Cozying Up?

And if you are familiar with this passage in James, you will know that James is going to be talking a great deal about our attitudes in relation to our relationship with God and with the world.

And you can imagine that there is quite a contrast between what the two are supposed to look like.

And what James is going to really be doing here is building on the topics we discussed this morning.

Those topics being discernment, wisdom, humility.

All of those concepts that are in contrast with the worldly views of “anything goes,” “what I want, I get,” and “I need to look out for #1.”

And James is going to be using those comparisons to springboard us into the next arena of the conversation, which really has to do with dedication.

Who are we really dedicated to?

What master do we really serve?

Are we all talk, or as James has already said, are we “doers of the Word?”

Do we actually follow God or do we just talk about it a lot?

Those are the same concepts that are going to come up tonight and actually again and again during this study.

And the reason why James is continually returning to these concepts and these points, is because he knows that if the Christians he was writing to, or any of us for that matter, are going to make it, we have got to draw the line in the sand.

We have got to determine within ourselves, who we serve and how we are going to serve.

And then we have got to resolve to actually put those decisions to action.

We have to do something with it.

And all of these other things that James is talking about here are things that stand in the way of us being able to actually do that.

So when we are hearing these messages, we really need to let the concepts sink in and really examine where we stand in these areas.

Because as Christians, we do have the tendency to grow a little too comfortable and a little too complacent with the things of the world.

And as a result, the enemy will subtly sneak in on us and pull us away without us even knowing it.

So, the question of the hour is “who are we cozying up to?”

And in the following verses we will be trying to answer that question.

In James 4, starting in verse 4, James writes this . . .

Scripture Focus

James 4:4–12 NIV - Anglicised

You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world is hatred towards God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. Or do you think Scripture says without reason that the spirit he caused to live in us envies intensely?But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up. Brothers, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against his brother or judges him speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgment on it. There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you—who are you to judge your neighbour?

Where Is Our Allegiance? (vs 4-6)

Now, I stopped there in verse 12, because in verse 13, James moves on to a different topic.

But we already see that James is not wasting any time getting to the main point.

And he is not sugarcoating anything either.

Backing up again to verse 4 he writes . . .

James 4:4 NIV - Anglicised

You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world is hatred towards God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.

And those are very, very strong words to speak, by anyone’s standards.

First, he calls them adulterous people.

Next, he calls them “friends of the world” or really, “lovers of the world.”

And next, he says that because, as Jesus pointed out we can’t serve two masters, our love of the world results in hatred towards God.

And that love affair with the world or friendliness with the world, causes us to become an enemy of God.

And I really don’t think we consider those points when we have our daily interactions with the world.

He is saying that we hate God and we are enemies with God.

Now, as Christians, how does that sound?

Would you say that you are God’s enemy or that you hate God?

Probably not, but think about it this way.

What about when God tells you something that goes against the world’s ways?

Or if God convicts your heart about something that is “okay” with the world?

Or that sin that has it’s “pleasure for a season.”

How do you feel then?

Now, you may not say to yourself or God that “I hate you,” but do you not feel just a bit of resentment?

Do you not get that “it’s unfair” feeling?

Sulk up just a bit?

And if you oppose God, are you not God’s enemy?

And that is where the subtleness of the enemy comes in.

He lulls us away and slowly pulls us deeper and deeper.

Whispering lies in our ears.

And we enter into this love affair with the world and all of the ways of the world.

Blind to the actual truth of the matter about things.

And we, in essence are cheating on God, because our hearts have become divided.

We still “love” God, just not God’s direction.

We think we can still maintain a relationship with God and also with the world.

And God, of course, says “nope,” ain’t gonna work.

Which is exactly what James is saying in verse 5 . . .

James 4:5 NIV - Anglicised

Or do you think Scripture says without reason that the spirit he caused to live in us envies intensely?

Or in layman’s terms—do you think scripture is invalid and unimportant?

Do you think that there are no consequences or recourse to your actions?

Do you think it’s okay to be envious of the world and harbor a bitter heart toward God?

And of course looking at it from that perspective, we would say “no, that’s crazy.”

But how often do we do that without even realizing it?

How often does it impact our everyday decisions?

But even in spite of that . . .

James 4:6 NIV - Anglicised

But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

Which is why we preach and teach these messages.

Because God is graceful and God is forgiving.

God gives us choices and options.

We can continue to go down the same path, all proud and puffed up.

