Unifying Principles and Their Problems

We've been talking about the unifying principles

of our faith, right? And so all of these things

should all be principles that we all hold to,

we all agree with, they all follow the principles

of course, they all hold to, we all agree with,

and if we all agree, then we are unified by our

very nature. And each time we've been looking

at a problem that prevents us from being unified,

that decides the unified principle of today's

problem is... Where some folks desire the benefit

of the principle without being bought into the

principle. That's the problem. And it's the reality.

It happens a lot. I want to be members of a group,

but I don't want to pay the dues. Or I don't

want to do the work. I want to be a part of the

team, but I don't want to bust my butt and grow

my muscles or become a better player. And so

some would say this is hypocrisy. I would say,

I don't even think about it that deeply. Because

the person who is involved and wants to have

a lead part and lead by principle and have a

lead by principle person, you know, they would

say, yeah, I believe that. Yeah, I'm for that.

And they would accept their life and think that

they are basically following the leaders. They're

basically doing what is not an intentional choice

on their part to be a cracker, not an intentional

choice to be late or to give up or to fall in,

but rather... It's just that they have assessed

it and looked at it and they thought, man, I

am there. I'm part of the team. Oh, my God. I'm

part of the church. I'm part of the workforce.

Whatever it might be. Do a lot of what you're

doing. If you think it's okay. And they don't

stop to examine themselves in light of the divine

principles. So I'm not going to give you the

divine principles yet. We'll get to that way

towards the end. But we're going to see an example

of some folks who did exactly what I'm talking

about. Amazingly enough, they did it over and

over and over again. Because when you're happy

with my principle, and you believe it, but you're

not really bought into it, you're not applying

yourself to really work with my principle, it's

easy to find yourself in a third position over

and over and over again. Where sometimes you're

good with what you're supposed to do, and the

rest of the time you're okay and you're not doing

it, and then you're going to come back. We'll

see the example, and I will make it more clear.

So grab your Bible if you would. I hope you brought

it with you today. I hope you felt a little bit

excited. The word of God. You might want to say

all right or amen or just a hoot or a holler.

Have you heard Judges chapter 2? All right. Unfortunately,

Judges 2 · chapter mention

the story that we find here is not what you would

call a very uplifting story. So before we begin

to read from Judges chapter 2, I'm going to set

Judges 2 · chapter mention

the scene a little bit for you. And I have to

say something about salvation. Brother Tony already

said it well. He made a couple of us say it well.

And that is that if you are saved, you are saved.

And it's by virtue of God and by virtue of Jesus

Christ who gives that gift. So nothing that you

can do to earn that gift if you didn't already

have it. And now that you have it, if you are

saved, nothing that you can do can earn having

it. You don't receive a Christmas gift and then

go out and impress your friends with how awesome

that you are so they'll be glad that they gave

you the Christmas gift. And you don't impress

your friends with how awesome that you are so

that he will give you a Christmas gift. That's

not the way it works. If he loves you and he

wants to give you a Christmas gift, then you

give him a Christmas gift by virtue of Jesus

Christ. and say that it's true with God. God

gave it by salvation, by his grace, and paid

for it, through, by the death of his son on the

cross. He proved that he gave it by the resurrection

of Jesus after the death of his son on the cross,

and so on. If you are here today and you are

saved, you are saved. I say that because now

we're going to talk about sin. Eventually we're

going to be talking about our sin. So that's

going to step on your toes. Step on mine. Be

happy. So we saw our purpose today. We're going

to step on yours today. This is your heart. This

is your life. This is what I have. Now for the

story. Joshua. Just died. He was God. The Bible

tells us he was God. Right. Right. Back in Moses,

he was the leader of Israel after Moses passed

away, right? God was the leader. So Joshua was

in charge of the people. And what was the big

thing that Joshua led in his lifetime? He claimed

the fame. Joshua was awesome. He led the people

to the promised land, right? He led the people

to the promised land. And the people went in

and their job was to... Wipe out the people that

were there who were chafed out, because there

were a lot of people who wanted to do this. Wipe

out the people who were chafed out, the people

who were there, the land, the laws, the people's

lives. God had promised Joshua was seasoned in.

