The Flame of YAH

Posted on October 22, 2024 by Pete

Pretty sure I’ve never noticed it before. Perhaps because I was too busy blushing.

Come on! Read the Song of Solomon and at times it’s like you’re peeking into thoughts and things that shouldn’t be peeked into. Some pretty passionate language being used to describe some pretty intimate stuff. So, how to read it? Literally? (Blush). Allegorically? I’m thinking. After all, didn’t Jesus say, “The Scriptures . . . bear witness of Me”? Yeah, He did. And so, they do. And thus, to look for Jesus in this over-the-top love story by Solomon would seem appropriate.

So, when I hear “SHE” say, “My beloved is mine, and I am his” (Song 3:16), I’m hearing the church fawning over her Savior. When she dreams of how she “sought him” and “found him” and “held him” (Song 3:1,4), I see in it the ardent response of those who have been graced with being betrothed to the One who is “altogether desirable” (Song 5:16).

And then, this morning, I see that thing I don’t think I’ve ever seen before. The LORD. Like literally! I see the two English words, “the LORD.” The only time you’re gonna find that one Hebrew word YAH, aka Jehovah, in the book. Okay, that’s something to pause and take notice of, isn’t it? That, it seems to me, is worthy of chewing on.

Set me as a seal upon your heart,
as a seal upon your arm,
for love is strong as death,
jealousy is fierce as the grave.
Its flashes are flashes of fire,
the very flame of the LORD.
Many waters cannot quench love,
neither can floods drown it.
If a man offered for love all the wealth of his house,
he would be utterly despised.

(Song of Solomon 8:6-8 ESV)

The very flame of the LORD . . . There is it! “SHE” is expressing to her beloved the depths of love she has for him. Strong as death . . . as possessive as the grave . . . as bright and intense as fire. Fire that waters cannot quench, and floods cannot drown out. What kind of fire is that? The very flame of YAH. What kind of love is that? The love of God!

In trying to find the right words for love, she has to go to the very source of love to try and express the depths of her love. And God is love (1John 4:8).

A supernatural fire. A divine flame. That is the love kindled within her for her beloved. For that is the love which had wooed her and won her. The love which had redeemed and received her. The love which had bought her and bound itself to her. And that type of love — though imperfect while she is yet imperfect — is the love she feels for the one she loves.

The depths of love we feel too? Yeah. Should be.

Though you have not seen Him, you love Him. Though you do not now see Him, you believe in Him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory.

(1Peter 1:8 ESV)

Oh, to love Him who has first loved us with the very flame of YAH.

By His grace. For His glory.

I love You Lord
And I lift my voice
To worship You
O my soul rejoice
Take joy my King
In what You hear
May it be a sweet sweet sound
In Your ear

Laurie Klein, © 1978, 1980 House Of Mercy Music

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Seeking Jesus (2014 Rerun)

Posted on October 18, 2024 by Pete

Right action . . . wrong motive. Right pursuit . . . but focused on the wrong prize. Very commendable effort . . . but too common an expectation. John says they were “seeking Jesus” . . . so they got in their boats and crossed over the sea and went to Capernaum (John 6:24). Right action . . . right pursuit . . . commendable effort. Good on them for seeking Jesus. But when they found Him, Jesus kind of asks the tough question, Why are you seeking Me?

Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking Me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. Do not labor for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on Him God the Father has set His seal.”

(John 6:26-27 ESV)

They sought Jesus because they had been there when He fed the 5,000 with just a few loaves and fish. But they sought Him not because they desired the One who had performed such a great miracle . . . instead they wanted more of the miracle. It was less about seeking Jesus because He just might be the Messiah, and more about seeking Jesus because they just might get to feed their fleshly wants. Though God the Father had set His seal on Jesus as the promised One through the wondrous sign of taking essentially nothing and providing food enough to feed all who are hungry, their primary focus remained on “food that perishes” rather than on the Son of Man.

