James 4:1-10
~28 min read
TRANSCRIPT
Our scripture text is from James chapter 4—the Epistle of James, chapter 4. Our text is from verse 1 to verse 10. I'll read this for us; please follow along in your Bibles.
James 4:1–10 “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: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not. Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts. Ye 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 ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy? But he 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.” Amen.
Christianity is a religion of peace. Our message is the gospel of peace. Our Saviour is the Prince of Peace. Our God is the God of peace, and it is the peacemakers who are called His children. This is what James has just, in effect, emphasised at the end of the previous chapter, at the end of James chapter 3, “But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace.” (James 3:17–18).
This is the theory, if you like; this is the expectation. Yet, what do we see in reality? What do we see when we actually look at the Christian Church? We see no peace. We see personal feuds; we see animosities; we see grudges. We see church members—fellow Christians—looking at one another, smiling and nodding, but in the heart, bitterness and resentment.
We see private grievances spread abroad. We see complaints circulated—a kind of unholy recruitment drive to get others on our side against the enemy—not the devil, but our brethren, whom we consider our enemies. We see factions and rivalries, one pitted against another. We see envy and strife. We see anger breaking out.
This is a conundrum; it's a contradiction. Worse than that, it is a calamity for our mission to the world as God's people and as God's Church. How can we speak a message of peace when our hearts are full of war? The gospel light is darkened by such strife and infighting. If the ambassadors of God's kingdom are fighting with one another—fighting among themselves—how can that kingdom advance? How can that kingdom make any progress in this world? How can such a situation come to be? How can the household of peace be riven by wars and fightings?
I. The Question
That is the question that James asks in verse 1, two thousand years ago. How relevant that question is for us today, this is the word of God.
“From whence come wars and fightings among you?” (James 4:1a)
Where do they come from? God knows our hearts. His Word pierces us like a sword to reveal our faults and our errors, but also like a scalpel to cut away all that is corrupt and defiled—all that is unholy and impure—so that we can be holy and pure.
We have here in our text a comprehensive treatment of the problem of conflict within the Church—the problem of strife, the problem of wars and fightings. We find here in the Word of God an incisive diagnosis of the problem, and we find the perfect solution prescribed for us. James asks the question in the beginning of verse 1. He gives a preliminary answer in the second part of the verse. He elaborates on this answer and brings us to a deeper understanding of the problem from verses 2 to 4, and then he gives us the solution from verses 5 to 10.
This is God's Word for us to hear and to obey.
II. The Preliminary Answer
So, what is the problem? What is this preliminary answer to the question? Where do these wars and fightings come from?
“Come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members?” (James 4:1b)
This war—this fighting among Christians—comes from the lusts that war within us. James is not talking about doctrinal differences that may divide Christians; he's talking about personal conflicts, animosities, grudges, and so on. He says that these can be traced back to our own selfish lusts.
The word "lusts" here has the idea of a desire for what is pleasing to yourself. The word "war" here—"your lusts that war in your members"—is different from the word "war" in the first part of the verse, "wars and fightings." This word here, your lusts that "war" in your members, has the sense of a military campaign—a military campaign that is waged against our souls by these self-seeking lusts.
Similar to what Peter says in 1 Peter 2:11, “Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul.” - which wage war against the soul. Hence the idea here. There is a war that is waged within us by the selfish and self-seeking lusts. And these lusts corrupt our souls and turns us against one another. There is war among us because there is war within us. We may have some desire to serve God and obey Him, but at the same time, there is another desire that campaigns within us, to cause us to serve and obey not God but the impulses of the flesh: the impulses of envy, covetousness, lust, and pride, impulses which drive us into conflict with one another.
III. A Deeper Understanding Of The Problem
James describes the seriously twisted situation that results. Look at James 4:2, “Ye lust, and have not.” These are twisted corruptions of God's will for us. Ye lust, for what? You desire, what? You lust for that which is outside of God's will for you. We desire that which is contrary to God's desire for us. We lust selfishly, not according to God's will but according to our own selfish desires and pleasures.
That is why "Ye lust, and have not," because when you lust for what is outside of God's will, how can you expect to have it? This is God's world—God's universe. This is His creation. It obeys His order; it answers to His design, not to our desires. Anyone who steps outside God's will and lusts for something apart from that will never be satisfied - can never be satisfied.