Joshua was basically a faithful man of God. Verse

8, it says, Joshua, come new, the servant of

the Lord, died, being 110 years old. But he was

a leader, right? He was a leader right up until

he was 110 years old, and then he died. And it

buried him in verse 9. Verse 10 says, And also

all that generation was gathered under their

fathers. Because the men who lived under Joshua

were leaders, who judged him, who worked under

Joshua, because they had a future for God. The

rulers, etc., who were faithful to God, they

all died off. They gathered under their fathers.

And there arose another generation about them,

which knew not the Lord, nor yet the Word, which

was given to them for Israel. So these leaders

who grow up now, they don't know God firsthand,

and they don't realize, they don't see firsthand

the amazing things that God has done. First of

all, I want to say to you, before we were saved,

this was our flight. Your mom or your dad may

have been following you, but that doesn't mean

that you could see God in them. Even if they

were doing godly things, you could say, well,

they were just doing that. We went to go to church

for the first time ever as adults. We felt like

God was kind of calling us out. We didn't know

what was going on at the time, but God was kind

of calling us out. There was only one church

for us. find only one church on the face of the

entire planet. Anybody know how many churches

are on the face of the planet? I'm going to say

you cannot know, right? Even if they call themselves

a church, right, that's still up to God to decide

where they are. Now, the first church in the

state calls itself a church. Is that a church?

No. Because if it's somebody who is in the first

church in the state, who is nonetheless a state,

because they use the Bible, and they burn it,

and put it in the masses, you get caught. So

the reality is, there are a lot of churches.

As far as we know, there are a lot of churches.

We don't know which ones are churches and which

ones aren't. Well, we only knew of one church

where anybody on the face of the planet went

who was, as far as we could tell, what we thought

it was going to be. Only one. Anywhere. And I

haven't easily met the church, but over here

in East Louisville, I haven't even known Bolton,

Terry's grandmother. She was the only one on

the face of the planet, despite some people saying

there was a star, that we had ever seen a person

that we thought acted like we thought of Britney

Spears. So that naturally leads us to the church,

that's the church we went to. I was 26 years

old. I was living, believing that there were

churches out there somewhere. I actually thought

there was a God, but I realized that I didn't

know a Christian. And this is the reality. Your

relationship with Jesus Christ comes out of a

generation of people that did not know God, and

they did not first -hand see the works of God.

Were you there when Jesus was resurrected? Did

you see Jesus walk the earth after he was resurrected?

No. Because you had some kind of a vision or

you had some kind of a spiritual meeting with

God. You didn't physically see Jesus alive with

your own human eyes. If I saw that, I'd be like,

whoa! I'd be like, James was. James was the brother

of Jesus. And in his lifetime, he thought Jesus

was nothing. That was crazy. But then afterwards,

he became what we call a messianic. He lived

in duty. He also realized that Jesus was the

Christ. And he became a Christian and rose up

like James, a leader in the church. He changed

his life. He turned his life upside down. Because

he genuinely thought he was alive after he was

preached by God. I wish I had the opportunity.

That would be really cool. I would say again,

of course, as you believe, not having seen that,

then you're all the more blessed. And that's

where we are. We are at a place where our fathers

could not, it was not possible for our fathers

to keep their hand on God. It's not possible.

Don't do that. Don't do that. That's up to God.

