James chapter 4, verse 13. We're picking right up where we left off last week.
As I prepared for the sermon this week, a song came to mind, a song that I listened to a lot in high school.
In 1978, Billy Joel, the piano man, published one of his famous songs called My Life.
So you can already hear the teenage angst.
This song came to mind because it's a song in which the narrator is obsessed with himself.
It's his life, and he will live it however he wants.
Just a few lyrics from this song.
He says, you can speak your mind, but not on my time.
He says, they will tell you you can't sleep alone in a strange place,
and they'll tell you you can't sleep with somebody else.
Oh, but sooner or later, you'll sleep in your own space.
Either way, it's okay.
You wake up with yourself.
And the chorus of the song is this.
I don't need you to worry for me because I'm all right.
I don't want you to tell me it's time to come home.
I don't care what you say anymore.
This is my life.
Go ahead with your own life.
Leave me alone.
So this song relates to our text in that here we have a singer who is describing his hatred for any kind of authority whatsoever.
He never mentions God, parents, government, elders, or anything like that,
but it's clear he wants to be free of any and all authority,
to just do what he wants to do to live his life.
And I doubt this song is super widely known today,
but the spirit of this song, right,
the message, the teaching of this song is all pervasive.
It's everywhere.
In fact, Billy Joel didn't come up with this idea, right?
It's just him describing any other sinner's heart.
Frank Sinatra had a song as well called My Life or My Way in which he basically said more or less the same thing.
He says, I don't care how any of you feel, I did it my way.
A more current song that embodies these values,
these values of self-love, self-autonomy, self-sufficiency,
which you should really not listen to,
is DNA by Kendrick Lamar.
And I only know about that from when I was younger and caught up in things of the world.
But let's just say it's so bad I wouldn't even dare quote it here.
But the point is there is a whole host of songs from generation to generation that teach this lesson.
More songs than we could possibly cover today if we wanted to.
And they all teach this.
You are the God of your life.
Now go out and take what you want, when you want it, and how you want it,
and give no regard to everybody else because they're just in your way.
So this is what we will see in our text today.
James is addressing believers in this text who are caught up in this worldly thinking.
Believers who forget that they serve a sovereign Lord
who demands their total devotion in singular worship.
And we're going to see James' prescription for this problem,
which on the surface seems simple,
but I think he's making a much more pervasive comment
on what the Christian life ought to look like.
So let's read our text together, picking up in verse 13, chapter 4 of James.
James writes,
Come now, you who say,
today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town
and spend a year there and trade and make a profit.
And he just stops and he says,
Yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring.
What is your life?
For you are a mist that appears for little time and then vanishes.
Instead, you ought to say,
If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.
As it is, you boast in your arrogance.
All such boasting is evil.
So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it,
for him it is sin.
So I want to start by just noting five assumptions of these men
that James addresses in verse 13.
Five assumptions of these men.
So again, they say,
Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town
and spend a year there and trade and make a profit.
So the first assumption is that these men assume when they will go.
They assume today or tomorrow we will go.
So try to think with me of all the reasons why that might not work out.
Maybe the horses escape.
Maybe the roads are bandit infested.
Maybe the weather would not permit them.
If you played the computer game Oregon Trail,
maybe dysentery strikes and wins again.
Then the very fact that they say today or tomorrow
suggests they don't even really know when they will try to leave.
So this is James' way of mocking them.
You don't even know.
And you know that you don't know.
The second assumption is that these men assume where they will go.
They assume they will go into such and such a town.
They have a plan.
They have a charted course.
They desire to go from point A to point B.
What's to stop them?
And again, think of the possibilities with me.
Maybe they get lost on the road.
Maybe they get kidnapped on the road.
I think of Joseph who never intended to go to Egypt,
and yet that's where he ended up.
Or Jonah who gets dragged by a great fish
to the very last place he wanted to go, Nineveh.
Maybe they turn back due to weariness or their desires change.
Okay, so the third assumption is that these men assume
how long they will remain in that city, right?
