1. James 4:5-10 Key Word: Humble
He Gives More Grace
James 4:5-10
Key Word: Humble

2. James 4:1-10
[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.

3. James 4:1-10
[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.

4. James 4:1-10
[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.

5. Our Roadmap to Grace Our perilous state Our Merciful God
Our reaction to our sin

6. Our Perilous State
Verse 5 is not a direct quotation of any known scripture
2 views of verse 5:
The spirit refers to the spirit of man who gravitates to envy and sin.
The spirit refers to the God given spirit in man
Ex 20:5 God is a Jealous God
Matthew Henry – God’s jealousy = Holy and Just Displeasure

7. Our Merciful God Verse 6 “...he (God) gives more grace.”
Reminiscent of 1 Cor 10:13
Our human history is replete with the Mercy and Grace of God
From Adam and Eve
Noah
Abraham
Children of Israel
The Greatest Grace was the Incarnation, Death, & Resurrection of Jesus Christ

8. Our Reaction to Our Sin Humility precedes Grace
Submission – a posture of the heart and spirit.
1 Peter 4:11 whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies
Resist the Devil
Draw near to God
Zech 1:3 Thus declares the LORD of hosts: Return to me, says the LORD of hosts, and I will return to you, says the LORD of hosts.

9. Our Reaction to Our Sin Cleanse your hands
John 1:8-9 [8] If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. [9] If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Purify your hearts, you double minded
Luke 16:13

10. Our Reaction to Our Sin
Verse 9 Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom.
True repentance involves a broken heart
Ps 51:17 [16] For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.
Our sorrow is not eternal
Psalm 30:5 For his anger is but for a moment, and his favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning.

11. Our Reaction to Our Sin Humility
“Humble” brackets verses 7-9
Humility is to realize who God really is, and to then realize who you really are in light of that.
The Logic of Heaven vs. The Logic of Man

12. Conclusion James shows us our perilous state
Our hearts tend toward adultery contrasted with a Jealous God who demands monogamy.
He then shows us Our Merciful God
He is a God with an immeasurable capacity for Grace.
He takes us through our reaction to our sin

13. Conclusion
THE BIG IDEA: This is the take away point to James 4. If we truly understand who we are, and who we are in Christ, then the idea of quarrels and arguments will be anathema to us.