Let's once again seek God in prayer and ask for his blessing upon the study of his word. Father, we thank you for this privilege to gather together in this building in order to hear your word proclaimed. And we ask once again that you would graciously give your Holy Spirit to all of us, that we would correctly hear your word that we would rightly apply it to our hearts and lives, that you would save sinners in our midst, that you would sanctify your people in the truth, and above all, that you would glorify the Lord Jesus Christ. It's in his name that we ask for these mercies. Amen. Well, in our last message from the letter of James, we received instruction regarding the sinful use of our tongues. And this was, of course, not the first time in our study through James' letter that he has instructed us about this extremely important matter in the life of a Christian, indeed, in the life of anyone. In chapter 4, verses 11 to 12, we learned about some specific sins of the tongue, which are directed against our Christian brothers and sisters. Sins such as slander, backbiting, and gossip. We also learned when we studied those verses that such slander with the tongue includes additional sins, sinful judging of others, a sinful judging of God's law, and a challenge to God's authority. Well, this morning we come to verses 13 to 17 in James 4, and I would ask you to turn there in your Bibles, if you've not done so already, to James chapter 4, and we will study verses 13 to 17. And as we study these verses, we see that James continues to address the use of our tongues. For James understood that our tongues, what we say, our words, what we pen, what we type as well, our words, they often reveal the spiritual state of our souls. And as he instructs us regarding our tongues, James, as a wise and faithful pastor, probes our thinking and hearts in order to convict us of additional sins and in order to lead us to repentance and to trust in the Lord Jesus Christ alone for the forgiveness of those sins and indeed of all sins. And if you're here this morning and you don't even understand what I mean by those words, I'm glad you're here, but continue to listen, because God is indeed calling all of us, whenever his word is proclaimed, to repent, to turn away from our sins, the violations of God's law, and to turn and trust in the living Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. So now please follow along as I read James chapter four, beginning at verse 13. Come now, you that say, today or tomorrow we will go into this city and spend a year there and trade and get gain, whereas you do not know what shall be on the morrow. What is your life? For you are a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. Instead, you ought to say, if the Lord will, we shall both live and do this or that. But now you glory in your arrogance. All such glorying is evil. To him, therefore, that knows to do good, and he does it not, to him it is sin. So that's the passage this morning, and I would like you to see from these verses, first of all, the confrontation of wrong thinking. the confrontation of wrong thinking in verses 13 and the beginning of verse 14. Notice under this heading, first of all, the blunt address in verse 13. James was writing to believers, but his address to them at this point in his letter is very direct. Notice that James does not write, come now brothers, as he did in other portions of this letter. Rather he writes, come now you that say. The verbal tone of his address alerts his listeners, his readers, that James is concerned that in the specific matters which he will now deal with, they are not living as they should as professing Christians. So it's a blunt address in verse 13. But notice secondly the common assumption there in verse 13. Come now you that say today or tomorrow we will go into this city and spend a year there and trade and get gain. Notice the common assumption. An assumption is something that is taken for granted, and this is what the recipients of James' letter were doing with regards to their business endeavors. As a matter of habit, they were stating as a foregone conclusion, today or tomorrow we will go into this city, we will spend a year there, we will trade and we will get gain, we will get a lot of money. So here are professing Christians who are purposeful and self-confident planners regarding their business endeavors and the making of money. No one and nothing shall hinder them, they are thinking, from success. They decide where they will go, when they will go, and how long they will stay on their business trips. And with absolute certainty, they know that they will make money, they will get gain. Now I must make some necessary qualifications here. James is not stating that Christians should not be purposeful planners regarding their business endeavors, or for that matter, regarding any godly endeavor. He's not saying that. He's not saying don't be purposeful planners. Neither is James criticizing the making of money. or even the making of much money. The Bible gives us examples of godly individuals who were successful in their trades and very wealthy, such as Abraham and Job. And the book of Proverbs