Living Out Our Faith Submissively - James 4:10
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Introduction
Introduction
It has been a couple of week since we were in James. Last week, we, as a local church, has some business to address and so we spent last Sunday night do just that. When we were last in James, we studied James 4:9
9 Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness.
Now, this evening, we are turning to the last verse in this section or paragraph which is the next verse, James 4:10
10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.
Now, just for a moment, let’s go back and do a little review.
Already, we have covered the first section of this chapter that included verses 1-6. In those verses, the Holy Spirit emphasized a major spiritual problem all of us, as believers, deal with daily. It is our flesh and its lusts. Each day we battle our own flesh. There are three major enemies that we deal with constantly. They are the world, Satan, and the flesh. In this passage, the Holy Spirit is giving us vital information concerning our battle with the flesh. His warning is very clear. If we give in to the flesh and feed it, it will only grow bringing us to a point where we become God’s enemy. A place any sincere follower of Christ does not want to be. Thus, we are to rely on God’s help (His grace) by obedience to His instructions concerning overcoming the flesh. In other words, if you want victory of the flesh, you must do things God’s way. All of which leads us to section we are currently studying.
In this section, the Holy Spirit relays specific instructions for winning the battle against the flesh. It is His way.
7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
8 Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.
9 Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness.
Already, we learned that we must:
Submit - Arrange yourself under God’s control and authority.
Resist - Stand against anything related to Satan and this world (his realm).
Draw near - Hightail it to God.
Cleanse ourselves - Seek forgiveness and cleansing.
Be afflicted, mourn, and weep - Be serious about sin and its consequences.
Now, in our verse this evening, the Holy Spirit concludes this section with verse 10
10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.
There are two key verbs listed here. In fact, this verse is not very long, but full of important information. The two verbs are “humble yourselves” and “he shall lift…up.” Note that both are directed at us. We are instructed to perform an action and then, based on that action, God will do something for us.
The phrase “humble yourselves” is a single Greek word. It is used 14 times in 11 verses in the New Testament. In the King James, it is translated either as “abase (-d, -ing)” or as “humble (-eth).” It’s literal meaning is to make low or bring low.
The phrase “he shall lift…up” is also a single Greek word. It is used 20 times in 16 verses. It is translated either as “exalted” or “lift (-ed) up.” It means to lift up with the connotation of exalting someone or lifting another person up.
What is interesting about these two verbs is this! They are often used in conjunction with one another. I will give you a few examples of what I mean.
12 And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.
11 For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.
6 Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:
I believe there is an important correlation here that I hope to explore in just a minute.
Here are some things I learned as I was studying this passage.
What is the next step in overcoming the flesh?
Humble Yourself Before God
We must make ourselves low. That is something important that I took from this week’s study. It is not God that makes us low even though God has the ability to do so. No, He chooses to let us make the decision as to whether or not we are going to lower ourselves before Him. Not again our text along with its sister passages once again.
10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.
The subject is not stated here but understood because it is a command statement. Essentially, we know the subject is “you.”
James 4:10 (KJV 1900)
10 [YOU] Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.
Note the words of Matthew and Luke on the same subject.
12 And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.
11 For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.
14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.
6 Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:
In each case, the onus is on us to make ourselves lower than God.
Pride is a Dangerous Choice
Pride is a Dangerous Choice
The issue is pride. Pride is all about lifting ourselves above others. We fill our hearts with pride even to the point that we think and know better than God. It was pride that filled the heart of Satan. Satan used pride in his appeal to Eve as encouraged her to disobey God.
5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
Did you see the appeal to pride there? He suggested that she would be as “gods” knowing good and evil. It was an appeal to be like or better than God himself. From there, she easily succumbed to Satan’s advances giving into her own pride.
Now, God is saying to us the following. If you want to overcome the flesh, you must make yourself lower than me. In fact, you must make yourself the lowest of all people. In your own mind, you must become as nothing.
Go back with to the Luke 18:14 and note its context. I think there is valuable lesson there for us to learn concerning pride and humility.
9 And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others:
10 Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican.
11 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.
12 I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.
13 And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.
14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.
