James 4:1-10

1: What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you? Is not the source your pleasures that wage war in your members?
2: You lust and do not have; so you commit murder. You are envious 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 with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures. 
4: You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. 
5: Or do you think that the Scripture speaks to no purpose: “He jealously desires the Spirit which He has made to dwell in us”? 
6: But He gives a greater grace. Therefore it says, “GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE.” 
7: Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. 
8: Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 
9: Be miserable and mourn and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy to gloom. 10: Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you.

 *** 

James just spoke of the righteous wise being peacemakers and asked the question here—What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you. It was not for righteous causes, but it was their ungodly pleasures and lusts which not only caused strife between each other, but inner turmoil within each one as well.

Yet, he said, they didn't have what they wanted because they didn’t ask. Gain through fighting is not the answer, prayer is the answer. But even if they did ask in prayer, and didn’t receive what they wanted, it was because they were asking with wrong motives. They were asking for God to help them further spend what He gave them on their own personal pleasures. As he said in James 3:14-16, jealousy and selfish ambition bring disorder and every evil thing. God will not promote that.

James rebuked them, calling them adulteresses as they were unfaithful, even hostile, toward God by their friendship with the world and seeking to fulfil their worldly lusts and pleasures. Whoever desires those things makes himself an enemy of God.

James referenced Scripture, not any one in particular, but the thought from Scripture that God is jealous for us. He has placed His Spirit in us and is jealous when we are unfaithful to Him. We are His bride, and He longs for us. The commentary from Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges says this, "The Spirit which He implanted yearns tenderly over us."1 James quoted Proverbs 3:34 which says that God is opposed to the proud (He scoffs at the scoffers) but gives grace to the humble (afflicted). 

Finally, James told them what to do in response to his rebuke. Submit to God and resist the devil. When we resist the devil, he will flee. He must. You have the authority of heaven, in the Name of Jesus, backing you when you resist the devil and his evil lures. Draw near to God, cleanse your hands, and purify your hearts. Though Jesus has made the way for us to be born-again and approach the Father, we must take the steps to do so. James continued by saying to be miserable, mourn and weep. He exhorted them to humble themselves before the Lord. 

Don’t take lightly dabbling in the world’s pleasures. They are nothing to laugh or rejoice about. Don’t seek to gain recognition, position, and wealth. Humble yourselves and let Him exalt you if and when that is to happen.

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