The Root of Our Problem

Good morning. We are going to continue our sermon series in the book of James this morning.

So if you're at home or if you have a phone, you can turn to James 4.

If you brought your Bible, you can turn to James 4. We'll be looking at James 4, 1 through 10.

And the passage will also be up on the screen for those of us who are here in person.

James 4 is our passage this morning. Let's go ahead and read God's Word together.

James 4, starting in verse 1.

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.

Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scriptures say he yearns jealously over the Spirit that he is made to dwell in us?

But he gives more grace.

And therefore, it says, God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.

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 wretched and mourn and weep.

Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom.

Humble yourselves before the Lord and he will exalt you.

This is God's Word.

Please pray with me.

Lord, as we come to this Word this morning, we are struck by its tone of admonition, of exhortation, of confrontation.

God, I pray this morning that you would prepare our hearts to receive your Word.

God, I pray for your Holy Spirit to be at work in our hearts.

Lord, that we would sit humbly under your Word.

We would receive it and that you would show us, Lord, how it reveals our sin and our need for your grace.

God, I pray that the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart would be acceptable in your sight.

Oh, Lord, my rock and my redeemer.

We pray this in Jesus' name.

Amen.

What is this passage about?

Well, James tells us in the very first sentence.

He says,

What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you?

And I was reflecting on the fact that, golly, we don't have to look very far, particularly in our pandemic world today,

to think about quarrels and fights going on.

We hear stories of security guards assaulted for requiring someone to wear a mask as they enter into a business.

I read a news report of a hotel clerk up in Mystic who was assaulted by two guests because their room did not have hot water.

Certainly, our time at home has given us many, many opportunities for fights and quarrels with those that we live with.

And when we read the news, as we open our browsers, or some of us are old-fashioned enough to actually read a paper,

we see that our social and political world is full of conflict, quarrels, and fights.

And while we need to recognize that, as Pastor Nick mentioned last week, there are fights worth fighting,

and there are things worth addressing,

many, many times,

we see that there is another root of that.

And so James asks,

What causes these things?

Why do we as human beings default towards quarreling and fighting with one another?

And it doesn't seem like James is addressing a particular incident in the church,

because there's not a lot of content to it.

He's saying this is a pattern.

This is something that is characterizing not only the world at large as humanity,

but even the church itself.

And think about what we've already seen him talk about.

How discrimination against maybe rich or poor,

people who have greater prominence and less prominence,

and how there have been divisions caused in the church that he's already begun to address.

And James comes like an expert doctor, a soul surgeon.

He examines the symptoms.

He probes deeper to try to find underlying causes,

gives a diagnosis,

and then turns the corner and says,

Here's the prescription.

This is how we do it.

And so this is what we're going to do this morning,

is see how James takes us through this process of understanding his diagnosis,

what causes these problems.

And then he will give us a prognosis.

How do we move forward from here?

So first, what is the diagnosis?

And as James looks here, there is layers.

In verses 1 through 4, there are layers of things that he is addressing.

But fundamentally, he's saying this.

We are self-centered and God-ignoring

in our fundamental orientation and attitude of life.

We approach our everyday life and our everyday interactions

thinking more about ourselves than anyone else.

And in the meantime, we ignore God in the process.

Why do I say this?

Well, here's Dr. James trying to get under the skin a little bit.

Verses 1 and 2 tells us,

why do we have fights and quarrels?

Because we want something and we can't get it.

Right?

And anyone who's had a two-year-old knows what that looks like.

But maybe there are other times when we see that more clearly.

When the girl we were hoping to ask out on a date

gets asked out by someone else first.

Or maybe when you find yourself at work

starting to run down a colleague to your other co-workers

because they're getting all the praise and all the attention

and you're feeling jealous.

Maybe some of you are struggling financially or materially

and you are finding yourself jealous of those who have more than you do.

Or maybe it's just you really want to be right in this conversation.

Whatever it is, you just want to be right.

And you just can't let go of attacking and questioning

and proving and defending and explaining and justifying again.

