For instance:
• I have known for sometime that Keith played sports and he was very good at playing baseball.
• I found out that Jenney was a cheer leader in junior high and high school.
• I found out that Clyde was a pilot.
• I found out that Carlos was a finish carpenter.
• I found out that Pete played as a backup player for the Kansas City Chiefs pro-football team.
• I found out that Frankie and Brenda love flowers.
• I found out that Mickey tells us that he was voted in his senior class as the most attractive. (Sometime you have a hard time believing all the things you hear though!”)
In this sermon I want to share two things with you.
Let’s look at the scriptures to see what we are to do when we learn that OUR PLANS AND GOD’S PLANS DO NOT MATCH!
First, let’s look at there are…
I. SOME THINGS WE DO NOT NEED TO DO TODAY!
It is interesting to learn things about people…things that we did not know.
There are many things we do not know about each other.
But one thing I know about everyone here in this congregation is that everyone here has good intentions.
The reason I know that is because you would not be here if you were not a person of good intentions.
But when it comes to having good intentions we all have heard that THE ROAD TO HELL IS PAVED WITH GOOD INTENTIONS.
Illus: That is, we could interview people in hell and they would tell you THEY DID NOT INTEND COMING TO THIS HORRIBLE PLACE CALL HELL!!!
But nevertheless they are there and they are there for eternity.
The book of James has a lot to say about people who live their life with good intentions.
Let’s look at a man WHO HAD GOOD INTENTIONS
Look at James 4:13-17 with me. You might see yourself in the life of this man…BUT I HOPE NOT.
Now look at this man if you will in James chapter 4:13-17. “Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: 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. For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that. But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil. Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.”
I think it is safe to say that James is talking about a business man planning what he is going to do.
But I want you to notice as he is making plans you cannot find God in those plans at any time or any place.
This man is not making plans to sin; everything he is talking about doing is not sinful.He is a man making plans for his business.
James didn’t speak against the idea of making plans.
In fact, in this passage, he actually sets forth a very good pattern for the making of plans in life.
We should make plans.
Illus: Winston Churchill said “That to fail to plan is to plan to fail.”
All through the bible we have people who made plans.
• God himself has already planned out the end of the age. God can look down in the future a thousand years from now and He has everything planned.
• The apostle Paul was a firm believer in making plans. At the end of his second missionary trip, when he was about to leave Ephesus for Jerusalem, he told the believers there, in Acts 18:21 “…“I must by all means keep this coming feast in Jerusalem; but I will return again to you, God willing.” And he sailed from Ephesus.”
But as we make plans each day we need to include God in our plans.
• Sometime when I kiss my wife good bye in the morning when I’m leaving to go to my office I tell her what James 4:15, teaches us. I tell her that I will see her this afternoon “If the Lord wills…”
• Sometime when I kiss her good night I tell her, “I will see you in the morning, If the Lord wills…”
Sure, we can add that phrase to our vocabulary “If the Lord wills”. But this isn’t about vocabulary…It is about attitude.
This man had his future all planned out! He thought he knew exactly what the next season of his life was like.
But look at how Jesus talked to a rich man who was making all kinds of plans of building bigger barns without God....Luke 12:20 “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?’”
The most foolish thing a man can do is make plans WITHOUT CONSULTING WITH GOD HIS CREATOR!!! We don’t know what tomorrow holds!
The sin in this man’s life is NOT THE PLANNING - THE SIN IS THAT YOU CANNOT FIND GOD IN HIS PLANS.
He is living his life like an atheist…that is as if God does not exist.
He might even attend church every Sunday but he is living without God in his plans. Psalms 14:1 “The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God.”
He is a very foolish man in the way he lives his life.
• He is the kind of man that lives his life each day week after week and he talks to everyone he comes into contact with but he never talks to God.
• He is the kind of man that reads the newspaper every day but never takes time to read God’s Word.
• He is the kind of man that has time to watch television each day but does not have time for God in his life.
• He is the kind of man that can take seven days a week that God gives him but God is not included in those seven days.
This foolish man had everything all planned out, but his plans did not include God.
HE HAD THE WRONG ATTITUDE ABOUT LIFE!!!
