Seeking once again the help of
God, I'd like us to turn together to the chapter that we read together,
James chapter 4, and the text you'll find in verse 14. Whereas ye know not what shall
be on the morrow, for what is your life, even a vapour, that
appeareth for a little time, then vanishes away. The context begins really at
verse 13, which says, Go to now, ye that say, today or tomorrow,
we shall go into such a city and continue there a year and
buy and sell and get gain. Finishing in verse 15, for you
ought to say, if the Lord will, we shall live and do this and
do that. We're all very well aware of
the events that have taken place just the other day with the passing
of Norman and how someone in our life can just be there one
minute and we are speaking with them, dealing with them, having
no real thoughts about what is going to take place in the future
and then suddenly the news comes that they are taken from us and
death is so final, there's no return from it. We know if somebody
is taken into hospital then we have a hope that they're going
to get better. The doctors are able to do so many good things
nowadays and people go in for heart surgeries and operations
and bypasses and cancer treatments and there's so many blessings
that are able to take place in this land of ours and we We so
often hide under this thought that everything is going to be
okay and we put death, that final closing of life, that final switching
off of the lights, we put it to the back of our mind and we
just think the doctors are going to be able to deal with this
and everything is going to be okay and we're going to live
some more years we're going to continue on and it won't be a
long while until it's going to be a long while until we die
we put those thoughts of death to the back of our minds and
when the Lord brings something into our lives so sudden we're
forced to come face to face with the reality that we are not going
to be here forever. Even if we live to a good old
age we must die. The deacon of Grove Road Mr Drury
On Tuesday, I believe, passed away. He was 103 years old. A good life, a life well lived,
a life lived in service to the Lord or in knowledge of Christ.
He was a deacon for many, many years at Grove Road and yet his
life is gone. 103 years. No doubt as he looked back over
his life he would have confessed that yes 103 years and seen so
many changes yet it had gone very fast. And even in our own
lives coming up to another Christmas, another new year and how fast
has this year gone. It didn't seem long ago that
I was standing in this pulpit doing my three-month trial. I
think I preached from in the beginning And two years has gone
by in a flash since we came back from Kenya and the scripture
reminds us that we're to think about and we're to consider the
frailty of our lives and the speed by which we pass through
this life state, this this material world in which we live, we're
to consider that we are not here for very long and that every
moment of every day is precious, given to us by God. We know the
scripture tells us that it's God himself who is the giver
of life and it is God who takes life and it is us to live a life
to the honour and glory of God, living each day as it were our
last with that constant consideration that we are frail, that our life
is just like a vapour, like a smoke, like a wind, like the grass that
is here and then cut down and gone for forever. And so James presents us with
a question. He says that there are those
people who have such confidence in their health, in their strength,
and what they are going to do, that they're going to be here
tomorrow. He says there are those who say
today we are going to do this and tomorrow we are going to
do that. We are going to go into this city. We are going to go
there. We're going to achieve this. We're going to be successful. We're going to buy and sell and
get gain. And he tells them why do you
say or why do you speak with such confidence that you're even
going to be here? You don't know. The Lord Jesus
tells the parable of the rich man who stored up all of his
grain in his barn and said that he was going to relax, eat and
drink and be merry. He thought he had tomorrow. He
thought he had the next day. He thought he had his retirement
looming in front of him and that he was going to live a life of
ease, resting on his wealth. God says, you fool. this night
your soul will be required. He had that confidence. I'm all
right I've got everything sorted out but he forgot the frailty
of life and that God was in ultimate control of everything. We sang
a sovereign protector have I unseen yet forever at hand. God is the
sovereign protector of his people and we are basically immortal
until he sees fit to take our lives. But we don't know the
time he has set for our life to be stopped. As we walk out
of this chapel we will turn off the lights and our life will
one day be turned off just like that. like a candle snuffed out
and gone. People may mourn for us for a
few days, maybe even a year if we have loved ones, but soon
people will get on with their lives. They'll forget about us. Our life is gone. Our bodies
will be laid in the grave and will be remembered no more. I
was working recently in a graveyard. You know the graves there are
100, 200 years old. And the people, they're forgotten
now. Maybe someone will do some family research to discover their
relatives, their long loved ones, but they're gone. All that remains
of them is a headstone. Their life was lived and then
they died. And we read that in the scripture,
those who lived for many years, but we read, and then they died. Our life is but a vapour, a very
fragile thing. And we cannot even boast about
tomorrow because we don't know what tomorrow will bring. And
so James says, we ought to say, if the Lord will, We shall live
and do this and that. What is your life? It is a question that is being
asked. Our life is the most precious
thing that we have. A man will do anything to save
his life. give everything that he has just
so he can live. It is God given. God gives us
life and we are created for that his glory And the life that we
live should be lived to the honour and glory of God. But by our
nature, because our hearts are deceitful above all things and
desperately wicked, we don't live a life that is honouring
and glorifying unto God. We live a life that is honouring
and glorifying to self. We say, this is what I'm doing.
