Cork Free Presbyterian Church, 10 Briarscourt
(Annex) Shanakiel, Cork, Ireland
Pastor: Colin Maxwell. Email: colin.maxwell@fpcmission.org
READ: JAMES 4:10-17 TEXT: v14 [WHAT IS YOUR LIFE…]
mp3 recording here
Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow.
For what is your life?
It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.
Context: Part/overall argument which James is pursuing against men who
profess to be Christians and yet display breathtaking arrogance in
judging other brethren (v10-12)
If we must judge other brethren, let it be with righteous judgement
(John 7:24) i.e. in accordance with the principles/Bible, to God's
glory alone and not our advantage and with the right attitude ourselves
If we fail to observe this, then let us judge not, lest we be judged also
Paul shows the arrogance of such men by observing their attitude to life
These are the kind of folk who lay big plans and fill their talk with all that they do over a proposed period of time (v13-15)
There can be doubts in their mind of their success
As you listen to them, you are left gasping/admiration because they
give the unknowing the great impression that they are in complete
control
Indeed, we almost cry out as the people did in Acts 14: 11
And when the people saw what Paul had done, they lifted up their
voices, saying in the speech of Lycaonia, The gods are come down to us
in the likeness of men.
It is not unlike James, however, to burst their balloon
He rebukes them (v13) and then he uses a withering illustration to show
them that they are not made of steel - that their plans are not carved
in the toughest granite to become one of the seven wonders of the
ancient world - but that they are so expendable that tomorrow could
find them gone from this scene of time altogether and next years
customers will be doing their business elsewhere
We want to take these words/James (v14) and observe/following:
1) LIFE CAN BE DEFINED
If not actually defined, then at least described in a way that cannot
be easily dismissed or overthrown by an alternative view point
A/ I say that life can be defined because it is important to know that
we are not doomed to the modern idea that nothing is definable
James asks/question, obviously expecting an answer: What is your life?
People who try and evade questions like these with vague ideas that
nothing can really be defined etc., such have very definite ideas on
other matters - a bit like the drop outs who reject the establishment
and who queue on the appointed morning to collect their dole money!
B/ A refusal to face this issue is not intellectual (even if worded in
such language) but moral - a vain attempt to evade the greater issues
re: God, the law/God, sin and eternity
2) LIFE IS NOT TO BE TAKEN LIGHTLY
When it is described as a vapour, it is not to be thought of as something of no consequence - that is not the point/illustration
A/ Your life is the opportunity of your soul
Let's address this two ways i.e. to two different groups/people:
[i] Unsaved: This life is your only opportunity to be reconciled/God
You have a soul that becomes immortal and will never die
When death claims the body, the soul will live on, but its opportunity
to be saved from the guilt/power of its sin will have died too
Hence the Rich man in Luke 16:19-31 was told that a great gulf separated him from paradise and was now unbridgeable
There is an afterlife where we live with the consequences of what we
did in this life, particularly in relation to our response to the
gospel
That indicates that our life is not something that can be wasted
Getting right with God ought to top our agenda and sit unmoved and unchallenged by any other matter
Bible speaks of a man being ensnared in a dangerous deal as a guarantor
What it advises about that serious matter stands for salvation:
Thou art snared with the words of thy mouth, thou art taken with the
words of thy mouth. Do this now, my son, and deliver thyself, when thou
art come into the hand of thy friend; go, humble thyself, and make sure
thy friend. Give not sleep to thine eyes, nor slumber to thine
eyelids. Deliver thyself as a roe from the hand of the hunter, and as a
bird from the hand of the fowler.
This time set apart as an opportunity to redeem your soul cannot be lightly esteemed and be wasted
[ii] Saved: Having taken your opportunity to make peace/God, the remainder/life ought to be dedicated in thankful service/Him
For me to live is Christ and to die is gain (Philippians 1:21)
For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die
unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord's.
(Romans 14:8)
Even the Christian can be left (through his own choice) to lament wasted years, years spent in chasing after lesser things
True that we have all eternity to serve God, but not in the special way we can serve Him here on earth
We are in the Devil's territory - the Lion's den - here in this life,
Here we may have the blessed privilege of bearing reproach/His name
All that will be gone forever in the next life
Therefore life here, although described as a vapour, is so important
3) LIFE IS SO SHORT AND UNCERTAIN AND CANNOT BE TAKEN/GRANTED
A/ This the meaning of the vapour/text
These men boasted of a year ahead, when they knew not what the next 24 hours would hold for them - they could guarantee nothing
Their whole life was like a vapour - so short in reality
What is 70 years or 100 years in the light of eternity? Nothing!
