Somebody Loves You

Raul Ries: And I think of all people that are self-righteous and they're pointing their finger at somebody else when in the book of Matthew, in the Sermon on the Mount in chapter seven, says that we are not to judge. If we judge, he says we will be judged. With what degree of judgment we judge, we're going to get it back immediately: twofold, double.

Host (Male): Welcome to Somebody Loves You radio, the Bible teaching ministry of Raul Ries in Diamond Bar, California. Well, it's good to have you with us today. As we return to the book of James, Raul will give us a challenge to live in humble surrender and wholehearted devotion to the Lord Jesus.

You know, it's easy to point fingers at other people's shortcomings, but instead, we need to take an honest look at ourselves and acknowledge any sin that might be keeping us from God's perfect will. Stay with us to consider the rich blessings of submission. Let's listen as Raul Ries begins our study today from James chapter 4, beginning in verse 13.

Raul Ries: I thought about my own personal life as I go back now and look back at my life, how quickly life has gone by. So quick. I remember getting saved at the age of 24 years old and thinking that time would never come. I remember when I was flying and people would say, "How old are you?" and I would say, "I'm only 30 years old." Looking at 50 years old was, man, 20 years from now. That's a long, long time.

And then all of a sudden 50 came, and all of a sudden you begin to see your life just slipping away like never before. And you think of one thing that's really important, and that's about eternity. Because I believe truly, as I was reading the scriptures as James was writing, the brother of our Lord Jesus Christ, that it doesn't matter whether you're 10 years old or 20 years old or 50 years old or 90 years old, the Bible says there is an appointed time for a man to die and then the judgment will come.

The Psalmist says that God gives us 70 years to live. So if you get past 70 years, it's a miracle of God. It's amazing how some people will live a short time, some will live a little longer, some will live a long, long time, and then the end will come. But eventually, everybody dies. Everybody: infants, adults, and old people. Everybody dies.

And it's really important that if we are going to die, that we understand what kind of an investment are we really making eternally in the Lord. Because when you're young, you really don't think about your wife and your children as when you're a grandfather, you look totally different at things. You wish you could go back to your early life and make up for the things that you did wrong with your children. And that's the way life is.

But it's kind of awesome because the Lord has us in a place where you think about it for a moment. When a little baby is born into the world in infancy, he's helpless, needs his mommy. And then how the Lord takes us through life: 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70. And he takes us from infancy to infancy. When you get old, sometimes you have to wear diapers because you're not in control anymore.

I really believe in my heart, studying the scriptures, that it's one of the greatest things God's ever done is to bring us back to old age. And the reason because there's a lot of old people that are still proud, but God brings us to that place where he humbles us, and we need assistance. And it gives us an opportunity before we die to look up to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords that constantly wants to assist our lives. And he wants us to be with him in eternity forever.

And that's why when you look at your grandparents, or you look at your great-grandparents, and even your own parents as they start getting older, you begin to see that life not only moves quickly, but life is establishing the history for that family for the next generation. For me, it's amazing how many people within the family not only come to know the Lord Jesus Christ, and God loves them so much that he continues to touch that family so that that family can be a light and the witness to the world for Jesus Christ.

So we have a great responsibility as believers. And I think James, in writing this epistle, because he gives so many exhortations, that as we came into the fourth chapter of the book of James, James began talking to us about war with God, how people are at war with God. And now he's ending the chapter talking about the will of God. What is the will of God for my life?

And yet, the two themes are totally related to each other. And when a believer is out of the will of God, he becomes a troublemaker and not a peacemaker. That's why people that don't know the Lord, they're out of touch with God, they're not at peace with God, they're unstable. They're like a fuse ready to go off. And really, you can't experience the peace of God until you make peace with your Maker fully and completely.

When we look back at this history of the Old Testament, we look back at Lot, Abraham's nephew. When he was brought up in the ways of the Lord, but he decided to make the choice of being disobedient to God. And what did he do? He moved into Sodom and Gomorrah and he brought trouble for his family, great trouble for his family. He got himself out of the will of God.

And then there was David, where David was being blessed by God, and David was out on the battlefield, and one day he woke up and he said, "I think I'll take some R&R." Without checking in with God, and he went home to Jerusalem to go to his palace. And when he got to his palace, he took a bath and got dressed and decided to go outside of his palace and look out into the city of Jerusalem. It was a beautiful day. It was late in the evening.

And as he was in his balcony looking out, all of a sudden he looked down below and there was this beautiful woman bathing on top of the roof. They had flat roofs in that culture. Her name was Bathsheba. And her husband was loyal to David's army. He was in the battlefield, Uriah. And David began to look. Nothing wrong with looking. The problem is when you start lusting, the problem comes.

He started lusting after Bathsheba in that balcony and began to desire her. And recognizing that she was a lonely woman, alone, called one of his guards and said, "You see that woman down there bathing? Go get her for me." And Bathsheba was brought to his room. He lay with her and then kicked her out, sent her back home. King David, the shepherd boy, the one that had been used greatly by God.

