JAMES 4:11-172009 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: James 4:11-17

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2009. As I said, it's refreshing, it's exciting to be back in the book of James. And as we're looking at this passage today...

I want to remind you, as we've said throughout the study of the book of James, that James is a very practical book. It really deals with practical application. He doesn't spend a lot of time on doctrine and talking about a bunch of different doctrinal issues or points.

But he really just hits the point. He tells us what we need to do, what we must not do. He addresses the area and then he moves on to the next one. And he addresses that area. He hits the point. He just, you know, very short, very to the point, makes the point, shares with us what we need to do, encourages us to make sure that our actions are effective.

in alignment with the faith that we claim to have that we would be walking in obedience and doers of the word and not just hearers where we just sit and listen and nothing changes and we don't live any differently we don't respond to what God is doing but instead we respond to what God says in his word and that we put it into practice in our lives James throughout the book in essence is calling us to be submitted to God

Now the last time we were together when we were looking at the first portion of James chapter 4, we talked about this issue of submission. James there was dealing with

what it was like or what it is like when a person is not submitted to God. He gave us some symptoms for us to check our hearts so that we could recognize when we are not submitted to God. And he shared with us that we're not submitted to God. We can tell that when there's wars and fights among us, when we're battling, when there's these

raging fights that go on, this bitterness within us, it's an issue or it's a symptom that we are not submitted to God. He also said lust.

not necessarily sexual but also including that but just that strong craving that unquenchable thirst for the things of this life or things that we cannot have and that's another symptom of not being submitted to God it's an evidence that our hearts are not right he also talked about murdering and coveting in our hearts and how that is another symptom that we are not submitted to God and lastly we looked at as far as symptoms

That asking of God and not receiving can also be another symptom that we are not submitted to God. Because James explains that when we ask and do not receive, we don't receive it because we're asking with bad motivation. Our hearts are not right. We're not in alignment with God. We're not submitted to Him.

And this is not good, James explained, because to be unsubmitted to God or not submitted to God means that we are committing spiritual adultery, that we've been unfaithful to God in not being submitted to Him. And that's a very serious thing. He also went on to explain that it's friendship with the world when we're not submitted with God. We're in a state of being friends with the world and the world is the enemy of God, but

And so it brings us even to the point of enmity with God, where we become God's enemy, the enemy of God. We become opposed to God because we are not submitted to Him.

And so what's the solution if these things are in our lives, if these things is the state of our heart? Well, James concluded in verses 7 through 10, therefore submit to God. The solution is we need to be submitted to God. He concluded by saying this is what we must do to correct the fact that we're not submitted to God. What we need to do then is to turn around, do the opposite and submit to God.

to resist the devil and he will flee. He told us to draw near to God, to draw close to God, and God would draw close to us. He told us that we need to cleanse our hands and to lament and mourn and weep because of sin in our life. And he ended verse 10 by saying, humble yourself in the sight of the Lord and he will lift you up.

And it's that mindset that we pick up here in verse 11, where James is saying, There's three points I want to share with you from this morning's passage. The first is, do not speak evil.

As opposed to humbling ourselves before the Lord, James now deals with some issues that reveal when we are not humble. Instead, when we are arrogant and full of pride and that manifests in our lives in these ways. And so he says, first of all, do not speak evil. Look at verse 11. He says, do not speak evil of one another, brethren.

He who speaks evil of a brother and judges his brother speaks evil of the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law, but a judge. So he starts out now in our portion this morning, giving us the command not to speak evil of one another, brethren.

He says one another, which is a word that's used of the church within the New Testament. He also says brethren, further showing that he's talking to the church. He's talking to Christians. Now, if you are a new Christian, or if you can remember back to when you were a new Christian, you might have looked at this verse and thought, well, this command is kind of really...

It's kind of a moot point, you know, because Christians, we love one another and everything's wonderful in the church and we don't sin and we don't fight against each other. So this really doesn't need to be said, but okay, you know, James said it anyways. But the reality is, the tragedy is, this is a command that we need to pay attention to.

James says, do not speak evil of one another, brethren, because inside the church and amongst Christians, there is evil speaking of one another. There is times and things that take place where we speak against one another and it's not right. And James says, we must not do it.

To speak evil means to speak against someone or to criminate someone. The commentator John Gill describes it this way. He says, To speak evil is done either by raising false reports and bringing false charges or by aggravating failings and infirmities or by lessening and depreciating character and endeavoring to bring others into discredit and disdain among men.

