Expedient Obedience: Why the Gospel is for Today

James 4:13–5:12 NASB95

13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit.” 14 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. 15 Instead, you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that.” 16 But as it is, you boast in your arrogance; all such boasting is evil. 17 Therefore, to one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin. 1 Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries which are coming upon you. 2 Your riches have rotted and your garments have become moth-eaten. 3 Your gold and your silver have rusted; and their rust will be a witness against you and will consume your flesh like fire. It is in the last days that you have stored up your treasure! 4 Behold, the pay of the laborers who mowed your fields, and which has been withheld by you, cries out against you; and the outcry of those who did the harvesting has reached the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth. 5 You have lived luxuriously on the earth and led a life of wanton pleasure; you have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. 6 You have condemned and put to death the righteous man; he does not resist you. 7 Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. The farmer waits for the precious produce of the soil, being patient about it, until it gets the early and late rains. 8 You too be patient; strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near. 9 Do not complain, brethren, against one another, so that you yourselves may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing right at the door. 10 As an example, brethren, of suffering and patience, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. 11 We count those blessed who endured. You have heard of the endurance of Job and have seen the outcome of the Lord’s dealings, that the Lord is full of compassion and is merciful. 12 But above all, my brethren, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath; but your yes is to be yes, and your no, no, so that you may not fall under judgment.

INTRO: Do you have a friend or family member that seems to never have any urgency? Like, it doesn’t matter what you do, they seem to never be able to get where you want to be in a timely manner. You’re trying to rush them, but it seems like the more you push, the slower they go? And worst of all, they are not bothered by this…

That actually has nothing to do with the sermon, I just wanted to get on a soapbox and call a few folks out… Joking!

As Christians, sometimes we wrestle with the urgency of the Gospel. After all, every day, hundreds of thousands of people die and go to a Christ-less eternity… People we have talked to, shared with, and prayed for seem unmoved. Yet, our call is to take the good news of Jesus to the ends of the earth!

And at the same time, we become discouraged, impatient, and distracted. Our evangelism efforts slow down or stop; our focus as a church gets muddied, and we even start to blame the lost for our ineffectiveness.

ILL: How many of you saw the image from the opening of the Olympics? Disgusting, right? Now, you and I might be tempted just to say, “Well, this is Romans 1- God is giving them over to their lusts.” Maybe, but the reality is that they are lost. They mock God because they are deceived by Satan and the world just like those who mocked Jesus at his crucifixion.

One of the things that always convicts me is Luke 10:2

Luke 10:2 NASB95

2 And He was saying to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.

You see, the harvest is out there… it’s on the streets of Paris and Brevard alike. It’s on the back roads and in the suburbs. It’s in the forest and throughout these mountains and it’s God’s harvest!

But if we expect to see lives changed in our community, we must be diligent to pray and GO and share the Gospel. Gone are the days when people flock to the church simply because it’s here.

Perhaps what we need is a fresh vision of that harvest; to be reinvigorated… maybe we need a wake-up call that returns our focus to the urgency of the Gospel.

In our passage today, I believe we have such a call. In the earlier part of chapter 4, James addressed conflict that was dividing Christians. He didn’t speak to an issue, but rather to the hearts of the people.

That theme bleeds over into this section a bit as we look at our hearts in regards to obedience to the Gospel. Now, if you are not a Christian and you are hearing this message, this is a great time for you to be here because I believe that God will use His word to speak directly to you this morning.

But this letter, in it’s original context, was written to believers and so for Christians in the room, I want you to recognize that God has preserved His word so that you and I will be changed as we apply it to our lives.

Specifically, James identifies 3 attitudes in this section of Scripture that are present within the church and urges each to the importance of the Gospel NOW. Remember, the Gospel is not simply a past decision nor merely a future hope, but a current reality that Jesus Christ redeems and restores the broken. Those who have placed their hope and faith in Him, are right now redeemed; a new creation in Christ.

That has several implications, but for our time together today, we’ll look at these 3 specific attitudes and how the ‘nowness” of the Gospel applies to each one.

