The Cycle of Sinful Pleasure | Sermon 05/29/2022

Apologia Utah

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Please turn with me in your Bible's church to James chapter 4. We're in chapter 4.

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We're gonna be in verses 1 through 6 of James chapter 4

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And the title of this sermon today church is the cycle of sinful pleasure the cycle of sinful pleasure

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Starting in verse 1 of chapter 4 here now the inerrant and infallible words of the living and one true

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God What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you is not the source your pleasures that wage war and your members?

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You lust and do not have so you commit murder You are envious and cannot obtain so you fight and quarrel

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You do not have because you do not ask You ask and do not receive because you ask with wrong motives so that you may spend it on your pleasures

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You adulterous is do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God?

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Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God Or do you think that the scripture speaks to no purpose?

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He jealously desires the spirit which he has made to dwell in us But he gives a greater grace

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Therefore it says God is opposed to the proud but gives grace to the humble

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Thus ending the ring of God's holy inspired word. Let's pray quickly church father Would you please speak today to your people?

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Would you teach us Lord according to your word? God, would you speak through me in such a way that I would just fully disappear

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Lord and your word would reign true God, please help us to be focused on what do you want us to be focused on today?

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Let the enemy snatch nothing away from us Lord, we thank you again for allowing us to be here to learn from your word

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Help me to speak in a way that is clear. Let it be true and faithful. We pray this all in Jesus name.

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Amen In our text today, we will encounter the Greek word head.

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Don't a head. Don't a this is the word from which we get hedonism hedonism and Hedonism is a philosophy that encourages one to make the chief aim in life to pursue all kinds of pleasure

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Pleasure is the aim of this life to the hedonist Now I don't want to steer you wrong

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They are focused of course on themselves they are focused on Pleasing themselves

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But remember what our Catechism says Our Catechism question has said what is the chief end of man?

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The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy him forever

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We can find our pleasure in God We can find our pleasure even in things that he has created but in a different way that hedonists do

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We don't enjoy the things that he has made the way the same way the hedonists do We'll eventually get to that Aristippus of Cyrene was a student of Socrates Who argued that man's chief end is not to enjoy

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God but to enjoy the pleasures Forever enjoy the gifts not the gift giver

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Okay To enjoy them also in ways that God has never permitted

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Aristippus not only thought that was man's chief end. It was also man's chief goal now

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At every moment at every single inclination. We are never to deny ourselves

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Pleasure in the highest degree he said and people were often shocked by his behavior

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He argued To delay pleasure in any way was to go against nature's design

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That makes sense when you consider fallen nature fallen man considers himself above all things pleasing himself above all things

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This man would participate in Sensualities of all kind he would indulge in luxuries and extravagance.

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He would do anything to maintain this kind of life Aristippus he was a philosopher arguing in the marketplace by day

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And then he acted as a jester before kings at night And he would do that to get paid for them by them so he can continue this lavish

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Lifestyle he would even wear women's clothing and dance around for for all these high society important people for the

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Kings They give him money It reminds me of someone if you've ever known an addict they will often do things that they would never have done

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Otherwise if they weren't addicted to drugs, they do terrible things for another high

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It was said that while he was on a voyage to Corinth Aristippus his ship was caught in a terrible storm and This storm completely seized this man by terror and dread the crew approached

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Aristippus They had been on plenty of voyages They had been on plenty of journeys on by ship and this was no big deal to them and they said hey

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Aristippus the other sailors were not alarmed. Don't be worried And yet the philosopher on board had turned coward

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Aristippus responded by saying that There's two types of lives at stake here on this ship and they're not comparable

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He's trying to say I'm worth more than you guys. And so that's why I am worried and What a stark difference to Jesus Christ in his teaching

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Jesus said greater love is no one than this than one laid down his life for his friends and even though Christ was the

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Incomparable one he did not consider his life more important than our own

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Than all of ours. He laid it down Aristippus though was scared for his life for all his so -called wisdom

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Aristippus was actually a fool He could have simply read even

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Ecclesiastes which showcases a man who did not deny himself a single Pleasure this life had to offer

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But what did he say? It was all vanity right in Ecclesiastes Solomon determined at the very end of his life

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After all that had been said at the end of Ecclesiastes that man would only find his true fulfillment in fearing

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God and keeping his commandments He had it all he had 700 wives 300 concubines.

