First we'll read that passage
from James, if you would, chapter 4, 13 through 17. This is in
the order of a rebuke, and we'll look that out as we go along
on our way. James says this to a certain
group of people or type of person, 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 you 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 vanishes away. for that
ye ought to say, if the Lord will, we shall live, and do this
or that. But now you rejoice in your boastings. All such rejoicing is evil. Therefore to him that knows to
do good and does it not, to him it is sin. Proverbs chapter 27
and verse 1. Boast not thyself of tomorrow. For thou knowest not what a day
may bring forth. Do not boast about what you're
going to do or accomplish or go or do on the morrow, because
you do not know what a day might bring forth. Now we'll be working
this subject today, the brevity and the frailty of life, using
only the scripture as our guide. Let me begin by saying that everyone,
no matter who, rich, poor, whatever they might be, must eventually,
sooner or later, confront their mortality by the fact that physical
death is the end of all flesh. Ecclesiastes chapter 7 and verse
2. Because in Adam all died. 1 Corinthians chapter 15. And that whole generation of
humanity passes away and new generations come in their place
as Solomon said in the book of Ecclesiastes chapter 1 and verse
4. Now, there is a presumption that
death is inevitable. It dwells in the back of the
mind of all. Nearly all believe that this
is so, that death, the physical death, the death of the body
is inevitable. And so much the more, as you
see the day approaching, and that with fear and with trembling. And this is so whether one views
death from the biblical spiritual perspective or whether they simply
view it from the secular view of mankind and of the world. Now, the secularists or the humanists
does not connect his death or death at all to them being a
sinner. They do not make that connection. It is just a natural law that
plays out. Some sickness, some disease,
some accident or homicide or whatever will eventually cause
one to die. And they also hold out the hope. that perhaps one day medical
science might find a cure for death. And to them, death has
nothing to do with Adam, nothing to do with a corrupt nature,
nothing to do with the judgment of God upon the human family
for their sin, nothing to do with the wages of death being
sin. But nevertheless, the secularist
or the humanist knows that death is inevitable and make their
preparation and hold an expectation of it. On the other hand, the
Christian perspective of death is that sin entered into the
world by one man and that death passed upon all men, for that
all have sinned. Romans 5 and verse 12. And that sin reigns unto death. Physical death cannot be divorced
or separated from the fall of man and from sin. and that death
entered in to the world of mankind because of the sin which had
entered. Just as where there is no law,
there is no sin, even so where there is no sin, there is no
death. And so the two are connected
together in the scripture. Death is by or as a result of
sin. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians
15 and verse 56, that the sting of death is sin. What a statement
is that when we consider it. That the sting of death is sin. The scorpion of death is sin. That which puts the sting in
it is the fact of sin. But he also said that the strength
of sin is the law. And Paul makes the connection
between law and sin and death. Those three words, law and sin
and death. Or we could reason backward with
a question, why death? Well, the answer is sin. And
what is sin but a transgression of the law of God, 1 John chapter
3, and verse 4, and we saw it first in Adam. God put Adam in
the garden and he placed him under a law, and that law was
this, of the trees of the garden you may freely eat, but of the
tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat of
it, For in the day that you eat of it, you shall surely die. And the margin has it, dying
thou shalt die. And it is vital that we hear
Paul in Romans chapter 5, 12 through 19, as he mentions multiple
times that offense of Adam. Offense, transgression, disobedience
of Adam under judgment and condemnation and death. So the question is,
how did death get such a hold on the human family? Why is it
such a unrelenting tyrant? And because all have sinned and
come short of the glory of God, and because the wages of sin
is death. Romans 3.23 and 6.23. Death has passed upon all in
that all have sinned. It rained even over those who
had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression. Romans
5 and verse 14. But even if these things do come
before us later in our study. Let's get now to the passage
in the book of James and especially the part about the frailty of
life. Number one, you do not know what
tomorrow may bring. And secondly, your life is only,
is just, is but a vapor that appears for a very short time
and then it is gone. It vanishes away. And the proverb
verse said, Boast not thyself of tomorrow, for you know not
what a day may bring forth. You know not what may come in
another day, or tomorrow, at the sunrise today. Now, concerning
the epistle of James, it is one of those put under the heading
of a general epistle in the New Testament. That means that it
was not written to a particular church congregation. And it was
not written to a special individual as some of the epistle of the
New Testament were. Thomas Manton put it in his commentary
