Fight the Good Fight - James 4:1-12

James chapter 4 verses 1 to 12.

James 4:1–12

What causes fights and quarrels among you?

Don't they come from your desires that battle within you?

You desire but do not have, so you kill.

You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight.

You do not have because you do not ask God.

When you ask, you do not receive because you ask with wrong motives,

that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.

You adulterous people, don't you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God?

Therefore anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.

Or do you think scripture says, without reason,

that he jealously longs for the spirit he has caused to dwell in us.

But he gives us more grace.

That is why scripture says,

God opposes the pride but shows favour to the humble.

Submit yourselves then to God.

Resist the devil and he will flee from you.

Come near to God and he will come near to you.

Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

Grieve, mourn and wail.

Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to bloom.

Humble yourselves before the Lord and he will lift you up.

Brothers and sisters, do not slander one another.

Anyone who speaks against a brother or sister or judges them speaks against the law and judges it.

When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgment on it.

There is only one lawgiver and judge, the one who is able to save and destroy.

But you, who are you to judge your neighbour?

Let's pray.

Let's pray.

Father, we ask, do your work in our lives.

We pray this for your honour.

Amen.

Well, I wonder, have you ever been to a perfect church?

I'm not talking about Carygilline Baptist.

Have you ever been to a perfect church?

Well, if ever you find one, please don't go, because you'll ruin it.

Recently, I was talking to a pastor who told me very proudly that the name of his church was Perfect Church.

I asked him, does anybody go to your church?

But I think the irony was lost on him.

The fact is, as soon as we put people together, conflict is not far behind.

And while that's sad, and it always is sad, we should never be surprised that there can be fights in the church.

You see, there is no such thing as a perfect church.

Because, well, let's admit it, none of us are perfect people.

But it doesn't have to be like that.

Fights might be normal for day-to-day life.

Disagreements might happen in your work with your colleagues, with your boss.

Arguments may be part of your family experience.

But they should never be part of the church.

Look at verse 11.

Brothers and sisters.

So here he's addressing the church family.

Christians.

Followers of Jesus.

Brothers and sisters.

Do not slander one another.

So through this text, James is showing us how we can prevent fights from breaking out.

And instead build loving relationships.

How we can prevent fights from breaking out.

And how we can build loving relationships.

First, fights and quarrels.

James wants us to face up to the fact that, well, disagreements,

and fallouts do happen.

This fight happens in different ways.

First, we fight with each other.

Look at verse 1.

What causes fights and quarrels among you?

Now, I don't think James is saying that punches are being thrown during the sermon.

Or that we should expect a wrestling match to be happening down the back there.

Remember what James has been talking about.

Go back to chapter 3, verse 6.

James chapter 3, verse 6.

James 3:6

He tells us there that the tongue also is a fire.

That's the tongue in our mouth.

Is a fire.

A world of evil among the parts of the body.

It corrupts the whole body.

Look at verse 8 of chapter 3.

No human being can tame the tongue.

It is a restless evil full of deadly poison.

So the fight studies talking about are not physical.

They are verbal.

We can't seem to control our tongues.

As soon as we open our mouth,

out comes this destructive fire,

a deadly poison that can break and destroy relationships.

Instead of using our words to build and make peace,

out of our words,

we start a fight.

So we fight with each other.

But James wants us to go a little bit deeper.

Second, we fight with ourself.

Look what it says in verse 1.

What causes fights and quarrels among you?

That's the issue.

He's saying, look, there are fights and quarrels.

But here's the issue.

What causes these fights and quarrels?

Well, the cause of every disagreement

is always the other person, right?

If they hadn't said,

well, then I wouldn't have said.

If they had just kept their mouth shut,

everything would be fine.

It's not my fault.

It's their fault.

They always want to have the last word.

The cause for every argument and quarrel

is the other person, right?

Wrong.

Look what it says in verse 1.

What causes fights and quarrels among you?

Answer.

Don't they come from your desires

that battle within you?

The cause of every fight and quarrel

is in here, in our hearts.

You see, the real fight

is with our sinful, selfish desires.

Verse 2.

You desire, but you do not have.

So you kill.

Of course, arguments don't always turn violent

or end in someone being killed.

It can happen.

Even on the news this week,

in Mitchellstown,

there was a man who was killed

sitting with his mate in the pub.

They start having an argument.

Just words.

But it turns violent.

It can happen.

Look at the rest of verse 2.

You covet,

but you cannot get what you want,

so you quarrel and fight.

The point is,

we're not to blame others

and start pointing fingers at others.

We're to look at ourselves.

I fight and I quarrel

because I want to be right.