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He had the best gardens and fruit trees in all the world he had all the the meats and and all these People would come far away from far off and pay homage to him and give him all these different Turmerics and spices and he had everything everyone waited on him hand and foot

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Solomon had everything and he said he did not did not deny himself a single pleasure

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But he said there it was all vanity and that the only thing worthwhile in this life was fearing

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God and obeying him And hopefully Aristippus found that out through Christ before the end

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And today we will see how a cycle of pleasure can result in terrible conflicts and envy

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Our New Testament wisdom preacher will also warn of the consequences of following hedone pleasures rather than the

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Lord But he gives us hope and he's gonna give us a great hope at the end of this

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This passage and we're gonna see that towards the end So let's begin now in verse 1 of chapter 4

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What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you is not the source your pleasures that wage war in your members

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The talk of wisdom in verses prior we're not so much focused on wisdom per se the sermon from last week

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But they were focused on the truly wise are fruitful with good works and conduct

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James was saying those who are wise Demonstrate their wisdom by how they live their life

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But now it would show that they aren't wise because of their quarreling and envying

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The jealousy and selfish ambition are now manifesting outwardly towards one another

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And these actually aren't the typical words for quarreling and conflicts in the

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Greek This literally says and this is the only place that says this this literally says in chapter verse 1.

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I'm sorry From where are the wars and where are the battles? From where are the wars and from where are the battles among you?

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Palaimos is used 18 times in the New Testament. It all it is always used for war

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Make make is used four times in the New Testament. It's it's typically used for fights quarrels or battles and One might be able to make the case that Quite a few of these now

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Jewish Christians were once former zealots who would use violence as a means of religious reform the zealots would use

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Fighting and violence to to get their message out to change things in Judea So James could be addressing that and arguing against it

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We can't use violence to spread the gospel is one thing he might be saying

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But I don't think this fits the context of the end of chapter 3 in the verses that follow exactly for that reason,

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I think it would be wise to take war and fighting as Figurative or metaphorical so that the way that the

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NASB translated this is just right I think that's I think that's fine quarrels and conflicts

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They are not being the peacemakers. They have been called to be from the end of chapter 3 in Acts 4 32

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We read at the time of Pentecost that all believers were of one mind and one heart

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Right at the inception of the church. They were of one mind and one heart. They are in the honeymoon phase as new believers right

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It's always going to be harmony. It's always going to be perfect unity we think but that is not typically the case as we read in the

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Pauline and general epistles most of what Paul and all the different authors are are fighting against her or appealing to or Addressing them about our different conflicts and different sin issues going on in the church

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I've mentioned before though. We are redeemed people. We are still waiting for a glorified and redeemed body

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Until then we must deal with sin in our fallen flesh

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Even Paul and Barnabas had a conflict in Acts chapter 15 Barnabas wanted to take

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John Mark Who is likely the mark who wrote the gospel according to Mark? Okay Barnabas wanted to take

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John Mark on their next missionary journey to check on the churches that they had just planted

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But Paul disagreed as John Mark had deserted them in Pamphylia, and he said

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John Mark did not do the work. He did not stay with them. He did not join them the

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Bible says That there was no small disagreement, but a sharp one was among them and it caused them to even separate

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Despite how long Paul and Barnabas had labored together they separated At that time

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Paul then chose Silas to go with him and acts would forever have Silas and Paul and no longer

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Barnabas and Paul Even the apostles are susceptible to this

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Paul would then later according to the letter to the Galatians have to stand up against one of the pillars of the church

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That is Peter For Peter had stopped sitting with the Gentile believers after the arrival of the

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Jewish Christians He was a partial judge of the brethren and showed by his actions the gospel doesn't tear down the dividing wall

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But Paul said he stood condemned and I stood against him Paul rightly did

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What he had to do and confront him in front of all for the sin was in front of all

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You see sometimes conflicts are unavoidable in the church Sometimes there's a righteous motive for these sort of conflicts

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But what James is addressing is quarreling in sin. This is sinful quarreling sinful conflicts

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The proverb says the beginning of strife is like a let the letting out of water. So abandon the quarrel before it breaks out

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That is to say if you if you drop a bucket of water on the ground There's no containing it. You can't if you drop a bucket.

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You don't go down there and try to hold it back It's gonna spread it's gonna go where it wants to you won't contain it

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Strife does the same thing? Stop don't let the bucket of strife fall over before just spreads everywhere is what the proverb is saying

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Paul tells Timothy, but the foolish I'm sorry, but refused foolish and ignorant Speculations knowing that they produce quarrels

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The Lord's slave but must not be quarrelsome but kind to all

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If we are to be the Lord's bond servants We are to take the master's orders and not be given to evil quarrels

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I remember years ago at an older church not at not at apologia.

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There was this brother Who had been attending? Second service for a while Christian man and he moved his family to first service for a time for six months or so and he came back to second service, okay, and so all these people who remember him from the second service because If you ever been to a to service church, you just don't cross over Okay, you stay where you're at you you find the seat that you sit in you stay in your service

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Even though we're allowed to change it up, right? That's what happens They come back to second service and all these families

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Start coming up to him brother we haven't seen you in such a long time where have you been and immediately his ego is just like it just Gets him rubs him wrong way.

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I've been here. No, I've been here at first. He's he's nice about it a little bit Oh, I've been here.

