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Empowering multimedia ministry for bold Christian living: Weekend Messages, Deep End Podcast, Deep Dive Bible Study. Tim Hatch, Lead Pastor, Waters Church, 26 years of pastoral ministry, book author.
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0:00 You are listening to Waters Church podcast. Waters Church is a multisite, multigeneration community of faith on the East Coast of America. Now for a message from our pastor.0:13 We are in James part 8, and we are talking about reclaiming unity in a conflicted world. James chapter 4. If you've0:24 got a smartphone, if you're not in house or you don't have the notes on you, go to waters church dot guide. It will look like that. And if you click on today's message, a little pop down will look like that, and you can0:36 fill in these blanks digitally. But let's go to the word of God. Stand for the reading, if you wouldn't mind. James chapter 4 verse 1. And this is going to be right on time for0:48 where we are as a country, and you're gonna pick that up on the first line of James chapter 4. What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Politics.1:02 Young lady said politics on the front row. Is it not this that your passions are at war with within you? You desire and you do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and1:13 quarrel. You do not have because you do not ask, and you ask I mean, you do not receive because you ask with wrong motives to spend it on your passions. You adulterous1:25 people, don't you 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. Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that he said the1:35 scripture says, he yearns jealously over the spirit that he made to dwell in us. But he gives what? Grace. More grace. I love that. He gives more1:46
1:59 He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners. Purify your hearts, you double minded. Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before
2:10 the Lord, and he will Exalt. Exalt you. Amen. This is God's holy word. The grass fades, the flower dies, but the word of the Lord
2:22 endures forever. Amen. Let's pray. Father, in Jesus' name, we ask that these next moments are governed by your holy spirit. The words that come out of my mouth are led by you
2:34 that you will set a guard over my mouth. May I encourage, build up. May I speak to your people your way today, and may we see Jesus.
2:46 In his mighty name, we pray, and everybody said? Amen. Amen. High 5 somebody, and then have a seat at every location of Waters Church. Glad that you're here.
2:58 So I'm sure that you're exhausted, and I'm sure you couldn't wait to get to church this morning. And that extra hour of sleep didn't hurt, did it? You are definitely more
3:10 alive already than usual. Maybe go to bed earlier next Saturday night. I don't know. You you feel good to me. You feel ready to receive today. Amen. Come on. And I'm sure that some of
3:22 you are so nervous. You're so worried about what's gonna happen this election, and I wanna tell you something, and this is serious now. I'm I'm gonna be honest with you. Let me speak for myself. This is not my first
3:33 rodeo. I've been preaching. I've been pastoring for 26 years. I've been through this. Every 4 years, our country goes crazy. For 3 years, we are
3:44 totally normal. And then that fourth year, we become schizophrenic. We've got multiple personalities, and the personalities are convinced
3:56 that the other personality is second cousin to Lucifer himself. Some of you are under the impression you've watched too much news. You've done what I've done because I'm preaching to myself today. You've
4:08 doomscrolled your way into depression. You know what I mean by that? You've doomscrolled. This is what you do. You pick up your phone. Yes. And let's be honest, you're in the bathroom.
4:20 So you're just like, oh, no. Oh, no. Oh, no. Oh, and and pretty soon your spouse comes, are
4:32 you still in there? That's that's like our world right now and we have done this to ourselves. We've freaked ourselves out, and I think that we have to come back to some semblance
4:44 of perspective. I've done this. I've seen it. I've been there. I've pastored the church through several election cycles. They're all the same. We
4:56 all say the same thing. This is the most important election of our lifetime. Well, of course, is. It's the only 1 that hasn't been decided yet. Nobody's out there
5:08 saying Kennedy 19 60. Nobody's doing that. So, yes, it's the most important. It's always the most most important when it's the 1 that hasn't been decided. Secondly,
5:20 we will survive. Thirdly, no matter who you vote for, half the country disagrees with you. K. So some perspective.
5:33 Alright? Maybe even in this room. I would say, and this is about tomorrow, 30 percent of the people disagree with you or 70 percent of the people disagree with you. I think that's where we are. That's a guesstimate.
5:45 But we will go on. We'll move forward. We'll get through this, and we'll come back together as a country and forget about politics for 3 years. Sound good? Yeah.
