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    James 3:13-4:12
    Lesson 442

    Read both the "King James Bible" and the "New Living Translation."

    In this lesson:
     
    True wisdom (3:13-18).
     
    Why God doesn't answer all prayers (4:3).
     
    Submit to God, resist Satan (4:7).
     
    Also, make sure to notice the Godly law in verses 4:10-11.
     
    This lesson ends the segment "Faith at Work," which began with verse 1:19 (lesson 438).   

    Study Tip:
     
    As you read, compose your own chapter titles to describe the main topic in each passage.

    The General Epistle of James

    The King James Bible    ​




    James 3:13-4:12
    Earthly verses heavenly wisdom

    13 Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom.
     
    14 But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth.
     
    15 This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish.
     
    16 For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work.
     
    17 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.
     
    18 And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace.

     
    James 4:1-12
    Say no to evil
     
    1 From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members?
     
    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.
     
    3 Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.
     
    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.
     
    5 Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy?
     
    6 But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.
     
    7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
     
    8 Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.
     
    9 Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness.
     
    10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.
     
    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.
     
    12 There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy: who art thou that judgest another?

    ​

    Margin notes:
     
    "Let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness." (3:13) - "Let him show his wisdom by living a good life (conversation) and by performing good works with humility."
     
    "If ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth." (3:14) - "If you have bitter jealousy and quarreling in your hearts, don't brag and hide the truth."
     
    "This wisdom decendeth not from above, but is earthly." (3:15) - "This wisdom is not from God, it is manmade"  Man's wisdom is "foolishness" to God (1 Corinthians 3:19). 
     
    "Sensual." (3:15) - Means carnal, of the body, not the spirit.
     
    "The wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated." (3:17) - "Heavenly wisdom is pure, peace-loving, gentle, and submissive."
     
    "From whence come wars and fightings among you?  come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members?" (4:1) - "What causes quarrels and fights among you?  Don't they come from this, the lusts that battle within you."
     
    "Because ye ask not." (4:2) - "Because you don't pray."
     
    "Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss." (4:3) - "And when you do pray, your prayers go unanswered because you pray with the wrong motive or for the wrong thing."
     
    "Adulterers and adulteresses." (4:4) - "Unfaithful people."  People who are dedicated to the world and not God.  This verse was written in the classical Greek hexameter style of poetry.  It tells us that James was familiar with the Greek poets.  Another example of the Greek hexameter style can be found in verse 1:17.
     
    "Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God." (4:4) - See 1 John 2:15.
     
    "The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy?" (4:5) - Mankind's inner spirit tends towards envy.  See Galatians 5:17.
     
    "God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble." (4:6) - "God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble."  Be humble and ask God for the strength to resist sin.  This verse is paraphrased from Psalm 138:6, written by King David.  The benefits of humility are also extolled in Job 22:29, Proverbs 3:34, Matthew 23:12, and 1 Peter 5:5.
     
    "Resist the devil." (4:7) - Satan is our enemy.  We "wrestle" with him daily (Ephesians 6:12).  How do we resist Satan?  See verse 4:8 and Ephesians 6:13.
     
    "Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you." (4:8) - "Draw near to God and He will draw near to you."  What a glorious invitation (Zechariah 1:3).  Some ways that draw us closer to God are listed in this segment.  Be humble (4:6; 4:10), submit to God (4:7), and be repentant (4:9).
     
    "Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts." (4:8) - In biblical times, cleansing yourself symbolically washed away sins and allowed you to begin a new spiritual life (Isaiah 1:16).
     
    "Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep." (4:9) - "Be unhappy, mourn and cry over your sins."  In other words, repent.

    "Let your laughter be turned to mourning." (4:9) - "Let your joy turn to sadness."
     
    "Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up." (4:10) - "Confess, repent, and submit to the Lord and He will exalt you."  This message is reinforced in 1 Peter 5:6.  See also 2 Chronicles 7:14 and Job 22:29.
     
    "Speak not evil one of another." (4:11) - Speaking (or even thinking) evil of others is a manifestation of pride.
     
    "There is one lawgiver." (4:12) - God (Isaiah 33:22).
     
    "Who art thou that judgest another?" (4:12) - Judging others can also be a product of pride.
    How do we gain heavenly wisdom?  Read Job 28:28; Psalm 119:9-16; Proverbs 8:12-14 and James 1:5-8. 


                                                  New Living Translation 
     

    James 3:13-4:12
    True Wisdom Comes from God
     
    13 If you are wise and understand God's ways, prove it by living an honorable life, doing good works with the humility that comes from wisdom.

    14 But if you are bitterly jealous and there is selfish ambition in your heart, don't cover up the truth with boasting and lying.

    15 For jealousy and selfishness are not God's kind of wisdom. Such things are earthly, unspiritual, and demonic.

    16 For wherever there is jealousy and selfish ambition, there you will find disorder and evil of every kind.
     
    17 But the wisdom from above is first of all pure. It is also peace loving, gentle at all times, and willing to yield to others. It is full of mercy and good deeds. It shows no favoritism and is always sincere.

    18 And those who are peacemakers will plant seeds of peace and reap a harvest of righteousness.
     
     
    James 4:1-12
    Drawing Close to God
     
    1 What is causing the quarrels and fights among you? Don't they come from the evil desires at war within you?

    2 You want what you don't have, so you scheme and kill to get it. You are jealous of what others have, but you can't get it, so you fight and wage war to take it away from them. Yet you don't have what you want because you don't ask God for it.

