Date Written: November 18, 2006
Date Preached: November 19, 2006
Where Preached: OZHBC (AM)
Sermon Series: Living a Life of Service
Sermon Title: The Service of Rejecting the World
Sermon Text: James 4:1-10
Introduction:
No one needs to raise their hands but has anyone here ever experienced strife in the church. Now I know that probably EVERY ONE of you are thinking… yes I have, and if there are any who have said, NO I haven’t… they are either liars or new to the church or too young to know any better!
I say this because if you are part of a fellowship – ANY FELLOWSHIP – it doesn’t matter what denomination or religion… you are going to run into strife… why? Because we are all human… because we all are broken and fallen creatures… because we have all sinned and have fallen short of God’s glory and perfection!
In fact, I once read an article that revealed, “NO CHURCH IS MORE THAN 24 HOURS AWAY FROM MAJOR STRIFE BREAKING OUT. IN LESS THAN A YEAR, IT CAN DESTROY YRS OF HARD WORK AND GROWTH”
Contributed by: Michael McCartney
[Sermon illustration provided on Sermoncentral.com]
In our passage this morning we find James dealing with just such a situation… James is dealing with the all too human of a problem of strife and consternation in the fellowship of God! Now I want you to notice that I did NOT include the word ‘conflict’ here… this is because conflict in and of itself is NOT a bad thing…
But it is strife and consternation that I am talking about. We can have conflict in the church and be godly about handling that conflict and resolving that conflict…
But strife lends itself to ungodliness and a division in the body of Christ. When strife is present, peace is not seen… but God can use godly conflict to winnow and weed His church to His liking!
That is why James says in 1:2 that we are to count it all joy when trials come our way… because it is going to make us a better Christian! So understand that there is a difference between strife and conflict.
But before we get to this passage I want to give you a bit of background on James and the book of James. In the NT we find that the Apostle Paul wrote about ½ of the NT and Paul approached all things usually from a spiritual standpoint which is good, but James chose to express what the Holy Spirit revealed to him from the human standpoint…
Now understand something here, I am NOT saying that James takes a humanistic view of God or the teachings of Jesus… that is simply NOT true.
James takes the teachings of Jesus and the sovereignty of God and he puts them down on the human level so that ALL can understand HOW it applies to them and their walk with Christ!
James wrote this book to a very specific audience… it was to the believers scattered all over the world, [see 1:1] Now there are many who would suggest that James was speaking only to the Jewish community of faith because of what he says in 1:1 “…To the twelve tribes who are dispersed abroad…” [NASB]
But by the tone of his letter and based on what God was doing thru Peter and Paul in the book of Acts, we can know that the Gospel was NOT simply for the Jews, but for the entire world.
So we can rest easy and confident in the knowledge that James is writing to ALL believers and not just the Jewish believers. So in light of this fact, this letter is NOT simply FOR the believers of James’ day, but it is directed toward ALL believers, in all parts of the world and in all ages and times. This is a universal teaching that we need to grasp hold of and never let go.
James also had a very specific message to bring to these believers and it was a message that was straight forward and revealing in HOW we are to walk in Christ! As to how we are to reveal our salvation thru our actions and deeds in this world.
In Chapter 4 James begins the chapter by dealing with the issue of strife in the church… or strife in the body of Christ. He then reveals how that strife affects the body of Christ, and finally we find him teaching the believers how they could rid themselves and their fellowships of this strife that leads to so many problems in the body of faith.
So this morning I want us to continue in looking at Living a life of Service for God… and I want us to look at the service of rejecting the world… by looking at how James teaches us to deal with strife in the fellowship. So, this morning I want us to look at 3 things about strife in the church…
Now I want us to begin something here this morning that God has been dealing with me about and that is reverence to His Word. So in reverence to the infallible, inerrant, unchangeable, immutable, always faithful Word of our God and Savior… I would ask you to stand as we read… you can follow along with me in your Bibles or you can look to the screen… I will be reading from…
James 4:1-10 (NASB)
1 What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you? Is not the source your pleasures that wage war in your members? 2 You lust and do not have; so you commit murder. You are envious 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 with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures. 4 You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. 5 Or do you think that the Scripture speaks to no purpose: "He jealously desires the Spirit which He has made to dwell in us"? 6 But He gives a greater grace. Therefore it says, "GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE." 7 Submit 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 miserable and mourn and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you.
Now when I read this passage of Scripture I see James speaking to believers and the 1st thing I can see him addressing is the…
1. Subversion of the Fellowship (read v.1-3)
1 WHAT IS THE SOURCE of quarrels and conflicts among you? Is not the source YOUR PLEASURES that WAGE WAR IN YOUR MEMBERS? 2 You lust and do not have; SO YOU COMMIT MURDER. You are ENVIOUS 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 WITH WRONG MOTIVES, so that you may spend it on your pleasures.
