May God be with us and instruct
us from his word as we consider it together this morning. We'll
turn to the chapter we read together, the epistle of James in chapter
four, and we'll read together part of verse 14. The epistle of James chapter
four and part of James 14. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appeareth
for a little time and then vanisheth away. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appeareth
for a little time and then vanisheth away. Well, when we come to a Christmas
time or when we come to a new year, It's a time, isn't it,
when we often stop for a moment and reflect. It's like a birthday
or like an anniversary. It's time for us to stop and
look back and think, well, what has happened in the last year? What has happened since last
Christmas? What has happened since last New Year? And it's
an opportunity for us to look at those months and those days
and remember. And of course, I hope each one
of us can look back since Christmas 2014 and we can record much of
God's goodness. We can think of how he's helped
us at various times. We can think of how he's guided
us and provided for us. We can think of how he's blessed
us and I hope we can all say he's blessed us Not only in our
lives, but in our souls as well. And we can think of those occasions.
We can think of times when he's answered our prayers, I hope.
And when he appeared for us in our need. Much to record God's
goodness for. We can look over the past year
and we can think, well, what have we done in that year? And again, I hope we've got things
that we have tried to do in the service of the Lord. And we can
think about the things that we've done as individuals and sought
to speak to others or to distribute his word or whatever it might
have been in our sphere in which we live, and we can think as
a church. of the things that we have done in the last year.
We can think of the calendars a few weeks ago. We can think
of the, I don't know, 10, 11 market stalls in the last year.
We can think of the Sunday schools each week. Various things we
can remember during the year and we can give thanks to God. And it's a time to perhaps draw
these things together and pray over them again and ask for God's
blessing. Sadly, as we look over 12 months,
we have many sins to record as well, don't we? What have we
done in failing the Lord? What have we done in denying
the Lord? What have we done in pleasing
ourselves and forgetting Him? What have we done in raising
up and worshipping idols? And there's many sins for us
to confess as well. Also, What have we not done? What have we not done? And perhaps
as we look back to last Christmas time, did we make promises that
we would in the next year do such and such a thing? Did we
even before the Lord make a promise, as it were, of what we would
endeavour to do in His service and for His glory in the coming
year. And when we look back and remind ourselves of that, well,
we forgot all about it. We put it from our mind, we got
on with our life in the year and it's gone. Perhaps you remember,
I don't know, perhaps last Christmas there was a particular blessing
from the Lord. There was zeal at the beginning of the year.
There was zeal for Him. because of what he had done and
the joy he'd received. But now you look back and what
happened? It went cold. And it went away. And nothing
happened. You see, it's a time to reflect.
As well as giving thanks, it's a time to consider, what have
we done? And what have we not done? Well, one thing is certain as
we go through our lives, perhaps as we come towards the end, I
know next week is the last Sunday of the year, but as we come towards
the end of the year, one thing becomes apparent to us afresh.
And that is really the shortness of life. How quickly the year
goes, how quickly the seasons change, how quickly events come
and go and we come to another Christmas and another new year.
and our life seems so short. And also I think in the current
climate and the way that the world is today, it comes afresh
how uncertain our life is. That we can take nothing for
granted, we can't take a day for granted, we can't take safety
for granted. Think of the people who started
this year and had all their plans and have not lived to see the
end. It's an uncertain life. We do not know what will come.
And this is what James is saying in this passage in chapter four.
He says, go to now ye that say, today or tomorrow we'll go to
such a city and continue there a year and buy and sell and get
gain. You who say, well, we'll go and
do this, that and the other in the coming days. We'll go to
this place. We'll go to profit here. We'll go to do business
there. I don't think he's saying it's
wrong to make plans. I don't think he's saying it's
wrong to run business. He's not saying it's wrong to
put things in place for the future. But what he's saying is you're
taking that for granted. You're taking it for granted
that you'll be able to go to that city tomorrow. You're taking
it for granted you'll be able to go back to work tomorrow.
You're taking it for granted that you'll see the next year.
But he addresses them and he says, but you do not know what
shall be on the morrow. You don't know what tomorrow
will hold. You don't know what's going to come. You may think
you know, but you do not really know. For what is your life? What is your life that you feel
certain? What is your life that you think
will never change? Well, he uses this striking image to describe
it. It's a vapor. Your life is a
vapor. Well, a vapor is a gas, isn't
it? You can think of smoke. It's a gas which you see for
a time hanging there in the air, and then it soon disseminates.
