2026 Gospel Meeting I ”A Faith That Submits” I Andrew Lehmann - 8/4/26

A very good evening to all of you. So

good to have or to be here with you. I'm

so used to saying so good to have you

here with me, but it's nice to be here

with you all tonight and very much

appreciate the invitation uh to to come

this way and of course appreciate DJ and

his beautiful family. We it has been a

joy getting to know them over the years

and u thank you so much for the fine

prayer. good songs, too. Especially the

way you led that last song, brother. I

appreciate that. It's nice and pensive

for us to think about what the words are

saying. There was a handout at the door.

If you happen to grab one, if you

didn't, that's all right. Grab it on the

way out. Uh my my goal is to try to

provide all the answers to it. Uh but uh

some of them you may have to think about

a little bit. But before we begin, I was

hoping I could share a little story with

you from history to kind of get us

perhaps in a little bit of a mindset of

what we're talking about this evening.

I I enjoy American history and I found

myself interested many years ago and at

the dollar store of all places, I found

a DVD set and it was called Why We

Fight. And it was actually uh it's a

it's an America prop American propaganda

film that was put out. It was they would

show it at the at the movie theaters. Uh

whenever they would have a big showing

and they would have these play

beforehand and it was a way to teach

show the American people why did we even

need to fight in World War II. And that

kind of got me really interested in

World War II. And ever since I've been

interested in looking at different

stories of it and I'm not going to I'm

not going to delude you. I'm not an

expert by any means or a history buff on

that. I just enjoy it. And there's one

story I came across recently that I had

I did not know a lot about and I would

like to share that with you. And so for

if you would, this is an October 25th,

1944.

And for a moment, if you can just

imagine, it's just at sunrise and you're

on the Pacific Ocean and you're in a on

a ship, a small group of ships, actually

of American ships. And just as the sun

rises up, what do you see coming? You

see another fleet of ships, massive

fleet of ships coming toward you.

this unit that you're part of, it's

called codeen named Taffy 3. Now, Taffy

3 was not a frontline command fleet, a

combat fleet. Uh, it was rather a a

support fleet. That's what it was

designed to do. It was comprised of a

slowm moving unarmored ships.

Some of them were known as jeep

carriers. Those are those are basically

budget friendly aircraft carriers,

cheaply made. And there were a few small

destroyers as well. Again, they were not

meant for fighting. They were meant to

support the fighting fleet. Well, what

has happened is that because of a mass

commun communication error,

Taffy 3 was separated from the rest of

the of the American Navy. And so they're

left out on their own, completely

unprotected.

Sunrise is coming. What they see stream

steaming toward them is the crown jewel

of the Imperial Japanese Navy known as

the center force.

This was the most massive

naval unit that was on the water at that

time. It's a first division attack force

and leading the charge was a ship by the

name of Yamato.

And it was and actually still is the

largest battleship ever constructed. It

had a sister ship as well, but the Yato

is the most famous. It was the heaviest.

It was the largest, most brutally armed

in all of all of history and still is

today. The Yumato's guns could fire at

26 miles. 26 miles away, it could hit a

target. And in fact, its guns were so

massive that the guns on this ship alone

outweighed the ships that are all in the

in Taffy 3. It was a massive massive

ship.

And this is what's coming toward Taffy 3

that morning.

The Americans find themselves

absolutely, undeniably outgunned.

They are also outpaced as well. The

ships that go along with the Yato are

some of the fastest in the world. And in

fact, when you look at what they're

facing mathematically, it's a guaranteed

massacre for the Americans. It's no

putting it any other way.

And there's no there's no way for them

to retreat and escape. They've already

been seen. And if they were to try to

run, then the Japanese fleet could

easily pursue them and pick them off one

by one.

And so in this moment of absolute terror

and chaos, there's an a rear admiral by

the name of Clifton Sprag. I suggest you

look him up. He issued an order that day

which defied all human logic.

He did not order a retreat. Rather, what

he ordered his tiny unarmed destroyers

to do was to lay down a smoke screen in

front of all of their vessels, turn

around then and have the entire fleet

then charge directly toward the Japanese

Navy under cover of this smoke screen.

Now, what is if you were just a regular

sailor on one of those ships, what do

you think? What would what would you

think if you were to going down toward

this Yumata which you've only heard

tales about

mutiny or human pride would say save

yourself? I don't think so. But that's

not what these sailors did. Not one of

them.

It was their naval discipline that

rather told them submit to the

commander. That's what they did. Every

single one of those sailors that day

submitted to their commander. And the

captain of a tiny destroyer, the USS

Johnston, did not hesitate. He swung his

ship around immediately and charged with

the giant battle steps at full steam.

And the captain of the Samuel R. Roberts

was nicknamed the toy box. Well,

again,

zero armor plating told his crew over

the loudspeaker as they headed in. They

said, he said, "Gentlemen, we are

entering a battle from which we will

likely not return." The sailors knew

what they were getting into and they

executed the order perfectly,

unhesitatingly.

