Title: The Way to God's Grace
Path to God's Grace
about 4:2-14
Haydn, a musician who represents Austrian classical school, has impressed many people by composing songs that will go down in the history of music, such as Creation of the Heavens and Earth and Seven Words (Cross). Someone asked Haydn one day, "Is your religious music perhaps so euphoric and soulful?" Then Haydn answered. "When I think of God's grace, joy wells up in the depths of my soul. Everything is God's grace."
It is said that when the conductor Zelter heard this and told it to Goethe, Goethe was moved to tears. The kingdom of God is the kingdom of grace. We must fully receive the grace of God and give glory to the Lord. Then let's see what is the way to receive God's grace.
First, you must be humble. In verse 6 of the text, 'God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble', and in verse 10 it says, 'Humble before the Lord, and the Lord will exalt you'. In 1 Peter 5:5-6, "You young people, In the same way, submit to the elders, and all gird up yourselves with humility toward one another. God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Therefore humble yourself under the mighty hand of God, for in due time he will exalt you.” God gives grace to the humble, lifts up the humble and answers the prayers of the humble.
Second, we must pray. James, nicknamed the camel's knee, tells the saints to pray in order to receive grace. Luke 11:10-13 says, “For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.” If you, though evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him? ' he said. But when we ask and do not have, we do not ask; when we ask and do not receive, we ask erroneously through lust.
Third, we must long for God. In verse 5 it says, 'I long for even envy'. Deuteronomy 4:24 also mentions 'a jealous God'. We must long for God alone. If there is anything we yearn for more than God, it is idolatry. God's grace comes to those who earnestly seek only God.
Fourth, we must obey God. Verse 7 says, “Submit to God, resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden of Eden because of their disobedience, and Jesus became the savior who accomplished the history of salvation for mankind by obedience to the point of death (Romans 5:19, Romans 6:16, Hebrews 5:8-9, 1 Peter 1: 14-15, 1 Samuel 15:22)
Fifth, we must repent. Verses 8-9 say, “Cleanse your hands, and purify your hearts, you double-minded, and weep and mourn and weep.” There is no peace for the wicked. To receive God's grace, we must first repent. Only then can you receive grace. The Bible says, “He who conceals his sins will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will have mercy” (Proverbs 28:13), “Repent therefore, and turn, that your sins may be blotted out. days will come from before the Lord” (Acts 3:19)
Sixth, we must not slander or judge our brothers. (Matthew 7:1-2, Romans 14:1, 1 Pet 2:1) James emphasized the love of neighbor and said, 'To criticize a brother is to judge the law. If you judge the law, you are not a follower of the law, but a judge. There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, who is able to save and to destroy. Who are you that you judge your neighbor?' (James 11-12). Therefore, the law is only a measure of self-reflection, not a measure of judging others. If we criticize, frame, and condemn others, we will never receive God's grace. We need to know that we will be criticized as much as we criticize others, and that if we are generous to others, we will also be judged generously. One finger points at others and three points at me. A wise man has long ears and short tongue. When we love our neighbors as ourselves, we can receive grace from God.
Seventh, we must have a correct understanding of 'life'. Verse 13 says, “What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.” In other words, all the wealth and glory in the world are futile and vain. A person who pursues only the world without God can never realize God's grace. As we live the life of a stranger, we can realize and receive God's grace when we know and act rightly that our hometown is the kingdom of heaven.
“Therefore, since we have been given a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptablely with reverence and reverence” (Hebrews 12:28).