Faith In God Resists Worldliness – James: Faith and Works, part 9
You’re in a spiritual battle. Which side will you choose? This message offers clarity on worldliness vs Godliness, and 7 keys to living humbly before the Lord.
If you choose faith in Jesus there is hope, rejoicing, and life eternal. The battle has been won because of Jesus but the enemy has not given up.
Worldliness is opposed to having a heart for God.
Are you spiritually lost?
In the last six weeks, the book of James has taught us:
Faith calls us to obey the word of God.
Faith removes favoritism.
Faith is displayed in our works and deeds.
Faith calls us to have a tight rein on our tongues.
Faith trusts God’s wisdom.
Today we see that worldliness and having a heart for God are diametrically opposed to each other.
‘What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? 2 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. 3 When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.
4 You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. 5 Or do you think Scripture says without reason that he jealously longs for the spirit he has caused to dwell in us? 6 But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.”
7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up’ (James 4:1-10, NIV).
James, once again, begins this section with two questions: What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don't they come from your desires that battle within you? James then lists a way of life that many people have experienced and find themselves entangled in and do not know how to escape.
The sad fact is that many people have no clue they are spiritually lost and living in spiritual rebellion and spiritual bondage. The enemy of their souls has blinded them to the truth of the gospel.
James is confronting the religious person with some pointed accusations.
You want.
You kill and covet.
You quarrel and fight.
You adulterous people.
You have not received because you have not asked God. And when you asked, it was with wrong motives. Worldliness is opposed and opposite of Godliness. The way of the world is popular to many and yet it is opposite to God’s way.
We have already seen that there are two wisdoms: The wisdom of the world and the wisdom of God. The wisdom of the world rejects God and results in bitter envy, selfish ambition, strife, confusion. It is boastful, unspiritual and refuses to have faith in Christ. It is immoral, full of disorder and every evil work. The wisdom of God is pure, peace loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit. It is also impartial and sincere. The wisdom of God is true wisdom and is available to all who believe. Those who display the wisdom of God will display a character of mercy, submission, love, and peace. They will be people who are sincere and impartial and who have pure motives and a pure heart.
Worldliness follows the way of the world and the world’s wisdom. Godliness follows Christ and the truth of the gospel. Godliness follows the wisdom from above, God’s wisdom (see Isaiah 55:9 and Proverbs 16:2-3).
The prophet Jeremiah gives us a glimpse into what God has for the believer who follows Godliness. God knows the plans he has for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future (Jeremiah 29:11).
Remember, James is addressing believers. We are not aware of the friction that was happening between believers, but it appears that some were quarreling and fighting among themselves. Spiritual division and infighting are not of God. We are not to do such things. In fact, we are called by God to love our enemies and pray for those who hurt us (see Matthew 5:44-45).
The two questions that James asked at the beginning of this section was to get us to stop and think about why and what we were arguing about. What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don't they come from your desires that battle within you? All the infighting is rooted in selfishness and pride. James is wanting the believers to open their hearts and their spiritual eyes to the truth regarding what they were doing and why.
The person who is out for selfish gain and has a prideful spirit is blind to their actions and sinful lifestyle. James tells us that the root of the argument is their worldly, selfish desires. The words I want, I need, give me, are words that come out of the mouths of children at a very early age. Adults use the same words. Those desires come from desires within the heart. We want our way.
You may not agree with a certain way of doing things so you speak up and try to sway the decision. There is nothing wrong with different opinions or giving your reason for objecting to something, but it’s not good when anger and division occurs. Once the decision is made, the objections should stop. James uses the word kill in James 4:2. In some versions of the Bible, the use of the word kill is replaced with murder. James is not speaking about physically killing or murdering someone. James is referring to an extreme anger, hatred towards someone; not physically killing someone. It might be the anger in the person’s heart is identified as murder, much like adultery and lust in the person’s heart, according to God, is like actually committing physical adultery (see Matthew 5:21-22).
Jesus tells us that extreme anger will be subject to judgement. Anger is not something to be considered lightly. Neither are selfish desires, lust or evil thoughts of the heart (see Matthew 15:19-20 and Matthew 5:27-29).
James is warning the believer not just regarding how they act but, more importantly, what is in their hearts: the selfish desires, improper motives, and worldliness that they might have in their hearts. James tells us to resist them. Do not yield to such worldliness.
James then addressed the question of unanswered prayers. James says:
You don’t ask—instead you try to do things on your own, according to your own wisdom rather than praying and trusting God.
You are asking with wrong motives and for your own pleasures.
There are other reasons why your prayer is not answered. Another reason may be because God knows what is best for you. The answer may be on the way, just not when you want it. The answer can be wait, not yet. God may be working to strengthen your faith and the delay in answered prayer will accomplish what God desires in your life.
