WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.839 And one of our elders, Ryan, is going to come and read from James chapter 4 for us. 00:00:09.679 --> 00:00:12.700 James chapter 4, verses 11-17. 00:00:13.919 --> 00:00:16.719 Do not speak evil against one another, brothers. 00:00:17.199 --> 00:00:23.359 The one who speaks against a brother or judges his brother speaks evil against the law and judges the law. 00:00:23.679 --> 00:00:27.480 But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law, but a judge. 00:00:27.480 --> 00:00:33.079 There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. 00:00:33.640 --> 00:00:35.240 But who are you to judge your neighbor? 00:00:36.120 --> 00:00:43.240 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. 00:00:43.840 --> 00:00:45.760 Yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. 00:00:46.380 --> 00:00:47.359 What is your life? 00:00:47.780 --> 00:00:51.560 For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. 00:00:51.560 --> 00:00:57.820 Instead, you ought to say, if the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that. 00:00:58.260 --> 00:01:00.300 As it is, you boast in your arrogance. 00:01:00.680 --> 00:01:02.480 All such boasting is evil. 00:01:03.120 --> 00:01:08.700 So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin. 00:01:09.079 --> 00:01:10.180 This is the word of the Lord. 00:01:10.180 --> 00:01:19.380 We are working our way through the epistle of James in the New Testament. 00:01:19.940 --> 00:01:22.620 And we have looked at James chapter 4 for a few weeks. 00:01:23.320 --> 00:01:27.360 And last week we looked at verses 11 and 12 that we read again today. 00:01:27.900 --> 00:01:30.640 And then today we will focus on verses 13 to 17. 00:01:31.300 --> 00:01:33.760 So you will remember if you were here last week, we just read it. 00:01:34.060 --> 00:01:36.320 There is a command in 11 and 12. 00:01:36.460 --> 00:01:37.440 Do not slander. 00:01:37.439 --> 00:01:42.920 And then in our passage today, 13 to 17, there is another command effectively. 00:01:43.359 --> 00:01:45.560 And it is, do not make arrogant plans. 00:01:45.879 --> 00:01:49.939 As you plan your life and your days, do not do so with pride and arrogance. 00:01:51.019 --> 00:01:54.640 At first, it looks like verses 11 and 12, do not slander. 00:01:55.000 --> 00:01:59.019 And verses 13 to 17, do not make arrogant plans or disconnected from one another. 00:02:00.099 --> 00:02:07.219 But when you look closer, you see that they are two different symptoms of the exact same disease that is going on. 00:02:07.439 --> 00:02:08.879 In the human heart. 00:02:09.639 --> 00:02:12.359 And last week we saw that first symptom. 00:02:12.539 --> 00:02:14.240 And that is playing God as judge. 00:02:14.919 --> 00:02:17.439 And so James said, do not judge your neighbor. 00:02:17.819 --> 00:02:23.020 And that is really the sin, the issue, the arrogance of condemning somebody else. 00:02:23.500 --> 00:02:27.740 And saying that they are without hope, without mercy, without the possibility of salvation even. 00:02:27.740 --> 00:02:29.800 And he said, do not play the judge. 00:02:29.860 --> 00:02:30.420 You are not God. 00:02:30.480 --> 00:02:31.420 You cannot be judge. 00:02:31.820 --> 00:02:33.620 You do not have jurisdiction for that. 00:02:33.700 --> 00:02:34.960 You cannot cross that boundary. 00:02:35.400 --> 00:02:38.260 That is a human limitation that you just cannot cross. 00:02:38.400 --> 00:02:39.420 Only God is judge. 00:02:39.480 --> 00:02:39.840 He alone. 00:02:40.860 --> 00:02:44.140 And this week, it is the same issue, different symptom. 00:02:44.600 --> 00:02:46.000 Same disease, different symptom. 00:02:46.000 --> 00:02:48.919 And that is not only playing God as judge, but playing God as king. 00:02:49.819 --> 00:02:54.560 And in playing God as king, we are assuming control of tomorrow. 00:02:56.120 --> 00:03:00.439 Of saying, tomorrow we will go and do such and such a thing in such and such a place and make money. 00:03:00.439 --> 00:03:05.780 And he said, you are in danger of playing God as king and assuming control of your life. 00:03:05.819 --> 00:03:07.560 And it is a control that you just do not have. 00:03:07.659 --> 00:03:13.780 And so in both instances, what connects them is this idea that we have limits as human beings. 00:03:13.800 --> 00:03:17.159 That we are beautifully and wonderfully limited because we are wonderfully human. 00:03:17.659 --> 00:03:19.900 And so we cannot be the judge of all the earth. 00:03:19.939 --> 00:03:21.360 And we cannot be the king of all the earth. 00:03:21.840 --> 00:03:23.759 And there is a connection point between them. 00:03:24.500 --> 00:03:27.740 It is not translated exactly that way in the ESV. 00:03:27.740 --> 00:03:32.460 But we are told at one point in this passage we are in today, 13 to 17, 00:03:32.560 --> 00:03:33.240 what is your life? 00:03:33.280 --> 00:03:33.920 This question. 00:03:34.580 --> 00:03:37.320 And in the passage just before that, who are you? 00:03:37.400 --> 00:03:40.600 So you see these two questions that are covering the same issue. 00:03:40.680 --> 00:03:44.640 And that is different ways of trying to climb the throne of the universe. 00:03:45.140 --> 00:03:47.920 And play God as judge or play God as king. 00:03:48.020 --> 00:03:50.520 Same throne, two different ways of getting on top of it. 00:03:50.520 --> 00:03:55.300 And really, the disease that James is talking about is the delusion of self-sovereignty. 00:03:55.300 --> 00:04:03.439 And so James is asking us to consider today that we might be walking through life under a delusion, 00:04:03.580 --> 00:04:06.540 an illusion of self-sovereignty, self-rule. 00:04:07.160 --> 00:04:08.560 And that's the real issue. 00:04:08.780 --> 00:04:13.460 The root is a refusal to stay within our creaturely bounds and creaturely limits. 00:04:13.640 --> 00:04:14.900 Okay, so verse 13. 00:04:14.900 --> 00:04:18.840 James, in verse 13, says, 00:04:19.040 --> 00:04:23.180 Come now, you who say, today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a place. 00:04:23.220 --> 00:04:28.939 Now when he says, come now, that is language that only appears in the epistle of James, 00:04:29.040 --> 00:04:30.160 nowhere else in the New Testament. 00:04:30.300 --> 00:04:31.199 It's unique to him. 00:04:31.759 --> 00:04:36.560 And it's a way of trying to get us to think and to reason and to consider. 00:04:36.560 --> 00:04:43.180 But it's sort of doing it by grabbing you at the, you know, the collar of your shirt and shaking you a little bit and saying, 00:04:43.660 --> 00:04:48.100 Come now, you who say, tomorrow we will go and make money in this place. 00:04:48.420 --> 00:04:53.800 Come now and think with me and consider very carefully your humanity. 00:04:55.720 --> 00:05:00.920 So let's ask this morning, what, as James sort of grabs us and shakes us a little bit and says, 00:05:00.920 --> 00:05:06.439 Come now and think with me about your humanity, what is it he wants us to consider? 00:05:06.780 --> 00:05:08.360 Three things, of course. 00:05:09.400 --> 00:05:10.120 Three things. 