“From whence come wars and fightings among you? Come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members?” James 4:1
With regard to wars, the Apostle James is very clear on the subject. There is a source of them, and it is in the sinful heart of man. On the one hand, the greatest reason for the tongue’s existence is to bless, and worship God, in Spirit and truth. Second to that purpose is the blessing of others by the communication of that which is good and wholesome, uplifting and encouraging, loving and inspiriing. However, when the sinful heart of man is free to express its thoughts and desires, then there is conflict, first with God and then with the fellowman. In this epic battle or conflict with regard to what comes out of one’s mouth, the words of one’s lips, the evidence of spiritual maturity and Christlikeness is the control of the tongue, it being brought under the control of the Spirit of God. An example of this is the prophet Isaiah. As a result of his vision of God that we read about in chapter six of the book of Isaiah, we discover that he was convicted specifically of having “unclean lips,” dwelling in the midst of a people who had unclean lips. What did the unclean, sinful lips reveal? The Lord Jesus declared: “…out of the abundance of the heart, the mounth speaketh.” (Matt.12:34) Isaiah, before being cleansed and delivered from the uncleanness of his communication, with God as well as with men, was simply expressing words which reflected faithless, unrighteous thoughts and concepts, which were in opposition to God, for they did not conform to His holy character. God alone could remedy this situation by the cleansing, and removal of Isaiah’s iniquity, but also in dealing with a heart that was acting independently of God. If God was to find the messenger that would communicate accurately to God’s people the great truths of the Gospel, and the good news of the glory of God revealed unto men, then He must have Isaiah’s surrendered to HIs authority. Then He would give to Isaiah His words, and power, to speak them. But how is the tongue, and sinful heart, to be associated with the raging of wars among men?
James tells us in chapter three of his book that, “…the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell.” (3:6) The Scriptures reveal to us that wars begin in the sinful heart. The conflicts are first with God, and then, to a lesser extent, with men. The expression of those conflicts are often the words which come out of one’s mouth. Again, on one hand, we bless God with words. These words are accepted when they are in truth, and said by the Spirit. On the other hand, to speak out of the well of our sinful heart is unrighteous, thus being sinful. Where there is the domination of sin and selfishness in the heart, there will be the expression of it by one’s words. Herein lies the beginnings and means of wars between men, by the words of the mouth, spreading lies and conflicting godless persuasions, imposing them upon others. Though the Lord Jesus was in conflict with the world while He walked this earth, it is very apparent that His words were always very carefully chosen. Surrounded by His enemies who were always seeking to catch Him in what He said, the Lord always spoke the truth in love, sometimes very forcefully, but always with the intent of seeking the lost to save, and delivering those around Him from the crippling work of Satan’s bondage to his lies.
What then makes for peace? When the life is founded upon the sole foundation of Christ, and then aligned with Him the cornerstone, then the Spirit of peace is given by the Father, a peace that passes all understanding.
Dear Father, Give us Thy peace. In Jesus’ name, Amen.