 loud and clear so that's what we need wonderful so yes class welcome back let's pray and we will begin this is our last session for the year and for the course on you know the five books that we have studied so far so who would like to pray for this last session of the entire course okay Kiran Kiran can you lead us yes yes sure okay father code we come before you turn once again and we want to say thank you father code for the whole subject and hold the year for the court you're being with us father code thanking you for your wisdom knowledge and your revelation father code thanking you thanking you father code for the journey for the court what we we going to finish father thank you thank you all thing father code help us to today's subject and those a student willing to join father code help them to join the glass thank you and give revelation and understanding father code today we going to finish the glass father code help and help and give your wisdom and revelation no father code that we can understand and apply to your kingdom work and cure for father code thank you thank you so meeting to your hand Nancy man man always told it for the take care of everything almighty teacher's name we pray amen amen thank you thank you Kiran so let's get into the last two chapters that we have here and I told us that we are going to look at James chapter 4 and 5 and then you know we are through so we'll go to James chapter 4 so you can turn to that in your if you have your Bibles or if you're looking at it online just have that open okay James chapter 4 so what I'll do is I'll do it the same way that I did last time instead of going through the entire chapter first I'll just go section by section and that way you know you will be able to understand but here's the context the context is that you know James is addressing many different issues but particularly in James chapter 4 he's addressing people fighting with one another contending with one another because of their own evil desires earlier also he said the temptation is caused because of our own evil desires it's not God who tempts us so he's addressing this matter of people quarreling with each other to fulfill their own fleshly ambition and then you would also notice that he is addressing sections of the society remember in James chapter 2 he said that everyone should be considered equal there's no partiality for the rich against the poor these things should not happen everybody in God's house should be the same so or there were certain issues with the believers the Jewish believers and so he picks up different such things such issues and he starts addressing them so even here James 4 James 5 you would notice that he is talking to the rich people and those who have become rich through exploitation so that we have to understand okay so given this given the fact that there are quarrels among the people given the fact that there are some rich who have been exploiting the poor and you know living a comfortable life what are the instructions that James is going to give that's what that's what we are going to look at so let's go straight to James chapter 4 here and I'll read the verses and explain okay I think that that is easier and faster also so here it says where do wars and fights come from among you do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members you lust and you do not have you murder and covet and cannot obtain you fight and war yet you do not have because you do not ask you ask and do not receive because you ask a miss that you may spend it on your pleasures so now let's just look at these three verses here so he's saying that there are quarrels among the believers now these can be for various reasons he points out that the underlying issue is desires for pleasure desires for pleasure and this is similar to James one where he says temptation also occurs because of what is already there you know our desires which when you know they are full grown they give birth to sin so these desires are the problems that will cause even divisions and wars among the believers so he says maybe we can take an example maybe leadership in the in the congregation or the among the set of believers maybe there were some who wanted positions of leadership now they wanted and you see in verse 2 he's saying you lust and do not have so it's a fleshly desire it is a selfish ambition which people have but when they don't get it so lust is what lust is not a normal desire which God has given it is in excess and it's not godly so when people desire something which actually doesn't belong to them then all these issues come about he says you're trying to take something which is not yours so then he says you murder and covet so murder and covet this also happens when something doesn't belong to you remember David David when you know the whole bachi bus story that it wasn't his okay so but then what did he do he was ready to kill bachi bus husband covered do all these things all the evil things because of the desires of the flesh so evil comes out of it so he says when people desire out of selfish ambition there's murder there's covetousness and even though they do all these things they cannot receive what they are desiring so he helps them to understand he says you know why you don't have because it's not that you're not trying you're trying with your flesh and with your flesh what is happening people are fighting for leadership people are fighting for recognition for fame for opportunity for a chance all that but they're not getting it because the effort is being made in the flesh but he gives a nice key here and this is the key about prayer he says you don't have because you don't ask so what have the people forgotten they've forgotten that their dependence is on God and that they need to ask God so when we pray whatever is rightfully ours God is the one who gives it to us so we must always look to God and not try to use you know our earthly earthly energy to covet things then in verse 3 he says you ask and don't do not receive because you ask come is again he says the motivation sometimes sometimes people do ask we do ask God but why is it that we don't receive from God because our desire is not a godly desire we're not asking in line with the purpose of God we're not asking in line with what the kingdom of God you know God God wants in his kingdom from us so our prayers don't get answered so he gives us a key to receiving which is praying but prayer should be made in the will of God I should be made with the right motivation then move on to verse 4 here now