INTRODUCTION #23
1. Open your bibles to James 4:13-17.
2. In this section of scripture James gives warning about making plans that do not include God in those plans.
(1)Young people, is God #1 in your planning for your summer vacation? With your free time will you read the bible and pray more? Will you attend the services faithfully?
(2) Adults, will God be #1 on our vacations? Attending, reading and praying faithfully?
3. Let’s start our discussion of the things that James teaches us.
DISCUSSION
I. FIRST, JAMES 4:13-15 GIVES AN EXAMPLE OF PEOPLE THAT MIGHT OFTEN BE GUILTY OF MAKING PLANS THAT DO NOT INCLUDE GOD IN THOSE PLANS.
1. Let’s read James 4:13, “13 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”; 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. 15 Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.”
2. James is not condemning planning for the future. He is not condemning conducting business. James is not condemning making a profit. All business must make a profit. What James is condemning is the not having God in the plans that one makes relating to business.
3. The principle that James is warning about is something that could relate to planning a summer vacation and leaving God and attending services out of that summer vacation.
4. The principle that James is warning about could refer to going to school or college or any other activity and while doing it leave God out of those activities.
5. James 4:15 warns: 15 Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.”
(1) James warns that we should show humility and a dependence on God. It is o.k. to plan for the future and plan to try and make a profit or try to have good success in whatever we are going to do.
(2) But as we try for a profit and success or to have an enjoyable vacation or a good year at school or college, it is mandatory that we have God and prayer as a part of our life everyday.
II. SECOND, JAMES 4:16 WARNS THAT IF WE GLORY AND BOAST IN WHAT WE DO AS IF WE HAVE ACCOMPLISHED EVERYTHING ON OUR OWN THEN WE ARE GUILTY OF BEING EVIL.
1. Let’s read James 4:16, “16 But now you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil.”
2. James is warning us to understand that if we should grow arrogant and self-sufficient, and think that we have a firm grasp on the future, that our over confidence will likely bring us grief. James is teaching that the person who boasts about what he will do tomorrow, may very well be inviting condemnation to himself.
3. Turn Luke 12:16-21. Here, Jesus gives a parable that shows the terrible end result of boasting and the thinking that one does not need God. Let’s read Luke 12:16-21, 16 Then He spoke a parable to them, saying: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully. 17 And he thought within himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?’ 18 So he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods. 19 And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.”’ 20 But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?’
21 “So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”
4. The man in the parable shows an extremely worldly attitude and expressions of “I this” and “my that” over and over. He failed to thank God for his blessings. He talked as if he had grown and harvested the big crops all on his own!
At least 11 times in this short passage we find this arrogant man using either the word “I” or “my” as if his success was all on his own.
This arrogant man was selfish and did not think of sharing what God had blessed him with, with others. He did not understand Acts 20:35 which states, “It is more blessed to given than to receive.” This man was greedy and wanted to hang on to what he had, as long as he could.
This arrogant man serves as a warning to each one of us that we should not act as if we do not need God! We must always show that we know that God owns everything and that we are just stewards and managers of what we have in our possession and work with.
III. THIRD, JAMES 4:17 WARNS THAT PEOPLE WHO ARE TAUGHT WHAT JAMES HAS TAUGHT US AND THEN NEGLECT TO OBEY ARE GUILTY OF SINNING.
1. Let’s read James 4:17, “17 Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.”
2. The word “therefore” indicates a connection between the conclusion reached here and the preceding warnings that James has given.
2. In the context James is teaching that when one neglects to approach the future with humility and a dependence on God then they are guilty of sinning. When one plans and does things that are o.k., but if at the same time he is guilty of leaving God out of his plans, that neglect is sinful.
3. The sin of neglect is just as condemning as doing gross and sinful practices. In other words the neglect of the man in the parable of Luke 12 to give God credit and to share with the needy was just as sinful, as if he had robbed a bank and built bigger barns and bought the crops to fill them up with.
3. A common mistake observable in our society, with regards to spiritual values, is the assumption that individuals are good simply because they do not do evil. Just because a man is not a bank robber does not make him a good father or a faithful Christian.
(1) No good father or faithful Christian will rob banks, but there must be positive goodness, which results from doing what is good.
