{"id":18702,"date":"2021-03-31T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-03-31T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sugar-land-bible-church.local\/sermon\/james-021-sins-against-the-spirit\/"},"modified":"2021-03-31T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2021-03-31T05:00:00","slug":"james-021-sins-against-the-spirit","status":"publish","type":"sermon","link":"https:\/\/slbc.org\/es\/sermon\/james-021-sins-against-the-spirit\/","title":{"rendered":"James 021 – Sins Against the Spirit"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","book":[104],"series_event":[514],"sermon_service_type":[474],"speaker":[6],"class_list":["post-18702","sermon","type-sermon","status-publish","hentry","book-james","series_event-james","sermon_service_type-wednesday-evenings","speaker-dr-andy-woods","no-post-thumbnail"],"acf":{"sermon_title":"James 021 - Sins Against the Spirit","sermon_date":"20210331","sermon_month":"3","sermon_year":"2021","sermon_notes":8936,"sermon_slides":8937,"sermon_mp3":8939,"sermon_id":"33121233112570","series_or_event":514,"service_type":[474],"speaker":6,"books_of_the_bible":104,"chapter_and_verse":"4:5-6","sermon_transcript":"James #21\n\nSins Against the Spirit\n\nJames 4:5-6<\/u><\/strong>\n\nJames 4:5<\/u><\/strong> \u2014 we are continuing our verse-by-verse study through the book of James.\u00a0 James, as you know, is the half-brother of Christ, who pastored the Jerusalem church writing to his dispersed congregation in the Diaspora, which means dispersion.\u00a0 You might remember that it was Saul of Tarsus who drove that Hebrew Christian audience into dispersion.\u00a0 James is addressing a book to them, not about how to become a Christian, as they are already Christians, but how to live for God in the new age of the Church.\u00a0 This is not a book about positional righteousness, that is assumed, but about practical righteousness.\u00a0 It is a lot like the book of Proverbs<\/u><\/strong>, in fact, James has been called the Proverbs<\/u><\/strong> of the New Testament, but it is also about how to let our practice catch up with our position.\n\nThe first half of the book, James 1:1-3-12<\/u><\/strong> is all about faith \u2014 not so much saving faith but living by faith as a Christian.\u00a0 How do you live by faith as a Christian?\u00a0 Adopt God's perspective on trials, and his audience was experiencing a big trial having been evicted from their homeland, per 1:2-18<\/u><\/strong>.\u00a0 In 1:19-27<\/u><\/strong>, begin to obey God's Word; avoid favoritism in the assembly, based upon criteria that God does not use to show favoritism, such as treating certain people differently than others because of their financial status per 2:1-13<\/u><\/strong>.\u00a0 Then he moves on to the paragraph that required a lot of time because of its controversial nature \u2014 allowing our faith to manifest itself in good works, which means not that our faith exists but now our faith is useful, productive.\u00a0 Faith without works is dead, so he dealt with that in 2:14-26<\/u><\/strong>, and before wrapping up this section, let me tell you the ultimate work you can do as a Christian:\u00a0 keeping your mouth shut basically; learning to control the 2x2 slab of mucous membrane between the gums called the tongue per 3:1-12<\/u><\/strong>.\u00a0 If we can do that, we can do anything.\u00a0 Amen?\n\nFrom there, James switches subjects somewhat and begins to talk about wisdom:\u00a0 knowledge applied, and he starts talking about that in 3:13<\/u><\/strong>, and he talks about wisdom all the way through the end of the book.\u00a0 It is hard to apply knowledge so that knowledge becomes wisdom because wisdom is knowledge applied, unless we know what wisdom is.\u00a0 He starts off here by telling us what wisdom is: it is demonstrated by her actions (3:13<\/u><\/strong>), and then he draws a distinction between satanic wisdom, or wisdom from below (3:14-16<\/u><\/strong>) versus wisdom from above (3:17-18<\/u><\/strong>).\n\nAnd now that we understand what wisdom is, he spends the rest of the book applying wisdom to every area of life, and he starts out with our spirituality.\u00a0 From there, he moves to commerce, wealth, waiting for the Lord\u2019s return, prayer and restoring the erring brother.\u00a0 The first thing he does is to describe what wisdom looks like in someone\u2019s spiritual life.\n
    \n \t
  1. Avoid wrangling (4:1-3<\/u><\/strong>)<\/li>\n \t
  2. Avoid worldliness (4:4-6<\/u><\/strong>)<\/li>\n \t
  3. Pursue the essence of spiritual wisdom (4:7-12<\/u><\/strong>)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\nNow, we have already completed the section on wrangling.\u00a0 Wrangling involves infighting among Christians, and we dealt with it in 4:1-3<\/u><\/strong>.\u00a0 Remember that he described the problem, interpersonal conflicts within the assembly, and then he arrives at the source of the problem:\u00a0 ultimately the sin nature (middle of 4:1<\/u><\/strong> through the middle of 4:2<\/u><\/strong>).\u00a0 What happens is that we become jealous of another brother or sister in Christ because they have more money than we do, or they are better looking than we are, or more talented, or how come sister so and so is so good on the piano, and I am not, and what happens is that if we are not careful with those thoughts, they will turn into jealousy.\u00a0 Rather than going to the Lord with those thoughts, saying, \u2018Lord, I would like to be talented, too<\/em>.\u2019\u00a0 Is it wrong to pray something like that?\u00a0 I don't think it is.\u00a0 Or, \u2018Lord, so and so is being used of You; I would like to be used of You also<\/em>.\u2019\u00a0 So, often, we initiate a whispering campaign against someone we don't like rather than going to the Lord.