I invite you to turn in your Bibles to the book of James. We continue with where we left off a few months ago in that book, James chapter 4. We're going to consider specifically from verses 11 down to verse 17 of James chapter 4. But for the sake of context, I'm going to begin our reading at verse 13 of chapter 3. So we'll be considering again verses 11 through 17 of chapter 4, but we're going to begin our reading at verse 13 of chapter 3. Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom. But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. This is not the wisdom that comes down from above but is earthly unspiritual demonic for where jealousy and selfish ambition exists there will be disorder and every vile practice but the wisdom from above is first pure then peaceable gentle open to reason full of mercy and good fruits impartial and sincere and a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace what causes quarrels and what causes fights among you is it not this that your passions are at war within you you desire and do not have so you murder you covet and cannot obtain so you fight and quarrel you do not have because you do not ask you ask and do not receive because you ask wrongly to spend it on your passions you adulterous people do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God or do you suppose it to no purpose that the scripture says he yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us but he gives more grace therefore it says god opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble submit yourselves therefore to god resist the devil and he will flee from you draw near to god and he will draw near to you cleanse your hands you sinners and purify your hearts you double-minded. Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord and he will exalt you. Do not speak evil against one another, brothers. The one who speaks against a brother or judges his brother speaks evil against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law, but a judge. There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor? 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. So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin. Well, as you heard, James here ends the previous section with the words, humble yourself before the lord and he will exalt you well from the topic of humility there james turns to its counterpart pride and arrogance james says in verse 11 do not speak evil against one another brothers the one who speaks against a brother or judges his brother speaks evil against the law and judges the law. The people to whom James is writing to were people who were wrestling with pride and arrogance, but a particular expression of pride and arrogance. The kind of pride and arrogance that is expressed through judgmentalism and presumptuousness. Judgmentalism and presumptuousness. As proud and arrogant people, they first thought so highly of themselves that they thought they were in a position to sinfully judge their brothers and sisters in christ they thought they were qualified to be both judge and jurors of their fellow christians now imagine how destructive such a attitude and spirit in a church could be but also notice judgmentalism wasn't the only effect of their pride and arrogance these people harbored in their hearts they also wrestled with being presumptuous james says in verse 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 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 again these christians thought so highly of themselves that they failed to realize that their day-to-day affairs even the days of their lives were dependent upon the mercy and grace of God instead of acknowledging their dependence upon the Lord for everything their arrogance and pride led them to presumptuously think that they were the ones in control of their lives and therefore they boasted publicly about their affairs it kind of celebrated their opportunities where they were going to go what they got to do the plans that they had the profits they were going to make and so tonight i want to consider this text with you and the wisdom that it provides us by looking at judgmentalism and presumptuousness let's begin with what james says about judgmentalism again verse 11 do not speak evil against one another brothers the one who speaks against a brother or judges his brother speaks evil against the law and judges the law but if you judge the law you're not a doer of the law but a judge james's thought goes something like this when christians openly speak evil against other christians they're breaking the law which is built upon the foundation of the principle of love and they're setting their own laws up in place of god's law and therefore judging god's law as well and making themselves judges you see these christians were confused by their pride which is so often what pride and arrogance does to us we think more highly of ourselves than we ought to, we confuse who we are with who God is. We so easily raise ourselves up and up even above the Lord. But God is the only judge, right? He is the only ultimate law giver. Now yes, there are human judges who execute judgment in courts of law, but even those judges are not judging the motives of the hearts of people. They're interpreting the law and the actions of men based on those laws. But that's not what was happening here in the lives of those to whom James is writing to. They're using judgment as a personal weapon, as a weapon to attack their fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. Notice James uses the phrase here, speak evil, when he says in verse 11 do not speak evil against one another brothers the word that james uses here which is translated speak evil could also be translated slander do not slander one another brothers is what james is saying here and we know what slander is don't we slander occurs when a person brings false charges and accusations against another person and not in the court or in a court of law where slander would be thrown out