And so, Jesus seeks to elevate their gaze. To turn their eyes from their stomachs and to the things of eternity.

Then they said to Him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?” Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent.”

(John 6:28-29 ESV)

Seek not just the benefit . . . but believe in the Benefactor. When it’s just about the bread, then Jesus becomes, in a sense, our genie . . . us thinking that our wishes become His command. But when it’s about believing in the Giver-of-Bread, then Jesus becomes our Lord . . . His commands becoming our desires. So, says Jesus, “Do not labor for food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life.”

Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to Me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in Me shall never thirst.”

(John 6:36 ESV)

Jesus offers so much more than food for the stomach. And so much more than any blessing we would desire in this life. Whoever comes to Him . . . and not only to the blessings they might get through Him . . . there is a satisfaction of soul that is beyond imagination . . . beyond explanation . . . that is, quite literally, out of this world!

Oh, that having tasted of His goodness we might seek Jesus for no other reason than that He is good. That having believed He is the Son of God, we might pursue all that it means to follow the Son of God.

Seeking Jesus.

Not for some food that perishes, but for food that endures to eternal life.

Not relying on our strength, but drawing on His abundant grace.

Not just for our benefit, but for His glory.

Amen?

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Not Enough Room in the Mirror (2016 Rerun)

Posted on October 16, 2024 by Pete

This morning, I saw the effects of “the pride of Moab” played out in the elite of Jerusalem.

Jeremiah 48 records the words of the LORD concerning the people of Moab. Not very good words. Words of judgment. Words of impending doom. How come?

Moab shall be destroyed and be no longer a people, because he magnified himself against the LORD.

(Jeremiah 48:42 ESV)

Moab magnified himself against the LORD. He exalted himself rather than God. He billed himself as great at the expense of the great God of heaven. Any question as to what such “magnification” looked like is removed as God details the indictment, identifying it as “the pride of Moab.” “He is very proud,” says the LORD, calling out his loftiness, arrogance, haughtiness of heart, and insolence which showed itself both in Moab’s fake boasting and fake deeds (48:29-30). And when it comes to being magnified, when it comes to receiving the glory, the glory of man and the glory of God cannot coexist. One is set against the other. Like those old westerns, when it comes to the glory of man and the glory of God, “this town ain’t big enough for the two of us!” And there’s gonna be a showdown.

When it comes to His glory, God don’t share!

True in the days of ancient Moab? True in the days of New Testament Israel.

“How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?” ~ Jesus

(John 5:44 ESV)

It’s only the fifth chapter of John’s twenty-one-chapter gospel and already the Jews, the religious elite of Jesus’ day, were seeking to kill Him. Not just because they thought He was breaking the Sabbath by healing lifelong invalids on the seventh day of the week (5:1-17), but because “He was even calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God” (5:18). That’s because He was equal with God! He was the Word — the Word that was with God and the Word that was God (John 1:1). Come as the manifest glory of God (John 1:14).

But there was no room for any more glory among the Jews. They were consumed with their own glory. Their great occupation was to receive glory from one another . . . heaven need not apply. They had jumped on the Moab-mania bandwagon. Self-exalting, self-promoting, and self-sufficient people who only had eyes for themselves. Whose mirror was so occupied with their own light that there was no room for the Light of the world.

They had magnified themselves against the LORD. No room to believe in another because they so believed in themselves.

And as I chew on the pride of Moab and the self-glorification of the Jews, I’m reminded that it’s not an issue of how big “the town” is. Not a matter of whether or not there’s room in the mirror for both me and my God. But that my God is a God who will not give His glory to another (Isa. 48:11).

It’s not about sharing the spotlight, it’s about whose spotlight it is. My glory and God’s glory cannot coexist. My pride finds no place in His presence. They don’t get along. One is set against the other.

It’s not like I can really believe in Jesus while still really believing in me. When I’m seeking my glory, it will impact my faith. The Jews could not believe or receive the glory of God before them because they were so concerned about their own glory and exaltation. Similarly, if I’m focused on establishing how I great I think I am, it’s going to impact knowing how great my Father truly is.

