How to Draw Near to God: Part 1

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How to Draw Near to God: Part 2

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What I'd like to do is do several parts on this message.
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This will be part one of how to draw near to God. And these are some really loaded verses.
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I personally believe it is the heart of this epistle. And I was speaking to Brother Keith about this earlier this week.
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All of us, after going through chapter 3 and the first part of chapter 4 of James, we felt like we were going through some serious surgery.
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We are actually coming out of the surgery room into the recovery room. So, that's about right, isn't it?
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So now we go into recovery. And he gives actually ten commands of how...
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I actually could say commands, but how we can draw near to God. And it is straightforward.
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It's very simple. But we will find it quite challenging as well, as we have the enemies of God, the world, the flesh, and the devil.
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And where we have these battles constantly raging upon us.
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But thanks be unto God, we have the power of the Holy Spirit to help us through this and to bring us nearer to God.
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So I pray that these series of messages will be a great benefit and profit to you.
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It's a lot of application. This is nothing but pure application.
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So, I really believe as the Holy Spirit would give us ears to hear, it would be beneficial to our souls.
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So, hear the word of God from James chapter 4. And we are looking...
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I like to begin with verse 6. Some commentators, some
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Bibles split it right here. They start with verse 7.
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But I believe verse 6 is really a bookend all the way to verse 10.
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So, hear God's word. But He gives a greater grace.
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Therefore it says, God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.
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Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
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Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double -minded.
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Be miserable, and mourn, and weep. Let your laughter be turned into mourning, and your joy to gloom.
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Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you.
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Amen. May God richly bless His holy word to our hearts this morning.
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So, let's bow in prayer and ask the Lord to come and meet with us. Our Father, as we come before You within this hour,
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Lord, we have so much to be thankful for. But above all, we thank You for Your presence.
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We thank You for You, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And our heart's cry this morning in prayer is to glorify
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Your name. That is our heart's cry. That is our desire. And Father, only by Your blessed
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Holy Spirit, the third person of the Godhead, can we have this privilege to see
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You, and to behold You, to have ears to hear
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You speak. Only by Your blessed Holy Spirit can we see.
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Only by Your blessed Holy Spirit can we hear. Only by Your blessed Holy Spirit can we perceive and understand
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Your word. So, Father, help us not take this for granted. So, Father, as Jesus came alongside the road to Emmaus, as I'm thinking at the moment, to the disciples, and as Jesus gladly stayed with them,
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He lodged with them. He spent time with them. And He took the bread and He blessed it.
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And breaking it, and He began giving it to them. He gave.
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Then, it was then, their eyes were opened. And then they recognized
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Him. Then He vanished from their sight. And they said to one another,
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Were not our hearts burning within us while He was speaking to us on the road, while He was explaining, opening up the
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Scriptures? Lord, be pleased to do it again for us, for Your name's sake and for Your glory.
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I ask this in Jesus' name. A .W.
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Tozer says this in his classic devotion, Nearness is likeness.
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Wonderful devotion. It's a classic. He says this, quote,
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One serious and often distressing problem for many Christians is their feeling that God is far from them.
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And that they are far from God. Which is the same thing. It's hard to rejoice in the
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Lord when we are suffering from this sense of remoteness. It is like trying to have a warm, bright summer without the sun.
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He goes on to say, The chief trouble here is, of course, not intellectual.
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It cannot be cured by intellectual means. Yet truth must enter the mind before it can enter the heart.
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So let us reason together about this. And I love what he says. I'm going to pause here for a second.
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I love what he says here. And he aims towards something that is right to what James is saying in the text.
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It may sound like he's kind of going around the long path. But he eventually gets to the truth and to his point.
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Tozer goes on to say, In the spiritual matters, we think correctly only when we boldly rule out the concept of space.
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God is spirit. And spirit dwells not in space. Space has to do with matter.
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And spirit is independent of it. By the concept of space, we account for the relation of material bodies to each other.
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So we should never think God as being spatially near or remote.
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For he is not here or there, but carries here and there in his heart.
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Space is not infinite, as some have thought. Only God is infinite.
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And in his infinitude, he swallows up all space.
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That's so good, isn't it? And does he have a chapter and verse? Absolutely. Do not I fill heaven and earth?
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Sayeth the Lord. He fills heaven and earth as the ocean fills the bucket that is submerged in it.
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And as the ocean surrounds the bucket, so does God the universe he fills.
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Chapter and verse? Absolutely. Tozer's got it. The heaven of the heavens cannot contain thee.
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God is not contained, he contains. As earth -born creatures, we naturally tend to think by earthly analogies.
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And then he's got another chapter and verse here. He that is of the earth is earthly and speaketh of the earth.
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And then he goes on to say this. Now notice which direction Tozer's going with this. And I wrote this down because it is real good to the text in which we have before us about drawing near to God.
