War and Peace
James 4:1-17

Intro:
Good morning.

Today my sermon is titled War and Peace. I’m taking this lesson from the book of James and as I thought about it I realized this is a very interesting topic that can go in a number of different directions.

One of the reasons I love to talk to old people, and thankfully there are no old people here today, is because of the stories they share with you about the old days. Some of them share stories about things that happened during times of trouble.

I heard this one story which supposedly happened during World War II, about Arthur Marx who was known as Harpo. As you probably remember, he was one of the famous Marx Brothers. Harpo had joined an all-star company doing one-night stands for the war-bond drive. Harpo says; “at Soldier Field in Chicago, we played to 110,000 people and while I was waiting to do my second bit on the show, one of the stadium hot-dog vendors came backstage to shake hands with me.” The vendor said to him, "For my money, you're the best one on the whole program."

Of course Harpo felt complimented, since the other performers were Mickey Rooney, Judy Garland, Fred Astaire, Lucille Ball, and Betty Hutton, until the vendor continued saying, "Yes sir, Mr. Marx, when you played on your harp, I sold four times as many hot dogs as when anybody else was on stage."

War has been with us for a very long time, even back in the days of the Bible. There are wars all the way through the Bible. Today there are all sorts of wars which people talk about, some active, some smoldering like the war between the Palestinians and the Israelis about who has the right to God’s land there, which was given in Joshua’s time by the way. Despite the many peace treaties which have been made, despite the involvement of the world peace organizations, war or the prospects of war is a fact of life. War is a fact of life and always has been.

Not only are there wars going on between nations, there are other wars going on all around us today -- wars for our votes, class wars, wars for our political support, even for our dollars. There are wars between companies, ideals and factions. Though we tend to dismiss some of these things as mere competition, there are some that we can rightly class as wars with all of the negative fallout of war.

It is the theme of war which James is going to share with us today in his letter. We are going to look at the three types of war as James describes them, and we’re going to be blessed because he is going to share with us how to stop these wars.

