James 4:1-12 (verse-by-verse)

Chapter 4

Passage: James 4:1-12

Title: The Tet of the World’s Influence

Summary: James is an in-your-face type teaching, he doesn’t mix words, rather he just comes right to the punch. The book of James is a no time to waste type book, let’s get growing, and let’s get maturing, let’s be doers of the Word. James is not interested in how great we talk, but how straight we walk, and that is the message all the way through this book. In chapter 1 it was be doers of the Word, in chapter 2 it was faith that works, chapter 3 it was our words are important for they show what is in our heart. Now chapter 4, no mixing of words, are you drawn to God, or to the things of the world? The simplest definition of worldliness is, anything that draws you away from God.

James 4:1–12 (NKJV) 1 Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do theynot come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members? 2 You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask. 3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures. 4 Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. 5 Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, “The Spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously”? 6 But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: “God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.” 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, you sinners; and purify yourhearts, you double-minded. 9 Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up. 11 Do not speak evil of one another, brethren. He who speaks evil of a brother and judges his brother, speaks evil of the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. 12 There is one Lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy. Who are you to judge another?

Written by James / Didn’t believe – to Leader / Hindsight / Everyday Living

The Book of James was written by none other than Jesus’ brother James. James was a leader in the church, a pillar in the church (Acts 21). James didn't believe that Jesus was God when He walked this earth (John 7:5); but after the resurrection Jesus appears to him (1 Cor 15:4-7), and everything changed. James is going to write us this letter, he will talk about everyday practical stuff. He will talk about trials in life, our works, our tongue, prayer, and other things; as he writes these things, no doubt he will be remembering how Jesus handled them, reflecting back on watching situations, and watching his oldest brother. He will reflect on Jesus’ life of love, and a life of sinlessness, in a world that can be so hateful at times, and so full of sin. James will write these things based on hindsight, based on first hand witnessing of how his older brother lived life, everyday. James watched Jesus handle everyday life, and that is what this book is about; it is about living everyday life as a Follower of God, in a fallen world.

Jesus Rubbed Off / Nature Illustrations / Favorite Teacher - Sermon on Mount

We can see how much Jesus rubbed off on James, for James style resembles his brother so much. Like Jesus used nature as illustrations for His teaching points, so does James some 30 times. He uses nature analogies such as the sea, flowers, sun, fire, horses and ships to name a few). It is obvious who James favorite teacher was, because this epistle covers every topic that Jesus covered in the Sermon on the Mount. There is amazing parallelisms between the two; James does not actually quote the Lord’s words, but he obviously had internalized Jesus’ teachings and reproduced them with spiritual depth. Jesus covered about 30 topics in the Sermon on the Mount, and we will see that James touches on every one of them in this epistle. The Book of James is Sermon on the Mount 2. The Book is also very quick and concise, moving from thought-to-thought quickly. So the Book of James is the New Testament Version of the Old Testament Proverbs. It resembles Proverbs because it is very poetic the way it flows its thoughts using illustrations and analogies.

So We can Examine Self / How am I Doing

Jesus gave the Sermon on the Mount so that we might examine ourselves and ask the question, “so how am I doing in each of these areas?” James writes to the church, to us, and as we read, we have to ask ourselves, “so how am I doing in these areas?” This book is practical and applicable for us living in the year 2022, and the ultimate goal of this epistle is giving to us in verse 4 of chapter 1, to bring us into maturity, perfect and lacking nothing.

As in school, we take tests to see how much of a handle and mastery we have on a subject, we will do the same in this book.

3 Key Verses

Here are three key verses to get us going:

James 2:20 (NKJV) 20 But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead?

James 1:22 (NKJV) 22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.

James 1:4–5 (NKJV) 4 But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.

The Outline of the Book of James:

Chapter 1

Introduction (1:1)

The Test of Perseverance and Suffering (1:2-12)

The Test of Blame in Temptation (1:12-18)

The Test of Response to the Word (1:19-27)

Chapter 2

The Test of Partiality (2:1-9)

The Test of the Law (2:10-13)

The Test of Faith and Works (2:14-26)

Chapter 3

The Test of the Tongue (3:1-12)

The Test of Wisdom Applied (3:13-18)

Chapter 4

The Test of the World’s Influence (4:1-12)

The Test of Dependence (4:13-17)

Chapter 5

The Test of Endurance (5:1-11)

The Test of Prayerfulness (5:12-20)

Statement / The Weighty Things

In Ezekiel 43, we see the glory (kabod – meaning “weighty of substance”) coming from and at the throne of God, where God dwells and reigns. In my 30+ years of walking with the Lord, and 20+ years of serving in pastoral ministry, I have seen this passage before us today as the either (make or break) between those that go deep in the Lord, and those that are shallow, both saved, that I am mostly sure, but those that are deep, have a weighty, full of substance faith….. the difference between, real faith that shows up in real life, or faith that is mostly light, and never goes deep. We will see in just these short verses, what I call some of the most quoted, memorized verses in our faith, and all applied together (or not), will determine the weight and depth of faith, or the lightness and shallowness of a person’s faith.

· V1a – Where do wars and fights come from among you?