Some people may think that strife in the church is something new to our generation or to this past century, but as we can see in this passage… strife in the church has been something to be dealt with since the church began…
We know that the Apostle Paul dealt with this as we can see in the church at Philippi…2 I urge Euodia and I urge Syntyche to agree in the Lord. Phil 4:2 (HCSB)
We know that in our passage today James is speaking of strife in the church… He is sharing with us that this strife is really a subversion of the fellowship that we enjoy in Christ!
James is basically asking this question, “What is the source of your strife?” But he does not wait for an answer from them as he goes on to share WHAT the source of the problem actually is… and that source lies within the body of Christ!
James tells them that THEY were the source of all their strife, it was their love of self-indulgence that brought about this strife that subverted the very fabric of the fellowship that Christ had called to love one another… that love would be the revealing factor to the world around them… that love would be what separated them from the rest of the world…
But James reveals here that love for each other was the furthest thing from the minds of many of these members! But it was in fact the self indulgence and their focus on ME, ME, ME instead of Christ, Christ, Christ!
When we look at the phrase James uses here… ‘your pleasures’ it is the Greek word ‘hedone’ [pronounced hay-doh-nay] which means pleasure or pleasures. But this word is derived from the Greek word ‘hedomai’ [pronounced He-Doh-My] which literally means to enjoy oneself. So the intent of this phrase from James is to paint the picture that the strife in the church… that he subversion of the fellowship was being caused by the desire of these believers to pleasure themselves above all other things!
It was selfishness and a hedonistic desire from these believers to look out for #1… to take care of their needs above and beyond the needs of the rest of the fellowship… above and beyond the calling of God!
James knows that this is the ROOT of the issue so he mentions it first. There is subversion in the ranks of the fellowship because everybody is out to please themselves and nobody is looking to please God or serve others!
And James moves forward from the ROOT cause to a visible symptom of the strife and that is the phrase we see in v.1 “…wage war in your members…”
Here James is using the illustration of the church as the body of Christ and that those who are causing the strife… those who are seeking their OWN pleasures… THEY are at war with the each other and thus causing difficultly and strife in the body of believers!
Can you imagine what it would be like if your left hand began to slap your face and you could not stop the left hand from hitting your face… it sounds totally SILLY to us to think that the left hand of our body would attack another part of our body… it just does NOT make sense, but it happens in the church all the time!!
So often in our churches we are waging war and fighting among ourselves and we miss out on opportunities that would grow the kingdom of God and the blessings that come with obedience to God’s commandments!
And what James is saying here is that the reason FOR the subversion of the fellowship is rooted in the hearts and minds of the fellowship itself and our desire to please ourselves!
James tells us that those who seek self pleasure…. they lust and murder and they are envious or covetous! Now you may say, I don’t do those things… especially MURDER!
But Jesus said that if you hate your brother you commit MURDER in your heart… and that is just like committing murder in the flesh…
Jesus said if you look at a woman and lust after her in your heart that you have committed adultery… this is the same thing!
When we envy or act covetously we break the commandments of God and are disobedient. Jesus said if you love me you will keep my commandments… and those who are subverting the fellowship… are disobedient to God’s call on their lives…
So often we are praying to God to fulfill OUR own selfish desires and NOT to be obedient and submissive to His will and way! Our prayer is NOT for the needs of the kingdom but it is usually for the desire of OUR heart!
Jesus said it best when He said those who are willing to give up their own lives for the sake of Christ… they will be saved… but those who are NOT willing to give up their lives… they are going to be lost…
This does not mean you will lose your salvation, but it does mean you can lose the joy of that salvation… it does mean you can lose the JOY of the fellowship you have with others in the faith… it does mean that you can lose the JOY of serving God and being in the center of His will!
The world is going to tell you that you have to take care of #1 first because NO ONE else will, but that is just the opposite of what God’s plan is for the believer! When we seek OUR selfish desires and try to please ourselves first… we subvert the fellowship of God!
But not only can I see the subversion of the fellowship in this passage, but I can also see that when the fellowship is subverted by those seeking to please themselves there is a…
2. Separation of the Family (v.4-5)
4 YOU ADULTERESSES, do you not know that friendship with the world is HOSTILITY TOWARD GOD? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself AN ENEMY OF GOD. 5 Or do you think that the Scripture speaks to no purpose: "He jealously desires the Spirit which He has made to dwell in us"?
