How To End Wars - Bible Study

HOW TO END WARS James 4:1-12

Have you ever heard of "The War of the Whiskers" or "The War of the Oaken Bucket"? How about "The War of Jenkins' Ear"? These were actual wars fought between nations, and you can read about them in most history books.

War is a fact of life, in spite of treaties, world peace organizations, and the threat of atomic bombs. Not only are there wars between nations, but there are wars of one kind or another on almost every level of life even "gas wars" among gas station operators!

James discussed this important theme of war in this paragraph, and he explained that there are three wars going on in the world. He also told how these wars could be stopped.

At War with Each Other (James 4:1 a, 11-12)

"What causes fights and quarrels among you?".  Among Christians! "Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity" (Ps 133:1). Surely brethren should live together in love and harmony, yet often they do not. Lot caused a quarrel with his Uncle Abraham (Gen 13). Absalom created a war for his father David (2 Sam 13-18). Even the disciples created problems for the Lord when they argued over who was the greatest in the kingdom (Luke 9:46-48).

When you examine some of the early churches, you discover that they had their share of disagreements. The members of the Corinthian church were competing with each other in the public meetings, and even suing each other in court (1 Cor 6:1-8; 14:23-40). The Galatian believers were "biting and devouring" one another (Gal 5:15). Paul had to admonish the Ephesians to cultivate spiritual unity (Eph 4:1-16); and even his beloved church at Philippi had problems: two women could not get along with each other (Phil 4:1-3).

James mentioned several different kinds of disagreements among the saints.

Class wars (2:1-9). Here is that age-long rivalry between the rich and the poor. The rich man gets the attention, the poor man is ignored. The rich man is honored, the poor man is disgraced. How tragic it is when local churches get their values confused and cater to the rich while they ignore, or even reject, the poor. If fellowship in a church depends on such external things as clothing and economic status, then the church is out of the will of God.

Employment wars (5:1-6). Again, it is the rich man who has the power to control and hurt the poor man. Laborers do not get their wages, or they do not get their fair wages. In spite of our modern labor movement and federal legislation, there are still many people who cannot get a good job, or whose income is less than adequate for the work they are doing.

Church fights (1:19-20; 3:13-18). Apparently, the believers James wrote to were at war with each other over positions in the church, many of them wanting to be teachers and leaders. When they studied the Word, the result was not edification, but strife and arguments. Each person thought that his ideas were the only right ideas and his ways the only right ways. Selfish ambition ruled their meetings, not spiritual submission.

Personal wars (4:11-12). The saints were speaking evil of one another and judging one another. Here, again, we see the wrong use of the tongue. Christians are to speak "the truth in love" (Eph 4:15); they are not to speak evil in a spirit of rivalry and criticism. If the truth about a brother is harmful, then we should cover it in love and not repeat it (1 Peter 4:8). If he has sinned, we should go to him personally and try to win him back (Matt 18:15-19; Gal 6:1-2).

James was not forbidding us to use discrimination or even to evaluate people. Christians need to have discernment (Phil 1:9-10), but they must not act like God in passing judgment. We must first examine our own lives, and then try to help others (Matt 7:1-5). We never know all the facts in a case, and we certainly never know the motives that are at work in men's hearts. To speak evil of a brother and to judge a brother on the basis of partial evidence and (probably) unkind motives is to sin against him and against God. We are not called to be judges; God is the only judge. He is patient and understanding; His judgments are just and holy; we can leave the matter with Him.

It is unfortunate that the saints are at war with each other, leader against leader, church against church, fellowship against fellowship. The world watches these religious wars and says, "Behold, how they hate one another!" No wonder Jesus prayed, "That they all may be one; as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be one in this; that the world may believe that Thou hast sent Me" (John 17:21).

But, why are we at war with one another? We belong to the same family, we trust the same Saviour, we are indwelt by the same Holy Spirit, and yet we fight one another. Why? James answered this question by explaining the second war that is going on.

At War with Ourselves (James 4:1 b-3) "What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don't they come from your desires that battle within you?" (James 4:1) The war in the heart is helping to cause the wars in the church! "But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and he not against the truth.... For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work" (James 3:14,16).

The essence of sin is selfishness. Eve disobeyed God because she wanted to eat of the tree and become wise like God. Abraham lied about his wife because he selfishly wanted to save his own life (Gen 12:10-20). Achan caused defeat to Israel because he selfishly took some forbidden loot from the ruins of Jericho (Josh 7). "We have turned everyone to his own way" (Isa 53:6).