· V3a – You have not, because you ask not (KJV)

· V6 – God resist the proud and gives grace to the humble

· V7 – Therefore submit to God, Resist the Devil and he will flee from you

· V8 – Draw near to God and He will draw near to you

· V10 – Humble yourself in the sight of the Lord and He will lift you up

Ezekiel 43:1–5 (NKJV) 1 Afterward he brought me to the gate, the gate that faces toward the east. 2 And behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east. His voice was like the sound of many waters; and the earth shone with His glory. 3 It was like the appearance of the vision which I saw—like the vision which I saw when I came to destroy the city. The visions were like the vision which I saw by the River Chebar; and I fell on my face. 4 And the glory of the Lordcame into the temple by way of the gate which faces toward the east. 5 The Spirit lifted me up and brought me into the inner court; and behold, the glory of the Lord filled the temple.

Living Water

In Ezekiel 47, there is a beautiful picture and illustration of the last days in the millennial Kingdom when the temple is rebuilt that water we'll bring forth from the temple and flow all the way down to the Dead Sea and turn all that has been dead into a wondrous garden teaming with life in the waters. it has so many spiritual pictures and applications intended for us and so much so more than I could present and develop for us if I had a whole month to do so; but the core spiritual picture can clearly be seen living waters flowing from the throne of God and turning that which was dead into life. Maybe you need that today, and need to ask the Lord to do a work of healing before we even begin this study. Maybe your heart is dry and barren because what someone did you in a times past, and you are still hurt and wounded and bitter by it. Maybe it was you doing, and things have never been the same since. Maybe you just feel distant and dry (to which God wants you to know that today He desires to draw you near), and you just need to take a step of faith and believe God will bring healing, and with that a “drawing” of you to Himself. So let’s pray.

Ezekiel 47:1–12 (NKJV) 1 Then he brought me back to the door of the temple; and there was water, flowing from under the threshold of the temple toward the east, for the front of the temple faced east; the water was flowing from under the right side of the temple, south of the altar. 2 He brought me out by way of the north gate, and led me around on the outside to the outer gateway that faces east; and there was water, running out on the right side. 3 And when the man went out to the east with the line in his hand, he measured one thousand cubits, and he brought me through the waters; the water came up to my ankles. 4 Again he measured one thousand and brought me through the waters; the water came up to my knees. Again he measured one thousand and brought me through; the water came up to my waist. 5 Again he measured one thousand, and it was a river that I could not cross; for the water was too deep, water in which one must swim, a river that could not be crossed. 6 He said to me, “Son of man, have you seen this?” Then he brought me and returned me to the bank of the river. 7 When I returned, there, along the bank of the river, were very many trees on one side and the other. 8 Then he said to me: “This water flows toward the eastern region, goes down into the valley, and enters the sea. When it reaches the sea, its waters are healed. 9 And it shall be that every living thing that moves, wherever the rivers go, will live. There will be a very great multitude of fish, because these waters go there; for they will be healed, and everything will live wherever the river goes. 10 It shall be that fishermen will stand by it from En Gedi to En Eglaim; they will be places for spreading their nets. Their fish will be of the same kinds as the fish of the Great Sea, exceedingly many. 11 But its swamps and marshes will not be healed; they will be given over to salt. 12 Along the bank of the river, on this side and that, will grow all kinds of trees used for food; their leaves will not wither, and their fruit will not fail. They will bear fruit every month, because their water flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food, and their leaves for medicine.”

John 7:37–39 (NKJV) 37 On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. 38 He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” 39 But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

Prayer

The Word of God is Living and Powerful, and is ready, and will do a mighty work in our lives.

Hebrews 4:12 (NKJV) 12 For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

In Every Study

· Who Is God? (How Great is He?)

· What Does He Think of Me? (How Wonderful Are His Thoughts Towards Me?)

· What Does He Want Me to Do?

· What Can I Boldly Request of Him?

· What Do I Need to Be on Guard of When I Leave Here Today?

Boldly come to the throne of grace, ask God to reveal Himself in a mighty way to you, and to do I might work in you, and through you.

Hebrews 4:16 (NKJV) 16 Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need

Outline: The Test of the World’s Influence (4:1-12)

· The World’s Influence – Watching Ourselves (4:1-3)

· The World’s Influence – Watching Satan (4:4-7)

· The World’s Influence – Watching God (4:8-12)

The World’s Influence – Watching Ourselves (4:1-3)

First we will see how we are to examine ourselves, and how we can approach things just like the world does, and the results are always bad.

(James 4:1 NKJV) Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members?

They are fighting “among” each other. James isn’t writing some broad theory, but a known fact that was happening among them, they were fighting among each other. How amazing, as we started this Book we read that they were scattered abroad, from what we can tell was probably because of religious persecution. So they are under attack, a war has been declared upon them as believers, yet we read that they attacking each other, dividing and destroying each other, and well the enemy against the church was being greatly aided in their purpose of (scattering) by the church themselves fighting among each other.

James 1:1 (NKJV) 1 James, a bondservant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad: Greetings.

The preceding study in chapter 3…… because we/they need healing, because there is, there are, things blocking and choking us, our/their hearts need healing, our hearts need this Living Water, and it can only come from the throne of God, from His throne of grace (come to the throne of grace and find help – Hebrews 4:16). We have to recognize the within the church/believers and the scattering it produces through division.

James 3:13–18 (NKJV) 13 Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom. 14 But if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth. 15 This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic. 16 For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there. 17 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. 18 Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.

James 4:1 (NKJV) 1 Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members?

Hebrews 4:16 (NKJV) 16 Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Sermon on Mount Cross-Reference:

(Matthew 5:21 NKJV) "You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.'

(Matthew 5:22 NKJV) "But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. And whoever says to his brother, 'Raca!' shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says, 'You fool!' shall be in danger of hell fire.

