Pleasure: Root of Sin
READ JAMES 4:1-3
“What is shrouded under a specious pretense of zeal for God and religion often comes from men’s pride… From lust of power and dominion, lust of pleasure, or lust of riches, arise all the broils and contentions that are in the world… Worldly and fleshly lusts are the disease which will not allow contentment or satisfaction in the mind… You do not consult God in your undertakings, and you do not commit your way to him, but follow your own corrupt views and inclinations: therefore you meet with continual disappointments… They ask God to give them success in their callings or undertakings; not that they may glorify their heavenly Father and do good with what they have, but that they may spend what they get on their pleasures… When our prayers are rather the language of our lusts than of our graces, they will return empty.”
(Henry, p. 749)
Henry, Matthew, et al. The NIV Matthew Henry Commentary in One Volume: Based on the Broad Oak Edition. Zondervan Pub. House, 1992.
Things are not always as they seem. The most noble of causes to the eye and ear may have the most selfish and vain motives. The believer must watch such pompous demonstration of power with utmost skepticism. The Jesus-follower should not be the first on the bandwagon of nationalism, rebellion or any mixture of the two. The follower of Jesus will find that the indulgence of such a whim proves ecstatic in the moment and deplorable in the history books. Some of the most heinous atrocities have been enacted in the name of God and country. It is well proven that might does not objectively make right. Look to the past century for every example necessary. Many a war, plot and intrigue could have been beaten by submitting the euphoric echo-chamber of sectarianism for the homely and humble identity in Jesus.
In The Cost of Discipleship, Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote extensively against the elusive pleasures of the twentieth century. His modern world was one of advancement in technology, medicine and in all manner of science. It was without a doubt a relatively optimistic age. Progress towards some illusive and changing standard of human perfection appeared attainable. Bonhoeffer saw through such idealism. There are gaping holes in progressiveness without a relation to our Father God. “When we create our own God and our own world,” wrote Bonhoeffer “what we are really doing is to deify our own lust” (284). It is the natural inclination of man to crown his pleasure sovereign and dictator. Naturally, human progress apart from a relational God tends towards hedonism. “We are then bound to hate our fellow-men, as obstacles standing in the way of our wills,” Bonhoeffer continued “Hatred, jealousy and murder are all of them the fruits of selfish lust”. Thus were the Jews slaughtered by the millions and the German Church bastardized.
“Other seed fell among thorns; the thorns sprang up with it and choked it… As for the seed that fell among thorns, these are the ones who, when they have heard, go on their way and are choked with worries, riches, and pleasures of life, and produce no mature fruit.”
Luke 8:7, 14
Holy Bible Holman Christian Standard Bible, Black/Burgundy, Leathertouch, Personal Size Bible. Holman Bible Pub, 2014.
The tendrils of pleasure wreath themselves around any new growth of life. Pleasure seeks to leech off of choke out any and all good. Where weeds wind around and entangle tree branches, one will scarcely find fruit worth consumption. Jesus conveys the weight of such pleasure seeking. There is no maturity when pleasure is the goal of the believer. This could even be said of the experience seeking believer. Those whose goal it is to be filled by some new thrill of emotion at each and every time of worship will be sorely disappointed, greatly deflated and utterly uninspired. The mature believer goes to God in humble prayer to receive that grace through Jesus which he has likewise received a hundred times before. The mature believer is contended in the sacred rhythms of a life in relationship with God.
We must approach our good Father God with such expectations. We open our hearts, minds, and hands to Him so that we may be filled with His ever-flowing grace in the person of His Holy Spirit. To receive such grace from our good Father, we must cast out the pleasures – those thorny shoots of malice – which are so easily hoarded up in the back rooms and walk-in closets of our hearts. The Psalmist knew that God could not and would not be held accountable for listening to prayers made by unrepentant hearts (Ps. 67:17-18). God will not be mocked. If we truly desire God, we will learn to empty our vacuoles of all the seeds of heady pleasure so that we will be filled with the person of Jesus Christ in His Holy Spirit. Such joy is manifested in the life of the believer when the Holy Spirit comes to reside in their heart that the pleasures of this world seem like a baby doll to a bride. Childish pleasures are cast aside for mature relationship and the promise of new life.
Unfaithfulness: Fruit of Sin
READ JAMES 4:4-6
“He mocks those who mock, but gives grace to the humble.”
Proverbs 3:34
Holy Bible Holman Christian Standard Bible, Black/Burgundy, Leathertouch, Personal Size Bible. Holman Bible Pub, 2014.
There is no one living that can demand the grace of God without acknowledging His complete bent towards folly and openness to His Lordship. Those who demand grace without a repentance play games at the foot of the cross of Jesus (Lk. 23:39). Can any of us afford to sport on our deathbeds. Where is the morgue? It is around us from birth. When do we enter the grave? We are born into it. What is life? It is a sneeze apart from God. Only in a humble relationship with God will we find His grace. Grace abounds when believers are enjoying the goodness of their Father God. The proud will always keep God at an arms distance, for they are secure with some part of themselves. The humble know the sweetness of communion with the good Father, because they have nothing else to cling to but His riches (Ps. 138:6).
“That is, the Spirit who indwells us yearns tenderly over us, longing to make us wholly his and rejecting any and all divided allegiance. God is a jealous God in the sense that He can brook no rivals, tolerate no unfaithfulness, and permit no polytheism.”
