James (Program #7) – Practical Virtues of Christian Perfection (7)

The Apostle James was a man of tremendous Christian character and virtue. He was genuinely pious and godly, and he obviously possessed great human wisdom. His epistle was perhaps the most practical in the New Testament in terms of Christian perfection. But as we have seen repeatedly in this current life-study of the book of James, when we compared his writing with that of the other New Testament writers, it becomes quite clear that for all his virtue and piety, James lacked a clear view of God’s goal and God’s way. A goal and a way that Paul described as God’s economy. All we need to do is consider how each of these two important figures in the New Testament present the matter of wisdom. In James 1:5 he said, “But if any one of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and does not reproach, and it will be given to him“.

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Philippians (Program #54) – A Life Full of Forbearance But Without Anxiety (1)

In our reading of the book of Philippians it might seem that Paul’s thought in chapter 4:1-7 is not nearly as high as what was expressed in the first three chapters. In chapter 1 for example he speaks of “living Christ and magnifying Him”. In chapter 2 of “taking Christ as our pattern and shining as light in the world and holding forth the word of life.”  And in chapter three “the excellency of the knowledge of Christ and pursuing toward the goal for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. But then in chapter 4 he uses the expressions that apparently seem quite ordinary. He says “rejoice in the Lord, let your forbearance be known to all man and in nothing be anxious.”  Suppose you are pursuing toward the goal for the prize and suddenly someone encourages you not to be anxious. Would you not consider this an interruption and say “I am pursuing Christ, I want to arrive at the out resurrection. Why talk to me about anxiety?”  Well, we are going to focus on this practical Christ reveal in chapter 4. more…

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