    3 And even when you ask, you don't get it because your motives are all wrong-you want only what will give you pleasure.
     
    4 You adulterers! Don't you realize that friendship with the world makes you an enemy of God? I say it again: If you want to be a friend of the world, you make yourself an enemy of God.

    5 What do you think the Scriptures mean when they say that the spirit God has placed within us is filled with envy?

    6 But he gives us even more grace to stand against such evil desires. As the Scriptures say,
     
      "God opposes the proud
          but favors the humble."
     
    7 So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

    8 Come close to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world.

    9 Let there be tears for what you have done. Let there be sorrow and deep grief. Let there be sadness instead of laughter, and gloom instead of joy.

    10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up in honor.
     
    Warning against Judging Others
     
    11 Don't speak evil against each other, dear brothers and sisters. If you criticize and judge each other, then you are criticizing and judging God's law. But your job is to obey the law, not to judge whether it applies to you.

    ​12 God alone, who gave the law, is the Judge. He alone has the power to save or to destroy. So what right do you have to judge your neighbor?

    ​This second Bible text from the "New Living Translation" (Tyndale House, Publishers, Wheaton, Illinois) is a paraphrase and not an accurate word-for-word translation of the Bible.  However, it is a helpful tool when read with the "King James Version."
    Today's question:
     
    1. What are the ten commands in verses 4:7-10? 
     
     
     
    "Never allow a truth of God that is brought home to your soul to pass without acting on it, not necessarily physically, but in will.  Record it, with ink or with blood.  The feeblest saint who transacts business with Jesus Christ is emancipated the second he acts; all the almighty power of God is on his behalf."
     
    Scottish evangelist and teacher Oswald Chambers (1874-1917)
    Answer: (Do you agree?)
     
    Verses 4:7-10 "contain a series of ten commands that prepare a person to receive saving grace.  These commands delineate a person's response to God's gracious offer of salvation and reveal what it means to be humble.  Each command uses a Greek imperative to define the expected action:
        
    1. Submit to God (v. 7).  James used the word to describe a willing, conscious submission to God's authority as sovereign ruler of the universe.
     
    2. Resist the devil (v. 7).  Those who consciously "take (their) stand against" Satan and transfer their allegiance to God will find that Satan "will flee from" them, he is a defeated foe.
     
    3. Draw near to God (v. 8).  Pursue an intimate love relationship with God (Phil. 3:10). 
     
    4. Cleanse your hands (v. 8).  The added term sinners addresses the unbelievers' need to recognize and confess their sin (5:20). 
     
    5. Purify your hearts (v. 8).  Cleansing the hands symbolizes external behavior; this phrase refers to the inner thoughts, motives, and desires of the heart (Ps. 24:3,4).
     
    6. Lament (v. 9).  This means to be afflicted, wretched, and miserable.  This is the state of those who are truly broken over their sin (Matt. 5:4).
     
    7. Mourn (v. 9).  This is the internal experience of brokenness over sin (Ps. 51:17; Matt. 5:4).
     
    8. Weep (v. 9).  This is the outward manifestation of inner sorrow over sin (Mark 14:72).
     
    9. Grieve without laughter or joy (v. 9).  This describes the signs of denial; the flippant laughter of those foolishly indulging in worldly pleasures without regard to God, life, death, sin, judgment, or holiness.
     
    10. Humble yourself (v. 10).  This final command sums up the preceding nine.  The word humble comes from a word meaning "to make oneself low."  Those conscious of being in the presence of the majestic, infinitely holy God are humble (Is. 6:5).
     
     
    (From "The MacArthur Bible Commentary" by John MacArthur published by Thomas Nelson, Nashville, Tennessee; page 1894). 
     
     
     
    Application thought for the day:
     
    What message on humility and submission does this passage hold for you?
    What life changes found in this segment would make you a better Christian?      
    Thanks to the writings and commentary of John Wesley and Adam Clarke.  Also, "The Layman's Bible Study Notebook" by Irving Jensen published by Harvest House Publishing, Irvine, California; the "Life Change Series" published by NavPress books, Colorado Springs, Colorado; the "Life Application Study Bible" published by Tyndale House Publishing, Carol Stream, Illinois; the "Quest Study Bible" published by The Zondervan Corporation, Grand Rapids, Michigan; "Robertson's New Testament Word Studies;" "The MacArthur Bible Commentary" by John MacArthur published by Thomas Nelson, Nashville, Tennessee; "Wisdom of the Bible" CD by Topics Entertainment, Inc., Renton, Washington for their inspiring pictures; "My utmost for His Highest" by Oswald Chambers, published by Barbour Publishing, Inc., Uhrichsville, Ohio; The "Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge" by Reuben Archer Torrey; "Hope For Each Day" by Billy Graham published by J. Countryman, a division of Thomas Nelson, Inc., Nashville, Tennessee; "Easton's Bible Dictionary" by Matthew George Easton; "Unger's Bible Dictionary" by Merrill F. Unger, published by Moody Press, Chicago, Illinois; "Halley's Bible Handbook" by Henry H. Halley, Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, Michigan; "The Everyday Bible" published by World Wide Publications, Minneapolis, Minnesota; "The Living New Testament" published by Tyndale house, Wheaten, Illinois; "The New Living Translation" published by Tyndale House, Wheaten, Illinois; "The New Testament" translated from the Latin Vulgate, published by Guild Press, New York, New York; BibleGateway.com for all their wonderful links; and of course, the "King James Bible."  All were critical in putting these lessons together.
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