They assume they will spend a year there.
And you might think, well, surely they're in control
of where they'll stay, right, for how long.
Once they're there, surely they can guarantee that.
What's to move them?
But again, let's put on our thinking caps.
Maybe a natural disaster forces them to move on.
Maybe they hate it in that city, right?
They thought they'd love it, but they get there.
Ah, I don't like this. Let's go.
Maybe their wives want them home early.
Sorry, boys.
Right?
And the fourth assumption is that these men assume
what they will do.
They assume they will trade.
So this is maybe a little easier for us all
to imagine the innumerable possibilities
to why they might not be able to trade.
Right?
Maybe someone else is already trading the same goods
for a far better price.
So the competition's too great.
They're just not going to cut it.
Maybe the political climate is not tolerant
towards their business or their ethnicity or whatever.
Right?
Maybe there's some sort of prejudice
that's keeping them from trading
in that particular city.
And the fifth assumption
is that they will assume what the outcome will be.
They assume we will profit.
So one final time, let's consider some possibilities.
Maybe the economy crashes.
Maybe wars break out.
Maybe something crazy and unimaginable happens
like taxes getting hiked excessively
to stop cow farting.
Right?
And those taxes bury whatever profit they had.
And now perhaps me saying maybe so much
is getting annoying and old,
but it is by design.
I want you all to feel the depth
and the width and the breadth
of the absurd presumptions
on the part of these men.
I want you all to hear and feel that.
And I'm confident
we could spend the rest of today
thinking of the innumerable variables
that could change their plans.
So many unknowns,
so much fickleness,
and so much frailty.
So these men lack
any sense of reality.
They speak as though they are all-knowing,
as if they are all-powerful
and can make what happened, happen.
Whatever they want to happen.
In other words,
they talk as if they are sovereign.
It's my life.
I'll do it my way.
It's in my DNA.
So now you know what inspired those three songs.
But there are two realities
which James gives us
that should humble these men.
Two realities that should humble
these men.
And they're found in verse 14.
James writes that,
You do not know
what tomorrow will bring.
What is your life?
For you are a mist
that appears for a little while
and then vanishes.
So the first reality
that should humble these men
is that humans are not all-knowing.
This idea was at the heart
of our text last week,
so I'll be brief here.
But as shown in verse 13,
James is now explicitly stating
with the authority of God
that we do not know
what tomorrow will bring.
We are not God
that we should know
or could know these things.
We are not prophets or apostles
with a divine insight of any kind
so as to speak with authority
on what tomorrow will bring.
And even the smartest people
among us
in fields like
meteorology,
economics,
or politics
have a lifetime record
of being wrong.
They predict things
and they're wrong.
And again,
if you want a fuller
biblical teaching
on this idea,
go ahead and check out
last week's.
But in one sentence,
we are not all-knowing
and that should humble us.
Okay?
The second reality
that should humble these men
is that life is fleeting.
So the first reality,
we are not all-knowing.
The second reality
is that life is fleeting.
I'm fairly confident
that this text of scripture
inspired one of
William Shakespeare's
famous lines from Macbeth,
although it has a nihilistic twist
to his character.
But Macbeth says,
tomorrow and tomorrow
and tomorrow
creeps in this petty pace
from day to day
to the last syllable
of recorded time.
All our yesterdays
have lighted fools
the way to dusty death.
So he's reflecting
that everybody will die.
And then he says,
out, out, brief candle.
Life's but a walking shadow,
a poor player
that struts and frets
his hour upon the stage
and then is heard no more.
So you can see
he's reflecting
on the ignorance of man
and their foolish pursuits
in the light of the fact
that they all die.
At some point,
in some way,
in every case,
everyone dies.
So whereas Shakespeare
thinks of life
as a fleeting candle
that's snuffed
in a moment,
James compares it
to a mist
that appears
for a little while
and then vanishes.
Dr. John MacArthur
draws this picture
out for us well
in his commentary.
