{"id":18706,"date":"2021-04-28T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-04-28T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sugar-land-bible-church.local\/sermon\/james-025-the-brevity-of-life\/"},"modified":"2021-04-28T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2021-04-28T05:00:00","slug":"james-025-the-brevity-of-life","status":"publish","type":"sermon","link":"https:\/\/slbc.org\/es\/sermon\/james-025-the-brevity-of-life\/","title":{"rendered":"James 025 – The Brevity of Life"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","book":[104],"series_event":[514],"sermon_service_type":[474],"speaker":[6],"class_list":["post-18706","sermon","type-sermon","status-publish","hentry","book-james","series_event-james","sermon_service_type-wednesday-evenings","speaker-dr-andy-woods","no-post-thumbnail"],"acf":{"sermon_title":"James 025 - The Brevity of Life","sermon_date":"20210428","sermon_month":"4","sermon_year":"2021","sermon_notes":9007,"sermon_slides":9009,"sermon_mp3":9010,"sermon_id":"42821220284226","series_or_event":514,"service_type":[474],"speaker":6,"books_of_the_bible":104,"chapter_and_verse":"4:11-17","sermon_transcript":"James 25<\/strong>\n\nThe Brevity of Life<\/strong>\n\nJames 4:11-17\n\nApril 2021\n\nDr. Andy Woods\n\nThe book of James 4.\u00a0 As we have been looking at the book of James, James is the half-brother of Christ writing to the scattered Hebrew Christian church at Jerusalem at the beginning of the first century.\u00a0 One of the things that will come up tonight is that James was the first New Testament book ever written.\u00a0 There was Malachi, 400 years of silence, and then came the book of James.\u00a0 There were no New Testament books yet when James wrote his.\n\nHe is not writing a book so much about how to become a Christian.\u00a0 The assumption is that his readers are already Christians, so he is teaching them how to walk as Christians.\u00a0 The first part of the book of James 1:1-3:12 is the walk of faith.\u00a0 We are saved by faith, and then God expects us to continue to walk by faith, and as we walk by faith, we are growing in Christ.\u00a0 That involves, and this is just for review if you are here for the first time, adopting God's perspective on suffering, obeying His Word, not showing favoritism, doing good works, and controlling the tongue.\n\nOnce you get to James 3:13, he begins to deal with wisdom.\u00a0 It is no longer the walk of faith, it is now the walk of wisdom.\u00a0 Wisdom is knowledge applied.\u00a0 He starts off that section by describing what wisdom is and is not.\u00a0 From there he moves into the most important area of one\u2019s life where wisdom needs to be applied \u2014 the spiritual life.\u00a0 He does this in 4:1-12.\u00a0 That is the paragraph that we have been in, and we are now almost finished with it.\n\nWisdom involves avoiding wrangling per 4:1-3 and worldliness 4:4-6.\u00a0 Replacing those things with the essence of spiritual wisdom, in 4:7-12, involves submitting to God; resisting satan; drawing near to God; repenting of any known sins in your Christian life and walking in humility.\u00a0 We have covered all of this but not verses 11 and 12.\u00a0 Then I hope that we can move on to the next paragraph, God willing, hopefully finishing this chapter.\n\nThe essence of spiritual wisdom also involves foregoing judgment, particulary against fellow Christians.\u00a0 It is very easy to make sweeping judgments about people \u2014 for example, someone isn\u2019t growing in Christ, someone is obviously not saved.\u00a0 We are very quick to point the finger at other people, not understanding at others, not understanding that when we do point the finger at others, we should have three pointing back to ourselves.\u00a0 Or, \u2018so and so won't fare well at the Bema Seat Judgment of Christ, the Lord must be really displeased with them.\u2019\u00a0 James really tells us here in 4:11,12 that we really should not do that, particularly when you get into others\u2019 hearts as there are all kinds of things going on in one\u2019s heart that we cannot see.\n\nNotice what James says in 4:11,12 \u2014 \u201cDo not speak against one another, brethren [I don't know if you have observed how Christians interact with one another today on social media.