The book of James is the most
interesting book. There has been, I'm sure as you
realize, a lot of controversy over the content of the book
of James. Not controversy that began with
Christians, but controversy which began with religionists. Many think that Paul and James
were at a difference and reached a stalemate in their differences
of opinion. I don't believe a word of it.
I say the book of James is in absolute harmony with everything
that Paul preached or taught. So we're going to begin this
morning looking at James from this perspective, having seen
last Sunday that we all stand before the perfect law of liberty. That means you and I stand before
God's Word for one purpose, and that is to be tested as to the
reality are the falsity of our profession. Now notice what I say. We all
stand before the perfect law of liberty to be tested as to
either the reality or the falsity of our profession. Having said
that, I'd like to add a statement to it. We stand before God's
Word to be tested, but woe be to us if we summon God to us. And that, folks, is what a lot
of religionists are doing. They have done, and they are
doing. But I said, woe be to us if we summon God to us. I want to give some introduction
to James as a whole before we get into the testing of our faith,
the testing of our love, the testing of our wisdom, and some
of the major points of this book which has five chapters. Not
a long book at all. It has been said, and I believe
rightly so, that James either refers to or
alludes to the book of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy,
Joshua, 1 Kings, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Isaiah, Jeremiah,
Ezekiel, Daniel, and at least 7 out of the 12 minor prophets. in just five chapters. So folks,
you can see why one of the Puritans who wrote spent his whole life
studying and writing on the book of James. He covered the whole
Bible in doing so. Just like another man who spent
his whole life studying and writing on the book of Hebrews, covered
the whole Bible in doing so. I'd like to even go a step further.
One professor said, and he is considered to be a leading authority
on James, says James has no less than 15 connections with Christ's
Sermon on the Mount. So he's adding to what we have
just said about the Old Testament. In 30 of the 108 verses of James,
more than 30 things of nature are used for illustrations. A message not translated into
deeds, which was his conclusion, is self-deception. James addressed all the Israelites
in the first verse. Look at it. James, a servant
of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes
in the dispersion. And then we have one word in
the Greek in verse 1, which is the last word, greeting. And you can translate it, be
continually rejoicing. Now this is what he wrote to
people who were facing some serious problems in their day and time. You'll also notice that in the
first 12 verses of chapter 1, James deals with the subject
of testing, or trying. Beginning with verse 13 through
15, he deals with a different subject, temptation. Personally, I believe every time
the word temptation in your King James Version, in the first 12
verses, should be translated testing or trying. Not tempting,
or not temptation, but it was a test, it was a trial. You have
temptation beginning with verse 13 through verse 15. That also
is very important. It is no surprise that James discussed testing
and tempting so close together. Testing and tempting. so close together. Why? Because testing can easily
become tempting when the occasion for sinning overtly or compromising biblical
principles occurs. Now folks, that's a strong statement. So James begins with trials. Trials are common Christian experiences
ordained by God for our growth, for our development, and in order
that our Christian character might be strengthened. They are numerous and diversified. So James wasted no time in dealing
with a distasteful subject. And folks, what I'm going to
give this morning is very distasteful to the flesh. So now I'm going to be able to
determine how much flesh are you manifested, or how much of
the spiritual part of your life is being manifested. Let's look at something else.
Testing proves, first of all, the genuineness of our joy. Now I'm going to read the first
verses in chapter 1, and I'm going to do it in this manner.
So testing proves first of all the genuineness of what? Joy. Verse 2. My brethren, consider
at once every kind Of what? Consider it once. Every kind of joy. When you may encounter various
trials. So my brethren, or my brothers,
you consider. That's an arius imperative. You consider and you consider
it at once. You can translate it all joy.
But let's look at the first word in verse 2. The first word is
possum. And that of course comes, that's
the inflected form of pos. Now pos without the article means
each, every, full, Every kind of, with the article, and there
is no article here, notice. All joy. There's no article in
this verse. So this will tell you how we
have to look at it. So pause without the article. Means each,
every, every kind of. With the article, it means entire,
whole, or all. Now, there is no article here.
