Submission and Humility Before God

Transcript

GRM 725
3/25/2001
Submission and Humility Before God
James 4:7-10
Gil Rugh

James chapter 3 and into chapter 4. This is a section that some have taken is probably addressing unbelievers because some of what he has said is so strong. He's addressed the issue of friendship with the world, of spiritual adultery. It tells us that perhaps James is dealing with unbelievers here. I have no question that there could be unbelievers in the group that he is writing to. He's writing to Jews who have professed faith in Christ who are scattered throughout the world. Jews of the dispersion as he addressed them as he began the letter. However, he does deal with them as believers and that is clearly their profession. He calls them my brethren. He deals with their conduct and behavior, that saving faith is to manifest itself in a changed life. Faith without works is dead as he talked about in chapter 2.

I think the burden of his heart is the worldly behavior of those who are professing to be believers and anytime you have that, it becomes impossible ultimately for us to sort out the wheat from the chaff, the genuine from the false because the behavior begins to meld together. We have a believer who is living a life inconsistent with his profession of faith. Or do we have an unbeliever who is making a profession but has no genuine faith in his heart. That comes out in the section we've been looking at very clearly as well. We look through the first six verses of chapter 4 where he talked about the matter of their friendship with the world. But in verse 4 he called them adulteresses and addressed the matter very clearly there and that God is opposed to the proud. So, what takes place in the heart and life of a person who is religious and yet not functioning as they should arrogance and pride becomes a dominate characteristic of the life. What we call hypocrisy, and it becomes ugly because the mixture of professing a relationship with the living God, claiming to know Him and belong to Him and at the same time living in a manner that is more characteristic of the world than of a child of God. We are all embarrassed by that to one degree or another. You see who profess to know the Lord and yet their life is so clearly in conflict with that profession. We say it's an embarrassment to have them profess to be believers. We've all been embarrassed when genuine believers have gotten into the kinds of sin that have brought discredit. To use an Old Testament example that's so clear, David. David was mortified by his sin after it was over, and he looked back. Nathan the prophet told him you've given reason to the enemies of the Lord to speak further against the Lord. These kinds of things are an issue. I'm amazed in James' letter so early in the life of the Church--and James is usually viewed as one of the early New Testament letters - that we have such harshness in dealing with this kind of inconsistency. We see how quickly we can begin to drift and move away from the foundation that has been established in Jesus Christ.

The burning issue in this section, if we can select one thing, is the issue of pride, the failure to have a true humble attitude in heart and life. He had said in verse 6, "He gives a greater grace. Therefore, it says, God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble." Anytime we begin to function with arrogance and pride, we set ourselves up in conflict with God. But He also always gives abundant grace for every need for those who will truly walk in humility and submission to him. What's he's going to now picking up with verse 7, is demand that his readers change their selfish and proud ways. Put an end to that behavior that is contrary to the ways and will of God.

In verses 7 to 10 there are 10 specific commands given. These are commands, all arist imperative in the Greek text and that is a way to give a sharp, forceful command. Arist being the tense and the imperative means it's a command. There are ten of them in verses 7 to 10. You can see in these three short verses as we have it one after another, he commands them regarding what they are to do. You'll note in verse 7 submit, therefore. That word "therefore" builds it on what he has just been talking about, about the issue of their friendship with the world. The issue of God resists the proud and gives grace to the humble. Therefore, here's what you have to do and without elaboration on them, he speaks very directly about their responsibilities.

Verse 7, "Therefore, submit to God." That's the first command, submit. Submit to God and that really becomes the theme of verses 7 to 10. Let's talk about a life that really is lived in submission to God. That word translated "submit," it's a military word. It means to have yourself arranged under the authority of someone else. The picture is of an army in proper alignment to the commanding officer. Get yourself in line, submit yourself. Note here, he has to give a command to those who profess to be God's people to submit to God. Now obviously if you had talked to these people and said are you submissive to God, they would have said of course because they are people making a profession of a relationship with God, a relationship with Jesus Christ. Of course, we're submissive to Him. But James says that's not the case. The number one thing you have to do in light of your pride and arrogance and friendship with the world is submit, get yourself in proper relationship to God, living under His authority. The first command, submit to God. A reminder we can be resisting God's authority in our lives even as His people.