he gives them a rebuke okay he rebukes the people he says adulterers and adulteresses do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God verse 5 or do you think that the scripture says in vain the spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously so this is similar to what Peter said remember Peter what did he talk about in first Peter to the believers he said now you are believers let your conduct be a holy conduct let it be better than the people around you so that when the people around you look at you there is nothing in your conduct which they can point a finger at so now have a godly lifestyle and similarly James is saying here he says have a godly lifestyle and then he says people who don't have a godly lifestyle he even goes to the extent of calling them adulterers and adulteresses you know adulterers and adulteresses are people who they are already bound in a covenant of marriage but they they connect and find pleasure you know with another person outside of that covenant and so for a believer we are in covenant with God but we go after the world that's like adultery so he that's the reason he says look it's very serious we say that we belong to God but no we are going with the world and so he reminds the people friendship with the world is enmity with God friendship with the world is enmity with God so we need to understand that we have to have a godly life and a holy life now just let's try to understand is he trying to say that we should not be engaged in the world that the world is so unholy that it will pollute us or is he trying to say that everyone should leave you know our homes and go off to a seminary or go off to a holy place you know go go on a pilgrimage and be safe untainted by sin no we cannot ever be protected from the influence of sin in that way if you try to just escape sin from the world it can't happen because it's all around us so disconnecting from the world is not what this scripture is talking about we are supposed to be in the world but not off the world so the emphasis is on friendship friendship with the world which is enmity with God which is to have a worldly outlook and a worldly perspective living for pleasure living for fame living for money no living for sinful to fulfill you know all the sinful appetites that we have so those kind of things are not right in the sight of God okay now coming to verse 5 where he says that you know the spirit who yearns in us yearns jealous dwells in us yearns jealously he means that you know I told you about the covenant in a marriage covenant how does it work the husband and wife right they are they are committed to one another so if at all there is any any going away from that covenant obviously you know there will be that that level of healthy jealousy where one does not want to let go of the other person and in the Old Testament we see God using this example many times and saying that you know Jerusalem you Jerusalem is God's you know you're like the wife you're that bride that virgin with whom I made the covenant so I yearn jealously for you or God is saying that you know he cannot let go of us we belong to him and he's a God who who recognizes that and he's never happy when we want to break that covenant so no we have to be sensitive about that that we belong to God in other words you know if you just want to translate this it means that we have to be holy what is holy holy is set apart set apart for God so we are in covenant with God and every believer must live their life in covenant with God with a lifestyle which is set apart for God okay now let's continue from here the next set of scriptures yeah it says verse 6 so now you want we've understood he's talking to believers who are fighting who have fleshly ambition who are you know connecting with the world and not living a holy life so to such believers he's saying you see how should you live you must live empowered and as overcomers in the world overcome all these things and live holy so in verse 6 James says but he gives more grace therefore he says God resist the proud but gives grace to the humble so the word grace here it is God's empowering when we say that oh you have the grace to preach there is an empowering from God to do that on our own we may not have the the full capability but when God's presence takes over God's anointing we say anointing again the power of God we are empowered to do it for God even ministry we are empowered so grace will empower us and that's the context of the grace which is mentioned here it empowers us so he's saying that to overcome the world God will empower us just now he said friendship with the world is enmity with God so how to overcome this God gives more grace God will help us to overcome the world but one thing you know which we have to keep in mind God will give grace to the humble okay so God does not go and empower people who are self-dependent self-reliant no he doesn't do that instead what does he empowers the humble humble is a person who is fully dependent on God okay so be humble or be dependent on God and God will empower us to overcome even the world and the attractions of the world so there's a very key thing here you know humility when we walk in humility we will be able to overcome many things and we will be empowered by God and God gives more grace meaning we can keep having more and more empowerment with God you know from God and that way we can overcome many things accomplish many things for God's kingdom but throughout what does God require he wants a humble person if you know sometimes we do something for God and then we feel very proud but it says here that God resists the proud so pride is a very dangerous thing but it puts us in the camp opposite to God and nobody wants to be on a team which is opposite to God isn't it so it's best to be humble or completely reliant on God and never feel that oh I did it I can do it you know that sense of self like accomplished through self I am the one never have that feeling never ever if we ever come to that place then we know as scripture says here God will resist us but if we want more empowerment okay I want to grow in the ministry I want to do many things for God always be humble always be humble then what happens your the grace upon our lives will keep increasing increasing increasing increasing and going to the next level so to never forget this humility is very important for us to receive grace from God okay now verse 7 says therefore submit to God resist the devil and he will flee from you and he gives a few more keys on you know