As time went on, just a little time went on, David received a letter from Bathsheba. And there was a knock on the door, so he opened the door and one of the guards said, "Oh King, there's a letter for you." He took it, closed the door, went back into his balcony, opened the actual letter, began to read it, and it said, "King David, I am pregnant, expecting a child." Bathsheba signed the letter.

David was pretty upset. He was so upset that Satan came to harass him day and night because he sinned against God by committing adultery. So David began to think in his own mind, like all of us here, whenever we do something wrong, what do we want to do? We want to escape judgment. We want to find a solution to our problem.

And if we're honest, we confess it before God. But if we're not honest, then we look for a way to get around God and we deceive ourselves. And then Satan comes like a flood. Satan came to David and he said, "David, if you want to get rid of your problem, I got the answer for you. Sit at your desk, take a piece of paper out, grab a pen, and write a letter to your cousin that's the general to the army and tell him to send Bathsheba's husband home, Uriah, for some R&R."

Host (Male): This is Somebody Loves You radio with Raul Ries. We'd like to take a brief time out to remind you that we're here to help you grow in your relationship with God and glorify him in all of your decisions. For a wealth of resources, visit somebodylovesyou.com or check out the Somebody Loves You Worldwide YouTube channel. Now back to more with Raul Ries.

Raul Ries: As David wrote that letter and sealed it with his name, it's amazing. He kept it because what he did is he gave it and they went ahead and took it down to the battlefield where actually Joab, his cousin, was. And Joab opened the letter and read it and said, "Okay Uriah, guess what? You get to go home for a couple days to see your wife. Go." So he went.

When Uriah came home, David gave him a real welcome party home. He said, "Hey come to the palace, I prepared a table for you, come and eat and dine with me and we'll drink together and then you can go home to your wife." And so he came in really excited and came in with his men and they were outside, he was inside with David. They were chatting and drinking and eating and it was getting late. And so David said, "It's getting late, you better go home."

So as he got up from the table and started to go home, all of a sudden he looked to the right and here is all his men sleeping outside without their children, without their wives. And so Uriah decided, "If they don't get to go home—what an honorable man—I'm going to sleep with them outside. I will not go home to my wife."

The next morning, David got up early in the morning. He was excited because he thought my sin is taken care of now. Uriah is going to sleep with his wife, it's going to be his baby. There was a knock on the door and he opened the door, one of the guards outside said, "By the way King David, last night Uriah never got home, he slept with his troops outside of the gate." "What? You gotta be kidding me."

How can he do that? Closed the door, he was very worried, pacing back and forth. He was really worried. And Satan came to him again and said, "King David, don't worry about it, throw a second party tonight." So he went ahead and threw another party for him. It's getting late so he says, "You gotta go home." And as Uriah was going home, the Bible tells us that he never got home again.

The next morning when David woke up there was a knock on the door and said, "Hey King David, Uriah never got home again." And he was really upset this time. So the enemy came this time and said, "Listen, I got the solution to your problem." Everything that's happening in David's life as it happens in your life and my life, the first night that he didn't get to go home, saw his men, what was God doing? Giving you a chance to repent.

Second night, same thing. David doesn't repent. So what does he do? He writes a letter to Joab his cousin and says, "Joab, do me the favor of taking Uriah and put him in the front lines and have him killed." Now that's murder. Not just adultery. Seals the letter, stamps it, gives it to Uriah. Uriah handles his own death certificate and takes it from the King's hand to Joab's hand as he goes back to the battle.

Joab takes it, opens it up, reads it, and says, "Okay Uriah, to the front." Takes him up to the front, they withdraw from him and have him killed. Joab writes back, "Mission accomplished, David, done deal." David's all happy, at peace. Awesome. What is the first thing he does? Immediately calls for Bathsheba to come up to his house and become his wife to cover his sin again.

It's amazing what people will do to cover their sin. Nine months go by, the baby's getting ready to be born. The baby is born, the baby becomes ill, the baby dies. And David comes and says, "The Lord gave it and the Lord took it away." David's backslidden. God still waiting for a whole year for him to repent, and there's no repentance.

I love it. He sends the prophet, Nathan. And Nathan comes and says, "David, there were two men, one was poor, one was rich, and he had everything in life and he was throwing a party for his friends. But he didn't want to kill any one of his lambs. But he knew his neighbor was poor and he had one ewe lamb that was beautiful, loved it as a pet.

He went over, knocked on the door, forced himself in, took the lamb, killed it, bled it, and then cooked it and gave it to his guests. He says, what would you do to such a man, King David? David said, 'That man deserves to die.' David, you're that man. You took somebody else's wife, you killed her husband, and here you are. You're the guilty party."

