Sermon Tone Analysis

4:1 From whence come wars and fightings among you?

come they not hence, evenof your lusts that war in your members?

2 Ye lust, and havenot: ye kill, and desireto have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not.

3 Ye ask, and receivenot, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.

4 Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.

5 Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lustethto envy?

6 But he giveth more grace.

Wherefore he saith, God resisteththe proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.

7 Submit yourselves therefore to God.

Resist the devil, and he will fleefrom you.

8 Draw nigh to God, and he will drawnigh to you.

Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify yourhearts, ye double minded.

9 Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness.

10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.[1]

It seems that no matter what we do we have days where we conflict with others around us.

Let’s look at why we have conflict and how we can overcome different conflicts in our lives.

People every day are lusting after and wanting the newest and latest things that they can have.

If you were to pole the average American about what they were saving up for, no doubt there would be a list of things that people wanted.

In Chapter 4 James starts off by pointing out contentions in the life of Christians.

He points to a direct correlation between a Christians love for God in relation to their love of this present world.

He starts off by stating the problem that many Christians face and are tempted with on a daily basis.

He asks the questions, where do wars and fights come from you?

He asks the Christian why they have contention with other people?

Why are you not living the victorious Christian life?

Perhaps the question could be asked this way, why are you covetous, lustful, mean to others around you?

Why are you not able to get along with others?

Why is your relationship with God hindered?

There are many different questions that are given in this passage that provoke our thoughts about our relationship with God.

Our relationship with God should always be primary and above any other relationship.

I have heard it said that if our relationship vertically is right, and then our relationships horizontally will be right.

James is posing a question about conflict in our lives?

He’s asking why do we have conflict?

In the first 5 verses he diagnoses why we have conflict and the last 5 he gives a remedy for them.

V.1 Where do the wars and fighting’s come from?

Don’t they come from your own lusts?

That word for lust is the same word that we get for hedonism.

Hedonism – pleasure is the most important issue in our lives.

V.2 You lust and you don’t have what you want.

You are trying to get things that you think will make you happy and find satisfaction, but you don’t have those things or satisfaction.

You kill, and fight for what you want, but you still don’t have it.

Illustration:

In June 2016 a man named James Proudfoot killed a man in NYC over a pair of air Jordan sneakers.

A report says that he got into an argument with a man over the sneakers and ended the argument by shooting the man and taking his shoes.

This same man a couple of months prior, assaulted his then girlfriend and stole her UGG boots and a few cell phones.

You might be thinking, that’s crazy I would never kill someone for something that I wanted but…

Have you ever had something on the horizon that you really wanted?

Maybe it wasn’t necessarily something carnal, but you were just saving up for something and you really wanted it.

I tend to research things to the utmost degree before buying a big ticket purchase.

Often times I will study up about the product, see the durability of it, the cost, and compare different stores that sell the same products.

If I am not careful I will begin to focus on that object and it will consume my thoughts and my wants.

I am sure that I am not necessarily alone in this.

We try to convince ourselves that if we got this product it would make us feel better, it will make our lives easier, and we justify the lust of things in our minds and convince ourselves that we need to have something.

Sometimes we ask God to give us these things that we have put in place of Him at the time.

James is telling us that we are not to do this.

He is telling us that we are not to live our lives as the world lives, but we are to be different and are to trust God.

You don’t have things because you don’t ask for things.

V.3 when you do ask for things, you are only asking for your own lusts.

You are so consumed with this world that, when you pray it is surrounded by a desire to have more from this world.

The goal of prayer is not to for our will to be done, but for God's will to be done.

Here are a few measuring sticks for selfish prayer?

• If all your prayers were answered today – other than you, who would be impacted?

Who would be saved?

• If you really forgave that person – let me hear you pray God’s will over their life.

• Do you pray the scripture?

The goal of prayer is not for our will to be done, but that God's will is done....we are not trying to change his mind or persuade a reluctant God - we pray, but we don't receive because God is not answering prayers outside of his will...period.

v.4 the comparison of an adulterer is given in relationship to the relationship with the world over the relationship with God.

Friendship with the world- Fondness of it.

Our greatest issue as adulterous people (cheaters) is NOT that we have conflict with others, that’s a smokescreen – it’s much bigger, much deeper – our conflict is with God.

Our temporary pleasures vs. his eternal promises.

Our immediate answer vs. his everlasting comfort.

Our finite minds vs. his infinite existence.

Our unforgiveness vs. his desire that no man should perish, but have everlasting life.

Our conditional contractual love vs. his unconditional covenantal love.

Our will vs.

His will.

[4] 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

He makes it clear that our comraderie with the World, the system - not the people, but the system of evil controlled by satan - puts you in direct odds with our Creator.

v. 5 he tells us that since we are saved we have the Holy Spirit indwelling within us, and is the Holy Spirit in vain telling us to lust to envy?

He then gives us directives on how we can live a life for God.

In Verses 6-10 notice with me 5 ways to have a better relationship with God, which will in turn allow you to have a better relationship with others.

In this passage there are 8 aeroist verbs.

What that means is that these verbs are continual.

The Bible is commanding us to do this continually.

1. Submit yourself to God – Give God full control of your life

a.

Illustration of surrendering in paintball

b.

When you submit to God, you are following His leading in your life.

You no longer are trying things your way, but instead you are seeking what God’s will is for your life.

c.

Have you ever been lost before in a corn maze.

You try to find your way out but you keep getting more and more lost, and then you find someone who is holding a flashlight and you follow them.

This same kind of submission is how we are to follow after God, and allow him to lead us and direct us.

Proverbs 3:5-6

d. "Submit yourselves to him as subjects to their prince, in duty, and as one friend to another, in love and interest.

Submit your understandings to the truths of God; submit your wills to the will of God, the will of his precept, the will of his providence."