Volcanic Passions
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· 3 viewsWhen believers are not walking by the Spirit they will have wicked passions that war within. When they are frustrated they will act out - they will even ask God to put His blessing on their evil. So we are to be peacemakers and lovers by His Spirit.
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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.
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On the Island of Sumbawa, Indonesia (if you are fuzzy on your geography - it is a bit northwest of Australia, south of the Philippines) lies an active volcano named Mount Tambora.
Now you guys know that I’m into history and nature - and so I was watching some show about natures most devastating events in history and Mount Tambora made IDK…like the top 5. What caught my eye was that Mount Tambora in 1885 it’s explosion is still to this day the largest ever recorded by humans. It was a 7 on the Volcanic Explosion Index. Which means they look at the amount of lava, the height of the ash cloud, and distance traveled are some of the factors that go into ranking explosions.
Well, back to Tambora. In 1885 it erupted killing an around 71,000 people - think of about 11.6 Iowa Parks being destroyed - and the eruption was so loud it was heard on Sumatra Island (a bit north west of Sumbawa). That’s 1200 miles away.
A few years ago we took a trip to Logan Utah (or that general area) - that was 1150 miles away. It would be like a sound emitting here and being heard there. The point- this eruption was massive. It was devastating to the people of Sumbawa.
Transition: you know the thing about volcanoes is, from the surface, until they are on the brink of an eruption they look peaceful. We climb them and take selfies with Mount Saint Helens in the background. Without all our technical advances we wouldn’t be able to know things like underneath Yellowstone (the super volcano) there is enough lava to fill the Grand Canyon 11 times. And the reality is fights within the body of God’s people - within the church - work a lot like volcanoes. On the surface things look nice for a season, a period of time, but then the smoke begins to rise and eruption. And James here in chapter 4 gives us insight into where fighting and quarreling in the church comes from.
Volcanic Passions
Volcanic Passions
1 What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you?
So James asks: within the church (remember he is writing to the church - authentic followers of Christ) and he says within the church what causes fights and quarrels? What is the source? Where does it spring from? Remember that person you gossiped about earlier this week, where did that come from?
Because, let’s be honest. There is strife and backbiting and fighting within the church - it’s not just in Cleveland in January. So I get calls regularly from parents who ask me things like - well, my little Johnny doesn’t get along with Tommy over there so I’d really like it if they can ride on separate buses and sleep in different dorms. You would not believe how often I receive those calls on the brink of retreats, camps and mission trips. Anyways, I remember back years ago we had two boy students that couldn’t get along - they fought, they pushed, they “hated” each other - so, you know what we did? We made them sit next to each other on a 10 hour ride to Camp Zephyr.
I share that because there is fighting within God’s people. There are quarrels. And where do they come from? Our volcanic passions. That’s what James says “is it not this, that your passions are at war within you?”
Did you know, even as believers in Christ, we don’t always have the best motives for doing the things we do?
We have these passions within, these desires within that war against the Spirit who lives within us.
Haven’t we all felt this war within?
We know what God desires for us, if we are in His word, but the pulls of this world and the desires of this life - well, they capture our heart and we have this divided desire within.
Do you remember the parable of the seed in the gospel of Ma
This is where Satan can do great harm, because he can take good things - and make them god things - idols.
This where Satan can do great harm, because he can take good things - and make them god things - idols.
Application: For instance, money. Guys, the stock market is killing it right now. Any adults in here that have 401k’s, 403b’s, IRA, or other investments are happy about last year, and this January for sure. And money - is neutral - it is not bad or good - the love of it is the root of all sorts of evil. So, you can begin saving so that you can provide and protect your family, but Satan can take something good like saving for a rainy day and being prepared for the season of life in which you won’t be able to have a formal job and make it a god-thing. Where you obsess over it. Where you put your security and faith in it. It directs your happiness, not God.
And in relation to this passage what are these volcanic emotions that war within us produce? What type of ash cloud are these volcanic, evil, divided passions erupting up in us and in the church?
Frustrated Passions
Frustrated Passions
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.
What we see here simply is that when our evil desires are frustrated, like when we don’t get what we sinfully want - we act out in sinful, harmful ways. Now James gets hardcore real quick - he goes straight to murder. Like I took a stroll through the Station this morning to make sure things were in place and I didn’t see any bodies that Audra may have hid. Right?
But what were they desiring? What causes this type of strife in the church - fights and quarrels, disorder and dissension?
Apparently, when we connect this passage with what we looked at last week - it is those who are desiring control within the church, but have false, not true wisdom.
There are people within the body, maybe even within this room, that have volcanic passions that are at war within them - they want control, they want to call the shots - and how do you know if these desires come from Christ and His Spirit or from satan? Well, what are produced from these desire? Do your desires cause you to lift others up and encourage them, do your desires cause you to pray for our student ministry, me, our pastors, our church or our deacon body? Or, do they cause you to stir up trouble? Do your volcanic passions within cause you to act out selfishly and sinfully?
Application: this applies within your teams and extra curricula's too. On your team, do you love and honor your coach, or honestly, do you think you could do better? Does your zeal for winning cause you to be a team player - or are you about numero uno?
Look back at :
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.
“You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel,” so we see when our evil desires are not fulfilled within the body - we act out. But, it ends with “you do not have, because you do not ask,” truthfully, as believers who experience these wicked desires we don’t ask him for true wisdom, we don’t ask him to give us His wisdom, because - we don’t want it. We don’t want to be met with the truths of Scripture. We don’t want our sinful desires to be challenged. We don’t want to lay down our selfish weapons. We don’t ask for true wisdom, which would be medicine for our wicked desires, because honestly that’s not what we want.
A Wicked Asking
A Wicked Asking
Rather, look at (v.3).
3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.
So we do ask God, but we ask for things that are not of Him or His will. They don’t line up with Scripture, these requests don’t follow His heart, and these request don’t hope for God’s name to be glorified. Honestly, we are attempting to use God as a cosmic Santa to get our evil ways.
So, if you ever feel the smoke beginning to rise within the church, you feel the tremor of a coming volcanic eruption, you sense trouble in the water - know this, those things come from the wickedness within our own hearts.
We, even as believers, have these wicked and evil desires.
Closing application: So what are we to do in response to this type of passage?
We know that fights and quarrels within the church come from our evil, volcanic passions. And when those passions are frustrated, when we don’t get what we really, sinfully want we act out - to the harm of God’s people. We don’t ask God for a united heart to follow Him and to hear His wisdom, rather, we tend to ask for sinful things to stroke our ego and to attain our sinful wishes.
What are we to do in response?
Look back at (v.18) of chapter 3.
18 And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.
We are to be peacemakers or peace lovers.
We are to be peacemakers or peace lovers. We are to seek the good of others and the glory of God in all our actions. You are to be spiritual lovers of peace. Call out those volcanic passions within your own heart - by the power of God’s Spirit, and then help others who you feel are walking down that path. This means you may need an older, wiser Christian in your life to help you manage these eruptive passions. This means you will need to be open with someone of your sex - ask them to hold you accountable, ask them to walk beside you.
Look Mount Tambora destroyed 71,000 people. It was a 7 on the scale. Let’s be a people who, fight, by the Spirit, to have extinct evil passions. Let’s fight for the good of our body our group. Let’s be authentic in this community. It won’t be easy. It will take courage and humility. It will take honesty. But, it’s God’s design for us and how we relate with one another.
So, will you be a peace-lover in this church or will you allow your volcanic passions take you to eruptive sinfulness?
Pray