He says,
life is as transitory
as a puff of smoke
from a fire,
the steam that rises
from a cup of coffee
or one's breath,
briefly visible
to plan and live it out
without consideration
of God's will.
Or better,
consider the words
of the psalmist
in Psalm 78,
verse 39.
He writes,
thus he remembered
that they were but flesh,
that they were but human.
A wind that passes
and does not return.
And so think of that,
a wind that's passed you by.
How long does that last?
Not very long.
In fact,
the Bible never talks
about life being long,
but it always expresses
how quick it is,
how fleeting it is,
how it's over
in a moment.
And every moment we live
is a moment
closer to this
sudden conclusion.
And sadly,
we're all too familiar
with this reality,
so I won't belabor
on this point longer,
but I do want to ask,
why would James cite
this specifically?
Why would knowing
we're going to die
change the way
we use our time
and make our plans
and live our lives?
What is James
implying here?
And I think it's easy
to assume that James
has judgment in mind.
He's reminding
his Jewish Christian audience
that when they die,
they will be judged
by God
for the way
they live their life.
Luke 12,
16 through 20
records Jesus' parable
that he gave
in response to someone
asking about splitting
his brother's inheritance.
It says,
And he told them
a parable,
saying,
The land of a rich man
produced plentifully.
And he thought to himself,
What shall I do,
for I have nowhere
to store my crops?
And he said,
I will do this.
I will tear down
my barns
and build larger ones,
and there I will store
all my grains
and my goods.
And I will say to my soul,
So,
you have ample goods
laid up for many years.
Relax,
eat,
drink,
be merry.
But God said to him,
Fool,
this night your soul
is required of you
and the things you have prepared,
whose will they be?
So while Jesus
is making a point
about the extremely low value
of earthly success
and possessions,
James is making a point
about not living
as practical atheists,
as if we aren't called
to live for God
and his will.
But for both,
the undergirding argument
is that you will be judged
by God
with condemnation
if this is the way
of your life.
Okay,
so our first application
is another
implicit call
to humility.
And on the one hand,
I hate using
this application
again,
because,
you know,
I want my sermons
to be fly
and on the top 100
billboard
if such a thing exists.
But this is the,
on the much larger hand,
though,
I want to be faithful
to the text,
faithful to what James
is saying.
And he's hitting this point
again and again
to be humble.
And I think it speaks
so much to how arrogant
we really can be.
And if you're sitting there
thinking,
well,
this isn't really me,
like,
I've got that one down.
This is probably for you.
Okay?
And that's why James
says it over and over
and over again
or implies it over
and over and over again.
So why should we be humble?
Well,
there are plenty of reasons.
The two reasons
in this text,
as I've already said,
because we are not
all-knowing
and we will die.
We will face
judgment.
So we have to be vigilant.
We have to be on guard
with our hearts
so as to not
give way
to sin.
And in a moment,
I will share more
on what this humility
specifically looks like
in this text.
We'll see it in verse 15.
But I want to skip
that verse for now
and save it
until the end
because I think
in that verse
we're going to find
the main thrust
of this whole thing.
That is where
we will find
the all-pervasive
but subtle comment
of James
which I alluded to
earlier.
So before we get there,
I want to jump
to verse 16
where we will see
the heart
of these sinners
and the heart
of these men.
So James 4, 16,
he says,
As it is,
you boast
in your arrogance.
All such boasting
is evil.
So James makes it clear
what is going on
in their hearts.
They are arrogant
and they are committing
evil or sin.
They make their plans
without any
acknowledgement of God
because they think
they don't need God.
You might call
their sin
the sin
of self-sufficiency.
I think a large part
of our culture
would tend to view
self-sufficiency
as a virtue.
This idea
that I danced
around with earlier
with the secular music,
being able,
competent,
powerful,
knowledgeable
to do any
and all things
for your own self,
for your own substance,
for your own will.
And I struggle
with this sin
all the time,
personally,
when it's at its worst,
I tend not to pray.
And why would I?
In those moments,
I'm acting as though
I don't need God,
so why would I ask
him for anything?
