Expectations
The Path of Faith • Sermon • Submitted
0 ratings
· 6 viewsContinually submit your life to God and watch your life change.
Notes
Transcript
Sermon Tone Analysis
A
D
F
J
S
Emotion
A
C
T
Language
O
C
E
A
E
Social
What can a Christian expect from God?
What can a Christian expect from God?
I don’t even remember what year it was.
I don’t remember what teacher it was, but I was in school and we were studying poetry.
I remember the teacher putting a portable record player on her desk.
Those record players were built for school children to use - a nuclear bomb couldn’t have destroyed them.
Our teacher took a vinyl 33 1/3 record out of the sleeve and she placed in on the turntable.
Before she set the needle in place, she told us we would be listening to Robert Frost reading his own poem, “The Road Less Traveled.”
I remember both Frost’s voice - sounded like he was a million years old and about to die.
And I remember his poem.
“Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth.
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.”
From a young man’s perspective Frost captured my angst.
Everyone asked, “What will you be when you grow up?”
I wondered “Who will I marry?”
“What college will I go to?”
“Should I get a job for a year or so and then go to college?”
“Should I learn a trade instead?”
I heard Frost through the ears of a young boy faced with major life decisions.
But I learned over time.
As I watched the joys and sorrows of life ebb and flow, I have learned that the big decisions aren’t really so big.
They are simply the culmination of hundreds of smaller choices that end up putting you where you are going to be.
That’s the way life works.
But, and this is pretty important, where you are is the result of your choices.
We all have examples of men and women who were born in extreme conditions that have risen above the fray to excel in ways no one would have dreamed.
We’ve also seen men and women born into the most privileged environments who have crashed and burned and left a life littered with regret.
How we live is our choice.
And what we choose determines what we can expect from the Lord.
Our scripture today is James 4:1-10.
Please open your Bibles and follow along as I read.
We welcome you that are joining by live stream, we have a small but dedicated group of folks who watch our services regularly.
We thank you and we’d love to hear from you.
You can email us at fbc@fbcgray.org and tell us what’s on your mind.
We promise to respond.
But right now, if you will, open your Bibles and follow along as we read the Word of the Lord from James chapter 4.
What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you?
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.
You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.
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.
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”?
But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”
Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom.
Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.
This is the Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
Let’s dig in.
Does it seem like every time you turn around there is a fight?
Does it seem like every time you turn around there is a fight?
Why do you think that is?
James 4:1 “What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you?”
What is a quarrel?
We tend to see it as a little spat - a momentary disagreement - it lasts for a minute and it’s done.
But a quarrel is more than that.
It’s a constant, underlying conflict - it is a deep dissatisfaction that makes us ready to fight.
Quarreling is anger on simmer.
Fighting is anger on boiled all over the stove.
And we see it everywhere, don’t we?
Why?
Why is everyone so dog-gone angry?
“Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you?”
Now, let’s level set.
Now here’s the deal and it’s important to really grasp this - James is writing to Christians.
And everywhere he looks, he sees angry Christians.
Quarreling amongst themselves.
Fighting each other - tearing each other apart and killing churches.
What he says sounds a little confusing but when we think about it, it makes sense.
You see, once we are saved, we no longer have a sin nature.
See, before you were saved, you had a sin nature - you were a sinner - you were dead to God.
Colossians 2:13 explains it, “You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away.”
But see, now you are saved and your sin nature has been cut away and it has been replaced with a new nature.
And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.
We have a new heart, a new spirit and a new nature.
Which causes us to act in new ways.
But we live in the same body - and it wants what it wants.
And that’s why James says what he says.
The Christ in you wants Christ things.
The flesh in you wants flesh things.
And the battle can get very intense, and you know it.
And every Christian - every Christian is fighting that same battle to some degree every day.
And it causes us to be angry.
Because we want two things - and the two things hate each other.
And hate is not a very satisfying emotion.
James 4:2 “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.”
You all know murder here doesn’t mean you literally kill someone.
James has the same Sermon on the Mount in mind that you do.
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said when we call our Christian brother worthless - that is tantamount to murder.
He’s created in the image of God.
There is no image of God that is worthless.
But we still call brothers and sisters worthless.
And we still want what we want - we covet what other people have.