Sermon on Mount Cross-Reference:

(Matthew 5:38 NKJV) "You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.'

(Matthew 5:39 NKJV) "But I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also.

Sermon on Mount Cross-Reference:

(Matthew 5:43 NKJV) "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.'

(Matthew 5:44 NKJV) "But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you,

(James 4:2 NKJV) You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask.

Were they actually murdering one another? Of course not, but what do they have…. Hatred in their heart for one another.

Matthew 5:21–26 (NKJV) 21 “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.’ 22 But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. And whoever says to his brother, ‘Raca!’ shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says, ‘You fool!’ shall be in danger of hell fire. 23 Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. 25 Agree with your adversary quickly, while you are on the way with him, lest your adversary deliver you to the judge, the judge hand you over to the officer, and you be thrown into prison. 26 Assuredly, I say to you, you will by no means get out of there till you have paid the last penny.

Why We Fight / Still Flowing Chp 3 / Going About it All Wrong – Like the World

Lust (wanting something we do not have) - What causes wars and fights between nations, marriages, families, brothers and sisters? Listen the reason we fight amongst ourselves is because we want something from that person. We want something whatever it may be; I lust/desire something for myself. Remember there really are no chapter breaks so we are still flowing from chapter 3 and the “Test of the Tongue”, and the “Test of Wisdom Applied”. James is saying if you use your tongue to destroy, or wisdom from below that causes bitter envy, or strife, which then causes wars amongst you. James is saying you are going about it all wrong, and it will end all wrong, because you are doing things as the world does them, and that is a guarantee to fail,

James 3:13–18 (NKJV) 13 Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom. 14 But if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth. 15 This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic. 16 For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there. 17 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. 18 Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.

(James 4:3 NKJV) You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.

The abundant, spirit-filled life the Lord wants to give us, now, not in the next life, not something to wish for tomorrow, but to have today. But our passage today… you have not because you ask not, and that you ask amiss.

John 10:10 (NKJV) 10 The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.

You Ask Amiss / James 3:17

The things you want, you are going about them all wrong, “you are asking amiss”. This all ties into verse 17 of chapter 3:

(James 3:17 NKJV) But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy.

God’s Economy on Yielding / Wisdom Below Destroys

Again, Christian, let me share a truth that I have learned from being willing to yield. The more I yield to others, the more I lay down my right to be right even when I am clearly right, the more I bite my tongue when I am reviled and attacked by others, and the more I let go my ministries, I find the result is the more God adds to me. It results in more insight He gives me into His Word, into the things of the Lord, and ultimately it all adds up to more peace in my life and a more intimate relationship I have with Him. I know this sounds crazy, but I actually get excited when a person slams me, and I remain silent, cause I truly expect God is going to bless me cause I was willing to yield. So I wait, anticipating, a blessing. I sit wondering ohh what is He going to do to bless me this time, I can’t wait, it is like Christmas time for me. However, I watch people who do the opposite, I watch Christians who apply the Wisdom form Below, wisdom that destroys, I watch them gossip, attack, be self-seeking, and I watch their lives dry up – spiritually. I watch their relationship suffer with the Lord, and it carries over into their marriage, their family, and the ministries they are involved in. It is sad to watch. Be willing to yield, be an Abraham and say you take the left and I’ll take the right, or you take the right and I’ll take the left, and watch God bless you, just like he blessed Abraham (Genesis 13).

Fear Behind Anger

Also, understand this, most every fight has anger behind in it (some more clearly to see than others – but anger still there); but what is really behind anger, is fear. That person who fights, and has anger, they fear something. They may fear that they aren’t in control of the situation, that you want do it their way, or they may fear the lost of possessions which can be materially or a person. But behind anger is fear. This is where the power of willing to yield comes in, when you can be peaceable, gentle, when you can recognize that they fear something, so how can I calm their fear. How can I bring assurance that they have nothing to fear. That is what wisdom from above does, it is so opposite the worlds “I’ll yell back at your face twice as loud and long.

Look at verse 3 again:

(James 4:3 NKJV) You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.

Tired of Complaining/Fighting?

Are you tired of complaining, tired of fighting, tired of trying to manipulate the situation? Then ask the Father:

(James 1:4 NKJV) But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.

(James 1:5 NKJV) If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.

Prayer Reporting for Duty / Seeking Direction

Praying is not giving the orders, but reporting for duty. Prayer isn’t you giving God directions, but you seeking direction from the Lord. Lord what is it that you want me to do in this situation, in my life, in my family. Lord I know this is how the world handles these things, but how do you want me to handle it:

(Matthew 6:10 NKJV) Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven.

(Matthew 26:39 NKJV) He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, "O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will."

God’s Will Always Verse 17

God’s will, will always, always be verse 17 of chapter 3:

(James 3:17 NKJV) But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy.

Selfishness

All these things tie back to our study last week, bitter in being self-seeking and the things that are done that are not in accordance of the peace of God and the things of the righteousness of God, which produces peace with God and each other, but rather they produce wars. And all of it really boils down to this one thing and its selfishness. And I believe we live in a culture, a time like no other time, at least in our modern time that we know, and it's called the word selfish, but today nobody ever sees themselves as selfish, that people are not selfish, and no one's ever called selfish. In fact, even selfishness can be confused and substituted for righteousness or spirituality. And yet God right here, He is speaking, He's being clear, these things that you do out of selfish reasons, they cause all these problems in your marriage, in your relationship, in your church, in your friendships. And it gives us then the calling of how to live in the unselfish way and how to handle such things as He is teaching us. Because He wants to give us knowledge and then give us the wisdom of how to apply this knowledge in all of our dealings.