gives numerous vital principles related to planning, related to prudence and diligence, and the wealth that may result from such purposeful business activities. Proverbs 10 verse 4 states, the hand of the diligent makes rich. But what James is reproving is a worldly self-confidence in one's business plans and efforts without any thought regarding God's sovereignty, God's providence, and God's wisdom. Christians must not assume that their well-thought-out plans will, of course, automatically become a reality. They must not do that. Christians must not assume that their plans and schemes and business will, of course, prove successful. They must not assume that they will, of course, acquire gain as a result of their labors. This is a common assumption, even among professing Christians at times, that's what James was addressing. But notice thirdly, the sobering assertion that James gives us in verse 14a, the very beginning of verse 14. Whereas you do not know what shall be on the morrow. James asserts an irrefutable and basic fact of life, namely that we cannot predict what will happen tomorrow. We cannot even predict what will happen in the next minute here in this building. By way of illustration, suppose that you are driving on wonderful Route 23. And you have a green light, but as you drive through the intersection, another driver disobeys his red light and crashes into you. You see, in a moment of time, your life situation has changed significantly and without prediction. So with these words of James, you know not what shall be on the morrow, James proclaims a common biblical truth that we do not know the future, even the next second of our lives. Now remember, James was well-versed in the scriptures of the Old Testament. Proverbs 27, verse 1, perhaps was on his mind as he penned these words in his letter. Boast not yourself of tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring forth. And therefore, Christians must be sober-minded regarding each day in their lives and not speak and live as though they have knowledge and control of the future. Now, joining the words of verses 13 and 14 together, I believe we can legitimately extract a clear and sobering warning against covetousness, a clear and sobering warning against the worldly pursuit of riches, as well as the worldly perspective under guarding such pursuits, which ignores the unalterable realities of death, judgment, and eternity. And could it be that as James penned the words of verses 13 and 14, that he thought of the teaching of the Lord Jesus Christ as recorded in Luke chapter 12? We do not know, of course, whether James heard this parable from the lips of Jesus when it was first spoken, or if he was told about this parable after he had become a genuine Christian. But regardless, the Lord's words in Luke 12 are an appropriate illustration of the warnings which James wrote in these two verses of chapter four. I'd like you to turn there please to Luke chapter 12 and verse 15. Luke chapter 12 and verse 15. Luke 12 and verse 15. And Jesus said unto them, take heed and keep yourselves from all covetousness, for a man's life consists not in the abundance of the things which he possesses. And he spoke a parable unto them, saying, the ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully. And he reasoned within himself, saying, what shall I do? Because I have nowhere to bestow my fruits. And he said, this will I do. I will pull down my barns and build greater. And there I will bestow all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, soul, you have much goods laid up for many years. Take your ease, eat, drink, and be merry. But God said unto him, you foolish one, this night is your soul required of you. and the things which you have prepared, whose shall they be? So is he that lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God. And there we end the reading. This rich man in Luke 12, like the Christian merchants that James addresses in his letter, made definite plans for acquiring more goods, and assumed that he would be successful, and assumed that he would live to enjoy them. This rich man in Luke 12, he lived without a thought about death, or judgment, or eternity, and God called him foolish. because he was earthly minded and not rich toward God. So there we see, going back to James chapter 4, in verses 13 and the beginning of verse 14, the confrontation of wrong thinking. But now back in James 4, notice secondly, The humbling instruction in verses 14b and verse 15. The humbling instruction, and under this heading notice first of all the terse and probing question in verse 14b. What is your life? The ESV, the New King James, and the ASV, translations of the Bible, all have this question in 14b. And that is the best rendering of the original language. What is your life? What is your life? That's the question for each one here this morning. What is your life? James' question is terse because he wants the undivided attention of everyone. He was earnestly concerned that Christians not be consumed and tied up in knots with this present world's money, get-rich schemes, possessions, and worldly pursuits. Yes, again, James understood that Christians