Humble Yourself
Notes
Transcript
James has very much been a book pairs. There have been two kinds of wisdom - wisdom from above, wisdom from below, two kinds of religion - worthless religion and pure and undefiled religion. Two kinds of faith: working faith and dead faith.
And although he does not state it explicitly here - I will argue that in the application of this text there needs to be two kinds of humility.
Humility before God. Humility before Man.
In this text that we are looking at today we will see that James demonstrates the need for Christian humility. In response to quarrels and fighting James gives the solution. To be humble.
In verse 10, he says to humble yourselves before the Lord.
In many cases, people misunderstand what humility is. Humility is not flagellation, or depreciation. Humility is not insulting yourself, nor is it beating yourself up. Someone who is constantly talking about how awful they are is still thinking of themselves just as much as the person who is constantly talking about how wonderful they are. So while it may not be what we normally think of when we describe pride - that’s not what humility looks like. It’s not humility to constantly tell people you are not
Humility more simply is not thinking of yourself, and putting others first.
Humility Before God
Humility Before God
Last week we left off on after looking at the first part of verse 6, and I want to revisit that shortly as we get into the rest of this text. As an
6 But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”
He gives more grace. We spent time on that statement last week, but I wanted to begin here again with the reminder that God gives more grace. And what a wonderful word that is. James has made a significant warning to them (and us) about worldliness, covetousness, jealously, selfishness, hatred, and to follow that he will remind them of the depth of God’s grace. And before he will speak of pride and humility, and another caution to watch how you use your tongue he reminds his reader that God’s grace is greater.
However, this statement is not just an interjection to remind of us God’s grace so we don’t feel bad about our sins, though it selves as a soothing balm for a severe burn it’s also basis for why we ought to be humble.
God gives more grace. So humble yourselves. The appropriate respond to understanding God’s grace is humility. It ought to also yield praise - however, you must be humble to offer praise to some one other than yourself.
You cannot save yourself. You need God to give his great grace to come and cover up for the disastrous damnable mess of sin that you have left behind. To even realize this takes humility. As James demonstrates in his quote from Proverbs 3:34.
In verse 5, James instructs the reader not to befriend the world, and here he gives the remedy for friendship with the world. Instead of being a friend to the world, and as a result an enemy of God, instead submit yourself to God.
James gives 10 imperatives, or commands, between 7-10.
Submit, resist, draw near, cleanse, purify, be wretched, mourn, weep, be turned, humble.
James has instructed us with what we ought to do. Instead of fighting and quarreling, instead of being jealous do these things instead:
7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
The first of those commands is submit yourselves to God.
Submit
The vast majority of the conflict that James is addressing is to be hearers and doers of the word. But James know that he cannot just tell people “Go read the Bible, and do that.” But instead he has to give them practical applications.
Instead of fighting… submit to God. The solution to the conflict and quarreling in the church is to do what God has commanded.
Submit to God, instead of being envious of your brother.
The Christian life is not Jesus saved me so I can do whatever I want. But rather, Jesus saved me so I ought to willing respond by submitting to God.
Submission is often a hot button issue in our day and age. Especially, when it comes to the Biblical definition of marital roles. However, the Christian faith begins with submission to God, Ephesians 5:21 instructs believers to submit to one another out of reverence for Christ, and then Eph 5:22 instructs wives to submit to their husbands.
To submit to God means to willingly accept God’s authority and reign. He doesn’t need you to accept it for it to be true, or for him to have that authority and reign over you - he has it regardless. But to submit to God means to step back from yourself and your pride and to confess that God is God - you are not. He makes the rules and you do not. His Word is authoritative and you ought to submit to it.
The second is to resist the devil and he will flee from you.
This is modeled to us with Christ at his temptation in the wilderness. Three times Jesus resists the devil and he flees from him. We ought to do the same.
And how does Jesus resist the temptations? But understanding and reciting Scripture. Satan does to Jesus what he did to Adam and Eve, and still does today… He undermines God’s promises by asking “Did God really say?” “Are these things in Scripture really true?” To Jesus he asks him “Did God really say that the cross is the only way to the crown?” And Jesus knowing Scripture better than Satan resists him.
However, in many cases, as we saw with Samson this morning in Sunday School - we do not resist the devil, or flee temptation but we see to optimize our own pleasure.
Flee temptation, resist the devil. He will flee from you.
As mentioned at beginning of our study in James we don’t get to use the excuse the devil made me do it when it comes to our sin. The Bible instead tells us to resist the devil. This means that we can do it - though we should not think we will do so perfectly.
Jesus in his temptation resists the devil, and teaches us how to as well. But Jesus also does it for us - that upon salvation we are credited his righteousness - and he has triumphed over Satan and we look for the day when he will
Unlike Christ, we will fail, but he has been victorious for us. He took on the cross and his blood saves us because we cannot save ourselves.
Verse 7 and verse 8 serve as a whole argument. It’s the middle of those stacking of those imperatives.
7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
In resisting the devil we ought to also draw near to God.
Draw near
James draws on temple language in this text. To draw near to God is similar to the language that is applied to the priests when they go to make a sacrifice. As they draw near to God, he will draw near to them.
This is to humbly go before God in prayer, asking that he might receive their sacrifice.
The language of cleanse your hands and purify your hands are also similar to temple language. Remembering that all of the sacrificial system intended to point to Christ, and that it is fulfilled and perfected in him - we ought to be reminded of how the temple rituals also guide us in how we ought to approach God.
We see this language of clean hands and pure heart in Psalm 24.
3 Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord? And who shall stand in his holy place? 4 He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false and does not swear deceitfully.
Who can draw near to the Lord?
Not just anyone can draw near to God.
Jesus tells us that no one comes to the Father unless they come through Christ (John 14:6), but also no one comes to the Son unless the Father draws him (John 6:44).
We approach the Father through the Son, following the effectual call of the Father through the Spirit.
Similar language is also used in Isaiah 1:11-17.
16 Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes; cease to do evil,
To wash your hands and purify your hearts - to look to the example of the priests in the sacrifices they would have to offer sacrifice first on behalf themselves - to sacrifice for their own sins before they could sacrifice for others. This also connected to purification rituals - they were to put away all sinfulness. To put away sin from their hands - their deeds, and to put away sin from their thoughts. This instruction from James to draw near, to purify and to cleanse is an command to be holy.
However, I do not think that James is just giving a basic instruction to draw near to God for salvation. That’s certainly the starting point - but if James is writing this letter to Christians who are quarreling in the community of faith - then his instruction is not to show them the way to salvation, but rather the encourage sanctification.
This is a command. We are brought near to God in Christ, and Christians ought to draw near to God in life. Though it is an imperative, it is also an invitation. Though we as Christians ought to draw near to God, we also get to draw near to God.
Drawing near, cleansing your hands and purifying your heart are to God is to reorient your life, your attitudes, your actions to be in accordance with his will and his glory. This is drawing near to God in prayer, in service, through the reading of his word, and the observation of Spiritual disciplines of fasting, worship, fellowship.
9 Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom.
Mourn over your sins. Repent and turn from your unrighteousness. This is yet again another example of humility.
The person who says that I don’t need forgiveness, I’ve never done anything wrong is prideful. Yet the person who understands their wretchedness - mourns and weeps. They down sackcloth and ashes because they understand the weight of their sinfulness and comes before the Lord to repent shows humility.
10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.
If you wish to be exalted by God, you must be humble.
Similarly Jesus teaches us this message:
12 Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.
I’ve seen two types of prominent preachers. Those who get some attention and become very full of themselves. The example of someone like Joel Osteen who has his services in massive football stadiums and then is unwilling to help the community in the midst of severe flooding.
