CRCF””6-27-10
ME
I”™ve had a week that”™s been like this [Georgia Scorcher Slide].
At points, the ride was thrilling and invigorating””loops and twists, some intense G”™s. Other turns were so sudden that they threw my back out. There were even some downhill plunges that, unlike the Georgia Scorcher, didn”™t safely turn into an uphill climb, but just flat splatted at the bottom. And that”™s sort of where it ended!
WE
Have you ever been “ridden that ride”? When was the last time life left you feeling “broken”?
[Broken Pot Slide]
The Grace Place
James 4:1-10
Brokenness is the only place God”™s grace works!
I”™m learning that sometimes it”™s the expectations, the focus of my heart that make the ride so rough. When I start to think like the world around me and not like a Jesus-follower, it”™s then that the ride gets really crazy and my interpretation of the stuff that comes my way is really skewed.
GOD
James 4:1-10 (NLT)
1 What is causing the quarrels and fights among you? Don”™t they come from the evil desires at war within you? 2 You want what you don”™t have, so you scheme and kill to get it. You are jealous of what others have, but you can”™t get it, so you fight and wage war to take it away from them. Yet you don”™t have what you want because you don”™t ask God for it. 3 And even when you ask, you don”™t get it because your motives are all wrong””you want only what will give you pleasure.
4 You adulterers! Don”™t you realize that friendship with the world makes you an enemy of God? I say it again: If you want to be a friend of the world, you make yourself an enemy of God. 5 What do you think the Scriptures mean when they say that the spirit God has placed within us is filled with envy? 6 But he gives us even more grace to stand against such evil desires. As the Scriptures say,
“God opposes the proud
but favors the humble.”
7 So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Come close to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world. 9 Let there be tears for what you have done. Let there be sorrow and deep grief. Let there be sadness instead of laughter, and gloom instead of joy. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up in honor.
Brokenness is the only place God”™s grace works!
Paul Tournier
True liberty is not found without confession of our sins and the experience of divine forgiveness.
Brennan Manning tells the story of a man he knew “who for twenty-five years has refused to allow a cross or crucifix in his home. Far from being superficial, he is a person of integrity. He doesn”™t shout with the crowd, nor does he dismiss Christianity as a musty antique of a medieval past. Why then does he refuse? In his own words, “I can”™t stand the Cross. It is a denial of all that I value in life. I am a proud man, sensual, I seek pleasure. The Cross reproaches me. It says, ”˜You”™re wrong. Your life must take this shape. This is the only true interpretation of life, and life is true only when it takes this form.”™ And so, he will not allow a symbol of the crucified Christ in his home. In his honesty he knows that to do so, he must commit himself to a way of life that contradicts the life he is living.” (35-36)
Brokenness is the only place God”™s grace works!
James 4:1-10 (MSG)
1-2Where do you think all these appalling wars and quarrels come from? Do you think they just happen? Think again. They come about because you want your own way, and fight for it deep inside yourselves. You lust for what you don’t have and are willing to kill to get it. You want what isn’t yours and will risk violence to get your hands on it.
2-3You wouldn’t think of just asking God for it, would you? And why not? Because you know you’d be asking for what you have no right to. You’re spoiled children, each wanting your own way.
4You’re cheating on God. If all you want is your own way, flirting with the world every chance you get, you end up enemies of God and his way.
Ligon Duncan
. . . even American Christians have fallen prey to a blended version of spirituality. The Shorter Catechism says that the chief purpose of life is to glorify God. American Christians really don”™t believe that. American Christians believe that God is the best way to get the good life, rather than the chief goal of the good life. He”™s the best means to getting my ends, rather than, my purpose is His glory as my end and goal. To put it another way, John Piper says, “Christ does not exist in order to make much of us, we exist in order to make much of Him.” And if we think that God and Christ exist in order to make much of us, in order to fulfill all of the immediate desires that we have, then we have already fallen prey to the worldliness about which James is speaking.
5-6And do you suppose God doesn’t care? The proverb has it that “he’s a fiercely jealous lover.” And what he gives in love is far better than anything else you’ll find. It’s common knowledge that “God goes against the willful proud; God gives grace to the willing humble.”
Ligon Duncan
God’s grace is the source of our ability to be separated from the world, or ability to be consecrated to God.
Alec Motyer re: Verse 6
What comfort there is in this verse. It tells us that God is tirelessly on our side. He never falters in respect of our needs. He always has more grace at hand. He is never less than sufficient. He always has more and yet more to give. Whatever we may forfeit when we put self first, we cannot forfeit salvation for there’s always more grace. No matter what we do to Him, He is never beaten. We may play false to the grace of election, we may contradict the grace of reconciliation, we may overlook the grace of indwelling but He gives more grace. Even if we were to turn to Him and say…what I have received so far is much less than enough…He would reply…well you may have more. His resources are never at an end. His patience is never exhausted, His initiative never stops, His generosity knows no limit…He gives more grace.
7-10So let God work his will in you. Yell a loud no to the Devil and watch him scamper. Say a quiet yes to God and he’ll be there in no time. Quit dabbling in sin. Purify your inner life. Quit playing the field. Hit bottom, and cry your eyes out. The fun and games are over. Get serious, really serious. Get down on your knees before the Master; it’s the only way you’ll get on your feet.
James Hewitt
Repentance is not like the person who sent the IRS a check for $150 with the remark, “If I can”™t sleep, I”™ll send you the rest.”
Brokenness is the only place God”™s grace works!
YOU
Is any of this registering in your heart this morning? Have you, like me, made yourself an enemy of God and begun to interpret life from that vantage point?
Brokenness is the only place God”™s grace works!
The truth is that we need to stay broken day by day. If we would stay on our knees before the Cross, there”™s more than enough grace to help us resist the world and to keep us from going to war with the One that died for us!
WE
Brokenness is the only place God”™s grace works!
“There was a soldier in World War I who was so distraught with the war that he deserted. He tried to find his way to the coast so he could catch a boat and make his way back incognito to his homeland in England. In the darkness of the night he stumbled on a road sign. It was so pitch black dark and he was so lost. He had no idea where he was or what the sign said. He decided to climb the pole. When he got to the crossbeam, he held on to read the sign. Taking out a match, he lit it, and looked directly in the face of Jesus Christ. He had climbed and outdoor crucifix! Stunned by what he saw, he realized the shame of his life. He was looking into the face of the One who had endured it all and had never turned back. The next morning the soldier was back in the trenches” (Swindoll, 169).