Cornerstone Church
August 11, 2013
“LIVING BEYOND VAPOR”
James 4:13-17
James 4:13 And now I have a word for you who brashly announce, “Today—at the latest, tomorrow—we’re off to such and such a city for the year. We’re going to start a business and make a lot of money.” 14 You don’t know the first thing about tomorrow. You’re nothing but a wisp of fog, catching a brief bit of sun before disappearing. 15 Instead, make it a habit to say, “If the Master wills it and we’re still alive, we’ll do this or that.”
James 4:16 As it is, you are full of your grandiose selves. All such vaunting self-importance is evil. 17 In fact, if you know the right thing to do and don’t do it, that, for you, is evil.
James undeniably wants to get the attention of his audience. He is about to teach an important truth. He does not want us to miss it.
“...Come now, you who say,”
Other translations:
“Now Listen”
NIV
“Go to now”
KJV
“Now I have a word for you”
Message
He intentionally places this phrase here like a prod or goad.
* He wants to provoke a lifestyle change.
* This same truth needs to be communicated today.
In the context of James he is calling into question:
* Christians are acting like God by judging others
* Christians are acting like God by directing their lives leaving God out of the equation or picture!
James wants believers to forsake living like practical atheists. They profess that they know God but their hearts are cold and far away from God.
THE PROBLEM: A Shift / Transition has occurred within Christian Culture.
I do not need to read another book nor look at another poll or survey to conclude Christians in America are in trouble. Neither do you! America needs revival!
There was a time when Christians understood a Christ-Centered World View and questions like these:
* What is Christ’s will for my life?
* How does He want me to live?
* Who does He want me to marry (or if I should be married)?
* What does He want me to do vocationally?
* Where does He want me to serve?
CHRIST
CHRIST was once at the center of all of our decision-making!
All radiated outward from Christ at the CORE and center of our being!
“Me” often dominates today!
* This is what I want to do!
* These are my values!
* These are my Plans, Decisions and Choices and I want Jesus to bless them after I have made them!
“Love God and do as you please.”
Augustine
“Do as you please and say that you love God.”
Today’s Culture
Jesus is still the “Headliner!”
* The Big Name (it is His Church)
* Christians still believe He exists
* They want Salvation – “Fire-Insurance”
We are content with our salvation but seem to have stopped at salvation (making a decision for Christ) and not continued on with Christ in Sanctification.
We neglect to continue to live in the presence of Christ every day and seeking to change all that is not Christ-like in our lives by His Word, Power and Grace so that we will be more like Him in our words, actions and deeds!
Why are we growing so bored with God?
Why have we left Him out of the important matters of our lives as I said moments ago:
* Who should I marry (or not be married)?
* What vocation should I pursue?
* Where should I serve?
* How do I lead and instruct my Children?
* How do I monitor my family amidst the trends and entertainment of our Culture?
Jesus wants to be at the center of our lives (even the mundane daily routines).
* Good Morning, SAVIOR! I thank you for the new day!
* God the Father, I thank you for all you provide!
* Holy Spirit I ask you to direct me moment by moment as I go through the day!
* LORD Jesus, I ask you to guide me in what I say, where I go and what I do today!
Outline:
WHAT WE SHOULD NOT SAY - James 4:13-14
* Limitation of Plans – James 4:13
* Limitation of Life – James 4:14
WHAT WE SHOULD SAY - James 4:15-16
* Start Listening and Following - James 4:15
* Stop Boasting and Bragging - James 4:16
WHAT WE SHOULD DO - James 4:17
* Starting Obeying and Doing - James 4:17
WHAT WE SHOULD NOT SAY
James 4:13-14
Limitation of Plans – James 4:13
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”
James 4:13
The individuals had outlined a fantastic game plan:
* Go into this or that city (marketing)
* Spend a year there (action plan)
* Start a Business
* Make money (the goal – bottom line)
Peter Drucker, William Deming, and Stephen Covey all would have been proud of them.
Please understand I mean no disrespect toward these men. Business is an honorable profession. James is not commenting on these individual’s ethics, business plans or their ability to make money.
* Lydia was a seller of purple – Acts 16:14
* Aquila and Priscilla were tentmakers – Acts 18:2-3
* The Apostle Paul had a plan to go to Rome and on to Spain with the gospel
Prov. 6:6-8 NIV Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise! It has no commander, no overseer or ruler, yet it stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest.
James, however, observed the one most important component missing from their calculation was God!
The late, Charles Colson, noticed this same lack in The United Nations. All of the nations of the world, gather together for world peace and tranquility, attempting to offer the finest solutions on earth to man’s dilemma, had no Chapel in which to pray!
Secularism’s Roots run Deep in our Culture as well as in the church.
Secularism: World and Life view that ignores God and exalts man
“One hundred percent of people are humanists
and ninety-eight percent believe in God.”
The protagonist in Walker Percy’s “The Moviegoer”
James is speaking to the:
* Self-made individual
* Self-sufficient individual
* Self-assured individual
He is speaking to the Christian who decided to leave God out of their bottom-line living as a practical atheist!
