It is good to be back here with
you all. If you will open your Bibles with me to James 4. James
4. Our text will be found in James
4, verses 13-17. And I'd like us to go ahead and
read our text together. James 4, verse 13. Go to now, ye that say, today
or tomorrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a
year, and buy and sell and get gain. Whereas ye know not what
shall be on the morrow, for what is your life? It is even a vapor
that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. For
that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and
do this or that. But now ye rejoice in your boastings,
all such rejoicing is evil. Therefore, to him that knoweth
to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin." This passage, I believe it has
a purpose to slow us down. We come here and we often say
it, come here and just forget about everything else. We just
try to put everything aside for just a few minutes. Just put
everything aside. We're here to worship our God.
And that's why we're here today. Now I want us to just put a stop. Whatever's on your mind, just
put it away. Just try to just forget about it. And consider
this passage. Consider. your life. What is your life? What is your
life? That's the title of this message.
You know, the minutes just fly by. The days go by. The weeks,
they just, one week after another. It feels like, just flashbacks
in my head of Fridays that week. It's just, thank goodness it's
Friday. I'm so glad the weekend's here.
Before you know it, it's Friday again. It's Sunday again. The
days are just going by. The months, the years, they're
flying by. You know, Doug told me last night, we were talking
about this. You blink and where did it go? I thought Billy was
my age. He's a few years older than me.
We can all agree this life just flies by and we just keep on
trekking along. Every single one of us. But we
need to stop. We need to slow down and consider,
what is my life? James tells us, what is your
life? Let's consider this. I ask you, what is your life?
You look around. Some of us have wives or husbands,
children, families. Is that our life? We have jobs
or we had jobs, we're retired. What are we living for? What
is our life? Now I'll tell you three things
that are true about your life and mine. Three things. Our life
is swift. It's quick. It's brief. Our text
tells us it's a vapor. Our life is very brief. Second,
our life is uncertain. We read that the Lord changes
not. He's the same yesterday, today, and forever. But we change.
We don't know what the day will bring forth. We don't know what's
going to happen today. What is your life? We don't know.
It changes. Every day we wake up, we either
turn on the news or we get some news. Something comes our way
and we think, well, this life, it is so uncertain. This life
is so uncertain. And thirdly, the thing that you
can rest assured of, this life is going to end. We're alive,
we're here right now, but we may not be tomorrow. We may not
be in five seconds. This life is quick, it's uncertain,
and it's going to end. Your life and mine. Now with
that in mind, I want us to go through this passage and consider,
what is my life? What is my life? First, look
back at verse 13 with me. It says, Go to now, you that
say today or tomorrow, we're going to go do this or that.
We're going to go into the city, buy and sell and get gain. Continue
there a year. Is that why we're here? Is that
why we're here in this world? Is that what people talk about
trying to discover their purpose in life? Is this our purpose?
That we may continue there a year wherever it is. I live in Kingsport
right now. I'm going to continue there and
buy and sell and get gain. What does that mean? The things
of this world. Am I here living for this world? Am I hoping in all these things
around me that I can see? You know when you're a kid you
have dreams. I hope it's good to be ambitious.
I see some young people here. I don't know if you know what
you want to grow up to be. I used to want to be a school
bus driver. I'm not putting that out. I'm a bank teller, it ain't that
great either. When you're young, we tend to
want to be rich and famous. We look at these celebrities.
He's all over the news, Odell Beckham. We look at them and we get jealous.
We envy their lives. Should we? What is your life? You can have all the riches in
the world, what is that going to do for you in that day? Nothing. Nothing. We all want to make
a name for ourselves, leave a legacy behind. I want to be somebody. What's that really going to mean
in that day? What is my life? What is your life? Is our heart
set on this world? Scripture says God has set the
world in their heart. Is that the desire of our heart?
Do we look around and everything we see and we can hope for in
this life, is that why we're here? Do we desire to just gain
all this world can give us? By nature, yes, that's exactly
what we do. You and me both, we come here
as soon as our eyes are open and we begin to understand and
perceive things. I want that. I need to get me
a good job and build up my bank account. I need to have all these
things, all this stuff. That's all it is. It's stuff.
