Be A Friend Of God
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Good morning!
Thank you for the testimonies this morning.
Last week we finished up chapter three in our study of James.
Our goal in this study is to discover true faith.
A faith that never stops growing and a faith that is seen by the world.
Last week we talked specifically about wisdom and where we, as believers, look for the wisdom that we need.
James talks about the difference between Wisdom that comes from God and wisdom from the world.
James isn’t saying that wisdom that comes from living on earth is bad, but that when people try to imitate God’s wisdom, it leads to evil.
We talked about this being the enemy’s favorite tactic.
He convinces us that our wisdom is equal to God’s.
This is what he did with Adam and Eve in the garden.
James is trying to reorient the church back to looking to God, not one another, for wisdom.
God’s wisdom will not only produce peace, but it will help us to really understand Him.
That was the goal of their fighting in the church that he was writing to.
They wanted to understand God, but rather than asking God, they were fighting about their own ideas.
This leads us up to chapter four.
James is going to continue to unpack what is happening in the hearts and minds of the church.
Look with me at the first three verses of James 4.
1 What is the source of wars and fights among you? Don’t they come from your passions that wage war within you?
2 You desire and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and wage war. You do not have because you do not ask.
3 You ask and don’t receive because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures.
Most of the time, when people are bent toward fighting, and there seems to be no way to reconcile, it can be traced back to pride.
1. Our pride divides us.
1. Our pride divides us.
As I have mentioned many times during this study, the church that James is writing to is at war with itself.
Now, in this passage, we get a clear view of why.
Remember that they are living under Roman rule, and debating was the popular form of learning and communication.
Because the church was choosing to follow the world’s way of teaching, it was at war with itself because each of the members felt they needed to be right.
The issues that they were debating were lost in the argument.
The chief thing that was being argued over was the role that the law played in this new understanding of God.
Keep in mind that fr most, if not all of them, grew up under Jewish law.
I can only imagine how difficult it would have been for them to leave those traditions.
Jesus fulfilled the law through his life and death.
We see this happening in other churches as well.
This wasn’t a singular event.
If you think about it, most of the New Testament is a compilation of letters that were written to give direction and teaching to these new churches.
Look with me at what Paul says to Titus in his letter. Titus 3:4-11
4 But when the kindness of God our Savior and his love for mankind appeared,
5 he saved us—not by works of righteousness that we had done, but according to his mercy—through the washing of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit.
6 He poured out his Spirit on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior
7 so that, having been justified by his grace, we may become heirs with the hope of eternal life.
8 This saying is trustworthy. I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed God might be careful to devote themselves to good works. These are good and profitable for everyone.
9 But avoid foolish debates, genealogies, quarrels, and disputes about the law, because they are unprofitable and worthless.
10 Reject a divisive person after a first and second warning.
11 For you know that such a person has gone astray and is sinning; he is self-condemned.
In this portion of the letter, Paul lays out the theology of Jesus and grace.
He follows that up by telling them not to fight about it.
If the person that is starting the quarreling doesn’t stop, tell them to leave.
God’s character isn’t divisive, and if the church allows that kind of person to dominate the conversations, they will overshadow what God was doing.
Paul and James are combating the same issues in these different churches.
In fact, we see similar issues popping up for Timothy and the churches in Ephesus and Corinth.
God had dynamically changed the nature of His relationship with people, and there were many who were struggling with that change.
Their way of dealing with those changes was to debate them.
Rather than asking God to help them understand what HE was doing, they debated about what they thought He was doing.
And as many of us have experienced before, those who want to fight are typically willing to take those arguments to the grave simply to be correct.
Because of their pride, they would not or could not give up on their particular standpoint.
Rather than letting God speak to what they were struggling with, they looked within themselves and their past beliefs to reach the truth.
As we see by their actions, they were far more committed to the process than they were to the truth.
Look at what James goes on to say.
4 You adulterous people! Don’t you know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? So whoever wants to be the friend of the world becomes the enemy of God.
5 Or do you think it’s without reason that the Scripture says: The spirit he made to dwell in us envies intensely?
6 But he gives greater grace. Therefore he says: God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.
As a quick aside, depending on what translation you look at, you may see verse four translated as adulteresses, which is feminine.
Some have tried to make that mean something negative towards women, but James is speaking to the church in the same way that the prophets of the OT did.
We, as believers, are the Bridegroom of Christ.
So, when James says adulteresses, he isn’t talking to just women, but to all of us, the bridegroom.
James is addressing our desire to conform to and please the world.
2. Our desire for the world’s approval separates us from God.
2. Our desire for the world’s approval separates us from God.
As the bridegroom of Jesus, if we seek the world’s approval, we cheat on Jesus!
I’m sure that most of us are familiar with the phrase, “be in the world, but not of the world.”
This is kind of what James is getting in this section.
Let’s define again what James means by “the world.”
The greek word is Kosmou which comes from the word Kosmos.
Kosmou means world system - the people constituting the world whose values, beliefs, and morals are in distinction and rebellion to God’s.
James is talking about the people that are distinctly against God.
James is saying that if we are on the team of those that are opposed to God, we too are opposed to God.
In focusing on our desire to be like the world, we are turning our backs on God.
In essence, we are saying that the world’s way of doing things is better than God’s way.
If we are following this line of thought, the message that we are spreading is in direct competition with God.
Rather than trusting in God and encouraging others to do the same, we are preaching our own gospel.
The gospel of _______(Insert a name here) instead of the gospel of Christ.
If our time and energy are focused on ourselves, we are building up our kingdom, and we are not only directly opposing God but also pushing others away from Him.
This is the exact opposite of what Jesus did.
Rather than thinking of the needs of others, we are focused on what we want.
