For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.
Context: A problem with believers judging other believers
Not wrong in itself per se
If no one ever made an judgement in relation to church decisions
whether relating to doctrine, polity, practice or discipline, then the
church would simply fold as a free for all spirit ran rampant
The first false teacher would get away with his awful crimes
Backslidden Christians could continue to bring shame/cause of Christ
But if we judge righteous judgement (as commanded in John 7:24) and
weigh (discern) the spirits (1 John 4:1) and judge those erring
Christians (in accordance with 1 Corinthians 5:3) then we can be
serious about the idea of running a church to the glory/God
What then was the problem which James tackled?
Answer: Some judged with an arrogant spirit (v16)
Not righteous judgement…at least not from a right motive
Isn't there something in us all that loves to judge others?
The feeling of power and influence - that we have it right and when
others get it wrong (in our opinion) then we have the right to speak
and give the impression that we are greater than we really are
James wasn't standing for that!
He claims: Evil speaker against his brethren did two wicked things
[i] He set himself up over the law/God (v11-12) becoming a Judge
This in effect put him in competition/One True Lawgiver i.e. God
[ii] Evil speaker forgot his own nothingness (v13-15)
He sat in judgement and made all sorts of plans as if (again) that He were God Almighty, when he was anything but
If he would make plans, he ought to say "If God will etc.,"
Reality is…we all ought to preface our plans with these words
4 good solid reasons why:
1) AN ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD
A/ Always a good doctrine to affirm in any situation
Really is an affirmation that God is just as described i.e. God!
God cannot be trammelled by outside forces
He is only restrained by being consistent with Himself
He is holy therefore He cannot lie (Titus 1:2)
He is faithful, therefore He cannot deny Himself (2 Timothy 2:13)
But apart from such self restraints, God is absolutely sovereign and therefore:
He hath done whatsoever he hath pleased. (Psalm 115:3)
B/ If God does not will something, then it will not happen
Perhaps we ought to say that from our puny little viewpoint, we need to
distinguish between the preceptive will/God and His decretive will
Don't let the titles frighten you - easily defined:
[i] PRECEPTIVE WILL/GOD: Relates to what God has commanded us to do or refrain from doing e.g. in the 10 Commandments
For reasons best known to Himself, He allows men to commit kill, commit adultery, steal and lie etc.,
At least, He allows these acts to happen even though He brands them as sins and could (and often does) intervene to prevent them
(We know of course that justice will have the last say in these things)
[ii] DECRETIVE WILL/GOD: Relates to His decree and extends to all that comes to pass (Ephesians 1:11) both good and bad
Whereas men can (and do) operate against the preceptive will/God, yet none can prevent His decretive will from coming to pass
It is the decretive will in view in Daniel 4:35
And all the inhabitants of the earth
are reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army
of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay
his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?
Men might try to frustrate this decreed will of God…but they will fail
Such declared that Israel would spend a specified time in Egypt and
when that time came, the mighty and malignant Pharaoh tried
unsuccessfully to prevent it from coming to an end - Fool!
C/ When we say; "If the Lord will…" as we plan, we are
indicating that we are not in control at all, but that our plans will
come to nought unless they are in accordance with the divine plan of God
This is not fatalism, although often charged upon us
Fatalism is blind and random and without thought or care or wisdom
God sees all things, knows all things, cares and wisely decrees what
will happen at any given time - the two are poles apart and opposites
D/ This idea frightens some people (for some reason: professing
Christians as well) and yet it would be more frightening otherwise
Only frightening if we at the mercy of blind fate
If these truths aren't true…then Romans 8:28 has no force
2) AN ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF OUR DEPENDENCE ON GOD:
A/ When we affirm the Sovereignty/God, we (necessarily) out ourselves
into second place and therefore dependent upon Him and His decisions
(Unless we are affirming a joint sovereignty with God - which we're not)
B/ Our short passage speaks re: men who planned great business deals
They did so from a spirit of arrogance i.e. as if they had no
dependence upon God for anything- note the unwarranted definite
language (v13)
[i] Phrase "Go to now" means (modern speech) "Come! Come!" i.e.
