“From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members? Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: Ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not. Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts. Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. Do ye think that the Scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy? But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.. Draw nigh to God and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.” (James 4:1-10)
QUESTION
As we consider these next verses it will help us if we take note of the similarity with which this paragraph and the preceding one begin. Both paragraphs begin with a question. Also the last two words of each question are the words “among you”. Here we have a second inquiry.
The first inquiry led to an understanding of the difference between earthly wisdom and heavenly wisdom and the results of each. It involved an examination of our hearts and the wisdom that directed them and the consequent behavior that resulted.
This inquiry will begin by examining certain behavior, then showing the element of cause. We will learn how such an element was able to come into power and influence our behavior. Finally we will be taught the cure, and the way to freedom from this behavior which is so damaging and unchristian.
THE SOURCE OF STRIFE AND CONFLICT
The Apostle asks; “Where do you think the wars and fighting that are among you come from?” Before we look at the answer to this question we should take note of the words “among you.” He is not suggesting that all Christians are involved in such behavior, but that such behavior does exist among them — some are involved. But all are asked the question, meaning all should understand the issues involved, and what causes such behavior.
Then where do these conflicts that exist among us come from? This kind of behavior is the result of lusts that are warring in our members. The word members is a common New Testament term. The Apostle Paul used it often, and it refers to the members of our body, being synonymous with the flesh, the old man, or the old nature. The word lusts found here in verse 1 and also at the end of verse 3 is not the word commonly translated “lusts” in the New Testament which means to covet or long for. This word means “sensual delights” and is translated “pleasures” in other New Testament verses, and also in ASV. It is those pleasures of sin spoken of in Heb. 11:25, and the pleasures of this life which choke out the spiritual life, in Luke 8:14. These sensual delights, these emotional excitements are in conflict in your members. That is, they are demanding to be gratified. Individuals, instead of hungering and thirsting after righteousness, instead of seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, are hungering and thirsting for pleasure and seeking after the excitements of the world. This often breaks out into open warfare as men insist on having their own way.
The word translated “lust” in verse 2 is the common word “lust” in scripture and literally means “to set the heart upon.” You set your heart on things and still have not. You kill and covet and cannot obtain: You fight and war, yet you have not because you ask not.
YOU’RE LOOKING THE WRONG WAY
Your problem, says the Apostle, is that you are going about things in the wrong way. You are looking to the world to satisfy the cravings of the flesh. But you are not finding satisfaction because you should be looking heavenward, to God, your Creator and Heavenly Father. But more than that, if you do look to God for such things, you still will not receive them. Why? Because you are asking amiss. What you are really asking for is fuel for a fire that should be put out. You are walking after the flesh, not after the Spirit. If we walk after the Spirit, we will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh. We are not debtors to the flesh.
LIKE UNFAITHFUL WIVES
Next he calls those involved adulteresses. (The word adulterers is omitted in the ASV as it should be.) He is saying they are like unfaithful wives, professing to belong to Christ, but at the same time flirting with, and being courted by the world. They are looking to the world for pleasures, yet at the same time claiming a love for the Lord of Heaven.
Don’t you realize, he continues, that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Can we see the vast gulf that is fixed between the wisdom of this world, that is earthly, sensual, and devilish, and the wisdom from above, that is first pure and then full of good works? There can be no mixing, no alliance of the two. One is the enemy of the other. To be a friend of the world is to be an enemy of God. How vast is the gulf!
FRIENDSHIP WITH THE WORLD
Now we come to a very important statement. It is one of the scriptures’ “whosoever will” declarations. The word whosoever is important in such a statement as this, but the word will is more important. It speaks of deliberate, responsible, choice. Whosoever chooses to be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. My ministering brethren, how important it is that we “preach the Word.” How can we, even for a moment help to give false comfort to anyone? How can we let anyone think their home is in heaven when his desire is to the world? For the Word says he is an enemy of God. May our evangelism be pure and unencumbered with the rationalisms and confusions of the age.
FRIENDLY “WITH” — OR “TO”
It would be in order here to emphasize the difference between being friendly with the world and being friendly to the people of the world.
