Take your Bible, start at James chapter four. James chapter four. This evening we're gonna look at verses one and two, a message I've entitled The War Within. The War Within. My lapel was on. My lapel is on. So it's not, I think you need to look at the receiver behind you. So I'm on, you're not. All right. I'm in charge of the sound room, so I can pick on him a second. All right. Are we good? Are we good? All right. All right. James chapter 4, verses 1 and 2. Will you stand with me out of respect for the reading of the Word of God? James chapter four verses one and two, the Bible says, from whence come wars and fightings among you? Come they not hence even of your lust that war in your members? 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. Heavenly Father, Lord, I pray that as we come to the time of the preaching of your word, that you will empty me of myself, and Lord, fill me with your spirit. Lord, may the words spoken this evening be your words, be your wisdom. Lord, may you open our eyes to behold wondrous things out of thy law. I pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Thank you very much. You may be seated. If you haven't noticed for the last over a year and a half now, as I get the opportunity to preach, I have been preaching from the book of James. And really, when you look at the entirety of the book of James, you can sum the book of James up really in two words, practical practical faith. James really, when you just read it and get down to the bare bones, he's giving you practical help and things that can really help you live a truly godly Christian life. And this evening, we're going to look at what he writes about the war that is within us. Listen, everywhere we look, when we look at the world, the world is at war. Nations fight nations, political parties clash, families break apart, and even churches are torn apart by conflict. James reminds us though that the greatest war is not out there, it is in here. It's not the war on the battlefield, but it's the war in the heart. It's the conflict between what the Spirit of God desires and with what our flesh often demands. We like to blame others for our fights. Oh, if only they hadn't said that, or if only they were different. But what James does here is he pulls back the curtain and reveals that The enemy, again, is not out there, but it's in here. The source of our quarrels, frustrations, our broken relationships, the restlessness in our heart is because we are at war with God's will. And before there's ever a battle between people, there's a battle within people. And until we let God win that war, we will never know peace out here. And so we're going to look at this tonight. James starts here by addressing first the fight among believers. And listen, this fight, number one, the fight is a problem. The fight is a problem. We can't just let it go. We can't just gloss over it. It needs to be dealt with. The fighting is a problem. The first part of verse number one, it says, from whence come wars and fighting among you. Now this is a problem that was very prevalent. Again, from whence come wars and fighting among you. If it was just one or two people, I don't think James is gonna be addressing this in his letter. But it was a prevalent problem. It's not just one person. You always see the movies where the guy is kind of arguing back and forth with the other guy. And he says, hey, you want to fight? And the other guy says, yeah. Like, I'll go outside. I'll meet you at 3 PM. And if you're not there, go ahead and start without me, right? And the guy obviously doesn't show up. What happens? Does the fight actually happen? No. It takes more than one person to have fighting inside a church. It takes more than one person to fight. And listen, it's why that fighting is so prevalent in churches. You know why? Because the church is full of sinners. We have this person with their sin problems attending the same church as another person with their sin problems, and they're attending the same church as you. And so guess what? There's gonna be some times when I can't, I can't believe they said, I can't believe they did that. I can't believe we decided that. And we're gonna get angry. But James has to address it. And listen, when there's fighting in the church, we have to address it. We can't just be like, oh, you know, it'll go away. No, we need to address it. It was a prevalent problem, but also, let's be honest, it was a PR problem. It's not a good look. Back in 2015, Volkswagen was the largest car manufacturer in the world. And they boasted about their cars. Their cars had what they call clean diesel. And they get over 40 miles per gallon on these cars. And they were absolutely fantastic. But what they found out is they had actually programmed their cars during the testing to emit less pollution. But when they're actually being driven, they were one of the worst offenders of pollution. That was not good. It was not a good look. They had to recall 11 million cars. Do you know what? I don't think anyone really thinks about them anymore that they are known for having clean cars. It hurt them. It hurt their image. It hurt their look. When we fight, listen, it hurts not just our image, it hurts His image in the world's eyes. I think it's pretty obvious when we look at scripture, we are to be representing Christ's, Christ's representative on earth. 