James 4:1

From whence come wars and fightings among you? Come they not hence even of your own lusts that war in your members? You lust and you have not; you kill and desire to have and cannot obtain. You fight and war; you have not because you ask not. And you ask and receive not because you ask amiss, that you may consume it on your lusts. Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.

Let's pray. Father, as we look at this passage of Scripture, I pray that you would speak to us and teach us by your Spirit. As you promised that you would not leave us orphans, but you would send the Comforter, the Spirit of Truth, who would guide us in all truth and teach us all things. Lord, we come before you today and ask that you would give us insight. Lord, give us practical application from James, and that we would be transformed more and more to the image of your Son. For we ask it in Jesus' name, and all God's people agreed, saying, Amen. You can be seated.

In Hebrews chapter 4, we read that the word of God is quick and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, joints and marrow, and it is a discerner of the thoughts and the intents of the heart. As we've been going through the book of James over the last several weeks, we've come to some very challenging passages—great exhortations from James, the brother of the Lord, the half-brother of Jesus, one of the apostles of the early church, and one of the heads of the church in Jerusalem.

I know that it has been a challenge and an exhortation to many because I've received the most feedback that I have ever had in teaching God's word over the last five weeks while going through the book of James. As we've been wrestling with these passages, wrestling with them is not a bad thing because Paul told Timothy in 2 Timothy chapter 3, verse 16, that all Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine.

For reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect or mature, thoroughly equipped for every good work. It's God's desire that you and I would be equipped for the good works that He has prepared for us. In Ephesians 2:10, we read that God has prepared good works before the foundation of the world that we would walk in them. Therefore, we have to be ready to accomplish those things that God has prepared for us. The only way to do that is to be students of God's Word, not ashamed, rightly dividing His Word of truth, which is, as Paul says, useful for doctrine and for instruction in righteousness to train us in the right way to live.

We don't study the Scriptures merely to be entertained by them. We study God's Word to be transformed and thoroughly equipped. Here in this passage in James 4, we read another powerful exhortation from James as he asks a question that has been asked for many, many years: Where do wars and fightings come from among you? Many of you have experienced this. You go in and find two small children—maybe you've helped in the children's ministry or perhaps they are your own children. You come into the room, and there they are fighting. You break up the quarrel, and at least one of them, and probably both, will point at each other and say, "He started it!"

I remember years ago when I was doing the junior high ministry here at the church. We would go to camp each summer, and as you're there with dozens of junior highers from your own church and then hundreds from churches all over Southern California, of course, there are going to be some fights when you have 28 boys in one cabin together. I can't tell you how many times I would call out some kid's name, like Mike, and they'd turn around and say, "I didn't do it!" They didn't even have to be doing anything; I was just trying to get their attention. "I didn't do it! It wasn't me!"

From a very young age, we have a hard time taking responsibility for our actions, don't we? Considering that question—where do wars and fights come from, or why is there war?—I was pondering that question this last week. I thought, you know, I'll go to that great wonder of modern society and punch it into Google. I ended up on some website, one of the answer websites, and there were many different views of people.

Putting up their reasons for war, one person said, "War has been around since the beginning of time as a way to settle disputes. It's always been that way, and it will always be that way." Another person, in answering the question of why there is war, said, "Because some people in this world only understand violence. It's all they have ever known." Essentially, if you break that down, you find him saying it's the other guy. Some people in this world only understand violence.

Another individual hinted at the belief that war or fighting is a learned trait; it's the only thing they've ever known, and that's why they fight. One person stated, "There will never be peace in this world. Violence is just a part of nature. If you observe any living creature, you will see that there is violence in fighting."

Conversely, another person expressed, "I don't know why there's war. I don't agree with it. We can make peace by communication, not by killing each other. It's terrible. But I hope one day it will stop." I think there are a lot of people who share that same mindset. I hope one day violence and fighting will cease.

However, not a single one of the answers I encountered, and there were dozens of them, considered or consulted the Scriptures to understand what God has to say. God, in this passage, reveals truth in the darkness of earthly understanding. James asked the question, "From whence come wars and fighting among you?" He answers, "Come they not hence even of your own lust that war within your members?"

James states that disputes, battles, and strife are rooted in the evil desires that we have within our flesh. We don't like to admit that. We prefer to point at the other guy and say it's his fault. We don't want to take responsibility for our actions, our words, or even our thoughts. In our society, we tend to blame our upbringing, our surroundings, or the fact that we don't have what the other guy has. Yet, we see that the root cause is indeed the evil desires of our own flesh.

