I want to begin reading in verse number one, and we certainly do not have time in one service to deal with everything that we need to in this particular portion of Scripture. So if God will let us, I want to lay a foundation. I want to simply read these verses and try to direct our path where God would have us go in this one paragraph of Scripture. James chapter number 4. You understand this, when you study the Bible, when you study the Word of God, you're looking for a specific road that the writer has given under the inspiration of the Spirit of God. And there's no difference than what is considered this general epistle of the book of James. One writer said that this should be the half-brother of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now there are those that argue the fact that this is not the James that wrote this epistle, and certainly that is not a heel that we want to die on, but I do believe that it was the half-brother of James. Can you imagine the perspective that this man had of the Lord Jesus Christ? You and I can read the Bible. You and I that have trusted the Lord Jesus as our personal savior. But James is a man that grew up in the same household of the Lord Jesus Christ. As a matter of fact, he knew the distinctive personality of the Lord Jesus Christ. And when you read this book or this epistle, you need to understand that he is viewing God more different than any other man would view God upon this earth. As a matter of fact, not only was he the half-brother of Jesus, but he grew up in this carpenter's home in Nazareth. Like his other brothers, he did not believe Jesus as Lord until near the end of his earthly ministry. But after the resurrection of Jesus, James received a special post-resurrection appearance in 1 Corinthians chapter number 15. It was experienced at Pentecost in Acts chapter number one. And he became a leader of the Jerusalem church throughout most of the history of Acts. Josephus even said it this way, the Jewish historian, it records that in AD 62, James was martyred, James was killed for his faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. so as you read at these chapters and you read at these words you must understand the foundation in which it is given we realize in the characteristics of this book the approach of James it's more of a practical approach than a theatrical approach of the book of Jesus Christ and James one man said it this way James should be considered the Proverbs of the New Testament. I would encourage you to take one evening this week to early, rise up early in the morning one day this week, enough time to read the whole book of Proverbs and then read the book of James. It's an amazing thing as you will find the parallel scriptures that is given from the Old to the New Testament of the Word of God. The themes of James certainly is faith and works. It surfaces repeatedly. One writer said that the book of James should be considered the most Jewish book in all the New Testament of the Word of God. You will find one distinctive in the book of James that you will not find in any other book of the New Testament of the Word of God. Not one time is the death and the resurrection mentioned in the book of James. But it's an amazing thing as he deals with our faith which is parallel with the works of the child of God. I want you to understand that James is not dealing with the works salvation because no man, no woman has ever been saved outside of the grace of God. but it deals with the evidence of our salvation. If I am here this morning, if I am a child of God, if I am on my way to heaven because of grace and because of faith, after salvation, there should be evidence that I am living for the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm afraid, I'm very fearful that most churches that I go to and most churches that you have been in, there are many that sit in the church and in the auditorium on a Sunday morning and they don't come back on Sunday night, they certainly don't come back in the midweek service and they never live for God and they have no fruits of their righteousness. Well, that's what James is dealing with. He said, if you show me your faith, I'll show you your works. there will be evidence that you have been washed in the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ and you are living a life in such a way that you do not deny your salvation. You are not ashamed to be a child of God. Somebody said, well, what gives him the right to put down such things in the Word of God? Well, number one, it's under the inspiration of the Spirit of God. This is not necessarily the book of James, but this is given to James under the breath of God to pin down to those that were in Jerusalem in the practical context, but in our context, it's given to the child of God. Not only did he have evidence of his salvation, but this is a man historically that said he died for his faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. He was not willing just to live for Jesus, but this is a man that literally was willing to die for his faith in Jesus Christ. What did that do? That did not make him a Christian, but that proved his Christianity. that proved in his testimony that he was on his way to heaven. He did not back down in his faith, he did not cower in his faith, but he died