A Need For Humility

Introduction:

If you been in out of churches long enough you will see: fighting, quarreling, lusting after, hatred, envying, pride, and other sins all of these things stain this portion of the letter.

It is a rather stark contrast with how chapter 3 closed.

James 3:18 NKJV

18 Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.

James is going to confront this despicable behavior with some gusto.

It is deplorable that the Christians church has so often been characterized by bitter controversies. The 17th century Jewish philosopher Spinoza observed:

“I have often wondered that persons who make boast of professing the Christian religion—namely love, joy, peace, temperance, and charity to all men—should quarrel with such rancorous animosity, and display daily towards one another such bitter hatred, that this, rather than the virtues which they profess, is the readiest criteria of their faith.”

James is going to give us, some of the best advice to quell these quarrels.

This evening we are all going to be called to turn our hatred into humility, judgement into justice, and boasting into belief.

vv. 1–3) The source of dissensions:

Right away we are talking about strife.

Strife: angry or bitter disagreement over fundamental issues; conflict.

When Christians go to battle against each other they are often bitter and nasty.

What is the source of theses “wars and fights?”

“Wars and fights” among Christians is always the same. Carnality is the root cause. Because no two believers who are both walking in the Spirit of God towards each other can live with wars and fights among themselves.

The types of desires that lead to conflict are described. Covetousness leads to conflict (you lust and do not have). Anger and animosity lead to hatred and conflict too (murder).

James 1:14–15 NKJV

14 But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. 15 Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.

James 1:19–20 NKJV

19 So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; 20 for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God.

The word used for murder is to kill, and it is meant to startle; James sought to force his readers to realize the depth of the evil in their bitter hatred toward others.

Matthew 5:21–22 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.

Sage advice with Pastor Thomas:

if you live for the desires for pleasure…your life is futile. It will be a life of conflict, it will also be a fundamentally unsatisfied life.

You do not have: the reason these destructive desires exist among Christians is because they do not seek God for their needs.

“If you may have everything by asking, and nothing without asking, I beg you to see how absolutely vital prayer is, and I beseech you to abound in it… Do you know, brothers, what great things are to be had for the asking? have you ever thought of it? Does it not stimulate you to pray fervently? All heaven lies before the grasp of the asking man; all the promises of God are rich and inexhaustible, and their fulfillment is to be had by prayer.”–Spurgeon

vv. 4–5) A rebuke of compromise:

[4] This is a rebuke using OT vocabulary. God spoke this way in the OT when His people were attracted to some form of idolatry.

James sees their covetousness as idolatry:

Colossians 3:5 NKJV

5 Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.

“You have your hearts full of harlotry…this vile strumpet the world, that lays forth her two breast of profit and pleasure, for the which she must be burnt, as a whore, by the fire of the last day.”–Trapp

Do you not know:

You cannot be friends of this worldly system which is in full rebellion against God, and a friend of God:

Matthew 6:24 NKJV

24 “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.

But…but…

Such friendship with the world means you are taking a position of hostility towards God!

That position defies God’s will and spites on His purpose.

You could try and hide it, but know it is an implicit challenge to God.

[example]

This is in a way kind of encouraging: because it wasn’t all roses and dandelions, the early church dealt with the same thing we deal with… carnality and worldliness.

[5] The Holy Spirit yearns jealously for our friendship with God. The Spirit will convict the Christian who lives in compromise.

Shows the Holy Spirit is also God.

vv. 6–10) Getting right with God:

The Holy Spirit convicting us of our compromise will also grant us the grace to serve God as we should.

What a contrast to the previous verses.

“Note that contrast; note it always. Observe how weak we are , how strong he is; how proud we are, how condescending he is; how erring we are, and how infallible he is; how changing we are, and how immutable he is; how provoking we are, and how forgiving he is. Observe how in us there is only ill, and how in him there is only good. Yet our ill but draws his goodness forth, and still he blesseth. Oh! What a rich contrast!”–Spurgeon

Misquoted:

Proverbs 16:18 NKJV

18 Pride goes before destruction, And a haughty spirit before a fall.

God resists the proud. But gives grace to the humble. It isn’t as if our humility earns the grace of God. Humility merely puts us in a position to receive the gift He freely gives.

“If he were a tyrant it might be courageous to resist, but since he is a Father it is ungrateful to rebel.”–Spurgeon

Spurgeon suggested a few reasons why we should submit to God:

Because He created us.

Because His rule is good for us.

Because all resistance to Him is futile.

Because it is the only way to have peace with God.

To solve the problem of carnality and the strife it causes, we must also resist the devil.

Resist means to: stand and against

[8] What does it mean to draw near?

near in worship, praise, and prayer

asking counsel of God

enjoying communion with God

[9–10] As we draw near to God, we will be convicted of our sin. Lamenting and mourning and weeping is an appropriate response for being under the conviction of sin, because it compels us to find cleansing at the cross.

vv. 11–12) Getting right with others:

Humbling ourselves and getting right with God must result in our getting right with others.

a. Do not speak evil of one another: Humbling ourselves and getting right with God must result in our getting right with other people. When we are right with other people, it will show in the way we talk about them. So we must not speak evil of one another and not judge our brother.

i. Speak evil translates the ancient Greek word katalalia. “Katalalia is the sin of those who meet in corners and gather in little groups and pass on confidential information which destroy the good name of those who are not there to defend themselves.” (Barclay)

ii. This sin is wrong for two reasons. First, it breaks the royal law that we should love one another. Second, it takes a right of judgment that only God has.

b. He who speaks evil of a brother and judges his brother, speaks evil of the law and judges the law: When we judge our brother, we put ourselves in the same place as the law, in effect judging the law. This is something that we have no authority to do, because there is one Lawgiver — so who are you to judge another?

i. “However high and orthodox our view of God’s law might be, a failure actually to do it says to the world that we do not in fact put much store by it.” (Moo)

c. Who are you to judge another? This is an extension of the same humility that James writes about in this chapter. When we have proper humility before God, it just isn’t within us to arrogantly judge our brother.

i. “This is not to rule out civil courts and judges. Instead, it is to root out the harsh, unkind, critical spirit that continually finds fault with others.” (Burdick)

ii. “Who art thou; what a sorry creature, a man, a worm, that thou shouldest lift up thyself into God’s place, and make thyself a judge of one not subject to thee!” (Poole)