Lesson 63, December 15

Review:

SUMMARY 4:8

1. With vs:8 we begin to identify some of the specific actions required for renewed fellowship with God.

2. Their pursuit of the cosmos has resulted in their separation from God.

3. They must now make a decision to DRAW NEAR, to enter into communion - fellowship with God.

4. We must continually examine our attitude towards the Word and see if we are at a distance from God.

5. The promise here is that when we do draw near to Him that He will draw near to you!

6. The next two cmds give us the means of preparation for the drawing near. (approach to God is by His way)

7. Cleansing the hands and purifying the hearts indicates the need of spiritual cleansing before fellowship with God can be renewed.

8. The reference to the hands indicates the need for changes in their overt conduct.

9. The use of heart emphasizes the need to renew their MA - motives.

10. Their love of the kosmos and the things in it have motivated James to reprove them for their divided affections.

- you can't serve two masters Mt 6:24

11. God demands total allegiance by the believer - you can't yearn for the kosmos and worship/serve God.

4:9 Have here a demand for a course correction in life

What we have described here is the process of repentance and James does so in terms that would be readily understood by those Jewish believers to whom he's writing. Not so familiar with us.

Momentary Sorrow

Friend of cosmos Thinking DVPT - Drawing closer

to God

metanoe,w meta,noia

COURSE CORRECTION

Often I think that believers today have a tendency to treat sin too lightly even to laugh it off - become insensitive to God's vpt re: sin; no real sense of conviction at all.

Be miserable and mourn and weep (#6,7,8 commands)

- miserable talaipwre,w - to undergo hardship, to endure misery

- Word is used intransitively - and refers to an attitude of being miserable - speaks of emotion resulting from inner torment, its momentary, short term, its part of the process of repentance.

- Hopefully they're in that correction because they have a clear insight into the true nature of their spiritual condition - have looked into the mirror of the word and didn't like what they saw - recognized their status and God's expectation of them were not in sync.

Part of repentance is the understanding of God's vpt re: sin when this is a reality it will produces momentary sorrow. " Godly sorrow" - 2 Cor 7:9-10

What is expected:

let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom

- It is the laughter of a fool who rejects God as the one who determines reality and believes man to be an autonomous being.

Summary 4:9

1. The 1st three Imp's here form an urgent demand for repentance related to their spiritual unfaithfulness.

2. The intensity of the demand is startling and intended to shake up those who are friends of the world.

3. The cmd "be miserable" calls for a recognition of their past behavior - lifestyle - their spiritual unfaithfulness is a severe departure from God's viewpoint and prevents a relationship with Him until dealt with.

4. James calls them to a deep inner emotion of wretchedness, a realization of their sins.

5. When they faced the reality of their sin, their status before God (being His enemy), and His viewpoint related to the sin, the strong emotion followed.

6. "Mourn and weep" constitute the natural ache of grief and the overt response that results from their sense of wretchedness.

7. The last imperative (#9) calls for a total reversal of their emotional expressions in the process of repentance.