James 4:1-10
Morning Greeting:
Good morning. Start of summer! I bet the kids are glad. I am too. So good to have the nice temperature where we can get out more, enjoy God’s creation, breathe in the fresh air that He gives, observe all the green grass and trees and life in full bloom. Enjoy longer days and the extra time with family and friends.
What are you thankful to God for this morning? I hope you have many things to be thankful to God for. Thankfulness drives our worship. Let’s open in a prayer of thanks to God and sing out to Him in worship.
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Introduction:
Two paths lie before us. Last week we talked about these paths in these terms: on the one hand, you have the path of earthly and demonic wisdom. Jealousy and selfish ambition are what set your feet down this path. Things always look better as you look down this path, but as you march down it you realize that it was an illusion: things are actually worse down this path. It leads to disorder and every vile practice.
On the other path, you have the path of heavenly wisdom. A proper relationship with God is what sets your feet down this path. Things often don’t look as nice as you look down this path, but as you march down it you realize you were wrong: things are much better. It leads to purity, peace, righteousness, and good fruits.
The text today is very much a continuation of this thought. On the one hand, you will see the way of covetousness and pride – really only different nuances to the bitter jealousy and selfish ambition we talked about before. And on the other hand, you will see the way of humility.
The path of covetousness and pride leads toward destructive things, because it allies itself with a world that is at enmity with God and follows in the same sin that consumed Satan. Furthermore, God resists those who are proud.
But the way of humility helps us to receive answered prayers from the Lord, to be a friend of God, it leads to more of God’s grace in our lives, and a promise to be lifted up by God.
Text: James 4:1-10
Theme: Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you.
Verses 1-2
Here now we see why James wrote to these churches about the subject of demonic wisdom and heavenly wisdom.
If you’ll remember, demonic wisdom is characterized by bitter jealousy and selfish ambition. And what results from that bitter jealousy and selfish ambition is disorder and vile practices.
Well, what are we seeing here in these verses? Bitter jealousy, selfish ambition, disorder, and vile practices. Many amongst their number were following the kind of wisdom and jealousy characteristic of Satan. And the result was fighting and quarreling. It looks like it had even gotten so serious as to include murder.
A lot of people, myself included, have not known how seriously we ought to take this statement about murder in verse two. After all, we know from Jesus’ teaching in the Beatitudes that if our hearts are filled with murder, that makes us guilty in God’s sight. Just like having lustful thoughts for another makes a person guilty of adultery, whether they actually act out their desires or not, so desiring to murder a person makes one guilty of murder in God’s sight, whether they actually act out the murder or not.
So a lot of people have thought that, perhaps, James is just talking about that kind of murder here. Their hearts are filled with jealousy and ambition to the point of desiring to do murder, but they hadn’t actually done it. But look down to 5:6. “You have condemned and murdered the righteous person. He does not resist you.” Is this also not intended to be taken seriously? And in James 2 we read about rich people taking Christians to court to oppress them. Is that also not intended to be taken seriously?
No, I think that demonic wisdom, bitter jealousy, selfish ambition, had so gripped some of the people within these churches that they had actually gone so far as to commit murder. That might sound shocking to you and unthinkable, but the sad truth is that murder occurs most often in families and close relationships. Until recently, in this horrible time of thoughtless mass shootings, it was very rare that someone should murder a stranger.
Think about the very first murder. The very first murder was a man killing his own brother. And why did he kill his own brother? Bitter jealousy and selfish ambition. In case you aren’t familiar with that story, Adam and Eve had two boys: one named Cain and the other Abel. Cain and Abel would both bring sacrifices to God. Cain would bring vegetables and Abel would bring animals. God approved of Abel and his offering but did not approve of Cain.
Cain became jealous of his brother and killed him. Very first pair of brothers on the earth, and one murdered the other because of jealousy. So we ought not to think it impossible that such an evil thing could occur within a church.
So, these verses in James ought to be taken very seriously. Passions at war within ourselves, covetous desires for things that we cannot obtain, selfish ambition for personal advancement, these can lead to fighting and quarreling – which is bad enough – but can even lead to murder. A heart overcome by greed and selfishness, a mind controlled by the wisdom that comes from below, could one day cause a person to have blood on their hands.
So let the seriousness of that possibility motivate you to choose heavenly wisdom – selflessness, love, peace, over the wisdom that comes from below.
And this is all just as relevant today as it was when Satan was overcome with jealousy and ambition and rebelled against God. It’s just as relevant today as it was when Cain killed his brother Abel. It’s just as relevant as when the churches James wrote to had found murder in their midst.
We have to guard our hearts very carefully because there are many things around us in our culture today that actively promote covetousness. Businesses basically operate off the fact that people desire and yet do not have, and that they covet, and that they have ambition. Almost all advertisements work from this principle.
I’ve been seeing an advertisement online for some new smart appliances. Refrigerators that you can watch TV on, that sort of nice thing. And the advertisement has two people talking and the sales person is just going down the list of all the awesome things the appliance can do. And you can see how amazed the other person is at all the nice things. And at the end of the commercial the shopper says “I need this.” And the seller says “Yes, you do.” And of course their intention in all of that is that you would assume the role of the purchaser yourself, and come to the same conclusion, and buy the thing.
Actually, we don’t need a television on our refrigerators. That could be a nice thing, but we certainly don’t need it. But we have exposure to these things constantly and so we also have to be constantly on guard that our hearts are not becoming consumed with jealousy and selfish ambition. Because jealousy and ambition are good for business, and there are a lot of people out there that want you to have those emotions because it is good for their jealousy and selfish ambition.
