What do people mean when they say that?
They mean that person has an attitude that is not right about some things in his life.
This was exactly what James was saying about people in our text.
For example, many think the Bible condemns people for having money. The Bible does not! HOWEVER, It does condemn some rich people’s ATTITUDE about their wealth. That is, it is wrong when their attitude is that God has blessed them with great riches to hoard up for themselves, and themselves alone.
God gives riches to a man the same way He gives other things. He also gives directions concerning what we do with whatever we are blessed with. I Cor. 10:31 tells us, “...whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.”
Everything we have been blessed with is to be used to bring glory to God.
Illus: Suppose God gave _____________ a wonderful singing voice. But, suppose his attitude is that God gave him that talent and he does not plan to use it for anyone except himself. Suppose every time _________ sings, he goes into a closet and sings there because he does not want to share his talent with anyone. Would you not say that he had an ATTITUDE problem?
Whatever the Lord blesses us with, He expects us to use it for the purpose of glorifying Him, not ourselves!
Those who take what God has given them and use it selfishly, are like pigs in a pig pen.
Illus: Have you ever watched pigs eat at a hog trough? As soon as the “slop” is poured into the trough, each pig in the pen makes a dash for the trough and tries to suck up all he can before any other pig gets any. Do you think that a pig would stop when the trough is half empty and say to himself, “The other pigs have not had anything yet. I need to quit eating”? No. He just keeps sucking up slop. If another pig comes to the trough, he resents his being there and he might try to run him away.
This the attitude of many rich men. If they could accumulate all the wealth in the world, and leave everyone else penniless, that would be fine with them.
In all fairness, some poor people have that same attitude. They may not have much money, but they are as greedy as some rich men are. You often hear I Timothy 6:10 misquoted so that it sounds as if it applies to only rich folks--”...money is the root of all evil...” However, that scripture applies to all people. Correctly quoted, it says, “For the LOVE of money is the root of all evil...” Again, you will find some poor people who love money as much as some rich people and their ATTITUDE is just as SELFISH.
The RICH MAN and the POOR MAN with a selfish attitude have an ATTITUDE PROBLEM! Their problem is that they are SELFISH! This is something that GOD RESISTS.
Illus: Some are convinced God created them to live selfishly. Their lives are filled with GREED. Some may lust for:
• Food and more food.
• Drink and more drink.
• Drugs and more drugs.
• Sex and more sex.
• Popularity and more popularity.
• Power and more power.
• Vengeance and more vengeance.
• Money and more money.
As you see, lust can be for almost anything, not just money. People lust for different things, but when a man wants other things more than he wants God in his life, then he will not have God. God does not push in where we do not make room for Him! HE RESISTS GOD, and GOD RESISTS HIM.
I. THERE ARE AT LEAST FOUR THINGS GOD RESISTS IN PEOPLE’S LIVES.
The people who have these four things in their lives WILL NOT DRAW CLOSE TO THE LORD! What are these things?
A. Lust.
Look at James 4:1. We read, “From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members?”
The word “lust” is from the Greek word, “hedonon,” which means: “To crave pleasure and gratification that rages in our bodily members.”
Illus: The analogy here is that the human body is a WALKING CIVIL WAR. That is, within mankind is a yearning, pulling, and urging for something every day other than God.
When a man has these YEARNINGS, PULLINGS, and URGES he can not draw close to the Lord. Such a person is miserable every day.
James 4:1 tells us, “From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members?”
Illus: Perhaps you know someone who has accepted the Lord, but he is miserable because he has this spiritual civil war going on inside of him. He DESIRES THE THINGS OF GOD, but ALSO DESIRES THE THINGS OF THE WORLD.
Why does the Lord RESIST those who desire the things of the world? Because He wants us to “CRAVE” HIM, not PEOPLE and THINGS. LUST will keep us from drawing close to the Lord. Another thing God resists is,
B. Doubt.
Look at verse 2. We read, “Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not.”
All mankind basically desires PEACE WITHIN, but when people are eaten up with lust for wrong things, they are never happy.
Many are miserable. It is not because they do not ask. They simply spend their lives in “lust,” asking for the wrong things.
Verse 2 tells us, “...ye have not, because ye ask not.” Only a life of trusting in the Lord instead of trusting in things and people, will enable one to draw close to the Lord. Another thing God resists is...
C. Selfishness.
James must have anticipated that some would say, “But I pray all the time, and I am not satisfied!” James was saying that, yes, you pray, but you pray for the wrong purpose.
Look at verse 3. We read, “Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.”
When we talk with God, we must ask Him about the desires we have. That is, we need to talk to Him and seek to know...
• His opinion.
• His desire.
• Is our desire good, or evil?
• Are we asking for something that is good, or bad, for us.
• Is this something for our pleasure and gratification, or is it something that will glorify Him.
Illus: The following are some examples:
• All of us desire to be healthy. We can pray that God will keep us healthy. But why do we want a healthy body? Is it so we can serve Him better, or so we can better fulfill the desires of the flesh?
• All of us desire to live a long life. Why? Is it so we can serve the Lord longer, or because we can fulfill the desires of the flesh longer?