James 3:14–16 (NKJV)14 But if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth. 15 This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic. 16 For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there.

And so if you are wrong, you've been selfish and God has convicted you and I pray, church, that this study, our studies that we do here on Sunday, midweek, radio, podcast, that they're not just for the moment. That if you should walk away and not feel that you were convicted or not feel that you had anything worthy of to respond, that you were in the right and you were just listening to a sermon about the need for somebody else. I always pray that you would take the word and take it into the quietness of your personal prayer time and ask the Lord and say, "So according to Titus, you say that the word is made manifest through the preaching." What that means is that God will speak in a special way that maybe we can't hear because of our selfishness or because of our distraction or because of the moment, whatever it may be.

And so then we hear it, it doesn't hit us in the moment and we walk away and like the scripture says it's like looking in the mirror and we forget what we see. And so I pray that again in your prayer time that you would take Sunday messages, midweek messages, podcasts, radio messages, say, Lord, this is what I heard through the preaching of the word. And now I sit in quietness, I sit with a pen in hand, a piece of paper, my journal, and I say, Lord, is there anything more you want to speak to me personally in the quietness of this prayer time? And I believe, church, you'll find power. Because it's so easy to not receive it and hear it the first round. But when you get into the quietness, that God would lay the word before you and make open your heart and lay your very being bare that he can start doing what a master potter does with his clay as he shapes and molds.

But again, what if you are right, even after you examine yourself and you come, but I am right. Now how do I exercise that I'm right in a righteous way without burning down the whole house or the whole church or the whole relationship? Well, God here in our passage gives us the way. And it's through, again, prayer. He gives us an avenue, he gives us a mean, he gives us a power of how we can take his holy word in righteousness when we're right before him, right in his word, but we need it applied across others personal free will. And he says right here, "You have not because you asked not." And so he'll speak to us and develop how we're to ask and how we can have.

Jesus said, Sermon on the Mount, remember the Book of James is a New Testament, the epistle, which correlates greatly to the Sermon on the Mount. And of course it would because Jesus's half brother James would've heard and knew this Sermon on the Mount. And now he's coming, he's putting it into real life application. And you know what the greatest application is? He's telling us details even greater than we read in the gospels of Jesus' prayer life.

Jesus tells us in the Sermon on the Mount to go into our closet and close the door and pray to our heavenly Father. And we know that Jesus did that as we see here in the gospels that early in the morning he would go away to seek his father, get his instructions and directions for the day. But here, James under inspiration of the Holy Spirit and James under insider information and knowledge that few had, he gets to tell us, and this is what Jesus did when he was faced with these internal conflicts. When he was faced with these type of challenges, he didn't burn the house down. He didn't blow up the relationship.

He went into his prayer closet and sought his father for him to intervene and do the work that words many times can't do. That takes a supernatural move of God's spirit in that person's life to give them ears to hear that they may see how to have and handle the situation that they're in. This is amazing passage before us. It's literally an amazing epistle in its entirety. Because again, it's a Sermon on the Mount inspired by God, recorded with insider information of the half brother of Jesus who watched how he handled every situation.

And so the Lord goes on to say, "If you ask and you ask amiss, I'm going to say no because you're asking for the wrong motives." And there's a place for us to understand that, that sometimes God will say no and we'll go, I don't understand why you're saying no. And what he wants to take us to in the depths of our study is because we're asking for the wrong motives. We're asking in selfish reason. You know can ask for right things in the wrong way. And God says, "I'm not going to give it to you because you know what it will produce? It will produce a continual selfishness that you're only asking for your means and your motives, and you're not asking for the biggest picture, the greatest reason in the deepest depths, so that others may be blessed, others may have wellbeing." Whether that's individually or corporately as a church or nationally as a country and even internationally as a society of humans. Our prayer life needs to be in alignment with God's will.

From the beginning of the war in Ukraine and Russia. I've continually said the same things to you. It's not possible for me to pray against the destruction of Russia because I've been to Russia, 1993. I've been to the Ukraine in 1995, and I don't see two international powers. I don't see two military mights. I see the faces of the people that I minister to. I see the faces of people who grew and raised in communism, atheism, emptiness, and the vanity of those ideologies. Even military people that I would see, my heart would go out to because of the deception. And so I can't pray, God get Russia. What I pray is God, that you would intervene and bring a peace to both nations. And Lord, that your spirit would move among both of these nations.

That there would be a peace that would pass understanding and arms can be laid down and weapons could be put back on the shelf. And that a peace could come and that both nations could prosper. And I think there's a danger that's been touted of the prayer life for one and a prayer life against another. Whereas God's will is that men would live peaceably with one another, whether that be individuals with each other or nations.

The heart of God is peace and not war. Love, brotherly love, agape love, an unconditional love and a care and concern as humanity, one for another. And hey, let me say, it is great to say not God will, but your will be done Lord. But I think God wants to speak to us and say, this is why it's not my will. Sometimes we can feel that we've done well by saying, but Lord, let your will be done. But I think there's a place that God wants to bring us to, because he's speaking it very deeply here in our passage, that he wants us to know why it's not his will. He wants us to understand, because we're asking selfishly.