If you and I come out of the same place as God,

I'm going to submit to you that in some sense,

we went into the same place as God. That's what

it says. The children of Israel did evil in the

sight of the Lord and served Phalans. Phalans

was a god. I don't really have to read too much

about that. But they did evil in the sight of

the Lord. They didn't know the office that God

had done for them. They didn't see God working

the office in the lives of their parents. They

had to have a person in charge of them. So they

did evil in the sight of the Lord. And they forsook

the Lord God with their fathers because they

left him behind. Now, before I can really put

it, I want you to see something. God who led

them into Christ. Their parents are moving out

of the country. They're dying off. God has blessed

them because their parents are crazy. But they

don't see that. So now they're going to make

a choice on their own. They've now got to manage

their own finances. They've got to manage their

own land. They've got to do their own work. They've

got to figure out how to keep the house from

falling down. You can clean, you can function,

take care of their children. Man, their children

are high -maintenance. Those little kids, they're

high -maintenance. They will draw you right into

their life, and you're about their everything,

right? Because if you don't, they cry. That's

annoying. You've got to do everything they want

you to do. You know what I'm saying? And so this

is a secret. Let's be a little sympathetic, shall

we, to these people that are now in a new land,

in new homes that they now own. And what do they

do? They begin to serve the God of the land that

will get them, the people tell them, will get

them where they need to get to. Except it is,

because the God of the universe is the only God.

This is the false God. They left behind the Lord

God of the universe. The Lord God and their fathers,

we brought them out of the land of Egypt. They

brought their people there. And they followed

other gods and the gods and people that were

found about them. They followed themselves and

them. This is exactly the point. We came to the

point where because we did not know first hand

God, we did provoke and we provoked God to anger.

They pursued the Lord and they chose Paul and

Andrew. They did not know God. They were together.

And the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel.

He delivered them into the hands of sinners that

spoiled them. Now, hang on. God is now upset

with people. Just one generation after God's

people are brought into the promised land, He's

blessing people right after this. One generation

later, and they're struggling. Well, they do

everything. They get on men. They work their

butt off. There's a bunch of women here trying

to be taken out, trying to take care of the kids

and the wives and everything. God is angry with

them, and he's sending them over into the hands

of the spoilers that spoiled them. They sold

them into the hands of their enemies round about,

so that they could not treat longer the enemy

for their enemy. Now they're in a situation where

the stuff doesn't add up. It's not working out.

I work really hard all day long, and yet I come

away with nothing. I've made the deepest way,

but at the end of the month, there's no money

left. We plant the crop, it grows up, we harvest

the crop, and then by the time we take off what

it's going to be. what it's going to take to

replant next year. We've got to go to the left.

There is no E. And then on top of that, now the

enemies around us, they're raiding our lands,

they're taking our services, they're taking our

animals, they're burning our homes down, etc.

Where is God? Where is Bob? Where is Asherah?

Where are these people, these beings that we

devoted ourselves to? So Jesus says, Good so

ever they went out, and the hand of the Lord

was against them for evil. It doesn't mean that

God was doing evil. God's not evil, He was just

evil. He was against them. The bad things happened

to them. They didn't work out in their favor.

As the Lord has said, and as the Lord has sworn

unto them, they were greatly distressed. I'm

going to submit to you that when the God of the

universe is resisting your force of action, you

will be greatly distressed. I'm going to submit

to you that we are sometimes greatly distressed.

Even though we have been saved, our soul is saved,

and our life is eternal. It has begun to long

in salvation. People go to heaven. We are nonetheless

sometimes greatly distressed. It's about time

that God's people recognize that the people of

the world who don't know Jesus because God is

kicked off with them. Not at them. He doesn't

hate them. He's not against them in the sense

that he would destroy them. He's against them

in the sense that he would see them as retentive

and fake. But if he just lets them continue on

in their form of evil actions, they'll never

get faith. They'll never figure it out. But if

he resists them, then they may turn from their

wicked ways. God is the same truth in the house

of God. He is their follower of Jesus. We know

Jesus. We say they are faith. And yet, it doesn't

add up. Their actions do not line up with the

unified principle that we're talking about. I'm

not going to get too close. Verse 16 says this,

Nevertheless, the Lord raised up judges, which

delivered them out of the hand of those who spoiled

them. God raises up leaders who will lead them

to save them from the people that God sent against

them that God is giving victory to. It sounds

like God is working against himself. And yet

they would not hurt me under their judges, but

they went on whoring after other gods. They followed

themselves under them. It turned quickly out

of the way which their fathers walked in, obeying

the commandments of the Lord. But they did not

do so. So we have the leaders who rise up out

of the digital people who are faithful to God.

