James 4, Who Do You Think You Are?

James 4: Quarrels, Worldliness, and Humble Submission to God

James chapter 4. Hear the word of the Lord. What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this that your passions are a war within you. You desire and do not have so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain so you fight and quarrel.

You do not have because you do not ask you do not ask. You ask and do not receive because you ask wrongly to spend it on your passions you adulterous people. Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God?

Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God or. Do you suppose it is to no purpose that scripture says he yearns jealously Over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us, but he gives more grace.

Therefore it says God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. Submit yourselves therefore to God resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and And he will draw near to you.

Cleanse your hands you sinners and purify your hearts. You double-minded be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord and he will exalt.

You do not speak evil against one another. Brothers, the one who speaks evil against a brother or judges his brother speaks evil against the law judges the law. But if you judge the law, you're not a doer of the law, but a judge.

There is only one lawgiver and judge. He was able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor? Come now you who say Today or tomorrow we will go into such-and-such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit.

Yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say if the Lord wills We will live and do this or that as it is you boast in your arrogance.

All such boasting is evil. So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it for him. It is sin. May the Lord add his blessings to the reading of his Holy Word. Well, who do you think you are?

Who Do You Think You Are: The Danger of Self-Centeredness

Just who do you think you are? Like an upset mother every I ask you that and when I was a senior in in high school I thought I was or could be a long-distance runner, but the track coach didn't think so at least not at first.

When I asked about joining the team I had a long way to go. But I could do that as it turned out earlier this year when I learned that my running was over I thought that I could be a swimmer. So I poured in a lot of effort into swimming training hard to improve my swimming swimming I I learned the flip turn so I could swim faster.

I mean I figured it when I had Trained hard at running I could be a good runner and I thought if I trained hard at swimming I could become a good swimmer, you know, the next Michael Phelps areas at age 53.

But when the time came for a swim meet in July. You know, I learned that I'm just not a good swimmer, you know. The man Mike who visited here two or three weeks ago. He beat me in one race by two minutes 500 yards in two minutes ahead.

Okay, that's a lot I had to face the facts, you know the the times the times don't lie. Contrary to what I thought I really wasn't a swimmer not at least not a competitive one. What if I thought I was a singer now?

What if I was tormenting you with my solos? Remember American Idol. They would almost always start out early in the season. It was early stages some contestant who thought he was a singer. He was gonna be the next big star.

And of course, he wasn't he was horrible, but he didn't know it. He can't hear yourself very well. Sometimes people can't the and always this dramatic or maybe funny moment was when the this horrendous singer who thought he was gonna be the next big star Was told the excruciating truth.

Usually by that guy Simon Cowell, you know that the straight-talking Brit you're just you're lousy. They would be shocked. Just look on their face. It would be shocked to be told That they can't sing.

Right was if I thought I was a singer. That's what I would be like, how about you? Do you think you're someone you're not? It's important to know important to know who you are and who you're not. James is here the straight talker.

Like Simon Cowell in case we've forgotten who we are or in case we we think we're someone we're not. We see that here in five parts. Who do you think you are? Do you think first? You're you're the center everything revolves around you.

Do you think you're the friend of everyone? Or do you think you're happy? Or fourth do you think you're you're the judge? Or finally fifth, do you think you're in control. Who do you think you are? You think you're the sinner you're the one who deserves whatever it is you want everything in the universe.

Exists around you for you. James asked what causes fights and quarrels among you means in the church. Well, it's who you think you are. That's what causes fights and quarrels. You think you must have whatever it is.

You want you think you are the center of the universe. The Westminster Catechism asked. What is the chief end of man? First question and answers with the chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy him forever.

But we think in our natural condition kind of born with this thinking that We're the center the chief end is. Our chief end is to be glorified not to glorify but to be glorified Ourselves and to have everything and everyone else around us even in our family even in the church even God himself to help us.

Enjoy ourselves. I can enjoy God. God shouldn't help us. Enjoy. Help me. Enjoy me. And if they don't If they get in the way. If they demand too much. Well, then they can be disposed of. Life is about me.

It's that that causes you to then bump into others who don't agree. That life is about you that you're the center of the universe. Maybe they think that they're the center of the universe. Then you have a big problem.

Maybe they recognize Jesus is. So the conflicting motives leads to conflicts. James says in verse 2 you desire and do not have. So you murder now, I don't think he means literally they were murdering each other, but they that they crave Whatever stuff for themselves and they didn't care.