5:57 Good. So fast and pray that God's will will be done, and let's get on with the business of the gospel. Amen. Some of you say, it's never been this bad
6:08 though, pastor. Oh, it's never been this bad. I understand. Trump called Kamala stupid and low IQ yesterday, and Kamala calls him a fascist and Hitler. And I I remember this as well too
6:20 along the campaign trail when 1 of the candidates, I won't say who for their own protection, claimed the other candidate's election would lead to a godless society, murder,
6:31 robbery, rape, adultery, and incest. Oh, I'm sorry. That was the 1800 election between Adams and Jefferson. Or or I remember it actually. 1 of the
6:43 candidates this time around said that the other candidate was involved in a bigamous relationship. Though I'm I'm sorry. That's actually John Quincy Adams made that accusation against Andrew Jackson in 18
6:55 28. Then in the 18 60 election, Stephen Douglas claimed that the election of Abraham Lincoln would end America as we knew it. He
7:07 saved America as we now know it. The 18 84 election, 1 of the candidates, Grover Cleveland, fathered a child out of wedlock, and his opponents came up with a chant.
7:18 Ma, ma, where's my paw? And Grover Cleveland's supporters came up with their own chant, On the way to Washington,
7:32 Lyrics that, J Lo would be jealous of at this point. The election between William McKinley and William Jennings Bryant had William Jennings
7:44 Bryant been so socialist in his mindset, William McKinley claimed that if he was elected, he would lead our country into communism. And then in 19 64, Lyndon Johnson claimed that a Barry Goldwater presidency would
7:55 lead us into nuclear war. What I'm trying to tell you is this is nothing new. Amen. We've been through this. And I know that some of you are under the impression that if your
8:07 politician does not win, it means that the tribulation has been moved up to shortly after the election, and Jesus needs to come back immediately.
8:20 Okay. Got got I got another big perspective picture for you. God is interested in more than America. Amen. This is why we ask you to go to Guatemala. Why we ask you to go to Peru. Why we ask
8:32 you to get out of this bubble of this American conversation and get some perspective about what's going on around the world. Jesus is on the move around the world, saving
8:44 people from every tongue, tribe, language, and nation, and we're all gonna gather before his throne and say, worthy are you Yes. Amen. Oh, Lord, to receive glory, honor, power, and praise.
8:55 And so maybe you came today, and you were saying, man, I hope that pastor Tim says we should vote for my person. That's not gonna happen. This moment, this pulpit is sacred.
9:07 Amen. I can't talk about that person being your savior. I would be not not because of the Johnson amendment, not because I'm fearful of losing our tax exempt status. Don't be ridiculous. If we
9:19 lost our tax exempt status, God will still provide. My hope is not in tax exemption. My hope is in the is is in the bounty of heaven. I'm here to tell you about 1
9:31 person who is able to save, and his name is Jesus. I wanna start about talking to this idea, reclaiming unity in a conflicted world. Write this down at the top of your notes.
9:43 Conflict comes standard in the human condition. It's always been here. And until Jesus comes, it will always be here. It happens to be part
9:54 of who we are because of our great ancestor Adam who watched his wife flirt with a snake and then ate the food she ate. And and then their sons killed each other. Conflict.
10:07 And on and on it goes, down the corridors of time. Abraham argues with Lot. Paul argues with Barnabas and
10:19 separates. Absalom tries to steal the kingdom from his father, David. This is nothing new. This is what's going on
10:31 in the world. Not because we haven't elected the right person, but because we have rejected the holy 1. Yeah. Amen. Conflict comes standard. I think about
10:43 the disciples. They walked with Jesus. They walked with Jesus. And time and time again in the gospels, you see this happening. The text
10:54 says, and the disciples started to argue amongst themselves about who would be the greatest. How do you do that? How do you have an argument about who's gonna be greater than who
11:06 around Jesus? Because you're human. Because you're part of a condition that is inescapable. It's so inescapable that even even walking with the holy son
11:18 of God can still bring it out of you. And so we've got to come to this text with some with some perspective on the biblical text and understand that the reason why James talks about
11:30 conflict 2000 years ago to church people is because 2000 years ago, church people were in conflict. There's nothing new under the
11:42 sun. And this text in chapter 4 is part of a larger context in James chapter 3 that opened up. We talked about last week, wisdom for my relationships. Where James chapter 3
11:54 13, he says, who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show him let let him show that by his good conduct and and the meekness of wisdom. And then he goes on and he says, but if you have bitter jealousy and
12:04 selfish ambition in your hearts, do not lie and be false to the truth. It's very possible. It's very possible that some of you and many of us are in these conflicted situations because of
12:15 jealousy, because of selfishness. And I said something off the cuff last Sunday that I thought I should have had you write that down. So good news, I get to preach every week. Let me have you write it down this week.
