This I know by painful, painful
experience. I am a weak, helpless, ignorant
sinner constantly in need of grace. More than 48 years ago,
God was pleased to save me by his marvelous grace. He gave
me a good hope through grace and sustains that hope. I trust
the Son of God. I've been purchased by the precious
blood of Christ, by his blood washed from all my sins, made
free from all sin before God. Justified and sanctified, Christ
is the Lord my righteousness. His righteousness is mine in
complete justification, and his righteousness is mine imparted
to me by the Spirit of God in regeneration, giving me to be
partaker of the divine nature. I know that God's given me a
new nature, a new heart, a new will, a new spirit. I'm not what
I want to be, not by a long stretch. Not what I ought to be, not what
I hope to be, but thank God I'm not what I once was. I do, by
the grace of God, trust the Lord Jesus. And I sing with confident
hope, blessed assurance, Jesus is mine. Oh, what a foretaste
of glory divine. Heir of salvation, purchase of
God, Born of His Spirit, I'm washed in His blood. How blessed is a man or a woman
who can with confidence lift their hearts to God and say,
I belong to God. I'm His. But this too I know. In these past 48 years, My old
Adamic sinful nature of flesh has not improved even slightly. Not even slightly. Rather, the older I get, the
worse it becomes. I am confident when I say The
worse it becomes, not the worse it appears. The worse it becomes. Flesh is just flesh. Rotting, stinking flesh. Nothing else. It will never become
anything else. I hear people talk about becoming
more righteous and more holy. As if somehow we supplement the
righteousness of Christ, supplement the glorious perfection of our
Redeemer by our works. With me, I know that is not the
case. And with you, I know that's not
the case. No matter how loudly anyone may
protest, you don't become more righteous. You do not become
more holy. If you say so, you're a liar
and you know you're a liar. You know that's just not the
case. In fact, it's just the opposite. The longer I live,
the more I experience, the more I am compelled to acknowledge
that in me, that is in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing. But I thank God, oh, I thank
God my hope is not in me, it's in Christ. My hope is not my
goodness, but His. My hope is not my righteousness,
but His. My hope is not in me, but in
His grace. I'm a sinner in need of grace. I can't begin to describe for
you how delighted I am to read in the book of God in James chapter
4, He giveth more grace. Knowing what I am, knowing who
I am, knowing my nature, oh how sweet to hear God the Holy Ghost
declare He giveth more grace. That's my subject this evening.
James chapter 1, or chapter 4, verses 1 through 8. He giveth more grace as our burdens
grow greater. He sendeth more strength as our
labors increase. To added affliction he addeth
his mercy, to multiplied trials He multiplies peace. When we
have exhausted our store of endurance, when our strength has failed,
ere the day is half done, when we reach the end of our hoarded
resources, our Father's forgiving is only begun. Fear not that
thy need shall exceed His provision. Does He not bid us cast on Him
all our care? lean hard on the arm everlasting
availing, the Father both thee and thy load will upbear. His
love has no limits. His grace has no measure. His power no boundary known unto
men. For out of His infinite riches
in Jesus, He giveth and giveth and giveth again. I pollute myself every day, but
Christ cleanses. I defile myself every hour, but
Christ washes. I sin every moment, but Christ
pardons. I fall, but grace raises me up. I come here again tonight as
one who has the rebuke of justice by reason of sin, but grace has
pardoned my sin, taken away my curse, and made me to stand before
God in the perfection of Christ through his precious blood and
his perfect righteousness. That's the way it's been for
49 years. That's the way it shall be until
I draw my last breath in this world, but while in this world
struggling with my sin. This too has been my experience.
He giveth more grace. I tell you only what I know.
