Church of the Nazarene East Rock

James and Tomorrow
Tomorrow belongs to God and God alone.

As we continue through James, he is taking time out to remind his readers the importance of not only giving God today, but also seeing to it that we have given God our tomorrow too.

As we dive into our teaching text today in verses 13-17 James is again calling for our surrender in humility. Except this time he does something unique- James calls for the surrender of something we don’t yet have and may not ever have for that matter:James calls you to surrender your Tomorrow…

As hard as it can be for us to recon with, a proper and humble response to the Lord includes giving God our future.

As we unpack our text today, James will help us to see our lives in the light of eternity and show that our only response must be one of humility and trust in God’s plans for our future.

‭‭James‬ ‭4:13-17‬‬
Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” As it is, you boast in your arrogant schemes. All such boasting is evil. If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them.

As we begin today, It may be helpful for us today to establish what this text is NOT saying, so we can more clearly unpack what James is really getting at.

This is not saying we cant make plans for the future or that we shouldn’t save money for a rainy day.

Its not saying that we cant have a business that produces a profit. In our text, James is looking beyond the actions of our plans, to our motives to our heart posture behind our planning.

For James, part of living surrendered to God’s authority is that we would allow him to have full control over the future.

‭‭James‬ ‭4:13‬‬
Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.”

In what James lays out here there is a pretty clear self-confidence (with self being the operative word here) and pride in the plans and the outcome of this person. There is even perhaps a since of pride in what they will accomplish because of their plans.

‭‭James‬ ‭4:14‬‬
Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.

James reminds us very directly here of a reality we often forget.

Tomorrow belongs to God alone…

Woody Allen once said “If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans”

‭‭James‬ ‭4:15‬‬
Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.”

James offers a different way of thinking and planning for Christians to view the future. That we can make plans…we can plan on doing “this or that”… BUT that we would submit our plans to the Lord and place our confidence in Him rather than our ability to manage the future.

‭‭James‬ ‭4:16‬‬
As it is, you boast in your arrogant schemes. All such boasting is evil.

When we set our life course based off of our desires for a house, a career, a family, or whatever it is, no matter how good it is, we are actually guilty of arrogantly boasting before the Lord.

The root issue that James is pointing out is that we have taken the future out of God’s hands and determined that we would hold onto it.

‭‭James‬ ‭4:17‬‬
If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them.

I think James knew there is a big difference in knowing these things and actually living our lives like they are true.

For us to know these truths and not to live them out- is SIN for us.

In your life, who holds the future?

James in 8 Minutes
This overview video on the book of James breaks down the literary design of the book and its flow of thought. In this book, James combines the wisdom of his brother Jesus with the book of Proverbs in his own challenging call to live a life wholly devoted to God.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qn-hLHWwRYY

http://bible.com/events/48840300

Church of the Nazarene
James and Being Lifted
“Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.” -James 4:10

‭‭James‬ ‭4:7-12‬‬
Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up. Brothers and sisters, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against a brother or sister or judges them speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgment on it. There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you—who are you to judge your neighbor?

Submit to God

Resist the Devil

‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭2:2‬‬
in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.

Come Near to God

‭‭James‬ ‭4:10‬‬
Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.

“Humility toward men will be the only sufficient proof that our humility before God is real.” Andrew Murray

Other content for further study/reflection:

The 10 Commandments of James 4:7-12
1. Submit yourselves to God
2. Resist the devil
3. Come near to God
The rest of the actions are in support of the previous three commands.
4. Wash your hands
5. Purify your hearts
6. Grieve
7. Mourn
8. Wail
9. Humble yourselves before the Lord
10. Do not slander one another

‭‭James (Jacob)‬ ‭4:7-12‬‬
So then, surrender to God. Stand up to the devil and resist him and he will flee in agony. Move your heart closer and closer to God, and he will come even closer to you. But make sure you cleanse your life, you sinners, and keep your heart pure and stop doubting. Feel the pain of your sin, be sorrowful and weep! Let your joking around be turned into mourning and your joy into deep humiliation. Be willing to be made low before the Lord and he will exalt you! Dear friends, as part of God’s family, never speak against another family member, for when you slander a brother or sister you violate God’s law of love. And your duty is not to make yourself a judge of the law of love by saying that it doesn’t apply to you, but your duty is to obey it! There is only one true Lawgiver and Judge, the One who has the power to save and destroy—so who do you think you are to judge your neighbor?