This is where I'm going. This is what I'm going to achieve.
This is the way I want to take. And we forget that we have been
created by God for his glory. This people have I formed for
myself that they may show forth my glory.' And it's what a great
blessing to be taken out of the darkness and have the Spirit
of God placed within our hearts that we can live a life that
is pleasing to God in Christ Jesus, a life that is worthy
to be lived, a life that is enabled to bring glory and honour to
God. in Matthew 16. He tells us there in verse 24. And Jesus said unto his disciples,
if any man will come after me, let him deny himself and take
up his cross and follow me. But whosoever will save his life
shall lose it. And whosoever will lose his life
for my sake shall find it. But what is a man profited if
he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul? Or what
shall a man give in exchange for his soul? So Jesus holds
up two examples as it were, the soul and the world. What is a man profited if he
gains the whole world? What good does it do a man if
he becomes so rich and so powerful that he gains the whole world.
He's able to be the king of the whole of the world. Every country
that he steps on is part of his kingdom. Every street that he
walks down he has the power and the authority to buy up as he
chooses. Yet he's lost his soul. His life is just a vapour Yes
he has an abundance of material blessings and a multitude of power yet he's forgotten
the one thing that is needful his soul. The value of our soul is of more
value than the whole world put together. This world no doubt
has a value but our soul is unvaluable, it's
without price. This world is passing, it is
fleeting. And our life here is also passing
and fleeting yet our soul is immortal it cannot die it will
pass on from this world into the next world. Therefore it
is extremely valuable and precious. So what is our life? What is your life? It is the most valuable thing
that you possess. It is of more value than the
whole world put together. It is a precious gift of God. You think of those children,
those babies, millions of them that are snuffed out, aborted
in the womb. Life is taken from them. that God has allowed us to live.
Every day we wake up and he gives us the strength, he gives us
a life to live, he enables us to breathe, he enables our hearts
to function and our bodies to function and so our life is a
gift given to us from God. And what is our life worth to
us? Do we count it a gift? Sometimes
life is extremely difficult. Sometimes we dread waking up
in the morning because we don't know what we're going to face.
Sometimes we go to bed wondering how we're going to go to sleep
because of the things that are passing through our minds. And
we may even consider, you know, this thought came to me and I
didn't want to say it but I'm going to. Sometimes people want
to take their own life. Sometimes life can be so stressful
and so difficult that you just think, well, I'm better off dead. I'm better off just walking away
somewhere and finishing it. But you know, if you have come
to that point, there is hope. There is hope. The Lord does
make a way of escape. And if those thoughts do pass
through your mind remember the preciousness of life. Remember
the preciousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. Remember that he
is he is enabled to help those who
are in trouble and in difficulty. He will not cast off. And remember that if you are
His, then He is doing something in your life. And it may be that,
you know, the prophets of old said, you take away my life,
it's not worthy that I live. Things were hard, things were
difficult. David said, oh that I have wings, I could fly away. And sometimes life can be like
that, so difficult and so hard that you just want to fly away
and you forget the true value of life. But the Lord is able to help. Life is precious. Life is valuable. But often we forget its value.
Often we forget its preciousness. Often we forget the God who has
given us life. You know sometimes we can be
so taken up with the things of the world that we forget that
we have a life to live. We're so focused on what is going
to happen, what is going to take place and we forget that we're
We've got a life to live today. We're worried about tomorrow.
