James concludes chapter 4 of
his epistle with these words from verse 11. Speak not evil
one of another brethren. He that speaketh evil of his
brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of the law, and
judgeth the law. But if thou judge the law, thou
art not a doer of the law, but a judge. There is one lawgiver
who is able to save and to destroy. Who art thou that judgest another?
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. For as ye know not what shall
be on the morrow, for what is your life? It is even a vapour,
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. 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 vapour that appeareth for a little time. and then vanisheth
away. For what is your life? Speak not evil one of another,
brethren. He that speaketh evil of his
brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of the law, and
judgeth the law. But if thou judge the law, thou
art not a doer of the law, but a judge. There is one lawgiver
who is able to save and to destroy. Who art thou that judgest another? Our God is a God of grace, a
God of grace, a God that delights in showing mercy. He is a God
of grace, abundant, abounding grace. No matter how far his
children fall, No matter how much they might sin, no matter
how cold their hearts may grow, or how far off they may wander,
He giveth more grace. His grace is overflowing, never-ending,
always forgiving, always long-suffering, He giveth more grace. He abounds
with grace to his children. We know this every day, how forgiving
He is to our transgressions, how forgiving He is to our coldness
of heart, how forgiving He is to our grumbles and our complaints
and our murmurings like the children of Israel as they journeyed through
the desert and moaned at Moses and moaned at their God, how
forgiving He is, how gracious He is. He's abounding in grace. His grace overflows. And yet
what are we? What are we even as believers
like? What are our lives like? What
are our lives? We're forever justifying ourselves
and we're forever condemning one another forever judging one
another whilst doing worse ourselves. What hypocrites we are. What fools. What hypocrites we are that judge
others. Speak not evil one of another
brethren. He that speaketh evil of his
brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of the law, and
judgeth the law. For if thou judgeth the law,
thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge. There is one lawgiver
who is able to save and to destroy. Who art thou that judgeth another? How easily we put ourselves in
the place of God. how we like to set ourselves
up over our brethren and wag the finger and condemn whilst
justifying ourselves, whilst turning a blind eye on all that
we do. And yet despite what we are,
and despite how we fall, and despite how judgmental we can
be, yet the Lord still gives more grace to his children. He overcomes them, he overwhelms
them with his grace. He leads them through his gospel
to look again by faith to his son and to see their sins washed
away in his blood. and to see their brethren sins
washed away in his blood, to see the righteousness of God
manifested for them, to see in Christ alone their perfection,
their righteousness, to see the forgiveness of sins through his
blood. The Lord constantly, graciously,
mercifully leads his children back to his Son, in whom they
are one. Our brethren are perfect, righteous
as we are in God's sight, because they too are washed in Christ's
blood. Forgive others as ye yourselves
have been forgiven. What are we by nature? Nothing
but a wretched sinner. Nothing but wretched sinners.
What is your brother or your sister in Christ? Nothing but
a wretched sinner. And yet, together, one in Christ,
washed in his blood, recipients of God's mercy, recipients of
his free loving sovereign grace perfect spotless in God's sight
so why do we judge We read earlier from Romans 8, where Paul opens
with the words, There is therefore now no condemnation to them which
are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after
the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of
life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and
death. For what the law could not do
in that it was weak through the flesh, God send in his own Son,
in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin condemned sin in
the flesh, that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled
in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For they that are after the flesh
do mind the things of the flesh, but they that are after the Spirit
the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is
death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity
against God, for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed
can be. So then they that are in the
flesh cannot please God, but ye are not in the flesh. but in the Spirit. If so, be
that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man hath not
the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. And if Christ be in you,
the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because
of righteousness. There is therefore now no condemnation
to them which are in Christ Jesus. So why do we look one upon another
and judge? Paul goes on later in that chapter.
What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who
can be against us? He that spared not his own son,
but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also
freely give us all things? Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? It
is Christ that died, yea, rather that is risen again, who is even
at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for
us. Who is he that condemneth? Oh praise God, that despite ourselves,
in spite of our flesh, and all the fruit of the flesh, in spite
of our bickerings, and our complainings, and our arguing, and our strife,
and all the judging one of another, and all the justifying each other,
justifying ourselves, all the self-righteousness, all the pride
we exhibit, in spite of all that we are, God gives more grace. God gives more grace. Who is
he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather
that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who
also maketh intercession for us. Every day Christ intercede
for his people. Every day he intercedes to the
Father and says, I've washed them, I've cleansed them, I've
justified them, they're mine. Oh Father, forgive them, they
know not what they do. For what are our lives? Ever
tainted by sin, and yet washed in the blood of Jesus Christ.
we're his. What are our lives? What is your
life? 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. It is even a vapor that appeareth
for a little time and then vanisheth away. Like grass that grows up
one day and to cut down the next, as the scriptures say elsewhere.
