Living in Humility - James 4:11-17
Pastor Tim Brown, Calvary Chapel Fremont, Sunday March 15, 2009
LIVING IN HUMILITY
James 4:11-17
Why live in the Sahara Desert /Arctic Circle - in a place where the weather is constantly against you? Apply to urban areas and traffic/jobs and bosses. J says that many are living in a place where God is against them. GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD…Why would you live in place where God is resisting you? The last thing you want is God against you.
God doesn’t want you living in a place where He has to resist you, He desires that you live in a place of grace – a place where He can treat you better than you deserve. GOD GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE - God treats the humble better than they deserve. Live in humility – in that place where God is for you and not against you.
But if you are living in pride, you will discover that God is resisting you. Pride just isn’t an arrogant attitude/stuck-up nose. It isn’t merely thinking that you are better than others or deserve more than you have. The root of pride is an independent spirit.
But when he became strong, his heart was so proud that he acted corruptly, and he was unfaithful to the LORD his God, for he entered the temple of the LORD to burn incense on the altar of incense. 2C26:16
Pride is spiritual independence – “I don’t need to listen to God.” If you live your life independent of God, He will resist you. You may say, “I don’t have any pride.” You can have cancer and not be aware of it and so it is w/ pride. Our passage speaks of two ways an independent/prideful spirit manifests itself.
11-12
Speak against a brother – accusation/slander/condemnation
J/Jerusalem/Hellenist widows overlooked in daily feeding. Clash of cultures/civilizations. U R so different/compromised U have no place at the table. Speak against – block way/hinder progress.
One of the quickest ways to get God against you is to begin to slander/judge another. You are condemning someone that God is not condemning. You are being Satan to him/God is forced to resist you. In speaking against/judging, you are not recognizing the work of Christ and are tearing it down.
I realized I have a lot of judgment in my heart toward certain people. I began making a list. I was horrified at how much judgment is in my heart. I stopped so the list wouldn’t get longer. There is enough here to offend everyone in this room -
Judging Christians who are not as doctrinally conservative as me/vote Democrat/drink/ ethnicities and genders that drive erratically/poor grammar/those who whine/people who describe their sin in psychological and not Biblical language/selfish people/those who think money gives them special privileges/people who give fruitcake to people/preachers who can’t preach/church members who don’t listen…
R U speaking against people in your heart? Judging others is to not accept God’s judgment. What is God’s judgment? Saints/beloved/ righteous/living stones/bride/body/building. We don’t see each other as God sees us.
Court scene: person on trial declared not guilty. Someone doesn’t accept this verdict and shoots him on the courthouse steps. God says of the people I judge, “I love them, they delight Me and I accept them. They are precious to Me.” I say, “They are dim-witted, they bug me, and will have to be shot.” God says, “I will have to resist you.”
I used to have another category on my list of those I judged – people whose children get out of control. Then mine got out of control – so I crossed that off my list. I didn’t want anyone against me – I needed people to be for me. In my judgment of others I was such an arrogant twit.
As I’m getting older, my list of who I speak against gets shorter. People who are forgetful/overweight/partially committed… I have seen this and much more in me. When I forget/am overweight/not sold out as I should be, I want you not to speak against me, but to be for me and to encourage me - to love me. All those people on your list want you to be 4 them/not against them.
SPEAK AGAINST THE LAW – the law is the law of love and love covers. Speaking against/judging exposes. Don’t live in a place of judging/exposing others. Move out of that place. God is against you in this place. Come into a place where God is 4 U – humility.
When you fail to heed the law of love you are saying that you can do a better job. If I leave my child in your care and ask you to follow certain guidelines which you ignore, you are setting yourself up over me. Those who speak against one another set themselves up against the Word of God.
We can be for one another and not against each other because there is ONE LAWGIVER AND JUDGE – He makes the rules/enforces them. God will do what God will do. God will take care of those who don’t measure up. And those who are wrong, we can trust God to deal with them. Cf. Phil. 3:15
“I know you love him, Lord, but I don’t. And if you won’t humble him, I will.” Speaking against a brother reveals a profound lack of trust that God will do what is right. You are taking the work of God into your hands and force God to be against you. Move to a place of humility.
If speaking against a brother is a manifestation of pride and brings God to a place of being against you, speaking for a brother is a manifestation of humility and brings God to a place of being for you.
If I said to you, “Your children are real jerks,” would you be for me or against me? Would that tear you down? What if I said, “I really love your kids and see a lot of potential in them”? What would that do to you? Bless and build up. Are we called to tear each other down or build each other up?
Would you think that you had a need to protect your children from me? I have moved my kids away from people I know who have been bothered by them. Maybe God does the same. “Stay away from Tim,” He will say.
Let’s intentionally bless one another w/ our speech and see the Lord pour Himself into our fellowship. Let’s be a community of people who are for each other. I need you to be for me and not against me. You need me to be for you and not against you.
Jesus is 4 U – there is a place at the table 4 U.