A wicked person desires evil;
he has no consideration for his neighbor.
Do you see how great a contrast there is between what the world says and what God says?
The world encourages you to do what is best for you, whereas God tells us to do what is best for others.
This is the example that Jesus lived.
It is impossible to do both at the same time.
We have seen over and over again in the OT that God’s people choose to turn their backs on God in order to worship other gods.
I believe this is what James is referencing.
Look at this example from Joshua.
16 The people replied, “We will certainly not abandon the Lord to worship other gods!
17 For the Lord our God brought us and our ancestors out of the land of Egypt, out of the place of slavery, and performed these great signs before our eyes. He also protected us all along the way we went and among all the peoples whose lands we traveled through.
18 The Lord drove out before us all the peoples, including the Amorites who lived in the land. We too will worship the Lord, because he is our God.”
19 But Joshua told the people, “You will not be able to worship the Lord, because he is a holy God. He is a jealous God; he will not forgive your transgressions and sins.
In this passage, Joshua is reminding the people of all the times they have abandoned God.
The people said they would never...
Joshua reminded them they always...
He is also reminding them that if they forfeit the covenant God is offering, they are forfeiting the forgiveness they need.
Do you see the point that James is driving home?
We either worship and serve God, or we worship and serve the world.
We can’t do both.
6 But he gives greater grace. Therefore he says: God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.
This passage is the structural linchpin.
It holds the first five verses to the last four.
It is the main point of what James wants to get across.
If we are living in pride we are pushing God away, but if we are living humbly, God draws near.
James is building his case, piece by piece, showing the church their sin.
They are treating one another so poorly because of their pride.
James is calling them to stop giving in to pride and to be humble.
The message is the same for us.
We cannot live a life that is pleasing to the world and pleasing to God at the same time.
I know that may sound harsh, but the world doesn’t want the same things that God does.
They have two different standards.
So, how do we go about humbling ourselves?
I’m glad you asked.
Look at what he says in the next three verses.
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, sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
9 Be miserable and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom.
10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.
3. Humility now will bring exaltation later.
3. Humility now will bring exaltation later.
This idea goes back to the great role reversal that we talked about earlier in this study.
In the end, whatever you had on earth, you will have no more, and whatever you lacked on earth, you will have in heaven.
You will notice that this section begins and ends with the same ideas.
Submit to God in humility.
These are the bookends for this section, and in between, James tells us to turn our focus from our earthly desires inward toward our hearts.
Clean your hands, purify your hearts, etc.
James is telling us to look at our own lives and let God show us where we need to be purified.
The condition of our hearts while we are here on earth is vitally important.
Look at how Jesus dealt with those who thought highly of themselves.
9 He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and looked down on everyone else:
10 “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.
11 The Pharisee was standing and praying like this about himself: ‘God, I thank you that I’m not like other people—greedy, unrighteous, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.
12 I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of everything I get.’
13 “But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even raise his eyes to heaven but kept striking his chest and saying, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner!’
14 I tell you, this one went down to his house justified rather than the other, because everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
I’m confident that if I asked each person in this room which of the two men they wanted to be identified with, they would say the tax collector.
You know, and I know it, no one likes a know-it-all.
It is also worth mentioning that the tax collector is who we want to be.
Our name comes from Luke 15:1 where it says that notorious sinners and tax collectors gathered around Jesus.
All of us are sinners, and all of us need the grace that Jesus has offered.
With that in mind, we must submit not only the external part of our lives that people can see but also the parts that they don’t.
You see, that Pharisee thought he had all of his life together.
Both the external and the internal.
Jesus made it evident that he didn’t.
On the other hand, the tax collector knew his life was a mess, and he came before God in humility seeking grace and forgiveness.
That is who we are called to be.
Acutely aware that we need God’s grace.
Now, in verse nine, James says something weird.
9 Be miserable and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom.
James is repeating some things that he heard his brother say.
He is asking us to adjust our hearts in a particular way.
He is giving us an alternate way to view what is essential in life.
Rather than living for our pleasure, get down in the messiness with other people.
James is referencing the beatitudes.
3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for the kingdom of heaven is theirs.
4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
5 Blessed are the humble, for they will inherit the earth.
6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
7 Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.
10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for the kingdom of heaven is theirs.
11 “You are blessed when they insult you and persecute you and falsely say every kind of evil against you because of me.
I wanted you to see that James is preaching the same thing as Jesus.
Notice how different Jesus’ idea of being “blessed” is from the world.
No one post a selfie of themselves mourning with a #blessed.
For too long, in James’ time, the church conformed itself to the world's idea of what was “proper” behavior towards others and themselves.
This is exactly what is happening at the time of James’ writing.
Rather than relying on the Holy Spirit and the leaders, He appointed, they choose to follow the example of the world.
They choose to base their theology on what they thought rather than what God said.
As you and I know, today, the church still often looks to the world for how it should teach and operate rather than looking to God.
You and I have the opportunity to change people's perception of who God is and what He is about.
As we lay down our pride and allow God to work in our lives, the world is going to see something different.
As our true faith develops, the world is going to see us as friends of God.
They are going to see the beauty of people sacrificing their lives for others.
Being willing to go through hard times with others.
The people that God has placed in your life are going to get to see the goodness of who God is because of you.
Practicing a preference for God.
I want to wrap this up by showing you that in the parable that Jesus told, who was the good guy?
The humble tax collector.
He was exalted because of his humility.
You may not ever see the results of your humility, but I can promise you that if you live your life with Jesus, you will be exalted.
One day your story will be told, and you will be exalted because of your love for God and for others.
Announcements:
Punto De Conexcion is launching tonight!
Joint service at the end of the month.