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We just We were in the first service and we just came back I've been we've been faithfully going and so more and more people keep seeing him and by the time the last guy says

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Bro, where have you been? He's like I've been here. I've been going to church He's upset

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You were you there? You didn't see me. I've been there. I've been coming to church, you know, he's he's kind of getting upset about it

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He's prideful about it, okay, and and that's really what happens there is

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People were shocked the families were shocked by that display. He's making this conflict He's making this quarrel all because he wanted to look a certain way in his fleshly desire in his pleasure

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He wanted to look a certain way and it drove him then to anger and James addresses that in a sense the source of their battles is their head on a their pleasures that wage war in their members

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In other words the fleshly lusts our pleasures within us wage war against our bodies

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So that we wage war against each other Our sinful desires wage war in us and then we will wage war with each other

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Okay And he doesn't mean he doesn't mean church members here. He means your body.

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They're at war within your body It is those fleshly lusts

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Still part of our fallen bodies waging war against it that caused us to do Christian infightings and create conflicts among each other

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Let it be known that every fight that happens at our church will only occur because of sin

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Every evil fight that happens here will only happen because of sin. It doesn't happen any other way

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It's walking in the flesh and not in the spirit that will create these quarrels between us Paul expounds on this in Romans.

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He says in chapter 7 But I see a different law in my in the members of my body

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Waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin, which is in my members

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He says Oh wretched man that I am who will set me free from this body of death Paul in chapter 7 of Romans is

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Going back and forth he's saying ah, why do I do these things? Why do I do these things?

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The war is in my members the war plagues and works against my mind and I know what

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I'm supposed to do I know what God has commanded. I know what God says in his word, but why am I doing these things?

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He's just he's showing some frustration and I think it's helpful for us Romans 7 there But Paul says immediately after that Showing that he knows the cure to this immediately after he emphatically says, thanks be to God for Jesus Christ Paul knew the struggle

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Paul knew the war inside Peter also speaks to the same thing

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He says fleshly pleasures wage war against the soul Fleshly pleasures wage war against the soul

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You see when we no longer seek to please God and find our pleasure sourced from God we will look for it in all the wrong places and That's where the disputes come from is what

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James is saying The answer to those involved in conflicts is to find your pleasure once again in God That's what's happening

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Those who are prone to conflicts are not finding their pleasure in God They're seeking it in other places and then therefore they're getting upset with the brethren

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They need to find their pleasure in God again pleasure from the world brings the insatiable desire for more therefore discontentment settles in and when discontentment settles in conflicts arrive

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Because what I have is not good enough Waging war is the same word used in fighting the good fight

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It is the same word used when Paul tells the church at Corinth to not wage war in the flesh

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The question is are we church are we waging war against sinful?

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inclinations Or are we giving in? Are we giving in? We often wave the white flag and defeat before it's even started.

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We're like well Guess it's over. I guess I'll just continue to sin. We don't even fight anymore sometimes we just don't even

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Gird up our loins and try to even battle we can give up before we even start

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But the Bible says we are never put into position it. I'm sorry in a in a position in a circumstance in a situation

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Where we are forced to sin According to Scripture We can lose our will to fight but we are soldiers of the army of the

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Lord of hosts We are to wage war against our sins to not stop until there is victory

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Now go to verses 2 and 3 You lust and do not have so you commit murder

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You are envious and cannot obtain so you fight and quarrel You do not have because you do not ask you ask and do not receive because you ask with wrong motives

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So that you may spend it on your pleasures There are four ways here that they don't have okay number one

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They don't have because they lust Number two, they do not have because they are envious or covetous number three, they do not have because they do not ask and Number four, they do not have because they often ask with wrong motives.

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So there are four ways. They don't have And this world this word lust here is like a longing almost a almost a desperate desire that that'll eventually lead to covetousness it covets

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One who does this doesn't have what they want because either God doesn't give them the thing they want or desire or God has allowed them to have what they covet and then they find out that it doesn't fulfill them and in that sense they do not have

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That's often what happens They are always craving But it never satiates like a teenager who eats like pounds of food and says 30 minutes later.

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Can I have a snack? Toddlers do that too, right? They just eat and eat and eat and they want more

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He says so they commit murder that sounds weird after the teenager joke But so they commit murder

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David lusted after Uriah's wife Bathsheba and had

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Uriah killed To take her as his own he killed The effeminate and cowardly

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King Ahab Threw himself down before Jezebel whining. Oh, I don't have what

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I want. I don't have it Ahab what a king and Jezebel goes what what is it that you want?

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He's like I want Naboth vineyard Naboth has a better vineyard than me and so they get together

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Jezebel and and and Ahab and they Concoct something and they they basically frame

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Naboth and then he's killed so that little old Ahab can have his vineyard

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So they murder they murdered Naboth For it his lust led to murder

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But it seems hard for me to expect in our passage that Christians dealing with conflicts could end up murdering

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The context doesn't seem to allow I think for a literal physical murder This possibly tells us they quarrel because they have things they long for but they don't have

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So what this is is it's just like verse 1. It's figurative. It is committing murder of the heart

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Murder of the heart They hate their brother or sister in their lusts

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John says in his first epistle Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer

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Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.