Because those sailors humbly submitted

to the command that made no sense to

their human eyes,

something spectacular then happened.

They fought with such ferocious and

orderly discipline. The Japanese admiral

panicked.

And you know what he did?

He rather ordered a retreat because he

had assumed that no one would fight that

fiercely unless he was backed by a

massive armada. He had assumed that what

he had stumbled into was the entire US

Navy. and he now was quaking in his

boots. And as he's trying to scramble

together his fleet and his ships to make

the retreat, the US planes, which were

at this point were out of ammo, were

continuing to make strafing dives at

these ships, giving them the impression

that they were coming after them more

and more and more.

Again, confused and bewildered, the

giant a Japanese fleet then turned

around and fled.

And this battle which took place that

day is credited with one of the turning

points in the war of the Pacific and how

it is the Pacific was eventually won by

the Allied forces. A hopeless battle

that was won because a few small ships

chose absolute submission over

self-preservation that day. And this is

an actual watercolor painting that was

done by Commander Dwight D. sheeper

depicting that very day.

2,000 years ago,

the Apostle James wrote a letter and he

wrote a letter to a group of believers

who are trapped in a different kind of

warfare.

He opens James chapter 4 by stepping

James 4 · chapter mention

into the bridge of our lives and

pointing out the conflict that's raging

around all of us.

The conflict that's common to all men

everywhere. He asks in verse one, "What

causes these fights and quarrels among

you? Don't they come from your desires

at battle within you?"

What James is doing with his audience

here is he is looking at the wreckage of

their relationships, the anxiety that's

in their hearts and the chaos of the

culture. And he says, "You are in a war

and you are losing

because you are trying to fight it

selfishly, refusing to submit

to Almighty God."

And so for us

when we ourselves look at the giant

battleships that are on the horizon of

the seas of our life, financial woes,

broken relationships,

addictions and fear.

We may try to fight them by t by taking

hold of the steering wheel with our own

hands and just trying to do an about

face.

But by trying to do this on our own and

on our own terms, our pride is what

actually sinks us deeper and faster.

Today, God's word offers us a completely

counterintuitive strategy to victory.

That's what James is offering here. It's

a tactical maneuver that makes no sense

in the light of this battle, in the

light of what the world would have us

believe, but it changes absolutely

everything.

It's in James chapter 4 and verse 7 that

James 4 · chapter mention

the captain of our salvation issues his

command. Submit yourselves then to God.

Resist the devil and he will flee from

you.

So tonight, my dear brothers and sisters

in Christ, we're going to look at why

surrender

is our only strategy for victory

and how true humility in the way is the

only way to win the battles raging

within our soul. Not surrender to the

enemy, but surrender to the instructions

of our commander.

So, I invite you to bi open your Bibles

up to James chapter 4 if you're not

James 4 · chapter mention

already there. And let's begin reading

in the text tonight. We're going to

start in chapter 4, beginning in verse

verses 1-5.

From whence come wars and fightings

among you, come they not hence even of

your lusts that war in your members. Ye

lust and have not. Ye kill and desire to

have and cannot obtain. You fight and

war. You You have not because you ask

not. You ask and receive not because you

ask a miss. That you may consume it upon

your lust. You adulterers and

adulteresses, know ye not that the

friendship of the world is enmity with

God. Whosoever therefore will be a

friend of the world is the enemy of God.

Do you think the scripture saith in

vain, the spirit that dwelleth in us

lustth to envy?

James tells us right here what the

source of the strife really is. It comes

down to a proud heart. That's where

James starts with. So much of the

conflict that goes along in our life and

in our relationships comes back to the

pride that's within our heart. And he

says here first of all and talking about

the source here of this pride and again

the problems is in verse one where he

says where do these wars and fightings

come from among you come they not hence

even of what

your lusts

your desires

now that that word that's in the Greek

text is kind of an interesting word

there it's the word hedon

you Ever heard you know the term

hedenism?

This is where we get that word from.

Hedenism which hedonism is the

philosophy of giving yourself up

completely to your passions. Whatever

you want to do you do it and you do it

now.

And these pleasures James says because

of the lack of self-discipline that you

have and the fact that you are enslaved

by your passions.

This is what's waging war within you and

this is what's part of the source of the

strive.

Remember what Paul said to the Galatians

in Galatians chapter 5? Remember in that

Galatians 5 · chapter mention

chapter what he's talking about? He's

talking about what? He's talking about

the fruit of the spirit. But what else

is there? The fruit of the spirit.

There's something in war with it, in

conflict with it. You remember what it

is? The works of the flesh.

In fact, in verse 17, this is the way

Paul put it. He said, "For the desires

of the flesh are against the spirit.

They are at war with each other."