To be friendly with the world means to be friendly with its ways, its thinking and mentality, its philosophies and teachings, etc. To say it differently, it means to be friendly with the wisdom of the world.
To be friendly to its people is a different matter. For this is what we must be. We are to be a light unto them, help them see truth, love them and win them. How could we be a better friend to people than to be true to the ways of Life and shun the ways of death. For light must not only show the truth, but also the way of life. This is the wisdom from above.
The people of the world need friends. They have enough enemies to comfort them in their unrighteous and ungodly ways and sympathize with their rationalistic excuses for their sinful behavior. Our Lord is their greatest friend. He died for them and made reconciliation to God a wonderful possibility. We can only be a true friend to them if we tell them and show them the love of Christ. Let your light so shine before men.
THE SCRIPTURE SAITH
“Do you think that the scripture saith in vain, the spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy?” Some have been bothered because there cannot be found any quotation such as this in the scripture. But notice it does not say, “it is written,” only that, “the scripture saith.” James did not intend us to think he was quoting an actual statement, but rather that the body of scripture — along with all else it teaches — teaches this truth. This seems to have been the most difficult passage in the whole epistle for the translators. Therefore it would be good for us to dwell here for a while and contemplate what is being asked.
A QUESTION
The AV has a single question. We are asked if we thought that the teaching of the Scripture was to no purpose when it taught that the spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy.
The first necessity in dealing with this question is to determine what is meant by the word spirit. To believe it is referring to the Holy Spirit, as many do, will lead us down a particular path of truth which is wonderful for the Christian to consider. It would then say: The Holy Spirit which dwelleth in us yearneth over us even to the point of jealousy. ( We should not, like an adulteress, give what belongs to God over to the world.) The scripture does teach this, “For thou shalt worship no other god: for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.” (Exodus 34:14) “What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the holy Spirit which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.” (1Cor. 6:19-20)
We are also warned in scripture not to yield our members to unrighteousness for we will have to give account to God for the deeds done in the body. And that they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. Yes, the teaching is there all through scripture.
ANOTHER VIEW
Or, we could assume, as others do, that it is referring to the human spirit. This would lead us down a different pathway of truth which is also important. (It seems to me the rendering of this verse in the NEB could only be taken to mean the human spirit.) It would say something like this: The human spirit that dwells in you moves you with great desire toward jealous envy. In other words, it is pinpointing the source of trouble and showing our need for God’s grace to help. The scripture does teach this also from beginning to end. It begins with Cain’s jealous hatred of Abel and continues to the time when our Lord Jesus was crucified. It is written that “for envy they slew Him.” It still continues to be true of the natural tendency of the human spirit to this day.
OR THIS?
Then there is the rendering in the ASV which translates this 5th verse as two distinct questions. The first, “Think ye that the scripture speaketh in vain?” What ever the rendering, this question is involved and must be considered and answered.
What is our estimation of the seriousness of Scripture? How often the scriptural teaching on a particular question is answered with those God dishonoring words, “yes, but … ” Someday, we will be judged by the Word, (John 12:48) so it behooves us to not only answer this question with words but also with deeds. Scripture does not speak in vain and the true believer will take heed to every word with all seriousness.
The second question follows. “Doth the spirit which he made to dwell in us long unto envying?” The translators clearly thought the “spirit” meant the Holy Spirit and the question much as we showed in the first case. Or, it could be as some think something like this: Does that Holy Spirit which God has made to dwell within us encourage us to such evil (jealous envy)? The answer to both questions then (i.e., Doth the scripture speak in vain? and, Does the Holy Spirit encourage such Jealous envy?), would of course be a resounding NO! Again we see the scripture also teaches this truth in no uncertain terms. Evil promptings and inclinations only prove the absence of the influence of the Holy Spirit. “For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth; proving what is acceptable unto the Lord.” (Eph. 5:9-10)
ALL ARE TRUE
Not being qualified to state dogmatically which translation is the correct one I leave it there. However, notice a very important thing with me. If we follow each path of consideration to its end and we will reach the same conclusion in each case. We are called to faithfulness, and we can only be faithful as we rely on God’s grace. That is, in order to be right and consequently do right, we must receive help from above. And what does the following verse say? “But he giveth more grace.” Praise the Lord!