Did you know God warns us from that, from what we do by nature,
from loving this world? Love not the world. If any man
love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. That's
what the book says. That's what God says. We love
the world. God's love isn't in us. What shall it profit a man,
Doug, if he shall gain the whole world and lose his soul? What
is that going to do for you? What is your life? I pray that we would not have
our hearts set on the things of this world. Nothing here is
going to do anything for us. I'm going to give away the rest
of the message if I don't stop. And both my messages go really
together. But first point, is that why we're here? Why are
we here? Second, look at verse 14. It
says, "...whereas you know not what shall be on the morrow."
Are you counting on tomorrow? A few hours ago it was yesterday.
It's now tomorrow. Are we counting on tomorrow? We all have plans. I plan on
getting up and going to the dentist in the morning. I hope it goes
well. I hope I don't have any cavities.
Then I'm going to go to work. Then I'm going to come home with
my wife. Then I'm going to watch an unfortunate basketball game
tomorrow night. Really, what is tomorrow? What
value do we put in tomorrow? In the grand scheme of things,
what is tomorrow? What does tomorrow mean to me? What is tomorrow to you? Are
we hoping in something that we can gain? Buy and sell and gain
tomorrow? Do we have some great desire
for tomorrow? Man, if only tomorrow comes. I'm going to do something tomorrow.
It's going to be a good day. Let me ask you this. What if
tomorrow doesn't come? You know not what shall be on
the morrow. Is it going to be okay? If tomorrow
doesn't come, how is it going to be for you? How is it going
to be for me? Now obviously when speaking about this fact of tomorrow
may not come. We must consider the thing that
no man wants to consider, and that is death. If tomorrow doesn't
come, that means God has come to consume this world in a ball
of fire. It's over. This world, this life, it's going
to happen. It's appointed unto men who want
to die. But after this, the judgment. Death is coming. Judgment is
coming. We're going to stand before God, a holy God, who must
punish sin. Are we prepared to meet God in
judgment? If tomorrow doesn't come, that's
where we're going to be. We're going to be standing before
God in judgment. Are we ready? You know not what shall be on
tomorrow. If that's the time you're standing
before God in judgment, is that going to be okay? Are we ready?
Are we ready to die? Is it well? I love that. It is
well with my soul. Is it? Is it well with your soul? Is it well with my soul? We need
to consider these things. Look over in Luke chapter 12
with me. This is so serious. We need to be concerned with
our souls. Luke chapter 12. Verse 13, And one of the companies said
unto him, The Lord, Master, speak to my brother that he divide
the inheritance with me. And he said unto him, Man, who
made me a judge or a divider over you? And he said unto them,
Take heed and beware of covetousness, for a man's life consisteth not
in the abundance of the things which he possesseth. And then
he spake a parable. He spake a parable unto them,
saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully,
and he thought within himself." Think about this. Go to now you
that say today or tomorrow. We'll continue there. You buy
and sell and get gain. Look at this man here. The ground of
a certain rich man, verse 16, brought forth plentifully, and
he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do? Because I have
no room where to bestow my fruits, all my gain. And he said, This
will I do. I will pull down my barns and
build a grater, and there will I bestow all my fruits and my
goods, everything I've got. I'm going to tear it and build
it. I've got to make room for all this world can give me. And
look at verse 19, And I will say to my soul, Thou hast much
goods laid up for many years. Take thine ease, eat, drink,
and be merry." Now, we read this. Let us ask ourselves, is this
me? Have I gone into this world and just taken all I can? I've
got everything. Everything this world can give
me. Saul now has much goods. I've got everything. You know,
people mistake things, stuff, for blessings. We think, oh,
I'm so blessed. I don't think it's wrong to say
that, but we need to understand what blessings really are. This
world is not a blessing. You know, we think blessed are
the rich. God says blessed are the poor. We think blessed are
those who can laugh and dance. God said blessed are they that
mourn. We've got it backwards. You know, we might have this
world, but that may be God's curse, not His blessing. And
this guy thought, I've got everything. I've got this world. I'm so blessed. It's well with my soul. But look
what God said to him in verse 20. But God said unto him, Thou
fool, Do you see that? Does your Bible say the same
thing mine does? Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required
of thee. Your soul is going to be taken
from you. You are counting on tomorrow.
