Drawing Near
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Pastor Dan explanation
Bad advice: Dusty going spear fishing
Drawing near to God helps us to resist the devil (4:7)
7 Submit yourselves therefore 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 your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Be wretched 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.
11 Do not speak evil against one another, brothers. The one who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks evil against 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 only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?
Understand this
7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
Have you ever been tempted by Satan?
He sure puts it on thick, right?
Fasting - Bernie’s Chili when selling Kookies for Kenya
11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.
We’re going into a fight! We’ve got to be suited up...
14 Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. 16 In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; 17 and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God,
I love the way the Bible interacts with itself...
Story in the Bible talks about the devil tempting
1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” 4 But he answered, “It is written,
“ ‘Man shall not live by bread alone,
but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ”
He tries to entice the needs of His body
God gives us limits on our body
No sex before marriage, don’t worship money, we are to work hard, even fasting!
BTW, have you ever fasted? Jesus expects us to do that - and when you fast ()
Satan says, “Nah, just eat, just sleep with that woman, just steal your co workers lunch...”
Doesn’t work, so the devil tries another tactic
5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple 6 and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written,
“ ‘He will command his angels concerning you,’
and
“ ‘On their hands they will bear you up,
lest you strike your foot against a stone.’ ”
7 Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ”
He tries to get Him to test God
Satan does that in your weakness: when it gets hard we doubt Him...
We look for the easy way out, and get mad when it doesn’t work!
Doesn’t work, so the devil tries another tactic
Matthew 4:5-
7 Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ” 8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” 10 Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written,
“ ‘You shall worship the Lord your God
and him only shall you serve.’ ”
11 Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him.
8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” 10 Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written,
“ ‘You shall worship the Lord your God
and him only shall you serve.’ ”
11 Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him.
Offers power, wealth and glory
G
1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” 4 But he answered, “It is written,
“ ‘Man shall not live by bread alone,
but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ”
5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple 6 and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written,
“ ‘He will command his angels concerning you,’
and
“ ‘On their hands they will bear you up,
lest you strike your foot against a stone.’ ”
7 Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ” 8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” 10 Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written,
“ ‘You shall worship the Lord your God
and him only shall you serve.’ ”
11 Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him.
Matthew 4:1-11
Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”
Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world.
1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” 4 But he answered, “It is written,
“ ‘Man shall not live by bread alone,
but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ”
5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple 6 and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written,
“ ‘He will command his angels concerning you,’
and
“ ‘On their hands they will bear you up,
lest you strike your foot against a stone.’ ”
7 Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ” 8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” 10 Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written,
“ ‘You shall worship the Lord your God
and him only shall you serve.’ ”
11 Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him.
12 Now when he heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew into Galilee. 13 And leaving Nazareth he went and lived in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali,
Flat out throws the biggest at the end
Money and power are Satan’s best tools
Those can be used for good, but when they’re bad you get things like the Third Reich
You will either serve God or mammon…
Doesn’t work!
So what happens? The devil left him!
Key point: Jesus uses Scripture to respond to Satan’s tempting
Likewise, James says, if you resist the devil, he will flee from you!
Martin Luther - Who lives here?!
“Used to be Martin Luther, but he moved out. It’s Jesus now! Gotta go…!”
But you’ve got to take a stand
If you don’t know Scripture, you’re like a knight without his sword...
Hermas wrote, “The devil can wrestle against the Christian, but he cannot pin him.”
But James goes further...
8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
MAIN POINT: It is this drawing near to God, that allows for everything else this passage says...
Drawing near to God helps us to become pure (4:8)
8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
God wants your holiness
God wants your holiness
God wants your holiness
Most of us get that - it’s why we place so much emphasis on behaving...
But God also wants a relationship with you, and some os us have a hard time accepting that
Kevin/Nick with Aaron Barrett
Aaron wants a certain behavior (album, mosh pit, t-shirt, cheering)
But that’s it, no further
God wants us to behave, but He wants to know you too!
After that reminder, James says to cleanse your hands
“You sinners”
Sinners is hamartolos (ham-are-toe-loss) and means “hardened sinner”
Think of the sins your hands have committed...
I think of the pack of baseball cards I swiped from Target at 5
I think of hitting my brother and sister as kids
I think of burning my report cards so my parents wouldn’t see them
I think of burning my report cards so my parents wouldn’t see them
I think of the work I’ve done because I put my job in front of my family
MORE THAN HANDS, HE CARES ABOUT THE HEART
Matthew 5:21-22
21 “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ 22 But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire.
27 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ 28 But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
Drawing near to God helps us to resist the devil (4:7)
God wants your hands pure, but He cares just as much about your heart
Why? Because thoughts of the heart usually do translate to the hands...
That’s why we cannot let sinful thoughts into our mind
Drawing near to God helps us to find sorrow for our sin (4:9-10)
9 Be wretched 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.
Last week Matt read:
6 But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”
To receive grace, we have to be honest about who we are
4 And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. 5 And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!”
1 In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one called to another and said:
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;
the whole earth is full of his glory!”
4 And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. 5 And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!”
6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7 And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.”
8 And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.” 9 And he said, “Go, and say to this people:
“ ‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand;
keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’
10 Make the heart of this people dull,
and their ears heavy,
and blind their eyes;
lest they see with their eyes,
and hear with their ears,
and understand with their hearts,
and turn and be healed.”
Isaiah’s instant reaction to the presence of God is a realization that he is terrible!
Isaiah 6
6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar.
The word “woe” means “judgement”
If you draw near to God and begin to see His holiness, you start to see your horribleness
That’s when His grace is the most clear...
Isiah 6:6
9 And he said, “Go, and say to this people:
“ ‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand;
keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’
Drawing near to God helps us to speak well of other people (4:11-12)
11 Do not speak evil against one another, brothers. The one who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks evil against 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 only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?
If you ask any non-Christian the biggest problem with Christians, it’s judgemen
James is again speaking toward humility
When you first heard about hiring me, I wonder what you thought...
When you first heard about hiring me, I wonder what you thought...
What do you think of in a typical Californian?
This guy is awfully pale, fat and poorly dressed to be from California...
Instead you got a pale, overweight slob
The human mind categorizes things
Let me show you what I mean...
VIDEO: Asking for directions with a mirror
Your brain is wired by God to process what it needs, when it needs it
To understand what it means to be a Californian, you categorize what Californian’s are
We do the same with race, gender, age, and so on
Problem is we are so used to making judgments
Every time you go to a store “Take a survey and tell us how we did”
Every you order from Amazon you click “sort by highest rating”
You’re looking at the draft order for your fantasy football team
That’s great for hotels and TV shows but NOT for sin!
This passage tells us that judging other people’s sin isn’t your business!
He asks this question: Who are YOU to judge your neighbor
Illustration: You look like a foreman standing there
I forgot who I was for a second
When we forget who we are, we end up like the the evil sidekick in a movie
Think Smee, Iago, Sir Hiss or the hyenas on Lion King
There is one lawgiver, one judge, and one God of the universe
And it sure isn’t me or you!
We’re just goofy sidekicks and we’re foolish to think we get to fill His role
Drawing near to God helps us to think of eternal things (Next week, 4:13-15)
Closing: Men trapped in a cave
VIDEO: Asking for directions with a mirror
Couldn’t go up, had to go out an old way
Your brain is wired by God to process what it needs, when it needs it
