Seeking & Responding to God's Will

James 4:13-17

James 4:13–16 (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.

James is a very practical book of the Bible; it is about Christian behavior and responsibility. James seems to be concerned with those who claim to be Christians, but live in ways which are contrary to that of a true believer.

We are not saved by works, but when we are saved, good works will follow. If the root is right, the fruit is right. This letter can serve as a sobering warning: if the fruit is consistently not there, it is a good sign that we aren’t rooted in Christ… which means our faith is a sham… and we would do well to evaluate it. If we are rooted in Christ by grace through faith (i.e. we are truly saved) the fruit will follow. We won’t be perfect, but our lives will be substantially different from those who are of the world.

One of the issues James has with these Christian Jews is their proclivity towards pride. Pride was one of the issues with the tongue, mentioned in chapter 3. Pride is the root cause of the dissensions that are happening amongst the churches, addressed in the first part of chapter 4. Now, James gives this very practical section on pride and how it can negatively impact how we respond to the Will of God.

Many people ring in the new year with resolutions. There are some really humorous ones that have been shared online:

Go on a vitamin and supplement shopping spree and finish at least one bottle before I give up.

Relearn social cues after nearly two years stuck at home.

Pick movies on Netflix swiftly and decisively so that, you know, I actually hit play before falling asleep.

Refuse to acknowledge the entirety of 2021 during social gatherings.

Manage to go the entire year without accidentally telling someone random on the phone “Love you” as the call ends. Although the scheduler from my dentist’s office did seem to appreciate it.

Unfriend every person who shares their unsolicited diet or exercise regimen.

Be OK with having to make more than one trip from the car to bring in groceries. The human arm can only hold so much.

Stop lying to myself about following New Year’s resolutions.

This last one tends to resonate with us. We have learned—especially over the last two years—that we can make plans—but we have little control over those plans coming to pass.

As we make plans and set goals at the first of 2022, I want us to consider a couple of things:

Ask? Are my goals congruent with what the Lord wants for my life?

When we make plans and resolutions, remember that it is the Lord who sustains us, and ultimately, it is up to him if those things come to pass.

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One of the marks of a true believer is that he or she is committed to following the will of God.

Mark 3:35 For whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother.”

Jesus is saying, those who belong to the family of God, demonstrate that through their desire to follow the will of God.

**Someone who is truly a Real Follower of Jesus is bent towards doing the will of God.**

Psalm 40:8 I delight to do your will, O my God;

your law is within my heart.” Jeremiah, prophesies about the new covenant in which he says that the Law of God will be written on our hearts. So, one of the ways to tell that you and I are indeed part of God’s family under the New Covenant is that you are prone to follow the will of God… you want to follow His will… and when you don’t, there is a sense of shame that comes.

1 John 2:17 And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.

So, how we respond to the will of God is very important. James gives another very practical way to test our hearts to see we really are children of God. _______________________________________________________________________________

There are— as seen in this passage— 3 ways that we can respond to the will of God… two are negative and one is positive.

The first negative way that people approach the will of God is with indifference.

I. Indifference

Bible teacher & scholar David Pawson, describes in his book “Unlocking the Bible” the two major dispersions of the Jews— the first being to Babylon, in the involuntary exile of 586 BC, and the other happening just before Jesus came, when many of the Jews opted to settle all over the Mediterranean world for more political and economic purposes. Many of these first century Jews were traders— they were businessmen. As new towns would spring up and trade routes were made, a businessman would set out to do his trade in these particular hotspots. James illustrates a hypothetical businessmen who is very strategic about his business plans.

13 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”

They set a time to go, “Today or tomorrow.” They set the place… “we will go to such and place” They set their own time table “we’ll spend a year there” They set an objective… “We will trade and make a profit.”

In and of itself, is this type of planning sinful? Absolutely not… Businesses should have a plan… you don’t show up to work and just expect something to happen… planning is necessary.

Proverbs 21:5 “The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance, but everyone who is hasty comes only to poverty.”

Proverbs 24:27 “Prepare your work outside; get everything ready for yourself in the field, and after that build your house.”

The issue here is not what is said, it is what is not said.

The issue is, that in this planning, there is absolutely no mention of— no thought of God. This is not the way Christians should plan.

So this first approach to God’s sovereignty is not antagonistic at all… it is just indifferent. It is giving no thought to God’s plans.

To begin with, this is an ignorant way to live life. It is arrogant and presumptuous and is birthed from pride.

