Humility

Well, thank you again. Happy Sabbath, everyone! I wanted to give a sermon today that obviously would tie in with the blessing of the little children. We're familiar, as I mentioned earlier, that traditionally, the second Sabbath after the feast, we have the blessing of the little children's ceremony in the church. One of the wonderful qualities of being a healthy and a balanced little child. One of the great qualities that they have is humility. And the truth is, is that humility is an essential quality to have a positive relationship with God. When we have humility, God is able to work with us. When we do not have humility.

When our attitudes are riddled with pride and a sense of superiority over others, then God cannot work with us. That's the bottom line. God can and God does work with a humble person. When one does not have humility, they are self-governed by pride and arrogance.

When God resists this kind of a person, and in the long run, a person who demonstrates those qualities and those fruits are harmful and are poisonous to the people around them.

They usually destroy every relationship they ever had. So I would like to discuss the characteristic of humility more deeply, primarily today, from the New Testament. If you'll turn to Matthew 18, verse 1. A typical definition of a dictionary defines humility as modesty, lacking pretense, not believing that you are superior to others. Another definition includes having a low opinion of oneself, meekness. We often confuse humility with timidity. Humility is not clothing ourselves in an attitude of self-abasement and worthlessness. Humility is all about maintaining our dignity, about who we are, about our achievements, about our worth, without conceit and boasting. Humility is the opposite of arrogant pride, which often leads to the downfall of many people in prominent positions. It's about a quiet confidence in who and what you are without the need for self-promotion. It's a lack of arrogance, not a lack of aggressiveness in the pursuit of a personal goal or in pursuing achievement. Finally, humility is about putting others first and submitting to others in authority, even when they are wrong. Because that's what Jesus Christ did when he walked in this earth that we'll see just in a little bit. So let's study this topic of humility a little more closely today. Matthew 18, verse 1. It says, at that time the disciples came to Jesus, a little different account than what we read earlier. This time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven? Then Jesus called a little child to him, set him in the midst of them. I want you to realize what happened. They're all standing there. He takes this little child and he sets this child in the midst of all of these hulking disciples standing around. He said assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted, meaning unless you stop acting the way you act right now and you are literally changed and converted into something else, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself as this little child, not who wakes up in the morning and wondering about if they're first or if they're great or if they have a title or prominence or prestige, but the person who wakes up and has a humble attitude is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Whoever receives one little child like this in my name receives me. So Jesus is taking the whole definition of greatness and he's turning it upside down. In the world, greatness is achieved by having prominence, by having a title, king, CEO, president, whatever, by having lots of money, millionaire, you know, the 1%, whatever terms we may use in our society. Greatness is defined by celebrity, whether you're Donald Trump or whatever your name may be, do people recognize and know who you are. In our world, these are the definitions of greatness. And Jesus said, well, that may be true in this secular, temporary world, but in the kingdom of God, greatness will be those who served the most. Greatness will be those who gave and sacrificed everything they had for the benefit of others, those who have humility. The Holman's Bible dictionary says this. It says Jesus Christ life provides the best example of what it means to have humility. Jesus preached and taught often about the need for humility. He urged those who desired to live by kingdom standards to practice humility. The person with humility does not look down on others. Humility in the New Testament is closely connected with the quality of meekness. While God resists those who are proud, He provides grace for the humble. Primary in the New Testament is the conviction that one who has humility will not be overly concerned about his or her prestige. They're not concerned about the respect of others, being idolized, being prominent. That's the farthest thing from their mind. Matthew 5.5.

Let's turn there, please. Matthew 5.5. It is true that humility is very closely connected with meekness.

Matthew 5.5. We're already in the book of Matthew. Jesus says, your blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. This word meek is actually the Greek word praous. That's P-R-A-U-S. Praous is how it's pronounced. It means mild and humble. That's what the word means. As a matter of fact, in the translation, the New Century version, it says, those who are humble are happy because the earth belongs to them. They are the ones who are going to inherit everything that exists in the kingdom of God because of their humility, and they're happy knowing that. Here's what the Believer's Study Bible says about meekness, and I think this is put very clearly. Quote, it says, meekness never implies weakness. In contrast, the weakness, meekness is controlled strength. It's the attitude of heart in which all the energies are brought into the perfect control of the Holy Spirit. The meek shall inherit the earth not by conquering this present dispensation, but by achieving ultimate victory during the final manifestation of the kingdom or the millennium. Think of the example of Jesus Christ. It was controlled power that he had.

