she that liveth in pleasure is dead while she liveth.

In my reading today I was very moved by this verse.

1Ti 5:6 [b]But she that liveth in pleasure is dead while she liveth. [/b]

and when looking at the words used

[b]she that liveth in pleasure4684[/b]

G4684
σπαταλάω
spat-al-ah'-o
From σπατάλη spatalē (luxury); [b]to be voluptuous: - live in pleasure, be wanton.[/b]

[b]Voluptuous[/b](websters)
Given to the enjoyments of luxury and pleasure; indulging to excess in sensual gratifications.
Soften'd with pleasure and voluptuous life.

[b]wanton[/b](websters)
Wandering from moral rectitude; licentious; dissolute; indulging in sensuality without restraint; as men grown wanton by prosperity.

More appropriately, deviating from the rules of chastity; lewd; lustful; lascivious; libidinous.
Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton. James 5.
Disposed to unchastity; indicating wantonness. Isa 3.
Loose; unrestrained; running to excess.
Luxuriant; overgrown.
Extravagant; as wanton dress.

I also noticed this is the same word used in this verse

Jas 5:5 [b]Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; ye have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter. [/b]

quite a verse!

been wanton;4684

and when reading this verse in its context it is even more powerful

Jas 5:1 Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you.
Jas 5:2 Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten.
Jas 5:3 Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days.
Jas 5:4 Behold, the hire of the labourers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth.
Jas 5:5 Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; ye have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter.
Jas 5:6 Ye have condemned and killed the just; and he doth not resist you.

the following is an outtake from MH commentary

[i]God does not forbid us to use pleasure; but to live in them as if we lived for nothing else is a very provoking sin; and to do this on the earth, where we are but strangers and pilgrims, where we are but to continue for a while, and where we ought to be preparing for eternity - this, this is a grievous aggravation of the sin of voluptuousness. Luxury makes people wanton, as in Hos_13:6, According to their pasture, so were they filled; they were filled, and their heart was exalted; therefore have they forgotten me. Wantonness and luxury are commonly the effects of great plenty and abundance; it is hard for people to have great plenty and abundance; it is hard for people to have great estates, and not too much indulge themselves in carnal, sensual pleasures: “You have nourished your hearts as in a day of slaughter: you live as if it were every day a day of sacrifices, a festival; and hereby your hearts are fattened and nourished to stupidity, dulness, pride, and an insensibility to the wants and afflictions of others.” Some may say, “What harm is there in good cheer, provided people do not spend above what they have?” What! Is it no harm for people to make gods of their bellies, and to give all to these, instead of abounding in acts of charity and piety? Is it no harm for people to unfit themselves for minding the concerns of their souls, by indulging the appetites of their bodies? Surely that which brought flames upon Sodom, and would bring these miseries for which rich men are here called to weep and howl, must be a heinous evil! Pride, and idleness, and fullness of bread, mean the same thing with living in pleasure, and being wanton, and nourishing the heart as in a day of slaughter. (4.) Another sin here charged on the rich is persecution: You have condemned and killed the just, and he doth not resist you[/i]

This is from Gill's Commentary

[i]Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth,.... This is said of other rich men; for all that is here said is not to be understood of the same individuals, but some things of one, and some of another; some made no use of their riches, either for themselves, or others; some did make use of them, and employed the poor, and then would not give them their wages; and others lived a voluptuous and luxurious life, indulged themselves in carnal lusts and pleasures, and gratified the senses by eating, drinking, gaming, and so were dead while they lived. The phrase suggests, that their pleasures were but short lived, but for a season, even while they were on earth; and that hereafter they would not live in pleasure:

and been wanton; through the abundance and plenty of good things, their delicious way of living, and the swing of pleasures which they took; the allusion is to fatted beasts, which being in good pastures, grow fat and wanton:

ye have nourished your hearts as in a day of slaughter, when beasts were slain for some extraordinary entertainment, or for the solemn festivals and sacrifices the Jews, when they lived more deliciously than at other times; and then the sense is, that these rich men fared sumptuously every day; every day was a festival with them; they indulged themselves in intemperance; they ate and drank, not merely what was necessary, and satisfying, and cheering to nature, but to excess, and gorged, and filled themselves in an extravagant manner: the Syriac version, instead of "hearts", reads "bodies" and one copy reads, "your flesh": and the last phrase may be rendered, as it is in the same version, "as unto", or "for the day of slaughter"; and so the Arabic version, "ye have nourished your hearts, as fattened for the day of slaughter": like beasts that are fattened in order to be killed, so were they preparing and fitting up by their sins for destruction.[/i]

What a word, what a thoughts!

