Good evening everyone. Thank you Fiona. My name is Aaron and I'm a member here at Brunsfield Evangelical Church
and it's my privilege tonight to continue our series looking into the book of James.
In Germany in the early 20th century there were two brothers who owned and ran a successful athletic shoemaking company
called the Dazzler Brothers Shoe Factory.
The two brothers, Rudolf and Adolf, or Adi and Rudi as they were known,
they began however to have differing opinions about how they should run this company.
And going unaddressed it was beginning to develop into a soured relationship.
There are accounts of multiple incidents but apparently the final straw was during the Second World War
when during an air raid and Rudi's family were hiding in an air raid shelter and Adi's family came in.
Adi was hired to comment something that can be translated something loosely to
here come the pig dogs again.
He later claimed to be referring to the enemy above but the damage was done.
The company soon dissolved and they both went on to start their own companies in the same town.
Adi Dazzler would call his Adidas and Rudi Dazzler his Ruda, later changing it to Puma.
And for the next 60 years these companies were bitter rivals,
splitting this town in an almost sectarian way as they both grew into sporting goods giants.
Today these companies, which I'm sure you might have heard of,
are no longer run by descendants of the Dazzlers.
And so while they are still competitors, it's no longer personal.
They are both still headquartered in that same town,
where apparently the evidence of the long rivalry is unavoidable.
Now, that might seem like a trivial example depending on your point of view,
but what we're going to see tonight in this passage
is that when this happens in a church context,
the consequences are very real and can have a huge impact on our church family.
I don't know if anyone's ever been in a situation where you've maybe had a disagreement with something
or something that's been building up for a while,
which has then caused you to say something you wish you hadn't.
I certainly have.
Now, most of these situations can be resolved quickly
if you're prepared to accept some fault and apologize,
but sometimes they aren't.
And a little bit too much pride and hurt can let the situation develop,
resulting in significant consequences.
I hope everyone's been enjoying this series and James so far.
It's amazing how much practical teaching is packed into such a short book.
If you haven't managed to come along or tune in,
the recordings are all available, so I would recommend catching up.
But if you haven't, or just as a quick reminder for some context of where we are,
this book is written by James, not to James.
James was the brother of the Lord Jesus.
He's writing here to the early church, the very early church,
who were mostly Jews, who had now heard and accepted the gospel that Jesus brought
and were likely here about 20 years after the death of the Lord Jesus.
So still very early days for the church.
And so obviously they didn't have any of this rich New Testament teaching that we do.
This letter was them getting it firsthand.
And the teaching of the good news of the gospel,
which is that salvation can come by faith alone,
was only being passed by word of mouth mostly,
which was starting to create some gaps in understanding.
And serious problems were starting to form,
which is what James is looking to address here.
A couple of weeks ago, Jonathan was taking us through, in chapter 3,
the general problems that come from an untamed tongue.
And today what we're going to see is what happens when that behavior encroaches into our churches
and the conflicts it can create and the subsequent consequences of them.
And what we see here in chapter 4,
although it's a theme really throughout the book in this early church,
is that they're not displaying or living in the light of the grace that they have received.
They're failing to display the humility that a believer living by faith should.
But it becomes a helpful encouragement for us also,
as we can all fall short in this area.
And James helps us see that.
So while it does start with some stark warnings here
about the threat and the consequences of these conflicts for his people,
the church, as James admonishes them for it,
is clearly a prevalent issue in this church.
Please stick with me as he also gives some real encouragement and hope for the cure
and how to avoid it and how to keep our focus centered on the Lord Jesus.
We'll first see the cause of these conflicts in the church.
That's kind of verses 1 to 3.
And then we see the consequences of these conflicts in verses 4 to 5.
And then it's the cure for these conflicts in verses 6 to 10.
And then finally in verses 11 and 12,
James gives a helpful but challenging example of the kind of conflict that he's talking about,
just to give it some illustration.
So firstly, the cause of these conflicts.
In verse 1, we're introduced right away to what is causing these conflicts in the church.
He doesn't wait around.
These quarrels and fights, as it says here,
although there is no suggestion that they're actually physical.
