← ArchiveJamesThe Humble Man Wins the WarDateMarch 8, 2020SpeakerDr Josh BurnhamTextJamesPassages in this sermonJames 40:54Romans 541:07TranscriptMachine transcribed. Click any line to jump there.0:00Music How's everyone doing?0:29Excellent. Any complaints about the drummer today, send those complaints to jburnham at bethelnet.com and we'll be sure to address those issues. No, it is a joy just to be able to play and serve and bring the word today. So we are again in the book of James. James is the brother of Jesus Christ. So James chapter 4 this morning. And if you're using a pew Bible, it is actually page 1073.0:57And we've titled this message series, Faith That Works. For several reasons. One, we believe as a church, very clearly and boldly, that faith in Jesus Christ works. We say that unapologetically. Jesus is not one of many gods that's good for you to believe in, that's good for you to follow. We believe that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life.1:25So therefore, if you want a faith that works, you must believe in the Messiah, Jesus Christ of Nazareth as your personal Lord and Savior. But faith in Jesus does not only end at the theological point of view because faith in Jesus Christ actually works on the street level. Jesus says this, the two greatest commandments. Love God and love others.1:53So there's something about faith in Jesus Christ that makes a difference today in your life. And that's what James is about. And today's message is about humbleness. It's about humility. If you could snap your fingers right now, some of you can't snap. I can snap with both hands, sort of. Left hand's a little struggle. Struggle bust on the left side. If you could snap your hands and make your biggest conflict go away right now.2:21Don't look at your neighbor. Just look at me. Because I don't want to have marriage counseling when you go home today. If you could snap your fingers and make your greatest conflict go away, would you do it? Sign me up for that. Sign me up for saying, God, just get rid of whatever is going in my life.2:45But to make your conflict go away, then we have to make the source of the conflict go away. I believe that we live in a world where the stress fractures are showing that there is a deeper conflict that many of us often don't see. John Stott summarizes it perfectly. Listen to what John Stott, famous Anglican pastor, says about society.3:15He says, a promise is not enough. You need a contract. Doors on your houses are not enough. We have to lock and bolt them. The payment affairs is not enough. We have to issue tickets, which are punched, inspected, and collected. Law and order is not enough. We have to enforce it.3:45We cannot trust each other. We cannot protect ourselves from one another. He says, really, it's a sorry state of affairs. I think these are small fractures under the current that tell us there's a deeper conflict going on in everyone's life that binds us all together. You see, it's the symptoms of a place that's longing for something more.4:11It's longing for peace. And if I could take a magic pill or if I could check a box and have more peace in my life today, I would jump on that in a heartbeat. And our world is the same. But what if I told you that the greatest source of your conflict is not external, but it's internal? See, James gets a little messy in James 4 because he talks about difficulties and strife.4:42And then he says, okay, now you need to look in the mirror because you're the source. Josh, it's you. It's your fault. So my message this morning is simply entitled, The Humble Man Wins the War. The Humble Man Wins the War. And in my humble opinion, I'm the most humble man that's ever lived. I've read several obituaries this week, the most humble obituaries in the world.5:14So those are amusing if you want to go back and look at some of those on the Google. Let's read James 4. What is the source of wars and fights among you? Don't they come from your passions that wage war within you? You desire and you cannot have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and you wage war.5:44You do not have because you do not ask. You ask and you don't receive because you are asking with wrong motives. So that you spend it on your pleasures. You adulterous people. Don't you know that friendship with the world is hostility towards God. So whoever wants to be the friend of the world becomes the enemy of God. Or do you think it's without reason that the scripture says, the spirit he made to dwell in us envies intensely, but he gives greater grace.6:14Therefore, he says, God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Look at verse 10. So humble yourselves before the Lord and he will exalt you. The humble man wins the war. Let's pray. Father, if we were honest this morning, we all struggle with pride.6:44Lord, and to say that we don't is an arrogant statement. And we know that the only way to battle our hearts and the pleasures that are waging war within us right now is through your Holy Spirit. It's through the gospel that says Jesus came and did something that we cannot do for ourselves.7:12And because Jesus died on the cross for our sins and rose again, defeating death and defeating sin, this same Messiah, he's the one that will take our prideful hearts of stone and give us hearts of flesh. Father, only you could perform a miracle like that. So we ask again this morning that you would take our hearts that are rocky and rough and prideful and selfish and that you would give us hearts that are ready for your word and ready for your spirit.7:41Lord, be with your people. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. The humble man wins the war. So out of nowhere, the brother of Jesus Christ launches into battle language.8:09Look at verse 1 again. He says, What is the source of wars and fights among you? He uses the word wars and battles and waging war within your members, as the King James says. I believe James is using cosmic war language to wake us up to the reality that we are in a battle. James is saying, Hey, church, wake up. There's a war.8:39Just because you don't see it or feel it does not mean it's not happening. Wake up. And sadly, I believe that our world has hardened us to spiritual conflict. Or it's made us apathetic. We know it's there. We know about demons and we know about principalities and we read about this. But, you know, let me just worry about today. Everything else will worry about itself.9:09See, James chooses the vocabulary of war not because he doesn't have other words, but because he's divinely inspired by the Holy Spirit to communicate that this is serious. See, if you've given your life to Jesus Christ and Satan's lost your soul, then the next thing he wants to do is make you ineffective in battle. Satan says, Okay, I know you're going to go to church, but just listen and go on your merry way.9:36Don't let it make an impact in your life. And for sure, don't find out that there's something in you that's waging war. And don't ask the Holy Spirit to empower you to fight these battles. And don't pray. And when you do pray, just pray with selfish motives. Satan wants you to be ineffective. And God tells us through his word, I have not saved you to make you ineffective. I've saved you into abundant life, living life.10:07There is a battle going on. And some of you right now are thinking, Okay, you got me. I'm in. We're going to wage war. I'm going to charge hell with a super soaker right now. But this is where James changes. He says, What is the source of wars and fights among you? So we're thinking, Yes, let's go. Let's fight. Where is the armor of God? Where is the helmet of salvation? And the breastplate of righteousness and the sandals of truth?10:36And then James says this in verse 1. He says, Don't you know that these passions wage war within you? Did you catch that? This battle that we're all in is, He doesn't say it comes from the demons. It comes from, He doesn't say it comes from Satan or terrorism or COVID-19.11:02He says this source of the most dangerous battle in your life comes from right here. Comes from your heart. And the word he uses, as he did last week, this word, don't they, the Greek is a negative that implies a positive. So James is saying, Don't answer this because I'm answering it for you.11:31He says, Don't these passions come from within you? James is saying, Yes. Yes. It is you and I. There is an eternal battle. And before Bethel, before we think we're exempt from all of this, as if we are better than anyone else, look at who he's writing to. What is the source of wars and fights among you?11:57Don't they come from your passions that wage war within you? He says, You desire and you do not have. You murder and you murder and cannot obtain. He says, You in verse four, You adulterous people. Who is James writing to here? He's not writing to this remote village that have never heard about morals or truth or absolutes. He's writing to the church and he's saying the greatest battle in your life is your passion.12:26The word hedone, the same word that we get and we use our English hedonist, hedonism, which is a constant desire for pleasure. The hedonist, hedonism, which is a constant desire for us.12:48Because you know what? Tomorrow we might not be here. So let's live it up today. That's the hedonist, 4 Maccabees 125, which is written around 100 AD, right after the time of James. They say this about pleasure. In pleasure, there exists a malevolent tendency, which is the most complex of all emotions.13:15So this is the internal war that we face. You and I are battling every day, every moment for our self-seeking pleasure. Let me put it to you in very clear terms. Some of you, I don't have this in my notes and I just, I always have a football reference because I like poking the bear, literally.13:41Some of you are Alabama fans because you were born and raised Alabama fans and it brings you pleasure. Some of you Alabama fans because you like winning and therefore you jumped on the train. None of you are Mississippi State fans because you like winning. But I was born into it. But why do some of you like football and some of you like to read and some of you like other sports and we have other hobbies?14:09Because deep down, something in that brings us pleasure. And that's not necessarily wrong. It's not necessarily sinful. But we need to wake up to the reality that we are pleasure-seeking people. We all have these desires. And James is saying, just watch yourself. Look at your heart. These passions are waging war within