Or we can choose to humble ourselves before God and repent.

And if we choose repentance, then God’s grace is sufficient.

But it’s our choice.

And honestly, that is all a sermon in itself and we could stop there.

Submit to God (vs 7-10)

But we won’t because James didn’t stop there.

He takes it a step further.

He not only tells us what to do, but he also tells us how to do it!

In verse 7, James writes one of the most applicable verses in all of Scripture . . .

James 4:7 NIV - Anglicised

Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

Do you want the actual key to it all?

Here it is, and it is a multi-step process.

First, step one—submit yourselves to God.

And submission doesn’t mean praying “God here I am, use me so long as it doesn’t interfere with my life.”

It doesn’t mean praying, “God I’ll do what you say as long as I want to do it.”

It also doesn’t mean praying, “Lord forgive me, but I’m going to do it again.”

It means what it says, submitting ourselves, our wills, and our ways to God.

Allowing God to be the architect of our lives.

And that is difficult because it means we have to be willing to give up control.

And when we are willing, we have to actually then do it.

So, saying “submit yourselves to God” is easy, but the reality of it, is not so easy.

And then step two—resist the devil and he will flee from you.

And we have talked about this resistance many times before.

But very briefly, the word used here for resist is an active word.

It means actively resisting the devil.

It means fighting against Satan.

It is not just saying “devil, now leave me be,” and when he doesn’t give up and give in.

It means actually engaging in spiritual warfare against Satan.

It means putting on the full armor of God and going into battle against Satan.

And when we do that, then he doesn’t stand a chance and guess what?

He will flee from us.

He will run like the coward he is.

But we have to call his bluff and we have to do so under the power of the Holy Spirit, which we only can receive and use, when we are fully submissive to God!

That my friends is how it works.

James goes on to tell us more about this submission to God.

He writes . . .

James 4:8–9 NIV - Anglicised

Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom.

All of these things can be summed up in one word REPENT.

Repent and follow Jesus.

Turn away from our sin and turn toward God.

And this does not just apply to those with no relationship with God.

Those who have not received salvation.

This applies to every single one of us.

All of us have areas and strongholds in our lives that we need to give over to God and allow God to purge from us.

But each of us have to be willing to give those things over to God.

Which is why James writes . . .

James 4:10 NIV - Anglicised

Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.

We have to learn what humility is and then we have to actually employ that.

We humble ourselves before God.

And when we are humble before God, then God can mold us and transform us.

God can make us what we need to be.

And God doesn’t knock you down and shame and condemn you, that is the work of Satan.

No, rather God lifts us up.

God encourages us.

God teaches us.

God loves us.

But we have to choose to be loved in God’s way.

If You Don’t Have Anything Nice to Say . . .(vs 11-12)

And when we choose love and God’s love, then our heart changes and our hearts are turned toward God.

And we begin to love our neighbor as ourselves.

But it is a constant challenge and a constant awareness of what is going on in us and around us.

Which brings us to the last point for this evening.

In verse 11, James writes . . .

James 4:11 NIV - Anglicised

Brothers, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against his brother or judges him speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgment on it.

And there is really where the enemy slips in the back door.

He finds a crack and slides right in.

And that crack is generally in our attitude toward others.

Because the reality is, there are always going to be those in the church who do not belong to Christ and those who say they are Christians but do not exhibit Christian attitudes.

That is just the reality of humanity.

And our natural tendency, or fleshly tendency is to talk about them and sort of run them down a bit.

We disguise it as “calling out their sin” or letting others know how they really are.

But all we are doing to comparing ourselves to them and trying to make our own sin not look so bad.

And the end result is we are guilty of slandering them.

And I will take it a step further.

We should not be slandering anyone, Christian or non-Christian.

It doesn’t matter who they are, a slanderous attitude is not a Christian attitude and it does not exhibit Christ’s love.

Now, there is nothing wrong with calling out sinful ideas and sinful ways, but we don’t have to attach any names to it.

So, again, James says . . .

James 4:11 NIV - Anglicised

And concludes . . .

James 4:12 NIV - Anglicised

There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you—who are you to judge your neighbour?

Altar/Challenge

Which is also where we end tonight.

And to be honest I am not sure which part of this message speaks most to us.

We are a mixed bag here with different issues at different times.

My advice is that we all spend the next few minutes reflecting and listing to the Holy Spirit.

And respond as He leads.

So, with that let’s pray . . .

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