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who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. Or do
you think Scripture says without reason that the spirit he caused to live in us
envies intensely? But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says:
‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.’ Submit yourselves,
then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
Come near t o God
and he wi l l c ome near t o y ou .
Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify
your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your
laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom.
Humb l e y our s e l v e s be f o r e t he
Lo rd , and he wi l l l i f t y ou up .
Brothers, do not slander one another.
Anyone who speaks against his brother or judges him speaks against the law
and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in
judgment on it. There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able
to save and destroy. But you—who are you to judge your neighbor?”
(James
4:4-12)
Do not judge your neighbor in an eternal sense, but do not discount
their misgivings or accept them. We must love the sinner but hate the sin;
never accept what they offer until it is made right. The force that misjudges
the goodness or godliness within you knows it do you know what it is?
Time stands still for no man, and the spiritual condition of this world is
unacceptable in God’s sight; there is a solution, but who will listen? So, this
is true: “Who is it he is trying to teach? To whom is he explaining his
message? To children weaned from their milk, to those just taken from the
breast? For it is: Do and do, do and do, rule on rule, rule on rule a little
here, a little there. Very well then, with foreign lips and strange tongues
God will speak to this people, to whom he said, ‘This is the resting-place, let
the weary rest;’ and, ‘This is the place of repose’
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but they would not listen.
So then, the word of the LORD to them will become: Do and do, do and
do, rule on rule, rule on rule; a little here, a little there
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so that they will go
and fall backward, be injured and snared and captured.”
“Once again this is repeated: “Therefore hear the word of the LORD, you
scoffers who rule this people in Jerusalem. You boast: ‘We have entered
into a covenant with death, with the grave we have made an agreement.
When an overwhelming scourge sweeps by, it cannot touch us, for we have
made a lie our refuge and falsehood our hiding place.’ So this is what the
Sovereign LORD says: ‘See,
I l ay a s t one i n Zi on , a t e s t ed s t one , a
pr e c i ous c o rne r s t one f o r a sur e f ounda t i on ; t he one who t rus t s wi l l ne v e r
be d i smay ed
.
I will make justice the measuring line and righteousness the
plumb line; hail will sweep away your refuge, the lie, and water will overflow
your hiding place. Your covenant with death will be annulled; your