James in 8 Minutes
This overview video on the book of James breaks down the literary design of the book and its flow of thought. In this book, James combines the wisdom of his brother Jesus with the book of Proverbs in his own challenging call to live a life wholly devoted to God.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qn-hLHWwRYY

James and Being Lifted
James 4:7-12

Welcome back to our series through the book of James.

We are in our 16th session through this intensely practical portion of scripture.

James is writing to Christians outside of Jerusalem in an effort to coach and correct them in a few areas of their lives, calling them closer to God.

His primary concern is that the lives of his readers would reflect their faith in Christ Jesus as their Lord.

Don’t be hearers of the word only, but be doers of God word.

In Chapter 4, James uses stark and vivid language to illustrate the truth that anyone who is choosing to be a friend of the world or to flirt with the world’s ways of doing things, is not being true to God.

Today as we unpack our text, we will see a passionate plea from James that we would humble ourselves and once again come near to the Father.

James shows us the pathway home-Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will life you up!

‭‭James‬ ‭4:7-12‬‬
Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up. Brothers and sisters, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against a brother or sister or judges them speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgment on it. There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you—who are you to judge your neighbor?

What is your first thought when you read that God wants you to humble yourself?
What comes to your mind in those moments?

In one sweep James is calling his readers to turn away from anything and everything that would hinder their closeness with God.

Are you hanging onto something in your life today that is keeping you at arms length from God?

‭‭James‬ ‭4:7‬‬
Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

James first instruction is that we would come under the authority of God, and take a stand against the devil and his schemes.

To submit to God is to be attentive to what HE says, rather than running around and doing whatever we want.

It’s a willing submission to accept what HE says about things, rather than our own opinion on the matter.

If I asked you if you were submitted to God and you said, “yes,” what evidence would you show to prove that?

‭‭James‬ ‭4:8‬‬
Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

If we take James’ words in verse 8 seriously, especially the order that he gives, God’s prevenient grace has put the ball in our court.

“Come near to God, and he will come near to you”

Friend, how close you are to God, is up to you.

Verse 8b “Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.”

Again, we see the passion that James is pleading with here.
You sinners, you double minded, – WAKE UP!! SNAP OUT OF IT!!

In this two-fold plea for repentance and surrender, James calls us to let go of anything and everything in our lives that is opposed to God.

‭‭James‬ ‭4:9‬‬
Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom.

The first word of verse 9 here literally translated says “Be miserable”
Think about that for a second- We should be so disgusted by even the smallest trace of sin in our lives that we are miserable over it.

The voice we normally hear about those things doesn’t say that, rather it sounds something like
“Oh its not a big deal”
“The rest of your life is good, don’t worry about that”
“Its just a small thing, nobody even knows”

The reality that James helps us see here is that the devil is trying to convince believers into thinking sin is no big deal.

James says NO! You cant do that… it matters to much

We should be miserable over sin, unable to sleep because things aren’t right between me and God.

That’s what humbling yourself looks like.
We must take the posture of surrender and humility in regards to all things related to sin.
Even those things we enjoy ,that taste good, or what don’t seem like a big deal.
Humility submits it all.

‭‭James‬ ‭4:10‬‬
Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.

Is there a greater promise? Fall on your face before the Lord and HE will raise you to your feet.
And when He lifts you up. You are lifted indeed.

James here circles all the way back to the beginning idea of verse 7 where he calls us to submit ourselves to the Lord.

To humble yourself before the Lord is to acknowledge in your heart and through your actions that we need Him.

YouTube Clip
What might it look like to return to the father? Maybe, like this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9RXi_cZ57sg

When Jesus was teaching about the heart of the father for those who had gone astray, those who had become friends of the world, he told his disciples a story of the prodigal son.
The story of a son who had known the father, known what it was to be close, but chose to go his own way. In that story Jesus told, there came a moment of decision for the runaway son… A moment of humility and a moment of surrender.

Friends the ball is in your court today. If you will humble yourself, submit it all to the Lord, he will life you up.

Will you take that step towards restoration today? To intimacy with the Father?