So, my brethren, consider it once. Consider what? All joy. All joy. When you may encounter,
that's the subjunctive verb, various trials. Now, let's stop
before we read the next verse. Testing proves not only the genuineness
of joy, verse 2, but the genuineness of knowledge, verse 3. Look at verse 3. Knowing that
the testing of your faith is producing endurance. Now going to the next verse,
what do we say? We say thirdly, that testing
proves the genuineness of perseverance. Look at verse 4. But let endurance
have its complete work, in order that you may be mature and complete,
lacking concerning nothing. You see, this makes the passage
more meaningful, doesn't it? Well, let's look at something
else. Testing proves not only the genuineness of endurance
or perseverance, but it also proves what? The truth concerning prayer.
So let's look at wisdom first. Wisdom in verse 5. If any of you is falling short
of wisdom. Now let's stop for a moment.
But if. If is a first class condition.
But I want to raise a question. Does it always mean assurance? Does it deal with a fact? In
this case it doesn't. So it is uncertain, the first
class condition here, is uncertain by reason of providence. So verse
5, But if any of you is falling short of wisdom, let him ask
from God, the one giving to all generously, with no reproach,
and it shall be given to him. Well, what is wisdom? What kind
of wisdom? There is worldly wisdom and there
is spiritual wisdom. The two are not the same. They're
not synonymous. Here he's talking about spiritual
wisdom. That's verse 5. Then let's look at verse 6. Testing
proves the genuineness of prayer. But let him ask in faith. Human
faith or faith which is God's gift. Doubting nothing, for the
one doubting is like a wave of the sea being driven and tossed
by the wind. Number seven, let's look at faith
in verse six. So here we have, testing proves
the genuineness of faith, but let him ask in faith. Not only prayer, but faith. And the only person who can pray
is the person who has God-given faith, period. No other person
can pray. That's a biblical fact. And so we go from this verse
to the next one. And the next one we have stability.
Now look, we'll read verses 7 and 8, but verse 8 is the one we
want to look at. But for let not that man think
that he shall receive anything of the Lord. That is, if he is
wavering, according to the preceding verse. Now verse 8. An undecided
man is unstable in all of his ways. What are we looking for? Stability. Stability. So testing proves one's stability
or his instability. And then we come to the leveler
of the recipients of grace. Verses 9 through 11. Let the brother of lowly circumstances
be boasting in his high position. Notice that, his high position.
And the rich one in his humble state, because as the flower
of the grass he shall pass away. For the sun rose with the heat,
and dried the grass, and the flower of it fell off, and the
beauty of its appearance perished. So also shall the rich man fade
away in his ways. And then we come to the last,
verse 12. Testing proves the fullness of
life. To all who pass the test, look
at verse 12. Blessed is the man who is standing
firm under trial. Not temptation here, but trial.
