Our text this evening comes from the book of James, chapter 4. The book of James, chapter 4, verses 13 through 17. James, chapter 4, 13 through 17. These are God's very words. 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 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. There ends the reading of God's word this evening. I would like to thank the believers here in Escondido URC for all their prayers over the last year for my family and me. This last year was a big year. I graduated seminary, and then I had classical exams, and your prayers helped me along through that as well. In the last three months, I've been up here exhorting God's word, and I thank you for all your prayers. And I ask you to continue to pray and see where the Lord calls my family and I this coming year. Think about it today. The last day in 2017. Do you think the apostles thought that we'd be here this evening still praying, still reading his word? It's a pretty awesome thought that God is patient enough to continue to call his own all the way to 2017. And now as we turn the page to 2018, we can think about its ups and downs of 2017. The heartbreaks that we had. The championships that we won. From the lowest of lows to the highest of highs. And we just turn the page to the next year. Tomorrow morning, 2018. Today is the day we seem to look forward to the next year. Maybe we'll plan for travel. Maybe this is the year we plan to get that new job we've been thinking about. Maybe this is the year we get that new car we've been saving up for. Maybe this is the year that the last of our kids goes to college. Or maybe this is the year that the first of our kids go to college. But when we think about all these plans that we're making, maybe not just today, but plans every day, How often do we stop and ask the Lord for guidance? How often do we stop and ask the Lord for His will in our lives? How often do we just plan trips, and on the day of the trip, or if something falls through, then we bend the knee and ask the Lord for help? Our text this evening in James deals with this very thing. If you remember a couple of years ago when Pastor Donovan went through this book here, or if you read it recently, you'll realize going through James, it's a little bit different than other New Testament books. It's like an Old Testament wisdom book where there's Proverbs always jumping out at you. And as we read tonight, a proverb will jump out at us as well. As we will see, James does not tell us that we should not make plans for the coming year. But he warns us that as Christians, we should not make plans as the world does. Like we're in complete control of our lives. But we need to remember that God is sovereign. He is on the throne. And we should always bring everything to the Lord first. So we'll start 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. We'll see right away that James wants to get our full attention. Come now. He wants us all to look up. What's he going to say next? And in the context, in the book, he's talking to businessmen and businesswomen. But we can all find wisdom in this text. It's written for all of us. If we're honest with each other, we've all boasted about something in our lives, haven't we? and scripture tells us that not all boasting is evil but james says boasting in arrogance or boasting that we have control of everything we do in this life that is evil that is sin james doesn't mince words does he it's great that we have a pastor here at escondido who can get up here from the pulpit and not mince words and tell us if we're doing something evil tell us that if we're sinning it's sin this past week i was at a church in ventura on christmas day and besides the electric guitars and stuff i thought okay i'll get i'll take that away go away and then the pastor got up and he started preaching the gospel slowly it was coming i'm thinking oh great this is good these people are actually hearing the gospel not just electric guitars and the thing he got so close he got so close but then he stopped and he didn't say sin He didn't say that their lives before Christ were evil. And I thought, you got so close to the gospel, but you stopped. And it's such a blessing to have pastors here and elders here that will help us to understand that. And James is doing that for his congregation in this letter. It's so great to have this straightforward look at our lives. And James has had to deal with so many things in this letter. He's had to deal with favoritism within the congregation. He's had to deal with faith without works. He's had to deal with the tongue, that the human tongue can't be tamed, he tells us. And when we begin chapter 4, he said that if you want to be a friend with the world, it'll make you an enemy of God. As you can see, James takes no prisoners in this letter. And when we get to verse 13, he grabs our attention again. He wants us to look back at him. But he wants to tell us something new. He wants to tell us about boasting about tomorrow. And you see it's directed at the congregation. But as I was studying it, he doesn't give any names. He doesn't bring up exact people in the congregation. So it could just be something rhetorical he's trying to get them to think about. But I believe all churches in all times have dealt with this problem. Especially the church of today. Boasting and arrogance. Loasting that we have control of our lives. In this section, James deals a lot with wealth. And wealth was hard to come by in the first century. So it's kind of pushing the envelope here to think, man, there were so many poor people. But in this congregation, there was rich people. But in America, we're all wealthy. Compared