3. (James 4:6-10) The solutions for strife: in humility, get right with God
But He gives 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 heart, 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.
In verse five, which we read last week, James says that God demands perfect allegiance and devotion from His people. How do we meet such a demanding standard? Are we ever perfectly devoted to anyone or anything? Fortunately, James makes it clear that our opportunity to remain devoted to God is a problem God is ready to solve on our behalf.
He gives a greater grace: God's grace is greater than our failures to remain devoted to Him. When the world begins to pull us away and entice us with one thing or another, God's grace strengthens us in the face of these trials. God's grace is sufficient to bring us through these challenging times. James explains how this works in verses 6-10.
God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble: God follows a simple, yet powerful principle. He frustrates the proud but gives his greater grace to the humble. If we resist his will, He will bring our resistance to futility. But, when we recognize we are weak and powerless, God steps in to strengthen us and to direct us to better choices in His grace. We can either push against Him, or we can lean on Him.
Paul expands on this concept in Philippians chapter two:
"Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name" (Philippians 2:5-9).
We are to follow Jesus' example, lowering ourselves in our own eyes. We are to accept that God's way is better than our own.
Submit therefore to God: James says the first step is to submit to God. Submission is the starting point of becoming humble. Submission is a heart attitude that leads to obedience. Failing to submit is the same thing as seeking after the world. We are not agreeing with God's priorities, standards and desires. We are not submitting to His decrees.
When we set aside what the world gives us as priorities, we take the first step toward submission to God. We set aside our personal ambitions, and we make God's ambitions our own ambitions.
In my own life, it seems the issue is mostly one of time. I make myself God's enemy when I set His will aside and pursue my own agenda. When I want to demonstrate submission, I give me time to those things God wants me to pursue...when I follow His will.
Where do we find God's will?
First and foremost, we find it in His word. When we read His word and heed it, we take the first step to submission. Finding God's will in His word is the context for the rest of verse 7.
Think about how the enemy works to undermine the lives of Christians. He distorts and twists God's word in order to cause doubt and to cause us to disregard God's word. He brings us to a point where we are willing to set aside God's decrees and pursue the world's decrees instead. Just as in the Garden of Eden when he brought Woman to a point of doubting God's word, so too we are deceived into believing the devil's lies. The key to overcoming the devil is to focus on God's word, which is the manifestation of His will for his children.
Resist the devil and he will flee from you: A better translation of the word rendered "resist" would be "to take a stand against". We are to take a stand against the devil's schemes by taking a stand against the worldly sources of wisdom. We are to take a stand by remaining in God's word and seeking the truth there. We are to take a stand by fighting against the enemy by knowing and following God's decrees and resisting any temptation to follow the world.
Taking a stand against the enemy is a step of preparation; it is not a strategy for battle. Armies fdo not prepare and train for combat while they are engaged with the enemy. They train before the battle. They work against one another in friendly combat. They study and practice their drills and review their orders so they will be ready for the day of combat.
Christians do not prepare for battles with the enemy by waiting until they are in a moment of combat. When we study our Bible, we practice righteousness and we encourage each other for the day of combat. And when we face the enemy well prepared to resist him, James says he will flee away from us.
Paul says the same thing in Ephesians chapter six:
"Finally, be strong in the Lord and in strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For 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 heavenly places. Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having everything, to stand firm" (Ephesians 6:10-13).
So James says quarrels in the body will end when we seek God's grace to overcome our wandering hearts. First we humble ourselves. Then we submit to God's will. Third, we take a stand against the enemy and his efforts to pull us back from following God's will and into the world's desires. Fourth, we draw near to God.
Draw near to God and He will draw near to you: The term "draw near" is a Jewish phrase which means to enter into worship. It comes from Leviticus where the nation of Israel is called to worship the Living God. We need to engage in regular, continual worship of God, drawing near to Him in corporate and personal worship. James is not talking about a place or an event necessarily. He is not saying, "Make sure you go to church on Sunday," though that would not be a wrong way to implement this command.
Worship is drawing near to God in our daily lives.We certainly want to join together periodically to allow for an outward expression of worship. But, never confuse this 60-90 minute event with worshiping God. Our weekly event is actually a training event that prepares us for the battles of our daily lives, where we truly worship God. The worship that takes place outside the building is much more significant than what happens inside.
When James says draw near to God, he is talking about establishing a daily pattern of worship similar to Romans 12:1-2:
"Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect" (Romans 12:1-2).
Draw near to God means patterning your life in a worshipful way, so that everything you do is an outward sign of worship. Paul said this style of living will be the opposite of conforming to this world. (This echoes James remarks.) Paul says it happens when we renew our minds so that we demonstrate the will of God. So, Paul gives us the same pattern James gives us--conform to God's will, which we come to know as we learn His word, and this enables us to enter into a life of worship.
Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your heart, you double-minded: People who draw near to God cleanse their hands and purify their hearts. This is another Levitical phrase which means to put aside both outward sinful acts and inward sinful thoughts. We are not to be double-minded or hypocritical. We are not to accept the pattern in ourselves of saying one thing and doing something else.
Be miserable and mourn and weep: "Miserable" in Greek means "in distress". We should not be happy or ambivalent over sin. We should mourn over it. We should be distressed over it. We should let the laughter and gaiety associated with worldly sinful living turn into repentance and sorrow.
Do not think that James is saying sinners have fun, and Christians are miserable. Rather, he is talking about a heart attitude which takes pleasure in the world, and takes joy in sin. This is enmity with God. Instead, we are to mourn over sin as God does. Do these things, James says, and we will humble ourselves before God, and God will exalt us.
You may not have noticed, but James has been teaching how to fulfill the first commandment of the Royal Low. Remember James is teaching how to live out our faith in actions rather than merely in words alone. And in chapter two, James says we are to speak and act as those who will be judged by the Royal Law. The Royal Law is this: Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength; and love your neighbor as yourself.
In chapter four, James says to these churches that they live in quarrels and disputes because they were not living according to the law of their faith. They were not loving God with all their heart, soul, mind and strength. And up to this point in the chapter, James has been describing how to live according to that first command. Now he turns to the second half of the Royal Law, the commandment to love our neighbor as our self.
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