He Gives Us More Grace
Text: James 4:4-10
Core Idea: There’s more grace in Christ than sin in us – and those who are humble in heart will receive this grace. Then let us humble ourselves before the Lord and submit to Him knowing that He will lift us up.
INTRODUCTION
Well, we are going through the Book of James – looking at different ways the gospel impacts our lives. And last Sunday, we learned that what ultimately causes us to fight and quarrel is not located outside but inside of us. We go to war with others because we don’t get what we want – because of our unsatisfied sinful, selfish cravings. Then the only way to guard ourselves against this is to root ourselves in the gospel for it offers us the power to love one another – we can love others because God first loved us. Today, James will continue to confront the readers with the seriousness of their sin. James will expose their worldliness and invite them to repent. Then as you can imagine, this is going to be a heavy message. It’s going to make you uncomfortable. You may be tempted to tune out because you may not want to come face to face with your sins which is why I’ve been praying that the Spirit of God will use this truth to humble you, lead you to grieve over your sins, and cause you to genuinely repent. But more importantly, my prayer for you is that the Spirit of God will open your eyes to see that there’s, in fact, more mercy in Christ than sin in us – that God gives us more grace even though what we undeniably deserve is the holy wrath of God. So, with that in mind, let’s open up our Bibles to James 4:4-10. Let me read this for us.
4 You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. 5 Or do you think Scripture says without reason that He jealously longs for the spirit He has caused to dwell in us? 6 But He gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.” 7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and He will flee from you. 8 Come near to God and He will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will lift you up.
Amen. This is the Word of God for you today.
Let me share three things from this passage:
· WORLDLINESS
· GRACE
· HUMILITY
1) WORLDLINESS
Listen to the words James used to describe the Christians in verse 4, “You adulterous people.” This obviously would’ve shocked the readers not only because these words are just offensive in and of themselves but also because, up until now, James has always been referring to them as brothers and sisters. In fact, he calls them brothers and sisters 14 times just in this short book. But all of a sudden, he addressed them as adulterous people. Why? To understand the reason, it’ll be helpful for me to point out that even though it’s translated into three words in English (“you adulterous people”), there’s only one word in Greek – Moichalides, which literally means adulteress. Notice that this is actually a feminine word. Then what’s going on here? Was James just addressing the female believers who might have cheated against their husbands? Absolutely not. James used this word because in the Bible, the Church is said to be the Bride of Christ. So, for example, Isaiah 54:5 says, “For your Maker is your Husband – the LORD Almighty is His name.” And Jeremiah 3:20 says, “‘But like a woman unfaithful to her husband, so you, Israel, have been unfaithful to Me,’ declares the LORD.” God is frequently described as the Husband of His people in the OT. Then in light of this, when James accused them of being adulterous, he wasn’t talking about marital infidelity between members of the church – he was talking about spiritual adultery. In fact, James used these provocative words because he wanted to stun and startle them so that they would be awakened to the true condition of their soul in relation to God – to know that they were guilty of being unfaithful to their true Husband. Pastor Paul Tripp writes, “Every sin is an act of vertical unfaithfulness. Sin is adultery at the most profound heart level. We were created to live in a lifelong, committed love relationship with our Creator that would then shape everything we think, desire, choose, say, and do. Sin is about forsaking our allegiance to God and offering the deepest allegiance of our hearts to other lovers.” Brothers and sisters, do you realize that every time you sin, you are committing an act of spiritual adultery? This is why our sins are more destructive than you think. Think of it this way. Can you imagine how painful it would be to discover that your spouse has been cheating on you? You would be devastated – absolutely crushed in your heart. You would feel betrayed, rejected, abandoned, and distraught as if your whole world was crashing down. You would be overflowing with anger, hatred, shame, guilt, sorrow, and fear. There would be this indescribable pain. And here’s James telling us that this is what we have done against God. We have found a new lover for ourselves. We have become friends with the world. James just couldn’t believe that the body of Christ was marked by their allegiance to the world more than their love for the Lord. These were the people who were close to God – who were close to God’s people. They attended church regularly. They served faithfully. They gave generously. They humbly believed the gospel and passionately proclaimed it to the world. They delighted in drawing near to God through Word and prayer. But not anymore – they had found a new lover for themselves. And as a result, slowly but surely, they began to drift away. They began to create distance with the people of God. They didn’t come to church as often as they used to. They didn’t fellowship with others as intentionally as they used to. They stopped serving. They stopped sharing the gospel. Spiritual disciplines felt like a chore. The commands of God felt like restrictions. They stopped reading the Word. They stopped praying. They stopped repenting. They stopped drawing near to God. No wonder he called them, “You adulterous people.” But that’s not all – listen to what he says after that.
