One of my favorite bands is the group “Switchfoot.” While I like their sound (it is unique and often very easily identifiable), what I like most is their lyrics. Switchfoot is a band that is made up of Christians. Their lyrics and songs have made their way onto both Christian and secular charts and into both Christian and secular movies.
One of the reasons I like their lyrics so much is that they have a way of weaving words that make you think. They have a way of speaking into culture and speaking to the heart of the individual.
Their Christian message may not be as overt as some would like, but it is very thought provoking.
While their song “The War Inside” is not one of my favorite songs - either lyrically or musically, it does have a profound message. One part of the song says:
I get the feeling that we're living in sci-fi
I get the the feeling that our weapons are lo-fi
Ain't no killer like pride
No killer like I
No killer like what's inside
And the chorus says:
I am the war inside
I am the battle line
I am the rising tide
I am the war I fight
Eyes open, open wide
I can feel it like a crack in my spine
I can feel it like the back of my mind
I am the war inside
The song really seeks to look at the battle within - specifically the battle with pride.
One of my lyrically favorite songs of theirs is one called “The American Dream.” Where “the war inside” deals with the battle within ourselves for first place, “The American Dream” deals with the battle we face in the world - the struggle with materialism and the bondage that materialism entails.
When success is equated with excess
The ambition for excess wrecks us
As the top of the mind becomes the bottom line
When success is equated with excess
Another part of the song says:
I want out of this machine
It doesn't feel like freedom
This ain't my American dream
I wanna live and die for bigger things
I'm tired of fighting for just me
This ain't my American dream
The battles we face - both inside and outside of us - are age old battles.
Jesus said in Luke 16:13
Luke 16:13 NKJV
“No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.”
While that word mammon is rendered as money in other translations - it has both the connotation of wealth and the powers that exist behind all sorts of materialistic gains.
Now, as we come to the next several verses in our study of the book of James, it seems like both pride and materialism are elements that James has in mind as he alerts us to the war that we face. If you have your copy of God’s Word, let’s open them to James 4.
As you know, over the last several weeks, we have been reflecting on this letter to exiles, as James challenges them to have a fully integrated faith - a faith that is lived and visible.
This week, in the Midweek Email, I encouraged you to go back about a chapter and a half in James’ letter in order to look at a bigger picture than just the few verses we are considering today. Let’s briefly jump back there.
In James 2, he addressed the sin of partiality as some people were favoring those who could help them get ahead. Partiality is a sin because it both fears other humans more than God and looks to those people to supply the things that God supplies. Then he urged us to have a visible faith - a faith that is evidenced by our works - both toward other people and our works toward God. If our faith is a private matter and not publically seen, then we are walking hypocrites. We again show that we fear humans more than God. We live an inconsistent and disjointed life.
In James 3, he focused on teachers and leaders who, in their pride, could lead a church astray. He also focused on individuals as we wrestle with how we use our words, noting that we can cause a great deal damage with a few poorly placed comments.
James seems to get more specific and clear regarding the sources of our struggle as we discussed the root, attributes, and fruit of two different kinds of wisdom - worldly wisdom and godly wisdom.
As we turn the page to chapter 4 of James’ letter, it certainly seems like his argument is getting more direct and pointed (as if it wasn’t direct and pointed already). His point of application gets even clearer. He essentially tells us that we are at war and that war is within us. Whereas pride and materialism are elements of that, as James and Switchfoot tell, there is much more.
So as we think about James 4:1-12, it seems like James is telling us to:
Recognize the war being waged in our lives
Respond to the grace of God through humility, and
Respect the work of God in others
Let’s begin where James does as we learn to…
Recognize the war being waged in our lives (1-5)
It’s one thing to look at conflicts that we experience as being mere differences of opinion over trivial matters - the color of carpet, what to eat, what to listen to, but when we really get down to the core of where those conflicts originate, we have to realize as we saw last week that it is in part the wisdom of the world, but also our own pride and selfishness - bitter jealousy and selfish ambition.
James 4:1–5 ESV
What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? 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. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us”?
James begins by asking a couple of rhetorical questions. One is designed to get us thinking (what causes quarrels…), the other designed to get us to answer that question.
He then goes through a string of arguments - sort of causes and effects. Some of these are hyperbolic and some are convicting.
“You desire and do not have, so you murder.”
This may be the hyperbolic argument. In the course of the church, there have been many people who have been killed by brothers or sisters in Christ. There certainly have been vitriolic church business meetings from time to time. I don’t know that James had even heard about the incidents where people were killed for a pair of shoes or a coat or a car. Remember, James is talking to believers who have been exiled largely for their faith. And yet it seems like even in exile they are fighting against each other, just as they are fighting against the world.
But this is not the first time that James has brought up something as harsh as murder or anger. In chapter 1, we were urged to be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to get angry - because “the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God” (James 1:19-20).
