Submitting to God
James 4:1-10
July 16, 2023
Have you ever wondered how some wars began? A war in Italy, which resulted in the death of thousands of men, began over a wooden bucket. In 1864, Spain attacked Peru in order to get their hands on Peruvian bird poop, which was a great fertilizer. In 532 AD, Emperor Justinian’s empire was almost toppled and a large part of Constantinople was destroyed because of chariot racing. The USA and Britain got into a brief war in 1859, over a pig being shot and killed. The pig was the only casualty.
Wars can start for lots of crazy reasons. And that can happen to us internally, as well. Have you ever gone to war with yourself? Your heart and brain are believing 2 different messages. You’re at battle with yourself, sometimes it’s a worthy battle, but most often, it’s not worth your time and energy. We can be really fickle as well. We vacillate on so many things, so many decisions that we don’t know which way to go and ultimately we go to war.
Do you remember the story about Jesus riding into Jerusalem on that magical Palm Sunday? The crowds were cheering and shouting “Hosanna! Blessed is the One who comes in the name of the Lord!” The people were excited to welcome Jesus to Jerusalem. Yet, before we know it, those same people were crying out “Crucify Him!”
This same scene is acted out in our lives. Jesus comes humbly riding in our direction. We’re all in favor of His favors. We want to be blessed with His blessings. We crave experiencing His love, hope, mercy, grace and maybe even a bit of power. We’re excited about how He might benefit us.
But when we learn that He doesn’t come into our lives unless we surrender to His lordship, we think again about how much of Jesus we really want.
I believe this is one of the biggest obstacles in the lives of Christ followers. In many respects, it’s a life long, every day decision we make. We would like to have the benefits of Jesus Christ in our lives, but we kinda want control. We’d like Jesus to be our co-pilot, not our pilot. We want Him, we really do, but only in a comfortable, quiet corner of our lives — not taking everything over.
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. Not a friend who will challenge us and call us to the highest form of commitment, surrendering our lives to Him.
In Galatians 5:17, Paul wrote - -- -
17 For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. - Galatians 5:17
You see, as Paul tells us, a war, a literal war is raging in your soul. It’s a battle to see who will control your life. When we’re in the midst of this spiritual battle, there’s conflict, and that conflict brings frustration and unhappiness. There’s no peace in your heart.
In our scripture, today, James analyzes the problem and then offers a solution. James says there is a spiritual war going on inside of us, and the first thing he has to say about it is: The source of the conflict is selfishness. He writes:
1 What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your PASSIONS are at war within you?
2 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.
3 You ask and do not receive, because YOU ASK WRONGLY, to spend it on your PASSIONS.
In verses 1 and 3, James uses the word passions. Other translations use the word pleasures. The Greek word James used is the English word “hedonism.” Hedonism is the philosophy that pleasure is the chief goal of life. It’s not just the desire to enjoy life, we all want that, but hedonism is a self-indulgent lifestyle that has as it’s focus only one person, yourself.
The Greek meaning is pretty similar to our English meaning. It’s seeking pleasure as a means to an end. Bodily desires (lusts) at the expense of other things.
That’s what James is getting at. He asked the question, what causes quarrels and fights among us? He answers his question, by saying IT’S THE PASSIONS WE SEEK AFTER WHICH CAUSES US TO BE IN AN INTERNAL WAR!
Look at the list of words James uses in this section — fights, quarrels, and murder. In other words, a war is going on inside our heart, brain and soul. God wants control and you want control. You’re at war with God, and whenever you fight God, let me just give you a clue - - - you’re always going to lose.
President Abraham Lincoln was outside with two of his sons, who were both crying. Someone asked him what was wrong . . . . Lincoln said, “Exactly what’s wrong with the world. I have three walnuts and each boy wants two.”
Most of us want God, but we want to continue living as we please. James says we’re double-minded - - - - that we ask wrongly! It’s a comment he’s made over and over, and will make again.
If you don’t know it by now, James doesn’t like double-minded people, because their faith isn’t genuine, it’s filled with hypocrisy, they’re acting and not genuine.
But just think, if you fully embrace Jesus, and give Him all of you, you will most assuredly have to give up something. Our inner struggle stems from the fact that we want God and our own desires, and James reminds us we can’t have it both ways.
In fact, James says that people who live this way, pray only selfish prayers with improper motives. They pray for God to give them things simply so they can spend them on their desires and pleasures. That’s hedonism at work. When we pray this way, we’re no different than the people in Jerusalem — one moment, praising God and the next moment shouting ‘crucify Him.’
In his book, The Sacred Romance, Brent Curtis talks about how our divided hearts try to meet our spiritual void by filling them with readily available pleasures. He says, “Once we allow our heart to drink water from these less-than-eternal wells with the goal of finding the life we were made for, it overpowers our will, and becomes, as Jonathan Edwards said, ‘like a viper, hissing and spitting at God.”
This leads to James’ second point — The result of the conflict is rebellion. Resistance to God’s will for our lives ultimately leads to outright rebellion against God. When selfishness rules our lives and God comes to claim us, what happens? We’re still determined to have our way. We end up enemies of God. We sought another love and we have a divided loyalty. James says ---
4 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.
5 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?”
6 But He gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”
When you think about adultery . . . it’s all about not being faithful to the one you’re supposed to be faithful to. That’s what James wants us to understand about this dilemma we find ourselves in. It’s a matter of who we’re giving our allegiance to. So, James tells us we have a choice - - - friendship with the world or friendship with God. James follows the thought process of Jesus, when Jesus said ‘we can’t serve two masters.’ We can only serve one — it’s either God or the world.
Think about it . . . . .
the world says GET. But God says GIVE.
