Warning about Worldliness
Notes
Transcript
Have you ever been watching the television, and a commercial come on and a potato chip, chocolate, soft drink, restaurant, insert anything here commercial and all the sudden, we have a sudden urge or craving whatever it was we just saw?
Close your eyes for a moment, and see if you can remember what these commercials were linked to.
Sometimes you feel like a nut, sometimes you don’t.
Where’s the beef?
I am stuck on...
I’d like to buy the world a...
Give it to Mikey, he’ll eat anything (Life cereal)
I’d like to buy the world a...
Oh, Oh, Oh who’s that kid with the...
Now, how many of us are tempted to leave after church and go out and buy Oreos?
You see, commercials are designed to take us from a place of peace and contentment, and place something in our mind that causes us to be discontent and restless. We have to have what everyone else has or has wanted.
Now, James writes the source or cause of temptation and sin. Even in our everyday life, Satan tries to get us to believe that salvation cannot be as simple as believing, the guilt of sin keeps us in a state of wonder as to whether we are saved, we are tempted by the things of the world, and we have to guard ourselves from doing wrong.
It starts with little temptations, making us comfortable with flirting in sin. Sooner or later, we are paying less and less attention to sin and are doing whatever we can be convinced of and justifying it.
16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden,
17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”
Plain, simple, easily understood. Until the master of commercials came in.
1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?”
This is where the issue began. The decision. Do we go with our gut and do what we know we should...or do we listen to the propaganda from the liar?
5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
Who do we choose to follow? What do we choose to do?
James tells us, when we side with the world - with sin - we cause conflict with others, conflict within ourselves, and ultimately conflict with God.
In Chapter 4, James addresses conflict and in particular conflict within the church. He even goes as far as to cite the cause of conflict within the church - losing sight of what is important in the eyes of God. You see, the world will tell us that there are other priorities - we need more stuff, more programs, more inward focus, we want what WE want! When we focus on ourselves, our focus is not on God, and Satan sees this as a prime time to get us to question church priorities… just like he got Eve and Adam to question God’s command. And we know how that ended.
We, as a church, cannot grow complacent. If Satan will enter into the paradise of Eden, he surely won’t think twice about entering the sanctuary. So, how do we guard ourselves? Let’s see what James says.
1 What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you?
2 You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask.
3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.
What is the cause of temptation and wrongdoing? First, it is lust—the passion for pleasure and gratification that rages within the body. The word “lust” means to crave pleasure; to crave gratification.
We want what WE want, regardless of what anyone else thinks! When we get inwardly focused, we have a hard time looking heavenward. But overcoming self is a hard habit to break. Too often we are walking contradictions, in other words hypocrites. We say we love the Lord, we say we want to follow the Lord, but then we can’t focus on anything but what we want.
James refers to this as an inner war - a war within you. Unfortunately, in war no one is a winner. Both sides suffer immense loss and pain. What we desire, though, is peace. Just imagine what the world would be like if men lived in peace with each other and with God. There would be no restlessness and uneasiness within the human soul and no fights and wars between men. There would be no sin or evil committed against others because all men would be at peace with God as well as with each other. Again, the greatest need man has is for peace. Yet, when we look at the world, what we see is anything but peace.
He then goes on to describe how desire, lust, causes distrust.
The statement of this verse, “You do not have, because you do not ask,” means that we do not trust God neither do we call upon God. We just does not know God in a personal way, know Him to the point that he can ask and call upon God to meet his needs. Man does not have this kind of meaningful trust in God. Man basically distrusts God.
Yesterday, I was at a meeting and someone asked if I knew another person. My response was “I have heard of them, but do not know them”. Then it hit me, how many of us have this same response about God? We know ABOUT Him, but we do not KNOW Him! Why? Because we have not put forth the effort to form a relationship with Him, and truly get to know Him.
But our desires are never satisfied without having God in our lives. A person must trust and call upon God in order to have his desires fulfilled. You have not, because you ask not. I do think there is inner struggle within us, as humans.
We are spiritually created beings, we desire a spiritual connection, but we wrestle with our spirit UNTIL we align our spirit with God. Man may deny, ignore, neglect and reject this fact; nevertheless, the denial of truth does not do away with the truth. Deep down within our soul we desire spiritual satisfaction, and our spirit is restless—ever craving for more and more—until the spirit is satisfied
But, our spiritual desires and cravings cannot be satisfied with physical and material things. The less we have, the more we want. The more we have, the more we want. We can never be satisfied, and the wordly things we crave we have to continue to feed or we grow restless.
Man must have the presence and power of God to control all his passions. No matter what man may think or claim, history shows clear evidence of man’s unrestrained actions.
We must learn to commune and fellowship with God—to walk in Him, live and move in Him, seeking and asking His opinion, will, and help every step of every day. This is what God wants from all of us, leaders and citizens alike, ministers and laymen alike—God wants to fellowship and commune with us.