Rules for playing God from this text by Chuck Swindoll:
* Set your own schedule “today or tomorrow”
* Select your own path “we will go into such and such city”
* Place your own limits “and spend a year there”
* Arrange your own activities “and engage in business”
* Predict your own outcome “and make a profit”
Warning: “Don’t count your chickens before they hatch”
And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’
“Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.” ’
“But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’
“This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God.” Luke 12:16-21 NIV
Limitation of Life – James 4:14
…yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.
James 4:14
“About the time your face clears up, your mind gets fuzzy.”
Chuck Swindoll, pg. 99, Swindoll’s New Testament Insights – James and 1 & 2 Peter
The other day I was reading in my College Alumni Magazine about Daniel “Josh” Dillman. He was featured in a story.
Daniel reflected Christ in all he did in College, in his church where he was active and the global work of God through missions going to Guatemala in 2010 and Taiwan in 2013.
It was wonderful to see such determination and dedication for the will and plan of God for his life.
On May 11, 2013, Daniel graduated with a B.A. in Graphic Design and Illustration. On May 17, 2013, just 6 days later Daniel died in a car accident.
James says that our life is like a vapor!
* A mist that appears and suddenly is gone!
* The morning mist or marine layer gone with the rising sun!
“I close my eyes, only for a moment, and the moment’s gone
All my dreams, pass before my eyes, a curiosity
Dust in the wind, all they are is dust in the wind
Same old song, just a drop of water in endless sea
All we do, crumbles to the ground, though we refuse to see”
Kansas, Dust in the Wind by Kerry A Livgren
A great wall or barrier exists between today and tomorrow!
* No one can know the future!
* No one can predict or foretell the future!
* No one can control the outcome of the future!
But God!
Acts 17:24-27 NIV “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else. From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us.
Where you live!
How long you will live!
God knows and God controls!
WHAT WE SHOULD SAY
James 4:15-16
Start Listening and Following - James 4:15
Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills,
we will live and do this or that.”
James 4:15
“The seven ages of man: spills, drills, thrills, bills, ills, pills, wills”
The Wit and Wisdom of Richard Needham
“If you want to make God laugh, tell Him your plans”
Woody Allen
Dr. Ken Boa adds this to Wood Allen’s thought,
“If you want to hear him laugh even louder,
tell him how much you know.”
Since we cannot know the future and we know that life is short then we need to continually live under the direction of God who knows us, knows what is best for us and knows the future.
“Man proposes: God disposes”
* We ask Him for wisdom to help us make plans!
* We submit those plans to Him!
* We allow Him to intervene and redirect those plans!
Paul wanted to go to Rome. He got there but not the way he thought!
The Living Water International Team to Nicaragua has shared many insights and moments from their recent trip where they had to change their plans.
* Being flexible allowing God to redirect!
* Waiting patiently.
* Praying earnestly when difficulties developed!
Prov. 16:9 NIV In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps.
My wife Janet and I have being enrolled in a cash course on learning how God changes and redirects life moment by moment!
It can start off as a bright sunny day when you take off in Sacramento heading to Boston to see our daughter. The pilot even confirms this with these words; “It is going to be a smooth ride today to Chicago. We plan to arrive thirty minutes early. Sit back and enjoy the flight!”
We did for almost 3 hours. It was the smoothest flight I’ve had! But then I wondered why we started going in circles and we were not close to Chicago yet. We made three large circles. Then the pilot came on and said; “you may have noticed we have been going in circles. Chicago has not given a spot to land and my request for a priority landing because we are low on fuel hasn’t changed their mind. We are going to stop in Omaha and refuel and then get back on our way to Chicago.”
I thought this is new! Refueling on a 3.5 hour non-stop flight! I hope that he can put this on his Gas Card! We eventually made it to Chicago four hours late and we slept in the airport.
We got in the middle of God answering people’s prayers! Last summer when we were in the Midwest it was the hottest summer in over 100 years and in the midst of a severe drought!
God was now answering the prayers of many for rain! It rained 6” that night and the rain followed us everywhere we went!
This needs to be part of each of our daily prayers and planning!
“If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.”
Deo Volente!
God Willing!
Jesus lived this way!
Heb. 10:7 NIV Then I said, ‘Here I am—it is written about me in the scroll— I have come to do your will, O God.’”
Matt. 26:42 NIV He went away a second time and prayed, “My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done.”
Paul
Acts 18:21 NIV But as he left, he promised, “I will come back if it is God’s will.” Then he set sail from Ephesus.
Peter
1 Pet. 3:17 NIV It is better, if it is God’s will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.
We learn to hear His voice and follow His will by:
* Reading His Word
* Prayer
* The Holy Spirit
“Nothing is right for a Christian if it is not God's will for him.”
John Blanchard
Stop Boasting and Bragging - James 4:16
As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil.
James 4:16
James gives another clear warning!
