Humble Before God Series

Submitting to God

James 4:1-10

July 16, 2023

Have you ever wondered how some wars began? A war in Italy, which resulted in the death of thousands of men, began over a wooden bucket. In 1864, Spain attacked Peru in order to get their hands on Peruvian bird poop, which was a great fertilizer. In 532 AD, Emperor Justinian’s empire was almost toppled and a large part of Constantinople was destroyed because of chariot racing. The USA and Britain got into a brief war in 1859, over a pig being shot and killed. The pig was the only casualty.

Wars can start for lots of crazy reasons. And that can happen to us internally, as well. Have you ever gone to war with yourself? Your heart and brain are believing 2 different messages. You’re at battle with yourself, sometimes it’s a worthy battle, but most often, it’s not worth your time and energy. We can be really fickle as well. We vacillate on so many things, so many decisions that we don’t know which way to go and ultimately we go to war.

Do you remember the story about Jesus riding into Jerusalem on that magical Palm Sunday? The crowds were cheering and shouting “Hosanna! Blessed is the One who comes in the name of the Lord!” The people were excited to welcome Jesus to Jerusalem. Yet, before we know it, those same people were crying out “Crucify Him!”

This same scene is acted out in our lives. Jesus comes humbly riding in our direction. We’re all in favor of His favors. We want to be blessed with His blessings. We crave experiencing His love, hope, mercy, grace and maybe even a bit of power. We’re excited about how He might benefit us.

But when we learn that He doesn’t come into our lives unless we surrender to His lordship, we think again about how much of Jesus we really want.

I believe this is one of the biggest obstacles in the lives of Christ followers. In many respects, it’s a life long, every day decision we make. We would like to have the benefits of Jesus Christ in our lives, but we kinda want control. We’d like Jesus to be our co-pilot, not our pilot. We want Him, we really do, but only in a comfortable, quiet corner of our lives — not taking everything over.

We want Jesus to be our friend, a friend we can talk to, a friend who will listen, a friend who will give us whatever we need. Not a friend who will challenge us and call us to the highest form of commitment, surrendering our lives to Him.

In Galatians 5:17, Paul wrote - -- -

17 For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. - Galatians 5:17

You see, as Paul tells us, a war, a literal war is raging in your soul. It’s a battle to see who will control your life. When we’re in the midst of this spiritual battle, there’s conflict, and that conflict brings frustration and unhappiness. There’s no peace in your heart.

In our scripture, today, James analyzes the problem and then offers a solution. James says there is a spiritual war going on inside of us, and the first thing he has to say about it is: The source of the conflict is selfishness. He writes:

1 What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your PASSIONS are at war within you?

2 You DESIRE and do not have, so you murder. You COVET and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not HAVE, because you do not ask.

3 You ask and do not receive, because YOU ASK WRONGLY, to spend it on your PASSIONS.

In verses 1 and 3, James uses the word passions. Other translations use the word pleasures. The Greek word James used is the English word “hedonism.” Hedonism is the philosophy that pleasure is the chief goal of life. It’s not just the desire to enjoy life, we all want that, but hedonism is a self-indulgent lifestyle that has as it’s focus only one person, yourself.

The Greek meaning is pretty similar to our English meaning. It’s seeking pleasure as a means to an end. Bodily desires (lusts) at the expense of other things.

That’s what James is getting at. He asked the question, what causes quarrels and fights among us? He answers his question, by saying IT’S THE PASSIONS WE SEEK AFTER WHICH CAUSES US TO BE IN AN INTERNAL WAR!

Look at the list of words James uses in this section — fights, quarrels, and murder. In other words, a war is going on inside our heart, brain and soul. God wants control and you want control. You’re at war with God, and whenever you fight God, let me just give you a clue - - - you’re always going to lose.