FIVE GREAT WORDS
In verses 6 through 10 we are going to find the proper solution to the problem discussed inverses 1 through5. Verse 6 begins with a positive statement that is possibly one of the most glorious and wonderful statements in all of scripture. “But he giveth more grace.” Five words in this statement and every word a gem. Upon hearing these words our hearts should leap for joy. Listen, and upon hearing the very first word, hope will be born anew and as the other words follow our hearts are filled with promise of only good.
BUT
We begin with the word but. This word is pivotal in nature and promises a turn of the tide. What relief this simple word can bring when it follows a description of evil, failure, and despair. Instead of just ending with a period, the word but at this place strikes a spark of hope, a spark that is fanned to a full flame by the words that are to follow.
HE
“But He …”that is, God. Our eyes are at once lifted heavenward. We have been viewing the earthly and the results of the earthly. We have faced the question: “From whence cometh these things?” They can only be attributed to the world, the flesh, and the devil. And just when we can do no more than feel helpless and hopeless, these words strike our ears like golden notes of heavenly music. But He, and our thoughts are lifted to Him who sits upon the throne of Heaven.
GIVETH
“But He giveth …” God is not just there but He is active. He is not active in condemnation and wrath now, but in love and mercy. He giveth. The time will come when this age of God’s giving will end, then He will require of us. We are told; “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” (Heb.10:31) “Every one of us shall give account of himself to God.” (Rom. 14:12)
In the Book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ we read of the coming wrath of the Lamb and of the awesome wrath of God. But today is the day of salvation. Today He gives, sins can be forgiven, debts can be paid, for he gives in Jesus and Jesus paid it all.
MORE
“But He giveth more …” Thank God this word has been included. You may ask, More than what? More than enough to meet the need. It means that he gives, and gives, and gives, until He has given enough, regardless of the extent of the need.
God said to the Apostle Paul, “My grace is sufficient for thee.” (2Cor. 12:9) Perhaps you have thought your case is more difficult than any other you have heard of. Be comforted now for this Word is teaching us that no one is so bad, so low, so weak, or so involved, but the hand of God is available to help. No matter what degree of subtraction there has been, God will add the more. Oh that men would praise the Lord for His goodness and mercy and His wonderful works unto the children of men!
GRACE
“But He giveth more grace.” What is it He gives? What is this grace? What is this gift which we cannot earn or deserve but still can receive? This is the gift that can be the answer to and supersede all obstacles to meeting our needs?
The word grace is one of the big words of scripture. It is as immeasurable and inexhaustible as God himself. What is this grace He gives? It is the right answer and the proper fulfillment to our recognized need, whatever it may be, whenever it may be. The Apostle put it this way, “He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall He not with him also freely give us all things?” (Rom. 8:32)
One more thought before we leave this most glorious statement. I call our attention again to the central word, giveth. Notice the present tense. We must learn to live in the present tense. We must receive grace today for today. It was in this vein of thought that our Lord Jesus uttered those most important words; “Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.” (Matt. 6:34) This is one of the lessons God tried to teach Israel in their wilderness. He gave them manna daily. They were to gather only enough for that day. Tomorrow God would give it fresh again. They must learn to trust Him. So it is with us today. We need daily help, fresh grace from heaven, to meet the experiences of this day. Lest we find with each passing day our lives become stale, our strength inadequate, our spirit failing and ourselves forgetting that “He giveth more grace.”
WHEREFORE
Notice carefully now, as we continue with verse 6, the words that follow. “Wherefore he saith“, or, for this reason He says. There is more to be said in the light of that wonderful statement, and it is to be said by God himself — we must listen further. One of the marvels of Scripture is the way God protects His Word. One statements or paragraph often stands as a sentinel over another to guard against making something out of that statement that was not meant to be. We have a clear example of that here. A wonderful statement of fact has been made, but in order to avoid the possibility of misapplication, another statement must follow to protect the first. “He giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.” There would be much less error in Bible teaching if this principle was always remembered that the condition always accompanies the promise. They are the sentinels which guard against the promiscuous application of the holy Word of God
It is very important for us to understand exactly what God is telling us. “Wherefore he saith.” This grace is given to the humble and to the humble only. The proud, God not only will, but he must resist. Every promise of God is compatible with God’s Holy nature. “He cannot deny Himself.” (2Tim. 2:13).
