 All right, now I'm gonna start out by saying this, you're in chapter four right of James. I'm gonna tell you this, this is a tough study. If you wanna leave, you might wanna go now. It's very direct, it's a direct study. This is coming from the pen of James, the Holy Spirit being the author and inspirer of his words, keep that in mind because I'm telling you, it's a very strong portion of scripture. And I'm hoping to divide it in such a way that we as the church can receive from what the spirit would have the church to know. And I'm hoping to keep it in its context so that we understand why this is being said at this time. But again, you'll hear, even as I'm reading to you, it's a very strong portion of scripture, very direct. And you'll see that in just a moment. I'll do my best to honor the Lord as I present it to you, but I ask that we all might listen to this with ears of faith and apply it as the Holy Spirit would lead. So beginning at verse one in chapter four of the book of James, reading to verse six. James begins, where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desire for pleasure that war in your members? You lust and do not have. You murder and covet cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive because you ask a miss that you may spend it on your pleasures. 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. Or do you think that the scripture says in vain, the spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously? But he gives more grace. Therefore, he says, God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble. So we begin our cherry study today with a reminder. Let me remind you of where we've been up to this point and then move into the reading and application study of the verses before us. Last time we were together, James had given a warning and you find that warning in chapter three. James had given a warning to those who desire to be teachers. Let me remind you of a few of those things because in that chapter, what he did is he contrasted the fruit of a false teacher with a fruit or the production, we'll say, of a true teacher. And so as he was speaking concerning the false teacher, he identified the false teacher with certain traits. He said the false teacher has bitter envy, self-seeking, arrogance and he is one who undermines the truth. And James identified this kind of wisdom, if you will, as earthly, as sensual and as demonic. In other words, this wisdom is not of the Lord. It's rooted in demonic deception and the flesh. So that's what actually inspires, he was saying, a false teacher, a teacher who was not anointed by or called by God, equipped by God. He said he used his own flesh and a demonic, fleshly wisdom to communicate the things that he wants people to identify with. And then he went in contrast to this by giving us the fruit of a genuine teacher. And he said the fruit of a genuine teacher is that he demonstrates good conduct and meekness, a pure wisdom that he is peaceable and gentle, willing to yield full of mercy and good fruits. He's without partiality, he said, and without hypocrisy. And then in chapter three, verse 18, he closed with the final insight into the fruit of a teacher's ministry. He said the true teacher of the word of God will sow peace into the hearts of the people. So in contrast to the false who is creating strife, and we'll see that in just a moment, the true teacher sows peace. The fruit, he says in verse 18, the fruit of righteousness is sonian peace by those who make peace is how he put it. Now the reason they sow peace is because peace is an essential part of the kingdom of God. When you ask a person what is it that makes up the kingdom of God, how can you define or describe what is called the kingdom of God? And if I were to ask that question amongst us all and we were to begin to brainstorm and try and remember, well the answer is found in Romans 14, 17. Because in Romans 14, 17, Paul said the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy and the Holy Spirit. So it's not material eating and drinking. It is actually spiritual, righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. And so with this in mind, the true teacher is one who makes peace. And peacemakers are those who sow the word of God which when someone receives it, results in him having or her having peace with God. See the Bible makes it clear and I'll say this briefly, but the Bible makes it clear that there's no peace for the wicked. The wicked is at war. The Bible teaches us and throughout the New Testament Paul especially made this clear to the Corinthians and second Corinthians throughout the book but he made it very clear that humanity is at war with God. We are in what is called hostile opposition to God. Isaiah tells us that in the book of Isaiah, he tells us if God says something is sweet, you say it's bitter. If God says something is black, you say it's white. If God is to say something, that it declares something to be so, he says it's a human nature to go in opposition to that. That's called hostility. So what God says we will argue with and you see that throughout scripture and so peace makers are those who sow the word of God in order to bring peace and the first kind of peace that you have is when you receive the word of peace, which is also called the gospel. It's called the gospel of peace. When you receive the gospel of peace, you cease your warfare, your hostility against God. The war is ended. In Romans five verse one, Paul said it like this. He said therefore