In a contemporary workplace, a man pauses over an angry message on his laptop, then deliberately takes his hands off the keyboard and bows his head in prayer. The wide composition includes the tense setting around him, but his expression is becoming peaceful. A very everyday depiction of submitting to God and resisting an urge to do harm. Image generated with ChatGPT by OpenAI.
“Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”
James 4:7 NIV
Today brings us to the Epistle of James, chapter 4, verse 7. Over the years that we’ve been writing our Heaven On Wheels devotionals, God has pointed me to verse 6 and verse 8; now we take a look at what is sandwiched between those two verses.
This epistle was written for those Jews who had converted to Christianity and were part of the diaspora, the scattering of Jews and Christians from Judea to other nations after the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem by the Romans in 70 AD. Wikipedia provided this insight into a recent revival of interest in the Epistle of James:
During the last decades, the epistle of James has attracted increasing scholarly interest due to a surge in the quest for the historical James,[8] his role in early Christianity, his beliefs, and his relationships and views. This James revival is also associated with an increasing level of awareness of the Jewish grounding of both the epistle and early Christianity.[9]
The preceding verses tell us of the grace God offers to the humble, showing just one clear path for Christians defined here: “Submit yourselves, then, to God.” From Enduring Word, we read the words of the Prince of Preachers, Charles H. Spurgeon:
d. Therefore submit to God: In light of the grace offered to the humble, there is only one thing to do: submit to God. This means to order yourself under God, to surrender to Him as a conquering King, and start receiving the benefits of His reign.
i. It is a wonder that the world does not submit to God. “I have heard much of the rights of man: but it were well also to consider the rights of God, which are the first, highest, surest, and most solemn rights in the universe, and lie at the base of all other rights… Alas, great God, how art thou a stranger even in the world which thou hast thyself made! Thy creatures, who could not see if thou hadst not given them eyes, look everywhere except to thee. Creatures who could not think if thou hadst not given them minds, think of all things except thee; and beings who could not live if thou didst not keep them in being, forget thee utterly, or if they remember thine existence, and see thy power, are foolhardy enough to become thy foes!” (Spurgeon)
ii. “If he were a tyrant it might be courageous to resist, but since he is a Father it is ungrateful to rebel.” (Spurgeon) Instead, Spurgeon (in another sermon) suggested reasons why we should submit to God:
We should submit to God because He created us.
We should submit to God because His rule is good for us.
We should submit to God because all resistance to Him is futile.
We should submit to God because such submission is absolutely necessary to salvation.
We should submit to God because it is the only way to have peace with God.
iii. “I desire to whisper one little truth in your ear, and I pray that it may startle you: You are submitting even now. You say, ‘Not I; am lord of myself.’ I know you think so, but all the while you are submitting to the devil. The verse before us hints at this. ‘Submit yourselves unto God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.’ If you do not submit to God you never will resist the devil, and you will remain constantly under his tyrannical power. Which shall be your master, God or devil, for one of these must? No man is without a master.” (Spurgeon)
There are two parts to this wonderful verse. First, we must submit to God. Then we need to follow up and resist the devil. David Guzik explains
e. Resist the devil and he will flee from you: To solve the problems of carnality and the strife it causes, we must also resist the devil. This means to stand against the devil’s deceptions and his efforts to intimidate. As we resist the devil, we are promised that he will flee from you.
Does that mean that we need to call in an exorcist to get rid of Satan’s influences? No. James is challenging Christians to call upon the name of Jesus to cause the devil to flee. Adam Clarke, cited in Enduring Word, wrote in his 19th Century commentary that:
“He who, in the terrible name of JESUS, opposes even the devil himself is sure to have speedy and glorious conquest. He flees from that name, and from his conquering blood” (Clarke)
The Greek word for resist — ἀνθίστημι (anthistēmi) comes from two root words: ἀντί (anti), meaning “against” and ἵστημι (histēmi), which means “to stand”. In the original Greek, James was telling believers to stand against the devil. Even the lowliest Christian has the power to call upon the authority of what Jesus accomplished on the cross and cause the devil to flee!
Knowing that you have that power should be a powerful tool to call upon when you are faced with the temptations the enemy throws your way.
Heaven On Wheels Daily Prayer:
Father in Heaven, when temptation tries to take hold of me, help me to submit myself to You instead in order to resist the devil, trusting in faith that he will flee from me. Build in me the strength to always follow Your will, standing firm against the temptations of this world. Fine-tune my discernment so that I am always aware of the schemes of the enemy, and remind me to call upon Your power to remain steadfast in my faith. AMEN.
The images is so relatable! I had to think how many times did I get an email, a comment on social media,or something that just really struck a nerve and how I’ve had to pause and not reply with what I was really thinking.
I haven’t always been good at that.