Grace to the Humble
Download MP3We're gonna continue in, James tonight. So if you would go ahead and get your Bibles out, we'll be in James chapter 4. James chapter 4, we'll be looking at, verses 6 through 10. I've been having a reoccurring nightmare for a number of years since starting seminary. I guess that was 7 years ago or so.
Collin Hansen:I started having these dreams where I am supposed to preach, and I can't find the text. I'm just flipping and flipping and flipping. And then I can't find my notes. And then my this this last time, it happened about a week ago, the notes became napkins. And it just it was terrible.
Collin Hansen:So if I start flipping around and I can't find James, someone just bring a Bible to me, that would be super. Because that that that would be awful. So I've got James already bookmarked, so hopefully you're there now. James chapter 4 beginning in verse 6. Listen carefully for this is the word of God.
Collin Hansen:But God gives more grace, Therefore, it says, god opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Submit yourselves therefore to god. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to god, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double minded.
Collin Hansen:Be wrenched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord and he will exalt you. Pray with me. God, we are desperate to hear from you.
Collin Hansen:We thank you for your word that we just read. Lord, we thank you for how you're already working truth into our hearts and minds. So spirit, we ask that you would teach us, that you would lead us to truth, that we would trust you, Jesus, that we would obey you, lord, that we would love you. So speak to us now. We we we ask that you would open our minds and our ears to receive your implanted word and that we would delight in who you are.
Collin Hansen:We pray this in the name of Jesus for ourselves and for the gospel around the world. Amen. So, the Bible has a lot of difficult stories, and a lot of difficult teachings. And, And they can, they can be frustrating at times to understand. And if you're like me, you might complain about that from time to time.
Collin Hansen:Like, I don't understand this or what does this mean? And then there are other times though, like the text that we have tonight, where it's startlingly clear and and I get just as frustrated. That's when, as Soren Kierkegaard said, we really show what swindlers we Christians are. Because now we have to pretend that we are unable to understand what this says, Because if we understand and we admit it, that we understand what this is saying, then we are obliged to act accordingly, and that would just ruin all my plans. My plans to serve myself, to worship myself, to get to my own ends of happiness, to my own pursuits, and just be selfish.
Collin Hansen:And so this is this is actually what James Cole's being double minded. Where at one hand we say, like in one moment we're saying, God just tell me what to do. Have you you had that internal prayer before that, God just tell me what to do, and at the same time, don't tell me what to do. And we call out to God in those same ways at the same time, I need you to tell me, Lord, if you just tell me what to do, I'll do it. As long as you don't tell me what to do.
Collin Hansen:That's double minded. That's where we're loving both the world, which is ultimately ourselves, and we're loving God. We kind of want to pursue this whole Christian value or Christian principles and just kind of pepper it into the life that we already want to live. But then we come across texts like this. And we do our best to kinda Houdini out of the straight jacket and just say like, oh, yeah.
Collin Hansen:This is It's a really good verse. I really appreciate what's being said there. And then we go about our business and and we don't actually live out that obligation to do what God's word is so clearly instructing us to do. Now, what we have to admit is that when James wrote this, it was a hard word for the hearers at that time, And it is no less a hard word now. It's also no less pertinent now.
Collin Hansen:Like this is this is from God. The spirit moved James to write these things to the early Christians, and also purposed it in his greatness and his sovereignty for you tonight, to speak into your heart, into your mind, into your rebellion. And as I've kind of realized over the past week, my own rebellion too. I feel like there's been a running theme with a lot of the sermons, either here at Redeemer, at other places that I've gotten to preach recently, kind of in the last year, they've all had to do with repentance. And as much as I like to yell at people, it can be a little daunting to come to these texts and to really have to wrestle through it.