This is clearly connected with what James was saying in the previous chapter, in James chapter 3. It's important to remember that when James sat down to write this letter 2,000 years ago, he didn't divide it into chapters and verses. In James chapter 3, verse 14, he says, "But if you have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, do not glory and lie not against the truth. This wisdom descends not from above; it is earthly and sensual."

And devilish. For where envying and strife is, there is confusion in every evil work. We, as Christians, try to spiritualize our feelings of anger and wrath, or even the quarrels and strife that we have with brothers and sisters within the body of Christ. But we do better to simply confess it as sin to the Lord, because the Scriptures reveal that such things are sin, as we're going to see as we continue through James chapter 4 today.

In Matthew chapter 15, verse 19, Jesus said that it was out of the heart that proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witnesses, and blasphemies. It comes from the heart, which Jeremiah the prophet, 2,500 years ago, said is deceitful and wicked above all things. Who can know it? In the very next verse, James said that God tests the heart. He is the only one who truly knows our hearts, and so He is the authority on what is in my heart and what is in your heart. He tells us that there are evil thoughts and evil actions that stem from those evil thoughts in our hearts.

Murder begins first as an intense desire within the murderer. Jesus clues us into this in the Sermon on the Mount, where He shows that adultery begins in the heart, murder begins in the heart, and every ill thing starts there first. We like to blame it on the other guy, but it always starts in the heart and moves into our actions. Fights don't just happen by accident; rather, they begin as zealous or covetous thoughts within you and me.

Now, the Greek word in James chapter 4, verse 1, that is translated as fight or fighting has a very broad meaning. It speaks of the hand-to-hand sort of combat that you might have if you actually got into a physical fight with someone. However, that word "fights" can also refer to the war of words that we often have with one another. Those strifes, quarrels, wranglings, and disputings all start in my heart and in yours.

James, in considering the desires that we have for more or the desires that we have for things that other people have, which lead to wars and fighting, goes on to say in verse 2, "You lust and you have not; you kill and desire to have and cannot obtain; you fight and war yet you have not because you ask not." What is James' answer to strife among saints? He says,

If you have a desire for something, you ought to ask. We already saw this in James chapter 1, verse 5, where James says, "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all men liberally and without reproaching; it shall be given to him." Jesus said in Matthew chapter 7, verse 7, "Ask, and it shall be given to you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you." For everyone that asks receives, and he that seeks shall find, and to him who knocks it shall be opened.

Now, some may think that it's a carnal thing to bring your requests to the Lord. However, time and time again, the Scriptures reveal that we are to bring our requests, needs, and desires to God and ask Him. This idea that there is something wrong with asking or that it is carnal to bring those things to the Lord was something that even the wicked king Ahaz had in Isaiah. The people of the nation of Judah in Isaiah chapter 7 were about to be besieged. The city of Jerusalem was about to be under attack by the northern ten tribes of Israel and the nation of Syria.

God sent the prophet Isaiah to King Ahaz and said, "If you will trust in the Lord, then God will establish you and protect you." Now, Ahaz was not a good king; he was not a follower of God wholeheartedly, so he didn't really fully believe that. The prophet said, "If you have a hard time with this, then ask God, and He will give you a sign. Whatever you want, ask Him." Ahaz responded in Isaiah chapter 7, verse 12, saying, "I will not ask, neither will I tempt the Lord." This was kind of a show of spirituality by this wicked king, perhaps seeking to do what the law said for the first time in his life: "Do not tempt the Lord God." Yet, God had told him in the verses just prior to that, "Ask me, and I will give you a sign."

The thing we often miss is that God, as a good Father, desires to give us the things that we need and even the things that we desire within our hearts. As long as those desires are in accordance with God's will, He desires to give them to us. In fact, it is His joy to give those things to us. In John chapter 16, Jesus told His disciples in verse 24, "Hitherto you have asked me nothing in my name. Ask, and you shall receive, that your joy may be full." It was the desire of Jesus and the desire of the Father that we would ask.

And receive that our joy would be full. Sometimes, we seem to have this misconception about God that He doesn't want us to enjoy this life. This is a common lie of the enemy—that God's laws, plans, and desires make everything difficult and hard. We often think, "I'm suffering for Jesus," and believe that this is how God wants us to be. However, that is not what the Scriptures reveal.

