"GRACE UNTO THE HUMBLE"

"But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble."

James 4: 6

INTRODUCTION

adical homosexual extremists have now targeted Chic-fil-A as the object of their hate agenda. Across the United States, a new propaganda campaign has begun, endeavoring to blacken the fast-food chain's reputation and hurt their sales for no better reason than that its president, Dan Cathy, expressed his personal opinion disapproving of homosexual marriage in a peaceful, nonviolent way. Reacting to this opposing viewpoint with their characteristics hatred and venom, these moral terrorists have staged "kiss-ins" in Chic-fil-A restaurants nationwide in an effort to disrupt the business of a company known and loved for its promotion of Biblical family values.

The Bible states that contention only comes by pride. And Cathy's statement has done more than express an objection to the moral perversion of these fanatics. It runs contrary to the theme of their constant mantra: pride.

It wounds their pride to hear a contrary opinion, a voice of disagreement objecting to their perversion, telling them that they're wrong. In reaction, they scream out with the kind of rage unique to a disturbed ego, a rage that seethes with deep, bitter hatred, and resentfully strive to silence the opposition completely. Thus the contention begins.

I. HUMILITY AND THE SINNER

But the problem does not isolate itself to radical homosexual fanatics. It is a common problem, a universal problem, an intrinsically human problem. No one - homosexual or otherwise - likes a voice of opposition, a voice that tells them that they're wrong. Human beings instinctively abhor such voices for one basic and very human problem: pride.

And we live in a society that fosters this problem with all the vigilance of an over-protective mother. It has become high treason to tell anyone that they're wrong about anything. The only crime left, it seems, is dissent, objection, the failure to embrace a blind, pluralistic inclusivism that never disagrees with anything or suggests that someone could actually be wrong about something. Such language is deemed a threat to self-esteem and branded as the worst kind of narrow-minded bigotry. Nor has Christianity escaped this pervasive philosophy of pluralism. Christian leaders today go to the utmost extremes to avoid even suggesting ideas that the Bible plainly teaches in clear, unmistakable language, i.e., that sin is actually wrong, and that God actually condemns it and, not only expects, but actually demands that people turn from it in repentance. Modern Christian leaders recoil with horror at the idea that a church service might actually make anyone uncomfortable. "We don't judge anyone, we don't want to offend anyone," they say. "We need to be 'seeker-sensitive, we just need to love them to Christ. If we will just seek to understand them, instead of condemning them, they'll respond to the Gospel and get saved."

Remarkably, the Bible actually establishes the opposite viewpoint. James set it forth here in this concise, axiomatic statement, drawn from the Old Testament. "God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble."

The beauty of this statement lies in its stark simplicity, its bare conciseness. James doesn't dress it up to make it poetic or attractive. He doesn't give us any exception clauses. He just states it with the simple authority of the Holy Scriptures. "God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble."

The stark bareness of the statement affirms its universality. This statement comes to us without qualifications, without the faintest hint that in some certain circumstances, it might prove untrue. It speaks with the absolute authority of a constant truism, a universal axiom: "God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble."

Next to its starkness, we notice its symmetry. It exhibits the kind of black-and-white dualism that society today absolutely abominates. God deals with humanity in two ways, and two ways only. The verse offers no gray areas, no qualifications, no exception clauses. "God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble." This goes against everything that society today wants to believe.

Especially abrasive - even to professing Christians - is the idea that God resists anybody. The whole philosophy since the mid-nineteenth century is that God is such a being of love that he would never judge or condemn anyone, let alone resist them. And yet this is the plain teaching throughout. God resists the proud. As long as pride reigns in a man or woman's heart, God resists them. We see it in the account of Pharaoh, where the Scripture plainly asserts that "the LORD hardened the heart of Pharoah."i We see it in the account of Saul, where God sent an evil spirit to torment him,ii and actually became his enemy.iii We see it in the account of Ahab, where the Lord sent a lying spirit to delude him, that he might die in battle at Ramoth-gilead.iv We see it in the prophecy of the end times that predict that God will send strong delusion upon unbelievers

"that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness."v

This is the constant theology of our Lord Jesus Christ, who came not "to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance."vi Repeatedly, we find our Saviour denouncing the self-righteous religious people "which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others," making statements like, "Everyone that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted."vii

The converse side of this dualism is the gift of grace made to the humble. David speaks of it saying, "The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit."viii In his great penitential Psalm, Psalm 51, he revisits this theme: "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise."ix Isaiah also refers to it saying, "For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones."x Elsewhere he states, "For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the LORD: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word."xi And we find this same exact theology in the teachings of our Lord Jesus Christ. The beatitudes, the blessedness that he describes in his Sermon on the Mount extend to the meek, the mourning and the

poor in spirit.xii According to our Saviour, the publican who "would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner"xiii left justified rather than the Pharisee.xiv

It is just at this point that we note must distinctly the soteriological aspect of all of this. Obviously James 4: 6 bears a soteriological connection, as distinct from common grace, given to all,xv but in Luke 18: 14, Christ actually attaches this subject directly to the doctrine of justification. The humbled publican "went down to his house justified."xvi

Thus it becomes clear, that God's resistance to the proud and his gift of grace made to the humble have everything to do with justification, with salvation. God's resistance of the proud excludes him or her from grace, from justification, from forgiveness of sins, from eternal life and from heaven itself as long as they continue on in that pride. God gives his saving grace, his redeeming grace, his cleansing grace unto the humble. We may conclude therefore that before a sinner can receive the grace of God, they must first undergo a humbling work of conviction through God's Holy Spirit.

