Opener:
Well Good Morning Church! We are so excited that you have decided to join us here this morning. What a blessing to be here worshiping the Lord together!
We also want to take a moment to welcome our online community as well. Thank you for taking the time to watch and allowing us to be a part of your spiritual journey!
If you were unable to join us last week; here is a recap of what we discussed. We talked about how teachers will be judged more strictly than others. Also, we discussed how powerful our words can be. They can either build someone up or tear them down. We were challenged to be consistent in speaking life to others. Finally, last week we talked about acquiring heavenly wisdom in our lives and that this wisdom will produce godly character in our lives.
This week we are continuing our series in the book of James. As in the past, there are several different themes that emerge in our chapter this morning. In fact, this chapter really gives us some insight as to what was happening in the early church. As any group that experiences a tremendous amount of growth, there were some growing pains. Some of these pains showed up in way of disagreements among the members. So James takes the time to address some of these issues.
As the golfer approached the first tee, a hazardous hole with a green surrounded by water, he debated if he should use his new golf ball. Deciding that the hole was too treacherous, he pulled out an old ball and placed it on the tee. Just then he heard a voice from above say loudly: "USE THE NEW BALL!" Frightened, he replaced the old ball with the new one and approached the tee. Now the voice from above shouted: "TAKE A PRACTICE SWING!" With this, the golfer stepped backward and took a swing. Feeling more confident, he approached the tee when the voice again rang out: "USE THE OLD BALL!"
I. Different kinds of wars
A. Inevitable
a. Let’s hop right into it this morning James 4:1-2 (NKJV) 4 Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members? 2 You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask.
b. It seems as if war or conflict is inevitable while we are here upon the earth.
c. Just look at our world today. Here is a list of all the wars that are taking place right now as I speak:
i. Ukraine Vs. Russia
ii. Israeli- Palestinian Conflict
iii. War in Yemen against the Houthi rebels
iv. Sudan internal conflict
v. Ethiopia internal conflict
vi. Armemenia Azerbaijan conflict
vii. Sahel region conflict
viii. Myanmar internal conflict
ix. Haitian gang violence
x. And I got to add one more to add: The political polarization in the United States.
d. Not only does it happen in the world, but also happens in the church. We will discuss this in a moment. Often these disagreements among believers can be bitter and severe in nature.
e. One of the major sources for quarrels and church conflict is the desire for recognition, honor, power, pleasure, money, and a position of superiority over others.
f. This satisfaction of selfish ambition then becomes more important than righteousness and doing God’s will.
g. When this occurs in a person’s life one will find themselves without the Spirit of God and outside of God’s kingdom.
B. Believers disagreements
a. When we look into the bible, it is filled with people that had various disagreements with each other. Here are some of them to name a few.
i. Lot had a disagreement with Abraham and as a result the two parted ways.
ii. King Saul had a disagreement with David and tried to kill David on a number of occasions. Turns out this disagreement that Saul had was rooted in His disobedience to the Lord.
iii. The disciples were going back and forth on which one of them would be the greatest among them.
iv. Paul had a disagreement with Peter. In fact, Paul opposed Peter for publically trying to distance himself from Gentile believers in fear of what others might think.
b. The early church
i. The early church had some problems, it had some disagreements. Just look at the book of Revelation chapter three that discusses some of them.
ii. The church in Corinth had believers suing other believers while others were disrupting their meetings.
iii. There were differences of opinion among the Jewish and Gentile believers.
iv. There was a group of Judaizers teaching that people had to abide by the Old Testament law still.
v. There were problems!
C. Personal struggle
a. As believers, we too have personal struggles from within. These struggles stem from cravings in our own heart.
b. We are called to pick up the cross daily and follow Jesus. This means putting our own agenda aside and submitting to the will of our Heavenly Father.
c. This war happens in our heart, as our fleshly desires a present to us a powerful delusion to gratify our selves.
d. Such selfish desires can certainly lead us to make to selfish prayers.
e. James 4:3 says: (NKJV)3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.
i. Let me say this, God will not answer ones prayer that are those of a selfish nature or the person has a selfish ambition.
ii. Some other reasons God will not answer your prayer is:
1. You’re being prideful
2. You are unjustly violent
3. You love sin too much
4. You mistreat God’s people
5. You have doubt in your heart
6. You are maintaining an idol in your heart.
iii. Christians should take note of all these and check your heart to make sure that non of these are prevalent in your life.
iv. The bible does tell us that God hears the prayer of the righteous and of those that call on Him with a genuine heart of repentance and of those that are sincerely asking for direction according to His will and purposes.
D. Rebellion against God
a. As we continue in James chapter four, the bible says: James 4:4-6(NKJV) 4 Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. 5 Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, “The Spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously”? 6 But He gives more grace. Therefore He says:“God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.”
b. To have a friendship with the world is to be unfaithful to God and the commitment that we made to God.
c. For God is a jealous God.
i. God is not jealous like you and I think. He is not jealous because of insecurities or selfishness, Rather, God is jealous for us as He wants the best for our lives. Because He has a tremendous love for us.
ii. The bible tells us in Exodus 20:5 (NKJV) you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me,
d. As Christians, we need to be committed to God and not compromising our faith, our doctrine, godly standards, and our loyalty to the Lord.
