James 3:15 Such "wisdom" does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, of the devil.

Fighting the

Pressures of Sin

James 4:1-12

James 1:27 Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

Worldly Pleasures

James 3:18 18 Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness.

I. The Conflict Caused by Embracing Worldliness

Conflict within Ourselves that Leads to Conflict with Others (4:1-3)James 4:1-3 What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don't they come from your desires that battle within you? 2 You want something but don't get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God. 3 When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.

I. The Conflict Caused by Embracing Worldly Wisdom

Conflict within Ourselves that Leads to Conflict with Others (4:1-3)

John 13:34-35 "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.“

I. The Conflict Caused by Embracing Worldly Wisdom

Conflict with God (4:4-6)James 4:4-6 4 You adulterous people, don't you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. 5 Or do you think Scripture says without reason that the spirit he caused to live in us envies intensely? 6 But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble."

I. The Conflict Caused by Embracing Worldly Wisdom

Conflict with God (4:4-6)1 John 2:15-17 15 Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For everything in the world-- the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does-- comes not from the Father but from the world. 17 The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.

II. The Solution is Humble Submission

James 4:7-10 7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.

II. The Solution is Humble Submission

Resist & Come Near (7b-8a)James 4:7b-8a Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Come near to God and he will come near to you.

Ephesians 6:10-13 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.

Ephesians 6:18 18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.

II. The Solution is Humble Submission

Resist & Come Near (7b-8a)James 4:7b-8a Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Come near to God and he will come near to you.

Wash & Purify (8b)James 4:7-10 Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

Grieve & Change (9)James 4:9 9 Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom.

III. Don’t Judge Others

James 4:11-12 11 Brothers, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against his brother or judges him speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgment on it. 12 There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you-- who are you to judge your neighbor?

Is God Enough To Satisfy Me?