Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

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. 11 Do not speak evil against one another, brothers. The one who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks evil against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. 12 There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?
‭‭James‬ ‭4:7-12‬ ‭ESV‬‬

I. Resist Satan (7)
A. The devil may be able to tempt us, but God always provides a way of escape. (1 Corinthians 10:13)
B. You must resist Satan with an aggression that matches the ferocity with which he hunts you. (1 Peter 5:8-9)
C. Spiritual warfare is not a sometimes thing, but an everyday thing that requires intentionality on our part if we are to survive.

II. Run to the Savior (8)
A. In drawing near you get off your knee in submission & run towards God for a hug.
B. All the power we fear is for us, not against us, if we draw near through Jesus Christ.
C. For every step we take towards God, God takes thousands towards us. (Luke 15:11-32)

III. Remove All Sin (8-10)
A. We need to deal with sin in both the outward and inward sphere of life. (Psalm 24:3-5, Matthew 5:8)
B. One of our most horrible sins is a lack of sorrow over our sin.

IV. Refuse to Slander and See Others as the Enemy (11-12)
A. When we judge others, we set ourselves up as being above and outside the Law and in the seat of God.
B. We tear others down because we see them as the enemy who are in the way of what we want. (Ephesians 6:11-12)

Next Week: The Truth about Privilege James 5:1-3