Let me summarize that for you. Four things essentially is what he says. To speak evil of one another can happen, number one, when we bring false reports. When we talk about things that are not true about someone else. Things that are not accurate to what actually happened or what is actually going on. Bringing false reports is speaking evil of one another. The second thing he said is,

to share or to emphasize or to pass along the failings and infirmities or the struggles of someone. So when we go around and we're talking about how this person is failing and struggling and infirmed in some particular way, he says that is also a description of speaking evil of one another, a

A third way, he says, is attacking someone's character, accusing them of some type of impurity in their character, attacking what they say and that they're not really who they represent themselves to be. And that's the fourth area as well, trying to discredit them, trying to break them down, tear them down and make it so that others don't pay attention to them and don't believe them.

These four areas are good examples of what it is to speak evil of one another. It's the command that James says we must not do, and yet it's something we must pay attention to this morning because it's here, because God wants to deal in our hearts, to work in our hearts in this area. Do not speak evil of one another, and yet we're accustomed to speaking evil of people.

or listening to others who are speaking evil of people. And it's a result of our pride. It's a result of our arrogance. And we'll deal with that. James will deal with that in just a moment. We're so accustomed to telling others what we think about other people. We're comfortable talking about the decisions that they make and talking about the life that they live and whether or not we think they're saved or whether or not we think they're being obedient to God.

We easily fall into the trap of speaking evil of one another. And it even happens within the church. And it's something that must not happen. Now, when he says, do not speak evil of one another, brethren, he's not saying that there's not a time that's appropriate to deal with

A sinful condition, a sinful situation, to deal with someone who's wronged you. There is the right place and time. There's a proper way of dealing with that. In fact, Matthew chapter 18, you don't have to turn there, but I would encourage you to look it up later. In Matthew chapter 18 verses 15 through 20, Jesus gives us an outline of how we're to deal with a situation when someone has sinned against us.

And what Jesus said is, when someone has sinned against you, what you need to do is go tell 20 or 30 friends what that person did to you. No, that's not what Jesus said. That's what we do very often, but that's not what Jesus said. Jesus said, what you need to do is write a blog entry about how this person wronged you. Is that what Jesus said? That's not what Jesus said. What did Jesus say? Jesus said, go to that person, just you and that person alone,

And address that situation. Attempt to resolve it just between you two. Don't spread it. Don't talk about it. Don't grow it beyond what is needed. Just you and that person. If they've wronged you, go and seek to resolve the situation between you and them.

And if they don't listen, if they sinned against you and they continue to sin against you, you've talked to them about it, you've confronted them, they continue not to listen, then Jesus says, go get not 20 or 30, but two or three. Two or three mature believers to go with you, to testify along with you of what the Word says in regards to the situation that you are in and that they are in.

And then if they don't listen to the two or three along with you, then, he says, then you're to address it publicly.

And so there's a specific method, there's a specific way, a specific outline that Jesus gave to us, which we just disregard very often. We just kind of throw out, not paying attention to what Jesus said, and we do what we feel, because we're upset at the moment, or we're offended, and we feel we're justified, and we have the right, and we go about speaking evil of one another, instead of going and addressing the situation. Because many times,

Many, many, many, many times it can be resolved just one-on-one addressing the issue and resolving it that way. Many times we go on and we report all these things and it's false accusations and all kinds of things. We've never verified the facts. We've never verified the actual accounts of what took place. We don't really know if what we say happened is actually what happened. We don't know a lot of things and yet we go on and we...

Present this case and show everybody how righteous we are and how good we are and how evil this other person is. James says, do not speak evil of one another, brethren. This is not to be done. We're not to live this way. We're not to act this way. We're not to speak this way. Are you so arrogant that you speak evil of others? You see, it's an issue of arrogance because of what James says next. He says, he who speaks evil of a brother, here in verse 11 still,

and judges his brother, speaks evil of the law, and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law, but a judge. You see, it's arrogance because it's placing ourselves not only above this other person that we're talking about, but it's also placing ourselves above the law. In our opinion, we are above the law, is what we believe.

are showing and demonstrating when we speak evil of others. It comes from a heart that is proud, that is arrogant, that is self-righteous. And man, it is ugly and we hate to admit that those things exist within us, but they do. And it's evidenced when we speak evil of one another, brethren. James says, do not, this must not happen. He connects here the...