12:27 Here here's what I want you to write down. I own 50 percent of the problems in every relationship. 50 percent of this conflict is my fault. Now I know no matter how much I say that there's some of you who are gonna
12:39 say, nope. Not in my case. But it is. It's true. A relationship takes 2 people. 2 people divided by 2. 50 percent. That's it. And may
12:51 maybe 1 is more demonstrative with their problems than the other. Maybe 1 is more quiet, the other one's more boisterous. Maybe 1 is more outgoing, one's more insular. But the fact of the matter is is that you are 50
13:00 percent of every relationship struggle. And to enter into any relationship and to go to a church and be faithful and to be part of a marriage that lasts, you're gonna have to regularly
13:11 get wounded and forgive. It's the only way it works, friend. It's the only way it works because the the moment that we have perfect relationships, the moment that we're at harmony, the moment that you're in perfect
13:22 harmony with everybody around you, rejoice and be glad because you've already died and gone to heaven and you didn't even realize it. But until that happens, you are going to have to own the problems, the
13:34 conflict. See, wisdom doesn't look outside. Wisdom looks at you. Wisdom doesn't blame. Wisdom doesn't castigate them. Wisdom
13:46 says, wait. There's something that I can change. And that's what James is getting at here in this text, and it's what I love about the book of James. It is blunt force, what? Truth. He has some hard
13:57 words to say to a church in the first century that was acting like children, and sometimes we can be the same exact way. So he's gonna lead us with some some problems and then
14:09 some diagnosis. Some problems, diagnosis, and prescription. Die problems. Here it is. Number 1, the cause of conflict, I crave. Write it down and say it. I crave. I crave. This is the
14:21 problem with conflicts. This is the fights in your life, the quarrels, the relationship struggle that we all have, we all go through is is inside. It's not outside. Verse 1,
14:33 what causes quarrels? What causes fights? The words for quarrels and fights here in the Greek could refer to vicious vocal disputes.
14:44 Vicious vocal attacks. How many know that old adage? We used to say it when we were young. Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will Never hurt. Now how many of you know now much later in life
14:56 that that's just not true? Absolutely. It hurts. I was watching a video while I was doomscrolling yesterday, and the video was of a guy,
15:08 standing before a board a school board meeting. Public hearing. It was being recorded. That's how we got the video. And he was standing before the school board, and his name was John Gay.
15:20 He said, 43 years ago, I came to this school. My name is John Gay. 43 years ago, I came to this school. My name is John Gay. He said, my head I was repeatedly mocked and vilified and attacked.
15:32 And 1 day, 1 man 1 young man put my head into a urinal and flushed it. And I live with those wounds to this day, and the board was horrified. And then he pointed his finger at the board president and said,
15:44 and that man was you. And 2 weeks later, that board of directors, that superintendent had to resign in disgrace. That's the power of
15:55 vicious words. James has already talked about this back in chapter 3 when he says that your tongue is a what? It's a fire. It's a world
16:07 of evil. I'm all for political discourse. I'm all for debate. I'm all for arguing for who you think so who should win. But can you mark how you speak? Can you see understand that you might
16:19 be burning bridges? Like, your conflict might not be about politics. You don't give a rip. Oh, I wish I was you. You've got serious conflicts in your home, marriage, with a child,
16:31 with an old friend, at work, and your political pro your political problem right now is not anything to do with America. It's everything to do with your private life. And if you're not careful, you won't even realize
16:43 this. And this is what James is asking us to get to. The problem that happens to you is you keep setting your relationships on fire with your tongue, but the problem is that your tongue is fed by your passions,
16:56 your desires. Maybe you don't want things. You just want respect. I just want everybody in this building to respect me. Why can't they respect me? They're sinners, and they're broken, and they're
17:07 fallen, and they have a problem with their own respect. Why won't she listen to me? Why won't he get over that problem that we I mean, that's the relational conflict that comes from
17:19 within, not without. And then he goes on and he says, you desire and you do not have verse 2. And then you murder. Now the question is, are they literally murdering each other in the first century church? And the answer
17:30 is probably. I can tell you this is crazy. I looked this up. In the first century church, there was a group of a group of Jews who later became Christians, and they were from a sect of Judaism called zealots.