\u00a0\u00a0 That becomes the source of conflicts within the Church.\n\nThe source of it is the sin nature, and another source of it is prayerlessness.\u00a0 That is where James says that \u2018You have not because you ask not<\/em>.\u2019\u00a0 It is interesting that he mentions this subject of asking God a second time in the book.\u00a0 The first time that he mentioned it was in James 1:5-8<\/u><\/strong>, and there it dealt with wisdom related to tribulations.\u00a0 When we go through tribulations, we don't really see things from God\u2019s perspective.\u00a0 James 1<\/u><\/strong> grants us the divine perspective on tribulations \u2014 how they are in our lives to bring us to a different level of maturity and growth, but rather than seeing it that way, we charge may God foolishly, saying, \u2018God you brought this into my life to destroy me<\/em>.\u2019\u00a0 The problem then is that we don't have the wisdom of God on trials.\u00a0 So, James says that if you don't have that wisdom, then implement 1:5<\/u><\/strong>, \u2018If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God<\/em>.\u2019\u00a0\u00a0 Would God really answer a prayer like that?\u00a0 \u2018Lord, give me Your mind on suffering<\/em>.\u2019\u00a0 Obviously, He would answer a prayer like that because James says that God gives to all generously and without reproach and it will be given to him.\u00a0 This wisdom that God wants us to have related to suffering will be given to us.\u00a0 So, that is the first time he has told us to ask God.\n\nA second time, James says that rather than tearing someone down behind his back, ask the Lord to bless you.\u00a0 It is in James 4:2<\/u><\/strong>, the second part of the verse, \u2018You do not have because you do not ask<\/em>.\u2019\n\nThe third time that prayer really shows up is at the very end of the book where he talks about Elijah who was able to alter meteorology for 3.5 years simply by prayer.\u00a0 He explains that Elijah was a man just like us; in other words, he had the same sin nature that we have; he was a human being; the same struggles of life; he put on his shoes one foot at a time as we all do, yet because he approached God in prayer, he was able to alter the weather for 3.5 years.\u00a0 It is in that context that James says that the prayer of a righteous person when it is brought about can accomplish much.\n\nSo, per James 1<\/u><\/strong>, pray to the Lord for wisdom; in James 4<\/u><\/strong>, ask God; in James 5<\/u><\/strong>, there is power in prayer.\u00a0 Put those three together and one of the major themes that James is seeking to communicate is this tremendous power that we have in prayer.\u00a0 Then he says that \u2018When you pray, make sure your prayer is not misdirected.<\/em>\u2019\u00a0 He says that when you pray to make sure your prayer is not misdirected.\u00a0 He says in 4:3<\/u><\/strong> that when you ask and do not receive it is because you ask with wrong motives so that you may spend it on your pleasures.\u00a0 So, if someone who you know is getting ahead financially and you aren\u2019t, then rather than asking the Lord to bless you financially, too, is not to go the Lord, but to tear down the blessed brother.\u00a0 That comes out of our insecurities of our sin natures.\u00a0 James says that rather than doing that which does nothing but cause quarrels within the assembly, to go and ask the Lord to bless you.\u00a0 And by the way, when you ask the Lord to bless you, don't expect God to answer if it is a self-centered or self-seeking motive: \u2018Gee, I want to be as talented as someone else because I want to be world-famous.\u2019<\/em>\u00a0 I would say that is probably not the best motive.\u00a0 A better one would be \u2018Lord, I would like You to bless me with talent because I would like to be a blessing to others the way that so and so is a blessing to others.\u2019\u00a0 <\/em>That is a better motive the latter of which God would answer, James says.\u00a0 \u2018Lord, I want to be as wealthy as someone else, because I want to go on a lot of cruises down the Riviera<\/em>.\u2019\u00a0 I don't think that is probably the best motive.\u00a0 Why not rather say to the Lord that you want Him to bless you financially so that you can actually lower your standard of living to have more money to give away to those who need it?\u00a0 God says, \u2018Now we are in business<\/em>.\u2019\u00a0 So, don't feel bad about petitioning God for things. \u00a0Three times in this book, James tells us to do that, but he just ways to watch your motive because if your motive is wrong, God won't nor is He under any obligation to answer.\n\n1 John 5:14<\/u><\/strong> says, \u201cThis is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us<\/em>.\u201d\u00a0 How would I know what God's will is?\u00a0 I would suggest that this is a good starting place:\u00a0 These 66 books will tell you what God's will is.\u00a0 As you know God's will, then you will know how to tailor your prayer requests in alignment with His will, and James says that those prayers have a better chance of getting answered.\u00a0 By the way, you don't want God to give you things that He doesn\u2019t want you to have as that would wreck your life.\u00a0 It is like a 5-year-old child who is asking his parents to give him the keys to the car.\u00a0 Obviously, a parent wouldn\u2019t honor that petition because the child would destroy himself and others.\u00a0 So, often we ask for things that God won't answer because He loves us too much and He knows what will destroy us.\u00a0 If God doesn\u2019t answer a particular prayer request, then take comfort in that rather than becoming angry with God.