James 4:7-10 September 5, 1999
Submitting to God (Part 2) - Ingredients of repentance
Introduction
There was a cartoon several years ago in the Saturday Review of Literature 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 tell a lie." But his father is 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."
Last week, we began looking at what it means to walk in submission to God. In the first 6 verses of James 4, we saw that it is our own desires that prevent us from submitting to God. When we allow our desires to become the controlling force in our lives, then we create a war between God¡¦s will and our will. That war then creates battles between us and other people. It is only as we get control over our desires and refuse to allow our pride to be in control of our lives that we can find strength from God to live for Him. It is only then that we can have peace too.
This morning, we are going to look at verses 7-10. These verses contain the second lesson that we need to learn in order to live a life in submission to God. This lesson is the practice of repentance. Repentance is a word that we don¡¦t heart used very much in our society anymore. A school teacher asked her students what ¡§repentance¡¨ meant. One young boy quickly raised his hand and said, ¡§It means being sorry for your sins¡¨. After hearing that response, another student in the classroom raised her hand and corrected the young boy. She added, ¡§Repentance doesn¡¦t just mean that you are sorry for your sins. It means that you are sorry enough to quit.¡¨
Just before Jesus began his public ministry on earth, his cousin, John the Baptist, prepared the way for Jesus through his own message. His message was basically summed up in this one word: ¡§REPENT!¡¨ By that, John didn¡¦t mean for people to get sorry over their sin, seek God¡¦s forgiveness, and then go back to living in that sin all over again. He meant for them to change. Repentance is about a change of my mind about God and myself. I change my mind about God. I come to accept that He is the master of my life. I change my mind about myself. I come to accept that I am responsible to God for my past, my present and my future. And the change in my mind leads to a change in my lifestyle. I was walking in one direction. Now I turn around and start heading in the other direction.
In the verses that we will study this morning, we will see 7 commands that James gives which will lead us into a spirit of repentance. But along with each command, we will find that God has provided a promise or a reward. When you submit to God, you will find that the rewards that God provides make any self-sacrifice well worth the price. Let¡¦s read verses 7-10 of James 4. If you have your own Bible, please follow along there. If you don¡¦t have a Bible, the verses are listed on the back of your note sheet. NOTE: all the references to the Bible passages that I will read this morning are listed in your notes. This is so that you will be able to read these passages for yourself sometime this week. I don¡¦t want anyone to accept something as truth simply because I say it. I want you to check these things out for yourself in the Bible.
1. Submit to God (vs. 7)
With the very first command that James gives, we feel a certain sense of repulsion. Submission is not a popular term. Last summer, the SBC received a lot of criticism for its stand on the responsibility of wives to submit to their husbands. No one liked that idea very much. But regardless of whether you like it or not, the Bible teaches it. So if you claim to walk in obedience to God, you must accept it. The Bible talks a lot about submission. It says that children are supposed to submit to their parents, employees are supposed to submit to their employers, angels are supposed to submit to God, we are supposed to submit to our elders, and all of us are supposed to submit to one another. But our response to all of those is determined by whether or not we submit to God.
- his description of me. In verse 8, James describes us with two designations.
a. sinner ¡V that¡¦s not something I like to hear; makes me defensive; we are all in the same boat together (Rom 3:23); you have to know the problem before you can get the cure ¡V you don¡¦t like to hear the doctor say, ¡§You¡¦ve got cancer¡¨, but you can¡¦t receive treatment until you hear the bad news.
b. double-minded ¡V The word literally means ¡§two-souled¡¨, a split personality. I¡¦m never quite sure of where I¡¦m going. I can¡¦t be depended upon. I¡¦m divided between my allegiance to God and my allegiance to myself. You know what a double-minded husband is? It¡¦s a guy who¡¦s got a wife and a mistress, and he can¡¦t decide which one he wants more, so he decided to try and hold on to both of them! Who would want a husband or a wife like that?! Do you remember the old song, ¡§Torn between two lovers, feeling like a fool.¡¨? If you think that you can have it God¡¦s way sometimes and your way sometimes, you¡¦re not only going to feel like a fool, you¡¦ll be a fool.
That¡¦s God description of me: a double-minded sinner. Am I willing to submit to his description, his diagnosis if you will? If I am willing to submit to his diagnosis, then that will help me to be willing to submit to his prescription. The doctor described me as someone with hypo-thyroidism. My thyroid gland doesn¡¦t put out as much hormone as it should. So he suggested a course of action for me. He gave me a bottle of pills and told me to take one every day. If I accept God¡¦s description, that will go a long way to helping me follow His prescription. What is His prescription?
- his will for me ¡V recorded in the Bible; live in obedience; Jesus in the garden said, ¡§Not my will, but thine be done¡¨. He was submissive to the Father¡¦s will for Him.
REWARD What is the reward of submitting to the fact that I am a double-minded sinner and that my responsibility is to submit completely to the will of the Father? The reward is salvation. (Rom. 6:23 ¡V For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.)
