JAMES HE GIVETH MORE GRACE: James 4

INTRO: We are living in a time of violence and civic upheaval. , in speaking of the Last Days, said, “But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.” (Matthew 24:37) Q = What were the “days of Noah” like?… Cf. Genesis 6:5, 11-13 - “And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. ... The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth. And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.” - Terrorist shootings in Orlando, San Bernardino, Paris, Istanbul, etc. - Wednesday night - A woman, her boyfriend, and their child in the backseat, were pulled over by the police, and they asked for his I.D., and as he went for it, the officer shot him and the girlfriend started streaming live on Facebook as her boyfriend bled out and died. - Thursday night - During a Black Lives Matter protest, a sniper shot 12 officers in Dallas, of whom 5 died, and was the most law enforcement killed at one time since 9/11.

I. A Humble Attitude Before God. (v. 1-3) A. (v. 1) 1. “From whence come wars and fightings among you?…” a. “wars” - Gr. polemos - “battles; warfare; fights” b. “fightings” - Gr. “combats; conflicts; disputes; contentions" c. “among you” 1) NOTE: James is writing to these Jewish believers that have scattered and suffering, but they are fighting each other. a) It is often in those times of trials that we fight with those we love the most.

1 of 15 JAMES HE GIVETH MORE GRACE: James 4

b) Sadly, sometimes it is a war zone in the Church between believers, and others can get caught in the crossfire. c) The Church is not to be a war zone, but a hospital from the spiritual beatings we receive from the world, the flesh, and the devil. d) Sometimes Christians are so focused on themselves that they lose sight that we are on the same side fighting against a common enemy. i. , in writing to a young pastor Timothy, said, “Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.” (2 Timothy 2:3-4) e) The Church is in a spiritual war against the forces of darkness, but sadly the reality is that sometimes it turns into a civil war. 2) KEY: So often, the battles that happen among Christians are like war - bitter and severe! Deadly!

d. Q = Where do wars and conflicts come from within the Church? Christian homes?…

2. “…come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members? a. “lusts” - Gr. hédoné - “pleasures; hedonism”

b. “that war in your members” 1) There is an internal war going on within believers. a) Cf. Romans 7:14-25; :15-17

2 of 15 JAMES HE GIVETH MORE GRACE: James 4

2) The problem is not usually without, but is usually within! We want our own way!

B. (v. 2) 1. “Ye lust, and have not:…” a. “lust” - Gr. “desire; set your heart upon; long for”

2. “…ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain:…” a. “kill” - Gr. “murder” 1) Cf. Matthew 5:21-22 - James uses very strong language here to startle them, and no doubt he got this from the Sermon on the Mount, when Jesus said, “Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment: But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.” 2) Cf. Mark 7:21-23 - Jesus also said, “For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.”

b. “desire” - Gr. “covet”

c. “and cannot obtain” 1) The flesh is never satisfied! a) Cf. Proverbs 27:20 - “Hell and destruction are never full; so the eyes of man are never satisfied.”

3 of 15 JAMES HE GIVETH MORE GRACE: James 4

2) Our flesh gets frustrated because it cannot be satisfied and we take it out on others when we don’t get our way!

3. “…ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not.” a. The reason these destructive desires exist among Christians is because they are not seeking God for their needs! b. God has designed us in such a way that we would have to go to Him in relationship, and He has a way of orchestrating things in our lives that will finally bring us to Him. 1) Illust. - Cf. Haggai 1:3-8 - The Nation of Israel had started to return to their Land from Babylon, and instead of putting Him first, they decided to put their houses and their lives first. So God basically asked them, “Why do you think you’re struggling so bad financially? Why does it seem like you do so much and get so little in return? It’s because you haven’t put Me first!” 2) Cf. Matthew 6:33 - Jesus said, “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”

c. Our problem so often is that we don’t ask! We limit the Lord because we don’t pray and ask from Him. 1) One of the saddest verses in Israel’s history is found in the Psalms, “Yea, they turned back and tempted God, and limited the Holy One of Israel.” (Psalm 78:41) 2) Illust. - I have prayed for the Self-Realization Fellowship’s property by the beach. Wouldn’t that make a great College? I figure, I don’t want to miss out because I didn’t ask the Lord, so I asked

4 of 15 JAMES HE GIVETH MORE GRACE: James 4

Him. He might say “No,” but it doesn’t hurt to ask! Why limit God?

d. KEY: As Christians, if we spent the same amount of time and energy in prayer as we do in fighting, a lot more would be accomplished! 1) We fight over theological differences. 2) We fight over how the sanctuary might look. 3) We fight over what color the carpet should be. 4) We fight over insignificant things! e. Q = What if we prayed together instead of arguing with one another? What if we sought what God wants rather than what we want?… 1) Cf. :17

C. (v. 3) 1. “Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.” a. “amiss” - Gr. “badly; evilly; wrongly; improperly” 1) When we do pray, often the reason that God does not grant those requests is because He knows that we have wrong motives, and it will ultimately destroy us. a) I thank God that He has not granted many of my requests because now I realize that they would have destroyed me!

b. “lusts” - Gr. hédoné - “hedonism; self-pleasure” 1) Too many times, we give God our prayer requests that we might please ourselves and get our will accomplished.