Verse 4, “Don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.” The word “enmity” literally means “fixed hatred or open hostility” – which means that when we choose the world over God, we’re giving God reasons to hate us. We’re choosing to become an enemy of God. Think about how frightening that is. He is the Creator of the universe – the Sustainer of all living things. He is omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent. He has the power to bring life into existence and demolish everything into dust. He has the authority to judge the living and the dead. He is to be feared by all. Who would be foolish enough to stand against Him? But that’s what we’re doing when we’re sinning against God – we’re choosing to become enemies of God. Think about how ridiculous that sounds. And yet we live as if this has no bearing on us. I say this because even though we know these things, we still find ways to take our sins lightly – we find ways to co-exist with our sins thinking that it’s okay to live with just a little bit of pride, a little bit of hatred, greed, gluttony, lust, envy, and laziness. We think that it wouldn’t hurt too much to gossip a little, steal a little, lie a little, and take glory for ourselves a little.
No wonder James says this in verse 5, “Do you think Scripture says without reason that He jealously longs for the spirit He has caused to dwell in us?” Just as a note, the word “spirit” here refers to our spirit – not God the Holy Spirit. Then James was basically saying, “Are you listening to me? Do you think that God is saying this for no reason? Do you think God is taking this lightly? Absolutely not. Don’t you see that God is jealous for your soul? Don’t you see that God is passionately desiring you to be faithful to Him? Then pay attention! God desires your loyalty. God deserves your commitment. He will not tolerate rivals. He will not share His glory with another.” Then brothers and sisters, I pray that we would feel the weightiness of this truth today. Let’s not take this lightly. God is not playing around. God is passionately jealous for us. He loves us intensely and exclusively. And He is inviting us to do the same – to cherish this relationship and to protect this marriage. He doesn’t want just some of us; He wants all of us. Then let’s turn to Him today. Let’s not delay. Let’s not make any more excuses. But let’s give ourselves to Him even if it may cost us everything – so that we can be called friends of God, not enemies of God. I’m not sure if you remember – but this actually isn’t the first time James used the word “friend.” He used it back in Chapter 2 when he was describing Abraham. He was called the friend of God because he loved God, because he believed God, and because he was willing to sacrifice his one and only son, Isaac. He was serious about being God’s friend – he was all in. Then what about you? Are you all in? The Bible makes it clear that we cannot serve two masters (Matt. 6:24). You’re either married and loyal to Christ or you’re not. You’re either united to Christ and completely committed to Him or you’re choosing to run to the world. You can’t have it both ways. Then if you’re a Christian, know that God is jealous for you today. Let’s not give our hearts away to the world for we belong to Him.