Tomorrow I'm going to go tear down my barns and build bigger
ones and keep piling up my stuff for myself. Not so fast. You know not what shall be on
tomorrow. Look at it again. This night thy soul shall be
required of thee. Them whose shall those things
be which thou hast provided. What is it going to be to you
tomorrow? You're going to meet God in judgment.
Everything you have is nothing. The things here, yes we need
things to live, but we better not be hoping in it. We better
not be hoping in the things we have here. We're going to stand before God.
Look at verse 21, "...so is he that laith up treasure for himself,
and is not rich toward God." If you want to be rich, brethren,
desire to be rich toward God. Do you know what Paul said concerning
his life? He said, for me to live is Christ. To live is Christ, not the things
of this world, the things of this life. To live is Christ.
To die is gain. We better be concerned with our
souls. I'm not hoping in tomorrow. I'm
not hoping in something that I can get here tomorrow. Maybe I'll get a call tomorrow
saying, Cody, we want you to come be our senior accountant
making $75,000 a year. I'll say, well, all right. It
ain't going to happen. But if it did, am I hoping in
that? Is that really going to mean
something in that day? It don't matter if I make $10
an hour or $100. It don't do no difference before
God in the judgment that it's not going to matter. That's not
going to matter one bit. I need salvation. I need God
to save me. I need eternal life. This life,
it really doesn't matter that much. Whether I'm rich or poor,
whether I'm smart or dumb, what matters is do I know Christ?
Do I have life in Christ? And this is urgent. This matter
of what is your life? No, not what shall be on the
morrow. It's urgent. Some of us are young, some of
us are old. It's the same for all of us. The Gospel is the
same message to the old and to the young. Scripture says, Behold,
now, right now, is the accepted time. Right now is the day of
salvation. Not even today, right now. Right
now. I need faith in Christ right
now. I need hope for my soul right
now. We love to put everything off till tomorrow. But tomorrow
might be too late. Now, now is the day of salvation.
This verse sends chills down my spine. Hebrews 2 verse 3.
We want to put it off. How shall we escape if we neglect? And that's what it is. It's not
God's fault that we're not believing on Him. How shall we escape if
we neglect so great salvation? There is a great salvation to
be had. For those who need it. Don't
neglect it. Don't neglect your soul. I urge you, live like there's
no tomorrow. Live like there's no tomorrow.
People can take that and say, well be careless and do whatever
you want. It's actually the exact opposite. Be very careful. Be
careful that you have a good hope. Be careful that you are
believing God. That you have what matters. Are
you ready to meet God? Be ready. It's going to come
like a thief in the night. We must be ready. We know not
what shall be on the morrow. Look back at our text. James
chapter 4 verse 14. For what is your life? It is
even a vapor that appeareth for a little time and then vanisheth
away. What is your life? What is your
life? What matters to you? If I asked
you what truly matters to you, what would you say? I want you
to think about it. What is your life? What matters
to you? What really matters? When we
get down to it, what is your life? You know, the Apostle Paul, he
said, I count not my own life dear unto myself. What about you? We all have cares
in this world. But what really matters? What
is your life? You know, Paul, he also said
in Philippians 3, we all know this, he used to be lost, religious,
but lost. He said, those things that were
gained to me, I counted them lost for Christ. Yea, doubtless,
I count all things but lost for the excellency of the knowledge
of Christ Jesus my Lord. Nothing matters to me anymore
except Christ. Everything. I count it lost,
but Christ, for whom I've suffered the loss of all things, and everything
I've lost, I count it but done. Why? That I may win Christ. that I may be found in Him, not
having mine own righteousness which is of the law, but that
which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which
is of God by faith. What matters to you, dead? What
is your life? What is your life? That I may
know Him, that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection
and the fellowship of His sufferings, being made conformable unto death,
if by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the
dead. What is your life? I'll tell you, this world is
all some people will ever have. And I'll be honest with you,
it's all I ever wanted. I never chose to believe on Christ. I never gave myself a hope of
eternal life. It's the work of God. God who
works in us both to will and to do with His good pleasure.
This is of God. This world is all some people
will ever have. But I can tell you that my life,
this is my life, Christ. Christ is my life. Scripture,
there's a verse that says Christ, He is our life. Christ who is
our life. This world is not my home. I
love to say it because it's true. I love my wife and the things
the Lord has given us. I'm very thankful for that. I'm
very thankful for what I have. But this is not my life. Christ
is my life. I have a house that I live in.