Anyone who steps outside the bounds of God-ordained marriage for instance and lusts for another will never be satisfied and can never be satisfied by adultery and fornication, because that is not God's design for human life. There is no satisfaction in seeking after those lusts, in chasing those things. So it will be for all such fleshly and selfish lusts and impulses.
Those who refuse to think soberly but think more highly of themselves than they ought to think, and seek power and position for their own promotion and glory - they will never be satisfied with such things. They will always want more and more power and position. Those who refuse to rest content in God's provisions but indulge in this impulse to vent their frustrations, complain, and grumble will never run out of such things. They will never run out of complaints. They will never be able to say, ‘Now it is enough; now I am satisfied.’
Once we have stepped out of God's will, there is no more satisfaction to be found. We are forever lusting, chasing after a phantom, a counterfeit, a dream, a deception. James describes this vicious cycle in very frightening terms: “Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not.” (James 4:2)
Giving in to these self-seeking lusts leads us further and further on a desperate quest for satisfaction that will never come. All the while, we are driven to conflict and strife with those around us, because they stand in the way of us having what we lust for.
"Ye kill," James says. That is very startling, isn’t it? "Ye lust, and have not: ye kill." Where did "kill" come from? But that drives home the point, it reminds us where all this is headed. It speaks of the terrible end of these frustrated and unfulfilled desires. Because as we focus more and more on pleasing self, on seeking selfishly, we become naturally less and less inclined to care about others. Wars and fightings among you because we all care about ourselves and we are all seeking selfish things, giving into these selfish lusts, dreaming that they will give us pleasure and satisfaction—but they never will. And all the while, we fight and we war.
I think we can see something of this right at the beginning, in Genesis 4, with Cain:
“And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD. And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering: But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.” (Genesis 4:3–5)
Cain was angry. He wanted God's approval; he wanted God to accept and receive his offerings. But he refused to do what God wanted. He wanted God's approval but he refused to submit to God's will. God patiently taught him:
“And the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen? If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.” (Genesis 4:6–7)
If you do well, you will be accepted. If you do my will, you will have joy and pleasure and satisfaction. You will have everything. Is it not so? “If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted?” (Genesis 4:7). But did Cain listen? No. We see that vicious cycle. He stepped outside of God's will. He indulged in these selfish lusts: I want, and I don't care what God wants.
And where did that lead him? “And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him.” (Genesis 4:8). He killed, as James says. This is where these selfish lusts lead us. When we are driven by self instead of submitting to God, we kill. We will cut down ruthlessly those who stand in our way. We will do anything to have what we want. We spiral further and further. This self-seeking lust that led Cain to envy and rage and murder is the same lust that we struggle against today, the same lusts that war in our members also. And we must beware of this, lest we end up like Cain.
It’s a very instructive punishment that came upon Cain. What was his punishment? To wander the earth like a vagabond, apart from God, apart from God's presence and blessing. Finding no rest and no satisfaction anywhere on earth—that’s where these selfish lusts lead us. We become vagabonds and wanderers, desperately seeking something that can only be found from God. We will never find it because we have already departed from God. We will not go to Him; we will not seek His will; we will not ask. “Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not.” (James 4:2).
No satisfaction because we will not go to God, we will not seek His will, and submit to it. We will not ask Him and submit to what He gives us. So we cannot have peace, joy, and satisfaction, because we will not seek those things from the One who is alone the source of peace, joy, and satisfaction for all His creatures. We don’t have because we don’t ask. And we cannot ask because our desires are not aligned with the will of God.
“Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss.” (James 4:3). We don’t ask rightly. Even if we do appear to ask, it is insincere. There is an ulterior motive, a selfish motive. We ask - not because we desire God’s will - we ask really to demand our own will. “Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss.” (James 4:3).
All this is bad enough, but James goes further to point us to a further aspect of this problem of selfish and self-seeking lusts. It is not only something internal, but there is outside us an instigator who seeks to promote and provoke these selfish lusts—and that instigator is the world.