17:42 Zealots believed that they needed to overthrow the Roman government by force. They would have been at the capital on January sixth with a cup of coffee for their friends. They wanted to overthrow the government.
17:54 They wanted to do that. And and and 1 of the most famous zealous in the Bible is named Barabbas. Yeah. And he's and he's excused of his execution and Jesus takes his place.
18:06 Powerful reality, but those people coming into Christ, maybe they still had murderous contention in their hearts, and so maybe there were people getting murdered because they wanted it so badly. Let me just tell you,
18:16 never pray that we can get back to the days of the early church. They were messed up. Maybe even more than we are. He says, you covet, cannot obtain. You fight, you quarrel. And then he goes, you do not have because you
18:27 do not ask. You're not praying about it. You've wandered from God. You've let your cravings lead you away from Christ. And that's so easy in our
18:39 culture. Jesus said about anger in Matthew chapter 5 verse 21. You've heard it said, do not murder, but he says to he said, I say to you, if you're angry with your brother, you're already in danger of the fires
18:51 of judgment because what he's saying is anger leads to murder just like lust leads to adultery. And what you have to love about Jesus is that he's not diagnosing the problem from the outside in. He's
19:03 diagnosing the problem from the inside out. It's not what you're doing that's problematic. It's what you're feeling and what you're imbibing inside of your heart. That's the issue. The issue is my
19:15 heart. I can't change my heart. Good news. God can change my heart. Jesus said, make the tree good. The fruit will be good. You gotta have God do some surgical
19:27 work inside of you, but it starts with confessing the problem is already inside of you. Then he says, some of you spiritualize this the challenge. In verse 3, he says, you
19:39 do not you you you ask and you do not receive because you ask wrongly. Underline wrongly in your notes. You ask with the wrong motives in some translations. That's what it says. You ask with the wrong motives about your
19:50 prayers because you wanna spend it on your passions. You only pray because you are actually selfish about that ambition. And then you start to wrangle try to wrangle from
20:02 God all the things that you want from God. And this is very, very, very possible that some people go to church every single week, and they think they're praying to God out of a love for him, but they're actually
20:14 praying to God out of a love for the things that he can give them. And and here's the question. This is how it works in life. You lose everything. Yep. Mhmm. Sure
20:26 do. You lose everything. You understand that? Some of you are too young to understand this. But, here's how it goes. Eventually, you lose your energy.
20:38 Anybody go to the gym in 40 and you're like, man, I wish I was 20. And then you lose your hair, and then you lose your looks. And then all along the way, lose friends and family members.
20:50 First, the ones that are older than you, and you're like, yeah. That hurts. And then the ones that are your age, and then you're like, woah. Woah. Woah. Woah. So let's slow this truck down, and then you lose some people
21:00 that are younger than you. And then if you hold on long enough, you lose this, and then you lose
21:10 that's that's life. You you can't hold on to it. So look. This is why I say that. Because if you're praying for things and not praying for
21:22 God, even if it's answered, it's only a temporal solution. Only God is the 1 who never leaves. The 1 who ushers you from your
21:33 last breath in this life to your first breath in the next life. He stays. Never will I leave you. Never will I forsake you. So first problem is I crave. Number 2, I compromise. I compromise.
21:45 So when I don't get what I want from God, the the temptation will be to just give up. I'm out. I'm done. I'm checking out on faith. I'm going after my own things. I'm doing life my way. Enough is enough. I've had it. God
21:55 is holding out on me. I'm going to chase this life and suck the marrow out and live it to the fullest. Because because after all, I tried the Jesus thing. It didn't work. Okay. Wait a second. Watch out for that. James
22:07 has some harsh words for these people. Might be you. He says, you adulterous people in verse 4. These are some of the hardest words in the New Testament. You adulterous people. Don't you realize that friendship with the
22:18 world, you make yourself an enemy of God? You can't straddle the fence. You can't play church on Sunday and then worldliness on Monday. You you it doesn't work. You're you're you're an enemy of God when
22:30 you try to befriend. What is friendship? It's loyalty. It's conviction. It's commonality. It's community. You spend more time with worldly people and enjoy that, you are making your spiritual life dead inside
22:41 toward God. Become an enemy of him. And and the consequence is on you. The consequence is on you because you don't wanna be an enemy of God. You wanna be a child of God. Some of you, this is where you're
22:53 at. This is the best Sunday you could've showed up at church because it's like, wake up. Wake up call. Time to get back to Jesus. Some of you, politically speaking, you are so tied to your candidate. It has become
23:04 idolatrous in your mind. Wake up. Come back to Jesus. He's lord of lords. He's king of kings. Some of you are gonna do
23:16 that thing. Let me just say that you can say, I'm gonna write in Jesus for president. Don't do that. Why do I say it's a demotion. Don't give Jesus a demotion. He's not interested in that job.