I. Ourselves - The first war James wants us to recognize is the war amongst ourselves. James 4:1 – “Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members?”
A. God has been crying out in a loud voice for centuries and pointing out an important truth to all of God’s people in the Psalms. Psalm 133:1 – “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!” We would think out of all the privileged people in the world, God’s people would be in harmony with each other. The sad fact is that this is not always true and I’m not just talking about us today as Christians.
B. If we look at the Old Testament we find Lot quarrelling with Abraham, we find Absalom created a war with his father, David. If you look at the New Testament we find the disciples of Jesus arguing over who would be greatest, we find Paul and Barnabas had great contention over John Mark.
C. Even within the congregations in the New Testament we see Christian’s fighting with each other. At the church who met in Corinth we find saints suing each other and competing in the public assemblies. We find that in; 1 Corinthians 6:1-11. At the church in Galatia we find saints "hurting and harming" one another. We find two women having trouble getting along with each other in Philippians chapter 4.
D. James has already dealt with some of these wars by the time we get to chapter 4. He spoke about congregation fights in James 1:19-20 - “Therefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God.” and James 3:13-18 – “Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom. But if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth. This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic. For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing will be there. But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.” .
1. James spoke about favoritism within the congregation between peoples, and classes like the rich and poor in James 2:1-9 – “My brethren, do not hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with partiality. For if there should come into your assembly a man with gold rings, in fine apparel, and there should also come in a poor man in filthy clothes, and you pay attention to the one wearing the fine clothes and say to him, "You sit here in a good place,'' and say to the poor man, "You stand there,'' or, "Sit here at my footstool,'' have you not shown partiality among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts? Listen, my beloved brethren: Has God not chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him? But you have dishonored the poor man. Do not the rich oppress you and drag you into the courts? Do they not blaspheme that noble name by which you are called? If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself,'' you do well; but if you show partiality, you commit sin, and are convicted by the law as transgressors.”.
2. Later he shares with us wars that can occur due to employment or lack of it in James 5:1-6 – “Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries that are coming upon you! Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver are corroded, and their corrosion will be a witness against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have heaped up treasure in the last days. Indeed the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out; and the cries of the reapers have reached the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth. You have lived on the earth in pleasure and luxury; you have fattened your hearts as in a day of slaughter. You have condemned, you have murdered the just; he does not resist you.”
3. James even talks about personal wars. Look at James 4:11-12 - “Do not speak evil of one another, brethren. He who speaks evil of a brother and judges his brother, speaks evil of 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 one Lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy. Who are you to judge another?”
E. We are warned not to speak evil of one another, nor to judge one another. Folks, we all need to remember that we can easily be at war with one another. Once we understand we can be, then can we can understand why? Listen again to what James tells us in; James 4:1 – “Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members?”
II. Self - The reason there is so much war in the past and present, the reason there are so many congregation wars going on today is simply because of the war which is taking place within our hearts. It all has to do with desire and satisfying those worldly pleasures which we all have. Desires like pride, power, possessions, money, credibility, glory, perhaps the desire just to be viewed as “in the right”. These all are to blame for the fighting amongst ourselves, or to put it in plain English, "selfishness."
A. And selfishness only leads us in the wrong direction. James 4:2 - “You want things, but you cannot have them, so you are ready to kill; you strongly desire things, but you cannot get them, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have what you want because you do not ask God for it.” [para]
B. James says that our selfish desires lead us to wrong actions. He says selfish desires lead us to kill, quarrel and fight. This may not be literal as we see it but it certainly is in God’s eyes. Look at 1 John 3:15 – “Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.”
1. Not only do selfish desires lead us to kill, quarrel and fight, they also lead us to mess up our prayer life. Look at the next verse; James 4:3 – “You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.” You ask with bad motives, for things to use for your own pleasures. James says that any prayer which is prayed out of selfish motives is not going to be answered by God.
2. This is why people are often at war with one another. Like we said earlier every war or angry disagreement always has people who are at war within themselves first. But why? Why does it have to be this way? Why are people continually at war with themselves? To put it simply -- it’s a matter of will. Whose will rules our lives?
C. Every war which has taken place or is going to take place, either within ourselves or in the world, is caused by a rebellious heart. That is the cause, -- a rebellious heart. People are rebelling against God, and in some way those who are at war with others are also at war within themselves. Why? Because they are at war with God first, and they don’t even know it.
D. You might think, wait a minute I’m a Christian and surely God loves me, I’m His child, I’m His friend not His enemy. Folks, just as we can become friends with God we can also easily become His enemy. We need to be aware of that. James mentions three enemies we must not associate with if we want to be at peace with God.
III. Unfaithful people - James 4:4 – “Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.” Who is James addressing? What is an adulterer? An unfaithful person. James is saying -“Unfaithful people! Don't you know that to be the world's friend means to be God's enemy? If you want to be the world's friend, you make yourself God's enemy.” [para] James tells us if we become close friends with those who are not Christians we become an enemy of God. Please don’t misunderstand what James is telling us here.