They become the leaders of God's people. But

the people of God at the same time, while the

leaders continue to strive for God and do what's

right for God, they continue to battle against

the forces of God and go on. Those who spoil

God's people. As leaders do that, the people

continue fooling around in their swaps, playing

with false gods. They go to the temple, and they

praise the false god, and they come home and

go, oh, I hope that works out. And the judge

comes around, and their sons go out to battle,

and they win, and they come back, and they go,

oh, I was so glad I went and praised that false

god. And the people of today are so concerned

about advances in technology and a faster, better

-looking, pretty car and a better relationship,

or, man, she's a little bit better -looking than

he, than she is, and I'm lusting, somebody's

lusting after another female. Are they watching

TV and getting into watching things they shouldn't

watch? Or do they play around with... And the

leaders of the church, the people who love God,

try to lead us out. They try to get us to go

and do what it is that God wants us to do. And

meanwhile, we're a whore after our other things.

Instead of being after the God of the universe.

And when the Lord raised them up judges, then

the Lord was with the judges. He delivered them

out of the hand of their enemies all the days

with a judge. Listen to this. For it repented

the Lord because of their groaning by reason

of them that oppressed them and vexed them. In

other words, when those people came in and oppressed

them, when those people came in and made them

angry with their stuff, they cried out, Oh, woe

is us. We need help. Who in the universe is there

to help us? They were so distressed. They were

so upset. And God loved them. I feel bad because

they're so distressed. They're so upset and they're

not right. And so God sent a judge. The judge

would lead and then God would take his people

out of their hands and God sent them to distress

them. Back and forth goes the God of the universe.

He sends the distress to try to get their attention.

It doesn't work. They can see the sin. And then

he has to send someone to stop the distress in

order that they can survive in such a terrible

situation. And then they continue in sin. We

say, oh, praise God. We got that. That we need

it. Oh, praise God, he saved us from that that

we needed. I submit to you it's entirely possible

that that salvation that you need from your situation

in your life, that desperate need of something

that you needed in your life, it could be because

of your own sin that was there in the first place.

And God did not send the salvation out of that

situation in your life because you were doing

well, because you started to do better, or because

he prayed to him and asked him to do it. He sent

it because he loved you and he wanted you to

survive that difficult situation in the hope

that you would one day protect. God is not out

to destroy you. He's not to save you. We often

praise God for good things that happen. So often

we praise God for bad things. So often we stop

and ask ourselves, the bad things that happened,

did they happen to us because we made it happen?

God allowed that difficulty into our life. Indeed,

sent that difficulty into our life to get us

to turn from our sins. But because of the grace

of God, we're saved. You're saved. So we say,

well, I'm saved, so it's all settled, right?

But who doesn't want to have a good life serving

the Lord? Who doesn't want to be profitable in

the kingdom? Who doesn't want to see God moving

in themselves? And what about your children?

Don't you want your children to have a first

-hand experience of seeing God work in you so

that they won't become this same thing that we

were? My dad was a Mexican Christian. My dad

was a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ. He professed

Christ. But in my home, after I was six years

old, we never went to church once, ever. The

only preaching I had ever heard. It was at one

of about six or seven weddings that I went to.

I had a sermon on what it means to be called

a God and to be a parent. We love it. We love

it here today. And I'll pronounce you, and I'll

pass it to you. Because people have forgotten

our society that God is supposed to be at the

center of. So what I'm saying is, what God is

saying, I think, to the Catholic Church is, there

is a cycle of sin that continues and gets worse

and worse as God continues to send oppression

and difficulty in the lives that have turned

them from their sin. And then they cry out, and

because of his mercy and grace, he sends deliverance.

Not because they have done better, because they're

still the same kind of person with the same failing,

if you will. And then they say, oh, see, because

I'm a Christian, God saved me. Oh, see, because

I'm a Christian, God sent this. Oh, see, because

I'm a follower of God and I'm doing better. God

bless me. And then they go into the trouble again,

which causes the distress again. And it happens

because they think, well, that's all right. If

it gets really bad. God will do something miraculous

to save you from my trouble, right? And if you've

got a safety net while you walk the wire, then

you're willing to try a little bit more risky

tricks. I'll tell you what, I'm not walking the

wire without a safety net. And God becomes a

safety net for those who supposedly love him.