for his faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. So as we study the book of James, as you study the book of Proverbs and then parallel with this epistle this week, you read both of these epistles and both of these books in the word of God, you will find that in his wisdom, He is writing about the faith of the child of God. Now, this morning, I really want to deal with one phrase, but if you are dealing with one phrase in the Bible, you must surround it with scripture, line upon line, and precept upon precept. Your pastor does not do this and any other man of God that studies the Bible does not do this, but there are many that would just give you a phrase and they'll deal with that one phrase in the Bible, but all they do is give you their opinion upon that phrase. Can I make this statement? I believe the Bible, I love the Bible, I thank God for the Bible, but it really doesn't matter what I think about the Bible, but it does matter what thus saith the Lord. So if I want to deal with this phrase, we must begin in verse number one and chapter number four. Watch the word of God, James writing, can I just say this in introduction, foundation, vault, notice the truth of this life. Watch verse number one, James said, from which come wars and fighting among you. ask a question. He begins this chapter, this paragraph with question, what has caused the conflict among the children of God? Why are you fighting? What is the wars? What is the battles among the children of God? He is writing to the Jews. He is writing concerning Israel, and he is writing to the believers, those that have trusted and put their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. And he begins this whole paragraph by asking this question, why are you battling? Why are you conflicting? Why are you fighting amongst each other? And then he asks this question, come they not hence even of your lust, or your desires for pleasure, that war in your members. The conflict, this is an amazing thing, the conflict just laid the foundation. The conflict that came in the congregation and the brothers and sisters in Christ, it came because of their own fleshly desires. They thought more of this world than they did about the things of God. You know why some of you will not come back tonight You know why some of you have never been to a revival meeting? Because you think more of the things of this world than you do about the things of God. And that causes the battles. That causes the conflict, not just in your life, causes the conflict in the congregation and amongst each other as the children of God. So number one in this, just laying the foundation in the truth of life, number one, we see the conflict, but number two, look at the consumption of this life. Watch the Bible, ye lost and have none. Your desires, not for the things of God, but for the things of this world. You have all those desires, but yet you don't have anything. Why? You have not ye kill murder and desire to have. That's an amazing phrase. It literally means this. You'll do anything you care to have it. Whatever it takes, instead of being dedicated to God, instead of being devoted to God, you'll do anything. You'll move away from this church to make more money. You'll move away from God's will to have more things, and all of a sudden, you'll get to the place in your life, you'll do whatever it takes to satisfy your flesh. Watch the consumption. You desire, verse number two, to have Literally, you'll covet, do whatever it means you desire to have and cannot obtain. You fight and war, yet you have not. Why? Because you ask not. Notice the consumption of your life. You're doing everything you can to please your flesh. James said you'll murder, you'll kill. It's the same mind, it's the same attitude, it's the same mentality. Whatever it takes. I want this for my pleasure. I want this for my family. I want this for my flesh. I want this for my desires. You know what James said? You should be asking God. You'll do all of these things and you don't have enough. The whole time. You should be asking God. Notice the conflict, the consumption, just the foundation. But number three, notice the companion. Verse number three, ye ask, receive not. Why? Because ye ask amiss. Why? That ye may consume it upon your own lusts, your desires, your pleasures. You're asking for the wrong thing. There's many things that I would like to ask God for, but I don't waste this time. I want a 67 GT500 Shelby, but I know if I asked God, he would laugh just like you laugh. That's a waste of time. That's exactly what James said. You're asking for the wrong things. God, can we be honest? I'm a family, I'm a friend. We might as well be honest. God's been good to all of us. God bless you. We believe in the United States of America. If you want to work hard enough, you can get those things. You can do those things. Some people are lazy, they'll have nothing. But if you want to work hard enough, you can have all of those things. But here's what James did. You're asking God for the wrong things. You're asking God for things that please your flesh. And he said, you're asking this. Why? Watch the next verse in this foundation. Look at the companion. Verse number four, you adulterers, the adulteresses. Knowing not that friendship or the companionship of the world, look