In Luke chapter 12, verse 32, Jesus said, "Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom." It really is that simple. We often go without the things we need and even the things we desire in this life because we are unwilling or perhaps anxious about asking God for those things. James reveals an important truth: "You have not because you ask not."

At this point, you may be saying, "Well, I've asked God, and He hasn't given." You may not like what the Scriptures have to say. Notice what James says in verse 3: "You ask and receive not." You might think, "Yeah, that's me." But why? Because you ask amiss, that you may consume it upon your lusts. The word "amiss" means to ask improperly or with a wrong motive, with a wrong heart. In other places in the New Testament, that word is translated as "sick" or "disease."

So, it is the idea of someone asking from a sick, diseased heart with the wrong intention—to spend it upon their sinful desires and pleasures. Your desires are not to bless God or others but to consume them upon your lusts. The word "consume" is the very same word used in the parable of the prodigal son that Jesus told in Luke chapter 15.

There, Jesus tells the story of a man who had two sons. In verse 12, He says, "And the younger of them said to his father, 'Father, give me the portion of goods that falls to me.'" His father divided unto him his living, and not many days after that, the younger son gathered all together and took his journey to a far country. He wasted his substance on riotous living, and when he had spent all, or consumed everything, there arose a mighty famine in the land, and he began to be in want. You see,

Sometimes our attitude in coming to God is the same as the attitude that this young man had when he came to his father: "Father, give me what I want." Our only desire is to squander it upon our sinful flesh and the pleasures of this life.

Now, the father in the story of the prodigal did not have the power to read the heart motives of his son, but our Father in heaven knows our motives. He knows our hearts. If we come to Him asking amiss with a wrong heart, He is not just going to grant what we ask. He is not some sort of genie in a bottle up in heaven. We don't go to God like we go to the In-N-Out drive-through, saying, "Father, give me this and give me that, and give it now, give it quickly, give it in abundance."

That kind of heart, which seeks only what it can get and what it can receive in pleasure from God, is clearly brought to focus in verse 4. With heavy words, as James says, "You adulterers and adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whosoever, therefore, will be the friend of the world is the enemy of God."

Do you think that the Scripture says in vain, "The spirit that dwells in us lusts to envy?" Adulterers and adulteresses—heavy, heavy language that James uses to describe the wrong-hearted desirer that comes before him. He exposes the wickedness that lies within and calls it what it really is: adultery.

Jesus said in Matthew chapter 5, in the Sermon on the Mount, verse 27, "You have heard that it has been said of old time, 'You shall not commit adultery,' but I say to you that whosoever looks upon a woman to lust after her has committed adultery already with her in his heart." That same word, that same lust, which is used here—the desire for the sinful things of this world, the fleshly things of this world—He says, "Whoever lusts after those things, this heated wantonness," Jesus and James both call it adultery.

We often gloss over certain desires or certain thoughts. We say things like, "Well, I was just fantasizing."

Daydreaming is often dismissed, but James says no; it's spiritual adultery, and such spiritual adultery is the root of the physical act. He goes on to say that friendship with the world is enmity with God. Time and time again in the Old Testament, as we follow the story of the nation of Israel, God's chosen people, we see that Israel departed from the God who had called them and turned towards the things of this world—the idols. The intimate alliance, that close relationship that God had with His people in the Old Testament, is likened unto marriage.

When the children of Israel would depart from the Lord and pursue these worldly things, God would say, "You are committing adultery" or "playing the harlot." The word "friendship" in James chapter 4, when he says "friendship with the world," is the Greek word "phileia," which comes from the Greek word for love or brotherly love, "phileo." The Apostle John, in 1 John chapter 2, verse 15, states, "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him."

If we are going to love or be friendly with the things of this world, we literally break that alliance and relationship we have with God, essentially committing spiritual harlotry or adultery. We make ourselves the enemies of God. A lot of times, when we think of the term "the enemy of God," we immediately envision someone who is in blatant sin, out in the world carousing. They have left the church and are seeking after the pleasures of this world, whether it be through alcohol, drugs, or being in an adulterous relationship. We think, "That person has made themselves the enemy of God."