He asks it as a rhetorical question in a sense,
but he answers it right away.
He's saying they don't have to look far.
The answer is right here in themselves.
It's their own selfish desires, their pleasures, their passions,
all things related to their own self-centeredness.
In other words, it's the sin that they hadn't let go of.
What's clear is that it was a problem for them
and it was destroying them from the inside.
So while everyone is susceptible to this,
I don't necessarily think he's saying it's everyone all the time,
or even a majority.
But that's why it's still an issue,
is it only takes one or two for it to start.
Even in my relatively short experience,
I have sadly seen this in churches for myself,
sometimes it only takes a disagreement between two individuals
and they can't get past it.
Others are then forced to choose sides,
families are involved, friends, fallouts,
and a division can become inevitable.
A small lapse in focus from God
and a little bit of disguised sin creeps in
and it spoils the lot.
Needless division caused by a lack of awareness
in preparation for these causes
and the cure which we're going to come to shortly.
We as a church have to be mindful of this
as it can affect our reputation and our testimony
and become a distraction from the message
that we're here to share
if we're marked by these other things
and these fallouts,
rather than being known for the good news of the gospel
and the hope it can bring
and the lives that it can change.
The other thing about this intro
is that he doesn't really go into specifics
about the quarrels
or what it's about on a surface level
because regardless,
it all comes down to giving in to our desire
for self-gratification and for pride
and for the need to be right
and an unwillingness to accept correction and blame.
This is important for us who are Christians
because we're all at war constantly,
still living in our human fleshly bodies,
but we have the Holy Spirit living in us.
So there's this constant push and pull
where we have to consciously choose
whether to obey the spirit in us
or the flesh that we live in.
For me, this sometimes looks
or usually looks like a flash anger moment.
If something has been said
that has really angered me or upset me
and it's just not sitting well,
and then like a flash,
the old life comes back
and I'm just looking to say
whatever I need to to get my way
and make sure that I don't look bad.
You know, I'm looking out for number one
kind of regardless of who's affected by what I say.
Maybe that's relatable to you too.
And the issue is we forget the grace of the gospel,
how to put our unity in Christ first
and the call to love our brothers and sisters in Christ.
How would the Lord deal with a situation like that?
Would he be trying to think of the best comeback
just to make someone else feel bad
and prove them wrong?
Or would he approach it with love
and a willingness to forgive?
When we move away from God's will,
it's always to gratify our own,
to try and satisfy our own desires
based on what feels good or seems appealing.
But it comes at the cost of not honoring the Lord
by putting our own sinful and selfish wants above his,
affecting our spiritual well-being
as well as the well-being of others,
resulting in hurt, divisions, strife and fallouts.
And so then in verse two,
James is speaking to those who are at fault for this.
And what he's saying here is
they never actually get the fulfillment
they want from these desires.
And so they chase it in vain
and it leaves them unfulfilled and not satisfied,
which is what causes them to start quarreling
and fighting with each other.
And even to kill, it says here, or murder.
Now, I don't think he's accusing them of outright murder,
but quarrels can lead to an equivalent hatred in the heart,
which is how the Lord Jesus described
the inward condition of the heart shown outwardly by anger
when he spoke on it in the Sermon of the Mount.
And then at the end of verse two,
he's referring to them not having what they want
because they didn't ask.
They didn't pray.
In taking their focus away from God
and only on their own wants,
they're feeling self-sufficient, self-reliant.
Maybe they thought, well, I'm saved now.
Why do I need God now? I'm saved.
They were taking their grace for granted.
And I think we should ask ourselves,
can we be guilty of that?
Life can get busy.
I'm sure we can all relate to that.
And maybe in a time of blessing
where lots of things seem to be going well
and it's all happening for us,
it's tempting to give ourselves the credit a little bit
and on our hard work
and not give thanks,
the thanks deserved to the provider.
So then, bam,
as soon as there's a blocker
and we're not getting it all our own way
and things aren't going how we would like
and we're a bit confused how that can be,
then we think about praying.
And so then in verse three,
it's no surprise then when they didn't receive
because they were asking with the wrong motives.
