Faithful Living - Studies from the Book of James
No 19 "Quarrels and Conflicts" Part 1 Ch 4 - by Pastor Jack Anderson
Introduction. James commences
chapter 4 by asking the question " What
causes fights and quarrels among you"? The current world situation
makes this question from James as relevant in our day, as in any previous
generation. War is a fact of life.
War has been a part of every era of human
history. In spite of all the treaties which have been made we still have wars
and rumours of wars today.
The continuing
The events that we see happening today may
well be leading up to Armageddon. The stage is being set for an escalation of
wars, which will culminate in the final battle which was foretold by the
Prophets of God thousands of years ago.
Not only are there wars between nations,
there are wars of one kind or another on almost every level of life. We have,
in our society, wars between individuals, and there can be wars and fighting
among Christians, those who profess to be members of the body of Christ. How
striking is the contrast between the closing verse of chapter 3 and the opening
verse of chapter 4
James 3:18 And
the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace.
Here we have the fruits of righteousness
being sown in peace, while in chapter 4 there is
fighting in the ranks of God’s people.
Although the early church showed deep
affection one to another but they also had their moments of bitter strife. The
Apostle Paul had to rebuke the Church at
1 Cor 3:3 For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you
envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?
The atmosphere, in which we live today, is
one of strife and contention and this can filter very easily into the confines
of the Church.
2 Cor 12:20 For I
fear, lest, when I come, I shall not find you such as I would, and that I
shall be found unto you such as ye would not: lest there be debates, envyings, wraths, strafes, backbitings,
whisperings, swellings, tumults:
This is the kind of unrest that can be
found in the Church of today. These things ought not to be so.
Psa 133:1 Behold, how good and how pleasant it
is for brethren to dwell together in unity!
Surely, Christians, above all people
should live together in the unity of love and harmony, but there are times that
they do not.
The Apostle Paul was always exhorting the
Churches to cultivate spiritual unity.
James deals with the root cause of this
problem of strife among believers.
The
Question James Asks. V
1
"From whence
come fighting and wars among you".
As James views this problem he notes that
1. War is Universal
(Amp v1) what leads to strife, discords and feuds and how do
conflicts, quarrels and fighting originate among you?
What causes these fights and where do they
come from? Instead of working together in a spirit of peace, people were in
constant conflict.
The picture drawn here is one of a
battlefield. The plurals used indicate that this was not an isolated event.
The word for fighting in the Greek is Polemoi—meaning a continuous state of war.
It is a word that is used in the book of
the Revelation. It is the word that is used to depict the conflict between Michael,
the Dragon and the host of angels as "War in heaven"
Rev 12:7 And there was
war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon
fought and his angels,
Later we read that the forces of evil will
make war against the Lamb
Rev 17:14 These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall
overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are
with him are called, and chosen, and faithful. Later
in the book we read.
Rev 19:19
And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and
their armies, gathered together to make war against him (the glorified Christ)
that sat on the horse, and against his army.
The very climax of earthly humanity is
marked by conflict. Right to the end men will have hostility in their bones and
war will be their seething passion.
The leaders of men will go to war against
the Lion of
It will be a fearful thing to fall into
the hands of the living God.
Was James right in the assessment he
makes?
Verse-1? Yes he was. It is probable that James wrote
this letter in
When James wrote this epistle, it was the
period leading up to the invasion by the Roman Emperor Titus in A.D.70. when multitudes were massacred.
James wrote this epistle against the
background of continuous unrest, and the nations of
the world and their people are still in a state of continuous unrest.
Illustration. Professor Quincy—in his book "The study of war", states—that
from 1480—1941 the nations of the world have been engaged the following number
of major wars. Great Britain 78 France 71 Spain 64 Russia 61 Austria 52 Germany
23 USA 13 China 11 and Japan 9. Then from 1945 until a few years ago men used
the term "the cold war" to describe international tension.