on the book of James that James writes against the great degeneration
of faith and hypocrisy that had arisen in his day. And libertine
doctrines were entering into the church and among the people
of God. John Gill described it. Many
hypocrites, and he said bad livers, not the organ, but people, the
way they live, had crept in among them in that day, and John cracks
down, or rather, James cracks down upon that in his epistle. So the question is then, what
is the object of James' criticism here? What is he aiming at? What is he saying exactly? He is critical, but does he criticize,
quote, taking thought for tomorrow? Is that what he criticizes, that
one is planning tomorrow when it is not here yet? Or is he
being critical of planning ahead? Take no thought for tomorrow. we read one time in the scripture. And so does he condemn going
in business, buying and selling, making a gain off of the purchases
of his client? Or is he condemning moving from
one town unto another? Let us go into a certain city. I think the expositor nailed
it, who said this. that the author speaks against
those who overlook and who discount the providence of God in their
planning for the future, in their planning for this day that is
to come. Is that what James is being critical
of in that portion of the scripture? Here's a quote from that author
that I'm referring to, quote, promising themselves a long time
in this world and a happy accomplishment of their carnal project without
any sense or thought of their own frailty or the sudden strokes
of God." Those two things, our frailty and some stroke of God
that may smash our intention and desire. They were acting
on a carnal presumption. We will go today or tomorrow
into a certain city, and we will buy, and we will sell, and we
will get gain, and we will stay there for a year. So that's what James is dealing
with in this passage of the scripture. Now with that in mind, let's
call back to our remembering that rich farmer that we read
about in Luke chapter 12, 16 through verse 21. You remember him. He, he, he
farmed And on a particular year, he had an abundant harvest. I mean, his fields were full
and overflowing. So much so that he didn't have
the barn space to store it. Had to tear them down and build
new barns that he might have somewhere to store his fruit
and his goods. But here's what he did. He said
unto himself, I am set for many years. I can retire comfortably. I don't have any worries. So
take your ease, eat, drink, and be merry. But notice what he
said. He said, I will do this, and
I will do that. I will. I will. I will. Where the words of the rich farmer. And yet, what was the reaction
of God? His soul was required of Him
that night. He died and left all that He
looked upon so fondly. And the question is asked, then
whose shall those things be which you have provided? Now, I'm not meaning to say that
it is wrong to plan or consider for the future. For example,
consider, if you might, the action of Joseph in the 41st chapter
of the book of Genesis. How by the revelation of God,
he laid up in the good years for the seven lean years that
were to follow in famine. Genesis 50 and verse 20. And it saved much people alive. And we know from Scripture that
the whole affair of Joseph and who he became and what he did
was in accordance with the will of God. He said himself, God
sent me before you to preserve you alive. and such like. Genesis 45, 4-9 and Genesis chapter
50 and verse 20. Nor is it wrong for the husbandman
to plow and prepare his field and plant his seed if per adventure
the Lord will give him an increase and a good harvest. In fact,
he would be a sluggard by the scriptural standard who did not
do that. In Proverbs 6, 6 through 11,
Solomon uses the tiny ant as an example against the sluggard
who would not labor or work. Said Solomon, consider her ways
and be wise without any supervisor, without any ruler, guide, or
overseer. She goes out by instinct and
gathers her meat the summer out of the harvest and prepares it
for a later time. This is a very busy and industrious
little creature is the tiny ant. Also Proverbs 30 and verse 25
mentions it again. So what James and Solomon say
is boast not of tomorrow, for you know not what a day may bring
forth. Bridges call tomorrow an unknown
birth. unquote. You do not know what
it will bring forth, what it will birth. You do not know what
shall come forth on that particular day. Matthew Henry called Tamara
the teeming womb of time, unquote. And Gill wrote, time, that is,
Tamara, is like a teeming woman, big with something that is to
be brought forth. but with what we know not, until
it come to pass. We know not what shall be on
the morrow, what it may give birth to, until it has come to
pass, and then we see the providence of God. Consider, if you might,
again the days of Noah. In Genesis, rather, in Luke,
17, 26, and 27, the Lord said, they ate,
they drank, they married, they gave in marriage, until the day
that Noah entered into the ark. And then the flood came and took
them all away. That is, they were doing the
normal things of life. But it is their neglect of the
future and the things of God that come under the criticism,
being unprepared in the spiritual sense for to meet their maker. And so they knew not what a day
would bring forth. And the day that Noah entered
into the ark, the flood came and destroyed them all. Whoever would have thought it
in that time and day. What's more, in Luke chapter
17, there is Sodom and Gomorrah. in verse 28 and verse 29, living