We don't get to temptation until we come to verse 13. Since having
Become approved shall receive the crown of life which He promised
to the ones loving him Now we're going to read verses
13 through 15 because we're dealing with a different subject Not
dealing with testing now dealing with temptation And we'll see
how that a person who is tested can easily be tempted unless
there's application made of the things that he learns. Verse
13, let no man say when he is being solicited to sin. King James says, let no man say
when he is tempted. I'm translating it. Let no man
say when he is being solicited to sin and being tempted by God. Let no man say when he is being
solicited to sin and being tempted by God. For God is unable to
be tempted. He can't be solicited to sin. So He can't be tempted with evil
things. And He tempts no one. Surely we can understand that
language. Verse 14, But each one is being solicited to sin,
when he is being drawn away by his own lust and has been caught. Verse 15, which is the climax
to temptation. Then lust, which has conceived,
produces sin. And sin, having been fully formed,
brings forth death. Keep in mind, the same verb brought
forth is the same verb that is used in verse 18, brought by
God's message to light, to use Paul's term. in 2nd Timothy 1
and verse 9. Now beginning with verse 16,
Paul says, Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers, every good
act of giving and every perfect gift given is from above. coming down from the Father of
the lights, with whom is no variation, not even the least suspicion
of a shadow. Then he says, of his own will,
he brought us forth by message of truth. Brought us forth, same
verb, as sin being brought to fruition and to death. So having
been purposed by God, so of His own will He brought us forth
by a message of truth resulting in our being a certain kind of
first fruit of His creatures. Now we're getting into the practical
part. Notice verse 19. Here we have divine legislation
for believers. You have known, and you can tell
by the way I translated that, you're looking at a perfect active
indicative verb. You have known, you are in a
permanent state of knowing. My beloved brothers, Let every
man be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger, for the
anger of man is not performing the righteousness God demands. Let's stop with that verse in
the reading of James chapter 1. Trials are common Christian experiences. They're
ordained by God for our growth, our development, and to strengthen
our Christian character. They're numerous and diversified. We know that to be true. Thus
James wasted no time in dealing with the distasteful subject
of trials. The only people, watch what I'm
saying, the only people who will be interested in a subject like
I'm giving this morning are people who possess grace. A religious church member is
not interested. only the person who possesses
grace. And there are not too many who
attend, quote, church, end of quote, possess grace. I have found that to be true
in my years of teaching and preaching. I find it to be true more and
more each day that I live. So we are subject to trials. But those trials can easily become
occasions of temptation. I said occasions of temptation. It is not if, but when we are tried. When we are tried. Not just,
not if we're tried, but when we're tried. Notice verse 2 again. My brothers, consider it once. Consider it once in full joy
when you may encounter various trials. Count it joy. I haven't seen very many people
rejoicing in their trials. I haven't seen a lot of joy manifested
while people are being tried. But what does the Apostle say? And keep in mind, this is by
divine inspiration, folks. Consider Paul and his trials. Think about Job, and don't forget
Job of the Old Testament. Think about Daniel. Think about
David. And we can mention a host more. Conformity to biblical principles
is learned in the school of trials. Believe me, the greatest lessons
I've learned have been learned during a time of trial. And you will be the first to
say amen to that, if you can relate with the subject about
which we're speaking this morning. We need wisdom, divine wisdom, when we're being
tried. Asking for wisdom and the word
is Sophia It actually refers to a practical
application of the knowledge of the word that we gain So we must discern God's purpose
in trials We must not seek refuge in the
wrong thing our place I Wisdom is discretion and right
judgment for you and me to make. We know there are two kinds,
heavenly wisdom and earthly wisdom. I'm not concerned about the earthly
part. I'm talking about heavenly wisdom. One who has been given wisdom
is selective in what he learns. If you've been given wisdom by
God, you become very selective in what you listen to, to what
you're exposed to, because you know better than anyone what
you need. Wisdom is spiritual insight,
because it is a grace that has been given by the sovereign God
to His people. The fact of He saved others Himself,
He cannot save, Matthew 27, 42, is He was able to save others, because he did not save himself
from death. Does that make sense? What about prayer? Prayer is
very important. But most prayers are not prayers.
This idea today, name it and claim it, folks, that is right
out of the pit of the abyss. But that is what is being fed
people today, and that is what the majority of religionists
want to hear. Name it and claim it. That's
not biblical. That is not biblical. Prayer can never derange the
economy of God. Are you listening to me? Prayer can never derange the
government of God, what He has ordained to do. Turn to the third chapter of
James, and let's look a little closer
at the subject of wisdom. James 3, 13 through 18. Who is wise and understanding knowledge among
you? Let him prove by his good conduct his works in humility of wisdom. Let's stop there for a moment.
I want to look at a verse-by-verse exposition, really, of verses
13 through 18. So there are two kinds of wisdom.
Wisdom in due with knowledge is not in itself a qualification
for a teacher. Who is wise and understanding
knowledge among you, let him prove by his good conduct his
works. Now let's look at this. As I
was studying this this last week, I remember what has taken place
and is taking place not too many blocks from where we live. There's
a young woman, I've met her. She's living with a man. She
just finished Sam Houston Teacher State College this year. She's already gotten her a job.
