Living Out Our Faith Submissively - James 4:7

Introduction

Tonight, we are moving into the second section or paragraph of chapter 4. The first section highlights a daunting spiritual problem in each believer’s life. Our problem is the flesh and its desire [“lust”] for sinful pleasures. Our ability to overcome this problem is related to our relationship with God. We ended our study with verse 6,which says:

James 4:6 KJV 1900

6 But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.

The believer who is too pigheaded to follow God’s instructions insisting they do it their own way, will not overcome the flesh for two primary reasons. They are simply unable to do so, and because of their pride, God will resist them by not helping them. However, for the humble believer, knowing they need God’s help, He gives grace upon grace. In other words, God stands ready to assist them, having already provided each believer with a certain amount of grace at their disposal. As they do it His way, He gives more grace in the time of need.

Now we move into this next section. This section is all about instructions. How do we humble ourselves? What necessary steps must be taken to experience God’s abundant grace? What aspects of God’s grace will we experience as we take these steps? The answers to these questions and more are given to us in the following 4 verses. Let’s read them, and then we will focus solely on verse 7.

James 4:7–10 KJV 1900

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. 10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.

In these verses, we find a list of instructions for overcoming temptations that emanate from self, Satan, and sinful men around us. The first two instructions come to us in verse 7, which says:

James 4:7 KJV 1900

7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

Everything in this verse is directed at personal instruction to every believer. You will note the use of personal pronouns. In fact, the understood subject of each sentence in this verse is the personal pronoun “you.” You submit. You resist. You are to submit yourself to God. You are to resist the Devil. So there are two essential instructions here. Obeying these instructions is key to overcoming one of the three great enemies we face. The three enemies are self, the sphere of humanity (the world), and Satan. Following these instructions leads to the satisfying reward of seeing Satan flee from you. We will get to that more in just a few moments. However, we must understand and implement the first two commands before enjoying the promised reward.

Two Key Instructions

Submit to God

Our first instruction is quite explicit. The Holy Spirit tells us:

“Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” (James 4:7)

The word “submit” comes from a Greek compound word. A compound word is one compromised to two or more other words. This particular word comes from two Greek words.

The first is “hupo” which means “under.” The second is “tasso” which means “to arrange.” When combined, they mean “to arrange under or to rank under.”

It is primarily a military term. As we know, with all military, there is a hierarchy of command. Our great United States Army has enlisted soldiers who answer to non-commissioned officers. Non-commissioned officers rank under and submit to commissioned officers. Commissioned officers rank under those given field commands such as Majors and Colonels who answer to Generals. At the top of the command structure sits the General of the Army. Even then, the General of the Army answers to the Command in Chief, the President of the United States. Each soldier as part of our great military understands the term “submit.” They are taught the importance of following commands from those under whom they serve. Thus, the Holy Spirit establishes a couple of principles by instructing us to “submit.”

The first principle is that Jesus Christ, who is God, is the Supreme Commander to whom all of us as “soldiers of the cross” must recognize and submit to His authority.

Hebrews 2:9–10 KJV 1900

9 But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man. 10 For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.

Acts 5:29–31 KJV 1900

29 Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men. 30 The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree. 31 Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins.

Since the Lord is our Captain and our prince, our simple job as his soldiers is to “submit.” We are to arrange ourselves under His command. When He speaks, we listen and obey. We are to place ourselves completely under His care, power, and strength. We must yield to His will, commands, instructions, laws, behavior, and word. There is to be a total surrender of our heart, soul, and mind (our entire being) to Him. If you want to overcome the temptations of the flesh, the world, and Satan, you must do exactly has He, the Lord Jesus Christ, commands. Commands which, by the way, are written and spelled out for us in His Word. We hold them in our hands and stand without excuse in obedience to them. Here, in this verse, the Holy Spirit (God Himself) is saying “submit” to me, and He will utilize His power and strength to help you face the great spiritual enemies of this life. In fact, as the Captain of our salvation, He has a battle plan that comes complete with a great arsenal and the mightiest power in the Universe. He is a force that wrecks anyone who would stand in His way. This is the strong Captain that we serve. Therefore, we must simply “submit” to Him.

Here is another principle that comes with the word “submit.”

Submission begins and continues with obedience to His Word.

