Beginning in the 4th chapter, James is emphasizing two main points…ONE is he’s asking what is it about us that causes us to be quarrelsome.
4 What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you?
And because God knows what the answer is…He inspires James to give us the answer.
Is not the source your pleasures that wage war in your members? 2 You lust and do not have, so you commit murder. You are envious and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel.
Just because you’re walking in divine wisdom doesn’t mean you won’t have conflicts in your life…
So what is divine wisdom?…for those who are truly saved…who sincerely know God…who possess a living faith…divine wisdom gives evidence of what kind of person you are.
Biblical wisdom is the application of godly knowledge in the reshaping of your life…transforming attitudes and behavior into righteousness… wisdom then in Biblical terms equals lifestyle.
That’s why James begins the 4th chapter the way he does.
What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you?
Sometimes I think it would have been exciting to be a part of the early church… not the persecution part…but…listening to the apostles…watching them perform miracles…seeing the Holy Spirit moving in the lives of people.
BUT the first verse in chapter four implies a different impression.
James is writing to a first century church…Christ has only been gone a few short years and there’s already quarrels and internal conflicts among church members… unfortunately what is true among churches is also true in our homes…internal conflicts that destroy Christian homes.
James points out three causes of internal conflict:
Uncontrolled desire (4:1b) selfish desires that are opposed to God.
Unfulfilled desire (2a) When people can’t achieve their desired goals of money power…drugs…alcohol…success…or whatever…the results are often catastrophic to others.
Selfish desire (2b-3) asking with wrong motives so you may spend it on yourself.
When you look at Scripture conflict in the early church was not that uncommon.
…The Corinthian church had divided into factions
…the Philippian church had two women who were so opposed with each other in conflict that Paul singled them out by name in his letter
…the Galatian believers were biting and devouring one another
…Ephesians begins with an appeal to unity, tolerance and love between members.
…on a personal level Paul and Barnabas had a disagreement so serious that they parted ways…how does such a thing happen among God’s people?
We would diagnose the problem by saying…‘well so-and-so did such-and-such so really it’s their fault’…putting the blame on someone else.
BUT…the Spirit speaking through James diagnoses the problem differently.
Is not the source YOUR pleasures that wage war in your members?
James places the responsibility squarely on us…you want but you cannot obtain, you want but you don’t get…he says fights and quarrels come because of the sinful desire in our hearts…even to the point of committing murder.
Sinful desires in our hearts coupled with friendship with the world results in
1) Personal conflict with others (vv. 4:1a)
2) Internal conflict with oneself (vv. 1b-3)
3) Conflicts with God (vv. 4-6)
Conflict with Others [4:1a]
Personal conflict with others or within the church often times is the result of members who are not saved…think about this… members who are not saved…why would you want to be a member of a church if you’re not saved?
Many people who are unbelievers don’t consider themselves enemies of God… they may not be openly hostile against God…in fact…may even acknowledge His existence but this is not a saving relationship with God.
And because they’re still lost…the Holy Spirit has no working in their life…they are enemies of God, enemies of each other and enemies of true believers within the church…as a result they continue to live a life that is controlled by sinful desires.
They think because they live basically a good and a socially acceptable life they don’t feel in need of salvation…many unbelievers may even feel bad about their sins…recognize their imperfections…even have a concern about their standing before God but never desire to forsake or confess their sins and accept Jesus as Lord and Savior.
As a result…internally they are in chaos…and they cause chaos in the Church.
Internal Conflict with Oneself [1b-3]
When self-desires conflict with what God desires…these conflicts wage an internal war within us…what is really happening is that there is a disagreement between our heart and head.
Issues that may include…questioning God after the death of a loved one… conflicts between your morals and sexual desires…conflicts between your personal feelings and societal norms or expectations…conflicts in bending your morals for a perceived greater good or immediate need.
The evidences of internal conflict in society today are – psychological disorders …drug addiction…alcoholism…domestic violence…abuse…suicide…anger and hostility.
People react to these in a wide range of physical and emotional reactions… that’s why there is no ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ way to think…feel…or respond.
NOW…when it comes to dealing with those types of issues…I’m not a psychologist or even a counselor…I can give you my advice…but the guy dumping trash at the Quick Trip can give you advice.
There are few things more painful and matter more to God than unresolved conflicts in the Church or within families…and while some situations are resolved over time…conflict with self or others can go on for months or even years.
Conflict with God [4-6]
God’s laws call on us to meet a personally demanding standard that few people are willing to consider…that statement is what is wrong with the world today…goes back to the original question:
What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you?
And the answer:
Is not the source your pleasures that wage war in your members? 2 You lust and do not have, so you commit murder. You are envious and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel.