Jesus urged us to watch our anger in the sermon on the mount (Matthew 5:21-26), essentially equating an internal hatred and an external condemnation as equivalent to murder.
Our struggle between worldly wisdom and godly wisdom gets manifest in our lives as we wrestle in our own lives with the anger, jealousy, selfish ambition, and covetousness.
James continues…
“You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel”
Like children crying over a toy that they want but can’t have, James seems to look at fighting and quarreling as being rooted in covetousness. Maybe it’s a genuine material covetousness - some thing that others have that we want. Maybe it’s coveting power, position, or authority. Whatever it is, what’s at war within is our ungodly desires competing against righteous living.
So, like a parent scolding a toddler - “you need to ask for what you want,” James says…
“You do not have, because you do not ask”
So, maybe we don’t murder or maybe we don’t fight and quarrel, maybe we do what Jesus commanded -
Matthew 7:7–8 ESV
“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.
So we go to the Lord and ask for something that we desire - some material relief, some new responsibility, some…, to which James would reply…
“You ask and do not receive because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.”
We are called to be in the world, but not of it. Walking that balance is tricky. We need material things to get by in the world. Realistically, we need a lot less than most of us have. The allure of our consumeristic society, the sheen of that new car, the features of that new phone or computer, the promise of those new clubs, or the accuracy of that new sewing machine or bow… are tempting and not evil in and of themselves.
The evil is within.
James equates this covetousness to adultery. Forsaking our allegiance, our covenant with God for some temporary pleasure, some short term high.
I’ve heard it said that the enemy of my enemy is my friend.
James says that friendship with the world is enmity with God. Friendship in James day was much more than a casual acquaintance or even commonalities - it was a sharing life together, knitting souls together. So when we allow our worldly passions to rule our lives, we are essentially giving our lives over to a friendship, a relationship that is antagonistic to our relationship with God.
When I become a friend of God’s enemy, I essentially become God’s enemy.
What are those things in our lives that have priority over God? What are those things with which we have been committing spiritual adultery? How does our divided allegiance affect our relationship with God?
James answers that in verse 5 with what commentators have described as one of the most tricky verses in the Bible to translate.
James 4:5 ESV
Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us”?
This is a difficult verse. Part of the difficulty of this verse is that there is not a direct quote anywhere in Scripture or in even extra-biblical or apocryphal texts. This is likely a consolidation of several parts of scripture and may be a rendering of Exodus 34:14
Exodus 34:14 ESV
(for you shall worship no other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God),
One of the other challenges with this verse is that it can be translated in several different ways.
Moyter, after a lengthy discussion on translation issues, summarized the point of this verse as:
“God’s people are indwelt by God’s Spirit and there is no way in which the living presence of that Spirit is compatible with those sinful yearnings and promptings to self-interest which are destructive of the peace of the church.”
A couple of weeks ago we talked about how our mouths can be double-tongued, speaking both praise to God and cursing God’s creation. So too here, the indwelling presence of God’s Spirit is incompatible with the evil that we desire, and so God’s Spirit yearn for our faithfulness. We should not desire both evil and divine, but we do.
And yet - we have a loving and gracious God.
Which takes us to the next section in this text. Not only do we need to recognize the war that is being waged within us, but next, we should…
Respond to the grace of God through humility (6-10)
God does long for our whole hearted devotion. God desires for our hearts to be fully His. As we read throughout the Old Testament, God is a God who rightly deserves first place in our affections and longs for it. While discipline and correction come in to play from time to time, God’s default is grace.
James 4:6–10 ESV
But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.
The proud says that “I don’t need God.” The proud even is so bold to say that “I am my own god.” And yet Scripture reminds us that there is no other - there is no one like Yahweh!
When moses was on Mt. Sinai, God revealed Himself to Moses for the people of Israel and proclaimed not only His name but His nature - gracious and just.
Exodus 34:6–7 (LSB)
Then Yahweh passed by in front of him and called out, “Yahweh, Yahweh God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth;
who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression, and sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations.”
So, how do we respond to this one true God? How do we respond to his grace AND His justice? James seems to be urging us to do so with humility, with repentance.
James takes us on a journey of repentance with a series if imperatives or commands.
Submit to God - In this we get to yield our allegiance, our passions, our attention, our affection, our wills to Him. We essentially take ourselves off of the throne of our lives and allow God that place of supremacy. This is a joyous act of worship and a humble act of surrender.
Not only do we submit to God but we next…
Resist the Devil - this comes with a promise - he will flee. Satan and his legions may place tempting vices in our path, but when our lives are submitted to God - we can oppose the devil, we can stand firm. We don’t have to fall into that enticing activity - lust, addiction, thing to covet.