Note the attitude of the Pharisee. He was full of pride. As such, his trust was completely in himself. There is not mention of him humbling himself before God or even asking God to help overcome his pride. Instead, his focus is how grateful he is that he is not like others. In his own mind, he is a legend. He is bigger and better than others. If you look closely, you will note that five times he used the person pronoun “I.” Just this week as I was teaching in VBS, I reminded the kids that that word “sin” begins with a “s” and end with the letter “n.” What is the middle letter? It is the letter “I.” The moment we begin focusing on ourselves we place ourselves in a position to sin. O, by the way, the word “pride” also has the letter “I” in the middle as well. This Pharisee was a prideful and sinful man.
There is one other thing to note about this Pharisee. He compared himself with other men. Note he said, “I am not as other me are…even as this publican.” We place ourselves in great danger when we begin to compare ourselves with others.
12 Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.
The parallel passage to this in 2 Corinthians reads.
12 For we dare not make ourselves of the number, or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves: but they measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise.
Pride lifts us up. It says we are quite capable of standing on our own. Additionally, it leads us to think we are better than others which is a dangerous place.
The Bible is filled with warnings against pride.
18 Pride goeth before destruction, And an haughty spirit before a fall.
4 An high look, and a proud heart, And the plowing of the wicked, is sin.
16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
Instead of lifting up ourselves up and comparing ourselves with others, Christ taught that we must humble ourselves and focus on judging ourselves in light of His Word.
1 Judge not, that ye be not judged.
2 For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.
3 And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?
4 Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye?
5 Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye.
12 And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.
Humility is the Divinely Recommended Choice
Humility is the Divinely Recommended Choice
10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.
Remember it is a choice we make. God allows us to make such a decision.
We can give in to pride which will always lead us to sin. Sin wrecks relationships. It will even ruin a believer’s relationship with God.
Remember the words of James 4:4
4 Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.
Humility on the other hand is an effective weapon in overcoming the flesh.
If we will choose to low ourselves in submission and obedience of God and His Word, God will work in us and through us assisting us in battle against the flesh. He will help us not just in our battle with the flesh, but also in our fight with Satan and this world. God is able.
6 But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.
You might recall that I mentioned that Greek word for “humble” is also often translated “abased.” Abase has the idea of mortifying (putting to death) ourselves.
12 Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh.
13 For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.
Thus, we are to live in complete obedience to God. As we do, it is the Holy Spirit that mortifies (puts to death) the deeds of the body (the lusts of the flesh). So, it always comes back to this one simple action. We must put aside our wants, needs, and desires by totally making obedience to God’s Word the priority of our lives each day. That is how we “humble ourselves.” It is us making the choice to lower who we are and what we want so that God is lifted up and honored in all that we say or do.
Go back to the story of the Pharisee and the publican. Note now the publican.
13 And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.
There are three basic things this man knew and understood.
He was a sinner.
He was in need of mercy
He knew God was the only answer.
Everyday, we must know, understand, and live with the knowledge that we are indeed sinners. Sinners saved by grace, praise God, but still living with a sinful flesh. Thus, each day, we need mercy. I am glad that God is merciful.
22 It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.
23 They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.
Now, let me bring this full circle. The final step of instruction in this section is we must “humble ourselves” before God’s face. God knows and sees all things. He knows the struggles we face each day and each moment of each day. More than any person including ourselves, He understands the difficulties of our fight with the flesh. He wants to help and is more than capable of helping us. However, He is also looking to see if we are sincere in our efforts to fight the flesh. Thus, He is looking see if we are willing to:
Submit to Him,
Resist Satan’s Advances,
Draw Near to Him,
Clean up our act,
Be serious through affliction, mourning, and weeping about sin, and
Humble ourselves in His sight.
If He sees such a believer, there are number of dominoes that will fall.
Satan flees.
God draws near.
God lifts us up.
Conclusion
Conclusion
Let me take you back to the story of the publican and the pharisee. Note the last verse of that story.
14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.
Let me ask you a question? Who told this story? It was the Lord Jesus Christ. Who is Christ? Is He not God Himself? Thus, it was God, the Creator of the Universe, who noted “this man (the publican) went down to his house justified RATHER THAN the other.” Christ then concluded with the same principle we find in our text this evening. Those who humble themselves before Him are the ones that He lifts up. We make ourselves lower than Him as we live in submission to Him not so we might be praised by Him, but that He might be praised as we see Him work in our lives helping us overcome our flesh. It is then we begin to exhibit fruits reflective of the Holy Spirit working in our lives. Fruit that others will see leading them to conclude that God is indeed full of grace, mercy, and kindness.