23:28 Okay? He's already got a throne in heaven. Anyway, it it it's a it's a thing that we slide into. You know how adultery happens with
23:40 flirting? Starts there. And that's where some of you are politically, some of you are there spiritually. You're just flirting with the world, and before you know it, you're in bed with the world. And it's a slippery
23:52 slope downward. Leads to a whole mess of conflict in your life, and I wanna give you those conflicts, the 4 problems of a compromised Christian. The 4 problems of a compromised
24:03 Christian. Number 1, continual conflict. Continual you quarrel and you fight. This is because you set your relationships on fire with your words, and the reason why your words are
24:15 set on fire is because your heart is not right with God. You crave. Number 2, coveting what others have. You covet. You do not have. You just you're never happy. You're never satisfied. You're always complaining
24:28 about what's going on, what's not happening, where you should be. You see people get promoted beyond you when you wonder about why not me, and you're just that calm con complainer left, right, and center, and it's just a
24:40 it's a sick place to be. Number 3, there's a consistent discontentment in your heart. And for some of you, this might be the best decision you could make today. Sit at home, write some things down that God has done for
24:51 you, and start to be content with those things. Give thanks to God. Bless his name. The Bible says in first Thessalonians 5, give thanks in all things, for this
25:03 is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. I always get a kick out of the Christians who are like, what's God's will for me? What's God's will for me? What's God's will for me? The only verse that actually talks about God's
25:12 will, well, there's a couple of them. 1 of them is avoid sexual immorality, and the other 1 is give thanks in every situation. Like, just, you know, stop messing around sexually and be thankful, and your life is gonna go
25:23 really, really well. It's true. Then number 4, corrupted prayers. You ask with wrong motives. Your prayers are trying to wrangle little goodies from God, and you're not interested in loving God.
25:35 And and the ants and and and James wraps this up in verse 4. Whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself. You're making yourself an enemy. You're putting odds between you and God. You're corrupting that
25:47 relationship that should be harmonious. And this is where conflict comes. It's not them. It's me. I can fix my 50 percent of this relationship. They might not respond the way I
25:59 want, but I can take care of what's going on in my spirit and in my soul. And I can, through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, live at peace with all men. Now I love the fact that
26:10 James doesn't leave us here. Diagnosis. You crave, you compromise. Here's the prognosis. Ready? Verse 5. Do you suppose that it is to no purpose that the scripture says, he yearns jealously?
26:22 Underline jealously. He, God, yearns jealously over the spirit that he has given us. There's a spirit that dwells in us, and listen to me. God wants that.
26:34 Now you say, some of you, and this was Oprah's problem way back in the day. How can God be jealous? I don't accept a God that is jealous. There is such a thing as good jealousy. And
26:46 everybody involved in a romantic relationship understands this. Because if your significant other starts to flirt with somebody else, you immediately feel jealous for them. Not because of them, but
26:57 for you're jealous for them. Because what you want in that relationship is you want somebody who shares a closeness with you that they don't share with anyone else.
27:10 That's a good jealousy. Even the Bible says in Malachi that that's what happens in marriage. Some of you have not heard this before, but it's true. That when we come together in union, male and female, the Bible says
27:22 that God puts a portion of his spirit in that union. That there's a spiritual connection between husband and wife created and given by God. And so to disconnect and and mess around and start to
27:34 flirt with somebody else, it could cause jealousy. Now here's the thing. God repeatedly in the Old Testament prophets talks about the language of marriage when it comes to his relationship to his people. He
27:45 says, I'm your bridegroom. I'm your husband. You're my wife to Israel. And Israel constantly went after the false gods of the nations around them. And so God sends them prophets,
27:57 Isaiah, Ezekiel, Jeremiah. They all talk about it. You're committing spiritual adultery on your father. Don't you understand he's your husband? Come back to him. And 1 of those prophets is named Hosea.