immediately it has no place there but in the court of public opinion slander is a weapon that a person uses to destroy the good name the good character and the reputation of another false accusations false charges are all the evil speech that james is referring to here and it's not just james that warns against such hateful and hurtful speech peter warns of such speech in first peter 2 he says rid yourself therefore of all malice deceit hypocrisy envy and slander but listen to the way the lord puts it in liticus 19 listen to what the lord says he says there you must not go about spreading slander among your people. You must not endanger the life of your neighbor. I am the Lord. Leviticus 19 links slander with endangering the life of one's neighbor. And isn't that so true? Slander endangers the life of the person that it is against. Slander is an attempt to tear down that life, the life of that person now when you're engaged in slander it's easy to overlook the destructive reality of slander but when you're on the receiving end of slander when it's your name when it's your reputation your character your life that's being dragged through the mud it's so clear to us then is it not how malicious how vicious such speech can be now i think it should be clear to every believer in jesus christ that slander should have no place in our speech in our hearts in our lives especially since we are the people who claim to worship the savior who is the way the truth and the life. Jesus' statement that he is the way, the truth, and the life should impress upon all of the ears and hearts of each and every one of his followers that slander has no place among them. But not only should it be clear because our Lord is the way, the truth, and the life, but it should be clear that slander has no place among God's people because Jesus was himself the recipient of slander jesus received slander slander threatened his life and it was eventually at least in part slander that led to his crucifixion christ died because of such slander he hung upon a cross because of false accusations false charges but jesus didn't only die because people were slanderous towards Him. He died to deliver us from the sin of slander too, brothers and sisters. He hung upon a cross so that we would not slander people. Look, brothers and sisters, there's going to be times when we disagree. There's going to be times where you may argue with your brothers and sisters in Christ. There will be times where you might feel crossed with a fellow brother and sister in Christ. But there should never be a time when we slander the good name of our fellow brothers and sisters. Jesus died to reconcile us to Himself. And He died to reconcile us to each other. So it should be clear, slander has no part in the life of God's people. But the opposite should also be true. It should be inherent to all Christians to love the truth. To love the truth so much that we are so familiar with the truth that we practice speaking the truth. The truth is part of our speech. And even when it comes to those that we believe to be crossed with. Now you know we live in a politically vicious day and age, right? Political speech can be some of the more vicious speech, whether from the right or from the left. And that culture of political speech, depending on how much time you spend listening to politics, reading politics, can be tempting to begin to practice. But that ought not to be the case. For the sake of our Lord, we should always be people who speak charitably. Charitably. Our speech should always be seasoned with genuine love and care and compassion and not the kind of judgment and vindictiveness that we hear that happens in the political arena. Truth should always be a part of the way we speak because truth was integral to the person and work of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Now James warns his Christian audience about slander, but he's even more concerned with the heart of those from whom slander comes. Although James addresses evil speech from one Christian to another, notice the main issue that James is addressing here is the heart. As always, the heart of the matter is the heart. Jesus says, for out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, and slander. James is communicating something similar here but in regards to judgmentalism he would say something like this out of the pride and arrogance of the heart a person wrongfully judges his neighbor and uses his tongue to inflict that judgment and that's what was happening among these Christians to whom James is writing see it's the arrogant and proud heart which moves a person to wrongfully judge another just ask yourself when someone is falsely accusing a brother or sister in Christ when they're slandering a fellow Christian, what do you think is going on in their heart? What's going on? Pride. Arrogance. Thinking more highly of themselves than they should. Thinking more highly of themselves than others. Thinking more highly of themselves than their fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. Thinking they have the right to slander. They're justified in their slander. They have the right to judge. They have the right to accuse. And maybe they even think they have the right to execute, quote-unquote, justice. And that's why I say pride and arrogance so easily confuse us into thinking that we can stand in the place of God. We can. But how sad, how sad, brothers and sisters, that this could exist among God's people. Among people who have been redeemed by a Savior who lived and died to deliver them from such speech. Now let me ask you, does such practices sound like wisdom from above? Heavenly wisdom? Or do such practices sound more like wisdom from below? Worldly wisdom. I think the answer is obvious, right? It's worldly wisdom that moves a person to think more highly of themselves than others and therefore justified to slander another person. You see, remember that this whole discussion comes out of the discussion of chapter 3 where we began