Hello Friends!
Welcome back to our Monday morning Daily Devotions
summer series titled
“The Book of James: Putting Faith to Work!”
The Book of James: Putting Faith to Work!
This
week we will continue our reading of verses
13-17 in completion of chapter 4 as we consider Man’s
Boasting or God’s Will…
If
we look into the life of a true “believer”
we will assume them to be a “Christian”
of whom is committed to living by the “will”
of God. In fact, Jesus Christ said throughout His earthly
ministry that the “one” who “does” the “will”
of “My Father” is also My “brother,” “sister”,
“father” and “mother”:
While
He was still talking to the multitudes, behold, His mother and brothers stood
outside, seeking to speak with Him. Then one said to Him, “Look, Your mother
and Your brothers are standing outside, seeking to speak with You.” But He answered and said to the one who told Him, “Who is My mother and who are My brothers?” And
He stretched out His hand toward His disciples and said, “Here are My mother and My brothers! For whoever does the will of My
Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother – Matthew 12:46-50
What
Jesus was “teaching” here is those who
are spiritually
related to Him will be demonstrated by a deep “desire” to “do”
His “will” alone. The true “Christian” accepts the “Lordship” of Jesus
Christ over all of their life. Now, this
doesn't mean “we” always ”do” His “will”
perfectly,
but the desire is there none the less – The
perfect will of God!
The
psalmist also said this concerning the “will”
of “God” for life:
Teach me to do Your will, For You are my God; Your Spirit
is good. Lead me in the land of uprightness – Psalm
143:10
It's
as if the psalmist is saying he wants to “do” God’s “will”
but is not sure how to “do”
it. And he “delights” in God’s “will” but needs the Lord to
“teach” him specifically in “living” by and “obeying”
Him through it. Therefore, the foundation of “our” relationship to Jesus Christ
is ”doing“ the “will”
of God in this “life”
by becoming more like Him – For His glory!
Here
again, James provides another potent point in this excellent epistle addressing
yet another test of true
“living faith” in Jesus Christ.
In this poignant passage James will address the wicked “boasting” through the “mouth” of man. AGAIN…
It is one thing to say you want God’s “will” to “rule”
over your “life” of “faith” in Him. However, it is another
thing all together to – Prove it through
sound speech!
Man’s Boasting or God’s Will: Which
One?
Constant
disregard
FOR and disinterest IN the “will”
of God is the surest evidence for the presence of “pride” in the “heart”
of the phony professor of “faith”
in God. And this very fascinating passage is built around the illustration of a
certain “foolish” Jewish businessman
who “believes” he can “live”
his own life without the Lord. And we get more great insight into
this matter of how we approach – The perfect will of
God!
Man’s Boasting
James
therefore begins this poignant passage in very practical terms
using an excellent example for “us”
to seriously
consider:
Come
now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend
a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit”; whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that
appears for a little time and then vanishes away – James 4:13-14
THEOLOGICAL THOUGHTS: There are some people
who flatly ignore God's “will”
in their lives and they “live”
as if God wasn't even around! And we meet them here as introduced by James in
the form of this Jewish businessman. The “Come
now” that James begins with here is a familiar Old
Testament prophetic style of rebuttal and in the Greek means “let me have your ear in this manner” by
speaking to “you who say”
will do “such and such” in the present
tense and habitual sense. That's pretty confident talk and is the
typical non-contingency self-designed planning in which is quite
typical of lost “sinful” man desiring to be
his own
self-governing god. Therefore, we have here a typical “unbelieving”
businessman involved in trade of some sort but totally ignores
God – There's no place for God in his planning!
We
must also consider the parable of the “Rich Fool”
in the Gospel of Luke where Jesus
addresses “saving” the “soul” and “laying
up” true “treasure”
of God:
But God
said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose
will those things be which you have provided?’ “So is he who lays up
treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God – Luke 12:20-21
QUIZZING
QUESTIONS:
In and of itself, is a proper approach to “planning” a “sinful”
or ethically
wrong activity? Is there something immoral about saying
“Today or tomorrow”
we’ll “go to such and
such a city” and “spend
a year there” to “buy
and sell” and “make
a profit” of sorts? To be honest, every businessman
would want to say this! In and of itself there's nothing immoral or unethical
mentioned here. No Spiritual principles are violated
in these verses by anything that is said here – So far, so good! HOWEVER…
The
real “sin” being committed is what
is NOT said
here and that's the implication James addresses. Although “wise”
and careful
“planning” is indeed essential and is expected
by God, the “theological” problem
here is there is no mention of God anywhere in this “rich” man’s
endeavors! This is a “living”
of one’s own “life” as if there
was no God and encompasses the “foolishness”
of ignoring the “will” of God and His Sovereignty over “all
things” of which is the “sin”
of presumption.
Therefore, James says “life”
is but a very brief “vapor that
appears for a little time and then vanishes away” like
smoke! There are some people who “believe”
God exists
and there are even some people who claim to be “Christians” but do not include God in
their “plans” for life – Practical willful
self-atheism!
And
if we go back to the oldest book in Scripture and
most likely the first one written, we find Job
describing his “days” on earth:
My days
are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle, and are spent
without hope… As the cloud disappears and vanishes away, So he who goes down to the grave does not come up – Job 7:6
& 9
In
other words, our existence is largely “spent
without hope” in pertaining to “life”
and “death” being very brief and “swift” like a “cloud”
that “disappears”
across the sky and “vanishes” in an instant
– This life is temporary and passing!