That’s where verse four comes in. The world that is ruled by the devil, whom the Lord Himself called the “Prince of this world” (John 12:31), who is described in 2 Corinthians 4:4 as the “god of this world”, who is described in Ephesians 2:2 as the “prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience.” This world is ruled and organised by the enemy. This world is influenced and moved and directed by him. This world is full of things that are not of God. All the things that are in the world, the apostle John reminds us, ‘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.” (1 John 2:16).
And the devil seeks to use these things to instigate these fleshly lusts. That’s the link to verse four. At first, it seems to come out of nowhere—why suddenly talking about friendship with the world? Because the world instigates these fleshly and self-seeking lusts. The world drives us to seek these things and to depart from God.
The world, ruled by the devil, seeks to tempt us, to allure us, to draw us away. That’s why Peter said in 1 Peter 2:11, the verse that we read just now, “I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts.” They go together. If you want to abstain from fleshly lusts, you must see yourself as a stranger and a pilgrim, not a friend of the world. Because the world seeks precisely to stir up those things that will draw us away from God.
Now we cannot blame the world, of course. James 1:14 “But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.” These lusts are in us, but the world seeks to seduce and allure us away from God by exploiting these lusts that are within us.
Remember that campaign—the war that is waged within us. The world is supplying ammunition to the enemy to use in that war, in that hostile campaign against our souls. And don't we see this in the world as we look around us? Don't we see the world stirring up precisely these fleshly and self-seeking lusts? Don't we see the world seeking to stir up the lust of the flesh? Don't we see it everywhere around us? Don't we see the people of the world rushing headlong after these things?
The lust of the flesh is everywhere. How easily we can be influenced! The lust of the eyes also—covetousness, greed. This is what the devil wants to see in all humans because he knows that it will draw us away from God. It will lead us to destruction. He has murder at his heart, and how does he kill? With the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. Don't we see that in the world also? How the world teaches us that it's all about self—all about you, all about what you want.
The world feeds these lusts and, in so doing, seeks to draw us away from the true source of satisfaction: God himself. I think we can see this if we look at Matthew chapter 4 and consider how the Lord himself was tempted in the wilderness by the devil.
Matthew 4:8-9: "Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them. And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.”
That's the offer. ‘All these things can be yours. All your selfish lusts, all the things you long for that are apart from God's will—I can give them to you. You don't have to obey God to find joy and pleasure. You can obey me. You don't have to obey God—that way is full of suffering. You have to bear the cross. You don't have to go that way. Go this way. All you have to do is serve me. All you have to do is worship me, and I will give you what you lust for. I will give you what you want. I will fulfil your desires. All these things I can give to you—all the things of the world, all the kingdoms of the world, all the glory of them. Everything can be yours if you will bow down and worship me. Forget the Father. Forget God.’
That's the offer. Same offer that's given to us. The only difference is, he doesn't offer us the whole world—he doesn't have to. We are so foolish; we will trade away our souls for a fleeting pleasure, just a little thing. Just one little thing is enough for us. We don't have to be shown all the kingdoms of the world—just a little glitter here. But the offer is the same: You can have it from me. You don't need God.’ This is the lie. This is the counterfeit. This is the fraud. The things that are in this world are not of God and cannot satisfy us.
And while we chase after these things, we are brought into enmity with God.
James 4:4: “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.”
There is no overlap with these things. We cannot love both God and the world. We cannot love God and mammon. No man can serve two masters. To be a friend of the world is to be the enemy of God. You can't befriend both. And enmity with God, as we have seen, leads us to enmity with one another.
From whence come wars and fightings among you? Because you seek to be friends of the world. Because we have made ourselves the enemy of God. And so we have no peace, no joy, no satisfaction, but only wars, fightings, and enmity. And how many are taken in by this!
Let us not think that we are immune to this worldly allurement and instigation. Let us examine ourselves. From whom do I seek my satisfaction? Truly, this is the Lord's Day. This is the day—one day out of seven—that we are meant to set apart to rest in Him, to find our joy and our peace in Him, to find satisfaction in Him. One day out of seven, we can come to God Himself and enjoy His blessed presence. Is this our satisfaction? Is this our delight? Is this what we look forward to Today is the Lord's Day. I can come into God's house. How many, how many of us truly find satisfaction in the Lord? How often we are looking forward to other things, aren't we? ‘I can't wait for the service to be over and I can do this. I can do that. I can check up on social media. I can't wait for this evening—I can watch some Korean drama on TV.’
