And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.
James 3:18 ESV
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1 What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? 2 You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. 3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. 4 You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God?
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Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. 5 Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us”? 6 But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”
James 4:1-6 ESV
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The Cause of Conflict in the Church
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What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you?
James 4:1 ESV
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“_Your passions_” = the root of carnality, un-surrendered rebellion.
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A person not at peace with yourself can not be at peace with _others_.
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At the heart of personal and even church problems is the problem of our _hearts_.
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“Passions/ Pleasures/ Desires/ Selfish cravings/ Lusts”
++”Hedonon” = Hedonism: The self-centered pursuit of selfish and sensual pleasure….If it feels good, do it!
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And as for what fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature.
Luke 8:14 ESV
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The Characteristics of Conflict in the Church
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2 You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. 3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.
James 4:2-3
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_Unsatisfied pleasure_- “You desire and you do not have”
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_Uncontrolled passion_- “You murder. You covet and cannot obtain.”
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_Untapped potential_- “You fight and quarrel. You do not have because you do not ask.”
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_Unanswered prayer_- “You ask and do not receive because you ask wrongly (amiss).”
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Principles of Prayers Answered:
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Ask in faith
++But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.
James 1:6 ESV
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Ask in Jesus name
++Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.
John 16:24 ESV
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Pray according to God’s will
++And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us.
I John 5:14 ESV
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Right relationship with others
++Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered.
I Peter 3:7 ESV
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No unconfessed sin
++If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.
Psalm 66:18 ESV
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The Consequences of Conflict in the Church
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4 You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. 5 Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, ” He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us”?
James 4: 4-5 ESV
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Friendship with the world _destroys our fellowship with God_.
++V.4 You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
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No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”
Luke 16:13 ESV
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Friendship with the world _denies our faith in God’s Word_.
V.5 Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us”?
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The Cure of Conflict in the Church
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V.6 But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”
_Grace_.