Sermon Excerpt from James 4:1–12
Picture the waves crashing gently over what’s left of the shipwreck. Horatio Spafford is standing on the deck, passing over the watery grave of his four daughters. The same ocean that stole their lives is now carrying him to his grieving wife. And yet, what pours from his pen? Not bitterness. Not despair. But this:
“When peace like a river attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,
It is well, it is well with my soul.”
What could possibly make that well with your soul, Horatio? What kind of grace could carry a man to that place of peace in such sorrow? Not a human one. Not a fleshly one. There is no earthly philosophy, therapy, or mindset that could birth that song. That kind of peace only comes from Heaven. Specifically, the Spirit of Heaven. The same Spirit that rested on Job when he fell to the ground and cried, “The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.” The same Spirit that filled Paul when he said, “Your grace is sufficient for me… for when I am weak, then I am strong.”
And I believe, with all my heart, that it is the same Spirit who filled Horatio Spafford. And if it’s that same Spirit—then hear this good news: that very Spirit still dwells in you and me if we belong to Christ. If we have believed in Him for salvation, if we have entrusted our souls to Him, then His Spirit resides in us and empowers us. Romans 8 says, “Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to Him.” But for those who do belong to Him, Jesus promises, “The Helper, the Holy Spirit… will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.”
So, what do Job, Paul, and Horatio Spafford have in common? Their lives were different, their losses unique, but they all stood under one banner: His grace is greater. His grace is greater than my sorrow, therefore, it is well with my soul. His grace is greater than my weakness; therefore, I will boast in it. His grace is greater than my loss; therefore, blessed be the name of the Lord.
But here’s the tension. If His grace is greater than our suffering… Why is it so hard to believe His grace is greater than our sin That’s the paradox of modern Christianity. We’ll trust God’s grace to carry us through cancer, tragedy, and death, but not through temptation. We believe His grace can conquer the grave, but question whether it can overcome pride, lust, or anger.
James resolves this paradox. He begins with a question: “What causes quarrels and fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you?” That’s the root issue. Not the arguments themselves. Not the disagreements. But the passions—the idols of self—that rage within.
James calls out the pattern: “You desire and do not have, so you murder… you covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel…” And then he gives the ultimate diagnosis in verse 3: “You ask and do not receive because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.” The problem isn’t unanswered prayer. It’s misguided hearts. Hearts that crave worldly pleasures more than God Himself.
He calls it what it is: “You adulterous people!” Meaning, spiritual adultery. Friendship with the world is enmity with God. And in verse 5, James says something haunting and beautiful: “He yearns jealously over the Spirit He has made to dwell in us.”
God isn’t distant. He isn’t indifferent. He is jealous, not in a petty way, but in a holy, covenantal, pursuing way. He wants your heart. He doesn’t want to give you what your flesh wanted before you met Him, He wants to change your passions until He becomes your passion. Why? Because every earthly gift, health, wealth, healing, will come and go. But the Giver remains. Why? To show and teach you that though you may think that you want the gift, you truly need the Giver, because the Giver is the gift.
And here’s where the tide turns: “But He gives more grace.” That’s the pivot. That’s the banner. God gives more grace, not just once and not just when you’re saved, but over and over. But to whom? “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” Humility is the highway to grace. James calls us: “Submit yourselves to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee. Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you.”
Some of you need to hear this: You don’t have to clean yourself up before you come. Just come. Mourn. Weep. Let your laughter turn to mourning. Let your joy turn to gloom. In other words: get real with your sin. And then? “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will exalt you.” Not because of who you are. Not because of what you’ve done. But because of Christ. Because God made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.
When you humble yourself, God exalts you, not by lifting you onto a pedestal, but by wrapping you in the righteousness of Christ.
James ends with this command: “Do not speak evil against one another, brothers.” The one who judges his brother speaks evil of the law and sets himself up as judge. Here’s the sobering truth: “There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, He who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?” How dare we, who have received grace, speak condemnation over others? God, though He has every right to speak evil against us, does not. He speaks grace.
So we ask ourselves: Would I speak that way to Jesus? Would I mock or belittle Him the way I do my brother or sister in Christ? If not, then I must repent. I must humble myself. And I must let His grace flow through my words.
Let me leave you with Paul’s words from 1 Corinthians 15: “By the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain… whether it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.”
That’s it, beloved. That’s the banner over us: His Grace is Greater.
Greater than your sorrow.
Greater than your weakness.
Greater than your sin.
So come. Repent. Rejoice. And live under His greater grace.
Grace be with you.