\u00a0 Perhaps He wants to answer it later, and He is preparing you for the next level of maturity, so when a parent denies their 5-year-old the keys to the car, they aren\u2019t saying that he will never drive, it is just that I have something better for you.\u00a0 Let's wait until you mature and until you pass your driver\u2019s education test, etc.\u00a0 God is like that with us.\u00a0 All of that goes under the subject heading of avoiding wrangling.\n\nThe way to apply wisdom in one\u2019s spiritual life is to avoid worldliness.\u00a0 Worldliness is the system of philosophy that energizes our world; it isn\u2019t necessarily speaking of the globe; it is the Greek word, \u2018cosmos\u2019<\/em> from which we get the word, cosmopolitan<\/em>, worldy<\/em>.\u00a0 It is essentially the way the world thinks, the philosophy that the world marches by \u2014 to the beat of a different drummer than the Christian.\u00a0 Why?\u00a0 Because they are following the world, and we are following Jesus.\u00a0 Who orchestrates the philosophy of the world?\u00a0 Satan, of course.\u00a0 It has been that way since the fall of man in Eden.\u00a0 It will continue to be that way until satan is thrown into the bottomless pit, the abyss, at the beginning of the Millennial Kingdom.\u00a0 That is why he is called the prince of this world, the god of this age, the prince and power of the air.\u00a0 He is the reason we have to put on the full armor of God because we wrestle \u2018not against flesh and blood but against principalities and powers and rulers of this dark world<\/em>.\u2019\u00a0 He is called \u2018a roaring lion who roams about seeking someone to devour\u2019<\/em>, and 1 John 5:19<\/u><\/strong> says that the whole world lies in his power.\u00a0 Lewis Sperry Chafer used this example of a mother rocking her baby to sleep.\u00a0 In the same way, satan has the whole world under his jurisdiction, and he is just rocking it to sleep with his value system to the point where people are marching to a value system that they believe is right, but it isn\u2019t of God, and that is what we mean by \u2018the world<\/em>.\u2019\n\n1 John 2:15-17<\/u><\/strong> says, \u201cDo not love the world nor the things in the world.\u00a0 If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.\u00a0 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world.\u00a0 The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever.\u201d\u00a0 <\/em>In other words, why would you spend your life marching to the value system of the world, when the whole thing will be melted down one day by God?\u00a0 That is like rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.\u00a0 I heard one businessman quote and sum it up in this way when he looked back on his life and said, \u2018I spent my whole life climbing the ladder of success only to learn that the ladder was leaning against the wrong wall<\/em>.\u2019\u00a0 That is the problem with becoming worldly because you are living for something that will pass; it is much better to live for the things of God because those things are eternal.\n\nNow, James is getting into the subject of avoiding worldliness as a Christian because it is possible for a Christian to become worldly.\u00a0 If they couldn\u2019t then there would not be any sense in this warning.\u00a0 One of the verses I think about a lot, and I think I shared this last time, 2 Timothy 4:10<\/u><\/strong> where Paul says, \u2018Demas having loved this world has deserted me.<\/em>\u2019\u00a0 Now, I am of the opinion that Demas was a believer because I don't think Paul would have put an unbeliever into his ministry team as he did Demas.\u00a0 He doesn\u2019t say that Demas has lost his salvation; he says that Demas became intoxicated with the world system and went back to it, and he is no longer interested in the things of God, serving alongside of me in ministry.\u00a0 So, that is essentially what worldliness is, and here we are given the consequence of it.\u00a0 The first consequence we covered last time in James 4:4<\/u><\/strong> was that friendship with the world is enmity against God<\/u><\/strong>. \u00a0\u00a0Then he called his audience adulteresses.\u00a0 That is how God feels when His people become worldly and live for the world\u2019s values.\u00a0 God looks at it almost like He is the jilted spouse who has just discovered an adulterous relationship.\u00a0 So, James is very clear here that if you want to be friends with the world then it puts you at odds with God.\u00a0 The opposite is true because what did Jesus say in the upper room in John 15:18-19<\/u><\/strong>, \u201cIf the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you.\u00a0 If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 \u00a0It is there in the upper room that Jesus is sending out His disciples into the hostile world, and He is saying not to expect that the people out there to applaud your Christian convictions as you go out and share the gospel.\u00a0 In fact, He is saying that they will hate you, but don't feel bad about that because Jesus says that they don't really hate you, they hate Me because the world hated Me long before it hated you.\u00a0 It is true that every single one of those disciples who He was speaking to \u2014 eleven of them \u2014 Judas, by that time had already left the upper room, John 13<\/u><\/strong>.\u00a0 Every single one of them died a martyr\u2019s death; with the only exception that I can think of that is argued is the apostle John, but none of them died of natural causes; every one of them was either crucified upside down, speared, thrown off the top of the Jerusalem wall, like our author, James.\u00a0 They were hated by the world wherever they went, so Jesus said that \u2018If you want to be friends with Me, you will be hated by the world.