It's not that these things are wrong in themselves, but how easily our hearts can be taken away from the Lord and we think that joy comes from the world. The things of God are not joyful for us—they are a chore, a burden, a routine. There is no joy in the Lord. There is no satisfaction in the Lord. We try to find these things from the world. How easily we are taken in by this!
"Know ye not," James says, "that the friendship of the world is enmity with God?"
This is why James uses such strong words: "Ye adulterers and adulteresses!"
If you have read through this epistle, those words will stick out. Those words will jump out at you because all along James has been calling his readers "beloved."
James 1:2: "My brethren."
James 1:19: "My beloved brethren."
James 2:1: "My brethren."
James 2:5: "My beloved brethren."
James 2:14: "My brethren."
James 3:1: "My brethren."
James 3:12: "My brethren."
James 4:4: "Ye adulterers and adulteresses."
It is not that James dislikes them or hates them, but this is a warning. This is the danger. Beloved brethren can be adulterers and adulteresses. It can happen to all of us if we are not wary, if we are not careful.
There is no middle ground between the world and God. You can't have your finger in two pies. You can't walk on both sides of the road. You can't serve two masters. Either one or the other. In one, you will have joy and pleasure and satisfaction—truly and fully, eternal. In the other, you will have nothing but smoke and vapour—a counterfeit, a lie that will vanish out of your hands the more you try to grab at it and grasp it.
Which one will you choose? How often we make the wrong choice—to give the love and devotion that belongs only to God, to give that to the world—is spiritual adultery. And what do we get in return? Nothing at all.
So why is there war and fighting? Why is there no peace? Why is there no pleasure and satisfaction in the Christian life, in the Christian church? Let us not point fingers at others; let me examine myself. There is no peace because, as the Lord says through His prophet: "My people…have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.” (Jeremiah 2:13). That’s why there is no peace. That’s why there are wars and fightings. The friendship of the world is enmity with God and empty of all true satisfaction and peace.
If you are looking for security—true security—you will never find it in the riches of the world. If you are looking for joy—true and lasting joy—you will never find it from the entertainment of the world. If you are looking for rest—pure and perfect rest—you will never find it from all the luxuries of the world.
If you are looking for wisdom—wisdom to guide you through life—James says: "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God.” (James 1:5). If you are seeking wisdom, you will never find it from all the philosophies of the world. The world is empty. The world is a broken system. Why do we go there for water when we have the fountain of living waters? Submit to Him, seek Him, obey Him. From the world, you will get nothing but war and fighting and enmity. That’s a bleak picture, isn’t it? But there is encouragement in the Word of God.
IV. The Solution
James 4:5: "Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy?” Now, this is a difficult verse, but I take this to be an encouragement. The Scripture warns us about our lust. Scripture teaches us that the spirit in us lusts to envy, that we have this tendency. We saw it already in James 1:14: "But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.” We have this tendency, we have this struggle, we have this lust.
But does Scripture warn us against this in vain? No, Scripture does not warn us in vain, because there is a solution; there is help to be found. Because Scripture, even while it warns us against this lust, also reveals to us the grace of God—the abundant grace of God—as we sang just now: ‘Grace that is greater than all our sin.’
“Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy? But he giveth more grace.” (James 4:5-6). There is grace available to help in this war that is being waged within us. We’re not left to fight on our own against these fleshly lusts that war against our souls. We have the grace of God to help us.
But to whom is this grace given? Not to the proud, but to the humble: “God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.” (James 4:6). The word "resisteth" there pictures someone who is set in battle array—the army set in array against the opponent. The Lord sets Himself in array against the proud, but He gives grace to the humble.
That’s the solution. If our problem is our wandering from God, allowing the world to lead us away from God and His will, then the solution is to resist the devil, resist his allurements through the world, and to return to God once more. "Draw nigh to God." (James 4:8). Once again, that’s the solution. Put away pride, humbly submit to God, because we need His grace to win this war that is being waged within us.