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God created us, Tozer says, living souls and gave us bodies through which we can experience the world around us and communicate with one another.
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But when man fell through sin, he began to think of himself as having a soul instead of being one.
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It makes a lot of difference whether a man believes that he is a body of having a soul or a soul having a body.
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The soul is inward and hidden while the body is always present to the senses.
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Consequently, we tend to be body -conscious and the concept of near and remote which attaches to material things seems quite natural to us.
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But it is valid only when it applies to moral creatures. When we try to apply it to God, it no longer retains its vitality.
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Yet, when we speak of men being far from God, we speak truly.
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The Lord said of Israel, their heart is far from me. And there we have the definition of far and near in our relation to God.
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The words refer not to physical distance, and here is his point, but to likeness.
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I thought that was so good. And he actually nails exactly what
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James is speaking of in this chapter. About drawing near to God, and he would draw near to us.
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So in these five verses of Scripture before us this morning, verses 6 through 10, we have a series of commands, and these are ten to be exact.
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We are going to go through them. It may take us a few weeks, Lord willing, but these are loaded verses.
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These are strong bullet points. In these ten commands, in these verses of Scripture, in the
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Greek imperative mood, that will resolve the conflicts in which
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James speaks of. These commands that James gives draw our attention, I believe, to the focal point of the complete whole epistle.
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And as I've said earlier, I believe this is the heart of the epistle. This, in my judgment, is the very heart.
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And it is one of the great, and one of the clear, and one of the most precise invitations of salvation you can find in Scripture.
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It's actually what it is. It's an invitation to God and salvation.
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So you know as well as I do that there are many, many invitations to salvation throughout all of Scripture, and I read one of them from Isaiah 55.
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This morning in the opening. And if you notice, he speaks about drawing near to God.
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God desires us to be drawn near to Him. And He provides it, too, through His Holy Spirit.
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But since God is a saving God, and aren't you glad He is? He's in the saving business, and it's only
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He that can really save. And I like the way R .C. Sproul put it. He says, actually, it's
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God saving us from God. It's God's mercy in Jesus Christ saves us from His wrath.
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So it's God saving us from God. He provides it.
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And that's awesome to think of that. And since He is a saving
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God, He desires that all men would come to know Him and come to the knowledge of the truth. And ultimately, as the chief end of man is, is to enjoy
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Him and glorify Him forever, to love and to adore Him. So God, our
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Savior, desires, as the Scripture says, that He wills that all men come to the saving knowledge of the truth.
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Now, that brings us to the favorite word that most of our
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Armenian brothers love, and you cannot dispute it because it's in Scripture. It's that wonderful word, and Brother Keith quoted it earlier in John 3 .16,
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that whosoever will believe. Whosoever, and the whosoever is there. And that is the invitation for all to come to Christ.
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Now, will all come? No. Those who believe are the elect. And that's what
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Scripture teaches. But the invitation is to all. And Spurgeon put it, he says, damnation, when damnation comes, it's not
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God's fault. God will not be held accountable to that, it is man's fault.
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But God desires for all to come to the knowledge of the truth. And that whosoever will, yet, we also acknowledge at the same time, the great truth that God is sovereign.
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And God is in complete control. We acknowledge that God has all authority, and that God has absolute prerogative within himself to choose whomever he will to be saved, and in fact, does that before the foundation of the world.
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He's already had made that decision. That's what
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Scripture teaches. A lot of people have a hard time with that. But that's what the Bible, you cannot argue against the
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Scriptures. God wins. And Paul the
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Apostle made that very clear, he said, let man be found liar, let
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God be true. And yet, from a human viewpoint, in a paradoxical way, there are many invitations throughout the
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Scriptures, I'm just going to touch on a few of them, in which he calls generally, it's a general call to sinners, not the effectual call, but the general call.
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For example, you find this in Deuteronomy chapter 30, verses 19 -20.
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In the Old Testament, this is a wonderful passage of Scripture, and we read these words, and this is Moses speaking of God, and he says this,
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I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, and I have set before you life and death, and the blessing and the curse.
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So choose life in order that you may live, and you and your descendants, by loving the
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Lord your God, by obeying His voice, and by holding fast to Him. For this your life, and the length of your days, that you may live in the land which the
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Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them. That's one in Deuteronomy, of an invitation.
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Then we read, like I said, this is, I'm picking up a little bit on Isaiah 55, in verse 6 and 7, notice in verse 6 and 7, a very familiar invitation, seek the
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Lord while He may be found, call upon Him, amen, while He is near, and let the wicked forsake
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His way, there's repentance, and the upright, I'm sorry, the upright, righteous man, his thoughts, the unrighteous man, his thoughts, and let him return to the
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Lord, and He will have compassion on him, and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon.
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There's the promise. There's the invitation. Now that's just a couple, there's so many.