It's gone. It's disappeared. You can't bring
it back. You can't gather it together again. It's gone. You
saw it for a while, and it's gone. That's what he uses as
a description for our life. You think that tomorrow will
hold such and such, but you do not know. What is your life?
It's a vapour. You can see it today, and you've seen it for some time.
but tomorrow it might have vanished away. Tomorrow it might have
gone, to be seen no more, never to be gathered together again.
Your vapour, it appeareth for a little time, a little time,
and then it vanishes away. Ye ought to say, if the Lord
will, We will live and do this and that. If the Lord will, we
will go to such a city. If the Lord will, we'll continue
there a year. If the Lord will, we'll buy and
sell and get gain. But if he does not, we acknowledge
that the future is not in our hands. We acknowledge we do not
know what tomorrow brings. Now ye rejoice in your boastings. You rejoice in what you think
you will do, you rejoice in what you think you're in control of,
but all such rejoicing is evil. It's a challenge for us all,
isn't it, as we make our plans for the days ahead, the year
ahead perhaps, as we think about the things we hope to do, Are we rejoicing in our boastings? I will do this, I will do that,
I will certainly go there. And do we think that we have
the power to make that happen? All such rejoicing is evil. As
I say, making plans isn't wrong, but join it with the prefix,
if the Lord will. Your life is a vapour. that appeareth
for a little time, and then vanisheth away. In the book of Psalms,
we read a similar sentiment, don't we? In Psalm 90, the days
of our years are three score years and 10, 70 years. And if by reason of strength
they be four score years, 80 years, yet is their strength
labor and sorrow, for it is soon cut off. and we fly away. It is soon cut off. You see,
we may think, the younger ones amongst us may think 70 years
is a very long time. 80 years is a very long time. In one sense it is. It's a good
life. Much to give thanks to God for.
Many blessings received in 70, 80, 90 years. But you see, the
Bible tells us that it will soon be cut off. Really, it's not
very long at all. Really, it's not very long at
all. We're told in an epistle to the Thessalonians, it's like
a thief in the night. It will suddenly come, suddenly
come, and will fly away. Like this vapor, it will suddenly
disappear. How can we think about length
of time? I was trying to think about this and preparing for
this morning. Length of time. You think 70,
80, 90 years is a long time. But think of that in this comparison
to eternity. Now, eternity is something which
is really impossible for us to grasp. If you think that before
the world began, God always was. He never started being. He never
suddenly became. He always was. And if you think
after the end of this world, God always will be. Forever and
forever and forever. We cannot grasp eternity. Think of the number one billion. One billion is a number we hear
quite a lot these days, partly because of the size of the deficit.
One billion is a very large number. It's a number one with nine zeros
afterwards. One billion. That number, let's try and understand
that for a minute. One billion seconds. One billion
seconds. You might think, well, a second
isn't very long. Well, if you add one billion seconds together,
that would take us back to 1983. That's how many years one billion
seconds is. One billion minutes. Well, how
long is one billion minutes? Well, if we went back in time
100, sorry, 1 billion minutes, and we went to Israel, King Hezekiah
would be on the throne. 1 billion hours. How long is 1
billion hours? Well, really, that's beyond time.
If we can put time into eternity, which we can't, but to just try
and understand it, 1 billion hours ago was 170,000 years before
the world was created. That's how long a billion hours
ago is. Just to try and get an idea,
that's a number we can kind of understand, a billion. But a
billion minutes takes us back thousands of years. But that's
a number we can understand. Eternity makes a billion look
like nothing. A billion is nothing in the sight
of eternity. It's just a speck, it's just
a mark, it's nothing. in comparison with eternity. So if we think of the length
of this world, and then we think about the length of time of our
life in this world, which narrows it down to just a few years,
a few days, a few hours, it's nothing in comparison with eternity. It's a vapour that fadeth away. James tells us, really, what
are we doing with that life? What are we doing with the space
of time we have, which is so short? Therefore, he says, because of
this truth, to him that knoweth to do good, that knows what good
is in the years that we have, and knows what God calls us to
do in those years, and doeth it not, and turns away from it,
and ignores it, and disobeys the good that they know, To him,
it is sin. What are we doing with our such
little time? It's a vapour that vanisheth
away. Firstly this morning, the great
thing that we must all consider, the most important thing for
each one of us to know during our time It is time to seek the
Lord. It is time to seek the Lord. This is the vital thing for the
days that we have on this earth. You see, we are really made for
eternity. If you think about it, the length
of time we have in this world is nothing compared to the time
we will spend in eternity, in heaven or in hell. That is really
where we will spend our existence, in heaven or in hell. That is
where we will really be. Our time in this world is just
the smallest beginning of that. The time we spend here is nothing
compared to the time we will spend in eternity. We become
earth-focused. It's because it's all we've known.
