08/16/15 What the Chrstian Should Do!
Life is
a Test Series - James 4:1-6
Intro: “What the Christian should
Do!” Is the test question for this week. You might not believe this but I often
wonder what the Christian would do if: After he or she is done with the Grocery
shopping and pushes the cart to the car, and after loading everything into the
car, what do What would you do with the cart? Do you leave it next to the car?
Or do you find a cart stall somewhere and put it away? What would you do if you
were in a Walmart or Kmart or some other retail store and you had an item in
your hand and decided after a few minutes you didn’t want it, for whatever the
reason, would you take it back to where ever you found it? What would you do? What
would you do if you were trying on some shoes, and after you tried them on
would you put them in the box the way you found them? What would you do? I must
admit I have a little bit of a disorder, not only do I pick things up and put
them back on the shelf and put the shoes back in the box the way I found them.
I am the person who often if I am waiting in line or standing still somewhere
in the store I would start neating things up. I am the one who will often put
my shopping cart away and put a few more away also. So what would you do? Now
remember most of these. What would you do? Opportunities occur when the only
witnesses are your family. So it is possible your guard is down and you might
just be experiencing a little bit of laziness… Are you content to be lazy and
just not care? Or do you really want to know what the Christian should do? In
Chapter 4, James is going to explain things that the Christian should not do,
so not to become entrapped in the world and its ways and really experience
God’s grace. ARE YOU INTERESTED?
“Do not be unequally yoked together with
unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what
communion has light with darkness? 17 Therefore "Come out from among
them And be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, And I will
receive you." 2 Corinthians 6:14, 17 (NKJV)
Text: James 4:1-6
“Where do
wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for
pleasure that war in your members? 2 You lust and do not have. You murder
and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you
do not ask. 3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may
spend it on your pleasures. 4 Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know
that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to
be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. 5 Or do you think
that the Scripture says in vain, "The Spirit who dwells in us yearns
jealously"? 6 But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: "God
resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble."
Application: “Friendship
with the world is hostility toward God”
This chapter creates a new division
from the Book of James: the all-important discussion on temptations and trials
and how to conquer them. But before we can conquer temptations and trials, we
must understand what causes them. Just what is it that causes temptation and
wrongdoing? and “What the Christian Should Do!” This passage says that the
cause is four things.
The first thing that the Christian should do “is not to
Lust!”
1. Lust: the passion for pleasure and gratification that rages within the
body and its members: vs.1
“Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they
not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members?”
The word
"lust" means to crave pleasure; to crave gratification. This
Scripture says that lust for pleasure and gratification wars within our bodies.
The picture is that of constant warfare. We want and want, desire and desire,
and the battle of wanting and desiring rages on and on within our bodies. Our
bodies are a battlefield of wants and desires. Man is a walking civil war; lust
after lust wages war within him, seeking pleasure. The greatest need man has is
for peace. THAT’S WHAT THE CHRISTIAN SHOULD DO, LIVE IN PEACE! “But the wisdom
that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield,
full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. 18 Now
the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.” James
3:17-18
- So what this scripture is telling us “What the Christian should do” is opposite of what the world does.
The thought (Test ?) is “what the Christian
should do!” in this case it is important not to do as the world does, we must
protect ourselves and separate from the sinful desires of mankind.
The second
thing that the Christian should do “is not to Distrust!”
2. Distrust: seeking
something and never trusting God or asking God for it: vs.2
“You lust and do
not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do
not have because you do not ask.”
You just don’t know God in a personal way;
you don’t know or ask to the point of trusting Him. The world just does not
have this kind of meaningful trust in God. Is this what you want to follow? Man
basically distrusts God. There is nothing wrong with our basic desires; they
are to be met. But they are to be met by our trusting and depending upon God,
acknowledging Him as the Source and Provider of every good and perfect gift. It
is when we ignore, neglect, and deny God that our desires run loose and wild.
It is when God is shoved aside that we begin to desire and desire to the point
that we lie, steal, cheat, fight, kill, and war to gratify our desires and pleasures.
“Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world,
the love of the Father is not in him.” 1 John 2:15
Desire is never satisfied
apart from God. A person must trust and call upon God in order to have his
desires fulfilled. “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your
own understanding; 6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your
paths.” Proverbs 3:5-6
The thought (Test ?) is “what the Christian should do!”
in this case you must trust God with your desires, and you do not fight with
each other!