James has already talked about this.

If you go back to chapter 1, verse 14.

James chapter 1, verse 14.

James 1:14

Each person is tempted

when they are dragged away

by their own evil desire

and enticed.

It's our own evil desires

that drag us away

and cause us to fight and quarrel.

A very helpful,

but yet a tragic example of this

is the account of Cain and Abel.

Let's have a look at that.

If you keep your finger

in James chapter 4,

James 4 · chapter mention

go back to Genesis,

which is the very first book of the Bible.

Genesis chapter 4.

Genesis 4 · chapter mention

The context here,

Cain and Abel

were the first two sons

of Adam and Eve.

And Cain and Abel

have both made offerings to God.

Abel's offering was accepted,

Cain's wasn't.

And Cain has now become jealous,

angry with his brother Abel.

And we pick it up in chapter 4, verse 6.

Then the Lord said to Cain,

Why are you angry?

Why is your face downcast?

If you do what is right,

will you not be accepted?

But if you do not do what is right,

sin is crouching at your door.

It desires to have you,

but you must rule over it.

Do you see what God was saying to Cain?

Sin desires to have you.

It's controlling you.

It's at your door.

It's knocking.

It's wanting to rule over you

because you want to be right.

And sadly,

Cain didn't deal with that sin, did he?

And it did end in murder,

the loss of his brother's life.

Let's go back to James chapter 4.

James 4 · chapter mention

You see, this same fight

is happening within each one of us

all of the time.

Our desire for self

rules our hearts.

We always want to be right,

never wrong.

The battle rages inside of us.

Our desires take over.

We want to get even.

We want the other person

to know how we feel

and so we tell them.

We want them to know

how wrong they've been.

We want to set the record straight

and it all comes out

in fighting and quarrelling.

Don't look at other people

for the reason.

James is saying,

look at the desires within you.

But the fight goes even deeper

than with each other

and with ourself.

It's actually a fight with God.

Look at verse 3.

When you ask,

when you pray to God,

when you talk to him,

you do not receive

because you ask

with the wrong motives

that you may spend

what you get

on your pleasures.

Now this kind of prayer

that he's talking about here

reflects a hostile relationship

with God.

It's a selfish relationship.

He says you're asking

with the wrong motives.

You're not interested

in what pleases God

or what God wants,

but what you want

and what will satisfy you.

Look at the end of verse 3.

That you may spend

what you get

on your pleasures.

And that same word,

pleasures,

is the same word

for desires

in verse 1.

You desire something.

You want something

for yourself.

And so you're asking

just to please

your own desires.

It's all about me,

what I want.

Now such a prayer

is a sign of a relationship

that's in conflict

with God.

Somebody who's actually

fighting with God.

Look how James describes it

in very strong language.

Verse 4.

You adulterous people.

Imagine a husband

who's been married

to his wife

for a number of years

and one day

he discovers that

through the marriage

she's been committing adultery.

Her visits to family,

weekends away with friends,

were actually secret affairs

with other people.

Well look at verse 4.

This is how James

is describing

our relationship with God.

He says,

you're adulterous people.

Don't you know

that friendship

with the world

means enmity?

That means hostility

against God.

He's saying

when our sinful desires

control us,

it's like walking out

on our marriage relationship

with God.

it's a spiritual adultery.

Instead of being loyal

and faithful to God

who loves us

and who's given

his all for us,

we walk away

and we build

friendships with the world.

We have an affair

with the world.

Now just as a husband

would be rightfully

angry with his wife

if she had an affair

or vice versa,

if the husband

had an affair,

the wife would be

right to be angry.

So God is rightfully

angry with us

when we choose

friendship with him

over friendship

with the world.

Walking out on God

puts us in conflict

with God.

Look at the end

of verse 4.

Therefore,

anyone who chooses

to be a friend

of the world

becomes an enemy

of God.

So when I begin

to follow my own desires,

I become God's enemy.

When I pursue

what I want

rather than

what God wants,

I'm starting

a fight with God.

It's hostility.

It's enmity.

So let's understand

the seriousness

of arguments

and disagreements.

The causes

of fights

and quarrels

is not out there.

It's actually

in here,

in my heart,

in your heart.

And it reflects

a much more

serious fight

that we're having,

a fight with God

about who

has control

of our life.

is it your desires

or is it

God's desires?

So what's going

to stop

or prevent

this kind

of fighting?

How are we going

to build

loving relationships

instead of

fighting and quarreling?

Well,

second,

we need grace

and humility.

Let's see

how God

responds

to us.

First,

jealous grace.

Look at verse 5.

Read it carefully.