Now, as we look at these eight verses together, let me call
your attention to four statements found in our text. First, We
read in the book here, the spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to
envy. James is not quoting a verse
of scripture when he says that, but rather he is referring to
all the testimony of God. The whole revelation of God in
all the scriptures. The spirit that dwelleth in us
lusteth the infant. Look at verses 1 through 4. For
whence come wars and fighting among you? Come they not hence, even of
your lust that war in your members? Ye lust, and have not. Ye kill,
and desire to have, and cannot obtain. Ye fight, and war, yet
ye have not, because ye ask not. You ask and receive not, because
you ask amiss, that you may consume it upon your lust. Ye adulterers
and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world
is enmity with God? Whosoever therefore will be a
friend of the world is the enemy of God. Do you think that the Scripture
saith in vain? The spirit that dwelleth in us
lusteth to envy. The spirit that's inside us lusts
all the time, incorrigibly, to envy. Now James is not talking
about political war. He's not talking about wars between
nations. He's not talking about wars of
any kind between man and man. James is talking about something
far more serious, far more serious, far more serious than any war
ever written about in a history book. He's talking about the
war that goes on all the time inside us between flesh and spirit. The war that is waged in our
souls day and night. The warfare to which there is
not even a slight truce and certainly no end until we drop this robe
of flesh in the grave. James is talking about our lust. The lust that wore in your members. You see that? The lust that wore
in your members. My lust that wore in my members. Your lust that war in your members. If you're gods, you know exactly
what I'm talking about. You might not wish to put it
into such plain expressions as James does, or as I do, but if
you're gods, you know exactly what I'm talking about. From
the moment of the new birth, from the moment of regeneration,
until the death of this body, God's people are a people relentlessly
engaged in a violent warfare. You lust and have not. Now watch where it says, you
kill and desire to have and cannot obtain. You fight and war, yet
you have not because you ask not. What is James saying here? This is what it's saying, Mark.
How violent are our passions for gain. Oh, how violent are our passions
for gain. How violent. We see it displayed
in the world around us. Men exercise great violence to
get ahead, to get what they want. Great violence. Men have been
killed so that they might be prevented from getting an office
someone else wanted. We have great violence, a violent
passion for gain, but James is not talking about what you read
in the newspaper. He's not talking about what you read in the history
books. He's talking about what you read in your heart every
day. Lust. Have not. Kill. Kill. What a strong word. Kill and desire to have. Kill
to get that. I could kill for that. I could
kill for that. We say it in jest. The fact is,
Mark, it's so. Kill to get gay, but you can't
obtain. You're fired in war, but you
have not because you ask not. You want possessions and power
and praise. I want possessions and power
and praise. I wish it were so, but that's
just fact. That's just fact. That's the
lust of our flesh. You ask and receive not, because
you ask amiss, that you may consume it upon your lust. That's what
he's saying. James is telling us, even in
prayer, we can't cease from our carnal cravings. Not even in prayer. Our carnal
cravings, David Burge, I'm compelled to say with honesty,
have more to do with what I call prayer than anything else. My
carnal cravings. If that weren't so, I'd pray
for your children like I pray for mine. If that weren't so,
I'd be as concerned for your families and for mine. If that
weren't so, I'd be as concerned for your welfare as I am for
mine. But our carnal cravings, carnal cravings we take to God
and expect God to give us our lust. Ye adulterers and adulteresses, adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship
of the world is enmity with God? Where did you get that? How did
that fit in? What caused him to make that
statement? How's he talking about friendship with the world? Your
carnal cravings for possession and power and praise. Your carnal
cravings for that which the world heaps upon men when men give
what they have to to get it. Friendship with the world is
enmity with God. Whosoever therefore will be the
friend of the world is the enemy of God. God and mammon, our Lord
said, cannot both be served. Love for this world, that is
love for this world's ways, its things, and its people, especially
love for its religion, is a declaration of war against God. Read those verses again. From whence come wars and fighting
among you? Come they not from hence, even
from your lust, that war in your members? Ye lust and have not. Ye kill and desire to have, and
cannot obtain, ye fight and war, yet ye have not because ye ask
not. Ye ask and receive not because
ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lust. Ye adulterers
and adulteresses, Know ye not that the friendship of the world
is enmity with God? Whosoever therefore will be a
friend of the world is the enemy of God. Now when you read those
four verses, don't forget to whom James is addressing himself. He's addressing himself to the
tribes of Israel, scattered abroad, brethren. brethren. He's talking to Don Manari and
Don Fortner. He's talking to you and me. He's
not talking to the reprobate. He's not talking to folks who
don't know God. He's writing to you and me. And he's talking
to us about our flesh. Then he makes this statement. Do you think the Scripture saith
in vain? Do you think the Scripture says
for nothing? The spirit that dwelleth in us
lusteth to in there. Now I'll tell you what you do. You
get your electronic Bible out or you go get your concordance
and find me a text of scripture that says that. Not a verse anywhere fail. Not
a single place in scripture you can point to it and say, there's
where James is quoting that. What James is doing, as he writes
by divine inspiration, is he is saying all that God has written
in his book testifies this one thing. The spirit that dwells
in us, the nature of fallen humanity, beast that we are, lusteth to
envy. The spirit of man is a spirit
of lust and envy. Let me give you some of the testimonies
of scripture. God saw the wickedness of man,
that it was great in the earth, and that every imagination of
the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. The thoughts of the imaginations
of the heart of man. That's talking about all men.