Let me first briefly outline the Gospel: The Gospel begins with God. God is good- righteous and holy. He is the creator of all things. He is almighty, all knowing, and there is none who can compare. We are sinners- unrighteous and not good. Because God is righteous, he cannot simply dismiss sin. His love for us does not negate his holiness. The righteousness of God must be satisfied. (Now lots of religions make sacrifices to their supposed gods)

What makes Christianity unique from other religions is that our God does not demand that we satisfy his righteousness- in fact we cannot. But instead He became man, lived the perfect life we cannot live, and imputed our sins upon himself. He then took upon himself the weight of His own wrath so that you and I could be rescued from the penalty and bondage of our sins. And so, when we believe God, turn from our sins and embrace Jesus Christ as Lord, we will be saved.

If this is the first time that you have heard the gospel, I pray that God will use this time to convince you of your need to respond to this good news today.

So, grab your bulletin and ready your sermon guide as we learn together. The message is titled, “Expedient Obedience: Why the Gospel is for Today”

The first attitude James identifies and addresses is:

The Presumptuous (13-17)

Sometimes we can develop the attitude that we are in control of life. Now, we may not come out and say that, but we act like it. We do this primarily through a lack of intentionality.

How many of you think get up each morning and live your life as if Jesus might be coming back in the afternoon?

(READ 13-16)

Some in James’ audience evidently were not living with intention and focus. They acted as if they had all the time in the world to do what they wanted and would squeeze in their Christian mission later on.

Think about some of the thoughts they might have had:

“I’ll witness to my neighbor later… there’s no rush.”

“I’ll serve in the church one day- when I’m not so busy.”

I’ll give to the church when I’m making more money.

I’ll reconcile with my brother later… there’s plenty of time.

I’ll spend time in prayer and devotion later, right now I have an opportunity to make some money.

But James reminds us that this life is like a vapor… we don’t know the number of breaths we have left. To presume that we will live another ten years, ten days, or even ten minutes is actually arrogant because only God knows.

Now, don’t misunderstand- James is NOT saying that you shouldn’t plan and be responsible. But, he is saying that all of our plans are tentative.

You and I can guarantee exactly NOTHING. Therefore- (READ 17)

Whoa. Right? Do you know the right thing to do? Do you know the call of Christ on your life?

Perhaps some of you are like the presumptuous that James is speaking to: Maybe you have been putting off exploring who Jesus is and what this Gospel is all about.

You think that you will get your life in line with Christ later- after College or after you retire. Maybe you think that you have all the time in the world, so you can just live your best life now, and come to Jesus later.

Maybe you are a Christian who presumes that you have years to witness to your neighbor, or that you can talk to your kids about Jesus when you’re done raising them.

But if you know what is right, and you do not do it, friend that is sinful. And you cannot practice open, unconfessed sin and be in communion with a Holy God.

James issues a clear warning:To the presumptuous, “Do not delay obedience.”

The next attitude James addresses is

The Preoccupied (1-6)

(READ)

Clearly there were some of James’ readers who had set their hope and priorities on the things of the world.

James addresses the ‘rich’ and warns them that all that they have collected, saved, boasted in, and indulged in would one day be of no comfort.

One day, all the nice clothes you have in your closets will be faded and out of style. One day, your jewelry will be corroded and your money will be worthless. One day, all that you saved will just testify of your own selfishness.

You get the idea. What we see here is that these folks were so preoccupied with making money and living a lifestyle of unrestrained pleasure that they were completely missing the Kingdom of God!

They had forgotten about their fellow neighbor and had wronged them by applying the world’s standards instead of God’s. But perhaps the worst part that we see is that they ignored, rejected, and condemned the righteous people who were calling them to repent.

The Pharisees were similarly indicted by Jesus. He spoke of how, for generations, God raised up prophets to go and warn the people of their sin-their idolatry, their abuse of one another, etc.. Yet their response was not to change, but instead to kill the messenger.

That’s what happens we have become preoccupied with worldly things: We take our eyes off of God and tell ourselves that we are doing well when in fact we are spiritually poor.

The church in Laodicea is addressed in Rev. 3:15-18

Revelation 3:15–18 NASB95

15 ‘I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or hot. 16 ‘So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth. 17 ‘Because you say, “I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing,” and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked, 18 I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness will not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see.