It's a little bit

difficult,

but we'll

work our way

through it.

Verse 5.

Or do you think

Scripture says

without reason

that he,

that's God,

jealously

longs

for the

spirit

he has

caused

to dwell

in us.

But he

gives us

more grace.

Let me try

and unpack

that for you

a little bit.

A husband

who loves

his wife,

even though

she has had

an affair,

will not

give up on her.

He will

pursue her.

He will

long for her

return.

And that

kind of love

is a jealous

love.

He will

not be

satisfied

until she

is at home

with him.

Now that's

a beautiful

description

and picture

of God's

love towards

people like

us.

Remember in

verse 4 he

says you are

an adulterous

people.

We've

left God.

We've

moved away

from him.

And look

how God

responds in

verse 5,

the end of

verse 5.

He

jealously

longs for

the spirit

he has

caused

to dwell

in us.

Now,

if you

can bear

with me,

you may

see that

little

sentence.

There's a

letter at

the end

of it and

it has a

little note

at the

bottom of

your page

and it

can be

translated

or read

like this.

Or that

the spirit

he calls

to dwell

in us

envies

intensely.

Or the

spirit he

calls to

dwell in us

longs

jealously.

So God

by his

spirit that

is within

us,

his spirit

longs.

It's an

intense

love,

a jealous

love that

we would

not drift

from him

but that

we would

come back

to him.

And whenever

we sense

or are

aware of

the spirit

convicting

us or

challenging

us,

this is a

sign of

God's

jealous

love at

work in

our

hearts,

longing for

his people

to return,

pursuing

us,

calling us,

stop

fighting with

me,

stop resisting

me,

open your

hearts to

my love.

And when

we open

our hearts

to his

love,

we find

mercy,

we find

forgiveness.

Look what

it says

at the

beginning

of verse

6,

but he

gives

us

more

grace.

You see,

a wife

whose

husband

has had

an affair

has every

right to

reject him,

to refuse

him.

And God

has every

right to

refuse us.

But here's

the beautiful

picture.

He doesn't.

instead of

rejection,

there is a

rich welcome.

Instead of

anger,

there is this

beautiful,

warm embrace.

Look at

verse 6,

but he

gives us

more grace.

There's an

overflow of

grace that

floods and

overwhelms the

sinful,

selfish desires

of our

hearts.

grace.

That is the

abundance and

the amazing

response of

God towards

people like

you and

me.

This is the

grace of

God.

That intense

jealousy,

jealousness,

longing for us

to come back

to him,

longing that we

would stop

fighting with

him,

stop rejecting

his advances,

but welcoming

him and

trusting him

afresh.

How beautiful

it would be to

experience and

to know that

grace in our

lives.

And the good

news is we

can.

To experience

God's jealous

grace,

we must come

in humble

repentance.

Look at

verse 6

again.

He gives us

more grace,

grace.

So no matter

the depth

or greatness

of our sin,

no matter

how bad

it may

appear,

or what

people might

say,

God gives

us more

grace to

cover it

all.

That is

why scripture

says,

God opposes

the proud,

but shows

favour to

the humble.

humble.

He opposes

the proud,

but shows

favour.

That word

favour is

the same

word for

grace.

He shows

grace to

the humble.

You see,

there's a

condition.

If we are

to receive

and experience

God's amazing

grace,

there must

be humble

repentance.

Look at

verse 10.

He says,

humble yourselves

before the

Lord and

he will lift

you up.

we will

experience

the depths

of God's

mercy and

grace towards

us.

You see,

if we

continually

blame others

and point

fingers at

one another,

if we

persist on

wanting to

be right

and never

at fault,

if we

say,

it's them,

it's not

me,

then we'll

never know

God's

grace.

what will

remain is

a fighting,

critical,

judgmental

spirit and

we will

never be

lifted up

from those

depths.

But if we

humble

ourselves,

how rich

a welcome

we will

receive,

how beautiful

it will be

to know

the depth

of his

grace.

well,

what does

humble

repentance

look like?

Well,

if you've

got your

notes on

your sheet,

there's a

place there

for you to

write down

three things.

Let's look

at verses

seven to

nine,

because that

shows us

what humble

repentance

looks like.

First,

we submit

to God.

We submit

to God.

Verse seven,

submit yourselves

then to

God.

Resist the

devil and

he will

flee from

you.

To submit

is simply

to surrender.

It's actually

to give up

the fight.

It's to

hoist up

our white

flag and

say,

I've put

down my

weapons.

I no

longer want

to fight

or kick

against God.

Our sinful

desires no

longer want

to be in

control.

I want

God to be

in control

of my

life.

