I'm reading tonight from the epistle of James in chapter 4. There's a few verses at the end of the chapter that the Lord has laid upon my heart for tonight's meeting. And one little phrase in particular, a question that is asked here in the middle of the reading. We do invite your attention. We thank you for coming. We're glad that you're here. And there's not a more important time in any service than that time that we come to God's word. It's not really important what I have to say so much as what God is saying first of all in the reading and then what he is saying as we seek to preach on his word tonight. And so we trust that the Lord will come graciously near, speak to our hearts in a very powerful way. James chapter 4 and verse 12. There is one lawgiver who was able to save and to destroy, who art thou that judgest another. Go to now, ye that say, today or tomorrow 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. Amen. May God bless the reading of his precious word. There's a question in verse 14 that I want to dwell upon for a little time tonight in the close of this service. What is your life? From time to time as we read and study the scriptures, we are confronted with challenging questions, little powerful, arresting questions that are full of meaning and provoke the thought immensely. Where art thou? That first question that was asked by God to Adam. It's a very searching question. Adam had sinned against the Lord. He had hidden among the trees of the garden. The Lord had come walking in the cool of the evening and this challenging question is put to Adam that brings him out of his hiding place where he is confronted by God concerning his sin. Is anything too hard for the Lord? The background to that question, of course, is in the life of Abraham, when Sarah had laughed at the idea that she would have a child. And the Lord said to Abraham after Sarah had thought it impossible, ask this question, is anything too hard for the Lord? And that question has provoked our thoughts many times, has encouraged us in God's work to know that nothing is impossible with our God. He's able to do all things. Who am I? asked Moses when God called him to lead the children of Israel. Feeling his weakness and inhumanity, he asked the question, Who am I, Lord? And then, of course, he went on to ask the question, What shall I say? Moses, it seemed, always felt his inability, his inadequacy. And you remember the Lord asked him the question, What is in thine hand? reminding us that God uses little things, simple things and the rod was in the hand of Moses and God was going to use that in so many ways. What is in your hand tonight that God can use? If the Lord be with us, why then is all this befalling us? Judges chapter 6, God calling Gideon, the Lord telling Gideon, the Lord is with you. Gideon couldn't understand that. If God is with us, well then, why has all this come our way? Isn't that a question that many Christians have asked over the years? Knowing that God indeed is with His people. He has promised never to leave us nor forsake us, and yet circumstances sometimes provoke the thought in our mind that if God is with us, then why are these things happening to me, to my family, to my friends, to the country in which I live? There's that question, who then is willing to consecrate his service unto the Lord, asked by King David in 1 Chronicles chapter 29. And we've often thought about the need of God's people giving their lives afresh to the Lord, consecrating themselves to his work. Whom shall I send? Who will go for us? The question that God asked in Isaiah's time, as he searched for a man to stand for him, and Isaiah said, here am I, Lord. Send me. What think ye of Christ? What shall I do then with Jesus, which is called Christ? Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? These are just some of the questions as I was thinking about those little questions that the scripture is full of that come with power and challenge to our lives so often. The epistle of James contains one of these searching, challenging, thought-provoking questions. What is your life? A young person in this meeting. with your life before you, potentially, with many prospects standing before you tonight, what is your life? Older person, coming near the end of life's journey, the course is almost run for you. And as you look back upon your life and you would challenge your life this evening, where you are spiritually, in the light of eternity, what is your life tonight? Unconverted person, you're here in this meeting without the Saviour. We're glad that you're here because you are beneath the sign of God's Word. This is the means of grace to bring you to Christ. But what is your life tonight? A life that's lived for self and for the world, for the things of this life? Christian, what is your life tonight? A challenging, searching question, no doubt. The question is asked in the light of commerce, business, The affairs of this world, if you look at what we read there in verse 13, go to now ye that say today or tomorrow we will go into such a city and there continue a year and buy and sell and gain. The thought in mind is businessmen, they're planning for the future. They're planning their affairs for a whole year ahead. What is your life in the light of business affairs and the plans that