Distinguished Producer

Lifespring Family Berean, Brother Paul of Seattle.

Podcast Introduction

Today is  Epistles Sunday James 4-5. I’m calling today’s episode “Golden Nuggets.” 

Design: Steve Webb | Photo: Nadine Shaabana on Unsplash

Comments on James 4

Some have said that James is a bit like the book of Proverbs because of the way nuggets of truth are presented. Let's look at a few of them.

James 4:2b - You do not have, because you do not ask.

Prayer is a necessary part of the Christian's life. If we want God to bless us, we must ask. Listen to Charles Spurgeon: “Remember this text: Jehovah says to his own Son, ‘Ask of me and I will give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.’ If the royal and divine Son of God cannot be exempted from the rule of asking that he may have, you and I cannot expect the rule to be relaxed in our favor. Why should it be?” Also from Spurgeon: “If you may have everything by asking, and nothing without asking, I beg you to see how absolutely vital prayer is, and I beseech you to abound in it… Do you know, brothers, what great things are to be had for the asking? Have you ever thought of it? Does it not stimulate you to pray fervently? All heaven lies before the grasp of the asking man; all the promises of God are rich and inexhaustible, and their fulfillment is to be had by prayer.”

James 4:3 - You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. 

Contrast this with 1 John 5:14 - And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us.

James 4:4b - Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. 

Beloved, we cannot have one foot in the world and one foot in God's kingdom. Jesus said in Matthew 6:24, "“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other."

James 4:6b-7a - “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. Submit yourselves therefore to God.”

Pride is at the center of sin. Pride caused the fall of Lucifer. Pride caused the fall of Adam and Eve, and thus our sinful nature. Is it any wonder that God opposes the proud? But when we humble ourselves before God, when we confess our sin, God pours out His grace. It isn't as though our humility *earns* God's grace, but when we are humble, we are acknowledging that we are in need of the grace that He so freely gives. Spurgeon: “Do you suffer from spiritual poverty? It is your own fault, for he giveth more grace. If you have not got it, it is not because it is not to be had, but because you have not gone for it.” 

James 4:7b - Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

Notice the text does not say, "...and he may flee from you." or "...sometimes he will flee from you." When we actively resist the enemy's lies and temptations, we are *promised* that he will flee, though he will return to test our resolve. We can and we must resist him, in the name of Jesus,  as the already defeated foe he is. The Greek word translated as "resist" is a combination of two words: stand against. We are never conquered as long as we do not consent. 

James 4:8 - Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.

This is both an invitation and a promise. And it comes directly after the "resist and he will flee" promise. When we resist the devil, we can and we *should* draw near to God. It is not a sin to be tempted. Jesus was tempted in the desert, but He did not sin. When we have had an encounter with temptation, the best thing we can do is draw near to God for shelter and for strength. How do we draw near to God? In prayer, in worship and in praise. We learn to walk with God in our daily lives. We respond to His invitation to have an ongoing, daily,