They profess Christ, profess their living to

the Lord, and they become a safety net, which

allows them to be even more risky, even more

risky in their walk, even more... Outreaching,

if you will, in their pursuit of these gods that

are not of God, that are not God of heaven. Repentance

of the Lord, because of their groaning, by reason

of them, and of Christ, them, and that of them.

And it came to pass, when the judges were dead,

that they returned and corrupted themselves more

than their fathers. Even Michael was standing

against Heber and Heber. and following other

gods, to serve them, to bow down unto them. They

cease not from their own doings, nor from their

stubborn way. That brings us almost right up

to Isaiah 33, doesn't it? Where it says, we all

let Jesus go in prayer. And the anger of the

Lord was hot against Israel. This is the people

that God chose for himself. And yet the anger

of the Lord was hot against them. And he said,

because that this people has transgressed my

covenant, which I commanded their father. and

have not hardened unto my voice, I also will

not henceforth drive out any from before them

of the nations which God will let me die. In

other words, he was not going to give them the

full promised land that they were originally

going to be entitled to because of this. He said

in verse 22, that through them I may prove Israel,

I may test Israel, I may see. So the people that

remain, the false gods that remain, the temptations

that remain, the things that remain in this people's

life, God left them there so that he could test

his people whether they would keep the way of

the Lord to walk therein as their fathers did

keep it or not. And I submit to you that the

reason there are things in your life that you

struggle with, the reason there are things in

your life that you are tempted by that you need

to reoccur, is because God has left them there.

Now, God is not tempting you. God is not tempting

you, but God has left them there. He's not giving

you total, complete victory over them, because

God wants to see, will you follow him? Will you

follow them? Therefore, the Lord left those nations,

and stopped driving them out easily, neither

delivering them to the end of time. And once

God's people remained those who tempted them,

practiced them, and bribed them with false gods,

not with your Bible, but with the right, right,

and right. under what we know is the old covenant.

We live under what we know is the old situation.

This is the situation where the Holy Spirit does

not come into our life. This is the situation

where Jesus Christ does not live and die. But

the prophets were looking for this. And Jeremiah

spoke of the new covenant now in the book of

Jeremiah, chapter 31, verse 31. He spoke of the

Jeremiah 31:31

new covenant. How will some day be given? Because

I don't know about you, but that situation we

spread is pretty depressing. only be benefiting

us to burn us from our sin, which we refuse to

turn from in any sense, war and stress. So God

decided, as he actually decided when he made

creation so long ago, to do it a little differently.

And Jeremiah gets a window into it in 31 -31

and following, and it says this, Behold, the

days come, sayeth the Lord, that I will make

a new covenant with the house of Israel and with

the house of Judah. Not according to the covenant

that I made with their fathers in the day that

I took them by the hand to bring them out of

the land of Jesus, with which my covenant takes

place. In other words, I'm going to give them

a new covenant, not like the old one that they

keep breaking up, annihilating, and destroying,

and the patient is killing false gods. I'm going

to give them a new covenant. They should be able

to break it, although I was a husband unto them,

saith the Lord. In other words, though God was

taking care of their every need, they could use

it. But this covenant, the covenant that I will

make with the house of Israel after those days,

saith the Lord. I will put my law in their inward

hearts, and I will write it in their hearts,

and I will be their God, and they shall be my

people. Now that is what we are supposed to do.

That's what it's supposed to be like after Jesus

comes, lives, dies, and is resurrected. Because

the Holy Spirit now takes up residence inside

of Jesus. We're not supposed to be like those

people who never in their lifetime saw. We have

to give them some credit. They worked hard. They

didn't have the Holy Spirit inside them to bring

them conviction. They didn't have him teaching

them constantly the law of God. They only had

the judgment. He didn't put the Holy Spirit on

them to tell them what was right. So they had

a human being. Any covenant that is wrapped up

in a human being has a problem in and of itself,

doesn't it? Because if you want to be flawed,

if you want to be judged wrong, you've got to

get it right. Just like y 'all look at me a lot

of times and say, I don't have to do what the

word says. I don't have to do what the word says.