Which is,
of course,
evil.
And it's the opposite
of humility.
Another consequence
of this slippery slope
of sin
is that it leads
to this false boasting.
It sounds something
like this for all of us.
Hey, everyone,
look at this thing
I built.
Look at this money
I made.
Look at the sermon
I preached.
Look at the homeless man
that I was so kind to.
It's this attitude
of sounding the trumpet
before ourselves
to whether the work
is innately evil
or made evil
by our prideful motive.
It's an invitation
to worship,
but not an invitation
to worship God,
an invitation to worship
me,
myself,
and I.
But to be clear,
there's nothing wrong
with boasting.
Boasting in our arrogance,
boasting in the world,
boasting in things
like that
is evil,
of course,
but we are
called
to boast.
So this is our
second application.
Boast
only
in the Lord.
Jeremiah 9,
23-24 says,
Thus says the Lord,
Let not the wise man
boast in his wisdom,
let not the mighty man
boast in his might,
let not the rich man
boast in his riches,
but let him who boasts
boast in this,
that he understands
and knows me,
that I am the Lord
who practices
steadfast love,
justice,
and righteousness
in the earth.
For in these things
I delight,
declares the Lord.
So like James,
God told Jeremiah
that man should
put off this
self-sufficient attitude
and put on this
humble adoration
of God,
that if we were
to ever boast,
we should boast
only in the Lord,
as Paul summarily
says in 2 Corinthians
10,
17.
And praise God
that he delights
in love,
justice,
and righteousness.
This is why
we have the gospel,
because God
loved us
even while we were
yet sinners
and sent his son
to die for us
in Romans 5, 8.
Because God
justifies the ungodly
which results
in Christ's righteousness
imputed to us.
Paul says in Romans
4, 5,
and to the one
who does not work
but believes in him
who justifies
the ungodly,
his faith
is counted
as righteousness.
So anytime
the Bible
gives us
a verb
or an action
related to salvation,
God is the subject.
In other words,
he does everything
on our behalf
and despite ourselves.
Romans 8, 29-30
outlines
this entire process
of salvation.
And notice,
God is the subject,
the church
is the recipient,
the church
does nothing,
God does everything.
Paul writes,
for those whom
God foreknew,
he also predestined
to be conformed
to the image
of his son
in order that
he might be
the firstborn
among many brothers.
And those whom
God predestined,
he also called.
And those who
he called,
he also justified.
And those who
he justified,
he also glorified.
So this is our God
who does all
these things.
So naturally,
and of course,
we should boast
in him.
What else is there
to boast about?
Every other kind
of boasting
is evil.
So we boast
in the Lord
and the Lord alone.
Now James gives us
a warning
in verse 17
and I have to confess
it seems somewhat
broad and unrelated
at first glance
but I think it connects
in two ways.
So just to discuss
the first one for now,
we have a warning
and I think it's
an implied call
to repentance.
Right?
Verse 17,
he says,
so whoever knows
the right thing
to do
and fails to do it,
for him
it is sin.
So James is saying,
hey, you know
this thing is wrong
so change the way
you live your life.
Repent.
Turn around.
Go the other way.
He's recognizing
that everyone
deep down
knows
they are violating
God's law
and some of you
have heard this
called natural law
or the law
of the conscience.
Whatever you want
to call it,
James is saying,
I know that
even though you live
as if you were
autonomous and
self-sufficient,
that you do in fact
know there is a God
whom you are trying
to run from.
That deep down
you are suppressing
this truth.
So stop pretending.
Right?
So we have another
application from last week
again.
Our third application
is to repent.
If you've been living
lately the way
these assuming men
have from the
beginning of our text,
it's time to wake up.
Right?
To recognize,
I have been living
as though God
were not real.
I have been living
as though I will not
answer to him.
I've been living
as though it's my world
for me to inhabit
the way I want.
Right?
If that's been you,
if that's been your
plans lately,
if that's been your
dreams lately,
that's sin
and you need
to repent.
