Sermons by Ken D. Trivette
Sermons from the Book
of James
THE FRANK SINATRA PHILOSOPHY
James 4:1-4
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1. What is the cause of most, if not all, the fighting
and fussing that goes on in Churches? Why do we not have our prayers answered?
What keeps us from walking with God and enjoying His fellowship? 2. A word that occurs frequently in
verses 1-6 of James chapter four is “lust.” He speaks of the “lusts that
war in our members” in verse one. He says in verse 2, “Ye lust, and have
not.” He speaks of “your lusts” in verse three. Then in verse 5 he speaks
of the “spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy.” 3. It is a word that speaks of the
gratification of our sensual, natural, and fleshly desires. It describes one in
which pleasure is the chief end. One writer spoke of it as an unbridled search
for pleasure. It is descriptive of the person that
lives for self. They want things to be done the way they want it done. They want
things to go the way they want them to go. They only think about what they want
and only do things their own way. 4. What is the fruit of living after our
own desires and making pleasure the chief end of life? As we look at verses 1-6
we see three results of this philosophy. We see three outcomes of our lusts.
Notice them with me. First we see: 1. THE DIVISION CAUSED BY OUR LUSTS! 1. We read in verse 1, “From whence
come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that
war in your members?” 2. I think of a parable that an unknown
author has left us. It goes like this: The wedding guests have gathered in
great anticipation; the ceremony to be performed today has long been awaited.
The orchestra begins to play an anthem, and the choir rises in proper precision.
The bridegroom and his attendants gather in front of the chancel. One little
saint, her flowered hat bobbing, leans to her companion and whispers, “Isn’t
he handsome?” The response is agreement, “My, yes. The handsomest…” 3. I have a feeling that the author had
been involved in a church fight or two. Conflict and contention in a church is
always tragic. The testimony and effectiveness of many a church has been ruined
by division and dissension. A. The Course Of
Church Conflict
1. James asks, “From whence comes
wars and fightings among you?” James speaks of “wars” and
“fighting’s.” The two words describe the course of Church conflict.
Phillips translates it, “But what about the feuds and struggles that exist
among you?” 2. First consider the word “wars.” The word means, “to carry on a campaign.” It indicates chronic, long-lasting hostilities. It speaks of a prolonged problem of division and dissension. This is more than a business-meeting getting out of hand. This is a church fight that stretches into weeks, months, and even years. 3. Then he speaks of “fighting’s.”
This particular word speaks of, “a sharp outburst, or skirmish.” The word
“war” would speak of a war that last for several years, whereas, the word
“fighting” would speak of particular battles that occur during that war. 4. When there is division and dissension in a church, there are usually outbreaks of that division. Business meetings turn into arguing and people yelling at one another. Church services become everything and anything but worship. 5. In Chuck Colson’s book The Body
there is a chapter entitled “Extending the Right Fist of Fellowship.” He
tells about an incident that occurred at the Emmanuel Baptist Church of Newton,
Massachusetts. Listen to his description of what happened: It was the right hook that got him.