Not enough room in the mirror for both He and me.

He must increase, I must decrease (John 3:30).

Because of His grace . . . and for His glory alone.

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I Might Have to Vote for It, But . . .

Posted on October 15, 2024 by Pete

They were “elect exiles” (1Pet. 1:1). They were dealing with the circumstances of their here and now even as they “set their hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (1:13). Sojourners in a foreign land which was practicing foreign ways, they were “grieved by various trials” (1:6). And yet, by God’s power, they were “guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time” (1:5). And Peter, led by the Spirit of God, seeks to answer the question they all should have been asking: “How should we then live?” (Thanx Francis Schaeffer for the question).

So, amidst the truths to be known reminding them of the wonders of their salvation — “things into which angels long to look” (1:12), these weary wanderers — on their way “to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading kept in heaven” for them — were also given commands to be obeyed which would not only allow these pilgrims to flourish but also to be set apart (1:15-16) as citizens of heaven (Php. 3:20).

I’m chewing on one of those commands this morning. And, given the filter and bias of an election cycle, I couldn’t help to see it first with a political lens. Almost as soon as I read it, I thought to myself, “Self, in light of this you can’t vote!” (Well, and the fact that I’m Canadian). But I chew on it for a bit, and I think a better conclusion might be, “I might vote for it, but I sure can’t act like it.”

So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander.

(1Peter 2:1 ESV)

So . . . Thus . . . Therefore . . . In light of . . . Accordingly . . . Consequently . . . What comes next is in light of the twenty-five verses that came before. This very practical exhortation is linked inextricably with the glorious exposition which has just preceded it. In light of such a great salvation, because of such a glorious hope . . .

Put away . . . Lay aside . . . Separate from . . . Distance yourself . . . And when I look at the list of what is to be cast off — malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander — I can’t help but think of our current cultural moment. I can’t help but see our current “accepted standard” for how to conduct oneself in the political public square. And my first thought is, if I am to put it off then can I in any way be associated with it, or seem to be endorsing it by voting for it? But noodle on it a bit and I sense that’s not the right application.

No, this is a command to the people of God on how to be the people of God. It’s about getting rid of ill-will, craft and guile, pretense, spite, and evil speaking as a normative dynamic within the family. So, while we might need to vote for those who practices such behaviors, we should not be infected by such behaviors. While it might be the way of the world, it shouldn’t become the way of us holy wanderers. I might have to vote for it, but Lord, please keep me from being infected by it. Keep me from adopting it.

Oh, to be in the world but not of the world.

Only by His grace. Always for His glory.

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Chewing On Some Indicatives

Posted on October 14, 2024 by Pete

The way my pastor has often put it, in the New Testament, before an imperative you’ll find an indicative. Before there’s a command to obey, there’ll be some facts to believe. So, this morning while reading in 1 Peter, while it was a common imperative that caught my attention, it was the associated indicative that fed my soul.

Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart . . .

(1Peter 1:22 ESV)

The imperative? The command to obey? Love one another earnestly from a pure heart. Got it. Pretty familiar.

The indicative? Your souls have been purified by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love. Hmm . . .

A purified soul. Cleansed. Ransomed by the blood of Christ, thus cleansed by the blood of Christ; without blemish or spot, because He is without blemish or spot (1Peter 1:18-19). His righteousness now credited to my account (Rom. 4:3-24).

How? By your obedience to the truth. Wait, I thought we were saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone . . . what’s this obedience stuff? But isn’t that what faith is, obedience to the truth? Isn’t there a sense in which the gift to believe the truth about Jesus is the gift to obey the truth about Jesus? Isn’t my assent to the claims of the gospel manifest in my subjection to the dynamics of the gospel? I’m thinking . . .