00:05:10.420 --> 00:05:14.900 Number one, he wants us to think about the problem with our plans. 00:05:15.939 --> 00:05:20.220 And number two, he wants us to think about the cost of the way we make our plans. 00:05:20.819 --> 00:05:24.920 And then lastly, he wants us to remember the God who remembers us. 00:05:26.300 --> 00:05:30.420 So first, the problem with our planning, with the way we make plans. 00:05:30.420 --> 00:05:32.340 And so you'll see it right there in verse 13. 00:05:33.140 --> 00:05:35.920 He says, Come now, listen with me, think carefully. 00:05:36.520 --> 00:05:43.580 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. 00:05:43.780 --> 00:05:46.639 Yet you don't know what tomorrow is going to bring. 00:05:47.600 --> 00:05:50.879 Now he's talking here to something that we know really well. 00:05:50.960 --> 00:05:52.180 He's talking to Christians. 00:05:52.720 --> 00:05:56.020 This epistle was written to Christians, all scattered throughout the Mediterranean. 00:05:56.400 --> 00:05:58.160 But they're also clearly city people. 00:05:58.160 --> 00:06:05.939 So they're saying that we're going to go city by city and we're going to go to the market and we're going to sell our goods and we're going to make a profit. 00:06:06.560 --> 00:06:11.120 And so there's a booming Hellenistic Roman culture in the first century economy. 00:06:11.120 --> 00:06:15.620 And there's lots of opportunity for people to make money as merchants and tradesmen. 00:06:16.120 --> 00:06:17.680 And so this is something that we know very well. 00:06:17.740 --> 00:06:18.480 You come to the city. 00:06:19.600 --> 00:06:20.939 Maybe you came to get an education. 00:06:21.600 --> 00:06:25.699 But you definitely come to the city probably because you were trying to make money. 00:06:26.160 --> 00:06:27.500 And you wanted to get a job. 00:06:27.540 --> 00:06:28.840 And the cities offer more jobs. 00:06:29.040 --> 00:06:31.060 And there, you can imagine, there's a group of Christians. 00:06:31.220 --> 00:06:32.780 And they're all in the church. 00:06:32.800 --> 00:06:34.340 And they're standing around a map. 00:06:34.339 --> 00:06:36.679 You can imagine a map laid out on a table. 00:06:37.639 --> 00:06:40.859 And all these merchants are saying, oh, we're going to go to Rome. 00:06:40.959 --> 00:06:42.159 We're going to go to Thessalonica. 00:06:42.299 --> 00:06:43.119 We're going to go to Athens. 00:06:43.239 --> 00:06:44.039 We're going to go to Corinth. 00:06:44.560 --> 00:06:47.239 And the people in Corinth are going to love what we sell. 00:06:47.359 --> 00:06:49.179 And we're going to sell out of it in a day or two. 00:06:49.439 --> 00:06:52.099 And the next month we're going to go to this city and that city. 00:06:52.159 --> 00:06:56.519 And they're thinking about all the different ways they're going to maximize their profits along the way. 00:06:57.179 --> 00:06:58.579 This is not alien to us. 00:06:58.579 --> 00:07:00.259 We do the very same things. 00:07:00.959 --> 00:07:05.060 And the issue in this passage is not making plans. 00:07:05.199 --> 00:07:06.519 Clearly, he's addressing that. 00:07:06.800 --> 00:07:07.979 You've got to make a plan. 00:07:08.939 --> 00:07:10.000 You've got to be ambitious. 00:07:10.439 --> 00:07:12.199 He's talking to entrepreneurs here. 00:07:12.300 --> 00:07:13.839 And some of us in this room are entrepreneurs. 00:07:14.680 --> 00:07:16.039 The issue is not being an entrepreneur. 00:07:16.240 --> 00:07:16.959 It's not being ambitious. 00:07:17.120 --> 00:07:18.899 It's not going out to the market to make money. 00:07:19.299 --> 00:07:21.919 It's not trying to capture marketplace opportunity. 00:07:22.099 --> 00:07:23.620 And it's not making plans in your daily life. 00:07:23.639 --> 00:07:24.500 You have to do that. 00:07:24.819 --> 00:07:26.079 The issue is different than that. 00:07:26.079 --> 00:07:32.180 Downstairs in the church office, we have a three-meter-long church calendar. 00:07:32.919 --> 00:07:35.620 And if you've been in our church office, you'll see that it covers an entire wall. 00:07:36.199 --> 00:07:40.139 And right now there are dates filling it through January of 2027. 00:07:40.860 --> 00:07:45.439 And we think we know all the things that we're going to do throughout the autumn this coming year. 00:07:45.439 --> 00:07:52.420 And some of us will have the annual ritual of going to Blackwell's or wherever you like to go, Waterstones, 00:07:52.660 --> 00:07:58.160 in late December, early January to buy the 2027 planner that's coming up. 00:07:58.560 --> 00:08:02.519 And this year you have to decide, are you going to pay more for Moleskine? 00:08:02.800 --> 00:08:04.279 That will be the question before you. 00:08:04.540 --> 00:08:06.220 That's the question I always wrestle with. 00:08:06.319 --> 00:08:07.540 Do I want the Moleskine planner? 00:08:07.540 --> 00:08:10.540 We have to do this. 00:08:10.920 --> 00:08:11.740 We all do this. 00:08:11.800 --> 00:08:12.920 We have to make plans. 00:08:13.860 --> 00:08:16.020 The issue is not making plans. 00:08:16.180 --> 00:08:19.240 And we can tell that because in verse 15, he says, 00:08:19.700 --> 00:08:24.300 Instead, you ought to say, if the Lord wills. 00:08:24.540 --> 00:08:30.220 In other words, he's saying, as you stand around the map and point to the cities that you're going to go to to try to make a profit, 00:08:30.220 --> 00:08:35.300 you ought to say, as you make that plan, only if the Lord wills. 00:08:36.399 --> 00:08:41.360 You see, the issue is not the fact that we make plans or that we're ambitious in a way or that we are entrepreneurs 00:08:41.360 --> 00:08:46.500 or that we come to the city to get a job and make money and provide for our families and ourselves. 00:08:46.620 --> 00:08:50.700 The issue is how we do that, the manner in which we do that. 00:08:50.700 --> 00:09:00.840 And he's saying that the normal way we make plans, even as Christians, is very typically sinful and wrong and broken. 00:09:01.940 --> 00:09:10.000 And the issue here is that as we make our plans, most of the time, most days, most years, we forget about God. 00:09:11.320 --> 00:09:12.640 We don't think about God. 00:09:12.639 --> 00:09:19.460 We spend our 24 hours and our weekly planners and filling out our church calendars, 00:09:19.639 --> 00:09:26.799 and we can be in grave danger of not remembering God and saying, if the Lord wills, 00:09:27.059 --> 00:09:31.019 as we make our plans and trying to discern what His plan is for us. 00:09:31.059 --> 00:09:35.319 And so the main idea here is that we plan, but we forget about God as we plan. 00:09:35.319 --> 00:09:37.360 And this is a warning. 00:09:37.539 --> 00:09:39.980 This is a truth about the human life. 00:09:39.980 --> 00:09:44.460 And it's so important because it's not dramatic rebellion. 00:09:46.000 --> 00:09:48.980 James here doesn't talk about prodigal sons and daughters. 00:09:49.259 --> 00:09:51.740 He doesn't talk here about dramatic rebellion. 