Again, this is where we see the immense deficiency of modern soteriology and contemporary soulwinning theory, the reason why modern "soulwinners" fail so miserably and see so little genuine fruit from their labors. The modern soulwinner rushes the sinner down the Romans Road and asks them, "Do you admit that you're a sinner?" Now this question is thoroughly unbiblical. Nowhere does the Bible content itself with the mere admission of guilt by the unsaved sinner. A man or woman may admit their guilt without the least sense of regret, remorse or sorrow, and may in fact be perfectly glad that he or she has done all of the wicked things that he or she has done. I say again that the Bible nowhere satisfies itself with the mere admission of sin by the lost man or woman. It everywhere calls for a broken and a contrite heart, genuine sorrow over sin.

II. HUMILITY AND THE SCHOOLMASTER

And this is exactly why God communicated his Law to mankind in the Old Testament. The Apostle Paul spends the greater part of three chapters in Romans drawing from the Old Testament Law, thundering forth its terrible indictments against the depravity of corrupt human nature, bringing all of humanity under a most dreadful condemnation and the sentence of death. He explains to us that the Law was given to silence the pride of man, to condemn humanity, "that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world become guilty before God."xvii In Galatians, he explains this further, informing us that the Law serves as a schoolmaster to bring us to Christ.xviii

And this is where the Plymouth Brethren doctrine of Dispensationalism, along with the rest of modern psychology and the contemporary pop theology that has emerged since the mid-nineteenth century have successfully haltered the Church and the individual soulwinner, depriving them of God's appointed means of conviction for sin. Dispensationalism has relegated the Law to a past age, and has made it irrelevant to the mythical "Age of Grace" popularized by C. I. Scofield in his pernicious and wicked footnotes. And psychology and pop theology have united with Dispensationalism by insisting that we must not be so confrontational, that we need to be "seeker-sensitive," that we must not damage the self-esteem of the sinner. So the Law is not tolerated anymore, it is not allowed to break hearts over sin or do its vital work of humbling the sinner. The sinner merely admits his sin, apart from any humility, broken-heartedness or contrition over it, and remains in the condition of pride. And God is still resisting him or her for that pride.

III. HUMILITY AND THE SAVIOUR

Now the Law can only serve as a schoolmaster to bring us to Christ through its work of humbling. Of itself, it remains insufficient. The Apostle Paul describes it as "weak through the flesh."xix This moves us towards the other side of James' statement, the gift of grace. The Apostle Paul goes on to say that what the Law couldn't accomplish through the weakness of the flesh, the incarnation of the Lord Jesus Christ through the virgin birth "condemned sin in the flesh." So we see that God continues this humbling work. He continues to humble the sinner, not only through the work of the Law, but through the incarnation and life of Jesus Christ.

That's what we often miss about the life of Christ. His whole life condemns us. The constancy of his righteousness, his goodness, the compassion, kindness, love and mercy that he exhibited in his ministry towards sinners, his steadfastness in refusing to yield to temptation or be overcome with evil, his forgiveness of even his bitterest enemies, his absolute submission and obedience to the will of his Father, all of this condemns sin. And it doesn't just condemn sin in some vague, general way. It condemns our sin, the actual, specific sins that you and I commit on a continual basis. The life of Christ actually condemns us. It demonstrates the standard that God expects in terms of absolute holiness and purity and yielded obedience to his will, and it exposes our guilt, it exposes us for our sinfulness and all the myriad ways in which we fall short of the glory of God revealed in the person and life of Christ Jesus. So the life of Christ itself agrees with and cooperates with the Law of God in serving to humble us for our sins.

IV. HUMILITY AND THE SACRIFICE

Then we come to the cross. And the cross agrees with the Law of God and the life of Christ in condemning us, in serving to humble us for our sins. The cross confirms the devastating demands of the Law for our death, for our blood, for our misery and suffering. The cross says to us, "This is what you deserve to suffer, how you deserve to die for all of the wickedness that has permeated your life so continually."