\u00a0 They are all attacking one another, and James specifically says not to do that\u2026brethren, so he is speaking to Christians here] \u2026 He who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks against the law and judges the law; but if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge of it.\u00a0 There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the One who is able to save and to destroy; but who are you who judge your neighbor?\u201d\u00a0 So, it is a very convicting passage, and he talks here about when we speak against one another, then we are usurping the role of God as it is His job to judge, not so much our job.\u00a0 When I mean to judge, I am talking about what Jesus dealt with in the Sermon on the Mount:\u00a0 judging someone\u2019s heart.\u00a0 Of course, we are called to be discerners all the time.\u00a0 The spiritual man in 1 Cor 2:14, makes judgments about all things.\n\nSo hopefully as I am talking, you are screening what I am saying with the Word to see if it is true, but when you get into looking at someone\u2019s heart and motives, that becomes a problem.\u00a0 He says that when you do that, you speak against the law.\u00a0 James 4:11 \u2014 \u201c\u2026speaks against the law and judges the law\u2026\u201d\u00a0 What law is he speaking of here?\u00a0 As we have learned, James is the first New Testament book, so there are no teachings of Paul to which he can be referring, and since he is writing to a Jewish audience, I think that he is likely speaking of the Old Testament law, which is really the only law they knew.\n\nWe went into a lot of detail in prior teachings explaining that the church is not under the Old Testament law.\u00a0 The church is under the law of liberty.\u00a0 In James 1:25, you will see a reference to the law of freedom or liberty.\u00a0 It sort of looks like the Old Testament law at points, but it isn\u2019t exactly the Old Testament law, and that is a prior teaching that has been done so we don't have time to get into it tonight.\u00a0 Part of that teaching, I think, involves Leviticus 19:18 as it is repackaged for the Church and the law of liberty.\u00a0 Leviticus 19:18, which all of these Jewish Christians understood very well, says \u2018You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the sons of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself; I am the LORD.\u2019 Most people, when hearing the expression, \u2018love your neighbor as yourself,\u2019 immediately say that is what Jesus said and taught.\u00a0 This is true, Jesus did teach that, but it is interesting that this concept precedes Jesus by 1,500 years.\u00a0 It goes all the way back to Mount Sinai, and I think that Jesus, in the Sermon on the Mount, is getting back to the original intent of the Old Testament law, and he talks here in Leviticus 19:18 about your heart:\u00a0 do not hold any grudge.\u00a0 Notice that the law of God sits in judgment not only on what I do but on what I think; the inward motives of my heart.\u00a0 Again, \u2018You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the sons of your people\u2026[in other words, amongst your fellow believers within the community], but you shall love your neighbor as yourself; I am the LORD.\u2019\n\nSo, when James says that when we speak against and judge one another, we are speaking against the law, and I think that is the law to which he is referring.\u00a0 Again, it is repackaged in our age as the law of liberty, but it is the only Scripture that was available in terms of Old Testament when James actually wrote this.\u00a0 So, if I am going to judge someone else\u2019s motives and speak inappropriately against a fellow brother or sister in Christ, then what I have done per 4:11, is that I have sat in judgment in the law.\u00a0 I have basically said that the law of God is irrelevant because I can violate the law at will.\u00a0 James says that this is a problem of getting into the mindset of attacking and speaking against each other verbally and judging each other\u2019s motives.\u00a0 Honestly, we are putting ourselves in the place of God because James 4:12 reminds us that God is supposed to be doing this.\n\n\u201cThere is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the One who is able to save and to destroy; but who are you who judge your neighbor?\u201d\u00a0 So, not only are we sitting in judgment on God\u2019s law by saying that it is irrelevant because I am not going to follow it, but we are essentially taking the role away from God because God Himself is the Judge.