It's not

about my

desires,

but what

does God

desire of

me?

What does

his word

say is

right and

best for

me?

And as

we hoist

up our

white flag

and lay

down our

weapons,

as we

submit and

surrender

ourselves

to God,

look what

happens,

verse seven.

Resist the

devil and

he will

flee from

you.

The devil

is real.

He's not

a joke

or somebody

who's a

pretend

character.

He's

active and

he's out

to use

us to

cause these

fights and

quarrels,

to build

our hostility

against God.

But as we

surrender to

him,

so our

desires begin

to change

within our

life.

We begin

to want

what God

wants.

surrender.

And when

such a

person begins

to submit

and surrender,

their desires

change and

the devil has

no interest in

such a person.

He wants

willing partners.

He wants

people who

will kick

against God.

So as we

submit, in a

sense the

devil flees

from us and

our relationship

with God

deepens and

strengthens and

those desires

become central

to our

life.

So what

does humble

repentance look

like?

Well first we

submit to God,

we lay down

our weapons.

Second, there

should be

sincere repentance.

Sincere

repentance,

verse 8.

Come near

to God

and he

will come

near to

you.

Again, what a

beautiful picture

that is.

We do not

need to fear

coming to

God.

Why?

Well because

in Christ,

Christ has

taken the

condemnation

that we

deserve.

That has

been removed

completely at

the cross.

So we

can come

near to

God and

he will

come near

to you.

If we

come to

him sincerely,

he's going

to welcome

us, not

push us

away.

He's longing

for us to

return.

Look at the

rest of

verse 8.

Wash your

hands, you

sinners.

Purify your

hearts, you

double-minded.

Now we've

got to

remember,

repentance is

not just

simply coming

along and

saying to

God, sorry,

and then

just kind of

toddle on

our way.

True

repentance

longs for

change and

transformation.

Any one of

us can say

sorry.

We do

it all

the

time.

We say

sorry, but

we want to

stay as

we are.

We want

to stay

in control

of our

lives.

Whereas

sincere

repentance

says, I

want to

change my

actions.

That's why

it says in

verse 8,

wash your

hands.

It's about

action.

Lord, change

my actions.

And Lord,

change my

attitudes.

purify my

heart.

Or purify

my heart.

It's asking

God to

change us

so that we

are fully

devoted and

loyal to

him.

Not just

sorry, but

Lord, change

me completely

so that I

will not be

double-minded.

Running to

build friendships

with the

world instead

of building

my relationship

with God.

So we

submit, we

surrender, we

lay down our

weapons, we

come in

sincere repentance

wanting true

change and

transformation.

And third,

we are to

take sin

seriously.

Take sin

seriously,

verse 9.

Grieve,

mourn,

and wail.

change your

laughter to

mourning and

your joy to

gloom.

Now it

sounds awfully

depressing,

doesn't it?

Mourn,

wail,

gloom.

But it's

helping us to

see how we

should think

about our

sin.

We should

take it

seriously.

It's not

just to be

brushed under

the carpet

and go,

oh, it

doesn't matter,

that's just

the way I

am.

it does

matter.

It matters

deeply.

I found

this very

helpful, a

quote that I

came across

written by

Sam

Albury, who

has a very

helpful little

book on

James.

And this

is what he

says in

relation to

verse 9.

Just listen

to it.

It's very

helpful.

we are

not just

to regret

our sin,

but to

grieve over

it.

If we are

not more

emotional over

our sin

than we are

over our

sports team

success or

failures,

or our

children's

achievements or

disappointments,

then there is

something wrong.

And that

something is

that we do

not appreciate

what our

sin is.

and what it

cost our

saviour to

rescue us

from it.

Sin is

not cheap.

If I

want to

know how

serious my

sin is,

I need to

look at the

cross.

We all

need to

look at the

cross and

see Christ

who suffered

there, who

suffered hell

for us,

who saw

the depths

of what we

had done,

but yet

stood in

our place

and took

the blame

for our

sin, who

suffered hell

so that we

could be

forgiven.

And it's

only as I

look at the

cross, I

see the

seriousness of

my sin.

And as I

see how

serious it

is, I

can only

begin to

appreciate how

glorious my

salvation is,

how wonderful

God's grace is

that he

would do

that for

me.

And the

more I

see how

ugly my

sin is and

how rotten

I am to

the core,

then I

can only

begin to

see how

beautiful

Christ is,

how attractive

he is,

what grace

and mercy

flows from

him to

me.

You see,

if we

want to

know God's

grace,

well then

we must

repent

humbly,

repent of

our selfish

desires,

and receive

his grace.

