Well, let's again seek God in prayer and ask for his gracious spirit's presence with us. Thank you, our Father, for this opportunity to worship you. Thank you, our Father, for this opportunity to hear your word. And we pray and ask that you would graciously pour out your Holy Spirit upon all of us, that we would all hear your word aright, receive its truths with submission, as we've even sung, into our hearts, and that we would then act upon what we have learned from your word. We need your grace. We need your Holy Spirit. We need your presence. And so please be with us now. And we ask for these mercies in Jesus Christ's name. Amen. In my study, In my home, on my desk, I have two bookends made of stone. The bookends are virtually identical in appearance with some slight variations. Sandwiched between those bookends are several Christian books which address different subjects, although each of those books has a connection with the other books, The primary connection which ties, as it were, each of those books to each other is the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Each book addresses the gospel of Christ. But they're not identical books, they're different. There are additional secondary connections among those books, sandwiched between these two bookends, such as the theme of living the Christian life and the doctrine of the sovereignty of God. Well, in the passage that we will study this evening, James verbally does what I have just described regarding the bookends on my desk and the books that are sandwiched between them. James uses two bookends, as it were, submission to God in verses 7 and 10 of James chapter 4. and then he sandwiches between those two bookends of submission to God various gospel truths. So that's the passage we'll study tonight, so please turn in your Bibles to James chapter four, and we'll begin our reading at verse seven. James chapter four and verse seven. Be subject therefore unto God, but resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be afflicted and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to heaviness. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord and he shall exalt you. And there we end our reading of God's word. So as we begin our study of this passage, we must first note the important connecting English word in verse 7, that word therefore. And that word points us back to verse 6. And in verse 6, we read that God resists the proud and gives grace to the humble. Therefore, James reminds us in verse 7, each believer must be subject, must submit himself unto God. So this is the first bookend of our passage in verse 7. Here is a call to every believer to subordinate himself or herself to God, to place himself, to place herself, heart, will, and life under God's control. to yield cheerful and willing obedience to all of God's commands. Such cheerful, willing obedience and submission to God is absolutely vital for James now issues nine imperatives in rapid-fire succession in the following four verses. and obedience to these commands will be a manifestation of submission from the heart and the will to God. So notice now in verses 7 and 8, two commands and two promises. Verses 7 and 8, two commands and two promises. First of all, notice in verse 7 the clear command given to each believer. Resist the devil. Every Christian is to take his stand against the devil by refusing to yield to him and all of his temptations. Easily said, not always so easily accomplished. We must remember that the Bible teaches us that the devil is the slanderer. For as the prince of evil, he slanders God. He slanders everything and anyone connected with God. He slanders God's character by insinuating that God's word cannot be trusted, and therefore God should not be trusted, and neither should God be obeyed. The Christian, the devil would have us believe, should not submit to God. This is not good, the devil would have us believe. But of course, the devil himself does not submit to God, and he wickedly and persistently endeavors to prevent everyone and anyone from doing so. Because of these spiritual realities with reference to the devil, the Christian's resistance to the devil must be persistent, uncompromising, and unceasing. Three important words. They're similar but not identical. The Christian's resistance to the devil must be persistent. You must not give up. They must be uncompromising. Don't compromise with the devil and his temptations. And they must be unceasing. That is, you never stop throughout your entire life. Such spiritual and practical resistance to the devil cannot be accomplished in the Christian's strength. You, if you're a Christian for more than a few months probably, you realize this. The Christian cannot resist the devil in his own strength. No Christian is a match for the devil. And therefore, each Christian must put on the whole armor of God, which the Lord has provided, and daily use both offensive and defensive armor to resist the devil. The Apostle Paul in Ephesians 6, and you don't need to turn there, you perhaps have already thought of that passage. He actually used the same word in verse 13 of Ephesians 6, which James used here in verse 7, when Paul wrote, therefore take up the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand the devil in the evil day. You see, it's that word withstand that you may be able to resist. Now it's not my purpose tonight in this message to point out or explain each part of the whole armor of God, but at the same time I do believe it is vital to remind you briefly of several of these armor pieces