Collin Hansen:Not only to proclaim these truths to you, but to, to have to preach this to myself is a bit of a burden, but it's a burden that comes with a tremendous promise. So if we take James seriously, and his central statement that God resists the proud, and he gives grace to the humble. If that's true, if God gives grace to the humble, then it is incumbent upon us, it is paramount that we be humble. If we want the grace of God, if we are desiring God's grace in our lives, and he tells us that he gives grace to the humble, then we need to really consider this question. How do we become humble?
Collin Hansen:How? How does this happen? Because if it's true, then I need to be that. And that's the question that we're going to consider tonight together. So far in James, he said a lot of harsh things, really hard words to hear.
Collin Hansen:He's talked about worthless religion, he's talked about faith without works is dead, he's, called you, dear reader, a foolish person. I mean, he hasn't really, withheld any punches. He he comes out swinging. And maybe, if you're like me, you have been convicted during this study. Maybe you've even felt guilt.
Collin Hansen:When Joel has talked about different things that James is pointing out, and and you have said as I have, I think those things. I say those things about people. My tongue looks like that. I divide. That that was one of the things, those are children running, by the way.
Collin Hansen:Just in case you wondered. My my parents, they, I have a my great grandfather's name was Roy. Roy Everett, beautiful name. Intend on carrying that one on. Roy Everett, was, was a quick witted man, but just bitingly mean.
Collin Hansen:I mean, just mean spirited with the things that he said. I mean, he was just so quick. And my, my dad has gotten called out as being Roy Everett. And even as a young child, I was called out as being like Roy Everett. That that I would be so quick to say these things, and these darts, these this fire from hell as James puts it.
Collin Hansen:That we would speak those things at people. And I don't know, I don't know about you, but as, as we've been looking through this letter, as we've been thinking through what it means to, to have this divisive spirit amongst us, this envious spirit that looks to harm others. I see that. And by the grace of God, I stand before you as someone who is redeemed by the blood of Christ. Okay?
Collin Hansen:But I still see that in my life. And so so maybe you have also felt that during this study. That conviction is a good thing. And let me tell you this, that is the work of God. When you when you sense that rebellion, when you see that in your own life, when you can identify sin, that's not you just being smart.
Collin Hansen:That's the work of the Holy Spirit in your life, highlighting the many ways, the manifold ways that we are not like Christ, but the many ways that he is conforming us into the image of God. We need to see this promise, that God gives grace to the humble and then ask, how do we become humble? Now humility is a, is a huge theme across the scriptures and throughout church history. Augustine, Saint Augustine, he actually summarized the entire Christian doctrine. He said, if I if I had to do it in 3 parts, he said this in a sermon, if if I summarize the Christian faith in 3 parts, it would be humility, humility, and humility.
Collin Hansen:This is how we live the Christian life, in humility. So, how are we to be humble? James gets to this in verses 7 through 10. And we can summarize it really kind of in 2 in 2 chunks that he moves through. 2 different parts to humility, and that is submission and repentance.
Collin Hansen:Submission and repentance. That is how we are to be humble. First, let's look at submission. Verses 7 and 8 there. Verse 7, submit yourselves therefore to god.
Collin Hansen:Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to god, and he will draw near to you. James says, therefore, submit yourselves therefore. That's coming on the heels of the statement where he's quoting Proverbs 334 that God resists the proud, and gives grace to the humble. So, what he's saying, in effect, is god gives grace to the humble.
Collin Hansen:Therefore, since god gives grace to the humble, submit yourselves to him. Since he does this, submit. This is how we get into that position of humility to receive that grace from god. Submit. Submit to God, and that has 2 parts, 2 running themes there.
Collin Hansen:Resisting the devil and drawing near to god. Submission looks like resisting the devil and drawing near to God. This call to submit is that proper recognition, seeing truly and rightly, who we are in God's created order. Seeing who we are in this realm of God's authority. And that we would position ourselves rightly, that we would see it.