00:09:52.019 --> 00:10:00.120 He talks about the very subtle rebellion, the very subtle rebellion of forgetting about God in your day-to-day life 00:10:00.120 --> 00:10:02.120 until you don't remember God at all. 00:10:02.180 --> 00:10:03.700 You're not God-conscious in any way. 00:10:03.779 --> 00:10:06.600 It's the problem and the issue of God-forgetfulness. 00:10:06.600 --> 00:10:13.779 And so this is an issue of drift, of slow drifting from any consciousness of God in the day-to-day. 00:10:13.820 --> 00:10:16.259 And it's very subtle, and eventually it becomes a habit. 00:10:16.960 --> 00:10:19.340 And we make plans, and we don't think about God at all. 00:10:19.399 --> 00:10:23.100 So he gives you the diagnosis here in verses 16 and 17. 00:10:23.100 --> 00:10:26.500 And in verse 16 he says, 00:10:26.899 --> 00:10:33.879 As it is, as you plan, the way you're making plans and forgetting about God, you boast in your arrogance. 00:10:35.080 --> 00:10:42.940 And so the diagnosis that James brings is that when we forget God in our day-to-day life, that is boasting. 00:10:43.139 --> 00:10:45.840 And it's boasting because it's living a life of pride and arrogance. 00:10:45.840 --> 00:10:49.180 The theologians of old called it the pride of life. 00:10:49.820 --> 00:10:52.300 And it's not verbal boasting. 00:10:52.519 --> 00:10:55.259 So it's not saying before your neighbor out loud, 00:10:55.519 --> 00:10:56.660 Look how great I am. 00:10:56.960 --> 00:10:57.780 Aren't I amazing? 00:10:58.040 --> 00:10:59.540 Look at all the things I've done with my life. 00:11:00.360 --> 00:11:03.580 He's saying instead, a life where you are living by the rules, 00:11:03.700 --> 00:11:05.860 you look like a Christian in most ways, 00:11:05.860 --> 00:11:10.100 but you're not remembering God and saying as the Lord wills, 00:11:10.100 --> 00:11:11.320 as you make your plans, 00:11:11.659 --> 00:11:16.180 is a life lived out of deep boasting, of arrogance, 00:11:17.060 --> 00:11:18.419 of forgetting God in the day-to-day. 00:11:18.500 --> 00:11:21.419 And that's a way of subtle arrogance, the pride of life. 00:11:22.519 --> 00:11:25.740 And he goes so far as here in verse 16 to say, 00:11:26.159 --> 00:11:27.720 That is evil. 00:11:29.840 --> 00:11:32.899 So there's a way to live a life of evil that is so subtle, 00:11:33.080 --> 00:11:34.700 and that's just to not think about God at all. 00:11:34.700 --> 00:11:37.180 Not think about God when you wake up in the morning. 00:11:37.320 --> 00:11:38.680 Not think about God at lunchtime. 00:11:39.100 --> 00:11:40.960 Not think about God before the evening meal. 00:11:41.480 --> 00:11:44.480 Not think about God as you work out your weekly calendar. 00:11:44.780 --> 00:11:46.560 Not think about God as you go to the boardroom. 00:11:46.940 --> 00:11:49.740 Not think about God as you prep that PowerPoint. 00:11:50.240 --> 00:11:52.720 Not think about God in any instance of life. 00:11:52.879 --> 00:11:55.240 That is a subtle but real rebellion. 00:11:55.440 --> 00:11:56.420 An evil, he calls it. 00:11:56.460 --> 00:12:00.700 An evil in the Bible means something that's upside down, 00:12:00.800 --> 00:12:02.620 something that shouldn't be that way. 00:12:02.620 --> 00:12:05.639 And you think about the classical philosophers, 00:12:05.899 --> 00:12:10.639 and they correctly spoke about how we should be seeking as human beings 00:12:10.639 --> 00:12:13.820 the true, the good, and the beautiful. 00:12:14.500 --> 00:12:18.019 But when we forget about God, we're not conscious of God in making our plans. 00:12:18.399 --> 00:12:20.740 Number one, we're living as if we're self-appointed kings. 00:12:20.840 --> 00:12:25.600 So as we push God out by forgetfulness, the self comes to the center. 00:12:25.600 --> 00:12:28.759 And we become kings and queens of our own little worlds. 00:12:29.080 --> 00:12:29.980 We take control. 00:12:30.200 --> 00:12:30.960 We make our plans. 00:12:31.040 --> 00:12:33.300 We say we will make a profit in these places. 00:12:33.300 --> 00:12:36.720 And we push God out as kings or queens of our own little universes. 00:12:37.240 --> 00:12:42.440 And therefore, we commit a sin where we're speaking, we're acting against what is true. 00:12:42.720 --> 00:12:43.200 We're not. 00:12:43.279 --> 00:12:44.460 We're not kings and queens. 00:12:44.560 --> 00:12:47.259 We're playing God as king, though we're not. 00:12:47.820 --> 00:12:49.720 And therefore, life is not good. 00:12:49.820 --> 00:12:50.779 We're not seeking the good. 00:12:50.779 --> 00:12:56.480 And therefore, we're not living a beautiful life, a life that is truly and fully human in that way. 00:12:56.539 --> 00:12:59.379 And so that's what makes verse 17 make sense. 00:12:59.439 --> 00:13:07.139 Because in this passage, lots of times, commentators talk about how verse 17 almost doesn't seem to fit. 00:13:07.980 --> 00:13:08.279 So he says, 00:13:08.399 --> 00:13:13.600 So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin. 00:13:14.439 --> 00:13:17.159 Anybody who knows the right thing, what is the right thing? 00:13:17.159 --> 00:13:21.240 The right thing is to remember God in all your plans and all the moments of life. 00:13:21.480 --> 00:13:25.799 But you fail to do that, to do that good, then that is blatant sin. 00:13:25.899 --> 00:13:29.259 It's blatant rebellion when we don't remember God in our day-to-day moments. 00:13:30.899 --> 00:13:40.699 C.S. Lewis, in the Screwtape Letters, he writes letters between the senior demon Screwtape and his understudy, his nephew Wormwood. 00:13:40.700 --> 00:13:52.600 And one of the really famous letters that he writes says that the best way to corrupt a human is not through dramatic sin, but through what he calls, quote, the nothing. 00:13:54.100 --> 00:13:55.180 And what is the nothing? 00:13:55.300 --> 00:14:07.820 The nothing is keep the patient's mind filled with a stream of trivial busyness, vague worries, and half-conscious plans, so that the patient, quote, never thinks about God at all. 00:14:07.820 --> 00:14:17.840 And Screwtape, in his book, is delighted when a man can spend an entire day, quote, in a moderate depression with no thought about God or the devil. 00:14:19.360 --> 00:14:22.500 That is exactly the sin that James is addressing here. 00:14:22.660 --> 00:14:23.960 It's not explicit rebellion. 00:14:24.379 --> 00:14:28.960 It's the great rebellion of inattention, of not paying attention to God. 00:14:28.960 --> 00:14:32.360 And that's his target in our hearts, if we will allow it. 00:14:34.920 --> 00:14:49.060 Will you allow yourself today to be aware of inattention to God, of not being conscious of God, not remembering God, not thinking about God, not living your day-to-day life in the light of the reality of God's closeness and his presence? 00:14:49.059 --> 00:14:59.059 And when we do that, just like last week, we said that when we slander people, we put them in the dock and we become the judges. 00:15:00.139 --> 00:15:02.500 I feel bad about being up here making this illustration. 00:15:02.679 --> 00:15:05.079 We put people in the dock and we are on the bench. 00:15:05.119 --> 00:15:05.679 We are the judges. 