string(7) "m-66998" Burnt Hickory Baptist Church

Sermons

← back to list

Oct 06, 2024

The Battle Within | Faith in Action

The Battle Within | Faith in Action

Passage: James 4:1-10

Speaker: Matt Petty

Series: Faith in Action

Category: Sunday Sermons

Keywords: jesus, christian, bible, christ, gospel, holy spirit, purpose driven, james, lord, christianity, son of god, trust god, inspirational, book of james, motivational, christian motivation, biblical contentment, transformative faith, resilient spirit, contentment of heart, faith action, inner battle

As we continue our journey through the book of James, we will uncover the true source of conflict in our relationships: our own desires and unmet expectations. Instead of pointing fingers, we'll see how James challenges us to look within and recognize how elevating our wants above God creates tension and division. How can we find peace when our hearts are divided? Join us as we see how realigning with God’s priorities brings lasting peace and fulfillment in every area of life.

Well, good morning, church, and thank you for being here. Before we jump into the message, I have one incredible announcement for all of us today: as of this Friday, we have officially passed every construction inspection known to man. Yeah! Yeah, yeah, yeah - you clap for that. But if you only knew what we have walked through over the last little bit, that would be incredible. That said, I just want to let you know that as of next Sunday, we will fully open up everything on the front end. So feel free to take advantage of the space you'll be hearing about in the next few days, how that will be used during the week, how it will be available during the week and on the weekends, and our forthcoming opening of the counseling center.

So be watching for those details because it is officially – God willing – going to happen. It is going to happen here in the next week, all right. Look, if you've got a copy of scripture today, I want you to turn with me to James chapter four, James chapter four. That's where we're gonna launch into in just a second. And we are rejoining our fall series that we call Faith in Action today. We're tracking with James, the half-brother of Jesus, in this little letter that he wrote to these first-century believers, these first-century Christians, to do a couple of things. Number one, it was to encourage them. Number two, it was to spawn them on in their faith and help them understand that faith is not something we just have in our hearts. It's something that we walk out with our feet.

It should affect every single area of our lives. And it shows up in all these areas. So far, walking through the first three chapters, we've been able to see how James has lovingly, but sometimes sternly encouraged these believers to watch out for the trials in their lives, to fight the temptations in their lives, to really grab hold of the word of God and allow it to rule their lives and to show them how to walk. Two weeks ago, we looked at a huge one where James showed us that our words really matter, that they matter so much, that they are probably the finest and most assured conduit of what is happening in our hearts is what comes out of our mouth. Now, I know that day didn't resonate with anyone else, but for me, that was huge. To remind myself that things don't slip out of my mouth.

Those are the things that are coming out of my heart. Well, James takes all of what he has said, and he builds into this moment today, and he begins to talk about this internal battle that we have inside of ourselves of conflict. He looks at conflict today. Now, please remember that when James is writing this book, he's writing it to church people. So, every problem we have seen in this letter is happening inside the church or inside these churches. And listen, when you really read James from an overall view and kind of sit down and read it all at once, you begin to see that these people were incredibly dysfunctional. In chapter one, James has accused them of being arrogant, weak, and double-minded. In chapter two, he says they're full of hypocrisy and prejudice. In chapter three, he calls them hardhearted, self-centered, and running, and he all but stops short of just calling them big jerks.

Not really, but that was just my translation, right? But he does it out of this fatherly concern with them. I equate it to when you had a toddler in your house and when you would play outside. Maybe you lived on a busy road and did everything with that toddler. But if you threw that ball to the toddler and for some reason it went into the road, the reality is, if that toddler, that 2-year-old started sprinting towards the busy road that maybe you live in that has that 16-year-old that lives in your neighborhood, that drives 97 miles an hour, listen, you would do everything possible to tackle that toddler before they reach the road running after the ball. Well, listen, that's the heart that James has written this book with.

He's written it with this concept of, look, I know it seems heavy, but if you could just see as I see, you would want to know what I'm giving you. Well, this morning, James stepped into this huge problem that he would say, not me, that he would say today that we all have in common. And I love it because have you ever noticed that sometimes you feel like the first-century church had it all together when reading the Bible? Today, the book of James shows us that they don't have it all together, and neither do we. So, let's read James chapter four, and I want to start in the first verse this morning. And James is going to hit this huge problem that they had and this huge problem that we have. And he's going to start it all off like any good teacher would by asking a question.