This means that when temptation strikes in any form, we must immediately focus our minds on Him and His Word. It is impressive how quickly temptation can arise. It seemingly appears out of thin air, happening so quick. For this reason, each believer must rely upon God’s battle plan. Reading, studying, and memorizing Scripture is essential in overcoming the enemy. We must commit to memory as much as possible of every detail of the battle plan. It is a battle plan that knows you as a soldier of the cross and the enemy you face. However, if you simply toss the battle plan aside, only occasionally picking up and perusing it, you will fall quickly in battle. A good soldier is a prepared soldier. We must prepare by knowing God’s Word. However, a great soldier knows the battle plan and commits to executing it without flaw. This is where obedience is critical. Knowing God’s Word is only effective when we DO God’s Word. Living it daily provides training for those moments when the enemy ambushes you with spiritual temptation. If we read, study, memorize, and obey God’s Word submissively, we are in a far better position to handle the lusts from within. Then when those moments come, our submission to Him creates an avenue for Him to work in and through us so that we might overcome the enemy.

The best illustration of this is the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. Now, grant it, He had an advantage over us. He is the Word of God. He is God Himself. However, He, as the Great Commander, gave us an efficient example of submission and its rewards.His example is found in Luke 4. Most of us already know the story as the great Temptation of Christ by Satan. However, let’s look at it for just a few minutes so that we may see His example.

Luke 4:1–13 KJV 1900

1 And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, 2 Being forty days tempted of the devil. And in those days he did eat nothing: and when they were ended, he afterward hungered. 3 And the devil said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread. 4 And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God. 5 And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. 6 And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it. 7 If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine. 8 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. 9 And he brought him to Jerusalem, and set him on a pinnacle of the temple, and said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down from hence: 10 For it is written, He shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee: 11 And in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. 12 And Jesus answering said unto him, It is said, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. 13 And when the devil had ended all the temptation, he departed from him for a season.

Did you see how Christ handled these temptations from Satan? What was the weapon of choice here in defeating Satan? Was it not the Word of God? Christ impeccably illustrated how our submission to God and His Word rebuts any temptation the Devil throws at us. There is a kids’ Bible song we often used in Vacation Bible School. when I was an assistant pastor. It goes like this:

Read Your Bible

Read your Bible

And you’ll see

Jesus Died for Sinners

Jesus Died for Sinners

Jesus Died for You and Me

In our V.B.S., we would have someone dress up like the Devil (not something we would do these days for sure), and they would randomly show up during the program. As they did, we taught the kids to sing that song. The person dressed as Satan would flee as soon as they started singing.

If you want to overcome Satan’s temptations or any temptations, you must submit to God and His Word. It must be everything in your life.

However, there is a second instruction here. Not only are we to SUBMIT to God, but we are also to:

Resist the Devil

The word “resist” comes from another Greek compound word. In fact, we often use the prefix “anti” in many of our English compound words. For example, we have the word “anti-American” or “anti-christian.” We hear them a lot today. The word “anti” means “against.” Thus, to be anti-American is to stand against what makes America great.

The word “resist” has the Greek word for “anti” in its construction. The other word compounded with “anti” is “histemi.” It simply means “to cause to stand.” Thus, the word “resist” has the idea of standing again, opposing, or, as translated, “resisting.”

With that in mind, we are instructed not only to submit to God but also to resist the Devil. Just as much as we are to yield to God, we are stand against God’s enemy, Satan.

There are a couple of thoughts here.

First, we can only stand against Satan when submitting to God.

In other words, it is entirely insane to resist the Devil on your own. You will never cause Satan to flee or retreat by standing alone and fighting without God’s help. This is our biggest problem. We try to do so many things our way. When it comes to resisting temptation, your way will not work. It never does. The only way it works is when we have first arranged ourselves under God’s control and power. To follow that up, refusing to obey God’s commands is a sure-fire way to fall into temptation.

Second, resisting the Devil means not entertaining the things He offers, even for a moment.

Think back to the Garden of Eden. Do you remember Satan’s conversation with Eve? It all started when she entertained his thoughts about God in her mind. Things might have turned out differently had she resisted as God is commanding us. However, she didn’t. Instead, she did not submit to God, and she did not resist the Devil. In the end, she and Adam yielded to the temptation breaking God’s command. Satan painted her a picture that she could not resist. It was a picture in which she became like God, only it was a false reality.

Here is the thing. The moment you turn your ear to temptation considering the possibilities of what it offers, you have already started down the road towards sin. For this reason, resisting the Devil is equally important as our submission to God. We must do both. We must begin with compliance to Him and continue with our resistance to temptations.