Speaking evil and judging. They go hand in hand. To judge it, it means to pronounce an opinion concerning right or wrong. And oh how we love to pronounce and announce our opinions. We love for everybody to hear what we think and what we understand and what we know the situation to be. But it goes hand in hand with speaking against, speaking evil of one another. And it must not be done. It comes from a heart of

that is proud and arrogant and self-righteous. In Luke chapter 18, Jesus tells of two men who went to the temple to pray. One of them was a tax collector and the other was a Pharisee. And as Jesus is telling about this account as these two go to pray, he says of the Pharisee that, well, the Pharisee went and prayed thus with himself.

He wasn't really praying to God as evidenced by what he was saying, as evidenced by the account Jesus was giving. But he goes to the temple and he prays. And he says, God, I thank you that I am not like other men.

Thank you, God, that I'm not like all those other people who are extortioners and unjust and adulterers. And then he goes even further to say, thank you, God, that I'm even not like this tax collector who is also here to pray. Thank you, God, that I'm not like that person. That person, man, he's wicked, he's evil. Thank you, God, that I'm so wonderful, is what this Pharisee is saying.

Full of self-righteousness, full of arrogance, just it's sickening and it's ugly. And so Jesus goes on to talk about, well, the Pharisee then goes on to give his resume to God. He says, God, you know, I fast twice a week and I tithe of everything and I do this. And again, God, look at me. I'm so wonderful. Thank you that I'm so wonderful, is what the Pharisee is saying. Then Jesus goes on to talk about this tax collector.

Now, tax collectors were known as sinners in that day. It was kind of hand in hand with their occupation. The tax collector comes. He's not even able to look up into heaven. He feels burdened because of his sin. He's ashamed because of sin. And it says that he cries out to God, "'Have mercy on me, a sinner.'" He says, "'God, be merciful to me. I'm a sinner.'"

Here this tax collector acknowledges his sinful condition, acknowledges who he is, acknowledges what he has done, and asks for God to be merciful. And Jesus said, this guy, the tax collector, the one who is a filthy sinner, the one who had broken the law, the one who deserved judgment, but came, acknowledged who he is, what he'd done,

and called upon God to be merciful, Jesus said, that guy went home justified. That guy went home right with God. Not the Pharisee who said, thank you God that I'm so wonderful, who is so full of himself, who is puffed up with pride and arrogance, looking down on everybody else, self-righteous and thinking that he kept the law so wonderfully. Jesus said, that guy didn't go home righteous. That guy didn't go home right with God.

That is who we are like when we're speaking evil of one another. We're like that Pharisee, full of ourselves. It's an ugly truth. It's one we don't like to face and we don't like to confess that that exists in us. But we must allow the Lord to work in our hearts. James says, do not speak evil of one another, brethren. Don't speak evil of and do not judge. You see, we're not equipped to judge.

We don't have the equipment necessary to make good judgment. Not only that, but it's not the right time to judge. In 1 Corinthians 4, verse 5, the Apostle Paul tells us, Judge nothing before the time. Now is not the time. Judge nothing before the time, he says, until the Lord comes. When is the right time for judgment to take place? When the Lord comes. When the Lord comes, then that's the right time. Now he goes on to say,

The Lord will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the counsels of the hearts. He says the right time for judgment is when the Lord comes. And when the Lord comes, He's going to reveal or bring to light the hidden things of darkness. You see, we're not equipped to judge because there's a lot that we do not know. I hope that you know that there's a lot that you do not know. But oftentimes we forget and we think we have the whole picture.

Like the Proverbs says, you know, one person's case seems right until you hear the other side. It's easy to happen. You hear the story, you think you have the whole picture, and you can quickly come to a judgment, but there's a lot that we don't know. And so Paul says, when Jesus comes, when God returns, well, then he's going to bring to light all that was in darkness, all the things that are the unknowns, all the uncertainties, all of that is going to be brought to light. And not only is he going to do that, but he's going to reveal the counsels of the hearts.

God is going to, when He returns, when it's time for judgment, He's going to reveal what actually is taking place in the hearts of people. And that's something that you and I are not capable of doing. We cannot discern and know a person's heart. We cannot know their intentions. We cannot know their motives, whether good or bad.