you're making? It is asked in the light of tomorrow's uncertainty. You know not what shall be in the morrow. It is asked in the light of the great eternity, for in verse 12 we are reminded about the lawgiver, the one who was able to save and to destroy. We are to stand before God one day, the judge of all the earth. Does it not bother you, does it not trouble you even in the slightest that one day when you leave this scene of time you're going to stand before Almighty God, He who is the Lawgiver, He who is the Judge of all the earth? And so I want to take this question and really set it before this congregation tonight. I want to ask it solemnly, for it is a solemn question, in the light of the passage of Scripture that is before us. What is your life? If the question is asked, what is your life? First of all, let me say it is brief. Just like a vapor, James says, that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. This expression is in keeping with many other expressions given in God's Word when describing the measurement of man's days upon the earth. You may recall what King David said when he had his health and his strength. He said, thou hast made my days as on handbreadth. As he thought about his sojourn upon the earth and about God giving him life, he says, you know, my days here upon the earth are just like the breadth of my hand. It's not very big, is it? When he came to die, David, as it were, on his deathbed, his course is now wrong. David is speaking again about the brevity of life when he says, Our days on earth are as a shadow. The shadows that appear just for a little time and then they vanish away. David died at the age of 70. What is your life? Patriarch Job spoke extensively on this subject when speaking about the brevity of life. I haven't time to go into that tonight, but he spoke about his days being like the weaver's shuttle. Like the wind, the wind that just passes by. Like a cloud that passes over us in the sky. Like the swift ships, the merchant ships that are hastening on their business. Like the eagle that hasteneth to the prey. All these descriptions brought to our attention, reminding us that life is brief. And here James, he says it's like a vapour. And how true it is, as it has often been said here today, gone tomorrow. Our time on earth is short. Life at best is very brief. We sang that hymn tonight purposely to remind us as we came to God's Word that life at best is brief. Like the falling of a leaf, like the binding of a sheaf, we are to be in time. How quickly time passes by for us all. Some it's quicker than others. We have our brother Bill tonight in the meeting. We thank God for him and we salute him and the Lord for the work that he's done for Christ in the land of Brazil. And he's been there 51 years, but prior to his going to Brazil, There was another couple, there was a couple went out to serve the Lord in that land, Fred and Ina Orr. And on the way to the mission field, this young couple feeling the call of God, obeying the call of God, going to the land of Brazil to preach the gospel. Many of you know the story of Ina's death, an untimely death. In her late twenties, this young woman going out into eternity, life certainly was brief for Ina. We think of many of God's servants over the years. We learn of the Reverend Robert Murney MacShane, one of the godliest men that ever lived in the United Kingdom, who served as the minister of Dundee for a number of years at the age of 29. He left the scene of time and went out into God's eternity, went to heaven, where he knew the Lord. David Brainerd was the same. David Brainerd died at the age of 29, the missionary to the North American Indians. Even Spurgeon, 150 years ago or thereabouts, when he ministered in the city of London, and what a ministry he had. You know, it was actually one of the outings in London to go and hear the great Spurgeon preach, and thousands of people flocked to him every week to hear the gospel proclaimed. And yet at the age of 57, Spurgeon went to be with the Lord, which is far better. Little children die. We know that only too well within the free church family. Last Sunday night we had a visit from the parents of Oliver James, that little boy from our Cookstown congregation that died a few months ago. I talked to them for quite a time after the meeting. I must say that I was challenged by their confidence in God. A little boy of three, taken so unexpectedly in death. And yet I found them so strong in the confidence of God, knowing that all things work together for good to them that love God. Little Katie McKnight around the same time, little four and a half year old child, taken out into eternity, life was certainly brief for them. But even if you should live to the three score years and ten, or the four score years, the eighty mark, life is still so brief here upon the earth. I visited in hospital last week. Our sister Joan was there in one of the wards, and just opposite our sister, a man of 101. It's a long life, isn't it? Not too many in this meeting probably will get to that age. A century. Seems so long, and yet in reality it is so brief. Even life at best, the very best, the longest years that a man can live to, it is so short. It is short in comparison to some who lived before the flood. Think of the first man, Adam. He lived until he was 