Download | Duration: 00:41:48
LIVING IN HUMILITY
James 4:11-17
Why live in the Sahara Desert /Arctic Circle - in a place where the weather is constantly against you? Apply to urban areas and traffic/jobs and bosses. J says that many are living in a place where God is against them. GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD…Why would you live in place where God is resisting you? The last thing you want is God against you.
God doesn’t want you living in a place where He has to resist you, He desires that you live in a place of grace – a place where He can treat you better than you deserve. GOD GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE - God treats the humble better than they deserve. Live in humility – in that place where God is for you and not against you.
But if you are living in pride, you will discover that God is resisting you. Pride just isn’t an arrogant attitude/stuck-up nose. It isn’t merely thinking that you are better than others or deserve more than you have. The root of pride is an independent spirit.
But when he became strong, his heart was so proud that he acted corruptly, and he was unfaithful to the LORD his God, for he entered the temple of the LORD to burn incense on the altar of incense. 2C26:16
Pride is spiritual independence – “I don’t need to listen to God.” If you live your life independent of God, He will resist you. You may say, “I don’t have any pride.” You can have cancer and not be aware of it and so it is w/ pride. Our passage speaks of two ways an independent/prideful spirit manifests itself.
11-12
Speak against a brother – accusation/slander/condemnation
J/Jerusalem/Hellenist widows overlooked in daily feeding. Clash of cultures/civilizations. U R so different/compromised U have no place at the table. Speak against – block way/hinder progress.
One of the quickest ways to get God against you is to begin to slander/judge another. You are condemning someone that God is not condemning. You are being Satan to him/God is forced to resist you. In speaking against/judging, you are not recognizing the work of Christ and are tearing it down.
I realized I have a lot of judgment in my heart toward certain people. I began making a list. I was horrified at how much judgment is in my heart. I stopped so the list wouldn’t get longer. There is enough here to offend everyone in this room -
Judging Christians who are not as doctrinally conservative as me/vote Democrat/drink/ ethnicities and genders that drive erratically/poor grammar/those who whine/people who describe their sin in psychological and not Biblical language/selfish people/those who think money gives them special privileges/people who give fruitcake to people/preachers who can’t preach/church members who don’t listen…
R U speaking against people in your heart? Judging others is to not accept God’s judgment. What is God’s judgment? Saints/beloved/ righteous/living stones/bride/body/building. We don’t see each other as God sees us.
Court scene: person on trial declared not guilty. Someone doesn’t accept this verdict and shoots him on the courthouse steps. God says of the people I judge, “I love them, they delight Me and I accept them. They are precious to Me.” I say, “They are dim-witted, they bug me, and will have to be shot.” God says, “I will have to resist you.”
I used to have another category on my list of those I judged – people whose children get out of control. Then mine got out of control – so I crossed that off my list. I didn’t want anyone against me – I needed people to be for me. In my judgment of others I was such an arrogant twit.
As I’m getting older, my list of who I speak against gets shorter. People who are forgetful/overweight/partially committed… I have seen this and much more in me. When I forget/am overweight/not sold out as I should be, I want you not to speak against me, but to be for me and to encourage me - to love me. All those people on your list want you to be 4 them/not against them.
SPEAK AGAINST THE LAW – the law is the law of love and love covers. Speaking against/judging exposes. Don’t live in a place of judging/exposing others. Move out of that place. God is against you in this place. Come into a place where God is 4 U – humility.
When you fail to heed the law of love you are saying that you can do a better job. If I leave my child in your care and ask you to follow certain guidelines which you ignore, you are setting yourself up over me. Those who speak against one another set themselves up against the Word of God.
We can be for one another and not against each other because there is ONE LAWGIVER AND JUDGE – He makes the rules/enforces them. God will do what God will do. God will take care of those who don’t measure up. And those who are wrong, we can trust God to deal with them. Cf. Phil. 3:15
“I know you love him, Lord, but I don’t. And if you won’t humble him, I will.” Speaking against a brother reveals a profound lack of trust that God will do what is right. You are taking the work of God into your hands and force God to be against you. Move to a place of humility.
If speaking against a brother is a manifestation of pride and brings God to a place of being against you, speaking for a brother is a manifestation of humility and brings God to a place of being for you.
If I said to you, “Your children are real jerks,” would you be for me or against me? Would that tear you down? What if I said, “I really love your kids and see a lot of potential in them”? What would that do to you? Bless and build up. Are we called to tear each other down or build each other up?
Would you think that you had a need to protect your children from me? I have moved my kids away from people I know who have been bothered by them. Maybe God does the same. “Stay away from Tim,” He will say.
Let’s intentionally bless one another w/ our speech and see the Lord pour Himself into our fellowship. Let’s be a community of people who are for each other. I need you to be for me and not against me. You need me to be for you and not against you.
Jesus is 4 U – there is a place at the table 4 U.
Please explained to me, why be rich?
Reply to this