Sunday’s Sermons

Winning the War Within

Text: James 4:1-6                                                              9/6/09 a.m.

Thesis: We will reap a harvest of righteousness when we root out the weeds of selfish desire.

I) Our biggest problem is your frustrated desires

a)      If we want peace and a harvest or righteousness we have to ask hard questions.

i)        Last Sunday, from James 3:13-18, we learned that there are two wisdoms. There is the godly wisdom from above and there is the selfish wisdom from this world.

ii)      Following godly wisdom produces good things like righteousness and peace.

iii)    Following earthly wisdom produces bad things like disorder, fighting, and every vile thing.

iv)    God’s way produces good things. My way produces bad things.  Those are obvious truths presented throughout Scripture and revealed in our lives.

v)      Yet I still choose to go my way. You still make the decision to do what you want to do.

vi)    The question that we will now answer is: Knowing what we know about God and His ways why do we keep doing selfish things that hurt people?

vii)  The hurt we cause is described by the words “quarrels” and “fights” or “wars” and “fights” in verse one. Do you see that?

viii)            Why is there bickering in the church? Why are there heated discussions between husband and wife?

ix)    Why does a child argue with his parents?

x)      James is not blowing things out of proportion when he identifies the disorder in our relationships as what they actually are: acts of warfare and a painful engagement between two combatants.

xi)    Many of us continue in the vicious cycle of disagreement, argument, explosion, pain, and quiet unrest precisely because we refuse to call the hard feelings and harsh words what they really are.

xii)  Your comments are an act of war. One selfish tyrant attempting to force his way and achieve his goals at the expense of others.

xiii)            What is causing all this? Let’s read

Read James 4:1-10

b)      There is a war going on inside of you

i)        “Is it not this” is how James introduces his answer in the middle of verse 1. Is the cause not obvious? Someone prove me wrong if you can.

ii)      Here’s the cause, look with me at verse one, “your passions are at war within you”

iii)    That other person is not the problem. Your husband, your wife, your boss, your parent, your child, your neighbor, that church member, this pastor; they are not the problem.

iv)    You have an idol in your heart. You have decided you cannot live without that thing. So you go to war.

v)      I want to do this. I want to have that. I want to be respected. I want to be loved. I want to be thanked. I want to be noticed. I want to be in control.

vi)    Your passions or your pleasures are those desires in your heart that rule your life; I must have _______ or I’m going to die.

vii)  I must have _________ or she’s going to die.

viii)            You’ve abandoned life God’s way. You’ve stopped pursuing a life that gives thanks in all circumstances (1 Thess 5:18). You stopped humbly counting others as more significant than yourself (Philippians 2:3).

ix)    Bottom line- the power and grace of Jesus Christ have become nothing to you; you are everything to you.

x)      So now every little want inside of you is like a punk kid looking to pick a fight with any takers.

xi)    So this is what happens (read verse 2)

c)      You hurt people because you are frustrated

i)        This word “desire” in verse 2 often carries the meaning of lust; a strong urge to have something that is not yours.

ii)      So what do you do when you are frustrated? You trust that God knows best. You’ll order your life His way, keep working hard, and remain content with what you have. That’s Christian maturity.

iii)    Sacrificing for the glory of God and the good of others. But instead of that you murder.

iv)    It is possible that you actually do murder; all over this globe a desire for something or someone is the cause of manslaughter.

v)      But the murder that happens in this church and in our homes is the murder that Jesus referred to in Matthew 5

vi)    Jesus said, “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”

vii)  When you get angry because a brother doesn’t do what you want that’s murder. When you call your brother an idiot because his mistake made your life hard that’s murder.

viii)            Verse 2 goes on, “you covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel.”

ix)    You want it desperately, you think of it regularly, if you could only have it. But you cannot. It’s not in your power to satisfy that desire.

x)      You are faced with your inability, your powerlessness, your finitude, and you weakness and it makes you furious.

xi)    So again you find yourself on the war path.

xii)  Let me put it to you this way. Damaged relationships around you prove there are ungodly desires within you

xiii)            The wisdom of God is not steering the boat.