You know, you're not allowed to ask a teacher today about
her lifestyle. So here's a young woman living
with this man, going to college, finished, got her degree, and
now she has her job. She's teaching. No parent who has a child that
sits under her could raise the question about her lifestyle. That's her lifestyle. That's
her business. Well, folks, let's look at this
again. Let's look at what the Scriptures teach. You see, there
was a time when many of us, who are much older than some of you
younger ones, when we went to school, a teacher like that would
never have gotten a job teaching. Who is wise and understanding among you, let him prove by his
good conduct. Folks, is that a biblical principle?
I have a right, regardless of what a person may say that he
knows or she knows, or how many degrees that he has or she has,
I have a right to expect that person to prove by his good conduct before I'm to give my endorsement
of what he knows mentally. You say, well, you're just out
of date. Folks, I am. I surely am. And I'm going to
stay out of date. let him prove by his good conduct
his works in humility of wisdom and folks this is wisdom from
above so a person can be wise and understanding
a lot of worldly things and have absolutely no divine wisdom and
that's the age in which you and I are living So wisdom endued with knowledge
is not in itself a qualification for a teacher. Now, I'm going
to bring it down to the quote, church, end of quote. Folks,
during my ministry, I've had people to come. I remember on
one occasion a man came. He had a doctor's degree. He
was teaching in college. And the people just fell all
over him. They thought that since he was
a professor, he had a doctor's degree, that boy, they were going
to his class. And so I had my wife to visit
his class a few times. But I knew that he didn't know
anything. I even doubted his salvation. And it proved before
it was all over with, he didn't have it. But by the very fact, And he
had a PhD while all the younger people, they were to go into
his class. He didn't have anything to say. You know what he would
do? And see, I knew what he was doing.
He would come about 15 minutes before time for Sunday school
and go into the office and get his lesson sheet to get his lesson. He spent all of his time talking
about politics and other things. He didn't have one ounce of spirituality. It's needless for me to say any
more other than he didn't last long. He was excluded from the
church. So let's look at some principles,
folks. Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him prove by his
works in humility of wisdom, the wisdom that God alone can
give. So conduct is the proper criterion
to judge wisdom, not the mere tongue of an individual. Let's look at something else.
It is one thing to love controversy for the sake of controversy.
But folks, it is something entirely different to love truth for its
own sake, which causes controversy. But folks, I've been accused
of loving controversy when just standing for the truth, the truth
has caused the controversy. But the sad thing has been, and
I see it all the time and hear it, people can't make the distinction
between the two. Many are full of knowledge while
being empty of wisdom. That's the day in which you and
I are living. and never able to come to the
knowledge of the truth. Folks, that's Bible, 2 Timothy
3. That's the age in which we're living. That's one of the signs
of the last days according to the first verse of 2 Timothy
chapter 3. So many are full of knowledge
while empty of divine wisdom. On the other hand, there are
some short on knowledge who have wisdom. Few have a great amount of both
knowledge and wisdom. Only a few. Only a few. Christians are obligated to recognize
false wisdom. Now you see where I'm going. Wisdom is always manifested by
life in harmony with biblical principles. We are obligated to adorn. Adorn what? The knowledge of God. So we are
obligated to adorn, cos male. Put in order. Do credit to the
teaching of God our Savior. In all things Titus 2 and verse
10. Adorned just as a bride is adorned
for her husband. Now follow me closely. Being
adorned for one's husband is the opposite of being adorned
for adultery. Now, having said that, look at
James 4.4. You talk about a scorcher, folks.
This is a scorcher. We're talking about testing.
What does James say? You adulterous persons! If you'll notice in the Greek,
there's just one word, it's a pronominal adjective. Adjective used as
a pronoun. So you would translate it, and
it is followed by ouk, the negative, and then a perfect active indicative
of the verb oida, which means to know. So you adulterous persons,
you notice it is a plural number, pronominal adjective. So you
can translate it, you adulterous persons, have you not known that the friendship, folks what
a word, we'll begin this today but won't complete it today.