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I'm just picking out a few. There's so many in the Old Testament and the New Testament, then we see another familiar invitation that comes to us in the
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New Testament, and of course, the words of our Lord Jesus Christ Himself. In the
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Sermon on the Mount, in chapter 7, in verses 13 through 14, very familiar verses here, but these are verses that are very good to use in evangelism as well.
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As Brother Keith spoke to this man, Abdu, Abdu, yeah, about, and he pointed them right to the person of Jesus Christ, that Jesus is the only way, the only way to truth and the life.
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But this is a good one here as well, and Jesus said this, Enter by the narrow gate, for the gate is wide, and the way is broad, that leads to destruction.
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And many there, notice what he says, many, there are who enter by it, for the gate is small, and the way is narrow, that leads to life, and few are those who find it.
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Notice the differences of narrow and wide of the gate.
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Notice the amount that goes through it. The gate is small, the way is narrow, leads to life, few are those who find it.
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And Jesus even said in another verse, Many will strive to enter in, and will not be able to.
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That verse has always captured my attention, because I'm thinking, why? You know, and I'm thinking, many people strive, but see that shows you right there, it's
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God's grace. Yes, they love their sin, and they just want the benefits of salvation, but they really don't love
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God. And only really, if you look at it, as we are sitting here today, the only reason we love
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God is because the Holy Spirit has shed the love of God upon our own hearts, and has regenerated our hearts.
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There's no way we can have that capacity within ourselves and our depravity.
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We don't have that. There's nothing good in us. We realize that. So we're depraved as God's grace.
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And that's where we're going here in just a minute. But then we have another awesome invitation.
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And it's the gracious invitation that's given to us in Matthew 11, 28 and 30.
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And this is one of my favorites. And speaking of A. W. Tozer, this was the verse he heard a street preacher preach on the street back years ago.
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And this preacher didn't know Tozer heard this. And it went into his ears, and God the
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Holy Spirit just pierced it right to his heart. He fell on his face right there on the street corner and repented.
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He said people were passing him by, while he was on his knees. People were laughing at him. And he said people's not going to laugh at me to hell.
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And he... Amen. And he heard this wonderful call and this invitation that's so straightforward from Jesus and His words, but such a loving call, such a gentle call, such a powerful call of our
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Lord Jesus. When Jesus reached out to His people in His day and says,
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Come unto me all you who are weary and heavy laden. I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me.
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For I am meek and lowly in heart and humble in heart. And you will find rest.
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Don't you love that? Find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.
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That's the great invitation to salvation. Isn't it beautiful? Matthew 16, 24.
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Jesus again says to His disciples, If anyone wishes to come after me.
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There's the word invitation. Come after me. Let him deny himself.
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Take up his cross. That's obedience to the commandments of Jesus. And follow me.
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For whoever wishes to save his life shall lose it. And whoever loses his life for my sake shall find it.
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All this wonderful glory is all in the person of Jesus Christ.
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And as Brother Keith said earlier, He is the pearl of great price. These are just a few.
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I just selected just a few. There's so many throughout the scriptures. We could just take this whole time and go through all these invitations.
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But we've got to head on to our text. James 4 is actually a call to invitation to salvation as well.
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This invitation is directed, and I really believe this. Now some commentators don't believe this.
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They feel that this is to the Christians. Now even though he wrote this to Christian dispersed
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Jews that was being persecuted. At the same time, and the writer of Hebrews does the same thing.
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He never takes for granted that all are Christians. This is what he's getting at.
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There's tears among the wheat. There's always those who profess but don't possess.
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There's always those who say but do not do. So that's what James is really doing here.
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He's calling people to salvation. And he's not taking for granted that all are saved.
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So the invitation is directed to those who are not saved. And those who are still captive to early sensual demonic wisdom.
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And how do we know this? Well, look at all the scriptures we looked at. Those who love the world are enemies of God.
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They're not saved. Those who are in the terms of verse 5 are still governed by the inner spirit which is the lust of the flesh and the pride of life.
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So in other words, they're driven and controlled by their fallenness to those who according to verse 6 are proud and not humble.
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And those who to sum it up are in desperate need of God's grace. So let's begin.
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Let's look at these points. And this would be a good starter on verse 6.
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Now to understand where he goes on verse 7 to 10. Look at what he says in verse 6.
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But he gives a greater grace. Therefore it says, what's he talking about?
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He's quoting scripture. He's talking about the verse of scripture. God is opposed to the proud but gives grace to the humble.
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So in these first five verses we have seen how the wicked, the unrighteous, the old nature can be.
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How we learn that if we're not left to deal with the lust of the flesh in our own power and strength we can't handle, we can't do it.
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But God gives us the strength to handle and to deal with it. Thank God.
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He gives more grace or strength wherever it is needed.
