James 4:7-17
Resistance is not Futile!
Pastor James continues to address the issues he is seeing in his church.
Chapter 1 - James addresses the congregation’s failure to examine see their own wavering faith, lack of patience & understanding
• They show partiality toward the rich,
• They are tempted to seek riches rather than God’s will.
• He sums up chapter 1 by saying there is a failure to examine one’s own life
Chapter 2 & 3 – James stresses that their failure to examine their own life results in their:
• judging others, yet they don’t examine their own motives
• misguided belief that if they show up at church and yet are not involved in ministry, they still have the faith it takes to enter Heaven.
• the congregation’s misuse of the tongue, destroying each other with it
• James concludes the congregation has a lack of wisdom
So in chapter 4 Pastor James attempts to point out to the congregation their reason for failure.
Read James 4:1-17
Acceptance of the world’s ways creates a disconnect between you and God.
1-4 From where come wars and fighting among you? Do they not come, even of your lusts that war in your members? You lust, and have not: you kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: you fight and war, yet you have not, because you ask not. You ask, and receive not, because you ask amiss, that you may consume it upon your lusts.
You adulterers and adulteresses, know you not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.
Verses 1-4 identifies the symptom only:
1. Divisiveness between you and your brothers and sisters in Christ
2. Lust for everything, but God
3. Lack of Real prayer
4. Selfish prayer
And then after James identifies the symptoms, he follows up by identifying the secondary cause:
• Friendship with the world – He calls their friendship with the world adultery.
• Explain primary & secondary cause:
• The secondary cause for the world’s destruction during the time of Noah was water; The primary cause was God
• The secondary cause for the US entry into WWII was the Attack on Pearl Harbor; The primary cause was the evil in men’s hearts
• The secondary cause for most disease in America is our eating and drinking habits; The primary cause is our lack of self control
So in chapter 4 James explains that all these symptoms have a primary cause and that is “the disconnect between the people of the church and God”
James tells them how to get back to the center of relationship between them and God (7-10):
1. Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
2. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.
3. Cleanse your hands, you sinners;
4. Purify your hearts, you double minded.
5. Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness.
6. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.
James then gives two examples of resisting God (11-14):
Example 1
Speak not evil one of another, brethren. He that speaks evil of his brother, and judges his brother, speaks evil of the law, and judges the law: but if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law, but a judge. There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy: who are you that judges another? (11-12)
An example of people who read out the scriptures they do not want to deal with.
They are judges of the law.
Example 2
Depart from me, you that say, Today or tomorrow we will go into such (and such) a city, and we will continue there a year, and buy and sell, and make a profit: 14 Whereas (the truth is) you know not what shall happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even (as) a vapor, that appears for a little time, and then vanishes away. (13-14)
An example of people whose interest in this life is not God, or His Work, but the things of this world. They resist the Holy Spirit, not the Devil.
“Oneness” with the Holy Spirit will allow you to know how you should spend your daily life, but James condemns making plan’s driven by personal desire, and not the Holy Spirit.
I do not get what you are talking about pastor.
• I read God’s Word, I pray, and I go to church, you cannot be speaking of me.
• I do not get what you are saying.
Making it clear to me Pastor: OK Let me explain how this works:
What do you desire more than God right now?
1. Your body is at church right now, but is your mind?
• Your desire is to be resting in bed right now more than to resting in God
• Your hunger is for that Fried Chicken lunch waiting at home, rather than the Word of God
• Your love is being poured out upon the person in your thoughts, rather than God, whom you come this morning to spend time with.
• Your mind is focused on the unresolved work at the house, rather than laboring to understand God’s voice.
2. You are in prayer in your prayer closet:
• You pray for the people at church, but your prayers are hindered and the Holy Spirit resists you because you have offended some in the church, but your desire to apologize for your actions is stronger than your desire to please God.
• You come to pray for God to bless you financially, but you desire to hold on tight to the pocket book, exceeds your openness to the Holy Spirit pressure on you to obey God’s Word and give.
• The Holy Spirit is calling you out to spend some time with him on your knees in prayer, but the pressure to get up and get something else done drives you to either not pray our quick toss out some words, hoping them do not fall unheard.
3. So I must ask myself while in prayer; What do I desire more than God, right now? (Being honest with my thoughts)
• What are those items in my life more important to me than God?
• Honestly, if you are true to yourself and God, you will name many.
4. So what must I do with those many things?
• Set each of those things aside and replace those thoughts with God
• This is not an easy thing to do and will have to be repeated over and over until you finally have God first place.
• Your inclination will be to pick it back up again. But you have to keep returning it to God.
James Concludes by saying give it to God or its evil and sin:
15 For that (the truth is) you ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that. 16 But now you rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil. 17 Therefore to him that knows to do good, and does it not, to him it is sin.
Let us test ourselves here today: Take out a peace of paper and a pencil or pen.
Ask Ruth to Play.
Let’s pray!
• Father, we close our eyes, we bow our faces and our hearts before you
• Show us right now things that distract us from you.
• Show us those things that keep us from accomplishing your work for us upon the earth.
• Ask your self: what is it that I truly desire more than your presence God?
• What thing just popped up into my mind that is crying out for my attention more than my desire to be here right now?
• Alright already Pastor, lets get this over with so I can …..
• You fill in the blank.
• These things that keep coming up in your mind are those things you love more than God.
• Write it down
• Challenging! Isn’t it?
• Things just keep coming.
The longer we sit here the more items that keep coming. We never really knew we had set so many things between ourselves and God.
Close in prayer.
