Divisions
We'd like to think that James 4:1-5 was talking about the world. But James letter was addressed to the Jewish people in Christianity, and by extension to all of us. So when he asks why there are wars and fighting among you, he's asking about us. And in 2,000 years or so, it hasn't changed.
Denominations disagree about what the Bible says. Individual pastors and teachers disagree with each other about portions of what the Bible says. The world certainly disagrees with all of us about what the Bible and God says. It would be awesome if we could all agree and get along. Christianity would be stronger. This is not an impossible thing to have happen. I heard a collective "Yeah, right!" echoing through the fiber backbones of the Internet. But it is absolutely true.
How, you ask? Let each Christian allow the Holy Spirit to take control of their lives, completely. Put Christ in charge. Make Him the King of your life. Do that in every Christian, from the most recently converted to the Christian at the apex of power in each denomination. And let what Christ says go. Let His direction control what you do. God hasn't changed. God isn't going to change. What He declared sin, will stay sin. If your denomination is dabbling with sin to try to be more friendly to the world, you're in error. If your denomination has allowed false doctrines to creep in (LDS) even though you were warned to not go there in Galatians 1:8, then burn the false words and get back to believing what the Bible says.
For unity, will there have to be changes in some denominations? Yes, if you want true unity and completely coherent doctrine across all Christianity. The thing is, God's version of Christianity is united. He has one true doctrine. It is up to us to either discover it or remember it or stop suppressing it.
The Holy Spirit baptism is real, and for all generations. Joel 2:28 wasn't just for the early church. Acts 1:8 was promise from Christ that the Holy Spirit would be poured out from then on in the Christian church liberally to all who sought it to give power to witness and live for Him.
Concepts of purgatory or limbo need to be abandoned. Hebrews 9:27 is clear, combined with Jesus' account of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31). There is a gulf between the hades compartment and the now empty paradise compartment that there was no crossing over. Period. When you die, your fate is sealed eternally. And that fate is controlled by a righteous God. His decisions are final.
I don't know what the duties are of God's saints after death. Maybe entreating them to help you in something has a purpose and they do ask God to intervene for us. But I do know that we need to put our trust in God and Jesus sacrifices, led by the Holy Spirit. If we are relying on help from a saint, we are looking to the wrong place and person.
So again, some traditions would have to change for true unity. But none of this is impossible with God's control of the church - only with man's control.
I'm not going to say there aren't going to be differences of opinion. I've presented my understanding of what Daniel's and Revelation's prophecies might mean, but it's just my ideas. Until history plays out, we won't know for sure what is going to happen. If God had wanted us to know exactly what was going to happen, he'd have been more specific. I doubt it would have been understood or believed by the people living 2,000 years ago. And I doubt that hearing it would be at least 2,000 or so years till it the rapture happened would have given the church much strength as it was starting. So the language is symbolic and hard to understand. I'm sure after it happens, everyone will be able to look back and say, "That's what that meant!". But looking forward is hard, and I think it's meant to be.
Regardless, when we have topics like that, or about creation, abortion, warfare, or other topics the Bible touches directly or indirectly, we need to avoid going to war over them. We can discuss peaceably, and maybe everyone will come away learning a little something they didn't know before.
God has one purpose for us. That is to convert people to Christ and shepherd them on their journey. If our discussions about topics of the Bible keep people from knowing and accepting Christ, we are failing in our purpose.
We also need to address a second area of warfare. As Christians, we are supposed to be honest and upright in business. We are supposed to turn the other cheek when wronged. When taken to court, we're supposed to give above and beyond what we are ordered to do. We're supposed to love each other as ourselves. Husbands are to love their wives as Christ loved His church, which He gave His life for. Wives are supposed to submit to their husbands, and if the husbands are loving their wives as Christ loved the church, they will ask nothing that will be a problem to submit to. Parents are to love their children, and children are to respect their parents and love them. We're supposed to respect our elders. You won't find any place where there is warfare in the Bible, unless God specifically called for it.
Improper Desires
People often ask why prayers aren't answered. Elsewhere, I've mentioned that if God were like a broken ATM that always spit out what we asked for, regardless of our balance, we would eventually destroy ourselves. We would keep asking for more and more until we were more caught up with the things of the world than with the things of God. We'd end up backsliding, and end up going to hell, most likely.