their lives oblivious to God and the future. But that same
day that Lot went out of Sodom, he and his family, fire and brimstone,
came down from God out of heaven and destroyed them all. That's
Genesis chapter 19. 2 Samuel chapter 3, we read of
old Abner. And Abner promised himself a
kingdom. And he promised a kingdom, and
yet they were all destroyed. And in Esther chapter 5 and verse
12 and 7, 1 through 10, Haman proud as a peacock at being invited
to dine with the very queen of the kingdom, but next day died
a disgraceful death on the very gallows. that he had prepared
for the Jew Haman. And speaking about not knowing
what a day may bring forth, let's think of Old Job in that book
in the Old Testament. Three times in the first two
chapters, of the book of Job, we read these words. There was
a day. A certain day on which a particular
thing did happen. Chapter 1 and verse 6. Chapter 1 and verse 13. chapter
2 and verse 1. Look at the word. There was a
day. Now, we know that Job was, according
to scripture, a pious man. He was not a wicked rebel. He
was not an apostate. He was a pious man and that's
the testimony of the scripture. He was a religious man and devoutly
devoted unto God and he feared God and the scripture said he
eschewed or he avoided or he stayed away from evil. He looked
to the spiritual welfare of his children. He offered sacrifices
for them. It may be, he said, that they
have sinned. He was an owner of much stock
of all kind and was a rich man. And chapter 1 and verse 3 describes
him as the greatest man in all of the East. That's Job. He had 10 children, he and his
wife. So that's the family and the
makeup of Job. His days had been good. The pleasure
of the Lord had been with him. And he had prospered in the things
of the world. But there was a day. There was a certain tomorrow
when all the wheels came off of the wagon. at one and the
same time. Job's peaceful world was shattered. I mean shattered all to pieces. And in verse 14 and 15, chapter
1, while on a certain day, a messenger runs in breathlessly that the
Sabaeans had rustled all of his plowing animals and had slain
the plowers as well. Chapter 1 verse 16, while that
man was yet not done speaking, another breathless messenger
came and reported an extraordinary thing had occurred. Fire from
God had come down out of heaven and destroyed the sheep and those
that kept them in the way. Chapter 1 verse 17 again. The
Chaldeans rushed upon the camels and took them and slew all of
the servants but one. And in chapter 1 verse 18 and
19 came the worst news of all to poor old Job and that is that
all of his sons All of his daughters were dining together as guests
in the house of the eldest firstborn, when a mighty wind came and the
house collapsed upon them and killed every one of the ten children
of Job. And this is what a day brought
forth in the life of Job. You know not what a day may bring
forth. There was a day when all of this
occurred. So the caution. In Proverbs 27
and verse 1, you do not know what a day may bring forth. And therefore, do not boast of
what you're going to do or accomplish or the great things that you
might bring to pass on the morrow. James 4 and 14, you know not
what a day shall bring forth or shall be on the morrow. Well, we do know. that God will
remain on the morrow, that heaven and earth will stand on the morrow,
that the sun will rise, that the world will turn upon its
axis as always. We even know that there will
be a tomorrow, but no person knows what shall be on the morrow
for them and for their life. So boast not yourself of tomorrow. As in 1 Kings chapter 20 and
verse 11, there is a caution from the king. The king said
this, let not him that girds on the harness, boasts himself
as one that takes it off. Let not one who is girding on
the armor, preparing to go to battle, boast like him who has
been to battle, been victorious, and taking off the armor of the
battle. Boast as one, not as one, who
has already won, laying aside his armor and the victory is
here. Do not do that. And in Isaiah
56 and 12, Come, you who say, let us get wine, and tomorrow
shall be as this day. Tomorrow shall be a repeat of
today. Things shall be tomorrow as they
are today. And so let us eat, let us drink,
and let us be merry. They not only boasted of tomorrow,
but they forgot about their own mortality and frailty, and a
stroke of judgment from God. They showed no dread of that
coming judgment or of death, that none can know what may be
on tomorrow, or if they would even live to see tomorrow. Some today who are alive will
be in their caskets by tomorrow evening." Psalm 49 and 11. They thought that their houses
would continue forever, and that's their mistake. This is a point
made by the text in James that we read. Since you know not what
shall be on tomorrow, much less a year from now. And then he
makes this, for your life, what is it? Your life is even a vapor. And you ought to consider the
will of God the will of the Lord. You ought to say, says James,
you ought to say this, if the Lord wills. And if the Lord wills,
we shall, number one, live ourself. And number two, do this or that
or the other. We shall live. if it be God's
will. We shall be alive. Abide still
in this earthly tabernacle. And James uses a simile here. What is your life? Oh, it's not a mighty stone or
a mighty unbendable, unbreakable rock. It is a vapor. It appears for a little while. and then it vanishes away. It's gone. You see it and then
you don't. So number two. So if the Lord