I mean, how can we judge when we can't even judge ourselves righteously? David couldn't do it. And I think of all people that are self-righteous and they're pointing their finger at somebody else when in the book of Matthew, in the Sermon on the Mount in chapter seven, says that we are not to judge. If we judge, he says we will be judged. With what degree of judgment we judge, we're going to get it back immediately: twofold, double.

Did you know that David's life after he repented, right there on the spot, was never the same again? Never the same again. One of his daughters got raped by her brother. And then his Absalom, the brother of this brother, killed him, committed a murder. His whole family went down the tubes. That's what happens with sin.

And it's really important that we understand where we're heading. Because even Jonah disobeyed God and almost sent every one on the ship down to hell until Jonah confessed that the reason there was a storm and the reason all these things were happening, it was because of him because he was running away from God's will. He says, "But if you guys take me and throw me overboard, everything will be cool." Thinking, "I'll just drown and I don't have to fulfill God's will."

But the Bible says what? That God prepared a fish. And when Jonah was thrown overboard, there was peace on the sea and peace among the mariners, but Jonah got swallowed by this fish. For three days and three nights, he went to the lowest part of the sea. In the book of Jonah, only four chapters, it's a beautiful picture of Jonah in chapter one and two, where Jonah goes into the belly of this fish for three days and three nights of the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ, our Lord. Even Jesus quotes him in the New Testament.

And once Jonah in the belly of this fish repents and says, "I'm willing to go now, Lord," this fish went and vomited him out to the Ninevites. And he went into the city of Nineveh and he said three days to get through the city—it was a huge city—and he says, "In three days, if you don't repent, God's going to judge you." And the Bible says they immediately repented. And Jonah was mad because he wanted to see them all in hell.

And he was so mad, he went up on a hill and he stood there ready to see God's judgment and God came to him and said, "Jonah, are you mad with me?" He says, "You bet, God, I'm mad at you." And he was stubborn. And then finally, God said to him, "Do you know the reason why I didn't destroy the Ninevites? Why they repented, from the king to the people? It's because in the city of Nineveh, there's 120,000 babies that do not know their right hand from their left hand." God's mercy. God's grace. God knows what he's doing with each one of our lives.

As we see the three stories, in each case, there was a wrong attitude toward what? Toward the will of God. God's will was what? To be holy. God's will was to be obedient. When David sinned, he should have repented. Lot should have never moved into Sodom and Gomorrah. The attraction of Hollywood, the attraction of the world, led him to go step by step until he was totally backslidden, sitting at the gates of Sodom and Gomorrah, out of the will of God.

And anytime you and I are out of the will of God, we are in a life of disobedience until we repent and we return back to the Lord. Real important to understand that. James now is going to give us a great example not only of boastful statements, but he's going to tell us how we cannot make plans apart from the will of God. Maybe you're planning a trip. You can do that.

Sometimes people will call me a year before or two years before to actually put it on my calendar: "Can you come and speak here? Can you do this? Can you do that?" And I say, "Sure." But I also let them know, I might not be here. If I die, I die. Who cares, right? I'll be booked up in Heaven, just close me out. But it's amazing how we can make plans for a year, two years, 10 years, 15 years, and yet we don't even know if we have 24 hours left.

Think about it. I mean, when is the last time that you went home and you said, "I wonder if I'll stop breathing tonight. I gotta stay awake to make sure I don't stop breathing." How many of you have lost sleep concerning that? None of you. And yet, there are people in hospitals and in homes that have to have a little machine to keep them breathing, or they would die.

Think about it. We're not in control. God's in control. Get that in your minds. You're not in control. I am not in control. God has ways of breaking people. God has so many ways of breaking people. Why? Because he wants to align you with his perfect will so that he can use you and he can bless you.

Host (Male): Well, we hope it's reassuring to know that even if you've made serious mistakes in your life, just as King David did, God can give you a fresh start when you seek his strength to face the consequences of your sin. You're listening to Somebody Loves You radio with Raul Ries. If you'd like to get an unedited version of today's message from James chapter four, verses 14 through 17, we'll be happy to send a copy to you for a donation of five dollars or more. Simply call us at 800-634-9165.

We'd also like to tell you about another resource that will guide you in following the Lord's perfect will. Raul's eight-part series is titled Traits of a Christian and it's available on both CD and USB. Every lesson illuminates an element of the faith walk that leads to God's eternal blessings. You'll find that as you align your heart with the word of God, he'll direct your steps along a righteous, purposeful path.

Visit somebodylovesyou.com or call 800-634-9165 to order Raul's Traits of a Christian series. We'll send you the thumb drive for just 12 dollars or the CD set for 22 dollars. That's 800-634-9165. Or if you'd like, you can order by writing us at Somebody Loves You radio, Post Office Box 4440, Diamond Bar, California 91765.

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Thanks for your partnership. Every contribution you make helps us keep sharing the powerful message of the Lord Jesus. And thanks again for making us a part of your day today. We invite you to join us next time as we quiet ourselves before the Lord once again, allowing him to instruct and comfort us through the pages of his word.