Man in his pride can never be a recipient of God’s grace. Are there some then that are shut out from the grace of God? The answer is both yes and no. Yes, he who refuses to heed the Word of God and continues in his own way shuts himself out from God’s grace. And no, for any man who is willing to humble himself and forsake his own way — submitting himself to God’s way — can receive of God’s grace. Men who resist God will be resisted by God. This is the reason our Lord Jesus called so strongly for men to repent. (Mark 1:15) Our preaching and teaching must not in any way weaken this principle. For repentance is the only proper initial response to the hearing of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And anytime we have allowed ourselves to stray and live displeasing to our Lord, our return to the place of God’s favor must always begin with repentance. Repentance is always the first step if we have been out of harmony with God and His Word
THEREFORE
The instructions of verse 7 naturally follow: “Submit yourselves therefore to God.” Submission can be seen, repentance cannot. Tears of sorrow can be seen, repentance cannot. Repentance is an act of the mind, heart, and will, primarily the will with the mind and heart consenting. This takes place on the inside of a man. The tears we see are just a sign a person is being called to repent. They are not assurance he is repenting, or has repented. The Apostle Paul said, “I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye sorrowed to repentance: for ye were made sorry after a godly manner … For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation…” (2Cor. 7:9-10)
SUBMISSION
Just as tears of sorrow are an outward sign that a person is being called upon to repent, submission is an outward sign that one has truly repented. Where there is no outward evidence of submission to God (which of course includes His Word), there is proof that there has been no true repentance. Submission to God is an outward evidence (through obedience and conduct) of turning our will from our own way to God’s way. Submission is a first step in our walk as a child of God — as a disciple of Christ. Unless it is first, anything else we may attempt will be no more than a mechanical religious exercise without profit. That is why it is given first in this list of measures that must be taken.
THE GOAL
Before we consider each of the commands which follow, it will be helpful to look at the overall picture in order to understand and remember their purpose and goal. Keeping in mind we have just been told that God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble, we can see the goal is clearly stated in verse 10: “humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He shall lift you up.”
In 1Peter 5:5-6 we are told the same thing. Peter relates these thoughts keeping both of them together with commands both preceding and following. Here in James they are separated by the commands. Briefly this is what we are being told; God gives grace to the humble, so humble yourself. Notice the burden of action is ours. We are to humble ourselves if we would be partakers of God’s grace.
The big question is how do we do this? The answer is given in the intervening verses 7-9. God in His love and mercy has provided us with a clear and unmistakable understanding of what true humility really is. Carefully listen as these instructions are spelled out to us step by step.
FIRST STEP
What shall we do? The first thing, as we have already seen, is to submit ourselves to God. Remember now, submission begins in the heart but is displayed in outward behavior. It means we are truly subject to God in all things, not by someone’s insistence, but by our own will and desire. It also means that subjection to God should be obvious to others. We are not ashamed for people to see that we are subject to God — we are God’s subjects.
COUNTER ACTION
Next, there must also be a deliberate counter action. “Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” The importance of this can best be understood by considering it from a positional standpoint. When we repented and turned to God, our faith, hope, and love found new direction. We must now remain fastened upon our Lord and His kingdom. But the kingdom of this world from which we have turned, whose lord is the devil, still exists, and still is active. Therefore, we must be active in two directions: first, toward God in actively submitting to His will and ways; second, a counter action, resisting the devil and his will and ways.