This will take us into next Sunday in the study of two Greek verbs
translated love in the King James Version. Some say there's a lot of difference. Some say there isn't hardly any
difference between the two. Thaleo and Agapao. We'll see. Because we have spent
time, I've been anxious to do it for a long time, and so last
week I took the time to do it. And I was helped by having done
it. So look at this verb. Once again,
you adulterous persons, have you not known? And have you not realized that
you are in a state of knowing? permanent state, that the friendship,
friendship, philia, only time this noun is used in the New
Testament, comes from phileo, the verb. Then you have an adjective,
philos. Those three words should be learned
by every believer. And we'll do our best to acquaint
you with some things concerning. But watch this. You adulterous
persons, have you not known that the friendship, friendship of
the world is hostility toward God? Folks, that's pretty strong,
isn't it? I would say it is very strong.
So why did I say for a person to be adorned for his wife or
for her husband is quite different from being adorned for adultery? Now, you may raise the question,
is James talking about the literal act of adultery or is he using
the word adultery here to illustrate spiritual adultery which Christians
often commit. But folks, the way it is in the
Scriptures, even in the Old Testament, to give you a classic example
of it, the 16th chapter of Ezekiel talks about the Israelites being
adulterous persons. And it was used to show that
they were unfaithful to whom? To God. To God. And that's the basic way that
it's used here. So let's look at this a little
bit. So the characteristics of the world's wisdom are wrong. And the results are wrong. The characteristics of God's
wisdom are good. I said good. You and I know that
zeal which we have as Christians is moderated by the sphere of
peace in which we live. I'm talking about the peace of
God that passes all understanding. But not peace at any price. I said not peace at any price. I don't want governmental peace
at any price. I don't want the peace of this
country at any price. And I don't want the peace of
the assembly at any price. So the world's wisdom justifies
sin by blaming somebody else or circumstances. Isn't that
what we hear today? I'll have no part of it, period. And remind me of that fellow,
that psychologist that I used to hear on his ads here in Houston
when I lived down here. He would always say, it's not
your fault. But it is your problem. Every time I heard it, it made
me sick in my stomach. I mean sick. The L.A. rioters were working off, they
say, their frustration caused by the injustice. Folks, I don't
care how much injustice there is in the L.A.P.D. or anywhere
else. It never justifies people acting
like animals. So let's look closely at this
word, friendship. Friendship. I want to start this this morning.
I won't be able to finish it. I want to take you now to The
Gospel of John, chapter 21, 21st chapter of the Gospel according
to John. You see what I'm doing? Our friendship
is tested. Our love is tested. Our faith
is tested. Our perseverance is tested. And
on and on. See, James deals with these things.
What is James literally saying throughout his epistle? Not justification
by a person's works or what he does, but justification before
God that results in the person doing good works. So there's
simply the result. Not in order to be, but because
of. There's a vast difference. That's
the difference between religion and Christianity. I'm going to read beginning with
the 15th verse. I'd really like to deal with
this in a whole message, but I may say some important things
here and bring it to a conclusion for the time being this morning.
All of us are familiar with this portion of Scripture, but the
question is, do we know how to handle the two verbs that are
used in verses 15 through 17 of John chapter 21. Let's read the verses. Then when they had, or you could
say thus, when they had eaten a meal, Jesus
says to Simon, Peter. Simon, son of John, Jonas or
John, do you love me more than these? Now what's the word for love
here? Do you love me more than these? It's the verb Agapao. It's a present active indicative.
Are you... Do you love me? Or are you loving
me? More than these! Now there is
a lot of debate over whether these refers to the fish that... You know, they've just been fishing. Peter said, I go fishing in the
first part of the chapter. And they caught nothing. Or does
it refer to the disciples? I won't go into that too much
this morning. I'll let you be thinking about
that. More than these, He, that is Peter, says to Him, Yes, Lord,
You have known. Now you can tell by the way I
translated that what kind of verb it is. It's a present active
indicative. You have known. And you are knowing
what? And then Peter says, but notice
how I'm going to translate it. I'm not going to translate it
as the King James does, that I love thee. Yes, Lord, you have known that
I have affection for you. It's a different verb. It's not
agapado. It's phileo. He says to him, feed my lambs. Verse 16. He says to him again
the second time, Simon son of John, do you love me? He didn't add what he said the
first time. He left it off. Why? This time
he just said, do you love me? Same verb, agapau. Son of John, do you love me?
