James 4:1-12
May 10, 2020
preached by Pastor Doug Cooper
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Guide for Home Worship

Time of Reflection Quotations

“We must begin by admitting that people and situations do not cause us to speak as we do. Our hearts control our words. People and situations simply provide the occasion for the heart to express itself.”

~ Paul David Tripp, contemporary pastor and author

“Deep in our timid hearts is a desire to be loved mildly, nothing more. That way, we retain control, we set the terms, we avoid risk. Our loving God, in His ferocious intensity, will have none of it. He defines the meaning of our lives, and we are saved from our anemic loves and brought by degrees into intense loves, like His own.”

~  Ray Ortlund, contemporary pastor and author

“Forgiving and being reconciled to our enemies or our loved ones are not about pretending that things are other than they are… True reconciliation exposes the awfulness, the abuse, the hurt, the truth. It could even sometimes make things worse. It is a risky undertaking, but in the end it is worthwhile, because in the end only an honest confrontation with reality can bring real healing.”

~ Desmond Tutu ( 1931-present), South African Anglican cleric and theologian known for his work as an anti-apartheid and human rights activist

“To be a friend to someone does not mean you pamper or indulge him or her. Friendship also involves struggle and loss, tension and turbulence… A friend, if honest and true, will tell you things you don’t want to hear. A friend, if deeply serious about you, will do things that feel painful. Friends do that because they respect our dignity and honor our uniqueness.”

~ Eugene Peterson (1932-2018), American minister and author

“Ironically, you most clearly see another person’s commitment to relationships when you are at your worst. And that’s true of God as well. His commitment to us shone clearly as He handled one of humanity’s worst moments.”

~ William P. Smith, contemporary pastor and author

“Repentance requires greater intimacy with God than with our sin.”

~ Rosaria Butterfield (1962-present), author and speaker

“There is more mercy in Christ than sin in us.”

~ Richard Sibbes (1577–1635), Anglican author and theologian

Sermon Passage

James 4:1-12 (ESV)

¹ What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? ² You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. ³ You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. ⁴ You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. ⁵ Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us”? ⁶ But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” ⁷ Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. ⁸ Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. ⁹ Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. ¹⁰ Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.

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