Solomon even talks about this in the Old

Testament, doesn't he? Many times in the

book of Proverbs, he talks about the

issue of pride and he talks about the

issue of a man not being in control of

his own desires. In fact, he says, "A

man who is able not to control himself

is like an unwalled city,

easily taken, easily overcome."

Proverbs 13:10, he says, "Bri pride

Proverbs 13:10

comes nothing but strife." It's two

opposing forces here. Our selfish

desires and God's will. They cannot go

in the same direction. They do not. And

they cannot cohabitate.

So what James is showing his audience

here, his readers, and what the Holy

Spirit shows us now because he's

preserved it for us is to

when we look at the root of our

relational and spiritual conflicts,

the problems in our life, you know, our

knee-jerk reaction may be to blame them.

It's them or it's the situation.

Well, James says a different approach

here.

Maybe it's not so much them or this or

that, but maybe it's rather our own

unyielding desires.

So before blaming others, ask

what desires

in my own heart are fueling this

conflict right now.

Spoiler alert, it's all going to come

back to pride. It always comes back to

pride, my dear friend. Pride is the

original sin and pride is the last sin

that falls for any of us.

Let's continue on.

You notice that in verse continuing in

verse four, James here, he makes this

point concerning all of this. He says,

"You adulterers and adulterers, know you

not that the friendship of the world is

enmity with God?

Whosoever therefore will be a friend of

the world is the enemy of God." What

does he call them? these people,

adulterers and adulteresses. That's

strong language that he's using here.

What James is doing is he's using

covenant language here to describe

really what's at stake and really the

betrayal that they are that they are

creating in this relationship that they

have not just with each other but it's

really with God. You see, a friendship

with the world, James says, is it's not

just a casuala acquaintance that

happens, but it's something that leads

to a a deep alignment with worldly

values. It's what happens inevitably.

And so he's calling these believers out

for who they are because he's trying to

wake them up and he's trying to get them

to see the true state uh that their

spirituality is in and to show them that

by loving this world and fighting over

these things and striving for these

things, they are actually betraying the

very God that they claim to be serving.

You see, they have caused themselves now

to fight against God himself.

You know, John, [clears throat]

we're going to stay at James, but John

in his first letter says these words

that go so perfectly with this. 1 John

1 John 2 · chapter mention

chapter 2, beginning in verse 15, you

know these words. Listen. Love not the

world, neither the things that are in

the world. If any man love the world,

the love of the father is not in him.

John doesn't mince words here. The love

of the father is not in him. For all

that is in the world, and the lust of

the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and

the pride of life,

is not of the Father, but is of the

world.

And if that isn't enough, John tells us

what the fate of the world is.

the world passeth away, and the lust

thereof,

the lust of the flesh, the lust of the

eyes, the pride of life,

it will all pass away.

But he that doeth the will of God

abideth forever.

You know, the greatest sermon ever

preached,

Matthew chapter 5, 6, and 7. What is

Matthew 5 · chapter mention

that? It's a sermon on the mount.

Jesus here lays it down for us exactly

what God expects of us.

And he tells us something very profound

aligned with what we're talking about

tonight in chapter 6 and verse 24. You

remember this. He says, "No man can

serve two masters.

You will either love one or you'll hate

the other. There's no way that you can

serve two." And Jesus says, "Lest there

be many misunderstanding." You cannot

serve God and mammon. You cannot serve

God and worldly goods and worldly

pleasure because they are opposed to

each other. So this is what I have to

ask myself then is what James is telling

me is where have I aligned my heart

more with culture

than with Christ more with the world

than with Christ.

And we're all affected by it. Do not be

so prideful to think that we are immune

from being affected by the culture that

is around us. We are

I mean just you just consider for just a

moment. I mean how all of us have been

affected by something like te technology

and I'm not we're not even talking about

sin here. We're just talking about

technology and our attention spans and

things like that, right? I mean you

remember like how it is sitting and

listening to a a sermon that would go on

until midnight. You think how many of I

think we'd all would have fallen out the

window that night. Our attention span

just isn't the same as it used to be.

And why is that? Well, the culture has

changed. I mean, and our brains. I mean,

it's the way that we our expectations.

I'm not saying it's sinful, but it's

just the reality. So, I'm just if that's

going to affect us, something like that,

then what about the rest of the culture?

So look honestly and deeply and say,

"Is there any place in my life or in my

heart where I'm more aligned with the

world than with God?"

And this matters because God's

jealous for us. He has a jealous love.

That's what James is pointing toward

here. That's why he uses the term

adulterers and adulteresses.

You know, God's jealousy

for us is something that the world does

not understand.

Jealousy, if in a worldly sense, I mean,

the word jealousy is is an ugly word.

It's a word that people don't like. I

mean, it's and it's because many people

are they have petty jealousy. And the

jealousy that they have is often not

rooted in true love for another person,

but it's in their own insecurity.