We're here for a moment and gone the next. Yes, what is your life? What is your life? What is it? It's a vapor. A little moment. You arrive into
this world on an appointed day. You depart from it on an appointed
day. You no more control the day you
arrive and the day you go. You don't cause your heart to
beat. You don't put the air in the
atmosphere to breathe. You don't bring forth the food
that you need to live from the ground. You don't create the
water upon which you're so dependent. What is your life but a vapour?
We are in God's hands. What is your life? Did you choose
the day that you were born and the place in which you would
be born and the parents that would bring you forth? Did you
choose it? Did you choose how you would
appear? The colour of your skin, your
height, your stature? male or female, black or white? Did you choose your nationality,
your kindred? Did you choose your family? Can
you add years to your life? Can you choose to live to 150? Can you add a foot to your stature? Can you choose to be tall? or
choose to be short? What is your life but that which
is given unto you for a moment and then taken away? Do you choose
and control the events that come upon you? The circumstances,
the pathway that you go on. Oh, you make your choices in
life. You head off this way and that
way. You befriend people. You seek a career. You head in
a certain direction, but you're not in control of what comes
your way upon that path. You do not know what a day may
bring. You cannot control it. You can't
control the weather. You can't control the natural
disasters as it were. You can't control whether disease
may come to your door. You may amass great wealth and
then have it taken away when the stock markets crash. You're
not in control. What is your life? What do you do with your life? In this passage, What James essentially
contrasts here is our will and the will of God concerning us. By nature, in the flesh, we go
our own way, we make our own decisions. 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 vapour 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
you rejoice in your boastings. All such rejoicing is evil. James
would have us see that our will is one thing and God's will is
what comes about. And even as believers, so readily
do we turn to the flesh and the wisdom of the flesh the decisions
of the flesh, what we think we shall do, where we think we shall
go, our ideas of what shall be. We purpose to do this and we
purpose to do that. And so often the Lord would have
us go another way. How slow we are. to come down
before Him and say, not my will, Lord, but Thine. Lead me, Lord. Show me where I should go. Give
me the words to say. Watch over me. O Lord, give me
Thy grace. Give me Thy mercy. Lord, I know
nothing. I don't have the answers. I cannot
see right Lord open the door and close other doors lead me
on the right path show me where I should go where I should be
what I should do Lord show me thy will now so often We say
today or tomorrow we'll go into such a city and continue there
a year and buy and sell and get gain or as we know not what shall
be on the morrow. Yes we are forever planning,
forever seeking, forever going our own way and seeking our own
things our own glory, our own riches, our own honor, our own
will, our own way. We are forever setting our will
against God's. Indeed even as believers behind
our prayers and behind our decisions so often what we want is for
God to agree to our will. So often our prayers, as it were,
are, Lord, I would like for this to happen. May it be so. Rather than taking everything
and laying it upon the altar and saying, Lord, take all of
this away if thou wilt. Just lead me in the right way. Yes, we're forever setting our
will against God, seeking our own glory, our own riches and
honor, and not the things that honor God. We are so earthly-minded
in our flesh, so carnal, so fleshly. Oh, how we need God to come in
his gospel every day. and stand before us as we as
it were go on our road to Damascus with our mind set to do this
and that how we need him to come before us daily and stand in
the way and call our name and show us who he is and what he
has done for us how we need him to remind us that it was His
will to send His Son to die for sinners like us. To die for us,
that we should be dead to this world and live unto God. How we need Him to come before
us and show us His Son. How we need His grace. his mercy. For that you 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 knoweth to do good and doeth it not, to him, it
is sin. We know there's nothing in man.
