But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.
God opposes the proud but gives greater, abundant grace and favor to the humble and contrite. That more grace is given to meet the inward pull toward envy, selfish desire and sin that breeds conflict, and to sustain His people when tempted and tested while iniquity abounds. Pride of self-esteem, self-importance, self-sufficiency and ambition for supremacy is hateful to Him and shuts Him out, so while it is cherished He cannot work with, restore, or plan for a person. Humility is coming to Him with confession and contrition as a little child, submitting to Him, drawing near, cleansing the hands and purifying the heart, and mourning over sin, and this is the door through which rich supplies of grace are received. Those who so humble themselves He lifts up and exalts to true greatness and salvation, making them meek, united in brotherly love, and fit to be used in His work.
Wording and Immediate Context
God opposes the proud but gives abundant, greater, more grace and favor to the humble and contrite. Humility is coming to God with confession and contrition, and drawing near to Him reveals personal faults, awakens desire to rise higher, and brings the healing light of His Word to the wounds sin has made in the soul. The humble receive that grace as they seek God for strength to overcome selfishness, envy, and satanic traits of character, producing thorough transformation necessary to be saved, while the proud and self-sufficient who place self first, seek control, esteem self highly, and cherish ambition for supremacy cannot rely on themselves or expect God to favor them. Humility before God is therefore needed in order to seek Him and receive His blessing, calling people to leave pride, envy, faultfinding, self-esteem, self-importance, and desire for supremacy, and one who so exalts self must be humbled and changed by God before he can safely serve or instruct others.
Receiving that grace belongs to submitting to God, resisting the devil so he flees, and drawing near to God so He draws near in return. It is diligently sought through careful self-review, through cleansing sinful hands and purifying the double mind, through sincere speech with no false words and with the false tongue purged, and through being afflicted and mourning over sin. It is shown in daily self-denial, taking up the cross and following Christ without complaint, and in humbling under God so He lifts up, which lifts people from a low estate to grace and salvation and enables them to take part effectively in His work.
The passage of James 4:5-12 gives practical instruction that must be read and studied every word as for life and practiced in daily life. Doing the heart work it requires shows the work given to do in reaching lost souls, without which further directions for action are labor in vain. Yet to the larger number of those claiming to be Seventh-day Adventists these chapters remain a dead letter.
Need for Greater Grace
Greater grace is supplied to meet the inward pull toward envy, selfish desire and sin that breeds strife and conflict. God stands against the proud but grants favor to the humble, and humility before Him is the way that favor is received. Self-exaltation must therefore be put away and self submitted to God, so that He can then work through the surrendered person. That larger measure is extended to chosen people precisely when they are tempted and tested, because lawlessness abounds and the love of many grows cold. Jesus knows the strength of satanic enticement and with every temptation provides a way of escape. He is willing to reveal Himself to His people by bestowing this grace. The added supply comes by the Spirit and must be claimed by trust in every circumstance, especially in times of necessity.
Grace Given to Humble
Drawing near to God reveals personal faults and awakens desire to rise higher, and humility that comes with confession and contrition brings a person into the place where grace can be received. That drawing near brings the healing light of His Word to the wounds sin has made in the soul. The grace given to the humble is sought for strength to overcome selfishness and envy. It is given to overcome satanic traits of character through careful self-review, submitting to God, resisting the devil so he flees, drawing near to God so He draws near, cleansing sinful hands and purifying the double mind, speaking sincerely with no false words and with the false tongue purged, being afflicted and mourning over sin, and humbling under God so He lifts up, producing thorough transformation of character necessary to be saved.
That grace plants truth in mind and heart and soul, controls the entire mind and all the affections, and takes the words of Christ and impresses them upon the soul. When those precious words of truth believed are obeyed, even by the disobedient, they change the whole life, providing the balm for sin with working power and efficiency in the wise believer, and when lived out in daily life becoming a savor of life unto life. Coming to God with a childlike spirit, putting away self-esteem, character defects, and desire for supremacy, is the way to receive His Holy Spirit. Becoming a fool in one's own estimation in order to become truly wise, becoming a babe and a daily learner to whom God reveals His wisdom, is the way to receive a wisdom He does not give to the worldly-wise and prudent who are self-sufficient and do not know the things that make for their peace.
