Gods Hedge

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Gods Hedge

• Job 1
• Definition to hedge or fence up, about
  something
• Originally, to surround with a wall of thorns to
  protect something
• Gods hedge defended Job from evil and blessed
  him w. abundance

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If Job had been poor and desolate

• Satan would accuse God of paying His servants
  miserable wages
• Jobs perseverance shows that God is worth
  serving even w/o a hedge!
• Job 4212
• God can restore a hedge . . . if one repents

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Parallel Passages

• Isa. 51-5 (Jn.155-8)
• Conditioned on our fruit
• Lam. 37
• A hedge can be a death trap
• Mt 2133
• Our job we are accountable
• 1 Pt.15

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I Gods Word Is A Hedge

• Dt.64-12, our protection does not come from a
  trivial acquaintance w. His Word
• Total immersion
• V.6, in your heart
• Mt.44

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II Faith In His Word

• Ja.121-22
• Repentance (21a)
• Reception (21b)
• Response (22)

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Faith is a Shield (Ep.616)

• It does not defend one part of the body, as most
  other pieces
• Faith is not . . .
• 1. A leap in the dark
• Based on solid evidence
• 2. Mere desire
• 3. Gullible. Ep.414. 1 Sm.5-6

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IV Prayer (James)

• 1. Pray for wisdom, Ja.15. Trials
• call for a proper response, 2a
• will come, 2b
• come in varieties, 2c
• 1 Pt.16 410
• can bring blessings, 3-4. Ro.5

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2. Pray without worldliness, Ja.41-4

• 1, wars and fights come (314-16)
• 1, desires for pleasure . . . wars
• I want my way
• 2a-c, worldly lust, murder, covet-ousness, and
  fighting do not get us what we want
• 2d, failure to ask, 3, asking amiss (for
  pleasures), and 4, worldliness

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3. Pray for weak and wayward, Ja.513-18

• Discusses two kinds of prayer
• Non-miraculous, 13
• If suffering, pray (non-miraculous, like singing)
• Miraculous, 14
• If sick, call for elders to pray
• If non-miraculous, why elders? (Col.414)

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The elders and the sick

• 14b, anoint w. oil
• Lk.1034
• Could not cure many illnesses
• Mk.613, symbolic
• Jn.96
• James credits the cure to prayer of faith, not
  oil

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Spiritual gifts

• Source, Ac.818
• Healing (1 Co.129)
• Not all had gifts (1 Co.1228-30)
• Natural for elders
• W/o revelation, no instructions to guide flock
• If not a miracle, why call elders?
• Gifts not available today oil no longer needed
  as a symbol

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The prayer of faith will save the sick (15a)

• Mt.1719-20, faith of healer
• If spiritual healing, why if (15c)?
• The sick man may not have sinned

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Non-miraculous (15b-16a)

• Prayer for sinner will forgive (spiritual
  healing)
• the prayer of a righteous person has great power
  as it is working (16b, ESV)
• 17-18, Elijah 1 K.1714-16
• James 517
• 1 K.1842-45, natural means
• Ep.119-20 320