But God Gives More Grace - a podcast by Rev. W. Reid Hankins

Sermon preached on James 4:1-10 by Rev. W. Reid Hankins during the Morning Worship Service at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 04/18/2021 in Novato, CA.















Sermon Manuscript







Last week’s passage commended wisdom to us, but especially in how it could bring forth the fruit of peacemaking. Here we see why James had such peacemaking in mind. James confronts them for their quarreling and fighting that they have been doing. He helps them to understand what is underlying their conflicts. And in response he calls them to humble themselves in repentance. Let us walk through this strong word of rebuke by James and see how he points them and us back to the sweet gospel when he says in verse 6, “But God gives more grace”







We begin in our first point by dealing with the question he asks them in verse 1. He asks, “What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you?” Here we see that James knows whom he is writing to. He knows what they have been struggling. With a sternness yet love of a father, he confronts them on this. The church of Christ ought not to have quarrels and fights among them. But history has shown this is something the church too often has had to deal with. Just think of how many times you’ve heard of a “church split” occurring. How especially sad when a church would split over relatively mundane matters or personality differences versus say some weighty matter of doctrine.







But notice that James quickly moves past the fact of them fighting to get to them ask why they have been fighting. James wants them to see that their conflicts stem from hearts that are in the wrong place. He asserts this in verse 1 by saying that they have sinful passions at war within them. Verse 2 then gives some examples of this. James says they “desire”. Read that as sinful, covetous lusts, because we see what happens when they don’t get what they want. It says they murder! It’s hard for us to imagine that they were literally murdering people. Yes, this is a really stern rebuke by James but we might imagine that an even stronger rebuke would have been in order if they were literally murdering, but maybe they were. It is also possible James uses the language of murder the way that Jesus used it on the Sermon on the Mount. That’s when Jesus said that sinful hatred or sinful slander toward someone is a form of murder. And of course, murder is where conflict would end if allowed to go completely unchecked. But again, murder is just a form of the conflict. James says the heart of the matter is their sinful desire. Likewise, James goes on in verse 2 to say basically the same thing a different way. He says, “You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel.” James here sounds like a prophet speaking poetically with Hebrew poetry to emphatically make his point. Their fighting is coming from their sinful hearts that are wanting things that aren’t theirs to have and it ends them up in conflict.







But then notice how James contrasts this at the end of verse 2. After twice talking about their sinful passions and desires he then says, “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.” So, James spends a moment to remind that what is the opposite of such sinful passions and desires. There are such things as godly desires. Not all desire is wrong. Some in fact is quite good. If they would have godly desires, they could ask God for those things, and God may in fact give them those things. James gives some examples of such in this letter. For example, in the first chapter he had told them they could ask God for wisdom who freely gives it. In the last chapter James will speak of the healing we can find through prayer, especially healing from sin. Of course, James points out here that their desires have not been ...

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