However, that's not what James is describing here. Sure, that person who is blatantly in sin would be called the enemy of God, but no more and no less than the one who secretly, as an adulterer, comes to church every single week. They put money in the plate, sing the worship songs, and listen to the message, but in their heart, they are seeking after the things of this world. The rest of the week, they pursue those things, pleasing themselves and being friendly with the carnal world.

Paul would tell the church at Rome in Romans chapter 8, verse 7, that the carnal mind, the earthly-focused and earthly-centered mind, is at enmity with God; it is not subject to the law of God.

James goes on to say in verse 5, "Do you think the Scripture says in vain, 'The spirit that dwells in us lusts to envy'?" I've always found the wording of this verse to be very interesting, but it reveals a great truth in Christ—one that's difficult for us to receive.

The first thing we need to recognize is that God does not speak empty words. There are some people in this world who just speak to hear themselves talk. They like to hear themselves speak, but they speak utter nonsense. They say nothing that is true, nothing that builds up, edifies, or equips. God is not like that. God speaks deliberately and intentionally; nothing in His word is without purpose.

So, James asks, "Do you think that the Scripture says in vain?" or "Do you think that God wrote this or had it written by prophets of old just on a whim?" Then he says, "The spirit that dwells in us lusts to envy," or "the spirit lusts jealously."

That great sage of our age, the North American prophet Oprah Winfrey, said about a year and a half ago, "I grew up in a Baptist church, and there were rules, belief systems, and doctrines. I happened to be sitting in a church in my late 20s. I was going to this church where you had to get there at 8 in the morning or you couldn't get a seat. There was a very charismatic minister, and everybody was into the sermon. This great minister was preaching about how great God was, how omniscient and omnipresent He is, and that God is everything. Then he said, 'The Lord thy God is a jealous God.'

I was caught up in the rapture of that moment until he said 'jealous,' and something struck me. I think I was about 27 or 28. I was thinking, 'God is all; He's omnipresent, He's omniscient, and God is jealous.' God is jealous of me? Something about that didn't feel right in my spirit because I believe that God is love and that God is in all things. And so, that's when the search for something began.

More than doctrine began to stir within me. It was in a church setting many years ago that Oprah Winfrey heard that passage from the book of Exodus: "The Lord thy God is a jealous God." She said, "If God is jealous of me, then there's something wrong with God." You know what? Oprah Winfrey was right. If God is jealous of us, there is something wrong about that.

If God were up in heaven saying, "Wow, Oprah's got so much money, and look at that house in Santa Barbara! I wish I had that; that'd be sick," then we would have a problem. But Oprah doesn't understand what the Scriptures say; she doesn't interpret them correctly. It does not say that God is jealous of us. Paul the Apostle echoes this same sentiment when he writes his second letter to the Corinthians. He says, "I am jealous for you with godly jealousy."

The context of this passage is important because, in verse 4, James speaks of friendship with the world being a form of spiritual adultery. It's harlotry; it's leaving your first love, the God who called you. Then he says, "The spirit within us yearns jealously." In the King James Version, it states, "The spirit that dwells in you lusts to envy." However, that word "lust" translated in verse 5 is different from the Greek word translated "lust" in verse 2, where it says, "You lust and you have not; you kill and desire to have, and you cannot obtain."

The word "lust" in verse 2 literally means to covet with zealous or wicked passion. In contrast, the word "lust" translated in verse 5, which speaks about the desire that God has for us, means to long for, to desire, or to pursue with love. You see, God lovingly longs for our affection and our devotion. He is jealous for you and me; He is not jealous of you and me.

Perhaps the best way to explain this is through an illustration that, for some, will hit home in a really difficult way. If you found out that your spouse was bound up in an adulterous relationship...

Your heart would break, and there would certainly be a level of jealousy within you. This jealousy is not of the relationship that others are having, but rather a jealousy for your spouse, desiring their affection and attention.

One of the problems we often face is that we apply our sinful characteristics and nature upon God. When jealousy stems up within us, it overflows into wrath, anger, malice, and all sorts of wicked things. We project this onto God, and when we hear that God is a jealous God, we think that He is angry, malicious, and all these sorts of things that we are. However, God is not like us.

We see this in God's reaction to the spiritual idolatry or adultery spoken of in verses four and five. How does God react? How do we react when we're jealous? We already saw it in verse two: we lust, we have this jealous desire because we don't have something, so we kill, we desire to have, we try to obtain, we fight, and we make war.