Who are we to know what tomorrow holds… Who are we to know if we will even be here tomorrow. Who are we to know what the economy is going to do or how or when we will make a profit.

Proverbs 19:21 Many are the plans in a person’s heart,

but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.

God is sovereign, and thus we would do well to include Him in our plans.

14 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.

James says, who are you to plan your future? Life is a vapor… it is frail… it is brief… we aren’t even guaranteed tomorrow.

We must always be mindful of God’s greatness and our own frailness.

There are people who are great at financial planning… they plan their future, they are good with money… they save and gather a decent surplus…. and then in an instant the economy changes, or a huge medical expense transpires, or their’s a lawsuit, or some other unforeseen expense… and everything is lost…

There are things that we can’t control. We are NOT sovereign.

Dr. Robert Atkins, who was best known for his low-carb Atkins diet, attempted to prolong his life through nutrition and to help others do the same… You now how Dr. Atkins died? He slipped on some icy New York Pavement and died days later from head trauma.

No matter how hard we try, there are things in life that are simply out of our control.

We should eat healthy and exercise. Paul tells the Christians in Thessalonica to be sanctified body, soul, and spirit. Our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit. We are called to exercise self-control… we don’t eat too much or drink much… we don’t sit idle, but we exercise.

But you do these things, not to guarantee years to your life, but to add life to your years.

Apparently some of the Jewish Christians to whom James is writing, are living their lives very presumptuously— assuming that they can control their future. James implores them to remember their own weakness, and God’s sovereignty. He can’t imagine a true Christian who goes about his or her day with little or no though of God.

The first negative response to God’s will is indifference… someone who lives as a citizen of this world and NOT a citizen of heaven, with little or no regard to God and his sovereignty.

The second approach to God’s will is…

II. Defiance

16 As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. 17 So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.

There are people who are just indifferent towards God’s will and, frankly, just don’t think about it. But then, there are those who take it a step further… they know God’s will… and simply don’t care… they want to rule their own lives…. and so, they blatantly disobey the will of God.

There are those who know God’s plans, but, yet, still want to try it their way. How arrogant!

We see this sometimes, even in the church, where a Christian will go against the Word of God and somehow think it is going to work out for them… this makes not sense. It is arrogance, it is pride… it is sin.

(Example: Unforgiveness)

What is God’s Will?

#1(God)… desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. (1 Timothy 2:4

If you have not come to Jesus Christ to receive salvation, you are living in opposition to God’s will.

#2God Wants Us to live Sanctified lives…(lives that are set apart to him)

1 Thessalonians 4:1–5 (ESV)

Finally, then, brothers, we ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God, just as you are doing, that you do so more and more. For you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus. For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God;

When we live like the world, or we live according to the desires of our flesh… we are living in opposition and total disregard of God’s will.

There are many other places in God’s Word that talk about his will for our lives. There are many who know His Word, but live in opposition to it. They live presumptuously, according to their own plans…

When we are defiant towards God’s will, we are ultimately saying that we know more than God… we know ourselves better than God… this is frightening!

Those are the two negative approaches to God’s will: indifference and defiance…

The Positive approach to God’s will is found in 15, and it includes mindfulness of God’s sovereignty and and a desire to follow His will.

III. Mindfulness and Desire to Follow

15 Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” 16 As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. 17 So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.

We ought to live our lives with a constant mindfulness of God’s sovereignty.

Matthew 6:33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

It is NOT that we don’t make business plans, or family plans, or church plans… we do… but in our planning, we seek the Lord, realizing that everything is ultimately up to Him… that He is the all knowing all powerful God… and He is on the throne.

And we don’t just seek His will, but we obey His will. Because we understand, God knows best.

It is not enough just to be mindful of His plans… we must follow God’s plan.

1 John 5: 2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. 3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome.

One of the true tests of the validity of our faith, is to ask ourselves: do we want to follow the plans of God… or, are we trying to manipulate God and use Him to make our fleshly desires come true?

Illustration: God’s will for us to move back to Kentucky. (Recent opportunity at another church).

Closing: When we use the model prayer in Matthew 6 that Jesus gave us, we are recognizing our weakness and God’s sovereignty.

“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.[a] (Lord this is about you, not me).

10

Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. (Your will not mine… ultimately we are recognizing the soon return of Christ).

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Give us this day our daily bread,[c] (God is our provider)

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and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. (Christ has forgiven us, and we have to forgive… thought this is one of the most unnatural things to do.)

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And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. (We want to follow His will)