Just narrow it down to the Ten Commandments…people can’t even keep those … rejecting God’s laws because of selfish concerns for what is best for them.
James is identifying the source that wages war in your lives…THAT’S WHY …the first place to start with a difficult person in your life is to start with the person in your mirror.
In the middle of verse 2 James introduces the second main point…making a very controversial statement…
You do not have because you do not ask
This in exactly in line with what Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount.
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. [Matt7:7-8]
And what He told the disciples:
Until now you have asked nothing in My name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full. (John 16:24)
How many of you have done that…asked…seeked…and knocked…and got no response…on the surface these verses seem to imply that as most prosperity preachers suggest…all you need to do is ask and God will provide…more realistically…God responds better if you send them money…then God will provide.
FIRST of all…James is saying…‘there’s a better way’…instead of coveting… fighting…quarrelling…and even killing there’s a better way.
Hard to believe when he mentions words like…fighting…quarrelling… coveting and killing…that’ he’s addressing his remarks to Christians…but he is.
SECONDLY…your experience tells you… You do not have because you do not ask…isn’t really true…and the reason it isn’t that simple is because textually that’s not what that means.
Since the text doesn’t really mean that…nor does it mean that everything you ask for you get…what does it mean? …James gives us the answer.
3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask with the wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your own pleasures.
—————————SIDE BAR — PRAYER————————————–
We talk about prayer as if God hears us regardless of what our relationship is to Him…we have the mistaken idea that we can just go to God anytime we want in prayer with our thoughts about how we’re living our lives…that’s not so.
God has given some circumstances in which He will not listen to our prayers.
People point to this verse and say—This is my promise, I can ask God for such and such and I will receive it”—BUT they often overlook the CONDITION… 99% of all promises in the Bible are conditional.
When we choose to hold on to sin rather than repent God will not hear our prayers.
Isaiah 1:15, the Lord says, “When you spread out your hands in prayer, I hide my eyes from you; even when you offer many prayers, I am not listening.
Proverbs 28:9 “If anyone turns a deaf ear to my instruction, even their prayers are detestable.”
Psalm 66:18 If I regard wickedness in my heart the Lord will not hear me.
Jeremiah 5:25 Your sins have withheld good from you.
A sinful, disobedient heart, though it be the heart of a child of God, does not arouse the activity of God.
Here’s where the promise comes in.
The real difficulty is not with God’s promise—it’s because we are not obedient… we’re not making God’s Word a part of our life…knowing what pleases God…so our prayers are not answered…here’s where the condition comes in.
1 John 3:22 – And whatsoever we ask we receive of Him because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight.
John 15:7 – If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, you shall ask what you will, and it shall be done unto you.
When we’re not listening to God’s word…He’s not listening to our petitions.
If we are to obtain from God all that we ask from Him Christ’s words must abide in us…we must study His words and let them sink into our thoughts and into our hearts…keep them in our memory and obey them constantly in our life…let them shape and mold our daily life and our every act.
Let me say this about answered…or unanswered prayer—at the expense of preaching another whole sermon—there are many things we will never know…or understand…this side of heaven…and even then there is no guarantee we will ever know the ‘WHY’ to anything…God doesn’t have to explain Himself to us.
Things like…why some people are healed and others aren’t…why some people are spared from tragedies and others aren’t…you need to know that when prayers aren’t answered it doesn’t necessarily mean we’re doing something wrong…but it never hurts to do a soul check.
Sometimes we can be doing everything right…living a life that is pleasing to God then something happens…and we ask…where’d that come from…we can pray… ask in faith…and believe with all our hearts that God can and will change the situation…BUT He doesn’t.
We should not believe those who misconstrue Scripture and say…if we have enough faith we’ll never be sick…or…if we’re sick it’s because there’s sin in our life…or that if we just had more faith God would have done something …there will be suffering in the world and as Christians we will share in that suffering.
I just want to be clear than I’m NOT saying that someone you love died because you lacked faith…or that you weren’t healed because of some unconfessed sin in your life.
I have no idea…and neither does anyone one else…I don’t presume to know why anyone’s prayers aren’t answered…nor is it in any way an attempt to heap guilt… or blame…I hope in sharing with you what the Bible says about prayer that you might see if there is anything in your life that might be hindering your prayers.
That you might see the complexity in the verse…You do not have because you do not ask…that it isn’t just asking and then expecting…God expects things from us.
If we are to be the kind of Christians God want us to be…and the kind of Christians that represents a Christlike life…James has revealed a biblical truth on why there are quarrels and conflicts among God’s people…and why at times prayers are not heard.