up tonight, if you will, and we're going to get back into the book of James, and for those of you guys who have been paying attention on Sunday, I've been alluding to this sermon out of James 5, and so we're going to get that thing in October, and I tell you, it's crap up inside of all kinds of different sermons in the last couple of days, or last couple of messages. So we're looking in James chapter 4, and we're looking in verse 4. That's our text verse in our series, but tonight we're going to jump into a couple other verses, obviously. So James chapter 4 and verse 4, the Bible says, the adulterers and adulteresses. Know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. And so what we find here in James 4.4 is we find that James is, again, James is a tremendous preacher, and I think I've had more respect over the last six to eight months in studying out the book of James than I have my entire life. He is literally that punch-you-in-the-mouth preacher. He is the guy that brings it. He does it candy-coated. But then as we get into Chapter 5, as you're going to see here in about four weeks, YOU FIND OUT THE LONG-SUFFERING, THE PEACE, THE KINDNESS, THE LOVE THAT HE HAS AS HE NOW PLACES RESPONSIBILITY ON US AS BELIEVERS AND WHAT WE NEED TO DO. BUT HERE IN CHAPTER FOUR WE FIND A DESCRIPTION OF BEING IN THE WAY OF WORLDLINESS. The very first week we looked at the concern that was brought forth out of chapter 4 and in verse 1. So we looked at the concern and then as we got into the next point we looked at the antithesis of conforming. He taught us not to conform. He speaks there. We went into Romans chapter 12 and verse 1. We looked at a couple other verses. as he's telling us that if you conform to the world, you will become an enemy to God. And here's the reality. He's speaking to Christians here. He is speaking to people who believe the Bible, who live the Bible, who obey the Bible. And he is telling us that we can become God's enemy. No, you don't lose your salvation. And again, we have this preconceived idea. I think many of us do. as to what worldly Christianity is. We have this idea because, and I said it last week, I said it Sunday, because of what we were taught and what the preachers before us were taught, and on and on and on, it's been passed down, this little tick list, if you will, of things that you must have in your life to not be worldly, things that you need to have in your life to not be worldly, to have these things, to meet these little tick lists. And I get it and I understand it. But guys, when you begin to unveil many of the standards that we have applied, many of them have been supported very little or very superficially with Scripture, and they've really and truly been formed to be against a certain group. We're not going to do that because this group does it. We're not going to wear this because that group does it. We're not going to have the telly in our church houses because this particular group does it. I remember back well over 15 years ago, I can't even remember what year, no, actually longer than we're in, 2023, 20 years ago, okay? I can remember back to 20 years ago The contemplation of us putting a screen in our new building. We were building a building. We got into it in 05. We started the building project in 04. We were doing the designs early on in the latter part of 03. And I had always brought one of those little prop up projector screens. And I would teach from it on an off night. You wouldn't dare use those things during the Sunday service or Wednesday service back then because that just wasn't the way you're supposed to do it because that was contemporary. and i'm down preaching in mexico one year i think it was two thousand four and uh... down there with uh... manuel gomez And I'm preaching a meeting with him, and he got out, getting ready to start song service. He got his guitar out and all this and that, and I'm sat in the back. And we're in a church building that had a blue tarpoleum on it as a roof, okay? And we had several people in there, brand new church. We had helped plant in that area there. And he broke out the overhead projector. and stuck one of the little transparencies on there, and that had the words of the song on it, right? And I sat there and I thought to myself, you've got to be kidding me. Us American pastors are making a big deal about those who put the words up on the screen for songs, and we come up with these excuses, oh, well, people just don't learn music there. Man, people don't know music anyway. Listen to them sing, are you kidding me? They don't know notes, all right? I know how to read notes, and I don't have a voice for nothing. I can read the notes. I know how they work. And I know how they work because somebody taught me. If somebody wants to learn music, then teach them. But putting the words on the screen, there is nothing wrong with that, amen. But we made it bad because some group did it before us, okay? And here was Manuel down there in this church, putting him up on an overhead projector, and I thought to myself, well he's got a 50-year-old overhead projector, so he's not contemporary by any means, but this is okay. I said, what's the difference, man? There's no difference. But we've set these standards, what we've labeled as worldliness, not according to the Word of God. They ain't a hymn book. Hey, listen, if you want to get biblical with hymns, open up the book of Psalms, get your guitar or your piano