It was, as this definition is, perfect control of the Holy Spirit. He's being spit upon. He's being beaten. He knows he's going to soon be walking up and have nails driven through his hands and his feet. He's being abused. He's innocent. He's not guilty of any of those things. He even said to himself that just one command God could have sent armies from heaven down and literally melted everyone in front of him into a puddle of refuse, smoking refuse, instantaneously at his word.

But because he had humility, he had perfect control. He had controlled strength and didn't retaliate, didn't lash back. He just accepted it because he wanted to demonstrate the proper example of what humility is. Let's go to Matthew chapter 23 and verse 10. Matthew chapter 23 and verse 10. We're already in the book of Matthew.

Jesus said, and do not be called teachers, for one is your teacher, capital T, the Christ.

But he who is greatest among you shall be your servant. Again, redefining what greatness is and whoever exalts himself will be humbled and he who humbles himself will be exalted.

Talking about, if not in this life, certainly in the kingdom of God. Jesus isn't teaching them to avoid the term teacher like we use today for a school teacher. What he means in context is not to use that term to refer to anyone in a resulted religious office. You shouldn't call any religious figure teacher. Now, no one should be in the church of God because of the teachings of Mr. Euphillin, the blank. None of us should be here because of the teachings of Mr. Euphillin, the blank. Any human being who teaches the truth received it by the revelation of God's spirit and not by the doctrines or teachings of any man. In my lifetime, every minister that I've ever known received his teachings from someone else who taught it to them. The knowledge of the Sabbath and Holy Days goes back for centuries. It isn't something that started the last century. All right?

All the things that any minister teaches and knows is because God called him and God revealed to that individual his truth and his way of life. But we should not look at anyone in an exalted religious office as my teacher because there's only one who's our teacher. And he says who it is right here.

He says that one is your teacher, the Christ, and we should never forget that. What Christ states about exaltation and humility is often true in this world. And if you look at the news, you'll see people oftentimes who are arrogant and pompous that it's a pretty long fall down to nothing.

And oftentimes we will see that people who are just quiet and humble and live their lives in a quiet way, suddenly the spotlight is put on them and they're quite prominent. They're in the news.

And something that they've done may be given to a college or a university or or foundation they started or did something to make the world better, suddenly they are prominent and in the news. But whether that happens in this world or not, the point that I want to make out here is that in the judgment what Jesus said here will completely come true when rewards are given to the servants of God. Anyone who exalted himself in this lifetime, any minister, any person who exalted themselves in this lifetime, will be humbled. And anyone in this lifetime who quietly did what they were supposed to do and studied their Bibles and read the word of God and meditated observed God's commandments and kept the Sabbath and was just quietly living their lives and doing the things God wants them to do. And maybe they weren't in the spotlight, maybe their names weren't in bulletins, maybe they would just quietly live their lives in a humble way. Those are the ones who will be exalted in the kingdom of God. Philippians chapter 2 beginning in verse 1. Let's take a look at a very powerful scripture. Philippians chapter 2 and verse 1. Because if we want to know about humility, if you ever want to discuss the subject of humility, you have to go look at the example of Jesus Christ because he is the ultimate example of humility. He is the definition of the qualities of a humble person. Philippians chapter 2 beginning in verse 1.