All right. James four, verse one. Here's the question that he asks. He says this. He says, "What causes fights and quarrels among you?" Alright – That's what he asked. Why did he ask that? He asked it because one of the common themes of life that everybody, post the Garden of Eden, has is that we all experience conflict in relationships. We all experience it. I mean, if you think about it, every single friendship has conflicts. Every single workplace relationship has conflicts. Every single marriage – don't you nod right now – what? Has conflict. We all experience conflict every one of us. It's a common theme. I don't care how pretty your Instagram or Facebook family photos are; your family has conflict. Can I get an amen? Amen. We don't, don't do that. That's just wrong, right? Look, I even know this. I even know that when people see, I even know that when people see my sweet wife, Melissa, I know that when they see how friendly she is, how outgoing she is, how loving she is, how encouraging – she's red right now – she is, I know

and they see how amazing and friendly she is on this side. And I know when they see me, right? Over here, the pastor, right? The man that presents the word of God. I know that there are a lot of people who say, "Well, they never have conflict in their house." I know that there are people who say, "And if possibly they do have conflict, I bet what they do is they just hold hands. They recite encouraging Bible verses over each other and embrace each other until they finally figure out that they really didn't have conflict." To which I would say, "Nope, that is not right." All right. That's not right. I'm not saying who's in the wrong most of the time, but that's not right. Listen, we all have conflict. That's the point that James is making here. And we all have moments

. We all do, no matter who we are. So what does James ask? James asks where the conflict comes from. Where's the source? James asks, to which all of us would say, "Well, that's easy. It comes from them." Right? That's what all of us would say. I mean, it's, we would, wouldn't we? We would. We would just look around us now and say, "Well, they are the source of my conflict." I mean, we would say this. There's a lot of "they" out there: It's her, it's him, it's them. It's all of them. Even some of us would go as far as to say, "Well, I know where my struggles and my fights come from. They come from my spouse." I wouldn't admit this out loud right now, but you may even be saying, "My spouse is the source of all of our fights.

They don't understand my needs. They don't understand my feelings or where I am." Or maybe you're in another boat and going, "Well, it's always my boss. They never think of who I am. They never use my ideas. They never appreciate me." Or maybe you're on a different plane, like, "Hey, I can tell you where all my fights come from. They come from my kids." Right? "My ungrateful self-proclaiming, know-it-all all, think the world revolves around them–am I stepping anywhere–kids are where all our fights come from." Or maybe you're on the other end, saying, "Well, I'll tell you where my fights come from; they come from my parents. I mean, they're always up in my business. They always try to control me and put their thumbs into my business." "I'll tell you where my strife comes from: that guy in traffic."

I'll tell you where my strife comes from: that other fourth-grade mama that thinks she knows everything about parenting in my kids' class, and none of the rest of them did." Are you feeling where I'm stepping here? This is where we think our conflict comes from. Most of us believe that we experience most of the fights in our lives because of the "theys" that are out there. They are the problem. But I want you to see what James is about to say. Because James goes, no, no, no. Think about this again; I'm not saying they didn't wrong you. I'm not saying other people have issues, but listen to what James says. This is huge in our lives. Watch this. In chapter four, verse one again, he says, "What causes fights and quarrels among you, don't they come from your desires that battle within you?"

Now, that stings, doesn't it? Because our whole lives, we have thought that every conflict, war, and battle in our lives is because of the "theys" in our lives. Can I get an amen? It's always been the "theys". But James flips the script and says, listen, the actual fights in your life don't come because of the "theys"; they come because of you. They come because of you. Now, pay close attention because this is an entirely different mindset. Let me try to make it as easy as I can to understand by giving you a couple of principles and questions. James says, the real reason you have conflict, the real reason you have quarrels, the real reason you fight so much, write this principle down–the real reason you have conflict is that you're not getting something you want or you think you deserve.

That's what James says. In other words, there's something out there that you feel like you should have. There's some way that you think your day should be going, your life should be going. And what happens? Conflict happens when some person or organization is out there that keeps you from getting it. And this can be big stuff. It can be small stuff. It can be anything from your newborn that won't let you sleep to your friend group that won't let you entirely in or validate you to your spouse who doesn't care about your needs or your boss who never validates you. James says we have conflict because somebody, we fight because somebody keeps you from something you want. What happens is that your anger starts to burn, and then you begin to resent them. And even on top of that, James goes as far as to say this in verse two.