E. God opposes Proud
a. God opposes those that are proud. One of the most misquoted verses in the bible is found in James chapter four. I have heard it said just resist the devil and he will flee. While that is true, people miss verse 7.
b. Let ‘s go ahead and read it together versus 7-10 James 4:7-10 (NKJV) 7 Therefore submit 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 Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.
c. God opposes those that are prideful. He turns away from those who harbor pride in their hearts and will withhold His presence from their lives.
i. That is why it is imperative that we walk humbly with God.
1. In fact, two things that really motivate me or my life goal is to: Walk humbly with God and to always stay hungry for Him in my life.
ii. I love what 2 Chronicles 7:14 (NKJV) says: 14 if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.
iii. Notice if we humble ourselves, seek His face, turn from sin. Then God will respond in a wonderful way: He will hear us, He will forgive us, He will heal us!!!!!!
iv. Somebody Praise the Lord!!!!!!!!!
d. Those who humbly submit to God and draw near to Him, He gives grace, mercy and help in every situation that they may face.
i. Submitting to God means that you totally surrender to His will.
ii. To resist the enemy means to stand against his deceptions and his efforts of intimidation.
1. Once we submit to God, and we resist the evil one, he might not flee or think about fleeing, the bible clearly says that he will flee!
e. Drawing near to God is not only an invitation that God is giving to each and every one of us, it is also tied to one of His over 8,000 promises that are contained in the bible.
i. The promise is simply, draw closer to God and He will do the same to you.
II. A Good Plan
A. Making our plans
a. As we read further in James chapter four, James gives us a caution against making decisions independent of God.
b. Look with me at James 4:13-16 (NKJV) 13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit”; 14 whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. 15 Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.” 16 But now you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil.
c. Here James is rebuking those that make plans apart from God.
d. James encourages us to have a constant awareness of God and His sovereignty.
e. To the point that we are completely trusting in Him and seeking His advice for all situations.
B. Including God in your plans
a. So when making plans, we need to include God’s thoughts in our plans.
b. Discerning whether God approves of our plans or not.
c. The question that we should be asking: Is this the Lord’s will?
d. If we are following the Lord, then we will see His providence occur, we will have a peace in our hearts that this is what and where the Lord wants us to be.
C. Discerning God’s will
a. God does not want us to be in the dark concerning His will, in fact, He wants us to know His will for our lives and encourages us to follow that will.
b. Jonah knew God’s will, yet decided to go the opposite direction which afforded him a free ride inside the belly of a great fish.
c. Adam and Eve knew God’s will which was not to eat the forbidden fruit but they did anyhow.
d. Peter knew God’s will in his life, yet he denied Jesus three times.
e. King Saul was very clearly told how to fight the Amalekites and yet he cared more of what the people thought that what God had instructed him.
f. Many times we can know and understand God’s revealed will through reading the bible which instructs us on what is right and wrong.
i. For example it is not God’s will that you see some keys in a vehicle and then decide to take that vehicle on a joy ride and then dump it in someone’s field.
ii. To see someone drop money on the ground and wait till they go and then go pick up that money.
g. While speaking about God’s will, we can understand what God’s revealed will is, and He also has a permissive will.
i. This speaks to matters that maybe are not wrong but good or better.
ii. This is where our trust in the Lord comes into play and us committing our plans to God’s will.
D. Following God’s will
a. It is one thing to know God’s will, it something completely different to then follow His will for our lives.
b. Life is filled with uncertain moments. It is filled with good times and bad times. Life is something that is precious; and the older I get the faster it seems to go by so quickly.
i. One moment you are in high school and then next you have a demanding job, family to support, kids to train, etc. Then retirement, if you are blessed and then the next life.
ii. In the span of eternity, this life is just but a moment, it is like the blinking of an eye. Like the clapping of hands. It happens just so quickly.
c. Therefore, while the time we have been given, take that time to follow the Lord in your life.
d. Take time to enjoy the journey that God has you on! Enjoy those little moments in life that you get with friends and family!
Closing:
As we close our service here and as we close James chapter four we do with a challenge to the believer. That challenge is to live a life according to what one knows in the Lord. Verse 17 says 17 Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin. In other words, James is letting the believer know that they are accountable for the things that they know. If they know to do good and don’t do it, that is sin. What James is not saying: Just bury your head in the sand and learn nothing. No, the opposite is true, learn all you can about God and following Him and then make your efforts to follow His teachings.
This chapter in James is one that certainly humbles the believer. It brings our walk with the Lord in the limelight. It causes us to consider our ways and words with fellow believers. This chapter encourage us to draw closer to God and truly He will respond in a beautiful way and will come closer to us. Let me close with a poem from my favorite poet M.S. Loundes entitled God’s timing
The vision that God has given
And the things that He has planned,
May not happen right away
Or in ways that we understand
For often God's preparing us
For when that day arrives
When we will see the outworking
Of God's vision in our lives
Though it tarries, wait for it,
For it will surely come
God's timing never comes too late,
He'll accomplish what He's begun
God is never slow to act;
He will surely bring it to pass
We need not be anxious and despair,
But have peace within our hearts
For when it comes, we'll be released
Into what the Lord's prepared,
So we will fulfil all that He's planned
As we are being gently led.
