Several years ago there was a popular worship song titled “I Am a Friend of God” which we used to sing here at TFC from time to time. But as I was reading the passage from James that we’ll be looking at this morning I began to wonder how many of the people that have sung and continue to sing that song are in fact God’s friends.
In just a moment we’ll be looking at the first 10 verses in James chapter 4. But before we do that, we need to make sure that we put that passage in its proper context. Frankly this is a passage where it is real easy to get off track by failing to do that. In fact as I began to prepare this message earlier this week, I started off on the wrong track at first until I focused on that context.
Take your Bibles and open up to James chapter 1. You’ll remember that when we began our study nearly three months ago, one of the things we did was to identify James’ audience. In the opening verse of his letter, we see that James is writing to Jewish believers who have been dispersed throughout Palestine. And in each major section of the letter he addresses his audience with a specific term. I’m going to enlist your help in identifying that term.
[Wait for answers after each question.]
The first time he uses it is in chapter 1, verse 2. What is the term he uses to address his audience there? [Brothers]. Skip down to verse 16. [Brothers]. Now skip down to verse 19. [Brothers]. Okay, go to chapter 2, verse 1. [Brothers]. Skip down to verse 5. [Brothers]. Skip down to verse 14. [Brothers]. Turn to the first verse in chapter 3. [Brothers]. Now skip down to verse 10. [Brothers] Finally, go to verse 12. [Brothers]
So do you agree that it would be fair to conclude that James consistently refers to the Jewish Christ followers in his audience with the term “brothers”?
Keep that in mind as you turn to chapter 4 of James’ letter and follow along as I read beginning in verse 1:
What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. 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 Scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us”? But he gives more grace. 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.
(James 4:1-10 ESV)
What term is conspicuous by its absence in that passage? [Wait for answers]. That’s right - James does not use the word “brothers” anywhere in that passage. But he does use several other terms to directly address those to whom he is writing here. See if you can identify the three phrases that James uses. I’ll give you a clue – each phrase begins with the word “you.” [Wait for answers]. [If needed]I’ll give you another clue – look in verses 4 and 8.
He addresses them as:
• “you adulterous people” – as the note in the ESV translation indicates, in the underlying Greek, this is literally “you adulteresses” They are spiritual adulterers who claim to love Jesus but who are unfaithful to Him.
• “you sinners” - They are sinners who continue to live in bondage to sin even though if they were genuine believers they would have been freed from that bondage.
• “you double-minded” - They are double-minded because they claim to want to be friends with Jesus, but at the same time they are attempting to remain friends with the world.
Next week, when we pick up with verse 11, we’ll find that James goes right back to addressing his audience as “brothers”. And with the exception of one more short section in chapter 5 where he is again addressing another specific audience, James uses the term “brothers” four more times in that final chapter.
So why does James make this significant change in the passage we’re looking at today? Based on the terms he uses to describe those to whom he is writing in this section, the obvious answer here is that he is writing specifically in this section to unbelievers who were present within these local bodies of Jewish believers.
Through the first three chapters of his letter, James has laid out a number of assessments that are intended to test the genuineness of the faith of the people who are part of the congregations to whom he is writing. And obviously there are some among those congregations whose faith has been revealed by those tests to not be genuine.
That shouldn’t really surprise us since we find the same thing in our local churches today. There is little doubt that many churches are full of people who claim to be followers of Jesus but when their faith is put to the test it reveals that it really isn’t genuine. They may be regular attenders or members. They may even be involved in ministry and church leadership. And unfortunately most of them have been deceived into thinking that they really are disciples of Jesus when their lives just don’t give evidence to that.
And just like we find in so many churches today, those whose faith was not genuine were causing problems within those local bodies. We could summarize how James describes this situation like this:
These unbelievers were causing conflict with others
…because they had a conflict within
…because they had a conflict with God.
Let’s explore each of those aspects briefly and then we’ll close by focusing on how we can make practical application of this passage.
1. These unbelievers were causing conflict with others
Not surprisingly, these people who were masquerading as followers of Jesus were creating conflict within the body. There were quarrels and fights within the local bodies to whom James was writing.
Now it is certainly possible for there to be conflicts between genuine believers. Sometimes brothers and sisters in Christ can quarrel and fight – almost always because one or both parties are acting like the unbelievers to whom James is writing here. But here in this body those conflicts were the rule, not the exception. And because these unbelievers had a completely different mindset than the believers in the body, the conflicts never got resolved and they continued to permeate the church and rob it of its effectiveness.
James doesn’t spend a lot of time describing the problem - probably because it was so obvious he didn’t need to spend a lot of time pointing it out. But he does give much more attention to the reason for these conflicts:
2. …because they had a conflict within
James reveals that these troublemakers are causing quarrels and fights in the church because they have a war going on within them. That war is driven by an obsession with self that is manifest in four areas:
• Self-gratification
In verse 1, James reveals that their passions are at war within them. And at the end of verse 3, he reveals that these people are seeking to satisfy their own passions. The Greek word translated “passions” in both those verses is the word from which we get our English word “hedonism” which is defined as the “pursuit of or devotion to pleasure.”