I love the hymn
entitled
When I Survey
the Wondrous Cross.
It ends with this line,
Love so amazing,
so divine,
demands my soul,
my life,
and my all.
So that's hitting
that wholeness idea
that we've talked about
in the weeks prior
with James,
that we're no longer
here to live for ourselves
as Christ followers,
but we are here
to live for him
and him alone.
And so this leads us
to the all-pervasive
comment that our text
is built around
in verse 15.
And this is the second
way that verse 17
is tied to James'
thoughts here.
So this is the big
sentence of today,
right?
The heart of this text
is that James wants us
to live life
in such a way
that we are constantly
reminded of our
servitude to God.
So I'll restate that.
The heart of this text
is that James wants us
to live life
in such a way
that we are constantly
reminded of our
servitude to God.
So this is the final
section for today,
what the Christian life
ought to look like,
what it should look like.
So verse 15,
James says,
instead you ought to say,
if the Lord wills,
we will live
and do this
or that.
So James says instead,
so he's contrasting
this statement
with the assuming
statements of the
arrogant men
in verse 13.
He's reminding them
that because God
is sovereign
and worthy of all
worship and praise,
his will alone
will and should
be accomplished.
God deserves this
and not only does
he deserve it,
but he will make it
happen.
Paul says in
Philippians 2,
9 through 11,
therefore God
has highly exalted
Christ and bestowed
on him the name
that is above
every name,
so that at the name
of Jesus every knee
should bow in heaven
and on earth
and under the earth
and every tongue
confess that Jesus
Christ is Lord
to the glory of God
the Father.
God's will not only
ought to be done,
but it will be done.
And to clarify,
James is not saying
we cannot make plans.
It's biblical to plan,
to save,
to invest,
to work,
to provide for your family,
to make wise decisions.
He's merely speaking
against this gainful,
arrogant,
boastful planning
that neglects
consideration of God
and his will
and his character.
I just want to leave
that as a clarification.
So how is this
an all-pervasive comment
then?
What do I mean by that?
I've been circling it
for a while now.
Well, I don't think
James' main intent here
is to say God is sovereign.
I think he says that here.
I think he's said it elsewhere.
He's made it clear.
It's important
and directly related
to what James is saying.
I also don't think
he is merely saying
include this statement
in your life, right?
This idea that we should
just throw around
if the Lord wills
to sound Christian,
pious, or holy.
Although I also think
he does want us
to say that more regularly.
But I think James
is talking more specifically
about a healthy church culture,
right?
And this is just
one specific thing
he's tapping on
to hit that larger picture, right?
He's writing to the church.
He's telling everyone
in that church
to speak this way.
So there are other ways
to communicate
if the Lord wills.
It's not so much
about the exact words,
although that's a wonderful
way to say it.
But he wants them all
to speak to one another
with such language.
And I think it's significant
that in verse 15
he says,
you ought to say
rather than you ought
to think, believe, or know.
And don't get me wrong,
we do need to know,
believe, and think
in this way
if the Lord wills, right?
We should think
in those terms.
That God's will
should be done.
That God is sovereign.
That God should have
his way.
But James has made clear
throughout his epistle
already this idea.
So I think he's saying
something more pervasive
and it is church culture.
And to be clear,
I'm not talking about
a church brand
or a marketing strategy
or anything like that.
So what kind of culture
am I talking about?
I'm talking about
the kind of culture
where we are constantly
reminding each other
of who God is.
What he has done
and what he is doing.
The kind of culture
that loves God
and loves neighbor.
And the kind of culture
that daily reinforces
the truth
that we are God's servants.
Because we need reminders.
Because we forget our place.
Because we can easily
lose sight of God
in our life
apart from our participation
in the body of Christ.
And this is especially important
when we are surrounded
by a secular culture
singing songs
that teach
the complete opposite.
Songs like the ones
I shared at the beginning.
How easy it is
for us to get swept up
in that line of thinking.
And it's not just in songs.
It's in movies, books,
politics,
advertisement,
education,
video games,
you name it,
it's there.