\u00a0 So, we don't have to be overly preoccupied about what is happening in someone else\u2019s heart; that is God\u2019s job.\u00a0 God is the Judge.\u00a0 James is telling us here that as we walk out the true essence of spiritual wisdom is to forego judgment on people.\u00a0 Judging people\u2019s hearts, thoughts, motives, speaking against brothers and sisters in Christ \u2014 we are to forego doing that because God is going to deal with it all.\u00a0 If I step in and start dealing with it, then I am putting myself in the position of God, and James says not to do that.\n\nBy the way, Romans 14:10-12 talks about the future judgment saying, But why do you judge your brother?\u00a0 For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.\u00a0 For it is written: \u201cAs I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to Me, And every tongue shall confess to God.\u201d\u00a0 So, it is very clear here in Romans 14:10-12 that judgment is coming, called the Bema Seat Judgment of Christ, and that is the point in time when peoples\u2019 motives will be evaluated by God.\u00a0 So, I am to wait for God\u2019s judgment and let Him do His part.\u00a0 I am to forego judgment in the meantime \u2014 that is what it means to be walking in the essence of spiritual wisdom.\n\nNotice 1 Cor 4:5 and how it is interesting how many of the points that James makes get picked up by the apostle Paul later.\u00a0 \u201cTherefore, do not go on passing judgment before the time\u2026 [that is exactly what James is saying], \u2026 but wait until the Lord comes who will both bring to light the things hidden in the darkness and disclose the motives of men\u2019s<\/strong> hearts; and then each man\u2019s praise will come to him from God.\u201d\u00a0 Here, Paul is picking up the same point that James makes \u2014 we are to forego judgment because judgment ultimately belongs to God.\n\nGo back to James 2:4, this might be one of the things that James is harkening back towards.\u00a0 Remember they were showing favoritism in the assembly?\u00a0 James 2:4, \u201c\u2026have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil motives?\u201d\u00a0 Then move forward to James 2:13, \u201cSo, speak and act as those who are to be judged by the law of liberty. For judgment will be merciless to one who has shown no mercy; mercy triumphs over judgment.\u201d\u00a0 There it is dealing with people making evaluations of others within the assembly concerning showing favoritism since showing favoritism is a form of judgment.\u00a0 James makes the identical point in James 2 that if you do that then you have made yourself a judge and have taken the place of God.\n\nThe bottom line is to avoid wrangling and worldliness; pursue the essence of spiritual wisdom which involves those six things in James 4:7-12:\u00a0 submit to God; resist Satan; draw near to God; repent; humility; forego judgment.\n\nThe last listed is one we have not yet covered:\u00a0 to forego judgment.\u00a0\u00a0 James tells us not to get into the business of judging people's hearts, thoughts, motives because when we do that, we are saying that the law of God which says to love your neighbor as yourself is irrelevant.\u00a0 We are putting ourselves in the place of God.\u00a0 James is basically saying \u2018don't worry or be concerned with all of that; God will do the judging at the Bema Seat Judgment of Christ.\u2019\n\nThat is what I wanted to cover last week and here is what we will get to this week.\n\nJames 4:13-17 where James is switching subjects and no longer applying wisdom to our spiritual lives; he is broadening wisdom by applying it to our commercial lives.\u00a0 \u2018You mean to tell me that the walk of wisdom has to do with how we conduct ourselves in the business world?\u2019\u00a0 Yes, it does.\u00a0 \u2018You mean that the walk of wisdom relates to how I handle money and finances?\u2019\u00a0 Yes, it does.\u00a0 He starts to get into these financial topics here at the end of James 4, and next week, he will get into it at the beginning of James 5.\n\nHere is a fast outline of James 4:13-17:\u00a0 it has essentially two parts.\n
    \n \t