So consumed with their own desires for whatever it is. They wanted they didn't care for the needs of other members that they spent on themselves and Didn't provide didn't share to provide for the needs of a brother or sister now.

They didn't actively kill them. You know, you can get have a knife in the back or anything like that. They may have wished them, you know may have wished them be warm be filled. But for all they cared the needy person might as well die as long as they you know, as long as they I got mine.

That's all I care about. I get my sports car. I get the cruise. I get the next I whatever. You covet and cannot obtain. James says so you fight and quarrel frustrated. You didn't get what you wanted Jonathan Edwards preached.

Does it does it make you feel unpleasantly that they other people that they get wealth. So much easier and faster than you. Or that such a one of your neighbors is advanced. He has put into offices. He grows great.

Is it not unpleasant news to you? James goes on with a straight talk. You do not have. Because you do not ask in prayer. You ask God and yet you do not receive because you ask wrongly to spend it on your your passions.

In other words on what you crave you want everything even others around you to exist for you to consume. After all you think. Don't you know who I am? I'm the center. Who do you think you are? You think you're the friend of everyone.

Friendship with the World and Spiritual Adultery

I Think the first thing I noticed about Facebook first started using of a ten years ago. What was the frivolous use of the word friend? Remember I first looked at it what somebody has 400 friends that's ridiculous.

No one has that many real friends. Just ridiculous that people could claim to have hundreds of so-called friends. I think some just want to show off. So I add anyone As a friend that they can they will possibly accept them.

I have thousands of so-called friends. I'm not sure if Facebook actually created this shallow use of the word friend or if it just if it's just Reflected the shallow idea of a friend that already existed in the culture.

I'm not. I'm not necessarily blaming Facebook. Maybe they just. They're just part of the culture, too. I like this cartoon. This shows the shallowness of many of these friends. This deceased at a funeral has says he has 2 ,000 Facebook friends.

But how many will show up to give him the last respects? Yeah. Now we take it for granted. That we've either watered down the word friend or many people really do think. That they can be everybody's friend.

The common assumption is that you can be the friend of everybody if you just have the social skills. If you just go along to get along do you think you have the social skills is that who you are. You think you're you're too sophisticated you're too smooth too easygoing to alienate anyone.

Making enemies, you know, well, that's for those ignorant backwards fundamentalists not us not suave winsome educated people like me. After all look at my social skills. We think I can be friends with Democrats and Republicans liberals and conservatives people of other nations and cultures and and and Racists who don't like those other people.

Even Duke fans believe it or not. Wow our Tar Heels fans we think we're capable of juggling two different diametrically opposed kinds of friends. The the world and God said we've taken that same thinking to God we can get along with them both.

We're like. If we're fooling ourselves into thinking we can get along with the world and with the Lord at the same time. We're like someone in an affair adulterous. Thinking we can simultaneously carry on with God.

Serve and worship him while also thinking, you know, we can. We can talk and spend and live. Just like the world us get along fine with them they're in a way that they don't object to. Getting along with everyone never offending anyone.

It's like adultery. He says here. Oh, you might think well that's not for me. Cuz that's I'm gonna get along with everyone cuz I'm just charming and I'm multifaceted and you know I can show everybody a different side.

James shouts back. You notice that here you adulterous people talking to Christians, you know unfaithful to God like a Spouse is committing adultery instead of faithfulness to God. You're seeking friendship with the world but appeasing the world means opposing God.

You can't be friends with everyone you have to choose. You can't have both if you choose above all to be a friend of the world to be liked by them. You know for the guys that work. To approve of you to be popular.

Then you have chosen that that's your main goal. Then you have chosen to be God's enemy and if here in verse 4 you you choose. You make the decision to be to be like the world. So that they'll like you.

If that that's your chief end to win the friendship of other people. To be too cool to be rejected by anyone. You don't want the neighbors after all thinking you're some kind of religious nut. The Lord Jesus even told us that we have to be careful not to choose above him the friendship of those closest to us or our mother and father.

Our children even our wife and husband or husband because if you do if you try to be everyone's friend. Then you are making God your enemy. But if you choose that first, you'll be God's friend. You will make some people angry you will Comes it's part of being a disciple.

That's what it's part of the carrying the cross. They'll call you a bigot a hater a superstitious ignoramus, whatever. Oh, you might gain you might gain the approval and respect of some people if you're sincerely seeking God.

And people see that you're really wanting to do good to them that your Christianity isn't it isn't a disguise. It's kind of like a Halloween costume. It's just something for your own. You know benefit you're not hiding your own self selfishness behind this veneer of religion they if they see that.

Some will respect you. I think that's true. If you put God first you might indeed get some respect from worldly people but if you try to have both. You'll lose God's friendship and. And probably what will happen is a lot of people in the world will see through it and think you're just a phony.

Just self-serving religion. C .s. Lewis said put first things first and get second things thrown in. Put second things first and lose both first things and second things. Trying to be everyone's friend friend to fit in above all else to be liked is Worldliness.

Worldliness means that you are shaped by the values of the culture are around you instead of by the Word of God. So if the culture you grow up in says that the most important thing is money. It's wealth it's and the things you can buy with the car the house the clothes whatever.

If that's the way the culture thinks and then you do too. That's because you're worldly or you know, maybe you call yourself a Christian. But then you're attracted to the prosperity gospel. Or maybe you just don't give generously.

Because you want to have all the stuff that the world says you got to have. If your culture tells you culture you're around tells you that you are an Autonomous individual that you will you could walk away from your commitments and and then you talk about.

Well, you you talk about your Christianity as a quote personal walk with God. Which is true, but then you talk about as if just with God no one else and. You live your Christian life is that there were no church.

There's no covenant binding you to other believers. There's no there's no body to which you are a part. That's the case. It's because you're worldly. Worldliness isn't about oh. What you wear or watch on TV or at the movies or your favorite style of music?

It's about why you dress or watch or listen, who are you trying to please? By your dress or by your entertainment. It's about who you want to be your friend. We want to be friends with the world. Because you know the world will tell us what we want to hear that we really are.

What we imagine ourselves to be the center of the universe. You know come to our restaurant. Have it your way. They tell us you're everybody's friend. You're a good swimmer good singer. How do you think those American Idol contestants got to the got thinking they were such good singers when they're so bad.

People told them that. Whose friend do you think you are? If you think you can be the world's friend. Then then you aren't yearning for the father. In verse 5 he yearns with a holy jealousy. It says a holy jelly.

He wants to have our affections. Not just part of our heart. We solely belong to him. He wants that our spirits that he originally breathed into us. That they would yearn for him like he yearns for us.

Do you do you know that James asked? But if we think it would carry on a little affair with the world on the side. We've committed spiritual adultery by seeking to make friends with the world. And so he would be right then wouldn't he just unfriend us?

But in verse 6 He gives more grace. More than that amazing grace that originally drew us to himself that caused us to first believe. He gives us enough grace to repent again. To turn from our draw to self-centeredness to the world to its individualism and materialism.

He gives us more grace. Who do you think you are. Do you think you're a friend of God or of the world. Or have you fooled yourself into thinking that somehow. You can be both. Do you think you are. You think you're happy.

Humility, Repentance, and the Eight Commands of James 4:7-10

Kind the kind of person who who thinks of being a Christian. There's some Christians who think this way being a Christian is they think a Superior way to adjust to life in this world. It's a way to get along better with everyone.

There's no tension if you're a Christian no conflict between the church and the world. The Jesus is sort of the preeminent life coach kind of like Confucius Teaches you the secrets of success here and now.

How to have your best life now how to have the the be happy attitudes for that kind. James here has a very rude awakening in chapter 4. You think you're happy? Maybe superficially you are. Everything seems to be going your way.

Life is on track. Your ducks are on a row. You think you're on top of the world and James comes along? Says grieve. And he gives eight machine gun like commands from verses 10 to Verses 7 to 10. Notice that there's eight quick commands in a row.

First submit to God. You think you're happy because you've made life submit to you. You're on top of things now. You've even gotten God to do your bidding. Now reject that drop to your knees and submit to God.

Do that because in verse 6 God gives grace To the humble and his grace you desperately need. Second resist the devil. Like you're defending the walls of a fort against an invader. He's storming your life.

He's trying to overtake your mind. Resist him. Push him back with the Word of God and he'll flee. And third draw near to God. Because you want him. If you do remember he yearns For the spirit that he created in you to commune with him and so he'll draw near to you.

The fourth. Cleanse your hands. They're dirty. Your hands are dirty from trying to grab what the world was offering the stuff that it held out there when you reach for it. Wash your hands from holding hands with the world.

Fifth purify your hearts. Instead of thinking you can love the Lord and carry on with the world on the side. Stop being double-minded. Thinking like the world does like it's okay to to be unfaithful because everyone else in the culture is so I just say whatever.

You don't have to take your word seriously. We might some people might think biblically about doctrine. Their doctrine is right. They may think biblically maybe about things some some behavior maybe like about sex, but if it comes to the church.