you.14:37And I believe the humble man recognizes that he is a hedonist at heart. So let's talk about these pleasures and these passions that you have, that I have. See, I believe that God has given each of us a desire for pleasure. Each of us a desire for something more. The desire to say, I want to be joyful and I want to be happy.15:04See, I believe that pleasure and passion within you is an eternal GPS longing for heaven. And we're filling it with things that temporarily satisfy. And yet only God himself can fill that void. And God is saying, look, I've created you more than for eating and drinking.15:29Church, wake up. He's saying, people in the time of James, wake up. Don't you see that your passions are waging war? I've given you desires. I've made you for pleasure. I've made you for joy. But you're seeking selfishness instead of your Savior. And don't we still do the same thing? Why do we have addictions?15:58What are addictions? It's a desire for pleasure which turns into something more. And eventually that train runs downhill so fast that it's no longer about pleasure. But it's about getting that fix for whatever we thought would bring us pleasure in the beginning. And we say, God, where have we gone as a society, as people who need something more? You see, the internal war for passion is the cosmic longing for Jesus Christ.16:26It's more than sexuality and sex. It's more than lust. It's more than greed or climbing the corporate ladder. You know what you really need? It's more than identity. It's the longing for Jesus Christ. And Satan just says, do what makes you feel happy. And God says, only I can fill that void. And the answer for all of this is not to say, well, I'm just not going to be, I'm going to be a miserable person.16:58I'm never going to experience joy ever. Asceticism. I'm going to beat myself. I'm going to starve myself. I'm going to neglect myself because obviously passion is bad. And so I'm going to be the least passionate person about life. That the world has ever seen. And if you go in a cave by yourself. You know what you're going to find there? Sinful passions. Because you're there.17:28This is what John Piper says about desire. He says, not only is God the supreme source of satisfaction for the human soul. But God himself is glorified by our being satisfied in him. Therefore, church, your pursuit of joy is essential. He says, Christian hedonism. Sound familiar?17:58Sound familiar? Hedoné. Passions. Christian passions claims that the Christian life should be the pursuit of maximum joy in God. Joy, both in quality and quantity. So what John Piper is telling us, James is not saying, run from all passion. He's saying, run to Jesus. Because that's where we find true fulfillment. And I just ask, when's the last time that you sang joy to the world?18:27The Lord has come. But we really thought in our heart, joy to me. Because the Lord has come. Sometimes it seems like Christians are the most joyless people in the world. And if we bought the lie that Satan's offered us to say, well, God doesn't want you to be joyful ever. He doesn't want you to be happy. God, the loving Father, wants you to be miserable.18:55So yes, Jesus is going to bring you to heaven one day. But until he does, just have a sour face. That's not righteousness. James is saying, find joy in Christ. Like, sing. It's okay to sing. It's okay to clap. It's okay if God's giving you a gift that brings you joy. It's okay to love football. It's okay to love sports or your hobbies. But when you do, glorify God through that.19:24We should say, God, you are giving me this joy. And the joy that you give me, I'm going to reflect that back to you. God, thank you. That's the Christian's pursuit of joy. This is an internal battle. And then James says this. He says, now some of you, church, he says, some are empty because you're not asking. Look at what he says in verse 2.19:53He says, well, you desire and you do not have. I believe sometimes the frustration that we experience and the anxiety, the difficulty, these are heavenly mercies that are asking you just run to God. If you're frustrated right now and you say, well, God, I don't have this, whatever this might be. Have you asked him? He said, well, it's not that simple.20:25Pastor, why do you think that? I'm reminded, I love that old pastoral illustration, that only a child is foolish and brave enough to wake the king up at 2 o'clock in the morning for a cup of water. Because everyone knows that's death. But only a child can wake up dad and say, dad, I know you're the king, but I'm really thirsty. And you know what a loving father does?20:55He says, okay, thank you for asking. I will give. I believe sometimes we experience frustration in our lives because we simply have not asked God. Whatever the reason might be, maybe you don't feel like he will answer. Maybe you don't feel like you're worth it. Maybe you feel like I can't go into the presence of an almighty God at 2 a.m. because I'm thirsty. And God is saying, don't you understand that in Christ you're a son? Don't you understand that in Christ you're a daughter?21:27Are you asking? Are you asking God for what you need? Maybe that's where you need to land today. Say, God, just give me. Give me what I need. I've neglected to ask. Some, I