must labor and earn money in order to support their families, in order to give to the work of Christ and the local church, in order to give those who have legitimate needs. But with his terse question, He probes the mind and the conscience of every individual Christian, including you who are sitting here this morning, so that each one will stop, think, evaluate his heart and life, and ask the question, what motivates me in my daily living? What grabs and holds my heart and affections? Is it the trinkets and things of the world? Is it going shopping at Nordstrom or Macy's or whatever department store you would like? Is it being absorbed with what Amazon is offering on the internet? Is it having a new business scheme in order to get more money? What motivates you in your daily living? What is grabbing and holding your heart and your affections? James wants you and me to think about eternity. and live in the light of eternity, and consequently put everything in this world and life into its proper God-given place. That's the terse and probing question. What is your life? But notice, secondly, The surprising and humbling answer to James' terse and probing question, verse 14. See the next part of verse 14. For you are a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. Human lives may seem to be very substantial, But in truth, human lives are flimsy, light, frail, like a vapor or a mist or a fog. On a foggy morning, go outside and try to grab some misty fog in your hand. You can't do it because there's no substance to the fog. This is what our lives are like, James wants us to know, God wants us to know. Our lives are insubstantial vapor or mist or fog that cannot even be held in the palm of a hand. Human lives are also transitory as vapor. Think of the tea kettle on your stovetop boiling water, a tea kettle that whistles. And when the kettle begins to whistle, you can see the vapor that appears and then vanishes into thin air almost immediately. It is seen for a second, and then it is gone. What an accurate and humbling view of man, which James correctly had. Our lives are both insubstantial and transitory, fleeting. How radically different, how different from and contrary to James' understanding of man is the view of man held and esteemed by the typical American today. Americans boast in the mighty, substantial, and lasting, so-called lasting accomplishments of entrepreneurs, CEOs, scientists, PhDs, presidents, prime ministers, kings, queens, and generals of armies. That's what Americans boast in. James confronts us and humbles us with the truth, God's truth, that we are here for one minute, as it were, on the earth. And the very next minute, we are ushered into eternity. Eternity. Eternity. Could it be that James had portions of Psalm 90 in his mind when he penned these words of verse 14? You can turn there if you would like. I'll just read a few verses from Psalm 90. Verse 5, a Psalm of Moses. You carry them away as with a flood. They are as asleep. In the morning, they are like grass, which grows up. In the morning, it flourishes and grows up. In the evening, it is cut down and withers. You see what Moses was saying and what James wants us to understand. Our lives are like the grass of the field that grows up one day, and the next day it withers under the heat of the sun and is cut down. Psalm 90 verse 10. Moses continued, the days of our years are threescore years and 10, 70. Or if by reason of strength they are fourscore years, 80, yet is their pride but labor and sorrow, for it is soon gone and we fly away. Verse 12 of Psalm 90, Moses' words. In the light of these realities of the insubstantial lives of men and women, boys and girls, the transitory nature of our lives on this earth, Moses wrote these words in verse 12. So teach us, so teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom. You can go to school or to university, and a math teacher or a math professor can teach you about mathematics. You can go to school or to university and go to a history class, and a teacher or professor can teach you about history. But only God can teach you to number your days. Only God. And that's why Moses prayed this way, and this is why you must pray this way. Teach me to number my days, to get a heart of wisdom. So we've seen the terse and probing question, verse 14, the surprising and humbling answer to James' question. But now thirdly, the self-denying and humbling perspective in verse 15. The self-denying and humbling perspective in verse 15. James writes, instead of thinking this wrong way, you ought to think the correct way and you ought to say, if the Lord will, we shall both live and do this or that. if the Lord will. So with these words, James urges all Christians especially, but in particular, the presumptuous Christian merchants who boasted in their plans, their efforts, and their assumed success, he urges each of them always to add a vital qualifier to their plans and endeavors. If the Lord will, we shall both live and do this or that. James did not mean that Christians must always verbalize these specific words whenever they discuss their plans for business or life. But this biblical perspective must be present in