having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. So now you have peace with God. The hostility, the war is over. God is declared the victor. He's declared the victor in what is called the gospel, the gospel message, which is called the gospel of reconciliation. Reconciliation speaks of bringing two warring parties together in order that they might have peace and the kind of peace the gospel brings is not a negotiated peace. The kind of peace the gospel brings is an unconditional surrender because God won when Jesus died on the cross, said it is finished. Jesus bought us when he was buried and when he was resurrected the third day, ascended into heaven, that is God's declaration of victory over the devil, over sin, over death itself and the gospel message is a message declaring terms of peace. And so when you receive Christ as your Lord and Savior, you're actually receiving his terms of peace and it isn't a negotiated peace, it's unconditional. That's why I said to him and so did you if you're saved in whatever words you used at that time, God forgive me a sinner. I have sinned against you. I unconditionally surrendered and I did so through the declaration of what is called the gospel. So now I have peace with God, my faith in his son Jesus Christ. So this peace from Jesus Christ is to govern me, to preside over me, to control my life. In Colossians 315, Paul said it like this, he said, let the peace of God rule in your hearts to which also you were called in one body and be thankful. That word rule speaks of governing or presiding of controlling. That's what it speaks of that God's peace is to control me. It calms every agitated part of my soul and it preserves my heart and my mind. And when it rules in my heart, peace is something that I have with God but it's also something that I can give to somebody else. In other words, peace is something that I have received that I now extend and it's something that I'm supposed to pursue. In Psalm 34 verse 14, the scripture says, depart from evil, do good. Seek peace, pursue it. And so that's what we're called to do. In Romans 12, 18, if it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men. So it's something I seek, it's something I pursue. It's what I want. All right, this is Pastor Dave Rosarosa. I'd like to thank you for tuning in today. And because words inflame, a true teacher desires to motivate people to live at peace. We'd like to hear from you. And this is the true teacher's ministry. Sewing sees a piece through the message of the cross. In Colossians 1, 19 and 20, it says that God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in Jesus. And through him, to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood shed on the cross. And so he made peace by his, pouring out his blood. And now we take the message of reconciliation and we give that to others, that they might be in peace with him and peace with others also. In 2 Corinthians 520, we are ambassadors for Christ as though God were pleading through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf be reconciled to God. Now, the reason that they sow peace with God is because these teachers who are true teachers have what is called wisdom from above. Now the term wisdom from above is what is called a rabbinic phrase. It's understood as a peculiar inspiration of the Almighty. And so the elements of this wisdom from above include purity and being peaceable and gentle and willing to yield and all that I mentioned a moment ago. But the fruit of the insincere teacher is always gonna be division. There's gonna be strife. Selfish zeal always destroys spiritual life and work. An unchecked carnality earmarked by competitive comparisons will be rampant in the church. There's strife and that's why he begins by asking where do wars and fights come from among you because there's a competitive spirit within and it begins to actually infiltrate and poison the church. Verse 16 in chapter three spoke of envy and self-seeking and that revealed the sinful flesh being expressed without restraint. It's fostered by our own loss. It's left unchecked by the spirit and the word of God. And insincere teachers produce this environment through their selfish ambition. When you have a false teacher or an insincere teacher he's always gonna create strife because he cannot produce something that is filled with peace. He can't do that. There'll be confusion he says, there'll be evil because confusion and evil are never addressed but genuine teachers address evil because we're commanded to do so. Paul when he was speaking in his own defense to the book of 2 Corinthians and when you read 2 Corinthians you might wanna keep this in mind. 2 Corinthians was really an apologetic from on the part of the apostle Paul who in fact was addressing situations in a church in Corinth where there were accusations being made against him. And when you read 2 Corinthians you're gonna find no less than 21 times he defends himself against the accusations. And as he's doing so he's presenting himself in contrast to the false teachers who had infiltrated the church at Corinth and were undermining his ministry. And one of the things that they were saying about him is that he changed the gospel for his own benefit. And so in 2 Corinthians 2 17 Paul answered that and this is how he did it by saying, unlike so many we do not peddle the word of God for profit. On the contrary in Christ we speak before God with sincerity like men sent from God. And so when you read that that's the true teacher, that's what he does. He addresses evil, were commanded to do so and you don't change the message for personal profit. So purity, peace, gentleness, willingness to yield are the fruit of good teaching. If that is the case then the question is asked where do wars and fights come from within the church? And that's what James is beginning to address. He's addressing discord within the church and he begins by in chapter four verse one asking the question where do wars and fights come from among you? And then he answers it. Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members? When he speaks of wars and fights the word wars is speaks of a chronic state of war. The word fights represents a separate battles in that war. James is not referring to wars between countries. James is speaking about what we would today call a church war. Now the same things that motivate wars between kings can be found in the church. Kingdoms went to war over coveting someone else's property or wanting somebody else's goods. James is saying that the church has the same kind of mentality because they're fighting for personal space, for territory. So instead of the church having a climate of peace it's an atmosphere there that is of fights and quarrels. And he's pointing out that difficulty in the church originates in the heart of the individual members. There are people who will say well the problems in the church really start with the pastor. Well that may be so in some cases. Not to say that's not true. But very often if not more commonly it's the wars amongst the people within the church that causes it to spread to others. Difficulty in the church originates in the heart and it often originates in the heart of an individual member. And the failure to die to self and to walk in the spirit of God will result in tension in the body of Christ. And that's what he says in verse one. Notice he says do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members. Now when he says that war in your members the word members as he uses that word could be in reference to the principle of sin that resides in them in their flesh if you will. That your flesh is motivating this division that is coming from inside of you. Peter would refer to them as fleshly lust that war against the soul. And Jesus spoke of this principle of sin in Mark seven 21 through 23 when he said from within out of the heart of men proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness and evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. And he said all these evil things come from within and defile a man. So he's speaking about what our flesh produces. The flesh being given freedom to express itself results in wars in the church. That's what James is saying in verse one. Where do wars and fights come from among you? So they're having some church wars, they're having problems. And he answers do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members. Is it not originating in your own flesh? If you're busy serving your own interests the fruit will always be strive and division. It's impossible to serve God with all of your heart and to remain selfish. It's hard to do that. It's impossible to do that. You cannot seek God with all of your heart and be mean to other people constantly. That's just a fact. In Luke 16 13, Jesus said it like this. No servant can serve two masters for either he will hate the one and love the other or else he'll hold to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God in mammon. You cannot serve the world and God simultaneously. That's what the Bible teaches. That's why Joshua would say, choose this day whom you will serve. And as for me and my house, we'll serve the Lord. That's how that works guys. It's making a decision to follow after Christ. And James is speaking about the situation here by pointing to the fact that the church is not really walking in the spirit. It's been infiltrated by bad teaching. That's why he in chapter three was speaking about the false teachers and the fruit of a false teacher because he says the fruit of the false teaching will always be division. It's going to be carnality. It's going to be strife. But the fruit of a true teacher is going to be righteousness sewn in peace by those who make peace. That's why he contrasted it and then went right into discussing with him in chapter four, problems that they're having. The church that he's writing to or the churches really, there's several of them are not experiencing that peace. Personal pleasure is the passion of their life. And nothing is being allowed to get in the way. And because this is true, the believers are now in conflict. Now, division amongst Christians springs from the failure to recognize the flesh for what it is. We almost always initially think that we are the one in the right and the other person is wrong. And that's usually the response of our sinful flesh. My wife and I, personal experience, usually she thinks she's right when she knows she's wrong. It's one of those things. It's taken me a long time to teach her that, but. No, we usually think we're right. And you're wrong. And we believe that we've carved out this little territory of our rightness and we defend it. And that's what we do. That's a human thing. But it's not always a noble thing. Sometimes I think sometimes you will have to draw a line and say, this is where I stop. I will go no further. And sometimes that's exactly what we must do. But there are other times when we draw the line in the sand because it's our personal preference and we don't want to give in or admit