James in 8 Minutes
This overview video on the book of James breaks down the literary design of the book and its flow of thought. In this book, James combines the wisdom of his brother Jesus with the book of Proverbs in his own challenging call to live a life wholly devoted to God.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qn-hLHWwRYY

http://bible.com/events/48836948

James and Unfriending the World
Choose your friends wisely.

‭‭James‬ ‭4:4-6‬‬
You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. Or do you think Scripture says without reason that he jealously longs for the spirit he has caused to dwell in us? But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.”

-James says this: choosing friendship with the world is cheating. We commit adultery.
-The closer we move toward “the world,” the further we move away from God.

Two critical questions we must ask in response to this text:
1. What does it mean to be a friend of the world?
2. What do I do in response?

What does it mean to be a friend of the world?
-It means our loyalty is ultimately to the things of this world. They are the priority. They are the focus, They are the foundation upon which our life is built.
-The root of sin is ultimately a desire for ‘self’ above all. Sin comes down to a desire for ‘self’ over God’s best.
-So a friend of the world is one who is loyal to the desires of ‘self’ above anything else.

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭10:32-33‬‬
“Whoever acknowledges me before others, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven. But whoever disowns me before others, I will disown before my Father in heaven.

What do I do in response? What do I do if my loyalty is divided?
-James provides good news in the midst of difficult words: “Be He gives more grace” (James 4:6).
-Grace is available even when we have been disloyal and unfaithful.
-And this grace from God is offered to those who are willing to humble themselves. This is why James references Proverbs 3:34.
-If friendship with the world is a loyalty to ‘self’, then perhaps the closer we are to true humility, the further we are from the world.

The bottom line:
Choose your friends wisely.

Other verses for further study/reflection:

‭‭James‬ ‭4:4-6‬‬
You’re cheating on God. If all you want is your own way, flirting with the world every chance you get, you end up enemies of God and his way. And do you suppose God doesn’t care? The proverb has it that “he’s a fiercely jealous lover.” And what he gives in love is far better than anything else you’ll find. It’s common knowledge that “God goes against the willful proud; God gives grace to the willing humble.”

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭10:32-39‬‬
“Whoever acknowledges me before others, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven. But whoever disowns me before others, I will disown before my Father in heaven. “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn “ ‘a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law— a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’ “Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.

Other verses:
Exodus 34:14
1 John 2:15-18
John 15:18
Romans 12:2
John 18:36

James in 8 Minutes
This overview video on the book of James breaks down the literary design of the book and its flow of thought. In this book, James combines the wisdom of his brother Jesus with the book of Proverbs in his own challenging call to live a life wholly devoted to God.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qn-hLHWwRYY

http://bible.com/events/48832631

Church of the Nazarene

James and the Art of the Ask
God does not help those who help themselves. He helps those who ask Him (and trust Him).

-“If you could say in one word what you want more of in life, what would that be?”
-Response #1 – Happiness. Response #2 – Money.
-There is nothing wrong with these desires. But what happens when these desires become the driving force for everything we do?

‭‭James‬ ‭4:1-3‬‬
What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.

-The word for ‘desires’ in the Greek is ‘hēdonē’, which means ‘pleasures or lust’. This is where the word ‘hedonism’ comes from.
-James is clarifying what the problem is: the pursuit of pleasure above all.
-These desires are not just destructive, they are fueling evil.

James challenges these believers in two ways:
1. You don’t ask God for what you need. (verse 2)
2. When you do ask God, you ask with wrong motives. (verse 3)

So what does it look like to come to God with right motives?

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭7:7-11‬‬
“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!

What does it mean to come to God with right motives?
-Jesus says to ‘keep asking…keep seeking…keep knocking’ (verse 7). In other words, don’t just come to God once, but continue to bring your needs to Him.
-Jesus says to trust that God is a good Father (verse 11).

The bottom line:
God does not help those who help themselves.
He helps those who ask Him (and trust Him).

Other verses for further study/reflection:
Psalm 63:1-11
1 Timothy 6:10
Ephesians 5:3
Matthew 7:7
1 John 5:14-15

James in 8 Minutes
This overview video on the book of James breaks down the literary design of the book and its flow of thought. In this book, James combines the wisdom of his brother Jesus with the book of Proverbs in his own challenging call to live a life wholly devoted to God.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qn-hLHWwRYY