BATTLE LINES (PASTOR DAVID BOWMAN) 9AM

amen all right question you know i'd like to start off with questions where in your life have you made lines boundaries all of us have boundary lines don't we we have lines of demarcation we have lines that if people step over they're gonna get something right usually a piece of our mind or something else we have boundary lines around our property boundary lines in our relationships boundary lines that basically let people know you can come this far but no further and we live in a world today filled with conflict all types of conflict and warring and infighting and in the book of james we're going to see the cause for all the commotion not just out there in the world because it's very easy for us as christians to say yeah there's a lot of fighting out there but what about when fighting happens in the church why does that happen how does the world seep into the church title of today's message is battle lines battle lines we're going to be in james chapter four verses one through six and james will tell us how now the book of james has been called by some as the proverbs of the new testament you know the book of proverbs is filled with great wisdom and james wants to give us wisdom regarding conflict now in the rest of the book of james he addresses some very important issues like hypocrisy and gossip materialism and prayer just to name a few so i encourage you it's a short book it's a wonderful book you should read it often now james wasn't writing directly to any particular church but to jewish christians scattered abroad and so just as it doesn't have any specific recipient we can all generally take in the wisdom that james has because the same wisdom that the early church needed we need today yes amen we know that all scripture all scripture you mean lamentations yes you mean leviticus yes and james all scripture is given by inspiration of god and it's profitable for doctrine for reproof for correction and for instruction in righteousness that the man of god may be complete thoroughly equipped for every good work so with that stated let's get into our text james chapter 4 verse 1. let's look there it says where do wars and fights come from among you do they not come from your desires for pleasures that war in your members well james didn't take any time to jump in did he where do these battles and disputes come from among you believers remember he's talking to christians any community of jesus followers or disciples should be marked by love right that should be the identifier not fighting john chapter 13 verse 35 reads by this all will know that you are my disciples by what if you have love for one another that should be the calling card of any christian community any church any christian home any christian marriage yes consider your relationship with your spouse children consider your relationship with your in-laws how are you handling those relationships are they filled with conflict where there ought to be love and where and why is it not a loving relationship what's the source of the issue james answers this question with another question do they not come from your desire for pleasure that war in your members james does not point the finger at the devil nor does he place it on the oppressive roman government for at that time the roman government was oppressive and they were persecuting the church though they may be the source of that persecution and oppression in fighting backbiting gossiping slander and indifference that's all on y'all or more precisely that's in y'all is what james is saying pardon my slang for within every believer there's a battle isn't there within every christian there's a war going on between the flesh and the spirit galatians chapter 5 verse 17 says for the flesh lusts against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh and these are contrary to one another so that you do not do the things that you wish that were there for desires or for war i should say it's as if there's a soldier on active duty that's what it means like a soldier on active duty your lusts your desires your greed your desire to get your way it reports for duty and says i'm willing to fight to get it my way and that can even happen to us as believers when we're not careful when we lose the flesh versus spirit battle oh how we can often go back into acting like the world an unchecked desire within you leads to a war without an unchecked desire within you will lead to war without a lot of the conflict we as christians deal with we always want to blame satan and the world but there's the flesh isn't there the flesh is also an enemy and it's an enemy that when we leave it at bay it will cause conflict notice that james doesn't tell us to search for who started the fight who was the instigator when he said among you he was speaking generally it was an indictment on them as believers or followers of jesus who's supposed to be our prince of peace according to isaiah 9 6 oh how often we point out the sin in others but we miss the point ourselves james chapter 4 verses 11 and 12 says do not speak evil of one another brethren he who speaks evil of a brother and judges his brother speaks evil of the law and judges the law but if you judge the law you are not a doer of the law but a judge there is one lawgiver who is able to save and to destroy who are you to judge another how easily we write off each other don't we oh they not even saved really wow you sound more like a judge than a doer of the law than one who is subject to the same law i'm guilty of this i'm not proud of it in my haste i have taken my mouth and my tongue and i've used it to judge people from afar i've said things like a monday morning quarterback oh i would have done it this way oh if only they had done it my way i've become a christian critic at times and i'm not proud of it you shouldn't be either who am i who are you to critically judge another and declare a fellow believer as this or that we're all at different places in our walks with god it is very easy for a christian of many years to look at the little fledgling christians the the ones in our refuge young adult ministry the ones in kba how what