Source of Fighting within the Church

Chapter 4

1 From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members?

MH: The Jews were a very seditious people, and had therefore frequent wars with the Romans; and they were a very quarrelsome divided people, often fighting among themselves; and many of those corrupt Christians against whose errors and vices this epistle was written seem to have fallen in with the common quarrels.

Unfortunately, it was also happening in the Church. There is a root of carnality - an internal war within the believer - lusts of the flesh.

From DG: “No two believers who are both walking in the Spirit of God towards each other can live with wars and fights among themselves.” Also -

“James seems to be bothered more by the selfish spirit and bitterness of the quarrels than by the rights and wrongs of the various viewpoints.” (Moo)

“It is self-evident that the Spirit of God does not create desire which issues in envying.” (Morgan)

What is the antidote?

Gal 5:24 - And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

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

C. Spurgeon: “If a person’s desires are the longings of fallen nature, if they begin and end with self, if the chief end for which one lives is not to glorify God but to glorify self, then one can desire but will not have.”

What is the root of the issue within this verse “ye lust and have not”? - Covetousness, anger and animosity.

I believe James uses the word Kill for shock value - to get you to think.

3 Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.

From NBC: “‘You pray, but it is not effective, for your motives are wrong.’ They are not seeking God’s will or God’s wisdom, but their will: ‘God bless my plans.’ Their motive is their desires or pleasures. God’s goal is not to give human beings what their own impulses demand; his goal is that human beings will learn to love what he loves. It is not that God does not want people to have pleasure, but that he wants to train them to take pleasure in what he knows is truly good.”

Be careful about consuming it on your lusts…

James 1:14-15 - But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. 15 Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.

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.

Why would they be adulters/adulteresses?

Because the church is the bride of Christ - and if we seek after - be friends with the world - we are being unfaithful to G-d

why we should be a friend of G-d, vs being a friend of the world...

Gal 1:4-5 who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, 5 to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen

1 John 2:15-17 - 15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. 17 And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.

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

This quote is not in the old testament, but James may be referring to the principle expressed in the OT -

From KJVBC - “This expression, when taken adverbially, “the Spirit that dwells in us lusts jealously,” speaks of divine jealousy, a familiar doctrine to these Jews.”

Ex 34:14 - 14 (for you shall worship no other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God),

What is the Spirit that lives in us? The Holy Spirit – and he is a jealous G-d.

On the worldly side, the carnal man, Lusting to envy is wicked…

Gen 6:5 -Then the Lordsaw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

6 But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.

G-d’s grace will overcome our unfaithfulness to Him.

The last 1/2 of the verse is a quote from Proverbs…

Proverbs 3:34 - Surely He scorns the scornful,

But gives grace to the humble.

7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

What does it mean to “submit yourselves to G-d”?

put G-d first, ourselves second… there was a group of athletes that ran commercials about this movement – I am Second

“I have heard much of the rights of man: but it were well also to consider the rights of God, which are the first, highest, surest, and most solemn rights in the universe, and lie at the base of all other rights… Alas, great God, how art thou a stranger even in the world which thou hast thyself made! Thy creatures, who could not see if thou hadst not given them eyes, look everywhere except to thee. Creatures who could not think if thou hadst not given them minds, think of all things except thee; and beings who could not live if thou didst not keep them in being, forget thee utterly, or if they remember thine existence, and see thy power, are foolhardy enough to become thy foes!” (Spurgeon)

We need to acknowledge that Satan only gives the appearance of truth, but we need to stand against him.

The first thing to do is to submit to God. This means that we must be subject to Him, ready to listen to Him and obey Him. We must be tender and contrite, not proud and stiff-necked. Then we must resist the devil. We do this by closing our ears and hearts to his suggestions and temptations. We do it also by using the Scriptures as the Sword of the Spirit to repel him. If we resist him, he will flee from us.

8 Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.

This not only an invitation, it is a command. The Greek word for draw nigh (ĕggizō) means to make near, approach, be at hand, come (draw) near

What a wonderful promise! G-d is asking us to draw near to him, and He will respond in like manner. The latter part of the verse is what we need to do in order to come near to G-d.

Is 1:16 - “Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean;

Put away the evil of your doings from before My eyes.

Cease to do evil,

So, what do we need to do before approaching G-d?

2 Chronicles 15:2 - 2 And he went out to meet Asa, and said to him: “Hear me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin. The Lord is with you while you are with Him. If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you.

How do we do that? - Through Jesus!

Spurgeon sums up vs 7-8 with this:

“James issued ten commands needed to resolve the conflict within the congregation. The theme is repentance and forgiveness. Submit to God carries the idea of self-humbling; resist the devil suggests an active resistance against temptation. Sinners and double-mindedpeople are parallel ideas that characterize both the teachers and the congregation. “Double-minded” recalls the doubter of 1:8.”

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

This is referring to our attitude when we repent and ask for forgiveness - are we truly sorry?

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

Proverbs 3:34 - Surely He scorns the scornful,

But gives grace to the humble.

