Wednesday – February 24, 2016
God is so good, as I heard a man say, He is better than good. Thank you Jesus for hump day and the glorious God’s Word. We will now plunge right back into our study of Spiritual Warfare. We have been studying a lengthy passage from the Book of James and will pick up where we left off yesterday.
James 4:5-6 (KJV)
5 Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy?
6 But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.
For clarity let’s take a look at these two verses in the Amplified Version of this Scripture.
James 4:5-6 (AMP)
5 Or do you suppose that the Scripture is speaking to no purpose that says, The Spirit Whom He has caused to dwell in us yearns over us and He yearns for the Spirit [to be welcome] with a jealous love?
6 But He gives us more and more grace (power of the Holy Spirit, to meet this evil tendency and all others fully). That is why He says, God sets Himself against the proud and haughty, but gives grace [continually] to the lowly (those who are humble enough to receive it).
When reading the Amplified Translation of the Bible be aware that text in parenthesis () is supported by the original text whereas text in brackets [] is not supported by the original text but was added by the translators for clarity. Always read the passage with brackets with and without the bracketed text and see if it changes the meaning.
Yesterday we discussed how God is jealous for us to be wholly His. When we have friendship with the world we have chosen to be adulterous and basically have declared war on the One whom we claim is our Lord. This is like telling your wife or husband that you love and adore them and you are playing around with someone else. Jealousy is not always a bad thing, its origin is in God but our flesh or the enemy can be corrupt holy jealousy. Notice that James 4:6 starts with the conjunctive ‘but’. With the conjunctive ‘but’ the statement preceding the word ‘but’ is brought to nothing or zero and the real statement is the one following the ‘but’. So we see that the path to a greater operation of Grace, the Holy Spirit, in our lives is being humble and the way to run into opposition from God Himself is to be proud or arrogant. As reasonable Christian people which one should we choose? Let’s go with humble.
Matthew 11:27-30 (KJV)
27 All things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him.
28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
The Greek word translated ‘lowly’ in Matthew 11:29 is the same word translated ‘humble’ in James 4:6. Notice Jesus says that “all things are delivered unto me of my Father” and why do you think that is? Scripture tells us it pleased the Father for all fullness to dwell in Him and that Jesus only said what the Father said and only did what the Father did and the result is that Jesus, in the earth, walked in Grace (Holy Spirit) without limit. Since Jesus told us we are to do the same things He did the same is possible for us but only in uncompromising obedience to the Word of God and the leadership of the Spirit. So we make the choice of being opposed by God or being facilitated by God. In case we are slow on the uptake James goes on to give us the answer to this quiz, the question in James 4:5.
James 4:7 (KJV)
7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
The Apostle James gives us a command that we should make the decision to submit to God. To submit means that we yield or surrender to God, that we present ourselves or offer ourselves to God for His use laying aside the lust of our flesh. Resisting the devil is Spiritual Warfare. To resist means to fight, battle, struggle with, attack, counterattack, repel, fight back against, oppose, defy stand firm, refuse to accept, and refuse to go along with. God promises through the Apostle James that the devil will flee under these circumstances.
By Pastor David R. Wood