A. He is not telling us not to have any non-Christians friends. What He is telling us is that if we engage with those friends in any conduct… in any belief… or in any thought… which is anti-God, or anti-Christ; then those actions will ultimately make us an enemy of God. They make the Christian become a spiritual adulterer or adulteress.
B. There is a second way we can become an enemy of God. In verse 1 we learned we can become His enemy by following our evil desires and also because of what James says here in James 4:5 – “Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, "The Spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously''?”
C. You see folks those unlawful desires that would lead us away from God, those desires which wage war within us will lead us to become God’s enemy. That’s why it’s so important not to give in to them, not to give into the world. Peter tells us: 1 Peter 2:11 – “Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul,”.
1. In other word these desires which we have are in direct conflict to what the Spirit of God would have us to be and do.
2. Every time we give in to these desires or works of the flesh as Galatians 5:19-21 tells us, we’re actually fighting against God, and making Him our enemy.
D. The third way we become an enemy of God is by letting our pride take over our lives. James 4:6 – “But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.''”
IV. Someone once asked what is the devil’s greatest weapon? My reply would be “temptation”. The next question was which temptation then is his favorite to use in congregations? It is “pride” folks, “pride”. You and I all know, too well, that most fights within congregations that cause divisions and splits are the result of pride. When you get down to it, look at the root cause, it is “pride”. That’s because pride is Satan's greatest temptation and when we give into pride, we become friends of the devil and enemies of God. Our pride makes us want to hang on to our position so strongly that we ignore the most important thing, love.
A. But it doesn’t have to be that way folks, we can still enjoy that peace with God simply by applying what James tells us to do next. James 4:7 – “Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” Can you imagine being in the army and a new recruit who is just out of training, acts like he’s in charge? That is a disaster on the way. Don’t let pride get a grip.
B. You see when we as Christians totally submit to God… then the victory is ours. All the way through Jesus’ life He showed us a pattern of submission for us to follow - and the pattern was, ‘not my will but your will be done.’ Because let me tell you folks, we can’t resist the devil until we have learned to resist the “temptation” to use our own will instead of God’s will.
C. The world doesn’t know this and even some Christians are not aware of this but everyone needs to know that behind every war, - fight, - division, and personal struggle, is Satan. Most of the time people listen to him because they are scared and they run a mile every time a conflict of any sort begins.
1. We don’t have to run anywhere, because James says if we would just resist those temptations - the devil will run away from us. Now, while he is on the run, we can’t just sit back and be thankful it’s over, oh no! We have to do what James tells us to do next in James 4:8 - “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.”
2. We need to come close to God and He has promised us that as we walk closer to Him, He will come closer to us. We draw closer to God by washing our hands, in other words getting our sins forgiven. We draw closer to God by purifying our hearts, in other words by getting totally devoted to God again.
3. We draw closer to God by not being hypocrites, in other words stop being double minded like those who profess to be Christians but their lifestyles don’t reflect it. Because whether we accept this or not - it is possible to submit outwardly and not be humble inwardly. That’s why James mentions us of true humility in James 4:9 – “Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom.” In other words, true repentance. Be serious and if we will only humble ourselves in that way then we can put our trust back in God to help us. James 4:10 – “Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.”
V. If we want to stop all the wars in the world, -- within our congregations, -- within ourselves, then we must fight those selfish desires within our hearts and God will draw near to us, cleanse us, and forgive us. Until we learn not be at war with God, until we learn to control and win the war within ourselves, until we learn not be at war with others, the wars will continue. People, full of selfish desires plot and make plans for the future, James goes on to share with us that we need to be careful about the plans we make.
A. I don’t know about you but I make plans almost everyday for one thing or another. I’m pretty sure that we all have different plans for ourselves and our family. Making plans can be good and right, but it can just as easily be bad and wrong.
B. Let’s look at the right way to make plans first. James 4:15 – “Instead you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.''” You see when we submit to God, we’re actually submitting to God’s will. When we submit to God then we are actually submitting not only our lives but also our plans to the will of God. James says that we can go ahead and make our plans, but we need to make sure they meet with God’s approval.
C. Remember when the apostle Paul was in Ephesus and the people there wanted him to stay a little longer? Paul says to them in Acts 18:21 – “"I must by all means keep this coming feast in Jerusalem; but I will return again to you, God willing.'' And he sailed from Ephesus.” When Paul writes to the church in Corinth, he tells them in 1 Corinthians 16:7 – “For I do not wish to see you now on the way; but I hope to stay a while with you, if the Lord permits.”
1. Why did Paul say to them, “God willing” and “if the Lord permits”? He was trying to help us understand two important principles concerning our faith. Saying ‘God willing and if the Lord permits’ implies that we recognize that God does have a will for us - even in the smallest of matters concerning our lives.
2. Secondly, it implies that we trust God to intervene if He needs to carry out His will in our lives. We trust Him to do that. We shall see over a period of time if it is God’s will because it will become clearer if we have done God’s will or not.
3. Now to the non-Christian this doesn’t make sense and so to help them, and us, understand, we need to look at the wrong way to make our plans for the future. The first obvious wrong way to make our plans is to go ahead and make them while completely ignoring God’s will.