Collin Hansen:And really quite simply put, it's recognizing that he is God, and that we are not. He is God, and we are not. If I could give you something to meditate on, as we pursue Christian humility, it would be to think about this concept, almost a refrain for your day. That he is God, and that you are not. Because one of the things that you need to resist, and resisting the devil, and resisting evil, is the evil lie that you are God.
Collin Hansen:Now that might seem like such an easy one, to to dismiss and to say, absolutely, obviously I'm not God. But effectually, most of us live like that lie is true. Now, I I don't believe that I would I could ask any of you that question, do you believe that you are god? And you would say, yes. None of you would say that.
Collin Hansen:But by your life, by your living and doing, by your working, you're answering yes. I am answering yes. And so confessing that, submitting that, resisting the lie of evil, and saying, Lord, you are God, and I am not. And I don't wanna live like I am. We submit to his order, his authority, and we resist evil.
Collin Hansen:Romans 6, Paul teaches us that we are free from the master of sin. Sin no longer is master over us, and that freedom to obey is also the freedom to resist the former master of sin. That means that we can now resist that evil. So what what we're actually getting to here in James 4, is that your ability to resist evil is a gift from the cross and resurrection of Jesus. In that moment, when you can choose sin or resist it, That capacity to resist sin is purchased by the blood of Jesus.
Collin Hansen:And when we deny it, when we deny that opportunity to resist evil, we are magnificent gift purchased for us, on the cross and resurrection of Jesus. Now, one of the things that I've learned about preaching on repentance over the last year, is that rarely if ever do you say something that we don't already know. But also, rarely, if ever, do we talk about something that we do regularly. Where this is actually an apparent rhythm in our lives. So you can nod your head and say, yes, I know this.
Collin Hansen:Yeah, I understand, I get these concepts of submission, but where is it? Now this is where James becomes a really terrible book to read, if you just want that kind of peppered in Christian value in your life. If you just want it as a light seasoning on your life, James is just a terrible book to read because he's gonna call you on this stuff. So much so that when you read it, you might even start to get a little bit antsy like I do and say, is this legalism? Should this be in the bible?
Collin Hansen:I just feel like he's he's so preachy. And we have to recognize that James is calling us out because this is vitally important. Because God resists the proud. Just like we're supposed to resist the devil, he resists the proud. And he gives grace to the humble.
Collin Hansen:If that's true, and I believe that it is, then it's vitally important that we understand what it means to live this Christian humility. So then the resistance. Do you resist sin? I mean this is kinda like a diagnostics. We have to actually ask the question, do you resist sin?
Collin Hansen:When you have the opportunity in front of you, the thoughts, the words, the actions, when, when these things present themselves, these temptations that come from the enemy, not from the lord. When these things are in front of you, do you resist it? Or like, could could the author of Hebrews speak into your life as he says in Hebrews 12? You haven't resisted to the point where you've been shedding blood. You haven't resisted like that.
Collin Hansen:I mean, these are some hard things to hear. It's hard fought resistance. You don't stumble into this kind of obedience. We don't just wander into obeying Jesus like this. This is hard work.
Collin Hansen:And that's just one of the things that James does such a magnificent job doing. He says, yes, you are justified by faith alone, but not faith only. How does, how does that work? I mean are these not synonyms going here? Like how, how does this work?
Collin Hansen:No, you are called into this and just like, if you said to the person that was hungry, be well, be full, but I'm not gonna give you anything. He says, just like that person would wither away and die. That's how you are if you're just with faith, and there are no works, there are no evidences of this, there's no fruit in your life, you're withering away just like the person that was left with nothing on the street corner. So do you resist sin? We have been redeemed to resist the devil.
Collin Hansen:And we have been redeemed to draw near to God. And this bears a promise. There are 2 promises here. 1, that if we resist the devil, he flees us. And then, if we draw near to God, that he draws near to us.
