Expecting To Have Tomorrow

EXPECTING TO HAVE TOMORROW

James 4:14-15

Intro: There are a lot of people including myself this morning who have plans for when they are able to retire. In a conversation with my Dad Friday morning I told him when my wife and I was able to retire we wanted to purchase an RV and travel across the country. And while I do have those plans I must not forget that I do not have the hope of tomorrow here on this earth but I am certainly glad that whether I live or die I will always see another sunrise. Many people are so presumptuous about their time they have hinged their salvation on it. They will be saved when they get older or they will get saved when they want to, but for many that age or day has never made it. I want to preach this morning on the subject, “EXPECTING TO HAVE TOMORROW.”

Many people seem to have the “world by the tail” as they headed out last night. As the saying goes “they were living life to its fullest.” A great number of them had intentions of going to church this morning with their children and wives, with their mother and fathers only to have that family gather at a funeral home to pick out a casket to bury them in. They expected to have a tomorrow but for them it never came. They forgot about today.

I. TODAY IS UNKNOWN

A. (Proverbs 27:1) Boast not thyself of to morrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth

B. Everything may be going fine for you right now but a trip to the grocery store could change your life forever

C. Many people have gone out to the beer joints and bars for a night of fun not knowing that death was waiting for them in a back alley somewhere or in a car crash

D. While many people think they have it all figured out the they could never tame the mysteries that unfolded before their eyes

II. TOMORROW IS UNCERTAIN

A. (Luke 12:19) And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years, take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry

B. (Luke 12:20) But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?

C. This man was so sure he had tomorrow he had planned on building bigger barns to store his goods.

D. Selfishness and greed will get you every time. It may not kill you physically but it will spiritually.

E. This man is never heard of again in the Bible

F. (Acts 24:25) And as he reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come, Felix trembled, and answered, Go thy way for this time: when I have a convenient season, I will call for thee

G. That time never came for Felix as we never read of his conversion or call of Paul again

III. TIME IS UNSURE

A. (James 4:14) Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.

B. It is funny that when you are in your youth you wish to be older, and when you are older you wish to have your youth again.

C. Life is gone quickly. Since we do not know when the Lord will call for us it pays to live for him day by day.

D. That way should he call we will be ready.

E. Time is unsure in that we do not know when the Lord will return.

F. (Matthew 25:13) Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh