PREACHED:OL,
“THE POSITIVE RESONSE TO GOD’S GRACE”
INTRODUCTION:
1§ According to the story, a child was drowning…
A. A
college student risked his own life by plunging into the icy waters and
struggled to bring the small boy ashore…
1. He
was immediately surrounded by a curious and concerned crowd as he administered
mouth-to-mouth resuscitation…
a. The
child soon revived, and his mother arrived and pushed her way through the
crowd.
1) She
saw the child lying on the ground and said emotionally, “Who saved my child?”
2) The
young man replied, “I did!”
3) She
snapped back, “Where’s his cap?!”
B. Rightful response—“INTGRATE!”
1. But
how many people respond in a similar fashion to the wonderful grace of God
extended to us through Jesus?!
2§ The Grace of God demands a proper
response!
A. Numerous references:
1. Titus 2:11, 12. “For the grace of God has appeared bringing salvation for all people,
training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live
self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age.”
2. Rom 6:1, 2. “What shall we say then? Are we to
continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin
still live in it?” Vs 15, 16. “What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace?
By no means! Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as
obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which
leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?”
B. Often
you will hear someone say, “Well, after
all, we are not under law but under grace…”
1. We
are not under a law of self-justifica- tion, but we are under the law of liberty, the law of
Christ!
a. James 1:25. “But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and
perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed
in his doing.”
3§ Our Text: James 4:6-16
A. James
describes some characteristics of the person who receives the grace of God!
1. In
other words, what attitudes and actions are necessary to receive the grace of
the Lord?
DISCUSSION:
u HUMILITY -
A. V 6, 10. “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble…Humble yourselves
before the Lord, and he will exalt you…”
1. Probably
a reference to Prov 3:34. “Toward the scorners he is scornful, but to the humble he gives favor
(grace).”
B. Peter
refers to the same passage and then adds this inspired commentary: “Clothe yourselves,
all of you, with humility toward one another…Humble yourselves therefore, under
the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you…” (I Pet
5:5,6).
v SUBMISSION -
A. V 7. “Submit yourselves therefore to God…”
1. Only
with the attitude of a slave or servant can we truly and completely submit!
a. Actually,
this is the first in a special “trio” of instructions that James gives to deal
with sin and receive God’s grace.
B. Again,
Peter speaks of submission, “under
the mighty hand of God, so that at the proper time, he may exalt you…”
C. Jesus submitted
to the will of God at
1. His
prayer in
D. He submitted to
God by serving others.
1. James’
earlier references to their fighting and quarreling indicates
that they had forgotten the principle of submission and were absorbed with
selfish, sinful passions!
2. Matt
w RESISTANCE -
A. V 7. “Resist the devil, and he will flee from you…”
1. In
a similar context, Peter gave the same instruction in a different way, I Pet 5:8. “Be sober minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around
like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your
faith…”
a. Key! Strong faith! I John 5:4
B. Jesus
resisted the devil’s temptations—scripture!
C. Second
instruction in the “Trio” of state-ments—Submit…Resist…and THEN THE THIRD EXHORATION IS TO…
x PENITENCE -
A. V 8. “Draw near to God and he will draw near to you…”
1. So the third statement is Seek God!
B. Reminded of the words of David to Solomon:
1. I Chr 28:9. “And you, Solomon my son, know the God of
your father and serve him with a whole heart and with a willing mind, for the
Lord searches all hearts and understands every plan
and thought. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him,
he will cast you off forever.”
C. They needed clean hands:
1. Isa 1:15-17a. “When you spread out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you; even
though you make many prayers, I will not listen; your hands are full of blood.
Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds from
before my eyes; cease to do evil, learn to do good…”
D. They needed single-minded devotion to God!
E. They needed godly sorrow!
1. “Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your
laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom!”
a. In
the O.T. repentance was always accompanied with “ashes and sackcloth.” James is
calling on these brethren to cloth their heart with ashes and sackcloth!
y DEPENDENCE -
A. Their
problem was clearly a trust in self and not in God!
1. V 16. “As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil…”
B. More
than that, they knew what was right and still chose not to do it!
1. V 17. “So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it
is sin.”
C. His example—their secular attitude!
1. Vs 13-15. “Come now, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go into such and
such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit’—yet you do not
know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are
a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you
ought to say, ‘If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that’.”
a. They
were living like God didn’t even exist, even though they claimed to be his
followers!
D. In
the passage we cited earlier from Peter when he dealt with the same concepts,
his conclusion is noteworthy:
1. I Pet 5:7. “…casting all your anxieties on him, for he cares for you…”
2. And
we do “worry” about things, don’t we?!
E. What
James and Peter are addressing is something our Lord emphasized in the Sermon
on the Mount:
1. Matt
6:22-34.