Are we typical American consumers? If so, that's being double-minded. Purify your hearts of that double-mindedness. Cleanse out the Worldly part. Think well, I got a lot of right. Yeah, but we got this worldly part and it's making you dirty.

Get rid of it. Six grieve and mourn and wail have the conviction that gives you that godly grief. Who do you think you are? You think you're have it all together that you're happy happy happy, you know, like feral.

No grieve because now, you know. How much of a of a stitch how offensive our smug arrogance is to the Lord? So seventh turn. Your self-satisfied. Laughter because you just think you have everything. Great, like you want it so comfortable because you're unconvicted.

You're unaware of your sins like the way some churches want the preacher above all to be a comedian show cartoons. Make them laugh. Turn the laughter in verse 9 to morning like at a funeral as your as your old man is being buried and.

Then finally that last command in verse 10 humble yourself before the Lord notice this list of eight commands it begins. It gives grace to the humble well on our side with humility. Begins and ends with humility humble.

Humble it begins and ends on his side with grace. We get more grace. To be humble and if we do if we humble ourselves He gives us Even more grace because we're humble. Who do you think you are? You think you're the judge.

The One Lawgiver and Judge

You're speaking evil against each other your brothers and sisters in Christ fellow church members it you're setting yourself up as the judge. Now he's not saying here in James 4 don't judge by God by God's Word.

Don't submit to God's judgment. Indeed. That's that's a way to say Submit to God one way you do that is by submitting to his judgment. Are you believing what he has said? Like maybe like on whether sex outside of marriage is wrong or promise-breaking is wrong.

If you are telling others what God the only true judge has decreed then you are making yourself the judge. You're submitting to him. Which is good, but if you're asserting your opinion as the standard of judgment.

Then you're making yourself the judge you say. But some of that dancing or a drinking that or doing that is wrong. You don't have a scripture to prove it. You just say so because it feels that way to you when you do that you're making yourself the judge and implicitly.

You are you are saying that I have the right to pass judgment, that's that's who I am. I Don't have to wait for God to judge. I can do it myself. So you're not a follower of the law in verse 11. You're not someone who submits to God's law and so to God.

You're setting yourself up. Your own opinion up as your word your word up as the law. Well, then who do you think you are? The judge. No. You're not. He's the only lawgiver and judge the only one who can save from judgment.

Or destroy. Who do you think you are? You think you're in control. You have life pretty much under control you think. Things work now, but way you want it to be. If that's the case then James says Come.

Come get a taste of Reality like Simon Cowell bursting the bubble of some deluded singer come. James says let me burst your bubble of thinking that you're in Control of your life that you have it all planned out.

You know what's coming. You're on top of it. Come now. He says in verse 13 you who say Today or tomorrow? We will go into such-and-such a town. We will spend a day spend a year there and trade and make a profit.

You have it all planned out. So you think you have it in under control? Everything is working according to plan your plan the reality in verse 14. You do not know What tomorrow will bring? You think you can plan the next year and you don't even have tomorrow under control.

The problem now here is not the planning. He's not saying don't plan anything. It's fine. Even it's usually wise To make plans, but you better learn to hold your plans loosely. Because they might get yanked out of your hand.

No. What happens if you're holding something tight and you get yanked out of your hand might go a finger might go with it. So hold your plans loosely. No, no matter how tightly you hold them. They may get they may get yanked out.

An old saying man plans. God laughs. Three bubble popping pins to notice here first our limitedness second our brevity and third our dependence. First we're very limited. You do not know in verse 14. Not even something as near as the future is tomorrow.

You don't know what tomorrow's. You don't know what Monday's gonna happen on Monday. You might think well all my Mondays go the same. I know what Monday's like but something could happen to shake everything up and you have no idea what that is.

We don't know what we do not know. Knowing that. That we don't know what we don't know should humble us. Should remind us of our limitedness. How little we can see how little we really know know about yourself.

That you don't know. Second see our brevity. James that's what is your life your whole life. In the middle of verse 14 says you for you are a you're a mist like a puff of smoke. Pierce for a time and just dissipated vanishes quickly.

Our life is so incredibly short. A Country song laments the sharp knife of a short life. But the truth is that in in the end all of us. Even if we live past a hundred, you know, we live long compared to most people.

Coming near the end. We'll look back and think. Lives were so short. Young people often to hurry and grow up get out of school get on with life and then they get older and they look back. And think why was I in such a hurry?