how to really overcome the world one is submit to God second is resist the devil that we know we've talked about believers authority we've talked about you know our authority flows from our submission to God so the more we are submitted to God the more authority will be seen you know in our regular life in our ministry so our submission to God really matters that is the first thing so submit to God then resist the devil resist the devil is spiritual warfare we've talked about how you know you bind you lose you declare God's word you you cast out demons spirits so we will do all these things engage in spiritual warfare even through that we overcome we overcome this world and the influences of the world then he adds more things he says draw near to God okay of course you know when we when we draw near to God there is a greater strength to live for God so draw near to God and he will draw near to you and that's so reassuring isn't it that God also will will be very active in keeping us with himself and you know more things he says about overcoming the world he says cleanse your hands you sinners and purify your hearts you double-minded so basically he's saying be righteous choose righteousness so far he said be humble be submitted to God overcome whenever there's influence of the world the devil you engage in spiritual warfare make every effort to draw close to God God will also draw close to you and you walk in righteousness so when you do all these things you will be above all the fleshly influences no of the world and he also points out he says you double-minded you know these are all looks like the crowd there the audience or the church family which James had they were not clear on many things that's why even earlier he said don't be double-minded no you ask God for wisdom he will give you but don't doubt again he's saying double-minded maybe the people were like that so he's helping them you know have a singular focus about the things of God now coming to verse 9 he says lament and mourn and weep let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord and he will lift you up again about humility he says always be dependent on God no matter what the situation and when we do that he says what what will God do for us he will lift us up right so we must look to God and God will lift us up now let's move forward yeah in verse 11 he says do not speak evil of one another brethren he who speaks evil of a brother and judges his brother speaks evil of the law and judges the law but if you judge the law you are not a doer of the law but a judge there is one lawgiver who is able to save and to destroy who are you to judge another so what did we start this chapter with you know there are wars there are fights there are you know murder covetousness all these evil activities which are going on between God's people so that is what he is talking about now he says these people were also speaking evil of one another so that is the matter that he is he is addressing right now and he's saying please don't do that don't speak evil of one another and he also says don't judge his brother who is a brother a brother usually like in the New Testament it's a word that is used for a believer so a brother is a believer so he says don't judge any believer why verse 12 he says there's only one judge who can judge correctly and that is our Lord Jesus Christ so how can you take his position okay so he says something like that however we have to understand that this is in the context of a church which is quarrelling and people are speaking evil of one another so to stop that he says don't judge one another okay and we can understand why James is saying this but does this mean okay so we all agree with it we should not speak evil of each other judge one another unnecessarily all that we all agree with it so there's no question asked now the next thing that comes to our mind so does it mean that I must not judge or you could call that honestly assess okay or just look at the facts and come to a conclusion about a so-called brother in Christ now let's let's let's say that two of you are working together you know and both are believers and it's not like one is the boss and the other is you know working for for that boss it's not like that equal partners both of you are working but what if sorry what if one of the partners is doing wrong things okay it's collecting bribes you as a believer will definitely point it out and you will judge the wrongdoing and say that hey this is not correct what you are doing is not correct we are judging in this situation would that be wrong because that's what James is saying don't judge okay don't judge your brother see he's saying he who speaks evil of a brother and judges his brother speaks evil of the law and judges law so am I wrong in making honest assessments not at all okay so we must not interpret this as we should never never address difficult behavior or you know wrong attitudes or you know wrongdoing unrighteousness among believers not at all in fact we need to address it but address it in such a way that our motive is correct so what should our motive be our motive be should be to correct the wrongdoing in that situation okay and to not really excuse me yeah so I was saying that our motive should not be to put down the person or to break their spirit as long as we want to address the wrong and do it in a loving way do it to build the other person up there's nothing wrong with honest assessments and especially when we are in leadership or you know one is an one is a boss or an employer we have to deal with situations like this if we just you know push it under the carpet then these matters will become very very difficult to handle later okay so one thing is very clear James is not saying that you know you just close your eyes even if any Christian is doing something wrong don't mention it no not at all he is not saying that but he is talking to a group of believers who are fighting and who have you know all these evil intentions for each other and in that context he says please stop speaking evil of one another now also you know just one additional thought here so we have to be honest about the situation suppose somebody is doing evil you address that matter in a nice way with the right heart and hopefully you know that person responds well if they don't respond well to our feedback or correction then you know we can't do much because a lot depends on how the person is going to react if they are unwilling to change then you know every all our input will be it won't have much meaning