(2) Turn to Matt. 25:24-30. “Every judgment parable in the New Testament reveals that the punishment meted out was not for something bad the individual involved did, but something good he did not do.
(3) In Matt. 25:26 it is affirmed of the one-talent man that he was ‘wicked and lazy.’ It is quite obvious that this word is used in this parable in a sense wholly foreign to our usage today.
(4) A wicked person is, in our view, one who does bad things. The one talent man was just lazy and negligent.
(5) The negligent man of James 4:17 doesn’t have anything said about him that most people would call evil and bad.
(6) An interesting thought to consider is that probably no court of law has every condemned a “negligent or lazy man”, just because they were negligent and lazy. And yet James, God and Jesus do condemn those who are negligent and lazy!
4. Turn to Matt. 25:24-30. In this passage we learn that there are many evil things which the one-talent man did not do: he was not a murderer; he did not steal; he was not guilty of taking the Lord’s name in vain—the Bible Record does not accuse him of any of these. But he is described as wicked and lazy and he was condemned to hell. Let’s read Matt. 25:24-30, “24 “Then he who had received the one talent came and said, ‘Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed. 25 And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground. Look, there you have what is yours.’ 26 “But his lord answered and said to him, ‘You wicked and lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered seed. 27 So you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received back my own with interest. 28 So take the talent from him, and give it to him who has ten talents. 29 ‘For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away. 30 And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
5. Turn to Matt.21:18&19. Here, the barren fig tree illustrates the truth of James 4:17 and the danger of negligence. Let’s read Matt. 21:18&19, 18 Now in the morning, as He returned to the city, He was hungry. 19 And seeing a fig tree by the road, He came to it and found nothing on it but leaves, and said to it, “Let no fruit grow on you ever again.” Immediately the fig tree withered away."
(1) The fig tree of the land of Israel first put on its fruit before putting forth leaves; when one saw a fig tree with leaves, the natural presumption was that it also had figs. Our Lord pronounced a curse upon this particular tree because it had leaves but no fruit.
(2) Jesus used this as an object lesson for his disciples who think they can be pleasing by only putting on an outward appearance of righteousness. The heart must be converted and dedicated to the Lord; this inner condition will be demonstrated in outward obedience.
6. Turn to Matt. 25:31-46. In this parable, again, Jesus’ depiction of the Great Judgment at The End Of The World furnishes abundant proof that James 4:17 is correct when James teaches that negligence is sin. Let’s read Matt. 25:31-36, “31 “When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. 32 All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. 33 And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. 34 Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: 35 for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; 36 I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’ Drop down to v. 41 –
“41 “Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: 42 for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; 43 I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.’
44 “Then they also will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?’ 45 Then He will answer them, saying, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ 46 And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
6. Many other statements in the bible show the necessity of doing God’s will:
(1) Turn and let’s read Matthew 7:24-27: "24 “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: 25 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. 26 “But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: 27 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.”
(2) Let’s read Luke 6:46: "But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say?”
(3) Let’s read Luke 12:47-48: "47 And that servant who knew his master’s will, and did not prepare himself or do according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. 48 But he who did not know, yet committed things deserving of stripes, shall be beaten with few. For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more.”
CONCLUSION
1. Turn to Acts 10:34&35. In this context Peter is explaining to Cornelius the wonderful things that God has done in providing Jesus as the Savior of the world. In the verses we are about to read Peter teaches man’s part and responsibility to fulfill for man to receive the blessing that are available through Christ.
2. Let’s read Acts 10:34&35, “34 Then Peter opened his mouth and said: “In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality. 35 But in every nation whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him.”
3. Drop down to vs. 48. At this point Peter understands that God is showing that Cornelius and the other Gentiles that were with him were acceptable subjects for being saved.
Peter commands them to be baptized so that they would complete their obedience to the plan of salvation.
They had already expressed belief, repentance, confession and now they needed to be baptized.
Let’s read v. 48, “48 And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord. Then they asked him to stay a few days.”
4. If you are not a Christian we encourage you to not go through this next year – not even the rest of day without God and Christ being #1 in your plans!
5. Don’t boast or glory in living a life without God and Christ. James says that such is evil!
6. Neglecting to obey the gospel when you realize how important it is to obey is sin!
7. What ever your need is don’t neglect to respond to this invitation song!
8. Come as we stand and sing!