kind of parent would critique a child who just learned to walk they just learned to walk why can't you walk like me he's three but we do that spiritually don't we yeah there are some christians out here fumbling and bumbling but how quickly we write them off and critically judge them as if we have it all together psalm 130 verses 3 and 4 says if you lord should mark iniquities oh lord who could stand but there is forgiveness with you that you may be feared and i'm thankful for god's forgiveness because he's forgiven me many times for this tongue of mine primarily this internal battle works its way out through our words right the way we speak to each other and speak about one another and it also includes all other forms of communication we all know that communication isn't just verbal how many people here are married okay all right you know that ninety percent of your communication is not verbal okay it is body language and many other things and while it works its way out in our words check those other measures of communication as well james wrote previously in chapter three verses five through six even so the tongue is a little member and boasts great things see how great a four grade of forest a little fire kindles and the tongue is a fire a world of iniquity the tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body and sets on fire the course of nature and it is set on fire by hell wow the tongue small and you know insignificant to many but how many wars how many world wars how many fights have started because of words because of words james chapter 3 9-10 says with it speaking of our tongue we bless our god and father and with it we curse men who have been made in the similitude or likeness of god out of the same mouth perceived blessing and cursing my brethren these things ought not to be so ought not to be so it is so easy to let words fly out of our mouths but they do great damage in our christian homes with our christian decorations amongst christian fellowship so i say how i want to ask the question how have you been speaking to you you too and about your spouse and about your kids your kids are about to go back into the battlefield of the school system are they going in confidently knowing that they have a support system people praying for them people who believe that god has a purpose for them that regardless of whatever you do do your best for the glory of god not to please me you have these kids but for only a moment they're not yours you steward them you manage them but they are not yours how many of them are going into class feeling like they're all by themselves because of words that have been spoken to them in haste and in anger we do great damage when we let our words fly it breaks relationships show me where the conflict is and you're sure to find self-centeredness in those relationships but when we truly value people and relationships like jesus did we realize that it is far better to be righteous than right i'll say that again it's better to be righteous which means right in the eyes of god than right in your own eyes let's look at verses two and three you lust than you do not have you murder and covet and cannot obtain you fight in war you do not have because you do not ask you ask and do not receive because you ask amiss that you may spend it on your pleasures james hits us with a series of you statements that should call all of us to self-examine these statements paint a picture of what it looks like when christians allow the world back into our lives first statement you lust and do not have what does it mean to lust it means to desire after strongly especially for that which is forbidden it is intense lust is so intense it's romanticized on the tv screen is it not i know i'm married to you but i just love you that's lust that's not love lust tells you to leave your commitments and go follow a feeling that's what lust is lust is short-lived never living up to the hype and after it's done here comes the guilt lust always leaves us empty-handed and desiring the next lust the next high the next experience matthew 5 27-28 says you have heard that it was said to those of old you shall not commit adultery but i say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her already has already committed adultery with her in his heart many of us can triumphantly say i've never cheated what about your heart though today you might be lusting you might have a fantasy world going on in your head about somebody at work listen god sees that and you're adulterous and you need to confess your adultery the reason why your marriage is in the way it should be is because there's something in your heart that's contaminating that relationship and it's bringing conflict get rid of the lust and you'll see a marriage that is more at peace more in love than ever before moves on it says you murder and covet and cannot obtain matthew 5 21 and 22 says you have heard it said that those of old you shall not murder and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment but i say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment and whoever says to his brother raqqa shall be in danger of the counsel but whoever says you fool shall be in danger of hell fire the words of jesus are clear not only does lust start in our hearts and is judged from the heart level so is our murderous intent many of us will never commit physical murder but in our hearts how many people have we picked off how many people have we criticized slighted or maybe you just get around them and get totally indifferent i'm not gonna hate them but i'm not gonna love them that's called indifference and it's still sin because we're called to love people not just tolerate them next he talks about coveting and coveting is a yearning to possess something that belongs to someone else it is a violation of the tenth commandment exodus 20 verse 17 says you shall not covet your neighbor's house nor your neighbor's wife male servant female servant ox donkey or anything that is your neighbors we all convicted right now anything how many times have you opened your door and looked at your neighbor and said man i wish i had that house man i wish i