Finish Well
Notes
Transcript
James 4:13-5:20
James 4:13-5:20
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.
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Remember the Sovereignty of God (v. 13-16)
In this text James is writing to Christian Merchants.
He is rebuking them on their self sufficient outlook on life.
They are making plans. They are hoping that they will be able to make a profit, but they are ignoring the reality that God is in control of it all.
Like we talked about last week we need to be humble in the sight of the Lord.
This is not speaking about making plans in general, but the fact that when we make plans we need to take into account God’s Will, his plans, and his purposes.
We need to remember that he is Sovereign over all. He is in complete control.
We need not presume that we have control to make these things happen.
If these things happen it is only b/c of the grace of God. If our plans are completed it is only b/c of God’s grace and kindness toward us.
After all, we never know what tomorrow will bring. We never know how things will work out in the future.
We need to know that it all is in God’s hands and ask for him to bless our plans if they fit within his purpose and will.
It would be both irresponsible and foolish to look at this text and conclude that we shouldn’t make any plans ever.
That is not what James is saying.
This isn’t a fatalistic understanding of life.
It is simply a humble reminder that our life can be taken away at any period of time.
We need to live each day as if it were our last and pray to God that it isn’t.
We should always be seeking the Lord’s will. The Lord’s guidance. And The Lord’s purpose.
Humbly remember that the Lord has numbered our days. That our life is not our own and while we can and should make plans know that they will at times be spoiled.
That our plans are not set in stone. That our plans are not infallible. Our plans need to align with God’s Plan.
When we go about making our plans we need to plan in such a way that will glorify God.
When our plans go awry, and they surely will, we need to remember that God is in control of everything that is going on.
Who hates to have their plans thwarted?
Corrie’s Story
When we make plans without consulting God, without humbly submitting those plans to God’s will, we are boasting in our own ability, our own power.
That posture is not the right one to have b/c we can’t add a day, an hour, or minute to our life.
We are as a mist. Our days, regardless of how we live, are minute compared to God.
He is in control. Because he is in control we need to humbly submit to his Lordship.
We need to rely on his grace. We need to remember who is really in control.
We need to live each day knowing it could be our last. We need to live each day humbly submitted to God. We need to live each day for God and not waste a moment of it.
We must obey and do what God has commanded us to do. v.17
So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.
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Live Obediently v.17
God has revealed to us through his holy scriptures a way that we are to live. A way that we are to demonstrate God’s Holiness and our Gratefulness for Salvation.
There are two types of sin that we can commit. Both are equally sin. Both are equally rebellion. Both are equally detrimental.
Sin of Commission and Sin of Omission
Sin of Commission
This is probably what we think about when we think about sin.
God said not to do something, and we ignore his command and do it any way.
We are lustful greedy idol loving people.
We look at God’s Law and think he can’t possible mean that I shouldn’t live the way I want to live.
These parameters are too much for me.
Don’t Gossip. Don’t Steal. Don’t Lie. Don’t Worship False Idols. Don’t commit adultery. Honor your Parents.
Every time we break one of these commandments we sin.
And it is easy for us to see these as sin, but Sins of Omission can be a little harder for us to decipher.
Sin of Omission
Simply this is disregarding what God has told us to do
i.e The Story of the Good Samaritan
Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead.
Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side.
So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.
But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion.
He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him.
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We see both types of sin in this story.
Who does the sin of commission? The Robbers. They are thieves. They steal what doesn’t belong to them. Breaking the Law Don’t Steal.
Who commits the sin of omission? Priest and the Levite. They should have done good, but instead they ignored the man that was beat, stripped, and half dead.
We must never cease to do what is good. Even for people that we don’t think deserve it.
Love our Neighbor. Care for the Poor. Care for the Orphan. Care for the Widow.
Live Generously. Love our enemies. Offer Forgiveness.
Love God. Love People.
Failure to do Good when presented with the opportunity.
Be pure in heart. Be holy and set apart. Be loving and do good.