James now develops this idea from verses 7 to 10: “Submit yourselves therefore to God.” (James 4:7). That’s the command. That’s what we need to do. Instead of seeking self, we must seek God—not our will, not our own selfish pleasures, but God’s will and God’s desire for us. We must submit to God. We must subordinate all our desires to Him. We must let Him rule over us and direct us, instead of following the devil and letting him direct our steps. We must resist him.
That’s a different word from verse 6. Verse 6 - "resisteth the proud" gives the idea of battle array, but this word here in verse 7, "resist the devil," conveys the idea of standing against him—similar to the picture Paul gives us in Ephesians 6: “Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.” (Ephesians 6:11). Having done all to stand - to withstand -that’s the idea here. And these are really two sides of the same coin: "Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil" (James 4:7) - two sides of the same coin.
How did the Lord Jesus resist the devil? ‘It is written. It is written.’
When the devil said, “All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me,” Jesus responded, “It is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.” (Matthew 4:9–10) - It is written.
We resist the devil by submitting to God. We resist the devil by obedience to the Word of God. That’s how we resist him—not by talking bad about him, not by scolding him and calling him names. That’s not how we resist the devil. That’s useless. What good will it do to call the devil names? We resist him by obeying the Word of God.
“Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” (James 4:7). And then the problem is gone—the wars and the fightings, the enmity with God because of our desire to be friends with the world—that problem is gone. When we submit to God, we draw nigh to Him. We draw nigh to the true source of satisfaction, and wonder of wonders we find that according to His promise, He draws night to us. “Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you.” (James 4:8).
This is what we were missing all along. The problem was never with God. The problem was all along with us. It is not that God kept Himself at bay and God didn’t want to come to us. We didn’t want to draw nigh to Him. We are far from God because we didn’t want to draw nigh to Him. If His promise is: ‘Draw nigh to me, and I will draw nigh to you’ (James 4:8) - that is His desire.
Has not the Lord removed every obstacle that stands in the way of our fellowship with Him? Has He not removed it all by the blood of Christ? What can hinder us from coming to God that the blood of Christ has not already overcome? All our sins washed away, what prevents us? There is nothing that stands in the way of our drawing nigh to God in Christ but our own stubborn and rebellious hearts—our own desire for the world. That’s the only thing that keeps us from God. But if we will only draw nigh to Him, this is His promise: “Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you.” (James 4:8).
But that’s not a light thing, is it? There is a cost, as it were, to this closeness with our Creator, because we cannot draw nigh to God hypocritically. We cannot draw nigh to God lightly. Scripture reminds us: “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” (Hebrews 10:31). And again: "Our God is a consuming fire." (Hebrews 12:29).
We can afford none of the ‘counterfeit spirituality’ that is so popular and common today. Because we all have this sense—we all have this sense within us—that we need God. We have a desire for spiritual communion and fellowship that is undeniable. So many are seeking this, but they try to feed and satisfy this desire not with God Himself, as He reveals Himself to us in His Word.
They try to satisfy that desire with a counterfeit spirituality, and that is why in so many professing churches, we find all these things designed to give the people a feeling of closeness with God: sensual music that comes from the world, dim lights, an ambience, an atmosphere so that you feel near to God. But is there a reality to these things? These people who come to such places and seek that kind of pseudo-spiritual emotional high and go away thinking, ‘Oh, I have met God today.’ But those people still hold on to their sins. They go out, and they go on with their sinful lives. There is still pride; there is still lust; there is still envy and covetousness; there is still anger.
That's not drawing nigh to God. That's not true closeness with God. Any spirituality, so-called, that does not involve genuine repentance and separation from worldliness is not a true spirituality. It is a false spirituality because really drawing nigh to God can be a very painful process: “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.” (James 4:8–9).
That's what it means to draw nigh to God. We have to let go of all these false and idolatrous satisfactions that we have been chasing after. Let your joy be turned to heaviness. The joy that the world promised you - that you were seeking after - the false joy of idolatry. Let that be turned to heaviness. Let your laughter be turned to mourning—the frivolous enjoyment of the world in which you thought to find pleasure. Let that be turned to mourning.
