Preached by Pastor Mike Hess Sunday morning 03/07/2010.
The Real Cause of Disunity
James 4:1-3
Introduction:
3 Types of Wars in the Book of James:
1. Class Wars – James 2:1-9
2. Church Wars – James 1:19-20; 3:13-18
3. Employment Wars – James 5:1-6
“Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity.” Psalm 133:1
“I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”
Ephesians 4:1-3
“So then let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding.” Romans 14:19
I. The Source of Conflict (James 4:1)
“For you are still in the flesh. For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way.” 1 Corinthians 3:3
“For I fear that perhaps when I come I may find you not as I wish, and that you may find me not as you wish – that perhaps there may be quarreling, jealousy, anger, hostility, slander, gossip, conceit and disorder.” 2 Corinthians 12:20
“The war in the heart is helping to cause the war in the church.” Warren Wiersbe
“But I say, walk in the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.” Galatians 5:16
II. Misguided Motives (James 4:2)
Motives
Me – My Passions, God – His Glory
Desires and Gratification 1 Corinthians 10:31
2 Corinthians 5:9
Colossians 3:23
“Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.” John 14:13-14
“There is not one single physical pleasure that you have that will ever be fully satisfied.”
“For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God.” 2 Timothy 3:2-4
III. The Idol of Selfishness (James 4:3)
“The wrong motivation is the desire to spend God’s gifts on one’s own pleasures.” John MacArthur
“The LORD is far from the wicked, but he hears the prayer of the righteous.” Proverbs 15:29
“And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.” 1 John 5:14-15
Practical Application:
1. Encourage others by praying for them, with them and by letting others known that you are praying for them.
2. Determine now that there will be nothing in life that you hunger and thirst after more than anything or anyone more than God himself.
“O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.” Psalm 63:1
