INTRO.: Every year when New Years day comes on January 1st, people commonly reflect over the last year and make resolutions for the new one. Like the artist who takes away an old drawing they had been working on for a long time and then pulls out a virgin white perfectly clean sheet of paper to begin anew, we have before us a new year.
Opportunities to start again and make good on that diet we tried to follow through with last year but failed. A time to set up goals make plans, and think of strategic ways we can see those goals reached.
We hear of people who resolve to stop smoking again this year, people who resolve to spend more time with their families again this year, those who want to be more disciplined in exercise. The list is as long as there are people.
But let me ask you this, what was your New Years resolution this year? Obviously the answer to that question is closely connected with what is important to you in your life. As Christians, our goal is most likely different than the goals from nose in the world. What is our goal in life and what is the best resolution we can make?
James here in 4:13-17 ponders this very thought in a most contemporary way. He first addresses what is sometimes referred to as "The tyranny of the Urgent".
I. There is Great Value To Plan Wisely For The Future. (Vs. 13)
A. There are Christian people who fail to include God in their plans. (Vs. 17)
1. James is addressing Believers in Christ Jesus who were fighting a losing battle with priorities.
a) They believed in Jesus Christ- verse 17 says they know what is right - the good they should do.
b) Perhaps they attended worship and honored God on all the holy days.
c) But they had a dual standard.
2. The rest of the week these people were merchants who traveled here and there and carried out business.
a) James must have seen or heard of some of the practices that were being carried on in the work place.
ILL. It is interesting that many times we say and believe this idea that when we leave the church here on Sunday we are then going out into the "real world’! The problem is that “out there” is not the "real world"! That is the world Satan has twisted, corrupted and ruined by every effort he can come up with. The "real world" is found in Genesis before the Fall and again in visions recorded in Revelation of what it will be like in perfect communion with God. The closest thing to the "real world" that we can experience today is in the church. What is "real" is what will last forever.
b) We need to take the "real world" out of the church on Sunday and practice it throughout the week where we live and work.
3. The people James is speaking to here were people who came to church on Sunday and worship God but the rest of the week they live as if God hardly even exists.
a) These are the people described in 2 Tim. 3:5 as those who have a form of godliness, but deny the power of God in their lives.
b) They are nothing but pretending to be Christians.
B. This failure results in Christian pretenders who were typical in Biblical times and today. (Matt. 24:38-39)
1. There is a parallel of this idea in Jesus’ discourse on the end times in Matt. 24:38-39.
a) "Before the flood people were eating, and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage."
b) They were carrying on normal everyday life.
2. No one faults people for eating meals and marrying – that is what we do in life.
3. The point or the problem was that in the life of Noah’s contemporaries God had no place!
a) These people lived as if God did not exist.
b) This is also true of the merchants James is addressing.
c) It is also true of people today.
C. Any type of work that excludes God is wrong. (Luke 12:16-21)
1. James is not talking about the ethics of buying and selling.
a) This is not a message as to how they should do business.
b) A moral code of ethical working.
2. James takes these businessmen to task for their disregard for God.
a) To them, the New Years resolution would be to earn more money this year than last. -money was much more important than serving the Lord.
b) They made plans for the future without seeking the Lord’s wisdom.
3. They live like the man portrayed in the parable of the rich fool in Luke 12:16-21.
a) The rich mans failure was not in planning but rather in not seeking God’s will in His planning.
b) If he was rich towards God he would have contemplated ways for his riches to bless others for God’s glory.
c) The point of this story Jesus tells is that life is too short to strive all your days to finally get to a point where you can sit back and eat, drink and be merry.
d) A person is considered more successful the younger they are when they reach that point of earthly wealth.
4. But this is not to be our goal for life, get rich and retire by the pool or wherever.
Trans: Such a goal is our societies lie and Satan’s lie to distract us away from focusing our lives on God. James shows us how to have that focus and purpose in life become a daily reality for us.
II. Life’s Uncertainty Should Bring Godly Focus into Our Life. (vs. 14)
A. No one knows how long we will live so we must make the most of every moment. (Col. 4:5)
1. Tomorrow or even five minutes from now could be our last breath.
2. James points out that life is so very brief and we need to put it into perspective.
3. Col. 4:5 says, "Be wise in the way you act towards outsiders; making the most of every opportunity."
a) The time is brief - use it wisely to serve God.
ILL. Chuck Swindoll mentions that average life spans are shorter than most of us realize. Unlike the great redwood trees that can last for a thousand or more years, most other things come and go quicker than we would imagine. After a little digging, I found several examples that illustrate how temporary things really are:
Copper Plumbing – 20-25 years
Cat -15 years
Face- Lift 6-10 years
Dollar Bill - 18 months
Painted line on the road 3-4 months
Pro-basketball player’s shoes - 2 weeks
Tornado - 10 minutes
I purposely omitted human beings. There are differences of opinion, but most would agree it’s somewhere between 75 and 80 years. That may sound encouraging to the young and pretty disturbing to those in their eighties. The simple fact is, nobody knows for sure how long he or she may live. When we read and believe the warnings in Scripture, there is little doubt that life is short. James pulls no punches when he writes, "You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away" (4:14). Life? A puff of smoke...a cloud of dust...
B. God’s Word reminds us of life’s brevity and man’s pursuit of meaningless material possessions. (Ecc. 6:12;5:10; 12:13&14)
1. In 6:12 he says, "For who knows what is good for a man in life, during the few and meaningless days he passes through like a shadow.