Look at verse 1, “Go to now you that say today or tomorrow we will go into such a city and continue there a year and buy and sell and get gain.”
He acted like he was going to live forever!!!
HE DID NOT KNOW THAT!
This man James was talking about was planning what he was going to do a year from then…THAT’S DUMB PLANNING!!!
None of us know if we will be here a year from now.
• I'm not just talking about those who are old.
• I’m not talking about those who are young.
• I'm talking about those of you who think that you're in bad health.
• I'm talking those in good health.
Illus: You can go any cemetery and you will find all ages there.
The Bible tells us “IT IS APPOINTED UNTO MAN ONCE TO DIE…”
God is the only one who knows when our appointment with death is. None of us know if we will be here tomorrow.
Make all the foolish plans you want to make a for a year from now. But you may not be here a year from now.
Illus: Dr. Odell Belger said he went to pray for an elderly man in his late seventies and led him to the Lord. But after he led him to the Lord this man was telling him what he plan to do twenty years once he regained his health. He did not regained his health he died only a short time later.
Look again in verse 14, “Whereas ye know now what shall be on the morrow, but what is your life, it's even a vapor that appeared for a little while and then vanishes away.”
Notice, the scriptures tells us life is “Even as a vapor that appeareth for a little while and then vanishes away.”
We can relate to that.
Illus: I can remember as a young school boy waiting on the school bus on a cold morning we would blow the hot air from our lungs and blow it out of our mouth into the cold air and vapor would appear for a short time and disappear.
Now I want you to see this man's attitude. He has his calendar out.
• He plans the place.
• He plans the period of time it will take.
Nowhere in his planning is God his Creator is mentioned.
Notice he did not just plan the PLACE, CITY, AND THE PROCEDURE.
He knew exactly what he was going to do. He was going to buy LOW and sell HIGH!
He was going to be a merchandiser.
Illus: I suppose he had gotten a degree in marketing from the University of Jerusalem.
He knew exactly how to do it. He knew how to buy and he knew how to sell. BUT NO WHERE IN HIS PLANS CAN WE FIND GOD!!!
Illus: He reminds me of the man who was walking down the road with his cow.
A neighbor said, “Where are you going with that cow?” He said, “I am going to sell this cow.” He walked away with the cow.
A couple of hours later he came back without the cow and he was limping and he was all beaten up and the same neighbor said, “Where are you going now?” He said, “I am going home…if it be God’s will.”
Also, notice His motive in everything that he was doing here is in earthly gain. Not heavenly treasure, but earthly gain.
Now I want to say that the Bible does not condemn planning.
Many make no plans…
(1) They make no plans for retirement.
(2) They make no plans for insurance for themselves and their family.
(3) They make no plans for death.
God does not forbid planning for things that we know we are going to face in the future.
And this man that James is talking about made some good plans.
I've told you before and I want to tell you again that the biggest fool is not the man who says there is no God.
The biggest fool is the man who says there is a God and then does not live like it.
• Many don't fight God.
• Many just ignore God,
• Just omit God,
• Just live as if God did not exist.
What was wrong with this boastful business man’s plan, this first-century wheeler-dealer, is that:
• He omitted God,
• He neglected God,
• He left Jesus out of his plans. He was the kind of a man that goes days without praying or reading his Bible.
Illus: Time belongs to God and He has already loaned me seventy-nine years of His time on this earth.
I have no right to assume that God is going to continue to give me life another year. I hope He would, I honestly expect Him to, but I have no right to assume that He will.
Illus: We have people often who have come away from accidents saying, “Oh, I've never been closer to death than I was at that time.” But, friend, you're closer to death now than you've ever been because you didn't die at that time.
You are closer to your death today then you ever have been.
• Five thousand Americans will die tomorrow.
• Some die of disaster.
• Some die by design, they take their own life.
• Some die by what we could call decay or old age, they just die of old age.
• More people die, dear friend, with their street clothes than those die with their pajamas on.
• More people die suddenly and unexpectedly than die quietly and expectedly.
Illus; My dear sister-in-law came home from church. She was hanging her church clothes up in the closet took one step back and died before she hit the floor we believe based on the way we found her.
