So we do return to our series through James tonight. I'd ask you to turn in your Bibles to his letter. Turn to the middle of chapter 4. You'll find that on page 1291 in the Pew Bible. In your Bibles, slipped in between Hebrews and 1 Peter. James chapter 4. I still remember the opening sermon for this saying how James didn't waste any time getting to business. And I thought it might let up after that, but it doesn't. He's very concerned for the church of Jesus Christ, that we would live, look more and more like our Lord, to have sin rooted out, and that we might grow in His grace. And from the very beginning, He's been pressing upon us to be doers of the Word, not just hearers. Not to leave our reading of the Scripture, not to leave our hearing of the gospel preached in church and just close our books, go home and forget. He wants and calls us to do what God wants us to do, which is to be doers of the word. And he has promised that God's word will produce a harvest of righteousness. It will produce a crop. When it's sown in peace by those who make peace. But that crop won't grow in a congregation where there's quarrels and fights, and that's what James was dealing with, quarrels and fights. I'm thankful when I prepare these messages from James that I don't see the profile here that James was seeing, but I know that everything he sees, he sees because it's in us. But for the grace of God, we would be right there, and there's something for us to learn. In verses 1 through 10 of chapter 4, which we spent two sermons on, James showed us that our quarrels and fights are not caused by our circumstances. They're not caused by the people that we bump into, that we work with. But our quarrels and fights come from our own cheating hearts. We love what we love more than what Jesus loves. And he closed out that section in chapter 4, verse 10, with a call to repent. Which is the only way for us to make progress in the Christian life. I think sometimes, in fact I know sometimes, we grow weary of always needing to repent. why can't I be done with this by now Lord because you're not in glory advancement comes through repentance and he gave us a great summary of repentance there in verse 10 what we read humble yourselves before the Lord and he will exalt you I think is better translated be humbled before the Lord and he will exalt you we saw that portrayed so beautifully this morning Moses was humbled he didn't humble himself he came to face to face with God and he saw himself for who he is and he saw God for who he is and that changes everything and that's what James is getting at when we're humbled before the Lord he will lift us up he'll not lead us down and in our text this evening James will bring us before the Lord for sins that we consider most likely petty Little things. And He's going to humble us. And He's also going to lead us to a fresh remembrance of our utter dependence on Christ for everything. For our salvation and for our sanctification. And He will lift us up. There's two parts to this text tonight. They seem disjointed. But I do believe they carry a common theme. So I'm going to present them both. In verses 11 and 12, James deals with sinful speech to one another, how we speak against our brethren. And in verses 13 through 16 with a sinful view of the future. And I have to say that we are so prone to both of these, we probably don't even see them and recognize them in ourselves. But James is going to teach us their magnitude. And he's going to reprove us sharply in order to correct us and to advance our training in righteousness. And what stands behind both of these texts is a common text from Isaiah, chapter 33, where the Lord said, Isaiah said, The Lord is our judge. The Lord is our lawgiver. The Lord is our king. He will save us. And James will show us tonight that when we prosecute our brothers, prosecuting our brothers, We're acting as lawgiver and judge. And when we presuppose on the future as though we were rulers, as though we were king, we're being pretenders to the throne of God. We are taking to ourselves what only belongs to him. And therefore, I believe James' point tonight is to stop laying claim to God's throne. More shortly put, get off the throne. Step off. So let's hear God's will in that regard for us tonight from chapter 4, beginning in verse 11 through 17. Hear now the word of God. 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's 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, and all such boasting is evil. So, whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him, it is sin. God added his blessing to his word, read and preached tonight. Well, in verses 11 to 12, James shows us how prosecuting your brother is a grievous sin against God. A sin that attacks his sovereign justice and his judgment. Now, he's not so concerned about prosecutions taking place at the Vista Courthouse or at the Federal Courthouse. And the trials that he's talking about don't look anything like those that you see on television. But he's very concerned about the daily prosecutions that take place between Christians, members of the church, in our homes, at our schools, at our workplace, any place, in any way that we interact with one another. He's very concerned. These prosecutions are very often, most often, impromptu affairs. They begin as soon as someone breaks the law. Your law. by frustrating your desires, by somehow coming up short on your expectations. The prosecution can take just a few moments. It might drag on for years. And you're the prosecutor who also serves as the star witness, the judge, the jury, the executioner. And all the time, you are the one speaking against the accused. The accused may be present. You may say it to their face, but more often than