First I want us to look at how James reacts to those who subvert the fellowship… look at what he calls them! He says, “You adulteresses!” Now what is an adulterer or an adulteress?
Well an adulterer or an adulteress is one who commits adultery, it is one who is unfaithful to the vows they proclaimed before God at their wedding. They have been unfaithful to their spouse. We have other words we call those who are unfaithful… words like…
Infidels, disloyal, treacherous, betrayer, and deceiver!
Can you see the spiritual image that James is painting here… just like those who are unfaithful to their spouse and bring dishonor, disharmony, disloyalty and deception into their households…
Those who are unfaithful to Christ by seeking their OWN desires and by seeking to please THEMSELVES instead of seeking to be obedient to God… are just as guilty of bringing dishonor, disharmony, disloyalty and deception into the family of God.
The 2nd part of this whole adultery thing… in a marriage usually ends up in either splitting up the family OR it causes such distrust in the family that it becomes a DYSFUNCTIONAL family that is NOT able to function as it should!
Now when we are spiritually unfaithful we can cause a split of the family, a division in the family midst… and all of this leads to the church family becoming DYSFUNCTIONAL and NOT being able to do what God has called it to do… and that is win souls to Christ!
Is there forgiveness for adultery? Absolutely, in fact in the book of Hosea we find God telling Hosea to forgive his wife for her wayward ways and welcome her back into the family… and this is a picture of what God did for the children of Israel on many occasions as they played the role of adulteress many times!
God will forgive, but we must turn to Him and follow Him and do His will and not seek after our own will. When we are unfaithful to God, we can know from Scripture that He is NOT happy with us, and we can also know that there are consequences to our unfaithfulness.
Just these past few weeks a pastor in Colorado was exposed for the unfaithfulness of his secret lifestyle. He has been brought under repudiation by his church as he should be, but even though these people are willing to forgive him, he will suffer many consequences to his unfaithfulness.
It is like a marriage that has been through this unfaithful act… it CAN be reconciled but it carries with it great scars and consequences and it takes time to get back to where you were…
If we are unfaithful to God we can be reconciled, BUT God may never fully use us in that area again because of our unfaithfulness, but He may choose to place us elsewhere. God forgives, but there are consequences to our actions.
The guilt of the sin has been removed, the punishment of the sin has been paid by Christ on Calvary… but the consequences of our sin and unfaithfulness to God remain!
Here James describes God as a jealous God… and although this metaphor does not fully play out, I kind of see James comparing God to a jealous husband… one who is UPSET and deeply troubled when his wife is unfaithful.
God is jealous in that it is HIS desire to be our number one priority. When we are unfaithful to God, it does not please Him but angers Him and tells Him that we really do NOT love Him as we should!
When we choose to be unfaithful and subvert the fellowship by seeking OUR way… by seeking after OUR desires… we bring division and separation into the family of God… when that happens the family of God cannot function as God desires it to… we become a dysfunctional church… not able to minister to our community… not able to bring the witness of Christ… and maybe even destroy our witness forever!
The world will tell you if you are NOT happy where you are in your married life that you have the right to go out and seek ‘happiness’ elsewhere… that you have a right to get what YOU want out of life…
But if we live by what the world tells us, we live in opposition to what God tells us. If we obey the world… we disobey God. If we are friendly to the world… we have become enemies of God!
It sounds like James is painting a picture that will FOREVER be bleak, but James is a practical teacher and we can see in these next few verses that James addresses how those in the church who are subverting the fellowship… those in the church who are separating the family… that there is hope and there is forgiveness and that all is not lost…
When God convicts you of your sin and the Holy Spirit is tugging on your heart to confess your sin to God, Satan is going to try to tell you that you CANNOT turn around now… that you are TOO bad and have done TOO many evil things for God to use you.
But I am here to share with you today that Satan is a liar and a deceiver and in him there is NO truth at all. If you desire to live as God has called you to live and you do NOT want to be a subverter of the fellowship… and you do NOT want to be a seperater of the family, then there has to be a…
3. Submission of the Faithful (v.6-10)
6 But HE GIVES A GREATER GRACE. Therefore it says, "GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE." 7 SUBMIT 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 miserable and mourn and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you.
Let’s take a look at the Bible and what it has to say about a prideful heart vs a humble spirit…
Prov 11:2 (NASB)
2 When pride comes, then comes dishonor, but with the humble is wisdom.
Prov 16:5 (NASB)
5 Everyone who is proud in heart is an abomination to the LORD;
Assuredly, he will not be unpunished.
Prov 16:18 (NASB)
18 Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before stumbling.
Prov 29:23 (NASB)
23 A man’s pride will bring him low, but a humble spirit will obtain honor.
1 John 2:16 (NASB)
16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world.