Collin Hansen:The author of Hebrews loves this image as well. In Hebrews 4, he says, or she, I don't know who wrote it. Let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and may find grace to help in the time of need. Let us draw near with confidence. In 1st Peter 3, he writes, for Christ also died for sins once for all, that the, the just for the unjust us, in order that he might bring us to God.
Collin Hansen:And Jesus uses this image as well as recorded in John 6, when he says, no one can come to me unless the father who sent me draws them. God works in us and gives us strength. Strength to submit, strength to resist the devil, and strength to draw near. And then it moves to the second part, repentance. Look at verse 8.
Collin Hansen:Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double minded. Be wrenched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Now, you probably won't find these verses, you know, hand stitched on a pillow at your grandmother's house. These are not go to for the decorations.
Collin Hansen:That your joy would be turned to gloom. I thought this whole thing was like the opposite of that. Right? In Isaiah and Jeremiah and Revelation that that the gloom's going into joy. But what he's calling us into, what God, through James's voice, is calling you to, is to see properly the estate of your sin and rebellion.
Collin Hansen:James is instructing the Christians that real humility is found in submission and in the hard work of repentance. In these verses 8 and 9, he's he's describing lament. He's describing purification. And this call to repentance is, is really, it's central to the gospel of God. We see that in Mark 1, when Jesus says, The time is fulfilled, the kingdom of God is at hand, repent and believe the gospel.
Collin Hansen:That's word 1 on evangelism. Time is fulfilled. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent. Turn from your rebellion.
Collin Hansen:Turn from your foolish attempts to save yourselves. And turn to God and believe in his gospel. Which was unfolding. Right? I mean, Jesus says this, chapter 1, page 1, gospel of Mark, and this is the unfolding.
Collin Hansen:We we read into that the full account of Mark. That Christ would die on the cross, that he would raise up from the grave victoriously and ascend to the heavens. And that he would promise to return. This is the kingdom that is near. See, when it comes to repentance, the first gift that God gives us is sight.
Collin Hansen:We see ourselves rightly. We see our sinfulness. We see our rebellion. And that sight quickly leads to sorrow. When we see it, when he gives us eyes to see our sin, to see our rebellion, it leads to sorrow.
Collin Hansen:And that's what James is pointing out. James is saying, look at this. Don't look away. Look at it. See how things really are.
Collin Hansen:We have to mourn and weep because we have to see who we really are. And this is not for the faint of heart. Because ultimately, we won't see God as he is, truly, until he gives us eyes to see who we are, really. Really see who we are. We have to be brought low and we have to stop fooling ourselves into thinking that we can lift ourselves up.
Collin Hansen:So when we get that sight and it moves into that sorrow, it's kind of a hopeless place. It's kinda like what Joel talked about last week when, when we see this envy, and we see the power and wickedness of our tongues set on fire from hell. When we see all those things and it just looks so hopeless. Because if all of this is true, then we can't lift ourselves up. But then the promise comes in verse 10.
Collin Hansen:Humble yourselves before the lord, and he will exalt you. He will lift you up. He lifts us up. He raises us up out of that mourning and out of the sorrow, out of our hopelessness and our brokenness. He lifts us up to live as sons and daughters.
Collin Hansen:Where the bones that he has broken will rejoice. Where he has created in us a clean heart, where he has renewed a right spirit within us. There's a quote that's in your worship guide. It's from Thomas Merton and he says this, when God leads us in humility, when god is leading us into this Christian humility, this accurate view of who we are and who god is, He makes us real. I I love this image.
Collin Hansen:That when we see ourselves as we truly are, and he gives us sight to see who he truly is. And he takes us out of that sorrow, into the turning away from our sin, and into the life lived in his grace, that he makes us real. This reminds me of a story that I I read to June a lot. It's one of my favorite books. It's a little thin on pictures, so it's become decreasingly asked for at bedtime.
