WAR AND PEACE
James 4:1-10
Have any of you read War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy? It’s a novel with over 1200 pages about Russian life under Napoleon. I’ve never read it but it is a good title for today’s message. Because we are going to see that the wars and conflicts going on within us are seen in the wars and conflicts outside of us. Or if I put it easier, our conflicts with others are usually because of what is going on inside of us. It’s important that we understand this if we want to know what to do about it. Let me start by saying that last week’s message ended on a very peaceful note. I like that. It always leaves you with a feeling of peace and tranquility or calmness. Everyone knows how much I love to fly 777’s. It’s my favorite airplane. But did you know I just love flying. I am one of those people who always likes a window seat when I fly. I like to look out. I like it when we break out of the clouds. It is so peaceful. So when I’m under a lot of stress I just go fly a 777. When we apply God’s wisdom in our dealings with others, it is always peaceful. Did you notice that when we apply the wisdom that James said is earthly, unspiritual and of the devil. And it leads to disorder and evil. But when we use the wisdom that God gives us it leads to peace. I don’t know about you but I like that much better.
And please stay with me in this passage, because it will end on a good note.
There’s 3 things we’ll look at today. First, when we have strife and quarrels it is from sinful desires lurking within us. Second, this strife is caused by love of the world, which cannot coexist with love of God. And third, we’ll see the cure for this; resisiting the devil and drawing close to God.
OK, let’s start with the reasons why we all fight and quarrel and have problems with one another. We’ll see that in the first 2 verses..Notice how intense he is here.
James 4:1 ¶ What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you?
What causes fights and quarrels? They can come because of unanswered prayer, friendship with the world, hostility toward God, jealousy of what someone else has and I suppose I could add more. Or just take a look at what is going on in the world around you. Wars between countries. There’s the situation in Israel now. We see domestic battles between family members. They can be husbands and wives, parents against children or children against children. Do any of you have problems at work. It might be between you and your employer, or you and your employees if you are an employer. Or it can be between co workers. They come in all shapes and sizes as we like to say.
Because we live in a fallen world we all have desires raging within us. They might be good, but often, as we shall see in the next verse, they are worldly desires; desires for pleasure and indulgence. Don’t believe me? When I worked for AA I hated taking calls from people wanting to fly to LAS. Why? Because they always wanted the cheapest fare and the flights were very full. They would ask me to play around with different dates and different flights to get the best fare. And why did they want to go to LAS? For pleasure of course. Another interesting destination was the Caribbean, especially those wanting to go on a cruise. They were seeking pleasure.
These all have to do with our interpersonal relationships. And remember what happens on the outside is an indication of what is going on on the inside.
James 4:2 You want something but don’t get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God.
This warfare going on inside of us is seen in conflicts going on in our lives. Not very pretty is it?
This doesn’t look like God’s wisdom applied does it? It looks more like it’s all our fleshly unspiritual side. That’s the nature of the beast. We are envious of what we do not have. Don’t anybody try to steal my Rolex, it’s insured. James talks about killing or murdering. Don’t believe me? Remember Cain and Abel?
Genesis 4:5 but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast.
Genesis 4:6 Then the LORD said to Cain, "Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast?
Genesis 4:7 If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it."
God accepted Abel’s sacrifice, but not Cain’s. And Cain became jealous and angry to where he murdered his brother.
We see this in the NT as well. I shared this recently but if you hate someone you are guilty of murder. Don’t believe me? Let’s see what John says.
1 John 3:15 Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life in him.
Hatred = murder. It can result in physical murder like Cain and Abel. Or it might be seen in hatred and coveteousness.
Have you ever wondered why your prayers are not always answered. Look what James says in the same verse, you do not have because you do not ask. Do you want something? Why don’t you ask God for it? A lot of times we forfeit what we really want and what God has for us because we don’t ask him. I’ve been here for nearly 4 years and one thing I noticed early on is that we often sing the song, “What a friend we have in Jesus.” What does the first stanza say?
What a friend we have in Jesus,
all our sins and griefs to bear!
What a privilege to carry
everything to God in prayer!
O what peace we often forfeit,
O what needless pain we bear,
all because we do not carry
everything to God in prayer.
