(Notes for the message I preached at Condell Park Bible Church on 24 April 2022)
Introduction
There wouldn’t be a person here tonight who would not be familiar with the word conflict .
You don’t need to be a Rhodes scholar to figure out that everywhere we look whether it be through a screen or even about us in our own households and neighbourhood, this thing we call conflict is all around.
In fact, even when we open up this very book, the Bible, you don’t need to start reading too far within its opening pages to see conflict between man and God, God and Satan, husband and wife, man and nature, brother and sibling, and man towards his fellow man.
All this is within the opening 4 chapters of the Bible!
But even with these things, the Bible doesn’t leave us without hope. While we do read of many conflicts in Scripture that have plagued mankind throughout history, we also read of the Prince of Peace ( Isa 9:6 ) and God of Peace ( Rom 15:33 ) who has sent his Spirit of Peace to comfort and help us.
In fact, while much can be said of the conflicts listed and detailed within Scripture there are also many other passages that speak of peace.
Could you say you are a peaceful person? What would others say?
Scripture even adds that there is no peace with the wicked in Isaiah 57:21 . Why? Why would the wicked have no peace? Isn’t peace just a way of thinking? Can’t peace be achieved by meditating or thinking happy thoughts?
Tonight we’ll touch on this, as we a learn a little about conflict and peace from this small passage here in James 4 .
There are many verses in Scripture that speak of peace, Peter talks about it, Paul makes at least one reference to peace in all his epistles, Jude does, John does, and Jesus the Prince of Peace ( Isa 9:6 ) talks about it often ( Blessed [are] the peacemakers , Matt 5:9 , being one popular quote from the Sermon on the mount), and even our friend James who we read from speaks about it too!
(The very last verse preceding our reading in chapter 3 is such an example!)
So if peace is everywhere to be found in the Bible and Christians live from those things taught in the Bible, why do we have conflict?
Body
So I’d like to dive into this passage here in James chapter 4 to help explore some of the issues we have with conflict. I don’t believe James is giving us here an exhaustive list of all forms of conflict, but I do believe he helps provide a means on how we can become better peacemakers seeking to resolve conflict well.
So tonight I’d like to expand on just two points I find interwoven throughout this passage and I’ve summarised the two points as the conflict within and the conflict without .
From the opening four verses of this chapter we see the most concise references in Scripture about the way conflict is manifest:
1 From whence [come] wars and fightings among you? [come they] not hence, [even] of your lusts that war in your members?
2 Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not.
3 Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume [it] upon your lusts.
4 Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.
James 4:1-4
There are some serious issues going on here. James mentions wars, fighting, lusting, killing, and coveting, to name but a few. And notice that James isn’t using any euphemisms or metaphors here to try and be nice. He’s hitting his audience right between the eyes and ears and calling a spade a spade.
And sadly these things wouldn’t be even foreign to us today, even though James penned this nearly 2000 years ago! If somebody were to tell you that there was a fight over because someone wasn’t getting what they wanted, and as a consequence, several people died, you’d think they were reading an article from the daily news!
What might shock you though is that James was writing to a Christian audience!
Hence why there are some big problems going on here, and to an extent, we can see why James is being so direct.
But there is a difference here I’d like to point out between what we’d read in the daily news and what James has penned, something that’s actually missing which we would otherwise tend to see in the daily news: James doesn’t go into depth and detail about the issues, and his purpose for writing is to help show the remedy.
The reason why this is different from the daily news is that drama sells papers. And as a consequence, we can easily think this is how we go about resolving conflict!
In fact, sometimes we prefer to talk about other people’s conflicts as it helps to deflect or minimise our own. We can use those other conflicts to help uplift ourselves into thinking we’re not that bad after all.
But is this what a peacemaker would do?
No. And this is why we see over the next few verses how James admonishes his audience so that they can put an end to the conflict .
This is the primary aim because we can’t move on to the next phase of resolution without ending the conflict first.
So James speaks about the conflicts but doesn’t just keep discussing the conflicts, instead, he seeks its end by jumping to the resolutions.
Could the same be said of us? Are you quick to seek the resolution of conflict? Or would you prefer either sweeping it under the rug in the hope it will go away or persisting in it to get a win?
So how? How does James resolve conflict in this chapter?
Well, let’s take a look and see how James helps us to be better peacemakers that know how to resolve conflict well.
Starting from the opening verse in chapter 4 notice how James jumps right to the source of our conflict. Where can it come from?
… [come they] not hence, [even] of your lusts that war in your members?