Now, sometimes God's will isn't meant for us to know. Sometimes it's called faith and we just have to go, I don't know why this is happening, but Lord not thy will, but your will be done. And that releases us. That gives us the peace that God's heard and that he sees and that we've asked in the right manner, in the right way. We weren't seeking selfish ambition, we weren't in bitter envy. We weren't creating a war. We weren't burning down relationships and houses. That we asked rightly and that he said no. And we can go, I rest in that. So just remember, sometimes God's will isn't for us to know, but sometimes his no as in the spelling of N-O has a reason behind it that he wants us to know, K-N-O-W, that we're asking out of selfish reasons. And it's not for the good of everybody, it's merely for the good of us personally.

This sounds so simple, but it was so moving to me. My first mission trip was to Russia and we were doing a seminar, and while everybody was at lunch, we tidied up the room and put candy on everyone’s desk. When everyone came back in, they got all excited because the candy on their desk. Sounds trivial to us, but the walls had just fallen, these people lived paycheck to paycheck. I remember this older man, 70 years old, I remember watching him look at his candy, then look up to the heavens and raise his hands in praise.

You may say, Ray, what does that have to do with prayer? To me, everything. Because it's been 30 years since I've been to Russia and that man, his face still before my mind and memory in crystal clarity. Even as I speak to you right now, I can tell you which way of the room he was facing. I can tell you what he looked like. I can tell you how his hands were raised and I can even tell you how his hands were moving as if I was there and just as yesterday. And as I'd look at those people, my prayer, Lord, this man, he only wants you. He doesn't want war. He doesn't want all these things. He just wants you. And so I pray, Lord, for peace to come in the midst of this war.

What If they Are Verse 14 / Intercede / Imagine if Both Applied

What if the other person is the complete opposite of verse 17, what if they are verse 14:

(James 3:14 NKJV) But if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth.

Then pray for them, intercede on their behalf, and be that light to show them out of their darkness. You will at least have peace that you are in God’s will. And next study we will look at the “Test of Endurance” and God’s Word will encourage you greatly if you are struggling in this area. Imagine if two Christians, whether is be brothers in the Lord, husband and wife, of parent and child, applied this wisdom at the same time, fights would be very short, if at all, and peace would reign.

The World’s Influence – Watching Satan (4:4-7)

Secondly, we need to watch Satan’s influence in our lives as he tries to draw us into the things of the world. We must watch for him, and then resist him

(James 4:4 NKJV) Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

What is being said here? Real simple, you can’t live one foot in the world, and one in the Lord. God is giving a clear calling, choose this day who you will serve, just like we saw with Joshua and his calling to the children of Israel when they came into the Promised Land. You cant live in Promised Land and Egypt at same time, choose this day he said. And what he was calling them to was……. War, you will have to fight to take this land. And so too is the call for us, and the rest of this passage we will study today. Hey dads….. let that be a battle cry you ware willing to die for, “as for me and my house we will serve the Lord”.

Joshua 24:14–15 (NKJV) 14 “Now therefore, fear the Lord, serve Him in sincerity and in truth, and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the River and in Egypt. Serve the Lord! 15 And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

Sermon on Mount Cross-Reference:

(Matthew 5:27 NKJV) "You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not commit adultery.'

(Matthew 5:28 NKJV) "But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

(Matthew 5:29 NKJV) "If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell.

(Matthew 5:30 NKJV) "And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell.

Sermon on Mount Cross-Reference:

(Matthew 6:24 NKJV) "No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.

Not Messing Around / Where do you Fall / The World is Contrary

Verse 4 - Adulterers and adulteresses! The adultery spoken of here is not marital adultery but spiritual adultery. James isn’t mixing words here, he is saying God isn’t messing around, you need to examine yourself and see where you fall in at. The things of the world are so contrary to the things of the Lord. And if I am intrigued with the things of the world, then I am on a different side of where the Father is:

(1 John 2:15 NKJV) Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

(1 John 2:16 NKJV) For all that is in the world; the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life; is not of the Father but is of the world.

(1 John 2:17 NKJV) And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.

Spiritual adultery is just putting something else greater than the Lord. That's all. It's not complicated.

How Much Does God Have of You

The “Test of Worldliness” is how much of the world has you, or how much does God have you.

(James 4:5 NKJV) Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, "The Spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously"?

Spirit is Jealous / We can Grieve Him

Verse 5 – the Spirit yearns jealously – The Spirit guards us jealously, the Spirit wants the very best for me, for you. We can grieve the Holy Spirit:

(Ephesians 4:30 NKJV) And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

He is God – not Mystical Power / Vulnerable / Grieves Over Our Pains

The Holy Spirit is a person, not some mystical power, for you can not grieve a mystical power, only a person. He is the third person of the Trinity, He is God. God has put His Spirit in us, He has taken up residence within us, and that makes God vulnerable. God puts Himself in a place, in a position, where He can be hurt. The Spirit hurts for us, not because of us. The Spirit doesn’t say, “ohh you didn’t call me today”, “you went to the picnic without me”, my feelings are hurt. Rather the Spirit hurts/grieves because He knows the actions we are taking or following will lead us into an area that will hurt us, and that hurts Him. Seeing us suffer, suffers Him.

Parents Grieve / Holy Spirit – Formed You – Walk with You – PLEASE Don’t

Parents you know the story as you see you child heading towards danger (by the way kids, that is why your parents gets so angry, because of Fear, they fear what can or could of happened to you). My heart breaks when I see someone going the way of the world. It grieves my heart because I know the world will chew them up. The Holy Spirit grieves, you are my child, I formed you in your mothers womb (Psalm 139), I have been with you every step you have taken, please please, don’t do this. I love you, I can’t bear to see the pain that this will cause you, yes sin is fun for a season, but like summer gives way to fall so will the fun give way to the pain and hardship.