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A Lot of us can easily abstain from murder. I Don't think that I have great confidence that you guys are able to not murder other people

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However As John shows you can murder someone murder someone else when you hate them

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And I can imagine we're all sinfully capable of hating each other sometimes

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When John seems to make it clear, it's not a one -time and repentance sort of hate. It's a it's this habitual

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I just hate that person and I'll hate them till the day I die God won't honor that sort of hate

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God wants you to let go of that sort of hate Of course

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Jesus speaks to this as well in the Sermon on the Mount You have heard the that the ancients were told you shall not commit murder and whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court

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But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court and whoever says to his brother

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You good -for -nothing shall be guilty before the Supreme Court and whoever calls his brother

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Raqqa or fool sometimes translated shall be guilty enough to go to fiery hell

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Therefore if you are presenting your offering at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you leave your offering

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At the altar and go first be reconciled to your brother then come and present your offering

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That's from Matthew chapter 5 And I always try to give a similar invitation to all of you before you take the

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Lord's Supper. I Think it's important So Christ John and James are all of one mind here

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Don't let fleshly lusts and sinful desires Push you to murder a brother or sister in your heart

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Don't let your lusts do that and James says They are envious and therefore cannot obtain

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Their zealot a or jealous of someone's possessions they covet they envy them for that reason they don't acquire them

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They they don't obtain The principle is if you covet or envy someone else do not do not expect

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God to bless you with the item that you're coveting Don't expect to receive it He will not bless those who curse their neighbor

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And James says this is why they quarrel and fight because they envy You remember you might remember one of the one of the twelve

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Not the New Testament 12 the Old Testament 12 Simeon Simeon son of Jacob One of the oldest brothers in the twelve tribes of Israel Simeon was an envious man

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He envied of course Joseph like many of them did But Simeon was also murderous and violent

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He Slaughtered all the men in the house of Hamar For just one man's sin of assaulting

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Dinah his sister if you remember that He didn't just bring the one man who raped his sister

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Before the judge or before the elders of the gate He acted like well, we're gonna let you marry our sister now because you defiled her and by the way before you do that You your household needs to be cleansed you guys all need to be circumcised so it says they all circumcised all the men of Hamar all the household of Hamar and It says that when they were still healing

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Simeon came in with one of his brothers and slew all the men Slit their throats essentially stabbed them with the sword in the middle of the night.

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He killed every single one of them everyone So he did not receive the blessings like his father did like it like his

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I'm sorry like his brothers did from his father Jacob It records that in Genesis 49.

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This is what it says. This is what Jacob says to Simeon before he dies He says

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Simeon and Levi our brothers their swords are implements of violence

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Let my soul not enter into their counsel Let not my glory be united with their assembly because in their anger they slew men and in their self -will

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They even lamed oxen Curse it be their anger for his fierce in their wrath for it is cruel

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I will disperse them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel You see

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After that occurred after all the tribes got to Israel land of Canaan the promised land

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Do you know who had one of the smallest bits of land in all of the country

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Simeon? He had essentially nothing to his name Envy can cost us blessing it can cost

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Blessing James continues. You do not have because you do not ask

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God of course desires his children to pray to him To bring supplication and petitions before him

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God desires us to ask him for our needs He knows all that we need

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Jesus says but he desires for you to commune with him in prayer He wants you as a son asks a father father.

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May I have this? God desires that of you Jesus confirms that of course in the

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Gospels that God will honor that and answer So often we go through this

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Christian life and something happens and we wonder why we don't have peace about the circumstance We're we're so involved in the current situation and someone finally says, well you ever have you prayed about it yet?

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And we're almost shocked to think to ourselves. Oh my goodness. I haven't even prayed about this circumstance yet I haven't even prayed

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Wow, I Asked him for peace. Are you asking

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God for your needs brethren sisters? Are we recognizing as James says that every good and perfect gift comes from above?

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Coming down from the father of lights in whom there is no variation or shifting shadow Our father has good and perfect gifts to give and he wants you to ask him for them

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Then James says some do ask But they don't receive Because they ask wrongly or badly kakos kakos is the word and Kakos is often the word used for sick or ill

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Meaning to say they ask with diseased intentions diseased foul intentions

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He covers all basis for their envious and quarrelsome hearts

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James already addressed in chapter 1 to ask God while believing by faith that he will provide

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In Romans chapter 14 verse 23 Paul says everything that does not come from faith is sin

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Are you asking God for your needs by faith or in some sort of blind robotic duty?

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You ever do that? I've done that. I'm just trying to get my devotions done. I'm like in Lord. Will you do this today?

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Will you do this and it's just like don't even pray then what is it? I mean, we should pray like my pastor told me not to pray

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We should pray But often in those moments, it's just as blind robotic do

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Lord. Will you do this? Will you do that? It's like we are to ask in faith ask in faith believing

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Asking so sure that when a child comes to their mother or father I would bet

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That when your child is truly hungry and they've said mommy and daddy, can I have something to eat?