When I was in seminary, I briefly met John Piper. Friends of mine and I were in the middle of the seminary campus, I was sitting on a bench studying. And as we are all there we see John Piper, who was preaching at chapel that day walking from the library to the main building of the Honeycutt Center. A friend of mine attended Bethlehem Baptist Church when he was in undergrad - I’m not certain if he knew Piper or not, it is a big church - though he at least felt comfortable enough to approach Piper. And whether they were familiar or not, in the brief interaction it felt as if I was not meeting a celebrity pastor - but rather I was just meeting a friend of mine’s pastor.
God has exalted this humble man. He has a had a massive ministry and platform - and yet he was remained humble. Yet this can only be true of Piper because of what he has learned from Christ.
5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Spurgeon has a great quote about humility as it relates to Christ, and being a servant of Christ:
“You cannot be Christ’s servant if you are not willing to follow him, cross and all. What do you crave? A crown? Then it must be a crown of thorns if you are to be like him. Do you want to be lifted up? So you shall, but it will be upon a cross.”
To be a servant of Christ requires humility that is shaped by the humility of Jesus - and to be like Christ means that you must be humble like Christ, your must suffer like Christ, and you must act like Christ.
Jesus demonstrated humility before God - by humbling himself and taking on the cross. Yet Jesus was not only the perfect model of what it looks like to humble oneself before God, but Jesus the suffering servant came not to be served but to serve. The day before he would go to take on the cross to be shown as Lord and God - Jesus is washing his disciples feet. Jesus also modeled humility before others.
Humility Before Others
Humility Before Others
In these final two verses that I will address together, James once again returns to the idea of how we use our tongues. He further demonstrates the kinds of things that should not come from our mouths.
11 Do not speak evil against one another, brothers. The one who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks evil against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. 12 There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?
And while this portion of the passage mentions nothing about humility it takes a lot of pride to judge your neighbor. It takes a lot of pride to think that you have the right to speak up and say evil things about your brother. Remember once again, what James instructs us in chapter 3 - there is no place for us to bless God with our mouths and then curse our brother who is created in God’s image.
It takes a lot of pride to think you have a place to judge your neighbor.
God alone is the judge and the lawgiver - it takes a lot of pride to think you can do his job better than he does. For you to judge your brother is to put yourself in the position of lawgiver and judge. And to think you have a right to do that when only God does it perfectly.
Now much like Matthew 7:1, this does not mean “never make any judgment ever.”
On the contrary, Jesus tells us John 7:24:
24 Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment.”
Instead, you do not have the place to determine if someone can be forgiven, you do not have the place to state that someone is too far gone to be saved, or if God could never work in his life.
When you hear that someone comes to faith in Jesus and your first thought is to scoff and laugh because they could never…
Do not think you have the place to dispense, withhold or limit the grace of God that he will give to those who come to him.
Humble yourselves, do not take it upon yourself to humble others. That is God’s role as lawgiver and judge.
Do not seek to exalt yourself to the point of judge. Remember that God opposes the proud - and he exalts the humble.
Remember that God is the only lawgiver and judge. As we will begin reading next week in Psalm 119 - the Law of the Lord is perfect. The perfect law comes from the perfect lawgiver. The perfect judge judges perfectly.
The Lord knows our hearts and our actions and our intents. It can be really easy to see how someone acts and think we understand their motive.
Earlier in this text James tells the reader to resist the devil. Satan means accuser, or slanderer. To slander another brother, to speak evil toward them, to attempt to stand in the place of judge and plead for their judgment is to do the opposite of resisting the devil, but rather it is to become like him.
There is no place for the people of God to slander others.
When you understand who you are before God - a sinner who deserves the righteous wrath of God - dead in your trespasses and sins (including slander and pride) the only appropriate response is to be humbled. To respond as Isaiah responds in Isaiah 6:5 “5 And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!””
To respond to God looking for grace that came only come through the shed blood of Jesus Christ. To look toward the risen Christ and rejoice in your sins being placed on him the only righteous sacrifice.
You cannot understand the gospel and not be humbled. But even so we ought to put our fleshly desires to death each day.
Jesus humbled himself - we should too.
