Good morning. We are going to continue our sermon series in the book of James this morning.
So if you're at home or if you have a phone, you can turn to James 4.
If you brought your Bible, you can turn to James 4. We'll be looking at James 4, 1 through 10.
And the passage will also be up on the screen for those of us who are here in person.
James 4 is our passage this morning. Let's go ahead and read God's Word together.
James 4, starting in verse 1.
You adulterous people.
Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God?
Therefore, whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scriptures say he yearns jealously over the Spirit that he is made to dwell in us?
But he gives more grace.
And therefore, it says, God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.
Submit yourselves, therefore, to God.
Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
Draw near to God and he will draw near to you.
Cleanse your hands, you sinners.
And purify your hearts, you double-minded.
Be wretched and mourn and weep.
Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom.
Humble yourselves before the Lord and he will exalt you.
This is God's Word.
Please pray with me.
Lord, as we come to this Word this morning, we are struck by its tone of admonition, of exhortation, of confrontation.
God, I pray this morning that you would prepare our hearts to receive your Word.
God, I pray for your Holy Spirit to be at work in our hearts.
Lord, that we would sit humbly under your Word.
We would receive it and that you would show us, Lord, how it reveals our sin and our need for your grace.
God, I pray that the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart would be acceptable in your sight.
Oh, Lord, my rock and my redeemer.
We pray this in Jesus' name.
Amen.
What is this passage about?
Well, James tells us in the very first sentence.
He says,
What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you?
And I was reflecting on the fact that, golly, we don't have to look very far, particularly in our pandemic world today,
to think about quarrels and fights going on.
We hear stories of security guards assaulted for requiring someone to wear a mask as they enter into a business.
I read a news report of a hotel clerk up in Mystic who was assaulted by two guests because their room did not have hot water.
Certainly, our time at home has given us many, many opportunities for fights and quarrels with those that we live with.
And when we read the news, as we open our browsers, or some of us are old-fashioned enough to actually read a paper,
we see that our social and political world is full of conflict, quarrels, and fights.
And while we need to recognize that, as Pastor Nick mentioned last week, there are fights worth fighting,
and there are things worth addressing,
many, many times,
we see that there is another root of that.
And so James asks,
What causes these things?
Why do we as human beings default towards quarreling and fighting with one another?
And it doesn't seem like James is addressing a particular incident in the church,
because there's not a lot of content to it.
He's saying this is a pattern.
This is something that is characterizing not only the world at large as humanity,
but even the church itself.
And think about what we've already seen him talk about.
How discrimination against maybe rich or poor,
people who have greater prominence and less prominence,
and how there have been divisions caused in the church that he's already begun to address.
And James comes like an expert doctor, a soul surgeon.
He examines the symptoms.
He probes deeper to try to find underlying causes,
gives a diagnosis,
and then turns the corner and says,
Here's the prescription.
This is how we do it.
And so this is what we're going to do this morning,
is see how James takes us through this process of understanding his diagnosis,
what causes these problems.
And then he will give us a prognosis.
How do we move forward from here?
So first, what is the diagnosis?
And as James looks here, there is layers.
In verses 1 through 4, there are layers of things that he is addressing.
But fundamentally, he's saying this.
We are self-centered and God-ignoring
in our fundamental orientation and attitude of life.
We approach our everyday life and our everyday interactions
thinking more about ourselves than anyone else.
And in the meantime, we ignore God in the process.
Why do I say this?
Well, here's Dr. James trying to get under the skin a little bit.
Verses 1 and 2 tells us,
why do we have fights and quarrels?
Because we want something and we can't get it.
Right?
And anyone who's had a two-year-old knows what that looks like.
But maybe there are other times when we see that more clearly.
When the girl we were hoping to ask out on a date
gets asked out by someone else first.
Or maybe when you find yourself at work
starting to run down a colleague to your other co-workers
because they're getting all the praise and all the attention
and you're feeling jealous.
Maybe some of you are struggling financially or materially
and you are finding yourself jealous of those who have more than you do.
Or maybe it's just you really want to be right in this conversation.
Whatever it is, you just want to be right.
And you just can't let go of attacking and questioning
and proving and defending and explaining and justifying again.