All of these things are examples, I think,

of how our hearts want things

and when we can't get them,

the ugliness emerges

and we find ourselves in conflict with others.

Now look, it's not always actual fistfights and wars.

James uses very strong militaristic language.

Most of us don't experience that.

Sometimes we do, right?

And sometimes we see that on a more societal level

that it comes to actual violence and real wars.

But here mostly he's talking about interpersonally

and the war that our words wage with one another

and our actions.

So he says, well, here are some of the symptoms.

This is what we see.

You don't have and you want it

and so you try to take it for yourselves.

And this is where he gets to the,

you don't have because you don't ask.

Instead of thinking that someone might give you something good,

you think, I have to go get it myself

and it's up to me.

And do you see the self-orientation in that?

And then he says,

and for those of you who are Christians

and you're asking God for things,

do you not understand

He is not answering prayers

partly because you are asking purely for selfish motives.

You are not asking for God's glory.

You are not asking for the good of others.

You are simply asking, this is what I want.

God, give it to me now.

And so God is not answering,

even if you're asking

because this fundamental self-orientation is so deep.

He's used this word passions,

these passions that drive us.

And this word in the New Testament

is almost always used for evil desires,

for selfish desires.

What we saw in the end of chapter 3,

jealousy and selfish ambition

are two of the driving passions.

But we could think of other passions,

things that we long for,

things that we lust for,

selfishly for our own gain and our own good.

They are self-oriented and self-procured.

And is this not, of course,

brothers and sisters,

the root of sin that we know

going all the way back to the Garden of Eden?

Is this not what Adam and Eve

were tempted by and fell into?

God had provided them a place

where everything was provided for them.

And yet, when the enemy came in

and laid a seed of doubt,

says, is God really good?

Is He really going to give you everything

that is good?

Is He withholding from you?

Maybe you need to go and take this yourself.

Maybe you have to do it apart from God.

And that's what Adam and Eve did

when they rebelled against Him,

broke His commandment,

took the fruit,

and in doing so,

separated themselves out and said,

rather than being under God

and receiving from Him,

I want to be like God

and provide for myself

and be the center.

One commentator,

Alec Motier,

says this,

the one thing our hearts

are solidly loyal to

is our own personal satisfaction.

And then,

James takes it one more level

in verse 4.

He says,

you adulterous people,

you who have allowed your passions

to run away from the God of the universe

who wants to come and provide for you,

you have run away from Him,

your faithful spouse,

to try to find

your selfish satisfaction

in others around you.

And this is where he turns

to this concept

of friendship with the world.

If you want,

and the world,

you must understand

that in the Bible,

particularly in the New Testament,

when the word world is used,

most of the time,

and it's certainly in this case,

world is used as a system,

a world system,

a world view,

a way that we work,

a world that works

in rebellion against God.

That's how it's used

often in the New Testament.

And it makes a verse

like John 3, 16,

God so loved the world

that He sent His only Son

that whoever believes in Him

would not perish

but have eternal life.

God isn't just loving His creation

that somehow kind of lost its way.

He's loving His creation

has rejected Him,

refused Him,

denied Him,

expelled Him

from their worldview.

And James says,

the quarrels that you have,

the selfish desires

that you pursue,

the passions that you allow

to control you

are rooted in this

fundamental rejection of God.

God.

And we cannot be friends

with a world

that rejects God

and be a friend of God

as well.

They are fundamentally incompatible.

And so, He says,

if you want to be friends

with the world,

then you are at odds

with God.

You cannot be a friend

of the world

and not be an enemy

of God

because to love the world

is to love those

for whom God is the enemy

and to love the thought patterns

and the processes.

Verse 5

reinforces this incompatibility

of God with self-orientation.

Now, if you have a couple

of different Bible verses,

you will start to see

very quickly,

this is one of the trickiest

Bible verses to translate.

The translations

are all over the place.

The ESV,

as we read earlier,

has the idea

that God is being jealous

for the spirit of humanity

that He has placed

in each one of us.