which you as a Christian must use daily in order to resist the devil. You must take up the shield of faith by which you will be able to quench all of the fiery darts of the evil one. You must take up the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God, and use that word to resist the devil. You must take up the weapon of all prayer and supplication, praying at all seasons in the spirit in order to resist the devil. Our supreme example, of course, is the Lord Jesus Christ, whom we must imitate and follow as we resist the devil, even as he did, and he did so successfully throughout his life. He has shown us how to resist the devil. He used the sword of the Spirit, even the Word of God, to resist the temptations of the devil. And you must do the same. And of course, this is a good reason to memorize the Scripture, to bring it into your mind and heart, and then to have it at your hand in those tempting moments of the devil, to use the sword of the Spirit. But notice the promise connected to this command. In verse 7, he, the devil, will flee from you. That's what James declares. Resist the devil, that's the command, and what is the promise? He will flee from you. When the Christian resists the devil's temptations and purposes and does not succumb to them, then, James says, that's what will happen. The devil will flee. The promise which James proclaims is, we must remember, a Holy Spirit-inspired promise. This is not just the promise of some earthly individual disconnected with the Spirit of God. The Apostle James, inspired by the Holy Spirit, gives us this promise. Whatever power Satan may have, the Christian can be absolutely certain that he has been given the ability, in union with Jesus Christ by faith, to overcome that power of the devil. So don't misunderstand me. I'm not suggesting that you go looking for some fight, as it were, with the devil. I'm not suggesting that you do silly things that are unscriptural, that some professing Christians say you should do, where they say things like, I rebuke you, devil. I'm not suggesting that. I'm not saying that you should not be verbalizing anything to the devil. But the devil is indeed very powerful. He is not omnipotent. He is not God. but you have the ability in union with Jesus Christ by faith. God has given you that ability through union with Jesus Christ by faith to succeed in resisting the devil. Do you believe that? Or do you believe that you must just accept the fact that you are a victim And whenever there's a temptation from the devil that you have no choice but to basically give in. Or maybe you think, well, I'll resist a little bit, but it becomes very tough, very hard. It becomes so hard, I can't continue to do this resisting. I have no choice but to just give up. That's all actually false. Again, in union with Jesus Christ by faith, You can do what James says here in verse 7. Resist the devil and he will then flee from you. But notice the second command now in verse 8 of James chapter 4. Look there in your Bibles. Pastor Hoffmeier has already mentioned this particular portion. Draw near to God. This is a command. James' purpose to encourage believers who are daily and frequently pressed down by many temptations to persevere in their faith in Christ. Christians can become easily discouraged by the persistent and relentless spiritual warfare in which they are engaged. Christians can even despair of any relief, can despair of deliverance, can lose hope. Their grip by faith upon the Lord Jesus Christ can weaken, and they can begin to question, what should I do? What can I do? God through James graciously commands each Christian, drawn near to God, James is highlighting the breathtaking privilege which is yours as a believer in Jesus Christ. Each and every Christian has direct access to the one true and living God through the Lord Jesus Christ. You need to step back from the busyness of life at times. You need to get some quiet place and quiet time. You need to turn off your cell phone, turn it upside down. You need to close your laptop computer. You need to make some time to think about this reality, that you, as a believer in Jesus Christ, you have direct access to the one true and living God. through faith in Jesus Christ alone. Drawn near to God, this is James' command. He's not suggesting it. He's telling you this is what you must do, what you should do. You're commanded to do this. But notice the promise joined to this gracious command in verse 8. draw near to God? And what is the promise? He will draw near to you. When any Christian draws near to God, through God's word and prayer, through the Lord Jesus Christ, he is drawing near, as I've already said, to the living God. And what do you know about the living God from your Bibles? If you read your Bible regularly, you should know a lot about the living God. What does it reveal? The God that you are to draw near to, who will then draw near to you, is omniscient. He knows everything about you. He is also all-wise. He knows exactly what is best for you, the individual Christian. This God is omnipotent. He is able to do all His holy will in and through your life. He has the power to deliver you from every remaining sin. He has the power to transform you into the image of Jesus Christ. He is also abundantly gracious to helpless, needy sinners who are trusting in Christ. He's abundantly gracious. He's not stingy. He's not reluctant. He is faithful to His Word and faithful to your soul. And He's faithful because He is that in His very character. And He who has begun a good work in you will complete