  1. The Need to Plan While Depending Upon God <\/strong>\u2014 the Bible is not against planning. I think that it was John Wooden who, in his pyramid of success, the famous UCLA coach who won ten NCAA championships, basically said that if you fail to plan, you plan to fail.\u00a0 The Bible, I don't think, is against planning, but what James speaks against here is to make your plan so concrete that it leaves no wiggle room for God.\u00a0 You plan by making a lot of assumptions, and since we aren\u2019t omniscient, all knowing, then we aren\u2019t in a position to make iron clad assumptions.\u00a0 So, James deals with that in 4:13-15.<\/li>\n \t
  2. The Problem of Planning Without Depending Upon God<\/strong>. So, in 4:13-15 the need to plan while depending upon God.\u00a0 Then 4:16-17, the problem associated with planning without depending upon God.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\nLet\u2019s see if we can tackle 4:13-15 first.\u00a0 The need to plan while depending upon God<\/strong>:\u00a0 you have a problem exposed in 4:13; the reason for the problem in 4:14, and the preferred mindset in 4:15.\n\nSo, notice that in 4:13, James exposes the problem, Come now, you who say \u201cToday or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit.\u201d\u00a0 He is basically dealing with a mindset that says that I will have my plans, my plans will be executed, and it leaves no wiggle room for God to disrupt our plans.\u00a0 Example, \u2018I will have my house paid off in x<\/em> number of years, or I will retire in x<\/em> number of years, I will spend my retirement years doing this or that.\u2019\u00a0 There isn\u2019t anything wrong with trying to think through the direction of your life, but it becomes a problem when you act as though God can't disrupt our plans at will, which He frequently does.\u00a0 Amen?\n\nIn 4:14, James gets into the reason why it is a problem to think this way by planning so airtight and specifically without consulting the mind of God and without leaving God any room to intervene in our plans.\u00a0 In 4:14, James explains the problem with that type of planning\u2014\u00a0 planning as though God isn\u2019t even there.\u00a0 He says in 4:14, \u201cYet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow.\u00a0 You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away.\u201d\u00a0 In other words, you have these iron-clad and airtight plans, and you think that you have a specific understanding of where your life will be tomorrow or in five, ten, or 25 years down the road, and you don't even realize the limitations of your own life.\u00a0 What are we in our fallen state?\u00a0 We are like mist that appears for a little while and then is gone.\u00a0 That is what our lives are like against the backdrop of eternity.\u00a0 People in that position don't really have the information necessary to make airtight plans.\u00a0 Look at your coffee cup, or your hot water or tea.\u00a0 I'm a coffee drinker which is one of the reasons I didn\u2019t want to convert to Mormonism because I like my coffee.\u00a0 Look at the coffee cup and steam comes up and within a nanosecond, it dissipates.\u00a0 That is really what our lives are like against the backdrop of eternity.\u00a0 We are here for a little while and then we are gone.\n\nAs I said before that this would become important, James is the first New Testament book.\u00a0 We don't have the gospels yet by the time James writes in AD 44-47; nor do we have Paul\u2019s writings yet, and James is making tons of scriptural allusions, so the only Scripture he could be referring to is the Old Testament Hebrew Bible.\u00a0 So, a lot of fun of the book of James is trying to guess since he doesn\u2019t provide the specific quote, which Old Testament passage would he be alluding to?\u00a0 I don't know for sure, but I do have some educated guesses.\u00a0 You might want to jot down the Psalms.\u00a0 (See slide on Order of Paul\u2019s Letters).\u00a0 There is Galatians listed first which hasn\u2019t even been written yet.\u00a0 Jot down Psalm 103:15-16 as this is a potential verse that James is referring to as he is speaking of the brevity of life.\u00a0 He says, \u201cAs for man, his days are like grass; As a flower of the field, so he flourishes.\u00a0\u00a0 When the wind has passed over it, it is no more, And its place acknowledges it no longer.\u201d\u00a0 It is dealing in Psalm 103:15,16 that our lives are like grass, flowers, it is here and then gone.\u00a0 That is how James describes our lives, like mist.