That He wants us

to be wholeheartedly

faithful towards Him,

picking up on the idea

of adultery.

That's true.

All right?

But if you read

the New King James,

what you will see

is that

what James is saying

is you can't be

a friend of God

and the world

because don't you see

that you have

this spirit of envy

in you,

this spirit of jealousy

that is contrary to God

and so it's talking

about the nature

of jealousy

as being evil,

not good,

and the source

of that jealousy

being us,

not God.

those are two

pretty different ideas.

They're both true,

broader,

biblically,

so we're not

way out on a limb here.

But I have been convinced

thinking through

who's the subject?

Well, I think it's that

God is the subject

of the jealousy

and yet

God is a subject

of the spirit.

This is one of the questions

is whether the spirit

is the human spirit

or the Holy Spirit.

And I think it is

the Holy Spirit

at work here,

but the jealousy

is evil.

And so he proposes

this kind of a translation.

Does not Scripture say,

does the spirit

that he made

in us

dwell

or yearn

with sinful jealousy?

Do you see

what he's saying there

in that translation?

He's saying,

how can you have

the Holy Spirit

of God in you

and claim

to have this

jealous spirit

that is of the world?

They are incompatible.

And I think that's

the clearest understanding.

He's continuing

this incompatibility theme

of there are two ways

to live

and one of them

is causing

these fights and quarrels

and it's rooted

in this fundamental

rejection of God.

So this is the upshot

of these verses.

We have a sinful

self-orientation

that excludes God,

that depends on ourselves,

seeks to get its own.

We are driven

by passion

for selfish desires

and we use

and abuse others

in order to get it.

And ultimately,

we use our words

and our actions

for ourself

and not for God.

Now how do we do,

how do we diagnose

whether this might be

true for us

in a particular instance

or a particular part

of our lives?

Here are some

diagnostic tools

for us to ask ourselves

how much of this

is true of me?

And I will say this,

friends,

if we're thinking

that's not true at all,

just ask.

God loves to show us

where we need to grow.

Just ask Him

because I believe

that this is an ongoing battle

of sanctification

for Christians

till glory comes.

So here are the questions.

One,

look at our relationships.

Is there fighting

and quarreling

in your relationships?

At work,

at home,

in your marriage,

if you're a child

between you

and your siblings,

with your extended family,

with your brothers

and sisters at church,

is there fighting

and quarreling?

And again,

there are times

when conflict

is a positive thing

towards peacemaking.

So I want to make sure

that I'm not saying

that all conflict

is always a bad thing.

There are times

to address things

that are wrong.

There are times

and there is a way

to do that

that is not driven

by the selfishness

and self-orientation

that James is talking

about here.

But most of the time

we need,

well,

let me say it this way,

all of the time

we need to be asking ourselves,

is that the spirit

that is driving us

in any particular conflict?

We must ask

God to help us

search our hearts.

And honestly,

friends,

this is where asking others

who are not a part

of the conflict

to give you

honest feedback

and to help you

see your own heart,

it's also an important

tool for us to know.

Look at your relationships.

See whether these things

are true or not.

But not only

in our relationships,

look at our other investments

to see how much

our self-orientation

controls our lives.

Where do we use

our money?

Where do we use

our time?

Where do we use

our social capital?

And by that,

I mean our friendships,

our reputation,

our network.

Do we jealously guard those

for our own selfish promotion?

Or do we use these things

for the good of others

and for the glory of God?

Can you see the centrality

of God in your life

by the way that you use

your resources?

Jesus said,

where your treasure is,

there will be your heart also.

And we need to remember,

He didn't say the,

I think it's the obverse.

I looked this up.

Obverse or converse?

Anyway, linguists,

you can clear that up later.

He didn't say,

where your treasure is,

no,

where your heart is,

there will be your treasure.

Because that's what

we all want to say.

Well,

I want to be a good person.

I want to help people.

What He says is,

here's a diagnostic tool.

Look at where your treasures

actually go.

That's what your heart

actually loves.