The whole human race, every thought, every imagination, only evil
continually. But pastor, that was before the
flood. Listen to what it says after the flood. The imagination
of man's heart is evil from his youth. All the days of my appointed
time, Job said, well, I wait. till my change come. All the
days of my appointed time, for now thou number'st my steps. Dost thou not watch over my sin? He said, Lord, at my appointed
time, my steps are numbered. And this is what the days of
my appointed time are. This is what every step is. You
constantly see my sin. That's all I am. Behold, I was
shapen in iniquity. In sin did my mother conceive
me. That's the nature of humanity. The heart, the heart, the heart
is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Your
heart and mine, that's the nature of fallen humanity. Depravity
is evident to everyone who has eyes to see. The only person
who doesn't recognize the universal depravity of our race is the
person who is blinded by the judgment of God so they cannot
see. You read your history books,
you read about depravity. Doesn't matter what part of history
you study. You read your newspapers, you read about depravity. Doesn't
matter what city you live in. You read events, current events,
you read about depravity. Doesn't matter where the current
events take place. You read the book of God, the
history of God's elect in this world is a history of depravity. Go back and read the history
of God's covenant people in Israel, where those were just representative
of God's people. Yes, they were. They were really
representatives of you and me. They were really representatives.
We see them murmuring and complaining and cussing God. And we just
sit in judgment over them like, oh, what horrible things they
are. And then we murmur and complain and cuss God. We're just exactly
like them. Just exactly like them. The recorded
history of God's saints makes no effort to hide this fact of
our depravity. Even our continued depravity. so long as we're in this earthly
state after God saved us by his grace. Noah, that man who found
grace in the eyes of the Lord, had no sooner got off the ark,
had time for grapes to grow and be harvested and to ferment into
wine, and he became drunk with wine. And his son in a drunken
stupor, exposed his corruption. Ishmael was the son of Abraham's
unbelief. Lot went down to Sodom. Jacob
wept and said, all these things are against me. Moses, oh what
a man Moses was. I wish I could just just be attired
to the man he was. But in a fit of anger, he took
his rod and smote Christ a second time. David, that man at God's
own heart, took the wife of his faithful servant Uriah and then
had him murdered to cover up his sin. Peter. Peter. Oh, what a man Peter was. He told the Lord, I'll go with
you to death. I'll go with you to death. And he was telling
the truth. He did. He did. But he was full of pride,
too. And his pride had to be exposed.
And Peter denied the Lord Jesus three times in one short night,
and one time denied him with cursing, as if to prove his oath
to be so. Paul and Barnabas traveled together
as friends, preaching the gospel. They traveled together as friends
preaching the gospel. And they finally parted company because
of a fellow named John Mark. They finally just split up because
of John Mark. Had a falling out because Barnabas
insisted on taking his relative John Mark with him when John
Mark had proved himself not to be dependable. Why are these
things written in the Word of God? Why are they written so
repeatedly in the Word of God? Why do the scriptures everywhere
say the spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to invent? They
do so to teach us just that. We're nothing but sin. They do
so to teach us all that salvation is entirely of the Lord. What
you do has got nothing to do with God's grace. What you do
has got nothing to do with God's salvation. What I do has got
nothing to do with God's grace or God's salvation. Salvation
is altogether outside ourselves, God's work for us and God's work
in us. And even what he does in us is
his work and not our own. And the scriptures teach us these
things repeatedly to remind us again and again that Christ is
all. He's all you have if he's yours. And he's all I have if he's mine. That's all. That's all. The spirit
that's in us by nature is a spirit of lust and envy. The believer constantly struggles
with these two natures, flesh and spirit. And there's never
any reprieve. Never any truce. Never any break. Day by day, hour by hour, moment
by moment, the spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy. But be
sure you learn this too. He giveth more grace. Our God gives more grace to us
than the world can give riches to man. And the least measure
of his grace is infinitely greater than all the riches of the world.