These unbelievers are focused on gratifying their bodies. They are consumed with trying to gain fleshly pleasure.
• Self-centeredness
In verse 2, we find that these unbelievers are so determined to get what they want, that they are willing to go to any lengths to get it – even murder if that is necessary. They are so self- centered that they don’t consider how their actions might affect anyone but themselves.
• Self-sufficiency
At the end of verse 2, James says that these people don’t get what they want because they aren’t willing to ask God for it. He is obviously not implying in any way that if we pray for something merely for the purpose of satisfying our fleshly desires that God is somehow obligated to give that to us. But what he does point out is that these people have an internal conflict in their lives because they are completely self-sufficient and think that they don’t need God or others.
• Self-indulgence
Finally, in verse 3, we find that these people are at war with themselves because they are self-indulgent. Even when they do attempt to enlist the help of God and others, their only motivation is to satisfy their own passions.
All the focus on self is causing internal conflict in these unbelievers. And beginning in verse 4, James is going to reveal the underlying reason that these people are so self-absorbed:
3. …because they had a conflict with God.
The reason for the internal conflict these people were experiencing is that they had a conflict with God which we can summarize like this:
• Because they had chosen to be friends with the world, they were enemies of God
These people had an emotional attachment to the world. When James refers to the “world” here, he uses the Greek word “cosmos” which is not the physical earth on which we live, but rather the man-centered, Satan-directed system of this world which is hostile to Jesus and His followers. And not surprisingly the goal of that world system is self-glory.
And James makes it clear that the world that is focused on self is completely incompatible with the love of God. So therefore everyone has to make a choice. We either chose to be friends with God and forsake the man-centered world system or we choose to be friends with that world system, in which case we have chose to be enemies with God.
Because the two are so completely different, it is not possible to be friends with both. John expresses that idea like this:
Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
(1 John 2:15 ESV)
These people were trying to live in both worlds. On one hand they claimed to love God. But their actions demonstrated that they really loved the world. No wonder James calls them adulteresses. They have claimed their allegiance to Jesus, but they are really devoted to the mistress of the world.
In verse 5, James points out that…
o Spiritual adultery is characterized by a disregard for God’s Word
Verse 5 is undoubtedly the most difficult verse in this passage to deal with. Although James seems to quoting Scripture, we can’t find any specific Bible passage that is worded like the words he uses here. It is most likely that James is merely stating a principle here that is supported by Scripture without referring to just one specific passage.
We do that all the time don’t we? Let me give you just one example. Many of us are familiar with the “Four Spiritual Laws” which were developed by Bill Bright, the founder of Campus Crusade for Christ. The first of those four “laws” is:
God loves you and offers a wonderful plan for your life.
Nowhere in the Bible can we find a verse that is worded like that, but certainly the principle is attested to by a number of different verses.
The remaining part of verse 5 is even more difficult to interpret and there are a variety of opinions on how it should be translated and what exactly James means here. So it’s difficult to be dogmatic here, but given the context the general idea is that God is a jealous God who desires that we love Him alone. That is certainly a concept that we find throughout the Scriptures.
The important point that James is making here is that these people were familiar with God’s Word which revealed that God desired for them to love Him alone and that God had made that possible by extending His grace to them. But these people were too proud to accept that grace or to be obedient to God’s Word. As a result, God had given them over to their own selfish desires.
Given what we’ve learned, it’s pretty easy to see why there were conflicts in these churches. There was one group of people who was in love with God and who desired to live in a manner consistent with His Word and there was another group of people who were merely masquerading as followers of Jesus who were obsessed with satisfying their own desires and who disregarded the Word of God.
Fortunately James doesn’t just stop there. In verses 7, he gives a series of ten commands to these people who claim to love God but who really love themselves and the world. In my opinion this is really the heart of James entire letter because James lays out for us a very clear picture of what is required to become a genuine disciple of Jesus. I agree with John MacArthur who described this section like this:
It is one of the great and one of the clear and one of the precise invitations to salvation in all of Scripture.
The Ten Commands of Genuine Discipleship
While it is true that James is addressing these ten commands to those who are not genuine disciples of Jesus, that doesn’t mean that if I am a genuine disciple there is nothing here for me. Let me suggest three ways that we can apply these commands in our lives:
Three possible ways to apply these commands:
1. To evaluate the genuineness of my own salvation
Our church is certainly not immune to the possibility that there are some people here this morning who may honestly think that you are disciples of Jesus when in fact you are still really friends with the world. In fact, it is possible for any of us to be in that position. So every one of us needs to take heed of these ten commands to make sure that we have done everything that is required to become a genuine disciple of Jesus.
2. To facilitate reconciliation when I have conflicts
As I mentioned earlier, it is obviously still possible for there to be conflicts among genuine believers. And in almost every case where that occurs, it is because one or both parties have relapsed into behaviors that are more consistent with the love of the world than the love of God. In particular, it is possible to become so focused on our own personal desires that it puts us in conflict with someone else who really is focused on satisfying God’s desires.