1 Corinthians 11 says, be ye followers of me, Paul speaking, as I am of Christ. 2 Corinthians 5.20 says, Paul writes this, now we are ambassadors for Christ. And we all know what an ambassador is. It's someone who goes to another place and does the will of the one who sent them. We are Christ's representative. He is sending us to do his will, to spread his word, and to show the world who he is. We are supposed to show the world something different. But when we fight, we're just showing them more of the same. You know, the world does not need more of the same. Now, I love technology. And I remember back in 2007 when the first iPhone came out. I'm like, man, this is cool. Now, how many of you were not born in 2007? OK. Someone raised their hand in the back that I think pretty sure you were born in 2007. But I remember each and every year, the leaps in technology that they had. And just like the next one came out and you're like, I've got to have that. Next one came out, I've got to have that. The next one. But you want to be lately. We're on the iPhone 17 now, but ever since the iPhone 11, the iPhones really just looked the same. And it's kind of been like, it's not gonna stop me from getting one at some point. I've got one right here, but I've got the iPhone 13. I was always one who, I wanted the newest, I wanted the best, and I wanted it right now. I wanted it every year. But this is the iPhone 13. It's been four generations now. Now, Lord willing, I'm gonna get one soon, but. That's because I can. But here's the thing, there's so many times when this stuff comes out, they don't show you enough difference, right? That you have to upgrade, because it just looks the same as the last one. It just looks the same as the last one. It just looks the same as the last one. And as Christians, when we're not living a Christ-like life, when we're arguing among each other, we just look like everyone else, and guess what? The world doesn't want it. You know the world actually doesn't need help arguing. They don't need taught how to do that. They can do it all by themselves. So why do they need us if all they see is when they see us, they just see more of the same. The world needs to see a difference. Matthew 5, 16, let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven. They need to see a difference. Listen, when there's fighting among believers, we have to understand that's a problem. It's a problem. And when we see this fighting here that James is addressing, number two, the fighting was not just a problem, it's a persistent problem. The fighting was persistent. These people were continuing to fight over the same thing and the same things and the same things and the same things. It says in the first part of verse 1 again, For whence come wars and fighting among you? The word for wars is the Greek word polymos. It's a prolonged dispute or conflict. You ever have something that you just continue fighting about over and over and over and over and over and over and over? I'll be real, can I just be real tonight? We have this in my house and it's my fault. I'm a person, when we are not in a room, I want the lights off. And there's one light for some reason that everyone else in my house, and I really can't say everyone else because all the children, I have one child that will go and they will just go turn it on for apparently no reason whatsoever, but it's the shower light. Does anyone else have this problem? The shower light just gets left on all the time. Why do we need to light the shower when no one's using it? I want it off, but it just stays on. I'm the only, I am by myself in this. My kids have joined my wife's side. But listen, we're really in a house. We probably can think of a lot of things that we argue about. And to be honest, like preaching this message hurts me. Like it hurts me because like, I think my wife is saying like, preach to yourself, preach to yourself. I am preaching to myself. I'm so guilty of so many of these things I'm talking about. I am guilty. But I mean, I think we all are. We have these things that we just battle and battle and battle and battle and battle. And some of us think, If the other side was just to give in, we'd be fine. I'm not wrong, they are. Can I tell you, I'm getting a little ahead of myself. I'll mention this again, but I'm going to say, James doesn't actually care when he's talking here who's right or who's wrong. Because if you're arguing, you're wrong. Can I say that again? If you're arguing, we're not talking about a discussion. We're like, hey, Pastor Lewis, I don't think brown is a good color suit. Obviously kidding. That's