Paul writes to the congregation of Philippi, therefore, if there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, fulfill my joy by being like-minded. And that's what we want to have in the Church of God. We want to be like-minded. And if there's something that you believe that isn't like-minded with everyone else, then your responsibility is to keep that to yourself. Okay? That's how we remain like-minded, is if you have a doctrinal twist or something that you think is important. Well, if you have one and I have one and she has one and he has one and we're all talking about, you know what you call that? You call that division. You call that church splits. That's what you call that. But he's saying, be like-minded. So if you have something you believe that other people don't believe, you have a responsibility. No one's asking you to violate your conscience, but what you are being asked to do to demonstrate like-mindedness is to keep it to yourself. Having the same love. And if you love someone, you don't have this just burning need to tell them how smart you are at everything that you know. If you love someone, you have concern for them and you don't want to offend them. You don't want to hurt them. You don't want to come across as a know-it-all or arrogant. Having the same love being of one accord of one mind. It says in verse 3, let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit. And again, throughout history, it has always happened and it will continue to happen that people just seem to have this need to have their own pet doctrine. And through selfish ambition or conceit, meaning they think they're superior to everybody, they have a need to tell everyone about it. He says, but in lowliness of mind, that is having an attitude that it's not my job to tell everybody how smart I am, in lowliness of mind, let each esteem others better than himself. Verse 4, let each of you look not only on his own interest, but also for the interest of others. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus and he's about to tell us what kind of mind Christ Jesus had. So here Paul encourages the brethren to have unity with an attitude of humility. We do this by having love for one another and looking out for each other because we are family. We are a spiritual family. Now Paul's going to give us the ultimate the ultimate definition of humility by explaining to us the greatest humiliating demotion that ever occurred in world history. Have you ever been demoted, ever had a job and you were demoted in the job? Have you ever had a job and you were called in late on Friday afternoon about 4.55? I was on a job once and canned. That's happened to me. Compared to what this man experienced, that was petty cake. That was nothing. Let's read about the greatest demotion, the most humiliating demotion that ever occurred in world history. Regarding Jesus Christ, verse 6, who being in the form of God did not consider robbery to be equal with God. Poor translation, we'll take a look at that in a minute, but made of himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant and coming in the likeness of men. Verse 6 from the New Century Version, Christ himself was like God and everything, but he did not think that being equal with God was something to be used for his own benefit. You know, in my lifetime, I have seen religious leaders, business people who, when they were asked to step aside, it was like, oh! They chained themselves to their desks. They're being drug out of the building. Their fingernails are scratching the carpeting as they're being hauled out of the building because, simply because, it was for their benefit.

See, it was all about their title, who they thought they were, how important they thought they were. But, you know, Christ, he could have grasped at the Godhead to maintain it.

He could have done that, and all of us would have been lost, condemned for eternity. Instead, he voluntarily chose to give up complete divinity and become a mere human being with all of the distasteful body processes and physical body weaknesses that we all have. And he did that voluntarily. I like to say he went from divinity to dirtbag, and he did it because he wanted to do it.

Let's continue on verse 8. And being found in the appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death. So, till the day he took his last breath, he was obedient to God's way of life, to God's law, even the death of the cross.

Therefore, here's his reward for doing that, therefore God has also has highly exalted him and given him the name which is above every other name. It now is the most prominent glorious name that one could speak. Verse 10. And at that the name of Jesus every knee should bow and those in heaven and those on earth and those under the earth and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not in my presence only, but now much more in my absence. Remember, he's not in Philippi, he's writing from a distance. Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. What qualities do those come from? Fear and trembling? Humility. That's the qualities that those come from. For it is God who works in you both to will and to do for his good pleasure. As I mentioned recently, Christianity is simple. It's just not easy. Paul tells them to continue to grow in the faith and the knowledge of our Lord in the strive to be like Christ, obedient even to the point of death.

And that's the example we should follow. How can we do this? Well, it is impossible to do it with an attitude of arrogance and self-promotion, but it is possible with a humble attitude of fear and trembling because God can work with the kind of spirit, with the kind of attitude that a person has who looks at their father in awe and says, dad, whatever you tell me to do, I'll do it.