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I love Hebrews 4 .16 says this. Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace.
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For what reason? So that we may receive mercy. God's compassion.
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And find grace to help in time of need. What a promise. What a privilege.
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We're not worthy of. That should humble us. And praise God the only ray of hope in man's spiritual darkness is the sovereign grace of God.
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I could say that this morning to each and every one of us here in this little room. Which alone can save and rescue man from his own sins and lust to evil things.
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Thank God for grace. God's undeserving favor to the undeserving. We don't deserve it.
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Grace is greater than all of our sin. God gives a greater grace.
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And he's telling us that that grace is greater than all the sin that he has just enumerated.
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Shows that the grace is greater than all the power of sin. Greater than all the flesh of the world.
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Greater than all the world itself and Satan as well. That's what he's saying.
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And the verse James gives is originally actually an Old Testament passage. He quotes Proverbs 3 .34.
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And if you read 1 Peter 5 .5, Peter quotes it as well.
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It shows you how powerful this verse is. This verse reveals who obtains
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God's grace. And the recipients of God's grace are to who? The humble.
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Not to the proud. And as James has already mentioned, the proud is the enemies of God.
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That's the enemies of God. Is the proud. The arrogant. And God hates pride.
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Above all sins. It is the chief sin. And here the word humble does not define the special class of Christians, does it?
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It encompasses all believers. And the true believers in Jesus Christ.
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Isaiah 66 .2. Don't you love Isaiah? To this one
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I will look, God says. To him who is humble and contrite of spirit.
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And who trembles at my word. Now there's humility. First foundation.
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Foundational beatitude our Lord Jesus Christ spoke of in Sermon on the Mount. Blessed are the poor in spirit.
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That's the humble. For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. The only way we're going to get into the kingdom of heaven.
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Is to truly be poor in spirit. And humble ourselves before the almighty hand of God.
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No other way. So now with this in view. We come to verse 7.
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He says this. Submit therefore to God. Now notice. Not only submit yourselves therefore to God.
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But the therefore. By the way takes us into these ten commands.
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Off the idea of what humility is. Now since God gives grace to the humble.
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Therefore he. Here's how to be humble. That's what he's saying. Here's how to be humble.
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Here's how we can draw nigh or draw near to God. And the first thing he says.
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Is submit. Now scripture says a lot about submit. This word submission.
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Submission. Submit yourselves to. Therefore to God. Then number two.
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He says resist the devil. Now I want to. Let you know right now. That's as far as we're going to be able to get today.
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Yet you know. When we're going through scripture. There's no way we're going to be able to.
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Get hit all these points. But thank goodness we can. We can go through it part by part. Precept by precept.
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So let's look at these two here. Submission. To God. And resistance against the devil.
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Number one. Submit yourselves therefore to God. Submission. Resistance.
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That's the command. And there we have the very nature of true humility. Because in James 4.
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6 through 10. Begins and ends with a call to humility. And to be precise with you.
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It starts. And I love this. It starts with a warning. That leads to a promise.
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God opposes the proud. But gives grace to the humble.
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It ends with a command. That leads to a promise. Humble yourselves before the
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Lord. And he will exalt you. Thus the need for humility.
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And the call to humility. Really have bookends. That's the bookends for our text.
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Ain't that beautiful? You see the bookends. That's why I started with verse 6. Because I do believe to verse 10.
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There's a reason why the bookends are there. God is a God of order. And the
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Holy Spirit does everything perfectly. In order. So thus the need for humility.
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And the call to humility. Formed the bookends for our text. And God gives grace. To the humble.
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And we must humble ourselves before the Lord. Now he gives the grace.
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To humble ourselves. Then we must humble ourselves. You see both.
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You see the sovereignty of God. But you also see man's responsibility. I like what
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Spurgeon said. If he wrestles with something that he sees in scripture. That are hard to pull together.
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He said I believe the both of them. And I amen that all the way. They do not contradict each other do they?
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The scripture does not contradict. Actually they compliment one another. And you and I know this.
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As we read the scriptures. Genesis through Revelation. All 66 books of God breathed words.
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Of all this Revelation. You start tying these verses together. It's like chain upon chain upon chain.
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Link upon link. And precept upon precept. And the greatest. You come to find out.
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You start loving just the word of God. You love commentators. But when you start letting scripture interpret scriptures.
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You say this is the best commentator. Matthew Henry was right. It's the best commentator of all. Is the word of God.
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It's it's own commentator. So here you see this.
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And there James is talking about the need for humility. And the call to humility. And so this is how we draw near to God.
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So how do we draw near to God? Well scripture says I really believe this. By humility.
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And that's what he's talking about. Is submission to God. So true humility is submitting to God.
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Then the rest of the passage. Describes the life of true humility. The scripture has elements of.
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I would like to say Hebrew poetry. Now I got this from James.