It was from a selfish place that they started to pray
and it wasn't in line with God's will.
Now this is touching on a bigger subject
and I don't want you to take away that
just because you feel there hasn't been an answer
to your prayer
or you haven't received what you've been asking for,
that that's God telling you your motives were wrong.
That's not the case.
Asking with the wrong motives never results in good.
Asking with the right ones doesn't always either.
It is worth checking ourselves
so when it comes to our partitions in prayer,
that's the things that we ask the Lord for.
And while we may not always be sure
what God's will is for us,
what I will say is what we pray for
should reflect the blessing that he's given us,
be God-honoring and be a blessing for others.
Then it will be truly self-fulfilling.
So then moving into verse four,
verses four and five,
we have the consequences of these conflicts.
And it starts with very strong language.
He's accusing them of being adulterers, adulteress.
It's provocative language that was typical of Jewish scripture
and it was used deliberately to get their attention.
But we should take note here as well
as this accusation is directly applicable to us too.
Obviously the word has a few meanings
and in the context here,
he isn't talking about their physical relationship behavior,
but he's rather using it to describe
their spiritual relationship with Christ.
What he's saying here is that the Christian
is in a special relationship with God.
The language often used throughout the Bible
is that he is the bridegroom
and his people, the church, are the bride.
And so these people that he's writing to
and where I think this is very relatable to us as well,
they were choosing themselves
and friendship with the world over him, over God.
It's a spiritual unfaithfulness.
And when you are desiring things other than God
first in your life,
choosing the gods of pleasure over the God of heaven,
then it makes us adulteresses in that sense.
It's okay to want things and have dreams.
That's not what I'm saying.
It's about checking our priorities
and the root of our desire for them.
This gets easier, the better the relationship
that we have with Christ.
It starts there and then we can look to him
to get the steer and the direction
when faced with big decisions
and to always look for the opportunity
also to give back and to serve.
And then so in verse 6,
we have the cure of the conflict.
From verse 6, from 6 to 10,
we have the cure of the conflict.
Verse 6 is a key verse in this section
and really the whole book as well.
These threats and temptations
of choosing the flesh
that we've been speaking about
are real and constant for the believer
and can overwhelm even the strongest of us.
We have all fallen at some point
to some degree to some of this,
but here is the reminder we need.
He gives us more grace.
Grace upon grace, more and more.
As long as we recognize that we need it.
That's what's key here.
Which is why we also need the reminder
that God opposes the proud,
but shows favor or gives more grace
to the humble, as the ESV puts it nicely.
We need to humble ourselves
to actually receive it and be blessed by it.
And then, when we are Christ-centered
or the closer to Christ we get,
the more you realize you need.
The better the understanding we have
of what we have been given,
the more in awe we are of what he did
and how much we need him.
And then, so, from verse 7 through 9,
we have a clear list of actions
we must follow in order for this repentance
to be genuine.
He says,
And then in verse 10,
he gives the command,
the call to action,
an appointed statement
on the result of repentance.
He says,
And just as an encouragement here,
aside from the emphasis on repentance
and submitting to God,
we know these listed actions
can be difficult to do all of these things
and we can feel the opposition
sometimes strong against us,
but the encouragement here
is that the devil will flee from us
if we resist him.
Not forever, after one instance,
this is a continual thing,
but what is clear here
is the protection we get from God
as we draw near to him.
And then he to us.
It's when we're straying
out of the way
of being in his presence,
picking up our old bad habits again,
and we're walking unprotected
that we're most susceptible
to the attacks.
So please,
be weary and vigilant, friends.
True faith requires true humility.
It's not until we have true faith
and we realize our constant need
and we humble ourselves
that he will exalt us.
It was recognizing this need
that caused those of us here
who have made that commitment of faith
to take it.
And if you find yourself today
realizing that you have never taken
that deliberate step
to put your trust and faith
in Jesus Christ,
this is what it looks like.
You need to simply accept
that based on our own sinful nature,
that is your human condition,
that is the opposite of God
and causes us to do wrong,
we will never be able
to meet God's standards.