930. He's a nutsome age. Methuselah, the oldest man who ever walked upon the scene of time that we have record of, 969 years of age. And so compared to the long life that God gave them upon the earth, our life is very brief indeed. But my friend, you need to compare it with eternity. You need to compare life with eternity. What is your life? It is brief compared to the great eternity of God. Have you thought about it? The foreverness, forever and ever and ever and ever. It is just like one grain of sand on the shores of this earth. One drop of water as we think of the great oceans of the world. One little star in the sky when we think of the great galaxies of stars that are there, the billions and billions of stars. Life is so short indeed. If I could only bring you to see the truth of God's Word, as we have it here, a vapour, it's brief, passing away, and should we live to To be 70, 80, 90 years of age, let me remind you, it's brief. What is your life? It is not only brief, but it is uncertain. We know not what shall be in the morrow, says James. And that's why the scripture cautions us, boast not thyself of tomorrow, for thou knowest not what a day will bring forth. Practically everyone promises themselves another day. Isn't that right? You promise yourself another day in this meeting. I would say that that is true of the vast majority, if not of everyone in this meeting. You plan what you're going to do tomorrow. You have plans for this week. You have plans for your holidays during the summer time. You have plans even maybe for the years to come. And we always promise ourselves one more day. You say young people I've only got so many more years and then I'm finished with school or I've only got another couple of years to do at university. Or maybe those that are older in this meeting, I've only got a certain period of time, X number of years before I retire, I'm looking forward to retirement, maybe that's what you're saying tonight. You see you're always promising yourself more days upon the earth and yet God's word is reminding us that life is uncertain. We know not what will be on the morrow. We do not know what is around the next corner. The future is hidden from view. We are not guaranteed one more day. We're not guaranteed one more second of life. Do not take it for granted. Do not take God for granted. For that's exactly what the businessmen of James chapter four were doing. They were taking God for granted, their life for granted. They were planning not only for tomorrow but for the whole year ahead. If you look at it there again in verse 13, today or tomorrow we shall go into such a city and continue there a year and buy and sell and get game. There's their plans made. The whole year ahead we're going to do business in this city. They haven't taken into consideration that life is very uncertain. We know not what shall be on the morrow. It has been said that those who weep today may smile tomorrow, those who smile today may weep tomorrow. How true it is that many a fair morning has turned out to be a sorrowful evening. The morning was bright, the heart was merry, the whole day ahead seemed to be filled with joy and yet as that day passed by The storm arose because we don't know what the future has in store. I set out one Thursday night to visit my father in Craigavon Hospital. He was ill, we knew that, but he died that evening. We did not know that. We did not expect that. We knew not that that would happen. One Saturday morning I was driving to the Royal Victoria Hospital to visit my brother-in-law. He had been injured, as many of you know tonight, in rioting that took place in Portadown. He was a young police man. He never recovered from that. He was in the intensive care for that month. And I set out with my wife that Saturday morning. One phone call made all the difference. One phone call, my friend, made all the difference forever to my sister. Because I got a phone call as we travelled that day in the car. We were travelling to Belfast. But the phone went and I was told that Frankie had died. and I was redirected, would I now go to Portadown and tell my parents what had happened. And I had the sad duty of telling my mum and dad of Frankie's passing. You see, we know not what will be on the morrow. Many a person is set off from home in the prime of health and strength, with youth and vitality on their side. Their hearts were merry and full of expectation, their hopes for the future bright and filled with prospect, but they never made it home that evening. We do not know what lies ahead the way we cannot see, what crisis may overtake us, what trouble we will encounter, what heartbreak we might face, what awful calamity may cross our path. Aye, even before we get home tonight, we don't know what the rest of this evening has in store for any one of us. Don't be foolish tonight. Do not promise yourself tomorrow and the next day and the next day or the whole year to come as these businessmen were doing. Do not play around with your soul and play around with eternity and play around with your destiny. We know not what shall be on the morrow and therefore you need to be ready. Are you ready to meet God tonight? Have you got a testimony like Robert? Is he the proper attitude? The way we should look about the future is given here in the passage before us. The