D. James is going to share with us three other wrong ways to make our plans. James 4:13 – “Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit'';” James says making plans without Gods approval is wrong because life is complicated. Ever notice that? How complicated life is?
1. The whole world runs around chasing the clock and trying to get here or there and get something done before a certain time. We get caught up in time because time is very complicated.
2. That’s why James says, today, tomorrow, or when? I’m not sure when! Not only can the timing of plans be complicated, so can the activities themselves become complicated. James says I’m going buy and sell. I am going to do both. Even some translations try to simplify the reality by just saying “I’m going to open a profitable business”. You are, are you? How do you know? One could rightly ask.
3. There are so many decisions to be made -- but there are also many mistakes which might be made. In other words, if we seek and accept God’s will on any matter then we will make the correct decisions and plans. Look next at James 4:14 – “whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow…”
E. James says that making plans without God’s will can be wrong because life is uncertain. Folks, no one in this room, no one in this world, has any guarantee what tomorrow will bring. In fact, no one in this room or even in this world has even got a guarantee that there will be a tomorrow.
F. We don’t know if the Lord will return tonight, we don’t know if we will still be alive tomorrow, we don’t even know what will happen tomorrow. One phone call, one accident, one word in anger can change anyone’s tomorrow within a few seconds. What James is trying to tell us is that it is only God who can bring about what He wills for the future without fail.
G. We cannot do that; we cannot control tomorrow, no matter how well we have planned ahead. If we’re going to make plans, surely the wise thing to do is to make them according to the One who does control tomorrow.
VI. Not only is life complicated and uncertain, but life is also fragile. James 4:14 goes on – “For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.”
A. Listen to what the Psalmist says in Psalm 39:5-6 – “Indeed, You have made my days as handbreadths, And my age is as nothing before You; Certainly every man at his best state is but vapor. Surely every man walks about like a shadow; Surely they busy themselves in vain; He heaps up riches, And does not know who will gather them.” Then in: Psalm 39:11 – “When with rebukes You correct man for iniquity, You make his beauty melt away like a moth; Surely every man is vapor.””
B. James reminded us of this fact back in James 1:10-11 – “but the rich in his humiliation, because as a flower of the field he will pass away. For no sooner has the sun risen with a burning heat than it withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beautiful appearance perishes. So the rich man also will fade away in his pursuits.”
C. That was the problem in the Garden of Eden. What was the temptation the serpent used? “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” Satan offered being like God, being in control of life and destiny. People are the same today, why do you think that plastic surgery has become so popular? Why do you think that anti-ageing formulas are so popular?
D. People are trying to prolong life, they are searching for immortality and along the way they refuse to remember God’s promise in Genesis 3:19 – “… you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for dust you are, and to dust you shall return.” How many times have you heard of someone who was perfectly well one day and the next day they find out, after a visit to the hospital, they are terminally ill?
VII. We can’t hide and pretend that we’re going to live forever, life is fragile and it can change or be taken in a second. Those of us who recognize that life is complicated, uncertain and fragile also understand that our lives are short.
A. James 4:14 – “For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.” James says our lives are but only a moment, other translations say we appear for a little time.
B. You know, the way some people go about making their plans is amazing, they take life for granted or they presume they are going to live to at least 90 years old and make their plans accordingly. Listen to what Job teaches us in Job 9:25-26 – “"Now my days are swifter than a runner; they flee away, they see no good. They pass by like swift ships, like an eagle swooping on its prey.”
C. Life is short, folks, and because it is short it should be important to us to do God’s will and not our own. 1 John 2:17 – “the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.” People make big plans; I’m going to start up my business, build my own house, I’m going to retire at 50.
D. Not only do people plan these things without thoughtful prayer, they actually brag about their plans. In my view making plans of any sort without God’s approval is nothing more than pure arrogance. It’s arrogant because people are doing what Adam and Eve did in the Garden; they are setting themselves up as if they were above God. To make plans that way, folks, is wrong and it is sinful.
E. James 4:16 – “But now you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil.” James says to make plans this way is sinful because it involves arrogance and boasting which we know is evil. Did you know that to make plans like that is sinful for the Christian? How do I know that? Look at what James says in James 4:17 – “Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.”
F. It is sinful for Christians to make plans without God because we who are Christians should know better. We should know what is good: we should know to make our plans with God's Will in mind all the time. That includes all the plans within our personal lives and all the plans for the future and for our congregation.

CONCLUSION:

People fight against God in different ways but it doesn’t have to be that way. While we may have some doubts about God’s will for our lives, there is one thing which is certain.

We will always have some wars but we can be sure of being at peace with the Lord. Plans for our eternal future can be made certain if we humbly have faith in Jesus Christ and His teachings. - If we humbly repent of our sins and confess Jesus as Lord of our lives. - If we humbly submit to Him in the waters of baptism and live the Christian life. Then we know that we have completely done His will for us to get to heaven.

While we’re singing the invitation song would you think about that? I want us to realize, sweet, dear friends, that the disciples today are not folks that are distant from Christ. They are those people who have been baptized into His body. I want you to be a disciple of Jesus Christ and so does He. You can only do that if you follow Him into His death and then ultimately into His resurrection. If you need to be buried with Christ into baptism today, why don’t you make that decision? If there’s any way that we can be of service to you we invite you to come while we stand and while we sing.
Reference Sermon
Mike Glover