That's fear and trembling. God can work with this kind of a spirit, and I think we need to understand, again, the example of Jesus Christ. He allowed himself to be submissive even when the authorities over him were dead wrong. Were the accusations they made against Jesus Christ wrong in his trials among the Sanhedrin and Pilate, and were all of these accusations wrong? Sure they were, but he humbled himself, and I think that's a pretty important example to bring out, and that is humility means, as long as someone isn't asking you to break one of the Ten Commandments, I do want to give that clarification, humility means that when someone in authority tells you to do something, you do it knowing that they are wrong, because you respect, you submit yourself, and you respect that kind of authority over you. Again, as long as they're not asking you to break one of God's Commandments. In my career as an elder, I've had the pleasure of serving under seven pastors in my career as an elder. Some of them were very good, and others of them had other qualities.

And oftentimes, I was told to do something that I felt was wrong. Many times I was asked to do something that I felt was wrong, and the majority of cases is because I thought the attitude behind the comment or what I was asked to do was wrong or hurtful. But if it didn't violate one of the Ten Commandments, I submitted and I did what I was asked to do, even though in many cases I might know that it was wrong. It's because that's following the example of Jesus Christ. So it's a very important quality that Jesus Christ demonstrates here. Let's take a look now in verse 14, because Paul is going to discuss some of the characteristics of humility. Verse 14, Do all things without complaining and disputing. So notice what humble people do. They do things without complaining or disputing that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation among whom you shine as lights in the world holding fast the word of life so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain or labored in vain. So Paul said, I've invested so much in you as a congregation in my time and in my efforts, he says, I want you to hold fast the words of life.

Now, humility means that if you're asked to do something that you don't agree with, that you think is wrong, if you have a respectful attitude, it's okay to say, you know, I think there's a better way. Here's my suggestion in a way that I think would be better. And you certainly have the right and you should always feel free to say that to an individual who has asked you to do something that you think is wrong. But if they override you, if they say, no, that's, I still want it done this way, and it doesn't violate God's law, then we should do those things without complaining and without disputing. Because that is the kind of humility and the example that Jesus Christ set for us. Would you notice that humility does not include the whiny traits of complaining or disputing. People complain and dispute with others oftentimes because they think they're superior and they want to draw attention to themselves. That's where a lot of complaining comes from. It's a carryover from being a little child, because when I complained as a little child, I got attention. So sure enough, you grow up and what happens when you complain? You seem to get attention. When you dispute with others, it may be negative attention, but when you dispute with others, oftentimes you're at least getting recognition, validation, you're getting attention.

And that's the reason that many people do that, because they lack humility. They're trying to draw the attention on themselves. Romans chapter 12 and verse 10. Let's see what Paul said to the Roman congregation. Romans chapter 12 and verse 10. We're going to take a look at a number of scriptures here that Paul wrote. He wrote a lot about the concept and understanding of humility to many different congregations and individuals. We've already seen what he wrote to the Philippians.

Now we're taking a look at what he wrote to the church in Rome.

Chapter 12 and verse 10. He says, Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor, giving preference to one another, not lagging in diligence, in contrast, fervent in the Spirit, serving the Lord, rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer, distributing to the needs of the saints, given to hospitality, bless those who persecute you, bless and do not curse. Verse 15, rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep.

In other words, your emotion should be consistent with the situation that you're in. If you're at a funeral and people are crying, that's not a time to crack one-liners. All right? You should be sensitive enough to the situation to encourage people on where they're at. And if they're sad, and if they're weeping, you should be sad with them, encouraging, but you should share in their sorrow. If, on the other hand, you're watching the Cleveland Browns play a football game, and you're all laughing deliriously while you're watching the TV, then that's a time to rejoice with everyone else and laugh and have a few good one-liners about the Browns and to express your joy among that group. So be appropriate to the situation. Verse 16, be of the same mind toward one another. Do not set your mind on high things. Don't be concerned with titles and prestige. I think I've told you this story before of a situation I knew where a very talented deacon was asked by a pastor that I was working with, a man, actually, we wanted to ordain him as a deacon, and he asked him if he would serve as a deacon. And the man was visibly upset. What's the requisite? Visibly upset.

And the pastor said, I just hope I haven't offended you. What's wrong? He said, well, he said, actually, I was hoping to be made an elder. So Paul says here, don't set your mind on high things. You know, someday I hope to be in the family of God, but I'm smart enough to realize that it occurs step by step by step by step. And that's the way life is.