And it exposes our feebleness as well. It reminds us, not only of the demands of the Law, but of our own inability to atone for our own sins. Our human nature is so frail and so corrupt, that we could never make an atonement ourselves. Even as we suffered, our corrupt human natures would be disseminating more filth, more revolting putrescence, more abominations in the eyes of God. Even the best of our efforts are so blemished with the stain of sin, with secret guilt, with hidden offenses to the eyes of a holy God, with pride, greed and selfishness, with impure motives, with concealed lusts, with lack of love that God could never accept them as payment for the demands of his Law. Like the damned souls in Hell, we would be continually paying for them, and never have even begun to make a satisfactory payment. So someone else had to pay. God had to send his only begotten Son, he had to be born of a virgin, life a sinless life, satisfy the demands of the Law himself, and then go and pay the price for our sins. And that fact humbles us again, by reminding us of our own depravity, our own inability to satisfy a Holy God.

But is just at this point, when the Law, and the life of Christ and the cross of Calvary have all condemned us and all of our efforts and humbled us that the Father begins to draw the sinner to his Son. In Scripture we read of the mighty, the wise and the noble that are not called.xx They are not called because God is resisting them, hardening them, blinding themxxi because their wicked arrogance, their pride. God conceals his truth from them and reveals them unto babes,xxii to those that are base and despised,xxiii specifically to those who have been humbled by the convicting indictments of the Law. To these, God reveals his Son and draws them to him to be justified by faith in salvation.

This is what the Bible means when it says that we are saved by grace through faith, and that faith not of ourselves, but rather from God as a gift ,"lest any man should boast."xxiv God resisteth the proud on the one hand, on the other he gives his grace which excludes boasting.xxv "It is of faith, that it might be by grace,"xxvi all of grace, Sola Gratia, and, like the Old Testament Law, grace stops every mouth.

IV. HUMILITY AND THE SAINT

So the sinner has nothing wherein to glory. Not even Abraham, the father of them that believe,xxvii has anything wherein to glory.xxviii The whole nature of salvation by grace through faith excludes boasting and pride, leaves us entirely in a position of humility before God. And God expects this humility to remain as the constant condition of our Christian lives:

"

Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:

Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross."xxix

The great extent of God's call to humility is exhibited in the humility of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. There we see a humility that foregoes all sense of entitlement. Although he was entirely entitled to all of the glories and privileges of the Godhead, yet he relinquished them all. Even the most basic sense of entitlement, universal to all of humanity, the entitlement to justice, he relinquished in obedience to the decreed will of his Father.

Could this be said of you? Have you relinquished your pride? Have you relinquished all the sense of entitlements that pride insists upon? Have you resigned yourself to the will of the Father, even if it runs contrary to those ideas of entitlement? If God calls upon you to suffer, could you submit to it? If your rights as an American under the United States Constitution are stripped away, would you accept God's will in that and leave it in his hands? If you become the victim of terrible injustice, could you accept that as part of God's will? Could you leave it in his hands? Could you forgive those who have wronged you?

More importantly, have you ever come to understand the awfulness of your sins? Have you realized just how offensive they are in the eyes of a holy God? God is absolutely holy and demands holiness from all of mankind. You can never achieve this holiness on your own. The Law of God not only finds you guilty as you are and condemns you for your sin, but it also condemns all of your efforts at good works. The Bible says that "by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified."xxx

Only the shed blood of God's perfect Lamb can satisfy God's absolutely holy Law. But, God be thanked, that Lamb has come, that Lamb has shed his blood and died for our sins, yours and mine. And he has risen again bodily for our justification.xxxi He offers salvation to all who will come unto him by faith. The Scripture says

"For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved."xxxii

Friend, Jesus Christ is the perfect standard that God has set for all of humanity. Christ has led the way and given us his example. God now calls upon you to walk in his footseps. Have you believed on him as your substitute, as your Saviour? Are you following his example? If not, why not begin today?

"He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?"xxxiii

Exodus 9: 12 KJV. I Samuel 16: 14 KJV. iii I Samuel 28: 16 KJV. iv I Kings 22: 20 KJV. v II Thessalonians 2: 11 - 12 KJV. vi Matthew 9: 13 KJV. vii Luke 18: 9 - 14 KJV. viii Psalm 34: 18 KJV. ix Psalm 51: 17 KJV. x Isaiah 57: 15 KJV. xi Isaiah 66: 2 KJV. xii Matthew 5: 2 - 5 KJV. xiii Luke 18: 13 KJV. xiv Luke 18: 14 KJV. xv Matthew 5: 45 KJV. xvi Luke 18: 14 KJV. xvii Romans 3: 19 KJV. xviii Galatians 3: 24 KJV. xix Romans 8: 3 KJV. xx I Corinthians 1: 26 KJV. xxi John 12: 39 - 41 KJV.
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Luke 10: 21 KJV. I Corinthians 1: 28 KJV. xxiv Ephesians 2: 8 - 9 KJV. xxv Romans 3: 27 KJV. xxvi Romans 4: 16 KJV. xxvii Romans 4: 11 KJV. xxviii Romans 4: 2 - 3 KJV. xxix Philippians 2: 5 - 8 KJV. xxx Romans 3: 20 KJV. xxxi Romans 4: 25 KJV. xxxii Romans 10: 9 - 13 KJV. xxxiii Micah 6: 8 KJV.
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