He says, "You desire, but you do not have, so you kill..." You're like, "Now you're talking about my family, Matt." Right? Please remember James is talking to church people now. He's not talking to the Supermax prison, right? The word kill here is used as a metaphor. He used a metaphor to describe what happens in our hearts. He's going back just as he's done in the last three chapters to language from the Sermon on the Mount where Jesus presents the idea of–hey, if you look upon a woman, you've committed adultery, he, he's, he's using that kind of language here. And he's saying, "Hey, you're raging to the point of desiring to hurt them or murder them in your heart." So James is looking at us, going, "Hey, that murderous rage within you. It comes from the fact that that person has kept you from getting something that you want."

Now look, I know where you're at because I've been all in this all week. Here's where you're at this this morning. I know this is right here: "But Matt, but Matt, Matt, Matt, they did wrong me." "But Matt, they did steal from me: they did take that from me." "But Matt, they were selfish. They did cheat; they didn't respect me." "They did steal; they did hate on me." Yeah, yeah, yeah. Look, look, I get that. I do understand that. And look, James is not denying the idea that you had been wronged. He's not excusing it. He's not even trying to make it right. He's not even looking at you saying, just get over it. But what he is saying is, is that the rage, the fight, the quarrel is there because that person has kept you from getting something that you really want and something that you really think it's going to take to fulfill you, to make you whole, is the problem.

And this, James says, is the problem that comes from here. This problem comes because we're not realizing what it is that should be making us whole. James says that when this stuff happens in our lives when this conflict happens in our lives, it shows us two problems that are probably already simmering in our hearts. The first one shows us that we have a problem with idolatry. Idolatry. That is just the worship of something other than God, as though it were God. That's why we get so offensive most of the time because there's something in our hearts that we worship more than God. But secondly, it's really when other people do that to us; it's really just a lack of trust that it's God who is there to fill us. And God will fulfill us. Man, stay with me for a minute because this understanding can transform the rest of your life and relationships. It can transform your walk with Jesus and your walk with others.

It can also show you why so many of your relationships keep blowing up. Watch this word that's about to stand out. It's the word covet. Look at verse two again. It says this: "You desire, but you do not have, so you kill." And here it is–"You covet, but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight." Lemme see if I can explain this. Coveting is when we want something so badly that we think we cannot be happy without it or we can't make it without it. It's not that the thing is a bad thing. It's not that the thing is sinful. When you go by verse one and look at the word desires there, that word doesn't mean sinful desires. They're not sinful desires. So what it's saying here is this:

It's saying that coveting is when your heart says, if I don't have this, I will not make it. What James is saying is that it is idolatry. Because you're requiring something else besides God, besides God's love, besides God's will to satisfy you or bring you contentment. Coveting is when you believe this thing out there that is not God is the key to your fulfillment. And when you, what James is talking about here, is what we do, we place this weight on other people, and when this person keeps me from getting this, rage and conflict arise because I'm trying to fill my life. Not with what God has given me but with what somebody else has put into my life. But listen, nothing, nothing, nothing other than God is supposed to control my heart, control my desires, and control my rage other than him.

That's what he's talking about here. Why? Because our contentment, peace, joy, hope, and happiness should not rest on any other thing other than God. So Matt, are you telling me I should just move to the mountains, join the monastery, never say another word, and never have another relationship? No. No. That's not what I'm saying. But what I am saying is that we have quite possibly disordered the relationships in our lives. The reason that we're so frustrated with those other people in our lives is that we're really trying to see them through the lens of something that God should be in our lives. Lemme let me put it in a question. Maybe this will help you understand this and show you why it never works out, right? What do I want bad enough in my life that I'm willing to rage, yell, or even hurt others to get to it? You know what James would say about that,

whatever your answer was right there because you've got an answer. James would say, that's an idol. And James would say that you've placed that above who God is in your life. And James would say the real source of your conflict comes because you want that more than you want God. And because you're asking that to fulfill a role that only God can feel. Hear me–there's nothing wrong with other people in our lives; God has created us as communal beings. He's put us in relationships. God has created marriage. God has given us kids. God has given us friendships. We do. We have all of those things. The deeper problem is when we disorder the relationship between all of this, and we begin to expect all these other things to do what only God can do. Write this principle down: We rage horizontally.