It’s so bad that we even have preachers doing it. I saw an article recently about a televangelist who “needed” a new $54 million plane to get him around. And these televangelists promise you – oh, if you just give money to the church then the Lord is going to bless you so much, you’re going to get all the things you want, it’s going to go so well.
It is impossible not to be subjected to reminders that you don’t have something. Even if you were to not read books, or not go on the internet, or not watch television, the moment you drive down the road you will be reminded that there are things you want but don’t have. And since it’s impossible not to be exposed to it, it is absolutely necessary that we learn to pursue God instead of friendship with the world.
Link: James gives the answer. First he says, “You do not have, because you do not ask.” And then he says…
Verse 3-5
The better way has three parts.
First – Go to God in prayer for the things that you want and need.
Second – Have the proper motivation behind the things you are asking for.
And the third is really related to the others: Be a friend of God, not of the world.
So, first – go to God in prayer for the things that you want and need.
James says: if you have something that you want or need, coveting and passions and fighting and murder are the wrong way to go about it. The reason that you don’t have is because you haven’t asked God for it.
But there is an all-important caveat there – you need the proper motivation. Herein lies why so many prayers are answered with a “no.” Not all prayers, mind you, but many. God doesn’t delight to give you things that you intend to use for selfishness or just because you were jealous of someone else. God isn’t in the business of enabling sinful behavior. And God cannot be deceived. He knows our thoughts better even than we do.
If the reason that we are asking God for something is so that we can spend it on our passions, then we should have no expectation that God will give us that thing.
A good verse to go along with this one is Psalm 37:4: “Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.” Here’s the catch that’s easy to miss. If you delight yourself in the Lord, then what will the desires of your heart be? The desire of your heart will be the Lord and the things that the Lord says are good. And so the promise is not a blank check that gives you whatever you want. The promise is that if you delight in the Lord, then you can have the desires of your heart: such desires being a relationship with the Lord and good and pure things.
Consider another verse, Matthew 5:6 “blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.” If you long for righteousness, the Lord will give it to you.
You won’t be able to find a verse that says “blessed are those who want to be rich, for they shall be satisfied.” Nor will you find a verse that says “Delight yourself in yourself, and God will give you the desires of your heart.”
Another thought: if you come to God for money, then He is not your God, money is.
And so that all leads into the third point: we need to be friends of God, not friends of the world. We need God to be our God, not money. We need to not be unfaithful – adulterous – to our God. Because friendship with the world is enmity with God.
Does that surprise you? That friendship with the world would be equated with enmity with God? Well, just consider again how our society operates. Our society is basically built upon bitter jealousy and selfish ambition. It’s so deep in our society that it would pretty well collapse without these things. Just imagine what would happen to our economy if people were satisfied with their life. There’s a reason that Christmas has been pushed before Thanksgiving even starts. Thankfulness isn’t what makes the world go round. What makes our world go round is jealousy and selfishness.
And yet, thankfulness is absolutely necessary to worship God. Thankfulness drives our worship. Without thankfulness, our worship dries up. And God wants us to be givers and servants. He wants us to practice biblical love, which is putting the needs of others above our own. God’s kingdom and God’s economy run on love and kindness.
So if you make yourself a friend of that system of jealousy and selfishness, then you are doing the opposite of what God wants you to do. He wants you to be thankful, to be a servant, to be a giver, and to show love.
He wants you to be salt: preserving society, helping it to stay pure, to not rot.
He wants you to be a light, giving hope to the world, pointing people to what is good and holy and pure and true.
He wants you to be in the world, as a witness for Him, but not of the world. Be present, go out, work your jobs, go shopping, eat, drink, be happy, and worship the Lord.
But don’t forget that you are on a mission to be salt and light; you are not to become a friend of the world.
You’re not to become conformed to the world.
You’re on a mission to bring purity and hope and thankfulness and service and love and to introduce people to Jesus and tell them about how they can have a relationship with Him.
I hope you don’t get me wrong. I love America. There’s no greater country on earth. Sin problems are present in all countries, and things are worse in other countries and it is only harder to live the Christian life in other countries. China had all the problems that we have and more. But the kingdom of heaven is not going to look anything like what America looks like today, or any other nation, for that matter.
Link: Verse six gives us a good reminder in all of this, because we know our shortcomings.
Verse 6
“But he gives more grace.” – Ah! So good. The grace of God. We need more grace! And God is glad to give it. And here in these verses we have the promise of more grace and great help in our neediness.
But just like before with asking God for things, there is a condition upon this. It says “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”
In hearing all these verses earlier about God’s wisdom and right motives in prayer, has God spoken to your heart to say that you need to change some things in your life?
Do you have a new awareness that you have been operating under the wrong kind of wisdom, that there has been some jealousy, selfishness, or covetousness in your life?
Has your prayer life not been driven by a delight in the Lord and to do His will, but instead been driven by your passions?
Link: Here is the way out:
Verses 7-10
If you have found yourself going down the road of selfishness and you’ve realized the damage that it causes to you and others, and you see now that the road of God’s heavenly, peaceable, loving wisdom is so much better, then you need to get humble.
Identify the things God wants you to do and submit to Him.
Resist the temptations that the devil puts before you, and he will flee from you.
Pursue God and not only will you find Him, but He will draw near to you and give you help.
Remove the sinful things from your life and focus your heart upon the Lord.
Stop your enjoyment of evil, recognize your wretchedness, mourn, and weep. If you are pursuing bitter jealousy, selfish ambition, and covetousness, there’s no cause for laughter.
And from that position of humility, God will give grace to you in your need. He will lift up your head. He will restore your soul. The laughter and gladness will come again. You’ll find yourself walking in a new and better way of life, one that is lived in submission to God and His will.