believe, are even more frustrated because you've been asking. And James writes to some people in the church then and I believe now.21:56Look what he says about this group. He says, some have asked, in verse 3, and don't receive because you ask with wrong motives so that you may spend it on your pleasures. You see, some in here are frustrated because you have been asking God for certain things and God has not answered. And so you're saying, well, pastor, I've done exactly what the word says and I'm still frustrated because I am empty handed.22:24This passion within me is not fulfilled. And James is asking you today, maybe you're asking with selfish motives. Maybe you say, well, God, if you would just make me rich, then I would give it away. And God is saying, no, you're not giving now. Generosity doesn't depend on your bank account. Generosity is a matter of the heart.22:53Sometimes the poorest people are the most generous. Ask the widow and her might that Jesus commended. So maybe that's you today. Maybe you're saying, well, God has not given. He said, I will not give until your heart turns back to me. And there were people in the time of James and they were frustrated because they're praying. No, you need to recognize your internal battle. Just until you look in the mirror, until you confront your passions and until you confront your needs, I will not exalt the proud.23:21God resists the proud and he exalts the humble. Wake up to your internal battle. Wake up to your internal battle. I think we must say this morning, God, I am the problem. So if we could snap our fingers and make our biggest conflict disappear, none of us would be here today.23:51Because I am my biggest problem. It's my heart. But here's the power of the gospel. Once you say that, the humble man wins the war. And this internal battle also reminds us that there is an external battle going on between not only my heart and my life, but it's me and God.24:13Look what James says here in verse 4. The war within you is a symptom of the war above you. What a great word, right? You adulterous people. That's nice. That's nice. This word, this phrase is only used for certain groups in the Old and New Testaments. It's always used for the covenant people of God.24:43So James is not going into this broken place where people have never heard about Jesus Christ and they're living in their sin and they're living in hedonism. He's not walking into that group saying, you adulterous people. He's walking into the moralistic behavioral people who think they have it going on. And he says, you, you adulterous people.25:07He says, wake up. You see, the danger that we see with the war going on in our life. He says, don't you know that friendship with the world is what? It's hostility towards God. He said, don't you understand that when you're living by your sensuality and your pleasures, it's not just what I'm doing and no one else is going to know about it. I'm not hurting anyone, which is what the world says.25:37I'll just look at this. I'll just think this. No one else is going to know. It's not going to hurt anyone else. James says, don't you know that friendship with the world is enmity towards God? Brother, sister, friendship with the world is hostility. It is a war. The war within you is a representation of the war above you that you and God are fighting.26:05When I am living in sin, there is a cosmic fight going on. Because my sin tells God, I hate you. It's exactly what it tells God. And James is trying to remind us what my two and three year olds knew. They're not that age now. But when they finally figured out what friendship looks like, our kids felt like the worst insult in the world was when we would make them mad.26:28They would look at us and say, you're not my best friends. And it would take everything within me just not to have some snarky response. There was one time that I said, you know what? God has not called me to be your friends. I'm going to be your dad. But here's what our three year old understood. He understood that, dad, I'm going to take the best friend card away from you because I can only have one best friend at a time.26:58That's exactly what James is saying. He said, don't you understand, church, if you're a Christ follower, you can't be a best friend with God and best friend with the world. So when we live in our sensuality, when we're living for self-seeking pleasure, we're basically saying, God, you're not my best friend anymore.27:20I want the world to be that. I want my desire to be that. I want my temptation to be that. And oh, what a difficult, difficult place to be. Literally, we're saying to Jesus, Jesus, I love everything else above you right now.27:44James is asking us to wake up to this reality. See, friendship in the antiquity was more than just Facebook stalking. Some of us, you know, we say, well, I'm a friend. I have 1,200 friends and I can look at what they're eating for dinner today. And I can look at when they went to bed and I can look at their new pet and I can look at all these things.28:10And James is saying, that's not friendship. Ten years ago, we would call that stalking. So what we do now in friendship would have jailed us 20 years ago. That's not friendship. Friendship in the ancient world was life or death. Because