God has a promise and plan for you. Remember, God’s plan is not to harm you but to prosper you, plans to give you hope and a future (Jeremiah 29:11).
What is spiritual adultery and why does it matter?
James has already warned us in previous sections of his letter that friendship with the world and relying on worldly wisdom means the believer is taking sides against God. James uses the term adulterous. Meaning the person is acting unfaithfully. James used the term adulterous people in verse four when speaking of those people who were living worldly lives and as having friendship with the world. They are acting spiritually as adulterers. They were acting spiritually unfaithful towards God Almighty.
In Matthew 12:39-40 we are told that "A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a miraculous sign! But none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. And in Jeremiah 3:7-9, we learn about Israel’s adulteries: “I gave faithless Israel her certificate of divorce and sent her away because of all her adulteries. Yet I saw that her unfaithful sister Judah had no fear; she also went out and committed adultery.”
We see from Jeremiah that a person’s actions can have an influence on an individual, both inside and outside the church walls. When we turn away from serving the Lord, other believers will often follow. It is also true that unbelievers are watching, and some will think that a compromised, adulterous lifestyle is acceptable to the Lord. It’s not.
This is serious and it may be difficult to hear, but scripture would call sin and rebellion spiritual adultery. The term sin sounds a bit more palatable to the ear and not as bad as spiritual adultery, but we need to call it for what it is, it’s spiritual adultery. Spiritual adultery is unfaithfulness towards God Almighty. It sounds harsh using those words spiritual adultery but maybe that is what we need to hear. We need to understand that, from God’s perspective, when we turn away from God we are turning to worldliness—and that is spiritual adultery.
7 Keys to Living Humbly Before the Lord
Verses five and six show the love of God for the believer:
‘Or do you think Scripture says without reason that he jealously longs for the spirit he has caused to dwell in us? 6 But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.”’ (James 4:5-6).
God loves you. He desires all your heart, not just a small part. He is jealous in a good way for you. God’s desire for you is only good. He desires the best for you. God extends to you all the grace you need to grow spiritually in the Lord and to succeed in the plans he has for you as you walk humbly before the Lord. As you extend love and grace to others, it is in the hopes that they too might come to faith and believe in Jesus and thereby walk humbly before the Lord.
In the remaining three verses that we read when we begin this message, we find some valuable keys to living humbly before the Lord.
I’m not sure we have time to touch on all of them this morning. So let me simply list them for now:
Submit yourself to God.
Resist the devil.
Come near to God.
Wash your hands and purify your hearts.
Be sorrowful of your unfaithfulness.
Rejoice in the Lord.
Humble yourselves before the Lord and he will lift you up.
We must never forget or stop pursuing to fulfill these seven keys to how we should live and act. Having these seven goals in life will help you to stay on the path of following God and away from a life of worldliness. Each day we need to strive to be more like Christ.
Each day we need to:
Submit to the Lord and resist the devil and temptation.
Draw near to God in prayer.
Ask the Holy Spirit to cleanse us and reveal areas in our lives that we need to confess and turn from.
Each day we should consider our actions and seek the Lord’s forgiveness. We should learn to rejoice in all things and humbly seek the Lord’s wisdom and guidance. We should remember that we are in a spiritual battle. This is no time to shrink back or relax.
“Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. 7 Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. 8 Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 9 Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings” (1 Peter 5:6-9).
The enemy of your soul has not given up. He is like that lion who is seeking to devour you. The battle has been won because of Jesus but the enemy has not given up.
But what can you do to fight the enemy?
Choose today and every day to resist the enemy and selfish desires that would draw you towards worldliness.
Call out to the Lord in prayer and humbly ask for wisdom.
Trust the wisdom from above and allow the Lord by his Holy Spirit to direct you in the ways you should go.
Remember worldliness is full of pride and selfish desires. Godliness is walking humbly before the Lord in faith and victory. As you live by faith in Christ, you will never be disappointed. You will be blessed and be lifted up in victory.
You are in a spiritual battle. Which side will you choose?
Allow me to close with this final thought and scripture. You are in a spiritual battle. Everyone in this building and around the world will need to choose a side: worldliness or Godliness. I want to be clear: by not wanting to choose, you are choosing worldliness. By choosing to turn your back on God and Jesus as Lord you are choosing to live according to the world and worldliness. You are choosing to follow the god of this world and live as an enemy of God. By doing so, you have chosen to live a spiritually adulterous lifestyle. This choice leads in one direction: that is to destruction.
But for the one who places their faith in Jesus there is hope, rejoicing, life eternal with Christ. By placing your faith in Jesus and humbly seeking Jesus with all your heart, you are saying yes to God and Godliness. This choice leads in one direction:
“So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
19 The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other” (Galatians 5:16-26).
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