And so to come to a conclusion, to pronounce an opinion concerning right or wrong in a person's life, in their heart, in their motives, in their decisions, we're not equipped to do that. We can't see the heart. And there's a lot that we don't know. We are not capable of good judgment when it comes to other people and their hearts and their motives. Well, he ends verse 5 of 1 Corinthians 4 by saying, Then each one's praise will come from God.

You see, at that time, God's going to bring everything to light. He's going to make everything right. And He's going to reward each one according to His works, whether good or bad. God sees the heart. He knows everything. He knows the right time. He's coming at the perfect time. And He's going to take care of it. It's not our responsibility. It's not our realm of authority. We are not to judge the hearts and motives of people.

We're not to speak evil of. That's why James says, do not speak evil of one another, brethren, because we don't see the heart. We can't see what's inside of them. We don't know what's going on within them, but God does. He is able and we are not. Now, again, I need to point out, we can pronounce what the Bible says is right and wrong. We cannot pronounce our own opinion concerning right and wrong. So,

This cannot be used as an excuse. You know, you go and share with someone and they're living in fornication, they're

living in sex outside of marriage. And they can't say, well, don't judge me. You know, you're not supposed to judge me. You don't know my heart and you don't know my motives. No, that's not a valid argument. You see, the scripture says clearly and it has stated and it has announced what is right and what is wrong and what God has called sin. We can pronounce what the Bible says is right and wrong. But beyond that, we have no authority.

We don't have the right to pronounce our own opinions concerning right and wrong and apply those to everyone else. We don't have the right to apply the convictions that God has given to us and make everybody else adhere to them or to put some guilt trip upon them because of what we feel that God has spoken to us. God does speak to us and we'll see that at the end of the chapter. He does work in our hearts and He does call us to certain things that He doesn't call other people to.

And so we must not speak evil of one another and judge one another. Because to do so is to elevate ourselves above them and above the law. But he says in verse 12, there is one lawgiver who is able to save and to destroy. Who are you to judge another? Who are you to judge another? Look at the person next to you and say, who are you?

Who are you? You can't judge me. I can't judge you. Who are you to judge another? He says, look, there's one lawgiver. Who's that lawgiver? You can answer out loud. It's okay. Who's the lawgiver? God is the lawgiver. There's one lawgiver. Only one. He is the lawgiver. He is able both to save and to destroy.

He's able to save. You might be judging that person. You might be speaking evil of that person. God's able to save that person. Now that's much better. He's also able to destroy. He has the power. He's capable of doing something for real. All we can do is talk and think evil thoughts. Or we can pray. We can intercede on their behalf. There's one lawgiver and it's not you.

You're not the lawgiver. You have no right to speak evil and judge others. God is able to save and destroy. Paul was dealing with a similar subject in Romans chapter 14. In verse 4, he asked a similar question. Who are you to judge another's servant?

Who are you to judge another servant? You see, that person that we would speak evil of, that person who's sitting next to you right now, the person who sits across the aisle from you at your work, or the person who is down the street from you in your neighborhood, the person that you would speak evil of, that's not your servant. And therefore, you have no right to speak evil of them. Because they're not your servant. Right?

Paul says, who are you to judge another's servant? They belong to the Lord. They're accountable to the Lord and they are responsible to God for what he has spoken to them, what he's called them to and what he has commanded them. Going on in Romans 14, Paul says, to his own master, he stands or falls. Indeed, he will be made to stand for God is able to make him stand.

See, you have no right, I have no right to judge another's servant. To his own master, he stands or falls. That person next to us will give an account to God. And before God, they will stand or fall. And God's able to make them stand. Instead of speaking evil against them and judging them for those things that we don't even know about and the things that we can't see and cannot discern and cannot know, the best thing for us to do is to simply pray for them.

Now, again, this is when it comes to things that are not clearly defined in the Word of God. We can pronounce what the Bible says is right and wrong. We're called to address those issues. In Galatians chapter 6, Paul gives us the instruction. He says, look, if anyone is overtaken in any trespass, what's a trespass? It's a violation of the law, a violation of the Word of God. If someone is involved in sin,

The Bible says that we are to live a certain way and they are not living that way. The Bible says we're not to participate in certain things and they're walking in certain things. That's the type of person he's dealing with here. He says, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted. Now, can you see the contrast here?