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I'm sorry not James. But Daniel Duran. On his commentator. A commentation. Commentary.
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I'll get it right in a minute. Commentary. On James. It could be profitably arranged in a stanza.
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And this is what he said. Notice in verses 6 and 7. First you have a warning.
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God opposes the proud. Then you have a promise. That God gives grace to the humble.
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Then you have a conclusion. Submit yourselves therefore to God. And then verse 10 you have a command.
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Humble yourselves before the Lord. Then you have the promise. And he will exalt you.
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The commentator. And Daniel Duran goes on to say this. The intervening verses.
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Develop the demand for humility. By exploring the two poles. Of divine promise.
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And human responsibility. Notice he says. James 4 .7.
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With its call to submit to God. It explains in James 4 .6.
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Since God opposes the proud. We should submit to him. As an act of humility.
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So the submissive. Can expect to receive grace. He says.
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And the rest of the passage. Describes the key elements. Of Christian humility. And submission to God.
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And then he goes on to say. Notice as James writes. That humility has nothing to do.
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With a shy or retiring person. But powerful and exuberant people.
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Can be humble. End quote. And that is so true. You know you think of what scripture says.
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The righteous are as bold as a lion. Where boldness doesn't mean. They are not humble.
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Actually what they are doing. They are submitting to God. To be bold unto God. And bold unto others.
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To tell the truth. And speak the truth in love. So. Here we have the command.
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Submit therefore to God. First and foremost. Now scripture says also.
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To submit to one another in fear. In the fear of God. And we are to do that. But first and foremost.
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We are to submit to God. Our personal submission to God. Now let's look at this word submit.
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It's a strong word. It's a very strong word. It comes from a military word.
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In the Greek language. I'll try my best to pronounce it.
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Hupataazo. It means to yield. It means to obey.
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It means to subject oneself. Or arrange under. Oneself.
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Under someone in authority. To line up underneath.
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That persons authority. That's what submit means. And here James. Is given the command.
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To place ourselves under the complete. And absolute command. Of the authority of God.
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And stay there. Now that's what's convicting. We must stay there. Amen.
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That's the sanctification. That's the imperative. That's the imperative mood.
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Of the second heiress. Of passive tense. And to do this means. We must accept God's will.
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For our lives. As he purifies us. And sanctifies us.
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Into Christ likeness. Instead of chasing and pursuing. After our own desires.
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Now that's where the flesh. Comes in. So we need to have that mortified. And crucified.
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And put to death. And to submit in scripture. Is not to sit back as you well know.
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In a recliner. To sit back and wait for God. To issue some orders.
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Is it? Actually our commander in chief. Has already issued the orders. Submission certainly includes obedience.
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No doubt to those commands. But we also submit when we arrange our lives. Under or line up under.
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God's general direction. For example. And I wrote down just a few here. And I think this would apply to all of us.
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In some way form or fashion. Since we are at home. Or on the work.
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In business. We are first and foremost. Under God's authority.
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Because we do all things under the Lord. Unto the Lord. But a worker submits.
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Let's look at the worker. By obeying his supervisor's directions. But the worker also.
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Exemplifies from his leader's principles. Taking on new tasks. According to his principles. He need not wait for orders.
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Does he? Because he understands the leader's goals. He understands the leader's vision. He understands the leader's ethic.
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As well enough to apply them to his new situations. Day by day. So this is everyday life here.
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An athlete. Let's take a look at the athlete. An athlete submits. To his coach by coming into the season.
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Well conditioned and fit and trained. Even if the coach did not. Get specific about tight training.
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He knows what. The leader. What the one in authority is looking for.
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A wife. Can exercise considerable authority. In the home. And yet be submissive to her husband.
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If she manages the money. And the property. And the time and the ways. In which they have worked out together.
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They are heirs of grace together. Even though the husband is the head.
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But he is not to be a cruel task master. And a tyrant.
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He is to be a servant leader. As Jesus had simplified. A lot of guys take that too far.
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And I am for one. That did not understand that. When I first got married.
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But I learned right quick. I had a good wife. That taught me scripture. And taught me to be a good husband.
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And taught me the context of that. So I praise God for her. But anyway.
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I was learning that. I am still learning. But we are heirs of grace together. And I thank God. And just look at it through scripture.
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You look at through scripture. How Jesus. Applies that to the church.
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His bride. He is not this. This dictator.
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In a cruel way. He is a loving dictator. Gentle. All loving.
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Caring for his bride. Jealous. Over his bride.
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You see. You see that. And it is beautifully.
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Portrayed in scripture. Well let's look at obedience. Because obedience no doubt. Is certainly an element of submission.
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Isn't it? To submit is to recognize. The lordship and authority of another.
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That is what it means. Submission requires subordinates. To bend their will. To the will of the superior.