And if you have that sort of

understanding of what jealousy is and of

course you're not going to understand

what the scriptures talk about the

jealousy of an almighty all loving God,

you're not going to understand it

because the love that God has for us is

not because he's insecure. It's not

because he's petty. He is jealous for us

because

his holy desire is for our undivided

devotion

and he wants to protect us. So to keep

us from harm and to keep us from the

wicked one that would steal us away.

What's the first commandment? And

whenever in in the book of Exodus

whenever Moses came down from the

mountain with the ten commandments,

what's the first commandment? Thou shalt

not what? Have any other gods before me.

Thou shalt not worship any other god

before me.

Because our God, there is no room for

another god in our life. Zechariah even

talks about this. God says, "I am a

jealous God for Zion. I am jealous for

Zion with great jealousy."

So why is this important for us to

recognize? Because if I am truly going

to submit my heart to God, which is what

we're getting to tonight, which we're

talking about, I have to recognize God's

rightful claim

over my heart. I have to recognize his

rightful claim over every part of my

life. It's just like when we have to

come to the understanding of what God is

my creator. God is my savior.

God has a right to tell me what to do

because he is the author and the

finisher. He is the great architect

and God should expect my fidelity

because

I'm bought with a price and I belong to

him.

It's not wrong

for a husband or for a wife

to desire that their spouse

be faithful to them. That's not

unreasonable, is it? Certainly not.

That's what God is asking for here. He's

asking for us to be faithful to him. And

if I'm going to do that, I have to

recognize he has the right

to desire that.

So, let's go back to the text in James

and we come to our next little section

here. We're going to read here verses

6-10.

But he that is God

giveth more grace.

Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the

proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.

Submit yourselves, therefore, to God.

Resist the devil, and he will flee from

you. Draw nigh to God, and he will draw

nigh to you.

Cleanse your hands, ye sinners, and

purify your hearts, ye 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 the

Lord and he shall lift you up.

See that

James is calling his readers to them is

humble submission.

You already knew the spoiler alert with

this, right? I mean, but but that that's

what it is. I mean, again, going back to

the problems they're having. Again,

James says the solution here is humble

submission. That's what it has to be.

And you notice the first point that he

makes about this is that God has ample

grace for the humble,

unmmerited favor for the humble. But

with the proud,

how does he feel toward them? How does

he act toward them? What does he say?

God resisteth the proud. Now that's an

interesting term too.

It's actually it's a military term

that's used. James is you James is

drawing from this this military this

battle sort of imagery here. And this

term here of opposition is setting

oneself against and God is actively

resisting the ways of the proud

individual. But when it comes to those

that are humble in heart, he lines up

for them in support. So he's going to

stand between the proud and the humble,

resisting the proud, protecting the

humble. That's what's going on here.

Peter whenever and he's writing in his

first letter and in chapter 5, beginning

in verse 9, he says God opposes the

proud and says also but gives grace to

the humble. Going back into Isaiah 57

verse1 15. God dwells with him who is of

a contrite

and lowly spirit.

You see pride puts us against our holy

God.

You go back to the beginning. I told you

it's kind of the original sin in a way.

You go back to the very beginning

whenever

Satan first deceived Eve.

And he starts off with a question to

her.

Is it true

you can't eat of everything or you can

eat everything of the the of the fruit

of the garden?

Oh, we can eat everything just not of

this one tree, right? The tree of the

knowledge of good and evil.

You remember what the Satan then is

doing to her in this causing her to

question God and God's motives. Now kind

of goes back to that whole idea of

jealousy there because what Satan plants

into her heart is the notion that

somehow God is petty about all of this.

And he's then goes on to she goes on to

you know the rest of the story goes on

to explain how it is that well as Eve

looks at the fruit right the devil says

what's going to happen if you eat this

fruit well we'll die he says no you

won't you're not going to die I'm going

tell you the truth you see God doesn't

want you to eat this fruit it's not

nothing to do with you dying it's

because he knows that as soon as you eat

this fruit

be like him. Your eyes are going to be

opened. You're going to see and you're

going to understand. Eve, you're going

to finally see and understand what I'm

talking about.

What did he ultimately What note did he

strike in her heart? What was it? Pride.

I get to be like, God,

God's keeping something from me.

And that's She looks, sees it. It's

beautiful. Good to eat. and she takes

deception. That's what pride does to us

and it puts us in opposition with God.

Humility is the thing that puts us in a

position to receive his grace. That's

what James is saying.

So the steps of submission

seven through nine is where he lists it

here. He gives us six imperatives.

That's what James does. Six imperatives

for submitting for a submitted life.

I bumped something. DJ.

Oh, it's not seen it there, but I can

see it here. Okay.

>> No, it's back.

All right. So, he gives six imperatives.

The first one, submit to God. That's

what he says. Voluntary alignment under

God's authority. What did Paul say in

Romans 12:1? Present your bodies as

Romans 12:1

what? A living sacrifice.