now on the other hand if we don't address issues that there's something called as flattery and flattery simply means saying things which we don't mean we might say things like oh nothing is wrong brother you're doing everything very well you are excellent nothing is wrong with you I'm just exaggerating but you see many times believers tend to do that because they find it difficult to address a problem so cover up cover up cover up you know and and say things which we don't mean even in the church context but what happens sooner or later those issues will blow up and you know it can be quite damaging for the church community so when we pick up issues matters we need to deal with it but how we deal with it with what motivation we deal with it is very important now let's move forward this is verse 13 he says come now you who say today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city spend a year there buy and sell and make a profit whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow for what is your life it is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away instead you ought to say if the Lord wills we shall live and do this or that okay yeah let's read two more verses but now you boast in your arrogance all such boasting is evil therefore to him who knows to do good and does not do it to him it is sin here once again you know remember I told about the context and the context is that the the the believers it's likely that there are many rich people and they are very self-reliant self-dependent that's why he talked about humility and pride now these kind of people who are self-sufficient they might look at their lives do you remember there is you know Jesus said this while teaching his disciples he said see there was a rich man and he was building for himself barns and storehouses and you know filling it up with treasure and with you know all the harvest because he thought you know build more barns save up save up for the future future is going to be secure but you know Jesus in that context he says how do you know that you're even going to be alive tomorrow okay so even riches do not ensure eternal security so what is James saying James is pointing out and he's saying this life is temporary here on the earth and he says things are things how do I put it you know it's basically a temporal sort of an existence on the earth and everything will sooner or later be gone and we are not in control you know human beings we are not in control of everything so how can we be so confident when we say things like okay tomorrow I'm going to do this and you know I am going to do all these great and mighty things in this case the rich people they were making plans for themselves I'm going to do business I'll go to this city I will spend a year there I'm going to make you know business plan basically I'm going to make so many millions of dollars so he just gives them a nudge and says life is so temporary brothers you know and you're saying all these things but you don't even know what is going to happen tomorrow so he just wants them to rely on God and instead of you know saying such things he says how I can't you say if the Lord wills okay if the Lord wills which means that we are dependent on God and if if God doesn't do it for us then in our own strength in with our own planning we can never do it okay or in other words be submitted to God remember there is the the passage in Proverbs 3 5 and 6 which says that commit your way to the Lord and you will establish your your path so not that we should plan that's not James's point because there are other passages in scripture where we do know that you know God shows us from Proverbs 6 we see you know look at the ant learn from the ant what does the ant do in a season of plenty you have all these you know the community of ants how beautifully they collect isn't it small pieces or a morsel of gray morsel of bread they just collect all the tiny little pieces of food and they accumulate it for a season of lack so learn from the ant is what we've been told ponder the path of your feet is what we've been told so obviously the Bible is not against planning and saying that okay this is my Google calendar and I'm going to do this next year and that next year I'm going for a mission strip no make your calendar plan it up but always know that we are depending on God's empowering okay it's only if the Lord strengthens us if it's only if you know he wills that we will be able to do all these things so the bottom line of what he's saying is don't be self-reliant don't think that you know we are self-sufficient and secure life on the earth is temporary everything is not under our control so how much more does this make us seek God and trust God and you know pray and ask God for his blessing so that's why verse 6 he says but now you boast in your arrogance so if we are self-reliant and if let's say I'm very confident about hey this is my bank balance or you know I'm fine I'm okay nothing can touch me that's a very arrogant attitude so he says please let's not do that ultimately God is our security we will do everything which is practical but we will still depend on God and he says that if we are arrogant and make all these claims then it is you know that that is boasting and boasting is evil and he says to him who knows to do good and does not do it to him it is sin so now that we know all these things which are the right things to do you know why why can't you do it and why can't you step up and live for the purpose of God according to the standard of God's word and that is what every believer should do okay so here is James you know addressing a couple of matters in James chapter 4 now we can move on to James chapter 5 here okay I hope you are doing okay are you understanding any questions any doubts clarification okay I don't think so okay clear fine okay let's move forward and yeah next we have about 10 minutes so let me start off James chapter 5 and then in the next you know next hour we will finish it off so here James chapter 5 he starts with come now you rich weep and howl for your miseries that are coming upon you your riches corrupted and your garments are more beaten your gold and silver are corroded and their corrosion will be a witness against you and we eat your flesh like fire you have heat up treasure in the last days indeed the wages of the laborers are more do you feel more your feels which you kept back by fraud cry out at the cries of the reapers have reached the years of the Lord of Sabbath you have lived on the earth in pleasure and