<\/em>\u2019\u00a0 Here, James is saying the exact opposite: \u2018You want to be friends with the world, then you are at enmity with God.<\/em>\u2019\u00a0 The world system is being orchestrated by Lucifer, so there isn\u2019t any way to embrace the world\u2019s value system and think that God is okay with it.\u00a0 Conversely, there is no way to embrace God's value system and have the world okay with it.\n\nYou will be judged by someone:\u00a0 either God or the world.\u00a0 As for me and my house, it is a better bet to be judged by the world than by God.\u00a0 But every single day of our lives, we have to make this decision.\u00a0 Our youth who are coming of age, what will they be taught in the school system concerning sexuality?\u00a0 Probably along the lines of just as when you purchase a car, you look under the hood first, right?\u00a0 Everyone looks under the hood before they buy the car, so pre-marital sex is normal.\u00a0 The problem is that in the Bible, God doesn\u2019t approve of that, so if I go that route with that philosophy, then I am at enmity with God, but if I embrace God's model of sexuality, chastity; abstinence until marriage, and I reject what the school system is teaching \u2014 safe sex, to me this is akin to setting up a bar in the public school system and teach them how to mix drinks correctly since they are going to drink alcohol.\u00a0 So, if I reject that mindset and embrace God\u2019s value system, everyone in the public school system will think I am weird.\u00a0 On the other hand, if I reject God's system and embrace the world\u2019s value system, then I am at enmity with God.\u00a0 This is James\u2019 point here: you have to stand up for something at some point in your life.\u00a0 All of us are called to make decisions like these all of the time, whether I will march according to the world\u2019s value system or to God\u2019s.\u00a0 James says that true spirituality avoids worldliness because it puts one at enmity with God.\n\nNow, we get to a verse we haven\u2019t covered yet, so everything we have covered preceding this is introduction.\u00a0 James 4:5,<\/u><\/strong> the second consequence is worldliness is that it alienates the Holy Spirit, who is inside of us.\u00a0 \u201cOr do you think that the Scripture speaks to no purpose:<\/em> \u201cHe jealously desires the spirit which He has made to dwell in us<\/em>?\u201d We have in today\u2019s church age, privileges with the Holy Spirit that those in Old Testament times could not even dream of.\u00a0 This is how the Spirit operated in Old Testament times even through the ministry of Christ right up to the day of Pentecost.\u00a0 These verses summarize the Spirit\u2019s operation; this was written 1,000 years before the time of Christ.\u00a0 1 Samuel 16:13-14<\/u><\/strong>, \u201cSo, Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him [<\/em>David] in the midst of his brothers; and the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon<\/u><\/strong><\/em> (an important preposition, upon] from that day forward<\/em>.\u00a0 And Samuel set out and went to Rahma<\/em> [Samuel having anointed David].\u00a0 14<\/sup> Now the Spirit of the Lord left <\/u><\/strong>Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord terrified him.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 So, this is the great Saul-David exchange in the book of 1 Samuel<\/u><\/strong>.\u00a0 Both men, I am convinced, are believers who we will see in heaven.\u00a0 But the Spirit came upon<\/u><\/strong> David, not in, but upon<\/u><\/strong>.\u00a0 Then it says that the Spirit left Saul, so the Spirit could come upon<\/u><\/strong> people temporarily for certain tasks such as David\u2019s appointment as the first king, and the Spirit could also leave people when God no longer had a specific task for them.\u00a0 In this case, the Spirit is coming upon<\/u><\/strong> David to enable him to be King.\n\nCompare that to what Jesus said in the upper room where He signaled a change that was about to take place in the work of the Holy Spirit.\u00a0 To His disciples in the upper room, \u00a0in John 14:16-17<\/u><\/strong>, Jesus says, \u201cI will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper <\/em>[Greek word for Helper is the \u2018paraclete\u2019<\/em> or the One who comes alongside to assist, speaking of the Spirit], so that He <\/em>[notice the Spirit is a person, He] may be with you<\/em> forever<\/u><\/em><\/strong>, <\/em>[see how different that is from Saul\u2019s experience where the Spirit left him?\u00a0 Jesus is saying that there is coming a time, and I think this started on the day of Pentecost where the Spirit is with you forever,<\/u><\/em> <\/strong>and that becomes the basis of our belief that once saved, always saved, because if the Spirit is inside of you, He is inside of you forever<\/u><\/em><\/strong> as a New Testament Christian]\u2026 17<\/sup> the Helper is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive <\/em>[that is why the world is marching to a different value system because they don't have the Spirit], because it does not see Him or know Him; but you <\/em>[the eleven] know Him because He remains with you <\/em>[they knew about the Spirit because the Spirit was active in the Old Testament, and you can see that with Saul and David, so they were aware of the Spirit\u2019s involvement in the affairs of man, but Jesus is signaling a change of rules about to happen] and will be in<\/u><\/strong> you.\u201d\u00a0 <\/em>Totally different than what happened with David where the Spirit came upon him temporarily.\u00a0 With you and me, as church age believers, the Holy Spirit is not upon<\/u><\/strong> us, He is inside of us because the body is the Temple of the Holy Spirit, and He is inside of us forever<\/u><\/em><\/strong>.