Mark 7:21-23 (NASB)
21 "For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts, fornications , thefts, murders, adulteries, 22 deeds of coveting and wickedness, as well as deceit, sensuality, envy , slander, pride and foolishness. 23 "All these evil things proceed from within and defile the man."
As we can see God’s Word is filled with Scripture after Scripture about how pride and a prideful spirit goes against God… and that the only way we can truly serve Him is to humble ourselves before Him!
In v.7 James tells us to “…submit to God…” and the Greek word he uses there for ‘submit’ is the Greek word, hupatasso [hoop-ah-tass-oh] and it means to put yourself in subjection to, to submit to the authority of, to be submissive to the will of…
How can we submit to God’s will, how can we place ourselves in subjection to God, how can we submit to the authority of God? Well the first step to subjecting and submitting to God authority is confession of sin and asking God to forgive you of that sin!
We cannot go very far in our walk with Christ when there is a sinful heart and sinful attitude… we have to confess our sin and 1 Jn 1:9 promises us that if we DO submit to God thru confession… that He is faithful and He is just and He will FORGIVE our sin and CLEANSE us of that sin…
That is why James follows the phrase “Submit therefore to God…” with the phrase, “…resist the devil…” When we are in submission to God, Satan can have NO rule in our lives, he can have NO chair at our table, he has NO room in our heart, and he is NOT welcomed… in fact where Christ is… Satan MUST flee!
God give the grace of mercy and forgiveness to those who are willing to submit and subject themselves to Him in confession! He give mercy and grace to those who submit in a humble spirit and confess their sin…
When we SUBMIT to God… when we place ourselves under subjection to God, our hearts are open and fertile for the grace and mercy of God to overflow our lives and God’s presence in our lives shines like a bright light on the darkest night! Satan simply cannot stand to be around a bright light… it exposes him far too much!
When we choose to live in the light of Christ, the darkness of Satan cannot overcome us! This is evident that when we seek the light and we seek to be in and around the light… God welcomes us and wants us to stay in the light, look what James tells us…
8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
This verse is a testament to God’s faithfulness to provide for us when we humble ourselves before Him and when we submit in obedience to His call on our lives!
Now the next verse has always given me a bit of trouble, but God cleared that up for me this past week. We must understand WHO James is speaking to in this particular passage… do you remember who? He is speaking to those who are subverting the fellowship… he is speaking to those who are separating the family. He even calls them an adulterer! And he does this because they are all seeking their OWN desires and they are refusing to submit in obedience to God’s desires and God’s Will. Their actions have made them enemies of God!
But James instructs these people to be miserable, mourn and weep, let their laughter be turned into mourning and their joy into gloom…
This verse speaks to the empty joy and hollow laughter of a heart in rebellion to God! For us to experience healing, we must turn that laughter and joy of our own pleasures around… we must recognize our rebellion for WHAT it actually is… it is a disaster for our walk with Christ.
Seeking our own pleasures brings nothing but disrepute on the Lord and the church and our witness to the world around us. It is a disaster for our witness; it is a travesty of God’s grace and mercy; it is really a great sickness in our heart… a sin sickness that only God can cure… and His cure comes only after we are willing to surrender and submit to His authority over us…
Finally James says in v.10,
10 Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you.
I want you to first understand that when God exalts you it is NOT exaltation the way the world sees it… but it is exaltation in the kingdom of God!
Jesus was a great example of this humility of spirit and God’s exaltation of Him for His obedience to the will of the Father! READ Phil 2:5-11 (NASB)
5 Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. 8 Being found in appearance as a man, HE HUMBLED HIMSELF BY BECOMING OBEDIENT to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 For this reason also, GOD HIGHLY EXALTED HIM, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Jesus humbled Himself to become obedient. We cannot be obedient to God… we cannot keep His commandments until we bring ourselves under His rule… until allow His sovereign Will to be the focus and priority of our life.
The submission of the faithful will bring about a stop to the subversion of the fellowship and a separation of the family!
Conclusion:
This morning you may think you have it ALL figured out and that YOU know what is best… but my friend when you see life that way, you are seeking after YOURSELF and that brings you in direct conflict with God…
For those of us who have accepted Christ, when this happens, we do NOT lose our salvation, but we are disciplined by God… we are taken out to the woodshed [so to speak] and there are consequences to our actions, like damage to our relationship with Him, like a reduced witness, an ineffective outreach and ministry…
Today I urge you to come clean with God. Come today and stop all the subversion and separation in our church! Come today and confess your adulterous heart to God so that He can forgive you and wash you white as snow!