The Bible teaches that death is right around the corner. It can be the NEXT STEP, NEXT BREATHE WE BREATH!
• First Chronicles chapter 29:15, “Our days on earth are like a shadow.”
• Job chapter 7 :6, “My days are swifter than a weaver’s shutter.”
• Psalm 29:5, “Behold thou hast made my days a few handbreadths.”
• Psalm 102:3, “My days pass away like smoke.”
• Psalm 102:11, “My days are like an evening shadow, I wither away like grass.”
Illus: These feet of mine have an appointment with death. One day I will take my last step when that time comes.
Illus: This mouth of mine has an appointment with death. One day I will speak my last words when that appointment comes.
We can live our lives like we are going to live FOREVER but we all have an appointment with death. When that time comes we will not be one minute late.
Illus: My trusted wife told me we had an appointment with the doctor for our yearly checkup. She got me up early and we both got dressed and went for our appointment. When we got there we were told we did not have an appointment until the following week.
But when our appointment with death comes there will be no mix-up!!!
• Now, dear friend, there's an attitude that we should never have and that is that we can live our lives without God.
• And there is an assumption that we should never make and that is that we have tomorrow.
We have looked at this foolish man who lived his life doing good things but leaving God out of his life.
We have looked at SOME THINGS WE NEED NOT DO TODAY, but let us look at…
II. SOMETHINGS WE NEED TO DO TODAY!
Let me share with you from the scripture some things you need to do TODAY.
We need to…
A. HAVE REVERENCE FOR GOD’S DAY
Something you never hear preached on anymore is a reverence for the Lord’s day.
I am aware that the “KEEPING THE SABBATH DAY HOLY” was given unto Israel and that we are not under the Law. I KNOW THAT!!!
But when a nation ceases to keep God’s day holy it seems that nation goes DEEPER AND DEEPER into sin.
I wrestled with eating out on Sunday for years because it kept people out of church.
That bothered me until I heard a grill cook say this…
Illus: Ok, I used to be a grill cook at a family restaurant here in West Virginia.
I could ask for any day off ahead of time, except Sunday... No staff could ever request off on Sunday... Why? Because of Christians eating out. It was the busiest day for this restaurant.
I actually worked at the same restaurant two different periods in my life, about 6 years apart.
The first time, I was a Christian, but not a firm one, so I didn't really think about it. I was supporting my family.
The Second time was actually 2 years after I was called into the ministry. I was filling pulpits in the evening, and on other days, but could never get off to go on Sunday morning.
At first it bothered me. Then I had a thought, I feel that came from God...I started seeing it as a ministry.
Because the restaurant was there, other Christians could spend their Sundays with family, and rest. I was actually serving a purpose.
The mother didn't have to work so hard that day preparing meals, and doing dishes.
I along with some other Christians there, started doing devotions during break, which came early to beat the noon rush. We started noticing morale going up... Before, we dreaded the time between 12:00 and 2:00 pm. But then we started singing while working.
Life is filled with situations where some have to work on the Lord’s day to help others.
Illus: The dairy farmers have to work on Sunday so the cows can get some relief and so that we have fresh milk to drink.
Illus: Hospital workers have to work to take care of the sick seven days a week.
Illus: Firemen and policemen have to work on Sunday.
Illus: When we have dinner here at our church the ladies that work in our kitchen have to work while we who attend church will have a meal after church.
If you feel it is a sin to eat out on Sunday, then don't do it!!!
But there are a lot of things we do not have to do on the Lord’s day.
• Cutting grass on Sunday
• Washing clothes on Sunday
• Shopping on Sunday
• Washing our cars
• Painting our house
God give us six days to do these thing but the Lord’s day is a special day.
Man still needs time of rest, worship and reflection.
When it talks about God resting on the Sabbath day God the scripture is not referring to WEARINESS. God never gets tired.
Illus: Rest in the scripture is like a music note, a musician plays along but when he/she comes to a REST NOTE the musician stops.
That’s what the Lord’s Day is for, for rest, worship and reflection.