He says to him, yes, Lord. You have known. Notice the answer
is exactly the same as the first time when Peter answered him.
Yes, Lord. You have known that I have affection
for you. Then Christ says to him, Shepherd
my sheep. Sheep this time instead of lambs.
Verse 17, He says to him the third time. Why the third time? It was just before this event,
folks, that Peter had denied the Lord Jesus Christ three times. I'll tell you something. Read,
I don't want to really finish this this morning. This is the
most heart-gripping portion of Scripture for the Christian to
study if he is sincere. If he is sincere, I know. I know from personal experience. All right, let's look at verse
17. He says to him the third time, Simon, son of John, do
you... The King James says, love. It's not
the same verb. Our Lord changed and used the
verb that Peter had been using. He didn't use the stronger of
the two. He used the weaker of the two
verbs. Now notice I said stronger and
weaker. Now I think I'm in a position to prove that. So he says to him the third time,
Simon, son of John, do you love me? Peter was grieved. He didn't say, do you love me?
Do you have affection for me? He used Peter's term. Do you
have affection for me? Peter was grieved because he
said to him the third time, Do you love me? Or do you have affection for
me? And he said to him, Lord, you have known all things. Notice what Peter says. Notice
his reply. You know I have affection for
you. Jesus says to him, feed my sheep. Now why did I get into this to
the extent to which I did last week? All in the study of philia. Friendship. Friendship. Folks, we have to be careful
who we make friends with. Now, do you really want me to
explore this to the depths to which I've gone into it in the
last several days? Hopefully you do. Hopefully you do. I can't do
it today, but I can lead you up to it and hopefully whet your
appetite for such a study. Peter had unjustifiably placed
himself above the other disciples. Do you remember that incident?
Do you remember that? We have to put it all together.
Let me state it again. Peter had unjustifiably placed
himself above the other disciples. Turn with me, if you will, to
Matthew 26 and verse 33. Let's set the stage for a real
study on love, if you will. I said on love. I just want to read the 26th
verse. You'll remember the context when
I read it. And you know by chapter 26 we're
getting close to the time for the crucifixion of our Lord.
Peter answered and said to him, even though, that is to Christ,
even though all men's okay, you see it's italicized, that's okay,
shall be I'll use the King James here for the time being. Offended
because of you. Because of you. I shall never
be offended. Have you ever talked like that? Have you ever spoken like that?
Have you ever acted like that? Yes, folks, we all have. We all have. You know, it's difficult to really
decide on just what form you should use in translating this.
I'll give you an idea. One man, these are all Greek
students that I've checked. One man said, they'll be embarrassed because
of you. But I'll never be embarrassed. Personally, I don't like that
translation. Another man said, some will become
untrue because of you. But I'll never become untrue. Another said, In fact, the NASB
translates it, made to stumble, but I'll never stumble. Another says, may fall away, but I'll never
fall away. And still another Greek scholar
said, some will have an occasion to stumble, but I will never
stumble. Now, the question is, can we
relate with Peter? You say, I can't. Don't tell
me that. The verb that is used here is
skondalidzo. Let me give you the meaning of
skondalidzo. In the passive voice, with the
preposition in, It can mean reject, desert, have doubts about, anger,
or shock. But let me raise another question. You have a first-class condition
particle here. In the Greek, it is shown in
the King James translation. Is the first class condition
particle assumed to be true in this instance? Some say yes,
others say no. See folks, what I'm talking about
is study. What I'm talking about is reaching to the very best
of our ability the truth that our Lord is portraying. So what do we have? We are to distinguish profession
and confession. We must distinguish a person's
profession and his confession. Let me illustrate that. In profession, the person most
prominent in our thoughts is I who make it. In confession, it is He whose
name I am confessing. What a difference, folks, between
profession and confession. The difference is between I,
the one confessing, or professing, and confessing the One whom I
really am embracing. Thus, it is not what I am to
Christ. But folks, it is what Christ
is to me. And if we don't know that difference,
we don't know much. But you know I have been bothered
with people, all of my ministry, they just come and they come
bouncing and they want to do something, do something, do something,
do something. And if they can't do, do what they want to do,
then they don't want to do. And so I'm ready to tell them
pretty quick, you do it somewhere else. And that's why I make so
many friends. Let me state it again. It is
not what I am to Christ that counts. Folks, it's what Christ
is to me. If I think about what I am to
Christ, that's the ego, that's the flesh, that's magnifying
the individual. But when I tell about what He
means to me, Folks, that puts me right where I belong. You see, it's what Christ is
to me. That is, and therein, folks,
my peace, rest, and security lie, not in what I'm doing. but in what he is to me. As it was not Peter's earliest
confession, but his utterance of a tried
maturity that made him like a rock, so it is with all Christians.