Often, we veil our religious quarrels under the disguise of "spirituality." We are like Miriam and Aaron who complained about Moses' wife, but who really were envious of Moses' authority (Num 12). Or we imitate James and John who asked for special thrones in the kingdom, when what we really want is recognition today (Mark 10:35-45). In both of these instances, the result of selfish desire was chastening and division among God's people. Miriam's sin halted the progress of Israel for a whole week!

Selfish desires are dangerous things. They lead to wrong actions ("ye kill, ye fight and war," James 4:2), and they even lead to wrong Praying ("When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures," James 4:3). When our praying is wrong, our whole Christian life is wrong. It has well been said that the purpose of prayer is not to get men will, done in heaven, but to get God's will done on earth.

"Thou shalt not covet" is the last of God's Ten Commandments, but its violation can make us break all of the other nine! Covetousness can make a person murder, tell lies, dishonor his parents, commit adultery, and in one way or another violate all of God's moral law. Selfish living and selfish praying always lead to war. If there is war on the inside, there will ultimately be war on the outside.

People who are at war with themselves because of selfish desires are always unhappy people. They never enjoy life. Instead of being thankful for the blessings they do have, they complain about the blessings they do not have. They cannot get along with other people because they are always envying others for what they have and do. They are always looking for that "magic something" that will change their lives, when the real problem is within their own hearts.

Sometimes we use prayer as a cloak to hide our true desires. "But I prayed about it!" can be one of the biggest excuses a Christian can use. Instead of seeking God's will, we tell God what He is supposed to do; and we get angry at Him if He does not obey. This anger at God eventually spills over and we get angry at God's people. More than one church split has been caused by saints who take out their frustrations with God on the members of the church. Many a church or family problem would be solved if people would only look into their own hearts and see the battles raging there.

God made us a unity; mind, emotions, and will should work together. James stated the reason we are at war with ourselves and, consequently, with each other.

At War with God (James 4:4-10)

The root cause of every war, internal and external, is rebellion against God. At the beginning of Creation, you behold perfect harmony; but sin came into the world, and this led to conflict. Sin is lawlessness (1 John 3:4), and lawlessness is rebellion against God.

How does a believer declare war against God? By being friendly with God's enemies. James names three enemies that we must not fraternize with if we want to be at peace with God.

The world (v. 4). By the "world," James means, of course, human society apart from God. The whole system of things in this society of ours is anti-Christ and anti-God. Abraham was the friend of God (James 2:23); Lot was the friend of the world. Lot ended up in a war, and Abraham had to rescue him (Gen 14).

A Christian gets involved with the world gradually. First, there is "the friendship of the world" (James 4:4). This results in being "spotted" by the world (James 1:27) so that areas of our lives meet with the approval of the world. Friendship leads to loving the world (1 John 2:15-17), and this makes it easy to conform to the world (Rom 12:2). The sad result is being condemned with the world (1 Cor 11:32), our souls saved "yet as by fire" (1 Cor 3:11-15).

Friendship with the world is compared to adultery. The believer is "married to Christ" (Rom 7:4) and ought to be faithful to Him. The Jewish Christians who read this letter would understand this picture of "spiritual adultery" because the Prophets Ezekiel Jeremiah, and Hosea used it when rebuking Judah for her sins (Jer 3:1-5; Ezek 23:1; Hos 1:1-2:23). By adopting the sinful ways of the other nations, and by worshiping their gods, the nation of Judah committed adultery against her God.

The world is the enemy of God, and whoever wills to be a friend of the world cannot be the friend of God. Neither can he be if he lives for the flesh, for this is the second enemy James named.

The flesh (vv. 1, 5). By "the flesh" is meant the old nature that we inherited from Adam, that is prone to sin. The flesh is not the body. The body is not sinful; the body is neutral. The Spirit may use the body to glorify God, or the flesh may use the body to serve sin. When a sinner yields to Christ, he receives a new nature within, but the old nature is neither removed nor reformed. For this reason, there is a battle within: "For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other so that you do not do what you want" (Gal 5:17). This is what James terms "your lusts that are in your members" (James 4:1).

Living for the flesh means grieving the Holy Spirit of God who lives in us. "Or do you think Scripture says without reason that the Spirit He caused to live in us longs jealously?" (James 4:5) Just as the world is the enemy of God the Father, so the flesh is the enemy of God the Holy Spirit. There is a holy, loving jealousy that a husband and wife have over each other, and rightly so. The Spirit within jealously guards our relationship to God, and the Spirit is grieved when we sin against God's love.