Between what Paul encourages us to do here and what James says you must not do. You must not be puffed up with arrogance and pride and count yourself as better than those other people and above the law in speaking evil of and judging and coming to conclusions and pronouncing your opinions. But here's what you can do. In issues where someone is violating the Word of God, they're breaking, they're trespassing, then what we're to do is to go restore them.

Not beat them, not slam them, not tear them down or beat them up, but to restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, meekness, humility, considering yourself lest you also be tempted. You see the heart and the attitude here as we go and we share with someone, not in pride and arrogance and I'm so much better than you and I can't believe you fail this way, you miserable sinner. Surprise, God even receives you at all. You know, that's not right. Instead we go in meekness.

We go recognizing, I'm capable of the exact same things and even worse. In fact, I've done worse. God's grace is so good. And so we go in a spirit of meekness and humility. And we share with them in love the truth of the scriptures. We pray for them. We offer support. We restore them. Bring them back into fellowship. Help them overcome. That is what we're to do. We're not...

to speak evil of one another and judge one another. We have no business speaking evil of others and judging them. It's not our place. It's not your spiritual gift. Do not speak evil of one another.

Well, the second thing James deals with is boasting about tomorrow. He says, do not boast about tomorrow. Starting in verse 13, it says, come now, you who say, today or tomorrow, we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit. So now he begins to address tomorrow.

The arrogance of boasting about tomorrow as opposed to humbling ourselves in the sight of the Lord. There are those who say, alright, here's what we're going to do. We're going to go here. We're going to go there. We're going to go spend some time here. We're going to spend a year there. We're going to make this profit. We're going to accomplish these things. And if you follow my 12 steps to success, you'll be successful too. It's this idea of they're believing and they're boasting about all the things that they're going to accomplish tomorrow.

As they go here and there and do the things that they've set out to do. It's boasting about things which they know nothing about. You see, there's a great danger. Both of these areas speaking evil of one another. And now James says, come now you who say. Again, he's dealing with the tongue like he did in chapter 3 of James.

And he explained how the tongue is a little member, but man, it boasts great things. And a whole forest is set afire by a little spark. And the same is true of our tongue. That our tongue causes us and leads us into great sin as we boast about and speak about these things that we know nothing about. He's talking to those who make these plans, who say these things. Today or tomorrow, we'll go to this city, we'll spend a year there, we'll buy and sell and make a profit. Now,

Is it bad to make plans? No. Does the Bible say that it's bad to make plans? No. Is it bad to plan ahead? No. In fact, the Bible encourages it. There's a good lesson there to be learned in looking ahead and planning ahead and saving up. The lesson here is not that we shouldn't plan, but that we must not presume upon or boast about what we do not know. There's a lot that we don't know. Just like when we're dealing with someone else, we're not to speak evil of them or to...

Judge them because there's a lot that we don't know. In the same way as we look ahead, there's a lot that we don't know. But there's a lot that God knows. And so the idea here, the lesson here is not that we shouldn't plan, but that we must include God in our plans. That we must recognize His right to redo our plans or to change our plans or to add on to our plans or to subtract from our plans or to modify our plans.

He has the right to do so. In Proverbs 19, verse 21, it tells us that there's many plans in a man's heart. Nevertheless, the Lord's counsel, that will stand. We have many plans. We have all kinds of desires. We have all kinds of things that we think are going to happen, that we think we're going to do. But it's the Lord's counsel that will stand.

And we need to include God in our plans and not presume upon the future and not boast about tomorrow when we don't know what's going to happen tomorrow. You know, this is something that took place recently that we're familiar with in the housing market. A lot of the issues, not all of them, and I wouldn't say necessarily the majority of them, but there is a good number of them,

That we're done exactly with this statement, almost word for word. Today or tomorrow, we're going to go to such and such a city. We're going to spend a year there. We're going to buy and sell and make a profit. Here's what they said. Look, we're going to go. We're going to get this house. We're going to finance it this particular way so that we pay very little, not really what the normal payment would be. The housing market is going to continue to skyrocket. And man, in five years, we're going to sell it and we're going to be set. We're going to make a great profit.

Well, then it came all crashing down. Now, if it had worked, it'd be like, oh man, they're brilliant. But the intent, the purpose, it was presuming upon the future. Presuming and boasting, things are going to continue to go great. Everything's going to continue to go up. And so I can do this type of loan and I can accomplish this and then I'm going to be set in five years. I'm going to go do this and I'm going to make a profit. I think it's something we need to really consider and pray through.