proper approach to life is seen there in the advice given by James in verse 15. You ought to say, if the Lord will, we shall live and do this or that. If it's God's will, my friends, we will make the rest of this day. If it's God's will, we shall be alive tomorrow and we shall fulfil our plans. If it's God's will, we shall live this week. But my friends, if it's not God's will, If it's not God's will, we shall die. And what then? What is your life? It's grief. It's uncertain. It's limited. You see, there's an appointed time for the journey to be completed. And no one to ask but fifths in the calendar of God, the precise day of your death and mine is written down. Perhaps no one has spoken more eloquently on the subject than the patriarch Job. And of course he could speak from personal experience. And this is what he said in Job 14 verse 5. Seeing his days, speaking about man, his days are determined. The number of his months are with thee. Thou hast appointed His bounds that He cannot pass. Determined. What does that mean? It means it's fixed. It means it's already settled. Did you know that, my friend? Your days on earth, the very moment of your death, has already been determined. It's already fixed by the Lord. The number of our days. And they cannot be exceeded. God has appointed our bounds. And we can't go beyond it. If we think of the journey of life, there's a boundary mark there. As we progress in life, there's a boundary mark. We're not going to get beyond it. You see, that is the day of our death that God has settled, He has fixed already from all eternity, the day that we shall die. And there is no medicine, there is no doctor, There is no surgeon, there is no skill known to man that can prevent the inevitable day. Science, position, wealth, health or otherwise cannot prolong our days upon the earth. God has the bounds already fixed. We sometimes say, if only. Isn't that right? Isn't that how we speak? Maybe when some family member has become critically ill, perhaps died, if only I had done this or that. If only the ambulance had come earlier. If only the doctor had been informed months prior to the diagnosis of some disease. If only, if only, if only. You know my friend, in a real sense that's rubbish because you see God has the day already fixed, that moment when we shall Leave the scene of time when we shall die. What is your life? It's limited. You're going to die one day. You're going to take the journey of all journeys. You're going to leave the scene of time. The anchor will be weaved, the ropes will be untied, and we shall sail out into the ocean of eternity. You see, you must come to the conclusion of the journey. What is your life? It's limited. It's limited. And you don't know when that day is going to be. What is your life? It's also given. Wasn't it a joke? The reason to refer to Job tonight on a number of occasions is because the book that bears his name speaks so vividly about the subject of death, right from the beginning, the opening chapter. It wasn't a joke that said the Lord gave, the Lord hath taken away, Blessed be the name of the Lord. He was referring to the death of his children in that freak storm that happened when his ten children were killed in a tragic accident, we might say. And yet Job, in absolute submission to What God was doing in his life at that precise moment, he says, the Lord gave. He gave me these children. The Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. But here's the point. It's the Lord that gave the children. It's the Lord that gave their life. As the great apostle Paul was standing on Mars Hill, preaching that mighty sermon that he did on that occasion, he said to the people assembled, that God giveth. to all men. It doesn't matter who we are in this world. It doesn't matter whether a man recognizes God or not, but God giveth to all men life and breath and all things. It's God-given. The breath in your body is a gift from God. In Him we live and move and have our being. We only exist because God gives us power to exist. He gives us permission to exist upon the earth. And yes, you can shake your fist in the face of Almighty God in defiance as you continue in your sin and your disobedience and rejection of the Lord Jesus Christ. You can do this. But let you be aware tonight in this meeting, see the life that you have, the breath in your body. It's a gift from Almighty God. Yes, this same God that you will shake your fist into the face of. You know, life is good because it is a gift of God. He's put us on this earth to enjoy the blessings that this earth affords and to glorify His name. Man's chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever. And the thing is true, nobody wants to die. Nobody wants to die. God has given us the gift of life. It is a precious thing indeed. And we appreciate the gift of life and the many enjoyments that we have on earth and not least the friends and the family members that we have. If we were to take away the blessings of life, take away our family, take away our friends, take away the enjoyments of life, the gifts that God has given to us while we live, then perhaps there would be every reason just to die and cease to exist upon the scene of time. But there are so many good things that we have in this life, isn't there? And we appreciate that. We want to stay