He Gives Grace to The Humble

James 4:4-10

About the Sermon

James has addressed his readers as “brothers” and “dear brothers.” Now, in James 4:4–10, we come to the heart of the book with this dramatic accusation: “You adulteress people!” The division between believers is owing to a division within the members themselves, and this division is rooted in a division between the people and their Lord captured in this imagery of marital infidelity. This is a wake up call to repentance, to humbly return to the God who yearns jealously over his people. This is also a word concerning our God's jealousy for a loving, warm, and faithful relationship with his people, a relationship that begins with humility. What does that humility look like? James does more than tell us to humble ourselves, but he shows us what this humility looks like.

About the Series

The book of James is beloved of Christians for its famously practical wisdom and instruction. But James is no less painful as it is practical, addressing our many problems with a simple diagnosis: double-mindedness. Our fractured relationships, James says, are symptoms of our fractured souls, souls in a fractured relationship with our Father. But James offers more than this searing diagnosis but a program and prescription for wholeness: “draw near to God and he will draw near to you.” The message of James is this: God offers double-minded people the possibility of wholeness through repentance and faith. Our God “yearns jealously” over us and “he gives more grace.”
The book of James is beloved of Christians for its famously practical wisdom and instruction. But James is no less painful as it is practical, addressing our many problems with a simple diagnosis: double-mindedness. Our fractured relationships, James says, are symptoms of our fractured souls, souls in a fractured relationship with our Father. But James offers more than this searing diagnosis but a program and prescription for wholeness: “draw near to God and he will draw near to you.” The message of James is this: God offers double-minded people the possibility of wholeness through repentance and faith. Our God “yearns jealously” over us and “he gives more grace.”

Sermons in the Series