This can best be illustrated by our Lord’s example when he was tested and challenged by the devil in the wilderness. He did not simply ignore what the devil said, nor passively wait for it all just to go away. He resisted the devil. He met the devil’s suggestion with a higher and holier suggestion. He met the devil’s challenge with a solemn reminder of God. He met the devil’s offer with disgust and rebuke, and said, “thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him.” (Matt. 4:1-11) Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
Oh how much we miss of heaven’s help, and all because we fail to live as we are taught to live by God’s Word. Can we be active toward God and at the same time passive toward sin and the devil and what he is trying to do in the world? No, it is impossible, just as it is impossible to build a wall with just one side. The wall around a city speaks safety and security to those within, but its outside is a face of resistance against any approaching enemy. So we are directed by the Word, “Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”
DRAW NIGH
We are instructed next to; “draw nigh to God.” We are promised that if we do, “He will draw nigh to us.” In order to catch the full meaning and importance of this counsel we must remind ourselves to whom these words are addressed. These words are addressed to those whose lives are in conflict. They have looked to the world, its wisdom and counsel, for answers and have not received of the grace of God in their time of need. Because of their friendship with the world they were being estranged from God. But now, having heard the Word, as the prodigal in our Lord’s parable, they have come to themselves and would return to Father and home. Remembering the need to humble ourselves in order to know God’s favor, this is the next step, drawing nigh to God. Our safety lies right here, near to God. We cannot follow afar off and know the safety and assurance that a child of God is meant to know, for it can only be known if we are near to God.
Following afar off will exposes us to terrible dangers. Our text implies our problem is pride, yet we do not want to think of ourselves as proud. It is pride that is most likely to hinder us from drawing nigh unto God. Pride can be at the root of our feeling satisfied while not being close to God. Pride brings self-satisfaction in spite of the fact that we are not observing all of the things He has commanded us to do. It is our pride that could keep us from heeding the warning of God’s Word when it says: “lean not unto thine own understanding.” (Prov. 3:5) Or His admonishment to: “trust in the Lord with all our hearts, and in all our ways acknowledge Him.” He wants to direct our paths. Pride could keep us form accepting this word of the Lord: “cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord.” (Jer. 17:5) Unless we are very near to God it becomes easy to begin to trust our own strength and abilities, but God resists the proud. It is a very important step in humbling ourselves to draw nigh to God, for in so doing we are confessing our need and desire for Him. “As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God…” (Ps. 42:1-2)
The blindness and consequent suffering of God’s ancient people Israel was due to their drawing nigh to God with their mouth and honoring Him with their lips, yet their heart was far off. (Isa. 29:13) The reluctance of a Christian to draw close to God because of blind pride will exclude him from the grace of God. To him the heavens will become like brass and God will seem afar off. Humble yourself, submit to God and draw nigh to Him and He will draw nigh to you.
BUT NOT AS YOU ARE
“Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double-minded.” To the individual who hears and desires to obey the call of God to draw nigh; these will always be the next words he will hear. David said the same thing. “Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? or who shall stand in his holy place? He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity; nor sworn deceitfully.” (Psalm 24:3-4)
There are two areas of consideration to be dealt with here. The first has to do with our works; the second has to do with a divided heart or unfaithfulness. We will look at these areas one at a time. The first is outer or visible; the second, is inner and not visible. The first is true because the second is true. I have sinned (have unclean hands), because my heart is divided (not pure).
CLEANSE YOUR HANDS
First the outer: “Cleanse your hands, ye sinners.” We are being called upon to deal with a very real and standing problem. Why does the need exist for us to draw nigh to God? Because we have sinned and drifted from Him. God spoke to Israel about this very thing. “Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear: but your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.” (Isaiah 59:2)
God calls things by their real name, often we are afraid to, or are too proud. With God what is not righteous is unrighteous; what is not holy in unholy. There is no mixing, no rationalizing, no making excuses or compromising. God says the reason distance has come between us and Him is because we have sinned and our hands are not clean. It must be dealt with. It is our move. We must have forgiveness for our sins and our hands must be cleansed. What must we do? How should we do it? It begins with an honest acknowledgment of the truth of God’s diagnosis as revealed in His Word. That is the hard part, admitting I am wrong, that I have sinned.
Why is it so hard to honestly acknowledge that which God has made so plain? Why do we find it so difficult to call things by their right names? Why are we forever obliged to rationalize, make excuses and compromise? The answer is pride — stubborn, devilish pride.