President Kennedy—addressing the United Nations on 26th Sept
1961said "Every man, woman and child live under the nuclear sword of
Damocles, hanging by the slenderest of threads, capable of being cut at any
moment by accident, miscalculation, or madness"
This is still true in this new millennium.
2000 years ago Jesus prophesied a time of wars and rumours of wars, when
nations would rise up against nations. How relevant these words are today, as
the scene is being set for the abomination of desolation, spoken of by the
prophet Daniel.
This will be a time that will consummate
with the battle of Armageddon and the return of Jesus Christ to the earth in
Power and great Glory. The question that is being asked today is not "Why
Armageddon" "Where Armageddon", but "how soon
Armageddon"?
We do not know the time but this we do
know, that, before the day of the Lord commences, the Church will be removed
from the scene and glorified with her Lord, to be with Him forever.
The
Lord the Lamb we shall glorify
And
this shall be our song
Glory
to Him who loved us
And
washed us in His blood
Who
cleansed our souls from guilt and sin?
By that pure living flood.
1. War is Universal
Dwight D. Eisenhower Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every
rocket fired, signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and
are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed.
This world in arms is not spending money
alone. It is spending the sweat of its labourers, the genius of its scientists,
the houses of its children. This is not a way of life.
Under the cloud of war, it is humanity hanging itself on a cross of iron.
2.War is Individual
In verse 1,2--James brings this matter right home to the individual
reader. He makes it clear that war originates from man’s sensual desires. Man
desires to have what he cannot obtain, and thus, he goes to war to obtain what
he desires.
The fiercest and the bloodiest wars have
begun with one man’s festering heart of selfish desire. Hitler and Saddam
Hussein are prime examples of the desire to have and to control.
Hitler’s annihilation of six million Jews
was the outward expression of his inward selfish desire for control. We need to
remember that war is the external symptom, and not the source. The source is
within us.
3. War is Shameful
We must keep in mind that James is
addressing the Lord’s people. "Where do wars and fighting come from
among you?
Friends the source is within, and every
outward action is the result of a selfish inward desire. The outward sins of David
and Bathsheba, which eventually resulted in murder, began with David’s selfish
desire to have someone, who belonged to someone else.
1.The Question James Asks. V 1
2 The
Condition James Exposes
Our quarrels and conflicts come from our desires
that battle within us.
James is speaking to believers, who have
found the Prince of peace and the Path of peace, and yet, they are fighting and
squabbling with one another. Surely this is shameful.
But before we condemn others, are we
always gentle and peaceable and pure in our desires. It is always easy to blame
the other person! It is never our fault.
Illustration—One day there was trouble in the carpenter’s shop, the tools were having a good old row. One said,
"It is the Hammer’s fault for he is too noisy. "Nonsense"
said the Hammer, "it is the Saw’s fault, he keeps going backward and
forward, and you never know just where you are with him".
"It is not my fault," shouted
the Saw, "it is the Plane’s fault, his work is too shallow and he only
skims the surface". "It is not my fault" replied the Plane;
"it is that old Screwdriver, he is always going around in circles".
The Screwdriver said, "
the whole thing began with the Ruler, he is always measuring people by
his standards".
The Ruler was furious and he said "
What about the sandpaper, he is always rubbing people up the wrong way".
"Don’t blame me" said the sandpaper, "it is that old drill over
there and we all know just how boring he is".
Just then the Carpenter came in and using
all the Tools he made a beautiful pulpit for his local Church, from which the
Gospel of peace, would be preached to many every Lord’s day.
This is a fable but it does illustrate the
wonderful Grace of God. The Heavenly carpenter, uses
imperfect instruments, such as we, to do a work for His glory
This story also reminds us, that as
Christians, we need to make every effort to live at peace with all men and
especially those who are of the household of Faith. As one of old has said
"Give me courage to show
the dove in a world so full of serpents".
James exposes a condition that is very
harmful, even today, in the Church. It is the lust for Prominence, for Power,
or for Possessions, which comes from selfish passions and is the cause of
strife and division. Jesus said---
Mark 7:20 And he said,
that which cometh out of the man, that defileth the
man.