Not only have I been graced to believe, but I’ve also been graced to behave. Not only have I been saved by faith, but I’ve also been saved for faith (Rom. 1:17). I think you could say my first act of obeying God was believing God. That because I was given eyes to see and ears to hear, I wanted to look to Him and to hear His voice. Does that make sense? Isn’t that a bit awe-invoking?

Oh, the wonders of our salvation!

But then get this . . . what does Peter say I was saved for? What’s the last part of the indicative before I get to the imperative?

Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love . . .

I was saved for a sincere brotherly love. One of the great ends of my sanctification, of being set apart by faith for faith, is to love the family of believers with a sincere and authentic love.

When asked the question, “Why did God save you?” I can respond, “To delight in other believers. To be kindly affectioned — with divine, self-sacrificing affection — towards others who have been ransomed by the blood and born again by the word (1Peter 1:19, 23).” Not the only answer to the question, but I’m thinking a pretty significant one.

Faith in Jesus is obedience to truth. Being born again is for family affection towards others who have been born again. Indicatives worthy chewing on, I think.

And then the imperative; love one another earnestly.

Indicatives by God’s grace. Imperatives for God’s glory.

Amen?

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God Speaks

Posted on October 9, 2024 by Pete

Quick thought this morning.

I’m chewing on a reminder that some things are taken for granted. Some things are so familiar we fail to wonder at them as we should. What kind of things? Well, this morning the particular “thing” I’m chewing on is that God speaks. And it’s a verse in Jeremiah about Judah’s sin which reminds me that God speaks.

“Therefore, thus says the LORD, the God of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I am bringing upon Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem all the disaster that I have pronounced against them, because I have spoken to them and they have not listened, I have called to them and they have not answered.”

(Jeremiah 35:17 ESV)

Wanna boil down the sin of God’s rebellious people to four words? Try they have not listened.

But there’s no sin of “not listening” if there’s nothing to be heard. Only if God has spoken can a man, or a woman, refuse to listen. And what kind of God condescends to speak to His creation? Our God.

Idols don’t speak. Pagan gods don’t speak. All other gods are pretty much stand-offish. But our God is inextricably linked to communication. From the beginning, God’s Word was God’s way. “The Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1b). He spoke things into being, for “God said . . . and there was” (Gen. 1:3); “God said . . . and it was so” (Gen. 1:9). What’s more, God communicated the way of flourishing (2:16). Even more, He called out to let us know that He was pursuing (Gen. 3:9).

He who is above desires with intense desire to be known below. And how’s that? God speaks. In the past, He spoke by the prophets. “But in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son” (Heb. 1:2).

And isn’t that the essence of what we mean when we talk about having a “personal relationship” with God? It’s personal because He speaks so that we can hear. He communicates so that we can commune. He tells us about Himself so that we can testify from experience that He is known. Doesn’t get more “personal” than that.

Oh, the wonder of a God who has spoken, of a God who continues to speak. For, in His speaking, He is present. In His word, He is real.

Word of God speak.

By Your grace. For Your glory.

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Get Them Back

Posted on October 8, 2024 by Pete

If I’m picking up what James is laying down, then we’re part of the process. Just as the Father’s foreknowledge and election are part of the process; just as the Son’s incarnation is part of the process; just as the cross and the tomb and the empty grave clothes are part of the process; just as the Spirit’s life-giving agency and sanctification are part of the process; I think James is saying that, as believers, we too are part of the process of salvation.

My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.

(James 5:19-20 ESV)

Whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul . . . Like I said, sounds like we’re part of the process.

Brothers who have wandered from the truth. Sisters who have strayed from the way. Believers who backslide. Saints who sin. Go back and scan James’ letter, and that’s what it’s about. At least that was James’ church experience.