But how does God react? Look at verse six: He gives more grace. Wherefore, He says, "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble." What is God's reaction in the face of such jealousy? He pours out grace. In Romans chapter five, verse 20, the Apostle Paul said, "Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound."

God's way of dealing with this spiritual adultery is not to fly off the handle and destroy things. Just imagine if God did fly off the handle and destroy things; it would be a little bit more destructive than when we fly off the handle. How many of you are thankful that He does not fly off the handle and destroy things? Oh, praise God! His heart is certainly grieved.

We see this in the Old Testament, where the repeated adultery of the children of Israel against God grieved and tore His heart. But how does He react? He seeks to woo us back to Himself by superabounding grace. You may say that this is foolish. You might even say to God, "God, that is a foolish thing if You give abounding grace to a sinner."

Then the sinner will continue to dive deeper into depravity. That's been a common thing that you've heard within the church for many years: if you give grace to a sinner, they're just going to go off and seek after sin. If that's your thought, then I recommend that this week you take the time to read through the book of Hosea and see how God counseled Hosea to deal with his adulterous wife. It's a powerful testimony and an example of how our God deals with us.

Now, notice that James goes on to say God resists the proud. I don't want you to misunderstand me; I'm not saying that God, or myself, or the church, or the scripture takes a lax view upon sin. That's not the case at all. As we've looked at before in Exodus chapter 34, God will by no means clear the guilty. The person who proudly persists in their plotting towards sin, God will judge. He resists the proud, and the word "resist" there literally means to arrange in battle against.

So, the person who, in their arrogance and pride, says, "I'm going to do whatever I want; I'm not going to be turned away from this," arranges themselves in battle against God. How many of you recognize that isn't a good idea? Remember the story of Pharaoh in Exodus. He proudly arranged himself against God and was destroyed because God resisted him. God set Himself against him in battle array.

Now, Saul of Tarsus, who would become Paul the Apostle, was also in danger of that when God met him on the road to Damascus. He says to him in Acts chapter 9, verse 5, "Isn't it hard for you to kick against the goads?" God was wanting to move him in a certain direction, and Saul was doing everything he could to fight against Him.

But God gives grace to the humble. He resists the proud; He sets Himself in battle array against the proud, but He gives grace to the humble. He lovingly pours out superabounding grace. Paul says in Romans 5:20 that this is very clear and doesn't need a lot of commentary.

So, what should be our response if we recognize that the all-powerful, all-knowing God will set Himself against us in battle if we make ourselves the enemy of God? What should be our...

In James 4:7, it says, "Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be afflicted and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to heaviness. Humble yourselves in the sight of God, and he will lift you up."

Back in verse 6, I mentioned that the word "resist" means that God resists the proud. It indicates that God will set Himself in battle array against you. However, the word "submit" in verse 7 comes from the same Greek root word, just with a different prefix. The word "submit" literally means to arrange oneself under, to subordinate, or to surrender. It is about laying down your arms. You have been taking up arms to fight against God, but now it is time to lay them down and say, "I surrender."

When you see the awesome power of God and how He withstands the proud, what else can you do? You can be foolish and continue in pride, or you can say, "Okay, I give." Let me give you a little word of advice: this is the proper response. Submit yourselves therefore to God and resist the devil.

Now, the word "resist" here is different from the word "resist" in verse 6. I know we are getting into all kinds of little words here, but it is important. The word "resist" in this context means to stand or oppose. By the power of God and in the armor of God, if you stand against the wiles of the devil, as the Apostle Paul says in Ephesians chapter 6, we are told that the devil will flee from you. As John says in 1 John 4, "Greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world."

Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. One commentator noted that this in verse 8 is both an invitation and a promise. God says, "Draw near to me, and I will draw near to you." When we do as the Scriptures command, we will find this to be the case. However, if you say today that God is not drawing near to you, it is not an indication that He does not want anything to do with you. It is an indication that you have not done what the Scripture said in submitting to Him. The Scriptures do not speak in vain.

God gives us His word for a purpose. As you begin to draw near to God and as He begins to draw near to you, the closer you come into the presence of God, the more you will find the very same thing that the prophet Isaiah did in Isaiah chapter 6. He says, "In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated upon a throne." The train of His robe filled the temple. Above Him stood seraphim; each one had six wings. With two, he covered his face, with two, he covered his feet, and with two, he did fly. One of the seraphim cried to the other, saying, "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory." The posts of the door were shaken at the voice of him who cried.