if you didn't have a friend and enemies came, you would have no peace in your life. If you were truly in need, friendship in antiquity was a life and death shared values proposition.28:38James is asking us to wake up. Friendship is life. Friendship means to identify with the standards and its priorities. So what does it really mean, though, not to be a friend to the world? Because that's exactly what James is saying. You don't have to be a friend of God. You can't be in the world at the same time. He says, whoever wants to be the friend of the world becomes the enemy of God.29:07The world in which James refers is the whole system of humanity organized without God. James is not saying you cannot enjoy your life. Did you hear me say that? James is not saying be the most miserable person on the planet. Just be joyless and happy less. James is saying you cannot live your life by your priorities and the priorities of God.29:36We cannot reorient our life around anti-God priorities. Think about what some of the commandments are. Some of God's desires in our life. He desires that we put him first. Is that not a value of priority? God is saying you will have no other gods before me. Josh, you can't put others in front of me.30:05So I am either God or they are. Which one is it going to be? Really, God is saying in Deuteronomy, He said, friendship with the world is enemy with me. He's saying in commandment number two, you will not have any idols. You will not create with your hands things that you think are God. And most of you don't have totem poles at the house or voodoo dolls. But you know what we call that now?30:34We call that direct deposit. Because most of us think that we have made our lives. With our hands, God, with my hands, I earn the bread. God says, Josh, don't you understand that I give you everything that you need? That's why God asks us to give generously and faithfully. God doesn't need our money. But He wants our hearts.31:04And He knows that there are passions that well up within us. And some of you, you struggle with that. I struggle with that. Because you know what happened last week when the stock market lost 10%? You know who was already on their retirement account looking at how much money they lost? I remember thinking, I'm glad I'm 80 years until retirement. But I had to stop and pray and say, God, why do I have anxiety about this?31:31And you know the Holy Spirit's response in my life? It's because you think with your hands you're going to make it all right. These are the passions that wage war against us. And all of these passions, the desire that we have to rest and worship, everything that God is putting in our life is saying, Josh, just realize that you need me. Realize that I am your hope. Dear friends, we cannot fool ourselves that we think we can be intimate friends with the world31:59and those standards and friends with God. And if we're not careful, we live in a world that tries to blur the lines of righteousness and pseudo-goodness. And God doesn't want to do anything with what we would call righteousness. He wants to give us true righteousness, true shalom in Him.32:26So, lastly, there's an internal war. There's an external war. I want to end on some good news, verses 5 and 6. James would say it this way, stop fighting and find peace. There's a war. Stop fighting. Find peace. He says, don't you think in verse 5 that it's without reason that the Scripture says?32:51Or do you think it's without reason that the Scripture says, Some of you are thinking, what in the world did He just say? One scholar says that this is the most difficult verse in all of the Bible. The question is, is God envious? Is He putting an envious spirit within us? What is going on? I think this is one of the most glorious verses in all of the Bible.33:19Because what God is saying, in my opinion here, is that the Spirit that He has put in those who have faith in Jesus Christ is constantly jealous for the things of God. God is saying, I will not leave you alone. When I put my Spirit within you, it is constantly seeking peace. It is constantly seeking the interest of the one true God.33:44Stop fighting and find peace in your life. See, God's Word tells us that God is tirelessly on your side. God is tirelessly on your side. He does not falter in respect to our needs. In the greatest, really the worstest day of your self-indulgence, you know what happens?34:15Look at verse 6. But He gives greater grace. On the day of my most self-indulgent sinfulness, that's where God laid down the trump card and said, my grace is greater. Stop fighting.34:45Stop fighting. Find peace in your life. I believe that the Holy Spirit within us is a beacon that is constantly going off through His Spirit. That's saying, come back home. Listen to me. Don't touch that. It's hot. It will burn you. Don't seek that. It might taste good, but it's poisonous. Come back to Jesus Christ. Come back to the path of righteousness. This is the jealousness of the Spirit.35:12Really what God is saying to His people, He's saying, I know there's an internal war, but I'm not going to leave you alone. I am going to mold you into my image. But He gives greater grace. So how do we stop fighting? How do we find this peace? James tells us, very simply in verse 6. He