\u00a0 So, if you had announced these workings in Old Testament times, they would not even have been able to fathom the riches that we have.\n\nSee slide on the Work of the Spirit in the Old Testament<\/u><\/strong> (32:07 into video) and even through the ministry of Christ.\u00a0 Oftentimes, people received the Spirit after<\/em><\/strong> they believed.\u00a0 Abraham believed God and it was credited to him for righteousness.\u00a0 It doesn\u2019t say there in Genesis 15:6<\/u><\/strong> that he received the Holy Spirit as a package deal because the Spirit oftentimes came upon someone after<\/u><\/em><\/strong> they were believers to empower them to do a task.\u00a0 The tabernacle workers, ?Bezalel and (I always forget the other guy\u2019s names), had tremendous ability in carpentry because the Spirit per Exodus 31:3<\/u><\/strong>, came upon them for that task.\u00a0 And the Spirit could leave them when the task was completed.\u00a0 Is that true today:\u00a0 does the Spirit come upon people after they are saved?\u00a0 No, He does not.\u00a0 Paul says that if any man does not have the Spirit of Christ, He does not belong to Christ, so there is scenario today where you believe and you get the Spirit later.\u00a0 The Spirit takes residence in us at the point of salvation.\u00a0 <\/strong>\n\nA second category:\u00a0 For how long does the Spirit dwell?\u00a0 In the prior age, as in the case of Saul and other biblical characters, for example, Samson, the Spirit of the Lord departed from him and other characters as well \u2014 the Spirit came upon people temporarily.\u00a0 That is why David in the Psalm 51:11<\/u><\/strong>` said, \u201cDo not take Your Holy Spirit from me<\/em>.\u201d\u00a0 Do you pray that prayer?\u00a0 I hope not.\u00a0 David had to because of the Spirit's coming upon people temporarily.\u00a0 Compare that to today where the Spirit is inside of us forever<\/u><\/em><\/strong>.\u00a0 There is no scenario where you can lose the Holy Spirit once you are saved.\n\nWho was indwelt?\u00a0 In the prior age, not every single believer was indwelt by the Spirit.\u00a0 Some were temporarily and they weren\u2019t even indwelled, the Spirit came upon them to complete a task; that is why Joel predicts that the day will come when the Spirit will be poured out on all flesh per Joel 2:28<\/u><\/strong>.\u00a0 If the Spirit was already being poured out on all flesh, all of God's people, then Joel 2:28<\/u><\/strong> wouldn\u2019t be much of a prophecy, but Joel predicts a time when the Spirit will be poured out on all flesh.\u00a0 That is important because Joel wrote that during a time when the Spirit was not being poured out on all flesh.\u00a0 Compare that to today where every single person who has trusted in Christ for salvation at the point of faith alone in Christ alone is instantaneously indwelt and baptized by the Holy Spirit<\/strong>.\u00a0 In 1 Corinthians 12:13<\/u><\/strong>, says \u201cFor by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body\u2014whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free\u2014and we were all made to drink of one Spirit<\/em>.\u201d\u00a0 In the church age, we are all baptized meaning that we are taken by the Holy Spirit and identified with Christ\u2019s body, and the Spirit has indwelt all of us who are believers in Christ.\u00a0 That is not the way it worked in the prior age, but it does work this way today.\u00a0 By the way, the church to whom he wrote that, 1 Corinthians<\/u><\/strong>, was not exactly a model church.\u00a0 In fact, some refer to 1 Corinthians<\/u><\/strong> as 1 Californians because you have a totally messed up church here.\u00a0 They are fighting with each other in 1 Corinthians 1-4<\/u><\/strong>; incest, 1 Corinthians 5<\/u><\/strong> and they're suing each other and shacking up with the temple prostitutes in 1 Corinthians 6<\/u><\/strong>; there is rampant divorce and remarriage in 1 Corinthians 7<\/u><\/strong>; the stronger brothers are flaunting their freedom in the presence of the weaker brothers in 1 Corinthians 8-10<\/u><\/strong>; they are drunk at the Lord\u2019s table in 1 Corinthians 11<\/u><\/strong>.\u00a0 In 1 Corinthians 12-14<\/u><\/strong>, they are taking the tongue talkers and placing them on a pedestal without interpretation, and Paul says that if an unbeliever were to come in here right now, they would think that you are stark-raving mad in the name of the Holy Spirit.\u00a0 In 1 Corinthians 15<\/u><\/strong>, they are denying something that we will celebrate this Sunday, the concept of the resurrection; not a minor doctrine.\u00a0 So, what do you do with this crowd?\u00a0 They were still believers in Christ.\u00a0 They were indwelt by the Holy Spirit; read through\n\n1 Corinthians<\/u><\/strong>; Paul never says, \u2018You all wouldn\u2019t act that way if you were Christians<\/em>.\u2019\u00a0 What he says is \u2018Do you not understand that your body is the Temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you forever.\u00a0 And when you go visit the Temple prostitute, then you are bringing the Holy Spirit into that sin<\/em>.\u2019\u00a0 He uses their privileges with the Spirit as a basis for warning them about their fleshly choices.\n\nBack to the book of James 4:5<\/u><\/strong>, \u201cOr do you think that the Scripture speaks to no purpose: \u201cHe jealously desires the Spirit which He has made to dwell in us<\/em>?\u201d\u00a0 Now we believe that James is writing to a Christian audience also because he says here that the Spirit is inside of you.\u00a0 He doesn\u2019t just say that Spirit is inside of you, He says, \u201cthe Spirit which He has made to dwell in us<\/strong>.