the believer's mind and heart whenever plans are being formulated. And the Lord Jesus taught this principle to his disciples when he gave them a model prayer as a guide for their praying in Matthew 6. Hear the words of the Lord Jesus in that model prayer. After this manner, therefore, pray. Our Father who is in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done as in heaven, so on earth. And we see this same biblical principle embraced by the apostle Paul in Acts 18, when his friends were urging him to not go to Jerusalem, but to stay and come back to Ephesus. And Paul said, I will return again unto you here in Ephesus if if God will. And then he left the city of Ephesus. He understood, you see, this principle. Not only must Christians recognize that their lives are frail and transitory, they must understand and embrace the truth that their lives, your life, Your life is in the hands of Almighty God, the creator of the heavens and the earth. You must understand as a Christian that you live under the lordship of the Lord Jesus Christ. And note that James specifically wrote, if the Lord will, deliberately turning the minds of his readers to their Savior. James wanted these believers to remember that the continuance of their lives here on earth for even one millisecond is totally dependent upon the will of their Lord. They are not the masters of their own lives. and this earthly material realm is not the beginning, middle, and end of all existence. Do you believe that, dear brother or sister in Christ? There is a spiritual realm A spiritual realm beyond the wood of this pulpit, beyond the pews you're sitting upon, beyond the air that you're even breathing. And that spiritual realm is an everlasting realm. And your personal relationship to the Lord Jesus Christ will determine, at the close of your earthly sojourn, whether you enter the eternal bliss of heaven or the eternal damnation of hell. Your personal relationship to Jesus Christ will determine that. Faith in the living Lord Jesus Christ as your own Savior Your own Redeemer, your own Lord, is absolutely necessary if you're to die and enter into everlasting bliss of heaven. And of course, bound up with a faith is repentance, turning away from your sin. Such sobering considerations moved the Apostle James, guided by the Holy Spirit, to now issue two pastoral rebukes to his readers, his listeners, in his letter. Look there in James chapter four again at verses 16 and 17. Here we have pastoral rebukes. First of all, in verse 16, there is the righteous rebuke of the sin of arrogance. but now you glory in your arrogance. All such glorying is evil. Or your Bible translation may say you boast in your arrogance. And with these words in verse 16, James now rebukes the sin that lay underneath the worldly presumption and living for the present without regard to eternity. And this underlying sin was boasting and rejoicing in their arrogances. It's actually plural in the original language. It's not singular. They were boasting and rejoicing in their arrogances. They were proud as professing Christians. They were self-confident. They were self-sufficient. Christians, again, are not the captains of their own destiny. They do not control the direction and duration of their lives. No human being can do this. And such boasting about one's life is inconsistent with a Christian worldview. And James plainly states all such boasting about what you will do and what you will not do and how you will accomplish this and you will avoid that problem and you will make a lot of money and you'll have a wonderful life and you know this and you know that. James says all such boasting is evil. to boast and display arrogance regarding your life and plans for your future without reference to God, without reference to God's Word, the Bible. manifests a thinking and living that has forgotten or rejected the fact that there is an almighty and omniscient God who sovereignly and wisely directs the course of all human affairs. An almighty and omniscient God who sovereignly and wisely directs the course of each individual's life. God is sovereignly, omnisciently, wisely directing and controlling everything throughout this entire universe, this world, but also your individual life. James rebukes this sin of arrogance, verse 16, but then In verse 17, he gives a righteous rebuke of the sins of omission. Sins of omission, to omit doing something. Verse 17, to him therefore that knows to do good and does it not to him, it is sin. James concludes this section of his letter in verse 17, by succinctly reminding his readers, I have given you, my readers, my listeners, clear and specific lessons regarding the Christian life, regarding living the Christian life. You now know how to think, how to speak, how to live in a godly manner. You now know what it is to do good in the sight of God. You know how to avoid what is evil in the sight of God. And therefore, James wants us to understand, if you do not live according to the spiritual light that God has now given you, you will sin against God by not doing what you know you should do. That's called impenitence. Knowing that you should not be worldly-minded and continuing to