Because this is what's reasonable

service for you to do. Number two, what

did he say? Resist the devil. Stand firm

in God's strength. Peter in his first

letter, chapter 5, said, "Resist him

firm in your faith." Firm in your faith.

Stand firm in your faith with God.

Number three, draw near to God. That's

what James says.

Intimacy through prayer, through

worship, through obedience. The Hebrew

writer said, "Let us draw near with a

true heart in what? Full assurance of

faith.

James goes on number four, what does he

say? Cleanse your hands.

Deal with your outward actions.

I love that James starts with this. You

know that we he's going to talk about

the heart here in just a moment. That's

what he's really getting to ultimately.

But we have to start with just cleaning

up our life. Go wash your hands. That's

what you have to do. Imagine if you have

you're going in for heart surgery and

the surgeon what is the what's the first

thing they do? They have to go wash

their hands before they come into

surgery. Imagine a surgeon going in. He

hasn't washed it saying he's going to

perform heart surgery.

You can't begin to start to work on your

own heart if you refuse to just stop and

wash your hands. Cleanse up your life.

That's what James is saying. Wash

yourselves and make yourselves clean.

Isaiah said, "Remove the evil of of your

deeds from before my eyes and cease to

do evil. Submit to God. Turn away from

sinful behavior." That's what James

says. So then purify your hearts. Number

five, address the inward motives as

well. Psalmist said in Psalm 24:es 34,

"Who shall ascend into the holy hill? He

who has clean hands and a pure heart."

Address the inner motives,

not just the outer. So the outer, yes,

stop it. Don't do it. But don't just

stop there. Actually, now go and change

the heart. Because if you don't change

the heart, you're going to go right back

doing the same old things that you've

always done. In fact, this is part of

what Jesus talks about again, greatest

sermon ever preached, sermon on the

mount, Matthew 5 through7. You remember

he talks about a few things there

concerning sin in the law.

Thou shalt not kill.

Anybody you ever killed?

I bet most most of us probably not right

and you know what same with Jesus

audience that day. Thou shalt not kill.

Well, I'm good. I haven't killed anyone

Jesus. At least not today. Not this

week. And then what does Jesus say?

You hated your brother.

Thou shalt not commit adultery.

Never done that.

Whoever looks at another with lust,

thou shalt not steal,

hands are clean there, Jesus. If you

covet,

you see what Jesus is teaching them.

Suddenly now you look at the law and the

person who thought they were clean.

Jesus says, "It's not just about this.

It's about this." God desires

everything, even our whole heart.

So then what's the reaction? James says

to mourn over our sin. Be afflicted,

mourn, and weep. Let your laughter be

turned to mourning, your joy to

heaviness.

Genuine repentance, not just casual

regret or I got caught, but actually

wanting to change. Why? Because you want

to be faithful to God just as you want

to be faithful to your beloved.

Paul when he's writing the Corinthians

said this in 2 Corinthians 7 and verse

10. Godly grief or godly sorrow produces

what? Repentance that leads to salvation

without regret. Salvation in life.

Worldly grief doesn't. Worldly grief

just consumes you and overwhelms you and

destroys you. Godly grief, godly sorrow

does lead to change. You see what James

is doing is he calls for us to be

serious about sin

and not treat it casually.

You see what he's pointing to and what

he shows us here. It's like again if we

go back to this kind of battle imagery

here, you think about a soldier here

who's getting ready for battle, the

cleaning of his weapon before battle. He

doesn't just clean the outside, but what

do you have to do, gentlemen? Even those

of you that hunt, what do you do before

you go out? You don't just wipe the

outside. Oh boy, she looks good. You

take it apart and you clean it all.

Right? Remember one time I went went to

go bird hunting and it kept jamming up

because I hadn't cleaned it well enough

inside. I thought I had I had oiled it,

but it wasn't enough. I had to take it

apart. Once I did that properly, it

worked just fine.

See, James is telling us just as a

soldier has to clean his weapon before

battle outside and inside, repentance is

part of what prepares us for v spiritual

victory. And what he then talks about is

a promise of exaltation that God has for

us there. Verse 10. Humble yourselves in

the sight of the Lord and he shall lift

you up. Vindication, restoration,

spiritual elevation. That's what he's

talking about here. Matthew 23 and verse

12. Whoso whoever exalts himself will be

humbled, but whoever humbles himself

will be exalted.

Even then back in Samuel, the Lord makes

poor and makes rich. He brings low and

he exalts.

You know, God's path to greatness. You

know where it always has to run through

the valley of humility. You got to go

down if you want to go up with God.

Submit yourself to God and to be raised

up. You ever thought about that? When we

submit ourselves to baptism, we go down

in the water and we come up. It likens

here the the death, burial, and

resurrection of our Lord and Savior

Jesus Christ. It also shows the humility

that we have humbling ourselves before

God so that he can raise us up to be a

new creature and a new creation.