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You they have been so confident that we had that you have food that they expected to receive it

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They believe that you would provide for them. So we were to ask God with a simple Childlike faith like that this verse also demonstrates there are right things to ask for and there are wrong things to ask for Matthew 7 asking it will be given seek and you will find knock and the door will be opened unto you

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John 14 Jesus tells them ask for anything in my name and I will give it

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But look often we read those promises and we think God is like a genie Like he's just gonna do everything that I want like this in the way that I want it

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All my desires all my desires of the heart, but neither of those promises

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Should be divorced from the very section of Scripture that Jesus is demon Jesus demonstrates to us on how to pray

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So that we would say Lord Will my request hallow your name?

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Lord, I Pray in such a way that your will be done your will be done

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Your kingdom come your will be done on earth as it is in heaven that your will your will would be above my will

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Do we pray in that way? How does one determine the good things to ask for?

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And we see what the scriptures define as good in our lives We take principles from the scripture to determine what's good in our lives.

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And that's what we ask for That's what we ask for So, why do they ask

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Why do we ask sometimes with wrong motives He uses a term for the for like frivolous spending of money to spend completely with the implication of uselessly doing so and Therefore to waste just wasteful spending to waste it on their

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Hedonists once again Hedonism to waste it on their pleasures

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Their pleasures same root word from verse 1 The source of their wars and fights was pleasure.

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And so what this shows is that this is a cycle This is a cycle they have quarrels and conflicts that are a result of them desiring pleasures and Then they do all these things and they don't obtain and they don't obtain and they envy and they hate and they and they pray

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And they don't believe they'll get it and they and they don't pray and they don't get it and there's this cycle and then finally

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It comes to the end and it tells us why? This cycle comes and it once again it started with their pleasures and it ends with their pleasures

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You're gonna waste it. You're gonna waste it. He says in this cycle

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Doing this will only restart the process It'll keep one bound

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If at least one of the four points could be broken and submitted to God and obedience then the rest can be conquered

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That's the good news It's starting with one thing to break the cycle.

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It is doable We often look at the cycle of sinful pleasure in our lives and it feels daunting on how to overcome it

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Lord, but I do this and it leads to this and it leads to that and then it leads to that and I started all Over again and we go

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Lord. How do I how do I stop this cycle? We get overwhelmed

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But there is hope Today you can stop whatever it is

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That's a you're overcome by today. You can quit Today can be the day

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You see a long chain that is connected in one big circle

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A chain that's connected in a circle is is ruined and broken if one chain is snapped and the whole thing is done

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The whole thing can be conquered then Let me give you an example. It's like the guy Who is often given to idleness?

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He's doing nothing. He's just idle and Then that idleness then then goes its way into laziness.

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He's just lazy. He doesn't even work now anymore because of his idleness and And therefore because of his ladies laziness and idleness he then gets addicted to technology to his phone

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He just stares at it all day. He can't stop and Because he stares at his phone and he can't stop he then gets addicted to explicit content of women on his phone

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And it's a cycle that led to this that led to that that led to that But the thing is now that he's addicted to the explicit material

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Then that feeds into the laziness it feeds into the idleness because now he wants this

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He won't be able to stop and he'll start the cycle over again idleness laziness Addicted to the this idle addicted then to explicit material and it keeps going and going

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You can break the cycle in one place Think about it if he if he were to break laziness and maybe he maybe he got a job and he was focused it on work and he's

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Like and also I'm gonna I'm gonna read more. I'm gonna I'm gonna give myself more wisdom and knowledge He's not gonna have time for those other things.

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He might even deal with the other things not ultimately But again breaking one part of the chain can allow us sometimes to then chop chop at the other ones

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I don't need to to try to fix it all the cycle all today I can just start right here

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If I just start right here, it might lead to to this to this to this and maybe breaking the chain elsewhere right

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Another example maybe wives maybe you're not submitting to your husband's as Ephesians chapter 5 says

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Then then you're disrespecting him Then you're yelling at him Then it leads into a quarrel a quarrel breaks out.

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So you have these you have these things All you have to do is break the chain somewhere break it somewhere so even that if you're not submitting to him stop yelling so that the quarrel doesn't break out and Then work on respecting and submitting to your husband

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It's often just one thing one thing it can look so daunting, but we can overcome it by the grace of God These things don't lead to true pleasure.

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I Want you to listen to an excerpt? from CS Lewis's screw tape letters

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If you're not familiar with the screw tape letters, it is an apologetic satirical novel that has a demon

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Writing to other demons. Okay to instruct them on how to afflict people. It sounds strange if you've never heard of it

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Okay, a demons writing to demons and a Christian wrote this It's really it's actually very revealing.