Collin Hansen:But it's The Velveteen Rabbit. You might have read it. When I revisited it as an adult, I was like, this is kind of dark. Like he gets all sick and they gotta burn his stuff, and I mean, it's hard times for the velveteen rabbit. But it came out in 1922.
Collin Hansen:I just wanted to read this this one little section to you. Speaking of the velveteen rabbit, for a long time, he lived in the toy cupboard or on the nursery floor, and no one thought very much about him. He was naturally shy and being only made made of velveteen, Some of the more expensive toys quite snubbed him. The mechanical toys were very superior and looked down upon everyone else. They were full of modern ideas and pretended that they were real.
Collin Hansen:The model boat, who had lived through 2 seasons and lost most of his paint, caught the tone from them and never missed an opportunity to refer to his rigging in technical terms. The rabbit could not claim to be a model of anything, for he did not know that real rabbits existed. He thought they were all stuffed with sawdust like him. I think sometimes we forget that realness exists. That wholeness and wholehearted living is purchased for us in the cross and resurrection of Jesus.
Collin Hansen:I think that we forget that we are called to be sons and daughters. That he's led us into the hard work of obedience in his grace because god gives grace to the humble, and he's making us humble. Because none of this is possible. Seeing our sin, seeing our guilt, and looking to Jesus, all of those things are gifts. Those are works that that he does.
Collin Hansen:That he builds us up and gives us the strength to not tear our eyes away, to look at ourselves, to look at our sin, to look at our rebellion, and to turn from it, and to turn to Jesus. God gives grace to the humble. And in that humility and in that grace, he makes us real. So what I want to give in this time of reflection as we pray, as we sing, I want, I want to encourage you and invite you into an opportunity that is quite dangerous. And, and it takes a lot, of strength.
Collin Hansen:And that is to ask God to give you the eyes to see yourself rightly. To see him and his grace rightly, and to live in that grace, To lay down your rebellion, to repent, to turn from it. And then when you do that, to leave the guilt, and the sorrow, and the shame. You see, if we if we just make our way through sight and sorrow and then into shame, and we stay at shame, we are robbing the cross of its glory. But when we leave shame behind, when we walk away from that shame, and we live in the grace afforded to us and attributed to us only through the work of Christ, then the fullness of that glory shines.
Collin Hansen:And then we sing as sons and daughters. And we live obediently, not dredging through that guilt and shame, but moving beyond it. Letting go of those shackles of shame, and living freely in that abundant life that Jesus promises. Because the evil one can't take that abundant life away. He can distract you from it, and he's pretty good at that.
Collin Hansen:But he can't take it away. So seize that. Work long yearn for Jesus. Because when we run to him in his arms, there are 10,000 charms. We sing that together.
Collin Hansen:That I will arise and I will go to Jesus and he will embrace me in his arms. All of those promises that we must cling to, that God gives grace to the humble and he makes us real. Let's pray. God, I pray that by your spirit you would give us sight, or that you would give us the courage to truly look at our lives. That we would evaluate how we are disciplined, how you are disciplining us.
Collin Hansen:I pray that you would give us that strength to long for you. Give us the confidence to draw near to the throne of grace. Your grace that you lavish upon us. Lord, I pray because I am sure that there are so many in this room, that you have given sight to see their their sinfulness, that you have given them that sorrow, but they are stuck in that shame. And, lord, I I pray for release.
Collin Hansen:I pray that you would give them liberty from that shame, that they would move to turning from their sin and that they would live in your grace with confidence. Lord, I pray that if, if they need encouragement, if they need prayer, that they would go to someone that they trust either in this room or or later this evening or or whatever context that might be. Lord, by your spirit there is deliverance and we want to live in that. We want the courage to see our sin, but Lord, we need your strength to leave it behind. That we might honor you in the way that we boast in our weaknesses and we boast in the cross.
Collin Hansen:So spirit, do now what we can't manifest, we can't manufacture and that is that you would change lives. For your name, for your glory, for your kingdom, we pray these things. Amen.