that there's something wrong that we've done or said. And that's where the problems very often will arise. And it's coming from our flesh. It's like what Paul said in Romans 7, 18. And he said, I know that in me. That is, in my flesh was no good thing. For to will is present with me. But how to perform that which is good, I find it not. You see the Christian message is, we can live together. We can be united against our real enemy. And that is made possible through making a decision to submit to the Lord, walk in his spirit and love one another. The fruit of the spirit is love. And love is like a garment that we decide to put on. Colossians 3, 14, Paul said above all, these things put on love, which he said is the bond of perfection. So when we love one another, we learn to put up with each other. We learn to accept one another. It gives us the ability to cease being nitpickers and it helps us to become accepting of other people. You know, the church, I'm sad to say, and we're members of the body of Christ. Every person who's been born again is part of the universal body of Christ. And let's face it, we're not always kind to one another. That's a fact, we know that. We have our divisions, we have our arguments. And sometimes they're just fleshly arguments with no real purpose other than to win a battle or an argument with somebody else. We know that, that's the way that we are. But we also need to die to those things in order that we might live in unity and harmony. We need to learn to get along with one another and accept one another. And the way that we do that is to make a decision to love God with our hearts and to serve people, to love people also. When Jesus was asked what is the great command in the law, he said, "'Hear, O Israel, the Lord thy God is one, "'and you shall love the Lord thy God "'with all your heart, soul, and strength.'" And he said, there's a second commandment like the first. He said, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments, hang all the law and the prophets. In other words, I can say I love the invisible God, but if I don't love a person I can see, then I really am not in love with the invisible God. Because how can I say I love that whom I can't, the one whom I cannot see, when I cannot love the one whom I can see, John asked. And that's a fact. So what do I do? I learn to love God and then pour that love out on people. And the only way I can do that is by being filled with the Holy Spirit knowing God's word and being willing to yield in the proper moments for the right kinds of things so that we might have unity amongst us. In 1 Peter 4-8, Peter said, "'Above all things have fervent love for one another, "'for love will cover a multitude of sin.'" When he says, love will cover, that word cover simply means does not look at something in a critical fashion. It speaks of willingly forgiving injuries. And it's that kind of love that makes it possible to get along with others. We don't remember every single thing that somebody has said or done to us. And let me tell you something over a lifetime as you gain years, there's a lot more to remember. It's better to let those things go. Why be mad all the time? Why always be angry? Why always be hurt? Why always feel that somebody did you wrong? Maybe they did, maybe they didn't, I don't know. But what good does it do you to carry that burden all the time? You know, the word forgive when it speaks of forgiving our debts, the word forgive speaks of releasing someone of a debt they owe you. Either you're gonna carry that burden of that debt on your own shoulders or you're gonna release it and no longer carry it. A long time ago I learned to begin to just release those things because after all the years of life that you have, there'll be many debts that you have collected over time that you could be carrying around all the time. So rather than doing that, release those things to the Lord and walk in peace and love for others and ask God to help you and he does and accept one another. In Romans 15.7 how it says that receive one another just as Christ also received us to the glory of God. And so he's speaking about that. Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that warn your members? He goes on in verse two, 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. So he begins to mention principal sins that they're dealing with. He speaks of them as lust and murder and even coveting. Now obviously these are not literal. These are figurative. They're not going to church and stabbing people in church, they're not killing each other. They're doing it with their words and the way they're treating one another. So these are pictures of how they're treating one another. He speaks of lust. That's eager desire. It's a longing for something. It's an anxious self-seeking. You lust and you do not have. He's saying with all of your bitter self-seeking and covetous attempts to acquire what you want, you are still unable to obtain what you're, what you're still unable to obtain. You are willing to kill, ethically kill someone for. These are the kinds of sins that divide churches and create terrible problems. Eager self-seeking destroys unity and love within the body of Christ. And church wars are always destructive. The actions of the flesh pollute everything about your walk with the Lord. When the flesh is allowed to dominate and infect your desires and infect your prayers. And because these desires are overwhelming, their prayers are not being answered. And that's because in their prayers, they