SERMON: “Warfare in the Church” (James 4:1–3)
“Warfare
in the Church” (James 4:1–3)
Series: “James: True Faith Works” #17 Text: James 4:1–3
By: Shaun Marksbury Date:
February
16, 2025
Venue: Living
Water Baptist Church Occasion:
PM Service
I.
Introduction
There’s a story
about a church in Texas that split over a potluck dispute. During a church dinner, one member received a
larger piece of chicken than another, and the slighted member was so offended
that tensions escalated. What began as a
grievance over poultry turned into a full-blown church split. Two congregations were born from one, all
because of an unchecked desire for a bigger drumstick.
Conflict is a
present reality for us, and it was a reality for James’s audience. So, he writes to them this challenging
chapter; one commentary notes, “The severity of his tone in this section is
accented by the absence of the words ‘my brothers.’ ”[1] Thus,
chapter four is very different than the chapter we left behind. One commentary notes,
Fights,
quarrels, lust, hate, envy, pride, and sin are words that stain this portion of
James’ letter like inkblots. In stark
contrast with the closing words of chapter 3, ‘peacemakers who sow in peace
raise a harvest of righteousness,’ chapter 4 opens with ‘fights and
quarrels.’ James confronted this
despicable behavior with valor.
Furthermore he gave clear advice on how to quell the storms that are so
detrimental to spiritual growth and maturity.
A believer must turn hatred into humility, judgment into justice, and
boasting into belief.[2]
This
is a challenging chapter for every one of us.
We face conflict sometimes in the church, sometimes in the home, and
sometimes in our other relationships.
How do we handle them?
Conflict
comes from within each of us, so let’s seek to understand that better this
evening. First, conflict arises from our
uncontrolled desires (v. 1); James identifies the root of conflict as the
sinful cravings within the heart.
Second, conflict progresses into godless actions (v. 2); sinful desires
escalate to outward, unholy hostility.
Finally, conflict continues with false prayers (v. 3); even when we pray,
motives are wrong, seeking to gratify passions.
Let’s consider the first of these.
II.
First, Conflict Arises from Our Uncontrolled
Desires (v. 1)
What is the
source of quarrels and conflicts among you? Is not the source your pleasures that wage
war in your members?
James identifies
the source of conflicts in this verse.
He does so, though, through asking questions. These rhetorical questions are meant to make
us think.
Questions are good
at getting us to consider our heart, which is why counselors should ask a lot
of them. It’s not just for information
gathering. God asked questions of Adam
and Eve, as well as of Cain. Samuel
asked Saul questions. Jesus asked His
disciples questions. Paul would also ask
questions of his readers, just like James here.
None of these interrogators are seeking information; they are subtly
asking the interrogated to search themselves.
So, he asks his
first question: “What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you?” The NASB footnote suggests a literal reading
of “From where wars and from where
fightings.”[3] Where causes these wars and fights?
We might wonder about these words. James obviously doesn’t mean that there was
an actual civil war being waged in the church, with literal weapons and
bloodshed (for the most part). There was
a campaign of sorts, and there were battles.[4] As one study notes, “Discord in the church is
not by God’s design (John 13:34, 35; 17:21; 2 Cor. 12:20; Phil. 1:27),”[5]
so, James must address it.
As we noted, Paul
had to also deal with this. People in
the Corinthian church were abusing spiritual gifts for selfish gain, and he
wrote to them in 2 Corinthians 12:20, “For I am afraid that perhaps when I come
I may find you to be not what I wish and may be found by you to be not what you
wish; that perhaps there will be
strife, jealousy, angry tempers, disputes, slanders, gossip, arrogance,
disturbances.” They need a similar
correction.
As James manages
this situation, he does not take sides.
Instead, he moves them to a point of examination. Just as with the previous chapters, he wants
them to find out if they are even truly in the faith: and that is a far greater
goal than arbitrating squabbles.