\n\nAnother potential verse that James is referring to is the book of Ecclesiastes, which in the Hebrew Bible was known as Kohelet, which means Preacher.\u00a0 In Ecclesiastes 1:2 (NKJV), \u201cVanity of vanities,\u201d says the Preacher [Kohelet], \u201cVanity of vanities!\u00a0 All is vanity.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 Most people, I think, misinterpret that to mean that life is empty without God.\u00a0 Now it is true that life is empty without God, but when he says, \u2018Vanity of vanities,\u2019 I don't think that he is speaking of the emptiness of life but of the shortness of life.\u00a0 Life is very fleeting.\u00a0 It goes by very fast, and you have a very limited window of time to get right with God and to get saved through faith alone in Christ alone, and to live your life in a way that is pleasing to God in the area of growth.\u00a0 There isn\u2019t a lot of time when you think about it to get this right.\u00a0 That is why the Bible says that today is the day of salvation.\u00a0 Now, \u2018Vanity of vanities,\u2019 per Ecclesiastes 1:2 is what is called a Hebrew superlative.\u00a0 It is a way of saying \u2018the ultimate.\u2019\u00a0 Life is not just fleeting; it is vanity of vanities; the ultimate fleeting experience.\u00a0 It is like calling the Temple the Holy of Holies.\u00a0 When you go into the Temple, back in Old Testament times, you weren\u2019t just going into a holy place.\u00a0 You were going into the ultimate holy place.\u00a0 Or, where in the book of Revelation, Jesus is called the King of Kings and the LORD of Lords.\u00a0 He is not merely a king; He is the ultimate King.\u00a0 He is not merely a lord; he is the ultimate LORD.\u00a0 This is a superlative.\u00a0 When the book of Ecclesiastes calls life not just vanity, but 'Vanities of vanities,' what he is dealing with is the ultimate fleeting experience; how fast life can go by.\u00a0 Because you are in the ultimate fleeting experience in our fallen state with life passing by very quickly, you don't have a lot of time in terms of getting right with God, then growing in your newfound faith in Christ.\u00a0 When considering how quickly life goes by, it is foolish to postpone God.\u00a0 Thus, the book of Ecclesiastes calls life just that:\u00a0 'Vanities of vanities.\u2019\n\nIn James 4:14, I think that James is alluding, at least indirectly, to either Psalm 103:15,16 or to Ecclesiastes 1:2 in our coffee verse about mist that is here and then gone.\u00a0 So, since that is our present experience, it is foolish for to plan life as if God didn\u2019t exist, and as if I understood all of the variables, and as though I will be here 20-30 years down the road.\u00a0 There is one Christian couple I heard about who said that they would retire from their business at a particular age, and then they would go on the mission field to serve the Lord.\u00a0 It turns out that they retired and within one to two months, one of the spouses had a debilitating health issue.\u00a0 I remember them saying that they never counted on this happening; we never thought this could happen.\u00a0 That would be an example of having one\u2019s plans so concrete and airtight that you are acting as though God doesn\u2019t exist at all when the fact is that God intervenes constantly to disrupt plans and life itself intervenes constantly to disrupt plans.\n\nJames is dealing here with the mindset where we say per 4:13, \u2018I am going to start a business, make a profit, spend a year there, I will do this and that, then I will sell the business at a particular price.\u2019\u00a0 James is saying that this is folly; that you don't even know what your life will be like tomorrow.\u00a0 The only thing that you are is mist that appears for a little while and then disappears.\u00a0 If you don't believe how fast life can change, look back at the year 2020 at how fast everything changed early in that year with the Covid all over the world.\u00a0 Who, at the end of 2019 anticipated that?\u00a0 Everyone\u2019s plans were changed, just like that!\u00a0 That is the nature of the life that we have in its fallen state.\u00a0 It is not just a vapor; it is a superlative, the thinnest of vapors.\u00a0 A lot of times we don't think this way; we think that we are in charge and that we call the shots; James says that this is foolish thinking.