Remember now we are humbling ourselves. We will submit to God and we will resist the devil. So away with all the lies and acknowledge God’s truth. The next part will be easy. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1John 1:9)
PURIFY YOUR HEART
Second, the inner man: “Purify your hearts, ye double minded.” Now we have reached the root of the matter. As we have already pointed out, the distance which has come between ourselves and God is the result of a divided heart — or double-mindedness. We have already been introduced to this term double-minded, and we must apply what we learned there to understanding this present lesson. We saw that wavering faith is symptomatic of double-mindedness. Impurity too is a symptom of double-mindedness (the unfaithful or divided heart as implied by the word adulteress). The double-minded man is unstable in all his ways. One becomes double-minded by not submitting to one mind and resisting the other, but rather trying to live with both. This results in mixing and impurity. We also saw earlier how double-mindedness would result in a non- productive prayer life. Now we are shown that if unchecked, it will lead to proud and presumptive living, and ultimately to enmity with God. This is very serious and we are being called upon to purify our hearts.
ON BEING PURE IN HEART
It is not enough to stop living the wrong way (which we did when we submitted to God and began to resist the devil), but we must also begin living the right way. We began this when we desired to draw nigh to God and cleanse our hands of unrighteous works. Now we must purify our divided hearts. Our Lord Jesus said, “If therefore thine eye be single, they whole body shall be full of light. No man can serve two masters.” (Matt. 6:22-24) If the problem is a divided heart or double-mindedness, then the solution is to make our heart single, or wholehearted toward God. The first and the great commandment calls for loving God with all of our hearts.
Our text is addressed to professing believers who have allowed their hearts and loyalties to be divided and have become unfaithful to God. Often this is a result of failure on the part of those who deal with these individuals following their conversion. Making a disciple of the new believer and teaching him to observe all the things our Lord commanded are as much a part of the great commission as is the command to preach the Gospel. It is right here where there has been much failure. It is like having a baby and leaving it on someone else’s doorstep, or even to fare for himself. The new-born babe must be urgently encouraged to “desire the sincere milk of the word that ye may grow thereby.”(1Peter2:2) If he does not feed on the word, he will not learn to subject himself to the disciplines of the Word. As a result certain ties to the former way of life will not be broken and the new believer, ignorant of the dangers, finds himself in the struggle to serve two masters.
THE CHURCH STARTED RIGHT
The first church was very careful in this point. They carefully obeyed the whole of the great commission of our Lord. As a result of the preaching of the Gospel a great number believed and turned to the Lord. (Acts 11:20-21) When the church in Jerusalem heard of this they sent Barnabas, who saw firsthand the work of God’s grace toward these people and was glad. He began where the evangelists had left off. He exhorted those new believers that “with purpose of heart they would cleave unto the Lord.”(Acts 11:23)
FOLLOW THROUGH
To exhort means to urge. To cleave to the Lord means to join oneself to, or to glue oneself to the Lord. The same word is used here as in the Scripture verse that says “for this cause shall a man leave father and mother and cleave unto his wife.” Notice also that Barnabas urged them to do this “with purpose of heart.”
The word translated purpose here means to expose or display. It is the same word used in referring to the showbread in the Temple which was to be exposed or displayed before the Lord on the special table for showbread in the holy place. The word speaks then of “displayed intention”. Barnabas is urging the new believers that with openly displayed intentions they attach themselves to the Lord. This is a call to discipleship. This is in obedience to the Great Commission. Notice the result in the next verse. “Much people was added unto the Lord.”(Acts 11:24) There is a difference between this statement and the earlier statement in verse 21. There, after hearing the Gospel preached a great number believed, and turned unto the Lord. Now they are added to the Lord as a result of joining themselves to the Lord with purpose of heart — becoming his disciples. Jesus said, “whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.” (Luke 14:33)
LEARN AND OBSERVE
Barnabas, concerned with obeying the great commission did not stop here either, for Jesus had commanded that they should teach them to observe all things whatsoever He had commanded them. So we are told how he went to Tarsus to seek Saul and together for a whole year they taught these new disciples. Here was the historic origin of the term Christians. These who had become disciples and who had submitted themselves to the observance of the teachings of Christ were first called Christians. How wonderful it would be if the term “Christian” was still so limited in its used today. How much less confusion and contradiction there would be. But the term would have to be redeemed for its original meaning has been lost.