Pastor Waite might have stood in front of the Communion table trading punches
with head deacon Ray Bryson all morning, had not Ray’s fist caught him on the
chin two minutes and fifteen seconds into the fight. Waite went down for the
count at the altar where most members of 6. This is the course of division and
dissension. When there is a war going on, there will be skirmishes and battles
that will break out. B. The Source Of
Church Conflict
1. James asks where these wars and fighting’s come from
and then answers his own question by saying, “come they not hence, even of
your own lusts that war in your members?” James tells us that source of Church conflict is our
own lusts. In other words, church conflict is the result of someone wanting to
have it his or her own way. 2. It is like the fellow who no matter what was discussed
in a business meeting always got up and said, “I’m against it.” On one
occasion someone offered to donate the church a chandelier. As usual, he got up
and said, “I’m against it.” The pastor looked at him and said, “Why
would you be against it. It is not costing us anything.” He replied, “Well,
first of all we don’t have anybody that can play it. Second of all, where
would we put it, and thirdly, what we need around here is more light.” 3. The root of most church conflict is that somebody
could not have his or her way. They did not get what they wanted or what
happened was not what they liked. It all stems from their lusts, their desires,
their wants; desires that are selfish and self-centered, rather than
God-centered. 4. Now we all have our likes and dislikes. We all have
our opinions and idea’s of how things should be done. We all have our wants
and wishes. Yet, when it comes to the church, the issue is not what we want,
like, or think, but what is beneficial and best for the church as a whole, and
first and foremost what God wants. 5. Yet, a person that has the Frank Sinatra Philosophy
could care less what is beneficial to others and for the whole. They only care
about what they want or desire. Furthermore, they have little thought or concern
for what God wants. You can put this in your pipe and smoke it. Church
conflict always finds it source in the lusts of our members. It is our pleasure
that is the chief end, not necessarily what pleases God or is according to His
will. 6. Do you remember how chapter three closed? James told
us that, “the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make
peace” (James 3:18). Who is he talking about? He is talking about a wise
man. Who is a wise man? If you remember in our last study, we saw in James 3:2
that a wise man is a perfect man, a spiritually mature person. 7. A spiritually mature person does not live after his or
her own desires. They do not live by the wisdom of this world. They live by an
altogether different standard. They don’t cause trouble. They sow peace
instead of strife. 8. Secondly, notice not only the division our lusts
cause, but also: 2.
THE DEPRIVATION CAUSED BY OUR LUSTS! 1. James begins verse two by saying, “Ye lust, and
have not: ye kill and desire to have, and cannot obtain.” Living according
to the Frank Sinatra Philosophy not only creates division, but it also costs us
certain blessings. 2. When James spoke of killing, he was speaking of the
extremes a person can go to in order to get what they want. Yet, James reminds
us that those who seek their own pleasure are going down a path that will end in
frustration. They will have not and will not obtain. 3. How does our lusts deprive us? What does it deprive us
of? Notice two things that James mentions. First he speaks of: A.
Unoffered Prayer 1. James says in verse 2, “Ye have not, because ye
ask not.” I must confess that this statement by James is personally one of
the most haunting verses in the Bible. It tells me that much of what I can have,
I don’t have because I haven’t asked for it. Whenever I read this statement
it always jumps out and grabs me by the heart saying, “Look at all you are
missing because you don’t pray.” 2. It is indeed a convicting verse. However, it is spoken
primarily to those who have the Frank Sinatra Philosophy. The implication is
that those who live for self are usually people who rarely seek things from God. 3. People who live for their lusts are people who try to
make things happen themselves. They are usually people that have no desire to
pray, and furthermore, they don’t pray because they know that what they want
would be contrary to what God wants. 4. When a person lives after their own lusts, prayer is of little concern to them, so they do not pray. Because they ask not, they have not. They are deprived of the blessings prayer could bring them. 5. We not only see unoffered prayer, but we also see: B.
Unanswered Prayer 1. We read in verse 3, “Ye ask, and receive not,
because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your own lusts.” In verse prayer is not being offered. There is no
asking. But in verse 3 we see someone asking but not getting an answer to their
prayers. The reason is their own lusts are involved. 2. Because their lusts is involved they ask “amiss.”
The word speaks of praying with the wrong motives. What is wrong with the motive
in prayer is that, “ye may consume it upon your own lusts.” 3. The word “consume” means to spend or squander.
