WWUTT 283 You Don't Have Because You Don't Ask?

In James 4 .2 it says you do not have because you do not ask. So if I was just asking

God for the stuff that I want, he would give it to me? Or is James suggesting there's something else I should be asking for that I'm not when we understand the text?

You are listening to When We Understand the Text, an online Bible ministry so that we may know all the riches freely given to us by God.

For questions and comments, send us an email to whenweunderstandthetext at gmail .com.

Here's your teacher, Pastor Gabe. Thank you Becky and greetings everybody. We're in James chapter 4 today.

If you want to open up your Bible there, one page to the right, and I'm in 1 Peter chapter 3, small print

Bible, and there beginning in verse 10 it says, Whoever desires to love life and see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit.

Let him turn away from evil and do good. Let him seek peace and pursue it.

For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the

Lord is against those who do evil. That's a pretty good summary of the things that we've been talking about this week on Monday and Tuesday and something to keep in mind also considering some of the words that are being spoken in our culture right now and what is being considered as acceptable speech.

I saw something mentioned on Twitter the other day that I thought was very wise. It said, ladies, if you are seeing a guy that is dismissing the words that Donald Trump has been saying, what's been coming out in those audio tapes of his as being locker room talk or you know, that's just the way guys talk red flag and have nothing to do with that guy for his character is compromised.

Jesus said, you will know their fruit by the words that they speak. Matthew chapter 12, either make the tree good and its fruit good or make the tree bad and its fruit bad for the tree is known by its fruit.

You brood of vipers. How can you speak good when you are evil for out of the abundance of the heart?

The mouth speaks the good person out of his good treasure brings forth good and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil.

I tell you on the day of judgment, people will give an account for every careless word they speak for by your words, you will be justified and by your words you will be condemned.

It's with these thoughts in mind that we come to James chapter four today after talking about these things on Monday and Tuesday concerning the words that we say and being reminded that the tongue is a fire full of unspeakable evils.

That's a pun there. James chapter four is where we are and we're going to read through verse 12.

What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? James says, is it not this that your passions are at war within you?

You desire and 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. You ask and do not receive because you ask wrongly and 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 suppose it is to no purpose that the scripture says he yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell within us, but he gives more grace.

Therefore, it says God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Submit yourselves 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 to mourning and 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 is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy.

But who are you to judge your neighbor? And we won't be able to get that far today, but at least giving you the context of what we'll be looking at here in James chapter four.

Again, he says, what causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? So keep in mind, this question is being asked after talking about how the tongue is untamable, how with it we bless

God, but then we curse those who are made in the likeness of God. Verse 10 of chapter three, from the same mouth come blessing and cursing.

My brothers, these things ought not to be so. So as we, as from the same tongue pours forth blessings to God and curses to those who are around us made in the likeness of God, James comes to ask us a question that is somewhat penetrating and even somewhat rhetorical at the same time.

What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this?

He even provides the answer to this question that he is asking that your passions are at war within you.

So what is it that's causing quarrels and fights among you? It's the fact that you desire things that are not godly.

And so since you're not pursuing godly things, that puts you at odds with people to whom you should be united as a godly people.

And instead it's your fleshly passions that are at war within you. And so you're not united with godly people the way that you should be.

In Titus chapter three, the apostle Paul wrote that before we came to Christ, we were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another.

Whenever we pursue the things that we want and we desire for ourselves, it puts us at odds with everybody else.

No one sins as an island, okay? There's no such thing as a sin that you can commit that doesn't hurt anyone else.

It's not possible because any sin that you commit, anything that you are selfishly pursuing for yourself, you know, just, just do what makes you happy, right?

That's the mantra of the world. Anything that you pursue that is a selfish pursuit puts you at odds with everybody else.

And so therefore we are divided because we are pursuing things selfishly. And keep this in mind with something that we mentioned yesterday pertaining to ministry.

When you pursue something in ministry selfishly, if it is not to the glory of God, and if you are not out to advance the gospel so that others might hear it and be saved, if you are doing things to benefit yourself, like you're using the name of God to benefit yourself, or you are using a ministry platform to gain acclaim.

