Pride vs Love full display

James 4:13–17 ESV

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”— 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. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.

Alright, let’s do an altar call.

Conviction should bring change, not condemnation

Story of others - Arrogant person

Seeing myself - the best approach to scripture

Seeing the need to repent and change - In God’s view of love, not our view of condemnation

God loves - we often condemn

Let’s unpack the text

James 4:13 ESV

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”—

Come now, Y’all, ---let’s get real…

Once again, the problem is revealed by words.

The words you say reveal your heart.

So, what do these words reveal about the business owners, “The merchant's words" reveal that they feel like they have everything under their control.

1. Time

2. Location

3. Duration of Business

4. labors and profits

A cycle further into arrogance, self-assuredness

HOW does James help them get over their arrogant planning?

Reality Check

James 4:14 ESV

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.

Your life is a mist - A common phrase in Jewish circles, all through the Psalms.

The merchant's pursuit of wealth, without understanding the fragileness of their reality is the problem. What does this sound like?

Matthew 16:26 ESV

For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?

James is probably drawing on people who would have known Jesus’ parable.

Luke 12:13–21 ESV

Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” But he said to him, “Man, who made me a judge or arbitrator over you?” And he said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” And he told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man produced plentifully, and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ 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. And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.” ’ But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”

Wealth vs. Poor

It is hard for a rich man to enter heaven, not because of money, but the pursuit of self-sufficiency. The presumption of control.

America vs. Honduras story

Both loved Jesus, but in a sense, it seemed easier for them to love God, because they depended on Him for everything.

If you are committed first to God’s plans, you will hold your own plans very loosely.

Your words will reflect your heart of God’s plans first.

James 4:15–16 ESV

Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil.

Why is it so evil to boast in our arrogance?

Adam and Eve’s sin was assuming they knew better than God, the pride the temptation of presuming that is they knew what God knew, they would be able to choose for themselves. They would be able to know what God knows.

You will be LIKE GOD, Knowing Good and evil… Knowledge will bring you more power.

Genesis 3:1–8 ESV

Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ” But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths. And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.

Thinking you know better than God will lead to the selfish destruction of yourself and others.

Conclusion - the ultimate antidote for Pride is humble obedience.

James 4:17 ESV

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

If you have a prideful heart, saying I know better than God in my planning which is only concerned about the pursuit of wealth, I will keep repeating the cycle of sin and brokenness in the Bible.

This is a conclusion for this section and for the book of James

If you know that you ought to do:

Consider it all joy, when you face trials or hardships that produce steadfastness of faith.

Ask for wisdom, believing that God will grant it to you.

Identify yourself not in your poorness or wealth, or your function or status on earth, but in the common eternal glory available as a Christ follower.

Do what God says in the Bible

Bridle your tongue

Care for the widow and orphan, those everyone else steps on - Be the one who lifts them up!

7. Refuse to elevate some people over others.

8. Love your neighbor as yourself.

9. Have the time of faith that is evidenced in your works by caring for the needy around you. Give food and shelter to the needy.

10. Let mercy triumph over judgement.

11. Draw near to God and resist the devil and becoming like the world.

12. Lift one another up, instead of tearing each other down.

13. Refuse to see people without the power of redemption

12. Commit to God’s plans first, including the spoken plans to care for the marginalized and orphaned and oppressed.

ALL OF THAT! If you know to do it and do not do it, it is a sin.

“Once we know how we ought to be (who we are supposed to become in Christ) we are accountable for it.” So this is different for all of us.

Such a huge deal for James and should be for us, because

IT IS WRONG TO HOLD THE POWER OF THE GOSPEL HOSTAGE.

We are not in this process alone, God will help us, but we cannot continue our life as we know it.

So, many people, including myself, want life to go on as it is (or better), without the need to CHANGE or Repent.

What does that sound like?

PRIDE

The Gospel of Grace should change us…We should be constantly learning how to love God more, ourselves more, and others more. You love GOD who trains you to love others like yourself. So, if you do not love yourself, you will need time with God to fix that.

Our limit in loving God and others is how well we love ourselves. If you love yourself well, you will want to change. You will run from the pride and to the eternal perspective of heaven!

STORY OF MILTON HERSEY