And it makes us mad as fire that we can’t get it.
So we walk around angry, ready for a fight.
And we know we are that way.
And it seems like God doesn’t care
And it seems like God doesn’t care
But oh, He does.
His word says, we don’t have the contentment we want, because we don’t ask God for it.
I suspect that James does what I do here.
I will write something and immediately hear the objection in my mind.
“You do not have because you do not ask.”
And somebody is thinking, “Oh yes I do ask, it’s just God never answers.”
So James answers the objection.
James 4:3 “You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.”
We didn’t define passions, did we?
Passions are physical pleasures.
In 2022, we tend to understand passion in sexual terms because the unsaved have redefined life in sexual terms.
But passions aren’t limited to sex.
We can be passionate about anything.
It might be sexual.
But it might be success.
Or money.
Or respect.
Or a house, or a car, or a boat, or jewelry or landscaping or interior design or food and on and on and on..
It’s strange the things we get in our minds that are so important that we can’t let them go.
And when we are passionate about something we want, we’ll do whatever “we think is best” to get it.
And God help you if you get in the way.
Do you see yourself in this anywhere?
It’s kind of hard to think we are wrong because many of the things we want are morally neutral.
There’s nothing wrong with any of those things I mentioned.
And we’ll pray and pray and pray and pray and pray for them.
And beg God and plead to God and cry to God.
Because we really them and we know they will make us happy.
And they will be good for our families.
And we’ll use them for the church - we’ll help poor people.
And we’ll quote scripture to Lord.
“Lord, you said in your word, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; know, and it will be opened to you.
“So Lord I’m asking and begging and pleading.
“Father, you know I need this - it will mean so much to my family.
“And Lord we’ll be so grateful when we get it.
“We’ll give you all of the praise and honor and glory you deserve.”
And we look around ourselves and we see some Christians getting those things.
Some preachers preach you deserve those things.
But you to don’t get them.
And you wonder why you can’t.
And you get dissatisfied - which is a sanitary way of saying, it makes you plain mad.
Why can’t I have these things?
Why does God not answer our prayers?
Why does God not answer our prayers?
James 4:4 “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.”
I was hosting a company Christmas party.
You may have been to one - everyone is invited to bring their spouse or significant other.
I had a mom on my team - probably early to mid thirties.
She was smart - good looking - had a great personality and was doing a very good job at the company.
Her husband was a handsome guy.
They came in with her arm in his - they struck a handsome pose.
And that was the last time I saw him with her.
I watched him as he hit on every woman at that party.
Didn’t matter who she was with or really what she even looked like.
If she was female, he was in pursuit.
And I watched his wife sit alone.
Watching her lecherous husband prowl about the room like he was God’s gift to women.
Only to come back at the end of the evening to extend his arm to take her home.
It was difficult for me to thank him for coming as he left.
Now, let’s level set.
He didn’t go home with any other woman.
And he didn’t slip out the back with any other woman.
He simply flirted heavily with every woman in the room.
He didn’t physically commit adultery - but he committed adultery.
But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
James calls us adulterous because we are the bride of Christ, but Jesus isn’t enough for us.
Jesus brings us to the dance and it’s a fancy dance with plenty of food and drink and music and fun.
But we look around and all of those who didn’t come with Jesus look like they are having so much more fun than us.
We want what they have.
And we will sacrifice everything He has given us to get what they have.
James is pretty pointed here, James 4:4 “...Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.”
Don’t misunderstand what James is saying.
He’s not saying we’ll lose our salvation - that can’t happen.
We are His Bride - Jesus doesn’t do divorce.
But He doesn’t have to be happy with His bride either.
Calling his bride an enemy is pretty strong.
But think back to my girl at the party.
She loved her husband deeply and sat there dutifully while he unleashed cringe all over the room.
Was he not her enemy that night?
Was he working to love her as a husband should love his wife?
No, he was her enemy.
James says: James 4:6 ...“God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.””
I’m listening to an audio book by Joby Martin, “If the Tomb is Empty.”
He said something I knew - but this time it landed.
The word meek - remember James said, James 3:13 “Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom.”
Meekness and humility - they are synonyms.
When we hear the word meekness we think weenie.
