A. My older daughter Shonda’s FAVORITE MOVIE growing up was Annie, based on the comic strip Little
Orphan Annie. She watched that MOVIE multiple times and is still a big FAN.
1. On her 7th birthday Shonda was given a big Annie doll, Annie watch, and even had an Annie Birthday
Cake.
ILLUSTRATION:
The story of ANNIE is quite touching and inspirational. I mean who wouldn’t be touched by the story of a LITTLE GIRL, raised in a mean, cruel ORPHANAGE, and yet despite her CIRCUMSTANCES, for the most part, she always possessed HOPE. And her HOPE was fulfilled
when she was finally ADOPTED by her Daddy Warbucks and she went off to live happily ever after.
And who can FORGET the hopeful song that she sang, “TOMORROW”! (SHOW CLIP)
The thought of TOMORROW is inspirational, don’t you think? I mean it gives us something to look FORWARD to, a sense of a NEW BEGINNING. It gives us an OPPORTUNITY to perhaps redeem ourselves from the current day’s FLOPS and FAILURES.
2. However, the fact is, there is a somewhat NEGATIVE side to TOMORROW—not about
TOMORROW itself, but at least about our humanly faulty UNDERSTANDING of TOMORROW!
COMMENT:
The truth is we all know that TOMORROW is not a GUARANTEE. None of us are GUARANTEED tomorrow. It doesn’t matter how RICH, SMART, GOOD-LOOKING, YOUNG or OLD, whatever, nobody is guaranteed a TOMORROW. All we POSSESS is the HERE and NOW.
B. TOMORROW even though it might be only A DAY AWAY, is still an ETERNITY AWAY.
ILLUSTRATION:
Some years ago, The Associated Press ran the story of Andre-Francois Raffray, a real estate ATTORNEY in France. In 1965 at the age of 47, Raffray worked out a REAL ESTATE deal with Jeanne Calment, age 90. He would pay her $500 each month until her DEATH, in order to secure OWNERSHIP of her APARTMENT in Arles, France. This is a common practice in France, benefiting both buyers and seniors on a FIXED income. (REVERSE MORTGAGE.) This DEAL allowed Jeanne to stay in her APARTMENT until she DIED, and upon her death Raffray would
ASSUME ownership.
Unfortunately for Raffray, Jeanne Calment OUTLIVED him. He passed-away in December of 1995 at the age of 77. Jeanne was still LIVING at 120 years of age. (In this PHOTO, she is a SPRY 117-year-old.) Raffray paid $184,000 for an APARTMENT he never LIVED in. According to the contract, Raffray’s SURVIVORS had to continue payment until Mrs. Calment died. In fact,
she lived in that apartment for another year and 8 months, when she finally DIED at the age of 122.
Mr. Raffray thought he was looking into the FUTURE and making a shrewd investment. But
the fact is he could not IMAGINE what TOMORROW had in STORE for him.
1. In our passage this morning, James addresses the whole issue of TOMORROW.
COMMENT:
He was writing to those Christian who were so focused on the BUSINESS of TOMORROW that they were spending a considerable amount of time just thinking about their FUTURE and all the many ways that they could make more MONEY and get more STUFF. However, in the process, they were failing to take ADVANTAGE of TODAY with which God had BLESSED them.
2. James 4:13-17 (READ) There are three concepts about TOMORROW that James addresses:
MESSAGE:
I. THE BOAST OF TOMORROW (vv. 13 and 16)
A. Apparently James is addressing the WEALTHY businessmen in the churches.
1. Basically, James is confronting and challenging those who BOAST about what they HAVE and what they can GET, thus implying that they themselves were the MASTERS of their own DESTINIES—that they can CONTROL their own FUTURES.
2. These were Christians who had an UTTER DISREGARD for God when it came to their FUTURE.
a. God is not in the PICTURE.
b. They go about their BUSINESS and make PLANS for their FUTURES without SEEKING God in PRAYER and putting Him in their PLANS.
B. By rehearsing their plans James reveals that they TREAT the FUTURE as something that they can not
only KNOW, but have CONTROL over.
1. And from a BUSINESS standpoint, they had a fairly good PLAN in place.
a. They had most everything figured out—the “WHEN, WHERE, HOW, WHAT, and WHY.”
WHEN: “today or tomorrow”
WHERE: “this or that city”
HOW: “spend a year”
WHAT: “do business”
WHY: “to make money”
b. They were all set. Well, except for one DETAIL.
c. In all their PLANNING, they left out the most important aspect . . . “THE WHO”. God was not in their PLANS.
2. Like so many today, the “WILL of God” is not even considered.
COMMENT:
These men were undoubtedly DECENT, RESPECTABLE, and even consider themselves RELIGIOUS men, but in their DAILY LIVES they live as if God had no place in their PLANS.
They BOAST about what they HAVE ACCOMPLISHED and CAN ACCOMPLISH without God, and all the while FORGETTING that all they ARE and all they HAVE is because of God.