Second command, resist the Devil. He continues the military metaphor. This is another military word. That word "resist" means to stand against something or someone, to oppose them. It is used again in a military context of opposing the enemy, resisting the enemy, standing against the enemy. They are to take their stand against Satan who is the real enemy. Now you see what has happened as sin is allowed to infiltrate our lives and our thinking. We allow ourselves to be shaped by the world. Then we find ourselves in resistance to God and submission to the Devil and you note James is addressing these things. This is one of reasons I think he is addressing believers primarily as a personal responsibility. Ultimately, unregenerate people cannot submit to God, nor can they resist the Devil because they always do the will of their father, the Devil. I John 5 tells us the whole world lies in the Evil One, under his control and under his authority. The unregenerate person is of their father the Devil. But the people of God are responsible by the grace of God and the power of the indwelling Spirit to submit to God and stand in opposition to the Devil. This would have to do with the context he is talking about. Pride. Where is the issue of pride? Well, it comes from my sinful heart. It comes from the work and encouragement of the Devil and the influence of the world. The world, the flesh and the Devil all work to encourage my pride, the pride that Satan manifests so clearly when he said I will be God, I will be like the Most High and so on. Resist the Devil and he will flee from you. The promise assures the victory. You know two dangers. We should not underestimate the Devil, nor should we overestimate the Devil. Remember it's characteristic of false teachers according to the book of Jude that they treat the Devil with disrespect. Now we don't honor the Devil, but even Michael in contending with Lucifer had a proper respect there, recognition of the power and authority that he has. We don't underestimate the Devil but nor should we overestimate him like, boy, he is so powerful. What do we do? How do we handle the Devil? What do to deal with the Devil? You know, you turn on the television on certain religious programs and you have these fools parading around throwing out these statements like they are commanding the Devil. The Devil we forbid you to do this. The Devil we bind you in this. I don't find that is what is instructed for us as God's people today. Very simple. Stand against the Devil. That's an action we take. We don't have to start running our mouth as though we are going to tell the Devil what to do. That is underestimating the Devil. To think that I have the arrogance and pride that I can boss the Devil around. God never gave me that authority. I run around bossing the Devil around and act like I'm some child in a game here. I don't underestimate him but nor do I overestimate him. If I stand firm in opposition to him by God's grace and strength, he will leave. The picture is of an army that stands firm in the battle and what happens? The enemy ends up turning and taking flight. That's the picture here. This whole battle is based of course on the finished work of Christ and the defeat of the world, the flesh and the Devil that took place at Calvary. In John chapter 12 verse 31 Jesus said, “now the prince of this world is cast out,” as he faced his impending crucifixion and the defeat of the Devil. Hebrews 2 refers to that. We no longer live our lives in fear because of the defeat of the Devil.

Back to Ephesians chapter 6, one of the clearest sections on the spiritual battle we're involved with. We don't have time for the details on this right now, but just a reminder in Ephesians 6:10 Paul writes and says, "Finally be strong in the Lord, and in the strength of His might." Our strength, our power, our might comes from the Lord. "Put on the full armor of God, that you may be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil." That word "stand firm" becomes a key idea in this section. Stand firm, verse 11. The end of verse 13, "Having done everything to stand firm." The beginning of verse 14, "Stand firm therefore." We are in a battle; we are in a conflict. We stand firm unshakable, unmovable because we are prepared by the grace of God and the armor He's provided and the strength He gives. Verse 12, "Our struggle is not against flesh and blood but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenlies. Therefore, take up the full armor of God," the armor that God has provided for us and the way we approach the battle.
We are in a spiritual conflict and warfare. That has not declined because we've become believers. That's what puts us into that battle. Before we were in a battle, but we were in under the authority of Satan in battle against the Lord. By God's grace we were saved. Now we are to submit ourselves to the authority of our God, to resist the Devil and he will flee, and this is a serious battle. We are doing battle against spiritual forces in the heavenly places.

Turn over to I Peter just after the book of James. The book of I Peter chapter 5. You note the context again and you get the idea that one of the greatest tools of the Devil in dealing with God's people is our being pride. Pride. What's he says in verse 6, command three "Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God." Why? The verse we just read in James. "God is opposed to the proud but gives grace to the humble. Humble yourselves, therefore." Isn't it interesting James had to deal with that with God's people. Peter has to deal with it with God's people. We find it a reoccurring issue addressed in the letters of the New Testament. What? Pride. We'd like to think oh, we've come to know Jesus Christ as our Savior, we are now a humble people. We are to be a humble people, but nothing is such an effective tool of the Devil as he can so work on us. He has the flesh to work in concert with him. The world which is in his control to bring pride into our hearts. What does that do? That puts us in opposition to God. That makes us allies with Satan to that degree. As we've seen in James, what does it do? Quarrels, conflicts, divisions among you. So, we need to be very careful in examining our hearts. "He says humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God that he may exalt you at the proper time. Casting all your anxiety upon Him because He cares for you. Be of sober spirit. Be on the alert. Your adversary the Devil prowls about like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour. But resist him." Same word we have in James. "Resist the Devil and he will flee from you." Resist him firmly in your faith and what happens? In this battle the Devil brings suffering and trials, difficulties into our lives. The solution is what? Pride. Taking charge of the situation for myself? No. Casting myself upon the God who cares for me. Humbling myself before Him. Resisting and opposing the Devil and thus I have the victory in Him.

Come back to James. Submit, Resist. The fourth command Draw near, verse 8, “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.” This command seems to indicate clearly what has happened in this . . . You know, when we resist the will of the Lord. When I begin to allow pride and arrogance to get control of my life, my thinking, my actions, now I begin to resist the will of God. We can see this as we think of analogies in our families. Sometimes young people are in a position to what? They begin to set their will against their parents. We talk about even children that are very young, what? It's a battle of wills. As that child, even member of the family, proper role of submission to the parent, what? It's a test of the will now. That child's trying to move out of its proper position under the authority of the parent to assert himself. To take to himself the prerogatives that belong to the parent. That's what happens spiritually. I begin to assert myself pride and arrogance. Well, that puts me in conflict with God. That's right where the Devil wants me to be because that's where he is. He resists and opposes God's authority in his life. Sad that I would allow myself to become a tool that Satan would use. So, what have I done? I moved myself away from God in that sense. I've withdrawn if you will from that closeness of relationship with the Lord. He commands, Draw near to God. You know as I function that way my relationship, my walk with the Lord, the fellowship that I enjoy with Him is hindered. We talk about how there is a distance in our relationship. You know what happened? What does he say? The problem is not with God. He has not moved. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. What I have done is moved away from Him. The closeness of that relationship, the intimacy of that fellowship . . . Again, we see it in our families and husband and wife, parents and children, what? There's a distance. That's what happens when we are functioning in pride. We've stepped a couple of steps away from God. The command is draw near to God. What a wonderful command. Draw near to God. Move back into a right relationship and right fellowship with Him. He will draw near to you. Beautiful promise. It's not boy how am I going to get God to come back to me. If I'm His child, He's there. He's my Heavenly Father and His command is draw near to God and He will draw near to you.

Now what does that mean? That means I have to move away from the world. What I do when I have moved over to the world, I have moved away from God in that sense. As I become more involved with the world, I move away from the intimacy of my relationship with the Lord. Now I am commanded to draw near to God. What do I have to do? I have to move away from the world back to that relationship with the Lord. If I can use an analogy that is imperfect. But if it's as though a third party has come into a marriage relationship. Well, the marriage relationship is still there. Perhaps the involvement is not complete with that third party but what? You can't maintain it. What happens when that third party comes in? You begin to draw away from your partner, move to this other person. What has to be corrected? You have to move away from that third party so to speak back closer to the intimacy of right relationship with your spouse. That's the kind of picture here. Why they were called adulteresses in verse 4. Friendship with the world. This third party doesn't belong here. The command in that context is draw near to God. Move back into right relationship of intimacy with Him. We all know what it's like. What goes? That closeness of relationship. You know, I just don't enjoy being in the Word like I used to. Well, you know, my prayer life. I just find it hard to talk to God. Well, isn't that what happens when you've drawn away from that One who's close to you. There is a strain in the relationship. The communication begins to break down. Even that sense of closeness begins to be lost. So, the command here. Any wonder he has to give it after what he has said about them, their conduct and the influence of the world in their lives. Like Paul wrote to the Corinthians in II Corinthians 11 and said, "I have espoused you to one husband. I want to present you in purity to Him." I'm concerned. Same kind of picture. The picture keeps coming up and coming up in the Scripture. Well, James gives the command. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.