He asks, “Is not
the source your pleasures that wage war in your members?” The word is translated “lusts” in the KJV,
but it’s a different word for lust than in v. 2. This Greek word is the one from which we get
our word “hedonism.” It always carries a
negative connotation for the “passionate desires for worldly pleasures that
mark unbelievers.”[6] This
is “the desire to get what one does not have and greatly desires.”[7] It’s
not that the conflict within the church centered on sexuality, but the same
desire to sin carries the meaning here.
So, these pleasures
“wage war in your members.” Now, we
might think of church members, but that’s not quite what he’s getting at
here. He is bringing this down to the
personal level by referencing the human body.
This is the same sense it’s used in Romans 6:13, where the Lord says,
“do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as
those alive from the dead, and your members as
instruments of righteousness to God.”
Christians have the choice to live righteously (while unbelievers do not).
Again, the image of
sexual desire is an easy one to use because we all experience it in some form
or another. Other desires can arise
within us which will lead to warfare, even when we read Scripture and pray. Of course, this also applies to material
gain, as those urges may be for a comfortable or exciting life, wealth,
possessions, or power. It also applies
to social gain, recognition, honor, and respect. These are all desires that burn within the
heart of man, and they will lead to the next verse.
III.
Second, Conflict Progresses into Godless Actions
(v. 2)
You lust and do not have; so you commit
murder. You are envious and cannot obtain; so you fight and quarrel. You do not have because you do not ask.
Here, we see what
happens when we allow our sinful desires to escalate. Again, the word for “lust” here is different
than the word for “desires” in v. 1. James
uses the more general term for lust, meaning to desire in a good way, but it’s
also the word used in the ten commandments to speak of coveting (Rom. 13:9). In the bad sense, lust is where someone wants
something so badly that he is willing to sin to get it or sin if he doesn’t get
it. Thus, this may be a rampant materialism,
which is why they were reaching out to the rich so often.
Because they lust
and don’t have, James says that they murder. This seems like such a stunning
escalation. We might expect that the
text would say, “You lust and do not have, so you envy;” in fact, it says that
in the next words. Understand, though,
the envy is already present, and those who do not bridle their tongues
and bodies will engage in the most highhanded sin.
Murder is the
result of sinful lust. People have wanted
materials, money, or even affection, and they have killed for it. We might think that a true Christian would
never go this far, and maybe many wouldn’t, but some might. Of the rich, James says, “You have condemned
and put to death the righteous man;
he does not resist you” (James 5:6). We
need to be aware of the danger of our sinful desires.
Most likely,
though, this refers generally to the murder of the heart. Scripture warns us of a category of hatred
that might not be murder in fact, but is still counted as murder due to its
anger and activity. John counsels, “Everyone
who hates his brother is a murderer; and you know that no murderer has eternal
life abiding in him” (1 John 3:15). Their
lust was openly hostile to others, tantamount to murder.
Consider for a
moment what causes anger (and this comes from some of my counseling notes). It might be sinful dependencies — lusting or
desiring for people, places, things, or events to provide what only God
provides. It also might be sinful expectations
— lusting or desiring something beyond the scope of possibility, such as others
loving me as much as I love myself. It
also might be sinful handlings — lusting or desiring the infallibility of
people, places, things, and events (so there will be no disappointments, fear,
cause to feel inferior, or anger of others).
It also might be sinful controlling tendencies — not accepting
powerlessness over people, places, outcomes of events, or resisting the fact
that you were not designed to control people and outcome of events. Finally, it might be the stress of sinful lifestyles. When anger, driven by lust, gets to a fever
pitch, there will be hostility or even worse.
This is why we’re
warned in Scripture to watch our lust.
Peter says, “Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from
fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul. Keep your behavior excellent among the
Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may
because of your good deeds, as they observe them,
glorify God in the day of visitation” (1 Pet. 2:11–12). Jesus also said, “You have heard that the
ancients were told, ‘You shall not commit murder’ and ‘Whoever commits murder
shall be liable to the court.’ But I say
to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the
court; and whoever says to his brother, ‘You good-for-nothing,’ shall be guilty
before the supreme court; and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell” (Matt.