Humility means you are a doormat.
Our world does not adore or respect either of those words because they don’t understand them.
Joby Martin explains that the word meekness comes from a word meaning a bridled horse.
If that’s the case, it makes James 3:3 make more sense: “If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well.”
A bridled horse is meek - it goes where it’s master says.
But a horse isn’t weak and a horse isn’t a weenie.
A horse is strong and a horse can kill you if you get in it’s way.
But by accepting the bridle, this massive animal submits to the will of it’s master.
Going and doing what it’s master thinks best for it to do.
We don’t have a bit in our mouths.
We don’t even wear a wedding band to represent our relationship with Jesus.
But we did have a double ring ceremony.
He brought out dead spirits to life - he gave us a new heart - he cut out our old sin nature.
And we gave Him our lives.
We submitted ourselves - we surrendered our lives to the will of Jesus.
When we were baptized, that’s what we were doing.
We came to the party on Jesus’ arm...
Now, are we acting like His enemy?
And if we are...
What do we do?
What do we do?
James 4:7 “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”
Sounds like two actions but it’s not - it’s only one.
When we submit ourselves to God, we are at the same time resisting the devil.
Ya’ll, please see this.
We aren’t standing and speaking magic words, “I bind you Satan in the name of Jesus.”
I’m not doing battle with Satan here.
It’s not me and the evil one in a cage match beat down.
When I turn to Jesus, Satan can do nothing but flee.
Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.
You need no magical incantation other than one - “Jesus, forgive me. Jesus help me.”
James 4:8 “Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.”
What do we pray for?
Pray for Jesus.
Like Paul, pray to know Jesus, to know His power.
To know His determination, His devotion.
To know how to suffer like Jesus - instead of wanting something “better.”
Be willing to accept what the Lord is giving so we can be better.
James 4:9 “Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom.”
He’s not saying to do this all of the time - he’s not telling us to be miserable Christians.
He’s telling us that when we figure out we aren’t dancing with the one which brung us - it should break our hearts.
That as one of our girls said that was saved at camp, “I realized that God is so good to me, and I don’t deserve it.”
And the tears flowed.
That’s this.
That our hearts are broken that we’ve broken His heart.
That we are acting like an enemy to the one who loves us more than our children, more than our spouse, more than our parents.
James 4:10 “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.”
Walk away from everyone else and everything else - you choose to do that.
That’s within your power to do.
And ask Jesus to take the reins of your life.
Dr. Charles R. Solomon wrote a prayer in his study, “For Me to Live is Christ” that he calls the “Total Surrender Prayer.”
This is what Jesus is waiting to hear:
“Dear Jesus, I am yours.
I want YOUR will to be accomplished in my life, whatever the cost.
Whatever…wherever…whenever.
I have no rights - no strings attached.
I take my hands off my life and, in total surrender and abandonment, give You permission to do whatever You desire in and through me.
I want JESUS to be my LIFE.
A lot of Baptist would want to call that rededication.
I don’t believe in rededication - that keeps me in the driver seat.
I believe in surrender because Jesus believes in surrender.
James 4:10 “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.”
Will you bow your heads?
Right now the Holy Spirit is convicting someone’s heart.
What you came into this room with this morning is gone.
Whatever it was has been replaced with heaviness - sadness - gloom as James calls it.
That is the Holy Spirit moving you to surrender.
Maybe you’ve never surrendered to Jesus the first time and now He’s calling you to follow Him.
Or maybe you quit dancing with the one which brung you to the dance, and the lover of your soul is calling you back.
If the Holy Spirit is moving you right now, will you pray this prayer with me?
“Dear Jesus, I am yours.
I want YOUR will to be accomplished in my life, whatever the cost.
Whatever…wherever…whenever.
I have no rights - no strings attached.
I take my hands off my life and, in total surrender and abandonment, give You permission to do whatever You desire in and through me.
I want JESUS to be my LIFE.
With every head bowed and every eye closed, if you prayed that prayer, will you quietly slip your hand up?
No one will call you out, no one will see but me.
If you raised your hand, you need to tell someone.
As we sing in a moment, you can come talk to me.
Grab me after the service, grab any minister or any friend - we all want the same thing.
We all want to know Jesus.
PRAY