28:09 Hosea gets this calling in the first chapter, and I did a series on Hosea many years ago called the preacher and the prostitute. Because it's about a prophet that God says, here's your job. I want you to do something for
28:21 me. God says this to the prophet. I want you to go down to the red light district, and I want you to find a girl named Gomer, and I want you to marry this prostitute. And then I want you to have children with her, and he
28:30 does it, and he has 3 children with her. And then he wakes up 1 morning, and she's not next to him in bed. In chapter 3, it says that she went back down to the corner and started working it again.
28:43 And God says, I want you to go down to the corner where she's working the streets, and I want you to pay. I want you to pay for your wife. And God is saying, this is what I've been dealing with with
28:55 my people since I created them. I love them and they wander. I wanna be close to them and they wander. Some of you know this from experience. Some of you experience
29:06 this in your life. Maybe today is the day you feel it, that you have wandered. Sometimes you can wander without even realizing you're wandering. Amen? And you can get to that point and realize, oh my gosh. I've left God.
29:16 I've I've wandered. And the good news of the gospel, the good news of Hosea and every prophet and even James here is that God yearns jealously for you and he will go to where you are in the red light
29:28 district of your walk in disobedience and he will pick you up, purchase you, and bring you back. That's who he is. He he doesn't let you get too far away. I
29:40 love that about God. And and so we come back to the father, and and this is the answer. Are you ready? Number 3, God calls me to surrender. He calls me back to himself.
29:53 This is where God has some of you today. Surrender it. Let go of those things. Come back to me. That's what you're made for. Everything else will fade.
30:05 I never leave. I never grow old, God says. So he says in verse 6, but he gives what? More grace. Grace is always greater than our
30:17 sin. If you've got an opportunity to repent, you are in a moment of grace. That's what we're having right now. A moment of grace where God is reaching out to you and saying, come back
30:29 home. Come back to me. That's what you're made for. Verse 6, the last half, he says, therefore, God opposes the proud and gives grace to the humble. The word give here is
30:40 in Greek. It means upon request. God gives upon request grace. You ask, you receive. Grace to come back to God, to reconnect with your
30:52 father. The only requirement is humility. Humility. Now what is that? What is humility? Beating yourself up? No. The
31:04 devil will do that for you. It's not debasing yourself. It's not feigning humility. I'm just worth this. I'm just a newbie. No. No. No. No. C. S. Lewis famously said, humility is not thinking less of yourself. Humility
31:16 is thinking of yourself less. You just don't think always about yourself. You're not about your agenda, your opinion, your drive, your ambitions. It's okay, God. I
31:27 surrender. You are God, and I am not. Verse 7, he says submit yourselves therefore to God. Only you can submit yourself to God. I can't. God, you can. Submit yourself to
31:39 God, and then look at this next line. Resist the devil. He will flee from you. The reason why Christians can't must The reason why Christians must resist the devil is because Christians can
31:50 resist the devil. Now, I was thinking about this today, this week, and the Lord opened my heart to a question, and I thought this is good stuff for God's people. I had never thought
32:02 about this text before like this, but here's the question I want you to write down. What are we resisting when we resist the devil? What are we resisting when we resist the
32:14 devil? Now some of you will immediately say temptation, and I disagree. I disagree, and I'm gonna get there in just a moment. But here's what I want you to think about when it comes to temptation. Temptation is just a
32:24 means to an end, and the means to an end basically is sin. But even beyond that, like this is what some of you will say, oh, know what it means to resist the devil. It means to resist sin. And I would say, no.