All of these things are examples, I think,
of how our hearts want things
and when we can't get them,
the ugliness emerges
and we find ourselves in conflict with others.
Now look, it's not always actual fistfights and wars.
James uses very strong militaristic language.
Most of us don't experience that.
Sometimes we do, right?
And sometimes we see that on a more societal level
that it comes to actual violence and real wars.
But here mostly he's talking about interpersonally
and the war that our words wage with one another
and our actions.
So he says, well, here are some of the symptoms.
This is what we see.
You don't have and you want it
and so you try to take it for yourselves.
And this is where he gets to the,
you don't have because you don't ask.
Instead of thinking that someone might give you something good,
you think, I have to go get it myself
and it's up to me.
And do you see the self-orientation in that?
And then he says,
and for those of you who are Christians
and you're asking God for things,
do you not understand
He is not answering prayers
partly because you are asking purely for selfish motives.
You are not asking for God's glory.
You are not asking for the good of others.
You are simply asking, this is what I want.
God, give it to me now.
And so God is not answering,
even if you're asking
because this fundamental self-orientation is so deep.
He's used this word passions,
these passions that drive us.
And this word in the New Testament
is almost always used for evil desires,
for selfish desires.
What we saw in the end of chapter 3,
jealousy and selfish ambition
are two of the driving passions.
But we could think of other passions,
things that we long for,
things that we lust for,
selfishly for our own gain and our own good.
They are self-oriented and self-procured.
And is this not, of course,
brothers and sisters,
the root of sin that we know
going all the way back to the Garden of Eden?
Is this not what Adam and Eve
were tempted by and fell into?
God had provided them a place
where everything was provided for them.
And yet, when the enemy came in
and laid a seed of doubt,
says, is God really good?
Is He really going to give you everything
that is good?
Is He withholding from you?
Maybe you need to go and take this yourself.
Maybe you have to do it apart from God.
And that's what Adam and Eve did
when they rebelled against Him,
broke His commandment,
took the fruit,
and in doing so,
separated themselves out and said,
rather than being under God
and receiving from Him,
I want to be like God
and provide for myself
and be the center.
One commentator,
Alec Motier,
says this,
the one thing our hearts
are solidly loyal to
is our own personal satisfaction.
And then,
James takes it one more level
in verse 4.
He says,
you adulterous people,
you who have allowed your passions
to run away from the God of the universe
who wants to come and provide for you,
you have run away from Him,
your faithful spouse,
to try to find
your selfish satisfaction
in others around you.
And this is where he turns
to this concept
of friendship with the world.
If you want,
and the world,
you must understand
that in the Bible,
particularly in the New Testament,
when the word world is used,
most of the time,
and it's certainly in this case,
world is used as a system,
a world system,
a world view,
a way that we work,
a world that works
in rebellion against God.
That's how it's used
often in the New Testament.
And it makes a verse
like John 3, 16,
God so loved the world
that He sent His only Son
that whoever believes in Him
would not perish
but have eternal life.
God isn't just loving His creation
that somehow kind of lost its way.
He's loving His creation
has rejected Him,
refused Him,
denied Him,
expelled Him
from their worldview.
And James says,
the quarrels that you have,
the selfish desires
that you pursue,
the passions that you allow
to control you
are rooted in this
fundamental rejection of God.
God.
And we cannot be friends
with a world
that rejects God
and be a friend of God
as well.
They are fundamentally incompatible.
And so, He says,
if you want to be friends
with the world,
then you are at odds
with God.
You cannot be a friend
of the world
and not be an enemy
of God
because to love the world
is to love those
for whom God is the enemy
and to love the thought patterns
and the processes.
Verse 5
reinforces this incompatibility
of God with self-orientation.
Now, if you have a couple
of different Bible verses,
you will start to see
very quickly,
this is one of the trickiest
Bible verses to translate.
The translations
are all over the place.
The ESV,
as we read earlier,
has the idea
that God is being jealous
for the spirit of humanity
that He has placed
in each one of us.
That He wants us
to be wholeheartedly
faithful towards Him,
picking up on the idea
of adultery.
That's true.
All right?
