Friends of God
James 2:23
James refers to Abraham as, "a friend of God."
What a title, what an epitaph. Wouldn't you like to have that said of you? I
would.
How do we become a friend of God? We will learn that in today's sermon.
But first we will look at James's discussion in 4:1-10
He begins by describing a very bad situation... fighting, quarreling,
scheming and even murder.
Who is he talking to and about? THE CHURCH, the believers, the saints! ! ! !
How can this be?
The answer is found in verse 1 where James says, Isn't it the whole army of
evil desires at war within you?
There is a war raging inside all of us .... to different degrees.
The war is between the will of God and the will of self.
He asks a question, "Where do wars come from?"
The answer is clear. Every war was started by lust, desire or greed to have
something. It may be land. It may be taxes. It may be freedom. But every
war is a struggle between one who wants to have and one who refuses to
give.
In each of us there is a war to determine who is in control, who will win.
On one side there is God with His will. It is for our own good. It is a desire
to bless us that moves Him to see His will done in us.
On the other side is us ... with our will to be happy, to have pleasure, to be in
control.
Paul wrote about it in Galatians 5:17, Our sinful selves want what is against
the Spirit, and the Spirit wants what is against our sinful selves. These two
forces are constantly fighting each other, and your choices are never free
from this conflict.
The source of the conflict is the two natures in us.
YOU CAN NOT HAVE BOTH ... period.
Jesus said, You cannot have two masters. You will love one and hate the
other.
All of us would say, "I want Jesus and his will." But do you?
We would like to have the benefits of Jesus Christ in our lives, but we want to maintain control. We want Him to come in, but only in a comfortable, quiet corner of our lives - not taking over everything. We want God in our lives, but we want Him in a very small private, corner. We want Jesus to be our friend, a friend we can talk to, a friend who will listen, a friend who will give us whatever we need, but not a friend who will challenge us and call us to the highest form of commitment,
surrendering our lives to Him.
We want to maintain control of certain aspects of our lives.
We do not war with Satan for this.
We battle with Satan for our mind, for our thoughts.
But we battle with God for control, for our will.
We were created BY God and FOR God.
He is jealous of our love and honor.
When we give our allegiance and love to any other... there is a war.
James says, THE CAUSE OF THE WAR IS OUR SELF-INDULGENT
LIFESTYLE.
He uses the word, desires, or lusts, or selfish desires.
The Greek word for "pleasures" is the source of the English word "hedonism." Hedonism is the philosophy that views pleasure as the chief goal of life.
But hedonism is not just the desire to enjoy life, we all want that, but it is a
self-indulgent lifestyle that we walk all over others in order to please themselves.
So ... we want to have our pleasures, or lusts, our desires AND HA VE GOD!
James is saying YOU CAN'T HAVE IT BOTH WAYS!
To try to have it both ways is the cause of the struggle within us.
In his book, The Sacred Romance, Brent Curtis talks about how our divided hearts try to meet our spiritual void by filling them with other, more readily available pleasures. He says, "Once we allow our heart to drink water from these less-than-eternal wells with the goal of fmding the life we were made for, it overpowers our will, and becomes, as Jonathan Edwards said, 'like a viper, hissing and spitting at God. "
The conflict is the disease and it shows up in different symptoms.
1. It sets men at each others throats.
Why do you fight and argue with each other? Isn't it because you are full of selfish desires that fight to control your body? 2 You want something you don't have, and you will do anything to get it. You will even kill! But you still cannot get what you want, and you won't get it by fighting and arguing.
Men trample each other down, cut each other down, destroy reputations, trash friendships JUST TO HAVE THEIR WAY.
EVEN IN THE CHURCH!!!
I like red, I am comfortable at 69degrees, I like traditional music, I like key
leaders, I like the KJV…
AND I WILL HAVE MY WAY!!!
And churches commit suicide in the struggle for CONTROL.
God's will would be for the two to be one, to be united, to display Godly love.
Man's will is to have his way.
And the war is on!
It does more than set men against each other.
2. IT SHUTS THE DOORS OF HEAVEN
yet ye have not, because ye ask not. 3Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask
amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.
God says you don't pray because you know God will not answer your stupid prayers.
Stupid prayers ... what is a stupid prayer?
A stupid prayer is asking God to give you what you want when what you want is selfish, wrong, egotistical or the like.
A stupid prayer would be asking God to let your team win in sports or your side win in an argument.
God doesn't not care what color the carpet is. He does care how we treat each other.
You can "ask amiss" by asking for God to give you what you do not need
Or by asking God to do what is contrary to his nature
Or what is contrary to his will
Or what will satisfy your lusts.
So ...
There is a war raging between our self-indulgent nature and God
That war sets us at enmity with our brother
That war shuts the window of heaven
3. It makes us Friends of the world .... and enemies of God
You adulterers/ Don't you realize that friendship with this world makes you an enemy of God? J say it again, that if your aim is to enjoy this world, you can't be a friend of God. What do you think the Scriptures mean when they say that the Holy Spirit, whom God has placed within us, jealously longs for us to be faithful?
God is a jealous God. His word constantly speaks of us as his bride or his wife.
He is like any husband, protective and jealous of his wife's attention and passion.
He will not share her with others.
The more you try to indulge in the worlds pleasures and ways, the more you put distance between you and God.
You are guilty of adultery.
The questions is what to do about it.
How can we stop being an enemy of God and become a friend of God?
James spells out the cure ... a ten step program for becoming a Friend of God
SUBMIT to God
RESIST the Devil
DRAW NEAR to God
WASH your hands
PURIFY your hearts
GRIEVE for your situation
MOURN your sins
CHANGE your attitude
HUMBLE your self
RELY on God