II) The solution to our problem is for you to prayerfully trust God

a)      Yes, I said, the solution to OUR problem is for YOU to prayerfully trust God.

i)        Your sin and selfishness, my sin and selfishness, always effect others. Our sinful desires will always cause problems in the church and in the family.

ii)      We will always have problems if you do not learn what it is to turn away from selfish ambition and embrace Christ-centered service.

iii)    Here’s where it starts

b)      Ask and it will be given to you

i)        You’re so worked up you can’t even think straight. It never crosses your mind that God is bigger and smarter than you.

ii)      God can do what you can’t do. Ask him. We get so angry, self-centered and frustrated, trying so hard to make our dreams come true that we never look to the sovereign king of the universe.

iii)    Or, we know that what we are after is sin so we don’t pray about it. We know that if we slowed down and asked for God’s wisdom he’d show us that our motives are wrong; he’d remove the possibility of obtaining that thing.

iv)    So we do not ask. So we do not receive.

v)      But this is a great promise. If anyone lacks wisdom let him ask God who gives generously to all without reproach and it will be given to him.

vi)    Ask for God’s wisdom, seek him through his word, and he will show you what is best, strengthen you for what is best, and give you what is best.

vii)  God is in the business of every good and perfect gift. Why are we trying so hard to get what we don’t really need? Why are we destroying people for babbles and trinkets?

viii)            Ask God. We are invited to ask God, but in the abundant grace there is great responsibility. Here is where that responsibility shows (read 3)

III) Selfishness is the greatest hindrance to prayer

Verses 3,4,and 5 expose our selfishness

a)      V. 3- The cross of Christ plus God’s grace plus the power of the Spirit do not equal a blank check

i)        Do you see what James is getting at in verse 3? You’re asking God to fulfill that desire of yours.

ii)      You’re pushing all the right buttons. You’re praying in Jesus’ name. You’ve got the head bowed, the eyes closed, and maybe even you got down on your knees.

iii)    You might have even actually shared a prayer request for yourself.  But when you hit the button all you got was a whammy.

iv)    You do not receive what you ask for. And the reason you didn’t get what you want is because all you care about is yourself.

v)      Bitter jealousy and selfish ambition are driving you to prayer. But you’re not praying that God would bring your desires inline with His desires.

vi)    You’re praying that God would bring His desires inline with your desires.

vii)  You ask wrongly, to spend what God gives you on your passions.

viii)            You’re the druggy who prays that God will give you more crack.  You’re the teenager who prays that God will make it so that your girlfriend will have sex with you.

ix)    You’re praying that some family member will die so you can get their stuff.

x)      Or, you’re praying that your children will obey so that you don’t get embarrassed at Wal-mart.

xi)    You’re praying that so-and-so would move or leave or just get out so your life could be as you want it to be.

xii)  But God says “no” and keeps saying no and here’s why

b)      Using God for your selfish ends is the same as committing adultery

i)        Do you see that in verse 4? You adulterous people! It’s literally, “you adulteresses!” in the feminine.

ii)      If Christ is the bridegroom and the church is his bride how could it be anything less than adultery if we use Christ to pay for our selfish flings?

iii)    God does not exist to give you what you want; God is not a vending machine.

iv)    I met a guy whose now ex-wife told him she was going to a high school reunion so he worked overtime to buy her a plane ticket, new outfit, get her haircut, and have some spending money for her reunion.

v)      Come to find out she was flying to she the guy she’d been having an affair with the whole time.

vi)    As horrible as that is it is exactly what we do with God when we try to bend him to our wishes.

c)      If you are in bed with the world don’t expect God’s blessing

i)        Friendship in our day has lost its meaning. You can have a “friend” on facebook that you never see or have a verbal conversation with.

ii)      Friend for us as become a descriptive term for a relationship with little commitment.

iii)    “Are you two going out?” No, we’re just friends.

iv)    But for James to write about friendship he is talking about a high level of commitment. He’s talking about shared values. Two people going in the same direction after the same thing.