Living to please the old nature means to declare war against God. "The carnal mind is enmity against God" (Rom 8:7). To allow the flesh to control the mind is to lose the blessing of fellowship with God. Abraham had a spiritual mind; he walked with God and enjoyed peace. Lot had a carnal mind; he disobeyed God and experienced war. "For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace" (Rom 8:6).

The devil (vv. 6-7). The world is in conflict with the God; the flesh fights against the Holy Ghost; Pride is Satan's great sin, and it is one of his chief weapons in His warfare against the saint and the Saviour. God wants us to be humble; Satan wants us to be proud. "Ye shall be as God," Satan promised Eve, and she believed him. A new Christian must not be put into places of spiritual leadership "lest being lifted up with pride he falls into the condemnation of the devil" (1 Tim 3:6).

God wants us to depend on His grace ("But He giveth more grace"), while the devil wants us to depend on ourselves. Satan is the author of all "do-it-yourself' spiritual enterprises. He enjoys inflating the ego and encouraging the believer to do it His own way. In spite of Jesus' warnings about Satan's plans, Peter fell into the snare, pulled out his sword, and tried to accomplish God's will in His own way. What a mess he made of things!

One of the problems in our churches today is that we have too many celebrities and not enough servants. Christian workers are promoted so much that there is very little place left for God's glory. Man has nothing to be proud of in himself. There dwells no good thing in us (Rom 7:18); but when we trust Christ, He puts that "good thing" in us that makes us His children (2 Tim 1:6,14).

Here, then, are three enemies that want to turn us away from God: the world, the flesh, and the devil. These enemies are left over from our old life of sin (Eph 2:1-3). Christ has delivered us from them, but they still attack us. How can we overcome them? How can we be the friends of God and the enemies of the world, the flesh, and the devil? James gives us three instructions to follow if we would enjoy peace instead of war.

Submit to God (v. 7). This word is a military term that means "get into your proper rank." When a buck private acts like the general, there is going to be trouble! Unconditional surrender is the only way to complete victory. If there is any area of the life kept back from God, there will always be battles. This explains why uncommitted Christians cannot live with themselves or with other people.

"Neither give place to the devil," cautions Paul in Eph 4:27. Satan needs a foothold in our lives if he is going to fight against God; and we give him that foothold. The way to resist the devil is to submit to God.

After King David committed adultery with Bathsheba, and killed her husband, he hid his sins for almost a year. There was war between him and God, and David had declared it. Ps 32 and 51 to discover the high price David paid to be at war with God. When he finally submitted to God, David experienced peace and joy. This too he recorded in Psalms 32 and 51. Submission is an act of the will; it is saying, "Not my will but Thine be done. "

Draw near to God (v. 8). How do we do this? By confessing our sins and asking for His cleansing. "Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double-minded." The Greek word translated purify means "make chaste." This parallels the idea of "spiritual adultery" in James 4:4.

"Nearness Is Likeness." The more we are Like God, the nearer we are to God. I may be sitting in my living room with my Siamese cat on my lap, and my wife may be twenty feet away in the kitchen; yet I am nearer to my wife than to the cat because the cat is unlike me. We have very little in common.

God graciously draws near to us when we deal with the sin in our lives that keeps Him at a distance. He will not share us with anyone else; He must have complete control. The double-minded Christian can never be close to God. Again, Abraham and Lot come to mind. Abraham "drew near" and talked to God about Sodom (Gen 18:23 ff), while Lot moved into Sodom and lost the blessing of God.

Humble yourselves before God (vv. 9-10). It is possible to submit outwardly and yet not be humbled inwardly. God hates the sin of pride (Prov 6:16-17), and He will chasten the proud believer until he is humbled. We have a tendency to treat sin too lightly, even to laugh about it ("Let your laughter be turned into mourning"). But sin is serious, and one mark of true humility is facing the seriousness of sin and dealing with our disobedience. "A broken and a contrite heart, O God, Thou wilt not despise" (Ps 51:17).

Sometimes we hear a believer pray, "O Lord, humble me!" That is a dangerous thing to pray. Far better that we humble ourselves before God, confess our sins, weep over them, and turn from them. "To this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at My Word" (Isa 66:2). "The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit" (Ps 34:18).

If we obey these three instructions, then God will draw near, cleanse us, and forgive us; and the wars will cease! We will not be at war with God, so we will not be at war with ourselves. This means we will not be at war with others. "And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance forever" (Isa 32:17).

Put the government of your life on His shoulders, and let Him become the Prince of Peace in your life (Isa 9:6).