So if you don’t have something you want, why don’t you ask God for it? That’s one of the key verses on prayer. However, there’s more. We dare not leave off the next verse.
James 4:3 When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.
We don’t get what we ask for because we are asking for the wrong reasons; for our own selfish needs and desires. It always helps if we ask ourselves why we are asking God for something. The most soul searching question we need to ask is is this for God’s glory? Or is it for our own selfish desires. I’ve been praying and fasting in asking God for direction in my life. Have you ever fasted before? It takes discipline to stay away from the KFC and Dr Pepper. But it is very rewarding. I’ve seen in my own life how wicked and selfish I really am inside.
I’m not saying pleasure is wrong. I’m not saying we can’t have fun. But what we need to remember that everything we do is for God’s glory and not our own selfish ends. There is a difference.
So all this strife comes from within us. What causes it? That’s what James is going to talk about next, it is a result of wordliness.
James 4:4 You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.
Have you noticed something different about this passage? How does James address his audience? As brothers, or brethren. We haven’t seen that here, have we. As a matter of fact other translations read, you adulterers.
This book gets more and more convicting. You think it’s convicting hearing these messages? How about my having to prepare and give them? But like I was telling my friend yesterday, I really am the one who needs to hear this more than any of you do.
Let me start saying that friendship with the world and friendship with God do not mix. You can have one but you can’t have both. Why does James call his listeners adulteresses? You all know what adultery is, right? Adultery is when either a husband or wife is unfaithful to his or her party and has a sexual relationship with someone else. I don’t know what you call it in Japan, in my country we call it an affair. It sounds harmless but there is nothing more damaging to a relationship than an affair. Unfaithfulness to one’s marriage partner is probably the biggest sin you can commit against them. Not to mention it is sin before God as well.
In the OT we see God’s relationship with Israel. It is a love relationship in which He loves His people. But God’s people have been unfaithful to Him. The OT speaks of all sins of apostasy, being unfaithful to God as adultery. Don’t believe me? Let me give you a few examples.
Hosea 9:1 ¶ Do not rejoice, O Israel; do not be jubilant like the other nations. For you have been unfaithful to your God; you love the wages of a prostitute at every threshing floor.
Hosea is the best book in the OT that depicts God as a faithful love with Israel being unfaithful. God commands Hosea to love Gomer, a prostitute. In this book, we see God’s faithful, steadfast love in spite of Israel’s unfaithfulness. That could cover several messages but let me give you a freebie.
Hosea 2:19 I will betroth you to me forever; I will betroth you in righteousness and justice, in love and compassion.
This refers to God’s ds,x,Þ oor His loyal, steadfast love.
Why is it you can’t be friends with the world and with God at the same time? Let’s see what John says about that.
1 John 2:15 ¶ Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
1 John 2:16 For everything in the world-- the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does-- comes not from the Father but from the world.
The world is the devil’s system and it is in contrast with God’s system. Someone wrote that when you are enemies with God it is because you made yourself an enemy of God when you love the world. God’s system and the world’s system are in opposition with one another.
OK, let me start by saying that this next verse is very difficult to translate. I’ll read it to you in several translations, but let me first give you the general idea behind it. God is like a jealous husband, longing for the love in return of His people. It’s like a husband who is jealous for his wife’s love. He doesn’t want her loving someone else. Let me give you some examples from the OT.
Exodus 20:5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me,
Exodus 34:14 Do not worship any other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.
Let me give you several translations of this verse. I’ll start with the one from the NIV which we use.
James 4:5 Or do you think Scripture says without reason that the spirit he caused to live in us envies intensely?
James 4:5 Or do you think it’s without reason the Scripture says that the Spirit He has caused to live in us yearns jealously?
James 4:5 Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy?
James 4:5 Or do you think that the Scripture speaks to no purpose: "He jealously desires the Spirit which He has made to dwell in us"?
James 4:5 What do you think the Scriptures mean when they say that the spirit God has placed within us is filled with envy?
James 4:5 Or do you think the scripture means nothing when it says, "The spirit that God caused to live within us has an envious yearning"?