Be thankful that we have opportunities and that we have the opportunity to serve God's people, but don't set your mind on high things. And that goes beyond the church, whether, you know, in the business world, you want to be, you know, president or CEO or whatever it is.

He says that's not a good thing to do, but associate with the humble. Why? Because they'll keep you humble. Why? Because they'll have a good influence on you if you associate with the humble.

Do not be wise in your own opinion. Repain no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men. If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men.

So again, these are the important qualities of humility that he's talking about. He gives an expanded definition of what a humble attitude is. It is outward. It's love and service towards others.

It's not an inward pride and self-importance. So Paul expands upon what we've seen earlier. He said, don't set your mind on high things, but associate with humble people. Associate with the humble.

Now let's go to 2 Timothy chapter 2 and see his advice to the young elder Timothy. 2 Timothy chapter 2.

He gives some good advice to Timothy that certainly we can all relate to.

And as far as I know, I think this is the only place in scripture where Paul says that God has a seal.

So we'll see what that seal says. You know, we have a nice church seal that's hanging on this podium, but Paul tells us that God has a seal. Here's what it is. 2 Timothy chapter 2 and verse 19.

Nevertheless, the solid foundation of God stands having this seal. And it has two parts. Here's the first part. The Lord knows those who are His. Now why is that important? Because far too many people spend too much of their emotional resources worrying about every other person in every other group. Well, is this person saved? Is this person part of the church? Is this person this? Is this person that? The point is it's none of your business. It's none of my business. It's God's business.

God knows who His sheep are. They hear the shepherd's voice wherever they are on earth, whatever organization they belong to. It's not our job to judge, condemn, worry about it, because part of the seal says the Lord knows those who are His. Sealed, done, completed.

Here's the second part. Let everyone who names the name of Christ depart from iniquity. So the rest of our lives, what is our goal? To depart from iniquity. To root sin out of our lives, to develop good works, not because we think they save us in some way, but because once we've received God's Spirit and we're a new creature in Christ, we have been created for good works. We have been created to root out the selfishness, the carnality, the sin out of our lives, and to depart from iniquity. And that often takes a lifetime. Verse 20, But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay, some for honor and some for dishonor. Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from the latter, that is from dishonor, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the master, prepared for every good work. So he says, no matter what background you come from, no matter what kind of life you came from, maybe your life was a vessel of dishonor. Maybe you used your body in such a way, the temple of the Spirit, that it was a vessel for dishonor. He says, you can cleanse yourself up. That's called repentance. You can clean up your life and you can be sanctified and useful for the master. That's Jesus Christ himself. And you can be used for every good work. Verse 22, again talking to this young Elder Timothy, flee also youthful lusts, but pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart, but avoid foolish and ignorant disputes, knowing that they generate strife.

Again, if we all want to be like-minded, what's the best way for all of the God's people to be like-minded? If you have some brilliant knowledge that you think you've been revealed to you, you're certainly welcome to believe it. It's just, please don't engage in foolish and ignorant disputes with other people. Don't try to force your opinion, your knowledge, or your ways on someone else. Why? Because it only generates strife. Verse 24, he says, And the servant of the Lord must not quarrel, but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, in humility, correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth, and that they may come to their senses, and escape to snare the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will. So Paul reminds Timothy of the need to be humble, even in the way that he taught and he corrected others. The way that someone should be corrected should not be, you know, the minister with his veins bulging out of his forehead, and his face red in a fit of rage, a high-toned voice screaming at someone, that is not humility, that is not the proper way to correct someone. You don't want to be so harsh to another person that you permanently build a bridge and make it impossible for them to return to the fold. Of course, when someone has been corrected and they realize that they're wrong, and I've had a lot of conversations over the years with people who left the church and realized they were wrong, we had conversations afterward, either an email or telephone, and you know what? They rarely come back. You know why they come back? Pride. Because they lack the humility to walk through that door and to publicly say to everyone, I may have been wrong. I may have overreacted. I may have thought something that was untrue. It takes character. It takes real humility when you've been wrong to admit that you're wrong and act upon it. So sadly, it is rare that the whole concept of humility is something we all need to develop because it is so important and so rarely demonstrated in our secular world that we live in today. So again, Paul reminded Timothy of the need to be humble in the way that he taught and the way that he corrected others. It takes genuine humility to admit that you're wrong about anything and to admit it. That takes character, and that's very rare.