You can't teach it correctly. I'm supposed to

say that, don't I? So Jeremiah says that it will

come this day when God would write the law on

this inward heart and he would write in their

hearts and he said, and I will be their God.

And they shall be my people. And that is what

the church is supposed to be. It's the culmination

of everything that God was pointing towards.

And God sent a judge to lead them. That judge

was representative of the one day eternal King

Jesus. That Holy Spirit would settle on that

judge. The same Holy Spirit that settled on the

Holy King Jesus. That now lives inside. Holy

believers were following the Holy King Jesus.

Jeremiah was pointing towards him. So my goodness,

after the church got started, everything went

perfectly, right? No. And that cycle of sin comes

from those who desire the benefits of unifying

principles. The cycle of sin comes from... who

desire the benefits of the unifying principle,

but they are not bought in. Do not move according

to the unifying principle. That's the cycle of

sin. And the cycle of opposition is a reality

also, and that is where God resists those who

desire the benefits of the unifying principle,

but are not bought in. Now, when they get to

be so bad off that it will likely destroy them,

and they have not yet repented, then God sends

them relief. which then empowers them if they

do not at that time or at some step walk away

repent and then return to the Lord God it empowers

them to go even deeper into their cycle of sin

and they do even worse the next time and God

sends them relief. The hope is that they will

through the cycle of sin and the cycle of opposition

they will eventually one day repent and come

to God. And then through the new covenant which

Jeremiah promised that we now have through Jesus

the idea is that we would repent and come to

God because the cycle of sin which is the result

of those I have the benefits of unifying people

in English, but are not bought into unifying

people in English. The results are in the cycle

of sin and the cycle of opposition. Now, I'm

going to give you a follow -up question. The

cycle of sin and the cycle of opposition is something

like what I'm about to show you. If you don't

see what I'm about to show you reoccurring in

your life, then you find the principle that we're

talking about is that. Now, I have here some

Legos. These labels are going to represent building

blocks from God. God, I'd like to use this. Building

blocks from God. They are. The bottom. The bag.

The bag has a hole. It's not really a bag. It's

a hole. More like a sweetie, yeah. Here's the

reality. If you sometimes use. Sometimes. If

you. I'm just going to say it this way. If you

ever. The God of the universe. He decided you.

He decided you'd be able to live in the sky,

in the sun, in the stars. He set this earth up.

Indeed, it all does in Acts chapter 2. He said

Acts 2 · chapter mention

that. He set up the parameters of your very existence.

God decided in what country you were born. He

decided in what city you would live. He decided

what you would look like. He decided all of that.

Now, that's not a big effort. It's not like you

have to check and see. You have to go through

a set of thousands of steps. But it's a good

part. Ohio, wherever you're at. ... ... ... ...

... ... And that should have put an end to the

cycle. But then in reality, some folks would

say, okay, now that I'm saved, I know God's going

to take care of it all, so I no longer really

have to do anything at all. I don't think there's

anybody in the universe like that. But I would

say that there are also some folks who are saved

and say, now I know God is going to take care

of it all, so now I can do whatever I think is

right in any given moment. I think there are

a lot of people like that. Now the problem with

that is, while we all sit and... stand here and

think that we're doing whatever is right and

get it wrong. Some of the times, we're getting

it wrong. Which means, at that moment, at that

moment, when you make that decision to pinch

yourself, your birth, your strength, your life,

your health, your experiences, everything up

to this point, Jesus' death on the cross, the

pain for you to get out of your own life, you

take all of that, your finance, the knowledge

that you have, which probably isn't as much as

the knowledge that you should have, the wisdom

that you can apply in your life, which probably

is not as much as you should have. I mean, our

Bible is what Jesus taught. And so, if you take

all of that, and you would put that new work

on some course that does not honor God, that

is not obedient to God, then when you do that,

it looks like this. God's wooden building walked

in your bag. And so, right out the bottom, they

did not achieve that which God was trying to

achieve. The reason that happens is because we

made this logic. We said, well, I'm going to

be okay. I'm done. I'm no dummy. I'm providing.

