Sermon Tone Analysis

All right, were still *teaching from* the *book of James*, so on a *pickup* here with *James chapter 4 verse 6*.

*I) *So *turn* with me *to* the verse *James 4:6*.

*A) **When this verse says*, *“God resisteth the proud,”* *the Word* *“RESISTETH”* *means*, *“TO DO BATTLE AGAINST.”*

*1) **Pride is something that a believer needs to stay away from.

It is a very dangerous thing*.

*As James puts it “GOD WILL DO BATTLE AGAINST* *OR BE AT WAR WITH THOSE WHO ARE PRIDEFUL.”*

*a) **In* *(Proverbs 16:18)* *it says, “Pride goeth before destruction.”*

*b) **And in* *(Proverbs 29:23)* *it says, “A man’s pride shall bring him low.”*

*c) *In (Proverbs 6:16-17) it says that seven things are an abomination to the Lord.

*(i) *The 1st one he lists is "A PROUD LOOK."

*(ii) *In the book of Leviticus those that commit and abomination shall be put to death.

*(iii) *Thank God we live under grace, but you can see the severity of pride.

*B) **But James goes on to say in (James 4:6), “But God giveth grace to the humble.”*

*1) **The reward to the humble* *is God’s Grace* *and that is* *God’s power*, *God’s might*, *God’s ability*, *and God’s anointing*.

*a) **When a believer truly walks in humility* (*the act of being humble*) *he has available to him all of heaven’s power and all of God’s blessings and promises*.

*b) *If you want more of God's anointing and God's power in your life then you have to stay humble.

*II) **James 4:7*.

*A) **1st of all* *James tells us to* *“Summit unto God.”*

The Word *“SUMMIT”* in that verse *means* *“TO RENDER OBEDIENCE.”*

*1) **This is a commitment* *that the Lord is asking of us*: *that we would walk in obedience to Him* *and to His Word*.

*2) **In the last half* *of this verse* *James says, “Resist the Devil and he will flee from you.”*

*a) **Before the Devil flees from you* *there are 2 things* *mentioned* *that we have to do 1st.*

*(i) **That’s how some Christians messed up in their Christian walk*.

*They don’t put 1st things 1st*.

*(ii) **They want the end result* *without following the prerequisite*.

*b) **James tells us in this verse* *1st** of all, “Summit to God.”* *2nd** he says*, *“Resist the Devil.”*

*Then and only then* *will the devil flee*.

*3) **When James uses the Word* *“RESIST”* *in verse 7*, the *Word "RESIST" means*, *“TAKE A STAND AGAINST.”*

*a) **The Devil isn’t going to flee* *just because you want him to*.

*(i) **James says you have to deliberately take a stand against him*, *without giving him anymore ground*.

*(ii) **And* *resist all of his works*.

*b) **When you’re obedient to the Word* of God *that’s when you start to reap the promises* from the Word.

*(i) **If you submit yourself to God* *and* *resist the enemy* *and* *his works*, *then the Devil and his demonic host has to flee from you*.

*(ii) **When we’re free* *from the demonic influence*, *then we can truly experience victory in our lives*.

*B) **James 4:8*.

*1) **In this verse* *he tells us to draw nigh unto God*.

*a) *But *in this same verse* *he tells us to “Cleanse our hands and purify our hearts.”*

*(i) **“CLEANSE”* *and* *“PURIFY”* *refers to* the *Jewish ceremonial cleansing*.

*b) **If we want to come into the presence of God*, *we have to make sure that we’re right with Him*.

*(i) **Before we come to the Lord*, *we should ask the Lord to forgive us of our sins* *and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.*

*2) **James also says* in this *verse “Draw nigh unto God and he will draw nigh unto you.”*

*a) **If we want more of God in our lives* *we have to draw nigh unto Him*.

*b) **And we do that* *by spending time in* *prayer*, *reading is Word*, *and by setting time aside to praise Him* *and* *worship Him*.

*c) **When we do* *we open the door* *for God to move in every area* *of our lives.*

*III) **James 4:9**.*

*A) *In this V *James is telling us* *that we should mourn over sin in our lives* *because it is a very serious thing*.

*1) **It separates us from God*, *and* also *hinders and many times* *stops the blessings of God* from flowing in our lives.

*B) **James 4:10*.

*1) **To humble ourselves before God* *means 1st of all, that we are not lifted up in pride* *and* *that we remain teachable*, *not arrogant*, *but have a modest opinion of ourselves*.

*a) **(Romans 12:3)* *Says*, *“For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.”*

*(i) **In that verse* *Paul clearly tells us* *that we should not think of ourselves* *as being better than the next person* *because* *God has given us all the same faith*.

*2) **Back in* *(James 4:10)* *James says* that *we are to humble ourselves*.

*a) **By him telling us to* *walk in HUMILITY and* *keep a teachable spirit* *means that it DOES NOT COME AUTOMATICALLY*.

*(i) **We have to keep working at it*. *And the more knowledge you get of the Word*, *the more education you get* *or* *the more money or things* *you have* *the more you have to work at being humble*.

*b) *Turn with me to *1 Peter 3:3-4*.

*(i) **PETER is saying* *don’t adorn yourself in such away* *that you’re purposely trying to look better than someone else does*.

*(ii) **Nice clothes is fine*, *jewelry is fine*, *but if your motives are to look better than someone else does*, *then you’re on the borderline of walking in pride*.

*c) **So Peter is saying don’t seek this great apparel* *and* *fine jewelry*, *but instead* *put on a meek and quiet spirit*.

*(i) **In other words*, *make every attempt to be humble*.

*3) *Turn back to *James 4:10*.

*a) **Notice that James says* *when you do humble yourselves* *the Lord will lift you up*.

*He will exalt you* *and bless you*.

*IV) **James 4:11-12*.

*A) **Right off the bat*, *James says that we should not be speaking evil of one another*.

*1) **That would include gossip*, *backbiting*, *and* *criticism*.

*2) **Speaking evil and criticizing another* *is actually placing you as their judge*.

And *by doing that* *you’re in danger of being judged*.

*B) **(Luke 6:37)* *Says*, *“Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven: (V 38) give in shall be given.”*

*1) **(Galatians 6:7)* *Says, “For whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap.”*

*a) **If you sow judgement* *than that is what you’re going to reap*.

*C) **But in* *(Galatians 6:8 and 9)* *it says, “He that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.

9 And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.”*

*1) *So *let us sow to the Spirit* *so that we can reap that everlasting life,* *and as Jesus said* *in (JOHN 10:10)* *not only will we have everlasting life* *but we’ll have the abundant life* *here and now*.

W. O. L. C. C. Thursday, May 14, 1998