[b]Jam 5:5 Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; ye have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter.[/b]

The word of God simply lashes and crashes! And there is not leaving much space for interpretation. Just the poor word! Divides the inner parts!

Jer 23:29 [b]Is not my word like as a fire? saith the LORD; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces? [/b]

This is from the NLT

Isa 2:6-22 The LORD has rejected the people of Israel because they have made alliances with foreigners from the East who practice magic and divination, just like the Philistines.Israel has vast treasures of silver and gold and many horses and chariots.The land is filled with idols. The people bow down and worship these things they have made.So now everyone will be humbled and brought low. The LORD cannot simply ignore their sins! Crawl into caves in the rocks. Hide from the terror of the LORD and the glory of his majesty. The day is coming when your pride will be brought low and the LORD alone will be exalted. In that day the LORD Almighty will punish the proud, bringing them down to the dust. He will cut down the tall cedars of Lebanon and the mighty oaks of Bashan. He will level the high mountains and hills. He will break down every high tower and wall. He will destroy the great trading ships and all the small boats in the harbor. The arrogance of all people will be brought low. Their pride will lie in the dust. The LORD alone will be exalted! Idols will be utterly abolished and destroyed. When the LORD rises to shake the earth, his enemies will crawl with fear into holes in the ground. They will hide in caves in the rocks from the terror of the LORD and the glory of his majesty. They will abandon their gold and silver idols to the moles and bats. They will crawl into caverns and hide among the jagged rocks at the tops of cliffs. In this way, they will try to escape the terror of the LORD and the glory of his majesty as he rises to shake the earth. Stop putting your trust in mere humans. They are as frail as breath. How can they be of help to anyone?

I was just reading James 5, what a sobering thoughts! Brethren, this is the word of the Lord, that is like hammer and breaks the rocks!

[b]James 5[/b]

Go to now, ye rich men, [b]weep[/b] and howl [b]for your miseries[/b] that shall come upon you.

[b]Your riches are corrupted[/b], and your garments are motheaten.

[b]Your gold and silver is cankered;[/b] and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days.

Behold, the hire of the labourers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth.

[b]Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth,[/b] and been wanton*; [b][u]ye have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter.[/u][/b]

Ye have condemned and killed the just; and he doth not resist you.

[b]Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord.[/b] Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain.

[b]Be ye also patient;[/b] stablish your hearts: [b][u]for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.[/u][/b]

Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned: behold, the judge standeth before the door.

Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, [b]for an example of suffering affliction, and of [u]patience.[/u][/b]

Behold, we count them happy [b]which endure.[/b] Ye have heard of the [b][u]patience[/u][/b] of Job, and [b]have seen the end of the Lord;[/b] that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy.

*G4684

σπαταλάω
spataláō; contracted spatalṓ, fut. spatalḗsō, from spatálē (n.f.), luxury in eating and drinking. To live in luxury or pleasure, be self-indulgent. Paul counsels Timothy about the widows that "live in pleasure" or "in self-gratification" (a.t. [1Ti_5:6]). In Jam_5:5 the rich men are warned against being "wanton" in their lifestyle.

σπαταλάω
spataláō; contracted spatalṓ, fut. spatalḗsō, from spatálē (n.f.), luxury in eating and drinking. To live in luxury or pleasure, be self-indulgent. Paul counsels Timothy about the widows that "live in pleasure" or "in self-gratification" (a.t. [1Ti_5:6]). In Jam_5:5 the rich men are warned against being "wanton" in their lifestyle.

2Th 2:11-12 And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness. ~ NKJV

This is an amazing post! Oh how we need to be aware of these things.
This is also described in 2 Peter 2: 13

"And shall receive the reward of unrighteousness, as they that count it pleasure to RIOT in the day time. Spots they are and blemishes, SPORTING themselves with their own deceivings while they feast with you;"

Riot:
truph?
Thayer Definition:
1) softness, effeminate, luxurious living

Sporting:
entrupha?
Thayer Definition:
1) to live in luxury, live delicately or luxuriously, to revel in
2) to take delight in

Verse 14
"Having eyes full of adultery, and that cannot cease from sin; beguiling unstable souls; an heart they have exercised with covetous practices; cursed children;"

ADULTERY - those who relapse into Idolatry
COVETOUS
pleonexia
Thayer Definition:
1) greedy desire to have more, covetousness, avarice

VERSE 15
"WHICH HAVE FORSAKEN THE RIGHT WAY, AND ARE GONE ASTRAY...................following the way of Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness;"

Oh how we need to be watching and praying. And to heed what Peter said, that he would not be negligent to remind us of these things, though we know them, so that we can continue to be established in the present truth.

