![]() ![]() On the other hand, if you listen to beautiful Scriptures, set to music, it will cause you to draw closer to God. ![]() If you listen to songs that promote drugs, alcohol, homosexuality, and other sin: you will soon find yourself involved in one, or more, of these activities. Music influences the lives of the people listening. So much of the music today is influencing our children in the wrong things. We see then, if we are undergoing hardship, we are to pray. “Afflicted” in the verse above, means to undergo hardship. James 5:13 “Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. We do not want to be condemned of God for thinking too highly of ourselves. Matthew 5:36 “Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black.”Īnything more than a simple yes or no is presuming that we have more power than we do. Matthew 5:34 “But I say unto you, Swear not at all neither by heaven for it is God’s throne:” We know of the warning in the Sermon on the Mount about swearing. He admonishes believers not to curse or invoke God’s wrath on those who mistreat them. But he connects it (with verses 7-11 possibly also verses 1-6), as an important instruction concerning the suffering of affliction. “Above all things”: James is not saying that the pronouncement of oaths involves his greatest teaching in the book. To speak otherwise is to invite God’s judgment. 5:37), James called for straight-forward, honest, plain speech. “Yea be yea”: Again, echoing Jesus (Matt. 5:33-36 23:16-22), James condemned the contemporary Jewish practice of swearing false, evasive, deceptive oaths by everything other than the name of the Lord (which alone was considered binding). “Swear not … any other oath”: As Jesus did before him (Matt. “Above all”: Or “especially.” As he has done repeatedly in his epistle, James stressed that a person’s speech provides the most revealing glimpse of his spiritual condition (1:26 2:12 3:2-11 4:11). James 5:12 “But above all things, my brethren, swear not, neither by heaven, neither by the earth, neither by any other oath: but let your yea be yea and nay, nay lest ye fall into condemnation.” He is there in time of need for all of us. Over, and over, in the Bible, we see statements where the Lord has heard the cries of His people and answered them. It is by His mercy that any of us are given the opportunity of salvation. We do know that the Lord is full of mercy and grace. “Endure” has a meaning which means continuance. He was, perhaps, the most patient person in persecution in all the Bible. In the last lesson, we spoke of the patience of Job. The Scriptures repeatedly affirm His compassion and mercy. “Very pitiful, and of tender mercy”: Remembering the Lord’s character is a great comfort in suffering. James reassured his readers that God had a purpose for their suffering, just as He did for Job’s (read Job chapter 42). “The patience of Job”: Job is the classic example of a man who patiently endured suffering and was blessed by God for his persevering faith. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy.” James 5:11 “Behold, we count them happy which endure. ![]()
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