that good work. He is faithful to do that. You must believe that as you draw near to Him. And you must believe that He is truly loving. If you are a real Christian trusting in Christ alone, you should be able to say to yourself, my God in Christ truly loves me. Am I always lovable? No. Am I many times objectionable because of my remaining sin? Yes. But nevertheless, this God who is my Savior in Christ truly loves me. And because he loves me, he will indeed draw near to me as I draw near to him, and he will hear my cries." Perhaps James had Psalm 145, verse 18 in his mind. We don't know that. I'm just suggesting maybe he had that scripture in his mind when he penned these words. In that Psalm we read, Jehovah is nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth. So those are the two commands with two promises. But now let's look at six individual commands. The rest of verse 8 all the way through verse 9. Six individual commands. Cleanse is the first there in verse 8. Cleanse or wash your hands, you sinners. In this context, James was clearly writing about spiritual realities. He was not writing about Old Testament ceremonial washings. He was not concerned about the physical washing of one's hands as the Pharisees so often were. James used the word hands as a synecdoche, that is, a figure of speech by which a part, in this case hands, represents the whole, in this case the entire man. James wanted his readers and us today to understand that the removal of moral defilement, which is connected with our outward behavior, is commanded by God. I'm going to say that again. The removal of moral defilement, which is connected with our outward behavior, is commanded by God. Remember, James previously addressed these professing Christians as those who can sinfully engage in pleasures that war in their members. Verse one of chapter four. He also told them that when they have a friendship of the world, they are spiritual adulteresses who are unfaithful to their God and Savior, who is like unto a husband. And although their friendship with the world begins in the heart, such friendship with the world eventually manifests itself in sinful deeds done with the body. No doubt James assumed that many of his readers were genuine Christians, but they needed to be reminded of the seriousness of any departure from godly behavior. And therefore, with a sharpness and terseness, he addressed them as sinners, in verse 8. Again, he regarded them, no doubt, the majority of them, as genuine Christians. But he wanted them to understand they must be living godly lives. And so, with a sharpness and terseness, he addressed them as sinners, in verse 8, to sober them. Because if they practiced sins with their bodies, they would indeed manifest that they were sinners. Sinners in a dangerous state, spiritually speaking. But notice now, secondly in verse 8, Purify your hearts, you dumble-minded. James then moves on to address the absolute necessity that every Christian purify his heart. Again, James uses a figure of speech, the heart, to represent the entirety of man's spiritual being. Holiness of heart must be supreme. It must be a supreme concern to every professing Christian. Such holiness of heart will include the thoughts, the imaginations, the affections, the desires, the drives, the motives, everything. Outward conformity to the law of God without inward conformity to the law of God in the heart is hypocrisy. Outward conformity to the law of God without inward conformity to the law of God in the heart is hypocrisy. And James does not want any of his readers to be hypocrites. James' words should remind us of Psalm 24, where we read, Who shall ascend the hill of Jehovah? Who shall stand in his holy place? He that has clean hands and a pure heart. He that has clean hands and a pure heart. Very likely could be that James thought of Psalm 24 as he penned the words of chapter 4 here in his epistle. But note in verse 8 of chapter 4 the word which James used to address his readers at this point. He used the same word to address them previously in chapter 1 and verse 8. As a faithful pastor and as a spiritual heart surgeon, James does not want any of these Christians to be double-minded. A double-minded individual is someone who wavers between following and obeying God on the one hand, and following and obeying the world on the other hand. Such a professing Christian attempts to be a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ, while yet his heart is wedded either to a particular sin or to the world and its ways. And when any Christian permits any specific sin or any friendship with the world to entice him away, pull him away from total, single-minded, wholehearted allegiance to God, that individual has then become double-minded, with divided loyalties, and will eventually become spiritually unstable. To profess to be a genuine disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ, to profess to be seeking God's forgiveness and fellowship while cherishing and practicing consciously and willfully what God hates is mockery. Mockery of God. Cherishing and practicing consciously and willfully what God hates is mockery. I'm a Christian. I'm a member of the church. I come faithfully to every Lord's Day service. I read my Bible. I'm a Christian. But in the heart, in the life, There is that cherishing and practicing of some sin that you know in your conscience God hates because God's Word reveals that he hates that specific sin. To do this is to scorn and disdain the God of heaven and all of his perfect holiness. To be double-minded is to