out, and start singing that way, amen? Don't tell me, you know, amazing grace is, you know, that God's all over that thing. Listen, I love John Newton all to death, that 10,000 years ain't got nothing to do with anything. We're not going to be anywhere for 10,000 years. The universe, as we know it in time, has 7,000 years. Once 7,000 years is finished, the Bible says eternity, it says time is no more. So if you want to get doctrinal tonight, I love Amazing Grace, don't get me wrong, love John Newton, amen? But don't sit here and say that he's inspired, amen, that don't give me all that stuff and you want to lay your standards on certain songs because of X, Y, and Z. It doesn't work like that. It's either biblical or it's not. You either have liberty or you don't. But I'm saying all that to say this, guys, to make this particular point as we go into the final point of what worldliness is and how you can be in the way of worldliness in your life, and it's not even remotely near the little tick list that we've been passed down from the preacher to preacher to preacher to preacher. And I know this is probably going to rub some people wrong. That's fine. It's meant to rub somebody wrong. It's meant, because guys, I'm going to tell you, you have no idea the conviction that I received in working on this message. Just in the stupid things I said as a young preacher and chose to do. Idiotic things, man, that make no sense. And the only reason you're saying them is because the preacher that you look up to, he said them. Or this pastor taught you this. And the only reason they believe wire rimmed glasses, well I guess you're going to hell if you wear wire rimmed glasses. You know that whole idea came from because the hippies wore wire rimmed glasses, so all of a sudden the Christian says, you can't wear wire rimmed glasses. You can't have a goatee. Why? Because the hippies did. Who cares what the hippies did? All right? I mean, I don't care. If we're doing things because a certain, if we're not doing things, OK, because a certain group is doing them, guys, listen, we are wrong, OK? We are to do what we need to do and live a life according to the Word of God if we're gonna be a Bible believer, amen? Not according to some standard that's been set up by somebody with a haircut down the middle, amen? That was a personal attack on persons. I'll go ahead and make it clear on that one, amen? So, let's move on. End the way of worldliness. Third thing we're gonna look at tonight is conflict. Conflict. If you wanna have a measure this evening of where worldliness falls, We're going to find it in verse 1. James chapter 4 and verse 1 says, Well, well, well. Look at that. What we just find in verse 1 is a clear definition of the biblical position of friendship with the world, which isn't linked to any type of collegiate list, any pattern of tick list that you can do or not do to gain someone's approval. I want you to notice with me first and foremost where the conflict is if you are in the way of worldliness. It's got nothing to do with your dress. It's got nothing to do with your music. It's got nothing to do with where you stick your hymns. It has something to do with your members. Your members. By the way, when it says your members there, it's not talking about your church members. I know we like to leak it there and make it some type of, you know, universal, you know, collaborative. No, this is personal, guys. If you're in the midst of worldliness in your life as a Christian, that war, that conflict is in your members, even of your lust, that war in your members. Emphasis added by me. THIS IS SELF, GUYS, NOT A UNIVERSAL CHURCH MADE UP OF BORN-AGAIN SOULS, AND FOR THAT MATTER, NOT EVEN THE LOCAL CHURCH. THIS IS SELF. REMEMBER, THE BOOK OF JAMES IS A GENERAL EPISTLE, MEANING THAT IT'S NOT WRITTEN TO A SINGULAR LOCAL CHURCH. HIS WRITINGS ARE APPLIED TO THE CHRISTIAN BELIEVER, ALBEIT, I UNDERSTAND, THAT IT WAS TO THE JEWISH BELIEVER, BUT GUYS, THEY ARE SAVED, NONETHELESS, JUST LIKE WE ARE, ACTS CHAPTER 15. This conflict within is causing you not even to get along with yourself. This conflict within is a result into your life of unhappiness, unpleasantness, and sheer negativity. You say, preacher, you mean to tell me that those things are present inside me, that I'm in the way of worldliness? That's exactly what James means, not me. That's exactly what the Bible means, not me. There's a battle that is inside you tonight, and if you're living in conflict from within, my friends, simply put, you are worldly tonight. I know that's not what we're taught. We're taught worldliness is all about outward appearance, and that's where we've gone wrong. Worldliness is a conflict within your personal members. Guys, there's a battle inside of you. You may dress the part. You may have everything on. You may have your little kids on. You may have everything on. You may have your hair parted on the correct side. You're wearing the right tie. I mean, all of the things may be correct. But guys, if there is conflict inside of you, if you're complaining about everything around you, guess what? You are worldly. I know you don't want to hear that. If you're unhappy all the time, you worldly, amen. If you're saved and born again, you ought to be the happiest person on the planet. Joy should override your unhappiness. I want to tell you right now, the most miserable people on this planet is not lost people. The most miserable people in this