That means with people, right? Because we don't trust vertically. And I'm not talking about abuse. I'm not talking about systematic; I'm talking about daily fighting. Okay? We rage horizontally because we don't trust vertically. Why? Our horizontal people relationship complex comes because our vertical with God relationship is suffering. Now look, I know we've already been there, but this will get heavy just for a minute, okay? But I think we can handle it because this can really change who we are. One of the most life-changing questions that I've ever heard around this question that kind of really made this make sense to me and really reset some things in my life is the next question. I've put in your notes. Here's the question. Have you ever considered that you're in constant conflict with others,

and your unmet desires come because you are seeking something from someone who simply doesn't have it or cannot provide it? That's pretty deep, isn't it? Lemme see if I can break it down just for a minute, though. Lemme read it again. Have you ever considered that your constant conflict with others? Some of you are like, Man, I feel like I'm in a constant conflict with people. I feel like I'm always mad. I'm always losing friends. Somebody's always up in my business. My family is always doing this. Have you ever considered that your constant conflict with others and your unmet desires come because you're seeking something from someone who simply doesn't have it or cannot provide it? Here's what that means. You want control, you want respect, you want significance, you want satisfaction, you want approval, you want belonging, right? Yeah, of course you do. We all want those things.

But what if the primary source of those things, which it is, is supposed to be God? Yet we try so hard to get those things from other human beings for what only God can give. Now, look, I'm not downing relationships. I mean, my wife is sitting over here, for goodness sake; I'm not doing that. But what I'm saying is that we, as people, expect things from people that people can't give us. We expect fulfillment out of people who listen. People will never give you, and we expect things from our friend groups. We expect things out of our social media channels. We expect things out of our families that God has never said they can give. Only he can give it. Have you ever just thought about the fact that we're expecting something out of our spouse that they can never give us?

And that's the fulfillment of this world that only God can give. Look, we see this in marriage counseling all the time. We see it all the time. So, how do you see this in marriage? Well, think about it like this. You take this lowly, lonely, low self-esteem, unhappy single person who's just making it and cannot see joy. And what do they think? They think all I need is a spouse to fulfill my needs. So what happens sometimes? Here, then walks by the spouse, right? They meet the spouse; they swipe whichever way you're supposed to swipe, right? And there they come into their life. And what happens? They lock into each other. They find all hope in each other. Everything is perfect, right? They suck the life out of each other until what happens? The first fight comes, and one of them lets the other one down, and they disappoint each other. Which, then, what happens?

The other person lashes out, and they're automatically back in the same spot. Why? Because they've tried to find something in a spouse that only God can give. Now, am I saying don't get married if you're lonely? No, that's not what I'm saying. All right? But what I am saying is we can't expect that of humans what only God can give. We just can't. Church, no person, no group, no organization except for Jesus alone can give you a sense of identity, can give you a sense of security, and can give you the love that will fill you up. And it's unfair to expect it out of someone else. You'll drive them into the ground, or you will always fight with them if you want them to be God in your life. Listen, what does James say? We rage. We have conflict most often because we idolize something. We hold something above God.

We put something above God in the place that only God can fill. Please know from the beginning that they can't do it. Some of you are like, whew, man, I've been waiting on somebody to say this my whole life, right? They can't do it. No matter how hard you try to squeeze it out of others, only what God can do, you can't get it. Marriage and relationships are great gifts from God, but none of them can meet your deepest needs, and only God can. None of them can. And when you try to get it out of them, you will always be in conflict. I'm not by no means. I feel like I need to say this about 200 times. By no means am I saying let people run all over you. Or to be a loner, never have a relationship.

But what I am saying is to lean into God, give it to God, and get from God what only God can give, and don't expect that from other sinful people. When we do, we raise him up to an idol. In fact, so much so watch what James says. He keeps on talking about this in verse two. It's almost like he sees us down, and now he just wants to curb-stomp us. Watch this. All right, that was from Katie this week. She told me that. Alright, here it is, James 4, verse two. He says, "You do not have because you do not ask.

When you ask, you do not receive because you ask with the wrong motives, and you may spend what you get on your pleasures. You adulterous people." What did he say here? In other words, James is saying, okay, okay, here it is. Some of you do ask God for these things. Some of you do ask God to meet your needs. You're not trying to get them from another person, so much so that you're asking God for it, but God is not answering you. You're like, man, I've, I've been there in my life before. Why? James says that it is because you're praying like an adulterer or you're praying like a person who looks to someone or looks to something else to fill the desires that only God should fill. And now, what are you doing? Not only are you looking somewhere else to have your desires filled, but now you're asking God to be complicit in your idea of having somebody else do it.