We're worried about next year. We're worried about when we get
old and we forget about living today for the Lord. We forget
that our life is a vapour and it's passing away so quickly
that we forget to live for the glory of God today. How often it is that we're checking
other things rather than checking whether we're living in the right
way, even today. The scripture tells us in Corinthians,
whatever you do, whether you eat or whether you drink, do
all for the glory of God. The Christian life is a light
shining in a dark place and how often we forget That is our purpose. Our purpose is to shine. He says
don't hide your light under the table in a basket but put it
on the table where people can see. See your life. See your light. We forget the value of our life. What is your life? And he gives us the answer. It
is even a vapour that appeareth for a little time then vanishes
away. We all know what a vapour is. We boil the kettle and we see
the steam come out and it's there for a little while then it disappears.
We're driving down the streets at the moment you see people's
boiler flues, their heating is on in the house and you see the
steam being pumped out and it's there for a little while then
it disappears. And if you're following people
in a traffic jam they may be smoking, they may be vaping and
you see this big cloud of smoke come out but it's gone in a little
while. And so James has given us a visual
aid to help us understand the frailty of our lives. He wants
us to remember that when you see the steam, when you see the
vaping, when you see that cloud appearing then disappearing,
he wants you to be reminded that that is just like our lives. Here and then gone. Some people
may live just a few moments and then they're ushered into eternity.
Others may live 103 years and then they're gone. Think of Methuselah. 969 years. Where is he? He's
not here. And he died. All flesh. must be one day cut down. No matter how old we live, in
comparison to eternity, our life is just a vapour. It is fleeting. It is fragile. It is easily blown
away. It is easily snuffed out. We walk, as it were, on thin
ice every single day. waiting for that moment in which
we will be taken from time into eternity and the scripture tells
us that we are to often consider the frailty of our life so that
we live each day to the honour and glory of God and not waste
our time on futile things eating and drinking and being
merry, planning all these things that we are going to do, forgetting
the frailty of our life and forgetting to say, if I live, God willing, we shall do this
or that. If the Lord will, we shall do
this or that. Hebrews tells us In Hebrews chapter 9 and verse
27 it says this is appointed unto men once to die but after
this the judgment. And so the scripture is very
clear that our life is fragile. It is a vapour. It will be snuffed
out in this world but it will not be the end. As we looked
at this morning when we die death is the separation of body and
soul. The body remains on this earth
but the soul ascends to that place where the Lord will have
it to be whether in heaven or in hell waiting for that resurrection
day. But after death There is a judgment. Disappointed unto men wants to
die. The thief, the rich man thought
he had many days. But James reminds us that our
life is a vapour. At this moment in time, we are
making plans. of Christmas. We have a new year. The young people are saying we've
finished school in two weeks. We're going to do this, we're
going to do that, we're going to go there. We're making plans for
everything that we are going to do and that's right because
we have to make plans. But it's to make plans with that
knowledge that if we live We are going to do this and that. And if we make our plans with
that conscious knowledge of if we live we're going to do this
or that then that shows that we have made already the greatest
plan. We have planned for eternity. If you live knowing that you
could die any moment then you face God. Surely that would make you make
a preparation for meeting God. We're going to go on holiday. We make arrangements. Many months
in advance we may book our aeroplane or our Airbnb or caravan or tent
pitch. We begin shopping, making plans,
buy the right clothes, buy the right gear that we need. As the time gets closer, we begin
to pack our suitcases and we make sure everything's ready.
We've got our passports if we're going abroad. We've got our plane
tickets. We've had our injections. We
make all of these plans because we believe that we are going
to go on holiday. How is it then that we make those
plans? How is it then that we make those preparations for the
things of time which we don't know if they are going to happen
and we fail to make preparations for the appointment which we
do know will happen which is our appointment with God our
judge? What preparations have we made
to face him? We don't know how long we are
going to live. The Bible is very clear. Our life is a vapour. We don't even know if we're going
to live tomorrow but it tells us when you die you are going
to face God and there is no doubt about it. What are you going
to say to him? Will you say well sorry I thought
you were going to give me a little bit more time. I didn't realize
I was going to die this quickly. I was going to turn from my sin
tomorrow. I was going to enter in by the
door tomorrow but I didn't realize you were going to take me today. Are you going to come up with
all manner of excuses as to why? Why has my life ended so soon?