You can't hold on to that if you are truly seeking to draw nigh to God. You must let those things go. You can't have both. Let go of the world. Let go of its pleasures. Put away its false satisfactions. Drawing nigh to God means letting this false pleasure and joy of the world, letting it be removed by affliction and loss. Let vain laughter be turned into true mourning for sin.
The throne of grace is not a place for those who think lightly of sin. The throne of grace is a place for those who have been utterly broken, impoverished in themselves. The throne of grace is a place for those who are truly poor in spirit, who come with nothing, who come knowing their own unworthiness, who come weighed down with the guilt of their sins, who come with genuine tears of mourning. That's the throne of grace. It's not something to approach lightly. It's the throne of the Almighty God, the thrice-holy God. The throne of grace is a place for people who truly know how much they need God's grace.
It's a great tragedy to hear these so-called preachers of health and wealth with a message of self-esteem and self-congratulation. And I mention these things not to ridicule but to draw your attention to a real problem—a counterfeit that is being passed off as Christianity and by which so many have been taken in.
This is not true nearness to God. If you can hold on to self and pride, these things must be broken and put away. I heard one preacher boast once of how God shows up at his meetings. God shows up in their church. God follows their members around. When the members are going out to eat in restaurants, God appears there. And how does God appear? What is the sign, the mark of God's presence? A cloud of gold dust appears in the air and starts falling. ‘Oh, God is here!’ And they do that in their church.
Should we do that—clouds of gold falling from the ceiling? That's what they do in their church, and everyone is happy, everyone is clapping and laughing, everyone is taking out their phones to take photos. Is that the presence of God? Is that drawing nigh to God? What did Job say when the Lord truly appeared to him in the whirlwind? He said, “I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.” (Job 42:6). That's drawing nigh to God.
What did Isaiah say when he saw the Lord high and lifted up, and he saw the angels singing, "Holy, holy, holy"? He said, “Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips.” (Isaiah 6:5). That's drawing nigh to God.
“Let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness.” (James 4:9). True repentance is no joking matter. Do we know what it truly means to mourn for sin? Do we know what it means to feel and know the heinousness and the horror of our rebellion against God? Do we know? Do we really know in our bones, in our hearts? Do we really know that we deserve the fires of hell because of what we have done?
How can we draw nigh to God without that? How can we claim and plead for his grace if we don't know how much we really need it? How can we draw nigh to God if there is no mourning? But it is written: “Blessed are they that mourn” - blessed as those who mourn thus for sin - “for they shall be comforted.” (Matthew 5:4).
And that's true comfort—not a counterfeit, not a fake. True joy, true satisfaction, true comfort because we have exchanged the false things of the world for true joy in Christ. It's good to be afflicted if it weans us from the world, if it teaches us to be humble before God, because then he will lift us up. “Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.” (James 4:10).
And if He is the one lifting us up, who can bring us down? If we try to lift up ourselves by seeking after these selfish lusts, then we will only be abased if we try to promote ourselves. But if we humble ourselves before the Lord, He will lift us up, and then no one can bring us down. “If God be for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31).
That's not a verse to claim lightly. If God is truly for us and we have mourned for our sins, we have repented, we have come to him with clean hands and pure hearts, desiring earnestly to serve him and live for Him, then only can we say, "If God be for us, who can be against us?" But how can we live in sin, how can we seek after the world, how can we find pleasure in idolatry and then say, "If God be for us"? If we are friends of the world, then God is not for us - “Friendship of the world is enmity with God.” (James 4:4).
But if we want the Prince of Peace on our side, then we must humble ourselves and submit to him, repent of our sins and obey him. That's the way. That's the only way. That's God's way to put an end to these wars and fightings. That's God's way to have true and lasting peace.
If we want peace in our homes, in our churches, we need to stop focusing on what we want and focus on what God wants. Truly. And isn't that how we started our Christian journey when that first love was born in our hearts and we first surrendered to the sweet yoke of the Lord Jesus? Wasn't that our desire—to do His will? Isn't that what we said to the Lord: ‘Lord, what will you have me to do?’ (Acts 9:6).