And our God gives grace to us, more grace than we can ever ask
or think. Grace is God's free gift. God's free gift to sinners who
deserve his wrath. faith, hope, love, peace, joy,
comfort, life, forgiveness, and righteousness. These things are
all the gifts of God's grace bestowed on us in Christ. He
gives us grace in Christ and gave it to us before the world
began. Gives us all grace in Christ. God alone can do so. You can't fetch grace to yourself
and you can't Fetch grace for your children. And you can't
give grace to one another. The preacher can't give you grace.
The church can't give you grace. Only God gives grace. Wouldn't
it God we could learn that? I mean really learn that. Only
God can give grace. Grace is a free gift. It's given
by the sovereign will and good pleasure of God to whom, and
when whom, and in what measure he pleases. And yet, as we experience
it, grace is God's ever-increasing, constantly abounding gift. Before the world was, God gave
me every blessing of grace in Christ. Is that what the book
says in Ephesians 1? Every blessing of grace. But
here James says, he giveth. He gives and gives and gives
and gives and gives and gives and gives and will never quit
giving as long as we're needing. He gives more grace. Well, but
it was done from eternity. That's the important thing. You'll never know anything about
what God did in eternity if you don't come to experience in time
what it's talking about here God gives grace And he gives
more grace So that as we need grace, he gives grace. I'll give you an example you're
familiar with the Apostle Paul Was translated to the third heaven
and he saw things and that couldn't be put into words. Somebody told
me the other day about somebody, another one of these nuts on
television that died, gone to heaven, didn't see God, but saw
the gates of paradise and stuff, came back telling folks all that
they'd seen. If they'd been there, they couldn't tell you about
it. Paul said so. The only one man who ever did, that was the
Apostle Paul. And he said, he said, I had revelations
above all the other apostles. And with this came a messenger,
Satan. who beat me in the face. Every
time, every time I think about it, my heart starts to swell
up with pride and Satan would smash me with his fist. Beat
me in the face. And as I asked God three times,
take this messenger, Satan, from me. Three times, take this messenger,
Satan, from me. Take this messenger, Satan, from
me. And the Lord said, live with
it. My grace is sufficient for thee. and I found that his strength
is made perfect in weakness. Now this is what he's saying.
Not that our weakness adds anything to God's strength, but his strength
is made perfect to me as I experience it in my weakness. When I am weak, then I'm strong. He giveth more grace. Every day, every hour, every
moment, he gives us grace to sustain us in trial, deliver
us in temptation, restore us when we fall, content us with
his providence, comfort us in trouble, help us in time of need,
keep us from the snare of Satan, strengthen us In our labor, direct
us in life, support us in death, and bring us at last to glory.
Now, here's the third thing James tells us. Wherefore he saith,
God resisteth the proud. God resisteth the proud. God
never gives anything to proud folks who don't need anything.
God never gives strength to the strong. He never gives grace
to folks who don't need grace. If you think you're strong, you
don't need Christ to be your strength. If you think you're
righteous, you don't need Christ to be your righteousness. If
you think you're holy, you don't need Christ to be your partner.
If you think you're full, you don't need Christ to be your
fullness. George Whitefield, when he traveled
around this country and in Great Britain preaching, wherever he
stayed, he stayed in homes. They didn't stay in motels and
hotels, didn't have those things. Sometimes preachers would stay
in a few of those. But generally stayed in people's
houses for weeks on end. And wherever he was, he tried
to witness to folks in the house. God teach me to do more of that.