00:15:05.679 --> 00:15:19.599 And in the same way, in the same way, when we push God to the margins by forgetting about God and put ourselves to the center as kings and queens of our own life, we actually put God in the dock again and judge him how? 00:15:20.059 --> 00:15:22.479 By saying, you are weightless to me. 00:15:24.059 --> 00:15:27.339 The God who made me, the God who supplies everything to me, you are weightless to me. 00:15:27.359 --> 00:15:28.379 You are of no concern to me. 00:15:28.579 --> 00:15:29.519 I don't think about you. 00:15:29.559 --> 00:15:30.679 I don't need to think about you. 00:15:31.079 --> 00:15:34.339 And we put God down into the dock as if we are the judges. 00:15:34.340 --> 00:15:38.899 It's the great subtle sin of rebellion by forgetfulness. 00:15:40.460 --> 00:15:45.420 Now, secondly, James tells us here about the cost of that to our lives. 00:15:45.519 --> 00:15:47.560 What does it cost us to be God forgetful? 00:15:48.660 --> 00:15:51.840 And let me just point out to you two costs that are in this passage. 00:15:51.960 --> 00:15:54.399 There are so many, but just two that are right here. 00:15:55.200 --> 00:16:01.060 And I only want to spend one to two minutes on the first one because it's something that we talk about so often here. 00:16:01.280 --> 00:16:02.560 But the first cost is this. 00:16:02.559 --> 00:16:04.879 It is what the Bible calls idolatry. 00:16:05.899 --> 00:16:10.599 And idolatry happens when we make other things into our gods. 00:16:11.000 --> 00:16:13.079 And we serve that God and we worship that God. 00:16:13.179 --> 00:16:16.019 And here, that is what I think is happening. 00:16:16.159 --> 00:16:17.699 It's a subtext in the passage. 00:16:17.939 --> 00:16:21.959 And the way this happens is when we are not consciously asking the question, 00:16:21.960 --> 00:16:31.040 today, this next 24 hours, what must I be and do for Jesus Christ as the directing question of our lives? 00:16:31.519 --> 00:16:35.120 If that is not the directing question of our day, as we make plans, 00:16:35.160 --> 00:16:39.379 we are going to classically follow the mechanism of idolatry, 00:16:39.379 --> 00:16:44.279 which is to take God off of his throne, put something else in the place, 00:16:44.939 --> 00:16:50.480 and to follow and chase and serve that thing until it becomes our slave master, our God. 00:16:50.840 --> 00:16:53.600 And what is going on in this passage that points us to that? 00:16:53.679 --> 00:16:57.980 Well, remember, these guys are all huddled around the map and they're saying, 00:16:57.980 --> 00:17:00.899 we're going to go to Athens and we're going to go to Corinth and we're going to go to Rome 00:17:00.899 --> 00:17:02.220 and we're going to make so much money. 00:17:03.100 --> 00:17:04.720 And James is trying to get them to say, 00:17:04.819 --> 00:17:06.039 you have not asked the question, 00:17:06.579 --> 00:17:09.900 what this year must I be and do for Jesus Christ? 00:17:10.059 --> 00:17:15.360 As the defining question that should be underneath all plan making. 00:17:16.200 --> 00:17:16.920 And so what are they doing? 00:17:17.400 --> 00:17:19.660 They're falling in love with maximizing their profits. 00:17:21.120 --> 00:17:23.339 So materialism is their God here. 00:17:23.339 --> 00:17:29.359 And they want to maximize profits at all costs without ever asking a single spiritual question 00:17:29.359 --> 00:17:31.079 about what God actually wants for them. 00:17:31.619 --> 00:17:34.199 So the problem is not being a businessman or a businesswoman. 00:17:34.419 --> 00:17:35.699 The problem is not being an entrepreneur, 00:17:36.139 --> 00:17:38.899 but it's not asking the question as we do business, 00:17:39.539 --> 00:17:43.639 what must I do and be for Jesus Christ at the core of all my plan making, 00:17:43.759 --> 00:17:47.480 all my ambitions, all my hopes and my dreams for this coming year. 00:17:47.839 --> 00:17:49.779 And that's the big issue that James brings up. 00:17:49.779 --> 00:17:55.319 And I think it's a simple application here of pastoral wisdom from James. 00:17:55.940 --> 00:17:57.359 And it's something like this. 00:17:57.559 --> 00:18:03.500 Sometimes the greatest enemy in our lives are not the most explicit enemies of God. 00:18:03.660 --> 00:18:08.980 The greatest enemy we face in our life is our heart getting attached to God's gifts. 00:18:12.299 --> 00:18:15.180 One of the biggest issues many of us in this room will face today 00:18:15.180 --> 00:18:17.560 is being over-attached to God's gift, 00:18:18.700 --> 00:18:21.580 worshiping the gifts, and forgetting altogether about the giver. 00:18:23.420 --> 00:18:25.340 And that's the sin of inattention. 00:18:25.640 --> 00:18:29.120 And it's the great cost of forgetting about God in our day-to-day life, 00:18:29.160 --> 00:18:31.900 in our morning and noon and evening time and at our bedtime. 00:18:32.680 --> 00:18:36.180 And you can imagine these guys all standing around the map. 00:18:36.680 --> 00:18:39.860 And they're just not asking—the problem is not the map. 00:18:39.940 --> 00:18:40.860 The problem is not the plan. 00:18:40.859 --> 00:18:45.139 And the problem is they're not asking, what does God want for us this year? 00:18:45.799 --> 00:18:47.439 What does God want for our lives this year? 00:18:47.500 --> 00:18:53.299 What should we be pursuing for God's sake as we go out and do business all across the Roman Empire? 00:18:53.659 --> 00:18:58.539 And it's a really fast track for being captured—to being captured by an idol. 00:18:58.959 --> 00:19:02.939 Now, the second cost of two is anxiety. 00:19:02.940 --> 00:19:07.160 Both of the costs in this passage are subtext. 00:19:07.480 --> 00:19:13.460 But in verse 14, James starts to address the real problem and the solutions that we can bring to it. 00:19:13.500 --> 00:19:14.420 And this is what he says. 00:19:14.920 --> 00:19:17.519 After the people say, we're going to make a plan. 00:19:17.620 --> 00:19:21.539 We're going to go today or tomorrow and make a profit in this city or that city. 00:19:21.779 --> 00:19:25.900 And James says, yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. 00:19:26.600 --> 00:19:27.700 What is your life? 00:19:27.700 --> 00:19:32.680 You're a mist that just appears for a little time and then it vanishes away. 00:19:33.819 --> 00:19:37.759 And so he brings two questions to us this morning. 00:19:38.480 --> 00:19:40.299 You do not know what tomorrow will bring. 00:19:40.400 --> 00:19:41.920 You have no knowledge of the future. 00:19:42.240 --> 00:19:44.120 You don't know what the next 24 hours will hold. 00:19:44.720 --> 00:19:46.500 And then he says, and you're only a mist. 00:19:47.220 --> 00:19:50.840 I don't know if you've ever walked across the meadows in the early morning 00:19:50.839 --> 00:19:56.099 when the mist is all across or Inverleaf Park or wherever you live. 00:19:56.220 --> 00:19:59.379 But it's absolutely beautiful and haunting as well. 00:19:59.699 --> 00:20:04.000 But you know that about 10 a.m., 11 a.m., the mist completely clears away. 00:20:05.259 --> 00:20:07.220 And James says, as you make your plans, 00:20:07.319 --> 00:20:12.179 you are forgetting about the unpredictability of your life and the brevity of your life. 00:20:13.119 --> 00:20:15.299 And so you never said before God, 00:20:15.439 --> 00:20:17.859 Lord, teach me to number my days as I make my plans. 