We know that the early church gave special honor to Sunday, the first day of the week, as the day on which Jesus was raised from the dead.
Every week on that day they celebrated His resurrection and met for worship and instruction.
We celebrate the Lord’s resurrection one day a year we call Easter. But actually every Sunday is a day we celebrate His resurrection.
History reveals the more wicked a nation become the less reverence they have for the Lord’s Day.
We need to regain A REVERENCE FOR GOD’S DAY.
Also we need to…
B. Faithfully attend God’s church
Only God knows the good that has been done through God’s Church.
The devil is fighting God’s Church and one of the ways he is fighting His church is through church attendance.
Did you know that more churches last year was closed down than was opened!!!
The devil is doing all he can do to close every Bible-preaching church down.
And listen, when God’s people are not faithful to His church that is a vote to close their church.
God’s Word teaches we should WORK SIX AND REST ONE!
Illus: Every Sunday folks who claim to be saved when Sunday comes they think of it as a time will they come to church or will they do this or that!
What’s wrong with these people don’t they know it is the LORD’S DAY!!!
Another thing we should do is…
C. START TITHING
Tithes belong to God.
That’s not me saying that, that is God saying that.
Leviticus 27:30 And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land, or of the fruit of the tree, is the LORD'S: it is holy unto the LORD.
God’s Word tells us that the tithes belongs to him.
If the tithes belong to God He is trusting you that when the offering plate is passed you will put His tithes in the plate.
If God can not trust you to do this what does God think about you.
Let’s see, Look at Malachi 3:8 Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings.
God says if you steal His tithes you are a thief.
Illus: Did you know that more stealing takes place on Sunday than any day of the week. The Bible teaches that when a person do not tithe they are stealing from God.
Some are going to be surprise when they stand before God and give account of the thousands and thousands of dollars they have stole from him. God is keeping record of everything we give and do not give.
WHY DOES REFER TO SUCH PEOPLE AS A THIEF?
Everything on the face of the earth belong God.
Illus: For example, we all look at the land that we live on and we say it belongs to us.
NOT SO, GOD TELLS US BELONGS TO HIM.
If we did a title search on the property that you live on they normally go back 50 to 60 years who on that property. But if they kept going back further and further you would discover it all belongs to God.
God loans us time and everything else we have.
But God tells us when we do not tithe we are robbing from Him.
Illus: Dr. Odell Belger tell us how on one Sunday morning that he had a teenager in his church stole a large sum of money from the church.
The only difference between this boy that stole out of the offering plate, a non-tither steals before it get in the offering plate.
Somebody say AMAN or OME!!!
Another thing we need to do…
D. START HAVING DAILY DEVOTIONS
To many folks have Sunday religion.
The Bible teaches we are to serve God seven days a week and the only way you can do that is to have a daily quiet time with Him and spend time in prayer and Bible study every day of the week.
Another thing we need to do each day is…
E. BECOME A SOUL WINNER TODAY!
Listen become a soul winner today.
Do not be like the rich man we read about when he was in hell he ask God to allow him to come back and warn his five lost brothers about hell.
Something else we need to do each day is…
F. IF YOU ARE A SINNER COME TO CHRIST TODAY.
The Bible tells us TODAY IS THE DAY OF SALVATION.
Our life is but a vapor, it appears for a little time and then vanishes away. Don’t leave God out of your plans! You must get right with God today!
We have absolutely no control on when our life begins and ends, Even if you live to be a hundred, how quickly life flies by!
Conclusion:
Life is like the roll of paper towels—the closer you get to the end the faster you come to the end.
George Bernard Shaw astutely observed, “The statistics on death are quite impressive. One out of one people die.”
You would think that because death is not just probable,
• But absolutely certain,
• And that it can happen at any minute:
• And that each person must stand before God for judgment,
• Every person would be desperate to know how to get right with God.
But, strangely, people put it out of mind and go on about life as if they will live forever. The bible says, Today is the day of Salvation!
If you don’t know Jesus as your Savior, would you invite Him in today?
In this sermon when it comes to When Your Plans And God’s Plans Don’t Match what we are to do. We have looked at
I. Things we should not do today
II. Things we should do today