This is from the NBC: “In verses 7–10, we find six steps to be followed where there is true repentance. James has been crying out against the sins of the saints. His words have pierced our hearts like arrows of conviction. They have fallen like thunderbolts from the throne of God. We realize that God has been speaking to us. Our hearts have been bowed beneath the influence of His word. But the question now is, “What shall we do?”

1. The first thing to do is to submit to God. This means that we must be subject to Him, ready to listen to Him and obey Him. We must be tender and contrite, not proud and stiff-necked.

2. Then we must resist the devil. We do this by closing our ears and hearts to his suggestions and temptations. We do it also by using the Scriptures as the Sword of the Spirit to repel him. If we resist him, he will flee from us.

3. Next we should draw near to God. We do this by prayer. We must come before Him in desperate, believing prayer, telling Him all that is on our heart. As we thus approach Him, we find that He will draw near to us. We thought He would be far from us because of our carnality and worldliness, but when we draw near to Him, He forgives us and restores us.

4. The fourth step is: Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Hands speak of our actions and hearts represent our motives and desires. We cleanse our hands and purify our hearts through confession and forsaking sins, both outward and inward. As sinners we need to confess evil acts; as double-minded people we need to confess our mixed motives.

5. Confession should be accompanied by deep sorrow for sin. Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. When God visits us in conviction of sin, it is not time for levity. Rather it is a time when we should prostrate ourselves before Him and mourn over our sinfulness, powerlessness, coldness, and barrenness. We should humble ourselves and weep over our materialism, secularism, and formalism. Both inwardly and outwardly, we should manifest the fruit of godly repentance.

6. Finally, we should humble ourselves in the sight of the Lord. If we honestly take our place in the dust at His feet, He will lift us up in due time.

This then is the way we should respond when the Lord exposes us to ourselves. Too often it is not the case, however. Sometimes, for example, we are in a meeting when God speaks loudly to our hearts. We are stirred for the moment, and filled with good resolves. But when the meeting closes, the people engage in animated and lighthearted conversation. The whole atmosphere of the service is dispersed, the power is dissipated, and the Spirit of God is quenched.”

HOME GROUP QUESTIONS

James 4:1-10

1. Where do “war and fights” come from?

James is referring to disagreements between believers - not talking about the world. Although the motivations - root causes are similar

From MH: “(James) informs them that the origin of their wars and fightings was not (as they pretended) a true zeal for their country, and for the honour of God, but that their prevailing lusts were the cause of all. Observe hence, What is sheltered and shrouded under a specious pretence of zeal for God and religion often comes from men’s pride, malice, covetousness, ambition, and revenge.”

2. What does James mean by “war in your members”? (vs. 1)

We don't do what we should - lust, envy, covetousness. Selfish desires, even within the church – looking for positions of leadership at the expense of someone else.

From JVM: “Consider these words which were written by a great saint, a mystic of the Middle Ages, Fénelon:

Tell God all that is in your heart, as one unloads one’s heart, its pleasures and its pains, to a dear friend. Tell Him your troubles, that He may comfort you; tell Him your joys, that He may sober them; tell Him your longings, that He may purify them; tell Him your dislikes, that He may help you to conquer them; talk to Him of your temptations, that He may shield you from them; show Him the wounds of your heart, that He may heal them; lay bare your indifference to good, your depraved tastes for evil, your instability. Tell Him how self-love makes you unjust to others, how vanity tempts you to be insincere, how pride disguises you to yourself as to others.

If you thus pour out all your weaknesses, needs, troubles, there will be no lack of what to say. You will never exhaust the subject. It is continually being renewed. People who have no secrets from each other never want subjects of conversation. They do not weigh their words, for there is nothing to be held back; neither do they seek for something to say. They talk out of the abundance of the heart, without consideration, just what they think. Blessed are they who attain to such familiar, unreserved intercourse with God.”

3. In what way do we “ask amiss”? Discuss or share personal accounts of when you have asked in a selfish way.

--We try to work out on our own... don't seek the Lord.

4. When James says “Adulterers and adulteresses” he is speaking of spiritual adultery. What is spiritual adultery?

From MH: “Covetousness is elsewhere called idolatry, and it is here called adultery; it is a forsaking of him to whom we are devoted and espoused, to cleave to other things; there is this brand put upon worldly-mindedness—that it is enmity to God.”

5. Why is being a friend to the world being an enemy of God?

-- Jesus said you are either for me or against me.. Matthew 12:30, Luke 11:23

6. In verse 5 we are told the Spirit of God “yearns jealousy” over us. Talk about how our “going after” the world breaks God’s heart.

7. “But He gives more grace…” means, in the temptation of the world and the desire to go after the word, the Spirit of God gives us all the grace we need to keep our focus on the Lord and overcome the pull of the world. Discuss.

8. We should submit to God and resist the devil but we often resist God and submit to the devil by “loving” the world. Why do we often have it backwards?!

9. Why is a broken and repentant heart (verse 9) so important?

10. How does the Lord “lift you up” when we humble ourselves?