00:20:17.859 --> 00:20:21.839 You've forgotten about the unpredictability of your life and the brevity of your life, 00:20:21.859 --> 00:20:25.119 that you have no control over what's going to happen today or tomorrow. 00:20:25.240 --> 00:20:30.559 You have no control over other people in your life and what they do and what they say and how they act. 00:20:30.899 --> 00:20:32.279 And there's the gap. 00:20:32.459 --> 00:20:38.199 So the gap between verse 13 and 14 is where anxiety lives. 00:20:38.879 --> 00:20:39.719 And here's the gap. 00:20:39.719 --> 00:20:43.259 In verse 13, we say, I'm making my plan. 00:20:43.379 --> 00:20:45.039 Tomorrow I'm going to do this and that. 00:20:45.219 --> 00:20:46.939 I've got big plans for my life. 00:20:46.940 --> 00:20:50.259 And then in verse 14, you're not in control. 00:20:51.100 --> 00:20:54.900 You don't account for the unpredictability and brevity of your life. 00:20:54.920 --> 00:20:57.900 And it's in that gap that anxiety arises. 00:20:58.080 --> 00:21:02.480 And the gap is thinking that we are sovereign over the events that are going to take place 00:21:02.480 --> 00:21:04.700 and the simple truth that we're not. 00:21:06.840 --> 00:21:11.559 And the fact that we long to be sovereign over what's going to happen tomorrow and this week 00:21:11.559 --> 00:21:16.839 and the simple truth that we're not means that as long as we believe that and we forget about God, 00:21:16.839 --> 00:21:19.339 we will play the prophet in our day-to-day lives. 00:21:19.519 --> 00:21:24.200 And imagine all the situations that we wish we could control, but we can't. 00:21:24.579 --> 00:21:28.379 And they're going to rise up like smoke in the heart, a fire burning deep down in the soul. 00:21:28.380 --> 00:21:35.160 And we're going to be incredibly anxious constantly because we don't actually have control over what's going to happen tomorrow. 00:21:35.880 --> 00:21:37.380 And James is trying to get us to ask that. 00:21:37.660 --> 00:21:43.520 We've said throughout this series that there's so much connection here to the Sermon on the Mount. 00:21:43.740 --> 00:21:46.720 And James is clearly pulling in language from the Sermon on the Mount. 00:21:46.720 --> 00:21:50.420 And you can remember Jesus in Matthew chapter 6 saying, 00:21:50.900 --> 00:21:52.440 don't be anxious about your life. 00:21:52.920 --> 00:21:54.799 Can you add a single day to it? 00:21:54.860 --> 00:21:57.339 Very similar language as James chapter 4. 00:21:57.779 --> 00:21:59.059 Isn't life more than food? 00:21:59.160 --> 00:22:00.200 Isn't life more than clothing? 00:22:01.100 --> 00:22:02.839 Profit-making, Jesus brings up. 00:22:02.900 --> 00:22:03.660 Are you in control? 00:22:03.839 --> 00:22:05.059 You don't know what tomorrow will bring. 00:22:05.259 --> 00:22:10.360 So James is re-raising what Jesus brings up in Matthew chapter 6. 00:22:10.799 --> 00:22:14.299 And he's saying, will you instead say, Lord, teach me to number my days? 00:22:14.299 --> 00:22:17.720 Remember God, stop claiming sovereignty over your life. 00:22:18.839 --> 00:22:23.980 Tim Lane, one of the counselors, a Christian counselor who wrote a book on anxiety, 00:22:24.539 --> 00:22:28.940 he talks about how anxiety actually happens in us when we try to control our plans. 00:22:29.980 --> 00:22:35.480 And he says that anxiety is, quote, a frustrated aspiration to omniscience. 00:22:36.639 --> 00:22:37.980 Here's how anxiety works. 00:22:37.980 --> 00:22:44.799 God has made us as human beings to possess some of his attributes. 00:22:45.579 --> 00:22:49.900 And God's attributes, the theologians tell us, are both communicable and incommunicable. 00:22:50.779 --> 00:22:52.180 Communicable attributes, what are those? 00:22:52.240 --> 00:22:54.579 Those are the ones that you can get, that you can catch, 00:22:54.779 --> 00:22:57.160 like a communicable disease you can catch. 00:22:58.599 --> 00:23:00.880 You can love because God is love. 00:23:00.940 --> 00:23:02.720 You can be righteous because God is righteous. 00:23:02.819 --> 00:23:04.059 These are communicable attributes. 00:23:04.059 --> 00:23:07.480 But there are incommunicable attributes of God that you can never possess. 00:23:08.399 --> 00:23:11.039 And those things are omniscience, knowing everything. 00:23:11.919 --> 00:23:15.639 Omnipotence, being all powerful to have control over the times and the seasons 00:23:15.639 --> 00:23:17.359 and the events and other people. 00:23:17.980 --> 00:23:23.539 And Tim Lane says, what is anxiety but a frustrated aspiration to omniscience, omnipotence? 00:23:23.720 --> 00:23:28.679 It's trying to possess the incommunicable attributes of God that you will never be able to possess. 00:23:28.919 --> 00:23:30.099 You can't control anything. 00:23:30.779 --> 00:23:31.779 You're not in charge. 00:23:31.779 --> 00:23:36.220 And he's saying that the more we try to make our plans and we forget about God, 00:23:36.299 --> 00:23:37.559 we will not be at peace. 00:23:38.480 --> 00:23:39.460 We will be restless. 00:23:39.859 --> 00:23:41.480 Anxiety will fill that gap. 00:23:41.859 --> 00:23:42.700 We will be worried. 00:23:42.819 --> 00:23:44.399 We will be playing the prophet all the time. 00:23:45.299 --> 00:23:47.379 It's a structural mismatch. 00:23:47.819 --> 00:23:49.299 You're not made to be king. 00:23:50.460 --> 00:23:52.980 And when you make your plans without thinking about God, 00:23:53.079 --> 00:23:54.579 we're trying to pretend like we are, 00:23:54.619 --> 00:23:57.079 and it's just going to create restlessness in our hearts. 00:23:57.079 --> 00:24:04.220 In the Lord of the Rings, Boromir, the great son of Gondor, 00:24:05.659 --> 00:24:09.480 his problem in the novels is not that he's a coward. 00:24:09.559 --> 00:24:10.539 He's not a coward at all. 00:24:10.759 --> 00:24:13.980 And instead, Boromir is a brave, courageous warrior. 00:24:14.899 --> 00:24:19.639 But his problem is that when he sees the ring, he has a fatal flaw. 00:24:19.640 --> 00:24:22.900 And it's this, that he stands before the council of Elrond, 00:24:22.960 --> 00:24:25.320 and he sees the ring laid on the table. 00:24:25.700 --> 00:24:27.220 And his flaw is he looks at the ring, 00:24:27.259 --> 00:24:31.180 and he believes that with the right person wielding the ring, 00:24:32.060 --> 00:24:33.520 with the best intentions, 00:24:34.060 --> 00:24:37.220 that we could do maximal good in the world. 00:24:37.500 --> 00:24:39.840 And so Tolkien, the devout Christian that he was, 00:24:39.960 --> 00:24:41.820 he made the ring, the ring of power, 00:24:42.340 --> 00:24:43.240 Sauron's great ring, 00:24:43.320 --> 00:24:48.040 to symbolize human aspiration to omniscience and omnipotence. 