Fifth command in verse 8, "Cleanse your hands, you sinners." This is drawn from the ceremonial cleansing of the Old Testament. Exodus 30:19-21. Perhaps you ought to turn back there. Sometimes we just refer to these passages in the Old Testament but I'm aware we're perhaps not as familiar with them. Again, James is writing to the twelve tribes of the dispersion. These Jews are well familiar with the Old Testament background in some of these pictures. Exodus 30 verse 18, God's instructing Moses, "You make a laver of bronze." "You shall put it between the tent of meeting and the altar. You put water in it. And Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and their feet from it; when they enter the tent of meeting, they shall wash with water, that they may not die; when they approach the altar to minister." Verse 21, "So they shall wash their hands and feet.” You see that picture. You are going to draw near to God. Well, for these Jews they are familiar. What did Aaron have to do? Now we are privileged to draw near as believer priests. But we must come cleansed before the Lord. That ceremonial washing depicted the need to be cleansed from the defilement of the world. Obviously in Exodus they are dealing with saved people. We are talking about Aaron representing the people of Israel. But what? There was the defilement that came. Similar to the picture of Jesus washing the feet of the disciples from that daily defilement. So here what? "Cleanse your hands you sinners." That's a very strong word. It would often be used of unbelievers. But a reminder even of these believers. We are sinners redeemed by grace and God has made it possible . . . Don't misunderstand here. According to passages like Romans 6, for me to live a perfect sinless life every provision has been made that that would be possible in Christ. Now it never happens but it's not because of any failure in the provision of God. A failure comes from my unwillingness to live consistently with that provision that he has made. Here resistance and the defilement has become more abundant if you will in those that James is writing to so he tells them to cleans your hands, you sinners. You have been defiled. You are commanded to draw near to God but look you don't come without the cleansing. You know when we sing the hymn "Just As I Am Without One Plea," and that is true as we come to Him for salvation. We come just as we are. We can't clean up our lives and come to Him. But as God's people when we are called to Him and to extend. It's true also with any. What? There is repentance. When we deal with the unbeliever as they turn from their sin to come to the Lord. He is reminding even believers you cannot draw near to God and not cleanse yourself from your sin. Now I realize the cleansing comes from the Lord but in the picture here what? My willingness to be done with my sin, to wash my hands of it as we would say. Involved in drawing near to God is what? That willingness and desire to be done with my sin. I can't continue my friendship with the world. It would be like I have the third party in my marriage. I tell my wife how close . . . I want to get back together. I want have again more intimacy in our relationship. What about the third party? Well, let's not deal with that now. No, no, no. That's not possible to move back to the intimacy of the relationship without dealing with the other. I can't maintain my friendship with the world and draw near to God. I have to cleanse my hands. That's the picture.

"Purify your hearts you double-minded." Sixth command. The inner cleansing and purity. The hands referring to or picturing what we do, our actions, behavior. Our hearts, the affection of our hearts, the desires, the thoughts - they have to be cleansed as well. God requires us of His children. Then again to just draw the picture of the marriage relationship. We want what? Not just external actions on the part of our spouse. We want the commitment of their heart and mind to us. We want the actions to come out of the heart. It's empty if they just start going through the routine. There's something ugly. But their heart is filled with love and affection for the third party. I come to them and say OK, I've stopped doing that. But in my heart and mind where is my affection? Where is my love? Oh, it's still with the world. No, God wants my heart as well as my action. It's not either/or. It's both/and.

He calls them double-minded literally two-souled. Back in chapter 1 of James verse 8 and verse 7. The context is asking God. Verse 6, "Let him ask in faith without doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, being a double-minded man," literally a two-souled man. Same expression we have over in chapter 4. Two souls. Double-minded gives the idea. Divided on the inside. Like we talk about a divided heart. James is under the direction of the Spirit frustrated. Like Moses as the representative of the Lord when he came down from the mountain and broke the stone tablets he had received from the Lord and anger and frustration over the sinfulness of the people. Here you sense James' anger and frustration with these people who were divided in heart and mind in their allegiance. Yes, I'm committed to the Lord, but I can't let go of the world. Yes, I'm committed to my wife or my husband, but I can't let go of my lover. You say get serious. That's ugly. That's where James is in this spiritual matter. You double-minded, two-souled people. To think you can divide your affection between the world and the Lord. You need to get your heart purified.