And so how do you combat
that worldly pervasive culture,
that pervasive worldly thinking
that idolizes self?
I know this,
you don't appeal to it
like so many so-called churches
are doing.
Rather you create
your own pervasive culture,
a resilient church culture
if you will.
And there are
two wonderful things
about this pervasive
resilient church culture
that I'm describing.
And I think James
is touching on.
One,
the church is the will
of our sovereign God
and Christ will build
his church.
He says in Matthew 16, 18,
Jesus says,
And I tell you,
you are Peter
and on this rock
I will build my church.
It's emphatic.
It will happen.
There's no question about it.
And he adds,
And the gates of hell
shall not prevail
against it.
Or in Philippians 1, 6,
Paul says,
And I am sure of this,
that God who began
a good work in you
will bring it to completion
at the day of Jesus Christ.
The salvation,
the sanctification,
it's all being realized.
It will happen.
It's emphatic.
The church body
will be built
and the body
will be sanctified.
So when I'm talking
about church culture,
I'm talking about
that sanctification
being lived out
by the members
of the church.
And the second thing
is that the work
is already done.
We just need to live it out
and realize it.
It is done
because of the cross
of Christ.
John 19, 30,
just before Christ
dies on the cross,
after bearing the wrath
of God
on behalf of the church,
Christ said,
It is finished.
Not fully realized,
but finished nonetheless.
It is only
a matter of time.
So what then
does it look like
to live out
this church culture,
to live among one another
as brothers and sisters
in Christ?
And a lot could be said here,
but I'll close
with this final application
as a good starting point.
To blow up James' words
to the larger picture
that I think he intended,
our final application,
is to use our interactions
in such a way
to remind each other
of God and his word.
Paul says
in 1 Thessalonians 5, 11,
Therefore,
encourage one another
and build one another up
just as you are doing.
He also says
in Ephesians 5, 19,
Address one another
in psalms and hymns
and spiritual songs,
singing and making melody
to the Lord
with all your heart.
Again, there's that
totality language.
So whether we are singing,
talking,
playing a game,
or whatever,
let's do so
in a spirit of love
with a motive
to build one another up
for the glory of God.
And I have to confess,
I'm not the greatest
at encouraging people.
It's not my strength.
Some of you are like me.
I feel weird giving
and receiving
encouragements
or compliments,
things of that nature.
In fact,
I remember calling
Nathan in Louisville,
letting him know
that I was moving back down.
And I made a great talk,
caught up, you know.
And at the end,
he said,
All right, man,
that sounds great.
I love you, brother.
And it felt like
a ten-second pause.
It was probably only three,
but I just was taken
off guard by that
because I just don't
really say that to people
other than like my wife,
my parents, you know.
It's just kind of weird to me.
And then I finally said,
Okay, man,
we'll see ya.
And I took a shower.
But it shouldn't be
that weird for me to say.
It shouldn't be weird.
It shouldn't be uncomfortable.
It shouldn't be unnatural.
I thank God
that I don't have to greet
anyone with a holy kiss,
as Paul said.
But it shouldn't be that weird.
It should be normal.
It should feel as natural
as praising God
or praying,
eating food,
drinking water.
It should feel normal.
And don't get me wrong,
I do love all of you.
I know I've
neglected the importance
of saying these kind of things
regularly.
for all manner of foolish
and petty
reasons.
And I'll tell you,
I think sometimes
my personal excuse is,
well, you just don't know that.
It's easy for me to think,
I play in the band,
I preach,
I've helped you all over the years
with different things.
I've done all this stuff.
So surely they know
that I love them.
And it's true,
nothing says,
I love you more
than action,
but it is false
to think
as I have.
And not verbalizing
these kind of things
is insignificant
because I'm so prone
to think.
And so don't fall
into that snare
as I have.
And so let's talk
to one another
in such a way
that sets us apart
from the world,
in such a way
that is loving,
in such a way
that sets our minds
on our sovereign
creator God
and his word.
To that end,
let's pray.