I'm okay. I've got blood, sweat, and tears. behind

my four cards. I'm trying to pay my bills. We

just say, like, I'm trying to tithe. And some

people say, I am tithing. We say, I'm trying

to read my Bible. Some people say, well, I am

reading my Bible. Probably not a bunch of shizzles.

I'm trying to do that. And so on. And we look

at ourselves and say, you know what? Day to day,

we're working pretty hard. We're doing a pretty

good job. Guess what? So were they. So were they.

They got out of bed every now and then. A lot

of their devotion was to Paul's God and so on.

But even then, they thought they were doing...

what was right. Day in, day out, doing what you

think is right, probably not going to be enough

to get that result. New Covenant, the promise

of God is that there would be a part of the moment

where you could say, that was hard. That's what

happened when we got saved. The building blocks

of God could go into us because our existence

was turned upside down. And so, this is the reality

that under this new covenant, things are supposed

to be turned upside down. Let's hear James talk

about what was going on in the New Testament

and compare that to some degree to what's going

on in our family. Why is there strife in our

church? Why is there disagreement? Why are we

not in line with unified principles and then

therefore all unified? Why is it not like that?

And he says, isn't it because of the loss? Or

in other words, the desire to things that you

want and more in your neighborhood. You struggle

with what you want. And then that struggle shows

up in the relationship. You don't like it when

your church does something you don't like. But

rather than putting their needs first, rather

than putting them on that. sacrificial line,

where you're going to sacrifice your preferences

and let them have their way. Rather than doing

that, you're going to be here receiving tips.

I'm not helping. I'm not helping. I'm not helping.

I'm not helping. I'm not helping. I'm not helping.

I'm not helping. I'm not helping. who gets their

way this time, and instead of doing it by, I

want to be the one who gets my way this time,

it ought to be, I want to make sure somebody

else gets their way this time. But we've become

this. We have our desires and our wants that

come from within us, our fleshly nature, and

that's why we have conflict in the church. You

can tell me what was going on in James' day.

You lost and you have not. You killed and desired

to have, and John changed. I don't think he meant

that they were virgins in the church. I'm pretty

sure he meant that you're angry and you're happy.

And it happens. It happens in our church. It

happens in Christians. It happens in Christians

all over the world. Because you love and you

have not. You kill and desire to have and not

be. You fight and war. Yeah, you have not. Because

you have not. We're so busy trying to get what

we want in our church and in our life and the

people that are in our church and in our life,

we forget that it all comes from the one that

we only have to ask Him. And less than six people

show up to prayer groups every week because instead

of thinking prayer, asking God for what it is

that we want, and we come here on worship on

Sunday, and I'm just guilty of that, I'll point

to you today, but we come here, and we're lucky

if we get three prayers in, right? God forbid

that one of the prayer warriors in the congregation

call on to Exodus to say the opening prayer,

and it starts to go on for about four minutes,

because the little toddlers, they can't tolerate

that, and the young adults are taking care of

the little toddlers, they can't tolerate that,

and people who have the backache to the pain,

they can't tolerate that, and the worshipers

are waiting to get on to worship, And Jesus said,

if you crack the whip and chase them off, my

house will be a house of prayer. Woe unto God's

people. God is up there going, I sent my son.

I started to be covetous. This is supposed to

be God's people. It's supposed to be turned upside

down. What happened? And we war and we lost and

we cannot obtain. Then sometimes, I don't know,

you get in a tough spot. God, I need a job. God.