had that car man i wish i had that grass it's amazing you with your green thumb in our selfish attempts to crave and to get what we want whether it's a position a platform a relationship some shine glory or a claim have you murdered people in your heart with your mouth or is the desire for something that doesn't belong to you driving you to covet and feel as if god hasn't given you everything and isn't willing to give you more you see that's why coveting is so bad it's an indictment on god's providence it says god if you really were god i would have this and because i don't have this you're not a good god that's why coveting is so bad it makes god seem to be not god not good not the supplier of all your needs he gave you his son did he not what else will he withhold from you he moves on next to say you fight and you war fighting indicates a war of words a dispute among people a wrangling and warring is into is to engage in warfare it's pretty self-explanatory but the christians christians we have a war to fight yes we have enemies right the question is which war are we fighting ephesians 6 verse 12 says for we do not wrestle against flesh and blood but against principalities powers rulers of the darkness of this age against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places and in first timothy 6 12 the first part paul says fight the good fight of faith the question today is have you been fighting the right fight ladies and gentlemen there are a lot of causes you can go after in this world there are a lot of fights you can engage in the question is are you fighting the right fight the good fight the most important fight all of us can get involved in warfare and as disciples we should always count the cost because war is costly for all parties involved it's not just the winner that lost the loser has lost all parties have lost there are always casualties in war so the question is today what wars are you fighting with are you have you declared war against your ex-spouse have you declared war against a boss or a co-worker notice that whenever you engage in this kind of warfare there's losses on both sides so consider the the purpose of your warfare we are supposed to wrestle not against flesh and blood but against principalities and powers spiritually there are spirits that are motivating people to make the decisions that they're making and to do the things that they're doing and when you avoid that fight but want to fight in the flesh all you're going to do is tire yourself out and when the real fight comes will you have any strength to stand david knew this king david when the kings went out to battle in springtime because that was just the time to fight according to first samuel uh second samuel chapter 11 he should have been out there but instead he stayed home and then he got up on his roof and he saw a woman bathing the fight was on but because he wasn't out there fighting with the kings he let his guard down and he ended up murdering because of coveting interesting remember james is talking to jewish christians they knew this story well they knew the power of covetousness how it can lead to murder and all other sorts of sin the question is has the christian church been rendered ineffective because we've been entangled in other affairs of this life rather than the real fight second timothy two verse four says no one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier ladies and gentlemen when we see laws that are up that are exalting sin we don't lose any time those laws get passed you understand that right we never lose as long as we maintain our faithful stance on jesus christ a lot of us think elections are signs that we've lost ground we've lost ground when we stopped making disciples that's when we stopped losing when we when we started to lose ground why are all these shows out there and why does it seem like the enemy is winning it's because we stopped winning souls and making disciples and we started trying to win elections it's because we focused on the wrong fight anytime you win a soul especially if you win a father you win a household you win a household you win generations but no we'd rather get a vote sign a petition try to get a show taken off the air is that really what jesus put us here for i digress next you do not have because you do not ask oh when the heat of battle in your life raises often time we stop praying i want this thing so bad but yet the one thing you will do the one practice that will help you bring the things that you're looking for into your life you decide to stop doing that lord i have needs i have needs but i'm not going to pray to you though that it makes no sense often it's because the desires you have you know wouldn't pass god's scrutiny because he would nail you right away and say that request isn't of god so why pray james understands it's very practical listen god knows what you have need of and what about those that ask but do not receive because they ask amiss that they may spend it on your pleasures oh okay so you decided to pray but you still didn't obtain why because you asked amiss a miss means you asked with wrong intention with the intention to spend it on something evil or something selfish so either you don't pray or you do pray and when you pray you say god i want this all the while saying i want this for me i don't care about your glory i don't care care about your will for my life i don't care about how this is going to damage me i just want it it reminds me of the parable of the lost son or the prodigal son he wanted his inheritance now dad i know you're alive but i want what i would get when you're dead now and then i want to take it and squander it in prodigal or riotous wasteful living how often have you become frustrated in your prayer life because you didn't get what you wanted ladies and gentlemen i'm grateful for those no's i'm grateful for the times god did not give me what i wanted because it would have destroyed me what i was asking for was my own self-destruct sequence and god said no and i'm so grateful for the nose in my life because they were self-indulgent and he corrected my hunger for things and brought it back to him