Then I said, "Woe is me, for I am undone." You see, when you draw near to God and He draws near to you, you begin to see your sin more clearly than you ever have before. When you see your sin more clearly, you say with Isaiah, "Woe is me, I am undone, because 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 glory."

Notice what James says in James chapter 1, verse 8. At the end of the verse, he says, "Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be afflicted, mourn, and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to heaviness. Humble yourselves in the sight of God, and He will lift you up." God resists the proud, but He gives grace to the humble. When you draw near to God, He'll draw near to you, and your sin will be exposed. You will begin, as we see in this passage, to mourn over your sin.

In Matthew chapter 5, during the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus begins His teaching by saying, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." The person who becomes a child of God and receives an inheritance of the kingdom of God is someone who recognizes their bankruptcy of spirit. They recognize that they have nothing; they are poor in spirit. I see these first verses of what are called the Beatitudes in the Sermon on the Mount as a progression. The person comes to God poor in spirit, saying, "Lord, I have nothing; I am nothing," and that is where they enter into the kingdom of heaven.

But blessed are they that mourn. You see, when you come to God poor in spirit, as you draw near to Him...

God, you begin to see just how sinful you really are, and you begin to mourn over it. Blessed are they that mourn, because they shall be comforted. Who's the one who comforts? The Holy Spirit. Blessed are they that mourn; they shall be comforted.

The next one says, "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth." You see, as you draw near to God, poor in spirit and mourning over your own sinful condition, a certain kind of meekness begins to be built up within you. There are several different ways to define meekness, but I think the one that I like the best is just meekness: a recognition before God that I am nothing.

It's at that point that the next verse comes in light. "Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled." It's there, after you've come to God poor in spirit, recognizing that you have nothing and mourning over your own sinful condition, that you come to the place where you recognize that you are destitute. There is no good thing in me. At that point, you begin to hunger and thirst after righteousness, and God is the only one that can fill that need.

So James says, "Draw near to God. Cleanse your hands, purify your hearts, be afflicted, mourn, and weep." He continues, "Speak not evil of another." In verse 11, he states, "He that speaks evil of his 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. There is one lawgiver who is able to save and to destroy. Who are you to judge another?"

Our drawing near to God in humble submission ought to affect the way that we live with others. Our humility before God ought to affect our interaction with humanity. James says, "Speak not evil of another, brethren. Do not speak slanderously and gossip about another person, for in so doing we become accusers of the brethren and mirror more the characteristics of Satan than we do of God."

The danger is that we can, with our lips, draw near to God, and everybody thinks, "Wow, what a spiritual person." Yet, with our lips, just as we saw in James chapter 3, we can tear down other people. It's a show of religion, but really we are not the children of God; we are showing forth that we are the children of the devil, just like Jesus said to the Pharisees in John chapter 8.

Do not speak slanderously of another. The rabbis had a saying: no one could speak evil of his brother without denying God. We have a tendency to do this, and I will confess that I do it as well. When you're with another brother, you begin to judge someone. You might say, "Oh, did you see what they did there? Oh my gosh, I can't believe that they said that!" or "Did you see what they wore? Oh my goodness!" We are judging people, not just by the way they look or how they talk or what they wear, but also by the way they live their lives.

There is no vacancy on the judgment seat of Christ; we are not the judge—God is. There is one job: judge. When we place ourselves in the position of judge, we are slandering someone and speaking evil of them. The scripture says that when you judge your brother, you judge the law. How so? He who speaks evil of his brother judges the law. If you are speaking evil of another, something that the law clearly forbids, you are judging that the law does not apply to you. You are judging that the law is unworthy, unworthy of your keeping. Therefore, you are not a doer of the law; you are just a judge. We need to recognize that there is only one judge: God.

He moves on in verse 13 and says, "Go to now, you that say, 'Today or tomorrow we will go into such a city and continue there a year and buy and sell and get gain.'" You do not know what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. For that, you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that." But now you are rejoicing and boasting, and all such rejoicing is evil. Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does it not, to him it is sin.