James continues in verse 3 to say another cause of restlessness that leads to temptation and sin is praying for the wrong things. Even when a person trusts God—knows and fellowships with Him on a personal basis and wants God to help meet his needs—he can ask God for help in the wrong way. He can pray amiss, and when he prays amiss, God is unable to help him. What does it mean to pray amiss? What is a wrong prayer? Scripture tells us, and this is the reason our prayers are so often not answered: we ask for things so that we can gratify our lust and pleasure. We ask for the wrong reasons, with the wrong motives.
What is the right motive for prayer? How can we pray and know that God will give the desires of our heart? By asking for the glory of God. When a person wants something from God, he must want it so that he can glorify God.
4 You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
5 Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us”?
6 But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”
Being an adulteress and adulterer means that a person is guilty of spiritual adultery. Jesus Christ holds His relationship with us in the highest regard. Our relationship with Him is to be so close that it can be described only by the closeness and intimacy of marriage. In fact, our relationship with Christ can even be closer and more meaningful than marriage.
The point is this: our bond with Christ is so close that when we turn away from Him to the world, it is like committing spiritual adultery. Spiritual adultery means that we turn away from God to the world—that we break our commitment to God and turn to other things; that we follow after the things of the world instead of following after God
The picture of spiritual adultery shows us just how meaningful God counts our relationship with Christ: it is a relationship of love, a bond of love that can be the closest bond in all the world. If we turn away from Christ to the world, it cuts His heart with the deepest of pain—a pain beyond description—for He is God and He feels with perfect feelings. We must never forget that our Lord gave His life and died for us. He has done everything He can to save us and to create a relationship with us. And it cost Him unbelievable pain—the pain of the cross—the pain of bearing all the sins of the whole world—the pain of bearing the wrath of God against those sins—the pain of God the Father forsaking and rejecting Him when He bore our sins—such pain that it defies description—and it was all for us.
What is the cause of temptation and wrongdoing? This passage has told us there are four causes:
⇒ Lust: the passion for pleasure and gratification.
⇒ Distrust: desiring something and never trusting God or asking Him for it.
⇒ Praying amiss: praying with the wrong motive.
⇒ Worldliness: friendship with the world.
Now, what is the cure for temptation and wrongdoing? There are two cures.
1. Believers must know this: the Spirit of God yearns over us with jealousy. Note that this point is a question: “Do you think?” The point is something that we must think about and know. The Holy Spirit who dwells in believers …
• lusts, yearns, desires, and longs after us.
• yearns with envy and jealousy over us.
When does the Holy Spirit yearn over us with jealousy? All the time, but in a special way when temptation confronts us and we do wrong. The Holy Spirit is always yearning over us and He is always jealous over us. But if we turn away from Christ and become a friend of the world—if we become adulterers and adulteresses—the Spirit of God does not cast us off and turn away from us. He loves us and cares for us and wants to save us. He yearns and longs for us with deep, intense jealousy—yearns and longs for us to return to Christ and give Him our full devotion.
The point is this: the believer is to know that the Spirit of God is exactly like this. When the believer is heavily tempted and does wrong, he is not cast off and rejected and forsaken by God. God still loves the believer—no matter what he does. God yearns and longs for the believer to return to Him—yearns and longs with deep, intense jealousy. When the believer knows this, then he knows the first great cure for temptation and wrongdoing. And he is far more able to repent and return to God. Why? Because he is so deeply loved by God—so much so that God yearns for him with a jealous, envious love. And love attracts and pulls the believer back to God. Scripture clearly declares that God is a jealous God.
Believers must know this: God gives the humble believer grace and more grace, but He resists the proud. Grace means the favor and blessings of God, any favor and blessing which God gives. When the believer faces temptation or does wrong, God meets the believer’s need, no matter what it is: strength, wisdom, power, perseverance, patience, forgiveness. The believer does not deserve God’s grace and blessing, but God loves him. Therefore, God gives him whatever he needs. In fact, God gives more grace, that is, grace upon grace, grace and more grace.
CLOSING
CLOSING
James gives us the background behind our downfall. We desire worldly things. We want our way. We have turned away from God. But He also provides a way for us to receive grace, mercy, and salvation.
James reminds us that not every believer and not every person receives God’s grace. You see, God meeting our needs is not automatic. If we are rebellious towards God, scripture says God resists us. God WANTS to our out His grace on us, but if we turn away from God, if we turn from His path, if we become consumed with our own desires and wants, God has no choice but to turn away from us. As James says, we commit adultery against God, and the pain, hurt, and separation keeps us from receiving His blessings.
Today, if anyone feels separated from God. If they feel like they have not been able to get ahead, feels restless and unfulfilled, even feels as though God’s blessings have dried up… should we re-evaluate our position, our standing, our focus with and of God?
Today, we can set things right with God. Altar is open.
Leadership Ministries Worldwide, Hebrews-James, The Preacher’s Outline & Sermon Bible (Chattanooga, TN: Leadership Ministries Worldwide, 1996), 273.
