A Daily Walk

John Randall: There is a daily battle that each one of us face as Christians. There is an internal war between the flesh and the spirit. The old nature of who we used to be, who Jesus died to deliver us from, versus who we want to be in Christ. The new creation battling the old fleshly nature. Listen, I've been crucified with Christ. That person is dead, but that person still wants to live, and I have to reckon them. No, you are dead. You are dead to me. I have to remember that, remind myself of that. And if it starts coming back up, I have to choke it out in the spiritual speaking.

We find ourselves in the book of James in chapter four with a message entitled, The War Within. Although I teach out of the New King James Version of the Bible, this evening I'd like to read to you from the New Living Translation, these first few verses. Sometimes just by way of side note, when you study through the Bible, it's not a bad idea to compare translations. Sometimes it opens something up that maybe you didn't see before, or it allows you to see a passage in a different light. So, there are occasions when I will have translations laid out in front of me and I can see different ones and track and see what points out this and that. Tonight, I want to open up with the New Living, and I think it gives us an amplification of these first few verses in the book of James.

Beginning in chapter four, verse one: What is causing the quarrels and fights among you? Don’t they come from evil desires at war within you? You want what you don’t have, so you scheme and kill to get it. You are jealous of what others have, but you can’t get it. So, you fight and wage war to take it away from them. Yet you don’t have what you want because you don’t ask God for it. And even when you ask, you don’t get it because your motives are all wrong. You want only what will give you pleasure. You adulterers! Don’t you realize that friendship with the world makes you an enemy of God? I say it again, if you want to be a friend of the world, you make yourself an enemy of God. Do you think that the scriptures have no meaning? They say that God is passionate, that the spirit he has placed within us should be faithful to him, and he gives grace generously. As the scripture has said, God opposes the proud but he gives grace to the humble.

When James penned this epistle, there were no chapter breaks within this letter. It was just simply an ongoing letter. I point this out because the end of chapter three flows right into chapter four. James drew a comparison between worldly wisdom and godly wisdom. Worldly wisdom is earthly, sensual, demonic, resulting in strife, division, self-seeking, confusion, and bitterness. Whereas godly wisdom is heavenly, it's humble, it's pure, it's peaceable, it's merciful, it's gentle, and it results in peace.

There is a stark contrast between James chapter 3:18, where James writes about the fruits of righteousness that are sown in peace, and then he abruptly writes about wars and conflicts among members. I believe he did this by design to awaken his readers because it's clear from the context that there were some obvious issues within the church. There were some problems that James had been made aware of and felt were necessary to address.

The fact is, when you read through the New Testament, although the early church was powerful and God did amazing things, many of the churches that were planted in the first century had struggles and difficulties similar to the ones we have today. Not much has changed. In fact, when Paul wrote to the Corinthians, he said that they didn't lack any spiritual gift. Could you imagine being in a church where there is not one spiritual gift lacking? That must have been an amazing church. The only problem was Paul went on to rebuke them because they were carnal. He said there was such carnality in the church. They were competing with one another, they were getting intoxicated during the communion service, and they were taking one another to court in lawsuits.

Paul wrote a letter to a church in Galatia, and the church in Galatia started out so well. They responded to the gospel that was preached to them, but then Paul has to write them a letter, and they were turning away from the gospel and they were biting and devouring one another. There was infighting and strife. They became legalists and they made the cross of Christ of no effect in their midst. Then Paul wrote to the church in Ephesus. In the first three chapters, he talks about the wealth of the believer, everything that they have in Christ. But then Paul had to exhort them to remember to remain unified.

Then he wrote to the church in Philippi, the church that was so supportive of his ministry, such a tremendous blessing to him personally. Yet they had a division in their midst that started with two women, and Paul said, "Help those ladies out. They are causing problems in the church." He even names them. Their names are in the Bible for causing strife. How would you like that?