Temptation was real (1:13-14), anger was present (1:19-20). Filthiness and wickedness were being dealt with (1:21). Partiality was being practiced (2:1-7)), and living faith wasn’t (2:14-26). Tongues were on fire (3:1-12), and jealousy and selfish ambition simmered below the surface (3:14-16). Quarrels and fights were happening within (4:1-3) and a love for the world was evident without (4:4-5). Pride was present (4:6) and backbiting was practiced (4:11). The rich exploited the poor, and employers defrauded the employed (5:1-5). And all this, in the church. Say it ain’t so! Yeah, it was.

Well then, tell me that James’ congregation was unique. I don’t think so. Seems to me if you’re gonna declare sinners to be saints, even before they actual even know what it means to live like saints, and if you’re gonna leave the old nature of the flesh to cohabitate with the new nature infused by the Spirit, and if you’re gonna cover it all with blood that cleanses from all sin and grace that can’t be out-transgressed, then you’re gonna have some mess in the meantime. That’s why church elders are to pray and lift up (5:13-15). And that’s why church members are to engage and bring back.

Bring him back . . . That’s what I’m chewing on this morning. Bring back a sinner from wandering . . .

Seems it’s not just the shepherd who needs to retrieve the sheep when they wander off (Lk. 15:4), but us sheep have a responsibility for each other as well.

Peterson puts it well:

My dear friends, if you know people who have wandered off from God’s truth, don’t write them off. Go after them. Get them back and you will have rescued precious lives from destruction and prevented an epidemic of wandering away from God.

(James 5:19-20 MSG)

If we’re expecting the church to be a place where we all have it together, then we’re going to shame the saint instead of seeking to help save them. If we’ve kidded ourselves to thinking we have it all together, then we’re going to condemn the wanderer rather than cover a multitude of sins. But if we expect a mess — not accept the mess but expect it — then we’ll also expect that as part of being “in fellowship” we’ll likely be involved in bringing back sinning saints and wandering wanderers. It’s a part of the deal.

Not just according to James, but Paul too.

Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.

(Galatians 6:1-2 ESV)

Wandering away in sin, ensnared and tripped up by transgression, it’s kind of what happens in the church. It’s kind of the reality of people who are still people in progress. People who, though they may be more like Christ now than when they first believed, are not yet fully conformed to His likeness. Welcome to sanctification.

And guess what? We’re a part of each other being a work in progress. It comes with being in the family of God. It’s why everyone one of us needs the family of God. Turning others back is one aspect of our common ministry. Being turned back is one aspect of our common experience.

Don’t write them off . . . go after them.

Get them back.

By God’s grace. For God’s glory.

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Jehovah-Tsidkenu

Posted on October 4, 2024 by Pete

Five words. Five words that brings things to a halt. Five words that demand a pause. Words that generate again wonder. Words that evoke again praise. Words that remind again that my righteous standing before a holy, holy, holy God is due solely to a Righteous Savior. The One identified of old with five words, “The LORD is Our Righteousness.”

As I continue to read in Jeremiah it’s clear that Judah had come apart at the spiritual seams. Her kings led her into deeper and deeper apostasy, her shepherds had lost all affection and care for the flock and were leading her to feed in rotten pastures of idol worship, and her prophets had determined to no longer seek the voice of God but to ad lib, passing off their own hollow words of, “It will be OK” as “thus says the LORD.” A dark and ominous time. Judgment is inevitable.

But this morning I also encountered a ray of light, some hope for the hopeless, a safe harbor for those in the storm.

Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and He shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In His days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which He will be called: “The LORD Is Our Righteousness.”

(Jeremiah 23:5-6 ESV)

Even as the God of Israel is about to lay waste the land and send an adulteress people into captivity, He promises that He will gather a remnant of His flock out of the countries where He drives them. Promises that they shall, one day, again be fruitful and multiply. Promises that He will set shepherds over them who will care for them (23:3-4). And at the center of this promise is a righteous Branch.

A Branch who will be a sprout or shoot from the Davidic tree. He will be of the line of royalty. He will have the right to rule. And He will be righteous.