Humbling oneself before God brings grace and salvation, with drawing near to God met by His drawing near in return. That grace lifts people from a low estate and enables them to take part effectively in God's work. God lays all human pride in the dust, tenderly regards the humble, contrite, self-denying follower of Christ, recognizes the meek and lowly, and lifts them up with a true exaltation, and humility is a mark of excellence of spirit, so those who humble themselves will be exalted. The Highest, the Commander of the heavenly hosts, proved this grace by clothing His divinity with humanity for the sake of others and stooping to be the servant of all. In that lowliness He beautifies the meek with salvation and becomes the wisdom of all who learn of Him.
Through repentance, sinners may receive pardoning grace and mercy on account of Christ's shed blood, with self-exaltation and self-righteous criticism giving way to repentance and humble appeal to God for mercy in every circumstance. Having complied with the conditions of the Word through close self-examination in the light of the Word to do the work essential to be done, acceptance with God is to be believed by faith and not measured by feeling, whether or not one feels any different, with implicit obedience yielded to every requirement of the abiding law of God. Heaven's gates do not open to self-exaltation but open wide to the humble, including those whose service is brief or whose work is lowly. They cannot earn heaven's reward, but may receive it through simple faith and love in following Christ.
That grace enables God's people to press together and be a unit, and this oneness is their strength for present and eternal good. It works out in being kindly affectioned toward one another with brotherly love, preferring one another in honor, submitting to one another in the fear of God, and doing nothing through strife or vainglory but in lowliness of mind esteeming others better than self. Living this keeps the church in its sacred, holy calling separate from the world so that it is respected and has power to influence, with God's voice controlling its members. Humbling oneself before God and approaching a brother with humility helps remove disunion and makes the heart ready to receive God's blessing. Those who recognize their weakness and remain lowly, meek, and pure in thought can be used by God, while the self-sufficient cannot. God's blessing rests on the lowly in heart rather than on prideful desire for pre-eminence that deceives and blinds the spirit, and He can work with those who are willing to bear His yoke and learn meekness and lowliness.
God Opposes the Proud
Pride includes self-esteem, self-importance, lofty self-sufficiency, putting self first, seeking control, esteeming self highly, ambition for supremacy and pre-eminence, and prideful desire that deceives and blinds the spirit. Pride together with selfishness and covetousness is especially offensive and hateful to God, even when counted a small sin, for sin is measured by God's standard and not by human opinion. He stands against it among His professed people and is displeased and dishonored by it, including copying the unhealthful, immodest, and expensive fashions of this degenerate age, and pride is constantly joined with ignorance and folly.
Pride and self-sufficiency prevent God from working with people, so unless pride is laid down and self is humbled He cannot restore, work in behalf of, or plan with a person. Grace to cooperate with Him comes only by coming as little children depending on His counsel and wisdom and the molding of the Holy Spirit rather than on human leaders, human wisdom, and finite planning. Taking to oneself the glory due to God, especially by those standing in positions of responsibility, gives Satan a victory and leads to ruin, for self-exaltation caused Satan's own fall. Because every blessing bestowed and every trial permitted can be seized by Satan to tempt, harass, and destroy the soul if he is given the least advantage, every impulse of nature, faculty of mind, and inclination of heart needs moment by moment to be under the control of the Spirit. However great one's spiritual light and enjoyment of divine favor and blessing, safety is to walk humbly ever before the Lord, pleading in faith for Him to direct every thought and control every impulse.
Even good men in God's work are warned against becoming elated over the blessings and prosperity given to the work, being stimulated by the applause and praise of worldlings to display their own wisdom and acquisitions, and choosing an independent course apart from God's ordained agencies. The more prosperous the work itself becomes the less fitting it is to exalt self as though to be lifted up, for abilities and capabilities for a prominent part are entrusted by God so trust must remain in Him, and God will certainly humble all proud aspirations. Christ does not honor self-exaltation, and a meek and childlike spirit is required so that anyone lacking it must humble himself or God will humble him, receiving grace by laying aside self-importance and accepting His meekness. Remaining in proud trust in human philosophy and science resists that grace and will certainly lead to loss of the soul, but turning to humble seeking brings His grace.
Walking in Humble Reception
Humility is coming to God with confession and contrition, seeking Him with the whole heart, carefully reviewing the self in the light of the Word, and coming as a little child, and this is the door through which rich supplies of grace are received and the place where grace can be received. Drawing near to God reveals personal faults and awakens desire to rise higher, bringing the healing light of His Word to the wounds sin has made in the soul. That grace must be diligently sought through submitting to God, resisting the devil so he flees, drawing near to God so He draws near, cleansing sinful hands and purifying the double mind, speaking sincerely with no false words with the false tongue purged, being afflicted and mourning over sin, and humbling under God so He lifts up, producing thorough transformation of character necessary to be saved. Grace to cooperate with God comes only by depending on His counsel and wisdom and the molding of the Holy Spirit rather than on human wisdom and finite planning.