2) GRACE
Now, considering what we have done against God, we would expect the next verse to begin with the words like “and” or “therefore.” “Therefore, because you are bitterly envious and selfishly ambitious, because you’ve committed adultery against God, and because you’ve chosen to be friends with the world, God is ready to pour His righteous judgment against you. He is angry with you. You will not be able to escape His wrath.” That’s what we expect James to say – but that’s not what we read here. Yes, James confronts them with the seriousness of their sin. Yes, he informs them of the jealousy of God. But he also reminds them of the graciousness of God. Verse 6, “But” – the verse begins with the word, “But.” “But He gives us more grace.” Yes, we have turned our backs against God, but He still offers us more grace. Yes, we have turned to another lover, but He still beckons us to come back. Yes, our sins they are many, but His mercy is more. Even though we are the cause of this broken relationship, God provides the grace we need to restore our relationship with Him, maintain our affection for Him, and strengthen our allegiance to Him. Then let’s rest in these words today. Alec Motyer writes, “What comfort there is in this verse! It tells us that God is tirelessly on our side. He never falters in respect of our needs; He always has more grace at hand for us. He is never less than sufficient; He always has more and yet more to give. Whatever we may forfeit when we put self first, we cannot forfeit our salvation, for there is always more grace. No matter what we do to Him, He is never beaten. Even if we were to turn to Him and say, ‘What I have received so far is much less than enough’, He would reply, ‘Well, you may have more’. His resources are never at an end, His patience is never exhausted, His initiative never stops, His generosity knows no limit: He gives more grace.” Brothers and sisters, if you’ve been tempted to sin, if you’ve been seduced by the world, if you’ve actually sinned, if you feel like you’re too far from God, if you feel like you don’t deserve God’s love, remember that there’s always more grace in God than sin in us. Then let there be hope in each and every Christian present today because this grace is available for you right now. His grace is more, and His mercy is more. Our God is good, and He will generously give us His grace. He will never stop giving.
Now, James actually clarifies who receives this grace in the second half of verse 6 with a warning and a promise, “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.” What’s the warning? God opposes the proud. God is not indifferent to the proud. He is actively opposed to the proud. Why? Why does God hate pride so much? This is how Pastor C.J. Mahaney explains, “Pride is when sinful human beings aspire to the status and position of God and refuse to acknowledge their dependence upon Him.” Pride robs God of His glory and causes us to pursue self-glorification. We make everything about us. We become supreme; we stand at the center of our lives; and we sit on the throne of our lives. No wonder God opposes the proud. But here’s something I want you to remember – God gives this warning to those who are self-sufficient, self-reliant, and self-exalting, to those who have a high opinion of themselves not because He’s frustrated, but because He genuinely cares for them, because He desires to heal them, restore them, and bring them back – which is why this warning is followed by a promise.
“God shows favor to the humble.” Isn’t this incredible? Humility gets God’s attention. Humility draws the gaze of our sovereign God. Now, the word “favor” here is the Greek word, charis, which means grace. Then it literally says, “God gives grace to the humble.” Why? Why does God oppose the proud but give grace to the humble? Again, Pastor C.J. Mahaney can help us understand when he defines humility this way, “Humility is honestly assessing ourselves in light of God’s holiness and our sinfulness.” Humility enables us to see that God alone is worthy of our worship whereas we are unworthy of anything good. Humility enables us to see that God is the Creator and we are the creatures. Humility enables us to see that God has the power to save and that we are utterly hopeless and helpless without divine intervention. Humility enables us to see that God alone is our hope. Then humility is the key to receiving His grace. Now, to clarify, it’s not that God is unable to give grace to the proud – it’s that the proud heart rejects His grace. God wants to give but we choose to deny it. In contrast, a humble heart receives it knowing that it’s the only way to life. Then to those who are aware of their sin, those who are dependent on Him, those who cry out to Him, God gives more grace – the grace they need to resist worldliness and grow in godliness. Then what does it mean to be humble? What does a humble person do? That leads us to our next point.
3) HUMILITY
In verses 7-10, James offers ten imperative verbs to describe what a humble person does. Now, nothing that I’m about to share here is earth-shatteringly new, something that you’ve never heard before – which is why it’s so important that you take some time to work out a few practical implications for your life this week so that you won’t miss this truth that is meant to give you grace. But at the same time, everything that I’m about to say is impossible to carry out apart from the ministry of the Holy Spirit – which means that we must desperately cling to Him and ask Him to give us the power to live this out. Then with that in mind, let me share how we can grow in our humility. Now, since there are ten commands, I categorized them into three headings.