Unlike the wayward kings Israel had known, juxtaposed against the self-seeking shepherds of the day, in contrast to the false prophets and their bogus words, He will be God’s quintessential King, the Father’s supreme Shepherd, and the LORD’s perfect Prophet. He will be the King who will rule forever in the way of justice with a scepter of righteousness. He will be the eternal Shepherd willing to give His life for the sheep, that He might feed them in green pastures and lead them to living water. He will always speak perfectly and accurately the mind of the LORD for He will be the very Word of God.

And what grabs me afresh this morning — what cries to me to “Be Still” — is His name. He will be called: “The LORD Is Our Righteousness.” In the original, “Jehovah-Tsidkenu.”

This morning I’m reminded that the only ground I stand upon before a holy God is the ground secured by this Branch of David. That He is the “secret sauce” of my salvation. Because the Branch, Jesus the Messiah, is Jehovah-Tsidkenu.

This Branch who is Jehovah — God. Very God. Fully God. Himself the radiance of God’s glory, the exact imprint of God’s nature, the Creator and Sustainer of all things, worthy alone to be seated at the right hand of the Majesty on high (Heb. 1:2-3).

This Branch who is Tsidkenu — our Righteousness. Having Himself made purification for my defilement, having Himself become the once for all sacrifice for my sin. Having been pierced for my transgressions and crushed for my iniquities so that His chastisement could bring me peace and reconciliation. His perfect character imputed to my purchased soul giving me a righteous standing before a holy God. A righteousness — the righteousness of Christ — affording me access into the Most Holy Place. A righteousness received by faith alone in Christ alone.

For our sake He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.

(2Corinthians 5:21 ESV)

Jehovah-Tsidkenu. Overwhelmed by the name! Overjoyed by the reality.

He is Our Righteousness!

Oh, what grace!

To God be the glory!

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Believer Bashing

Posted on October 3, 2024 by Pete

I just finished a book which sought to contend for the faith. But as I’m reading in James this morning, I’m wondering if it also didn’t transgress the law.

That the church is not of one mind as to exactly how we are to stand for truth and yet still bear witness to the gospel of grace seems to be evident. Evident to all as the church has taken stage in a virtual public square with the world looking on from the balcony of social media. And yet, isn’t much of our power in being the “pillar and buttress of the truth” (1Tim. 3:15) founded in our diligence toward maintaining “the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Eph. 4:3)? I’m thinkin’ . . .

Thus, a holy tension. Contend for a truth in which we mostly agree, but do not entirely agree. Be on mission to reach the lost, a mission to which we are commonly committed yet with differing strategies. And do it in a way that still declares we are Jesus’ disciples by how we love one another (James 3:15). It’s to that tension which I think James may be speaking (at least to this guy) this morning.

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.

(James 4:11 ESV)

Do not speak evil against one another . . . BROTHERS (AND SISTERS).

Sounds like a command to obey to me.

Don’t speak badly of another believer. Don’t talk in a way that is targeted at damaging their reputation. Don’t malign or slander.

Sure, you may not agree with how they see things, how they prioritize things. You may have a vastly different approach to how to contend for the truth while still proclaiming the gospel. But, if I’m applying James right, in that difference do not speak evil against one another.

The culture of the world around us has become very good at speaking evil against one another. Debating issues with innuendo. Articulating positions with aspersions. And as is prone to happen, the world, I fear, has leavened some parts of the church. So that, our fighting for the truth has too often taken on a flavor of fighting against one another. Our decrying of sin has resulted in defaming one another. So that, I fear, we run the danger that our proclamation of the gospel of grace is being outshouted by our lack of grace towards one another.

Do not speak evil against one another . . .

That’s gonna take some wisdom as we rightly feel the need to be salt and light in a decaying and dark world and yet have different views on how to apply the salt and shed the light. A wisdom from above, not the world’s wisdom. A wisdom requiring the mind and heart of Christ so that we are not drawn into a culture which promotes contention.

Remember the adage, “In essentials unity, in non-essentials liberty, in all things charity”? That’s the wisdom I think I’m talking about.