In every part of our life, we must always be doing Good for God has called us to do good to all b/c they are all loved by God.
Live Generously 5:1-6
Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you.
Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten.
Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure in the last days.
Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts.
You have lived on the earth in luxury and in self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter.
You have condemned and murdered the righteous person. He does not resist you.
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Live Generously
let’s talk about money for a minute.
Money in and of itself is not a bad thing.
However, we need to remember that every penny we have is graciously given to us by God.
We are not owed anything, but God has given to us generously.
The guys that James writes to are greedy misers that lack generosity.
They weren’t paying laborers for their work. They were being dishonest and disobedient.
Here’s where the rubber meets the road. There is no reason to be greedy. Your money is going to waste away. It will come and go.
All money is a gift from God. And God wants us to be as generous with our money as he is toward us.
Our love shouldn’t be for money, but for God. We shouldn’t stock pile it away, but rather give so that others can be blessed.
If you aren’t being generous with your money toward the church and toward others you are living in sin. Sin of Omission
In the OT, there was a standard given by God for how generous people should be with their food, money, and other possessions.
Specifically, when it comes to money they were to give 10% of their income to the temple.
So if you made $30,000/yr you would give $3,000/yr to the church.
So for them the absolute minimum that was commanded to be given was 10%.
Now in the NT we aren’t given a similar structure. We are commanded by Jesus to give a certain percentage of our income to the church.
However, many believe that we should still be in line with the 10%.
And that’s fine and good. I think that 10% is a good starting place.
But in the NT, we are given the command to be generous.
Generosity doesn’t have a limit. Generosity knows no bound.
If for you 10% is generous depending on your life circumstance, then by golly give 10%.
If you can give more, you should give more.
If you can’t give 10%, I don’t want you to feel guilty. I want you to know that giving with a generous and happy spirit is what God is looking for.
Generosity is a mark of a healthy believer. If you aren’t giving to the church you should be.
However, I am not going to hunt you down and ask why you aren’t giving or that you should be giving more. That is 100% between you and God.
I am just saying that God loves a cheerful giver. That giving is better than tightly grasping. Giving is a blessing to those who receive it and to the one who gives it.
Trust God and he will provide for you. He’s doing it right now.
Be Patient, Remain Steadfast
Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains.
You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.
Do not grumble against one another, brothers, so that you may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing at the door.
As an example of suffering and patience, brothers, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.
Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful.
But above all, my brothers, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath, but let your “yes” be yes and your “no” be no, so that you may not fall under condemnation.
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Be Patient, Remain Steadfast
The Lord always fulfills his promises. That is one thing that we can hold fast to.
That if he said it we can believe it and it will come to pass. Even if we don’t see it working out now we will see it work out in the end.
The Lord is coming back to set everything right. He is going to mend the broken. He is going to restore the chaos back to order.
But we do have to wait. It isn’t happening right now. But it will
God is coming to condemn those who stand opposed to him and exalt those that stand beside him.
There will be those in our lives that think us foolish. That think that we are using God as a crutch. God is not a crutch his is The King.
While we wait we need to demonstrate goodness, love, kindness, generosity, charity, grace, and encouragement to one another.
This passage is reminiscent of the opening chapter in James.
Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds,
for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.
And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
Be Patient Remain Steadfast.
The road is long. The Road is hard, but God is going to bring to completion all that he has promised.
Be confident in the Lord.
Job’s Story
The Lord is compassionate and Merciful always.
Be Committed
Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise.
Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.
And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.
Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.
Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth.
Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit.
My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back,
let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.
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Be Committed
In the Closing arguments of James’ letter we see that he urges the believers to be commited. He tells them to be committed to one another and to be committed to prayer.
How are we to be commited to one another?
Pray for those who are sick and hurting
Confess our sin to one another
Bring back those who have strayed.
How are we to pray?
If we are sick. If our friends/fellow believers are sick.
Through our confession of Sin
Pray to commune with God.
Pray for Godly things.
Pray for patience, wisdom, endurance, grace, love, insight.