I expected that I was going to live to an old lady or an old
man and then I would make my choice to follow the Lord Jesus. There was a girl that I knew
who said you know when I'm old I'll become
a Christian. Being a Christian is so miserable.
I don't want to be a Christian while I'm young. I want to go
out and I want to enjoy myself. I want to have a good time with
my friends. I want to do this and I want
to do that. I want to go there. When I'm old I'll be a Christian. Mercifully the Lord dealt with
her before she was old. But many are taken. And what excuse will they give? I made plans for this world but
I didn't make any plans for eternity. We've made plans for Christmas
to celebrate the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ but have you
made any plans to meet the Lord Jesus Christ when he comes again? to judge
the earth as we saw this morning, to separate the sheep and the
goats. What is your life? It is but
a vapour. What is it that you are so focused
on? What is it that you think about
every single day that stops you from thinking about eternity? whatever that thing is you will
have to leave it one day. Maybe it's work, maybe you're
so focused upon work you're so consumed with work that you laid
aside every thought of eternity. Maybe it's school, Maybe it's
your career or maybe it's your college or university and you're
transfixed. I'm going to get this sorted
out first. I'm going to deal with all of
this. Thou fall. This night your soul
will be required of thee. It's all very public. Dear old
Norman's life. Everything that he had there
is just heaped up in the corner. His tent, his bed, sleeping bag,
all just there. He didn't have much, but he had
to leave it. He can't take it with him. He's
gone. Now you and I have probably got
more than poor old Norman. whatever we have and the more
we have the more we have to leave. Rich and poor lay together in
the graveyard. A rich man may have a beautiful
headstone but that won't do him any good when he comes face to
face with the Lord Jesus Christ. What is your life? Here for a little while and vanishes
away. Think how many generations have
come and gone before us. They may leave their mark in
this world but everything that they have achieved, everything
that they have earned, everything that they have done, it's gone. They have to leave it. Somebody
else has it. They may have a great inheritance
to pass down to their children which is great and wonderful
and a great blessing. but their children would have
to leave it. Their children would have to leave it because our
life is a vapour and it is just vanishing away and if we haven't
made any preparations for eternity, if we haven't turned from our
sin and focused upon the Lord Jesus Christ then everything
is lost. Your life will be snuffed, put
out, Everything you achieved taken
from you and you go to a place where the
worm dies not. Do we live then with that conscious
realisation that if we live we shall do with this and that.
Do we live with a eternal perspective? I don't know if it was Robert
Murray McShane who said whether it was Jonathan Edwards who said
stamp eternity on my eyeballs. He wanted to ever live with a
constant reminder of eternity. that his life was frail and passing
and that after death the judgement and then an unending eternity. Psalm 90 tells us there verse
12 So teach us to number our days
that we may apply our hearts to wisdom. True wisdom comes from God. Wisdom
is in the book of Proverbs spoken of as a person, the Lord Jesus
Christ is the wisdom of God. And so the prayer is teach us
to number our days to realise the shortness of them and the
frailty of them and then with that knowledge then to apply
our hearts to wisdom is to trust in the Lord Jesus Christ and
to hand over what is most precious to us and to give it to Christ. Deny
yourself, take up your cross and follow me. What is most precious is our
life. And it can be secured in Christ
Jesus. The things that we hold precious
are valuable. Sometimes they are artefacts
that have been passed down, family heirlooms. We value them. We
treasure them. We put them in a safe place. our money, we put it in a bank,
we hope there it is secure but our most valuable thing is
our life, our soul and the blood of the Lord Jesus
Christ is able to cleanse our soul from all sin Some people spend a lot of time
polishing their brass and their oak furniture, cleaning their
houses and making sure everything is nice. But they forget about
their soul. Their soul is still dirty, sinful,
an abomination to God. They're so transfixed with everything
they can see and they've forgotten the value of their eternal soul. And that the blood of the Lord
Jesus Christ is able to cleanse that soul from all sin. The apostle tells us, I am crucified
with Christ. Yet he lived. Every Christian has died to self
and to sin. They've handed their life over
to the Lord Jesus Christ, they have died, yet they live, yet
Christ lives in them. And they live a life that is
to the honour and glory of God, realising that their life is
frail, it is a vapour passing away. Yet they are eternally
secure in Christ Jesus. And although we vanish away from
this world that is not the end of us. The scripture tells us that this
world is passing away one day it will be folded up as a scroll
and burned And so everything that we have here will go. You remember the disciples
of the Lord Jesus as they walked through the temple they were
admiring the stones. What a wonderful building this
is and no doubt it was. Yet Jesus said to them, you know
these stones there will not be one left upon another. Everything
was going to be torn down. And I more than anyone love to
walk around looking at beautiful houses. Seeing the design and the way
things are built. Going to London and seeing the
great skyscrapers there and all the infrastructure that is put
in place and I enjoy looking at it all working. But then you
have to realise that all of these things are just passing away.