In James 4:2-3, James declares a common thread of both the wars from James 4:1 and unanswered prayers. Why do we fight so much? Our hearts are full of lust. We commit murder or murder of character trying to have what we want, and we end up with nothing.
He gives a primary reason for this. He says we have not because we ask not. And even if we do ask, we ask for our own selfish reasons for things that fulfill our lusts and pleasures rather than asking for things that are in the will of God for us.
God has been clear in His Gospels that He cares for us. He points out things in nature and asks if we are not much more important to Him than those things. He will take care of us, and I think He will bless us and give us some of the desires of our heart. But ultimately, He wants us to make it to heaven and bring others to heaven with us. If we are asking for things that will reduce the chances of that, then there is a good chance that what we are praying for falls into the satisfying our own lust category.
Jesus Christ was successful in all the prayer requests He made. Why? Because He was connected to the Holy Spirit and was only praying for the things that He knew by the Holy Spirit were in the will of God. Look carefully through all the prayers Christ made. Was there one personal request? Even in the garden of Gethsemane, where He prayed about the only personal prayer that I can find, His request was ended in Luke 22:42 with
Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.
Pretty selfless prayers to pray. And because He prayed for what the Father was doing, His prayers were always answered. Maybe we need to listen better ourselves. I've prayed for things that God has brought about. I've prayed for things that God has so far not answered. Most of my prayer life is about those I love. Some is about me. Some is about the needs of Christians that I know. Some is about the world. But I also need to try to get in tune with the Holy Spirit. I need to accept that God has me in His hand and praying for God's will and not mine in any situation is the right approach. God can give nice things. But He would be more likely to give it when He knew we are ready to receive it.
God is not unlike a father on earth. Us fathers would love to help our children out as best as we are able. But even if we were the richest person in America, we would be unlikely to give our children everything their hearts desired or the financial means to do anything they wanted until we knew they were ready for the responsibility that comes along with blessings. Trust in His timing for everything you are praying for today.
Friendship with the World
In James 4:4-6 he concludes these thoughts with a dire warning. Friendship with the world is incompatible with a life dedicated to God. Being friends with the world puts you at odds with God. How do we go about this in a practical way?
Clearly, we exist in our world. There is no parallel universe without sin that we can escape to and live free from the influences of the world around us. Wouldn't that be great? Sadly, we'd probably corrupt it. I say this not without basis. In the millennial period when Christ rules the earth, you'd like to think that all rebellion would have passed away and be done with. And yet, when the 1,000 years are over and Satan is released from the bottomless pit for a season, he is still able to rouse people of the earth and her armies to go against Christ. It's his final battle, and he loses and God wins, but the fact he can still raise up opposition after 1,000 years of Christ's rule says something about both his power to lie and deceive and mankind's affinity to rebel.
So we have to live in the world we have. There are some groups that take this to an extreme and branch off into their own monastery or commune and try to have as little contact with the world as possible. I'm not judging the right or wrong of these actions. Clearly, Christianity has benefited from the monks who copied scriptures over the generations. But all too often, when we isolate ourselves from the world, we are also isolating ourselves from the support of other believers at the same time. If you leave internet access open so you can communicate or continue to study God's word, then you are also opening yourself up to the world. There isn't any web filter that is perfect. Maybe AI will someday get there, but it won't be any time soon. Not all that appears to be Christian on the internet is of God. Let the Holy Spirit direct you in all things.
Since we can't escape to a parallel universe, and the majority of Christians don't elect to isolate ourselves from the world, what do we do? We live for God wherever we are. We are called, after all, to go into all the world and teach about Christ and God, baptizing in the name of the the Father, Jesus and the Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19;Mark 16:15;Acts 1:4-8). We go where God tells us to go, regardless of what our Christian friends think of us for doing so. We do what He tells us to do. Christ was condemned for the choices He made - who He ate with, who He consorted with, who He ministered to, and when and where He did so brought frequent condemnation from the religious leaders of the day. But if we are doing the work of the Father, we never need to worry about eternal consequences for our choices.
What we need to be sure of is that as we interact with the world, we don't succumb to it's pleasures, vices, and lifestyle. That is the real danger. The pleasures of the world are not so named with no reason. But we need to remember that they way to God is uncompromising. Keep preaching His truth. Don't let the world water down the Gospel Message. Don't let the world water down our teaching and preaching about sin. Don't give anyone a reason to believe that their sin doesn't affect their standing with God - that He'll somehow overlook it. Pray every day that you'll recognize temptation when it strikes and stay true to God. Pray that you'll help others to overcome their temptation and stay right with God or get right with God in the first place.