The third thing that the Christian should do “pray correctly!”
3. Praying
amiss: praying with the wrong motive: vs.3
“You ask and do not receive, because
you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.”
Praying amiss, Amiss
simply means to pray wrongly, not to pray right. Even when a person trusts God
knows and fellowships with Him on a personal basis and wants God to help meet
his needs he can ask God for help in the wrong way. He can pray amiss, and when
he prays amiss, God is unable to help him. What does it mean to pray amiss?
What is a wrong prayer? A prayer focused on gratifying our lust and pleasure.
What is the right motive for prayer? “By asking for the glory of God.” If we
want anything from God, we must want it so that we can glorify Him, so that we
can draw closer to Him and make Him better known to others. If a person wants
health, life, strength, or a strong testimony, it must be so that he can
glorify God. “For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your
body and in your spirit, which are God's.’ 1 Corinthians 6:20
If a person wants
to bear fruit in his life and work, or in his church and upon his land, it must
be so that he can glorify God. If a person wants the basic necessities of
life—food, clothing, and shelter, or purpose, meaning, and significance, or
assurance, confidence, and security—or if he wants more position, authority, or
money, it must be so that he can glorify God and the Lord Jesus Christ in his
life and testimony. “Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we
ask anything according to His will, He hears us. 15 And if we know that He
hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have
asked of Him.” 1 John 5:14-15
The thought (Test ?) is “what the Christian
should do!” in this case you must pray giving the glory to God!
The Final thing
that the Christian should do “is have a close relationship with Christ!”
4. Worldliness:
friendship with the world: vs.4
“Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know
that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to
be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.”
James uses strong
language. He calls the people adulteresses and adulterers. Being an adulteress
and adulterer means that a person is guilty of spiritual adultery. Jesus Christ
holds His relationship with us in the highest regards. Our relationship with
Him is to be so close that it can be described only by the closeness and
intimacy of marriage. We are to know, believe, and understand Christ just as we
are to know, believe, and understand our husbands and wives. But with Christ
there is far more of a bond and relationship than what we can have with each
other as men and women of earth. Jesus Christ actually lives within our bodies
in the person of the Holy Spirit. Our bond with Christ is so close that when we
turn away from Him to the world; it is like committing spiritual adultery. We
must never forget that our Lord gave His life and died for us. We must not hurt
Him anymore. We must not crucify Christ anymore. We must not forsake Him for
the world. We must not commit spiritual adultery against Him by turning to the
world. “For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses
his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?” Matthew 16:26
The
thought (Test ?) is “what the Christian should do!” in this case is treat
Christ like His spirit is in you, because it is.
Conclusion: the cure: vs.5-6
“Or
do you think that the Scripture says in vain, "The Spirit who dwells in us
yearns jealously"? 6 But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: "God
resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble."
This passage has told
us there are four causes: Lust: the passion for pleasure and gratification.
Distrust: desiring something and never trusting God or asking Him for it.
Praying amiss: praying with the wrong motive. Worldliness: friendship with the
world. So what should the Christian do? What is the cure? God has placed His
Spirit into the hearts of believers to lead them through all the temptations and
trials of life and to convict and lead them to repentance when they sin. The
Holy Spirit yearns and covets souls; He wants no believer to turn away from
Christ. “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name,
He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I
said to you.” John 14:26
God gives grace and more grace to the humble. The
person who turns to God away from the world and his wrongdoing will receive all
the grace from God he will ever need and then some. God will look after and
care for him just like a child in a loving, nourishing way. “Therefore if there
is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the
Spirit, if any affection and mercy, 2 fulfill my joy by being like-minded,
having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. 3 Let nothing be
done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each
esteem others better than himself. 4 Let each of you look out not only for
his own interests, but also for the interests of others. 5 Let this mind
be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 2:1-5
The thought (Test ?)
is “what the Christian should do!” in conclusion allow the Holy Spirit to
control everything…
Casting Crowns: Thrive, Record – “Just Be Held.”
Are you
tired of fighting? Your world is not fallen apart it is falling into place! When
you’re on your knees and an answer seems so far away. You’re not alone stop
holding on and just be held. Jesus is on the throne. Stop holding on, just be
held. In the storms is where you will find Christ.
“So What the Christian
Should Do!”
In : Sermon
Tags: "life is a test series" "book of james"
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