luxury you have fattened your hearts as in a day of slaughter you have condemned you have murdered the just he does not resist you okay so the first section here again who's the audience rich rich among the congregation so he's talking to them and he's saying come now you rich weep and howl you know weep and howl is a it's it's an expression of repentance he says repent you rich people what kind of rich people were these it's very clear from the following verses that they have become rich by exploitation okay so they don't fairly pay the people who work for them they extract a lot of work you know God never likes it do you remember when we studied in prayer intercession fasting Isaiah 58 even there we've seen that the people in Isaiah 58 God he says that why are you making all this noise by fasting and you know trying to bring your devotion to me you have not treated your workers well you have put more burdens on them and you know you you are living very comfortably so God does not like injustice that is what we see here so he's talking to not all you know being rich is not wrong in fact you know the scriptures teacher said it is God who gives us all things for us to enjoy so he is the one who blesses with you know we see scriptures righteous man wealth and riches will be in your house so is there a problem with wealth is there a problem with riches is there a problem with being you know a resourceful person there is no problem with that but there is a problem with one who gets rich through exploitation and that's what James is addressing here and he's telling such people you repent you repent you have to repent because your miseries for if you don't then miseries come upon you or the consequences of your evil will overtake you so please if you know that cons you what do we do when we think of consequences when we were children and you broke something something very beautiful in our house broke it immediately tell our parents to say I'm so sorry you know that's better because then you know you might get two spankings but if you don't and you're being very arrogant then what you get three four spanking and a lot of other repercussions but we are facing a God here a righteous God a righteous judge so he's telling them you need to really you know shiver before God because he's so righteous so you better repent otherwise miseries will come upon you and verse 2 no he just talks about all the treasures and riches that they have collected he says excuse me riches are corrupted your garments are more eaten so he's saying there is no blessing on the treasure on the wealth it's there but he says your riches are corrupted okay it's not blessed your garments are more eaten now imagine these people would have had very expensive clothing and you know they could show it off but he's saying they are more eaten or it's it won't be valuable you know it'll get damaged and he says your gold and silver are corroded and their corrosion will be a witness against you so again one more thing that you have to note here is no he's talking also about their judgment so at the time of judgment look at it this way at the time of judgment what we have as our wealth it won't really matter and especially if it is ill-gotten wealth or through wrong means we got the wealth which we have it will not stand you know God's test of God's test it will not stand you know the testing through fire so he's saying everything which is precious will also get destroyed so your expensive clothes he says gold your silver usually we know that silver and gold it cannot so easily be destroyed that's why we call them precious metal but he's saying you see even that will be destroyed and that will be a sign or a witness against you okay and will eat your flesh like fire so this is all judgment especially you know at the end of the age when God is going to judge these people so he's telling them you better be careful you start repenting right now you can't be exploiting a people whom God has given you so he says you have heaped up treasure in the last days you know like that man who was building a lot of store houses for himself and okay put more put more store it up more little more little more money little more so in that way he's saying what are you all doing you you you know unrighteous rich people you think you're going to be secure no this world is very temporary and moreover the riches which you have there is no blessing and there is going to be a judgment because God is a he's a righteous God okay now in verse 4 he says the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields which you kept back by fraud cry out and the cries of the reapers have reached the years of the Lord of Sabbath so you remember when we talked about Moses and you know a time when God's people were in Egypt what what do we read we read that the cries of the people reached God because they were under slavery there was injustice so what happens is that when people are crying under oppression God hears that same here verse 4 the laborers are crying you know with oppression maybe they were they they needed to be paid I'm just giving an example let's say there's a laborer and he has done some work he needs to be paid 100 rupees but the landowner he only pays 10 rupees 90 rupees he keeps in his pocket so what is happening this is the way in which work is getting extracted you know again and again and again and the rich person is becoming richer the poor person is becoming poorer and the poor person is crying out to God and what does this verse say it says look they cries they have reached the years of the Lord okay so that's so scary you know for somebody who has exploited because now God is going to come and take account and God is introduced here as the Lord of Sabbath. Sabbath means the Lord of Hosts and the Lord of Hosts is the Lord of armies the Lord of armies and when God is introduced like that it is evident that he's coming to judge so he's warning the unrighteous rich person and he's saying you know you better repent because you know who's going to judge you the God of the armies what armies does he have all the angels all the heavenly host imagine he's coming against us to judge us we don't want that so he's telling the rich person God has taken notice of exploitation and injustice and he will judge so you know get on your knees quickly before all this takes place repent okay alright so class let's just take a break we'll come back and we will continue from James chapter 5 and verse 5 okay 10 minutes so 10 o'clock let's come back and we will move forward thank you