It becomes clear that whether you lived in the first century or you live in the 21st century church, as long as there are imperfect people found within the church, there's going to be no perfect church. There is a perfect church, it's in heaven. One day we're going to be up there and it's going to be perfect because we'll be perfect then. Until then, we're under construction. But there is nothing sadder to observe than a group of people that make up a church who are supposed to be governed by and live according to the love of Jesus, but instead, they grow bitter, divisive, and carnal. To observe a change in an environment that is to be known for self-sacrifice and giving preference to one another that becomes an environment of self-will, self-indulgence, and selfishness. To view a family or a congregation that formerly cultivated love and forgiveness and restoration only to be reduced to unforgiveness and resentment and division. James calls out what's happening in the church, and do you know what he calls it? A war. It's a war.

Wars are devastating. Countless lives are lost, resources are spent, and tragedy follows warfare. I don't believe that James is talking so much about civil wars or tribal wars or nations rising against nation, although the root cause of the warfare I believe is the same. But James is talking to believers who are having problems among themselves fighting. As believers, we're supposed to fight side by side, not fight one another. It's no wonder you remember that Jesus prayed in John 17 that they may be one as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be one in us, that the world may believe that you sent me and the glory which you gave me I have given them that they may be one just as we are one. That was the prayer, the high priestly prayer of Jesus, that there would be unity and oneness among the church.

Now James begins to go to the root of the problem. The reason is because we can so often assume that if there is infighting and division and so forth, that it's solely based upon external circumstances for the quarrels and the divisions. When in reality, they are actually a byproduct of an internal root that is now making its way to the surface, manifesting itself in all that represents the flesh.

So chapter four begins with the cause of these conflicts. Where do they come from? How do they happen? He tells us. He asks the question, it is rhetorical: Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war within your members? Where do these wars come from that war within you? The carnal conflicts and confrontations, the destructive divisions, the disputes, the arrogant arguments; they all start below the surface. They start in here. That's where it begins. There is a war that is internal before it makes its way to the external, before it's inside, before it comes outside. A war within before the war without.

How does it happen? James says I'll tell you how it happens. It starts with your desire for pleasure. He points out that it starts with a carnal desire for pleasure. It's interesting, the word that he uses for pleasure here is the Greek word *hedone*, from where we get the English word hedonism. It's the belief that pleasure and its pursuit is the chief end and good of man in life. And that battle takes place right in here. It starts within the heart, in the mind. The word members that James uses here is not referring to individual you're a member, I'm a member. Members is talking about our faculties, our personal members of our body, the seat of the desire and passions. That's where the battle starts. That's where the irritation begins, within.

There is a daily battle that each one of us face as Christians. There is an internal war between the flesh and the spirit. The old nature of who we used to be, who Jesus died to deliver us from, versus who we want to be in Christ. The new creation battling the old fleshly nature. Listen, I've been crucified with Christ. That person is dead, but that person still wants to live, and I have to reckon them. No, you are dead. You are dead to me. I have to remember that, remind myself of that. And if it starts coming back up, I have to choke it out in the spiritual speaking. It's an internal war.

Life is full of decisions every single day that either you yield to or you resist, you give into or you fight off. The Bible puts it this way in the book of Galatians chapter 5:17, describing exactly what I just said. Paul put it this way: The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other so that you're not free to carry out your good intentions. Do you understand? It's a battle from the moment you get up to the time you go to bed and everything in between. There is this constant conflict going on. And what wins the day is whether or not I'm walking in the Spirit or I'm walking in the flesh. And there are certain things that I will come up on that I have a decision to make. Am I going to handle this in the flesh, the old man, the old nature? Is he going to deal with this? It's on. Or am I going to deal with it in the Spirit? Step back, pray, God you're in control. Help me, Jesus. I don't really know how to deal with this.