be worldly-minded is impenitence. God says forsake this, but you don't forsake it. You're not obeying him. God says do this, think in this way about life, and you choose not to do that, you're omitting doing what God commands. Sins of omission are as real and serious in the sight of God as sins of commission. We have a tendency when we, at least I can say for myself, probably it's true for you, but for myself, that when we think of sin, We often, or I often, only think of those things that we have done that we should not have done. We lie and we know that's sin. We did something we should not have done. That's a sin of commission. But we overlook and excuse what we omit to do that we should do. But the Lord Jesus had a very different view of sins of omission. They were very terrible in his sight. In fact, Jesus declared in Matthew 25 concerning that great day of judgment. He said, when the Son of Man shall come in his glory and all the angels with him, Then he shall sit on the throne of his glory, and before him shall be gathered all the nations, and he shall separate them one from another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And then shall the Lord say to the goats on his left hand, depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire which is prepared for the devil and his angels. Why? For I was hungry and you did not give me to eat. Sin of omission. I was thirsty and you gave me no drink. Sin of omission. I was a stranger and you did not take me in. Naked and you did not clothe me. Sick and in prison and you did not visit me. Sins of omission will be brought before the impenitent on the day of judgment. Very sobering passage from James the Apostle. By way of review, There's the confrontation of wrong thinking in verses 13 and 14. The humbling instruction in verses 14 and 15. Our lives are like a vapor. The pastoral rebukes in verses 16 and 17. But now some practical lessons. I have a question for all of the children in this room, for all of the teenagers, for all of the adults, for all of the elderly. Are you personally ready to die and come before the living God? Are you personally ready to die and come before the living God. Are you prepared to enter eternity? In my extended family on my wife's side, one of her unconverted, unbelieving, impenitent relatives died. It's been very sobering to think He is in a Christless eternity, righteously so, in hell. Are you prepared to enter eternity? Are you living in the light of the truth that your life is like a vapor? Do you believe that, especially if you are young? So easy to think that you have another 20, 30, 40, 50 years, 60 years, and maybe you will, in God's mercy. But what is 70 years? What is 80 years in the light of a never-ending eternity? Whether in heaven, which will be glorious, or in hell, which will be utterly despairing and hopeless and bleak. Current events may at times provide an opportunity to proclaim, apply, and highlight biblical truths to sinners and to Christians, especially when those current events underscore, in God's sovereign providence, the very biblical truths which are being studied from the Bible. For example, the Lord Jesus Christ used current events to underscore biblical truths which he was proclaiming. And we read of this reality in Luke 13. Now there were some present at that very season who told Jesus of the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. So they were worshipers. apparently in the temple in Jerusalem with their animal sacrifices, and Pilate, whether individually, personally, or with his soldiers, came and murdered those worshippers so that their blood mingled with the animal sacrifices. Jesus continues, he's aware of that current event. He answered the crowd and said unto them, do you think that these Galileans were sinners above all other Galileans because they have suffered these things? I tell you no, but except you repent, you shall all in like manner perish. You see, he took the current event and he drove it home to their consciences and hearts. But he continued, or those 18 upon whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them, do you think that they were offenders above all men that dwell in Jerusalem? I tell you no, but except you repent, you shall all likewise perish. Well, in recent days in our country, there have been two very sinful, grievous, evil murders which have shocked many. and caused a great upheaval and flurry of words, opinions, judgments, arguments, heated debates, commendations on the one hand and condemnations on the other in the news and social media. Now, if you are a genuine Bible-believing Christian here this morning, You must ask God to give you grace, biblical wisdom, prudence, self-control, patience, and love in your responses to these events. It is not my purpose to delve into and comment upon the commendations or the condemnations that have filled the media. But do not misunderstand my silence on many matters. I am grieved and sorry for the loved ones affected by these manifestations of human depravity and sin. And I am praying for the families concerned. However, in the light of these grievous events, these current events, and the teaching in God's