So, let's go to the next part here of

the text.

We're going to look at a conduct, the

conduct of a submitted life because

that's what James goes into. Now, we're

going to be reading verses 11 through 12

if you please. So he says

because what humility leads to he says

he speak not evil one of another

brethren. He that speaketh evil of his

brother and judgeth his brother speaketh

evil of the law and judgeth the law.

But if thou judge the law.

Thou art not a doer of the law but a

judge.

There is one lawgiver who is able to

save and to destroy. Who art thou that

judges another? You see what he's

getting at here? Again, this is going

back to pride. The conduct of a

submitted life is not going we are not

going to put ourselves in the position

of God. One of the ways that this is

going to manifest itself then if I have

a humble submissive heart is I'm going

to be guarding my speech. You want to

start to help getting control of your

life and your actions and such start

with controlling what you say and how

you say it. That's part of what James

deals deals with here. In fact, you

remember, have you did y'all study

chapter three?

In chapter three, right? What is what is

so much of what he's talking about

there?

What we say? How hard it is to control?

You remember, you know, spoiler alert,

what to the end of chapter three, what

do what you put in the heart, right? Is

it wisdom, which is of the world, which

brings about strife and division, or is

it the world, the wisdom which is from

above, which is first, pure, peaceable,

easy to be entreated? You see what James

is getting at here?

It's good to say it once, you say it

again. James says a lot of these things

multiple times here.

Speak no evil, no slander, no intent to

do harm. Ephesians 4:29, let not corrupt

Ephesians 4:29

communication talk out of your mouth, no

filthy communication, but only that

which is good for edification.

And if we don't take the tongue

seriously, Proverbs tells us, Solomon

tells us in Proverbs 18 and verse 12, it

says, "Death and life are in the power

of the tongue."

You ever, you know, God

now, we can't be God. You understand

that? Full stop. We can't be God. But

God has made us in his image. And in

making us in his image, he has given us

part of himself.

You know, of course, our soul, eternity,

things like that. Understanding of right

and wrong. I mean, when he created us,

when he created us, Adam and Eve in the

garden, what did he he gave man to have

what? Dominion, right? Man to have

dominion over the world. I mean, that's

a divine attribute that he's given us.

He's allowed us to have some authority

and rule and power over the world,

to bring it into subjection. That's the

command he's given us to do.

He's also given us something very

powerful that each and every one of us

has, and that's our tongue.

How did God create the world? He spoke

it into existence. Life and death are on

the tongue and he's given that power to

you.

So guard your speech. There is power in

it. And it matters. That's why words

matter. That's why the enemy is always

about trying to twist the words, right?

And redefine the words. If we can define

the words and the terms and you can

control people's hearts and minds and

ideas.

We seen any of that in the last

well of

our whole lives.

Submission to God includes submitting

our tongues to his control. What I say

and how I say it.

And in doing so, I'm going to recognize

God as the supreme judge.

Only God has the authority ultimately to

save and destroy eternally. That's

that's where it comes down to. I may

have a lot of power in my tongue, but I

can't I cannot save anyone. I can't even

save myself in the end. That's part of

what God teaches me. So, who is the only

one that can save and destroy? It is God

and it is God alone. And with what James

is talking about here with getting

ourselves in this position of being a

judge, he says we are getting putting

ourselves in the position of God, which

I am not. Again, go back to the original

garden sin, right?

I am usurping God's role.

You see what James is driving at here?

All the problems that they have and

such. He say, you're trying to be God.

You're not in control of your passions

and yourself.

You're not submitting to him.

Judge not that you be not judged.

Matthew chapter 7. Right? It's not our

Matthew 7 · chapter mention

role. And he also warns about hypocrisy

in that.

But a submitted faith trusts God's

justice and focuses on obedience rather

than

vengeance and condemnation of others by

whom we've been wronged or with whom we

disagree.

So much so much of the emotional and

inner turmoil that we have just on this

notion here, right?

is because we're trying to put oursel in

a role that we were never designed for.

God doesn't call us to fix everything.

He doesn't call us to fix the world. God

did not call us to slay the dragon. What

did Jesus tell us to do? Offer up a cup

of cold water in his name. That's what

you can do.

A side point on this, just understand

and know that if you are finding

yourself just so

anxious about the world and everything,

we you would do well to turn that

television off, put the phone down,

touch grass, and be with your families

and your children and just express

your faithfulness to God and the few

things he's laid before you. Now, I'm

getting off on a different tangent

there, so let's get back into James

specifically.

We go to the next part here. This is

13-17.

We talked about now the conduct of a

submitted life. We're going to look at

the confidence now of a submitted life

here as we start to come to a close. So

we're going to read this section. He

says, "Go to now ye that say today or

tomorrow we will go into such a city and

continue there a year and buy and sell

and get gain.

For as you know not what shall be on the

tomorrow?