00:24:48.039 --> 00:24:50.039 And Boromir believed, 00:24:50.779 --> 00:24:52.019 if I have the right motivations, 00:24:52.700 --> 00:24:55.039 and if the right human being were to put the ring on, 00:24:55.139 --> 00:24:56.599 then boy, we don't need to destroy the ring. 00:24:56.659 --> 00:24:58.299 We could control the world for the best ways. 00:24:58.859 --> 00:25:03.139 And one of Tolkien's subtle lessons throughout the whole of his novels is this, 00:25:03.740 --> 00:25:07.319 the desire to seize sovereign power over outcomes, 00:25:07.420 --> 00:25:09.180 even if you have good intentions, 00:25:09.460 --> 00:25:11.680 is not your job, and you can't do it, 00:25:11.700 --> 00:25:12.899 and it will always ruin you. 00:25:13.779 --> 00:25:16.379 It will either create anxiety that you can't overcome, 00:25:16.380 --> 00:25:19.380 or it will turn you into a power-hungry person, 00:25:19.980 --> 00:25:22.620 driven by the desire to control everyone in your life. 00:25:23.720 --> 00:25:26.180 And so the biggest anxiety-producing problem 00:25:26.180 --> 00:25:28.260 is just simply trying to be in control 00:25:28.260 --> 00:25:30.080 and playing God, 00:25:30.120 --> 00:25:31.780 and we're being told here that we can't do that. 00:25:32.580 --> 00:25:34.780 We're carrying weights in our lives 00:25:34.780 --> 00:25:36.020 we were just never made to carry. 00:25:36.019 --> 00:25:39.639 I hesitate to quote from The Onion, 00:25:39.819 --> 00:25:40.579 from the pulpit, 00:25:41.099 --> 00:25:44.180 but The Onion is the satirical magazine 00:25:44.180 --> 00:25:46.440 that I very rarely read. 00:25:47.480 --> 00:25:51.240 But there is one article 00:25:51.240 --> 00:25:53.740 that has always captured many, 00:25:53.839 --> 00:25:54.879 many, you might have heard this before, 00:25:55.019 --> 00:25:56.480 lots of people have referenced this article, 00:25:56.940 --> 00:25:59.379 but The Onion wrote a piece titled this, 00:25:59.380 --> 00:26:03.220 Man on the cusp of having fun 00:26:03.220 --> 00:26:06.240 suddenly remembers every one of his responsibilities. 00:26:08.300 --> 00:26:10.940 Local man, Marshall Platt, age 34, 00:26:11.620 --> 00:26:14.100 came tantalizingly close to kicking back 00:26:14.100 --> 00:26:15.200 and having a good time 00:26:15.200 --> 00:26:17.780 while attending a friend's barbecue last night 00:26:17.780 --> 00:26:19.620 before remembering each and every one 00:26:19.620 --> 00:26:21.720 of his professional and personal obligations. 00:26:22.660 --> 00:26:23.960 Backyard sources confirmed. 00:26:24.960 --> 00:26:26.640 Platt was reportedly seconds away 00:26:26.640 --> 00:26:29.080 from letting go and enjoying himself 00:26:29.080 --> 00:26:30.940 when he was suddenly crushed 00:26:30.940 --> 00:26:32.980 by the full weight of work emails 00:26:32.980 --> 00:26:34.600 that still needed to be dealt with, 00:26:35.000 --> 00:26:36.700 looming deadlines for projects 00:26:36.700 --> 00:26:38.340 that would take a great deal of time 00:26:38.340 --> 00:26:39.600 and energy to complete, 00:26:39.820 --> 00:26:42.600 the upcoming wedding he had yet to buy airfare for 00:26:42.600 --> 00:26:44.540 because of an unrealized issue, 00:26:44.620 --> 00:26:46.060 an unresolved issue, I should say, 00:26:46.240 --> 00:26:48.520 with his Southwest Rapid Rewards account, 00:26:49.120 --> 00:26:51.420 and phone calls that needed to be returned. 00:26:53.360 --> 00:26:54.820 He can't let go 00:26:54.819 --> 00:26:57.579 because somewhere he believes 00:26:57.579 --> 00:26:59.619 that if he stops thinking about the things 00:26:59.619 --> 00:27:01.339 he thinks he needs to be in control of, 00:27:01.480 --> 00:27:02.799 the world's going to fall apart. 00:27:03.439 --> 00:27:04.839 And how many of us have been 00:27:04.839 --> 00:27:06.139 at that backyard barbecue, 00:27:06.259 --> 00:27:07.259 that back garden barbecue, 00:27:07.259 --> 00:27:08.759 and we were the man or woman 00:27:08.759 --> 00:27:10.179 that almost had a good time, 00:27:10.379 --> 00:27:12.599 but we woke up 00:27:12.599 --> 00:27:14.019 and we were crushed by our anxieties 00:27:14.019 --> 00:27:14.819 and our obligations. 00:27:15.419 --> 00:27:16.359 We're not at peace. 00:27:16.399 --> 00:27:16.939 We're restless 00:27:16.939 --> 00:27:18.359 because we're trying to play God. 00:27:19.079 --> 00:27:20.480 We're trying to be our self-provider. 00:27:20.579 --> 00:27:22.619 We're trying to control our lives, 00:27:22.619 --> 00:27:24.500 and that means that we sit on the weight 00:27:24.500 --> 00:27:25.379 of a stolen throne. 00:27:25.559 --> 00:27:27.519 You know, when you appoint yourself king or queen 00:27:27.519 --> 00:27:28.500 over your circumstances, 00:27:28.500 --> 00:27:31.099 you inherit the king or queen's responsibilities, 00:27:31.099 --> 00:27:34.019 and that is the responsibility 00:27:34.019 --> 00:27:35.459 that only God can carry. 00:27:36.859 --> 00:27:38.619 So finally, briefly, 00:27:39.439 --> 00:27:41.899 James asked us to do something about it, 00:27:41.919 --> 00:27:42.919 and here's what we can do about it. 00:27:43.000 --> 00:27:43.879 He asked us, lastly, 00:27:44.059 --> 00:27:46.479 to remember the God who remembers you. 00:27:46.480 --> 00:27:51.079 Now, he tells us really explicitly what to do, 00:27:51.120 --> 00:27:52.039 and it's pretty simple. 00:27:52.299 --> 00:27:53.900 He says, number one, 00:27:54.039 --> 00:27:55.799 remember that your life is brief, 00:27:56.039 --> 00:27:56.940 that you're a mist. 00:27:57.620 --> 00:27:59.240 Lord, teach me to number my days. 00:28:00.980 --> 00:28:02.220 Number two, he tells us, 00:28:02.500 --> 00:28:04.019 remember you're not in control. 00:28:04.220 --> 00:28:06.980 Who are you to make plans about tomorrow 00:28:06.980 --> 00:28:08.299 when you're not in control, 00:28:08.380 --> 00:28:12.160 to forget that you're not God the king? 00:28:12.319 --> 00:28:12.940 And then lastly, 00:28:13.160 --> 00:28:14.440 and this is the most important thing 00:28:14.440 --> 00:28:17.700 he tells us to do is remember God 00:28:17.700 --> 00:28:18.840 in everything you do. 00:28:19.240 --> 00:28:20.940 Remember God in all your plans. 00:28:21.820 --> 00:28:22.580 So what does he say? 00:28:22.660 --> 00:28:24.120 Instead, you should be saying, 00:28:24.860 --> 00:28:26.320 if the Lord wills. 00:28:26.980 --> 00:28:28.960 Now, that doesn't mean that 00:28:28.960 --> 00:28:30.580 during tea and coffee today, 00:28:31.180 --> 00:28:33.340 every single time you say anything to anybody, 00:28:33.519 --> 00:28:36.200 you say, if the Lord wills, DV. 00:28:38.240 --> 00:28:40.220 But it is good to say it sometimes, at least. 00:28:41.400 --> 00:28:43.039 And, you know, in a city 00:28:43.039 --> 00:28:44.360 where most people aren't Christians, 00:28:44.440 --> 00:28:45.299 it's not a helpful thing 00:28:45.299 --> 00:28:46.799 to sit in every boardroom and say, 00:28:47.279 --> 00:28:48.320 I will make that PowerPoint 00:28:48.320 --> 00:28:49.400 if the Lord wills. 00:28:50.640 --> 00:28:52.779 That might be incredibly off-putting 00:28:52.779 --> 00:28:54.420 and not the right time for certain people. 