II Corinthians chapter 7. It's really the end of chapter 6 and the first verse of chapter 7 connects to the end of chapter 6 more than what it does with what follows in chapter 7. In verse 14 of chapter 6 of II Corinthians instructions were given, "Do not be bound together with unbelievers." They had a problem here. Divided affections again in involvement with the world and the people of the world. "What partnership has righteousness and lawlessness, light and darkness? Christ and Belial, a believer and an unbeliever, the temple of God with idols" and so on. "Come out from among them." Drawing from the Old Testament as well. God's standard and demand for His people have always been the same. Verse 1 of chapter 7, "Therefore, having these promises. Beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit." Same idea. Cleanse your hands, purify your hearts. Defilement of flesh and spirit. What you do and what goes on in your heart and mind. Here he is writing to believers. "Beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all this defilement." God intends for us to be a separated people. It's appalling to me in some of the reading I've been doing lately. In what is called the evangelical church today. They don't want to be known as Fundamentalists because Fundamentalists were known as being separatists and they don't like that concept. But God calls His people to be separatists, to be separate from the world in flesh and spirit. In that sense I am a Fundamentalist. I am a separatist. James is calling the people of God to be separate from the world as Paul called the Corinthians. Now what do we have? Runs through the New Testament what this emphasizes. Cleanse yourselves. Perfecting holiness in the fear of the Lord. That proper reverential fear of the Lord. Perfecting holiness in that context. Same thing James is talking about. Submit to God. Paul says what? Have the fear of the Lord and that perfecting holiness takes place in that context. That cleansing of the flesh and the Spirit, and you note, cleanse ourselves. Now Paul's well aware that true cleansing comes through the blood of Christ. That's an ongoing work He does. But James is dealing with what? Our responsibility. I have a responsibility to stop sin. I have a responsibility before God to control the allegiance of my heart and mind to see that it is devoted to Christ and Christ alone. That proper reverence and fear.

Come back to James chapter 4. Verse 9, there's three commands, seven and eight and nine; and they go together. "Be miserable and mourn and weep." May stress the agony and misery that ought to characterize those who have been unfaithful to God. We talked about this in our study of repentance in connection with the book of Acts. We looked in Paul's letter of the Corinthians. We won't go back there again. But there is the sorrow of the world and that accomplishes nothing. But godly sorrow produces repentance, genuine change. So here the context and we see this in a variety of settings: Jesus in the Beatitudes. Blessed are those who mourn. What are Christians just to be unhappy, miserable people? No. But sin is to be a grief to our hearts. It's to cause us agony and pain, misery and that I, one who has been redeemed and cleansed by the living God, at the price of His Son, would willfully indulge myself in sin. That ought to cause me great grief. We see this reflected in David in Psalm 51, Psalm 34, written after he's confronted by Nathan the prophet and the awfulness and ugliness of his sin overwhelms him. Then he is miserable. He mourns. He weeps. That lack of sensitivity to sin and ugly as it is; we in our pride and arrogance can think it's a matter of maturity. That we sin but I understand that the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin and how I allow my pride and arrogance to bring me into a position of somewhat hardness and indifference to sin. I use the truth of Scripture in a twisted way that I become proud that I am not so moved by my sin anymore as though my sin was not so serious because I know Christ takes care of it. That's an indication of a heart hardened to the Lord, a heart that has moved away from that closeness of relationship to Him. These who have become friends with the Lord, they need to be miserable, to mourn, to weep, that sensitivity to sin. We've had several from our fellowship to be called into the presence of the Lord in recent days. That causes me to go back and read about the lives of some of the great saints in the past and what we may call maybe their deathbed experiences. I'm a person who likes to read the closing chapter of books and when I read a biography, I usually read the last chapter to see how they died before I start the book and then I know where I'm going and how it ends. I find often the case, and this is true of Old Testament or older saints of bygone generations as is true today, there often is a heighten awareness of sin. You find some of the greatest saints of God what? Going through a time of concern even about their salvation, a heightened awareness of how sinful they are, how unworthy they are. What you have is what? That awareness as they draw closer to the Lord in anticipation of the glory of His presence, there is a heightened awareness of sin, of their own unworthiness. You'll find often them calling for portions of Scripture to be read or other things as they reflect on their own lives and their own situations. Really that kind of sensitivity should characterize us all the time. That how awful sin is, and this is an offense against God. "Be miserable and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy to gloom." You know it's sad the church can be so happy, so frivolous, so light, when it has become so much like the world. That progressive deadness in our sensitivity to sin. That we accept as OK those things that at one time would be abhorrent. How everyone does it. It's a different day. Is God any different? Is His attitude toward sin any different. We come to moral issues. That fact that Hebrews was written 2000 years ago does that mean that since Hebrews said God will punish adulators and fornicators, but it has become so acceptable today, God's probably changed His mind and now knows that's not so serious. Why are the things that are a grief to God, that are a violation of His righteousness and holiness not the same to me. God has not changed. You know what happened? We get more like the world. We become indifferent to sin, and it doesn't bother us like it did. The more like the Church becomes like the world, what? The more comfortable we become with the world. As one writer wrote, look where the world is today and ten years from now you know where the Church will be. Well, we've condensed that now. It doesn't take ten years. Well, you know, it's just the way things are. You can't go upstream all the time. I find I serve a God that is unchanging, and I am to be like Him.