The world says focus on YOU. God says focus on OTHERS.
The world says store up treasures. God says invest in the eternal.
The world says HATE. God says LOVE.
The world says follow your heart. God says give me your heart.
And I could go on because the truth is - - - our fallen world and its purposes are contradictory to the things of God. God is calling us to transformation. Because we’re focused on ourselves, nothing wrong with that on the surface. But if that’s our end goal, then we’re in trouble. And God says, if you’re doing that, then you’re working for the devil.
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About 60 years ago, there was a gangster in Los Angeles named Mickey Cohen. He attended a revival meeting in Beverly Hills, being led by Billy Graham. After the revival ended, Cohen met with Billy Graham and said he put his faith in Jesus Christ.
In 1957, TIME magazine wrote an article about Cohen's meeting with Billy Graham. Cohen said: "I am very high on the Christian way of life. We talked a lot about Christianity and stuff." When Cohen did not change his lifestyle, he was confronted by Christian friends. Cohen said, "There’s Christian football players, Christian cowboys, Christian politicians; why not a Christian gangster?"
That’s what James is getting at. We can’t say ‘I’m a Christian, but have no fruit, no evidence of a life which has changed and is being transformed more and more to become the person Christ is calling you to become.
James is saying our rebellion is not just a battle to have our way over God’s way. There aren’t 3 choices: God’s way, my way, or the devil’s way. There are only two choices. To rebel against God is to choose the devil’s way. He’s our other lover, because he makes us think he’ll provide us with the things we want. The war for our soul is on, and the battle lines are drawn.
Now you may be thinking, I most certainly don’t worship satan. Michael, you’re nuts. But let me ask you — Who are you fully devoted to following? Is it Jesus, will you pick up your cross and follow Him, or is it satan, who says, ‘you don’t have to go to church, you’re saved, you don’t have to help, you’re saved; you don’t have to give, spend it, enjoy life, party, do your own thing, find pleasure now, you can always return to God.’ Who are you following?
Finally, James comes to the solution. The solution of this inner conflict is submission - - -
7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
8 Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
9 Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom.
10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will exalt you.
In verses 7 - 10, James gives a series of ten commands — submit, resist, come near, wash, purify, grieve, mourn, weep, change and humble yourselves. These call for an immediate response on our part. James is telling is that we have been resisting God, now we must resist the devil. We’ve given in to sin, now we must submit to God. We have been full of passion for the things of this world, now we must be full of passion for God and the things of the Spirit. We have been laughing it up, now we must grieve over our sin in true repentance.
Our soul has been contaminated by sin, now we must wash ourselves. We have been proud, now we must humble ourselves before God. To be an authentic follower of Jesus, this is where the rubber meets the road. Will we submit to God or to the devil?
Friends, this is one of the hardest things you will be asked to do in your life. Becoming a Christian in some ways is the easy step. It’s often not too difficult to see where we have messed up. So, we say yes to Jesus and we experience grace, love, forgiveness. That’s great!! But now comes the next phase, living out that life. It takes constant surrender to God.
Think about your life. Think about the something as recently as this past week, when you have been involved in some kind of argument. What was at the root of that quarrel? Was it your selflessness or your selfishness?
When James tells us to submit to God, it means we do it voluntarily. We do it because we want to, not out of duress. So, we begin the process of submitting to God’s will.
And James tells us resist the devil, and he will flee from you. It means we need to set up our defenses. And sometimes the best defense is offense. It’s to know that satan has plans to beat us down, but we use the power at our disposal, which isn’t our own, it’s God’s power and strength to overcome evil. We realize that we can overcome those temptations, not on our power, but on God’s.
James reminds us that the good news is if we flee from the devil, if we run from him, if we kick him out of our lives, he will flee from us. Of course the prerequisite is that we submit ourselves to God, that we chase God, and notice what happens when we seek God, when we chase Him? God, in turn will draw near to us. He will allow Himself to be caught.
Often times when you play hide and seek with a child, they really want to be caught. That’s part of the fun. They’re often disappointed when they’re not found. Have you ever played with young kids and they actually make little noises to help you find them. They’re dropping clues. In some respects that’s what God is doing for us. He’s constantly calling out to you, wanting to be found by you.
And that’s the beauty as we draw near to God, we experience the power of His presence in our lives. That helps us to experience His peace which is unexplainable. We find grace and mercy. We’re strengthened and offer strength to others. We find encouragement and hope. Those are gifts we receive from God when we draw near to Him.
God always desires for us to seek Him, and when we do, He promises to allow Himself to be caught.
In the end, when we draw near to God, we realize the gravity of our sinfulness . . . and instead of silliness, we grieve and weep at who we’ve become and we draw nearer to God in those moments and we experience His healing.
When we wash our hands and purify ourselves, when we clean our hearts, when they’ve been washed by the blood of the Lamb of God, we’re on the way to being transformed more and more into His image. And finally - - - we’re told - - - -
10 Humble yourselves before the Lord and he will exalt you. - James 4:10
James has been talking about selfishness, hedonism, flirting with sin, and spiritual pride. The cure is to recognize our foolishness, confess God and repent. We return as His humble servant.
And God tells us He will lift us up. He will exalt us. He promises to lift us up out of our guilt and misery to a place of wholeness and right standing. We become righteous before God. Healthy Christianity isn't guilt-ridden, but joy-filled!
When we surrender to God, with a quiet determination to be His, that double mindedness that drove us from God - - - - now becomes a humble heart, one which joyfully submits to God and we experience a joy which is incomprehensible, a hope which never ends, the sense of always having God walking with us. The power of the Holy Spirit always, always, always dwelling within you. Knowing God will never fail you, never forsake you. He will walk with you always!