As I was studying and preparing for this, I began to think about the use of credit cards and how it's presuming upon the future. Presuming that I'm going to continue to make more money, nothing else is going to happen, I'm going to be able to pay this back. It's presuming upon things that we don't know. Now, does that mean it's always wrong? No. Does that mean all borrowing is wrong? No, absolutely not. But some of it is.

And so we must be careful and we must be submitted to the Lord and we must allow Him to rearrange our plans when He needs to. I would maybe even take it a step farther and say we need to let Him set our plans for us. Find out what He wants and then do that. That's what we're called to do. I say that to you, but I say it to me. I say it to anyone who will listen. We need to be submitted to God, surrendered to Him.

James says, look, you guys who you say these things, you have these plans and now you're going to go and make a profit. He says in verse 14, whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. James says, look, here's the problem with all your plans and all your great schemes for making a profit. He says, you don't even know what's going to happen tomorrow. How can you be talking about a year from now and the things that you're going to do? You know, you have your

Five-year plan, your 10-year plan, you have this great scheme and you're boasting about how good things are going to be for you and how well you're going to have it. And you don't even really know what's going to happen tomorrow. When it comes to tomorrow, just come to grips with the fact that you are clueless. You're clueless. You'll set your alarm, but there's no guarantee that you'll wake up to it. You say, I'm going to wake up tomorrow, 6 a.m.,

Spend two hours in prayer before I get ready for work. Yeah, you can boast about that and say it all you want. You're clueless if that's actually going to happen. You don't even know.

If you'll be alive to wake up to your alarm tomorrow. You don't even know if you'll just sleep through your alarm tomorrow. You don't know if you're going to make it to work on time. You don't know if there's going to be traffic. You don't know if there's going to be an accident. You don't know. You're clueless about tomorrow. You can speculate. You can have opinions and ideas and draw upon your many years of experience. But the reality is, when it comes down to it, you have no idea what tomorrow holds. Whether good or bad. You don't know. Jesus told another parable in Luke chapter 12.

of a man who was a farmer and he brought in a really good crop and he thought, man, this is so awesome. Look at this abundant crop. I don't even have room to store all this. What am I going to do? Okay, here's what I'm going to do, the guy figures. I'm going to tear down my barns. I'm going to build bigger barns.

Because if I produce this much this year, then next year, how big is that crop going to be? Things are going to be great. I was 20% more this year. If I had 20% more next year, this is going to be awesome. I'm going to build bigger barns, and I'm going to store up for myself, the guy says, and I'm going to be set. And then I'll be able to tell myself, hey, take it easy. Eat, drink, and be merry. You've got many things. You've got goods stored up for a long time. But then Jesus goes on to say, but God said to him, you fool.

This night your soul will be required of you. See, here's this guy. Whoa, bountiful crop. All right, let's make plans. Let's build. Let's make things bigger. We're going to get even more next year. And God says, you're a fool. This night your soul is going to be required of you, God said to him. You don't know what will happen tomorrow. You don't even know what will happen tonight. You don't know what will happen tonight. The future is not guaranteed for us. We don't know what's around the corner.

whether good or bad. I like one thing that Charles Spurgeon said about this. He said, there's two great certainties about things that shall come to pass. When it comes to the future, he says, there's two great certainties. Number one, God knows what is going to come to pass. The second certainty, you don't know. You can count on that. That's a great certainty. It's something that you can trust in. God knows what's going to happen and I don't and you don't.

And the experts don't. They can speculate, they can guess, but the reality is, we don't know what will happen tomorrow. James goes on now to illustrate this with a little visual for us. He says, for what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. What is your life? He says, your life is like a vapor. It appears for a little time and then vanishes away.

If you are 60 years old and there's 6,000 years of history on the earth, what is the proportion of your lifespan versus the history of the earth? It's one one-hundredth of the earth's history. Even if you live to 600 years, it's still a small fraction of the history of the world. Now, let's zoom out a little bit more. If you look at

Let's say you're blessed to live a hundred years. What is the ratio when you compare that with eternity? Let's see, you do 100 over infinity. How do you do that math? I don't even know. It's nothing. Now, we get consumed with our lives and we're full of ourselves and we think that the whole world revolves around us and that all of history revolves around us and what we do and what we have for lunch today. Everything revolves around that. That's so important.