5 of 15 JAMES HE GIVETH MORE GRACE: James 4

a) KEY: Prayer is never to get my will accomplished, but to get God’s will accomplished! 2) One commentator said, “The ultimate choice in life lies between pleasing oneself and pleasing God; and a world in which men's first aim is to please themselves is a battleground of savagery and division.”1

c. Cf. John 14:13-14 - Jesus said, “And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.” 1) Q = Who was Jesus talking to?… His disciples! 2) Q = What is a disciple?… a) Cf. Mark 8:34-37 - “And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's, the same shall save it. For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” d. Cf. John 15:8, 16 - Jesus also said, “Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples. ... Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.” 1) NOTE: He “may” give it you. God will only give you those things that are according to His will! And I

1 William Barclay. James 4:1-3 http://www.dannychesnut.com/Bible/Barclay/James-Peter.htm 6 of 15 JAMES HE GIVETH MORE GRACE: James 4

thank God for that! I don’t want anything that God does not want for me! 2) Cf. 1 John 5:14-15 - “And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.”

D.(v. 4) 1. “Ye adulterers and adulteresses,…” a. In the O.T., Israel is presented as the Wife of Jehovah that was spiritually unfaithful, thus committing spiritual adultery. 1) Cf. Isaiah 54:5; 62:1-5; Jeremiah 2:2; 3:6, 8-9, 14, 20; 31:32; Ezekiel 6:9; 16:32, 23:37; Hosea 2:16; 3:1 b. James is writing to Jewish believers, who Paul would call “the Israel of God” (Gal. 6:16) that are committing spiritual adultery by their friendship with the world. 1) Just like their national history, these Jewish believers are spiritually unfaithful by their friendship with the world.

2. “…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.” a. “world” - Gr. kosmos - “universe; ordered system; world- system” 1) The world is the world-system that is in rebellion against God. a) Cf. Ephesians 2:1-3 - “And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, 7 of 15 JAMES HE GIVETH MORE GRACE: James 4

the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.” b) Cf. 1 John 2:15-17 - The apostle John wrote in his 1st epistle, “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.” 2) Kenneth Wuest: “Kosmos refers to an ordered system. Here it is the ordered system of which Satan is the head, his fallen angels and demons are his emissaries, and the unsaved of the human race are his subjects, together with those purposes, pursuits, pleasures, practices, and places where God is not wanted. Much in this world-system is religious, cultured, refined, and intellectual. But it is anti-God and anti-Christ…”2

b. “friendship” - Gr. philia - “warm affection, fondness” 1) In Jewish culture during that time, friendship was a much richer term than it is today. It implied unity and oneness in thought and purpose. To be a friend was to share all. 2) As believers, we are not to be friendly with the world system that is in rebellion against God. a) NOTE: Jesus was called a “friend of sinners” (Matt 11:19; Luke 7:34), but He was not a friend of the world system!

2 http://preceptaustin.org/james_44_commentary.htm#4:4 8 of 15 JAMES HE GIVETH MORE GRACE: James 4

b) KEY: Jesus did not come to be a friend of the world, but to die for the sins of the world and call out a people unto Himself out of the world and change their lives!

c. Many people in the American church are worldly, and they think they are okay. They don’t realize that they are actually fighting against God Himself! 1) The cool thing nowadays is to hit up ‘happy hour’ with your friends for some social drinking and hitting up the clubs to flirt and have fun. a) “I know they’re not a Christian, but I can go on some dates with them and hopefully share with them. I’m just having some fun.” 2) Also, too many Christians will watch trash on TV that is filled with worldly filth and sinful things: sex, adultery, cheating, drama, etc. d. So many Christians want to just fit in and not be looked at as weird. Well, I’ve got a news flash for you: “CHRISTIANS ARE WIERD TO THIS WORLD!!!” We’re different! We’re supposed to be different! 1) NOTE: There is a demonic deception in the Church today that you need to be like the world to reach the world. That is from the pit of hell! a) If we are no different from the world, then we’re a part of it, thus enemies of God! 2) KEY: The world will come to Christ when they see the reality of Christ in our lives as He transforms us to be different from the world and truly loving people! a) We live differently than the world: i. We don’t lie and cheat, but tell the truth, even if it doesn’t advance us or our agenda.

9 of 15 JAMES HE GIVETH MORE GRACE: James 4

ii. In humility, we prefer others above ourselves. iii.We love unconditionally. iv. We go the extra mile. v. We are servants, not moochers.

E. (v. 5) 1. “Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy?” a. “the Scripture saith” 1) There is no direct quotation that is found in the Old Testament, but James is summarizing what the O.T. Scriptures taught in regards to God and His jealousy for His wife Israel.

b. “lusteth” - Gr. epipotheó - “desires greatly; craves; yearns affectionately” 1) The idea of this word is the “the longing affection of a lover.”3 2) This word can be used in the positive or the negative, and since the Holy Spirit cannot sin, it is in the positive sense.

c. “envy” - Gr. “jealousy” 1) This Greek word also used of a lover’s jealousy toward a rival.4 2) This Divine jealousy was a familiar doctrine to these Jewish readers (Ex. 20:5; 34:14; Zech 8:2) a) KEY: God’s Spirit is unwilling to share your affection with the world.