This calls for leaving pride, envy, faultfinding, self-esteem, character defects, self-importance, and desire for supremacy, for putting on humility, shunning self-exaltation, laying aside self-importance and accepting Christ's meekness, and for humbling before God to seek Him and receive His blessing. Humbling the heart with a childlike spirit is the way to receive the Holy Spirit. Christ does not honor self-exaltation.
Humbling before the Lord includes accepting correction from the Holy Spirit and gladly reforming rather than holding to one's own wisdom and continuing in a wrong course, which reflects pride and hinders the Spirit's power in the church. God answers contrite prayers by helping the humble understand themselves, and the humble receive Christ's rich gifts. One who places self first, seeks control, and esteems himself highly must be humbled and changed by God before he can safely serve or instruct others, for the proud and self-sufficient cannot rely on themselves or expect God to favor ambition for supremacy. God's blessing is not secured by making a show, but by doing one's part and coming without self-righteousness, humble and contrite, staying wide awake to make the best use of given powers and seeking God for strength to overcome selfishness and envy, and His promise then will not fail, for He is willing to impart His grace to everyone who seeks it with a humble heart and contrite spirit.
True greatness depends not on position but on purity and fidelity, and human worth is found not in self but in Christ, measured by faith in the Saviour and by truth and uprightness of life. Therefore His people must take in divine light for home and church, put on humility, shun self-exaltation, and ministers especially must give their lives to Christ's service and show His character in holy beauty. Humbling, confession, and seeking with the whole heart are the needed work at the beginning of a meeting and the way for troubled, lukewarm, or backslidden people to seek blessing. This lesson every church member must learn through close self-examination in the light of the Word in order to do the work essential to be done, and having complied with the conditions, acceptance with God is to be believed by faith and not measured by feeling, whether or not one feels any different, with implicit obedience yielded to every requirement of the abiding law.
Humility is required in every circumstance, with self-exaltation and self-righteous criticism giving way to repentance and humble appeal to God for mercy, through which sinners may receive pardoning grace and mercy on account of Christ's shed blood. God's judgments on Battle Creek call for humility, not proud boasting or self-exaltation.
God opposes the proud but gives greater, abundant grace and favor to the humble and contrite. That more grace is given to meet the inward pull toward envy, selfish desire and sin that breeds conflict, and to sustain His people when tempted and tested while iniquity abounds. Pride of self-esteem, self-importance, self-sufficiency and ambition for supremacy is hateful to Him and shuts Him out, so while it is cherished He cannot work with, restore, or plan for a person. Humility is coming to Him with confession and contrition as a little child, submitting to Him, drawing near, cleansing the hands and purifying the heart, and mourning over sin, and this is the door through which rich supplies of grace are received. Those who so humble themselves He lifts up and exalts to true greatness and salvation, making them meek, united in brotherly love, and fit to be used in His work.
Wording and Immediate Context
God opposes the proud but gives abundant, greater, more grace and favor to the humble and contrite. Humility is coming to God with confession and contrition, and drawing near to Him reveals personal faults, awakens desire to rise higher, and brings the healing light of His Word to the wounds sin has made in the soul. The humble receive that grace as they seek God for strength to overcome selfishness, envy, and satanic traits of character, producing thorough transformation necessary to be saved, while the proud and self-sufficient who place self first, seek control, esteem self highly, and cherish ambition for supremacy cannot rely on themselves or expect God to favor them. Humility before God is therefore needed in order to seek Him and receive His blessing, calling people to leave pride, envy, faultfinding, self-esteem, self-importance, and desire for supremacy, and one who so exalts self must be humbled and changed by God before he can safely serve or instruct others.
Receiving that grace belongs to submitting to God, resisting the devil so he flees, and drawing near to God so He draws near in return. It is diligently sought through careful self-review, through cleansing sinful hands and purifying the double mind, through sincere speech with no false words and with the false tongue purged, and through being afflicted and mourning over sin. It is shown in daily self-denial, taking up the cross and following Christ without complaint, and in humbling under God so He lifts up, which lifts people from a low estate to grace and salvation and enables them to take part effectively in His work.
The passage of James 4:5-12 gives practical instruction that must be read and studied every word as for life and practiced in daily life. Doing the heart work it requires shows the work given to do in reaching lost souls, without which further directions for action are labor in vain. Yet to the larger number of those claiming to be Seventh-day Adventists these chapters remain a dead letter.