But if you read
the New King James,
what you will see
is that
what James is saying
is you can't be
a friend of God
and the world
because don't you see
that you have
this spirit of envy
in you,
this spirit of jealousy
that is contrary to God
and so it's talking
about the nature
of jealousy
as being evil,
not good,
and the source
of that jealousy
being us,
not God.
those are two
pretty different ideas.
They're both true,
broader,
biblically,
so we're not
way out on a limb here.
But I have been convinced
thinking through
who's the subject?
Well, I think it's that
God is the subject
of the jealousy
and yet
God is a subject
of the spirit.
This is one of the questions
is whether the spirit
is the human spirit
or the Holy Spirit.
And I think it is
the Holy Spirit
at work here,
but the jealousy
is evil.
And so he proposes
this kind of a translation.
Does not Scripture say,
does the spirit
that he made
in us
dwell
or yearn
with sinful jealousy?
Do you see
what he's saying there
in that translation?
He's saying,
how can you have
the Holy Spirit
of God in you
and claim
to have this
jealous spirit
that is of the world?
They are incompatible.
And I think that's
the clearest understanding.
He's continuing
this incompatibility theme
of there are two ways
to live
and one of them
is causing
these fights and quarrels
and it's rooted
in this fundamental
rejection of God.
So this is the upshot
of these verses.
We have a sinful
self-orientation
that excludes God,
that depends on ourselves,
seeks to get its own.
We are driven
by passion
for selfish desires
and we use
and abuse others
in order to get it.
And ultimately,
we use our words
and our actions
for ourself
and not for God.
Now how do we do,
how do we diagnose
whether this might be
true for us
in a particular instance
or a particular part
of our lives?
Here are some
diagnostic tools
for us to ask ourselves
how much of this
is true of me?
And I will say this,
friends,
if we're thinking
that's not true at all,
just ask.
God loves to show us
where we need to grow.
Just ask Him
because I believe
that this is an ongoing battle
of sanctification
for Christians
till glory comes.
So here are the questions.
One,
look at our relationships.
Is there fighting
and quarreling
in your relationships?
At work,
at home,
in your marriage,
if you're a child
between you
and your siblings,
with your extended family,
with your brothers
and sisters at church,
is there fighting
and quarreling?
And again,
there are times
when conflict
is a positive thing
towards peacemaking.
So I want to make sure
that I'm not saying
that all conflict
is always a bad thing.
There are times
to address things
that are wrong.
There are times
and there is a way
to do that
that is not driven
by the selfishness
and self-orientation
that James is talking
about here.
But most of the time
we need,
well,
let me say it this way,
all of the time
we need to be asking ourselves,
is that the spirit
that is driving us
in any particular conflict?
We must ask
God to help us
search our hearts.
And honestly,
friends,
this is where asking others
who are not a part
of the conflict
to give you
honest feedback
and to help you
see your own heart,
it's also an important
tool for us to know.
Look at your relationships.
See whether these things
are true or not.
But not only
in our relationships,
look at our other investments
to see how much
our self-orientation
controls our lives.
Where do we use
our money?
Where do we use
our time?
Where do we use
our social capital?
And by that,
I mean our friendships,
our reputation,
our network.
Do we jealously guard those
for our own selfish promotion?
Or do we use these things
for the good of others
and for the glory of God?
Can you see the centrality
of God in your life
by the way that you use
your resources?
Jesus said,
where your treasure is,
there will be your heart also.
And we need to remember,
He didn't say the,
I think it's the obverse.
I looked this up.
Obverse or converse?
Anyway, linguists,
you can clear that up later.
He didn't say,
where your treasure is,
no,
where your heart is,
there will be your treasure.
Because that's what
we all want to say.
Well,
I want to be a good person.
I want to help people.
What He says is,
here's a diagnostic tool.
Look at where your treasures
actually go.
That's what your heart
actually loves.
And finally,
we need to ask ourselves
this question.
Are we harboring
and justifying sin
in our lives?
Fundamentally,
the world is saying,
I don't want God.
I want to do it
my own way.
And there are all sorts
of ways in which
that could play it out
that are clearly outside
of God's commands
and God's gracious
and kind rule
in our lives.
And this passage asks us,
do you love sin
more than God?