It's because it's all we've lived in so far. We're focused in this
world. But, you know, one day we'll
stand in eternity in one of two places. One day we will, in heaven
or in hell, be consciously aware of where we are, like we are
today. As I see you and you see me, we will see others in heaven
or in hell. It will be a real, tangible,
actual place. A real place. And we will stand
there, and in comparison, when we've been there for thousands
and thousands of years, if you can put time into eternity, this
life will seem nothing. Absolutely nothing. Just a preparation
for eternity. We're made for eternity. That's
where we will really spend our time. Life is a preparation for
that. Surely, therefore, it is true
that it is time whilst on this earth to seek the Lord. Because
whether we do or whether we don't, and I'll state before God when
this vapor vanishes away, we'll determine where we spend eternity,
where we really live forever and forever. Are we ready? Are we ready for that day? You
see, James tells us there's no certainty of tomorrow. Are we
ready today for that day? Are we ready to stand before
the Lord? Are we ready for eternity? Are we washed, cleansed in the
blood of Christ, a believer in him who is the savior, the only
one who can take us into eternal glory? There's no grace, you
see, beyond the grave. There's no grace beyond the grave.
You see, there's judgment, and then there's the left hand, and
there's the right hand, and there's heaven, and there's hell, and
there's sheep, and there's goats. And the Lord Jesus, when he spoke
about Lazarus and the rich man, he tells us there's a great gulf
fixed between the two. There's no going between. There's
no grace. There's no coming from hell into
heaven. That's the final state, and it's
the eternal state. You see, do we know the Lord? There's a real urgency in these
things. You know, we can learn so many
things in the world, good things. And you can learn so many things
about the Christian faith and about the Bible, good things.
And you can know so much. But there's an urgency in this
truth. You can go into eternal hell knowing in your head everything,
and nothing in your heart, and no life in your heart, and no
knowledge of Christ in your soul, and you will descend to eternity. And then what's your life been?
It's been a vapor that's disappeared. The writer of the Hebrew tells
us this. It is said, today, If ye will
hear his voice, harden not your hearts as in the provocation.
Today, if you will hear his voice. Because, as James tells us, there's
no certainty of tomorrow. Today, if you will hear his voice.
Isaiah tells us, seek the Lord while he is near. Call upon him
while he is near. While he is near. You see, the
Lord, in the day of grace in which we live, while we live
in this earth, is, as it were, near. He is ready to hear us
when we pray. He is ready to reach out and
to save us when we call up to Him. He is ready to forgive us
our sins when we truly repent of our wrongdoing. He is ready
to receive us graciously while He is near. The day will come
when He is not near. A day will come when the great
gulf is fixed. Call upon him while he is near. You see, there is a real urgency.
It is time to seek the Lord, and the time is now, and the
time is today, not tomorrow. Jesus tells the well-known parable,
doesn't he, of the ten virgins. The ten virgins were waiting
for the bridegroom. They were all waiting. They're all waiting for the one
event. Five of them were prepared. And
five of them weren't. And they didn't know when the
bridegroom was coming. Some point soon, some point soon the bridegroom
is coming, we don't know when. And he tarried and they all fell
asleep. And then the great cry went out, the bridegroom's coming. The bridegroom's coming, go out
to meet him. Half of them weren't prepared
at all. They had more to do. They had
to go and buy. They had to go and get what they needed, the
oil in their lamps. They had to come back. They weren't at
all ready for the bridegroom to come. And he came, and the
door was shut. Five of them were shut in with
the bridegroom into the marriage feast. Five of them were shut
out. The great gulf was fixed. The
great door was shut. and there was no going between.