(James 4:6 NKJV) But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: "God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble."

Go Not Mad – But Hurting / Pours His Grace Out

God isn’t mad at you, but is hurting for you, yet even when we are veering off, asking amiss, God gives us grace, more grace to be specific. He gives us grace to resist temptation, and/or recover from the situation;

(Romans 5:20 NKJV) Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more,

Resist the Proud – Free-will / Can’t Change Heart Until you Change your Mind

God gives grace to those who are humble, but God resist the proud, the person who says I can take care of it myself, I‘ll figure the way out, I am fine on my own – just like the world that says we have no need for you here God, move along. Pride is your free-will, and God will never violate your free-will. God can’t change your heart until you change your mind about that something. The humble person says I need you Lord, help me. Humility submits to God, Pride submits to the Devil.

Humility So Opposite the World

God gives grace to the humble. As we discussed, Jesus comes gentle and lowly and it brings the connotation of humbly. Even though he has total power at his disposal, as he would say, "I could call legion of angels down right now if I so chose, to fight for me," and yet we see him continually in that lowly gracious power, under control. And everything that he's telling us in this passage, literally the whole book Epistle is totally foreign to the way the world operates. The world doesn't operate in grace. The world operates in power, yielding, wielding power to get their way. And if you get in the way, they will roll over you. And imagine here the world going, "Yes, let's pray about this." Imagine going into work in a meeting tomorrow and the whole workplace says, "Yes, let's pray about this," or the managers say, "Tell me your thoughts."

And yet so much of the way the world is anything but lowly and humble, anything but gracious. And yet God gives grace to the humble, and God honors the prayer that's asked in accordance to his will and the prayer that's willing to be examined if there's any selfishness, self-righteousness, any envy, strife, confusion and emptiness of vanity. Totally foreign, and yet that's what makes everything so powerful. Because a king would never come to die, a king comes to bring death to others to secure his kingdom. Yet we live in a kingdom, but the king was willing to die because he could die and rise again on the third day. And he gives us that same power in our lives that declare my kingdom will come and nothing can stop my kingdom because I have the power to lay my life down. I have the power to pick it up.

And when we live in that type of power, that I can lay my life down and know that God has the power to pick it up in this situation and that he sees me and he is pleased with me because I am being gracious and lowly and humble, he gives us this pure power. And the power comes in the form of grace because God is for us and therefore God is going to go and work for us in this situation.

(James 4:7 NKJV) Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.

You will never defeat the devil without submitting (yielding, humbling thyself) to God. How do we submit, is all these points in this study.

Satan Watching You – What Works Against You / work – gal – kids – wife / Thursday Bible Study

We are told to “Resist the Devil”, and he will flee from you – Satan is watching you, and he watches what it is that works against you. What is it the keeps you out of the Word, out of fellowship, out of prayer, and then that is what he will continually come with against you. It has to be something of the things of the world, Is it more money? If so you can be sure the Prince and Power of the Air will energize the world around you to make it happen. Is it that guy or gal? Then you can be sure they will be calling you at church time or prayer time, just about anytime to draw you away. Do the kids act up right before church and then you say that’s it we are staying home. Do you and your wife get into fights right before church and say we are staying home. Whatever it is, Satan always goes to the well, he always grabs that things that has worked in the past against you. Christian it is not until you resist him that it will stop. When Renee and me first got married, and we had the Thursday night Bible Study in the house, I dreaded Wednesday nights in our house. I mean it never seemed to fail that something would come up in the house that night, and the tension in the house would be unbearable. This went on for weeks until we realized this is Satan working us, we must resist him. Once we did, the same things would happen, but we would both just go, its Wednesday night, and eventually the Word came to pass – Satan fled.

The 3R’s Again / Test of the World

Again that brings us back to those 3 R’s, Recognize, Resist, and Rejoice. Gang, many people are bringing unnecessary spiritual warfare upon themselves because they won’t resist the devil, they won’t battle him, they won’t deal with these things. The test of the world is do I live and go along in the world, or do I rise up and out and live in the spiritual realm:

(Ephesians 6:12 NKJV) For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.

(Ephesians 6:13 NKJV) Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

Ultimate Test / Playground or Battleground / Will Change Forever

Christian, the ultimate “Test of the World’s Influence” is do I see that the earth is not a playground, but a battle zone. We are battling the Prince of Darkness as he tries to draw us away from God, as he is trying to draw our children, coworkers and neighbors away into the world, and then into destruction. When we do see and realize that, your life will be changed forever. For me, I must be reminded of this daily for it is so easy to get distracted from this.

Resist him / Keep Dad Between Us

Resist the devil, but first have to submit. As long as I am close to my Dad, I don’t have anything to worry about with Satan. Keep Dad between us and the enemy and everything will be fine.

The World’s Influence – Watching God (4:8-12)

We must just keep our eyes on our Dad, and everything will be fine. We must draw near to God and He will drawn near to us.

(James 4:8 NKJV) Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

(James 4:9 NKJV) Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom.

(James 4:10 NKJV) Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.

Sermon on Mount Cross-Reference:

(Matthew 5:3 NKJV) "Blessed are the poor in spirit, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

(Matthew 5:4 NKJV) Blessed are those who mourn, For they shall be comforted.

