"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." James 4:4

Posted by


James 4

From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members? 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. Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.

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. 

Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy? But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.

Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.

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. There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy: who art thou that judgest another?

Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that. But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil. Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.

_______ 






"The natural spirit of man does lust to envy, no doubt; but the Spirit that dwells in us opposes the flesh at all points, as we know scripture does.

And this connects itself, as it seems to me, with what follows: “But He giveth more grace.” That is, so far from lusting to envy, God is acting in goodness. It is grace alone that has communicated the nature of God; it is grace alone that strengthens the new nature by the gift of the Holy Spirit who dwells in us; and yet more than this, 
“He giveth more grace. Wherefore He saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.” 
He who realizes with God what this world is, and what man’s nature is, is humble before Him; as also more grace is given to such. The sense of all around and within leads him out in self-judgment before God.

This, then, I suppose—though not venturing to speak with more decision—is the practical result. 
“Submit yourselves therefore to God. But resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” 
How much is covered by these two exhortations! One is the source of all that is good, and the other the guard against all that is evil. 
“Draw nigh to God, and He will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners.” 
Will it be contended that sinners means saints? They are utterly different. 

There prevails among too many evangelical persons a mischievous habit of talking about “saved sinners.” To my mind it is not only inexact but misleading and dangerous. Scripture knows no such being as a “saved sinner.” We may well rejoice over a “sinner saved” if we know the mercy of it in our souls; but if we license the phrase—a “saved sinner,” the moral effect is, that, when and though saved, he is still free to sin. Not that any one acquainted with the truth denies that a saved soul has still the flesh in him, and is liable to sin if unwatchful. Still he who is saved has a new life and the Holy Spirit, and to sin is not natural for him: he is bound to walk in the Spirit as he lives in it. Evidently, if he sin, he must go athwart his new nature and position, and the blessed deliverance which God has given him in Christ.

Thus there is often a great deal of importance even in the way in which a truth is stated. The manner of stating a truth, however well-meant, may sometimes stumble souls, through our own want of subjection to the precious truth and the wonderful wisdom of God in His word. Instead of helping on holiness, one may on the contrary, by an unguarded word, give somewhat of a loose rein to the old nature. This no part of scripture does. It is perfectly true that, when God begins to deal with a soul, He certainly begins with him as a sinner; but He never ends there. I am not aware of any part of the word of God in which a believer, save perhaps in a transitional state, is ever referred to as a sinner. No doubt that he who was in the front rank of all the saints and servants of God, when he looked at what he was in himself glorying in the law and nature, could and did characterize himself as a chief of sinners, especially when he thought of the immeasurable riches of God’s grace of which he was so favored a communicator to souls. In this we do and must all join in our measure. At the same time it is evident that to be a saint and a sinner at the same time is simply a flat contradiction.

In short, Holy Scripture does not sanction such a combination, and the sooner we get rid of phrases, which deserve no better name than religious cant, the better for all parties. It would be a waste of time to speak of such a thing now, if it were not of practical moment; but I am convinced that it is, and that this and other stereotyped phrases of the religious world gravely need and will not bear an examination in the light of scripture. The traditions of Protestants and Evangelicals are no better than those of Roman Catholics, any more than of Jews who were before them all. Our wisest course is to discard every unscriptural phrase which we find current and influential."

William Kelly, Excerpt from James 4
From: Lectures Introductory to the Bible: 6. The Acts, the Catholic Epistles and the Revelation


"Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world; if any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him." 1 John 2:15.

"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." James 4:4. 

. . . Whatever Christ's present relation to the world is, that is the Christian's too - the place which the Lord is in above, and the place that He is not in below, defines our place. Whence is all this? - Will it surprise any one to hear that Satan is the god of this world, the prince of the power of the air, and manager of this stupendous system? His is the energy, his the presiding genius, he is its prince. When Jesus Christ was on earth, the devil came and offered Him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them, for, said he, that is delivered unto me, and to whomsoever I will I give it, if thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine. Here we have the curtain lifted, and the real object of all human religious worship exposed. Scripture describes him as "full of wisdom, perfect in beauty," arraying himself "like an angel of light." Who can wonder if unthinking men, yea, and the more thinking ones, are deceived and deluded? How few have their eyes opened to see, by the word of God, and the anointing of the Holy Ghost, what the world really is. Some think they have escaped from the snare of worldliness, if they have given up the so-called worldly pleasures, and become members of churches, or religious associations, not discerning that they are just as much in the world-system as before, only Satan, its prince, has shifted them from one department to another, to quiet their uneasy consciences and make them better satisfied with themselves.