You see how vitally important it was in that parable that they
were all ready, they were all prepared, they all had what was
necessary. And it's the same for you and
me, we might think the Lord tarries, the Lord doesn't come, the Lord
doesn't come as he says he will. Where is the second coming of
the Lord? Where is the day of my death? I just carry on every
day like I always have done. And you know I'm saying, James
tells us that tomorrow we might not have a tomorrow, but we might,
and you might come to the end of the day tomorrow and you say,
well, I can forget all about James was telling me yesterday
because, well, it didn't happen. He's tarrying and you're slumbering
and you're sleeping. One day, we can be sure of this,
the cry will go, the bridegroom comes, go out to meet him. Will we be ready? Will we be
prepared? Will we have what's important? Will we have life
in our hearts? Will we know the bridegroom when
he comes? Will we be a true Christian? This morning, are we a true believer
in the Lord Jesus Christ? This is the most important thing,
the most vital thing, and it's the most blessed thing, it's
the most wonderful thing to be a believer in the Lord Jesus
Christ. How do we stand before him? Remember, Your life is a
vapour that appeareth for a little time and then vanisheth away.
It is time to seek the Lord. Secondly, moving on from that
most vital important thing, in the little time that we have
in this world, it is time to preach the word. It is time to
preach the word. You see, if our life is so short, then the lives of all the people
around us is also a vapour. And their life is so short as
well. And there are millions in this
world who have no idea. They do not know. Now, of course,
there are millions who do know who reject the truth of God.
But there are millions who do not simply know. And in the little
time that we have in this world, do we have compassion and concern
for those as yet outside of the knowledge of Christ? Do we see
them as this vapor that's there for a little time and will one
day vanish away? We have a little time, a little
time. You see, there are so many in
this world who think that this world is all that there is. And
they are disillusioned with it, and they see the disappointment
in it, and they feel the hardness of it. But they think it's all
there is. And yet we, in this place, profess
to believe the truth. We profess to believe that we
have here the complete revealed Word of God. We profess to believe
that there is glory. We profess to believe that Jesus
Christ is the only way. And we see the people around
us and we don't tell them. We don't tell them. Why not?
Do we have any concern for the lost? It is time to preach the
Word. It's a wonderful service to be
in. So blessed. The Lord Jesus Christ, he told
his disciples, didn't he, that he must work while it was day. He said, I must work the works
of him that sent me while it is day. The night cometh when
no man can work. We live, in that sense, in the
day. The night is coming. And the night is coming for each
soul in this world, and that night is an eternal night. While
we live in the day, Jesus Christ says, I must work the works of
him that sent me while it is day. And while we can, and while
we have the freedom to do so, do we have this concern? Do we really believe in eternity,
or do we just say we do? Do we really believe in the reality
of hell or do we just say we do? Do we really believe that
all people outside of Christ will spend eternity in everlasting
burnings and in torment? Do we really believe that? I
think if we believed it more and really understood something
of what that was, wouldn't that stir us into action? Wouldn't
that bring us out of our apathy and our tiredness in the things
of God? It is time. Surely, surely it is our calling,
as it was the calling of the disciples, to go to all nations
to baptise and to teach in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Surely that is our calling too. But you see, there's work involved,
but there's also prayer involved. There must be prayer involved.
And all that the church today, generally speaking, might be
stirred up in more prayer, more prayer. How much do we really
pray for the souls around us? How much do we pray for the people
we work with? How much do we pray for the people
we live amongst? How much do we pray for the students
around us? How much do we pray for the lost? It is time. Matthew Henry said
this on the calendar we have at home the other day. He said,
I would think it a greater happiness to gain one soul for Christ than
to have mountains of silver and gold for myself. He had the focus
right, didn't he? Greater happiness than to gain
one soul than to have all the silver and gold. We heard a few
weeks ago through our pastor, didn't we, the parable of the
Good Samaritan. There's much teaching in the parable of the
Good Samaritan. One element is that we should love our neighbour
as ourself. One element is, of course, the spiritual application,
the Lord Jesus Christ coming to those who are in need and
lifting them up. But another application is this.