(Matthew 5:5 NKJV) Blessed are the meek, For they shall inherit the earth.

I think sometimes all we give God is the leftovers when he wants to present us a bountiful meal to sup and dine on. And the greatest meal is the ones that we have with him just sitting in his presence where there's the fullness of joy. He says, "Draw near to me and I'll draw near to you. I'm ready, but it's up for you to come to the table. The table's prepared. The meal has been cooked, but it's up to you to come taste and see that the Lord is good. And I'll give you more than in leftovers. I'll give you more than morsels. I'll give you life and that more abundant, overflowing." And that's a promise that he gives us today, tomorrow, this Christmas season, and into a new year.

Draw Near is an Invitation

Draw near to God and He'll draw near to you, that's an invitation. That's not a condemnation, it's an invitation to intimacy with the one who created us. "And all these things," he says, "I can take you above all these things." And he wants to just make the point, "I am all things. These things, they're not the summation of your life. They're not the ultimate purpose and destination of your life. I am. And you can draw near to me and we can have an intimacy and a oneness. You can see my face. When you see my face, you'll know my heart."

Maybe that needs to be your prayer today. And you start praying your New Year's today, so you don't have to miss the greatness of the season that we're in. You can have your New Year's today, and I pray that it spills over into your family and every relationship that you have, your marriage and your children. As you draw near to God, you'll find yourself being full with each other because you're full with him. And he's overflowing your heart and that overflows into every other detail of your life.

Lament & Mourn

Verse nine, lament and mourn. God wants to speak to you now, but I pray followed up tomorrow. He wants to show us the state of our heart because he wants to give us something so great, so deeper. He wants to give us himself. That's why he says, "Draw near to me." Sometimes I have to lament and mourn in order to be able to draw near to the fullness of God.

And he will lift you up. There's just a beautiful place in humility. And when we come in humility, God speak and I'm quick, I'm ever so quick to respond in forgiveness and graciousness and restoration. Let that board be spoken to anyone here today that there's a beauty in being broken. We like to sing songs about being broken vessels, but do we really mean that or are we just singing it as in we're broken vessels and you saved us and now I'll have salvation. But there's a beauty in just being broken before the Lord, saying, "Lord, I'm lamenting. I'm seeing my selfishness, my enviousness, my bitterness and the division that I've caused, and my heart not being right. You're breaking me down. You're convicting me and I feel a lamenting in my heart. You're being set free, that's what's happening right now.

You're being made whole and you're given power. Because he says, "Humble thyself in the sight of the Lord and I'll lift you up like any father." What he's inviting us to is restoration of lifting up, a oneness. And I pray our hearts would be drawn. Lord, I just want to be humble and lowly and gentle, riding lowly on a donkey as you came into Jerusalem. That's how I just want my heart to be. I don't want to lift myself up or my pride, but Lord I see my need. I humble myself. And God says, "I'll lift you up, fill the restoration. Don't feel condemnation because the devil will come. This is where now you have to resist him because he's going to say, "I don't forgive. I'm not gracious." And you're going to have to resist him to have this restoration, to have this oneness, to have this beauty of being drawn into his presence.

Sit and Rewind this Study

And so if you are wrong, you've been selfish and God has convicted you and I pray, church, that this study, our studies that we do here on Sunday, midweek, radio, podcast, that they're not just for the moment. That if you should walk away and not feel that you were convicted or not feel that you had anything worthy of to respond, that you were in the right and you were just listening to a sermon about the need for somebody else. I always pray that you would take the word and take it into the quietness of your personal prayer time and ask the Lord and say, "So according to Titus, you say that the word is made manifest through the preaching." What that means is that God will speak in a special way that maybe we can't hear because of our selfishness or because of our distraction or because of the moment, whatever it may be.

And so then we hear it, it doesn't hit us in the moment and we walk away and like the scripture says it's like looking in the mirror and we forget what we see. And so I pray that again in your prayer time that you would take Sunday messages, midweek messages, podcasts, radio messages, say, Lord, this is what I heard through the preaching of the word. And now I sit in quietness, I sit with a pen in hand, a piece of paper, my journal, and I say, Lord, is there anything more you want to speak to me personally in the quietness of this prayer time? And I believe, church, you'll find power. Because it's so easy to not receive it and hear it the first round. But when you get into the quietness, that God would lay the word before you and make open your heart and lay your very being bare that he can start doing what a master potter does with his clay as he shapes and molds.

Draw Near – Get Serious / Cut Loose the Distraction

Notice that it says He will draw near to you, not that He might. The moment you draw near, there He is. Cleanse your hands, purify your hearts, means get serious about drawing near to Him. You can’t be double-minded. James is saying turn off the television, logoff the computer and take the time to meet with Him. We clean ourselves up in that we cut loose the distractions of the world and focus our attention solely upon Him, so that we may be properly tuned into the right frequency. God loves you, He yearns jealously for you, he is always sending out His waves of love to us, but it is the things of the world that disrupts our radio frequency.

Cleanse – Purify - Lament

Cleanse your hands, you sinners; - The OT priest had to ceremonially wash their hands before approaching God (Exodus 30:19-21)

and purify your hearts – refers to inner thoughts and motives of the heart.

Lament and mourn and weep – be broken over your sin, be serious about your sin:

(Psalms 51:16 NKJV) For You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it; You do not delight in burnt offering.

(Psalms 51:17 NKJV) The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, A broken and a contrite heart; These, O God, You will not despise.