are motivated by their selfish desires. Notice verse three. He says, you ask and do not receive because you ask a miss that you may spend it on your pleasures. Sometimes you actually pray for what you're trying to obtain by fleshly means. On the outside, you appear to be righteous and to depend upon God. It's like that Pharisee who prayed on a street corner and the people who would walk by would see him and he appeared to them as righteous. Prayers sometimes can appear very righteous when in fact we're praying for things to consume on our own for our own desires. When I first got saved, I was told that God will provide all my need. And I didn't work, I didn't work at that time because I had allergies. I was allergic to work, I wouldn't work. I was comfortable with it. I could lay down right next to it and sleep but I just wouldn't do it. And so I didn't get a job. And now I'm reading the Bible and I'm being taught about God providing and being generous. I'm being taught these things. And at that time, again, this is in 1971. It would have been 71. On radio stations in California and coming out of LA, there were AM stations. Some of you are old enough to remember KRLA and all of that. There were three stations that we would listen to and one of them was always having these contests where if you were to call and you were the sixth caller or the eighth caller, they'd give you $100. Now someone had told me that if you pray for anything, God will answer. Here there too, have you asked nothing in my name? Ask and you shall receive that your joy may be full. And so I said, oh, okay, I have not because I asked not. So, because I was reading my Bible. And so Jesus, I need $100. And if you make me the seventh caller, I heard somewhere, I was a brand new Christian. I heard somewhere that I should give you 10%. So I'll give you $10. And I sat next to the phone for hours. This is a true story, I was a brand new Christian and I would call and I wasn't getting through. And this is a fact. By about the afternoon, I finally said, I only need 10 bucks. Lord, if you give me that 100, I'll give you 90. I was trying to cut him in on the deal and I didn't win. And I finally discovered and guess what? That's kind of, that's not an abnormal thing. Lord, I want this. Lord, I want that. Now, are you not glad that God doesn't answer every one of your prayers? Yes, I tell you, I prayed for girls that God would give me and I've seen them. Thank you, Jesus, for saying no. Thank you, you're a good God, you're a good God. But there's truth to that. Of course there's truth to that. You want to consume it upon your own lust. You ask and do not obtain because you ask wrongly. You ask amiss because you want to consume it upon your own or asking for things for yourself with no concern for the will of God or the blessings of others. He said, you fight and you war. You have church battles going on. There's carnality within you. The bad teaching has infected some and there's unbelievers also in your midst that are probably infecting you with the same kind of mentality. And he's saying, this is not right. You need to understand that you're asking and you're not receiving because you want to spend it on your own pleasure. You're not dying to self. It really has nothing to do with the glory of God. You want your will to be done and not the will of the Lord. We're supposed to pray, not my will but yours be done but you're saying, may my will be done and not yours. In Psalm 66, 18, if I regard iniquity in my heart the Lord will not hear me. Proverbs 15, 29, the Lord is far from the wicked but he hears the prayer of the righteous. Verse John 5, 14 and 15, this is the confidence we have in him that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petition that we desired of him according to his will. You have not because you're asking wrongly is the point he's making. And so now he continues to speak to them and addresses the motivation of their prayers and the center of their church problem. He gets very strong here. I'm uncomfortable to read this but this is what he says, 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. Think about that for a moment. You want the world more than you want God. You're trying to walk a fence. You're trying to serve God and trying to serve the world at the same time. Now, remember who he's writing to. He had introduced this to the tribes that are scattered abroad. So this is a mainly Jewish readership that he's writing to. So when he uses the term adulterer and adulteress, that's an Old Testament way of speaking. An adulterer or an adulteress is one who stops loving their spouse in order that they might love someone else. In the context of the Old Testament and its application now in the new, James is rebuking Christians who are trying to walk the fence and he's saying that they are neglecting God in order to satisfy themselves. You have broken your marriage covenant with God, he's saying, by loving the world more than you love him. And in this case, instead of loving God completely, you have misplaced your affections. Now, adulterer and adulteress is a reference that's common in the Old Testament and it speaks of unfaithfulness to God. For example, in the Old Testament, Israel is referred to as the wife of Jehovah but she's also referred to as the one who became unfaithful. In Isaiah 54-5, it says there in the book of Isaiah, your maker is your husband. The Lord of hosts is his name and your redeemer is the Holy One of Israel. He is called the God of the whole earth. So he's