reading back in verse 13 where James asks, Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct, let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom. And then notice James kind of shifts, right? but if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts do not boast that's exactly what these christians were doing boasting do not boast and be false to the truth slander this is not the wisdom that comes down from above but is earthly unspiritual demonic for where jealousy and selfish ambition exists there will be disorder and every vile practice slander and judgmentalism are vile practices come from a heart that has itself as its primary focus that's pride that's arrogance see when one slanders another and judges them in this way what are they doing but out of bitter jealousy and selfish ambition trying to lift themselves up above others while verbally stepping over their brothers and sisters in christ i think that's exactly what was going on among the the the disciples when they were arguing over who was the greatest in the kingdom in pride and arrogance they were trying to elevate their own position while diminishing the position of their fellow disciples again that's what pride and arrogance does it blinds us it blinds us really makes us literally stupid dumb now to be sure there is a right kind of judgment jesus says to his disciples in john 7 stop judging by mere appearances and make a right judgment see there is a wrong kind of judgment and a right kind of judgment there are times when scripture requires us to judge and when making a judgment to do so righteously and wisely for example scripture necessitates judging when a brother or sister is caught in sin and refuses to repent of that sin along the same lines scripture requires elders and pastors to pass judgment on a person in the area of church discipline or when a teacher is guilty of teaching error or false doctrine see there are indeed times to responsibly wisely righteously judge but even in those cases we ought to judge with a heart of compassion not a heart of judgmentalism a heart of compassion for the sinner who's caught in their sin or for the teacher who has been led astray by false teaching what i mean is this we should never judge with a kind of judgmentalism a kind of self-righteousness a kind of trying to to raise ourselves above others by using judgment as a weapon that's exactly what jesus was getting at when he said judge not lest ye be judged for in the same way you judge others you will be judged And with the same measure you judge others, it will be measured to you. When it comes to our own judgment, we all want to be judged graciously, am I right? We celebrate grace in that respect. Well, if that's the measure of judgment that we desire, then we should be gracious towards others in regards to our own judgment. Again, that doesn't mean that we can't hold each other accountable. We must at times. But again, in those cases, we hold each other accountable with hearts that are broken over our own sin. We take the log out of our own eye while taking the speck out of our brothers and sisters. Because, you see, brothers and sisters, there is only one judge. God himself. And like I said, when we judge out of pride and arrogance, we deceive ourselves into thinking we're God. We deceive ourselves into thinking we are judge and jurors of our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. That's not true. As James so plainly states here in verse 12, there is only one lawgiver and judge, and he is able to save and destroy. And that's what this all boils down to, really, when you think about it. We so easily forget who we are and who God is. Our pride and arrogance deceive us into thinking more highly of ourselves even to the point of placing ourselves in the position of God. But not only does James warn here these Christians in the area of judgment but he also notices that their pride gets the best of them in the area of being presumptuous james warns these christians in verse 13 by saying 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 while a little time and then vanishes here again the issue is the pride that was moving these christians to presume upon the goodness and graciousness of god and just like in the area of judgment and slander these christians so easily forgot who they were A mist. A mist. They again thought more highly of themselves. They thought that they were self-sufficient. They thought their future was in their hands. They thought all they had to do was lay hold of the future, grab life by the horns. They could do anything they want as long as they put their mind to it. All of this should be somewhat familiar to us, right, as Americans. this kind of worldly wisdom we hear all the time in our american culture our american culture champions this mentality we're americans we we pull ourselves up by our bootstraps right we take life by the horns we set our minds to something and we can accomplish anything it was martin luther king jr who once said in an mbc interview it's a cruel jest to say to a bootless man that he ought to lift himself up by his bootstraps. Now Martin Luther King Jr. was speaking in regards to the poor black people at that time. But I think that statement really can apply to any of us when we think of all of the affairs of our lives. It is a cruel jest to say to a man that he ought to lift himself up by his bootstraps Because the truth is, in life we all stand bootless, strapless, and barefoot before God. We have what we have. Success, wealth, achievement, health, a number of days of our lives. We have all of that by God's merciful, providential hand. It's a proud and arrogant man who says in his heart, or even out loud, Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town, spend a year there, trade, make a profit. Now maybe with the summer months upon us and with all of our summer plans, this might hit too close to home for us, right? We all have plans. Maybe we have plans this week. Remember, the issue here is the