So it can mean one of 2 things. It can mean that God has placed His Holy Spirit in us and He is jealous over us for our love and devotion to Him. Or it can mean that we have a spirit within us that has a jealous desire for the things of the world. The exact meaning is up for grabs because it is a very difficult verse to translate. It may be referring to God’s righteous jealousy for us. Or it could mean an unrighteous jealousy for the things of the world. And often times when we see a reference to Scripture in the NT it is in reference to a quote from the OT. Not so here. This verse is not seen in the OT. But it might be referring indirectly to some passages in the OT.
Genesis 6:3 Then the LORD said, "My Spirit will not contend with man forever, for he is mortal; his days will be a hundred and twenty years."
This one refers to God’s patience with man’s rebellion. It’s a prelude to His telling Noah to build an ark because God is going to bring rains and floods upon the world.
Like I said, it is difficult to know exactly what James is referring to in this verse. But it is not difficult at all to know what he is writing about in the next verse.
James 4:6 But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble."
God gives grace to those who are humble before Him. Let’s look at Proverbs 3:34
Proverbs 3:34 He mocks proud mockers but gives grace to the humble.
No question about this verse; James is quoting from the OT. Have you noticed that all the bad things we have seen; conflicts from within, wordliness, use of the tongue, worldly wisdom are never the result of humbling ourselves before God? Never!
See, humility doesn’t come naturally. Because it comes from the world, not from God. And while we belong to God if we believe in Jesus Christ, we still have our old self which doesn’t want to please God or live for Him.
I’m reminded of what we looked at last time; that when we see disorder it is a result of these conflicts and quarrels from within.
James 3:16 For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.
I like it much better when we apply God’s wisdom and see what it yields; peace.
OK, this brings us to my last point in this message, the only cure for worldliness is to resist the devil and submit to God. Remember this does not come easy because of our sinful nature. It is human pride to resist God. But if you want your life to be a life that is full of God’s wisdom, this is the only way to do it. Someone said that the cure for conflict is a humble spirit rewarded by God’s favor. I like that.
James finishes this passage with 10 commands. They are simple commands. In 1971 I joined the US Navy. I had been living at home and I pretty much did what I wanted to do and I didn’t care what my parents told me to do. I was 21 years old, an adult and I could do what I wanted. It wasn’t like that when I joined the Navy. I was immediately under someone; as a matter of fact, I was under everybody. And I was given orders from the time I got up until the time I went to bed. And this time I didn’t have the freedom to disobey. If I did I would get in trouble. And just so you know, in the Navy if you disobey an order, or if you talk back to a superior it usually results in a visit to your commanding officer. I’m not talking about a fun visit. Usually the result is what one of my petty officers said; you lose your liberty, you lose your pay, you lose your rank or you go to the brig. I think it was much easier to obey instead.
When you enlist in the Navy, or any of the other branches of the armed forces, you are under someone else’s disposal. You don’t have the freedom to choose. And you would do best to obey orders; it is for your own good. That’s the way James is putting it here.
One of the most severe warnings in the Bible is that against denying God’s grace. I’ll give you an example.
Jude 1:4 For certain men whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are godless men, who change the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord.
James is going to give us 10 commands. Think of them as commands. I know you don’t like being told what to do; I still don’t. But stay with me and see the results of doing these. Personally I think it is much better when we do it God’s way. Remember, He always gives us the grace to do what He tells us to do.
James 4:7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
You know what James is saying? It’s like he is saying “enlist.” When you enlist you put yourselves at someone else’s disposal. So enlist in God’s Army. I like God’s Navy better. A very simple command. Because remember what happens when we submit ourselves to Him; He gives grace and exalts us.
Next resist the devil. Just stand your ground agains him and say no. God will give you the grace and strength to do this. Because what happens when we do? He is out of here! Vamoose! Some of you know there are some girls who like to come to the church Sunday morning to play. You know who I’m talking about, Sayaka, Nanako and Rei. And I don’t know what it is about me, but when they see me, the scream and run. Usually it’s a game of “touchy” and I’m always it.