• All of us desire to have power and authority. Why? Is it so we can accomplish more for God, or because it will enable us to better fulfill the desires of the flesh?
• We all desire to be wealthy. Why? Is it so we can share with others who are hurting, and help the church further the gospel, or is it so we can fulfill the desires of the flesh?
So many times we ask for things for the wrong reason. When this is the case, our asking will not result in drawing close to the Lord, or in the Lord drawing close to us. Another thing God resists is...
D. Worldliness.
Look at verse 4. We read, “Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye 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.”
The Lord holds our relationship with Him as sacred as the relationship of a husband and wife.
In fact, our relationship with the Lord is much closer than that of a man and wife. In Christ we move. In Him we have our being. He is in us.
But, the closest thing we can compare our relationship with the Lord with is the marriage relationship. Any time a husband or wife allows anyone to come between them, they commit adultery. Anytime we allow anything, or anyone, to come between us and the Lord, we commit spiritual adultery.
God watches over us every day with a jealous love.
Look at verse 5. He says, “Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy?”
THE LORD RESISTS LUST, DOUBT, SELFISHNESS and WORLDLINESS.
II. THERE ARE AT LEAST TWO THINGS GOD REGARDS IN PEOPLE’S LIVES.
Look at James 4:5-9. We read, “Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy? But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness.”
We have seen FOUR THINGS in the man with the wrong attitude that God RESISTS. Now let us look at least TWO THINGS God does for the man who lives his life with a right attitude.
A. James shows us that GOD REGARDS the man who is HUMBLE.
Look at the last part of verse 6. We read, “...God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.”
What a contrast the humble man is to the proud man, who lives as he pleases. The proud man is his own god. He bows to no one. God RESISTS such a person. God REGARDS the humble man and GIVES GRACE and MORE GRACE.
Grace means the favor of God. It is promised to the humble man. Notice James says to the humble that God gives “more grace.” That is, the humble man receives grace and more grace. The idea is that God continually places upon him layer upon layer of blessings.
James is trying to show us something in this contrast. Not every child of God has God’s blessings continually showered upon him. God draws nigh to the one who HUMBLES HIMSELF IN GOD’S SIGHT! He does not draw nigh to the proud and selfish.
Illus: For God to bless the proud and selfish would be like rewarding a child with a milk shake when he breaks a window. If the parent did that the child would soon begin to think that every time he did a bad thing he could expect approval and a reward.
God does not send mixed signals. God rewards the HUMBLE, not the proud, with His blessings.
B. God REGARDS the man who is OBEDIENT.
Look at verse 7. We read, “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”
The word “submit” (hupotagete) means that we place ourselves under His care, power, strength, will, command, laws, behavior and word.
We have to learn to submit to the Lord every day if we want to draw close to Him and have Him draw close to us. Once we submit, then we can “...RESIST the devil, and he will flee...” The word translated “resist” is from antistete, which means: “Take a stand against the devil, exert energy and effort to defeat the devil.
Both of these are military words. That is, when the devil strikes at us:
• We “submit” ourselves to our commander and do exactly as He says.
• We “resist” the enemy by focusing in on the weapon of prayer and God’s Word.
Then something wonderful will happen. The Bible says that the DEVIL WILL FLEE.
God RESISTS the proud, but REGARDS those who seek Him.
We have seen WHAT GOD RESISTS and WHAT GOD REGARDS.
III. THERE ARE WAYS GOD REWARDS HIS PEOPLE.
A. He lifts up those who humble themselves in His sight.
Look at James 4:10, “Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.”
The PROUD man lifts himself up by his own bootstraps. God resists him.
The HUMBLE man is lifted up and REWARDED by God.
B. He draws near to those who will draw near to Him.
The humble man is rewarded with God’s presence. Look at verse 8. We read, “Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you.”
God is talking to the person who is willing to submit his REASONING, PLANS, TALENTS, TIME; HIS WHOLE LIFE to Him. God REWARDS the HUMBLE WITH HIS PRESENCE. The greatest blessing we can have in this life, and the life to come, is being in the presence of God! We take that much too lightly, but one day we will understand the significance of it.
Conclusion:
The thing that will make heaven so wonderful will be that we will be in God’s presence. The thing that will make hell so horrible will be that God’s presence will not be there. Once in hell, the lost man, who took God’s presence lightly in his life on earth, would give everything he ever had to be in God’s presence!
Golden streets will not be what makes heaven, heaven. The fact that God is there makes heaven, heaven! Will you draw close to God now?
I. THERE ARE AT LEAST FOUR THINGS GOD RESISTS IN PEOPLE’S LIVES
A. Lust
B. Doubt
C. Selfishness
D. Worldliness
II. THERE ARE AT LEAST TWO THINGS GOD REGARDS IN PEOPLE’S LIVES
A. God REGARDS the man that is HUMBLE
B. God REGARDS the man who is OBEDIENT
III. THERE ARE AT LEAST TWO WAYS GOD REWARDS HIS PEOPLE
A. He lifts up those who humble themselves in His sight
B. He draws near to those who will draw near to Him
Note: You can hear Dr. Odell Belger on Youtube. Type Youtube Lykesland