James 4:1b
Isn’t that interesting. Conflict can stem from within , and it starts as desires that seek to be satisfied and this is why they war within our bodies. You can get a sense that the way James is framing this desire is that the pursuit isn’t something godly or honourable, but rather selfish and fleshly.
And we see this confirmed by how these desires are manifest through the list of what James mentions in the subsequent verses. We see how it destroys, creates division, and leaves us empty and wanting more.
So James tells us where the source of our problems lies: it isn’t with others or with God, it’s with you .
Why does he tell us this? Because knowing where a problem originates can help us to know what causes it to spark, how it festers and how it grows.
So we can see just from this small passage that James says conflict arises from within. From our own lusts and selfish desires. And we know from the rest of the next few verses that this conflict has started within and caused conflict without.
But I know what some of you are probably thinking right now, you’re thinking: Ryan, James is assuming my desires are selfish, but what it they’re not? What if I have a genuine godly desire? What is wrong with that?
Well, with the framework James presents with conflict resolution you can compare your desires and your approach with the checks James has in place here.
Starting from verse 6 he starts:
6 But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.
James 4:6
James starts here in this passage with the concept of grace. I love the acronym to grace which succinctly defines it well: G od’s R iches A t C hrist’s E xpense.
Did you know that God has applied more grace towards us than we would ever give to one another? We were at enmity with God, yet He loved us so much that He sent His Son to die on the cross for the punishment of our sins. So that we could be restored to Him not because we deserved saving, but because of who He is: rich in grace and mercy and love.
The next point James begins to develop and seems to dot throughout this passage is an important one that is the cause for why we have so many conflicts:
You are not God.
The way we act in conflict can be as though we are God. But if we start with the basic acknowledgement that I am not God, then it can follow that I may be wrong about some things. If we harbour pride in our hearts then it will be very difficult to resolve conflict unless it is done my way .
And if I’m not getting my way then I’m resisting what God offers. I become my own authority and if I believe I need to have something and God says no, then I would be in conflict with God. This will then become more apparent in my life as I move further and further away from God.
Then when I die God will honour my resistance to Him by keeping me permanently away from Him.
You know God does not want to force you to be with Him, so if you do not depart with your self-centred desires then your self-centred desires will keep you away from God. You will know if something is of a selfish desire when you will not allow God to do with it as He pleases, just as James stated in verse 2 about those not having because… Ye ask not. Why did they not have, because they knew the answer God would tell them of their selfish desires!
Conversely though, if you have a godly desire, then this desire is grounded and founded upon Scripture, not just feelings. The desire is open and presented to God to do with it as and when He pleases.
As a peacemaker, you know that pride can cause further conflict and this is why James tells us to be humble .
Next, James directs a peacemaker to be submissive to Him.
7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
James 4:7
As a peacemaker, you want the help and assistance of the Prince of Peace and God of Peace through the Spirit of Peace . If your godly desires are genuine then you’ll want to be directed by what God tells you to do through His Word. You will be prayerful and humbly placing your petitions and requests at the throne of grace.
James in this verse also makes us aware that some desires could be a result of temptations and that we must resist the devil who will flee from us when we submit ourselves to God.
The problem we have with conflict is that we sometimes want to be God. We don’t want to submit to any other authority than our own. And this temptation is of the devil since the beginning of time, remember Eve in the garden and the serpent beguiling her saying that you shall be as gods ( Genesis 3:5 ).
And this lie has continued ever since.
No wonder we have conflict with each other – we’re all trying to be God!
Without submitting to the authority of God and His Word, and its proper application, we can so easily get caught up in believing that we are God, and therefore anything that happens contrary to affirming this thought brings about our wrath and condemnation.
And isn’t that something that would please the devil greatly? To see a broken family, a split church, a conflicted double-minded soul?
You are not God. Don’t believe the lie from the beginning. Therefore, be gracious, be humble, and submit yourselves under the authority of God.
But there’s even more! James continues more on peacemaking and resolving the conflict within . The next action he exhorts us is to draw nearer to God in verses 8 and 9:
8 Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse [your] hands, [ye] sinners; and purify [your] hearts, [ye] double-minded.
9 Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and [your] joy to heaviness.
James 4:8-9
If I know I’m not God, and I am humble and submissive to Him, then I need to get to know more about what he requires and needs me to do and be.
But there’s an interesting detail that can be overlooked here: draw near to God means I need to be willing to draw closer. God isn’t going to lasso me and drag me kicking and screaming to come closer to Him.