Believer bashing. Shouldn’t be a thing.

By His grace. For His glory.

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More Grace (2018 Rerun)

Posted on October 2, 2024 by Pete

If I thought it “a bit disturbing” back in ’18, I might consider it downright unsettling in 2024. We are still quarreling and still fighting. And while the “what’s” of our disagreements may be legitimate and substantive, the “how’s” of our disputes just aren’t. They’ll know we are His disciples by our love for one another (Jn. 13:35), not by our public contempt for one another.

So, how come we are talking about the right things but in the wrong way? Could it be as simple as we’ve been tripped up by “friendship with the world?” Not it’s pleasures, but its polarization? Not its treasures, but it’s tactics? Not it’s values, but it’s venom? I don’t know, but these thoughts from six years ago still seem relevant today. I’m thinking we still need more grace.

His letter is written to “the twelve tribes in the Dispersion.” So, James’ epistle was penned for believers but with a particular Hebrew flavor. Maybe not surprising given that it’s thought this could be the first NT book written, and thus written to a church that was still largely Jewish.

So it’s for those who are born again. Those who are new creations in Christ. And maybe that’s what makes the opening verses of chapter 4 a bit disturbing.

What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? 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. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. 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.

(James 4:1-4 ESV)

What? Quarrels? Fights? Murder? And all this among the believers?!? Say it ain’t so!

What happened to “and all who believed were together and had all things in common” (Acts 2:44)? Or, “Now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own” (Acts 4:32)? Even if you understand that James isn’t referring to murder in the literal sense but in the Sermon on the Mount sense, that of intense anger towards someone (Mt. 5:21-22), you’re still asking yourself, what’s going on?

What could so corrupt the unity of the Spirit believers were born again into (1Cor. 12:13, Eph. 4:1-3)? What could so mar the testimony of love for one another that Jesus said would mark His disciples (Jn. 13:35)?

Two things, apparently. Passions at war within us, and love for the world around us. Evidently a lethal combo for the church being the church.

The nature of the flesh is to want. To desire what it thinks it must have to be satisfied. What it feels it needs in order to experience pleasure. And when someone else has that something, there can be a tendency to turn on that person. Either out of jealousy, or of trying to compete for it. Cue a catalyst for conflict.

And what feeds the flesh? The world. The system of values, priorities, and prizes that man has built up for themselves in order to satisfy “the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions” (1Jn. 2:16). The world feeds the flesh. And flesh wars against others driven by flesh. And then you have quarrels, and fights, and murders . . . oh my!!!

What’s the answer? Stop it!!!

It’s that simple, says James. Stop coveting and start praying, asking for what you think you need. And if you don’t get it, then know that you ask amiss.

What’s more, stop befriending the world (by the way, that’s not BFF type of befriending, that’s getting into bed with type of “friends” . . . you adulterous people). For to befriend the world is to set yourself up as an enemy of God. Why would believers do that? Oh yeah, the flesh!

Ugly mirror to be looking into this morning. Bitter food to be chewing on. But thank God for the word “but”.

But He gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”

(James 4:6 ESV)

More grace. Greater grace. Larger grace. Stronger grace. That’s the grace our God dispenses . . . and dispenses freely and abundantly.

And it’s available to the humble. To those who look in the mirror of Scripture and see their own reflection in the twelve tribes of the dispersion. Who refuse to say, “Not me! That’s someone else,” but know the battle between the flesh and the Spirit is their daily reality. Who, by the Spirit’s enabling power, say, “No!” to the flesh, and “Forgive me” to God. Who preach the gospel to themselves — the blood’s power to forgive and cleanse, the empty tomb’s power to allow those once in bondage to the flesh to live in newness of life. To believe in, and avail themselves of, “but He gives more grace.”

Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will exalt you.

(James 4:10 ESV)

Yes, He will.

Because of more grace. And that for His glory.

Amen?

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