3 Arnold G. Fruchtenbaum. “The Messianic Jewish Epistles.” p. 517

4 Arnold G. Fruchtenbaum. “The Messianic Jewish Epistles.” p. 517 10 of 15 JAMES HE GIVETH MORE GRACE: James 4

i. Cf. Philippians 1:8 - Paul the apostle, in writing to the church at Philippi, said, “For God is my witness, how I long for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus.” (NASB) 3) There is no room for double occupancy in the Christian’s heart.

F. (v. 6) 1. “But he giveth more grace….” a. Our flesh and inner sinful desires cause us to use our tongue in an evil way, selfishly causing fighting and wars within the church instead of praying, thus committing spiritual adultery against God in our friendship with the world… BUT, HE GIVES GREATER GRACE!!! 1) Cf. Romans 5:20 - Paul wrote to the church in Rome, “…But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:”

2. “…Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.” a. Cf. Exodus 10:3-4; 15:9-10; 18:11; 1 Samuel 2:3; 22:29; 40:10-12; Psalm 138:6; Proverbs 3:34; 6:16-17; 29:23; Isaiah 2:11-12, 17; 10:8-14; 16:6-7; Daniel 4:37; 5:20-23; Matthew 23:12; Luke 1:52; 14:11; 18:14; 1 Peter 5:5 1) Illust. - A man who had just been elected to the British Parliament brought his family to London and was giving them a tour of the city. When they entered Westminster Abbey, his eight-year-old daughter seemed awe-struck by the size and beauty of that magnificent structure. Her proud father, curious about what was going on in her mind, asked, "And what, my child, are you thinking about?" She replied, "Daddy, I was just thinking

11 of 15 JAMES HE GIVETH MORE GRACE: James 4

about how big you are in our house, but how small you look here!”

b. “resisteth” - Gr. antitassó - “opposes; battles against” 1) This Greek word was a military term meaning "to range in battle against" and pictured an army arrayed against the enemy forces. 2) You don’t want God fighting you!!! a) Andrew Murray: “All the sin of heathendom, all the sin of Christendom, is but the outgrowth of the one root—God dethroned, self enthroned in the heart of man.”

c. “but gives grace to the humble” 1) Sometimes God will allow things into our lives to humble us, or keep us humble, but it is so He can give more grace!

G.(v. 7) 1. “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” a. “resist” - Gr. “oppose fully; withstand; stand against” 1) This means to stand against the devil's deceptions and his efforts to intimidate. We are not to run, but resist. a) NOTE: We are not to fight the devil (cf. Jude 9), but we are to resist him! i. Some Christian circles get involved with fighting the devil with special formulas or words directed at the devil or his demons. ii. However, we are not to fight against him in an offensive attack, we are to resist

12 of 15 JAMES HE GIVETH MORE GRACE: James 4

and stand strong as we submit to God. The Lord is our defense.

2) Cf. 1 Peter 5:8-9 - Peter wrote in his 1st epistle, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: Whom resist stedfast in the , knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.” 3) Cf. Matthew 4:3-11; Luke 4:2-13; Ephesians 4:27; 6:11-12; 1 Peter 5:8-9; Revelation 12:9-11

b. “devil” - Gr. diabolos - “slanderer; accuser; malicious gossip” 1) The Devil will accuse you, condemn you, slander you, and try and bring great discouragement and depression. 2) We are to resist him! a) Q = How do we resist Him?… i. Cf. Revelation 12:7-12

H.(v. 8) 1. “Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you…” a. Cf. Jeremiah 29:11-14a - “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart. And I will be found of you, saith the LORD:…”

I. (v. 11) 1. “Speak not evil one of another, brethren…” 13 of 15 JAMES HE GIVETH MORE GRACE: James 4

a. Cf. :1-12 - In context, James just spoke about the tongue, and now gives practical application.

b. NOTE: He calls them adulterers and adulteresses (v. 4), sinners (v. 8b), double-minded (v. 8c), but again calls them brethren! c. KEY: The Church is the best dysfunctional family going!

II.A Humble Dependance On God. (v. 13-17) A. (v. 13-14) 1. “Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.” a. Cf. :16-21 - Jesus gave a parable, saying, “The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”

B. (v. 17) 1. “Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.” a. This refers to those sins of Omission.

14 of 15 JAMES HE GIVETH MORE GRACE: James 4

1) Sins of Commission = Doing what you know is wrong 2) Sins of Omission = Not doing what is right b. Cf. 1 Samuel 12:23 - Samuel told the people of Israel, “Moreover as for me, God forbid that I should sin against the LORD in ceasing to pray for you: but I will teach you the good and the right way:” c. Cf. Romans 14:23 - “…for whatsoever is not of faith is sin.”

15 of 15