priority
in life are ENEMIES with God!

VS 5
5 Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us
lusteth to envy?

Ecc. 4:4 says, "Again, I considered all travail, and every right work,
that for this a man is envied of his neighbour. This is also vanity and
vexation of spirit."

The lust of being LIKE our neighbor, or being BETTER than our
neighbor brings "VEXATION of spirit!"

This is a NATURAL spirit in man that is SIN!

Ps. 37:1-4 says,
1 Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the
workers of iniquity.
2 For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb.
3 Trust in the Lord, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou
shalt be fed.
4 Delight thyself also in the Lord: and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.

Ex. 20:17 says,
"17 Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy
neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass,
nor any thing that is thy neighbour's.

Covetousness leads to ENVY and SIN!

6 But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but
giveth grace unto the humble.

Now, the Scripture turns to REMEDY.
Here is how to RID oneself of ENVY.
BE HUMBLE!! And SEEK GOD's WISDOM!

God RESISTS the proud envious one!
But God POURS OUT GRACE to the HUMBLE before Him!

We can do the FOLLOWING --

VS 7
7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

In order to RESIST the devil, we must FIRST "SUBMIT" ourselves to God!

The devil desires to SWAY man into LUST after worldliness!
And, in that, it doesn't matter if a person is IN or OUT of Christ!!

(((For instance.....
A man in church ask for prayer about his hearing.
The pastor told him to come to the altar, and all the church would pray.
After the prayer, the pastor asked, "Is you hearing better now?"
The man said, "I won't know until Tuesday. That's when I go to court.")))

Was that an envious, idol worshipping request for prayer?

The blessing in this verse is that WHEN we humbly submit to God for
HIS answer, THEN we can RESIST the devil!!
AND, he will FLEE!!!

8 Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye
sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.

The DISTANCE between you/me and God is the SIN of an IMPURE heart!!

Draw NEAR to God in earnest, sincere, humility!
WORSHIP His HOLINESS!
THEN, one can find the CLOSENESS of His PRESENCE!!

Earnest, sincere prayer also includes REPENTANCE!!
"CLEANSE your hands.....PURIFY your hearts!"

Ps. 51:10 says,
"Create in me a CLEAN heart, O God; and RENEW a right spirit
within me!"
(See also 1John 1:9)

VS 9
9 Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning,
and your joy to heaviness.

The realization of our SIN, should bring CONVICTION and MOURNING!

Our sins of selfish worldly desires, instead of drawing NEAR to God,
are what NAILED JESUS TO THE CROSS!!!

THEREFORE.....

VS 10
10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.

REMEMBER:
God SEES, HEARS and KNOWS every THOUGHT, WORD and ACTION
of our lives!!!!

The promise here is that if we confess our sins, humbling ourselves before
Almighty, Omniscient God ... He will LIFT US UP!!

This is NOT a promise to make your social status greater!!
It is a promise to give you JOY in the LORD's provision and protection!!

VS 11
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.

WOW!!!
WHAT a REBUKE!

CARNALITY causes men to believe that pointing out the faults of others
will alleviate their own conviction of sin!!

But the Scriptures says here that pointing out others faults is JUDGING!
Let me deal with that word "judge" for a moment.
In the context of these verses it means to deliver a verdict about someone
which is CONDEMNING!

Many years ago, there was a female novelist who wrote under the pen name
of "George Eliot."
She penned a line closely akin to these Scriptures:
"The touchstone by which men try us is most often their own vanity!"

We often try others based on OUR scale.
But we must remember that ANY scale other than Christ is FLAWED!!

Were it not for the grace of God in Christ Jesus, we would ALL be
CONDEMNED to eternal death!! (Rom. 3:23, Rom. 6:23)

THEREFORE, we are INCAPABLE of judging others by our own scale!!

VS 12
12 There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy: who art thou that
judgest another?

Determined to be a "DOER" of the law that says
"LOVE thy neighbor as thyself!!"

VSS 13-15
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:
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.
15 For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.

We often say, without thought, we'll do this and that tomorrow.
But do we even HAVE tomorrow?

We are all like a "vapor"!
Easily VANISHED!
Life is BRIEF and UNCERTAIN!!

Instead of stating our OWN intentions, we should PREFACE our statement
with "IF the Lord WILL...we shall LIVE" and then DO!

YES!
We DO need to plan for tomorrow and the future.
To FAIL to plan is to PLAN to FAIL!
HOWEVER, we should plan with GOD in the FOREFRONT!!!

VS 16
16 But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil.

Listen closely to what God is saying.
If we boast of ourselves and what we can accomplish, it is EVIL, CARNAL!

ALL our heart beats and breaths are determined by the LORD!
((Once a golfer said on the day before a tournament, that he would
"START well, FINISH well, and WIN the tournament.
BUT - that evening, he was struck by lightning, losing the use of his
left leg and arm!!))

VS 17
17 Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.

OH!!! WHAT a statement from the LORD!!

To KNOW good, and NOT do it is SIN!!

Christians, this goes for EVERYTHING the Lord says we should DO!!
When we don't:
*PRAY like we should,
*STUDY the Bible like we should,
*ATTEND and be an integral part of the church,
*GIVE as we should,
* and SHARE the Gospel with others,
IT IS SIN!!

(((SEE Luke 10:30-36, the GOOD SMARITAN)))

To NOT do as we should is to be like the priest and the Levite who
"passed by" their Jewish brother dying in the ditch!!!
They both NEGATED the commandment to "LOVE thy neighbor
as THYSELF!"

The Scripture speaks how worldly wisdom leads to
"bitter envy and strife."
Instead, we should seek the wisdom "from above."
That seeking will help us exhibit God's love in our lives.