regard with contempt and treat as nothing the Lord Jesus Christ and his death on the cross under the wrath of God. Christian, do you understand this? When you are cherishing, not repenting of a specific heart sin in your life, And you know that as a pattern, this is a sin that you have been indulging and even, as it were, protecting. When you do that, as a Christian, you are regarding with contempt and treat as nothing the Lord Jesus Christ and his death on the cross under the wrath of God. To do that is to grieve the Holy Spirit whose work it is to sanctify every believer in Jesus Christ. So what should you do if you realize that you are such a double-minded individual sitting here tonight? You have some uncleanness in your behavior that you know about, you know God knows about, but no one else knows about it. You have some sinfulness as a pattern in your heart, indulging that sin in your heart as a pattern of life. You know about it, obviously. You know God knows about it. No one else may know about it, but you're doing this. You see, you're being double-minded. And what should you do? You should give up. Is that right? Of course not. You don't give up. What should you do? First, get your act together, clean yourself up. Well, in one sense, you should clean yourself up by repenting, but you must go straight to the Lord Jesus Christ immediately with all of your sins and all of your guilt and ask for forgiveness for those specific sins and those specific impurities of your heart and life. You must immediately abandon those sins. Give them up. Abandon the impurities of heart and life, all of them. You must do what we are urged to do through Isaiah the prophet. Seek the Lord while he may be found. Call upon him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts and let him return unto Jehovah and he will have mercy upon him and to our God for he will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts, says God, are not your thoughts. Neither are your ways my ways, says Jehovah. That is what you are to do if you are double-minded sitting here tonight. You are to go straight to Jesus Christ immediately. You are to confess your sins of heart and life. You're to abandon those sins of heart and life. You're to call upon the Lord, for he will indeed abundantly pardon such sinners. But now look at James chapter four, and look at verse nine. We have the third, the fourth, and the fifth. imperatives here given to us by James. And with these three words, be afflicted and mourn and weep, James, like many Old Testament prophets, was calling the Lord's people to a repentance that would be characterized to some degree by a sense of one's wretchedness because of sin. Remember the words of the apostle Paul, the words of the apostle Paul, the words of Paul the Christian, the real Christian, where he said, wrote, wretched man that I am. Paul did not write wretched man that I was, though that was of course also true, but he wrote wretched man that I am. Who shall deliver me from the body of this death? You see, we must have a sense of our wretchedness because of the reality of our sin. So we are to be afflicted. Grief in one's heart for offending God. There must be an all-encompassing sincere sorrow for sin. James was not saying to these readers in verse 9, go around and publicly display your weeping. He wasn't saying that. He was saying that your repentance must involve these realities. You must have from your heart an all-encompassing, sincere sorrow for your real sins. Perhaps James, whose mind and heart was immersed in the scriptures, perhaps he thought of Joel chapter 2, where we read, Yet even now, says Jehovah, turn you unto me with all your heart. and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning, and rend your heart and not your garments, and turn unto Jehovah your God, for he is gracious, and merciful, and slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness, and repents him of the evil. Again, we don't know, but it could be that James had such a passage in his mind as he wrote these words in verse 9. Or perhaps James thought of the apostle Peter when he denied knowing the Lord Jesus Christ on the night of his betrayal. You all are familiar with that history. The Lord turned and looked upon Peter And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how that he had said unto him, before the rooster crow this day, you shall deny me three times. The Lord turned and looked upon Peter. Peter remembered the Lord's warning words. Peter saw the reality of his sinful speech. his sinful, impure heart. And what did he do? He went out and he wept bitterly. Have you ever wept? I don't mean in public. Have you ever wept bitterly over the reality of your sin? Have you ever felt the wretchedness of your sin? Have you ever been grieved in your heart for offending God? These are questions that James would have you answer as we work through this passage. But now notice in verse nine, James writes, let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to heaviness or to gloom. Now with these words, James was not teaching that Christians can never laugh or have joy here on earth. Both laughter and joy are gifts from God when they are used biblically. Christians are not to walk around on this earth with a continual spirit and behavior of sadness and gloom. James was aware, however, that Christians can, at times, slide into a casual attitude toward sin. that can begin in the heart and then manifest itself outwardly in their behavior. And when this occurs, a Christian can engage, for example, in unseemly laughter