3. James- “All such BOASTING is EVIL.”
C. Now, do understand that God is not against MAKING MONEY or against MAKING PLANS for your
FUTURE.
1. In the parable of the talents, “Jesus said of the one talent man that instead of burying his talent
(money), he should have put it in the bank to draw interest—to make more money”- Matt. 25:27.
COMMENT:
It takes TIME to draw INTEREST to make more MONEY. So, God is not against making PLANS to make MONEY. But He DOES NOT want us to make PLANS without seeking Him.
2. Proverbs 16:3- “Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and your plans will succeed.”
COMMENT:
Whatever it is that we do in this LIFE: do BUSINESS, go off to COLLEGE, go on a VACATION, get MARRIED, have CHILDREN, whatever, we are to turn to God in PRAYER and seek His GUIDANCE and WISE COUNSEL—and then we’ll SUCCEED.
II. THE REALITY OF TOMORROW (v. 14)
A. Again, James is referring to those who are making BIG PLANS and discussing BIG DEALS for the
FUTURE without putting God in their PLANS.
1. Here he reminds us that one of the most FOOLISH things that many BELIEVE is that we have a
RIGHT to MORE LIFE.
a. James- Compared to ETERNITY “our life is as a MIST that appears for a little while and
VANISHES.”
COMMENT:
The word “MIST” or “VAPOR” is used to describe a puff of SMOKE or STEAM rising from HOT WATER or like BREATH coming from one’s NOSTRILS on a COLD day.
b. The Bible uses other terms to describe the BREVITY of HUMAN LIFE such as, “BREATH” Job 7:7, “CLOUD” Job 7:9, “GRASS” Psalm 103:15, “SHADOW” Psalm 102:11, and “SMOKE” Psalm 102:3
c. Proverbs 27:1, “Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring
forth.”
d. Moses- Psalm 90:10- “The length of our days is seventy years—or eighty, if we have the strength; yet their span is but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away.”
COMMENT:
We keep trying to make PERMANENT PLANS for ourselves in a place that, at very best, is just a TEMPORARY STOP-OVER.
2. James is trying to help his readers understand that LIFE is SHORT, and no one has CONTROL over what TOMORROW may BRING!
COMMENT:
These WEALTHY BUSINESSMEN not only have ASSUMED that they KNOW what will happen TOMORROW, but have ASSUMED they will be ALIVE tomorrow.
B. We need to LIVE our LIVES as if TODAY is the LAST DAY we have to LIVE.
1. What if you were told that you have only ONE DAY to live, how would spend that DAY?
ILLUSTRATION:
Would you spend that day on a SHOPPING SPREE? Would you spend it WATCHING TELEVISION catching up on the Walking Dead series? Would you spend it ARGUING with your FAMILY or GOSSIPING about a FRIEND? Would you spend your last day SULKING over how UNFAIR LIFE has been?
Or would you spend it surrounding yourself with your FAMILY and FRIENDS? Would you spend it seeking FORGIVENESS from something you’ve done or said to another? Would you spend it MENDING a RELATIONSHIP? Would you spend it SEEKING God’s FACE in PRAYER and MEDITATING on His Word?
2. It is utter foolishness to IGNORE an UNCHANGING, ETERNAL God as one proudly PLANS his
few BRIEF moments of LIFE.
a. Knowing that life is SHORT, let’s LIVE EVERYDAY for God.
b. Let’s be like Moses- “Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of
wisdom”– Psalm 90:12.
ILLUSTRATION:
Alfred Nobel’s brother, Ludvig Nobel, died in 1888. However, a reporter for a French newspaper mistakenly wrote an obituary for Alfred instead of his brother. The headline of the obituary read: “The Merchant of Death is Dead.” The obituary went on to talk about Alfred’s invention of DYNAMITE and how he had amassed a fortune from the manufacture and sale of WEAPONS of DESTRUCTION that had been used to KILL many men in WAR.
Alfred read his OBITUARY in horror! This, as far as the general public was concerned, was the entire PURPOSE of his life. None of his true INTENTIONS surfaced. Nothing was said about his exhaustive work with the HOMELESS and his support of HIGHER EDUCATION. He was quite simply “A Merchant of Death,” and for that alone he would be REMEMBERED.
Nobel decided that he wanted to leave a different LEGACY. Upon his death, he WILLED that his MASS FORTUNE to be distributed as YEARLY PRIZES for CHEMISTRY, PHYSICS, MEDICINE, and LITERATURE—which is now known as the NOBEL PEACE PRIZE. Nobel is now known for his promotion of PEACE, not WAR.
3. While we are still ALIVE, we can RE-WRITE our OBITUARY by seeking God’s WILL and INVESTING our LIVES in those things that are ETERNAL!
III. THE HOPE OF TOMORROW (vv. 15 and 17)
A. James- “We should say, ‘If it’s the Lord’s WILL we will live and do this or that.’”
1. Saying, “If it’s the Lord’s WILL” is merely putting God in your PLANS, it is not placing
LIMITATIONS on us.