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Let me let me read you something here This is senior devil Addressing a demon named

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Wormwood. Okay, here we go senior devil says never forget that when we are dealing with any pleasure in its healthy and Normal and satisfying form we are in a sense on the enemy's ground when they say enemy they mean

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God Because God is their enemy as demons. So When we're dealing with normal pleasures

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We're in God's territory. He says Senior devil says

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I know we have won many a soul through pleasure all the same. It is God's invention.

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Not ours He made the pleasures all our research wormwoods so far has not enabled us to produce one pleasure

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These demons are saying all we can do is encourage the humans to take the pleasures

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Which God our enemy has produced at times or in ways or in degrees that he is actually forbidden

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Hence we always try to work away from the natural Condition of any pleasure to that in which is the least natural the least natural

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You can think about that about anything food Great. God says it's good day one can lead to gluttony or anorexia or or idolatry in any way

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With our wives with with of course romance and love it can it can lead to just disgusting perversion so we take these good pleasures and we bring it all the way mankind brings it all the way and so senior devil says an

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Ever -increasing craving for an ever -diminishing pleasure is the formula. He says that's how we're gonna get these humans

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Okay, it's very revealing you see God is the one who made things for us to enjoy and take pleasure in as Brother dusty read in psalm 16.

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It says your right hand Lord in your right hand. There are pleasures forever But the minute the minute we elevate the thing

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Above God it becomes an idol and the minute we we take the pleasure and we we take it beyond what

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God has commanded It's become evil lustful desires perversion good things turn bad because of us because of us because of sin

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So then James calls them the most harsh name in a rebuke

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Compared to all the rest of the New Testament. There is nothing like it in all the New Testament No, New Testament writer has ever spoken to Christians in this way verse 4 he says you adulterous is

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Do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God?

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Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God verse 4 you adulterous is

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There is no appeal to the brethren here. There is no beloved brothers as James has normally said

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He says you my colleague s adulterous is

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This is definitely pointing them back to the prophets of old back to the exilic time the the time of exile in Israel the

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Lord tells Israel on Ezekiel 16 15 and 32 This is God proclaiming to Israel, but you trusted in your beauty and played the harlot because of your fame and You poured out your harlot trees on every passerby who might be willing

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God says you adulterous wife who takes strangers instead of her husband

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The Lord didn't have it then and he won't have it now The Bride of Christ must not be the adulterous

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The bridegroom will have no other brides He is our example. He will have no other brides.

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The church is his bride He is faithful to us so we are to be faithful to him

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Jesus called the Pharisees and Sadducees and teachers of the law. He said a wicked and adulterous generation

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He desires fidelity from us Our God is a jealous

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God. He won't share Does him does a godly man permit his wife to to participate in affairs?

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Go ahead be with other men. Does a godly man do that? No, no godly man would ever share his wife with another man ever

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Or or is or she the wife of his youth the wife of his covenant? This is my wife and that's how

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God looks to his church. This is my wife Christ says this is my bride We show our fidelity and love for Christ on earth by what he has called us to do

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Christ says keep my commandments show me you love me We do it by being a witness for Christ in Utah sharing the gospel

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By teaching others to do the same by abstaining from idolatry and sin by cultivating a love and communion for Christ in our spiritual devotions

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Because friendship with the world is hostility toward God. Do you not know?

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That philia Philia, it's a type of love this friendly love this relational bond this affection for with the world the cosmos that represents

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The fallen evil world don't you know that an affection for that kind of world is ekthra it is hostility

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It is enmity With God that word the root of ekthra is actually the same root for the word enemy

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You make yourself an enemy of God and he goes on to say that We are not to be like Demas Who remembers

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Demas? Demas will forever be remembered from that day that it was written down about him

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Demas it says That he loved this present world Paul said

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Demas loved this world and the things of the world that he deserted us. He left us

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The gospel of Christ was nothing to him anymore didn't appeal to him he tried religion out he left it

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The present world was his affection. He had his philia there

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The fact is church The world wants all of your love

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The world wants all of your love for it and God wants all of your love for him

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God wants all of your love both are vying for your love God doesn't need it

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But he commands it. He wants you to love him. He wants all of your love But if absolutely necessary the world is okay with a mixture

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Because it hopes to draw you in fully one day. Okay The world is okay with full relation full friendship with it or a subtle friendship with it and a partial

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Relationship with God, however Our God won't take those who are friends with the world

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Nor will he take those who pretend to be friends with him and friends with the world. God won't have a mixture

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God wants all of us. He will not take the double -minded the double -tongued the divided in their faithfulness

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He wants us fully And John Knox said a man with God on his side is always in the majority a

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Man with God on his side is always in the majority, but on the opposite then a

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Man who stands as God's enemy stands alone his so -called friends of the world will shrink back and that one man will stand before God as As his enemy

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They will not come to his aid then James doesn't give the readers evidence that apostasy has taken place.