And life takes so long from our perspective. But when you zoom out, when you see the whole picture, what is life? James says, it's like a vapor. Now, he didn't have oust in his day, so he said a vapor. But I want to just let you visualize for just a moment. Right here, this is your life.

It's there for a moment, it's gone. I was talking this through with my wife yesterday and she said, yeah, but the aroma stays for a little bit. I was like, oh, that's kind of cool. So your life, you're here, you know, a hundred years maybe and then the aroma stays for a little bit. Maybe it's a good aroma, maybe it's a bad one, but then even that goes away. It doesn't last very long. This is your life, that's it.

In comparison with eternity, in reality, you need to realize your time upon this earth is like a vapor. It's like a spray. It's there for a moment and it's gone. You don't know what will happen tomorrow. You don't even know what will happen tonight, whether good or bad. And that's why we need to make sure that we live in right relationship with God. That's why we need to make sure that we don't play around with sin. We need to make sure that

We've accepted Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord. We need to make sure that we are walking in right relationship with God because we don't know what the rest of the day holds. We don't know God's plans. We don't know what's around the corner. We need to be ready. We're fragile. We're vapor. We're only here for a moment and so we must make it count because this is the only time that we've been given to live in this life. And so we need to be submitted to God.

And that's what James says in verse 15. He says, instead you ought to say, if the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that. If it's God's will, then we'll go to this city or we'll go to that city and we'll buy and sell there if God wills. Now, James is not saying that we just use these magic words and you just attach this phrase onto the end of anything and then, you know, voila, your dreams will be accomplished and everything will come together and life will be wonderful. That's not what James is saying. What James is saying is you need to...

include God in your plans and say, God, if you will, this is what I plan to do. I'm making my plans. I'm being diligent. I'm being faithful to what you've called me to, but I submit myself to your will. Again, going back to verse 10, humble yourself in the sight of the Lord. Lord, this is my plans. This is what I think would be good for my life, but God, I don't know everything and you do.

And so, Lord, would you change these plans according to your will? Would you modify these according to what you want? This is my itinerary. Feel free to rearrange it, to modify it to what you know to be best. The Apostle Paul in Acts chapter 18 demonstrated this. He was there in Ephesus. There was a great work going on. He was spending some time there and

They wanted to spend some more time with him, but God had told Paul, you need to go to Jerusalem and you need to celebrate the feast. And so Paul's leaving. He says, I got to go. God's told me to go. There's great work going on here. It'd be wonderful to stay, but God's told me I got to go. And then he says in verse 21 of Acts chapter 18, he says, but I will return again to you, God willing. He says, I'll come back to you.

If God wills. If it's part of God's plan. I seek to. I'll plan to. I desire to. But I'm submitted to God. And if it's His will, I will return to you. We see this also in Jesus. In Matthew chapter 26, as He's praying in the Garden of Gethsemane, He's about to face the cross. It's going to be immensely difficult and great pain. But He submits Himself to God. He says, Lord, if there's any other way for...

These people that I love to have right relationship with you and to spend eternity with you and to be forgiven of their sins, then Lord, let it be that way. But if I must go to the cross, if I must be crucified for people to be forgiven, then Lord, your will be done and not my will. Jesus humbled himself, was obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. We're to humble ourselves in the sight of the Lord and submit ourselves to his will.

James says, look, you guys, you're boasting about tomorrow. It's wrong. Look at verse 16. But now you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. He says, you boast in your arrogance. You make your plans, your promises. You've got your prosperity all worked out. You're going to go and do well. But you're boasting in your arrogance, thinking that you know everything, that you've got it all figured out and got it all wired. You know, there's nothing wrong with being excited about the future.

But the difference is when you include God in the picture and you give him the editing rights to the story of your life. Lord, you're allowed to make changes. Submit to God. Humble yourself in the sight of the Lord. Do not boast about tomorrow. Well, the last point found in the last verse, we'll make it very quickly, is do good. Verse 17 says, "'Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.'"

I think this verse needs to be on our refrigerators for at least a week so that we remember and that we give time to meditate and allow God to speak to us. Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin. I love how James just cuts right to the point.

Do you have trouble humbling yourself in the sight of the Lord? Do you have trouble speaking evil of others and judging them and thinking you're above them? Are you full of arrogance and pride? Do you have these plans and you're boasting about the things that you're going to accomplish and the things that you're going to do? Are you full of pride? Do you have trouble humbling yourself in the sight of the Lord? He cuts us down right here. Let's cut really easy.