so analyze the prayers that you've been asking the requests that you've been making what's the real intent behind what you've been praying for i want my husband saved is it just to make your life better lord i want my kids to do well in school so that people don't think you're a bad parent what is the real intention behind your is it the saving of souls is it that the people around you will be everything god has designed them to be or is it everything to improve my life our life is just a vapor folks james goes on to make a startling accusation in verse four and five he says adulterers and adulteresses do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with god whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of god or do you think that the scripture says in vain the spirit who dwells in us yearns jealousy here we see him digging deeper as a great teacher teaching us that the craving and the desires that have gone unchecked in your life are there because the world has started to seep back into your heart you've become a friend of the world again remember the world destroyed you and left you barren and with nothing and you came to jesus and he gave you everything well now the reason why the conflict has returned is because you've become friends again with the world that you said no to so long ago and when our covetous desires aren't addressed they will cause us to commit spiritual adultery james chapter 1 verse 15 gives us the sinful gestation period it says when desire has conceived it gives birth to sin and sin when it is full grown brings forth death and what is death separation sin when left unchecked will separate you from god and from your brothers and sisters in christ all of a sudden i don't really feel like i need to go to church small group and educational class it's because sin has crept back into your life friendship with this world which is the world's system its beliefs and its values a world that celebrates sin when you become friends again with that world and those who serve this world god becomes your enemy ladies and gentlemen you do not want god to be your enemy you do not want to put a battle line between you and god it will not end well for you god is the only one that deserves the keys to your heart this is why this is why god says the spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously god wants our hearts and he wants to be the only one with the keys when we start to allow covetous selfish desires in our lives we begin to let someone else a friend the friendship of the world to share room in your heart and god will not have that because he's either god of all or he's not god at all ladies and gentlemen understand that this world system has no good will for your savior jesus the world will use jesus abuse jesus and even profit off of him off of him when they can but they will not glorify him they will not submit to him so why are you friends with it john 15 verses 18 through 19 says if the world hates you you know that it hated me before it hated you if you were of the world the world would love his own yet because you are not of the world but i chose you out of the world therefore the world hates you listen this world wants you to live according to your feelings your perspective but god has a greater perspective and greater truth there's no such thing as your truth there's either truth or it's a lie don't listen to what the world is telling you do not love the world in first john 2 verses 15-17 says do not love the world or the things in the world if anyone loves the world the love of the father is not in him for all that is in the world the lust of the flesh the lust of the eyes and the pride of life is not of the father but is of the world and the world is what passing away and the lust of it but he who does the will of god abides forever you know who's the most frustrated christian it's the christian that's trying to straddle the fence that's what the old saints used to call it straddling the fence i'm a christian but i moonlight with the world that only leads to frustration and conflict because when christians start to check you and say i haven't seen you or hey do you want to come out all of a sudden now you've got static with them problems why you checking up on me why are you in my business i thought we were believers that means we're one family one body you mean the hand can't check on the foot and then later on in your sinfulness you'll say they weren't there for me we were trying to be people we were trying to be mama calling you trying to figure out when was the last time you went to church she's trying to check on you she's not trying to get in your business because you need jesus because this world is what passing away and when you become friends of the world you will pass away along with it but those that do the will of god will abide forever but in verse six i love how verse six rescues us because even if we've been playing the harlot even if we've been allowing certain sins in our lives to to rule and reign it says but he gives more grace therefore he says god resists the proud but gives grace to the humble this is exciting for me because i've played the harlot many times in my sinful desires in my pride because deep down what it is it's your pride that has opened the door back again to this world and so if you would humble yourself the conflict would cease when you have a fight you have two willing combatants do you not you can't have a fight when one of them surrenders it's no longer a fight anymore the conflict that you're having with your spouse your kids your grandkids the in-laws whoever it is when one person surrenders and submits themselves to god the fight ends it's no longer a fight because you've decided i'm no longer going to fight you i'm going to bring god into this equation into this fight into this skirmish because he did not cause me call me to fight you i'm gonna fight the principalities i'm gonna fight the powers i'm gonna fight the things that are driving you but i'm not gonna fight you so i will gladly submit myself to god i will put down my weapons isn't that what jesus did in order to bring reconciliation between god and man