speaking to the nation and he says, your maker is your husband. So Israel is referred to in the Old Testament as the wife of Jehovah. They are God's wife, but they became idolaters. They became unfaithful to him. So another prophet by the name of Jeremiah in chapter nine verse two wrote these words. Oh, that I had in the wilderness a lodging place for travelers that I might leave my people and go from them for they are all adulterers, an assembly of treacherous men. They were idolaters is what's being said and that's the point in context. You cannot love God and the world simultaneously. You see, to love the world is to be on the devil's side and at war with God. And Jesus in Matthew 1230 said, he who is not with me is against me and he who does not gather with me scatters abroad. Now, why would James say that to enjoy friendship with the world is open hostility to God? That's because the world rejected Jesus. The world put him to humiliation and the world put him to death. So to love the world is to reject Jesus. To be in love with the world system is revealing a divided heart and no servant can serve two masters again. Either he will hate the one and love the other also be loyal to the one despise the other. You cannot serve God and men. You can't love them both. Believers live in the world, but we're not of the world. We're to be salt and light. We're not to let the world press us into its mold. And by the way, does it 24 seven? When's the last time you saw a commercial that told you, hey, it's a good thing to pray and to love God? Very seldom do you see that on TV. Very seldom. If you watch TV at any time, you know, at all. You know, that's true. If you watch TV and you see a commercial after commercial that comes on, how many of those have ever said, love your wife, love your children, love your husband, go to church? Very few if any at all and only at certain times. You know, read your newspapers and how many articles are good news things about good that was done by believers who love the Lord and did good things. You don't hear that. Why not? Because the world is in opposition to the gospel message. That's why, because the world is in opposition to God himself, the world is in opposition to Jesus Christ. That's just a fact. You know, I again, I mentioned this last week. I'll say it very briefly, but I've never listened to a lyric of what Kanye ever put out. I don't, I haven't got a personal relationship with his words. I don't know. I've only heard that the things that he said were not good things. I don't know. I've never read them or I don't listen to his music. I don't know that. But I can tell you that now that he's changing, yes sir, his album that he brought out, his latest release that he's brought out, is number one and all the songs are, people are buying them and everything like that. But again, I said this last week, I'll say it briefly right now. Just keep them in your prayer because what happens when a celebrity comes to faith in Christ, that becomes celebrity for a while. But if he stays faithful and true to the Lord and people begin to see this as an activity that is gonna continue for some time, that's when they begin to resist in force. And that's when he's gonna have to ask himself, is it worth going through all of these things? See, it's very unwise to put a novice in a position of authority and teaching. And it's very unwise to model yourself after a novice or a new believer because they haven't gone through things yet that will sharpen their faith and strengthen them. They haven't gone through that yet. So that's why you pray for them and you pray for them to be mentored because what's gonna happen with him is he's older. You know, he's in his 40s. You know, and how many people do you think are really cool at 50 or 60? Do you think he's still gonna be rapping at 70? I don't think so. His gold chains will just be dragging. I don't think so. I mean, you've got a short shelf life when you're cool. That's what happens. And we know that. We know that. Because a lot of the people when I grew up who were the beautiful ones, none of you even heard of, they're dead. Farrah Fawcett. Everybody had Farrah Fawcett who remembers her very few. The older people do. They had posters of her in the room, the guys did. You know, oh, Farrah Fawcett. But you know what? She's old, she's dead. Because that's what happens. That's what happens, right? And so celebrity never brings people to Christ. Keep that in mind. It gives you opportunity to speak of him. It gives you a platform or a forum. People wanna hear for a while. But when you don't change and you're always saying the same thing, you become old news, let's look for somebody else. That's why again, I'm praying for Kanye so that God will give him a platform to charge. But people need to be saved and may the kingdom continue to move forward. But we need to understand that you can't be both. You can't be in the world. And you can't be in the kingdom. There's a choice that you make. And when you seek the friendship and admiration of the world, you will compromise your faith in Jesus Christ. Because they hated Jesus so much, they killed him. What will they do to his followers? We aren't gonna be the most popular people. That's why Jesus prepared us to be hated by all men for his name's sake. Because we are not the most popular people. We are the outcast, the off-scouring. We are the refuse. We are the trash, that's what we are. And it's okay. It's okay as long as Jesus is number one. It's okay. That's how it works. We need