Friendship with the world in the church leads people to believe the lies of Satan. Keep preaching the word of God, cover to cover. A lot of times the Old Testament isn't favored in sermons today. People don't like to hear fire and brimstone preaching week after week. We like to have our ears tickled more and more (2 Timothy 4:3). But the Old Testament is good to read to understand the holy and uncompromising nature of God. Yes, He does love us. And His anger is slow to come (Nehemiah 9:17;Psalms 103:8,145:8;Joel 2:13;Nahum 1:3). Praise God for that. But He is also holy. And when His limits are reached, He meets out His wrath with justice. He's been holding back the final outpouring of His wrath on us for a long time. But it is coming.
We need to be at the forefront of letting the world know that there is a reckoning coming for the Earth. We want to be gone in the rapture by the time it hits. We want as many as possible to escape His wrath with us. It isn't a hard process. But we need to be separate from the world to make God's word real in the lives of everyone we meet. If we are continually allowing sin in our lives and in the church, we won't have the separation from the world that we need and the intimacy with the Father. Intimacy with the Father leads to Him working through us to show the world that He is and that His word is still true, even after all these years. Realizing that His word is true gives the world a chance to realize that His standards of sin haven't changed and that they need to get right with Him. It's vital to stay true to Him and not dabble with the world.
Man's spirit will forever be drawn to things that are not of God. It wars with the Christian spirit. We must put the old man in subjection to Christ and live for Him. Know that God's grace will go with you as you draw yourself to Him. If you are humble and recognize your dependence on God, He will give you the grace to live for Him in this life. By grace are we saved, by faith.
How to Win Battles
Next in James 4:7-10, James gives us some of the most important scriptures we have for helping us in our lives. Submit our lives to God. Let God be the King of our life. Listen to the Holy Spirit in what to do and say. Don't seek our own way. Don't live for ourselves. Live for Him.
Resist Satan and Satan will flee from you. Resist temptation. Practice self control. Don't listen to the world. Set yourself apart virtually if your life doesn't let you do it physically. You can be a Christian wherever you are and in whatever circumstances you find yourself. Turn to God and turn from Satan. James says that when we do this Satan will flee from us. He won't just walk away. He will flee. Because Satan knows that He who is in us is greater than the powers of the world that Satan controls (1 John 4:4).
In Jame 4:8, he declares that the opposite is true as well. The closer you draw to God, the closer He will draw to you. From James 4:9-10, he expounds on this process. Cleanse your hands of evil. Purify your hearts if you are double minded (or two-souled). Let the joys that the world declares good be seen by you as being against God as many are. I won't say that every joy of the world is bad. There are many things that happen in the world that are of equal benefit and bring the same happiness to both Christian and non-Christian. But there are certainly a class of joy in the world that hurts God's heart. See the lost of the world and do what you can to turn their hearts to God. Have a contrite spirit in yourself and mourn for the world that is lost and eternally damned. Let God lift you up instead of trying to lift yourself up. If there is anything good in what you have done and how you have lived, God will acknowledge it at some point. It might not be till heaven, but regardless, God sees all we say and do. Be humble and patient, and you'll do more for the kingdom of God than the most popular televangelist.
On Judging
In James 4:11-12, James touches again on our judging of others and backbiting. We are told that there is only one judge in the universe. We aren't that judge. When we judge or speak evil of others, we are really putting ourselves in the place of God who is the righteous judge. Regardless of how black and white things appear to us, we will never know all the circumstances that led people to do what they did. We won't know what went on in their minds, souls, spirits, and hearts both at the time an action was done or a word was spoken, or what went on in their past that influenced the decision they made. Only God is qualified to judge the acts, deeds, or words of another.
To be clear, we need to evaluate who we support and spend time with. We need to pick our close friends wisely. And that necessitates some judgment on our part. The Holy Spirit can help us with that. But we aren't in a position to judge where a person is with God. Their past may reflect a strong certainty. But only God knows for sure. Did Hitler ask God for forgiveness before he committed suicide? Only God knows. From our human viewpoint, we condemn his actions. But from an eternal standpoint we won't know for sure until we get to heaven ourselves. We need to work to ensure that is a certainty instead of judging others.
