Battles Among Brethren

Alright everybody, if you would take out your Bibles and turn with me to James chapter 4.

James chapter 4, we're going to look at the first 12 verses.

Some of you are new, I can see a few new faces, at least I think.

We've been going through the epistle of James, going verse by verse for the last several months and we just sort of take one section at a time, read the text, explain the text and seek to make an application, that's the goal in our time together.

James is written by the half-brother of Jesus, we talked about that early on.

It is a book of wisdom literature, it's similar in a sense to the Proverbs, not in structure but in content, and it mirrors in a lot of ways the Sermon on the Mount, which comes from the words of Jesus, which was the longest recorded prayer that we have of Christ.

So this is Jesus' half-brother preaching the wisdom of God to the people of God in the first century that had been dispersed, it says in the first chapter that he's preaching to the dispersion, the dysphoria, those who had been essentially driven out of the land because of their faith.

And so he's talked already about being able to withstand trials and temptations and difficulties, saying that God allows these things into our life to mature us, testing our faith and trials and all kinds of problems, that's what these things do.

He's talked about being partial in sin, he's talked about having the wisdom of God rather than the wisdom of men, he's talked about faith being without works as being a dead faith.

So he's talked about several things, and today we're going to look at the issue of quarreling.

And the thing to remember about this is James is not speaking to the world in general, even though what we read today could apply to anyone, and it could apply to the world in general, James is speaking to the church in that he's speaking to believers, and he's speaking to believers about how they ought to behave as the body of Christ.

And I think that that has gotten somewhat lost and confused in our day because people have misunderstood the distinction between the world and the church.

In fact, the world has made its way into the church, and now the church doesn't look much different than the world.

You go into the average church today, it looks more like an Ozzy Osbourne concert than it does a church, and so people don't see the difference between the distinction between the church and the world.