ILLUSTRATION:
My younger sister Joann is a very SPIRITUAL PERSON and a dynamic PRAYER WARRIOR. However, she has an erroneous idea that if you PRAY using the PHRASE, “Lord, if it be Your will,” then you are PRAYING with DOUBT and it NEGATES the POWER of PRAYER.
2. Yet, when the apostle Paul wrote about his PLANS he also included the “WILL of God”.
a. Romans 1:10a- “…I pray that now at last by God’s will the way may be opened for me to
come to you.”
b. Romans 15:31-32- “Pray…that by God’s WILL I may come to you with joy and together with
you be refreshed.”
c. 1 Corinthians 4:19a- “But I will come to you very soon, if the Lord is willing…”
d. 1 Corinthians 16:7b- “…I hope to spend some time with you, if the Lord permits.”
COMMENT:
Paul did not consider the WILL of God a LIMITATION to His PLANS. To Paul it was the KEY that OPENED all the right DOORS and really made him FREE. He knew that by putting God in his PLANS that the right DOORS would OPEN, the right CIRCUMSTANCES would fall in place, and the right RESULTS would ensue—even if it wasn’t always what he ASKED for.
B. James concludes this section by saying, “Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it,
to him it is sin”- v. 17.
1. What James is describing is commonly referred to as “THE SIN OF OMISSION.”
a. Sin is not only doing something WRONG—it is the FAILURE to do something RIGHT.
COMMENT:
When you know someone who needs a word of encouragement, and you withhold it.
When you know you’re wrong about something, yet you refuse to apologize for it.
When you know someone needs forgiveness, yet you will not give it.
When you know someone who needs the truth of the gospel, yet you won’t share it.
b. James says when you know the RIGHT thing to do and don’t do it . . . it is a SIN!
2. Proverbs 3:27-28- “Do not withhold good from those who deserve it, when it is in your power to act. Do not say to your neighbor, ‘Come back later; I’ll give it tomorrow’—when you now have it with you.”
COMMENT:
Realizing that there may not even be a TOMORROW, let’s don’t put off what’s important TODAY. All we are guaranteed is TODAY—the HERE and NOW—let’s not WASTE IT!
CONCLUSION:
A. I want to CLOSE with a TRUE STORY that I’ve shared before of a father who WASTED the DAYS that he had with his CHILDREN, and only realized it when it was too late.
ILLUSTRATION:
This father was a bright, innovative young EXECUTIVE who quickly climbed the corporate ladder of SUCCESS. He, along with his wife and two boys, lived in a nice suburban neighborhood just across from a beautiful park.
His children, one Saturday morning came bursting into his BEDROOM, “Dad let’s build a FORT in the park.” The father said, “I’m sorry sons. I can’t today, I’ve got some things I have to do at the OFFICE.” Both of the boys had a very disappointing look on their faces. “Next Saturday,” the father promised, “we’ll BUILD a FORT.”
The next Saturday they burst into his BEDROOM again. This time they’re not taking any chances—they come bringing boards, nails, and hammers. “Dad! Dad, wake up! You promised that you would help us build a FORT today in the park.” The young father said, “Oh, I’m sorry. I forgot all about it!” Seeing the DISAPPOINTMENT on their faces again he says, “I tell you what I’m going to do. I’m going to get on the PHONE and in your hearing, I’m going to take next Saturday off. I just can’t get away today.” “Okay, Dad,” the boys said understandably. (KIDS ARE SO FORGIVING, AREN’T THEY?)
Next Saturday comes, and the father and two boys are sitting around the table eating breakfast. The boys are EXCITED, bouncing back and forth singing, “We’re going to built a FORT. Dad’s going to help us BUILD a FORT.” As they start out the DOOR, the phone rings. SILENCE! You can hear a pin drop. (WHAT IS DAD GOING TO DO?) Dad goes over and answers the phone. He doesn’t have to say anything to the boys. They can tell by his expression that it’s the BOSS.
ILLUSTRATION (cont):
“John, I need you to come in this morning. You are the only one who can close this DEAL.” He looks at his sons carrying their boards and hammers and thinks to himself, “Well, I guess it’s either a CHOICE between my JOB and my KIDS.” Reluctantly he says, “Listen boys, I’ve got to go into work. I’ve got something I need . . .”
“No, Dad! No! You promised.”
“I’ve got to go in just a little while. You start the FORT without me, and I’ll be back very soon to help you FINISH it.” The father got into his car and DROVE away.
The youngest son started across the street carrying his boards, hammer, and nails crying because his Dad BROKE his PROMISE again. Blinded by the tears, he doesn’t see the oncoming CAR, walks out in front of it and is struck KILLING him instantly.
Three days later the young father is at the FUNERAL of his little boy. He looks out over the audience and sees his BOSS and all of his male COLLEAGUES. And he realizes the IRONY of it all; what the CHOICE he made COST him. He begins to CRY. He then stands and speaking through the TEARS he says for all to hear, “Men, if I can leave you one piece of ADVICE this morning, it will be this: BUILD THE FORT TODAY, FATHERS. PLEASE, BUILD THE FORT TODAY!”