sovereign providence this morning, from our Bible passage in James 4, verses 13 to 17, I would like to follow the Lord Jesus Christ's example when he spoke to the people regarding the death of those murdered by Pilate and the death of those upon whom the tower in Siloam fell. The Lord Jesus was not callous regarding the tragic and grievous murder of the worshiping Galileans by a wicked man named Pilate, The Lord Jesus was not callous regarding the untimely death of those upon whom the tower of Siloam fell. But the Lord on these occasions did not get himself wrapped up into all sorts of social media flurry. He used those occasions to press home some legitimate biblical truths to the hearts, consciences, and lives of his hearers. Neither the woman in North Carolina nor the man in Utah woke up on the morning of their murders knowing that it would be their last day of life on this earth. They didn't. They did not know that. And you do not know that you will live one more day, and neither do I. Those two individuals did not know what evil. You see, it has nothing to do with the politics of individuals or the ethnicity of individuals. It was murder. These two did not know what evil and wickedness would be perpetrated upon them. Their lives, you see, God's word through James the Apostle is totally true. Their lives were a vapor that appeared for a little while and then vanished away, albeit in a very grievous and wicked manner. In the light of these events, instead of getting tied up in knots over politics, we should see and understand that God, the almighty God of heaven and earth, He is calling each individual in this auditorium to heed the truth of James 4, all of the truth of James 4. In Proverbs 27, boast not yourself of tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring forth. And God is calling each one of us each one of us, no matter what your age, no matter what your ethnicity, no matter what your education, no matter what your background, no matter what your sins have been or your sins presently are. He is calling us, as we even heard from Psalm 90, to number our days, to get a heart of wisdom, and in the words of the Lord Jesus, to repent, to change your mind now about how you think about God, how you think about God's law, how you think about the Lord Jesus Christ, how you think about your own sins, your own disobediences, your own unrighteousness. God, through these events and through his word, is calling each one of us to number our days, to get a heart of wisdom, and to repent of our sins now. Now. Now. Why? because there is a God in heaven with a son seated at his right hand, the Lord Jesus Christ, who even now through his word, even now God through Christ is pleading with you, the impenitent and unbelieving, the rebel, he is pleading with you, be reconciled to God. by turning away from your sins, by trusting in Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, asking him to wash away all of your filthy sins in his blood, which he poured out in death on the cross of Golgotha. And so I plead with you on behalf of Christ God is entreating you. God, the living God, is entreating you by me. Be reconciled to God. Cast your sins and your selfishness behind you. Call upon the Lord Jesus Christ. He delights to show mercy to helpless, sinful, needy sinners. He who knew no sin, God made to be sin on the behalf of everyone who trusts in Jesus Christ. And if you are a genuine believer, Continue to repent daily. Continue to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ daily. And remember the many precious promises for you, the Christian. If any man sin, John the Apostle wrote, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, and he is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the whole world. God, through James, through his truth, through these current events, is speaking, not audibly, but is speaking to every single individual in this room. What are you, what are you going to do with God's message that you've heard? Don't be unbelieving. Don't be impenitent. trust in the Lord Jesus Christ alone, even now. Well, let's close in prayer. Lord God almighty, we confess afresh that you are indeed almighty. And we know from the word of God that you are omniscient, And we know also from your holy word that you delight to show mercy to needy, helpless, sinful creatures. And we pray that you would extend your arm of gracious omnipotence and mercy and save sinners this day. And we also pray that you would strengthen the faith of your people that in this very evil, depraved world in which we live, we would be by your grace alone faithful followers of the Lord Jesus Christ in our hearts, in our individual lives, in our families, in our marriages, in our places of business. We pray, our God, that you would help us, that we would not live for the things of this world, that we would not live presumptuously, not live arrogantly, but live with all humility, working diligently, but also diligently trusting in you, our God. Please come, Lord, and work in all of our hearts and lives in amazing and gracious and powerful ways. Receive our prayers and our thanksgiving for your word and for your son. In Jesus' name, amen.