2. Resist the devil (vs. 7) ¡V This morning in our Sunday School hour, we began a series of studies on angels. One of the things that we learned about angels is that they have great power, more than humans. At one time, Satan was the highest of the angels. If angels have more power than I do, and Satan was at the top of the list in that power, how am I to resist him?
- through the strength (grace) that God provides
vs. 6 ¡V a ¡§greater¡¨ grace; I Peter 5:8-11 (have them turn there and read); I don¡¦t resist the devil in my own strength. I resist him in the strength of God.
- through the armor that we put on (turn to Eph 6:11ff ¡V expound on the different pieces of armor, especially the sword and the prayer) ¡V in John 4, Jesus resisted Satan in the wilderness.
REWARD ¡V he will run! The reason that Satan and his forces get the victory so often is because we choose not to fight him.
3. Draw near to God (vs. 8)
4. Cleanse your hands (vs. 8)
- of dirty things ¡V (Job 17:9) clean hands make you stronger; I have a habit in my family of tightening the cap on the Coke bottle too tight. When I was growing up, I was always the one who was accused of letting the Coke go flat by not tightening the cap tight enough. So now I tighten it too much. Whenever Victoria or Tammy want the Coke bottle or some other bottle opened, they bring it to me for me to open. But even I can¡¦t open it if I have grease or some other dirty, slippery substance on my hands. I have to clean my hands before I can be strong enough to open the bottle.
When something is really clean, we refer to it as ¡§squeaky¡¨ clean. That¡¦s because when two things that are really clean rub together, they squeak. That¡¦s how you know that there is no dirt present in between the two substances. When my car squeaks, I know it¡¦s clean. When my hair squeaks, I know that it is clean. It¡¦s then that I know that there is nothing between me and the surface of whatever it is that I am cleaning.
That¡¦s what I want to happen in my relationship with God. I want to be squeaky clean from all the sin in my life in order that there will be nothing separating me from God. I want to be as close to Him as I possibly can. In I Jn 1:9 ¡V It is not enough to seek God¡¦s forgiveness. When we come to God for forgiveness, we need to seek His cleansing to prevent us from doing the same thing again.
- of distracting things
From time to time in this church, people will raise their hands toward heaven when they are singing a song that is especially worshipful or when we are praying to God. They are obeying the command of I Timothy 2:8 which tells us to lift up holy hands to God. By lifting their hands to God, they are doing several things. First, they are offering everything to God. They¡¦re saying, ¡§Lord, here are my hands and everything that I hold in my hands. I give you everything that I am and have as an offering. Use it however you want.¡¨ The second thing that they are doing by raising their hands is asking God to search their hands. They¡¦re saying, ¡§Lord, if there is something that I am holding onto that is dirty or is distracting me from you, then I want you to take it out of my hands. Whatever you want God ¡V my family, my business, my home, my leisure time ¡V I let go of it.¡¨ Psa 139:23-24 Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. They are releasing their grip on everything that they own and allowing God the right to take whatever does not belong. You see, there are some things in our lives that are not necessarily sinful, but turn our attention away from the one who deserves our full worship, praise and energy. You can¡¦t hold onto anything with an open hand. Too many of us are tight-fisted when the time comes for us to give up portions of our lives to God. The final thing that we say when we raise our hands to God is a request. ¡§Lord, now that I have emptied myself before you, please come and take control of my life. Bless me, Lord. Take my hand, and allow me to walk side by side with you.¡¨
Listen to this poem that I found this week:
One by one He took them from me All the things I valued most;
’Til I was empty-handed, Every glittering toy was lost.
And I walked earth’s highways, grieving, In my rags and poverty.
Until I heard His voice inviting, "Lift those empty hands to Me!"
Then I turned my hands toward heaven, And He filled them with a store
Of His own transcendent riches, ’Till they could contain no more.
And at last I comprehended With my stupid mind, and dull,
That God cannot pour His riches Into hands already full.
REWARD ¡V an intimate relationship with God. Psa 24:3-5 Who shall ascend into the hill of the LORD? or who shall stand in his holy place? He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully. He shall receive the blessing from the LORD, and righteousness from the God of his salvation.
5. Purify your hearts (vs. 8) ¡V Many times when we see the word ¡§pure¡¨ in the Bible, we think that it is talking about holiness ¡V living a life that is separate from sin. And it is true that the application of purity for a Christian is that they will live a holy life. But purity doesn¡¦t relate just to Christian things. In my younger days, when I had a little bit of money that I could spend on myself, I used to purchase new coins from the federal mint. One of the coins that I purchased was a $5 gold piece. It cost me $65. (doesn¡¦t make much sense does it) That gold says on it, ¡§99.99% pure¡¨. As much as is possible, it is free of anything that makes it not gold. When Jim, Judy and Janet Morris and I were getting the flower bed in front of the church ready for the new flowers, we purified the dirt as much as we could. We took out all the rocks, the weeds, and clumps of clay. As much as is possible, it is free of anything that makes it not dirt. A Christian with a pure heart is free of anything that would prevent him from living like a Christian. He is free to be totally committed to God. He has one focus ¡V to love and serve God with all his heart. Jesus said in Matt. 22:37-38 ¡§Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. In Rev. 3:15-16, God accused the Christians in Revelation of being fence sitters; they were neither hot or cold. They weren¡¦t pure because they didn¡¦t have their complete focus on God. They were trying to eat their cake and have it too.