God teach me to do more of that. And he would find folks who didn't
know God and try to witness to them. And a young maid took care
of him while he was staying at one of the homes in Pennsylvania.
And this young girl witnessed, heard Whitfield speaking and
talked to her a little bit after the service one night. And he
said to her, he said, young lady, ask God to show you yourself. And the next morning he left.
and was gone for months before he came back. When he came back,
he asked the folks at the house about this young maid who served
in the house, and they said, sir, shortly after you left,
she became totally beside herself, and she hasn't worked since.
And Whitfield said, would you go bring her here? And the lady
of the house sent and brought her there, He said to the young
lady who had just absolutely nearly gone mad because God showed
her herself. He said, ask God to show you
himself. And he did. He gives grace to the needy. And needy folks never get over
their need. Do you need grace? He gives grace
to the needy. Now watch this. He resisteth
the proud, but God giveth grace to the humble. Though the Lord is high, yet
hath he respect to the lowly, the proud he knoweth afar off.
Surely he scorneth scorners, but he giveth grace to the lowly. Look here at verses 7 through
10. Submit yourselves, therefore, to God. Submit yourselves to
God because He gives grace to the humble. Bow down before Him. Bow down before Him. Submit yourselves
to God. You who don't know God, quit
fighting God. Stack arms and surrender to Christ
the Lord. Resist the devil. Resist the
devil and he'll flee from you. Resist it. I can't resist him. I can't either. But God gives
grace to resist him. Draw nigh to God. Did you ever try? Did you ever
try? Did you ever try to draw nigh
to God? Have you ever succeeded? Have you ever succeeded? I try. Oh, I try. I try, but I can't
draw nigh to Him except He draw me nigh to Himself. Do you understand
what I'm talking about? You try to pray, you can't pray.
You try to pray and all you do is mutter words. You try to pray
and you go through a list and check it off. You try to pray
and you say somebody's name every day. And then sometimes, in desperation,
you have to have God and He teaches you to pray. Understand what
I'm talking about? Resist the devil. I can't, but
God can, and he'll flee from you. Draw nigh to God. I can't,
except he draw nigh to me, and he says he will draw nigh to
you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners. Purify your hearts, ye double-minded. What? The double-minded man is
unstable in all his ways. Brother Mark brought an outstanding
message here several months ago, double-minded are two natures. And the fact is, we are men and
women with two natures, which makes us to be double-minded
in the sense that the flesh always minds the things of the flesh.
The spirit always minds the things of the spirit. Cleanse your hands,
you sinners. Purify your hearts, you double-minded. How? Bathe your soul in the fountain
drawn from Emmanuel's veins. Continually bathe your souls
in the precious blood of Christ. Be afflicted and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned into
mourning and your joy into heaviness. Humble yourselves in the sight
of God. Humble yourselves in the sight
of the Lord, and He will lift you up. Fall down and worship Him, and He'll lift you up. Confess
your sin, and He'll forgive your sin. He'll lift you up. Confess
your sin, and He'll cleanse you from all sin. He'll lift you
up. Call on him for mercy, and he'll give you mercy. He'll lift
you up. Our Lord says to sinners, come unto me, all you
that labor and are heavy laden, and I'll give you rest. And then
it says, take my yoke upon you, and learn of me, and you shall
find rest unto your souls. Quit kicking against the prince.
and bow under his yoke, saying in your soul, not my will,
thy will be done. And I promise you, he will lift
you up and he will give you grace sufficient for the hour and more
grace as more grace is needed all the days of your life. Anytime you are involved in conflict
Our Lord said One King going to battle against another he'd
be smart sit down count the cost to see whether or not he could
defeat that key Lest he be embarrassed to be when he's put to flight
Well, how's this warfare gonna turn out? Brother calls how you reckon
this ain't gonna Victory is sure. Victory is sure. I shall at last
prevail over myself. And I shall at last prevail over
Satan. The fiend of hell is in a rage. Merle, you know why it causes
us so much trouble? Revelation 12 tells us, he knoweth,
he hath, but a short time. He knoweth, he hath, but a short
time. And he who gives grace will give
glory when he's done. And grace is no more needed when
glory is given. Amen.