issue of the heart of the person. The proud heart raises themselves up to the place of judgment over others. The proud heart raises themselves up to the place of God by presuming to be self-sufficient. James isn't saying here that we should never make plans. That's not his point. You see, for the humble man who in humility knows his life and everything in it depends upon the Lord, James would say, make plans. Make plans. Prepare for the future. But bring those plans, those futures, in prayer. Submit them to the Lord. Don't be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. And really, when you look down at the text, that's exactly where James is headed. Look at chapter 5. Much of chapter 5 is dealing with prayer. That's where James has taken us. And prayer is the response of a humble man, is it not? To everything in life. Whether that be suffering, salvation, success, failure. The humble man brings it all to the Lord in prayer because he realizes everything comes not by random chance but by God's fatherly hand just as we confessed a moment ago and as James has already taught back in chapter one where he says do not be deceived my beloved brothers every good gift and perfect gift is from above coming from the father of lights with whom there is no variation of change now for the arrogant proud person who wrongfully perceives himself or herself as self-sufficient, James would say, what is your life? What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. You know, one of the things that I've become so fond of living here in Escondido is the marine layer that comes over the town in June. I think we call it the June gloom. I love that marine layer. It keeps the sun away. It keeps the morning day cool and moist. My only issue is it doesn't last, right? It's gone by late morning it's only there for a brief time that marine layer is something like our lives james says here here in the morning gone by late morning it's passing it's transient it's short-lived It's fleeting. James is reminding us just how passing and fleeting our lives can be. James here reminds us of the truths of Psalm 90, does he not? Which calls us to wisely number our days so that we might gain a heart of wisdom. Since our days are what? Seventy or by strength, eighty? Here today, gone tomorrow. Sadly, it seems like it takes a lifetime for us to figure that reality out. That life is short. It's fragile. It's dependent upon the Lord. What misery we could save ourselves. What wisdom we could glean by realizing this truth and reality early in life. Because the reality is our lives are short. And our lives are out of our control. Like the hairs of our head, our days are numbered by the Lord. But it's not just the breadth and length of the days of our lives that God oversees. He's in control of all the affairs of our lives, isn't he? James makes this point well in verse 15. Instead, you ought to say, if the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that. At this point, James reminds his readers of texts like Proverbs 16, a man's heart plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps. Or Proverbs 19, many plans are in a man's heart, but the purpose of the Lord will prevail. Man is mortal, but not only mortal. He's dependent. He's not self-sufficient. He's not autonomous. He's completely and utterly dependent upon the grace and mercy and providence of God. So what's the remedy to such thinking, such presumptuous thinking, such judgmental speaking? What's the remedy to such? Well, the remedy is to have a proper view of God's will. James says again in verse 15, Instead, you ought to say, if the Lord wills. Now, it's not as if this phrase, if the Lord wills, is some kind of magical saying that blesses everything that we do. It's not what James is saying here, that we have to say, if the Lord wills before everything and anything that we say or do. But you see, those words should reflect what's in our hearts. Trust. trust. Trust in the God who is in control of all things. And this should serve as a great comfort for us that God is in control of all things. We know whether through experience or through reports on the news like the ones we saw in Texas this past week, life can change on a dime. life can change so fast there was so much that is out of our control but it is the events of life which are under the sovereign control of god that remind us how dependent we really are and that's a humbling thought is it not that's a humbling reality but that's a good reality for us to realize and to hold on to see reflecting upon god's will is always a good way for us to recalibrate our perspectives and our practices. Reflecting upon God's will reminds us of who He is and what He has done for us in Jesus Christ. We may not know what tomorrow may bring. We may have plans for tomorrow, but we don't know what tomorrow will bring. But we know the God who is in control of tomorrow. And we trust him and he is trustworthy he's proven that to us by giving his very son for us he's done everything to save us from our sin why would he not also provide us with everything we need and life. Trust Him, Christian. Deny your pride. Deny your arrogance. Trust Him at all times. Let's pray. Lord, we thank You tonight that You indeed are trustworthy. We thank You, Lord, that You are the God, the Father of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We thank You that You have saved us through his work that you've saved us from our pride from our arrogance and pride and arrogance that is expressed in so many different ways Lord and so we ask father that you would graciously by your spirit continue to bind us together in Christ that we as your church Lord would not be a people who slander each other a people who lift ourselves up above each other a people who presume upon your goodness and kindness, but may we be a thankful people, a people thankful for all that you have done for us, and may that affect our hearts, our minds, our speech, and our practices. We pray this all in Christ's name. Amen.