32:36 Not in the fullest sense. Because temptation and sin are just 2 tools that accomplish the ultimate goal of Satan for your life. It's the original temptation in the
32:48 garden. You shall be like God. It's the original reason why, Cain kills Abel because Abel's offering brought him close to God. When we resist the devil, we are resisting his ultimate aim that he will use
32:59 temptation, and he will use sin to accomplish. Here's what that aim is. Write this down. The devil's aim is to separate you from the father. At the end of the day, that's all the devil
33:11 wants. He just wants you disconnected from the Lord. And you know this and I know this, that the devil will use even good things,
33:23 not sinful things, to take us away from God. Young people, he will use a spouse to lead you away from God. A spouse is a
33:35 good thing, but that spouse in your infatuation with them could lead you away from the Lord. He will use career opportunities and advancement to lead you away from the Lord. He will use prosperity. Prosperity is a good
33:47 thing. He will use prosperity to lead you away from God because he doesn't really care if you sin. News flash, the devil doesn't give a rip if you sin. He just wants you separated from
33:58 God. That's what he wants. And so I thought about this. Satan wants you separated from God. The father wants you connected to him. When you resist the devil, you
34:10 are resisting separation. When you humble yourself and cry out to God and confess your sin, you are you are uppercutting
34:22 the devil. The devil will whisper in your ear to keep you away from church. Some of you know this. Some of you, you didn't have it this morning, but you've had it other mornings, haven't you? The
34:34 devil wakes up earlier than you on Sunday morning. Amen, somebody? He wakes up earlier than you, and he comes over to your bed in the morning, and it's 7 AM on Sunday, and he goes, hello. Yep.
34:47 Isn't it so comfy in here? Just stay in, sleep in, turn that alarm off. Go to church next week. You deserve a break this week. After all, God wants you
34:59 rested, and you need sleep. And and and so he'll even use that to keep you away from God. Hey. Rejoice and be glad. You resisted the devil this morning. Now you had an extra hour of
35:10 sleep, so don't give yourself too much credit. But you did. Coming to church draws me close to God, which is why and listen to me very carefully, which is why
35:23 just not sinning isn't doing it for you. Do you understand that it's not God's goal for you to just stop sinning? It's just not. God's ultimate goal is the exact opposite of the devil's
35:35 goal. He wants you connected to him. So James doesn't leave us with submit to God. Resist the devil. He will flee from you. Look what he says in verse 8. Draw near to God. I have to
35:47 I have to add resisting the devil to drawing near to God to get full victory in my life. Did you hear me? I have to add resisting the devil
35:59 to draw I have to add drawing near to God to that to fully have victory in my life. I want you to write this down. Satan is fully resisted when we draw close to the father.
36:12 Just not sinning isn't doing it. Just avoiding the temptation isn't doing it. Fill your life with God. And I love this promise because when we draw close to God, he draws near to us. He is
36:24 asking us, you make the move and I'll come close. How do I do that pastor? Get into your word. Get into scriptures. Get into a worship environment. Pray. Get on your knees in the morning. Start your day with prayer. Ask
36:35 God to fill your life. Fill you with the holy spirit. Get into church. Get into life group. Get around Christians who love God. Have relationships with people who support you and encourage you and don't bring you away
36:44 from the Lord, but draw you close to the Lord. You start to get close to God. You start to have a relationship where you feel like he is right there with you. That's exactly what he wants. Wants to do life with you.
36:55 Wants to go to work with you tomorrow. Wants to help you out with that situation. Wants to walk you through the valley of the shadow of death. That's what David prayed. Though I go through it, I know that you are with
37:06 me. You're riding your staff. They comfort me. And when I am fully submitted to God, I fully resist the devil. It
37:18 reminds me of the Lion King movie when Simba brings his friend Nala, who will be his wife 1 day, to the elephant graveyard. Remember this moment?
37:31 The number 1 way to get a kid to do something is tell him not to do it. Well, Mufasa just said, don't go there, and he's like, I'm going there the next morning. Goes to the elephant graveyard, and he brings Nala, and
37:40 those cackling hyenas come out of the darkness to kill them and corners them. And this wonderful moment goes down that I wanna show you the clip because there's a powerful spiritual truth here.
37:52 Watch this.
38:48 I love that moment because there's a picture of what it means to truly resist the devil. When I'm trying to resist the devil in my own power, I'm just, That's all it is. That's all I
38:59 got. That's the best that Tim Hatch can do. And the devil just said that's all you got. Do it again. That's what the devil does. But when I surrender to my father, when I get under his
39:11 care, when I remember that he's for me not against me, he roars from heaven, and the devil can't stand against me. And then he says, if you ever touch my child again.
39:24 He knows his days are numbered. And the devil can't stand against you and the father. He is for you. He is not against you. But you gotta make the move to come close to him. And so James
39:36 concludes, he says, I number 4, he says, I cooperate in spiritual cleansing. How do I draw close to God? Here it is. Are you ready? He says, draw near to God. He would draw near to you. Cleanse yourShow more
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