2. In 5:10 he writes, "Whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income."
3. In the conclusion of the book he states the purpose of life.
a) ’Fear God and Keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man" (Eccl. 12:13)
b) The Bible teaches that our time on this Earth is not our own - it is God’s and we will be held accountable for every minute.(Eccl. 12:14)
Trans: So we see that life on Earth is short and the time we have should be used to achieve God’s goal for our lives. Our plans for the future and our New Years resolutions should be founded on a solid understanding that our goal in life is to serve and worship God obediently. But how do we do that?
III. We Must Bring God Into All Areas Of Our Lives. (vs. 15)
A. The proper method of viewing life is one of submitting everything to God.
1. In all our planning, our doing, our accomplishing, we must acknowledge our need to submit it all to God!
2. Instead of compartmentalizing God and ignoring Him during our weekly labors we should make Him first.
a) We should be quick to include God in all our conversations.
b) Even in our plans we should properly acknowledge God’s hand in everything we do.
3. In some circles and cultures the cliche; "the Lord willing" is rather common.
a) It becomes nothing more than a pious formula that because of ifs repeated usage begins to lose its intended significance.
b) James purpose here was not to give some sacred formula of how to make oneself sound holy, but rather, his intent was that these people would realize in their hearts that God was responsible for everything and they needed to remember that.
c) James wants them to remember God, not just on Sundays or when they worship, but always!
B. The use of this phrase, “the Lord Willing” is an outward sign of our hearts condition toward God. (Acts 18:21; 1Cor. 4:19; 1Kings 19:12)
1. It surprisingly does not appear in the O.T.
2. It is used several times in the N.T. as the apostle Paul teaches ifs proper use.
a) In Acts 18:21 Paul says, "I will come back if it is God’s Will."
b) In 1Cor. 4:19 he says, "I will come to you very soon if the Lord is willing."
c) Elsewhere he promises to come spend some time with the other believers "if the Lord permits"
3. All these examples are the result of a man who was listening to and waiting upon God to direct him in the path that He wanted him to go.
a) It wasn’t just a quaint expression to try and sound spiritual for Paul.
b) It was a reality of his life,a reality of his walk with God.
ILL. God is said to speak to men in a "still small voice" (1Kings 19:12), which may partially explain why we find it hard to hear Him when He speaks. It’s much like receiving a phone call in a house with the T.V. going, the stereo blaring, and a house full of people chatting with one another. To understand the caller, it requires asking the friends to be quiet, to turn down the T.V. and the stereo.
So it is with hearing God. It may require that we remove some of the distractions of our lives. Those distractions are anything that takes us away from God - work, T.V., hobbies or whatever. Paul isn’t easily distracted!
4. And it is interesting to notice that he doesn’t always use these words in places we would expect it.
a) This means that we do not have to use the term "God willing" as some mystical spiritual formula.
b) It doesn’t mean that by it’s absence someone is not spiritual.
c) What it means is that our entire lives should reflect a very intimate special relationship with God.
ILL. Imagine you asked someone who has been married for 30 or more years if they would like to go with you to do something over the weekend. Would it offend you, or even surprise you if they said they would check with their wife and get back to you? Or maybe they would say that they know their wife would have no objections to them being away, but later they talk with their wife and she reminds him of some other activity at the same time. That would be considered a normal relationship of two people who love each other and have a very long standing, special relationship. The same is true here in James for the kind of relationship Christians are to have.
Trans: What we have here is not only a goal to put God first but a means of doing so. That is bring God into everything we do James continues by making clear that there is only one true God given goal.
IV. The Goal For People In This World Is To Promote Themselves. (vss. 16 & 17)
A. Boasting and bragging about our accomplishments is evil. (vs. 16)
1. Some people like to tell you all about their trips, their work, their life as it stacks up with the rest of the world.
2. Such a view point is not just bad, James says its evil.
ILL. We all can recall times when we have met people who seem only interested in telling us about their accomplishments.
They tend to highlight those things that the world views as success. The car they drive, the dropping of names of people they supposedly know. The work they do or the toys they own. All such boasting is wrong, it’s evil.
3. Why is it evil.?
a) Because it only helps Satan perpetuate this false idea that the person with the most money or toys is successful.
b) People we meet, as well as the T.V. ads that promote this idea that ones goal is more possessions, more money and you will be happy is right from the pit of hell.
4. Money and possessions are not the target and the goal that will bring inner peace and joy.
B. To know this truth and fail to apply it to our life is sin. (Vs. 17)
1. Now that we know the truth we must live accordingly.
2. God’s Word today has set us free to pursue what is right.
3. We need to take God’s goal for our lives and let it be our beacon in all areas of what we do.
a) To ignore this message or to forget it is sin.
b) The Godly way is to make God primary.
Conclusion: What is the true goal for our life?
Seventeenth-century British theologians would ask their students regularly, "What is the chief end of man?" and the answer was, "Man’s chief end is to glorify God and enjoy Him fo reve r."
That’s the goal for you and me this next year. And the resolution? To bring God into every area of our life. Include Him when ever decisions need to be made, pray and listen to his guidance and direction. Do nothing without consulting Him.
And if you fail? Well, for Christians that’s the really good news!
Unlike the world around us, we as Christians have the opportunity to celebrate this "New Beginning" concept every day. We don’t have to wait till New Years day. We can start each day focused on God. If you blew it yesterday, then forget it, it’s gone. Confess it and it is forgiven - as far as the East is from the West is how far God has removed those confessed sins. Start again today.
In Lam. 3:22-23; "Because of the Lord’s great love, we are not consumed, for his compassion’s never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness."