who were at odds who hate one another listen i know your kid is cute and they are dressed up real nice and they smile and they gurgle but those little babies in them there's the sin nature it is the i want and i don't care about anybody else that nature is well in them give me my bottle give me my snacks give me my shows and i don't really care about anybody else you think that that changes just because they get older it just matures and we as adults know that but but when jesus saw the enmity between god a holy god and sinful man he could have left us in there so we would just be continuously headed to destruction but he came and said i'll humble myself i'm going to put on human flesh i'm going to be beaten and broken i'm going to take their sin even though i'm right and i'm righteous i'm both but i'm going to take it because this war will never end well they will be destroyed but instead i will humble myself even to death on the cross that's what it says in the verses thereafter our text therefore submit to god resist the devil and he will flee from you draw near to god and he will draw near to you cleanse your hands you sinners and purify your hearts you double-minded lament and mourn and weave let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom and verse 10 humble yourselves in the sight of the lord and he will lift you up we're getting ready to close so praise worship team could be can begin to come back up and the prayer leaders can come up but i just want to make this statement clear if you have been finding yourself constantly in conflict if you've been wrapped up in the conflicts of this world god wants to lift you up he wants to rot he wants to lift your head above the noise so that you can hear him clearly i don't know where the conflict is right now maybe you have a line drawn in the sand between you and god and you don't have a good relationship you're still on the receiving end of his judgment and his wrath if you want to become a friend of god if you want to end the conflict the warring between you and holy god you can do that today if you will humble yourself pride will keep you away from the lord he resists the prophet he gives grace a free gift is offered to you today if you will come forward no matter where the conflict is in your life the question is who will humble themselves before god first i suggest that since you're here listening to this message you should be the one to humble yourself maybe you're right but are you righteous today god wants to end the conflict god wants to end the noise and he wants to give you peace he is our prince of peace amen let's pray lord i thank you that lord though we live in a world where we will have tribulation trial and trouble you've provided a way for us to have peace not just peace with each other but peace with god and experiencing the peace of god i thank you for your son i thank you lord god that you sent him when we were we don't deserve such a great gift and you sent it so that we might be reconciled so that our relationship would no longer be adversarial but it could be familial where we can commune where we can enjoy you lord i pray for those that are in conflict right now with a fellow brother or sister in christ or with family members friends co-workers wherever the noise is i pray that they will come and bring the conflict to you and humble themselves you promise to lift us up and not resist us if we will come in humility i pray that we'll come and respond to your word and leave out in peace knowing that you've won the victory for us in jesus name amen there's still time for you to come forward don't leave here continuing to fight foolish battles the real battle the ultimate battle has already been won by christ come forward and leave in peace god bless you [Applause] [Music] you [Music] by your grace i live and breathe to worship you hallelujah [Music] jesus you have overcome no one [Music] must come [Music] shall be broken you overcome you overcome every high thing must come down every stronghold shall be broken shall be broken [Music] [Music] shall be broken if you wear the victim [Music] shall be broken [Music] lord you are in the business of pulling down strongholds you are in the business god of setting us a right lord that our minds be placed upon you so that we would engage in the right battle the battle is not with flesh and blood or with principalities and powers spiritual host of wickedness in high places so god help us to engage in right warfare to not look at our spouses and our family members our co-workers our bosses as the enemy but lord help us the right to fight with spiritual means lord that the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in god for the pulling down of those strongholds for the breaking of those chains [Music] and the biggest thing that needs to be broken is our own heart lord bring us before you in humility and in contrition so that we may see you exalted as you dole out grace upon grace forgive us god when we have not walked in such grace but now or with your word before us let it not only be in our heads and in our ears but lord let it seep into our hearts that we may live in such a way that we give you glory and honor your great name so until we meet again ever so bind therein in your spirit we pray in jesus name amen amen god bless you [Music] have a great week awesome message thank you for joining us today if you made a decision to follow jesus click the link we have a free gift we'd love to share with you as well as some information about next steps in your walk with jesus there's also a link if you simply want prayer or want to share some exciting news that god is doing in your life finally if you've been blessed by the ministry at calvary chapel newport news consider partnering with us financially you can click the giving link below or you can text calvary nn to 7797 your financial gift helps us to continue to reach the world with the gospel of jesus christ god bless you thank you for joining us and continue to reach up in around and out

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Length: 37min 31sec (2251 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 05 2021