You can be like the Pharisee and think you're so self-righteous and so great and so wonderful, but here he says something we all need to hear. To him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin. You might think, well, I keep all the law and I do all the things that the Bible says I shouldn't do and I don't murder anyone or kill anyone, but God, as He walks in relationship with us, as we walk in relationship with Him, puts upon our hearts

things that he wants us to do. He speaks to us about what is good, about what he wants in our life. And if there's something that God has spoken to us, if there's something that we know, maybe the law doesn't require it. You know, maybe you could argue, well, it's not essential for salvation. But if you know that it's good and you don't do it, to you, it is sin. It may not be sin for someone else, but if you know it's good, if you know this is something God has placed before you and called you to do,

To not do it is sin. Bring us right face to face with reality. You and I were sinners. God places things on our heart. You know, He desires, He doesn't relate to us according to the law. He doesn't say, okay, here's your list of things to do. He gives us His word as the authority and as a starting point.

And then he develops us from there. And so he adds on to these things. And he puts upon us convictions and he says, look, I don't want you participating in these types of activities or seeing those types of things or listening to those things. They're not legalistic. They're not meant to be applied to everybody. We can't take our own personal convictions and hold everybody accountable to them. We love to do that. We want to do that.

But that's not right. God puts upon us, He speaks to us because He relates to us by relationship. And so as He walks with us, He speaks to us, He says, you know, I love you, my child, and I don't want you involved in this. And us like children will say, well, Susie gets to do it. Her parents let her.

God says, what's that to you? You follow me. This is what I want for you. I don't want you involved in those things. And then he also puts upon us, because he has a relationship with us, because he speaks to us, and he wants to develop us to be more like Jesus and to continue the work that he began in our life. And he says, hey, why don't you go minister to that person over there? Hey, why don't you go give to that person who's in need? Why don't you go share with someone about something that God has done?

Why don't you help that woman there who's struggling to get her groceries into the house? Why don't you help that guy with his flat tire on the side of the freeway? God puts upon our hearts, because it's a relationship, because He speaks to us, He leads us, and He puts upon our hearts things that are good. And He says, look, I want you to start a Bible study. To not do it is sin. It's rebellion. I want you to do this. I want you to do that. To him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.

You see, James cuts us down. If we're full of pride and we're full of arrogance, this verse ought to bring us back to reality. We're to humble ourselves in the sight of the Lord. He wants to work with us in this relationship. He wants to grow us, to lead us. But we cannot be full of pride and arrogance. Instead, submit to God. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands. Lament, mourn, and weep.

Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord and he will lift you up. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, as we reflect on these words from the book of James, your word to us this morning, God, I pray that you would forgive us of pride and arrogance in our hearts, Lord, if we are speaking evil of one another.

God, I pray that you would fill us with your love for those around us. Lord, that the mark of our lives, as you said, the mark of a disciple would be our love for one another. God, fill us with your agape love. Help us, God, not to speak evil of, not to think evil of, not to judge one another. But Lord, to save those things, to reserve those things, to allow you to accomplish those things in your timing, in your will, in your power.

And instead, God, I pray that you would help us to love and intercede for one another and restore one another with meekness and humility. God, I pray that you would help us not to presume upon the future and be reckless in our spending and reckless in our endeavors and just go forward with our plans, boasting about all the things that we're going to accomplish. But I pray, Lord, that you would help us to humble ourselves in your sight, Lord, to recognize and to acknowledge that we don't know what is going to happen to tomorrow.

Lord, we don't know what is going to even happen tonight. And so, Lord, we submit our plans to you. We submit our purposes to you. We ask, Lord, that your will would be done, not ours. Lord, that you would be glorified, that your work would be accomplished because we know that's what's best. And so, Lord, we submit to you in our plans. We submit our future to you. We ask for your will to be done. And God, I pray that you would help us

as you lay things upon our hearts, things that you want us to stay away from, and things that you want us to do. God, that we would respond in this relationship that you have with us, that we would be obedient to what you put upon our hearts, that you might complete the work that you began in us. Forgive us, God, for our sin against you, and help us to walk with you now, this day. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

We pray you have been blessed by this Bible teaching. The power of God to change a life is found in the daily reading of His Word. Visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and Bible study resources.