Time like an ever-rolling stream bears all its sons away. They fly forgotten as a dream dies at the opening day. Who are we really. A puff of smoke. Quickly blown away. Third. We're dependent instead of thinking we have everything under control.

They're assuming that life will go according to plan. To implicitly boast that tomorrow I'm gonna. I'm going tomorrow I'm going to work or maybe to school to class and two and a half weeks. We'll have Thanksgiving.

Next year, I'll graduate. Whatever it is. We think we've arranged it. I got my plan set and I were presumed Sovereignty. We think over our lives that this will definitely happen. Instead of that mindset.

We need to recognize that it's all under the Lord's control. Never realize how strong a passage this is here in James chapter 4 on the sovereignty of God. Usually think of that you think of Romans 9 or some passage like that.

Here's James 4. What's what James is saying here about God being in control of all things. That's what he's saying. God's in control. Not you. Instead you want instead of saying I got it planned. Instead you ought to say in verse 15 if the Lord wills We will live and do this or that.

Now it used to be common for Christians got an old-fashioned thing for Christians to say something like almost anytime. They said something something they're gonna do, you know do tomorrow in the future.

They would always you know, Lord willing Lord willing we'll go out to eat. I'm gonna go watch football later on Lord willing. Whatever if if they were a little more sophisticated something in writing it put DV.

For some announcement anyone notice that besides Joe on the back of the bulletin DV I did the first time I did that this this week. We'll have baptism in two weeks. DV standing for deo volente. This is Latin for God willing.

Now that sounds a little too artificial or old-fashioned for you. You could do like me often try to remind yourself of how uncertain you how uncertain you are about the future of your own Limitations.

So, you know you said what we plan on a baptism. We're planning on one. We want to go out to eat after the service. Well, are you are you not some people talk about you. You know, they're so used to hearing people say definitely what they're gonna do.

Well, well, we hope so. You know, I don't know what's gonna happen in the future. This is what I plan but you know things could change but I agree with Mark Dever that there's a great value in Habitually reminding ourselves not only that we're uncertain about the future.

We're not in control of it. You know, even though but even even a thoughtful atheist could it recognize that there's something could come out of the blue and change all our plans. That were at the mercy of unforeseen events, but beyond that.

That were at the mercy of God's will. Lord willing We will live and do this or that and if he's not willing We won't. Everything in our life is under his control. Notice that here again in James the sovereignty of God knows how practical it is.

If it's the Lord's will he's the one in charge the one who has everything under control even in control over what we will end up doing tomorrow. Then if it's his will We'll go out to eat. We'll have a baptism in two weeks.

Thanksgiving will come. We'll finally graduate next year. Whatever we do Whatever the future holds is under the control not of us. But of him who holds the future. Recognize them who you are. Your limitedness your brevity your utter dependence.

If you don't recognize that Kind of talk glibly about what's coming is if you're in control of it all you got it all planned out. It's gonna go according to your plans. Then in verse 16 He says you're boasting in your arrogance.

He says all such boasting all of it is evil so in verse 17. Notice that verse 17. So in other words because of that because of what we've just seen verse 17 is not just on a random proverb stuck in there Detached from everything else.

It is an application of the principle. We've just seen that we should not forget who we are. Don't forget our limitedness. Don't forget your brevity. Don't forget your dependence. Now we know that we shouldn't arrogantly think that we're someone we're not.

That we're we shouldn't think that we're in control that life goes according to our plans. Instead we need to habitually recognize the sovereignty of God make it part of our speech that God is in control Over our life that that's not just a doctrine, you know, we have in our statement of faith that we say we agree with.

It's not just good enough to be a good Calvinist who fully accepts the doctrines of predestination and the full sovereignty of God over all Things you know all that those terms you want to use you can quote RC Sproul.

Then not one molecule of the universe is out of his control. It's not good. It's good enough to have our Doctrine down pat that one and then once we're done entertaining ourselves with our doctrine. We go on then living and talking like any other godless person as if we were still in control verse 17 so because of our of our brevity our Dependence on him because of his sovereignty over all of our lives.

Whoever knows the right thing to do and now, you know it. Recognize God's control not assert ours. Whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it Still goes along asserting that he's in control of his own life.

For him it is sin. Well now we know the right thing to do and now we know. At least sometimes we fail to do it. So we've sinned who do we think we are? Now we know. We're sinners. What are we to do? Grieve.

Mourn and weep. Admit that we're wretched and lost and blind. But don't stop there the grief and the weeping and the mourning is only a waiting place. There's something beyond now we know Who we are? But thank God remember.

You remember. He gives more grace. Amazing grace.