I'm talking about tried maturity. Now we understand why Peter used
the verb. Phileo, not Agapol. Before a man's life can be fully what it should be, one must answer the question,
do you love me? He must be ready to give up his
own way of showing it and passively accept or actively obey the will
of God. Now let's go back to John 21.
And I'm going to have to bring this
to a conclusion. We'll take up here next Sunday
morning. using this same passage and spend
our whole hour and a half or whatever on this subject. Friendship
of the world. Let's look at the text again
in James. We'll come back to John 21 next
Sunday morning. But in James 4.4 again, listen
to this, and I want to connect it with one other passage. You
adulterous persons, have you not known that the friendship
Friendship of the world is hostility toward God. Do you remember 1
John 2, 15-17? Love not the world, neither the
things that are in the world. For the man who has this love,
he doesn't have the love of the Father, does he? Lovers of the world are made
known, first of all, by conformity to it, secondly, by seeking its friendship,
thirdly, by preferring its amusements, number four, by pursuing the
same pleasures, and number five, by making worldly interests the
objects of living. Now folks, there is an inside
world and an outside world. Let's see if we can make the
distinction between the two. The world outside, about the
world system, hates Christ, John 7, 7. It is under judgment, John
12, 31. Its wisdom is foolishness. 1 Corinthians 3.19, its fashion
is passing away. It is corrupt, passing away,
1 Corinthians 7.31. It is corrupt, 2 Peter 1.4. It
is polluted, 2 Peter 2.20. And last but not least, It lies in the lap, as it were,
of the wicked one. 1 John 2, 19. What about the world inside?
The world inside refers to one's flesh and disposition. The world outside has its response
from the world inside. All the evil things in the world,
outside, have come from the world inside. Listen to what I'm talking about?
So every evil, dastardly thing that is committed in this world
outside has come from within human beings, the world inside. Christians must not flirt with
the world system. We must not make friends, folks,
of God's enemies. Phileo is a noun used only in
James 4.4. It comes from phileo. which means to manifest some
act of kindness or affection, to love, to regard with affection,
to like or be fond of. Did you know love is known by the actions
it prompts? Love had its perfect expression
in Christ. Christian love has the Godhead
as its object. Love is guided by principle,
not by sentiment. Did you know the verb agapau
is used 141 times in the New Testament? Philemon is a noun which means
kiss. Phyllis is an adjective which
is used 30 times in the New Testament. And I went through the Greek
this past week, took the Greek dictionary. Of course, it's easy
to see when you're familiar with the words. And I wanted, you
see, agapao or agape, Never used in a compound word. Phyllis, the adjective, is used
with so many words forming a compound word. Love of pleasure. Love of children. Love of the
husband. On and on I can go. Love of money. They're compound words made up
first of all of Phyllis. And then the other word for money
or pleasure or whatever. I made a list of all of them. I'll have to stop here. Let us not make friends with
God's enemies. That's tight.