The Battle for Submission
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
In our study of James, last week, we looked at two kinds of wisdom—
Wisdom that comes from the earth, that James calls earthly, unspiritual, and demonic.
Then there is wisdom that comes from heaven that is pure, peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial, and sincere. A wisdom that seeks to provide peace to all and a harvest of righteousness.
Where do fights come from?
Where do fights come from?
In our passage today, James begins with yet another rhetorical question. If you have your Bibles, I want to challenge you to turn with me to James chapter 4, and we’ll begin reading with verse 1.
What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you?
The rhetorical question is: What causes fights and quarrels between God’s people (v. 1a)?
James’ second rhetorical question suggests the answer to the first question.
James says the come from the desires that battle within each of us (v. 1b).
You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God.
We want things (this appears to be worldly desires) but since we can’t fulfill these desires we kill to fulfill the desires (v. 2a)!
We are jealous of what those around us have, but we can’t get those things so we quarrel and fight (v. 2b).
KEY--we do not have because we do not ask God (v. 2c)!
When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.
When we do ask God, we often do not receive what we want from God because we ask with wrong motives (v. 3a).
These wrong motives are selfish motives (so we can spend what we get on making us “happy” (v. 3b).
You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.
Unfaithfulness to God
Unfaithfulness to God
James calls the readers adulterous people (Gk. unfaithful to God).
Another rhetorical question: Don’t you know being a friend of the world means that you hate God (Gk. enmity, hatred, hostility, animosity, to feud with, and alienation from).
Therefore anyone who chooses to be friend of the world becomes an enemy of God
We have plenty of references that confirm this idea. For example the words of Jesus in Luke 16:13 (cf. Matt. 6:24; Lk. 16:13; Jn. 15:19; Rev 3:16).
“No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”
Or how about John 15:19
If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.
Or do you think Scripture says without reason that he jealously longs for the spirit he has caused to dwell in us?
But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.”
Warning From the Old Testament
Warning From the Old Testament
James reminds of the importance of the Old Testament sayings (v. 5a).
One such saying is that God is passionate that the spirit he places in us should be faithful to him and him alone (v. 5b)!
God is all about giving us grace. More and more grace (v. 6a).
An O.T. quote (Prov 3:34): God opposes the proud (those who put their trust in themselves), but shows favor to the humble (those who cannot depend on themselves) (v. 6b).
Relating to God
Relating to God
Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
James says we are to submit to God. Submit (Gk hypotasso) was often used of the military. It is placing oneself under the command of another. Subordinate to another. We are to obediently place ourselves under the command of God (v. 7a). So that God gives the orders, and we obey!
Next we are told that we need to resist the devil. (Gk word translated resist could be translated oppose, stand against, set against, withstand, hold one’s ground, to be hostile toward)
As followers of Jesus we are called to join the fight against the devil (v. 7b).
Resisting Satan comes with a benefit— he will flee from us. The idea of flee is he runs away from us, or leaves us a lone (cf. 1 Pet. 5:9) (v. 7c).
Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings.
Catch this, we do NOT resist Satan by arguing with him! We resist Satan by refusing to do the things that he tries to entice us to do. One way we do that is by focusing on God! Look at verse 8.
Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
While we resist Satan, we need to be moving close to God (v. 8a). We do this for several reasons:
We depend on God’s power to resist Satan’s attacks (Eph. 6:12).
When we move close to God, he moves close to us.
Next we’re told to wash our hands (v. 8b). To the Jew, this was a outward demonstration of our cleaning our lives. The outward action shows an inward change.
Then we’re told to purify our hearts. Not only are we to be outwardly clean, but we are to be inwardly clean, by having a pure heart (Psalm 51:10 “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.”) (v. 8b).
By being both outwardly and inwardly clean we stop being double-minded (v. 8c). James has already told us that when we are double-minded we are unstable in all that we do (cf. James 1:8 “Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do.”).
Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom.
James is calling the double-minded believer back to a singleness of mind. There is no doubt that sin can be pleasurable (cf. Proverbs 14:12 MSG “There’s a way of life that looks harmless enough; look again—it leads straight to hell”, but coming back to the Lord God should have an appearance of contrition:
— Grieving (Gk. be sorrow, suffer misery, feel miserable) (v. 9a).
— Mourning (Gk. be sad, lament, weep) (v. 9b).
— Wailing (Gk. weep, cry, cry loudly, bewail) (v. 9c).
— Change laughter to mourning (v. 9d).
— Change joy to gloom (v. 9e).
Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.
James closes this section with an admonition, Approach the Lord with humility and he will lift you up (cf. 1 Peter 5:6 “Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.” ) (v. 10).
Slander Man, Slander God
Slander Man, Slander God
Brothers and sisters, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against a brother or sister or judges them speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgment on it.
James issues a command (an imperative). The command is do not slander one another (v. 11a).
When we speak against someone we are judging them.
Judging another believer (brother/sister) we are speaking against the law of God and actually judging it (v. 11b) (cf. James 2:8 “If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing right.” ).
When we (as humans) sit in judgment of the law that God has given, we are not keeping the law (v. 11c). NLT— “But your job is to obey the law, not to judge whether it applies to you.”
There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you—who are you to judge your neighbor?
There is only one figure that can give the law, and only one figure who can judge humanity. . .(v. 12a)
The figure that can do that is able to save and to destroy (v. 12b). In other words that figure has the power of life and death under His control.
How do we compare to that figure? James concludes with another rhetorical question: “who are you to judge your neighbor” (v. 12c). The answer--we are no one! We are inconsequential.
So What?
So What?
What’s your attitude towards the people around you? Do you judge them?
What about Satan, are you actively resisting him—fighting against him? If you want to learn more about how to actively resist satan, I would suggest Louie Giglio’s book “Don’t Give the Enemy a Seat at Your Table.”
Ate you drawing close to God? Today we can do this through:
Studying God’s Word on a regular basis (daily?).
By constantly being in an attitude of prayer.
By hiding God’s Word in our hearts.
By becoming a doer of the Word of God rather than just hearing it.
By sharing what we’ve learned with those around us, as we encourage them in their lives.
All of the verse we looked at today go along with the two goals that I set for my life this year. I am to Love God, and Love people!