For what is your life is even a vapor

that appearth for a little time and then

vanishth away. But that you ought to

say, if the Lord will,

we shall live and do this or that.

But now ye rejoice in your boastings.

All such rejoicing is evil. Therefore,

to him that knoweth to do good and doeth

it not,

to him it is sin.

James here closes the chapter.

Come again. It's like a phantom. It just

go away and come back. He closes the

chapter by addressing another form of

pride here. self-reliance and planning.

And a faith that submits not only

humbles

itself before God

in the present,

but also trusts him with the future. You

see what James is getting at? So, you're

you're having problems right now, he

says, and you got to get that in check.

But part of it, too, it's not just right

now, but it's also in the future.

You submit to God now in the present,

but also trust him with the future.

See, there's a folly of self-confident

planning.

A lot of us like to plan. You like to

plan. A lot of us are planners. We enjoy

planning.

Get things lined out. We feel efficient.

We feel effective. I know where I'm

going. I know what I'm doing. And if we

don't do planning, some of us are just

not going to make it. But

James here addresses if we have gone too

far in keeping God out of this

these I love this whole scenario he

paints here like people going to

investments and marketing and you know

all this and he says oh you got these

plans today tomorrow we're going to go

here go there spend and sell invest get

all this profit and such he's like you

don't even know what tomorrow is going

to be you don't even know if you're

going to be alive

so the issue is not planning itself

James says but it's planning without

reference to God. That's what it is.

It's like

it's like building a building a sand

castle at low tide.

You know, [clears throat]

I grew up in a town called Thorndale,

Texas. It's in central Texas.

Uh Post Oak, Savannah, Mosqu Farmland.

My family's been there since the 1800s.

It's kind of near Austin, Rockdale,

Cameron, Milm County is where we're at.

for uh trips. What we would often do is

we' we'd often go down to the coast.

That was our vacation. It's always

pretty much to the coast. We'd either go

to Rockport, which is neat, you know,

the beaches there, all rocky and shells.

Lots of things things you can find.

They're good fishing, too. We'd also

come down here to Galveastston.

And

turns out, I didn't know this as a kid,

but I'd learned it. Did you know that we

have some of the best the world's best

sand castle sand over here at Galveston?

People complain about the water. We have

there are competitions that are held

here in Galveastston uh because of the

sand.

Well, we go and we'd build sand castles,

my brother and I, and we enjoyed it,

right? Enjoyed building those things up,

you know, and you got to get the the,

you know, the texture just right and

everything the right water amount of

water and everything. You pack it

together. It's beautiful and such. But a

lot of times the best sand is right

there, right? Right. Right. That water's

edge and you wait, especially when you

wait for that tide to go out, you get

some really good sand, you get some

shells, you know, some crabs, whatever.

he could really make a nice nice castle.

And so we do that. But inevitably what

happens, the waves start coming in and

before you know it, they start to reach

the castle and

doesn't take long and it melts away and

it's gone. Hours of work, it's all gone.

We knew that.

That's fine with a sand castle.

It's not fine when it's your life.

Parable of the builders, Jesus. You get

that? You have to build your life on the

rock. He not only who hears these

sayings of mine, but do but does them.

And you notice there that whenever Jesus

is talking about those two people, he's

they both hear his sayings. But the

difference is one of them does them and

one of them doesn't. There's something

else too you notice about that is that

even the one who does it, he's not

protected from the waves. I the waves

are still going to come. There's not

like a guarantee of life of ease. The

waves are going to still come. But the

thing is is his house is going to stand

though versus the other man.

Why? Because he's planned with God. They

both built houses. Only one of them

had God in his plans.

So submission means as James is talking

about here acknowledging our limited

knowledge of all things and also our

very fragile

brief life

and so I have to develop a posture of

God dependent planning that's what has

to happen it's a posture of dependence

instead James said what you ought to say

if the Lord wills we shall live and do

this or that. This is not a cliche. You

know, it's people have used it as a

cliche, but what James is talking about

here and the way that we are to use it,

it's not a cliche. It is a confession of

dependence. That's really what it is.

So,

see all right Sunday even Sunday evening

or Wednesday evening, you know, if the

Lord wills or the creek rises. That's

what we say, right?

Paul in Acts chapter 18, he said this.

Acts 18 · chapter mention

He said, "I will return to you if God

wills it."

Proverbs 16:9,

Proverbs 16:9

"The heart of man plans his way, but the

Lord establishes

his steps."

A submitted faith makes plans

with open hands,

ready for God to be the one to direct

them. You see,

finally,

the sin of presumption. That's what

James is addressing here in verses 16

and 17. The rejoicing in all of their

boastings. He says it's evil

boasting. Here is what it's giving glory

to oneself. Again, glorifying yourself

like God. Glorifying yourself rather

than glorifying God. Humanism. That's

what it is. Taking credit for what only

God controls.

Jeremiah 9:23-24.