\n\nIf that is foolish thinking, then what is the preferred mindset?\u00a0 What should you do?\u00a0 The Bible is not anti-planning, but it is against planning as though God doesn\u2019t exist.\u00a0 If the Bible is not anti-planning, then what should you do?\u00a0 James 4:15 gives the preferred mindset, \u201cInstead you ought to say [to the person who says that they will start a business and make a profit],\u2026 \u201cIf the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.\u201d\u00a0 There is nothing wrong with thinking about retiring at a certain age, starting and selling a business, paying off the house, but God might have different plans.\u00a0 So, make your plans with a looser grip on them realizing that the Lord can interrupt your plans if He wants to.\u00a0 If the Lord interrupts your plans, praise the Lord, because whose plans to you want:\u00a0 yours or God\u2019s?\u00a0 It is this mindset of the true spiritual walk where we are walking through this life with our grip not as tight as it once was as we are growing in wisdom.\n\nWhen I was working at the Bible College locally, I loved our contracts that they gave us at the beginning of every school year.\u00a0 Then there was a little clause at the bottom that said that they may not have the enrollment numbers in which case this contract would be void or vitiated.\u00a0 I liked that because they were giving me a contract that wasn\u2019t so airtight that God couldn\u2019t interrupt my plans if He wanted to.\u00a0 I think this is what James is dealing with here and how we should live.\n\nThe problem is exposed in James 4:13, planning as though God doesn\u2019t exist; the reason for the problem in 4:14, our life is like mist that appears for a little while and then is gone.\u00a0 Life is the thinnest of vapors, so we aren\u2019t so much in a position to make airtight plans even though we are deceived into thinking that we are in such a position.\u00a0 Then the preferred mindset is to go ahead and plan but to leave room for God to intervene if He desires.\u00a0 Or to leave room for life\u2019s circumstances that change things should they happen.\n\nIn 4:16-17, there is the problem of planning without depending upon God<\/strong>.\u00a0 Why is God against us planning as if He didn\u2019t exist?\u00a0 He mentions four things in 4:16-17 \u2014 how does God look at planners who plan as though He isn\u2019t even there?\u00a0 James 4:16,17 says, \u201cBut as it is, you boast in your arrogance; all such boasting is evil.\u00a0 Therefore, the one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin.\u201d\u00a0 So, the Holy Spirit through James, uses four descriptors to describe the mindset of airtight planning:\n
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    1. Boasting<\/strong> \u2014 again, it is a lot of fun to try to figure out which Old Testament Scripture James is referring to when he uses the word, boasting<\/strong>. I think he is probably referring to Proverbs 27:1 written 1,000 years before James wrote this book, \u201cDo not boast<\/strong> about tomorrow, For you do not know what a day may bring forth.\u201d\u00a0 I don't mean to get too far off on this, but this becomes the problem of incurring massive amounts of debt or going into debt at all.\u00a0 I don't have a carte blanche rule of \u2018no debt,\u2019 but my mindset is that if you go into debt for something, make sure you are on your knees about it because if you aren\u2019t careful, you will commit the sin of presumption.\u00a0 You will presume on tomorrow.\u00a0 That is what Proverbs 27:1 is dealing with: \u201cDo not boast<\/strong> about tomorrow, For you do not know what a day may bring forth.\u201d The problem, therefore, with going into debt, is if you say to yourself, \u2018I will use the money that I have from this job to pay back this debt at this time.\u2019\u00a0 If you aren\u2019t careful, what you have just done is to commit the sin of presumption because you assume that you will have the same job a year from now, and you may not.\u00a0 So be very cautious about putting yourself in a position where you are pretending that tomorrow is going to be just like today.\u00a0 Maybe your tomorrow will be like today; maybe you will get a better job; then again, you might lose your job and be without an income for a while.\u00a0 This is why it says, \u201cDo not boast <\/strong>about tomorrow, For you do not know what a day may bring forth.\u201d\u00a0 That is why James calls this mindset of planning as if God didn\u2019t exist \u2014 boasting<\/strong>.<\/li>\n \t