In other words, it's kind of like me asking Melissa to fulfill my romantic love and desires by finding me another person. That's what he's saying here. He's saying when we ask God to be complicit and try to find joy, happiness, hope, and fulfillment out of something else in life that is not him, we are asking God to walk with us in our adulterous relationships. That's what he's saying. All the while, God is saying, Hey, wait a minute, that's my role. Wait a minute, that's who I am. Wait a minute, that's what you should be finding in me. Listen, God is the source of contentment and happiness and ultimate joy. And when we fully depend on him, what he promises us is that he will add these things to us at that point. Have you ever heard somebody say something like this? God, I just need a raise.

If you'll give me a raise, everything in my life will be fulfilled. Look, I get the sentiment behind that, but do you realize how that sounds to God? God's like I am your hope and glory. What about somebody who just prays something like this? God fix my spouse. There's nothing wrong with that prayer, but then they add this: God, if you would just fix my spouse, everything will be fulfilled in my life, and then I will be full of stories of hope, joy, and happiness. God's going–they can never fill that in you. Now, is God against fixing your spouse? No, that's not the point. Or God, I just need to make this team or get this reward, and then I'll be made complete. Or God, I just need a relationship, and my whole life will then be fulfilled, and God's going. I am the one that can fulfill you. With this mindset

God's going, look, you're asking me, you adulterer, to supply something that only I can feel. Please know there's nothing wrong with any of these things. God has given us as gifts. He's given it to all of us. The problem is that we shouldn't covet those things, James says, above coveting our relationship with God. We shouldn't seek those things above seeking our relationship with God. Only God can fill it. Now, that's a lot. But I don't want to leave you with that. I want to give you some ways that you can walk out this idea of finding your hope and your satisfaction in God first. And I'm going to do it by reading these next verses. Look at verses four through 10. James is about to teach us how to deal with this battle inside of us. And then I'm going to read it, and then we're going to lump them together into some actionable items.

Here it is, number James, chapter four of us. Four. He says, "You adulterous people, don't you know that friendship with the world"–that that's the systems of the world doesn't mean like don't ever be a friend to anybody. Alright? "You adulterous people. Don't you know that friendship with the world means enmity towards God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. Or do you think that scripture says without reason that he, God, what does he do? He jealously longs for the spirit that he has caused to dwell in us, but he gives us more grace. That is why scripture says that God opposes the proud, but he shows favor to the humble. Submit yourselves then to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." Verse eight, "Come near to God and he will come near to you.

Wash your hands, you sinners, purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve and mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom." Don't miss verse 10. "And humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up." So, how do we win this battle within us? Man, James lays it out really, really succinctly here. Number one, if you want to kind of change the order up of where you're finding your joy, finding your hope, and finding your relational comforts, number one, we've got to trust that God wants to dwell in you and that he wants to give you his grace. Listen, I know, I know, I know some of you grew up in systems of church; you grew up in fundamental ideas of church that God is just this angry God. God is this, this, this remorseful God, that God is just this God that wants to smoke you and take you out of this earth.

But listen, do not forget that God, the God of the New Testament, the God of the Bible, wants to give you his presence. He wants to give you his life. He wants to give you his grace, and he wants to dwell inside of you. He wants to fill you. That's why, in verse five, just a second ago, he pointed out that God is a jealous God. That's not a jealousy out of spite or jealousy out of anger. It means that God so much wants to rule you, validate you, and lift you up that he is jealous when you chase things that he knows are not going to fill you up. It doesn't mean that he's mad. It means that he knows there's so much out there that is better than he wants to give you friends. We put too much pressure on earthly relationships that will let us down, and there is not enough attention on the heavenly race relationship of the Father, who is fully loving, fully perfect, and fully giving God. I don't care how good your friends are, and I don't care how good your family is; I don't care how good your marriage is; at some point, they will let you down. But God won't. He's not going to do it

, and he wants to dwell in you. He wants to give you his grace. He is a good God, and he wants to make you his; unlike every other person, he's not going to let you down. I'm not saying run from those other relationships, but I am saying we've got to bring them into perspective, and we've got to see them for what they are. They are gifts given to us by God, and they are not God. They're not. God will never fail you. It's the number one trust that God wants to dwell on you and give you his grace. Number two, this is pretty simple. Humble yourselves. Humble yourselves. Look, I know that humility is not a word that we really grab hold of in America, right? Especially during football season. Unless you're an Alabama fan today. Thought I would go for that one.