It is an objection on the part of the listener to what these men are
saying
[ii] They cannot talk about a year ahead and where they might be and
doing and that they will buy, sell and profit
They cannot even speak about tomorrow
[iii] As for their whole life - it is a vapour - something easily removed
They are not the most powerful people they perceive themselves to be
Might say of these men: The God in whose hand thy breath is, thou hast not glorified (Daniel 5:23)
C/ This passage does not forbid the making of any plans
That would be reckless by common sense alone and unscriptural:
The sluggard will not plow by reason of the cold; therefore shall he beg in harvest, and have nothing. (Proverbs 20:4)
It merely forbids the making of these plans without any regard for the need of having God ensure their success
It is because of this that we read:
Except the LORD build the house, they
labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the
watchman waketh but in vain. (Psalm 127:1)
A man's heart deviseth his way: but the LORD directeth his steps. (Proverbs 16:9 )
D/ If this is so in regards to earthly matters, then how much more in
regards to the spiritual? Are we not more dependent in this?
Do we not feel our sense/dependence?
It need not hinder us or slow us down unnecessarily
By/large, God loves the goer - He helps those who help themselves
We must put feet on our prayers, but we must pray and commit the work
to God who can give/withhold blessing according to His will
E/ This is the language of the Apostles:
Stephen concerning David:
For David, after he had served his
own generation by the will of God, fell on sleep, and was laid unto his
fathers, and saw corruption: (Acts 7:36)
Paul: Making request, if by any means
now at length I might have a prosperous journey by the will of God to
come unto you. (Romans 1:10)
Paul knew what it was to lay plans and not have them come to fruition:
After they were come to Mysia, they assayed to go into Bithynia: but the Spirit suffered them not. (Acts 16:9)
Therefore he prefaced his plans in Romans 1:10 with this proviso
F/ AW Pink draws our attention to an interesting event when his godly
father expressed dismay that the wording of the proclamation that
Edward would be crowned king on a certain date in Westminster
omitted the commonly used phrase at that time: Deo Vonte (DV)
On the proposed date, the future Edward VII was ill, and the coronation had to be postponed - Man was willing, but not God
We need to acknowledge our total dependence upon the Lord
3) AN ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF OUR OWN SUBMISSION TO GOD:
A/ Our text means much more than a bare teeth acknowledgement
We are to indicate not only dependence but willing submission
What if we lay our plans according to our ardent desires, only to find that we are in conflict with the will of God?
Answer: We submit willingly to the sovereign will of God and say:
Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven (Matthew 6:10)
We are happy to acknowledge ourselves as the servants/Jesus Christ
Another word for servant: Bond slave (doulous)
B/ We do not submit with a blind submission - forced out of us because
we feel ourselves being overwhelmed by sheer sense/helplessness
Our submission is rather on the basis that Father knows best
God sees/knows what we do not know…we submit to the natural
disappointment which we must feel, knowing that God's ways, though not
ours ways, are perfect and for the best (Romans 8:28)
We learn then to swallow our disappointment or to lay it at the foot of
the Cross and look for the better way which will be revealed to us
4) AN ACKNOWLEDGEMENT: OUR DESIRE TO WITNESS FOR GOD:
We ought not only to think, but we ought to say - verbal expression
Such a simple policy will do a world of good
(Assuming that we don't let them slip to being a meaningless mantra)
A/ It will glorify God who hears the things we say with our lips
O Lord, open thou my lips; and my mouth shall shew forth thy praise. (Psalm 51:5)
B/ It will remind ourselves of the need to maintain this policy
Concerning the works of men, by the word of thy lips I have kept me from the paths of the destroyer. (Psalm 17:4)
C/ …Encourage other Christians to take this great Doctrine seriously
Revolutionary doctrine that will affect the way they think
Encourage them to be more prayerful/thankful/dependent/submissive
[i] More prayerful: God works His will through the prayers of His people
God has pledged to give us our daily bread: Matthew 6:33/Psalm 84:11 but we are still commanded to prayer for it: Matthew 6:11
[ii] More thankful: A lost practice among God's own people
Yet God is under no obligation to give us anything
He can withhold as well as give - be thankful when He does both
[iii] More dependent: As already indicated in our 2nd point
It will help us to get our eyes away from men and prevent us from
praising them for the good things performed - seeing the real hand
behind the success in the will/God
[iv] More submissive: As already indicated in our 3rd point
D/ Bear testimony to proud, self seeking sinners: Proverbs 29:1
If life is so short - they should seek God immediately etc.,
THE END