<\/em>\u201d\u00a0 When James says, \u2018us\u2019<\/em><\/strong> he is identifying with his audience; he is saying that just as the Spirit is in me, and we all believe the Spirit was in James, the author of this book, the Spirit is inside of you.\u00a0 This is why in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20<\/u><\/strong>, Paul says, \u201cOr do you not know that your body is a Temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?\u00a0 For you have been bought for a price, therefore, glorify God in your body<\/em>.\u201d\u00a0 That is why you don't visit the Temple prostitute because you are dragging the Spirit of God into that sin.\u00a0 He doesn\u2019t say, \u2018Too bad, you guys lost the Spirit<\/em>.\u2019\u00a0 You cannot lose the Spirit because the Spirit is in us forever.\n\nThe point that James is getting at here is that the Spirit that is inside of me is not interested in a corner room somewhere.\u00a0 He isn\u2019t interested in living in the broom closet; He wants all of us, and that is why it says, \u201cHe jealously<\/em>\u2026\u201d {In this sense, God gets jealous].\u00a0 You become the worldly, and you tell the Holy Spirit to go and live in the backroom somewhere, then the Spirit gets jealous.\u00a0 The Spirit doesn\u2019t leave you because he is in you forever, but He gets jealous and says, \u2018I want to come into the living room, into the kitchen<\/em>.\u00a0 I want to sit down for family dinner, but I can't do that with a worldly Christian because he marches to a different value system than God\u2019s.\u00a0 So, when we become worldly, we alienate the Spirit inside of us.\u00a0 Maybe a better way to say that is that we shrink His influence that He would like to have.\n\nSo tonight, I will go home, and I may have a little difficulty falling asleep after Bible study, so just to relax, I will channel surf, which is not the most spiritual thing I can do.\u00a0 Inevitably, something will come on TV that I probably shouldn\u2019t watch; it will be violent, have sexual overtones, so the Holy Spirit will say to me, \u2018Yeah, you can watch that if you want, but I will go over here in the broom closet; I will not be involved in that<\/em>.\u2019\u00a0 So, I took the Spirit who jealously desires all of me, and I just limited His influence, and that becomes a consequence of worldliness.\n\nConsequence #1 is that I develop enmity with God.\n\nConsequence #2 is that I alienate the Spirit inside of me.\n\nSo, we end up committing certain sins that can only be committed against the Spirit.\u00a0 By my count, and maybe there are more, but I was trying to think through this, what are the sins that a Christian can commit against the Holy Spirit?\u00a0 One sin is that we grieve<\/u><\/strong> the Holy Spirit, Ephesians 4:30<\/u><\/strong> says, \u201cDo not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 The sealing of the Spirit is on you forever, so if you become worldly then the Spirit becomes sad because the Spirit is a person, right?\u00a0 The Holy Spirit is not like the force in Star Wars, an impersonal source of energy; He is a member of the Trinity who has emotions and feelings.\u00a0 That\u2019s why Jesus, if I can back up here for a minute, in John 4:17<\/u><\/strong>, \u201c\u2026the Helper is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him<\/strong> or know Him;<\/strong> but you know Him<\/strong> because He<\/strong> remains with you and will be in you.<\/em>\u201d\u00a0 Notice how He<\/strong> is referred to as Him<\/strong>, not \u2018it\u2019 or \u2018that.\u2019\u00a0 If it is an impersonal source of energy, you would just say it or that, but if it is the Holy Spirit, you call them He<\/strong> or Him<\/strong>, which is the same personal pronoun that Jesus would use to speak or refer to Peter.\u00a0 Just as Peter is a person with feelings, so is the Holy Spirit.\u00a0 The Holy Spirit is the eternally existent third member of the Trinity.\u00a0 I like to refer to Him as the forgotten member of the Trinity because we don't talk about Him too much, and those who talk about Him a lot will sometimes put Him on a pedestal that He doesn\u2019t want to be on.\u00a0 The Spirit directs attention to the Son<\/strong>.\u00a0 The Spirit is akin to (pardon the crassness of this, Ed McMahon on the Johnny Carson show, and I won't do the rendition}.\u00a0 Until Ed McMahon got his own sweepstakes, then he bottomed out, but until prior to getting his own sweepstakes, was trying to attract attention to Johnny.\u00a0 \u2018Here\u2019s Johnny<\/em>.\u2019\u00a0 That is what the Holy Spirit is to Jesus \u2014 the Spirit always wants to put the spotlight on Jesus<\/strong>.\u00a0 That is why, by the way when you walk into a church, you can tell if the Holy Spirit is in charge, because of who is getting the glory.\u00a0 The senior pastor and the marketing strategy of the church?\u00a0 No, the Spirit won't be involved in that; the Spirit will attract glory to Jesus Christ<\/strong>.\u00a0 Anything the Spirit gets influence over will immediately attract attention to Jesus, so that is why in some groups within Christianity, it is evident that they're out of balance because their whole focus is on the Holy Spirit when the Holy Spirit Himself would be embarrassed by what they are doing.\u00a0 <\/strong>So, the Spirit is an actual He or Him<\/strong>, not the force, not an impersonal source of energy.\u00a0 When we become worldly, we grieve the Holy Spirit inside of us.\n\nThe second sin that we can commit against the Holy Spirit is to quench Him per 1 Thessalonians 5:19<\/u><\/strong>, which says, \u201cDo not quench the Holy Spirit<\/em>.\u201d\u00a0 Quenching the Holy Spirit, say some translations, \u201cDo not put out the Spirit's fire.