B/ James borrows here from the OT, particularly Job 7:7
O remember that my life is wind: mine eye shall no more see good.
Again: Psalm 78:39: "a wind that passeth away, and cometh not again";
John Gill: Such is the life of man; it may be fitly compared to
the wind, which moves swiftly, and, passing on, loses its
strength and subsides; so the life of man is quickly gone, his
days move swiftly on, he dies, and returns not again to his former
state, to a mortal life; and though the spirit returns to the
body again, yet not till the resurrection; and then not of
itself, but by the power of God;
C/ We have already spoken then of the importance of this life
Even if it lasted a thousand years, it would still be important for
reasons already stated i.e. it is our only opportunity either to be
saved, or to labour for God in this particular way
How much more then that it is so short and so uncertain
These tough talking businessmen were fools
Not because they made plans, but because they made plans without God
Had they said "If God will" - then they had themselves covered
We'll deal with the implications of so saying in a moment…
D/ If life on this earth is so short and ephemeral, then we ought to be
laying up for ourselves treasures in Heaven (Matthew 6:20)
A world of difference between a gemstone or gold and vapour
The vapour is easily produced, is worthless and soon disappears
Therefore the holy man/God in 1 Chronicles 29:15
For we are strangers before thee, and sojourners, as were all our
fathers: our days on the earth are as a shadow, and there is none
abiding.
The gemstone or gold on the other hand is solid, priceless and lasting
Soon this earth where many seek their treasure will be burnt up
Heaven is described as a continuing city whose builder/maker is God
Treasure laid up in Heaven is secured treasure and lasting
But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor
rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:
(Matthew 6:20)
These men (and those whom they represent) were gaining nothing
What if they did make huge profits every day for a year and build
themselves great business empires and enjoy the benefits of riches and
power…it was all going to be left behind and that very quickly
E/ Let us not therefore delay in our duties, banking on time we might
never have, gaining to ourselves something which we might never enjoy
and which ultimately we cannot enjoy for any length of time
4) LIFE IS BEST LIVED WHEN SUBMITTED TO THE LORD:
A/ We mentioned about the need to preface our plans with the words: "If the Lord will, we will live or do this or that" (v15)
Here is the language of submission
Not only carrying the sense that God might intervene and frustrate our
little plans and demonstrate to us who is really running the show…
…but in the sense that we might come before God and say to the
effect, "Lord, I would love to be a successful business person etc.,
and so I plan to do this, that and something else to realise my life
long ambition"
Maybe the Lord says, "No…I have enough successful business
people in your place at this particular 70/80 years corresponding with
your time on the earth. I want you to do something else…"
What do we do? Do a runner from the will/God like Jonah to Joppa?
God graciously got Jonah turned again when He could have left him be
What reward would Jonah enjoy/Heaven if God left him/own desires?
B/ If we are going to say "If God will…" then we need to submit
ourselves first to the Lord and put Him first in our plans
God is looking for people and particularly their hearts
As Paul said to the Corinthians, (2:12:14) so God says to us:
I will not be burdensome to you: for I seek not yours, but you…
Only God could really say these things
(Paul was not seeking the Corinthians for his own ends - but God's)
C/ If we give God our lives, particularly the younger/fresher years,
then no matter short they may prove to be by whatever standard, it will
be a life lived to the glory of God and will reap the greatest reward
God is no man's debtor and it is not foolishness to give away that which you cannot keep to gain that which you cannot lose
Those hard headed business men/passage could surely work that out!
5) WE MUST TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR OUR LIVES:
A/ Assumed by the whole tone/comments, but is strongly implied/text:
Not merely, What is life? But what is your life?
God gave you your life to live just as the man/parable was given talents and held accountable as to how he invested them
Many precious little souls who never got to see the light/day
If they breathed at all in this life, it was but for a few days after birth
For wise and sovereign reasons God took them home to be with Himself
and they never got the opportunities that you have to serve God/here
B/ With privileges, there always comes responsibilities and so we must
(as Christians) give an account of ourselves/God (Romans 14:12)
Even the most holiest Christian in that day will feel his unworthiness
Even the greatest will always be unprofitable servants, but we should
not use this as an excuse to give God the leftovers and second best
Rather use it as an spur to give Him everything we have:
In the glad morning of my day, my life to give, my vows to pay
With no reserve and no delay…Lord of my life I come
Just as I am, young, strong and free, For truth and righteousness and thee
To be the best that I can be…Lord of my life I come
THE END