So,

fights and

quarrels,

grace and

humility,

and then

third,

love and

obedience.

love and

obedience.

The evidence,

if you like,

the proof that

we have

humbly

repented,

that we've

laid down

our weapons,

we've hoisted

the white

flag,

we've been

sincere in

our repentance

and we've

taken our

sins seriously,

the evidence

that this is

effective in

our life is

or will be

seen in how

we treat

each other.

Look at

verse 11.

brothers and

sisters,

do not

slander

one another.

Do not

speak evil.

Don't use

your tongues

to crush

and break

one another.

Instead,

use your tongues

to build

each other

up and

be peacemakers.

Look at the

rest of

verse 11.

anyone who

speaks against

a brother

or sister

or judges

them,

speaks against

the law

and judges

it.

Well,

what does

the law

say?

What does it

mean that we

speak against

the law and

we judge

the law?

Well,

go back to

chapter 2

and verse 8

because here

James has

already reminded

us what the

law is about.

In fact,

he summarises

the whole

law in

this simple

statement.

James

James 2:8

chapter 2

verse 8.

He says,

if you really

keep the

royal law

found in

scripture,

that is,

love your

neighbour as

yourself,

you are

doing right.

The royal

law,

the king's

law for

subjects,

for people

like us,

is love.

love your

neighbour as

yourself.

In this

context,

we are one

another's

neighbours.

Chapter 4

verse 12,

the end of

verse 12,

but you,

who are you

to judge

your neighbour?

He's talking

about the

church family.

We are to

love one

another.

Here's how

it works

out.

This is

what verse

11 is

getting at.

If I

cause a

fight or

quarrel

with my

words,

what I'm

doing is

I'm

sitting in

superiority

to the

law.

Rather than

obeying the

law which

says love

your neighbour

as yourself,

I judge

it.

I stand

over the

law.

The law

says love,

but I

say I

know better

than what

the law

says.

I know

I should

love,

but they

must be

put in

their

place.

I

know I

should

love,

but they

need to

know how

much it

hurt me.

I

know I

should

love,

but they

need to

know that

they're

wrong,

and I'm

going to

tell them.

Love your

neighbour does

not apply

right now.

Do you

see?

That's what's

happening in

verse 11.

Look at the

rest of

verse 11.

when you

judge the

law,

you are

not keeping

it,

but sitting

in judgment

on it.

We're

disobeying

God's

law,

and we're

following out

our own

desires.

We're

saying,

I know

better than

God.

In fact,

I want

to be

God,

and I'm

going to

make up

my own

laws,

and loving

my neighbour

as myself

is not

one of

them.

But when

we humbly

repent,

when we

receive of

God's

rich,

amazing

grace to

us,

well then

our lives

begin to

be changed

and transformed,

and we

begin to

obey God's

law,

and we

love each

other as

our neighbour,

as our

self.

Rather than

cause fights

and quarrels,

we begin to

build each

other up,

our words

become words

of peacemaking,

rather than

quarrels and

infighting.

Here's the

heart of the

matter,

verse 12.

There is

only one

lawgiver and

judge,

that's God,

the one

who is

able to

save and

destroy.

You see,

if I

slander and

speak harshly

against another

person,

if I

speak

judgmentally

against

someone,

well in

fact what

I'm

pronouncing

is my

own

judgment

upon

myself,

because I'm

standing in

defiance of

God's law,

and God's

will will be

done.

He will

judge me,

and I

will be

destroyed,

as it says

in verse 12.

I will

not stand

against his

judgment.

But yet,

if I

obey God's

command,

if I'm

speaking in

love and

seeking to

build others

up, if I've

received his

grace,

well I can be

confident that

God who has

given me

grace,

verse 12,

will save

me,

rather than

destroy me.

So have

you

repented?

Have we

humbled

ourselves

before God

and received

his grace?

Remember the

question we

asked at the

very beginning,

as we

started our

time this

morning?

We asked

this question,

what are you

like at

asking for

help?

I'm fine,

I can do

it, I

don't need

help, I

can go it

alone.

Look what it

says in

verse 6,

but he

gives us

more grace.

That is why

scripture says

God opposes

the proud,

but shows

grace to

the humble.

You see,

we're not a

perfect church

and we're not

perfect people.

And to some

extent, that's

okay, because

that's what we

are to admit

to God.

I'm not

perfect.

And I

need your

grace.

I need your

favour in my

life, so

that I can

begin to live

as you call

me to live.

And God

will give us

more grace,

more grace

than we could

ever think of

or imagine,

to love one

another well.

God.

What a

great God

we have.

Let's pray.

Let's pray.