    2. He also calls it in 4:16, arrogance <\/strong>because you are living as if God didn\u2019t exist. In fact, you are pretending to be God yourself; you are giving yourself an attribute of omniscience because you think you know exactly what will happen tomorrow; an attribute that belongs only to God.\u00a0 James calls it arrogance<\/strong>; those are strong words \u2014 it is boasting; arrogant<\/strong>\u2026<\/li>\n \t
    3. The third descriptor James uses is evil<\/strong> \u2014 a pretty strong word. In other words, it is evil <\/strong>to make ourselves out to be like God, and when we commit the sin of presumption, that is essentially what we are doing.<\/li>\n \t
    4. The last thing James says it is \u2014 sin<\/strong>. He then gives a generic description of \u00a0 Sin<\/strong>, per 4:17 is the Greek word, \u2018hamartia<\/strong>\u2019 \u2014 it literally means missing the mark.\u00a0 When we miss the mark, that means that we have fallen short of God's character, of God's\u2019 law.\u00a0 It could mean that we are violating our own consciences because God has put His laws in our hearts and minds per Romans 2:14-15.\u00a0 These all go under the category of sin<\/strong>.\u00a0 Then he also says here in James 4:17 to expand our definition of sin<\/strong>, \u201c\u2026Therefore, the one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin<\/strong>.\u201d\u00a0 So, I guess that God, rather than giving us 66 books, could have given us a book as big as the United States Tax Code, enumerating every single possible sin<\/strong> that we could commit in which case we would have a massive amount of studying to do.\u00a0 Fortunately, God gave us a limited revelation; He doesn\u2019t articulate every single sin<\/strong> that we can possibly commit.\u00a0 \u2018How do I know if something that I am doing is sin<\/strong> or not?\u2019\u00a0 Because it becomes sin<\/strong> when, to you, you know the right thing to do but you do not do it, or you know something is wrong to do but you do it anyway.\u00a0 That, too, is sin<\/strong>.\u00a0 If I am planning my life as though God doesn\u2019t exist, I am committing the sin<\/strong> of presumption.\u00a0 By doing so, I am transforming myself into the place of God, and it is in that particular case, that I know what is wrong yet choose to violate it.\u00a0 I don't necessarily have to find chapter and verse in the Bible that identifies it as sin<\/strong> if it is something that you know in your conscience is wrong, but you do it anyway, then it becomes sin<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\nThese are, would you not agree, strong words to describe this concept of planning without God.\u00a0 It is boasting, arrogant, evil<\/strong>, and it becomes sin<\/strong> if it causes us to do something that we know is wrong.\u00a0 That is a pretty powerful paragraph, particularly for people like me who are type A personalities who want every nook and cranny ironed out in advance.\u00a0 James has described for us the need to plan \u2014 nothing wrong with planning \u2014 but do so with an attitude of dependency on God.\u00a0 He then describes in 4:16-17 the problem of planning without depending upon God using four very strong words:\n\nBoasting<\/strong>\n\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Arrogance<\/strong>\n\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Evil<\/strong>\n\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Sin<\/strong>\n\nThen, factor in all of that what we looked at earlier, which is the true walk of spiritual wisdom that also involves foregoing judgment on fellow Christians.\n\nNext time we will do the use of wealth per James 5:1-6.\u00a0 So, you may want to look at that paragraph for next time.\n\nPrayer:\u00a0 Father, we are grateful for the book of James and how practical it is and how it speaks into our lives.\u00a0 I pray that we would not be just good students of the book of James but that we would apply these principles to our lives.\u00a0 We will be careful to give You all the praise and the glory.\u00a0 We ask these things in Jesus' name.\u00a0 Amen!","series_sermon_number":""},"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t