world, they are not lost people. The most miserable people on the world is a Christian caught up in conflict in their members because they worldly. So often we've applied this verse to members of the body of Christ, but this is personal, like, again, making it to a universal church. A marker of worldliness is the unsettledness in a believer's life. Unhappiness, the lack of joy, the constantly being affected by everything around you. News, weather, people, dogs, all of those things. James says you're worldly, And therefore, you become the enemy of God. Now, I'm not talking about being angry with sin of this world. Sin should make you angry. I get that. But the sin of this world should not overtake you. The sin and what's going on in this world should not overtake you. Hey, listen, it should not overtake you. Let me just go and say that if it is, you're worldly. Amen? You know what, when you let, when we, I'm going to say you, when we let the sin of this world, when we let this world overtake us and rob us of our joy, we're telling God, you're not strong enough, you're not good enough, you can't, that's what we're telling Him. When we're unhappy with where and what God has us doing in our life, we're telling God, I'm displeased with you, I'm unhappy with you, this is your fault, amen. There's another preacher that did that, a dude named Jonah. He got eaten by a whale, went to hell. Spat up on the ground, did he not? Went and preached an eight-word sermon, Preston. Eight words, amen? Eight words. I did a word count of one of my sermons though, they had 8,039 words on it. And ain't nobody moved. He preached eight words and 120,000 people got saved. Good night, man. And then God repented on what he was gonna do and he still got his panties in a what? You know why? Because he's worldly, that's why. He was worldly. If you're living in this conflict, guys, somewhere along the line, you are in the way of worldliness. It has settled into your life. And again, we've become so one-dimensional in our Christian life. And we've become one-dimensional as to what worldliness is, and it's enabled us to become self-righteous, carnal Christians. Well, we don't go there. Well, we don't wear that. Well, we don't listen to this. in a standards created by man to please man. And yet James says, your lusts that war in your members. He made it personal. Second Timothy tells us this, for God has not given us a spirit of fear, but a power of love and a sound mind. So let me ask you tonight, let me ask you this here real quick. Where's your power tonight? Where is your power tonight as a Christian, as a child of God? Are you weak, doubled over in the fetal position because of all the conflict going on in your life? Is there constant conflict and you have no power in your life today to stand up and be a righteous Christian according to the Word of God? Or are you going to rather take that little security blanket that you have that you got from your pastor, that he got from his pastor, and he got from his pastor when he was arguing, fighting about the hippies? I'm not trying to make enemies here. I'm not trying to upset anybody. I'm not trying to go against the grain so much. I am trying to go against the grain because we got to get our mind outside of what worldliness is. We need to take a biblical view of what worldliness is and quit looking at everybody else down our nose like we got it all, you know, kit-kat and a boodle and all this and that, and then all of a sudden we find out, no, we're just as worldly, if not worse, than they are, amen? Where's your power of constant conflict? Where's your love, amen? My goodness, man. Out of the three things, faith, hope, and charity, Paul says, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit of God, charity, that love, that sacrificial love, he said it's greater than all. Greater than faith? Greater than hope? Yeah. Where's your love tonight? Where's your love for lost souls, man? I was doing research for this South African trip, these lessons. We're going down there, gonna help these pastors out. 11 nations are representative in this summit that me and Ron are preaching. And I started doing some research on the percentages of their countries that are proclaimed Christians, and some countries was 98.6 Christians. I understand that part of what they call Christian is a false doctrine and you can't necessarily include that, but that number was only 40%, at least they got an idea who Jesus Christ is. I went through these 11 African nations and every single one of them were well above 60% of proclaimed Christianity there, amen. And then I did research on Czech, on the Czech Republic. 