 Humility is it. It's a tough word, but humility just really means that I stand before a God that is all loving, all kind, all loving. And that I offer myself in submission to him saying, you are greater than I this one phrase, humble yourselves. Wouldn't it cause so much of our strife just to go away? Have you ever looked back and did an audit of the conflicts that you've had in your life? After a couple of weeks, I realized why we were even doing that. I can tell you why, because nobody in this situation has chosen to humble themselves. And when we don't choose to humble ourselves before the Father, what we do is we try to raise ourselves up to him. Look at these couple verses, James 4, six. He says this: "But he God gives us more grace. That is why scripture says that God opposes the proud, but he chose favor to the humble."

What if the next time you had a conflict in your relationship, it was a race to who could humble themselves first? Boy, that would solve some things, wouldn't it? Look at verse 10. He says, "Humble yourselves before the Lord and what he will lift you up. Do you see those two verses? He shows favor to the humble, and it is God who lifts you up. Now, to humble ourselves in this context, a couple of things have to happen. The first is that I have to realize that I am not God, and neither is anyone else, right? I mean, I know that we never say that out loud, but we live like that in a lot of ways. And we live, and we expect that out of others. Secondly, we also got to realize that it is God who is in control, and it is God who is the giver of all things.

And when God doesn't give us something in a minute, instead of being spiteful, Adam, we've got to realize that he is all good, all supreme, all sovereign. And sometimes he withholds the good to give us the great later. In fact, Psalm 84 came to mind this week when he says, "For the Lord God is a son and a shield. The Lord bestows favor and honor. And no good thing does He withhold from those whose walk is blameless." This means that if it is truly good for me, God is going to give it to me. But sometimes God doesn't give it because he knows better than I do. Man, I love this idea that God will always lift the humble. He will always lift those that come before him and say, I know that I'm a sinner, and I know that I'm in need of a savior, and I know that I've wronged you, God, and I've wronged others.

God and God, would you move in my life? God honors those who take responsibility for the sin that is in their life and takes responsibility for owning up and allowing him to bless it. That's why verse 10 says this, "Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up." Teenagers, if there's one thing you need to grab hold of, it is this: Your friends will never lift you up. Now, they might for a minute, but they will never lift you up like how God will lift you up. Your spouse will never lift you up. Your family will never lift you up how God wants to lift you up. The next time you clash with God and mess up, the next time, we think that we're the center of the universe. Just know it's easier to humble ourselves before God the next time another person has wronged you.

Just humble yourselves before God, even as they're lashing out. And remember that that person does not have any way of exalting you, but God does. And that's all he asks from us. And he'll lift you. Humble yourselves. Number one, trust that God wants to dwell. Number two, humble yourselves. Number three, this one's super simple. Resist Satan and his schemes resist. I think sometimes we forget that the principalities of this world want to fight against us. They want to scheme against us. Do you know, since the garden, since Genesis chapter three, there has been relational strife on this earth, and there's been strife between man and God? Look at what James four seven says. It says this: submit yourselves to God and resist the devil, and he will flee from you. I think we forget that we're at war. I think that we forget that all relationship strife is a tool of Satan.

And what God has called us to do is to fight against it. Fight against it by knowing the place that God has in our lives, that he is preeminent, and that he is supreme. Resist Satan in his schemes. And here's number four. This is my favorite one says this: if you want to fight the battle within, just draw near to God. Draw near to God. Lemme give you a little bit of permission this week. Then, I'm going to read some verses instead of focusing on drawing near every other relationship in your life first. What if our primary focus was to draw near to God and then let everything else fall in place? Look, as hard as James has been in the book, what you're about to see is this fatherly compassion that he has is incredible. Yeah, has he unloaded a bunch of stuff on us?