And I would even put this before you. If there is a pastor who has an occupation as a pastor just to make a living, he's not even really aspiring to become some sort of big shot minister, just trying to make a living for himself.

If that's the reason why he's in ministry, then it's still a selfish pursuit and puts him at odds with even the people in his own congregation.

Whatever we are pursuing selfishly divides. It does not unite us.

And so any sin that we commit, any sin is divisive. It does not unite

God's people. It divides us. I come back again to saying that no man sins as an island.

Every sin that you do is going to affect somebody else. There's no such thing as private sins that are not going to affect someone because you are pursuing something selfishly.

It is causing division with somebody else. And so James puts this forward. What is causing the quarrels and the fights among you?

Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? That you know the spirit of God that is speaking in your heart as to what you should be doing that pleases

God, but instead you're pursuing the things of the flesh opposed to what is godly and pleasing unto the

Lord, which James just talked about in chapter 3, verse 17. The wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable.

Okay, we got quarrels going on with one another. Clearly we're not being peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere, and a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.

So then contrasting with that statement, there's not peace among you. So what is it that's causing the quarrels and the fights among you?

Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you, that you're pursuing things selfishly, instead of what is best for the body of Christ, instead of putting the needs of others ahead of your own, instead of doing works in the meekness of wisdom, the way that James put it in chapter 3, verse 13.

You desire and do not have, this is chapter 4, verse 2, you desire and do not have, so you murder.

You kill somebody because, you know, they've got something that you want. I think of Cain and Abel, the way that I read this statement, by the way, you desire and do not have, so you murder.

Cain offered sacrifices unto the Lord that were not pleasing to God because he was not giving of his best.

He was taking what was left over and giving that to God. Whereas you had Abel, who was giving the best of his flock to the

Lord as sacrifices and what Abel was giving to God was pleasing to the Lord.

Well, Cain, jealous of Abel, because he had something that Cain didn't have, the favor of God, he thought, hey, if Abel's out of the picture, then

I get God's favor. And so he takes his brother out to the field and murders him. And of course, we know that the favor of God was not upon Cain.

As a matter of fact, God had warned Cain about the evil desire that was within him. The Lord said, why are you angry and why is your face fallen?

If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door.

Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it. And Cain did not listen to the

Lord's warning, but instead his hand was raised against Abel and he killed him and his blood cried out to the

Lord from the ground. We have Abel spoken about in Hebrews chapter 11 as being one whose faithfulness to God continues to minister to us to this day.

And so here we have the flip side of this, the person who does not desire to do good before the

Lord, but instead pursues things selfishly. And why is it that we murder? Because we desire and do not have.

There's something we want somebody else has. And so if we can, if we can just get them out of the picture, then we would have it.

Let me put this before you more practically, because maybe you've never killed anybody before. Maybe the thought has never crossed your mind, or maybe it has, and you just don't want to admit it.

Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount, you have heard that it was said to those of old, you shall not murder and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.

But I say that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment.

Whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council. And whoever says you fool will be liable to the hell of fire.

So if you are offering your gift at the altar and you remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar, go first be reconciled to your brother and then come and offer your gift.

And so even if we hate somebody in our heart, if we have contempt toward another person in our heart, it is the same as if we had murdered them in our heart.

Doesn't matter that your hand is not raised against them and you spill their blood to their death the way that Cain did to Abel. But the very attitude that we have in our heart toward another person who was made in the likeness of God is the equivalent of having murdered them in our heart.

And James has really made the same point already in James chapter three, where he says, with our tongues we bless

God and with our tongues we curse those who are made in the likeness of God. This is the conflict that is within the passions of our flesh.

And so why do we hate somebody else? Because there's something that they have that we want.

We are jealous of them somehow. And so in that same way that we hate them in our hearts, we are murdering them in our hearts.

You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and you quarrel.

Now notice here that James does not say you covet and cannot obtain, so you go steal it.