to be aware of that. We live in the world but we're not of the world. In Romans 12-2, do not be conformed to this world. Be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. So instead of receiving the admiration of the world, we can expect the opposite. We make a decision concerning whom we will love and whom we will serve. To love the world is to kiss the tip of the spear that was plunged into the sight of Jesus Christ. You become friends with the world by deliberate, settled choices over time. Listen, you get saved and maybe you had a wonderful experience of coming to faith in Christ. And as you came to faith in Christ, everything seemed to become lighter. Everything seemed to be better. But after a while, you have friends who will begin to say to you, why don't you do this anymore? Can't you do this anymore? How come you? And before you know it, you say, well, I can do that if I want. And it's a slow kind of, a slow fade. You begin to kind of move a little bit back. It's now I'm walking with God. Now I'm more mature. Now I'm able to do these things. I won't be entangled. I know the dangers. I know where I can stop it. I know at the point where I start getting a little high. So I'll only drink this much or whatever. It's like that. And there's a group called Casting Crowns. And some of you are familiar with them. And a few years ago, they brought out a song called Slow Fade. And I like some of the lyrics. And so I'll repeat them. That's what happens. You see what happens is, it's not a, you don't turn around one day and say, I'm just gonna go back to the vomit. I'm gonna go back to the mud that I was cleansed from. You don't do that. Dogs return to the vomit. Pigs go back to the mire that they at one time had been in. But believers don't do that. But you can be drawn back to that and it's slow. It's not an immediate thing. You don't stand up and say, I think I'll go back to the vomit. It's an immediate thing. It's not immediate. It's a slow thing. It's a slow fate. And so in the song, it says, be careful little eyes, what you see. It's the second glance that ties your hands as darkness pulls the strings. Be careful little feet where you go. For it's the little feet behind you that are sure to follow. It's a slow fade when you give yourself away. It's a slow fade when black and white have turned to gray. Thoughts invade. Choices are made. A price will be paid when you give yourself away. People never crumble in a day. It's a slow fade. It's a slow fade. The journey from your mind to your hands is shorter than you're thinking. Be careful where you stand. You just might be sinking. It's a slow fade. You don't go back immediately. You just begin to entertain some things. You start beginning to wonder how come. And before you know it, you start moving back to where you used to be. And you begin to once again, align yourself with the world. And James is saying, do you not know that the friendship with the world is enmity with God? And whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. In verse five he says, or do you think that the scripture says in vain, the spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously. Again, he's speaking to Jewish readers and God here is pictured as longing for his people, longing for us to be faithful to him. His desire is for us to love him completely. Exodus 34, 14 says, you shall worship no other God for the Lord whose name is jealous is a jealous God. Deuteronomy 4, 24, the Lord your God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God. And you say, how can God be jealous? Well, I'm a husband and I'm jealous for my wife. I'm jealous for my wife. Not in that weird don't look at her kind of thing. But in that she belongs to me, her love is mine. We're committed together by oath before God and witnesses. That's my girl. And I protect her and I want her love exclusively. I don't want my wife to say, I love you. You're the third most wonderful guy in the world behind doing my new boyfriend. I don't want to hear that. Do you? Would you want to hear that? Who wants to hear that? There is a godly jealousy. This is us. This is ours. We belong together. This is what God has done and God is a jealous God. You belong to me. I paid for you. I sent my son Jesus to die on the cross, to bleed, to be tortured, to suffer, and to die for you. I bought you with a price. You belong to me. You worship me. That's what God demands. That's a command. That's not a suggestion, is that it? If you'd like, you didn't add that. If it's cool with you, if it fits into your schedule, you didn't say that. You said love me with all your heart, with all your soul, all your strength, with all of your mind. Love me completely. Oh, you got a real problem, God. You need love that bad. No, I did that much. I did that much. My son suffered and died for you so that you'd be free from what you keep running back to. Have you ever had a friend who runs back to somebody they shouldn't be with? Have you ever? Most of us have. You look at them and you say, they're hurting you. They use you. They're lying to you. You don't know. You don't know. How would you know? And they run back and they run back and they run back. Sometimes they're hurt. Sometimes to their own death. Sometimes people actually get killed by abusive lovers. And here you are saying to them as one who loves them, don't go back there. There's, don't go back there. And God is saying to us, I love you. I did for you what no one else will do. And James says, adulterer, adulteress. Don't you know friendship