You see, if we are going to draw near to God and He is going to draw near to us, we must humbly submit ourselves to Him. We need to humbly submit all to Him. Humble dependence upon God must be exercised in all areas of our lives, including our schedules and our plans. However, a lot of times we come to God and say, "I'm going to follow You as Lord, but I've got this thing going on over here, and You're not allowed to touch this. I have these plans; I have this thing that I'm doing in my life." The Proverbs make it very clear that plans are not a bad thing. In fact, we should be those who make plans without reservation.

A plan can go awry, but when making plans, we must first yield ourselves to God and seek His wisdom. Once we've established a plan, we yield it into His hands and say, "Lord, take it; do with it as You please." Here, James says, "Listen up, you who have this plan to go to this city, buy and sell for a year, and get great gain. You don't even know what tomorrow brings. Life's just a vapor—here one second, gone the next."

What you ought to say is, "Lord, if You will, we are going to do this or that." In Chapter 5, he narrows it down a little more. In verse one, he says, "Go to now, you rich men! Listen up, you rich!" Generally, it's the rich individual who has this mindset and the ability to jump around, go here and there, do whatever, and make great gain.

James continues, "Weep and howl; be humbled, you rich." Why? For your miseries that shall come upon you. Remember, there is a day of judgment coming. He refocuses us on the eternal: "Your riches are corrupted; your garments are moth-eaten." What he's saying is that on the day of judgment, all the gold you had, all the silver you had, and all the things you had to your name will not help you. Your riches will be corrupted, your garments moth-eaten, and your gold and silver cankered. The rust of them shall be a witness against you, and you shall eat it, and it shall eat your flesh as if it were fire.

You have heaped treasure together for the last days. You've prepared for this, but it's not enough on the day of Christ Jesus. "Behold, the hire of the laborers who have reaped down your fields, which is in your keep, has been kept back by fraud. It cries out against you, and the cries of them which have reaped have entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth."

He says, "You've been fraudulently dealing with those under you, and their cries have come up before God. Yes, you're rich, and yes, you've made great gain, but you didn't really plan for this day of judgment. Their cries have entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth, the Lord of rest."

"You have lived in pleasure on the earth and have been wanton. You had everything on the earth, and it wasn't enough. You have nourished your hearts as in the day of slaughter. You have condemned and killed the just, and he has not resisted you." All these things, he says, are the indictment against you.

Switching his focus, he speaks to those who were under the condemnation of the wicked rich. He says, "Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord." Again, he addresses those who were under persecution, reminding them that the Lord is coming and urging them to be patient until He arrives.

"Behold, the husbandman, or the farmer, waits for the precious fruit of the earth, and he has long patience for it until he receives the early and the latter rain. Be you also patient; establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord draws near."

Maybe you are not the rich one being challenged in verses one through six, but you are the one who has gone through the persecution mentioned in verse seven. He says, "Be patient; establish your heart because the Lord is coming." Do not grudge one against another, brethren, lest you be condemned. "Behold, the judge stands before the door."

"Take, my brethren, the prophets who have spoken in the name of the

People in our fellowship, day by day, week by week, are sick. The scripture, the exhortation of James, calls for the elders of the church to gather together, anoint them with oil, and pray for them. If you need prayer, we will do that. Call the church, call the elders, and we will come together and pray for you. He says the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up. If he has committed sins, he shall be forgiven.

There is a healing that can take place from the Lord, a miraculous healing, as we pray in faith before God, doing what His Word says. However, not every single person who is prayed for is healed. I believe that the context of this passage isn't only speaking of physical healing. He says the Lord will save the sick; the prayer of faith shall save the sick, speaking of salvation. The Lord shall raise him up, speaking of the resurrection.

This again points us back to the idea that if you are going through trials, sickness, or affliction, remember with patience the prophets. Also, remember that there is an end that God has in store. He shall raise them up, and if they have committed sins, He shall forgive them. This is speaking of a salvation issue, not just a healing issue.

Confess your faults one to another and pray for one another that you may be healed. There is also healing in confession. Perhaps there is sin attached to the sickness that you have. However, it is not always the case. It is dangerous to say to a person, as Job's friends did, that the reason you have these boils from head to toe is because you sinned. He didn't; that wasn't the case at all. The reason he had boils from head to toe was because he was righteous.

We seem to think that God operates on a tit-for-tat basis: you do this, and I do that; you serve me, and you did everything perfectly. That's not what the scriptures teach. It is not a quid pro quo relationship with God. Sometimes the righteous suffer, and in their suffering, God is glorified. We should recognize that He has something much better planned after this.