as long as we can. Yet it's true to say that death is the best thing that can happen to any Christian. If you're saved tonight, if you're ready to go, the best thing that can happen to you is for you to step out of the world into eternity and to be in heaven. What could be better than going home to glory, to see the city bright, to walk the golden streets of heaven and bask in God's own light? Life is a gift. What is your life? Finally tonight, As the question is asked here by James, what is your life? I want to say that life is a journey. It's a journey. All of us, without exception, and I don't care who you are in this meeting tonight, you're travelling, we're travelling on a journey. We're heading to a destination. The destination is eternity. The journey occupies our lifetime. And it concludes with our death. And at that moment of death, that precise moment of death, our destiny will be sealed forever. The Bible speaks of only two destinations, heaven and hell. Those who do not know God and those who do not know His Word will seek to espouse other things. Some of them will espouse annihilation. They will say, when you die, that's it, there's no existence beyond the grave. You go into the ground, there's no such thing as continuing on beyond that moment of death. And these people say, and they call it annihilation. You just cease to exist. You cease completely to exist in time and eternity. And then there's others, and they will say, well, there's other places. Maybe they have a place for little children to go. Or maybe they have some kind of temporary position where they go to. But you see, the Bible knows only of two places, heaven and hell. No other place. No other existence beyond death. It's either heaven or hell. And then there are those, of course, who will rubbish the reality of hell. They say, well, I believe in heaven and I believe that God will take everybody to heaven. But I don't believe that there is a hell. Let me tell you, my friend, as sure as there is a heaven that God has made, there is a hell that God has made. And you're on a journey and you're heading to your destination. You're going out into eternity. What is your life? It's a journey that will conclude in one of these two places. At the point of death, when the journey is over, you and I will be transported to our eternal abode. Sin takes a man to hell. Salvation takes a man to heaven. The Bible is clear when it comes to where a man will be when life has run its course. And when I refer to man, I refer to the man who's not ready, the man as he has been born in sin, without God. The Bible says the wages of sin is death. As by one man's sin entered into the world, and death by sin, wherefore death is passed upon all men. And that death is not just physical, that death is eternal. The Bible speaks about the second death, which is the lake of fire. And when a man leaves this scene of time, my friends, he goes out into eternity. If he's unprepared and unready, he knows not the cleansing of the blood of Jesus and the forgiveness of sins. He will go down into the darkness of a lost sinner's hell forevermore. Every last son of Adam's race has this death sentence passed upon him. Sin. When it is finished, bring a fourth death. Do you realize this tonight? However, God in infinite mercy has opened the door of salvation. He has prepared a heaven for a prepared people. And there's only one way to get to heaven. As the little chorus says, Jesus is the only way. He said himself, I am the way, speaking about heaven, speaking about the Father's house, the place of the many mansions. I am the way, the truth and the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by me. It's not by our church, no matter how good that church might be. It's not by our works, no matter how good the works might be. It's not by the sacraments or the creeds or anything else that belongs to religion. My dear friends, it's the way of the cross that leads home. The eternal Son of God left the splendor of heaven, left His Father's side. He came into this world. He walked among men. In His life, He worked out a perfect obedience for those who would come to know Him. And there upon the cross of Calvary he died the sinner's death, taking our place as our substitute. In my place, condemned he stood, he sealed my pardon with his blood. Hallelujah, what a Saviour! This is the way of God's salvation through the life and the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. What is your life? What is your life tonight? And where will it end? Do you know Christ as your Saviour? because you're going to stand before Him one day, the lawgiver and the judge of all the earth. If you're not a Christian, if you're not saved by grace, then you need to come. You need to come to Christ. The provision has been made and the door's opened. And thank God heaven can be your portion as you come in faith and repentance to Christ. I trust tonight God has spoken that you are challenged by His Word. What is your life? asks James. And in the light of what we've read in the Scriptures this evening, the solemn truths that we've read there, not knowing what tomorrow has in store, life being brief and uncertain and limited, my friend, you need to challenge your heart tonight, where you stand with God. And if you're not saved, come to Him. Come to Him now.