We know there's nothing in self. We know there's nothing in this
world. And yet how often we need God
to come in Christ and show us that again. We are dead. Dead to the world. Dead to self. Dead. Just as Paul showed us in Romans
8. For they that are after the flesh
do mind the things of the flesh, but they that are after the Spirit
the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is
death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because
the carnal mind is enmity against God, for it is not subject to
the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are
in the flesh cannot please God. But ye are not in the flesh,
but in the Spirit. If so, be that the Spirit of
God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the spirit
of Christ he is none of his and if Christ be in you the body
is dead because of sin but the spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him that
raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, He that raised
up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies
by His Spirit that dwelleth in you. Therefore, brethren, we
are debtors not to the flesh to live after the flesh. For
if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die. But if ye through
the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. For as many as are led by the
Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not received
the spirit of bondage against the fear, but ye have received
the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness
with our spirit that we are the children of God. And if children,
then heirs, heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ, if so
be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. We suffer with him. We're joint
heirs with Christ. Why? Because in Christ, with
Christ, we died. Our flesh was crucified. We were
delivered from this present evil age. And in Him we rose again from
the grave to live and to reign with Him forever. What an inheritance
He's brought in. What a salvation. Oh what He
did for us. what God did for us, for his
own, for his people, by giving his Son for them, that they should
live in him forever. In spite of all that we are,
in spite of all that we do, In spite of all our unbelief, all
our carnality in the flesh, in spite of all the coldness and
the blindness and the foolishness, in spite of all that we are,
all we do, all we will, God gave his son for his own. Christ gave himself for the church. He loved us and gave himself
for us. He gave everything to deliver
us from this world, from sin, from death, from the flesh, from
ourselves. He gave himself. He gave himself
freely in love, in mercy, by grace. He gave himself by grace
that we should be delivered from all our enemies, that we should
be delivered from ourselves. He giveth all grace. He giveth more grace. Yes, God
gave his son for sinners like us, for sinners like you. He died that sinners should live. Oh, what is your life? It is
but a vapor. It's there for a moment and then
it's gone the next. it vanisheth away what is your
life? it's nothing but if Christ gave
himself for you then that life that vanisheth
away will be replaced with a life which is eternal without beginning,
without end eternal everlasting life, righteousness If you're
His, then when you die, you won't die, you will live, you will
go to be with Him in glory forever. Oh, what a salvation! What an
inheritance! What a hope! What glory! Oh, that His will might swallow up our will. Because
left to ourselves, we can hear this message. We can hear the
gospel a thousand times, 10,000 times. We can be told, we can
be asked, what is our life? We may know it's nothing. We
may know it's fleeting. We may know that death lies ahead
of us. We may know that we have no hope
beyond the grave and yet we do nothing. We can do nothing. We incessantly seek our own will,
our own way, our own glory. We go off in our unbelief. We go off in our depravity seeking
that which we can get, striving for that which passes through
our fingers, grasping at that which we cannot maintain. O the fools we are by nature, blind, deaf, dead in our sins. What is your life? And yet if he came for us, if we're his, then that life,
which seemed so great to men, our life, was slain on the cross
with Jesus Christ. Yes, we died in him, with him. We were buried with him. and we rose with him. We are risen in Christ. We have a new life, everlasting
life. Have you? Have you? Has the Lord shown you the nothingness
of your natural life in the flesh? Has he shown you that you are
nothing. Has he shown you that this world
is nothing? Has he shown you that you have
nothing? Has he shown you your need of
Christ? Has he shown you what your life
is? Has he led you by grace, by abounding,
abundant grace? Love and mercy. Has he led you
to his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ? For if he has, then you will
know that you are crucified with him. You will know that the life
you now live in the flesh, you live by the faith of the Son
of God, who loved you. and gave himself for you. You
will know that your old man was laid in the grave and buried,
and that you have risen, risen with Christ your Savior. And
as Paul writes in Colossians 3, if ye then be risen with Christ,
seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right
hand of God, Set your affections on things above, not on things
on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life
is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life,
shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory. Mortify
therefore your members which are upon the earth, fornication,
uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence and covetousness
which is idolatry, for which thingsake the wrath of God cometh
on the children of disobedience, in the which ye also walked some
time when ye lived in them. But now you also put off all
these, anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication
out of your mouth. Lie not one to another, seeing
that ye have put off the old man with his deeds, and have
put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the
image of him that created him, where there is neither Greek
nor Jew. circumcision nor uncircumcision
barbarian civian bond nor free but Christ is all and in all
put on therefore as the elect of God holy and beloved bowels
of mercies kindness humbleness of mind meekness long-suffering
forbearing one another and forgiving one another If any man have a
quarrel against any, even as Christ forgave you, so also do
ye. And above all these things, put
on charity, which is the bond of perfectness, and let the peace
of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called
in one body, and be ye thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell
in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one
another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with
grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatsoever ye do in word
or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks
to God and the Father by him. For what? Brethren, it's your
life. What is your life? Amen.