There are dead, dying, sick people all around us lying by the roadside
in sin. How easy it is in our religious
life to turn the other way and to leave them. How easy it is
under the guise of holiness to leave them. How easy in our religious
ways. But you see, the Lord calls us
to have a compassion for these people. So it is time to seek
the Lord ourselves. It is time to preach the word. Finally, this morning, in the
little time that we have, it is time to honour the Lord. It is time to honour the Lord. The Lord Jesus Christ tells us
to take up our cross daily and follow him. And that daily includes
today, And that daily includes tomorrow, if there is a tomorrow. And it includes every day until
we leave this world, however long that may be. Take up the
cross daily. It is time to honor the Lord. When Paul wrote to the Ephesians,
he tells them an important truth of redeeming the time. For the
days are evil, redeeming the time, that is making the most
of the time. using it well, profitably, because
the days around us are evil, redeeming the time. It is time
to honor the Lord. Each one of us here this morning,
the time has come. What have we left undone? As I said earlier, looking back
to Christmas and New Year last year, what have we left undone? What concerns have you had? What
resolutions did you make and promises? Where have they gone? And where
is the zeal gone? And where is the enthusiasm for
the things of God gone? Your life is a vapor. Perhaps
during the year, last year, you settled in your mind that you
would follow the Lord. You settled in your mind that
you would honor him for what he has done for you. And yet
during the months, Satan has drowned it out. During the months,
the world around you has crowded it out. The idols that you have
have risen up in prominence again, and it's faded away, it's gone. Well, this morning, may this
be a reminder to each one of us, your life is a vapor, you
do not know if you'll have a tomorrow. One thing we do know is since
those thoughts, We're another year down the line. One year
has gone. A year of honoring the Lord has
gone. Opportunities to honor him, to praise him, to speak
of what he has done have gone. Opportunities to follow him in
his commandments have gone. And the vapor is starting to
disseminate and it's starting to fade away. And we do not know
if there will be another day, let alone another year. It is
time to honor the Lord. It is time. Consider, as we do
this time of year, what the Lord Jesus Christ has done. Consider
what he has done in coming from eternity to time. The vastness
of eternity, as we've tried to understand it, and yet we really
can't, but we've tried to grasp something of eternity. And the
Lord Jesus Christ came from that eternity into this tiny little
world. And he came into this tiny space
of time. And he came because his heart
burned with love for his people. And he came because he would
suffer for them. And he came because he would
bear the price for them. And he came so that they might
be with him in eternity. He came from the heights and
the beauty and the splendor of glory to a dirty, smelly cattle
shed. And he came from the wonder of
the throne of God to a ragged wooden cross. That is what he
has done. That is what Christmas is about.
That is what we really remember and celebrate in these coming
days. He came to give his life, his days, 33 years. 33 years. It's not long, is it?
It's really not long. A small space of time, the Lord
And then he gave his life. But those 33 years were years
of toil, and they were years of struggle, and they were years
of temptation, and they were years of sin bearing, and they
were, well, as he came to the end, the time of sin bearing,
and he gave it. He gave his days for you. What are we doing with our days?
You are bought. with a price, a high price, a
great price. The blood of the Lord Jesus Christ
is what bought all his people. We are bought with a price. It
is time to honor the Lord. He ought to say, If the Lord
will, we will do such and such a thing. We will live and do
this or that, but now you rejoice in your boastings and all such
rejoicing is evil. Therefore, therefore, this morning,
given these thoughts, time to seek the Lord. that we might
know him ourselves and our sins forgiven, time to preach the
gospel, that we might see others coming to know the Lord, time
to honour the Lord for what he has done for us. Therefore, to
him that knoweth to do good, to him that knows that the only
way of salvation is through the Lord Jesus Christ, yet goes the
other way. To him that knows that there's
heaven and hell, and yet walks the broad way. To him that knows
the call of the Lord to take up the cross and follow him,
and yet lays it by the side and runs in the world. To him that
knows that the people around him are lying on the roadside,
dying, and yet walks on the other side with no care. To him that
knows to do good and doeth it not. To him, it is sin. It is sin. Have you ever thought
of it like that before? Have you ever thought that we're
walking in sin? It is time. May we be able with
God's help to heed this word and remember that our days lead
to eternity. And then one day these days will
seem so very short. As the hymn writer says, our
pastor often quotes it, doesn't he? While our days on earth are
lengthened, may we give them, Lord, to thee. Cheered by hope
and daily strengthened, may we run nor weary be, till thy glory,
without clouds in heaven we see, there in worship purer, sweeter,
all thy people shall adore, tasting of enjoyment greater than they
could conceive before, full enjoyment, full, unmixed, and evermore. For what is your life? It is
even a vapour that peereth for a little time and then vanisheth
away. May the Lord bless these thoughts
to our souls. Amen.