And finally,

we need to ask ourselves

this question.

Are we harboring

and justifying sin

in our lives?

Fundamentally,

the world is saying,

I don't want God.

I want to do it

my own way.

And there are all sorts

of ways in which

that could play it out

that are clearly outside

of God's commands

and God's gracious

and kind rule

in our lives.

And this passage asks us,

do you love sin

more than God?

If so,

you are in friendship

with the world

and at odds

with the God

of the universe.

So relationships,

investments,

and simply asking

the question,

am I harboring

and justifying sin?

James comes at us

hard in this passage.

He does not pull

his punches.

He is not looking

to make us feel better

about ourselves.

He is asking us

to do a rigorous

self-examination

and understand

the root of the problem.

But like a good doctor,

he not only has

a good diagnosis,

but he's able

to bring to us

a prescription,

a way forward,

something for us

to look forward to.

The prognosis

that James gives us

is in,

starts in verse 6.

You can look there

with me if you want.

But he gives

more grace.

Friends,

taking hold

of God's grace

in humility

and repentance

is God's remedy

to free us

from the brokenness

of the life

of quarreling

and fighting,

and more broadly

in James,

the brokenness

of being double-minded

and unstable.

It is God's grace

that brings us

to wholeness

in Christ.

He gives us

more grace,

and of course,

grace is defined

by undeserved favor.

It is what God

brings to us,

not because

we have tried hard enough

or looked good enough

or gone to church enough

or ticked off

the boxes

of faithful Christian

discipleship

in just the right way

so that God has said,

oh, now I can give you grace.

We don't ever deserve grace.

And God not only

gives it to us,

but he gives us more.

God's grace

is never insufficient

for us.

It is the opposite

of the grasping passions

that we've seen

in verses 1 through 5

where it's,

I want, I want,

I gotta go get it.

Instead,

it's sitting back

and saying,

God, I can't do anything

to deserve this,

and I can't even get

what I want on my own.

Would you give to me

what I can't get?

Will you provide for me

when I humble myself

before you?

And this is the picture,

of course,

that we see

in the very core message

of Christianity,

isn't it?

This is the gospel

of Jesus Christ.

Christ.

While we were still

dead in our sins

and trespasses,

while we were still

enemies of God,

Christ died

for us.

Christ came,

and on the basis

of his life

and death

and resurrection,

God now holds out

for us a calling

to forsake

our sinful independence

and come to him

in humble faith.

And to take hold

of Christ

by faith

gives us

wonderful,

gracious gifts.

We receive

undeserved forgiveness

of sin

so that we no longer

bear guilt

or fear

the judgment

of God

on our sin.

God's grace

also imparts

to us

a new heart

so that our passions

are no longer

enslaved to sin

but are now able,

awakened,

to be able

to love

and pursue

God's kingdom.

God's grace

gives us

the undeserved

indwelling

of the

His Holy Spirit

so that not only

are we awakened

to God's kingdom

but we are empowered

to pursue

Him.

We are actually

able

to go after

what God

calls us to

not because

we have it

inside ourselves

but because

God has given

it to us

in the Holy Spirit.

And so we see

James

at the end

of verse 6

quoting

from Proverbs

3, 34

that He

opposes

the proud

those who

would seek

to be ruled

by their passions

and be friends

with the world

and pursue life

apart from God.

He opposes

the proud

but He gives

grace

to the humble.

And this of course

is God's means.

God provides

for us

the ability

to

take hold

of His grace

to appropriate

it,

to receive it.

How?

By walking

a path

of humility.

By humbling

ourselves

before God.

What does this

look like?

Well,

fundamentally

we need to say

it is not

what we sometimes

think.

It is not

thinking

I'm a worm,

I'm a worm,

I'm a worm.

Right?

It is not

simply being

sorry,

I know,

I've blown it.

Again,

it is not

just acknowledging

I know

what I did

was wrong

and it's hurt

people.

It's not

thinking

that if

we're sorry

enough,

suddenly God's

going to fix

everything.