Confess your faults one to another and pray for one another so that you may be healed. Know that the effective and fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. We might say, "Well, there's the problem; I'm not righteous." You're right; there is none righteous, no, not one, as the Apostle Paul says. However, we in Christ have been clothed with the righteousness of Christ, and so we can pray from the position of righteousness, a right standing with God. The effective and fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.

A righteous man or woman avails much. He speaks with an illustration: Elijah was a man subject to like passions as we are. He was just like you and me, this great man of God, the prophet Elijah. You can read about him in First Kings. He was a man just like any other, and yet he prayed earnestly, or he prayed diligently, that it would not rain. It rained not on the earth for the space of three years and six months. He prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit.

He prayed diligently, and God can move; He will move. Ask, seek, knock, for he who asks shall receive, he who seeks shall find, and he who knocks, the door shall be opened unto him.

Lastly, he says, "Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth," and there are those who depart, those who are turned aside, lured away, they err from the truth. If any of you err from the truth and one converts him, one turns him back to the road, let him know that he which converts the sinner from the error of his way shall save the soul from death and shall hide a multitude of sins.

You see, God is not willing that any should perish; He desires that all would come to repentance. He desires that we would be willing to step out and go find that brother or sister who has departed, that one who has turned aside from the way. We should be an exhorter. To exhort means to come alongside with the call, perakaleo in the Greek, to call them back to repentance, to turn back to the road that God has called you to. If you turn back, He says, you shall save their soul from death.

Jesus said, "Do not be afraid of him who can destroy the body, but of him who can destroy both body and soul in hell." It is the desire of God that all men would come to repentance. We have been given the words of eternal life to go into this world and speak forth the gospel of truth, even to those who at one point in time we thought had a right walk with the Lord, and yet they have departed from the Lord.

It's not just that they don't go to church anymore; it's that they are living after the things of this world. They are seeking to go to such and such a city, to buy and sell for a year, and to make great gain. They are not concerned about God. God says, "If any is overtaken in a trespass, you that are spiritual, you who are followers of God, go and call them back in an attitude of love."

Meekness is an attitude of gentleness. We are safe as we are in Christ, just as the manslayer in the Old Testament was safe in the city of refuge. That's a study for another hour, but we are safe in Christ, just as Rahab the harlot was safe in the wall of her house with the scarlet cord. However, there is no promise if you depart from Christ. That's why Jesus would say, "Abide in me."

There are some who, at one point in time, seemed to be followers, but they have gone out from us. People will ask, "Were they saved? Did they lose their salvation, or were they never really saved?" This is a huge discussion. The fact is, whether you believe they were saved and lost their salvation or that they were never really saved, the message is the same: repent. Why battle about which one is right? Just tell them they need to repent, or else you're just arguing with your neighbor.

Some may say, "I believe they were never saved," while others might argue, "I believe they were saved and lost their salvation." Regardless, they are still going to hell if they don't repent. So, he says, "Go and call them to repentance." This is the word that the Lord placed upon Eric's heart when He called him into the ministry, as seen in Ezekiel chapter 33 or chapter 3. The Lord says to him, "I have set you as a watchman on the wall to the people of Israel to call them back to repentance."

Every prophet of the Old Testament called the people back to repentance, and God has called you and me in this day to be, in a sense, prophets to this nation, to call the people back to repentance. There is one judge, and He shall judge one day. It is appointed unto all men once to die, and then comes judgment. He is an awesome and powerful God, and He is jealous for us. He is not jealous of us; He is desirous for our affection and our devotion.

But the proud He will set Himself against. This is a heavy passage from the book of James, but it is so important for the day in which we are living because we are living in similar times as James was. Amen.

Let's stand and pray. God, Your word is a lamp unto our feet; it is a light unto our path, and it is sharper than any two-edged sword. It is able to cut deep and discern between the thoughts and the intents of our hearts.

Lord, it exposes wrong attitudes and wrong actions. However, it also shows how we are to walk and follow after You, and how we are to have a relationship with You. We thank You, Father, that in Christ we have fellowship with You today. We thank You that You have given us grace—superabounding grace—where sin abounded, grace did all the more abound.

Lord, thank You for Your grace. Would You empower us as we go from here today to be those who speak grace, seasoned with salt, to a world that is in desperate need of seasoning? For we ask it in Jesus' name. Amen.