Prayer: Father God thank you for this time we have to be with one another and with you. I ask your blessing over each heart here tonight and those who are unable to come as well. Help us all to set aside the cares of life for this hour and simply recieve from you. Thank you for loving us and sending Jesus to us.
Amen
The Title of this section is: Boasting About Tomorrow
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”—
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.
15 Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.”
16 As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil.
17 So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.
Dodi Note: Wow that is strong. Let’s use GotQuestions to explore what James means by “you are mist that appears a little time and vanishes”.
James 4:14 says, “Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away.” A vapor is a fine mist like fog. It quickly burns away when the sun comes up. It has no substance and leaves nothing behind. Comparing our lives to a vapor illustrates how fleeting our days on this earth are.
Have you ever seen that diagram about eternity and time on earth? Like a timeline of our life?
<________x________________________________>
Life can feel endless at times, but the Bible reminds us that, compared to eternity, an individual life on earth is like a vapor chased away by the morning sun. It is important to recognize the brevity of life so that we don’t squander the time we’ve been given. Psalm 90:12 says, “Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” God wants us to live with purpose, recognizing that the clock is counting down to the moment we step through death’s portal and enter our eternal state. At that moment, the books are closed, and we will begin to reap the consequences of our choices on earth
Hebrews 9:27 And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment,
Romans 14:10 Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God;
Another example is found in Luke 16:19–31).
The Rich Man and Lazarus
19 “There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. 20 And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, 21 who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man’s table.
Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores. 22 The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side.
The rich man also died and was buried, 23 and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. 24 And he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.’
25 But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish. 26
And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.’ 27
And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father’s house— 28 for I have five brothers—so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.’
29 But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’
30 And he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ 31 He said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.’ ”
And of course we also have Jesus. Right? And the Bible. So as James said, we need to be about God’s work here on earth. 7 So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin. I find this very convicting as I for one do not always do the right thing.
During our brief stay on earth, we should live with eternity always before us. Whether we live 5 years or 105, our lives are still as fleeting as a vapor. Even Jesus felt the urgency of being about God’s work while the opportunity remained. He said, “As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work” (John 9:4).
Knowing that life is but a vapor causes us to be uncomfortable with wasted time and restless to invest ourselves in God’s work.
In his metaphor of life being a vapor, James was reminding his readers that they should not become overconfident about their plans because, ultimately, they were not in charge of their plans.
The God who rules all things may overrule our ideas.
If we are not holding our earthly treasures loosely, the overriding of our plans can feel devastating (James 4:13–16).
God often allows unpleasantries into our lives to remind us that this world is not our home Philippians 1:27; 27 Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, and
Philippians 3:20 20 But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,.
Our time here is like a vapor, and then it’s gone. Like an exhalation in cold weather, our lives show up for brief moment and quickly disappear from this earth.
All those born into the family of God John 3:3 will, at death, gather in their eternal home and enjoy forever the rewards of serving the Lord on earth. John 3:3 3 Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
1 Corinthians 3:12–13 12 Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— 13 each one’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done..
AMEN? And thanks be to God. This is our destiny. And yes, sometimes we will mess up but ultimately our outcome will be heaven. Because of Jesus.
If there is anyone here who is unsure of their eternal dwelling. Or unsure if you have ever asked Jesus into your heart, here is a sample prayer of dedication or rededication. I am using one from the site affiliated with Billy Graham ministries, peacewithgod.net .
First a reminder:
We can’t earn salvation; we are saved by God’s grace when we have faith in His Son, Jesus Christ. All you have to do is believe you are a sinner, that Christ died for your sins, and ask His forgiveness. Then turn from your sins—that’s called repentance. Jesus Christ knows you and loves you. What matters to Him is the attitude of your heart, your honesty. Here is a sample prayer.
"Dear God,
I know I’m a sinner, and I ask for your forgiveness.
I believe Jesus Christ is Your Son. I believe that He died
For my sin and that you raised Him to life.
I want to trust Him as my Savior and follow Him as Lord,
from this day forward. Guide my life and help me to do your will.
I pray this in the name of Jesus. Amen."
One portion of James 4 that I really like and cling to is verse 15 Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.”
When we pray it is fine even good to ask God for what we want or think we need. But really we can not ever outdo God. And in all truth we really do not know what any next moment will bring. God has appointed for each of us a number of days of life. I believe he also has his hand in every thing that happens. When something “bad” happens he is there. And if we get to live long enough and look back we can usually see blessing hidden from us at the time.
Or we look back and recognize that we are a better person in part from having gone through difficult things or seasons.
In Luke 12
15And He said to them, “Watch out! Guard yourselves against every form of greed, for a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”
16Then He told them a parable: “The ground of a certain rich man produced an abundance. 17So he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, since I have nowhere to store my crops?’ 18Then he said, ‘This is what I will do: I will tear down my barns and will build bigger ones, and there I will store up all my grain and my goods. 19Then I will say to myself, “You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take it easy. Eat, drink, and be merry!”’
20But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be required of you. Then who will own what you have accumulated?’
21This is how it will be for anyone who stores up treasure for himself but is not rich toward God.”
We do not know for sure what life will bring our way. But we DO know that God will be with us and we know the end of the story which is really the beginning.
The passage at the beginning of James 5 actually reminds me of the ones we read earlier about Lazarus. It says:
5 Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you. 2 Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten. 3 Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure in the last days.
4 Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. 5 You have lived on the earth in luxury and in self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. 6 You have condemned and murdered the righteous person. He does not resist you.
Dodi Note: So again we see that God will DEAL with mean people who do not follow Him and torment others. Then contrasted with that we are given instructions about how we are to face suffering. We will begin there next time, I think.
I wanted to share a church tradition for some. More and more mainstream Protestants are observing it in various ways. It is called Lent.
Simply Lent is a time set apart for 40 days (not counting Sundays) prior to Easter or Resurrection Sunday for self examination, prayer and fasting. Remember in Psalm 139:23-24 it says, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my concerns. See if there is any offensive way in me; lead me in the way everlasting.”.
Lent is a time to do that.
It begins tomorrow with Shrove Tuesday (think Madi Gras too) and ends on Easter. Tuesday is the last day before Lent and many groups have pancake dinners. They do that because some people fast or give up something for Lent in order to focus on God. Like chocolate, soda, meat, whatever.
The reason I wanted to talk about it is to suggest something I read online.
A different kind of fasting. There are loads of versions out there but this one was new to me.
Fast from hurting words and say kind word.
Fast from sadness and be filled with gratitude.
Fast from anger and be filled with patience.
Fast from worries and choose trust in God.
Fast from complaints and contemplate simplicity.
Fast from pressures and instead be prayerful.
Fast from bitterness and fill your heart with JOY.
Fast from selfishness and be compassionate with others.
Fast from grudges and be reconciled.
Fast from words and be silent so you can listen to God and others.
Neat idea? Just for fun.
Father we thank you for this time and for each other. Help us to be intentional about seeking you this week. Be with each of us and those we love. In Jesus name. Amen