says, God resists the proud,35:41and He exalts the humble. He exalts the humble. How do we win the battle? How do we win the war? Through humility and faith in Jesus Christ. Here's the difficulty. How do you know when you've reached a level of humility? Anyone think they're humble in here today? Don't answer that. It's hard to measure humility, is it not?36:12But humility is found in the prayer of surrender. It's found when we say, God, I can't do it. I love what Donald Barnhouse says. He says that Christ sends none away empty, but only those who are full of themselves. God sends none away empty, but only those who are full of themselves. You see, humility does not say, I am worthless.36:41Humility says, only God is worthy. That's a major difference in our life. Humility does not say, well, I'm just going to walk on my face out. The pastor said, be humble, so I'm going to drag myself to my car today and lick the dirt floor as I go. That's not humility. That would still be self-serving, would it not? Because in that moment, I'm thinking, I wish people would see dirt on my face.37:10I wish people would see how humble I am. And in doing that, our heart is again waging that internal battle. Humility says, God, you are greater than me. I cannot do it. Don't look at me. Look to Jesus Christ. This is our victory cry. Our victory cry is in Christ alone. So what?37:40So what? So what? How do we live this out? How do you fight the internal battle and find peace in the external battle and live a humble life? One, we need to battle our sin. And know that when you give your life to Jesus Christ, you don't fight your sin alone. The Holy Spirit is now battling that with you and inside you. And maybe for some today, during the time of response,38:08you need to just pray and battle your sin. And you're losing the battle because you're not asking God to fight for you. Don't give up. Never give up. It's a battle worth having. Maybe you feel like you're just not worthy of grace. Let me read that verse one more time. Verse 6, he says,38:38Do you not know that the Spirit is intensely jealous for you? Then he says in verse 6, So whatever you feel like is going on in your life, I've sinned in this way this week. I've stumbled in this way. You don't know what I've been thinking about. You don't know where my heart is. You don't know what I've done. You don't know what I've committed. You don't know the conflicts I have. Just listen to verse 6 and let it steady your soul. But he gives not just grace,39:04but what type of grace? Greater grace. So for whatever our struggle, God is saying, Whatever your struggle, my grace is more. And God does not run out of grace. We don't come to God this morning, he's scraping the bottom of the barrel saying, One person too late. Or Josh, you've already prayed for that. Not this time.39:35God is saying, I will give you grace. That's his promise. What internal battle are you waging right now? Everyone here, including myself, are fighting a war that no one can see. It is worth the fight. Ask God for greater grace in that fight today and this week. I believe an outflow of our grace, of the grace that God gives each and every one of us, is that people who have been trained to spot grace in their life40:05are the most grateful people. Gratitude fuels grace, which fuels gratitude, which fuels grace. And I believe that Christians should be the most thankful and grateful people on the planet. Because we know we were in the most need of any person in the history of the world. And maybe you're realizing right now that you have not been grateful for what God has done.40:33And maybe as you sing in this time of response, as you pray, you need to say, God, just thank you. That for the next minutes, you just need to say, God, thank you for what you've done. Thank you that your grace is more. May that be our prayer. And lastly, maybe for the first time, some of you have realized today that you are not of God. that you are an enemy of Jesus Christ.41:03Listen to what Romans 5 says. For while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son. So then, how much more had He been reconciled, will we be saved by His life? If you have sinned and never repented of your sin, if you've never confessed that before God and asked Him for eternal life, God does not say that you're sick and one day you will get well. He says that you're dead in your trespasses.41:34Like, you have no hope of ever changing who you are. Friendship with the world is enmity and enemy of the cross. But here's the promise in Scripture. Jesus Christ died while you were still a sinner. While you were still an enemy, Jesus died. And this morning, maybe humility in your life is for the first time saying, lay down your weapons and say,42:04and say, God, I can't do it anymore. God resists the proud. But you know what He does for the humble? He exalts them. And I believe that there is someone in this room that you need to be lifted today. And the only way that you will find that in God is to humble yourself before Him and say, God, it is no longer me, but it is you.42:35I give you my life. Surrender is the language of humility. Let's pray. Thank you.42:44Thank you.← Previous in JamesWatch Yo MoufNext in James →My Schemes and Divine SubmissionMore sermons on James →