What a person asks for is not for God’s glory, but to squander upon
themselves. I remind you that prayer is never for the purpose of
getting our will done in heaven, but for the purpose of getting God’s will
done on earth. 4. Let me give you an example of praying with the wrong
motive. Let’s take a Christian wife that has a husband that is unsaved. He is
hard to live with, getting drunk, wasting money on his habit, and when he gets
drunk he comes home and mistreats her and the children. 5. The wife is praying for his salvation. Only what she
is really praying for is relief from the miserable conditions in which she
lives. She wants him to be saved so he will quit getting drunk. She wants him to
be saved so he will quit beating her and the children. She wants him to be saved
so things will be better around the house. 6. Wanting such things is not wrong, but in reality what
she is praying for is based on her own desires. She is not praying for his
salvation based on his benefit or the glory of God, but for her benefit. She is
praying amiss and seeking an answer to consume it upon her own lusts. 7. It is said of John Knox that we could get anything
from God that he asked. Having become familiar with John Knox through
biographies, I am of the conviction that his prayers always had the will of God
and the glory of God as the motive. That would explain why he could get what he
asked for. He did not ask for himself, but for God and others. 8. The third and final thing we see is: 3.
THE DISPLEASURE CAUSED BY OUR LUSTS! 1. James tells us that when we live for own pleasures we
bring God displeasure. Not only does our lusts cause church conflict and keep us
from having an effective prayer life, it also hinders us from enjoying our
relationship with God. Notice: A.
The Friendship That God Does Not Approve 1. We read in verse 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.” He speaks of a friendship with the world that is
having affection for the world. When he speaks of the world he is referring to
the evil principles of this world in which we live. He is speaking of a system
of things that is going in the opposite direction of God. It is a system of
thing's that does not follow God or honor God. 2. 1 John 1 2:15 tells us, “Love not the world,
neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of
the Father is not in him.” God plainly condemns a friendship with the
world. 3. Furthermore, James tells us that a friendship with the world always leads to an affair with the world. He uses very strong terms when he speaks of this friendship with the world. He calls this friendship an adulterous relationship. 4. He says in verse 4, “Ye adulterers and
adulteresses.” As I said, a friendship with the world always leads to an
affair with the world. When we have an affair with this world it is the same as
being unfaithful to God. 5. A husband or wife made each other the vow they would
be faithful to each other. As Christians, we cannot love God and love the world
at the same time. To love this world is the same as having affair with this
world. It is being unfaithful to God. 6. Family therapist and psychiatrist Frank Pittman
stated, “There may be as many acts of infidelity in our society as there are
traffic accidents.” He went on to say that “infidelity is so common is no
longer deviant.” 7. Sadly and tragically, spiritual infidelity among the
Body of Christ is about as common as traffic accidents and is so common that it
is no longer considered a sin. Yet, we must never forget that a friendship with
the world is spiritual adultery. 8. Secondly, James speaks of: B.
The Fellowship That God Does Not Allow 1. James speaks of a friendship with the world as
“enmity with God.” The word “enmity” speaks of hostility and hatred. He
adds that this enmity or hostility makes the enemy of God. James says, “whosoever
will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.” 2. Instead of being in fellowship with God we are not
allowed the privilege of this fellowship. We are like an enemy at war with us.
We are not on speaking terms or in fellowship with one another. 3. One of the blessings and privileges of being saved is
having fellowship with God. What a joy to be in fellowship with God! What a
delight to walk with Him and talk with Him. Yet, when we live after own lusts,
flirt with this world, commit spiritual adultery with this world, fulfilling our
lusts, this fellowship is broken. 4. Russian novelist Lo Tolstoy wrote of a man who was
dominated by the driving pleasure for self-gratification. To possess land was
his highest pleasure. Someone promised him that he could own all of the land he
could walk around between sunrise and sunset on a given day. He began at a
leisurely pace. However, driven by his ambition, he began to accelerate. He
drove himself, sprinting faster and faster. His body blazed with fever. He
stripped off his shirt and abandoned his boots. As the sun set, he flung himself
toward his destination. He reached the starting line as the final rays
disappeared in the west. Exhausted, he died. The only land he got was a grave, 6
feet by 2 feet. 5. Let me sum up what James has been saying. When we live with the Frank Sinatra Philosophy, living our own way, doing our own things, living for self and the satisfaction of self, we never gain but always lose. |