They will not be left one stone upon another. Everything will
be pulled down and all that will remain is God and God's Word. God is the same. Christ is the
same yesterday, today and forever. The only security that we can
have, true security, is to be found in Christ Jesus. Even the
money in our accounts is not secure. We can be tricked. We can be frauded and we can
lose everything. Our houses can be burnt down. Our cars can rust away. Our lives can be snuffed out.
So the only security that we have is to be found in Christ.
Jesus tells us the parable of the wise man who built his house
upon the rock. The winds came and beat upon
that house and it was secure. But the other man built his house
upon the sand. The same house, the same storm,
it had no foundation. And when the storm beat upon
his house it fell down and great was the fall of it. will happen
when the storm of death comes into our life? Will it just sweep us away into
eternal damnation or will it beat upon us and we'll be found
secure in Christ Jesus, a solid rock founded upon the rock? Yes our life is just a vapour but the believer in Christ Jesus,
his life will physical body may be put into the grave but he
will live forever with the Lord. What is your life? What is my
life? Who are we living our life for? Is it my life, my plans, my way? or is your life hidden Christ? Lord, what will thou have me
to do? His will for his people is to
live a life that glorifies him. What is your life? Remember,
every day remember that it is a vapour It appears for a little
time then it vanishes away and it will vanish away into eternity. And so Lord stamp eternity upon
our eyeballs that every single day we may live with that conscious
knowledge. All that we see round about us
is fleeting and passing and temporary. There is one thing that is needful
and that is to be found at the feet of the Lord Jesus Christ
and to live for him. May the Lord shine these things or stamp these
things upon our minds that we may realise that we are just
a passing through. This world is not our home. May he have his blessing. Amen. Let's sing in conclusion from
Hymns for Worship, number 184. 184, when this passing world
is done, when has sunk yon radiant sun, when I stand with Christ
on high, looking all life's history, then Lord, shall I fully know,
not till then, how much I owe. Hymns for Worship, 184, tune
507. When this passing world is done,
when earth has sunk your radiant sun, when I stand ? With Christ
on high ? ? Looking on life's history ? ? Then, oh, shall I
fully know her? ? ? Nor, till then, how much
I know. ? Chosen not for good in Thee,
Waken not from wrath to flee. Hidden in the Savior's side,
by the Spirit sanctified. Teach me, Lord, on earth to truly
Lord, I love how much I owe. O'er thy wood, beneath the cloud,
Dark as midnight's gloomy shadow, But when fear is at the height,
Jesus comes and who wills not? Blessed Jesus, thus I know, Something
of the dead I know. When I stand before the throne,
dressed in beauty not mine own, when I see thee as thou art,
nothing will and sinning heart. Then, Lord, shall I fully know,
know till then how much I owe. ? When the praise of heaven I hear
? ? Loud as thunder to the ear ? ? Loud as many waters' noise
? ? Sweet as palm's sweetest sound ? Then, Lord, shall I fully know,
not till then have I Dear Lord we thank thee for the
reminder of the frailty of our lives and we pray that we may
heed the warnings of thy holy word and to hear what the spirit
says unto the churches that today we hear his voice not to harden
our hearts we ask lord that thou give us those truly soft hearts
that are willing to turn from our sin and to look to the Lord
Jesus Christ. Help us, Lord, to live a life
that is glorifying unto thyself and to thy son. Help us to have
the realisation of the frailty of our lives and to know, Lord,
that thou art in control of all the events of our lives. We pray thou forgive us of our
many sins and do make up where we fail and do dismiss us with
thy blessing. And now may the grace of the
Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God the Father with the fellowship
and the communion of the Holy Spirit to be with us each now
and forevermore. Amen.