Mark 7:21 For from
within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries,
fornications, murders,
Mark 7:22 Thefts, covetousness, wickedness,
deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness:
Mark 7:23 All these evil things come from
within, and defile the man.
Wherever lust and self -will rule the
heart, conflicts and disputes will continue. War in the heart is helping the
cause of war in the church, and a dissatisfied heart
is never at peace with God.
James makes it clear that the source of
Conflict is your lust, which wars in your members. It is the lust of the Old
Nature, which is the problem.
The Old man, which is corrupt and
deceitful, is constantly at war with the New man,
which is after God created in righteousness and true holiness
The condition, which James exposes is
1. PERSONAL--- your
lusts—your desire. This is something that we all have to face up to, for it is
the very essence of sin.
2. PENATRATING--- your desires war on your members. You fight and war. Eve desired to
become as wise as God. Abraham lied about his wife because he desired to save
his own life. Achan caused
Friends, selfish desire
in the heart of the Believer is a very dangerous thing.
James 4:3Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask
amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts. James 4:3You ask and do not
receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures. (NKJ)
When our motives are wrong, our praying is
wrong. Prayer is not to get our will done in heaven, but to get God’s will done on earth. James exposes the
deceitfulness, the wickedness, and the selfishness of man’s heart. He
exposes how we love to gratify the flesh instead of crucifying the flesh.
George MacLeod --- "What upsets every scene, domestic or political,
is not man's desire to be so bad. So far I have never met a man who wanted to
be bad. The mystery of man is that he is bad when he wants to be good".
Friends, when one’s body, mind, and spirit
are not totally yielded to God, life becomes a vicious circle of seeking but
never being satisfied.
There were believers, who were at war with
each other over positions in the Church and over Church policy. Each thought
that his idea, that his way was best. Selfish ambition ruled and not
self-submission.
How damaging it is, to the furtherance of
the Gospel, when the people of God are at war with one another, while the world
looks on. Is it any wonder that Jesus prayer.
John 17 Sanctify them through thy truth: thy
word is truth. 20 Neither pray I for these alone, but
for them also which shall believe on me through their word;
That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art
in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may
believe that thou hast sent me
It is very sad when believers, who trust
the same Saviour, are baptized into the same body, and are indwelt by the same
Spirit, and yet they are constantly at war with each other.
1.The Question James Asks. V 1
2 The
Condition James Exposes v 2,3
3. The
Solution James Proposed. V7-10
How can wars and conflicts cease among the
people of God?
1. SUBMIT TO GOD V7 This word submit is a military term which means—get
into your proper rank, know your place and keep it.
2. RESIST THE DEVIL. V 7 Do not assist the devil. Give him no room to operate
in your life or in the life of the Church.
Eph 4:27 "neither give
place to the devil.
Do not give the devil a foothold; keep him
out of the ranks. For submitting to God and resisting the devil leads to
victory on the battlefield.
3 DRAW NEAR TO GOD--– There is a place of quiet rest near to the heart of
God. How can we get there? We draw near to God when we seek His face in
repentance, confess our sins, and seek His cleansing and forgiveness.
James 4:9 Be afflicted, and
mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy
to heaviness.
4. HUMBLE YOURSELVES. V 9
David the psalmist said, "It is good
for me to draw near to God".
It was A.W. Tozer who said, when speaking of drawing near to God,
"Nearness is Likeness" The
nearer we get to God the more we become like Jesus. When we draw near to Him he
graciously draws near to us.
CONCLUSION
It is good for us to be in His presence,
for in His presence there is peace, joy, and real blessing.
JESUS MASTER WHOSE I AM
PURCHASED THINE ALONE TO BE
BY THY BLOOD O SPOTLESS LAMB
SHED SO WILLINGLY FOR ME
LET MY HEAT BE ALL THINE OWN
LET ME LIVE TO THEE ALONE.