James’ background
Brother of Jesus
Didn’t believe in Jesus initially
Powerful apostle who was instrumental in the Council of Acts 15
Led the First Church in Jerusalem while Peter and Paul went off to other regions.
After Jesus’ resurrection and ascension he was a big part of the church launching.

2 Main influences:

Jesus (Sermon on the Mount)
Proverbs

THEME: Jesus’s summary of the TORAH…
“Love God & Love Your Neighbor”

“What is the ultimate goal of my life?
“Because our time, energy, and bank account reflect the answer to that question.

Is the goal of your life truly to become more and more like Jesus?

If so, your life will look very different than people who don’t know Jesus.

Square Hole Toy
It fits but it’s in the wrong place.

James 4:1-2
“What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God.”

The evil in our lives stems from trying to fill the emptiness we feel in our lives with anything other than God.

Something inside of you is lacking.
You take because you are not at peace.
Passions are waging war within us.
Then we get frustrated with the people around us for not fulfilling the emptiness inside us.

“You’re not…

Paying me enough - Boss
Loving me enough - Spouse
Recognizing me enough - Leader
Blessing me enough - God
Calling me enough - Friend

James 4:3
“When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.”

There’s a wrong way to pray…
“To spend it on your passions”

James 4:4a
“You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God?”

“You adulterous people”
Why that term?

You could have this relationship with God that is so fulfilling - He will meet every one of your needs.

But we look elsewhere…. He calls that adultery.

James 4:4b-5
“Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. Or do you think Scripture says without reason that he jealously longs for the spirit he has caused to dwell in us?”

‘God, You’re actually not enough… so can You give me this, can You give me this, can You give me this…?”

You can’t have both… you can’t have it both ways.

James 4:6
“But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says:
‘God opposes the proud
but shows favor to the humble.’”

Don’t be arrogant, don’t defend yourself, don’t make excuses… humble yourself…
“This is on me, I did this, but I’m making a change.”

Grace accompanies humility.

But He will OPPOSE your pride.

James 4:7-8
“Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.”

Submit yourself to God.
Resist the Devil
Draw Near to God
-Spend time with Him… In His Word, in prayer, worship.

Submit…
No more bossing God around… “Why didn’t you…?”

There’s more grace.

The Promise…
If you do these things, He will come close to you.

So He can fill that void of emptiness you’ve been trying to fill.

James 4:9-10
“Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.”

This is the idea of brokenness… a contrite heart.

“I think I’ve missed the point of life.”

Prayer isn’t just about asking God for all the things you are desiring.
It’s about recognizing.. “God, I want You. You can are the only One who can fulfill me. You know how to meet or change my desires.”

You walk away from all the other junk and tell God, “I’m sorry for searching out all that other stuff instead of You.”

James 4:11
“Brothers and sisters, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against a brother or sister or judges them speaks against the law and judges it.”

Quit the fighting.
Quit the comparing.
Quit the judging.
Quit thinking your are better than someone else.
Who do you think you are?

Leave them up to God, and worry about yourself.
It’s interesting… We want grace for ourselves, but judgment and wrath for others.

Be humble.
“I’ve blown it.”
“I’ve pursued things in this life that You hate and that are destructive.
He says He will draw near to you.
And will fulfill everything you ever wanted.

James 4:13-14
“Now listen, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business, and make money.’ 
Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.”

Yet I don’t see another sin in Scripture that God hates more than pride.

The arrogance that makes plans apart from God.
Also speaking to the myth of control.
Which still all goes back to pride.

Instead…

James 4:15-16
“Instead, you ought to say, ‘If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.’ As it is, you boast in your arrogant schemes. All such boasting is evil.”

“If the Lord wills…“ This is simply the acknowledgment and inclusion of God in all of your thoughts and plans.

This idea exposes if we are submitted to God and if we are living under His sovereignty and acknowledging that He is in control.

James is really forcing us to wrestle with 2 Main Issues:
Sovereignty
Submission

What submission looks like:
God, you gave me breath in my lungs.
You put me on this earth.
What do You want me to do with my life?
How do You want me to spend my life?
How do You want me to live?
I want to be fulfilled by You and You alone.

If God had complete control over my body, my tongue, my life, my resources:
-What would He do?
-What would He have me do?
-What would He have me say?

This whole chapter is about SUBMISSION.
It’s about surrender.
It’s a letter to the believer into the unknown.
It’s an invitation to all of us.