Do Not Leave God Out

James 4:13-17

 

INTRO: The emphasis of the liberals of our humanistic society is to leave God out, to throw Him out, to forget about Him altogether.  This ought not to be so.  James is specifically speaking to the businessmen, traders, salesmen, employers, and employees of his day who were making plans for the future.

There are a couple of things that stand out in this passage:

1. Do not leave God out of your planning; always include Him (Prov 3:5-6, “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.  In all thy ways acknowledge him and he shall direct thy paths.”

2. Always say, “if the Lord is willing I will do thus and thus....”

It is foolish to leave God out (Psa 14:1).

 

I.        VS 13, IT IS WRONG TO LEAVE GOD OUT OF OUR PLANS

A.       Vs 13, After the diaspora, the scattering of the Jews, those who once were an agricultural people became merchants, salesmen, and bankers.  A. T. Robertson notes: “One of the wonder of history is how the Jews, scattered over the world, finally without a land of their own, have yet by their wits maintained themselves as a race and a religion and have been leaders in business, in art, in music, in politics, in literature....” (This way written prior to 1948) (189).

1. “Go to now, ye that say, to day or tomorrow we will go....”  Think of the words used in this verse.  These are words of men who leave God out of their plans.  It is not wrong to plan ahead, but it is wrong to plan ahead without God.

2. Think of the words in this verse and put God in the midst of it all.

a. Today with God.

b. Tomorrow with God

c. Going her, going there with God.

d. Buying with God– cars, homes, etc.

e. Selling with God–

B.       We ought to seek God and His counsel concerning life’s decisions:

1. What school should I attend?

2. Who should I marry?

3. Should I take a certain job?  If I do, will it be near a good church, good school, good community?  Will I have to compromise my convictions?

4. Friends, “In all thy ways acknowledge him....”   Trust God; rest in Him (Mt 6:34).

 

II.       VS 14, LIFE IS UNCERTAIN, LIVE FOR GOD

A.       You and I do not know what is in store for us tomorrow.  The plans we make can be shattered completely before they come to pass.  Let’s be sure that each day is a day lived for God.

1. Life is uncertain, so we must live for Christ now.  The old Gospel song says:

I don’t know about tomorrow

I just live from day to day.

I don’t borrow from its sunshine,

For its skies may turn to gray;

I don’t worry o’er the future,

For I know what Jesus said:

And today I’ll walk beside Him,

For He knows what is ahead.

2. Because we do not know about tomorrow, we must redeem the time.

a. Eph 5:16, “Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.”  We are to take every opportunity to spread the Gospel, to support missions at home and abroad.

b. Col 4:5, “Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time.”  Do not go to ungodly places or participate in ungodly activities.

B.       Life is short that is what James is saying.  Because it is short, live for Jesus.  “Hans Christian Anderson wrote: ‘Life is a fairy tale, written by God’s finger.’  Robert Browning wrote, ‘Life is probation and the earth is not the goal, but the starting point.’  Thomas Carlysle wrote, ‘Life is a little gleam of time between two eternities.’  Goethe wrote, ‘Life is the childhood of our immortality.”

1. Time stops for no one.  You cannot put time in a bottle.

a. Prov 27:1, “Boast not thyself of tomorrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.”

b. Job 7:9 compares life to a cloud that vanishes away: “As the cloud is consumed and vanisheth away: so he that goeth down to the grave shall come up no more.”

2. The foolish rich man built up his bank account and made plans for the future, but he forgot about God, forgot that his soul would be required (Lk 12:16-21).  This man was not a fool because he was rich; he was a fool because he forgot God.

3. Barclay says: “This uncertainty of life is not a cause either for fear or for inaction.  It is a reason for realizing our complete dependence on God” (114).

 

III.      VS 15, ALWAYS SEEK AND LIVE IN GOD’S WILL

A.       James says that we need to say, “If the Lord will....”  Trust in God; depend on God; rest in His will.

B.       The Apostle Paul lived trusting in God’s will.

1. I Cor 4:19, “But I will come to you shortly, if the Lord will...”

2. I Cor 16:7, “For I will not see you now by the way; but I trust to tarry a while with you, if the Lord permit.”

3. Writing to the Corinthians, Paul said in Acts 18:21: “...I will return again unto you, if God will.”

C.      Trust in God’s will and believe in His sovereignty (Rom 8:28).

D.      There are things about God’s will for us that we can know with certainty:

1. It is God’s will for us to give our lives as a living sacrifice (Rom 12:1-2).

2. It is God’s will that we stay pure morally and avoid immorality (I Thes 4:3).

3. It is God’s will that His people rejoice, pray, and thank Him (I Thes 5:16-18).

4. It is God’s will that His people be eternally secure and know it (John 6:39; I Jn 5:13).

 

IV.      VS 16, THE BOASTFUL MAN

A.       These Jewish merchants were not seeking God’s will.  They were boasting about what they were going to do.  They were ignoring God’s will for their lives.  Are you boasting about what you are going to do?  Is God in your plans?

B.       Friends, the future is not in the hands of man.  He cannot with arrogance say what he will or will not do.  God may cut him off!

 

V.       VS 17, THE SIN OF DISOBEDIENCE