5:21–22). We must beware where our lust
leads us.
Of course, the
murder of the other person does not solve the envy problem. James says “you commit murder. You are envious;” there is an untranslated conjunction
there linking this — “you commit murder and you are envious.” If one young man kills another for a pair of
shoes, obviously, there will always be another pair of shoes to desire. Well, if a couple fights and the wife tears
down the husband, she has solved nothing.
Similarly, two church members might get into a shouting match in the
sanctuary; if their thinking remains the same, nothing is changed and the
desire goes unmet. This is how
relationships are destroyed.
So, the fights and
quarrels continue. James then turns them
to what they’re missing: “You do not have because you do not ask.” They have not turned to the Lord in any of
this!
The fulfillment we
seek is in Christ. Jesus says, “For this
reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more
than clothing? … For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your
heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first His kingdom and His
righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Matt. 6:25, 32–33). We must not prioritize what the lost world
seeks, and we must remember that a loving Father will provide what we need.
Of course, the fact
that so-called Christians never seek Christ indicates that they may be false
converts. Scripture is full of the idea
of two kinds of people within the church — wheat and tares. One produces fruit after righteousness, while
the other after the flesh. James has
been expounding on those who seem religious and are not, those who say they
have saving faith and don’t, and those who say they have wisdom and
understanding but it comes from the world.
God inspired this letter so the reader could prayerfully examine the
question within himself.
Whether we are
talking about false converts or Christians living like the world, the hearts of
these believers are turned from God. Even
if they engaged in prayers and worship at this point, it would be
hypocritical. That leads us to the final
point:
IV.
Third, Conflict Continues with False Prayers (v.
3)
You ask and do not receive, because you
ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures.
James challenges
them to consider that even when they pray, their motives are wrong. They are seeking to gratify their own passions. There’s no sense of service and love toward
one another, nor is there care for God.
Those who ask
rightly can expect to receive. Jesus
said “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it
will be opened to you” (Matt. 7:7). He
also said in John 15:7, “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask
whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.” Moreover, 1 John 3:22 says that “whatever we
ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do the things
that are pleasing in His sight.” John
goes on to say, “This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we
ask anything according to His will, He hears us” (1 John 5:14). So, there are many promises in Scripture
about praying with expectation.
Yet, that’s not
what we see here, because God isn’t writing blank checks. We see that this verse is constructed as a
conditional; those who are not abiding in Jesus and don’t keep His Word, even
though they may be true Christians, may not expect their requests to be
fulfilled.
There are some who
would say, “Wait, I pray. I seek God for
things all the time.” Yet, James
anticipates this, writing that we sometimes pray amiss or badly, seeking
something from God so we can fulfill our desires. This, again, is an indication that the
individual is an unbeliever, for he seeks his own pleasures rather than the glory
of God.
We should seek a
better way. We should consider our
hearts before God. If we want true peace,
it comes through God-dependent, God-centered prayer. And that starts with examining where our desires
are.
V.
Conclusion
James makes it
clear: the battles we fight around us often reflect the battles within us. When selfish desires dominate, conflict
follows. We fight with others, and our
unwillingness to be at peace with God tells us that our hearts are not right.
Thankfully, there’s
a better way. When we submit our desires
to God and come to Him in humble, God-centered prayer, we find that peace
replaces quarrels, and unity overcomes division. Ask God to forgive your conflict and selfish
desires in Christ, seeking Him for a peacemaking heart that will glorify Him.
[1] J. Ronald Blue, The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures,
1985, 2, 829.
[2] Ibid.
[3] New
American Standard Bible: 1995 Update, (La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation,
1995).
[4] A. T. Robertson, Word Pictures in the New Testament, (Nashville, TN: Broadman Press,
1933), Jas 4:1.
[5] John MacArthur Jr., Ed., The MacArthur Study Bible, electronic
ed., (Nashville, TN: Word Pub., 1997), 1932.
[6] Ibid.
[7] Robertson.