wills, we ought to say, we shall live and do this or that. For the success of our endeavor
depends on living and the will and the providence of our God. Let's notice the simile further
that is used by James here. A vapor. What is your life? How shall we describe it? It's
like a vapor. It appears for a time and a short
time and then it vanishes away. This is how the word is translated
in the King James Version. And the word vapor here, I looked
up, is the word at mis, and is but twice that I could find in
the New Testament. It's here in James, chapter 4,
and it's in Acts, chapter 2, and verse 19, on the day of Pentecost. And it means a vapor, a mist. And Acts 2 and 19, it is translated
smoke. A vapor of smoke appeared in
their midst. Now, this doesn't have much solid
substance about it at all, a vapor or a smoke or a mist. It doesn't have much substance
about it at all. And it is easily, therefore,
carried off, carried away. or evaporates under into the
air and is gone. This dissipates right there before
us and in our very eyes and is seen no more. I thought of some
examples. Look at the exhaust pipe on a
cold day at the vapor and it's gone and you see it no more. On a cold morning, the steam
from a kettle on the stove where food is cooking and then it is
gone. The steam that burst out and
then it is gone and seen no more. So this is a example of the brevity
and even the frailty of life and that's set forth in the Bible
by several simile in the scripture as our life is described by its
brevity and frailty. There's Isaiah Chapter 40, and
verse 6 and 7, all flesh is grass, and all the goodness thereof
is as the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower
fades. And you know, Peter quotes that
in his epistle, 1 Peter 1, 24 and 25. Job in all of his misery recognized
the frailty and the brevity of life as we all will when we come
into some great catastrophe or sickness or weakness of the flesh. Job said in chapter 7 and verse
7, my life is wind, wind. In chapter 13, 25 he described
it as a leaf Driven by the wind. Chapter 14, verse 1 and 2. Man that is born of woman is
a few days and full of trouble. He comes forth like a shadow. and is cut down, he flees as
a shadow and continueth not." There's no substance in a shadow. It is simply the shadow of the
substance. And so, not only that, his days
are few, but they are quick to pass. And Job says in chapter
9, verse 25 and 26, my days are swifter than a post. I think that might mean a runner
or a messenger hastening by on his way, gone and out of sight. They flee away. They're passed
away as the swift ships, as the eagle hastens to the prey." Unquote. All these things are moving swiftly
and quickly and are in sight, then out and gone. If you are older, like me, then
you look back and you see, my, how time has flown. Where did
it go? Why, I used to be 20 years old. I used to be 30. I used to be
40 years old. We were young. We were teens.
We were adults. And I tell people that I used
to be 29 once upon a time. And you look back over, my, how
swiftly has the time gone by. But let's go back again to the
passage in James. What is it that is the point
that James is making in these verses that we have read? Which
is something that he calls evil in verse 16. It is an evil thing
to do what James is criticizing. Then, at first we might not think
that it fits the context when we look at verse 16 and verse
17, and I'd like to read them again. But now you rejoice in
your boasting. All such rejoicing is evil. Therefore to him that knows to
do good, and does it not to him it is sin. Now this especially
applies to the same person addressed from verse 13 on down, but also
is a general exhortation to any and all people of God as well
as people of the world. What was their sin? What was evil about it? And why was it wrong for them
to boast? We could simplify by saying it
is the sin of neglecting God or considering God in their endeavors. They give no thought to the will
or the providence of God in such things as they determine in their
mind and their heart to do. To check such from their self-will
wanderings is James writing, in which they consider not the
will of God at all, or if they would even be alive on the morrow. They say, we will go tomorrow
into a city, stay there a year, buy and sell, and turn a profit. And James checks them. You cannot
know tomorrow. Verse 15, and you ought to say,
if it is the Lord's will, if he says the same, if he leads,
if he blessed, first then we will live and we will do this
or that or the other, rather than boast how they might go
and get gained by their own skill, wit, and wisdom. I do not say
that it should be said of every act or of every move, everything
that we do, I will pick up a loaf of bread, if God will. I'll do
this or that. I'm not saying that at all. And
I'm not saying what a lady once told the wife and I. She thought
she would impress us and she said, you know, the other day
I was praying about what to fix my husband to eat for supper.
I'm not talking about that kind of thing. It is not just the
formula, if the Lord we will. It's not just saying it out loud. but it is the attitude of the
heart. What F.F. Bruce called the dependent
attitude of mind, unquote, is to be mindful of divine properties,
to be mindful of the will of our Lord and our God, to seek
God's will in all things that come before us and to be led
of the Spirit of God, if we can feel that leadership to give
us more ease about it. Now, I'd like you to pardon an
actual experience again. But I want to tell you something.