The question now arises, if these things are so, what is the remedy? How are those who are in the broad way, and living according to the world-system, to escape from its control? How shall we know what is of the world, and what is of God? The apostle says, 
"As many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God." 
The Christian's normal mode of life is being governed by Christ, as a man's body by his head; where there is health, there is no motion of hand or foot, except as the head says "move." In just this way Jesus Christ is the Christian's Head, and he is under His immediate direction in all things small and great. This is how Christianity cuts at the very root of worldliness, for man's free-will is the foundation principle on which the world-system is constructed, just as the principle of the christian life is dependence on God and obedience to His will. Satan's great aim is to get up a system for man which will be a perfect substitute for God's Spirit-leading; this will be his final master-piece, and this is the prominent feature of the great apostasy fast approaching; Satan openly, and in his own person, will declare himself to be god of this world; a full revelation of what is now hidden in mystery. Is it not high time then for Christians to awake out of sleep, and to see to it that they are not in any way associated with a system so fast ripening for judgment? But you say, how can we help it? Are we not bound by necessity to these things by our trades and professions, as members of government and of society? "Business must be attended to." Yes, this is a necessity that everybody admits; but mark, the very fact that everybody admits it, stamps it as not of God."

J. N. Darby







Amir Tsarfati: The Rise of the One World Religion 

"A new religion is emerging and it is spreading fast. Unlike religious takeovers of the past, there is no fight taking place. In fact, the followers of many other belief systems have been quick to embrace it and incorporate it into their doctrine. It is a non-judgmental, feel-good religion of ecumenism and inclusion and acceptance of all people and all lifestyles. There is only one group of people who are rejected from this new global religion – the followers of Jesus Christ. Join Amir Tsarfati for his teaching, The Rise of the One World Religion, as he examines this new system that will eventually unite all people under one man – the antichrist."



Amir Tsarfati: Get Behind Me, Satan! 

"Just moments after Peter’s acknowledgement of Jesus being “the Christ,” Jesus rebuked the same disciple for being Satan’s mouthpiece. In his new teaching, “Get Behind Me, Satan!”, Amir Tsarfati looks at the reason for Jesus’ harsh reproach toward his beloved Peter, tying it all in with Satan’s scheme to quash the one event that can give us hope for our own life with God being the grace - the resurrection of Jesus from the grave."





Photo by Jr Korpa on Unsplash

Most Popular Posts

"Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets." Matthew 22:37-40

Posted by
Image
Matthew 22 And Jesus answered and spake unto them again by parables, and said, The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king, which made a marriage for his son, And sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding: and they would not come. Again, he sent forth other servants, saying, Tell them which are bidden, Behold, I have prepared my dinner: my oxen and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready: come unto the marriage. But they made light of it, and went their ways, one to his farm, another to his merchandise: And the remnant took his servants, and entreated them spitefully, and slew them. But when the king heard thereof, he was wroth: and he sent forth his armies, and destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city. Then saith he to his servants, The wedding is ready, but they which were bidden were not worthy. Go ye therefore into the highways, and as many as ye shall find, bid to the marriage. So those servants went out into the highways,
Read more

"For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith." Romans 1:16-17

Posted by
Image
Romans Chapters 1 through 8:  Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God, (which he had promised afore by his prophets in the holy scriptures,) concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh; and declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead: by whom we have received grace and apostleship, for obedience to the faith among all nations, for his name: among whom are ye also the called of Jesus Christ: to all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.   First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world. For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers; making request, if by any mean
Read more

"And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground." Genesis 4:2

Posted by
Image
Genesis 4 And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the Lord. And she again bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord. And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering: But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell. And the Lord said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen? If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him. And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him.
Read more

Other posts from the blog

"For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified." 1 Corinthians 2:2

Posted by
Image
1 Corinthians 2  And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought: But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory: Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.  But as it is written,  Eye hath not seen,  nor ear heard,  neither have entered into the h
Read more

The work of Christ on the cross

Posted by
Image
Romans 6:1-2: "What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?"    1 Corinthians 15:3: "Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures"   Romans 6:3: "Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?"     1 Corinthians 15:4: "he was buried"   Romans 6:4: "we are buried with him by baptism into death"   1 Corinthians 15:4: "he rose again the third day according to the scriptures"   Romans 6:4: "like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life." Romans 6:5-23:    "For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destro
Read more

"Behold, I lay in Sion a stumblingstone and rock of offence: and whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed." Romans 9:33

Posted by
Image
Romans 9 I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost, That I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart. For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh: Who are Israelites; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises; Whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen. Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel: Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called. That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed. For this is the word of promise, At this time will I come, and Sarah shall have a son
Read more

"Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom: and to depart from evil is understanding." Job 28:28

Posted by
Image
Job 28  Surely there is a vein for the silver, and a place for gold where they fine it. Iron is taken out of the earth, and brass is molten out of the stone. He setteth an end to darkness, and searcheth out all perfection: the stones of darkness, and the shadow of death. The flood breaketh out from the inhabitant; even the waters forgotten of the foot: they are dried up, they are gone away from men. As for the earth, out of it cometh bread: and under it is turned up as it were fire. The stones of it are the place of sapphires: and it hath dust of gold. There is a path which no fowl knoweth, and which the vulture's eye hath not seen: The lion's whelps have not trodden it, nor the fierce lion passed by it. He putteth forth his hand upon the rock; he overturneth the mountains by the roots. He cutteth out rivers among the rocks; and his eye seeth every precious thing. He bindeth the floods from overflowing; and the thing that is hid bringeth he forth to light. But where shall w
Read more

The Word of Life

Posted by
Image
1 John 1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life; (For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;) That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full. This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we dece
Read more

The Blood

Posted by
Image
"But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all." Isaiah 53:5-6 The Blood By: Hugh Henry Snell From: The Christian, Volume 7 (2011) Surely it is in the cross that God sets forth the atoning blood. There it was, by the death of His Son, that God reconciled us unto Himself. If we look at some New Testament scriptures, we shall see that we have remission of sins by the blood, justification by the blood, peace by the blood, nearness to God in Christ by His blood, we worship on the ground of the blood, and we shall enter into glory because of the value of blood. Remission of Sins by the Blood The divine testimony that “without shedding of blood is no remission” (Heb. 9:22) shows the impossibility of forgiveness of s
Read more

"And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: of sin, because they do not believe in Me; of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged." John 16:8-11

Posted by
Image
“Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. And where I go you know, and the way you know.” Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. “If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him.” Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I s
Read more

"Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins." 1 John 4:10

Posted by
Image
Isaiah 52:13-15; Isaiah 53  Behold, my servant shall deal prudently, he shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high. As many were astonied at thee; his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men: So shall he sprinkle many nations; the kings shall shut their mouths at him: for that which had not been told them shall they see; and that which they had not heard shall they consider. Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he
Read more

"but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word." Isaiah 66:2

Posted by
Image
Isaiah 66  Thus saith the Lord, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me? and where is the place of my rest? For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the Lord: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word. He that killeth an ox is as if he slew a man; he that sacrificeth a lamb, as if he cut off a dog's neck; he that offereth an oblation, as if he offered swine's blood; he that burneth incense, as if he blessed an idol. Yea, they have chosen their own ways, and their soul delighteth in their abominations. I also will choose their delusions, and will bring their fears upon them; because when I called, none did answer; when I spake, they did not hear: but they did evil before mine eyes, and chose that in which I delighted not. Hear the word of the Lord, ye that tremble at his word; Your brethren that hated you,
Read more

The Love of God

Posted by
Image
The following are excerpts from a series of good articles from Answers In Genesis  Hebrew Word Study on the Love of God. Defining “Love” חֶסֶד ( ḥéseḏ )— Part 1 by John C. P. Smith According to John Lennon, “All you need is love!” Certainly we all need love. But whose love? And is it really all you need? Is human affection sufficient? Is the love of a spouse, parent, child, sibling, relative, or friend enough to meet all your needs? Love such as this can be truly wonderful. I know full well! I’ve been happily married for more than 20 years and have six loving children. But the love of fellow humans doesn’t last forever. It wavers and sometimes fails. It may be tainted by selfishness or pride. Try though it might, it cannot heal every disease or every broken heart. It can’t cure every addiction or transform all wayward behavior. Ultimately it can’t help us avoid the consequences of death. But the love of God can do all of these things! The Quality of Go
Read more
_____________________

I'm a Christian saved by God, by His Sovereign grace. I want to encourage all to read, to hear, to believe, and to feed upon the only Words in all the world that are truly spirit and life, living and active; to know the One True God: God the Father, His Only Begotten Son Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit; Who has graciously given us the Holy Scriptures
“All Scripture is God-breathed..."
2 Timothy 3:16–17; cf., John 3:31-36; John 6:63; John 14:26; John 17:3, 17; Romans 1:1-6, 16-17; 1 Corinthians 2:1-16; 1 Thessalonians 2:13; 2 Thessalonians 2:13-14; 2 Peter 1:20–21; Hebrews 4:12-13. As for the commentaries I post and refer to; with much gratitude, as they have done for me, it is my hope and prayer that they serve to edify all who read them.

Shalom, beccaj
_____________________