Sermon Text: James 4:4-10

Companion Text: Jeremiah 2:1-13

Main idea: Because we cannot love both God and the world, we must have the courage to choose the Lord.

1. Love the Lord because He loves you. 5 Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us”? 6 But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” James 4:5-6

2. Love the Lord by submitting to Him. 7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.9 Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you. James 4:7-10

1) Resist the devil…draw near to God

2) Cleanse your hands…purify your hearts

3) Grieve…mourn

John 19:40-20:10

Genesis 3:1-13

1. The LOCATION – “Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid.” John 19:41

2. The LOVE – “Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb.” John 20:1

3. The LIFT – “Mary Magdalene…saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb.” John 20:1b

4. The LOOK – “And stooping to look in, he saw the linen cloths lying there, but he did not go in.” John 20:5

5. The LESSON – “…for as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that he must rise from the dead.” John 20:9

John 13:1-15

Genesis 18:1-8

Genesis 18:1-8

John 13:1-15

James 4:1-3

Luke 19:37-44

Points:

1. The Condition of our hearts v1 - “What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you?”

2. The Cause of the War v1 (b) – “Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you?”

3. The Calamity it causes v2 - “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.”

4. The Cure v. 2(C) – 3 – “You do not have, because you do not ask. 3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.”

James 3:6-18

1 Thessalonians 5:1-11

1. Wise relationships are HEALING. “9 With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. 10 From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so.” James 3:9-10

2. Wise relationships are marked by WISDOM. “13 Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom. James 3:13

3. Wise relationships are filled with PRAISE. “17 But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere.” James 3:17

James 3:6-18

1 Thessalonians 5:1-11

1. Wise relationships are HEALING. “9 With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. 10 From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so.” James 3:9-10

2. Wise relationships are marked by WISDOM. “13 Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom. James 3:13

3. Wise relationships are filled with PRAISE. “17 But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere.” James 3:17

James 3:1-6

Proverbs 12:13-18

1. The Command – “Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.” James 3:1

2. The Key – “2 For we all stumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body. 3 If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well. 4 Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. 5 So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire!” James 3:2-5

3. The Cure – “6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our

James 3:1-6

Proverbs 12:13-18

1. The Command – “Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.” James 3:1

2. The Key – “2 For we all stumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body. 3 If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well. 4 Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. 5 So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire!” James 3:2-5

3. The Cure – “6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell.” James 3:6

James 2:14-26

Romans 3:21-25(a), 4:1-5

1. The Claim – “What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him?” James 2:14

2. The Conviction – “You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder!” James 2:19

3. The Compass – “If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace, be warmed and filled,’ without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.” James 2:15-17

4. The Companionship – “…and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, ‘Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness’—and he was called a friend of God.” James 2:23