60 some odd percent proclaim atheists. I think it was Finland, 98% atheistic. Our own nation, 55% atheists. Are you kidding me? Man, we need, nah. I'm just telling you, where's your love for lost souls, man? If you're having conflicts in your members, you need to check yourself. You have no love in yourself. Where's your sound mind, a healthy mind? Where's your mind that thinks correctly tonight? All right? If you're having continual conflicts, guys, in yourself, you do not have a sound mind. And that ain't coming from God. If it ain't coming from God, it's coming from the world. And Satan is the God of this world. So he's at the root cause of it all. But don't you blame him because if you've got Jesus Christ, if you've got the Holy Spirit inside of you, he's the one giving you a power of love and power and sound mind. He's the one that's, greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world. So don't sit there and say, well, you know, Satan this, Satan that. James got a solution for that one too. So the conflict, guys, is in your members. This is personal in your life, amen. Secondly, we find that it's a mindset that's making this up. It's a mindset that's here. We look in the book of Galatians in just a moment. I want you to think about it like this. If you're living, you ought to be growing, guys. If you're not growing, you're dying. And therefore, a tree that is alive produces fruit. And unless something is inhibited to do so, such as that fig tree that Jesus Christ cursed walking in Jerusalem, there's nine fruit of the Spirit, the Bible tells us. Galatians 5, 17 says, Verse 22 and 23 gives us the list. It is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, tempers. Against such there is no law. You're losing the battle of the mind if you have conflict in your life all the time. In your mind, not even in your life. You're giving over to the flesh, causing you to become worldly, thus producing no fruit. And I'm referring tonight to personal fruit of love, joy, and peace. I'm not talking about winning souls to Christ. We're talking about, listen, if you're gonna win somebody to the Lord Jesus Christ, you better have fruit in your own life first, amen? Do you have joy tonight? Let me ask, just be honest with yourself. Do you have joy tonight? No, preacher, I don't have joy. Then you worldly. Do you have peace in your life? Do you have constant conflict in your mind? If you don't, you're worldly, amen. You say, preacher, that's harsh. That's Bible, my friend. Because we've created this false, this pseudo tick list of what we call worldly. And as long as we don't do those things that that group over there does, mind you, 20 years ago, the people who said don't do those things, they doing them now, so they've changed their list, amen. They all got the TVs in their church. They all got the verses up on the screen. 20 years ago, they was ripping them people apart, amen. But now they doing it. I guess that ain't worldly anymore. Because they're not new. I'm just using that as an example, I get it. I'm just so sick and tired of Christians just losing the battle of the mind, man. Judging everybody in the world like they're better than this and better than that, calling them worldly when they're sitting in a seat of conflict all the time in their life, amen. No joy, no peace, no fruit, amen. There's one reason, this one reason, in James chapter 4 verse 3, look at that real quick. You ask, you receive not, because you ask amiss, that you may consume it upon your lust. What is that? That's coming right back. God isn't going to give us what we're seeking for if we're going to just run around in the world. and run around wildly. It doesn't matter how unhappy you are. Guys, you can still have love, joy, peace, if you get your personal conflicts out of your mind. If you'll get your mindset right, you can be in the midst of a disaster and have joy in your life, amen? I'll preach to you, how do you support that? Acts chapter 16. Paul and Silas were beaten and bludgeoned bloody and hooked down to the bottom in the center part of the jailhouse, and they sang praises unto God, amen? There you go. Biblical representation. Candidate worthy to suffer for the Lord Jesus Christ. We could go through the Book of Martyrs tonight, we can go through Martyrs' Mirrors, and we can spend the rest of this evening until midnight going through every one of those martyrs who were burned at the stake, had their tongue screwed into the palate of their mouth, and it ripped loose just so they could praise the name of Jesus Christ. That's joy, amen. I'm not telling you that's what you need to happen to you, I'm just telling you tonight that if you want the fruit of the Spirit in your life, you're gonna have to get rid of the worldliness in your life. And quit thinking it has all tied to your dress and all that stuff is byproducts, man. It's byproducts. Look at James chapter four, verse two. You lust and have not, you kill and desire to have and cannot obtain, you fight in war, you have not because you ask not. That's evidence of worldliness. When husbands and wives are fighting all the time, one or both are worldly. That's it. When Christians are fighting all the time, one or both are worldly. Perpetual conflict is evidence of worldliness, guys. Either if it's perpetual conflict within yourself or perpetual conflict with others or both, it's evidence of worldliness. When conflict is present inside of your life, You have uninvited God into your life and you've allowed the world to shape your thoughts and your mind, even the current world that you are living in. Ain't nothing gonna change unless you get it right with yourself. I can run all over this world. If I'm worldly, I'm gonna be worldly just as much in Wales as I'll be down in South Africa, as I'll be in the States, as I'll be in Germany. If I don't get myself right, amen. Worldliness. Galatians chapter 1, verse 4 says, "...who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from the present evil world according to the will of God and our Father." We read that thing as if it's a future tense deal. You've been delivered from this present evil world NOW, amen? So let's start living like that, praise God! Let's start living like we're—unless you're not