Need for Greater Grace
Greater grace is supplied to meet the inward pull toward envy, selfish desire and sin that breeds strife and conflict. God stands against the proud but grants favor to the humble, and humility before Him is the way that favor is received. Self-exaltation must therefore be put away and self submitted to God, so that He can then work through the surrendered person. That larger measure is extended to chosen people precisely when they are tempted and tested, because lawlessness abounds and the love of many grows cold. Jesus knows the strength of satanic enticement and with every temptation provides a way of escape. He is willing to reveal Himself to His people by bestowing this grace. The added supply comes by the Spirit and must be claimed by trust in every circumstance, especially in times of necessity.
Grace Given to Humble
Drawing near to God reveals personal faults and awakens desire to rise higher, and humility that comes with confession and contrition brings a person into the place where grace can be received. That drawing near brings the healing light of His Word to the wounds sin has made in the soul. The grace given to the humble is sought for strength to overcome selfishness and envy. It is given to overcome satanic traits of character through careful self-review, submitting to God, resisting the devil so he flees, drawing near to God so He draws near, cleansing sinful hands and purifying the double mind, speaking sincerely with no false words and with the false tongue purged, being afflicted and mourning over sin, and humbling under God so He lifts up, producing thorough transformation of character necessary to be saved.
That grace plants truth in mind and heart and soul, controls the entire mind and all the affections, and takes the words of Christ and impresses them upon the soul. When those precious words of truth believed are obeyed, even by the disobedient, they change the whole life, providing the balm for sin with working power and efficiency in the wise believer, and when lived out in daily life becoming a savor of life unto life. Coming to God with a childlike spirit, putting away self-esteem, character defects, and desire for supremacy, is the way to receive His Holy Spirit. Becoming a fool in one's own estimation in order to become truly wise, becoming a babe and a daily learner to whom God reveals His wisdom, is the way to receive a wisdom He does not give to the worldly-wise and prudent who are self-sufficient and do not know the things that make for their peace.
Humbling oneself before God brings grace and salvation, with drawing near to God met by His drawing near in return. That grace lifts people from a low estate and enables them to take part effectively in God's work. God lays all human pride in the dust, tenderly regards the humble, contrite, self-denying follower of Christ, recognizes the meek and lowly, and lifts them up with a true exaltation, and humility is a mark of excellence of spirit, so those who humble themselves will be exalted. The Highest, the Commander of the heavenly hosts, proved this grace by clothing His divinity with humanity for the sake of others and stooping to be the servant of all. In that lowliness He beautifies the meek with salvation and becomes the wisdom of all who learn of Him.
Through repentance, sinners may receive pardoning grace and mercy on account of Christ's shed blood, with self-exaltation and self-righteous criticism giving way to repentance and humble appeal to God for mercy in every circumstance. Having complied with the conditions of the Word through close self-examination in the light of the Word to do the work essential to be done, acceptance with God is to be believed by faith and not measured by feeling, whether or not one feels any different, with implicit obedience yielded to every requirement of the abiding law of God. Heaven's gates do not open to self-exaltation but open wide to the humble, including those whose service is brief or whose work is lowly. They cannot earn heaven's reward, but may receive it through simple faith and love in following Christ.
That grace enables God's people to press together and be a unit, and this oneness is their strength for present and eternal good. It works out in being kindly affectioned toward one another with brotherly love, preferring one another in honor, submitting to one another in the fear of God, and doing nothing through strife or vainglory but in lowliness of mind esteeming others better than self. Living this keeps the church in its sacred, holy calling separate from the world so that it is respected and has power to influence, with God's voice controlling its members. Humbling oneself before God and approaching a brother with humility helps remove disunion and makes the heart ready to receive God's blessing. Those who recognize their weakness and remain lowly, meek, and pure in thought can be used by God, while the self-sufficient cannot. God's blessing rests on the lowly in heart rather than on prideful desire for pre-eminence that deceives and blinds the spirit, and He can work with those who are willing to bear His yoke and learn meekness and lowliness.
God Opposes the Proud
Pride includes self-esteem, self-importance, lofty self-sufficiency, putting self first, seeking control, esteeming self highly, ambition for supremacy and pre-eminence, and prideful desire that deceives and blinds the spirit. Pride together with selfishness and covetousness is especially offensive and hateful to God, even when counted a small sin, for sin is measured by God's standard and not by human opinion. He stands against it among His professed people and is displeased and dishonored by it, including copying the unhealthful, immodest, and expensive fashions of this degenerate age, and pride is constantly joined with ignorance and folly.