00:28:55.019 --> 00:28:56.480 And you don't want to say, you know, 00:28:56.519 --> 00:28:57.519 when your friend or your spouse 00:28:57.519 --> 00:28:58.820 or your roommate says, 00:28:59.019 --> 00:29:00.600 can you bring home milk after work? 00:29:00.600 --> 00:29:01.900 And you say, I will bring home milk 00:29:01.900 --> 00:29:03.820 if the Lord wills. 00:29:05.860 --> 00:29:07.180 That's not what he's saying to us. 00:29:07.220 --> 00:29:08.620 But what he is saying to us is, 00:29:08.960 --> 00:29:10.000 you better think it. 00:29:10.000 --> 00:29:13.779 You better have it as the chorus line 00:29:13.779 --> 00:29:14.900 running through your heart 00:29:14.900 --> 00:29:16.160 as you make your plans. 00:29:16.940 --> 00:29:19.980 It better be a burden to say, 00:29:20.099 --> 00:29:21.380 only if the Lord wills. 00:29:21.460 --> 00:29:23.279 A glorious release, 00:29:23.420 --> 00:29:24.440 a place of peace 00:29:24.440 --> 00:29:26.700 where you finally say, 00:29:26.779 --> 00:29:27.339 I can rest 00:29:27.339 --> 00:29:29.240 because it's only if the Lord wills 00:29:29.240 --> 00:29:30.640 that I'll do this or that 00:29:30.640 --> 00:29:31.400 that I hope to do. 00:29:31.460 --> 00:29:32.279 And it's surprising 00:29:32.279 --> 00:29:34.460 how often in the New Testament, 00:29:34.460 --> 00:29:36.400 the writers of the New Testament 00:29:36.400 --> 00:29:37.900 add that line. 00:29:38.059 --> 00:29:40.140 So a place like 1 Corinthians 4.19, 00:29:40.700 --> 00:29:41.319 Paul says, 00:29:41.519 --> 00:29:42.799 I will come to you soon 00:29:42.799 --> 00:29:44.640 if the Lord wills. 00:29:45.380 --> 00:29:46.680 Or Hebrews 6.3, 00:29:47.059 --> 00:29:48.140 and this we will do 00:29:48.140 --> 00:29:49.680 only if God permits it. 00:29:50.640 --> 00:29:51.680 And so the New Testament writers 00:29:51.680 --> 00:29:53.160 actually teach us to speak like that. 00:29:53.180 --> 00:29:54.779 Or how about the Lord's Prayer, 00:29:55.759 --> 00:29:57.059 which is a daily prayer 00:29:57.059 --> 00:29:57.700 where we say, 00:29:58.799 --> 00:29:59.980 our Father who art in heaven, 00:30:00.440 --> 00:30:03.160 thy will be done on earth today 00:30:03.160 --> 00:30:05.040 as it's done in heaven. 00:30:05.279 --> 00:30:05.920 What is that prayer? 00:30:06.000 --> 00:30:06.620 That's the prayer, 00:30:06.740 --> 00:30:07.840 that's a dangerous prayer 00:30:07.840 --> 00:30:09.200 because it's a prayer that says, 00:30:09.700 --> 00:30:11.779 thy will be done in my life today. 00:30:12.200 --> 00:30:13.259 Only your will, Lord. 00:30:14.019 --> 00:30:16.259 May I, as I make my plans, 00:30:16.620 --> 00:30:18.640 be and do what Jesus Christ 00:30:18.640 --> 00:30:20.040 requires me to be and do 00:30:20.040 --> 00:30:22.300 as my directing command. 00:30:22.940 --> 00:30:24.140 That's what it is to say, 00:30:24.460 --> 00:30:26.320 thy will be done in my life on earth 00:30:26.320 --> 00:30:27.340 as it is in heaven. 00:30:28.060 --> 00:30:29.900 And so we're being asked this morning 00:30:29.900 --> 00:30:31.279 to get off the throne 00:30:31.279 --> 00:30:32.840 if you want to have peace. 00:30:33.160 --> 00:30:36.800 Maybe we could finish 00:30:36.800 --> 00:30:37.779 with a question like this. 00:30:39.220 --> 00:30:41.580 How many days this past week 00:30:41.580 --> 00:30:45.060 did I, did you not think about God at all? 00:30:46.920 --> 00:30:50.180 How many hours in this past week 00:30:50.180 --> 00:30:51.180 and even this morning 00:30:51.180 --> 00:30:52.259 did you not think, 00:30:52.400 --> 00:30:53.360 were you not God conscious 00:30:53.360 --> 00:30:54.320 for even a moment? 00:30:55.640 --> 00:30:57.080 How many hours of planning 00:30:57.080 --> 00:30:57.940 have I already made 00:30:57.940 --> 00:30:59.000 in this coming semester 00:30:59.000 --> 00:31:00.940 and not sat down and said, 00:31:00.940 --> 00:31:02.779 only if you permit, Lord. 00:31:02.960 --> 00:31:03.620 Only if you will. 00:31:03.680 --> 00:31:04.320 Help me to discern 00:31:04.320 --> 00:31:06.200 what you desire for me to do. 00:31:08.660 --> 00:31:10.059 We all can say, 00:31:10.220 --> 00:31:11.279 we can all answer that 00:31:11.279 --> 00:31:12.019 in our own hearts 00:31:12.019 --> 00:31:13.340 and we know that we all 00:31:13.340 --> 00:31:14.519 wander through our days 00:31:14.519 --> 00:31:15.400 without the thought, 00:31:15.720 --> 00:31:16.799 a single thought of the God 00:31:16.799 --> 00:31:17.299 who made us 00:31:17.299 --> 00:31:17.920 and made the world 00:31:17.920 --> 00:31:20.059 and supplies even our oxygen 00:31:20.059 --> 00:31:21.440 as we sit here and breathe. 00:31:22.500 --> 00:31:23.680 And the real antidote 00:31:23.680 --> 00:31:25.180 to this problem is this. 00:31:25.180 --> 00:31:28.060 It's remembering for every single minute, 00:31:28.259 --> 00:31:29.200 every single second 00:31:29.200 --> 00:31:30.480 that I forget about God 00:31:30.480 --> 00:31:31.600 and I don't think about Him 00:31:31.600 --> 00:31:32.740 and I don't recognize Him. 00:31:33.500 --> 00:31:35.740 Jesus Christ has never forgotten me. 00:31:37.460 --> 00:31:39.120 Jesus has never forgotten you 00:31:39.120 --> 00:31:41.180 for one single moment 00:31:41.180 --> 00:31:42.340 from eternity to eternity. 00:31:43.039 --> 00:31:44.340 And even right here as you sit, 00:31:44.460 --> 00:31:46.240 Jesus Christ is remembering you 00:31:46.240 --> 00:31:47.539 before God the Father, 00:31:48.420 --> 00:31:49.580 intercessing for you, 00:31:51.100 --> 00:31:53.180 bringing His own worthy salvation 00:31:53.180 --> 00:31:55.100 before God the Father for you, 00:31:55.140 --> 00:31:55.560 even now. 00:31:55.640 --> 00:31:57.220 And in the middle of history, 00:31:57.880 --> 00:32:00.140 Jesus Christ remembered you. 00:32:00.240 --> 00:32:01.720 You know, we have a whole history, really. 00:32:01.820 --> 00:32:02.620 That's what history is 00:32:02.620 --> 00:32:04.660 of God remembering us. 00:32:04.660 --> 00:32:05.720 And that's what the word covenant 00:32:05.720 --> 00:32:06.680 actually means. 00:32:07.080 --> 00:32:08.779 The God who chases after people 00:32:08.779 --> 00:32:09.920 and remembers people 00:32:09.920 --> 00:32:11.539 who do not think about Him, 00:32:11.600 --> 00:32:12.700 who do not remember Him. 00:32:13.160 --> 00:32:14.759 And in the middle of human history, 00:32:14.980 --> 00:32:16.940 we can remember Jesus' words 00:32:16.940 --> 00:32:17.620 before the Father. 00:32:17.620 --> 00:32:18.039 He said, 00:32:18.500 --> 00:32:20.580 I will not lose a single one of them. 00:32:21.440 --> 00:32:22.720 I will not forget them. 00:32:23.740 --> 00:32:25.299 I think that the Garden of Gethsemane 00:32:25.299 --> 00:32:27.440 is sort of the inversion 00:32:27.440 --> 00:32:28.900 of James chapter 4, 00:32:29.340 --> 00:32:30.759 where James says, 00:32:31.440 --> 00:32:32.259 we forget about God. 00:32:32.320 --> 00:32:33.200 We forget to say, 00:32:33.299 --> 00:32:34.100 thy will be done. 00:32:34.160 --> 00:32:34.600 But Jesus, 00:32:34.740 --> 00:32:35.860 when He was in the Garden of Gethsemane, 00:32:35.980 --> 00:32:38.080 you remember that agonizing garden? 00:32:38.200 --> 00:32:39.700 He was weeping blood. 00:32:39.960 --> 00:32:41.440 He was in utter misery 00:32:41.440 --> 00:32:42.640 about to face the cross. 