v)      If you are hooked up with the world then you are at war with God.

vi)    You may try to call it something else but God calls it treason or adultery. You have made yourself an enemy of God.

vii)  Middle of verse 4, “Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.”

viii)            You’re going to church, you’re saying your prayers, you may even want to be a teacher but because of the desires of your heart you have made yourself God’s enemy.

ix)    Do you see in these verses how quickly “religion” can turn into an act of treason against God.

x)      Remember the other thief of the cross? Not the one who went to heaven but the other one? The one who wanted to use Jesus for his own ends?

xi)    We must hate the thought that we would ever try to use Jesus like some heavenly sugar daddy.

xii)  God hates the thought.

d)     Our God is a jealous God

i)        Read verse 5

ii)      Two main things to grab onto in this verse.

iii)    First, Scripture never speaks in vain.

iv)    2 Timothy 3:16, “all Scripture is God-breathed and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.”

v)      The is the bitter jealousy and selfish ambition of the world that tries to label these words on these pages as nothing more than words.

vi)    Just some make believe; bedtime stories from generations gone by.

vii)  If this is God’s word then God had a reason for speaking every word. Every word has a purpose.

viii)            Every word, by the Holy Spirit, has meaning and God’s word will accomplish it’s purposes.

ix)    It doesn’t matter if we like what the Scripture says. It doesn’t matter if we don’t want what Scripture says we’re going to get.

x)      This is God’s powerful word. He does not speak in vain. That’s the first point.

xi)    Here’s the second point. God doesn’t play around with his creation. (Read middle of 5)

xii)  There are two ways to translate this verse. The NIV translates the Greek to read that the spirit God made to dwell in us envies intensely.

xiii)            Meaning, sinful selfish desires are natural to man. Our sin is abundant. Our hearts are wicked.

xiv)            This would certainly be true and a fair translation of the Greek but I don’t think fits the context best.

xv)  I believe the best translation understands God to be the subject. It is God who made the spirit dwell with you.

xvi)            This can be the spirit in the sense of the physical life-giving physical element.

xvii)          Or this can be the Holy Spirit in the sense of the spiritual life-giving element.

xviii)        Either way, God is sovereign over both. He is the one who makes you breath and he is the one who brings you to live through his word.

xix)            Do you think God is just going to let that go? Do you think God is just going to shrug your adultery off like it doesn’t really matter?

xx)  Do you really believe God is going to wink at your act of treason and just let that one slide?

xxi)            No, he won’t.

xxii)          You see, you have the desire to glorify yourself. You want God to be kicked off the throne or at least scoot over and make some room for you.

xxiii)        And God has the desire to glorify his great name for the good of all the people.

xxiv)        God passionately pursues what belongs to him. He pursues his people like the good shepherd who seeks his wandering sheep.

xxv)          And he pursues his enemies like the swiftest, strongest, and deadliest of warriors.

xxvi)        The God who created hell is not a God who plays around.

xxvii)      So what do we do with our desires that have gone haywire?

IV) The solution is to seek God’s grace

Look at verse 6. Swim in verse 6. Rejoice over and celebrate the soul stirring truth of verse 6.

a)      But he gives more grace.

i)        Come back tonight and we’ll unpack the beauty of grace and how God wants us to enjoy it.

ii)      For now I want you to realize what God wants you to realize.  There is help for you. There is forgiveness for you.

iii)    For you, the enemy of God, the adulteress, the one wear the scarlet letter.

iv)    God wants you today to hear this words: There is more grace for you.

v)      There is sufficient grace for you. There is abundant grace for God’s enemies.  This is the greatness of Jesus Christ.

vi)    He has secured your forgiveness. He has taken your shame. He has removed your guilt.

vii)  Let go of your selfish desires; they lead only to hurt and judgment. Repent of your sin. Turn to God.

viii)            Turn to the God who gives more grace. He is ready today to restore you.

ix)    I stand ready as we sing to help you in any way I can. Don’t leave today without experiencing God’s abundant grace.