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus pointed out the importance of being reconciled with our brothers and sisters in Christ whenever a conflict arises:
So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.
(Matthew 5:23-24 ESV)
When we fail to be reconciled to others, it damages our worship of God and none of us want to be in that position. And one of the practical ways to be reconciled to each other is to use this list of ten commands to evaluate those areas of our lives where we may have strayed from the love of God and acted based on our love of the world instead. So whenever I have a conflict with anyone else in the body it would be profitable if all the affected parties used these commands to reveal where they might need to change their focus.
3. To reproduce my faith in the lives of others
Finally, we need to have a good understanding of these commands so that we can help others understand what Jesus requires of those who want to become His disciples. Perhaps more than any other place in Scriptures, we find here a comprehensive picture of what is required for salvation. As we’ll see, these ten commands certainly don’t permit us to peddle “cheap grace” that promises people they can be right with God merely by praying a prayer without truly making Jesus the Lord of their life.
So keep these three things in mind as we close our time by going through these ten commands. Once again, I’m going to enlist your help this morning in identifying the commands. We’ll go through these pretty quickly.
The ten commands:
1. Submit to God
The word “submit” is a military word that means to place oneself under the authority of another. This is really the essence of making Jesus the Lord of our lives. It means that we willingly submit to His sovereign authority in our lives rather than live based on our own selfish desires.
2. Resist the devil
The word “resist” means “to take a stand against”. This is really the flip side to the first command. In Ephesians 2, Paul calls Satan “the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience.” Satan is the personification of the worldly system that is so self-centered. So if we want to be friends with God, we need to transfer our allegiance from Satan’s world system to Jesus. And when we do that, we are promised that Satan will flee from us, just like he fled from Jesus in the wilderness.
3. Draw near to God
The idea here is that faith is much more than just believing in a set of facts. It requires that we have a deep desire for intimacy with the living God. Genuine discipleship requires that we really want to know God, not just know about Him.
This command, as well as the next two, seems to have its roots in Psalm 24:
Who shall ascend the hill of the LORD?
And who shall stand in his holy place?
He who has clean hands and a pure heart,
who does not lift up his soul to what is false
and does not swear deceitfully.
He will receive blessing from the LORD
and righteousness from the God of his salvation.
Such is the generation of those who seek him,
who seek the face of the God of Jacob.
(Psalm 24:3-6 ESV)
4. Cleanse your hands
In the Old Testament, the priest had to wash their hands before they could enter the tabernacle. That external ritual became a picture of the need to be cleansed of our sin before we can enter into the presence of God. That’s why James addresses his audience as “you sinners” here. But as we’ll see with the next several commands, that process deals with our hearts and is not merely something physical.
5. Purify your hearts
In addition to Psalm 24, this command is also rooted in the Beatitudes:
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
(Matthew 5:8 ESV)
Here James addresses his audience as “you double-minded.” He is reminding them that they can’t love both God and the world. If they are going to have pure hearts, then they must turn not only from their sinful actions, but they must deal with the evil heart that is at the root of those sins.
6. Be wretched
This command and the next three all deal with our attitude toward sin. Once again, James seems to be thinking of Jesus’ words in the Sermon on the Mount here:
Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
(Matthew 5:4 ESV)
As we saw when we looked at that passage quite some time ago, Jesus is clearly referring to how we view our sin. We need to see our sin like God sees it and be broken over that sin. David certainly understood that when he wrote psalm 51 after sinning with Bathsheba:
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.
(Psalm 51:17 ESV)
Beginning with the fourth command to cleanse your hands, six of the ten commands deal with how we deal with the sin in our life. Together, they present a very clear picture of what it means to repent. Repentance requires that I first understand my sin from God’s perspective and because of that godly sorrow, I make a change in my life in order to turn away from that sin. James certainly makes it clear that there is no way we can claim we love God apart from repentance.
We’ll just mention the next two commands without comment since we’ve already covered them here.
7. Mourn
8. Weep
9. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom
The laughter that James writes of here is the leisurely laughter of those who are indulging their desires and lusts – the laughter of fools who reject God. Once again this is an important element of repentance.
10. Humble yourselves
This last command sums up the other nine. When we heed those nine commands we demonstrate that we have humbled ourselves before the Lord. And the irony is that when we do that, He will lift us up. When we give up the self-centeredness of this world where we attempt to exalt ourselves, and humble ourselves before God, we find that He exalts us in a way that would never be possible on our own.
This morning every one of us needs to honestly evaluate our lives to determine whether we are in fact a friend of God using he criteria that James has given to us here in this passage. If you are indeed a friend of God, then you need to thank Him for that because it is only because of what He has done for you through Jesus that is possible.
But perhaps there are some here this morning who would have to say that based on what we’ve learned this morning, you’re still a friend of the world. If that’s the case, please don’t leave here today without letting us help you take the steps you need to take in order to become a friend of God.