The problem with this is that when you are divided between two points of focus for your attention and energy, you can¡¦t give your whole self to God. Jesus said, (Mat 6:24 NASB) "No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will hold to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. You¡¦re always confused about who you are, where you¡¦re going and why you¡¦re here. You can never find satisfaction or fulfillment.
How do you purify your heart?
- by obeying the truth (1 Pet 1:22 NIV) Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart. It is a fact of marriage that the best way for me to increase the level of love that I have for my wife ¡Vthe depth of my devotion to her ¡V is by doing loving things for her. As I express my love, my love grows. The same is true in your relationship to the Lord. The more that I obey Him, the deeper my devotion to Him grows.
- by trying times (Job 23:10 KJV) But he knows the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold. (Prov 17:3 NASB) The refining pot is for silver and the furnace for gold, But the LORD tests hearts. One of people¡¦s most difficult questions is why God sends hard times into the lives of people who are trying to live good lives. At least a part of the answer is because God is working on those people to purify them. Just as we purify gold, silver and other materials by putting them through the heat, so God purifies us ¡V focuses us completely on Himself ¡V by putting a little heat under us.
REWARD ¡V stability (James 1:8), a sense of allegiance, an understanding of your purpose for existence
6. Start Crying (vs. 9) ¡V At first glance, this verse doesn¡¦t make much sense. Jesus told us that he came to give us abundant life and to fill our lives with joy. We laugh a lot here in this church. Are we being sinful in doing so? Are we disobeying God? No, that¡¦s not what James is talking about here. James is talking to people who think that everything is all right in themselves and in their world. People that say, ¡§We¡¦re healthy, we¡¦re wealthy, all is good in the world. Let¡¦s party!¡¨ Earlier, I spoke of a church in Revelation where the people were sitting on the fence. Turn with me to Revelation 3 so that we can look at what was going on [READ REV. 3:14-19]. They were deceiving themselves. When you¡¦re living in a lie, it¡¦s easy to pretend that everything is ok. It¡¦s only when you face reality that you see how poor and weak you really are. When you are faced with the undeniable facts of your condition, that is when you begin to weep . . .
- over your own state. In Luke 6:25, Jesus addressed a group of people who were acting as if everything was ok in their lives. He told them "Woe to you who are well-fed now, for you shall be hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep.¡¨ When we realize that we stand before God as sinners and that He is getting ready to pour out his judgment on us, then it causes us to weep over our sorry condition. Then, once we realize our own condition, it opens our eyes to the condition of those around us, and we start to weep . . .
- over the state of your community Ps 126:6 ¡V going forth with weeping bearing precious seed; Ezra 10:1-2 ¡V Ezra and the people wept over the condition that the community was in; Matt 24:37 ¡V Jesus was in anguish over the city of Jerusalem. (Joel 2:12-13,17) "Yet even now," declares the LORD, "Return to Me with all your heart, And with fasting, weeping, and mourning; 13 And rend your heart and not your garments." Now return to the LORD your God, For He is gracious and compassionate, Slow to anger, abounding in lovingkindness, And relenting of evil. 17 Let the priests, the LORD’S ministers, Weep between the porch and the altar, And let them say, "Spare Thy people, O LORD, And do not make Thine inheritance a reproach, A byword among the nations. Why should they among the peoples say, ’Where is their God?’"
„h FASTING ¡V Most of the times that true repentance in the Bible, their was weeping over sin, and there was fasting. Fasting is the practice of denying yourself food for a certain amount of time. Fasting communicates to God the seriousness of your commitment to Him and the depth of your desire for Him to work in the situation that you are facing. One of the effects of fasting is that it decreases the level of control that my desires have over me. The more that I say ¡§NO¡¨ to myself in one area (namely food), the easier it is to say ¡§NO¡¨ to myself in other areas. Every time that I resist those hunger pains and refuse to allow my desires to control me, I gain strength to fight against other desires. I develop a pattern of saying ¡§NO¡¨ to myself and ¡§YES¡¨ to God.
When this service comes to its conclusion in just a moment, I¡¦m going to ask you to do something. At the front of the church, I have a blank calendar. I would like to see that calendar filled with the names of people who would be willing to commit to fast at least one day a month for yourself, your family and your community. That would mean that from dinner one evening to dinner the next evening, you would eat nothing. You would still drink, just not eat. Is there anything magical about it? No, but it is a physical denial of myself that strengthens my commitment to deny myself spiritually as well. Are you willing to cry over your own state? Are you willing to cry over those that you love?
REWARD ¡V He will comfort you. (Matthew 5:4)
7. Humble yourselves (vs. 10) ¡V When I humble myself, I kneel before my Maker allowing Him to do whatever He wants in my life. I come before Him as a weak human who humbly admits that left to myself, I will fall and be destroyed.
REWARD ¡V He will exalt you.
CONCLUSION
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 you 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."