The victory or defeat in this internal battle between the flesh and the Spirit is dependent upon what we yield to, what we present ourselves to. That really determines whether we're going to win the battle or not. In Romans chapter 6:13, Paul said it this way: Do not present your members, that is your faculties, as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but instead present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. Again, this presents a decision, a choice. I have the decision to make, empowered by the Holy Spirit. I can either present myself to my flesh and allow it to lead me down the destructive path that it will take me, or I can choose to present myself to the Lord and say, "God, I'm alive from the dead. That's not me. I don't want to be that person anymore. I present myself to you." We talk about yielding as a living sacrifice to the Lord, holy and acceptable. It's our reasonable service. I have a choice to make. What am I going to yield to?

In the book of Ephesians, Paul wrote to the church and he said this in verse 22 of chapter four: Put off your former conduct, the old man, which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and put on the new man which was created according to God in true righteousness and holiness. Again, the decision. I can either put on the old man, the old garment, the old flesh, or I can put on the new man in Christ. What decision will I make?

I have discovered in walking with the Lord for many years now that there is a trader within me. I'm going to fight this battle with the flesh, the devil, and the world system until I go home to be with the Lord, and so will you. We'll be clothed in a resurrected body made for heaven, no more sin, no longer a struggle with the flesh. But until that time, there is a fight.

Some people don't know that there's a fight because they're already defeated. They just live for the flesh. They don't even realize there's a battle going on because they've already been taken captive. A battle with what? I give in to the flesh all the time. It's no battle. Obviously. But then there's others that are like, "Man, why is this so tough? Why am I fighting this? How come I'm having to deal with it and why is this pressing me?" It's because you're fighting it. If a fight is a fight, it's because it's a fight. If there is no fight, then there isn't one. Does that make sense? I hope so. It did in my mind before I said it, but you understand. It happens.

This battle, as James points out, for the pursuit of the things that could devastate you, your family, your ministry, your integrity; when he speaks of pleasure, pleasure is not a bad thing per se. The Lord has given us richly all things to enjoy. There are things in this life that we have the privilege of taking pleasure in, that we enjoy. He's not talking about those kinds of things. God has created us with the ability to take pleasure in things that God has created and it's wonderful. But the problem comes when we have a conflicting desire within. The old life seeking to draw us back and the new life in Christ wanting us to push forward. If we yield to the old nature, it once again becomes self-absorbed, self-focused, and then it can easily diminish other people's importance. Suddenly, my pursuit of pleasure is all that really matters and I have a war on my hands. There are many who will be affected by my own internal combat being caught in the crossfire.

Have you ever had that happen? You're in something, and your spouse or your friends don't know what you're into. They don't know what's going on in here, and they come up and say, "Hey, what's up?" and you say "Don't talk to me right now," and suddenly you just snap. Where did that come from? There's an internal battle and you just got caught in the fire. "I'm sorry. That was wrong. I shouldn't have said that to you. Forgive me." It happens. There's something going on that just tips the cart and you think, "How could you?" This person is in shock. They don't know why you're so upset. What happened? There's a battle going on.

In our Californian subculture that we reside, this pursuit of pleasure and constant motion in all that is pleasurable and fun, it is nonstop. Sadly, Christianity sometimes can be reduced to being looked upon as something to make my life more enjoyable. That's what this is about. I have this aberrant pleasure-centered theology that emerges and is embraced, and a great conflict that follows.

Jesus made this clear. Do you remember when Jesus spoke the parable of the sower to his disciples? He talked about the seed of the Word of God and it being thrown out and falling on different types of soil. One of the types of soil that it fell upon was among the thorns, and he described it. This is what he said in Matthew chapter 13, verse 22: He who received the seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful. He hears it. She acknowledges it. That is good. That is truth. However, there are all of these things that are intertwined within that, and before it ever comes to bear fruit or maturity, it just chokes the life out of it so that nothing really happens. But they think, "Well, I did hear it," but still it's choked out.