START OUT RIGHT
We have taken the time to say all of this in order to help us see one of the most common ways that men can find themselves in this condition of being double-minded. They didn’t have a healthy start in the first place. Foremost in a healthy start is submission to Christ by crowning Him Lord of our whole life, immediately followed by being taught to observe all of the things that Christ has commanded us.
Of course double-mindedness can also come where Christ was once Lord of the whole life but there has been a drifting of the heart away from Him. This can happen because our spiritual welfare was neglected, or because we have been drawn aside by our own lusts and enticed to accept the ways or the mind of the world. Whether it was an unhealthy start or a drifting away, the result is double-mindedness and an impure heart. The important thing is to acknowledge the truth and confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1John 1:9) “Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God.” (Matt. 5:8)
TIME TO MOURN
“Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness”. (James 4:9) Many do not like words such as we must now consider. The world tries hard to do just the opposite of what we have here. They would attempt to turn mourning to laughter and their heaviness to joy, but truly only God can do that. Yet that is the reason why so many in the world are laughing on the outside but crying on the inside.
Psychology today often teaches us to avoid the lows — not allowing ourselves to feel depressed or down. Feelings of guilt and shame are treated as if they were enemies of the soul. As a result strange and deadly counsel is being offered that, if followed, will destroy these God-given capacities. Such teachings will only lead to the searing of the conscience, the hardening of the heart, and the damning of the soul.
AND WEEP
The truth as shown here in our text is that there are times that laughter and joy are out of place. When a man becomes aware that his own wrong doing has distanced him from God, the only proper reaction is to obey this injunction of scripture to “be afflicted, and mourn, and weep.” What an insult and a sin against God and the truth, under these circumstances, to avoid feelings of sorrow and remorse and attempt to cover with laughter and joy.
The word let in this verse is very significant. It indicates that upon learning the truth about ourselves, the natural reaction would be to mourn and weep, but pride seeks to cover up. By rationalizing and making excuses we attempt to appease our conscience. But rather than continue in the way of the proud (for we are being taught how to humble ourselves) we are to let our laughter be turned to mourning and our joy to heaviness.
BLESSED ARE THE POOR IN SPIRIT
On the words, “be afflicted”, certainly much could be said, but I simply remind us of the teaching of our Lord Jesus Christ. “Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is (to them belongs) the kingdom of Heaven.” (Matt. 5:3) The word translated “afflicted” literally means to be wretched or to realize one’s misery. It is the recognition of one’s own spiritual poverty and need. And to those who recognize their spiritual poverty belongs the kingdom of heaven. Our Lord’s next words also confirm the beauty of our text: “Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.” (Matt 5:4) This comfort that comes from God in the wake of repentance and the finding of forgiveness is the only comfort that can bring peace and rest to the minds and souls of men.
GOD RESISTETH THE PROUD
I remind us again that the subject of our text is, “God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace to the humble.” Surely we can see how scripture is absolutely opposed to much of the teachings of his world. The World’s teachings encourage self-reliance and self-assertion, and avoiding thoughts and feelings that would make us sad, blue or miserable. But the teachings of Scripture did not come from this world, but from heaven — a revelation of truth from the One who knows us best.
God resists the proud because pride is based on dishonesty. Honesty is a vital part of true humility. When we face ourselves honestly, we will see things too weep and mourn about. So let us cry, but let our crying be to the One who can give true help and comfort. Cry not to those who will only attempt to show us that things are not really all that bad. They are that bad so we must not be deceived. (Obviously we are not considering here the false accusations by the enemy, by only those truths about us and our condition that are revealed by God’s Holy Word.)
The Apostle Paul pointed out that the holy law and commandment of God was given so that we might come to understand the exceeding sinfulness of sin. We do not need rationalization and excuses now! What we need is forgiveness and reconciliation with God. We need forgiveness that washes away guilt and lets us stand unashamedly before God. What greater comfort can there be?
GOD LIFTS THE HUMBLE
The next verse is the confirmation that we need, for it contains the promise of God. “Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He shall lift you up.” How much more wonderful and lasting is this lift from God than any attempt to lift ourselves, or any attempt our friends would make to lift us. Think about it!