Jeremiah 9:23–24

You know this. Let not the wise man

boast in his wisdom. But let him who

boasts boast in this that he understands

and knows me. 1 Corinthians 4:7.

1 Corinthians 4:7

What do you have? Paul asked them.

that you did not receive. See what he's

saying there? This the people in Corinth

thought what? They're like they're the

originators of He says, you know,

everything you have, you received.

It's like what Job says, I came into

this world naked and I will enter it

naked. God giveth, God taketh away.

Praise be to God.

Submission is not just avoiding doing

wrong. James is saying here it's doing

the right thing we already know to do

because as he mentions here

at the very last he says therefore to

him that knoweth to do good and doeth it

not to him it is sin delayed obedience

is disobedience that's what James is

saying here so I'm going to have

planning with God in mind and I am going

to do what I know to do and so often my

friends the problems that we have in our

spiritual life,

it's because I'm just not doing the

simple things that God has called me to

do.

Had a brother one time, his marriage was

absolutely falling apart. And you know,

whenever I had been talking to him and

his wife, and it's I I had I had

actually just gotten to Waller. I hadn't

been to Waller all that long. And uh

I've been there for a while and I've

been there for 17 years. I'd only been

there for a couple and uh early mid20s

when I was there and and then he

turns out their problems they had been

going on for decades and uh

been studying with them for a while. You

know what he wanted to do almost every

study? He wanted to say the Greek, I

want to get out the Greek. I want to see

what the Greek has to say about this.

He's looking for loopholes. That's what

he was doing. Really is. It's like,

brother, the answer is not in the Greek.

The answer is staring you right in the

face. Love your wife.

The things that we need to do are not

hard to understand. The things that we

need to perform are not difficult for us

to comprehend. A child can understand

it.

The issue is not because I don't know.

It's because the I don't want to. That's

where it comes to. That's what James is

getting at here. If you know to do it,

then do it. My dear friend, my dear

brother, my dear sister in Christ,

simply do it.

The conclusion

is victory. You see, that's what it is.

Victory and submission. That's the

that's the conclusion. And James gives

us a full picture of of this victory.

I'm going to get to that in just a

second.

He has shown us it's about rejecting

pride and selfish desire, selfish

desires in one through verses 1-5. It's

about humbling oneself before God and

resisting the devil. Verses 6-10.

It's about living under God's authority

in our speech and also judgment and

allowing him to be the judge. Verses

11-2. And then in verses 13-1 17, it is

trusting God not just with my present

situation, but also with the future and

avoiding the self-confident presumption

that again I am somehow in control.

And so what can I do at the end of the

day? simply do what God has told me to

do. Be faithful in a few things.

Quiet, peaceable life. Love the Lord

your God. Love your neighbor as

yourself.

So, as James tells us here, it's a faith

that submit. This submits. That's the

faith that wins over pride, over sin,

over the enemy, and over the anxiety of

the unknown future. So, it's a call to

action that James gives us here. Number

one, I will honestly identify areas of

my life where I have resisted God's

authority.

Number two, I will deliberately step

toward God with all humility, draw near

to my savior,

and the enemy will flee.

I will fully trust in God's sovereignty.

and province pro promises.

I'll leave you with one last little

little bit of u naval maritime

information that I I learned but was

interesting.

Sailors have a custom

and in fact the sailors of of the age of

exploration would even write this on

their maps and in their in their memoirs

and such.

Deo volente.

It's a Latin phrase.

God willing.

That's what it means. Deo valente. God

willing.

They would do this before setting out

because they knew that the ste the seas

were unpredictable, the storms could

arise without warning and that their own

skill could only take them so far.

It was not a phrase of superstition but

again it was a phrase that was a

declaration of dependence upon the one

true almighty God. So in the same way,

my friend, a believer who truly submits

to God

is to write,

if the Lord wills

over every plan, every ambition,

every tomorrow.

Deo Valente.

It's not a lack of confidence on my

part.

deepest confidence possible because it

rests not in myself but rather in the so

sovereign divine almighty allloving God

supreme God.

So my friend, in my heart, I will humble

myself before God and surrender all

selfish passions.

In my relationships,

I'm going to speak life

and edification, not slander.

For my future,

plan prayerfully, not presumptuously.

In all struggles, resist the devil.

Draw near to God.

And in obedience, what am I going to do?

I'm going to do the good that I already

know I ought to be doing every day.

So, dear one,

today, will you humble yourself before

the Lord?

Will you submit your present struggles,

your relationships, your ambitions, your

future into his

omnipotent hands?

Remember the promise of James 4:10.

James 4:10

Humble yourselves in the sight of the

Lord and he will lift you up. The

victory of submission. God himself will

do what? Raise you up, restore you, and

lead you.

If you this evening wish to come to the

Lord, be baptized,

whether it is do you need the prayers of

the congregation, why don't you submit

to the will of Jesus as we stand and as

we