Mark's Gospel also mentions this same parable, and it says the same thing. The cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, the desire for other things entering in, choke the word, and it becomes again unfruitful. Luke uses this same passage, same parable, and he says in Luke chapter 8:14: These are the ones that fell among thorns, are those when they heard it, they go out and they're choked with the cares, riches, pleasures of this life. Notice this, and bring no fruit to maturity. There's a stunted growth. It just cuts off the life supply that causes them to bear fruit because it's just the cares of this life. It's the constant battle and they just constantly give in to it. They hear it, but then they go back to this and it chokes out the life, and they never come to maturity and there's never really any genuine spiritual fruit that's lasting.

I wish I didn't know something about this, but if I were to look back at my life years ago, this would describe me. Just the cares of this life just choking it out. I want to hear it and that's good and I really would love to be that or do that. However, it was choked out. I wonder why am I not coming to maturity? I'll tell you why: because I was living a life after the flesh. The Bible says those who are in the flesh cannot please God. You can't. It's impossible. I thought it was possible. I tried really hard to be in the flesh and still be pleasing to God. It doesn't work. It's the exact opposite of the work of the Spirit. If you're living that kind of Christian life, can I encourage you? Don't. God has so much more for you. He wants you to be fruitful. He wants you to grow to maturity.

James points out where this pursuit or this pleasure will lead. Notice verse two: You lust and you don't have. You murder and you covet and you cannot obtain. You fight and war, yet you don't have. This pursuit of pleasure as the god of our lives, the hedonistic kind of living that dangles a carrot in front of our face like a donkey and promises fulfillment and contentment and satisfaction if I could just get it, and I never seem to fully grasp it. It doesn't provide what we think it's going to provide, and it can blind us to the spiritual reality like an opioid to the senses. We read three times: you cannot have, you cannot obtain, you don't have. The fleshly carnal nature that we battle wants to lead us on an endless quest to satisfy what cannot be satisfied. It leads a person to lust, to covet, and to envy. In fact, in some cases it says to murder to obtain, but it's empty.

I'm reminded of Jesus' encounter with the woman at the well in John chapter four. As she was there at the well, you remember, and she was there with her water pot and Jesus spoke to her. He began to speak to her specifically about the fact that her god or her pursuit that left her empty was her relationships with men. It started off the conversation, Jesus asks for a drink. It went back and forth and Jesus got to the point. He said, "Why don't you go call your husband?" "I don't have a husband." Jesus said, "You know what? That's right. You've had five men, and the man you're living with now is not your husband. In that you spoke rightly." She said, "I perceive that you're a prophet." More than a prophet.

But he pointed it out and he told her, "If you keep drinking from this well, you will never be satisfied. You will be constantly thirsty. It will never do it for you. But the water that I will give you, listen, this is living water. This is the work of the Holy Spirit, not the work of your flesh that leaves you empty and decaying and looking for something more." Listen, there is fulfillment in Christ. He provides that living water. If that's what you want, Jesus said he's got it.

The natural man, apart from Jesus, who walks in the flesh, always thirsting for more. I just need to make more money. I just need to have a bigger house. I need to have a larger ministry. I need to have a faster car. I need to have a better vacation. Whatever your thing is, you keep going through all of these things trying to satisfy yourself on and on it goes. Someone said the best cure for hedonism is an attempt to practice it because it'll leave you empty. We pursue every avenue to try to find satisfaction that only eludes us. We get frustrated, we get irritable, we get irrational, illogical, self-centered, and miserable. And then we don't gain the upper hand in this war until we surrender to Jesus.

Guest (Male): That is where victory is found, in surrendering to Jesus. This is A Daily Walk with Pastor John Randall, who today continued our study of James. Would you like to hear the message again? Just go to adailywalk.org or look for us wherever you get your podcasts. Another convenient way to listen to Pastor John is through our mobile app. Be among the thousands that are being encouraged in their daily walk by downloading that today. Find our app by searching for Calvary South OC.

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