How to Have Fellowship with God (James 4:7-10)
James continues his set of exhortations regarding
how his readers should respond to the criticism of worldly behaviour that he
has made concerning their lifestyle. It is possible to say that the dominant
goal that he has in mind is humility because he mentions this response in
verses 6 and 10. And when we think that the opposite of humility is pride we
should not be surprised that he then mentions the devil in verse 7.
In addition, it is obvious that in this set of
verses James lays great stress on human responsibility. We might be inclined to
assume that James should have said to his readers that they should pray for
grace to do the things that he requires. No doubt, James would have wanted them
to pray for such divine help, yet he chooses under divine guidance to write in
such a way that stresses their responsibility for putting things in order.
James also makes it clear to his readers that they
are participants in a spiritual conflict. The choice before them is stark –
they will do what God wants or they will do what the devil wants. Obviously,
what God wants will come under the umbrella of righteousness and what the devil
wants will come under the umbrella of sin. This means that they have been
called to participate in the war that commenced in Eden, and that they are to
identify themselves with the Seed of the woman who would come to defeat the
devil. The Seed of the woman is the One whom James once knew as his older
brother, but whom he now knows is the Lord of glory.
Conflict
James calls on his readers to resist the attacks of
the devil. Although he knows that they are less powerful than the devil, he
also knows that they are able to resist his efforts. So even in using this word
‘resist’, he is reminding his readers that they have access to a power far greater
than the devil, and that power is the Holy Spirit. We are aware of the apostle
John’s statement that greater is he who is in us than he who is in the world.
It is important when fighting an enemy that we know
something about their commander or leader. Different names are given to the
enemy commander in the Bible such as the slanderer or the accuser of the
brothers. He is crafty and he is
malicious and he never has our good at heart. He will tempt us to sin and he
will focus on our weak points. It may be the case that James mentions several
of those points here. In any case, we are to expect his attacks and resist his
attacks.
How do we resist? By saying ‘no’ to whatever he
suggests. Eve in the Garden of Eden is an example of someone who did not resist;
instead, she entered into a dialogue with him. Peter at the time of Jesus’
arrest is another example and in his case we see the consequences of giving
into pride. He showed pride by assuming he would have a high place in the
coming kingdom and he showed pride when he asserted that while others might
deny Jesus he never would. Yet we also have to know when to resist because the
devil will come to us stealthily and we may not recognise his involvement. The
only way by which we can get this information is through the Bible. This fits
in with what Paul says about using the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God, to
withstand the attacks of the devil.
Contact
with God
The imagery of ‘draw near’ includes carefulness
leading to intimacy. There is something wonderful about this exhortation
because we are being instructed to go into the Holy of Holies, as it were, into
the presence of God. Yet entering such an environment and engaging in
conversation with God is possible. We can draw near to him to praise him, to
pray to him, to walk with him, and to learn from him.
Having said that, we also know that interaction
with God depends on where we are spiritually at a given moment. Some can draw
near to God during a time of prolonged devotion and while they will be aware of
their sins their situation is not the same as those who been living in a wrong
manner. What do the latter have to engage in before they can draw near to God?
James give the answer to this question in the
verses that follow and we can see that in them he calls for radical repentance.
But before he mentions what such repentance involves, he gives the
encouragement of having God draw near once they repent. What is involved in God
drawing near? Obviously, there will be fellowship and peace, accompanied by strong
assurance of his favour and an awareness of spiritual safety. The prospect of
such contact is given by James as a reason why his readers should repent of
their sins.
Repentance involves dealing with outer and inner
aspects of life. The outer is seen in the requirement to cleans one’s hands and
the inner is seen in the command to purify hearts. In the context, the hands
could refer to how they grasped the things of the world and the heart could
refer to how they longed for and loved the things of the world. The reason why
they had done so is explained in James’ description of them as ‘double-minded’,
which is a way of saying that they were trying to live for God and for the
world at the same time. James may have had Psalm 24:4 in mind because the
psalmist in describing the person who can ascend into God’s presence mentions
the necessity of clean hands and a pure heart.