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That is what it means. Even that the superior issues a directive. That seems unpleasant or unwise.
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And insists upon it. Now you and I have been there. We have disagreed with superiors.
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And those in authority. And we may not understand.
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What is my boss thinking here? I disagree with this.
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It is not saying right. But we are to submit nevertheless. This does not mean that we must.
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And let me insert this real quick. We always do whatever a superior says.
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Especially if the authority commands something. That is contrary to the will of God. And the word of God. And we must.
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There is we. There is we. That is where we disobey man. In order to obey God. Because that is scripture.
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The apostle says this. When certain Jewish leaders. Forbade that they preach Jesus Christ. They said no you are not going to preach in this name.
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Well you think the apostle said there. Oh yeah you are right. No no no. Acts 5 .29.
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We must obey God rather than men. When any time it is against God's word.
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That is where we say no. But it is God first. Always. So a good worker will not lie.
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Right. I believe brother Keith was in this situation not long ago. A good worker will not lie.
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Because the boss commands it. Nor will a good wife. Follow her husband's wicked orders.
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You see. It is God. First and foremost. A good soldier.
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Will not execute. Execute innocent. Execute innocent civilians. Even if his commander says so.
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But see. Submission is an act of the will. And it is saying. As Jesus prayed in the garden of Gethsemane.
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Not my will. But thine be done. And if you notice.
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In the life of Jesus. He was perfectly. And perfect submission. To the father's will.
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Now that is beyond our comprehension. Because we struggle with that. Day by day.
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In ways. We say we are obedient and submissive to God. But when it really comes down to.
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Touching ground. We have struggles with that. Don't we. Because we live in the flesh. But Jesus had total perfect submission to it.
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So to submit. Literally means to line up under. In the New Testament. Submission describes.
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Jesus' submission to his parents. You see this in his appearance. To his parents authority.
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In Luke 2 .51. As the son of man. Was here.
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He was in submission. To his parents. But ultimately to his father. Submission.
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To human government. Paul brings this out in Romans 13 .1. The church's submission.
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To Jesus Christ. Is found in Ephesians 5 .24. And then also.
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We have servants submission. To their masters or bosses. That would be another way to put it. So James uses the word submit.
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To describe a willing conscience submission. To God's authority. As sovereign.
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As God is the sovereign ruler of the universe. A truly humble person. Would give his allegiance to God. Truly.
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And live it out. And obey his commands. And follow his leadership. I love the example.
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That scripture gives here. Turn with me very quickly to Matthew chapter 8. And I know you are familiar.
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Very familiar with the story. In the gospel. According to Matthew. I love this story.
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In chapter 8. I like to begin.
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By reading. Verse 5. And notice. This is the centurion's servant.
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Is healed. It's also given to us. In the gospel of Luke. In chapter 7.
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1 -10. Luke gives a few more details.
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Than Matthew. Of course as a physician does. But notice in verse 5. When Jesus entered
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Capernaum. A centurion came to him. Imploring him and saying. Notice this.
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He is imploring Jesus. The first thing he says Lord. Now there is the key right there.
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He recognizes Jesus as Lord. He didn't come up and say good teacher. Like the.
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The lawyer. That was testing Jesus.
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Or the young rich ruler. He says Lord. My servant is lying.
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Paralyzed at home. Fearfully tormented. Jesus said to him I will come.
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And heal him. Now. That would be remarkable right there.
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But the centurion took it a step further. Notice what he says. He said Lord. I am not worthy.
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Notice the humility in this man. This is a gentile folks. I am not worthy for you to come under my roof.
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Just say the word. My servant. And my servant will be healed. For I am also a man under authority.
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Notice the submission this man gives. Now this. This is a centurion. And he says with soldiers under me.
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And I say to this one go. And he goes. And to another come. And he comes. And to my slave do this.
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And he does it. He understands. This man understands authority. In the chain of command. In the military.
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As Roman and centurion. Now when Jesus heard this. He marveled.
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Having Jesus marvel. Is something. This is the act of God. That is upon this soldier.
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Centurion. He marveled. And said to those who were following him. Truly. Truly.
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I say to you. I have not found such great faith. Great faith.
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With anyone in Israel. I say to you. That many will come from the east and the west.
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And recline at the table of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. In the kingdom of heaven. Isn't this wonderful. But the sons of the kingdom.
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Will be cast out into outer darkness. In that place. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
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Now that's not wonderful. But Jesus says it. And then verse 13. And Jesus said to the centurion.
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Go and it shall be done for you. As you have believed. And the servant was healed.
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At that very moment. There is a perfect example. Of someone.
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That understands. Submission. Submission and humility.
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Why? Because he knew that Jesus. Was the Lord of the universe. That's great faith.
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This centurion. Not part. A gentile. Not part of the covenants of God.
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But yet he understood. Submission. And humility.