delivered, amen? Unless you're still in the midst of your own sins, unless you're still in the midst of, are you worldly tonight? Are you still living in the flesh? If you're lost tonight and you're not saved and born again, then carry on living like you do it, amen? Because you're not delivered from this present evil world. But when you get saved, and when I say saved, you put your faith In the Lord Jesus Christ in the deathbed resurrection. I don't care who prayed over you I don't count me times you got baptized. I don't care what you got sprinkled. I don't care what name is on roll I don't care how much money you give none of those things save you the blood of Jesus Christ when you make your Confession pure with him. That's how you get saved if you're saved tonight, my friend You were delivered from this present evil world. That means the 30th of August 2023. Amen, you're delivered So why have the conflict in your life? Why have the conflict that is in your mind, that's robbing your mindset of where you are right now? Amen? Galatians 6.14 tells me this. It says, But God forbid that I should glory, saving the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world. For I to the world. The work is not evidence which governs, guides and guards, but Christ Jesus is. Jesus Christ is who governs you and me and should. You can work till you're blue in the face. It's He who guides us. It's He who guards us. Conflict guides. In your mind, you've lost the battle of the mind. Conflict in your members is because you've allowed the world to come in your mind. And again, it doesn't matter how you dress. I don't care how many times you go to church. I don't care how many scriptures you write, you learn. It does not matter. If you've got constant conflict in your mind, you are worldly, amen. But the conflict results in our intimacy with God to become mitigated. In other words, it breaks the intimacy of God. Wives, let me ask you a question. I'm gonna ask you a question tonight. What if your husband came home from work every day? All right? He came home from work, been gone eight, nine hours, and he walks right in, walks right past you wherever you are, and goes right into the bedroom, gets on the computer, and sits down. Don't say a word. No hello kiss, no hello hug, no I love you. How intimate you think y'all gonna be? It's gone, isn't it, baby? You know, I've told her 25 years, cherish every kiss. Sometimes she won't give me a little peck. I say, nah, it ain't good enough. I want the whole deal, man. Why do I say that? Because I never know when it's gonna be the last one. I want her to remember it, amen? Some other joke will come around, I want her to think about that last time. I'm just kidding a little bit. Guys, when we have conflict in our life and in our mind and we're worldly, not only do we become an enemy of God, but the intimacy of God or with God, we lose it. It breaks it, it's mitigated. Look at verse 5 with me, James chapter 4 and then verse 5. The Bible says, do you think that the scripture saith in vain, the spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy? The scripture that James is referring to goes all the way back to Genesis chapter six in verse five. Oh boy, that's a chapter. Hang on a second. You mean to tell me that James is using a reference of when God looked at his creation and it repented him that he created them? saying that we have mitigated intimacy with God. The Bible says in Genesis chapter 6 and verse 5, where did I go? It says, And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination and thought of his heart was only evil continually. So when the spirit of man was evil and wicked continually, God links that verse up with his own people mitigating our intimacy with him as a result of losing the battle of the mind and the war in our members, the conflict, because we're worldly. Oh, but preacher, I thought in order to be worldly, we had to go out there and we had to go to pubs and bars and dance clubs and drink and smoke and cuss and carouse around and carry on, you know, and not wear a tie and not have any hair to part and wear a goatee. I thought we had to do all those things to be worldly. That's the problem. What the problem is, is we've made a list. Little Johnny, Little Julie, if you follow this list, you're going to be okay. And no, you're not going to be okay. Because Little Johnny and Little Julie grow up, and that's what they think it is, that's what it is to make them not worldly, to be a Christian, if you will, and it's all on the outside. You know what that's called? That's called a veneer. He bought some furniture that she was going to redo. It looked good. It looked good on the outside. She said, oh, this is going to be nice. She went to sanding that thing down. Guess what it turned out being on top? Plastic. And it was particle board on the inside. It wasn't nothing but garbage, OK? I tell you, if we're not careful, We keep that list going, that little tick list going, and we don't make these young people have personal responsibility in their life. For that matter, make y'all to have personal responsibility in your life. We're gonna raise garbage, amen, for the generation to come by. We got people sitting in our pews who think they're doing God a favor by just taking up space, but not living for him on the outside because they're worldly and got nothing but conflict on the inside. Amen? Now, Genesis chapter six, verse five, And James 4, verse 5, you know where they're linked to? We don't need to go there. They're linked to James 1, verses 14 through 16. 