Sermon Notes:

James 4:6-10

"Knowing Jesus Changes Humility"

"But He gives a greater grace. Therefore it says, "GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE."Submit therefore 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. Be miserable and mourn and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you."

• Can you fathom the greatness of God’s power?

• With a word He created all there is and with a word He raised Lazarus from the dead!

• The Israelites had been in Egypt for over 400 years and realized they could not escape by their own power so they humbled themselves and cried out to the Lord for deliverance.
• The opposite also proved true in the life of Pharaoh who was approached by Moses on several occasions with a command from the Lord to let His people go!  Pharaoh consistently rejected God’s command and hardened his heart against the Lord.  The Lord responded by sending 10 plagues on Egypt to show that He alone is the Lord.
• Is your attitude today one that puts you in the position to receive grace from God or one that sets you against God?
• James shows three ways we can empty ourselves of self-confidence and humble ourselves before the Lord.
• Submit to the Lord
• Draw near to the Lord
• Be broken over your sin

Humility is Knowing God is God and You are Not: Submit

• What is submission?              
• Placing yourself under God: He is the ultimate authority
• The question of what to do, how to feel, what to think are all answered with -what does God desire?
• This means obedience to Him in everything
• He has communicated to us His plan for our lives in His word
• Do you live by the word of God?
• Example: Abraham called to sacrifice his son Isaac   
• He rose early to do it
• He didn’t question God- He trusted Him
• Why?  He alone is God!
• He created us and therefore has rights over us
• He is the Creator- you are the creature
• Who is more qualified to say what is right and what we should do?
• He redeemed us by the blood of His Son Jesus and therefore He owns us
• Bought with a price- you belong to God
• How often do we submit in theory only?
• The pledge of allegiance says “one nation under God”
• Is our nation in submission to God?
• In policies and laws and judgments made is the defining question- “what does the Lord say about this in the Bible?”
• How often do we wear the title only- but in reality fail to live it out?
• How far does your obedience go?
• Will you do anything God says, or only what doesn’t interfere with your plans and desires?
• Do you submit only when it is comfortable and popular?
• Do you submit only when you agree with the Lord?
• If so, you are still the active authority in your life- you are living as if you are God!
• When you repent and submit to the Lord- you place yourself in the position to receive grace from Him to do what He has commanded!
• In this God gets the glory as the ultimate authority in your life

Humility is Knowing God is Strong and You are Not: Draw Near

• Drawing near to God – or seeking the Lord’s help through prayer is a humble thing
• Because… you are expressing your need for Him
• What do we need God’s strength to do?  What are we too weak to do?
• EVERYTHING!

• Resisting the devil’s temptations

• Jesus, who resisted the devil’s temptation will empower you
• Hebrews 4:15-16
• Wisdom

• James 1:5 But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him.

• Worry

• Philippians 4:6-7; Do not be anxious about anything…

• Strength for service

• John 15:5 "I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.
• When we fail to seek God’s help for these things we are demonstrated pride
• Thinking we can do it in our own strength!
• Pride replaces prayer- but prayer will replace pride
• One excuse to not praying is not enough time
• “I have too much to do not to pray”  Martin Luther
• As we draw near- notice the promise…
• God will draw near to you!
• He will come in great power to deliver and empower you!
• The very act of praying is a humbling thing because of how we are allowed to access the Lord
• The Lord is holy- and Psalm 24 says “who may ascend the hill of the Lord?  Those with clean hands and a pure heart”
• But notice that James is writing to people who have unclean hands and an impure heart-
• How will they be able to draw near?
• Hebrews 10 says “we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus”
• Jesus earns for us our access to God
• Every time we pray we are reminded that the only reason the Lord hears us is because of Jesus’ work in our place!

Humility is Knowing God is Good and You are Not: Be Broken

• James’ command to be miserable, mourn, and weep is an indication of the wickedness of our sin
• I don’t think many in this room would say they are perfect or that they are not a sinner
• The Bible says all have sinned…
• Only Jesus was perfect
• We are all sinners-
• But, we tend to think that we are good sinners
• That our sin is not that bad- at least not as bad as someone else’s
• But, James says we should be broken over our sinfulness, because it is extremely bad!
• Maybe we can agree that our sinfulness is very bad- but why should we mourn if Christ has paid for our sin and we are reconciled to God?
• Romans 3:23- says we fail to glorify God when we sin
• We fail to treasure, love, worship, and enjoy Jesus when we choose sin
• Our hearts should break because we are distracted from the One we should be consumed with
• Why do we need to be commanded to mourn over our sin…
• It seems odd that we are commanded
• Does a person who recently lost his spouse need to be told to mourn?
• Imagine someone watching the coverage of the Haiti or Chili earthquakes- they didn’t know their son was on vacation there
• Maybe they would be shocked, horrified, and even cry a little for the major loss- but what difference would it make if they discovered their son was there?
• The problem is we have a disconnect- we forget that WE sin against OUR God
• I was reminded of this Wednesday night- when we watched a scene from Passion of the Christ
• It was as if the Lord was saying “I endured this for YOUR sin!”
• It leads to repentance… we hate our sin and love our Lord
• Isaiah 6- Woe is me I am ruined- I am a man of unclean lips
• He is forgiven!
• It leads to joyful service
• Isaiah 6- who will go for us?  Here am I!  Send me!

• Why does God work mightily on behalf of those who are humble and set Himself against those who are proud?
• It goes back to verse 5- God is Jealous- meaning He does not share His glory with another- He is most passionate about one thing- Himself and His glory!
• When someone refuses to submit to Him, draw near to Him, and see themselves as basically good they arrogantly set themselves against the Lord- and so the Lord will work against them in such a way that all will see He alone is the Lord!
• But, when He uses His power to help someone who humbly submits to Him and draws near, and is broken- He is doing it for His glory!

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