Well, when you resist the devil, he won’t play touchy with you; he’ll run. Do you know why? It is because he’s afraid of you? No, it’s not you he’s afraid of; it’s who lives in you he is afraid of. I don’t know if you’ve ever studied end time prophecy, but if you read the book of Revelation; you will see Satan is ultimately defeated in the end. And he knows it. But while he has time he will do everything he can to get you to submit to him. Don’t do it. Do what James says; submit to God and resist the devil. I’d much rather do it this way..But remember, you must submit to God if you are going to take a stand against the devil. You can’t fight him in your own strength. Don’t believe me? Try it and see.
We need to accept God is sovereign and He is working in each of our lives, even if we don’t get it. And we need to submit to His program for our lives and His way of working it out. Your job, family, health and circumstances are all in God’s program and He is working them out for your good and for His glory.
Because there is another result of this we will see in verse 8.
James 4:8 Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
When we come near to God; He comes near to us. He is not the one who made Himself distant from us; we are the ones who made ourselves distant from Him. Did you notice that for many of these commands there is a result. Here is one of them.
Now the next verse is like a purification rite. And for this we need to look at some verses in the OT.
This is what the priests did when the worshipped God.
Exodus 19:22 Even the priests, who approach the LORD, must consecrate themselves, or the LORD will break out against them."
The priests interceded for the people; that is they went before God for them. And in order for them to do this, they had to consecrate themselves to God; that is they had to dedicate themselves completely to Him.
Leviticus 10:3 Moses then said to Aaron, "This is what the LORD spoke of when he said: "’Among those who approach me I will show myself holy; in the sight of all the people I will be honored.’" Aaron remained silent.
When anyone came before God, they had to treat Him as holy. In this passage, Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron offered a strange fire and incense before God. He consumed them both by fire before this.
Ezekiel 43:19 You are to give a young bull as a sin offering to the priests, who are Levites, of the family of Zadok, who come near to minister before me, declares the Sovereign LORD.
Before the priests came before God they had to make an offering for their sins and the sins of their people.
Ezekiel 44:13 They are not to come near to serve me as priests or come near any of my holy things or my most holy offerings; they must bear the shame of their detestable practices.
This refers to those who disobeyed God.
Now, you will probably say to me, “What does this have to do with me? This is all in the OT?” Yes, it is in the OT, but do you see how we still need to see God as holy? He has made a new way into His presence for us, through the blood of His Son Jesus Christ. We see that in Hebrews. Hebrews shows how the new way of access to God through Jesus Christ is so much better than the old way in which the priests had to make a sacrifice on a regular basis. Jesus sacrifice was a once and for all sacrifice. But we still need to remember God is holy, so we are to be holy.
1 Peter 1:16 for it is written: "Be holy, because I am holy."
Peter writes this quoting from Leviticus.
Leviticus 19:2 "Speak to the entire assembly of Israel and say to them: ’Be holy because I, the LORD your God, am holy.
See that term “double minded” again? Remember James referred to a double minded man as one who doubts, and doesn’t believe God.
James 4:9 Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom.
What is your attitude when you’ve offended God? I saw a better example of this in someone I hurt recently. What was my attitude toward it? I later cried over it. That for me was a good example of how God sees it. The good news is when we do these things, when we come before God like this, we experience, His cleansing, His grace and His forgiveness.
James is not saying we need to be miserable all the time. But when we’ve offended someone, when we’ve offended God this is the attitude we need to have for a time. This is not something to have a party over. You can still be joyful before God, but this is a time when you need to put it aside and give Him some serious thought.
James 4:10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.
And what is the final result of all this? When we humble ourselves before the Lord, He will exalt us; or lift us up. Don’t believe me? In Luke 18 we have the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector. Both of them went to the temple. And the Pharisee compared himself to the tax collector. He boasted before God how he was not like the others, how he fasts and prays and gives a tithe of everything he owns. He was proud. The tax collector, on the other hand simply admitted he was a sinner and asked God to be merciful. Which one do you think God exalted?
Luke 18:14 "I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."
Friends, if you want to be mature, if you want your lives to be lives manifesting God’s wisdom, there is a way to do it, but it must be done God’s way. Go back to the beginning of this passage and look at all the chaos and disorder there is? Do you want others to say this about you? Look at these last 3 verses and see if others would say this about you. Are you one who submits to God? Are you one who’s life shows you are living by His principles. Do you apply His wisdom and not that of the world? Can others say you are a mature Christian? Let’s pray.
