THE HUMBLE WILL BE EXALTED

The humble will be exalted

In the passage that I will be going over the Apostle James writes that God desires to give us more grace. In a cold world that is a very special promise to me but then he is very blunt to say that Jesus Christ resists the proud so our lives should be humble before God.

James changes the subject by saying that if we submit ourselves to God, resist the devil he will flee from us because we are now in the presence of the Holy Spirit. We made a definitive decision to kick demons out of our life so there would be no reason for Satan to hang around and harass us to wreck havoc in our lives.

The Apostle James goes even deeper into the subject by writing draw near to God and He will draw near to us. He adds cleanse your hands you sinners. This obviously means we as Christians are to check our sin radar everyday because if left unchecked one sin probably will lead into other sins and before we know it our hearts are filled with transgressions for all practical purposes. The Apostle James adds that it is our responsibility to purify our hearts. Some Christians teach that this is the responsibility of God but that is not what this passage is saying even as believers in Jesus Christ. If this were the case we would never have to repent of our sins again so all I have to do is look at myself and testify to you that this teaching could not possibly be biblical correct. It is interesting that James at the end of the verse says ye double minded. All I can say is since the Apostle already went through a lengthy sermon on this subject in the book of James he must have seen many Christians fall into this trap.

The Apostle James then changes the subject to allowing our laughter being turned to mourning and our joy to heaviness. I will go over this precept more deeply after I quote the Bible passage.

James then writes humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord and He shall lift you up. Let me quote the original text so you can read the passage and perhaps make reference to it in this particular study of the Bible. 

(6) "But He giveth more grace. Wherefore He saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. (7) Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. (8) Draw near to God, and He will draw near 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." James 4:6 - 10.

God draws a distinction between the proud and the person with true humility. God resists the proud but on the other hand the proud resists God. If I were a prideful man which I am not (I checked my spirit deep) I would or should be trembling because God resists the proud. The prideful person will be filled with shame in the end because he or she chose this for themselves before Jesus Christ. This is not even to mention that a condescending spirit will effect other people in a bad way.

On the other hand Jesus Christ gives help to the humble. The Apostle James is saying pride / disgrace or humble / grace. If we choose the latter God will give us grace then by the very nature of this divine gift we will desire more and eventually He will give an abundance of His love to us. The more humble we are before God the more grace He will bestow in our hearts because we see a need for this divine gift of the Holy Spirit to be shed upon our hearts. We should formally pray for this and when we receive this divine sustenance for our lives a thankful spirit should always be present in our hearts.

We should submit ourselves entirely to God because we as believers in Christ tend to have the yield sign up to what the Holy Spirit desires to do in our lives of some things we want and do not desire God meddling in our affairs. If we learn to have glory in God in our submissions to Him not through fear but love, understand that this is the main thing demons desire to hinder so I believe James had to write, "Submit yourselves to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." James 4: 7. The problem with yielding to temptations is demons will continually follow us but if we make a stand against sin demons will have to flee because there is nothing there in our lives except the presence of Jesus Christ.

James tells us how to respond towards God. He tells us to draw nigh to Jesus Christ. If we did rebel against God through some sort of sin our heart has to be brought to the foot of God. If our spirit becomes estranges in our fellowship with Jesus Christ we should desire to become reacquainted with His wonderful presence. This is why James says cleanse your hands because if they are not clean it would be an exercise in futility to draw close to God. Sin by nature causes us to become double minded so you can probably see why our hearts must be purified through Jesus Christ. Only sincerity before God will bring us to this good place in Jesus Christ.

When James says be afflicted, and mourn, and weep he means if God sends us an affliction we should accept the situation because Jesus Christ takes our trials with diligence. If we are in the middle of contention, strife and division we should be mourning and just like the Apostle writes let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to heaviness. What kind of people would we be if we responded any other way? When I was very young my Dad told me that life has far more sorrow than laughter and I did not take him very serious but my earthly father turned out to be right. There is something about Godly sorrow that the Holy Spirit has much sympathy for in our broken hearts.

This passage writes humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord. In context I believe the Apostle James is saying there is humiliation in sin and evil so go the other way and let there be humility in doing what is good and righteous. This will be a constant battle in our lives until we get to heaven. The real question is are we willing to go to war with our besetting sins. If we read the Bible very close this is our primary battle. Some people feel it is to war against the state or the establishment but our first responsibility is to battle against our sin / sins. Most countries or all have some element of evil in the government but I would be far more concerned with our transgressions that could be eating away at our souls.

James gives us great encouragement on how to respond to God. If we see drawing near to God as our duty then God will draw close to us because of His mercy. If we do not have a close fellowship with Jesus Christ it would be our fault. I have found that many Christians try and expect certain responsibilities from God but in fact it is their accountability. We are responsible and accountability to draw close to God and then He will show us His grace. There are exceptions to this rule. For example when I am working, moving fast and under enormous stress often times I will feel the hand of the Holy Spirit move through my spirit in His peace. I did not do anything to deserve this but in His mercy I end up with the supernatural peace of God and this divine gift absorbs my anxiety in His love.

Once again James gives an order by saying, Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He shall lift you up." James 4:10. If we as believers in Christ are truly sorry for our sins by missing the mark of God He will not only forgive us but show His favor. He will lift up our spirit and comfort us in our bad circumstances. The most humble on earth before God will probably be one of the highest in heaven.

I know the Apostle James says much in these five verses so all I can say is it will take me a good while for all these biblical principles to be absorbed in my spirit. If you do not know the Lord in a personal way now may be a good time to humble yourself before Him. The Bible says, (9) "Wherefore God also hath highly exalted Him, and given Him a name which is above every name: (10) That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; (11)  And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of the Father." Philippians 2: 9 - 11. Everybody is going to bow before Jesus Christ but most people will not go to heaven because they did not do it while God may be found. If a person dies without Jesus Christ it will be to late because their judgment will be set for eternity. Now may be a good time for you to make this all important eternal decision. Just accept Jesus Christ into your heart as your personal Savior and Lord by repenting of all your sins and inviting the Son of God into your life. I hope and pray you just made this choice for your life and eternity.

God Bless you,

Bob D.