(Valentine, p. 87)
Valentine, Foy. Layman’s Bible Book Commentary: Hebrews, James 1 & 2 Peter. Broadman Press, 1981.
Those who empty themselves to partake of God’s grace found in Jesus become marked off territory for the kingdom of God. Their lives are under development for the glory of God. God wants to use individuals together as a set-apart people that will make Him known across the globe. In doing so, believers are building up the kingdom of God today. We are being made more like Jesus. We, as part of creation, are helping the world more closely reflect the glory of God. Our God is long-suffering in turning all things toward Himself. He wills that all people have the opportunity to turn from their pursuit of private pleasure to a wholehearted pursuit of Him.
Dr. Valentine made it plain that it is the Holy Spirit that is doing this work within us. This is one of the more understated truths of the Good News. It is the Holy Spirit that brings us into Jesus’ likeness. It is the Holy Spirit that speaks through Scripture. It is the Holy Spirit that prays alongside us. It is the Holy Spirit that causes us to see the good works that God has orchestrated for us to accomplish. It is the Holy Spirit that comforts us and preserves us from despair. The Holy Spirit is the relational agent of our salvation. We know God through His Holy Spirit afforded us through the sacrificial grace of Jesus. Those who have received the Holy Spirit are sealed and sustained by the unfailing hand our good Father God (Is. 59:21).
READ JAMES 4:7-17
God’s Will: Cure for Sin
“The dominating power of the world, the flesh, and the devil is now paralyzed; not by your act, but because your act has joined you to God and tapped you into His redemptive power.”
(Chambers, November 4th)
Chambers, Oswald. My Utmost for His Highest: an Updated Edition in Today’s Language: the Golden Book of Oswald Chambers. Discovery House Publishers, 1992.
We must draw near to God. Only by drawing close to Him can we receive the benefits of a relationship with Him. Oswald Chambers calls the benefits of God’s “redemptive power”. To redeem is to deliver. The Jewish tradition of the kinsman redeemer (Ru. 3, Jb. 19:25) is seen throughout the Old Testament. This tradition is so consistent that it becomes a motif that repeats with growing clarity relating humanity to a coming savior. Jesus has ransomed many, thereby covering them with His blood stained linens. We are marked by the cloak of Jesus. He stands as our advocate. The judgement on our condition no longer falls on us, for Jesus has taken it upon Himself. God powerful ransoms our lives for His good purpose by His Holy Spirit won at the price of His death on the cross and resurrection on the third day. Our redeemer lives!
“The frailty, shortness, and uncertainty of life, ought to check the presumptuous confidence of such people who predict the future… We must remember that our times are not in our own hands, but at the disposal of God, and therefore must be submissive to Him… If we boast in God that our times are in His hand, that all events are at His disposal, and that He is our God, this boasting is good. But, if we boast in our own vain confidences and presumptuous bragging, this is evil.”
(Henry, pp. 750-751)
Henry, Matthew, et al. The NIV Matthew Henry Commentary in One Volume: Based on the Broad Oak Edition. Zondervan Pub. House, 1992.
If Jesus, our redeemer, lives, then we are to boast in Him alone. The assurance given us by the habitation of His Holy Spirit calls out in praise of Jesus the Son to the glory of God the Father. This boastful praise in Jesus is holy and righteous. We must praise Him for our salvation in the open and often. If the Spirit is in you, there will be a desire to publicly identify with Jesus as the Lord of your life. Jesus calls us all into an open and public relationship with Him. Such a relationship displays His faithfulness and our inadequacy to order all life.
Dr. Foy Valentine clearly described the dependency on God that believers must exhibit. He begins by subjecting humans to God by our own limited nature in that “we are finite in knowledge, limited in understanding, and totally dependent on God for every breath we breathe” (88). Valentine also states that believers “should project no plans and make no moves except in the knowledge that we are absolutely subject to the Lord”. This is consistent with James’ teaching. All of our plans are flexible to the movement of God and the leading of His Holy Spirit. Our borders and limitations are set by our careful Father.
“And the slave who knew his master’s will and didn’t prepare himself or do it will be severely beaten.”
Luke 12:47
Holy Bible Holman Christian Standard Bible, Black/Burgundy, Leathertouch, Personal Size Bible. Holman Bible Pub, 2014.
James goes directly after complacency. The whole of the letter charges believers many practical steps towards right-doing. James is consistent with the teachings of Jesus when he marks inactivity at a time when good works are needed is equal with wrongdoing. It is evil to stand idly when you could take action. Passivity is an action, and, when evil is rampant, passivity itself is evil. Matthew Henry summarized the point in comparing “He who does not do the good he knows should be done, as well as he who does the evil he knows should not be done” (751). God is just to punish both sins of commission and sins of omission.
Let us brace ourselves for the good deeds at hand. Live the relational life with God. Pray to Him. Read His Scripture. Expect Him to lead you. Expect Him to direct your course. Follow Him where He leads. He is sure to sustain you and guide you into His will in the joy of knowing Him. James equips our hearts and minds so that our hands are ready to labor for God. God desires to work on you, in you and through you. Watch as He transforms your life and the lives of those around you into the image of His Son by the power of His Holy Spirit.
“Remember, God is as Great as He is Good!”
Noah R. Hunt
POIEMA: Created for Truth 