Yeah, has he really maybe even kicked us while we were down? Yes. But then watch what he says in verse eight. And this is the verse I want to leave you with this morning. He says this, James four eight. He says, "Come near to God,"– Listen to this truth. Hold onto this. –"and he will come near to you." Man, he'll come near to you. Listen, listen, listen. No matter how bad your conflict has gotten, no matter how strong that relationship has been and has made you feel, no matter how far your sin has taken you, God gives so much more love, so much more grace, and so much more mercy. His grace is sufficient. And what does he expect out of us? Does he expect perfection? No. He just expects us to draw near to him. You know, I was trying to figure out how to close this all week long.

And all week long, there was a story that Jesus told, and I just could not get out of my mind. I could; I just kept feeling the story of the prodigal son here. What happened to the prodigal son? This, this, this son looked at his father and said, Father, I don't really care about you anymore. I want my stuff, and I want to go do my thing. So Jesus says, the son did; the father gave it to him, and he moved off to this land. But eventually, you know how it was going to happen. Eventually, the son lived it up as big as he could, but nothing fulfilled him. And eventually, he runs out of money. He runs out of time; he runs out of fulfillment. He looks at himself, and he looks at what he used to be a part of the family and the relationships he used to have.

And he looks back at that and says, man, I would rather turn myself back over to that relationship than live how I'm living. So what does he do? The son turns back towards home. The Bible says that from the beginning, the father wanted to have a relationship with his son. The son walks up the driveway, and as soon as the father sees him, what does the Bible say? The Bible says that the Father sees his son a long way off. And what does he do? Does he rebuke him? Does he yell at him? Does he hit him with some kind of device? No, he loves his son. And what does the father do with the son? He restores his son back to sonship. In fact, he puts a robe on him. He puts sandals on his feet, and he gives him a ring for his finger.

And he celebrates by having this huge party. Why? Because this son has drawn himself back to the father. The father was waiting for the son to turn. The father sees him, grabs him, and restores him. Listen, church, that's what James is talking about here. James is just simply saying today, listen, when we see our relationship for how God has made them with him first, everything else is an add-on. And when we draw near to God, it says that God will draw near to us. He will draw into those spaces in our lives that we're struggling with. He will draw into those spaces in our lives that we feel despair. He will give grace that only he can give, and he will fulfill you. Matt, are you telling me today that I just need to forsake every other relationship in my life? No, no, no. That's not what I'm saying. But I am saying that we need to figure out the order. We need to figure out where our attention needs to go first. And we need to allow God to be in the position that only he can be. Only then will the rest of our relationships fall into place. Would you bow your heads and close your eyes? I just want to ask a couple of questions as we get ready to close this morning.

Because here's what I know about a lot of us, man. A lot of us just live in this constant state of turmoil with people. Could it be? Could it be because we really live in a constant state of turmoil with God? Have you ever seen those two things so closely put together? Because here's what God says. God says, seek me first in my kingdom, and then all these things will be added to you, man. Maybe if you're one of the people that are, that are here that just constantly seem to be in turmoil, maybe today, maybe just today, but you can see that it's, it's probably my vertical relationship with God that needs to be worked on. First, let me ask you something. Who, who have you put the weight of your relationship strife onto that it should have been put onto God?

What relationship is in your life that really you've risen to a level way beyond God? And what would it take for you today to look at every other relationship and raise God to the place that he deserves?

 

Follow Along with the Message

The Battle Within

 October 6, 2024
James 4:1
1 What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you?

PRINCIPLE: The reason you have conflict is that you are not getting something want or think you deserve.

James 4:2
2 You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight.

QUESTION: What do I want bad enough that I am willing to rage, yell, or even hurt others to get?

PRINCIPLE: We rage horizontally (people) because we don’t trust (God).

QUESTION: Have you ever considered that your constant conflict with others and your unmet desires come because you are seeking something from someone who simply does not have it or provide it?

James 4:2-4A
2 …You do not have because you do not ask God. 3 When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. 4 You adulterous people…
James 4:4-10
4 You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. 5 Or do you think Scripture says without reason that he jealously longs for the spirit he has caused to dwell in us? 6 But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble. 7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.
How To Deal With This Battle Within

1. Trust that God wants to in you and give you his grace.

2. Humble .

James 4:6
6 But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.
James 4:10
10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up. 
Psalm 84:11
11 For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless.

3. Resist and his schemes.

James 4:7
7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

4. Draw to God.

James 4:8
8 Come near to God and he will come near to you.
Take the Next Step »

Additional Notes

 

Email (To Send Copy of Notes)