And the only one who did
was his son,
the Lord Jesus,
who took our place
when he gave his life
on the cross.
And so,
in humility,
if you put your faith
and trust
in the work completed
not only on the cross,
but also in the belief
in his subsequent resurrection
from the dead
and have genuine repentance,
then you too
can call him
your savior.
And so then,
moving on into
the final section,
verses 11 to 12,
where we have an example
of a conflict.
Verses 11 to 12,
it almost starts
a new train of thought,
but what he's bringing up here
is a very specific
but very typical example
of what he's been speaking
about this whole time,
especially at the start
of the passage
as a cause of quarrel
or conflict.
It is still an example
of what happens
when we become
less Christ-centered
and too self-centered,
too concerned
with the judgment
and the judging of others,
and it breeds
coveting and jealousy,
which starts in the heart,
but it gets brought out
by speaking
ill
and slandering
each other
by talking down
to them,
backstabbing,
maybe spreading rumors,
frankly just lying
in this kind of slander.
And so he continues
this thought here
by saying that
those who criticize
the law
are in a sense
making themselves
judges of the law.
This is God's law,
to be clear,
and to make yourself
a judge
is putting yourself
at the same level
or even above God.
And so then
in verse 12,
he is very clear
there is only
one lawgiver
and one judge,
the one who has
true power
over life
and death,
he who is able
to save
and destroy.
And then so he finally,
he closes
with another rhetorical question.
Who are we
to put ourselves
in this position
to judge our neighbor
or our fellow brothers
and sisters in Christ?
I think it's telling
that this closing example
of conflict
that he gives
of malicious talk
in the church
is still so poignant today.
I'm sure we don't have
to think too hard
to recognize
examples
that we've seen
in our church.
Alistair touched on it
briefly this morning even.
Differences of opinion
are natural
and can even be healthy
and helpful
for learning
when we have
a genuine love
and respect
for each other.
But we need to watch
where it becomes
a genuine disagreement.
This might be over
or might look like
a disagreement
over a simple
practical issue
in the church
just because you've
always done it
one way
or someone's
family habits
and how they do things
in their household
are just not
how you were brought up.
Or your interpretation
of a verse
is very different
to theirs
but it's over
something that
is very much
of secondary importance
to the gospel truth
and you let it
compromise
your fellowship.
And as the
disagreement
goes unsettled
it damages
the relationship
and it leads
to unkind things
being said
either to others
about them
or even directly
to themselves
without necessarily
thinking about it.
And that can cause
real hurt
and then real damage
to the church family.
Whether it's just
to try and make
one seem better
than others
or just to tear
another down
deliberately
casting seeds
of doubt
and suspicion
can cause cracks
that are difficult
to repair
and sadly
often aren't.
So the call
is to be aware
of the causes
and the dangers
these conflicts
can bring
however insignificant
they might seem
initially
and their potential
consequences
and the division
and hurt
that can come
as a result.
And we do this
by always assessing
our focus
staying close
to the Lord
and striving
to always be
Christ-centered
in our actions
which will not only
be a cure
for these pitfalls
but will allow us
to get closer
to Him still
humbling ourselves
each time
so that we can
truly live a life
by faith
that is also
pleasing
to Him
for Him
but also
with Him.
Let me just
close for us
now
in prayer.
Our God
and Father
we thank you
for this challenging
reminder
again in this
book of James
of what true faith
really looks like
and then the dangers
that can come
if we don't have
such true faith
and humility.
We realize
how much of a challenge
this can be
when we're still
living here
in this world
in our human
fleshly bodies
Father
but that's why
we give thanks
that we do not
have to do this
alone.
We pray that
as a church
we would always
be weary
of these dangers
and strive
to get closer
in our walk
with you
to be more
Christ-centered
in all aspects
that will lead us
to a strengthening
of our fellowship
and we're so
thankful that
all we have to do
is to humble
ourselves
so that we can
accept this grace
that is given to us
and that we might
honor you
with our actions
and our service
and so we just
pray that you
will bless
have blessed
this time
that we've
spent together
in your word
as we ask
this all now
in your son's
precious and
holy name
Amen
on the future
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