In His amazing love,
Lowly

I have latley been very blessed by NLT and comparing with the KJV to dont err in understanding, but I think sometimes NLT just hits it right on and i want to post this passage from the NLT

2Th 2:5-12 Don't you remember that I told you this when I was with you? And you know what is holding him back, for he can be revealed only when his time comes. For this lawlessness is already at work secretly, and it will remain secret until the one who is holding it back steps out of the way. Then the man of lawlessness will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will consume with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming. [b]This evil man will come to do the work of Satan with counterfeit power and signs and miracles. He will use every kind of wicked deception to fool those who are on their way to destruction because they refuse to believe the truth that would save them. So God will send great deception upon them, and they will believe all these lies.hen they will be condemned for not believing the truth and for enjoying the evil they do.[/b]

....

Eze 7:19 They shall cast their silver in the streets, and their gold shall be removed: their silver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the LORD: they shall not satisfy their souls, neither fill their bowels: because it is the stumblingblock of their iniquity.

I have latley been very blessed by NLT and comparing with the KJV to dont err in understanding, but I think sometimes NLT just hits it right on and i want to post this passage from the NLT

I'd like to back-up Christian's assessment of the NLT and say that I also use it alongside the KJV in parallel form. There are quite a few passages I feel it hits with dead-on accuracy and opens whole new vistas of thought.

I think the NLT is unduly stigmatized, underrated; it can be very helpful to an unbiased student of God's Word who wants to soak in as much as he or she can - by any means necessary. But this thread isn't about NLT, so I'll leave it at that.

:-)

Brother Paul

Heb 13:5 Stay away from the love of money; be satisfied with what you have. For God has said,

"I will never fail you.
I will never forsake you."
Heb 13:6 That is why we can say with confidence,

"The Lord is my helper,
so I will not be afraid.
What can mere mortals do to me?"

THE first duty the Christian who has drawn near to God in Christ has to learn is, what his relation is to his fellow-men, how his life is to be one of love. The second concerns his relation to the world and its goods. The outer world surrounds him on every side, he is in contact with it every moment. With a never-ceasing solicitation it asks his care, his interest, his affections. It tempts him with its offer of pleasure and its threat of pain; it comes to him holding life and death in its hand. The world, which was meant to be transparent with the light of God's presence and goodness, has, since sin blinded man's eyes, become the veil that hides God from him. One of the first things the Christian, who is running the race, must watch most carefully, is the power that the world has, with its lawful needs and interests and pleasures, to become the weight that keeps him back, and too often cause the loss of the prize.

In money we have the concrete embodiment of all that the possessions of the world can offer. And so in the love of money we have the very spirit of the world. Our text says: Be ye free from the love of money. The temptation comes so unobserved, both to the rich man who has money, and to him who is still seeking for it. The tempter comes like a very angel of light. In money itself there is no sin. Is it not one of God's good gifts? May not the possession of it be the proof of honest labour and diligence and forethought, of self-denial and wise economy; a token of God's blessing on our work; a power to help others and benefit society. Is not poverty frequently a sign of sloth and sin? Is not money one great means for attaining God's purpose, that man should bring the whole world into subjection to himself?
Scripture knows and teaches all this. And yet it raises its voice aloud and cries: Beware of covetousness.

The love of money is a root of all kinds of evil (1Ti_6:9-10, 1Ti_6:16, 1Ti_6:17, 1Ti_6:18). So insidious is the approach and entrance of this sin, so many and specious are the arguments by which it can be cloaked and made to wear the garments of the truest virtue, that the Christian, to whom prosperity comes, needs ever to be on his guard. It is only the man who truly seeks first the kingdom of God, who longs after the utmost conformity to the Master, and seeks to be taught by Himself what and how to own, who holds all He has, not in name but in actual practice, at the disposal of Jesus, who will escape the snare. Be content with such things as ye have. Here is the safety of the Christian. Study well the Master's teaching in the Sermon on the Mount; learn from His Spirit in thee to breathe its spirit. Let the treasure in heaven, the being rich in God and in good works, let the blessedness of living in the love and the will of God, in the heavenly riches of a holy character, and a life of Christlike beneficence, fill the heart, and we shall be content in any lot, and shall in contentment find our safeguard against anxious care or love of money.