with the world is hostility to God? Don't you understand that? The spirit yearns jealously for you. He loves you and he wants you to love him. When we don't walk in the spirit, then that gives rise to the flesh. Abandoning the grace of Christ will leave us with no power to conquer our evil nature. But verse six, he gives more grace. Therefore he says, God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble. If we acknowledge our inclination to evil, he gives us power to withstand and to triumph. He resists the proud. He's actually at war. He battles against the proud because the proud will not bow their knee to him but he gives grace to the one who does. Those who put their trust in themselves and follow their own wisdom, they are opposed. He rejects them, has no fellowship with them. He thwarts their undertakings. But the humble, the humble understand they need him. God resists the proud but he gives grace to the humble. It's all grace. It's all grace. You know God, how close in this way? God has done an amazing thing. If you look at your life, if you're a believer right now, take a moment and we'll do that as we're about to close. Take a moment to think of where you were and what you were doing before you got saved. If it doesn't matter to you then ask yourself whether you are saved. It's a good chance you're not. It's a good chance you're not because if you think the world is more pleasing than God, you haven't been walking with the God. That's just a real obvious thing. You just don't know him. You don't know him because he is so incredibly wonderful and loving and kind and compassionate and gracious and caring and he has done more for you than any person ever could. If you don't love him, you don't know him because like the old saying is to know him is to love him. To have a relationship with him is to love him for what he's done to you and for you. And I do that. I do that often. I think of what the Lord has done in my life. I do. I think of how gracious he's been to me. I think of how kind he's been to me. I think about my parents who came to know and love Jesus Christ. I think of my siblings who know and love the Lord Jesus Christ. I think of my wife who is the most gracious gift I could ever have received. My wife who loves me with all her heart and there's no reason that she should but she does and I thank God for that. I thank God for my kids. I thank God for my grandchildren. I thank God for you for the church. I thank God. Look at how good he's been. Look how wonderful God has been. How gracious he's been. How can we not love him? How can we not? He is so good. He gives more grace. When you're going through it, God gives grace to the humble. God in Jesus' name, I need your help. Lord, help me. I need your strength. God be with me. And he says, turn away from your sin. Turn to me. And I will give you grace. Understand your weakness. Understand that your flesh rises up and tries to dominate. Understand that. And I will be there. I will never leave you. I will never forsake you. My hand is there to deliver you. Though you walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will walk beside you. I will not abandon you. You'll never be alone again. I love you. That's the God that we serve. And that's why I remain faithful. Somebody says, how can you remain faithful? He's faithful to me. He's faithful to me. He's not abandoned me. He loves me. He loves, he loves you. Fall upon his grace today. Fall upon his grace. This world stinks. It's going to hell in a hand basket. And a lot of Christians are getting on the cart to go there. They're living for the world. And not for Christ. Where friends and family are going to hell and we don't care. Pray for your loved ones who are lost. Pray for them. Pray for that brother. Pray for those sisters. Pray for that uncle, that aunt, that grandma. Pray for them. Live for Jesus Christ. And ask God to pour his grace out. That they might see the truth and be set free. Because God is a wonderful God. Just in between services, I'll close with this. I was speaking to one of the members of our fellowship who said that his mother-in-law just went home to be with Jesus just recently. And he was saying, you know, when we tried to share with my mother-in-law, she wouldn't listen. And he said, you know, she became very ill, began to live with them. It was there for a while. And so she said, I don't want to go to church because all they do is ask for money and they're demanding and had all these reasons. But they said, well, why don't you come? And she visited here. And he said, you know what happened? You didn't ask for lots of money. You didn't do those things. And she started coming regularly. We would bring her. Finally, she started saying, I'm getting ready for church. It's time to go to church. And before you know it, his mother-in-law was wanting to come to church. And he says, before she died, and she died recently, he said, before my mother-in-law died, my mother-in-law gave her heart to Jesus Christ. She said, she did that. He did. He just tell me in between service because of the goodness and the grace of God that she saw all around her. Whereas before, whereas before she came from a background where they were always demanding that she do this and do that and be this and be that. She got sick of it as a kid. He said, no, she finally heard the Bible being taught and she owned this church as her own. She called it her church. And then she gave her heart to Jesus Christ. And she said, heaven now, he gives grace to the humble.