Pride and self-sufficiency prevent God from working with people, so unless pride is laid down and self is humbled He cannot restore, work in behalf of, or plan with a person. Grace to cooperate with Him comes only by coming as little children depending on His counsel and wisdom and the molding of the Holy Spirit rather than on human leaders, human wisdom, and finite planning. Taking to oneself the glory due to God, especially by those standing in positions of responsibility, gives Satan a victory and leads to ruin, for self-exaltation caused Satan's own fall. Because every blessing bestowed and every trial permitted can be seized by Satan to tempt, harass, and destroy the soul if he is given the least advantage, every impulse of nature, faculty of mind, and inclination of heart needs moment by moment to be under the control of the Spirit. However great one's spiritual light and enjoyment of divine favor and blessing, safety is to walk humbly ever before the Lord, pleading in faith for Him to direct every thought and control every impulse.
Even good men in God's work are warned against becoming elated over the blessings and prosperity given to the work, being stimulated by the applause and praise of worldlings to display their own wisdom and acquisitions, and choosing an independent course apart from God's ordained agencies. The more prosperous the work itself becomes the less fitting it is to exalt self as though to be lifted up, for abilities and capabilities for a prominent part are entrusted by God so trust must remain in Him, and God will certainly humble all proud aspirations. Christ does not honor self-exaltation, and a meek and childlike spirit is required so that anyone lacking it must humble himself or God will humble him, receiving grace by laying aside self-importance and accepting His meekness. Remaining in proud trust in human philosophy and science resists that grace and will certainly lead to loss of the soul, but turning to humble seeking brings His grace.
Walking in Humble Reception
Humility is coming to God with confession and contrition, seeking Him with the whole heart, carefully reviewing the self in the light of the Word, and coming as a little child, and this is the door through which rich supplies of grace are received and the place where grace can be received. Drawing near to God reveals personal faults and awakens desire to rise higher, bringing the healing light of His Word to the wounds sin has made in the soul. That grace must be diligently sought through submitting to God, resisting the devil so he flees, drawing near to God so He draws near, cleansing sinful hands and purifying the double mind, speaking sincerely with no false words with the false tongue purged, being afflicted and mourning over sin, and humbling under God so He lifts up, producing thorough transformation of character necessary to be saved. Grace to cooperate with God comes only by depending on His counsel and wisdom and the molding of the Holy Spirit rather than on human wisdom and finite planning.
This calls for leaving pride, envy, faultfinding, self-esteem, character defects, self-importance, and desire for supremacy, for putting on humility, shunning self-exaltation, laying aside self-importance and accepting Christ's meekness, and for humbling before God to seek Him and receive His blessing. Humbling the heart with a childlike spirit is the way to receive the Holy Spirit. Christ does not honor self-exaltation.
Humbling before the Lord includes accepting correction from the Holy Spirit and gladly reforming rather than holding to one's own wisdom and continuing in a wrong course, which reflects pride and hinders the Spirit's power in the church. God answers contrite prayers by helping the humble understand themselves, and the humble receive Christ's rich gifts. One who places self first, seeks control, and esteems himself highly must be humbled and changed by God before he can safely serve or instruct others, for the proud and self-sufficient cannot rely on themselves or expect God to favor ambition for supremacy. God's blessing is not secured by making a show, but by doing one's part and coming without self-righteousness, humble and contrite, staying wide awake to make the best use of given powers and seeking God for strength to overcome selfishness and envy, and His promise then will not fail, for He is willing to impart His grace to everyone who seeks it with a humble heart and contrite spirit.
True greatness depends not on position but on purity and fidelity, and human worth is found not in self but in Christ, measured by faith in the Saviour and by truth and uprightness of life. Therefore His people must take in divine light for home and church, put on humility, shun self-exaltation, and ministers especially must give their lives to Christ's service and show His character in holy beauty. Humbling, confession, and seeking with the whole heart are the needed work at the beginning of a meeting and the way for troubled, lukewarm, or backslidden people to seek blessing. This lesson every church member must learn through close self-examination in the light of the Word in order to do the work essential to be done, and having complied with the conditions, acceptance with God is to be believed by faith and not measured by feeling, whether or not one feels any different, with implicit obedience yielded to every requirement of the abiding law.
Humility is required in every circumstance, with self-exaltation and self-righteous criticism giving way to repentance and humble appeal to God for mercy, through which sinners may receive pardoning grace and mercy on account of Christ's shed blood. God's judgments on Battle Creek call for humility, not proud boasting or self-exaltation.