00:32:42.940 --> 00:32:43.860 And what did He say? 00:32:43.980 --> 00:32:45.080 He stared at the cross, 00:32:45.160 --> 00:32:46.160 something so horrific. 00:32:46.519 --> 00:32:47.400 And He said, 00:32:48.160 --> 00:32:48.720 not my will, 00:32:48.820 --> 00:32:49.620 but yours be done. 00:32:50.360 --> 00:32:51.320 Thy will be done 00:32:51.319 --> 00:32:52.359 in my life, Lord. 00:32:53.079 --> 00:32:53.619 My Father. 00:32:53.799 --> 00:32:54.659 And He went to the cross. 00:32:54.759 --> 00:32:55.659 And at the cross, 00:32:55.740 --> 00:32:56.019 He said, 00:32:56.119 --> 00:32:56.559 my God, 00:32:56.639 --> 00:32:57.019 my God, 00:32:57.039 --> 00:32:58.259 why have you forsaken me? 00:32:58.279 --> 00:33:00.299 And He was forsaken by His, 00:33:00.339 --> 00:33:01.079 He was forgotten 00:33:01.079 --> 00:33:03.240 so that you could be remembered. 00:33:03.899 --> 00:33:04.839 As one writer puts it, 00:33:04.879 --> 00:33:07.119 Jesus Christ was God forgotten, 00:33:07.379 --> 00:33:08.740 forgotten by the Father 00:33:08.740 --> 00:33:10.319 so you could be God remembered. 00:33:10.779 --> 00:33:11.919 And when we remember that, 00:33:11.980 --> 00:33:12.599 we've got to say, 00:33:12.700 --> 00:33:13.740 how can I not then, 00:33:13.980 --> 00:33:14.859 going from that, 00:33:15.159 --> 00:33:16.879 remember God in all my plans? 00:33:16.880 --> 00:33:17.800 Remember Jesus 00:33:17.800 --> 00:33:19.300 who remembers me 00:33:19.300 --> 00:33:20.340 in all moments. 00:33:22.940 --> 00:33:24.040 Here's a simple example 00:33:24.040 --> 00:33:24.820 of what this looks like. 00:33:25.960 --> 00:33:26.860 Paul David Tripp 00:33:26.860 --> 00:33:27.720 tells the story 00:33:27.720 --> 00:33:30.480 of Susie's birthday, 00:33:30.600 --> 00:33:31.820 little Susie's birthday party. 00:33:33.280 --> 00:33:34.780 Little Susie had a birthday party 00:33:34.780 --> 00:33:36.040 and little Johnny 00:33:36.040 --> 00:33:37.240 was at this birthday party 00:33:37.240 --> 00:33:37.940 with little Susie. 00:33:38.500 --> 00:33:39.060 And little Susie 00:33:39.060 --> 00:33:40.180 was sitting at the head of the table 00:33:40.180 --> 00:33:42.880 and all the presents 00:33:42.880 --> 00:33:44.060 were piled up around her. 00:33:44.059 --> 00:33:46.440 And little Johnny, 00:33:46.539 --> 00:33:47.419 like all the other kids, 00:33:47.480 --> 00:33:49.899 had been given bags, 00:33:50.399 --> 00:33:51.039 little bags, 00:33:51.339 --> 00:33:52.419 with party favors. 00:33:53.139 --> 00:33:53.379 And you know, 00:33:53.519 --> 00:33:55.019 Johnny looks at the head of the table 00:33:55.019 --> 00:33:56.019 and he sees Susie 00:33:56.019 --> 00:33:57.259 and she's got all these presents 00:33:57.259 --> 00:33:57.740 around her. 00:33:58.419 --> 00:33:59.940 And Johnny pulls a pencil 00:33:59.940 --> 00:34:00.599 out of his bag. 00:34:02.119 --> 00:34:02.980 And then he pulls, 00:34:03.099 --> 00:34:03.259 you know, 00:34:03.279 --> 00:34:03.940 a chocolate coin 00:34:03.940 --> 00:34:05.319 and Johnny starts to realize 00:34:05.319 --> 00:34:06.960 that Susie has all these presents 00:34:06.960 --> 00:34:07.759 and I've got a pencil. 00:34:09.500 --> 00:34:11.059 And Johnny's mom 00:34:11.059 --> 00:34:12.799 starts to see what's going on 00:34:12.800 --> 00:34:14.900 and she looks at Johnny's face 00:34:14.900 --> 00:34:15.320 and you know, 00:34:15.380 --> 00:34:16.900 it's getting angrier 00:34:16.900 --> 00:34:17.880 and angrier. 00:34:19.140 --> 00:34:21.400 And Johnny's mom says to Johnny, 00:34:21.760 --> 00:34:22.880 this is not your party. 00:34:25.900 --> 00:34:27.200 And I don't say it 00:34:27.200 --> 00:34:28.680 to sound too hard 00:34:28.680 --> 00:34:29.560 and I say this to me 00:34:29.560 --> 00:34:30.420 and all of us today, 00:34:30.519 --> 00:34:32.300 but James 4, 13 to 17 00:34:32.300 --> 00:34:33.260 is really just saying to us, 00:34:33.519 --> 00:34:34.400 this is not your party. 00:34:35.640 --> 00:34:37.039 The world is not your party. 00:34:37.760 --> 00:34:39.280 And something so counter-cultural, 00:34:40.019 --> 00:34:41.539 your life is not your party. 00:34:42.800 --> 00:34:44.460 Our God, 00:34:44.640 --> 00:34:45.160 our maker 00:34:45.160 --> 00:34:46.140 is the God of history, 00:34:46.240 --> 00:34:46.960 the God of creation, 00:34:47.140 --> 00:34:47.780 the God of redemption, 00:34:48.240 --> 00:34:49.300 the God of all things 00:34:49.300 --> 00:34:51.900 and our life belongs to him 00:34:51.900 --> 00:34:53.700 and it's not our party. 00:34:55.280 --> 00:34:56.620 And so Jonathan Edwards 00:34:56.620 --> 00:34:57.500 was so famous 00:34:57.500 --> 00:34:59.680 for getting up in the morning 00:34:59.680 --> 00:35:00.740 and reminding himself 00:35:00.740 --> 00:35:01.620 of something like this. 00:35:02.019 --> 00:35:02.620 He would say, 00:35:02.620 --> 00:35:04.400 everything I enjoy today, 00:35:04.500 --> 00:35:05.860 which is better than hell, 00:35:06.820 --> 00:35:08.620 is strictly by the mercy 00:35:08.620 --> 00:35:09.880 and gracious upholding 00:35:09.880 --> 00:35:10.780 of the power of God. 00:35:11.039 --> 00:35:12.340 Everything I enjoy today, 00:35:12.340 --> 00:35:13.940 that is better than hell, 00:35:14.740 --> 00:35:16.100 is strictly by the gracious, 00:35:16.920 --> 00:35:18.200 merciful upholding 00:35:18.200 --> 00:35:19.820 of the living God of my life. 00:35:20.680 --> 00:35:21.600 That's not morbid. 00:35:21.740 --> 00:35:23.220 That's a way to be able to say, 00:35:23.300 --> 00:35:24.440 I'm not on the throne today 00:35:24.440 --> 00:35:25.559 so I can be at peace, 00:35:25.960 --> 00:35:27.300 that everything I have is a gift. 00:35:27.740 --> 00:35:29.180 It's the way to get up in the morning 00:35:29.180 --> 00:35:31.220 and recognize God 00:35:31.220 --> 00:35:32.240 in all your plans. 00:35:34.039 --> 00:35:34.600 Let's pray. 00:35:34.980 --> 00:35:36.500 Lord, we thank you for your word 00:35:36.500 --> 00:35:37.280 and we pray now 00:35:37.280 --> 00:35:38.000 that you would help us 00:35:38.000 --> 00:35:38.720 to remember you, 00:35:38.719 --> 00:35:39.980 that we would be God conscious, 00:35:40.259 --> 00:35:40.959 that we would know 00:35:40.959 --> 00:35:42.659 this world is not ours, 00:35:42.779 --> 00:35:43.739 our life is not ours, 00:35:43.819 --> 00:35:44.539 it's not our party, 00:35:44.799 --> 00:35:45.699 it's not our world, 00:35:46.179 --> 00:35:48.000 and therefore be able to go 00:35:48.000 --> 00:35:49.259 and make our plans 00:35:49.259 --> 00:35:50.719 in your light. 00:35:52.599 --> 00:35:53.119 So Lord, 00:35:53.219 --> 00:35:56.299 teach us to be God conscious, 00:35:56.539 --> 00:35:57.339 not God forgetful. 00:35:57.719 --> 00:35:58.980 Teach us to remember you 00:35:58.980 --> 00:35:59.599 in all things 00:35:59.599 --> 00:36:01.500 and therefore be able 00:36:01.500 --> 00:36:02.239 to be at peace. 00:36:02.379 --> 00:36:03.459 And we pray this in Christ's name. 00:36:04.059 --> 00:36:04.339 Amen. 00:36:04.339 --> 00:36:04.459 Amen. 00:36:04.460 --> 00:36:05.059 Amen.