Instead of seeking God’s will and direction submitting to Him daily they were boasting.
It is wrong to boast of our:
* Our Successes or accomplishments
* Our Achievements
* Our Living without God
Success breeds success. Some say, “God gave me life but it was my brains, my plans, and my energy that accomplished it.”
I would be careful with that kind of thinking.
This is what got Peter into trouble!
* Earlier in his life Peter professed, “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God!’
* Jesus says, “Correct!” My Father revealed that to you!
* Later Peter says in the power of his flesh, “I’ll never deny you” to Jesus. Which soon afterwards he did three times!
King Nebuchadnezzar
Dan. 4:30 NIV he [Nebuchadnezzar] said, “Is not this the great Babylon I have built as the royal residence, by my mighty power and for the glory of my majesty?”
Dan. 4:31-32 NIV The words were still on his lips when a voice came from heaven, “This is what is decreed for you, King Nebuchadnezzar: Your royal authority has been taken from you. You will be driven away from people and will live with the wild animals; you will eat grass like cattle. Seven times will pass by for you until you acknowledge that the Most High is sovereign over the kingdoms of men and gives them to anyone he wishes.”
If you want to boast properly here is advice:
Jer. 9:23-24 NIV This is what the LORD says: “Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom or the strong man boast of his strength or the rich man boast of his riches, but let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight, ”declares the LORD.
The other kind of boasting he says is EVIL!
WHAT WE SHOULD DO
James 4:17
Starting Obeying and Doing - James 4:17
So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails
to do it, for him it is sin.
James 4:17
KNOW! DO!
If you do not Do what you Know it is SIN!
“It is just as wrong to not do a good deed
as to do a bad deed!”
The Parable of the Good Samaritan is a good example!
Example of things we are not to omit:
Matt. 25:42-45 NIV For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’
“They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’ “He will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’
CONCLUDING THOUGHTS:
We need to stop living with a wall of separation between the Secular World and the Sacred World.
THE CHURCH wall THE WORLD
This leads us to compartmentalize (catalogue) our lives into different realms.
The World
This is how I live and act at work, school, my unsaved friends, and maybe home.
The Church
This is how I live and act at church and around my Christian friends or parents.
But that is not how we are supposed to live!
We are either a Christian (Believer) or not a Christian (unbeliever)
If a Christian than we are to live for Christ each and every day! He is the MASTER and we are to strive to be His faithful servants.
* Because He is LORD it matters how we live and what we do!
* Because He is our Savior it matters that we know His will and Do His will!
* Because we are bought with a price – His Precious blood everything thought, action and decision must flow outward and radiate from Christ who is the core of our very being.
“Why does this matter? Because God created us not just to do things and go places with our bodies, but to have certain attitudes and convictions and verbal descriptions that reflect a true view of life and God. God means for the truth of Himself and about life to be known and felt and spoken as part of our reason for being. You weren’t just created to go to Denver and do business; you were created to go to Denver with thoughts and attitudes and words that reflect a right view about God.”
Dr. John Piper, Life as A Vapor
He answered: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’’”
Luke 10:27 NIV
So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.
1Cor. 10:31 NIV
Psalm 14:1 says the Fool says there is no God. How equally foolish it is to be a Christian living as if God had no right or authority to:
* Rule your life!
* Guide your life!
* Direct your life!
When we place ourselves in the driver’s seat we add Idolatry to our rap sheet!
Are you calling your own shots? STOP!
Are you making your own plans? STOP!
No one can predict the future!
No one knows what will happen tomorrow!
Life is but a mist / vapor!
But yielded to God our lives like vapor has great potential!
“…a thoughtful scientist observed an iron pot, which was sitting on the fire, full of water. As the water temperature began to increase, the heavy lid on the pot began to rise. The scientist observed that this action allowed the steam to escape. Millions of other people had observed this phenomenon, but this scientist carried the observation further. He concluded that as weak, unsubstantial, and vaporous as steam was, it must possess considerable power to lift that heavy iron lid. It then occurred to him that if that steam, or vapor could be contained and channeled properly, it could be put to work. In time, it was used to push pistons, which in turn, were harnessed to wheels. All kinds of steam devices were created.
“Our lives can be dissipated, wasted, allowed to drift like vapor in the air until vanish away. Or we can be changed and channeled and accomplish great things for God.”
Dr. John Phillips, pg. 157, Exploring the Epistle of James
Take my life, and let it be
Consecrated, Lord, to Thee;
Take my moments and my days,
Let them flow in ceaseless praise,
Let them flow in ceaseless praise.
Take my will, and make it Thine;
It shall be no longer mine.
Take my heart; it is Thine own;
It shall be Thy royal throne,
It shall be Thy royal throne.
“Take My Life, and Let it Be”
Lyrics: Frances Ridley Havergal
Music: Henri Abraham Cesar Malan
Teach us to number our days aright,
that we may gain a heart of wisdom.
Psalm 90:12 NIV
Let us Live Beyond Vapor!