So when I say James is speaking to the church, a lot of people say, well what's the difference? Church acts just like the world, right? There's just as much divorce as there is in the church as there is in the world, there's just as much hatred in the church as there is in the world, there's just as much fighting as there is in the church as there is in the world, there's just as much adultery as there is in the church as there is in the world, there's just as much drug use as there is pornography in the churches in the world and ultimately those things may be true but it ain't not supposed to be that way that's bad English good theology let me try that again it shouldn't be that way and that's the point I can't go out I mean I can go out into the world and preach the gospel but I can't go out in the world and expect worldlings to not be sinners you know I mean people have people tell me all the time pastor I saw this on the news and this person in the world was doing thus and so and it was crazy I said what you expect wretch is gonna wretch that's what wretches do amazing grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me I say I said do not be surprised when the world acts like the world be surprised when the church acts like the world don't be surprised when the unbeliever acts like an unbeliever but be surprised when somebody who claims the name of brother who claims the name of Christ be surprised when he acts like the world because that shouldn't be so see that's the difference and that's James's point so with that in mind I want us to think about that as we read this text because again if you apply this to the world it can go all kinds of different directions if you apply it to the church it maintains a laser focus a very sharp edge and some of you are members of the church and when I'm when I say that let me explain very quickly what I mean there's two ways in which a person can be a member of the church and when I say the church there even that has to be has to be understood and I most of you may know this but I some I never know what you know so I want to just make sure we understand we talk about the church we are talking about two different things we're talking about the church universal and the church local right we make a distinction the church universal is all believers in Christ that makes up the church universal everybody agree with that if you whether you're from China whether you're from India whether you're from Africa whether you're right now hiding from the authorities in Iraq or or in North Korea because you believe in Jesus Christ you are my brother in Christ and we make up the body of Christ amen that's the that's the church universal right but then we have the church local the church local is made up of believers all right in covenant with one another you say what do you mean by that our church sovereign grace family church you come into the church you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ you're baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son of the Holy Spirit you join the church you become a covenant member of the church which means that we have covenanted together to live together as the body of Christ under the Word of God under the authority of the elders of the church in the leadership of the church ministered to by the deacons ministering to one another with the spiritual gifts God has given us subjecting ourselves to the discipline of the church if necessary were we to fall into continual habitual unrepentant sin that's what it means to be a covenant member of a local church and that's different than being part of the global or universal church because now you're in a community that holds you accountable right things change because there's no accountability in the grander church the universal church because there's no one to call you to account Roman Catholicism tries to do this by having one central authority figure called the Pope and they try to but we that is an unbiblical model the single authority figure the episcopal is what it's called the one single authority figure is is not biblical the biblical model is that you have a group of ordained men in the in the local church who are shepherding the souls of the people in that church they are called to shepherd the flock of God that is among them acts chapter 20 says that shepherd the flock of God that is among you first Peter 5 talks about that as well so that's the role of the local church you guys are part of set free set free as a as a church body you guys go to church on Sunday on the two o'clock on Sunday go to church on Thursday Tuesdays in the evening and there's a body there and you come back here and your disciple that's what this is discipleship it's supposed to be teaching you all the things that Christ taught that's what he said go and make disciples of all nations baptizing and teaching all the things that I've taught you and that's that's this becomes essentially like a church there's a covenant here if you if you are if you're out of line you are removed right and there's a sense in which if you got out of line here for there can be a removal from this from this body okay so there's a sense in which this constitutes what you guys are referring as a church so these things apply to you here when James is talking to the church here he's this is this applies to you primarily if you're a believer it applies to you spiritually but even if you're not a believer if you're here it applies to you in a sense practically so this is what we're going to talk about we're going to read this text I'm going to see how this applies within the church with this in mind the church is always going to be a community of conflict because it's a community of people James chapter 4 we're gonna read verses 1 to 12 all right so James chapter 4 says this what causes quarrels and causes fights among you is it not this that your passions are at war within you you desire and you 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 and 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 do you suppose it is to no purpose that the scripture says he yearns jealous jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us but he gives more grace therefore it says God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble submit yourself 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 into mourning your joy to gloom humble yourselves before the Lord and he will exalt you 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's only one lawgiver and one judge he who is able to save and to destroy