not arguing. But when you are mad, and you're angry, and you're having that, you know what I'm talking about. When you're arguing, it doesn't matter if you're right. It does not matter if you're right. You're still wrong. This can be a prolonged argument between a husband and wife. It can be between groups of people in the church. I know it's hard to believe, but disputes happen in the church all the time, whether it be over doctrine. Did Adam have a belly button? Who did Cain marry? How did dinosaurs fit in the ark? What music, what kind of music should the church sing? Should the church be pastor-led or deacon-led? Should communion be open, close, or closed? Arguments in churches happen about these things all the time. And can I tell you, if you're arguing about it, whether or not you're right or wrong, you're wrong. Titus 3.9 says, but avoid foolish questions and genealogies and what? Contentions and strivings about the law, for they are unprofitable and vain. Avoid contentions. Ephesians 4, 26 is, be angry and sin not. Let not the sun go down upon your wrath. Get it solved. Let it go. Don't hold on to it. When you hold on to it, that can grow, and that can fester, and it can become bitterness. Hebrews 12, 15 says, looking diligently, lest any man fail the grace of God, lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled. Listen, if you have bitterness in your heart, you hold on to these, you can get bitterness. And bitterness leads to spiritual stagnation. It leads to a hardened heart, to inner turmoil. It leads to negative emotions and strained relationships. We don't need to let feuds continue. Deal with it. Let it go. You know, I don't know about you, but I've never seemed to be able to argue with a humble person. That's why I can argue with Barry a lot, right? Sorry, you brought that on. I'm just kidding, Barry. I love Barry. He told me before the service that I could bring him in. But listen, it's hard to argue with a humble person, isn't it? because they don't argue back. Don't let the, be humble. But there's things that we just argue about more over and over and over again. And there's also those times that we just, those people, they just find new things to argue about. New things to come, this seems to be our country right now. There's just, there has to be something we're mad about, right? There has to be something we're gonna, but it's the word fightings. From whence comes wars and fightings among you? It's the Greek words. It means a specific battle or fight. I'll never forget being at the church in Maine for neighborhood Bible time and we were getting, having a Saturday meeting with all the helpers in the church and one question we were instructed to ask the church was, For the children and the teens, do you want friends to count as points on the first night, or should we just do that the second night? Oh. They were yelling back and forth at each other. From the back of the room to the front, the pastor with the people, the people with other people, the people with the pastor, just yelling at each other. I remember being at a church in West Virginia where they had a business meeting and they argued about the type of toilet paper to buy next. They argued about whether or not to have a birthday party for Jesus. Why? But at the same time, let's be honest. We sometimes fight because we want the church hotter. We want the church colder. We want the music louder. We want the music, you know, not as loud. The preacher used too much scripture. The preacher didn't use enough scripture. The wall should be white. The wall should be pink, right? Sorry. Oh, the wall shouldn't be pink. I'm just gonna say that right now. I won't fight you about it though. But parents, what are you showing your child at home? What are we showing our children at home when we fight about the right way to change a diaper? We fight about who's more tired. We fight about the correct way to load the dishwasher. Right, right, hon? Not her, again. We complain about the thermostat. We complain about what time is bedtime? Who snores louder? Who steals the blankets more? I could go on. But listen, this is not an argument of things that go on just at the Kauffman House, but this is not an exhaustive list either. We have many things that we complain about, don't we? And many things that we argue about. I remember being young and just thinking, my parents just argue at everything. My parents argue and yell at each other at the drop of a hat. Is that a good testimony for our children? It's not. You ever wonder why so many children are leaving the faith once they graduate? Maybe it's because we as parents don't show them actually who Christ is. Maybe it's we as parents give them the idea that Christ isn't really loving because we don't love them the way we should. Because aren't we supposed to be representing Christ and the church as husband and wife? The fighting's a problem. The arguing's a problem. I'll never forget when I came home from college the first time