And speaking evil of each other (remembering that this is written to the Hebrews and by extension to Christians) tears down the view of Christianity in the eyes of the world. Paul said that to him all things were lawful, but all things were not expedient. That wasn't saying he could go out and sin. But it was saying that a lot of the things we judge fellow believers on didn't matter. In his case, what he ate didn't matter. It was taken in the mouth and went out as waste. For Christians today (and in the recent past) it might be dress, make-up, what we listen to, what we read, what we watch, whether or not we drink alcohol, whether we play a game that involves cards or dice, or any of a host of other points of contention. Let the Holy Spirit work on people's hearts. Draw close to God and he will draw close to you.
Our Crazy Long Term Outlook
In James 4:13-17, James concludes with thoughts about our perceptions of life. Are you a planner or do you live by the seat of your pants? Do you have a calendar that is full of things you have scheduled to do for weeks to come or do you live each day as it comes. Most people with kids know their phones calendar app well. Most in business live with scheduling for their work day calendars, regardless of how they feel about meetings.
But the reality is that for all of the schedules we try to keep, all is in the hands of God. We have no control over whether or not we will be healthy on a particular date (or whether our spouse or kids will be healthy even if we are). We have no control of whether or not we will be alive by a particular date. We have no control of whether or not the rapture will have happened by a particular date. And you can be assured that even if you miss the rapture, your schedule is going to be messed up for a long time to come. If you think you are in control of your schedule, God may set you straight one day.
In our society, some scheduling may be needed compared to James day. Whether or not this is good is an exercise for the reader. But the reality is that we don't control the future. Only God does. Granted, some decisions we make today may greatly influence what our options are in the future. But even there, God is in the ultimate control of future possibilities for us.
My parents generation lived through what was called the Spanish Flu. It is estimated to have killed 17 to 100 million worldwide. Our generation survived COVID-19, although it is still around. Worldwide deaths to COVID-19 are estimated from 7 to 35 million, with 1.2 million deaths in America. And we look forward to Trump's new nominees for his cabinet that will probably end up making us less safe from disease. If there's another pandemic on his next watch, it's likely more will die. HIV/AIDS has killed somewhere around 43 million so far.
Wikipedia lists 19 major pandemics since Christ's time, although most pandemics in the early years probably went unknown. The list is slanted to more modern times. Some were limited to a country or a region and some of those killed huge percentages of the population. Most recent ones have been worldwide because travel is now practiced by so many for business, vacation, or war. The risks from pandemics is far higher.
Do I think we need to preface everything with a "God willing". Not really, but that needs to be the attitude of our hearts at the very least. I can tell you that if you occasionally R.S.V.P. with a I'll plan to be there God willing, you can open up some avenues for witnessing that you didn't have before. And that is worth something as well.
In James 4:16 he mentions what we boast about. We shouldn't boast about what has happened in our lives. Give the glory to God, great things He hath done. If you are boasting about something that God wouldn't have helped with due to its nature, then you really shouldn't be boasting.
The Scariest Verse in the Bible
James 4:17 is at least one of the scariest verses in the Bible. I'll grant that if you aren't a Christian, there may be others that are scarier. The great White Throne judgment when everything wraps up and hell gets cast into the lake of fire that burns forever would be right up there for non-Christians.
But for Christians, what could be scarier than this verse. If you know to do good, and you don't do it, well that is sin for you. There are lots of things that we are commanded to not do in the Bible, and we know that breaking those commandments is sin. And realistically, there aren't many Christians who are going to worship an idol or kill or steal. At least not outright. Idolatry in the modern world is its own discussion. What constitutes stealing might be another.
But the Bible is full of scriptures about doing good. Love your neighbor as yourself. Scriptures about living our faith in James itself would be a challenge. Look at what Christ said when on the Sermon on the Mount and then at the end of His earthly ministry telling about the future judging the nations (Matthew 7:21-27,25:31-46). If we know to do good, to do the right thing, and don't do it, then it is as sin to us. We may pray often for God to forgive us of the things we know we did that were wrong. How often do we think about asking forgiveness for the good we should have done but didn't do? It's something every Christian should give more thought to fixing in our lives.