14 says, when lust hath conceived, it brings forth sin. When sin is finished, it brings forth death. We see that in Genesis 6, verse 5. God killed everything on the earth except for what was in the ark. I want you to think about it like this, guys. When we got saved, the Lord places the Holy Spirit of God inside of us. Within our human body dwells the Holy Spirit of God. Now you say, preacher, I don't understand that. You don't need to understand it. You just need to believe it, that's all you gotta do, amen? I believe it. By faith, I believe that. By faith, I believe that wherever I go, Holy Spirit goes. Whatever I see, Holy Spirit sees. Whatever I hear, Holy Spirit hears, amen? Whatever battle I'm fighting, Holy Spirit of God's battling it. Whatever I grieve Him with, it's my fault, amen, in my flesh and my mind, and it's not His. The Bible tells me in 1 Corinthians in chapter 6 and verse 19 and 20, what? Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? He's speaking to present tense people. For ye are bought with a price, therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God. This is what gives us access to God, the Holy Spirit of God inside of us, okay? The Spirit of God within us. God wants you and I to have a meaningful, intimate relationship through the Holy Spirit of God with Him. Yet when the world blocks His Spirit from having a relationship with us, there is a break in the fellowship. Therefore, even though we can never lose our salvation, we can lose our intimacy in the relationship. If Denise and I forsook one another, and we weren't nice to one another, we didn't love on one another, we didn't have that warm relationship—we're still married, she's still got my last name, it's still married on a piece of paper. There ain't no intimacy there, amen? And what a miserable relationship that is. Countless marriages end in the same manner today. Recent study, matter of fact, showed that 51% of Brits admitted they were in a loveless marriage, while 31% wished they never married. Man, that's encouraging, amen? Another study revealed from a broader research panel that 15% of married couples today live without any intimacy whatsoever and they feel as if they're just existing. In other words, they're just roommates. They're still married, but 31% of them wish they'd never married. They have constant conflicts in their life. They have mitigated the relationship, yet it still exists, at least on paper. And guys, we do the same thing. Now, you may be sitting here thinking, well, preacher, you can't take today's marriages and apply it to the church. Why not? God did. Amen? We're the bride of Christ. He's the bridegroom. The very blueprint from the Garden of Eden is the very blueprint we have for marriage today. I don't care what the world says, marriage between a man and a female. One man, one female, amen? And that's what marriage is, amen? And on top of all that, he took that same blueprint and said, hey, that's what I'm going to do with my church, amen? So I can do that. I can take exactly modern day statistics and apply it into what happens in a relationship. They're still married, but they have no intimacy in their relationship. And far be it today that Christians with conflict in their mind continually battling have no intimacy with Jesus Christ. So guys, as we work to close this point of conflict and be done, we need to understand that one of the reasons there's conflict within our heart and within your mind is that you're conforming to the world. You may not think that you are. You may tick all the boxes in your preconceived and, you know, you may not be dressing like a harlot, may not be going out drinking, running around with your spouse. Guys, but you've enabled worldliness to enter into your thoughts, which oftentimes has nothing to do with that little do not do list. This conformity is blocking the intimacy with God. Again, too many have skewed the view of worldliness, guys, thinking that, you know, it's all about evidence on the outside. And frankly, I believe this. I know I'm browbeating this thing, but I think it reveals how shallow that we've become in churches today. Last 50 years, all we've done was preach against things and yet not preaching what we ought to be for. We've told a group of young people who are now pastors and teachers and husbands and wives and missionaries and evangelists that if you don't do this, you're going to be all right. And they're not all right, amen? 50% of marriages fail, amen? And that number is skyrocketing amongst the independent fundamental Baptists today. I think it's revealed how weak our true biblical knowledge has become. Shallow preaching. Let's say the right words to get the amens. Hack preacher jumps on this, jumps on that, and everybody wants to, Amen! You know, preacher on what's in the news. Good night, man. What a shame. What an absolute shame. I'm going to say this, too, and I'm going to make every enemy in the world. I think a lot of our missionaries today are shallow preachers. I think a lot of our evangelists are shallow preachers. I think they go out and give feel-good messages, they get support, they get into the church, they build a church up, and they get everybody encouraged, and they've just given them milk. And we wonder why there's conflict in everybody's minds. Man, get some people some meat, man. When your heart is elsewhere, when your love and your attention is there, guys, you will not have the ability to serve the Lord in the way that you should. You're going to conform to this world and to this system, and you're going to set up and create enemies of God within your own life. This is the result. Conflicts always happen within. So guess what? All of that, probably, I don't know how long, a long time. All of that to give you some good news this evening. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15, 57, but thanks be to God which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. I don't know about you, buddy, I love to win. You say, are you a sore loser? Yep, I'm a sore loser. I don't like losing anything, amen? That's why I don't play Dutch Blitz, because I don't know how to play it, and I get beat, okay? I don't have the first clue what's going on. All I know is a bunch of women are slapping the tables, and I'm losing, so I don't play, amen? Thanks be to God, which gives us the victory. 2 Corinthians 2, verse 14 says, by us in every place. There's a cure tonight, guys. I told you if we keep reading down the chapter, we'll find something positive this evening. James is not, hey, James gives us the cure. Look in verse 6 with me. He says, But he giveth more grace, wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. I like that part. God always is gonna give you a way out. If you have the constant conflicts in your life, God's gonna give you a way out if we will take it. What do you mean, more grace? What do you mean more grace? You ever read that? Or you just read over it? Oh, God, give us some more grace. That sounds good, let's keep on moving. Guys, more grace. How in the world can we receive more of what we already didn't deserve, amen? That's grace, isn't it? Grace is divine favor with God. It's unmerited favor with God Almighty. And yet we're told here in James Epistle, after he gives us a tongue lashing and a beating for five verses, now he says, guess what? Hey, you resist yourself, he resisted the pram, but God will give more grace to you if you come to him. And you see, too many believers today are living on, listen carefully, guys, we're almost finished tonight, I promise. I gotta be done soon. Too many believers today ARE LIVING ON LIMITED GRACE. NOW, WHAT IS LIMITED GRACE? NOW, THAT'S NOT A CALVINISTIC TERM. WHAT'S LIMITED GRACE? WHAT I MEAN BY THAT IS YOU'RE LIVING ON ENOUGH GRACE TO SAVE YOU, TO SAVE YOUR SOUL FROM ETERNITY AND HELL'S FIRE, TO SECURE YOUR SOULS FOR ETERNITY. NOW, I'M NOT DOWNPLAYING THAT PARTICULAR GRACE AT ALL, DON'T GET ME WRONG. BUT THEY'RE NOT LIVING WITH GRACE ENOUGH TO CHANGE THEM. There's one thing to live with enough grace to save you and to keep you. That's God's grace. But the Bible tells me that He resisted the proud, but He gives grace unto the humble. So the truly humble tonight, He's going to give you more grace, amen, more than you already didn't receive, amen. I mean, think about it for just a second. How in the world do we get more of what we don't deserve? Well, you resist the proud, but He gives grace to the humble. You can get right, you can get the conflict out of your mind right here, right now, tonight, because God will give you more grace. You'll get the worldliness out of your mind and quit looking at things through a skewed view, because God will give you more grace. I mean, you may have enough grace to be forgiven, but do you have grace enough to bring power into your life? Do you have enough grace to bring love into your life? Do you have enough grace to bring peace into your life? Think about it. That's what God gives. He doesn't give you a spirit of fear. He gives you a sound mind, gives you peace, and He gives you love. What about those nine fruit of the Spirit? That comes from more grace, amen? Not just the grace to be forgiven. Remember 2 Timothy 1, 7, For God hath not given us a spirit of fear, but a power and a love and a sound mind, beloved, whom we Tell the world, and I mean this system which is bent on removing God from our lives, when we sell out for God who saved us and sealed us, He will give us more grace, grace which changes a man, a woman, and a child, grace that will bring something into your life today that you may never have experienced long-term at all. Peace in your heart and your mind. We're living in a post-Christian era, guys, where whether we like it or not, it's true. I used to hate that term, post-Christian society. I could not stand it. I refused to say it and use it, but it is true. That's where we're living. We're living in a time when the God of this world has confused people about everything from gender to marriages, all the way to eternity today. People feel lost, yet they've been blinded by the truth of the scriptures, and that's by Satan, who is the CEO of the World Systems Incorporated. If you want more grace in your life, there's a pattern to follow. If you want the conflicts out of your mind, there is a pattern to follow in your life. If you want to stop living worldly according to the Bible, not according to your tick list, there's a pattern to follow. The Bible tells us that God resisteth the proud. The proud are those who think they can make it without God. That's who the proud are. They think they can skip church, skip tithing offering, they can skip prayer, skip reading the Bible, skip getting close to Him, and they're going to be okay. No, you're not. Not at all. You