and visited my church again. I came home and we had the college group and the college group always hung out with the teen group because we were always invited. They wanted us to influence the teens and help the teens. But what happened was the college students came home and all they did was complain about how bad the food was. And they complained about how bad this was and how bad that was. And we went from literally sending two or three people to a Christian college every year to not sending a single teenager to a Christian college for more than a decade. Why? Because complaining and arguing. You don't know how much of an impact it has, but it's so big. Proverbs 14, 17, the first part of that verse says, He that is soon angry dealeth foolishly. We often find again is that both sides will blame the other one. They're the ones in the wrong. If they would just change their mind, we could get over it. And we could get along. But the fighting, listen, it's a problem, it's persistent. The fighting, the problem is personal. It's personal. It says, from whence come wars and fighting among you? Come they not hence even of your lusts? Your lusts that were in your members. Listen, church, it comes from our own lusts. Whether or not you want to admit it, the reason you argue is not the other person's fault. I have to remember that. My wife's just going to go home and be like, you see, did you listen to the preacher tonight? You laugh, but I need to listen to the preacher. Us preachers, we're not perfect. We must be careful not to blame others. Satan, listen, can I tell you, Satan might tempt you, but Satan can't make you do anything. It's not Satan's fault. The devil didn't make you do it. Listen, a saint who is filled with the Spirit cannot be controlled by Satan. We also have to understand that Satan's not omnipresent. He can't be everywhere. And so to say that the devil made you do it is to say that you believe that you are such a threat to the devil that he is willing to take some of his time to focus on you. Think about that. The Bible doesn't talk about many people who Satan actually tempted. Eve, Genesis chapter 3. That was a pretty important time, right? Job, chapters 1 and 2. You realize it wasn't even Satan's idea. God said, have you considered him? David, and if you could get David to really fall, phew, pretty important. Peter, Satan wanted to sift him as wheat. Jesus, he tempted Jesus. That's a pretty big one, right? Judas, he didn't really tempt Judas, he possessed Judas. And I think it's safe to say that Satan only cared about Judas because of his proximity to Jesus. Now there's a lesson to be learned there too. As Christians, the closer you are to Christ, the greater chance you actually have of catching Satan's attention. But if you're not making an impact in this world for Christ, then you're probably not someone Satan's actually concerned about. And so many of us Christians, let's be real, we do enough damage ourselves that Satan doesn't have to do anything. It's not Satan's fault. Listen, it's not your neighbor's fault. It's not the person you're arguing with's fault. We try to say it is, but we're just doing the same thing that Adam and Eve did, right? We're just shifting the blame. Genesis 3, verses 12 through 13, you can look at those verses. The man said, God, It was your fault and the woman. The woman said it was Satan's fault. The serpent's fault. But here, listen, as I said in my first point, it takes more than one person to fight. Both sides of the argument are equally guilty for arguing. They're equally guilty. It does not matter. James here does not give a caveat that it's wrong to fight among yourselves if you're the one who's wrong. No, he just says, it's wrong to argue. Period. Here's the key. Proverbs 13, 10, it says, only by pride cometh contention. If you are arguing and you are fighting, the reason you're doing it is because you have pride. You're not humble. Your pride is not the devil's fault, nor is it your neighbor's fault. The problem is your own sinful desires, your own sinful lust. Look at verses number one and two of James chapter four again. It says, whence come wars and fighting among you? Come they not hence even of your lust that war in your members? Verse number two, ye lust and have not, ye kill and desire to have and cannot obtain, ye fight and war, yet ye have not. Because yes, not. You notice also that James does not even mention any specific arguments. It's because what the argument about doesn't matter. If you're arguing, it's wrong. The cause of the argument is always the same, it's pride. Only by pride cometh consension. But we want what we want. We want to be right. We want to have this. We want to have that. When you think about lust, what do you think? We think about sexual lust, right? But the lust here doesn't have to be sexual. It could be a lust for food, a lust for money, a lust for power, a lust for fun. Oh, you can't go out tonight. You need to stay and do these chores. But mom! Listen, why