but who are you to judge your neighbor all right let's pray father as we look over a lengthy portion of the text today I pray that you would first and foremost keep me from error for Lord I know that I am a fallible man I'm capable of preaching error and for the sake of your name for the sake of my conscience and for the sake of these men I pray that you would keep me from that pray that you would fill me with your Holy Spirit in this moment use this opportunity to teach your word to your people Lord that the the reading the preaching and the understanding and the application of the Word of God would be in accordance with the truth and that the truth would set us free not to judge one another or quarrel one another or fight with one another but to live at peace with one another and love and understanding fully committed to you and to your call on our lives I pray this in Christ's name now at the very beginning of this passage when James says what causes quarrels and what causes fights among you you may say well why did he why did he say that well if you remember last week we got to the end of chapter 3 and the Bible by the way the Bible wasn't written with chapter and verses I think you know that but just in case you didn't when Paul sat down and wrote the letters and James sat down and wrote the letters and Matthew Mark and Luke wrote they didn't stop every time they finished a sentence and say that's verse 1 and stop and say that's verse 2 the chapter distinctions were not added until later in the first millennium and then the verse distinctions were not added even till further later into the second millennium so it was I think it was around 1300 that we started seeing the verse distinctions added in so you have these distinctions that are artificial and that cause us to disconnect the Word of God from the portions that it's that it falls into it causes us to read things out of context people like John 316 John 316 is a beautiful verse but it's not by itself but we take it by itself most of you probably quote John 316 but do you know what John 315 says do you know what John 317 says do you know what the conversation was in which Jesus uttered those words comes to us in probably not and most people don't because they know the verse not the passage or the context the same thing with this if you look at verse 18 of chapter 3 it says a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace so that's the that's the verse leading into the next verse and James is talking about sincerity mercy goodness and fruits that are impartial and sincere he's talking about peace and peacemaking Jesus said blessed are the peacemakers right so we we know the call is to be men of peace the call is to be and by the way when I say that that does not mean to be men of weakness Jesus was not a weak man though he was a man of peace oftentimes it takes a lot more strength to be the man of peace than it does to be the man of violence as a man of violence can allow his emotions to take over and attack and quarrel and fight and when it's all over he's got bumps and bruises but no no real effort was expended except for swinging hands and throwing the lips throwing words but the man of peace has to take and hold back his emotional desire to lash out he has to stand back and take take stock of who he is in Christ and actually stand firm in what's true rather than just letting his emotions and his flesh take over it's much more difficult to be a man of peace than a man of violence and so he's called us to be here ones who make peace and then verse 1 of chapter 4 comes right after that and says what is it that stops the peace if you're called to be men of peace what is it that caused quarrels and fights because by the way that's the opposite of peace in the opposite of peace is war the opposite of peace is quarrels opposite of peace is fighting you're called to make peace so now let's dive in James says let's dive into the question what causes you to not be men of peace what causes you to not be men of of God's peace and Thomas Hobbes wrote something I wrote a paper in one of my class thing was sociology class I was writing on the subject of war and what causes war and I came across this very interesting quote I've kind of kept it in my mind and for years it says it says this he said if any two men desire the same thing which nevertheless they cannot both enjoy those two men become enemies let me say that again when two men desire something that they both can't have those two men become enemies whether it's that they both want the same woman they both want the same property two nations want the same land two nations want the same oil two nations want the same minerals or goods the crops whatever it be nations become enemies men become enemies when there's something they both want but they both can't have it that leads to hatred you have a cell phone and I don't I deserve that you don't you have more grits with your eggs and I wanted those grits I don't know now I'm getting ridiculous but you understand whatever it is yes but again what is that I want I want the ability to demand that my my beliefs are put at the top of the table in yours are I want my beliefs respected in yours not or at least my beliefs get more respect than yours my beliefs get put at the top so what causes quarreling and fighting among you what you want you have to have whatever it is and you don't care about the other person you're willing to put your needs before their needs your wants before their wants your position before their position and you're willing to say to them I am more valuable than you if not with your mouth with your actions or do you want to say something okay all right I didn't want to over talk you there so it says who he asked what is it that causes the quarrels it goes on to say is it not this that your passions are at war within you what's a passion something you want something that you want your passions are at war within you that causes fights with other people you think it would be causing fights with you but that's not the point you're not fighting with yourself your passions that are in within you are causing the fights with other people because your passions don't line up with their passions they want something that you don't want or they want you to do something you don't want to do and so you're angry and then he goes on in verse 2 he says you do not he says you desire and do not have so you murder that's pretty harsh because I imagine most of you I'd like to think all but I don't know most of you probably not murderers at least