Jesus said it this way, recorded in Mat. 16:26

Matthew 16:26 NASB95

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

There are people who are in church this morning, but they are preoccupied by some other idol. They have heard the teachings of the Bible, but they have left their first love. They value their riches more than relationships with other Christians. They choose their fortunes over their faith. They desire personal gratification over God.

Hey maybe you are living that life apart from God today as an unbeliever. You are preoccupied with the of this world, but friend the treasures of the world are worthless!

James says To the preoccupied, Repent! Turn your eyes upon Jesus!

The first attitude was the presumptuous, the second was the preoccupied. Brothers and sisters, I need you to know that Jesus is worth your devotion now. Today is the day of hope and salvation. Today is the day of obedience!

And today is the day of faithful perseverance. You see, there is a third attitude that is identified here. And, while we all likely have times where we are presumptuous and preoccupied, this last attitude speaks loudly to me. This attitude is:

The Perturbed (7-11)

(READ)

Among James’ readership, there were some who were fed up with each other. They looked at someone’s immaturity and scoffed. They looked at someone’s mess of a life, and shook their head in disgust.

I imagine that this group might have endured some abuse from other Christians- maybe they were the workers James referred to earlier who didn’t get paid or the righteous who had tried to counsel over and over to people who just didn’t seem to make any progress.

Either way, they had had enough. They were ready to separate from those other guys and do their own thing. They maybe kicked around the idea of starting a monastery or something where they wouldn’t have to deal with certain kinds of people.

Or maybe they were just frustrated because they could not seem to reach the people for Christ like they hoped.

And so, James says, “Be patient until the coming of the Lord...”

Be patient… when you are feeling impatient, does it help when someone tells you to be patient? That’s like telling someone to calm down… maybe it needs to be said, but we don’t like hearing it!

But, we are Christ’s ambassadors. We have a calling and that calling is not complete until Christ returns.

Until Jesus comes to collect his church and judge the earth, we are His witnesses!

Until the trumpet sounds, and the dead in Christ rise up, we are to faithfully proclaim the gospel, make disciples, and live out our faith.

Until we stand before the One righteous Judge, we are to extend grace and teach forgiveness and love for one another.

Until sin and sickness are no more, we are to endure whatever suffering comes our way as a testimony of the HOPE and JOY of God’s compassion.

Church, sometimes I get perturbed. Sometimes you do too! But Christ has called us to be unified and faithful. That’s true as we navigate the relationship challenges within the church and as we strategically work to bring Good News to our neighbors.

One day, the only thing left of us here on earth will be our legacy. One day, people will stand around at our funeral and reminisce about our character, our deeds, our passions… Our desire should be that they see our life as an authentic witness of our Lord.

If you are perturbed with one another- frustrated because of other Christians or because of situations that are difficult. James’ encouragement is this: To the Perturbed, Do not grow weary of doing good.

But as we conclude, let me point you once again to v. 12 again (READ)

This is not a random command that Christians should never take an oath in court or have a witness certify a signature. No, the context here is dealing with our faith and our relationships with one another- specifically how we communicate.

Above all- This is important. We are going to make mistakes- we are going to stumble in our Christian walk, get agitated, and feel pressured to pretend that we have it all together or that it does not matter.

But what James is emphasizing here is that as Christians, we must be honest; honest with ourselves and with God. We are to be true to our word- committed and authentic. Why? Because if we are in Christ, we have been changed. We are not like the world, We belong to God.

Ask yourself these questions:

Am I really a follower of Jesus?

Is my priority God’s Kingdom or my own?

Do I really love my neighbor?

Let me ask you honestly this morning, what is preventing you from being obedient to God today?

Maybe in your honesty you realize that you want to want the things of God, but in your mind, you are far from Him. Friend, ask God to fill you with His desires! Maybe you are struggling with someone - pray for grace to forgive!

Or maybe somehow through this imperfect messenger, the Holy Spirit has brought you to the place where you know the right thing for you to do is to get up out of that pew, and come and bow at the altar of grace to receive forgiveness and redemption from Christ.

The time is now, Let your yes be yes to Jesus.

[PRAY]

Discuss: What can you do to live more intentionally TODAY?

Discuss: What kind of things do you find pulling you away from time with God?

Discuss: How is God calling you to practice patience with other believers TODAY?