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We don't see that here exactly That some have left Christ for idols But of course we've seen this letter

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Has shown that they have a tendency to act like the world with partiality

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They've treated the rich better than the poor They've treated their poor Brother badly, they've used demonic wisdom according to chapter 3

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They've been selfishly ambitious and now they're fighting and quarreling and so on and so on One commentator states regarding this

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James as it were Wants to raise the stakes so that his readers see their compromising conduct for what it is

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That God tolerates no rival When believers behave in a worldly manner, they demonstrate that At that point their allegiance is often to the world rather than to God So it's a simple test

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Does the world hate you or does the world love you? Does the world hate you or does the world love you?

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I'm not saying you're a you're not a respectable person You're not kind to people you're not a guy who yells at other guys for shopping carts and punches them in the forehead

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Or anything like that But based off of your fidelity and love for Christ Are you hated by the world by the system of the world if they were to know?

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What you stand for and who you are would they hate you or would they love you go to our final verses?

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verses 5 & 6 Or do you think that the scripture speaks to no purpose?

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He jealously desires the spirit which he has made to dwell in us, but he gives us a greater grace

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Therefore it says God is opposed to the proud but gives grace to the humble Once again,

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James has puzzled most theologians and translators with this verse It appears that he is quoting a passage of scripture in verse 5.

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Do you see that? Or do you think that the scripture speaks to no purpose? There's a colon Quotations, where is that?

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What is that from? This exact this actually exists nowhere in the

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Old Testament This Anomaly has happened a couple other times in the

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New Testament. One of the most notable is Matthew 2 23 in Matthew 2 23

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It says and Jesus came and lived in a city called Nazareth. This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophets

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He shall be called a Nazarene He shall be called a Nazarene is nowhere in the

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Old Testament this is This is possibly Oral tradition or an extra biblical book that they had common knowledge of at the time

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Some believe our verse in James might be similar They they they see it might be a combination of verses that took on a new form

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Maybe Genesis 6 3 Genesis 8 21 Exodus 20 verse 3 and verse 5

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It could be a combination they think of all those Some think that maybe it's from an apocryphal book

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But actually that quote comes from no apocryphal books that we have in our possession today

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No one knows what he's actually quoting from. That's it No one knows where that comes from others think that maybe

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When he mentioned scripture or graph a in verse 5 it actually applies to the biblical quote in verse 6.

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Okay That's a possibility. That's a possibility even beyond that The Greek is very difficult here to translate as well

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How should it be structured? How should this how should this be organized? I?

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Told you before that these question marks. These are these quotations Apostrophes periods none of them existed in the original manuscripts.

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They have nothing they just have letters and words. That's it So how is this to be structured?

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The NASB which I have on the screen Takes this to be a matter of God's jealousy

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God's jealousy But there are some issues with that Okay Jealousy here or Fathano's is always in the wicked form in the

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New Testament It is a wicked form of envy in the New Testament all other eight times

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Fathano's this jealousy is used it is always bad. It is the evil form of jealousy

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It is not like zealots, which I talked to you about last week Zealots was sometimes good a good jealousy good or bad.

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God can be jealous for us But this is always a wicked jealousy It just doesn't make sense

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Also the NASB capitalizes spirit right there see that in the third line spirit is capitalized but the thing is the

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Holy Spirit is never mentioned in James's epistle and Haggias or the word holy is also missing

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There is no holy here and sometimes how he os is missing from Pneuma from spirit

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That doesn't necessarily mean something but it's but it's strange because it stands alone I think there is a better way to understand the flow from verse 4 into verse 6.

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I Believe spirit here is the spirit or soul God breathed into us from creation

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Jealousy here is our wicked jealousy which lines up with the end of chapter 3 on bitter jealousy and The envy that he is now addressing in our chapter 4

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So ultimately, I love the New American Standard Bible, but this is not about God's righteous jealousy, but it's about our sinfulness

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So verses 5 and 6 could be written like this Or do you think that Scripture says without reason that the spirit he caused to live in us tends towards envy, but he gives us more grace

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That is why it says God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.

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So what does this mean? What is he trying to say here? It means that we in our fallen spirit and humanity have a natural

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Tendency towards sinful envy before Christ has saved us. We have a natural bent on Sinful envy sinful jealousy in the spirit that has been breathed into us in the soul that has been given us before Christ saves us

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Before conversion and that is and and it's possible when he says scripture speaks to this

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He may mean that they generally speak to this. Okay? So that's the explanation for for verse 5 where it's like where's the quotation from the

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Old Testament? It might be like me like a pastor and I'm up here and I say, you know, the scriptures generally speak to the fact that Homosexuality is wrong.

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And and so that's kind of what might be happening here That James is saying the scripture speaks to the fact that we are bent on sin.

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We are capable of sinning We were bent on envy because of the fall because of what happened after Genesis chapter 3

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I'm almost wrapping up here. We were created and it was good.

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But after we fell we are bad and tend toward evil just like Lucifer James is saying fallen man has a natural inclination to make himself an enemy with God and Friends with the world.

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It's very capable for man to make friends with God make enemies I'm sorry friends with the world and enemies with God So is there no hope?