not in the physical sense but what does Jesus say about murder Matthew chapter 5 right he says he said some of you he said you've heard it said thou shall not commit murder but yet I say unto you he who hates his brother without cause he is a murderer so now can I say is everybody in here a praise God for your attempt to find a loophole no but but can't we all say that we've hated and thus have not exempted ourself from the Sixth Commandment Sixth Commandment says thou shall not commit murder and the Jewish community at Jesus's time felt pretty good because most of them had never taken a life Jesus comes along and says I know you've never taken life if you've ever hated anybody without cause you're the murderer and everybody goes wait a minute now he's talking about me before you were talking about all those all those rugged murderers those hate-filled men now you're talking about me you ever wonder why Jesus got crucified take what Jesus said go into the center of Jacksonville and just start reading it take the Sermon on the Mount don't don't add anything to it don't embellish it don't exegete it just go and read it with a microphone right in front of the Jaguar Stadium not everyone who says to me Lord Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven for those who do the will of my father who is in heaven for not everyone who says Lord Lord or I'm sorry I missed he says started over those many will come into me in that day and say Lord have we not done many mighty works in your name and done miracles in your name and cast out demons in your name and yet I will say unto them I never knew you depart from me you workers of lawlessness just say that part see how long you're popular preach that and see how long you remain popular so Jesus is preaching go ahead brother you see yes go ahead okay I don't want to get too far off track so it's in 28 17 a man burdened by blood guilt would be a fugitive until death let no one help him and when I read that I know footnotes were not written by the yeah okay I couple things I would have to look at the to give you a good answer I would have to look at the passage I'd have to think about it I don't want to just spit off something I will say this though just happened to be in my devotional reading this morning as I was going through it was I was reminded because I'm in numbers reminded about the fact that God had set aside places for people who had spilled blood accidentally the cities of refuge and things like that there were there were there was a different economy at that time for people who did crime and there weren't jails in the in the ancient world as we have jails today they had cities of refuge for that they had and they had the death penalty was a lot more practice then than it is now you know so so so there's a the economic less economic I mean overall understanding of how crime was dealt with was a little different at the time of the Proverbs so I can't give you a good answer as to how that would apply to today other than to say that all guilt and any guilt can be forgiven in Jesus Christ so if you have hurt somebody if you have killed somebody and you can come to the Lord Jesus Christ he can he's a better Savior than you are a sinner and so if you have hurt somebody if you have killed somebody you can still be forgiven that's that's as good as I can do without spending more time in the text yes sir well now that's I'm talking about a thousand years before Paul I'm talking about in ancient Israel in the time of Moses you know 1,500 years we're talking so yes at the time of Paul there was jails there was the Roman jails and those things and there was a much different economy I would what he's talking about what you're talking about two different time periods as far as historically it's fine it's fine no in ancient Israel we see nothing in the Old Testament about jails and that's the point I'm talking about is in those times of Moses and things I'm sure there was some type of restrictive placement but it just we just don't have that in the text and so that was my point is to simply say that the economic difference and of how things were handled then much different than today but but I and but you're right in the time of Paul there's jails in the time of Peter was in jail Paul's in jail all these men and so but this is after you have the Greco-Roman Empire and all those different things so much different historically so coming back again to verse 2 you desire you do not have so you murder have you ever had that happen in your life if you're ever been in a conflict with somebody and you hated them because they had something you wanted or they wouldn't give you something you wanted you hated them and so James is talking about that he says you murder and then he says you covet and cannot obtain so you fight and quarrel it's all going back to the heart of the issue the heart of the issue is you want what you want and remember he's talking to believers this is what kills me is he's not talking to the rank unbeliever he's not talking to pagans he's talking to the church and he's saying to the church you fight because you don't have what you want how dare you name the name of Christ and be such pugnacious selfish brats that's what he's saying and then he says this you do not have because you do not ask now let me say this about that many a many a word-faith proponent has taken that one not even verse it's a half a verse taking that one line and says all you gotta do is ask just reach out for what God has for you and take a hold of it and bring it in you have not because you ask not just I ask well who's the Crystal Cathedral guy Schuller Robert Schuller you know power power prayer power positive thinking all these crazy things and they use this verse and say you have not because you ask not rarely ever do though do they attach it to verse 4 because this is actually what it should be attached to I think I think the verse 4 should start that you do not have because you do not ask and you ask and do not receive because you ask wrongly to spend it on your passions he has not left the context and the context is your passions are wrong you don't have because you don't ask because what you are asking for is the wrong things seek you go ahead that's that's right yes seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and he tells us earlier seek wisdom that's right that's right not a Cadillac amen see you look at verse 3 it mentions passions you look at verse 1 and it mentions passions and both of those are connecting it it's all about your passions if your