So let your laughter be turned to mourning. We need to be careful. Sin deadened and hardened. It makes us callous. Here they can be laughing and enjoying themselves. James says you ought to be overwhelmed with grief at the seriousness and awfulness of your sin. Your joy turned to gloom.

One more command, ten. Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord and He will exalt you. Humble yourselves. That ties back to verse 6, "God is opposed to the proud but gives grace to the humble." So, the command submit yourself, arrange yourself under the authority of God. Now humble yourselves. I mean who am I, what am I? He is God. You know I can never lose that sense of the transcendence of God. Remember we talked about the transcendence of God and the imminence of God. The imminence of God is His closeness and involvement with us. The transcendence of God is He is always God, and we are always the creation; and there is that balance. How wonderful it is He calls me to draw near to Him and He will draw near to me. But He is God. I am not. That sense of reverential fear and awe must never be lost.

I must humble myself, and you note the personal responsibility. All ten of these are commands given to us, indicating our responsibility to do them. "Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord." Now should I even have to be commanded to do that. What else would I do in the presence of the Almighty, all-sovereign God? Yet the Spirit of God has to direct James to give the command, "Humble yourselves in the presence of God." You see how terrible our pride becomes. I have to be commanded to humble myself in the presence of God. One who claims to know that He is God, who tells others that He is God. Now the Spirit of God has to command me to humble myself in the presence of God. We see how deceptive and ugly our sin becomes. We need to be careful that we put this command into practice. Humble yourself in the presence of God. Don't forget who He is and who you are.

"And He will exalt you." I mean isn't that amazing. Do I think God's keeping me under His thumb. That's not the picture. As I humble myself before Him, He exalts me. That's the proper kind of exaltation and honor. Not what I give or take to myself, but what Almighty God does in exalting me as the one who walks humbly before Him in obedience to Him with complete allegiance of heart and mind and action to Him. He walks in such a close relationship that even the little sins cause me to mourn and grieve. They do take away the joy of my heart. I cannot enjoy my life when there's sin in it. It's a grief to me. David said, "Restore to me the joy of my salvation." Lost in sin. Humble yourself under the hand of God. God whatever Your will is I'm walking in obedience to You. Your ways are acceptable to me, Lord. What You do I accept gladly. That's what we're talking about humbling here. What You’re doing with others is between You and them, Lord. My life is lived in obedience to You and God will exalt you. I say well I've been waiting. I've been pretty humble, but I haven't been exalted. Well, if that's where I am in my thinking, I'm not near as humble as I think I am. You know I find that I'm constantly battling with that issue, to humble myself. We all battle with it and the Devil is there to find reasons why we should think more highly of ourselves. As we've seen in the context of James, quarrels and battles and conflicts come. Why? We don't humble ourselves. We assert ourselves and we're really in conflict with God. The issue comes back to humble yourselves before God and He will exalt you.

Ten simple direct commands. They are necessary and essential if we are to walk in intimacy with the Lord. They must be obeyed to preserve the purity of the affection of our heart to the Lord. Are we a worldly church? Are you a worldly person? Are you a Christian? That's the first thing to be resolved but even as a child of God where is the affection of your heart demonstrated in the way that we live. May God help us to put these things into practice by His Spirit. Let's pray together.

Thank you, Lord, for the grace of all Your provision for us in Christ. Thank you for calling us to Yourself, for cleansing us and making us new. But Lord we are reminded of the deceptiveness of sin, of the Devil and of the world. Lord, it is disturbing to see those who claim to be Your people have to be rebuked so strongly. Yet Lord if we are honest and examine ourselves, we are so often so much just like them. So easy for us to be allured by the world, to find it attractive, to allow the Devil to have an influence in our lives, to find ourselves resisting You when we should submit to You and resist the Devil. Lord, by Your grace may we individually and as a Church take these commands to heart, examine ourselves personally before You and respond as James' readers 2000 years ago were called to respond and as we as Your people are called to respond as well. Thank you for the privilege and the call to walk in intimacy and purity of relationship with You and we pray in Christ's name, amen.