If so,
you are in friendship
with the world
and at odds
with the God
of the universe.
So relationships,
investments,
and simply asking
the question,
am I harboring
and justifying sin?
James comes at us
hard in this passage.
He does not pull
his punches.
He is not looking
to make us feel better
about ourselves.
He is asking us
to do a rigorous
self-examination
and understand
the root of the problem.
But like a good doctor,
he not only has
a good diagnosis,
but he's able
to bring to us
a prescription,
a way forward,
something for us
to look forward to.
The prognosis
that James gives us
is in,
starts in verse 6.
You can look there
with me if you want.
But he gives
more grace.
Friends,
taking hold
of God's grace
in humility
and repentance
is God's remedy
to free us
from the brokenness
of the life
of quarreling
and fighting,
and more broadly
in James,
the brokenness
of being double-minded
and unstable.
It is God's grace
that brings us
to wholeness
in Christ.
He gives us
more grace,
and of course,
grace is defined
by undeserved favor.
It is what God
brings to us,
not because
we have tried hard enough
or looked good enough
or gone to church enough
or ticked off
the boxes
of faithful Christian
discipleship
in just the right way
so that God has said,
oh, now I can give you grace.
We don't ever deserve grace.
And God not only
gives it to us,
but he gives us more.
God's grace
is never insufficient
for us.
It is the opposite
of the grasping passions
that we've seen
in verses 1 through 5
where it's,
I want, I want,
I gotta go get it.
Instead,
it's sitting back
and saying,
God, I can't do anything
to deserve this,
and I can't even get
what I want on my own.
Would you give to me
what I can't get?
Will you provide for me
when I humble myself
before you?
And this is the picture,
of course,
that we see
in the very core message
of Christianity,
isn't it?
This is the gospel
of Jesus Christ.
Christ.
While we were still
dead in our sins
and trespasses,
while we were still
enemies of God,
Christ died
for us.
Christ came,
and on the basis
of his life
and death
and resurrection,
God now holds out
for us a calling
to forsake
our sinful independence
and come to him
in humble faith.
And to take hold
of Christ
by faith
gives us
wonderful,
gracious gifts.
We receive
undeserved forgiveness
of sin
so that we no longer
bear guilt
or fear
the judgment
of God
on our sin.
God's grace
also imparts
to us
a new heart
so that our passions
are no longer
enslaved to sin
but are now able,
awakened,
to be able
to love
and pursue
God's kingdom.
God's grace
gives us
the undeserved
indwelling
of the
His Holy Spirit
so that not only
are we awakened
to God's kingdom
but we are empowered
to pursue
Him.
We are actually
able
to go after
what God
calls us to
not because
we have it
inside ourselves
but because
God has given
it to us
in the Holy Spirit.
And so we see
James
at the end
of verse 6
quoting
from Proverbs
3, 34
that He
opposes
the proud
those who
would seek
to be ruled
by their passions
and be friends
with the world
and pursue life
apart from God.
He opposes
the proud
but He gives
grace
to the humble.
And this of course
is God's means.
God provides
for us
the ability
to
take hold
of His grace
to appropriate
it,
to receive it.
How?
By walking
a path
of humility.
By humbling
ourselves
before God.
What does this
look like?
Well,
fundamentally
we need to say
it is not
what we sometimes
think.
It is not
thinking
I'm a worm,
I'm a worm.
Right?
It is not
simply being
sorry,
I know,
I've blown it.
Again,
it is not
just acknowledging
I know
what I did
was wrong
and it's hurt
people.
It's not
thinking
that if
we're sorry
enough,
suddenly God's
going to fix
everything.
But it is
an active
path of
humbling
ourselves
or even
humiliating
ourselves
before God.
What does
that mean?
It means
positioning
ourselves
rightly
before God.
It means
when we
look at
God
and we
look at
His
grandeur
and His
greatness
and His
perfection
and all
the good
things that
He is,
we realize
we are not
those things.
We are
but a
creature
and a
fallen
broken
one
at that.
And in
humility
then we
come to
God
and we
say,
God,
You are
great
and I
need
everything
that You
have
and I
have
nothing
to
bring.
James
breaks it
down
in three
steps for
us in
these
passages.