Like a person doesn't even put themselves out there that far to get seized by the law or get beaten up by another person who might be stronger than them.

No, he just puts it out there as you covet and cannot obtain. You desire something that somebody else has, but you don't have it.

So you fight and you quarrel. You do not have because you do not ask. Now that's an interesting statement.

That's an interesting thing for James to say here. So let me bring that back around so we can get it all in context.

Verses one and two again of chapter four. What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you?

Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? You desire and 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.

What an interesting turn that is being taken there. So instead of coveting what it is that this other person has, if I was just asking

God for it, then I would have it and I wouldn't need to covet this other person. No, that's not exactly what

James is saying. He's not saying that if another person has something, just ask God and he'll give it to you too.

Not the case. Rather, why is it that you covet something else that another person has?

Because you are not content, right? Because you are not thankful to God, because you are not rejoicing for what it is that you have.

So if you are pursuing God and giving him glory and pursuing his righteousness and you are thankful in all circumstances, as Paul is reminded over and over again in his letters, he says it to the

Thessalonians, he says it to the Philippians, rejoice always, I will say it again, rejoice.

It's a constant theme in Paul's letters to be thankful in all circumstances. And the reason why you don't have

Thanksgiving, the reason why you are not content and grate ful for what it is that you have is because you are not asking

God for contentment. Instead, you are pursuing stuff.

If I could just have this one thing, this one other worldly thing, or I can have this one thing that this other person has, or that talent that they have, then

I would be content. No, it would still be causing fights and quarrels among you.

I just about said quites, which would be quarrels and fights combined. I think I almost also said farls.

That would have been really funny because it was funny just saying it. But anyway, so you fight and you quarrel.

You do not have because you do not ask. You don't have peace of mind because you're not asking

God for peace. You would rather have the seething jealousy that is in your heart toward another person.

And you like that feeling better than asking God for contentment for your situation, for your job, for the relationships that you have in your life, for the tax bracket that you are in, for the car that you drive, for the opportunities that are before you, for the city that you live in, for the church that you are a part of, whatever it might happen to be.

The reason why you are jealous, you are bitter, you are quarreling with others, is because you are not content, because you are not grateful to God, and because you are not asking

Him for peace about the things that are going on in your life, about where your life is, expressing thanksgiving to Him for all that He has already given you.

The grace that He has poured out upon you through Jesus Christ, His Son, His death on the cross, so that you would have right standing with God.

Paul describes this to the Philippians as a peace that surpasses all understanding.

I mean, it's a greater peace than being able to lounge in your lawn chair with a lemonade and a house that's paid off.

OK, it's greater peace than that. It's peace with God. Because your sins have been forgiven by the sacrifice of Christ on the cross.

What more do you need? What can separate you from the love of Christ? As Paul puts it to the

Romans in Romans chapter 8, nothing can come between you and the love of Christ, including this thing that you don't have that you think that you need in order to be satisfied and content.

How gracious the Lord continues to be to us always. And so knowing that every need of yours is completely satisfied in Christ.

It creates in you a peace, a contentment. You give thanksgiving to God, glory to Him, and then you are no longer quarreling with your brothers.

Instead, you get to that place in your mind and in your heart where you need to be. And that is considering the needs of others ahead of your own.

How can we exist as brothers and sisters in Christ to give glory to God rather than how are these people all around me benefiting me somehow?

You got what I'm saying? So if our pursuit is the glory of God, then we will look out for the needs and the interests of one another instead of our own, which leads to bitterness and fights and quarrels.

You ask and do not receive, James says in James 4, 3, you ask and do not receive because you ask wrongly to spend it on your passions.

So there is a way that we can pray wrong and God would not acknowledge that prayer, not respond to it favorably because we are asking in our passions.

We are asking God in a way that benefits us instead of giving glory to God. Remember the

Lord's prayer. I mean, this is such a great blueprint for prayer. Even if you don't pray this prayer every day, fine, but it gives you a blueprint as to how we approach the

Lord. Our father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. So you're coming to God, acknowledging that he is authority, our

God who is in heaven, and you are submissive to that authority. Hallowed be your name, knowing that his name is holy and recognizing that we are not.