not, they're not there. Trial may be private. At other times, it's broadcast live for all to see, and even other times, we make a recording so we can share it with everybody that needs to know. This is the kind of prosecution that James condemned, saying, do not speak evil against one another, brothers. Now, only James and Peter used the word here for speaking against. It's really not a complicated word, but they're the only ones that use it. And it's always used in the sense of hurtful intent. You say something to someone to hurt them. Peter warns Christians to expect this from unbelievers. Unbelievers are going to speak against you as evildoers are going to slander your behavior. Expect it. Don't be surprised. James. James has to tell the church to stop it. It's evil, as the ESV highlights for us. When we speak against someone, we reduce their value. We tarnish their reputation. We undermine their importance. We cut them down to size. You know, the size that we like. We put them in their place. A place that we think is more fitting for them. We all know it when we hear it, especially when we are on the bench, we're accused. But you know, not so much when it's about somebody else, when we hear it in the grapevine, when it comes out of our own mouth. In fact, we may not think it's serious at all. So that we shrug it off, you know, sticks and stones can break my bones, but words can never hurt me. I've just got to, I'll deal with it. Or we tell the person that we're busy accusing, you know, you just need a thicker skin. You're just too, too thin skin. Well, James is saying otherwise. The Word of God is saying otherwise. And he shows us in using almost mathematical equations, in three short equations, he takes us and connects how it is when we speak against our brother, we are actually blaspheming against God. Laying claim to his throne and his authority to judge and taking it to ourselves. It's blasphemy. Look at verse 11. First equation, James says, the one who speaks against a brother or judges his brother. I'm going to stop there for a moment. When he says that, he's not showing us two different things. That little word, or, throws us off. He's telling us about one thing and two parts of it. He's trying to let us know that these belong together. Jesus said, what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart. What James is saying is that the one who speaks against his brother from his mouth judges his brother in the heart. To speak against someone is to judge someone. We need to understand that. To speak against someone is to judge someone, shining our spotlight on their frailties, their failings, their sins. And even if we're telling the truth, even with what we see there is sinful, we do it in a way that's not good for building them up, that we can give them grace. But in a way that Paul says is corrupting, destructive, withholding grace. Equation two. It assumes, number one, and moves us a step closer to God. The one who speaks against his brother or judges his brother speaks evil against the law and judges the law. These are equivalent. To do one is to do the other. And James has in mind what he calls the royal law, the perfect law, the law of liberty, which is the second great commandment that Jesus said, that you shall love your neighbor as yourself. And as Christians, we are called to be doers of this law. not only hearers, in every interaction with every neighbor, especially brothers and sisters in the body of Christ. When we speak against a brother or a sister, you need to understand those are equated. When you speak against a brother, we speak against the law. When we judge a brother by our standard, we judge God's law, His standard, to not apply. It doesn't apply to us. It doesn't apply to this situation. And we're especially quick to judge the ninth commandment out of bounds. Bearing false witness, twisting words, gossip, slander, lying, deceit, a refusal to guard the reputation of our neighbor to advance his good name. And we're quick to rule out the sixth commandment against murder, against belittling, insulting, hating or killing my neighbor in thought, word, or gesture. When we judge a brother, we're using our law and we're ruling God's law out of order. We're judging the law. Equation three, it assumes the first two. To judge a brother, I mean to speak against a brother is to judge a brother. To do that is to speak against the law and judge the law. Then he moves on and he does this to humble us before God our judge and the judge of all men. He brings us face to face with the judgment seat of God. He says, but if you judge the law, if that's what you're doing, and he says that's what you are, if you judge the law, you're not a doer of the law, but a judge. In other words, you cannot be at the same time both a doer of the law who is subject to the law and a judge of the law who is over the law. You can't be both. And if you set aside being a doer of the law in order to be a judge of the law, You have a problem. You are a judge who comes face to face with the judge. And you are on his throne. James says that there's only one lawgiver and judge. He who is able to save and destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor? You've been saved by grace through faith to be a doer of the law, to stay under it as a servant. When you speak against your brother, you not only deny your calling, you sin against your neighbor and you blaspheme God laying claim to His throne as if it were your own. Does that surprise you? Are you feeling the weight of that? What are we to do? Well, all that we can do and thank God we can do it. We can repent. We can be humbled before the Lord and He will exalt you. And I hope that humbles you like it humbled me this week. because if we're humbled, we're in a place where the Lord will lift us up. If we're humbled, we will fear him who can destroy a soul and body in hell. And we will hear James' command to do not speak evil against one another, brothers. And we will strive to stop acting like we are our neighbor's lawgiver and judge. we will strive to stop imposing our will that's arbitrary and changeable, our judgments that are merciless and unjust. And we'll pray with David in Psalm 51. Have mercy on me, O God, for I know my transgressions and my sin is ever before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned. and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment. Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean. Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, because when I feel your law, I don't feel it. Restore that joy to me and uphold me with a willing spirit and we hold fast to Christ. As the Holy Spirit continues to work through God's Word, even this Word this evening that is hard for us to hear, to conform us to His image. Jesus Christ came in the flesh and He is the perfect doer of the law. The lawgiver became the doer of the law and He did that for you and for me. Even this law in our place. And so Peter says, he committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return. He did not speak against. When he suffered, he did not threaten. He did not speak against. He continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. And he bore our sins, even this sin, in his body on the tree. It's been paid for, people of God. And he did that, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. that we might repent and we trust Jesus, the founder and the perfecter of our faith, who alone can give us the drive and the power to stop laying hold and stop laying claim on the throne of God and be content to be doers of the law. No need to climb up there to judge anyone else. Now, he looks across the room. And he shows us another problem that does the same thing. He shows us how presupposing your future is a grievous sin against God that attacks his sovereign rule. Now the change in subject matter is baffling, even the commentators. No one knows where to draw the line here. What comes before, what comes after. I think this is all tied together because they both call into question who we are versus who God is. And the things that are called into question for us are both condemned as evil. I believe that James is on the same theme here, stop laying claim to God's throne. And he begins this section of verse 13 by calling out a group of merchants to demonstrate a far more widespread sin. They're just poster boys. This problem isn't with business. They're just poster boys. They've announced their business plan. Maybe it's their IPO. They say, come up. He says, come now, you who say, today or tomorrow. We'll go into such and such a town and spend a year there. and trade and make a profit. Sounds like a complete business plan to me. Tells us who and what and when and where and why. Who? We're going. What? We're going to go and do trade. When? Well, we're going to leave tomorrow. We're going to stay for a year. Where? The town doesn't matter. You know where it is. And why? Well, of course, to make a profit. We need to know that James is not saying that that in itself is wrong, to make that plan. In fact, to plan is a good and necessary thing. Wisdom often demands a plan. Our interns know that I talk to them often about making their plan. We make plans for all kinds of things, short-term plans for the grocery store, long-term plans for our retirement, weighty plans for our education, our career, our marriage, our family, maybe even death and dying. And less sweaty plans for all kinds of things, vacations, whatever. We're planners, and it's okay. The reason James calls out these merchants is not because they've made a plan, but because of their absolute trust in their plan. They've laid it down. They're going to follow it. And it's done deal. They are trusting in advance. They are presupposing that their plan is done, that it's a sure thing, and they talk as if it has already been accomplished, as if the money is already in the bank, as if they can already spend it. Sound like they'd be doing business in North America, don't you think? Like them, we are tempted to trust our plans too much. This isn't about business plans. This is about trusting the plan. And we are tempted to talk and live as if our plans are a done deal. We get upset when things don't go like they're supposed to go. And it's this attitude, this misplaced trust, this bubble of, we've all heard the term, irrational exuberance that needs to be burst. And in verse 14, James gives the reality check needed to humble us, to burst our bubble. Let me offer you this translation to put a point on it. Who are you to know what tomorrow will bring? What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. You're like a morning fog that burns off by eight. You're nothing. You're a mere creature bound by time and space. You're a descendant of Adam and you're subject to die. This breath could be your last. You can guess about the future. Even scientists do it. But you cannot know it, control it, or count on it. You are not God, the creator of all things. It is he that determined the end from the beginning, not only for the whole of creation, but for your very life. It is he that has enthroned Jesus Christ in the heavens. Far above all rule and authority and power and dominion as head over all things. As it is, he says in verse 16, you boast. You boast in your arrogance. You boast in your self-righteous, self-determined, self-sufficient, self-important, self-deceived arrogance. And all such boasting is evil. It's more than forgetfulness. It's not merely an oversight. It's blasphemy against God. Laying claim to his throne, denying that he's the ruler over all things, expressing unbelief, at least in that moment. Again, are you surprised? I was shocked by the gravity of this sin. I just, I don't know, we're North Americans. We make lots of plans and we count on them. 401Ks and 403Bs and IRAs and all that stuff. We have our apps, and we have our newsletters, and we have our portfolios, and we have all these things, and those are our plans. And plans are good, but are we trusting our plans? Or are we trusting the God who controls? Well, what are we to do? Again, all that we can do. And thank God we can do it. We can repent. We can change. We can be humbled by this reality. And the Lord will lift us up. Instead of boasting in your arrogance, we can hear his command from Jeremiah chapter 9 to boast in 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. That's what the Lord says to us. We might add, let not the planner boast in his plans. Instead, James says, you ought to say, if the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that. Instead, say with your mouth what you believe in your heart, that the Lord is God and there is no other. The Lord is God and there is none like him. His counsel will stand and he will accomplish all his purposes. He has appointed your days, every one of them. And He did that before the foundation of the world. And He has numbered all the hairs of your head, yes, even those that came out this morning in your comb. None fall apart from His will. Well, we hear that and we might say, well, do we have to say if the Lord will? Do we have to say, Lord willing? When we make our plans. But we know that the Apostle Paul did. Sometimes. We need to know that we can omit them without sinning. Just as we can sin if we use them like some kind of magic formula, abracadabra. God's going to listen to me if I say this. Or if they just become an empty habit that everything's Lord willing and we don't think a thing about it. So it's not about the words. It's about the heart. It's about the trust. It's about the confidence. In God, not in ourselves. But we need not hold back when they arise from our lips, out of the conviction of our heart, that man proposes, God disposes. Or as the Proverbs say, the heart of man plans his steps. The Lord establishes his steps. We make our plans. The Lord directs. Through faith in Jesus Christ, you have been born again to a future. You've been born again into an inheritance that is kept in heaven for you that can never perish, fade, or spoil. That's a future you can count on because it's God who is giving that to you. And until the day we enter into that inheritance, God is guarding you by his power through faith and he has planned every step of the way. He's planned a future for you. And he'll bring it to pass. And we know from his word that this plan is to work all things together for the good of those who love him, who are called according to his purpose. It's a good plan. And we know that for those he foreknew, he has predestined to conform us to the image of his Son, that we can repent, be restored, we can put away sin, we can put on righteousness, we can let go of our claims against the throne of God and be content to be doers of his word, trusting him instead of our own plans. So therefore, as we wait for that day when our faith will be sight, we are called and equipped to make our plans, to make our plans, Lord willing, with patience when things go against us, because they will. Thankful when things go well, and they will. And a good confidence in our faithful God and Father that nothing along the way will separate us from His love in Christ Jesus. At the close of these two scenarios, James adds a proverb, verse 17. And I believe he adds this proverb to us, to keep us humbled before the Lord, because what he has applied here to two things applies to all things. That's why David prayed, it's against you, Lord, and only you that I've sinned. He says, so, whoever knows the right thing to do, and fails to do it, for him, it is sin. Well, he just told us some right things to do. and we are responsible to do them. He's shown us how we fail and we can be assured that we're going to fail again, but he's also shown us that we are utterly dependent on Jesus Christ for the forgiveness we need when we don't and the willingness and the power to do it more and more. So we've heard from James the law of God. His demands on our lives and what it means when we break it. how it blasphemes our God and Father. And we've been reminded that we do need Jesus, not just looking back to what he did on the cross as that's all there is, but because we need him day by day for the sanctification we need to hear these words, be humbled, and look to him to make progress. And I trust his word that if you are humbled before him by this sermon, By this text. He will lift you up. You can take that one to the bank. Let's pray. Our Father in heaven, we do thank you for your law. We're reminded of what Paul said, that he would not have known what covetousness was unless the law had told him what it is. Tonight, Lord, through James, you've told us how we blaspheme you when we speak against a brother and when we presume upon the future. And Lord, you have pulled back some shades that needed to be opened that we would see the bright light of your law and recognize how we have not kept it. We thank you that you forgive us for Jesus' sake when we are humbled before you. We thank you that by your Spirit we know greater power day by day to turn the corner, put away these things, and to put on that which is pleasing to you. as doers of the law, not just here. Thank you for your word to us tonight. In Jesus' name, amen.