That's not my house. I have a house not made with
hands, eternal in the heavens, where my Lord is, where I will
soon be. Paul said he was in a straight
betwixt two. He had a desire to depart and
be with Christ. And he told us, that's far better. Which is far better. He also
said, we're confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent
from the body and present with the Lord. Is it so with you and
me? What is our life? What is our
life? It is just a vapor. It's just
a vapor. Ask anybody. Anybody here who is older than
me and maybe even younger will tell me life flies by. It flies
by. Do you not remember 10 years
ago like it was yesterday? Where did the time go? What happened? I like a Kenny Chesney song,
Don't Blink. Just like that. You're six years old and you
take a nap or a bath. You wake up and you're 25. The
next thing you know you're 90. Is that not how it is? This life
is brief. It's uncertain. We don't know
what's going to happen. You think about how frail the
human body is. I hear the craziest things online.
Some kid was swimming in the lake and there was some bacteria
in the water that killed him. I mean, it's just shocking to
us. You know, you can drink a drop of poison, a little bitty drop
of poison can kill you. An infection, an unknown disease.
You hear about these high school football players collapsing.
Come to find out they had an enlarged heart and they died.
And they had no idea. That's the truth of the matter.
That's how it is. That's how serious this is. Our
days are as a shadow that passes away. Turn over with me to Psalm
39. Psalm 39. Psalm 39, verse 4. David said, Lord, make me to
know mine end and the measure of my days, what it is, that
I may know how frail I am. I just told you we're frail.
If life is uncertain, it may end at any moment. Tomorrow is
not guaranteed. Lord, make me to know my end. I have an end.
Make me to know what it is, the measure of my days, that I may
know how frail I am. Look at verse 5. Behold, thou
hast made my days as an handbreadth, and mine age as nothing before
thee. And then he goes on to say what
we really are, our life. It's a vapor. Verily every man
at his best state is altogether vanity. What is your life? I'll tell you what it is, vanity.
That's it. Nothing but sin and vanity. Tomorrow
is not a guarantee. It's not. There's no hope for
me in this world tomorrow. This life is but a vapor. My
life may end today. So what? So what? What am I going to do? I'll tell
you what I'm going to do. Look back at our text. James
chapter 4, instead of saying today or tomorrow I'm going to
go and do this or that, look at verse 15. For that ye ought
to say, if the Lord will, we shall live and do this or that. We must acknowledge that our
lives are in God's hands. You and I are at the mercy of
God. He said, I will work and who shall let it? People talk
about letting God. I've never heard anything so
foolish. I will work and who shall let it? We can't touch
what God's doing. He's doing it. He's in the heavens.
He does whatsoever He's pleased. No man can say unto Him, what
doest thou? You know, we make plans. We make plans for tomorrow,
plans for the future. But our plans don't mean anything. They don't. God's purpose is
going to come to pass. Our plans, they really mean nothing. I've got plans for my life. I
won't share them with you, but you can probably guess what they
are. It may not happen. And I acknowledge that. My life
is in God's hands. My days are numbered. There is
an exact day, an exact year, an exact time, to the second
when this body will be no more. When it will begin to rot and
decay. You know, I was just talking to Billy about fitness and trying
to be healthy and whatnot. I hear people talk about you're
going to exercise and eat a certain way and you're going to extend
your life. If you do this, you can live seven years longer.
That's nonsense. That's nonsense. You can be the
healthiest person in the world and God can strike you dead just
like that. Because you're not the one in control of your life.
God is. God is. That's exactly right. Our days
are numbered. Lord, teach us to number our
days. Teach us to do so. That we may apply our hearts
unto wisdom. What's our wisdom? Christ. Christ is our wisdom.
Apply our hearts to Christ. God's purpose will come to pass.
Now notice this in verse 15. It says, For that ye ought to
say, If the Lord will. Notice what it says after that.
If the Lord will, we shall live. Brethren, we know this and we
rejoice that it's so. Salvation is dependent upon the
will of God. If the Lord will, we shall live. You remember that leper. He said,
Lord, if you will, you can make me whole. If you will. I love
that you just read the scriptures where the Lord said, I will.