First, our relationship with God and the devil. Verse 7, “Submit yourselves, then, to God.” Submitting means that you’re waving the white flag and you’re saying to God, “I am tired of running. I’m tired of fighting. I’m tired of compromising. Whatever You say, Lord, I will obey. Wherever You call me, I will follow. I’m not negotiating anymore. I want to surrender. All that I am and all that I have now belongs to you.” Now, what does this mean practically? It means that you’re turning to His Word and choosing to obey all that’s written there. This is true because it would be ridiculous to say, “I’ll submit to God but not His Word.” Those who are humble read the Bible to immerse themselves in the gospel. Those who are humble study the Bible to know who God is and discover God’s plan for their lives. Those who are humble meditate on the Word because they desire to become more like Christ. Brothers and sisters, are you submitting yourself to God by obeying His Word? In fact, are you starting your day by acknowledging your dependence upon God and your need for God? We need to do this because sin is active, not passive. Sin doesn’t wake up tired because it hasn’t been sleeping. When you wake up in the morning, sin is right there, fully awake, ready to attack. So, rather than being attacked by sin in the morning, let’s go on the offensive by turning to the Word. From the moment you awake, saturate yourself with the truth of God because this is how we become humble. But that’s not all.
James also says in verse 8, “Come near to God and He will come near to you.” Now, coming near to God was something that only the high priest was able to do only once a year and only by the means of sacrificial blood. Then how can James command them to come near to God? Through the blood of Jesus Christ. Hebrews 10:19-22 says, “Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus… let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings.” In a passage where there are so many commands, it would be really easy for me to just say, “Try harder.” Now, just so that there’s no misunderstanding – yes, by His grace, we should try harder. There’s work to be done. But we must remember that us coming near to God and Him coming near to us is solely based on the work of Christ and not us trying harder. Because of Christ, we can draw near to God. Again, this is actually shocking if we remember the context. We have cheated on God. We are guilty of spiritual adultery. Yet God beckons us to come near to Him. This is a love that’s radically extravagant. Then brothers and sisters, I want us to know that positionally, we are already in Christ – we are practically inseparable from God. Even if we wanted to, we wouldn’t be able to run away from His presence. We are securely placed in Him. But experientially, it’s true that at times, we may not feel close to God. When that happens, what should we do? We need to pray. Last week, I shared that prayerlessness is a sign that we’re driven by selfish desires – it’s a sign of our pride. Then let me ask you, “Did you pray this week?” Those who are humble pray. Those who want to come near to God pray. Those who want to experience His presence pray. Friends, don’t you want to experience more of His love, more of His joy, more of His hope, and more of His grace? Then pray because the promise is that He will draw near to you.
So, if that’s how we are to relate to God, how are we to relate to the devil? Verse 7, “Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” Now, how do we practically do this? In Chapter 3, James shared that the “wisdom” that is demonic causes us to believe that our ways are better than God’s. We constantly question God’s truth because we think that we know how things ought to be. That’s what the devil does – tempt us and lie to us so that we would give in to our sinful desires. Then the way we resist the devil is to say no to our pride and selfish desires. James is not calling us to perform exorcism and cast demons out of people. No, he’s calling us to resist the lies and the temptations that the devil is throwing at us. And the promise is that he will flee from us. When we say no to our sins, it’s not that the devil may flee from us – no, he will flee from us. Now, one more thing we must remember is that just as we should intentionally submit to God and come near to God every single day, we must resist the devil every single day as well. When Jesus resisted the devil in the wilderness, this is what Luke 4:13 says, “When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left Him until an opportune time.” The devil is always looking for the right time to strike back. So, let’s continue to remain vigilant in our fight against him. Let’s remember that we are still engaging in spiritual warfare. Those who are humble in heart resist the devil for they desire to do what pleases the Lord.