to the third world, it doesn't matter if we have gigantic houses or small houses. We get food every day. We'll never go hungry. We deal with wealth a different way. So we need to hear this message this evening. How many times have we said this, as James says that his congregation says, Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit. How often do we talk like that? How often do we think like that? I know I do. I'm not one to hide it. We always look away to the future, to the horizon. Never where we are or where we're supposed to be. We always look to the future. And let me say this again. James is not telling us not to plan our lives out. But what he's trying to show us is a picture of our hearts. He's trying to show us if we boast in arrogance about what we can do without God's help, then it's a picture of our heart and it's sinful. It's about being in control of our lives. You know, the Bible shows us all kinds of arrogant people throughout the whole book. Arrogance that just blows your mind. Think of Pharaoh. You want to hear of somebody that's arrogant, that boasts in arrogance? Think of Pharaoh. Listen to this. Exodus chapter 5. Moses and Aaron go into the Pharaoh's court and say, thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, let my people go that they may hold a feast to me in the wilderness. But Pharaoh says, who is the Lord that I should obey his voice and let Israel go? I did not know the Lord. And moreover, I will not let Israel go. That's scary. If you think about it in the text, He uses the covenant name of God there. He says, who is Yahweh that I should obey his voice? And that gives me the chills just thinking that somebody could say that out loud. Or think of another king in the Bible that's arrogant. Think of Nebuchadnezzar. He already rules the Middle East. One night he's walking on his roof in Babylon. And this is what he says. Is not this great Babylon, which I have built by my mighty power as a royal residence and for the glory of my majesty? That's bold. That's arrogant. That's a picture of their heart thinking that they're in control of their lives. That they know exactly what they want to do, when they want to do it, and they never have to look at the Lord for anything. It's a nice big picture of their heart. But where's our heart focused? Do we think thoughts like that? Where's our heart focused at the end of this year? James shows us the focus of almost everybody's heart in the world with just one word. Tomorrow. Tomorrow. What can tomorrow bring? We all think it. We all think it. James tells us the truth about tomorrow when he says, yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. Though we can always look better or look forward to a better tomorrow, does anybody really know what's going to happen tomorrow? When you close your eyes on the pillow tonight, do you have any idea what's going to happen when you open your eyes? I think James has a proverb right here on his mind when he writes this line. Proverbs 17, 1 says, Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring. We have no idea what's going to happen in the future. Think about all the surprises that could happen when you wake up tomorrow. Do you think New Yorkers had any idea when they went to bed September 10, 2001, about the next day? Do you think on December 6, 1941, that when these people woke up in Pearl Harbor, they had any idea there would be Japanese bombers flying over them? It's all a surprise. Nobody knows what's going to happen tomorrow. You see, when we go to bed each night, tomorrow is the future. And only God knows the future. Only God knows the end from the beginning. Only God knows if tomorrow you will see him face to face in glory. Only God is omniscient. And that's James' point here in verse 14. James stops us in our tracks. And he says, what is your life? What is your life? I want us to stop and think about that. The psalmist writes that we are dust. As for man, his days are like grass. He flourishes like a flower of the field. For the wind passes over it and it is gone. In our text, James wants us to know the grand scheme of all things. And he says, for you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. It's crazy to look at our lives that way, isn't it? Some translations have vapor or smoke there for mist. But no matter what words you choose, the point is clear. Here one minute, gone the next. It could be illness. It could be accidental. It could be disease. It could all cut our life short just as quickly as the morning sun disperses the fog. or how a shift in the wind could blow the smoke out into the ocean. For we are just a mist, James says, that appears for a little while and vanishes. We're only here for a moment. James dealt with these same, or Jesus dealt with these same kind of problems in his ministry as well. Jesus could see the people's hearts, know that they weren't looking at the future, what he was going to do, but they always wanted to look at now, now. They didn't know that. So Jesus tells them a parable. He loved telling parables. And this parable is great. In Luke 12, I want to read it to you. And he told them a parable saying, The land of a rich man was to produce a planet full. And he thought to himself, What shall I do? For I have nowhere to store my crops. And he said, I will do this. I will tear down my barns and build larger ones. And there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years. Relax, eat, drink, be merry. But God said to him, Fool, this night your soul is required of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be? That's a picture of an arrogant, boasting heart that James is trying to show us. There's no