But it's a wonderful quality if you develop it in your life. Now let's go to the book of Colossians and see what Paul wrote to the congregation of Colossae. Colossians chapter 3 and verse 9.

Colossians chapter 3 and verse 9.

Paul says, "...did not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds..." That's the person that went out down in that watery grave of baptism, "...and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge..." That's God's way of life, is the knowledge that he's talking about, "...according to the image of him who created him..." Meaning that according to the mind of Christ, that's the knowledge we've received and should be striving for to achieve. Verse 11.

"...where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, nor free. But Christ is all and in all. Therefore, as the elective God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies kindness, humility, meekness and long suffering, bearing with one another and forgiving one another..." That's a quality of humility. When someone offends you and you say, I forgive that person, I am not so vain, so pompous, and so arrogant that I'm going to allow this hurt to sting me forever. I'm going to be humble enough to say, well, the person... you know what? That person like me is very human and they make mistakes just like I do.

Maybe I should give them a little slack. Maybe I should forgive them.

"...and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another, even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do..." Verse 14, "...but above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection, and let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body, and be thankful." Verse 16, "...let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord, and whatever you do in word or deed do all in the name of the Lord Jesus." Again, he says, he said, "...be thankful earlier, giving thanks to the God, to God the Father through him." So, Paul tells the congregation they should stop their old way of thinking and embrace a positive new way of thinking. He calls the new man, and that includes having humility, which means that we forgive one another, which means that we love one another as a family. Maintaining the qualities of this new man, Paul mentions an important characteristic twice, and that characteristic is thankfulness. Humble people are thankful for what they have. They're not always looking at the glass as half empty. They're thankful for the things that they have in life. When we're truly thankful for what we have, there's little room for an attitude of entitlement. There's little room for competition if you're thankful for what you have, because you're not saying, this person has something I don't have, and that's wrong. I gotta fix that. There's a little room for lying, because you're not trying to hide your inadequacies. So, there's no reason to lie, because you are basically a very humble person. Ephesians chapter 4 verse 1. Ephesians chapter 4 and verse 1.

So now he writes to the church at Ephesus. He says, beginning in verse 1, chapter 4, I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with long suffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. I'm going to read this from translation, God's Word. Here it is. God's Word for today, verse 2. Be humble and gentle in every way.

Be patient with each other and lovingly accept each other through the peace that ties you together. Do your best to maintain the unity that the Spirit gives. So, when Paul says, he uses the phrase to walk in something, as we see in the New King James, he means to make that part of your lifestyle. Now, let's take a look at an example of James. We saw a lot of the writings of Paul.

Let's take a look at James, James chapter 4.

James chapter 4, and we'll pick it up in verse 1.

James is writing this letter to the physical descendants of the scattered 12 lost tribes of Israel who were in the Roman Empire. The great majority of them were probably embracing either some type of paganism or Judaism, but he's writing a letter, as he says in the opening remarks, to the scattered lost tribes who were in the Roman Empire. Sure enough, if you look at history, you'll see in the area of the Roman Empire in Galatia that there certainly were wars and there were problems going on, civil unrest during this period of time. So, this could have been the direct audience that he was writing for. James chapter 4, verse 1.

Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they come from your desires of pleasure, that war in your members? You lust and you do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain.

You fight and war, yet you do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive because you ask amiss that you may spend it on your pleasure. So, James is saying to the audience, you are exceedingly carnal. Your whole life is centered around pleasure and fulfilling your lust, and you're not praying for the right things. When you do pray, it's all prayers about me, me, git, git, git. He said, and what's the end result of this carnal lifestyle that you're living?