at sinful, off-color jokes at the office or in the university with barely a twinge of conscience. Professing Christians can, sadly at times, overstep the bounds of legitimate Christian liberty and involve themselves in a worldly joy which dulls and deadens their conscience. These real dangers gave James grave concern. James wanted these Christians to understand again that friendship with the world, hypocrisy of life, and indulging any sin as a pattern of life especially, was a serious breach in their relationship with their loving Heavenly Father. He wanted these readers to understand that if that breach is not healed according to the gospel of repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, temporal, spiritual problems, even disasters could possibly result. These truths were intended by James to sober these believers. And they are intended to sober you tonight. And again, James is not saying after this church service tonight, after it's over, that you should all just sit around, not talk to one another, be sad, not smile, not chuckle, not laugh. It's not what James is saying. He's addressing the heart. He's addressing the outward behavior. He's addressing spiritual realities. And he wants you to examine yourself and ask and answer the question, am I a friend of the world? Am I double-minded? Am I impure in my heart? to answer those questions. But now notice in verse 10, a concluding command and promise. Verse 10. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord and he shall exalt you. This is the second bookend of our passage. Remember that the first bookend in our passage was there in verse 7, be subject therefore unto God. Or the new King James says, therefore submit to God. And James now in verse 10 reiterates and emphasizes the absolutely vital need for this grace of humility in the hearts and in the lives of every Christian. To humble yourself as a Christian in the sight of the Lord, as James says here, means to throw off all pride, whether gross or subtle pride, whether internal pride or external pride, to throw off, to abandon, to forsake pride in all of its manifestations. To humble yourself as a Christian is to forsake arrogance, haughtiness, and lofty opinions in your attitudes, your demeanor, your words, your behavior. To humble yourself as a Christian in the sight of the Lord is to become aware increasingly of God's greatness, God's holiness, God's omnipotence, God's love, God's grace, and your own insignificance, your own sinfulness, remaining sinfulness if you're a Christian, your own helplessness, your lovelessness, your unworthiness to receive any mercy from God. Why are we proud? Why do we feel that evil sin so quickly welling up from within the heart when some brother or sister doesn't acknowledge us as we think they should? Or when some brother or sister in Christ says something or writes something and you think, how could they say that to me or write that to me in that text message? Well, maybe they said or wrote some things that were not right and sinful. But your response, how could they do that to me? Well, who are you? Do you think you're so significant? Do you think you're the king of kings? Why are we so quickly so proud? Why are we so quickly to point out the pride in others when we ourselves are so exceedingly proud? Oh, he's a very proud individual. Well, that statement, I think, manifests that you're proud because you think you're somebody special. but to humble yourself as a Christian in the sight of the Lord. We need to remember that God is present in this auditorium. God is here seeing all of us. And unlike me, who can look from right to left and see all of you, God sees into your conscience God sees into your thoughts. God sees into your heart, your motives, your affections. God sees everything about everyone here in this auditorium. To humble yourself as a Christian in the sight of the Lord is to become aware of God's greatness, holiness, omnipotence, love, and to become aware of your own insignificance, sinfulness, helplessness, lovelessness, and unworthiness to receive anything from God. But God graciously promises that when any sinner when any sinner truly humbles himself in the sight of the Lord. Amazing wonder, he will exalt that sinner. That's what the text says. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord and he shall exalt you. Isn't this what we read of in the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector? Two men went up to the temple to pray, Pharisee and a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and prayed with himself, God, I thank you that I'm not like the rest of men. He was full of pride. But the tax collector, standing afar off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, smote his breast with conviction of sin, saying, God, merciful to me, the sinner." And what did Jesus say in reference to that parable? This man, the tax collector, went down to his house justified rather than the Pharisee, for everyone who exalts himself shall be humbled, but he that humbles himself shall be exalted. Well brethren, by way of review. In this passage in James 4, there are two commands and two promises in verses 7 and 8. There are six individual commands in verses 8 and 9. There's a concluding command and promise in verse 10. And what are some lessons to learn from this? Well, surely the most obvious lesson is this. We see the absolute necessity for the grace of humility in every Christian's life. Remember how the disciples were arguing, who's gonna be greatest in the kingdom of heaven? Jesus on that occasion called