room for boasting in the Christian life. There's no room for boasting. When we think we're in control of our lives, our heart is in the wrong place. We are boasting to God in arrogance if we think we are in control of one second of our lives. Beloved, how wrong could we be if we think that way? Everything we have is from God. James tells us elsewhere in this letter that every good gift comes down from the Father of lights. In Him there is no turning. James also tells us that if we humble ourselves before the Lord, He will exalt us. We don't exalt ourselves. But remember I said that not all boasting is evil. You see, there is a good kind of boasting. And it's in Christ Jesus and what He's done for us. The Apostle Paul writes, But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me and I to the world. And how do we do that? How do we get that good boasting out of our hearts? Well, the prophet Jeremiah tells us how. The Holy Spirit through Jeremiah says, Thus says the Lord, Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom. Let not the mighty man boast in his might. Let not the rich man boast in his riches. But let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me. That I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For these things I delight in, declares the Lord. That is how we're supposed to boast. Not in what we do, not in our pride or our money. We boast in the Lord. If you're going to boast, beloved, boast in Jesus. Boast in what he's done. That it was Jesus who lived the perfect life, not us. That it was Jesus who was the Lamb of God who took away the sins of the world, not us. That it was Jesus who sits on the throne right now to hear our prayers, not us. He's in control. John Calvin wrote, Until men feel that they owe everything to God, that they are cherished by his paternal care, and that he is the author of all their blessings so that nothing is to be looked away from him, they will never submit to him in voluntary obedience. Indeed, unless they place their entire happiness in him, they will never yield up their whole selves to him in truth and sincerity. That is what James is looking for here in this text. We need to know where everything lies, where everything comes from. It comes from God. Everything comes from God. And you see, this is what James is getting at in our text. Instead, you ought to say, if the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that. That's a stopping point. James wants to get our attention again. If the Lord wills, we will live. The Lord loves you. The Lord cares for you. Every good thing comes from him. That doesn't mean we're going to have all the best things in this life, does it? That doesn't mean we're going to get everything we ever dreamed of. You know, God promises mansions. Those mansions are in heaven, not here. Here we bend the knee to King Jesus. Not for him to love us more, but because he loved us first. That's why we bend the knee. Our lives need to be obedient to his will. We need to remember that God is in control in the coming year. and before us before i came up here pastor donovan had us read heidelberg uh question answer 27 and i have it in my sermon we didn't talk about this but i'm going to read it again because it's so good to hear about providence providence is the almighty and ever-present power of god by which he upholds as with his hand heaven and earth and all creatures and so rules them that leaf and blade rain and drought fruitful and lean years health and sickness and prosperity and poverty all these things in fact come to us not by chance but by his fatherly hand how awesome is that to know that to hold on to that promise that when health and sickness happens we know that God's in control when fruitful and lean years come God is in control when prosperity and poverty happens God is in control God loves us and knowing this we can be patient in adversity thankful in prosperity and for the future that only God knows we can have a good confidence in our faithful God and Father as As Romans 8 says, For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus, our Lord. That's a promise you can hold on to until you see Him in heaven. And if we truly believe that, we can live our lives with our eyes focused on Him. And know that that's the future. And then we could say, if the Lord wills, we will live. And we will do this and that because we know who's in charge. And James tells us in verse 17 that if you know that and you don't live this way, it's sin. You're sinning. Brothers and sisters, God has given us a new day. God is giving us a new year. And only God knows what 2018 is going to bring. There will be good times, but there will also be tough times. There could be war. There could be famine. But think about this. The Lord could return in 2018. Doesn't that make a smile? That's a good thing. As Christians, we have hope. We have hope that whatever happens, good or bad, whether great or terrible, God will turn everything to good for those who love him. Remember that. So when you're planning for things in 2018, remember that God is sovereign. He is on the throne, not us. He is in charge, not us. It is his will that we should ask for. And if we're going to boast, boast in Christ, not in ourselves. Let us pray. Father God, you alone are worthy to be praised. You alone are all-powerful. You alone sit on the throne, not us, Lord. Help us to remember that this year as we make plans, or at any time, knowing it's your will that we search for, not our own. Help us to hold on to your promises throughout this coming year. Help us to know that you are always on our side. We pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen.