Tiago 4
Warren Wiersbe · Citado em PreceptAustin
Tiago 4
Wiersbe - Bible Exposition Commentary) Hiebert notes that the "degeneration in the meaning of the term (epithumia from God given desires to perverted desires) is a revealing commentary on human nature. Left to himself, instead of gaining mastery over his base desires and steadfastly adhering to the good, the individual is characteristically overcome by his evil cravings, so that they become the dominating force of his life." (1 Peter. Page 94. Moody) One can imagine James' readers when they came to this charge of "murder!" Clearly James was trying to startle and awaken in his readers an understanding (and admission) of the depth of evil when one has hatred toward another person. You are jealous and covet [what others have] and your desires go unfulfilled; [so] you become murderers. [To hate is to murder as far as your hearts are concerned.] You burn with envy and anger and are not able to obtain [the gratification, the contentment, and the happiness that you seek], so you fight and war. You do not have, because you do not ask. [So] you commit murder (phroneuo) - So is added by NASB. Notice how short the journey is from desire to death! Is James describing literal murder? Although there is a natural tendency to soften the word and make it figurative, it is difficult to avoid the fact that murder does happen in the church. I was going to a church in which the head elder murdered his wife, a well known teacher in the church. The cause of death was listed as bludgeoned with a galvanized steel pipe and then stabbed multiple times. Investigators found evidence of staging: e.g., the piano bench behind her, the angle of the body, a sheet of music overturned, and the location of the wounds all suggested the scene had been manipulated. The elder had a hidden motive of an an extramarital affair, about which his wife apparently had grown suspicious in the months prior to her death. Everyone in the church was shocked, yours truly included, but it seems that almost 2000 years earlier the apostle James warned that such a horrible crime (PS: The elder received a prison sentence of 32 years but far worse, the honor of the Lord Jesus Christ was sullied. Do not be deceived. Anyone that falls prey to the powerful lusts of the flesh can carry out the same crime! As an aside when you are ensnared in sin as was this elder, you basically are "out of your mind!" That's the power of our fallen flesh! History has proven that an insatiable desire for more can often lead to murder. David murdered Uriah because of his lust for Bathsheba. Ahab murdered Naboth because of his desire for a vineyard. Murder is the extreme to which frustrated desire may lead. Lowell
Tiago 4
Wiersbe comments on this use in James writing that this shows that "The wars among us are caused by the wars within us. We want to please ourselves, even if it hurts somebody else." (Borrow With the Word page 826)
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Wiersbe says "Living for the flesh means grieving the Holy Spirit of God Who lives in us (Eph 4:30+)… just as the world is the enemy of God the Father, so the flesh is the enemy of God the Holy Spirit. There is a holy, loving jealousy that a husband and wife have over each other, and rightly so. The Spirit within jealously guards our relationship to God, and the Spirit is grieved when we sin against God’s love. (Wiersbe, W: Bible Exposition Commentary. 1989. Victor) The Wycliffe Bible Commentary reminds us that "God is a jealous God (cf. Ex 20:5; 34:14; Dt 32:16; Zech 8:2; 1Co 10:22), and hence He will not tolerate divided allegiance. (Pfeiffer, C F: Wycliffe Bible Commentary. 1981. Moody) Comment: See Dt 4:23, 24, 25, 26; 6:14, 15; Josh 24:19, 20 for other OT verses [among many] that describe God as jealous and as the One Who forbids idolatry remembering that an idol would be like a "lover" with which a believer seeks companionship, committing adultery with their true Husband, Jehovah. If human husbands become angered by a wife's adultery, how much more right would God have to be jealous toward His unfaithful wife?! (see Pr 6:32, 33, 34, 35-notes) Motyer - God’s people are indwelt by God’s Spirit and there is no way in which the living presence of that Spirit is compatible with those sinful yearnings and promptings to self-interest which are destructive of the peace of the church. (Motyer, J. A. The Message of James: The Tests of Faith: Inter-Varsity Press) Adrian Rogers in his sermon on this verse says "Now, while that verse is somewhat hard to interpret, what it really means is this: I'm convinced, that the Holy Spirit within us is very, very jealous for the cause of Christ. And, the Scripture says that over and over again, that God has given the Holy Spirit to us and the Holy Spirit within us is there to glorify Christ and to promote the cause of Christ. And, it is absolutely essential that you understand this if you are to pray vitally, because this is what we call praying in the Spirit. And, so that's what we're going to be talking about tonight, "How to Pray in the Spirit."" (go to page 415) David
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Wiersbe wrote that… To be poor in spirit means knowing yourself, accepting yourself, and being yourself to the glory of God. ILLUSTRATION: After the memorial service for George Whitefield a staunch supporter of Whitefield accosted John Wesley, who had disagreed on some theological points with Whitefield, asking "Mr. Wesley, do you think you shall see Mr. Whitefield in heaven?" "No," retorted Wesley. "I was afraid you would say that," lamented the lady. Wesley however went on to say "George Whitefield will be so near to the throne of God, that men like me will never catch a glimpse of him." Wesley's humility clothed him all his life and at one point he wrote to Francis Asbury, the founder of Methodism in America, "Oh, beware do not seek to be something! Let me be nothing, and Christ be all in all." TORREY'S TOPIC HUMILITY Necessary to the service of God -Micah 6:8 Christ an example of -Matthew 11:29; John 13:14,15; Philippians 2:5-8 A characteristic of saints -Psalms 34:2 THEY WHO HAVE HUMILITY Regarded by God -Psalms 138:6; Isaiah 66:2 Heard by God -Psalms 9:12KJV Enjoy the presence of God -Isaiah 57:15 Delivered by God -Job 22:29 Lifted up by God -James 4:10 Exalted by God -Luke 14:11; 18:14 Are greatest in Christ’s kingdom -Matthew 18:4; 20:26-28 Receive more grace -Proverbs 3:34; James 4:6 Upheld by honour -Proverbs 18:12; 29:23 Is before honour -Proverbs 15:33 Leads to riches, honour, and life -Proverbs 22:4 SAINTS SHOULD Put on -Colossians 3:12 Be clothed with -1 Peter 5:5 Walk with -Ephesians 4:1,2 Beware of false -Colossians 2:18,23 Afflictions intended to produce -Leviticus 26:41; Deuteronomy 8:3; Lamentations 3:20 Want of, condemned -2 Chronicles 33:23; 36:12; Jeremiah 44:10; Daniel 5:22 Temporal judgments averted by -2 Chronicles 7:14; 12:6,7 Excellency of -Proverbs 16:19 Blessedness of -Matthew 5:3 EXEMPLIFIED Abraham -Genesis 18:27 Jacob -Genesis 32:10 Moses -Exodus 3:11; 4:10 Joshua -Joshua 7:6 Gideon -Judges 6:15 David -1 Chronicles 29:14 Hezekiah -2 Chronicles 32:26 Manasseh -2 Chronicles 33:12 Josiah -2 Chronicles 34:27 Job -Job 40:4; 42:6 Isaiah -Isaiah 6:5 Jeremiah -Jeremiah 1:6 John the Baptist -Matthew 3:14 Centurion -Matthew 8:8 Woman of Canaan -Matthew 15:27 Elizabeth -Luke 1:43 Peter -Luke 5:8 Paul -Acts 20:19 PRIDE Is sin -Proverbs 21:4 Hateful to God -Proverbs 6:16,17; 16:5 Hateful to Christ -Proverbs 8:12,13 OFTEN ORIGINATES IN Self-righteousness -Luke 18:11,12 Religious privileges -Zephaniah 3:11 Unsanctified knowledge -1 Corinthians 8:1 Inexperience -1 Timothy 3:6 Possession of power -Leviticus 26:19; Ezekiel 30:6 Possession of wealth -2 Kings 20:13 Forbidden -1 Samuel 2:3; Romans 12:3,16 Defiles a man -Mark 7:20,22 Hardens the mind -Daniel 5:20 SAINTS give not away -Psalms 131:1 Respect not, in others -Psalms 40:4 Mourn over, in others -Jeremiah 13:17 Hate, in others -Psalms 101:5 A hindrance to seeking God -Psalms 10:4; Hosea 7:10 A hindrance to improvement -Proverbs 26:12 A CHARACTERISTIC The devil -1 Timothy 3:6 The world -1 John 2:16 False teachers -1 Timothy 6:3,4 The wicked -Habakkuk 2:4,5; Romans 1:30 Comes from the heart -Mark 7:21-23 The wicked encompassed with -Psalms 73:6 LEADS MEN TO Contempt and rejection of God’s word and ministers -Jeremiah 43:2 A persecuting spirit -Psalms 10:2 Wrath -Proverbs 21:24 Contention -Proverbs 13:10; 28:25 Self-deception -Jeremiah 49:16; Obadiah 1:3 Exhortation against -Jeremiah 13:15 IS FOLLOWED BY Shame -Proverbs 11:2 Debasement -Proverbs 29:23; Isaiah 28:3 Destruction -Proverbs 16:18; 18:12 Shall abound in the last days -2 Timothy 3:2 Woe to -Isaiah 28:1,3 THEY WHO ARE GUILTY OF, SHALL BE Resisted -James 4:6 Brought into contempt -Isaiah 23:9 Recompensed -Psalms 31:23 Marred -Jeremiah 13:9 Subdued -Exodus 18:11; Isaiah 13:11 Brought low -Psalms 18:27; Isaiah 2:12 Abased -Daniel 4:37; Matthew 23:12 Scattered -Luke 1:51 Punished -Zephaniah 2:10,11; Malachi 4:1 EXEMPLIFIED Ahithophel -2 Samuel 17:23 Hezekiah -2 Chronicles 32:25 Pharaoh -Nehemiah 9:10 Haman -Esther 3:5 Moab -Isaiah 16:6 Tyre -Isaiah 23:9 Israel -Isaiah 28:1; Hosea 5:5,9 Judah -Jeremiah 13:9 Babylon -Jeremiah 50:29,32 Assyria -Ezekiel 31:3,10 Nebuchadnezzar Daniel 4:30; 5:20 Belshazzar -Daniel 5:22,23 Edom -Obadiah 1:3 Scribes -Mark 12:38,39 Herod -Acts 12:21-23 Laodiceans -Revelation 3:17