Your kingdom come, your will be done. On earth as it is in heaven. In other words, what we're asking for God there by saying your will be done on earth as it is in heaven, help us to see your will here on earth the way that it is perfectly realized in heaven, because we don't see it that way in these finite bodies living in the physical world that we live in right now, but there will come a day as it talks about in first John three, two, that we will see him as he is because we will be made to be like him.

And Paul also says in first Corinthians 13, that now we see as though through a glass darkly, but soon we'll see face to face.

And then we will know just as we are fully known. So that so we don't fully understand

God's will in the, in the finite existence that we live on the timeline in which we exist right now.

But there will come a day when all of these things will be exposed to us fully in heaven. And then we will fully know.

So for right now, what we are asking when we pray to God is that we would be able to see his will just as it is fully known in heaven, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day, our daily bread, which is a combination of things. Give me the things that I truly need.

And Jesus assures us in the sermon on the mount that your heavenly father knows that you need these things and we'll give them to you.

That's also in Matthew chapter six, where we also get the Lord's prayer from. And so your father knows you need those things.

So we ask God for the things that we need, but we are also asking for him to feed us by his word.

Give us this day, our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.

Help us to forgive others, knowing that we have been forgiven by God and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

And then in the King James Bible, you have for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. OK, so so anyway, the point that I wanted to make there by reciting the

Lord's prayer to you was seeking the will of God instead of our own will. We see that in the way that Jesus taught us to pray, that we seek

God's will ahead of our own. And so let us do that. Let us let us ask of God even in a way that glorifies

God. It is perfectly acceptable for you to express your heart before God, your concerns, but do so desiring his will and not your own.

And so let us come to the Lord this way. You ask and do not receive because you ask wrongly to spend it on your passions.

Let us instead ask of God what would glorify him so that we might have hearts that are pleasing to the

Lord, that seek to please God. We're going to conclude there, and I'll probably pick up there again next week.

We'll kind of refresh what it is that we talked about in chapter four since we're only three verses in and then continue on from there.

Tomorrow, we'll continue our Old Testament study, finishing up the book of Ruth. Let us pray.

Our Lord God, as we consider the things that have been said here, perhaps we are convicted because we know that there are quarrels in our lives.

We are quarreling with somebody else. Maybe as we were reading this text here, what causes quarrels and what causes fights among you?

There were names that were popping into our minds as to who we've been arguing with. Humble us,

God, in this respect to realize that we are wrong because what is causing these fights and these quarrels is is our jealousy or our selfish passions, things in us that are selfish.

And at times we like the feeling of anger that we have toward another person instead of asking you to help resolve this anger, submitting ourselves fully unto the

Lord and giving glory and thanksgiving to you for all that you have provided for us through your son,

Jesus Christ. And so, God, forgive us of our sins, but also direct us in paths of righteousness.

Teach us how we might pursue our brothers and sisters instead of with bitter bitterness and jealousy with thanksgiving and looking out for their needs ahead of our own.

Help us to not be so hateful in our hearts. Help us to not covet or quarrel, but help us to ask with right motives.

Help us to seek you and your glory to give glory to God, not coming to you asking for the things that would benefit us, but seeking the glory of God.

That glory was displayed in the cross of Christ Jesus by your mercy and love toward us sinful and fallen creatures.

You have redeemed us by the cross of Christ, by his blood, by his blood, by his wounds.

We are healed. And so, Lord, let us always be filled with thanksgiving founded upon this truth and do all things to the glory of God, whether we eat or drink or whatever it is we do.

Doing it all to the glory of God. In the name of Jesus, we pray. Amen. You've been listening to When We Understand the

Text with Pastor Gabe Hughes. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, Gabe will be going through a New Testament study.

Then on Thursday, we look at an Old Testament book. On Friday, we take questions from the listeners and viewers.