First,
in verse
7,
he says,
submit.
Submit
to God.
Technically,
it means
to put
in order
under
something,
some
controlling
thing.
To
submit to
God is
to say,
not my
will,
not my
understanding,
not my
way,
but Your
will be
done.
And
submission
biblically
does mean
obedience.
It means
listening to
what God
says and
doing it.
But really
to get the
fullness of
it,
it might
be better
to be
thought of
in this
context as
allegiance.
God,
I am
enlisting
under
Your
flag.
I
am
joining
Your
army.
I
am
on
Your
team.
And
You
are
the
captain.
You
are
the
coach.
You
are
the
general.
You
are
the
one
who
are
leading.
And
I
will
follow
you
to
death.
My
life
is
now
yours
to
do
what
you
want
with
it.
It
is
glad
submission
to
God's
rule
in
our
lives.
And
of
course
it
says
in
the
second
part
of
verse
7
it
says
and
this
means
resisting
the
enemy.
We've
already
seen
the
enemy
mentioned
a
couple
of
times
in
James
how
the
wisdom
from
above
is
demonic
a
part
of
a
world
system
and
a
spiritual
system
that's
in
rebellion
against
God.
But
when
we
in
humility
enlist
in
God's
army
we
are
called
then
to
fight
the
battle
against
and
bullies
and
lies
and
frightens
us
into
self-centered
living
because
this is
what
the
enemy
does.
He
pulls
out
all
the
stops
to
get
us
to
stop
trusting
God
and
to
just
think
about
ourselves.
It
means
stopping
our
ears
when
we
hear
the
whispers
did
God
really
say
so
first
of
all
humility
the
path
of
humility
is
one
of
submission
but
secondly
it's
also
in
verse
8
it's
drawing
near
it
is
not
grasping
for
ourselves
but
it
is
running
to
God
to
receive
from
him
and
he
says
how
do
we
do
this
we'll
look
at
the
second
half
of
verse
8
he
says
first
we
have
to
not
first
but
drawing
near
to
God
means
we
have
to
put
off
sin
and
we
need
to
cleanse
our
hands
that's
the
external
and
purify
our
hearts
that's
the
internal
work
we
need
to
hate
sin
and
run
to
God
as
we
do
this
and
friends
we know
that we
can't
do
this
ourselves
you
know
the
great
picture
in
the
voyage
of
the
dawn
treader
when
Eustace
Clarence
scrub
the
most
distasteful
human
being
in
all
of
Narnia's
books
is
transformed
into a
dragon
by magic
so that
Aslan
the lion
can come
and free
him
from his
selfish
orientation
but because
he's been
magically
transformed
into a
dragon
he needs
to be
freed
from his
dragon skin
for him
to be
renewed
and it's
a painful
process
C.S.
Lewis
depicts
that the
lion's
claws
have to
dig
deep
to
scrape
off
the
dragon
skin
and it
hurts
and it
makes him
feel
very
vulnerable
and he's
frightened
by the
process
of being
unclothed
by
Aslan
the
Jesus
figure
in the
story
the
savior
figure
Friends
this is
what
drawing
near
to
God
means
it
means
us
being
willing
for
him
to
lay
bare
the
depth
of
our
sin
and
bringing
them
before
the
cross
to
find
both
forgiveness
purification
and
transformation
so that
those
sins
become
no
longer
controlling
passions
and
no
longer
patterns
of
behavior
in
our
lives
and
friends
when we
do
that
we
must
recognize
that
God
has
given
us
means
to
do
this
again
Motier
says
this
the
first
element
in the
conflict
is
this
central
battle
to
live
near
to
God
we
have
to
fight
for
the
battle
of
regularity
and
discipline
of
Bible
reading
of
prayer
of
public
and
private
worship
of
feasting
at
the
Lord's
table
of
devoting
ourselves
to
Christian
fellowship
cultivating
every
appointed
avenue
whereby
we
may
draw
near
to
him
fellowship
with
God
and
its
consequent
blessing
of
his
fellowship
with
us
does
not
just
happen
we
cannot
drift
into
it
any
more
than
we
drift
into
holiness
to
pursue
these