Sometimes you don't get what you ask for. He

says, because you ask amiss. asking God for was

your bag hanging this side up. God, please give

me whatever it is you're asking me for. But he

knows your bag is this side up. He knows you

put it in. So what you're saying to God is, God,

God of the universe, God of the heavens, God

of creator, all that you are, all that you ever

were, please Lord, pour some more resources into

my bag that has a hole in the bottom. Oh, and

then when you pick those up and put them back

in again, because I certainly can't clean up

after myself. So about time we started living.

by this unifying principle that has yet to be

named. Rather than lusting after the things that

we want and cannot obtain, having not because

we don't ask God for them, and when we do ask,

asking for the wrong reasons. The report says,

the adulterers and adulteresses, though not the

friendship of the world, this enmity is not the

friendship of the world. And it wasn't adulterers

like they were sitting around with somebody other

than their husband. It wasn't like that. It was

adulterers like... They said God was their God,

and yet they were attracted by the things of

the world. That's what it says, friends and friends

of the world. His entity with God. He says, whosoever,

therefore, will be a friend of the world is the

enemy of God. Hold on. Follow the Lord Jesus

Christ. That shouldn't translate, enemy of God.

Son of God? That shouldn't translate, enemy of

God. But if you are busily trying to get God

off the throne of your life, searching after

war technology, war money, federal relationship,

more time spent on what you like to do, less

time spent. on what God wants you to do and so

on, that's who you've become. And don't think

that a son can't be an enemy. But don't think

that God will not send opposition into your life

if you're going to continue to live that way.

This is what James says. He thinks that the scripture

stands in vain. The spirit that dwells in us

will suspend you. In other words, God forged

his Holy Spirit in you. That resource remains

inside you regardless. It'll hover around you.

right here and not fall off the key, will hover

right here and not fall off the bottom of the

bag, you can say he didn't, he's not going anywhere.

But you so dismiss him and he is not happy about

it. As you change that through the things of

the world, as you become a friend of the world's

system, the things of the scriptures, the things

of the scriptures, the laws of the world, he

is not happy. But he gives us more grace. God

resists this process. In other words, if you

become proud, you think you know something? You

think you are well trained? You think you know

more Bible than somebody else? You think you

can do a better job than somebody else? You think

you deserve to do somebody else's job? You've

got to tell somebody how good you are? Right

there is the authorization. God resists the crowd,

right? And the cycle of opposition begins. You

think you're going to be okay because you know

what's right to do? God resists the crowd. The

cycle of opposition begins, and you'll be crying

out before long. You'll be begging God before

long, and he'll intervene because he loves you.

And the cycle will continue. And you'll say,

yeah, I think you did that because I'm good.

Yeah, I think you did that because I know. Before

long, you'll be in sin again. And then, like

he says this, rather than God resisting the problem,

he gives grace under the humble. He would just

come to God and realize, you are not that. And

I'm going to say this. I don't like to come to

this very much. Nobody in this room knows what.

And the time we got home before God realized,

no, I'm not going to go there. This is time.

This time we realized that God heard us. bag

upside down. You've got to learn how to walk

and walk again. You've got to learn how to eat

again. But wait, if you're going to walk and

talk and eat in the same way you worked before,

you've got to say it. You've got to say it. You've

got to say it. You don't know much. You've got

to submit ourselves, therefore, verse 7. Submit

ourselves, therefore, to God. Resist the devil

and he will flee from you. Submit ourselves.

Let God be in charge. Let God say how I'm supposed

to be done. Resist the devil and he will flee

from you. to God. Let's draw near to God. Seek

God out. Search for and work to get close. And

draw close to every pirate that you seek out.

And you will draw nigh to you. God with his name.

I'm sorry. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners, and

purify your hearts, ye double -minded people.

Double -minded? Double -minded? Double -minded

people are those who desire the benefits of your

life. He says, be afflicted. In other words,

be afflicted and mourn and weep. Let your laughter

be turned to mourning and your joy to heaviness.

Out. But look at the pronoun. Let your laughter

turn to mourning and your joy to heaviness. Whatever

you rejoice in, if it isn't God, whatever you

think is cool, you need something that makes

you get more pleasure inside, or you do a good

job and get proud of what you did, whatever,

all of those things are rubbish. I know. You

get really excited that the wiring worked, right?

You get really excited that the tape turned out.

You get really excited that they said, oh, the

car ran. You get really excited about that. But

those joyful moments will be gone the next time.