at the strong language of the Bible, is enmity with God. Whosoever therefore will be a friend, a companion of the world, watch the Bible, is an enemy of God. So James said, show me your faith. I'll show you your works. Show me your works. I'm glad you eased your conscience coming on a Sunday morning, but that don't have a whole lot to do with God. Yes, God will be here. Yes, God will be faithful. But if you live the rest of this week like the world lives and you act the rest of this week like you're an enemy of God, you are not pleasing God, you are not satisfying God, you are a friend to this world. You cannot be a friend to this world. And if you are a friend to this world, the Bible says you're an enemy. of God. Notice the companion, but number four, look at the control in this life. Verse number five, do you think, do you think that the scripture saith in vain? That's an amazing phrase. James just said, do you think you're wasting your time? Do you think the Bible, it's all vanity that it would say this, a waste of time? The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth in thee. But notice number five, the contribution of God in verse six. but he giveth God, God, more, not just grace, but he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud. He's quoting, but giveth grace unto the humble. Here's what James said. We must humble ourselves before God. No, we don't deserve the blessings of God. No, we don't deserve the goodness of God. But here's what God'll do. Here's how good God is. Here's the evidence of God inside of you. If you'll just humble yourself, If I'll just humble myself, he'll give us more grace than we ever deserved, more grace than we ever... How could you say that James is a book of works when James just said, God giveth more grace? How could you ever say in the interpretation of James that James is saying we should work for our salvation? When James said, it's God that giveth. I'll tell you why you're saved. You're not saved because of your works. You're not saved because of what you have done. We are saved because of the grace of an almighty God. He has given me more grace. He has given you more grace. It's all because of the grace of God. We see this companion. We see the control. We notice the contribution. But watch the command. Verse number seven. Submit. yourself therefore to God. Why? Resist the devil. And he will. It's a promise. Flee from you. But the first step is submitting to God. That's an amazing English word. We don't use it correctly. But it literally means giving God full control of every aspect of your life. Somebody said the devil made me do it. You know why? You didn't submit to God. even after I come to an altar. How many times, Pastor, have I done this? We've been in these great meetings and we've watched God working. I'll come to an altar now. You need to change your socks, by the way. But anyhow, you are not resisting the devil. I got distracted there. How many times have we been, how many times in this building, we've been in good meetings, and God moved, and God impressed us, and we came to the altar, we say, God, I surrender all, and God, I give you my life, and he submit to God. We walk out of this door, and we don't resist the devil. Angel James said, all you gotta do is resist, You said that Satan has far more power than I have. Yeah, but we're serving a God that's on the front. The hell and devil and Satan himself, we're serving a God that has all power. So you submit to God, there's a command, and then you resist the devil. We see this choice, the choice, number seven in verse eight. Draw nigh to God. Near. What'll happen? He'll draw nigh or near to you. Not only draw nigh to it, cleanse your hands, ye sinners, and purify your hearts. Be double-minded. You know what'll happen if you draw near to God the inside? Something will be cleansed on the inside. I'm glad we're in a Baptist church, I think. I'm worried about most Baptists. I hope I'm a better Christian than I am a Baptist, because the Baptists have focused on the outside. And here's what James said. You get real close to God, something will happen on the inside. Closer, you get to God. Clear. I'm glad you've done your best. You're sharp, I'm glad you're not. I mean, the pastor's wife sang against your necklace, but anyhow, I'm glad. I like your necklace. She does too. I'm glad y'all did your best for God. That's wonderful. That's not a bad thing. That's not a bad thing at all. Somebody thought I was you the other day. I was preaching in Hinton, West Virginia, and I pulled in at Gold Martin. I got me something to drink, and two guys were working there, and I didn't even have my jacket on, just had my tie on, getting ready to go to church. They said, do you work at the funeral home? And I'm thinking, no, I don't work at the funeral home. I'm gonna preach revival. And this was a sad thing. They said, well, what's a revival? It's good to do your best for God. It's good to look your best. I mean, I got blue jeans, they're better. I got some blue jeans I'd wear to church and some that I love to wear every day and they haven't been washed for a few weeks and Rachel's in heaven, so forgive me for that. But anyhow, I ride my Harley with them, but I wouldn't wear those to church. I wanna do my best on the outside, but listen to me. There's