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Proverbs 3:13-24
13 Happy is
the man who finds wisdom, And
the man who gains
understanding;
14 For her proceeds are better than the profits of silver, And her gain than fine
gold.
15 She is
more precious than rubies, And all the things you may desire cannot compare
with her.
16 Length of days is in her right hand, In her left hand riches and honor.
17 Her ways are ways of pleasantness, And all her paths are peace.
18 She is
a tree of life to those who take hold of her, And happy are all who retain her.
19 The LORD by wisdom founded the earth; By
understanding He established the heavens;
20 By His knowledge the depths were broken up,
And clouds drop down the dew.
21 My son, let them not depart from your eyes—
Keep sound wisdom and discretion;
22 So they will be life to your soul And grace
to your neck.
23 Then you will walk safely in your way, And
your foot will not stumble.
24 When you
lie down, you will not be afraid; Yes, you will lie down and your sleep will be
sweet.
Father God, give us the strength by
the power of your Spirit, not to commit sins of commission and sins of omission. In Jesus name we pray, Amen!
Book of James 4:9-17 NKJV
This chapter concludes with many
things we fail in due to our human nature. James has touched on these, but
brings them out again. Things like repenting, judging, God’s will, and
arrogance.
9 Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter
be turned to mourning and your
joy to gloom.
This verse and verse 10 go
along with verses 7 & 8 of last week which were; James 4:7-8 Therefore submit 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. Last
week’s lesson was about the sin nature that is inside us and the many sinful
things it causes us to do. In verses 7 & 8 James tells us to resist the
devil and draw nearer to God. Repentance is the answer in drawing near to God,
through the sanctification process. So how does this verse fit in? It seems out
of place? Well let’s break it down and see.
Lament and mourn and weep; These three words all mean the same
thing, so James is really trying to get a point across. As we have learned to
recognize certain cues in the scripture that when something is of great
importance it is repeated two or three times or several different examples are
given. Things like: verily, verily; truly, truly; Selah in the Psalms denotes
meditating on what was read; etc. In chapter three James used three analogies
of how something small can do damage if not controlled, pertaining to our
tongue, (a bit in a horse’s mouth, a ships rudder, and a tiny spark that can
destroy a forest).
What
James is referring to is the sins that he mentioned in last week’s lesson. He
is calling out his listeners to repent because of their actions and the
evilness of sin that lies within our spirit because of the sin nature. When a
person comes to recognize their sinfulness and what they are doing on a daily
basis, it should cause them to have grief and morn and weep because Jesus had
to die a horrific death on the Cross for them so they can have eternal life. This
is so true for a person that truly repents because they finally come to the
full knowledge of what the Cross is all about and they are heartbroken. They
will break down and weep for Jesus.
Let your laughter be turned to
mourning and your joy to gloom;
The laughter and joy
a person has when living in the world, and then repents of their lifestyle
turns to mourning and gloom because they fully understand the Gospel. They come
to the realization that the life they were living was offensive to God and they
were an enemy of God. This mourning and gloom soon turns to joy and celebration
because they realize they have become a child of God and will one day be with
their Heavenly Father.
10 Humble
yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.
Humble
yourselves in the sight of the Lord; Why
should we humble ourselves? Can’t we live according to what feels good? You can
if you don’t care about your eternal life! Many people believe there is nothing
beyond this life here on earth so they live a life of grabbing all the gusto
they can. But didn’t Jesus teach us something about being humble in Matthew? Matthew 23:12 And whoever exalts
himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted. Being
humble is part of repentance. A person can’t repent if they are proud and
boastful. If they are still proud and boastful after they claim to have
repented and accepted Jesus as their Saviour, then they are not saved.
Do we have to go to Jesus
and ask for forgiveness? Why can’t we go to someone else like a friend,
neighbor, or priest and ask for forgiveness? Let’s say we sin against another
human being by being late for an appointment or not showing up for a date. We
have just sinned against the other party by not keeping our promise to be there
at the agreed upon time. After the agreed upon time has come and gone, do we go
about our business and forget the incident, or call the other party and
apologize for our action? We call the other party and humble our self and
apologize, don’t we. Why not contact a friend, relative, co-worker, a passerby
on the street, etc. and apologize to them for your actions? You say Bill that
would be stupid because you didn’t offend them, and you are exactly right. So my
point is, when we disobey God why don’t we humble our self before Jesus and
apologize for our actions? It is God we sinned against; Psalms 51:4 Against You, You only, have I sinned, And done this evil in Your sight— That You may
be found just when You speak, And
blameless when You judge.