In addition, James depicts repentance as a very
emotional experience – he tells them to be wretched (or grieve), mournful and
weeping. Whatever else those terms mean, they indicate a very strong sense of
sorrow at having turned away from the Lord. Moreover, the laughter and joy that
they received from their wrong activities had to disappear. Given that laughter
and joy are visible expressions, James implies that godly sorrow will be
obvious. Of course, such repentance will not be a show designed to impress
others. Instead it will the expression of those who have sinned against the God
who had been so gracious to them.
James reminds his readers that God will meet with
his people when they are marked by such repentance. He will meet with them to
comfort them, to lead them into the paths of his grace, and to restore them in
a spiritual sense. There is a marvellous description in Hosea 14 of the divine
response to the genuine repentance of his people. The words of God through
Hosea tell us of the heights to which a repentant sinner can be restored.
Because God has drawn near to them, they will become fruitful, marked by outstanding
spiritual growth. There is no need for such to imagine that all they can know
is little grace. Instead they will discover something of the fullness of it.
The
Challenge
What response is appropriate in such circumstances?
James tells us when he urges his readers to ‘Humble yourselves before the Lord,
and he will exalt you.’ Humbling ourselves inevitably involves not thinking a
lot of ourselves. It also includes an awareness that we have no personal
resources from which we can draw for support, that we are completely dependent
on the Lord. And it is an affirmation that we recognise the authority of Jesus,
that we are his slaves, although at the same time it will be glad service that
we will give.
I suspect that it has always been hard to be
humble. Yet I would suggest that it is even harder in the self-focussed society
in which we live. Everything around us urges us to promote ourselves, to insist
on our own status, to find our own path of self-fulfilment, and not to be too
concerned with what others need. Of course, the word that covers all that is
selfishness.
When did you last meet a truly humble person? I
don’t meet a weakling unable to express what he/she thinks and desires, unable
to face the challenges of the spiritual life. I mean someone who is totally
devoted to serving Jesus Christ without expecting any complements for doing it,
who lives for the exaltation of
Jesus in their own life and in the lives of others. Such people are marked by
contentedness in Jesus as well as devotion to Jesus.
Humility has its
benefits as well. Thomas Brooks wrote this about humility: ‘Humility is both a
grace and a vessel. There are none that see so much need of
grace as humble souls; there are none that prize grace like humble souls; there
are none that improve grace like humble souls; therefore God singles out the
humble soul to fill him to the brim with grace, while the proud are sent empty
away.’ His words remind us that it is the humble who continue to receive grace
from God. Another Puritan, Thomas Manton, observed that ‘The humble are vessels
of a larger size, fit to receive what grace gives.’
Humbleness of mind is the best evidence of Christlikeness. Of course, we
never become fully humble in this life. Sometimes it is said that a humble
person thinks little of himself. I read a comment that disagreed with that
statement because the person said that a humble person does not think of
himself at all. And is that not Christlikeness?
I once read that there are three tests of finding out if we need to humble
ourselves and each of them is connected to our responses. One is how we react
when someone else is honoured. Maybe we worked harder in the same task, yet
someone else received all the praise. A second test is whether we respond with
anger or annoyance when another person corrects us validly. A third test is to
pretend that we are humbler than we are – some people refuse to do something
that Jesus commands and refuse in a self-demeaning way. That is not humility,
it is disobedience.
The promise of
exaltation
I suppose we can
say that this promise can be fulfilled providentially in this world and will be
fulfilled certainly in the next world. What does exaltation include? Here are
some suggestions.
First, there are
the blessings of heaven and whatever else can be said about them they are all
expressions of exaltation. They are often depicted as crowns. As Matthew Henry
said, ‘The highest honour in heaven will be the reward of the greatest humility
on earth.’
Second, there can
be vindication in this life. Many a believer has responded humbly to a
situation in which he was treated wrongly and sometimes God has arranged events
to make it very clear that the wrong was committed. I suppose David is an
example of such a person – although rejected he became king.
Third, there can
be linked blessings in our experience. Living humbly will show consistency to
others and make for a good witness. So while it may cost, it may also be used
by God to bring someone to Jesus. In addition to developing consistency, living
humbly gives credibility to our profession. Everyone knows that Jesus was
humble and they know that a proud Christian is a contradiction. When they see a
humble believer, they see someone who has a living connection to Jesus, and
that is elevation.