James 4:1 From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members?
2 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.
3 Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.
4 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.
5 Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy?
6 But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.
7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
8 Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.
9 Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness.
10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.
11 Speak not evil one of another, brethren. He that speaketh evil of his brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of the law, and judgeth the law: but if thou judge the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge.
12 There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy: who art thou that judgest another?
Saturday was another example of the challenges facing those who do not fit the left leaning mob. A gunman was able to be in the same hotel where the White House Correspondents’ Dinner was being held. It was not the press that he was after. He knew that the president of the U.S. would be there as well as many other high officials of the U.S.
It is just over two months ago that Israel and the U.S. were able to take out some of the top officials of Iran in one night. Those people likely thought they were safe where they were gathered.
The meeting on Saturday was in the basement of the Hilton Hotel. That is the same hotel that then president Ronald Reagan came out of and was shot by a crackpot.
On Saturday they were in the basement. However, that was a hotel. It was not a bomb shelter or anything close to a bomb shelter. There are other countries that have powerful weapons. There are other countries that are planning serious attacks against the West.
Canada has taken the approach of gun confiscation now for a number of years. That is a very foolish position to take. The gunman on Saturday had two guns and some knives. So even if we could take all the guns away, what about the knives. An experienced man with a knife could throw and kill his target. A knife flying through the air does not make noise. There is no warning. Furthermore, we know that criminals always get their weapons. To disarm the law abiding citizens is foolish. We know that our government has a different motive. They are not concerned about people shooting one another. They are concerned about gaining control of society. If society is disarmed, the government can push their agenda with much less resistance. That is the goal in Canada.
As we see in our text, violence is the result of a heart issue. In Genesis 4 we find two brothers, Cain and Abel. Cain was a wicked man and Abel was a righteous man. Both decided to practice their religion. Cain rejected God and decided to bring a sacrifice of his making to God. God rejected that. Abel was a righteous man and he brought a sacrifice he knew God would accept. Cain did not like it that his offering was rejected. He thought he could tell God what was acceptable. He was wrong, but he did not like being told he was wrong.
The Bible tells us he talked with his brother and he killed him. He was angry with God and took it out on his righteous brother. Killing Abel did not solve his problem. God continued to confront Cain, but he had no interest in acknowledging wrong doing. God is a God of love and He needed to punish Cain. Cain complained about that as well. Cain had a heart problem and he died a lost man. He has been suffering in Hell now for a long time. He will never get past that. He will end up in the lake of fire along with all ungodly people.
Verse 2 of our text tells us what the problem with the heart is. There is an inordinate desire for that which you cannot have. People want things and they are not going to ask God for them. Many times, He would not give them to the person anyway. Thus the ungodly take to violence to try to get what they want.
We have too many bleeding hearts who do not want to live by God’s standard of justice, and so we look for excuses as to why a person might turn to violence. If they end up in prison it is for far less time than it should be. We have removed the death penalty from the equation in Canada. Thus the most violent criminal can live out his days at taxpayer expense.
In verse 3 we see that oftentimes we ask amiss. We already noted that we want things we do not need and God is not obligated to give us anything.
In verse 4 God calls this spiritual adultery. We know what physical adultery is. Spiritual adultery is worse. It is making the world your god and rejecting the true God. The friend of the world is the enemy of God. He has many enemies.
In verse 5 we see further that the problem is in the heart. The spirit of the lost person is set on envy. Unions are the result of people who want things they cannot legitimately have. Work hard and please the boss, and he will appreciate your work. Yes, there are greedy and selfish bosses. If you love the Lord and work hard and your boss just wants to take advantage of you, find a better job. If people would be saved, they would understand they do not need to be stepped on and abused. A good boss cares about his employees because he wants to keep them around. He knows good workers are good for his bottom line. Not only that, but he has a good heart and cares about his employees.
In verse 6 we read that God gives more grace. He gives more grace than the evil people want to exercise. God will help His child to know how to respond to the world. What is required is humility. God does not accept a proud person. The proud person does not know the peace of God in his heart.
We know that the security detail on Saturday night was massive. In spite of that, the gunman still entered that building with his weapons. He ploughed through the first level of security and was on his way further into the building when he was taken down. I am told there were many other people in that particular area so it was difficult to get a shot at him.
Mr. Trump was protected as were many others. Mr. Trump is a very proud man. God has him in that position for the time being. However, he cannot go anywhere without a security detail. That will likely be beefed up greatly after this latest event.
There is only so much security a person can have around him. It is far better to have God as our Protector rather than relying on fallible man.
In verse 7 we are reminded of the need to submit to the Lord God. This is an individual decision. When a person submits to God, he will resist the devil. He will realize that a meeting like Saturday night was completely unnecessary. There was much liquor at the tables. A Christian does not need to be in such an environment. The media is so corrupt that any awards that would have been given were not honourable. The president was to give a speech. He said afterwards that he had planned on attacking the media. He says at the next event he will likely have a more toned down speech.
We know that the mainstream media hates him. They are not going to change. They love even greater corruption than he tolerates. They loved Joe Biden and Barak Obama. They had a greater respect of George Bush and some others as well.
In Canada the media loves Mr. Carney and they hate Mr. Poilievre. Both men are lost, but Mr. Carney is much more in line with the wicked agenda that is being promoted.
Our politics is not going to change because the hearts of the leaders are not likely to change. Furthermore the hearts of too many of the citizens is not where it should be. The Bible tells us that there will be a falling away before the Lord’s return.
Christians are few in our country and in the world. God does not need an army. He does not need anyone. He saves people and gives them the privilege of serving Him in reaching out to the ungodly.
The key to the increasing violence in our country and the world, is for people to get saved. Saved people do not fight with one another. Saved people talk to one another. Saved people come from a foundation of faith in God. God’s Word is the answer. We need to submit to Him and then He will guide us into greater truth. The Word of God is Truth.
Pastor Bartel