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0\u00a0 When I become worldly, the Spirit doesn\u2019t leave me, it is akin to not only telling Him to move into the broom closet, but like throwing water on 25-75% of His fire, quenching Him.\u00a0 By the way, sadly, Elder Boards do this all the time, hopefully not here at Sugarland Bible Church, but I have watched Elder Boards destroy churches by making decisions in a business mindset rather than a Spirit-filled mindset, or they try to cram the church into some kind of marketing model, or elevate people to positions of influence within the church based on their success or pedigree or degrees in the world, not on the criteria that God gives.\u00a0 This happens all the time particularly in North America, and I have been in situations, where, repeatedly, you see a decision from the Elder Board, where you can say, \u2018Well, that was the Board and not the Lord.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0\u00a0 They simply quench the Spirit.\u00a0 So, God help us to understand this.\u00a0 So, Paul says that the second sin that we can commit against the Spirit is to quench Him.\n\nThe third sin we can commit against the Holy Spirit is resisting the Spirit.\u00a0 To his audience, Stephen said in Acts 7:51<\/u><\/strong>, \u201cYou men who are stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears are always resisting the Holy Spirit; you are doing just as your fathers<\/em> did.<\/em>\u201d He told them, \u2018You always resist the Spirit.\u00a0 In other words, the Spirit wants to do A and you want to do B; the Spirit wants to go this direction and you want to go the opposite direction.<\/em>\u2019\u00a0 So, what is the consequence of worldliness?\n\nWhat is worldliness?\u00a0 It is marching to the value system of satan?\u00a0 Can a Christian do that?\u00a0 Yes, they can, or this warning wouldn\u2019t be here.\u00a0 Are there consequences for that?\u00a0 Yes.\u00a0 Are one of those consequences the loss of salvation?\u00a0 No, because the Spirit is inside of you forever.\u00a0 Then, what are the consequences?\u00a0 You can be at enmity against God, and then you commit the sins against the Holy Spirit that in inside of you, quenching, grieving and resisting Him, shrinking His influence.\n\nI want to show you something interesting here that Dr. Toussaint pointed out when I was his student.\u00a0 He did a trick on us.\u00a0 He asked, \u2018Can anyone find this quote in the Old Testament<\/em>?\u2019\u00a0\u00a0 The quote is in James 4:5,<\/u><\/strong> \u201cHe jealously desires the Spirit which He has made to dwell in us<\/em>.\u201d\u00a0 Someone find that in the Old Testament.\u00a0 I will save you a headache because it isn\u2019t in the Old Testament.\u00a0 There is no verse in the Old Testament that says that.\u00a0 It isn\u2019t really quoting a verse, it is expressing a common idea that is replete throughout the Old Testament that the Spirit, when He takes up residence in a person or begins to influence a person, isn\u2019t interested in living in the broom closet.\n\nJames 4:6<\/u><\/strong>, and with this, we will stop.\u00a0 We have seen the consequences of worldliness.\u00a0 What is the cause<\/em><\/strong> of it?\u00a0 Why do Christians become worldly?\u00a0 James 4:6<\/u><\/strong>, \u201cBut He gives a greater grace.\u00a0 Therefore, it says, \u201cGOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE<\/strong><\/em>.\u201d\u00a0 What causes worldliness?\u00a0 It is a simple word that begins with P<\/strong> and ends with ride<\/strong>.\u00a0 That quote is in Proverbs 3:34<\/u><\/strong> is probably what he is alluding to, \u201cThough he scoffs at the scoffers, yet he gives grace to the needy<\/em>.\u201d\u00a0 But pride is the killer; it is what causes us to be worldly because pride says, \u2018I know better than God.\u00a0 Yes, I know that God has His standards for sexuality but what they taught me in the public school system about checking under the hood before you buy the car, sounds so much better, and I like that better because it appeals to my sin nature<\/em>.\u2019 So, what I just did was to substitute my human viewpoint for God\u2019s.\u00a0 The moment that I did that was when I bought into worldliness, which makes me at war with God and it alienates the Spirit that is inside of me.\u00a0 Pride is the killer; it is what got Lucifer thrown out of heaven with the five, \u201cI will<\/em>\u201d statements he made in Isaiah 14:12-15<\/u><\/strong>.\u00a0 I will:\n
      \n \t
    1. Ascend to heaven<\/li>\n \t
    2. Raise my throne above the stars of God<\/li>\n \t
    3. Sit enthroned on the Mt. of the Assembly<\/li>\n \t
    4. Ascend above the tops of the clouds<\/li>\n \t
    5. Make myself like the Most High<\/li>\n<\/ol>\nWhich pronoun do you see repeatedly here?\u00a0 \u2018I\u2019<\/strong> and \u2018my<\/strong>.\u2019\u00a0 Different from what Jesus said, \u2018Not My will be done but Your will be done.\u2019\u00a0 <\/em>Lucifer is doing the exact opposite, and that is why his system designed as it is:\u00a0 to get people to make decisions independent of God; to do what is right in their own eyes rather than what God said.\u00a0 It is as old as Genesis 3:5<\/u><\/strong>, where the serpent said to the woman, \u201cFor God knows that in the day you eat form it your eyes will be opened, and you will like God knowing good and evil.<\/em>\u201d\u00a0 \u2018After all, your intellect is so superior, you can become God yourself; do things your own way and live life on your own terms<\/em>.\u2019\u00a0 That is how worldliness entered our world.\n\nHow does it go for people in the Bible when they become inflated with pride?