I'll give you a few. I will have mercy. I will have
compassion. I will cleanse. I will pardon. I will be their God and they
shall be my people. Zechariah 8 verse 7 says, I will
save my people. Salvation hinges on the will
of God. Aren't you glad He will? Don't
matter what I will. He will. He will. May God teach
us truly to pray, Lord, Thy will be done in earth as it is in
heaven. Thy will be done. Look at verse
16 of our text. But now ye rejoice in your boastings,
all such rejoicing is evil. You know, we naturally count
on tomorrow. I just said we all have plans
for tomorrow. But we better not count on tomorrow. Proverbs 27
verse 1 says, Boast not thyself of tomorrow, for thou knowest
not what a day may bring forth. Many people will wake up today
who will not go home tonight. They'll wake up today and they
will not find their bed this evening. They expected to. Nobody woke up today thinking,
I'm going to die today. I really doubt it. Someone's
going to be in a car crash and die around here and where I'm
from and all over this world. It's going to happen. Somebody's
going to die from cancer today. Someone's going to have a heart
attack. Many people are going to die today. And it might be us. And we need
to realize that. You know, when we brag about
what we're going to do, you hear people say, I'm going to make
the world a better place. Admirable, but it's not going to happen.
This world, this present evil world, you're going to make it
a better place? You who are nothing but sin, you're going to make
this a better place? I do think God's people make a town a better
place, but this world is sin. This world is nothing but sin.
It's full of sin. This world ain't getting any
better. It's not. One of these days there will
not be a tomorrow. It's going to be a word that
does not exist. There will be no tomorrow. It
will be eternity. No beginning, no end. Do you remember Lot's wife? They're
in Sodom. God's coming to destroy Sodom.
And he was bringing Lot and his wife out. The angels took them
by the hand. And what did she do? My house, my family, my job,
my money. No, don't take that away from
me." Just like that. Killed her. Pillar of Saul. And
he proceeded to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah. Do you see the
picture? That's this world. We set our
eyes on the things of this world. Don't take that from me. Take
the world, but give me Jesus. Give me the Lord Jesus Christ.
He is all to me. God's going to destroy this world.
It's not an if, it's a matter of time. And I pray, Gabe says
this all the time, Lord, come quickly. Come quickly. Lastly, look at verse 17. Therefore to him that knoweth
to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin. You've heard
the truth from this text. Always read the scripture in
its context. We're told about our life. What is your life?
It's a vapor. You've heard the truth that tomorrow may not come.
You know not what shall be on the morrow. Do you believe that?
Do you think about that ever? You know, today might be the
day when Christ comes. There's a verse that says, Take
therefore no thought for the morrow. For the morrow shall
take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day
is the evil thereof. You know what Jacob said when
Joseph brought his brothers and his dad back to Egypt and Jacob
went and talked to Pharaoh? You know what he told him about
his life? He said, few and evil have the days of the years of
my life been. That's all it's been. What did
Job say about his life? A man that's born a woman is
a few days and full of trouble? My life is nothing but trouble. This life will soon be over.
Are we ready? Are we ready? If tomorrow does
not come, are we ready? Are we ready to die? Are we ready
to meet God in judgment? We can't save ourselves without
Him. We can do nothing. We have nothing. We are nothing.
Do you believe that? I read in this verse, to him
that knoweth to do good. You know to believe what I'm
telling you. You know to believe God. You know to believe tomorrow
may not come. I need a hope of eternal life.
You do it not. You believe not. Sin. It's sin. If we're going to be
saved, it's going to be because God was able and willing to save
us. That's the only reason. Because
God did it. We need to heed God's Word. I urge each and every one
of you here, regardless of age, young or old, believe God. Believe
God. If you don't, if you do not believe
God, if you ignore His Word, ignore His warnings, ignore His
Christ, you will die in your sin. You and me both. If God leaves us to ourselves,
we have no hope. We have no hope. We're sinners.
We're nothing but sin. And we know, so the sinner that
shall die. The second death, everlasting
torment. I pray that God would cause us to see the urgency here. that He would cause us to seek
Him while He may be found. Call upon Him while He's near,
that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of
need. Lord, cause us to believe on You and give us the hope of
salvation in Christ. Amen.