Authentic Christianity

Practical Wisdom from the Book of James

Planning God’s Way James 4:13-17

November 26, 2017

Pastor John Lloyd

Passage: James 4:13-17 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”— 14yet 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. 15Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” 16As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. 17So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.

Big Idea: Deo Volente (D.V.) “God willing”

I.Understand our tendency to leave God out of our planning.

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.”

Luke 12:18 And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods.

Proverbs 27:1 Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring.

“The idea seems to be that the desire to make a profit has become such a towering priority that it has overshadowed everything else. He is not arguing against making money, or even the desire to make money. He is against the attitude of self-contained certainty, the same smug attitude that marked the teaching of the false teachers.” David Nystrom

II.Recognize the transitory nature 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.

“Our brave new pleasure-dominated, pleasure-seeking world is increasingly filled with people who live their lives with no reference to God.” Hughes, R. K.

Daniel 4:30 and the king answered and said, “Is not this great Babylon, which I have built by my mighty power as a royal residence and for the glory of my majesty?” (Daniel 4:34-35)

Isaiah 46:9 remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me,10 declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose,’ (Psalm 39:5)

How should we approach life when the outcome is uncertain?

The key is to trust in God’s graciousness and not human plans.

III.Submit our plans to the Lord’s will.

James 4:15 Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.”

“What these merchants need to go on to reckon with is that their lives are also in the hands of God. James thus makes the continuance of life itself contingent on the will of the Lord.” Douglas Moo

Job 12:9 Who among all these does not know that the hand of the LORD has done this? 10 In his hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of all mankind.

James 4:7 Submit yourselves therefore to God.

Acts 18:21 But on taking leave of them he said, “I will return to you if God wills,” and he set sail from Ephesus. (Romans 1:10, I Corinthians 4:19)

Matthew 6:9 “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. 10 Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”

Prayer: “God I want your will done in my life! My heart is surrendered.”

IV.Beware of bragging in our own accomplishments.

James 4:16As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil.

“James is not rebuking these merchants for their plans or even for their desire to make a profit. He rebukes them rather for the this-worldly self-confidence that they exhibit in pursuing these goals - a danger, it must be said, to which businesspeople are particularly susceptible.” D. Moo

I Corinthians 1:26 For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. I Corinthians 1:27-28

I Corinthians 1:29 so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.

It’s this thought of not only bragging but being autonomous and independent from God instead of being dependent upon God.

I Corinthians 4:7 For who sees anything different in you? What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?

V.Plan intentionally to do good.

James 4:17So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.

The general principle illustrated by the particular example just discussed is here stated: knowledge without practice is imputed to a man as great and presumptuous sin. James reverts to the principle with which he started. Nothing more injures the soul than wasted impressions. Feelings exhaust themselves and evaporate, if not embodied in practice. As we will not act except we feel, so if we will not act out our feelings, we shall soon cease to feel. Jameson Faussett Brown

Matthew 7:24 “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock.

“It is not only what people do that matters; the good that they fail to do is equally important to God.” ESV Study Bible

John 15:16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. Jn.14:12

God Willing: Deo Volente D.V. in every area of my life!

Spiritual Growth Questions for week of November 26, 2017

How is it going with your reading plan? Sun. II Peter 2 Mon. II Peter 3 Tues. Jude1 Wed. Revelation 1 Thurs. Revelation 2 Fri. & Sat. reflection. Pick out one verse that ministered to you. Share a truth you’ve been learning with a friend.
Starter: Are you a long-range planner or do you take it one day at a time? When you were 15, what did you expect to be doing at 25? Were you right?
Read James 4:13-17 three times. Read one time in a paraphrase translation. (The Message or The Living Translation) Share with a friend or your group what you are hearing from God’s Word. Try and put the passage into your own words.
Read James 4:13-14, Psalm 90:5,6,10 & 12, Isaiah 46:9-10. How do you respond to James' observation about the fragility of your life? What do the Psalm 90 verses teach you? What does the Isaiah passage say about God and the future?

5. Study James 4:15, Acts 18:21; Romans 1:10. In practical terms, what would it look like to live out an attitude that expresses, "If the Lord wills, we shall live, and we shall do this, or that"?

Read James 4:16, I Corinthians 1:26-31. According to James, what lies behind the reasoning that excludes God and His will?

Read the Corinthian passage and note as many things as you can about why we should be on guard about boasting in our own accomplishments.

Read James 4:17, Ephesians 2:10. As you look over this passage, in what ways is God calling or nudging you to do what you know is right? What are some things you feel God calling you to do in 2018? Ask someone to pray for you in this area.

Bonus Question: For the hungry follower!

What are some things which are clearly the will of God? (Verses to look at: Eph. 5:17–21; 1 Thess. 4:3–8; 1 Peter 2:13–15; 3:17)