But it is

an active

path of

humbling

ourselves

or even

humiliating

ourselves

before God.

What does

that mean?

It means

positioning

ourselves

rightly

before God.

It means

when we

look at

God

and we

look at

His

grandeur

and His

greatness

and His

perfection

and all

the good

things that

He is,

we realize

we are not

those things.

We are

but a

creature

and a

fallen

broken

one

at that.

And in

humility

then we

come to

God

and we

say,

God,

You are

great

and I

need

everything

that You

have

and I

have

nothing

to

bring.

James

breaks it

down

in three

steps for

us in

these

passages.

First,

in verse

7,

he says,

submit.

Submit

to God.

Technically,

it means

to put

in order

under

something,

some

controlling

thing.

To

submit to

God is

to say,

not my

will,

not my

understanding,

not my

way,

but Your

will be

done.

And

submission

biblically

does mean

obedience.

It means

listening to

what God

says and

doing it.

But really

to get the

fullness of

it,

it might

be better

to be

thought of

in this

context as

allegiance.

God,

I am

enlisting

under

Your

flag.

I

am

joining

Your

army.

I

am

on

Your

team.

And

You

are

the

captain.

You

are

the

coach.

You

are

the

general.

You

are

the

one

who

are

leading.

And

I

will

follow

you

to

death.

My

life

is

now

yours

to

do

what

you

want

with

it.

It

is

glad

submission

to

God's

rule

in

our

lives.

And

of

course

it

says

in

the

second

part

of

verse

7

it

says

and

this

means

resisting

the

enemy.

We've

already

seen

the

enemy

mentioned

a

couple

of

times

in

James

how

the

wisdom

from

above

is

demonic

a

part

of

a

world

system

and

a

spiritual

system

that's

in

rebellion

against

God.

But

when

we

in

humility

enlist

in

God's

army

we

are

called

then

to

fight

the

battle

against

and

bullies

and

lies

and

frightens

us

into

self-centered

living

because

this is

what

the

enemy

does.

He

pulls

out

all

the

stops

to

get

us

to

stop

trusting

God

and

to

just

think

about

ourselves.

It

means

stopping

our

ears

when

we

hear

the

whispers

did

God

really

say

so

first

of

all

humility

the

path

of

humility

is

one

of

submission

but

secondly

it's

also

in

verse

8

it's

drawing

near

it

is

not

grasping

for

ourselves

but

it

is

running

to

God

to

receive

from

him

and

he

says

how

do

we

do

this

we'll

look

at

the

second

half

of

verse

8

he

says

first

we

have

to

not

first

but

drawing

near

to

God

means

we

have

to

put

off

sin

and

we

need

to

cleanse

our

hands

that's

the

external

and

purify

our

hearts

that's

the

internal

work

we

need

to

hate

sin

and

run

to

God

as

we

do

this

and

friends

we know

that we

can't

do

this

ourselves

you

know

the

great

picture

in

the

voyage

of

the

dawn

treader

when

Eustace

Clarence

scrub

the

most

distasteful

human

being

in

all

of

Narnia's

books

is

transformed

into a

dragon

by magic

so that

Aslan

the lion

can come

and free

him

from his

selfish

orientation

but because

he's been

magically

transformed

into a

dragon

he needs

to be

freed

from his

dragon skin

for him

to be

renewed

and it's

a painful

process

C.S.