\u00a0\u00a0 Proverbs 6:18<\/u><\/strong> says, \u201cPride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before stumbling<\/em>.\u201d\u00a0 See the word spirit?\u00a0 Pride is an attitude of the heart before you physically do anything.\u00a0 Satan or Lucifer, in Isaiah 14:12-15<\/u><\/strong>, said in his heart, so that is why the Bible places so much emphasis on the heart: \u2018Guard your heart for out of it spring the issues of life.\u2019 <\/em>\u00a0I think that is Proverbs 4:23<\/u><\/strong>.\n\n1 Peter 5:5<\/u><\/strong> says, \u201c\u2026GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE.<\/em><\/strong>\u201d\u00a0 That is why verse 6<\/u><\/strong>, says \u201cBut He gives a greater grace<\/em>.\u201d\u00a0 Notice the word greater in front of grace.\u00a0 In Greek, mega in front of charis.\u00a0 Why would he say \u2018greater<\/em> grace<\/em>?\u2019\u00a0 Because these people already had grace since they were believers.\u00a0 Now he is saying, \u2018Do you want greater grace?\u00a0 Then avoid worldliness which is rooted in pride because God is opposed to the proud<\/em>.\u00a0 James is saying what a tragedy it is to receive the grace of God for salvation, but then become worldly where you are now being opposed by the God who gave you grace to begin with!\u00a0 Why not get the double grace; the \u2018greater grace<\/em>?\u2019\u00a0 Why not receive Christ for salvation and not become worldly and stay humble so God can bless you rather than oppose you.\n\nI have here a list of the Hall of the Humbled \u2014 some of the people in the Bible who were lifted up with pride, and how God dealt dramatically with each one, beginning with Satan himself.\n\nSee slide on Hall of the Humbled<\/u><\/strong> at the 57:47 mark of video.\u00a0 By the way, this relates to the elder selection process because 1 Timothy 3:6<\/u><\/strong> says, \u201cDo not appoint a novice to a position of eldership in the ministry lest he fall under the condemnation of satan<\/em>.\u201d\u00a0 Lifted up with pride, followed by the fall.\n\nUzziah, lifted up with pride in 2 Chron 26:16<\/u><\/strong>, he decided to become a priest, which he wasn\u2019t supposed to do.\u00a0 He is the King, not the priest.\u00a0 The King comes from Judah, the priests come from the tribe of Levi.\u00a0 But like Saul before him, Uzziah got tired of waiting on the Lord.\u00a0 So, he went into the Temple and usurped privileges that belonged only to the priest; he defied what God said and he was smote from head to toe with leprosy.\u00a0 He spent the rest of his days as a leper living in an isolated house somewhere.\u00a0 In 2 Chronicles 26:16<\/u><\/strong> says that what caused that was pride.\n\nHerod, in Acts 12:20-23<\/u><\/strong>, liked the sound of his own voice.\u00a0 We don't have any politicians like that, do we.\u00a0 He was giving his speech and the people said, \u2018The voice of God and not man<\/em>.\u2019\u00a0 He said, \u2018Yeah, I am a pretty good speaker<\/em>.\u2019\u00a0 \u201cAnd immediately an angel of the Lord struck him because he did not give God the glory, and he was eaten head to toe with worms and died.\u201d<\/em>\n\nPaul, the apostle, struggled dramatically with pride, I believe.\u00a0 It is hard for me to believe a man as gifted as Paul was, didn\u2019t have pride issues, particularly when you are taken to the third heaven and hear things that people just don't hear.\u00a0 Because of those surpassing revelations, to keep Paul in a place of dependence and usability, because \u00a0God won't use you if you are prideful per 1 Peter 5:5<\/u><\/strong> that says that God opposes the proud, God had to keep Paul in a state of humiliation through a thorn in the flesh.\u00a0 Whatever it was, it hurt; we don't know exactly what it was, but a thorn hurts.\u00a0\u00a0 It was bad enough where Paul didn\u2019t just ask but he pleaded with God three times to take it away!\u00a0 God said, \u2018No, My grace is sufficient for you.\u00a0 What I will do is to give you grace to bear up under it, but I won't take it away, because if I do, your life and mind will be inflated with pride, and I can't use you anymore<\/em>.\u2019\n\nHere are several verses, most of which we covered that deal with the subject of pride, and I think we have actually covered all of these, so we don't have to go through them.\n
        \n \t
      1. Proverbs 16:18<\/li>\n \t
      2. Isaiah 14:12-15; Ezek 28:12-17<\/li>\n \t
      3. 1 Timothy 3:6<\/li>\n \t
      4. Acts 12:21-23<\/li>\n \t
      5. 2 Cor 12:7<\/li>\n \t
      6. 1 Peter 5:5<\/li>\n<\/ol>\nWhat is the bottom-line time as he deals with worldliness or concludes his thoughts on worldliness?\u00a0 The cause of worldliness is pride, and don't become worldly, Christian, is what he is saying, because that will put you at enmity with God per James 4:4<\/u><\/strong>, and it will alienate the Holy Spirit inside of you, 4:5<\/u><\/strong>.\n\nI love this about the Bible \u2014 that it is not a book about \u2018don\u2019ts\u2019<\/em> although we interpret it that way.\u00a0 It is true that there are a lot of \u2018don\u2019ts<\/em> in the Bible, but it is a book of \u2018betters<\/em>.\u2019\u00a0 Instead of worldliness and wrangling, he is what to embrace:\u00a0 spiritual wisdom, a better substitute.\u00a0 I am not really sure the world really hears our message; they hear us saying: \u2018Don't be a homosexual\u2019 don't get an abortion<\/em>, etc.,\u2019 and I think that a lot of that is appropriate, but we need to tell people that there is something better for them than being a homosexual or whatever sin that besets people.\u00a0 It is a relationship with Jesus<\/strong>.\n\nThat is it.","series_sermon_number":""},"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t