a little child to himself, set him before those disciples, and said, Truly I say to you, unless you turn and become as little children, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself, Jesus said, as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Surely The overarching teaching of this passage is that Christians need to be men and women, boys and girls, who are clothed with true gospel humility in their hearts and in their lives and in every aspect of their lives. But that will never happen unless you are turning away from all your sin, including pride, trusting in Christ alone for forgiveness and cleansing and transformation. Jesus Christ came into the world not only to forgive his elect their sins, but to transform them from the inside out that they would be just like him. And what did he say on one occasion? Come unto me, all you who labor and are heavy burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, learn of me. Why? For I am meek and lowly in heart, and you shall find rest for your souls. He was characterized by this grace of humility, perfect humility. And so from this passage, there is a clarion call to all of us, myself included, to repent of every aspect of being double-minded as a Christian. What specific sin, I ask again, what specific sin, if any, are you holding on to? You know you should not hold on to that specific sin. You confess that specific sin frequently, maybe daily to God through Christ. You say you want to be done with that specific sin, but then you don't truly, really from the heart repent. And you are wavering back and forth, back and forth. And you're unhappy. And you should be unhappy because you're double-minded. The Lord Jesus Christ can forgive you for that double-mindedness and the Lord Jesus Christ can rescue you, deliver you from that double-mindedness. But you must go to him and acknowledge that double-mindedness and ask for his forgiveness and deliverance. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ for pardon and salvation and do so without delay. But then the last lesson this evening from this passage. Salvation is all of grace. Our good works do not earn forgiveness or salvation. Our obedience to God's commands do not earn us merit in the presence of God in heaven. And yet, It is also totally true that the Christian life is a life with many, many commandments from God. Isn't that clear from this passage? James was not a legalist, but James was not an antinomian either. James was on that razor's edge of truth. believing, proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ, but also knowing that the Christian life is a life that does have many commands because God in his word has given many commands to believers. And in this very passage, there's command after command, after command, after command. And your heart attitude towards those commands will reveal a lot about your spiritual health. If you heard these commands this night from this passage, and inwardly you're thinking, I really don't like this. Just talk to me about God's grace. Too much of commands, commands. But that's what's in the passage. What is your heart attitude towards the commands of God in his word? It should be, command what you will, Lord, and give me the grace to wholeheartedly obey your commands. And Lord, I know that my acceptance with you is not based upon my obedience, not based upon my law-keeping. It is based upon Jesus Christ alone, His perfect righteousness, His blood shed on the cross, His blood that cleanses away all my sins. It's in union with Christ by faith that I am accepted by God the Father in heaven and will be in the day of death and the day of judgment. But at the same time, Lord, help me as a believer to honor you in this life, in my heart, in my life, in this world. Help me to honor you by being one who is really concerned to evangelically, from the heart, obey all of your commandments. The Lord said, if you love me, you will keep my commandments. It shows forth love to Jesus Christ. So this passage clearly teaches us our good works do not earn forgiveness or salvation. but God gives his people many commands. And we should not regard any of his commands as an irritation, a bother, a burden, but rather, as the apostle Paul stated, I delight in the law of God in the inward man. I believe he was referring to the 10 commandments, maybe all of the word of God, but the principle there is he delighted in God's law. and we are to do the same, and God can enable each and every one of us to have such delight in God's commandments. Well, may the Lord help us to indeed take to heart the truths in this portion of James' letter. So let's close in prayer. We cry to you, our gracious Father, and ask that you would work in our hearts that none of us would have impure hearts, unclean hands, that none of us who are your disciples would be double-minded, be lovers of the world, friends of the world. Lord, we ask that you would work in all of our hearts, that we would honor you by our living, inwardly as well as outwardly. And we pray that whenever we sin, and we know we will sin, May we always immediately go straight to Jesus Christ, your son, our savior, for forgiveness, for cleansing in his blood. Lord, help us also as your people to be an obedient people, to find delight in your word and in your commandments. We come to you, our God, and ask for all of these realities so that you will be honored and glorified. and we would be bright, shining lights in this very dark world in which we live. So hear and answer our prayers as we come now in Jesus' name. Amen.