No Casual Attitude / God is Holy / Careless about Sin – Offensive – Tremendous Love / Robs Us

The whole point was not to have a casual attitude about God and sin, but to be serious about God’s Holiness. Again I must say this, Christians can not have a lack of reverence of God’s Holiness, His awe, His majesty. For if we do then that leads to a careless attitude about sin, sin losses it seriousness, its offensiveness to God, which in turn diminishes Christ work upon the cross. That robs of greatly, for we then lose sight of His tremendous love for us. How precious we are to Him, so much so that He would send His Son as to cover our guilt and shame.

Nothing Can Touch Me / Tongue

Bring me into a clear focus on that, and nothing, but nothing, can touch me nor draw me away from my Lord. Nothing in this world can even get my attention, everything pales in comparison to His love for me:

· My tongue will always have a word of love for all season.

· The Wisdom from above will be preeminent in my mind.

· I’ll have faith that works, for love will be my motivation factor.

· I will be a Doer of the Word, because I will be in the Spirit, and the Spirit reigning in me.

(James 4:11 NKJV) Do not speak evil of one another, brethren. He who speaks evil of a brother and judges his brother, speaks evil of the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge.

(James 4:12 NKJV) There is one Lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy. Who are you to judge another?

Sermon on Mount Cross-Reference:

(Matthew 7:1 NKJV) "Judge not, that you be not judged.

(Matthew 7:2 NKJV) "For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.

We covered this subject in chapter 3. Our job is to love people, not judge people. God will do the judging we are just to love them. We are to be Doers of the Word, not a doer of the Law as a judge. Judging others takes the life of Christ right out of us, it truly quenches the Spirit of God in us.

Who are we to judge another man’s servant:

Romans 14:4 (NKJV) 4 Who are you to judge another’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. Indeed, he will be made to stand, for God is able to make him stand.

The Peg

I came across a powerful parable written by a Haitian pastor illustrating to his congregation the need for total commitment to the Lord. A certain man wanted to sell his house for two thousand dollars. Another man wanted very badly to buy it but couldn't afford the full price the owner was asking. After much bargaining, however, he agreed to sell the house to the poor man for half the original price -- along with just one stipulation: He would retain ownership of one small nail protruding from just over the door. After several years, the original owner wanted the house back, but the new owner was unwilling to sell. So the first owner went out, found the carcass of a dead dog and hung it from the single nail he still owned. Soon the house became unlivable and the family was forced to sell the house to the owner of the nail. The Haitian pastor concluded that "If we leave the Devil with even one small peg in our life, he will return to hang his rotting garbage on it, making it unfit for Christ's habitation." The devil has only come to steal, kill and destroy. He can be very crafty and he would love nothing more than to steal from us our very inhabitance in the Lord. Let's ask the Lord to reveal any pegs we may be leaving for the devil today and take back all that belongs to us!

The World’s Way is to Judge

And yet I think we live in a day and a time we feel justified in judging because that's all the world wants to do is judge, social media, the news outlets, the elections. Oh, the destruction of the judging, open publicly. And it can just wear on us that we think it's all natural. And yet God speaks, "You judge your brother, you put yourself upon the law of God. The law of God will judge a man's heart. And the law of God will judge a man's ways. God himself will judge." And we're not called to be the judge. Oh, we judge false fruit, we judge false prophets, people who want to profess, but there's no fruit in their life. But let's not deceive ourselves that that's what we're doing the majority of the time. We go all the way back to chapter three with the test of the tongue and its destruction and the power of the tongue. It just shows the weakness of the heart when we judge one another.

And God puts it into this context because what he's saying is, "You're not going to see my face. You won't draw near to me because you'll be asking amiss. You'll think you're in a conversation with me, but if you're asking amiss as we started this chapter four and you're causing wars. And I think there's a place ever so fitting, Jesus says in the last days there will be wars and rumors of wars. I think the church and Christians can be so great in producing the rumors of war, it's called gossip. And they're just tearing people down and they're telling people how to watch out for them. You know what? That will rob, quench and destroy. It'll never bring us into the sweetness that God wants as we draw near to him and draw near into his presence and see his face, seek his face. And there we'll find everything in our place.

It takes us all the way back to where we started our study…. Where do wars comes from?

James 4:1 (NKJV) 1 Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members?

Outline: The Test of the World’s Influence (4:1-12)

· The World’s Influence – Watching Ourselves (4:1-3)

· The World’s Influence – Watching Satan (4:4-7)

· The World’s Influence – Watching God (4:8-12)

We will see in just these short verses, what I call some of the most quoted, memorized verses in our faith:

· V1a – Where do wars and fights come from among you?

· V3a – You have not, because you ask not (KJV)

· V6 – God resist the proud and gives grace to the humble

· V7 – Therefore submit to God, Resist the Devil and he will flee from you

· V8 – Draw near to God and He will draw near to you

· V10 – Humble yourself in the sight of the Lord and He will lift you up

Prayer

The Word of God is Living and Powerful, and is ready, and will do a mighty work in our lives.

Hebrews 4:12 (NKJV) 12 For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

In Every Study

· Who Is God? (How Great is He?)

· What Does He Think of Me? (How Wonderful Are His Thoughts Towards Me?)

· What Does He Want Me to Do?

· What Can I Boldly Request of Him?

· What Do I Need to Be on Guard of When I Leave Here Today?

Boldly come to the throne of grace, ask God to reveal Himself in a mighty way to you, and to do I might work in you, and through you.

Hebrews 4:16 (NKJV) 16 Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need