It happened here at the church standing in front of the building,
a young man and his wife and two children. a good family,
a nice-looking family, a handsome man and a nice-looking lady.
And one night after the service, he told me out in front of the
church, he said, you know, I'm moving to Dallas. I'm going to
be moving to Dallas. There's a man there who thinks
that I am just the greatest thing since Garrett Snuff. And he wants
to hire me. He wants me to come and run all
of his business. He wants to turn his company
over to me and let me be the run that runs. You know, Brother
Bill, he said, he treats me as a son. He's just like, I'm just
like a son unto him. And on and on he went. And I
just said one thing. I said to him, you know, you
could lose your family in this endeavor. And he kind of looked
like somebody had slapped him in the face with a wet skunk
when I said, you could lose your family. I'm going to be rich. And I said, you could lose your
family in the process. And so he fell into adultery. His family tore completely apart.
And he's been in some of the kookiest religious position over
the years that you can ever imagine. If the Lord wills, if the Lord
permit, if the Lord be pleased, if the Lord bless, if He guide,
if He allow, if He bring it to pass, it is a recognition. of the providence and the sovereignty
of our God. You know, I thought this week,
preparing this a thousand times, I must have heard my granny,
Mama Mabry, say this. You know, she'd say, I'm going
to can them peas tomorrow. I'm going to start sewing on
that dress tomorrow. I'm going to plant the garden
tomorrow. And she'd add this every time. if I live." And the
Lord says the same. My grandma, I can remember that
over the years. The spiritual man knows, Psalm
37 and 23, the steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord. And so says the psalm writer.
Consider Genesis chapter 28 and verse 20 and the experience of
Jacob. And Jacob vowed a vow. You know that's the first vow
in the Bible that we meet with? Jacob vowed a vow saying, if
God be with me and keep me in the way that I go. And then in
there, Jacob committed his heart and life unto the Lord God. Abraham's
servant sent out to seek a bride for Isaac in Genesis chapter
24. prayed after this manner, and
I think it's so filled with humility. The servant said, Elisha said,
O Lord God, my master Abraham, I pray thee, send me good speed
this day. Send me good speed this day. Genesis 24 and 12. Paul, in 1
Corinthians 4, 19, I will come to you shortly if
the Lord will. 1 Corinthians 16 and 7, I must
tarry a while with you if the Lord permits. Romans 110, if
by any means I might have a prosperous journey to come unto you. Philippians
2 and 19, I trust in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you
shortly. And the Hebrew author wrote in
chapter 6 and verse 3, he tempers his exhortation to them with
these words, This will we do if God permit." He refers in
verse 1 and 2 to establishing the professors in the gospel
and in the priesthood of Christ after the order of Melchizedek. This will we do if God permit. Someone said, I'm going to start
a church, build a church. Well, if peradventure God will
grant some repentance. There ought to be a consideration
of the providence of God in the things that we do, our plans
for tomorrow and beyond. are predicated upon, number one,
if we live, and number two, if the Lord wills and says the same. You know, our people, we've all
done it. We're bound and determined to
do a certain thing. We do it, and then we declare
or ask the Lord to bless it after the fact. So, chasing our carnal
dreams in this world, let us be careful that we think upon
the will of God and pray about it. It is not good to glory and
boast, as those here in the text. We will do this and that and
get gain, but we will do so if God permits. And we ought to
say, if we live And the Lord says the same. Such expressions
are the confession of two things. Number one, of dependence upon
divine providence. Number two, the brevity and the
frailty of human life. That our days are short, they're
filled with trouble, that death has many eras in its quiver with
which to take us out of this life. You know, let me illustrate. I read a year or two ago, I just
don't ever let it get off of my mind, concerning this thing. A man sitting drinking an adult
beverage. And he took a sip, he took another,
and then he took another. and a bee had gotten in his can
of beer and he swallowed that bee and it stung him so bad that
he swelled and smothered to death by a bee in a can of beer. So the Lord has many eras in
his quiver. We're under the sovereign providence
of God and he can put hooks in our jaw at any time. though we
seem to plan every single detail down to the last one. Therefore,
let us not forget the two exceptions that are in our text, if you
live and if the Lord says the same. For the Puritan put it
this way, we can the more comfortably understand and action when we
see that God is in it." And that's the major thing for the child
of God, that it is God's will, that God is leading, that he
is taking us in the way that he would have us to go.