fights your quarrels in the church that's the problem it's it's in the church it's all about passions yes well yes he is going to go go on and talk though about the rich and the poor and I so I still think there's a material element to this too it could be religious conversations that are happening the question of circumcision and all those things and and certainly that could be could fit within there but I also think it could be material as well yes yeah yeah and and and we have to talk to about whether or not we should debate I believe we should debate but I think the word reason that's what's it's bound up in that we lovingly we lovingly challenge each other with the Word of God recently I did a debate at the church with it with a man that's a my friend and we did it as brothers in Christ and we challenged each other on the subject of the Sabbath that was that the debate was over the Sabbath and so that was it that was a question that a lot of people have so me and him we debated each other but was in love and it was it was to try to hone with each other you know iron sharpens iron and I do think that can be done properly I think where the arguments and the fighting and the passions that's when it's ungodly and unbiblical and oftentimes leads to nothing more than just two men trying to one-up each other and in verbal jousting which is no good yeah yeah verbal jousting that's it yeah so he goes on to say he's just told us he says you don't have because you don't ask and what you do ask for is wrong because you're asking for the wrong thing that your passions verse four you adulterous people now may I ask you this in the Bible when you when when the word adultery is it comes up does it always refer to physical sex and physical adultery no and what actually what is more so the object yeah spiritual who's the object of our adultery almost every time it's it's God God is we've we've well Israel is called the harlot and those things because committed adultery against God what I'm saying is though when when adulterous people when we're called adulterous people it's saying that we have a husband he is Christ we are the church we are the bride of Christ and when we seek after other things when our heart is passionate towards other things when we're coveting and worshiping other things we have committed adultery spiritually against our husband who is Christ we are the bride he is the husband when we seek after and passionately pursue other things we are it's a sentence similar as to a wife who turns against her husband and goes to another man that's the picture this is why God is called a jealous God people say well jealous he's bad not from God's perspective because God from God's perspective if we go to anything else other than him and give it our worship he is right to be angry with that with us about that he is right to be wrathful with us because we have left the the husband we have left him who is our well our father in this in this analogy though he is the he is the one who we are in covenant with that's the picture of the adulterous relationship one who breaks the covenant coveted jealous God that's what I said he's jealous absolutely yes sir oh yeah absolutely in the whole picture of of Gomer and Hosea is the picture of God telling Hosea marry this adulterous woman is the picture of God and Israel and there's a love there and a graciousness shows God's graciousness to us absolutely and so so yes God is as I already said he is much greater at saving us than we are at sinning against him he is a better Savior than we are a sinner so that's the thing guys if you ever come in here and you think you're too bad to be saved you're right where you need to be the problem with most people is not that they think they're too bad to be saved they think they're too good to need to be saved you ask the average person on the street you go out say are you a good person of course I'm a good person can I tell you today none of you are good people and neither am I nobody is good no not one Romans chapter three no I know I do well they don't they don't usually take it well but I tell them you say and and you probably heard of Ray Comfort Ray Comfort does this probably better than anybody in the world you ask person do you consider yourself to be a good person they say yes well can I ask you a few questions to see if that's true sure have you ever told a lie yes what do you call people who tell lies a liar have you ever stolen anything not a lot anything yeah maybe once or twice okay what do you call people who steal things a thief all right well you've already told me you're lying thief you still wanna argue you're a good person Jesus said if you commit adultery if you look at a woman with lust you commit adultery in your heart so you're a lying thief adultery at heart you want to keep arguing that you're a good person you're gonna stand before the tribunal of God you're gonna be judged by his law and his law is going to judge you as guilty you will not be able to announce yourself as a good person you will be announced as a sinner before a holy God and unless you have a you will be lost and damned forever you are not a good person I remember one day I was at Burger King getting some food and it was a man behind the register I started talking to him and I said are you a good person yes kind of went through it with him and I said have you ever looked at a woman with lust and he said no and I said are you gay and he said no what's lust mean let me back up a second yeah you ever had inappropriate sexual thoughts about a woman all the time okay well you're that's lust that's wrong just had to change the language a minute when I said if you ever looked at with lust I do got to keep going brother but go ahead one more one more real quick okay I don't I don't want to go I don't want to go too far down this road let me say this most of the time we go over that line as this is what it is most of the time we go over the line but I will tell you what the definition of lust is if you want to know I did a whole story in fact the this the one of the highest sermons because when I put our sermons on sermon audio they're recorded there they go out all over the world people hear them and one of the highest downloaded sermons I've ever done it's called mental pornography that was the title of the sermon that is what lust is when you when you when you in your mind that's right you you you you you you look at this person as it is as an object of your physical pleasure and you know where that line is saying hey you look beautiful today mrs.