God has not promised that temptations will not come during this lifetime. Instead, God says the opposite. They are bound to come. Remember our study of 1 Corinthians 10. The first half of that chapter is about the number of temptations we face. God gave us the example of Israel. They faced the same temptations we all do even today. Some failed, others overcame. God then reminded us in 1 Corinthians 10:13

1 Corinthians 10:13 KJV 1900

13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.

The reality is this. Temptations will come. Some days, they may happen repeatedly. Some days may be easier than others. However, the fact remains that will come. And, if we follow the instructions of James 4:7, God will help us overcome them again and again. There is one thing, though, we must remember. We must submit to Him and resist the Devil. God places the ball in our court. He is there. He is faithful. He stands ready to utilize His power and strength to help us. We are the ones who must initialize His plan by our submission to Him as we steadfastly resist the Devil.

Romans 6:13 KJV 1900

13 Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.

Psalm 143:10 KJV 1900

10 Teach me to do thy will; for thou art my God: Thy spirit is good; lead me into the land of uprightness.

Ephesians 6:13 KJV 1900

13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

Now the apparent reward for following these instructions is noted.

One Very Rewarding Result

The Devil will flee.

The word “flee” means simply “to put to flight.” It is the same word used in our study of 1 Corinthians 10:14

1 Corinthians 10:14 KJV 1900

14 Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry.

If you recall, we noted that in today’s terminology, the word “flee” means to hightail it out of there. In Corinthians, we are to “hightail it away from” idolatry. However, in our text this evening, our faithfulness and submissiveness to God as we resist the Devil causes the Devil to “hightail it away.” In other words, our submission to God puts the Devil on the run. It is not us that does it, but God. The Devil knows that He cannot defeat God. The truth is that Devil cannot do anything without God’s permission. We see that so beautifully illustrated in the book of Job. For that reason, when we as believers submit to God, we have nothing to fear from the Devil. However, when we abandon God and live disobediently to His Word, we place ourselves in great spiritual danger. A truth that correlates with 1 Peter 5:6-9

1 Peter 5:6–9 KJV 1900

6 Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: 7 Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you. 8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: 9 Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.

Note the instruction again to “humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God.” Is that not the same as “submit yourselves to God.” We have the exact same instruction with the same apparent reward. Those believers who submit and humble themselves will experience God’s mighty hand as He does all the heavy lifting in our fight against self, Satan, and sinful people. Note verse 8 says that the Devil, like a roaring lion, is walking about seeking whom he might devour. He is waiting and lurking for that moment when you attempt to stand on your own by not submitting to God. At that moment, the Devil is ready to pounce. How do we stop that from happening? We stop it by submissive obedience to God and by the continued resistance of the Devil by our faith in God’s promises.

With that thought in mind, let me give you this list from God’s Word concerning overcoming Satan.

Overcoming Satan comes when we commit to asking God for His help through daily prayer.

Matthew 6:13 KJV 1900

13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

Overcoming Satan comes when we memorize Scripture utilizing its power through prayer and fasting in moments of great temptations.

Matthew 4:9–10 KJV 1900

9 And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. 10 Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.

Matthew 17:21 KJV 1900

21 Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.

Overcoming Satan comes when we minister in Jesus’ name.

Luke 10:17 KJV 1900

17 And the seventy returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name.

Overcoming Satan comes from the Lord’s intercession on our behalf.

Luke 22:31–32 KJV 1900

31 And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: 32 But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.

Overcoming Satan comes when we commit to a life of forgiveness.

2 Corinthians 2:10–11 KJV 1900

10 To whom ye forgive any thing, I forgive also: for if I forgave any thing, to whom I forgave it, for your sakes forgave I it in the person of Christ; 11 Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices.

Overcoming Satan happens when we refuse to give any place to him.

Ephesians 4:27 KJV 1900

27 Neither give place to the devil.

Overcoming Satan comes by utilizing the spiritual armor at our disposal.

Ephesians 6:10–11 KJV 1900

10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. 11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

Overcoming Satan means repenting as we acknowledge the truth of God’s Word.

2 Timothy 2:25–26 KJV 1900

25 In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; 26 And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.

Overcoming Satan can only happen through spiritual rebirth.

1 John 5:18 KJV 1900

18 We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not; but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not.

Overcoming Satan by confidently living a life of faith centered on God and His promises.

Revelation 2:10–11 KJV 1900

10 Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life. 11 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.

Conclusion