God’s Will
Now,
let’s think about this “saying”
from the OTHER perspective… What
James says is being ignored by the “you
who say” crowd is not just the existence of God's
“will” but the benefit of God’s “will” in “life”
as well! Therefore, James continues with a corrective statement
beginning with “Instead”
concerning this type of “sinful”
and GODLESS expectation:
Instead
you ought to say, “If the Lord
wills, we shall live and do this or that.” – James 4:15
Even
as “Christians” we too can fall
into this “sin” of presumption!
Although it is not characteristic of our “new
nature” to disregard or push the “will
of God” aside, it does happen from time to
time. However, there is a perfect “will”
that God has for every dimension of “our”
lives and it's not mysterious! Therefore, James says “If the Lord wills…” and since God
does indeed have a “will” for “us” – He'll let us
know it if we seek to know it!
Then
notice again how James speaks of this particular “sin” of the “tongue”
here:
But now
you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil – James 4:16
The
word "boast" here means to be
loud-mouthed
or to speak loudly.
It had to do with either “rejoicing”
in God’s
accomplishments OR a “boasting”
in the “flesh” about one’s own
accomplishments. Obviously, in this context the “you” here was an “arrogance” of a
bragging “heart” meaning "you are boasting in your arrogant bragging"
and it is absolutely “evil”
in nature – Stop it!
HISTORICAL
HINTS: The word that is
translated "boasting" here is also
a word that originally referred to the idea of wandering about and was used of
people who mounted a platform in a public place to do particularly one thing: sell their goofy goods! This is the original
snake oil salesman saying: “Step right up
folks, have I got the cure for you!” It resembles the old
quackery approach of attracting crowds in where the many crooked charlatans
and fraudulent
fakes were duping unsuspecting people to buy their poky
products… They were "boasting"
with their “lies” but – They could NOT accomplish what they claimed!
James
then closes this very important chapter with a truism and axiom:
Therefore,
to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin – James
4:17
Here
is the person who “believes” in
God, possesses a “knowledge” about
God and even “knows” God has His “will” for life. But this person
doesn’t “do” it at all! Most of the
time we find this wonderful verse reduced to the idea only of “sins” of omission in not
“doing” what you know you ought
to “do” in life. However, implied here in not
doing what you know you ought to do is the
fact that you went ahead and did what you ought not to do
in the first place! Rarely can we isolate a “sin”
of omission
from a “sin” of commission. Why? Because if “we”
didn't “do” what should
have been done then “we”
surely did what ought not to have been done. Right? Therefore, James is addressing a “wicked” attitude towards
the “will” of God that essentially says: “I know what You want” However – I'm NOT going to DO it!
POINTS TO PONDER: Can we “know” God's “will”
at all? YES! Most importantly, the
Apostle Paul gave us this “truth”
about the “will” of “God our Savior”:
…who
desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one Mediator
between God and men, the Man
Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time – 1 Timothy 2:4-6
Therefore,
God's “will” is that people be “saved” from their “sin”
and that's God's “will” for YOU and ME! And if you haven't come to
Jesus Christ to “receive” eternal “salvation” through Him, you have not “done”
God's “will” for your life. You are being “disobedient” and are “living”
in stark opposition and rebellion to what the Bible
says is
God's “will” for His own. And
that's why the Holy Spirit also
said through the Apostle Paul in his farewell address found in his first
epistle to the Corinthian “fellowship”:
If
anyone does not love the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be accursed. O Lord, come!
– 1 Corinthians 16:22
The
word “accursed” means they were devoted
to damning destruction and cursed by God. Why? Because they didn't “do” God's “will”
by giving their “life” over to Jesus Christ
and embrace
Him as the Son of God, the One who “died”
and “rose from the grave” for their “justification” through God’s “forgiveness” of their “sin.” And that is God's “will” for your life too – That you be saved!
REAL REFLECTIONS: Beloved, are you
“living” out God's “will”
for your
life? Are you “saved” through Him? Are you
“Spirit-controlled” by Him? Are you being “sanctified” in Him? Have you “submitted” your life fully to Jesus Christ? And are you willing to “suffer” for the “cause”
of Him through true Biblical “faith”
no matter what the price? – That's the will of
God for you!
In closing:
The
“will” of God
is held in highest regard throughout the “Scriptures”
and perhaps it is said no better than by the Apostle John in his first epistle:
And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he
who does the will of God abides forever – 1 John 2:17
In
other words, the true “believer”
possessing “eternal life” is “he” who “does”
the “will” of God. It is the characteristic
of true “saving faith” in “salvation” through a right relationship
to God in Jesus Christ.
Therefore, “we” desire to “obey” the “will”
of God – Please help us Lord Jesus!
And
who is our greatest example? It was Jesus Christ Himself saying:
Jesus
said to them, “My food is to do the will of
Him who sent Me, and to finish His work – John 4:34
I can of Myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment
is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who
sent Me – John 5:30
In
other words, when the “believer”
beholds the perfect model of Jesus Christ, we see the essence of a right “relationship” to God bound up in “obedience” to Him. And although my “obedience” to Him is very imperfect, it is
nonetheless characteristic of my “love”
for Him as His “child” bearing His nature
and that I have a deep desire to do His “will”
in my life. On the other hand, if there is no desire in my “heart” to “do”
the “will” of God, that is the mark of a “rebellious” person who has not
been “transformed” by the power of
Jesus Christ – One who does not know or love
God!
Thank you for reading! Don’t miss next week’s continued study of The
Book of James: Putting Faith to Work!…
May the Lord Jesus Christ continue to bless you with His perfect
love, mercy and grace!
Keep looking up and sharing the Gospel while there is still time… Hallelujah
and Maranatha – come quickly Lord Jesus!
Blessings!
Shane <><