ever wonder why you keep hitting every bump in the road? Maybe because you're worldly. Amen? The Bible tells us that He giveth grace to the humble, and the humble are those who KNOW they can't make it without God. Hallelujah for that. You may be sitting here tonight saying, I'm not proud but I'm humble. But nope, let me tell you something. You got it wrong. The humble will never say they're humble. Only the proud will do that. I mean, saying something like that is the antithesis of humility. Peter says this in 1 Peter chapter 5, 5. Likewise, you younger submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all to you, all of you be subject one to another and be clothed with humility for God resists the proud to give grace to the humble. That sounds familiar now, doesn't it? So Peter gives us the answer of what it means to resist pride and be humble in your life, truly humble. You think Peter learned a thing or two from his old buddy James of Zebedee? Remember, he's part of that trio, Peter, James, and John. Being clothed in humility is a lifestyle. It's not words coming out of your mouth. It's not a tick list. It's the way you carry yourself. I want you to notice the pattern, and we'll finish tonight. Verse 6 wasn't the pattern, by the way. Verse 6 was the prelude to the pattern. Notice here, if you will, in verse 7. Verse 7 tells us very clearly, it says, Submit yourselves therefore to God, there's your first step. Resist the devil, that's your second step, and he will flee from you. I want you to notice that it isn't, resist the devil and he'll flee, but it's submit to God full stop. Submit to God. Then you resist the devil. See, the devil can't take me and God. He can't take you and God. He sure can't take me. You know, because when I go after the devil, I'm just going to resist the devil. You know what I'm saying? Don't need you God, therefore I'm prideful. But when I submit unto God, That's being clothed with humility? And then I resist the devil and the power and might of God Himself? That's when the devil flees. When we submit to God and we take on board the concern that James had of worldliness, the conformity will cease and the conflict will stop. Then and only then can we resist the devil. Then and only then can we remove worldliness from our lives and develop. the intimacy with God that we need. James chapter 4 and verse 8 says, Draw nigh to God, and He will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners, and purify your hearts, ye double-minded. Do you want some control in your life? Once you submit to God and you resist the devil, then you can draw nigh to God and he'll draw nigh to you. The relationship is strengthened, it is bonded, it is sweeter. He says, cleanse your hands, you sinners. Yes, he's speaking unto Christians. He's saying, clean up your works, which is representative with our hands. Purify your hearts, you double-minded. Again, the reference to worldliness. Not one time is ever mentioned what many of us have concocted about what worldliness is. Not once. This is a biblical perspective of what it means to be in the way of worldliness. And may I say this to you tonight, it's no joke in matter. Because this singular reason right here has destroyed more ministries than you can ever imagine. This singular Idea right here has destroyed more lives, more husbands, more wives, more sons, more daughters than you can ever imagine. If you think for one second that young people don't come into churches and go to multiple churches around countries and all this and that, and don't see the conflict, Don't see the hypocrisy, the arrogancy. You're fooling yourself. Now that doesn't give them an excuse to go back to fool. They're gonna be held accountable for exactly what they do. I don't care what, well, but that preacher, it does not matter. You're held accountable for what you do, not for what they do. But what I am saying about that particular point, a lot of young people aren't fooled. They may fall in order. They may tick the list. They may keep it with them. They may keep following it, but they're not fooled. They're not fooled by the conflict. They're not fooled by your own personal worldliness. And neither is God. The cure is this, my friend. The cure is to submit to God, resist the devil, and he'll flee from you. That's the only cure tonight, and the only answer is more grace. And I don't know about you, but I can never have enough grace in my life. We buy guts tonight. Father in Heaven, thank you, Lord, for who and what you are. I thank you tonight, dear God, for the blessing of being together. I pray that you take this message and write it upon our hearts. Dear Lord, I pray that you please would guide us and direct us into the right way. Forgive us of where we have failed you, Lord, but I pray that we would not soon forget the words that have been said tonight. Lord, not soon forget the words that has been mentioned by your servant James. And Father, I pray that we would write it upon the table of each and every one of our hearts, Lord, in Jesus Christ's name. Amen and amen. Well, I hope and pray, guys, that that little miniseries is a blessing to you. I hope it was convicting, because it most certainly was to me. And I had several weeks to deal with it, and I tell you, it really, it shook my world, guys. It brought back a lot of, I'll go ahead and say, a lot of regret of past messages many, many, many years ago. But thank God for that more grace, amen?