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Because he recognized. Who Jesus really was. And who he is. He was the king of the universe.
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And he recognized all you had to do. He said you don't even have to come. Just say the word. Just speak it.
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And Jesus said that's great faith. That's great faith. We almost.
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Stop right there. Let me see how much more time I got. I don't know if I got much time left. No I don't. Let's touch on the next one.
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After submission to God. What does he say? Number two. Resist the devil.
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And he will flee from you. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Notice the command.
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Resist the devil. This is a command. But notice the result. He will flee from you.
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This is a positive command. With a positive result. Virtually by definition.
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To submit to God. And this is what he is saying. Submit to God. Is submitting to your new
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Lord. And to resist the devil. Is.
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Is denying. And resisting your old Lord. We change masters.
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So the word resist. In the Greek here. Means literally to stand against.
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To stand against. You can tie this into Ephesians chapter 6. To oppose.
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There is no middle ground. No neutrality. As the word of God never does give middle ground.
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Or gray. It is very black and white. Very straight forward. As James has just made clear.
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Friendship with the world. Is Satan's domain. Has been hostile toward God.
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Therefore anyone who wishes to be a friend of the world. Makes himself an enemy of God. So James links submission to God.
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With resistance to the devil. There is a link there. They are inseparable.
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That is to submit to God's authority. Is to resist the devil's authority. So when we are submitting to God.
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We are resisting the devil. It is tied together. So to submit to God.
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Is to order our lives under. To line up under God's authority.
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Now all this sounds easy doesn't it. But when you are right down to the rubber meets the road. In everyday life.
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This could be a challenge. To resist the devil. Means to oppose him.
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To fight back. And take a stand against the devil's authority. But can
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I say this. Is not only opposing Satan. As an angelic being.
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But it also means to resist temptations. And the sin.
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That he would have us to fall into. Especially. As we fight this warfare.
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So the apostle Paul. He says it like this. One way to resist Satan. Is to flee from him.
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That is to flee from his temptations. To sinning. How did
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Jesus say it. And a lot of times. We think prayer. Is the only means.
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To resist. And it is. Jesus says that. But notice. It is usually the first word we miss on this one.
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Watch. We need to watch. We need to be sober.
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That is where we fall. But that is the first word Jesus mentions. Watch. And pray.
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He just did not say pray. We was talking on the way here today. We was talking about praying for our lost loved ones.
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And salvation. And I mentioned to Teresa. I said you know prayer is good. And I think we should continue to pray.
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And lay hold of the horns of the altar. And cry out to God day and night. But there is also something else.
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Jesus says some things do not come by. By prayer and fasting. We got to connect the two don't we?
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So. He connects watch and pray. That you enter not into temptation.
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Watch and pray. For the flesh is weak. And the spirit is willing. How do we do this? Well scripture provides us the answer.
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And the solutions. Let me just give you a few. There is many others. But here is just a few
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I thought of. Romans 13 and 14. The apostle Paul says. But put on the
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Lord Jesus Christ. And make no provision for the flesh. To gratify it's desires.
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So we must put on Jesus. That is a work of sanctification.
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Every day. To separate ourselves. From this evil world. And. To make no provision.
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That is how we make no provision. For the flesh is to put on Jesus. And. That we may gratify it's desires.
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Here is another one. 1 Corinthians 6 .18. And notice the words how many times Paul says.
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Flee. Flee from sexual immorality. In other words run from it. As Joseph did.
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When Potiphar's wife laid hold of him. He ran from it. He said how can I do this great sin against God.
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Against God. Flee from sexual immorality. Run from it. Don't run into it.
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Run from it. All other sins a man commits. Paul says. Are outside of his body.
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But he who sins sexually. Sins against his own body. 1
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Corinthians 10 .14. Therefore my dear friends. Flee. Flee.
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Run away from idolatry. Not only sexual immorality. But idolatry. We see idolatry everywhere don't we.
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Run from it. 1 Timothy 6 .11. Now I love what Paul says to Timothy here.
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But you oh man of God. Flee from all this. And what is he talking about. Notice what he talks about.
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From the love of money. We are to run from the love of money. Flee it.
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In other words. And then he says. But pursue. That means run towards.
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When we pursue. We flee from the love of money. But we pursue and run towards.
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Righteousness. Godliness. Faith. Love. Endurance. Gentleness.
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Isn't that beautiful. The positive. And then 2 Timothy 2 .22. Flee the evil desires of youth.
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And pursue righteousness. So. I got so much to say about that.
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Maybe I can pick up next week on this. But. We resist the devil by fleeing. From running away from temptations to sin.
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And when we flee from sin. The devil flees from us. Perhaps.
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Right here. And we don't have time to go there. But if you look at the temptations. How Jesus overcame the devil.
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In the wilderness. We can learn much. How Jesus faced these three.