things
is
our
first
obedience
he
says
so
the
path
of
humility
is
submission
it's
drawing
near
and finally
it's
mourning
look at
verse
nine
James
again
he does
not
pull
his
punches
here
we
must
hate
sin
and
mourn
its
presence
in
our
lives
James
helps
us
to
remember
that
sin
is
so
ugly
it
is
so
offensive
to
a
holy
God
it
is
so
contrary
to
the
beauty
and
the
glory
of
his
kingdom
and
his
righteousness
it
is
what
breaks
God's
heart
more
than
anything
else
and
it
stains
our
lives
like
sewage
thrown
onto
a
bridal
gown
it
destroys
beauty
the way
a buzz
saw
would
in a
flower
garden
our
petty
arguments
and quarrels
stain
as much
as murder
and
violence
James
says
there is
to be
no
careless
laughter
about
our
sin
no
casual
joy
while
we
excuse
our
little
pleasures
apart
from
God
but
it
is
instead
to
recognize
that
these
are
the
very
things
that
Christ
died
to
save
us
from
and
for
us
to
treat
them
lightly
makes
us
friends
of the
world
and
enemies
of
God
brings
us
to
verse
10
in
the
end
he
says
humble
yourself
then
before
the
Lord
and
he
will
exalt
you
friends
God
calls
us
to
this
unwavering
and
whole
hearted
allegiance
to
him
in
humility
and
we
know
we
know
that
we
can't
do
this
we
know
that
our
heart
will
continually
turn
off
the
path
our
heart
will
continually
say
no
I'd
rather
be
in
control
thank
you
very
much
no
I
want
it
my
way
thank
you
very
much
God
I
want
things
to
happen
the
way
I
think
it
should
happen
God
and
I'm
going
to
do
whatever
it
takes
for
that
to
happen
and
gracious
and
loving
Savior
Philippians
2
the
passage
that
Daniel
read
early
reminds
us
in
there
the
apostle
Paul
exhorted
us
to
very
similar
types
of
living
humbly
in
the
first
four
verses
and
he
says
remember
Christ
who
didn't
even
count
equality
with
God
something
to
be
grasped
that
is
he
didn't
hold
on
to
his
privilege
as
a
second
person
of
the
Trinity
but
instead
he
emptied
himself
and
he
came
to
earth
and
he
took
on
the
form
of
a
created
being
when
he
took
on
the
form
of
humanity
he
entered
into
this
fallen
world
with
us
and
he
suffered
with
us
and
he
submitted
himself
to
God's
will
even
to
the
point
of
dying
on
the
cross
for
people
who
hated
him
and
had
rejected
him
and
friends
if
Christ
would
do
that
for
us
to
rescue
us
from
our
sin
will
you
trust
him
will
you
put
yourself
in a
place
of
humility
before
him
and
say
I
will
follow
in
your
train
you
are
my
captain
and
I
will
go
along
the
path
of
the
cross
I
will
humble
myself
I
will
submit
I
will
draw
near
I
will
mourn
my
sin
and
run
from
it
and
I
will
run
to
you
I
will
run
to
you
so that
I may
find
the very
things that
I'm longing
for
for friends
this is the foolishness
of sin
it's the things
we fight over
and quarrel
over and grasp
at and think
we want to
get
the exaltation
of God
is far
better
than
anything
we will
ever create
for ourselves
in our
lives
may
we
follow
James
command
today
to
humble
ourselves
before
the mighty
hand
of God
that
he
may
in
due
time
exalt
us
let's
pray
together
Lord
we
thank
you
for
this
word
Lord
I
pray
for
your
Holy
Spirit
that
even
though
it's
a
beautiful
sunny
day
and
it
would
be
easy
to
walk
away
from
this
word
and
forget
it
Lord
I
pray
that
by
your
spirit
you
would
help
us
to
meditate
on
these
words
and
remember
them
Lord
I
pray
that
you
would
use
them
Lord
to
root
out
sin
in
our
lives
Lord
that
you
would
use
it
to
transform
our
hearts
that
you
would
develop
in
us
a
humility
that's
like
the
humility
of
Christ
that
you
would
do
this
Lord
for
us
Lord
so
that
we
might
be
to
your
glory
we
pray
this
in
Jesus
name
Amen