do churches split? Because of self. Why do people leave churches? Because of self. Listen, oh yeah, the church doesn't really have the right children's ministry. The church really, the youth group's not really what I want. Self. Self. God's calling you to a place. Be there and serve. And put self aside. But why do couples argue? Self. What's causing the arguments? Self. It's your fault. It's my fault. James is calling us not to look at others as the reason why things are going on, but look to ourselves as the reason why things are going on. And we look here, there are a couple different kinds of desires. It says your lust, that war in your members. Sometimes we have desires. Listen, our flesh is gonna have desires. And as Christians, there is a war going on. And those people, I struggle with this sin, I struggle with this sin. Is there really a struggle? Well, listen, a struggle with sin might be even marked that you are truly a Christian. Because a lot of times, sinners don't struggle with sin. People who are unsaved don't struggle with sin. But sometimes there's a desire in your flesh that your flesh has, but you don't want to fulfill. Paul talked about this in Romans 7, verses 18 and 19. For I know that it is in me, that it is in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing. For to will is present with me, but to know how to perform that which is good I find not. For the good that I would I do not, but the evil which I would not. That I do. I also see the desire you lost and have not. These are people who have desires, but they do little to fulfill even their basic desires. They're unwilling to do what is necessary to fulfill them. They want, they desire, but they're lazy. Now, let me just say this. In this situation, it might not even be the desire that's bad. Maybe you're sick and you need medication. Not a bad desire, but something you just need to get up and do it. Now, praise the Lord that when I'm sick, I just say, hon, help me. And it's just right there. It's amazing. Well, listen, there are a lot of people today that they want and they want and they want, but they're unwilling to work. That can't be us. That can't be us. That can't be Christians. Listen, you look at America today, if we're not careful, the next generation is just gonna grow up with give me. Give me, give me, give me. The next one we see very quickly says, you kill and desire to have and cannot obtain. They desire so much that they will lie, cheat, steal, and kill to possess their desires. This is a lust and a desire that will never be satisfied. Church, this is pornography. Someone who's addicted to pornography, it's never enough. It's never enough. You could say, this is the last time. Listen, it's never enough. That'll never be satisfied. You'll always need more. And you're a lie and cheat and you're gonna steal and you're gonna kill in order to continue to get it. I'm not gonna kill anyone. Ever gotten angry over it? What does God say? What does Jesus say in Matthew chapter five? Listen, no man, no woman who's living this lifestyle is trusting God. You're not trusting God. Romans 8, 13, for if you live after the flesh, ye shall die, but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. Galatians 5, 24, and they that are Christ have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. If you're living according to your desires, And you find yourself in arguments and arguments and arguments and arguments. Listen, that's the fruit of pride. And you're not living trusting God. It comes from our desires. It comes from our distrust. The end of verse number two, ye have not, why? Because ye ask not. This entire thing, James is simply, you're arguing because you're not trusting God. You're not trusting God. And when we argue, all we're showing is we are not trusting God. James 17.5, the first part of the verse says, Thus saith the Lord, Cursed be the man that trusteth in man. Proverbs 28.26, He that trusteth in his own heart is what? A fool. I'm gonna close with this. Once a man went skydiving for the first time. He went through training and learned how to pull the cord and listened carefully as the instructor explained everything that could go wrong. When the plane reached 10,000 feet, the door opened. It was easy until then. Suddenly all that training became very real. The man looked down at the ground so far below and just froze. The instructor leaned over and said, do you trust your parachute? And the man nodded nervously. The instructor then looked at him and said, then jump. Listen, it wasn't enough for the man to say he trusted in it. He had to prove it by stepping out of the plane. And we can say that we trust God, but until we actually jump out of the plane, it's all talk. The next time, when the opportunity to argue comes, instead of feeling that you have to stand up and argue, humble yourself. Trust God to work it out. Proverbs 3, 5, and 6 says, trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him and he shall direct thy paths.