For Himself hath said, I will in no wise fail thee, nor in any wise forsake thee. Yes, when God is the portion of the soul, it may well be content with what it has of earth. It is the consciousness of the favour and nearness of God that makes the soul rise above all that the world can offer. To lead the truly Christian life, the life of faith amid daily duties and daily care, we need the presence of God as our better and abiding possession. Our earthly and our heavenly life are more closely linked than we know. Too much of interest in or attachment to earthly things inevitably weakens our hold on God. True fellowship with God at once brings us into the right relation to earthly things. Let our faith study and feed on the promise: Himself hath said, I will in no wise leave thee, nor in any wise forsake thee. The faith that clings to its fulfilment will overcome the world.

So that with good courage we say, The Lord is my helper; I shall not fear: what shall man do unto me? God's promise ever claims an answer. Here the answer is given us with which our hearts ought to respond to His I will in no wise leave thee; with good courage we say, the Lord is my helper, I shall not fear. Let us speak the words loud out, and repeat them until we feel that they are ours. Whether it be in temporal need, or in our many spiritual requirements, we are often tempted to faint and fear. A promise of God, such as we have here, is meant for the hour of trial. Everything may at times appear very dark; we cry and no answer comes; it almost looks as if God had forgotten us. Let, in the fulness of faith, the voice of the cloud of witnesses, all bidding us be of good courage and to wait patiently, enter our hearts, and let us say: Himself hath said, I will in no wise leave thee. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope that it waver not, for He is faithful that promised, and boldly say, The Lord is my helper, I will not fear.

Free from the love of money, content with what he has, holding fast what Himself has said, and with good courage answering, The Lord is my helper, such is the life which the man who has entered the Holiest is able to live amid the cares and needs of daily life.

1. The promise--I will in nowise leave thee was first given to Jacob, then to Joshua, and again to Solomon, and afterwards to Israel. It teaches us how every premise of the Old Testament may be appropriated by us. We in our daily life are to God of as deep interest as these on whom of old the working out of His purpose depended. The abiding, uninterrupted presence of God is our one great need in daily life. It is the one great blessing which in Christ is made doubly clear and sure.

2. Himself hath said: So that we say. As we listen to and repeat what God the Everlasting has said, we shall know what to say in response, and say it with good courage.

3. Be content: the power that conquers the love of money, and opens the heart for the faith in God's promise and abiding presence.

NLT

Mar 7:17-23[i] Then Jesus went into a house to get away from the crowds, and his disciples asked him what he meant by the statement he had made."Don't you understand either?" he asked. "Can't you see that what you eat won't defile you? Food doesn't come in contact with your heart, but only passes through the stomach and then comes out again." (By saying this, he showed that every kind of food is acceptable.) And then he added, "It is the thought-life that defiles you. For from within, out of a person's heart, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, wickedness, deceit, eagerness for lustful pleasure, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness.All these vile things come from within; they are what defile you and make you unacceptable to God."[/i]

[b]Real Pleasure[/b]

Psa 16:1 A psalm of David.

Keep me safe, O God,
for I have come to you for refuge.
Psa 16:2
I said to the LORD, "You are my Master!
All the good things I have are from you."
Psa 16:3
The godly people in the land
are my true heroes!
I take pleasure in them!
Psa 16:4
Those who chase after other gods will be filled with sorrow.
I will not take part in their sacrifices
or even speak the names of their gods.
Psa 16:5
LORD, you alone are my inheritance, my cup of blessing.
You guard all that is mine.
Psa 16:6
The land you have given me is a pleasant land.
What a wonderful inheritance!
Psa 16:7
I will bless the LORD who guides me;
even at night my heart instructs me.
Psa 16:8
I know the LORD is always with me.
I will not be shaken, for he is right beside me.
Psa 16:9
No wonder my heart is filled with joy,
and my mouth shouts his praises!
My body rests in safety.
Psa 16:10
For you will not leave my soul among the dead
or allow your godly one to rot in the grave.
Psa 16:11
You will show me the way of life,
granting me the joy of your presence
and the pleasures of living with you forever.

NLT

We meditate upon these verses at the same time, just one year ago.

Here is a verse that we read this night at our gathering:

1Pe 1:18 knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your [b]futile way of life inherited from your forefathers[/b],
1Pe 1:19 but with [b]precious blood[/b], as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.

1Pe 1:18 For you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the [b]empty life you inherited from your ancestors.[/b] And the ransom he paid was not mere gold or silver.
1Pe 1:19 He paid for you with the precious lifeblood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God.