It's war. It's murder. All this pleasure and coveting and lust are destroying you as a people, and you don't have a relationship with God. Verse 4. Adulterers and adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever, therefore, wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Now, he's not saying that we should cut ourselves off from our jobs, from our neighbors, from our society. He's talking about not compromising with the low values that the world has, not compromising God's law with the low values that the world has.

Let's continue verse 5. Or do you think that the scripture says in vain, the spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously, though God has given you the gift of his Holy Spirit, the power of God, and God's Spirit wants you all to itself. It doesn't want to share you. I've mentioned last Sabbath about not living our lives in boxes. Do you remember that? The Holy Spirit wants us to be dedicated to God. It's jealous when we start compromising with the world.

It's jealous when we start sinning and make sin a lifestyle and go backward instead of forward in our Christian growth. It's jealous about us. It wants the best for us. It wants us to overcome. It wants us to dedicate our lives to God.

Verse 6, but he, speaking of the Father, he gives more grace. Therefore, he says, God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble. So the proud spirit, the arrogant spirit, the know-it-all, it says, God resists that kind of person. God can't have a close, intimate relationship with someone who is proud. In contrast, he gives grace to the humble. Grace is God's favor. It's his undeserved pardon. Wonderful spiritual qualities that we should all desire, and he gives those to the humble.

He does not give those qualities to the proud because God resists that kind of an attitude. It is sickening to God. Verse 7, therefore, submit to God, resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts. You double-minded. Stop living your life in two boxes. One, a worldly box to get along with the guys, and all the things that the world says are pleasurable, and usually they're filled with lust and coveting, and then a separate box of being churchy. What the Apostle is saying here is, stop being double-minded, be single-minded, and live your life in one box.

It's a lot easier that way, and make sure that that box is predicated on God's values and God's laws. Continuing here, cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts. You double-minded. Lament and mourn and weep. In other words, repent. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Verse 10, humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he will lift you up.

So, James is drawing two contrasts here. Two different kinds of attitudes and spirits. One is carnal, and it's all about pleasures and lusts and coveting and compromising with the world. And what does that lead to? It leads to fighting and alienation from God.

God resists that kind of a spirit. The other attitude he's talking about is spiritual. It is embraced with humility and grace and submission with a pure heart, and that leads us to drawing closer to God. One final scripture as we complete our sermon today. If you would be kind enough to turn with me to Micah chapter 6 and verse 7. Micah chapter 6 and verse 7.

The powerful scripture from the prophet Micah. His words remind us how we can be a living sacrifice. Paul said that we need to be a living sacrifice. So what Micah tells us here, if we take it for what it means, it will provide us a spiritual inoculation against the attacks of Satan the devil. Because the truth is, when humility departs, so does God.

When we become proud and arrogant and vain, we open ourselves up to Satan the devil and we say, come at me, hit me, use me, manipulate me, make me your slave. That's what a proud and arrogant spirit says to Satan the devil. But Micah says here in chapter 6 and verse 7, will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams?

If you sacrifice thousands of rams on a literal altar and said, I dedicate these to God, would the Lord be pleased with that? Ten thousand rivers of oil. If you took ten thousand rivers of the finest olive oil and you took it to the literal altar of God and his temple and said, all of this is to honor you, God. How about if you said, shall I give my firstborn for my transgression the fruit of my body, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? How about if I literally gave you my firstborn as an offering to you? Would you be pleased with that, God? Verse 8, he has shown you, O man, what is good and what does the Lord require of you but to do justly, to live a good life according to God's commandments, God's law, to be justified in God's sight because you have accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior and you want to follow the example of Jesus Christ and you want to rid your life of all iniquity to do justly, to love mercy. Why love mercy? Because we're even here because God had mercy on us first. So therefore, we should have mercy and compassion and love towards others who are struggling, who are falling on their face, who maybe God hasn't called yet and they're dealing with issues that they don't even have the slightest concept how to deal with or overcome but to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.

Humility is an important quality and one that all of us can develop in a deeper way, in a greater way, and if we do it'll make us a better congregation, a stronger congregation, one that truly is a light to the world, the kind of light that we want to be to our community and to the entire world. Have a wonderful Sabbath!

We have one more opportunity.