Why do people go about their daily activities and not seek forgiveness from God
our Father? Why do people go to man appointed priest or pray to an idol for forgiveness?
It’s God’s law that was violated, not man’s law and we need to go to God and
seek forgiveness. Luke
15:18 I will
arise and go to my father, and will say to him, "Father, I have sinned
against heaven and before you.
As the Creator, our Father whom we have sinned against is the only one who can
pardon us. It is appropriate that we should humble ourselves before him with a remorseful
confession.
Matthew 6:12 And forgive us our
debts, As we forgive our debtors. Matthew
6:14-15 "For if you forgive men their
trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will
your Father forgive your trespasses. Matthew
9:6 But that you may know that the Son of Man
has power on earth to forgive sins"—then He said to the paralytic, "Arise, take up your bed, and go to your house."
Mark 2:7 "Why does this Man speak blasphemies like this? Who
can forgive sins but God alone?" 1 John 1:9
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all
unrighteousness.
And He will lift you up; Being humble is a virtue God approves
of and by being humble and repentant He will bless us with abundance of Grace.
With all the things which occur on the earth, God is willing to show mercy to
the humble and contrite, and to receive those who are truly penitent into his
favor. What a merciful God we have!
11 Do not
speak evil of one another, brethren. He who speaks evil of a brother and judges
his brother, speaks evil of the law and judges the law. But if you judge the
law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge.
Do not speak evil of one another,
brethren; We don’t
know who James is addressing here, but evidently some of his listeners were
being busy bodies and gossipers. Here again we have that untamable tongue
entering the picture. This “evil” referred to is that of talking against others
- against their actions, their motives, their manner of living, their families,
their appearance, etc. When we do this we are appointing ourselves as a judge!
He who speaks evil of a brother and
judges his brother; This
most probably refers to a Christian brother but also pertains to any person of
the human race, man or woman.
Speaks evil of the law and judges the
law; This phrase
means the Laws of God, or the rules which all Christians profess to obey. It is
that which James calls the “law of liberty. When we place our self as a judge,
we take our self out of the position of being a child of God and move our self
onto the Throne of God. When we do this we are not only judging another human
being, but also judging the Law of God of loving thy neighbor, and condemning
our self.
But if you judge the law, you are not
a doer of the law but a judge;
This phrase simply states we are to be obedient to God’s laws and not be a god.
The simple duty of every Christian is to obey the law. We are not to assume the
office of a judge to make laws, or to declare what they should have been, or to
amend those that are made. We Christians and Christian denominations, need to
learn to imbibe the spirit of charity. We need to examine our attitude and
actions toward others. Do you build people up or tear them down? When you're
ready to criticize someone, remember God's law of love and say something good
instead. Saying something beneficial to others will cure you of finding fault
and increase your ability to obey God's law of love.
12 There is
one Lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy. Who are you to judge another?
There is one Lawgiver, who is able to
save and to destroy; James
is stating that God and God alone is the one that gives life, allows life to
end, and is the writer of Laws to live by. God administers his government; to
restrain where it is necessary to restrain; to save where it is proper to save;
to punish where it is just to punish.
Who are you to judge another; With this statement James admonishes
his listeners and us by saying, “Who do you think you are?”
13 Come now,
you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend
a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit";
Starting
with this verse James touches on boasting or self will. James brings out
another one of our human characteristic that we invariably fall victim to, and
that is self sufficiency. A person that is self willed will have difficulty in
humbling themselves. From time to time I myself fall victim of trying to plan
or figure something out without first going to Jesus with the problem. I have
experienced situations where I will struggle with a situation, but when I take
it to the Lord the problem gets solved rather quickly. This is one thing I’m
trying to change in my life to always include Jesus in all plans and activities
I do. Where do you stand in planning your day or activities? When we are
planning things we need to end our thoughts with, “Lord I pray this is your
will for me, and if it isn’t, please show me what you want in my life.”
14 whereas
you do not know what will happen
tomorrow. For what is your
life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.
Whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow; Referring to verse 13 and what James
is expounding on, by laying out activities over a period of time, he tells his
listeners and us we may not be here tomorrow. He could even be hinting at, are
these things really what a person should be concerned about? Is worldly profit
more important than eternal spiritual profit? It shouldn’t be because we can’t
take money with us to Heaven; there is no need to; God will provide us all that
we need, and that is exactly what he will do right here on earth if we will submit
to Him. So when we plan something for tomorrow, next week, next year, we also need
a plan B in case we aren’t here tomorrow, and that plan is giving our heart to
Jesus and start living for Him here and now, so if we aren’t here tomorrow we
will be with Him, which far exceeds anything here on earth.
For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time
and then vanishes away;
James
poses a question here for us. What is the purpose of your life here on earth?
Have you thought about this? I truly believe there is a Heaven and a Hell
because the Bible states it. I believe they are also eternal because the Bible
states it. We deceive ourselves into thinking that we have a lot of time
remaining here on earth, but in reality life is short no matter how many years
we live. I’m 64 years old and it only seems like yesterday I was a child. Loved
ones have left our lives, some for 20 or 30 years, but it seems like just
yesterday, so life is like a vapor or foggy morning, here today gone tomorrow.
So we need to start living for Jesus today so we will be ready when our human
life ends.
15 Instead
you ought to say, "If the
Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that."
As
stated in verse 13 we need to pray for Gods will to be active and leading our
life, not our own wants and desires. I feel it is safe to say that each and
every one of us needs to be dependent upon God and not our self. He alone can
keep us, and only He can make our plans prosperous.
16 But now
you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil.
When
we boast of what we can and will do, we are placing our faith in self to get
the job done. We plan for the future as if we have a crystal ball and know what
the future holds. We plan without thinking about the fact that we may not be
here tomorrow due to the countless casualties that could befall us and defeat our
scheme.
This
type of planning shows a spirit of forgetfulness that our dependence shall be on
God; forgetful of the uncertainty of life; forgetful of the many ways by which
the best-laid plans may be defeated. We should never boast of any wisdom or
skill in regard to the future. A day, an hour may defeat our best thought out plans,
and show us we don’t have the slightest power to control coming events.
17 Therefore,
to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.
We
tend to think sin is doing
wrong, but James tells us that sin is also not doing right. These two kinds of sin are sometimes called
sins of commission and sins of omission, both pertain to disobedience to God’s
Laws. It is a sin to lie; it can also be a sin to know the truth and not tell
it. It is a sin to speak evil of someone; it is also a sin to avoid that person
when you know he or she needs your friendship. You should be willing to help as
the Holy Spirit guides you. If God has directed you to do a kind act, to render
a service, or to restore a relationship, do it. You will experience a renewed
and refreshed vitality to your Christian faith.
Colossians 1:16 For by Him all things were created
that are in heaven and that are on earth,
visible and invisible,
whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers.
All
things were created through Him and for Him.
Romans 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of
the glory of God,
Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our
Lord.
John 3:3 Jesus answered and said to him, Most assuredly, I say to you,
unless one is
born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."
Bill
Wiesbrock https://www.facebook.com/bill.wiesbrock?ref=tn_tnmn
The Lighthouse
Full Gospel Church
Sinners
Prayer; Pray this, and if you believe it with your heart, Jesus will save you!
“Lord Jesus I know I am a
sinner. I confess my sins to you; I am
sorry for my sins; I repent (Meaning, desiring to turn from a sinful
lifestyle.) of all my sins, and I am asking for your forgiveness. I believe that only you can forgive sin. I commit my life to you and ask you to come
into my heart, direct, and take charge of my life. I believe that you died to set me free from
my sinful lifestyle and you rose from the dead to give me eternal life, and
right now you are seated at the Right Hand of God Almighty. I believe you are
the Son of God; the only Way, the only Truth, the only Life, and my
Savior.” I believe this and have faith
you will make a new person out of me, by sending the Holy Spirit to dwell in my
heart and lead me in a new life. In Jesus name I pray Amen.” (John 3:16,17;
Romans 3:23; 6:23; 5:8; 10:9-13; Ephesians 2:8-10; 1
John 5:11-14; 1:6-10) (Sin: Rom.
1:22-32; Gal. 5:19-21; Eph. 5:3-7)