It’s the same with eternity, heaven is a place where those who want to be with God will reside. God will not be forcing anybody into heaven who does not want to be there. This is why Christ pleads for us to come , He only pleads, but does not drag. It needs to be of your own volition, your own choice that you come to Christ today.
But what will happen when you come closer to God? God will come closer to you! The closer you get to something or someone the more detail you get to see, and this is no different with God. When we draw closer we get to understand more and grow in the knowledge of our Lord Saviour Jesus Christ.
By drawing closer to the Prince of Peace and God of Peace who gives us His Spirit of Peace we become more like Him, helping us not only with our current conflicts but He can better equip us as peacemakers so that we cleanse our hands (knowing how to aptly handle conflict), and purify our hearts (knowing what to say and how to respond, because we learn how out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks), mourn over sin, and this enables us for future conflicts too.
And James gives us the result of this transformation:
10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.
James 4:10
Knowing we’re not God, and as hard as we might try to assert ourselves as God, here James presents what happens through this whole transformation: God will lift you up!
There isn’t a need to try to be the winner because by humbling acknowledging God as Lord and submitting to His will and authority and drawing closer to Him by purging away our sinful desires and actions you will be lifted up. Not lifted up in our own pride, but lifted up by God blessed to life and godliness.
So all of these actions are focussed on resolving the conflict within to better equip you to handle the conflict without.
The next aspect I’d like to reflect briefly on is the conflict without . And there are just two brief points I’d like to draw out that James emphasises in this passage with minimising conflicts with each other.
It’s here at the end of our reading in verses 11-12:
11 Speak not evil one of another, brethren. He that speaketh evil of [his] brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of the law, and judgeth the law: but if thou judge the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge.
12 There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy: who art thou that judgest another?
James 4:11-12
Notice the first word here in this section: the word speak . Now speaking can be quite difficult for some. I myself had pretty bad stuttering when I was a child, and I was never one to step forward for ANY public performance roles because I knew I was likely to make a massive embarrassment of myself when reciting my lines.
But it’s not an excuse, and thankfully by God’s grace, He helped me to learn how to use my tongue properly. In fact, one of the great principles of effective communication stated even here in this little book of James (first chapter), is to be slow to speak, slow to wrath ( James 1:19 ).
But getting back to these verses James references two important factors of communication when seeking to resolve conflict with another, and these are: what you say and how you say it.
What is that James expects we are to say? No evil.
And how are you going to say it? James answers without judgement .
It can be very easy to speak evil of another, and for a Christian, we don’t want to be like our accuser the devil who accuses the brethren daily ( Rev 12:10 ). We want to make sure we speak in truth ( Eph 4:25 ) and with a spirit of meekness ( Gal 6:1 ), lowliness ( Eph 4:2 ) and gentleness ( Matt 10:16 ).
We don’t want to think of ourselves more highly than we ought to think ( Rom 12:3 ) and to place ourselves in the position of being God, as we’ve already discussed before.
James helps to remind us again that we’re not God, and that there is one lawgiver who is both able to save and destroy , this should help to keep our communication helpful and not hindering others.
Conclusion
So are you a peacemaker?
Do you seek to resolve conflict or further its flames?
You can have perfect peace from the Prince of Peace and the God of Peace . You do not need to struggle in life and with some of these aspects taught from James 4 we can apply them in our walk.
Remember, you are not God, no matter what the world and the devil tell you. Therefore, humble yourself . Pride will only keep you from the real remedy that God has offered through sending His Son to take the punishment we so justly deserve.
If you forgo the remedy God has so freely offered then God has prepared a place where those who don’t want God in their life will dwell apart from Him for all eternity. And this place is called hell.
And do you know that in hell there will be no peace?
Do you know why?
Because God is peace. And for those in hell who make the choice of rejecting God’s resolution because God is peace, this element will not exist in hell.
So first be humble, resist the temptations of this world and the devil, submit yourself to His authority and His way of salvation:
16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
John 3:16-18
Then come to the cross, cleanse your hands ye sinners, purify your hearts, ye double minded, be afflicted and mourn over your sin. Repent and turn from your evil ways and desires and place your faith in Jesus Christ today.
Then you will have perfect peace ( Isa 26:3 ).
Amen.
3 Thou wilt keep [him] in perfect peace, [whose] mind [is] stayed [on thee]: because he trusteth in thee.
4 Trust ye in the LORD for ever: for in the LORD JEHOVAH [is] everlasting strength:
Isaiah 26:3-4