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What are we to do? What are these early Jewish Christians to do and James does the unthinkable?

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He had just called them adulterous is and we recognize we have been adulterous is an attempted friendship with the world

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But it says he gives us greater grace You adulterous is but he gives you greater grace you envy you covet, but he gives greater grace

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You you you are bent towards sinful pleasures, but he gives greater grace he gives greater grace

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He gives it in greater proportion Unbelievable when the Israelites were called harlots and adulterous is they were then sent into exile and death

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But when we're called adulterous is he says greater grace will I give you praise

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God that love and mercy

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Not based on performance, but on the blood -soaked cross of Christ and that's such a relief

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That's such a relief And we need to remember this At the point of the sharpest rebuke

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James reminds them reminds us of God's grace When we were in love with the world

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God was in love with us He sent Christ to redeem us from this world in the clutches of it

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To put the Holy Spirit in us to make us envious for not for fleshly things but jealous for the things of God The man or woman who humbles themselves before God and admits that they have nothing to offer will receive grace

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That's that's why he quotes Proverbs chapter 3 verse 34 God opposes those who are prideful

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Who quarrel who commit murder in their heart and desire the things of this world God opposes them

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But God loves and gives grace to the one who humbles himself or herself before him

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Confesses that he has done these great evils God. I have done these evils and yet I need

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Everything from you. I live in full dependence of you God If it not if it were not for your grace,

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I would be condemned to hell today because I failed today But he gives greater grace and he gives greater grace

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God won't satisfy a proud person Their pride swells in the world. So they love the world

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But before a holy God the prideful man won't receive the worship. He wants God won't worship the prideful man.

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God gets all the worship. God gets all the glory He has to remove that pride from us regenerate us

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Then he dwells in us after that God gets all the glory It doesn't matter what you did or where you came from.

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God will receive the humble man or woman Who know they need Christ and he will give them grace

01:00:03

Let me wrap up The grace of God then is greater than the inclination of envy and war

01:00:13

It says in Romans chapter 5 for where sin increased grace abounded all the more

01:00:20

Grace is like a fire and nothing in its path will not be kindled All sin will be burned up by the grace of God The grace of God is like a waterfall

01:00:31

Fed by living waters of Christ and will not cease flowing year after year

01:00:37

Day after day hour after hour a minute after a minute second after second the water flows the grace

01:00:44

Flows and it will not cease So church if you have been seeking pleasures with lustful desires

01:00:54

Over obedience and fidelity to God Ask him for more grace

01:01:00

Ask him for more grace He will give it in greater proportion Ask him to fill you

01:01:07

With grace and truth so that you may overcome the sinful desires. This isn't a

01:01:13

Licentiousness, this isn't a an allowance over to your sin. This is remembering the gospel He's calling them to remember the gospel

01:01:22

We are not to war against each other or war against God and make him our enemy but war against sin

01:01:29

We've often settled for less church We've accepted diet

01:01:35

Christianity and it's time for the real thing You and I can break the cycle of sinful pleasure

01:01:42

I talked about that We can do that by his power in his grace for his glory and our good and it can start today

01:01:53

It can start today starts with asking and expecting to receive relief and Prayer is warfare call out to the

01:02:05

Lord ask the Shepherd to help you To enjoy his pasture Lord.

01:02:11

I don't want to take pleasure in the sinful things of the world anymore I don't want to take pleasure in the lusts of my flesh

01:02:17

Lord I want to take pleasure in you help me to find only my pleasure in you You can pray that Ask him to help you take pleasure in the things that he's made and in him and only in the ways that he's designated

01:02:36

And ask him for the grace to do it John Newton wrote an amazing grace through many dangers

01:02:45

Toils and snares. I have already come through many dangers toils and snares.

01:02:52

I have already come But his grace has brought me safe thus far and grace will lead me home

01:03:01

Grace will lead me home We won't endure to the end by our own efforts brothers and sisters

01:03:09

Grace must lead us home. Amen Let's pray

01:03:17

Lord Thank you for the message that went out Thank you

01:03:25

Lord for your grace God sometimes your grace feels like a little water well in the desert

01:03:39

But God that's our own wrong thinking Your grace is not a mirage or a small oasis in the desert surrounded by sands and desolation your grace is like a flowing waterfall that doesn't cease to flow and Yet God we in our minds always think that it's been stopped up God help us to see your grace

01:04:05

Help us to see Lord your grace in such a way that we don't be the adulterous is we don't

01:04:13

Do these things? Let your grace spur us on to good works. Let your grace

01:04:19

Cause us to practice full fidelity and love and faithfulness to Jesus Lord we repent

01:04:30

From ever being friends of the world forever loving the world and We ask

01:04:36

God expecting to receive that you will give us Lord. We ask for a love for you that takes no delight in the things of the world, but only delights in you and The pleasures you've made and in the ways you've made them and does it designate for us to enjoy them?