a lot of men and women sitting in churches just like this today on a Sunday morning. and they got their best suit on, they got their best dress on, and they're filthy on the inside. They're dirty on the inside. They might as well come in their dirty blue jeans. They might as well come looking like a bum to the house of God. God is not pleased with your outside when your inside is filthy. James said, get real close to God, and here's what'll happen. It'll clean up the inside. What's the Bible? Just the foundation of what God is saying. We're drawing nigh to God. Look at verse number nine. In this choice, be afflicted and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to heaviness. Lament and looming. James said this is far too serious to be foolish in the work of God. Why, verse 10, humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord. What's gonna happen? He shall lift you up. We have preachers all over this world lifting their self up. And that has nothing to do with God. We have parents lifting up children and grandchildren. And that has nothing to do with God. Humble yourselves and let God lift you up. We see the conflict. Notice the truth of life. But number two, just foundation. Look at the tragedy of life. Speak not evil one of another. Watch this word, brethren. You know what he said? Don't ever say one evil thing about your brother, your sister in Christ. Show me your faith. James said, well, they say they're saved, but I don't see any evidence of their works because they're speaking evil of their brother and their sister. They say they're on their way to heaven, James said, but I really can't tell you that for sure because they're saying things about the family of God. Have you ever seen this bumper sticker? And they put it on the back of, Strange to me, they'll put it on the back of an $80,000 truck, a sticker, a $2 sticker. I never understood that, but anyhow, stickers. I love God, but I just don't like the family of God, and I'm thinking that's not biblical. As a matter of fact, that's impossible. James said, if you wanna act like a Christian, if you wanna live like a Christian, speak not evil one of another, brethren. Why, verse 11, he that speaketh, here's why, here's why. He that speaketh evil of his brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of the law, not his brother, and judgeth, not his brother, the law, that's God's, that's God's. But if thou judge the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge. When I speak evil, and I have, I have, There's people I, not your pastor, he's one of my best friends, but there's people I preached for. I really didn't like them and I didn't go back. And don't act like you got halos on your head either, praise God. You know what happened when I done that? I became God. I became the judge. You speak evil of your brother and your sister. Watch the Bible. Look at this tragedy in life, verse 12. Here's why. There's one lawgiver who's able to save and to destroy. That means he understands every area of their life. Who are thou? A judge of another. I've heard men preach and I'm thinking, I wonder if they're saved. They're judging everybody. I wonder. Well, their relationship, show me your faith, I'll show you your works, but yet, they, not your pastor, but they get up behind pulpits all across America, and they judge everybody but their self, and I'm thinking, I wonder about their salvation. Who am I to judge another? James, the half-brother of Christ, had a perspective about our Lord and Savior that no one else had. Undoubtedly in that culture, if you've ever been there, they grew up in the same bedroom. They possibly slept in the same bed as half brothers. They played together. They were educated together. They worked together. James knew things that nobody else knew. And here's what James learned from Jesus. I have no right to judge my brother and my sister. I am not God. And I cannot be God. I cannot judge the law of God as a child of God. We see the tragedy. We notice the truth. But here's the message, number three, and I'm done. Look at the time of life. Everything in the Bible is there for a reason. It's a book of order. It's not sporadic. So why would James speak of the truth of life and then remind us of this tragedy of life? And then all of a sudden, in the last paragraph, He speaks of the time of life. Why can we not judge? Why must we draw nigh to God? Why must we not be a companion of this world and be a friend to God? Why? Well, here's verse 13. Can I say, number one, this time of life, these things that I've done, look at the presumption of life. Go to now. Ye that say today or tomorrow we will go into such a city and continue there a year and buy and sell and gain. He's presuming. that he has a year. He's just presuming it's not bad to do what he's about to do. As a matter of fact, the Bible speaks of it. We ought to be good stewards. If you have a job, you ought to be the hardest working person at that job. You ought to have the best testimony at that job. You're representing the Lord Jesus Christ, but do not presume that you're gonna live till retirement. Do not presume that you're gonna have enough days to put up enough money. It's not a sin what he was doing, but it was a sin to presume the fact that he had all this time. And then live for God. And then live for the Lord Jesus Christ. Notice the presumption of his life, but number two, watch the Bible. Look at the problem of this life in verse 14. Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. You know what James just said? You have no idea what may happen tomorrow. Brother Scott was talking about my dad. They already told me because I didn't bring Adelaide that the preacher's daughter's mad and you're mad because I didn't bring dad. Is anybody glad that I came? I doubt it, but I'm here anyway. I just, I'm here. It's all you're getting today. I was telling Brother Scott, my dad was weed eating. He shouldn't have been, but it won't change. He fell and we believe he had a heat stroke and it was bad. He talked very slow Wednesday. We knew it really affected him and then it cleared up. But that could have been very different very quickly. We have no idea what may happen tomorrow. Our Rachel's in heaven with the Lord. Our Rachel was 48 years old when she died just 17 months ago. I had no idea. Last night I'd be in the house by myself, just a few months ago. I know you think you have plenty of time, sir, but you don't. I know I have an aunt, she's 102, but she'll tell you the same thing. It's been so fast. You think you have time. You're gonna walk out of this building, and you're gonna listen to the message. You might even come to an altar. And you're gonna walk out there the same way you walked in. Here's a problem in life. You don't know. Watch the Bible. We see the presumption. We notice the problem. But here's the proclamation. Verse 14, whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what, what is your life? James asked this question. What are you doing with, the only reason you have life is God. Somebody said, well, it's my life, I'll do what I want to. No, it's not. You wouldn't be breathing if it wasn't for my God. You would not be alive if it wasn't for my, well, it's my body, I'll do it. No, it's not. It's all because of my God. So what is your life? Let me ask it this way, because I need to examine myself. What is my life? I'm not judging them, but it's very evident. It's very evident. We know preachers that are wasting their life because ministry is about them and about what they want. They're wasting their life. You can stand behind a pulpit every Sunday and waste your life. So what is your life? And James answers his question. Look at the Bible, you can quote this verse, you can quote this scripture many times you have. It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanisheth away. We try to focus many on the vapor. We understand what a vapor is scientifically. It just comes in the air and then it goes away, but we should be focusing on the thought in that verse. You're here now, but you're gonna vanish away. Your job, your career, and I know God's blessed us. I'm not saying that. All the stuff that we have, and I know God's been good to us, but none of that'll matter. It don't matter. Why? You're gonna vanish away. One day I'll die. One day I'll die. That means for the Christian that my soul will separate from my body, I'll be in heaven, I'll be living for all eternity. But this life as I know it now, I might have a friend or two that remembers, I might have some family that remembers some things that I did and some memories that we had, but the world, I won't even know who you are. The missionary had it right. This one life will soon be passed. Only what's done for Christ will last. So here's the message. What is your life? What are you doing? When my Rachel died, she was very healthy before cancer. We had plans, we had dreams and things we wanted to do and see. Never did we imagine that those plans would never be fulfilled. We're only married for 28 years. Never did we dream that we would not grow old together. So I wanna ask you, what are you doing for God today? Because my Rachel lived her life for the Lord Jesus Christ. And I can promise you, I certainly don't know everything about heaven. I certainly don't know everything she is doing at this moment, but I promise you this, she did not regret giving her life to Christ. She had a cousin that told her, don't go to Bible college, it's unaccredited, you'll never make any money. And her cousin is dead too. And she never lived for Jesus. I wonder which one is regretting in eternity today. What is your life, mothers and fathers? Tragically, we have raised a generation, many generations now in America, we've taught them to be successful, we've taught them to make money, and I know we're supposed to work, and I know, and sometimes God blesses us with those things, but what is your life? What are you doing with your life? The only thing I can tell you is when Rachel died, And I've talked to your pastor about this. We don't have insurance. We have some type of share program that really, it does more now, but didn't do then. And we owed over $700,000 in hospital bills. So what happened? I have no idea. God took care of them all. You're really gonna trust this government more than our God? The only thing I know is, give your life to God. Because at the end of your life, that's all that matters. So here's the question. What is your life? I want you to stand if you would, if our brother would come and just play something softly. Let's all stand with every head bowed and every eye closed.