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Heavy temptations. They were heavy. And Satan left him for a while.
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Satan comes back again. Doesn't he. We must be prepared for that. Even though he would try again.
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At another opportunity time. And you can read that. In Matthew 4 .1 -11.
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Maybe we can get into that a little bit more. Next week. Lord willing. It's when we don't resist the enemies.
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Temptations. We get caught up chasing. Our selfish desires. William MacDonald says.
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Quote. That in order to resist the devil. We must close our ears. And hearts to the devil.
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Suggestions and temptations. And by using the scriptures. As the sword of the spirit. To repel him.
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I like that word. Repel him. When we resist the devil this way. We have
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God's promise. That Satan will flee from us. We must always stand firm.
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Against Satan's standards and lies. And right here is where I want to close.
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And I want to pick it up next week. Lord willing. Notice verse 8. This is the third.
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But I want to end with this today. And pick up next week. Draw near to God. And He will draw near to you.
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There is the promise. The promise of fellowship with God. This is the third command.
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In intimate fellowship. Communion with the living eternal almighty God. Is anything greater than that?
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I don't think so. We are made for heaven beloved. We are made for communion.
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Communion with God for eternity. And when we hear. James says come near to God.
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We might think of public worship. Or private prayers. Come near. Like an invitation.
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And yes it can mean that. But in the text. In context.
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James is not really. Thinking or. Applying it to worship is he? Though there is intimacy with God.
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Did you ever think. He is not thinking of worship. I think he is thinking of repentance. Why? Because he says come near.
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It can also mean. Return to God. In covenant relationship.
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Of a renewal. After straying away. From God. So notice the prophet spoke like this.
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Let me give you a quick example. God speaks through Malachi. In Malachi 3 .7. This is what he says.
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Return to me. God says. And I will return to you. In Hosea 12 .6.
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The prophet links. Return to your God. With come near to your
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God. When we draw near to God. He also draws near to us.
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So as Moses. Asked the question in Deuteronomy 4 .7. What other nation.
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Is so great. As to have their gods near them. The way the Lord our God. Is near us wherever we pray to him.
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Isn't that beautiful. Yet as we. As his very own. Can draw near to him.
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Because he is drawn. Near to us. And notice I want to.
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Leave you with this thought here. And then I am going to close in prayer. But John 12 .32.
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Jesus says. And I. If I be lifted up. From the earth.
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I will draw all men unto me. Now the reason I am bringing this out.
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Is because. We as children of God. Cannot draw nigh to God. Or near to God.
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Unless first of all he has drawn us. To him. And I like what
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Spurgeon says. And I was so blessed to hear. To read you know. About Spurgeon's devotions here.
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Let me read this one. This is a few days back on this particular devotion. But he says of the verse.
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I just quoted. Come ye workers be encouraged. You fear. That you cannot draw a congregation.
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Try the preaching of a crucified. Risen and ascended savior. But this is the greatest draw.
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That has ever. That was ever manifested. Among men. What drew you to Christ.
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But Christ. What draws you to him now. But his own blessed self.
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If you have been drawn. To religion by anything else. You will soon be drawn.
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Away from it. But Jesus was held. Has held you. And will hold you.
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Even to the end. Why then. Doubt his power to draw others.
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Now we are talking about drawing here. I know we are to draw to God. And he goes on to say this. Go with the name of Jesus.
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To those who have hitherto been stubborn. And see if he. If it does not draw them.
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No sort of man. Is beyond this drawing power. Old and young.
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Rich and poor. Ignorant and learned. Depraved or amiable. All men shall feel the attractive force.
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Jesus is the one magnet. Let us not think of any other. Music will not draw to Jesus.
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Neither will eloquence. Logic. Ceremonial. Noise. Jesus himself must draw men to himself.
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And Jesus is quite equal. To the work in every case. Be not tempted.
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By the quackeries of the day. But as the workers. For the Lord. Work in his own way.
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And draw with the Lord's own cords. Draw to Christ. And draw.
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By Christ. For then Christ. Will draw by you. Amen. Let's pray.
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Father we thank you. Lord for this time. That we've had in your word. Thank you father for your drawing.
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Lord if. We can even. In our own sanctification. And coming to you.
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Drawing near to you. You draw near to us. But how can we do all this.
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Unless first of all. You have drawn us to yourself. We thank you for this father.
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And that is grace. Something we're not. Worthy of. And father we thank you.
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That you have. Loved us. With an everlasting love.
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And you've drawn us. To yourself. Lord be pleased. As we come before you.
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May we humble ourselves before you. Lord and even draw closer. And closer to your heart.
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And to your. Son the lord Jesus. And father to you. Because when we honor him.
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We honor you as well. So father thank you for this time. We've had. Draw us closer lord.
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Draw us closer. And we thank you for it. In Jesus name. Amen and amen.