The act of submission to God
James chapter 4:7-10
Introduction-
James chapter 4:7-10
Last week we looked at the first part of chapter 4 concerning fights and quarrels. Saw that most inner battles we face are because of our desires to please ourselves and want what we cannot have. We saw that wrong motives will not be rewarded by God, and a lot of things we do not have is because we do not ask God, or we ask with the wrong motives. James goes on to say that fellowship with the world is hatred toward God. Meaning that if we spend all our time , energy, money, building relationships with the things of the world, that it is not pleasing to God. In fact, we are enemies of the things that God stands for. He says, as believers, I put my Spirit in you and I am a jealous God. I do not share my glory. There can only be one Lord in your life and I demand to be Lord. “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” He opposes those that have a haughty spirit, those who think too high of themselves, those that rebel against the things of God. Brings us to this mornings message. First 6 verses he tells the diagnosis of our sin problem. Verses 7-10 he tells us the cure for our problem.
Submit yourself to God.
Resist the devil.
Come clean with God.
Humble yourselves before God.
When we do these things-God promises that He will respond to the needs that we have. He will respond and cure what is wrong with us. “You can’t decide without a guide.” He guides the humble in what’s right and teaches them His way. (Psalm 25:9) The first thing we need to admit is that we need a guide. That we cannot do the things of God apart from God. There is no way to submit to God if you do not know God. Sheep by nature, tend to wander off the path. Isaiah the prophet says “All of us like sheep have strayed away.” we have left God’s path to follow our own path. Another thing about sheep, they have poor vision. That’s why they wander off path. It’s why they fall into holes and fall off cliffs. They need a shepherd. They do not understand the dangers that are around them. That is why we need Jesus We cannot tell all the dangers around us. We don’t see so good. We can’t tell the future. We do not even know what tomorrow will bring. God made you so that you would not be able to see into the future. No matter how hard you try. No matter all the gimmicks and people that say they can. Why does God do this? So you have to depend on Him That we would say that we need His help Bob Benson “When lives caves in, you do not need a reason, you need comfort. You do not need some answers, you need someone. And Jesus does not come to us with an explanation, He comes with His presence.
Dwight Eisenhower- “There is no victories at discount prices.” If you want to live a victorious Christian life, we must submit to God. “Come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord.” The problem is we try to live in two worlds. We try to please both sides, the world and God. It will not work for either. We get ourselves in trouble when we seek our own will over God’s will. When God bolts the door, don’t try to go through the window. I’m going to move fast, so keep writing. Submitting to God is voluntary- if you are a believer, He strongly suggests it. Submission is yielding control to someone or something bigger than you are. Believer- “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight. (He will direct and guide you.) Realize that you are not God. Believe God cares for you and will keep you safe. Committing your will to Jesus control. Confessing your sins so you have a right relationship with God. We run from intimate relationships with people and we have a tendency to run from God. John 15:5 I am the vine and you are the branches” when you are joined with God, the relationship is intimate, and apart from the vine you will die on your own.
Illustration(Sermon Central)
There was a cartoon in the paper several years ago in which little George Washington is standing with an axe in his hand. Before him lying on the ground is the famous cherry tree. He has already made his smug admission that he did it. After all... “he cannot lie.” But his father standing there exasperated saying, “All right, so you admit it You always admit it The question is , when are you going to stop doing it.” Submission is not popular. The world doesn’t like it. God says ; We are to submit to God. Children are to submit to their parents. Employees to their employers. He says, I have the cure for the problem, but first you need to know the problem. Just because we do not like the doctors diagnosis doesn’t change the fact of what we need to happen. (V7) “Submit yourselves , then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” You ever try to resist the devil without first submitting to God. It ain’t happening We try to resist the devil in our own strength , on our own terms, and the devil beats us up. You should refer back to realizing that you are not God and will not be able to fight against the powers of the dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil. You cannot divide your allegiance to God and allegiance to self or something else.
Illustration (Sermon Central)
The story is told of a famous rabbi who was walking with some of his disciples when one of them asked, “rabbi, when should a man repent?” the rabbi calmly replied, “ you should be sure to repent on the last day of your life” but, protested several of his disciples, we can never be sure which day will be the last day of our life” the famous rabbi smiled and said, the answer to that problem is very simple, repent now All right, so we know we need to submit to God, and we know that we can’t resist the devil in our own strength. Million dollar question- how are we to submit to God? Submit- Greek word hypotasso- hypo- under, tasso- to arrange. It is also where we get subject and subjection. The word was used as a military term meaning to arrange the troop division in a military fashion. Definition of submitting to God- it means to arrange oneself under the command of divine viewpoint rather than live according to ones old way of life based on a human viewpoint. It is a process to surrender our will to God.
Why we submit
We cannot help ourselves.
We are not smart enough.
We are not strong enough.
We cannot save ourselves.
We cannot see the dangers before they happen.
Isaiah 53:4-6
“Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquity’s; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” Submission gets us where we need to go.
Recap
Submit to God, Resist the devil.(v8) “Come near to God and He will come near to you.” He made the first move. Turn around, stop rebelling, and walk toward God. Wash your hands, come clean with God, stop being double-minded. Stop trying to live in two worlds. We are asked to submit to someone who cares for us. One who laid down His life for us. Psalm 23:1-6
“The lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quit waters, he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his names sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death. I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table for me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Submission requires three things- you cannot take any shortcuts. Trust, permit, and yield. Trust God, permit Him to take control of your life, and yield your life to Him. Proverbs “To a man belongs the plans of the heart, but from the Lord comes the reply of the tongue. All a man’s ways seem innocent to him, but motives are weighed by the Lord. Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and your plans will succeed.” we can trust God to take care of us. Bring it home. Humble yourself before the Lord, and He will lift you up. Here’s the promise. By submitting to God:
resist the devil and he must flee
Come near to God- he will come near to you.
Come clean before God- he can cure the double-minded.
Humble yourselves before the Lord- he will lift you up.
Psalm 32:8
I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel and watch over you.”
Matthew 11:28-30
Come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Talk my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”
Remember this
I cannot force you to submit to God.
God will not force you to submit.
You are the only one that can let go and submit.
“I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full”.
The fullness of life he is referring to is not just eternal life, but the life we now live.
Submission test
Phil 2:5
“your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus”
having a humble and submissive heart- that is a choice we have to make. Not because God is a tyrant, but because He is a loving Father who cares for us.
What do you say? Humble yourself, so God can lift you up Some of us are so beat down,
Turn your life over to Him today. Stop trying to fix it, and give Him all the broken pieces. Today can be your day of spiritual freedom. The day you stop carrying thee load the Lord should be carrying.
Altar Call.