Second, our response in deed and heart. Verse 8, “Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.” Hands refer to our actions and hearts refer to our motives. Our hands and hearts must be cleansed because they have been polluted by the world. Then those who are humble examine their hearts and lives to repent of their sins – to turn away from their worldliness and turn to the ways of the Lord. I’ve shared this in other sermons but let me share it again since this is something worth being reminded of time and time again. Pastor Andrew Davis said, “The life of genuine repentance is costly, and it involves drastic actions… After a Christian has sinned, they should study what happened, how they reacted, what temptations the devil used to deceive them, and what actions led to the sin. Then the Christian should be doubly vigilant about that sin in the future, knowing that a pattern of sin can be established quickly… Without this kind of vigilance toward sin, we have learned nothing from the experience and may soon be repeating it regularly.” Then let us guard our hearts so that we won’t be influenced by the world. And let us demonstrate a single-minded passion for God in the things that we do. Those who are humble genuinely repent and passionately pursue God in action and motive.
Third, our repentance to sin and impurity. If we’re called to repent of our sins, how should we do it? Verse 9, “Grieve, mourn, and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom.” Sadly, many of us don’t really grieve, mourn, and wail in our repentance. Don’t get me wrong – there’s more grace in Christ than sin in us. There’s no sin that wouldn’t be forgiven if we turn to Christ – which is why I’m not telling you to beat yourself up and just feel bad all the time. I’m not saying that if you laugh or be happy, you’re sinning against God. But what I am saying is the problem isn’t that we’re grieving too much – it’s that we’re not doing this enough. When it comes to our sins, we need to learn to lament over them – we need to learn to have our hearts broken. Thinking about the gravity of our sin and its destructive nature, thinking about how it has damaged our souls and injured our relationships with others, how it has wounded our testimony of the gospel, how it has offended God, we must learn to mourn over our sins. I’ll even say this – if you haven’t really grieved over your sins, if you haven’t felt this heartbreaking sorrow over your sins, it’s possible that your repentance was shallow. Again, I’m not saying we all need to cry and be depressed – but we do need to feel sad, disgusted, and broken over our sins for this is a natural and proper response to seeing sin for what it really is. Those who are humble remorsefully grieve over their sins – and they can do this because they know that their shame, pain, and mourning will not last forever. Forgiveness is available in Christ. Then let me ask you, “When’s the last time you’ve wept over your sins? The sins that you have committed in anger. The sins that you have committed in secret. The sins that we are constantly justifying. When have these sins turned your laughter to mourning and joy to gloom?” Now, remember that at the beginning of this point, I shared that there are things only God can do – this is one of them. Regardless of how clear and articulate I am, I will never be able to break your heart for sin. I can never make you repent – which is why I’ve been praying that the Holy Spirit will break our hearts for our sins right now at this very moment. Brothers and sisters, are you convicted of your sins today? Humbly run to Jesus now. Grieve, mourn, and wail. Humble yourselves before the Lord for He stands ready to forgive you. He stands ready to bring you near to God. He stands ready to lift you up.
One more thing that can help us become humble is to look to Christ who first humbled Himself. He submitted to the will of God. He resisted the devil through the Word. He constantly communed with God. He always had clean hands and a pure heart. He was a Man of sorrows, and He was acquainted with grief. He humbled Himself before God by becoming obedient to death – even death on a cross (Phil. 2:8). And now, He is highly exalted and given the name that is above every name. So, let us look to Jesus for He will show us what humility looks like – but He will also break our hearts so that we would become humble before the Lord.
CONCLUSION
Lighthouse family, there’s more grace in Christ than sin in us – and those who are humble in heart will receive this grace. Our sins they are many, but His mercy is more. Then let us humble ourselves before the Lord and submit to Him knowing that He will lift us up.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1) Read verse 4. Why is sin considered spiritual adultery? Why is friendship with the world enmity against God? How have you been cultivating friendships with the world? How can you change this?
2) Read verse 6. What is the connection between grace and humility? Why does God oppose the proud and show favor to the humble?
3) Read verses 7-10. Consider how each of these commands can be lived out in your life today.
o Submit yourselves to God.
o Resist the devil.
o Come near to God.
o Wash your hands and purify your hearts.
o Grieve, mourn, and wail