Whereas we are charged to take a strong stand against the devil, we are called next to…
Draw near to God and He will draw near to you - Oh what a glorious promise. The God of the universe responds in kind to our affection. When we delight ourselves in His word, ways, people - He returns that affection! As we read His word and reflect on it’s implication for our lives, God delights to reveal himself more and more. It is important to remember that our affections have one direction - either toward God or away from Him. Elsewhere, Scripture reminds us that…
Psalm 37:4 (ESV)
Delight yourself in the Lord,
and he will give you the desires of your heart.
Express true repentance - In the second half of verse 8 and 9 James urges us to take a serious look at our sin. James 4:8–9 “… Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom.” How often does our repentance look like a mild admission of guilt and a half-hearted turn away from sin? “God, forgive me because I messed up.” How often do our prayers of confession lack the specificity of our high handed sins? James urges us to address the outward expression of our sin (cleansing our hands) and the inward motivation of our sin (purifying our hearts).
Oh, beloved, we need to take a serious look at our sin - not only when we get caught, but especially when we don’t.
How often do I specifically name our sins in our confession? - not often enough
How often do I mourn over the divided affections in my heart?
Jesus noted in the opening to the sermon on the mount:
Matthew 5:3–4 ESV
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
Doesn’t this look a bit like submission - recognizing our poverty and confession - mourning over our sin?
James has one final imperative:
Humble yourselves before the Lord and He will exalt you - We have so many promises from God in his word.
1 John 1:9 ESV
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
James 4:8 (ESV)
Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.
Just to name a few. And now this one - humble yourselves and he will exalt you.
Remember, we are at war within ourselves. Our natural tendency is to clamour for what we desire, to fight for what we think we need, to defend ourselves when offended. And yet God’s promise is that we will be exalted, if we will humble ourselves. He will fight for us. He will accomplish His will.
How often was Jesus silent when people ridiculed him? He modeled this humility and demonstrated the exaltation that we will get to enjoy one day!
Beloved, our responding to God’s grace is an ongoing and daily activity. Yes, once we’ve responded to his call for salvation, we are His for eternity. But this act of dying to ourselves, of resisting the devil, of submitting to God, of mourning over our sin, is a daily process of sanctification.
Rest in His grace, but don’t get lazy in your faith.
Friend, if you’ve not yet responded to God’s grace, then hear his loving call. He deserves your affection - he is the One true God. He desires your affection - and made a way for you to have your sin atoned for and transform your life through the sacrificial life, death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Jesus humbled himself so that you and I might have abundant and eternal life. Take your sin seriously. Repent and receive God’s forgiveness.
There is one final element that James addresses in this section that I think is important for us to consider, briefly. After recognizing the war we are in and responding to God’s grace, we next get to…
Respect the work of God in others by showing grace (11-12)
Have you ever been in those situations where you learn something and assume that other people should know that too? I’ve caught myself in that spot several times. When that happens, I’m essentially holding someone else to a standard that they may not know exists. I think this is a bit of what James says in these final verses…
James 4:11–12 ESV
Do not speak evil against one another, brothers. The one who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks evil against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?
It’s easy to look at and judge other people in areas where we are successful. We tend to judge others by their actions and judge ourselves by our intentions. But James urges us to judge no one. There is One Judge - God. He is able to save and destroy. We have received grace and mercy from God. We of all people should be willing to extend that grace and mercy to others.
those younger in the faith - who are still growing
those feeble in the faith who are being strengthened
those fumbling in the faith who are recovering from spiritual setbacks
There is one way to God through Jesus Christ. Sanctification, the process of becoming more like Christ, is a lifetime endeavor. Some of us will grow and mature more quickly, others more slowly, but thankfully, God is not finished with any of us until we graduate from this life into glory. Until then, we get to be gracious with the work of God in each others lives.
Closing thoughts
There is a war going on and it’s inside of each of us. Our passions, words, sources of wisdom, works, way of life are all in a struggle. Respond to God’s grace with humility, respect the way that God is working in others. They may be growing at a different pace.
Let’s pray
Benediction
1 Corinthians 15:58 CSB
Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the Lord’s work, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.
Sources:
Foreman, Jon; Tim Foreman. “The War Inside,” Vice Verses. 2011
Foreman, Jon; Tim Foreman. “American Dream,” O Gravity. 2006
Lea, Thomas D. Hebrews, James. Vol. 10. Holman New Testament Commentary. Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1999.
Moo, Douglas J. The Letter of James. The Pillar New Testament Commentary. Grand Rapids, MI; Leicester, England: Eerdmans; Apollos, 2000.
Moyter, J.A. The Message of James. The Bible Speaks Today. Downers Grover, IL; Leicester, England: Inter-Varsity Press, 1985.
Nystrom, David P. The NIV Application Commentary: James. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1997.