Lewis

depicts

that the

lion's

claws

have to

dig

deep

to

scrape

off

the

dragon

skin

and it

hurts

and it

makes him

feel

very

vulnerable

and he's

frightened

by the

process

of being

unclothed

by

Aslan

the

Jesus

figure

in the

story

the

savior

figure

Friends

this is

what

drawing

near

to

God

means

it

means

us

being

willing

for

him

to

lay

bare

the

depth

of

our

sin

and

bringing

them

before

the

cross

to

find

both

forgiveness

purification

and

transformation

so that

those

sins

become

no

longer

controlling

passions

and

no

longer

patterns

of

behavior

in

our

lives

and

friends

when we

do

that

we

must

recognize

that

God

has

given

us

means

to

do

this

again

Motier

says

this

the

first

element

in the

conflict

is

this

central

battle

to

live

near

to

God

we

have

to

fight

for

the

battle

of

regularity

and

discipline

of

Bible

reading

of

prayer

of

public

and

private

worship

of

feasting

at

the

Lord's

table

of

devoting

ourselves

to

Christian

fellowship

cultivating

every

appointed

avenue

whereby

we

may

draw

near

to

him

fellowship

with

God

and

its

consequent

blessing

of

his

fellowship

with

us

does

not

just

happen

we

cannot

drift

into

it

any

more

than

we

drift

into

holiness

to

pursue

these

things

is

our

first

obedience

he

says

so

the

path

of

humility

is

submission

it's

drawing

near

and finally

it's

mourning

look at

verse

nine

James

again

he does

not

pull

his

punches

here

we

must

hate

sin

and

mourn

its

presence

in

our

lives

James

helps

us

to

remember

that

sin

is

so

ugly

it

is

so

offensive

to

a

holy

God

it

is

so

contrary

to

the

beauty

and

the

glory

of

his

kingdom

and

his

righteousness

it

is

what

breaks

God's

heart

more

than

anything

else

and

it

stains

our

lives

like

sewage

thrown

onto

a

bridal

gown

it

destroys

beauty

the way

a buzz

saw

would

in a

flower

garden

our

petty

arguments

and quarrels

stain

as much

as murder

and

violence

James

says

there is

to be

no

careless

laughter

about

our

sin

no

casual

joy

while

we

excuse

our

little

pleasures

apart

from

God

but

it

is

instead

to

recognize

that

these

are

the

very

things

that

Christ

died

to

save

us

from

and

for

us

to

treat

them

lightly

makes

us

friends

of the

world

and

enemies

of

God

brings

us

to

verse

10

in

the

end

he

says

humble

yourself

then

before

the

Lord

and

he

will

exalt

you

friends

God

calls

us

to

this

unwavering

and

whole

hearted

allegiance

to

him

in

humility

and

we

know

we

know

that

we

can't

do

this

we

know

that

our

heart

will

continually

turn

off

the

path

our

heart

will

continually

say

no

I'd

rather

be

in

control

thank

you

very

much

no

I

want

it

my

way

thank

you

very

much

God

I

want

things

to

happen

the

way

I

think

it

should

happen

God

and

I'm

going

to

do

whatever

it

takes

for

that

to

happen

and

gracious

and

loving

Savior

Philippians

2

the

passage

that

Daniel

read

early

reminds

us

in

there

the

apostle

Paul

exhorted

us

to

very

similar

types

of

living

humbly

in

the

first

four

verses

and

he

says

remember

Christ

who

didn't

even

count

equality

with

God

something

to

be

grasped

that

is

he

didn't

hold

on

to

his

privilege

as

a

second

person

of

the

Trinity

but

instead

he

emptied

himself

and

he

came

to

earth

and

he

took

on

the

form

of

a

created

being

when

he

took

on

the

form

of

humanity

he

entered

into

this

fallen

world

with

us

and

he

suffered

with

us

and

he

submitted

himself

to

God's

will

even

to

the

point

of

dying

on

the

cross

for

people

who

hated

him

and

had

rejected

him

and

friends

if

Christ

would

do

that

for

us

to

rescue

us

from

our

sin

will

you

trust

him

will

you

put

yourself

in a

place

of

humility

before

him

and

say

I

will

follow

in

your

train

you

are

my

captain

and

I

will

go

along

the

path

of

the

cross

I

will

humble

myself

I

will

submit

I

will

draw

near

I

will

mourn

my

sin

and

run

from

it

and

I

will

run

to

you

I

will

run

to

you

so that

I may

find

the very

things that

I'm longing

for

for friends

this is the foolishness

of sin

it's the things

we fight over

and quarrel

over and grasp

at and think