The Fight Is On

James 4:1-6

 

INTRO: Conflicts are a part of life.  Everybody has conflicts.  Everybody at times is in the midst of some kind of battle, be it personal or corporate.  Even the great Apostle Paul admits to this ongoing warfare: “For, when we were come into Macedonia, our flesh had no rest, but we were troubled on every side; without were fightings, within were fears” (II Cor 7:5).

 

I.        VS 1-3, THE WHY OF CONFLICT

A.       Vs 1, James answers the question as to the why of conflicts: “Come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members?”  The cause of war is within!

1. Lusts are warring within, so a choice must be made.  Will we follow after the pleasures of this world seeking to gratify the flesh or shall we submit to God and His plan for us and live a holy life?  Friends, this is the battleground.

2. Plato said: “The sole cause of wars and revolutions and battles is nothing other than the body and its desires” (Barclay 99).

a. The lust for worldly pleasure chokes out the good seed of the Word of God (Lk 8:14).

b. The desire for worldly pleasure chokes out the good seed of the Word of God (Lk 8:14).

3. James has made it very plain, the source of our problem, the cause of the war is lust.

a. The Greek word for “lust” used here is hedonai from which we get out English words “hedonism” and “hedonistic” meaning “pleasure and desires for pleasure and self gratification.”

b. We live in a pleasure loving society, which characterizes the last days where men will be “lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God” (II Tim 3:4).

c. Self-gratification means a rejection of self control.  This is why we must “make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof” (Rom 13:14).

d. Galatians 5:17 tells us that the flesh and the Spirit are at war.

B.       Vs 2, “Lust” leads men to do all sorts of bad things, things that lead to real and certain consequences.  It should be said that man is responsible for his choices.  Yes, you can choose to live a life of sin, a life dominated by desire, but you cannot choose the consequences of those actions.  James makes this clear.

1. Barclay says: “The craving for pleasure drives men to shameful deeds.  It drives them to envy and to enmity; and even to murder.  Before a man can arrive at a deed there must be a certain driving emotion in his heart” (100).

a. We must do more than restrain ourselves, we must remove the ungodly thought from our heart.

b. We must do as Proverbs 4:23 instructs: “Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.”  If an ungodly desire rules out heart, we are not safe.  If our thoughts are filled with evil, if we think much of the time about sin, we will find some way to achieve evil.

2. Lust will cause men to fight, to step on each other in an effort to get.

3. “Ye have not, because ye ask not.”

a. We do not have victory because we do not pray.  Men too often forget God; they forget Him when it comes decision time.

b. Without God and godliness, you’ll not have peace (1:5-6).  The asking here is for that which is spiritual and good, fulfilling desires in a godly way (Mt 7:7-8).

C.      Vs 3, At times, prayers are not answered because they are selfish prayers, asking for things for our own pleasure, for our own purposes.

1. To “ask amiss” is to seek those things that gratify the flesh.

2. To get prayer answered, we must ask for that which will advance the kingdom of God, that which is within God’s will (I Jn 5:14; Mt 6:33).

 

II.       VSS 4-6, THE SIN OF SPIRITUAL UNFAITHFULNESS

A.       Vs 4, The adultery spoken of here is spiritual adultery, being unfaithful to God (Jere 3:20; II Cor 11:2-3).  Our relationship to God is to be close and intimate.  Sin breaks that intimate relationship, and it breaks God’s heart.

1. To be faithful to God, we must forsake the world (I Jn 2:15-17).