Were we not so willing in those days to follow wherever He led us and to do whatever He commanded us? And did we not have peace then? Don't you remember that? Did we not have joy and satisfaction to know the Lord? Did we not have a peace such as we never knew before in those first days when we truly repented of our sins, and we came in tears before the Lord and submitted to Him? We found joy. We found a joy that the world had never been able to give us, and we walked with the Lord in those first days.
And what has happened since then? How have we lost our way? That we no longer have this joy in the Lord, and we think that the world can substitute. Let us draw nigh to God and give up the joy of the world. Give up these false pleasures. They are false. They are counterfeits. They are wastes of time. This worldly pleasure is nothing compared to the satisfaction that our Creator and Redeemer can give us. These worldly pleasures are corrupting our hearts and spoiling our fellowship with one another. Let us cleanse our hands and our hearts, and if the fire of affliction must purge us, let it be so, if only the Lord at the end will lift us up.
Let's pray.
Our Father in heaven, work in us. Work in us by your Spirit. Work in our midst, we pray, we ask, to revive us. Turn us again, and we shall be turned. Cause your face to shine upon us once more. Help us to be humble and not proud so that we may come to your throne of grace and find grace to help in time of need. Heal our wounds and our transgressions. Grant peace, O Lord, the peace that passes all understanding—the peace of faith and submission to your Word. We ask it in the name of your Son, our Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace, Amen.
THE BOOK OF JAMESFacing Trials With A Joyful Spirit [Part 1]Facing Trials With A Joyful Spirit [Part 1]James 1:1-4
Facing Trials With A Joyful Spirit [Part 2]Facing Trials With A Joyful Spirit [Part 2]James 1:1-4
The Need For Wisdom In Times Of TrialThe Need For Wisdom In Times Of TrialJames 1:5-8
Trial Is No Respecter Of PersonsTrial Is No Respecter Of PersonsJames 1:9-12
How To Deal With TemptationHow To Deal With TemptationJames 1:13-15
Remember Who God Is And Who We AreRemember Who God Is And Who We AreJames 1:16-18
Be Receptive To The Word Of GodBe Receptive To The Word Of GodJames 1:19-21
Doers of the WordDoers of the WordJames 1:21-25
Be Responsive To The Word Of GodBe Responsive To The Word Of GodJames 1:22-25
Are You Transformed By The Word?Are You Transformed By The Word?James 1:26-27
The Sin Of Showing Partiality [Part 1]The Sin Of Showing Partiality [Part 1]James 2:1-4
The Sin of PartialityThe Sin of PartialityJames 2:1-13
The Sin Of Showing Partiality [Part 2]The Sin Of Showing Partiality [Part 2]James 2:5-13
Show Me Your Faith, And I Will Show You MineShow Me Your Faith, And I Will Show You MineJames 2:14-20
Faith In ActionFaith In ActionJames 2:21-26
A Warning To Want-To-Be TeacherA Warning To Want-To-Be TeacherJames 3:1-2
Seminar: The Role of the Sunday School Teacher (Part 2 of 2)Seminar: The Role of the Sunday School Teacher (Part 2 of 2)James 3:1-13
The Power Of The TongueThe Power Of The TongueJames 3:3-6
The Taming Of The TongueThe Taming Of The TongueJames 3:7-12
The Danger Of False WisdomThe Danger Of False WisdomJames 3:13-16
The Blessing Of Heavenly WisdomThe Blessing Of Heavenly WisdomJames 3:17-18
Dealing With Conflict In The ChurchDealing With Conflict In The ChurchJames 4:1-6
War And PeaceWar And PeaceJames 4:1-10
What Constitutes True SalvationWhat Constitutes True SalvationJames 4:7-10
Speak No EvilSpeak No EvilJames 4:11-12
God’s Plan Or My Plan?God’s Plan Or My Plan?James 4:13-17
Physically Rich But Spiritually PoorPhysically Rich But Spiritually PoorJames 5:1-6
How To Be Patient In Times Of TroubleHow To Be Patient In Times Of TroubleJames 5:7-11
Simply Speak The TruthSimply Speak The TruthJames 5:12; Matthew 5:33-37
What To Do When It HurtsWhat To Do When It HurtsJames 5:13-18
The Value Of The SoulThe Value Of The SoulJames 5:19-20
